

Vol. XXIV. Secoito Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., NOVEMBER, 1863. 



No. 11. 



FATTENING CATTLE AND SHEEP IN WINTER. 



A FEW days ago. we met a well-known butcher 

 of this city, who is also a farmer, and asked him 

 what was the best way to fatten cattle in winter. 

 He replied, with a smile, " Gim them plenty of corn 

 and turnips.'''' 



"Will it pay?" 



A shrug of the shoulders was the only reply. 



" What is corn-meal worth now ? " 



" F^orty dollars per tun." 



" John Johnston says he always makes more 

 money in feeding grain when it is high than when it 

 is cheap. But it must require some nerve to feed 

 corn-meal at forty hilars per tun ! 



"Farmers might at all events feed all their soft 

 corn to cattle. ' It does them more good than it will 



" Mr. Johnston thinks ground buckwheat is or- 

 dinarily the cheapest grain for sheep and cattle." 



" I would never feed a pouud of it. It puffs up 

 the cattle, but produces no tallow." 



"In other words, it is better for the farmer than 

 for the butcher I How much corn meal and tur- 

 nips do you feed ? " 



" I feed from eight to ten quarts of meal per dayj 

 and half a peck of sliced turnips morning and eve- 

 ning." 



" Do you feed hay ? " 



"ISTot a handful. I feed corn-stalks cut into 

 chaff and mixed with middlings." 



" What do middlings cost? " 



Twenty-five dollars per tun. I do not think 

 there is much fattening matter in them, but when 

 mixed with the cut corn-stalks, the cattle will eat 

 all up clean — which they will not do if the stalks 

 are fed alone." 



" How much will cattle so fed increase during 

 the winter months? " 



"I do not know." 



" He does not know," we thought to ourselves 

 after he was gone. And there are thousands like 



him. In fact, do any of us know ? There is much 

 loose guess work on the subject, but where shall 

 we look for definite information ? Can any of the 

 readers of the Genesee Farmer furnish it ? 



We suppose a steer weighing 1,000 pounds will 

 eat, per day, about 20 pounds of corn-stalks, 8 

 pounds of middlings and 8 pounds of corn-meal, 

 with a peck of turnips for a relish. Reckoning 

 the corn-stalks worth $5.00 per tun, the corn-meal 

 $40.00, the middlings $25.00 per tun, and the tur- 

 nips at 12 cents per bushel, the cost per day would 

 stnnd thus : 



20 lbs. corn-stalks, 5 cents. 



8 lbs. middlings, lo •• 



8 lbs. corn -meal, ] 6 



1 peck turnips, , 3 



34 •• 



This is $2.38 per week. If the steer gains 20 

 pounds per week in live weight, it will do better 

 than the average. This 20 pounds of live weight 

 would represent about 12 pounds of beef, worth 

 say 10 cents per pound. In other words, the food 

 consumed costs $2.38 per week, and the increase 

 of beef is worth $1.20 per week ! On this estimate, 

 therefore, we are $1.18 per week out of pocket. 



From this loss of $1.18, we have to deduct the 

 value of the manure. Chemistry enables us to de- 

 termine what that is with considerable accuracy. 



The value of the liquid and solid excrement made 

 by an animal eating ♦ 



1 tun of corn is $6 66 



1 tun of bran, 9 00 



1 tun of wheat-straw 2 68 



1 tun of turnips fti 



The ij9anure, therefore, derived from a steer fed 

 as we have assumed, would be worth, per week, as 

 follows : 



140 lbs. corn-stalks* 18% cenls. 



50 lbs. middlings or bran t 30 



."•e lbs corn-meal, 18% •• • 



100 lbs. turnips (say), 4,)4 • ' 



72 



* We have no reliable analysis of corn-stalks, and estimate 

 them as worth for manure as much as wheat-straw. 



t The coarser the middlings, the more valuable they are for 

 manure. 



