338 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



" In feeding dairy stock when in milk, steaming and boiling 

 food is known to be profitable ; but the health of the animal 

 sometimes suffers, compared with that of cows kept partly on 

 raw and partly on prepared food." 



CHEAP FODDER FOR COWS. 



Straw contains much farinaceous aliment. The attention 

 of agriculturists in France has recently been directed to the 

 discovery of a method of converting straw into a kind of bran. 

 The discovery has been claimed by two individuals. The first 

 is a miller, near Dijon, who, it is said, on trying the mill-stone 

 of a new mill, discovered the possibility of converting straw 

 into a nourishing food ; the second, M. Jos. Maitre, of Vil- 

 lotte, near Chatillon. 



This distinguished agriculturist, known for the purity and 

 perfection of his breeds of sheep, conceived the idea of con- 

 verting into farina not only the straw of wheat and other 

 grains, but of hay, trefoil, lucern, sanfoin, etc. His eflTorts are 

 said to have been perfectly successful, and his discovery arrived 

 at, not by chance, but by long experiment and research. The 

 aliment which he has produced is said to be a complete substi- 

 tute for bran. It is given to sheep and lambs, who consume it 

 with avidity, and may be given to all other graminivorous ani- 

 mals as a grateful and substantial food. We know, in this 

 country, that the mere chopping of straw adds greatly to its 

 powers, by facilitating mastication and digestion. We may 

 believe that a more perfect comminution of its parts will pro- 

 duce a corresponding effect, and extend very widely the uses 

 of straw and other fodder, as a means of feeding our domestic 

 animals. 



This sort of aliment is very excellent, when combined with 

 a sufficient amount of nutrimental matter, for animals whose 

 systems lack the requisite amount of phosphates and phosphoric 

 acids. A milch cow, for example, whose lacteal vessels yield, 

 in the form of milk, the above equivalents, may be benefited 

 by an occasional feed of straw meal. 



