FEEDING STOCK. 359 



liberal feeding, he actually made a gain of $53, instead of any 



loss. 



So you see how this case proves the truth of what the Secretary 



tried to impress on our minds, that the cost of support is a pretty 



he;ivy expense anyhow, and we get nothing for that, in wintering 



stock, except the difference in the season of the year, from fall to 



spring. The profits of feeding come from what we give over and 



above what they need for support. 



That accords exactly with my experience. Last March, I 

 bought a pair of oxen, paying more than any butcher would — 

 $10*7.50 They measured pretty close to seven feet. I fed them 

 with meal each day, a few potatoes, and what hay they wanted 

 until the 11th of May, or a little more than two months, and then 

 sold them, with reference to their value as beef, although to a 

 farmer, for $230. Did I get pay for feeding them ? I am not so 

 eure of that as I am that if I had not fed them and grown them, I 

 should have met with a loss. 



What I advise farmers is, not to attempt to raise any kind of a 

 creature unless it is good. If not really a good animal, you harf 

 better not raise it at all. If it is a good one, keep it growing, 

 aud the growing finally will pay the expense. I have never 

 advocated that it will pay to raise cattle, or to fat cattle as a 

 matter of profit in Maine, but what I say is, if you grow them at 

 all, you must grow good ones. You must grow them right along 

 and grow them to maturity, in order to make anything. 



Mr.. Coiu'bx. I think the remark of Mr. Gilbert in reference to 

 giving animals all they can possibly eat -is open to criticism, and 

 needs some qualification. If a man is raising horses, as they do 

 in this section to a considerable extent, and' should apply that 

 principle, he would find his practice hostile to his interest. A 

 horse may be made a hay mill, running through the whole twenty- 

 four hours, as be would eat most of the time, to the great disad- 

 vantage of his growth and health. It is so with a mature horse 

 and so with a colt. If I wanted to stunt a colt, or impair the 

 working capacity of a horse, the most effectual way would be to 

 keep them constantly eating hay. The strongest qualification 

 would be in reference to horses. Cattle are ruminating animals, 

 and when they stuff themselves full, they have to chew the cud, 

 and that tukes time, and they are less liable to eat to excess, but 

 even for them, the greatest amount that they could eat would be 



somewhat beyond the best amount. The same is true of swine ; 

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