No. 4. 



Quantity of Nutriment in various Substances. 



115 



a^ain urging upon every farmer whose build- 

 ings are not insured, the importance of at- 

 tending to it without delay. — "Delays are 

 dangerous." One of our subscribers, Charles 

 H. Hill, of New Jersey, says, that for many 

 months he was deliberating upon the matter, 

 and before all his arrangements were com- 

 pleted and his mind perfectly satisfied as to 

 the utility of paying so high a premium, the 

 casualty occurred, and his barn, with its con- 

 tents, valued at tliree thousand dollars, was 

 consumed before his eyes. He could not ask 

 his neighbors to make good his loss, and hav- 

 ing no insurance, it was total. He says, " I 

 hope that my case may be a warning to my 

 brother farmers. 1 now see wherein I have 

 erred, and intend for the future to mend my 

 ways."] 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Qitautity of Nutriment in various Sul}- 

 stauccsa 



As the patrons of the Farmers' Cabinet are 

 consumers as well as producers of food, it 

 may not be uninteresting to them to be in- 

 formed of the result of the examinations of 

 scientific men in regard to the quantity of 

 nutriment contained in various substances 

 which are used for the sustenance of animal 

 life. Food taken into the stomach is there 

 digested, and the nutritious portions of it con- 

 verted into blood, which is conveyed by the 

 proper vessels to every part of the system for 

 its nourishment and support. Any portion 

 of it which from any cau.se escapes the 

 digestive process, and those parts of it which 

 are not adapted to nourish the animal body, 

 are cast off as excrementitious. 



Animal food is generally assumed as con- 

 taining more nutriment than vegetable or 

 farinaceous, and comparing bulk with bulk it 

 is no doubt the case, but when weight is 

 brought into competition with weight, which 

 seems to be the correct standard of compari- 

 son, we find it falls far below a number of 

 vegetable substances in regard ta nutritive 

 properties. The following table shows what 

 has been determined by chymical analysis in 

 regard to this important matter. 



It is much to be regretted that our most 

 important and favorite Indian corn is not 

 comprised in the above table; but the experi- 

 ence of farmers in regard to its nutritious 

 properties, would induce us to place it very 

 high upon the list, perhaps next in order to 

 wheat; and if the quantity produced on a 

 given space of ground be taken into view, it 

 would take precedence of any other vege- 

 table production cultivated in the country aa 

 respects the quantity of nutriment. 



From the above table it appears that a 

 pound of bread contains more than twice as 

 much nutriment as a pound of meat; and that 

 a pound of beans or peas contains more than 

 two and a half times as much as a pound of 

 ment. It al.so appears that seven pounds of 

 potatoes are etjual in nutriment to five pounds 

 of animal food. 



When I first entered into an examination 

 of this .'•ubjcct, my previous notions in regard 

 to tl)e quantity of nutriment furnished by 

 different substances was thrown into con- 

 siderable disorder, and I suppose this will be 

 the case with some of the readers of this 

 article ; but when we recollect that a very 

 large portion of the human family in Asia 

 and Africa, and not a small portion of the in- 

 habitants of Europe, either subsist entirely or 

 principally on farinaceous and vegetable food, 

 and yet perform as much labor probably as 

 the people of this country, it goes far to prove 

 that animal food in large quantities is less 

 necessary than we meat eaters have been 

 wont to suppose, and tends to corroborate 

 the correctness of the analysis exhibited in 

 the foregoing table. O. 



Under Beds. 



Would you have good under beds consti- 

 tuted of materials that will endure"! Then 

 give up the old notion of filling them with 

 straw, which soon becomes worn down to 

 chaff, and requires replenishing once or twice 

 a year, — and, if you have not corn of your 

 own, go to some neighbor's husking, and pre- 

 serve the inner husks of the corn for this 

 purpose. The outer husks are a little too 

 stiff; but the inner ones are soft and elastic 

 when dried, and when once you have obtained 

 enough of them to fill the bed sack, dismiss 

 all trouble about that bed for years, for it will 

 last probably as long as you live. It is quite 

 an object for a family to have all their beds 

 filled in this manner. 



Those who till their ground thoroughly, 

 put in their seed well, and nurse their crops 

 judiciously, have not to reproach themselves 

 either with negligence or indolence in case 

 of a failure, and self reproach is the more 

 bitter and harder to be borne, because it sticks 

 clo.se to our skirts both in our downlayings 

 and in our uprisings. 



