Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-03
HOW They FEED IN ENGLAND.
Without Corn They Manage to
Make Very Fine Beef at Com
paratiyely Small Cost.

Professor w. j. Kennedy of the lows
STATION, who went to Europe to study
the live stock industry over there for
the government, has just issued his re :
port and 1t is full of interest for the
American breeder.
Iney do not raise corn over there ia
any extent and therefore must depend
largely upon roots. Professor Kennedy
says the English farmers place theis
dependence upon roots, linseed and cot =
tonseed cake and feed large per-
centase OF roughage in proportion ia
concentrates than do the Americans
further. while cattle are given the
greatest care, the Englishmen do not
oeiieVe In keeping breeding stock In
extreme flesh condition. as they think
IL tends to barreiness and inpotency--.
which is quite right.
Inc roots most commonly fed ia
dairy cows and beef cattle are naangel-
"urzels, turnips and rutabagas (con-
monty called swedes). In France and
Germany sugar beets, and the pulp az
We'll as largely fed. especially to calves,
Hay ana straw are used for roughara
IN the winter and the principal rations
IN the summer are grass or soilins
crops. with mixture Of cottonseed and
hnseed cake. For breeding animals
crushed oats wheat and bran are thu
principal feeds used.
Some farmers feed as high az 12s
pounds of roots per animal per day,
Inc majority feed from so to 81
pounds. A tremendous amount Of
cake is fed all the time. 1t is gem
orally broken into small pieces and fed
on the ground. Grain is crushed OF
ground and the hay or straw is cut.
Roots are pulped or sliced In soma
parts of England farmers save all the
chaff and mixed it with grain and cake
at feeding time.
The English do not believe in highly
forcing feeds and the use of concen-
trated stuff is limited. The best breed
ers think forcing feed Is pretty surs
to injure the animal in the long run.
Animals are kept outdoors or In open
sheds most of the time. The only ami
mails that are fed on highly concern
trated feed are those that are intended
for SALE as 1t Is much easier to sell an
inferior fat animal than superior ono
IN the rough. The most Intelligent feed
ers say that natural feeding prevents.
or greatly lessons, the danger from
tuberculosis.
AS a rule feeders are in no hurry
to get their animals on full feed and
usually take four months or more to
do this. Cattle put into the stalls or
feed yards from the first of October
to the middle of November are ready
for market by the first OF March to the
middle of June. The feeding period
varies from 100 to 200 days.
Professor Kennedy says that while
to an American feeder the grain ra-
lions fed by English feeders may look
small, the gains made by the cattle are
fully as great as those obtained by the
most successful American feeders. This
fact, he thinks, demonstrates that the
English method must insure more thor
ough digestion of the grain and cake
or the roots must furnish more nour-
ishment than the chemical analysis
would Indicate
Cattle are fattened on grass in all
parts of England, but only where rents
are low or where the lands are swampy
and grass is abundant Many cattle
are kept on grass and cake until they
are half fat before putting them in the
stables or yards for winter feeding.
While on grass cattle are fed small
quantities of cake, the limit being about
four or five pounds per day.