VOL. XXII. NO. 51. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



405 



ON FEEDING MILCH COWS. 

 The following^ is an extract from a leclure re- 

 ently delivered at Alnwick, England, by Profes- 

 or j'ulinson, of Durham University, at the desire 

 if the Duke of Northumberland, "On the feeding 

 ,f stock." 



"I have spoken of the various conditions of an- 

 ninls. 1 "ill now direct your attention to the 

 nilk of the cow. When an animal conies into 

 he world, the parent gives it milk. The parent 

 hen must nourish its own body and produce the 

 nilk besides. The cow gives a large quantity of 

 nilk as soon as the calf is born. And cows that 

 ;ive a large quantity of milk are in general char- 

 icterized by striking peculiarities. Such an ani- 

 nal an inexperienced eye would say is poor and 

 meagre and worth nothing ; but when he is told to 

 ook° at the large udder, and the conforniatio.T of 

 he whole animal, fitted for the copious production 

 )f milk, he soon learns to change his opinion. 



Now, .what does milk contain ! Curd, or casein, 

 nitter, sugar, and saline matter, as you will see 

 ,n referring to the table. Therefore, if you would 

 "eed a cow with food tliat contains these ingre- 

 dients in a large proportion, you must give her 

 beans and peas or you must give her some legum- 

 nous crop. Observe, the butter is <lerived from 

 the fatty matter of the food ; and some pastures, 

 as you know, are calculated to fatten. Tliese 

 same pastures would give a milk rich in cream, or 

 that would produce much butter, while others 

 would increase the yield of casein, or would be 

 adapted for the production of cheese. It is clear, 

 therefore, that the constituents of the food must 

 exist in the pasture. Now, you all know that milk 

 is extensively used as food, and is raised for sale, 

 cither diredlxj, as by the cow-keepers in our large 

 towns, or in the form of butter and cheese, as in 

 onr dairy districts, or it is manufactured into veal 

 The object of the cow.feeder of the town, is dif- 

 ferent from that of the true dairy fanner. 



His object is to produce a large quantity of 

 milk; and he accomplishes that by feeding the an- 

 imal upon succulent substances, and such as con- 

 tain a large quantity of water. In some places, 

 you know, they are said to have little scruple in 

 adding water to it afterward. But they can avoid 

 tha od"iu;n of this by giving it in the food. Milk, 

 of average quality, contains abmit 87 per cent, of 

 water; but it is possible to increase the propor- 

 tion to several per cent. more. Then there are 

 the cheese districts, such as those of Cheshire and 

 Ayrshire, and a different kind of food is made use 

 of in these places from what is employed where 

 milk only is required. If you wish the product of 

 cheese to be plentiful, you must feed the cattle on 

 clover, beans and peas, and other plants that con- 

 tain a large quantity of casein. A rich milk may 

 be obtained by feeding your cows upon clover, but 

 you may obtain a very rich milk also by putting 

 them early on beans or pease meal. But, if butter 

 be the principal object desired, you must feed your 

 cows upon food containing a large quantity of oil. 

 Indian corn, as I said before, contains a great pro- 

 portion of oil, and no doubt increase the propor- 

 tion of cream. Some kinds of fodder also contain 

 more fatty matter than others. 



From this fatty matter the butter, as I have said, 

 appears to be derived, and I think by using a little 

 care, a milk rich in butter might be obtained by 

 the use of oil cake, without imparting any disa- 

 greeable taste to the milk itself, or to the cream 



obtained from it. Then in other places ihey are 

 in the habit of manufacturing the milk into veal. 

 The young calf it i^ necessary to feed on such 

 substances as contribute at once to the growth of 

 the bones, and to the laying on of fat. These 

 substances exist in inilk, and it may be necessary, 

 at certain seasons of its growth, to give the milk 

 skimmed, at others unusually rich in cream. Thus, 

 in the neighborhood of large towns, whore veal is 

 much used, it is usual, when the animal arrives at 

 an ngc when it ought to lap on fat rapidly, to give 

 it the milk richer in cream, as well as a larger 

 quantity of it. 'I'his is altogether a different pro- 

 cess from feeding farm stock. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 



WHITE DAISY. 



Messrs Editors — In the summer of 1637, we ob- 

 served for the first time in a field of ten acres, 

 about five completely covered with the White 

 Daisy ; so much so that no domestic animal which 

 we raise, would graze among them, or even look 

 for grass where the daisies grow. They were 

 mowed off that summer, but apparently to no pur- 

 pose. The next spring, as soon as grass had 

 started, we turned about one hundred and twenty 

 wethers and yearling lambs into that field and kept 

 them there as long as there was any thing green 

 to be seen, when they were driven out until the 

 daisies and grass had started up, when they were 

 put back, and the daisies again eaten off. We 

 continued to change them in and out of that field 

 throughout the summer — our object being to keep 

 the ground where the daisies grew as bare as 

 slieep could be made to gnaw it. The end of this 

 is, that there has not been a daisy there since. 



We would recommend to those readers of the 

 Cultivator who are troubled with the daisy, to use 

 their sheep, (if they have any,) not only for the 

 comfort of themselves and families, but for labor- 

 saving animals also. They should be confiised to 

 the daisy on its first appearance in the spring, and 

 so many of them as to eat all clean in two weeks 

 or less, when they may be changed into another 

 field, til; such time as the daisy ogaiu springs up. 

 We have never known or heard of daisies being 

 destroyed in this way before. If you thmk this 

 worth knowing, please publish it. 



Frank Fab.mkr. 



shriveled at the top, and much resembling the 

 seed of some gourds, can no doubt send you ears 

 with24row5. That was a favorite corn with rny 

 father, who would not sell ten bushels in the ear 

 for less than s\k bushels of sholledcorn! The 

 usual allowance is one half, but he always told the 

 purchaser if he was not satisfied to take it at that, 

 he would have it shelled, and both parties must 

 abide the result. He had his seed-corn from year 

 to year selected from the whole mass, choosing 

 always such, if the ears were perfect, as had the 

 greatest number of rows. 1 often when a boy as- 

 sisted in the selection, but never met with a sin- 

 gle instance, or ever heard of one, where the num- 

 ber of rows was an odd onf. I have seen many 

 ears ending with a less number than they began, 

 but always with an even number. So too, you will 

 see some cars grow larger at the top end, the sea- 

 son perhaps proving more congenial just at the 

 time when nature asserts her influence, to finish 

 that part of her process. 



As to the number of rows on an ear of corn, I 

 have seen several bred in the way that has been 

 already mentioned, which had 40 rows ! I might 

 not venture to say it, were it not that 1 once sent 

 forty miles to get one, by way of demonstration, 

 and that I can refer for the accuracy of my memo- 

 ry and statement, to one whose memory is the best 

 I ever knew, and whose word was sever yet doubt- 

 ed the time-honored and venerable Judge Gabriel 



Duval. If you can send the ear of corn to Wash- 

 ington, "with 31 rows exactjy — :neither more nor 

 less,"' it would be a curiosity in the Patent OfScc. 



A story is told of a slave who was offered his 

 freedom, on condition that at h.usking-time he could 

 find an ear with an odd number, and it runs that 

 when the corn was young in milk, he cut out one 

 row, wrapped it up again, and that the scar could 

 not be seen, and so he got free. J. S. S. 



It is possible thit we were mistaken in the 

 number of rows in the ear of corn alluded to above 

 by our facetious correspondent ; hut, nevertheless, 

 we think we were not; for, as before observed, we 

 counted them twice. — Ed. Jgricult. 



From the Arnerican Agriculturist. 



ODD ROWS OF CORN. 

 On page 26 of January number, you ask why an 

 ear of corn with "21 rows tj:flc%, neither more 

 nor less," .should be termed "anomalous?" The 

 reason why I should so consider it, is, that I have 

 never yet (though I have in the course of my life 

 counted probably thousands) seen an ear of corn 

 with an odd number of rows. 



Sam Weller, or some other one of Dickens' 

 characters, asks a man, "Did you ever see a dead 

 donkey ? Did you ever see any man that ever saw 

 a dead donkey ?" 



Now, Mr. Editor, until I have had the pleasure 

 to see you, and I hope my thread will not be cut 

 before I do, I can say that I have never yet seen 

 the man who could say he had an car of corn, the 

 rows of which were not of even number. You may 

 dismiss all doabt about having seen cars with 

 as many as 24 rows. Any one who cultivates the 

 genuine yellow gourd-seed corn, long narrow grain 



Ticks on Sheep.— Three or four days after sheep 

 are sheared,, the licks, if there are any, will all go 

 on to the lambs. Immerse the lambs in a weak 

 decoction of tobacco, and you will thus get rid of 

 them. Take care to wet the skin fairly, but do 

 not keep the lamb too long in the liquid, and take 

 care that it does not get into its cars, eyes, or 

 mouth. To relieve themselves from the intolera- 

 ble itching which the ticks create, sheep bite and 

 scratch tiremselves with their teeth, by which much 

 wool is pulled out and wasted, and the sheep, be- 

 sides, loses fiesh rapidly. The mode here men- 

 tioned, is the readiest one of extirpating ticks. — 

 Jllh. Cull. 



To Preserve Tomatoes.— Dip the ripe tomatoes 

 in scalding water, peel them, and divide them into 

 two, or (if very thick) into three slices ; lay them 

 on plates, and put them into the oven after the 

 bread is drawn ; in 48 hours they will be perfectly 

 dried. Put them in paper bags, and keep in a dry 

 |ilace. When wanted for use, dip them in cold 

 water and lay them on a dish to swell, and in a 

 mince or stew, they are almost equal to the fresh 

 fruit. If you wish to make tomato sauce, add a 

 little water to cook them in. They are very good 

 to eat out of the hand in the dry state.— ftirf. 



