On the Feeding of Stock toit/i prepared Food. 401 
In the winter of 1842, before my intention was drawn to the 
boihng of linseed for feeding purposes, I had fourteen head of 
cattle, and other stock, on food artificially prepared as follows : — 
thirty-five to forty pounds of thoroughly steamed potatoes, with 
four pounds of ground corn, and six pounds of cut straw, were 
given to each beast daily, with a little straw in their racks, morn- 
ing and evening. This food was prepared and given warm twice 
during the day; half the above-mentioned quantity at a time; 
a supply of water was also given them, when eating the prepared 
food. The potatoes were bought and delivered upon the pre- 
mises, at Is. Id. per bushel of eighty pounds; the ground corn 
at \s. \d. per stone; and during the last eight weeks, the cattle 
consumed a ton and a half of linseed cake, at 8/. per ton. To these 
items, labour, coal, &c, must be added. At the time these cattle 
were sold, beef had advanced in price Ad. per stone ; and they left 
me a heap of manure valued at 5s. per cubic yard, when it was 
carted out in September, 1843, to pay for the straw, which, with 
the exception of tn o tons, had been purchased. 
The quantity of manure produced by this method is small, 
when compared with that which arises from prepared linseed, when 
given with raw turnips in the manner already described. Nor 
does it appear that the cultivation of potatoes for the feeding of 
stock can be generally profitable. But in districts vvhere potatoes 
can be grown and sold at a remunerating price, this mode of con- 
suming such as are not marketable for domestic purposes is far 
preferable to giving them in a raw state. 
I gave some of this food to half-bred ewes with lambs, from the 
early part of March, until grass came, — they ate greedily, and 
milked well upon it. The grass-land on which they were fed still 
retains a luxuriant appearance. This description of food, like 
the other, if allowed to stand three or four hours, or even less, 
turns sour and is unfit for use ; and when given to horses in this 
tmwholesonie state, they are, until accustomed to it, frequently 
attacked with the gripes. This the author has frequently wit- 
nessed at the Bierley Iron- Works, where the horses have been fed 
with steamed potatoes, bean meal, and chopped straw, for twenty 
winters in succession. 
To describe the apparatus used in preparing food for stock is 
the province of an engineer rather than a farmer. The difficulty 
of giving a description at once short and intelligible is not dimi- 
nished by the fact, that most agricultural readers (I speak of 
those in my own neighbourhood) are utter strangers to steam and 
its effects. It is, therefore, intended to give nothing here beyond 
a clear and concise outline, leaving such readers as may wish to 
make further investigation to consult engineers, or others compe- 
tent to execute contrivances of this sort. 
The boiler and apparatus used by myself and some of my 
