798 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



cows do better on it. I visited in 1876 a dairyman at Elgin, 

 111., who milked sixty cows and used corn-fodder exclusively 

 for rough feed in winter. He told me that he made repeated 

 tests, feeding his cows first on long fodder and then on cut, and 

 he found that the cut fodder gave eight gallons more milk per 

 day from the sixty cows. The cut fodder was fed dry, with no 

 meal or grain mixed with it. 



I have found so much trouble in feeding corn-meal, that I 

 always, when I use ground feed, mix bran with the meal, as I 

 find it makes a much more palatable and easily digested ration 

 than corn-meal alone. 



In all stall-feeding, regularity, both as to time and quantity, 

 is of great importance. A single over-feed will cause the loss 

 of a week (often more), and if this is repeated a few times, the 

 animal becomes predisposed to indigestion, and will likely be 

 unprofitable. There is no department of farm work that I have 

 found so difficult to intrust to hired help as the feeding of cattle. 

 The novice in stall-feeding will be more likely to lose than to 

 make money, unless he has studied the details well, and gives 

 his personal attention to them. The points in which he is 

 likely to err are : 1st. In getting cattle that are not good 

 feeders. 2d. In too heavy feeding at the start before the cattle 

 are prepared for it. 3d. In beginning to feed at the wrong 

 season, which will involve feeding too long. 4th. In not exer- 

 cising good judgment in selling. 



It requires judgment and experience to select good feeding 

 cattle, and if one is conscious that he is lacking in either or 

 both, it will pay to get some one who understands the business 

 to select the stock for him, particularly if buying in winter, ex- 

 pecting to begin feeding at once. If he has pasture and plenty 

 of rough food for wintering the stock, he can buy during the 

 summer, selecting those which prove to be good feeders and dis- 

 posing of the others before winter. In this way, one with but 

 little knowledge of the business can get a good lot of cattle. 

 Every feeder or dealer in cattle should have stock scales, and 

 weigh frequently, that he may know how his cattle are gaining, 

 and also to enable him to become expert in judging the weight 



