A Manual of Practical Farming

1910

Truby King Collection S 501 M447

New York: The Macmillan Company

‘The system and accuracy which science demands in Chemistry and in the feeding of plants is equally necessary in the feeding of animals.’ So wrote King, after he had tackled the huge death rate of calves due to ‘scouring’ when he first arrived at Seacliff. By thorough scientific investigation, he devised an artificial feeding regime that dramatically reduced the death rate in the herds. This involved cows being tagged with red or blue ribbons, led into red or blue stalls and fed with red or blue buckets of food. It was through this method that the patients, who were farm labourers, made sure that each cow got the proper amount of food specifically adapted to its designated grade or class. King was a great underliner and ticker of pertinent passages. McLennan’s Manual records numerous instances of this activity.