The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-04-17
THE FARMING WORLD.
DOES IT PAY TO CUT FEED

some Conflicting Opinions on IN Impor-
tant subject.
A correspondent OF the Country
Gentleman says: notice what d. w. s.
says, p. ~. about feeding his stock Of
cows. calves and sheep-''Hay must be
fed whole, as have no means Of cut
ting" Also what Prof. Stewart says in
reply-"If he adheres to this view he
can not feed in the most economical
manner. or get the best results from his
expenditure Of money for feed He
should at once provide himself with .
good straw-cutter, cutting various
lengths. and power to run it; or he may,
no doubt, find horse-powers out Of use
during the winter. which he could hire
for mere trifle. The difference in cost
Of wintering his stock and producing
butter from his cows would more than
pay this expense the present winter
Now wish to ask. does it pay to 90 to
the expense OF cutting good hay or
bright, good straw to feed cows, calves
and sheep? In answering this question
for myself, have to say that it does
not / have had number OF straw-cut-
tiers. and used them to quite an extent,
but have never been able to &c t any bet
ter returns from cut than uncut feed
when fed to milking cows. When the
milk was daily measured or weighed. If
the cows received their daily rations of
meal and shorts, the milk was as liber-
ally supplied when fed uncut hay as
when cut and mixed as advocated by
Prof. Stewart. 1t is easy to see the Diff
ference ii the meal or single portion
Of the mixture is left out-the milk in
every instance is less in measure or
weight
The writer has attended two farmers
institutes, and dairynnen in both of them
took decided stand that there was no
benefit gained by cutting the hay and
mixing the meal through it; If the cows
got their meal, it made no difference in
their milk or butter product whether
the hay with which they were fed was
cut or fed whole. Some of these dairy
men have had rations prescribed by
Prof. Stewart, and bought straw-cut-
tiers and worked after his formulas
till they were satisfied that the expense
OF cutting and mixing was not repaid by
SO doing; one sold his cutter very cheap
to get rid Of it, and this man was en-
gagged in furnishing winter milk.
Now. both can not be right. Either
these dairymen and myself have not
been able to discover the benefits that
Prof. Stewart attaches to the cut
ting process, or he is overpraising its
benefits as he views it. How are the great
mass of farmers to decide which is
right, except they test the cut and
uncut feeding for themselves under SIM
liar circumstances? The cows should
have the same care and treatment
during both tests. bearing in mind
that cows eating meal and hay
dry and whole will require more
water than those fed on cut feed and
meal wet. 1t is we'll known that milk
ing cows, to do their best, must have
plenty of pure water to drink. All else
being equal, the cows that drink hearth
est give the most milk; hence to curtail
their supply Of water is to cause a de-
creased flow Of milk during the trial,
whether fed on whole or cut hay, which
should be attended with care to be ben
eficial to the experimenter. 1t would
seem that this question might be de-
cided on its merits, as it is not ques-
tion of tillage. where soils and ATTITUDES
are SO different