92 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the Howe National Bakeiy sells it in New York, to wit : three 

 cents per pound, and perhaps a little dish made from skimmed 

 milk with cheese stewed in it, I can make a full and nutritious 

 da3''s ration thoroughly cooked in this cooker, except as to the 

 bread, with an expenditure of less than seven cents per day for 

 as much as it is necessary or suitable for me to eat. What we 

 need is the right direction of force. 



I have said that we should convert the waste lands of Massa- 

 chusetts into beef factories, rather than misuse land and its prod- 

 uct by the conversion of corn into pork. Here is a recent 

 development, very novel to me and doubtless to most of you, 

 brought out by a chance remark of mine to Professor Atwater. I 

 said to him, one day, " I believe the Western men compute five 

 pounds of shelled corn to one pound of pork." 



" Well," said he, " then they waste about four pounds of corn." 



I replied, " How is that? I have always looked upon pork as 

 condensed corn." 



''Then," said he, "j'ouhave made a mistake. I will make a 

 computation and give it to you." 



I will not weary you with the exact figures, but they show that 

 Indian meal, although not quite so near to Volt's standard in its 

 relative proportions of nutrient as oatmeal, is next to it in its 

 nutrient value. 



Assuming that it takes 1000 lbs. of corn to make 200 lbs. of 

 pork, we have in that corn nearly 900 lbs. of nutrients, well bal- 

 anced. When this is fed to hogs we have wasted all the starch, 

 a considerable part of the protein, and we have almost nothing but 

 fat, — and only 180 lbs. of that. 



The general result of Professor Atwater's investigations, applied 

 to the dietaries furnished him b^- Col. Wright from the statistics 

 of Massachusetts, serves to prove that the great waste in New 

 England is in the enormous excess of fat ; which we eat, but cannot 

 properly digest and assimilate. 



Therefore beef ratlier than pork is the farmer's proper objective 

 point ; because in the production of beef we obtain from the starch 

 and fat of the corn plant a larger proportion of protein or nitrogen 

 than can be found in pork, or, indeed, in most other kinds of 

 animal food. 



The same remark applies to the production of milk and cheese 

 (especially of skimmed milk cheese), provided it is stewed in such 



