St. Landry democrat., 1883-04-28
Stock Raising.

otVCh 1Ad1ls1uss
We are glad that we have twice re-
ferred to the unproftableness of the
general winter feeding of cattle, for it
has set farmers to thinking and will do
good. If it is a fact that the majority
of our cattle actually lose in winter
and there is no chance to harbor q
doubt of 1.-THE reason is to be found III
the lack Of, judicial care. The food and
fodder we give our cattle are good.
They contain the elements to insure
profit, if they are rightly fed and the
animal properly cared for. But is it
not fact that many of us simply aim
TO get our cattle through the winter
alive and nothing more? Where the
pastures fail in the fall, do we not yir-
tually say: Now we must keep life in
the animal somehow until pasture comes
again. 1t would seem so. There are
numbers of men who never think of
buying any feed to keep their cattle
up. But the farmer who does not rea-
lie the absolute necessity of bringing
his cattle out in the spring in good con-
dition, even if he has to buy feed to do
it, had better sell his cattle when win
ter begins. A poor, weakened animal
!. in spring will have hard work to 'scatch
up during the summer, and that fact
ought to be fully understood by every
cattle breeder. But it is useless to expect
the best results from even the highest
feeding, if there is no care in other
respects. Good care is one-haf the
battle. 1t is because it is a saving of
feed, and consequently saving of
money, that has been one reason for our
frequent urging of the necessity of
securing help that will treat cattle
and in fact all stock-kindly. Arough,
careless man about the cow-yard will
cost more than his head is worth, either
in winter or summer. Feed must be
furnished to supply what his roughness
and carelessness in the care of the stock
wastes. and it will not make good the
waste either. Every cruel blow that is
given an animal means loss to the owner;
all the boisterous language that is used
to confuse and excite cattle or other
stock must be paid for, and the owner
pays it. Especially is this true of mich
cows. Whenever a man is harsh with
cow. and whenever man is en-
ployed who is never in hurry, ex-
cept'when he is driving the cows. he is
taking money right out of the pocket of
the man that employs him; and when
ever the owner of the COWS is guilty of
such things, he is taking money
out of his own pocket and
throwing it away. The first thing
that stock owner needs to insure is
good treatment of his stock, and then
he should see to it that a judicious
system of feeding supplies what may be
necessary to keep his stock in condi-
ton at any time Of year. Thus winter
feeding viii prove profitable.
1t is useless to expect good results
from stock-raising unless we can keep it
in good condition from the start to the
end. Young stock is frequently ruin
ously neglected in this respect. From
one cause or anotherth the mother has not
always suffcientsupp of milk for her
young. In such case the utmost care
must be taken to supply it from other
sources. The young animal that is half
starved will never make the animal that
it would if kept growing from its birth,
even if it should live at all. 1t is often
expensive to raise a young animal by
artificial feeding, but that has nothing
to do with the question of raising It
right. If the expense is too much, don't
raise it. When the milk of the mother
is insufficient for the young-and that
is quite frequently the trouble with
young ewes-it will be found best and
much the cheaper to feed the mother
literally on such things as roots, ground
Weste7n Ralrdl