628 Transactions of the American Institute. 



Mr. W. S. Carpenter. — Yes ; but tliey must be boiled. A gentle- 

 man of my acquaintance once made experiments, feeding one cow on 

 hay and one on cooked cobs ; and the result seemed to show that the 

 latter possesses a good deal of nutriment. 



Dr. E. W. Sylvester. — Years ago I kept twenty cows, and supplied 

 the neighboring village with milk. I tested various sorts of food, 

 and tliouglit I proved that cobs, ground fine with corn, are worth, 

 say fifteen per cent. I may also remark that other experiments con- 

 vinced me that I secured the best milk and most cream, by feeding 

 each animal pure corn meal at the rate of four quarts a day. For 

 milk that sold well, I preferred corn and cobs ground; and for pro- 

 ducing the greatest quantity without regard to quality, I preferred 

 buckwheat. 



Prof. J. A. Nash. — The value of cobs must, I think, depend on 

 how the animal is kept. Two things are requisite ; food not only 

 rich but of suflicient bulk to produce proper distention of the stom- 

 ach. If you are feeding with something bulky in itself, prol)ably 

 cobs are of little help ; but if the food is in condensed form, the case 

 is quite different. 



Prof. J. A. Whitney. — I think that in practice there is little profit 

 in feeding corn cobs, because the grinding and boiling will cost more 

 than the feed they furnish is worth. A number of years since, the 

 Albany Cultivator published an experiment with corn cobs boiled 

 whole and fed to cows. It was stated to have been successful in 

 helping out a scant supply of fodder in a hard winter. The nutri- 

 ment, what little there is, is of a starchy character, and contributes 

 to making fat, but not so much to flesh. 



Adjourned. 



December 28, 1869. 



Nathan C. Ely, Esq., in the cliair; Mr. Joun W. Chambers, Secretary. 



PoT.\To Diggers. 



Mr. J. P. Davidson, of Eome, N. Y., forwarded photographs of a 



•machine. Dr. Ilexamer said it would be impossible to judge of its 



value, otherwise than by seeing it in operation. The trouble with 



most implements of the kind is, that they clog with the vines. 



Mr. TVm. S. Carpenter remarked, that he had tried almost all the 

 implements of this sort introduced into the market, and he would 

 jnot give two cents for any of them. He attaches a yoke of oxen to 



