358 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



starch in them, a certain change takes place in their 

 chemical composition. , . . IJy baking, flour be- 

 comes move nutritious, and more easily digestible, 

 because more soluble. 



Barley contains rather less starch than wheat, also 

 less suL;ar and j^um. There is little gluten, but a 

 substance som'^what like it, and containing about 

 the same amount of nitrogen. 



Oats. — Oatmeal is little used as food in this 

 country, but it is equal, if not svipcrior, in its nu- 

 tritious qualities, to flour from any of the other 

 grains ; superior, I have no doubt, to most of the 

 line wheatcn flour of northern latitudes. It con- 

 tains from ten to eighteen per cent, of a body having 

 about the same amount of nitrogen or gluten. Be- 

 sides this, there is a considerable quantity of sugar 

 and gum, and from Ave to six per cent, of oil or fatty 

 matter, which may be obtained in the form of a clear, 

 fragrant liquid. Oatmeal cakes owe their peculiar 

 agreeable ta--!te and smell to this oil. Oatmeal, then, 

 has not only an abundance of substance containing 

 nitrogen, but is also quite fattening. It is, in short, 

 an excellent food for working animals, and, as has 

 been abundantly proved in Scotland, for working 

 men also. 



Buckicheat is less nutritious than the other grains 

 which we have noticed. Its flour has from six to 

 ten per cent, of nitrogenous compounds, about flftj' 

 per cent, of starch, and from Ave to eight of sugar 

 and gum. In speaking of buckwheat or of oats, we 

 of course mean without husks. 



Rice was formerly supposed to contain little nitro- 

 gen ; but recent examinations have shown that there 

 is a considerable portion, some six or eight per cent., 

 of a substance like gluten. The percentage of fatty 

 matter and of sugar is quite small, but that of starch 

 much larger than in any grain yet mentioned, being 

 between eighty and ninety per cent. ; usually about 

 eighty-two. 



Indian cofii is the last of grains that we shall no- 

 tice. This contains about sixty per cent, of starch ; 

 nearly the same as oats. The proportion of oil and 

 gum is large, about ten per cent. : this explains the 

 fattening properties of Indian meal, so well known 

 to practical men. There is, besides these, a good por- 

 tion of sugar. The nitrogenous substances are also 

 considerable in quantity, some twelve to sixteen per 

 cent. All these statements are from the prize essay 

 of Mr. J. II. iSalisbury, published by the New York 

 State Agricultural Society. They show that the 

 results of European chemists have probably been 

 obtained by the examination of varieties inferior to 

 ours ; they have not placed Indian corn much above 

 the level of buckwheat or rice, whereas, from the 

 above, it is seen to be " in most respects superior to 

 any other grain." 



Sweet corn differs from all other varieties, contain- 

 ing only about eighteen per cent, of starch. The 

 amount of sugar is, of course, very large ; the nitroge- 

 nous substance amounts to the very large propor- 

 tion of twenty jier cent. ; of gum, to thirteen or four- 

 teen ; and of oil, to about eleven. This, from the 

 above results, is one of the most nourishing crops 

 grown. If it can be made to yield as much per acre 

 as the harder varieties, it is well worth a trial on a 

 large scale. — Prof. Norton n Elements of Scientific Ag- 

 riculture. 



DRESSING CATTLE. 



Much has been said on the propriety of wisping 

 and currying cows and fattening oxen in the byre, 

 and much may be said in recommendation of the 

 practice, were the cattle always confined to the 

 byre ; but animals which are at liberty a part of the 

 day, do u jI require artiScial dressing except when 



in high condition ; inasmuch as they can dress their 

 own and one another's skin much better than any 

 cattle-man. With cattle constantly confined in the 

 byre, it seems indispensable for their good health to 

 brush their .skin daily ; and I believe no better in- 

 strument can be used for the purpose than an old 

 curry-comb, assisted with a wisp of straw. Curry- 

 ing should only be performed on the cattle when not 

 at food ; and this should bo strictly enjoined, for 

 people who have charge of animals have a strong 

 propensity to dress and fondle them when at food ; 

 from no desire to torment them, but chiefly because 

 they will then be in a quiet mood. Still, the process 

 has a tendency to irritate some cattle, and please 

 others so much as to make them desist eating, and 

 on that account should be prevented. Many other 

 animals are never more jealous of being approached 

 than when eating their food, as exemplified by tho 

 growl of a dog, and the scowl of a horse. — Stephens 

 Farmer s Guide. 



AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY 

 CATTLE. 



It is supposed that an ox which attains the weight 

 of 70 stones imperial at the end of the season, con- 

 sumes, in fattening, a double horse-load of turnips 

 per week ; and as carts arc usually loaded at field- 

 work in winter, the weight of a load may be esti- 

 mated at about 15 cwt. ; so that the ox will con- 

 sume abotit 2^ cwt., or 16 stones 2 lbs. a day, or 5 

 stones 5 lbs. at each of three meals ; and about 19^ 

 tons during the season of twenty-six weeks. The 

 calves may consume one half, or 8 stones, and the 

 two-year-olds three quarters, or 12 stones a day ; 

 cows receiving one third of the oxen, 5 stones o lbs. 

 a day. Each scuUful contains about 37i lbs. These 

 comparative quantities are given from no authen- 

 ticated data ; for I believe no comparative trials, 

 with diff"erent ages of cattle, have ever been made, 

 but merely from what people imagine to be near the 

 truth ; and such an estimate should be made at 

 the beginning of every season, that you may know 

 whether there are turnips enough to serve the stock. 

 It was correctly ascertained by Mr. Stephenson, 

 Whitelaw, East Lothian, in a careful exi^eriment of 

 feeding 18 oxen of 42 stones, that they consumed 

 10 stones 2 lbs. on an average, each, of turnips daily ; 

 and Mr. Boswell Irvine, of Kingcausie, found that 

 oxen of 43 stones consumed only 9 stones of turnips, 

 each, daily. This discrepancy between the two 

 statements might be explained, perhaps, if we knew 

 every particular of the treatment in the two cases. 

 Taking 9^ stones as the average quantity of turnips 

 consumed every day by oxen of 42 stones, and taking 

 it for granted that oxen consume food nearly in pro- 

 portion to their weight, the result will be very nearly 

 what is stated above by guess, nearly 16 stones per 

 day, by cattle of 70 stones. — Stephens Farmer s Guide. 



SCIENTIFIC MEMORANDA. 



It has long been alleged that the aurora borealia 

 has the effect of producing a certain direction of 

 wind, and colored aurora borealis is always indicative 

 of a change of existing weather. 



The mean annual fall of rain on the surface of 

 the globe has been taken at 34 inches ; which, taking 

 the area of its siirface, 196,815,658 square miles, 

 would amount (at 1000 ounces to the cubic foot) to 

 431,033,808,959,644;^ tons per annum. 



It is a fact undnniably proved, that if sheep an* 



