Ko. 4.] SALT MARSH HAY. 33 



SALT MARSH HAY. 



BY PROF. G. H. WHITCHEK, DURHAM, N. H. 



I shall ask you this afternoon to follow me along three 

 principal lines of thought : — 



First. — Upon what does rational stock feeding depend? 



Second. — How is the practical farmer to make use of the 

 information already accumulated? 



TJiird. — What system of farming is the best adapted to 

 those farms that include a portion of the great belt of salt 

 marsh ? 



Upox What does Kational Stock Feeding depend? 



Every farmer would like to do his work in the best manner 

 possible. He would like to be possessed of the knowledge 

 that should enable him to raise perfect crops, produce perfect 

 fruit, make perfect butter, raise perfect horses, cattle, swine 

 and poultry, and feed perfect rations to his stock ; and it is 

 in the effort to approach this perfection that progress is 

 made. 



Perfect feeding consists in supplying any given animal 

 with the greatest amount of food of the best possible com- 

 bination that can loith profit be consumed. This is an easy 

 thing to say, but it is a difficult thing to do. The preaching 

 is easy but the practice is hard, and in its accomplishment 

 three great factors must be considered : — 



First. — How much food does the animal require ? 



Second. — How can we combine foods and supply this 

 required amount ? 



Third. — How can we adjust the cost of the food and the 

 value of the product in the most profitable relation to each 

 other? 



