Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1908-04-09
Cotton Seed Meal as a
Horse and Mule Feed

ing deficiency in Southern hus-
bandry his finger would point to
the utter dearth of good horse
feed. 1t is now generally adj
mitted that the results of the
war, and undoubtedly it's dura-
ton, would have been altogether
different had there been a suffi-
Gent quantity of horse feed for
the Southern cavalry. Though
this deficiency of good feed for
mans best friend" may not be
presented in as acute form to-
day as it was in those days of
the early Cos; still it is quite
real. AS the South is undoubt-
eddy the land of cotton, so, on the
other hand, it is equally certain
that it is not the land of grain
and long forage. Let the news
paper editor put whip and spur
to the farmer all he will, TIE fact
remains that it is tough propo-
sition to make barely enough
grain and hay to do, and out of
the question to make any for
market. With these conditions
surrounding us, how irresistible
should be the alluring invitation
which cotton seed meal holds out
to the feeder of live stock in the
South.
In a state of nature the horse
crops the luscious grass that
grows on the bank of the water
course. In a state of domesticity
the horse is fed on dust-dry hay
and grain, and no clear running
brook passes his manger, and he
drinks only out of the hot or
freezing, polluted horse trough,
when the owner remembers to
turn him out of the stall. Not
only do our work stock wear out
with shocking rapidity under sue
treatment, but the mortality
among them, all on account of
intestinal troubles, is appalling.
You must keep wnat a horse eats
moving forward, or, rather,
backward; if you don't he will
die. So have come to believe
that, aside from the wonderful
nutritive value of cotton seed
meal, it's mechanical value in aid
ing the peristaltic movement in
the horse is worth it's actual cost
many, many times over. | am
not a chemist, but you have only
to ask one who is and he will
tell you how tremendously valu-
able and nutritious cotton seed
meal is as a horse feed. All that
corn, oats and fodder lack as
feeds is supplied by cotton seed
meal. In combination with them
it makes a perfection feed. | adj
init that every horse and mule
will not show a.fondness for cot
ton seed meal to begin with, but
every horse and mule that ever
lived will eat it; will come to like
it, and will thrive on it.
l believe any animal of the
horse kind, from shaved-tail
mule to Lou Dillon, will be bene-
fitted and improved by the addi-
ton of cotton seed meal to his
daily ration.
AS for it's not being a natural
feed for the horse, neither is
corn or oats. A horse is grass
eater, and he never saw grain
until he met up with man on
the plains of Damascus 1000
years ago, and he got his first
taste of barley. A horse can
worry along on a general bill of
fare. In Afghanistan he is fed
on balls of mutton fat, while in
India he eats dried fish.
1t is not a hurtful admission
in this discussion to acknowledge
that cotton seed meal cannot be
fed in large quantities. This
only goes to show it's high quail
ity as a feed. A man does not at
one sitting eat pat Of butter or
drink a jug of molasses or gulp
a bowl of gravy. He does not
pour out vinegar by the cruet
full or eat salt and pepper by the
spoonful. These are the tidbits,
or, as the French say, c'este Ia
sauce Qui fait manger Ia poisson
So cotton seed meal makes the
dry ration o. ~ domestic horse
go down, AID not only down, but
what is more important, &c