46 
January 18 
FEEDING A HEN. 
PART III. 
We wish to be careful to say here that, 
in these articles, we do not purpose to 
lay down any definite or exact rules on 
rations. The object is merely to show, 
in a general way, how foods differ, and 
what combinations seem to give best re¬ 
sults. In the first article, we spoke of 
four elements that are found in foods. It 
is one thing to make a good combination 
of these elements, but unless the owner 
supplies another in large quantities, the 
“ balance” will tip the scales in the 
wrong direction. That element is “com¬ 
mon sense,” and with no animal is this 
element so necessary as with the hen. 
Vermin, cold, disease, dampness, all 
affect the hen and upset the “ balance” 
in the most carefully compounded ration. 
The individual hen cannot receive the 
same care and attention that is given 
the individual cow or horse. It is easy 
to tell what is given the single cow, be¬ 
cause she is tied by herself, and she can 
eat what is placed before her. With the 
hen, it’s different, because she runs in a 
Hock of 20 or more, and may secure one- 
twentieth or one-tentli of the food put 
before the flock. When a hen is a little 
sluggish from vermin or cold, she will 
not get her share of the food. Then 
again, in evei'y flock, are hens of differ¬ 
ent temperaments and conditions. Some 
are nervous and active, while others are 
lazy and quiet. Some are laying while 
others aie fattening. Just like the mem¬ 
bers of a big human family—some pre¬ 
fer one sort of food and others another. 
The good housewife watches them all, 
especially the children, and often pro¬ 
vides a bit of toast or some other dainty 
for those who, for rome reason, do not 
relish the regular food. A hen is much 
like a human in this respect. She must 
be kept good-natured, warm and free 
from vermin, and “common sense 
means looking out for these things. 
Last year, Mr. Glass, of Pennsylvania, 
told us how he regulated the food for 
his dairy cows. He fed nothing but en¬ 
silage and wheat bran, his method being 
to feed a quart of bran for each quart of 
milk they produced. In this way, as the 
milk dropped off, so did the feed of bran, 
and there was a saving because, had the 
cows been fed a general ration, without 
regard to their yield, these low milkers 
would have been “ robber cows”—that 
is, they would have eaten grain and 
paid no returns in milk for it. 
Now this system cannot be carried out 
with a flock of hens, because, in every 
flock, there will be half a dozen different 
types. We might make nice distinctions 
and say that we should feed a certain 
ration for layers, another for fat birds, 
another for growing fowls, another for 
old birds, and so on ; but when we have 
specimens of all these classes in the 
average flock, we must do one of two 
things—sort out the birds and put each 
class by itself, or feed a compromise 
ration and keep them all together. In 
dairies where cows are bought rather 
than bred, a certain proportion of the 
animals ai-e sui-e to prove failures as 
milker's. The usxxal custom is to fatten 
them for beef, and a simple way is to 
put such cows by themselves and feed a 
pound or two extra of corn meal. Their 
milk yield dries up, but they become fat 
enough for beef in a reasonable time. 
We have no doubt that it will pay a 
poulti'yman to soi’t out his best laying 
hens, and put them together where they 
may be fed a special ration. This will 
not only give him better stock to use as 
breeders, but he can make up a cheaper 
food combination for them. Unless this 
be done, we doubt whether the “laying 
rations” sometimes advocated by feeders 
will answer for the mixed flock. The 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
most a beginner can hope to get out of 
the scientific side of feeding hens, is the 
basis for some good experiments, and 
the chance to save some money in buy¬ 
ing food. That was the way Mr. Mapes 
went at it. Starting with the common 
idea that costly grain food of some sort 
was the only legitimate basis for a hen’s 
food, he bgan to experiment with meat, 
curd and various other substances in 
different combinations. lie found that 
the only pi'actieal way to make these 
camparisons was to pick the articles 
apart into muscle-makers, fat-formers 
and pure fat, and see how much of each 
he was feeding. That is the most help¬ 
ful thing about so-called scientific feed¬ 
ing, and in order to illustrate what is 
meant by it, let us next take Mr. 
Mapes’s own rations as printed on page 
838, and pick them apart. 
Live Stock Matters. 
A JERSEY-HOLSTEIN CROSS. 
Which Breed for the Sire ? 
THE QUESTIONS. 
It is claimed by good authorities that, in cross¬ 
ing two breeds like the Jersey and Holstein, it is 
better to use the larger and coarser animal as 
the sire. The statement is made that using the 
Jersey bull on the Holstein cows, would give an 
animal inferior to the opposite course. Will you 
give any reason you may have for this fact—if, 
in your opinion, it is a fact ? 
T1IE ANSWERS. 
I have had no experience in crossing 
Jersey and Holstein cattle, but think 
that a good animal might be obtained 
by the use of a Jersey bull on a Holstein 
cow. I would prefer a Jersey bull and 
a Guernsey cow. e. l. clarkson. 
New Yoi*k. 
I have never had any experience with 
ci'ossing the Jersey and the Holstein. I 
have seen some exceedingly fine animals 
as the result of the use of a Guernsey bxxll 
on Holstein cows, and I would expect bet¬ 
ter results from such a cross than from 
the opposite. My impression is that it 
will maintain the size and heavy milking 
qualities with good-sized udder develop¬ 
ment, and at the same time add equal 
richness and far more color to the milk, 
cream and butter to be obtained, than 
the xxse of the Jersey male would secure. 
It is a fact at the present time, with so 
much attention paid to the question 
of butter and pui-er milk, that many 
of those formerly breeding llolsteins 
are now seeking the influence of the 
Guernsey. w. h. caldwell. 
New Hampshire. 
I do not know from practical observa¬ 
tion or expei-ience, whether in ci'ossing 
the two breeds, Jersey and Holstein, it 
is better to use the lai’ger and coarser 
animal as the sire, or vice versa. I am 
convinced, however, that as a rule, the 
crosses are not favoi-able. They don’t 
seem to nick as kindly as either the 
Short-horn and Jersey; Ayrshire and 
Jei’sey; Guernsey and Jersey, or the 
native cow and the Jersey. The poten¬ 
cies of both the Jersey and the Holstein 
are so vei'y strong, that there is i-arely a 
union of good merit between the two ; 
either the progeny swing one way or the 
other. w. d. hoard. 
Editor Uoax-d’s Dairyman. 
Per contra, it is claimed by good 
authorities that, in ci’ossing two breeds 
or races, better results are obtained when 
the sire is of the smaller breed or race ; 
and the often quoted superiority of the 
mule (male ass and female horse) over 
the jennet (male horse and female ass) is 
cited in support of the tlxeoi*y. Din re¬ 
gard to the particular case of the Jersey 
and Holstein, I do not think it is safe to 
make any sweeping genei’alization. In 
crossing two distinct breeds in this way, 
we may get a very desirable animal, or 
a most undesirable one, and it is usually 
impossible to tell beforehand what the 
result of the union of any two given ani¬ 
mals will be. I have seen a nxxmber of 
very fine cross-bred Jersey-Holstein cows 
and heifers, the result of making the 
ci’oss in either direction. It is hardly 
necessary to say that an equal or greater 
number have been of very inferior 
quality. H. h. wing. 
Cornell Experiment Station. 
We have had some experience in cross¬ 
ing Holstein bulls on Jersey cows, and 
the results have been most satisfactory. 
We have not tried the opposite cross. As 
a rule, in breeding horses, the prefer¬ 
ence has been for the larger, coarser 
dam, and the finer, smaller sire. It has 
been claimed that the extremities—head, 
limbs, etc.—follow the sire, while the 
body, form, etc., resemble the dam. We 
are not sure whether this is correct, but 
have observed that the Thoroughbred 
she usually ti-ansmits the fine extremi¬ 
ties. The French Coacher, those that are 
closely and strongly bred to the Thor¬ 
oughbred on the sire side, usually have 
much of the finish, head, etc., of the sire, 
and the size, substance and knee action 
of the noted Bay mares of Normandy. 
New York. smiths & powell co. 
Use the Small Breed for Sire. 
I have an idea, backed by some ex¬ 
perience, which is that the best results 
are obtained when using the male of the 
smaller breed upon females of the larger 
breed. I tried it in my own herd of 
grades several years ago, have watched 
the results in my neighbor’s expei'iments 
and have found the best results to be 
obtained by using a .Tei*sey male upon 
Holstein or Sliort-horn females. The 
older the female up to seven or eight 
years of age, the better the product. The 
progeny of this mating, in a majority 
of the cases, had the quick maturity, 
and quality and life of the smaller ani¬ 
mal, with the inci'eased size, ruggedness 
and milking quality of the larger animal; 
the progeny from these matings, on an 
(Continued on next page.) 
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