242 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



And the proportions will then be of olein,_ 40 per cent. 



Of margerinej ._ 60 " 



100 " 



" If you supply turnips or mangel with hay, the cow will con- 

 sume less of hay. You thereby substitute a material richer in 

 sugar, &c., and poorer in oil. Each of these materials in the 

 quantity a cow can consume, is deficient in the supply of albu- 

 men necessary to keep up the condition of an animal, giving a 

 full yield of milk. To effect this, recourse must be had to arti- 

 ficial or concentrated substances of food, rich in albuminous 

 matter. 



" It can scarcely be expected, nor is it desirable, that practical 

 farmers should apply themselves to the attainment of proficiency 

 in the art of chemical investigations. This is more properly the 

 occupation of the professor of science. The following simple 

 experiment, however, seems worthy mentioning : On several 

 occasions, during winter, I procured samples of butter from my 

 next neighbor. On placing these, with a like quantity of my 

 own, in juxtaposition before the fire, my butter melted with far 

 greater rapidity — by no means an unsafe test of a greater pro- 

 portion of olein. 



" The chemical investigation of our natural and other grasses, 

 has hitherto scarcely had the attention which it deserves. The 

 most valuable information on this subject is in the paper by 

 Professor Way, on the nutritive and fattening properties of the 

 grasses (annexed). These grasses were nearly all analyzed at 

 the flowering time, — a stage at which no occupier of grass-land 

 would expect so favorable a result in fattening. We much prefer 

 pastures with young grass not more than a few inches high, suffi- 

 cient to afford a good bite. With a view to satisfy myself as to 

 the difference of composition of the like grasses at different stages 

 of growth, I sent to Professor Way a specimen of the first crop 

 of hay, cut in the end of June, when the grass was in the early 

 stage of flowering, and one of aftermath, cut towards the close 

 of September, from the same meadow, the analyses of which 

 I give: 



