No. 7. 



Fattening Animals. — Royal Victoria Vine. 



223 



or a sober, industrious family of simple ha- 

 )its, consisting of a man, his wife, and two 

 ihildren, to raise the means of a comfortable 

 naintenance on a farm of sixteen acres of 

 food land near a market ? J. Marshall. 



Philadelphia, Jan. 21, 1842. 



P. S. Should any one consider the above 

 iccount of crops too highly estimated, I would 

 •efer them to Mr. Gowen's statement, at p. 

 [88, vol. 5 of the Cabinet, where it will ap- 

 )ear that they are by no means so. His 

 'ield of roots on 3 J| acres being 2703 bush- 

 ils, valued at §^778 60, the price at which he 

 lould readily have disposed of the whole. 



Fattening Animals. 



There are some rules which may be ad- 

 ■antageously adopted in feeding animals, 

 vhich, however obvious they may be, are too 

 ften passed over or neglected. Some of 

 hese will be specified. 



1st. The preparation of food. This should 

 e so prepared that its nutritive properties 

 lay be all made available to the use of the 

 nimal, and not only so, but appropriated 

 /ith the least possible expenditure of muscu- 

 ir energy. The ox that is obliged to wan- 

 er over an acre to get the food he should 

 nd on two or three square rods — the horse 

 lat is two or three hours eating the coarse 

 )od he would swallow in fifteen minutes if 

 le grain was ground or the hay cut as it 

 fiould be — the sheep that spends hours in 

 laking its way into a turnip, when, if it 

 ^as sliced, it would eat it in as many min- 

 tes — the pig that eats raw potatoes, or 

 'hole corn, which, when cooked, could be 

 aten in one-quarter of the time now used, 

 lay indeed fatten, but much less rapidly than 

 " their food was given them in a proper man- 

 er. All food should be given to a fattening 

 nimal in such a state that as little time and 

 ibour as possible, on the part of the animal, 

 lall be required in eating. 



2d. The food should be in abundance, 

 'rom the time the fattening process com- 

 lences, until the animal is slaughtered, he 

 lould never be without food. Health and 

 ppetite are best promoted by change of food 

 ither than by limiting the quantity. The 

 nimal that is stuffed and starved by turns, 

 lay have streaked meat, but it will be made 

 )o slowly for the pleasure or profit of the 

 cod farmer. 



3d. The food should be given regularly. 

 'his is one of the most essential points in 

 ;eding animals. If given irregularly, the 

 nimal indeed consumes his food, but he soon 

 cquires a restless disposition, is disturbed at 

 very appearance of his feeder, and is never 

 I that quiet state so necessary to the taking 

 Q of fat. It is surprising how readily any 



animal acquires habits of regularity in feed- 

 ing, and how soon the influence of this is felt 

 in the improvement of condition. When, at 

 the regular hour, the pig has had his pudding, 

 or the sheep its turnips, they compose them- 

 selves to rest, with the consciousness that 

 their digestion is not to be unseasonably dis- 

 turbed, or their quiel broken by unwonted in- 

 vitation to eat. 



4th. The animal should not be needlessly 

 intruded upon between the hours of feeding. 

 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 im- 

 patient of restraint while feeding, such as 

 turkeys and geese, are found to take on fat 

 rapidly when confined in dark rooms, and 

 only 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 re- 

 tire to his bed, to sleep or cogitate until the 

 hour of feeding returns. Animals while fat- 

 tening should never be alarmed, never rapidly 

 driven, never be fed at unseasonable hours, 

 and, above all things, never be allowed to 

 want for food. — Cult. 



Royal Victoria Vine. 



The following is a description of this splen- 

 did new variety of the black Hamburg, raised 

 at Burscot Park, the seat of Pryse Pryse, 

 E.=q. M. P. 



This grape is considered by eminent judges 

 to be decidedly the finest black grape yet in- 

 troduced, combining every admirable charac- 

 teristic requisite in grapes. The berries, 

 which are of a fine oval shape, measuring 

 from three to four inches in circumference, 

 are of an excellent flavour; colour jet black, 

 with a rich bloom ; the weight of the bunches 

 from two to three pounds. It is a prolific 

 bearer, and well suited for early vineries or 

 green-houses, and is admirable for continuing 

 in good preservation on the vine a long time 

 when ripe. Specimens were exhibited at 

 Stafford Hall, Chiswick, the last year, for 

 which a silver medal was awarded ; they 

 have also obtained prizes at the other horti- 

 cultural exhibitions. This grape is now in- 

 troduced into this country, and will fruit the 

 next year in the grapery of the Hon. T. H. 

 Perkins, of Brooklyn. — Hort. Mag. 



The philosopher's stone is no longer a fic- 

 tion — it consists in a large pile of manure, 

 and lies concealed somewhere close by my 

 farm-pen, my stables and my hog-pen ; and 

 the right way to work it is, to distribute it 

 carefully at the proper season over your 

 fields — its magic touch will turn everything 

 to gold ! — Rev. H. Turner. 



