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Notice of the Employment of the Flesh of Small Whales for feed- 

 ing Cattle in the Faroe Islands. In a letter to the Editor 

 from W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. 



I yesterday received a letter, dated June 2d, from the Faroe 

 Islands, which contains further information regarding the cap- 

 ture of whales by means of nets, of which a notice appeared 

 in the Journal for January. The total number of the Delphi- 

 nus melas (Caaing whale) taken in Faroe in 1843, was 3146, 

 besides a few individuals of other species ; most of these were 

 captured by means of the net before mentioned. The quan- 

 tity of oil obtained from the blubber and exported, was 87,404 

 gallons, and its value L.5665 ; besides this, about one-eighth of 

 the blubber was salted for food, and some oil reserved for 

 domestic uses, &;c. During the past winter, a novel but im- 

 portant experiment has been tried with the flesh of these ani- 

 mals : — it was then for the first time used as food for cows, 

 and apparently with perfect success. For this purpose the 

 flesh is cut into long and narrow strips, and dried, without 

 salt, in the air, in the same manner as when used for food by 

 the natives ; when well dried it will keep good for two years. 

 When used, it is cut into pieces two or three inches long, 

 and slightly boiled ; any oil rising to the surface is skimmed 

 ofi\ and then the soup and meat are given to the cows, to- 

 gether with about one-half or one-third the usual quantity of 

 hay. On this food they appear to thrive well, giving an in- 

 creased quantity of milk ; and neither it nor the cream has 

 any unpleasant flavour, as they have when the animals are fed 

 on dried fish, as in Iceland and other northern countries. 

 Many cows have usually perished in Faroe from the scarcity 

 of fodder in winter; and my correspondent, the Rev. Mr 

 Schroter, (who has for many years exerted himself in improv- 

 ing the condition of his fellow countrymen), calculates that the 

 lives of more than 600 cows were saved last winter by the 

 use of this food ; which, he remarks, might be found of value 

 for the same purpose in Shetland and Orkney, where, from 



