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[Illustration: PRIZE YEARLING SHORT-HORN BULL, "VICTOR EMMANUEL,"

THE PROPERTY OF LORD TALBOT DE MALAHIDE,

Was awarded the First Prize in his Section (there being sixteen
competitors), at the Show of the Royal Agricultural Society, held
at Belfast, in August, 1861. Calved June 24, 1860; sire, Prince
Duke the Second (16,731); dam, Turfoida, by Earl of Dublin (10,178);
gd., Rosina, by Gray Friar (9,172); ggd., Hinda, by Little John (4,232).]






THE STOCK-FEEDER'S MANUAL.


  THE CHEMISTRY OF FOOD IN RELATION TO
  THE BREEDING AND FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK.


BY CHARLES A. CAMERON, Ph.D., M.D.,

    Licentiate of the King and Queen's College of Physicians
    in Ireland; Honorary Corresponding Member of the New York
    State Agricultural Society; Member of the Agricultural
    Society of Belgium; Professor of Hygiene or Political
    Medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons; Professor of
    Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in Steevens' Hospital
    and Medical College; Lecturer on Chemistry in the Ledwich
    School of Medicine; Analyst to the City of Dublin; Chemist
    to the County of Kildare Agricultural Society, the Queen's
    County Agricultural Society, c.; Member of the International
    Jury of the Paris Exhibition, 1867; Editor of the
    "Agricultural Review;" one of the Editors of the "Irish
    Farmer's Gazette;" Author of the "Chemistry of Agriculture,"
    "Sugar and the Sugar Duties," &c. &c.


  LONDON AND NEW YORK:
  CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN.
  1868.

[_All rights reserved._]



  LONDON
  CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, BELLE SAUVAGE WORKS,
  LUDGATE HILL, E. C.



  THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE
  Dedicated
  TO

  THE RIGHT HONORABLE
  THE LORD TALBOT DE MALAHIDE, F.R.S.,
  _President of the Royal Irish Academy, &c. &c. &c._,

  ONE OF THE MOST ENLIGHTENED AND LIBERAL PROMOTERS
  OF AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS.

  THE AUTHOR IS UNDER MANY OBLIGATIONS TO HIS LORDSHIP, FOR
  WHICH HE CAN MAKE NO RETURN SAVE THIS PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGMENT
  OF HIS INDEBTEDNESS.




PREFACE.


Some papers on the Chemistry of Food, read before the Royal Agricultural
Society of Ireland and the Athy Farmers' Club, and a few articles on the
Management of Live Stock, published in the _Weekly Agricultural Review_,
constitute the basis of this Work. It describes the nature of the food
used by the domesticated animals, explains the composition of the animal
tissues, and treats generally upon the important subject of nutrition.
The most recent analyses of all the kinds of food usually consumed by
the animals of the farm are fully stated; and the nutritive values of
those substances are in most instances given. Some information is
afforded relative to the breeds and breeding of live stock; and a
division of the Work is wholly devoted to the consideration of the
economic production of "meat, milk, and butter."

Within the last twenty years the processes of chemical analysis have
been so much improved, that the composition of organic bodies is now
determined with great accuracy. The analyses of foods made from twenty
to fifty years ago, possess now but little value. In this Work the
analyses of vegetables quoted are chiefly those recently performed by the
distinguished Scotch chemist, Dr. Thomas Anderson, and by Dr. Voelcker.
The Author believes that in no other Work of moderate size are there so
many analyses of food substances given, and ventures to hope that the
success of this Work may fully justify the belief that a "handy" book
containing such information as that above mentioned, is much required
by stock feeders.

  _102, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin_,
    April, 1868.




TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                   PAGE

INTRODUCTION: History of Agriculture--Agricultural Statistics--Imports
  of Live Stock

                                                                      1

PART I. ON THE GROWTH AND COMPOSITION OF ANIMALS.

SECTION I. ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE. Functions of Plants. Animal
  Life.--SECTION II. COMPOSITION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES. Elements of
  Organic Bodies. Proximate Composition of Organic Substances.--SECTION III.
  USE OF FAT IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. Fatty Food necessary in Cold Climates.
  Fat Equivalents.--SECTION IV. RELATION BETWEEN THE COMPOSITION OF AN
  ANIMAL AND THAT OF ITS FOOD. Tables of Experimental Results.--SECTION V.
  RELATION BETWEEN THE QUANTITY OF FOOD CONSUMED BY AN ANIMAL AND
  THE INCREASE OF ITS WEIGHT, OR OF THE AMOUNT OF ITS WORK. Weights
  of Foods necessary to sustain a Man's Life for twenty-four hours.
  Value of Manure.

                                                                      8

PART II. ON THE BREEDING AND BREEDS OF STOCK.

SECTION I. THE BREEDING OF STOCK.--SECTION II. THE BREEDS OF STOCK.
  The Form of Animals. _Breeds of the Ox._ Shorthorns. Devons.
  Herefords. Ayrshires. Polled Cattle. Kyloes. Long-horned.
  Kerrys. Alderneys. _Sheep._ The Leicester. Lincoln. Cotswold.
  Cheviot. Southdown. Shropshire. Blackfaced. _Breeds of the
  Pig._ Berkshire. Yorkshire. _Breeds of the Horse._ Clydesdales.
  Suffolk Punch. Hunters and Racers.

                                                                     47

PART III. ON THE MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK.

SECTION I. THE OX. Breeding Cows. Wintering of Young Stock. Shelter
  of Stock. Milch Cows. Stall Feeding. Cost of Maintaining Animals.
  Cooking and Bruising Food. Value for Feeding Purposes of various
  Foods. Bedding Cattle.--SECTION II. THE SHEEP. Breeding Ewes.
  Yeaning. Rearing of Lambs. Sheep Feeding. Sheep Dips.--SECTION III. THE
  PIG. Young Pigs. Store Pigs. Fattening Pigs.--SECTION IV. THE HORSE.
  Foals. Dietaries for the Horse.

                                                                     74

PART IV. MEAT, MILK, AND BUTTER.

SECTION I. MEAT. Quality of Meat. Is very Fat Meat Unwholesome?
  Diseased Meat.--SECTION II. MILK. Composition of Milk of Different
  Animals. Yield of Milk. Preserved Milk.--SECTION III. BUTTER. History
  of Butter. Irish Butter. Composition of Butter. The Butter
  Manufacture.

                                                                    112

PART V. ON THE COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF VEGETABLE FOODS.

SECTION I. THE MONEY VALUE OF FOOD SUBSTANCES.--SECTION II. PROXIMATE
  CONSTITUENTS OF VEGETABLES. Starch. Sugar. Inulin. Gum. Pectin.
  Cellulose. Oils and Fats. Stearin. Margarin. Olein. Palmitin.
  Albumen. Fibrin. Legumin.--SECTION III. GREEN FOOD. The
  Grasses. Schroeder Brome. Tussac Grass. The Clovers. Leguminous
  Plants--Vetch, Sainfoin, &c. The Yellow Lupine. Rib Grass Plantain.
  Ergot in Grasses. Holcus Saccharatus. Green Rye. Buckwheat. Rape.
  Mustard. Comfrey. Chicory. Yarrow. Melons and Marrows. Cabbage.
  Furze.--SECTION IV. STRAW AND HAY. _Straw._ Anderson's, Voelcker's,
  and Cameron's Analyses of Straws. Feeding Experiments with Straw.
  Relative Values of Straw and Oil-cake. _Hay._ Composition of the
  Hay of different Grasses. Over-ripening of Hay. Damaged Hay and
  Straw.--SECTION V. ROOTS AND TUBERS. _Turnips._ Swedish. White
  Globe. Aberdeen Yellow. Purple-top. Norfolk Bell. Greystone.
  Turnip Tops. Analyses of Turnips. Mangel Wurtzel. Chemistry of
  the Mangel. Stripping Leaves off the Mangel. Beet-root. Parsnip.
  Carrot. Kohl-rabi. Analyses of Kohl-rabi. Radish. The Radish as
  a Field Crop. Composition of Radish. Jerusalem Artichoke: Advantages
  of Cultivating it. Analysis of Jerusalem Artichoke. Potato: Analyses
  of six varieties. Feeding Value of Potatoes.--SECTION VI. SEEDS. _Wheat._
  Analyses of Wheat, Flour, Bran, and Husks. Over-ripening of
  Grain. Wheat a Costly Food. Analyses of Barley, Oat Grain, Indian
  Corn, Rye, Rice, Rice-dust, and Buckwheat. Malted Corn. Voelcker's
  Analyses of Malt and Barley. Experiments of Thompson, Lawes, &c.,
  with Malt. Malt Combings. _Leguminous Seeds._ Beans. Composition
  of Common Beans, Foreign Beans, Peas. Lentils and Winter Tares.
  _Oil Seeds._ Rape Seeds. Experiments with Rapeseed. Flax Bolls.
  Composition of Linseed, Rape-seed, Hemp-seed, and Cotton-seed.
  Fenugreek Seed.--SECTION VII. OIL-CAKES AND OTHER ARTIFICIAL FOODS.
  Composition of Linseed, Rape-seed, Cotton-seed, and Poppy-seed
  Cake. Linseed-cake. Adulteration of Linseed-cake. Rape-cake.
  Feeding Experiments with Rape-cake. Adulterations of Rape-cake.
  Cotton-seed Cake. Analyses of Decorticated Cotton-seed Cake.
  Palm-nut Meal: its Composition and Nutritive Properties. Locust,
  or Carob Bean: its Composition. Dates. Brewers' Dregs and
  Distillery Wash. Molasses and Treacle.--SECTION VIII. CONDIMENTAL FOOD.
  Lawes' Experiments with Thorley's Food. Analyses of Condimental
  Food. Formula for a Tonic Food.--SECTION IX. TABLES OF THE ANALYSES
  OF THE ASHES OF PLANTS.

                                                                    147

APPENDIX. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. Numbers of Live Stock in the United
  Kingdom. Value of the Agriculture Products of Great Britain.

                                                                    254






THE CHEMISTRY OF FOOD.




INTRODUCTION.


When Virgil composed his immortal "Bucolics," and Varro indited his
profound Essays on Agriculture, the inhabitants of the British Islands
were almost completely ignorant of the art of cultivating the soil.
The rude spoils torn from the carcasses of savage animals protected the
bodies of their hardly less savage victors; and the produce of the chase
served almost exclusively to nourish the hardy frames of the ancient
Celtic hunters. In early ages wild beasts abounded in the numerous and
extensive forests of Britain and Ireland; but men were few, for the
conditions under which the maintenance of a dense population is possible
did not then exist. As civilisation progressed, men rapidly multiplied,
and the demand for food increased. The pursuit of game became merely the
pastime of the rich; and tame sheep and oxen furnished meat to the lowly
as well as to the great. Nor were the fruits of the earth neglected; for
during the latter days of the dominion of the Romans, England raised
large quantities of corn. Gradually the food of the people, which at
first was almost purely animal, became chiefly vegetable. The shepherds,
who had supplanted the hunters, became less numerous than the tillers of
land; and the era of tillage husbandry began.

At present the great mass of the rural population of these countries
subsist almost exclusively upon vegetable aliment--a diet which poverty,
and not inclination, prescribes for them. Were the flesh of animals
the staple food of the British peasantry, their numbers would not be
nearly so large as they now are, for a given area of land is capable of
sustaining a far larger number of vegetarians than of meat eaters. The
Chinese are by no means averse to animal food, but they are so numerous,
that they are in general obliged to content themselves on a purely
vegetable diet.

In the manufacturing districts of Great Britain, there are several
millions of people whose condition in relation to food is somewhat
different from that of the small farmer and agricultural laborer. The
artizans employed in our great industries are comparatively well paid
for their toil; and the results of their labor place within their reach
a fair share of animal food. This section of the population is rapidly
increasing, and consequently is daily augmenting the demand for meat.
The rural population is certainly not increasing; rather the reverse.
Less manual labor is now expended in the operations of agriculture, and
even horses are retiring before the advance of the steam plough. The
only great purely vegetable-feeding class is diminishing, and the upper,
the middle, and the artizan classes--the beef and mutton eating sections
of society--are rapidly increasing. It is clear, then, that we are
threatened with a revival of the pastoral age, and that in one way, at
least, we are returning to the condition of our ancestors, whose staple
food consisted of beef, mutton, and pork.

And here two questions arise. How long shall we be able to supply the
increasing demand for meat? How long shall we be able to compete with
the foreign feeders? These are momentous queries for the British farmer,
and I trust they may be solved in a satisfactory manner. At any time
during the present century the foreign or colonial grower of wheat could
have undersold the British producer of that article, were the latter not
protected by a tariff; but cattle could not, as a general rule, be
imported into Great Britain at a cheaper rate than they could be
produced at home. Were there no corn imported, it is certain that the
price of bread would be greater than it is now, even if the grain
harvests had been better than they have been for some years past. A bad
cereal harvest in England raises the price of flour, but only to a small
and strictly limited extent, because, practically, there is no limit
to the amount of bread-stuffs procurable from abroad. When, on the
contrary, the turnip crop fails, or that excessive drought greatly
curtails the yield of grass, the price of meat and butter increases
greatly, and is but slightly modified by the importation of foreign
stock.

Hitherto the difficulty of transit has been so great that we have only
derived supplies of live stock from countries situated at a short
distance, such as Holstein and Holland. Vast herds of cattle are fed
with but little expense in America, and myriads of sheep are maintained
cheaply in Australia; but the immense distances which intervene between
our country and those remote and sparsely populated regions have,
hitherto, prevented the superabundant supply of animal food produced
therein from being available to the teeming population of the British
Isles. Should, however, any cheap mode of conveying live stock, or even
their flesh, from those and similarly circumstanced countries be
devised, it might render the production of meat in Britain a far less
profitable occupation than it is now. That we are increasing the area
from whence we draw our supplies of live stock is evident from the fact,
that within the last two years enormous numbers of horned stock have
been imported from Spain. In that extensive country there are noble
breeds of the ox; and it would appear that very large numbers of animals
could be annually exported, without depriving the inhabitants of a due
supply of bovine meat. As Spain is not very distant, it is likely that
this traffic will be increased, and that in a short time we shall be as
well supplied with Spanish beef as we are now provided with French
flour. Meat is at present dear, and is likely to continue so for some
time; but still it is evident that, sooner or later, the British feeders
will come into keen competition with the foreign producer of meat, and
that the price of their commodity will consequently fall. The mere
probability of such a state of things, were there no other reason,
should induce the feeder to devote increased attention to the
improvement of his stock, and to discover more economical methods of
feeding them. There is still much to be learned relative to the precise
nutritive values of the various feeding stuffs. The proper modes of
cooking, or otherwise preparing, food, are still to be satisfactorily
determined; and there are many very important questions in relation to
the breeding of stock yet unanswered.

It is but fair to admit that the farmer is earnestly endeavouring to
improve his art, and that he is willing, nay anxious, to obtain the
co-operation of scientific men, in order to increase his knowledge of
the theory as well as the practice of his ancient calling. Indeed, he
not only admits the utility of science in agriculture, but often places
an undue degree of value upon the theories of the chemist, of the
botanist, and of the geologist. This is encouraging to the men of
science; but, on the other hand, they must admit that by far the greater
portion of the sum of human knowledge has been derived from the
experience and observation of men utterly unacquainted with science, in
the ordinary signification of that term. This portion of our knowledge
is also, in its practical application, the most valuable. In the most
important branch of industry--agriculture--the labors of the purely
scientific man have as yet borne but scant fruit; whilst the unaided
efforts of the husbandman have reclaimed from sterility extensive
tracts, and caused them to "blossom as the rose." That practical men
should have done so much, and scientific men so little, for agriculture,
may easily be explained. Countless millions of men, during many
thousands of years, have incessantly been occupied in improving the
processes of mechanical agriculture, which, as an _art_, has
consequently been brought to a high degree of perfection: but scientific
agriculture is a creation of almost our own time, and the number of its
cultivators is, and always has been, very small; all its theories cannot,
therefore, justly claim that degree of confidence which, as a rule, is
only reposed in the opinions founded on the experience of practical
workers in the field and in the feeding-house. Still, the farmer has
derived a great amount of useful information from the chemist and
physiologist; and they alone can explain to him the causes of the
various phenomena which the different branches of his art present. There
was a time when it was the fashion of the man of science to look down
with contempt, from the lofty pedestal on which he placed himself, upon
the lessons of practical experience read to him by the cultivator of the
soil; whilst at the same time the farmer treated as foolish visionaries
those who applied the teachings of science to the improvement of their
art. But this time has happily passed away. The scientific man no longer
despises the knowledge of the mere farmers, but turns to good account
the information derivable from their experience; whilst the farmer, on
the other side, has ceased to speak in contemptuous terms of mere "book
learning." It is to this happy combination of the theorist with the
practical man that the recent remarkable advance in agriculture is
chiefly due; and to it we may confidently look for improvement in the
economic production of meat and butter, and for the enlargement of our
knowledge of the relative value of food substances.

  STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

  ---------+------------------------------------+
           |         Enumerated, 1866.          |
           +-----------+------------+-----------+
           |  Cattle.  |   Sheep.   |   Pigs.   |
           +-----------+------------+----+------+
  England  | 3,307,034 | 15,124,541 | 2,066,299 |
  Wales    |   541,401 |  1,668,663 |   191,604 |
  Islands  |    17,700 |     57,685 |    22,887 |
  Scotland |   937,411 |  5,255,077 |   219,716 |
  Ireland  | 3,493,414 |  3,688,742 | 1,299,893 |
           +-----------+------------+-----------+
    Total  | 8,316,960 | 25,794,708 | 3,800,399 |
  ---------+-----------+------------+-----------+

  ---------+------------------------------------+
           |          Estimated, 1865.          |
           +-----------+------------+-----------+
           |  Cattle.  |   Sheep.   |  Pigs.    |
           +-----------+------------+-----------+
  England  | 3,422,165 | 18,691,088 | 2,363,724 |
  Wales    |   ----    |    ----    |   ----    |
  Islands  |   ----    |    ----    |   ----    |
  Scotland |   974,437 |  5,683,168 |   146,354 |
  Ireland  | 3,493,414 |  3,688,742 | 1,299,893 |
           +-----------+------------+-----------+
    Total  | 7,890,016 | 28,062,998 | 3,809,971 |
  ---------+-----------+------------+-----------+


  STATEMENT OF THE POPULATION AND NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK IN THE
  UNITED KINGDOM AND VARIOUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES, ACCORDING TO
  THE LATEST RETURNS.

  +--------------+-------+----------+------------------------------+----------+----------+
  |              |Date of|Population|           Cattle.            |          |          |
  | Countries.   |Returns|according |---------+---------+----------+  Sheep.  |  Pigs.   |
  |              |of Live|to Latest |  Cows.  |  Other  |  Total.  |          |          |
  |              |Stock. |Returns.  |         | Cattle. |          |          |          |
  +--------------+-------+----------+---------+---------+----------+----------+----------+
  |United Kingdom|1865-66|29,070,932|3,286,308|5,030,652| 8,316,960|25,795,708| 3,802,399|
  |Russia        |1859-63|74,139,394|    ...  |    ...  |25,444,000|45,130,800|10,097,000|
  |Denmark Proper|  1861 | 1,662,734|  756,834|  361,940| 1,118,774| 1,751,950|   300,928|
  |Sleswig       |  1861 |   421,486|  217,751|  172,250|   390,001|   362,219|    87,867|
  |Holstein      |  1861 |   561,831|  198,310|   92,062|   290,372|   165,344|    82,398|
  |Sweden        |  1860 | 3,859,728|1,112,944|  803,714| 1,916,658| 1,644,156|   457,981|
  |Prussia       |  1862 |18,491,220|3,382,703|2,251,797| 5,634,500|17,428,017| 2,709,709|
  |Hanover       |  1861 | 1,880,070|    ...  |    ...  |   949,179| 2,211,927|   554,056|
  |Saxony        |  1861 | 2,225,240|  411,563|  226,897|   638,460|   371,986|   270,462|
  |Wurtemburg    |  1861 | 1,720,708|  466,758|  490,414|   957,172|   683,842|   216,965|
  |Grand Duchy   |       |          |         |         |          |          |          |
  | of Baden     |  1861 | 1,429,199|  348,418|  273,068|   621,486|   177,322|   307,198|
  | "  Hesse     |  1863 |   853,315|  187,442|  129,211|   316,653|   231,787|   195,596|
  | "  Nassau    |  1864 |   468,311|  116,421|   84,224|   200,645|   152,584|    65,979|
  |     Mecklenb.|       |          |         |         |          |          |          |
  | "  Schwerin  |  1857 |   539,258|  197,622|   69,215|   266,837| 1,198,450|   157,522|
  | "  Oldenburg |  1852 |   279,637|    ...  |    ...  |   219,843|   295,322|    87,336|
  |Holland       |  1864 | 3,618,459|  943,214|  390,673| 1,333,887|   930,136|   294,636|
  |Belgium       |  1856 | 4,529,461|    ...  |    ...  | 1,257,649|   583,485|   458,418|
  |France        |  1862 |37,386,313|5,781,465|8,415,895|14,197,360|33,281,592| 5,246,403|
  |Spain         |  1865 |15,658,531|    ...  |    ...  | 2,904,598|22,054,967| 4,264,817|
  |Austria       |  1863 |36,267,648|6,353,086|7,904,030|14,257,116|16,964,236| 8,151,608|
  |Bavaria       |  1863 | 4,807,440|1,530,626|1,655,356| 3,185,882| 2,058,638|   926,522|
  |United States |  1860 |31,445,080|8,728,862|8,182,813|16,911,475|23,317,756|32,555,267|
  +--------------+-------+----------+---------+---------+----------+----------+----------+


  NUMBERS OF THE LIVE STOCK IMPORTED INTO GREAT BRITAIN
  DURING THE ELEVEN MONTHS ENDED 31st NOVEMBER, 1867.

  Bullocks, bulls, and cows                              150,518
  Calves                                                  20,720
  Sheep and lambs                                        504,514
  Pigs                                                    45,566
                                                        --------
                                                         721,318

  AMOUNT OF ANIMAL FOOD IMPORTED DURING SAME PERIOD.

  Bacon and hams                              cwts.      452,132
  Salt beef                                    "         163,638
  Salt pork                                    "         123,257
  Butter                                       "       1,000,095
  Lard                                         "         213,599
  Cheese                                       "         798,267
  Eggs                                               373,042,000

I am indebted to Professor Ferguson, Chief of the Veterinary Department
of the Irish Privy Council Office, for the following statement:--

  RETURN OF HORNED CATTLE EXPORTED FROM THE SEVERAL IRISH
  PORTS AT WHICH VETERINARY INSPECTORS HAVE BEEN APPOINTED,
  AND CERTIFIED AS FREE FROM DISEASE, FROM THE 18th OF
  NOVEMBER, 1866, TO THE 16th OF NOVEMBER, 1867 (52 WEEKS).

  Fat Stock                                              187,483
  Store Stock                                            317,331
  Breeding and Dairy Stock                                36,599
                                                        --------
            Total                                        541,413
                                                        ========




PART I.

ON THE GROWTH AND COMPOSITION OF ANIMALS.


SECTION I.

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE.

_Functions of Plants._--It is the primary function of plants to convert
the inorganic matter of the soil and air into organised structures
of a highly complex nature. The food of plants is purely mineral, and
consists chiefly of water, carbonic acid, and ammonia. Water is composed
of the elements oxygen and hydrogen; carbonic acid is a compound of
oxygen and carbon; and ammonia is formed of hydrogen and nitrogen. These
four substances are termed the _organic elements_, because they form by
far the larger portion--sometimes the whole--of organic bodies. The
combustible portion of plants and animals is composed of the organic
elements; the incombustible part is made up of potassium, sodium, and
the various other elements enumerated in another page. The organic
elements are furnished chiefly by the atmosphere, and the incombustible
matters are supplied by the soil.

Water in the state of vapor forms, according to the temperature and
other conditions of the atmosphere, from a half per cent. to four and a
half per cent. of the weight of that fluid--about 1·25 per cent. being
the average; carbonic acid exists in it to the extent of 1/2000th; and
ammonia forms a minute portion of it--according to Dr. Angus Smith, one
grain weight in 412·42 cubic feet of air (of a town), or 0·000453 per
cent. It is remarkable that the most abundant constituents of atmospheric
air--oxygen and nitrogen--are not assimilable by plants, although these
elements enter largely into the composition of vegetable substances. In
the soil, also, the part which ministers to the wants of vegetables is
relatively quite insignificant in amount.

Plants are unendowed with organs of locomotion, their food must
therefore be within easy reach. Every breeze wafts gaseous nutriment to
their expanded leaves, and their rootlets ramify throughout the soil in
search of appropriate mineral aliment. But no matter how abundant, or
however easy of reach may be the food of plants, the vegetable organism
is incapable of partaking of it unless under the influence of light.
Exposed to this potent stimulus, the plant collects the gaseous carbonic
acid and the vaporous water, solidifies them, decomposes them, and
combines their elements into new and organised forms. In effecting these
changes--in conferring vitality upon the atoms of lifeless matter--the
plant acts merely as the _mechanism_, the light is the _force_. As the
work performed by the steam-engine is proportionate to the amount of
force developed by the combustion of the fuel beneath its boiler,
so is the rapidity of the elaboration of organic substances by plants
proportionate to the amount of sunlight to which they are exposed. It is
an axiom that matter is indestructible; we may alter its form as often
as we please, but we cannot destroy a particle of it. It is the same
with _force_: we may convert one kind of it into another--heat into
light, or magnetism into electricity--but our power ends there; we can
only cause force, or _motion_, to pass from one of its conditions to
another, but its _quantity_ can never be diminished by the power of man.

The principle of the Conservation of the Forces gives us a clear
explanation of the fact that animals can obtain their food only through
the medium of the vegetable kingdom. Plants are stationary mechanisms;
they have no need to develop motive power, as animals have, in moving
themselves from place to place. Their temperature is, we may say, the
same as that of the medium in which they exist. Such beings as plants
do not, therefore, require the expenditure of force to maintain their
vitality; on the contrary, their mechanisms are, for a beneficent
purpose, constructed for the _accumulation_ of force. The growing
plant absorbs, together with carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, a
proportionate amount of light, heat, and the various other subtile
forces which have their abiding place in the sun-beam--

                              "That golden chain,
  Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main."

Co-incidentally with the conversion of the mineral constituents of the
food of plants into organised structures--albumen, fibre, and such
like substances--the light, and the heat, and the various other forces
likewise suffer a change. Although the precise nature of the new force
into which they are converted is still a mystery--one, too, which may
never be revealed to us--still we know sufficient of it to satisfy
us that it can only exist in connection with organic or organised
structures. It is owing to its presence that the elements of these
structures (the natural state of which is mineral) are bound together
in what may be aptly designated a constrained state; or, as Liebig
aptly expresses it, like the matter in a bent spring. So long as the
organic structure retains its form, it will be a reservoir of latent
force--which will manifest itself in some form during the recoil of the
atoms of the matter forming the structure to their original mineral, or
statical condition: so the bent spring, when the pressure is removed,
returns to its original straight form.

_Animal Life._--The chief manifestation of the life of a plant is the
accumulation of force; very different are the functions of animal life.
It is only by the continuous _expenditure_ of force that the vitality of
animals is preserved; the heat of a man's body, his power of locomotion,
the performance of his daily toil, even his very faculty of thought, are
all dependent upon, and to a great extent proportionate to, the amount
of organised matter disorganised in his body. It is by the conversion
of this organised matter into its original mineral state of water,
carbonic acid, and ammonia, that the force originally expended in
arranging, through the agency of plants, its atoms, is again restored,
chiefly in the form of heat and animal motive power.

Animals, as a class, are completely dependent upon vegetables for
their existence. There is every reason to believe that the most lowly
organised beings in the scale of animal life, even those of so
simple a structure as to have been long regarded as vegetables or as
plant-animals, are incapable of organising mineral matter. The so-called
vegetative life of animals--for I believe the term to be exceedingly
inexact--is applied to their growth, that is, to the increase in their
weight. This increase takes place by their power of reorganising, or
of assimilating to the nature of their own organisms, certain of the
substances elaborated by plants, and destined to become food for
animals.


SECTION II.

COMPOSITION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES.

_Elements of Organic Bodies._--The number of distinct kinds of
substances--each distinguishable from all the others by the peculiarity
of its properties, taken as a whole--is exceedingly great, yet all
these substances are resolvable into a very small number of bodies.
As an illustration, I shall take a well-known substance, common
green copperas, or, as the chemists term it, protosulphate of iron.
By submitting this compound to the process termed chemical analysis,
two other kinds of matter may be obtained from it, namely, oxide of iron
and oil of vitrol, or sulphuric acid. If we continued this process--if
we submitted the acid and the oxide to analysis--we could separate the
former into sulphur and oxygen, and the latter into iron and oxygen.
Now, by these means we could demonstrate the compound nature of
copperas; we could prove that it was _proximately_ composed of sulphuric
acid and oxide of iron; and, _ultimately_, of iron, sulphur, and oxygen.

Iron, sulphur, and oxygen, are elementary, or simple bodies. They cannot
be decomposed; they cannot be analysed. Torture them as we will in our
crucibles; expose them as we please to the highest temperature of a wind
furnace, or to the more intense heat evolved by a powerful galvanic
battery; subject them to the influence of any agent, or force, or
process we may choose, and still they will yield nothing but iron,
sulphur, and oxygen: hence these undecomposable bodies are regarded as
_elements_, or simple substances. So far as our knowledge extends, there
are about sixty-six of these undecomposable bodies, of which about one
half occurs in but exceedingly minute quantities, and a considerable
number of the others exists in comparatively small amounts. As by far
the greater proportion of compounds is made up of two or more of about
a dozen elementary bodies, it would at first sight appear as if the
distinct kinds of compounds which exist, or which may be called into
existence by the chemist, must be limited to, at most, a realisable
number; but the fact is there is no practical limit to the variety of
substances which may be artificially formed. Every difference in the
mode of the arrangement of the constituent atoms of a compound, causes
its metamorphosis into another kind of substance. To prove that the
number of these changes is bounded by no narrow limits, I need but refer
to the rules of Permutation, which demonstrate that twelve letters of
the alphabet may be arranged in no fewer than 479,000,000 different
ways.[1] The elements are the letters of Nature's alphabet, their
compounds are the words of the language of Creation. The combinations
of sounds and of signs which express the ideas and sensations of man may
be limited to millions; but numberless are the hieroglyphs by which the
Divine wisdom and beneficence is inscribed on the pages of the
magnificent volume of Nature.

Of the sixty-six elementary bodies, not more than a dozen occur
commonly in animal and vegetable substances; these are Oxygen, Hydrogen,
Nitrogen, Carbon, Sulphur, Phosphorus, Chlorine, Silicium, Potassium,
Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Iron. In addition to these, Iodine, and
sometimes Bromine, are found in plants which grow in or near the sea;
and the former element has also been detected in some of the lower
animals, and in land plants. Manganese, Lithium, Cæsium, Rubidium,
and a few others of the simple bodies, occasionally occur in plants and
animals, but I believe their presence therein is always accidental.

_Proximate Composition of Animal Substances._--The differences between
vegetable and animal substances are often more apparent than real.
Indeed many of the more important of these substances are almost
identical in composition. The albumen which coagulates when the juices
of vegetables are boiled, is identical with the albumen of the white
of eggs; the fibrine of wheat is in no respect chemically different
from the fibrine, or clot, of the blood; and, lastly, the legumine,
or _vegetable caseine_, of peas is almost indistinguishable from the
curd of milk, or _animal caseine_. But not only has chemical research
demonstrated the identity of the albumen, fibrine, and caseine of
vegetables with three of the more important constituents of animals, it
has gone a step further, and proved that they differ from each other in
but a few unimportant respects. They are unquestionably convertible into
each other[2] within the animal organism; and their functions, as elements
of nutrition, are almost, if not quite, identical.

Exclusive of the blood, which contains the elements of every part of
the body, the animal organism is composed of three distinct classes of
substances--namely, _nitrogenous_, _non-nitrogenous_, and _mineral_.
All of these constituents, or substances capable of being converted
into them, must exist in the food. Certain articles, for example, milk,
contains all of them; but in others, for instance, butter, only one of
these substances is found. The nitrogenous part of the body embraces the
muscles, or lean flesh, the gelatine of the bones, and the skin and its
appendages--such as hair and horns; the non-nitrogenous constituents are
its fat and oil; and its mineral matter is found chiefly in the bony
framework. These constituents are not, however, isolated: the mineral
matter, no doubt, accumulates in certain parts, but in small quantities
it is found in every portion of the body; and although the fat forms a
distinct tissue, the muscles of the leanest animal are never free from
a sensible proportion of it.

Albumen, fibrine, and caseine are the principal nitrogenous constituents
of food, and as they are employed in the reparation of the nitrogenous
tissues of the animal body, they have been termed _flesh-formers_.

The fat and oil of animals are derived either from vegetable oil and
fat, or from some such substance as starch or sugar. The constituents
of food which form fat are termed _fat-formers_, and sometimes
_heat-givers_ or _respiratory elements_, from the notion that their
slow combustion in the animal body is the chief cause of its high
temperature.

The mineral elements of the body are furnished principally by the
varieties of food which contain nitrogen. The whey of milk is rich in
them; but they do not exist in pure butter, in starch, or in sugar.

Fat is a much more abundant constituent of the animal body than is
generally supposed, That this substance should constitute the greater
portion of the weight of an obese pig seems probable enough; but few
are aware that even in a lean sheep there is 50 per cent. more fat than
lean.

For a very accurate knowledge of the relative proportions of the fatty,
nitrogenous, and mineral constituents of the carcasses of animals used
as human food, we are indebted to Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert. Before
these investigators turned their attention to this subject, it had
scarcely attracted the notice of scientific men; but a notion appears to
have been current, amongst non-scientific people, at least, that in all,
save the fattest animals, the lean flesh greatly preponderated over the
fat. That this idea was unsustained by a foundation of fact, has been
clearly proved by the results of an investigation[3] undertaken a few
years ago by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert--an investigation which I cannot
avoid characterising as one of the most laborious and apparently
trustworthy on record. The mere statement of the results of this inquiry
occupies 187 pages of one of the huge volumes of the Transactions of the
Royal Society--a fact which best indicates the immensity of the labour
which these gentlemen imposed upon themselves, and which, independently
of their other and numerous contributions to scientific agriculture,
entitles their names to most honourable mention in the annals of
science.

I shall now briefly advert to a few of the more important facts
established by Lawes and Gilbert. From a large number of oxen, sheep,
and pigs, on which feeding experiments were being conducted, ten
individuals were selected. These were, a fat calf, a half-fat ox, a
moderately fat ox, a fat lamb, a store sheep, a half-fat old sheep, a
fat sheep, a very fat sheep, a store pig, and a fat pig. These animals
were killed, and the different organs and parts of their bodies were
separately weighed and analysed. The results were, that, with the
exception of the calf, all the animals contained, respectively, more fat
than lean. The fat ox and the fat lamb contained each three times as
much fat as lean flesh, and the proportion of the fatty matters to the
nitrogenous constituents of the carcass of the very fat sheep was as 4
to 1. In the pig the fat greatly preponderated over the lean; the store
pig containing three times as much, and the fat pig five times as much
fat as lean.

That part of the animal which is consumed as food by man, is termed the
_carcass_ by the butcher, and contains by far the greater portion of
the fat of the animal. The _offal_, in the language of the butcher,
constitutes those parts which are not commonly consumed as human food,
at least by the well-to-do classes. In calves, oxen, lambs, and sheep,
the offal embraces the skin, the feet, and the head, and all the
internal organs, excepting the kidneys and their fatty envelope. The
offal of the pig is made up of all the internal organs, excepting the
kidneys and kidney fat. It is the relative proportion of fat in the
carcasses analysed by Lawes and Gilbert that I have stated; but as the
nitrogenous matters occur in greatest quantity in the offal, it is
necessary that the relative proportions of the constituents of the body,
taken as a whole, should be considered. On an average, then, it will be
found that a fat fully-grown animal will contain 49 per cent. of water,
33 per cent. of dry fat, 13 per cent. of dry nitrogenous matter--muscles
separated from fat, hide, &c.--and 3 per cent. of mineral matter. In a
lean animal the average proportions of the various constituents will be
54 per cent. of water, 25-1/2 per cent. dry fat, 17 per cent. of dry
nitrogenous substances, and 3-1/2 per cent. of mineral matter. In the
following table these proportions are set forth.


  SUMMARY OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE TEN ANIMALS--SHOWING THE
  PER-CENTAGES OF MINERAL MATTER, DRY NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS,
  FAT, TOTAL DRY SUBSTANCE, AND WATER.

  1st. In Fresh Carcass. 2nd. In Fresh Offal (equal Sum of Parts,
  excluding Contents of Stomachs and Intestines). 3rd. In Entire
  Animal (Fasted Live-weight, including therefore the weight of
  Contents of Stomachs and Intestines).

                              +-----------------------------------------+
                              | KEY:                                    |
                              | A.--Mineral matter.                     |
                              | B.--Dry nitrogenous compounds.          |
                              | C.--Fat.                                |
                              | D.--Dry substance.                      |
                              | E.--Water.                              |
                              | F.--Contents of viscera.                |
                              |                                         |
  ----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
                              | Per cent. in Carcass.                   |
     DESCRIPTION              +--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
      OF ANIMAL.              |    A.  |    B.  |   C.  |   D.  |   E.  |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Fat calf                    |   4·48 |   16·6 |  16·6 |  37·7 |  62·3 |
  Half-fat ox                 |   5·56 |   17·8 |  22·6 |  46·0 |  54·0 |
  Fat ox                      |   4·56 |   15·0 |  34·8 |  54·4 |  45·6 |
  Fat lamb                    |   3·63 |   10·9 |  36·9 |  51·4 |  48·6 |
  Store sheep                 |   4·36 |   14·5 |  23·8 |  42·7 |  57·3 |
  Half-fat old sheep          |   4·13 |   14·9 |  31·3 |  50·3 |  49·7 |
  Fat sheep                   |   3·45 |   11·5 |  45·4 |  60·3 |  39·7 |
  Extra fat sheep             |   2·77 |    9·1 |  55·1 |  67·0 |  33·0 |
  Store pig                   |   2·57 |   14·0 |  28·1 |  44·7 |  55·3 |
  Fat pig                     |   1·40 |   10·5 |  49·5 |  61·4 |  38·6 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of all                |   3·69 |   13·5 |  34·4 |  51·6 |  48·4 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of 8 of the half-fat, |        |        |       |       |       |
  fat, and very fat animals   |   3·75 |   13·3 |  36·5 |  53·6 |  46·4 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of 6 of the fat,      |        |        |       |       |       |
  and very fat animals        |   3·38 |   12·3 |  39·7 |  55·4 |  44·6 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+

  ----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
                              | Per cent. in Offal.                     |
     Description              +--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
      of Animal.              |    A.  |    B.  |   C.  |   D.  |   E.  |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Fat calf                    |   3·41 |   17·1 |  14·6 |  35·1 |  64·9 |
  Half-fat ox                 |   4·05 |   20·6 |  15·7 |  40·4 |  59·6 |
  Fat ox                      |   3·40 |   17·5 |  26·3 |  47·2 |  52·8 |
  Fat lamb                    |   2·45 |   18·9 |  20·1 |  41·5 |  58·5 |
  Store sheep                 |   2·19 |   18·0 |  16·1 |  36·3 |  63·7 |
  Half-fat old sheep          |   2·72 |   17·7 |  18·5 |  38·9 |  61·1 |
  Fat sheep                   |   2·32 |   16·1 |  26·4 |  44·8 |  55·2 |
  Extra fat sheep             |   3·64 |   16·8 |  34·5 |  54·9 |  45·1 |
  Store pig                   |   3·07 |   14·0 |  15·0 |  32·1 |  67·9 |
  Fat pig                     |   2·97 |   14·8 |  22·8 |  40·6 |  59·4 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of all                |   3·02 |   17·2 |  21·0 |  41·2 |  58·8 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of 8 of the half-fat, |        |        |       |       |       |
  fat, and very fat animals   |   3·12 |   17·4 |  22·4 |  42·9 |  57·1 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+
  Means of 6 of the fat,      |        |        |       |       |       |
  and very fat animals        |   3·03 |   16·9 |  24·1 |  44·0 |  56·0 |
  ----------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+

  ----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
                              | Per cent. in Entire Animal.             |
     Description              +------+------+------+------+------+------+
      of Animal.              |  A.  |  B.  |  C.  |  D.  |  F.  |  E.  |
  ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  Fat calf                    | 3·80 | 15·2 | 14·8 | 33·8 | 3·17 | 63·8 |
  Half-fat ox                 | 4·66 | 16·6 | 19·1 | 40·3 | 8·19 | 51·5 |
  Fat ox                      | 3·92 | 14·5 | 30·1 | 48·5 | 5·98 | 45·5 |
  Fat lamb                    | 2·94 | 12·3 | 28·5 | 43·7 | 8·54 | 47·8 |
  Store sheep                 | 3·16 | 14·8 | 18·7 | 36·7 | 6·00 | 57·3 |
  Half-fat old sheep          | 3·17 | 14·0 | 23·5 | 40·7 | 9·05 | 50·2 |
  Fat sheep                   | 2·81 | 12·2 | 35·6 | 50·6 | 6·02 | 43·4 |
  Extra fat sheep             | 2·90 | 10·9 | 45·8 | 59·6 | 5·18 | 35·2 |
  Store pig                   | 2·67 | 13·7 | 23·3 | 39·7 | 5·22 | 55·1 |
  Fat pig                     | 1·65 | 10·9 | 42·2 | 54·7 | 3·97 | 41·3 |
  ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  Means of all                | 3·17 | 13·5 | 28·2 | 44·9 | 6·13 | 49·0 |
  ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  Means of 8 of the half-fat, |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  fat, and very fat animals   | 3·23 | 13·3 | 29·9 | 46·4 | 6·26 | 47·3 |
  ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  Means of 6 of the fat,      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  and very fat animals        | 3·00 | 12·7 | 32·8 | 48·5 | 5·48 | 46·0 |
  ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+



SECTION III.

USE OF FAT IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY.

As fat forms so large a portion of the body, it is evident that
the part it plays in the animal economy must be a most important one.
The general opinion which prevails amongst scientific men as to its
physiological functions was originated by the celebrated Liebig.
According to his theory, the food of animals includes two distinct kinds
of substances--_plastic_[4] and _non-plastic_. The plastic materials are
composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and a little sulphur
and phosphorus. Albumen, fibrine, and casein are plastic elements of
nutrition; they form the lean flesh, or muscles, the membranes, and
cartilages, the gelatine of the bones, the skin, the hair, and, in
short, every part of the body which contains nitrogen. The _non-plastic_
elements of nutrition include fat, oil, starch, sugar, gum, and certain
constituents of fruits, such as pectine.

All non-plastic substances--and of each kind there are numerous
varieties--are capable of conversion, in the animal mechanism, into fat
and oil. The non-plastic food substances do not contain nitrogen, hence
they are commonly termed non-nitrogenous elements. The oily and fatty
matters contain a large proportion of carbon, their next most abundant
component is hydrogen, and they contain but little oxygen. Unlike the
plastic elements, they are--except the fats of the brain and nervous
tissue--altogether destitute of sulphur and phosphorus. The starchy,
saccharine, and gummy substances are composed of the same elements as
the fatty bodies, but they contain a higher proportion of oxygen.
According to Liebig, fat is used in the animal economy as a source of
internal heat. We all know that it is a most combustible body, and that
during its inflammation the most intense heat is developed. It is less
evident, but not less true, that heat is evolved during its slow
oxidation, or decay.

The more rapidly a body burns, the greater is the amount of heat evolved
by it in a _given time_; but the total amount of heat developed by a
specific weight of the body is the same, whether the combustion takes
place rapidly or slowly. An experiment performed with phosphorus
illustrates the case perfectly. If we burned two pieces of equal weight,
the one in oxygen, the other in atmospheric air, we should find that the
former would emit a light five times as brilliant as that evolved by the
latter, for the simple reason that its combustion would be five times as
rapid. The white, vapor-like matter into which phosphorus is converted
by its combustion, is termed _phosphoric acid_. It is composed of
phosphorus and oxygen. In forming an ounce of this compound, by the
direct oxidation, or combustion of phosphorus, the amount of force,
either as heat, or as heat and light, evolved is precisely the same,
whether the time expended in the process be a minute or a month.[5] If,
in the experiment I have described, we were to substitute two pieces of
fat for the fragments of phosphorus, the results would be precisely
similar. The fat burned in oxygen gas would emit intense light and heat;
but the total amount of these forces evolved would be neither greater
nor less than that developed during the slower and therefore less
brilliant combustion of the fat in ordinary atmospheric air. Now, as we
can demonstrate that an ounce of fat will emit a certain amount of heat,
if burned within a minute of time, and that neither a larger nor a
smaller amount will be developed if the combustion of the fat extend
over a period of five minutes, I think we may fairly assume that the
amount of heat evolved by the complete oxidation of a specific quantity
of fat is constant under all conditions, except, as I have already
explained, at high temperatures, when a portion of the heat is converted
into light.

In the animal organism fat is burned. The process of combustion no
doubt is a very slow one, but still the total amount of heat evolved
is just the same as if the fat were consumed in a furnace. When the
fat constituting a candle is burned, what becomes of it? Its elements,
carbon and hydrogen (we may disregard its small amount of oxygen)
combine with the oxygen of the air, and form carbonic acid gas and
water. What becomes of the fat consumed within the animal body? It also
is converted into carbonic acid gas and water. It is not difficult
to prove these statements to be facts. A candle will not burn in
atmospheric air which has been deprived of its oxygen, because there is
no substance present with which the elements of the taper can combine,
consequently the process of combustion cannot go on. Now, a man may in
one respect be compared with this taper. He is partly made up of fat;
that fat is consumed by the oxygen of the air, and the heat developed
thereby keeps the body warm. In the process of respiration oxygen is
introduced into the lungs, and from thence, by means of the blood
vessels, is conveyed throughout every part of the body. In some way, at
present not thoroughly understood, the elements of the fat combine with
the oxygen, and are converted into carbonic acid gas and water, which
are exhaled from the lungs and from the surface of the body.

Fat is a constituent of both animals and plants. The animal derives a
portion of its fat directly from the vegetable; but it possesses the
power of forming this substance from other organic bodies, such, for
example, as starch. Plants elaborate fat directly from the
minerals--carbonic acid gas, and water.

I have already explained that the growth of plants is, _cæteris
paribus_, directly proportionate to the amount of sunlight to which
they are exposed. Not less certainly is the force which constitutes the
sun-beam expended in grouping mineral atoms into organic forms, than is
the heat which converts water into steam. But in neither case is the
force destroyed. When the vaporous steam is condensed into the liquid
water, all the heat is restored, and becomes palpable. By the ultimate
decomposition of vegetable substances all the force expended on their
production is liberated, and, in some form, becomes manifest.

When the fat formed in the mechanisms of plants is decomposed in
the animal organism, two results follow:--The atoms of the fat are
re-converted to their original mineral, or statical conditions of
carbonic acid gas and water; and the force which maintained them in
their organic state is set free as heat, and its equivalent, motive
power.

One of the most useful instruments which the ingenuity of man has
devised, is the Thermometer. It is so familiarly known that I need
not describe it. This instrument does not enable us to estimate the
actual quantity of heat contained in a substance, but it indicates
the proportion of that subtile element which is _sensible_--that is
recognisable by the sense of touch. The dusky Hindu, clad in his single
cotton garment, and the Laplander in his suit of fur, are placed under
the most opposite conditions in relation to the heat of the sun--the
Indian is exposed during the whole year to Sol's most ardent beams,
whilst but a scant share of its genial rays goes to warm the body of
the Laplander. Now, if we placed the bulb of a thermometer beneath the
tongue of a Hindu, we would find the mercury to stand at 98 degrees on
Fahrenheit's scale, and if we repeated the experiment on a Laplander,
we would obtain an identical result. Numerous experiments of this
nature have been made on individuals in most parts of the world, and
the results have proved that the temperature of the blood of man is
98 degrees Fahrenheit, whether he be in India or at Nova Zembla, on
the _steppes_ of Russia, or the elevated _plateaus_ of America. This
invariability[6] of the temperature of the bodies of men and of all
other warm-blooded animals, appears the more wonderful when it it is
considered that the range of the temperature of the medium in which
they exist exceeds 200 degrees Fahrenheit. In India, the mercury in the
thermometer has been observed to stand at 145 degrees in the direct
sunlight, and at 120 degrees in the shade. In high latitudes the
temperature is sometimes so low as 100 degrees below zero. A Russian
army, in an expedition to China, in 1839, was exposed for several
successive days to a temperature of 42 degrees below zero, and suffered
severely in consequence.

The facts which I have cited clearly prove that the animal body
possesses the power of generating, or, to speak more correctly,
liberating heat, either from portions of its own mechanism or from
substances placed within that mechanism.

At one time it was the general belief amongst physiologists that one
portion of the food consumed by an animal was employed in repairing
the waste of its body, and the remaining part was burned as fuel,
evolving heat just in the same way as if it had been consumed in a
furnace. It was this theory that led to the classification of food into
flesh-formers, and heat-givers. It is now doubted if any portion of the
food be really burned in this way; and I, for one, think it far more
probable that, before its conversion into carbonic acid gas and water
(whereby, according to this theory, it develops the heat which keeps the
body warm), it first becomes assimilated, that is, becomes an integral
part of the animal body--blood, fat, muscle. Perhaps we would be
nearer the truth if we were to assume that heat is evolved during the
decomposition of both the nitrogenous and fatty constituents of the
body.

The constantly recurring contractions of the muscles must alone be a
source of much heat. The development of animal motive power is said to
be strictly proportionate to the amount of muscular tissue decomposed.
As the nitrogen of the latter is almost completely excreted under the
form of urea, the quantity of the latter daily eliminated from the
body of an animal is a measure of the decomposed muscular tissue, and
consequently of the amount of muscular power generated in the animal
organism.[7] The correspondence between the amount of the motive power
of an animal, and the quantity of effete nitrogen excreted from the
body, is limited to laboring men and to the lower animals. Strange as
it may appear, it is an incontrovertible fact that men whose pursuits
require the constant exercise of the intellectual faculties--lawyers,
writers, statesmen, students, scientific men, and other
brain-workers--excrete more urea than do men engaged in the most
physically laborious occupations. An activity of thoughts and ideas
involves a corresponding destruction of the tissues, and these require,
for their reparation, the consumption of food. Here, then, we have a
physical meaning for the common expression--"food for thought."

That the amount of heat developed in the animal organism, is
proportionate to the quantity of fatty matters (or of substances capable
of forming them) supplied to it in the shape of food, is a proposition
which admits of easy demonstration. The natives of warm regions do not
require the generation of much heat within their bodies, because the
temperature of the medium in which they exist is generally as high as,
or higher than, that of their blood. But as they must consume food for
the purpose of repairing the waste of their nitrogenous tissues, and as
every kind of food contains heat-producing elements, an excess of heat
is developed within their bodies, which, if allowed to accumulate, would
speedily produce fatal results. The means by which nature removes this
superabundant heat are admirably simple, as indeed all its contrivances
are. The skin is permeated with millions of pores, and through these
openings a large quantity of vapor is given off, and carries with it the
surplus heat. The pores are the orifices of minute convoluted tubes
which lie beneath the skin, and when straightened measure each about the
tenth of an inch, or, according to a writer in the _British and Foreign
Medico-Chirurgical Review_ (1859, page 349), the one-fifteenth of an
inch in length. According to Erasmus Wilson, the number of these tubes
which open into every square inch of the surface of the body is 2,800.
The total number of square inches on the surface of an average sized man
is 2,500, consequently the surface of his body is drained by not less
than twenty-eight miles of tubing, furnished with 7,000,000 openings.
The cooling of the body, by the evaporation of water from it, admits of
explanation by well-known natural laws. Water, in the state of vapor,
occupies a space 1,700 fold greater than it does in its liquid
condition. It is heat which causes its vaporous form, but it ceases to
be heat when it has accomplished this change in the condition of the
liquid; for, suffering itself an alteration, it passes into another form
of force--mechanical, or motive power. The heat generated within the
body is absorbed by the liquid water, the conversion of the latter into
vapor follows, and both the heat and the water, in their altered forms,
escape through the pores.

_Fatty food necessary in cold climates._--As a grave objection against
the chemical theory of heat, it has been urged that rice--the pabulum of
hundreds of millions of the inhabitants of tropical regions--contains an
exceedingly high proportion of heat-giving substances. I have, however,
great doubt as to rice ever forming the exclusive food of those people,
without their health being impaired in consequence of the deficiency in
that substance of the plastic elements of nutrition. Indeed I believe
it is a great mistake to assert that the natives of India live almost
exclusively on rice. This article, no doubt, forms a large proportion of
their food, but it is supplemented with pulse (the produce of leguminous
plants), which is rich in flesh-forming materials, also with dried fish,
butter, and various kinds of vegetable and animal food rich in nitrogen.
The innutritious nature of rice is clearly shown by its chemical
composition, and so large a quantity of it must the Hindu consume in
order to repair the waste of his body, that his stomach sometimes
acquires prodigious dimensions; hence the term "pot-bellied," so often
applied to the Indian ryot. I doubt very much, however, if the stomach
of the Hindu, large as it is, could accommodate a quantity of rice, the
combustion of which would produce a very excessive development of heat.
This substance, when cooked, contains a high proportion of water, the
evaporation of which carries off a large amount of the heat generated
by the combustion of its respiratory constituents. The amount of motive
power developed by the Hindu is small as compared with that which the
European is capable of exerting; hence he has less necessity for a
highly nitrogenous diet. On the whole, then, I am disposed to think
that the food of the natives of tropical climates contains sufficient
nitrogenous matters to effectually build up and keep in repair their
bodies; it also appears clear to me that the amount of heat developed
in their bodies is not excessive, and that it is readily disposed of
in converting the water, which enters so largely into their diet, into
vapor. The proportion of plastic to non-plastic elements in the diet
of the Hindu and of the well-fed European, is probably as follows:--

                     Nitrogenous.            Non-nitrogenous
                                         (calculated as starch.)

  Hindu                   1         to                9
  European                1         to                8


This statement does not quite correspond with Liebig's, who estimates
the proportion of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous substances in rice as
10 to 123, in beef as ten to seventeen, and in veal as ten to one. The
results of Lawes and Gilbert's investigations, already alluded to, have,
however, dispelled the illusion that the plastic constituents of flesh
exceed its non-plastic. In the potato, which at one time constituted
more of the food of the Irish peasantry than rice does that of the
Hindu, the proportion of plastic to non-plastic materials is as 10 to
110. The results of some analyses of the food grains consumed in the
Presidency of Madras, made by Professor Mayer, of the University of
Madras, clearly prove that the food of the inhabitants of that part of
India is of a far more highly nitrogenous character than is generally
supposed. That the Hindu, who subsists exclusively on rice, exhibits
all the symptoms of deficient nutrition, is a fact to which numerous
competent observers have testified.

A slight consideration of the facts which I have mentioned leads to the
conclusion that the food of the inhabitants of very cold regions is
required to produce a large amount of heat. Melons, rice, and other
watery vegetable productions, however delicious to the palate of the
Hindu, would be rejected with disgust by the Esquimaux, whilst the train
oil, blubber, and putrid seal's flesh which the children of the icy
North consider highly palatable, would excite the loathing of the East
Indian. On this subject I may appositely quote the following remarks by
Dr. Kane, the Arctic explorer:--"Our journeys have taught us the wisdom
of the Esquimaux appetite, and there are few among us who do not relish
a slice of raw blubber, or a chunk of frozen walrus beef. The liver of
a walrus (awuktanuk), eaten with little slices of his fat--of a verity
it is a delicious morsel. Fire would seem to spoil the curt, pithy
expression of vitality which belongs to its uncooked juices. Charles
Lamb's roast pig was nothing to awuktanuk. I wonder that raw beef is not
eaten at home. Deprived of extraneous fibre, it is neither indigestible
nor difficult to masticate. With acids and condiments, it makes a salad
which an educated palate cannot help relishing; and as a powerful and
condensed heat-making and anti-scorbutic food, it has no rival. I make
this last broad assertion after carefully considering its truth. The
natives of South Greenland prepare themselves for a long journey, by a
course of frozen seal. At Upper Navik they do the same with the narwhal,
which is thought more heat-making than the seal; while the bear, to use
their own expression, is 'stronger travel than all.' In Smith's Sound,
where the use of raw meat seems almost inevitable from the modes of
living of the people, walrus holds the first rank. Certainly this
pachyderm (Cetacean?) whose finely condensed tissue and delicately
permeating fat (oh! call it not blubber) assimilate it to the ox, is
beyond all others, and is the best _fuel_ a man can swallow." The
gastronomic capabilities of the Esquimaux and of other northern races,
and their fondness for fatty food, are exhibited in a sufficiently
strong light in the following statements:--

Captain Parry weighed and presented to an Esquimaux lad the following
articles:--

                                                         lb.  oz.

  Frozen seahorse flesh                                   4    4
  Wild seahorse flesh                                     4    4
  Bread and bread dust                                    1   12
  Rich gravy soup                                         1    4
  Water                                                  10    0
  Strong grog                                         1 tumbler.
  Raw spirits                                    3 wine glasses.

This large quantity of food, which the lad did not consider excessive,
was consumed by him within twenty-four hours. According to Captain
Cochrane a reindeer suffices but for one repast for three Yakutis, and
five of them will devour at a sitting a calf weighing 200 lbs. Mr.
Hooper, one of the officers of the _Plover_, in his narrative of their
residence on the shores of Arctic America, states that "one of the
ladies who visited them was presented, as a jest, with a small tallow
candle, called a purser's dip. It was, notwithstanding, a very pleasant
joke to the damsel, who deliberately munched it up with evident relish,
and finally drew the wick between her set teeth to clean off any
remaining morsels of fat."

The partiality for certain kinds of food, and disgust at other
varieties, which particular races of men exhibit, is an instinct which
they cannot avoid obeying. Instead of exciting our disgust, as it too
frequently does, it should exalt our admiration of the infinite wisdom
of the Creator, who by simply adapting man's desire for particular kinds
of food to the external conditions under which he is placed, enables him
to occupy and "subdue the earth" from the Equator to the Poles.

The food of human beings and of the lower animals who inhabit cold
countries is nearly exclusively composed of animal substances.
The flesh, fat, and oil of animals occupy less space than do the
corresponding elements of vegetables; consequently the nutriment they
afford is more concentrated, and a larger quantity can be stowed away
without inconvenience in the stomach. The heat-forming constituents of
these substances constitute not only the chief part of their bulk, but
they are also capable of evolving a greater amount of heat than any
other of the respiratory elements. One pound of dry fat will develop as
much heat as two and a half pounds of dry starch, and the fattest flesh
includes four times as much plastic materials as rice. The diet of
people all over the world, unless under circumstances which prevent the
gratification of the natural appetite, establishes the intimate relation
which subsists between cold and food. The appetite of man is at a
minimum at the Equator, and at a maximum within the Arctic circle. The
statements as to the voracity of Hottentots and Bosjesmans, recorded in
the narratives of travellers, do not in the slightest degree affect the
general rule that more is eaten in cold climates than in hot regions.
These are mere records of gluttony, and it would not be difficult to
find parallel cases in our own country. Gluttony is an abnormal
appetite, and the greater part of the food devoured under its unnatural,
and generally unhealthy stimulus is not applied to the wants of the body.

The bodies of animals are heated masses of matter, and are subject to
the ordinary laws of _radiation_. Every substance radiates its heat, and
receives in return a portion of that emitted from surrounding bodies. If
two bodies of unequal temperature be placed near each other, the warmer
of the two will radiate a portion of its heat to the colder, and will
receive some of the heat of the latter in return; but as the warmer body
will emit more heat than it will receive, the result will be, that after
a time, the length of which will depend on the nature of the bodies,
both will acquire the same temperature. In very warm climates the bodies
of animals derive from the sun, and from the heated bodies surrounding
them, more heat than they give in return; and were it not for their
internal cooling apparatus, which I have described, the heat so absorbed
would prove fatal. In every climate, on the contrary, where the
temperature is lower than 98°, or "blood heat," the bodies of animals
lose more heat by radiation than they receive by the same means. The
philosophy of the _clothing_ of men and the _sheltering_ of the lower
animals is now evident. It is not only necessary that heat should be
developed within the body, but also that its wasteful expenditure should
be prevented. The latter is effected by interposing between the warm
body and the cold air some substances (such as fur or wool) which do not
readily permit the transmission of heat--_non-conductors_ as they are
termed. The close down of the eider duck is destined to protect its
bosom from the chilling influence of the icy waters of the North Polar
Sea, and the quadrupeds of the dreary Arctic Circle are sheltered by
thick fur coverings from the piercing blasts of its long winter.

_Fat Equivalents._--Whilst it is quite certain that neither nerves nor
muscles can be elaborated exclusively out of fat, starch, sugar, or any
other non-nitrogenous substance, it is almost equally clear that fat may
be formed out of nitrogenous tissue. The quantity of fat, however, which
is produced in the animal mechanism, from purely nitrogenous food
appears to be relatively very small. No animal is capable of subsisting
solely on muscle-forming materials, no matter how abundantly supplied.
The food of the Carnivora contains a large proportion of fat, and the
nutriment of the Herbivora is largely made up of starch and other
fat-formers. Dogs, geese, and other animals fed exclusively upon albumen
or white of egg rapidly decreased in weight, and after presenting all
the symptoms of starvation, died in three or four weeks.[8] The fat of
the bodies of the Carnivora is almost entirely formed--and probably with
little if any alteration--from the fatty constituents of their food.
Herbivorous animals, on the contrary, derive nearly all their fat from
starch, sugar, gum, cellulose, and other non-nitrogenous, but not fatty,
materials.

Although starch is convertible into fat, it is not to be understood that
a pound weight of one of these bodies is equivalent to an equal quantity
of the other. During the conversion of starch into fat, the greater
number of its constituent atoms is converted into water and carbonic
acid gas. The greater number of the more important metamorphoses of
organised matter, which take place in the animal organum, is the result
of either oxidation or fermentation: in the conversion of starch or
sugar into fat or oil, both of these processes, it is stated, take
place; a portion of the hydrogen is converted by oxidation into water,
and by fermentation carbonic acid gas is formed, which removes both
oxygen and carbon. Perhaps in the formation of fat fermentation is alone
employed--a portion of the oxygen being removed as water, and another
portion as carbonic acid. The chief difference between the ultimate
composition of starch and fat is, that the latter contains a much larger
proportion of hydrogen and carbon. The knowledge of the exact quantity
of starch required for the formation of a given amount of fat is of
importance in enabling us to estimate the relative feeding value of both
substances. Certain difficulties stand in the way of our acquiring an
accurate knowledge on this point. Not only are there several distinct
kinds of fat, but the precise formula, or atomic constitution of each,
is as yet veiled in doubt. There are three fats which occur in man
and the domesticated animals, and in vegetables. These are stearine,
margarine, and oleine. The relative proportions of these vary in each
animal: thus, in man and in the goose margarine is the most abundant
fat, whilst oleine[9] exists in the pig in a greater proportion than in
man, the sheep, or the ox. The composition of the animal fats does not,
however, vary much; and this fact, together with other considerations,
have led chemists to assume that two-and-a-half parts of starch are
required for the production of one part of the mixed fats of the
different animals. Grape sugar and the pectine bodies--substances which
form a large proportion of the food of the Herbivora--contain more
oxygen and hydrogen than exist in starch, and, consequently, are not
capable of forming so large an amount of fat as an equal weight of
starch. We may assume, then, that 2·50 parts of starch, 2·75 parts of
sugar, or 3 parts of the pectine bodies, are equivalent to 1 part of
fat.


SECTION IV.

RELATION BETWEEN THE COMPOSITION OF AN ANIMAL AND THAT OF ITS FOOD.

I have already stated that the results of the admirable investigations
of Lawes and Gilbert prove that the non-nitrogenous constituents of the
carcasses of oxen, sheep, and pigs exceed in weight their nitrogenous
elements. This fact is suggestive of many important questions. What
relation is there between the composition of an animal and that of
its food? Should an animal whose body contains three times as much
fat as lean flesh, be supplied with food containing three times
as much fat-formers as flesh-formers? To these questions there is
some difficulty in replying. There _is_ a relationship between the
composition of the body of an animal and that of its food; but the
relationship varies so greatly that it is impossible to determine with
any degree of accuracy the quantity of fat-formers which is required to
produce a given weight of fat in animals, taken _in globo_. If, however,
we deal with a particular animal placed under certain conditions, it is
then possible to ascertain the amount of fat which a given weight of
non-plastic food will produce. For the greater part of our knowledge
on this point, as on so many others, in the feeding of stock, we are
indebted to Lawes and Gilbert. In the case of sheep fed upon fattening
food these inquirers found that every 100 lbs. of dry[10] non-nitrogenous
substances consumed by them produced, on an average, an increase of 10
lbs. in the weight of their fat. In the case of pigs, also, supplied
with food, the proportion of non-nitrogenous matters appropriated to
the animal's increase was double that so applied in the bodies of the
sheep. As the food supplied to these animals contained but a very small
proportion of ready-formed fat, it was inferred that four-fifths of the
fat of the increase was derived from the sugar, starch, cellulose, and
pectine bodies.

These tables exhibit in a condensed form the results of one of the
elaborate series of experiments in relation to this point carried out
by Lawes and Gilbert:--

  ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF CERTAIN CONSTITUENTS STORED UP IN _INCREASE_,
  FOR 100 PARTS OF EACH CONSUMED IN FOOD BY FATTENING SHEEP.

                      +--------------------------------------------------------
                      | KEY:
                      | A.--No. of Animals.
                      | B.--Mineral matter (ash).[11]
                      | C.--Nitrogenous compounds (dry).
                      | D.--Non-nitrogenous substance.
                      | E.--Total dry substance.
                      |
  --------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------
                                                           |  Amount of each
                                                           | Class in Increase
                                                           |for 100 of the same
           GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS.         | consumed in Food.
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                      |   |         |   Description of     |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |   Fattening Food.    |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |-------------+--------|    |    |    |
                      |   |         |   Given     | Given  |    |    |    |
                      |   |         | in limited  |  ad    |    |    |    |
         BREED.       | A.|Duration.|  quantity.  |libitum.| B. | C. | D. | E.
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                                        Class I.
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                      |   |wks. dys.|Oilcake and  |Swedish |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |clover chaff.|turnips.|    |    |    |
  Cotswolds           | 46| 19    5 |      "      |   "    |3·98|4·43|11·6|9·60
  Leicesters          | 40| 20    0 |      "      |   "    |3·15|3·39|12·0|9·48
  Cross-bred wethers  | 40| 20    0 |      "      |   "    |3·24|3·60|11·6|9·31
  Cross-bred ewes     | 40| 20    0 |      "      |   "    |3·25|3·60|11·8|9·40
  Hants Downs         | 40| 26    0 |      "      |   "    |3·40|4·28|10·3|8·49
  Sussex Downs        | 40| 26    0 |      "      |   "    |3·30|4·16|10·3|8·44
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                                             Means         |3·39|3·91|11·3|9·12
  =========================================================+====+====+====+====
                               Class III.--(Series 1.)
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                      |   |         |             |Swedish |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |             |turnips.|    |    |    |
  Hants Downs         | 5 | 13    6 |Oilcake.     |   "    |4·16|4·01|11·1|9·33
                      | 5 | 13    6 |Oats.        |   "    |5·73|7·07|10·0|9·45
                      | 5 | 13    6 |Clover chaff.|   "    |3·98|7·44| 9·0|8·49
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+---------+----+----
                                             Means         |4·62|6·17|10·0|9·09
  =========================================================+====+====+====+====
                               Class IV.--(Series 2.)
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                      |   |         |             | Clover |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |             | chaff. |    |    |    |
  Hants Downs         | 5 | 19    1 |Oilcake.     |   "    |1·69|2·20| 6·3|5·07
                      | 5 | 19    1 |Linseed.     |   "    |1·81|2·32| 6·2|5·19
                      | 5 | 19    1 |Barley.      |   "    |1·75|2·82| 5·7|5·00
                      | 5 | 19    1 |Malt.        |   "    |1·46|2·17| 5·3|4·61
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                                             Means         |1·68|2·38| 5·9|4·97
  =========================================================+====+====+====+====
                               Class V.--(Series 4.)
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                      |   |         |             |Mangolds|    |    |    |
  Hants Downs         | 4 | 10    0 |Barley ground|   "    |3·80|5·65| 9·8|8·91
                      | 5 | 10    0 |Malt, ground,|   "    |4·04|6·18|10·4|9·49
                      |   |         |& malt dust. |        |    |    |    |
                      | 4 | 10    0 |Barley ground|   "    |3·72|6·35| 8·9|8·28
                      |   |         | and steeped.|        |    |    |    |
                      | 4 | 10    0 |Malt, ground |   "    |2·95|4·34| 9·3|8·23
                      |   |         |and steeped, |        |    |    |    |
                      |   |         |& malt dust. |        |    |    |    |
                      | 5 | 10    0 |Malt, ground,|   "    |3·46|5·46| 9·1|8·25
                      |   |         |& malt dust. |        |    |    |    |
  --------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
                                             Means         |3·59|5·60| 9·5|8·63
  ---------------------------------------------------------+----+----+----+----
                                             Means of all  |3·27|4·41| 9·4|8·06
  =========================================================+====+====+====+====


  ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF CERTAIN CONSTITUENTS STORED UP IN _INCREASE_,
  FOR 100 OF EACH CONSUMED IN FOOD, BY FATTENING PIGS.

             +-----------------------------------------------------------------
             | KEY:
             | A.--No. of Animals.
             | B.--Mineral matter (ash).
             | C.--Nitrogenous compounds (dry).
             | D.--Non-nitrogenous substance.
             | E.--Total dry substance.
             | F.--Fat.
             |
  -----------+----------------------------------------+------------------------
                                                      |  Amount of each Class
                                                      |    in Increase for
        GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS.       |    100 of the same
                                                      |   consumed in Food.
  --+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
    |        |     Description of Fattening Food.     |    |     |    |    |
    |        |--------------------+-------------------|    |     |    |    |
    |        |      Given in      |      Given        |    |     |    |    |
  A.|Duration|limited quantities. |   ad libitum.     | B. |  C. | D. | E. | F.
  ==+========+====================+===================+====+=====+====+====+===
                           The Analysed "Fat Pig."[12]
  --+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
    | weeks  |                                        |    |     |    |    |
  1 |  10    |Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil-meal |2·66| 7·76|17·6|14·9|405
    |        |  2, and barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum|    |     |    |    |
  ==+========+========================================+====+=====+====+====+===
                              Series I.
  --+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
  3 |   8    |None.               |Bean & lentil-meal.|0·68| 4·88|25·3|17·5|621
  3 |   "    |Indian-meal.        |  "                |1·86| 6·39|23·7|17·9|477
  3 |   "    |Indian-meal and bran|  "                |0·33| 5·02|21·1|16·1|362
  3 |   "    |None.               |Indian meal.       |2·09| 9·28|20·9|18·6|300
  3 |   "    |Bean and lentil-meal|  "                |0·99| 9·18|20·9|18·4|324
  3 |   "    |Bran.               |  "                |2·35|12·10|20·3|18·7|300
  3 |   "    |Bean, lentil-meal,  |  "                |2·71|10·03|21·3|18·5|307
    |        |  and bran.         |  "                |    |     |    |    |
    |        |                    +-------------------|    |     |    |    |
  3 |   "    |Bean, lentil-meal, Indian-meal, bran,   |0·22| 5·65|21·1|16·8|362
    |        |  ad libitum.                           |    |     |    |    |
  --+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
                                      Means           |0·74| 7·82|21·8|17·8|382
  ====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
                              Series II.
  --+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
  3 |   8    |None.               |Bean & lentil-meal.|3·20| 3·12|26·5|18·2|801
  3 |   "    |Barley-meal.        |  "                |0·16| 4·65|19·2|14·7|575
  3 |   "    |Bran.               |  "                |0·16| 3·99|21·2|15·2|547
  3 |   "    |Barley-meal and bran|  "                |0·75| 4·57|20·1|15·6|514
  3 |   "    |None.               |Barley-meal.       |0·56|10·09|18·5|16·9|574
  3 |   "    |Bean and lentil-meal|  "                |0·53| 6·57|21·1|17·5|620
  3 |   "    |Bran.               |  "                |0·49| 9·79|18·9|16·9|506
  3 |   "    |Bean, lentil-meal,  |  "                |4·33| 4·49|22·7|18·0|578
    |        |  and bran.         |                   |    |     |    |    |
    |        |                    +-------------------|    |     |    |    |
  6 |   "    |Mixture of bran 1, barley-meal 2, and   |0·27| 5·65|20·4|16·1|495
    |        |  bean lentil-meal 3 parts, ad libitum. |    |     |    |    |
  6 |   "    |Mixture of bran 1, bean lentil-meal 2,  |1·58| 8·10|21·1|17·6|515
    |        |  barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum.      |    |     |    |    |
  --+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
                                      Means           |0·59| 6·10|21·0|16·7|572
  ====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
                              Series III.
  --+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
  4 |   8    |Dried Cod Fish.     |Bran & Indian-meal |1·06| 5·06|24·3|18·1|315
    |        |                    | (equal parts).    |    |     |    |    |
  4 |   "    |  "                 |Indian-meal.       |0·26| 8·16|25·6|20·9|352
  --+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
                                      Means           |0·66| 6·61|24·9|19·5|333
  ====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
                              Series IV.
  --+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
  3 |   10   |Lentil-meal & bran. |Sugar.             |3·07| 9·30|19·4|16·9|
  3 |    "   |  "                 |Starch.            |3·18| 9·36|19·4|16·9|
  3 |    "   |  "                 |Sugar & starch.    |4·06|10·78|17·7|16·1|
    |        |                    +-------------------|    |     |    |    |
  3 |    "   |Lentils, bran, sugar, starch, ad libitum|4·80| 9·96|18·7|16·5|
  --+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----|---
                                      Means           |3·78| 9·85|18·8|16·6|
  ----------------------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
                                      Means of all    |0·58| 7·34|21·2|17·3|472
  ====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===

The larger appropriation of the non-nitrogenous constituents of its food
by the pig, as compared with the sheep, must not be attributed solely to
its greater tendency to fatten, but partly to the far more digestible
nature of the food supplied to it.


SECTION V.

RELATION BETWEEN THE QUANTITY OF FOOD CONSUMED BY AN ANIMAL, AND THE
INCREASE IN ITS WEIGHT, OR OF THE AMOUNT OF ITS WORK.

The manifestations of that wondrous and mysterious principle, _life_,
are completely dependent upon the decomposition of organised matter. Not
an effort of the mind, not a motion of the body, can be accomplished
without involving the destruction of a portion of the tissues. In a
general sense we may regard the fat of the animal to be its store of
fuel, and its lean flesh to be the source of its motive power. As the
evolution of heat within the body is proportionate to the quantity of
fat consumed, so also is the amount of force developed in the animal
mechanism in a direct ratio to the proportion of flesh decomposed.
The quantity of fat burned in the body is estimated by the amount of
carbonic acid gas expired from the lungs and perspired through the skin;
the proportion of flesh disorganised is ascertained by the quantity of
urea eliminated in the liquid egesta. The amount of urea excreted daily
by a man is influenced by the activity of his mind, as well as by that
of his body. A man engaged in physical labor wears out more of his body
than one who does no work; and a man occupied in a pursuit involving
intense mental application, consumes a greater proportion of his tissue
than the man who works only with his body.[13] In each of these cases,
there is a different amount of tissue disorganised, and consequently a
demand for different amounts of food, with which to repair the waste.
But all the food consumed by a man is not devoted to the reparation of
the tissue worn out in the operations of thinking and working. A human
being whose mind is a perfect blank, and who performs no bodily work,
excretes a large quantity of urea, the representative of an equivalent
amount of worn-out flesh. In fact the greater part of the food consumed
by a man serves merely to sustain the functions of the body--the
circulation of the blood--the action of the heart--the movements of the
muscles concerned in respiration--in a word, the various motions of the
body which are independent of the will. According to Professor Haughton,
about three-fourths of the food of a working man of 150 lbs. weight, are
used in merely keeping him _alive_, the remaining fourth is expended in
the production of mechanical force, constituting his daily toil.

In the nutrition of the lower animals, as in that of man, the amount of
food made use of by a particular individual depends upon its age, its
weight, the amount of work it performs, and probably its temper. As
three-fourths of the weight of the food of a laboring man are expended
in merely keeping him alive, it is obvious that the withholding of the
remaining fourth would render him incapable of working. An amount of
food which adequately maintains the vital and mechanical powers of three
men, serves merely to keep four alive. It is the same with the horse,
the ox, and every other animal useful to man: each makes use of a
certain amount of food, _for its own purposes_; all that is consumed
beyond that is applied for the benefit of its owner. Let us take the
case of two of our most useful quadrupeds--the horse and the ox. The
horse is used as an immediate source of motive power. For this purpose
food is supplied to it, the greater portion of which is consumed in
keeping the animal alive, and the rest for the development of its motive
power. Abundance of food is as necessary to the natural mechanism,
the horse, as fuel is to the artificial mechanism, the steam-engine.
In each case the amount of force developed is, within certain limits,
proportionate to the quantity of vegetable or altered vegetable matter
consumed. The greater portion of the ox's food is also consumed in
keeping its body alive, and the rest, instead of being expended in the
development of motive power, accumulates as surplus stores of flesh,
which in due time are applied to the purpose of repairing the organisms
of men. It is evident then, that the greater sufferer from the deficient
supply of food to animals is their owner. That they cannot be _taught_
to _fast_ is a fact which does not appear very patent to some minds.
The man who sought by gradually reducing the daily quantum of his
horse's provender to accustom it to work without eating, was justly
punished for his ignorant cruelty. The day before the horse's allowance
was to be reduced to pure water, and when its owner's hope appeared
certain of speedy realisation, the animal died. There are men who act
almost as foolishly as the parsimonious horse owner in this fable did;
and who are as properly punished as he was. Such men are to be found in
the farmers who overstock their sheep pastures, and whose "lean kine"
are the _laughing stock_ of their more intelligent neighbours.

The weight of a working full-grown horse does not vary from day
to day, as the weight of its egesta is equal to that of its food.
The desideratum in the case of the working animal is that its food
should be as thoroughly decomposed as possible, and the force pent
up in it liberated within the animal's body: as an ox, on the contrary,
increases in weight from day to day, it is desirable that as little as
possible of its food should be disorganised. The wasteful expenditure
of the animal's fat may be obviated by shelter, and the application of
artificial heat: the retardation of the destruction of its flesh is even
more under our control; for, as active muscular exertion involves the
decomposition of tissue, we have merely to diminish the activity of
the motions which cause this waste. This, in practice, is effected by
stall-feeding. Confined within the narrow boundaries of the stall, the
muscular action of the animal is reduced to a minimum, or limited to
those uncontrollable actions which are conditions in the maintenance
of animal life.

The proportion of the food of oxen, sheep, and pigs, which is
consumed in maintaining their vital functions, has not been accurately
ascertained; probably, as in the case of man, it is strictly
proportionate to the animal's weight. We can determine the amount
of plastic food consumed by an animal during a given period: we can
ascertain the increase (if any) in the weight of its body; and finally,
we can weigh and analyse its egesta. With these data it is comparatively
easy to ascertain the quantity of food which produced the increase in
the animal's weight; but they do not enable us to determine the amount
expended in keeping it alive, because the egesta might be largely made
up of unappropriated food--organised matter which had done no work in
the animal body. When we come to know the precise quantity of nitrogen,
in a purely, or nearly pure, mineral form[14] excreted by an animal,
then we shall be in a position to estimate the proportion of its food
expended in sustaining the essential vital processes which continuously
go on in its body. But although we are in ignorance as to the precise
quantity of flesh-formers expended in keeping the animal alive, we know
pretty accurately the amount which is consumed in producing a given
weight of its flesh, or rather in causing a certain increase in its
weight. This knowledge is the result of numerous investigations, of
which by far the most valuable are those of Lawes and Gilbert. These
experimenters found that fattening pigs stored up about 7-1/2 per
cent. of the plastic materials of their food, whilst sheep accumulated
somewhat less than 5 per cent. That is, 92-1/2 out of every 100 lbs.
weight of the nitrogenous food of the pig, and 95 out of every 100 lbs.
of that of the sheep, are eliminated in the excretions of those animals.

It appears from the results of Lawes and Gilbert's experiments, that
pigs store up in their _increase_ about 20 per cent., sheep 12 per
cent., and oxen 8 per cent. of their (dry) food. The relative increase
of the fatty, nitrogenous, and mineral constituents whilst fattening,
are shown in this table.

  ---------------------+-------------------------------------------------
                       |Estimated per cent. in Increase whilst Fattening.
  CASES.               +--------+-----------+-----------+----------------
                       |Mineral |Nitrogenous|           |
                       | matter |matter     | Fat (dry).| Total dry
                       |(ash).  |(dry).     |           | substance.
  ---------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------------
  Average of  98 oxen  | 1·47   |  7·69     |  66·2     |  75·4
  Average of 348 sheep | 1·80   |  7·13     |  70·4     |  79·53
  Average of  80 pigs  | 0·44   |  6·44     |  71·5     |  78·40
  ---------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------------

The quantity of food consumed daily by an animal is, as might be expected,
proportionate to the weight of its body. The pig consumes, for every 100
lbs. of its weight, from 26 to 30 lbs. of food, the sheep 15 lbs., and
the ox 12 to 13 lbs. These figures and the statements which I have made
relative to the proportions of fat and plastic elements in the animals'
bodies, apply to them in their fattening state, and when the food is
of a highly nutritious character. The calf and the young pig will
make use--to cause their increase--of a larger portion of nitrogenous
matters. The sheep, however, being early brought to maturity, will, even
when very young, store up the plastic and non-plastic constituents of
its food, in nearly the same relative proportions that I have mentioned.

As it is the food taken into the body that produces heat and motion, it
might at first sight appear an easy matter to determine the amount of
heat or of motion which a given weight of a particular kind of food is
capable of producing within the animal mechanism. But this performance
is not so easy a task as it appears to be. In the first place, all of
the food may not be perfectly oxidised, though thoroughly disorganised
within the body; secondly, as animals rarely subsist on one kind of
food, it is difficult, when they are supplied with mixed aliments, to
determine which of them is the most perfectly decomposed. But though the
difficulties which I have mentioned, and many others, render the task
of determining the nutritive values of food substances difficult, the
problem is by no means insoluble, and, in fact, is in a fair way of
being solved. Professor Frankland, in a paper published in the number
of the _Philosophical Magazine_ for September, 1866, determines the
relative alimental value of foods by ascertaining the quantity of heat
evolved by each when burned in oxygen gas. From the results of these
researches he has constructed a table, showing the amount of food
necessary to keep a man alive for twenty-four hours. The following
figures, which I select from this table, are of interest to the
stock-feeder:--


                      Weight necessary to sustain a
                      man's life for twenty-four hours.

  Kinds of Food.                 Ounces.

  Potatoes                       13·4
  Apples                         20·7
  Oatmeal                         3·4
  Flour                           3·5
  Pea Meal                        3·5
  Bread                           6·4
  Milk                           21·2
  Carrots                        25·6
  Cabbage                        31·8
  Butter                          1·8
  Lump Sugar                      3·9

These figures show the relative calefacient, or heat-producing powers of
the different foods named _outside_ the body; but there is some doubt as
to their having the same relative values when burned _within_ the body.
The woody fibre of the carrots and cabbages is very combustible in the
coal furnace, but it is very doubtful if more than 20 or 30 per cent. of
this substance is ever burned in the _animal furnace_. However, such
inquiries as those carried out by Frankland possess great value; and
tables constructed upon their results cannot fail to be useful in the
drawing up of dietary scales, whether for man or for the inferior
animals.

I may here remark, that in my opinion the nutritive value of food admits
of being very accurately determined by the adoption of the following
method:--

1. The animal experimented upon to be supplied daily with a weighed
quantity of food, the composition and calefacient value of which had
been accurately determined. 2. The gases, vapors, and liquid and solid
egesta thrown off from its body to be collected, analysed, and the
calefacient[15] value of the combustible portion of them to be determined.
3. The increase (if any) of the weight of the animal to be ascertained.
4. The difference between the amount of heat evolvable by the foods
before being consumed, and that actually obtained by the combustion
of the egesta into which they were ultimately converted, would be the
amount actually set free and rendered available within the body. The
calculations would be somewhat affected by an increase in the weight
of the animal's body; but it would not be difficult to keep the weight
stationary, or nearly so, and there are other ways of getting over
such a difficulty. An experiment such as this would be a costly one,
and could not be properly conducted unless by the aid of an apparatus
similar to that employed by Pettenkofer in his experiments on
respiration. This apparatus, which was made at the expense of the King
of Bavaria, cost nearly £600.

_Value of Manure._--It is a complication in the question of the
economic feeding of the farm animals that the value of their manure
must be taken into account. Of the three classes of food constituents,
two--the mineral and nitrogenous--are recoverable in the animal's body
and manure; the non-nitrogenous is partly recoverable in the fat.
I shall take the case of a sheep, which will consume weekly per 100
lbs. of its weight, 12 lbs. of fat-formers, and 3 lbs. of flesh-formers.
Twelve per cent. of the fat-formers will be retained in the _increase_,
but the rest will be expended in keeping the animal warm, and the
products of its combustion--carbonic acid and water--will be useless to
the farmer. It is, therefore, desirable to diminish as much as possible
the combustion of fatty matter in the animal's body; and this is
effected, as I have already explained, by keeping it in a warm place.
Of the flesh-forming substance only five per cent. is retained in the
increase, the rest is partly consumed in carrying on the movements of
the animal--partly expelled from its body unaltered, or but slightly
altered, in composition. The solid excrement of the animal contains
all the undigested food; but of this only the mineral and nitrogenous
constituents are valuable as manure. The nitrogen of the plastic
materials which are expended in maintaining the functions of the body is
eliminated from the lungs, through the skin, and by the kidneys--perhaps
also, but certainly only to a small extent, by the rectum.

The food consumed by an animal is disposed of in the following way:--A
portion passes unchanged, or but slightly altered, through the body;
another part is assimilated and subsequently disorganised and ejected;
the rest is converted into the carcass of the animal at the time of its
death. The undigested food and aliment which had undergone conversion
into flesh and other tissues, and subsequent disorganisation, constitute
the excrements, or manure, of the animal. The richer in nitrogen and
phosphoric acid the food is, the more valuable will be the manure; so
that the money value of a feeding stuff is not determinable merely by
the amount of flesh which it makes, but also, and to a great extent,
by the value of the manure into which it is ultimately converted.

Corn and oil-cakes are powerful fertilisers of the soil; but the three
principles which constitute their manurial value--namely, nitrogen
(ammonia), phosphoric acid, and potash--are purchasable at far lower
prices in guano and other manures. Nevertheless, many farmers believe
that the most economical way to produce good manure is to feed their
stock with concentrated aliment, in order to greatly increase the value
of their excreta. They consider that a pound's worth of oil-cake, or of
corn, will produce at least a pound's worth of meat, and that the manure
will be had for nothing, or, rather, will be the profit of the business.
The richer food is in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, the more valuable
will be the manure it yields. It follows, therefore, that if two kinds
of feeding stuff produce equal amounts of meat, that the preference
should be given to that which contains the more nitrogen and phosphoric
acid. Mr. Lawes, who has thrown light upon this point, as well as upon
so many others, has made careful estimates of the value of the manure
produced from different foods.  They are given in the following table:--

  TABLE

  Showing the estimated value of the manure obtained on the
  consumption of one ton of different articles of food; each
  supposed to be of good quality of its kind.

                                               Estimated Money Value
      Description of Food.                     of the Manure from
                                               One Ton of each Food.

   1. Decorticated cotton-seed cake               £6   10   0
   2. Rape-cake                                    4   18   0
   3. Linseed-cake                                 4   12   0
   4. Malt-dust                                    4    5   0
   5. Lentils                                      3   17   0
   6. Linseed                                      3   13   0
   7. Tares                                        3   13   6
   8. Beans                                        3   13   6
   9. Peas                                         3    2   6
  10. Locust beans                                 1    2   6(?)
  11. Oats                                         1   14   6
  12. Wheat                                        1   13   0
  13. Indian corn                                  1   11   6
  14. Malt                                         1   11   6
  15. Barley                                       1    9   6
  16. Clover-hay                                   2    5   0
  17. Meadow-hay                                   1   10   0
  18. Oat-straw                                    0   13   6
  19. Wheat-straw                                  0   12   6
  20. Barley-straw                                 0   10   6
  21. Potatoes                                     0    7   0
  22. Mangolds                                     0    5   0
  23. Swedish turnips                              0    4   3
  24. Common turnips                               0    4   0
  25. Carrots                                      0    4   0

All the saline matter contained in the food is either converted into
flesh, or is recoverable in the form of manure, but a portion of its
nitrogen appears to be lost by respiration and perspiration. Reiset
states that 100 parts of the nitrogen of food given to sheep upon
which he experimented, were disposed of as follows:--


  Recovered in the excreta                                 58·3
  Recovered in the meat, tallow, and skin                  13·7
  Lost in respiration                                      28·0
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

Haughton's experiments, performed upon men, gave results which proved
that no portion of the nitrogen of their food was lost by perspiration
or by respiration. Barral, on the contrary, asserts that nitrogen
is given off from the bodies of both man and the inferior animals.
Boussingault states that horses, sheep, and pigs exhale nitrogen.
A cow, giving milk, on which he had experimented, lost 15 per cent.
of the nitrogen of its food by perspiration. The amount of nitrogen
which Reiset states that sheep exhale is exceedingly great, and it
is difficult to reconcile his results with those obtained by Voit,
Bischoff, Regnault, Pettenkofer, and Haughton. Of course, men and sheep
are widely different animals; but still it is unlikely that all the
nitrogen of the food of man should be recoverable in his egesta, whilst
nearly a third of the nitrogen of the food of the sheep should be
dissipated as gas. I think further experiments are necessary before this
point can be regarded as settled; and it is probable that it will yet be
found that all, or nearly all, of the nitrogen of the food of animals is
recoverable in their egesta.

Regarding, then, an animal as a mechanism by which meat is to be
"manufactured," five economic points in relation to it demand the
feeder's attention: these are--the first cost of the mechanism, the
expense of maintaining the mechanism in working order, the price of
the raw materials intended for conversion into meat, the value of the
meat, and the value of the manure. In proportion to the attention given
to these points, will be the feeder's profits; but they are, to some
extent, affected by the climatic, geographic, and other conditions under
which the farm is placed.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 1: If the elements were only capable of combining with each
other in simple ratios, the number of their combinations would be as
limited as that of the letters of the alphabet; but as one, two, or
more atoms of oxygen can combine with one, two, or more atoms of
other elements, we can assign no limits to the number of _possible_
combinations. There are hundreds of distinct substances formed of but
two elements, namely, hydrogen and carbon.]

[Footnote 2: In a paper by Professor Sullivan, of Dublin, the conversion
of one of these substances into another _outside_ the animal mechanism,
is almost incontrovertibly proved.]

[Footnote 3: _Experimental Inquiry into the Composition of some of
the Animals Fed and Slaughtered as Human Food._ By John Bennet Lawes,
F.R.S., F.C.S., and Joseph Henry Gilbert, Ph.D., F.C.S. _Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society._ Part II., 1860.]

[Footnote 4: From the Greek _plasso_, "to form." Plastic materials are
sometimes termed _formative_ elements; both terms imply the belief that
they are capable of giving shape, or form, not only to themselves, but
also to other kinds of matter not possessed of formative power.]

[Footnote 5: The slow conversion of phosphorus into phosphoric acid
takes place in the animal organism; its gradual oxidation in the open
air gives rise only to an imperfectly oxidised body--_phosphorous acid_.
But the latter fact does not invalidate the general proposition, that
the heat emitted by a substance undergoing the process of oxidation is
proportionate to the amount of oxygen with which it combines, and is not
influenced by the length of time occupied by the process, further than
this, that if the oxidation be _very_ rapidly effected, a portion of the
heat will be converted into an _equivalent_ amount of light.]

[Footnote 6: This statement is not absolutely correct, but the range
of variation is confined within such narrow limits as to be quite
insignificant.]

[Footnote 7: Doubt has recently been thrown on the truth of this belief
by Frankland, Fick, and Wislicenus.]

[Footnote 8: The results of Savory's experiments on rats appear to prove
that animals can live on food destitute of fat, sugar, starch, or any
other fat-forming substance. I think, however, that animals could hardly
thrive on purely nitrogenous food. The conclusions which certain late
writers, who object to Liebig's theory of animal heat, have deduced from
Savory's investigations, appear to me to be quite unfounded.]

[Footnote 9: So termed because it is the basis of the common oils; the
fluid portion of fat is composed of oleine.]

[Footnote 10: The term _dry_ is applied to the _solid_ constituents of
the food. Thus, a pig fed with 100 lbs. of potatoes would be said to
have been supplied with 25 lbs. of dry potatoes, because water forms
75 per cent. of the weight of those tubers.]

[Footnote 11: The amounts of "mineral matter" are too high, owing to the
adventitious matters (dirt) retained by the wool.]

[Footnote 12: This pig was completely analysed by Lawes and Gilbert.]

[Footnote 13: The results of recent and accurately conducted
investigations prove that men engaged in occupations requiring the
highest exercise of the intellectual faculties, require more nutritious
food, and even a greater quantity of nutriment, than the hardest worked
laborers, such as paviours, and navvies. I have been assured by an
extensive manufacturer, that on promoting his workmen to situations of
_greater_ responsibility but _less_ physically laborious than those
previously filled by them, he found that they required more food and
that, too, of a better quality. This change in their appetite was
not the result of increased wages, which in most cases remained the
same--the decrease in the amount of labour exacted being considered in
most cases a sufficient equivalent for the increased responsibility
thrown upon them.]

[Footnote 14: As ammonia, urea, uric acid, or hippuric acid; all of which
are nearly or perfectly mineralised substances.]

[Footnote 15: The excrements of animals are capable of evolving, by
combustion, enormous amounts of heat.]




PART II.

ON THE BREEDING AND BREEDS OF STOCK.


SECTION I.

THE BREEDING OF STOCK.

_Cross Breeding._--For many years past feeders have zealously occupied
themselves in the improvement of their stock, and the result of their
labors is observable in the marked superiority of the breeds of the
present day over their ancestors in the last century. The improvement
of animals designed as food for man is effected by keeping them on a
liberal dietary, by selecting only the best individuals for sires and
dams, and by combining the excellencies of two or more varieties of a
species in one breed. A species consists of a number of animals which
exhibit so many points of resemblance, that they are regarded by the
great majority of naturalists to be the descendants of a single pair.
If we except the believers in the hypotheses relative to the origin
of existing varieties of animals and plants, propounded by Lamarck,
Darwin, and other naturalists of the "advanced school," there is a
general belief in the immutability of species. The individuals of an
existing species, say dogs, can never acquire the peculiar features
of another species; nor can their descendants, if we except hybrids,
ever become animals in which the characteristics of the dog tribe are
irrecognisable. By various influences, such as, for example, differences
in food and climate, and domestication, a species may be split into
_varieties_, or _breeds_, all of which, however, retain the more
important characteristics of the primordial type. There appears to be
no limit to the varieties of dogs, yet one can perceive by a glance that
there is no specific difference between the huge Mont St. Bernard dog
and the diminutive poodle, or between the sparse greyhound and the burly
mastiff. All the varieties of our domestic fowl have been traced to
a common origin--the wild Indian fowl (_Gallus bankiva_). Even Darwin
admits that all the existing kinds of horses are, in all probability,
the descendants of an original stock; and it is generally agreed that
the scores of varieties of pigeons own a common ancestor in the rock
pigeon (_Columba livia_).

As certain individuals are grouped by naturalists into species, so
particular species, which in habits and general appearance resemble each
other, are arranged under the head of genus. The horse, the ass, and the
zebra are formed on nearly the same anatomical plan; they are therefore
classed together, and designated the genus _Equus_, a term derived from
the Latin word _equus_, a horse--that animal being regarded as the type,
or perfect member of the group. Thus the horse, in the nomenclature of
the naturalist, is termed _Equus caballus_; the ass, _Equus asinus_; and
the zebra, _Equus zebra_. By a further extension of this principle of
classification, very closely allied genera are united under the term
of _family_.

The different varieties of the same species breed, as might be
anticipated, freely together; but it frequently happens that two
individuals of different species pair, and produce an animal which
inherits some of the properties of each of its progenitors. These
half-breeds are termed _hybrids_, or _mules_, and we have familiar
examples of them in the common mule and the jennet. As a general rule,
animals exhibit a disinclination to breed with other than members of
their own species; and although the interference of man may overcome
this natural repugnance, he can only effect the fruitful congress of
individuals belonging to closely allied species, being members of the
same genus. Hybrids in the genus _Equus_ are very common. A cross has
been produced between the he-goat and the ewe; the camel and the
dromedary have bred together; and Buffon succeeded in producing a hybrid
in which three animals were represented--namely, the bison, the zebu,
and the ox. On the other hand, attempts to effect a cross between
animals belonging to different families have generally failed; nor is
it at all probable that a cross will ever be produced between the pig
and the sheep, between the horse and the cow, or, most unlikely of all,
between the dog and the cat.

It is the general belief that hybrids are sterile, or, at least, that
they are incapable of propagation _inter se_. This may be true with
respect to the hybrids of species not very closely allied; but that
there are exceptions to the rule is quite clear from Roux's experiments
with hares and rabbits. This gentleman, who is, or was, the president
of a French agricultural society, but who makes no profession of
scientific knowledge, has succeeded, after several failures, in producing
a fruitful cross between the rabbit and the hare. This hybrid has
received the name of leporide (from the Latin _leporinus_, pertaining to
a hare), and it is different from former crosses, in being five parts
hare, and three parts rabbit. M. Roux has bred this hybrid during the
last eighteen years, and has not observed the slightest appearance
of decay of race manifest itself up to the present, so that, for all
practical purposes, the leporide may be regarded as an addition to the
distinct species of animals. The leporide fattens rapidly, and with but
little expenditure of food. Sold at the age of four months, it realises,
in France, a price four times greater than that commanded by a rabbit of
the same age; and at a year old it weighs on an average ten pounds, and
sometimes as much as sixteen pounds. It breeds at four months, continues
thirty days in gestation, and yearly produces five or six litters of
from five to eight young. To produce this hybrid is by no means
difficult. A leveret, just old enough to dispense with the maternal
nutriment, should be placed with a few doe rabbits of his own age,
apart from other animals. He will soon become familiar with the does,
and when they attain the age of puberty, all the rabbits save one or two
should be removed. Speedily those left with the hare will become with
young, upon which they should be removed, and replaced by others. After
this the hare should be kept in a hutch by himself, and a doe left with
him at night only. As the hare is naturally a very shy animal, it will
only breed when perfect quietness prevails. The half-bred produced in
the first instance should now be put to the hare, and a cross, three
parts hare, and one part rabbit, obtained. The permanent breed should
then be obtained by crossing the quadroon doe leporide, if I may use the
term, with the half-bred buck.

I have directed attention to the production of the leporide because
I believe that the problems in relation to it, which have been solved
by M. Roux, have an important bearing upon the breeding of animals
of greater importance than hares and rabbits. Here we find a race of
animals produced by the fusion of two species, which naturally exist in
a state of mutual enmity, and which differ in many important respects.
The hare and the rabbit are respectively of but little value as food, at
least they are of no importance to the feeder; yet a cross between them
turns out to be an excellent meat-producing animal, which may be reared
with considerable profit to the feeder. It is thus clearly shown that
two kinds of animals, neither of which is of great utility, may give
rise to an excellent cross, if their blood, so to speak, be blended in
proper proportions. A half-bred animal may be less valuable than its
parents, but a quadroon may greatly excel its progenitors. The goat
and sheep are so closely related that they are classed by naturalists
under one head--_Capridæ_. Some kinds of sheep have hair like goats, and
certain varieties of goats have fleeces that closely resemble those on
the sheep. There are sheep with horns, and goats without those striking
appendages. The Cape of Good Hope goat might easily be mistaken for a
sheep. It would seem, judging by the results of Roux's experiments, that
there is no great difficulty in the way of obtaining a cross between the
sheep and the goat. I do not mean an ordinary half-breed, but a prolific
hybrid similar to the leporide. Of course, it is impossible, _a priori_,
to say whether or not such a hybrid race, supposing it produceable,
would be valuable; but as goats can find a subsistence on mountains
where sheep would starve, it is possible that an animal, essentially a
sheep, but with a streak of goat blood in it, could be profitably kept
on very poor uplands. Whether a race of what we might term _caprides_ be
formed or not we have derived most suggestive information from M. Roux's
experiments, which I hope may be turned to account in what is by far the
most important field of enquiry, the judicious crossing of varieties of
the same species.

It is a _quæstio vexata_ whether or not the parents generally exercise
different influences upon the shape and size of their offspring. Mr.
Spooner supports the supposition--a very popular one--that the sire
gives shape to the external organs, whilst the dam affects the internal
organisation. I have considerable doubt as to the probability of this
theory. The children who spring from the union of a white man with a
negress possess physical and intellectual qualities which are nearly if
not quite the _mean_ of their parents; but the offspring of parents,
both of the same race--be it Caucasian, Mongolian, or Indian--frequently
conform, intellectually and corporeally, to either of their progenitors.
Thus, of the children of a tall, thin, dark man, and a short, fat,
fair woman, some will be like their father, and the others will
resemble their mother, or, perhaps, all may "take after" either parent.
Sometimes a child appears to be in every respect unlike its parents,
and occasionally the likeness of an ancestor appears in a descendant, in
whom no resemblance to his immediate progenitors can be detected. It is
highly probable that both parents exercise, under most circumstances, a
joint influence upon the qualities of their offspring, but that one of
them may produce so much greater an effect that the influence of the
other is not recognisable, except perhaps to a very close observer. But
I doubt very much that any particular organ of the offspring is, as a
rule, more liable to the influence of the sire than of the dam, or _vice
versâ_; and the breeder who believes that the sire alone is concerned in
moulding the external form of the offspring, and who consequently pays
no attention to this point in the dam, will often find himself out in
his reckonings. In order to be certain of a satisfactory result, the dam
should in every respect be equal to the sire. In practice, however, this
is not always the case, for as sires are so few as compared with the
number of dams, the greatest efforts have been directed towards the
improvement of the former.

There is, or ought to be, a familiar maxim with breeders, that "like
begets like, or the likeness of an ancestor." This is a "wise saw," of
which there are many "modern instances:" the excellencies or defects of
sire or dam are certain to be transmitted through several generations,
though they may not appear in all. As a general rule, good animals will
produce a good, and defective animals a defective, offspring, but it
sometimes happens that a bull or cow, of the best blood, is decidedly
inferior, whilst really good animals are occasionally the produce of
parents of "low degree." If the defects or excellencies of animals were
ineradicable there would be no need for the science of breeding; but by
the continual selection of only the most superior animals for breeding
purposes the defects of a species gradually disappear, and the good
qualities are alone transmitted. As, however, animals that are used as
food for man are to some extent in an abnormal condition, the points
which may be excellencies in that state, would not have been such in the
original condition of the animal. We find, therefore, that the improved
breeds of oxen and sheep exhibit some tendency to revert to their
original condition, and it is only by close attention to the diet,
breeding, and general management of these animals that this tendency can
be successfully resisted. Sometimes, however, an animal of even the best
breed will "return to nature," or will acquire some undesirable quality;
such an animal should be rejected for breeding purposes, for its defects
would in all probability be transmitted to its descendants, near or
remote. A case, which admirably illustrates this point, is recorded in
the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1813, and it is sufficiently
interesting to be mentioned here:--

    Seth Wright, who possessed a small farm on the Charles River,
    about sixteen miles from Boston, had a small flock, consisting
    of fifteen ewes and one ram. One of these ewes, in 1791, produced
    a singular-shaped male lamb. Wright was advised to kill his former
    ram and keep this new one in place of it; the consequence was, the
    formation of a new breed of sheep, which gradually spread over a
    considerable part of New England, but the introduction of the Merino
    has nearly destroyed them again. This new variety was called the
    Otter, or "Ankon" breed. They are remarkable for the shortness of
    their legs, and the crookedness of their forelegs, like an elbow.
    They are much more feeble and much smaller than the common sheep,
    and less able to break over low fences; and this was the reason
    of their being continued and propagated.


Here we have an instance of an animal propagating a defect through
a great number of descendants, though it had not acquired it from
its own ancestors. It is, however, probable that occasionally a male
descendant of this short-legged ram possessed considerably longer organs
of locomotion than the founder of his breed; and, consequently, if
selected for breeding purposes might become the founder of a long-legged
variety, in which, however, a couple of pairs of short-legs would
occasionally present themselves. I have a notion that the higher animals
are in the scale of being, the greater is their tendency to transmit
their acquired good or bad habits to their posterity. Dogs are, perhaps,
the most intelligent of the inferior animals, and it is well known
that they transmit to their offspring their acquired as well as their
natural habits. I doubt very much that those most stupid of creatures,
guinea-pigs, possess this property in any sensible degree; or, indeed,
that like the canine tribe, they can be readily made to acquire
artificial peculiarities: but there once flourished a "learned pig,"
and it would be worth inquiring whether or not its descendants, like the
descendants of the trained setter, and pointer, were at all benefited by
the education of their ancestor. I shall conclude this part of my subject
in the words of Professor Tanner: "In all cases where the breed has been
carefully preserved pure, great benefit will result from doing so. The
character of a breed becomes more and more concentrated and confirmed in
a pedigree animal, and this character is rendered more fully hereditary
in proportion to the number of generations through which it has been
transmitted. By the aid of pedigree, purity of blood may be insured, and
a systematic plan adopted by which we can perpetuate distinct families,
and thereby obtain a change of blood without its being a cross. It is
evident that any one adopting a systematic arrangement will be able to
do this more effectually than another without this aid. This is the more
important when the number of families is small, as is the case with
Devons and Herefords, especially the former. The individual animals from
which the Devons are descended are very limited in number, and in a few
hands; but, with some honourable exceptions, little attention is given
to this point. The importance is rendered evident by the decreasing size
of the breed, the number of barren heifers, and the increased delicacy
of constitution shown in the stock of many breeders of that district who
are not particular in this respect. The contrast between such herds,
and those in which more care and judgment are exercised, renders the
advantages of attention to pedigree very evident; for here the strength
of constitution is retained, together with many of the advantages of
this valuable breed."


SECTION II.

THE BREEDS OF STOCK.

The nature of the animal determines, as I have already stated, the
proportion of its food carried off in its increase; but this point is
also greatly influenced by its _variety_, or _breed_. Certain breeds
which have for a long period been kept on bulky food, and obliged
to roam in quest of it, appear to have acquired a normal tendency to
_leanness_. No doubt, if they were supplied with highly nutritious
food for many successive generations, these breeds might eventually
exhibit as great a tendency to fatten as they now do to remain in a
lean condition. As it is, the horned cattle of Kerry, Wales, and some
other regions, rarely become fat, no matter how abundantly they may be
supplied with fattening food. On the other hand, the Herefords, but more
especially the Shorthorns, exhibit a natural disposition to obesity, and
such animals alone should be stall-fed. It is noteworthy that animals
which are naturally disposed to yield abundance of milk are often the
best adapted for fattening; but it would appear that the continuous
use of highly fattening food, and the observance of the various other
conditions in the _forcing_ system, diminish the activity of the lacteal
secretion, and increase the tendency to fatness in the races of the
bovine tribe. The Shorthorns were at one time famous for their milking
capabilities, but latterly their galactophoric reputation has greatly
declined. Still I am disposed to believe, that if some of those animals
were placed under conditions favorable to the improvement of dairy
stock, herds of Shorthorn milch cows could be obtained which would vie
in their own line with the famous fat-disposed oxen of the same breed.

In sheep the tendency to early maturity and to fatten is greatly
influenced by the breed. The Leicester, even when kept on inferior
pasture, fattens so rapidly that in eighteen months it is fit for the
butcher; whilst the Merino, though supplied with excellent herbage, must
be preserved for nearly four years before it is ready for the shambles.
The crossing of good herds has resulted in the development of numerous
varieties, all remarkable for their aptitude to fatten and to arrive
early at maturity. The Leicester--itself supposed to be a cross--has
greatly improved the Lincoln, and the Hampshire and Southdown have
produced an excellent cross. Of course, each breed and cross has its
admirers; indeed, the differences of opinion which prevail in relation
to the relative merits of the Lincoln and the Leicester--the Southdown
and the Shropshiredown--the Dorset and the Somerset--occasionally
culminate into newspaper controversies of an exceedingly ascerb
character. There is no doubt but that particular breeds of sheep
thrive in localities and under conditions which are inimical to other
varieties; but still it is equally evident that, _cæteris paribus_, one
kind of sheep will store up in its increase a larger proportion of its
food than another kind, and will arrive earlier at maturity. It is the
knowledge of this fact which has led to the great estimation in which
are held some half-dozen out of the numerous breeds and cross-breeds
of that animal. In 1861 an interesting experiment was made by the
Parlington Farmers' Club with the object of testing the relative merits
of several varieties of sheep. The results are shown in the tables:--

  TABLE I.

  ----------------+------------------------------------+-----------------------
                  | Live Weight of Six Wethers         |Weights gained
                  | when Shorn, 26th February, 1862.   |during the time of
                  |       +--------------------------- |Feeding from the
                  |       | Weight of Mutton when      |11th November, 1861,
  Description of  |       | Slaughtered.               |to 14th February, 1862.
  Class of Sheep. |       |       +------+------+------+-------+-------+-------
                  |       |       |Weight|Weight|Weight|       |       |
                  |       |       |  of  |  of  |  of  |In Live|  In   | In
                  |       |       |Tallow| Wool.|Pelts.|Weight.|Mutton.| Wool.
  ----------------+-------+-------+------+------+------+-------+-------+-------
                  |st. lb.|st. lb.|   lb.|   lb.|   lb.|st. lb.|st. lb.|lb. oz.
  Cross from      |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
    the Teeswater | 85  3 | 53  1 |   106|    43|    85| 13  7 | 8   6 | 14  5
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  North Sheep     | 83 12 | 53 12 |    96|43-1/2|    83| 12 11 | 8   3 | 14  8
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  Lincolns        | 92  1 | 59 12 |   105|    66|   103| 16  1 |10   7 | 22  0
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  South Downs     | 71  0 | 47  7 |97-1/4|    28|65-3/4| 11 13 | 8   0 |  9  5
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  Shropshire Downs| 85  6 | 53  1 |   103|42-1/2|    91| 15 11 | 9  12 | 14  3
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  Leicesters      | 80  9 | 53  4 |90-1/2|    44|78-1/2| 14 10 | 9  10 | 14 11
                  |       |       |      |      |      |       |       |
  Cotswolds       | 76  5 | 47  6 |    79|    54|    90| 12  6 | 7  11 | 18  0
  ----------------+-------+-------+------+------+------+-------+-------+-------


  TABLE II.

  -----------------+--------------------------------------------+-----------+
                   | Value of the preceding                     | Food      |
  Description      | Mutton and Wool so gained.                 | consumed  |
  of Sheep.        +----------------------+---------------------+ during    |
                   | Price of the Mutton. | Price of the Wool.  | time of   |
                   |                      |                     | Feeding.  |
  -----------------+-------+--------------+-------+-------------+-----+-----+
                   |       |              |       |             |Swd. |Lnd. |
                   | p. lb.|              | p. lb.|             |Tnp. |Cke. |
                   +-------+              +-------+             +-----+-----+
                   | d.    | £   s. d.    |  d.   | £  s. d.    | st. | lb. |
  Teeswater, Cross | 6     | 2  19  0     | 18    | 1  1  6     | 978 | 300 |
  North Shropshire | 6     | 2  17  6     | 17-1/2| 1  1  1-3/4 | 914 | 300 |
  Lincolnshire[16] | 5-3/4 | 3  10  5-1/4 | 18    | 1 13  0     | 936 | 363 |
  Southdowns       | 6-1/2 | 3   0  8     | 17    | 0 13  2-1/2 | 684 | 300 |
  Shropshire       | 6-1/4 | 3  11 10-1/2 | 17-1/2| 1  0  7-3/4 | 924 | 300 |
  Leicester        | 5-3/4 | 3   5  2     | 18    | 1  2  0     | 877 | 300 |
  Cotswolds        | 6     | 2  14  6     | 18    | 1  7  0     | 926 | 300 |
  -----------------+-------+--------------+-------+-------------+-----+-----+

  -----------------+------------------+--------------+----------------------+
                   | Value of the     |              | Value of Food        |
                   | Food, Calculating| Value of     | deducted from Value  |
  Description      | Turnips at 6s.   | the Mutton   | of Mutton and Wool,  |
  of Sheep.        | 8d., and Cake at | and Wool.    | showing real value of|
                   | £10 10s. per ton.|              | the different sheep. |
  -----------------+------------------+--------------+----------------------+
                   |                  |              |                      |
                   |                  |              |                      |
                   |                  |              |                      |
                   |   £  s.  d.      | £   s. d.    |    £   s.  d.        |
  Teeswater, Cross |   3  8  10-1/2   | 4   0      6 |    0  11   7         |
  North Shropshire |   3  6   2-1/2   | 3  18  7-3/4 |    0  12   5         |
  Lincolnshire[16] |   3 13   0-1/4   | 5   3  5-1/4 |    1  10   5         |
  Southdowns       |   2 16   7-1/2   | 3  13 10-1/2 |    0  17   3         |
  Shropshire       |   3  6   7-3/4   | 4  12  6-1/4 |    1   5  10         |
  Leicester        |   3  4   8       | 4   7      2 |    1   2   6         |
  Cotswolds        |   3  6   8-1/2   | 4   1      6 |    0  14   9-1/2     |
  -----------------+------------------+--------------+----------------------+

These results, taken with the customary _grain of salt_, tell well for
the improved Lincoln; they also clearly show the aptitude to fatten,
without much loss in offal, of the Leicester;[17] and they commend to the
lover of good mutton the Shropshire and South-Downs.

In the sixteenth volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England, Mr. Lawes gives some valuable information relative to the
comparative fattening qualities of different breeds of sheep. The
following table, on this author's authority, shows the average food
consumed in producing 100 lbs. increase in live weight:--

  Breed.                    Oil Cake.     Clover.      Swedes.

  Sussex                    297-1/4       285-1/2      3·835-3/4
  Hampshire                 291-1/2       261-1/4      3·966-3/4
  Cross-bred Wethers        264-1/2       251-3/4      3·725-1/4
      Do.    Ewes           263-1/2       250-1/4      3·671
  Leicesters                263-3/4       251-1/4      3·761
  Cotswolds                 253-1/2       216-3/4      3·557-1/2

Some breeds are profitably kept in certain localities, where other kinds
would not pay so well: for example, the Devons, according to Mr. Smith,
are better adapted than larger breeds for "converting the produce of
cold and hilly pastures into meat." It is remarkable that nearly all the
best existing breeds of oxen and sheep are crosses. Major Rudd states
that the dam of Hubback, the famous founder of pure improved Shorthorns,
owed her propensity to fatten to an admixture of Kyloe blood, and also
that the sire of Hubback had a stain of Alderney, or Normandy blood.
Although the Rudd account of the ancestry of Hubback is not accepted by
all the historians of this splendid breed of cattle, there is no doubt
but that the breed owes its origin as much to judicious crossing as to
careful selection of sires and dams. It must not, however, be imagined
that there are no good pure races of stock. There is a perfectly pure,
but now scarce, tribe of Kerry oxen, admirably adapted to poor uplands.
The excellent Southdown sheep, though in every respect immensely
superior to their ancestors in the last century, have not attained to
their present superior state by crossing. The high value placed by
breeders upon good sires and dams in the approved breeds of stock is
shown by the large sums which they frequently realise at sales, or when
the former are let out for service. Bakewell received in one season for
the use of a ram 400 guineas each from two breeders, and they did not
retain the animal during the whole season. Several hundred guineas have
lately been more than once paid for a celebrated tup. Colonel Towneley's
Shorthorn bull, Master Butterfly, was, not long since, disposed of to an
Australian buyer for £1,260. At the sale of Mr. Bates's stock in 1850,
a stock of Shorthorns, including calves, brought on the average £116 5s.
per head. At the Earl Ducie's sale in 1852, a three year old
cow--Duchess--realised 700 guineas.

The color of an animal is, to some extent, a criterion of the purity
of its breed. Roan is a favourite hue with the breeders of Shorthorns.
There have been celebrated sires and dams of that breed perfectly white;
but that color, or rather absence of color, is now somewhat unpopular,
partly from the idea that it is a sign of weakness of constitution--a
notion for which there appears to me to be no foundation in fact.
The slightest spot of black, or even a very dark shade, is regarded
to be a blemish of the most serious kind when observed on the pelt
of a Shorthorn. The Herefords are partly white, partly red; the Devon
possesses in general a deep red hue; the Suffolks are usually of a dun
or faint reddish tint; the Ayrshires are commonly spotted white and red;
and the Kerrys are seen in every shade between a jet black and a deep
red. Uniformity in color would be most desirable in the case of each
variety, and this object could easily be attained if breeders devoted
some attention to it.

_The Form of Animals._--The functions of an animal are arranged by
Bichat, an eminent physiologist, into two classes--those relating to
its nutrition, and those exhibited by its muscular and mental systems.
The first class of functions comprise the _vegetative_, or organic life
of the animal, and the second class constitute its _relative_ life.
Adopting this arrangement, we may say, then, that those animals in which
the vegetative life is far more energetic than the relative life are
best suited for the purposes of the feeder. In tigers, wolves, and dogs
the relative life predominates over the vegetative; the muscles are
almost constantly in a high degree of tension, and the processes of
nutrition are in constant requisition to supply the waste of muscle.
On the other hand, in oxen, sheep, and pigs, at least when in a state
of domesticity, the muscles are not highly developed; they do not
largely tax the vegetative processes, and, consequently, the substances
elaborated under the influence of the vegetative life rapidly increase.
The form of an animal is therefore mainly determined by the activity of
its relative life. In a greyhound, the nervous power of which is highly
developed, the muscles are large and well-knit, the stomach, intended
for the reception of concentrated nutriment only, is small, and the
lungs are exceedingly capacious. In such an animal the arrangements for
the rapid expenditure of nervous power must be perfect. It is not merely
necessary that its muscles should be large and powerful, its lungs must
also admit of deep inspirations of oxygen, whereby the motive power
wielded by these muscles may be rapidly generated. Now, an animal
exactly opposite in organisation to the greyhound would, according
to theory, be just the kind to select for the production of meat.
The greyhound and the horse expend all their food in the production
of motive power; the ox and the sheep, being endowed with but a feeble
muscular organisation, use a smaller proportion of their food for
carrying on the functions of their relative life, consequently, the
weight of their bodies is augmented by the surplus nutriment. It is
clear, then, that an animal of a lymphatic temperament, an indolent
disposition, a low degree of nervous power, and a tendency to rapid
growth, is the _beau ideal_ of a "meat-manufacturing machine." Now, as
the larger the lungs of an animal are, the greater is its capacity for
"burning," or consuming its tissues, one might suppose that small lungs
would be a _desideratum_ in an ox, or other animal destined for the
shambles. This appears to be Liebig's opinion, for in one of his
books he states that "a narrow chest (small lungs) is considered by
experienced agriculturists a sure sign, in pigs, for example, of easy
fattening; and the same remark applies to cows, in reference to the
produce of milk--that is, of butter." On this subject Professor Tanner
makes the following remarks, in his excellent Essay on Breeding and
Rearing Cattle:[18]--"In our high-bred animals we find a small liver
and a small lung, accompanied with a gentle and peaceful disposition.
Now, these conditions, which are so desirable for producing fat, are
equally favorable for yielding butter. The diminished organs economise
the consumption of the carbonaceous matters in the blood, hence, more
remains for conversion into fat, but equally prepared for yielding
cream, if the tendency of the animal is equally favorable to the same."
One would imagine, from the foregoing passage, that Mr. Tanner and Baron
Liebig coincided in believing small lungs necessary to rapid fattening;
but in another part of his essay, Tanner thus describes one of the
points indicative of a tendency to fatten early:--"The chest should be
bold and prominent, wide and deep, furnished with a deep but not coarse
dewlap." On comparing the two passages which I have quoted from Tanner's
essay, a contradiction is apparent. Mr. Bowly, Major Rudd, and other
eminent breeders and feeders, appear to regard a capacious chest as the
best sign of a fattening property which an animal could show. Lawes and
Gilbert have recorded the weights of the viscera of a number of animals
which, though supplied with equal quantities of the same kind of food,
attained to different degrees of fatness. On carefully scrutinising
these records, I failed to perceive any constant relation between the
weight of their lungs and their tendency to fatten rapidly. Some animals
with large lungs converted a larger proportion of their food into meat
than others with smaller respiratory organs, and _vice versâ_. In a
state of nature, there is no doubt but that the lungs of the ox and of
the sheep are moderately large; and it is evident that in their case, as
well as in that of man, over-feeding and confinement tend to diminish
their muscular energy, and, of course, to decrease the capacity of the
lungs. That such a practice does not tend to the improvement of the
health of an animal is perfectly evident, but then the perfect ox of
nature is very different from the perfect ox of man. The latter is
a wide departure from the original type of its species: any marked
development of its nervous system is undesirable; and it is valuable
in proportion as its purely vegetative functions are most strongly
manifested. A young bullock, therefore, of this kind would, no doubt,
be the most economical kind to rear, provided that it was perfectly
healthy, and capable of assimilating the liberal amount of food supplied
to it. But it rarely happens that a young animal with a weakly chest
turns out other than a scrofulous or otherwise diseased adult. On the
whole, then, I am disposed to believe that whilst naturally small-lunged
species may be more prone to fatten than large-chested ones, it is not
the case that small-chested individuals fatten more rapidly than larger
lunged individuals of the same kind.

The conditions under which oxen, sheep, and pigs have been so long
maintained in civilised countries, must have diminished the capacity of
their chests in relation to other parts of their bodies; and it may be
fairly doubted if any good could result by reducing to still smaller
dimensions those most important organs. Probably the lungs and hearts of
the improved breeds of stock are already too small, and that it is only
the individuals which are least affected in this respect that answer to
Mr. Bowly's description of a fat-disposed beast. Whether or not small
lungs are desirable in a bullock or milch cow, it is certain that a ram
or a bull should be possessed of a capacious chest, for otherwise he
will have but little vigour, and will be likely to produce a weakly
offspring. A sire should be a perfectly developed animal in every
respect--sound lungs and heart, and not over fat. It is sufficient that
it belongs to a good fattening breed; but to produce offspring with a
tendency to fatness and early maturity, it is not necessary that the
sire should himself be obese. It is to be regretted that so many sires
of the Shorthorns and other improved varieties should be used for
breeding purposes, when their hearts and lungs have become, by
over-feeding the animals, unfitted for the proper discharge of their
function. The progeny of such sires must _naturally_ inherit the
_acquired taint_ of their diseased progenitors, and prove weakly and
unhealthy animals.

With respect to the general outline structure of a bull, he should have
a small, well-set head, rounded ribs, straight legs, small bones, and
sound internal organs. The following are considered to be the best
points in a Shorthorn bull:--A short and moderately small head, with
tapering muzzle and broad forehead, furnished with short, white,
curved, graceful looking horns; bright, yet mild, large eyes, placed in
prominent orbits; dilated nostrils, and flesh-colored nose, and long,
thin ears. The neck should be broad, deep, and muscular, sloping in a
graceful line from the shoulder to the head. The chest should be wide,
deep, projecting, but level in front. The shoulders should be oblique,
the blades well set in towards the ribs. The forelegs should be stout,
muscular above the knee, and slender below it; the hind legs should be
slender to the hock, and from thence increase in thickness to the
buttocks, which should be well developed. The carcass should be well
rounded at each side, but level on the back and on the belly. There
should be no hollows between the shoulder and the ribs, the line from
the highest part of the shoulder to the insertion of the tail should be
a perfect level. The flank should be full, the loins broad, and the tail
finely formed and only partially covered with hair. The skin is a prime
point: it must be covered with hair of a roan, or other _fashionable_
color, and communicate to the hand of the experienced feeler, a peculiar
sensation, which it is impossible to describe. With regard to this
point, I cannot do better than quote the words of an experienced
"handler":--

"A nice or good judge of cattle or sheep, with a slight touch of the
fingers upon the fatting points of the animal--viz., the hips, rump,
ribs, flanks, breast, twist, shoulder score, &c. will know immediately
whether it will make fat or not, and in which part it will be the
fattest. I have often wished to convey in language that idea or
sensation we acquire by the touch or feel of our fingers, which enables
us to form a judgment when we are handling an animal intended to be
fatted, but I have as often found myself unequal to that wish. It is
very easy to know where an animal is fattest which is already made fat,
because we can evidently feel a substance or quantity of fat--all those
parts which are denominated the fatting points; but the difficulty is to
explain how we know or distinguish animals, in a lean state, which will
make fat and which will not--or rather, which will make fat in such
points or parts, and not in others--which a person of judgment (_in
practice_) can tell, as it were, instantaneously. I say _in practice_,
because I believe that the best judges _out of practice_ are not able to
judge with precision--at least, I am not. We say this beast _touches_
nicely upon its ribs, hips, &c., &c., because we find a mellow, pleasant
feel on those parts; but we do not say soft, because there are some of
this same sort of animals which have a soft, loose handle, of which we
do not approve, because, though soft and loose, have not the mellow feel
above mentioned. For though they both handle soft and loose, yet we know
that the one will make fat and the other will not; and in this lies the
difficulty of the explanation. We clearly find a particular kindliness
or pleasantness in the feel of the one much superior to the other, by
which we immediately conclude that this will make fat, and the other not
so fat; and in this a person of judgment, and _in practice_, is very
seldom mistaken."

In many respects the good points in a Shorthorn cow resemble those in
the male of that breed, but in others there is considerable difference.
As I have described in prose the excellencies which a bull should
possess, I will now give a poetical summary of the good points of a cow
of that breed, extracted from the _Journal of Agriculture_, and composed
evidently by an excellent breeder and poet, Mr. Carr:--

  The following features constitute, I trow,
  The beau ideal of a short-horn cow:--
  Frame massive, round, deep-barrell'd, and straight-back'd;
  Hind quarters level, lengthy, and well pack'd;
  Thighs wide, flesh'd inwards, plumb almost to hock;
  Twist deep, conjoining thighs in one square block;
  Loin broad and flat, thick flesh'd, and free from dip;
  Back ribs "well home," arch'd even with the hip;
  Hips flush with back, soft-cushion'd, not too wide;
  Flanks full and deep, well forward on the side;
  Fore ribs well-flesh'd, and rounded like a drum;
  Fore flanks that even with the elbow come;
  Crop "barrell'd" flush with shoulders and with side;
  Girth large and round--not deep alone, but wide;
  Shoulders sloped back, thick cover'd wide at chine;
  Points snug, well-flesh'd, to dew-lap tapering fine;
  Neck vein fill'd up to well-clothed shoulder-point;
  Arm full above, turn'd in at elbow-joint;
  Legs short and straight, fine boned 'neath hock and knee;
  Belly cylindrical, from drooping free;
  Chest wide between the legs, with downward sweep;
  Brisket round, massive, prominent, and deep;
  Neck fine at head, fast thickening towards its base;
  Head small, scope wide, fine muzzle and dish'd face;
  Eyes prominent and bright, yet soft and mild;
  Horns waxy, clear, of medium size, unfiled;
  Tail fine, neat hung, rectangular with back;
  Hide soft, substantial, yielding, but not slack;
  Hair furry, fine, thick set, of colour smart;
  Udder well forward, with teats wide apart.
  These points proportion'd well delight the eye
  Of grazier, dairyman, and passer-by;
  And these to more fastidious minds convey
  Appearance stylish, feminine, and gay.


_Breeds of the Ox._--The Shorthorned cattle are now generally regarded
as the most valuable breed in these countries. They are the descendants
of a short-horned breed of cattle which existed for centuries in the
north-east of England. They were not held in much estimation, their
flesh being coarse; but the cows of this breed yielded abundance of
milk. In the eighteenth century this breed, it is said, was greatly
improved by a large infusion of blood from Dutch Shorthorns: but it is
very doubtful that any such event took place, for during that period
the importation of cattle into Great Britain was prohibited by very
stringent laws. The present race of Shorthorns owe most of their
valuable qualities to the brothers, Charles and Robert Colling, of the
county of Durham. The former was the more successful breeder, and
established the celebrated breed of Ketton Shorthorns. His whole process
appears to have consisted in the careful selection of parents, and in
"close" breeding. He must, however, have been an admirable judge of the
good points of the ox, for beginning with animals not worth more on an
average than £10 each, he produced in less than a quarter of a century
a stock worth on the average £150 each. The most famous bull of Charles
Colling's was Comet. The sale of this animal realised the handsome sum
of 1,000 guineas. The bull Hubback is said by many writers to have been
the great improver of Shorthorn blood. He was bought by Robert Colling
for the trifling sum of £8; but although this animal was kept by both
Collings for three years, there is good reason to believe that they made
but little use of him. It would appear, indeed, that to the cows first
used by the Collings--Lady Maynard, and young Strawberry--many of the
good qualities of this breed are traceable. Shorthorns are now to be
found in almost every part of the United Kingdom, capable of maintaining
heavy stock. In Ireland the breed has been greatly improved, and it is
gradually supplanting most of the other varieties.

Shorthorn males have a short, wide head, covered very often with short
curly hair; the muzzle is taper; the ear rather long and narrow; the eye
large, and bright, and mild. The shape is symmetrical, the carcass deep,
the back level, ribs spreading out widely, and the limbs fine. The color
is a mixture of red and white, sometimes a rich roan. The females are
not so large in the head, which tapers more, and the neck is much
thinner.

The DEVONS are not so large as the Shorthorns. Their shape is
symmetrical; fine head, horns of medium size, often tapering gracefully;
rich red or orange red color; fore-quarters rather oblique. The meat of
this breed is much esteemed: they yield excellent milk, but in rather
limited quantity; and the bullocks answer the plough much better than
many other kinds do. These animals arrive early at maturity.

The HEREFORDS are a rather small-boned breed; their horns are medium
sized, straight or slightly curved upwards; their color is dark red;
neat shoulders, thin thighs, and wide sirloin. They fatten well, but are
not generally kept on dairy farms. In many respects they resemble the
Devons.

The AYRSHIRES have a tapering head, fine neck, and large, bony, but not
coarse carcass; flat ribs; short and rather ugly horns; their skin is
soft, and covered with hair, which is usually red and white in spots.
The Ayrshire cows are invaluable for dairy purposes.

The POLLED ANGUS, POLLED ABERDEENS, and POLLED GALLOWAYS are very large
cattle, with big heads, unfurnished with horns. Their color is in
general a decided black, but occasionally it exhibits a mixture of black
and white. Their flesh is in general not of the best quality, but some
of their crosses with Shorthorns yield excellent meat, and at an early
age, too.

The KYLOES are a breed peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland. They are
rather rough, but very picturesque animals, covered with long, shaggy
hair. Their horns are rather long, and curve upwards. Their hair is
differently colored--red, yellow, dun, and black, the latter being the
prevailing hue. No variety of the ox yields a sweeter meat than the
Kyloes, and other mountain breeds of these countries. The animals,
however, arrive slowly to maturity, and in this respect there is great
room for improvement. These mountain-bred animals are now transferred
in large numbers to lowland tillage farms, where the fattening process
is more expeditiously performed. There are excellent crosses between
Shorthorn bulls and Highland cows.

LONGHORNED CATTLE are rapidly advancing towards extinction. At one time
they were the chief breed kept by most farmers. In general they may be
regarded as an inferior variety, being slow feeders, and producing
rather coarse beef. They are, however, capable of great improvement, as
instanced in the case of Bakewell's celebrated Longhorn herds.

The KERRYS are a diminutive breed, peculiar to Ireland. They have small
heads, fine necks, fine horns of medium length, and curved upwards near
their summits. They have a soft skin; the hair is generally black,
interspersed with a few white streaks; sometimes their color is red, and
occasionally brown. They are a very hardy race, being indigenous to
mountains. Their flesh is very good, more especially if the animals have
been kept on fattening food. The Kerrys are good milch cows.

The ALDERNEYS are a small race of oxen with deer-like faces. They
exhibit various shades of red, white, brown, and roan. No cows yield
better milk, or larger quantities of that fluid.

_Sheep._--The different breeds of sheep are classified under three
heads--viz., _Long-woolled_, _Short-woolled_, and _Middle-woolled_.

The LEICESTER is, perhaps, the most celebrated breed of sheep reared in
these countries. It was immensely improved by Bakewell about a century
ago, and the breed is often termed the Dishley, after the name of
Bakewell's residence. This sheep has a wide, clean head, broad forehead,
fine eyes, long, thin ears, thick neck, round body, deep chest,
straight, broad back, high ribs, and muscular thighs. The wool is long,
very thick, and fine. At from fifteen to eighteen months old, the
Leicester weighs from 25 to 30 lbs. per quarter; but a fat animal often
weighs from 38 to 40 lbs. per quarter. The fleece weighs from 6 to 8
lbs. This breed is well adapted for Ireland. It is reared on very poor
land: but in order to maintain its good quality, this sheep requires
abundance of food, and also good shelter during the winter.

The LINCOLN is distinguished for its large bones and strong muscles.
Originally a gaunt and ugly animal, it has of late years been much
improved. Indeed, the prices lately realised by Lincoln sheep are
extremely high. The Lincoln has a long, white face, long body, and thick
legs. The wool is long, thick, and moderately fine. The flesh of the
Lincoln is lean, owing to its great muscular development. At fifteen
months old it yields about 30 lbs. weight per quarter. It is said that
a Lincoln wether has attained the weight of 304-1/2 lbs. The average
weight of the wool of a hogget is 9-1/2 lbs.

The COTSWOLD breed arose in the Cotswold hills, in Gloucestershire.
In this variety the skeleton is large, the chest capacious, the back
broad and straight, and the ribs well arched. It has good quarters,
and a finely-arched neck. It is distinguished by a large tuft of
wool--"fore-top," on the forehead. It fattens early, and produces about
25 lbs. per quarter when fifteen months old, and 40 lbs. when two years
old. The wool is rather coarse; its yield is about 8 lbs.

The CHEVIOT has a long body, long face, long legs, and long ears. The
chest projects slightly, and is rather narrow. The forehead is bare of
wool; the legs and face are white, sometimes approaching to a dun shade.
Weight from 70 to 80 lbs.; weight of fleece, from 3 to 4 lbs. The wool
is of excellent quality, and is used largely in the manufacture of
tweeds. The Cheviot is a mountain sheep, and, as might be expected, its
flesh is well flavored. There are several crosses of the Cheviot with
the Leicester, the Southdown, and the Shropshire.

The SOUTHDOWN is generally regarded as the best breed for wool reared in
these countries. It is indigenous to the chalk hills of Kent, Sussex,
Hampshire, and Dorsetshire. It has a small head; its back is broad and
straight; the ribs spring out at nearly right angles from the vertebræ.
It is rather light in the fore-quarters, and full in the hind quarters.
Its chest is pretty deep; its face and legs are grey or brown. The wool
of the Southdown is short, and extremely fine; the fleece weighs about 3
lbs. This sheep arrives early at maturity. It weighs at 15 months old
about 80 lbs. The flesh is very well flavored.

THE SHROPSHIRE is said to combine in itself the good qualities of the
Southdown, the Cotswold, and the Leicester. It resembles the Southdown
more than any other breed, having the same grey, or brownish grey hue,
and a similar shape. It is, however, larger than the Southdown, and
yields a larger quantity of wool. This breed is becoming a great
favorite in both England and Ireland.

The BLACK-FACED sheep is peculiar to Scotland. It is equipped with
horns, has a bold long face, and possesses a tuft of wool on its
forehead; its limbs are strong, and its body is somewhat long. The wool
of this breed is very coarse, the fleece weighs about 3-1/2 lbs. The
average weight of this sheep is 75 lbs., the quality of the mutton is
excellent, but it is long before it becomes matured. There are several
other breeds of the sheep, but they are of far less importance than
those which I have described.

_Breeds of the Pig._--There are several breeds of this useful animal, of
which those known as BERKSHIRE and YORKSHIRE appear to be the greatest
favorites. The Berkshire is black or dusky brown, very rarely reddish
brown. It has a very small head. Its sides are extremely deep, and its
legs very short. There are several sub-varieties of the Yorkshire. This
breed is white, has a compact body, and very broad sides. The head is
very small, somewhat like that of the Berkshire. Both Berkshire and
Yorkshire pigs attain to the enormous weight of 1,000 lbs. The old Irish
"racer" pig is the least profitable kind to keep, but fortunately it is,
as a pure breed, nearly extinct.

_Breeds of the Horse._--There are a great many breeds of horses. The
Shetland pony is so small, that many specimens are no larger than a
Newfoundland dog; on the other hand, Clydesdale horses sometimes attain
to almost elephantine proportions. There is a wide difference between
the bull-like Suffolk Punch and the greyhound-like _racer_. The English
and Irish racer is said to owe its origin to a cross between the old
English light-legged breed and the Arabian. The most valuable kind of
carriage horse is the joint product of the draught-horse and the racer.
The dray-horse of these countries has a large share of Flemish blood in
him. The best horses for agricultural purposes are unquestionably the
CLYDESDALE and the SUFFOLK PUNCH. The latter is perhaps to be preferred
in most instances, especially on light lands. Very light and feeble
horses are the most expensive variety on almost any kind of farm; for
whilst they consume nearly as much food as the most powerful animals,
and are therefore nearly as costly, they are incapable of effectively
performing their work. A large proportion of the farm horses used by the
small farmers of Ireland are totally unsuited for tillage purposes. On
the other hand, there is no need to employ horses equal in size to the
ponderous creatures that draw brewers' carts. Moderate sized horses,
with well rounded, compact bodies, and muscular but not too heavy limbs,
are the kind best adapted for farm purposes. In Ireland, where there are
not fewer than 600,000 horses, a considerable infusion of blood from
Clydesdales and Suffolk Punches is much required.

_Hunters and Racers._--There is a strong tendency in the human mind to
look with a regretful feeling to the past, and to compare it to the
disadvantage of the present. It is a general belief with most people
that the old time was the best time; that the seasons were more genial
formerly; that provisions were cheaper and more abundant; that men were
taller, and stouter, and healthier; that, in a word, everything was
better in the days of yore than it is now, and that degeneracy and
effeteness are the prevailing characteristics of our age. Philosophers,
statists, and political economists tell us that all this regret for the
"good old time" is mis-spent sympathy; for that we are in every respect
superior--in physique, health, morals, and wealth--to our ancestors. On
the whole, I rather incline myself to this comfortable philosophy; but
we must admit that we have not progressed in all things since the times
of our fathers.

In a work entitled "A Comparative View of the Form and Character of the
English Racer and Saddle Horse during the Last and Present Centuries,"
published by Hookham, of Old Bond Street, London, it is proved very
clearly that the English race-horse has sadly degenerated. The author
very properly traces the cause of its decay to the avarice of the
turfites: they look upon the noble animal as a mere gambling machine;
and they sacrifice all its other qualities to the excessive development
of that one which is likely to put money in their pockets. Formerly,
gentlemen kept horses for their own sakes--for their admiration and
enjoyment of one of the most beautiful, docile, and useful of animals.
They were incessant in their efforts to develop into perfection all the
really valuable points in the animal; and the result was, that the
English and Irish racer of the last century was unmatched for strength,
speed, and endurance. Models of this splendid race of horses are seldom
to be found at the present time; but there are, perhaps, sporting men
living who saw them in the celebrated Mambrino, Sweet Briar, and Sweet
William. Those horses possessed compact bodies, capacious lungs, strong
loins, large joints, and enormous masses of muscular tissue on the
shoulder-blades and arms. They were good weight-carrying hunters as well
as racers, and they could carry eight stones over a six miles heat,
or twelve stones over a four miles one. The Irish horses, at least,
were capable of safely carrying thirteen stones over what would now be
considered a very ugly ditch, and could get over a long steeplechase in
a style which would astonish the owners of the modern "weeds." Since the
distance to be traversed by competing horses has been reduced from the
old-fashioned three heats of four miles each to a single run of a mile
or two, and also since the weight imposed upon the animals has been
reduced to six or seven stones, from ten to twelve, the anatomical
structure of the race-horse has undergone a remarkable and serious
alteration. The back has become very long, the sides flat, the loins
weak, the limbs long and very thin; and this alteration in structure has
been attended by weakness of constitution and a remarkable tendency
to disease. The modern horse has attained to a remarkable degree of
rapidity of locomotion, but it has been at the expense of its vigor,
endurance, and health; it can run with great velocity for a short
distance, but in a four-mile heat, and mounted by a man of average
weight, a mediocre horse of the style of the middle of the last century
would come to the post long before the winner of the last St. Leger.

The decay of the breed of horses in this country is a serious matter,
and the attention of all who are interested in the preservation of this
animal should be earnestly and promptly directed towards discovering
the means of regeneration. My remarks are directed towards racers and
hunters. The quality of speed which they possess has been developed
to an extent which is incompatible with the development of equally
essential properties. Encouragement should be given to the production of
weight-carrying hunters; steeple-chasing should be restored to its old
state, when only a powerful horse had a chance of success. The quality
of speed should be promoted in the animal up to a certain point; but
when the development of this attribute begins to cause a loss of
strength and endurance, it is high time to check it. There are a few
horses at present which are strong and moderately fast: why should not
steeple-chasing be of the kind which would call this style of animal
into competition? Only a "weed" can now enter with any probability of
success at a race of this kind; and when he has won it, of what use
is he as a good hunter? What we want are good, stout, healthy horses,
capable of carrying, in good style, twelve stones weight over a rough
country; and the object of steeple-chasing should be the production of
such a race of horses.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 17: Improved by Leicester blood.]

[Footnote 18: The object of the first breeders of the Leicester was
to produce a sheep which would yield a great carcass, and small offal
weight. So far as the results of these experiments go, I think the idea
of the founder of this breed has been realised.]

[Footnote 19: "Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland," for July, 1860.]




PART III.

ON THE MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK.


SECTION I.

THE OX.

_Breeding Cows._--The period of gestation in the cow is about nine
months. The earliest time at which it is at all safe to breed from these
animals is when they are one year and eight months old. Shorthorns breed
early, whilst the mountain varieties are seldom in calf before they are
three years old. The practice of very early breeding, though approved of
by some extensive rearers of stock, is not to be commended for sound
physiological reasons. Cows calve at all times of the year; but the most
favorable time is near the end of winter, or in early spring. The cows
should at this time be in fair condition--neither too fat nor too lean.
Parturition should take place in a roomy, covered place, provided with
abundance of clean litter. If such a place be not available, a nice
paddock close to the house must answer. After having given birth to
the calf, the cow should receive an oatmeal drink, or some warm and
nutritious mash, and afterwards be liberally fed. The cow is usually
allowed to run dry four or five weeks before calving: this period should
not be curtailed; on the contrary, it would be better to extend it to
six weeks, so as not to allow her condition to become too poor.

_The Wintering of Young Stock._--There are certain localities wherein
the rearing of young stock is one of the easiest tasks which devolve
upon the farmer. Well-drained and shady fields, yielding abundance of
sound herbage, and through which streams of _pure_ water unceasingly
flow, are just the proper _locale_ for economically feeding young
animals. But there are districts in which those favorable conditions do
not exist; yet they are not better adapted to other uses. It is only the
feeders of young stock in wet, moory, sandy, or undrained, heavy soils
who really have cause for anxiety and incessant watchfulness. In rearing
a calf the great object is to cause a rapid and uninterrupted increase
in the weight of its body. At first the food of the animal should be
furnished solely from the maternal founts; but at an early stage of its
existence--about the third or fourth week--other food may wholly, or in
part, be substituted for the natural aliment. It is important that no
great interval should elapse between the hours of feeding. The digestive
apparatus of the young animal is small, and its powers of assimilation
are very energetic. The food with which it is supplied should,
therefore, be given in moderate quantities, and very frequently. This
is, in fact, what takes place when the calf is allowed free access to
its dam; for the instant it feels a desire for aliment, the supply is at
once available. Of course, there may be objections to this plan on the
score of economy; but as a general rule, too much liberality cannot be
exercised in feeding growing animals; and there is nothing more certain
than that the calf which is illiberally fed will never be developed into
a valuable, matured animal. When carefully tended from their birth,
comfortably housed in winter, and abundantly supplied with nutritious
food, it is sometimes wonderful the rapid progress which young stock
make. Mr. Wright mentions a remarkable case of early maturity, which
occurred in his own herd. A young steer, one year old, exhibited all the
development of an animal twice its age. This bullock had been suckled
for three months, whereby it had not only kept its calf-flesh, but
gained and retained a step in advance. Its weight when only a year old
was no less than 50 stones; and as the price of beef at the time was 8s.
9d. per stone, live weight, the carcass of the animal was worth £21 17s.
6d. Mr. Wright offers this fact as a suggestive one to "those farmers who
think of bringing up their calves on old milk, or who would otherwise
stint their growth."

Supposing, then, that we have young stock which had been liberally
treated when in their "baby" state, how are we to most economically
maintain them throughout the winter? In the first place, they should be
kept in warm sheds, and well sheltered from both rain and wind. Some
authorities contend that exercise is necessary to young stock, and deny
that a proper development of the muscles (lean flesh) can take place if
they are cooped up like fattening turkeys during the winter. There is
some truth in this opinion; and if the animals be designed for breeding
or dairy purposes, their freedom of motion should only be partially
restrained. On the other hand, if they be intended for an early
introduction to the shambles, the less exercise they get the greater
will be the profit on their keep. I have known cases where animals were
closely housed for seven months, and yet their health did not appear
to suffer in the slightest degree. In fact, so predominant are the
vegetative functions of the ruminants over their nervous attributes,
that the only essential conditions of their existence are adequate
supplies of good air and food. That the health of these animals does
occasionally suffer when the motions of their bodies are reduced to a
_minimum_ is quite true; but in most of these instances the real cause
is, not the want of exercise, but the want of pure air. The greatest
care should, therefore, be taken in the ventilation of the places where
stock, whether old or young, are kept; and no economy of space or heat
will compensate for the want of wholesome air. Under the fallacious idea
that exposure to cold renders young stock hardy, many farmers turn them
out to eat straw in the open fields in frosty weather. Treatment of this
kind, instead of being productive of good, almost invariably lays the
foundation of disease, which will manifest itself at some stage of the
animal's growth. There are a few favored localities, such as those to
which I have already alluded, where yearlings may be occasionally allowed
a turn through the fields in winter; but on cold clays, wet moors, and
sandy soils the young stock should never be permitted to leave their
sheds or courts from the time they are housed till late in the spring.

Young stock are best fed on good meadow hay and turnips, with a moderate
supplement of oil-cake; this, however, is expensive feeding in many
farms, and a little filling-in may be done with cheaper or more easily
obtainable stuffs. A mixture of cut chaff, with pulped mangels, is a
good substitute for the more costly hay; and particularly in the case
of animals intended for breeding or for the dairy. The roots should be
pulped, and allowed to remain until, owing to a slight fermentation,
they become warm. This change takes place in from twenty-four hours to
sixty hours, according to the temperature; but the fermentation should
not be carried farther than the earliest stage. The heated pulp should
then be thoroughly mixed with the chaff, and the compound, after an
hour or two, will be ready for use. A little chopped hay--no matter if
inferior or slightly mildewed--may be substituted for the chaff, and
turnips employed instead of the mangels, but the latter are the more
desirable roots.

Until lately, the use of oil-cake was confined to fattening animals,
but latterly it is freely given to calves, even when they are only
a month old; and there is no doubt but that it is a suitable and
economical food for store stock. It is, however, sometimes given in
excess: from half a pound to two and a half pounds daily will be
sufficient for animals under one year; and this addition to their food
will be found to exercise a beneficial influence on them when they
are placed in stalls for finishing. The experience of several eminent
breeders has proved that fattening beasts, which had in their youth
a supply of oil-cake, or its equivalent, invariably store up a larger
portion of their food than those which had been reared on hay and roots
only.

Mr. George Stodart, of Cultercullen, an Aberdeenshire farmer, describes,
in the _Irish Farmer's Gazette_, his method of rearing calves:--

    I occupy (says Mr. Stodart) a farm of 380 acres. I usually rear
    twenty-four calves yearly, and buy in sixteen one-year-olds.
    I generally breed from cross cows (the same as mentioned above),
    served by a pure Shorthorn bull. When the calves are dropped I put
    two calves to suck one cow for six months. In autumn, spring calves
    are put into the house upon turnips and straw, with about 1 lb. of
    oil-cake per day to each, until they are put out to grass in spring
    following, at which time they are one year old. Then, of course,
    they have grass in summer, and at the approach of winter they are
    again housed upon turnips and straw, which bring them to be two
    years old in spring. Now they are sent out to the best grass, and
    again brought into the house at the beginning of September, and
    fed on turnips and straw until the end of November or middle of
    December, when they usually fetch from £25 to £32 a-head. This
    year (1864), however, they will average £32. a-head. Before selling
    I give each 3-1/2 lbs. of oil-cake per day for six weeks, and during
    this time they have swede turnips; at other times yellow. We give as
    much turnips at all times as they can eat.


Mr. Bowick, in his excellent paper on the rearing of calves, published
in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, gives the following
information on this subject:--

    We consider it desirable to allow the calf to remain with its
    dam for the first three or four days after calving.

    Not much trouble is generally experienced in getting it to take
    to the pail. We find it better to miss the evening's meal, and
    next morning a very little attention induces the majority of them
    to partake of what is set before them. At most the guidance of the
    fingers may be wanted for the first meal or two.

    As regards the quantity of milk which is needful to keep a
    moderately bred Shorthorn calf in a thriving condition, we have
    found the following allowance to come pretty near the mark,
    although the appetite of calves varies, both in individuals and
    at different times with the same animal:--

    1st week with the dam; or 4 quarts per day, at two meals.

    2nd to 4th week, 5 to 6 quarts per day, at two meals.

    4th to 6th week, 6 to 7 quarts per day, at two meals.

    And the quantity need not, during the ensuing six weeks (after
    which it is weaned), exceed a couple of gallons per day. This
    implies that the calf is fed upon new milk only, and that no
    other feeding liquids are employed. But, in addition to the above,
    the calf will, towards the fourth week, begin to eat a little
    green hay; and in a week or two later, some sliced roots, or meal,
    or finely crushed cake, mixed with hay-chaff; and, if really good,
    creditable beasts are wanted--such as will realise £25 a-head from
    the butcher when turned two and a half years old--a little cake
    or meal in their early days will be found a desirable investment.
    In fact, we doubt not but 1 lb. of cake per day to the calf will
    make as much flesh as triple the quantity of cake at any period
    of after life. As regards meal, if that is given with the chaff,
    we prefer oatmeal, or barley-meal, or wheaten flour, but not the
    meal of beans or pease. Others may see it differently, but we
    believe beans to be too heating for any class of young stock. For
    roots, the best we know of is the carrot, grated and mixed with
    the chaff, or sliced thin with a knife and given alone. It is also,
    of all roots, the one which we find them most fond of, and which
    they will most readily take to. As soon as they can eat them
    freely, an immediate reduction in the supply of milk may be made.

    In most articles it holds good in the end that "the best is the
    cheapest." So with the rearing of calves; the best class of food,
    or that above referred to, is found to give the greatest ultimate
    satisfaction. But practically the question often is, how to rear
    good calves with comparatively little new milk, a condition which
    circumstances often render almost imperative; for where dairy
    produce, in any other form, is the chief object, the calves stand
    in a secondary position, and are treated accordingly. But let us
    ask whether you cannot rear good stock under such circumstances
    also? We believe that this may be, and often is done. We manage to
    turn out from twenty-five to thirty calves annually--such as will
    pass muster anywhere--and never use at any one time more than six
    gallons of new milk daily. For this purpose, as well as to obtain
    a regular supply of milk for other purposes, the calves are allowed
    to come at different periods, extending from October to May. Hence
    the calf-house has generally a succession of occupants throughout
    the season; and as one lot are ready to be removed, and placed loose
    in a small hovel, with yard attached, others fill their places.
    We begin with new milk from the pail, which is continued for a
    fortnight after leaving the cow. Then skim-milk--boiled, and allowed
    to cool to the natural warmth--is substituted to the extent of
    one-third of the allowance. In another week the new milk is reduced
    to half, and at the same time, not before, boiled linseed is added
    to the mess.[20] As soon as they take freely to this food, the new
    milk may be replaced with that from the dairy, and the calf is
    encouraged to indulge in a few sliced carrots and the other dry
    foods named.


Mr. Murray, of Overstone, thus states the expense of rearing the calf
until it is two years old, when, after the weaning process is completed,
it is turned out to grass:--

    During the summer they have the run of a grass paddock during
    the day, but return regularly to their yards at night; the
    following winter they are kept in larger yards, and which contain
    a greater number of animals. Their bill of fare for this winter is
    2 lbs. of oil-cake, half a bushel of cut roots, with cut chaff _ad
    libitum_. The chaff has a small quantity of flour or pollard mixed
    with it, is moistened with water, and the whole mass turned over;
    this is done the day previous to using it. By this means they eat
    the chaff with more relish, and moistening it prevents the flour
    being wasted. They are put to grass the following summer, generally
    from the 15th to the 20th of May, or as soon as the pastures are in
    a state to receive them; they remain there on second-rate land till
    about the end of October, when they are brought home and tied up in
    the stalls. The daily allowance is then 4 lbs. linseed-cake, 4 lbs.
    flour--3/4 bean, 1/4 barley--1 bushel of cut roots with cut chaff;
    the flour and chaff is mixed as already described. At about the end
    of December the quantity of cake is increased to 8 lbs., and the
    flour to 6 lbs.; this they continue to receive till they are sold
    to the butcher during the months of March and April, when they
    weigh, on an average, 90 stones of 8 lbs. per bullock, and under
    two years and six months old. At this season of the year beef
    generally makes 5s. per stone--we often make 9s.--but taking that
    as an average would make the value of each beast £22 10s. The cost
    of keeping to this age will be as follows:--

                                                               £  s. d.

    One calf                                                   2  0  0
    Milk, &c., nine weeks                                      1  5  0
    Cake, grass, &c., forty-three weeks, at 1s. 6d.            3  4  6
    Second year, November till May, cake, flour,
      roots, &c., 2s. 6d. per week, for twenty-six weeks       3  5  0
    May till November, grass, twenty-six weeks, at 2s. 6d.     3  5  0
    Third year, November till April, twenty weeks, at 8s.      8  0  0
                                                             ---------
                                                             £20 19  6

    Which leaves a gain to each animal of £1 10s. 6d., besides the
    manure.

_Shelter of Stock._--The great diminution of temperature, and the
falling off in the supply of herbage, that are coincident with the
close of the autumn, render it necessary to remove our cattle from the
open fields, and provide them with some sort of shelter during the
winter months and early part of the spring.

The particular period at which this change of quarters takes place of
course varies, and is, in fact, altogether dependent upon the character
of the season. There are some years in which there is, so to speak, a
kind of relapse of the summer, November being bright and warm, instead
of, as is usually the case, cold and foggy. In such a year there is some
herbage to be picked up until the very end of December. On the other
hand, the latter part of October is often very wet, and October frosts
are by no means uncommon. Tempestuous, biting winds in November, or
torrents of rain, or both, tell severely upon the poor animals in the
fields, even where there is abundance of herbage; and hence, should such
weather take place at the latter part of October, the true economy would
be to remove the animals at once to sheltered places.

Nothing lowers the temperature of the surface so rapidly as a cold wind.
Captain Parry, one of the explorers of the Arctic regions, states that
his men, when well clothed, suffered no inconvenience on exposure to the
low temperature of 55 degrees below zero, provided the air was perfectly
calm; but the slightest breeze, when the air was at this temperature,
caused the painful sensation produced by intense cold. I could adduce
the experience of many practical men in favor of the plan of affording
shelter to animals, but more especially to those kept in situations
much exposed to winds. Mr. Nesbit relates a case bearing on this
point:--A farmer in Dorsetshire put up twenty or thirty sheep, under
the protection of a series of upright double hurdles lined with straw,
having as a sort of roof, or lean-to, a single hurdle, also lined with
straw. A like number of sheep, of the same weight, were fed in the open
field, without shelter of any kind. Each set was fed with turnips _ad
libitum_. The result was, that those without shelter increased in weight
1 lb. per week for each sheep, whilst those under shelter, although they
consumed less food, increased respectively 3 lbs. per week.

As a general rule, the latter part of October, or early in November, is
the time for the removal of live stock from the pastures to the shelter
of the farmstead. In England and Scotland the transference is seldom
delayed after these dates; but in Ireland it is no uncommon thing to see
the animals grazing very much later in the year--a circumstance which
the lateness and mildness of our climate account for. But whatever the
date may be, the importance of such shelter is universally recognised,
even by those who most neglect it and are least acquainted with the
principles upon which its necessity depends. The more important of these
principles have already been explained, but they may be here summarised
as follows:--

1. A certain amount of warmth is an indispensable condition for the
maintenance of the life of animals.

2. The internal heat of the bodies of animals is supplied by the
chemical combination which takes place between the oxygen of the
atmospheric air which they inspire and certain of the constituents
(carbon and hydrogen) of the food which they consume, or, to speak more
accurately, of the tissues of their bodies, which are formed out of
their food. It is very much in the same way in which our houses are
heated by the burning of coal, turf, or wood in their fire-places, since
the heat derived in the latter case is obtained from a similar source as
in the former one--namely, by the union of the oxygen of the air with
the carbon and hydrogen of the fuel. The only real difference between
the two kinds of combustion is, that in respiration the process is
conducted with an extreme degree of slowness, whilst in the ordinary
fire the combinations take place rapidly, and the heat being evolved
in a much shorter time is proportionately the more intense.

3. The temperature of the external parts of the animal body varies with
the nature and quantity of the food supplied to it, and also depends
upon the state of the weather and the character of the protection
afforded to it.

The colder the air, the greater will be the quantity of food required,
and the more complete the shelter. In other words, a diminution of
temperature, no matter how caused, will necessitate an increased amount
of food and more perfect shelter, in order to maintain at the proper
degree of heat the fluids of the body. It is only the external parts of
the body that become cold: so long as the animal is in health its blood
always maintains the same degree of temperature; but in cold weather the
blood is subjected to a greater cooling power than it is in warm
weather, and this cooling power it can only resist by taxing more
extensively the heat-producing resources of the body.

4. Exposure to wet, even in warm weather, will tend to reduce the
temperature of the body, since the conversion of water into vapor can
only be effected at the expense of heat, which heat must be in great
part extracted from the body of the animal itself.

5. No possible increase of food, however nutritious it may be, can
suffice to keep up the due warmth and healthy condition of the animal
frame in winter, if shelter from cold and rain be not simultaneously
effected. On the contrary, an animal well protected from the winter
blasts will require much less food than if it were placed in an exposed
position. The reason of this is, that the amount of food which an animal
exposed to great cold consumes to maintain the temperature of its body
would, under opposite conditions, be stored up in the form of permanent
"increase"--beef or mutton for the butcher, in fact.

The fat-forming constituents of the food of stock are in no case
converted into permanent fat, except when they exceed in quantity the
amount required to keep up the internal heat of the animal; but when
this is constantly reduced by exposure to a wintry temperature, the
food becomes insufficient for even that purpose, no matter how much
aliment is given. What, then, must not be the condition of the
unfortunate animals whose fate it is to be the property of a farmer
who neither shelters them from the weather nor provides them with a
sufficient quantity of nourishing food!

_Milch Cows._--When dairy-farming is conducted on pure pastures, the
cows are altogether dependent upon the grasses; and in winter, the
animals suffer much from scarcity of food. This is the very worst system
of cow-keeping, but it is prevalent amongst many small farmers in
Ireland, and is to be met with even in England and Scotland. I am
strongly of opinion that it would be far more economical to keep cows
(and other cattle) altogether in the house, and feed them with cut
grass, than to allow them to remain out altogether in the field. There
are several disadvantages resulting from the depasturing of cows. In the
warm weather, the animals are greatly annoyed by the attacks of flies:
there is a considerable waste of muscle, caused by the movements of
the animals whilst in search of their food; and the excrements of the
animals and their footmarks injure a large portion of the grass. It may
be somewhat troublesome and expensive to cut the grass, and convey it
from the field to the house; but the labor and the cost will be more
than repaid by the greatly-increased yield of food. A grass-field,
mowed, will produce from 20 to 30 per cent. more food than it would if
it were trampled upon and soiled by cattle. Exercise for an hour or two
in the cool of the evening, or early in the morning (during the hot
weather), will be quite sufficient to keep the animals in health. This
may be taken in a field, better in a paddock, best of all in a roomy
yard. When cattle are supplied with cut grass, or clover, care should
be taken not to give it to them when very wet, for otherwise there is
danger of the excessively moist herbage producing the _hoove_. Neither
should large quantities of the green food be given to them--the supply
should be "little and often." Should the food be too succulent, the
addition of a little straw will correct its laxative effects. When
the stock is about passing from the winter keep to summer food, the
transition should be gradual; a well-made compound of straw or hay with
grass (natural or artificial) is much relished by cows. A supply of
good water is absolutely necessary; but sufficient attention to this
important point is seldom given. Cooked food is well adapted for milch
cows. Mangels, kohl-rabi, and cabbages are each of them better food than
turnips, as the latter is apt to impart a disagreeable flavour to the
butter. Three feeds in the day is a sufficient number for cows. The
first meal should be early in the morning, and may consist of roots,
mixed with straw or hay. Some feeders prefer using dry fodder, or cooked
food of some kind, and not raw roots. The second meal is given at
mid-day, and the third in the evening. The daily allowance of roots
varies from 2 to 8 stones, depending upon the quantities of other foods
used. Mr. Horsfall's diet is as follows:--Hay, 9 lbs.; rape-cake, 6
lbs.; malt-combs, 1 lb.; bran, 1 lb.; roots, 28 lbs. These substances
are mixed and cooked, and the animals receive them in a warm state.
In addition to this food, Mr. Horsfall's cows get bean-meal--a cow in
full milk 2 lbs., others from 1/2 lb. to 1-1/2 lbs.; cost per week per
cow, 8s. 7d.[21] Mr. Alcock, of Skipton, feeds his cows as follows:--Raw
mangels, 20 lbs.; carob beans, 3 lbs.; bran and malt-combs, 1-3/4 lbs.;
bean-meal, 3-1/2 lbs.; rape-cake, 3 lbs.; per diem. A steamed mixture
of wheat and bean straws and shells of oats _ad libitum_. Oats, to the
extent of 2 or 3 lbs. daily, are an excellent food for cows.

An important point in dairy economics is the feeding of the cows at
_regular_ intervals. If the usual time for the feed be allowed to pass,
the animals are almost certain to become very uneasy--to _worry_; and
every feeder knows, or ought to know, that a fretting beast will neither
fatten nor yield milk satisfactorily. The cow-house ought to be kept as
clean as possible; and the excreta, therefore, should be removed several
times a day.

Mr. Harvey, of Glasgow, has probably one of the largest dairies
in the world. His cow byres, 56 yards long, and from 12 to 24 feet
wide--according as one or two rows of cows are to be accommodated--stand
closely packed, the whole surface of the ground being thus covered by
a kind of roof. From 900 to 1,000 cows are constantly in milk. They are
fed during winter partly on steamed turnips (7 tons being steamed daily
in order to give one meal daily to 900 cows), partly on coarse hay, of
which, as of straw, they get between 20 and 30 lbs. a day each. They are
also fed on draff, of which they receive half a bushel daily each; on
Indian corn meal, of which they have 3 lbs. daily each; and on pot-ale,
of which they receive three times a day nearly as much as they will
consume, _i.e._, from 6 to 10 gallons daily. During the summer they are
let out, a byreful at a time, for half a day to grass, and on coming
in receive their spent malt and still liquor, and hay in addition. They
are managed, cleaned, and fed by two men to each byre holding about 100
cows. The milking is done three times a day, by women who take charge
of 13 cows in full milk, or double that number in half milk, apiece.
Between 4 and 5 o'clock a.m. (taking the winter management), the byres
are cleaned out, and the cows receive a "big shovelful" of draff
apiece, and half their steamed turnips and meal, and a "half stoupful,"
(probably 2 gallons) of pot-ale. They are milked very early. At 7 they
receive their fodder-straw or hay. At 10 they get a "full stoupful"
(probably 3 or 4 gallons) of pot-ale. They are milked at noon. At 2
p.m., or thereabouts, they are foddered again, and at 4 p.m. receive
the same food as at the morning meal. They are again milked at 5 to 6,
cleaned out and left till morning. The average produce is stated to be
2 gallons a day per cow.

Mrs. Scott, of Weekston, Peebles, who keeps one of the best managed
dairy farms in the United Kingdom, thus conducts her operations in
the winter:--At 6 o'clock in the morning the cows are well wiped or
scrubbed, have their bedding removed, and receive each about 4 or 5 lbs.
of straw. At 8 o'clock the cows are milked, and Mrs. Scott examines each
to ascertain whether or not the milk-maid has left any fluid in the
udder--and woe betide the careless maid if her work has been carelessly
done! At 10 o'clock a barrowful of turnips is divided amongst three
cows, and when these roots are not available, a quantity of peas or bean
meal, with a pint of cold water, takes their place. At 1 o'clock the
cows are allowed out to be watered, and during their absence from the
byre it is thoroughly cleansed and ventilated. When the state of the
weather prevents the cows from being turned out, they receive twice a
day a handful of oatmeal diffused throughout three pints of water--a
handful of salt being given in the first of these drinks. When the cows
return to the byre, they receive each about 4 or 5 lbs. of straw, and at
4 or 5 o'clock an evening meal of turnips equal to their morning feed.
At 8 o'clock a "windling" of meadow hay is given to each pair of cows,
the quantity being always regulated according to the requirements of
each cow. The cows upon calving receive, in addition to this allowance
of hay, half a pailful of boiled turnips, mixed with a quart of peas
or bean-meal. This mess is given in a lukewarm state. Mrs. Scott's
system may be thus epitomised: Regularity in feeding; sufficient but
not excessive food; regularity in milking; and minute attention to
cleanliness and ventilation.

_Stall-feeding._--What becomes of the 90 per cent. of the weight of
the non-nitrogenous constituents of the food of the sheep, and of the
80 per cent. of that of the nutriment of the pig, which they consume
but do not store up? I have already partly answered this question. This
portion of the food is chiefly expended in the production of the heat
with which the high temperature of the animal's body is maintained. Part
of it, no doubt, passes unchanged through its body, either owing to its
indigestibility, or to its being given in excess. The quantity of
non-nitrogenous matters consumed by a man is influenced greatly by the
temperature of the air which he habitually breathes, and by the nature
of the artificial covering of his body; there may be other conditions
at present unknown to us, but these are amongst the chief ones. Now, as
there is sufficient reason to lead us to believe that the consumption
of carbonaceous food by the lower animals is influenced in the same
way by the temperature of the medium in which they exist, the question
naturally suggests itself, would it not be cheaper to maintain the heat
of the animal by burning the carbon of cheap coal or turf outside its
body, than by consuming the carbon of costly fat within it? The answer
to this question is not so simple as at first sight it appears to be. We
must not consider that, because 10 lbs. weight of carbon, as coal, costs
but a penny, whilst an equal weight of the same element in starch costs
twenty pence, heat may be furnished to a fattening animal twenty times
cheaper by the combustion of coal than by that of starch. No doubt the
amount of heat evolved by the conversion of a pound-weight of carbon
into carbonic acid is the same, whether it be a constituent of starch or
of coal; but the application of the heat so produced is less under our
control in the latter case. All the heat evolved during the combustion
of the starch within the animal's body is made use of; whilst a very
large proportion of that developed by the combustion of coal in a
furnace cannot in practice be applied to the purpose of heating the
animal's body.

It is only the handiwork of the Creator which is perfect, and no machine
constructed by the skill of man, for the direction of force, can rival
that wondrous heat-producing, force-directing mechanism--the animal
organism. According to Dumas, the combustion of about 2-1/2 lbs. of
carbon in a steam-engine is required to generate sufficient force to
convey a man from the level of the sea to the summit of Mont Blanc; but
a man will ascend the mountain in two days, and burn in his mechanism
only half a pound of carbon. There is no machine in which heat and
force are more completely made available than the animal organism; and
were it not--thanks to the influence of antediluvian sunshine--that
the carbon of fuel in these countries is so very much cheaper than the
carbon of food, there is no doubt but that the cheapest mode of keeping
an animal warm would be to allow it to burn its carbon within its
body. As the matter stands, however, there is no question as to the
advisability of keeping fattening animals in a warm place. If the
temperature of the stall be equal to that of the animal's body there
will be less food consumed in the increase of its fat; because less of
the fat-forming materials will be expended in the production of heat.
In this sense, therefore, heat is an equivalent to food, but only within
certain limits; because heat is developed in large quantity within the
animal body independently of the temperature of the air. There is,
therefore, no object to be attained by having the stalls heated beyond
70 or 80 degrees. Indeed, it is to be questioned whether or not stalls
artificially heated are ever properly ventilated. If they be not, the
health of the animal will suffer, and its appetite--so essential a point
in fattening stock--will become impaired. We may conclude--firstly,
that animals, when fattening, should be kept at a temperature not under
70 degrees nor above 90 degrees Fahrenheit; secondly, that the mode of
heating must be such that there is as little wasteful combustion of fuel
as is possible under the circumstances; and, lastly, that no motives of
economy of fuel should prevent the feeding places from being thoroughly
ventilated.

Stall-feeding is not so extensively carried on in Ireland as it is in
Great Britain. There is a general impression that it does not pay in the
former country; but if such be the case, it is simply owing to the want
of skill on the part of the Irish feeders.

The cattle intended for stall-feeding should be removed (if out) from
the field in October, and put into the house, or court, or crib, or
hammel, as the case may be. They are fed upon roots, straw, hay, grain,
and artificial food. The greatest skill is required in their treatment.
It is a nice point to determine which foods are the most economical,
and also to ascertain in what foods excessive proportions of certain
nutritive elements exist. Sufficient food should be given; but any
approach to waste should be avoided. Three feeds a day are usually
given, and should be supplied at the same hours each day. For about two
weeks the animals are furnished with white turnips _ad libitum_; but
after the expiration of that time they receive Swedish turnips, straw,
and grain, or oil-cake. Late in the season mangels will replace turnips.
Almost every extensive feeder now uses oil-cakes in large quantities;
but when oats are low in price, they will in general be found a cheap
equivalent for a large proportion of the oil-cake. Different feeders
have different dietaries, and the nature of the aliments supplied to
fattening stock depends very much upon the market prices of food-stuffs,
and the locality in which the feeding-house is situated. The following
dietaries are but examples of the methods of feeding adopted in
different districts and by different persons:--

Mr. McCombie, of Tillyfour, fattens from 300 to 400 beasts annually,
and obtained for them in 1861 £35 per head. He never exceeds 4 lbs. of
oil-cake per diem, nor 2 lbs. of bruised oats, for each beast. He gives
as much turnip and straw as they can consume. He realises £12 per acre
in feeding on Aberdeen and Swedish turnips.

"For fatting cattle," says Mr. Edmonds, of Cirencester, "I should
recommend two parts hay and one part straw, or in forward animals
three parts hay and one part straw cut in chaff. Those of average size
will eat somewhere about five bushels per day, with 4 lbs. to 5 lbs.
oil-cake, and half a peck of mixed meal, barley and peas, or beans, and,
if cheap, a proportion of wheat also, to be increased to one peck per
day in a month or six weeks after they have come to stall, the oil-cake
and meal to be boiled in water for half-an-hour or three-quarters, and
thrown in the form of rich soup over the chaff, and well mixed, to which
add a little salt."

Colonel M'Douall, of Logan, Wigtonshire, gives 3 lbs. of bean-meal and
3 lbs. of cut straw cooked together, and 84 lbs. of Swedish turnips.

According to the researches of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, an ox weighing
1,400 lbs. ought to gain 20 lbs. weekly when fed under cover with 8 lbs.
of crushed oil-cake, 13 lbs. of chopped clover hay, and 47 lbs. of
turnips. The chemical constituents (in a dried state) of this allowance
are as follows:--

                                            Ounces.

  Fat-formers, or heat givers                 232
  Flesh-formers                                55
  Mineral matter                               29

_Cost of Maintaining Animals._--The animal mechanism, which exhibits
the least tendency to fatten, is the most costly to keep in repair, in
relation to the work performed by it. If, for example, a sheep store up
in its increase one-fifth of its food, then the remaining four-fifths
are expended in preserving it alive, and their cost represents, so to
speak, the expense of preserving the animal's body in repair. If another
sheep store up only one-tenth of its food, then the cost of its
maintenance may be said to be double that of the animal which retains
the larger proportion of its nutriment in the form of flesh. Of course
in both cases the value of the manure will to a great extent compensate
for the cost of the food expended in merely keeping the animal alive;
but that does not affect the proposition, that the less food expended by
an animal in carrying on its vital functions the more valuable is it as
a "meat-manufacturing machine." From the moment it is brought into the
world until it is "ripe" for the shambles, an animal should steadily
increase in weight: every week that it does not store up a portion of
its food in permanent increase is the loss of a week's food to the
feeder; for all the fodder consumed during that time by the animal is,
so to speak, devoted to its own private purposes. Sheep overcrowded
on pastures, milch cows on "short commons," calves kept on bulky
innutritious food, are all so many sources of positive loss to the
feeder--and as many proofs that he who aspires to be a successful
producer of meat, must, in one respect at least, be a devout believer
in the doctrine of Progressive Development.

_Cooking and Bruising Food._--The cooking, or the otherwise preparing,
of the food of the domesticated animals is a subject which until
recently was completely ignored by the vast majority of stock feeders.
It is now, however, beginning to attract a fair amount of attention; and
no doubt ere long the best modes of treating the food of cattle will be
discovered.

As might be expected from our limited experience of the subject, there
exists considerable difference of opinion relative to the proper method
of cooking cattle food; and there are many very extensive feeders who
object to the plan altogether, and contend that as the food of the
inferior animals is naturally supplied to them in a raw condition,
it would be quite unnatural to give it to them in a cooked state.

Whatever difference of opinion there may be with regard to the propriety
of cooking the food of stock, we believe there ought not to be a doubt
as to the desirability of mechanically treating the harder kinds of
feeding stuff. It is quite evident that a horse fed upon hard grains of
oats and wiry fibres of uncut hay or straw must expend no inconsiderable
proportion of his motive power in the process of mastication. After a
hard day's work of eight or ten hours he has before him the laborious
task of reducing to a pulp from 12 lbs. to 20 lbs. weight of exceedingly
hard and tough vegetable matter; and as this operation is carried on
during the hours which should be devoted to rest, the repose of the
animal is to some extent interfered with. Indeed, it not unfrequently
happens that a horse, after a hard day's work, is too tired to chew his
food properly; he consequently bolts his oats, a large proportion of
which, as a matter of course, passes unchanged through the animal's
body.

In order to render fully effective the motive power of the horse, it is
absolutely necessary to pay attention to the condition, as well as to
the quantity and quality of his nutriment. The force wasted by a horse
in the comminution of his food, when composed of whole oats and uncut
hay and straw, cannot, at the lowest estimate, be less than that which
he expends in an hour of ordinary work, such as, for example, in
ploughing. The preparation of his food by means of water or steam power,
or even by animal motive power, would economise by at least 50 per cent.
the labor expended in its mastication; and this would be equivalent to
nearly half a day's work in each week, and, consequently, a clear gain
of so much labor to the owner of the animal. In the present time of
water-power and steam-power corn-mills, one man is able to grind the
flour necessary for the support of several thousand men; in early ages
the labor of one person in the grinding of wheat served but to supply
the wants of twenty others. In both cases machinery was employed
for reducing the grain to flour; but in the one case, the mechanisms
employed were more than a hundred times more effective than in the
other. But even the most imperfect flour mill is by far a more
economical system of comminuting corn than the jaws of animals; and if
every man were obliged, as the horse is, to grind his corn by means of
his teeth alone, he would find his powers for the performance of other
kinds of labor considerably lessened.

It has been urged as an objection to the use of bruised oats by horses,
that they exercise in that state a laxative influence upon the animal's
bowels. I doubt very much that such is frequently the case, when the
animal is fed only upon oats and hay and straw; but even if the oats
produce such an effect, the addition of a small proportion of beans--the
binding properties of which are well known--will obviate the
disadvantage.

The desirability of mechanically acting upon soft food is not so
apparent as the necessity for the bruising of oats is. Roots are so
easily masticable that if they are rendered more so there is danger of
their being so hastily swallowed as to escape thorough insalivation,
which is so necessary to ensure perfect digestion. To guard against this
danger, perhaps the best way would be to give pulped mangels and turnips
mixed with cut straw; a mixture which could not easily be bolted.
Mr. Charles Lawrence, of Cirencester, who is a great advocate for the
cooking of food, and has frequently published his experience of the
benefits derivable therefrom, thus describes his method of combining
pulped roots with dry fodder:--

    We find that, taking a score of bullocks together fattening,
    they consume per head per diem three bushels of chaff, mixed
    with just half a cwt. of pulped roots, exclusive of cakes of
    corn; that is to say, rather more than two bushels of chaff
    are mixed with the roots, and given at two feeds, morning and
    evening, and the remainder is given with the cake, &c., at the
    middle-day feed, thus:--We use the steaming apparatus of Stanley,
    of Peterborough, consisting of a boiler in the centre, in which
    the steam is generated, and which is connected by a pipe on the
    left hand with a large galvanised iron receptacle for steaming
    food for pigs, and on the right with a large wooden tub, lined
    with copper, in which the cake, mixed with water, is made into
    a thick soup. Adjoining this is a slate tank, of sufficient size
    to contain one feed for the entire lot of bullocks feeding. Into
    this tank is laid chaff with a three-grained fork, and pressed
    down firmly; and this process is repeated until the slate tank
    is full, when it is covered down for an hour or two before
    feeding time. The soup is then found entirely absorbed by the
    chaff, which has become softened and prepared for ready digestion.


Mr. Wright, near Dunbar, gives the following account of an experiment
with pulped roots and straw and oil-cake. It appears to prove the
superiority of mixed foods over the same foods consumed separately:--

    Two lots of year-old cattle were fed; the one in the usual
    way--sliced turnips and straw, _ad libitum_--the others with
    the minced turnips, mixed with cut straw. The first lot consumed
    daily 84 lbs. sliced turnips, 1 lb. oil-cake, 1 lb. rape-cake,
    1/2 lb. bean-meal, broken small and mixed with a little salt,
    and what straw they liked. The second lot ate, each, daily,
    50 lbs. minced turnips, 1 lb. oil-cake, 1 lb. rape-cake, 1/2 lb.
    bean-meal, and a little salt, the whole being mixed with double
    the bulk of cut straw or wheat chaff. In spring, the lot of
    cattle which had the mixed food were in good condition, and
    equally well grown as others, though they had consumed in five
    months two tons less of roots apiece. The reporter does not
    advise the mincing process to be commenced when cattle are very
    forward in condition, as any change of food requires a certain
    time to accustom the animals to it, and in the meantime fat
    cattle are apt to fall off in condition. It ought to be begun
    when they are young and lean.


Mr. Duckham, of Baysham Court, Ross, Herefordshire, says:--

    The advantages of pulping roots for cattle are--1st, Economy
    of food; for the roots being pulped and mixed with the chaff,
    either from threshing or cut hay or straw, the whole is consumed
    without waste, the animals not being able to separate the chaff
    from the pulped roots, as is the case when the roots are merely
    sliced by the common cutter, neither do they waste the fodder as
    when given without being cut.

    2. The use of ordinary hay or straw. After being mixed with the
    pulp for about twelve hours, fermentation commences, and this
    soon renders the most mouldy hay palatable, and animals eat with
    avidity that which they would otherwise reject. This fermentation
    softens the straw, makes it more palatable, and puts it in a state
    to assimilate more readily with the other food. In this respect
    I think the pulper of great value, particularly upon corn farms
    where large crops of straw are grown, and where there is a limited
    acreage of pasture, as by its use the pastures may be grazed, the
    expensive process of haymaking reduced, and, consequently, an
    increased number of cattle kept. I keep one-third more, giving
    the young stock a small quantity of oil-cake, which I mix with
    the chaff, &c.

    3. Choking is utterly impossible, and I have only had one case of
    hoove in three years, and that occurred when the mixture had not
    fermented.

    4. There is an advantage in mixing the meal with the chaff and
    pulped roots for fattening animals, as thereby they cannot separate
    it, and the moisture from the fermentation softens the meal and
    ensures its thorough digestion, whereas, when given in a dry state
    without any mixture, frequently a great portion passes away in the
    manure.


On the value of the process for a grazing farm with but a small quantity
of plough-land, Mr. Corner, of Woodlands, Holford, Bridgewater, thus
speaks:--

    My plan is, first commencing with the grazing beasts, to cut about
    an equal quantity of hay and straw and mix with a sufficient
    quantity of roots (mostly mangel) to well moisten the chaff; and as
    the beasts advance in condition, I lessen the straw and increase
    the hay, and in their further progress I mix--in addition to all
    hay, chaff, and roots--from 6 to 10 lb. per day to each bullock of
    barley and bean-meal, according to its size--and I have them large
    sometimes. I sold last week for the London market a lot of Devon
    oxen of very prime quality, averaging in weight upwards of 100 stone
    imperial each.

    For my horses, cows, yearlings, and oxen--the latter to be kept in
    a thriving condition, and turned to grass, and kept through the
    summer for Christmas, 1860--I cut nearly all straw, with a very
    small quantity of hay, and this the offal of the rick. These also
    have as many pulped roots as will moisten the chaff, except the
    horses, and to them I give, along with bruised oats, just enough
    roots to keep their bowels in a proper condition. To the two or
    three-year-old beasts I give some long straw and a part chaff,
    and the offal (if any) of the food of the above lots of stock.

    My farm is but a small one--under 200 acres. My predecessor always
    mowed nearly all the pastures for hay, which is about half the
    farm, and with this scarcely ever grazed any beasts, and kept but
    very few sheep. Since my occupation I scarcely ever exceed ten acres
    of meadow with one field of seeds for hay. I keep from 250 to 300
    large-size Leicester sheep, and graze from 20 to 25 large-size
    beasts a year, with other breeding stock in proportion.

    I consider the pulping of roots is better for fatting pigs than
    anything else. My plan is to have a large two-hogshead vat as near
    the pulping machine as possible, so as to fill it with a malt
    shovel as it comes from the machine; at the same time I keep a lad
    sprinkling meal (either barley or Indian corn) with the roots; and
    this is all done in fifteen or twenty minutes. It is then ready for
    use, to be carried to the pigs in the stalls alongside the fatting
    beasts. I never could fatten a pig with profit until I used pulped
    roots.


Although the practice of cooking food has been advocated by several
eminent feeders, it has been condemned by others. Mr. Lawes is not
favorable to the cooking of food unless when it is scarce. The results
of Colonel M'Douall's experiments go to prove that cattle can be more
economically kept upon a mixture of raw and cooked foods than upon
either raw or cooked fodder given separately. One meal of cooked food
and two feeds of raw turnips gave better results than three feeds of
raw turnips; whilst two cooked feeds and a raw one resulted in a loss.

The fermentation of food, if not the best, is certainly the cheapest
mode of preparing it. If the process be not pushed too far the loss of
nutriment sustained is inconsiderable. When a mixture of straw and roots
is fermented, the hard fibres of the latter are, to a great extent,
broken up, and the nutrient particles which they envelop are fully
exposed to the action of the solvent juices of the stomach.

A great advantage in cooking or fermenting food is that the most
rubbishy materials can be used up. Indeed, as a general rule, the better
soft food is, the less the necessity for cooking it; but washed out hay
and hard, over-ripened straw are of but little value, except when cooked
and given in combination with some agreeably-flavored substance.


  VALUE FOR FEEDING PURPOSES OF VARIOUS FOODS.[22]

                  +--------------------------------------------------------+
                  | KEY:                                                   |
                  | A.--Starch, Sugar, &c.                                 |
                  | B.--Oil, Starch, &c., computed as Oil.                 |
                  | C.--Weight.                                            |
                  | D.--Value.                                             |
                  | E.--Value of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash.    |
                  | F.--Deduct Nitrogen for perspiration.                  |
                  | G.--Net Value for Manure.                              |
                  |                                                        |
  +---------------+------------------+-------------------------------------+
  |               |       COST.      | 100 LBS. CONTAIN.                   |
  |               +----------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------------+
  |  MATERIAL.    |          |       |      |       |       |   Nitrogen.  |
  |               |          |  Per  |      |       |       |              |
  |               |    Per   |  100  |      |       |       +------+-------+
  |               |    ton.  |  lbs. | Oil. |   A.  |   B.  |  C.  |   D.  |
  +---------------+----------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-------+
  |               |  £  s. d.| s. d. | lbs. |  lbs. |  lbs. | lbs. |  d.   |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Meadow-hay     |  4  0  0 | 3  7  | 2·68 | 39·75 | 24·63 | 1·48 | 10·62 |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Wheat-straw    |  1 15  0 | 1  7  | 0·50 | 32·0  | 18·50 | 0·42 |  3·0  |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Swedish Turnips|  4 10  0 | 4  0  | 2·0  | 60·0  | 35·0  | 2·40 | 17·28 |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Oil-cake       |  9  6  8 | 8  4  |12·0  | 38·0  | 33·0  | 5·0  | 36·0  |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Beans          |  9  6  8 | 8  4  | 2·0  | 42·0  | 25·30 | 4·45 | 32·0  |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Indian Meal    |  9  6  8 | 8  4  | 7·0  | 60·0  | 40·0  | 2·25 | 16·20 |
  |               |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |Carob, or      |          |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  |  Locust Bean  |  9  6  8 | 8  4  | 6·76 | 57·0  | 35·0  | 0·64 |  3·75 |
  +---------------+----------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-------+

  +---------------+---------------------------+----------------------------+
  |               | 100 LBS. CONTAIN.         |                            |
  |               +-------------+-------------+----------+-------+---------+
  |  MATERIAL.    |  Phosphoric |   Potash.   |          |       |         |
  |               |     Acid.   |             |          |       |         |
  |               +------+------+------+------+          |       |         |
  |               |  C.  |   D. |  C.  |  D.  |     E.   |   F.  |   G.    |
  +---------------+------+------+------+------+----------+-------+---------+
  |               | lbs. |  d.  | lbs. |  d.  | s. d.    | d.    | s. d.   |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Meadow-hay     | 0·90 | 1·35 | 1·50 | 4·50 | 1  4-1/2 | 2-1/12| 1 2-1/4 |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Wheat-straw    | 0·14 | 0·21 | 0·65 | 2·16 | 0  5     |   1/2 | 0 5     |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Swedish Turnips| 0·80 | 1·20 | 2·25 | 6·75 | 2  1-1/4 | 3-1/2 | 1 9-3/4 |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Oil-cake       | 2·25 | 3·37 | 1·75 | 5·25 | 3  8-1/2 | 7-1/4 | 3 1-3/4 |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Beans          | 0·86 | 1·29 | 1·11 | 3·33 | 3  0-1/2 | 6-1/2 | 2 6     |
  |               |      |      |      |      |          |       |         |
  |Indian Meal    | 0·19 | 0·28 | 0·17 | 0·51 | 1  5     | 3-1/4 | 1 1-3/4 |
  |               |                    |      |          |       |         |
  |Carob, or      |     No analysis    |      |          |       |         |
  |  Locust Bean  |       of ash.      |      |say 5-3/4 |   --  | 0 5     |
  +---------------+--------------------+------+----------+-------+---------+

_Bedding Cattle._--Instead of wasting straw in bedding cattle, it would
be much better to pass it through their bodies. If straw must be used
for litter, let it be employed as economically as possible. Good
substitutes, wholly or in part, for straw bedding may be found in
sawdust, ashes, tan and ferns. Leaves of trees if procurable in
quantity constitute an excellent litter.


SECTION II.

THE SHEEP.

The management of sheep varies greatly--depending upon the breeds of
the animal, the localities in which they are reared and fattened, and
various economic conditions. The tupping season varies of course with
the country: in Ireland it commences about the middle of September and
lasts for two months; in England and parts of Scotland, the season is
about a month earlier. The best kinds of sheep admit of being very early
put to breed. Both ram and ewe are ready for this purpose when about
fifteen months old. One ram is sufficient for about 80 ewes. The
breeding flock should be in a sound, healthy condition, and the ram
ought to be as near perfection as possible. The condition of the sire
ought to be good, but at the same time it is not desirable to have him
over fat. The more striking indications of good health in the sheep are
dry eyes, red gums, sound teeth, smooth, oily skin, and regular
rumination. The color of the excreta should be natural.

_Breeding Ewes._--After the tupping season, which generally lasts for
a month, the sheep are usually put on a pasture, which need not be
very rich. In cold situations ample shelter should be afforded to the
breeding flocks; and in severe weather they should, if possible, be
removed to sheds. When snow covers the ground, the animals must be
supplied with turnips, or cooked food of some kind. At such time a
little oil-cake will be found very useful.

_Yeaning._--In March the yeaning season sets in; and as this time
approaches, the food of the animals should be improved, and the greatest
care must be taken of them. The shepherd should be unceasing in his
watchfulness, frequently examining every individual animal. The lambing,
if possible, ought to take place in sheds, or some covered place.

_Rearing of Lambs._--Delicate lambs require great care. Very weak ones
often require to be hand fed. Should a mother die, her offspring may be
placed with another ewe; on the other hand, should a lamb perish, its
mother may be appointed to rear one of another ewe's twins (if such
be available). The ram lambs, not intended for breeding purposes, are
subjected to a necessary mutilation when they are about three weeks old.
If this operation be performed later, there is great danger that fatal
inflammatory action may set in; on the other hand, a lamb much younger
than three weeks is hardly strong enough to bear the pain of the
operation. The tails of the lambs are shortened about the same time;
but it would be better in the case of the rams not to perform both
operations on the same day. These operations are best performed during
moist or cloudy weather; if they must be done on frosty or stormy
days, the lambs should be kept under shelter for two or three days, as
otherwise the cold might induce inflammation. The lambs remain with
their mothers for about four months, after which they are weaned, and
put upon a good pasture. When the herbage is poor, oil-cake, say 1/4 lb.
daily, or some other nutritious food, should be used to supplement it.
During the summer and part of the autumn the young stock, as a rule,
subsist upon grass; but many flock-masters give them other kinds of food
in addition. As winter approaches, the young sheep on tillage farms
receive soft turnips, and sometimes a little hay or straw. The allowance
of oil-cake may be increased to 1/2 lb., or if corn be cheap, it may be
substituted for the oil-cake. After Christmas Swedish turnips are used.

Mr. Mechi gives the following information on the subject of rearing
lambs during a season when roots are scarce:--


    Two hundred lambs, which cost 22s. 6d. each on September 12th,
    were kept on leas and stubble until November 3rd, then on
    turnips until December 19th, when fifty of them were drafted to
    another flock getting a little cotton-cake. On the 3rd of February
    fatting commenced with linseed-cake in addition to cut Swedes. On
    the 7th of April the fifty tegs were put on rye with mangels, and
    they were sold on the 4th of May at 61s. each.

    The remaining 150 lambs were wintered as stores at little cost,
    on inferior turnips uncut; they were put on rye from March 8th
    till May 4th, when they were valued at 48s. each.

    The district just referred to became so exhausted of its stock,
    that at some of the later fairs the number of lambs and of ewes
    exhibited was less than one-fourth of the average. But in Essex,
    on six adjoining farms, including that from which I write, the
    number of sheep wintered has been greater than these heavy lands
    ever carried before. This has been effected by the extension of
    a system of management often practised on heavy land, that of
    eking out a scanty supply of green food by a liberal allowance
    of straw, chaff, and grain; which happily were good in quality,
    as well as plentiful and low in price in 1864.

    By these means we were enabled last winter to keep 1,500 sheep
    on about 650 acres of arable, and 350 acres of dry upland
    pasture--chiefly park surrounding a mansion. The arable land
    does not very well bear folding in winter, as a preparation for
    spring corn. Neither climate nor soil are favorable to turnips,
    and notwithstanding our efforts in assisting Nature, our crops
    of turnips, rape, or Swedes, are never first-rate, and sometimes
    very bad. Strong stubbles, good beans, clover-seed, and mangel,
    are the specialities of the locality, and they indicate heavy
    land, corn-growing, and yard-feeding. Sheep have been generally
    "conspicuous by their absence," though even the heavy-land farmer
    is glad to winter a yard of them instead of cattle, that he may
    keep some, at least, of the stock that pays best.

    In the autumn of 1864 our root crops consisted of some white
    turnips and rape, eaten by the ewes in September, and of a very
    bad crop of mangel, the whole of which was reserved for the ewes
    at lambing-time. In this predicament we wintered about 1,000
    half-bred lambs, more than 400 ewes, and some fatting sheep.
    All, except the fatting sheep, were folded on the stubbles, and
    allowed a daily run on the park of about an hour for each flock.
    The freshest grass was reserved for the ewes, and a very meagre
    bite remained for the lambs; in fact, except for a few weeks
    in autumn, the parks afforded them little or nothing except
    exercise and water.

    The flocks were divided between three separate farms, and their
    food was prepared at the respective homesteads. The treatment
    was in every respect similar; we shall therefore only notice in
    detail the management at one farm.

    The following details are taken from our "Live Stock Book:"--

    EXTRACTS FROM STOCK BOOK.

    _Lambs._

    Payments.                                                   Remarks.

    _November 4th, 1864._
                                                      £  s. d.

    352 lambs, cost at date, 30s. 9-1/2d. each       542  2  3    (a)
    _Cost of keeping 24 weeks to April 21, 1865_:--               (b)
    Corn and cake, as per granary book               245 16  9    (c)
    Cutting 25 tons of chaff, at 6s.                   7 13  0    (d)
    Grinding 96 qrs. 6 bshls. of corn, at 9d.          3 12  6
    Attendance, at 19s. 10d. per week                 23 16  0    (e)
    Horse labor, at 6s. per week                       7  4  0
    Coal, 3s. 2d. per week                             3 16  0    (f)
    Use of 21 troughs, at 3d. each per month           1 11  6    (g)
    Use of 180 hurdles, at 1d. each per month          4 10  0
    1-1/2 cwt. of rock salt                            0  4  6
                                                    ==========
                                                    £840  6  6

    Remarks.

    (a) Total cost of keeping 352 lambs for 24 weeks, £298 4s. 3d.
    (b) Cost per head, 16s. 11d.
    (c) Cost, food only, 14s. 11d.
    (d) Value of the manure, reckoned at one-fifth the cost of the
        corn and cake, £49 3s. 4d.
    (e) Cost of the lambs, per head, £2 7s. 8d.
    (f) Value of manure, per head, 2s. 10d.
    (g) No charge made for the straw-chaff eaten on the land.


    The tegs would probably have been sold at a profit in April;
    they were, however, put on grass and clover, and were fattened
    in the summer.

    _September 29th._--352 lambs in the parks, on a little cotton-cake
    and some oats, until November 4th, when they were folded on a wheat
    stubble. Gave them 5 bushels of meal daily, mixed with 468 lb. of
    straw chaff. Cost 3-1/2d. each per week for meal.

    _December 20th._--Increased the food to 6-1/2 bushels of meal and
    1 bushel of oil-cake.

    _December 18th._--

                                                        lb.

    2-3/4 bushels of maize crushed and boiled           143
    4-1/2 bushels of mixed meal                         200
    1 bushel of oil-cake                                 50
                                                        ---
                                                        393
                                                        ===


    Cost 5-1/2d. per week for corn and cake; chaff, 2-1/4 lb. each,
    between these and the ewes, the lambs eating rather less than
    2 lb. each.

    Eight pounds of rock-salt licked up by the 352 lambs per week.

    _January 23rd._--The food was increased to 7-1/2 bushels of meal,
    2 bushels of oil-cake, and 2 bushels of rape-cake.

    Mixture of Corn.

    Wheat                     4 parts.
    Barley                    4   "
    Oats                      2   "
    Maize                     4   "

    Cost per stone (14 lb.)
                              s.   d.
    Wheat                     1    0
    Barley                    0   10
    Oats                      1    0
    Maize                     0   10
    Oil-cake                  1    4-1/4
    Rape-cake                 0    9


_Sheep Feeding._--In Ireland sheep are often exclusively fed on grass;
but in most cases the addition of other food is desirable, and more
especially is it necessary during winter. When confined to roots, sheep,
on an average, consume about 26 lbs. daily, unless when under shelter,
which diminishes the quantity by from five to ten per cent. Some sheep
on which Dr. Voelcker experimented were fed as follows:--

                                                 lbs.   ounces.

  Mangel wurtzel                                  19    8
  Chopped clover hay                               1      3/10
  Linseed cake                                     0    4-8/100
                                                  --------------
                                       Total      20   15-38/100

On this diet four sheep were maintained from the 22nd of March until
the 10th of May, a period of forty-seven days. The weights were as
follows:--

                             22nd Mar.     10th May.      Gain.

  No. 1                         153         170-1/2       17-1/2
  No. 2                         134         151-1/2       17-1/2
  No. 3                         170         187           17-1/2
  No. 4                         136         155           19

This experiment shows that the sheep can increase in weight on a daily
allowance of food, much less than is usually given to them; but it will
be found that growing sheep will usually consume a greater quantity of
food than that used by Dr. Voelcker's fattening animals.

Sheep washing is performed before the animal is shorn. It is a process
which should never be neglected, as dirty wool is certain to bring a
less price than the same quality would if clean. After being washed,
sheep should be kept in dry pasture for about ten days in order to allow
the loss of yolk removed by the washing to be repaired; they will then
be in proper condition for the shearer.

_Sheep Dips_ are used for the purpose of removing parasites from the
animal's skin. They often contain arsenic, or bichloride of mercury
(corrosive sublimate), which are very objectionable ingredients. The
glycerine sheep dip, prepared by Messrs. Hendrick and Guerin, of London,
is a safe mixture, as it is free from mineral poisons, whilst the tar
substances which it includes, act as a powerful cleanser of the skin,
without injuriously affecting the yolk of the wool.


SECTION III.

THE PIG.

In the breeding of pigs, as in the breeding of other kinds of stock,
great care should be taken in the selection of both sire and dam. A good
pig should have a small head, short nose, plump cheek, a compact body,
short neck, and thin but very hairy skin, and short legs. The black
breed is considered to be more hardy than the white; and pure--all black
or all white--colors as a rule indicate the purest blood.

The sow should not be bred from until she is a year old, and the boar
especially should not be employed at an earlier age. Although one boar
is sometimes left with forty pigs and even a greater number, he will not
be able to serve more than a dozen about the same time, if vigorous
progeny be expected. The sow's regular period of gestation is 113 days;
she can have two litters a year, and in each there are from five to
fourteen young. Moderate sized litters are the best, the young of very
numerous ones being often weakly. The best time to rear young pigs is
during the warm or mild parts of the year.

During gestation the sow should be liberally fed, but not with excessive
amounts. The food at this time should rather excel in quality than in
quantity; but so soon as she begins to nurse, her allowance must be
increased, and may be rendered more stimulating. For a week or so before
farrowing, the sow ought to be kept alone. Its sty should not be too
small--not less than 8 or 10 feet square--for pigs require good air in
abundance as well as other animals.

The straw used for litter should neither be too abundant nor too long;
in the latter case some of the young might be covered by it, and
escaping the notice of the sow, might unconsciously be crushed by the
latter. If the young are very feeble, it may become necessary to
hand-feed them. Some sows eat their young: and when they have this
habit, the better plan is to cease breeding from them; for it appears to
be incurable. After parturition some bran and liquid or semi-liquid food
should be given to the sow.

_Young Pigs_ subsist exclusively on their mother's milk but for a short
time. In two or three weeks they may receive skimmed or butter-milk from
the dairy. At a month old such of them as are not designed for breeding
purposes may be subjected to the usual mutilations; and at from five to
six weeks old the young are weaned, and converted into _stores_.

_Store Pigs_, when young, are best fed upon skimmed milk, oatmeal,
and potatoes, in a cooked state. When they are approaching three months
old, they may be supplied with raw food, if the weather be warm;
but in winter, cooked and warm food will be found the more economical.
Cabbages, roots, potatoes, and all kinds of grain that are cheap are
used in pig feeding. The number of meals varies from six or seven in the
case of very young animals, to three in the case of those nearly ready
for fattening. Store pigs should be allowed a few hours' exercise daily
in a paddock, or field, or at least in a large yard.

The dietaries of store pigs vary greatly, for these animals being
omnivorous readily eat almost every kind of food. Mr. Baldwin, of Bredon
House, near Birmingham, an extensive pig breeder, gave (in 1862) stores
the following allowance:--At three months old, a quart of peas, Egyptian
beans, or Indian corn. He considered English beans to be too _heating_
for young pigs. The animals were allowed the _run_ of a grass field.
On this diet the stores were kept until they were eight months old
(increasing at the average rate of five pounds per week), after which
they were allowed an extra half-pint of corn. He calculated the weekly
cost as follows:--Dry food, 1s.; grass, 2d.; man's time, 1d.; total, 1s.
3d. These results yielded a profit of 1s. per week per pig, pork being
at the time 6d. per lb. Some feeders give young store pigs half-a-pint
of peas, mixed with pulped mangel, and the quantum of peas is gradually
increased to one pint per diem. All kinds of food-refuse from the house
are welcomed by the pig. Skins, dripping, damaged potatoes, cabbage,
&c., may be given to them; but they should not be altogether substituted
for the ordinary food-stuffs. Coal-dust, cinders, mortar rubbish, and
similar substances are often swallowed by pigs, and sometimes even
given to them by the feeder. In certain cases Lawes and Gilbert found
that superphosphate of lime was a useful addition to the food of pigs.
A little salt should invariably be given, more especially if mangels
(which are rich in salt) do not enter into the animals' dietary.

_Fattening Pigs._--For some time before store pigs are put up to be
fattened, the quality and quantity of their food should be increased,
for it is not economy to put a rather lean animal suddenly upon a very
fattening diet. The sty should be well supplied with clean litter, and
should be darkened. Three feeds per diem will be a sufficient number,
and the remains (if any) of one should be removed from the trough before
the fresh feed is put into it. The feeding trough (which should be made
of iron) should be so constructed that the animals cannot place their
fore feet in it. The pig is naturally a clean animal, and therefore
it should be washed occasionally, as there is every reason to believe
that such a procedure will tend to promote the animal's health. It
should be supplied with clean water.

In Stephen's "Book of the Farm," it is stated that two pecks of
steamed potatoes, and 9 lbs. of barley-meal, given every day to a pig
weighing from 24 to 28 stones, will fatten it perfectly in nine weeks.
Barley-meal is largely used in England as food for pigs. It is given
generally in the form of a thin paste, and in large quantities. Lawes
and Gilbert found that 1 cwt. of barley-meal given to pigs increased
their weight by 22-1/2 lbs. Indian meal is fully equal, if it is not
superior to barley-meal, as food for pigs; and for this purpose it is
far more extensively employed in Ireland. Every kind of grain given to
pigs should be ground and cooked. In Scotland pigs are often fattened
solely on from 28 to 35 lbs. of barley-meal weekly, and mangels or
turnips _ad libitum_. Pollard is a good food for pigs, being rich in
muscle-forming materials; it is a good addition to very fatty or starchy
food. A mixture of pollard and palm-nut meal is an excellent fattening
food. Potatoes are now so dear, that they are seldom--unless the very
worst and diseased kinds--used in pig feeding. They should never be
given raw. The more inferior feeding-stuffs should be used up first in
the fattening of pigs, and the more valuable and concentrated kinds
during the latter part of the process.


SECTION IV.

THE HORSE.

The horse is subject to many diseases, not a few of which arise from the
defective state of his stable. The best kinds of stables are large and
lofty, well ventilated and drained, smoothly paved, and well provided
with means for admitting the direct sunlight. The walls should be
whitewashed occasionally, and for disinfecting and general sanitary
purposes, four ounces of chloride of lime (bleaching powder) mixed with
each bucket of whitewash, will be found extremely useful.

Farm horses are kept in stalls, which should not be less than six feet
wide, and (exclusive of rack and rere passage) 10 feet long. For hunters
and thorough-breds, _loose boxes_ are now generally used.

The mare commences to breed at four years, and the period of gestation
is 340 days. She may be worked until within a fortnight of the time at
which parturition is expected to occur. After foaling, the mare should
be turned into a grass field (unless the weather is severe) and kept
there idly for three or four weeks.

_Foals_ are kept with their mothers until they are about five or six
months old: after weaning, their food must be tender and nutritious--well
bruised oats, cut hay, bean or oatmeal mashes; carrots are very
suitable.

Working horses are fed chiefly upon oats and hay, which undoubtedly are
the best foods for these animals, both being rich in muscle-forming
materials. Bruised oats are far more economical than the whole grains:
and if the animals eat too rapidly, that habit is easily overcome by
mixing chopped straw or hay with the grain.

According to Playfair, a horse not working can subsist and remain in
fair condition on a daily allowance of 12 lbs. of hay and 5 lbs. of
oats. According to the same authority, a working horse should receive
14 lbs. of hay, 12 lbs. of oats, and 2 lbs. of beans.

Beans are a very concentrated food, rich in flesh-formers, and are,
therefore, well adapted for sustaining hard-working horses. They are
rather _binding_; but this property is easily neutralised by combining
the beans with some laxative food. Turnips, carrots, furze, and various
other foods are given to the horse, often in large quantities. The
following are some among the many dietaries on which this animal
is kept:--

Professor Low's formula is, 30 to 35 lbs. of a mixture of equal parts
of chopped straw, chopped hay, bruised grain, and steamed potatoes.

The daily rations of horses of the London Omnibus Company, are 16 lbs.
of bruised oats, 7-1/2 lbs. of cut hay, and 2-1/2 lbs. of chopped straw.

Stage coach-horses in the United States receive daily about 19 lbs. of
Indian meal and 13 lbs. of cut hay.

Mr. Robertson, of Clandeboye, near Belfast, gives the following
information on the subject of horse-keeping:--

    The year we divide into three periods--October, November to
    May inclusive, June to September inclusive. During the first
    period, the horses get about 18 lb. of chaff and 12 lb. of
    crushed oats and beans; "10-1/2 oats and 1-1/2 beans" per head
    per day. During the second period they get about 15 lb. of hay
    chaff, 12 lb. of crushed oats and beans, and about 3 gallons
    of boiled turnips per head per day. During the third period
    they were turned out to graze during the night. In the day time,
    whilst in the stable, each animal is allowed about 50 lb. of cut
    clover, and about 12 lb. of crushed oats and beans per day. The
    feeding is all under the charge of one person. He uses his own
    discretion in feeding the animals, though he is not allowed to
    exceed the quantities named. The horses to which I allude are the
    same on which the experiments commenced two years ago--six cart
    horses, one cart pony, and one riding horse. From Sept. 1, 1865,
    to and including August 31, 1866, the cost of maintaining these
    horses in good working condition; keeping the carts, harness,
    &c., in repair; shoeing, c., was as follows:--

    Oats, 14 tons, at 16s. per cwt.                 £112   0   0
    Beans, 2 tons, at 18s. per cwt.                   18   0   0
    Hay, 13 tons, at 30s. per ton                     19  10   0
    Green Clover                                      15   0   0
    Turnips                                            5   0   0
    Night grazing                                     18   0   0
    Engine, cutting chaff, crushing oats, &c.          7   4   0
    Attendance                                        26   0   0
    Blacksmith                                        12   0   0
    Saddler                                           12   0   0
    Carpenter                                         10   0   0
    Five per cent. interest on value, £110             5  10   0
    Depreciation in value 10 per cent.                11   0   0
                                                    ------------
                                                    £271   4   0
    Deduct cost of riding horse                       35   0   0
                                                    ------------
                                                    £236   4   0


    £33 11s. 10d. per head; if we suppose the available working
    days to be 300, allowing 13 for wet days, holidays, &c., the
    daily cost will be 2s. 2-1/2d.; to this if we add 1s. 8d.,
    the wages of the driver, we shall have a total of 3s. 10-1/2d.
    as the cost of a horse, cart, and driver per day. I would only
    add, in conclusion, that the horses are kept in good working
    condition; and, as a proof of their good health under this
    system, I may state that during the past two years we have not
    had occasion to require the services of a veterinary surgeon.


Musty hay or straw should not be given to horses. Furze is said to be
a heating food; but it is very nutritious, and when young, may be given
as _part_ of the food of the horse.

Boiled turnips and mangels are often given in winter; but they are
not sufficiently nutritious to constitute a substantial portion of the
animal's diet. Oil-cake is occasionally given to horses; but seldom in
larger quantities than 1-1/2 lbs. per diem. On the whole, experience is
in favor of occasionally giving cooked food to horses; and the practice
meets with the full approval of the veterinarian. To most kinds of food
for horses, the addition of one or two ounces of salt is necessary.

In the _Agricultural Gazette_ for November 25, 1865, the following
instructive tables are given:--

  STABLE FEEDING DURING AUTUMN.

  ---+-------------------------+---------+---------+------+-----------+------
     | Name and Address        |         |         |      | Clover,   |Weekly
  No.| of Authorities.         |  Hay.   |  Oats.  |Beans.|   &c.     | Cost.
  ---+-------------------------+---------+---------+------+-----------+------
     |                         |  lb.    |  lb.    | lb.  |           | s. d.
     |                         |         |         |      |           |
   1 | W. Gater, Botley        |  168    |  63*    | 32*  |  ...      |12  0
   2 | W. C. Spooner           |  112    |  84     | 24   |  ...      |11  0
   3 | T. Aitken, Spalding.    |  ...    |  37-1/2 | ...  | ad lib.   | 7  6?
   4 |     "        "          |  ...    |  37-1/2 | 35   | ad lib.   |10  O?
   5 | T. P. Dods, Hexham.     |  ...    | 105     | ...  | ad lib.   |10  6?
   6 |    "          "         | ad lib. | 105     | ...  |  ...      |10  6?
     |                         |         |         |      | Straw     |
   7 | A. Ruston, I. of Ely.   | ad lib. |  84     | 10   | ad lib.   | 9  0
     |                         |  1/2    |         |      | 1/2 Bran. |
     |                         |         |         |      | 1/3 bush. |
   8 | A. Simpson, Beauly      |  168    |  70     | 14   | 24 lb.    |10  0
     |                         |         |         |      | Straw.    |
   9 | H. J. Wilson, Mansfield |  ...    |  52-1/2 | ...  | ad lib.   | 7  3?
  10 |        "       "        |   42    |  87-1/2 | ...  | ad lib.   | 9  0
  ---+-------------------------+---------+---------+------+-----------+------
  In this table the asterisk (*) means that the grain is crushed or ground.


  STABLE FEEDING DURING WINTER.

  ---+------------------+------+-------+------+--------+---------+------+------
  No.|Name and Address. | Hay. | Oats. |Beans.| Roots. |Sundries.|Straw.|Weekly
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      | Cost.
  ---+------------------+------+-------+------+--------+---------+------+------
     |                  |  lb. | lb.   | lb.  |  lb.   |    lb.  |  lb. | s. d.
   1 |Professor Low     |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  --Elements of   |      |       |      |Potatoes|         |      |
     |  Agriculture     |  56* | 56*   | ...  |  56+   |   ...   |  56* | 6  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   2 |H. Stephens       |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  --Book of the   |      |       |      |Turnips |         |      |
     |  Farm            | 112  | 35    | ...  | 112    |   ...   |  ... | 6  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   3 |J. Gibson, Woolmet|      |       |      |Potatoes|         |      |
     |  --H. Soc. 1850  | ...  | 84    | ...  | 217+   |   217+  | 112  | 9  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   4 |--Binnie,         |      |       |      | Barley |         | ad   |
     |  Seaton          | ...  | 70*   |  28* | 243+   |    42+  | lib. |11  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   5 |--Thomson,        |      |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Hangingside     | ...  | 84    |  14  | 336    |    14   | lib. | 9  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   6 |W. C. Spooner,    |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Ag. Soc. Journ. |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  vol. ix.        | ...  | 63    | ...  |  42    |   ...   | 196  | 4  9
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   7 |T. Aitken,        | ad   |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Spalding,       | lib. |       |      |        |         | lib. |
     |  Lincolnshire    | (2/3)| 37    |  35  | ...    |   ...   |(1/3) | 9  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   8 |G. W. Baker,      |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Woburn,         |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Bedfordshire    | ...  | 60*   |  20* | ...    |   ...   | ...  | 9  8
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
   9 |R. Baker,         |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Writtle, Essex  |  70  | 42    | ...  | ...    |   ...   | 140  | 5  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  10 |J. Coleman,       |      |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Cirencester     | ...  | 84    |  16  | ...    |   ...   | lib. | 7  3
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  11 |T. P. Dods,       |      |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Hexham          | ...  | 95    | ...  |  56    |   ...   | lib. | 8  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  12 |J. Cobban,        |      |       |      |        | Linseed | ad   |
     |  Whitfield       |  84* | 60*   | ...  | ...    |  3-1/2  | lib.*| 7  3
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  13 |S. Druce, jun.,   |      |       |      | Swedes |         | 2    |
     |  Ensham          | 112  | 52    | ...  |  70    |   ...   | bu.* | 7  0
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |                  | ad   |       |      |        |         | ad   |
  14 |C. Howard,        | lib. |       |      |        |         | lib. |
     |  Biddenham       | (2/3)| 52    |  17  |  84    |   ...   | 1/3* | 8  6?
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  15 |J. J. Mechi,      |      |       |      |M.Wurzel|         | ad   |
     |  Tiptree.        |  49* | 70*   | ...  | 210    |   ...   | lib.*| 7  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  16 |W. J. Pope,       |      |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Bridport        |   2* | 84    | ...  | ...    |   ...   | lib. | 9  0?
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  17 |S. Rich,          |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Didmarton,      |      |       |      |        | Grains  | ad   |
     |  Gloucestershire | 168  | 63    | ...  | ...    | 2 bush. | lib. |10  8
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  18 |H. E. Sadler,     |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Lavant, Sussex  | 140  | 84    | ...  | ...    |   ...   | ...  | 9  9
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  19 |J. Morton,        |      |       |      |Carrots |         | ad   |
     |  Whitfield Farm  | ...  |126    | ...  | 350    |   ...   | lib. |10  9
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  20 |E. H.  Sandford,  |      |       |      |        |  Bran   | ad   |
     |  Dover           |  56  | 42    | ...  | ...    |    12   | lib. | 5  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  21 |A. Simpson,       |      |       |      |        |Tail Corn| ad   |
     |  Beauly, N.B.    | ...  | 49    |   7  | 105    |    21   | lib.*| 5  6
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  22 |H. J. Wilson,     |      |       |      |        |  Bran   | ad   |
     |  Mansfield       |  42  | 52-1/2| ...  | ...    |    21   | lib. | 6  6?
     |                  |      |       |      |        |         |      |
  23 |F. Sowerby,       |      |       |      |        |         |      |
     |  Aylesby, North  |      |       |      |        |         | ad   |
     |  Lincolnshire    | 112  | 28    | Cut Oat Sheaf.|   ...   | lib.*| 8  0?
  ---+------------------+------+-------+------+--------+---------+------+------
  Where an asterisk (*) is attached to any item, it is to be understood
  that the corn has been bruised or ground, or the hay or straw has been
  cut into chaff. Where a dagger (+) is appended, the article so marked
  has been boiled or steamed. A mark of interrogation (?) indicates that
  the result so marked is uncertain, owing to some indefiniteness in the
  account given.


On feeding horses with pulped roots, Mr. Slater, of Weston Colville,
Cambridgeshire, says:--

    I give all my cart horses a bushel per day of pulped mangel, mixed
    with straw and corn-chaff. I begin in September, and continue using
    them all winter and until late in the summer, nearly, if not quite,
    all the year round, beginning, however, with smaller quantities,
    about a peck, and then half a bushel, the first week or two, as too
    many of the young-growing mangel would not suit the stock. I believe
    pulped mangels, with chaff, are the best, cheapest, and most healthy
    food horses can eat. I always find my horses miss them when I have
    none, late in the summer. I give them fresh ground every day. Young
    store beasts, colts, &c., do well with them.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 20: Five pounds of linseed will make about seven gallons of
gruel, and suffice for five good-sized calves; considerable allowance
must, however, be made for differences of quality in the linseed, that
from India not being gelatinous enough, and therefore boiling hard,
instead of "coming down kindly."]

[Footnote 21: "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society," vol. xxxix.]

[Footnote 22: From Mr. Horsfall's Essay on Dairy Management, in "Journal
of Royal Agricultural Society," vol. xviii., part i.]




PART IV.

MEAT, MILK, AND BUTTER.


SECTION I.

MEAT.

No one ought to feel a greater interest in the subject of meat in
all its branches than the stock feeder. Just in proportion as this
kind of food is agreeable to the taste, easily digestible, and rich in
nutriment, will the demand for it increase. The quality of meat is, in
fact, a primary consideration with the producer of that article; and he
whose beef and mutton are the most tender and the best flavored will
make the most profit.

_Quality of Meat._--The flesh of herbivorous animals is composed of
muscular and adipose (fatty) tissues. The muscles consist of bundles of
elastic fibres (_fibrine_), enclosed in an albuminous tissue formed of
little vessels, termed cells, and intimately commingled with water, and
a mixture of albuminous, fatty, and saline matters. The leanest flesh
(muscles) contains fat, but the latter accumulates in certain parts of
the body--often to such an extent as to seriously interfere with the
functions of life. The red color of flesh is due to a rather large
proportion of blood, which it contains in minute vessels; and the slight
acidity of its juice is owing to the presence of _inosinic_ acid, and
probably of several other acids. The agreeable odour of meat, when it
is subjected to the process of cooking, is developed from a complex
substance termed _osmazome_.[23] This constituent varies in nature and
quantity in the different animals--hence the variety in flavor and odour
of their flesh--and its amount increases with the age of the animal.
The albumen of the muscles, and their fatty and saline constituents,
are digestible; but it is generally believed that the elastic fibres,
and the horny cellular tissue which binds them into bundles, are not
assimilable. It is more certain that the crystalline substances found in
flesh, such as, for example, _kreatine_, are incapable of ministering to
the nutrition of animals.

The composition of flesh varies very much--that of a very obese pig
containing more than half its weight of fat, whilst in some specimens
of "jerked beef," imported from Monte Video, scarcely 5 per cent. of
that substance was found. The flesh of a fat ox has on an average the
following composition:--

                                                 Per cent.

  Water                                             45
  Fatty substances                                  35
  Lean flesh, or muscle                             15
  Mineral matters                                    5
                                                   ---
            Total                                  100

I have examined for Dr. Morgan several specimens of the corned beef
recently prepared in South America, by "Morgan's process." The following
were the average results of three analyses:--

                                                 Per cent.

  Water                                             40
  Fatty matters                                     21
  Lean, or muscular flesh                           27
  Mineral matters (chiefly common salt)             12
                                                   ---
            Total                                  100

It may not here be out of place to direct attention to the composition
of a kind of animal food extensively purchased by the poorer classes,
and known under the term of slink veal. It is the flesh of calves that
are killed on the first day of their existence, and also, I have reason
to believe, that of very immature animals--of calves that have never
breathed. The flesh is of a very loose texture naturally, and is still
further puffed out by air, which is usually supplied from the lungs of
the operator. This kind of meat, though regarded as a delicacy by some
people, is not held in much estimation, otherwise its price would be
higher than it is. It is at present sold at about 4d. or 5d. per pound,
sometimes even at a lower rate. Apart from the disgusting process of
"blowing" veal, so generally adopted, the use of this food is extremely
objectionable, owing to its great tendency to produce diarrhoea. To
the truth of this assertion every physician who has studied the subject
of dietetics can testify. I have analysed a specimen of it (purchased
from a person who admitted that it was part of a calf a day old), and
obtained the following results:--

100 parts contain--

                                                Per cent.

  Water                                          72·25
  Fat                                             6·17
  Lean flesh                                     18·46
  Mineral matter                                  3·12
                                                ------
  Total                                         100·00

I believe that a large portion of the lean flesh is indigestible; and
altogether I may safely say of this kind of meat that it is, especially
during the prevalence of cholera, an unsafe article of diet. Of course
these observations do not apply to _fed_ veal, the only kind which
respectable butchers, as a rule, offer for sale.

Young meat is richer in soluble albumen and poorer in fibrine and
fat than the matured flesh of the same animal. The flesh of the goat
contains _hircic_ acid, which renders it almost uneatable, but this
substance is either altogether absent from, or present but in minute
proportion in, the well-flavored meat of the kid. The flesh of game
contains abundance of osmazome, a substance which is somewhat deficient
in that of the domestic fowl.

Owing to the marked individuality which man exhibits in the selection of
his food, and to the intimate relationship subsisting between food and
the organism it nourishes, it is impossible to arrange the alimental
substances in the strict order of their nutritive values. You can bring
a horse to the water, but you cannot compel him to drink it; you can
swallow any kind of food you please, but you cannot force your stomach
to digest it. It is, therefore, vain to tell a man that a certain kind
of food is shown by chemical analysis to be nutritious, when his stomach
tells him unmistakeably that it is poisonous, and refuses to digest it.
In the matter of dietetics Nature is a safer guide than the chemist.
Many substances, when viewed only in the light shed upon them by
chemical analysis, appear to be rich in the elements of nutrition, yet
when they are introduced into the stomachs of certain individuals, they
disarrange the digestive organs, and sometimes cause the whole system to
go out of order. Every day we see exemplified the truth of the proverb,
that "one man's meat is another man's poison." There are persons who
relish and readily digest fat pork, and yet they cannot eat a single
egg with impunity; others enjoy and easily assimilate eggs, but their
stomachs cannot tolerate a particle of fat bacon.

It is not merely the composition of an aliment and its adaptability to
the organism which determine its nutritive value--its digestibility
and flavor are points which affect it. There are few people in these
countries who are disposed to quarrel with beef; but no one would
prefer the leg of an elderly milch cow to the sirloin of a well-fed
three-year-old bullock: yet if our selection were to be determined by
the analysis of the two kinds of beef, we would be just as likely to
prefer the one as the other. No doubt the relative tenderness of meats
may be ascertained by experiments conducted _outside_ the body; but
tenderness is not in every case synonymous with easy digestibility.
Veal contains more soluble albumen, and is, consequently, far more
tender than beef; yet, as every one knows, it is less digestible. It is
curious that maturity renders the flesh of some animals more digestible,
and that of others less digestible. Flavor has something to do with
these differences. Beef is richer than veal in the agreeably flavorous
osmazome, and the flesh of the kid is destitute of the disagreeable
odour of the fully-developed goat. The superiority of wild-fowl over the
domesticated birds is solely owing to the finer flavor of their flesh.

The habits of animals, and the nature of their food, affect the
quality of their flesh. Exercise increases the amount of osmazome, and
consequently renders the meat more savory. The mutton of Wicklow, Wales,
and other mountainous regions is remarkably sweet, because the animals
that furnish it are almost as nimble as goats, and skip from crag to
crag in quest of their food. The fatty mutton, with pale muscle, which
is so abundant in our markets, is furnished by very young animals forced
prematurely into full development. Those animals have abundance of food
placed within easy reach; their muscular activity is next to _nil_,
and the result is, that their flesh contains less than its natural
proportion of savory ingredients. It is the same with all other animals.
The flesh of the tame rabbit is very insipid, whilst that of the wild
variety is well flavored. Wild fowls cooped up, and rapidly fattened,
lose their characteristic flavor; and when the domesticated birds become
wild their flesh becomes less fatty, and acquires all the peculiarities
of game. Ducks, whether wild or tame, ordinarily yield goodly meat;
but the flesh of some of those that feed on fish smacks strongly of
cod-liver oil. Birds which subsist partly on aromatic berries assimilate
the odour as well as the nutriment of their food. The flesh of grouse
has very commonly a slight flavor of heather. Foster states that in
Tahiti pigs are fed upon fruit, which renders their fat very bland and
their flesh like veal. Animals subjected to certain kinds of mutilation
fatten more rapidly than they do in their natural state. Capons increase
in weight more rapidly than cocks, poulards than hens, bullocks than
bulls, and cows deprived of their ovaries than perfect cows. Why it is
that the flesh of mutilated animals should be fatter and more tender
than that of whole animals, we know not; we only know that such is the
fact. The hunting of animals renders their flesh more tender; the cause
assigned is, that the great exertion of the muscles liquefies their
fibrine, which is the toughest of their constituents. The meat of
animals brought very early to maturity is seldom so valuable as the
naturally developed article. Lawes and Gilbert state that portions of
a sheep that had been fattened upon _steeped_ barley and mangels, and
which gave a very rapid increase, yielded several per cent. less of
cooked meat, and lost more, both in dripping and by the evaporation of
water, than the corresponding portions of a sheep which had been fed
upon _dry_ barley and mangels, and which gave only about half the
amount of gross increase within the same period of time.

Although the digestibility and flavor of meat (and of every other kind
of food) affect its nutritive value, these points are in general of far
less importance than its composition. Potatoes are not so nutritious as
peas, because they contain a smaller amount of fat and flesh-formers;
but they are more digestible. Fish contains less solid matter than
flesh, and is less nutritious, yet a cut of turbot will be, in general,
more easily digested than an equal weight of old beef. The fact is, that
digestibility and flavor are only of great importance to dyspeptic
persons. In the healthy digestive organs a pound weight of (dry) food
of inferior flavor and slow digestibility will be just as useful as the
same weight of well-flavored and easily assimilable aliment, provided
all other conditions be alike. If the food be eaten with a relish, and
tolerated by the stomach, its digestibility will not, except in extreme
cases, affect in a very sensible degree its nutritiveness.

Were one question in animal nutrition satisfactorily answered, it
would then be comparatively easy to arrange aliments in the order of
their nutritive value. That question is--What are the proper relative
proportions of the fat-forming and flesh-forming constituents of our
food? It is constantly urged, that the food of the Irish peasantry
contains an excess of the fat-forming materials in relation to the
muscle-forming substances; and the remedy suggested is, that their
staple article of food--potatoes--should be supplemented with flesh,
peas, and such like substances, in which, it is supposed, the elements
of nutrition are more fairly balanced. In potatoes, the proportion of
fat-formers (calculated as fat) is about five times as much as that
of the flesh-formers; but these principles exist in the same relative
proportions in the fat bacon with which the potato-eater loves
to supplement his bulky food. In bread we find the proportion of
fat-formers to be only 2-1/2 times as much as that of the flesh-formers,
whilst, according to Lawes and Gilbert, the edible portion of the
carcass of a fat sheep contains 6-1/2 times as much fat as nitrogenous
(flesh-forming) compounds. It is evident, then, that meat such as, for
example, the beef recently imported from Monte Video, from which the
fatty elements of nutrition are almost completely absent, cannot be
a suitable adjunct to a farinaceous food.

There is evidence to prove that in the animal food consumed by the
population of these countries, the proportion of fatty to nitrogenous
matters is greater than in the seeds of cereal and leguminous plants,
and but little less than in potatoes. "It would appear to be
unquestionable," say Lawes and Gilbert, "therefore, that the influence
of our staple _animal foods_, to supplement our otherwise mainly
farinaceous diet, is, on the large scale, to _reduce_, and _not to
increase_, the relation of the _assumed_ flesh-forming material to the
more peculiarly respiratory and fat-forming capacity, so to speak, of
the food consumed." It must be remembered, too, that the fat _formers_
are ready _formed_ in animal food, whereas they exist chiefly in the
form of starch, gum, sugar, and such-like substances in vegetables.
According to theory, 2-1/2 parts of starch are equivalent to, _i.e._,
convertible into, 1 part of fat; but it is not certain whether the force
which effects this change is derivable from the 2-1/2 parts of starch,
or from the destruction of tissue, or of another portion of food. If
there be a tax on the system in order to convert starch into fat, it
is evident that 2-1/2 parts of starch, though convertible into, are not
equivalent in nutritive value to one part of fat.

It is quite certain that millions of healthy, vigorous men have
subsisted for years exclusively on potatoes; but it is no less clear
that a diet of meat and potatoes enables the laborer to work harder
and longer than if his food were composed solely of potatoes. But we
have seen that the relation between the flesh-forming and fat-forming
elements is nearly the same in both potatoes and meat; so that the
superiority of a meat or mixed diet cannot be chiefly owing, contrary to
the generally received opinion, to a greater abundance of flesh-forming
materials. As the proportion of flesh-formers to fat-formers is so much
greater in wheaten or oaten bread than in potatoes, and as peas and
other vegetables rich in nitrogenous compounds are practically found to
be an excellent supplement to potatoes, it is probable that the latter
may be somewhat relatively deficient in flesh-forming capacity. It is,
however, in all probability the great bulk of a potato diet, and its
total want of ready formed fat, that render the addition to it of animal
food so very desirable. The concentrated state in which the ingredients
of flesh exist, the intimate way in which they are intermixed, their
agreeable flavor, and their (in general) ready and almost complete
digestibility, appear to be the principal points in which a meat diet
excels a vegetable regimen. There may be others, which, though less
evident, are, perhaps, of equal importance. At all events, the general
experience of mankind testifies to the superiority of a mixed animal
and vegetable diet over a purely vegetable one.

_Is very Fat Meat wholesome?_--The enormous and rapidly increasing
demand for meat which characterises the food markets of these days,
has reacted in a remarkable manner upon the nature of the animals that
supply it. Formerly the animals that furnished pork, mutton, and beef,
were allowed to attain the age of three years old and upwards before
they were considered to be "ripe" for the butcher; but now sheep and pigs
are perfectly _matured_ at the early age of one year, and two-year-old
oxen furnish a large quota of the "roast beef of old England." The
so-called improvement of stock is simply the forcing of them into an
unnatural degree of fatness at an early age; and this end is attained
by dexterous selection and crossing of breeds, by avoidance of cold, by
diminishing as much as possible their muscular activity, and lastly,
and chiefly, by over-feeding them with concentrated aliments.

Every one knows that a man so obese as to be unable to walk cannot be
in a healthy state; yet many feeders of stock look upon the monstrously
fat bulls and cows of cattle show prize celebrity as normal types of the
bovine tribe. It requires but little argument to refute so fallacious
a notion. No doubt it is desirable to encourage the breeding of those
varieties of animals which exhibit the greatest disposition to fatten,
and to arrive early at maturity; but the forcing of individual animals
into an unnatural state of obesity, except for purely experimental
purposes, is a practice which cannot be too strongly deprecated. If
breeders contented themselves with handing over to the butcher their
huge living blocks of fat, the matter would not perhaps be very serious;
but, unfortunately, it is too often the practice to turn them to account
as sires and dams. Were I a judge at a cattle show, I certainly should
disqualify every extremely fat animal entered for competition amongst
the breeding stock. Unless parents are healthy and vigorous, their
progeny are almost certain to be unhealthy and weakly; and it is
inconceivable that an extremely obese bull and an unnaturally fat cow
could be the progenitors of healthy offspring. We should by all means
improve our live stock; but we should be careful not to overdo the
thing. If we must have gaily-decked ponderous bulls and cows at our fat
cattle exhibitions, let us condemn to speedy immolation those unhappy
victims to a most absurd fashion; but in the name of common sense let
us leave the perpetuation of the species to individuals in a normal
state, whose muscles are not replaced by fat, whose hearts are not
hypertrophied, and whose lungs are capable of effectively performing
the function of respiration.

Mr. Gant, in a small volume[24] devoted wholly to the subject, describes
the serious functional and structural disarrangements which over-feeding
produces in stock. He found the heart of a one-year old Southdown
wether, fattened according to the _high-pressure system_, to be little
more than a mass of fat. In several other young, but so-called "matured"
sheep, he found more or less fatty degeneration of the heart, and
extensively spread disease of the liver and of the lungs. A four-year
old Devon heifer, exhibited by the late Prince Consort at a Smithfield
show, was found to be in a highly diseased state. It was slaughtered,
and of course its flesh sold at a high price as "prize beef," but its
internal organs came into Mr. Gant's possession. The substance of both
ventricles of the heart had undergone all but complete conversion into
fat; one of its muscles was broken up, and many of the fibres of the
others were ruptured. In another animal the muscular fibres of the
heart had given way to so great an extent that if the thin lining
membrane (_endocardium_) had burst, death would have instantly ensued.
The slightest exertion was likely to cause this catastrophe; but,
fortunately enough in this case, the animal was not capable of exertion,
for though under three years of age, it weighed upwards of 200 stones:
this animal had received for some time before its exhibition, the
liberal allowance of 21 lbs. of oil-cake (besides other food) per diem.
"A pen of three pigs," says Mr. Gant, "belonging to his Royal Highness
the Prince Consort, happened to be placed in a favorable light for
observation, and I particularly noticed their condition. They lay
helpless on their sides, with their noses propped up against each
other's backs, as if endeavouring to breathe more easily, but their
respiration was loud, suffocating, and at long intervals. Then you heard
a short catching snore, which shook the whole body of the animal, and
passed with the motion of a wave over its fat surface, which, moreover,
felt cold. I thought how much the heart under such circumstances must
be laboring to propel the blood through the lungs and throughout the
body. The gold medal pigs of Mr. Moreland were in a similar condition,
if anything, worse; for they snored and gasped for breath, their mouths
being opened, as well as their nostrils dilated, at each inspiration.
From a pig we only expect a grunt, but not a snore. These animals,
only twelve months and ten days old, were marked '_improved_ Chilton
breed.' They, with their fellows just mentioned, of eleven months and
twenty-three days, had early come to grief. Three pigs of the black
breed were in a similar state, at seven months three weeks and five
days, yet such animals 'the judges highly commended.'"

Dr. Brinton denies the accuracy of several of Mr. Gant's statements
relative to the structural changes in the muscles of obese animals;
but I do not think that he has succeeded in disproving the principal
assertions made by the latter.

There is conclusive evidence to prove that one of the effects of the
present mode of fattening beasts is disease of the internal organs
of the animals; but it is by no means certain that the flesh of those
diseased animals is as unwholesome food as some writers assert it to
be. The flesh of an over-fattened animal differs from that of a lean, or
moderately fat one, in containing an exceedingly high proportion of fat;
but it has not been proved that the fat of prize animals differs from
the fat of lean kine, or that it is less wholesome or nutritious. Be the
flesh of those exceedingly fat animals unwholesome or not, there are
thousands, ay, millions of persons, to whom its greasy quality renders
it peculiarly acceptable; and as for those who dislike fat--they do
not usually invest their money in the flesh of prize sheep or oxen.
At the same time, it must not be understood that all, or even a large
proportion of fully matured stock is in a diseased state; though in most
of them the vital and muscular powers are undoubtedly exceedingly low.

There is no doubt but that sheep and oxen, from three to five years old,
moderately fat, and fairly exercising their locomotive powers, furnish
the most savory, and, perhaps, the most nutritious meat: but if such
were the only kind of meat in demand, it may be fairly doubted that the
supply would be equal to it. The produce of meat in these countries has
been rapidly increasing for many years past; and the weight of meat
annually supplied from a given area of land is now from 80 to 100 per
cent. greater than it furnished thirty or forty years ago. It is chiefly
by means of the so-called forcing system that the produce of meat has
been so considerably increased. If this system were abandoned, the
production would be greatly diminished, and the consequently high price
of the article would place it beyond the reach of the masses of the
population. Besides, it has not been proved that the flesh of the
animals brought early to maturity is much inferior, except somewhat in
flavor, to the meat of three-year-old beasts. There is, no doubt, plenty
of unwholesome meat offered for sale, but it is that of animals which
were affected by diseases as likely to attack the young as the old. On
the whole, then, we may say of the improved system of fattening stock,
that it produces a maximum amount of meat on a given area of land; that
the meat so produced is, except in rare cases, perfectly wholesome; that
it is capable of supplying the ingredient--fat--which is almost wholly
absent from a vegetable diet; and, finally, that it places animal food
within the reach of the working classes.

_Diseased Meat._--The losses occasioned to stockowners by the diseases
of live stock are far greater than is generally supposed. It has been
calculated that in the six years ending 1860, the value of the horned
stock lost by disease amounted to £25,934,650. Pleuro-pneumonia was the
chief cause of these losses. Exclusive of the enormous losses occasioned
by the ravages of the rinderpest, the annual loss by disease in live
stock in these countries for some years past cannot be much under
£6,000,000 sterling.

Whether it is owing to the somewhat abnormal condition under which the
domesticated animals are placed, or to causes which operate upon them
when in a state of nature, it is certain that they are remarkably prone
to disease. It is extremely difficult to get a horse six years old that
is not a roarer or a whistler, or "weak on his pins," or in some way or
other unsound. Oxen, sheep, and pigs have almost as many maladies
afflicting them as human flesh is heir to, notwithstanding the short
period of life which they are permitted to enjoy.

It is a very serious question whether or not the flesh of animals that
have been killed while they are in a diseased condition is injurious to
health. The opinions on this point are conflicting, but the majority of
medical men believe that the flesh of diseased animals is not wholesome.
There are certain maladies which obviously render meat unsaleable, by
causing a sensible alteration in its quality. For example, blackleg
in cattle and measles in the porcine tribe render the flesh of these
animals, as a general rule, unmarketable, or nearly so. But there are
very serious diseases--often proving rapidly fatal--which, whilst
seriously affecting certain internal organs, do not palpably deteriorate
the quality of the flesh. In such cases are we to rely upon the evidence
of our mere senses in judging of the wholesomeness of the meat? If we
find beef possessing a good color and odour, and firm to the touch, and
_appearing_ to be in every respect healthy flesh, are we under such
circumstances to take it for granted that it must be healthy? This is a
very important question, involving as it does the interests of both the
producers and consumers of animal food. If the flesh of all diseased
animals be unwholesome, a very large number of oxen now sold whilst
laboring under pleuro-pneumonia should not be sent into the market.
This, of course, would be a heavy loss to the stockowner, but a still
heavier one to the meat consumer; because, if there were fewer animals
for sale, the price of meat would ascend, in obedience to the law of
supply and demand. The whole question is, then, well worthy of being
considered in the most careful, unbiassed, and scientific manner; for
at present it is in a state which is the reverse of being satisfactory.

A large proportion of the animals conducted to the shambles is in a
diseased condition. Professor Gamgee estimates it at no less than
one-fifth. Dr. Letheby, food analyst to the Corporation of London,
condemns weekly about 2,000 pounds weight of flesh; but as his
jurisdiction is limited to the "City," which contains a population of
only about 114,000, the 2,000 pounds of diseased meat are probably only
about 1-30th of the quantity exposed for sale within the whole area of
the metropolis. Making an estimate of the most moderate kind, we may
assume that 30,000 pounds weight of bad meat are weekly offered for
sale in London--_three million pounds weight annually_.

Many persons have been affected with dysentery and choleraic symptoms
after partaking of butcher's meat of apparently the most healthy kind.
The meat has often been subjected to minute chemical and microscopical
examination, but no poison has been discovered. But these cases are
becoming so frequent that they are exciting uneasiness, and demand an
exhaustive investigation. The unskilful persons who officiate in the
capacity of "clerks of the market" and inspectors of meat can only judge
of the quality of flesh that is obviously inferior to the eye, nose, or
touch; but are there not cases where the flesh may appear to be good,
and yet contain some subtle malign principle? It is an ascertained fact
that young or "slink" veal very frequently gives rise to diarrhoea,
more especially when that disease is epidemic. Dr. Parkes, in his
celebrated work on Hygiene, page 162 (second edition), states that
"the flesh of the pig sometimes produced diarrhoea--a fact I have had
occasion to notice in a regiment in India, and which has often been
noticed by others. The flesh is, probably, affected by the unwholesome
garbage on which the pig feeds." Menschell states that 44 persons were
afflicted with anthrax after eating the flesh of oxen affected with
carbuncular fever. Dr. Kesteren, in the _Medical Times_ for March, 1864,
mentions a case where twelve persons were affected with choleraic
symptoms after the use of pork not obviously diseased. At Newtownards,
county of Down, several persons died after eating veal in which no
poisonous matter of any kind could be detected. One instance has come
under my own notice where a man, two dogs, and a pig died after eating
the flesh of an animal killed whilst suffering from splenic apoplexy.
Several butchers have lost their lives in consequence of the blood of
diseased animals being allowed to come in contact with abrasions or
recently received wounds on their arms. The flesh of over-driven animals
is stated by Professor Gamgee to produce a most serious skin disease,
although the meat appeared to be perfectly healthy. The Belgian Academy
of Medicine has decided that the flesh of animals suffering from
carbuncular fever is unwholesome, and its sale in that country is
prohibited.

Many persons have died in Germany and a few in England from a disease
produced by eating pork containing a small internal parasite termed
_trichina spiralis_. I have recently met with a case of _trichiniasis_
in the human subject. The body of the unfortunate person--who had
been an inmate of the South Dublin Union Workhouse--was found to
contain thousands of the trichinæ. In Iceland a large proportion of
the population suffers from a parasitic disease traceable to the use
of the flesh of sheep and cattle in which flukes abound.

Pleuro-pneumonia is in this country the disease which most frequently
affects the ox. It is probable that about 5 per cent. of these animals
sold in Dublin are more or less affected by this malady. There are two
forms of pleuro-pneumonia--the sporadic, or indigenous, and the foreign,
or contagious. It is the latter form which has become the scourge of the
ox tribe in this country, though unknown here until the year 1841, when
it appeared as an epizoötic, and carried off vast numbers of animals.

The contagious pleuro-pneumonia is an extremely severe inflammatory
disease, and is produced--not in the same way that common pleuro-pneumonia
is, by exposure to excessive cold, &c.--but by a blood poison received
from an infected animal. In the congestive stage of the disease there is
no structural alteration in the organs of the animal, and if well bled
its flesh might (probably) be safely eaten; but when a large portion of
the lungs becomes solidified, and rendered incapable of purifying the
blood, is it not doubtful, to say the least, that the blood or flesh is
perfectly wholesome? The blood, during the life of the animal, is in a
state of fermentation; there is extreme fever, and the animal presents
all the characteristic symptoms of acute disease. On being killed, the
flesh, if the disease be of a fortnight's duration, will usually be
extremely dark, but in a less advanced stage of the malady the flesh
will generally present a healthy appearance. Is it really so? That
is the question which science has to determine. Going upon a broad
principle, I can hardly conceive that so serious a disease as
pleuro-pneumonia does not injuriously affect the quality of the flesh.
It is no argument to say that thousands consume such flesh, and yet
enjoy good health. Millions of people drink water and breathe air that
are extremely impure, and yet they do not speedily die. It is one thing
to be poisonous, another to be unwholesome. The flesh of animals killed
whilst suffering from lung distemper is not directly poisonous, but who
can prove that it is not, like bad water, unwholesome?

As analyst to the city of Dublin, I am almost daily called upon to
inspect meat suspected to be unwholesome; and I have always condemned
as being unfit for human food:--

    1. Animals slaughtered at the time of bringing forth their young.

    2. Oxen affected with pleuro-pneumonia, when pus is present in the
       lungs, or the flesh obviously affected; animals suffering from
       murrain, black-quarter, and the different forms of anthrax.

    3. Animals in an anæmic, or wasted condition.

    4. Meat in a state of putrefaction.

During the present year about 20,000 pounds weight of meat have been
seized and condemned in the city of Dublin.


SECTION II.

MILK.

Milk is a peculiar fluid secreted by the females of all animals
belonging to the class _Mammalia_; and, being designed for the
nourishment of their offspring, contains all the constituents which
enter into the composition of the animal body.

The milk of different animals varies very much in color, taste, and
nutritive value. That of the cow is a little heavier than water--its
specific gravity being, on the average, about 1·030, water being
1·000. It is composed of three constituents--namely, butter, curd, and
whey--each of which is also composed of a number of substances. These
three constituents are of unequal weight, or specific gravity, and their
separation is the chief process carried on in the dairy. The butter is
the lightest and the curd is the heaviest constituent.

The following table represents the composition of the milk of different
animals:--

  COMPOSITION OF THE MILK OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS.

  1,000 PARTS CONTAIN--

  ------+---------+--------+------------+--------+-------+-------+-------
        | Specific|        |            |        |       |       |
        | Gravity,| Water. |   Solid    | Cheesy | Sugar.|Butter.|Mineral
        |   or    |        |Ingredients.| Matter.|       |       |Matter.
        | Density.|        |            |        |       |       |
  ------+---------+--------+------------+--------+-------+-------+-------
  Woman | 1032·67 | 889·08 |   110·92   |  39·30 | 43·68 | 26·66 | 1·30
  Cow   | 1030    | 864·20 |   135·80   |  48·80 | 47·70 | 31·30 | 6·00
  Goat  | 1033·53 | 844·90 |   155·10   |  35·14 | 36·91 | 56·87 | 6·18
  Ewe   | 1040·98 | 832·32 |   167·68   |  69·78 | 39·43 | 51·31 | 7·16
  Mare  | 1033·74 | 904·30 |    95·70   |  33·35 | 32·76 | 24·36 | 5·23
  Ass   | 1034·57 | 890·12 |   109·88   |  35·65 | 50·46 | 18·53 | 5·24
  Bitch | 1041·62 | 772·08 |   227·92   | 116·88 | 15·29 | 87·95 | 7·80
  ------+---------+--------+------------+--------+-------+-------+-------

Milk examined through a microscope is a colorless fluid, containing a
large number of little vesicles, or bags, filled with butter--a mixture
of oily and fatty matters. When the milk stands for some time, the
globules, being lighter than the other constituents, ascend to the top,
and, mixed with a certain proportion of milk, are removed as cream.
The curd is termed in scientific parlance _casein_, and is in fresh milk
in a state of solution--that is to say, is dissolved in milk in the same
way that we dissolve sugar in water. When milk becomes sour, either
naturally or by the addition of rennet, it can no longer hold casein in
solution, and the curd consequently separates. Casein is the substance
which forms the basis of cheese. The substance that remains after the
removal of the butter and cheese is called _serum_, or whey, and is
composed of a sweetish substance termed _sugar of milk_, and certain
saline bodies, termed the ash, dissolved in water.

The butter and the sugar of milk are employed in the animal economy in
the production of fat, and are what have been styled by physiologists
_heat-producers_ and _fat-formers_. The casein resembles the gluten of
wheat in composition; it belongs to the class of food substances termed
_flesh-formers_. The ash, or mineral part of the milk, is chiefly
employed in forming the bones of the young animals it is destined to
nourish.

The quality of milk is influenced by the quantity and quality of the
food given to the animal. The milk of cows fed on distillery wash,
turnip, and mangel tops, coarse herbage, and other kinds of inferior
food, is always of inferior quality. Hence it is of great importance
that dairy stock be kept in good old pastures in summer, and fed on
Swedish turnips, mangel-wurtzel, and oil-cake during winter. It is true
economy to supply dairy cows with abundance of nutritious food; and it
should be constantly borne in mind that the milk from two well-fed cows
will give more butter than can be obtained from the produce of three
badly-fed animals.

The butter is the constituent of milk which is most affected by the
nature and amount of the animal's food; and butter is precisely the
article which is of the greatest importance to the Irish dairy farmer,
as the quantity of cheese prepared in this country is inconsiderable.
When, therefore, it is found that a cow pastured on inferior land, or
badly fed in the byre, yields a large supply of milk of a high specific
quantity (which, however, is rarely the case), it must not be concluded
that the result is satisfactory; for if such milk be tested by the
lactometer it will certainly be found wanting in butter. The average
composition of English milk, according to Way, is:--

  Water                                87·02
  Butter                                3·23
  Casein                                4·48
  Sugar of milk                         4·67
  Ash                                   0·60
                                      ------
                                      100·00

In several analyses of milk published by Professor Voelcker, the highest
proportion of butter is stated to be 7·62. In that of cows kept on
poor and over-stocked pastures less than 2 per cent. was found. I have
examined in my capacity of Food Analyst to the City of Dublin several
hundred samples of milk, in not one of which have I found the proportion
of butter to amount to more than 5·6 per cent. In no sample did I find
a higher per-centage of solid matter than 13·15, or (when pure) lower
than 12·08. The quality of the food of the milch cow exercises a great
influence on the quality and yield of her milk. Aliments rich in fat and
sugar favor the production of butter, and augment the supply of milk.
Locust-beans, malt, and molasses are good milk-producing foods; but the
chief condition in the production of milk rich in butter is simply that
the animals which yield it must be fed with abundance of nutritious
food. Nor must it be supposed that the richness of milk is due to the
smallness of the yield, for whenever the quality of the secretion is
inferior, it is almost certain to be deficient in quantity. Those cows
which give the richest milk, generally yield the largest quantity.

_Yield of Milk._--According to Boussingault, a cow daily yields on the
average 10·4 parts of milk per 1,000 parts of her weight. Morton, in his
"Cyclopædia of Agriculture," p. 621, states that Mr. Young, a Scotch
dairy keeper, obtained 680 gallons per cow per annum. Voelcker found
that some common dairy stock gave each of them fifty-two pints of milk
per diem, whilst three pedigree cows yielded respectively forty-nine
pints.

Professor Wilson gives the following information on this point:--

    Our principal dairy breeds are the Ayrshire, the Channel Islands,
    the Short-horn, the Suffolk, and the Kerry. Some published returns
    of two dairies of Ayrshire cows give the annual milk produce per
    cow at 650 and 632 gallons respectively. Three returns of dairies,
    consisting wholly of Short-horns, show a produce of 540 gallons,
    630 gallons, and 765 gallons respectively, or an average of 625
    gallons per annum for each cow. In two dairies, where half-bred
    Short-horns were kept, the yield was 810 and 866 gallons
    respectively for each cow. In four dairies in Ireland, where pure
    Kerrys and crosses with Short-horns and Ayrshires were kept, the
    annual produce per cow was returned at 500 gallons, 600 gallons,
    675 gallons, and 740 gallons respectively; or an average, on the
    four dairies, of 630 gallons per annum for each cow. A dairy of
    "pure Kerrys" gave an average of 488 gallons per cow, and another
    of the larger Irish breed gave an average of 583 gallons per head
    per annum. In the great London dairies, now well-nigh extinguished
    by the ravages of the cattle disease, these returns are greatly
    exceeded. The cows kept are large framed Short-horns and Yorkshire
    crosses, which, by good feeding, bring the returns to nearly
    1,000 gallons per annum for each cow kept. The custom in these
    establishments is to dispose of a cow directly her milk falls
    below two gallons a-day, and buy another in her place.

    The following milk return of one of our best managed dairy farms
    (Frocester Court) shows the relative produce of cows in the
    successive years of their milking. The first lot was bought in
    at two-years old; all the others at three years:--

    No. of Cows.    Year of Milk.    Produce per head.

        8               1st             317 gals.
       15               1st             472  "
       14               2nd             353  "
       15               3rd             616  "
       20               4th             665  "
       18               5th             635  "
        9               6th             708  "
       15               Old             651  "

    The maximum reliable milk produce that we have recorded was that
    of a single cow belonging to the keeper of the gaol at Lewes, the
    details of which were authenticated by the Board of Agriculture.
    In eight consecutive years she gave 9,720 gallons, or at the rate
    of more than 1,210 gallons per annum. In one year she milked 328
    days, and gave 1,230 gallons, which yielded 540 lbs. of butter,
    or at the rate of 1 lb. of butter to 22-3/4 lb. of milk. In the
    early part of the present year (1866) a return was published of
    the produce of a cow in a Vermont (U.S.) dairy, which was stated
    to have given, in the previous year, a butter yield of 504 lbs.,
    at the rate of 1 lb. of butter to 20 lbs. of milk.[25]


_Preserved Milk._--Various plans have been proposed to render milk more
portable, and to preserve it sweet for days and even months. Mr. Borden
of Connecticut, United States, prepares a concentrated milk by boiling
the fluid down in vacuo, at a temperature under 140° Fahrenheit, mixing
the resulting solid with sugar, and rapidly placing the compound in
tins, which are then hermetically sealed. It is said that solidified
milk prepared by this process remains sweet for many months. In France,
solidified and concentrated milk are largely prepared; and it is certain
that London and other large towns will yet be supplied with milk
rendered portable and more stable, by the removal of a large proportion
of its water. In many parts of Ireland pure milk could be bought at from
7d. to 8d. per gallon. I do not despair to see factories established in
such places for the manufacture of preserved milk as a substitute for
the dear and impure fluid sold under the name of milk in London and
other large cities. It is stated that solidified milk prepared in
Switzerland is now sold in London.


SECTION III.

BUTTER.

_History of Butter._--The very general use of butter as an article of
food is demonstrated by the familiar saying--"We should not quarrel with
our bread and butter"; yet this article, now so commonly used throughout
the greater part of Europe, was either unknown or but imperfectly known
to the ancients. In the English translation of the Holy Scriptures the
word butter does certainly frequently occur; but the Hebrew original
is _chamea_, which, according to the most eminent Biblical critics,
signifies cream, or thick, sour milk. In the 20th chapter of Job the
following passage occurs:--"He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the
brooks of honey and butter." Now, we can conceive streams of thin cream,
but we cannot imagine a river of butter. The oldest mention of butter
is found in the works of Herodotus. In the description of the Scythians
given by this ancient author, reference is made to their practice of
violently shaking the milk of their mares, for the purpose of causing a
solid fatty matter to ascend to its surface, which, when removed from
the milk, they considered a delicious article of food. Hippocrates, who
wrote a little later than Herodotus, describes, but in clearer language,
the manufacture of butter by the Scythians; he also alludes to the
preparation of cheese by the same people. The word, butter, does not
occur in any of Aristotle's writings, and although mention is made of it
in the works of Anaxandrides, Plutarch, and Ælian, it is evident that
they considered it only in the light of a curious substance, employed
partly as an article of food, partly as a medicinal salve, by certain
barbarous nations. About the second or third century, butter was but
little known to the Greeks and Romans, and there is no reason to believe
that it was ever generally used as an article of food by the classic
nations of antiquity; it is noteworthy, that the inhabitants of the
south of Europe even at the present time use butter in very small
quantities, which, indeed, is often sold for medicinal purposes in the
apothecaries' shops in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. From the foregoing
statements it is evident that the butter manufacture can lay no claim to
a classic origin; but that it took its rise in the countries of savage,
of semi-civilised, and barbarous nations. It is probable that the Greeks
were made acquainted with butter by the Thracians, Phrygians, and
Scythians; and that the knowledge of this substance was conveyed to
Rome by visitors from Germany. During the middle ages the practice of
butter-making spread throughout Northern, Central, and Western Europe;
but in many parts the commodity was very scarce and highly valued,
notwithstanding its being almost, if not quite, in a semi-fluid state,
instead of possessing the firm consistence of the butter of the present
day.

_Irish Butter._--Butter is produced in such large quantities in Ireland
that, after the home demand has been supplied, there remains a large
excess--so considerable, indeed, as to constitute one of the more
important of our few commercial staples. The precise quantity of butter
which, during late years, has been annually exported from Ireland is
unknown. The greater part of the commodity is sent to trans-Channel
ports; and, there being no duty on butter in the cross-Channel trade
since 1826, we have no means of accurately estimating the amount of our
exports to Great Britain. If, however, we refer to the statistics of our
commerce for the period beginning in 1787, and ending in 1826, we shall
find that the exportation of butter was enormous, and that a large
proportion of that commodity consumed by the army and navy was supplied
from the dairies of Ireland. During the three years ended on the 5th of
January, 1826, the average annual amount of butter exported was as
follows:--

                                    cwts.

  To Great Britain                 441,226
  To foreign countries              51,637

Of late years the exportation to foreign and colonial countries has
fallen off; still the export trade is very considerable, probably
amounting to 450,000 cwts. per annum. During the year 1867, the imports
of foreign butter into Great Britain amounted to 1,142,262 cwts.

I have quoted the above statistics for the purpose of demonstrating
the great importance of the butter trade to this country. Not only is a
large proportion of the agricultural community pecuniarily interested in
the production of this article, but the exportation is the chief cause
of the commercial prosperity of a city, which, in point of population,
ranks third in the kingdom. If butter, then, be an article of so much
importance, it is obvious that the greatest care should be taken in its
preparation, and that the efforts of both scientific and practical men
should be directed towards the best mode of improving its quality. If
the principles involved in the production of butter were thoroughly
understood, and generally known, I believe that such terms as "seconds,"
"thirds," and "fourths," would speedily fall into disuse; that there
would be only one kind of butter sent into the market; and that the
article would always be of the best quality, in other words, "firsts."

_Composition of Butter._--The composition and quality of butter depend
to a great extent upon the condition of the milk or cream from which it
is prepared, and on the skill and cleanliness of the dairy-maid. It
consists essentially of fatty and oily matters, but it is always found
in combination with casein (cheesy matter) and water. The following
analyses, made by Mr. Way, late consulting chemist to the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, shows its composition:--

  INGREDIENTS PER CENT.

                        1.      2.      3.

  Fatty matters       82·70   79·67   79·12
  Casein               2·45    3·38    3·37
  Water               14·85   16·95   17·51

No. 1 analysis shows the composition of a specimen obtained from the
well-known Mr. Horsfall's dairy. It was made from raw cream. The other
specimens were the produce of a Devonshire dairy, and were prepared from
scalded cream. In several specimens of well-made and unsalted Irish
butter which I have analysed, I found the proportion of casein or cheesy
matter never to exceed 1 per cent., whilst in the analysis above stated
the centesimal amount is on the average more than 3 per cent.

The fatty matter is composed of two substances--one, a solid, termed
_margarin_; the other fluid, and styled by chemists _elaine_. The solid
fat is identical in composition with the solid fat of the human body.
The elaine is peculiar to milk, but it differs very slightly from
_olein_, or fluid fat. The relative proportions of the fluid and solid
fats vary with the seasons. According to Braconnot, the solid fat forms
in summer 40 per cent. of the butter, but in winter the proportion rises
to 65. This decrease in the proportion of the liquid fat in winter is
the cause of the greater hardness of the butter in that season, which is
often incorrectly attributed solely to the cold.

The cheesy and acid matters contained in butter are by no means
essential; on the contrary, if it were quite free from them, it might
be retained with little or no salt for a very long period without
becoming rancid. The cheesy matter contains nitrogen; and nearly all
the substances into which this element enters as a constituent are
remarkably prone to decomposition. Yeast, and ferments of every
kind--gunpowder, fulminating silver, chloride of nitrogen--and almost
every explosive compound, contain this element. The cheesy matter is
a very nitrogenous body, and in presence of air and moisture not only
rapidly decomposes, or decays, itself, but induces by mere contact a
like state of decomposition in other substances--such, for instance, as
fat, sugar, and starch, which naturally have no tendency to change their
state. Bearing the foregoing facts in mind, it is obvious that the chief
precautions to be observed in the manufacture of butter are:--Firstly,
to separate to as great an extent as practicable the casein from the
butter; and, secondly, as in practice a small portion of the curd
remains in the butter, to prevent it from undergoing any change--at
least for a prolonged period. How these desiderata may best be
accomplished I shall now proceed to point out.

_The Butter Manufacture._--The theory of the process of churning is very
simple. By violently agitating the milk or cream the little vesicles, or
bags containing the butter, are broken, and, the fatty matter adhering,
_lumps of butter_ are formed. The operation of churning also introduces
atmospheric air into the milk, which, aided by the high temperature to
which the fluid is raised, converts a portion of the _sweet_ sugar of
milk into the _sour_ lactic acid. By the alteration produced in this way
in the composition of the milk, it is no longer capable of holding the
casein in solution, and the curd therefore separates.

The churn and other vessels in which the milk is placed cannot be kept
too clean. No amount of labor bestowed on the scalding and scrubbing
of the vessels is excessive. When wood is the material used in the
milk-pans the utmost care should be taken in cleaning them, as the
porous nature of the material favors the retention of small quantities
of the milk. A simple washing will not suffice to clean such vessels.
They must be thoroughly scrubbed and afterwards well scalded with
_boiling_ water. Tin pans are preferable to wooden ones, as they are
more easily cleaned, but in their turn they are inferior to glass
vessels, which ought to supersede every other kind. Earthenware, lead,
and zinc pans are in rather frequent use. The last-mentioned material
is easily acted upon by the lactic acid of the sour milk, and is,
therefore, objectionable. It is a matter of great importance that the
dairy should not be situated near a pig-stye, sewer, or water-closet,
the effluvia from which would be likely to taint the milk. It is
surprising how small a quantity of putrescent matter is sufficient
to taint a whole churn of milk; and as it has been demonstrated that
the almost inappreciable emanations from a cesspool are capable of
conferring a bad flavor on milk, it is in the highest degree important
to remove from the churn and milk-pail every trace of the sour milk. I
go further, it is even desirable that no one whose hands have a tendency
to perspire should be allowed to manipulate in the dairy; and it should
be constantly borne in mind that the dairy-maid's fingers and hot water
should be on the most intimate visiting terms.

Butter is made either from cream--sour and sweet--or from whole milk
which has stood sufficiently long to become distinctly sour. It is
asserted by some makers that butter prepared from whole milk, or
from scalded cream, contains a large proportion of curd. If this be
true--which I greatly doubt--it is a serious matter, for such butter
would speedily become rancid in consequence of the casein acting as
a ferment. I believe that experience points to an exactly opposite
conclusion. From the results of careful inquiries I feel no hesitation
in asserting that the butter should not be made from the cream, but from
the _whole milk_. When made from the cream alone it is much more likely
to acquire a bad taste, and is generally wanting in keeping qualities.
I have no doubt but that in the process of churning the whole milk there
is a large amount of lactic acid formed, and a much higher temperature
attained, than in the churning of cream; consequently, the separation of
caseous matter must be more perfectly effected in the former than in the
latter case. It is a mistake to think that there is very little casein
in cream: out of 7 or 8 lbs. of thick cream only a couple of pounds of
butter are obtainable; the rest is made up of water, casein, and sugar
of milk. The yield of butter is greater when the whole milk is churned
than when the cream alone is operated upon, and, what is of great
importance, the quality of the butter is uniform during the whole year.
The labor of churning whole milk is, of course, much greater than if the
cream alone were employed, but the increased yield and unvarying quality
of the butter more than compensate for the extra expenditure of labor.

The proper temperature of the milk or cream is a point of great
practical importance. If the fluid be too warm or too cold the buttery
particles will only by great trouble be made to cohere; and the quality
of the butter is almost certain to be inferior. When the whole milk
is operated on, the temperature should be from 55 to 60 degs. of
Fahrenheit's thermometer; and if cream be employed the temperature
should never exceed 55 degs. nor be lower than 50 degs. Hence it follows
that in summer the dairy should be kept cooler, and in winter warmer,
than the atmosphere. The temperature of milk is raised or lowered as may
be found necessary, by the addition of hot or cold water--in performing
which operations properly, a good thermometer is indispensable; one
should always be kept in the dairy, and should be so constructed as to
admit of being plunged into the milk. In some dairies the water, instead
of being mixed with the milk, is put into a tub in which the churn is
placed. There is a good kind of churn, which consists of two cylinders,
the one within the other--the interval between them being intended for
the reception of hot or cold water. The influence of temperature upon
the production of butter has been placed beyond all doubt by numerous
carefully-conducted experiments. Mr. Horsfall, a celebrated dairy
farmer, in discussing this question, sums up as follows:--"By a series
of carefully-conducted experiments at varying temperatures, I am of
opinion that a correct scale of the comparative yield of butter at
different temperatures might be arrived at; as thus: From a very low
degree of temperature little or no butter; from a temperature of about
38 degs., 16 oz. from 16 quarts of milk; ditto, 45 degs., 21 oz. from 16
quarts of milk; ditto, 55 degs., 26 to 27 oz. from 16 quarts of milk."
This is a higher yield of butter than, I suspect, most dairymen get: but
Mr. Horsfall's cows being of the best kind for milking, and well fed,
the milk is, of course, rich in butter; and his experiments prove that
even the richest milk will not throw up its butter unless at a certain
temperature.

In the churning of cream the motion should be slow at first until the
cream is thoroughly broken up. In churning milk the agitation should
neither be violent nor irregular; about 40 or 50 motions of the plunger
or board per minute will be sufficient. In steam-worked churns the
motion is often excessively rapid, and the separation of the butter
is effected in a few minutes; but the article obtained in this hasty
way very quickly becomes rancid, and must be disposed of at once. An
hour's churning of sour cream appears in general to produce good butter.
Sweet cream and whole milk require a longer period--the latter about 3
hours--but in any case prolonged churning is certain, by incorporating
cheesy matter with the butter, to produce an inferior article.

Sweet milk becomes sour, evolves a considerable quantity of gas during
churning, and its temperature ascends four or five degrees. Oxygen is
unquestionably absorbed, and it is probable that a portion of the sugar
of milk is converted into acid products.

I have already stated that even the most carefully prepared butter
contains a small proportion of casein and sugar of milk. This casein
is the good genius of the cheese-maker, but the evil genius of the
butter manufacturer. How? In this way:--When butter containing a
notable proportion of casein and sugar of milk is exposed to the air,
the following changes take place: the casein passes into a state of
fermentation, and acting upon the sugar of milk, converts it, firstly
into the bad-flavored lactic acid, and secondly into the bad odorous
butyric, capric, and caproic acids. The first of these compounds in a
state of purity emits an odor resembling a mixture of vinegar and rancid
butter; the second possesses an odor resembling that of a goat--hence
the name _capric_; the third has an odor like that of perspiration. In
addition to these acids, there is another simultaneously generated--the
caprylic, but it does not unpleasantly affect the olfactory nerve.
The casein also injuriously affects the fatty constituents of the
butter; under its influence they absorb oxygen from the air, and become
converted into strong-smelling compounds. The washing of butter is
intended to free it from the casein and unaltered cream, and the more
perfectly it is freed from those impurities the better will be its
flavor, and the longer it will remain without becoming rancid. Some
people believe that too much water injures the quality and lessens the
quantity of butter. It cannot do the former, because the essential
constituents of butter are totally insoluble in water; it may do the
latter, but, if it do, so much the better, because the loss of weight
represents the amount of impurities--milk, sugar of milk, &c.--removed.

I have already remarked that butter is so susceptible of taint that even
a perspiring hand is sufficient to spoil it; naturally cool hands should
alone be allowed to come in contact with this delicate commodity, and
the hands should be made thoroughly clean by repeated washings with warm
water and oatmeal--the use of soap in the lavatory of the dairymaid
being highly objectionable. Wooden spades are now being commonly made
use of in manipulating the butter, and there is no good reason why they
should not come into universal use.

The yield of butter per cow is subject to great variation. Some breeds
of the animal are remarkable as milkers; such, for instance, as the
Alderneys and Kerrys--indeed, I may say all the small varieties of the
bovine race. There are instances of cows yielding upwards of twenty
pounds of butter per week, but these are extraordinary cases. In Holland
a good cow will produce, during the summer months, more than 180 lbs.
of butter. In these countries I think the average annual yield of a
cow is not more than 170 lbs. It sometimes happens that cows yield
a large quantity of milk and a small amount of butter, but it far more
frequently occurs that the cow which gives most milk also yields most
butter.

An estimate of the amount of butter contained in milk may be made by
determining the amount of cream. This may be effected by means of an
instrument termed a _lactometer_, which is simply a glass tube about
five inches long, and graduated into a hundred parts. The specimen to be
examined is poured into this tube up to zero or 0, and allowed to stand
for twelve hours in summer and sixteen or eighteen in winter. At the end
of that time the cream will have risen to the top, and its per-centage
may be easily seen. In good milk the cream will generally extend 11 to
15 degrees down from 0. This instrument, although very useful, is not
reliable in every case, especially in detecting the adulteration of
milk.

I have already stated that the complete separation of the butter from
the other constituents of the milk is never accomplished in the dairy.
Now although the proportion of curd in the butter is very small--rarely
more than two per cent. and often not a fourth of one per cent.--yet it
is more than sufficient, under a certain condition, to cause the butter
to become speedily rancid. That condition is simply contact with the
air. If the curd, before it becomes dry and firm, is subjected to the
influence of the air, it rapidly passes into a state of fermentation,
which is very soon communicated to the fatty and saccharine constituents
of the butter (substances not spontaneously liable to sudden changes in
composition) and those peculiar compounds--such, for example, as butyric
and capric acids, are generated, which confer upon rancid butter its
characteristic and very disagreeable odor and flavor. The fermentation
of the curd is prevented by incorporating common salt with the butter,
and by preventing, so far as possible, the access of air to the
vessels in which the article is placed. If fresh butter be placed in
water--which apparently protects it from the influence of the air--it
will soon become rancid. The reason of this is, that water always
contains air, which differs in composition, though derived, from the
atmosphere, by being very rich in oxygen. Now, it is precisely this
oxygen which effects those undesirable changes in the casein, or curd,
to which I have so repeatedly referred; hence its presence in a
concentrated state in water causes that fluid to produce an injurious
effect on the butter placed in it. A saturated solution of salt contains
very little air, and, so long as the curd is immersed therein, it
undergoes no change. The salt, too, acts as a decided preservative; for
although it was long considered to be capable of preserving animal
matters, merely by virtue of its property of absorbing water from them
(the presence of water being a condition in the decomposition of organic
matter), it has lately been shown to possess very antiseptic properties.

The mixing of the salt with the butter is effected in the following
manner:--The butter, after being well washed, in order to free it from
the butter-milk, is spread out in a tub, and the salt shaken over it;
the butter is then turned over on the salt by the lower part of the palm
of the hand, and rubbed down until a uniform mixture is attained. A good
plan in salting is to mix in only one half of the quantity of salt, make
up the butter in lumps, and set them aside until the following day; a
quantity of milk is certain to exude, which is to be poured off, and
then the rest of the salt may be incorporated with the butter.

According to butter-makers, the quality of the article is greatly
dependent on the quality of the salt used in preserving it. I think
there is a good deal of truth in this belief, and I therefore recommend
that only the very best and _driest_ salt should be used in the dairy.
Common salt is essentially composed of the substance termed by chemists
chloride of sodium, but it often contains other saline matters (chloride
of magnesium, &c.), some of which have a tendency to absorb moisture
from the air, and to dissolve in the water so obtained. These salts are
termed _deliquescent_, from the Latin _deliquere_, to melt down. When,
therefore, common salt becomes damp by mere exposure to the air, it is
to be inferred that it contains impurities which, as they possess a very
bitter taste, would, if mixed with butter, confer a bad flavor upon it.
The impurities of salt may be almost completely removed by placing about
a stone weight of it in any convenient vessel, pouring over it a quart
of boiling water, and mixing thoroughly the fluid and solid. In an hour
or two the whole is to be thrown upon a filter made of calico, when the
water will pass through the filter, carrying with it all the impurities,
and the purified salt, in fine crystals, will remain upon the filter.
The solution need not be thrown away: boiled down to dryness it may be
given as salt to cattle; or, if added in solution to the dung-heap, it
will augment the fertilising power of that manure.

The proportion of salt used in preserving butter varies greatly. When
the butter is intended for immediate use, I believe a quarter of an
ounce of salt to the pound is quite sufficient; but when designed for
the market, about half an ounce of salt to the pound of butter will be
sufficient. Irish butter at one time commanded the highest price in the
home and foreign markets, but latterly it has fallen greatly in public
estimation; indeed, at the present moment the price of Irish butter at
London is nearly twenty shillings per cwt. under that of the Dutch
article. It is really painful to be obliged to admit that the Irish
farmer is solely to blame for this remarkable depreciation in the value
of one of our best agricultural staples. In a word, by the stupid (and
_recent_) practice of putting into butter four times the quantity of
salt necessary to its preservation, the Irish dairy farmers--or at least
the great majority of them--have completely ruined the reputation of
Irish butter in those very markets in which, at one time, the Cork
brand on a firkin was sufficient to dispose of its contents at the
very highest price. It is a great mistake to think that the greater the
quantity of salt which can be incorporated with the butter, the greater
will be the profit to the producer. No doubt, every pound of salt sold
as a constituent of butter realises a profit of two thousand per cent.;
but then the addition of every pound of that substance, after a certain
quantity, to the cwt. of butter depreciates the value of the latter to
such an extent as to far more than neutralise the gain on the sale of
salt at the price of butter. In the county of Carlow, less salt is used
in preserving butter than is the case in the county of Cork and the
adjacent counties; the price, therefore, which the Carlow commodity
commands in the London market is higher than that of the Cork butter:
but in every part of Ireland the proportion of salt added to the butter
is excessive.

The results of the analyses of butter supplied to the London market,
made by the _Lancet_ Analytical Commission, showed that the proportion
of salt varied from 0·30 to 8·24 per cent. The largest proportion of
salt found in fresh butter was 2·21 and the least 0·30. In salt butter
the highest proportion of salt was 8·24 and the lowest 1·53. The butter
which contained most salt was also generally largely adulterated with
water. Indeed, in several samples the amount of this constituent reached
so high as nearly 30 per cent. Nothing is easier than the incorporation
of water with salt butter. The butter is melted, and whilst cooling the
salt and water are added, and the mixture kept constantly stirred until
quite cold. In this way nearly 50 per cent. of water may be added to
butter; but of course the quality of the article will be of the very
worst kind.

A correspondent of the _Lancet_ states that, on awakening about
three o'clock in the morning at the house in which he was lodging, he
perceived a light below the door of his room; and apprehending a fire,
he hurried down stairs, and was not a little surprised to discover the
whole family engaged in manipulating butter. He was informed in a jocose
way that they were making Epping butter! For this purpose they used
inferior Irish butter, which, by repeated washings, was freed from its
excessive amount of salt; after which it was frequently bathed in sweet
milk, the addition of a little sugar being the concluding stroke in the
process. This "sweet fresh butter from Epping" was sold at a profit of
100 per cent. Our dairy farmers might take a hint from this anecdote.
Does it not prove that the mere removal of the salt added to Irish
butter doubles the value of the article?

It is as necessary to pay attention to the packing of butter as it is
to its salting. If old firkins be employed, great care should be taken
in cleaning them, and if the staves be loose, the firkins should be
steeped in hot water, in order to cause the wood to swell, and thereby
to bring the edges of the staves into close contact. New firkins often
communicate a disagreeable odour to the butter. In order to guard
against this, it is the practice in many parts to fill the firkins with
very moist garden mould, which, after the lapse of a few days, is thrown
out, and the firkin thoroughly scrubbed with hot water, rinsed with the
same fluid in a cold state, and finally rubbed with salt, just before
being used.

In packing the butter, the chief object to be kept in view is the
exclusion of air. In order to accomplish this, the lumps of butter
should be pressed firmly together, and also against the bottom and sides
of the vessel. When the products of several churnings are placed in the
same firkin, the surface of each churning should be furrowed, so that
the next layer may be mixed with it. A firkin should never be filled in
a single operation. About six inches of butter of each churning will
be quite sufficient, and in a large dairy two or more firkins can be
gradually but simultaneously filled. I strongly recommend the removal
of the pickle jar from the dairy. When the layers of butter have been
carried up to within an inch or so of the top of the firkin, the space
between the surface of the butter and the edge of the vessel should be
filled with fine dry salt, instead of pickle. A common mistake made is
the holding over for too long a time of the butter: the sooner this
article can be disposed of the better, for _it never improves by age_.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 23: From two Greek words, signifying odour and soup.]

[Footnote 24: "A New Inquiry, fully illustrated by coloured engravings
of the heart, lungs, &c., of the Diseased Prize Cattle lately exhibited
at the Smithfield Cattle Club, 1857." By Frederick James Gant, M.R.C.S.
London, 1858.]

[Footnote 25: Professor John Wilson's Report of the Agricultural
Exhibition, Aarhuus, 1867.]




PART V.

ON THE COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF VEGETABLE FOODS.


SECTION I.

THE MONEY VALUE OF FOOD SUBSTANCES.

The flesh-forming principles of food are, as I have already stated,
almost identical with the principal nitrogenous constituents of animals.
Unlike the non-plastic substances, they are convertible into each other
with little, if any, loss either of matter or of force. Not many
years since it was the fashion to estimate the nutritive value of a
food-substance by its proportion of nitrogen; but this method--not yet
quite abandoned--was based on erroneous views, and yielded results very
far from the truth. No doubt all the more concentrated and valuable
kinds of food are rich in nitrogenous principles; but there are other
varieties, the nutritive value of which is very low, and yet their
proportion of nitrogen is very high. This point requires explanation.
Both the plastic and the non-plastic materials of food exist in two
distinct states--in one of which they are easily digestible, and in the
other either altogether unassimilable or so nearly so as to be almost
useless. Thus, for example, the cellular tissue of plants, when newly
formed, is to a great extent digestible, whilst the old woody fibre is
nearly, if not quite, incapable of assimilation. Gelatine, which in raw
bones is easily digested in the stomachs of the carnivora, loses a large
proportion of its nutritive value on being subjected to the action of
steam. Again, a portion of the nitrogen of young succulent plants is in
a form not sufficiently organic to admit of its being assimilated to
the animal body. But, independently of these strong objections to the
method of estimating the nutritive value of food by its per-centage of
flesh-formers, there are many other reasons which as clearly prove the
fallacy of this rule. If we were, for instance, to estimate the value
of albumen according to the tables of food equivalents which were
constructed some years ago by Boussingault and other chemists, we would
find one pound weight of it to be equivalent to four pounds weight of
oil-cake, or to twelve pounds weight of hay; yet, it is a fact that
a horse would speedily die if confined to a purely albuminous diet,
whereas hay is capable of supporting the animal's life for an indefinite
period.

It is clear, then, from what I have stated, that neither the amount of
flesh-formers, nor of fat-formers, contained in a given quantity of a
substance is a measure of its nutritive value; nevertheless it would
be incorrect to infer from this that the numerous analyses of feeding
substances which have been made are valueless. On the contrary, I am
disposed to believe that the composition of these substances, when
correctly stated by the chemist, enables the physiologist to determine
pretty accurately their relative alimentary value. Theory is certainly
against the assumption that food is valuable in proportion to its
content of nitrogen; nor has practice less strongly disproved its truth.
An illustration drawn from the nutrition of plants will make this matter
more apparent. Every intelligent agriculturist knows that guano contains
nitrogen and phosphoric acid; both substances are indispensable to the
development of plants, and therefore it would be incorrect to estimate
the manurial value of the guano in proportion to the quantity of
nitrogen it was capable of yielding. If the value of manures were
determined only by their per-centage of nitrogen--a mode by which
certain chemists still estimate the nutritive value of food--then
woollen rags would be worth more than bones, and bones would be more
valuable than superphosphate of lime. The truth is, that the analysis of
feeding stuffs and manures is sometimes of little value if the condition
in which the constituents of these substances exist be undetermined. For
example, the analysis of one manure may show it to contain 40 per cent.
of phosphate of lime, and three per cent. of ammonia, whilst, according
to analysis, another fertiliser may include 20 per cent. of phosphate of
lime, and two per cent. of ammonia. Viewed by this light solely, the
first manure would be considered the more valuable of the two, whereas
it might, in reality, be very much inferior. If the phosphate of lime
in the manure, containing 40 per cent. of that body, were derived from
coprolites or apatite, and its ammonia from horns, the former would be
worth little or nothing, and the latter, by reason of its exceedingly
slow evolution from the horns, would possess a very low value. If, on
the contrary, the phosphate of lime, in the manure comparatively poor
in phosphate, were a constituent of bones, and its ammonia ready formed
(say as sulphate of ammonia), then, its value, both commercial and
manurial, would be far greater than the other.

In estimating the money value of an article of food, we should omit
such considerations as the relative adjustment of its flesh-formers and
fat-formers, and its suitability to particular kinds of animals, as well
as to animals in a certain stage of development. The manure supplied to
plants contains several elements indispensable to vegetable nutrition;
and, although the agriculturist most commonly purchases all these
elements combined in the one article, still he frequently buys each
ingredient separately. Ammonia is one of these principles, and, whether
it be bought _per se_, or as a constituent of a compound manure, the
price it commands is invariable. This principle should prevail in the
purchase of food: each constituent of which should have a certain value
placed upon it; and the sums of all the values of the constituents would
then be the value of the article of food taken as a whole. There are, no
doubt, practical difficulties in the way which prevent this method of
valuation from giving more than approximatively correct results; but
are there not precisely similar difficulties in the way of the correct
estimation of the value of a manure according to its analysis? There
are several constituents of food, the money value of which is easily
determinable: these are sugar, starch, and fat. No matter what substance
they are found in, the nutritive value of each varies only within very
narrow limits. The value of cellulose and woody fibre is not so easily
ascertained, as it varies with the age and nature of the vegetable
structure in which these principles occur. There is little doubt but
that the cellulose and fibre of young grass, clover, and other succulent
plants, are, for the most part, digestible; and we should not be far
astray if we were to assume that four pounds weight of soft fibre and
cellulose are equivalent to three pounds weight of starch. As to old
hard fibre, we are not in a position to say whether or not it possesses
any nutrimental value worth taking into account. The estimation of the
value of the flesh-forming materials is far more difficult than that of
sugar, starch, pectine compounds, and fat. The nitrogenous constituents
of food must be in a highly elaborated state before they are capable
of being assimilated. In seeds--in which vegetable substances attain
their highest degree of development--they probably exist in the most
digestible form, whilst much of the nitrogen found in the stems and
leaves of succulent plants, is either in a purely mineral state, or in
so low a degree of elaboration as to be unavailable for the purpose of
nutrition. But even plastic materials, in a high degree of organisation,
present many points of difference, which greatly affect their relative
alimental value; for example, many of them are naturally associated with
substances possessing a disagreeable flavor: and as their separation
from these substances is often practically impossible, the animal that
consumes both will not assimilate the plastic matters so well as if
they were endowed with a pleasant flavor. In seeds and other perfectly
matured vegetable structures, the flesh-formers may exist in different
degrees of availability. The nitrogen of the _testa_, or covering of
the seeds, will hardly be so assimilable as that which exists in their
cotyledons. The solubility of the flesh-formers--provided they be
highly elaborated--is a very good criterion of their nutritive power.
In linseed the muscle-forming substances are more soluble than in
linseed-cake--the heat which is generally employed in the extraction of
oil from linseed rendering the plastic materials of the resultant _cake_
less soluble, and diminishing thereby their digestibility, as practice
has proved.

From the considerations which I have now entered into, it is obvious
that the chemical analysis of food substances as generally performed,
though of great utility, does not afford strictly accurate information
as to their commercial value, and still less reliable in relation to
their nutritive power. At the same time, they as clearly establish
the feasibility of analyses being _made_ whereby the money value of
feeding-stuffs may be estimated with tolerable exactitude. Let the
chemist determine the presence and relative amounts of the ingredients
of food-substances, and--if it be possible so to do with a degree of
exactness that would render the results useful--place on each a money
value. This done, let the physiologist and the feeder combine the food
in such proportions as they may find best adapted to the nature, age,
and condition of the animal to be fed.

It is to be regretted that the market price of feeding stuffs is not,
in consequence of our defective knowledge, strictly determined by their
nutritive value, for if such were the case, the feeder would merely have
to adapt each to the nature and condition of his stock. Even amongst
practical men there prevails, unfortunately, great diversity of opinion
as to the relative nutritive value of the greater number of food
substances; and I am quite certain that many of these command higher
prices than others which in no respect are inferior. It would lead me
too far from my immediate subject were I to enter minutely into the
consideration of such questions as--whether an acre of grass yields more
or less nutriment than an acre of turnips? I shall merely describe the
composition and properties of grass and of turnips, and of the various
other important food substances, and compare their nutritive power, so
far as comparisons are admissible; but I shall say but little on the
subject of the various economic and other conditions which affect the
production of forage plants. When I shall have described the chemical
nature and physical condition of the various articles of food, and the
results of actual feeding experiments made with them, the feeder will
then be in a position to determine which are the most economical to
produce or to purchase.


SECTION II.

PROXIMATE CONSTITUENTS OF VEGETABLES.

The saccharine, or amylaceous substances constitute the most abundant
of the proximate constituents of plants. They are composed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen. I shall briefly describe the more important
members of this group of substances, namely, starch, sugar, inulin,
gum, pectin, and cellulose.

_Starch_, or _fecula_, occurs largely in dicotyledonous seeds, peas,
&c., and still more abundantly in certain monocotyledonous seeds, such
as wheat and barley. It constitutes the great bulk of many tubers and
roots--for example, the potato and tapioca. It consists of flattened
ovate granules, which vary in size according to the plant. In the
beetroot they are 1/3500 of an inch in diameter, whilst in _tous les
mois_ they are nearly 1/200 of an inch in diameter. Most of the starch
granules are marked by a series of concentric rings. Starch is heavier
than water, and is insoluble in that fluid when cold; neither is it
dissolved by alcohol or ether. When heated in water having a temperature
of at least 140° Fahrenheit, it increases greatly in volume, and
acquires a gelatinous consistence. When the water is allowed to cool,
a portion of the starch becomes insoluble, whilst another portion
remains in solution; the latter form of starch is sometimes termed
_amidin_, from the French word for starch, _amidon_. When dry starch
is heated to 400° Fahr., it is converted, without any change in its
composition, into a soluble gum-like substance, termed _dextrin_,
or British gum. On being boiled in diluted sulphuric acid it is
converted into a kind of sugar; and the same effect is produced by
fermentation--for example, in the germination of seeds. Fresh rice
contains 82, wheat 60, and potatoes 20 per cent. of starch. This
substance constitutes a nutritious and easily digestible food, but
alone cannot support life. Arrowroot is only a pure form of starch.

_Sugar_ occurs less abundantly in plants than starch. There are several
varieties of this substance, of which the kinds termed cane sugar
(_sucrose_) and grape sugar (_glucose_), are only of importance to
agriculturists. The former enters largely into the composition of the
sugar-cane, the beetroot, the sugar-maple, the sorgho grass, pumpkins,
carrots, and a great variety of other plants. Grape sugar is found in
fruits, especially when dried--raisins and figs--in malted corn, and
in honey. In the sugar-cane there is 18 per cent., and in the beetroot
10 per cent. of sugar.

_Cane sugar_, when pure, consists of minute transparent crystals. It is
1-6/10 heavier than water, and is soluble in one-third of its weight
of that fluid. By long-continued boiling in water it is changed into
uncrystallizable sugar, or treacle, by which its flavor is altered, but
its sweetening power increased.

_Grape sugar_ crystallizes in very small cubes, of inferior color as
compared with cane sugar crystals. It dissolves in its own weight of
water, being three times less soluble than sucrose. In sweetening power
one part of cane sugar is equal to 2-1/2 parts of grape sugar; but there
is probably little if any difference, between the nutritive power of the
two substances.

_Inulin_ is a substance somewhat resembling starch. It does not occur
in large quantities. It is met with in the roots of the dandelion,
chicory, and many other plants.

_Gum_ is an abundant constituent of plants. The kind termed gum
arabic, so largely employed in the arts, is a very pure variety of this
substance. Common gums are said to be essentially composed of a very
weak acid--_gummic_, or _arabic_ acid--united with lime and potash.
The solution of gum is very slightly acid, and has a mucilaginous,
ropy consistence: it is almost tasteless. _Mucilage_, or _bassorin_,
is simply a modified form of gum, which, though insoluble in water,
forms a gelatinous mixture with that fluid. It exudes from certain
trees--the cherry for example--and exists largely in linseed and other
seeds. Gums are nutritious foods, but it is probable that they are not
equal in alimental power to equal weights of starch or sugar.

_Vegetable jelly_, or _pectin_, is almost universally diffused
throughout the vegetable kingdom. It is owing to its presence that the
juices of many fruits and roots possess the property of gelatinizing.
It is soluble in water, but prolonged boiling destroys its viscous
property. _Pectose_ is a modification of pectin; it is insoluble in
water. According to Fremy, the hardness of green fruits is due to the
presence of pectose; which is also found in the cellular tissue of
turnips, carrots, and various other roots.

_Cellulose_ is a fibrous or cellular tissue, allied in composition to
starch. It is the most abundant constituent of plants, and forms the
very ground-work of the vegetable mechanism. Linen, cotton, and the
pith of the elder and other trees are nearly pure forms of cellulose.
Ligneous, or woody tissue (_lignin_) is indurated cellulose, hardened
by age. It is almost identical in composition with cellulose. Pure
cellulose is white, colorless, tasteless, insoluble in water, oil,
alcohol, or ether. It is heavier than water. Sulphuric acid is capable
of converting it into grape, or starch sugar. In its fresh and succulent
state cellulose is digestible and nutritious; but in the form of
ligneous tissue it opposes a very great resistance to the action of the
digestive fluids.  Digestible cellulose is probably equal in nutritive
power to starch.

_Oils and fats_ occur abundantly in vegetables, more particularly in
their seeds. In the seeds of many cruciferous plants the proportion
of fat and oil exceeds 35 per cent. The oils and fats termed _fixed_
are those which possess the greatest interest to agriculturists; the
_volatile oils_ being those which confer on certain plants their
fragrant odour. There are a great variety of vegetable oils, but
the proximate constituents of most of them are chiefly _stearin_,
_margarin_, _olein_, and _palmitin_.

_Stearin_ is a white crystalline substance, sparingly soluble in alcohol
and ether, but insoluble in water. There are two or three modifications
of this substance, but they do not essentially differ from each other.
The melting point varies from 130° to 160° Fahr. Stearin is the most
abundant of the fats.

_Margarin_ presents the appearance of pearly scales. It is the solid fat
present in olive oil, and it is also met with in a great variety of fats
and oils. It melts at 116° Fahr.

_Olein_ is the fluid constituent of oils and fatty substances. It
resists an extreme degree of cold, without solidifying. There are
several modifications of this body--the olein of olive oil being
somewhat different from that of castor oil; the olein of linseed is
sometimes termed _linolien_.

_Palmitin._--This fat occurs in many plants, but as it makes up the
great bulk of palm oil, it has been termed palmitin. It is white, and
may be obtained in feathery-like masses. Its melting point varies from
114° to 145°, there being, according to Duffy, three modifications of
this substance.

The fats and oils are lighter than water. They contain far more carbon
and hydrogen, and less oxygen, than are found in the sugars and
starches. They all consist of acids (stearic, palmitic, &c.) united with
glycerine. On being boiled with potash or soda, the latter take the
place of the glycerine, which is set free, and a _soap_ is produced.
The fatty acids strongly resemble the fats. In nutritive power, one part
of fat is equal to 2-1/2 parts of starch or sugar.

The Albuminous substances contain, in addition to the elements found
in starch, nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus. _Albumen_, _fibrin_, and
_legumin_ constitute the three important members of the "Nitrogenous"
constituents of plants.

_Albumen_ is an uncrystallizable substance. It is soluble in water,
unless when heated to 140 deg. Fahr., at which temperature it coagulates,
_i.e._, becomes solid and insoluble. The _gluten_ of wheat is composed
chiefly of albumen, and of bodies closely allied to that substance.

_Fibrin_, when dried, is a hard, horny, yellow, solid body. It contains
a little more oxygen than is found in albumen. This substance is best
known as a constituent of animals, and it does not appear to be abundant
in plants. The portion of the gluten of wheat-flour, which is insoluble
in boiling alcohol, is considered by Liebig and Dumas to be coagulated
fibrin.

In the seeds of leguminous and a few other kinds of plants large
quantities of a substance termed _legumin_ are found. It resembles the
casein, or cheesy ingredient of milk; indeed, some chemists consider it
to be identical in composition with that substance. When pure, it is
pearly white, insoluble in boiling water, but soluble in cold water and
in vinegar. The saline matters found in plants are always associated
with the albuminous bodies; the latter, therefore, form the bones as
well as the muscles of animals.

A great many substances are found in plants, such as wax, mannite,
"extractive matter," citric, malic, and other acids, of the nutritive
value of which very little is known. The substances described in this
section constitute, however, at least 95 per cent. of the weight of the
vegetable matters used as food by live stock.


SECTION III.

GREEN FOOD.

_The Grasses._--More than one-half the area of Great Britain and Ireland
is under pasture; the grasses, therefore, constitute the most important
and abundant food used by live stock. The composition of the natural
and artificial grasses is greatly influenced by the nature of the soil
on which they are grown, and by the climatic conditions under which
they are developed. Many of them are almost worthless, whilst others
possess a high nutritive value. Amongst the most useful natural
grasses may be enumerated Italian rye-grass, Meadow barley, Annual
Meadow-grass, Crested dogstail-grass, Cocksfoot-grass, Timothy or
Meadow catstail-grass, and Sweet vernal-grass. Amongst grasses of medium
quality I may mention common Oatlike-grass, Meadow foxtail grass, Smooth
and rough stalked Meadow-grass, and Waterwhorl-grass. There are very
many grasses which are almost completely innutritious, and which ought,
under no circumstances, to be tolerated, although too often they make
up the great bulk of the herbage of badly-managed meadows and pastures.
Such grasses are, the Meadow soft-grass, Creeping soft-grass, False
brome-grass, and Upright brome-grass. The rough-stalked Meadow-grass,
though spoken favorably of by some farmers, is hardly worthy of
cultivation, and the same may be said of many of the grasses which have
a place in our meadows and pastures. (See "Analyses of Natural Grasses
in a Fresh State, by Dr. Voelcker," on next page.)

The _Schræder brome_ is a perennial lately introduced into France. It
is described as an exceedingly valuable forage crop, and one which is
admirably adapted for the feeding of dairy cows. It would be desirable
to give it a trial in these countries. The composition (which is very
peculiar) of this plant is stated to be as follows, when dry:--

  ANALYSIS OF SCHRÆDER BROME HAY.

  Water                             16·281
  Nitrogenous matters               23·443
  Fat                                3·338
  Starch gum, &c.                   22·549
  Cellulose (fibre)                 19·843
  Ashes                             14·546
                                   -------
         Total                     100·000


  ANALYSES OF NATURAL GRASSES IN A FRESH STATE, BY DR. VOELCKER.

  +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  | KEY:                                                                      |
  | A.--Water.                                                                |
  | B.--Albuminous or Flesh-forming Principles.                               |
  | C.--Fatty Matters.                                                        |
  | D.--Respiratory Principles: Starch, Gum, Sugar.                           |
  | E.--Woody Fibre.                                                          |
  | F.--Mineral Matter or Ash.                                                |
  | G.--Date of Collection.                                                   |
  +-----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+
  |                             | A.  | B.  | C.  |  D.  |  E.  | F.  |  G.   |
  +-----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+
  |Anthoxanthum odoratum--      |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Sweet-scented vernal grass |80·35| 2·00|  ·67|  8·54|  7·15| 1·24|May  25|
  |Alopecurus pratensis--       |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Meadow foxtail grass       |80·20| 2·44|  ·52|  8·59|  6·70| 1·55|June  1|
  |Arrhenatherum avenaceum--    |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Common oat-like grass      |72·65| 3·54|  ·87| 11·21|  9·37| 2·36|July 17|
  |Avena flavescens--           |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Yellow oat-like grass      |60·40| 2·96| 1·04| 18·66| 14·22| 2·72|June 29|
  |Avena pubescens--            |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Downy oat-grass            |61·50| 3·07|  ·92| 19·16| 13·34| 2·01|July 11|
  |Briza media--                |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Common quaking grass       |51·85| 2·93| 1·45| 22·60| 17·00| 4·17|June 29|
  |Bromus erectus--             |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Upright brome grass        |59·57| 3·78| 1·35|    33·19    | 2·11| "   23|
  |Bromus mollis--              |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Soft brome grass           |76·62| 4·05|  ·47|  9·04|  8·46| 1·36| May  8|
  |Cynosurus cristatus--        |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Crested dogstail grass     |62·73| 4·13| 1·32| 19·64|  9·80| 2·38|June 21|
  |Dactylus glomerata--         |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Cocksfoot grass            |70·00| 4·06|  ·94| 13·30| 10·11| 1·54| "   13|
  |  Ditto, seeds ripe          |52·57|10·93|  ·74| 12·61| 20·54| 2·61|July 19|
  |Festuca duriuscula--         |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Hard fescue grass          |69·33| 3·70| 1·02| 12·46| 11·83| 1·66|June 13|
  |Holcus lanatus--             |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Soft meadow grass          |69·70| 3·49| 1·02| 11·92| 11·94| 1·93| "   29|
  |Hordeum pratense--           |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Meadow barley              |58·85| 4·59|  ·94| 20·05| 13·03| 2·54|July 11|
  |Lolium perenne--             |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Darnel grass               |71·43| 3·37|  ·91| 12·08| 10·06| 2·15|June  8|
  |Lolium italicum--            |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Italian rye-grass          |75·61| 2·45|  ·80| 14·11|  4·82| 2·21| "   13|
  |Phleum pratense--            |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Meadow catstail grass      |57·21| 4·86| 1·50| 22·85| 11·32| 2·26|       |
  |Poa annua--                  |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Annual meadow grass        |79·14| 2·47|  ·71| 10·79|  6·30|  ·59| May 28|
  |Poa pratensis--              |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Smooth-stalked meadow grass|67·14| 3·41|  ·86| 14·15| 12·49| 1·95|June 11|
  |Poa trivialis--              |     |     |     |      |      |     |       |
  |  Rough-stalked ditto        |73·60| 2·58|  ·97| 10·54| 10·11| 2·20| "   18|
  |Grass from water meadow      |87·58| 3·22|  ·81|  3·98|  3·13| 1·28|Apr. 30|
  |  Ditto, second crop         |74·53| 2·78|  ·52| 11·17|  8·76| 2·24|June 26|
  |Annual rye-grass             |69·00| 2·96|  ·69| 12·89| 12·47| 1·99| "    8|
  +-----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+

  Most of the grasses here mentioned were analysed when in flower.


_Tussac Grass_ (_Dactylis cæspitus_) is recommended as an excellent
plant to grow on very poor, wet, or mossy soils.[26] It is an evergreen
grass, somewhat resembling coltsfoot. It is relished by cattle.

  ANALYSIS OF TUSSAC GRASS BY JOHNSTONE.

                                          Lower part.   Upper part.

  Water                                      86·09         75·17
  Flesh-formers                               2·47          4·79
  Sugar, gum, &c.                             4·62          6·81
  Woody fibre (with a little albumen)         5·68         11·86
  Ash                                         1·14          1·37
                                            ------        ------
            Total                           100·00        100·00

The "artificial grasses" embrace the clovers, vetches, lucerne, and
a few other plants, some of which are seldom cultivated.

  ANALYSES OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLOVER, BY DR. ANDERSON.

                          +---------------------------------------------
                          | KEY:
                          | A.--Water.
                          | B.--Dry Substances.
                          | C.--Ash.
                          | D.--Nitrogenised Substances.
                          | E.--Ash.
                          | F.--Nitrogenised Matters.
                          |
  ------------------------+-----------------------------+---------------
                          | Per-centage in the          | Per-centage
                          | Fresh Clover.               | in Dry Clover.
                          +-------+-------+------+------+-------+-------
                          |   A.  |   B.  |  C.  |  D.  |   E.  |  F.
  ------------------------+-------+-------+------+------+-------+-------
  Red clover--            |       |       |      |      |       |
   Trifolium pratense:    |       |       |      |      |       |
    1. From English seed  | 85·30 | 14·70 | 1·30 | 2·31 |  8·90 | 15·87
    2. From German seed   |       |       |      |      |       |
        (from the Rhine)  | 81·68 | 18·32 | 1·49 | 2·81 |  8·15 | 15·50
    3. From French seed   | 83·51 | 16·49 | 1·95 | 2·25 | 11·82 | 13·56
    4. From American seed | 79·98 | 21·02 | 1·58 | 2·87 |  8·05 |  ...
    5. From Dutch seed    |  ...  |  ...  |  ... |  ... |  8·82 | 12·43
  Cowgrass--              |       |       |      |      |       |
   Trifolium medium:[27]  |       |       |      |      |       |
    Variety,              |       |       |      |      |       |
     " Duke of Norfolk    | 77·39 | 22·61 | 2·73 | 2·25 | 12·09 | 10·19
     " common             | 81·76 | 18·24 | 1·92 | 3·19 | 10·53 | 14·37
  Crimson clover,         |       |       |      |      |       |
   Trifolium incarnatum:  |       |       |      |      |       |
    From French seed      | 82·56 | 17·44 | 1·88 | 3·25 | 10·81 | 18·56
  Yellow clover--         |       |       |      |      |       |
   Medicago lupulina:     |       |       |      |      |       |
    From English seed     | 77·38 | 22·62 | 2·02 | 3·50 |  8·95 | 15·44
    From French seed      | 78·60 | 21·40 | 1·75 | 2·94 |  8·18 | 13·69
  ------------------------+-------+-------+------+------+-------+-------

_Clover_ is very rich in flesh-forming and heat-producing substances.
There are several varieties of this plant, of which the Alsike Clover
appears to be the most valuable, as it contains a high proportion of
organic matter and gives the largest acreable produce. The nature of the
soil influences, to a great extent, the composition of this plant: this
no doubt accounts for the somewhat discrepant result of the analyses of
it made by Way, Voelcker, and Anderson.

The composition of the Vetch, Sainfoin, and Lucerne, resembles very
closely that of the Clover: indeed, it appears to me that all these
leguminous plants are nearly equally valuable as green forage, but that
the best adapted for hay is the Clover. In the following table the
composition of these plants is shown:--

  ANALYSES OF CLOVER, BY DR. VOELCKER.

  ---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+---------+---------
                             |   I.  |  II.  | III.  |   IV.   |    V.
                             |  Red  | White |Yellow | Alsike. | Bokhara
                             |Clover.|Clover.|Clover.| Clover. | Clover.
                             +-------+-------+-------+---------+---------
  Water                      | 80·64 | 83·65 | 77·57 |  76·67  |  81·30
                             |       |       |       |         |
  Soluble in Water--         |       |       |       |         |
    _a._ Organic substances  |  6·35 |  4·98 |  8·26 |   4·91  |   6·80
    _b._ Inorganic substances|  1·55 |  1·13 |  1·40 |   1·33  |   1·54
                             |       |       |       |         |
  Insoluble in water--       |       |       |       |         |
    _a._ Impure vegetable    |       |       |       |         |
         fibre               | 11·04 |  9·80 | 12·17 |  16·36  |  10·01
    _b._ Inorganic matters   |       |       |       |         |
         (ash)               |  0·42 |  0·44 |  0·60 |   0·73  |   0·35
                             +-------+-------+-------+---------+---------
                             |100·00 |100·00 |100·00 | 100·00  | 100·00
  ---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+---------+---------

  ANALYSES OF LUCERNE, SAINFOIN, AND VETCH.

  ---------------------------------------+----------+-----------+--------
                                         |    I.    |    II.    |  III.
                                         | Lucerne. | Sainfoin. | Vetch.
                                         +----------+-----------+--------
  Water                                  |  73·41   |   77·32   |  82·16
                                         |          |           |
  Soluble in Water                       |          |           |
    _a._ Organic substances              |   9·43   |    8·00   |   6·07
    _b._ Inorganic substances            |   2·33   |    1·20   |   1·07
                                         |          |           |
  Insoluble in water                     |          |           |
    _a._ Impure vegetable fibre          |  14·08   |   12·95   |  10·23
    _b._ Inorganic matters (ash)         |   0·75   |    0·53   |   0·47
                                         +----------+-----------+--------
                                         |  100·00  |  100·00   | 100·00
  ---------------------------------------+----------+-----------+--------

The artificial grasses are, on the whole, more nutritious than the
natural grasses; but I should explain that the analyses of the natural
grasses which I have quoted refer to those plants in what may be almost
termed their wild state: under the influence of good cultivation--when
irrigated or top-dressed with abundance of appropriate manure--their
analyses would indicate a higher nutritive value. The grasses, and more
especially the so-called artificial grasses, are more nutritious and
digestible when young. In old clover the proportion of insoluble woody
fibre is often so considerable as to greatly detract from the alimental
value of the plant.

The _Lentils_, the _Birdsfoot_, the _Trefoil_, and the _Melilot_ are
leguminous plants which occasionally are found as constituents of forage
crops. Lentils are extensively cultivated on the Continent, and are
the only kind of these plants the chemistry of which has been at all
studied. The straw contains 7 per cent. of flesh-formers.

_The Yellow Lupine_ is cultivated rather extensively in Germany,
France, and Belgium, partly for feeding purposes, partly to furnish a
green manure. Its seeds constitute a nutritious article of food for man,
and its stems and leaves are given to cattle. An attempt was made a few
years ago to introduce its cultivation, as a field crop, into England,
and very satisfactory results attended the first trials made with it.
Mr. Kimber, who has cultivated this crop, states that it is likely to
prove valuable on light sandy soils, where the ordinary green fodder
crops are not easily cultivated. The produce per acre obtained in
Mr. Kimber's trial was about nineteen tons. Cattle and sheep relish
the Yellow Lupine, but according to Mr. Kimber, pigs reject it.
Professor Voelcker examined this plant, and found that it resembled in
composition the ordinary artificial grasses, except in one respect,
namely, a remarkable deficiency in sugar. Altogether, it is not so rich
in nutriment as any of the commonly cultivated leguminous plants; but
as it can be cultivated on a very poor soil, and gives a good return,
it is probable that the Yellow Lupine will yet become a common crop in
Britain. The following table exhibits the results of Dr. Voelcker's
analysis.

  COMPOSITION OF YELLOW LUPINES (CUT DOWN IN A GREEN STATE).

                                      In natural state.   Dried at 212°F.

  Water                                      89·20
  Oil                                          ·37              3·42
  [*] Soluble albuminous compounds            1·37             12·68
  Soluble mineral (saline) substances          ·61              5·64
  [+] Insoluble albuminous compounds          1·01              9·35
  Sugar, gum, bitter extractive matter,
    and digestible fibre                      3·96             36·68
  Indigestible woody fibre (cellulose)        3·29             30·48
  Insoluble mineral matters                    ·19              1·75
                                            ------            ------
                                            100·00            100·00
  [* Containing nitrogen                       ·22              2·03]
  [+ Containing nitrogen                       ·16              1·48]


_Rib grass plantain_ (_Plantago lanceolata_) is one of those plants, the
value of which for forage purposes is questionable. Many persons believe
it to be a useful food. Its composition, which looks favorable, is as
follows:--

  Water                         84·78
  Albuminous matters             2·18
  Fatty matters                  0·56
  Starch, gum, &c.               6·08
  Woody fibre                    5·10
  Mineral matter                 1·30

The grasses, natural and artificial, are occasionally affected by a
formidable and well-known fungus, the _ergot_. Italian rye-grass is the
most liable to the ravages of this pest, and there are on record several
cases in which ergotted rye-grass proved fatal to the animal fed upon
it. Clover and the various leguminous plants appear more liable to the
ergot disease than the natural grasses (except rye-grass), but I have
on several occasions noticed this fungus on the spikelets of _Hordeum
pratense_, _Festuca pratense_, and _Bromus erectus_. It has also been
noticed that rye-grass rapidly developed under the influence of liquid
manure is so rank that young animals fed upon it are poisonously
affected. Alderman Mechi states that in July, 1864, ten out of his
thirty Shorthorn calves died in consequence of eating the heads of
Italian rye-grass, and that the survivors' health was seriously injured.
He was also unfortunate with his lambs, which, during the same month,
were folded on Italian rye-grass. "Four days ago," writes the Alderman,
"it was sewaged, having been prior to the former growth also guanoed.
In four days it had grown from four to five inches, was of an intense
green, and pronounced to be, by sharp practical men, just the food for
lambs. Well, we put on our lambs, taking care to do so in the evenings
after they had been well fed. My bailiff accompanied them, and, within
five minutes, turning accidentally round, he saw two of the lambs with
their heads in the air staggering (stomach staggers it is called) and
frothing at the mouth. He immediately saw the mischief, removed the
lambs, and on their way back to a bare fold some of them vomited the
Italian rye-grass that they had just eaten, accompanied by frothy slime;
others brought it up during the night. Some of them trembled, gaped,
and showed all the same symptoms that my calves had done, such as rapid
pulse, &c. Two or three of them are rather queer to-day. I hope that
Professor Simmonds or some capable person will tell us how this is? If
we mow this grass, bring it home, and cut it into chaff, all which tends
to heat or dry it, it becomes wholesome food. The same remarks apply in
degree to very succulent tares. If the Italian grass is brought home and
given long and quite fresh to the calves, it will kill them. It does not
appear to injure old ewes as it does lambs or shearlings. The dry
weather has something to do with it. In wet weather the evil is much
diminished, or disappears."

It is probable that the juice of this poisonous herbage was extremely
rich in matters only semi-organised, and perhaps abounded in the crude
substances from which the vegetable tissues are elaborated. Such
rank grass as this was should not be used until it has attained to a
tolerably developed state: in mature plants the juices contain more
highly organised matters than are found in young vegetables.

The _Sorghuo_, _or Holcus Saccharatus_.--This plant, introduced to
the notice of the British farmer but a few years ago, is only grown
in these countries in small quantities. It is very rich in sugar, and
cattle relish it greatly. Its composition, according to Dr. Voelcker,
is as follows:--

  Water                                                    81·80
  Albuminous matters                                        1·53
  Insoluble ditto                                           0·66
  Sugar                                                     5·85
  Wax and fatty matter                                      2·55
  Mucilage, pectin, and digestible matters                  2·59
  Indigestible woody fibre                                  4·03
  Mineral matter                                            0·99
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

The plants referred to in the above analysis were cut in September.
It is found that the composition of the plant is very different at
different seasons.

_Green Rye_ is employed as a forage crop, for which purpose it is well
adapted. It is about equal in nutritive power to clover. According to
Dr. Voelcker its composition is as follows:--

  Water                                                   75·423
  Flesh-formers                                            2·705
  Fatty matter                                             0·892
  Gum, pectin, sugar, &c.                                  9·134
  Woody-fibre                                             10·488
  Mineral matter                                           1·358
                                                         -------
                                                         100·000

_Buckwheat_ is occasionally cut in a green state and used as food for
stock. Its composition, according to Einhof and Crome, is as follows:--

  Water                                                     82·5
  Nitrogenous compounds                                      0·2
  Extractive matters                                         2·6
  Starch, &c.                                                4·7
  Cellulose                                                 10·0
                                                           -----
                                                           100·0

Rape is one of our most valuable plants for stock feeding. Two varieties
are cultivated in these countries--the summer rape (_Brassica Campestris
oleifera_) and winter rape (_Brassica rapus_). The great utility of
rape arises from the circumstance of its being generally obtained as a
_stolen_ crop; for otherwise it is not quite equal to other plants that
might be substituted for it--cabbages, &c. This plant is very rich in
oily matters, and has been found well adapted both for the feeding of
cattle and the fattening of sheep. Its composition, according to
Voelcker, is shown in this table:--

  COMPOSITION OF GREEN RAPE.

  Water                                                   87·050
  Flesh-formers                                            3·133
  Fatty matters                                            0·649
  Other respiratory substances                             4·000
  Woody fibre                                              3·560
  Mineral matter (ash)                                     1·608
                                                         -------
                                                         100·000

With respect to the value of rape for the feeding of stock in spring,
Mr. Rham makes the following remarks:--

    If the crop is very forward it may be slightly fed off, but in
    general it is best to let it remain untouched till spring. In the
    end of March and the beginning of April it will be a great help
    to the ewes and lambs. It will produce excellent food till it
    begins to be in flower, when it should immediately be ploughed up.
    The ground will be found greatly recruited by this crop, which has
    taken nothing from it, and has added much by the dung and urine of
    the sheep. Whatever be the succeeding crop, it cannot fail to be
    productive; and if the land is not clean, the farmer must have
    neglected the double opportunity of destroying weeds in the
    preceding summer, and in the early part of spring. If the rape is
    fed off in time, it may be succeeded by barley or oats, with clover
    or grass seeds, or potatoes, if the soil is not too wet. Thus no
    crop will be lost, and the rape will have been a clear addition to
    the produce of the land. Any crop which is taken off the land in a
    green state, especially if it be fed off with sheep, may be repeated
    without risk of failure, provided the land be properly tilled; but
    where cole or rape have produced seed, they cannot be profitably
    sown in less than five or six years after on the same land. The
    cultivation of rape or cole for spring food cannot be too strongly
    recommended to the farmers of heavy clay soils.


_The Mustard Plant_ is occasionally used as food for sheep, for which
purpose its composition shows it to be well adapted. Voelcker's analysis
proves it to be very rich, relatively, in muscle-forming elements and in
mineral matters; it might, therefore be with advantage combined with
food relatively deficient in these principles.

  COMPOSITION OF FRESH MUSTARD.

  Water                                                    86·30
  Albuminous matters                                        2·87
  Non-nitrogenous matters (gum, sugar, oil, &c.)            4·40
  Woody fibre                                               4·39
  Ash                                                       2·04
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

_The Prickly Comfrey_ has been recommended as a good forage plant.
It yields an abundant crop--or rather crops, for it may be cut several
times in the year. The plant is a handsome one, and it might combine the
useful with the ornamental if it were cultivated on demesne or villa
farms. Dr. Voelcker states its composition to be as follows:--

  Water                                                   88·400
  Flesh-forming substances                                 2·712
  Heat and fat-producing matters                           6·898
  Ash                                                      1·990
                                                         -------
                                                         100·000

_Chicory_ is used as a forage crop on the Continent, and Professor John
Wilson surmises that it may yet be generally cultivated for this purpose
in Great Britain. At present it is rarely grown except for the sake of
its roots, which are used as partial substitutes for, or adulterants of,
coffee.

  COMPOSITION OF CHICORY, ACCORDING TO ANDERSON.

                                      Fresh roots.     Fresh leaves.

  Water                                  80·58             90·94
  Nitrogenous matters                     1·72              1·01
  Non-nitrogenous substances             16·39              6·63
  Ash                                     1·31              1·42
                                        ------            ------
                                        100·00            100·00

_Yarrow_ (_Achillæa millefolium_) is usually regarded as a weed, but
sheep are very fond of it, and when they can get it, never fail to eat
it greedily. It possesses astringent properties. Some writers have
recommended it as a good crop for warrens and sands. Its composition,
according to Way, is as follows:--

  DRIED YARROW.

  Albuminous matter                      10·34
  Fatty matters                           2·51
  Starch, gum, &c.                       45·46
  Woody fibre                            32·69
  Mineral matter                          9·00
                                        ------
                                        100·00

_Melons_ and _Marrows_ have been used, but to a very limited extent, as
food for stock. Mr. Blundell advocates their use in seasons of drought.
He states that he has obtained more than forty tons per acre of both
melons and marrows. They are relished by horses, oxen, sheep, and pigs.
Mr. Blundell's advocacy has not been attended with much success, but it
would be desirable to give these vegetables a further trial.

Dr. Voelcker's analysis of the cattle melon shows that it contains:--

  Water                                  92·98
  Albuminous matters                      1·53
  Oil                                      ·73
  Sugar, gum, &c.                         2·51
  Fibre                                   1·65
  Ash                                      ·60
                                        ------
                                        100·00

_The Cabbage._--The composition of the Drumhead Cabbage has been studied
by Dr. Anderson. He found a larger proportion of nutriment in the outer
leaves than in the "heart," and ascertained that the young plants were
richer in nutriment than those more advanced in age. His results show
the desirability of cultivating the open-leaved, rather than the compact
varieties of this plant.

  ANALYSIS OF THE CABBAGE.--BY DR. ANDERSON.

                                         Outer leaves.  Heart leaves.

  Water                                      91·08         94·48
  Compounds containing nitrogen               1·63          0·94
  Compounds destitute of nitrogen,
    such as gum, sugar, fibre, &c.            5·06          4·08
  Ash (mineral matter)                        2·23          0·50
                                            ------        ------
                                            100·00        100·00

According to Fromberg, the composition of the whole plant is as
follows:--

  Water                                                    93·40
  Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming compounds                   1·75
  Non-nitrogenous substances such as gum, sugar, &c.        4·05
  Mineral matter                                            0·80
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

Dr. Voelcker, who has more recently analysed the cattle cabbage,
furnishes us with the following details of its composition:--

  COMPOSITION OF CABBAGE LEAVES (OUTSIDE GREEN LEAVES).

  Water                                      83·72
  Dry matter                                 16·28
                                            ------
                                            100·00

The fresh and the dry matter consisted of:--

                                             Fresh     Dry matter.
                                            Matter.     Per cent.

  [*] Protein compounds                       1·65         10·19
  Non-nitrogenous matter                     13·38         82·10
  Mineral matter                              1·25          7·71
                                             -----        ------
                                             16·28        100·00
  [* Containing nitrogen                       ·26          1·63]

In the following table the results of a more elaborate analysis of the
_heart_ and inner leaves are shown:--

  COMPOSITION OF HEART AND INNER LEAVES.

                                       In natural state.    Dry.

  Water                                      89·42
  Oil                                          ·08           ·75
  [*] Soluble protein compounds               1·19         11·24
  Sugar, digestible fibres, &c.               7·01         66·25
  Soluble mineral matter                       ·73          6·89
  [+] Insoluble protein compounds              ·31          2·93
  Woody fibre                                 1·14         10·77
  Insoluble mineral matter                     ·12          1·17
                                            ------        ------
                                            100·00        100·00
  [* Containing nitrogen                       ·19          1·79]
  [+ Containing nitrogen                       ·05           ·47]

If I were asked what plant I considered the most valuable for forage,
I certainly should pronounce an opinion in favor of cabbage. This crop
yields a much greater return than that afforded by the Swedish turnip,
and it is richer in nutritive matter. Cabbages are greedily eaten by
sheep and cattle, and the butter of cows fed upon them is quite free
from the disagreeable flavor which it so often possesses when the food
of the animal is chiefly composed of turnips. If the cabbage admitted of
storing, no more valuable crop could be cultivated as food for stock.

Mr. John M'Laren, of Inchture, Scotland, gives in the "Transactions of
the Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland for 1857," a report on the
feeding value of cabbage, which is highly favorable to that plant:--

    On the 1st December, 1855 (says the reporter), two lots of
    Leicester wethers, bred on the farm, and previously fed alike,
    each lot containing ten sheep, were selected for the trial by
    competent judges, and weighed. Both lots were put into a field
    of well-sheltered old lea, having a division between them. All
    the food was cut and given them in troughs, three times a day.
    They had also a constant supply of hay in racks.

    At the end of the trial, on the 1st of March, 1856, the sheep
    were all re-weighed, sent to the Edinburgh market, and sold same
    day, but in their separate lots. As I had no opportunity of
    getting the dead weights, I requested Mr. Swan, the salesman, to
    give his opinion on their respective qualities. This was to the
    effect that no difference existed in their market value, but that
    the sheep fed on turnips would turn out the best quality of mutton,
    with most profit for the butcher. Both lots were sold at the same
    price, viz., 52s. 6d. During the three months of trial, we found
    that each lot consumed about the same weight of food--viz., 8 tons
    13 cwt. 47 lb. of cabbage, being at the rate of 21-1/3 lbs. per day
    for each sheep, and 8 tons 10 cwt. 7 lb. Swedes, being at the rate
    of 20-9/10 lb. per day.

    It will be seen, by referring to the table (see next page), that in
    this trial the Swede has proved of higher value for feeding purposes
    than the cabbage, making 11 st. 4 lb. of gain in weight, whilst the
    cabbage made 10 st. 9 lb. At the same time, 3 cwt. 40 lb. less food
    were consumed; and taking the mutton gained at 6d. per lb., the
    Swedes consumed become worth 9s. 3-1/4d. per ton, while the gain on
    the cabbage, at the same rate, makes them worth 8s. 7d. per ton.
    But from the great additional weight of the one crop grown over the
    other, the balance, at the prices, c., mentioned, is in favor of the
    cabbage by £1 15s. 11-3/4d. per acre.


These results certainly speak strongly in favor of the cabbage; but the
weight of the acreable crop of cabbages stated in the table appears to
be unusually great. So heavy a crop is rarely obtained.

_Furze_ (_Gorse, or Whins_).--Notwithstanding the natural historical
knowledge of Goldsmith, his poetical description of the furze is far
from accurate. This plant, instead of being "unprofitably gay," deserves
to rank amongst the most valuable vegetables cultivated for the use of
the domestic animals. It grows and flourishes under conditions which
most injuriously affect almost every other kind of fodder and green
crop. Prolonged drought in spring and early summer not unfrequently
renders the hay crop a scanty one; while autumn and winter frosts change
the nutriment of the mangels and turnips into decaying and unwholesome
matter. Under such circumstances as these, the maintenance of cattle in
good condition is very expensive, unless in places where a supply of
furze is available. This plant is rather improved than otherwise by
exposure to a temperature which would speedily destroy a mangel or a
turnip; and, although it thrives best when abundantly supplied with
rain, it can survive an exceedingly prolonged drought without sustaining
much injury.

  TABLE

  SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE OF WEIGHT GROWN ON AN ACRE OF CABBAGE AND AN
  ACRE OF SWEDES, AND THE VALUE OF EACH FOR FEEDING.

  +-----+-------+---------+---------+--------+--------+--------------+--------+
  | No. |       | Weight  | Weight  |        |Value of| Total Weight |        |
  | Of  |       |  of     |   of    |        |  Gain  |   of Food    | Value  |
  |Sheep| Kinds |  Ten    |  Ten    |        | taking |   consumed   | of Food|
  | In  |  of   | Sheep,  | Sheep,  |  Gain. | Mutton |     in       |consumed|
  |Each | Food. |1st Dec.,|1st Mar.,|        | at 6d. | Three Months |  per   |
  |Lot. |       |  1855.  |  1856.  |        |per lb. | by each lot. |  Ton.  |
  +-----+-------+---------+---------+--------+--------+--------------+--------+
  |     |       | st. lb. | st. lb. | st. lb.| £ s. d.|tons. cwt. lb.|s. d.   |
  | 10  |Cabbage| 90  10  | 101  5  | 10   9 | 3 14 6 |  8   13   47 |8  7    |
  |     |       |         |         |        |        |              |        |
  | 10  |Swedes | 89   3  | 100  7  | 11   4 | 3 19 0 |  8   10    7 |9  3-1/4|
  +-----+-------+---------+---------+--------+--------+--------------+--------+

  +-----+-------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+------------+
  | No. |       |  Total   |            |          |             |            |
  | Of  |       |  Weight  |    Value   |   Extra  |    Free     |   Balance  |
  |Sheep| Kinds |   per    |   of each  |  Cost on |    Value    |  in favor  |
  | In  |  of   |  Acre    |     Crop   | each Crop|   of each   |     of     |
  |Each | Food. | of each  |  per Acre. | per Acre.|    Crop     |   Cabbage  |
  |Lot. |       |  Crop.   |            |          |  per Acre.  |  per Acre. |
  +-----+-------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+------------+
  |     |       |tons. cwt.| £  s. d.   | £  s.  d.| £  s. d.    | £ s. d.    |
  | 10  |Cabbage| 42   14  | 18 6  6    | 4  10 11 | 13 15 7     |            |
  |     |       |          |            |          |             | 1 15 11-3/4|
  | 10  |Swedes | 26   12  | 12 6  7-1/4| 0   7  0 | 11 19 7-1/4 |            |
  +-----+-------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+------------+

The furze is a member of the family _Leguminosæ_, which includes so many
useful plants, such as, for example, the pea, the bean, and the clovers.
There are three varieties of it met with in this country--namely, the
common furze, _Ulex europæus_, the dwarf furze, _Ulex nanus_, and the
Irish, or upright furze, _Ulex strictus_.

The common furze is a hardy shrub, and grows luxuriantly at an elevation
far higher than the limits of cereal cultivation. It flourishes on any
kind of soil which is moderately dry, and heavy crops may easily be
raised on uplands almost incapable of producing grass. The dwarf furze
is never cultivated, but as it grows at a still greater elevation, and
on a poorer soil than the larger varieties, it might be profitably
cultivated on very high uplands. The Irish furze yields a softer and
less prickly food than the other kinds, but as it does not usually bear
seed, and must therefore be propagated by cuttings, its cultivation has
hitherto been limited to but a few localities.

The produce of an acre of furze appears to be at least equal to that
of an acre of good meadow. The Rev. Mr. Townsend of Aghada, county of
Cork--the most zealous and successful advocate for the cultivation of
this plant--informed me that he had obtained so much as 14 tons per
acre; a fact which proves that the furze is a plant which is well
deserving of the attention of the farmer.

Furze is an excellent food for every kind of stock. Cattle, although
they may at first appear not to relish its prickly shoots, soon acquire
a fondness for it. I have known several instances of herds being fed
almost if not entirely on the bruised plant, and to keep in good
condition. The late Professor Murphy, of Cork, stated that on the farm
of Mr. Boulger, near Mallow, thirty-five cows were fed on crushed furze,
which they "devoured voraciously." Each animal received daily from four
to six stones of the crushed plant, to which were added a little turnip
pulp and a small quantity of oats. The milk and butter yielded by these
cows were considered excellent. In a letter addressed to me by a very
intelligent feeder, Mr. John Walsh,[28] of Stedalt, county of Dublin,
the following remarks in relation to this subject are made:--

    I had lately an opportunity of seeing a herd of cattle of about
    sixty head, of which twenty had been fed with furze prepared with
    my machine for about six weeks before being put out to grass. The
    condition of these was so superior that I pointed out every one of
    them, one after the other, out of the herd. The owner of the cattle
    had made the same observation; it was new to him but not to me.


Furze is seldom given to sheep or pigs, but I believe that it might with
advantage enter into the dietary of those animals. Some of my friends
who have lately tried it with pigs report favorably as to its effects.
Horses partly fed upon this plant keep in good condition; it is usually
given to them cut merely into lengths of half an inch or an inch, but it
would be better to give it to them finely bruised. A horse during the
night will eat a much larger quantity of coarsely cut furze than of the
well bruised article, because he is obliged to expend a great deal of
muscular power in bruising the furze, and must, consequently, use an
additional quantity of the food to make up for the corresponding waste
of tissue.

Until quite recently, the chemistry of the furze was very little
studied. The analysis of this plant made many years ago by Sprengel
gave results which, in the present advanced condition of agricultural
chemistry, are quite valueless. The late Professor Johnston merely
determined its amount of water, organic matter, and ash. I believe I was
the first to make a complete investigation into the composition of this
plant according to the methods of modern chemical analysis. I made two
examinations. The first was of shoots cut on the 25th April, 1860, on
the lands of Mr. Walsh of Stedalt, near Balbriggan, in the county of
Dublin. The shoots were, in great part, composed of that year's growth,
with a small proportion of the shoots of the previous year. They were
very moist, and their spines, or thorns, were rather soft. Their
centesimal composition was as follows:--

  Water                                                    78·05
  Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles                  2·18
  Fat-forming principles (oil, starch, sugar, gum, &c.)     8·20
  Woody fibre                                              10·17
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      1·40
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

The second analysis was made of furze cut on the 15th August, 1862.
The following were the results obtained:--

  Water                                                    72·00
  Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles                  3·21
  Oil                                                       1·18
  Other fat-forming principles (starch, gum, &c.)           8·20
  Woody fibre                                              13·33
  Mineral matter                                            2·08
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

The specimen was allowed to lie for a few days in a dry room, so that
it lost a little water whilst in my possession, before it was subjected
to analysis.

The sample cut in August contained a larger amount of nutriment than
the specimen analysed in the spring; but its constituents appeared to
be much less soluble in water, and therefore, less digestible.

Professor Blyth, of the Queen's College, Cork, has more recently made
a very elaborate analysis of furze, grown in the county of Cork, which
gave results still more favorable to the plant than those arrived at
by me--probably because the specimens furnished to him were drier than
mine.

  ANALYSIS OF FRESH FURZE, BY DR. BLYTH.

  100 parts contain:--

  _Matters readily soluble in water and easily digested._

  [*] Albuminous, or flesh-forming compounds                1·68
  Fat and heat-producing, or respiratory elements,
     viz., sugar, gum, &c. &c.                              7·83
  Ash                                                       0·83
                                                           -----
  Total matters soluble in water                                 10·34
       [* Containing nitrogen                               0·265]

  _Matters insoluble in water._

  Oil                                                       2·14
  [+] Albuminous, or flesh-producing compounds              2·83
  Fat and heat-producing, or respiratory elements           1·00
  Woody fibre                                              28·80
  Ash                                                       3·23
                                                           -----
  Total matters insoluble in water                               38·00
  Water, expelled at 212                                         51·50
                                                                 -----
                                                                 99·48
  Total nitrogen in plant                                   0·71
  Total albuminous, or flesh-producing compounds            4·51
  Total respiratory, or heat and fat-producing compounds    8·83
  Total ash                                                 4·06
     The ash contains in 100 parts:--
  Potash                                                   20·00
  Phosphoric acid                                           8·72
       [+ Containing nitrogen                               0·445]

If the large per-centage of water be deducted, the dry, nutritive
matters can then be more readily compared with the amount of the same
substances in other feeding articles:--

  _Composition of 100 parts of furze dried at 212°. Matters soluble in
  water in the dry furze._

  [*] Albuminous compounds                                  3·47
  Respiratory elements                                     16·15
  Ash                                                       1·71
                                                          ------
  Total matters soluble in water                                 21·33
       [* Containing nitrogen                               0·546]


  _Matters insoluble in water in the dry furze._

  Oil                                                       4·41
  [+] Albuminous compounds                                  5·84
  Respiratory elements                                      2·06
  Woody fibre                                              59·38
  Ash                                                       6·66
                                                          ------
  Total matters insoluble in water                               78·35
                                                                 -----
                                                                 99·68

  Total nitrogen in dry furze                               1·46
  Total albuminous compounds                                9·13
  Total respiratory elements                               18·20
  Total ash                                                 8·36
  [+ Containing nitrogen                                    0·917]

  _Composition of ash per cent._

  Potash                                                   20·00
  Phosphoric Acid.                                          8·72

The results of these analyses show that dry furze contains an amount
of nutriment equal to that found in dry grass. The nature of its
composition resembles, as might be expected, that of its allied plants,
vetches, &c., and therefore it exceeds the grasses in its amount of
ready formed fatty matter.


SECTION IV.

STRAW AND HAY.

_Straw._--At the present time, when the attention of the farmer is
becoming more and more devoted to the production of meat, it is very
desirable that his knowledge of the exact nutritive value of the various
feeding substances should be more extensive than it is. No doubt, most
feeders are practically acquainted with the relative value of corn and
oil-cake--of Swedish turnips and white turnips; but their knowledge of
the food equivalents of many other substances is still very defective.
For example, every farmer is not aware that Indian corn is a more
economical food than beans for fattening cattle, and less so for beasts
of burthen. Locust-beans, oat-dust, malt-combings, and many other
articles, occasionally consumed by stock, have not, as yet, determinate
places assigned to them in the feeder's scale of food equivalents.

The points involved in the economic feeding of stock are not quite
so simple as some farmers, more especially those of the amateur
class, appear to believe. There are many feeders who sell their
half-finished cattle at a profit, and yet they cannot, without loss,
convert their stock into those obese monsters which are so much
admired at agricultural shows. The complete fattening of cattle is
a losing business with some feeders, and a profitable one with others.
Stall-feeding is a branch of rural economy which, perhaps more than any
other, requires the combination of "science with practice;" yet how few
feeders are there who have the slightest knowledge of the composition of
food substances, or who are agreed as to the feeding value, absolute or
relative, of even such well-known materials as oil-cake, straw, or oats!
"It is thus seen how inexact are the equivalents which are understood to
be established for the different foods used for the maintenance of the
animals. It is equally plain, when we reflect on the different methods
pursued for the preservation of the animals, that we are still far
from having attained that perfection towards which our efforts tend.
Visit one hundred farms, taken by chance in different parts of the
country, and you will find in each, methods directly opposite--a totally
peculiar manner of managing the stalls; you will see, in short, that the
conditions of food, of treatment, and of hygiene, remain not understood
in seven-eighths of rural farms."[29]

The straws of the cereal and leguminous plants are a striking
illustration of the erroneous opinions and practices which prevail
amongst agriculturists with respect to particular branches of their
calling. The German farmers regard straw as the most valuable
constituent of home-made fertilisers, and their leases in general
prohibit their selling off the straw produced on their farms. Yet
chemical analysis has clearly proved that the manurial value of straw is
perfectly insignificant, and that, as a constituent of stable manure, it
is chiefly useful as an absorbent of the liquid egesta of the animals
littered upon it. As food for stock, straw was at one time regarded by
our farmers as almost perfectly innutritious; some even went so far as
to declare that it possessed no nutriment whatever, and even those who
used it, did so more with the view of correcting the too watery nature
of turnips, than with the expectation of its being assimilated to the
animal body. Within the last few years, however, straw has been largely
employed by several of the most intelligent and successful feeders in
England, who report so favorably upon it as an economical feeding stuff,
that it has risen considerably in the estimation of a large section
of the agricultural public. Now, even without adopting the very high
opinion which Mechi and Horsfall entertain relative to the nutritive
power of straw, I am altogether disposed to disagree with those who
affirm that its application should be restricted to manurial purposes.
Unless under circumstances where there is an urgent demand for straw as
litter, that article should be used as food for stock, for which purpose
it will be found, if of good quality, and given in a proper state, a
most economical kind of dry fodder--equal, if not superior to hay, when
the prices of both articles are considered.

The composition of straw is very different from that of grain.
The former contains no starch, but it includes an exceedingly high
proportion of woody fibre; the latter is in great part composed of
starch, and contains but an insignificant amount of woody fibre. Dr.
Voelcker, the consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, and Dr. Anderson, chemist to the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland, have made a large number of analyses of the straws
of the cereal and leguminous plants, the results of which are of the
highest interest to the agriculturist. In the following tables the more
important results of these investigations are given:--

  ANALYSES OF STRAW, BY DR. VOELCKER.

  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  |                          |  No. 1.  | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | No. 5. |
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  |                          |  Wheat,  | Wheat, | Barley,| Barley,|  Oat,  |
  |                          |just ripe |  over  |  dead  |not too |  cut   |
  |                          | and well |  ripe. |  ripe. |  ripe. | green. |
  |                          |harvested.|        |        |        |        |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  | Water                    |   13·33  |   9·17 |  15·20 |  17·50 |  16·00 |
  | Albumen, and other       |          |        |        |        |        |
  |  protein compounds:--    |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   _a_. Soluble in water  |    1·28  |   0·06 |   0·68 | \      |   5·51 |
  |                          |          |        |        |  }5·73 |        |
  |   _b_. Insoluble in water|    1·65  |   2·06 |   3·75 | /      |   2·98 |
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  | Oil                      |    1·74  |   0·65 |   1·36 |   1·17 |   1·57 |
  | Sugar, mucilage,         |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   extractive matters,    |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   &c. (soluble in water) |    4·26  |   3·46 |   2·24 |\       |  16·04 |
  | Digestible woody         |          |        |        | \      |        |
  |   fibre and cellulose    |   19·40  |\       |   5·97 |  }71·44|  26·34 |
  | Indigestible             |          | }82·26 |        | /      |        |
  |   fibre &c.              |   54·13  |/       |  66·54 |/       |  24·86 |
  | Inorganic matter:--      |          |        |        |        |        |
  |      _a._ Soluble        |    1·13  |   1·29 |   2·88 | \      |   5·76 |
  |                          |          |        |        |  }4·52 |        |
  |      _b._ Insoluble      |    3·08  |   1·05 |   0·38 | /      |   0·94 |
  |                          +----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  |                          |  100·00  | 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  |                          |  No. 6.  | No. 7. | No. 8. | No. 9. | No. 10.|
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  |                          | Oat, cut |  Oat,  |  Bean. |  Pea.  | Flax   |
  |                          |   when   |  over  |        |        | Chaff. |
  |                          |  fairly  |  ripe. |        |        |        |
  |                          |   ripe.  |        |        |        |        |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  | Water                    |   16·00  | 16·00  |  19·40 |  16·02 |  14·60 |
  | Albumen, and other       |          |        |        |        |        |
  |  protein compounds:--    |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   _a_. Soluble in water  |    2·62  |  1·29  |   1·51 |   3·96 | \      |
  |                          |          |        |        |        |  }4·75 |
  |   _b_. Insoluble in water|    1·46  |  2·36  |   1·85 |   5·90 | /      |
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  | Oil                      |    1·05  |  1·25  |   1·02 |   2·34 |   2·82 |
  | Sugar, mucilage,         |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   extractive matters,    |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   &c. (soluble in water) |   10·57  |  3·19  |   4·18 |   8·32 |   8·72 |
  | Digestible woody         |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   fibre and cellulose    |   30·17  | 27·75  |   2·75 |  17·74 |  18·56 |
  | Indigestible             |          |        |        |        |        |
  |   fibre &c.              |   31·78  | 41·82  |  65·58 |  42·79 |  43·12 |
  | Inorganic matter:--      |          |        |        |        |        |
  |      _a._ Soluble        |    3·64  |  2·26  |   2·31 |   2·72 |   4·07 |
  |                          |          |        |        |        |        |
  |      _b._ Insoluble      |    2·71  |  4·08  |   1·40 |   2·21 |   3·36 |
  |                          +----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
  |                          |  100·00  | 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

  [.·.] This table contains in a condensed form all the results of
  Voelcker's analyses of the straws which are given in his paper published
  in the _Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England_, vol. xxii.,
  part 2. 1862.

  Nos. 5, 6, and 7 were analysed shortly after being cut, when they
  contained a high proportion of water. They have, therefore, been
  calculated to contain 16 per cent. of moisture so as to arrive at
  accurate relative results.


  ANALYSES OF STRAW, BY DR. ANDERSON.

  +----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+--------+
  |                |                 |         |                 |        |
  |                |                 |  Wheat  |                 | Barley |
  |                |   Wheat from    |  from   |   Barley from   |  from  |
  |                |  East Lothian.  |  Kent.  |  East Lothian.  |  Kent. |
  |                |                 |         |                 |        |
  |                |                 |         |                 |        |
  |                +--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+
  |Water           |  10·62 |  10·93 |   11·15 |  11·44 |  11·15 |  11·10 |
  |Flesh-formers-- |        |        |         |        |        |        |
  |    Soluble     |   0·86 |   0·37 |    1·37 |   1·42 |   0·39 |   0·66 |
  |    Insoluble   |   0·51 |   1·12 |    1·00 |   1·54 |   1·12 |   1·98 |
  |Oil             |   0·80 |   1·00 |    1·50 |   0·97 |   0·88 |   1·05 |
  |                |        |        |         |        |        |        |
  |Respiratory     |        |        |         |        |        |        |
  |  elements--    |        |        |         |        |        |        |
  |    Soluble     |   2·68 |   6·68 |    5·26 |   3·22 |   6·11 |   4·56 |
  |    Insoluble   |  44·88 |  36·43 |   38·79 |  35·56 |  38·38 |  27·95 |
  |Woody fibre     |  32·88 |  34·78 |   35·01 |  41·34 |  36·62 |  47·53 |
  |Ash             |   6·20 |   8·04 |    6·32 |   4·21 |   5·62 |   4·85 |
  |                +--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+
  |                |  99·43 |  99·35 |  100·40 |  99·70 | 100·27 |  99·68 |
  +----------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+

  +----------------+---------------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
  |                |               |  Oat   | Oat from |         |  Oat   |
  |                |   Sandy Oat   | from   | 850 feet |Oat from |  from  |
  |                |     from      |  Sea   |   above  |Mellhill,|  Kent  |
  |                | East Lothian. | level  |Sea level,|Inchture,| (White |
  |                |               |  East  |   East   |Scotland.|  one   |
  |                |               |Lothian.| Lothian. |         | side.) |
  |                +-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
  |Water           | 11·70 | 10·95 | 12·60  |   11·28  |  11·70  |  10·55 |
  |Flesh-formers-- |       |       |        |          |         |        |
  |    Soluble     |  0·40 |  1·03 |  0·67  |    0·92  |   0·95  |   0·33 |
  |    Insoluble   |  0·93 |  0·43 |  0·38  |    0·39  |   1·21  |   0·33 |
  |Oil             |  1·45 |  0·77 |  1·25  |    1·36  |   1·60  |   1·00 |
  |                |       |       |        |          |         |        |
  |Respiratory     |       |       |        |          |         |        |
  |  elements--    |       |       |        |          |         |        |
  |    Soluble     | 10·12 |  6·90 |  7·16  |    7·42  |  12·01  |   6·23 |
  |    Insoluble   | 33·52 | 34·77 | 24·28  |   29·55  |  23·35  |  30·95 |
  |Woody fibre     | 35·36 | 38·73 | 48·49  |   44·40  |  45·27  |  47·40 |
  |Ash             |  6·36 |  6·28 |  5·11  |    5·07  |   3·95  |   3·62 |
  |                +-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
  |                | 99·84 | 99·86 | 99·94  |  100·39  | 100·14  | 100·41 |
  +----------------+-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+

  [.·.] This table is compiled from Dr. Anderson's paper in the
  Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
  for March, 1862.


Many very important conclusions are deducible from the facts recorded
in these valuable tables. We learn from them that straw is more
nutritious when it is cut in the ripe state than when it is permitted
to over-ripen, and that _green_ straw contains a far greater amount of
nutriment than is found even in the ripe article. It appears also that
the least nutritious kind of straw equals the best variety of turnips in
its amount of flesh-forming principles, and greatly exceeds them in its
proportion of fat-forming elements. We further learn that in general the
different kinds of straw will be found to stand in the following order,
the most nutritious occupying the highest, and the least nutritious the
lowest place:--

  1. Pea-haulm.
  2. Oat-straw.
  3. Bean-straw with the pods.
  4. Barley-straw.
  5. Wheat-straw.
  6. Bean-stalks without the pods.

It is a matter to be regretted that we possess so little accurate
knowledge of the chemical composition of the plants cultivated in
Ireland. No doubt the analyses of English grown wheat, beans, mangels,
and other plants, serve to give us a general idea of the nature of those
vegetables when produced in this country. But this kind of information,
though very important, must necessarily be defective, as differences
in climate modify--often to a considerable extent--the composition of
almost every vegetable. Thus, the results of Anderson's analyses prove
Scotch oats to be superior, as a feeding stuff, to Scotch barley,
whilst, according to Voelcker and the experience of most English
feeders, the barley of parts of England is superior to its oats. It
follows, then, that whilst the results of the analyses of straw, made by
Voelcker and Anderson are of great interest to the Irish farmer, they
would be still more important to him had the straw to which they relate
been the produce of Irish soil. In order, therefore, to enable the Irish
farmer to form a correct estimate of the value of his straw, we should
put him in possession of a more perfect knowledge of its composition
than that which is derivable from the investigations to which I have
referred. The straws of the cereals--which alone are used here to any
extent--should be analysed as carefully and as frequently as those of
Great Britain have been; and if such were done, I have no doubt but that
the results would indicate a decided difference in composition between
the produce of the two countries. Some time ago I entered upon what, at
the time, I had intended should be a complete investigation into the
composition of Irish straws; but which want of time prevented me from
making more than a partial one. The results are given in the following
tables:--

  ANALYSES OF IRISH OAT-STRAW.

  --------------------------------+--------+------------------------------
                                  | No. 1. |Obtained in the Dublin Market.
                                  |From Co.+---------+---------+----------
                                  |Wicklow.|  No. 2. |  No. 3. |  No. 4.
  --------------------------------+--------+---------+---------+----------
  Water                           |  14·00 |  14·00  |  14·00  |  14·00
  Flesh-forming principles--      |        |         |         |
    _a._ Soluble in water         |   4·08 |   2·02  |   2·04  |   1·46
    _b._ Insoluble in water       |   2·09 |   3·16  |   3·00  |   2·23
  Oil                             |   1·84 |   1·40  |   1·26  |   1·00
  Sugar, gum, and other           |        |         |         |
    fat-forming matters           |  13·79 |  12·67  |  10·18  |  11·16
  Woody fibre                     |  59·96 |  61·79  |  65·45  |  65·29
  Mineral matter                  |   4·24 |   4·96  |   4·07  |   4·86
                                  +--------+---------+---------+----------
                                  | 100·00 | 100·00  | 100·00  | 100·00
  --------------------------------+--------+---------+---------+----------

All the specimens of oats, the analyses of which are given in the
preceding table, are assumed to contain 14 per cent. of water, in order
the more correctly to compare their nutritive value. No. 1 contained
18·23 per cent. of water; No. 2, 12·90; No. 3, 12·74; and No. 4, 12·08.
Oat straw, before its removal from the field, often contains nearly half
its weight of water; but after being for some time stacked, the
proportion of moisture rarely exceeds 14 per cent.

  ANALYSES OF IRISH WHEAT-STRAW.

  -----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-----------------------
                         | No. 1. | No. 2.|No. 3. |
                         | Green, |       |       | Obtained in the Dublin
                         |changing|       |       |        Markets.
                         |   to   |       | Over  |
                         | yellow.| Ripe. | Ripe. +-----------------------
                         | County |County |County |       |       |
                         |Kildare.|Dublin.|Dublin.| No. 4.| No. 5.| No. 6.
  -----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
  Water                  |  13·00 |  13·15|  12·14|  10·88|  11·22|  12·12
  Flesh-forming          |        |       |       |       |       |
    principles--         |        |       |       |       |       |
    _a._ Soluble in      |        |       |       |       |       |
          water          |   1·25 |   0·98|   0·44|   0·06|   0·42|   0·30
    _b._ Insoluble in    |        |       |       |       |       |
          water          |   1·26 |   1·40|   1·41|   1·90|   1·00|   1·76
  Oil                    |   1·22 |   1·13|   1·14|   0·90|   1·17|   1·08
  Sugar, gum, and other  |        |       |       |       |       |
     fat-forming matters |   4·18 |   3·98|   3·88|   4·08|   3·89|   4·30
  Woody fibre            |  75·84 |  76·17|  77·76|  78·67|  79·18|  77·15
  Mineral matter (ash)   |   3·25 |   3·19|   3·23|   3·51|   3·12|   3·29
                         +--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
                         | 100·00 | 100·00| 100·00| 100·00| 100·00| 100·00
  -----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

The results of these analyses are somewhat different from those arrived
at by Voelcker and Anderson. They show that properly harvested Irish
oat and wheat straws are far more valuable than those of Scotland, and
somewhat less nutritive than those produced in England. They also
show that wheat-straw is allowed to over-ripen, by which a very large
proportion of its nutritive principles is eliminated and altogether
lost, and a considerable part of the remainder converted into an
insoluble, and therefore less easily digestible state. Nor is there any
advantage to the grain gained by allowing it to remain uncut after the
upper portion of the stem has changed from a green to a yellowish color;
on the contrary, it also loses a portion--often a very considerable
one--of its nitrogenous, or flesh-forming constituents. It has been
clearly proved that wheat cut when green, yields a greater amount of
grain, and of a better quality too, than when it is allowed to ripen
fully; yet, how often do we not see fields of wheat in this country
allowed to remain unreaped for many days, and even weeks, after the
crop has attained to its full development!

The oat-straw obtained in the Dublin Market proved less valuable than
the green straw which I selected myself from a field of oats; but the
discrepancy between them was far less than between the nearly ripe
wheat-straw and the straw of that plant purchased in Dublin. During
visits which I have paid in harvest-time to the North of Ireland, I
noticed that the oats were generally cut whilst green, whereas wheat was
almost invariably left standing for at least a week after its perfect
maturation, probably for the following reasons:--Firstly, because
oats are more liable to shed their seed; secondly, because there is
a greater breadth of that crop to be reaped, which necessitates an
early beginning; and, lastly, because most farmers know that over-ripe
oat-straw is worth but little for feeding purposes, as compared with
the greenish-yellow article.

As compared with white turnips, the nutritive value of oat-straw stands
very high, for whilst the former contains but little more than 1 per
cent. of flesh-formers, and less than 5 per cent. of fat-formers, the
latter includes about 4 per cent. of flesh-formers, and 13 per cent. of
fat-formers. Again, whilst the amount of woody fibre in turnips is only
about 3 per cent., that substance constitutes no less than 60 per cent.
of oat-straw. In comparison with hay--taking into consideration the
prices of both articles--oat-straw also stands high, as will be seen
by comparing the following analyses of common meadow hay with that of
properly harvested straw:--

                                       Meadow Hay.       Oat Straw.

  Water                                   14·61            14·00
  Flesh-forming constituents               8·44             6·17
  Respiratory and fatty matters           43·63            15·63
  Woody fibre                             27·16            59·96
  Mineral matter (ash)                     6·16             4·24
                                         ------           ------
                                         100·00           100·00

Woody fibre is as abundant a constituent of the straw of the cereals
as starch is of their seeds, and if the two substances were equally
digestible, straw would be a very valuable food--superior even to the
potato. At one time it was the general belief that woody fibre was
incapable of contributing in the slightest degree to the nutrition of
animals, but the results of recent investigations prove that it is, to a
certain extent, digestible. In the summer of 1859 two German chemists,
Stöckhardt and Sussdorf, made a series of experiments, with the view
of ascertaining whether or not the cellulose[30] of the food of the
sheep is assimilated by that animal. The results of this inquiry are of
importance, seeing that they clearly prove that even the hardest kind of
cellulose--_sclerogen_, in fact--is capable of being assimilated by the
Ruminants. The animals selected were two wethers, aged respectively five
and six years. They were fed--firstly, upon hay alone; secondly, upon
hay and rye-straw; thirdly upon hay and the sawdust of poplar wood,
which had been exhausted with lye (to induce the sheep to eat the
sawdust, it was found necessary to mix through it some rye-bran and a
little salt); fourthly, hay and pine-wood sawdust, to which was added
bran and salt; fifthly, spruce sawdust, bran and salt; sixthly, hay,
pulp of linen rags (from the paper-maker), and bran. The experiments
were carried on from July till November, excepting a short time, during
which the animals were turned out on pasture-land, to recover from the
injurious effects of the fifth series of experiments--produced probably
by the resin of the spruce. The animals, together with their food,
drink, and egesta, were weighed daily. The amount of cellulose in the
food was determined, and the proportion of that substance in the egesta
was also ascertained; and as there was a considerable discrepancy
between the two amounts, it was evident that the difference represented
the weight of the cellulose assimilated by the animals. In this way it
was ascertained that from 60 to 70 per cent. of the cellulose of hay,
40 to 60 per cent. of the cellulose of straw, 45 to 50 per cent. of the
cellulose of the poplar wood, 30 to 40 per cent. of the cellulose of the
pine, and 80 per cent. of the cellulose of the paper pulp was digested.

In stating the results of his analyses of the straws, Professor Voelcker
sets down as "digestible" that portion of the cellulose which he found
to be soluble in dilute acids and alkaline solutions; but he admits that
the solvents in the stomach might dissolve a larger amount. The results
of the experiments of Stöckhardt and Sussdorf prove that 80 per cent. of
the cellulose of paper (the altered fibre of flax) is assimilable, and
it is, therefore, not unreasonable to infer that the cellulose of a more
palatable substance than paper might be altogether digestible.

The facts which I have adduced clearly prove that the straws of the
cereals possess a far higher nutritive power than is commonly ascribed
to them; that when properly harvested they contain from 20 to 40 per
cent. of undoubted nutriment; and lastly, that it is highly probable
that their so-called indigestible woody fibre is to a great extent
assimilable.

The composition of cellulose is nearly, if not quite, identical with
that of starch, and it may therefore be assumed to be equal in nutritive
power to that substance--that is, it will, if assimilated, be converted
into four-tenths of its weight of fat. Now as cellulose forms from
six-tenths to eight-tenths of the weight of straws, it is evident that
if the whole of this substance were digestible, straws would be an
exceedingly valuable fattening food. When straw in an unprepared state
is consumed, there is no doubt but that a large proportion of its
cellulose remains unappropriated--nay more, it is equally certain that
the hard woody fibre protects, by enveloping them, the soluble and
easily digestible constituents of the straw from the action of the
_gastric juice_. I would, therefore, recommend that straw should be
either cooked or fermented before being made use of; in either of these
states its constituents are far more digestible than when the straw
is merely cut, or even when it is in the form of chaff. An excellent
mode of treating straw is to reduce it to chaff, subject it to the
action of steam, and mix it with roots and oil-cake or corn. Mr.
Lawrence, of Cirencester, one of the most intelligent agriculturists
in England, cooks his chaff, which he largely employs, in the following
manner:--"We find that, taking a score of bullocks together fattening,
they consume, per head per diem, 3 bushels of chaff mixed with just half
a hundred-weight of pulped roots, exclusive of cake or corn; that is to
say, rather more than 2 bushels of chaff are mixed with the roots, and
given at two feeds, morning and evening, and the remainder is given
with the cake, &c., at the middle day feed, thus:--We use the steaming
apparatus of Stanley, of Peterborough, consisting of a boiler in the
centre, in which the steam is generated, and which is connected by a
pipe on the left hand with a large galvanised iron receptacle for
steaming food for pigs, and on the right with a large wooden tub lined
with copper, in which the cake, mixed with water, is made into a thick
soup. Adjoining this is a slate tank of sufficient size to contain one
feed for the entire lot of bullocks feeding. Into this tank is laid
chaff, about one foot deep, upon which a few ladles of soup are thrown
in a _boiling state_; this is thoroughly mixed with the chaff with a
three-grained fork, and pressed down firm; and this process is repeated
until the slate tank is full, when it is covered down for an hour or two
before feeding time. The soup is then found entirely absorbed by the
chaff, which has become softened, and prepared for ready digestion."
A cheap plan is to mix the straw with sliced roots, moisten the mass
with water, and allow it to remain until a slight fermentation has set
in. This process effectually softens and disintegrates, so to speak, the
woody fibre, and sets free the stores of nutritious matters which it
envelopes. Some farmers who hold straw in high estimation, prefer giving
it just as it comes from the field; they base this practice on the
belief that Ruminants require a bulky and solid food, and that their
digestive powers are quite sufficient to effect the solution of all the
useful constituents of the straw. It may be quite true that cattle, as
asserted, can extract more nutriment out of straw than horses can, but
that merely proves the greater power of their digestive organs. No doubt
the food of the Ruminants should be bulky; but I am quite sure that
cooked or fermented straw is sufficiently so to satisfy the desire of
those animals for quantity in their food.

So far as I can learn, all the carefully conducted feeding experiments
to test the value of straw which have been made, have yielded results
highly favorable to that article. Mr. Blundell, in a paper on "The Use
and Abuse of Straw," read before the Botley (Hampshire) Farmer's Club,
states that in his experience he found straw to be more economical than
its equivalent of roots or oil-cake, in the feeding of all kinds of
cattle:--

    I find (says Mr. Blundell) that dairy cows, in the winter months,
    if fed on large quantities of roots, particularly mangels and
    carrots, will refuse to eat straw almost entirely, and become
    very lean; but they will always eat a full portion of sweet,
    well-harvested straw, when they get a small and moderate allowance
    of roots, say, for an ordinary-sized cow, 15 lbs. of mangel three
    times per day, the roots being given whole, just in the state they
    come from the store heap. Again, calves and yearlings being fed
    with roots in the same way, will eat a large quantity of straw, and
    when they have been kept under cover I have had them in first-rate
    condition for many years past. Also, in fattening beasts, when they
    get a fair allowance of roots, say 65 to 70 lbs. per day, with
    from 3 to 4 lbs. of cake or meal in admixture, they will eat straw
    with great avidity, and do well upon it, and make a profit. It is,
    however, often the case that bullocks receive 100 lbs., or upwards,
    of roots per day, with a large quantity of cake or meal, often
    10 or 12 lbs. per day; they will not then look at straw, and are
    obliged to be fed with hay. The cost price of these quantities
    and kinds of food stands so high that the animals do not yield a
    profit; for although they may make meat a little faster, yet the
    proportionate increase is nothing compared to the increased cost
    of the feeding materials used.


Mr. Blundell gives us also the tabulated results of one of his
experiments, which prove that by the use of straw there is to be
obtained something more than manure by the feeding of stock:--

  COST OF FEEDING AN OX PER WEEK WITH STRAW, ETC.,
  ACCORDING TO MR. BLUNDELL.

                                                       s.  d.
   4 lbs. of oil-cake per day,
          or 38 lbs. per week, at £10 per ton          2   6
  64 lbs. of roots ditto,
          or 4 cwt. ditto, at 13s. 4d. ditto           2   8
  20 lbs. of straw feeding,
          or 1-1/4 cwt. ditto, at 30s. ditto           1  10-1/2
  20 lbs. of straw litter,
          or 1-1/4 cwt. ditto, at 15s. ditto           0  11

          Attendance, &c., per week                    0   1
                                                      ----------
                                                       8   0-1/2
          Deduct value of manure, per week             1   3-1/2
                                                      ----------
                                                       6   9
          Increased value of ox per week              10   0
          Deduct cost of feeding                       6   9
                                                      ----------
                                                       3   3

If we now turn to the study of the composition of straw regarded from
an economic point of view, we shall find that the theoretical deductions
therefrom harmonise with the results of actual feeding experiments. Let
us assume that 100 parts of oat-straw contain on an average--

   1 part of oil,
   4 parts of flesh-formers,
  10 parts of sugar, gum, and other fat-formers, and
  30 parts of digestible fibre;

and if the price of the straw be 30s. per ton, we shall have at that
cost the following quantities of digestible substances:--

  ONE TON OF OAT-STRAW, AT 30s., CONTAINS:--

                                                            lbs.

  [31] Oil                                                  22·4
  Flesh-forming principles                                  89·6
  Sugar, gum, and other fat-forming substances             224·0
  Digestible fibre                                         672·0
                                                         -------
                                                         1,008·0
  [32] Total amount of fat-formers, calculated as starch   952·0
  Add flesh-formers                                         89·6
                                                         -------
  Total amount of nutritive matter                       1,041·6

We shall now compare this table with a similar one in relation to the
composition of linseed cake, which will place the greater comparative
value of straw in a clearer light.

A fair sample of linseed-cake contains, centesimally--

  Flesh-formers                                               26
  Oil                                                         12
  Gum, mucilage, sugar, &c.                                   34
  Woody fibre                                                  6

  ONE TON OF LINSEED CAKE, AT £11, CONTAINS:--

                                                            lbs.

  Flesh-forming principles                                 582·4
  Oil                                                      268·8
  Gum, sugar, and other fat-formers                        761·6
  Woody fibre                                               74·4
                                                         -------
                                                         1,687·2
  Total amount of fat-formers, calculated as starch      1,508·0
  Add flesh-formers                                        582·4
                                                         -------
  Total amount of nutriment                              2,090·4

These comparisons are very instructive and important. We learn from
them that we pay £11 for 2,000 lbs. of nutriment, when we purchase a
ton of linseed-cake, whereas, when we invest 30s. in a ton of straw, we
receive 1,000 lbs. of digestible aliment. It cannot be said that I have
strained any points in favour of the straw; on the contrary, I believe
that when that article is cut in proper season and well harvested,
its composition will be found far superior to that detailed in the
comparative analysis. It must be borne in mind, too, that I take no
account of the 30 per cent. of the so-called indigestible woody fibre
which straw contains, and which, I believe, is partly assimilable
under ordinary circumstances, and could be rendered nearly altogether
digestible by proper treatment; on the other hand, I have assumed that
the woody fibre of the oil-cake is completely digestible, although
I believe it is in reality less so than the fibre of straw.

It is an important point in the composition of oil-cakes, that they
contain a large proportion of ready-formed fatty matters which can,
with but little alteration, be at once transmuted into animal fat.
There are some individuals of the genus _Homo_ to whose stomachs fat,
_per se_, is intolerable; nevertheless, as a general rule, fatty
substances exercise a favorable influence in the process of digestion,
and, either in a separate state, or intimately commingled with other
aliments, constitute a large proportion of the food of man. Digestion in
the lower animals is, no doubt, similarly promoted by mixing with the
aliments which are to be subjected to that process, a due proportion of
oily or fatty matter. Straw is relatively deficient in the flesh-forming
principles, and abounds in the fat-forming elements--of which, however,
the most valuable, oil, is the least abundant. Now, if we add to straw
a due proportion of some substance very rich in flesh-formers and oil,
the compound will possess in nicely adjusted proportions all the
elements of nutrition. Perhaps the best kind of food which we could
employ for this purpose is linseed meal. It contains about 24 per
cent. of flesh-formers, 35 per cent. of a very bland oil, and 24 per
cent. of gum, sugar, and mucilage. Linseed-cake may be substituted for
linseed-meal; but the meal, though its cost is 15 per cent. greater, is,
I believe, rather the better article of the two. Its flesh-formers are
more soluble, and its oil thrice more abundant and far more palatable
than the same principles in most samples of oil-cake. An important
point, too, is, that linseed, unlike linseed-cake, is not liable to
adulteration. As linseed possesses laxative properties it cannot be
largely employed; the addition, however, of bean-meal--the binding
tendency of which is well known--to a diet partly composed of linseed
will neutralise, so to speak, the relaxing influence of the oily seed.
If oil-cakes be used as an adjunct to straw, rape-cake will be found
more economical than linseed-cake. If it be free from mustard, well
steamed, and flavored with a little treacle, or a small quantity of
locust-beans, it will be readily consumed, and even relished, by dairy
and fattening stock.

_Hay._--There is no food substance more variable or more complex than
hay, for under that term are included, not only mixtures of grasses,
but also of leguminous plants--clover, for example. The herbage of no
two meadows is exactly alike; and the composition of the meadow plants
is so greatly modified by differences of climate, soil, and mode of
culture, that we have nothing to excite our wonder in the extreme
variability of hay.

The composition of the hay made from clover, lucerne, and various other
kinds of artificial grasses, is shown in the table--which is based on
the results of Way's analyses:--

  COMPOSITION OF THE HAY OF ARTIFICIAL GRASSES.

                               +-------------------------------------------
                               | KEY:
                               | A.--Flesh-forming Substances.
                               | B.--Fatty Matters.
                               | C.--Respiratory Substances.
                               | D.--Woody Fibre.
                               | E.--Ash.
                               | F.--Water.
  -----------------------------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
                               |   A.  |  B.  |   C.  |   D.  |  E.  |  F.
                               +-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
  Trifolium pratense--         |       |      |       |       |      |
    Red clover                 | 18·79 | 3·06 | 37·06 | 16·46 | 7·97 | 16·6
  Trifolium pratense perenne-- |       |      |       |       |      |
    Purple clover              | 15·98 | 3·41 | 35·35 | 21·63 | 6·96 |   "
  Trifolium incarnatum--       |       |      |       |       |      |
    Crimson clover             | 13·83 | 3·11 | 31·25 | 26·99 | 8·15 |   "
  Trifolium medium--           |       |      |       |       |      |
    Cowgrass                   | 20·27 | 2·97 | 30·30 | 20·12 | 9·67 |   "
  Do., second specimen         | 15·64 | 3·98 | 41·38 | 15·70 | 6·64 |   "
  Trifolium procumbens--       |       |      |       |       |      |
    Hop trefoil                | 17·07 | 3·89 | 36·55 | 18·88 | 6·94 |   "
  Trifolium repens--           |       |      |       |       |      |
    White trefoil              | 15·63 | 3·65 | 33·37 | 22·11 | 8·57 |   "
  Vicia sativa--               |       |      |       |       |      |
    Common Vetch               | 19·68 | 2·55 | 32·87 | 22·82 | 5·42 |   "
  Vicia sepium--               |       |      |       |       |      |
    Bush vetch                 | 19·23 | 2·40 | 27·62 | 25·87 | 8·21 |   "
  Onobrychis sativa--          |       |      |       |       |      |
    Sainfoin                   | 15·38 | 2·51 | 38·30 | 20·59 | 6·56 |   "
  Medicago sativa--            |       |      |       |       |      |
    Lucerne                    | 10·63 | 2·30 | 33·47 | 28·51 | 8·42 |   "
  Medicago lupulina--          |       |      |       |       |      |
    Yellow clover              | 20·50 | 3·38 | 27·76 | 22·66 | 9·03 |   "
  Plantago lanceolata--        |       |      |       |       |      |
    Rib grass                  | 11·91 | 3·06 | 33·58 | 27·56 | 7·23 |   "
  Poterium sanguisorba--       |       |      |       |       |      |
    Burnet                     | 13·96 | 3·34 | 39·50 | 19·89 | 6·64 |   "
  Achillea millefolium--       |       |      |       |       |      |
    Millefoil                  |  8·62 | 2·09 | 37·88 | 27·24 | 7·50 |   "
                               +-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
         Mean                  | 15·81 | 3·18 | 34·42 | 22·47 | 7·59 | 16·6
  -----------------------------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----

Very many analyses of hay have been made by British and Continental
chemists, the results of which are of great interest to the
agriculturist. The composition of the natural and artificial grasses,
which is shown in the tables given in pages 158-9 will, if we reduce
their per-centage of water to 16, give us an approximation to the
composition of hay. If the herbage, too, be sown in the proper time, and
the hay-making process be skilfully conducted, there will be but little
difference, except in the amount of water, between the plants in their
fresh and dry state; but owing to inopportune wet weather, and
carelessness in manipulation, excellent herbage is not unfrequently
converted into inferior hay.

According to Dr. Voelcker, the average composition of meadow-hay, as
deduced from the results of twenty-five analyses, is as follows:--

  Water                                                    14·61
  Flesh-forming constituents                                8·44
  Respiratory and fatty matters                            43·63
  Woody fibre                                              27·16
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      6·16
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

Dr. Anderson's analysis of meadow-hay, one year old, and of inferior
quality, gave the following results:--

  Water                                                    13·13
  Flesh-forming matters                                     4·00
  Non-nitrogenous substances                               77·61
  Mineral matter                                            5·26
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

The results of the investigations of Way prove that the herbage of
water-grass meadows is more nutritious than that of dry meadows--results
perfectly harmonious with the experience of practical men.

It is a somewhat general belief, that the aftermath, or second cutting,
is less nutritious than the first cutting; but there appears to be no
chemical difference between the two crops, provided they be saved under
equally favorable conditions. According to Dr. Anderson, the composition
of clover-hay of the second cutting is as follows:--

  Water                                                    16·84
  Flesh-forming principles                                 13·52
  Non-nitrogenous matters                                  64·43
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      5·21
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

I have already shown the importance of reaping in proper season--not
less necessary is it to mow before the plants ripen fully, and even
before they flower. The results of the experiments of Stöckhardt,
Hellreigel, and Wolff, in relation to this point, are very interesting,
and are well worthy of reproduction here.

  RESULTS OF STÖCKHARDT'S AND HELLREIGEL'S EXPERIMENTS.

  --------------------------+-----------------------++-----------------------
                            |         Stem.         ||        Leaves.
                            +-------+---------------||-------+---------------
                            |       |      Hay.     ||       |      Hay.
                            | Water +--------+------|| Water +--------+------
                            |  in   |Flesh-  |      ||  in   |Flesh-  |
                            | Fresh |forming | Ash. || Fresh |forming | Ash.
                            | Plant.|Matters.|      || Plant.|Matters.|
                            +-------+--------+------||-------+--------+------
  Clover cut on the         |       |        |      ||       |        |
    4th June, quite young   | 82·80 | 13·16  | 9·71 || 83·50 | 27·17  |  9·42
    23rd " ready for cutting| 81·72 | 12·72  | 9·00 || 82·68 | 27·69  |  9·00
    9th July, beginning to  |       |        |      ||       |        |
      flower                | 82·41 | 12·40  | 6·12 || 77·77 | 15·83  | 10·46
    29th July, full flower  | 78·30 |  9·28  | 4·63 || 70·80 | 19·20  |  9·58
  21st August, ripe         | 69·40 |  6·75  | 4·82 || 65·70 | 18·94  | 12·33
  --------------------------+-------+--------+------++-------+--------+------

  RESULTS OF WOLFF'S EXPERIMENT.

  -------------+------------------------------++-----------------------------
               |           Red Clover.        ||         Alsike Clover.
               +--------------+---------------++---------------+-------------
               | Beginning    |    Full       ||  Beginning    |    Full
               | to flower,   |   flower,     ||  to flower,   |   flower,
               | 11th June.   |  25th June.   ||  23rd June.   |  29th June.
               +--------------+---------------++-------+-------+------+------
               |Fresh.| Hay.  | Fresh.| Hay.  || Fresh.| Hay.  |Fresh.| Hay.
               +------+-------+-------+-------++-------+-------+------+------
               | pct. | pct.  | pct.  | pct.  || pct.  | pct.  | pct. | pct.
  Water        | 83·07| 16·66 | 76·41 | 10·66 || 86·98 | 16·66 | 82·60| 16·66
  Ash          |  1·43|  7·04 |  1·67 |  5·90 ||  1·12 |  7·17 |  1·45|  6·94
  Woody fibre  |  4·24| 20·87 |  8·88 | 37·37 ||  3·79 | 24·26 |  5·11| 24·47
  Nutritive    |      |       |       |       ||       |       |      |
    substances | 11·26| 55·43 | 13·04 | 46·07 ||  8·11 | 51·91 | 10·84| 51·93
  -------------+------+-------+-------+-------++-------+-------+------+------

During the operation of converting the grass--"natural" or
"artificial"--into hay, there is more or less loss of nutritive matter
sustained by fermentation, the dispersion of the smaller leaves by the
wind, and other agencies. But this unavoidable loss is trivial when
compared with the prodigious waste sustained, in Ireland at least, by
allowing the hay to remain too long in cocks in the field. "Within the
last three or four years," says Mr. Baldwin, of the Glasnevin Albert
Model Farm, "we have made agricultural tours through twenty-five of
the thirty-two counties of Ireland; and from careful consideration
of the subject, and having in some instances used a tape-line and
weighing-machine to assist our judgment, we have come to the conclusion
that one-twentieth of the hay-crop of Ireland is permitted to rot
in field-cocks. The portion on the ground, as well as that on the
outside of the cocks, is too often only fit for manure. And the loss
of aftermath, and of the subsequent year's crop (if hay or pasture),
suffers to the extent of from sixpence to one shilling per acre. If we
unite all these sources, the loss sustained annually in this country is
something serious to contemplate. On an average, for all Ireland, it is
not under 20 per cent., or a fifth of the actual value of the crop."
This is a startling statement; but I do not believe it to be an
exaggeration of the actual state of things.

_Damaged Hay and Straw._--Damaged corn and potatoes, so much injured as
to be unfit for human food, are generally given, and with apparently
good results, to the inferior animals. The "meat manufacturing
machines," as the edible varieties of the domesticated animals are now
generally termed, are not very dainty in their choice of food; and
vegetable substances which would excite the disgust of the lords of the
creation are rendered nutritious and agreeable by being reorganised in
the mechanisms of oxen, sheep, and pigs.

Now, although it is pretty generally known that musty corn and
diseased potatoes form good feeding stuffs, it is not so patent whether
or not the natural food of stock, such as hay and straw in a diseased
state, is proper food for those animals. This question is worthy of
consideration. Firstly, I shall describe the nature of the diseases
which most frequently affect fodder; these are, "mildew" and "mould."
These diseases are produced by the ravages of minute and very low forms
of vegetable life, termed by the botanists _epiphytical fungi_. The
mildew (_Puccinia graminis_) generally attacks the grasses when they are
growing, and is more frequently met with on rich and heavily manured
soils. In localities where heavy night-fogs and dews are of common
occurrence, this pest often destroys whole crops. On the other hand, in
light, sandy, and well-drained soils, and in warm and dry districts,
the mildew is a rare visitant. The "blue mould" (_Aspergillis glaucus_)
attacks hay and straw in the stack or rick, and without any regard to
their origin--no matter whether they were the produce of the wettest or
the dryest, the warmest or the coldest of soils. The chief condition
in the existence of the blue mould is excessive moisture. If the hay or
straw be too green and succulent when put up, or if rain get at them
in the rick, the mould is very likely to make its appearance, and the
well-known odor termed _musty_ will speedily be developed.

Neither the mildew nor the mould can, strictly speaking, be regarded as
parasites, such as, for example, the flax-dodder, which feeds upon the
healthy juices of the plant to which it is attached. It appears to me
that the tissues and juices of the fodder-plants decay _first_, and then
the mould or the mildew appears and feeds upon the decomposing matter.
Now, as these vegetables belong to a poisonous class of fungi, it is
more than probable that they convert the decomposing substance of the
straw or hay into unwholesome, if not poisonous matter; and it is not
unlikely but that the disagreeable odor which they evolve is designed by
nature as a sign to the lower animals not to partake of mouldy food.
There is no doubt but that most animals will instinctively reject fodder
in this state; and the question arises, ought this odour to be destroyed
or disguised, in order to induce the animals to eat the damaged stuff?
The experience of most feeders who have largely consumed mouldy provender
is, that although cattle may be induced to eat it, they never thrive
upon such stuff if it form a heavy item in their diet. The reason of
this is obvious. The nitrogenous portion of the straw is that which is
chiefly assimilated by the fungi. And as this constituent is the one
which contributes to the formation of muscle, and is naturally extremely
deficient in straw and hay--more particularly the former--it follows
that the animals fed upon mouldy fodder cannot elaborate it into lean
flesh (muscle).

In the case of young stock, mouldy fodder is altogether inadmissible,
for these animals require abundance of flesh-forming materials--precisely
those which the fungi almost completely remove from the diseased fodder.

As large quantities of mouldy or mildewed provender are at the present
moment to be found in many farmsteads, and as they are unsaleable,
and must therefore be made use of in some way at home, it is well to
consider the best way to dispose of them. In the case of straw, the
greater portion will be required for litter, and if the whole of the
damaged article can be disposed of in this way so much the better. If,
however, there is more than is necessary for the bedding of the stock,
it may be used in conjunction with sound fodder, but always in a cooked
state. The greater part, if not the whole, of the diseased nitrogenous
part of the straw is soluble in warm water, so that if the fodder be
well steamed the poisonous matter will be eliminated to such an extent
as to leave the article almost as wholesome as good straw, but not so
nutritious. The straw cleansed in this way will be very deficient in
flesh-forming, though not in fat-forming power, and this fact should
be duly considered when the other items of the animal's food are
being weighed out. Beans, malt-combs, and linseed-cake are rich in
muscle-forming principles, and are consequently suitable adjuncts to
damaged fodder; but the latter should never constitute the staple food,
or be given unmixed with some sweet provender.

When the fodder is considerably damaged it becomes, after steaming,
nearly as tasteless as sawdust. To this kind of stuff the addition of a
small amount of some flavorous material is very useful. For damaged hay,
Mr. Bowick recommends the following mixture:--

  Fenugreek (powdered)                                112 parts.
  Pimento                                               4   "
  Aniseed                                               4   "
  Caraways                                              4   "
  Cummin                                                2   "

A pinch of this compound will render agreeably-flavored the most insipid
kinds of fodder.

Mr. Bowick states that he had fed large numbers of bullocks on damaged
hay, flavored with this compound, and that their health was not thereby
injured in the slightest degree.


SECTION V.

ROOTS AND TUBERS.

The important part which the so-called root crops play in the modern
systems of agriculture, has secured for them a large share of the
attention of the chemist, so that our knowledge of their composition
and relative nutritive value is very extensive. As compared with most
other articles of food, the roots, as they are popularly called, of
potatoes, turnips, mangels, carrots, and such like plants, contain a
high proportion of water, and are not very nutritious; indeed, with the
exception of the potato, none of them contain 20 per cent. of solid
matter, and some not more than five per cent. They are, however, easily
produced in great quantities, which compensates for their low nutritive
value. I shall consider each of the more important roots separately.

_The Turnip._--There are numerous varieties of this plant, which differ
from each other in the relative proportions and total amount of their
constituents, and even in different individuals of the same variety
there is considerable variation in composition; hence the difficulty
which has been felt by those who have endeavored to assign to this plant
its relative nutritive value. From the average results of a great number
of experiments, conducted both in the laboratory and the feeding-house,
it is concluded that turnips are the most inferior roots produced in the
field. The Swedish turnips are the most valuable kind: they contain a
higher proportion of solid matter than the other varieties, and they are
firmer and store better. The average composition of five varieties of
turnips, as deduced from the results of the analyses of Anderson and
Voelcker, is shown in the following table:--

  ANALYSES OF TURNIPS.

  ----------------------------+-------+-------+--------+---------+-------
                              |Swedish| White |Aberdeen|Purpletop|Norfolk
                              |Turnip.| Globe.|Yellows.|Yellows. |Bell.
                              +-------+-------+--------+---------+-------
  Water                       | 89·460| 90·430|  90·578|  91·200 | 92·280
  Albuminous, or              |       |       |        |         |
    flesh-forming substances  |  1·443|  1·143|   1·802|   1·117 |  1·737
  Non-nitrogenous, or         |       |       |        |         |
    fat-forming substances    |       |       |        |         |
    (fat, gum, sugar, &c.)    |  5·932|  5·457|   4·622|   4·436 |  2·962
  Woody fibre                 |  2·542|  2·342|   2·349|   2·607 |  2·000
  Mineral matter (ash)        |  0·623|  0·628|   0·649|   0·640 |  1·021
                              +-------+-------+--------+---------+-------
                              |100·000|100·000| 100·000| 100·000 |100·000
  ----------------------------+-------+-------+--------+---------+-------

The _Greystone Turnip_ is a variety which has only quite recently been
introduced. It is stated to be an uncommonly productive crop, usually
yielding returns from 30 to 50 per cent. greater than those obtained
from other varieties of the turnip. The composition of the Greystone
turnip appears to be inferior, so that probably it is not, after all,
a more economical plant than the ordinary kinds of turnips.

  DR. ANDERSON'S ANALYSIS OF THE GREYSTONE TURNIP.

                                           No. 1.            No. 2.
                                       Grown on Clay.    Grown on Sand.

  Water                                   93·84              94·12
  Oil                                      0·26               0·34
  Soluble albuminous matters               0·35               0·56
  Insoluble ditto                          0·20               0·18
  Soluble respiratory matters              2·99               2·32
  Insoluble ditto (chiefly fibre)          1·73               1·85
  Ash                                      0·63               0·63
                                         ------             ------
                                         100·00             100·00

It was at one time the fashion--not yet become quite obsolete--to regard
the proportion of nitrogen in the turnip as the measure of the nutritive
value of the bulb; but the fallacy of this opinion has been shown by
several late investigators, and more particularly by the results of
one of the numerous series of feeding experiments conducted by Mr.
Lawes. Many bulbs exceedingly rich in nitrogen are very deficient
in nutritive power--partly from a deficiency in the other elements of
nutrition--partly because most of their nitrogen is in so low a degree
of elaboration as to be incapable of assimilation by animals. The value
of a food-substance does not merely depend upon the amount and the
relative proportion of its constituents, but also, and to a very great
extent, upon their easy assimilability. There is but little doubt that
the nutritive matters contained in the Swedish turnip when the bulb is
fresh are very crude. By storing, certain chemical changes take place
in the bulb, which render it more nutritious and palatable. A large
proportion of the non-nitrogenous matters exist in the fresh root as
pectin; but this substance, if the bulb be preserved for a couple of
months, becomes in great part converted into sugar, which is one of the
most palatable and fattening ingredients of cattle-food. By storing,
too, the bulbs lose a portion of their excessive amount of water, and
become less bulky, which is unquestionably a desideratum. These facts
suggest the necessity for cultivating the earlier varieties of the
turnip, for it may be fairly doubted if a late-grown crop, left
for consumption in the field, ever, even under the most favorable
circumstances, attains its perfect development. At the same time it
must not be forgotten that turnips _fully matured_ in the field rather
deteriorate than otherwise after a few weeks' storage.

Many agriculturists consider that there is a strict relation between the
specific gravity, or comparative weight of the bulb, and its nutritive
value; others believe that a very large turnip must necessarily be
inferior in feeding qualities to a small one; whilst not a few maintain
that neither its size nor its specific gravity is an indication of its
feeding qualities. Dr. Anderson, who has specially investigated a
portion of this subject, states that "the specific gravity of the whole
turnip cannot be accepted as indicating its real nutritive value, the
proportion of air in the cells being the determining element in such
results; that there is no constant relation between the specific gravity
of, and the nitrogen compounds in, the bulb; and that such relation
does exist between the specific gravity of the expressed juice and
the nitrogen compounds and solid constituents." Dr. Anderson allows,
however, that the best varieties of the turnip have the highest specific
gravity; which admission--coupled with the fact admitted by all
experimenters that the heavy roots store best--lead me to adopt the
opinions of those who consider great specific gravity as one of the
favorable indications of its nutritive value. With respect to size,
I prefer bulbs of moderate dimensions; the monsters that win the prizes
at our agricultural shows--and which, in general, are _forced_--are
inferior in feeding qualities, are always _spongy_, and almost
invariably rot when stored.

The composition of the turnip is influenced not only by the nature of
the soil on which it is grown, but also by that of the manure applied
to it. The most reliable authorities are agreed that turnips raised on
Peruvian guano are watery, and do not keep well; but that with a mixture
of Peruvian guano and superphosphate of lime, with phospho-guano, or
with farmyard manure supplemented with a moderate amount of guano, the
most nutritious and firm bulbs are produced.

Turnip-tops have been analysed by Voelcker, with the following
results:--

  ONE HUNDRED PARTS CONTAIN--

                                                White.  Swedish.

  Water                                         91·284    88·367
  Nitrogen compounds                             2·456     2·087
  Non-nitrogenous matters (gum, sugar, &c.)      0·648     1·612
  Ditto, as woody fibre                          4·092     5·638
  Mineral matter                                 1·520     2·296
                                               -------   -------
                                               100·000   100·000

These figures apparently show that the tops of turnips are more
valuable than their bulbs; but, in the absence of any feeding
experiments made to determine the point, we believe they are less so,
as a very large proportion of the solid matter in the tops of turnips
is in too low a degree of elaboration to be assimilable. Their high
proportions of nitrogen and mineral matter constitute them, however,
a very useful manure--nearly twice as valuable as the bulbs; this
fact should be borne in mind when turnips are sold off the land.

_The Mangel-wurtzel_ is one of the most valuable of our green crops.
Its root is more nutritious than the turnip, occupying a position in
the scale of food equivalents midway between that bulb and the parsnip.
Mangels, when fresh, possess a somewhat acrid taste, and act as a
laxative when given to stock; but after a few months' storing they
become sweet and palatable, and their _scouring_ property completely
disappears.

Although the mangel is one of the most nutritious articles of food
which can be given to cattle, yet it is stated on the best authority
that sheep do not thrive upon it. Voelcker, who has investigated this
subject, informs us that a lot of sheep which he fed on a limited
quantity of hay and an unlimited quantity of mangels, did not, during a
period of four months, increase in weight, whilst another lot of sheep
supplied with a small quantity of hay, and Swedish turnips _ad libitum_
increased on an average 2-1/2 lbs. weekly. I believe the experience of
the greater number of feeders agrees with the results of Dr. Voelcker's
experiment.

The chemistry of the mangel-wurtzel has been thoroughly studied by Way
and Ogston, Fromberg, Wolff, Anderson, and Voelcker. According to the
last-named chemist, its average composition is as follows:--

  Water                                                    87·78
  Flesh-forming matters                                     1·54
  Sugar                                                     6·10
  Gum, pectin, &c.                                          2·50
  Woody fibre                                               1·12
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      0·96
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

It is difficult to accurately determine by a comparative trial the
relative feeding properties of mangels and turnips, for the former
are only in a fit state to be given to the animals when the latter
are deteriorating. However, by comparing the composition of the two
substances, and the results obtained from numerous feeding experiments,
it would appear, that on the average 75 lbs. weight of mangels are equal
to 100 lbs. weight of turnips. Of the different varieties of the mangel
the long yellow appears to be the most nutritious, and the long red the
least so.

The leaves of the mangel--some of which are occasionally pulled and used
for feeding purposes, during the growth of the bulb--are an excellent
feeding substance: their composition indicates a nutritive value but
little inferior to that of the root; but as their constituents cannot be
in a highly elaborated condition, it is probable they are not more than
equal to half their weight of the bulbs.

One _questio vexata_ of the many which at present occupy the attention
of the agricultural world is, whether or not the leaves of mangels may
be removed with advantage during the latter part of the development of
the plants. This practice prevailed rather extensively a few years since,
but latterly it has fallen somewhat into disuse.

Those who adopt this plan urge, as its advantages, that a large quantity
of food is obtained at a time when it is urgently needed, and that
instead of the removal of the leaves exercising an injurious influence
on the development of the roots, the latter are actually increased in
size.

In 1859 an experimental investigation was carried out at the Glasnevin
Model Farm, with the view of throwing new light on the question. The
outside leaves were very gradually removed on different occasions--from
the 12th August to the 15th October. In this way five tons of leaves per
statute acre were removed, and subsequently made use of for feeding
purposes. The experiment was conducted on a field of four acres, of
which the produce of 12 drills, each 200 yards in length, was left
untouched. The result was that the produce of the roots of the untouched
plants was only 40 tons 8 cwt. 6 qrs. per acre, whilst the roots of the
plants which had been partly denuded of their leaves weighed at the rate
of 45 tons 1 cwt. This experiment afforded results which are apparently
favorable to the practice of stripping the leaves; but it is to be
regretted that it was not rendered more complete by an analysis of the
roots, as a great bulk of roots does not necessarily imply a great
weight of dry food, and it is just possible, though not very probable,
that the roots of the stripped mangels contained a larger proportion of
water than those of the untouched plants.

The results of the experiments of Buckman, and of Professor Wolff, of
the Royal Agricultural College at Hohenheim, are at direct variance with
those obtained at Glasnevin. Both of these experimenters found that the
removal of the leaves occasioned a diminution in the produce of the
roots to the amount of 20 per cent. Nor was this the only loss, for it
was found by the German professor that the roots of the untouched plants
possessed a far higher nutritive value than those of the stripped
mangels.

When doctors differ, who is to decide? Here we have high authorities in
the agricultural world at direct variance on a matter of fact. The names
of Buckman and Wolff are a sufficient guarantee that the experimental
results which they announce are trustworthy, and I can testify, from
observation, that no field experiments could be more carefully conducted
than those carried out at the Albert Model Farm. We can only, then,
under the circumstances, admit that both Mr. Boyle, on the one side,
and Professors Buckman and Wolff on the other, are correct in their
statements of fact; but as it is evident both cannot be right in the
general inferences therefrom, it is desirable that the subject should be
still further investigated, and the truth be placed beyond doubt. It is
a question which appears so simple that one is at a loss to account for
the discrepant opinions in relation to it which prevail. "Let nothing
induce the growers," says Mr. Paget, in a paper on the cultivation of
the mangel, "to strip the leaves from the plant before taking up the
root. A series of careful experiments has convinced me that by so doing
we borrow food at a most usurious interest." "Although," says Mr. Boyle,
"the practice of stripping has been followed for many years on the farm
without any perceptible injury to the crop, these results, showing so
considerable an addition to the crop from taking off the leaves, were
hardly anticipated." It certainly does appear somewhat at variance with
our notion of the functions of the leaves of plants, that their partial
removal could possibly cause an increase in the weight of the roots;
but granting such to be the fact, it is not altogether _theoretically_
inexplicable. We know that highly nitrogenous manure has a tendency to
increase the development of the leaves of turnips at the _expense_ of
the roots. Gardeners, too, not unfrequently remove some of the buds from
their fruit trees, lest the excessive development of foliage should
retard or check the _growth_ of the fruit. _Theoretically_ an excessive
development of the leaves of the mangel may be inimical to the growth
of the root. Probably, too, it may be urged, the outer leaves, which
soon become partially disorganised and incapable of elaborating mineral
matter into vegetable products, prevent the access of light to the more
vigorous inner leaves. In conclusion, I may say of this subject that it
is worthy of further elucidation; and I would suggest to my readers,
and more especially to the managers of the various model farms, the
desirability of fully testing the matter.

The _White Beet_ is a congener of the mangel. It is largely grown on the
continent as a sugar-producing plant, but is seldom cultivated in these
countries. It produces about 15 tons of roots per acre, and its roots on
the average contain--

  Water                                                     83·0
  Sugar                                                     10·0
  Flesh-formers                                              2·5
  Fat-formers                                                1·5
  Fibre                                                      2·0
  Ash                                                        1·0
                                                           -----
                                                           100·0

This plant is deserving of more extensive growth in Great Britain.

The _Parsnip_ is, after the potato, the most valuable of roots. It
differs from the turnip and the mangel in containing a high proportion
of starch, and but little sugar; and its flesh-forming constituents are
largely made up of casein, instead of, as in the case of the turnip,
albumen.

The average composition of the parsnip is as follows:--

  Water                                                    82·00
  Flesh-forming principles                                  1·30
  Fat-formers (starch, sugar, &c.)                          7·75
  Woody fibre                                               8·00
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      0·95
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

The parsnip is extensively grown in many foreign countries, on
account of its valuable feeding properties. As a field-crop it is but
little cultivated in Great Britain, and its use is--if we except the
table--almost restricted to pigs. Its food equivalent is about double
that of the turnip; that is, one pound of parsnips is equal to two
pounds of turnips.

The _Carrot_ bears a close resemblance to the parsnip, from which,
however, it differs, containing no starch, and being somewhat inferior
in nutritive value. According to Voelcker, its average composition is
as follows:--

  Water                                                    88·50
  Flesh-formers                                             0·60
  Fat-formers (including woody fibre)                      10·18
  Mineral matter (ash)                                      0·72
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

As carrots contain a high proportion of fat-forming matters, and a low
per-centage of flesh-forming substances, they are better adapted for
fattening purposes. Dairy stock greedily eat them; and they are given
with great advantage to horses out of condition.

_Kohl-Rabi._--This plant, though early introduced into the agriculture
of these countries, has made but little progress in the estimation
of the farmer. It belongs to the order and genus which include the
turnip, but differs widely from that plant in its mode of growth. Its
bulb--which is formed by an enormous development of the overground
stem--is, according to some authorities, less liable than the turnip
to injury from frost. It is subject to no diseases, save anbury and
clubbing; and, owing to its position above the soil, it can be readily
eaten off by sheep. The bulbs store better than Swedes, and, according
to some farmers, keep even better than mangels. With respect to the
flavor of this bulb, there is some difference of opinion. Professor
Wilson, of Edinburgh, quotes several eminent feeders to prove that
"whether in the fold for sheep, in the yard for cattle, or in the
stables for horses, it will generally be preferred to the other
descriptions of homegrown keep." Mr. Baldwin, on the contrary, states
that although good food for sheep, it is too hard-fleshed for old ewes,
and that carrots are better food for horses, and Swedish turnips for
cattle.

An accurately conducted comparative trial to test the nutritive value
of the Kohl-rabi, was conducted at the Glasnevin Model Farm, under the
direction of Mr. Baldwin. The experiment was commenced in January, 1863.
Four oxen were selected, and divided into two lots. Nos. 1 and 2 (Lot 1)
were fed on Kohl-rabi, oil-cake, and hay, and Nos. 3 and 4 (Lot 2) on
Swedish turnips, oil-cake, and hay. As the animals supplied with the
Kohl-rabi did not appear to relish it, and as it was desirable to
gradually accustom them to the change of food, the experiment did not
really commence till the 12th January. On that date the weights of the
animals were as follows:--

                      cwt.  st.    |                   cwt.  st.
                                   |
     Lot 1.  {No. 1.   10    1     |   Lot 2.  {No. 3.   7    5
             {No. 2.    7    4     |           {No. 4.  10    2
                       -------     |                    -------
                       17    5     |                    17    7

The lots, therefore, counterpoised each other pretty fairly. From the
12th to the 28th January they received the following quantities of food
per diem:--

                                   1.      2.      3.      4.

  Roots                   stones   7-1/2   6       6       7-1/2
  Oil cake                pounds   4-1/2   3       3       4-1/2
  Hay                     pounds  10-1/2  10-1/2  10-1/2  10-1/2

The animals fed upon the Kohl-rabi evinced from the first a
disinclination to it, but they nevertheless ate it before their meal of
oil-cake was supplied to them. On the morning of the 28th January they
were put upon the dietary shown in the table, and which induced them to
eat the Kohl-rabi more quickly.

                                   1.      2.      3.      4.

  At 6.30 a.m.    {Roots, Stones   3       2-1/2   2-1/2   3-1/2
                  {Cake, lbs.      1-1/2   1       1       1

  At 12.30 a.m.   {Roots, Stones   3       2-1/2   2-1/2   3-1/2
                  {Cake, lbs.      1-1/2   1       1       1

  At 6.30 p.m.    {Roots, Stones   3       2-1/2   2-1/2   3-1/2
                  {Cake, lbs.      1-1/2   1       1       1

  At 9.30 p.m.     Hay, lbs.       7       7       7       7

On the 11th February the cattle were again weighed, when their increase
was found to be as follows:--

                               Weight on   Weight on  Increase in
                               Jan. 12.    Feb. 11.   30 days.

                               cwt. st.    cwt. st.       st.

  1} Lot 1, fed on Kohl-rabi,}  10   1      10   4         3
  2}   &c.                   }   7   4       7   6         2
                                                          ---
            Total                                          5

  3} Lot 2, fed on Swedes,   }   7   5       8   3         6
  4}   &c.                   }  10   2      10   7-1/4     5-1/2
                                                          ------
            Total                                         11-1/2

The results of this experiment show that the animals fed upon Swedish
turnips, hay, and oil-cake, increased in weight at a rate more than
100 per cent. greater than the lot supplied with equal quantities of
Kohl-rabi, hay, and oil-cake. The superiority of the Swedish turnips was
rendered more evident by the results of subsequent experiments. Nos. 1
and 4 were not tried after the 11th February; but Nos. 2 and 3 were kept
under experiment. No. 2 was put on Swedes, and No. 3 on mangel-wurtzel,
and after an interval of a fortnight No. 2 had increased much more than
they had done on Kohl-rabi.

Specimens of the Kohl-rabi and Swedish turnips employed in this
experiment were submitted to me for analysis by Mr. Baldwin, and yielded
the following results:--

                                                          Swedish
                                              Kohl-rabi.  Turnip.

  Water                                         87·62      88·84
  Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles       2·24       1·66
  Non-nitrogenous, or fat-forming principles     7·78       6·07
  Woody fibre                                    1·34       2·73
  Mineral matter (ash)                           1·22       0·70
                                               ------     ------
                                               100·00     100·00

These results show a slight superiority of the Kohl-rabi over the Swedish
turnip; the great difference in their nutritive power, as shown by Mr.
Baldwin's experimental results, must therefore be due to the superior
flavor and digestibility of the turnip.

Dr. Anderson's analysis of Kohl-rabi afforded results more favorable to
the highly nutritive character assigned by some feeders to that bulb
than those arrived at by me. The bulbs, it should however be remarked,
were grown, no doubt with great care, by Messrs. Lawson and Son, the
well-known seedsmen:--

  ANALYSIS OF KOHL-RABI, BY DR. ANDERSON.

                                              Bulbs.       Tops.

  Water                                       86·74        86·68
  Flesh-forming principles                     2·75         2·37
  Fat-forming principles                       8·62         8·29
  Woody fibre                                  0·77         1·21
  Mineral matter                               1·12         1·45
                                             ------       ------
                                             100·00       100·00

The _Radish_ is a plant which deserves a place amongst our field crops,
though hitherto its cultivation has been restricted to the garden. At
one time its leaves were boiled and eaten, but in these latter days they
are subjected to neither of these processes. The root, however, in its
raw state, is, as every one is aware, considered one of the dainties of
the table.

Many of those who devote themselves to the important study of dietetics,
consider the use of raw vegetables to be objectionable; but be their
objections groundless, or the reverse, it is certain that a vegetable
which, like the radish, may be eaten raw with apparently good results,
cannot be otherwise than a good article of food when cooked. I once
tried the experiment of eating matured radishes, not as a salad, but
cooked like any other boiled vegetable, and I must say that I found
their flavor rather agreeable than otherwise. Boiled radishes--roots and
tops--form excellent feeding for pigs. How could it be otherwise? for
what is good for the family of man must surely be a luxury to the swine
tribe. I have known horses to eat radishes greedily, and I am certain
that they would prove acceptable to all the animals of the farm. But
it may be asked, why it is that I recommend the use of radishes as
food for stock, when there are already so many more nutritious roots
at our disposal--turnips, mangels, and potatoes. Simply for this
reason:--Between the departure of the roots and the advent of the
grasses, there is a kind of interregnum.[33] Now we want a good tuberous,
bulbous, or tap-rooted plant to fill up this interregnum. Such a plant
we have in the radish. The root is certainly a small one, but then it
grows so rapidly that a good supply can be had within thirty days from
the sowing of the seed, and a crop can be matured before the time for
sowing turnips. Two crops may be easily obtained from land under
potatoes--one before the tops cover the ground, the other after the
tubers have been dug out. The yield of radishes, judging from the
produce in the garden, would be at least six tons of roots and three
tons of tops. I would suggest, then, that the radish should at once
get a fair chance as a stolen crop. If it succeed as such, it will
not be the first gift of the gardener to the husbandman. Was not the
mangel-wurtzel once known only as the produce of the garden?

The composition of the radish indicates a nutritive value less than that
of the white turnip. I have analysed both the root and the tops, and
obtained the following results:--

  ANALYSIS OF THE RADISH.

                                              Root.        Tops.

  Water                                      95·09         94·30
  Flesh-forming principles                    0·52          0·75
  Fat-formers (starch, gum, fat, &c.)         1·06          1·16
  Woody fibre                                 2·22          2·36
  Mineral matter (ash)                        1·11          1·43
                                            ------        ------
                                            100·00        100·00

The _Jerusalem Artichoke_ has long been cultivated as a field-crop on
the Continent, and in certain localities the breadth occupied by it
is very considerable. The French term the tuberous root of this plant
_poitre de terre_, or _topin ambour_; and although they expose it for
sale in the markets, it is not much relished by our lively neighbours,
who are so remarkable for their _cuisiniere_. As food for cattle,
however, the French agricultural writers state it to be excellent.
It is much relished by horses, dairy cows, and pigs; store horned-stock
also eat it when seasoned with a little salt, and appear to enjoy it
amazingly when permitted to pull up the roots from the soil. The green
tops are also given to sheep and cattle, and, it is stated, are readily
eaten by those animals.

The Jerusalem artichoke (_Helianthus Tuberoses_) differs from its half
namesake, the common artichoke, and resembles the potato in being
valuable chiefly for its tubers. It is perennial, and attains on the
Continent a height varying from 7 to 10 feet. In this country its
dimensions are less. The stem is erect, thick, coarse, and covered with
hairs. It is a native of Mexico, and although introduced 200 years ago
into Europe, it can hardly be said to be acclimatised, since it very
seldom flowers, and never develops seed. The plant is therefore
propagated by cuttings from its tubers, each containing one or two eyes;
or if the tubers be very small, which is often the case, a whole one is
planted. The tubers possess great vitality, and remain in the ground
during the most severe frosts, without sustaining the slightest injury.
For this reason it is usual to devote a corner of the garden to the
cultivation of the Jerusalem artichoke; for, no matter how completely
the crop may appear to have been removed from the soil, portions of the
tubers will remain and shoot up into plants during the following season.
This peculiarity of the plant it is likely may prove an obstacle to its
having a place assigned to it in the rotation system.

The question now presents itself--What are the peculiar advantages which
the crop possesses which should commend it to the notice of the British
farmer? I shall try to answer the question.

1st. No green crop (except furze) can be grown in so great a variety of
soils; except marshy or wet lands, there is no soil in which it refuses
to grow.

2nd. It does not suffer from disease, is very little affected by the
ravages of insects, is completely beyond the influence of cold, and may
remain either above or below ground for a long time without undergoing
any injurious changes in composition.

3rd. It gives a good return, when we consider that it requires very
little manure, and but little labor in its management.

At Bechelbronn, the farm of the celebrated Boussingault, the average
yield is nearly eleven tons per acre, but occasionally over fourteen
tons is obtained. Donoil, a farmer of Bailiere, in the department of
Haut-loire, states that he fed sheep exclusively on the tops and tubers
of this plant, and that he estimated his profits at £23 per hectare
(£9 3s. 4d. per acre). The soil was very inferior. Donoil terms it
third-rate, and it does not appear to have been manured even once
during the fifteen years it was under Jerusalem artichoke. I fear our
artificial manure manufacturers will hardly look with a favorable eye
on the advent of a crop into our agriculture which can get on so well
without the intervention of any fertilising agents. Indeed, several of
the French writers state that little or no manure is necessary for this
plant. But this can hardly be the case; for it is evident that a crop
which, according to Way and Ogston, removes 35 lbs. of mineral matter
per ton from the soil, or three times as much potash as turnips do, must
certainly be greatly benefited by the application of manure. And I have
no doubt but that the Jerusalem artichoke, if well manured and grown
in moderately fertile soil, would produce a much heavier crop than our
Continental neighbors appear to get from it.

4th. The Jerusalem artichoke may be cultivated with advantage in places
where ordinary root-crops either fail or thrive badly. In such cases
the ground should be permanently devoted to this crop. Kade gives an
instance where a piece of indifferent ground had for thirty-three years
produced heavy crops of this plant, although during that time neither
manure nor labor had been applied to it. In Ireland the potato has been
grown under similar circumstances.

The nutritive constituents of tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke bear
a close resemblance in every respect, save one, to those of the
potato. Both contain about 75 per cent. of water, about 2 per cent.
of flesh-forming substances, and 20 per cent. of non-nitrogenous, or
fat-forming and heat-giving elements. In one respect there is a great
difference--namely, that sugar makes up from 8 to 12 per cent. of the
Jerusalem artichoke, whilst there is but a small proportion of that
substance in the potato.

The large quantity of sugar contained in this root is no doubt the cause
of its remarkable keeping properties in winter, and it also readily
accounts for the avidity with which most of the domesticated animals
eat it.

On the whole, then, I think that the facts I have brought forward
relative to the advantages which the Jerusalem artichoke presents as a
farm crop, justify the recommendation that it should get a fair trial
from the British farmer, who is now so much interested in the production
of suitable forage for stock.

  COMPOSITION OF (DRY) JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE

  Albuminous matters                                         4·6
  Fatty matters                                              0·4
  Starch, gum, &c.                                          19·8
  Sugar                                                     69·5
  Fibre and ash                                              5·7
                                                           -----
                                                           100·0

The _Potato_, regarded from every point of view, is by far the most
important of the plants which are cultivated for the sake of their
roots. Its tubers form the chief--almost sole--pabulum of many millions
of men, enter more or less into the dietary of most civilised peoples,
and constitute a large proportion of the food of the domesticated
animals. The great importance of this plant, arising from its enormous
consumption, has caused its composition to be very minutely studied by
many British, Continental, and American chemists. With respect to its
nutritive properties, the least favorable results were obtained by the
American chemists, Hardy and Henry, and the most by the European
chemists.

The flesh-forming principles vary from 1 per cent., as found by Hardy,
to 2·41 per cent., the mean results of the analyses of Krocker and
Horsford. The proportion of starch in different varieties of the potato
also varies, but not to the same degree as the nitrogenous principles.
In new potatoes, only 5 per cent. has been found; in ash-leaved kidneys,
9·50 per cent.; and in different kinds of cups, from 15 to 24 per cent.
The amount of starch is also influenced by the soil, the manure, the
climate, and the various other conditions under which the plant is
developed. The proportion of starch increases during the growth, and
diminishes during the storage of the tubers.

Dr. Anderson is the most recent investigator into the composition of the
potato; the chief results of his inquiries are given in the following
table:--

  ANALYSIS OF THE POTATO BY DR. ANDERSON.

  --------------+--------+----------+-------------+-------+-------+-------
                |Regents.|Dalmahoys.|Skerry-blues.|White  |Orkney |Flukes.
                |        |          |             |Rocks. |Reds.  |
                +--------+----------+-------------+-------+-------+-------
  Water         |  76·32 |    75·91 |    76·60    | 75·93 | 78·57 | 74·41
  Starch        |  12·21 |    12·58 |    11·79    | 12·77 | 10·85 | 12·55
  Sugar, &c.    |   2·75 |     2·93 |     3·09    |  2·17 |  2·78 |  2·89
  Flesh-formers |        |          |             |       |       |
    soluble     |   2·16 |     2·10 |     1·90    |  1·88 |  1·48 |  1·98
    insoluble   |   0·21 |     0·15 |     0·16    |  0·24 |  0·21 |  0·20
  Fibre         |   5·53 |     5·21 |     5·41    |  5·55 |  5·93 |  6·71
  Ash           |   0·88 |     0·81 |     0·94    |  1·04 |  0·98 |  0·98
                +--------+----------+-------------+-------+-------+-------
                | 100·06 |    99·69 |    99·89    | 99·58 |100·80 | 99·72
  --------------+--------+----------+-------------+-------+-------+-------

The potato is relatively deficient in flesh-forming matters, and contains
the respiratory elements in exceedingly high proportions; hence it is
well adapted for fattening purposes, and in this respect is equal to
double its weight of the best kind of turnips. When used as food for
man, it should be supplemented by some more fatty or nitrogenous
substance--such, for example, as flesh, oatmeal, or peas. Buttermilk,
a fluid which is rich in nitrogen, is an excellent supplement to
potatoes, and compensates to a great extent for the deficiency of those
tubers in muscle-forming matters. If, then, the potato is destined to
retain its place as the "national esculent" of the Irish, I trust their
national beverage may be--so far at least as the masses of the people
are concerned--buttermilk, and _not_ whiskey.

Potatoes so far diseased as to be unsuited for use as food for man, may
be given with advantage to stock. They may be used either in a raw or
uncooked state, but the latter is the preferable form. Sheep do not like
them at first, but on being deprived of turnips they acquire a taste
for them; on a daily allowance, composed of 1 lb. of oil-cake or corn,
and an unlimited quantity of potatoes, they fatten rapidly. Cattle
thrive well on a diet composed of equal parts of turnips and diseased
potatoes, and do not require oil-cake. The evening feed of horses may
advantageously be composed of potatoes and turnips. If raw, the potatoes
should be given in a very limited quantity--four or five pounds; in the
cooked state, however, they may be given in abundance, but the animals
should not, after their meal, be permitted to drink water for some
hours. As a feeding substance, diseased potatoes, unless they be very
much injured, are equal to twice their weight of white turnips; it is
certain that they do not injure the health or impair the condition of
the animals which feed upon them.


SECTION VI.

SEEDS.

In seeds the elements of nutrition exist not only in the most highly
elaborated, but also in the most concentrated state; hence their
nutritive value is greater than that of any other class of food
substances.

_Wheat Grain_ is the most valuable of seeds, as it contains, in admirably
adjusted proportions, the bone, the fat, and the muscle-forming
principles. In the form of bread, it has been, not inaptly, termed the
"staff of life," for no other grain is so well adapted, _per se_, for
the sustenance of man; and many millions of human beings subsist almost
exclusively on it. The lower animals are in general fed upon the grain
of oats, of barley, and of the leguminous plants, and the use of wheat
is almost completely restricted to the human family.

Wheat grain, by the processes of grinding and sifting, is resolvable
into two distinct parts--bran and flour. In twenty-four analyses made
by Boussingault, the proportion of the bran was from 13·2 to 38·5
per cent. and that of the flour from 61·5 to 86·8 per cent. The floury
part is of very complex structure; it includes starch, gluten, albumen,
oil, gum, gummo-gelatinous matter, sugar,[34] and various saline matters.
The gluten and albumen constitute the nitrogenous, or flesh-forming
principles of flour, and make up from 16 to 20 per cent. of that
substance; the non-nitrogenous, or fat-forming elements, such as
starch and gum, form from 74 to 82 per cent. According to Payen, the
proportion of gluten diminishes towards the centre of the seed, from
which it follows that the part of the grain nearest the husk is the
most nutritious--so far at least as muscle-making is concerned. The
desire on the part of the public for very white bread has led to the
_fine_ dressing of Wheat-grain, and consequently to the separation from
that substance of a very large proportion of one of its most nutritious
constituents. Crude gluten may be obtained by kneading the dough of
flour in a muslin bag under a small current of water; the starch, or
fecula, and the gum, are carried away by the water, and the gluten in
an impure form remains as an elastic viscous substance, which on drying
becomes hard and brittle. It is to the gluten of flour that its property
of panification, or bread-making, is due. On the addition of a ferment,
a portion of the starch is converted into sugar and carbonic acid gas,
and the latter causes the gluten to expand into the little cells, or
vesicles, which confer upon baked bread its light, spongy texture.

  ANALYSES OF WHEAT.

                              1.        2.         3.        4.

                            Whole
                            Grain.     Flour.     Bran.     Husk.

  Water                     15·00      14·0        13       13·9
  Flesh-formers             12·00      11·0        14       14·9
  Fat-formers               68·50      73·5        55       55·8
  Woody fibre                2·75       0·7        12        9·7
  Mineral matter             1·75       0·8         6        5·7
                           ------     -----       ---      -----
                           100·00     100·0       100      100·0

  _Nos. 1, 2, and 3.--The mean results of a great number of analyses._

  _No. 4.--By_ MILLON.

_Over-ripening of Grain._--The final act of vegetation is the production
of seed, after the performance of which function many plants, having
accomplished their destined purpose, perish. The grasses (which include
the cereals) are _annuals_, or plants which have but a year's existence,
consequently their development ceases so soon as they have produced
their seed. When wheat, oats, and the other cereals, attain to this
final point in their growth, the circulation of their sap ceases,
their color changes from green to yellow, and they undergo certain
changes which destroy their power of assimilating mineral matter, and
consequently render them no longer capable of increasing their weight.

The proper time for cutting wheat and the other cereals is immediately
after their grain has been fully matured. When the green color of the
straw just below the ears changes to yellow, the grain, be it ripe or
unripe at the time, cannot afterwards be more fully developed. This is
rendered impossible in consequence of the disorganisation of the upper
part of the stem--indicated by, but not the result of, its altered
hue--which cuts off the supply of sap to the ears, and the latter do
not possess the power of absorbing nutriment from the air.

When the vital processes which are incessantly going on in the growing
plants are brought to a close, the purely chemical forces come into
operation. If the seed be perfectly matured and allowed to remain
ungathered, it is attacked in wet weather by the oxygen of the air, a
portion of its carbon is burned off, some of its starch is converted
into sugar, and in extreme cases it germinates and becomes _malty_.
But not only is the seed liable to injury from the elements; it is also
exposed to the ravages of the feathered tribe, and no matter how well
a field of corn may be watched, or how great the number of _scarecrows_
erected in it, there is always a certain diurnal loss, occasioned by the
ravages of birds.

It is not only necessary that ripe corn should be cut as soon as
possible, but it is sometimes desirable to reap it before it becomes
fully matured. When the grain is intended for consumption as food, the
less bran it contains the better. Now the bran, as is well known, forms
the integument, or covering of the vital constituents of the seed; and
it is the last part of the organ to be perfected. The growth of the
seed for several days before its perfect development, is confined to
the _testa_ or covering. Now as this is the least valuable part of the
article, its increase is matter of but little moment; and when it is
excessive it renders the grain less valuable in the eyes of the miller.
That the cutting of the grain before it is perfectly ripe is attended
with a good result, is clearly proved by the results of an experiment
recorded in Johnston's "Agricultural Chemistry." A crop of wheat was
selected; one-third was cut twenty days before it was ripe; another
third ten days afterwards; and the remaining portion when its grain had
been fully matured. The relative produce in grain of the three portions
taken, as stated above, was as 1, 1·325, and 1·260. The following table
exhibits the relative proportions of their constituents:--

                                  In 100 parts of the grain cut at
                                  20 days.   10 days.    Dead ripe.

  Flour                             74·7       79·1         72·2
  Sharps                             7·2        5·5         11·0
  Bran                              17·5       13·2         16·0
                                    ----       ----         ----
                                    99·4       97·8         99·2

  The flour contained gluten         9·3        9·9          9·6

The results of this experiment, and of the general experience of
intelligent growers, show that grain cut a week or ten days before it is
perfectly ripe contains more flour, and of a better quality, too, than
is found in either ripe or very unripe seed. But this is not the only
advantage, for the straw of the green, or rather of the greenish-yellow
corn, is fully twice as valuable for feeding purposes as that of the
over-ripe cereals. There is an extraordinary decrease in the amount
of the albuminous constituents of the stems of the cereals during the
last two or three weeks of their maturation, and as there is not a
corresponding increase of those materials in the seed, they must be
evolved in some form or other from the plants.

There can be only one object attained by allowing the seed to fully
ripen itself, and that is the insurance of its more perfect adaptability
to the purpose of reproduction. When the _testa_ is thick it best
protects the germ of the future plant enclosed in it from the ordinary
atmospheric influences until it is placed under the proper conditions
for its germination.

_Wheat, a costly food._--It occasionally happens that the wheat harvest
is so abundant, that many feeders give large quantities of this grain to
their stock. Now, as Indian corn is at least 25 per cent. cheaper than
wheat, even when the price of the latter is at its _minimum_, I believe
that it is always more economical to sell the wheat raised on the farm,
and to purchase with the proceeds of its sale an equivalent of Indian
corn, which is a more fattening kind of food.

_Bran_ is, with perhaps the exception of malt-dust, the most nutritious
of the refuse portions of grains. It is usually given to horses, and
owing to its high proportion of nitrogen, is, perhaps, better expended
in the bodies of those hard-working animals, than in those of pigs and
cows--animals that occasionally come in for a share of this valuable
feeding-stuff. It should be borne in mind that bran commonly acts as
a slight laxative, and that it is less digestible than flour, a large
portion of it usually passing through the animal's body unchanged.
This drawback to the use of bran may be obviated by either cooking or
fermenting the article, or by combining it with beans or some other
kind of binding food.

  AVERAGE ANALYSES OF GRAIN.

  --------------+-------+------+-----+--------+------+-----+--------+------
                |       |      |     |        |Indian|     |  Rye   |Buck-
                |Barley.| Bere.|Oats.|Oatmeal.| Corn.|Rice.|(Irish).|wheat.
                +-------+------+-----+--------+------+-----+--------+------
  Water         |  16·0 | 14·25| 14·0|  13·00 | 14·5 | 14·0|   16·0 | 14·19
  Flesh-formers |  10·5 | 10·10| 11·5|  16·00 | 10·0 |  5·3|    9·0 |  8·58
  Fat-formers   |  67·0 | 64·60| 64·5|  68·00 | 69·0 | 78·5|   66·0 | 51·91
  Woody fibre   |   3·5 |  9·03|  7·0|   1·75 |  5·0 |  2·5|    8·0 | 23·12
  Mineral matter|   3·0 |  2·02|  3·0|   1·25 |  1·5 |  0·7|    1·0 |  2·20
                +-------+------+-----+--------+------+-----+--------+------
                | 100·0 |100·00|100·0| 100·00 |100·0 |100·0|  100·0 |100·00
  --------------+-------+------+-----+--------+------+-----+--------+------

_Barley_ is inferior in composition to wheat. As a feeding stuff, the
English farmers assign to it a higher, and the Scotch farmers a lower,
place than oats, which, perhaps, merely proves that in Scotland the oat
thrives better than the barley, and in England the barley better than
the oat. Barley-meal is extensively used by the English feeders, and
with excellent results. Where _barley-dust_ can be obtained it is a far
cheaper feeding stuff than the meal. Barley husks should never be given
to animals unless in a cooked or fermented state.

_Oat Grain_ is, perhaps, the most valuable of the concentrated foods
which are given to fattening stock. When it is cheap it will be found
a more economical feeding stuff than linseed-cake, and, unlike that
substance, can be used without the fear of adulteration. Oats are equal
to wheat in their amount of flesh-forming matters; but their very high
proportion of indigestible woody fibre detracts from their nutritive
value. Oat-meal is more nutritious than wheat-meal; and oat-flour,
especially if finely dressed, greatly excels wheat-flour in its
nutrimental properties, because, unlike the latter, the finer it is the
greater is its amount of flesh-formers. Bread made of oat-flour is very
heavy, and is far less palatable than the bread of wheat. Oat-meal has
been found to contain nearly 20 per cent. of nitrogenous matters. The
white oat is more nutritious than the black, and the greatest amount of
aliment is found in the grain which has not been allowed to over-ripen
in the field. Oat husk is very inferior to the bran of wheat. Toppings
are seldom worth the price at which they are sold.

_Indian Corn_ has been highly extolled as a fattening food for stock,
and its chemical composition would seem to justify the high opinion
which practical men have formed of its relative nutritive value. In the
United States, the feeding of horses on Indian corn and hay has been
found very successful; but in these countries oats will be found a more
economical food. For fattening purposes Indian corn appears exceedingly
well adapted, as it contains more ready-formed fat--4·5 per cent.--than
is found in most of the other grains, and, on an average, 70 per cent.
of starch. Pigs thrive well on this grain. The Galatz round yellow grain
is somewhat superior to the American flat yellow seed.

_Rye_ is not extensively cultivated in this country, but on the
Continent it is raised in large quantities. In the north of Europe
it forms a considerable proportion of the food of both man and the
domesticated animals. In Holland it is commonly consumed by horses, but
in England there has always been a prejudice against the use of this
grain as food for the equine tribe. It has been highly recommended for
dairy stock, five pounds of rye-meal, with a sufficiency of cut straw,
constituting, it is stated, a dietary on which cows yield a maximum
supply of milk. Irish-grown rye contains less starch, and more
flesh-formers and oil, than the Black Sea grain.

_Rice_, although it forms the chief pabulum of nearly one-third of
the human family, is the least nutritious of the common food grains.
Rice-dust, an article obtained in cleaning rice for European consumption,
is said to promote the flow of milk when given to cows. It is sold in
large quantities in Liverpool, where, according to Voelcker, it often
commands a higher price than it is worth.

_Buckwheat_ is chiefly used as a food for game and poultry.

_Malted Corn._--During a late session of Parliament a Bill was passed to
exempt from duty malt intended to be used as food for cattle. As feeders
may now become their own maltsters, it may be of some use to them to
have here a _résumé_ of this Bill:--

    1. Any person giving security and taking out a licence may make
    malt in a malt-house approved by the Excise for the purpose; and
    all malt so made and mixed with linseed-cake or linseed-meal as
    directed, shall be free from duty.

    2. The security required is a bond to Her Majesty, with sureties
    to the satisfaction of the Excise, not to take from any such
    malt-house any malt except duly mixed with material prescribed
    by the Act.

    3. The malt-house must be properly named upon its door.

    4. All malt made in it shall be deposited in a store-room, and
    shall be conveyed to and from the room upon such notice as the
    officer of Excise shall appoint.

    5. The maltster shall provide secure rooms in his malt-house,
    to be approved in writing by the supervisor, for grinding the
    malt made by him in such malt-house, and mixing and storing the
    same when mixed; and all such rooms shall be properly secured
    and kept locked by the proper officer of Excise.

    6. All malt before removal from the malt-house shall be ground
    and thoroughly mixed with one-tenth part at least of its weight
    of ground linseed-cake or linseed-meal, and ground to such a
    degree of fineness and in such manner as the commissioners shall
    approve, and mixed together in a quantity not less than forty
    bushels at a time in the presence of an officer of Excise.

    7. The maltster shall keep account of the quantity of all malt
    mixed as aforesaid which he shall from time to time send out or
    deliver from his malt-house, with the dates and addresses of the
    person for whom such mixed malt shall be so sent or delivered.

    8. If any person shall attempt to separate any malt from any
    material with which the same shall have been mixed as aforesaid,
    or shall use this malt for the brewing of beer or distilling of
    spirits, he shall forfeit the sum of £200.

    9 and 10. The penalties of existing Acts are recited.

    11. This Act shall continue and be in force for five years.


Some samples of malt and barley examined in May, 1865, by Dr. Voelcker
for the Central Anti-Malt Tax Association, afforded the following
results:--

  -------------------------+-------+---------------------------------------
                           |Barley |             Malt marked
                           |marked |
                           | No. 1.| No. 5.| No. 7.| No. 9.|No. 14.|No. 16.
  -------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
  Moisture                 |  11·76|   8·72|   7·43|   7·76|   8·35|   7·06
  Sugar                    |   3·75|   4·29|   5·48|   7·85|   9·46|   9·86
  Starch and dextrine      |  70·40|  71·03|  69·70|  67·57|  67·53|  67·67
  [*] Albuminous compounds |       |       |       |       |       |
    (flesh-forming matters)|   7·75|   8·44|   8·81|   9·37|   8·60|   8·31
  Woody fibre (cellular)   |   4·46|   5·22|   6·38|   5·38|   4·14|   5·11
  Mineral matter (ash)     |   1·88|   2·30|   2·20|   2·07|   1·92|   1·99
                           +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
                           | 100·00| 100·00| 100·00| 100·00| 100·00| 100·00
  [* Containing nitrogen]  |   1·24|   1·35|   1·41|   1·50|   1·38|   1·33
  -------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

A great deal has been said and written in favor of malt as a feeding
stuff, but I greatly doubt its alleged decided superiority over barley;
and until the results of accurately conducted comparative experiments
made with those articles incontestably prove that superiority, I think
it is somewhat a waste of nutriment to convert barley into malt for
feeding purposes. The gentlemen who verbally, or in writing, refer
so favorably to malt, acknowledge, with one or two exceptions, that
their experience of the article is limited. Mr. John Hudson, of
Brandon, states that he made a comparative experiment, the results
of which proved the superiority of malt. But, in fact, the only
properly-conducted experiments to determine the relative values of malt
and barley were those made some years ago by Dr. Thompson, of Glasgow,
by the direction of the Government, and those recently performed by Mr.
Lawes, both producing results unfavorable to the malt. The issue of Dr.
Thompson's investigations proved that milch cows fed on barley yielded
more milk and butter than when supplied with an equal weight of malt.

I do not deny the probability that malt, owing to its agreeable flavor
and easy solubility, may be a somewhat better feeding stuff than barley;
and that, weight for weight, it may produce a somewhat greater increase
in the weight of the animals fed upon it: but although a pound-weight of
malt may be better than a pound-weight of barley, I am quite satisfied
that a pound's worth of barley will put up more flesh than a pound's
worth of malt. Barley-seeds consist of water, starch, nitrogenous
substances--such as gluten and albumen--fatty substances, and saline
matter. The amount of starch is considerable, being sometimes about
70 per cent. In the process of malting (which is simply the germination
of the seed under peculiar conditions), a portion of the starch is
converted into sugar and gum, the grain increases in size and becomes
friable when dried, and the internal structure of the seed is completely
broken up. During these changes a partial decomposition of the solid
matter of the seeds takes place, and a large amount of nutriment is
dissipated, chiefly in the form of carbonic acid gas. From the results
of the experience of the maltster, and of special experiments made by
scientific men, it would appear that a ton of barley will produce only
16 cwt. of malt. Allowance must, however, be made for the difference
between the amount of water contained in barley and in malt, the latter
being much drier. According to Mr. E. Holden, the centesimal loss
sustained in malting may be stated thus:--

  Water                                                     6·00
  Organic matter                                           12·52
  Saline matter                                             0·48
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

Dr. Thompson[35] sets down the loss of nutriment (exclusive of that
occasioned by kiln-drying), as follows:--

  Carried off by the steep                                  1·5
  Dissipated on the floor                                   3·0
  Roots separated by cleaning                               3·0
  Waste                                                     0·5
                                                            ---
                                                            8·0

We may say, then, that by the malting of barley we lose at least 2-1/2
cwt. of solid nutriment out of every ton of the article, and this loss
falls heaviest on the nitrogenous, or flesh-forming constituents of
the grain. When there are added to this loss the expense of carting
the grain to and from the malt-house, and the maltster's charge for
operating upon it (I presume in this case that the feeder is not his own
maltster), it will be found that two tons of malt will cost the farmer
nearly as much as three tons of barley; and he will then have to solve
the problem--_Whether or not malt is 40 or 50 per cent. more valuable
as a feeding-stuff than barley_.

The difference in value between barley and malt is generally 14s. per
barrel; but it is sometimes more or less, according to the supply and
demand. Barley, well malted, will lose on the average 25 per cent. of
its weight, the loss depending, to some extent, upon the degree to which
the process is carried, and on the germinating properties of the barley.
Barley malted for roasters ought not to lose more than 21 per cent. of
its original weight--53 lbs. to the barrel. The heavier the barley the
less it loses in malting; a barrel of 224 lbs., and value from 15s. to
16s., ought to produce a barrel of malt of 196 lbs., value 29s. to 30s.

If we deduct from the cost of a barrel of malt the amount of duty at
present levyable upon it, the price of the article will be still nearly
50 per cent. greater than that of an equal weight of barley. The cheaper
barley is the greater will be the relative cost of malt. The maltster's
charge for converting a barrel of barley into malt is about 4s.; so
that if the price of the grain be so low as 12s. per barrel, which it
sometimes is, the cost of malting it would amount to 33 per cent. of its
price. Then, the diminution in the weight of, and the cost of carting
the grain, must be taken into account; and when the whole expense
attendant upon the process of malting is ascertained, it will be found
that I have not exaggerated in stating that a ton of malt costs as much
as a ton and a half of barley.

If the consumer of malt germinate the seeds himself, he may probably,
if he require large quantities of the article, produce it at a somewhat
cheaper rate than if he bought it from the maltster; but few persons who
have the slightest knowledge of the vexatious restrictions of the Inland
Revenue authorities would be likely to place his premises under the
_espionage_ of an excise officer.

As the superiority of malt over barley (if such be really the case) must
be chiefly due to the looseness of its texture, which allows the juices
of the stomach to act readily upon it, barley in a cooked state might be
found quite as nutritious: It would not be fair to institute comparisons
between dense hard barley-seeds and the easily soluble malted grains.
During the cooking of barley a portion of the starch is changed into
sugar, but in this case with only an inappreciable waste of nutriment.
When the cooking process is continued for a few hours, a considerable
amount of sugar is formed, and the barley acquires a very sweet flavor.

When the malt for cattle question was under discussion, I made a little
experiment in relation to it, the results of which are perhaps of
sufficient interest to mention:--Two pounds weight of barley-meal were
moistened with warm water; after standing for three hours more water was
added, and sufficient heat applied to cause the fluid to boil. After
fifteen minutes' ebullition, a few ounces of the pasty-like mass which
was produced were removed, thoroughly dried, and on being submitted
to analysis yielded six per cent. of sugar. The addition of a small
quantity of malt to barley undergoing the process of cooking will
rapidly convert the starch into sugar.

Barley is naturally a well-flavored grain, and all kinds of stock eat
it with avidity. It may be rendered still more agreeable if properly
cooked, and this process will, by disintegrating its hard, fibrous
structure, set free its stores of nutriment. I incline strongly to
the opinion that barley, when well boiled, is almost, if not quite,
as digestible as malt.

A serious disadvantage in the use of malt is, that it must be consumed,
it is said, in combination with 10 per cent. of its weight of linseed-meal
or cake. Now, malt is a very laxative food, and so is linseed; and if
the diet of stock were largely made up of these articles the animals
would, sooner or later, suffer from diarrhoea. In such case, then,
the addition of bean-meal, or of some other binding food, would become
necessary, and the compound of malt, linseed, and bean-meal thereby
formed would certainly prove anything but an economical diet.

_Malt Combs._--I should mention that a portion of the nutriment which
the barley loses in malting passes into the radicles, or young roots,
which project from the seeds, and are technically known by the term
"combs," "combings," or "dust." At present these combs are separated
from the malt, but if the latter be intended for feeding purposes this
separation is unnecessary, and in such case the barley will not be so
much deteriorated. The combs, which constitute about 4 per cent. of the
weight of the malt, are sometimes employed as a feeding stuff. I have
made an analysis of malt-combings for the County of Kildare Agricultural
Society, and have obtained the following results:--

  100 PARTS CONTAINED--

  Water                                                     8·42
  [*] Flesh-forming (albuminous) substances                21·50
  Digestible fat-forming substances (starch, sugar,
     gum, &c.)                                             53·47
  Indigestible woody fibre                                  8·57
  [+] Saline matter (ash)                                   8·04
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

  [* Yielding nitrogen                                      3·44]
  [+ Containing potash                                      1·35
     Containing phosphoric acid                             1·74]

This article was sold as a manure at £3 6s. per ton--a sum for which it
was not good value; but as a feeding substance it was probably worth £4
or £5 per ton. Its composition indicates a high nutritive power; but it
is probable that its nitrogenous matters are partly in a low degree of
elaboration, which greatly detracts from its alimental value.

In conclusion, then, I would urge the following points upon the
attention of the farmer:--

1st. Before using malt for feeding purposes, wait until you learn the
general results of the experience of other farmers with that article.
The manufacture of malt for feeding purposes is rapidly on the decline,
instead of, as had been anticipated, on the increase.

2nd. Should you experiment with barley and malt, use equal money's worth
of each, and employ the barley in a cooked state.

3rd. Use malt-combings as a feeding stuff, and not as a manure. They are
good value for at least £3 10s. per ton.

4th. Bear in mind that a ton of barley contains more saline matter than
an equal weight of malt; consequently, that stock fed upon barley will
produce a manure richer in potash and phosphates than those supplied
with malt.

_Leguminous Seeds._--The seeds of the bean, of the pea, and of several
other leguminous plants, are largely made use of as food for both man
and the domesticated animals. They all closely resemble each other in
composition, but in that respect differ considerably from the grains of
the _Cerealiæ_, for whilst the latter contain on an average 12 per cent.
of flesh-formers, beans and peas contain 24 per cent. The flesh-forming
constituent of the leguminous seeds is not gluten, as in the grain
of the cereals, but a substance termed _legumin_, which so closely
resembles the cheesy matter of milk that it has also received the name
of _vegetable casein_. Indeed, the Chinese make a factitious cheese out
of peas, which it is difficult to discriminate from the article of
animal origin.

_Beans_ are used as fattening food for cattle, for which purpose they
should be ground into meal, as otherwise a large proportion of their
substance would pass through the animal's body unchanged. It is not good
economy to give a fattening bullock more than 3 or 4 lbs. weight per
diem; a larger proportion is apt to induce constipation. The very small
proportion of ready-formed fat, the moderate amount of starch, and the
exceedingly high per-centage of flesh-formers which beans contain, prove
that they are better adapted as food for beasts of burthen than for the
fattening of stock. Oats, Indian corn, or oil-cake, will be found to
produce a greater increase of meat than equal money's worth of beans
or peas, and I would therefore recommend the restriction of leguminous
seeds, under ordinary circumstances, to horses and bulls. It has been
stated, on good authority, that when oats are given whole to horses,
a large proportion passes unchanged through the animal's body, but that
on the addition of beans, the oats are thoroughly digested.

  COMPOSITION OF LEGUMINOUS SEEDS.

  --------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----------
                      | Common|Foreign|  Peas.|Lentils.| Winter
                      | Beans.| Beans.|       |        |  Tares
                      |       |       |       |        |(foreign).
  --------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----------
  Water               |  13·0 |  14·5 |  14·0 |   13·0 |   15·5
  Flesh-formers       |  25·5 |  23·0 |  23·5 |   24·0 |   26·5
  Fat-formers         |  48·5 |  48·7 |  50·0 |   50·5 |   47·5
  Woody fibre         |  10·0 |  10·0 |  10·0 |   10·0 |    9·0
  Mineral matter      |   3·0 |   3·8 |   2·5 |    2·5 |    1·5
  --------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----------
                      | 100·0 | 100·0 | 100·0 |  100·0 |  100·0
  --------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----------

_Oil Seeds._--The seeds of a great variety of plants, such as the flax,
hemp, rape, mustard, cotton, and sunflower, are exceedingly rich in oil,
some of them containing nearly half their weight of that substance. Of
these oil-seeds there are many which might with advantage be employed as
fattening, food, although one only--linseed--has come into general use
for that purpose.

_Rape-seeds_ closely resemble linseeds in composition, but they are
considerably cheaper. They contain an acrid substance, but the large
proportion of oil with which it is associated almost completely
disguises its unpleasant flavor.

_Linseed_ is one of the most valuable kinds of food which could be given
to fattening animals. Its exceedingly high proportion of ready-formed
fatty matter, the great comparative solubility of its constituents, and
its mild and agreeable flavor, constitute it an article superior to
linseed cake. The laxative properties of linseed are very decided; it
should therefore be given only in moderate quantities. As peas and
beans exercise, as I have already stated, a relaxing influence upon
the bowels, a mixture of linseed and peas or beans would be an
excellent compound, the laxative influence of the one being corrected
by the binding tendency of the other. Linseed being one of the most
concentrated feeding stuffs in use, it will be found an excellent
addition to bulky food, such as chaff and turnips. Linseed oil has
been used as a fattening food, but there is nothing to be gained by
expressing seeds for the purpose of using their oil as a feeding
material. When hay is scarce, and straw abundant, the latter may be
made almost as nutritious as the former by mixing it with linseed, and
steaming the compound. A stone of linseed and two cwt. of oat-straw
chaff, when properly cooked, constitute a most economical and
nutritious food.

Mr. Horne, who experimented with linseed two or three years ago,
obtained results highly favorable to the nutritive value of that
article. Six bullocks were selected, and each animal placed in a
separate box. They were fed with cut roots--at first Swedes, then
mangels and Swedes, and lastly, mangels alone: in addition, there were
supplied to each 6 lbs. rough meadow-hay reduced to chaff, and 5 lbs.
oil-cake, or value to that amount. They were divided into three lots,
two in each. Lot 1 had 5 lbs. oil-cake for each animal; lot 2, barley
and wheat-meal, equal in value to the 5 lbs. oil-cake; and lot 3, an
equal money's worth of bruised linseed. The oil-cake cost £10 16s. per
ton, the mixture of barley and wheat £8 15s. per ton, and the bruised
linseed £13 per ton. The experiment lasted 112 days, and at its close
the results, which proved very favorable to the bruised linseed, were
as follows:--

                                                    Increase in
                                                    live weight.

  Lot 1. Oil-cake                                       637 lbs.
  Lot 2. Wheat and barley-meal                          667 lbs.
  Lot 3. Bruised linseed                                718 lbs.

During the 112 days each bullock consumed 5 cwt. oil-cake (or an
equivalent amount of linseed or wheat and barley), 6 cwt. hay, and
90 cwt. of roots. The average increase in each animal's weight was
337 lbs. = 224 lbs. _dead_ weight. The economic features of this
experiment are best shown in the following figures:--

  FOOD CONSUMED.

                                                        £  s.  d.

   5 cwt. oil-cake, at 10s. 6d. per cwt.                2  12  6
   6 cwt. hay, at 3s. per cwt.                          0  18  0
  16 weeks' attendance, at 6d. per week                 0   8  0
                                                       ---------
                                                       £3  18  6
                                                       ---------
  Gained 16 stones per week, at 8s. per stone           6  8   0
                                                       ---------
  Balance to pay for 90 cwt. of roots                   2  9   6

The manure obtained afforded a good profit.

The seed-pods, or, as they are termed, the _bolls_ of the flax,
have been recommended as an excellent feeding stuff. They are not
so nutritious as linseed, but they are cheaper, and when produced
on the farm must be an economical food. Mr. Charley, an intelligent
stock-feeder in the county of Antrim, and an eminent authority in every
subject in relation to flax, strongly recommends the use of flax-bolls.
He says:--

    The cost of rippling is considerable; but I believe, for
    every £1 expended, on an average a return is realised of £2,
    particularly on a farmstead where many horses and cattle are
    regularly kept. The flax-bolls contain much more nourishment
    than the linseed-cake from which the oil has, of course, been
    expressed, and they form a most valuable addition to the warm
    food prepared during winter for the animals just named. I believe
    they have also a highly beneficial effect in warding off internal
    disease, owing, no doubt, to the soothing and slightly purgative
    properties of the oil contained in the seed. The change made in
    the appearance of the animals receiving some of the bolls in their
    steamed food is very apparent after a few weeks' trial; and the
    smoothness and sleekness of their shining coats plainly show the
    benefit derived. Is it not surprising, with this fact before our
    eyes, that many agriculturists--indeed, I fear the majority--persist
    in the old-fashioned system of taking the flax to a watering-place
    with its valuable freight of seed unremoved, and plunge the sheaves
    under water, losing thereby, _in the most wanton manner_, rich
    feeding materials, worth from £1 to £3 per statute acre?


In the following table, the composition of all the more important
oil-seeds is given:--

  COMPOSITION OF OIL-SEEDS, ACCORDING TO DR. ANDERSON.

  --------------------------+---------+----------+----------+---------------
                            |         |          |          | Cotton-seed
                            |Linseed. |Rape-seed.|Hemp-seed.|(decorticated).
                            +---------+----------+----------+---------------
                            |         |          |          |
  Water                     |    7·50 |    7·13  |     6·47 |     6·57
                            |         |          |          |
  Oil                       |   34·00 |   36·81  |    31·84 |    31·24
                            |         |          |          |
  Albuminous compounds      |         |          |          |
    (Flesh-formers)         |   24·44 |   21·50  |    22·60 |    31·86
                            |         |          |          |
  Gum, mucilage, sugar, &c. | \       |   18·73  |  \       |    14·12
                            |  }30·73 |          |   }32·72 |
  Woody-fibre               | /       |    6·86  |  /       |     7·30
                            |         |          |          |
  Mineral matter (ash)      |    3·33 |    8·97  |     6·37 |     8·91
                            +---------+----------+----------+---------------
                            |  100·00 |  100·00  |   100·00 |   100·00
  --------------------------+---------+----------+----------+---------------

_Fenugreek-seed_ is used very extensively in the preparation of
"Condimental food." It is often given to horses out of condition.
Sheep have been liberally supplied with this food, which, however,
it is stated, communicates a disagreeable flavor to the mutton.
It contains, according to Voelcker, the following:--

  Water                                                   11·994
  Flesh-formers                                           26·665
  Starch, gum, and pectin                                 37·111
  Sugar                                                    2·220
  Fatty and oily matters                                   8·320
  Woody fibre                                             10·820
  Inorganic matter                                         2·870
                                                         -------
                                                         100·000


SECTION VII.

OIL-CAKES, AND OTHER ARTIFICIAL FOODS.

Oil-seeds, on being subjected to considerable pressure, part with
a large proportion of their oil, the remaining part of that fluid,
together with the various other ingredients of the seeds, constitute
the substances so well known to agriculturists under the name of
oil-cakes. These cakes contain a larger proportion of ready-formed
fatty matter than is found in any other feeding stuff, and an amount
of flesh-forming principles far greater than that yielded by corn,
or even by beans; the manure, too, which is produced by the cattle fed
upon some of them, is often good value for nearly half the sum expended
on the food.

The principal kinds of oil-cake employed for feeding purposes are the
following:--Linseed-cake, Rape-cake, and cotton-seed cake. Poppy cake is
not much in use. Their average composition, deduced from the results of
numerous analyses made by Voelcker, Anderson, and myself, are shown in
the following table:--

  AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF OIL-CAKES.

  ---------------------------+---------+------+------------+-------
                             | Linseed |      |Decorticated|
                             | Cake,   | Rape | Cottonseed | Poppy
                             | English.| Cake.|    Cake.   | Cake.
                             +---------+------+------------+-------
  Water                      |    12   |   11 |       9    |   12
  Flesh-forming principles   |    28   |   30 |      38    |   32
  Oil                        |    10   |   11 |      13    |    6
  Gum, mucilage, &c.         |    34   |   30 |      23    |   30
  Woody fibre                |    10   |   10 |       9    |    9
  Mineral matter (ash)       |     6   |    8 |       8    |    1
                             +---------+------+------------+-------
                             |   100   |  100 |     100    |  100
  ---------------------------+---------+------+------------+-------

_Linseed Cake._--Within the last quarter of a century great attention
has been given to the feeding of stock, and the effects are observable
in the improved quality and greatly increased weight of the animals.
In the year 1839 the average weight of the horned beasts from Ireland
sold in the London market was only 650 lbs., whereas at the present
time their average weight is about 740 lbs. This remarkable advance
in the production of meat is in great part due to the cattle being more
liberally supplied with food, and that, too, of a more concentrated
nature. The practice of feeding animals destined for the shambles
exclusively on roots containing 90 and even 95 per cent. of water, which
once prevailed so generally in this country, is now limited to the
farmsteads of a few old-fashioned feeders; and the necessity for the
admixture of highly-nutritious aliment with the bulky substances which
form the staple food of stock is almost universally recognised.

Of concentrated foods used for fattening stock, none stands higher in
the estimation of the farmer than linseed-cake, although it appears to
me that the price of the article is somewhat too high in relation to
its amount of nutriment, and that corn, if its price be moderate, is
a more economical food. Straw, turnips, and mangels form the bone and
sinew of the animals, and enable them to carry on the vital operations
which are essential to their existence. Oil-cake and similar foods are
supplemental, and contribute directly to the animal's increase, so that
their nutritive value appears to be greater than it really is. If an
animal were fed exclusively upon oil-cake, the greater part of it would
be appropriated to the reparation of the waste of the body, and the rest
would be converted into permanent flesh--the animal's "increase." The
addition of straw would produce a still further increase in the animal's
weight--an increase which would be directly proportionate to the amount
of straw consumed. Thus it will be seen that, whatever the staple food
may be, it will have to sustain the life of the animal, and will be
principally expended for that purpose, whereas the supplemental food
will be chiefly, if not entirely, made use of in increasing the weight
of flesh. To me it appears manifestly incorrect to consider, as feeders
practically do, the value of linseed-cake to be seven or eight times
greater than that of oat-straw, and twenty times greater than that of
roots. Let us assume the case of an animal fed upon roots, straw, and
oil-cake. Seventy-five per cent. of its food, say, is expended in
repairing the waste of its body, and 25 per cent. is stored up in its
increase. Now, if the three kinds of food contributed proportionately
to the reparation of the body and to its increase, the roots and straw
would be found to possess a far higher nutritive value, in relation to
the oil-cake, than is usually ascribed to them.

But it may be asked why straw, if it be relatively a much more
economical feeding stuff than oil-cake, is not employed to the complete
exclusion of the latter. I have already given an answer to such a
question, namely, that animals thrive better on a diet composed partly
of bulky, partly of concentrated aliments. This much, however, is
certain, that animals can be profitably fed upon roots and straw, whilst
it is equally certain that to feed them upon oil-cake alone (assuming
them to thrive upon such a diet) would entail a very heavy loss upon
the feeder. At the same time it must be admitted that the oil of the
linseed-cake exercises in all probability a beneficial influence on the
digestion of the animal, so that the nutritive value of the article may
be somewhat higher than its mere composition would indicate.

The quantity of oil-cake given to fattening stock varies from 2 lbs. to
14 lbs. per diem. I believe there is no greater mistake made by feeders
than that of giving excessive quantities of this substance to stock. If
their object in so doing be to enrich their manure-heap, they would find
it far more economical to add the cake directly to the manure--or rather
of adding rape-cake to it, for this variety of cake is fully as valuable
for manurial purposes as the linseed-cake, and is nearly 50 per cent.
cheaper. A larger quantity of oil-cake than 7 lbs. daily should not be
given to even the largest-sized milch cows or fattening bullocks. If a
larger amount be employed, it will pass unchanged through the animal's
body. Young cattle may with advantage be supplied with from 1 to 3 lbs.,
according to their size, and from 1/2 to 1 lb. will be a sufficient
quantity for sheep. Intelligent feeders have remarked, that cattle which
had been always supplied with a moderate allowance of this food fattened
more readily upon it, during their finishing stage, than did stock which
had not been accustomed to its use.

_Adulteration of Linseed Cake._--The great drawback to the use of
linseed-cake is the liability of the article to be adulterated. The
sophistication is sometimes of a harmless nature, if we except its
injurious effect on the farmer's pocket; but not unfrequently the
substances added to the cakes possess properties which completely unfit
them to be used as food. Amongst the injurious substances found in
linseed and linseed-cake I may mention the seeds of the purging-flax,
darnel, spurry, corn-cockle, curcus-beans, and castor-oil beans.
Several of these seeds are highly drastic purgatives, and they have
been known to cause intense inflammation of the bowels of animals fed
upon oil-cake, of which they composed but a small proportion. Amongst
the adulterations of linseed-cake, which lower its nutritive value
without imparting to it any injurious properties, are the seeds of
the cereals and the grasses, bran, and flax-straw. Little black seeds
belonging to various species of _Polygonum_, are very often present
in even good cakes; they are very indigestible, but otherwise are not
injurious. Rape-cake is stated to be occasionally used as adulterant
of the more costly linseed, but I have never met with an admixture of
the two articles.

The only way in which a correct estimate of the value of linseed-cake
can be arrived at is by a combined microscopical and chemical analysis;
but as the feeder is not always disposed to incur the cost of this
process, he should make himself acquainted with the characteristic
of the genuine cake, in order to be able to discriminate, as far as
possible, between it and the sophisticated article. I will indicate a
few of the more prominent features of cake of excellent quality, and
point out a few simple and easily-performed tests, which may serve
to detect the existence of gross adulteration. Good cake is hard, of
a reddish-brown color, uniform in appearance, and possesses a rather
pleasant flavor and odour. The adulterated cake is commonly of a greyish
hue, and has a disagreeable odour. A weighed quantity of the cake--say
100 grains--in the state of powder should be formed into a paste with
an ounce of water; if it be good, the paste will be light colored,
moderately stiff, and endowed with a pleasant odour and flavor. If the
paste be thin, the presence of bran, or of grass seeds, is probable.
The latter are easily seen through a magnifying-glass; indeed, most
of them are readily recognisable by the unassisted eye: they may,
therefore, be picked out, and their weight determined. Sand--a frequent
adulterant--may be detected by mixing a small weighed quantity of the
powdered cake with about twelve times its weight of water, allowing the
mixture to stand for half an hour, and collecting and weighing the sand
which will be found at the bottom of the vessel employed. If there be
bran present it will be found lying on the sand, and its structure
is sufficiently distinct to admit of its detection by a mere glance.
There are a great variety of linseed-cakes in the market, of which
the home-made article is the best. On the Continent the oil-seeds are
subjected to the action of heat in order to obtain from them a greater
yield of oil. Their cakes, therefore, contain less oil, and their
flesh-forming principles are less soluble, in comparison with British
linseed-cake. Next to our home-made oil-cakes, the American is the
best. Indeed, I have met with some American cakes which were equal to
the best English.

_Rape Cake._--The use of rape-cake was limited almost completely to the
fertilising of the soil until the late Mr. Pusey, in a paper published
in the tenth volume of the _Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England_, advocated its employment as a substitute for the more costly
linseed-cake. The recommendation of this distinguished agriculturist
has not been disregarded; and since his time the use of this cake as a
feeding stuff has been steadily on the increase, and at the present time
its annual consumption is not far short of 50,000 tons.

In relation to the nutritive value of rape-cake there exists considerable
diversity of opinion. Certain feeders assert that animals fed upon it go
out of condition; others, whilst admitting that stock thrive upon it,
maintain the economic superiority of linseed-cake; whilst a third
set believe rape-cake to be the most economical of feeding-stuffs.
How are we to account for these great differences of opinion--not
amongst _theorists_, be it observed, but amongst practical men?
It is not difficult to explain them away satisfactorily. Rape-cake
and linseed-cake are about equally rich in muscle and fat-forming
principles; and, supposing both to be equally well-flavored, there can
be no doubt but that one is just as nourishing as the other. But it so
happens that a large proportion of the rape-cake which comes into the
British market possesses a flavor which renders it very disagreeable
to animals. One variety--namely, the East Indian--is almost poisonous,
whilst the very best kind is slightly inferior to linseed-cake. Now, if
an experiment with a very inferior kind of rape-cake and a good variety
of linseed-cake were tried, who can doubt but that the results would be
very unfavorable to the former article? Mr. Callan,[36] of Rathfarnham,
county Dublin; Mr. Bird,[37] of Renton Barns, and some other feeders,
who found rape-cake to be worse than useless, experimented, in all
probability, with an adulterated article, for they do not appear to
have had the cake analysed. On the other hand, those whose experience
with rape-cake has proved favorable, must have employed the article
in a genuine state, fresh, and moderately well-flavored. It is
noteworthy that amongst the advocates for the use of rape-cake as
a substitute--partly or entirely--for the more costly linseed-cake,
are to be found the most successful feeders in England and Scotland.
Horsfall, Mechi, Lawrence, Bond, Hope, and many other feeders of equal
celebrity, have assigned to rape-cake the highest place, in an economic
point of view, amongst the concentrated feeding stuffs. Mr. Mechi
says:--"I invariably give to all my animals as much rape-cake as they
choose to eat, however abundant their roots or green food may be. It
pays in many ways, and not to do this is a great pecuniary mistake.
Even when fed on green rape, they will eat rape-cake abundantly.
My cattle are now under cover, eating the steamed chaff, rape-cake,
malt-combs, and bran, all mixed together in strict accordance with
the proportions named by Mr. Horsfall in the _Journal of the Royal
Agricultural Society_, vol. xviii., p. 150,[38] which I find by far
the most profitable mode of feeding bullocks and cows." Mr. Hope, of
Edinburgh, states that rape-cake is the best substitute for turnips,
and that, excepting cases where spurious kinds had been used, he never
knew bullocks or milch cows to refuse it. This gentleman states that
it is best given in combination with locust-beans, or a mixture of
locust-beans and Indian corn; and suggests the proportions set down
in the tables as the best adapted for lean cattle; but I think about
two-thirds of the quantities would be quite sufficient.

                                      Feed per week.  Per week.

                                           lbs.        s.  d.

  Rape-cake at £5 15s. per ton              8          2  10-1/2
       Do.         do.                     10          3   7
  Mixture of two-thirds rape-cake and
    one-third locust-beans £6               8          3   0
       Do.         do.                     10          3   9
  Rape-cake, locust-beans, and Indian
    Corn in equal proportions               8          3   2-1/2
       Do.         do.                     10          3  11-1/4

An intelligent Scotch dairy farmer bears the following testimony in
favor of this cake:--

    I have tried pease-meal, bean-meal, oat-meal, and linseed-cake,
    and after carefully noting the results, I consider rape-cake,
    weight for weight, at least equal to any of them for milch cows;
    and if I give the same money value for each, I get at least
    one-third more produce, and the butter is always of a very
    superior quality. Two years ago, I took some of my best oats
    (41 lbs. per bushel), and ground them for the cows, and although
    I was at about one-third more expense, I lost fully one-third of
    the produce that I had by using rape-cake. I always dissolve it
    by pouring boiling water on it, and give each cow 6 lbs. daily.
    I have tried a larger quantity, and found I was fully repaid for
    the extra expense. I generally use it the most of the summer,
    but always during the spring months. A number of my neighbours
    who have tried it all agree that it is the best and cheapest
    feed for milch cows they have used.--_North British Agriculturist_,
    Edinburgh, February 29, 1860.


The best kinds of rape-cake come from Germany and Denmark. When
neither too old nor too fresh, and of a pale-green color, these
foreign cakes are tolerably well-flavored, and are but slightly
inferior to good linseed-cake. Most varieties of this cake, however,
contain a small proportion of acrid matter, which often renders them
more or less distasteful to stock, more particularly to cattle. This
substance may be rendered quite innocuous by steaming or boiling the
cake; either of these processes will also, according to Mr. Lawrence,
destroy the disagreeable flavor which mustard-seed--a frequent
adulterant of rape-cake--confers upon that article. Molasses or treacle
is an excellent adjunct to the cake, as it serves in a great measure to
correct its somewhat unpleasant flavor. Carob, or locust-beans, answer,
perhaps better, the same purpose. It is better, as a general rule,
to give less rape-cake than linseed-cake, unless the pale-green kind
to which I have referred is obtainable; that variety may be largely
employed. The animals should be gradually accustomed to its use. At
first, in the case of bullocks, they should get only 1 lb. per diem,
and the quantity should be gradually increased to about 4 lbs.; but
I would not advise, under any circumstances, a larger daily allowance
than 5 lbs. Given in moderate amounts, it will, supposing it to be of
fair quality, be found to give a better return in meat than almost any
other kind of concentrated food; and, what is of great importance, it
will not injuriously affect the animal's health. "Our experience of the
use of rape-cake," says Mr. Lawrence, "thus used (cooked), extends over
a period of ten years of feeding from 20 to 24 bullocks annually. We
have not had a single death during that period, and the animals have
been remarkably free from any kind of ailment."

Rape-cake of good quality possesses a dark-green color (the greener
the better), and when broken exhibits a mottled aspect--yellowish and
dark-brown spots. Sometimes a tolerably good specimen has a brownish
color; but the German and Danish cakes are always of a greenish hue.
The odor is stronger than that of linseed-cake, and differs but little
from that of rape-oil. The only serious adulteration of rape-cake
is the addition to it of mustard-seed--sometimes accidentally--less
frequently, as I believe, intentionally. This sophistication admits of
easy detection. Scrape into small particles about half an ounce of the
cake, add six times its weight of water, form the solid and liquid
into a paste, and allow the mixture to stand for a few hours. If the
cake contain mustard the characteristic odor of that substance will be
evolved, and its intensity will afford a rough indication of the amount
of the adulterant. As some specimens of genuine rape-cake possess a
somewhat pungent odor, care must be taken not to confound it with that
of mustard; but, indeed, it is not difficult to discriminate the latter.
The paste of rape-cake which contains an injurious proportion of
mustard, has a very pungent flavor. Rape-cake improves somewhat if kept
for say six months; but old cake is worse than the fresh article.

_Cottonseed Cake_ is one of the most valuable feeding stuffs that
have come into use of late years. Its chemical composition shows it
to be about equal to that of the best linseed-cake, and as its price
is much lower than that of the latter, it may be fairly considered
a more economical food. These remarks apply only to the shelled, or
decorticated seed-cake, for the article prepared from the whole seed is
of very inferior composition, and should never be employed. The use of
the cake made from the whole seed has proved fatal in many instances,
not from its possessing any poisonous quality, but in consequence
of its hard, indigestible husk, accumulating in, and inflaming, the
animal's bowels.

The composition of this cake varies somewhat. The following analysis of
a sample from one of the Western States of North America, imported by
Messrs. G. Seagrave and Co., of Liverpool, was made by me:--

  COMPOSITION OF DECORTICATED COTTON-SEED CAKE.

  Water                                                     8·20
  Oil                                                      10·16
  Albuminous, or flesh-forming principles                  40·25
  Gum, sugar, &c.                                          21·10
  Fibre                                                     9·23
  Ash (mineral matter)                                     11·06
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

In some specimens so much as 16 per cent. of oil has been found. The
purchaser of cotton-seed cake should be certain that it is not old and
mouldy, which is frequently the case. The recently prepared cake has
a very yellow color, which becomes fainter as the cake becomes older.
Freshness is a very desirable quality in nearly every kind of cake.
I have known animals to have a greater relish for, and thrive better
upon, home-made linseed-cake than upon cake of foreign manufacture of
superior composition, but of greater age.

_Palm-nut Meal, or Cake_ is a very valuable fattening food. It is
extremely rich in ready-formed fatty matters, but at the same time it is
not very deficient in albuminous substances. Its strong flavor is rather
a drawback to its use in the case of all the farm animals, except pigs.
This difficulty may, however, be got over by using the cake in moderate
quantities, and by combining it with other food possessed of a good
flavor. Reports of practical trials made with this food appear to have
almost uniformly given very favorable results. This food is only three
or four years in use. The first samples that came into my hand were
richer in fatty matters than those which I have recently examined.
The average results of eight analyses made from 1864 to 1866 were
as follows:--

  100 PARTS CONTAINED--

  Water                                                     7·48
  Albuminous matters                                       17·26
  Fatty substances                                         21·59
  Gum, sugar, &c.                                          32·14
  Fibre                                                    17·18
  Mineral matter                                            4·35
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

This year I have not found more than 17 per cent. of fat in any sample
of palm-nut cake. One specimen which I analysed for Mr. J. G. Alexander,
seed merchant, of Dublin, had the following composition:--

  Water                                                     9·24
  Albuminous matters                                       19·28
  Fatty matters                                             9·36
  Gum, starch, fibre, &c.                                  53·22
  Mineral matters                                           8·90
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

But although inferior samples are occasionally met with, I may say
of palm-nut cake that on the whole it is a food which deserves to be
largely used, and which at its present price is the most economical
source of fat. To milch-cows and fattening cattle about 3 lbs. per diem
may be given; 1/4 lb. will be sufficient for young sheep, whilst pigs
may be very liberally supplied with this food.

The _Locust, or Carob Bean_, is now largely used by the stock-feeder.
It is extremely rich in sugar, and is therefore an excellent fattening
and milk-producing food. It is used largely in the preparation of the
sweet kinds of artificial food for cattle. It is not well adapted for
young animals, owing to its deficiency of albuminous matters. The
following analysis shows the average composition of this food:--

  Water                                                       14
  Sugar                                                       50
  Albuminous matters                                           8
  Oil                                                          1
  Gum, &c.                                                    20
  Woody fibre                                                  5
  Ash                                                          2
                                                             ---
                                                             100

_Dates_ have been used, but only in very small quantities, as cattle
food. Their composition is not constant, some samples being greatly
inferior in nutritive power to others; they are rich in sugar,
and if they were obtained in sufficient quantities they might, like
carob-beans, come into general use with the stock-feeder. They contain
about 2 per cent. of flesh-formers, 10 per cent. of fat-formers (chiefly
sugar), and 2 per cent. of mineral matter.

Distillery and brewery dregs (or wash) are chiefly used by dairymen.
According to Dr. Anderson, an imperial gallon (700,000 grains) of
distillery wash (from a distillery near Edinburgh) contained 4,130
grains of organic matter, and 276 grains of mineral substances.
He considers that 15 gallons of this stuff were equal in nutritive
materials to 100 pounds of turnips. The following is the centesimal
composition of brewery wash:--

  Water                                                    75·85
  Albuminous matters                                        0·62
  Gummy matters                                             1·06
  Other organic matter (husks, &c.)                        21·28
  Mineral matters                                           1·19
                                                          ------
                                                          100·00

_Molasses_ constitute a very fattening food, sometimes, but not
often, given to stock. Treacle and molasses are composed of
non-crystallisable sugar, cane-sugar, water, and saline and other
impurities. The composition of average specimens of molasses, as
imported, is as follows:--


  Cane-sugar                                                  50
  Non-crystallisable sugar and grape-sugar                    25
  Water, saline matter, and organic impurities                25
                                                             ---
                                                             100

If admitted duty free, molasses would be a much more economical food
than it now is, but at its present price it must be regarded as a mere
flavoring food.

Mr. T. Cooke Burroughs, a West Suffolk feeder, who used treacle in 1864,
gives the following mode of mixing it with other food:--

    My plan has been (and is still carried on) to give to each
    bullock per day (divided into three meals) one pint of treacle
    dissolved in two gallons of water, and sprinkled, by means of
    a garden water-pot, over four bushels of cut chaff (two-thirds
    straw and one-third hay) amongst which a quarter of a peck of
    meal (barley and wheat) is mixed, the animals also having free
    access to water. The cost of the treacle and meal together
    is about 3s. per bullock per week. My bullocks (two-year old
    Shorthorns) have grown and thrived upon the above diet to my
    utmost satisfaction; and even during the present dry and warm
    weather they evince no lingering after roots or grass. I am well
    aware that the use of treacle for neat stock is no new discovery
    of my own, as I learnt the system while on a visit to a friend
    in Norfolk, where some graziers have used it in combination with
    roots during many years past. Perhaps flax-seed (linseed) boiled
    into a jelly and used in a similar way, may be a more profitable
    "substitute for roots" than treacle; but the preparation of it is
    attended with more expense and trouble.


SECTION  VIII.

CONDIMENTAL FOOD.

Although every farmer may not have used, there are few who have not
heard of "Thorley's Condimental Food for Cattle." This nostrum is a
compound of some of the ordinary foods with certain well-known aromatic
and carminative substances. It possesses a very agreeable flavor, and it
is therefore much relished by horses, and indeed by every kind of stock.
The price of this compound was at first so much as £60 per ton; but
owing to competition, and perhaps to the attacks made upon the
enormously high price of this article, it is now to be obtained at
prices varying from £12 to £24 per ton.

The inventor of condimental food, and the numerous fabricators of that
compound, claim for it merits of no ordinary nature. Its use, they
assert, not only maintains the animals fed upon it in excellent health,
but it also exercises so remarkable an action upon the adipose tissues
that fat accumulates to an immense extent. Moreover, it is said that an
animal supplied with a very moderate daily modicum of this wonderful
compound, will consume less of its ordinary food, though rapidly
becoming fat.

Now, if these assertions were perfectly, or even approximatively,
true, Mr. Thorley would be well deserving of a niche in the temple of
fame, and stock-feeders would ever regard him as a benefactor to his
own and the bovine species; but I fear that Mr. Thorley's imagination
outstripped his reason when he described in such glowing terms the
wonderful virtues of his tonic food.

Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamstead, than whom there is no more accurate
experimenter in agricultural practice, states that he made many careful
trials with Thorley's food, and that he never found it to exercise
the slightest influence upon the nutrition of the animals fed upon it.
In his report upon this subject, Mr. Lawes, after describing the
experiments which he made, sums up as follows:--

    There is nothing therefore in the above results to recommend the
    use of Thorley's condiment with inferior fattening food, to those
    who feed pigs for profit. In fact, the following balance-sheet of
    the experiment shows that, in fattening for twelve weeks, there
    was a balance of £1 10s. 11d. in favor of the lot fed without
    Thorley's food, notwithstanding that one of the pigs in that lot
    did badly throughout the experiment, as above stated.

  LOT 1.--WITH BARLEY-MEAL AND BRAN.

                                                £  s. d.

  4 pigs bought in at 41s. 6d. each             8  6  0
  1,860-3/4 lbs. barley, at 37s. 6d. per
    quarter of 416 lbs., including grinding     8  7  8-3/4
  1,024-3/4 lbs. bran at 5s. 6d. per cwt.       2 10  3-3/4
                                               ------------
                                               19  4  0-1/2
  88 stone 5 lbs. of pork sold at 4s. 4d.
    per stone, sinking the offal               19  4  0-1/2

  LOT 2.--WITH BARLEY-MEAL, BRAN, AND THORLEY'S FOOD.

                                                £  s. d.

  4 pigs bought in at 41s. 6d. each             8  6  0
  1,862-3/4 lbs. barley, at 37s. 6d. per
    quarter of 416 lbs., including grinding     8  7 10-1/4
  1,020-3/4 lbs. bran at 5s. 6d. per cwt.       2 10  1-1/2
  105 lbs. Thorley's food at 40s. per cwt.      1 17  6
                                               ------------
                                               21  1  5-3/4
  90 stone 1 lb. pork sold at 4s. 4d.
    per stone, sinking the offal               19 10  6-1/2
                                               ------------
                                                1 10 11-1/4

The results of these experiments with pigs, in which Thorley's condiment
was used with inferior fattening food, may be summed up as follows:--

    1. The addition of Thorley's condimental food increased the
    amount of food consumed by a given weight of animal within
    a given time.

    2. When Thorley's condiment was given it required more food
    to produce a given amount of increase in live-weight.

    3. In fattening for twelve weeks there was a difference of
    £1 10s. 11d. on the lot of 4 pigs in favor of barley-meal
    and bran alone, over barley-meal, bran, and Thorley's food
    in addition.


At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, held some time ago, the subject of the nutrimental value of
condimental cattle food was discussed. As there is scarcely any kind of
quackery, from spirit manifestations to Holloway's pills, that has not
got its believers, there were, as might have been anticipated, some
voices raised at this meeting in favor of Thorley's food; but the
_sense_ of the meeting was decidedly against it. Professor Simonds
pronounced it to be worthless.

Although the greater number of equine proprietors and feeders of stock
are too sensible to throw their money away in the purchase of those
costly foods, still there are by no means an insignificant number who
employ it, under the idea that it preserves the health of the animals;
these stuffs are also highly appreciated by many grooms and herds.
Now, for the information of all believers, I may state that there is
no mystery whatever in the nature of condimental cattle foods. They
consist in substance of such matters as linseed-cake, Indian corn,
rice, bean-meal, locust-beans, and malt-combings. These substances
are flavored by the addition of turmeric-root, ginger, coriander-seed,
carraway-seed, fenugreek-seed, aniseed, liquorice, and similar
substances. In addition to the nutritive and flavorous articles employed
in the manufacture of these foods, purely medicinal substances are also
made use of with the idea that they would prove useful in maintaining
the health and stimulating the appetite of the animals. These medicinal
ingredients constitute but a small proportion of the compound, although
they add considerably to the cost of manufacture. The following is a
formula for a condimental food, which in every respect will be found
fully equal, if not superior, to the ordinary high-priced articles.

                                                cwt.   qrs.   lbs.

  Linseed-meal, or cake                          7      0      0
  Locust beans (ground)                          8      0      0
  Indian corn                                    4      1      0
  Powdered turmeric                              0      1      4
  Ginger                                         0      0      3
  Fenugreek-seed                                 0      0      2
  Gentian                                        0      0     10
  Cream of tartar                                0      0      2
  Sulphur                                        0      0     20
  Common salt                                    0      0     10
  Coriander-seed                                 0      0      5
                                               -----------------
                                                     One ton.

A ton of condimental food manufactured according to this formula will
cost only about the same amount as an equal weight of linseed, and will
produce an effect fully equal to that of the food which at one time was
sold at £60 per ton.

Whatever may be the medicinal virtues of these foods, or however
appropriate the term "condimental" which has been applied to them,
it is quite certain that their whilom designation "concentrated"
was a misnomer. Their composition shows that they possess a degree of
nutritive power considerably below that of linseed-cake, and but little,
if at all, superior to that of Indian corn.

The following analytical statement, which I published some years ago,
will give an insight into the nature of these articles:--

  ANALYSES OF CONDIMENTAL FOOD.

                                           Thorley's.   Bradley's.

  Water                                       12·00        12·09
  Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles    14·92        10·36
  Oil                                          6·08         5·80
  Gum, sugar, mucilage, &c.                   56·86        60·21
  Woody fibre                                  5·46         5·32
  Mineral matter (ash)                         4·68         6·22
                                             ------       ------
                                             100·00       100·00

As a ton of linseed-cake contains a greater amount of nutriment than
an equal quantity of condimental food, the latter should be clearly
proved to possess very valuable specific virtues, in order to induce the
feeder to use it extensively. Cattle and horses out of condition may be
benefited by its carminative and tonic properties; but if they are, it
surely must be a bad practice to feed healthy animals upon a substance
which is a remedy in disease. It is asserted, and probably with some
degree of truth, that when dainty, over-fed stock loathe their food,
they are induced to eat greedily by mixing the "condimental" with their
ordinary food. If such really be the case, let the feeder compound the
article himself, and effect thereby a saving of perhaps 50 or 80 per
cent. in the cost of it. A good condimental food, rich in actual
nutriment, and pleasantly flavored, is no doubt a compound which might
be used with advantage; but it should be sold at a moderate and fair
price.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 26: See Transactions of Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland for 1852.]

[Footnote 27: Zig-zag clover, or Marl grass? Cowgrass is _Trifolium
pratense perenne_.]

[Footnote 28: This gentleman has invented an exceedingly simple but
effective furze-bruiser, which I hope soon to see in general use.]

[Footnote 29: H. Le Docte, in _Journal de la Société Centrale
d'Agriculture de Belgique_.]

[Footnote 30: Cellulose is the term applied to the chemical substance
which forms woody fibre. The latter is made up of very minute
spindle-shaped tubes. In young and succulent plants these tubes are
often lined with layers of soft cellulose. In many plants--such as
trees--in a certain stage of development, the substance lining the cells
is very hard, and is termed _lignin_, or _sclerogen_. This substance is
merely a modification of cellulose; and both resemble in composition
sugar and starch so closely that, by heating them with sulphuric acid,
they may be converted into sugar.]

[Footnote 31: One part of oil is equal to 2-1/2 parts of starch--that is,
2-1/2 parts of starch are expended in the production of
1 part of fat.]

[Footnote 32: No difference is here assumed between the nutritive value
of sugar and starch.]

[Footnote 33: Unless when Kohl-rabi is cultivated, for the bulbs of this
plant may be preserved in good condition up to June. I have advocated
the cultivation of the radish as a food crop in the "Agricultural
Review" for 1861.]

[Footnote 34: According to some chemists, sugar does not exist in ripe
grain, but is produced in it, during the process of analysis, by the
action of the re-agents employed and the influence of the air.]

[Footnote 35: Report to Government on feeding cattle with Malt, 1844.]

[Footnote 36: _Monthly Agricultural Review_, Dublin, February, 1859.]

[Footnote 37: _Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society
of Scotland,_ October, 1858.]

[Footnote 38: 3 lbs. of rape-cake, 3/4 lb. malt combs, 3/4 lb. bran,
steamed together with a sufficient quantity of straw.]


SECTION IX.--ANALYSES OF THE ASHES OF PLANTS.

(_Extracted from the Author's "Chemistry of Agriculture."_)

Those numbers marked with an asterisk refer to 100 parts of the
substance in its natural or undried state; the remaining numbers
refer to 100 parts when dried.

  +----------------------+-------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+
  |                      |       |     Flax.     |       |       |       |
  |                      |       +-------+-------+       |       | White |
  |                      | Rape  |       |       | Peas. | Kidney| Turnip|
  |                      | Seed. | Stalk.| Seed. |       | Beans.| Seed. |
  +----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
  |Potash                | 25·18 | 34·96 | 32·55 | 43·09 | 36·83 | 21·91 |
  |Soda                  |  ...  |  ...  |  2·51 |  ...  | 18·40 |  1·23 |
  |Lime                  | 12·91 | 15·87 |  9·45 |  4·77 |  7·75 | 17·40 |
  |Magnesia              | 11·39 |  3·68 | 16·23 |  8·06 |  6·33 |  8·74 |
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |  0·62 |  4·84 |  0·38 |  ...  |  2·24 |  1·95 |
  |     "      Manganese |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |
  |Sulphuric Acid        |  0·53 |  4·99 |  1·43 |  0·44 |  3·96 |  7·10 |
  |Muriatic Acid         |  0·11 |  ...  |  ...  |  1·96 |  ...  |  ...  |
  |Carbonic Acid         |  2·20 | 13·39 |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  0·82 |
  |Phosphoric Acid       | 45·95 |  8·48 | 35·99 | 40·56 | 11·60 | 40·17 |
  |Silica                |  1·11 |  5·60 |  1·46 |  0·79 |  4·09 |  0·67 |
  |Chloride of Potassium |  ...  |  7·65 |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |  ...  |  0·54 |  ...  |  ...  |  2·80 |  ...  |
  |                      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
  |   Total              |100·00 |100·00 |100·00 | 99·67 |100·00 | 99·99 |
  |   Per-centage of Ash |  4·51 |  5·00 |  3·05 |  5·21 |  0·68 |  3·98 |
  |                      |       |       |       |       |   *   |       |
  +----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

  +----------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------+--------+
  |                      |         |         |        |         |        |
  |                      | Turnip  |         | Mangel |         |        |
  |                      |  Bulb   |Cucumber.| Wurtzel|Potatoes |  Hop   |
  |                      | (Swede).|         |  Seed. |(tubers).|Flowers.|
  +----------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------+--------+
  |Potash                |   39·82 |   47·52 |  16·08 |   35·15 |  19·41 |
  |Soda                  |   10·86 |    ...  |   6·86 |    5·77 |   0·70 |
  |Lime                  |   12·75 |    6·31 |  13·42 |    2·14 |  14·15 |
  |Magnesia              |    4·68 |    4·26 |  15·22 |    2·69 |   5·34 |
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |    0·89 |    ...  |   0·40 |    1·79 |   2·41 |
  |     "      Manganese |    ...  |    ...  |   ...  |    ...  |   ...  |
  |Sulphuric Acid        |   13·15 |    4·60 |   3·64 |    3·29 |   8·28 |
  |Muriatic Acid         |    3·68 |    ...  |   ...  |    ...  |   2·26 |
  |Carbonic Acid         |    ...  |    ...  |  13·85 |   17·14 |  11·01 |
  |Phosphoric Acid       |    6·69 |   18·03 |  13·35 |   20·70 |  14·64 |
  |Silica                |    7·05 |    7·12 |   1·86 |    3·00 |  18·56 |
  |Chloride of Potassium |    ...  |    4·19 |   ...  |    1·84 |   ...  |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |    ...  |    9·06 |  15·30 |    6·49 |   2·95 |
  |                      +---------+---------+--------+---------+--------+
  |   Total              |   99·57 |  100·09 |  99·98 |  100·00 |  99·71 |
  |   Per-centage of Ash |    7·60 |    0·63 |   6·58 |         |   6·05 |
  |                      |         |     *   |        |         |        |
  +----------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------+--------+

The number marked with an asterisk refers to 100 parts of the
substance in its natural or undried state; the remaining numbers
refer to 100 parts when dried.

  +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+------+-------------+
  |                      |        |        |        |Husks |     Rye.    |
  |                      |Cauli-  |Hopeton |Potato  |  of  +-------------+
  |                      |flowers.|Oats    |Oats.   |Potato|Grain.|Straw.|
  |                      |        |(Grain).|(Grain).|Oats. |      |      |
  +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+------+------+------+
  |Potash                |  34·39 |  20·65 | \      |  2·23| 31·76| 17·36|
  |                      |        |        |  }31·56|      |      |      |
  |Soda                  |  14·79 |   ...  | /      |  8·97|  4·45|  0·31|
  |Lime                  |   2·96 |  10·28 |    5·32|  4·30|  2·92|  9·06|
  |Magnesia              |   2·38 |   7·82 |    8·69|  2·35| 10·13|  2·41|
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |   1·69 |   3·85 |    0·88|  0·32|  0·82|  1·36|
  |    "       Manganese |   ...  |   0·42 |    ... |  ... |  ... |  ... |
  |Sulphuric Acid        |  11·16 |   ...  |    ... |  4·30|  1·46|  0·83|
  |Muriatic Acid         |   ...  |   ...  |    ... |  ... |  ... |  0·46|
  |Carbonic Acid         |   ...  |   ...  |    ... |  ... |  ... |  ... |
  |Phosphoric Acid       |  27·85 |  50·44 |   49·19|  0·66| 47·29|  3·82|
  |Silica                |   1·92 |   4·40 |    1·87| 74·18|  0·17| 64·50|
  |Chloride of Potassium |   ...  |   1·03 |    ... |  ... |  ... |  ... |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |   2·86 |   ...  |    0·35|  2·39|  ... |  ... |
  |                      +--------+--------+--------+------+------+------+
  |   Total              | 100·00 |  98·89 |   97·86| 99·70|100·00|100·11|
  |   Per-centage of Ash |   0·71 |        |    2·22|      |  2·30|  2·60|
  |                      |    *   |        |        |      |      |      |
  +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+------+------+------+

  +----------------------+-------+---------------------------------------+
  |                      |       |         Grasses (in flower).          |
  |                      | Hay.  +---------------------------------------+
  |                      |       |Bromus  |Lolium  | Annual  |   Avena   |
  |                      |       |erectus.|perenne.|Ryegrass.|flavesceus.|
  +----------------------+-------+--------+--------+---------+-----------+
  |Potash                | 20·80 |  20·33 |  24·67 |   28·99 |    36·06  |
  |Soda                  | 10·85 |   ...  |   ...  |    0·87 |     0·73  |
  |Lime                  |  8·24 |  10·38 |   9·64 |    6·82 |     7·98  |
  |Magnesia              |  4·01 |   4·99 |   2·85 |    2·59 |     3·07  |
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |  1·83 |   0·26 |   0·21 |    0·28 |     2·40  |
  |    "        Manganese|  ...  |   ...  |   ...  |    ...  |     ...   |
  |Sulphuric Acid        |  2·11 |   5·46 |   5·20 |    3·45 |     4·00  |
  |Muriatic Acid         |  ...  |   ...  |   ...  |    ...  |     ...   |
  |Carbonic Acid         |  0·68 |   0·55 |   0·49 |    ...  |     ...   |
  |Phosphoric Acid       | 15·43 |   7·53 |   8·73 |   10·07 |     9·31  |
  |Silica                | 30·01 |  38·48 |  27·13 |   41·79 |    35·20  |
  |Chloride of Potassium |  ...  |  10·63 |  13·80 |    ...  |     ...   |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |  5·09 |   1·38 |   7·25 |    5·11 |     1·25  |
  |                      +-------+--------+--------+---------+-----------+
  |   Total              | 99·05 |  99·99 |  99·97 |   99·97 |   100·00  |
  |   Per-centage of Ash |       |   5·21 |   7·54 |    6·45 |     5·20  |
  |                      |       |        |        |         |           |
  +----------------------+-------+--------+--------+---------+-----------+

Those numbers marked with an asterisk refer to 100 parts of the
substance in its natural or undried state; the remaining numbers
refer to 100 parts when dried.

  +----------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                      |               |               |Kohl-rabi, from|
  |                      |   Broccoli.   | Cow Cabbage.  |  chalk soil.  |
  |                      +-------+-------+-------+-------+---------------+
  |                      | Root. |Leaves.|Leaves.|Stalk. |Leaves.| Tuber.|
  +----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
  |Potash                | 47·16 | 22·10 | 40·86 | 40·93 |  9·31 | 36·27 |
  |Soda                  |  ...  |  7·55 |  2·43 |  4·05 |  ...  |  2·84 |
  |Lime                  |  4·70 | 28·44 | 15·01 | 10·61 | 30·31 | 10·20 |
  |Magnesia              |  3·93 |  3·43 |  2·39 |  3·85 |  3·62 |  2·36 |
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |  ...  |  ...  |  0·77 |  0·41 |  5·50 |  0·38 |
  |     "      Manganese |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |
  |Sulphuric Acid        | 10·35 | 16·10 |  7·27 | 11·11 | 10·63 | 11·43 |
  |Muriatic Acid         |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |
  |Carbonic Acid         |  ...  |  ...  | 16·68 |  6·33 |  8·97 | 10·24 |
  |Phosphoric Acid       | 25·83 | 19·81 | 12·52 | 19·57 |  9·43 | 13·46 |
  |Silica                |  1·81 |  2·83 |  1·66 |  1·04 |  9·57 |  0·82 |
  |Chloride of Potassium |  6·22 |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  5·99 |  ...  |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |a trace|  ...  |  ...  |  2·08 |  6·66 | 11·90 |
  |                      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
  |  Total               |100·00 |100·26 | 99·99 | 99·98 | 99·99 | 99·90 |
  |  Per-centage of Ash  |  1·01 |  1·70 |  0·70 |  1·24 | 18·54 |  8·09 |
  |                      |   *   |   *   |   *   |   *   |       |       |
  +----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

  +----------------------+----------+-----------------+------------------+
  |                      |          |                 |                  |
  |                      |  Wheat   |      Wheat.     |      Barley.     |
  |                      | (Grain). +--------+--------+---------+--------+
  |                      |          | Grain. | Straw. | Grain.  | Straw. |
  +----------------------+----------+--------+--------+---------+--------+
  |Potash                |   29·51  | 25·92  | 10·78  |  32·02  |  14·37 |
  |Soda                  |   10·61  |  ...   |  ...   |   1·21  |   0·28 |
  |Lime                  |    0·99  |  3·80  |  2·44  |   3·39  |   8·50 |
  |Magnesia              |   10·60  | 12·27  |  3·23  |  10·99  |   1·70 |
  |Sesquioxide of Iron   |    ...   |  1·12  |  0·54  |   0·15  |   0·20 |
  |     "      Manganese |    ...   |  ...   |  ...   |   ...   |   ...  |
  |Sulphuric Acid        |    0·09  |  ...   |  1·77  |   ...   |   2·22 |
  |Muriatic Acid         |    ...   |  ...   |  ...   |   ...   |   ...  |
  |Carbonic Acid         |    ...   |  4·43  |  6·01  |   0·48  |   1·25 |
  |Phosphoric Acid       |   47·55  | 43·44  |  3·69  |  29·92  |   4·22 |
  |Silica                |    0·11  |  7·16  | 64·84  |  21·12  |  62·89 |
  |Chloride of Potassium |    ...   |  1·03  |  3·96  |   ...   |   ...  |
  |Chloride of Sodium    |    0·54  |  ...   |  0·42  |   0·72  |   4·37 |
  |                      +----------+--------+--------+---------+--------+
  |  Total               |  100·00  | 99·17  | 99·68  | 100·00  | 100·00 |
  |  Per-centage of Ash  |    2·32  |  1·645 |  5·252 |   2·22  |   5·49 |
  |                      |          |        |        |         |        |
  +----------------------+----------+--------+--------+---------+--------+




APPENDIX.


Whilst this Work was passing through the press, a valuable Report on
Agricultural Statistics was issued by the Board of Trade. The following
statistics, collected from this Report, are here given, because they
modify the statements made in page 5:--

  POPULATION, AREA, ACREAGE UNDER CROPS, ETC., AND NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK,
  IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN 1867.

  +-------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |                         |            |           |           |           |
  |                         |            |           |           |           |
  |                         |  England.  |  Wales.   | Scotland. |  Ireland. |
  |                         |            |           |           |           |
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Population (1866)        | 20,276,494 | 1,187,103 | 3,136,057 |  5,571,971|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Area (in Statute Acres)  | 32,590,397 | 4,734,486 |19,639,377 | 20,322,641|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Under Corn Crops         |  7,399,347 |   521,404 | 1,364,029 |  2,115,137|
  |  "   Green Crops        |  2,691,734 |   138,387 |   668,042 |  1,432,252|
  |  "   Bare Fallow        |    753,210 |    86,257 |    83,091 |     26,191|
  |  "   Grass--Clover, &c.,|  2,478,117 |   300,756 | 1,211,101 |  1,658,451|
  |        Under Rotation   |            |           |           |           |
  |Permanent Pasture,       |            |           |           |           |
  |  not broken up in       |            |           |           |           |
  |  Rotation[39]           |  9,545,675 | 1,472,359 | 1,053,285 | 10,057,072|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Per-centage of           |            |           |           |           |
  |  Acreage:[40]--         |            |           |           |           |
  |Under Corn Crops         |    32·3    |    20·7   |   31·1    |    13·6   |
  |  "   Green Crops        |    11·7    |     5·5   |   15·3    |     9·2   |
  |  "   Bare Fallow        |     3·3    |     3·4   |    1·9    |      ·2   |
  |  "   Grass--Clover, &c.,|            |           |           |           |
  |        under Rotation   |    10·8    |    11·9   |   27·7    |    10·7   |
  |Permanent Pasture[41]    |    41·6    |    58·5   |   24·0    |    64·7   |
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Number of Cattle         |  3,469,026 |   544,538 |   979,470 |  3,702,378|
  |  "    of Sheep          | 19,798,337 | 2,227,161 | 6,893,603 |  4,826,015|
  |  "    of Pigs           |  2,548,755 |   229,917 |   188,307 |  1,233,893|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Number of Live Stock     |            |           |           |           |
  |    to every 100 Acres   |            |           |           |           |
  |    under Crops, Fallow, |            |           |           |           |
  |    and Grass:--         |            |           |           |           |
  |  Cattle                 |    15·1    |    21·6   |   22·4    |    23·8   |
  |  Sheep                  |    86·3    |    88·4   |  157·4    |    31·1   |
  |  Pigs                   |    11·1    |     9·1   |    4·3    |     7·9   |
  +-------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

  +-------------------------+------------+-----------------------+-----------+
  |                         |            |    Channel Islands.   |           |
  |                         |   Isle of  +-----------+-----------+ Total for |
  |                         |    Man.    |           | Guernsey, | United    |
  |                         |            |   Jersey. |   &c.     | Kingdom   |
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Population (1866)        |    52,469  |   55,613  |   35,365  | 30,315,072|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Area (in Statute Acres)  |   180,000  |   28,717  |   17,967  | 77,513,585|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Under Corn Crops         |    27,039  |    2,827  |    2,157  | 11,431,940|
  |  "   Green Crops        |    12,670  |    5,636  |    3,075  |  4,951,796|
  |  "   Bare Fallow        |     1,990  |    2,550  |      709  |    953,998|
  |  "   Grass--Clover, &c.,|    26,884  |    3,250  |      874  |  5,679,433|
  |        Under Rotation   |            |           |           |           |
  |Permanent Pasture,       |            |           |           |           |
  |  not broken up in       |            |           |           |           |
  |  Rotation[39]           |    15,915  |    6,092  |    6,143  | 22,156,541|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Per-centage of           |            |           |           |           |
  |  Acreage:[40]--         |            |           |           |           |
  |Under Corn Crops         |     32·0   |    13·9   |    16·7   |    25·1   |
  |  "   Green Crops        |     15·0   |    27·6   |    23·7   |    10·9   |
  |  "   Bare Fallow        |      2·4   |    12·5   |     5·5   |     2·1   |
  |  "   Grass--Clover, &c.,|            |           |           |           |
  |        under Rotation   |     31·8   |    16·0   |     6·7   |    12·4   |
  |Permanent Pasture[41]    |     18·8   |    30·0   |    47·4   |    48·7   |
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Number of Cattle         |    18,672  |   10,081  |    7,308  |  8,731,473|
  |  "    of Sheep          |    70,958  |      529  |    1,348  | 33,817,951|
  |  "    of Pigs           |     7,706  |    5,804  |    6,718  |  4,221,100|
  |                         +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
  |Number of Live Stock     |            |           |           |           |
  |    to every 100 Acres   |            |           |           |           |
  |    under Crops, Fallow, |            |           |           |           |
  |    and Grass:--         |            |           |           |           |
  |  Cattle                 |     22·1   |    49·5   |    56·4   |    19·2   |
  |  Sheep                  |     84·0   |     2·6   |    10·4   |    74·3   |
  |  Pigs                   |      9·1   |    28·5   |    51·8   |     9·3   |
  +-------------------------+------------+-----------------------+-----------+

       *       *       *       *       *

[Footnote 39: Exclusive of heath or mountain land.]

[Footnote 40: The per-centage of acreage is exclusive of Hops in Great
Britain, and Flax in Ireland.]

[Footnote 41: Including under Flax, 253,105 acres.]