The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-04-22
THE FARM.YARD CLUB OF
JOTHAM


SIXTH MEETING--sUBJECT CATTLE.
(C0ntinued)
1t was not until the very tick of half
past seven, that the members of the club
gathered at the house of Mr.. Hopkins and
then they all came at once, and took their
seats silently and in order.
Mr.. Hopkins announced, Our young
friend, Charles Ingalls,, the schoolmaster,
who proceeded at once to read his essay on
THE VARIOUS MODES OF FEEDING CATTLE.
have listened, said he. with profound
pleasure to the practical wisdom which
characterized the discourse of Mr.. Thomas
on the care of animals. His knowledge of
and sympathy with cattle could not fail to
impress the most careless listener and to
myself, whose early and most intimate
companions on my fathers farm were the
domestic animals, his words had peculiar
charm. | was especially struck with the
simplicity of his plan. He has evidently
reduced his work to the most convenient
system and | am sure he has been able to
do this on account of the fortunate supply
of foreign crops with which we are pro:
vided in this country. We cannot be too
grateful for this. When prosperous
farmer, drawing his wisdom from his OWE
experience, can say, as MIR. Thomas did,
that the foundation of all feeding is good
English hay, and that grain and roots con.
stitute the sum total of the variety requir-
ed by the health of the animal. he should
realize how fortunately his lines have been
drawn, and how simple his dairy farming
is, when compared with that of other and,
in this respect, less favored countries. |
have just been reading the mode of feed
ing laid down by Mr.. Horsfall, one of the
most intelligent agricultural explorers and
writers in England, and am most forci-
bly, struck with the intricacy of the plan
which he deems needful for animal health
made intricate, as | think, by necessary
absence of good hay. He says; "My
food for mich cows, after having under
gone various notifications, has, for two
seasons, consisted of rape cake, five pounds
and bran two pounds, for each COW, mixed
with sufficient quantity of bean straw,
oat straw, and shells of oats, in equal pro-
portions, to supply them three times day
with as much as they will eat. The whole
of the materials are moistened and blended
together, and after being well steamed, are
given to the animal in warm state. The
attendant is allowed one pound to one
pound to one pound and half per
cow, according to circumstances, of bean
meal, which he is charged to give to each
cow in proportion to the yield of milk
those in full milk getting each two pounds
per day, others but little. 1t is dry and
mixed with the steamed food on being dealt
out separately. When this is eaten up,
green food is given, consisting of cabbages
from October to December, kohl rab till
February, and mangold till grass time, with
view to nicely of flavor. | limit the
quantity of green food to 80 or 35 pounds
per day for each. After each feed, 4
pounds of meadow hay, or i2 pounds per
day is given to each COW. They are al
lowed water twice a day to the extent
which they will drink.
A combination tf bean straw, grape
cake, linsecd, cotton seed, steamed shorts
and barley straw is formidable affair for
farmer in moderate circumstances to
contemplate. And when TO this is added
the necessity of giving the cows feed of
this mixture, morning and night, even
during the good grass season of MAY, in
order to get from twelve to sixteen quarts
of milk per day, the labor becomes truly
discouraging. Let the American farmer
rejoice that no such trials surround him.
Your minds must have been attracted
by the frequent allusion to srEAMING food
for cattle in the foreign trealses on the
subject we are now considering. As near
as can ascertain, this artificial and some
what expensive mode of feeding is prac-
tised in England for the purpose of con-
verting coarse and interior articles of food
into digestiblc and nutritious substances.
For this object 1t is said to work WELL
ON the celebrated Tiptree farm of Mr..
Mechi, il was introduced as a part of an
intricate and extravagant mode OF farm
ing, which consisted of tanks, steam en-
gines, pipes, pumps, liquid manures, irri-
cation and general machinery, and MIR.
Mech gives us assurances that he found