188 
TO CULTIVATE MARSH PLANTS, ETC. 
and give to each their greatest perfection and vigor. 
But in accomplishing these objects, there are two 
widely-different things to be provided for, both of 
which are generally secured by the ordinary arti¬ 
cles fed to animals. Many substances, however, 
are much better suited to one object than to the 
other; and it is important to the skillful feeder to 
know precisely what is best for each. One pur¬ 
pose of food is, to supply materials for respira¬ 
tion. These are carbon and hydrogen ; and they 
are found in great abundance in sugar, starch, gum, 
pure fat, and oils of various kinds. The other is 
to funpsh materials for the muscles, tendons, and 
bones. It may be asked, why do these need re¬ 
newing when once matured % We can only 
answer, this is the law by which they are govern¬ 
ed. We cannot go beyond this ; we can only see 
that this is the law —that nature works in this way, 
and this way only ; and it is our duty simply to 
conform to her requirements. Every movement of 
the body, or any individual limb, even the motion 
of an eyelid, causes some waste of muscular fibre. 
Every pulsation of the blood is attended with the 
loss of some matter previously constituting a part 
of the system, and the addition of other derived 
from the food to supply its place. Incessant 
change is stamped upon every animal and vege¬ 
table, from the moment of its beginning to the 
close of its existence; and to sustain these 
changes, is the object of food for the animal. To 
supply the matter for the muscles, &c., nitrogen- 
ized food is necessary; and for bones, the phos¬ 
phate of lime is required. These are not found in 
the kinds of food last named above, and we must 
look for them elsewhere. The phosphates are 
generally associated with nitrogenized food to the 
extent required by animals ; and the same is true 
with regard to the elements required for respira¬ 
tion. We have then to look for the nitrogen com¬ 
bined in the requisite proportion in the food, and 
we shall have provided for all that is needful for 
keeping the animal system in full repair. 
But there is still another important considera¬ 
tion connected with food; it must be contained 
within the proper compass; and this compass 
must be adapted to the capacity of the animal’s 
stomach, which, in the carnivorous and ruminating 
tribes, embraces the extremes of size and capacity. 
The aliment contained in the flesh, consumed by 
the lion or tiger, at a single meal, could not be com¬ 
pressed within 10 times the bulk of grain, 20 of 
hay, or 50 of roots. Hence, the necessity of aug¬ 
mented capacity of stomach, to supply quantity of 
nutriment equal to the demand of the system, when 
the coarser kinds of food are used ; and hence 
the inappropriateness of supplying meat or even 
flour, equally with roots or straw, only, to the 
horse. The two former will afford him nourish¬ 
ment, as they would man or the carnivores; but 
they are too condensed, and do not sufficiently dis¬ 
tend the stomach, and if used extensively, would 
soon produce disease; while the latter are too 
bulky for the horse, and if confined to them, he 
could not receive sufficient nourishment to do his i 
work. 
To come back, then, to the point from which we 
have. digressed, for the purpose of giving some 
general principles of universal application ; we are 
thus made acquainted with the reasons of the pecu¬ 
liar adaptation of oats as food for the horse. They 
are highly nitrogenized—they contain an abundance 
of phosphate of lime—they have a due propor¬ 
tion of starch to supply respiration, and all these 
elements are mingled in due proportion. The 
bulky husk which envelopes the farina of the 
grain, though but slightly nutritious, is still direct¬ 
ly, and in a high degree beneficial, in consequence 
of diffusing the nutriment through a greater mass, 
which thereby promotes digestion and secures the 
health of the animal. 
Oats ought not to be given to the horse when 
newly harvested. It is recommended, in England, 
not to feed oats till a year old, as they are less di¬ 
gestible and nutritive—they are slightly purgative 
—produce a ready and copious perspiration; and it 
is alleged by many, that they produce grease. The 
oats of the United States, like wheat and other 
grain, owing to our drier climate and hotter sun, are 
more intensely ripened, and will bear to use with¬ 
in a much less time, say four to six months. 
Grinding would not much improve the oat for 
horse feed, as they are effectually crushed between- 
their long, ponderous jaws ; and the operation pro¬ 
duces an abundant flow from the salivary glands, 
which is an important aid to the digestive powers. 
Cooking, either boiling or baking the oatmeal, 
would be attended with decided advantage, as either 
of these operations tend to prepare the food for 
easy and rapid assimilation by the digestive organs. 
TO CULTIVATE MARSH PLANTS. 
To cultivate marsh plants in perfection, nothing 
more is necessary than to supply them with a mo¬ 
derate quantity of their native soil, placed immedi¬ 
ately around the roots; and afterwards keep the 
ground about them constantly moist. 
To effect the latter object, place the root suffi¬ 
ciently deep in the earth, that when the neck, or 
crown, is covered, there may be a hollow three or 
four inches deep, and extending a foot or more on 
every side. Then water copiously, and, in addi¬ 
tion, have a keg or large jar sunk near the roots, 
and keep it full, or nearly so, with rain or river 
water. Saturate a strip of coarse, woollen cloth; 
put one end at the bottom of the keg, with a stone 
upon it, to keep it in its place, and draw the other 
over the edge to the root; this will act on the same 
principle as the siphon, and furnish a sufficient, 
perpetual supply of moisture for a vigorous growth. 
Plants that grow in the water require to be con¬ 
stantly submerged, for which an artificial pond, or 
quagmire, is necessary. M. 
Kinds of Fruit for Cultivation. —We advise 
our friends to try their orchards with a variety of 
fruit trees, whether of apple, pear, or peaches, and 
after determining which are best adapted to the soil, 
let those of the best quality that are found suita¬ 
ble to the land, occupy it almost to the exclusion of 
the others. There is a wide difference in the pro¬ 
duction of different trees, and it is in the nice adap¬ 
tation of each to its most suitable locality, that the 
profit of fruit growing will be found to consist. 
