CHEAP BEEF PRODUCTION 251 



and herds. This is a sum of money which might well 

 be kept in the country, did a more productive system 

 of agriculture prevail. 



PREPARATION OF FOOD 



Just as the case with ordinary foods, there is con- 

 siderable ingenuity in the actual preparation of animal 

 food. 



In the case of dry fodder, vetch hay, etc., particu- 

 larly the latter, a certain amount, at least, should be 

 chaffed and mixed with a certain amount of chaffed 

 winter silage greens, or pulped roots, and allowed to 

 ferment together before feeding. 



Treacle is also a great appetiser, and, when procur- 

 able at a cheap rate, should certainly be included in 

 a dairy cow's ration. From 1 to 2 lbs. per day can I 

 be given, dissolved in the warm water and poured 

 over chaffed vetch hay, etc. 



This making of the food appetising is well worth 

 while in the case of dairy cows and very young stock. 

 In the case of older cattle, except in the later stage of 

 fattening, the writer simply "gives the food as it 

 grows." The winter greens being eaten where grown, 

 roots thrown out unpulped on grass land, and the dry 

 fodder fed in movable sheds. It must be remembered 

 though, that practically all the dry stock are fed this 

 way and fed outside, the open air acting as a good 

 appetiser and the chief economy is in the labour 

 saved in avoiding crop and manure carting, as well 

 as the less labour involved in feeding cattle outside, 

 as compared with stall feeding. 



