POTATOES FOR STOCK FEED. (From the "Weekly News.")

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 226, 30 May 1872, Page 8

POTATOES FOR STOCK FEED. (From the "Weekly News.")

Not one fanner in fifty realises thf true value of potatoes for stock. They are not only good for horses and cat~tle, but for hofjs, calves, and .poultry. As to their value for milch cows experiments have proved them to exceed that of almost any other root Our r°ader?? will remember the statement made by Mr. R. A. Hunt, of Eiu-JiM, Ohio, some months ago. in "regard tc an experiment made. While 36 quarts pf carrol 1 * were fed, 32 pounds of milk were received daily ; with the same auir.unt one-liidf potatoes, 36 pounds of milk were received. "The "roots: wove cut and fed raw three times a dfiv, in messes of twelve quarts each. The above is heavier than is necccssary, [•lit very plainly shows the value of A <\* Y-cgtab.le /as a milk-producer.

We believe, from experience, that they are also a profitable feed, for the making of flesh and the laving on of fat. Asa feed for calves they make one of the best substitutes for milk, containing as they do 16 per. cent in a dry state. They should be boiled as for table use, the skins ■ removed, smashed thoroughly, and put into milk. Calves eat them in this way greedily, and thrive remarkably well. They will not cause scours, as grain food does, and tend to keep the appetite regular. As food for horses in winter time, the potatoe possesses rare qualities as a regulator ; they may be given once or twice a week, say in messes of a few quarts. For nogs' they should be boiled, mashed, and mixed in the swill barrel, with kitchen slops and milk, with a liberal quantity of wheat, bran, or corn meal added. This makes one of the cheapest as well as some of the best early feed for swine and puts them in a healthy condition for fattening, and wonderfully saves in pork r making, when, compared with corn feeding alone. Potatoes are profitable as a spring feed for sheep, and especially for ewes raising lambs ; they give strength, health, and appetite and produce milk abundantly. For sheep they should be cut and fed raw once a day. One of the best methods is to cut fine and mix with wheat, bran, or ground oats. As a choice for breeding ewes in the spring, we would prefer to have 50 per cent, of the feed potatoes by weight than to have the whole amount either oats or corn. Potatoes boiled, mashed, and mixed with corn meal, and fed hot, are excellent for chickens in winter.