18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



yield of dry meat. The income and expenditure is a liberal 

 one. 



Everything depends ox High Feeding, 



Everything depends on this mode of high feeding of ani- 

 mals, with special reference to the value of manurial residues. 

 This is the key-note of feeding on two of the most interest- 

 ino^ farms in Southborouo;h. On one farm about four tons of 

 hay to the acre are grown, and no succulent food of any kind. 

 On the other no hay is grown, but the animals are kept to 

 make manure to feed garden crops designed for the Boston 

 market. In the human and all animal life we rightly regard 

 the complexion — its touch, color and general tone or ap- 

 pearance — as the best expression of health. In plants we 

 do not attach enough importance to shade of color, touch, 

 tone and general appearance ; and yet all these features are 

 powerfully affected for good or ill by the amount of nutrition 

 they obtain during their growth. Everyone knows there is 

 a great practical value in a lusciously ripe orange ; a mellow, 

 richly scented pear ; in the color, ripe flesh and delicate 

 aroma of an apple, apart from their aesthetic features. Can 

 anyone calculate the value of these things in promoting 

 digestion ? We all accept as true the proposition that diges- 

 tion governs nutrition, and that unless we digest what we eat 

 we get no nutriment from our food. 



Two Examples. 



These two instances of diverse f^irming in the town of 

 Southborough illustrate principles of manuring which deter- 

 mine how animals shall be fed and what forms of fertility 

 shall be bought. The one farmer has concluded that, as milk 

 is his primary product, hay is the best and cheapest food he 

 can grow on the farm for foundation fodder. Who shall say 

 that the nutritive value of such hay is not much greater than 

 the ordinary article? and, judging it on the basis of color, 

 tenderness of fibre, scent and flavor, it ought to be reckoned 

 the best in our town. On this farm I have seen the hay crop 

 increased and imi)roved by the use of linseed and cotton-seed 



