FEEDING FARM ANIMALS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 118, 8 December 1915, Page 4

FEEDING FARM ANIMALS.

Study Nature's Methods.

In all systems of artificial feeding Nature's methods should be studied, and also the results that tollow. If Nature aoes not directly mix the foods she certainly produces them side by side in wonderful variety, as is well seen io the manifold character of grassy herbage; but the selection of those different foods is lefc to the animals which partake ot them. That they select and apportion the different elements of their diet can scarcely be doubted, for keen observers, with the help it fieldgl<iss£B, have taken pains to watch sherp grazing, ?,n 1 noted wbat berbs they favour. Still more probable is it that the untamed denizens of field and forest elect foods suitable for their young and for themselves with unerring iLstinct, and one result wSich cannot but elicit admiration is tbe perfection of their muacular development, and the comparative absence of superfluous f'»t io tbeir bodies. Ids appears to be due to the natural conditions undt-r which they live, tor it ij modified very soon after thty are placed under confinement or biuugfit within the influences oj domestication. It i'oes not appear to be due to violent cxercis, for except when disturbed cr i:i pursuit of tbeir prey wild creatures rest a good deal, and this is also particularly tbe case wub non-predaceous animal;. ONE OF THE LESSONS.

It is also true that those cattle and sheep which enj -y tbe greatest anriojot of liberty produce excellent quality of meat. That these animals are nourished upon a mixed diet.rests upon tbe wide choice of herbage to which they have access. One of the lessons to be learned from these observations is that animals choose their food, and that this choice has something to do with the peculiar merits as food ot game and wild animals. The coatract between Nature's processes and those of the feeder are most clearly seen in winter grazing, when sheep and catth are rapidly fattened upon a very restricted number of foods. Take, for example, says an English Exchange, swede?, cake meal and straw chaff —there is but comparatively little choice and littU chance oi the production of those subtle and indescribable differences which please ihe tin late. Tbe point is how far can the varieties ot foods be increased and a freer choice be given to the animals bo as to ensure a higher quality of meat? It seems probable that a crude system of mixing a few standard roods together in a heap and placing the result before cattle is inconsistent with a free choice. It will be observed how the animals sort thtlr food throwing some of it m one side a:d picking out other parts, and it might therefore occur that they should be allowed a little more variety and freedom in selection. Pigs are known to select tbeir food according to their age and condition and in all exhibitions ot impatience to get at particular ingredients it is nut

improbable that the operation of natural instincts is being observed. The rapid way in which cows select their herbage, and pass over some in favour of other portions, and tbe higher quality of grass-made milk and cheese in comparison

with wbat is yielded in winter, point in the same direction, and aoggest that food and its selection exert immediate effect upon the quality of the products, ihe palate and the nose seem to be the tests, although it is evident that the eye also attracts animals to try

foods. Instinct no doubt leads animals to select foods exactly suitable tor young and old, weak and strong, and it may be ailing and healthy. They are natural herbalists, and observation cf their ways ought to assist their owners in supplying them with what they most want furnished in the most suitable way.