EFFECT OF THE SOURING OF FOOD. 6ll 



§ 13. Influence of the form or state in which the food is given on the 

 quantity required by an animal. 

 The state in which the food is given to his stock has often an important 

 influence upon the profits of the teeder. Thus — 



1°. The souring of the food, in some cases, makes its use more econo- 

 mical. Arthur Young details several series of experiments on the fat- 

 tening of pigs, in which bean meal was given mixed with water in the 

 sweet state, and after it had been allowed to stand several days to sour. 

 In every case in which it was given sour, the pork obtained gave a profit 

 upon the price of the meal, while in every case in which the same meal 

 was given'sweet and in equal quantity, the price obtained for the pork 

 was less than that which was paid for the meal. 



Upon sour food, indeed, pigs are universally observed to fatten best. 

 In Holstein, it is customary to collect waste gre'en herbage of every kind, 

 and to let it sour in water. It then fattens pigs which would scarcely 

 thrive on it before. During this souring of vegetable matter in water, it 

 is lactic acid — the acid of milk — which is chiefly produced. This acid, 

 therefore, would appear to favour the increase of size in the pig, and to 

 this cause may be owing the profitable use of sour whey in feeding this 

 kind of stock in cheese-making districts. 



I have been told by some cow-feeders who use brewers' grains, that 

 the dry cows, when fattening off', relish the grains most when slightly 

 sour, and fatten most quickly upon them. From others, however, I 

 have obtained a contrary opinion, and have been assured that fattening 

 stock of all kinds like the grains best,, and thrive best upon them, when 

 perfectly sweet and fresh. It is a matter of doubt, therefore, whether or 

 not the souring of food generally, of all kinds and for all kinds of stock, 

 can be safely tried or recommended. 



2°. The boiling or steaming of dry food, and even of potatoes and tur- 

 nips, is recommended by many as an economical practice. I believe 

 that the general result of tlie numerous experiments which have been 

 made upon this subject in various parts of the country is in favour of 

 this opinion in so far as regards fattening and growing stock. It seems a 

 more doubtful practice in the case of horses which are intended for heavy 

 and especially for fast work — though even for these animals the use of 

 steamed food is beginning to be adopted by some of the most extensive 

 coach contractors. [Stephens' Book of the Farm.] 



3°. It is a curious fact not less worthy of the attention of the chemist 

 than it is of the practical man, that the age of the food singularly affects 

 its value in the nourishment of animals. Thus new oats are not con- 

 sidered fit for hunters before the months of February or March. They 

 affect the heels and limbs with something like grease, and make the 

 horse unfit for fast work. Nor is it merely water which the grain loses 

 by the five or six months' keeping — for if it be dried in the kiln it is still 

 unfit for use, from its stimulating in an extraordinary degree the action 

 of the kidneys. Some chemical change takes place in the interior of the 

 oat which has not yet been investigated. 



The potato, on the other hand, by keeping, loses much of its nutritive 

 value, even before it has begun to sprout — and every feeder knows tha* 

 turnips which have shot into flower, add much less than before to the 

 weight of his fattening stock. 



