130-' 



ENCY( I <>1\EDIA OF AGRICULTURE. bupplemfkti 



Of good hay .... 



is canal in nourishment to, 

 Of Lattermath hay ... 



' ■ it hay, nude when the blossom 

 completely developed 



Clover bay, before the blossom expands 



Clover, second crop ... 



Lucei n hay - 



Sainfoin hay - 



Tan- bay .... 



Spergula arv£nsls, dried 



( lover hay. alter the seed - 



Green clover ... 



Vetcbei or tares, green 



Green Indian corn - 



i spergula ... 

 .n> and leaves of Jerusalem artichoke 



Cow-cabbage leaves - - - 



Beet-root leaves ... 



Potato halm - - - - 



Shelter wheat straw 



Rye straw .... 



Oat straw - 



Peas halm - - - - 



Vetch halm - 



Bean halm - 



Buckwheat straw - 



Dried stalks of Jerusalem artichokes 



Dried stalks of Indian corn - 



Millet straw - 



Raw potatoes ... 



lbs. 



175 



220 



■ 339 



I 



276 



287 



:; s 



350 



54 



45 



54 



59 



50 



43 



45 



64 



■ •7 



32 



47 



68 



50 



62 



105 



109 

 107 

 179 

 73 

 83 

 07 



8122. The form in which food is given to cattle is far from being a matter of indifference. If the food be 

 in a state in which it is either difficult to attain, or difficult to masticate when obtained, much of it nil 

 be lost in the production of force necessary to adapt it for the organs of digestion. The cutting of ha* 

 and straw to chaff is unwittingly done with a view to prevent any unnecessary expenditure of force". 

 Less mastication is requisite, and consequently less of the tissues of the body are expended in grinding 

 down the food. The use of saliva, according to Liebig. is to form a receptacle for air or oxygen, by 

 which means it is mixed with the food and carried to the stomach. The use of mastication, then, is not 

 only to comminute the food, but also to mix it with air or saliva. We find that a larger size of chaff 

 is given to those animals which chew the cud. than to those that do not. One great object of rumination 

 is, to obtain a repeated supply of oxygen to the food. Hence, in our ordinary practice, we cut the hay- 

 chaff one inch in length for oxen, hall" an inch for sheep, and only quarter of an inch for horses. The 

 two first being ruminating animals, require it longer than the horse, which is not one. When we con- 

 sider that fresh grass is much more easily masticated than hay, the economy of force exhibited in cutting 

 the latter is well judged. Straw, except when new, is not a very nutritious food, for we find a great pare 

 of it unchanged in the fseces of the animal fed upon it. Its principal use is to give a bulk to the food 

 taken. Even in the case of turnips, a food of considerable bulk, straw is necessary, because they contain 

 nearly 90 per cent, of water, which becomes soon separated. Thus it is that cattle fed upon turnips 



voluntarily take 2 or 3 lbs. of straw daily, or as much as will serve to give the necessary bulk to the I i. 



Rumination is requisite in order to keep an ox in health. A little straw or hay is accordingly necessary 

 to enable it to chew the cud. We know a case in which barley-meal and boiled potatoes were given to 

 cows without hay or straw. Constipation resulted, and the cattle nearly perished from the ignoiance of 

 the feeder. From these considerations, we are induced to consider that a greater return will be made 

 by food partly, but not too much, reduced. The turnip-slicer is known to save food, and this arises from 

 the fact, that the sheep expend less force in eating sliced, than whole turnips, and to their being enabled 

 to lie down more constantly. On similar grounds are we to ascribe the advantage of steaming food, or 

 reducing it to the state which the first three stomachs would otherwise have to do at a great expendituie 

 of lone, and consequently, of food to produce it." (Journ. R. A.S. E., vol. iv. p. 235. | 



8123. The use of salt in food. " Respiration is carried on by means of the combustion of those con- 

 stituents of the food which are destitute of nitrogen. Rut before this combustion is effected, they are 

 transformed by the liver into the fluid called bile. Bile is a compound of the alkali soda, with a resinous 

 or highly carbonaceous substance derived from the food. The bile, after being formed, is absorbed by 

 certain vessels of the intestines, and there meeting with oxygen, is consumed and converted into carbonic 

 acid and water, which are expired by the lungs. The combustion does not take place in the lungs them- 

 selves. a< is generally supposed, but in the intestines. Now, as bile is the medium through which respir- 

 ation is supported, it is necessary that it should be properly and regularly formed. This can only he 

 d me by supplying the animal with a constant amount of soda : this we do in common salt. The soda of 

 the salt ai Is in the formation of the bile, whilst its muriatic acid assists the digestion of the food. A 

 proper formation of the secretions is necessary to the health of an animal, and a supply of salt is highly 

 favourable to their production. Rut whilst it is admitted that a limited supply of salt is very useful to 

 the health of the animal, a large supply is highly prejudicial, and prevents the formation of fat. An ex- 

 periment was tried upon a goose, which was crammed with maize, and allowed to eat salt. The salt 

 taken by the go ise was less than that necessary to produce a purgative action, and yet the goose did not 

 fatten. This arose from the excess of food being formed into bile, and not into fat. As much bile was 

 consumed as eoi responded to the oxygen inspired, whilst the remainder passed out with the excrement, 

 and w.i* d tected therein. On this account, it is a bad practice to give fatting sheep as much salt as they 

 will take ill summer." (Journ. I!. A. S. E., vol. iv. p. 237.) 



8124. In the rearing atirt feeding oj rattle, it is important to bear in mind that the process of nutrition 

 differs In a young animal from that of an adult, and that no substitute has yet been found for the milk of 

 the cow in rearing calves, though sugar, treacle, and flour of different kind's, have been added to milk in 

 order to make a smaller quantity serve. The great point In the rearing of stock is to take care that the 

 vital power* are always predominant over the chemical. "Attention to these considerations will easily 

 point Out the kinds of food which are best adapted for a growing animal. Thus potatoes, without aa 

 admixture with other food, would be highly improper, because they do not contain sufficient albumen to 

 supply the materials necessary for the grow log frame. But it would be quite proper to mix potatoes with 

 other food rich in albumen, for its starch might support the respiration and heat of the animals with more 

 economy than another food containing much albumen, but a less abundant supply of substance- fitted for 

 respiration. It is a mistake, into which many breeders fall, to deprive the young animal of exercise by 

 confining it entirely in the stall. Such a procedure is perfectly correct with a fattening calf, but not with 

 one which i- rearing The muscular apparatus of a young animal requires a certain degree of exereUe, 

 without which it cannot increase. I'nless the v italily residing in the various organs be called into action. 



