The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-09-23

In bad case l 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
spoonfool of saltpeter az so much proves
to be necessary dissolved and mixed
with her grain rations. For feeding a
healthy animal would add TO the above
list gluten meal and small ration Of
cotton-seed meal, emitting the latter
during the last two or three weeks pre-
vious to killing. Well-cured, early-cut
clover hay is preferable to any other
dry feed. Turnips and cabbage can be
fed quite freely during the earlier stages
of meat production, without injury to
the milk or butter, if fed ten or more
hours before milking, as, during that
time her breath, skin, and kidneys will
have eliminated all the odor from her
system. Give milk producing, MUSCLE
sustaining food. Feed only that which
is sweet and free from mold.
As rule l think it better to keep the
beef cows farrow aud in milk; and with
good keeping, we get fair quantity of
extra good milk, the cows often paying
for their keeping up to the last day. lu
winter, for few weeks previous to kill
ing, give the animal enough beets-sugar
or long blood rcd preferred-to keep her
bowels in q healthy condition; it may
take half bushel or not more than half
peck a day. Never overfoed; never spoil
the appetite. Undigested food makes
no blood; imperfecty digested food
makes impure blood, and impure blood
cannot make good meat. A little salt
petre tends to allay fever-which is
often an attendant of high feeding-and
stimulates the kidneys to throw off any
inquiries from the blood. The animal
when killed should be in thriving, gain
ing condition, not on the shrink. Re-
member that the juiciness of the meat
depends largely upon how the COW was
fed for two or three weeks before kill
ing, and that the flavor depends upon
what it was fed for the two or three days
previous to killing. Our seacoast butch
ers do not allow salt marsh hay to be fed
to their animals for few days before
killing; and turnlps are not allowed any
where. A man who was an army butcher
during the war said that they turned
some cattle into wheat field in Virginia
one night, and some of the cattle were
killed the next day, but that the meat
couldn't be eaten by any one but a
Frenchman; and, on examination, 1t
was found that field garlics were grow
ing among the wheat, and the cattle had
eaten freely of them. There can be no
hard and fast rules for feeding; animals
differ, and the same animal requires diff
ferent feeding at different times. Before
turning out, in changing from dry feed
to pasture, give in the morning all the
hay they will eat, and for their grain
ration give mostly corn meal--scalded if
convenient-continuing the daily rations
of meal for three or four weeks, and'the
hay as long as they will eat 1t. A full
ration of immature grass is as bad for a
cow as green apples tor a boy. Fer a
butter producing COW in dog days, l pre-
fer ground oats to any other one kind of
feed. It makes sweeter and firmer but
ter than most other kinds of feed.
Though the summer feed primarily for
mn6 and butter, but always keep the
cows gaining In flesh and yet not toe
much In fat.--American AgrtcuEturist.