O THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



of this the grass was cut and well steamed, and it was found to 

 be readily digested ; and the butter that was made from the 

 milk, much firmer, better flavored, and would keep longer 

 without salt than any other kind. Another circumstance that 

 attended the experiment was that, in all the various grasses and 

 grains that were intended by our Creator as food for man or 

 beast, the various oils that enter into their composition were so 

 powerfully assimilated or combined with the other properties 

 of the farinaceous plants, that the oil partook of the character 

 of essential oil, and was not so easily evaporated as that of 

 poisonous vegetables ; and experience has proved that the same 

 quantity of grass, steamed and given to the cattle, will produce 

 more butter than when given in its dry state. This fact being 

 established from numerous experiments, then, there must be a 

 great saving and superiority in this mode of feeding. The meat 

 of such cattle is tnore wholesome, tender, and better flavored 

 than when fed on the ordinary food." 



"A mixed diet (boiled) is supposed to be the most econom- 

 ical for fattening cattle. * A Scotchman, who fattens 150 head 

 of Galloway cattle annually, finds it most profitable to feed 

 with bruised flax-seed, boiled with meat or barley, oats or In- 

 dian corn, at the rate of one part flax-seed to three parts meal, 

 by weight — the cooked compound to be afterwards mixed 

 with cut straw or hay. From four to twelve pounds of the 

 compound are given to each beast per day.' The editor of the 

 Albany Cultivator adds : ^ Would it not be well for some of our 

 farmers who stall feed cattle, to try this or a similar mode ? We 

 are by no means certain that the ordinary food (meaning, prob- 

 ably, bad hay and cornstalks) would pay the exp ense of cook- 

 ing ; but flax-seed is known to be highly nutritious, and the 

 cooking would not only facilitate its digestion, but it would 

 serve, by mixing, to render the other food palatable, and, by 

 promoting the appetite and health of the animal, would be 

 likely to hasten its thrift.' " (See article on diet.) 



An article on steamed food for stock, lately appeared in the 

 columns of the Mark Lane Eocpress. It does not sustain my 

 theory exactly, yet the closing paragraph proves all I contend 



