Webster Farmers' Club Interesting Discussion Of Question Of Feeding Stock.--other Exercises

It was a large and appreciative audienee that greeted our new president, I. C. Backu?, at bis own home on Jan. 14, as he aroge to deliver his inaugural, and assume the chairmanship of the Webster Farmers' club for 1888. If brevity be the soul ot wit, as well as wisdom, his effort may be characteri?ed as replete in both. Miss Ada Latson and Mrs. Liosa Loomis fully sustained the reputation of the read ing circle in developicg the latent talent of its memoere, nd gaveus two very well read selections, while ihat ii imitable Dorr Queal was just as happy in Paddy and the owl as he was in the character of Gen. Boat Sambo on a former occasion. The clubs vocalist havingfailed the materialize, and the essayist being absent, the discussion was opened by W. E. Boyden, on "Midwinter care of stock," by groopingthe first and second queetions, viz: the Grain ration, shall it be ground fine or coarse? and Is cob-meal a desiderátum ? under one head. In his judgmett there was an extreme both wayg. Corn and oats when ground tcgether might profitably be fed to cattle, if not pulverised like flour, and he was not sure but as good results come from bruising as the extra fineness required by some. We must allow for the action of the gastric juices, the partia manipulation of the teeth, and the processes of the stomach, in disintegrating th food in its passage. As to cob meal he he had never used it, and while some recent experiments bv experts pointed to good resulis as against clear corn meal, he thought no intelh.ent teeder would use meal alone for any stock as it was liable to compact and impair digestión. Bass wood saw-dust would have about the same valué tohim as ground cobs. Amos Pnelpc had heard a good deal o late about the value of corn and cobs crushed and ground together, nnd if he was goiDg to make the experiment he would want thetn ground very fine, but would prefer a mixture of hall' and ball ia bulk of meel and bran. William Latson would ue two of bran to one of meal for grown cattle or milch cows, os it was beiter for tbe bone and museles and the elements that enter into the composition of milk. Thern was a hard flinty substance in the cob which would makeit a very orjeclionable ration. In finishing neat 8tocl lor the shambles he would use hall and hall E A. Nordman: If cattle or any otber stock required any different care in winter than at any other time, he did not know t, unless you can dispose of more coarse 'odder at that time. Have been a friend to cob meal and am still, if he could get it fround fine and not pay too dear for it, or ive toomuch go into the tooi bin. As to those experimenta by Agricultural coll-ges and s'ations, we get resulta without knowng a'l the minutiie that are essential to orm a complete opinión. But there was one question he would like to ask, and it was a part of this subject, and that is how o rid cattle of lice ? Midwinter seemed to be this vermin's harvest time. Geo. Phelps: If you will gperd a few moments every day carding off your cattle, ycu will never be troubled. Have met with 'he best success when badly inested with vermin by m(itening the card wnh kerosene. Never knew it to si] to cure the most aggravated case. Geo. Merrill: Regular care is a very mportant item. Over breedir.g is worse han a short iation. He utilized his strawtack, contequtntly fed more grain, and ooked for the best results when ground fine. Never used clear corn-meal for any hing, and, in answer to question, s.iid he would not leed much hay to breedir.g ewes. Straw, oats, and bran mixed was etter, and as to oat atraw being ii jurious to ewes bef'ort' lambing, he thought it a myih and had fed without injury. OtisCu.'hing had found twothirds bran o onetbird corn a sati-factory feed for heep. Mr. Lyon feeds clear unground oats to calves, and be'ieves it to be the best nutriment. f jr srowing stock in our climate. Wm. Ball: Care should commence wilh the advent of an animal, whether it e cattle, sheep, or hogs. It should be the armer's motto that progresa should mark the lif of an animal írom birth to maturty. To do so, an intelligent study of the needs of its organism is essential, and each individual member of the herd or lock. He had bren surprUed to see men so conti act ed in their ideas, who loved money and sought to accumulate it, deliberately by their parsimony throw away in winter all that had been gaioed in summer. It is not every man that knowe how o take care of a calf; it is overfed or starved, and the first few months of its existence is too often a pitiful ftruggle of nature against a blundering care taker. Poo little estímate is placed upon the nutritative value of bran: he would use it were it worth doublé its present high rice. It had in it more elements of rrowth, lattening, and milk than any other combina'ion. The way we stuff horses with tame hay was shamelul; thinking to ave a little grain, we have the result of distended stomachs and the heaves. líarsh hay or straw would carry them nicely through the winter by supplementng it with grain, the fpring finding them with their flesh fufficiently hardened for ts labor?.