SOS THE RURAL REW-YORKER. 
functions, the production of fat nmy go ou 
healthfully and profitably to the farmer and 
stock feeder; but there is a point beyond 
which it is not profitable to forco any animal, 
and then food is wasted, if the animal even 
does nob go back and lose weight, and this is a 
point which should be well understood by 
every person who studies this important sub¬ 
ject of feeding animals. The various tables 
of analyses of foods given are only to be taken 
as guide posts as it wore, to show the direc¬ 
tion to be followed; but all side paths, turns 
and short-cuts are to be chosen or avoided 
only with knowledge of the point to be 
reached and with judgment as to the best w r ay 
of reaching it. 
Starch, sugar and gum consist of carbon and 
water, or of the elements of water in such 
proportions as would form water if combined. 
It is thought by some chemists that these sub¬ 
stances arc really hydrates of carbon, that is, 
that carbon and water are really combined to 
form them. This, however, is not an impor¬ 
tant point, the fact to be considered is simply 
that they consist of those dements which 
when oxidized in the body of au animal pro¬ 
duce carbonic acid which escapes in the air 
expired from tho lungs and in the production 
of which the vital heat is produced. It is not 
believed that these substances go to form fat 
unless food containing fat is not given in suf¬ 
ficient quantity. It is known that fat is con¬ 
tained in the various feeding substances, be¬ 
comes separated from the cellular tissue in 
which it is held in small globules, and in the 
digestive process the fat becomes mixed with 
the dissolved food and forms an emulsion that 
is taken up by the absorbent vessels of the 
intestines, and passes ou to the great portal 
veiu as well as to another vein known as the 
thoracic duct, from which it is poured finally 
into the heart and from this distributed all 
over the system by means Of the arteries and 
the flue capillary vessels. From these latter 
sou fees of supply the fat in extremely small 
giobules is deposited in the tissues, between 
the fibers of the muscles and in masses here 
and there in various parts of the body. 
This deposition of fat is designed in nature 
as a store of nutriment to be drawn upon 
afterwards to support the vital functions, 
chietty the respiration, during periods when 
food is scarce, or the animals are compelled 
by the cold of the winter to abstain from 
food. Bears, ground hogs and swine, for in¬ 
stance, become naturally extremely fat in the 
faJI and so do the deer, rabbits, wild cattle 
and other herbivorous animals; but during 
the winter when food is scarce, the fat thus 
deposited in tho tissues from the capillary 
vessels is reabsorbed and is oxidized iu the 
lungs and produces the heat needed to sup¬ 
port vitality. The fat combining with the 
oxygen of the air breathed is changed into 
carbouie acid and water; the carbonic acid 
passes off with the expired air and the water 
passes off as urine. So that naturally the 
fattening process is by no means uubealthful 
unless when it is forced to excess, or wheu the 
food given is not of the right kind and does 
not contaiu fat suitable for absorption into 
the blood and free from injurious substances. 
When the food given to fattening animals 
coutains but little fat, but a largo quantity of 
starch or sugar, or of albuminous matters, 
these undergo a series of more or less compli¬ 
cated decompositions before they are changed 
into fat, nr are expelled through the excretory 
organs, aud the compound formed or the ex¬ 
cessive duty thrown upon the various diges¬ 
tive and excretory organs, cause disorder of 
the system which at times produces the most 
serious and fatal diseases. 
he immediate source, then, of the fat of 
animals, the butter of cows included, is the 
fat which exists in tho food; the indirect 
source of it is the starch, sugar and albumin¬ 
oid matters in the food. As the most direct 
source is the most economical, when the 
market values are equal, it follows that fatty 
foods are the best for making fat; that is, 
such fowls as contaiu a large quantity of fat 
in addition to the albuminoids and file starch 
and sugar (the carbohydrates) required for 
the support of the vital processes and the re¬ 
pair of the wasted muscular tissue. This fat 
should exist, iu the food ready formed, in the 
state of small globules imbedded in tho cells 
of the vegetable substance, and in this state 
there is uo expenditure of vital force iu diges¬ 
tion, aud. consequently the fat laid on by the 
animal is the cheapest. 
This point is dearly exemplified in the case 
of bees, which gather honey from plants or 
feed upou sugar, and of this honey or sugar 
make wax for their combs. It is known by 
bee-keepers that a very large quantity of 
honey or sugar is used up in the mak¬ 
ing of the wax and, at least seven pounds 
of it uro required for a pound of wax, which 
is really fat; the sugar or honey being con¬ 
sumed aud digested by the bees aud the wax 
is secreted. In like maimer a large quantity 
of starchy or sweet food is consumed by ani¬ 
mals in the making of fat, aud upou this ac¬ 
count the fat in the food is valued by chemists 
at 2}{ times as much as the starch or sugar, 
and if starch or sugar in the food is worth one 
cent per pound, the fat iu it is held to bo 
worth ‘2 1 cents per pound. The inferior 
value of the starch is due to the wastes inci¬ 
dent to the digestive processes and the chemi¬ 
cal changes through which the starch passes 
in its conversion into fat. The rules derived 
from these facts, then, which are important 
to be observed and remembered iu feeding 
animals for fat, are: 
First—That the fat of animals is derived 
most readily and cheaply from fat contained 
ready formed in the food, and tho more fat 
there is contained in the food which is digest¬ 
ed the more rapidly the animal takes on fat. 
Second—That when the food consumed by 
au animal does not contain ready-formed fat 
the animal is able to change starch or sugar 
into fat; but this will not occur unless the 
food contains a sufficient surplus of the starch 
or sugar after the vital functions have been 
supplied. 
Third—That when the food consists of al¬ 
buminous matter chiefly aud fat or starch or 
sugar are wanting, an animal can form fat 
from the albuminoids, but not unless a very 
large surplus of them exists in the food, and not 
without an excessive strain upon tho diges¬ 
tive and excretory organs of the animal. 
Fourth—That there is a great strain upou 
tho digestive organs including the liver and 
the spleen, and the kidneys and other excre¬ 
tory organs, in performing the various com¬ 
plicated changes in the food and in gettiug rid 
of the excessive wastes of the food from the 
system. 
It is thus seen that the fattening of animals 
is by no means the simple mutter that it is 
generally supposed to be, but that much may 
be lost by misfeeding, and the animal may 
become seriously diseased by the mistakes 
made in choosing unsuitable food, or in neg¬ 
lecting to give such food as will balance the 
deficiencies of that which is most easily pro¬ 
curable. 
The choice of food for fattening will ho con¬ 
sidered hereafter. 
Pain) ijitsbrniiui). 
MARGARINE IN ENGLAND. 
PROFESSOR .T. P. SHELDON. 
Dairymen's decisive victory: the crucial 
point —“ Margarine!" not “ liutterine;" so¬ 
ldi i sir y of “butterinersuntruthful 
twaddle about the “poor man's butter;" self- 
stultification; makers and dealers atone 
benefited by “margarinea needed lesson. 
A long puli, a strong pull aud a pull alto¬ 
gether, is what we, who are interested in the 
welfare of dairy farming in this country, 
have been having for some years past, in re¬ 
ference to button’ne. The pull is now over, 
and we have landed our prize. Our two 
Houses of Parliament have passed the “ Mar¬ 
garine Bill,” which was introduced under the 
name of “ Butterine,” aud passed it iit such a 
way that its opponents regard their cause as 
hopelessly lost. In the House of Commons 
the majority in favor of the crucial point in 
the bill was not large, in a House of little 
more thau one-fourth of its full complement. 
In the House of Lords the majority was over¬ 
whelming—nearly four to one—though also in 
n small House. Loss than one-fourth of the 
1,100 aud odd members of which our two 
Houses are composed, took the trouble to at¬ 
tend ami vote on the bill, and we are led to 
assume that some 75 per cent, of our legisla¬ 
tors, elected aud hereditary, took no interest 
in the swindle which lias been in op¬ 
eration for years on the public, and 
the rascally competition which our 
dairy farmers have had to meet. This, 
however, is uot really so on such a question, 
though it may seem so. But in any case, the 
substantial majorities by which the bill in its 
present shape was carried, first in the Com¬ 
mons and then iu the Lords, may be taken as 
typical of what would have happened if full 
Houses had voted. The opponents of the bill 
deny this, of course, but they failed to “bring 
their men up to the scratch,” anil we assume 
they could uot, for every effort was made. On 
the substantial and representative character 
of those majorities depend the permaiuuco 
of the Act and the submission of its oppo¬ 
nents, who would, if they could, obtain a re¬ 
versal of it. 
The great contest. lay over the word butter¬ 
ine, whether it should he retained, or whether 
margarine should take its place. Tho butter 
iuo men wore willing to submit to the penal¬ 
ties ordered by the Bill to be inflicted ou 
people who sold butterine for butter. Tho 
course of legislation iu other countries has 
taught them so much as that anyway, for 
hey believed the penalty side of the question 
was quite certain to be enacted. But they 
fought hard to have the term “Butterine” re¬ 
tained for use. They plaintively said that it 
had been in use for 12 years, that the public 
were accustomed to it, that Parliament had 
no right to interfere with it, and soon. By 
Some means or other, by influence and persua¬ 
sion combined, they had induced a Select 
Committee to recommend the retention of the 
name Butterine, ami this was au achievement 
calculated to help them in tho Lords and Com¬ 
mons both. The Commons, however, set 
aside tho action of the Committee in reference 
to the word, substituted Margarine, and were 
sustained by the Lords. 
Tlio butterine tnen used many arguments, 
lmt the common sense of Parliament prevailed 
iu the end. They said butterine was made in 
the interest of the poor. The reply was that 
the poor would still buy it if they wanted it, 
even under another name, and they would 
stand a much bettor chance of getting it at a 
fair price. The fact that a great deal of but- 
terine was being sold as butter and that the 
word itself was a cloak for roguery,but a direct 
and constant result in the way of enhancing 
the price of the article. It was, to a great ex¬ 
tent, sold iu a fictitious manner, aud conse¬ 
quently its true market value, or what should 
have been its true market value, was always 
exceeded. This excess came to a great exteut 
out of the pockets of the poor, and our con¬ 
tention is that they will henceforth get their 
margarine at something like an honest price. 
Thus it will follow that our margarine legisla¬ 
ture will have been directly in the interests of 
the masses of our population who live iu 
towns and cities, as well as in the interests of 
dairy farmers. Another argument of the 
butterine men went to show that the proposed 
legislation would injure stock farmers, inas¬ 
much as less butterine would be made and the 
demand for butchers’ rough fat would fall off, 
aud its prices go down to zero. Well, indeed, 
when we reflect on the very low prices which 
rough fat has commauded for some time past, 
we feel that zero would not make much dif¬ 
ference, and are content to meet it. But the 
admission that loss butterine would be made 
when it was ordered to be sold under an hon¬ 
est name, did the cause no small damage, aud 
we cannot but wonder at the oversight in¬ 
volved in such au admission. 
However, i he job is done, and we can af¬ 
ford to let bygones be bygones, so far as ani¬ 
mus is concerned. Our dairy farmers here 
for years had to contend against a spurious 
and an insidious competition. Several years 
ago, I pointed out in the columns of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, some of the features of 
this oleomargerine question, and l am glad 
now to discuss the legislation which has taken 
place in reference to it iu this country. Tho 
trade started in America, and rapidly spread 
into other countries; and we may fairly say 
that, with the exception of makers and deal¬ 
ers, everybody else has been more or less in¬ 
jured by the sale of butterine. Your dairy 
farmers have been terribly swindled by it and 
so have ours; your public have been robbed, 
and so have ours. A more barefaced and im¬ 
pudent imitation of u genuine article of food 
was never foisted on the people of any coun¬ 
try, and the chief wonder is that it bad its 
run so long. The butterine men are wild; 
they will tone down in time. They see that 
a source of large but dishonest profit is 
checked, and that henceforward they will 
have to do what is right iu spite of them¬ 
selves. A lesson of this nature is unpalata¬ 
ble we know, to those meij; but it is a lesson 
greatly needed, and we may hope it will have 
the desired effect. 
Surrey, England. 
(ll)c Diu'ts. 
POULTRY SHOWS IN NEW YORK. 
Origin of the first show; a success; the 
second show highly satisfactory; the th ird; 
the fourth a financial failure; no show 
last year , bad for breeders. 
The Secretary of the New York Poultry 
Exchange, who is organizing the coming 
poultry show, to beheld iu New York, Decem¬ 
ber 14, sends the following communication: 
The first New York Poultry Show was given 
iulKKlt in the upper hall of Madison Square 
Garden. A number of fanciers got together 
and formed the New York Fanciers’ Club, 
with Mr, C S. Cooper, of Schraaleuburgh, N. 
J., President; Charles R. Marker, Secretary, 
and J. C. Long, Jr., Treasurer. The show was 
a novelty in this city. The daily papers took 
hold of it, and wrote it up so energetically 
that crowds were drawn to tho Garden. It 
was tho first year that Wyaudoltes were ex¬ 
hibited, and incubators were also a new tiling. 
The show was successful enough to start the 
members of the Fanciers’ Club to making 
SEPT 4? 
plans for a show the next year on a much 
larger scale. Their ideas were big, but their 
finances were low, so they cast about for a man 
who would assume the responsibility of the 
undertaking, put bis band iu bis pocket when 
funds were needed, and carry the show through 
to a success. They found him in Charles J. 
Quinby, of White Plaius, N. Y. He was elect¬ 
ed President and the show went through. The 
whole of Madison Square Garden was tilled 
with the largest and best exhibition of poul- 
try, pigeons and pets that had been given in 
this country up to t.lmb time. There were over 
1 ,(H)() entries of poultry and pigeons, besides a 
tine display of birds, fish, cats and minor pets. 
Breeders came from all over the country, and 
people from the city and nearby towns flocked 
in. Mauy sales were made, and high prices 
were paid for fancy stock. The receipts wore 
large enough to make the show a financial as 
well as a popular success. 
Tho next show was held under the same 
management in February, 18S5, aud was 
larger, better attended, and a still greater 
success than its predecessor. 
The following year (188(5), Mr. J. C, Long 
was elected President. The show was held in 
February, 1886, during the coldest weather 
this city has experienced in years. The num¬ 
ber of entries was still larger thau in the pre¬ 
ceding year, and a dog show was added. 
This did uot prove to be the attraction that 
was expected, but was the source of much ex¬ 
pense and loss to the Club. The exhibition on 
tho whole was au excellent one, but was not a 
financial success. 
Last winter the Fanciers’ Club showed no 
signs of life. Its membership was limited, 
aud no one felt like assuming the responsi¬ 
bility of another show; so outside parties 
attempted to organize a “National Poultry 
Union,” aud hold a show. The Secretary of 
the proposed organization was Mr, W. K. 
Vanderbilt poultryman, H. B. Tams, who, by 
the way, recently left the country with all the 
money lie could lay his hands ou. Tams 
stated that. Mr. Vanderbilt would take the 
majority of the stock and supply the funds 
necessary to carry on the show: but when the 
time arrived and Mr. Vanderbilt was ap¬ 
proached, he refused to have a ay thing to do 
with it. The scheme then fell through and 
there was no show. 
It is estimated that the failure to have a 
show in New York last winter, made a differ¬ 
ence of from 25 to 50 per cent, in I he business 
of most of the leading breeders east of the 
Ohio River. Several of the breeders are said to 
have booked orders for fowls and eggs amount¬ 
ing to over $1,000 at these shows. Man) 7 of them 
raise large numbers of birds every year to 
sell at. the regular New York Show, and wheu 
it fails to come off, they are left with more 
stock than they cau find purchasers for at 
thoroughbred prices, and are obliged to sell to 
the butchers for much less thau the value of 
the birds. 
SEASONABLE POULTRY HINTS. 
During the lull of work after haying, harv¬ 
esting grain and fighting the. weeds, a little 
time should now be given to the poultry. 
Taking it for grunted there are some on the 
farm as there should be ou every well-mauaged 
one, especially where there is a family to take 
charge of the minor duties of gathering eggs, 
earing for the chicks, feeding, etc,, oue of the 
first things that requires attention is the 
debris left around after the chicks are old 
enough to leave the coops to roost. All the 
coops, boards, cups, etc,, should be gathered 
up and stowed away for another season, and 
during a rainy day they might be repaired 
and put in order for next spring, as there is a 
great rash of farm work then wheu chicks are 
hatching. At this time, after liens have been 
sitting about the buildings, unless unusual 
care is taken there is generally more or less 
vermin infesting the old nest boxes, perches, 
etc. The whitewash-brush will do good work 
now, but if the time cannot be spared to do 
the work thoroughly, yet the nest boxes 
should he attended to now, and the kerosene 
and carbolic acid should be applied with au 
old paint-hrush to the perches anil other sus¬ 
pected places, but particularly under the 
sides of the perches. 
Now for the stock: To insure good, large, 
strong birds, selections should be made from 
tho growing chickens, and the most forward, 
vigorous birds should be selected to keep. 
Too often this is neglected, or tho finest birds 
are killtsi and marketed, aud ouly the runts 
are left to stock the poultry yard. The earl¬ 
iest laying pullets should be kept and ulso 
chickens from the lawt laying hens of the past 
season, if there are any means of identifying 
them. This is generally done by observing 
people who attend to them. Early pullets 
make the best layers during the coming fall 
and winter, for if the fowls do uot arrive at 
mature size before cold weather sets in, they 
generally suspend growth aud also usefulness 
