232 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



this source of supply should the residue be scattered 

 in the yard for litter. When the supply is abundant, 

 the stack or stacks, as in the former instance, should be 

 within the 3'ard inclosure. The cattle may then be 

 allowed to help themselves. That which is trodden 

 under foot, along with the straw that has been spoiled 

 by rain, should be scattered over the yard at intervals 

 and over the floor of the shed that may furnish them with 

 protection. This not only furnishes a bed, but also 

 promotes decay in the straw, and it makes manure more 

 even in quality than it would otherwise be. Care must 

 be taken, however, to cut down the sides of the stack if 

 necessary, so that it will not be so undermined as to 

 endanger the lives of the animals by falling on them. 

 In cold climates, also, it will save labor subsequently 

 by scattering over the yard such portions of the stack 

 as have been saturated with rain before it congeals into 

 a solid mass. AVhere straw is superabundant, as when 

 it is threshed in the field, in areas much devoted to the 

 growing of grain, it is labor-saving to allow the cattle 

 to feed around the stacks until they are demolished. They 

 will furnish considerable food and will also be trans- 

 formed into farmyard manure, but which will not be of 

 high grade. This will be done at a minimum of outlay 

 for labor. Such a method of disposing of them is greatly 

 superior to the more common method of turning them 

 into ashes. 



When corn fodder or stover is to be fed directly to 

 such animals, and in feed boxes or racks, the aim should 

 be, where cattle are yarded, to stack the stalks adjacent 

 to the fence on the approach of winter and close enough 

 to admit of pitching the bundles from the same into the 

 feed boxes or racks when in place inside of the fence. 

 Sorghum fodder will not usually keep well in stacks, 

 hence it must be drawn as wanted from shocks or heaps 

 in the field where it grew according to the method 

 adopted in curing it. Corn ensilage, or, indeed, any kind 



