Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-03-21
Feeding Young Animals.

When it is desired to force young ami
mails to grow rapidly the food must be OF
character suitable for that purpose.
Bone and muscle are of more Importance
than fat. The animal intended for mar
ket fattens more readily as it approaches
maturity but some young animals will
not fatten at all, as the food cOnduces
more to growth than to fat. If the food is
not adapted for promoting growth the
young animal though growing, will not
gain as rapidly as when the food is more
appropriate. 1t is the mineral matter in
foods dime, phosphoric acid, etc., that
creates bone, and the protein, or nitroge-
nous element, which produces the muscles,
cartilages, hide, etc The carbonaceous
matter, producing fat, is only one necessary
for young animal in warming the body
Animals gain more rapidly when very
young than during any other period, and
they require food of varied character
TO deprive them of some needed sub
stance may put check on their growth
from which they may never fully recover.
Warmth in winter is important also, and
with the sucking animal this is provided
by the fat in the milk, but which the
farmer converts into butter when the
calf is taken from the COW.
Corn and wheat. so largely used as
staple foods on the farm, are unsuitable
for growing stock. The reason is that
there is but about one pound of lime in
1000 pounds of corn or wheat, which is
insufficient for the purposes of the young
animal, as bone can not be produced I'M
less the substances of which it is composed
are present in the food On the contrary,
red clover hay contains about 2S pounds
of lime in 1000 pounds, but the limo does
not always exist in foods in the form of
phosphates. transformations occurring
after the food is digested. Wheat bran,
which has been removed from the starch
of the wheat grain, as is well known to
those who understand how it is separated
during the process of making flour, CON
tains about seven times as much phos-
plate of lime as docs corn. There are a
great many foods which largely excel
corn, wheat or oats in their relative
proportion of mineral matter Protein is
more easily obtainable than the mineral
elements where an exclusive grain diet is
practiced. 1t is a deficiency of mineral
matter that causes some young animals
to make slow growth. One of the adj
vantages of limestone soils is that animals
fed on the products of such soils are large
ly benefited and the young stock thrive.
+ To fec d on one kind of food mostly is
not economy because the animal fails to
derive proper nourisbment therefrom. and
more especially with growing stock. which
makes a gain which proportionately far
exceeds that of matured animals. Varied
foods supply all wants, whether consisting
of grains and vegetables or tho by pro
ducts of mills. Linsecd and cotton seed
meals are rich i'm the mineral elements.
and serve to balance the grain ration. Both
bran and middlipgs are excellent addi-
tions to bulky foods, not only because they
contain mineral matter largely, but also
because they are concentrated. Rich,
sweet hcrbage of all kinds is relished by
all classes of stock because such foods are
varied, and therefore supply what may be
needed. 1t is when clover hay and grasses
are allowed that grains may be given, as
the food is then better balanced, which
results in economy because the condi-
tions are then more favorable for the
greatest increase in growth and weight.
Philadelphia Record.