Derby,. :bon rcse aiid said: Agricaltnre is a 

 sabject of such \-itai importance to the commu- 

 nity at laive. thai I consider myself boond to 

 anend all fic'c meetines. ^^rbere I may increase 

 my kncw-lr-iee of it; and I shall aiw-ays be 

 glad to i>- pre=en: at your quarterly meetinss as 

 loo? a5 I am in the neishborbood of Loueh- 

 bcroush. We have just now beard that ai- 

 thoueh c^J clemeiiis aie ai present knovm. yet 

 only "a small pKjrtion of them enter into the com- , 

 poe'itioD of animal and vegetable life. Of this 

 ponioii. Consisting of frr-m 10 to 1-2. only four en- 

 ter ex;tr.!-:"cly it.: ^ ie rormaaoa of the organ- 

 iini :- r. :: •:■:" ie ve^e table and the aniniaL 

 X -'J arrange themselves into rwo 



u:- ? : the one cl&ss, formed by the 



Cii. _: carbon, hydrogen and oxyaen, 



in diaereni proportions, includes what Liebis 

 calls thi elements of respiration. Hereto belong 

 starch. faL buaer. susar. snm. and alcoboiic 

 fluids. These may likewise be termed non- 

 nitrogenized substances. The other class, tbrmed 

 by the combiimrion of ail the four elements, in- 

 cludes the elemenii of nutrition, or the uiiro- 

 genized constitnents of food. Hereto belons" 

 vegetable and animal fibriae. caseine. albumen, 

 and eluTe^i- The non-uitpogenized constituents 

 w • ' " " ~"-" -■: ir.g the oTiinml hea: of 

 \\ - ■_» parts: ano 'n so 

 c; - .. upon which > amre 

 dravsi w-eii "-he L-^i], l~ iiseased. From ibeir 

 very nature they are easily destroyed^y iLe in- 

 fiuMice oi the oxygen of the air. You all know 

 it to be a common practice to milk cows in the 

 field, if ihey be at any distance from the home- 

 stead::!. : :"; --■:?: when a co\v walks 



a :rreat . ■ -i. the oxygen of the 



air aim. - -tas to act upon those 



substances a i'ii wlrl:_ :: can most easily com- 

 bine. Such a substance is the buner in the 

 milk : wlien a cow is driven home, the butter is 

 found, in great part, io have disappeared. 

 Again, after parturition, the mUk of the cow 

 contains only traces of butter : because, by the 

 ) increased action of the muscles, a larger propvor- i 

 » tiiTn of 'o.'cygen is taken into the system. This ' 

 • -..o-.vn fact brings us to the subject of stail- 

 When a co%v i* intended lor milking. ' 

 ;-. a view of yielding as much butter as 

 we naturally confine her. In this un- 

 -tite. there being no call for exercise. ' 

 ■ :■ '...1 taken by the animal is only in small 

 irt expended in maintaining its heal. How- 

 • T we ;!1 k!50w thnt confined milch cows 

 ; - ■ ' ' " - " ' . ared butler or cbeese 

 a- ..led. Cows li\-ing in 



.■ yj Uii : stall-fed cows 

 i't.'. U^-:nz to this eans-e, the 

 - iartf nearly been driven out of 

 . ..^ the American. In Holland, stall- 

 -• IS the common practice ; hence is the 

 ' less palatable than the American, in 

 TV. Ian J being cheaper, the prac- 

 ^-ary. There can be no question 

 ..Uy of stall-feeding, but I very 

 much ii.;<.i;'.on whether close confinement is 

 , equally beuedcial with a confinement allowing 

 "fsjme szentle exercise. \Vhen the weather b 

 ■ arm. caide may pa.*ture in the meadows wiih- 

 nt loss to the agriculturist T^^ air it tken j 

 : -z— tkt- tcmpiraf:re of their own l>odieg. he- 

 "x •w/a? mor-' expanded. The animals feel , 

 .5 ca". ijr exertion to keep themselves warm, 

 and the senile motion necessary in the seeking 

 ~ of food, by increasin.: the healthy state oi the 

 body, enables theui aot oalv w eat more, bat to 



assimilate beoer wh?.: :> ■ v i : - .: 

 the case is tasterialiy aliened. T.:-- :-: 

 is ikr lower than that of their own : 

 air, too. being more condensed, coul 

 portionally larger quantity of oxygen. There- 

 fore, more non^trosenized foc^ will be re- 

 quited to combine wiih the excess oi oxygen : 

 indeed, as we all weU know, mere K>od will be 

 required rhan in w^arm weather. Here the pe- 

 culiar advantages of stall-feeding come to oar 

 aid. ToH rill perceive thai Karmtk prodnca 

 a tarins in food : it it indeed an erjvivalent 

 for food. Every thing that cools the body of an 

 animal causes a proporticHiate ejrpend'.tHrt of 

 foo-i. In stall feeding, the temperature of -jae 

 air of the stalls diould be equally maintained. 

 and they djould be kept clean. The ani- 

 mals should be regularly fed. have plentiful lit- 

 ter, and be kept clean. It as we lave already 

 said, warmth is an equivalent for food, it is ob- 

 vious that the form in which the food is given 

 cannot be immaterial. The more we fa c fntate 

 the adaptation of the food for the organs of di- 

 gestion, the greater wiii be the saving to as. 

 The fiarmer cuts up his hay. straw and turnips 

 to save some expenditure ot force, hence of foo^. 

 bv the feeding animal. I: the iood contain much 

 water of a temperature fer lower than tlat of 

 the animal, it must be raised to that temperaiare 

 at the expense of a part of the food. This is 

 obviated by the proces of steaming. An ox. 

 fed by Earl Spencer, consumed in a winter 

 month itiie temperarore of ibe air 3i?- ^ ^3 lbs. of 

 mangel-^vurzel a day. 2f ow. in order to raise 

 the temperature of the -water of the mangel- 

 wttrzel to the temperarore of the body of the ox. 

 no less than one-rwencietb of the food was ex- 

 pended. An feeders of pigs know that they 

 thrive better on dry than on w^ei fodder, i ilr. 

 B. sat down Ejnidst trreat applause . 



The CHAIK.MX5 then proposed - The healths 

 of Mr. Stokes and of Mr. Alien." who made a 

 few observations on the advanages oi giving ar- 

 tificial food to gniTnaU in the straw yard. He 

 had himself given oil-cake to cattle, and found 

 it to remunerate him. 



C. Stoki;*. Esq. rose to give his testimony to 

 the principles laid down by Mr. Raw«>n and 

 Mr. Bemays^ He could fitUy bear out Mr. B-'s 

 remaifc on stall-feeding. 



Mr. Smith wanted to see science brooght f«'- 

 ward in connection with Agriculture. - 'We 

 want." he said " something definite and distinct 

 on the formation of fat and muscle." He want- 

 ed defined what would produce most fat. muk. 

 and cheese : ai»d he hoped to provoke one of 

 the gentlemen present to ri*e and define VL He 

 hoped they would give them the kind and quan- 

 tity of food to produce them. 



Mr. C. W. Wood, surgeon, of 'Woodhouse 

 Eaves, said be would direct the few remarks be 

 had to make exclusively to the expressed object 

 of the meeting, namely, the fee«iing of cattle ; 

 and he viewed that as the most important mat- 

 ter with which the practical farmer had to do ; 

 in ^wrt, his whole life and exertions tended 

 only to produce the greatest possible quantity of 

 beef and mutton — if not in the shape of ^ cat- 

 tle, his supply of crain only produced the same 

 eSects in man. But before we talk of pro- 

 ducing, it is necessary to ascertain correctly 

 wh^ it is we want to produce. All awfrn^la are 

 composed of bone, muscle, fat. cellular tissue. 

 ■wool. hair, horns, skin, and nails, and we find 

 aiese very substances ready formed in vegeta- 

 bles the power ornuiriti-jn in the animal having 



