Vol 6. 



GEiN RSEE FARMER. 



155 



timated at 800 pounds ; of the calves at 140 pounds; 

 of the sheep at 80 pounds. 



Again in 1742, we find 79,601 head of rattle, 503,- 

 260 sheep to be the numbers sold at Sinithtield : in 

 1842, the numbers had increased to 175,047 cuttle, 

 1,435,960 sheep. According to the calculation which 

 M'Cullcch adopted for the amount in 1830, when he 

 sets down 154,434,850 pounds for the supply of 

 butcher's meat required in London. If we assume 

 the population to have then amounted to 1,450,000 

 excluf^ively of some suburban districts, we should 

 find the average annual consumption of each individ- 

 ual to be very nearly 107 pounds. 



The returns obtained by the Statistical Society of 

 Manchester, as to ihe cattle sold in the markets of 

 that town, furnish an annual consumption of not less 

 than 105 pounds of butcher's meat for each inhabit- 

 ant. In Paris, on the other hand, the quantity has 

 been estimated by M. Chabrol, from 85 to 86 pound? 

 per head ; and in Brussels, it is supposed to average 

 89 pounds. We thus find that the consumption of 

 animal food in the towns of England, far exceeds 

 that of foreign cities : and as this consvimption has 

 gone on steadily increasing, we are warranted in con- 

 cluding that the labor of the English people is not on- 

 ly more efficient as compared with that of other na- 

 tions, but is daily acquiring greater efficiency, if the 

 present be contrasted with previous results. 



The following curious fact of speculative science 

 applied to trade, is from the appendix, and has been 

 furnished to'Dr. Twiss by Mr. Dixon, an eminent land 

 surveyor at Oxford: 



" The present mode of calculating the probable 

 yield of wheat of a given district for the coming- 

 harvest, is as follows : About the time that the Avheat 

 is blooming-, generally about the beginning of June, 

 a person will go round with a gauge secreted in a hal- 

 low cane, which forms a triangle when opened, and 

 represents a certain portion of an acre of ground. This 

 is placed over various portions of the standing crop 

 in the best and worst parts of a field ; the number 

 of ears of wheal comprised within the triangle is 

 counted, and the probable quality of the grain is ta- 

 ken into calculation according as the spring has been 

 wet or dry. On the former supposition the grain is 

 likely to shrink ; on the latter, to harden and come 

 out plump. It may be observed, that if there has 

 been a good general rain during the last ten days of 

 April, and the first ten days of May, on the average, 

 no more wet is required for wheat. An expert gan- 

 ger will form a very accurate estimate of the proba- 

 ble produce of a given district by this method." — 

 Foreign Paper. 



FATTENING ANIMALS. 



There are some rules which maybe advantageous- 

 ly adopted in feeding animals, which, however obvi- 

 ous they may be, are too often passed over or neg- 

 lected. Some of these will be specified ; and 



1st. The preparation of Food. This should be 

 so prepared that its nutritive properties may be all 

 made available to the use of the animal, and not on- 

 ly so, but appropriated with the least possible ex- 

 penditure of muscular energy. The ox that is obli- 

 ged to wander over an acre to get the food he should 

 find on two or three square rods ; the horse that is 

 two or three hours eating the coarse food he would 

 swallow in fifteen minutes if the grain was ground, 

 or the hay cut as it should be — the sheep that spends 

 hours making its way into a turnip, when if it was 

 fclici'd, it could bo eaten in as many minutes— the 



pig that eats raw potatoes or whole corn, when ei- 

 ther cooked, could be eaten in one-quarter of tho 

 tirnc — may indeed fatten, but much less rapidly than 

 if their food was given them in a proper manner. — 

 All lood should be given to a fattening animal in such 

 a stato, that as little time and labor as possible, on 

 the part of the animal shall be required in eati-ng.^ 



2d. The Food should he in ainindancc, — From the 

 time the fattening process commences, until the an- 

 imal is slaughtered, he should never be without food. 

 Health and appetite archest promoted by change of 

 food rather than by limiting the quantity. The ani- 

 mal that is stuffed and starved alternately, may have 

 streaked meat, but it will be made too slowly for the 

 profit of the owner. 



3d. The food shovld be given regularhj. — This is 

 one of tho most essential points in feeding animals. 

 If given irregularly, the animal indeed consumes his 

 food, but he soon acquires a restless disposition, ia 

 disturbed at every appearance of his feeder, and is 

 never in that quiet state so necessary to the taking 

 on of fat. It is surprising how readily any animal 

 acquires habits of regularity in feeding, and how 

 soon the influence of this is felt in the improvement 

 of his constitution. When at the regular hour the 

 pig has had his pudding, or the sheep its turnips, 

 they compose themselves to rest, with the conscious- 

 ness that their digestion is not to be unseasonably 

 disturbed, or their quiet broken by unwonted invita- 

 tion to eat. 



All creatures fatten much faster in the dark than 

 in the light — a fact only to be accounted for by their 

 greater quiet. Some of those creatures that are 

 the most irritable and inspaiiont of restraint while 

 feeding, such as turkeys and geese, are found to take 

 on fat rapidly when confined in dark rooms and fed 

 at stated hours by hand. There is no surer proof 

 that a pig is doing well, than to see him eat his meal 

 quickly and then retire to his bed, to sleep or cogi- 

 tate until the hour of feeding returns, — Alh. Cult. 



PROPORTION OF BUTTER IN MILK. 



Every farmer's wife knows that there is a vast dif- 

 ference in the milk of cows, in regard to the quantity 

 of butter which they will afford. We once owned 

 a cow which gave a great flow of milk, but from 

 which very little butter could be obtained. 



Boussingault, in his "Rural Economy," relates the 

 following experiment: 



From 100 lbs. of milk he obtained 



Cream, 15 .60 



White curd cheese, .8.93 



Whey, ' 75.47 



100.00 

 The 15 pounds and 60 hundreths of cream yield- 

 ed by churning — 



Butter, 3.33 or 21.2 per cent. 



Buttermilk, 12.27 



The reckoning with reference to 100 lbs. of milk, 

 consequently stands thus: 



Cheese, 8.93 



Butter, 3.33 



Buttermilk, 12.27 



Whey, 75.47 



100.00 



He goes on to state that, taking the whole r<" the 



milk obtained, and treated at different seasons of the 



year, he finds that 36,000 lbs. of milk yielded 1080 



lbs, of fresh butter, which is at the rate of 3 percent. 



