The Red Cloud chief., 1881-08-11
Cattle Feeding.


The progress of the world In al mat
tiers Is something of which we mas not
only be proud. but which is PARTICULAR
ly encouraging as showing that dere.-
opment OF the human mind which eas-
bles Us TO WORK for the accompi shmea
o: ends. in perfect harmony with ma
,ure. In agricultural pursuit, and n
stock breeding particularly. this - Goa
spicuoasly noticeable. Nature. u was
found. would produce certain results il
certain conditions were complied with.
and breeding was reduced tc an ALSO
lutte science. Previous II this Il was all
baphazard. In-znd-in breeding was
practiced until gian; horses and cattle
were reduced 20 piGmies. selection was
the except on and not ine rule. and .
COW was a COW and i horse Wa \ hpT-e-
The magnificent breeds o. cattle which
have now taken the place II the scrub
are the result Of an intelligent appiica-
tior of The laws OF nature - breeding.
II has been learned that = large. hnc-
IL developed Gn NAL can be produced
As easily as one that j. small and IS
sharply angied.
But we have more easily learned how
to produce than We seem 10 have
learned how 10 develop. The apparent
belief that beef is beef and that quality
IS absolutely q secondary matter gen
erally prevails. Breeder and consumer
alike are strangely Indifferent TO 4uai-
ity. The slop fed animal finds oPpo-
nents only among the comparatively
few. Ignorance and reckle-sness are
the great fertile cause ot tons OF mi>er-
able, almost uneaiable beef in The mar
ket. Intelligence IN feeding or judy
mcnt in buying would largely decrease
the supply of this kind Of meats With
too many-we d slike To- say the major
itv, although IL il truc-poGnds are
what is aimed AT in the tattenin. proc
ess. and il makes no sort OF difference
what the quality is. If an animal would
Law on flesh from eating old fence rails,
fence rails won Il be the food fed. If
they were more handy than ANYTHING
else. II does not seem 10 occur that
there is n difference N food wiki the re-
spert - :he quality OF meat. There are
hundreds o! sheep breeders IN the coun-
try who either doubt that there i any
difference in the quality of mutton pro-
duced on weeds. or poor grass, and
that produced ia the blue grass regions
Of Kentucky, or wonder why il IS
The question of food is an important
one. aud is second in importance 10 no
question connected with the subject of
/ breeding. That il is not universally
properly understood is shown b. the
doubts sometimes expressed by dairy
men of long experience that the food
has any effect upon the quality OF mix.
a statement whose -erroneousness can
be easily established. Nature. IN the
construction Of an animal, must Law the
foundation for \ tine quality OF beef.
We cannot make q spring chicken out
of an ~antiqua;cd rooster. whatever We
NAV feed him on; and we cannct MAKO
sweet, Juicy beef ont of an animal that
nature never Intended 10 produce such
meat. Bat, with L good foundation and
with good feed. we accomplish the de-
sired result. In the selection o! the
kind of iood its diTcstibi.ity is the tr-t
thing 10 he taken into consideration.
the reasons for which we need hardly
stop II explain, simply stating that the
more digestible a food is. the better II
is. In the next place il will be ncCcs-
sarv to remember that coarse folders,
PRODUCED under different circum-
stances and in ditcrcat locations,
are not ALWAYS chemically the
same. Soil of natural quality AMI
fertility. for instance. will have a very
marked influence upon the chemical
properties of coarse folders. Tharaud
made an ANALYSIS of hay from u ma.
--- .. - Sc al. 49, liz
of hay from one thai wa unmanured,
finding in The first. twelve per cent. oi
protean and from the second Onlg nine
per cent. Mcckern analyzed rank
plants of wheat. bar.ev, oats and rye,
IL the beginning of towering. and found
1914 per cent. of p~rOtcan in the drv mat
ter, while weaker plants contained only
10 per cent. 1t will not do. therefore,
To conclude that ne grass, or clover,
or any other variety is the most perfec,
kind of coarse TODD, simply because they
are what thew are. The conditions un'
der which they are grown must be
taken into con >IdcratiOn, and the lessor
learned that the most perfect grasse:
are produced upon the best soils. In
der such circumstance, all OF the grass
rs commonly grown are good for tn,
production of beef, and If some arc
superior { others but Will not do as
well on our soil or in u climate n
others, we must adop: the best under
the circumstances, and submit to the
disadvantages.
The mode of curing hay has a vas
deal 10 do with IFS d~igestibility and
nutritive properties. 1t scarcely neeC
be suggested that the younger and moro
tender = fodder is, the smaller general
" is the percentage of crude fiber. and
the more digestible the crude fiber IS
This certainly appeals to the Judgment,
and if IL did not. experiment has dem
onstrated it. Yet il is 4 tact that many
persist in cutting grasses long after
they have obtained q reasonable ma
turity, AMI. what Is more. they argue
that il is best "a do so. The same proc
ess of reasoning would establish in 8
dying tree more vitality than n thrifty
growing tree Possesses. After cutting,
the grass is frequently cured TO death,
a large portion OF its value dried anC
burnt ont OF il. Grass never should b,
allowed TO dry a moment longer or e
a degree further than is absolutely nee
CESAR, 20 insure It's preservation. Ii i
not only a waste of time TO do more
than this. but il is q waste of nutritiv,
r,a.arfal n. sgsru Er-Uf