The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-02-17

The Union and American giyes fhe
following IS the contents of = papcr IN
the food Of animals, which was nd
by Mr.. Whitney at . recent sessions 81
the American Institute Farmers' Club
We estimate the value Of f0Od ac-
cording to it, proportion Of nitrogenow
or albumino0s slabstanccs, Of oily or
fatty material and its starch or sugar.
The first supplies tlae rea Apeb, the
second the greater part Of In II and
sustains the process Of respiration.
Sugar, starch, or oil-one Or more Of
them-are common In NEST Kinds Of
cattle feed, and either VIII supply the
place of the other. The practical value
Of the feed may therefore be estimated
from the quantity OF albuDainous ma
terial in it, aud the per centage Of either
or all of the others. Taking the state
meat of chemists who have carefully
investigated the subject, we find that,
disregarding minute fractions, liuseed
cake contains 273 per cent. OF albumi-
nous matter, and 123 per cent. Of oil,
whereas turilips have bat 4 per cent.
of the former, and is Of per cent. OF
the latter; SO that Al pounds of oil cake
contains as much or . little more nu-
triment than 100 ofturnips.
Cotton seed cake has trifle more
than % per cent. of albuminotls sub
stances and 8 per cent of oil, and Is,
therefore, worth nearly, but not quite
as much as common oil cake. Field
beans have q per cent. Of alburnen and
Ia per cent. of oil; but this deficiency
Of oil is made up Of . large quantity Of
starch. Sunflower seed has nearly "a
per cent. of albumen and 80 per cent.
Of oil. The per centAge Of oil b too
great for profitable feeding, providing
it could be extracted xnd used in the
arts. Sunf10wer cake seed should be q
very valuable article of cattle feed.
Turning to the cereals, oats have q little
more, and buckwheat . little les, than
10 per cent. of albuminous matter, tie
former having nearly twice Is much
oil as the latter. Wheat has 8 per cent.
of albumen and about 2 per cent. Of oil.
OF fodder orforage, new hay contains
about per cent. Of albunen, and q
consequently worth more than old
hay, which commonly has but per
cent, the rest being dissipated by the
slow progress of decay which always
first attacks the highly organized MI
trogenized bodies. Bean straw has 81
per cent, and is consequeutly worth
saving. Red clover has 2 Clio per
cent, and white wheat straw not more
than II per cent. From these figures
we may readily estimate the relative
commercial value of the different kinds
of feed. Practically, however, there
are other elements to be considered In
setting forth the real worth ofany kind
of feed, chief among which Is the pres
ence of phosphates required In building
up the bone system Of the animal.
This is computed from the analysis of
the ashes. For example, the ash of
wheat kernels contains 46-100 of per
cent. of phosphoric acid, while the ash
of the straw has bat u per cent The
pof q ses Saw s1 e ern ceo anS
that of the chaff only I per cent. .Tfc
ash OF Indian corn (which grain, by the
way, has also much oil, aIbs,men, and
starch) shows still larger proportion
of phOsphOric acid-nearly "a per cent,
while that of its stalks and leaves both
of these containing sugar and starch),
bass per cent. Rice has more phos-
phOric acid i'm it than any other grain,
its ash yielding 81 per cent. and up
ward. This, with the large quantity
of starch in it, makes rice one of the
best articles OF human food, when used
with any suitable albuminOus sub
stance.
Carrots contain more phosphoric acid
than any other common root crop, the
ash containing III per cent. A certain
degree of bulk is necessary to ensure
most efficient digestion of the food. By
carefully mixing the more concentrated
with the less nutritious, an average
may be obtained that will give the
best results. The proportions required
between the albuminOus food and the
sugar, starch and oil, hare never been
definitely settled, and indeed will vary
very much according circumstances;
the colder the stable and the more ne
elected the cattle, the greater the
quantity of fat forming and respiration
that will be needed. 1t must also be
remembered that the quality of the
manure is directly dependent upon the
! nature of the feed. Some English
farmers have held that with cattle fed
on oil-cake, the increased value of the
manure is from one-third to one-hal
the original cost of the cake.