234 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



cious will such food be for the particular purpose for which it 

 is used. 



" Sugar, starch, &;c., vary considerably, in form and proportion, 

 from vegetable oils, which closely resemble animal fats. 



" When we consider that plants have a two-fold function to per- 

 form, viz. : to serve as food for animals, and also for the repro- 

 duction of the like plants, and that after having undergone the 

 process of digestion they retain only one-half or one-third of their 

 value as manure, the importance of affording a due but not exces- 

 sive supply of each element of food essential to the wants and 

 purposes of the animal will be evident. If we fall short, the 

 result will be imperfect; if we supply in excess, it will entail 

 waste and loss. 



" Linseed and rape cake resemble each other very closely in 

 chemical composition. The latter is chiefly used for manure, 

 and its price ranges usually about half that of linseed cake. In 

 substances poorer in nitrogen and with more of starch, gum, oil, 

 &c., the disparity in value as food and as manure will be propor- 

 tionately greater. 



" During the present season, Mr. Mendelssohn, of Berlin, and 

 Mr. Gausange, who is tenant of a large royal domain, near 

 Frankfort, on the Oder, on whi-ch he keeps about 150 dairy cows, 

 have been my visitors. These gentlemen have collected statistics 

 in dairy countries through which they have traveled. I learned 

 from them that in Mecklenburg, Prussia, Holland, &;c., 14 quarts 

 of milk yield on the average 1 lb. of butter; in rare instances 12 

 quarts are found to yield 1 lb. Both attach great importance to 

 the regulation of the temperature. Mr. Mendelssohn tells me 

 that the milk from cows fed on draff, (distillers' refuse) requires 

 a higher temperature to induce its yield of butter than that from 

 cows supplied with other food. 



" On inquiry in my own neighborhood, I find it is computed that 

 each quart at a milking represents 1 lb. of butter per week. 

 Thus a cow which gives 4 quarts at each milking, will yield in 

 butter 4 lbs. per week, or from 56 quarts, 64 oz. of butter, or 

 from 14 quarts of milk, 1 lb. of butter. Taking the winter pro- 

 duce alone, it is lower than this. The cream from my neighbors' 

 cows, who use common food, — hay straw, and oats, — somewhat 

 resembles milk in consistency, and requires three to four hours, 



