Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-01-22

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STOCK FEEDING.
Summary of Fifteen Years. Research in
Animal Nutrition,

Summary of Fifteen Years Research In
Animal Nutrition.
In sections of the great west that are
we'll developed, certain factors should be
observed in the production of meat for
both economy and for quality. Ishall sum-
Marie the results Of some fifteen years
of continuous research in animal nutri-
ton, and some twenty-five years of OBJ
servation as a stock feeder, without mar
shaling the corroborating data, which
are often voluminous, in support of the
direct assertion made.
Only good animals that inherit good
forms, or that have the largest ratio of
choice parts to the whole carcass, should
be bred, because such steers always sell
! at 25 per cent or more higher than those
steers that are Of ordinary structure.
The latter class of steers return less rev.
enue for the food eaten without a single
compromising advantage. It is a slug
gish mind that follows the practice of
feeding i'll made steers.
1t is well known that meat varies in
individual animals in flavor and in ten
derness. The development of the art of
breeding and of the intelligence and of
the tastes of men has arrived at that
stage of growth that demands the selec-
ton of breeding stock with reference to
points suggested. The qualities men
toned, like every other animal charac-
t%eristic, are hereditary, and may be
forced in a family.
adhere to the heretofore expressed
belief that our cattle sires should be
tested to ascertain their capacity for
consumption, digestion and assimilation
of food. Animals vary in their powers
in these directions, and only those that
possess those powers to a high degree
should propagate their kind. Breeding
has fixed form by following a standard,
but I assert that it has not fixed the
qualities in question. 1t is possible for
a wealthy breeder to do as great a work
for stock improvement as that of Bake
well.
"Breed goes in at the mouth" except
form; yes, largely so. Without organ
izing any corroborating facts I assert a
conviction that will excite the indigna-
ton or contempt of many able men, that
VAN W OOOSh vi LILO SOullU1y WILL
make nearly as much, possibly quite as
much, gain from a pound of food as will
our pure bred stock. If my position is
true, and | I'm sure that it is far nearer
the truth than breeders have thought, it
means that breeders must now look be-
You'd form, and that poor feeders must
exalt food more than they have. The
poor feeder is pampering himself.
Shelter in the north reduces the
amount of food consumed, increases the
value of manure produced and increases
the value Of hay housed. These gains
pay for shelter, and the assertion rests
upon practical trials. l found over 10
per cent. of hay was lost in the ordinary
stack, and only about l per cent. in the
NOW. while less hay was eaten by shell
tered steers and sheltered pigs than by
unsheltered ones.
Steers must grow steadily from birth
to death. About two-thirds OF the food
eaten by a half grown animal is used for
maintenance, hence every day hat an
animal merely holds his own, it is burn
ing the taper without giving light, and
is therefore using food at a total loss.
Almost all of the philosophy of early
maturity in it's relation to economy of
growth rests in this fact. A 4-year-old
steer that weighs no more than a 2-year-
old steer has consumed twice the food of
maintenance, and therefore has con-
sumed a very high ratio of unnecessary
food.
Steers should be sold at the highest
weight that will bring the highest mar
ket rate. This is due to the fact that the
food of maintenance is nearly in proper
ton to weight, hence the food that would
merely maintain a nearly matured steer.
or say n weighing 1,400 pounds, would
be more than enough to make two
pounds Of growth if fed to calves weigh
ing 300 pounds; in fact, it would feed
two such calves, and make a pound of
growth on each.
Our cheapest beef is made on pasture
feed, and only by pasture feed use is it
possible to sell beef except at a ruinous
loss. Formation of good pastures is the
most direct road to the cheapest beef,
and pastures should therefore receive the
first and most thoughtful attention of
feeders.
The west will have to consider feeding
animals more with reference to their in
fuence on the fertility of the farm and
less with reference to direct profit than
has been heretofore the case.-J. W.
Sanborn in Clay & Robinson's Report.
Advantages of Sheep.
1t will in reality pay to grow sheep for
mutton alone, and the money obtained
for wool is all clear gain. One of the