FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



is doubtless one of the leading factors in the delicacy that 

 characterizes to some extent the Jerseys and some families 

 of Shorthorns and Aberdeen Polls, in the marked tendency 

 which they have shown to fall an easy prey to tuberculous 

 diseases and also in other ways. 



Increased delicacy and lowered stamina will assuredly 

 be followed by lower average production, and the degree of 

 the decrease, other things being equal, will be proportionate 

 to the degree of the increase in delicacy and decrease in 

 stamina. The proviso that other things shall be equal is 

 made because decreased production may arise from various 

 other causes for which increased delicacy and lowered stam- 

 ina may be in no way responsible. Decrease in production, 

 the outcome of one or both of these causes, is sometimes 

 witnessed in the lack of staying power in the running or 

 trotting horse, of endurance in labor in the draft horse, of 

 milk yields in the dairy cow, of vigor in new born lambs 

 and of decrease in the producing power of some of the 

 lard breeds of swine. 



The fact, however, should be carefully noted, that the 

 degree of the protection called for varies with the species. 

 The necessity for this arises from a difference in inherent 

 constitutional endowment, modified by the object or objects 

 for which the animals are maintained. The highest degree 

 of protection is called for by swine, next come dairy cows, 

 then beef cattle, after beef cattle sheep and after sheep 

 horses and mules. In furnishing protection these constitu- 

 tional variations must be recognized. The degree of pro- 

 tection just right for swine would soon prove fatal to 

 sheep, and that exactly suited to the dairy cow would be 

 destructively enervating to the horse. 



Unrest and improper feeding. When feeding is insuf- 

 ficient or excessive, the unrest that follows is proportionate, 

 and the same is true when the supply of litter is inadequate. 

 Food supplies are insufficient when they do not satisfy 

 the cravings of the appetite, when they satisfy the former 

 but do not afford sufficient nutriment, or when they are 



