Show WP 1 ase of western feeds by john T cin caine III atah at ag shori short line Demon itral on train college the permanency ot of any system of agriculture berl culture and the ultimate profit de rived from it are dependent to a great extent on the marketing of the crop here everything Is sold and nothing returned to the soil farms eoon soon run don and the farmer does not reap it e largest profit the middle men get ung ting the lion lions s share the farm should be run like any other manufacturing plant where the raw materials are n corked over and marketed only as fin asbed products we of the west have an idea that other sections being more favored can do the feeding cheaper and better than we can if however we look closely into this subject we find that the west has many advantages over nearly any other section in this line the climate is ideal for feeding the altitude attitude makes tor for good strong feeds ind for good lungs the soil makes good feet and bono in our livestock the last pertains mostly to the production of horses the ruggedness which most of our western livestock have Is due to the mountain condi lions and to their healthy out outdoor of door life the west Is well supplied with eed feed as we have alfalfa the best hay tn in the world grown grown here to cerfee lion tion with this hay good results can be obtained in feeding nearly any class of livestock though of course with some grain is necessary sandwith and with all it gives much better results tim othy and wild hay are good feeds es specially ally it if procured from our high mountain valleys and andare are much want td tor for feeding horses corn fodder can be grown to advantage nearly every where and makes a fine addition to the roughage of most any ration the western grains are all superior and wheat and its by products can be used to good advantage here barley and oats data are especially useful in feeding horses dairy cows and beet beef roots though very little used as yet can be grown in iii great abundance in this sec see tion and make a valuable addition to most rations the great production secured with roots in the west makes us as able to use this teed feed instead of the succulent silage of the east with this group of feeds and the price at which the they tan be secured under aver age western conditions there is no rat r son why feed ng cannot be carried out successfully in order to get this feeding lem iem before you in the best manner it will be necessary to go into the side of nutrition to a slight ex tent the chemist arranges the sub stances found in plants that are use ful to the animals into several groups of these protein carbohn drates and tats fats are the ones which concern us most protein might be described as material of the nature of muscle the white of an egg Is 1 a very good example these substances are used in the body tor for the build ing of muscle bone and tor for making milk the carbohydrates are best described as materials like starch or sugar though in the plant crude fibre fabre and other materials are also include ed this group is used in the ani ant mal body for the production of en ergy and fat fata fats are used for the production of energy and fat but are very much more valuable pound tor for pound than the carbohydrates A tain proportion of each of these is needed every day to keep up the work of the animal body when these constituents or foods are given in just the right proportion to supply every want of the animal we have what is known as a balanced ration by ration we mean the amount of feed required for an animal for one day so balanced ration means the correct proportion of feed tor for a given animal to supply all his body wants tor for twenty four hours for I 1 in n stance the dairy cow producing twenty pounds of 0 milk requires abo about ut two and a halt half pounds of digestible protein thirteen pounds of diges tible carbohydrates and five tenths of a pound of tat fat for each day this would be applied approximately by feeding twenty five pounds ot of alfalfa with a few pounds of grain by the digestible material in the teed feed we mean the amount that can be used by the animal as there is consider able that cannot be digested and as simulated simi and so Is of no use the proportion of feeds used differs oti course with the age breed and type of animal so no dafin te to and binding law can be laid down as to amounts amoun ts to be fed to all it Is not necessary that you always figure out each ra tion in this exact manner but we should know in 4 practical cal way what the feeds conta n it if we feed ail al falfa there is ai excess of protein which is a wat waste to some extent but if we add some corn the feeds bal ance as corn Is rich in carbohydrates and poor in protein it if we teed feed bar ley alone the proportion of fat and carbohydrates will be in excess and ao so this feed would not supply the re quire ments in an animal in order to balance it then feeds like wheat bran or shorts or alfalfa would have to be used among the feeds rich in protein we have alfalfa clover bran shorts peas and skim milk among the carbohydrate feeds we have tim othy wild hay corn barley oats su sugar gar beets etc As a rule feeds from the last group should be fed with some from the first and vice versa as this will tend to make the proportions more nearly right and would more nearly supply the needs of the animal A narrow ration la Is one in which the proportion ot a protein is targe large when compared to the am amount aunt of carbohydrates and fats for exam pie alfalfa fed alone would make what is called a narrow ration A wide ration is one in which the pro portion of carbohydrates and fats is large when compared with the amount of protein for example corn alone would make a very wide ration in feeding our young animals we find that as the age increases the amount of feed necessary to make a pound of gain increases very much the cheaper gains are made while the animal is young and for this reason success generally comes to the man who keeps everything grow ing from babyhood up it costs con sid erable more to get an animal back in shape after it has once lost the young tat fat than it would have done to have kept him growing an ani ant mal can lose five or ten times more 6 6 in one day than can be put pu nt back on in the same time and tor this reason V one day days s starving 0 or r other poor con editions means a great loss to the average farmer we cannot expect to have exactly two animals grow where one has grown before but we ought to get the animals much larger at the same age than we are in the habit of doing in this section remember always then to be a little lenient with feed for the young stock as there is no time that so much can be made from teed feed as while the ani ant mals are young in feeding tor for breeding animals or just for growth we should be very careful to supply food that will make tor for plenty of bone and in ciscle iscle and this we get from our protein feeds such as aleafa do not teed feed your breeding animals too much especial iy ay of a concentrated fattening teed feed but give them enough to keep them in good healthy condition this does not mean skin poor the condition hat that we find so many of our western animals in but means that they are in such shape that all of the tune fune tion of their body are working in normal condition in feeding tor for market the fattening foods can be used to a greater extent and one does not have to be so careful about the proportion of muscle and bone building material the west has a habit of sending their animals to the markets in just halt half tat fat condition and as such they are always sold at reduced prices it if more care would be taken to have everything in good shape greater profits could be real zed with practically all of our live stock horses for instance are often sold when in thin condition and the buyers feeding them a few dollars worth of grain add from 25 to 50 to their value this could be done just as well by the farmer him self elf thus realizing a good deal better profit tor for his livestock in feeding beef cattle in the west we need but little in the way of barns though an open shed has some advantages as it keeps out tho the wet net and excessive cold with alfalfa hay we have found that but very little grain is necessary in order to make good gains with beet beef steers in experiments conducted at the utah station gains of ne nearly arly two pounds a day were secured on an average of about four pounds of grain when fed with alfalfa at 7 a ton for the alfalfa and about 22 for the grain fairly cheap gains were made and if animals were purchased and sold in a good way profit could be made from this business wild hay is also a good teea feed for beet beef cattle especially if 11 some grain can be fed in conjunction in some sec see ions however notably along the bear e ar river profitable feeding is car ried on every winter with hay alone the cheapest gains ever eier reported in feeding wheat for beet beef were made in the west when alfalfa and beet pulp were used it if the farmer can get hold of beet pulp and feed it with good hay he be would find remarkable good gains can be made and at a good profit one thing we should get over in our western beef bust ness is feeding our steers until they die ale three or four years old as the profits are generally much larger when the animals are sold at younger ages continued axt week |