237 



March last. lu the opening- portion of his address, Mr. M. states that 

 sixteen years ago he happened to mention to an acquaintance that he was 

 short ot" hay for wintering his stock, and was advised to use scalded 

 corn-meal as a substitute, at the rate of three pints per day, keeping in 

 stall during winter and watering by hand. Profiting by this hint, he 

 dried off his herd of twenty cows, and placed them upon an exclusive 

 meal-diet, feeding an average of three pints, dry, morning and evening; 

 giving the large cows a little more, and the small ones a little less. He 

 kept them in warm, clean, and properly- ventilated stables, only turning 

 them out for a half hour each day for water. The lirst three or four 

 days they exhibited symptoms of uneasiness on this new diet, but soon 

 regained their usual quiet and content. As this experiment was com- 

 menced as a necessity, and with no probability of its being continued 

 through several years, Mr. M. did not weigh his cows either at the com- 

 mencement or end of meal-feeding. In the spring, when the cows began 

 to drop their calves, he fed them all the hay they would eat in the morn- 

 ing, with two quarts of meal at night, but in every instance they showed 

 a decided preference for meal. When upon exclusive meal-diet that 

 season — a period of nine weeks — rumination ceased when they had no 

 longer any food to remaslicate. During this time the cows drank a re- 

 markably"^ small quantity of water, varying from one to eight or ten 

 quarts per day. Although accustomed to eating a daily ration of salt 

 during the summer, the herd showed but little inclination to eat it upon 

 meal ; but when fed upon hay they at once resumed the consumption of 

 the usual amount of salt and water. Mr. M. says that he made more 

 than the usual quantity of butter that season, and when turned out to 

 grass the cows did better than they had ever done before. After this 

 brief experience, whenever short of hay, Mr. M. resorted to meal, feed- 

 ing, in as many winters, live, seven, and eight weeks, and always with 

 the most satisfactory results. The cows thus fed invariably did better, 

 when turned out to grass, than those fed on hay, the quality of the milk 

 being better, and the tendency to lay on flesh being greater. 



Mr. Miller has not only experimented with meal, but has also experi- 

 mented with meal made fiom different varieties of corn. Meal made 

 from white western Indian corn is not so nutritious as that of the yel- 

 low native corn of Western New York. It contains only a fraction of 1 

 per cent, of oil, while yellow corn contains nearly 4 per cent. He states 

 that there was a marked difference in its effects upon his cattle. Feed- 

 ing of meal from the white corn soon caused the hair to look and feel 

 stiff and harsh ; then the skin became dry, with the appearance of scur- 

 vy ; finally, some of the herd broke out with blotches along the back 

 and sides. While a mixture of oil-cake will prevent this difficulty, Mr. 

 M. prefers to use yellow meal, and avoid the necessity and expense of 

 using oil-cake with meal made from white corn. 



As to the result of his experiments during the winter of 1873-74, Mr. 

 Miller says : 



At the close of the season, having fed no bran or extra feed since the 20th of August, I 

 find, by factory returns, that my cows averaged a fraction less than 20 pounds per diem for the 

 season of five months— May 19 to October I'J — being 1 pound and 3 ounces each per diem 

 more than the average of 531 cows whose milk was sent to the same factory, and an 

 average of 4^ pounds each per diem more than my cows gave for the corresponding season 

 the previous year, when wintered on hay. 1 had also two cases of abortion in my herd, the 

 result of accidents — having had but one the previous year. The conditions were more than 

 ordinarily unfavorable; but the results were, to say the least, a demonstration of the adap- 

 tation ofan exclusive meal diet to meet the wants of my animals under the conditions enu- 

 merated. Another result of meal-feeding I find to be a tendency to lay on flesh more readily 

 than wlien wintered in the usual manner. I am also satisfied that my herd hold their age 

 better, and that their teeth last longer; the reasons for which are apparent. What the effect 



