1921.] 



Feeding Stuffs in February. 



1069 



FEEDING STUFFS IN FEBRUARY. 



E. T. Halnan, M.A., 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 



At the request of a correspondent, the feeding value of linseed 

 has been included in the table and the consuming value of vetch 

 and oat silage has been added. It may be well to emphasise 

 the fact that the consuming values given for potatoes, swedes, 

 mangolds and silage have no relation to the market value, but 

 have been worked out on the basis of their nutritive values. That 

 is to say, if a farmer feeds his potatoes to pigs, he is actually 

 receiving £3 5s. per ton for them, but if he can sell the potatoes 

 at a price well in advance of this, it will be more profitable to 

 dispose of them and purchase other feeding stuffs such as maize 

 or maize meal. Of course, this argument is limited by the fact 

 that roots cannot be regarded as strictly interchangeable with 

 other feeding stuffs, and a certain amount of roots will have to 

 be retained on the farm in any case in order to fit in with the 

 feeding system adopted. The cost of carriage and marketing will 

 also have to be taken into consideration. The consuming values 

 quoted, however, are a guide to the farmer in dealing with his 

 surplus roots, if a market is available. 



In some cases, apparently, silage has been found to have a 

 constipating effect on live stock, but to correct this tendency a 

 certain amount of linseed or linseed cake has been given. It 

 would be interesting to learn whether farmers generally have 

 found that silage has such an effect on live stock, or whether it 

 is peculiar to a particular district or class of silage. Any infor- 

 mation on this point from readers of the Journal would be 

 welcome. 



It will be noticed by reference to the table that linseed is more 

 economical to buy as a feeding stuff than linseed cake, and that 

 it is more profitable to consume home-grown linseed than to 

 sell it and buy linseed cake. The chief points to bear in mind 

 with linseed are (a) that it contains a considerable proportion of 

 oil, 36 per cent., as compared with 8 to 9 per cent, in linseed 

 cake, and (b) that it is desirable to grind linseed. As a general 

 rule the farmer should be able to grind linseed without difficulty, 

 but if there should be a tendency to clog the machine, it should 



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