Practical Experiences in the Preparation of Food for Stoclc. 4G7 
{_For Schedule of Questiom, see page 448.] 
Mr. Henry Woods, Merton^ Thetford, Norfolk. 
3. Yes ; oat straw. 
4. German moss litter is nsed extensively as well as straw ; tbe former 
is found too cold for pigs in winter, but answers well for horses, cattle, and 
large stock. I consider the moss much cheaper than straw ; 1 ton of the 
former (including all expenses) costs 455., and is equal to 1^ ton of wheat 
straw, value 60^. 
5 and 6. For horses, and also for cows, &c., when mixed with other 
food such as pulped roots. Otherwise it is given long, like hay. 
7. The chaffing system prevents the food heing consumed too hastily, 
avoids waste of food, and promotes digestion. It prepares the diet also in 
a more concentrated form, and helps the use of less palatable food by the 
process of fermentation, which, with the additional aid of spices or con- 
diments, will convert poor or sour edibles into wholesome nutriment. 
8. None in general use. 
10. Horses: One and a half gallon oats and hay chaff, 1 stone long hay, 
occasionally 2 lbs. or 3 lbs. linseed cake. Dairy stock : 3 lbs. linseed cake, 
1 gallon crushed oats and bran, and 1 stone long hay or oat straw; also 
28 lbs. drumhead cabbage, occasionally 1 stone parsnips. Fattening beasts : 
G lbs. to 8 lbs. linseed cake, 1 gallon crushed beans or peas, hay, and 
cabbages, breeding sheep: Grovmdoats and bran, or cake, and cabbages or 
swedes. Fattening sheep : Ground or crushed peas or maize, cake (linseed), 
hay, or cabbages. Sivine: Barley meal and bran, skim milk and refuse 
vegetables, &c., acorns. 
11. In summer dairy cattle and young cattle get a few pounds of linseed 
cake on the pastures, and the sheep later on when the pastures begin to 
fail. Cart-horses are turned out to graze for two or three weeks between hay- 
time and harvest. In October cows come in at night, and are put on half 
winter diet. The sheep remain out on extra food (cake, oats, or hay) when 
required; at the end of November the winter system of feeding com- 
mences. 
12. No. Not selling milk, we prefer less watery food, and use malt culms 
in preference. The latter, however, have now been abandoned, being hardly 
considered equal to good bran, and we intend giving desiccated grains a trial 
if possible. 
13. We rely chiefly on concentrated diets containing a high albuminoid 
ratio, 1 : 6 or 7, in order to increase the proportion of liutter to milk. The 
practice with regard to fattening (No. 10) has a similar object, in increasing 
animal fat so far as it is allied with health and quality of produce. 
14. Only during the cold months for pigs, which receive their usual food 
warmed up in a large copper heated by a stove beneath. 
16. Ih ave found the lollowing the best and most simple, of which a 
rough sketch is appended (see next page). The stove is situated in a corner 
of the meal-house, and the chimney is carried through the roof. 
The building and making of this stove cost 21. 7s. 6d., with the exception 
of the chimney pot, which had been placed tlure by a former tenant. The 
copper is worth about Ds. Total, 21. 12s. Gd. It has been up about three 
years, and has repaid its cost liandsomely. 
18. For all cattle, dairy stock, and pigs during the cold season. The 
outlay in coal or coke is very trifling, and the larger amount of food cooked 
and increased size of copper, will reduce this expense proportionatelj'. The 
copper should never be empty when the stove is ignited, otherwise it may 
crack ; a gallon or two of water will prevent this mishap. Any food may 
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