1868. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
15 
flesh. If this be true, it is, wlieu ready boiled, 
on a par with fresh meat at 3 | 4 cent per pound. 
I do not know what this “dried meat” is, 
• but suppose it to be the refuse of some manu¬ 
factory for making oil from fish or other animal 
matter. Now, the value of such an article for 
food would depend a-good deal on how much 
oil there was left in it. If it contains “no grease” 
it will not fatten a pig rapidly, when fed alone. 
It would probably be more valuable for young, 
growing pigs, but in either case, some other 
food, such as corn meal, should be fed in con¬ 
junction with it. 
The only experiments I can recollect that 
bear o.n the point are those made by Lawes & 
Gilbert. These experiments were made on 92 
pigs, three and four pigs in each pen fed with 
different foods. Dried Newfoundland codfish 
was one of the foods used—not alone, but in 
conjunction with corn meal, barley meal and 
bran. When put up to fatten, the pigs weighed 
about 160 pounds each, and were, to the best of 
my recollection, nine or ten months old. They 
were fatted eight weeks. I cannot go into de¬ 
tails. Those who wish for a further account of 
these interesting experiments will find it in the 
Rural Annual for 1865, pages 30-38. One pen of 
four pigs had about 2 pounds of codfish (boil¬ 
ed) each per day, and all the Indian corn meal 
they would eat. 
The four pigs, in 8 weeks, eat 308 pounds of 
codfish, and 1,450 lbs. of corn meal, and gained 
389 pounds. Or, in other words, each pig con¬ 
sumed on the average 9 1 ( 2 pounds of codfish and 
45 pounds of meal per week, and gained a lit¬ 
tle over 12 pounds. One hundred pounds of 
food produced a little over 22 pounds of pork. 
In another experiment, where 2 pounds of a 
mixture of “bean and lentil meal,” (say pea 
meal), were given each pig per day, and all the 
Indian corn meal they would eat was added, it 
took 100 pounds of the food to produce 21'-| 3 
pounds of pork. These experiments would 
seem to indicate, therefore, that dried codfish is 
not more fattening than peas. 
This dried codfish contained about 40 per 
Cent, of water, lS 1 ^ per cent, of ash, 6’la per 
cent, of nitrogen, and not quite 1 per cent, of 
fat. The beans and lentils contained about 5 
per cent, of nitrogen, and about 2 per cent, of fat. 
Assuming that Mr. Foster’s meat has the 
same composition as the codfish, it is" easy .to 
give a rough estimate of the value of the ma¬ 
nure obtained from pigs consuming it. Genu¬ 
ine Peruvian guano, all things considered, is the 
cheapest ammoniacal manure in market. It is 
worth, say $90 per ton, and contains 15 per cent, 
of ammonia. 
Assuming that one pound of nitrogen in the 
food will give us one pound of ammonia in the 
manure, (which is allowing for much more loss 
of nitrogen than is retained in the animal), 100 
pounds of the meat fed to a pig would give O 1 ^ 
pounds of ammonia in the manure. The other 
constituents would be more abundant in the 
manure than in the guano; and we shall not be 
far wrong if we assume that the manure from 
100 pounds of this meat is worth as much as 50 
pounds of Peruvian guano—that is to say, $2.25, 
Or 2 1 !* cents per pound. The manure is worth 
as much as the first cost of the food. 
In a postscript Mr. F. adds: “One of my 
neighbors thinks it would pay to use it as ma¬ 
nure, but that hog feeding has not paid him. I 
tell him we had better pass it through the hog- 
first. He seems to think it loses more than the 
value of the pork gained.” 
There need be no more loss than I have as¬ 
sumed. But unless you have considerable lit¬ 
ter, dried muck, leaves, or other absorbent, the 
probabilities are that a good deal of the manure 
runs to waste. If this loss is avoided, you have 
simply to determine how much the pigs gain, 
and the price of the pork; and, on the other 
hand, the cost of cooking and feeding, and the 
increased labor of drawing out the manure. It 
is doubtless in far better condition for the crops 
than if applied directly as a manure. 
On the same basis, the manure from 100 lbs. 
of corn meal is worth about 70 cents. 
Mutton, it seems, has been sold in New York 
by the carcass for 2 cents and 3 cents per pound. 
If the sheep weighed 45 lbs., and the pelt is worth 
75 cents, and the freight has been paid on them 
from Ohio or Michigan, how much did they net 
the farmer who raised them? One can see that 
the farmers could not receive much for them, or 
else the drivers must have lost money. Shall 
we never learn wisdom? 
A farmer in this vicinity has just sold eight 
head of cattle for $150 Hess than the same butch¬ 
er offered for them last spring. He has lost the 
whole summer’s feed and $150 beside. Thus 
we go! 
One thing is encouraging. Really good beef 
maintains a steady price. If we raise choice 
animals and feed them well, we can calculate on 
getting a fair price for them. Last week, “infe¬ 
rior” beef cattle fell a cent a pound in New 
York, being quoted at 7c. to 8c.dressed weight; 
while “extra” and “choice” held their own 
at 16c. to 17c. per pound. Such facts as these 
are eloquent advocates of good breeding and 
high feeding. 
John Johnston talked of giving up farming. 
He was over eighty and had no son; help 
scarce and not trusty. “ Had I not better sell ?” 
he asked. I wrote him “ No.” Fancy John 
Johnston in a city 1 No underdrains, no 
growing crops of grass and clover, no wheat, 
no corn, no barley, no sheep! The last time I 
was there, when he Avent into the field his fa¬ 
vorite cows came to be patted, and a splendid 
heifer calf put her nose into his arms. Shall 
he leave them ? Those who say so know noth¬ 
ing of the pleasures of farming. 
He now writes me: “ The farm is not to be 
sold. I have let 40 acres for five years, for nur¬ 
sery purposes, at a j r early rent of $1,000, paya¬ 
ble semi-annually. This is a great deal better 
for me than selling. It would have been a 
great trial to have left my farm. I still have 
over 50 acres of cleared land, and you may be 
sure I will do my best with it. I have sold this 
year’s crop of wheat for over $1,500. I have 
900 bushels of ears of corn from a trifle over 
eleven acres, and at least 70 tons of hay. I 
have bought 300 wether sheep and ten tons of 
oil-cake to feed to them. Won 11 make manure 
this Avinter for my small farm ? 
If I live, I will sow 12 acres of wheat next 
September. The same field yielded over $100 
worth of Avlieat per acre in 1866. It is all 
'■’bosh' about our land failing for Avheat. The 
failure is all for Avant of feeding the land. 
Horses and oxen must be well fed if they are 
to pay in work. So must the earth if it is to 
pay for tilling.” 
Twenty-five dollars an acre rent (five per cent 
interest, or $500 per acre) is not bad for land 
that was once pronounced “the poorest farm 
in all creation.” So much for underdraining, 
good tillage, liberal feeding, and high manuring. 
Mr. J. says he nevet had so poor a crop of 
clover seed as this year—not quite a bushel per 
acre. Mr. Foster, avIio is an excellent farmer, 
only got 18 bushels from 38 acres. Mr. J. adds: 
“ My first crop Avas far too heavy. It Avas so 
badly lodged that a great deal of it could not be 
cut close. I never had a good crop of seed 
Avlien the first crop was not shaved off clean. 
Clover seed will be very high in the spring, if 
not before.” 
The drouth here still continues. Many farmers 
have to drive their cattle miles to Avater. It 
looks noAV (Dec. 2,) as though winter was about 
to set in Avithout rain. But it is said such a 
thing Avas never knoAvn. 
Wheat Culture Extending at the South. 
—One of the encouraging “signs of the times” 
is that wheat is reported to have been much 
more extensively sown at the South than ever* 
before. This is undoubtedly true of some ex¬ 
tensive sections. There is nothing more certain 
to entail poverty upon the soil than continual 
cropping with one plant—tobacco, cotton, or 
corn. The introduction of a variety of crops, 
with a judicious rotation and systematic manur¬ 
ing, Avill develop the full resources of the soil. 
In this Avay, avc are confident that wheat will 
be found a better paying crop than either cotton 
or tobacco, alone. 
Ash Bins.—M ore fires occur from ashes 
stored in Avooden vessels than from almost any 
other cause. The favorite deposit is an old 
flour barrel under the shed or in the wood-house. 
The ashes stand perhaps in an iron vessel until 
they are supposed to be cool, and are then emp¬ 
tied. Coals, especially of the hard woods, hick¬ 
ory and oak, Avill retain their fire in ashes for a 
day or longer,and this,coming in contact Avith the 
barrel at a crack, kindles a flame, and a destruc¬ 
tive Are ensues. Farm-houses and barns are fre¬ 
quently destroyed in this way. There are sev¬ 
eral devices for the storing of as-hes. Where 
Avood is Avholly used in the fireplace, or Frank¬ 
lin fire frame, it is convenient to have a flue in 
the back part of the hearth or the chimney, com¬ 
municating with an ash bin in the cellar. The 
mouth of the flue is kept covered Avith an iron 
slide. The bin in the cellar is made of stone, 
and is of sufficient capacity to hold the Avinter’s 
stock of ashes. But the stove has so generally 
taken the place of the open fire that other con¬ 
trivances are used. Some put up a small brick 
building expressly for the purpose, having a half 
door in the upper part, for convenience in 
emptying the ashes. Bluestone flags are con¬ 
venient for making bins of smaller size, and are 
not very expensive. Perhaps the cheapest ar¬ 
ticle for this purpose is a cement tile, tAvo feet 
in diameter, covered Avith a piece of zinc or sheet 
iron. It is cheaper than iron, and fire-proof. 
Wintering Stock on the Prairies. 
There is every excuse to be offered for the 
western farmers who winter their stock on the 
warm sides of straw heaps and hay Stacks on 
the prairies, for they have, in many cases, had 
hard work to build a comfortable shelter for 
their oavii heads. When farmers in the older 
settled States do the same thing, that is, expose 
their stock to the rigors of the Avinter, the cuts 
of satire and the lash of open reprobation are all 
that Avill bring them to their senses. For the 
cattle’s sake Ave often resort to the appeal to the 
pocket, and this is listened to; and, though nev- 
