Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-02-15
THE FARMING WORLD.
APPLES ON THE FARM.

Their Value ns Food for tho Stocl-In-
suring Health and Promoting Fattening
Qualities.
1t is not claimed for the apple that it
Is complete food in itself, but on the
food list it possesses a value far above
the nutrients it furnishes. Apples aid
the stomach in the digestion Of other
foods and therefore the best results are
obtained from eating them after,
rather than before meals. If one feels
that he has eaten more dinner than is
compatible with his after comfort he
will find that an apple will facilitate an
early digestion and afford greater relief
than an alcoholic drink or drugstore
prescription.
Adapting this same theory to all kinds
Of livestock, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep
and even poultry, we find that their APP
petite prompts them to eat apples, and
that they receive the same benefit there
from that we do; that is, the fruit is
partial food, and it also enables
them to digest and assimilate from
twenty-five to fifty per cent more food
than they would otherwise be able to
appropriate.
Relative to this I remember, says a
contributor to the Country Gentleman,
hearing parsimonious farmer say that
his animals already ate too much, even
without the aid of an appetizer. This
man was trying to feed his livestock
quantity just equal to the food of sup
port; he simply proposes to preserve the
statu quo and postpones the growth to
some future day. He has not learned
that it is that portion above the food of
support which the animal is able to de-
vote to growth, fat or the production of
milk.
The more we can get an animal to eat,
provided always that he digests and
assimilates the foot taken, the greater
the profit in feeding. Farmers lose
much by feeding sparingly, and by not
making the ration complementary.
There is scarcely farm product that is
an all-round food either for man or
beast.
An inexperienced farmer, seeing how
fast his neighbor's hogs fattened and
how many pumpkins they ate tried to
fatten his hogs on pumpkins alone. He
failed, of course, and then said there
was about as much richness in pumpkin
as in good yellow pond water; whereas
those who have given pumpkins fair
trial assert that three wagon loads OF
corn and one of pumpkins are equal to
four loads of corn fed alone. The one
per cent. of peptic acid in the pumpkin
insures the hog against dyspepsia, and
prolongs the fattening period as long as
you may think advisable.
In planting an orchard for livestock
remember that the sweet apple is con
sidered the most nutritious, the sub
acid less so, but more valuable as an ap
petizer, while sour apples are of little
use except in the latter direction, anC
are not very much sought for in tina
either by man or beast. Still it is
good idea to have some trees of eacl
kind, though there should always be
preponderance of the sub-acids. Leave
out all the large varieties as being
sparse bearers and try to get those tina
have shown acclimation, and which ap
pear suited to the soil of your neighbor
hood. Buy one third suhmer, one-thirt
fall and one-third winter apples, though
our experience with winter apples il
Kentucky is that most of them fall OF
in autumn. This is just as it should be
however, for large proportion of thos
we put up for winter fail to keep.
When the first apple falls put som'
kind of animal in the orchard. A goo'
farmer never likes to see any thinI
wasted; besides, it is very importan
that the apple should be eaten at ono
before the grub has time to burrow int
the ground. Hogs fatten to advantage
In an inclosure where they have
variety of food, as corn, grass, fruit, etc
1t is better for tree to head low, an
some of our best farmers do not triI
, their ample trees at all, but let then
grow as they will, or should one happe,
, to prove unusually perverse, they dig
; up and sew grass where it grew. Eve
) If the first died young, another tire
should never be planted in exactly tn
same spot.
Our young orchards are usually cult
, vated in corn, peas, potatoes and tn
like, but never in small grain. Shoul
. the trees appear to grow too much an
2 bear too little after they have attaine
, the requisite size, it is good plan
SOW the land down in grass and let it b
grazed and tramped. This will caus
the tree to grow less wood and pay NOR
attention to frult.
Good for Dyspeptics.