Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1861-11-08
rmn the Rural Register.
Pumpkins as Food for Stock.

nm The kufal hegsief'
Pumpkins as Food for Stock.
The belief Is general that pumpkins form
an admirable food Tor stock. auS especially
Cor mich c. Ns during the winter and -pring.
that !, NAV he rather hazardous in us 10 say
that ,hi, opinion does no, bold good eScep,
under certain circum.tanc,s, and with some
reservations, In the fr't place, the amour,
Of actual nouushmen, ,ha, the pumpkin.
Afford. is remarkably small, and although u
i. frequently used ,hroushou, the country.
not only A. :ooi .uccalcn, food for milch
COWS. but aI.o for the purpose, especially IN
the we.t. Of h,ten'ng hogs, its valuable
properties have certainly been considerably
oVerrltcd. Some OF the more ohsrrvlnt
farmer. have of late years. We know, been
coming slowly to thu. conclusion. and have
grown, in cIt-qucncc fewer pumpkin.
among their corn. AMI have pad FAR great.
rr attention to the cultivation Of roo, crops.
There arr many. however, who. 6niln; l,
an casy matter u rsise large crnp- Of pump.
kins. are strongly convinced ,ha, they may
b. tel "a a, aivant,sr. AMI that they great.
" increase the WELD Of milk a,a season Of
the year when the supply would iail in cows
that are isi only on iry hay AMI fodder.
Other. contend that the u.c Of pumpkins.
instead Of Increasing, actually d,crsa,,' the
yield Of milk, when iei tp cove. Paradox.
ical a. it may appear, tncy are both rish,
and both wrong. and thee opposite opn-
tons may b. rcconcisd by simple. and 10
u. satisfactory explanation. Known: tha,
,hesr diver, views existed amons some Of
our best farmers, vet holding W The more
common belief ihl, pumpk n' did actually
promote the low Of milk, We las, season put
the matter fairly TO the te.,. Absorbing to
the usual practice. We bad the pumpkin.
chopped up into tolsrahly snail pieces, and
alierna,rd them aa daily me.s with the
bs., quality OF mltsi hay sometimes chop.
p,t and sometime. fci direct from the mos.
The result wA- carefully noted, and I, NJ.
found. after the lapse of q fr~ weeks, that
not only "a. the quantity Of mil. very .cn.
.lhly dec-c.s.i. but that the cow - ici
were actually poorer than when icd upon
dry iood alone. Be!ievin; that the diureuc
propsr,is. Of the .ci-ior the pumpsin'
wcr, ici % without cKiraciin; ,hcrn-bc-
lcvinr. w. .ly. that the diureiic properties
had .ime,hins TO 10 with the matter, an.
other experiment was instituted to ascertain
II such we're indeed The fact. Some articles
IN the column. Of the Country Gcrtleman
had drawn our attention 20 ihissubSsci. aud
a. We knew that II whs an interesting point
Il controversy which theoretical sPccul..
tinn. could not settle. IL became worth while
TO ascertain Oh, truth Of the matter by
carefully conducted experiment. We bad
satisfied ourselves tia. pumpkins TED to the
stock tri.h ne ss.i' were rather injurious
than o,hsrs..c, ami IL the seei-, az it had
locu ALLEGED were really the cause Of dlmln'
i.hin- the i1v OF milk by increasing the So
,retion lruu ,h. kidneys, the extraction Of
the seed. and the use Of the lle.h Of the
pumpkins oaly. woald produce the opposite
eject. The change va, accordingly made,
aud with the happIa'i results. In the
course Of short time. the COWS 20 treated
-ained portion Of the te.h which they had
lo.t. and Welded besides. AMI their yield OF
milk gradually increased beyond what II
va when they were fed on dry TODD alone
aud va. Tar greater than it was when they
were fcd with pumpkins IRON which the
seed. had no, been extracted. We are lar.
however. from aserbins any very impor.
,ant nuriure qualities to the fesh Of the
pumpkins. a. an Alternative 1t will un'
doub,edly be found .erviceable, and as serv.
ing 20 qualify dry food, IL will be always
useful IN the absence or good supply Of
roots ha, where the latter can b. had. they
are infinitely TO be preferred. because they
no, only serve TO increase the llDw OF milk
when i.i 90 cows, but ARE yaluable besides
Tor their is,tenlns properties.