I2b BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



exactly opposite from the hardiness so desirable for the best 

 results. 



The conviction that feeding a cooked (or wet) mash is a 

 mistake is well illustrated in the statement of a poultryman, 

 writing in one of the poultry papers, who says : " When I 

 want to force the birds to heavy egg-production, I feed a 

 cooked mash, but when I want to get good strong-bodied 

 eggs, eggs that will hatch out a large proportion of strong, 

 vigorous chicks, I feed the breeding pens a dry mash and all 

 dry grain — and I get eggs that will hatch ! " There is a clear 

 statement of the conviction that mash feeding is a mistake if we 

 want the limit of strength and vigor, and who does not ? It is 

 clear that not only the best of health and strength is desired by 

 all who want the best profit from their flocks, and it is being 

 demonstrated by experiment that the best and most contin- 

 uous egg-yield is gotten by a radical departure from the 

 cooked-mashed method of feeding, and adopting the method 

 suggested by our friend quoted above, of feeding the mash dry 

 and supplementing it with the usual feeds of dry grains and 

 seeds. 



A farmer in Illinois tells his experience in feeding, and 

 how he came to adopt the dry-feeding method. He says : " Af- 

 ter reading much upon the subject I concluded the greater part 

 was nonsense, and I now fully believe that inside the next ten 

 years feeding poultry in every stage wi»ll be much simplified. 

 I have had some experience in growing hogs, and did consid- 

 erable experimenting with feeding. I found that by using 

 ground, mixed grain, fed dry, I could grow a prettier, more 

 shapely, and firmer fleshed hog, than by feeding a slop. 



" Nothing under the sun fed in its natural state will blow up 

 a pig to such an extent as a rich slop, and no pig so fed will 

 have the fine symmetrical appearance of one that is fed more 

 in accordance with nature. I fully believe the slop-feeding is 

 destructive of the digestive organs of the pigs, and also fully 

 believe the mash business for chickens and hens gives the same 

 unfortunate result. Any mash will begin to sour soon after 

 being eaten and subjected to the heat of the body, and this too 

 early souring of the food in the crop, before it is properly 

 passed on to the gizzard and intestines, is the foundation of 

 sour-crop and bowel trouble. I will guarantee you that if 

 cracked or whole grain is given regularly (and not in spurts 



