Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1855-01-24
Price Two cents.
OBe 5laiIp &pp.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY "a. 1855.
Feeding of Animals.

Feeding of Animals.
RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF FOOD FOR MAN
YIELDED BY THE SAME HRRBAGE IN
FORMS OF BEEF AND MILK.
a curious economical question, IN connec-
ton with the value of vegetable produce in
feeding cattle, presents itself to US wher we
come to compare the proportions of human
food which may be obtained from the same
weight of heritage when cattle are fed with it
for different immediate purposes.
A ton of hay may be given to bullock
to be converted into beef. Another ton of the
same hay may given to a COW to be con-
verified into milk. Would the beef or the milk
produced contain the larger supply of food for
man? We have rather imperfect data to rely
upon in answering this question, but they
lead US to very interesting results
|. According to Sir John Sinclair, the same
heritage which will add ll2 ID. to the weight
Of an OK will enable COW to yield $50 wine
gallons, or 5000 10. of milk This milk will
contain l6O ID. of dry curd, l60 lb. of butter,
$50 ID. of sugar, and Is ID. of saline matter,
while the ID. of beef will not contain more
tnan % 10. or so ID. of dry muscle fat, and
saline matter together that is to say, the same
weight of heritage which will produce less
than 80 ID. of dry human food in the form of
beef, will yield 500 ID. i'll the form of milk.
2. But this statement of Sir John Snclair's
is, fear, not to be relied upon. We have
another, however, something different, from
Ricdesel, Continental authority. He saws
that the same quantity of hay will produce
either 100 ID. Of milk, or 100 imperial gallons
(l000 lb.) of milk. This quantity Of milk
contains only $50 70. of dry food, but is still
five times as much as contained in the beef
This statement of Riedesel is also 10 be re-
ceived with hesitaton but the subject is in
teresting and important, as well as curious,
and is deserving of further investgat on
Should the population of the country ever
become so dense as to render rigorous econ
omy of food a national question. butcher meat
II the above data deserve any reliance-will
be banished from our tables, and milk diet
will be the daily sustenance of almost all cas-
ses of society.
Influence Of circumstances IL notifying the
practical va5ue Of animal and vegetable food.
The Indications of theory, aud the results
of general practice, in regard to the nutritive
power OF different vegetable substances, are
modified by many circumstances which ought
to be borne in mind. Whether fed for work,
or for the production of flesh or milk, the eff
feet of the food given to animals will depend
partly on the kind, breed, and constitution of
the animal itself-on the general treatment to
which 1t is subjected, and the place in which
tits kept-on its size and state of health-and
on the form in which the food itself is given.
l. The breed or constitution, every feeder
knows, has a great influence on the apparent
value of food. Some breeds, like the I'M
proved short horn, have material tendency
to fatten, which makes them increase in
weight more rapidly than other breeds, when
fed upon the same food. And even in the
same breed, the rapidity with which one ami
NAL lays on flesh will sometimes make it two
or three times more profitable to the farmer
than others which are fed along with it.
2. Warmth and shelter cause the same
amount of food to go farther as do also gentle
treatment and the absence OF glaring light
Sheep have produced double the weight of
mutton from the same amount Of vegetable
food, when fed under shelter, and kept undis-
turbed end i'll the dark. 1t is probably from
this beneficial influence of warmth that, in
the North American states, a difference of 25
per cent, is observed in favor OF the spring
and summer over the winter feeding of the
pigs, upon similar food.
3. The form IN ,ohich the food Is given is of
no less Importance. Grass newly cut goes
farther than alter it is made into hay; and
the opinion is now becoming very generally
prevalent, that steamed, boiled, or otherwise
prepared food, is more wholesome for cattle,
and more economical to the feeder, than the
same food given in dry state.
In the case Of horses. the difference be-
tween the practice of giving all the food dry
and uncut, and that of giving all the hay cut
with the oats and beans crushed, and an eve
ming meal of steamed food, is such as to eff
feet a saving of nearly one third. Thus, the
same wagon horses which consumed IL
bushels Of oats per week, and IA stones of
hay, when given uncut, uncrushed, and I'M
cooked, were kept in good condition by 2 IL
bushels of oats, s stones of hay and Z lbs.
of linseed when the grain was crushed the
hay cut into half-inch chat, and the linseed
with little bean-m and cut hay made in.
to steamed meal feed in the evenings
The mating and Sproeting Of barley is by
many practical men considered to increase its
nutritive qualities. 1t is certain that. when
mixed with boiled potatoes to the extent of
or per cent, and kept warm for few hours,
bruised malt produces a prepared food which
is much relished by mich cows, and is profit
able to the dairy man. There Is reason to
believe that similar mixtures with many other
kinds of food would produce similar benef
cial effects
Mr.. Hudson, of Castle Acre, feeds his
farm-horses on u lbs. of sp,oated barley per
day. besides their fodder; and this, on his
light land, keeps them in good condition. 1t
is prepared by stepping the barley for "a hours,
and then putting it into a heap and turning it
over for five days.
5. The sowiHg Of food of all kinds has, by
almost universal consent been found to make
it more profitable in the feeding and fattening
of pigs 1t makes them fatten faster, and
gives frmer and whittier flesh.
Many other circumstances also modify the
real practical value OF food, and cause it to
produce results different from those indicated
by its chemical composition.
The dry feeding being-hay II lbs, with oats aad
beans II lbs the steamed feed-hy lbs beans
lbs, and linseed b,-CGirds English Asricuiturs,
p. 346
-JoAnston's Ag. Chemistry and Geology.