190 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



their fat and muscle in sucli a manner as to render both palatable, instead- 

 of depositing a greatly disproportioned share of the former in one luscious 

 mass, forming an impediment to breeding, and an unsightly appendage in 

 the eye of the breeder. 



' All the different varieties of the Broad-tailed and Fat-rumped sheep 

 will be found described in Youatt, and I will not now consume your time 

 with them. 



MORE OF THE VALUE OF CORN COBS AND CORN FODDER, 



BUT NOT ENOUGH YET. 

 RoswELL L. Colt, Esq., Paterson, N. J. Cleveland, Ohio, August 2, 1847. 



Dear Sir : I have been thinking a great deal on the subject of Corn Cobs, 

 since you were here. The question is, Do they, or do they not, contain nutri- 

 ment ? I have come to the conclusion that they do for a certain time, after 

 which, that they do not. Indian corn does not arrive at a state of perfection un- 

 til fully six months after it has ripened, during which time it is extracting the 

 saccharine from the cob. From harvest time until spring, cattle and swine 

 should be fed upon cob-meal, on account of the nutriment contained in the cob ; 

 after that time the addition of the cob only aids in distending the intestines. 

 The largest breeder of cattle in Northern Ohio is Gen. Oviatt, of Richfield, Me- 

 dina Co. He informed me that when cattle are failing from some unknown 

 cause, and when everything else has failed to bring them up, that feeding them 

 boiled corn cobs, exclusively, will renovate them. I do not know at what sea- 

 son of the year he has fed them, but I venture to say it has been during fall or 

 winter. The reasons why I have come to the above conclusions are, 1st, That 

 new corn, or rather corn ground in January, will not produce near the amount 

 of alcohol that it will in June, due allowance being made for the difference in 

 moisture. 2d, Nature has not prepared corn for seed until it will readily fall 

 from the cob ; this will not occur until spring. It is usual in the West to leave 

 the corn crop standing out all winter. The ear while growing stands erect ; 

 when ripened it turns toward the ground. The husk is a shield from the 

 weather, and the process of perfecting the grain continues. Wheat and other 

 grains are perfected before leaving the field, and shell readily. 



A new use has been discovered for my Drier: a prominent brewer in New- 

 York wishes to obtain it for drying malt for making pale ale. As it does not 

 chansre the color or flavor of substances dried, it must answer a good purpose 

 for malt, as it has proved in drying flour, corn and corn meal. 



Should vou feel any interest in corn meal, or should you wish a barrel of it 

 for your own use, I would refer you to Messrs. Allen & Whittlesey, commission 

 merchants, New-York, who had a quantity shipped to them from E. H. Leonard, 

 of Elyria. It was dried on one of my patent driers. 



Itespecttully yours, &c. J. R. STAFFORD. 



We will not yet abandon the hope that some of our Agiicultiiral Societies or Institutes, 

 with ample funds at command, will offer liberal inducements to farmers and men of science 

 to investigate the nature and value of this and the cotton and other plants in eveiy light and 

 relation in which they can be considered. We want to know not only the component parts 

 and exact value of the corn cob at different periods, but we wish to know the proportion 

 which the fodder bears to the gi'ain. We wish to know by analysis how much each of the 

 gi-eat staples of our countiy draws from the soil— how much from the atmospiiere— and then 

 how much of these elements of nutrition the soil where they are cultivated contains. More 

 especially should ail these staple plants, in all their parts, and in all stages of their gi-owth— 

 as well in their natural state as in their ashes— be thoroughly analyzed, by men known to be 

 competent, and to take a conscientious interest in the welfare and honor of American Agii- 

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