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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



and the entire weight, in addition to that of the engine, 

 does not exceed three-quarters of a ton. A new mode 

 of working and turning a grubber, scarifier, or paring- 

 implement lias also been contrived ; and if simplicity 

 of parts, easy portiibility, cheapness of first cost, and 

 economy in operation are the great recommendations of 

 any steam-cultivating machinery, Mr. Fowler need not 



wish to make any further progress, beyond the exten- 

 sion of this last improved apparatus through the 

 longtli and breadth of our land. Having done his part 

 towards the solution of the long-standing problem, he 

 must be gi-atified to feel that agriculturists are be- 

 ginning to approve and appropriate his invention. 



WHAT KIND OF CORN AND CAKE ARE THE MOST ECONOMICAL AT THEIR 

 PRESENT PRICES FOR FEEDING SHEEP ON ROOTS? 



At the Oxford Farmers' Club thi3 question was iotroduced 

 by Mr. Osborne, who said it appeared to him that a Club 

 consisting of 400 members ought never to be without a subject 

 for discussion, and, therefore, in the absence of one, he had 

 ventured to introduce this, hoping that it would elicit from 

 some of tbeir leading practical men that information which was 

 needed for the proper and profitable cultivation of the soil. In 

 considering this question, he divided the community into two 

 great classes — the producer and the consumw ; the producer 

 was the farmer, and tlie rest were the mass or consuming body, 

 for whom the farmer provided. It happened this year that 

 generally speaking, there was a short crop of beans, and the 

 consequence was, they ran up in the market to something above 

 the price of wheat, and up to the price of barley and other 

 food, which went to the sheep-fold to produce good mutton 

 and wool. lu the great consuming body, the two largest 

 customers were the baker and the butcher. At the present 

 moment, the baker was liberally supplied with ail he required 

 to feed the increasing population, but the butcher was not so. 

 They were supposed to know the price of mutton and wool, 

 and the common remark was — " Bread is cheap, but how dear 

 meat is." Now they did not want to pay 7d. per pound for 

 mutton, but would prefer to have more mutton at a lower rate, 

 and keep the bread a little higher than it was. They were 

 bound, then, to keep this balance, looking at the present price 

 of corn, which was leas than £10 a load. Barley was much 

 the same price as wheat, but beans were higher, and for that 

 reason he was in favour of wheat for sheep, as it was well 

 adapted f jr producing mutton and wool, for he found from 

 tables, giving the comparative nutriment contained in various 

 articles of food, and denoting the proportion of nutriment in 

 every 1000 parts, that wheat yielded 950 ; peas (dry), 930 ; 

 barley, 920; beans (dry), S90; and oats, 742— by which it 

 would b2 seen that wheat took the precedence of all. With 

 respect to peas, he had found that railway contractors fed their 

 horses upon them, because they contained more nutriment 

 than any other food usually given to horses, which fact served 

 to confirm the accuracy of the tables which he had alrtady 

 referrred to. Some persons had ,a great objection to give 

 wheat to sheep, but he had tried it, and never found the 

 slightest harm or loss from using it. He commenced by taking 

 his sheep home, and starving them down till they became used 

 to bran and water, and when that had gone through their sys- 

 tem, then he used wheat. He gave tliem a pint, or 1 lb. per 

 head, per day; and if they adopted the plan of starving them 

 down to it, and preparing their system, they would find no loss, 

 but if they did not do so, and threw in a quantity, some of the 

 sheep wonld perhaps take a quart, which would do them an 

 injury, while others would get none. Looking, therefore, at 

 the present price of wool (£2 per tod), it was to their interest 

 to grow all the wool they could, and if they could feed the 



people with more mutton and less bread, they would be only 

 doing their duty. With regard to cake for sheep, he believed 

 that the best description of oilcake was the best and most 

 economical for that purpose, and that if they did not use the 

 best description, they would have to pay the penalty. At the 

 same time, he was bound to say that when he gave his sheep 

 a mixture of wheat, beans, and cake, they picked out the wheat^ 

 and left the beans and cake, clearly showing which they pre- 

 ferred ; and, therefore, the less they went against nature in 

 feeding sheep the better. Mr. Osborne concluded by moving, 

 "That of all kinds of corn, wheat, at its present price, is the 

 most economical for feeding sheep on roots, and of cake, the 

 beit oilcake for the same purpose." 



The Rev. J. Clutterbuck observed that in considering 

 this question it was necessary to bear in mind the ]>er ceutage 

 of nutriment in differeut kinds of corn, as it was evident that 

 one contained more than another. It was generally supposed 

 that if they gave wheat to animals it would have a tendency to 

 heat them, and, therefore, few gave it alone ; it might be found 

 necessary and advisable to mix it with other food which gave 

 meat and muscle, for wheat gave bone, containing, as it did, 

 phosphate of lime. The ashes of a large swede would lie in a 

 man's hand, and consisted of phosphate of lime, of which ani- 

 mals were made, and substances of which they were made they 

 would consume; and, therefore, it was necessary to consider 

 what food was most consistent with the nature of the animal 

 itself There was nothing so nourishing to man as wheat, but 

 it had been considered a sin and a waste to give it to animals; 

 but they gave their pigs offal, which now it was very difficult 

 to procure ; and what nourished pigs would do the same for 

 sheep, and, therefore, he saw no reason why wheat should not 

 be consumed in this way as well as in any other. A friend of 

 his, who had been remonstrated with for giving his pheasants 

 barley, vindicated it by saj-ing that he consumed the barley 

 himself, for he ate the pheasants (laughter). If the feeding 

 properties of wheat were so much greater than other corn they 

 could afford to give a better price for it. Some parties objected 

 to grow certain descriptions of wheat which was very produc- 

 tive, but, at the same time, was coarse ; but if they could grow 

 6 quarters to the acre, instead of from 42- to 5, it might not be 

 a bad sort for feeding purposes. When he visited the Paris 

 Exhibition, he met with some Algerian wheat, and he had found 

 it, if not fine, at least very productive, and not a bad wheat for 

 feeding slieep, for he obtained some of it, and had grown it ; 

 it came from the north of Africa, which used formerly to be the 

 granary of the world. It was well known that they could grow 

 corn in proportion to what they returned to the soil, and if 

 they did not return to the soil what they took from it, it would 

 soon be beggared. He had seen land where the subsoil was 

 well calculated to grow corn, but it would not stand up, because 

 it wanted strength in the first place. As they could not take 



