The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-08-03
ECONOMICAL FEEpINo.
C0mmOn-Sense Suggestions for WOstsE
Farmer and StOck-Growers.

CommOn-Sense Suggestions for Western |
Farmers and StOcIC-GrOwers.
No doubt the greatest economy is Sc
cured by grinding grain for feed
ing cattle, and the finer it is
ground the greater is the saving.
Cutting the feed is an equal economy,
and it has been found that the meal
given with cut fodder is so much bet
ter digested than whole grain and
long fodder, and there is so much less
waste in feeding that the cost of the
work is fully repaid and profit is
made besides. IT has been found prof
liable to purchase a grinder which
takes in the whole ear with the husks
and brushes and grinds the cob, thus
providing sufficient roughness with
the grain when no more than twenty
or thirty head of cattle are fed. A
two horse power machine of this kind
will grind feed for one hundred head,
hence the cost is no more than two
cents per head at the most for grind
ing, while the, saving in fifty bushels
of corn may be easily equal to ten or
/ twelve bushels daily. Oats are a use
full addition to the corn and may be
! ground with this grain, but bran is the
/ most valuable, and when the unhusl1ed
corn is ground the addition of ten
pounds of bran daily per head would
! render the use of straw or other coarse
! and cheap fodder quite sufficient with
out hay. In some places the tops of the
cOrnstall1s are crushed and ground
with the ear and the husks, and the
feed is ample without any addition.
This mixed feed has been found very
beneficial, and to fatten horses much
faster and more cheaply than corn or
! hay. just here we might suggest the
value of the siIo in feeding cattle dur
ing the winter, for when a crop of corn
can be cut and put into the silO all
ready for distribution to the cattle
that is. the whole stalk, with the ear
upon it-for no more than one dollar
per ton, all expenses of growing the
corn and putting it into the silO being
included, and when a ton of such en-
silage will feed steer for forty days,
and one acre of corn thus prepared will
feed five steers for six months and fat
ten them for market, this process is
certainly very promising for the West
ern stock feeder, who can grow corn
cheaper than it can be grown any
where else on the face of the earth.
A grinder of the kind above referred
to can be procured in the West for
about $50. A cutter Of two-horse power
can be procured with the power for
800, and this will not only cut feed of
any kind, but will cut the corn for en-
silage. When cattle are housed they
viii do better to be kept up constantly,
but they should be kept clean and
watered regularly twice a day. The
manure made, even in Kansas, will
pay for this labor. If each steer is
provided with a loose stall and plenty
of straw to keep him clean there is no
necessity for any labor in removing
the manure until the cattle are turned
of. An excellent plan is to have a
shed made with a central passage wide
enough for a wagon to pass through,
the stalls being on each side. The
partitions are movable, and when the
stock are turned off the partitions are
taken out and wagons can go all
through to. move the manure. Each
stall is provided with feeding trough
high enough to prevent it from being
fouled and water tub for drinking.
The labor of attending to cattle in
such shed is reduced to a minimum,
and is little more than that required
when they run in corn lot and helE
themselves. 1t is not difficult for one
man and boy to tend one hundred
head of cattle thus arranged if the feed
is handy, and with a twO-hOrse power
: cutter or grinder they can manage
with the help of another boy to assist
in distributing the feed and water
There viii not be much time to spare
s but this has been done. For forty
1 head, with an economical arrangement
I of the cattle, the feed and for the
O watering, one man would have to Spend
j about half his time. II he cut AND
j ground the feed all his time would b.
t taken .up.-N. 7. Times.