The Portland daily press., 1867-07-25
Terms Eight Dollars per AMMAN. n, od,,o,,.,


iiii Uran OF man and in fattening properties,
fed rnor 10y =. % %eiuai when cooked, for swine, or
ie1 raw to other domestic anim3lsn
Other fruits are REMEDIAL g.. Up,
grapes nave cured epidemic dvsanter,, nN
Figs are safely used as food in no,,,S,,o
cence. Blackberres and black raspberrias nrs-
vent ana cure bowel complaints" 'Famil;es
where fruits are most plentiful and geoJ an5
priced as an article of daily iood, are most frea
from disease of all kinds" The vegetable fno5
of very many families living in the country
has consisted in the grains that make our
bread, beans, potatoes and apples. These,
with meats, milk and products, make up the
"bill of fare" for the year, with very little OF
additions or variations In such COURSE
the articles of meats. bread and beans are pre-
sented in form too concentrated, and should
be diluted with additions of fruit and green
vegetables.
The kitchen garden has not yet become q
general and important appendage to the farm.
We should now learn how to live well-better
than many OF us have-by reducing our con-
sumption of meat, and making our dinners of
vegetables. To this end we shall make the
g1tuen an object of annual and daily care
we sIiail produce considerable variety Of
vegetables, 10 which our climate seems we'll
adapted. We will name some as worthy of a
prominent place: Beet, carrot parsnins cab
page, onion, turnip, squash, rhubarb, tomato,
bean, pea, sweet corn-in their yariety osn,ra
gus, satisfy, artchoke radish horse-ra,Ish.
melon, cucumber, to. which should be added
several herbs and seeds as condiments.
The matter of "small fruits" having been Of
ten considered at the Beard will not be enter
ed upon here. One question remains: As our
habit has been, can we substitute vegetable
for a portion of animal food, with economy?
This question suggests another: AT what ex-
pense of vegetable consumption is cur meat
produced? Admitting certain facts to be
pretty well settled by experiments, We may
o!n to hot
consumes in good hay, about three per cent.
per day of their own weight That it takes
eleven pounds of milk to increase the weight
of a cali one pound. Some experiments show
that 3l5 pounds of potatoes, 548 pounds beets,
676 pounds swedes, and 382 pounds OF carrots
are each equivalent to 100 pounds of hay. An
OK weighing 1900 pounds, win keep up his
weight upon about % pounds of good hay per
diem. Put up to fatten, he will require "A lbs,
upon which he would gain about two pounds
per day. Substituting equivalents for one-half
the hay, and we have 69.3 pounds of potatoes,
1904 pounds beets, 1887 pounds swedes, or 81
pounds of carrots added to % pounds OF hay
for daily feed, to produce two pounds OF beef
live weight. One experiment. in feeding
hogs-given by Boussingaults "Rural Econo-
my'-shOvs four animals each nine months
old, weighing 453.2 pounds. At the end Of
twenty-one days they weighed 620.8 pounds-
increase 1620.6 poundsi to obtain which there
were consumed harley, 151 pounds, beans,
l40o pounds, malt grains, $40 pounds-equiva-
lent in nutrition to ,229 pounds of hay, Or
1871 pounds of potatoes. SO that the quanti-
ty of nutritive matter represented by 100 lbs.
of hay, produced 1921 pounds of live weight
Otherwise expressed, 645 bushels of potatoes
produced 1926 pounds of live hog. Another
experiment, in which seven hogs fifteen
months old, and in good condition. were put
up to fatten. Their weight was 16918 pounds
At the end of 104 days they had gained 1922
pounds They consumed 772 pounds of bar
ley, 1928 pounds peas and 95O4 pounds pota-
toes. Giving equivalents we have q, ,246 lbs. of
potatoes. In this experiment the provinder
equivalent TO 100 pounds of hay, gave 491 lbs.
OF live weight Or 456 bushels of potatoes
made 400 lbs. live pork.
Mutton is fatted at a cost about the same as
beef. With such proof of expenditure in veg
etables for the production of animals, we con-
clude that course is true economy which feeds
ourselves on the products of the garden, the
orchard and the field, reducing our animal
food to its minimum, beyond which vital en-
ergy will be lessened and our usefulness
abridged. Some experiments in this field of
inquiry will not harm us. We know many
families who have nearly cut off their CON
sumption of pork, with evident advantage. "A
willingness to examine this matter may be q
mark of wisdom.