REMARKS ON FEEDING CATTLE.

Many of the most complicated diseases of cattle originate from the food: for example, it may be given in too large quantities—more than is needed to build up and repair the waste that is constantly going on. The consequence is, the animals get into a state of plethora, which is known by heaviness, dulness, unwillingness to move; there is a disposition to sleep, and they will lie down and often go to sleep in damp places. A chill of the extremities, or collapse of the capillaries, takes place, resulting in diseases of the lungs and pleura. At other times, if driven a short distance, and made to walk fast, they are liable to disease of the brain and other organs, which frequently terminates fatally.

The food may be of such a nature as shall be very difficult of digestion, such as cornstalks, foxgrass, frosted turnips, &c. The clover and grasses may abound in woody fibre, in consequence of being cut too late; they will then require more than the usual amount of gastric fluids to insalivate them, and more time to masticate, and, finally, extract their nutrimental properties. The stomach becomes overworked, producing sympathetic diseases of the brain and nervous structures. The stomach not being able to act on fibrous matter with the same despatch as on softer materials, the former accumulates in its different compartments, distends the viscera, interferes with the motion of the diaphragm, presses on the liver, seriously interfering with the bile-secreting process. In order to prevent the grass and clover from becoming tough and fibrous, it should be mowed early, and while in flower, and should be afterwards almost constantly attended to, if the weather is favorable; the more it is scattered about, the better will it be made, and the more effectually will its fragrance and other good qualities be preserved.

The food may also be deficient in nutriment. The effects of insufficient food are too well known to need much description: debility includes them all; it invades every function of the animal economy. And as life is the sum of the powers that resist disease, if disease is only the instrument of death, it follows, of course, that whatever enfeebles life, or, in other words, produces debility, must predispose to disease.

Many cattle, during the winter, live on bad hay, which does not appear to contain any of that saccharine and mucilaginous matter which is found in good hay. When the spring comes, they are turned out to grass, and thus regain their flesh. Many, however, die in consequence of the sudden change.

It has been satisfactorily proved that fat cattle, of the best quality, may be produced by feeding them on boiled food.

Dr. Whitlaw says, "On one occasion, a number of cows were selected from a large stock, for the express purpose of making the trial: they were such as appeared to be of the best kind, and those that gave the richest milk. In order to ascertain what particular food would produce the best milk, different species of grass and clover were tried separately, and the quality and flavor of the butter were found to vary very much. But what was of the most importance, many of the grasses were found to be coated with silecia, or decomposed sand, too hard and insoluble for the stomachs of cattle. In consequence of this, the grass was cut and well steamed, and it was found to be readily digested; and the butter, that was made from the milk, much firmer, better flavored, and would keep longer without salt than any other kind. Another circumstance that attended the experiment was that, in all the various grasses and grain that were intended by our Creator as food for man or beast, the various oils that enter into their composition were so powerfully assimilated or combined with the other properties of the farinaceous plants, that the oil partook of the character of essential oil, and was not so easily evaporated as that of poisonous vegetables; and experience has proved that the same quantity of grass, steamed and given to the cattle, will produce more butter than when given in its dry state. This fact being established from numerous experiments, then there must be a great saving and superiority in this mode of feeding. The meat of such cattle is more wholesome, tender, and better flavored than when fed in the ordinary way." (For process of steaming, see Dadd's work on the Horse, p. 67.)

A mixed diet (boiled) is supposed to be the most economical for fattening cattle. "A Scotchman, who fattens 150 head of Galloway cattle, annually, finds it most profitable to feed with bruised flaxseed, boiled with meal or barley, oats or Indian corn, at the rate of one part flaxseed to three parts meal, by weight,—the cooked compound to be afterwards mixed with cut straw or hay. From four to twelve pounds of the compound are given to each beast per day." The editor of the Albany Cultivator adds, "Would it not be well for some of our farmers, who stall-feed cattle, to try this or a similar mode? We are by no means certain that the ordinary food (meaning, probably, bad hay and cornstalks) would pay the expense of cooking; but flaxseed is known to be highly nutritious, and the cooking would not only facilitate its digestion, but it would serve, by mixing, to render the other food palatable, and, by promoting the appetite and health of the animal, would be likely to hasten its thrift."

Mr. Hutton, who has long been celebrated for producing exceedingly fat cattle at a small cost, estimates that cost as follows:—

s. d.
"13 lbs. of linseed, bruised, or 2 lbs. per day for six days, and 1 lb. for Sunday,1 9
32 lbs. of ground corn, or 5 lbs. per day for six days, and 2-1/2 lbs. for Sunday, at 1 d. per lb.,2 8
35 lbs. of turnips, given twice a day for six days, and thrice on Sunday,1 6
Oats, 1-1/2 d.: labor on each beast, 6 d., 7-1/2
Total cost of each beast per week,6 6-1/2

"The horses, cows, and young stock are also fed on this food, evidently with great advantage."

Mr. Workington, a successful dairyman, combining cut feed and oil-cake with different sorts of green food, found that, by giving a middle-sized cow sixteen pounds of green food and two of boiled hay, with two pounds of ground oil cake, (linseed would be preferable,) and eight pounds of cut straw, the daily expense of her keep was only 5-1/2 d., (about ten cents.) The oil-cake he found to be much more productive of milk when given with steamed food, than when employed without it. Varying their food from time to time is found to be of much more advantage to the cow; and this may probably arise from the additional relish with which the animal eats, or from the superior excitement of a new stimulus on the different secretions.

The following table represents the nutritive properties in each article of food:—

Water.Husk, or woody fibre.Starch, gum, and sugar.Gluten, albumen, &c.Fatty matter.Saline matter.
Oats,162045116 2.5
Beans,158 to 114026 2.5 3
Pease,14 95024 2.1 3
Indian corn,14 670125 to 9 1.5
Barley,151452 13.52 to 3 3
Meadow hay,143040 7.12 to 55 to 10
Clover hay,142540 9.33 to 5 9
Pea straw,10 to 152545 12.3 1.54 to 5
Oat straw,124535 1.3 0.8 6
Carrots,85 310 1.5 0.41 to 2
Linseed, 9.28 to 9 35.3 20.3 20.0 6.3
Bran, 13.1 53.6 2 19.3 4.7 7.3

The most nutritious grasses are those which abound in sugar, starch, and gluten. Sugar is an essential element in the formation of good milk; hence the sweet-scented grasses are the most profitable to cultivate and feed to milch cows. At the same time, the farmer, if he does not, ought to know that large quantities of saccharine matter are extracted from clover and sweet grasses by the bees. Mr. White tells us that, "on a farm situated a few miles from London, the eldest son of the occupier had the management and profit of the bees given him, which induced him to increase the number of stocks beyond what had ever been kept on the farm before. It so happened that the sheep did not thrive so well as in former years, and on the farmer complaining at the cause to his man, as they had plenty of keep, the man replied, 'You will never have fat sheep so long as you suffer my young master to keep so many stocks of bees; they suck all the honey from the flowers, so that the clover is not half so nourishing, and does not produce half such good milk.'" Had this man been acquainted with agricultural and animal chemistry, he would have had a clear conception of the seeming absurdity. All our labor or efforts to improve stock or crops will be fruitless, unless guided by chemical science. We must have sugar, starch, gluten, and other materials, to perfect animal organization. The animal may be in good health, the different functions free and unobstructed, and possess the power of reproducing the species; yet, if fed on substances which lack the materials necessary to the composition of bones, blood-vessels, and nerves, sooner or later its health becomes impaired. Reader, if you own cattle, and wish to preserve their health, give them boiled food occasionally; let them have their meals at regular hours, in sufficient quantity, and no more, unless they are intended for the butcher; then, an extra allowance may be given, with a view of fattening. They should be well littered, and the barns well ventilated; finally, keep them clean, avoid undue exposure, and govern them in a spirit of kindness and mercy.