116 ANIMALS AND THEIB PRODUCTS. 



stored near his stables a quantity of ground plaster, 

 or dried peat, or, what is better, of both, to be thrown 

 on the stable-floors for the double purpose of increas- 

 ing the value of the manure and of preventing the 

 bad effluvia from injuring his own health, and lessen- 

 ing the thrift of his cattle. 



206. Thus equipped, he commences the solid win- 

 ter. And now what disposition shall he make of his 

 crops ? According to the best analyses I can obtain, 

 good meadow hay contains 10 or 12 per cent, of wa- 

 ter, 4 or 5 of starch, not less than 10 of gum and 

 sugar, 7 or 8 of nitrogenous substances, 3 or 4 of oil, 

 50 of woody fibre, and 7 or 8 of inorganic matter 

 (ash). In hay grown on richly-manured land, a most 

 valuable ingredient of the inorganic matter is phos- 

 phate of lime, while there is but little of this in hay 

 grown on old, worn-out lands, that produce but a 

 sparse crop. 



207, From the foregoing it will be seen that good, 

 early-cut, well-cured, meadow hay is rich in nearly all 

 the desirable qualities for feeding. There are the 

 starch, gum, and sugar, for keeping the lungs active, 

 to supply animal heat. There are the nitrogenous 

 substances for the muscles, tendons, and cartilages. 

 There is phosphate of lime for the bones and for milk. 

 And there is oil enough to give considerable fattening 

 qualities. It is then suitable for all kinds of cattle. 

 If we could procure it in unlimited quantities, and at 

 a small price, we should hardly want anything else 

 for the occupants of the barn. But, limited as it is, 



