156 TlIJi: pap.m. 



servation and experience have proven to tbose who have given most at- 

 tention to the subject that cattle rocinirc for best results the salt they 

 crave. 



The French Government at one time commissioned a number of practical 

 and scientific men to investigate the subject of salt as a relish for stock, and 

 ascertain the qiiantity required for different animals. While only approximate 

 figures could be arrived at in the numerous experiments made to settle this 

 matter, a scale was fixed upon by this commission as the minimum daily al- 

 lowances for the diflereut animals in ordinary condition. In this a working 

 »x or a milch cow is allowed two ounces of salt per diem. Eepcated trials 

 appeared to prove that the amount specified produced in milch cows the 

 greatest flow of milk. Oxen fed the same amount presented sleek coats, 

 while others receiving no salt were rough, mangy, and ill conditioned. The 

 scale in question allowed for fattening stall-fed oxen, two and a half to four 

 ounces of salt per day, and for fattening pigs, from one to two ounces. For 

 sheep, from one-half ounce to two-tliirds of an ounce was allowed. One 

 ounce was set down as the daily portion for horses and mules. 



The figures given above possess a practical value to feeders of stock, in 

 that they represent the respective amounts best calculated to produce de- 

 sirable results in the different animals named, and give an idea of the 

 amount required by each kind. On small farms with few animals salt can 

 be dealt out in small quantities each day, but where herds and flocks arc 

 numerous, salt boxes and troughs become a necessity, and are in any case a 

 crinyonient and economical arrangement. These troughs or boxes ought, of 

 course, to be in sheltered places and at points where animals can have daily 

 access to them. Some should be placed at elevations to suit horses and 

 cows, and others set within reach of sheep. 



A plan in favor in the far West, and which recommends itself on the 

 ground of economy, is mixing salt and hardwood ashes in equal proportions, 

 combined with a sufficient amount of water to make a solid lump or mass. 

 These lumps are distributed in the trough, where, with diligent Ucking, 

 each animal gets a small quantity, the belief being that they will take in 

 this form no more than they really require. In addition to the fact that salt 

 is necessary to the thiift of animals, a strong argument in its favor in locali- 

 ties where cattle and sheep are allowed extended runs during the day, is 

 that it proves a strong attraction, bringing them home at night without other 

 incentive. 



Cattle in Coriistallcs._A Kansas farmer writes: If cattle are allowed 

 to run in stalk fields for an indefinite time they are apt to die from eating 

 too much food of an indigestible character. Cornstalks when left standing 

 in the field become woody and indigestible. Cattle when allowed to nm, fill 

 themselves so full that the stomach becomes clogged, the food heats, does 

 not pass off, and the animal dies. For three wintera I have fed my cows on 

 shocked cornstalks, feeding no hay or straw, and in all cases they have done 

 better than when fed on hay. In the winter of 1880 and 1881, I wintered 

 3,500 head of working oxen. I bought all the stalk fields that were acces- 

 sible, allowed the cattle to run in them three hours each day, when I had 

 them driven out. My reasons for so doing was not on account of smut, but 

 because the stalks had become hard, woody and indigestible. I lost no cat- 

 tle from this management, and rc^turued them in the spring with a loss of 

 •nly two to the hundred. Feeders liavo fed beef cattle for years on 

 Bhock com; they consider it the best and safest kind of feed. 



