Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-06-05
SheIburne.
sHELnURSE, May, ls71.

Mr. Editor
Argued-"tlat pasiuriug = the least expensive
aud most profitable system, in that the farmers
animals are made % perform the work Of enrich
ing the land while aoeumulating valuable prod
ucts in ileshi milk, or wool"
The above Dc undoubtedly true, but only in a
somewhat limited scnsei may I've applicable to
sheep more especially, assuming they receive
grain in addition to what is obtained from the
pasture; then real benefit may accrue naturally
in THE more even distribution Of solid and liquid
manures; they also assist in eradicating noNious
weeds unqucshonahly improve sterile lands and
ut them for the introduction of other crops, in
accordance with the ancient aphosism, Trhe
trend of sheep is golden"
With reference TO other stock respectfully ask
What enrichment do they confer upon the land
other than that they derive from it? What they
do restore is simply what has been taken from the
land, in a changed from, it is trUe-then it was
grass, now manure-the transformation from one
to the other has been performed but the material
value far as I can see, is not essentially
changed where cattle are yarded the manure
yoided and left there is rarely if ever restored to
the land from which il was acquired. Add TO this
as in the case of young stock, the amount neces
saIily devoted to their subsistence, and retained
! by them and older cattle in the form Of blood,
bone, muscle, and milk. consequently unless, as
! have shown, the food of the animals is supple
mentcd by the addition of grain in some form, |
fail to see that the argument cited above is ten
| able.
1t is, to my mind, a somewhat antique notion,
| nevertheless most thoroughly exploded by chem
| cal analysis, that grass food, or any other food
/ for animals makes better manure after being
passed through an animal than il would by being
composted in Il manure heap-a theory as consis.
1,ch l. 4
by being put through a grist mill. The miller, III
honest-and history fails to furnish of the fra
tcrnity other than honest hence the term "honesi
millcr') only takes onesiXteenth part for his toll
aud is cOntented with an average sample of the
tlirty.twO quarts; but nothing but the best is Sc
l9cted by the animal, by which | mean the very
best constituents which go TO form the best ma
ntre, he voids only the "tail ends" if may be
rs the deacon observed, allowed to use the eXpres
sion; and no animal as yet has ever managed t
keep thrifty Upon Its own excrement In support
of My position l will make an extract from
work that is decidedly more valuable to the farmer
than even the New York Weekly refer to Nor
toms Cyclopedia. The author says:
owe scarcely require any chemistry to teach III
that the quality of dung voided by stock is thu
difference between tile consumed and that portion
of it retained in their bodies rs flesh, fat etc, o.
| WITHDRAWN IN their milk, peTsplfanon, reSplra
tion, or in other words, the dung is the food minu
the flesh, fat milk, and insensible waste through
the lungs and skin. The dung is therefore inerio
to the food in fertilizing point of view just il
proportion to the substance extracted from tn
latter by the animal. A four-yearsold OK extract
from the food given him those substances WhCl
serve to increase the bulk of the soft parts of hi
body and to support the various processes Of life
while younger animal not only does both o
these but also extracts what is required for devel
oping the hard and bony parts; hence the duni
of a mature ahimal Is more valuable titan grow
ing one inst in proportion to tlie amount of mat
ter which the latter permanently retains to bull
up the bOny and muscular structure of his body
fFamers ordinarily do not fully realize that il
the growth of a crop nothing is created. The ton
Of grass, and straw, and stalk which their field
produce are only transformations of material
which existed in other forms either in tie air o
GARTH" SO says the chemist of the L. S. Depart
mCnt of Agriculture, and it is scarcely nee
essary, on even profitable, to run counter to mel
having from their superior advantages 'authorit
to speak"
l fear having intrudsd too much upon you
space and good nature. Farming is not strict,
my forte, but having abundance Of what SOM
designate the equivalent Of money, venture t.
air my notions with Il view to elicit discussion
from others more competent to form opinions THAI
lay claim to possess JOHN COLLIN.