Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-11-11
HOMEMADE CALF FOODS.

the use of purchased calf meals than
by any preparations Of this kind
which they can produce at home On
the other hand, we know of not few
successful feeders who argue that it
| is a waste of money to buy calf meals
at the big prices sometimes charged
| for these foods, and who say that
equally good results at much lower
cost can be obtained by judicious
blends of various substances which
can be purchased at comparatively low
| prices. In cases of this kind very
much depends on the skill and judg-
ment which the feeder brings to bear
upon the blending Of his homemade
| mixture and not a little also ON the
prices at which he is able to obtain
| the various ingredients employed by
| him. In the latter respect, and also
in the facilities for properly blending
the various substances employed, a
! large manufactures has a great adj
| vantage over the man who purchases
only small quantities of each article
at time, and consequently, has to
pay a higher proportionate price for
them. For those who believe in home
made calf foods, the following is
recommended as a good mixture-the
quantities specified being sufficient to
make l cwt.-: sc lbs. of lentil -four,
| % lbs. of linseed, IA TBS. of bean flour,
TBS. pea flour, lbs. of fenugreek
| flour, TBS. of sugar and 112 Tbs. of
salt, ozs flour of sulphur and ozs.
of ground charcoal This meal is best
prepared by scalding it we'll with
boiling water and then adding it to
the milk just before the latter is fed
to the calves. The quantity to be
given, will depend upon the size and
age of the calf The best plan is to
begin (when the calf is from ten days
| to a fortnight old) with about "A 10.
of mixture, and then gradually in
crease the allowance as the age of the
animal advances Gazette,
| Ireland.
EnsiIage VS.. Cured Corn Fodder.
We use to think when we grew corn
| to cure for fodder to use in the winter,
| that the best time to cut it was, when
| it was we'll tassled out. We knew
| little about the analysis, but found
that fodder cut then without ears or
| it was better than the fodder from
| which we had gathered the ears. We
| thought it should be SO. even as we
had better hay if we cut the grass
II, fhor did If We
allowed it to stand until the seed had
| formed and began to harden. We are
Of the same opinion now as we We're
then, but it does not follow that it is
better to cut so early if it is to be put
| in the sil0 The water that we dried
| out of it in curing, is too much to put
in the silo, where it does not dry out.
Chemists tell us that when in the
| tasseling stage is has 81 per cent.
| water, in the silking stage So per
cent, milk stage IS per cent, glaZino
stage II per cent, and when ripe 70
per cent, and those who have tested
| it, claim that it makes the best en-
silage if cut when glazed, but not
quite ripe If cut earlier it makes
| too sour an ensilage. This explains to
| us another tnlng which we proved by
experience, but could not account for.
When we were feeding green fodder
corn to milch COWS we found that we
| had much more milk from it, if we
cut it So that it could lie and wilt from
| twenty-four to thirty-six hours before
we fed it out We had dried out some
| Of that superfuous water and increas-
ed the amount of starch and sugar, ana
possibly of fat. There was less dan
ger of souring or fermenting III the
stomach and possibly they ate more:
still more probable that they digeSted
| it better. When the Wisconsin Ex-
pertinent Station tested ensilage and
cured corn fodder together, they
| claimed to have obtained 243 pounds
more of milk or twelve pounds NOR
| of butter from an acre of corn put in
the silO than from an acre cured and
fed dry. It would not pay to build II
very expensive silo to get the amount
saved upon one or two acres.
The New Jersey Station found in
1897 that with milk at one cent
pound they had $40 an acre more from
the ensilage than from the cured fod-
der, but the cost of harvesting, storing
and preparing for food was greater
for the amount of dry matter in the
ensilage than in the fodder, which
partly balances the gain in milk.
They also found that of the solid or
dry matter in the ensilage, thirty-one
pounds was not digested, and in the
corn fodder thirty-eight pounds. All
these facts are in favor of the en-
silage, both lots being cut at tn"
same stage of growth, but we are not
sure that they would prove So if the
cured fodder had been cut when in full
bloom, or at the tasseling or sflkinP
stage, for perhaps we cannot call it
full bloom until the silk or female
blossom has become fully developed
which is analogous to cutting clover
when the heads first begin to turn