The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-05-22
Feeding and Fattening systematically.

Systems of feeding must, of course,
vary greatly with the locality; the va
riety of foods used will be governed by
quality and price; those costing least
money, if of equal value, will have the
preference. One proposition should
commend itself to everybody in all To-
calities alike-never to allow an ami
NAL to get poor in winter or summer,
and especially is this important if it is
designed for fattening. 1t seems too
plain to be doubted that just in proper
Uion to the loss of flesh in winter, will
the animal-be reduced in value; it must
be brought back to a thriving condi-
ton equal to that before shrinking be-
fore any profit can be made.
How many farmers act upon this self
evident truth, even in the great grain
producing regions of the United States?
Those who do are mostly those who
make stock their principle industry.
It should commend itself equally 10
those who make the selling of grain
their principle means of profit; these of
all farmers, should have a surplus of
grain. There can be but one reason
why so many of this class starve their
stock in winter-they do not reflect that
certain portion of food given goes to
supply the daily animal waste, and they
can not afford to take journals de-
voted to their interests, from which
they might learn.
The stock-breeder and feeder is more
a reader of papers devoted to his call
ing, and also reader of books upon
livestock. He is not afraid they will
conflict with what his father knew
''about farming" He rather hopes
they will; what his father knew has
been pretty well drilled into him, and
he wants to know something more.
Forty years ago it was the almost
universal practice to allow all, except
fattening stock, to shift for themselves
in winter with little hay and an Occa-
siOnal nubbin. There was more reason
for it then than now, when cheap trans
portation carries feed (grain, mill-stuff,
bran, etc. a thousand miles at a slight
advance upon its cost where grown.
Thus the East has profited by the set
Element of the West owing to the cheap
freight. Many Eastern farmers have,
indeed, been obliged to change or at
least to modify their cultivated crops;
but not to the lessening of their profits.
When the value of the manure is con-
! sidered, there is money in feeding in
the East. There cattle and sheep bring
more per pound than stock shipped
from the West. The lower freightage
on stock, and the manure have been
held by intelligent feeders to compen-
safe for the increased cost of feeding.
The general farmer can not too soon
| learn from the best stockholders, if he
will not from tirst-class agricultural
| journals, lessons in Science-YeS, science
of feeding. The feeder who never
! lets his stock fall off in condition, al
| ways has something fat to sell. He buys
! cattle raised by the men who do not be-
! lieve in books, or papers, or, at least,
who will not profit by their teachings.
| These cattle, thin in flesh, but with
| frames capable of being filled up with
! good meat, he buys at two or three
! cents less per pound than if they were
! fat. For instance, he buys n steer
weighing 1000 pounds at the Chicago
! stOck-yards for four cents per pound,
! $40. He puts on 300 pounds of flesh,
! largely fat, and sells the same steer for
! six or seven cents per pound, or SIS to
! sol. He has not only increased the
price by what he put on, but has en-
| HANGED the price of the original carcass
| by two or three cents per pound. Facts
are none the less valuable because they
| happen to be written facts. On the 9th
er hand, there is great danger in the
! opposite extremes STOCK taken from a
fresh pasture or from the straw-yard
can not eat and digest so perfectly as to
assimilate all the value of large rations
of grain; they must be accustomed to
the change gradually, and their stom-
achs must be kept extended by some
coarse feed. The feeder who has learned
his business understands this. The man
! who doesn't, and ''whO doesn't take
much stock in book-larnin', anyway
if he ever gets the idea that there is
money in good feeding, generally rush
es off in this extreme, stuffs his stock
torepletion, causing indigestion, scours,
or some other trouble. Oh. yes, he
learns lesson! and too often becomes
fixed in the belief that there is no money
in ''fattening on grain" ''Hain't he
| tried it, Yes! but if he had read
more, he would have known better how
to feed, and would have made money
y. Perianl, IN Rural NeJO Yorker.