The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-04-24

p!icated a that Of the dairymans :: none
where there are 50 many intricate ques-
tons involved a in that of growing
plants, feeding them To cattle and pro
duclng beef. milk, butter and cheese.
10 this end, in Germany experiment
tai stations have been established t.
settle some Of these important quc>-
1lons: For this purpose they generally
use tour COWS: the food is a~nalyzel and
weighed 10 the smallest fraction Of I'M
ounce, the milk i a. carefully ~analyzei
ana weighed. the manure and urine
also. The men who have charge of
these experiments are in attendance al!
the time, night and DAY. Iron boxe,
made alr-tlght are provided IN which
oxen are Kept. The food, and even the
ar they breathe. Is carefully weighed /:
the breath they exhale and the gas
rom the SKIN, the urine and the ma
nufe are all weighed AMI analvzed.
Every change Of food Is carefully ex-
ahmed a. well a. the manure and urine
resulting theretrom.
Not one particle Of meat or -inew can
De made from anything but the fibrin If
the plant, the sugar and the starch be-
ing required for fuel which Is consumed
IN the body. Next to the albuminoids
the Oh which comes from the plant is
OF importance. The butter Of the milk
comes III part from this oil and in part
from the decomposition OF the albumi-
nolds, With regard to the food we
give TO animals there are two things
which are Of great Importance. that
part which Is nutritious and that which
Is dlgestlble, Tor all nutritious matter is
not digestlble. In 100 pounds of good.
early-cut hay sixty pounds will he di-
gestlble; while Of that which stands till
woody fibre is produced not more than
forty pounds will be digestible.
The value of hay depends unon
where 1t is produced, how grown and
when cut. The best is that cut on the
richest land, and when young. Hay
gathered in Maine, on a meadow where
the grass had almost run out. instead
OF containing +! pounds OF albuminoids.
contained only 3 pounds the carbo-
hydrates and fat also decreased in rela-
tive proportions. while the ~cellulose
matter had increased in proportion to
the decrease noted in the others. The
hay cut from that old meadow when
The grass was young, just before it
blOssomed, was worth 81 cents per
hundred pounds cut in full bloom, So
cents per 100; cut later, it was worth
but so tents per 100. That from the
richest land, cut early, was worth GO
cents per hundred pounds. From the
best timothy hay, cut on the richest
land, the largest portion is dieestible;
that from the poorest land, the least is
digestible.
Straw fed cut alone yields but little
dlgestlble matter; but if fed with lin
seed meal, which is rich in albuminoids
the digestible matter is increased. If
III place Of feeding matter rich in albu-
minoids, we feed matter containing an
abundance Of carbohydrates. the diges-
tibility Of the straw would be decreased.
This would also apply to poor hay.
Cooking does not increase the digesti-
bility OF food, but it may render it more
palatable to the cows, and they will do
best on that which they relish best.
Tie proportion which albuminoids
and carbohydrates bear to each other
the production Of the best
for food, is the great
question for the farmer OF to-day
The more albuminOids there are IN food
the more digestiblc it is; the more
carbohydrates and less al%buminoids the
more indigestibIe; therefore we must
have more albuminoids III food for
working cattle and COWS III milk and
cattle than for fattemng animals.
With regard to corn, sweet DIT IS
he best, than eight-rowed New Eng
and yellow, next Western yellow and
ed, and lastly the white corn. Corn
obs contain a good deal of carbo-
lydrates, and but little albuminoids and
ats, hence they are but poor feed, yet
When fed with other rich food theyhaye
ONE value. Palm-nut meal is ~fayorably
poken of to feed with swale hay, poor
Jay, straw and corr fodder, to make
hem equal to good hay. Cotton seed
5 said to give a bad grain to butter, and
a bad flavor. Palm-nut meal
5 free from these objections. Cornmeal
o~ntains much starch, considerable oil
nd but tile albuminoids. Wheat bran
nd corr meal make together a good ra-
ion to 90 with coarse fodder. \ ton
vale hay. worth So. and 300 pounds OF
otton seed meal or palm-nut meal,
yorth 81, are about equal for feeding
purposes to hay worth Sl3 per ton. 4
tandard ration for a cow is % album
oids, ll.5 carbohydrates, and IL
ITS The following table illustrates the
value of several foods in the
Albumin CarbO-
OidS. hydrates. Fats
tandard 1z0 a
@ lbs. you g grass con- +.
126 4
O " superior upland
hay 80
o medium quality {
hay.................I6 1913 3