LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 129 



class of stock can be made profitable without liberal feeding, proper care, and 

 attention. Up to a certain point an engine is useless; all of the heat goes for 

 naught until enough has been applied to produce a sufficient amount of steam 

 to run our machinery. Beyond this, within a certain limit, the more feed we 

 add, the more steam there is produced, hence the greater the motive power. 

 In a similar manner animals act the part of machines in converting the coarse 

 products of the farm into various available forms. It takes a certain amount 

 of food to keep an animal alive, and it is only as we add to this what the 

 animal will assimilate in good wholesome food that we can expect any increase. 

 How many farmers keep their animals at just the point, that even if possessed 

 with a fair amount of flesh when placed in winter quarters — in the spring they 

 weigh less than they did in the fall. What economy can there be in this? 

 Not only is most of the value of the food lost, but all of the care and atten- 

 tion is for naught. If you have stock, that, when properly fed and cared for 

 does not yield a proper return — the sooner you are rid of it the better. The 

 room they occupy and the food they consume could be given to the more 

 worthy ones. 



But what could be gained by improvement? One of the great benefits of 

 improved stock lies in their early maturity, and in the large returns for the food 

 consumed. The earlier we can get the same price per pound for our stock, the 

 better. Cattle that give the largest returns for the food consumed, pay the 

 best. The same is true of our sheep and swine. All may not rear cows that 

 reach the highest yields, or sheep that grow the heaviest amount of wool, nor 

 is it necessary. There is not a farmer but values highly the importance of 

 using the best varieties of seeds or grains, and as our stock interests are of 

 fully as much importance, why not take the same care in the selection of our 

 stock that we would if we were selecting our seed corn or seed wheat? If we 

 are to compete with the rapid improvements that are being made in the west, 

 we must exert ourselves to the best improvement by batter breeding and better 

 feeding. It means better stock, more beef, more milk and butter, more wool 

 and mutton, more pork, better manure, better crops, better farms, and we 

 are better men. In a word, it means a vast increase of wealth to individuals, 

 and to our State and nation. 



Prof. Johnson made a few remarks in which he stated that when we realize 

 that our live stock and our live stock productions exceed all other farm pro- 

 ducts, and when we remember that twelve dollars' worth of butter, eight 

 dollars' worth of cheese, or between three and four dollars' worth of beef, pork, 

 or mutton, can be sent for the same price as one dollars' worth of wheat, to 

 Boston or New York, then we will see the true value of keeping true varieties 

 of stock. 



Good cattle can be fattened at least expense before they are two years old. 

 He recommended raising calves by hand, feeding them oil meal mixed with 

 milk. After the calf is five or six months old gradually substitute bran or 

 oatmeal in place of the oil meal. Feed three times a day for best results. 



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