EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 



545 



"Feed in Small Compass. — The minute subdivision of food enables the 

 stomach to contain at least 25 per cent more in quantity than with loose 

 hay or large roots, so always present your food in the smallest possible 

 compass requiring the least mastication. Every half hour saved in feed- 

 ing is so much added to rest — a most important item in fattening. Dry, 

 finely cut chaff mixed with the meals will prevent laxity and flatulence, 

 producing also a sufficient and healthy excitation to the stomach, while 

 it will afford to the gastric juices a ready access to every part of the 

 mass of food. Cattle lay on a much larger quantity of flesh in comfort- 

 able quarters than they do in cold. This is consistent with the well- 

 known fact that the rapid abstraction of caloric by a cold atmosphere 

 renders necessary a large quantity of food to keep up the supply of 

 carbon; but while there is warmth there must be ventilation. 



It may be interesting to my readers to know how closely my system 

 of feeding agrees with the German standards. I present a table giving 

 the average amount of digestible matter in the food used. 



PERCENTAGE OP DICxESTIBLE MATTER IN POODS USED IN lOO POUNDS. 



From this table we construct the second which presents the amount of 

 protein, carbo-hydrates, and fats in the several food articles. 



AMOUNT OF FOOD GIVEN A 1.200 POUND STEER DAILY. 



"It will be seen that our 1,200-pound steer consumes daily 3 277 pounds 

 of protein, 16 pounds of carbo-hydrates and 1 pound of fat. Prom this we 

 calculate that for each 1.000 pounds weight of animal fed we supply 2.73 

 pounds of protein, 13.33 pounds of carbo-hydrates and 0.83 pounds of fat. 

 This agrees so closely with the German standard that it might appear that 

 I had got my ideas of the proper portions from them. This is not so, as it 

 ;S5 



