PART V. (continued 2)
Reading edition
DR. ANDERSON'S ANALYSIS OF THE GREYSTONE TURNIP.
No. 1. Grown on Clay. No. 2. Grown on Sand.
Water 93·84 94·12
Oil 0·26 0·34
Soluble albuminous matters 0·35 0·56
Insoluble ditto 0·20 0·18
Soluble respiratory matters 2·99 2·32
Insoluble ditto (chiefly fibre) 1·73 1·85
Ash 0·63 0·63
——————
100·00 100·00
It was at one time the fashion—not yet become quite obsolete—to regard the proportion of nitrogen in the turnip as the measure of the nutritive value of the bulb; but the fallacy of this opinion has been shown by several late investigators, and more particularly by the results of one of the numerous series of feeding experiments conducted by Mr. Lawes. Many bulbs exceedingly rich in nitrogen are very deficient in nutritive power—partly from a deficiency in the other elements of nutrition—partly because most of their nitrogen is in so low a degree of elaboration as to be incapable of assimilation by animals. The value of a food-substance does not merely depend upon the amount and the relative proportion of its constituents, but also, and to a very great extent, upon their easy assimilability. There is but little doubt that the nutritive matters contained in the Swedish turnip when the bulb is fresh are very crude. By storing, certain chemical changes take place in the bulb, which render it more nutritious and palatable. A large proportion of the non-nitrogenous matters exist in the fresh root as pectin; but this substance, if the bulb be preserved for a couple of months, becomes in great part converted into sugar, which is one of the most palatable and fattening ingredients of cattle-food. By storing, too, the bulbs lose a portion of their excessive amount of water, and become less bulky, which is unquestionably a desideratum. These facts suggest the necessity for cultivating the earlier varieties of the turnip, for it may be fairly doubted if a late-grown crop, left for consumption in the field, ever, even under the most favorable circumstances, attains its perfect development. At the same time it must not be forgotten that turnips fully matured in the field rather deteriorate than otherwise after a few weeks' storage.
Many agriculturists consider that there is a strict relation between the specific gravity, or comparative weight of the bulb, and its nutritive value; others believe that a very large turnip must necessarily be inferior in feeding qualities to a small one; whilst not a few maintain that neither its size nor its specific gravity is an indication of its feeding qualities. Dr. Anderson, who has specially investigated a portion of this subject, states that "the specific gravity of the whole turnip cannot be accepted as indicating its real nutritive value, the proportion of air in the cells being the determining element in such results; that there is no constant relation between the specific gravity of, and the nitrogen compounds in, the bulb; and that such relation does exist between the specific gravity of the expressed juice and the nitrogen compounds and solid constituents." Dr. Anderson allows, however, that the best varieties of the turnip have the highest specific gravity; which admission—coupled with the fact admitted by all experimenters that the heavy roots store best—lead me to adopt the opinions of those who consider great specific gravity as one of the favorable indications of its nutritive value. With respect to size, I prefer bulbs of moderate dimensions; the monsters that win the prizes at our agricultural shows—and which, in general, are forced—are inferior in feeding qualities, are always spongy, and almost invariably rot when stored.
The composition of the turnip is influenced not only by the nature of the soil on which it is grown, but also by that of the manure applied to it. The most reliable authorities are agreed that turnips raised on Peruvian guano are watery, and do not keep well; but that with a mixture of Peruvian guano and superphosphate of lime, with phospho-guano, or with farmyard manure supplemented with a moderate amount of guano, the most nutritious and firm bulbs are produced.
Turnip-tops have been analysed by Voelcker, with the following results:—
ONE HUNDRED PARTS CONTAIN—
White. Swedish.
Water 91·284 88·367
Nitrogen compounds 2·456 2·087
Non-nitrogenous matters (gum, sugar, &c.) 0·648 1·612
Ditto, as woody fibre 4·092 5·638
Mineral matter 1·520 2·296
——————
100·000 100·000
These figures apparently show that the tops of turnips are more valuable than their bulbs; but, in the absence of any feeding experiments made to determine the point, we believe they are less so, as a very large proportion of the solid matter in the tops of turnips is in too low a degree of elaboration to be assimilable. Their high proportions of nitrogen and mineral matter constitute them, however, a very useful manure—nearly twice as valuable as the bulbs; this fact should be borne in mind when turnips are sold off the land.
The Mangel-wurtzel is one of the most valuable of our green crops. Its root is more nutritious than the turnip, occupying a position in the scale of food equivalents midway between that bulb and the parsnip. Mangels, when fresh, possess a somewhat acrid taste, and act as a laxative when given to stock; but after a few months' storing they become sweet and palatable, and their scouring property completely disappears.
Although the mangel is one of the most nutritious articles of food which can be given to cattle, yet it is stated on the best authority that sheep do not thrive upon it. Voelcker, who has investigated this subject, informs us that a lot of sheep which he fed on a limited quantity of hay and an unlimited quantity of mangels, did not, during a period of four months, increase in weight, whilst another lot of sheep supplied with a small quantity of hay, and Swedish turnips ad libitum increased on an average 2½ lbs. weekly. I believe the experience of the greater number of feeders agrees with the results of Dr. Voelcker's experiment.
The chemistry of the mangel-wurtzel has been thoroughly studied by Way and Ogston, Fromberg, Wolff, Anderson, and Voelcker. According to the last-named chemist, its average composition is as follows:—
Water 87·78
Flesh-forming matters 1·54
Sugar 6·10
Gum, pectin, &c. 2·50
Woody fibre 1·12
Mineral matter (ash) 0·96
———
100·00
It is difficult to accurately determine by a comparative trial the relative feeding properties of mangels and turnips, for the former are only in a fit state to be given to the animals when the latter are deteriorating. However, by comparing the composition of the two substances, and the results obtained from numerous feeding experiments, it would appear, that on the average 75 lbs. weight of mangels are equal to 100 lbs. weight of turnips. Of the different varieties of the mangel the long yellow appears to be the most nutritious, and the long red the least so.
The leaves of the mangel—some of which are occasionally pulled and used for feeding purposes, during the growth of the bulb—are an excellent feeding substance: their composition indicates a nutritive value but little inferior to that of the root; but as their constituents cannot be in a highly elaborated condition, it is probable they are not more than equal to half their weight of the bulbs.
One questio vexata of the many which at present occupy the attention of the agricultural world is, whether or not the leaves of mangels may be removed with advantage during the latter part of the development of the plants. This practice prevailed rather extensively a few years since, but latterly it has fallen somewhat into disuse.
Those who adopt this plan urge, as its advantages, that a large quantity of food is obtained at a time when it is urgently needed, and that instead of the removal of the leaves exercising an injurious influence on the development of the roots, the latter are actually increased in size.
In 1859 an experimental investigation was carried out at the Glasnevin Model Farm, with the view of throwing new light on the question. The outside leaves were very gradually removed on different occasions—from the 12th August to the 15th October. In this way five tons of leaves per statute acre were removed, and subsequently made use of for feeding purposes. The experiment was conducted on a field of four acres, of which the produce of 12 drills, each 200 yards in length, was left untouched. The result was that the produce of the roots of the untouched plants was only 40 tons 8 cwt. 6 qrs. per acre, whilst the roots of the plants which had been partly denuded of their leaves weighed at the rate of 45 tons 1 cwt. This experiment afforded results which are apparently favorable to the practice of stripping the leaves; but it is to be regretted that it was not rendered more complete by an analysis of the roots, as a great bulk of roots does not necessarily imply a great weight of dry food, and it is just possible, though not very probable, that the roots of the stripped mangels contained a larger proportion of water than those of the untouched plants.
The results of the experiments of Buckman, and of Professor Wolff, of the Royal Agricultural College at Hohenheim, are at direct variance with those obtained at Glasnevin. Both of these experimenters found that the removal of the leaves occasioned a diminution in the produce of the roots to the amount of 20 per cent. Nor was this the only loss, for it was found by the German professor that the roots of the untouched plants possessed a far higher nutritive value than those of the stripped mangels.
When doctors differ, who is to decide? Here we have high authorities in the agricultural world at direct variance on a matter of fact. The names of Buckman and Wolff are a sufficient guarantee that the experimental results which they announce are trustworthy, and I can testify, from observation, that no field experiments could be more carefully conducted than those carried out at the Albert Model Farm. We can only, then, under the circumstances, admit that both Mr. Boyle, on the one side, and Professors Buckman and Wolff on the other, are correct in their statements of fact; but as it is evident both cannot be right in the general inferences therefrom, it is desirable that the subject should be still further investigated, and the truth be placed beyond doubt. It is a question which appears so simple that one is at a loss to account for the discrepant opinions in relation to it which prevail. "Let nothing induce the growers," says Mr. Paget, in a paper on the cultivation of the mangel, "to strip the leaves from the plant before taking up the root. A series of careful experiments has convinced me that by so doing we borrow food at a most usurious interest." "Although," says Mr. Boyle, "the practice of stripping has been followed for many years on the farm without any perceptible injury to the crop, these results, showing so considerable an addition to the crop from taking off the leaves, were hardly anticipated." It certainly does appear somewhat at variance with our notion of the functions of the leaves of plants, that their partial removal could possibly cause an increase in the weight of the roots; but granting such to be the fact, it is not altogether theoretically inexplicable. We know that highly nitrogenous manure has a tendency to increase the development of the leaves of turnips at the expense of the roots. Gardeners, too, not unfrequently remove some of the buds from their fruit trees, lest the excessive development of foliage should retard or check the growth of the fruit. Theoretically an excessive development of the leaves of the mangel may be inimical to the growth of the root. Probably, too, it may be urged, the outer leaves, which soon become partially disorganised and incapable of elaborating mineral matter into vegetable products, prevent the access of light to the more vigorous inner leaves. In conclusion, I may say of this subject that it is worthy of further elucidation; and I would suggest to my readers, and more especially to the managers of the various model farms, the desirability of fully testing the matter.
The White Beet is a congener of the mangel. It is largely grown on the continent as a sugar-producing plant, but is seldom cultivated in these countries. It produces about 15 tons of roots per acre, and its roots on the average contain—
Water 83·0
Sugar 10·0
Flesh-formers 2·5
Fat-formers 1·5
Fibre 2·0
Ash 1·0
———
100·0
This plant is deserving of more extensive growth in Great Britain.
The Parsnip is, after the potato, the most valuable of roots. It differs from the turnip and the mangel in containing a high proportion of starch, and but little sugar; and its flesh-forming constituents are largely made up of casein, instead of, as in the case of the turnip, albumen.
The average composition of the parsnip is as follows:—
Water 82·00
Flesh-forming principles 1·30
Fat-formers (starch, sugar, &c.) 7·75
Woody fibre 8·00
Mineral matter (ash) 0·95
———
100·00
The parsnip is extensively grown in many foreign countries, on account of its valuable feeding properties. As a field-crop it is but little cultivated in Great Britain, and its use is—if we except the table—almost restricted to pigs. Its food equivalent is about double that of the turnip; that is, one pound of parsnips is equal to two pounds of turnips.
The Carrot bears a close resemblance to the parsnip, from which, however, it differs, containing no starch, and being somewhat inferior in nutritive value. According to Voelcker, its average composition is as follows:—
Water 88·50
Flesh-formers 0·60
Fat-formers (including woody fibre) 10·18
Mineral matter (ash) 0·72
———
100·00
As carrots contain a high proportion of fat-forming matters, and a low per-centage of flesh-forming substances, they are better adapted for fattening purposes. Dairy stock greedily eat them; and they are given with great advantage to horses out of condition.
Kohl-Rabi.—This plant, though early introduced into the agriculture of these countries, has made but little progress in the estimation of the farmer. It belongs to the order and genus which include the turnip, but differs widely from that plant in its mode of growth. Its bulb—which is formed by an enormous development of the overground stem—is, according to some authorities, less liable than the turnip to injury from frost. It is subject to no diseases, save anbury and clubbing; and, owing to its position above the soil, it can be readily eaten off by sheep. The bulbs store better than Swedes, and, according to some farmers, keep even better than mangels. With respect to the flavor of this bulb, there is some difference of opinion. Professor Wilson, of Edinburgh, quotes several eminent feeders to prove that "whether in the fold for sheep, in the yard for cattle, or in the stables for horses, it will generally be preferred to the other descriptions of homegrown keep." Mr. Baldwin, on the contrary, states that although good food for sheep, it is too hard-fleshed for old ewes, and that carrots are better food for horses, and Swedish turnips for cattle.
An accurately conducted comparative trial to test the nutritive value of the Kohl-rabi, was conducted at the Glasnevin Model Farm, under the direction of Mr. Baldwin. The experiment was commenced in January, 1863. Four oxen were selected, and divided into two lots. Nos. 1 and 2 (Lot 1) were fed on Kohl-rabi, oil-cake, and hay, and Nos. 3 and 4 (Lot 2) on Swedish turnips, oil-cake, and hay. As the animals supplied with the Kohl-rabi did not appear to relish it, and as it was desirable to gradually accustom them to the change of food, the experiment did not really commence till the 12th January. On that date the weights of the animals were as follows:—
cwt. st. cwt. st.
Lot 1. { No. 1. 10 1 Lot 2. { No. 3. 7 5
No. 2. 7 4 No. 4. 10 2
——— ———
17 5 17 7
The lots, therefore, counterpoised each other pretty fairly. From the 12th to the 28th January they received the following quantities of food per diem:—
1. 2. 3. 4.
Roots stones 7½ 6 6 7½
Oil cake pounds 4½ 3 3 4½
Hay pounds 10½ 10½ 10½ 10½
The animals fed upon the Kohl-rabi evinced from the first a disinclination to it, but they nevertheless ate it before their meal of oil-cake was supplied to them. On the morning of the 28th January they were put upon the dietary shown in the table, and which induced them to eat the Kohl-rabi more quickly.
1. 2. 3. 4.
At 6.30 a.m. { Roots, Stones 3 2½ 2½ 3½2
Cake, lbs. 1½ 1 1 1
At 12.30 a.m. { Roots, Stones 3 2½ 2½ 3½
Cake, lbs. 1½ 1 1 1
At 6.30 p.m. { Roots, Stones 3 2½ 2½ 3½
Cake, lbs. 1½ 1 1 1
At 9.30 p.m. Hay, lbs. 7 7 7 7
On the 11th February the cattle were again weighed, when their increase was found to be as follows:—
Weight on Jan. 12. Weight on Feb. 11. Increase in 30 days.
cwt.st. cwt. st. st.
1} Lot 1, fed on Kohl-rabi, &c. } 10 1 10 4 3
2 7 4 7 6 2
———
Total 5
———
3} Lot 2, fed on Swedes, &c. } 7 5 8 3 6
4 10 2 10 7¼ 5½
———
Total 11½
The results of this experiment show that the animals fed upon Swedish turnips, hay, and oil-cake, increased in weight at a rate more than 100 per cent. greater than the lot supplied with equal quantities of Kohl-rabi, hay, and oil-cake. The superiority of the Swedish turnips was rendered more evident by the results of subsequent experiments. Nos. 1 and 4 were not tried after the 11th February; but Nos. 2 and 3 were kept under experiment. No. 2 was put on Swedes, and No. 3 on mangel-wurtzel, and after an interval of a fortnight No. 2 had increased much more than they had done on Kohl-rabi.
Specimens of the Kohl-rabi and Swedish turnips employed in this experiment were submitted to me for analysis by Mr. Baldwin, and yielded the following results:—
Kohl-rabi. Swedish Turnip.
Water 87·62 88·84
Nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles 2·24 1·66
Non-nitrogenous, or fat-forming principles 7·78 6·07
Woody fibre 1·34 2·73
Mineral matter (ash) 1·22 0·70
——— ———
100·00 100·00
These results show a slight superiority of the Kohl-rabi over the Swedish turnip; the great difference in their nutritive power, as shown by Mr. Baldwin's experimental results, must therefore be due to the superior flavor and digestibility of the turnip.
Dr. Anderson's analysis of Kohl-rabi afforded results more favorable to the highly nutritive character assigned by some feeders to that bulb than those arrived at by me. The bulbs, it should however be remarked, were grown, no doubt with great care, by Messrs. Lawson and Son, the well-known seedsmen:—
ANALYSIS OF KOHL-RABI, BY DR. ANDERSON.
Bulbs. Tops.
Water 86·74 86·68
Flesh-forming principles 2·75 2·37
Fat-forming principles 8·62 8·29
Woody fibre 0·77 1·21
Mineral matter 1·12 1·45
——— ———
100·00 100·00
The Radish is a plant which deserves a place amongst our field crops, though hitherto its cultivation has been restricted to the garden. At one time its leaves were boiled and eaten, but in these latter days they are subjected to neither of these processes. The root, however, in its raw state, is, as every one is aware, considered one of the dainties of the table.
Many of those who devote themselves to the important study of dietetics, consider the use of raw vegetables to be objectionable; but be their objections groundless, or the reverse, it is certain that a vegetable which, like the radish, may be eaten raw with apparently good results, cannot be otherwise than a good article of food when cooked. I once tried the experiment of eating matured radishes, not as a salad, but cooked like any other boiled vegetable, and I must say that I found their flavor rather agreeable than otherwise. Boiled radishes—roots and tops—form excellent feeding for pigs. How could it be otherwise? for what is good for the family of man must surely be a luxury to the swine tribe. I have known horses to eat radishes greedily, and I am certain that they would prove acceptable to all the animals of the farm. But it may be asked, why it is that I recommend the use of radishes as food for stock, when there are already so many more nutritious roots at our disposal—turnips, mangels, and potatoes. Simply for this reason:—Between the departure of the roots and the advent of the grasses, there is a kind of interregnum.32 Now we want a good tuberous, bulbous, or tap-rooted plant to fill up this interregnum. Such a plant we have in the radish. The root is certainly a small one, but then it grows so rapidly that a good supply can be had within thirty days from the sowing of the seed, and a crop can be matured before the time for sowing turnips. Two crops may be easily obtained from land under potatoes—one before the tops cover the ground, the other after the tubers have been dug out. The yield of radishes, judging from the produce in the garden, would be at least six tons of roots and three tons of tops. I would suggest, then, that the radish should at once get a fair chance as a stolen crop. If it succeed as such, it will not be the first gift of the gardener to the husbandman. Was not the mangel-wurtzel once known only as the produce of the garden?
The composition of the radish indicates a nutritive value less than that of the white turnip. I have analysed both the root and the tops, and obtained the following results:—
ANALYSIS OF THE RADISH.
Root. Tops.
Water 95·09 94·30
Flesh-forming principles 0·52 0·75
Fat-formers (starch, gum, fat, &c.) 1·06 1·16
Woody fibre 2·22 2·36
Mineral matter (ash) 1·11 1·43
——— ———
100·00 100·00
The Jerusalem Artichoke has long been cultivated as a field-crop on the Continent, and in certain localities the breadth occupied by it is very considerable. The French term the tuberous root of this plant poitre de terre, or topin ambour; and although they expose it for sale in the markets, it is not much relished by our lively neighbours, who are so remarkable for their cuisiniere. As food for cattle, however, the French agricultural writers state it to be excellent. It is much relished by horses, dairy cows, and pigs; store horned-stock also eat it when seasoned with a little salt, and appear to enjoy it amazingly when permitted to pull up the roots from the soil. The green tops are also given to sheep and cattle, and, it is stated, are readily eaten by those animals.
The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus Tuberoses) differs from its half namesake, the common artichoke, and resembles the potato in being valuable chiefly for its tubers. It is perennial, and attains on the Continent a height varying from 7 to 10 feet. In this country its dimensions are less. The stem is erect, thick, coarse, and covered with hairs. It is a native of Mexico, and although introduced 200 years ago into Europe, it can hardly be said to be acclimatised, since it very seldom flowers, and never develops seed. The plant is therefore propagated by cuttings from its tubers, each containing one or two eyes; or if the tubers be very small, which is often the case, a whole one is planted. The tubers possess great vitality, and remain in the ground during the most severe frosts, without sustaining the slightest injury. For this reason it is usual to devote a corner of the garden to the cultivation of the Jerusalem artichoke; for, no matter how completely the crop may appear to have been removed from the soil, portions of the tubers will remain and shoot up into plants during the following season. This peculiarity of the plant it is likely may prove an obstacle to its having a place assigned to it in the rotation system.
The question now presents itself—What are the peculiar advantages which the crop possesses which should commend it to the notice of the British farmer? I shall try to answer the question.
1st. No green crop (except furze) can be grown in so great a variety of soils; except marshy or wet lands, there is no soil in which it refuses to grow.
2nd. It does not suffer from disease, is very little affected by the ravages of insects, is completely beyond the influence of cold, and may remain either above or below ground for a long time without undergoing any injurious changes in composition.
3rd. It gives a good return, when we consider that it requires very little manure, and but little labor in its management.
At Bechelbronn, the farm of the celebrated Boussingault, the average yield is nearly eleven tons per acre, but occasionally over fourteen tons is obtained. Donoil, a farmer of Bailiere, in the department of Haut-loire, states that he fed sheep exclusively on the tops and tubers of this plant, and that he estimated his profits at £23 per hectare (£9 3s. 4d. per acre). The soil was very inferior. Donoil terms it third-rate, and it does not appear to have been manured even once during the fifteen years it was under Jerusalem artichoke. I fear our artificial manure manufacturers will hardly look with a favorable eye on the advent of a crop into our agriculture which can get on so well without the intervention of any fertilising agents. Indeed, several of the French writers state that little or no manure is necessary for this plant. But this can hardly be the case; for it is evident that a crop which, according to Way and Ogston, removes 35 lbs. of mineral matter per ton from the soil, or three times as much potash as turnips do, must certainly be greatly benefited by the application of manure. And I have no doubt but that the Jerusalem artichoke, if well manured and grown in moderately fertile soil, would produce a much heavier crop than our Continental neighbors appear to get from it.
4th. The Jerusalem artichoke may be cultivated with advantage in places where ordinary root-crops either fail or thrive badly. In such cases the ground should be permanently devoted to this crop. Kade gives an instance where a piece of indifferent ground had for thirty-three years produced heavy crops of this plant, although during that time neither manure nor labor had been applied to it. In Ireland the potato has been grown under similar circumstances.
The nutritive constituents of tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke bear a close resemblance in every respect, save one, to those of the potato. Both contain about 75 per cent. of water, about 2 per cent. of flesh-forming substances, and 20 per cent. of non-nitrogenous, or fat-forming and heat-giving elements. In one respect there is a great difference—namely, that sugar makes up from 8 to 12 per cent. of the Jerusalem artichoke, whilst there is but a small proportion of that substance in the potato.
The large quantity of sugar contained in this root is no doubt the cause of its remarkable keeping properties in winter, and it also readily accounts for the avidity with which most of the domesticated animals eat it.
On the whole, then, I think that the facts I have brought forward relative to the advantages which the Jerusalem artichoke presents as a farm crop, justify the recommendation that it should get a fair trial from the British farmer, who is now so much interested in the production of suitable forage for stock.
COMPOSITION OF (DRY) JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE
Albuminous matters 4·6
Fatty matters 0·4
Starch, gum, &c. 19·8
Sugar 69·5
Fibre and ash 5·7
———
100·0
The Potato, regarded from every point of view, is by far the most important of the plants which are cultivated for the sake of their roots. Its tubers form the chief—almost sole—pabulum of many millions of men, enter more or less into the dietary of most civilised peoples, and constitute a large proportion of the food of the domesticated animals. The great importance of this plant, arising from its enormous consumption, has caused its composition to be very minutely studied by many British, Continental, and American chemists. With respect to its nutritive properties, the least favorable results were obtained by the American chemists, Hardy and Henry, and the most by the European chemists.
The flesh-forming principles vary from 1 per cent., as found by Hardy, to 2·41 per cent., the mean results of the analyses of Krocker and Horsford. The proportion of starch in different varieties of the potato also varies, but not to the same degree as the nitrogenous principles. In new potatoes, only 5 per cent. has been found; in ash-leaved kidneys, 9·50 per cent.; and in different kinds of cups, from 15 to 24 per cent. The amount of starch is also influenced by the soil, the manure, the climate, and the various other conditions under which the plant is developed. The proportion of starch increases during the growth, and diminishes during the storage of the tubers.
Dr. Anderson is the most recent investigator into the composition of the potato; the chief results of his inquiries are given in the following table:—
ANALYSIS OF THE POTATO BY DR. ANDERSON.
Regents.Dalmahoys.Skerry-blues.White Rocks. Orkney Reds.Flukes.
Water 76·32 75·91 76·60 75·93 78·57 74·41
Starch 12·21 12·58 11·79 12·77 10·85 12·55
Sugar, &c. 2·75 2·93 3·09 2·17 2·78 2·89
Flesh-formers
soluble 2·16 2·10 1·90 1·88 1·48 1·98
insoluble 0·21 0·15 0·16 0·24 0·21 0·20
Fibre 5·53 5·21 5·41 5·55 5·93 6·71
Ash 0·88 0·81 0·94 1·04 0·98 0·98
100·06 99·69 99·89 99·58 100·80 99·72
The potato is relatively deficient in flesh-forming matters, and contains the respiratory elements in exceedingly high proportions; hence it is well adapted for fattening purposes, and in this respect is equal to double its weight of the best kind of turnips. When used as food for man, it should be supplemented by some more fatty or nitrogenous substance—such, for example, as flesh, oatmeal, or peas. Buttermilk, a fluid which is rich in nitrogen, is an excellent supplement to potatoes, and compensates to a great extent for the deficiency of those tubers in muscle-forming matters. If, then, the potato is destined to retain its place as the "national esculent" of the Irish, I trust their national beverage may be—so far at least as the masses of the people are concerned—buttermilk, and not whiskey.
Potatoes so far diseased as to be unsuited for use as food for man, may be given with advantage to stock. They may be used either in a raw or uncooked state, but the latter is the preferable form. Sheep do not like them at first, but on being deprived of turnips they acquire a taste for them; on a daily allowance, composed of 1 lb. of oil-cake or corn, and an unlimited quantity of potatoes, they fatten rapidly. Cattle thrive well on a diet composed of equal parts of turnips and diseased potatoes, and do not require oil-cake. The evening feed of horses may advantageously be composed of potatoes and turnips. If raw, the potatoes should be given in a very limited quantity—four or five pounds; in the cooked state, however, they may be given in abundance, but the animals should not, after their meal, be permitted to drink water for some hours. As a feeding substance, diseased potatoes, unless they be very much injured, are equal to twice their weight of white turnips; it is certain that they do not injure the health or impair the condition of the animals which feed upon them.
SECTION VI.
SEEDS.
In seeds the elements of nutrition exist not only in the most highly elaborated, but also in the most concentrated state; hence their nutritive value is greater than that of any other class of food substances.
Wheat Grain is the most valuable of seeds, as it contains, in admirably adjusted proportions, the bone, the fat, and the muscle-forming principles. In the form of bread, it has been, not inaptly, termed the "staff of life," for no other grain is so well adapted, per se, for the sustenance of man; and many millions of human beings subsist almost exclusively on it. The lower animals are in general fed upon the grain of oats, of barley, and of the leguminous plants, and the use of wheat is almost completely restricted to the human family.
Wheat grain, by the processes of grinding and sifting, is resolvable into two distinct parts—bran and flour. In twenty-four analyses made by Boussingault, the proportion of the bran was from 13·2 to 38·5 per cent. and that of the flour from 61·5 to 86·8 per cent. The floury part is of very complex structure; it includes starch, gluten, albumen, oil, gum, gummo-gelatinous matter, sugar,33 and various saline matters. The gluten and albumen constitute the nitrogenous, or flesh-forming principles of flour, and make up from 16 to 20 per cent. of that substance; the non-nitrogenous, or fat-forming elements, such as starch and gum, form from 74 to 82 per cent. According to Payen, the proportion of gluten diminishes towards the centre of the seed, from which it follows that the part of the grain nearest the husk is the most nutritious—so far at least as muscle-making is concerned. The desire on the part of the public for very white bread has led to the fine dressing of Wheat-grain, and consequently to the separation from that substance of a very large proportion of one of its most nutritious constituents. Crude gluten may be obtained by kneading the dough of flour in a muslin bag under a small current of water; the starch, or fecula, and the gum, are carried away by the water, and the gluten in an impure form remains as an elastic viscous substance, which on drying becomes hard and brittle. It is to the gluten of flour that its property of panification, or bread-making, is due. On the addition of a ferment, a portion of the starch is converted into sugar and carbonic acid gas, and the latter causes the gluten to expand into the little cells, or vesicles, which confer upon baked bread its light, spongy texture.
ANALYSES OF WHEAT.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Whole Grain. Flour. Bran. Husk.
Water 15·00 14·0 13 13·9
Flesh-formers 12·00 11·0 14 14·9
Fat-formers 68·50 73·5 55 55·8
Woody fibre 2·75 0·7 12 9·7
Mineral matter 1·75 0·8 6 5·7
——— ——— ——— ———
100·00 100·0 100 100·0
Nos. 1, 2, and 3.—The mean results of a great number of analyses.
No. 4.—By Millon.
Over-ripening of Grain.—The final act of vegetation is the production of seed, after the performance of which function many plants, having accomplished their destined purpose, perish. The grasses (which include the cereals) are annuals, or plants which have but a year's existence, consequently their development ceases so soon as they have produced their seed. When wheat, oats, and the other cereals, attain to this final point in their growth, the circulation of their sap ceases, their color changes from green to yellow, and they undergo certain changes which destroy their power of assimilating mineral matter, and consequently render them no longer capable of increasing their weight.
The proper time for cutting wheat and the other cereals is immediately after their grain has been fully matured. When the green color of the straw just below the ears changes to yellow, the grain, be it ripe or unripe at the time, cannot afterwards be more fully developed. This is rendered impossible in consequence of the disorganisation of the upper part of the stem—indicated by, but not the result of, its altered hue—which cuts off the supply of sap to the ears, and the latter do not possess the power of absorbing nutriment from the air.
When the vital processes which are incessantly going on in the growing plants are brought to a close, the purely chemical forces come into operation. If the seed be perfectly matured and allowed to remain ungathered, it is attacked in wet weather by the oxygen of the air, a portion of its carbon is burned off, some of its starch is converted into sugar, and in extreme cases it germinates and becomes malty. But not only is the seed liable to injury from the elements; it is also exposed to the ravages of the feathered tribe, and no matter how well a field of corn may be watched, or how great the number of scarecrows erected in it, there is always a certain diurnal loss, occasioned by the ravages of birds.
It is not only necessary that ripe corn should be cut as soon as possible, but it is sometimes desirable to reap it before it becomes fully matured. When the grain is intended for consumption as food, the less bran it contains the better. Now the bran, as is well known, forms the integument, or covering of the vital constituents of the seed; and it is the last part of the organ to be perfected. The growth of the seed for several days before its perfect development, is confined to the testa or covering. Now as this is the least valuable part of the article, its increase is matter of but little moment; and when it is excessive it renders the grain less valuable in the eyes of the miller. That the cutting of the grain before it is perfectly ripe is attended with a good result, is clearly proved by the results of an experiment recorded in Johnston's "Agricultural Chemistry." A crop of wheat was selected; one-third was cut twenty days before it was ripe; another third ten days afterwards; and the remaining portion when its grain had been fully matured. The relative produce in grain of the three portions taken, as stated above, was as 1, 1·325, and 1·260. The following table exhibits the relative proportions of their constituents:—
In 100 parts of the grain cut at
20 days. 10 days. Dead ripe.
Flour 74·7 79·1 72·2
Sharps 7·2 5·5 11·0
Bran 17·5 13·2 16·0
——— ——— ———
99·4 97·8 99·2
The flour contained gluten 9·3 9·9 9·6
The results of this experiment, and of the general experience of intelligent growers, show that grain cut a week or ten days before it is perfectly ripe contains more flour, and of a better quality, too, than is found in either ripe or very unripe seed. But this is not the only advantage, for the straw of the green, or rather of the greenish-yellow corn, is fully twice as valuable for feeding purposes as that of the over-ripe cereals. There is an extraordinary decrease in the amount of the albuminous constituents of the stems of the cereals during the last two or three weeks of their maturation, and as there is not a corresponding increase of those materials in the seed, they must be evolved in some form or other from the plants.
There can be only one object attained by allowing the seed to fully ripen itself, and that is the insurance of its more perfect adaptability to the purpose of reproduction. When the testa is thick it best protects the germ of the future plant enclosed in it from the ordinary atmospheric influences until it is placed under the proper conditions for its germination.
Wheat, a costly food.—It occasionally happens that the wheat harvest is so abundant, that many feeders give large quantities of this grain to their stock. Now, as Indian corn is at least 25 per cent. cheaper than wheat, even when the price of the latter is at its minimum, I believe that it is always more economical to sell the wheat raised on the farm, and to purchase with the proceeds of its sale an equivalent of Indian corn, which is a more fattening kind of food.
Bran is, with perhaps the exception of malt-dust, the most nutritious of the refuse portions of grains. It is usually given to horses, and owing to its high proportion of nitrogen, is, perhaps, better expended in the bodies of those hard-working animals, than in those of pigs and cows—animals that occasionally come in for a share of this valuable feeding-stuff. It should be borne in mind that bran commonly acts as a slight laxative, and that it is less digestible than flour, a large portion of it usually passing through the animal's body unchanged. This drawback to the use of bran may be obviated by either cooking or fermenting the article, or by combining it with beans or some other kind of binding food.
AVERAGE ANALYSES OF GRAIN.
Barley.Bere.Oats.Oatmeal.Indian Corn.Rice.Rye (Irish).Buckwheat.
Water 16·0 14·25 14·0 13·00 14·5 14·0 16·0 14·19
Flesh-formers 10·5 10·10 11·5 16·00 10·0 5·3 9·0 8·58
Fat-formers 67·0 64·60 64·5 68·00 69·0 78·5 66·0 51·91
Woody fibre 3·5 9·03 7·0 1·75 5·0 2·5 8·0 23·12
Mineral matter 3·0 2·02 3·0 1·25 1·5 0·7 1·0 2·20
100·0 100·00100·0 100·00 100·0 100·0 100·0 100·00
Barley is inferior in composition to wheat. As a feeding stuff, the English farmers assign to it a higher, and the Scotch farmers a lower, place than oats, which, perhaps, merely proves that in Scotland the oat thrives better than the barley, and in England the barley better than the oat. Barley-meal is extensively used by the English feeders, and with excellent results. Where barley-dust can be obtained it is a far cheaper feeding stuff than the meal. Barley husks should never be given to animals unless in a cooked or fermented state.
Oat Grain is, perhaps, the most valuable of the concentrated foods which are given to fattening stock. When it is cheap it will be found a more economical feeding stuff than linseed-cake, and, unlike that substance, can be used without the fear of adulteration. Oats are equal to wheat in their amount of flesh-forming matters; but their very high proportion of indigestible woody fibre detracts from their nutritive value. Oat-meal is more nutritious than wheat-meal; and oat-flour, especially if finely dressed, greatly excels wheat-flour in its nutrimental properties, because, unlike the latter, the finer it is the greater is its amount of flesh-formers. Bread made of oat-flour is very heavy, and is far less palatable than the bread of wheat. Oat-meal has been found to contain nearly 20 per cent. of nitrogenous matters. The white oat is more nutritious than the black, and the greatest amount of aliment is found in the grain which has not been allowed to over-ripen in the field. Oat husk is very inferior to the bran of wheat. Toppings are seldom worth the price at which they are sold.
Indian Corn has been highly extolled as a fattening food for stock, and its chemical composition would seem to justify the high opinion which practical men have formed of its relative nutritive value. In the United States, the feeding of horses on Indian corn and hay has been found very successful; but in these countries oats will be found a more economical food. For fattening purposes Indian corn appears exceedingly well adapted, as it contains more ready-formed fat—4·5 per cent.—than is found in most of the other grains, and, on an average, 70 per cent. of starch. Pigs thrive well on this grain. The Galatz round yellow grain is somewhat superior to the American flat yellow seed.
Rye is not extensively cultivated in this country, but on the Continent it is raised in large quantities. In the north of Europe it forms a considerable proportion of the food of both man and the domesticated animals. In Holland it is commonly consumed by horses, but in England there has always been a prejudice against the use of this grain as food for the equine tribe. It has been highly recommended for dairy stock, five pounds of rye-meal, with a sufficiency of cut straw, constituting, it is stated, a dietary on which cows yield a maximum supply of milk. Irish-grown rye contains less starch, and more flesh-formers and oil, than the Black Sea grain.
Rice, although it forms the chief pabulum of nearly one-third of the human family, is the least nutritious of the common food grains. Rice-dust, an article obtained in cleaning rice for European consumption, is said to promote the flow of milk when given to cows. It is sold in large quantities in Liverpool, where, according to Voelcker, it often commands a higher price than it is worth.
Buckwheat is chiefly used as a food for game and poultry.
Malted Corn.—During a late session of Parliament a Bill was passed to exempt from duty malt intended to be used as food for cattle. As feeders may now become their own maltsters, it may be of some use to them to have here a résumé of this Bill:—
1. Any person giving security and taking out a licence may make malt in a malt-house approved by the Excise for the purpose; and all malt so made and mixed with linseed-cake or linseed-meal as directed, shall be free from duty.
2. The security required is a bond to Her Majesty, with sureties to the satisfaction of the Excise, not to take from any such malt-house any malt except duly mixed with material prescribed by the Act.
3. The malt-house must be properly named upon its door.
4. All malt made in it shall be deposited in a store-room, and shall be conveyed to and from the room upon such notice as the officer of Excise shall appoint.
5. The maltster shall provide secure rooms in his malt-house, to be approved in writing by the supervisor, for grinding the malt made by him in such malt-house, and mixing and storing the same when mixed; and all such rooms shall be properly secured and kept locked by the proper officer of Excise.
6. All malt before removal from the malt-house shall be ground and thoroughly mixed with one-tenth part at least of its weight of ground linseed-cake or linseed-meal, and ground to such a degree of fineness and in such manner as the commissioners shall approve, and mixed together in a quantity not less than forty bushels at a time in the presence of an officer of Excise.
7. The maltster shall keep account of the quantity of all malt mixed as aforesaid which he shall from time to time send out or deliver from his malt-house, with the dates and addresses of the person for whom such mixed malt shall be so sent or delivered.
8. If any person shall attempt to separate any malt from any material with which the same shall have been mixed as aforesaid, or shall use this malt for the brewing of beer or distilling of spirits, he shall forfeit the sum of £200.
9 and 10. The penalties of existing Acts are recited.
11. This Act shall continue and be in force for five years.
Some samples of malt and barley examined in May, 1865, by Dr. Voelcker for the Central Anti-Malt Tax Association, afforded the following results:—
Barley marked No. 1 Malt marked
No. 5. No. 7. No. 9.No. 14.No. 16.
Moisture 11·76 8·72 7·43 7·76 8·35 7·06
Sugar 3·75 4·29 5·48 7·85 9·46 9·86
Starch and dextrine 70·40 71·03 69·70 67·57 67·53 67·67
* Albuminous compounds (flesh-forming matters) 7·75 8·44 8·81 9·37 8·60 8·31
Woody fibre (cellular) 4·46 5·22 6·38 5·38 4·14 5·11
Mineral matter (ash) 1·88 2·30 2·20 2·07 1·92 1·99
100·00 100·00 100·00 100·00100·00 100·00
* Containing nitrogen 1·24 1·35 1·41 1·50 1·38 1·33
A great deal has been said and written in favor of malt as a feeding stuff, but I greatly doubt its alleged decided superiority over barley; and until the results of accurately conducted comparative experiments made with those articles incontestably prove that superiority, I think it is somewhat a waste of nutriment to convert barley into malt for feeding purposes. The gentlemen who verbally, or in writing, refer so favorably to malt, acknowledge, with one or two exceptions, that their experience of the article is limited. Mr. John Hudson, of Brandon, states that he made a comparative experiment, the results of which proved the superiority of malt. But, in fact, the only properly-conducted experiments to determine the relative values of malt and barley were those made some years ago by Dr. Thompson, of Glasgow, by the direction of the Government, and those recently performed by Mr. Lawes, both producing results unfavorable to the malt. The issue of Dr. Thompson's investigations proved that milch cows fed on barley yielded more milk and butter than when supplied with an equal weight of malt.
I do not deny the probability that malt, owing to its agreeable flavor and easy solubility, may be a somewhat better feeding stuff than barley; and that, weight for weight, it may produce a somewhat greater increase in the weight of the animals fed upon it: but although a pound-weight of malt may be better than a pound-weight of barley, I am quite satisfied that a pound's worth of barley will put up more flesh than a pound's worth of malt. Barley-seeds consist of water, starch, nitrogenous substances—such as gluten and albumen—fatty substances, and saline matter. The amount of starch is considerable, being sometimes about 70 per cent. In the process of malting (which is simply the germination of the seed under peculiar conditions), a portion of the starch is converted into sugar and gum, the grain increases in size and becomes friable when dried, and the internal structure of the seed is completely broken up. During these changes a partial decomposition of the solid matter of the seeds takes place, and a large amount of nutriment is dissipated, chiefly in the form of carbonic acid gas. From the results of the experience of the maltster, and of special experiments made by scientific men, it would appear that a ton of barley will produce only 16 cwt. of malt. Allowance must, however, be made for the difference between the amount of water contained in barley and in malt, the latter being much drier. According to Mr. E. Holden, the centesimal loss sustained in malting may be stated thus:—
Water 6·00
Organic matter 12·52
Saline matter 0·48
———
100·00
Dr. Thompson34 sets down the loss of nutriment (exclusive of that occasioned by kiln-drying), as follows:—
Carried off by the steep 1·5
Dissipated on the floor 3·0
Roots separated by cleaning 3·0
Waste 0·5
———
8·0
We may say, then, that by the malting of barley we lose at least 2½ cwt. of solid nutriment out of every ton of the article, and this loss falls heaviest on the nitrogenous, or flesh-forming constituents of the grain. When there are added to this loss the expense of carting the grain to and from the malt-house, and the maltster's charge for operating upon it (I presume in this case that the feeder is not his own maltster), it will be found that two tons of malt will cost the farmer nearly as much as three tons of barley; and he will then have to solve the problem—Whether or not malt is 40 or 50 per cent. more valuable as a feeding-stuff than barley.
The difference in value between barley and malt is generally 14s. per barrel; but it is sometimes more or less, according to the supply and demand. Barley, well malted, will lose on the average 25 per cent. of its weight, the loss depending, to some extent, upon the degree to which the process is carried, and on the germinating properties of the barley. Barley malted for roasters ought not to lose more than 21 per cent. of its original weight—53 lbs. to the barrel. The heavier the barley the less it loses in malting; a barrel of 224 lbs., and value from 15s. to 16s., ought to produce a barrel of malt of 196 lbs., value 29s. to 30s.
If we deduct from the cost of a barrel of malt the amount of duty at present levyable upon it, the price of the article will be still nearly 50 per cent. greater than that of an equal weight of barley. The cheaper barley is the greater will be the relative cost of malt. The maltster's charge for converting a barrel of barley into malt is about 4s.; so that if the price of the grain be so low as 12s. per barrel, which it sometimes is, the cost of malting it would amount to 33 per cent. of its price. Then, the diminution in the weight of, and the cost of carting the grain, must be taken into account; and when the whole expense attendant upon the process of malting is ascertained, it will be found that I have not exaggerated in stating that a ton of malt costs as much as a ton and a half of barley.
If the consumer of malt germinate the seeds himself, he may probably, if he require large quantities of the article, produce it at a somewhat cheaper rate than if he bought it from the maltster; but few persons who have the slightest knowledge of the vexatious restrictions of the Inland Revenue authorities would be likely to place his premises under the espionage of an excise officer.
As the superiority of malt over barley (if such be really the case) must be chiefly due to the looseness of its texture, which allows the juices of the stomach to act readily upon it, barley in a cooked state might be found quite as nutritious: It would not be fair to institute comparisons between dense hard barley-seeds and the easily soluble malted grains. During the cooking of barley a portion of the starch is changed into sugar, but in this case with only an inappreciable waste of nutriment. When the cooking process is continued for a few hours, a considerable amount of sugar is formed, and the barley acquires a very sweet flavor.
When the malt for cattle question was under discussion, I made a little experiment in relation to it, the results of which are perhaps of sufficient interest to mention:—Two pounds weight of barley-meal were moistened with warm water; after standing for three hours more water was added, and sufficient heat applied to cause the fluid to boil. After fifteen minutes' ebullition, a few ounces of the pasty-like mass which was produced were removed, thoroughly dried, and on being submitted to analysis yielded six per cent. of sugar. The addition of a small quantity of malt to barley undergoing the process of cooking will rapidly convert the starch into sugar.
Barley is naturally a well-flavored grain, and all kinds of stock eat it with avidity. It may be rendered still more agreeable if properly cooked, and this process will, by disintegrating its hard, fibrous structure, set free its stores of nutriment. I incline strongly to the opinion that barley, when well boiled, is almost, if not quite, as digestible as malt.
A serious disadvantage in the use of malt is, that it must be consumed, it is said, in combination with 10 per cent. of its weight of linseed-meal or cake. Now, malt is a very laxative food, and so is linseed; and if the diet of stock were largely made up of these articles the animals would, sooner or later, suffer from diarrhœa. In such case, then, the addition of bean-meal, or of some other binding food, would become necessary, and the compound of malt, linseed, and bean-meal thereby formed would certainly prove anything but an economical diet.
Malt Combs.—I should mention that a portion of the nutriment which the barley loses in malting passes into the radicles, or young roots, which project from the seeds, and are technically known by the term "combs," "combings," or "dust." At present these combs are separated from the malt, but if the latter be intended for feeding purposes this separation is unnecessary, and in such case the barley will not be so much deteriorated. The combs, which constitute about 4 per cent. of the weight of the malt, are sometimes employed as a feeding stuff. I have made an analysis of malt-combings for the County of Kildare Agricultural Society, and have obtained the following results:—
100 PARTS CONTAINED—
Water 8·42
* Flesh-forming (albuminous) substances 21·50
Digestible fat-forming substances (starch, sugar, gum, &c.) 53·47
Indigestible woody fibre 8·57
† Saline matter (ash) 8·04
———
100·00
* Yielding nitrogen 3·44
† Containing potash 1·35
Containing phosphoric acid 1·74
This article was sold as a manure at £3 6s. per ton—a sum for which it was not good value; but as a feeding substance it was probably worth £4 or £5 per ton. Its composition indicates a high nutritive power; but it is probable that its nitrogenous matters are partly in a low degree of elaboration, which greatly detracts from its alimental value.
In conclusion, then, I would urge the following points upon the attention of the farmer:—
1st. Before using malt for feeding purposes, wait until you learn the general results of the experience of other farmers with that article. The manufacture of malt for feeding purposes is rapidly on the decline, instead of, as had been anticipated, on the increase.
2nd. Should you experiment with barley and malt, use equal money's worth of each, and employ the barley in a cooked state.
3rd. Use malt-combings as a feeding stuff, and not as a manure. They are good value for at least £3 10s. per ton.
4th. Bear in mind that a ton of barley contains more saline matter than an equal weight of malt; consequently, that stock fed upon barley will produce a manure richer in potash and phosphates than those supplied with malt.
Leguminous Seeds.—The seeds of the bean, of the pea, and of several other leguminous plants, are largely made use of as food for both man and the domesticated animals. They all closely resemble each other in composition, but in that respect differ considerably from the grains of the Cerealiæ, for whilst the latter contain on an average 12 per cent. of flesh-formers, beans and peas contain 24 per cent. The flesh-forming constituent of the leguminous seeds is not gluten, as in the grain of the cereals, but a substance termed legumin, which so closely resembles the cheesy matter of milk that it has also received the name of vegetable casein. Indeed, the Chinese make a factitious cheese out of peas, which it is difficult to discriminate from the article of animal origin.
Beans are used as fattening food for cattle, for which purpose they should be ground into meal, as otherwise a large proportion of their substance would pass through the animal's body unchanged. It is not good economy to give a fattening bullock more than 3 or 4 lbs. weight per diem; a larger proportion is apt to induce constipation. The very small proportion of ready-formed fat, the moderate amount of starch, and the exceedingly high per-centage of flesh-formers which beans contain, prove that they are better adapted as food for beasts of burthen than for the fattening of stock. Oats, Indian corn, or oil-cake, will be found to produce a greater increase of meat than equal money's worth of beans or peas, and I would therefore recommend the restriction of leguminous seeds, under ordinary circumstances, to horses and bulls. It has been stated, on good authority, that when oats are given whole to horses, a large proportion passes unchanged through the animal's body, but that on the addition of beans, the oats are thoroughly digested.
COMPOSITION OF LEGUMINOUS SEEDS.
Common Beans.Foreign Beans. Peas.Lentils. Winter Tares (foreign).
Water 13·0 14·5 14·0 13·0 15·5
Flesh-formers 25·5 23·0 23·5 24·0 26·5
Fat-formers 48·5 48·7 50·0 50·5 47·5
Woody fibre 10·0 10·0 10·0 10·0 9·0
Mineral matter 3·0 3·8 2·5 2·5 1·5
100·0 100·0 100·0 100·0 100·0
Oil Seeds.—The seeds of a great variety of plants, such as the flax, hemp, rape, mustard, cotton, and sunflower, are exceedingly rich in oil, some of them containing nearly half their weight of that substance. Of these oil-seeds there are many which might with advantage be employed as fattening, food, although one only—linseed—has come into general use for that purpose.
Rape-seeds closely resemble linseeds in composition, but they are considerably cheaper. They contain an acrid substance, but the large proportion of oil with which it is associated almost completely disguises its unpleasant flavor.
Linseed is one of the most valuable kinds of food which could be given to fattening animals. Its exceedingly high proportion of ready-formed fatty matter, the great comparative solubility of its constituents, and its mild and agreeable flavor, constitute it an article superior to linseed cake. The laxative properties of linseed are very decided; it should therefore be given only in moderate quantities. As peas and beans exercise, as I have already stated, a relaxing influence upon the bowels, a mixture of linseed and peas or beans would be an excellent compound, the laxative influence of the one being corrected by the binding tendency of the other. Linseed being one of the most concentrated feeding stuffs in use, it will be found an excellent addition to bulky food, such as chaff and turnips. Linseed oil has been used as a fattening food, but there is nothing to be gained by expressing seeds for the purpose of using their oil as a feeding material. When hay is scarce, and straw abundant, the latter may be made almost as nutritious as the former by mixing it with linseed, and steaming the compound. A stone of linseed and two cwt. of oat-straw chaff, when properly cooked, constitute a most economical and nutritious food.
Mr. Horne, who experimented with linseed two or three years ago, obtained results highly favorable to the nutritive value of that article. Six bullocks were selected, and each animal placed in a separate box. They were fed with cut roots—at first Swedes, then mangels and Swedes, and lastly, mangels alone: in addition, there were supplied to each 6 lbs. rough meadow-hay reduced to chaff, and 5 lbs. oil-cake, or value to that amount. They were divided into three lots, two in each. Lot 1 had 5 lbs. oil-cake for each animal; lot 2, barley and wheat-meal, equal in value to the 5 lbs. oil-cake; and lot 3, an equal money's worth of bruised linseed. The oil-cake cost £10 16s. per ton, the mixture of barley and wheat £8 15s. per ton, and the bruised linseed £13 per ton. The experiment lasted 112 days, and at its close the results, which proved very favorable to the bruised linseed, were as follows:—
Increase in live weight.
Lot 1. Oil-cake 637 lbs.
Lot 2. Wheat and barley meal 667 lbs.
Lot 3. Bruised linseed 718 lbs.
During the 112 days each bullock consumed 5 cwt. oil-cake (or an equivalent amount of linseed or wheat and barley), 6 cwt. hay, and 90 cwt. of roots. The average increase in each animal's weight was 337 lbs. = 224 lbs. dead weight. The economic features of this experiment are best shown in the following figures:—
FOOD CONSUMED.
£ s. d.
5 cwt. oil-cake, at 10s. 6d. per cwt. 2 12 6
6 cwt. hay, at 3s. per cwt. 0 18 0
16 weeks' attendance, at 6d. per week 0 8 0
————————
£3 18 6
————————
Gained 16 stones per week, at 8s. per stone 6 8 0
————————
Balance to pay for 90 cwt. of roots 2 9 6
The manure obtained afforded a good profit.
The seed-pods, or, as they are termed, the bolls of the flax, have been recommended as an excellent feeding stuff. They are not so nutritious as linseed, but they are cheaper, and when produced on the farm must be an economical food. Mr. Charley, an intelligent stock-feeder in the county of Antrim, and an eminent authority in every subject in relation to flax, strongly recommends the use of flax-bolls. He says:—
The cost of rippling is considerable; but I believe, for every £1 expended, on an average a return is realised of £2, particularly on a farmstead where many horses and cattle are regularly kept. The flax-bolls contain much more nourishment than the linseed-cake from which the oil has, of course, been expressed, and they form a most valuable addition to the warm food prepared during winter for the animals just named. I believe they have also a highly beneficial effect in warding off internal disease, owing, no doubt, to the soothing and slightly purgative properties of the oil contained in the seed. The change made in the appearance of the animals receiving some of the bolls in their steamed food is very apparent after a few weeks' trial; and the smoothness and sleekness of their shining coats plainly show the benefit derived. Is it not surprising, with this fact before our eyes, that many agriculturists—indeed, I fear the majority—persist in the old-fashioned system of taking the flax to a watering-place with its valuable freight of seed unremoved, and plunge the sheaves under water, losing thereby, in the most wanton manner, rich feeding materials, worth from £1 to £3 per statute acre?
In the following table, the composition of all the more important oil-seeds is given:—
COMPOSITION OF OIL-SEEDS, ACCORDING TO DR. ANDERSON.
Linseed. Rape-seed. Hemp-seed. Cotton-seed (decorticated).
Water 7·50 7·13 6·47 6·57
Oil 34·00 36·81 31·84 31·24
Albuminous compounds (Flesh-formers) 24·44 21·50 22·60 31·86
Gum, mucilage, sugar, &c.}30·73 18·73 }32·72 14·12
Woody-fibre 6·86 7·30
Mineral matter (ash) 3·33 8·97 6·37 8·91
100·00 100·00 100·00 100·00
Fenugreek-seed is used very extensively in the preparation of "Condimental food." It is often given to horses out of condition. Sheep have been liberally supplied with this food, which, however, it is stated, communicates a disagreeable flavor to the mutton. It contains, according to Voelcker, the following:—
Water 11·994
Flesh-formers 26·665
Starch, gum, and pectin 37·111
Sugar 2·220
Fatty and oily matters 8·320
Woody fibre 10·820
Inorganic matter 2·870
———
100·000
SECTION VII.
OIL-CAKES, AND OTHER ARTIFICIAL FOODS.
Oil-seeds, on being subjected to considerable pressure, part with a large proportion of their oil, the remaining part of that fluid, together with the various other ingredients of the seeds, constitute the substances so well known to agriculturists under the name of oil-cakes. These cakes contain a larger proportion of ready-formed fatty matter than is found in any other feeding stuff, and an amount of flesh-forming principles far greater than that yielded by corn, or even by beans; the manure, too, which is produced by the cattle fed upon some of them, is often good value for nearly half the sum expended on the food.
The principal kinds of oil-cake employed for feeding purposes are the following:—Linseed-cake, Rape-cake, and cotton-seed cake. Poppy cake is not much in use. Their average composition, deduced from the results of numerous analyses made by Voelcker, Anderson, and myself, are shown in the following table:—
AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF OIL-CAKES.
Linseed Cake, English. Rape Cake. Decorticated Cottonseed Cake. Poppy Cake.
Water 12 11 9 12
Flesh-forming principles 28 30 38 32
Oil 10 11 13 6
Gum, mucilage, &c. 34 30 23 30
Woody fibre 10 10 9 9
Mineral matter (ash) 6 8 8 1
100 100 100 100
Linseed Cake.—Within the last quarter of a century great attention has been given to the feeding of stock, and the effects are observable in the improved quality and greatly increased weight of the animals. In the year 1839 the average weight of the horned beasts from Ireland sold in the London market was only 650 lbs., whereas at the present time their average weight is about 740 lbs. This remarkable advance in the production of meat is in great part due to the cattle being more liberally supplied with food, and that, too, of a more concentrated nature. The practice of feeding animals destined for the shambles exclusively on roots containing 90 and even 95 per cent. of water, which once prevailed so generally in this country, is now limited to the farmsteads of a few old-fashioned feeders; and the necessity for the admixture of highly-nutritious aliment with the bulky substances which form the staple food of stock is almost universally recognised.
Of concentrated foods used for fattening stock, none stands higher in the estimation of the farmer than linseed-cake, although it appears to me that the price of the article is somewhat too high in relation to its amount of nutriment, and that corn, if its price be moderate, is a more economical food. Straw, turnips, and mangels form the bone and sinew of the animals, and enable them to carry on the vital operations which are essential to their existence. Oil-cake and similar foods are supplemental, and contribute directly to the animal's increase, so that their nutritive value appears to be greater than it really is. If an animal were fed exclusively upon oil-cake, the greater part of it would be appropriated to the reparation of the waste of the body, and the rest would be converted into permanent flesh—the animal's "increase." The addition of straw would produce a still further increase in the animal's weight—an increase which would be directly proportionate to the amount of straw consumed. Thus it will be seen that, whatever the staple food may be, it will have to sustain the life of the animal, and will be principally expended for that purpose, whereas the supplemental food will be chiefly, if not entirely, made use of in increasing the weight of flesh. To me it appears manifestly incorrect to consider, as feeders practically do, the value of linseed-cake to be seven or eight times greater than that of oat-straw, and twenty times greater than that of roots. Let us assume the case of an animal fed upon roots, straw, and oil-cake. Seventy-five per cent. of its food, say, is expended in repairing the waste of its body, and 25 per cent. is stored up in its increase. Now, if the three kinds of food contributed proportionately to the reparation of the body and to its increase, the roots and straw would be found to possess a far higher nutritive value, in relation to the oil-cake, than is usually ascribed to them.
But it may be asked why straw, if it be relatively a much more economical feeding stuff than oil-cake, is not employed to the complete exclusion of the latter. I have already given an answer to such a question, namely, that animals thrive better on a diet composed partly of bulky, partly of concentrated aliments. This much, however, is certain, that animals can be profitably fed upon roots and straw, whilst it is equally certain that to feed them upon oil-cake alone (assuming them to thrive upon such a diet) would entail a very heavy loss upon the feeder. At the same time it must be admitted that the oil of the linseed-cake exercises in all probability a beneficial influence on the digestion of the animal, so that the nutritive value of the article may be somewhat higher than its mere composition would indicate.
The quantity of oil-cake given to fattening stock varies from 2 lbs. to 14 lbs. per diem. I believe there is no greater mistake made by feeders than that of giving excessive quantities of this substance to stock. If their object in so doing be to enrich their manure-heap, they would find it far more economical to add the cake directly to the manure—or rather of adding rape-cake to it, for this variety of cake is fully as valuable for manurial purposes as the linseed-cake, and is nearly 50 per cent. cheaper. A larger quantity of oil-cake than 7 lbs. daily should not be given to even the largest-sized milch cows or fattening bullocks. If a larger amount be employed, it will pass unchanged through the animal's body. Young cattle may with advantage be supplied with from 1 to 3 lbs., according to their size, and from ½ to 1 lb. will be a sufficient quantity for sheep. Intelligent feeders have remarked, that cattle which had been always supplied with a moderate allowance of this food fattened more readily upon it, during their finishing stage, than did stock which had not been accustomed to its use.
Adulteration of Linseed Cake.—The great drawback to the use of linseed-cake is the liability of the article to be adulterated. The sophistication is sometimes of a harmless nature, if we except its injurious effect on the farmer's pocket; but not unfrequently the substances added to the cakes possess properties which completely unfit them to be used as food. Amongst the injurious substances found in linseed and linseed-cake I may mention the seeds of the purging-flax, darnel, spurry, corn-cockle, curcus-beans, and castor-oil beans. Several of these seeds are highly drastic purgatives, and they have been known to cause intense inflammation of the bowels of animals fed upon oil-cake, of which they composed but a small proportion. Amongst the adulterations of linseed-cake, which lower its nutritive value without imparting to it any injurious properties, are the seeds of the cereals and the grasses, bran, and flax-straw. Little black seeds belonging to various species of Polygonum, are very often present in even good cakes; they are very indigestible, but otherwise are not injurious. Rape-cake is stated to be occasionally used as adulterant of the more costly linseed, but I have never met with an admixture of the two articles.
The only way in which a correct estimate of the value of linseed-cake can be arrived at is by a combined microscopical and chemical analysis; but as the feeder is not always disposed to incur the cost of this process, he should make himself acquainted with the characteristic of the genuine cake, in order to be able to discriminate, as far as possible, between it and the sophisticated article. I will indicate a few of the more prominent features of cake of excellent quality, and point out a few simple and easily-performed tests, which may serve to detect the existence of gross adulteration. Good cake is hard, of a reddish-brown color, uniform in appearance, and possesses a rather pleasant flavor and odour. The adulterated cake is commonly of a greyish hue, and has a disagreeable odour. A weighed quantity of the cake—say 100 grains—in the state of powder should be formed into a paste with an ounce of water; if it be good, the paste will be light colored, moderately stiff, and endowed with a pleasant odour and flavor. If the paste be thin, the presence of bran, or of grass seeds, is probable. The latter are easily seen through a magnifying-glass; indeed, most of them are readily recognisable by the unassisted eye: they may, therefore, be picked out, and their weight determined. Sand—a frequent adulterant—may be detected by mixing a small weighed quantity of the powdered cake with about twelve times its weight of water, allowing the mixture to stand for half an hour, and collecting and weighing the sand which will be found at the bottom of the vessel employed. If there be bran present it will be found lying on the sand, and its structure is sufficiently distinct to admit of its detection by a mere glance. There are a great variety of linseed-cakes in the market, of which the home-made article is the best. On the Continent the oil-seeds are subjected to the action of heat in order to obtain from them a greater yield of oil. Their cakes, therefore, contain less oil, and their flesh-forming principles are less soluble, in comparison with British linseed-cake. Next to our home-made oil-cakes, the American is the best. Indeed, I have met with some American cakes which were equal to the best English.
Rape Cake.—The use of rape-cake was limited almost completely to the fertilising of the soil until the late Mr. Pusey, in a paper published in the tenth volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, advocated its employment as a substitute for the more costly linseed-cake. The recommendation of this distinguished agriculturist has not been disregarded; and since his time the use of this cake as a feeding stuff has been steadily on the increase, and at the present time its annual consumption is not far short of 50,000 tons.
In relation to the nutritive value of rape-cake there exists considerable diversity of opinion. Certain feeders assert that animals fed upon it go out of condition; others, whilst admitting that stock thrive upon it, maintain the economic superiority of linseed-cake; whilst a third set believe rape-cake to be the most economical of feeding-stuffs. How are we to account for these great differences of opinion—not amongst theorists, be it observed, but amongst practical men? It is not difficult to explain them away satisfactorily. Rape-cake and linseed-cake are about equally rich in muscle and fat-forming principles; and, supposing both to be equally well-flavored, there can be no doubt but that one is just as nourishing as the other. But it so happens that a large proportion of the rape-cake which comes into the British market possesses a flavor which renders it very disagreeable to animals. One variety—namely, the East Indian—is almost poisonous, whilst the very best kind is slightly inferior to linseed-cake. Now, if an experiment with a very inferior kind of rape-cake and a good variety of linseed-cake were tried, who can doubt but that the results would be very unfavorable to the former article? Mr. Callan,35 of Rathfarnham, county Dublin; Mr. Bird,36 of Renton Barns, and some other feeders, who found rape-cake to be worse than useless, experimented, in all probability, with an adulterated article, for they do not appear to have had the cake analysed. On the other hand, those whose experience with rape-cake has proved favorable, must have employed the article in a genuine state, fresh, and moderately well-flavored. It is noteworthy that amongst the advocates for the use of rape-cake as a substitute—partly or entirely—for the more costly linseed-cake, are to be found the most successful feeders in England and Scotland. Horsfall, Mechi, Lawrence, Bond, Hope, and many other feeders of equal celebrity, have assigned to rape-cake the highest place, in an economic point of view, amongst the concentrated feeding stuffs. Mr. Mechi says:—"I invariably give to all my animals as much rape-cake as they choose to eat, however abundant their roots or green food may be. It pays in many ways, and not to do this is a great pecuniary mistake. Even when fed on green rape, they will eat rape-cake abundantly. My cattle are now under cover, eating the steamed chaff, rape-cake, malt-combs, and bran, all mixed together in strict accordance with the proportions named by Mr. Horsfall in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. xviii., p. 150,37 which I find by far the most profitable mode of feeding bullocks and cows." Mr. Hope, of Edinburgh, states that rape-cake is the best substitute for turnips, and that, excepting cases where spurious kinds had been used, he never knew bullocks or milch cows to refuse it. This gentleman states that it is best given in combination with locust-beans, or a mixture of locust-beans and Indian corn; and suggests the proportions set down in the tables as the best adapted for lean cattle; but I think about two-thirds of the quantities would be quite sufficient.
Feed per week. Per week.
lbs. s. d.
Rape-cake at £5 15s. per ton 8 2 10½
Do. do. 10 3 7
Mixture of two-thirds rape-cake and one-third locust-beans £6 8 3 0
Do. do. 10 3 9
Rape-cake, locust-beans, and Indian Corn in equal proportions 8 3 2½
Do. do. 10 3 11¼
An intelligent Scotch dairy farmer bears the following testimony in favor of this cake:—
I have tried pease-meal, bean-meal, oat-meal, and linseed-cake, and after carefully noting the results, I consider rape-cake, weight for weight, at least equal to any of them for milch cows; and if I give the same money value for each, I get at least one-third more produce, and the butter is always of a very superior quality. Two years ago, I took some of my best oats (41 lbs. per bushel), and ground them for the cows, and although I was at about one-third more expense, I lost fully one-third of the produce that I had by using rape-cake. I always dissolve it by pouring boiling water on it, and give each cow 6 lbs. daily. I have tried a larger quantity, and found I was fully repaid for the extra expense. I generally use it the most of the summer, but always during the spring months. A number of my neighbours who have tried it all agree that it is the best and cheapest feed for milch cows they have used.—North British Agriculturist, Edinburgh, February 29, 1860.
The best kinds of rape-cake come from Germany and Denmark. When neither too old nor too fresh, and of a pale-green color, these foreign cakes are tolerably well-flavored, and are but slightly inferior to good linseed-cake. Most varieties of this cake, however, contain a small proportion of acrid matter, which often renders them more or less distasteful to stock, more particularly to cattle. This substance may be rendered quite innocuous by steaming or boiling the cake; either of these processes will also, according to Mr. Lawrence, destroy the disagreeable flavor which mustard-seed—a frequent adulterant of rape-cake—confers upon that article. Molasses or treacle is an excellent adjunct to the cake, as it serves in a great measure to correct its somewhat unpleasant flavor. Carob, or locust-beans, answer, perhaps better, the same purpose. It is better, as a general rule, to give less rape-cake than linseed-cake, unless the pale-green kind to which I have referred is obtainable; that variety may be largely employed. The animals should be gradually accustomed to its use. At first, in the case of bullocks, they should get only 1 lb. per diem, and the quantity should be gradually increased to about 4 lbs.; but I would not advise, under any circumstances, a larger daily allowance than 5 lbs. Given in moderate amounts, it will, supposing it to be of fair quality, be found to give a better return in meat than almost any other kind of concentrated food; and, what is of great importance, it will not injuriously affect the animal's health. "Our experience of the use of rape-cake," says Mr. Lawrence, "thus used (cooked), extends over a period of ten years of feeding from 20 to 24 bullocks annually. We have not had a single death during that period, and the animals have been remarkably free from any kind of ailment."
Rape-cake of good quality possesses a dark-green color (the greener the better), and when broken exhibits a mottled aspect—yellowish and dark-brown spots. Sometimes a tolerably good specimen has a brownish color; but the German and Danish cakes are always of a greenish hue. The odor is stronger than that of linseed-cake, and differs but little from that of rape-oil. The only serious adulteration of rape-cake is the addition to it of mustard-seed—sometimes accidentally—less frequently, as I believe, intentionally. This sophistication admits of easy detection. Scrape into small particles about half an ounce of the cake, add six times its weight of water, form the solid and liquid into a paste, and allow the mixture to stand for a few hours. If the cake contain mustard the characteristic odor of that substance will be evolved, and its intensity will afford a rough indication of the amount of the adulterant. As some specimens of genuine rape-cake possess a somewhat pungent odor, care must be taken not to confound it with that of mustard; but, indeed, it is not difficult to discriminate the latter. The paste of rape-cake which contains an injurious proportion of mustard, has a very pungent flavor. Rape-cake improves somewhat if kept for say six months; but old cake is worse than the fresh article.
Cottonseed Cake is one of the most valuable feeding stuffs that have come into use of late years. Its chemical composition shows it to be about equal to that of the best linseed-cake, and as its price is much lower than that of the latter, it may be fairly considered a more economical food. These remarks apply only to the shelled, or decorticated seed-cake, for the article prepared from the whole seed is of very inferior composition, and should never be employed. The use of the cake made from the whole seed has proved fatal in many instances, not from its possessing any poisonous quality, but in consequence of its hard, indigestible husk, accumulating in, and inflaming, the animal's bowels.
The composition of this cake varies somewhat. The following analysis of a sample from one of the Western States of North America, imported by Messrs. G. Seagrave and Co., of Liverpool, was made by me:—
COMPOSITION OF DECORTICATED COTTON-SEED CAKE.
Water 8·20
Oil 10·16
Albuminous, or flesh forming principles 40·25
Gum, sugar, &c. 21·10
Fibre 9·23
Ash (mineral matter) 11·06
———
100·00
In some specimens so much as 16 per cent. of oil has been found. The purchaser of cotton-seed cake should be certain that it is not old and mouldy, which is frequently the case. The recently prepared cake has a very yellow color, which becomes fainter as the cake becomes older. Freshness is a very desirable quality in nearly every kind of cake. I have known animals to have a greater relish for, and thrive better upon, home-made linseed-cake than upon cake of foreign manufacture of superior composition, but of greater age.
Palm-nut Meal, or Cake is a very valuable fattening food. It is extremely rich in ready-formed fatty matters, but at the same time it is not very deficient in albuminous substances. Its strong flavor is rather a drawback to its use in the case of all the farm animals, except pigs. This difficulty may, however, be got over by using the cake in moderate quantities, and by combining it with other food possessed of a good flavor. Reports of practical trials made with this food appear to have almost uniformly given very favorable results. This food is only three or four years in use. The first samples that came into my hand were richer in fatty matters than those which I have recently examined. The average results of eight analyses made from 1864 to 1866 were as follows:—
100 PARTS CONTAINED—
Water 7·48
Albuminous matters 17·26
Fatty substances 21·59
Gum, sugar, &c. 32·14
Fibre 17·18
Mineral matter 4·35
———
100·00
This year I have not found more than 17 per cent. of fat in any sample of palm-nut cake. One specimen which I analysed for Mr. J. G. Alexander, seed merchant, of Dublin, had the following composition:—
Water 9·24
Albuminous matters 19·28
Fatty matters 9·36
Gum, starch, fibre, &c. 53·22
Mineral matters 8·90
———
100·00
But although inferior samples are occasionally met with, I may say of palm-nut cake that on the whole it is a food which deserves to be largely used, and which at its present price is the most economical source of fat. To milch-cows and fattening cattle about 3 lbs. per diem may be given; ¼ lb. will be sufficient for young sheep, whilst pigs may be very liberally supplied with this food.
The Locust, or Carob Bean, is now largely used by the stock-feeder. It is extremely rich in sugar, and is therefore an excellent fattening and milk-producing food. It is used largely in the preparation of the sweet kinds of artificial food for cattle. It is not well adapted for young animals, owing to its deficiency of albuminous matters. The following analysis shows the average composition of this food:—
Water 14
Sugar 50
Albuminous matters 8
Oil 1
Gum, &c. 20
Woody fibre 5
Ash 2
———
100
Dates have been used, but only in very small quantities, as cattle food. Their composition is not constant, some samples being greatly inferior in nutritive power to others; they are rich in sugar, and if they were obtained in sufficient quantities they might, like carob-beans, come into general use with the stock-feeder. They contain about 2 per cent. of flesh-formers, 10 per cent. of fat-formers (chiefly sugar), and 2 per cent. of mineral matter.
Distillery and brewery dregs (or wash) are chiefly used by dairymen. According to Dr. Anderson, an imperial gallon (700,000 grains) of distillery wash (from a distillery near Edinburgh) contained 4,130 grains of organic matter, and 276 grains of mineral substances. He considers that 15 gallons of this stuff were equal in nutritive materials to 100 pounds of turnips. The following is the centesimal composition of brewery wash:—
Water 75·85
Albuminous matters 0·62
Gummy matters 1·06
Other organic matter (husks, &c.) 21·28
Mineral matters 1·19
———
100·00
Molasses constitute a very fattening food, sometimes, but not often, given to stock. Treacle and molasses are composed of non-crystallisable sugar, cane-sugar, water, and saline and other impurities. The composition of average specimens of molasses, as imported, is as follows:—
Cane-sugar 50
Non-crystallisable sugar and grape-sugar 25
Water, saline matter, and organic impurities 25
———
100
If admitted duty free, molasses would be a much more economical food than it now is, but at its present price it must be regarded as a mere flavoring food.
Mr. T. Cooke Burroughs, a West Suffolk feeder, who used treacle in 1864, gives the following mode of mixing it with other food:—
My plan has been (and is still carried on) to give to each bullock per day (divided into three meals) one pint of treacle dissolved in two gallons of water, and sprinkled, by means of a garden water-pot, over four bushels of cut chaff (two-thirds straw and one-third hay) amongst which a quarter of a peck of meal (barley and wheat) is mixed, the animals also having free access to water. The cost of the treacle and meal together is about 3s. per bullock per week. My bullocks (two-year old Shorthorns) have grown and thrived upon the above diet to my utmost satisfaction; and even during the present dry and warm weather they evince no lingering after roots or grass. I am well aware that the use of treacle for neat stock is no new discovery of my own, as I learnt the system while on a visit to a friend in Norfolk, where some graziers have used it in combination with roots during many years past. Perhaps flax-seed (linseed) boiled into a jelly and used in a similar way, may be a more profitable "substitute for roots" than treacle; but the preparation of it is attended with more expense and trouble.
SECTION VIII.
CONDIMENTAL FOOD.
Although every farmer may not have used, there are few who have not heard of "Thorley's Condimental Food for Cattle." This nostrum is a compound of some of the ordinary foods with certain well-known aromatic and carminative substances. It possesses a very agreeable flavor, and it is therefore much relished by horses, and indeed by every kind of stock. The price of this compound was at first so much as £60 per ton; but owing to competition, and perhaps to the attacks made upon the enormously high price of this article, it is now to be obtained at prices varying from £12 to £24 per ton.
The inventor of condimental food, and the numerous fabricators of that compound, claim for it merits of no ordinary nature. Its use, they assert, not only maintains the animals fed upon it in excellent health, but it also exercises so remarkable an action upon the adipose tissues that fat accumulates to an immense extent. Moreover, it is said that an animal supplied with a very moderate daily modicum of this wonderful compound, will consume less of its ordinary food, though rapidly becoming fat.
Now, if these assertions were perfectly, or even approximatively, true, Mr. Thorley would be well deserving of a niche in the temple of fame, and stock-feeders would ever regard him as a benefactor to his own and the bovine species; but I fear that Mr. Thorley's imagination outstripped his reason when he described in such glowing terms the wonderful virtues of his tonic food.
Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamstead, than whom there is no more accurate experimenter in agricultural practice, states that he made many careful trials with Thorley's food, and that he never found it to exercise the slightest influence upon the nutrition of the animals fed upon it. In his report upon this subject, Mr. Lawes, after describing the experiments which he made, sums up as follows:—
There is nothing therefore in the above results to recommend the use of Thorley's condiment with inferior fattening food, to those who feed pigs for profit. In fact, the following balance-sheet of the experiment shows that, in fattening for twelve weeks, there was a balance of £1 10s. 11d. in favor of the lot fed without Thorley's food, notwithstanding that one of the pigs in that lot did badly throughout the experiment, as above stated.
LOT 1.—WITH BARLEY-MEAL AND BRAN.
£ s. d.
4 pigs bought in at 41s. 6d. each 8 6 0
1,860¾ lbs. barley, at 37s. 6d. per quarter of 416 lbs., including grinding 8 7 8¾
1,024¾ lbs. bran at 5s. 6d. per cwt. 210 3¾
——————
19 4 0½
88 stone 5 lbs. of pork sold at 4s. 4d. per stone, sinking the offal 19 4 0½
LOT 2.—WITH BARLEY-MEAL, BRAN, AND THORLEY'S FOOD.
£ s. d.
4 pigs bought in at 41s. 6d. each 8 6 0
1,862¾ lbs. barley, at 37s. 6d. per quarter of 416 lbs., including grinding 8 7 10¼
1,020¾ lbs. bran at 5s. 6d. per cwt. 210 1½
105 lbs. Thorley's food at 40s. per cwt. 117 6
——————
21 1 5¾
90 stone 1 lb. pork sold at 4s. 4d. per stone, sinking the offal 1910 6½
——————
110 11¼
The results of these experiments with pigs, in which Thorley's condiment was used with inferior fattening food, may be summed up as follows:—
1. The addition of Thorley's condimental food increased the amount of food consumed by a given weight of animal within a given time.
2. When Thorley's condiment was given it required more food to produce a given amount of increase in live-weight.
3. In fattening for twelve weeks there was a difference of £1 10s. 11d. on the lot of 4 pigs in favor of barley-meal and bran alone, over barley-meal, bran, and Thorley's food in addition.
At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, held some time ago, the subject of the nutrimental value of condimental cattle food was discussed. As there is scarcely any kind of quackery, from spirit manifestations to Holloway's pills, that has not got its believers, there were, as might have been anticipated, some voices raised at this meeting in favor of Thorley's food; but the sense of the meeting was decidedly against it. Professor Simonds pronounced it to be worthless.
Although the greater number of equine proprietors and feeders of stock are too sensible to throw their money away in the purchase of those costly foods, still there are by no means an insignificant number who employ it, under the idea that it preserves the health of the animals; these stuffs are also highly appreciated by many grooms and herds. Now, for the information of all believers, I may state that there is no mystery whatever in the nature of condimental cattle foods. They consist in substance of such matters as linseed-cake, Indian corn, rice, bean-meal, locust-beans, and malt-combings. These substances are flavored by the addition of turmeric-root, ginger, coriander-seed, carraway-seed, fenugreek-seed, aniseed, liquorice, and similar substances. In addition to the nutritive and flavorous articles employed in the manufacture of these foods, purely medicinal substances are also made use of with the idea that they would prove useful in maintaining the health and stimulating the appetite of the animals. These medicinal ingredients constitute but a small proportion of the compound, although they add considerably to the cost of manufacture. The following is a formula for a condimental food, which in every respect will be found fully equal, if not superior, to the ordinary high-priced articles.