The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1878-07-06
Water Taking the Place OF Fat IN
Cattle.

It is an important agricultural TACT
that when fat is consumed !" an am
NAL by reason of deficient or defec'
tiv, food, water to Il considerable ex-
tent fills the cells vacated by parf'-
clos of fat The weight Of an OK or
hog when butchcred does not indicate
the character or quality OF the meat
Some nork, bacon and beef shrlnks
much more in the pot when cooking
than other meats apparently OF tho
same quality. Heat drives ont a large
share Of the water in cells, and many
suppose that the shrinkage is due to
a mistake of killing hogs or cattle IN
the wrong time Of the moon. The
moou has nothing to do with the
phonomena. A dressed fat OK ana
lean OK gave Wolff the following re-
suits on analyses:
FatOx. Lean Ok.
rnt 3O5 81
.S":,;ro;ds 156 1872
Aat, 'or+h ofhonos al SO
u,atau 49, 66.2
The above figures show the curious
fact that the four quarters of lean
OK contains seventeen per cent more
water than the fonr quarters of tat
OK. The sixty per cent. OF water IN
poorly fed beef is not visible, and by
most people is not appreciated. A
beefsteak composed entirely Of lean
meat contains seventy-tive per cent.
of water. Al animal may gain in
weight and appear to be fat while its
flesh is watery aud of poor quality.
Breeding and feeding with view to
produce the best meat have grown
into an interesting science.
Mr.. Linus W. Miller, of Stockton,
N. Y, who has a dairy of forty cows,
has experimental six winters in feed
| ing half of them (.nore OF |rss) on
corn-meal ground tine without any
nav. straw, fiddler or other forage.
Tie daily ration is three quarts of
| yellow coru.meal for each dry COW,
whose weight averages nine hundred
pounds. Three quarts of meal weigh
| four and one-hfth pounds, or not over
two per cent. IF the weight of the
animal. Mr.. Miller finds this ration
of meal equal to twenty pounds OF
good timothy hay; so that meal at
sixty cents q bushel is equal to hay
at five dollars n ton. These results
seem to show that We Over-estimate
has and under estimate corn as cat
tle-feed.
Commenting on Mr.. Miller's prac-
tice. Prof. johnson, Of the Connecti-
cut experiment station, remarks:
These well-authenticated facts make
it evident that both the external ap
pearance Of an animal and its live
weight arc entirely unsafe criteria
from which to Judge of it's real condi-
ton or of the effect of its rations. 1t
is only by actual analysis OF the
slaughtered animal or by measuring
the amount of carbon exhaled from
its Lungs and skin 10 respiration ap-
paratus, that we can ascertain how
we'll it has been nourished in any case
where the ration has been unusual in
kind or quantity. lfMr. Miller should
claim that under his system the d.
minished quantity of food is sufficient,
because the animal is relieved from
the labor needful to extract tonr
pounds of real Dutriment from sixteen
pounds of indigestible or needless
material, tie facts would appear to
Justify that claim to some extent at
least; but the whole subject requires
to be worked up care fully, as it only
can be with the methods and appii'
ances of a fully equipped experiment
station,