The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-16
cotton-seea Meal for Cattle.


s;tv saws: 1t is desired to call attention to
some of the practical as well as scientific
sastures connected with the bulls
and meal as a stock food. The practice is
not new one, except in the sense that the
whole cotton seed oil industry is recent, and
hence none of its outgrowths can have been
long established. Probably the first at
tanpts at systematIcal feeding an exclusive
ration of bulls and meal on large scale
have been made within four, or five years.
These cases have been local. confined to the
vicinities of the oil manufacturing centers
ike New Orleans, Memphis, Houston, Little
Rock. Raleigh and Atlanta, and hence have
not attracted general attention.
Up TO the present time nothing like an
economical utilization of the cotton seed
hulls has been attempted, the common
practice having been to burn them under
the mill boilers as a cheap means of dispo-
sal. and even the valuable ashes thus pro-
duced have been largely exported to other
narts of the country. As an absorbent for
bedding stock they are found to undergo
rapid decay, giving off perceptible quanti-
ties of ammonia, and hence are not regarded
with favor by those who have tried them in
this way.
The process of separating the kernels of
cotton seed from the hulls, in the oil mills,
consists essentially in crushing and cutting
the seeds and dividing the two portions by
a system of screens and shakers. At first
sight it would seem to be physical impos-
Co. animal 70
preciable quantity of the hulls thus pro-
duced. They consist of fragments of seed
coats one sixteenth to one-fourth inch in
diameter, of dark brown color, very tough
and eathery and entangled in mass of cot
ton fbers, which still adhere to the outside
of the hulls and which the ginning process
fails to entirely remove. 1t is apparently
the most dry and tasteless form of food
which could be found. 1t is a matter of
difficulty to reduce it to anything like a
suitable form for analysis. In the mortar
it forms an elastic felt, while it is scarcely
amenable to any grinding process. Taken
into the mouth 1T is harsh and dry. Masti-
. cation promotes an abundant secretion of
saliva, as would be only natural with any
sikillldE uldDcl IL ndo Noly 1IOlo DdoU6a
and that apparently due to the small parti-
cIcs of tue kernels remaining with the bulls.
Altogether they possess apparently few in
viting features as food. In spite of this it
is said that animals which have never seen
the hulls or meals before soon acquire an
eager appetite for them, and after few
days prefer such diet TO one composed of
hay and corn. Probably this is due to the
meal rather than the hulls, which, as already
noted, are well nigh tasteless.
From the large amount Of fiber on the
hulls the danger of balling up or producing
Btoppages of the bowels might be antici-
pated. But we have been unable to learn
Of single such case, nor is there even a
tendency toward constipation. On the con-
rary, the effect upon the bowels is loosen
ing, which, with an excess of meal, may
develop into securing" This is the we'll
known result of excessive feeding of cot
ton seed meal in connection with other ma
terials. The bulls and meal seem particu-
larly adapted, therefore, to being fed TO-
gether, the effects of each counteracting the
other.
Ali ages and conditions of cattle have
been fed for beef Naturally the same gen
eral principles which apply in other meth
DDS of feeding hold good here. Poor,
scrubby animals, too young or too old, and
in bad condition, are Improbable under
any system. According to some authori-
ties 215 to years is the best age; in Hous-
ton. Tex, steers from to years old were
most profitable. Steers are preferred to
heifers. The best season is winter; summer
feeding has been found Improbable. The
/ feeding should last three or four months,
and the animals Opposed of as soon as they
have reached a standstill in the increase of
| Of weight It has been noted that, if car
RED beyond this point, huIl-fed cattle are
liable to degenerate, especially on the ap-
. proach Of warm weather. An average
steer should receive at the beginning three
Or four pounds of meal daily, gradually in
creasing to six pounds. After six weeks the
Iced may be increased to eight or ten
pounds. During the whole time as many
hulls should be given as the animal will eat,
but no more. Stress is laid upon these two
points, viz: The feeding should be done
with regularity and system, and no excess
Oh food should be allowed to accumulate in
the troughs, since the hulls, especially
when wet by the SOLDERING of the
cattle, quickly become sour and offensive.
Iteration mentioned above is,,that fed at
Memphis, and costs nine to nine and one
nal cents daily per animal. At Raleigh,
N G., for steers of 750 pounds weight, the
ration was four or five pounds of meal and
twenty pounds of hulls, and costs cents
daily per animal At Houston, Tex, seven
pounds of meal and twenty pounds of hulls
were fed daily at a cost of to 9 cents.
heef produced in this way is said to be of
unusually fine quality. At least it has no
Questionable features. The lean portion is
fright in color; the fat white and brittle.
Inc butchers complain that animals fat
.ehed In this way have an excess Of kidney
-al' 1t Is alto claimed that such animals
shrink less in live weight in shipping than
O'aefs' A steer Weighing 1,030 pounds
gross yielded $50 pounds net
10 the local diaries in the vicinity of
memphis, Tennessee, cotton seed bulls have
O'en led as sub stitute for hay for twelve
VI nlteen years, and SO thoroughly has the
piactlce become established by reason Of its
~'0eS'' convenience and cheapness, that
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