NEW ENGL.AND FAKMER, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52 iNORTlI MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.) — T. G. FESSE.NDEN, EDITOR. 



roi~ XIV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 6, 1S35. 



So. 13. 



OK STEASIING FOOD FOR HORSES. 



" It lias bcni Jisn^rtained, tlioiisli perliaps not 

 generally known, tliat j-'n'" <!/«».'/ ^i"'/ cannot be 

 tressed or cooked by dry steam applied to tlic dry 

 proi'ji. If tlie stoain is at a low pressure, or a 

 ittle above tliat of atmospheric, a species of paroli- 

 ng is produced on the grain so treated ; ami if 

 team of a very light pressure is applied, the grain 

 nay lie entirely carbonized. An intermediate 

 nd very simple process, has however been found, 

 vhei-eby grain of any sort can be completely boil- 

 d, which is done by soaking the grain in water 

 or a period of from six to twelve hours, accord- 

 ag to its state of dryness ; and then placing it in 

 le receiver described for steaming roots, and ap- 

 lying steam for an hour, the grain will come out 

 ompletely boiled. From this it may be inferred, 

 lat each grain becomes a little cauldron, contain- 

 ig as much absorbed water as serves to boil it by 

 le application of steam ; but whatever be the ra- 

 onale of it, we are thus provided with a simple 

 ad elHcieut steaming and boiling apparatus, ap- 

 licable alike to the cooking of juicy roots or tu- 

 ers, and dry grains. 



That horses on a farm may be kept more eco- 

 omically on prepared food than in the state and 

 tanner in which food is usually administered to 

 em, W'B have no doubt. Tlie fact, however, will 

 ou be ascertained in consequence of the premium 

 Ihich the Highland Society has just now an- 

 ounced on the subject. The results of the e.x- 

 iriments which some farmers will make, will, we 

 odly anticipate, prove the facility of preparing 

 lod, and economy in the use of it. We have the 

 thority of the owners of some of the coaching 

 .d posting establishments in Edinburgh, for sta- 

 og that the saving which will arise from the use 

 prepared food, in the keep of forty horses, will 

 uount to 140/. a year. We have also the higii 

 Ithority of Mr Dick, the Professor of Veterinary 

 nrgery in Edinburgh, for saying that the general 

 taltk of horses under work, is much better on pre- 

 red than unprepared food. 



• It will appear obvious,' says Mr Dick, ' that the 

 and desideratum is to give food containing as 

 uch nutriment, and in as small bulk, as it is con- 

 itent with the economy of the animal. If this 

 nblem is solved, it will follow, as a corollary, 

 t it will be important to give that food which 

 IS been found best suited to its proportions, in 

 ch a state as is best suited for digestion. This 

 a point however, worthy of consideration ; and 

 iturally suggests the question. How is the body 

 ;pplied with nourishment by taking in food into 

 5 stomach ? The common notion is, that much 

 pp.nds, as I have indeed before mentioned, on 

 3 hardness of the food ; and it is a common say- 

 5, in order to sliow off a horse which is in a good 

 ndition, ' that he has plenty of hard meat in him.' 

 jw this is a very silly and erroneous idea, if we 

 ^uire into it ; for, whatever may be the consist- 

 cy of the food which is taken into the stomach, 

 must, before the body can possibly derive any 

 bstantial support or benefit from it, be converted I 



into chyme — a pultaceous mass ; and this as it 

 passes onwards from the stomach into the intesti- 

 nal canal, is rendered still more fluid by the ad- 

 mixture of the secretions from the stomach, the 

 liver and the pancreas, when it becomes of a milky 

 appearance, and is called chyle. It is then taken 

 into the system by the lacteals ; and in this fluid, 

 this soft state, and in this state only, mixes with 

 the blood, and passes through the circulating ves- 

 sels for the nourishment of the system. 



'Now if the hardest of the food must In this 

 manner be broken down and dissolved before it 

 can really enter into the system, it must appear 

 evident that something approaching to this solu- 

 tion, if done artificially, would greatly aid the or- 

 gans of digestion in this process, and that there- 

 by much exertion might be saved to the system, 

 and at the same time nourishment would be rap- 

 idly conveyed into it. It is with this view that I 

 would recommend the general adoption of cooking 

 food for horses." 



On the Utility and best Itlethod of cooking Food 

 for Domestic Animals. 



This subject has engaged the attention of the 

 practical men in Europe and in this country for 

 many years, and it is a branch of rural economy 

 at all times worthy the careful investigation of the 

 farmer. The Highland Society of Scotland have 

 in a manner directed the public attention to the 

 comparative advantages of feeding farm-stock with 

 prepared or unprepared food, and have by liberal 

 premiums induced numerous experiments to be 

 actually made, and elicited much valuable inform- 

 ation. The conclusions which have been drawn 

 from these and other experiments seem to be — 



1. That a great saving, some say one half or 

 more, is effected by cutting the dry fodder for 

 horses and neat cattle, and feeding it with their 

 provender or grain, in two or three daily messes, 

 in mangers. Not that tlie food is thereby en- 

 hanced in its inherent jiroperties, but that given in 

 this way it all tells — is all consumed, all digested, 

 all converted into nutriment. There is compara- 

 tively none wasted or voided, without having ben- 

 efitted the animal. In the ordinary mode of feed- 

 ing at racks, yards and in o|)en fields at stacks, it is 

 well known that much is lost, from the difficulty 

 of masticating uncut hay, straw and stalks, and 

 from its being trodden under the feet of animals 

 and spoilt. Much labor is besides saved to the 

 animal, as cut food requires less mastication, and 

 the animal enjoys a longer [leriod of rest. 



2. That grain and jiulse, as cattle food, is en- 

 hanced in value by being ground or bruised before 

 it is fed out, so much as to warrant the expense of 

 sending it to mill, and the deduction of toll. In- 

 dian corn, oats, rye and other grain, given to farm 

 animals in a dry, unbroken state, it must have been 

 observed -by every one, particularly when tlie 

 animal is high fed, are often voided in a half or 

 wholly undigested state, and virtually lost. This 

 does not happen when the grain has been ground. 



3. That although roots, as rata baga, mangel 



wnrtzel and potatoes, are improved as fattening 

 iiiateriiils for neat cattle, by cooking, the advunta- 

 ges hardly counterbalance the extra expense of 

 the labor and fuel. 



4. That for working horses, cooking the roots 

 we have enumerated, and feeding them with cut 

 hay and straw, is of manifest advantage ; and that 

 thus fed they snjiersede the necessity of grain. 



5. That in fattening hogs, there is decided 

 economy in grinding and cooking food. The ex- 

 periments upon this subject are many and conclu- 

 sive. Some estimate the saving of one half tl^e 

 quantity of food. Taking into account the various 

 materials on a farm which may thus be turned to 

 account, we are satisfied that one half the cost of 

 making pork may in this way be saved. Swine 

 are voracious animals, and will eat more than their 

 stomachs can digest, unless assisted by the cooking 

 [irocess. There are upon the farm many defective 

 matters, as pumpkins, squashes, small potatoes, 

 early and defective apples and apple pomace, 

 which are of little value, except as hog-food, but 

 which, if well husbanded, cooked and mixed with 

 ground provender, contribute essentially to cheap- 

 en our pork. It has been questioned whether the 

 articles we have enumerated are nutritive to pigs, 

 when given in their raw state ; while all admit, 

 who have made the experiment, that they are 

 highly so when cooked. Cooking undoubtedly 

 adds to their nutritive qualities, as it does to the 

 nutritive properties of Indian meal. 



The relative advantages of steaming and boiling 

 will very much depend, we suspect, on the extent 

 of the establishment. We have tried both, though 

 our steamer was imperfect ; and have come to a 

 conclusion, that when the number of hogs to be 

 supplied does not exceed fifteen or twenty boiling 

 is preferable. But much depends on the judicious 

 setting of the boiler, so that it may receive the 

 whole advantage of ihe fire. For this purpose 

 the brick work should be made to conform to the 

 shape of the kettle, leaving a space of three or 

 four inches between them, until it reaches nearly 

 the top of the kettle, when a tier of brick set in 

 edgeways projected for the flange of the boiler to 

 rest upon ; and the bottom of the kettle, or about 

 parallel with the commencement of the slope 

 which rounds its bottom. By this means, the 

 flame is thrown upon the sides and bottom, and in 

 a manner that the whole boiler is collapsed with 

 if on the passage to the smoke flue ; and the brick 

 work being heated constantly refracts back its heat 

 upon the boiler. A tight cover should be laid 

 over the cooking food, to prevent the free escape 

 of the steam, by partially confining which, the 

 cooking process is greatly facilitated. 



There should be appended to the hog-house 

 an open yard, for straw, litter, weeds, &c. which 

 the hogs during the summer, will work into ma- 

 nure, and into which the dung is thrown from the 

 pen. 



Hogs are subject to various diseases, particularly 

 if shut up in a close pen, during the time of fat- 

 tening, which are often suddenly fatal. Preven- 



