340 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OP 



" 2. More grain can be made upon the same land tlian oats 

 will produce, with an analytic value as food of one-third over 

 oats. 



" 3. For hogs, it is next to corn, in every particular. 



" 4. For syrup, it is equal to any cane, and for sugar, ditto. 



" This is no mere speculation ; I have tried the forage, made 

 syrup and sugar, and, for the analysis of its value as food, am 

 indebted to Prof. Lee. 



" If the Patent Office had done no other thing than import 

 this seed, it deserves the commendation of the whole country ; 

 and while politicians are wrangling over the ' tithes of anise, 

 mint, and cummin, and neglecting the weightier matters of the 

 law,' let the 'bone and sinew' — the producers of the coun- 

 try — sustain the only bureau of the federal government which 

 benefits them by the distribution of seeds." 



THE VALUE OP NATURAL FOOD, IN CONTRAST WITH 

 ARTIFICIAL FOOD 



It is well known to the husbandmen of the West, that in 

 the rich pastures of Illinois, where the tall but original herbage 

 of the prairies has been supplanted by a thick turf of blue 

 grass, cattle are reared of a prodigious size. The Chicago 

 Press, under the head of " Illinois cattle the largest in the 

 world," gives an account of one hundred head of cattle, raised 

 by B. F. Harris, in Champaign County, Illinois. He fed them 

 for the New York market, and, previous to shipping them, he 

 had them accurately weighed, which resulted in an aggregate 

 gross weight of 118* tons, or 2,373 pounds each. Twenty-five 

 of the best and fattest weighed 33 tons 550 pounds, or an 

 average of 2,6G2 pounds each. "The baby" of twenty-five, 

 kicked the beam at 5,876 pounds. It will giv^e some correct 

 idea of the condition of these bullocks, when the fact is stated 

 that three days were required and needed to drive them to the 

 railroad station, fourteen miles. The average age of the one 

 hundred is less than five years. Not one has ever been housed 

 a day in his life. A half-dozen pairs only have been yoked, and 



