134 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



with substances which keep their blood warm, do not need 

 to have the water warmed, and that it is not worth while to 

 do it. Of course there are extreme cases. We do not want 

 to water them with Avater thtit .comes with ice all around it 

 and over it,;l)ut to give them water to drink which is of the 

 temperature of moderate spring water or good well water. 

 So I think that a good many of the old-fashioned ideas of 

 our farmers are being proved to be wrong, not only with 

 reference to feeding dairy animals, but with reference to 

 feeding pigs. It is pretty well established that the old theory 

 that everything for pigs must be cooked, not only involves a 

 loss of the fuel and time expended in the cooking, but is an 

 absolute loss in the digestibility of the matter that is assimi- 

 lated by the pigs. Under such circumstances we may well 

 be prepared to accept some further modifications of our old 

 ideas. That we should cater to the individual cow I think 

 there is no question, — that we should cater to her condition 

 and to her appetite. We find that, out of a herd of thirty, 

 one or two will eat considerably more than the others. They 

 have strong appetites, and some of them will readily take 

 and consume a considerable amount of feed which perhaps 

 has been picked over by the others ; showing that those indi- 

 viduals have a capacity for consuming, and we will presume 

 assimilating, a larger amount of feed than a good many 

 others of the same herd, and under pretty nearly the same 

 conditions. Then an individual cow differs very much as to 

 her own condition, as to the flow of milk which she may be 

 producing and the requirements of her system in other direc- 

 tions There may be a considerable economy in saving 

 something from the rations of those animals who either will 

 not consume it, or, if they consume it, will fail to assimilate 

 it, and in giving it to those animals with stronger appetites 

 and a better relish, who will not only consume more but 

 make a better return. I think it is the experience of most 

 of us that there is a very considera))le difl'erence between 

 animals of the same herd, standing in the same line and under 

 almost the same conditions in the barn. Then, again, take 

 the conditions in a single barn ; they may vary considerably 

 by the relative positions in which the difierent animals stand. 

 Some animals may stand upon the north side of the barn, and 



