396 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



TABLE 16. 



All this would be infinitely " more nice than wise," in any part of the 

 United States. Variations of dry fodder are well enough, but hundreds 

 and thousands of Northern flocks receive nothing but ordinary hay, con- 

 sisting mainly of Timothy, (Phlnim pratensc,) some Red and White Clo- 

 ver, ( Trifolium pratcnse et repms,) and frequently a sprinkling of June or 

 Spear grass, (Foci j)ratensis,) during the entire winter. Others receive an 

 occasional fodder of corn-stalks and straw — and some farmers give a daily 

 feed of grain through the winter. Where hay is the principal feed, it may 

 be well, where it is convenient, to give corn-stalks (or "blades") every 

 fifth or sixth feed, or even once a day. Or the daily feed, not ofliay, might 

 alternate between blades, pea-straw, straw of the cereal grains, &c. Should 

 any other fodder besides hay be the principal one, as, for example, corn- 

 blades or pea-haulm, each of the other fodders might be alternated in the 

 same way. It is mainly, in my judgment, a question of convenience with 

 the flock-master, provided a frojier supply of palatable nutriment within a 

 proper compass, is given. Hay, clover, properly cured pea-haulm, and corn- 

 blades are palatable to the sheep, and each contain the necessary supply 

 of nutriment in the quantity which the sheep can readily take into its stom- 

 ach. Consequently, from either of these, the .sheep can derive its entire 

 subsistence. The same remarks 77iay, possibly, apply to gi-eenish cut oat 

 and barley straw; but it would not, I apprehend, be economical or alto- 

 gether safe to confine any kind of sheep to the straw of the cereal grains 

 unless some of those little hardy varieties of sheep which would be of no 

 value in this country. Experiment will readily show the flock-master 

 what kinds of food are palatable and agree with the health of his flock. 

 The following exceedingly valuable Table, prepared by Boussingault, will 

 give the value of various kinds of feed in comparison with ordinary natu- 

 ral meadow hay, as ascertained by himself. Von Thaer, Block, and other 

 distinguished Agricultural Chemists. The results are obtained by chemi- 

 cal analysis, and by actual experiments in feeding. The amount of nitro- 

 gen in 100 parts is made the chemical test of value, as it shows the quan- 

 tity of fibrin, albumen, and casein, (by multiplying by 6.3.) The experi- 

 mental result is obtained by weighing the animal and the feed, and giving 

 him enough of each to maintain him in good condition. 



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