The Florida agriculturist., 1907-11-06
Cottonseed Meal as Horse and Mule
Feed,

The writer OF an article, IN Farm and
Ranch, wishes to be put on oath to tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth Yet he is guilty Of gross
exaggeration in speaking Of the mule as
found in the cotton belt No doubt
many Of them are smaller than is des1r-
able, but we do not think that he ever
saw one smaller than an Angora goat.
Still we have no doubt that he is cor
rect in what he says as to the value OF
cottonseed meal as food for working
stock The article is as follows:
AS a contribution to this, as yet
undeveloped mine Of wealth, [ would
like to go on the witness stand, after
being put under oath to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, that may testify to the value,
from actual experience Of cottonseed
meal as horse and mule feed. [ have
some experience on this line as a cattle
feeder, having fed as many as five hun
dred head one season; but the use of
COttonseed meal for feeding cattle has
passed SO far beyond the experiment.
al stage, and has been so fully dis
cuSsed and is so we'll understood,
as not to warrant, at this time, any
reference to it. To be sure, the feed
ing Of some form Of oil meal to horses
is not by any means a novelty. The
experiment station reports, and lead
ing text books on the subject, all give
high place to oil meal as part Of a
complete horse ration. Notwithstand-
ing, here III the South where there is
greater need Of oil meal as part of a
horses feed, less Of it is given than in
any other country in the world. The
Southern farmer who buys frost bitten,
kiln dried corn from Iowa at $40 per
ton, would throw fit if you advised
him to give his old weathered mule
pound or SO day Of bright, rich, gold
Ell cOttOnseed meal that came off his
own sandy farm. Yet if the old mules
$50 teet OF 'dlgest1ve tract" could be
fabricated daily with this delicious, let
us call 1t mayOnna1se dressing, on his
otherwise dry, dusty ration, his muscles
would be strengthened, his nerve
Steadled and he would run on and ON
tor years and years-at least, if he
did not run, he would step fast, and
die old and honorably AS a rule,
throughout the cotton belt the mule
is not as big as an Angora goat and
couldn't pull a scooter plow through
molasses On the awful dry feed he
moults away, and as the "'niggers'
say: " He Jlst natchilly dies
All that corn, oats, hay and fodder
lack as feeds is supplied by cottonseeo
meal. In combination with them it
makes perfection feed l admit that
every horse and mule will not show
tondness tor cotOnseed meal to begin
with, but every horse and mule that
ever lived will eat it, will come to like
1t, and will thrive on it.
L believe any animal Of the horse
kind from a shaved tail mule to Lou
Dillon, will be benefited and improved
by the addition of cOttOnseed meal to
its daily ration
AS for its not being natural feed
tor the horse, neither is corn, or oats.
"A horse is grass eater and he never
saw grain until he met up with a man
on the plains Of Damascus 1000 wears
ago and he got his first taste of bar
ley. horse can worry along on
general bill Of fare. In Afghanistan
he is fed on balls of mutton fat; while
III India he eats dried fish.
1t is not hurtful admission in this
discussion to acknowledge that cotton
seed meal cannot be fed in large guam
titles. This only goes to show it's high
quality as feed. A man does not at
one setting eat a pat Of butter, or
drink Jug OF molasses, or gulp bowl
OF gravy, He does not pour out vine
gar by the cruet full, or eat salt and
pepper bV the SDOOnf111 These are