Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1883-11-10
A Difference IN the Dig, st;on Of AMI
mais.

Almost every one thinks that an mails
OF the same species beirg animals, ar.
all alike. Upon this supposition they
are fed alike, and generally in lots, or
hocks, where each one gets its portion
as best it can, the stronger robbing the
weaker TIE truth is, there is vrea.
difference in animals of t. G same spe-
cies in their ability to fully digest fooG
One an NAL, very often, can I as nuci
again as another withoutnny in ury, but.
on the contrary, it ma 20 r., uou1h.
the amount of food to k,e al its oroa..s
in beautiful action. There is alw;s,
more or less difference in the ability o!
ar,mas Or the same sort to dioest and
assimilate iOod. when they are fed in
lots. or locks, these differences can not
be well observed. When it is noticed
that an animal is not thriving, it should
Immediately he separated from the
Others and put by itself. and careful
test should be made of its ability to d.
gest food. Most of the sicknesses of
young animals, and older ones also,
comes from disordered condition OF
the stomach, and this is gradually
caused by over-eating. In order to test
the ability of an animal for digesting
its food, a comparison must be made,
not with the amount it eats, but with its
excrements compared with those Of an
animal perfectly healthy and vigorous.
II undigested portions of its food
are found in the excrement, then
it 10 apparent that it is fed too
much; Il the excrement is in
"a loose and watery condition, it is prob
able, also, that this animal has been
.over-fed, and in either case there
should be reduction of food. By re-
duction of food do not mean q les
sening of tile amount Of hay and grass,
but the feeding of more concentrated
foods, such as grain or milk; beginning
with small amount and not increas-
ing the ration beyond the degree OF
perfect digestion. This system of feed
ing will always insure healthy condi-
ton and greater gain than with an ex-
cess OF food, unless colds should inter-
vene by allowing the animal to become
chilled either by exposure to storms or
cold drafts. y G M
A farmer should always remember
that it Is not the amount Of food which
goes into an animals stomach that
makes the largest gain; but what it
can entirely digest and assimilate.
These differences are so great that ex-
periments in feeding can never be made
infallible tests of the values of food, or
of different breeds of animals for fat
tening, or, indeed, of classes of animals
of the same breed. AS an illustration
of this point, one calf may consume
quart Of linseed-oil meal and wheat
middlings and be in perfect health,
while another of the same age, on this
amount of food, would have scours;
whereas, if this kind of food was re-
duced to one-half or One-fourth the
amount, it would do well. TIE same
law Will apply with equal force to
young pigs or lambs, and also to full
grown animals.
have learned that the growth and
fattening of animals do not depend
upon the abundance of food so much
as upon other conditions; the most i'm
portant of these, as l have herein stat
ed, being the digestive powers of the
stomach. The tone and ability OF the
stomach to perform its functions may
be maintained and strengthened by
mixing less nutritious food with that
which is cooling in its nature, such as
roots and forage, which may be cut
fine, with the grain. When thus mixed,
there is a tendency to cloying and to
fermentation. There will also be q
greater secretion of saliva and moro
thorough mastication,a without which
there can not be perfect digestion. The
stomachs of some animals require moro
rest than those of others, and, without
It there will be continual disorder and
a feeble gain. The losses accruing to
farmers from indiscriminate feeding, re-
CARELESS of the peculiarities of the ami
mails, are enormous Colonel Curtis. IN
Rural New Yorker.