Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-12-31

Animals require more food in winter than
in summer. for the reason that the radia-
ton of heat from the body is greater in win
ter; and the larger the animal the faster
the loss of heat. BY the use of the term
radiated is implied the giving off of heat
from the skin, but every ounce of cold wa
ter drank and every breath of air inhaled
assists in the loss. The proportion of food
required, therefore, depends not only upon
the size of the animal, but also upon the
conditions surrounding it. The purposes
for which the animal is intended influence
the result, as well as its age and the quality
of the food upon which it is fed The horse
that performs labor requires food suitable
to a repair of the waste of muscle and it's
sue; the fattening steer needs food of car
bonaceous character; while the dairy COW,
yielding full flow of milk has the triple
duty to perform of providing milk and but
ter, supporting her embryo calf, and fur
nishing heat and sustenance to her own
| body.
Economy does not consist in giving a bare
| allowance nor is it economical to feed hay
and grain in excess of that required. The
| use of ensilage and roots though sometimes
absolutely necessary to the thrift of the
stock, should be accompanied by food of a
! more concentrated nature. in order to pro
vide those elements that are lacking in the
more bulky food and to balance the ration
so as to complete it for the purposes requir-
ed. The use of linseed meal when corn is
fed is not always for the increase of carcass
or milk, but to counterfeit the tendency to
| constipation; yet there are occasions when
such oily food is an absolute necessity, while
the heterogeneous character of the linseed en-
ables it to take the place of some other ma
terial not so easily obtained
Good clover hay viii supply all the nitro
genous matter necessary, but in severe
weather an animal might perish because the
carbonaceous elements were lacking: while
the exclusive use of carbonaceous food
though tending to the production of fat, i,
lacking in nitrogen and the phosphates, anC
is therefore incomplete and deficient. Ii
feeding his animals the farmer should there
fore consider the age, size condition OF
health. shelter, purposes intended, stage o
growth and temperature of the atmosphere
and should so regulate and balance the foot
as to supply them with all they require.
But the cheapest and best labor savin,
and food-regulating agent is a good warn
shelter Every ounce of heat saved to tn
) animals by the protection against wind an,
storm saves that proportion of food whic
would otherwise be lost in furnishing tn
neat taken away by exposure. Shelter is
therefore, in a certain sense, food, and
saves labor because it is always within tn
power of the animals to appropriate 70
: themselves. No cracks, crevices or leak
r in the roof should exist Dampness an
5 cold are companions in their influences. Tn
wise farmer will not only save food by pre-
l viding warmth and protection against ex
2 ternal influences, but in severe weather wi
so proportion the food as to furnish tina
- which is t-producing, thereby not onl
economizing but preventing loss ,-Phiiddo
r Record