THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



27 



when first inhalerl. If there is no means of escape 

 provided, the carbonic acid will accumulate to such 

 an extent as to be must prejudicial to the animals, 

 breathing an atmosphere which is saturated with it. 

 It is, in fact, a deadly poison ; and when we bear 

 this in mind, we can have little difficulty in tracing 

 to their tiue source many of those inflammatory 

 diseases to which cattle confined in ill-ventilated 

 houses are subject, and the origin of which often 

 appears so very mysterious. A man consumes 

 about a gallon of air per minute. "A horse," 

 according to Boussingault, " throws oft' daily forty- 

 five pounds of carbon in the form of carbonic acid 

 gas; and in the case of the cow, four-ninths of the 

 carbon contained in the daily food is consumed 

 during the process of respiration." (Voelcker.) 

 This shows us how very soon the air in a closely 

 shut-up stable or o©w-house becomes vitiated, and 

 rendered utterly unfit to support life in a healthy 

 state. If, therefore, it is necessary to prevent 

 unnecessary waste of food by providing proper 

 shelter, it is no less requisite to the healthy condi- 

 tion of the animals that the air which they breathe 

 shall always be kept in a state of purity. Ample 

 space should be secured over the heads of the ani- 

 mals, and hay-lofts and other obstructions to a free 

 circulation of air ought never to be permitted. 

 Ventilators should be inserted in the apex of the 

 roof to permit the heated exhaled air to escape, and 

 means taken to secure a constant supply of fresh 

 air from beneath, without creating a thorough draft, 

 the effect of which would be to check the perspira- 

 tion, and thus lay the foundation for catarrh and 

 other diseases. 



The exercise which an animal takes causes a cor- 

 responding amount of waste of food. By exercise 

 the respirations are not only rendered more fre- 

 quent, but are also increased in force; hence there 

 is a greater consumption of carbon — that is, of 

 starch and sugar, the elements of respiration and 

 fat — and, consequently, the animal requires a larger 

 amount of food to enable it to fatten ; or if this is 

 withheld, it becomes wasted or leaner. It is well 

 known that fattening animals become more rapidly 

 fat when kept perfectly quiet, and free from every- 

 thing which excites their attention and renders them 

 restless. The growing animal, indeed, requires 

 a certain amount of exercise in order to promote 

 muscular development and strength of constitution. 

 If sufficient exercise is prevented in this case, the 

 young animal will no doubt accumulate fat freely, 

 but his constitution will be enfeebled ; and if the 

 same treatment is pursued through several succes- 

 sive generations, whilst the animals will gradually 

 acquire a greater aptitude to fatten at an early age, 

 they will also become less to be relied upon for 

 breeding purposes. Growing and breeding animals 



should, therefore, be always permitted a sufficient 

 amount of exercise to secure a healthy system, 

 whilst those which are fattening for the butcher 

 must be kept quiet and undisturbed. 



We have observed that there must be a proper 

 mixture of the flesh-forming elements along with 

 those of respiration and fat, to form perfect food. 

 We find this mixture to be particularly the case in 

 milk, the first description of food upon which 

 the young animal subsists. It contains, 1st, casein 

 or curd, which is precisely the same as the fibrin or 

 lean part of the flesh; 2nd, fat in the shape 

 of butter; 3rd, sugar, which is required in the 

 process of i espiration ; and 4th, certain substances 

 which are converted into the earthy part of the 

 bones and the saline matter of the blood. The 

 saline or earthy portion of milk consists of the 

 phosphates of lime, magnesia, and iron, chloride of 

 potassium, and common salt. In its ordinary state 

 the milk of the cow consists of about 41 per cent, 

 of casein or flesh-forming matter; 3 per cent, 

 of butter, oil, or fat; 5 per cent, of sugar ; f 

 per cent, of saline matter; and 87 per cent of 

 water. Everything, therefore, which is required 

 to promote the development of the growing animal 

 is contained in the milk, blended together in pro- 

 portions suited for the purpose. We snow proceed 

 to give in detail the composition of the various 

 articles employed as the food of animals, the prac- 

 tical bearings of which will be afterwards illustrated . 



The average composition of beans, peas, tares, 

 and lentils so closely approximate to each other, 

 that it is needless giving their constituents in 

 separate detail. From the following analytical 

 statement of the composition of field beans we 

 learn the value of this class of feeding stuffs : — 

 Nitrogenised or flesh-forming constituents 23*3 

 Non-nitrogenous substances, being the 



elements of respiration and fat — 



1. Starch, sugar, fat, &c. .. .. 48'5 



2. Woody fibre .. .. ..10 



Ash (bone materials) . . . . . . 3*4 



Water .. .. .. .. 14-8 



100-0 

 The amount of oil, or ready-prepared fat, con- 

 tained in beans, &c., is small compared with other 

 feeding stuffs, being only about 2 per cent. 



The amount of nutritious matter yielded by the 

 produce of an acre (statute) of beans, taking the 

 crop at thirty bushels, is as follows : — 



lbs. per acre. 

 Nitrogenous or flesh-forming matter . . 4G0 

 Elements of fat and respiration — 



Starch, sugar, fat, &c. . , . . 970 



Woody fibre .. .. ..198 



Mineral matter (bone materials, &C.) . . 67 

 Water .. .. -- ..285 



1980 



