Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-01-02
THE STOCK RANCE
Aarnntar.. of Llb.rnl n.aaInr.


So many Of Us give our farm animals
scant bedding during the winter that We
certainly do not understand the advan-
tages of liberal bedding. We look upon
bedding as luxury, which we, because
of q lofty virtue for which we should
receive great credit, bestow upon our
animals; a luxury without which our
animals would return us the same
profit, and which it is no sin or unwis-
dom to withhold. Hence We give each
animal small forkful of straw for its
bed, and use soiled bedding for several
days, as if straw had great value; and
all the time tons of straw will be vast
ing in the yards. TAose who have tight
stable floors and manure cutters, need
not read wbat have to say in this par
agraph; but only small minority of us
have tight floors and cemented cutters.
We must use enough bedding to absorb
the liquid manure or allow the greater
part of it to be lost. and the liquid man
ure of our farm animals is fully as val
liable as their solid excrement. We'ean
not afford to lose it. If we use sawdust
or straw-both good abserbents-
ally for bedding, they will absorb all
the liquid manure.
The man with tight floors and cutters,
who collects the liquid manure in els
terms or watts, can not allow it to remain
in them long without serious loss; for
liquid manure, unless diluted with
some other substance, soon begins
rapid fermentation destructive OF its
value. Diluding it with straw or saw
dust will prevent this; it will cause that
slow decomposition which does not de-
tract from the value of the manure, but
rather adds to it, Hence We need not
put the liquid manure upon the field
until a growing crop will be ready to
make use of it.
1t should be our object to get the
straw into manure as rapidly as possi-
BILE and with the least loss. Undoubtedly
the best way to do this would be to feed
allthe straw with Elementary foods,
making n well-balanced ration, to good
farm animals. But this is beyond many
of us, for financial and other reasons.
Nevertheless, what straw we do not feed
we should get into good manure as
quickly as possible; and the best way to
do this is to use it for bedding. Then,
as we have seen it will be mixed with the
animal excrement. This mixing retards
the decomposition of the excrement,
which would be too rapid otherwise, but
hastens the decomposition of the straw,
which otherwise would be too slow. Be-
fore the substance of the straw can be
available to plants as food, it must be
decomposed-th elements released from
the organic compounds in which they
are locked; and this is hastened by mix
ing the straw with fresh animal excre-
ment.
Straw or sawdust is avery poor con-
ductor of heat, hence by using it liber-
ally for bedding we reduce materially
the escape of bodily heat from the ami
mails during the night. As we COM
monty express it, the animals are
warmer. The less bodily heat allowed
to escape, the less must be made, since
the temperature of animals of the
higher orders is practically the same at
all times. As this bodily heat is pro-
duced by the combustion of food, as we
reduce the necessary amount produced
we save feed. That is, by bedding the
animals literally we save feed-not a
little of it. The we'll bedded animal
can use the higher per cent. of its food
for flesh, fat or milk, hence grows
faster, keeps in better condition or
gives more milk, on the same amount of
food.
OF course the animal literally bedded
does not become SO fouled with manure
and therefore liberal bedding reduces
our work, and disagreeable work, if we
keep our animals clean, as we should.
For filthy hide is not wholesome to
man or beast. 1t invites, if it does not
produce disease. When we are mig
gardly of suitable bedding we must
either waste time in grooming that
might be avoided, or else waste thrift
and feed by allowing the animals to
become filthy.
Finally. another advantage of liberal
bedding, though not so noticeable is
none the less real. Liberal bedding in
ereases the comfort of the animals, not
only by keeping them warmer during
the winter, but by giving them more
easy rest. On the yielding, aecommo-
dating bedding, the animals can rest
better than on hard, unyielding earth or
wood. We do not fully realize the
financial importance of the comfort of
our farm animals. Whenever we take
away any part of that comfort we take
away a part of the gain of the animal
and of our own profits. In stock raising
we can not afford to ignore comfortable
conditions.-John If. StGht, Quincy,
W.