STEAMING FOOD FOR STOCK. 259 



wet through, whether she drinks or not. I should not, how- 

 ever, hesitate to give her water. 



I have been requested by Mr. Shapleigh to state that this is 

 a picture which has been sent here out of respect for the Board 

 of Agriculture by the Rev. Mr. Murray (referring to a portrait 

 of a horse hung upon the wall at the rear of the platform) . It 

 is a picture of one of his favorite horses, and as a member of 

 this Board I am under many obligations to Mr. Murray for pay- 

 ing us this attention. He is deeply interested in this branch of 

 agriculture, not only to establish certain laws "by which good 

 horses can be bred, but also to cultivate the human mind to 

 the best knowledge of those laws. He has attempted to intro- 

 duce humanity into horse-breeding, horse-shoeing, horse-feed- 

 ing and horse-driving, and in this I warmly sympathize with 

 him. 



Mr. Bela J. Stone, of Westborough. You all know that I 

 am not in the habit of public speaking, and it is almost impos- 

 sible for me to attempt to say anything at this time. I have 

 listened to the very entertaining lecture of Dr. Loring, and I 

 feel that it is hardly worth while for me to give my views in 

 regard to breeding and feeding stock. But I will say, that 

 some twelve or fourteen years ago I began to breed thorough- 

 bred stock, and I must sa}^ that from that time I have had 

 a great love for cattle and for breeding, and trying experi- 

 ments. It has given me great pleasure and satisfaction, and 

 I have attempted to inform myself, by my own experiments, 

 in regard to the best method of breeding and feeding stock. 

 It has been my. whole business. 



In the first place, in regard to feeding. I have tried every 

 way, and have found that regularity in feeding is the first 

 great object, and I have practised the system for years of 

 feeding regularly and giving the cattle rest. But I have 

 always had a great desire to find some way of preparing my 

 coarse fodder so as to make it more palatable to my cattle. 

 I have watched Mr. Birnie's operations at Springfield for 

 years, and have been at his place time and again, and inves- 

 tigated his method, and I have felt satis^ed that he was keep- 

 ing fifty head of cattle on less fodder than I was keeping 

 twenty-five head upon, and I made up my mind that I would 

 .try the experiment. I steamed ni}^ food the last part of 



