TlIK FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



73 



although p 111 piug caused the roots to hold out well, there 

 was not that amount of benefit to the animals which he 

 expected to witness. He abandoned the machine because 

 it did not do the work fast enough. The man and the 

 lad who were usually employed in pulping did not 

 get enough through the machine, and consequently the 

 animals did not obtain as much food as they required- 

 After parting with that machine he got another, which 

 did not pulp the roots, but cut them into small shreds, 

 so as to fit them for mixing well with straw or hay 

 chaff. He used partly the one and partly the other, and 

 he found that that machine got through more work than 

 the other, while the stock did equally well. He was of 

 opinion that in the feeding of cattle it was desirable to 

 haveacertain proportion of dry food mixed with the roots, 

 especially as they were not always of the best quality. 

 The result of his experience, extending over some 

 years, was that it answered the purpose of the dairyman 

 and grazier, if not to pulp — and he could not call his 

 own machine strictly a pulping machine — at all events to 

 cut roots into very small pieces, so as to enable it to mix 

 well with the chaff which formed pait of the animal's 

 food. By that means he thought they would improve 

 the fattening qualities of the roots, and at the same time 

 make their roots go further than they otherwise would 

 do. He agreed with Mr. Baker that in all such matters 

 they must have regard to expenses (Hear, hear) ; for un- 

 less there was a profit from their several operations, no- 

 thing would be satisfactory in the end. He must say 

 that their excellent friend, who introduced the subject, 

 appeared to have been very lucky this year, inasmuch as 

 he had obtained a profit. Sometimes, however, when a 

 man had a hobby, he contrived somehow or other to ride 

 it well ; and he must add that sometimes, under such 

 circumstances, labourers, wishing to please their master, 

 contrived to make the thinganswer his purpose (laughter). 

 Asa general rule, however, he paid the most attention to 

 those who did not farm very largely themselves, and who 

 did not keep a bailiff, with a number of servants under 

 him — a state of things which often caused others who 

 listened to what was said about the results, and imitated 

 the experiments, to be marvellously deceived. He 

 should pay great deference to the experiments of such a 

 man as Mr. Pawlett. That gentleman's farm, though 

 not large, was a very good one. He had tried experi- 

 ments in feeding with mangel-wurzel alone, with turnips 

 alone, and with the two mixed together ; he had also ex- 

 perimented a good deal in boiling ; and he did not know 

 any experiments, the results of which might be more 

 usefully circulated among farmers, or which would do 

 more to prevent them from being led astray in reference 

 to this subject. 



The Rev. C. T. James (Ermington Rectory, Ivy 

 Bridge) thought the best mode of testing the value of 

 any system of recent introduction was to compare it 

 with what was done before. Before pulping commenced 

 the steaming of food was carried on to a considerable 

 extent, and, he believed, with very good results. He 

 himself had practised steaming a good deal, especially 

 in winter, when the keeping up of animal warmth was a 

 matter of so much importance ; and one great advan- 



tage (if the system was that it brought a large quantity 

 of roots within the reach of what might be termed, in a 

 farming point of view, little men. He had heard 

 nothing as yet in reference to what he considered a most 

 important question, namely, what effect the fermentative 

 process produced upon the nutritive qualities of roots, 

 and whether animals ought to eat roots after they had 

 been brought to a fermented state for some time, 

 or within four-and-twenty hours. Now he wished 

 to state what his own experience had been with regard 

 to that question, having tried experiments upon horses, 

 upon horned cattle, and upon pigs. As regarded pigs, 

 the effect which the application of heat produced on the 

 saccharine qualities of the food was generally in favour 

 of fermentation ; but horses and cows were far more 

 sensitive than pigs, and if food were given to them in a 

 fermented state— if it had been steeped as it were in a 

 tub, those animals were very likely to reject it. The 

 grand point was to take care that the process did not 

 go beyond the rising of the bubbles — that the head did 

 not break ; for if the latter effect were produced, the 

 pinguitudinal or fattening qvialities of the food were 

 likely to escape. One great advantage of the system 

 was, that it met the case of old animals whose teeth 

 were not in a fit state to deal with the food properly 

 without its having undergone some change, and also of 

 young animals in whom the process of dentition had not 

 gone far enough. As regarded horses, he had found 

 that there was no period of the year in which this kind 

 of food might not be given to them with advantage, 

 especially if it were mixed with salt. With reepect to 

 horses and cattle, he was of opinion that pulped roots 

 ought to be given to them within four-and-twenty 

 hours, being mixed, of course, with a certain proportion 

 of chaff, or some other solid food, which is essential ; 

 and his own experience went to show that the pecu- 

 niary eifect of adopting this system was a saving of 

 2id. in every shilling. He should be glad to hear some- 

 thing that evening with regard to the effect produced by 

 the fermentative process upon nutriment, that being 

 the great point on which information was required. 



Mr. J. C. Nesbit (of Kennington) said, having been 

 called upon by the Chairman, he begged to offer a few 

 remarks, rather in reference to the principle on which 

 all these preparations should be made use of, than 

 in relation to the practical purposes to which they 

 should be applied, though the practical purposes might 

 be deduced from the principle which he was about to lay 

 down. The question on the card, namely, "The bene- 

 fit of pulping or mincing roots for cattle, sheep, and pigs," 

 resolved itself into this — Could they, by either mechani- 

 cal or chemical processes, reduce roots from their ordi- 

 nary state into a better form for fattening animals ? 

 Now that being the question, he would first observe 

 that he did not see how by means of any mechanical 

 operation they could do anything beyond simply bring- 

 ing roots into a more minute form, and thus enabling 

 the animals to swallow them in less time. When this had 

 been done it would take less time to get a given amount 

 of nutriment into the animal's stomach, and con- 

 sequently the animal would have more time to 



