The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-12-22
cssDA GROWN STOCK FOOD.

:
oaitslsilI. Of Mcintosh Utters q
ephsey and Tells HE Ex-
psrienee.
41be question OF feed for stock In
! sl11fde IL Of vastly more consequence
.,.sn Is generally thought. I have Of
wished that a correct statement
.,,a be given showing the amount of
xss..,srf11ff that was shipped into the
este In a year. I believe a good part
e this expense could and should be
xnsed. or the money paid to Florida
Srorers There are more people in
t.rasted in feed for horses and mules
..erns strange to me that Western
hav is used so extensively when Flor
ia makes a product superior to a
treat part of the hay that is shipped
frfo the State. Good Florida hay.
nade of mixture of crabgrass,
cockspur grass and beggarweed. can
~ bought in the State at $12 to SIS
nor ton: yet the turpentine man and
the sawmill man will pay SIS to $50
neither of which are as good as good
Florida hay. There SENS to be
tear on the part of a good many that
sfhe cockspur will injure the horses.
81 have fed Florida hay exclusively for
the past ten years, and l find my
horses and mules will pick out the
heads of cockspur and eat that part
OF the hay first. AS yet I, have seen
no horse or mule injured. 1 find a
Of homegrown hay. Major w. r.
Thomas, of Gainesville has been using
It for years, and no liveryman in the
state has better teams. I also find
Nr. J. M. Meffert, of Ocala, who does
N extensive sawmin business, and
also manufactures lime, using a good
many teams, giving them hard work.
He is well satisfied with Florida hay,
and I am surprised that others do
on hay.
Corn makes a good crop in F1ori-
ia. l say makes" advisedly, as the
rank and file Of the farmers do but
atttle toward helping make the corn
crop: the cultivation it gets is incl
dental. believe the question of stock
feeds will have more attention in q
few years. as there is growing dis
pogition to make better beef, a better
coming Tampa fair will be a revela-
don to a great many Floridians; many
and better home, or FlOrida-grOwn
stock will be there than is thought
NJ q good many to be in the State.
There is, in my opinion. no trouble
"A making good beef in Florida. We
have good grass; the velvet bean.
cowpea and peanut all furnish a feed
very rich In protein, and we can fat
led than must be used in the North.
as we don't have to use any of our
feed as fuel to furnish animal heat
There is some trouble about harvest
5 Ing some of our crops during a rainy
season such as we had last summer.
but the silo can be utilized here as
s wen as anywhere, and rain does not
&1nterfere materially with that. l hope
Z in q few years to be able to get a
bunch of Florida calves with two
crosses of good beef blood in them.
81 want to feed them and prove to
myself, as well as others, that l am
11ght. or wrong, in my estimate OF
rood Florida steer and da-grown
: I'd. fear 1t will take a demonstra-
lion of this kind to convince some OF
our people that we have a good BUSH
ness lying dormant. The three years
that have been breeding to short
s horn bulls has demonstrated to me
that any one with good pasture can
raise good calves. and the question of
need is of but little consequence until
fa&tening time comes. My three-quar-
17er bred calves will compare favor
NbH with the average grade IN the
Worth expect to have some at Tam
Epa to show for themselves. Truly
1ours.-S H. Gaitskiu in Florida Sum