372 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
Food Necessary to Supply the Waste in Animals .— 
Practice says that an ox requires 2 per cent, of his live 
weight in hay per day; if he works, he requires 2| 
per cent. : a milch cow, 3 per cent.; a fatting ox, 5 per 
cent, at first, 4| per cent, when half fat, and only 4 per 
cent, when fat; or 4| on an average. Sheep grown 
up take 3£ per cent, of their weight in hay per day to 
keep in store condition; and growing animals should 
never be stinted. Science has ascertained, by the most 
carefully-conducted experiments, that a full-grown man 
voids, in his urine alone, about § oz. of nitrogen every 
24 hours, and that a small quantity passes off in the 
solid excretions and by the skin. The carbon consumed 
by the lungs to keep up animal heat, averages about 
11 ounces in the 24 hours; and the saline and earthy 
matter voided is in direct proportion to the amount 
taken in the food. It appears that the food consumed 
by an ox, horse, or sheep, is in direct proportion to their 
weights when compared with man. Hence we find that 
an ox would require, to replace the daily loss of mus¬ 
cular fibre, from 20 to 24 ounces of dry gluten or vege¬ 
table albumen, which would be supplied in 
120 lbs. of turneps 17 lbs. of clover-hay 
115 lbs. of wheat-straw 12 lbs. of pea-straw 
75 lbs. of carrots 12 lbs. of barley 
67 lbs. of potatoes 10 lbs. of oats 
20 lbs. of meadow-hay 5 lbs. of beans. 
The consumption of carbon by a cow amounts to 70 
ounces ; and that of a horse to 89 ounces on an aver¬ 
age in 24 hours, which is supplied by the starch, gum, 
and sugar of the food consumed. Fatty matter is 
required to supply the fat of the animal, and this also 
exists more or less abundantly in all vegetable food. 
Earthy phosphates and saline substances are found in 
the inorganic portion of all vegetables, and these supply 
the daily waste of bone, &c., of the body. Hence we 
see that the animal requires a variety of substances, all 
of which exist in greater or less abundance in its daily 
food. 
Table showing the relative value of different articles 
of food, as ascertained by practice; good meadow hay 
being taken at 100. 
Hay, 
Clover hay, 
Green clover, 
Wheat straw, 
Barley straw, 
Oat straw, 
Pea straw, - 
Potatoes, 
Old potatoes, 
100 
- 80 to 100 
450 to 500 
400 to 500 
200 to 400 
200 to 400 
100 to 150 
200 
- 400 
Carrots, 
Turneps, • 
Cabbage, 
Peas and beans, 
Wheat, 
Barley, • 
Oats, - 
Indian corn, - 
Oil cake, 
250 to 300 
- 500 
200 to 300 
30 to 50 
* 50 to 60 
50 to 60 
- 40 to 70 
20 to 
The above table represents the average results from 
a number of experiments made in France and Holland. 
The two paragraphs above, are selected from a lec¬ 
ture read before the Gloucester Farmers 5 Club by Mr. 
Gyde. 
To Preserve Grapes , fyc .—Procure some tin cases of 
any convenient size, and put in a layer of dry sand or 
charcoal and then a bunch of grapes, until the case is 
full; seal down the lid and make all air tight, and bury 
them to any convenient depth in the ground. This plan 
will likewise answer for late cherries, plums, goose¬ 
berries, currants, &c. These fruits in some gardens 
are retarded in their time of ripening, by being covered 
with mats or nets, which is an excellent plan, and ought 
to be more generally adopted, as it insures a succession. 
Grapes, peaches, and apricots, in the open air, may be 
kept for some time hanging on the trees after they are 
ripe, by the same means, but their flavor will not be 
good. Red and white currants, in the same manner, 
will even keep good till the end of December. Ice¬ 
houses have been recommended for preserving fruits; 
but they are objectionable, on account of the damp 
moisture which they contain. A dry, cool, and airy 
room, free from all atmospheric changes, is the only 
place where fruits can be preserved for any length of 
time. 
Shell Fruit , as walnuts, nuts, chesnuts, &c., may be 
preserved for a year or two by being divested of their 
outer shell, and thoroughly dried. In jars, or tin 
cases, put in a layer of charcoal or dry sand, then a 
layer of nuts. Proceed in this way until they are full, 
properly securing each lid, to prevent the admission of 
air; when finished, bury them in the open ground, or 
in some cool and dry cellar.— Gardener’s Chronicle. 
Extraordinary Production of Peas. —In the course 
of last week, as I was taking in some peas for seed, 
curiosity induced me to count the number produced 
from several peas separately; and among others, I give 
you the following as a sample:—I found one pea had 
produced 94 pods, containing altogether 344 peas; an¬ 
other 99 pods, containing 368 peas; a third had pro¬ 
duced 102 pods, containing 418 peas; and a fifth had 
produced 105 pods, containing altogether 432 peas. The 
lengths of the haulm, measured from the ground up¬ 
ward, are as follow—first, 2 ft. 2 in.; second, 2 ft. 10 
in.; third, 2 ft. 6 in.; and fourth, 3 ft. 
Extraordinary Produce. —A few days since, Mr. 
Jackson, of Borwick Hall, was in a field of barley on 
his farm, when he found a single barley-corn which 
had thrown up seventeen stems, on which were no 
fewer than 550 corns! The field was thinly sowed 
where this plant grew.— New Farmers’ Journal. 
To Increase the Scent of Mignionette. —Keep it from 
flowering for a year, and it becomes a shrubby plant 
and perennial; it is also much more powerful as to 
scent.— lb. 
Pea 3000 Years Old. —Mr. Grimstone, of the High- 
gote Herbary, has succeeded in rearing peas from an 
Egyptian pea found in a vase in a mummy tomb, prob¬ 
ably 3,000 years old ! He says of it: This pea stems 
right and left, the mother stems being very strong, so 
that I should imagine them capable of standing without 
the use of sticks. This pea is in height about three 
feet, being fourteen inches from left to right; its ten¬ 
drils are wiry, and of sufficient strength to keep each 
other in a standing position when planted in high rows. 
Its principle in bearing is curious, having its pod only 
on one side, so that it appears something like a grape¬ 
vine in miniature.— lb. 
Wash for Sunburns and Chilblains. —A small portion 
of honey mixed with lukewarm water, and allowed to 
cool, makes an excellent wash for sunburns and chil¬ 
blains.— lb. 
A Grain Reaping , Threshing , and Winnowing Ma¬ 
chine, which performs the whole of these operations 
together, has lately been invented in South Australia. It 
is said to perform well at the rate of an acre an hour, 
and requires only two men and two horses to attend it. 
This is rather too good a story to be true, for it is 
quite impossible that so much machinery as these united 
operations require, could be successfully moved with so 
little power. 
Fat and Muscle. —An admirable article on the causes 
which appear to determine the production of fat and 
muscle respectively, according to the present state of 
our knowledge of animal physiology, may be found in 
the fifth volume of the Royal Agricultural Society Jour¬ 
nal, just issued. It is a prize essay by the veterinary 
surgeon, W. F. Karkeek, and is well worthy the study 
of all engaged in breeding domestic animals. 
Average Product of Wheat in England. —The Quar¬ 
terly Review estimates this at 26 bushels per acre. 
