THE DAIRY. 195 



7. It produces a marked difference in the appearance of the animal, at once causing the 

 coat to become smooth and of a bright color, regulates the digestion, makes the animal more 

 contented and satisfied, enables fattening stock to eat their food with less labor (and conse 

 quently requires less to keep up the animal heat), gives working animals time to eat all that 

 is necessary for them in the intervals of labor; and this is of much importance, especially 

 with horses. It also enables the feeder to fatten animals in one-third less time. 



8. It saves at least one-third of the food. We have found two bushels of cut and 

 cooked hay to satisfy cows as well as three bushels of uncooked hay; and the manure, in the 

 case of the uncooked hay, contained much more fibrous matter, unutilized by the animal. 

 This is more particularly the case with horses. 



These have been the general results of our practice, and, we presume, do not materially 

 differ from that of others who have given cooked food a fair trial.&quot; 



George Geddes, in his writings on agricultural topics to the farmers of the country, says: 



&quot; I find if I take ten bushels of meal, and wet it in cold water, and feed twenty-five hogs 

 with it, that they eat it well; but if I take the same and cook it, it will take the same number 

 of hogs twice as long to eat it up, and I think they fatten quite as fast in the same length of 

 time. By cooking you double the bulk.&quot; 



S. H. Clay, of Kentucky, who has experimented carefully with both cooked and 

 uncooked food, says: 



&quot;I fed two hogs on uncooked corn in thirty days, 405 pounds, and they gained 42 

 pounds; while two hogs fed on cooked corn meal for thirty days ate 270 pounds, and gained 

 80 pounds. The food was then reversed, and the two hogs that had previously had dry corn 

 were fed on cooked meal. In twenty-six days the two hogs that were fed on dry food ate 

 364 pounds of shelled corn, and gained 44 pounds; while the two hogs fed on cooked meal 

 ate, during the same time, only 234 pounds, and gained 74 pounds. Here it appears that a 

 bushel of raw corn makes 5f pounds of pork, while a bushel of cooked meal makes 17 

 pounds.&quot; 



Those who have made a fair trial of steaming coarse fodder have generally recommended 

 the practice as being quite satisfactory in results, since by this means such fodder is rendered 

 more nutritious, and much that would otherwise be wasted can be utilized. There can be no 

 doubt but that grain, potatoes, etc., are much more nutritious cooked than eaten in a raw 

 state, and the question for the farmer to determine for himself is whether the benefits derived 

 from the use of cooked feed fully compensate for the additional labor attending the cooking 

 process. Those who have tested it fully generally concur in the opinion that it does, and that 

 the practice of both the cutting and cooking of food for cattle in the winter season lie in the 

 direction of true economy and success. 



A Sufficient Supply of Pure Water for Milch Cows. It has been found 

 that milk of an average good quality contains from eighty-three to eighty -seven per cent, of 

 water. As a general rule, cows that give the largest quantity of milk will require the largest 

 proportionate quantity of water. It is a fact apparent to all dairymen that cows have a 

 largely-increased appetite for water after they commence giving milk, as compared with the 

 demand for liquid when going dry. Dancel, in his communication to the French Academy 

 of Sciences, reports the result of his experiments in inciting cows to drink large quantities of 

 water. He states that by so doing the quantity of milk yielded by them was increased 

 several quarts per day, without materially injuring its quality. He claims, in the same 

 connection, that the quantity of milk obtained is approximately proportional to the amount of 

 water drank by the animal. Cows which, when fed with dry fodder, gave only from nine to 

 twelve quarts of milk per day, at once increased their yield to from twelve to fourteen quarts 

 when their food was moistened by mixing it with from eighteen to twenty-three quarts of 

 water per day. In the same connection, the cows were allowed to drink regularly, as before, 

 VOL. II. 12 



