Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-11-10
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
steamlng Food for Stock.


The great and growing importance Of
strict economy in the feeding Of stock, and
the great advantage of cooked food for the
use of stock, has, for long time, attract
ed the attention of the practical, as well
as scientific men of our time. 1t is now
proven by experiments made In this and
the old country, that there is an enormous
saving made by cooking food. One gentle
man, in New Jersey, says that while it
costs him 12i cents per pound to make
pork by feeding raw feed, it only costs AZ
cents per pound with the use of cooked
food. The late Prof. Mapes said that Is
pounds of cooked corn is equal to so
pounds of raw corn for hog feed, while for
cattle, dry corn stalks, when thoroughly
cooked, are equal to green stalks from the
field. In view of the facts-facts, observe,
not theories-but facts, the result of exper-
iments made by practical men in their or
dinary business of feeding stock, show the
great Importance of steaming food for their
use.
ur. j. Wilkinson, prominent agricul-
turist of Maryland, in writing upon the
subject of steaming food, says great ad-
vantage arising from steaming all the food
for stock, in which there are liable to be
seeds of any description, is that the vicin-
ity of such seeds is destroyed and the man.
ure is freed from all noxious weed seed;
matter 6f much greater importance than it
is considered by cuiturists generally.
The chsff of our grain crops, which con-
tains most of the foul seed gathered with
the crops, should be steamed to destroy
the vitality of the seed, ere it goes into the
manure heap. If not steamed before it is
restored TO the land, it would be better to
burn it, rather than take such an amount
of foul seeds back on the land.
Why is it that the practice of feeding
stock with steamed food is not more gener-
al among our farmers? Simply because
heretofore the expense of cooking has been
so great that it, in q measure, balanced the
gain in the food; and the prevailing opin-
ion among farmers that steam generators,
are dangerous, troublesome and expsn-
sive, and SO complicated that one unac-
custoped to their use would be unable to
manage them with safety and profit.
Hitherto there has been Just
grounds on which to base such opin-
ions; but of late, science, inventive
genius, and correct appreciation of the
actual demand for a cheap, safe, durable
and effective steam boiler, that any novice
Can run, has developed and given to the
world, among other frst-class devices for
the purpose, Prindle's Combined Caldron
and NQn-Explosive Steam Generator, that
seems fully to meet every want In that di-
rection, and isjust what the farmer has SO
long needed; its patent vacuum and pres.
sure valve is esteemed one of the most in
valuable inventions of the age. As a caul-
dron alone, or boiler, it seems to be CON-
plete. The steamer, however, Is great
improvement, as food is much better
steamed than boiled, and is not liable to
injury by burning. .-Prdirie Farmer.
1t may be interesting to the farmers of
the Northwest to know that these Agricul-
tural Steamers and Boilers are manufac-
tured by Collins & Burgie, Chicago.