196 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DBC, 80, 1S4I 



From ibe American Agriculturist. 



NECESSITY OF WARMTH AND SHELTER 

 IN WINTER FOR STOCK. 

 Dear Sir — It is frequently asked by young far- 

 niers, to what kind of domestic animals and stock 

 is it advantageous to afford warm and comfortable 

 winter quarters ? The answer is — to all ; from 

 hens and chickens, to the horse and ox. There is 

 a great economy of food in affording shelttr to all 

 that breathe in a cold climate, and to all nnimals 

 that we wish to fatten, perfect quietude, or freedom 

 from iriuscular e.xcrtion, is not less important. 



All the food given to animals, goes to supply the 

 waste in the system produceil by the vital functions 

 and muscular exertion, keeping the system in sintu 

 quo, or in increasing its bulk and weight by addi- 

 tion, in full-grown animals, in fat, or in keeping' up 

 a supply of heat to the body. In cold weather, a 

 very large portion of the food is expended in gene. 

 rating heat, and just so much lost to the production 

 of fat, milk, eggs, &c. 



The necessity of generating animal heat from 

 the carbon and hydrogen of the food, increases 

 with the severity of the weather, for the faster the 

 heat is abstracted from the body by the atmosphere, 

 the faster it must be supplied. We know of no 

 other source of animal heat than the oxydation of 

 the elements of food by breathing, and their p.nss- 

 ing out of the body in the form of vapor, of water, 

 and carbonic gas. All the food, then, that is thus 

 burnt to keep up the heat of the body, is lost in nu- 

 trition. Artificial warmth, then, either from shelter 

 or clothing, supplies the place of food — of that 

 food thus expended to produce necessary heat, 

 which would go, if that were supplied from other 

 sources, to the formation of fat, or the supply of 

 waste. 



All muscular exertion, everything that increases 

 the frequency of breathing, causes waste, which 

 must be supplied before any increase in fat or milk 

 or muscle, can take place. Hard work, active ex- 

 ertion, and quick breathing, cause rapid icnste of 

 the parts of the system. Tliis must ba supplied 

 by food before there can be any addition. With- 

 out this waste, the same food would go to increase 

 the weight and bulk of the body. When animals 

 are kept warm, clean, and quiet, about one-half the 

 nutritious matter (if it be diffused through a bulk 

 sufficient for proper distention of the organs of nu- 

 trition.) that It is necessary to a wretched shiver- 

 ing existence, exposed to the inclemencies of the 

 weather, will keep them in a fine condition. And 

 good shelter and warm clothing oven, cost much 

 Jess in the course of a few years, than large daily 

 supplies of food, necessary to vital warmth, and 

 expended and lost, in producing it. 



Independently of the question of economy of 

 food, there is great comfort to a hunwne man, in 

 seeing all living things around him cninfortable ; 

 and especially those to whom he is largely indebt- 

 ed for those comforts which he enjoys. Even 

 when there are ample supplies of food to waste in 

 keeping animals warm, still thi-y suffer in very 

 cold weather, if unprotected from cold winds, sleet 

 and snow. And it is painful to see them drawn 

 up and shivering, turning their mute supplicating 

 countenances to their masters, for protection from 

 the pitiless inclemency of the weather. 



The subject of thcso brief hints is so ably treat- 

 ed, and fully demonstrated in Liebig'a Animal 

 Chemistry, that it is greatly to be desired that his 

 work should be in the hands of not the few ecien- 



lific men only, but of the people; and I should be 



greatly pleased to see an edition of it, in which 



the language in which so much important truth is I f,„„, ,^0 Commissioner of Patents, and would 



embodied, should be adapted to popular compre- L„at if any of our friends in the n.erior w, 1 



hension. Many persona will not road it, and oth ' imenor win 



CIRCULAR. 

 We insert the following Circular received bji 



ers will not understand it, in its present transla. 

 lion. His facts and the unavoidable deductions 

 from them, bring to us a new era in physiology. 

 Starting points that have not been approached be- 

 fore, seem to have been reached, and a new direc- 

 tion will be given to our researches, and a more 

 profitable one, for we shall seek attainable objects. 

 We are yet barely in the dawn of the application 

 of the inductive philosophy, and centuries will pass 

 over before mankind will be fully aware of the 

 obligations they owe to Lord Bacon. 



PLOWING IN CORN FOR MANURE. 



We find in the Louisville Journal, of October 

 2.5th, an excellent article by a correspondent, on 

 the subject of manuring land, by sowing corn 

 broadcast and plowing it under as a green dress- 

 ing. It is only one of the many instances which 

 have come to our notice jhe psesent year, in which 

 sowing corn has been experimented en, and in eve- 

 ry instance with marked success. 



In the case recorded in the Journal, the field 

 contained 37 acres, and the year before had been 

 in corn, and previous to being sown, hnd not been 

 broken up, and the old stalks still remained on the 

 ground. The latter part of April, 30 acres were 

 sown with corn, at the rate of two bushels to the 

 acre, and 7 acres at the rate of three bushels per 

 acre. The whole, old stalks and all, was covered 

 by the plow about two inches deep. It came up 

 and grew C(|ually until about two feet high, when 

 a difference began to appear, and at maturity the 

 thick sown was but five feet high, while that sown 

 thin was seven or eight. The writer is decidedly 

 of the opinion that two bushels or even less, is a 

 sufficient supply of seed per acre. To turn the 

 corn under, a heavy roller was used, which press- 

 ing and mashing the corn close to the earth, and 

 in one direction, enables the plow to cover it per- 

 fectly. In this way, stalks ten or twelve feet high 

 may be crushed down and turned under without 

 ditTiculty. The writer adds : 



" Were my only object the rapid improvemcntof 

 my soil within the shortest space of time, I would 

 not seek further or better means than first sowing 

 down thick with rye, which I would plow under 

 just before the time of ripening, to prevent its 

 seeding the ground, and upon which I would sow 

 one bushel and a half of corn per acre ; thus in 

 the same season, plowing under a heavy coat of 

 rye and corn, which, in the short space of twelve 

 months, will equal, if not Skir^ass, any benefit 

 which can be derived from clover in two years." — 

 jJIb. Cult. 



nish the information desired, we shall esteem il 



a personal favor : j 



Patent Office, |I 



Dec. 1, 1843. j 



Sir — In preparing my annual report to Congi 



of agricultural statistics, I shall he thankfu 



avail myself of your opinion, minutely or in gf 



ral, as to the crops this year, in your distric 



State, as compared with last year. Please s 



how much per cent., greater or less, with the c£ 



of tlie failure or increase, so far as may be coi 



nieiit in the following crops : 



Wheat, 



Barley, 



Oats, 



Rye, 



Buckwheat, 



Indian corn, 



Potatoes, 



Hay, 



Flax ind hemp, 



Tobacco, 



Cotton, 



Rice and silk cocoons, 



Sagar, 



Wine. 

 The information requested, if only general, 

 enable me to correct olher data, and thus av 

 great errors. Please answer as soon as practi 

 ble, and much oblige yours, respectfully, 



H. L. ELLSWORTH, 

 Commissioner of Paitnli 



Mr Colman — Wo find in our English papers an 

 admirable speech made by this gentleman at the 

 meeting of the Wentworth Farmers' Club, to which 

 he was introduced by Karl Fitzwilliam. It is plea- 

 sant to us to find Mr Colman never losing sight of 

 the necessity of ameliornting the condition of the 

 laboring classes, and while engaged in receiving 

 and communicating agricultural knowledge, never 

 merging the moral and intellectual in the physical 

 condition of the man. From his facilities for ob- 

 servation, and his undoubted ability to improve his 

 advantages, there can be no question that Mr C. 's 

 reports will be of the highest value. — lb. 



Pumpkin Pies. — A correspondent of the Noi 

 amptnn Courier thus addresses the editor : 



" The almost universal mode in New Engli 

 of preparing pumpkins for pies, (a kind which is 

 universally admired,) ia that of stewing the pun 

 kin after it has been cut in pieces, and pass; 

 through one or two other processes before it is i 

 stale for baking — thereby making much labor, 

 think a more preferable mode of prepuration a 

 one which I believe will be highly valued by 

 housewives, is that of grating the pumpkin : al 

 grating, add the milk, eggs, &,c., in the same p 

 portions as when stewed. Your domestic read 

 will find that pies made in this way are equa 

 nice and even more delicate, with one third the 1 

 lior." 



Chicken Salad. — Boil a chicken that weighs i 

 more than a pound and a half. When very tend 

 take it up, cut it in small strips, and make the f 

 lowing sauce, and turn over it : Boil four eo. 

 three minutes— take them out of the .shells, ma; 

 and mix them with a couple of table-spoonfulls 

 olive oil, or melted butter, two-thirds of a tumbj 

 of vinegar, a teaspoonftil of mixed mustard, a t( 

 spoonful of salt, a little pepper, and essence of c 

 ery, if you have it— if not, it can bo dispens 

 with. In making chicken salad, the dressi 

 should not be put on till a few minutes before t 

 salad is to be eaten ; as by laying in it, the chic 

 en and celery will become hard. — Mrs. Ellis. 



The Carlisle (Eng.) Journal tells of a cabbnj 

 seen by the editor, J. 'j 1 a feet in circuinferen( 

 and weighing 63 pounds ! 



