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Show I II ll Use of Western Feeds JttaTL. -, . : - j. i . Vuk Atf Uultur.l Ortjtn Short Lint Dtmmnjtralltn Train Ltctart College. The permanency of any syatem of agriculture ami the ultimate profit de-iivd de-iivd from It are dependent to a great extnit on tho marketing of the crop. Where everything la sold and nothing returned to the soil, farina soon run down anjl the farmer does not reap the largeat profit, the middle men get ting the lion's khare. The farm should be run liko any other manufacturing plant where tho ra materiuls are aorked over and marketed only as finished fin-ished products. Wo of the west have an Idea that other sections belnt? 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 thla line. The climate la Ideal for feeding, the altitudo mnkce for good strong feeds and for good lungn, the soil makes good feet Bnd bono In our livestock. The last pertains mostly to the production pro-duction of horses. The ruggedneas which moat of our wextern llveatock have, la duo to tho mountain conditions condi-tions and to their healthy, out'f door life. The west is well supplied with feed, as we have alfalfa tho beat hay In tho world grown here to perfection. perfec-tion. With this hay good results can bo obtained In 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, nnd are much wanted want-ed for feeding horses. Corn fodder can bo grown to advantage nearly everywhere, every-where, and makes a lino addition to the rougnage of moat any ration. The western grains are all superior nnd wheat and Its by-products can be used to good advantage here. Hurley and iiats are especially useful In feeding horses, dairy cows nnd beef. Roots, though very little, used as yet, can be grown In great nbiindanco In thla section sec-tion and mako a valuable addition to; most rations. The great production' secured with roots In tho west makes! us able to use this feed Instead of tho succulent alluge of the east. With ! thla group f feeds and tho price at which thej 4an be secured under aver- 1 ago western conditions, there Is no riKon why feeding cannot be carried ' out successfully. ' In. order to get this feeding prob- , lem before you In tho beat manner, It will bo necessary to go Into the prac- tlcal aide of nutrition to a slight ex- tent The chemist arranges the sub- stances found in plants that are use- ful to (he animals Into several groups. Of these, protein, carbohy- ( drates, a'nd fats are tho 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 build- , Ing of miiHcle, 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 alao includ- t ed. This group Is used In the ani- , mal body for the production of en- , ergy and fat. Fats are used for the production of energy and fat but are very much more valuable pound for pound than the carbohydrates. A cer-tain cer-tain proportion of each of theso Is needed every day to keep up the work of the animal bMy. When (hese constituents or foods are given , In Just the right proiurtlon to supply every want of tho animal, we have what Is known as a balanced ration, j My ration we mean the amount ofj feed required for an animal for onej' day. So balanced ration means the I correct proportion of feed for a 1 given animal to supply all bis 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 dlges- Utile carbohydrate, and five-tenths i of a pound of fat for each day. This I would be applied approximately by 1 feeding twenty five pound f alfalfa ' with a few pounds of grain. Iiy the! J digestible material In the feed we, mean the amount that ran be used by the animal, as there Is consider- sble that cannot be digested and as-1 1 slmllated. apd so is of no use. The I proportion of feeds uxed differs of,' rourse with he age, breed and type J of animal, so no definite and binding law can be laid down as to amounts ( lo lie fed to all. It Is not necessary I, that you always figure out each ra ' lion In this exact manner, but we i should know in .' practical way what I the feeds contain. If we feed Ail al- I falfa, there In n excess of protein, which Is a wantrf to some, extent, but 1 If we add some com the feeds bal- ' ince. as corn Is rich In carbohydrates , nd HKr In protein. If we feed bar-', ley alone, the proportion of fat andj 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 sklm-mllk. 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 tho first and vice versa, as this will tend to make the proportions more nearly Tight and would more nearly supply the Deeds of the animal, A narrow ration la one In which tho proportion of protein Is large when compared to tho amount .of carbohydrates and fata. For example, exam-ple, alfalfa fed alono would make what Is called a narrow ration. A wido ration Is one In which the proportion pro-portion of carbohydrates and fats la largo when compared with tho amount of protein. For example, eorn alone would mako a very wide ration. In feeding our young animals, vo find that as tho ago increases the amount of feed necessary to make a pound of gain Increases very much. Tho cheaper galna nro made whilo the animal la young, and for this reason success generally comes to tho man who keeps everything growing grow-ing from babyhood up. It coats considerable con-siderable more to get an animal back in ohapo alter It bag onco lost tho young fat than It would have done to have kept him growing. An animal ani-mal can lose five or ten times moro In one day than can bo put back on In the tamo time, and for this reason one day'B starving or other poor conditions con-ditions means a great (Hfl (0 (U0 average farmer. Wo cannot expect to have exactly two animals grow whero otio ha grown before, but we ought to get the anlmula much larger at. tho same ago than we are In the habit of doing in thla section. Remember always then to bo a llttlo lenient with feed for tho young stock, as (hero la no tlmo that vo much can bo made from feed as while tho animals ani-mals are young. In feeding for breeding animals or Just for growth, we should bo very careful to supply food that will make for plenty of bone and muscle, and this we get from our protein feeds, uch ns alfalfa. Do not feed your breeding animals too much, especially especial-ly of a concentrated fattening feed, but five them enough to keep them' In good healthy condition. This does not mean skin poor, tho condition that we find so many of our western animals in, but means that they are In such shape that all of the functions func-tions of their body are working in normal condition. In feeding for market, tbo fattening foods can be used to a greater extent, and one joes not have to be so careful about the proportion of muscle and bone-bulldlng bone-bulldlng material. Tho 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 1 shape, greater profits could be real- Ized with practically all of our livestock- Horses, for Instance, are i jfien sold when in thin condition ind the buyers feeding them a few i Jollars worth of grain add from $23 1 to $;() to their value. This could be jono Just as well by the farmer him- 1 elf, thus realizing a good deal better profit for his livestock. 1 In feeding beef cuttle In the west. Re need but little In the way of barns, though an open shed has mine advantages, aa It keeps out tho set and excessive cold. With alfalfa ( bay, we have found that but very , little grain la necessary In order to . make K'-hI gains with beef steers. . In experiments conducted at the ' I'tah station, gains of nearly two Itourxl a day were secured on an 1 average of about four pound of ' train when fed with alfalfa. At $7 1 i ton for the alfalfa and about 22 i for the grain, fairly cheap gains were aiade, and If animals were purchased ind sold In a good way, profit could 1 e mado from this business. Wild hay la also a good feed for beef , rattle, especially If some grain can tie fed In conjunction. In ome sections, sec-tions, however, notably along tba Hear river, profitable feeding Is car-led car-led on every winter with hay alone. ' rhe cheapest gains ever reported In ' 'ceding wheat for beef were made In ' he west when alfalfa and beet pulp 1 acre used. If the farmer can get aold of beet pulp and feed It with I :K)J hay, he would find remarkable tood gains can bo mado and at a 5wk1 profit. One thing we should , cet over In our western beef bust iess Is feeding our s'eers until they ire three or four .years old, as the ;rofl!s are generally much larcer J alien the animals are sold at younger ' igea. ' (Continued Next Week.) |