414 [Assembly 



mere than seven pounds of pure fat to the hundred pounds ; there- 

 fore, this is much better food for fattening animals than fine Indian 

 meal or flour. Bran also contains the foundation of bones, phos- 

 phate of lime. Some larmers attempt: to fatten stock upon roots 

 alone ; this is impossible, for the reason that roots contain near 80 

 per cent of pure water. The usual produce of an acre is about 

 thirty tons of either beet, mangel wurtzel, or turnips ; fro'.n this 

 thirty tons, only 673 pounds of nourishment can be obtained. It 

 "will readily be perceived that animals fed entirely upon roots would 

 produce but very little valuable manure to the feeder. If fed upon 

 potatoes alone, the animal would derive only 359 pounds of nutri- 

 ment from eight tons ; if upon wheat alone — say an acre will pro- 

 duce twenty-five bushels, or LOO pounds — the nourishment derived 

 would only be 180 pounds. An acre of oats, if it yield thirty 

 bushels, (about 1200 pounds,) would only afford the animal 133 

 pounds of nutriment. Straw alone w^ill not fatten animals, for the 

 reason that an immense quantity would have to be eaten to produce 

 a perceptible effect, on account of its bulky nature. If straw is cut 

 up and mixed with bran, it makes a capital and higl ly nutritious 

 food. Boussingault says, in respect to the comparative merits of dry 

 and fresh fodder, that the fodder obtained from hay is equally nourish- 

 ing with that from fresh grass. A heifer was weighed and fed for 

 ten days on green fodder ; each day a quantity, equal in weight to 

 that consumed, being put aside to dry. The animal was then 

 ■weighed and fed for ten days on the dry fodder, and weighed again. 

 The experiment was repeated three times, and each time the animal 

 weighed a little more after feeding on the dry fodder than after the 

 green. The difference was not enough to prove that the dry food 

 was the more nutritious, but that it was fully equal to it. 



Great advantage accrues to the farmer who will take the trouble 

 to boil or steam food for his stock, not only in the more rapid 

 growth of the animals fed on steamed food, but in the increase of 

 the food boiled. To prove the fact, place 5 pecks of rye in a boiler 

 and it will be incread to 16 ; 5 pecks of wheat will be increased to 

 11 pecks ; 5 pecks of corn to 14 pecks ; 5 pecks of bran to 15 

 pecks ; 5 pecks of barley to 1 1 pecks ; 5 pecks of oats to 8 pecks. 

 Next to food, warmth in fall and winter, is highly beneficial to 

 stock ; one-third more food is required to keep an animal exposed 

 to the elements in condition, than would be necessary if he were 

 kept warm. I have proved this fact by experiment, and therefore 

 speak positively. Salt should not on any consideration be over- 

 looked by the herdsman, for although it cannot be considered ne- 



