1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
accord with, and conform to, all the circumstances 
of location, and relation_The Estimate in 
detail provides for all work to be done in a substan¬ 
tial manner, of the usual materials. The exterior 
and interior wood finish is of clear pine lumber. 
The Plastering is hard-finished, on two coats of 
brown mortar. Appropriate Cornices, Centers, and 
Panels, in stucco, are intended for the hall, parlor, 
library, dining-room, and the two front chambers in 
the second story. Gas-pipes are inserted in the 
frame-work of the house, with connections arrang¬ 
ed for 37 attachments. These are easily put in dur¬ 
ing construction, and even when the house is locat¬ 
ed far from any city or village having gas, there is 
strong probability that ere long we shall have con¬ 
venient apparatus for making and supplying gas to 
isolated dwellings_ I’liiiiibiiig is provided as 
described in the last American Agriculturist, except 
that the plumbing required for the butler’s pantry 
is here added. Bells are put in, with their wires 
running through zinc tubes concealed in the walls. 
The front-door pull leads to a gong in the kitchen. 
The dining-room has a bell leading to the school¬ 
room in the attic. Each chamber, in the second 
story, and the bath-room, has a bell leading to the 
kitchen, and the largest chamber has a bell leading 
to the attic. <Spea&i?u 7 -tubes are provided for com¬ 
munication between the second story, hall, and 
bath-room, with the kitchen_ Painting.— 
The body of the outside is in warm-gray; the prin¬ 
cipal outside trimming in pure white, with thin 
separating lines i- light drab, and blinds in dark- 
Science Applied to Farming—VIII. 
Bt Prof. W. 0 . Atwater, Wesleyan University, 
Middletown , Conn. 
Savins; and waste in feeding.—Value of 
Nitrogen in Food. 
Several farmers have written to me, and others 
have called at our laboratory to talk about the val¬ 
ue of nitrogenous foods for stock, and how to use 
them. And Mr. Harris in “ Walks and Talks ” for 
July, has almost thrown out a challenge for more 
experimental proof of some of the theories ad¬ 
vanced in this series of articles. This is quite fair 
and right. No theory is worthy of acceptance un¬ 
less it is based upon a solid groundwork of fact. 
Mr. Harris feeds his sheep all the straw and corn- 
fodder they will eat. But this is not rich enough 
to make them grow, or to fatten them as rapidly as 
he would like. “ Now,” says Mr. Harris, “ what the 
straw and cornstalks lack, is nitrogen (albumin¬ 
oids). To supply this, then, I should add materials 
rich in nitrogen, and since beans, peas, and malt 
sprouts contain about twice as much albuminoids 
as com, they ought, if this theory be correct, to 
have double the value of corn for this purpose.” 
But Mr. Harris has his doubts on this point, and 
wants to know “ whether it has been really proved 
by actual experiments, that, in such a case as I 
mention, peas or beans are much more valuable 
than Indian com ? ” 
I am not aware of any experiments to test this 
special question. This is indeed one of the many 
problems for the solution of which Experiment Sta¬ 
tions in this country are much needed. The evidence 
now at our disposal is rather of the cumulative kind, 
and is involved in certain general principles for 
which we have a great deal of experimental proof. 
One of these general principles is this: Economy 
in feeding requires that the rations contain food in¬ 
gredients—albuminoids, carbo-hydrates, fats, etc.— 
in such proportion as correspond to the specific de¬ 
mands of the animals ; otherwise there will be 
waste. This has been shown by many series of ex¬ 
periments in the European Stations. The follow¬ 
ing, performed under the direction of Prof. Heane- 
berg, at Weende, in Germany, is an example : Two 
oxen, in good, moderately fat condition, at rest in 
the stall, were fed with rations such as were found 
to keep them in the same uniform condition, as 
shown by the scales. A certain ration, (I), was fed 
for a certain period, the weight of the animals and 
the amount and composition of food and excrement 
determined by accurate weighings and analyses. 
bronze color. All wood, tin, and brick work, usu¬ 
ally painted, 1 th inside and outside, has two coats 
of the best lead and oil. All doors are grained— 
and all hard-wood, such as stair-rail, balusters, and 
door-saddles, are rubbed in oil. 
216 yards Excavation, <a 30c. per vard.*61.80 
32,000 hard Brick, @ $9 i? 1000. 2R8.00 
6,000 pale Brick, @ $.'>% $ 1000 .. 33.00 
Materials for Plastering, and Lath. 300.00 
70 feet Stone Steps and Coping, @ 30 c. 21.00 
Labor for all the mason work.. 600.00 
13,253 feet Timber, @ Z'Ac. per foot. 298.30 
viz. 1 Sill, 4x8 in. x242 ft. long. 12 Posts, 4x8 in. x36 ft. long. 
1 Tie, 4xr in. x 484 ft. long. 1 Plate, 4x6 in. x 360 ft. 1’g. 
2 Posts, 4x8in. x42 ft. long. 112 Beams, 3x3 in. xl6 ft. l’g. 
2 Posts, 4x8 in. xlf ft. long. 56 ” 3x8 in. x22 ft. l’g. 
1 Deck Plate, 3x8 in. xl56ft.l’g. 32 “ 3x8 in. xl2 ft. l’g. 
6 Hips. 3x10 in. x22 ft. long. 28 “ 3x8 in. x 8 ft. l’g. 
1 Sill, (Piazza) 4x7 in. xll4 ft. 8 “ 3x8 in. xl8 ft. l’g. 
1 Plate “ 3x8 in. x 90 ft. 52 “ 2x6 in. xl3 ft. l’g. 
1 Beam “ 3xG in. x 60 ft. 1 “ 2x7 in. x28 ft. l’g. 
300 Joist, 3x4 inches x 13 feet long, @ 22c. each_*66.1)0 
350 Wall Strips, 2x4 Inches xl3 feet long, @ 16e. each.. 56.00 
928 tongned and grooved Sheathing boards for sides and 
roofs, ® ‘25c. each. 232.00 
800 pounds Tarred Paper, @ 5c. per lb. 15.00 
663 Novelty clear Siding Boards, @ 30c. each.198.90 
4l6feetmain Cornices, WaterTable, Corner Boards.. 416.00 
29)4 Squares of Tin Hoofing, @ *10 per square. 295.00 
17 squares of Slate, (no openings allowed) at $10 p. sq. 170.00 
13 Cellar Windows, complete, @ $12 each . 156.00 
1 Bay Window complete. 100.00 
30 Windows, first and second story, and Tower, com¬ 
plete, @*17 each.510.00 
13 Dormer Windows, complete, @ *23 each. 299.00 
3 Piazzas, (except tinning,) complete. 400.00 
1 Balcony, (except tinning,) complete. 35.00 
1 Hood, (exeept tinning,) complete. 50.00 
480 Flooring Boards, 6 inch, @ 25c. each. 120.00 
160 Flooring Boards, 9-inch. 46.00 
Stairs, complete. 200.00 
14 Closets and Pantries, complete. 130,00 
50 Doors, complete,® *15.20 each. 760.00 
4 Marble Mantels, complete. 125.00 
Furnace, and Range, (set and piped,) complete. 400.00 
Plumbing, complete.... 300.00 
Painting. . . , 400.00 
Carpenter's Labor, not included above. 800.no 
Cartage, average one mile.. . . 115.00 
Total cost of materials and construction. *8,000.*0 
At the end of the period the food was changed, and 
another experiment, (II), begun, and so on through 
six months with eight sets of experiments. 
Table 13 gives the rations fed out during six 
periods of the series, describing the materials of 
which each daily ration was composed, the amounts 
of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous materials it 
contained, and the ratio of these to each other. 
The cost of each ration is also added. The prices 
at Weende, in gold, at the time, being for clover hay 
about $8.50 per ton ; for oat and rye straw, $5.50 
per ton ; and for turnips, $2.15 per ton ; and for 
rape cakes, $1.07 per cwt. 
Table 13. 
Daily Ration per 1,000 lbs. 
OF LIVE WEIGHT OF THE 
Animals. 
Con¬ 
taining 
lbs . of 
3 * 
I 1 
£ 
c> 
| Albuminoids. 
[ Carbo-hydrates 
\ (and Fats.) I 
§ 1 
^ & 
s ^ 
1 2 
'5 
Co 
e 
(I) 17.5 as. clover hav. 
Ibs. 
1.95 
lbs. 
7.39 
1 to 3.8 
9^c. 
(II) 11.4 as. oat straw, 43.6 as. 
turnips. 
.87 
9.13 1 to 10.5 
10KC. 
(Ill) 12.6 lbs. oat straw, 25.6 fl>s. 
turnips, 1 lb. rape cakes... 
.91 
7.77 1 to 8.5 
8>*c. 
(IV) 3.7 lbs. clover hay, 13 fts. oat 
straw, .56 lb. rape cakes... 
.99 
7.161 to 7.2 
7 C. 
(V) 2.6 as. clover hay, 14.2 as. 
oat straw, .52 a. rape cakes 
.91 
7.201 to 7.9 
6j*C. 
(YI) 3.8 tbs. clover hay, 13.3 Ibs. 
ryo straw, .57 lb. rape cakes 
.99 
6.82 1 ! to 6.8 
7 C. 
Looking down along the first column of figures 
we notice that ration (I) contained nearly 2 lbs., 
(1.95 lbs.), of nitrogenous substance, while the 
others contained generally about 9 /io lb. The »/ 10 
lb. of albuminoids in the other rations was suffi¬ 
cient. The clover hay ration served the animal no 
better than the others, and the extra pound of ni¬ 
trogenous material was then, for maintenance of the 
animals, superfluous. So iu ration (H) we have 
the other extreme; an appropriate amount of nitro¬ 
genous material, but, as the column shows, 9.13 
lbs. of non-nitrogenous material. The other figures 
in the second column, indicate that the other ra¬ 
tions averaged about 7*/i lbs. of carbo-hydrates, and 
the oxen showed by their keeping in good condi¬ 
tion that this was enough. In (II), therefore, 
nearly two pounds of non-nitrogenous matters were 
not utilized, that is, they were wasted. We find, 
then, that about 9 /io lb. of albuminoids and 7‘A 
lbs. of carbo-hydrates sufficed to keep the oxen in 
good condition. 
Could anything be more convincing than this ? 
The oxen are in good condition, and hold their own 
with their rations of straw, to which enough clover 
hay and rape-cakes are added, to make 9 / I0 lb. of 
albuminoids, and 7i lbs. carbo-hydrates. When 
enough turnips are added to the straw to make 9.13 
lbs. of carbo-hydrates, (II), or when 17.5 ibs. of 
clover hay, with 1.95 lbs. of albuminoids, (I), was 
used, they did no better. During the course of 
the experiments, they did, in fact, gain a very 
little in weight, but this gain was too slight to be 
of any account, and was more perceptible with the 
other rations than with I and II.—From the fact 
that this excess either of albuminoids or carbo¬ 
hydrates, was without effect upon the production, 
which in this case could, to he sure, be nothing but 
increase of live weight, we infer that for each 1,000 
lbs. live weight, a ration containing 9 / 10 lb. albumin¬ 
oids and 7V 4 lbs. of carbo-hydrates, was an econom¬ 
ical one for the oxen at rest in the stall. The cost 
of rations (III-VI) containing the food ingredients 
in these proportions, averaged 7 3 / 4 cents. The 
clover hay, with its excess of albuminoids, cost 
10y 4 cents, or 40 per cent more, and that of straw 
and turnips, 9 3 / 4 cents, or 34 per cent more. 
In the above calculation not the digestible hut 
the total amount of albuminoids was taken into 
account. The ratio of actually digested albumi¬ 
noids to carbo-hydrates, would probably he about 1 
to 12.—This is only one of many series ot experi¬ 
ments of this kind, that have been made at Weende 
and elsewhere, all of which agree in indicating that 
in food for oxen at rest in the stall, there should 
he about 1 lb. of digestible albuminoids to every 
12 lbs. of digestible carbo-hydrates. And when the 
ratio varies widely from this, there is waste. 
More about Nitrogen Ratios and Economy 
In Foddering. 
The above experiments were made with animals 
from which no production was required, either in 
the form of work, or milk, or increase of weight 
in fattening. But other experiments show that 
oxen at work, milch cows, and fattening cattle, 
require food richer in nitrogen. Thus, for example, 
it is found that for milch cows, about 1 lb. of di¬ 
gestible albuminoids, to 5‘/ 2 lbs. of digestible carbo¬ 
hydrates, is the economical ratio. And when the 
ratio varies widely from this, there is apt to be 
waste. This is illustrated by some experiments 
with milch cows, made by Dr. Kuehn, at the Station 
at Moeckem, in Saxony. 
The custom of feeding cows on green clover was 
common about Moeckern. But clover is very rich, 
while straw is poor, in nitrogen. How would it do 
to mix the two ?... .Further, the question of ad 
libitum foddering, (that is, giving the animals all 
they will eat), was much discussed. Some said the 
cows themselves were the best judges of their 
wants. Others claimed they would eat more of 
6ueh palatable food, as clover, than they would 
profitably utilize.—To test these questions, a feed¬ 
ing trial was made with four cows. During one 
period of several weeks, they received all the green 
clover they would eat. During another, a smaller 
ration was given, and a part of the clover was re¬ 
placed by straw. The fodder and milk were care¬ 
fully weighed and analyzed. Every precaution 
