The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-12-21
FARMERS COLUMN.
NUTRITION IN CHARCOAL.
From the Rural New Yorker.


Charcoal has been well tried as fer
tilizer, and found to be of great value te
the soil. Does it not contain nutrut1ve
aud fattenlng properties, when fed to
eowIs swine and stock generally? [ recol-
lect reading an account, many years ago,
ahnnt the yellow fever breaking out in
the City of New York; many persons
were leaving in great haste for the coun-
frv among them was q family in. which
was bow ten or twelve years ofage, who
had a number of fowls which he kept
in tbe garret of the house and when the
family were some miles from home,
Going into the country, the boy thought
Of his fowls, and remarked TO his father
that thew were fastened up In the garnet,
whore there was neither feed nor water
and he feared they would starvc. The
father told his son that they could not
then 90 back. and on their return he
would purchase other fowls for him. So,
after stavinp six weeks in the country,
the fever having abated, they returned
to the city. The boy, feeling anxious
about his fowls, hurried to the garrett to
learn their condition, and to his great
i0v. found them oil alive. He ran down,
told his father, who also went up stairs
and to his surprise, found them not only
alive and well, but actually fat, having
had nothing to subsist upon but a,
pile of charcoal, left in one corner of the
garret, and a little water in the trough
of grindstone. The coal was scatter
ed ali over the floor, picked and broken
into small pieces by the fowls ; the water
under the grindstone all used up,and the
print of their bills left in the moist sand
in the bottom of the trough. AS this was
all the nutriment they had, did not the
fowls possess the power of changing char
coal into fat? Charcoal is nearly pure
carbon, so is the tat Of an animal.
also recollect buying dozen or more
dressed turkeys each fall and winter, sew.
eral years ago. Some I purchased of .
Quaker, which were always white, clean
and fat, but had very little in their crops,
which upon examination, was found to
be small pieces OF charc q also thought
the poultry bought of him to keep It's
color and sweetness longer than that pur-
chased Of others. Therefore | inquired
of him his method of fattening poultry
and was informed that he fed scqlded In
dian meal. having little fine charcoal
mixed with it, increasing the coal gradu
ally. so that for the last few days it
would be nearly half charcoal, which
made the poultry white, hard and NICE,
and caused it to keep longer without be-
coming tainted.
In view of the above, and other infor-
nation upon the subject,I am Of the opin-
ion that many animals, fowls, &C., pos
sess the power of changing into fat. 1t
would only be changing one state Of car
bon TO that Of another Take, for IN
stance, swine. By mixing fine charcoal
with the mush, swill or feed, SO that ii
would be eaten, would it not
cause them to grow and lay on fat
Tadidly-make the pork hard, white and
sweet-lmpart to it preservatiVe quail
ty, so that it would keep longer without
saltirg, &c.
IwouId like to hear from others on tht
subject, and should it be ascertained that
charcoal does possess nutritive and fat
tening qualities, to an extent that would
make its use for feed profitable knowl
edge. would be very desirable.
do not believe our immense forests
could be suddenly changed into pork
for that would be impractible. But can
it not be done to small extent? | hope
some persons, who can as we'll as not, viii
try the experiment, and report the re
suits for the benefit of the public.
South Bend, Ia. ISAAC EsMAY.