362 



THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



that warmth to some extent was an equivalent for 

 food, and also that an animal kept in a mild tem- 

 perature, without much exercise, would give more 

 manure for the food consumed, than one kept in a 

 cooler and less sheltered locality with abundant 

 exercise. 



"A horse can be kept in & perfectly good condi- 

 tion if he can obtain as food fifteen lbs. of hay and 

 four and a half lbs. of oats daily." This statement 

 is thrown out just as we give it, without any quali- 

 fying considerations. Boussingault, who proba- 

 bly made more experiments in feeding horses than 

 any other man, found that his horses required per 

 day twenty-two lbs. hay, five and a half straw, and 

 seven and a quarter oats. The horses weighed 

 about 1,000 lbs. each. Of course smaller horses 

 would require less food, but we are satisfied that on 

 the average the estimate of Dr. Kent is much too 

 low. 



" If you want to ascertain whether a soil or sub- 

 stance contains lim^, you may pour upon a small 

 quantity of it, vinegar or dilute muriatic acid. If 

 lime is present the mixture will froth up, or effer- 

 vesce." This test for lime is a most uncertain one, 

 and it is surprising tlint any one, at the present 

 day, would publish it for the guidance of the 

 " stupid " farmer. 



"Now, you will see that unless the soil contains 

 all the substances found in the ashes of plants, the 

 plants cannot grow perfectly y And again : " If a 

 soil was wholly destitute of one of these substan- 

 ces, it could not yield (/ood crops." If the soil did 

 not contain all the ash constituents of plants, no 

 plant could grow at all, "perfectly" or imperfectly. 

 And if one of these substances was missing, nei- 

 ther a "good crop" nor a bad one would be ob- 

 tained. So, at least, believes one "bungling" 

 farmer. 



INDIAN CORN FOE EXPOET- 



The London Marh Lane Express some time ago 

 had an elaborate article on the value of Indian corn 

 as "Food for the Million." It starts with the as- 

 sumption that none of the ceralia holds out greater 

 prospects of a regular supply than Indian corn, 

 " especially to the limited means of our laboring 

 population," and argues that the existing prejudice 

 against Maize as an article of food must sooner or 

 later give way before the progress of science. It 

 shows from analyses that Indian corn meal is move 

 nutritious than wheaten flour, containing two per 

 cent, more gluten and six per cent, more fat, and 

 concludes that it is " not only more nourishing than 

 wheaten flour, but also more wholesome to the 

 generality of people, owing to the large quantity 

 of fat and peculiar medicinal elements which it 

 contains." However suspiciously Englishmen may 



at first look at "mush" and "Johnny-cake," they 

 soon find that " they keep the stomach and boweb 

 in better order than wheaten flour, lubricating the 

 whole system, and producing a higher degree of 

 health at much less expense," and that th-cy soon 

 learn to like Indian corn in all its various forms. 

 It thinks, however, that " Indian corn has a flavor 

 or taste peculiar to itself, which the prejudices of 

 this country (England) have yet to overcome." It 

 is, nevertheless, "fast establishing itself among all 

 the civilized nations of the world as an invaluable 

 article of food," and "from experiments made by 

 us lately we have no hesitation in saying that if it 

 were imported herefresh^ and free from injury, it 

 would soon become a favorite at the tables of more 

 than our toil-worn population." 



This, however, is the great difticulty, Indian 

 corn is not exported in good condition, and conse- 

 quently has fallen into disrepute; The Express says : 

 "Good Indian corn is hardly to be had in this 

 country; for, judging from forty or fifty samples 

 we have purchased, upwards of one-half would not 

 be considered, in America, fit for human food. 

 Even the best samples of corn on the Corn Ex- 

 change smell musty-^i-an infallible proof that injury 

 has been sustained either in the " crib " before 

 marketing, or subsequently in granary or vessel 

 during transport." 



It then goes on to say that we have latterly paid 

 much attention to the quality of our salted provis- 

 ion exports, and if we would only look to Indian 

 corn, " they would find that the Union sustains a 

 much greater loss from the latter than from the 

 former, and that consequently it presents a wider 

 field of usefulness before them, promising results 

 not very easily estimated in the present revolution- 

 ary, progressive, state of the world." 



The principal injury corn is subject to arises from 

 the quantity of water it contains when ground or 

 shipped. The Express makes itself merry over the 

 recommendation of our friend. Dr. Lee, in the 

 Patent Oflice Report : " When farmers sell corn 

 soon after it is ripe, there is considerable gain in 

 not keeping it long to shrink and dry in weight." 

 It thinks the practical inference to be drawn from 

 this recommendation of the Doctor is " obviously 

 the short-sighted policy of exporting loater to this 

 country,'''' find says we are mistaken in thinking 

 " that JoHS Bull will part with his sovereigns for 

 what he has generally too much of already." It is 

 true that we have paid too little attention to the 

 preparation of corn for export, but the Express is 

 mistaken in attributing it to the selfish desire of 

 selling water, however much the quotations from 

 Dr. Lee may favor such an idea. The fact is, In- 

 dian corn for exportation needs artificial drying, 

 and when the price of a good article is high enough. 



