CATTLE FOOD. 305 



"We have only touched upon this sorry phase of cattle wintei- 

 ing, to condemn it as both cruel to the beasts, and unprofitable 

 to the keepers of them. 



WHAT WINTER FEEDING AND CARE OF STOCK SHOULD BE. 



Good hay and plenty of it, is, no doubt, the most available and 

 convenient winter feed for stock cattle, in our hay producing 

 States. For fattening beef, and making milk, other foods are to 

 be added; but those are not now in the exact order of discussion. 

 Hay, too, in a grass country, is altogether the cheapest. In the 

 wide Indian corn regions of the South and West, where that 

 grain is largely raised, and the stalks properly cured, they furnish 

 an amount of good forage; and clean, bright straw, when neces- 

 sity compels it, is a rather poor substitute for either; but cattle 

 will scarce hold their own upon straw alone, much less thrive. 

 Some farmers believe, or act as though they do, that if a creature 

 can get through to its spring pasture, with half as much flesh on 

 its bones as it carried into winter quarters, it is doing well. 

 That is a much mistaken idea, for in such condition, its winter 

 growth is lost, and it takes half the summer to recover it. 

 There is no truer adage, than that "a beast well summered, is 

 half wintered; and well wintered, is half summered." 



The hay most generally preferred for that puropse is timothy, 

 with a sprinkling of red clover in it if cut in the right time 

 which, in timothy, is just at coming into its blue, or first bloom, 

 and before the succeeding white bloom passes. In the first 

 stage, the seed is in its milk, and the stalks and leaves in their 

 full succulence. It then requires more drying in the field after 

 being cut, and is better for milk cows, calves, and young stock. 

 In the white bloom, the seed is glazing and ripening; the stalks 

 and leaves are at full maturity ; the sap is concentrated, and the 

 grass has more substance, yet quite as profitable for steers, and 

 dry cows. When fully ripe, and the seed begins to fall, the grass 



