Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-12-06
Farm and Household.


Fatteninu Animals.
One of the most profitable operations Of
the farm is the feeding of a few animals for
the butcher. a fattening animal takes from
his feed nothing but the carbonaceous por-
TONS and these are of no value in the ma
nure: so that the value Of the feed used is
nearly all returned in the manure. leaving
the gain in weight profit for the feed and
labor Or to put it in another way, the gain
in weight pays for the feed and labor, leav-
ing the manure as the profit. The value Of
the latter is sufficient to satisfy any farmer.
But profitable as this farm work and business
enterprise may be. it is strangely neglected.
This neglect arises from several causes.
There is want of the capital needed in many
cases. want of enterprise and energy in 9th
ers, want of knowledge of the successful man
agcment Of fattening animals and the alb
sencc Of the necessary fodder 1t is new
thing in our system Of agriculture to many
but it is rapidly becoming an indispensable
means Of successful farming with majority
of farmers. Year by year the farms are be-
coming less productive, if not in yield at
least in the way of income. and the business
of farming leaves but little cash1n the farm
crs pocket at the end of the year. There are
few money crops that can be grown now.
After dairying there is no other branch of ag-
riculture that promises any income of money
adequate to the present needs of a farmers
family. The time is past when the farmers
wife and children shall toll barefooted in the
field wear homespun, and eat potatoes and
milk 10y the light of piece.of cotton cloth
in saucer of lard or tallow. We have adj
vanced in civilization beyond that and il is a
happy thing that it is so. Poverty, although
it may be independent. is not conducive to
proper self respect. and the farmer should be
able to maintain an equal position with that
which any other industry can afford, at the
least. As proprietor of real estate he should
be able to do better than that, because he
should be able to earn a proper recompense
for his labor, and interest upon his capital
besides Just now there are few farmers who
are doing this.
To effect the desired improvement in their
condition, it is necessary to increase the in
come from their farms. This can hardly be
done by growing large crops, unless at the
same time "a profitable outlet can be found
for them. If a farmer doubles his corn crop,
the result is more corn is thrown upon a mar
ket already filed with corn. and the price is
reduced; so that the money received for the
enlarged crop is precisely the same as that
for the smaller one. But if he can use the
surplus of his corn at home, or can raise his
former yield upon fewer acres, and grow
roots or other feeding crops upon the remain
der, he gains an advantage. 1t is in this way
that at least one measure of relief from the
present pressure of low prices can be looked !
for. Let those farmers who can. make a
practice of raising n few beeves for fnttening,
or fatten a few every year. The result will
he an increased supply Of manure, which is
the equivalent of much money. and a money
crop besides and often this may be secured
without decreasing the other products of the
farm.
At the outset it is clear that there must be |
provision made for growing some feeding
crops, for it would be idle to talk now of pur- |
chasing food, when one has TO turn i'll many |
ways TO find the means of supplying present |
wants Our present system is to Craze our |
bceves and to finish them on corn when they |
are > or years old or more this can never |
pay. The method is too costly and the time |
Is too long. We must be able to push the
animal from weaving and 10 make it ready |
for sale at years old at the utmost We can !
do this only by stal-feeding: by growing |
large crops of roots, and feeding these with |
straw and some grain. Before oi-cakes were !
largely fed III Europe, beef was made mainly |
from turnips, mangolds and straw, with oc- |
casional grazing Grazing, however is equiv |
alent to waste of feed. Tor the muscular ac- |
ton uses up flesh, which requires food to re-
place 1t. Grazing, therefore. may be left out |
OF the question. We need roots, straw. hay, |
and corn and not much of the latter two. be- |
cause the former will furnish the means for |
producing flesh, and corn is needed only to
add the fat after the frame is filled up. An
animal taken at six months old may be turn
ed on to grass for the first season, and fed
some extra food, as ground oats and corn, in
small quantities to keep up thrifty growth
until the first winter, when bushel of pulp
ed roots and chopped straw, with two or three
pounds of meal day, will add greatly to its
weight until in its second year; the same
treatment continued the next twelve months
doubling the ratiOns or adding some hay. will
bring it into condition for final feeding, when
roots, straw, some hay, and corn will finish
it for the butcher, and will produce meat of
the best quality and flavor, if the best breed
has been chosen. Meat so made is far supe-
rior to the lnst ed and cotton-seed- cake-fed
animals, which at present furnish the bulk of
English beef, and with which our American
beef, more wholesomely fed, completes with
success. We have now an abundance of
short-horn cattle, which may be procured al
most as cheHpy rs common cattle. Short
horn bulls, i'll all but fancy points of pedigree,
and others non-eSsental to their intrinsic val
ne, can be purchased at very little more than
their value for beef; and these animals, full
of vigor ana force derived from careful breed
ing for generations past, have the ability,
when crosstd upon good common COWS, to
produce calves which will actually surpass
the pure race i'll size aud weight at an equal
age and with equal treatment With such
opportunities as are now afforded, farmers
certainly neglect their interest if they do not
add the feeding of cattle to their other indus
tries in rs large a measure as may be possible
Tor them.-N J. Times.