Sharp County record., 1881-06-23

7ertlng digested food into vital force
and flesh and fat, or milk and butter.
1t is not enough to supply animals Win
the elements of these products IN
concentrated form; large bulk OF IN
: digestible matter is required to keep
the digestive apparatus in proper con-
dition and healthful action. Animals
are constructed, so to speak, with IN
apparatus for working up a large mass
of material in which the actual nutfi-
tive elements are largely diluted with
this indi0eStible matter, and the all
mentary canal has large surface and
varied functions. all OF which must be
brought into action for hea.thlul
effect. If three OrfOm quarts OF corn
meal were fed to a cow Or an OK, the
compact mass would lie in a small por-
ton of the extensive stomach. and
would pass quickly beyond the active
reach Of 4 large part OF the luteStlne''
and could never reach u considerable
portion Of them at all. The consequence
must necessarily be to excite UndulY
parts of these organs and to leave other
parts inactive anddormant The nerV-
GUS and muscular system Of the intes-
tines would become paralyzed in part
and in part Overworked, and dlsorder
would necessarily ensue. This is found
to be the casein practice with all animals,
for even q man, whose stomach is com
paratiVly small cannot healthtully exist
upon concentrated food of highly stlm-
ulating character. such as extract OF
beef, or bread alone. How much less
then, can an OK or COW be fed on
| highly concentrated food, with StOm-
ach Of very large capacity, but arranged
in four urcOmpartments expressly provided
for the manipulation of large bulk OF
coarse food. and the solution, from a
large mass, of a small portion OF digest
| ible aliment? Either this large mass
must be provided, or the rich food must
be diluted with an excessive and I'M
healtful quantity of water. 1t is not
sufficient to say that an animal has
lived through some months OF such
feeding. That is quite possible, for a
certain amount OF hardship can be sut-
fered with apparent impnity by any
animal. A horse deprived OF all solid
food whatever, and with nothing but
water. has worked for sixteen days
regularly without becoming completely
enteebled and has lived without appar-
ent inconvenience for sixty days upon
water alone. But it is obvious that
this is altogether an abnormal condition,
and the animal existed in spite of the
deprivation of food. So an animal may
be kept alive on concentrated food
alone for months, but the tax upon its
endurance must effect its vital force to
a large extent. This principle should
always be considered when we under
take to stimulate the growth or the
product of any animal by the use Of
highly concentrated food. 1t may be
that we are on the verge of excess in
this direction. Excessive fatness is
disease. The fat stored up in the
tissues of a young animals an abnormal
product, and tends to weaken the
system. A mature and full-grown ami
NAL we'll fed naturally becomes obese,
and the fat accumulated may not be in
| furious to its healthfulness. The prev
alence of disease in cattle seems to be
natural consequence of the present
system of Overfeeding or forcing of the
Growth or production 1t is more ap-
parent in England than here, because
we have not gone nearly so far in this
forcing method as they have. The pro-
duction of 1" baby beef as it is called,
is a conspicuous case in point. For
merly a steer was in condition for
slaughter at the age of five years. A
large portion of this period was spent
at pasture, and the growth was slow
but healthful. The beef at that period
was unsurpassed for quality. But the
pressure of competition and the in
crease of the farmers expenses, made
necessary by more luxurious life, have
tended toward reducing the value and
of increasing the cost OF a beef animal,
and it gradually became requisite to
bring the steer to maturity for the
butcher at the age Of two years, so Us
to save expense. This was done by q
system of forcing from birth with excess
OF lOOu Ol IlG IlCu6Sb hiuA' luC CUu-
sumption of oil-cakes of various kinds,
of corn-meal, and of malt largely increas-
ed, and instead of a carcass of 800 to
1.O00 pounds, consisting chiefly Of nu-
tritious and wholesome flesh, with only
sufficient fat to make it tender and
Juicy, there is now carcass of the same
weight, one-half of which is fat closely
distributed among the muscular hbres
and laid on the surface in enormous
LAYERS and masses. 1t may not be the
direct consequences OF this system that
the English herds are so terribly ray
aged by diseases of a virulent kind,
such as ''foot and mouth disease" or
aphthous fever, or pleuro-pneumonia,
and others of which their agricultural
, journals are constantly complaining,
but it is so striking coincidence and
so reasonable a result that it is scarce
. lv possible to associate the facts as
! otherwise than cause and eifect.-M 7.
Times.