82 
Town Milk. 
harmless. Rut tlionj^li I liavc been over GO London and sub- 
urban covvliouses, I know of none where cow food is steamed or 
cooked, exceptinj;^ only Mr. Dancock's shed at Brorapton, and 
there the steaminc;^ n;oes merely to the manufacture of a gruel to 
bo thrown over an uncooked food, as hay, chaff, or grains. It is 
nevertheless certain that steaming food, wherever labour is not 
very costly, or where the existing hands have time to spare for 
the purpose without interfering with their efficiency elsewhere, 
improves its nutritiveness, and may be confidently recom- 
mended. 
A correspondent of the ' Agricultural Gazette ' some years ago 
thus described his management of cows in winter time. He 
said : — 
" I have a boiler containing about 40 gallons, and into it I jwt about 50 lbs. 
of turnips, a considerable quantity of water, and about 12 lbs. of straw cut into 
chaff, and this is boiled for about two hours, when it becomes a dark nasty-looking 
mess ; one-half of this is taken out into two tubs, and whilst warm 1| lb. of 
bean or pea-meal is stirred into each, and then given to each cow at about 
110° of heat. That which is left in the boiler remains till morning, and if 
well covered up is still warm enough for use ; it is then mixed with the pea or 
bean-meal, as before, and given to the cows at break of day ; this, with h^j 
quantum suff., constitutes their daily diet ; and I get about 6^ lbs. of butter 
weekly from each cow. The butter produced in this way has no taste of 
turnips ; and the avidity with which the cows eat this boiled mess is a 
good criterion of its value. When given to the cows it should be thin and 
sloppy." 
Mr, Horsfall's management as regards steamed food for cows, 
already described in this Journal, is no doubt fresh in the me- 
mory of its readers. 
He gave his dairy cows rape-cake, of the kind termed 'green' cake, 
which imparted to the butter a finer flavour than any other kind of cake ; 
and in order to induce them to eat it, he blended it with one quarter the 
quantity of malt-dust, one quarter bran, and twice the quantity of a mixture 
in equal proi^ortions of bean-straw, oat-straw, and oat-shells ; all well mixed up 
together, moistened, and steamed for one hour. This steamed food had a very 
fragrant odour, and was much relished by the cattle: it was given warm thrci; 
times a day, at the rate of about 7 lbs. to each cow (or 2 L lbs. daily). Bean- 
meal was also scattered dry over the steamed food, cows in full milk getting 
2 lbs. 23er day, the others but little. He found this substance to be an un- 
faihng means of keeping up the condition of cows while giving milk. When 
the animal had eaten up this steamed food and bean-meal, they were each 
supplied daily with 28 to 35 lbs. of cabbage from October to December, of 
kohl-rabi till February, or of mangolds till grass time ; each cow having given 
to her, after each of the three feedings, 4 lbs. of meadow hay (or 12 lbs. daily). 
The roots were not cut, but given whole. The animals were twice a day 
allowed to drink as much water as they desired. After the date of his original 
report, Mr. Horsfail discontinued the use of bean-meal owing to its comparative 
price, and gave in its place, along with about 5 lbs. of rape-cake, an additional 
allowance of malt combes, and 2 or 3 lbs. of Indian corn-meal per cow. On 
this food, in instances actually observed, his cows gave 14 quarts of milk 
a day, at the same time that they gained flesh at the rate of about i cwt. 
per month 
