THE BARRE SYSTEM OF FEEDING. 135 



The Chairman. I tliink the reply made by Professor Law to 

 the question put by Mr. Hyde, whether he knew of any cause 

 or could suggest any remedy, should be remembered. Profes- 

 sor Law said there was no one cause, and no one remedy. 

 That is the key that will unlock the whole thing. By starting 

 with the theory that there is but one cause and one remedy, we 

 never shall arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. The causes are 

 and must be various. A sudden change of food, for instance, a 

 sudden change from a poor quality of hay to a good quality of 

 hay, may be one cause. Li Mr. Hubbard's case, he said liis 

 cattle, had the same grass the year they lost their calves that 

 they had had before. He did not put that grass to the test of the 

 chemist and the microscopist, and he cannot tell whether there 

 was or was not some disease in that grass which produced the 

 effect of which he speaks. 



This is one of the most intricate and difficult problems that 

 we have to settle. We are sure of one thing : that general good 

 care, as uniform feeding as possible, and great care in the cur- 

 ing and storing of hay on which they are fed, are essential. 

 That is as much as we can do for them. The influence of 

 smutty wheat — of smutty grass seed — of the various fungi that 

 will gather upon the stalks of grasses and elsewhere, which 

 possess the same properties that ergot does in rye and wheat, — 

 of sudden blows, — of the sympathy which exists in a herd to 

 which Professor Law alluded, — all these causes are liefore us, 

 they are all to be investigated, and all to be avoided in the best 

 way we can. And when as an epedemic it strikes our herds, 

 we have either got to be as patient as Mr. Fay was, believing it 

 will pass away the next season, or else we must get rid of our 

 herds, and start again. 



Mr. Goodman. What is the effect of feeding twice a day ? 



The Chairman. I cannot answer that question. All I know 

 about the effects of feeding twice a day accords with the effects 

 of what is usually called the Barre rule. The fact is, that 

 animals are kept in as good health by feeding twice a day as in 

 any other way. I have never been able to produce as much 

 good" health or as much fat and flesh, as by the Barre mode of 

 feeding. Cattle will not eat quite as much when fed twice a 

 day as when fed three times. Let them feed two or three 

 hours, then rest three or four hours, then feed again two 



