Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-09-25
A CHANGED DIETARY IS ESSEN
'TIAL

A CHANGED DIETARY is ESSEN
TIAL.
j. b. r., Summerville, Ca, writes: have
! one fun booded TamwOrth nog that Is
down in his back. He eats as hearty as
| ever, but he seems to be sore all over.
| have put tar and turpcntne On his back
end given him copperas, but he does not
| get any better. Please tell me what TO
do for him.
/ Hogs confined to pens and fed on a
ration consisting principally Of corn
often develop a condition such as you
/ indicate. 1t is due as a rule to the
deficiency in the ration they receive
| of mineral matter. In other words, the
bony frame is not sufficiently built up.
Hence ii tends to break down. This
can be overcome as a rule by balancing
| UP the ration. Instead of feeding corn
alone, you should feed equal parts OF
| corn and shorts. You should also keep
a box in the pen in which you mix
equal parts of charcoal, ashes, slaked
/ lime or ground limestone, bone meal
or ground phosphate rock. To this
| should be added a little salt, enough
| to make the mixture palatable. You
will find, unless we are very much mis-
taken, that your hog will eat this mix
ture very freely and that his condition
will improve rather markedly until the
trouble about which you inquire dis
appears.
The use of turpentine and tar in the
manner indicated will not prove effec-
tive in correcting the trouble which is
due, as already indicated, to a lack of
mineral matter in the ration fed and
the fact that the hog being confined
gives no chance for it to gather the
requisite amount of mineral matter
needed to maintain the skeleton from
outside sources, such as the soil
HERD FED ON HOMEMADE FEEDS
j. u, Savannah, Ga, writes: | have read
mat the dairy cows the college farm
are FED entirely on Homegrown feed. | would
like for you to advise me concerning this
matter, giving full information as TO what
are the best crops to grow in this section.
1t is true that the college herd at
Athens has been fed on homegrown
ration for the past nine years. This
ration in the summer time consists es-
sentially of grass with some silage and
d little cottonseed meal, depending on
seasonal conditions and the amount of
rainfall, and hence the condition of the
pastures. We seldom feed more than
two pounds of cottonseed meal during
the summer. although during periods of
severe drought we may feed as much
as three pounds. AS a rule, silage is
fed during the late spring and early
summer. We also grow considerable
areas of alfalfa and use this as a soil
ing crop. Alfalfa can be grown sue
cessfully in your section of the state
If you lime the land and prepare it
properly. We are able TO cut alfalfa
here from three to five times a year
and secure from three and half to five
tons OF cured hay per acre. Alfalfa is
rich in protein, and therefore, lessons
the necessity of feeding high-priced
concentrates.
Our winter ration consists essentially
Of silage made from growing hafir corn
and sorghum in alternate rows We
do not put these crops in the silo until
they are practically mature. They are
fine drought resisters. as you know and
make large tonnage per acre. When
handled as indicated we secure a very
fine quality of silage. We feed this
from about the middle of October until
June. We find silage so advantageous
as substitute for grass and as a cheap
succulent roughage that we expect to
build another silo about the first of
January so as to have il ready for the
next crop season. We have Just put
up about six hundred tons of silage
for our dairy herd of thirty-five cows
We feed them this silage, cottonseed
meal. and a little corn or oats, depend
ms Oii AhC dudhlAlly we nave OH mana,
but our primary grain ration is cotton
seed meal 1t contains three times as
much digestible protein as wheat bran
and four times as much as corn, and is
the premier concentrate to feed in the
south.
KEEPING A cow FROM SUCKING
HERSELF.
j. r. NJ, Apping, Ca. writes: will YOU
n oil ma hONy IN
sucking herself?
About the best way to prevent a cow
from sucking herself is to make a halter
of leather just as one would arrange it
for a horse or colt. This halter should
have band, of course, which would go
around the head back of the horns and
so arranged that 1t can be taken up or
let out according to the size of the ami
NAL II is OF be used on. The nose piece
should be perforated about every half
inch and a good-sized nail inserted
therein. The nose piece should then be
tackled with another piece of heavy
leather to hold the nails in place and
keep the points straight up Where this
halter is worn it interferes so complete
ly with the cows ability to reach the
udder that she can soon be broken of
this vicious habit. There is no simpler
method with which I am acquainted
THE FOOD VALUE OF VELVET
BEANS.
". NJ, jacksonville Fla, writes I
would like some information in regard to
the feeding value Of velvet bean meal. How
does IL compare with corn meal and cotton
seed meal7
Roughly speaking, choice cotton seed
meal contains about "A per cent of d.
gestible protein and per cent of fat
Velvet beans contain between 90 and
% per cent of digestible protein and
L.