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Notes on Feeding Stuffs. 



[Oct., 



NOTES ON FEEDING STUFFS 

 FOR OCTOBER. 



E. T. Halnan, M.A., Dip. Agric. (Cantab.). 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 



In making up a ration for fattening animals two considerations 

 are necessary : (1) an adequate well-balanced ration for the 

 purpose in view must be given, and (2) the materials used must 

 be so adjusted as to give a carcass to meet the butcher's approval. 

 Not sufficient attention is generally paid to the necessity of 

 producing a carcass suitable for slaughter, the chief fault being 

 the production of unsuitable fat. It may, therefore, be of advan- 

 tage to discuss briefly-the type of carcass required by the butcher. 



In the case of cattle the natural tendency of the beast is to 

 produce a hard, tallowy fat; in the case of the pig, on the other 

 hand, the natural tendency is to produce a fat of oily consis- 

 tency. The objects of the feeder, therefore, are different in 

 these two cases. In feeding pigs, foods should be given which 

 tend to harden the fat; in fattening cattle, foods having a ten- 

 dency to soften the fat should be given. Experiments have 

 shown that the nature of the fat in the animal can be altered 

 to a considerable extent by the nature of the food fed. In an 

 experiment with fattening lambs, in which, in addition to the 

 basal ration, maize and sunflower seed cake were fed to the one 

 lot, and crushed peas and wheat husks to the other, the sun- 

 :flower seed cake and maize lot produced an excellent quality of 

 meat with soft fat, whereas the crashed peas lot gave a very 

 poor carcass, the fat being hard and crumbly. 



Summing up the results of experiments of this nature, and 

 ^tlso of practical experience, it is possible to say that both pigs 

 and cattle yield harder bacon or fat when they are fed on grains 

 rich in starch and poor in oil, such as rye, barley, peas, beans 

 «nd lentils. The same effect is produced by the use of 

 potatoes, mangolds, and palm nut and coconut cakes. A soft 

 and rather oily fat is obtained from the use of sunflower seed 

 cake, linseed cake, rape cake, rye, peas, maize, wheat bran, 

 oats, and fish and meat meals rich in fat. In making up a ration 

 ior bacon pigs or for cattle these points should be taken into 

 •consideration where the feeder ^^ishes to get a good market for 

 his produce. 



One other point arises : in feeding all animals on foods contain- 

 ing oil or fat care should be taken, if the best results are wished 



