The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-06-15

| lhey ate IL readily ana ne continued leei'
ing it during the summer and when he
brought his horses homo in September
they were never in better condition.
Mr. Henry 5. Coudon thought that
while Mr.. Noyes did not possibly over
estimate the value of good clover hay, he
| though that in stating his yield of milk,
his experience to be OF value should en-
brace comparative tests of different foods,
| giving the number of pounds of milk
produced from given number of pounds
of food. He took this occasion to reiter-
ate his views recently expressed before
| the club, to the effect that he had little
| confidence in the modern methods of
manipulating ''rations" for cattle. He
| believed that the secret of successful feed
ing lay in farmer giving his stock good
| corn or grain in proper quantities which
| the animal itself if properly cared for
will best appropriate. Under modern
fancy methods of feeding it was puzzling
to know how many stomachs cow had,
judged by the variety of food required to
feed her. He valued very highly Hungar.
ian hay for COWS, and cited his expert
ence where his dairy woman readily
detected the falling off in milk when
other hay was without his knowledge
substituted for it. Summarily stated his
opinion was that good clover or Hungar-
ian hay, fed with corn and oats ground
together or with bran produced the lar
gest yield of milk.
MIR. Joseph Coudon said his experience
in feeding cattle whether for milk, butter
or beef, had been limited, but his prefer
ence was for good clover hay, corn meal
and cob meal.
Mr.. Moore said he had no experience
with enslage but in his feeding for beef
he used ground corn and oats and bran
for winter feeding. He was like the old
colored minister when he rode up to a
brothers house. please give my horse
dozen good ears of corn, corn is good
enough for my horse" In other words
he meant that the farmer to feed cattle
for beef successfully should feed not too
sparingly the grain he grew on his own
farm. Bought grain did not fatten cattle
rapidly, simply because every time the
feed bin was opened the farmer thought
of the money paid for the measure of
grain fed to his stock, and the stock
never got enough to put beef on their
bones. Whatever profit he had realized
in the business of stock feeding, he owed
to liberal feeding of home grown grain.
He might be Thought old fogyish in his
notions, but judged by practical results,
he still thought his old fashioned method
the best. He thought clover hay, or long
fodder, fed with ground corn and oats,
with bran the best beef producing feed
for stock
Mr.. Kitchener said he used fodder not
hay for feeding cattle, his experience hav-
ing attestea the superiority of ground
corn and oats, bran, or cob meal.
DR.. Gayley spoke of the Importance of
mixing grasses as suggested in the reports
of the Agricultural College at Ontario,
Canada. By these mixtures of grasses
most of which are perennial, it had been
found that an acre would maintain in
food one cow, and contribute to increase
the quantity and quality of milk. He
thought that the farmers of this county
would do well to consider this question
of mixing grasses as food for cattle.
Mr.. Lloyd Balderston said that as the
discussion seemed to take wide range,
he would in a desultory manner outline
his experience in stock feeding. A. very
interesting and probably important test
of the real values of methods of feeding
cattle for beef had been made some years
ago by his friend William Moore who
was present and could correct him if he
should from default OF memory go astray
in stating it in detail. The object of this
test was to ascertain if possible which
was the better method OF feeding, to use
meal and long fodder or hay separately,
or together in feeding stock for beef.
Out of a number of head, two steers were
selected, and fed upon fodder, and meal
separately, while the others we've fed
the beginning of the season and so con-
tinued. This test was based upon the
theory that meal required some more
bulky nutriment, to be fed with it, to be
raised by the steer and Reconstructed, so
that it could be fully taken up and be
assimulated and therefore the full per-
centage of nutriment be obtained On
the other hand meal fed alone, passed rap
idly into the lower stomach, and was not
re-masticated, aud therefore not fully ap-
propriated by the animal. The test con
tinued through the season, showed that
the two steers fed as stated, weighed less
each by fifty pounds than the others fed
by comblned fodder or hay and meal with
ohaff. AS to relative values of hay, MIR.
Balderston thought timothy the poorest,
| while clover and Hungarian hay the best
feed. OF the latter two he thought pos
iuOlC lawn doly VI
In feeding he recommended that little
cotton seed be used to impart flavor of
variety to the feed which was always de-
sirable. On this point of variety he
hinged the value of eusilage. He had
built silo, but was not FULLY prepared
to Say, that the value of ensilage extend
ed beyond the variety of feed that it at
forded in the winter. 1t was noticeable,
that in the countries (England) and else
where, and sections of this country where
ensilage was most approved, the climate
was too cool to fully mature the Indian
corn or maize (Which made the best en-
silage) in the ear. On the contrary with
us, we have summers long enough to fully
ripen our corn crop, and where this is the
case, he believed the matured grain, ju-
| diciously fed, more valuable than the en-
| silage, made from it when cut green.
Mr.. Noyes thought that the best profit
| of the farmer for milk, or dairying pur-
| poses lay in the uses of grasses.
Mr.. Balderston gave his experience
with Alsike Clover, of which he had a
| field now most beautiful to look upon,
and fragrant to the nosJrils. As the red
clover crop had become precarious, he
thought farmers should now be turning
their attention to other kinds.
| Mr.. Carson advocated the idea of af.
foruing cattle variety of food for daily
uses. He thought iavorably of linseed
meal, and wheat bran. He did not think