FACTS FOR FARMERS. HIGH-FEEDING THOROUGHBRED ANIMALS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 195, 9 August 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS. HIGH-FEEDING THOROUGHBRED ANIMALS.

Fisher Hobbs, the well-known br< edcr of Essex pigs, once rcinm led to a gentleman who hud bought one of his sows : — " Don't overfeed j make her work hard for her living." Bight or wrong, ninny experienced breeders think it very injurious to overfeed their breeding animals. We think there can be no doubt on this point. But then it is still an open question, what is overfeeding ? At the National Convention of Shorthorn Breeders, at Indianapolis, this subject iras introduced and called OUt a great diversity of opinion. MrSodowsky, of Illinois, said : — " A year ago I bought a cow, one of the fattest animals I ever saw, and on February 16th she produced mo as fine a calf as I ever saw produced." Mr Duncan, of Illinois, was convinced that cattle are as liable to fail to breed in low order as in high order. Mr Dye, of Illinois, said it wai a theory of his that high feeding had rendered our blooded stock less productive than our common cat tic. T. C. Jones, of Ohio, said, "As a matter of fact, when animals are very fat they are not so liable to breed as when they are only m good condition. Mr Booth (the well-known English breeder) had stated that he will never show again. His cattle are all running out, and he suys that the infertility of his leading families must be attributed to. high feeding for the show s." Mr Duncan, of Illinois, a breeder of grea,s experience, said : — " I favour breeding from animals ia the very highest condition that it is possible to keep thorn for that purpose, j for the reason that the general law of nature that like produces like, comes iv and operates in my favour. You may lake the highest breed of animals and breed from it for j

gener^ion, after generation, but if they be poorly fed you, 1 will; makp spalluwags of them ; while if jou keep them in, the highesjs condition possible, you will increase the natural, 'propensity to take on flesh,, and thus nature assists you as, fyreedpift and, %mpra in the, development of the qualities for. TflJii^h <i)i#Bf}. anjmijjs are ohii'fly valuable." I 'JjiifcH bjj, fjir, iis it goes, is very good reasoning. Mr Dun'«Si!h QSomWJf'd\ " v J r « l Y lt wft9 lb t ' lo^' B ftVe ** r Booth his, 'tfdttWitJlft 9ft % bjvede* in England ? M,r Bpoth and Mr. •fefl^HWW <! fi S rivo^ breeders in Euglaud. and inconsequence, o/. qij#j|i.i}ii(9|li;y, % they b,red from their annnuls in high con'djtipn, and, when M^r- Booth was' nsked by tho American, agents if] he w,as.not ofrajid. to, Inake his animals barren by keeping bhem in such high condition; ho said, < <Qjentlemen )| these uro fat beasts by nature. l,t is as natural for them to, breed in their condition as it is for the ordinary cattle of the. country.' My opinion is t,h is,, continued Mr Duncan, "that; the breeding period of"any animal can ) ,be shortened, by their being kept in show condition for top long. » time, and yet X believe. I saw quite, a number of times, myself, Young Mary,, sold by the Ohio, lmporting Co., and purchased by Captain Cunningham, in tbe show ring*, in. high condition— still, tlmt covr produced her last (jit)f in. he.r tw.entV'first year. This is a fact-., .... ], do not believe it shortens the breeding period to keep them in good condition' at one year olil, or I, wo years old, or anything like that, but stillil would not go inrther, ; but X would keep them at those ages in as. high condition as possible, in order to have them heavy producers." This, is, the, t,r up doctrine, and one. which, we hare repeatedly advocated. Ljst all animals bred principally fpr, meat, have, all the. food they can eat, digest, and, assimiiate<whjio young. A.s long as w,ill grow, let them have, all the nutriment they can convert into growth. It wilji not hurt them. But when they have a&tajned their growth, then feedvOnly enough to keep them in the highest health and vigour. Close confinement and high feeding with, ric.li concentrated food are quite likely to prove injurious. Our ow,n aim is to give, animals that have got; thtjir growth as much exercise as possible, and abundance of food, but not ef too nutritious a character. Mr Stevenson, of Indiana, was not in favour of high feeding. He hoped the convention would take such measures, as to induce the people to adopt this breed of cattle (Shorthorns) everywhere. To induce, tthem to do thatj, they must believe that they can live upon our praiuies and upon our blue-grass fields— that they can live as other cattle live and not det eric rate. We think that the better plan is to ascertain the truth , and let people know it. It seems somewhat strange to us' ' that any Western farmer living wher« c9m is so ab^bdant ; and cheap, should be afraid to keep a breed of animaljwuit i require, when young, more or less corn in winter to keep . them growing as rapidly as they are capable of growing. i We, have by careful breeding and feeding, given them this '■ quality of rapid growth. This., is what constitutes their "great value — the capacity of appropriating a large amount 1 of nutriment and converting it into a large amount of good ; meat. — American Agriculturist. The German, papers publish details q£ » series of fexperi- ' ments carried out at i;he agricultural! schools of Fatherland for the purpose of testing the nutritive properties of grass ' and hay at various stages. The experiments were initiated I by the excessive demand for forage in Germany, but are . not Ihe less valuable on that account. By an elaborate - 1 series of analysis it is shown how young grass is more i nutritious than mature grass. The phisiolpgical experim ents show that ;t is more easily digestible.' Thus prau . 2£ inches high contains nearly 60 per cent, more of alburn en oids than grass which is 6 inche* high, aiid about 10 per cent, more of " crude fat" (5 24 per cent against 4 - 82). The mature grass contains more woody fibre and less flesh forming matter than the young grass, and besides this, it is found that tbe nutritious albumenoids exist in a more soluble form in hay than in young grass. Hence the difference ' , of nutritive value and digestibility. Autumnal hay we s , found to be more nutritious and digestive than Burner. l hay. The English agricultural Pi ess, speaking of/'thiSi , result, make some qualifications, inasmuch as it was obtained from German hay, grown in a much draf rummer \ ' climate than theirs, but for that very reasjtm it applies t closer to ours. Similar experiments wervma.de in clover, i and it was found that digestibility diminished during thei, four, -weeks from tbe beginning to the end of flowering. , while the digestibility of clover hay wa» about the same as that of green cut at the same stage of growth. The fao r«l ; of this is obvious : To the Bquatter— there is exceedinglylittle [nourishment in dry " white hay " or grass ; to the ', farmer— do not be greedy with your hay crops by leaving them to grow so very tall By bo doing you not only lose | the seed, which $ folly ripe falls on the grornd during [ harvesting, but you also obtain a less nutritive and digestible blade and stem. Better cut early, and if possible, feed off the after grass.