334 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



increase for each ton of hay consnmed than those 

 which were not allowed salt. This may be con- 

 sidered only a slight advantage, and in Trance did 

 not pay the cost of the salt ; in this country, how- 

 ever, where salt is much cheaper, its use will doubt- 

 less be profitable, Boussooailt remarks, 'the 

 salt exercises no considerable influence on the 

 growth, yet it appears to exert a beneficial eflfect 

 on the appearance and condition of the animal.'' 

 Up to the first fourteen days, no perceptible difter- 

 ence was observed between the two lots; but in 

 the course of the month following, the ditference 

 was visible even to the unpracticed eye. In the 

 beasts of boih lots, the sfein tO' the touch was fine 

 and sound, but the hair in the steers having salt 

 'was smooth and shining; that of the others dull 

 and erect.' As the experiment progressed, these 

 signs became still more prominent. 'In the ani- 

 mals of the second lot, aftei- they had had bo salt 

 for a year, the hair was matted, and the akia here 

 and there devoid of hair. Those of the first lot, 

 on the contrary, retained the look of stall-kept 

 beasts. Their liveliness and frequent indica'tions 

 of the tendency to leap, contrasted strikingly with 

 the heavy gait and cold temperament observed in 

 those of the second lot/ 'There can be no donbc,' 

 BocssiNGAULT adds, 'that a higher price would 

 have been obtained in the mai'ket for the oxen 

 raared under the influence of salt.' 



COOKING FOOD FOR HOGS. 



It is generally conceded that cooked food is 

 more nutritious than uncooked. But will it pay? 

 TSiat depends, to a great extent, upon the price of 

 food. If corn is worth but 25 cents per bushel, it 

 is plain that it will not pay to expend much money 

 either for cooking or crushing it ; but where food 

 is high, a small quantity saved pays for consider- 

 able la;l5©r, etc. 



The object of cooking is to render the food more 

 readily assiaiilable, or, in other words, easier of 

 digestion. The advantage of cooking potatoes, 

 beeta, turnips, corn, or any other food containing 

 a large amouat of starch, sugar or other available 

 organic substances, is, we think, less than when 

 straw, chaff, dover and timothy hay, oats, barley, 

 or any food containiiing much woody fibre or other 

 insoluble substances, is employed. We are not 

 aware of any experiments that show that this 

 opinion is correct, yet ihere are some that point 

 that way. When conduoting some experiments on 

 sh€i^p feeding, at Eothanastead, we found that 

 crushed barley, soaked forty -six hours in cold 

 water before using, gave more increase of animal 



than when not soaked. On the other hand, 

 crushed malt, soaked in the same way, did not 

 increase the weight of the sheep so much as that 

 not soaked. The figures are : — four sheep in ten 

 weeks eat 280 pounds of crushed barley not steeped^ 

 and 3,867 lbs, of mangel wurzel, and increased in 

 live weight 81 lbs. ; while four sheep with barley 

 creshed and steeped, eat 280 lbs, and 5,321 lbs. 

 mangel wi^rzel, inci'easing 101^ lbs. Four sheep- 

 with crushed malt not steeped, eat in ten weeks^ 

 227i lbs., and 3,755 lbs. mangel wtirzel, and in- 

 creased 84 lbs, ; Avhile four sheep with malt crushed 

 but steeped, eat 236^ lbs. malt and 4,458 lbs. man- 

 gel wurzel, and gained only 78 pounds. In the 

 process of malting the starch of the barley is con- 

 verted into sugar, which is much more soluble 

 than starch, hence the soaking of barley is attended 

 with much benefit, while malt is better dry. 



We have been led to these remarks by seeing 

 some experiments in the Irish Farmers'' Gazette^ 

 on fattening hogs on uncooked ruta bagas. Eight 

 hogs were selected and divided into two lots, as 

 evenly as could be, and put in to fatten on the 27th 

 o-f November. Each lot was fed regulftrly three 

 times a day, having each 12 lbs. of bran ami barley 

 meal,. tl>e only djlferenee being that one lot had 

 steametl yuta bagasy amd the other pulped or rasped 

 rata bagas. The experiment was continued thirty- 

 nins days ; the lot having coolted food, eat 468 lbs, 

 bran, etc.,. anfd W,^'^Q \hs, ri:t«baga3, and increased 

 103 lbs,-— while the lot having uncoolced focd eat 

 468 lbs. bran, etc., and only 5,460 lbs. of ruta'bagas, 

 and gained 110 Jbs, It will be seen that the lot 

 with cooked food eat more than as much again 

 ruta bagas as the lot having uncooked, and at the 

 same time did not gain so much in weight by seven 

 pounds. 



We are afraid to trust these figures in regard to 

 the amount of ruta bagas eaten, yet we see no rea- 

 son to doubt the fact that the hog.? on uncooked 

 food increased more than those fed on cooked food, 

 Ruta bagas contain at least 88 per cent, of water, 

 and when animals are fed exclusively on them, or 

 have a limited amount of other food as was the 

 case in the above experiments, they are oMif/ed to 

 take into their system more water than is condu- 

 cite to health or the accumulation of fat. It is 

 probable that the steamed ruta bagas contained the 

 most water, and hence a larger quantity of water 

 was taken into the system, rendering a large amount 

 of carbonaceous matter necessary to keep up the 

 animal heat, and hence the hogs on cooked, eat so 

 much more than those on uncooked food. In fat- 

 ting hogs with roots of any kind, it is advisable to 



