1883. j 
American agriculturist. 
169 
Games as Practical Fowls. 
Game fowls are generally acknowledged to be 
superior layers, the most delicious of table birds, 
and the best of mothers. In spite, however, of 
these qualities of greatest utility, the majority of 
those who breed poultry for what they will produce 
for the market, look with suspicion upon them as 
a mere fancy fowl. The pugnacity of the game 
has, without doubt, proved the great barrier to his 
general adoption. He is a brave, spirited bird that 
will submit to no invasion of right or domain, yet 
not a malicious brute that will pursue a beaten ad¬ 
versary from place to place, until fixing him in 
some corner, he stands over him ready to give pick 
and blow at any and every opportunity. Granting 
his pugnacity, the ordinary care exerted by breed¬ 
ers, to preserve the beauties of their Brahmas, 
Plymouth Rocks or Leghorns, will avert the dis¬ 
astrous results of combat. While eggs are sold by 
number, quantity not size is the objective point. 
Here games may bear comparison with any variety 
not non-sitting. 
In my own yards, a lot of Red Pile games, bred 
side by side with an equal number of purest Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks, excelled the latter in egg production. 
The quality of the egg is richest beyond doubt, and 
its size but little below the average. The chief ar¬ 
gument against them, then, is based upon their size. 
The condition of a fat game, even very fat, is 
best described by the word plump. This is just 
what is wanted, and what may be obtained in the 
larger breeds by an introduction of game blood. The 
most striking impression received from a study of 
the game’s form, is the lack of a single superfluous 
feature. H. D. K. 
Quince Culture—Soil and Cultivation. 
BY W. W. MEEGH. 
The quince will grow in most soils if it is properly 
cultivated. It succeeds in moist and cool locations, 
by ponds and streams, on the sides and tops of 
gravelly hills. My best success has been in a light, 
sandy soil. Any land that will yield a good crop of 
corn or potatoes, will do well for quinces. My plan 
has been to work the ground deep; then manure 
well, giving clean culture to some low crop between 
the young trees for a couple of years. Almost any 
kind of manure answers for the quince, being care¬ 
ful to include an annual salting in the spring, about 
the time the leaves develop. A second application 
of salt may be made when the fruit is not more than 
a third grown. 
After the trees are well established, they fill the 
Boil very full of fine fibrous roots; and these are 
most numerous near the surface, which shows that 
the plow and cultivator should not go too deep, or 
this net-work of feeding roots will be injured. The 
strongest roots will be found about six inches be¬ 
low the collar of the tree. 
How much manure to apply, and how often, must 
be determined by circumstances. As I plant my 
trees they grow vigorously until they are in bearing 
without being further manured. The annual growth 
is a safe guide to their treatment. If they do not 
grow at least a foot every year, they need feeding 
or pruning, or both. Manure may be applied to 
quince trees at any time. If they are old and feeble, 
a liberal fertilizing and vigorous pruning may reno¬ 
vate them. It is astonishing what cultivation will 
do to change the size and quality of fruit. What 
else but failure can happen to a tree, the roots of 
which are crowded into a small hole dug through a 
tough sod, and then left to its fate. It is useless 
to set young trees in grass land or in the midst of a 
growing crop of grain. Young trees will be bene¬ 
fited by planting low crops like beans among them, 
because of the manure used, and the frequent stir¬ 
ring of the ground. But grass and grain rob them 
of needed moisture and plant food. 
Objection is sometimes made to trees that have 
been stimulated by generous culture, on account of 
the check they may receive by transplanting. Trees 
are desired that have grown under conditions less 
favorable than the intended culture. If a tree is to 
be neglected after transplanting, it is better not to 
set it at all. If the culture first given the young 
quince tree has not secured a vigorous growth, it 
will be very likely to fail in transplanting, or dis¬ 
appoint expectation by the feebleness of its after¬ 
growth. The true economy is to get the most 
vigorous trees, and then give them the best possible 
cultivation. My first crop was half a peck to a tree, 
the second a peck, the third a peck and a half, and 
the fourth a half bushel, which sold at the rate of 
about $400 an acre. Such results are impossible 
by the old methods of cultivation. 
The Feeding of Stock. 
BY PROF. D. D. SLADE, HARVARD UNIVBRSITY. 
There is no subject, perhaps, that gives rise to 
more discussion, at agricultural meetings, than the 
proper feeding of stock, and none is of more im¬ 
portance to the farmer in an economical point of 
view. Every man is prone to consider his mode of 
feeding as the best, and that his knowledge on the 
subject is much greater than his neighbor’s. These 
friendly contests are well, for by bringing out each 
man’s experience they tend towards the elucidation 
of the truth. In the feeding of stock, there are es¬ 
sential points to be borne in mind, according as we 
have in view the development of muscle, the laying 
on of fat, the production of butter, or the increase 
of milk without regard to quality. For the proper 
understanding of these points, the farmer should 
understand something, at least, of the physiological 
laws which govern them. He should have a know¬ 
ledge of the “ proximate principles,” as they are 
termed ; i. e., the substances entering into the com¬ 
position of the animal body, and into the various 
kinds of food; of the manner in which these proxi¬ 
mate principles are introduced into the system, as 
well as the kind, quantity, and quality. He should 
understand the process by which they are digested 
and assimilated, and the best means by which he 
can attain the end that he has in view. The 
proximate principles may be divided into two 
classes,—those which are inorganic in their nature, 
and those which are organic and have a definite 
chemical composition. Of these, the most impor¬ 
tant are water, salt, potash, lime, soda, and mag¬ 
nesia. These are introduced with the food, and 
are taken up by the animal tissues exactly as they 
exist in nature. They undergo no essential chem¬ 
ical change in becoming component parts of the 
system. Water not only enters largely into the 
composition of the blood, but serves also for the 
introduction and discharge of materials which, 
being solid, must become fluid in order to pass into 
the animal frame. It is conveyed into the system 
in the act of drinking, but it also enters as an in¬ 
gredient of the different kinds of solid food. Its 
importance to the economy is greater than any 
other substance, and should be supplied with con¬ 
stant regularity. It is a well established fact that 
all animals can go much longer when deprived of 
food than when deprived of water. Salt enters 
largely into the tissues and fluids of the body, and 
therefore is of great importance to the system. Al¬ 
though it occurs in both animal and vegetable 
food, the amount is usually small, and hence the 
necessity of supplying the want. Herbivorous ani¬ 
mals instinctively crave this substance, and, in the 
fattening of swine, experiments have shown that 
the assimilation of the food goes on better if salt 
is given to the animals. Phosphate of lime is also 
found in the tissues and fluids of the body. It 
gives to bones, teeth, and cartilages their solidity. 
When not supplied in sufficient quantity, a soften¬ 
ing of the bony tissues takes place. This sub¬ 
stance, as well as the potash, soda, and magnesia, 
are usually found in sufficient amount in the food, 
or they are formed in the body by the decomposi¬ 
tion of other salts. 
The proximate principles that are organic exist 
as ingredients of organized bodies. They are starch, 
sugar, fat, albumen, fibrine and caseine. The last 
three arc known as nitrogenous substances, as they 
contain nitrogen, while the first three do not con¬ 
tain this element. Starch enters largely into the 
I composition of the various grains, corn, wheat, rye, 
oats. It exists also in potatoes, peas, beans, and in 
most vegetable substances. Starch is easily con¬ 
verted into sugar, and this always takes place in the 
process of digestion. Sugar is also derived from 
both animal and vegetable sources. Thus we have 
milk-sugar and liver-sugar, which are produced in 
the mammary glaud and in the liver, as also sugar 
of honey, prepared by the bee. Under vegetable 
sugars, we have the cane, grape, and sugar of starch. 
The fats are also derived from both animal and 
vegetable substances. Certain kinds of food favor 
the production of fat more than others. This is 
particularly the case with those containing large 
quantities of sugar. It is a well established fact 
that the negroes as well as the animals, employed 
in sugar-growing countries, grow remarkably fat 
during the season of sugar-making, and lose this- 
condition when the season is finished. But saccha¬ 
rine materials are not sufficient for this purpose, as- 
is shown when swine are fed on substances contain¬ 
ing abundance of starch, which, as we have seen, is 
easily converted into sugar by the process of diges¬ 
tion. Fatty or oily matters must also be supplied. 
Pigs fed on boiled potatoes aloue, which contain 
much starch, fatten much more slowly than when 
greasy substances are also given them in some form 
with the food. The nitrogenous substances, albu¬ 
men, fibriue, and caseine, differ from the other 
proximate principles, in that they coagulate, un¬ 
dergo putrefaction, and excite fermentation in other 
substances. These enter largely into the animal 
tissues and fluids, and yet experiments show that, 
although highly nutritious and necessary as food, if 
given alone, animals become after a time enfeebled 
and actually may die of starvation. No one class 
of proximate principles can be sufficient for the 
nutrition of the body, but the food to be nourish¬ 
ing must contain all of them, and must be mixed 
together in the proportions best suited for the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of animals, and for the purposes in 
view, whether the growth of muscle and strength, 
the increase of fat, or a great amount of the milk 
secretion, without regard to its quality. In a word, 
that our animals may thrive well, there must be a 
variety in the food given. Steaming or cooking the 
food under certain circumstances may render some 
articles more palatable, and possibly more nutri¬ 
tious and more easily digested, but there is no 
economy in giving to animals, from whom we ex¬ 
pect anything in return, poor food of any descrip¬ 
tion, especially if we arc obliged to disguise it and 
convert it into a heterogeneous mass. Let the food 
be good, and the amount depend upon the age, con¬ 
dition, object in view, and amount of exercise. 
Feed with great regularity and let there be a variety,, 
remembering that in the young animal, flesh,, 
strength, and fat are to be formed 
Old-fashioned people look upon hulled com 
as a luxury. It should be more common than 
it is as a wholesome acceptable food. Hulled, 
corn is the Northern equivalent of hominy or 
samp. In one case the hull is removed by 
means of ley and in the other by beating or 
other mechanical means. In the course of hulling 
the corn doubles in bulk. White, flinty corn is 
preferred. Take hard-wood ashes equal in measure, 
to the corn, pour on twice as much water, in an 
iron kettle, and boil for several minutes. Skim off' 
whatever rises and allow the dregs to settle. This 
will take place sooner if a little cold water be add¬ 
ed. Pour off the clear ley, wash the kettle, put in. 
the corn with the ley and boil briskly for half aD 
hour, adding water to make up the loss by evapor¬ 
ation, and stirring frequently. Pour off the ley and 
rinse the corn in several waters. Place the corn 
with water in a large pan and rub it through the 
hands to remove any remaining hulls and the black 
“ chits.” Continue to wash in successive waters, 
until that which is poured off is clear. Then cover 
the corn with water and boil slowly until quite 
60 ft, stirring frequently and adding hot water tO' 
make up any loss. When quite soft, add a large: 
tablespoonful of 6alt to each six quarts of the 
hulled corn. Hulled corn is eaten cold with milk 
or with sugar and cream, or hot with butter. It 
will keep in cold weather for several days. 
