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Show Use of Western Feeds ."1...... . VUh Ag.Uulturil Or.on J-Aor tin Vernon jlralion Train Lecfmrt College. The permanency of any system of Rgrloultiire and the ultimate profit derived de-rived from it are dependent to a great extent on the marketing of the crop. Where everything is sold and nothing returned to the soil, farms soon run down and the farmer does not reap the largest profit, the middle men getting get-ting the lion's share. The farm should be run like any other manufacturing plant where the raw materials are worked over and marketed only as finished fin-ished products. We of the west have an idea that other sections being more favored can So the feeding oheaper and better than we can. If, however, we look jjosely 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 makee for good strong feeds and for good lungs, the soil makes good feet and bono in our livestock. The last pertains mostly to the pro-Suction pro-Suction of horses. The ruggedness which most of our western livestock have, is due to the mountain conditions condi-tions and to their healthy, out-of-door Ufe. The west is well supplied with teed, as we have alfalfa the best hay In the world grown here to perfection. perfec-tion. With this hay good results can be obtained ln feeding nearly any class of livestock, though of course with some grain is necessary and with all it gives much better results. Timothy Tim-othy and wild hay are good feeds, especially es-pecially If procured from our high mountain valleys, and are much want-Bd want-Bd for feeding horses. Corn fodder can be grown to advantage nearly everywhere, 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 Dats are especially useful in feeding horses, dairy cows and beef. Roots, though very little used as yet, can be grown ln great abundance ln this section sec-tion and make a valuable addition to most rations. The great production secured with roots in the west makes us able to use this feed Instead of the Bucculent silage of the east. With this group of feeds and the price at which thej jan be secured under average aver-age western conditions, there is no reason why feeding cannot be carried out successfully. In order to get this feeding problem prob-lem before you in the best manner, it will be necessary to go into the practical prac-tical side of nutrition to a slight extent. ex-tent. The chemist arranges the substances sub-stances found in plants that are useful use-ful to the animals into several groups. Of these, protein, carbohydrates, carbohy-drates, and 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 a very' good example. These substances are used in the body for the building build-ing of muscle, bone, and for making milk. The carbohydrates are best described as materials like starch or sugar, though in the plant crude fibre and other materials are also included. includ-ed. This group is used in the animal ani-mal body for the production of energy en-ergy and fat. Pats are used for the production of energy and fat but are very much more valuable pound for pound than the carbohydrates. A certain cer-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 ln 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 for a given animal to supply all his body wants for twenty-four hours. For instance, in-stance, the dairy cow producing twenty pounds of milk requires about two and a half pounds of digestible protein, thirteen pounds of digestible diges-tible carbohydrates, and five-tenths of a pound of fat for each day. This would be applied approximately by feeding twenty-five pounds of alfalfa with a few pounds of grain. By the digestible material in the feed we mean the amount that can be used by the animal, as there is considerable consider-able that cannot be digested and assimilated, as-similated, and so is of no use. The proportion of feeds used differs of course with the age, breed and type l of animal, so no definite and binding , law can be laid down as to amounts to be fed to all. It is not necessary that you always figure out each ration ra-tion in this exact manner, but we should know in u practical way what the feeds contain. If we feed ail alfalfa, al-falfa, there ls an excess of protein, which is a wastt; to some extent, but if we add some corn the feeds balance, bal-ance, as corn ls rich in carbohydrates and poor In protein. If we feed barley bar-ley alone, the proportion of fat and carbohydrates will be in excess and so this feed would not supply the requirements re-quirements 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 timothy, tim-othy, wild hay, corn, barley, oats, sugar 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 mako the proportions more nearly right and would more nearly supply the needs of the animal. A narrow ration Is one In which the proportion of protein is large when compared to the amount of carbohydrates and fats. For example, exam-ple, alfalfa fed alone would make what is called a narrow ration. A wide ration is one in which the proportion 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 growing grow-ing from babyhood up. It costs considerable con-siderable more to get an animal back in shape after it has once lost the young fat than It would have done to have kept him growing. An animal ani-mal can lose five or ten times mora In one day than can be put back on in the same time, and for this reason one day's starving or other poor conditions con-ditions means a great loss to the average farmer. We cannot expect to have exactly two animals grow . where one has grown before, but w' 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 feed as while the animals ani-mals are young. In feeding for breeding animals or just for growth, we should be very careful to supply food that will make for plenty of bone and muscle, and this we get from our protein feeds, such as alfalfa. Do not feed your breeding animals too much, especially especial-ly of a concentrated fattening feed, but give them enough to keep them in good healthy condition. This does not mean skin-poor, the condition that we find so many of our western animals in, but means that they are in such shape that all of the func-" f" -tions of their body are working ln, normal condition. In feeding . tof 1 " 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 bone-building material. 'The west has a habit of sending their animals to the markets in just half fat condition, and as such they are always sold at reduced prices. If more care would be taken to have everything in good shape, greater profits could be realized real-ized with practically all of our livestock. 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 himself, him-self, thus realizing a good deal better profit 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 . wet and excessive cold. With alfalfa hay, we have found that but very little grain is necessary ln order to make good gains with beef steers. In experiments conducted at the Utah station, gains of nearly two pounds a day were secured on an average of about four pounds of gram 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 feed for beef cattle, especially if some grain can I be fed In conjunction. In some sec-I sec-I tions, however, notably along the Bear river, profitable feeding is car-jried car-jried on every winter with hay alone. I The cheapest gains ever reported in .feeding wheat for beef were made ln the west when alfalfa and beet pulp were used. If the farmer can get hold of beet pulp and feed it with good hay, he would find remarkable good gains can be made and at a good profit. One tftlng we should get over in our western beef business busi-ness is feeding our steers until they are three or four years' old, as the profits are generally much larger when the animals are sold at younger ages. (Continued Next Week.) |