METHOD OF STEAMING. 261 



method of steaming the food, which I should criticise. I did 

 not see any way in which the food could be softened in those 

 iron tanks. I have a box that I made, with a false bottom, 

 with slats four inches wide and half an inch apart; I put my 

 food, after mixing it in another box, into that box ; the water 

 settles to the bottom, perhaps two or two and a half inches 

 deep ; I let the steam directly into that Avater, under those 

 slats, which boils the water, and very soon the steam escapes 

 freely and evenly from the bottom to the top. You can boil 

 that water and it will not break the box. I intend to keep a 

 pressure of forty or fifty pounds, until I warm the food up. 

 It is very much cheaper, to say nothing about the first cost 

 any way, if it had to be renewed every year, but I am using 

 the same one that I did last year. It cooks the food very 

 easily and softens it, and when I feed my cattle it seems 

 softened to pulp. I do not claim that there is any real good- 

 ness in steam, but I think it prepares the food in such a 

 manner that it aids digestion, and it helps supply the animal 

 heat which a large amount of our food assists in supplying, 

 and a smaller quantity, therefore, satisfies the animal. I 

 know that my cattle are not so large as those we have seen 

 here ; they are a smaller breed, being Ayrshires and milch 

 cows, and growing heifers. I saw an account of the expense 

 of feeding those animals which we saw this morning, which is 

 a very small sum considering the size of the animals and the 

 condition they are in ; but I think that for fifteen or sixteen 

 cents a day you can feed good milch cows, that a^e giving a 

 full flow of milk every day. And in order to make milk, at 

 the price that we have to make milk now to send to Boston 

 market, we have got to devise some means whereby we can 

 produce that milk cheaply, to make anything. 



,This question of breeding and feeding is a very interesting 

 one to me, and one of great importance. I did not expect to 

 be called upon to say anything before this body, but I hoped 

 to hear the views of some men who are better posted, and 

 have had more experience than I have, and I thought I should 

 have a good opportunity to ask some questions. I would 

 like now to hear the experience of those who have fed in 

 various ways, that we may arrive at some conclusion as to 

 the best way. 



