QQ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



cut hay. I think our hay crop amounts to one million five 

 hundred thousand tons annually, and we get our haj'^ much 

 better than we used to. I would rather have my hay cut 

 before the first blow ; it is worth four dollars a ton more than 

 it is after heading, for me. I think it is saf*e to say, that a 

 ton cut before it enters the bloom is worth much more than 

 it is cut later ; it is as good as a ton cut late, and five bushels 

 of meal. One brother asked me about growing beef: I find 

 by using this early cut hay and six or eight pounds of meal a 

 day, I can grow my steers ; just give them all the hay they 

 want to eat. In the year 1871, the grasshopper year, I had 

 a large stock, and I got along well with them, very well in- 

 deed. I found myself with a barn full of cattle ; I had a lot 

 of steers ; there were three of them that I could have sold for 

 twenty dollars apiece in the fall. Well, I fed them hay at the 

 rate of eight pounds to a steer, each day. I give my cows 

 twelve pounds. I gave the steers six pounds of corn and 

 oats mixed, perhaps a little more. Well, in the month of 

 April, or perhaps in May, I was ofiered for those steers one 

 hundred and three dollars apiece. I do not think I have fed 

 any milch cows that ever paid better than those steers. I was 

 born and brought up on a farm, and I never breed cattle and 

 grow them but I get my pay. In regard to feeding meal, I 

 prefer dry meal for my cattle. Keep your cattle warm ; have 

 Tegular hours for feeding, and never disturb them before light 

 •or after dark. 



Dr. North. In this matter of feeding cattle in the winter, 

 I think the question of economy should be taken into con- 

 sideration. In some cases it seems as though it took about 

 all the time to feed. For instance, some fiirmers feed two and 

 three, perhaps twice at noon, and at night three or four 

 times. Now, I think this is simph^ a waste of time, and I 

 do not think it benefits the stock. I do not think it advisable 

 for a farmer to pursue this plan. My cattle are fed three 

 good meals a day, and we so plan our work as to save all we 

 can. The first thing given to them is grain ; and I think cat- 

 tle will make better use of it if given to them dry. I never 



