86 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
them with the grass side downwards, and none of the clay used in 
filling up.” 
There are various other methods of draining, not so likely to be 
employed among us, at least for the present, which the protracted 
length of this article prevents our noticing at this time. We have 
praciised many of the modes above suggested, and can confidently 
recommend the system of thorough draining as among the most 
profitable expenditures which can be made upon a farm. We have 
some other remarks upon this subject under the head of Correspon¬ 
dence. 
With regard to the duration of hollow drains, or the length of time 
that the water will continue to flow in them, and preserve the soil 
in a proper state of dryness, it must necessarily depend, in a great 
degree, upon the nature of the materials with which they are filled, 
and the care that has been taken to prevent their being choked up by 
any soft soil. Independent of this last circumstance, a drain filled with 
stones, like the channel which supplies a natural spring, may endure 
forever. Wood perishes at certain periods according to its nature; 
but it does by no means follow, that the drain should lose its effect 
in consequence of the destruction of the wood. If the earth over it 
form itself into an arch, the water will still continue to flow. Ac¬ 
cordingly, drains filled with bushes and straw have been known to 
run well after forty years. 
ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF FEEDING LIVE STOCK ON RAW 
OR ON PREPARED FOOD. 
The Agricultural Society of Scotland, in 1833, offered a premium 
of thirty sovereigns for the best report, founded on actual experi¬ 
ment made for that purpose, on a number of oxen or heifers, not 
fewer than six, the animals to be of the same breed, age and sex, 
and the term of feeding not less than three months; and a premium 
of ten sovereigns for a line report on feeding ten or more swine.— 
Five reports were received, which appear in the Quarterly Journal 
of Agriculture for June, 1834. We record the result of these ex¬ 
periments, which purport to have been made with scrupulous accu¬ 
racy, for the information of the numerous patrons of the Cultivator. 
Robert Walker made his experiment with six two year old hei¬ 
fers, and four two year old stots, (steers;) each was divided into 
two lots and fed on like food, except that one-half received their 
food raw, and the other half in a steamed or cooked state. The 
food consisted of Swedish turnips, potatoes and crushed beans, with 
a little salt and straw. At the end of thr e months, it was found 
that the three heif rs fed on steamed food had gained 48! stone, or 
679 lbs. and the three heifers fed upon raw food had named 45! 
stone ; but the quantity consumed by the first lot exceeded that of 
the latter. 
Cost of feeding on steamed food,. £14 1 3 
« on raw food,. 10 6 
The first cost more than the last,. £3 14 8| 
Deducting the first cost, and the price of fattening, from the price 
paid by the butcher, there remained a profit on the three heifers fed 
wiih steamed food of nine shillings ; while the profit on the three 
fattened on raw food, amounted to £3 10-. 6d. By a like estimate, the 
loss on the steam stot was 3s. 8-Jd. and the profit on the one ed with 
raw food was 10--. 6d. The two other stots were put to good grass 
on the 25th May. On the 18th of October, they were found to have 
gained alike, each 12 stone. 
Mr. Andrew Howden made a like experiment with 18 cattle, in 
six lots. Their increase, and expense of keeping, for three months, 
from 20th March to 20th June, were as follows : 
hogs, the experiments show a different result. The gain and ex¬ 
pense of fattening Mr. Baswell’s hogs are stated as follows : 
Cwt. qr. lbs. Expense. 
Five hogs fed with cooked food, . 4 2 7 £6 19 4 h 
“ fed on raw food,... 2 2 21 5 8 6 
W. Dudgeon made his experiment with twelve pigs, six Tie pigs 
in one Jot, and six she pigs in another, afterwards subdivided, to as¬ 
certain the respective merits of the sexes for feeding. The result 
was decidedly favorable to the cooked food, notwithstanding the ex¬ 
pense was 20 per cent the greatest. The pigs were fed from the 
2d July to the 12th October, at which latter date the he pigs had 
gained 38 stone 6 lbs. and the she pigs 17 stone 11 lbs. The result 
satisfied the reporter, that prepared food is best to be given to pigs, 
and, besides, that the pork is superior to that of hogs fed on raw 
food. 
Robert Walker made his experiment with ten pigs, five fed on 
steamed potatoes, and five on raw potatoes, with a daily allowance 
of 2j lbs. broken barley each lot. The result was as follows: 
1833, March 4.—Live weight of 5 pigs on raw food, 108 lbs. 
June 1.— “ “ “ 223 
Gain....... 115 lbs. 
March 4.—Live weight of 5 pigs on steamed food, 106 
June 1. “ “ “ “ 279 
Gain,. 175 
Difference in favor of steamed food. 58 lbs. 
But what comes nearer to our practice, are the experiments of 
the Rev. H. Colman, one of our best practical farmers, in whose 
accuracy we may put implicit confidence. Our hog feed differs 
from that of Europe; and the main questions to be decided here, 
are, whether Indian corn is most profitably fed in a dry unground 
state, in the form of Indian meal, or cooked preparatory to its being 
fed. Soft or pig corn will be fed in the cob ; and potatoes and pump¬ 
kins, of which every farm affords, or ought to afford, a considerable 
supply, should unquestionably be cooked ; yet we generally finish off 
our pork, after the refuse of the farm is exhausted, on sound corn ; 
it gives solidity and flavor to the pork ; and the question, we repeat, 
is, in what form is tins sound corn most profitably given 1 Mr. Col- 
man’s experiments were instituted in 1833, with a view not only to 
solve this question, but to ascertain the profit or loss incident to fat¬ 
tening pork, with corn, and the age at which it is most p ofitable to 
put up swine to fatten. We regret that the limits of our monthly 
sheet will not permit us to give the whole of Mr. Colman’s excellent 
communication, which we find in the Transactions of the Essex Ag¬ 
ricultural Society for 1833. We however copy the account of his 
experiments, and his closing remarks. 
“ EXPERIMENT I. 
“ Two hogs one year old; one of them a barrow in very good 
condition ; the other a barrow recently gelded, and in ordinary con¬ 
dition, were put up to be fed exclusively upon Indian hasty pudding, 
or Indian meal boilud with water. We began feeding them the 1st 
of March, 1831, and weighed them again on the 19th of the same 
month. In the 18 days they consumed six bushels of Indian meal. 
They were offered cold water to drink, but did not incline to take 
any. The result— 
No. 1 weighed on 1st March,. 233 lbs. 
“ “ 19th “ . 269 
T.bs. Expense. 
Three heifers on raw turnips,. 392 £6 18 0 
a a on steamed turnips,.... 532 8 18 0 
a a on raw potatoes,. 600 10 7 0 
a a on steamed potatoes,... 572 10 7 0 
a stots on raw potatoes and corn,. 722 9 4 0 
a a on boiled potatoes and corn,.. 689 9 5 0 
John Baswell gives the result of his experiments on feeding ten 
horned cattle and ten hogs, on raw and prepared food. The ex¬ 
pense of keeping the five cattle on raw food was £32 2s. Id. while 
that of the cattle on prepared food was £34 5s. 10. On being 
slaughtered, the two lots appeared to be very similar, but the par¬ 
ticular weight is not mentioned. 
The purport of these reports implies, that there is very little if 
any advantage in cooking food for neat cattle. But in regard to 
Gain,. 36 
No. 2, (recently gelded,) weighed on 1st March... 190 lbs. 
“ “ “ 19th “ .. 247 
Gain,. 57 
The gain of the two was 93 lbs. in 18 days. The quantity of 
meal consumed by them was 10 qts. per day to the two. This al¬ 
lows 30 qts. to a bushel, deducting two for grinding. The price of 
corn at the time was 70 cents per bushel. The expense of the in¬ 
creased weight is 4.5 cents per lb. 
March 21, 1831. Killed the hog mentioned first in the foregoing 
experiment. Live weight 273 lbs. Weight when dressed 215 lbs. 
Loss in offal, loose fat included, 59 lbs. or a little more than one- 
fifth. 
