Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-12-28

Feeding Beef Cattle.

ttF. lSsiy. HSSNiiS ISSl SitStkc. l5tg'st s-lEHt
one Of the most important indus
tries at present being developed in
the State is the extensive feeding of
beef cattle on the large cotton plan.
:tations. The object in feeding these
cattle is to secure fertilizer for the
farm at minimum cost and to per-
manentiy increase, the fertility of the
soil and improve It's physical condi-
tions, which cannot be done without
commercial fertilizers. At the same
time these cattle furnish a profitable
market for cheap rough forage which
otherwise would have little value,
BY exchanging cotton seed for
meal-to be fed-and selling only
the lint and oil, which contain no
fertility, the farmer Is enabled TO
return to the soil all the fertility
taken from it and thus maintain its
fertility and productiveness. On Wis
.iting the farmers who are feeding
cattle this winter we find that with
many of them this Is an entirely new
industry, and that some serious mis-
takes have been made
The cattle were nearly all bought
in Tennessee and North Carolina,
the buyers, in many eases, taking
the weights of the dealers without
seeing the cattle weighed and in
many cases the cattle were weighed
full of water and feed, and as a con-
sequence suffered an excessively
heavy shrinkage in weight in transit.
The prevention OF this unnecessary
loss would in many instances have
meant fair profit in feeding. In
buying cattle that have not been
driven long distance it is custom
ary to weigh them after having been
kept in dry lot without feed or
water for twelve hours, or deduct
three per cent from the weights.
Many farmers contrac ed for cattle
of definite weights without sufficient
obtained animals Of poor breeding
and undesirable conformation and
too thin to finish in the time they
desire to feed them. While it is de-
sirable to buy heavy cattle when
feeding cotton seed meal, quality and
condition are OF more Importance, as
they are the chief factors lin deter
mining the price Of fat cattle. Cat
tie for feeding should be Of the broad
smooth backed, blocky type and
carry sufficient flesh to finish we'll on
cotton seed meal in about one hun
dred days, making a gain of about
two pounds per day.
The writer also noticed that many
farmers had purchased discolored
and damaged cotton seed meal, made
largely from heated seed. This meal
is totally unfit for feeding purposes
and Is likely to cause serious injury
to the cattle and loss to the owner.
1t Is most unfortunate that some
manufacturers are selling damaged
meal for feeding purposes, rs it is
not only violation Of the State pure
food law, but is one of the surest
ways of destroying an industry that
they should be as much interested as
the farmers in developing.
In many instances farmers are
housing the cattle in stables that are
too small and poorly ventilated. The
ideal way Of handling cattle in the
sandy land sections Of the State is
to feed outside in the fields where
the fertilizer is required, fencing five
to ten acres at time and moving
the feed troughs frequently.
Any buildings provided for beef
cattle in this State should be merely
to keep them dry and not to keep
them warm. Each steer will require
about thirty-five square feet OF space
in the stable and two feet of trough
room.
1t Is important that the stables be
kept we'll bedded with straw, corn
stover or other roughage at all times
to make the cattle comfortable and
absorb the urine, which contains prac-
tically all Of the nitrogen excreted,
and is the most valuable part Of the
fertilizer. Cattle that are kept in
filthy stables or yards where they
cannot rest comfortably will not in
crease in flesh and do we'll, no matter
how well they are fed
Some farmers have made the mis-
take of feeding too much cotton seed
meal at the beginning and getting
their cattle nff feed II ic povc,, "A