112 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



SUCCULENT FEEDS 



The one factor in the feeding of animals which 

 is most likely to be overlooked or ignored by the 

 American farmer is that of some kind of a suc- 

 culent or juicy feed to be used in connection with 

 the dry hay and grain. English and Scotch farm- 

 ers, who produce the finest specimens of sheep and 

 cattle known in the world today, have for genera- 

 tions emphasized the need of feeds of this character 

 and have constantly used root crops and juicy 

 feeds of various kinds in feeding their animals at 

 all times of the year when green grass is not avail- 

 able. Good green grass in itself is practically a 

 balanced ration, and ordinarily needs nothing ad- 

 ditional, unless the stock is being fed for slaughter. 

 In addition to the actual food constituents con- 

 tained in grass, it has also a large per cent of juice 

 or water, and the function of succulent feeds for 

 winter is to supply this condition as nearly as pos- 

 sible in dry feeds used in the winter time. This 

 can be supplied in some form under almost all 

 American farm conditions, but it is safe to say that 

 upon 90 per cent of the farms where live stock is 

 kept in America, no special provision is made for 

 feeds of this character. This class of feed may 

 consist of root crops, such as beets, mangels or 

 turnips; it may consist of silage or wet brewers' 

 grains or pulp from the sugar beet factories. The 

 only places where it is extensively used are in 

 dairies of the East and middle West where the silo 

 is now considered almost indispensable, and in the 

 immediate vicinity of beet sugar factories where 

 the pulp is easily available. The value of succulent 

 feed is hard to determine, and it is hard to point out 

 just from whence this value comes. For instance, 



