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Vol. XX, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1859. 



No. 12. 



FEEDING FASM STOCK. 



All know, in cleaning land, what a small amount 

 of ash is left as the residuum of the mighty forest. 

 Carbon, or charcoal, exists in the vegetable king- 

 dom in much larger proportion than any other 

 element. Nitrogen is found only in very small 

 f|uantity, yet its presence is absolutely necessary. 

 No vitality or organization is found without it. 

 There are many substances in vegetables that do 

 not contain nitrogen, but they are not integral 

 portions of the plant. They are merely vegetable 

 deposits, corresponding with the deposits of fat in 

 the animal organization. These deposits, such as 

 starch, sugar, gum, etc., are destitute of nitrogen, 

 and are composed of carbon and the elements of 

 water. They are therefore called carbonaceous 

 compounds. Those substances which contain nitro- 

 gen — and every vital part of a plant and animal 

 does contain it — are called nitrogenous substances. 

 They are composed of all the four organic elements 

 — oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon — united 

 in definite proportions in all plants and animals. 



If we take a piece of carbon, or charcoal, and 

 burn it in a stove, it gives out an amount of heat 

 proi)ortionate to the amount burned. The carbon 

 of food, when taken into the animal system, is 

 burnt in precisely the same way as that in the stove, 

 and gives out exactly the same amount of heat. It 

 is well known, tliat when any heated body is sur- 

 rounded with colder substances, the heat will fly 

 off from the heated body, till all become of an 

 equal temperature. And it also well known, that 

 more fuel would be needed to keep a stove at a 

 given heat, when exposed to a cold temperature, 

 than when in a warm one. An animal is affected 

 in this respect in precisely the same manner as a 

 stove. The temperature of the animal body is the 

 same at the North pole as at the Equator, when at 

 a blood heat temperature, as Avhen in an atmos- 

 phere 40* below zero. It must be, therefore, that 

 this body is heated from within; and that the 

 colder the air, the more heat must there be pro- 



duced, and consequently the more carbon must 

 there be burned in the lungs to generate it. Hence 

 it is that in cold weather we eat much more food, 

 and that of a more carbonaceous character, than in 

 hot weather. Warmth, to a certain point, is equiv- 

 alent to an increase of carbon in the food. 



The nitrogenous substances of vegetables are 

 precisely the same in composition as the muscles 

 or flesh of animals; and it is supposed that the 

 nitrogenous substances of vegetables are converted 

 into flesh without decomposition. Hence the asser- 

 tion by many able chemists, that the nutritive 

 quality of a food is in direct proportion to the 

 amount of these nitrogenous or flesh-forming sub- 

 stances. BoussiNGAULT, the most reliable agricul- 

 tural chemist in the world, has given tables of 

 equivalents, founded on this principle. According 

 to them, peas contain three times as much nitrogea 

 as maize, and is consequently three times as nutri- 

 tious. Bran, too, is much more nutritious than 

 the finest wheat flour; while an immature corn 

 stalk would be more nutritious than one perfectly 

 elaborated. The experiments of Lawes and Gil- 

 bert throw much doubt on the correctness of this 

 theory. One thing at least is demonstrated — that 

 the amount of nitrogen a food contains in no way 

 regulates the amount consumed by the animal. 

 Thus, a hog will eat as much peas as com; while 

 in the one case he will eat three times as much 

 nitrogen as in the other. 



We arrive at the conclusion, that the amount of 

 food an animal will consume, other things being 

 equal depends upon the amount of mailalle car- 

 honaceous substances it contains, irrespective of 

 the nitrogenous. This was invariably found to be 

 the case throughout a very extensive series of 

 experiments. To give more for 100 lbs. of bran 

 than for 100 lbs. of flour, because it contains more 

 pitrogen, would not be wise. Neither would it_^be 

 economical to give three times as much for a 

 bushel of peas as for a bushel of corn, because it 

 contains three times as much nitrogen ; for though 



