St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-11
THE FEEDING INSTINCT.
The Faculty Needed Discussed by
A. Il. Crosby in the Prairie

The Faculty Needed Discussed by
A. Il. Crosby in the Prairie
Farmer.
A. L. Crosby in Prairie Farmer.
Some men have an instinct that teaches
when to feed it to animals. In different
men this instinct is developed as apply.
ing to different kinds of animals; some
men are always successful in feeding
pigs, some in sheep. and some in COWS
or other kinds of stock. [ know man
who can get better returns from cows
OUT of a given quantity of feed than any
of his neighbors; with pigs he is not a
success by any means.
| have neighbor who keeps his
horses in the best condition of any.
farmer i'll this vicinity. Some time ago
he was in my barnyard and one of his
horses with him, fat, sleek and we'll
groomed and well trained. We were
looking at my cows when he said: Il
don't see how it is, but l can't keep
my. cows in such fine con-
dition as you do yours He then
added: 81 give them all they want
to eat" IfOund on inquiry that he was
feeding heavier than l. just then one
of my horses was led out of the stable,
and said: ''That is Just the case with
in firSt-rate order; now look at that horse
and compare him with yours. My horses
have all the food necessary. but they
do not look as well as yours" Here was
a case in point; the feeding instinct
of my neighbor was in the direction of
horses, mine of cows. / have never had
lot of cows that looked ill-kept, and il
| have certain kind of feed 1 can tell
almost ipstinetiyely whether the cows
will like it and thrive on it or not, but
with horses it is different; am not so
sure with them. With pigs also l am
successful, and can get from them
good return from bushel of corn or
other feed
The daryman should have the feed
ing instinct strongly developed cow
ward, so so much depends upon how
and with what the COWS are fed. If he
is not a born cow feeder he must study
up the science OF feeding if he wants to
make the greatest profit out of his herd.
1t won't do TO write to the
papers and get a feeding ration
prescribed, as the doctors give a
prescription. and 60 on feeding it
blindly. saying it has the requisite
amount of albuminoids, carbohydrates,
etc., i'll it; but you must experiment,
try different quantities and eombina-
tions, and see just what and how much
your COWS can eat profitably. You
can't give certain fixed per cent of
food to hundred pounds of COW
indiscriminateiy. Some COWS can
eat and digest only 8 per cent
of their life weight. while others
may eat three, four or more pounds per
100. Then again your ration may call
for say two pounds of linseed meal, and
while you can not get that cheaply you
can get bran. 1t way be wise to SubSti-
tute the bran for the linseed meal, or
perhaps use timothy hay in place of the
clover recommended: but in all feeding
the COW must he the Judge, and the ver-
dict she gives will be found in the milk
pail or churn. Tables of feeding stutfs
giving their value as food, and their
mannrial value after passing through
the animal. are useful; but it must al
ways be borne in mind that they are
comparative Only-are the chemists
estimate of value, not the ANIMALS or
the soils.
Here is where the feeding instinct
comes into play. 1t should teach the
feeder whether the ration is the right
one for his cows. 1t may be all right
for the theoretical" COW, but his COW
may have far more or less capacity for
digesting food, and Judgment should
be used in giving all. and no more, than
can be profitably eaten.