Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-12-23
Better Sires. Better Feeding.

There is now In progress better sire
drive, and 1t is gratifying to note that 1t
is making excellent headway. Surely
such movement is to be commended.
In no other way can the live stock of the
country be improved 80 quickly and cas-
lily. The old saying that the sire is half
the herd is enough to warrant such Q
movement, but the many good things
which will come from improving the
stock are go numerous that 1t seems i'm.
possible there can still be men who
would use scrub sires. With the new
order Of things we must have greater ef-
ficiency in every line OF endeavor; more
production and more economy in pro-
duction to match the high land values
and labor costs, to say nothing of the
feed. Blooded or improved stock is the
result of the work of many men over q
period of many years and surely this is
free and should be used. The average
production of the average COW in terms
of milk and butter fat cannot be called
good, In fact 1t is poor and what man de-
sires to conduct poor business? bis
time is short, his land is high and the
good feed which he uses should be put
to the best possible use. The scrub bull
has been tabooed. ae has been with us
too long, he Is Stacker and altogether
obnoxious. The time has come when
we must use the best, which is none too
good.
Along with this better sire movemen
let us keep In mind something which is
almost as essential and that is better
feeding. The best Of stock will make
poor returns on poor feeding, although
I will say they will do better than scrub
stock. There is another side to this
feeding question which especially at this
time should be given careful considera-
ton. Every animal requires what Is
known as . maintenance ration, that is,
sufficient food to sustain life and keep
up body weight, heat, energy, etc. The
man who would save on the feed bill too
often gives q maintenance ration. When
fed to dairy COWS such ration means no
production, or, il the animal be especially
good, 1t is small production and q loss
in body weight. 1t comes pretty nearly
throwing money away aud sad to cay the
majority of cow keepers use such ra-
ton.
Remember the profit which you get
from feeding Is that which you feed over
and above q maintenance ration. Like
an engine which Is simply given enough
fuel to produce little steam, but not
enough to pull the train. The time, the
fuel and the investment are lost, for the
sake OF little extra coal which might be
applied. II only such rations can be fed,
1t would be more profitable to sell the
stock and the feed. Make your animals
work to capacity and this means feeding
to capacity. Economic feeding 10 liberal
feeding; use the silo to its limit, 1t is the
cheapest source Of carbohydrates. The
legumes, as clover, alfalfa and cow. peas,
furnish our cheapest protein. Use liber.
ally these food products and you will
feed economically. II you have the right
machine, which means stuck which are
bred for the purpose, you will get greater
returns for your money. Let us taboo
the scrub bull and also reform 10 onI
method Of feeding. With improved stock
we'll cared for and fed, We have sure
profit and pleasant and enjoyable occu
nation