SOME HINTS UPON THE PROFITABLE FEEDING OF FARM STOCK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 77, 3 April 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

SOME HINTS UPON THE PROFITABLE FEEDING OF FARM STOCK.

A want of knowledge of tbe general prin- • ]ea which govern bhe economical feoding f farm animals ia responsible for a good deal of wa3tol or rather of expenditure which rodacai inadequate proportionate results. The food may bo good of its kind, bub not Aemoit suitable for tho purposes aimed at . the stock owner, The unimal may Ibrita well enough, but as good, or even batter, results might perhaps be obtained j| Bas outlay. Young animals aro fed to Diiike quick and healthy growth; working bullock, and horsea aro fed to creabo and , up a capaciby for muscular labour; Siiry cowa are fed to produce milk and batter; beat animals aro fed to pub on neill 'and fat, and so on, European j im) i.!.s« sl' B havo Cftrefully studied tbe eubj.ct of the relative proportion) which the several kinds of food gbould bear to each other to produce tbebe3t results with a due regard to profit -totha feeder. In Great Britain, America, G)rm»sy anil France elaborate experiments hate been mado with a view to ascertaining definite line, to be followed with ft-wct) t° t,ie »rofibttble feeding of farm stock, and the mass of information thus obtained ia nio.t valuable. Ab tho same time it cannob be eaid thab any hard and last rules can be laid down with respect to an absolutely fixed system to bo followed. The popular saying that circumstances liter cases applies with greot force to this nutation. VVe must make allowances for varying surrounding conditions, bub enough bubean learnt by experiment and obsarvatioo w supply us with general lines for our guidance so that we can avoid noedless j_.t.in our methods of feeding stock. Woltf, a careful investigator, says aboub tnbere and roots that they produce general depression and debility of digestion if continuously fed in excessive quantities. Pigs im\> them well when the roots are loppiemented by highly nitrogenous food iswell; while bullocks, cows, and sheep *ill flourish on them if a ration of hay or other dry- fodder be supplied along wibh Unroots. If the latter does nob exceed a qaartar of tbe rest of the ration (calculated v dry matter in each case) excellenb welts with young cattle, fab beasts, and nilch cows can beobbained. Under Buch conditions, potatoes and burnipa are found to be perfectly digeatibio aud wholesome. Ia considering tbe mosb economical food ior a particular purpose, bho fluctuating market valuea of cereals ond fodder must not be loab sight of. Sometimes in proportion to price ooa food may be the cheapeab, »nd sometimes another. Bub ib is useful to the farmer to know how to balance the proportion of albuminoid, or flesh-forming food, to the quantity ot carbo hydrates, or fit producing iood, ao aa bo obbain tho beab nsulti. Tbera should nob bo mo_o than one part of the former to five parts of tbe latter, or less than one parb of bhe former _ eight parts of the latter in the food gir en. If the flesh formerß be either in Ins or greater proportions than these experiments thow that one or other of the kinds of food given ia more or less wasted. In the production of wool ib has been found thab foods rich in albuminoids promote the growth and weighbof wool. At Bohenstein two lots of sheep fed on hay and bean meal maintained their live weighb, and produced 101b of wool. Two lobs fed onstraw and mangolds loab 21b per bead, md produced 741b of wool. One lob fed ou fiay and straw lose 12lb per head, and produced 81b of wool.

Io tbe case of borsea doing average farm wrk Wolff recommends per 1000 lbs of live weight of the animal, the following ration:-Üb9oz3 of digestible albumen, lllb3oz of digestible carbo-hydrates, including Boz of digestible fat—2llb dry matter, '.Divalent to an albuminoid ratio of 1 to 7. When doing very hard work, he reconaffienda digestible albumeD, 2lb8oz; digestible carbo-hydrates, 131b 12oz; total tf?_-ble Food, 16.31b; albuminoid rabio, 1 fco 5.5, tho food in both cases consisting largely of oats. A proportion of bean meal a often givon to heavy carb horses. Sw»9B do not digest hay co well as rumijtots, tho fibre being indigestible by ™»ea. Horses occasionally idle and oc caeumally undergoing great exertion re.Wo a highly nitrogenoua diet. Ala ration for pmebical purposes, Wolff '•commends the following :—A* an equi"wit for lllb of oats give 51b oabs, 31b ■"* _ ljlb beans, or lib oil cake. ' j"r milk production, beaidea regularity Heeding, shelter and uuietneas musb bo , Wei! to bring oub the' highest capacity I ac."'f a.a dairy animal. The reason "ww l. that if the cow ia exposed to cold J™*Qb,_ouch of the food consumed that <W otherwise go to milk and butter ia *to keep up the animal heat; and if "MM to travel (ar, or ia rushed along Ms by a dog, parb of her food will go to 'Pairing the waate caused by bhe excitek? d mocion- The quality of bhe milk ,W* chießy upon the breed or the tola oa ljucic 'y of a particular animal m m-n upo" food' but tha quantity ito! i d therefore ot butter,' can be ll..?. ' by rich and suitable food, and p. ™l Pß"od of milking prolonged. The i„ rim °f albuminoids should be higher /"<> rations of a milking cow than in iu af° fa fattening beaab, since what * » i ottako UP ia turned inbo *Hth I 8° lS nob wa?fced- A curious facb Hit | I)een Proved by experimenb ia C. !l K6 '"PPI? of water will often l 'a the yield of milk wibhoub reduc- _ |V5 v. aIlty» assuming, of course, that fetifal '8 ** bhe Bame titße good and rimenfcs cond»«ed ab Mochern gave C 4 7 e,6 y'eld of milk per cow per day, * 7°. i' eh in albur "en. to bo2llbsoz; k_m__r. ponr '" alb »mcD, 161b 13oz. Celve^', 29ib8oz and 181b 6o_ re- '■«»_.! _. J cows loßt weighb wifch tho . _r»u dlBb ' and losb BDill more in . In W n i? p| arf nco and condition. Hbai i • * cows are seldom stall partof th i F h they may bo the Plater Hjjki , tlmeu Pon graßs in bhe pad%food v alwayj possible to supplement S, or a r- DlDg Und evßnin 2 wi'h roota, l^ wh-if?. 1" ratio" in fcbo 8ha P(' of oaben ». .CI tbe oac» in it. Allander who lh «Ay]-,K a^ d wa,,"known manager of N^Yk iy , iry ComP»ny. in England, milk Bn Y7. a lar Ke experience of farmers' Initios it ' , thouKhb bhab the besb *"«I-B h^ 00*1 Kraaß aad ro°bß for Pro" ** 4 «I v qU rnbiby and quality of milk ""1 Brain of Corticated cobton cake !oz P6r d»,Per day- Salt ab the rate of *il^ial_& promoteß the health and the 'lDttSj?-?cow-ISi'_E__,,- tO ,_00d con*"mcd, young T""««nrl ? "\ hy ° wei Kht much faster milk Jii. ?in,Blß' A oalf fed upon 201b m* lib of aolid matter ia milk

will produce nearly lib of live weighb in the calf. The mcreaee from food conaumed, or the storage of the ingredients within the body, gradually decreaaea with age, unbil ab maburiby ifc albogether ceases. From experiments made on several hundred animals (ordinary croßsbreda) ib was shown thab a calf weighing 801 bab birth weighed 4081b when six months old, an increase oi 3281b ; from six fco bwelve monbhs the increase was 1821b ; from 12 to 18 months, grazing season, tho increaae was 2921b ; from 18 to 24 months, winter season, bhe increase waa 2631b; from 24 to 30 months, grazing season, bhe increase was 2681b live weight. The increase from 24 to 30 months would have been less, but tbe weighings included animals bought in, in middling condition, in which state they increase in weighb more rapidly than aaimala approaching aufficionb fatness. The average increase of oxen, fat, at 24 monfcha old will afterwarda nob exceed 1-fclb per day. The fattening proceaa does nob increase the flesh in old animals, but in young animals flash and fat increase ab the samo time. A lean ox, or one with little flesh, requires a long period to fatten. A tleahy ox will fatten moab readily. The most valuable fat deposit ia thab bebween the layers of muscular fibre, to which ib gives a light colour, and, in some cattle, the marbled appearance so much prized. To fatten cattle a good supply of circulatory albumen ia required, while towards the finish the hydrocarbons may be increased.

A- there has been some balk lately aa to the feeding value of augar waabe products, 1 may add the results of come experiments made on two farms some yeara ago, to teab the value of oil and augar added to fche ordinary fodder of cattle. Beaides the turnips and straw, tho concentrated food was bean meal, to which oil and sugar were added for the various lota. Tho addition of oil showed a slighb increase in live weight, tho sugar none ab all, Tha conclusion arrived ab waa thafc ' ib evidently does nob pay to give an addition of oil or augar fco feeding cattle. Tbe cattle of loba 2 and 3 are very little bebter bhan lob 1, so bhab bhe money spent on oil and sugar haa practically been lost.'

In the foregoing remarks I have avoided giving elaborate tables of rations arranged to suit bhe circumabanceaof sball-fed cattle, as there is practically no stall feeding of cattle in New Zealand. But the' principles which govern the laws of nutrition in farm gtock aro worbh knowing, and can ofbon be applied to a certain extent in ordinary colonial farm practice.