1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



551 



manui-ed and -well-pruned trees produce magnifi- 

 cent fruit, and in great abundance, well remu- 

 nerating the market gardener for his trouble. 



FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 



RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF FOOD FOR MAN YIELDED 



BY THE SAME HERBAGE IN THE FORMS OF 



BEEF AND MILK. 



A curious economical question, in connection 

 •with the value of vegetable produce in feeding 

 cattle, presents itself to us when we (!omo to com- 

 pare the proportions of human food which may 

 De obtained from the same weight of lierl)age 

 when cattle are fed with it for different immediate 

 purposes. 



A ton of hay may be given to a bullock to be 

 converted into beef. Anotlier ton of the same 

 hay may be given to a cow to be converted into 

 milk. Would the beet or the milk produced con- 

 tain the larger supply of food for man? We 

 have rather imperfect data to rely upon in an- 

 swering this question, but they lead us to very in- 

 teresting results. 



1. According to Sir John Sinclair, the same 

 herbage which will add 112 lb. to the weight of 

 an ox, will enable a cow to yield 450 wine gal- 

 lons, or 3G00 lb. of milk. This milk will contain 

 ICO lb. of dry curd, 100 lb. of butter, 180 lb. of 

 sugar, and 18 lb. of saline matter, while the 112 

 lb, of beef will not contain more than 25 lb. or 

 30 lb. of dry muscle, fat, and saline mutter to- 

 gether ; that is to say, the same weight of her 

 bage which will produce less tlian 30 lb. of dry 

 human food in the form of beef, will yield 500 

 lb. in the form of milk 



2. But this statement of Sir John Sinclair's is, 

 I fear, not to be relied upon. We have another, 

 however, something different, from Riedesel, a 

 Continental authority. He says that tlie same 

 quantity of hay will produce either 100 U). of 

 beef, or 100 imperial gallons (1000 lb.) of milk. 

 This quantity of milk contains only 150 lb. of dry 

 food, but it is still five times as much as is con- 

 tained in thij beef. 



This statement of Riedesol is also lo u.. received i,' ., , ,, ^ ,., ^ ^ r ^i <■ 



with hesitation ; but the subject is interesting ana boiled potatoes to the extent of three or fourper 

 important, as well as curious and is deserving of|--;;— -^-rm ^for^a^fW^ hov^s^ 

 further investigation. Should 



1. T/tc breed or constitution, every feeder knows, 

 lias a great influence on the apparent value of 

 food. Some breeds, like the improved short-horn, 

 have a natural tendency to fatten, which makes 

 them increase in weight more rapidly than other 

 breeds, when fed upon the same food. And even 

 in the same breed, the rapidity with which one 

 animal lays on flesh will sometimes make it two 

 or three times more profitable to the farmer than 

 others which are fed along with it. 



2. Warmth and shelter cause the same amount 

 of food to go farther, as do also gentle treatment 

 and the a1\sence of glaring light. Sheep have 

 produced dou1)le the weight of mutton from the 

 same weight of vegetable food, when fed under 

 shelter, and kept undisturbed and in the dark. 

 It is probably from this Ijeneficial influence of 

 warmth that, in the North American states, a 

 difference of 25 per cent is observed in favor of 

 the spring and summer over the winter feeding of 

 the pigs upon similar food. 



3. The form in which the food is given is of no 

 less importance. Grass newly cut goes farther 

 than after it is made into hay ; and the opinion 

 is now becoming very generally prevalent, that 

 steamed, boiled, or otherwise prepared food, is 

 more vrholesoine for cattle, and more economical 

 to the feeder, than the same food given in a dry 

 state. 



In the case of horses, the difference between 

 the practice of giving all the food dry and uncut, 

 and that of giving all the hay cut with the oats 

 and beans crushed, and an evening meal of steam- 

 ed food, is such as to effect a saving of nearly one- 

 third. Thus, the same wagon horses which con- 

 sumed 3.^ bushels of oats per week, and 14 

 stones of hay, when given uncut, uncruslied, and 

 uncooked, were kept in good condition by 2^ bush- 

 els of oats, 8 stones of hay, and 7 lb. of linseed 

 when the grain was crushed, the hay cut into 

 half-inch chaff, and tlie linseed with a little Ijean- 

 meal and cut hay made into a steamed meal-fed in 

 the evening.* 



The malting and sprouting of barky is by many 

 practical men considered to increase its nutritive 

 qualities. It is certain that, when mixed with 



the nonulation ™^^*^ produces a preparea in.. a u;.h is much rcl- 

 ,, ^ , Z^^'' P^P'^^-'^'f^'ished by milch cows, and IS prohtable to tlie uai 



of the country ever liecome so dense as to render _^^^^^-^ ^1^^^.^ j^ ^^.^^^^ ^^ ^^y^^^,^ tl^^t gij^jiar 

 a rigorous economy oi food a national question, |^^^.^^^j^.,^^^.j,,^ .^^j,^,^ j^j^^^g ^f ^^^^ ^o^j^j produce 



butcher-meat, if the above data deserve any reli 

 ance — will l)e banished from our tables, and a 

 milk diet will be tlie daily sustenance of almost 

 all classes of society. 



INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN MODIFYING THE 



PRACTICAL VALUES OF ANIMAL AND 



VEGETABLE FOOD. 



The indications of theory, and the results of 

 general practice, in regard to the nutritive power 

 of different vegetable substances, are modified by 

 many circumstances which ought to be borne in 

 mind. Whether fed for work, or for tlie produc- 

 tion of flesh or milk, the effect of the food given 



similar ))eneficial effects. 



jNIr. Hudson, of Castle Acre, feeds his farm- 

 horses on 1*2 lb. of sprouted barley a-day, besides 

 their fodder ; and this, on his ligiit land, keeps 

 them in good condition. It is prepared by steep- 

 ing tlie barley for 24 hours, and then putting it 

 into a heap and turning it over for live days. 



5. The souring of food of all kinds lias, by al- 

 most universal consent, been found to make it 

 more profitable in the feeding and fattening of 

 pigs. It makes them fatten faster, and gives a 

 firmer and whiter flesh. 



Many other circumstances also modify the real 



uonoi uesnorim.K, ue ^■"^■^•' "'.^"Y-rv*^", nracticil value of food, and :ause it to produce 

 to an mals will depend partly on the kind, breed, rr^i^"(..u\aiueui >u , • ,i|,..,f,.,i »,,, it< clu.m- 

 , . . f. ,, ' • 1 -i ic i.1 ri'v)iiU« <lincri'iit troiu those inuuaieu uy u^ < nem- 



and constitution of the animal itself— on the gen- |<-«"i^s umLrcni, ..* m i- j 



eral treatment to wliich it is subjected, and the '^''^^ composition. 



place in which it is kept — on its size and state of | * J,^^^ .j^y feertiiig being— Jny 12 lb., with oats an.i beans 14 



health— and on the form in which t^ie food itself ,ib.; thcsteamci f.ci-i.uy 3 ib., beans 3 lb., iinse«d i ib.- 



. \caird\i EtiirtiKh .IsriciiHiire.v. -HI). 



" Si^^'^- Johnston's Ag. Chemistry an,d QcQlogy. 



