THE SELF-FEEDER 151 



cattle to work a little to get the feed is desirable. Where 

 feeds and their preparation are varied from year to year 

 it is not an easy matter always to have the self-feeder 

 working in the most satisfactory manner. In a number 

 of instances it has been necessary for the cattle feeder 

 to visit his cattle daily to examine the feeder and see' 

 that it is working properly. It may be argued that if in 

 the use of the self-feeder it becomes necessary to see the 

 cattle daily the claimed advantage of the use of the self- 

 feeder as a labor saver is unwarranted. To a certain 

 extent this is true, but whether the self-feeder is used or 

 not there is force in the old adage, "The eye of the 

 master fattens his cattle," and the wise cattle feeder will 

 plan to see his fattening cattle frequently. 



TROUGH SHOULD BE LONG 



Another desirable feature in the self-feeder which 

 should be provided for is that the trough out of which 

 the cattle secure their feed should be sufficiently long 

 to accommodate, at the same time, practically all 

 of the cattle having access to it. The dimensions of 

 the self-feeder should therefore be determined by the 

 number of cattle to be fed. There is no one type of self- 

 feeder that is better than all others; indeed the type of 

 feeder should vary according to where and how it is to 

 be used. The main. thing is to see that the essentials 

 of a self-feeder, enumerated elsewhere, are observed. 

 Some cattle feeders have so planned their sheds or barns 

 that the self-feeder is located along one side or through 

 the center of such building. Others have made the 

 self-feeder a part of their storage cribs for corn. The 

 self-feeder here described will accommodate ten to twelve 

 cattle weighing from 900 to 1400 pounds each. It is 

 designed to use in the open field or in the pasture for 

 summer feeding. It may be placed on posts set in the 

 ground or it may have a base built as a part of the self- 

 feeder. There is an advantage in having several small 

 self-feeders over one large one where a large number of 



