185i. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



187 



For the New EJigland Farmer. 



COOKED AND. UNCOOKED MEAL. 



Mr. Brown : — I received a letter from you 

 some time since asking for information in regard 

 to my experiments in feeding swine on cooked and 

 uncooked meal. I have recently tried no experi- 

 ment, but did in 1842 feed five swine on cooked 

 and uncooked food for about IQO days for which I 

 received a premium, and the result was published 

 in the transactions of the Essex Agricultural Socie- 

 ty for that year, which I presume you have in 

 your possession. The result was rather in fa- 

 vor of the uncooked meal, and different from what 

 T expected it would be, as I had previously been 

 accustomed to scald the meal, thinking that it 

 was better. 4 ^^^ aware that the result of differ- 

 ent experiments is not alwa^-s the same, still I 

 was pretty well satisfied with the experiment, as 

 I fed them nearly all the time myself, personally, 

 and was sure that there was no mistake or misrep- 

 resentation. I have also had some experience m 

 feeding swine on different kinds of roots, such as 

 potatoes, beets and turnips, also on apples. Po- 

 tatoes are unquestionably the best of any roots, 

 being very palatable when cooked, and were for- 

 merly a profitable crop to raise for that purpose. 

 But they are now so degenerated and subject to 

 disease that the scanty crop is more profitable for 

 the market than for swine. 



Turnips and bests when cooked and mixed with 

 meal will do tolerably well for store shoats, and 

 some swine may fatten tolerably well on them, 

 but for most swine they are not palatable. And 

 1 think for the most part that the corn crop is 

 quite as profitable for swine as tho root crop, as 

 there is considerable saving in labor and expense of 

 cooking. I have also used apples, and think well 

 of them in the fall of the year for store shoats, 

 as well as for cattle. In regard to the exj^ense of 

 raising pork, there seems to be different opinions. 

 I was informed by Mr. Phinney some years since, 

 that when corn was worth 75 cents per bushel, 

 pork could be raised for six and a quarter cents 

 per pound. I however, kept an account of the 

 expense of raising pork for one year, while I made 

 about 5000 pounds, and came to the conclusion 

 that it coat at least 7i cents per pound when corn 

 was worth 75 cents per bushel, and offset the 

 manure for tho labor. 



vShould you like further information in I'cgard 

 to my former experiment, I will forward it to 

 yon. Respectfully yours, 



Joseph Howe. 



Remarks. — Whatever Mr. Howe may bo pleased 

 to communicate on this subject, will bo received 

 with pleasure. 



Shade .and Fruit Trees. — As the spring of the 

 year approaches, wovild it not be well to call the 

 attention of towns, in their corporate capicities, 

 to setting trees in the highways ? Some of the 

 advantages would be that tlie roads arc not so li- 

 able to fill with drifted snow ; they would afford 

 shade and fruit for travellers, protect orchards 

 fiom depredations, and would perhaps yield income 

 enough to pay the expense ot the labor and the 

 towns' poor, and have a surplus left. — Boston 

 Courier. 



NINTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING, 



At the State Hoise, Tle.?day Evening, Makch 14. 



The meeting was called to order by Mr. Simon 

 Brown, who announced Col. Newell, President 

 of the Essex County Agricultural Society, aa 

 Chairman for the evening. 



Mr. Newell, on assuming the chair, at once 

 introduced Dr. Lee, of Rochester, N. Y., as lec- 

 turer for the evening. 



Dr. Lee remarked that he knew of no better 

 response to the invitation to address the Society 

 on the subject of Agriculture than to offer a few 

 suggestions intended to promote the inere;iso and 

 diffusion of agricultural knowledge. The intelli- 

 gent gentlemen before him hardly needed to be re- 

 minded of tlie old truism, that "knowledge is pow- 

 er." There are, however, some well-informed 

 men who fail to discriminate between an increase 

 of knowledge and the mere cxtcnsioji of it to a 

 greater number of persons. It is necessary, to ex- 

 tend any subject, that we be sure of our facts, 

 and that the reasoning from those fixcts is logical. 

 In the last century, when it was discovered in 

 France, that the sulphate of lime was a valuable 

 fertilizer, a great addition was made to the agri- 

 cultural knowledge then existing in the world. 

 That was a substantial increase of the profession- 

 al knowledge of the farmers of that day ; but that 

 increase would have been comparatively valueless 

 had there not been called into requisition, means 

 to extend the information to all the fanners of 

 that kingdom and the reading farmers of other na- 

 tions. 



In the first place, we should increase the knowl- 

 edge we now possess as practical farmers. 2d. 

 We should extend that knowledge, so that tho 

 wisdom of each individual may ))e communicated 

 to all who are pursuing agriculture as a profes- 

 sion. 



The value of the press to extend useful knowl- 

 edge is well known. The farmers of the United 

 States support more agricultural journals than all 

 tho world beside. This fact enables us to commu- 

 nicate at once to all who are interested in agricul- 

 ture, every new fact in tillage which may be dis- 

 covered. Very little could be accomplished in 

 the way of eradicating tlic prtyudices which retard 

 all progress in reducing to practice improvements 

 in agriculture, or in separating useful facts from 

 pernicious fictions, without the facilities which the 

 press affords. 



Not only has science to subdue a thousand un- 

 happy prejudices, but it must devise ways and 

 provide means to give our rural population somo- 

 tliing better than their muscles witli which to till 

 the earth, — knowledge. The great question for 

 educated men to decide is, how they can best en- 

 large the boundaries of knowledge, so as to add 

 to the wealth and happiness of the millions. Mas- 

 sachusetts ought to contribute a few dollars every 



