FEEDING OF CATTLE. 631 



capacity of the colt will depend largely, if not altogether, on the 

 treatment he receives in his early life in this respect. The constitu- 

 tion of fast horses requires more particular care, because the severe 

 kind of exertion required from them demands perfection of bone, 

 muscle and respiratory and arterial organs, and also because of the 

 greater value they represent. Change and variety of food are 

 desirable and as many kinds of wholesome food as are at hand 

 should be used, making the alternations, however, with regularity, 

 or at stated brief intervals. 



Variety in Feeding Barley is a good substitute for oats, 

 but should be cracked or bruised; mixed with hay it makes good 

 feed for young horses. The entire feed should be dampened. Mil- 

 let-meal is a first-rate substance to be given to young and growing 

 horses, but should not be fed without grinding. It will afford as 

 good a ration as can be given, because it is particularly muscle- 

 forming. Meal made from peas is in this country what beans are 

 in Great Britain. It is as strong a food as can be given horses. By 

 themselves peas are constipating, but this may be obviated by mix- 

 ing in the proportion of four bushels of peas with four of corn and 

 one half bushel of flaxseed, ground together. 



General Summary American farmers by proper attention 

 to feeding can produce as valuable animals for all purposes as there 

 are in the world. The difficulty has been that stock -growers in this 

 country have not paid as much attention to the details of feeding, 

 as they do in the old. It should be borne in mind that no matter 

 what the value of the animal may be, or what his class, he will not 

 realize just what lie should, unless his feeding has been properly 

 managed. Feeding lays the basis for everything in the horse. 

 Feeding may make a poor horse a good one, but no naturally good 

 horse will be other than poor if he is not properly fed. This point 

 might be laid down as an axiom and it should be observed. It is 

 perfectly easy, by giving attention to details, to feed to the very best 

 advantage, and at the same time with the utmost economy; and the 

 returns which the stock-grower or owner will receive, both in labor 

 and value, will amply compensate for the care and trouble. The 

 difference which exists between animals as concerns their perfec- 

 tion and their market value will depend far more upon feeding than 

 upon strains of blood; and the wise stock-owner, who attends intelli- 

 gently to this, will obtain a higher price from an inferior animal, 

 than he who is careless or indifferent can procure for a creature of 

 the most delicate pedigree. 



FEEDING OF CATTLE. 



Feeding 1 Young Calves As with other animals, the 

 natural and best food for young calves is the mother's milk. How- 

 ever, after a period of from thirty to sixty days, the calf may be fed 

 with advantage upon skim-milk and linseed or flax-seed gruel. It 



