276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



'FEB. a«, li 



DANA'S PRIZR ESSAY ON MANURES. 

 Sfctiox Seventh. 

 Of the Circumstanres which affect the Quality and 

 Cluautilj of .Inimitl Dinig. 

 That we may reduce to some geni'ral principle, 

 easily understood and easily remembered, the facts 

 scattered up and down nmon;^ the mass of wTJters 

 and observers about the dift'erent quality of ma- 

 nure aiforded by different animals, or the same ani- 

 mals at different tunes, let nje, reader, request your 

 company while I walk into a new department of 

 your chemistry. You may not understand the rea- 

 sons of tliis difference in manures; why, for in- 

 stance, fatteninij cattle give stronger manure than 

 working o.xen, without going a little into the mode 

 how animals are nourished. The whole may be 

 stated in plain terms thus : All fond serves two 

 purposes. The first is to keep up tho animal heat, 

 and this part of food disappears in breathing or in 

 forming fat ; that is, after .serving its purpose in 

 the animal body, it goes off in the breath or sweat, 

 or it forms fat. It is so essential (o the action of 

 breathing, that we will term it food for breathing, 

 or the breathers. The second purpose answered 

 by food is, to build up, sustain, and renew the 

 waste of the body. 



Now all this is done from the blood. To form 

 blood, animals must bo supplied with its materials 

 ready formed. They are ready formed in plants ; 

 and animals never do form the materials for mak- 

 ing blood. We may therefore term this kind of 

 food the blood formers. We have then two class- 

 es of food : the breathers and the fat formers, and 

 the blood formers. If we look to the nature of 

 these different classes, we find that sugar, starch 

 and gum are breathers. Now there are three 

 principles found in plants exactly and identically 

 the same in chemical composition with white of 

 C£rg, flesh, and curd of milk. Now these 'three 

 principles exactly alike, whether derived from ani- 

 mals or from plants, are the only blood formers. I 

 shall not, reader, tax your attention further upon 

 this subject, than to beg you to remember these 

 important facts: — First, all food for breathing and 

 forming fat, contains only these three elements — 

 oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. Secondly, all food 

 for forming flesh and blood, in addition to these 

 contains nitrogen. 



Tlii« is the gist of the whole matter, so far as 

 relates to manure. Bear in mind as you go on 

 with me, reader, this fact, that of all the food ani- 

 mals take, that slone which can form flesh and 

 blood, contains nitrogen. The door is now open 

 for explaining why age, sex, kind of employment, 

 difference of food, difference of animal, can and 

 do produce a marked difference in the value of dif- 

 ferent manures, .^nd first, let us consider how 

 the quantity is affected. This depends on the kind 

 of food. The analysis of cattle dung which has 

 been given, is that of cows fed on hay, that is, 

 herds grass, red-top, &c., (or what is usually term- 

 ed English hay,) potatoes and water: the cattle 

 kept up the year round. An animal so treated, 

 consumed in seven days — 



Water,. fill lbs. 



Potatoes, 87 " 



Hay, 167 " 



During this time she dropped clear dung .TOO lbs., 

 or very nearly a bushel of dung a day. Every at- 

 tention was here paid to accuracy of measurement 

 -"H wcisrht. The annual amount of dung from 



one cow exceeds, by this account, that which is 

 usually assigned. But, as it is a matter of some 

 importance for the farmer to e.=limate what the 

 produce of his stock may be in dung, llie following 

 statement, containing the results of a large estab- 

 lishment, will probably give that average. 



At this establishment the cows were kept up the 

 year round for their dung. It was collected for 

 use from litter, aud measured daily into large tubs 

 of known capacity. The average number of cows 

 kept was fiftyfoiir for nine and a half years. Dur- 

 ing that time, they consumed of beets, meal, and 

 pumpkins, brewery grains, cornstalks, turnips, po- 

 tatoes, carrots and cabbsges, 942,'13C lbs., giving 

 an average of green fodder, for each cow per year, 

 1,837 lbs. Average consumption of hay for each 

 cow per annum, 8,164 lbs. The total dung for 

 nine and a half years was 130,520 bushels, or per 

 Cow per annum, 2li5 bushels. ' This gives a daily 

 crmsiimption of green food, 5 lbs., and 22 lbs. of 

 hay per cow, and two and a half pecks of dung per 

 day, or about 5G lbs. per cow. 



But according to some experiments made to de- 

 termine how much the quality of the food affected 

 the quantity of dung, it appears that the solid and 

 fluid excrements partially dried, were, compared 

 with the food, as follows : 



In Cattle. Sheep. Horses. 



Ihs. Ihs. lbs. 



100 lbs. of rye straw gave dung 43 40 42 



" " hay " " 44 42 45 

 '" " potatoes » " 34 13 

 " " niangel-wurtzel " 



14 



C 



9i 



green clover, " yj 84 



" " oats, " 49 51 



" " rye, " 53 



My own experiments on this subject gave for 

 100 lbs. of hay and potatoes as above, estimating 

 both as dry, or free from water of vegetation, 32.!) 

 lbs. of dung ; and this estimated as dry, is reduced 

 to 5 6 lbs., or 20 lbs. of dry food gave 14 lbs. of 

 dry dung. But as a general fact, we may say, 

 that well-cured hay and the grains give one-half 

 of their weight of dung and urine ; potatoes, roots, 

 and green grass, about one-tenth'. 



ll will be easily understood why the quality of 

 food should affect the quantity of dung. Tho 

 more watery, the less in bulk is voided, because 

 there is actually less substance taken. And as the 

 animal requires this to form its flesh and blood and 

 fat, and to keep up his breathing, so will he ex- 

 haust more completely his food. More going to 

 support him, less is returned by the ordinary chan- 

 nels. So when much vegetable fibre exists, as in 

 chopped straw and hay, then, as it goes but little 

 way towards supporting breathing or forming 

 blood, a greater bulk is rejected. In grains, on 

 the contrary, which afford much of all that the ani- 

 mal requires, less is extracted and more voided. 

 (To be coiilinucd.) 



Strong Cement for Glasi, ffood,i{c. — Steep isin- 

 glass 24 hours in white brandy, then gently boil 

 and keep stirring until tliey are well mixed, and a 

 drop, if cooled, will become a strong jelly. Then 

 strain it through a clean linen cloth into a vessel 

 to be kept tight. A gentle heat will dissolve this 

 glue into a colorless fluid. Dishes of wood, glass, 

 or earthen, if united with this cement, will break 

 elsewhere rather than separate in the old break. 

 In applying tho cement, rub the edges which aro 

 to be united, Ihon place them together and hold 

 them for two minutes, and the work is done. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



PARSNIPS FOR STOCK. 



Mr Editor — Within a few years, variou: 

 contradictory accounts have .appeared in yol 

 per, respecting the comparative value of rotj 

 food for stock; and while every other kinij 

 been applauded, very little has been said 01 

 parsnip. For the last twenty years I have hi 

 constant cultivator of this valuable root in a 

 way, raising from five to one hundred busj 

 year. No winter vegetable, except the pot;i 

 more used in my family than the parsnip: « 

 dom boil a dinner without it, from October to 

 i'Xnd where the soil suits, no root is more 

 raised, or gives a better yield : have raised 

 rate of a thousand bushels an acre. 



As parsnips have generally commanded a 

 good price and a ready sale, have considered 

 too valuable to feed to stock ; but having 

 about a hundred bushels last season, and fi 

 that I should have more than would supply m 

 toiners, concluded to feed out the surplus, 

 ing had but little experience in feeding pai 

 and being desirous to ascertain their worth, t 

 ventive faculties of my imagination were 

 requisition to hit on a method that would 

 their relative value with some other kind of 

 This, I thought required the aid of chemistr 

 being ignorant of the science, concluded to si 

 the case to a certain cow that analyzed forty 

 els of carrots for me last winter. liy referri.| 

 my note book, I had the time I began to fe" 

 carrots, the quantity given each day, with the 

 able result. With these notes, and the cow 

 in the same condition, and would calve abo 

 same time she did last spring, I thought it 

 be a fair way to make the trial 



Last winter, 20 lbs. of carrots were fed 11 

 a fair mess of milk was obtained ; quite as 

 as I expected ; and the cow held her milk till 

 in 57 days of her calving. This winter, I 

 menced feeding at the same time, but beini 

 vinccd that the parsnip is a richer root tli; 

 carrot, I gave but 15 lbs. a Jay ; and after co 

 ing this feed about a month, the cow increasi 

 milk so much that I concluded sho was farro 

 til she showed signs that could not be mis 

 The milk has been nearly double what it v 

 carrots. The cow has now passed the tim 

 she dried last winter, and continues to gi 

 pounds of milk a day. I want her to dry 3( 

 before calving, but think she will not do it w 

 stopping her feed. The same person has ft 

 milked her both winters, and the other keepii 

 been the same. As to her flesh, there is nt 

 ceptiblo difference ; but think her coat looke 

 ter on carrots. 



This experiment has convinced me that 

 nips are worth more for milch cows than c 

 and after two months' feeding, have discovei 

 unpleasant taste in the milk. Parsnips tlir 

 dug in (he spring, after the tops start, or i 

 mitted to grow in the cellar and become strc 

 either case will affect the milk : this I once 

 tained by feeding some that had become ur 

 culinary purposes. 



In all my experience in the cultivatioi 

 management of tho parsnip, the most diflicu! 

 is to preserve the roots after they are dug. 

 trying various methods, have decided that ih 

 is to wash the dirt from the roots as soon a: 

 are dug, before it dries on ; lay them in the 



