1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



259 



S3XTHACTS AND KEPLIES. 



COOKING FOOD FOR COWS. — BONES FOR HENS. 



In the last Farmer I notice some remarks hy 

 Mr. Loving upon leeding cows, made at the milk 

 producers' conveniion at Na^hua. He says he lias 

 tried all methods and does not now steam food for 

 them. Now I had supposed that meal reduced to 

 gruel or pudding, and hav cut and steamed would 

 be far preferable. Indeed I have he^d it asserted 

 that one-half misht be saved in feeuing meal by 

 cooking. But if nothing can be gained in this 

 way, I should like to know it. If it is best to feed 

 cows as horses are fed, on cracked corn and oats, 

 or as cows -are now very gt-nerally fed, on dry In- 

 dian meat and dry hay, I do not see iiow any 

 money is to be made in this section in raising 

 miik ;" for who can take a stock of cows and feed 

 them thus, and scH all the milk and manure for 

 enough to pay for uhe food consumed ? I do not 

 think any one can in my neigiiborhood. I see, 

 however, by the same number of tlTe Farmer 

 that a man in New York steams all his food, ex 

 cept hay, having a steam engine in his barn. 



Now, it seems to me that this is an injportant 

 subject ; one in which all are interested, as all want 

 milk. If anything is to be gained by steaming 

 food for cows, c^pecijlly Indian meal, why has 

 not some one found it out ? Why not cook meal 

 for horses? Some consume half a bushel daily. 

 If one-half, or, as others assert, one-quarter will 

 answer as well, would it not pay .' And then, too, 

 does not such higlily concentrated food greatly 

 injure both cows and horses ? If any one of your 

 readers has thorougllly 'tried steaming and found 

 «t a failure, I should like to hear from him the 

 particulars. 



Can you inform me whether I can get bones 

 cracked small enough for hens to swallow, any 

 cheaper than to do it by hand ? I mean those 

 fresh from the meat sliops. I think such bones 

 the best food in winter, as they prefer them to 

 scraps. If jour correspondent who burns bones 

 for his hen?, will tiy a few pounded raw bones in- 

 stead of ihuse charredj I think his hens will know 

 the ditlxrence, and show by their action that they 

 think them a great deal the best. C. F. Keyes. 



Westford, Mass., March 4, 1869. 



Remarks.— This question of cooking food is 

 still ati open one, although it has been discussed 

 in agricultural papers for many years. Perhaps 

 our Agriultu^al Colleges will decide this and other 

 questions which farmers cannot settle among them- 

 selves. But if they should settle them, would 

 they stay settled, while there is any truth in such 

 old sayings as "what's one man's meat is another 

 man's poison," "many men of many minds," and 

 the like ? As it is not for us to dictate to farmers 

 any system of practice or any course of procedure, 

 we publish from time to time articles on both sides 

 of this as well as of other questions, from theo- 

 retical and practical men. While the New York 

 Farmers' Club, at a late meeting, was discussing 

 the advantages of cooking food for poultry. Dr. 

 J. V. C. S rirh said he "did not believe in having 

 aiiytUii'.g artificial about chickens; this cooking 

 their food is contrary to the established rules of 

 the faculty. Doctors know it is all false and un- 

 natural. Beside it is something undignified for a 

 rational, intellectual being like man, made in the 

 image of his Creator, to be puttering over chicken 

 dough and cooking the foodof animals, when their 



Creator has made them with a mill and a stove in 

 their own economy to do their own grinding and 

 cooking." He also believed that our diseased 

 meats, in many instances, were the consequences 

 of such artificial and unnatural feeding. Whether 

 the Dr. would have us turn our poultry and ani- 

 mals into the woods, as bsing more "natural" than 

 a barn, we are not informed. Now, as our cor- 

 respondent says, other Doctors save half the food 

 by cooking ! Who shall decide when doctors dis- 

 agree ? 



The bone mills can furnish bones ground as 

 coarse as you may desire; and we think they 

 would do well to put some into the market for the 

 purpose of feeding poultry. 



CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 



Last fall I made a bed of sufficient size, three 

 feet deep, and filled up alternately wiih rich 

 mack and hog manure, mixing all well te)gether. 

 I want this patch for an asparagus bed, and as 

 spring is drawing near, will you or the readers of 

 the Farmer inform me the best course to take in 

 planting and culture to be early and profitable for 

 the house? d. d. 



Shaker Village, N. H., March, 18G9. 



Remarks. — Let the rows be one foot apart, and 

 the plants the same in the rows. If the rows run 

 east and west, so as to receive the full power of 

 the sun's rays, the product may be a little earlier. 

 Purchase good, three years old roots, and place 

 the crown of the root three or four inches below 

 the surface. Some persons think five inches is not 

 too much. If you have roots as old as we 'have 

 stated, a few messes may be safely cut from them 

 the second year, but if they are younger, you will 

 have to wait longer for a crop. The transplanting 

 is like that of other plants, only that the crown of 

 the root must be set deeper. Keep all weeds out, 

 and enrich the bed every autumn with good com- 

 post manure. If the bed is covered in November 

 with coarse litter from the horse stalls it will help 

 it. After cutting is commenced, all the plants 

 should be taken, until it is time to leave off alto- 

 gether, which is about the middle of June. A bed 

 well set with good roots and well tended will last 

 from twenty-five to fifty years. 



DISEASES OF STOCK. 



I was considerably interested in the article of 

 F. A. C. Nichols, in relaticm to the unknown 

 disease among his sheep. The cause or origin of 

 the disease seems to be somewhat obscure, al- 

 though it might have arisen in a very simple man- 

 ner. We are apt to run directly for curatives or 

 medicines when our creatures become diseased, 

 and neglect to inquire i-no the causes that pro- 

 duced "the calamity. Unless we destroy the root 

 of the matter it will do no good to tlip the branches. 

 Fever or infl uiim.ation always attends an unnatural 

 condition of the bodily organs in both man and 

 beast. A slight cold will cause internal fevers and 

 other complaints, because tiie pores and outlets of 

 the body become obstructed, and cannot perform 

 their natural and healthy functions. 



When the issues or pores in the leg of the hog, 

 for instance, become stopped, the animal is always 

 feverish, owing to the waste matter being retained 



