West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-01-23
CATTLE FEEDING,
Facts and Principles which Servo 40 =
Valuable Aid TO the Farmer.

Valuable Aid TO the Farmer.
Farmers who are to purchase cattle
GODS are looking about them with
REV to buying what is most economical
or the desired uses. Some are query
ny whether they have been wise i'm
growing certain crops when they might
nave grown others. Others are i'm
ioubt rs 10 what they had better pur-
'hase. All other questions turn on the
)ac which involves the method If feed
NJ to be adopted Most farmers have
philosophy OF cattle-feeding in which
hey are FIRMLY grounded. Some are dis
posed TO ask advice, and are not quite
sure where they ought TO o. for il.
They may have hoped that the German
feeding rations would serve as "A guide
! to large extent, but they are now >liS-
; outraged in this hope by being told that
we must wait for an American science
! Of cattle-feeding, a somehow the laws
/ of ply siolOgy and chemistry change "a
wc cross the water. So the doubtful
ones are disposed to adopt old-time
methods and turn n deaf ear TO new
tangled notions. They reason that if
SC cnCc is wrong i'm one point she may
be in all, and they will take no risks.
Possibly some scientific friend suggests
that the underlying facts and principles
in the German science of cattle feeding
may be all right, and that the formulas
constructed for the guide of practice
may simply need revising, but they
point to other scientific men who don't
seem to think so, and suggest that
zusl 4 4
l. there Il science of cattle feeding?
Or can science help the farmer i'm the
practice Of cattle feeding? II VIC mean
by science of cattle feeding that per-
feet and inialliblc rules have been form
ulated for the guidance ofpractice, then
there Is no such science.
If we simply mean that scientific in
vcStigation has revealed great many
facts and principles which serve Is a
valuable aid to practice, and which ex-
plain many things not before UNDER
stood, then we are not claiming too
much. 1t is hardly possible that hun
dreds of cattle foods could have been
analy2ed and hundreds of physiological
and feeding experiments and investiga-
tons conducted in SO exact a manner
that the conditions were measured to a
learned These investigations have not
been made in bungling or careless
manner. They have not been in the
hands of novices. The best scientific
appliances and talent i'm existence have
been utilized, and the results mean too
much to be blown aside bv a puff of
prejudice or To be disproved by in
vestigatiOns any less profound and ex-
tended.
All questions are not settled MANY
important facts doubtless wait discoy-
cry. 1t is true, nevertheless, that help
can be obtained from what we already
know. 1t will be the purpose of the few
papers which follow this one To suggest
some of the facts and principles which
we can safely accept.
The facts bearing upon cattle feeding
cover broad field. Let us notice Their
scope. We need to know the compost
ton of large number of foods, also
the composition of the animal body
/ We need to understand what is TO be
accomplished in building up the animal
body, what are the nutritive processes
the uses of the different Ingredients OF
foods and how they are digested and
assim lated by the animal
1t Is also important to know how to
combine different foods so as to obtain
The maximum effect from given guam
tity of food. Some kinds of cattle food
are modified in condition and compost
ton by the treatment they receive. The
species, breed, age, treatment and uses
of the animals fed are other factors
which must be considered. Enough is
known in regard to all these points to
aid practice very materially in securing
rational methods of feeding, and let US
not fall into the error of rejecting the
really valuable in our attempts to sift
out the erroneous. Phiiddeiphia Press