155 



Suggestions to feeders. — In fattening animals two things arc essen- 

 tial : (1) Keep the animal comfortable; and (2) induce him to eat 

 the largest amount of nutritious food. 



Cattle fall off as niiiidly iluriiig a cold, rainy spell in Texas, with the icnipera- 

 ture at the freezing' point or a little under, us they do in Dakota with the teni- 

 peratnre below zero. 



Kange cattle need room in Avhich to move about, and though they 

 may be confined in a building, should be tied up by the head. 



^VUd cutfJc must he liandled quietly. — If struck with a whip or dis- 

 turbed in any way they will stop gaining weight for a time. Dehorn- 

 ing seems to have a marked ell'ect in subduing wild steers. It is 

 thought that the operation should be performed a short time before 

 The cattle are shut up for feeding, " so that they may be fattened 

 while their heads are somewhat tender," If confined, cattle should 

 be fed twice a day by the same persons, and not visited by strangers 

 for at least a month. Feed each time only what the cattle will eat 

 and vary the rations to stimulate the appetite. A little salt may be 

 sprinkled on the food, but care should be taken not to give too much. 



Scientifie feeding. — Especial attention is called to certain points 

 that need careful investigation. AVhile in all the Southern States 

 cotton seed and its products now have a great value as feeding stulfs, 

 cotton- seed meal alone has been carefully studied as regards its 

 digestible and nutritive value. The digestibility of cotton-seed hulls, 

 the feedino- value of which has been found within the past three years 

 to be equal to a fair quality of hay, needs to be accurately determined. 

 The nutritive vahie of the oil in the whole seed should also be studied. 

 The tests made in the experiment reported in this bulletin all show 

 the value of cotton seed for " rapidly loading up the steer with fat," 

 and that cotton seed at $7 per ton is a cheaper feeding material than 

 cotton -seed meal at $20. To make 1 pound of gain, pen 2 required 

 11.08 pounds of silage, l.-t ])<)uiids of hay, 2.91 pounds of cotton-seed 

 meal. Pen retjuired 6.74 pounds of cotton-seed hulls, 2.79 pounds of 

 cotton-seed meal. Pen 7 required 5.84 pounds of cotton-seed hulls, 

 4.67 pounds of silage, 2.64 pounds of cotton-seed meal. This indi- 

 cates that the Indls have a higher nutritive value than silage. Cot- 

 ton-seed meal su])plies what is lacking in the hulls, and cotton-seed 

 meal and hulls sliould make a ration of high nutritive value, pro- 

 vided a coiisidci-ablc ]>art of the hulls is digestible. 



VERMONT. 



Vermont State Agricultural Experiment Station. 



DeiKirtiiiciit (>/ I iiin rsltii of ]'rr)ii(j)it. 

 Location. Burlington. Director, W. W. Cooke, M. A. 



BULLETIN No. li, MARCH, 1889. 



Analysis of fertilizers licensed for sale in Vermont for the 

 YEAR 1889, W. W. CooivE, M. A. (pp. 3-15). — This contains the trade 



