Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-07-13

Qullt SURF W iOcO ny liic oldhodttiOh. II
he feeds his purchased stock-food, of
whatever variety, to worthless scrub
stock. and wastes the manure thus
produced, he will realize but small per-
centage in return for his money. BY an
opposite course the investment might be
a profitable one. And so of commercial
fertilizers; If the purchaser does not
make an intelligent application of them;
if he applies them to soils already con-
tanning an abundant supply of the same
elements, and yet deficient in other es-
sential elements of plant growth; If he
applies them to non-payng crops, or
fails, as he may in various ways, to use
them to the best advantage, he will be
sure to lose, If he pays price which
with opposite management might have
given satisfactory profit.
Values in farm practice, as in most
other business affairs, are merely relative
terms. A. may confidently assert that it
pays to purchase grain at the market
price, to feed farm stock while b. may be
just as confident that it does not, and both
be right from their respective stand
points. and both be wrong from the stand
point of their neighbor c., who has pro-
vided himself with all the necessary APP
planes for home production. The sci
entific helps which the farmer can call to
his aid at the present time are much more
abundant and reliable than ever before.
We are not compelled to trust to individ-
ual testimony in these matters. Many of
the best intellects in our own country,
and in Europe, are earnestly engaged in
the scientific investigation of subjects di-
rectly connected with practical agricul-
ture. They are aided in their work by
the best appliances which human ingenu-
ity has yet devised.
In the feeding and care of stock there
is wide field for Improvement in the av-
erage Vermont practice. While, in times
of financial depression like the present,
the utmost economy should be practiced
in all the departments of agricultural
work, we should avoid that parsimony
which to save comparatively trif1ing
expense would rob farm stock of that
food and care so essential to thrift. This
is not economy, but reckless waste of
both the means and opportunities for
financial success.
We should call that intelligence of a
very low order which would lead the
managers of a household to open the
doors of their dwelling in very cold
weather, and then attempt to keep up the
heat to a comfortable degree by crowding
their stove with fuel. But how much
more Of intelligence is displayed by the
farmer, whose stables are even more eX-
posed to the low outside temperature. by
cracks in their walls, and who, under
such conditions, attempts to keep up the
temperature of his stock by the consump-
ton of hay and straw.
No farmer is rich enough to afford this
style of farming, while none are so poor
that they will not be made the poorer by
such neglect and abuse of farm stock as
is often witnessed during the long cold
winters.
The amount and value of farm manures
are dependent upon the amount and quail
ity of the stock-food consumed. The
farmer who feeds generously will receive
corresponding returns, not only in the
growth and condition of his stock, but
also in the amount and value of his sta
BILE manures.
The following will be found to be safe
rule when applied to dairy practice, and
will apply to all departments of stock
farming, where a rapid increase in flesh
il desired, though not as apparent in all
cases as in weekly dairy returns. The
profits of dairying will increase with
every judicious increase of food up to the
point where the digestive organs of the
COW begin to OvertaYed.
If. in winter dairy, the cows are fed
only enough to restore the natural wastes
of the system and to keep up the animal
heat the production of milk will be small
and produced at the expense of the flesh
) of the COW. | will assume, by way of
illustration, that hay alone will do this.
If. then. we add six quarts per COW of a
properly constituted grain ration. we shall
find if our cows are of good dairy stock,
that our dairy business has changed from
one of loss to profit. The profit in the
case supposed will come entirely from the
IN, Lao - =
realized will be in accordance with the|
rule which have given. Dairy or beef|
products come from the food consumed.
The more consumed and we'll digested|
the larger the product and profits.
The producer of beef who feeds his|
steers so sparingly during the winter that
there is no increase in weight, has only
his manure, and that of poor quality, tOI
show for his hay, care and interest on the|
money invested, provided there is no adj
vance in the market price of this class of
stock.
In the selection and adaptation of food
: ratiOns, there is wide field for improve
: ment in our general farm practice. Wei
, can not only increase the amount and|
value of our stock products, by a BETTER
= adaptation of our food 10 the wants of
; the animals, but we can also greatly in7
crease the value of our manures by al
, judicious selection of the stock food con-
sumed. We should feed for specific
object, and adapt the food of our stock to|
the object sought. The grain ration of
l the dairy COW should differ from that of
; the beef creature, the food of growing|
stock from that of mature animals etc.
If we have two tons of corn meal, and
exchange one for a ton of bran, and
thoroughly mix it with the balance, wei
shall thus provide "A ration for dairy on
growing stock much superior to the clean
meal, and by this exchange also we shall
: add to the value of the manure produced
The manurial value of a ton of bran is
Sl3.25, while that of corn meal is but
1922, thus gaining 1898 in the value of
our plant food by the exchange. If we
: exchange ton of corn for ton of cot
ton-seed meal, the gain in the value Of
: fertiizing material will be much greater,
. A ton of the former is worth but S6.3l