CUTTING AND COOKING FOOD. 355 



put three hogs into separate pens. 'One ate three and a half 

 bushels of corn in the ear, in nine days, and gained nineteen 

 pounds. Another ate, in the same time, one and three-quarter 

 bushels of corn ground, and gained nineteen pounds; while the 

 third ate, in the same time, one bushel ground and boiled meal, 

 and gained twenty-two pounds.' 



"The society of Shakers, at Lebanon, N. Y., communicated 

 the following to the agricultural report of the Patent Office: 

 'The experience of thirty years, leads us to estimate ground 

 corn one-third higher than unground, as a food fbr cattle, and 

 especially for fattening pork. Hence, it has been the practice of 

 our society, for more than a quarter of a century, to grind all 

 our provender. The same induces us to put a higher value upon 

 cooked than raw meal; and for fattening animals, swine particu- 

 larly, we consider three of cooked, equal to four of raw meal. 

 Our society, annually, for some twenty-seven years, has fattened 

 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of pork, and it is the constant practice 

 to cook the meal, for which purpose six or seven potash kettles 

 are used.' 



"Such is the general tenor of the testimony of those who 

 have tested cooking fairly in this country. It will be seen that 

 most of the experiments relate to cooking grain. Steaming 

 coarse fodder has not been extensively practiced here, but when 

 a fair trial has been given, the result has been quite satisfactory. 



"Professor Horsfall, of England, has practiced mixing a 

 special food for milk cows, to produce a large yield of milk of 

 good quality, and to keep up the flesh of the cow in a full flow 

 of milk. He says: 'I now proceed to describe the means I am 

 using, to carry out the purposes which I have sought to explain. 

 My food for milk cows, after having undergone various modifica- 

 cations, has, for two seasons, consisted of rape cake, five pounds, 

 and bran, two pounds, for each cow, mixed with a sufficient 

 quantity of bean straw, oat straw, and shells of oats, in equal 



