THE FEEDING OF FARM STOCK. 



BY F. W. TAYLOR. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The question to the dairyman and stock feeder of how to 

 feed his stock the most economically is the all important 

 one. These men are not usually in the business just for 

 their health, but for the profits, and the profits depend 

 largely on the difference between the cost of the materials 

 put into the animal and the selling price of the products. 



During the past spring in writing a thesis for .graduation 

 on "Dairy Rations Fed in New Hampshire," student 

 Charles S. Batchelder sent out three hundred letters of 

 inquiry to practical dairymen and feeders in the state. As 

 a result of these inquiries it was found that out of the two 

 hundred who replied only thirty kept a record of the grain 

 and only six of the hay consumed by their cows. Forty 

 kept a record of the total amount of milk produced but 

 only three or four had any means of knowing just what 

 each individual cow was doing for them. In these days 

 of sharp competition and close margins only the man who 

 thoroughly understands his business and conducts it in a 

 careful businesslike manner can make a financial success. 

 Stock feeding is becoming more and more a scientific busi- 

 ness and the man who succeeds must make an application 

 of the scientific principles, the day of the careless, hap- 

 hazard unthinking feeder is past. 



Some may argue that the "old cow" herself is the one 

 to select the kind and amount of her ration, since she knows 

 what she likes best and can tell when she is filled up. It is 

 true the cow knows what she likes and knows when she is 



