THE COTTAGE GARDENEB. 
February If), 
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]ioulti’y profitable, as wc have so lately treated of it. 
We desire only to call attention to the fact, that a great 
demand exists, that all the advantage is on the side of 
the homo producer, while his inattention to it throws it 
into the hands of otlrers who are more careful to look at 
email matters. 
ON FATTENING POULTRY. 
nUZE ESSAY. 
(From the Report of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.) 
Chapter I.— The Prikciples oe Feeding. 
Section I. —77ie Purposes served hy Food. 
The purposes served by food when taken in the body are 
of several distinct kinds, and ina.v be spoken of as— 
1. The production of Animal Warmth. j 
2. The suiiply of the Materials required for the Growth ' 
and Waste of the Muscles, Ac. j 
d. The supply of the Mineral and Saline Substance con- i 
tained in the Body. j 
4. The supply of tlic Waste or Increase of Fat. 
The warmth, natural to living animals, depends upon the 
consumption of a certain portion of tlie food in the process 
of breathing ; the substances consumed in this manner are 
cliietly those which contain a large quantity of carbon, which 
passes off in the breath, in the form of carbonic acid. 
The most important warmth-giving foods are, starch, sugar, 
gum, the softer fibres of idants, and oily or fatty substances; 
as the natural warmth of an animal in healtli remains the 
same at all times, it necessarily follows, that a larger sujqdy 
of warmth-giving food is required in cold situations than 
warm ones. 
During motion, or under excitement of any kind, the 
breatljing is hastened; and, consequently, a larger amount 
of carbon is thrown off tlie lungs. In (piietude and sleep, 
on the contrary, the breathing is slower, and tlie (juautity of 
food consumed in this manner is lessened. These circum¬ 
stances will render evident the utility of keeping fattening 
animals in a house of moderately warm temperature, and one 
sufficiently quiet and darkened, to conduce to rest and sleep. 
To supply the materials of the growth of young animals, 
and repair the waste arising from the daily action of the 
limbs, and from other causes, a second variety of food is 
required; for the starch and other substances before 
cniimemted,/tnve Oeeu proved, by direct erperimenl, to have 
not the sliyhlest action in supplyiny these wanl.s. Substances 
possessing this power may be termed Hesh-forming foods. 
The most important are, the gluten, and similar substances, 
existing in variable quantities, in different grains ; and, in 
larger proportion, in the varieties of pulse, as beaus, peas, 
Ac.; and in materials which form the solid iiarts of the flesh 
of animals, of eggs, of milk, Ac. In consequence of their 
containing the elements of nitrogen, which is wanting in the 
other varieties of food, these Hesh-forming substances ai-e 
frequently termed nitroyeuous foods; whilst the fat-forming 
and warmth-giving are called carbonaceous foods. 
The mineral and the saline substances contained in the 
bones, and in other ]iarts of the bodies of animals, occur in 
larger proportion in thebranthan in theinner partofthegrain. 
A due supply of bone-making and saline materials is absolutely 
requisite to the growth of a healthy animal; as, if wanting 
in the food, the bones become soft, and the general health 
speedily fails. 
In reference to the present subject, those substances which 
supply the materials for replacing the waste or the increase ; 
of fat are the most important. It is still a point unsettled, j 
amongst the scientific authorities, whether the starchy j 
materials before spoken of, as warmth-giving food, are, or j 
are not capable of being converted, by the living forces of 
the body, into fat; although there is but little doubt, that 
under favourable l ircumstanccs they are so; but it is un- 
(piestioned, that where it is desired to fatten animals rapidly 
(or to supply fat to be consumed in generating warmth, as 
is necessary in all cold regions), it is llnmibsolute requisite 
that the food eaten should contain oily and fatty matters 
which can be readily absorbed by the digestive organs, and 
citlier stored up or applied to the iimnediate wants of the ! 
body. There appears no doubt but that the fatty materials 
in the food are rapidly absorbed by the body, without under- : 
going much alteration, therefore, the nature of the food 
influences very greatly the character of the fat; and, not to ' 
seek for examples beyond the animals whose fattening is at ■ 
present under consideration, the w’riter know'S of an extensive ; 
feeder of geese, who ahvays sends his birds to market in an i 
excessively fat condition ; but which, nevertheless, do not ' 
command the prizes paid for some others in a less fatted 
state, from the very soft and oily character of the fat, 
and its being known to lose excessively in cooking. This , 
feeder keeps his process of feeding a secret; but there 
is little doubt that oil-cake or linseed enters largely into , 
his dietary. The rapid fattening efl'ects of cod liver oil 
on men and animals prove, also, that fatty substances can : 
be raihdly assimilated by the vital pow'ers; and the follow- i 
ing extract from the Pharmaceutical Journal substantiates 
the fact, that they arc absorbed without undergoing much 
change:— 
“A quantity of refuse cod livers were sent into the country, 
and turned under some rubbish, for the jjurpose of forming 
manure. Some time after, several pigs discovered the treasure, 
and fed extensively upon it; although not put up to fatten, 
they became in very high condition,—so much so, that 
they were killed without any further preparation. On dress¬ 
ing them, it w'as found that the fat w'as yellow, and the flesh 
very peculiar; during cooking it gave out a strong smell, 
similar to that of boiled cod livers, and was so oflensive that 
it was unfit for food ; in fact it was saturated with oil, which 
even exuded from the lean when pressed. The fat of the pork 
did not solidify, but was soft, and smelt like rancid cod liver; 
even the lungs and the liver appeared saturated with oil; 
the hams had the appearance of having been soaked in that 
liquid, and could not be made to take the salt. This circum¬ 
stance appears to prove that the fatty matters are absorbed 
without their sensible qualities being altered; the liquid 
character and rancid flavour of the cod liver oil attecting the 
fat of the pork.” 
Section II.— Examination of the Suhstanccs used in Fatleniny ; 
Poultry. j 
Supposing the principles above-stated be correct, and both I 
theory and practice tend to prove their perfect truthfulnes.s, ' 
it is obvious, that the value of any substance, used as a food ; 
for fattening animals, can only bo asccrtaiiied by a reference I 
to the relative quantity of warmth-giving, flesh-formhig, and ! 
fat-forming materials it contains; and such an examination | 
will give us a true index of its money value, and enable us | 
to ascertain how far the practice of feeders has been based I 
upon right principles. I 
Oats and Oatheal. —Oats or oatmeal are perhaps more * 
lai'gely employed than any other grain in fattening poultry; j 
and, in this case, the e.xperience of feeders strikingly coires- I 
ponds with the residts afforded by scientifle examination. Oat- , 
meal contains, in every lOOlbs., (ill)S. of fat or oil, J81bs. of ' 
flesh-forming, and (ftlbs. of starchy materials; oats contain ' 
the same (quantity of fat in every lOOlbs.; but in conseiiuence ' 
of the large luoportion of husk, the quantity of flesh-forming | 
and starchy substances is lessened to 1.51bs. of the former, ' 
and ITlbs, of the latter; thus oats are not as valuable for , 
fattening purposes as oatmeal, —especially as, from the 
presence of the husk, and their undivided slate, they are 
not so rapidly digested. 
Wjie.vt and Biun, Middiungs, Ac. —'Wheat, in its entire 
state, contains only one-half the fatty materials of oats, and 
hence it is not usually emiiloyed iji fattening; the fat of 
wheat resiiles almost entirely in the outer portions, \s\nch,\\\icu 
removed, constitute bran, pollard, and middlings,—the latter, 
or finest bran, has been remarked, by professor J. Johnston, 
as being almost similar in its composition to oatmeal, being , 
much richer in both fat and llesh-formiug foods than the 
inner parts of the grain. Its value in fattening pigs has 
been long known; and the writer can speak, from long ex¬ 
perience, that it is eipially eflicacious in fattening poultry. 
It contains (libs, of fat, 18lbs. of flesh-hirming, and about i 
odlbs. of warmth-giving food in every lOOlbs. } 
Baiu.ey and Bari.ey-Meal. —Barley is not advantageous 
as a fattening food, as its per centage of fat is very low', being 
not more than 2lbs. in every lOOlbs. ^ 
Indian Corn. —Indign Gorn is remarkable for the large ' 
