My farm is but a small one—under 200 acres. My predecessor always mowed nearly all the pastures for hay, which is about half the farm, and with this scarcely ever grazed any beasts, and kept but very few sheep. Since my occupation I scarcely ever exceed ten acres of meadow with one field of seeds for hay. I keep from 250 to 300 large-size Leicester sheep, and graze from 20 to 25 large-size beasts a year, with other breeding stock in proportion.
I consider the pulping of roots is better for fatting pigs than anything else. My plan is to have a large two-hogshead vat as near the pulping machine as possible, so as to fill it with a malt shovel as it comes from the machine; at the same time I keep a lad sprinkling meal (either barley or Indian corn) with the roots; and this is all done in fifteen or twenty minutes. It is then ready for use, to be carried to the pigs in the stalls alongside the fatting beasts. I never could fatten a pig with profit until I used pulped roots.
Although the practice of cooking food has been advocated by several eminent feeders, it has been condemned by others. Mr. Lawes is not favorable to the cooking of food unless when it is scarce. The results of Colonel M'Douall's experiments go to prove that cattle can be more economically kept upon a mixture of raw and cooked foods than upon either raw or cooked fodder given separately. One meal of cooked food and two feeds of raw turnips gave better results than three feeds of raw turnips; whilst two cooked feeds and a raw one resulted in a loss.
The fermentation of food, if not the best, is certainly the cheapest mode of preparing it. If the process be not pushed too far the loss of nutriment sustained is inconsiderable. When a mixture of straw and roots is fermented, the hard fibres of the latter are, to a great extent, broken up, and the nutrient particles which they envelop are fully exposed to the action of the solvent juices of the stomach.
A great advantage in cooking or fermenting food is that the most rubbishy materials can be used up. Indeed, as a general rule, the better soft food is, the less the necessity for cooking it; but washed out hay and hard, over-ripened straw are of but little value, except when cooked and given in combination with some agreeably-flavored substance.
| VALUE FOR FEEDING PURPOSES OF VARIOUS FOODS.[!--21--][21] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Material. | Cost. | 100 LBS. CONTAIN. | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per ton. | Per 100 lbs. | Oil. | Starch, Sugar, &c. | Oil, Starch, &c., computed as Oil. | Nitrogen. | Phosphoric Acid. | Potash. | Value of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash. | Deduct Nitrogen for perspiration. | Net Value for Manure. | |||||||||
| Weight. | Value. | Weight. | Value. | Weight. | Value. | ||||||||||||||
| £ | s. | d. | s. | d. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | d. | lbs. | d. | lbs. | d. | s. | d. | d. | s. | d. | |
| Meadow-hay | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2·68 | 39·75 | 24·63 | 1·48 | 10·62 | 0·90 | 1·35 | 1·50 | 4·50 | 1 | 4½ | 21⁄12 | 1 | 2¼ |
| Wheat-straw | 1 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0·50 | 32·0 | 18·50 | 0·42 | 3·0 | 0·14 | 0·21 | 0·65 | 2·16 | 0 | 5 | ½ | 0 | 5 |
| Swedish Turnips | 4 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2·0 | 60·0 | 35·0 | 2·40 | 17·28 | 0·80 | 1·20 | 2·25 | 6·75 | 2 | 1¼ | 3½ | 1 | 9¾ |
| Oil-cake | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 12·0 | 38·0 | 33·0 | 5·0 | 36·0 | 2·25 | 3·37 | 1·75 | 5·25 | 3 | 8½ | 7¼ | 3 | 1¾ |
| Beans | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2·0 | 42·0 | 25·30 | 4·45 | 32·0 | 0·86 | 1·29 | 1·11 | 3·33 | 3 | 0½ | 6½ | 2 | 6 |
| Indian Meal | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 7·0 | 60·0 | 40·0 | 2·25 | 16·20 | 0·19 | 0·28 | 0·17 | 0·51 | 1 | 5 | 3¼ | 1 | 1¾ |
| Carob, or Locust Bean | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 6·76 | 57·0 | 35·0 | 0·64 | 3·75 | No analysis of ash. | say 5¾ | — | 0 | 5 | ||||
Bedding Cattle.—Instead of wasting straw in bedding cattle, it would be much better to pass it through their bodies. If straw must be used for litter, let it be employed as economically as possible. Good substitutes, wholly or in part, for straw bedding may be found in sawdust, ashes, tan and ferns. Leaves of trees if procurable in quantity constitute an excellent litter.