CHAPTER XIV. 



PASTURAGE AND FEEDING FOR PROFIT. 



f. STUDY THE CONDITIONS. II. PROVIDE AGAINST DROUGHTS. III. KINDS OK 



FEED TO RAISE. IV. PASTURE THE POOR MAN'S WEALTH. V. THE VALUABLE 



CLOVERS. VI. ALFALFA OR LUZERNE. VII. CLOVERS NOT GENERALLY VAL- 

 UABLE. VIII. FORAGE AND FEEDING PLANTS. IX. GRASS IS THE MOST VALr 



UABLE. X. GRASSES OF SPECIAL VALUE. XI. THE COMING GRASSES FOB 



THE WEST. XII. THE TIME TO PASTURE. XIII. FEEDING IN WINTER. XIV. 



WATERING. XV. FEEDING IN SUMMER. XVI. ECONOMY OF FULL SUMMEB 



AND WINTER FEEDING. XVII. SUMMING UP. ^XVIII. FINISHING A STEEE. 



XIX. WHEN TO SELL. 



I. Study the Conditions. 



In every country, and, indeed, in every district of a country, the cir- 

 cum stances attending the rearing, and especially the feeding and fatten- 

 ing of stock are so varying and diversified, that the aggregate cost of a 

 comparatively insignificant group of items is what makes the difference 

 between profit and loss in feeding. For instance, a few cents a bushel more 

 or less in the price of corn, an extra month of winter, or greater cost of 

 watering in one case than in another may give one man profit and an- 

 other man it may carry into loss Insufficient shelter, imperfect conve- 

 niences and little wastes, here and there will often turn the scale both in 

 summer and in winter feeding. 



n. Provide against Droughts. 



In summer, a drought which finds the feeder unprepared with grsen 

 food, other than grass, will destroy profits, as also will a failure of water. 

 The reason is simple. Every case of this kind which stops or retards 

 fattening, is not only a loss through the shrinkage of flesh, but after the 

 animals again begin to improve, it takes some time before they really be- 

 gin to thrive again when the pastures become flush. Not so with the 

 farmer who provides against a lack of water during droughts, and has 

 sufficient green fodder to supply deficiencies arising from bare or partly 

 bare pastures. 



m. Kinds of Feed to Raise. 



The question of feeding-material is an important one, and here the 

 feeder must be guided by soil, climate and such other natural contingen- 

 cies as he may have to encounter. Any fodder crop does best on a rather 



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