The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-03-26

FACTS ABOUT FEEDING.
The Character. Of Good Ration for Mich
Cows.

The Character of = Good Ration for Mich
Cows.
The description Of proper ration
does not even confine the feeder literally
to that ration, though as a matter OF
fact. as q rule, what will do for one COW
will do for another and what is liked by
one COW will be liked by another. But
if feeder should happen to have a COW
that was an exception to this rule. all
he would have to do, would be to look
about and see il he could find other
foods that were similar in character to
those named. that the cow would like.
And this matter of pleasing an animals
taste is an important one and one that
does not receive the attention that it
deserves. At times the appetite OF any
animal is ca ricious, and the results OF
an attempt to satisfy that caprice would
often prove very profitable. A human
cling will almost starve sometimes with
the very best of food before him, be-
cause his appetite does not crave it. He
will not eat enough Of such food to give
him the nourishment that he needs. and
it will be better for him under such cir
cumstances, to give him food that is
really of less value than that which he
does not relish. That is true, too. of
the animal We have often mentioned
the desirability of studying the indi-
vidual character of our cows and other
animals that we may be prepared to
meet just such emergencies as this.
Then another thing must be taken
into consideration when attempting to
follow any given formula of rations.
That is the cost. Perhaps there is no
one food that is better for milch cows
than oil meal. and it is of prime value
as part of the rations for any animal.
But suppose that it cannot be had ex-
cept at very great expense. while mill
stnffs can be had very cheaply. In such
case it will be seen that it would be
much better to use mill stuffs which are
somewhat similar in properties to oil
meal. So if we should say, as we often
have said. that for certain purposes oil
meal is the best food in existence. we
should no. mean to convey the idea that
a feeder must feed nothing else. We
should simply give a standard and
should expect the reader who was not
SO situated as that he could readily get
oil meal. to say: Now. here is a stand.
ard, but cannot come up to it. l can
not get oil meal without going to a
great cost What can do toward APP
preaching that standard? What have 1,
or what can get that is similar in COM
position to oil meal? Well, have mill
stuffs. They are somewhat inferior to
oil meal, but il is the best can do, and
SO will feed them.
In that case the Rural and Stockman
would have accomplished all that it ex-
pected to accomplish when setting up
OF, meal as a standard under certain
circumstances. And that is all we mean
to do when giving the composition Of !.
good ration. Suppose we say that a
| good ration for milch cow is fifteen
pounds of corn fodder. five pounds OF
bran. five pounds of malt sprouts, three
/ pounds of corn meal and two pounds OF
cottonseed meal. That is Prof. John
sons formula and it is good one. But
we should not mean. in the first place
that all that should be crowded into
every COW that was to be fed within !;
| certain time We simply mean thai
that il, Il good dish TO set before the
COW. Nor shoald we mean that ever,
feeder. at any cost, should feed tina
particular ration. All that would b,
meant would be to get as near t.
it as possible under the particular cir
cumstances. under which the feede
found himself. He might substitute
for instance. the following: TGent,
pounds of cured corn fodder: five pound
of rye straw; six pounds of malt sprouts
two pounds Of cottonseed meal. But a
| matter of fact we should not expec
the average farmer to adopt either Q
these ratiOns Some of the foods name,
would not he convenient for him, bu
he could see the character of a GOO
ration and try to initiate it. lie woul'
see in the first place that the ration !
largely composed of the bone and mus
Gle forming foods, and that the fat form
ing was a very small portion of i
Now. II nothing else were gained tn
result would be important. The mea
feeding farmer. If he attempted to fol
low the standard. would cut the mea
down to 4 small quantity and subst
tute bran, ground oats and other ties
forming foods. That is the great use Q
giving formulas and standards.-Wes1