No. 8. 



Conkbig Food for Stock. 



255 



winter use as those who live where corn 

 llirives best. 



In feeding this article to hogs, it should be 

 either coarsely ground, steamed, or boiled, 

 the latter metliod is preferable. 



It is also in much demand for soup, and 

 would no doubt bring at the present time 

 $2 to $2 50 per bushel : the two past sea- 

 sons the price was from 1 50 to 2 dollars. 

 E. 



For the Fanners' Cabijict. 



ITIiiltttni in Parvo. 



COOKING FOOD FOR STOCK. 



The practice of cooking the grain fed to 

 stock, particularly the stock intended for the 

 ehanibies, promises to be an important acqui- 

 sition to modern husbandry. It is destined, 

 at no remote period, to remove materially, if 

 not effectually, those tributaries of intemper- 

 ance, those foul manufactories of I'qiiid jire, 

 or blue ruin, (the bane of agriculture) from 

 the face of our country. To proscribe and 

 denounce the distillers (among whom we re- 

 cognise some of our most sober and enter- 

 prising citizens) while their business con- 

 tinues profitable, is wrong ; an unavailing 

 means only of opposing a powerful human 

 motive, tliat of self-interest and aggrandize- 

 ment. But when farmers once know that it 

 is more profitable in the end to feed all their 

 grain (excepting wheat — and of that, the stuff 

 after making flour) after being cooked, to fat- 

 ten stock for the market, — when they find 

 they can thus realize a high market price for 

 their grain, and convert both straw and grain 

 into an increased quantity and highly im- 

 proved qpality of manure, they will noc sell 

 their grain to the distiller, to wrong their 

 own farms of their most enriching means of 

 alimentary manure, and suffer the distillers 

 to monopolize the beef, pork, and mutton 

 market among themselves. If farmers would 

 cook and feed all their own grain, in addition 

 to roots previously steamed, we should soon 

 see the good eflfect, visible in the abundance 

 of their crops, as well as a compliance with 

 the immutable laws of nature, which make 

 animals and vegetables mutually dependent, 

 and, like liberty and learning, lean on each 

 ■other for support. Independent of pecuniary 

 considerations, an agreeable, pleasant, and 

 pure delight always accompanies the "lux- 

 ury of dainty good." 



Actuated by fixed impressions such as these, 

 I commenced about two years ago, to cook 

 grain for stock. Having previously pursuaded 

 myself that stall feeding on raw grain, by un- 

 dergoing a mere partial digestion, is an " up- 

 hill business," I found also the idea of steam- 

 ing grain whole, liable to many objections; 

 among others, the tiifficulty of steaming it 

 thoroughly, the inconvenience and additional 



expense of fuel, arising from the high tem- 

 perature necessary, to burst the globules con- 

 taining the dextrine or nutrient matter of tho 

 grain, are all worthy of notice. And the plan 

 of scalding the chopped grain, falls far short 

 of cooking. The conviction, that very much 

 of the nourishing property of grain is lost by 

 the process of fermentation and distillation, 

 and yet aware of the aptitude of all kinds of 

 stock to fatten on the swill of distilled grain, 

 afler the essence or volatile spirit has been 

 extracted, 1 conceived the plan of boiling 

 the grain, afler being chopped, to be fed sweet 

 and fresh ; conjecturing, that a given quan- 

 jtity of grain thus prepared, would be convert- 

 ed into tiie greatest possible weight of flesh. 

 1 named the project to some intelligent per- 

 sons, who condemned it as fallacious and chi- 

 merical, allegingthat the chopped grain would 

 settle to the bottom and burn the still ; the 

 boiled grain would scour the .stock, &c. ; rea- 

 son and philosophy however supported a con- 

 trary opinion. Although the idea originated 

 in my own mind, having never heard nor 

 read of grain being boiled in the manner 

 proposed, yet, 1 had no apprehensions about 

 the issue. I accordingly procured a large 

 hogshead still, put it up over a furnace in the 

 corner of an out-kitchon, on the best plan of 

 close flues carried around the still, and finally 

 turned into a chimney. The still was provided 

 with the usual copper chains and fixtures for 

 stirring : a moveable cover made of plank was 

 fitted close over the top o^ the still, perforated 

 in the centre to admit the perpendicular shaf\ 

 on which a horizontal crank was fixed to turn 

 the shaft and stir the still. The still is filled, 

 or nearly so, with water, by a convenient 

 pump, and after boiling, the corn being pre- 

 viously wetted in a barrel with cold water, 

 and mixed, to prevent the grain from forming 

 lumps, is emptied by buckets into the still; 

 the cover is immediately put on, and by means 

 of the crank the still is well stirred and the 

 fire kept up, while the stirring is occasionally 

 repeated for a few minutes, until the whole 

 mass boils, then the fire is put out or cover- 

 ed, or the damper closed, to stop the draught. 

 After the grain has boiled about an hour, it 

 is ready to leave ofl'; if left in the still, ow- 

 ing to the confined rarified air around the 

 still, it will continue boiling for many hours, 

 although the fire be entirely out. The swill 

 is conducted hot from the cock of the still by 

 common square spouts, about thirty yards, 

 into a hng-pcn and cattle-yard ; when cool, 

 it may be compared to jelly or starch, the 

 water being apparently commuted into solid 

 nutriment. 1 usually boil, in the proportion 

 of one bushel of grain to forty gallons of wa- 

 ter. For fattening, I have found one third 

 of corn to two-thirds of bran, sufficient; but 

 if the fattening process is to be hastened, the 



