PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 355 



to incur the cost of the intermediate handling involved in 

 stacking the fodder rather than to draw from the shock and 

 feed directly. Climatic conditions, more than anything else, 

 determine which course is the better to adopt. When such 

 fodder as hay must be stacked in the open, the aim should 

 be to have it near the place for feeding, as when it must be 

 drawn far from the place of storage during the winter sea- 

 son, the roads are frequently in a bad condition, notwith- 

 standing there may be valid reasons for stacking such fod- 

 ders on the fields where they grew. In storing roots, the 

 aim should be not only to have them near the place of feed- 

 ing, but also to avoid, as far as possible, the necessity for 

 carrying them up steps in order to feed them. Supplies of 

 ensilage and meal also should be obtained from the same 

 plane as that on which the animals stand which are to con- 

 sume them. 



The wisdom of storing litter, not only where it will be 

 properly protected but also where it is conveniently acces- 

 sible, is very apparent. There are instances in which the 

 proper storing of bedding may be quite as important as the 

 storing of fodders. The conditions of storage are ideal 

 when all the fodder and bedding required to carry the ani- 

 mals through the winter are stored above them when they 

 are housed in a well constructed basement, but such build- 

 ings are becoming too costly where materials for construct- 

 ing them are dear. 



Grinding or crushing grain. The necessity for grind- 

 ing and crushing grain is dependent : ( i ) On the nature oi 

 the grain ; (2) the animal to which it is to be fed ; (3) the 

 combinations for feeding of which it forms a part; and (4) 

 the amount and kinds of noxious weed seeds present. As the 

 grinding of grain when cured will cost from 5 to 10 

 cents a hundred pounds, to say nothing of the cost of con- 

 veyance and handling during the process, it becomes a mat- 

 ter of considerable importance that unnecessary grinding 

 shall be avoided. 



