Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-12-19
FARM AND GARDEN.
selection aad Preparation Of Winter
Food for AnImals-NO. IL.
From the Rural New Yorker.
COOKING

Food for AnimRls-NO. II.
From the Rural New Yorker.
COOKING.
The Grst Inquiry under this head is,
what is the effect OF cooking food II Starch,
as found in the cells Of vegetables, consists
of globules or grains, contained in kind
of sac, and in order to burst these grains it
must be subjected to heat. Payen, on eI-
animation with the microscope, found that
when starch was mixed with water and
heated to l4Oo, some of the smaller grains
absorbed water and burst, but many still
remained unaffected, and only burst be-
tween 1922 and 2l2' Of heat This shows,
concusiyely, that the heat of the animal
stomach Is not sufficient to utilize starchy
food and when we reflect that about sixty
per cent. Of the cereal grains consists of
starch, we see the great loss which must
occur from want of cooking. And il the
cereal grains require cooking, how much
more must the dry fiber Of hay, straw and
corn fodder require il The woody fiber
Of hay, straw, etc, consists, chemically, Of
the same elements as starch. Starch may
be turned into gum and sugar 20 may
woody fiber, aiter being dried and ground
and by the same means, heat and dilute
sulphuric acid. The famous "eorn sugar
patent, which took in the sugar men Of
New York city to the tune Of 100000, is
not vet forgotten. 1t was simply the old
chemical process revamped.
All woody fiber will yield 10 steam pres
sure, and when thus reduced TO a pulpy
mass most of it is digestible, and can be
assimilated by the animal stomach. Grass,
the natural food Of domestic animals, in its
succulent state is soluble, and needs but the
natural heat and acid Of the stomach to
convert il into natriment. Hay, straw,
etc, by thorough steaming is reconverted
into grass, and thus the animal may be
furnished with its natural food through
the winter.
We can say, after eleven years expert
ence in cooking the winter food of our
animals, that the advantages are all that
theory would indicate. Steaming renders
mouldy hay, straw and eorn-stalks sweet
and palatable, thus restoring their value /;
renders peas and beans agreeable food for
horses, as we'll az other stock, and thus en-
ables the feeder 10 combine more nitrogen
ous food in the diet of his animals.
We have found half hay and half straw
mixed and steamed more than equal to hay
unsteamed. Pea straw when cooked is
readily eaten, and, il cut early, nearly as
nutritious as hay. Bean straw, which,
when dry, is generally left untouched by
cattle, will be all eaten if steamed with hay,
and, as analysis shows, Is more than equal
in flesh forming matter to hay. Corn-stalks,
when cut short and steamed, will be eaten
clean by cattle, horses and sheep. BY cut
ting and cooking, all the straw and coarse
fodder raised on the farm may be turned
into milk, flesh and wool, besides adding
largely to the manure heap.
In cities where cows are kept TO supply
milk, and are MIXED through the winter,
cooking their food will greatly increase the
yield Of milk, improve the condition ofthe
COW, and reduce the expense Of keeping at
least one-third. The saving in food for
each COW in milk will be, at least, eight
dollars per season. This item may be
worth looking after by city feeders. The
mixture Of oil aud pea meal aud bran, az
we have indicated, makes an excellent food
to produce milk and keep up the condition
Of the COW. One and half pounds each
Of oil and pea meal, and three pounds of
bran, mixed with ten pounds Of hay and
steamed, per day, for each COW weighing 500
pounds, will generally be sufficient. This
may be thought a small quantity from
which COW OF that size, at her best season.
could produce four gallons of milk and
keep up her condition but il must be re-
membered that four gallons Of milk contain
only about four pounds Of dry. matter,
which will leave a supply for the thrift Of
the COW. Yet il is always the best econ
omy to give a COW in milk all she will eat
with good appetite; for il takes certain
quantity to keep the COW in condition
without gaining any milk, and what she
will eat above this should be added TO the
milk. Thirty-three to forty per cent. would
require to be added il uncooked. But with
the estimate given, il will be seen what a
splendid margin there is in producing milk
in cities at ten cents per quart
This combination Of food recommended
for mich cows is also well adapted TO grow.
ing the Young animal, as il contains a
full supply Of bone and muscle nutriment.
For fattening, let the pea meal be replaced
with six pounds Of corn meal. Corn meal
nav also be used in small quantities for
EFFECT OF COOKED Foop UPON ANIMALS.
Ii has sometimes been urged, that al
though the animal eats less and for q time
thriyes better upon cooked food, vet its
tendency is TO weaken the stamina of the
system and produce premature decay. We
have been able to test this theory fairly,
and can now show as the result, cows and
horses which have been fed every winter
upon cooked food for eleven years, and 50
far from showing any III effects Of this way
Of feeding, the cows have never been sick,
aud are now in fine condition and heart.
and the horses able TO do good work, al
though sixteen or seventeen years old. We
have raised many colts from weaving age
20 Eve years, and never saw any want OF
stamina. The effect OF cooked food upon
horses with a cough or sudden cold is very
remarkable, almost uniformly producing a
cure in a few days. IL will cure iucipieni
heayes, correct costiyeness, and materially
improve q founder. 10 fact, our animals
have been more uniformly healthy since
feeding them upon cooked food. But, il il
true. that sheep and other animals fsttened
rapidly upon steamed food will be sOiteT
in flesh than il fatened more slowly upon
uncooked food. Yet this would naturally
be expected. Grass grown rapidly upon
very rich ground is not 80 solid as that
grown slowly upon poorer land bat who
would prefer the poorer land an conse-
quenceY Just before animals are ready
Tor the butchers it is we'll TO feed them a
few days upon dry, unoooked food, which
will correct this soitness Of tiesh, -r
PREPARING FOOD FOR sTEAMIEe.
The cut hay, straw and hay, or other cut
feed, lie moistened with a large watering
=, fiF dona hv bandl ~ The RATE of NJ