216 



THE GEITESEE FAEMER. 



BEST SUBSTITUTE FOE HAY IN PEEDING STOCK. 



Hay was formerly the princiixal if not the only 

 food for cattle in winter, but it is not so much re- 

 lied upon now, and that there are other varieties of 

 food as profitable there can be no doubt. But in 

 regard to the best substitute, the choice must be 

 guided by the estimate of cost of raising and advan- 

 t&ge of feeding, together with the proportionate 

 increase of the animal to that when fed on hay. — 

 Grain alone will not answer as a substitute : it is 

 too condensed a food for stock, without some other 

 less concentrated food in conjunction with it, to 

 supply the waste matter necessary to the health of 

 the animah Roots would seem to be the best sub- 

 stitute. _ They are easily raised, yield in abundance, 

 are readily eaten, and when fed in connection with 

 a little grain, produce good results. An acre of 

 grass, on an average, will cut two tons of hay. An 

 acre of carrots, on good ground, will produce from 

 four hundred to a thousand bushels of roots, and 

 from one to three tons of tops ; the tojis are eaten 

 readily, and are good feed for the fall and early 

 winter. Three bushels per day of chopped roots, 

 •with a little corn meal, wheat middlings, or bran, 

 will keep one cow in excellent order. It is about 

 tlic same labor to feed the roots that it is the hay, 

 with the advantage that the manure is in better 

 condition. Of the roots, I consider the carrot as 

 the best, but some of all kinds should be raised. 

 In this section, turnips hardly ever^do well on old 

 ground ; but on land just cleared, we sometimes 

 Lave enormous crops — many times more than we 

 oould raise of grass on the same ground. 



Oatije never tire of roots, and I have never seen 

 any iifjurious effects from their free use. But if 

 roots are used as a substitute for hay, some of all 

 sorts should be raised, — turnips, carrots, parsnips, 

 beets, ruta bagas, and perhaps potatoes. It would 

 be best to change from one kind to the other \^ien 

 feeding, as there would be a probability of |c)od 

 effects to be derived from the change. Oil-cake is 

 an excellent article for feed, but it would not an- 

 swer to be used entirely without other feed ; and 

 there are several other articles that make good 

 food, when used with hay or other coarse fodder. 



Roots must be the great desideratum as a substi- 

 tute for hay. Take the estimate of the quantity of 

 eiich from the same amount of land, and the roots 

 can be produced as cheap if not cheaper than hay, 

 and with the same grain that is given with hay, will 

 keep the animal in as good condition, — while the 

 manure is as good, and in much better condition for 

 using upon the land, being free from hay, straw, 

 and seeds of all descriptions. 

 Pharsalia, Chenango Co., N. Y. E. P. 



ON STACKING AND FEEDING OUT STRAW. 



It is a matter of no small moment to the farmer, 

 to ascertain how he may feed his stock the most 

 economically, and yet receive the greatest benefit 

 tlierefrom. There is no economy in half starving 

 any stock through the winter, and causing them to 

 take all the storms without any shelter; but on the 

 contrary, it is a clear waste and loss to the owner. 

 Then in stacking straw, we should have an eye to 

 sheltering our cattle, as well as filling tnem. To 

 obtain these completely, as well as some other ad- 

 Tantages, the grain should be stacked on the poor- 



est part of the farm, if possible. Previous to 

 threshing, procure a sufficiency of stout poles, 

 forks and" rails. The object is to form a rack about 

 fifteen feet wide at top, and any desirable length. 

 Set the forks leaning somewhat to the centre, and 

 six or eight feet apart ; then place the poles in them, 

 say six or seven feet from the ground. Now set up 

 rails from the centre to each pole alternately : thia 

 leaves the width of a rail between each two, on 

 either side of the rack, and gives the cattle room 

 enough to pull straw without danger of getting 

 their heads in. When the grain is threshed, there 

 should be sufficient hands to stack the straw. It 

 may be built to any reasonable height, care being 

 taken not to lay it far over the ends of the rails. 

 Top it ofl' neatly, as any other rick, and your cattle 

 may run to it all winter, findhig food and plenty of 

 shelter from the storms. 



Where there is a great quantity of straw, it i& 

 best to make the rack in the form of an L, or tw(y 

 racks,— one running east and west, the other north 

 and south, but joined at the corner; by this means, 

 let the storm come from where it will, the cattle 

 have shelter, dry, warm beds, and plenty to eat. 

 In the spring, the rails and poles can be taken away 

 and the waste straw left to rot, and then hauled ofl' 

 and scattered, or it may be scattered and i)lowed in 

 immediately. -wr. d. m. 



Fi7i Oak, Wan'en Co., Mo., 1858. 



ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING SHELTER 

 FOR ALL KINDS OF STOCK 



Nest to the necessity of an adequate supply of 

 food for stock, comes the importarice of shelter. It 

 needs no argument to prove the truism that animals 

 can not live without food ; and it is just as certain 

 tJiat our domestic stock, artificially susceptible to 

 the storms and changes of our northern climate, 

 can not thrive without proper shelter. It seems 

 now to be well settled, that a due degree of warmth 

 is equivalent, in a measure, to food; and we all 

 know that an entire abandon to ease and comfort, 

 while in a state of rest — a perfect freedom from 

 apprehension of any kind, which may arise from a 

 lack of food, or from exposure, or any other cause 

 — is necessary to the maximum of thrift or use- 

 fulness. 



Who would expect the race-horse, plow-horse, 

 "old stager," or even the patient ox, to perform 

 hip full amount of daily labor, if exposed to all the 

 winds and storms of heaven, — stabled in an open 

 yard and blanketed Avith a snow-bank, or dressed 

 in mail of frozen rain and sleet ? Or who would 

 expect the matronly cow to fill the pail to over- 

 flowing with generous milk, or supply her eight or 

 ten pounds of butter per week, while enjoying her 

 days and nights in wallowing through mud, amid 

 torrents of rain or driving snow, up and down the 

 roads, or from field to field, in search of shelter, — 

 finally taking refuge from the piercing wind and 

 blasting storm, in lee of some dilapidated fence, or 

 under the dripping eaves of some hospitable building? 

 Shelter for stock should be ample and commodi- 

 ous, to prevent interference as much as 'possible 

 between the occupants, and besides saving food, 

 through the medium of increased temperature in 

 the animal system, should save a large amount by 

 the superior advantages for feeding, and by the 

 I greatly mcreased facilities for making and saving, 



