Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1856-05-10


cal people, never suffering any substance of
the material world to be wasted, which can,
by any possibility, be made subservient to the
uses of man. The last attempt, however, of
the Partisan economists, to introduce horse
meat as common article of food for all clas-
ses does not seem to meet with much favor
and for this reason: /" Poor old horse" is hard,
ly fit for dog meat and horse steak, fat
and juicy, is worth as much as beef of the same
cut. In consequence of the drain of horses
for the Crimea these noble animals are re-
markably dear, therefore at present the scheme
cannot have fair trial All the old horses
turned out to die are mere skeletons, and the
article of fat is most wofully wanting.
A Monsieur dc Sora has, however, invented
a method by which he turns the flesh of these
scmi-skeletons to good account and, for two
brought up large numbers of dlapdated hacks,
which, by process we shall presently des-
cribe, he manages to return to the metropolis
in the shape of an almost universal article of
diet, especially in the French cuisine, and he
is rapidly coming a fortune by his enterprise
1t is wellestabliShed fact that the common
barn-door fowl does not as a general thing
produce eggs during the winter months and
many naturalists have attributed the failure to
the lowness of temperature incident to the sea-
son. Such theories have, however, been ex-
plodcd, since experience has proved that, al
though housed in an atmosphere kept at sum-
mer heat, and fed-fnll fed-wth various
kinds of grain, both whole and crushed-raw
and cooked still old Madame Cacke obsti-
nately refused to yield only On occasional egg.
1t is now well ascertained that the reason is
the want of animal food, which Mrs. Biddy
cannot get in winter. In summer she caters
for herself, and exercises her scratching pro-
pensities in search of the larvae of insects,
grubs, worms, &C., which just underlie the
surface of the SOIL But, when the earth is
rigid with frost the flies, bugs, and beetles are
NON est, and the grasshoppers have departed,
so old biddy deliberately closes the door of
her mill and will grind out no more eggs until
the vernal months.
Monsieur de Sora was aware of all these
facts, and, living at the time upon an old di-
lapidated estate, a few miles from Paris, he
set himself earnestly at the task of construct
ing o hcnnery, which should be productive
twelve months i'm the year. He soon ascer-
tanned that certain quantity of raao mince
meat, given regularly, with the other feed, pro-
duccd the desired result and commencing
with only some three hundred female fowls,
he found that they averaged, the first year,
some twenty-five dozen of eggs, each, in the
three hundred and sixty-fve days The past
season he has wintered, thus far, about one
hundred Thousand hens, and fair proportion
of male birds, with close approximation to
the same results During the spring, summer
and autumn, they have the range of the es-
tate, but always under surveillance. In the
winter their apartments are kept at an agree
able temperature and although they have
mince meat ratons the year round, yet the
quantity is much increased during cold wealth
er They have free access to pure water,
gravel and sand, and their combs are always
red
To apply this great consumption, nj. de So
ra avails himself of the constant supply of su-
peranuated and damaged horses, which can
always be gathered from the stables Of Paris
and the suburbs These useless animals are
taken to an d5attOir, owned by M. de SOra
himself, and there slaughtered. The blood is
saved clean, and unmixed with offal. 1t is
sold for purposes Of the arts, at remuerative
price The skin goes to the tanner-the head,
hoo, skins, &c, to the glue-maker and PruS-
sian blue manufacturer larger bones form
a cheap substitute for ivory with the button
makcrs-while the remainder of the bOny
structure is manufactured into ivory-black, or
used in the shape of bone dust, for agricultu-
raj purposes Even the marrow is preserved !;
and much of the fashionable and highly per-
fumed lip-salve and pomade, SO much in vogue,
was once enclosed within the leg-bones of old
horses Uses are also found for the entrails
and, in fact, no portion of the beast is vast
od Tho Noch icn nlna Inv die tad off tbn fro
cut into suitable pieces and run through Sc
rics of revolving knives, the apparatus being
similar to a sausage machine, and delivered in
the shape of a mass of mince meat, slightly
seasoned, into casks, which are instantly head
ed up and conveyed per rail road to the egg
plantation of NJ de Sora. The consumption
Of horses for this purpose, by NJ. de Sora, has
been at the average rate of twenty two per
day for the past twelve months. A slight adj
dtion of black pepper and salt is found to be
beneficial. The fowls eat it with avidity .
they are ever in good condition, and they lay
each an egg almost daily, in all weathers and
in all seasons. The breeding arrangements at
this establishment are also on an immense
scale. In September, October and November
the proprietor sent 1000 capons to Paris for
SALE He never allows hen to set The
breeding rooms are warmed by steam, arrang-
ed in shelves, and Matched chickens are re-
moved to the nursery each morning. and fresh
eggs laid in to supply the places of the empty
shells. A constant succession of chickens is
thus insured, and moreover the feathers are
always free from vermin. Indeed, lousy
fowl is unknown upon the premises.
The manure produced in this French estab-
liShment is no small item, and since it forms
the very best fertilizer for many descriptions
of plants, it is eagerly sought for at high prices
| by the market gardeners in the vicinity. The
proprietor estimates the yield this year at
about one hundred cords. He employs nearly
one hundred persons in the different depart