54 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



for twenty-four hours, and these may be steamed in an 

 hour.^ 



The practice of cooking food for cattle is by no means a 

 novehy in New England. A simple apparatus for this pur- 

 pose much used is as follows : 



A kettlt, holding twelve gallons or more, is set in a fur- 

 nace of brick or stone, and over this a hogshead with one 

 head taken out and the other bored full of holes. This is set 

 so close that the steam of the kettle, when boiling, can only rise 

 through the holes, end thence ascend among the articles to 

 be boiled in the hogshead, and pass off at the top. In this 

 way a hogshead of potatoes will be nearly as soon boiled 

 as a small part of them could be if placed in the kettle un- 

 derneath. 



As the kettle is so closed as to prevent any steam from 

 passing off but through the bottom of the hogshead, a pipe 

 or tube is set in such a manner that with the aid of a funnel 

 water may be poured into the kettle as often as is necessary. 

 After the water is poured in, the tube is stopped with a plug 

 for that purpose. 



Grain of all kinds may be steam I oiled to great advantage 

 for feeding and fattening cattle ; bat in that case it is requi- 

 site to have the bottom of the hopi-shead covered with a cloth, 

 to prevent the gram from running down through the holes. 



In the fifth volume of the N. E. Farmer, p. 306, are some 

 notices of the use made of steam in preparing food for cat- 

 tle, in a letter from R. Smith, Esq., president of the Mary- 

 land Agricultural society, on the management of dairy cat- 

 tle, &c., to John Hare Powel, Esq. 



' For the purpose of augmenting the quantity and improv- 

 ing the quality of the food of my stock of every kind, I have 

 established a steaming apparatus. It consists of a boiler and 

 two wooden boxes, in which boxes is steamed the food. 

 These boxes contain each eighty bushels. By this simple 

 apparatus every species of coarse vegetable offal is converted 

 into nourishmg food, and all the ordinary provender is ren- 

 dered more nutritious. 



' In the dairies near Philadelphia, it is well known, that 

 sweet butter of the first quality cannot be made but from 

 cream quickly produced from fresh milk, and that whenever 

 the milk remains many days to produce its cream, such 



*For a simple apparatus for slearaing food for cattle and swine, see a 

 cut under the head Agricultural Implements. 



