Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-01-14

We Inlhk Inero are general principles,
however, of almost universal application.
The cutting and steaming Of fodder,
and cooking. of feed, are admitted to be
necessary for the greatest amount Of
benefit from a given amount of feed, yet
the labor necessary to do so may cost
more than the advantage gained, and
lead to and even justify more prodigRl
way of feeding Then perhaps every+
body should not practice this way of
feeding. The fact is. that our fertile
fields have yielded so plsntifully of feed
and fodder. and our labor saving machin-
cry has made it so easily gathered, that
it is often the cheapest thing we have
got, and made US predigal to fault in
our manner of feeding stock. If we
could have the experience Of old Swift
zerland with her homes among the Alps,
to cut clover on mountain sides, and car
ry it on their backs, and drop it in
through the roef from the hill above, We
would learn to husband it az they do.
They would keep an animal oD what
one wastes with us; and, although we
may never find 1t necessary to practice
such rigid economy as they, yet the whole
trend of events even in this country,
should sdmonish us as farmers and feed
ers. that greater economy has been our
wont in times past, will be found me-
cessity in the near future, and every ad-
vance we make in that direction Is wise
even now. And rules not yet of univer-
sal propriety may soon become 30.
Again, the object for which stock is
kept has something to do with how it
shall be kept. In general, we have four
distinct objects in keeping our domestic
animals: 1st. Growth and development:
I'd. Flesh and fat; Sd. Incidental prod
ucts, such as milk, wool, etc. and 4th.
Fer labor. Now, what is best for one
object, may not be best for another. The
kind Of food proper for one may not, and
as we know is not always best in anoth
er. These then must be left to the dis
cretion of the feeder, who should learn
by obsei ivation and the doings Of others,
ever remembering that he who learns by
experience, learns hardly, while they that
learn by others experience, learn wisely.
Then, On subjects like these, there can
be no ironclsd laws fixed. But as we
have said there are rules of universal
application; and negatively, there are
things that should never be done.
Never leave the stock In the bare,
frost bleached fields in the fall, neglect
ed and hungry, thinking to save feed by
putting of the feeding day as long as
possible.
Don't throw the feed in the nlth and
mud, even if it is hog you are feeding.
Select a clean place, or take some old
boards and make one. Never have only
feeding or trough room enough for half
the number fed, leaving the small and
weak ones to stand back hungry and
neglected. Don't give big feed now
and then, and then think the animal can
afford to starve awhile. Do not kick and
knock your stock around because they
happen to do something that because
you are mad any way-don't suit you.
Never turn them to stack neglected,
until some stormy day it falls over on,
and kills or Injuries the half of them.
Don't attempt to keep more stock than
you can keep right.
These things, we say, should never be
done. And this lastis one of the things
that meets us at the very Threshold of
the subject. Attempt to keep only what
you can keep right. You are not doing
this if you have so many that you are
forced to have too many in place or in
q flock. You are not doing so, If your
available supply of feed is not sufficient
to carry through without stint. You
are not doing so, if you are forced to
turn lot out to take pot luck, and live
or die as the case may be. Better sell In
the fall, or even give away. One good
animal is always better than two bad
ones-one fat animal worth two poor
ones. One we'll fed COW will give more
milk than two starved ones; one big fat
merino will shear more wool than two
poor ones, and better wool. The half is
worth more than the whole in the spring.
if you only have half enough for the
whole to eat. Give it all to the half, and
sell or give the other half away.
The great propristy and profit of keep
ing an animal always fed, always grow
ing, and always fat, seems not to be ap>
preciated by very many farmers. A fat
animal eats less than poor one, other
things being equal; q fat animal gains
fat faster on the same feed than poor
one-and like saving meney, 1t is the
first dollar that is hardest to save, SO it
is the first pound of fat that is hardest
to make. Every succeeding pound is
easier, until the very fat animal will
grow fatter on feed on which his poor
would but grow poorer. And
as for the shambles, the fatter the better.
You have not only the increased number
of pounds, but the increased rate per
pound for which the animal will sell.
Then is not q very important matter,
that in the winter the stock should be
kept fat? If you are over-stocksd, you
cannot do this. Then we say again, keep
no more than you can keep fat.
Again, another rule, and we feel like
saying, one of universal application.
Yet we know that by the practice of
very many, their testimony is that they
don't believe this, is that all stock should
have a warm, clean. dry shelter-we
dor's mean fence corners, old logs and