Suggestions for Stoclc-feeding in the Winter of 1893-94. 471 
difficulty is to regulate the temperature with certainty, and, 
unless this is done, cooking or steaming roots has few advan- 
tages to cover the extra expense. But it is no great trouble to 
prepare and mix a great bulk of common food with more nutri- 
tious feeding stuffs, so as to produce a gentle fermentation 
which will “take the chill off,” and render the whole mass more 
eatable and digestible. The best possible “seasoning” for 
straw or corn chaff is malt, and if that is not to be had, malt- 
combs or sproutings, steeped in hot water and thrown over 
the dry provender, make a very good substitute. Hot water 
entirely removes the bitter principles which are sometimes 
found in malt germs, and as the combs contain a considerable 
percentage of protein bodies, and are certainly richer in albu- 
minoids than malt itself, they must be a very valuable cattle 
food. Crushed linseed treated in a similar manner is more 
fattening, but does not impart so much fragrance to the mass, 
and there is no doubt that malt possesses the great advantage 
of rendering palatable and digestible a large amount of coarse, 
unsavoury food. 
In 1868 a large quantity of treacle was used for cattle food, 
but it has not been heard much of lately. It is considerably 
cheaper now than it was then, and can be purchased in London 
at the present time at the exceedingly reasonable price of 
61. 10s. a ton. Dissolved in hot water and poured over a heap 
of chaff, our lean cattle thrived fairly well upon it, but it was a 
nasty sticky mixture, and the treacle appeared more popular 
with the farm boys at breakfast time than it was with the cattle 
which had to eat it regularly. But if sound feeding treacle can now 
be bought at 10<L per stone, 4 lb. per day to a store bullock, eating 
chaff or straw ad libitum , would keep it in good thriving con- 
dition at Is. 8 d. per week ; so no cattle need starve. Common 
sugar is to be had at a little over 12 1. a ton. This may be a 
useful addition to our artificial cattle foods; it is certainly not 
so cheap as treacle, though probably much more nutritious. 
Englishmen have of late years had to drink a large quantity of 
this self-same sugar in their beer ; perhaps as good and possibly 
a better use might be made of it by giving it to lean and hungry 
cattle this winter. May the enterprising stockowner who tries 
the experiment be enabled to extract as much profit from the 
use of it as the brewer has done ! Probably, if his stock return 
him the cost of the sugar, he will be content, for there is 
always a vast difference between trade profits and those made by 
the farmer. 
The coming winter must be dreaded by most stockowners. 
As already stated, sheep stand the best chance of being fairly 
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