1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



19 



setting of Pisces, and he compared it with the 

 coming of the swallow ; in short, all rustic 

 operations had their admonitory signs, and the 

 operations of agriculture began with the sci- 

 ence of the Zodiac. While the shepherd in 

 his turn, no less dependent than others on the 

 heavenly movements, had his star of Arcady, 

 and his Pascal Aries ; he drove afield with the 

 morning ray of Phosphorus, and at eventide 

 watched for the star that bid the shepherd fold. 



No science is dwelt upon with more fervor 

 in some of the old books than that of astron- 

 omy. Writers well versed in it, seem to catch 

 an inspiration that is not common to writers on 

 other subjects. And well they may, for what 

 else can so rivet attention and expand the 

 mind as the contemplation of the stupendous 

 and wonderful works of an Almighty hand, as 

 seen in the arrangement and movements of the 

 heavenly bodies ? And yet, how few give any 

 attention to astronomy as a study. In recently 

 visiting several schools of a high order, we 

 heard no recitation in this delightful science. 



The old ti'aditions, however, are not all lost 

 upon our people, for some of them still con- 

 tinue to sow and reap, slaughter animals, and 

 do many other things in certain phases of the 

 moon. That a better knowledge of the sci- 

 ence, would subserve the interests of the farm- 

 er, we have no doubt. A single winter's 

 study, during the long evenings, will open a 

 new world to every inquiring mind. 



COOKING FOOD FOR ANIMALS. 



Commencing with the able article of our cor- 

 respondent "N. S. T.," the subject of cooking 

 food for cattle has occupied considerable 

 spa(;e in our paper for a few weeks past. Still 

 we think the following remarks by a practical 

 farmer in New York, who has had some eleven 

 years' experience, will prove interesting, inas- 

 much as he touches on some points alluded to 

 in the discussion by the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety of England, which we published last 

 week, and also on the inquiry of a correspon- 

 dent in another column. 



What is the effect of cooking food ? Starch, 

 as found in the cells of vegetables, consists of 

 globules or grains, contained in a kind of sac, 

 and in order to burst these grains it must be 

 sulijected to heat. Pay en, on examinatiDn 

 with the microscope, found that when starch 

 was mixed with water and heated to 140°, 

 some of tlie smiiUer grains absorbed water and 

 burst, but many still remained unaffected, and 



only burst between 102" and 212° of heat. 

 This shows, conclusively, that the heat of the 

 animal stomach is not sufficient to utilize 

 starchy food ; and when we reflect that about 

 sixty per cent, of the cereal grains consist 

 of starch, we see the great loss which must 

 occur from the want of cooking. And if the 

 cereal grains require cooking, how much more 

 must the dry fibre of hay, straw and corn 

 fodder require it ! The woody fibre of hay, 

 straw, &c., consists, chemically, of the same 

 elements as starch. Starch may be turned 

 into gum and sugar ; so may woody fibre, 

 after being dried and ground, and by the 

 same means — heat and dilute sulphuric acid. 



Ail Moody fibre will jield to steam pressure, 

 and when thus reduced to a pulpy mass, most 

 of it is digestible, and can be assimilated 

 by the animal stomach. Grass, the natural 

 food of domestic animals, in its succulent state 

 is soluble, and needs but the natural heat and 

 acid of the stomach to convert it into nutriment. 

 Haj', straw, &c., by thorough steaming are re- 

 converted into grass, and thus the animal may 

 be furnished with its natural food through the 

 winter. 



We can say, after eleven years' experience 

 in cooking the winter food of our animals, that 

 the advantages are all that theory would indi- 

 cate. Steaming renders mouldy hay, straw 

 and corn-stalks sweet and palatable, thus re- 

 stoiing their value; renders peas and beans 

 agreeable food for horses, as well as other stock, 

 and thus enables the feeder to combine more 

 nitrogenous food in the diet of his animals. 



We have found half hay and half straw 

 mixed and steamed more than equal to hay 

 unsteamed. Pea straw, when cooked, is readi- 

 ly eaten, and, if cut early, nearly as nutritious 

 as hay. Bean straw, which, when dry, is gen- 

 erally left untouched by cattle, will be all eaten 

 if steamed with hay, and, as analysis shows, is 

 more than equal in flesh-forming matter to hay. 

 Corn-stalks, when cut short and steamed, wiU 

 be eaten clean by cattle, horses and sheep. 

 By cutting and cooking, all the straw and 

 coarse fodder raised on the farm may be 

 turned into milk, flesh and wool, besides add- 

 ing largely to the manure heap. 



in cities, where cows are kept to supply 

 milk, and are milked through the winter, cook- 

 ing their food will greatly increase the yield of 

 milk, improve the condition of the cow, and 

 reduce the expense of keeping at least one- 

 third. The saving in food for each cow in 

 milk will be, at least, eight dollars per season. 

 T'his item may be worth looking after by city 

 feeders. The mixture of oil and pea meal and 

 bran, as we have indicated, makes an excellent 

 food to produce milk and keep up the condi- 

 tion of the cow. One and a half pounds each 

 of oil and pea meal, and three pounds of bran, 

 mixed with ten pounds of hay and steamed, 

 per day, for each cow weighing 800 pounds, 

 will generally be sufficient. This may be 

 thought a t-mall quantity from v. bich a cow of 



