44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Value of hay grown on land, 34 tons, at $10 per 



ton, standing, $340 00 



Labor of feeding, &c., one man, at $20 per month, . 110 00 



Aggregate expenses of soiling, 

 Or. By manure, as estimated, 



Net expenses of soiling, . 



Pasture, 80 acres at $30 per acre, 

 Interest on cost of pasture, 

 Repairs, annual, on fences, <fec., 



Expense of pasturing, 



Balance due on account of soiling over pasturing, $96 00 



We do not take into account the loss of 17 acres of land for the 

 supply of winter forage, or crops, nor the expense of converting 

 the droppings of the cows into two hundred dollars' wortli of 

 manure ; neither do we calculate the expense of cultivating 17 

 acres of land. 



STEAMING. 



Of preparing food by steam, much has been said and written ; 

 and many experiments have been made. It seems to be gener- 

 ally conceded, that for the feeding of cattle, roots, such as 

 mangolds, swedes, and carrots, are reduced in weight and in 

 nutritive power by steaming. The question, therefore, with 

 regard to this process of preparing food, seems to be wliether 

 coarse and cheap fodder, usually unsalable in large quantities, 

 and fed to waste, can be raised to the value of good English 

 hay as an article of food ; and perhaps wliether English hay 

 can be more economically fed, by steaming than without it. 

 In making a calculation on this, we propose to take hay at 

 twelve dollars per ton, and to allow each animal in a herd of 

 twenty, twenty-five pounds per day, a quantity sufficient for a 

 medium sized cow, without the addition of grain or roots. We 

 say nothing of the expense of cutting the fodder that is steamed, 

 because it can be done, by a little additional use of the labor 

 of men and horses on the farm. We do not estimate the interest 

 on the cost of steaming apparatus, nor the wear and tear. 



