38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



by putting his finger into their mouths ; but it is not necessary 

 to do it more than two or three times. They will take the tea 

 very well. I have calves now which are living upon tea made 

 of English hay, and have had nothing else since they were four 

 or five weeks old ; and they thrive excellently upon it. 



Mr. Bull. It has been suggested that there would be a 

 difficulty in this matter, on the part of farmers who own only 

 two or three cows, on account of the expense of this steaming 

 apparatus. I was much interested in a little invention that I 

 saw not long ago, which consists of a little boiler, with two 

 copper tubes, one inside the other, connected at the end ; the 

 fire goes through the middle pipe, the water surrounds that 

 pipe and steam is made very cheaply and quickly. A tube from 

 the steam chamber is led into a barrel or box, into which you 

 have only got to put what you want to cook ; and you can, with 

 the least expense, and little trouble, oook a barrel or two of 

 potatoes, or steam a hundred pounds of hay. That would be a 

 very cheap thing for a small farm. I think the whole expense 

 would only be about |15 and it would last a great many 

 years. Half an armful of wood would steam a barrel of 

 potatoes. The cover shuts the steam in, and the succulent root 

 is steamed in an incredibly short time. 



Mr. BiRNiE. There is the Prindle boiler, made of cast iron, 

 which is used quite extensively for such kind of purposes. 



Professor Agassiz. Allusion has been made to the desira- 

 bleness of instruction concerning the natural history of the 

 farm. That is a subject upon which I have reflected a good 

 deal, and with reference to which I should like to make some 

 remarks. 



It has been stated this morning — and it is no doubt the 

 impression which everybody has — that science and practice are 

 frequently at loggerheads. I wish, if I can, to help remove the 

 distrust which exists among practical men, with reference to 

 scientific pursuits, because I know that there is no longer any 

 ground for it. I know that scientific men have long known 

 how valuable to progress in their own departments all expe- 

 rience is which they obtain from practical men ; and as I have 

 devoted all my life to scientific pursuits, I would, if I could, 

 contribute something towards establishing the proper relations 

 between him who follows the pursuit of what is useful in the 



