INTRODUCTION. 441 



who feeds the products of his farm to stock so poorly bred that 

 there is no possibility of profit from it. 



4th. In feeding farm stock there should be an intelligent 

 idea of the purpose for which the food is given, and some knowl- 

 edge of the properties of the different foods and the purposes 

 they subserve in the animal economy. These will be discussed 

 fully in the chapter on Feeding Animals. I wish, however v 

 briefly to state a few points : 



(1.) Breeding stock should never be pampered and made over 

 fat, as it often impairs their fertility, and injures their offspring. 

 It is, therefore, often unwise to buy show stock at fairs for 

 breeding purposes. 



(2.) Working stock should be fed with those foods which 

 produce muscle rather than fat, and the practice of heavy corn 

 feeding for horses is both unscientific and injurious. 



(3.) Growing stock must be fed liberally so as to maintain 

 a constant development, for it takes less food and gives better 

 results to keep an animal growing and thrifty, than to make it 

 so after it has been checked in its growth. All the profit in 

 feeding animals must come from the surplus of food given above 

 what is necessary to repair the waste of the system. 



(4.) One of the purposes of food is to produce heat, and 

 shelter is usually cheaper than food. For the same reason it is 

 wise to fatten farm animals as far as possible in warm weather, 

 when but little of the food will be required to maintain vital heat. 



(5.) An animal to be thrifty must be comfortable ; therefore, 

 a good bed and kind treatment are equivalent to food. 



5th. In order that animals should be managed so as to 

 increase the fertility of the farm, requires that the pastures be 

 not overstocked, for there must be grass enough for full feed and 

 some left on the ground. The stock must not be allowed to 

 roam over the farm in winter and early spring, wasting their 

 manure and injuring the land by tramping it when wet. 



The manure made must be protected from loss by leaching 

 or firing, and applied to the soil in the way that will secure 

 the best and most lasting results. It is a wonderful and benefi- 

 cent arrangement of Providence that the waste and offensive 



