Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-04-06
agricultural department.
From the Rural Carollnlan.
THE USE OF SALT FOR STOCK.

|
stock, even if considered simply as condi
ment, we we'll know from experience. Gu,
system is to throw handful of salt to each
plough animal and COW or sheep every Sun
day morning
Why Sunday, you say? Simply because
that is a day of rest, and the animal will fire.
auently lick at the morsel of salt half the day
If given during the week, the salt would gel
mixed in the food, and frequently prevent the
animal from eating his meal in time to 60 tc
work when needed; for, however much they
relish salt, it is usually taken in delicate
way.
Reader, carefully peruse the following arti'
Gle from the New York Times, and then in
vestigate the inquiry whether your employees
have salted yours or their stock since last
spring. Thousands of freedmen now own
mules and horses and COWS, and thousands OF
such owners don't care for salt even in their
own food, and of course can see no reason why
their stock should have it.
The regular use of salt has long been re-
cognized by all feeders of cattle, and farm
stock as of great benefit, if not of absolute ne
cessity to their welfare. If we were to Judge
as regards the lower animals by what We
know of the necessities of our own race, we
should be well convinced that salt is essential
to their health and growth. For ourselves,
salt is one of the necessities of our existence,
and the larger proportion Of vegetable food,
as compared with animal food that we con-
sumo, the more of it we need. 1t would,
therefore, be reasonable to suppose that her
bivorous animals require certain supply of
salt for the sustenance of their vital func-
tions. But this matter has been so clearly
and definitely, settled by abundant experience,
that there is no room for doubt about it.
Nevertheless, very large portion Of our
stock are either deprived of salt altogether,
except the insufficient quantity that the pro-
cure in their food, or are only very sparingly
and irregularly supplied with it. Instead of
regular and stated allowance, the majority
receive only ftful ard altogether insufficient
one. How much of the disorder and disease
with which farm stock is afflicted is due to
this neglect can hardly be estimated; but
doubtless the most of it is due to this cause.
There is no question that many diseases to
which horses, cattle, and sheep are liable
could be prevented, were they permitted
free access at all times to an adequate supply
of salt But of the peculiar necessities of the
animal, the nature Of salt, and the amount Of
it required in given time, there is general
want of accurate knowledge. Indeed, the
ignorance of some farmers upon this impor-
tant subject is astonishing. Cases have &C.
Cured in which, after their stock has been
deprived of salt altogether for an unknown
period of time, farmers have thrown to them
several pounds at once-the sediment of their
meat-barrels, for instance-and the animals,
hungering for it, have partaken too freely
and have been fatally poisoned Few who
give regular supply of salt to their stock,
are aware that when given in excess it is an
acrid and irritant poison, which is rapidly ia
tai in its effects.
The blood, cellular tissues and bones of an
imals contain salt, and this must be supplied
in their food. But still greater necessity
for it arises from the demands Of the digestive
organs. These require for their healthful &C.
ton large supply which, when their pur-
poses are served, is not retained in the system
but is voided in the secretions and the excre-
ments. All ofthese contain salt in large pro-
portions, and whether 1t exists IN Them as a
necessary or an accidental constituent, it must
be supplied in the food, or the animal suffers
for the want of it. Every vegetable contains
salt in varying proportions, and animals that
feed upon them derive portion Of their sup
ply in that way. But this is not adequate to
their needs. One hundred pounds of dry hay
contains six ounces Of salt; one hundred
pounds of clover contains five ounces one
hundred pounds Of straw one and one-half
ounces and one hundred pounds of fresh po-
tatoes or turnips one-tenth of an ounce. An
OK that consumes thirty pounds Of hay daily
thus takes in this food less than two ounces of
salt. But an OK voids in his urine five ounces
of salt in twenty-four hours and besides this
there is further quantity voided in the dung
and in the perspiration from the skin, which
has never yet been estimated, so far as we are
aware. It is very clear, however, that the
salt contained in the food of an OK is alto
gether insufficient to supply the wastes of the
body. The urine of the horse contains over
five per cent. of saline substances, of which
the largest portion is salt, and but small
quantity of this can be derived from the hay
and grain he consumes The cases Of the pig
and the sheep are very similar.
Salt is composite substance, and consists
of three parts of chlorine combined with two
parts of sodium, a silvery white metal, of which
soda is an oxide. Salt is not composed in
part of soda as is frequently supposed, but of
the metal sodium itself, in the proportion men
toned It is one of the most abundant SUBJ
stances existing in nature, being found every.
where, in all soils, from which it is being con-
tinually washed by the rains into the streams.
By these it is conveyed into the ocean, where
it is constantly accumulating. Thatit is thus
distracted from the land is proved by the salt.
ness of every lake which has no outlet, as our
own Great Salt Lake and others similarly
without an outflow When taken into the
stomach of an animal in large quantities it ir-
ritates the mucous membranes Of the intes-
tines, producing fatal inflammation and disor-
ganization. In small quantities it facilitates
decomposition, but in large quantities it is an
antiseptic and a preservative of both vegetable
and animal substances. 1t is therefore an
aid to digestion when given in proper quaint
ties. and assists the stomach and intestines in
their operations.
To discriminate the quantity needed for
the different domestic animals, numerous care
full experiments have been made. Recogniz'
ing the Importance Of the subject, the French
Government, not many years ago, commits
stoned number of practical and scientific
persons to investigate and report upon it. In
their report the following scale was fixed up
on as the minimum daily allowances for the
different amounts in ordinary condition, viz
Ounces.
For working OK or mich cow.......""....2
For fattenng stall-fed oxen... .23 to 4!
For fattening pigs. l 10
| Tor ctoro cham (6Ouhla for fat SheeD). i to