Wichita eagle., 1890-02-08
CATTLE FEEDING.
rom the Des Moines Register.

from the AeS MONIES Register
Cattle will be better soon. and we
would advise the average farmer TO
| study the finishing of cattle. 1t Is poorly
understood on most farms. The profits
that come from feeding the steers that
| grow on farm are not comprehended
as they should be. We urge small iarm-
ers to tie up two, five or ten, and ob-
serve the conditions. No large feeder
can get such results as he can who raises
the steers he feeds, and the feed they
eat. The cattle raised on farm do bet
ter there than elsewhere. There is no
expense in hauling off gram. There is
no shrinkage in buying in cattle. Tying
up is to be defended, as nobody has done
| it, and what nobody has done requires
vigorous defense. Tying up as milk
| cows are tied up is the way to feed few
steers proftably. They are to be fat
tened on corn. 1t is folly to talk ct any
thing else. Iowa has the cheapest corn
in the universe. States farther east buy
our corn to feed, and could not exist
without it. We think breeding animals
should have feed, but fattening stock
must have corn. 1t is the best fattening
/ power known to man. You may grind
| it and save corn. You may cook 1T
and save more corn, but with present
prices of corn and help you
cannot afford to do either. We are
told that grinding and cooking will
not pay. They would if help were
cheaper. Grinding and cooking econo-
mize feed, but the cost of labor eats up
the economy. The hog will act as scav-
enger and should lie around the feed
yard.
In feeding pen of cattle remember
that an exclusive corn diet can only be
fed with profit till the blood becomes
thick and hair comes off. Some change
of feed is necessary. A little lax, boil
ed, or little flax meal will correct the
arrangement. Roots would answer, but
they cost too much to grow. Oats are
valuable, but not always convenient. A
little flax can be harvested like other
grain and no extra help need be called in
to do it. The 2-year-old steer will eat
sixty bushels of corn while you are fin
ishing him. If he was on your farm all
his days, you have saved many little
commissions and expenses that the large
| feeder pays out. 1t is part Of the farm
er's profits. What comes from cattle
| feeding and how to do it is part of his
education. The younger the steer, the
greater the gain, consequently early ma
turity is prime factor IN feeding.
| The native cattle do not mature early.
| Their ancestry was required to endure
rather than mature. They are losing
money just now to all who touch them.
| We advise the farmers who need all
that can be made from their busi-
ness to finish their own cattle by
| all means. 1t is department of the
farm that has been entirely neglected by
too many. Cattle feeding as it has been
managed in large yards is not the most
economical way. The average gain is
| less than in small lunches. The hogs
that follow will get disease more readily.
| Winter work ON the farm should require
the summer help more nearly than 1t
does at present, We have the finest corn
growing country on earth, and surplus
corn will always require consumers on
the farm. Behind the steer is, Of course,
sire and dam, and the uses of the dairy
cow the necessity of proper sire, that re-
quires attendance by itself.
Cattle feeding belongs to the cattle
breeder. 1t has profit peculiar to itself
that the average farmer cannot afford to
overlook. 1t teaches the value of i'm
proved cattle as nothing else does. 1t is
one Of the great forces that keeps up
farm fertility. We have been doing it by
proxy. Feeders at home have gathered
cattle by hundreds, and bought corn by
the thousands of bushels and whether
they made a profit or not the farmers
who sold to them either corn or cattle
| lost certainly the amount they sold off
the farm, COW or young steers. Feeders
in states east of us have boughs our corn
and steers and put them together. Feed
ers in Germany now want our thin
steers to finish. Feeders in Britain have
always fed our oil meals. Ali this indi-
Gates want OF knowledge on western
farms and want of enterprise. The dairy
| interests of the state has not helped the
feeding department of the farm. Dairy
ing has paid something of itself. When
butter becomes cheaper and other profits
are necessary, feeding will be suggested
to the minds of dairymen. We insist
dairymen feed their cattle more. Dairy
papers generally overlook this feature of
the farm, this auxiliary to the dairy
When the west doubles its cows for
dairy uses this department of the farm
will become imperative.