52 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



husbandman. But soiling on a large or general plan will 

 not soon, if ever, be adopted in New England, where there 

 are so many thousands of acres of pasture land which are 

 fit for nothing but grazing. 



Cooking Food for Cattle. Among the most useful im- 

 provements of modern husbandry, may be numbered the 

 practice of steaming or boiling food for domestic animals. 

 Some account of the origin of this practice in Great Britain 

 may be found in the Complete Grazier^ an English work 

 of reputation, from which we have made the following ex- 

 tracts. 



' Steamed food may be given to milch cows to great ad- 

 vantage. For this important fact in rural economy we are 

 indebted to the ingenious and persevering experiments of J. 

 C. Curwin, Esq., M. P., whose attention to the comforts of 

 his tenants, and judicious zeal for the improvement of agri- 

 culture, are too well known to require any eulogy. In pro- 

 secution of a system which he had long practised of giving 

 cooked food to animals, Mr. Curwin turned his attention to 

 the cheapest mode of supplying milch cows with it ; and in 

 a communication to the society for the Encouragement of 

 Arts, &c., (w^hich was honored with their lesser gold medal,) 

 he stated his belief that he has at length been completely 

 successful. He uses a steam boiler of 1 00 gallons' contents,* 

 on each side of which are fixed three boxes, containing eleven 

 stones! each of chaff, (the husks of wheat, rye, &c.,) which 

 by behig steamed gain more than one-third of their original 

 weight. The steam is conveyed by various cocks into the 

 lower part of the boxes ; and thus two or three boxes may 

 be steamed at the same time. The quantity of fuel required 

 was about two pounds for each stone of chaff. 



' In giving the steamed chaff to the cattle, two pounds of 

 oil cake were mixed with one stone of chaff; and the milch 

 cows are fed with it morning and evening, having an allow- 

 ance of one stone at each time. On being taken from the 

 steamer the food is put into wooden boxes, which are mount- 

 ed on wheels, to be drawn to the place where it is intended 

 to be used ; and the chaff requires to stand some time before 

 it is fit for use. 



' The average milk on a stock of thirty-six milch cows was 



* An engraving of it is given in the thirtieth volume of the society's 

 Transact'ons. 

 J Fourteen pounds a stone. 



