POTATOES AS FOOD FOR STOCK.S

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4236, 4 March 1921, Page 4

POTATOES AS FOOD FOR STOCK.S

One of the'maxims of a successful crofter is that there must be no avoidable waste, and that everything which comes from. the land, ami which is retained for home consumption, ought to be returned to it in one form or another. Invthe case of potatoes, the small chats, and those which have been injured in the process of lifting, as well as those which may be more or less diseased, are put on one side for feeding purposes. Almost all animals will eat the potato in a raw state —pigs are especially fond of them. In the case of the latter many crofters make a practice of feeding raw potatoes to the animals, although in th ecase of poultry it is considered advisable to boil the tubers and to stir in an admixture of Indian or other meal. I confess that I am unable to understand why the distinction should be made at the expense of the pig. Were the potatoes boiled and mixed with meal, and fed to the pigs in a warm state, the mixture would be more readily assimilated, it would be more nourishing, and it would not tend to reduce the natural heat of the animals, otherwise used up when cold, raw potatoes are eaten. There is another point, too, which is worthy of consideration. Experiment has proved that when raw diseased potatoes have been used as food for pigs the spores of the disease care not destroyed by the process of digestion, and if the manure from the sty be used in the potato ground during the following year it is a certainty that disease will make its appearance in the crop. When however, the diseased potatoes are thoroughly boiled, the risk of disease is, to a great extent, eliminated.