126 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 



enough for the table, it will be about as much ^s we 

 can now expect. Whenever potatoes are used for 

 cattle or swine, there is no doubt that their value is 

 greatly increased by cooking. 



228. The same is true also of apples. Eaw apples, 

 in small quantities, are good for nearly all animals ; 

 but if cooked they are far better. Indeed, nearly all 

 kinds of food are better for being cooked. That In- 

 dian meal for swine is worth far more when cooked, 

 there can be no doubt. It is not so, however, with 

 regard to all animals. Horses do better on raw food. 

 All kinds of horned cattle and swine are more bene- 

 fited by an equal amount of apples, potatoes, pump- 

 kins, and meal of every kind, when cooked, than when 

 raw. 



224. With regard to hay, especially long, coarse 

 hay, and all kinds of straw, the value is increased by 

 cutting, more than enough to compensate for the ex- 

 tra labor. Animals more easily digest food that is 

 properly prepared for them. The food is more readily 

 and in a larger proportion converted into the parts 

 of their bodies. 



225. With regard to wintering stock, it has already 

 been laid down as wretched policy to allow them to 

 become lean and puny on the threshold of winter. 

 The cost of wintering is thereby increased, and the 

 profit is diminished. It is not as bad policy, yet it is 

 not good, to allow them to fall off on the heels of 

 winter. Some farmers get their stock along into 



