THE GENESEE FARMER 



211 



THORLEY'S FOOD FOR CATTLE. 



8011E time since our opinion was asked in regard 

 to this compound, and we replied that, while it 

 contained nothing detrimental to health, and while 

 it was undoubtedly a highly nutritious food, yet Hie 

 price charged for it was most extravagant, and that 

 if cattle' needed "condiments" or "cordials," they 

 might be purchased from the druggists and mixed 

 with oil-cake, corn meal, etc., at greatly cheaper 

 rates than those charged for the same articles in 

 Thorley's Food for Cattle. 



The question of condimental foods has elicited 

 much attention in England, and recently formed 

 the subject of discussion at a stated meeting of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society. Full reports appear 

 in the Maria Lane Express, Agricultural Gazette, 

 and other London papers, but as they are too long 

 for our colamns, we avail ourselves of a resume of 

 the discussion in the Boston Cultivator, the editor 

 of which, Sanfoud Howard, Esq., has spent two 

 summers in England, and is able to give valuable 

 information on this and all other subjects connected 

 with agriculture. 



The preparation of compounds under the name 

 "cattle food" has been carried on in England of 

 late years to great extent, and so far as relates to 

 the venders of the articles, much to the advantage 

 of some of them. The most popular of these com- 

 pounds has been extensively advertised under the 

 name of -Thorley's Food tor Cattle." It has 

 found its way to this country — agencies for its sale 

 having been established in New York and other 

 American cities. But as yet the sale of the "food " 

 in this country has not been on a very great scale. 

 If the article possesses the virtues which are claim- 

 ed for it by its manufacturers, our farmers might 

 make use of it advantageously. 



Notwithstanding the extensive use that has been 

 made of it in Britain, there has always been con- 

 siderable difference of opinion as to its real value. 

 To bring the matter as nearly as practicable to a 

 demonstrative test, Mr. Lawes, of Rothamsted, 

 instituted, some time since, a series of experiments 

 in feeding sheep and swine with "Thorley's food." 

 The results of these experiments were that more 

 of other food was required to produce a given 

 amount of increase when the animals received a 

 certain quantity of the artificial food, than when 

 they had none of the latter. The report of these 

 experiments attracted considerable attention. Af- 

 ter much private discus-son, the general subject of 

 cattle condiments was taken up by the Council of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society, and ably and thor- 

 oughly discussed at a stated meeting. 



The testimony thus elicited varied much in re- 

 gard to the effect producd on animals by Thorley's 

 food. Mr. T. Beale Brown, a well known farmer 

 and .stock-breeder, was the leading advocate of 

 the condiment, but some other gentlemen stated 

 that they had used Thorley's and other similar 

 compounds with advantage. Other gentlemen. 

 however, stated that their use of these articles had 



not been attended with favorable results, on the 

 score of profit. 



Mr. Lawes was called on for a statement in re- 

 gard to his experiments, and the deductions to be 

 drawn from them. lie stated in the outset that no 

 one who had listened to the discussion could doubt 

 that Thorley's food had certain beneficial qualities. 

 Mr. Brown's experience, for instance, was, that 

 certain sheep of his which did not get fat on cake 

 and grass, throve very well on this condiment. ' 

 "But that," Mr. Lawes said, " icas a question of 

 medicine.'''' He contended that the question which 

 affected agriculturists was, whether these things 

 were beneficial to animals in health. '■ In his ex- 

 periments, nothing was more striking than the 

 greatly increased consumption of food to [which 

 these condiments led. * * * In this case there 

 was an increased consumption of food without an 

 increase of flesh. In other words, if the condi- 

 ment had been given to him, he had rather not use 

 it, because his animals, in order to produce the 

 same amount of meat on barley meal, ate more. * 

 * * The real question was, how much food 

 passed through an animal to produce 100 lbs. in- 

 crease of flesh? He found that, without Thorley's 

 food, it required 274 lbs. of clover chaff, 137 lbs. 

 linseed cake, and 3,824 lbs. of Swedes. With 

 Thorley's food, it took 285 lbs. of clover chaff, 107 

 lbs. of linseed cake, 3,980 lbs. of Swedes, and 35 

 lbs. also of Thorley's food ; the difference between 

 the two being, that in one case it took 4,236 lbs., 

 and in the other 4,409 lbs. : that was to say, with 

 Thorley's food about 200 lbs. more food was re- 

 quired to produce a given increase." 



This result was obtained from the pigs. The re- 

 sults from the sheep were slightly less unfavorable 

 to the condiment. The increase was 4,536 lbs. 

 without Thorley's food, and 4,576 with it — a differ- 

 ence which would go but little way toward paying 

 for the condiment. 



Professor Simonds said there could be no doubt 

 that the nitrogenized material which these com- 

 pounds contained was purchased at an enormous 

 expense, and the results did not pay for the outlay. 

 He had examined a great many of these condi- 

 ments. He could readily understand that a great 

 many of them had the effect of invigorating the 

 system, and' therefore enabling the animal, if its 

 digestive powers were weakened from age or some 

 other cause, to digest a given amount of food in 

 less space of time, and consequently to appropriate 

 by assimilation a larger amount of food than would 

 otherwise be assimilated. But he thought the 

 whole might be obtained in a much simpler and 

 safer way. He did not hesitate to say that if they 

 were to take well ground linseed meal, and mix it 

 with well ground bean or pea meal, or any of those 

 highly nitrogenized matters, and add to that a small 

 quantity ot salt, which would simply salts of soda 

 to the functions of the liver, and increase fhe quan- 

 tity of bile, and if they would add to that any 

 simple stomachic substance — cummin seed, carra- 

 way seed, ginger, gentian, or any of those materi- 

 als which would act simply as stomachics — they- 

 would then have all that they required, and would 

 obtain just as much good as would be derived from 

 any other source. 



The Edinburgh Veterinary Feview, in comment- 

 ing on the discussion above referred to, speaks of 



