Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-11-09

Feeding Cows for Beef.
What constitutes good beef, good NUT
ton. and good poultry? 1t is the sweet
juicy, tender, lean meat But small
portion of the fat of beef or mutton is
eaten. Look at the bushels Of butchers
waste in any market and see what large
per cent Of fat it contains. And the mar.
ket man will tell you that very fat
corned beef is "slow sale" l have
never known of an instance where
prize beef gave good satisfaction On the
contrary. it has been very unsatisfactory
to both the butcher and the consumer
How shall we make good beef of our un
remunerative dairy cows? My theory
and practice may be illustrated as fol
lows: We viii take for an example
gargety cow-the worst In the list.
There are but few cases OF that class
which can not be controlled by proper
feeding and judicious use of saltpeter
In bad case / would say do not feed
corn meal or oil meal Feed wheat bran
mill feed, ground oats. or any other
easily digested, milk producing food; and
give night and morning a great spoonful
Of saltpeter Of so much proves to be
necessary dissolved and mixed with heI
grain rations. For feeding healthy
animal / would add to the above list
gluten meal and a small ration of cotton
seed meal, omitting the latter during the
last two or three weeks previous to kill.
ing. Well cured, early cut clover hay is
preferable to any other dry feed. Tur
nips and cabbage can be fed quite freely
during the earlier stages of meat produc
ton, without injury to the milk or but
ter, if fed 10 or more hours before milk
ing, as during that time her breath
skin, and kidneys will have eliminated
all the Odor from her system. Give mill
producing, muscle sustaining food. Feed
only that which is sweet and free from
mold.
AS a rule think it better to keep the
beef COWS farrow and in milk; and with
good keeping, we get fair quantity OF
extra good milk, the cows often payinS
for their keeping up to the last day. Ii
winter, for few weeks previous to kiln
ing, give the animal enough beets-sugaI
or long blood red preferred-to keep her
bowels in healthy condition; it ma.
take half a bushel or not more than hal
a peck a day. Never overfeed; never
spoil the appetite. Undigested food
makes no blood; imperfectly digestel
food makes impure blood, and impure
blood can not make good meat A littl
saltpeter tends to allay feyer-which u
often an attendant of high feeding-ant
stimulates the kidneys to throw off any
impurities from the blood. The anima'
when killed should be in thriving, gain
ing condition. not ON the shrink. Re
member that the juiciness of the mea'
depends largely upon how the COW wa,
fed for two or three weeks before killing
and that the flavor depends upon what
it was fed for the two or three days pre-
vious to killing. Our seacoast butcher.
do not allow salt marsh hay to be fed t,
their animals for few days before kill
ing; aud turnips are not allowed any
where. A man who was an army butche.
during the war said that they tmne"
some cattle into wheat field in Virgins
one night, and some of the cattle were
killed the next day. but that the meal
couldn't be eaten by an one but French
man; and, on examination, it was foun'
that field garlics were growing amon;.
the wheat, and the cattle had eaten
freely of them. There can be no harr
and fast rules for feeding; animals differ
and the same animal requires differen,
feeding at different times. Before turn.
ing out, in changing from dry feed t.
pasture, give in the morning all the has
they viii eat, and for their grain ration
give mostly corn meal--scalded il con-
venient-continuing the daily rations OF
neal for three or four weeks, and the hay
as long as they will eat it. Let the
change from dry to green be gradual. A
full ration of immature grass is as bad fol
COW as green apples for boy. For a
butter producing cow in dog days, | pre-.
fer ground oats to any other one kind OF
feed 1t makes sweeter and firmer but
GER than most other kinds of feed.
Through the summer feed primarily fol
milk and butter, but always keep the
cows gaining in flesh and yet not tor
much in fat-Andrew III. Merrill. l.
American Agriculturist.