1869. 



NEW ENGLAND F.iRMER. 



425 



BAIiTINO HAY FOR STOCK. 



AN, in taking 

 his food, can 

 ^Al I ekct for him- 

 :^Ai self, as may best 

 suit his taste, 

 ic regard to salt, 

 or any other 

 condiment he 

 may use. But 

 it is not so with 

 our farm stock. 

 They can not 

 send for salt, 

 pepper or vine- 

 gar at will, but 

 are dependent 

 upon us to study and 

 ascertain their wants 

 and tastes, and then judi- 

 ciously to supply them. 

 ^■^^ '■^«^ Qyj. (domestic animals have 



a keen sense of taste and smell. The pure 

 soil is undoubtedly grateful to them. They 

 sometimes eat it with avidity, and especially 

 in the spring, after being shut out from it 

 through the winter. Horses will sometimes 

 eat half a pint, apparently with great relish, 

 and we have no doubt with benefit to them- 

 selves. When grazing, they probably realize 

 pleasure in the smell of the soil, as well as in 

 the taste of the fresh grass. 



All animals require salt in some form, even 

 our poultry, which it will readily deprive of 

 life if taken in an undissolved form. Mingled 

 and dissolved in a mash of boiled potatoes 

 and meal, it is highly beneficial to them. 



How much salt each ox, cow and horse re- 

 quires in a given time, cannot be definitely 

 settled, because their wants are not just alike, 

 scarcely in any respect. If half a dozen cows 

 consume a certain quantity of salt in eight 

 weeks in the summer, it would be a fair infer- 

 ence, we think, that one-fourth that quan- 

 tity would be all that thgy would voluntarily 

 eat in cold weather. Some excellent remarks 

 on this subject we find in an old number of 

 the Country Oentleman, as follows : — 



If salt is applied in too large quantities the ani- 

 mals fed upon it will certainly lose in condition. 

 When an animal is forced by long abstinence, or 

 by its food heing too highly salted, to partake of 

 salt in quantities beyond what the natural instinct 

 of the animal would dictate, then it becomes poi- 

 sonous or injurious, and deteriorates the health 



and condition of an animal by undue secretions 

 from the liver, bowels, &c. These excessive secre- 

 tions rob the animal of a portion of its food, and 

 carry off what otherwise would be converted into 

 fat, or flesh, or milk, &c. 



It thus becomes a matter of considerable practi- 

 cal importance to determine what is the quantity 

 of salt which an animal would naturally and ia- 

 stinctively crave during the consumption of a ton 

 of hay. Some have recommended as much as eiaht 

 quarts of salt to each ton of hay; and very few 

 have ever recommended any less a quantity than 

 four quarts. Now it is our firm persuasion, from 

 observations made by ourselves and others, that 

 in the cold months no creature would crave or vol- 

 untarily eat as much as even two quarts of salt 

 during the time of its consuming a ton of hay. If 

 so, this quantity and all beyond it, would only be 

 injurious to cattle or stock of any kind, when 

 forced upon them with their food. 



This is one of the errors or dangers which it 

 would be well to guard against. The other con- 

 sists in the practice of getting in hay in a damp 

 or partially cured state, under the !-upposition or 

 expectation that a free application of salt will pre- 

 serve it from heating, moulding, or otherwise 

 spoiling. A quantity of salt which would be effec- 

 tual for this purpose would make the hay injuri- 

 ous, or absolutely poisonous from excess of saiine 

 matter. 



Several years ago the practice of salting 

 hay was all but universal. It was recom- 

 mended, not alone because it was supposed that 

 the hay was better cured by its use, but be- 

 cause it enabled the farmer, as he supposed, to 

 house hay imperfectly cured, or that which had 

 got wet in the open air. This was carried so 

 far, in some instances, that from eight to six- 

 teen quarts of salt would be scattered over a 

 single ton of hay. This practice afforded a 

 constant temptation to get in hay in a slovenly 

 and imperfect manner, and must have resulted 

 injuriously in the second place by depreciating 

 the health and value of the stock that was 

 obliged to feed upon it. 



We refer to the subject, at present, because 

 in a "catching" hay season there are strong 

 inducements to resort to this injurious prac- 

 tice, unless some special thought is given to 

 the subject. 



In judicious hands, a little salt, a quart or 

 two to the ton, occasionally, may do no harm, 

 but, possibly prove beneficial. The true way, 

 however, is to cure the hay independently of 

 salt, and administer the condiment by itself 

 when it is needed. 



If a continued diet of salt junk brings the 

 scurvy upon the poor sailor, we cannot well 

 see why a similar diet will not bring some dire 

 disease upon stock that is compelled to feed 

 upon it. The practice is a dang<erou3 one, 

 and ought to be resorted to with great care. 



