g3 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



I used to believe that all these feeds must be mixed with water, 

 but for the past few 3-ears I have fed them dry and have obtained 

 better results, letting the animals drink their water clear. After 

 the cows eat their breakfast, I give each one a pail of water and 

 no more ; after they have eaten their dinner, I turn tiiem out in the 

 yard and they all drink all the}' want, and then I tie them up and 

 the}' lie right down and lie still till supper time. The}' have no 

 more water till the next morning. They are full all the time and 

 perfect!}' contented, and they lie down in their stalls and chew their 

 cuds contentedly. 



Question. If yon feed your cows cotton seed meal enough you 

 can arrive at what we call " taking them off their feed?" 



Mr. Coiiij, Yes ; you can by over-feeding. I feed right through 

 the summer months two quarts per day, skipping, perhaps, the 

 month of June, when feed is good. 



Sec. Gilbert. You claim that you can feed cows at a profit — 

 can you feed pigs at a profit ? 



Mr. Cobb. It was told to us by a gentleman from another State 

 a few years ago, that pork could be raised at a profit on purchased 

 feed. We had just gone through the severe experience of raising 

 pork and selling it in the spring at six cents a pound, and we con- 

 sidered that pretty low. I experimented twice with lots of two and 

 two. I experimented last spring, commencing the first of April, 

 with two pigs, for the purpose of finding out what kind of feed was 

 the most profitable. I found out, by actual weight and test, in 

 feeding pigs that were in a thrifty condition, that one hundred 

 pounds of wheat middlings would make twenty-nine pounds of live 

 pork. I tried these for nine weeks, weighing them every week, and 

 weighing the feed as it was given. These wheat middlings cost 

 Si. GO per one hundred pounds. The pigs showed a greater gain at 

 first than they did as they grew older. 



Sec. Gilbert. Is that a law that holds good? 



Mr. Cobb. It proved so in this case ; but this being the first time 

 I had tried it, I was not satisfied. Five weeks ago I bought two 

 shoats. They both weighed one hundred and forty pounds. I set 

 a bag of middlings by the pen^ and had them fed in this way. In 

 five weeks they have gained eighty-one pounds, and they have 

 gained a little more in proportion to their feed than the first ones. 

 I give all my hogs cold water and cold feed. 



