The results of the analyses of butter supplied to the London market, made by theLancetAnalytical Commission, showed that the proportion of salt varied from 0·30 to 8·24 per cent. The largest proportion of salt found in fresh butter was 2·21 and the least 0·30. In salt butter the highest proportion of salt was 8·24 and the lowest 1·53. The butter which contained most salt was also generally largely adulterated with water. Indeed, in several samples the amount of this constituent reached so high as nearly 30 per cent. Nothing is easier than the incorporation of water with salt butter. The butter is melted, and whilst cooling the salt and water are added, and the mixture kept constantly stirred until quite cold. In this way nearly 50 per cent. of water may be added tobutter; but of course the quality of the article will be of the very worst kind.
A correspondent of theLancetstates that, on awakening about three o'clock in the morning at the house in which he was lodging, he perceived a light below the door of his room; and apprehending a fire, he hurried down stairs, and was not a little surprised to discover the whole family engaged in manipulating butter. He was informed in a jocose way that they were making Epping butter! For this purpose they used inferior Irish butter, which, by repeated washings, was freed from its excessive amount of salt; after which it was frequently bathed in sweet milk, the addition of a little sugar being the concluding stroke in the process. This "sweet fresh butter from Epping" was sold at a profit of 100 per cent. Our dairy farmers might take a hint from this anecdote. Does it not prove that the mere removal of the salt added to Irish butter doubles the value of the article?
It is as necessary to pay attention to the packing of butter as it is to its salting. If old firkins be employed, great care should be taken in cleaning them, and if the staves be loose, the firkins should be steeped in hot water, in order to cause the wood to swell, and thereby to bring the edges of the staves into close contact. New firkins often communicate a disagreeable odour to the butter. In order to guard against this, it is the practice in many parts to fill the firkins with very moist garden mould, which, after the lapse of a few days, is thrown out, and the firkin thoroughly scrubbed with hot water, rinsed with the same fluid in a cold state, and finally rubbed with salt, just before being used.
In packing the butter, the chief object to be kept in view is the exclusion of air. In order to accomplish this, the lumps of butter should be pressed firmly together, and also against the bottom and sides of the vessel. When the products of several churnings are placed in the same firkin, the surface of each churning should be furrowed, so that the next layer may be mixed with it. A firkin should never be filled in a singleoperation. About six inches of butter of each churning will be quite sufficient, and in a large dairy two or more firkins can be gradually but simultaneously filled. I strongly recommend the removal of the pickle jar from the dairy. When the layers of butter have been carried up to within an inch or so of the top of the firkin, the space between the surface of the butter and the edge of the vessel should be filled with fine dry salt, instead of pickle. A common mistake made is the holding over for too long a time of the butter: the sooner this article can be disposed of the better, forit never improves by age.
(22) From two Greek words, signifying odour and soup.
(23) "A New Inquiry, fully illustrated by coloured engravings of the heart, lungs, &c., of the Diseased Prize Cattle lately exhibited at the Smithfield Cattle Club, 1857." By Frederick James Gant, M.R.C.S. London, 1858.
(24) Professor John Wilson's Report of the Agricultural Exhibition, Aarhuus, 1867.
The flesh-forming principles of food are, as I have already stated, almost identical with the principal nitrogenous constituents of animals. Unlike the non-plastic substances, they are convertible into each other with little, if any, loss either of matter or of force. Not many years since it was the fashion to estimate the nutritive value of a food-substance by its proportion of nitrogen; but this method—not yet quite abandoned—was based on erroneous views, and yielded results very far from the truth. No doubt all the more concentrated and valuable kinds of food are rich in nitrogenous principles; but there are other varieties, the nutritive value of which is very low, and yet their proportion of nitrogen is very high. This point requires explanation. Both the plastic and the non-plastic materials of food exist in two distinct states—in one of which they are easily digestible, and in the other either altogether unassimilable or so nearly so as to be almost useless. Thus, for example, the cellular tissue of plants, when newly formed, is to a great extent digestible, whilst the old woody fibre is nearly, if not quite, incapable of assimilation. Gelatine, which in raw bones is easily digested in the stomachs of the carnivora, loses a large proportion of its nutritive value on beingsubjected to the action of steam. Again, a portion of the nitrogen of young succulent plants is in a form not sufficiently organic to admit of its being assimilated to the animal body. But, independently of these strong objections to the method of estimating the nutritive value of food by its per-centage of flesh-formers, there are many other reasons which as clearly prove the fallacy of this rule. If we were, for instance, to estimate the value of albumen according to the tables of food equivalents which were constructed some years ago by Boussingault and other chemists, we would find one pound weight of it to be equivalent to four pounds weight of oil-cake, or to twelve pounds weight of hay; yet, it is a fact that a horse would speedily die if confined to a purely albuminous diet, whereas hay is capable of supporting the animal's life for an indefinite period.
It is clear, then, from what I have stated, that neither the amount of flesh-formers, nor of fat-formers, contained in a given quantity of a substance is a measure of its nutritive value; nevertheless it would be incorrect to infer from this that the numerous analyses of feeding substances which have been made are valueless. On the contrary, I am disposed to believe that the composition of these substances, when correctly stated by the chemist, enables the physiologist to determine pretty accurately their relative alimentary value. Theory is certainly against the assumption that food is valuable in proportion to its content of nitrogen; nor has practice less strongly disproved its truth. An illustration drawn from the nutrition of plants will make this matter more apparent. Every intelligent agriculturist knows that guano contains nitrogen and phosphoric acid; both substances are indispensable to the development of plants, and therefore it would be incorrect to estimate the manurial value of the guano in proportion to the quantity of nitrogen it was capable of yielding. If the value of manures were determined only by their per-centage of nitrogen—a mode by which certain chemists still estimate the nutritive value of food—then woollen rags would be worthmore than bones, and bones would be more valuable than superphosphate of lime. The truth is, that the analysis of feeding stuffs and manures is sometimes of little value if the condition in which the constituents of these substances exist be undetermined. For example, the analysis of one manure may show it to contain 40 per cent. of phosphate of lime, and three per cent. of ammonia, whilst, according to analysis, another fertiliser may include 20 per cent. of phosphate of lime, and two per cent. of ammonia. Viewed by this light solely, the first manure would be considered the more valuable of the two, whereas it might, in reality, be very much inferior. If the phosphate of lime in the manure, containing 40 per cent. of that body, were derived from coprolites or apatite, and its ammonia from horns, the former would be worth little or nothing, and the latter, by reason of its exceedingly slow evolution from the horns, would possess a very low value. If, on the contrary, the phosphate of lime, in the manure comparatively poor in phosphate, were a constituent of bones, and its ammonia ready formed (say as sulphate of ammonia), then, its value, both commercial and manurial, would be far greater than the other.
In estimating the money value of an article of food, we should omit such considerations as the relative adjustment of its flesh-formers and fat-formers, and its suitability to particular kinds of animals, as well as to animals in a certain stage of development. The manure supplied to plants contains several elements indispensable to vegetable nutrition; and, although the agriculturist most commonly purchases all these elements combined in the one article, still he frequently buys each ingredient separately. Ammonia is one of these principles, and, whether it be boughtper se, or as a constituent of a compound manure, the price it commands is invariable. This principle should prevail in the purchase of food: each constituent of which should have a certain value placed upon it; and the sums of all the values of the constituents would then be the value of the article of food taken as a whole. Thereare, no doubt, practical difficulties in the way which prevent this method of valuation from giving more than approximatively correct results; but are there not precisely similar difficulties in the way of the correct estimation of the value of a manure according to its analysis? There are several constituents of food, the money value of which is easily determinable: these are sugar, starch, and fat. No matter what substance they are found in, the nutritive value of each varies only within very narrow limits. The value of cellulose and woody fibre is not so easily ascertained, as it varies with the age and nature of the vegetable structure in which these principles occur. There is little doubt but that the cellulose and fibre of young grass, clover, and other succulent plants, are, for the most part, digestible; and we should not be far astray if we were to assume that four pounds weight of soft fibre and cellulose are equivalent to three pounds weight of starch. As to old hard fibre, we are not in a position to say whether or not it possesses any nutrimental value worth taking into account. The estimation of the value of the flesh-forming materials is far more difficult than that of sugar, starch, pectine compounds, and fat. The nitrogenous constituents of food must be in a highly elaborated state before they are capable of being assimilated. In seeds—in which vegetable substances attain their highest degree of development—they probably exist in the most digestible form, whilst much of the nitrogen found in the stems and leaves of succulent plants, is either in a purely mineral state, or in so low a degree of elaboration as to be unavailable for the purpose of nutrition. But even plastic materials, in a high degree of organisation, present many points of difference, which greatly affect their relative alimental value; for example, many of them are naturally associated with substances possessing a disagreeable flavor: and as their separation from these substances is often practically impossible, the animal that consumes both will not assimilate the plastic matters so well as if they were endowed with a pleasant flavor. In seeds and other perfectly maturedvegetable structures, the flesh-formers may exist in different degrees of availability. The nitrogen of thetesta, or covering of the seeds, will hardly be so assimilable as that which exists in their cotyledons. The solubility of the flesh-formers—provided they be highly elaborated—is a very good criterion of their nutritive power. In linseed the muscle-forming substances are more soluble than in linseed-cake—the heat which is generally employed in the extraction of oil from linseed rendering the plastic materials of the resultantcakeless soluble, and diminishing thereby their digestibility, as practice has proved.
From the considerations which I have now entered into, it is obvious that the chemical analysis of food substances as generally performed, though of great utility, does not afford strictly accurate information as to their commercial value, and still less reliable in relation to their nutritive power. At the same time, they as clearly establish the feasibility of analyses beingmadewhereby the money value of feeding-stuffs may be estimated with tolerable exactitude. Let the chemist determine the presence and relative amounts of the ingredients of food-substances, and—if it be possible so to do with a degree of exactness that would render the results useful—place on each a money value. This done, let the physiologist and the feeder combine the food in such proportions as they may find best adapted to the nature, age, and condition of the animal to be fed.
It is to be regretted that the market price of feeding stuffs is not, in consequence of our defective knowledge, strictly determined by their nutritive value, for if such were the case, the feeder would merely have to adapt each to the nature and condition of his stock. Even amongst practical men there prevails, unfortunately, great diversity of opinion as to the relative nutritive value of the greater number of food substances; and I am quite certain that many of these command higher prices than others which in no respect are inferior. It would lead me too far from my immediate subject were I toenter minutely into the consideration of such questions as—whether an acre of grass yields more or less nutriment than an acre of turnips? I shall merely describe the composition and properties of grass and of turnips, and of the various other important food substances, and compare their nutritive power, so far as comparisons are admissible; but I shall say but little on the subject of the various economic and other conditions which affect the production of forage plants. When I shall have described the chemical nature and physical condition of the various articles of food, and the results of actual feeding experiments made with them, the feeder will then be in a position to determine which are the most economical to produce or to purchase.
The saccharine, or amylaceous substances constitute the most abundant of the proximate constituents of plants. They are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. I shall briefly describe the more important members of this group of substances, namely, starch, sugar, inulin, gum, pectin, and cellulose.
Starch, orfecula, occurs largely in dicotyledonous seeds, peas, &c., and still more abundantly in certain monocotyledonous seeds, such as wheat and barley. It constitutes the great bulk of many tubers and roots—for example, the potato and tapioca. It consists of flattened ovate granules, which vary in size according to the plant. In the beetroot they are1⁄3500of an inch in diameter, whilst intous les moisthey are nearly1⁄200of an inch in diameter. Most of the starch granules are marked by a series of concentric rings. Starch is heavier than water, and is insoluble in that fluid when cold; neither is it dissolved by alcohol or ether. When heated in water having a temperature of at least 140° Fahrenheit, it increases greatly in volume, and acquires a gelatinous consistence. When thewater is allowed to cool, a portion of the starch becomes insoluble, whilst another portion remains in solution; the latter form of starch is sometimes termedamidin, from the French word for starch,amidon. When dry starch is heated to 400° Fahr., it is converted, without any change in its composition, into a soluble gum-like substance, termeddextrin, or British gum. On being boiled in diluted sulphuric acid it is converted into a kind of sugar; and the same effect is produced by fermentation—for example, in the germination of seeds. Fresh rice contains 82, wheat 60, and potatoes 20 per cent. of starch. This substance constitutes a nutritious and easily digestible food, but alone cannot support life. Arrowroot is only a pure form of starch.
Sugaroccurs less abundantly in plants than starch. There are several varieties of this substance, of which the kinds termed cane sugar (sucrose) and grape sugar (glucose), are only of importance to agriculturists. The former enters largely into the composition of the sugar-cane, the beetroot, the sugar-maple, the sorgho grass, pumpkins, carrots, and a great variety of other plants. Grape sugar is found in fruits, especially when dried—raisins and figs—in malted corn, and in honey. In the sugar-cane there is 18 per cent., and in the beetroot 10 per cent. of sugar.
Cane sugar, when pure, consists of minute transparent crystals. It is 16⁄10heavier than water, and is soluble in one-third of its weight of that fluid. By long-continued boiling in water it is changed into uncrystallizable sugar, or treacle, by which its flavor is altered, but its sweetening power increased.
Grape sugarcrystallizes in very small cubes, of inferior color as compared with cane sugar crystals. It dissolves in its own weight of water, being three times less soluble than sucrose. In sweetening power one part of cane sugar is equal to 2½ parts of grape sugar; but there is probably little if any difference, between the nutritive power of the two substances.
Inulinis a substance somewhat resembling starch. It doesnot occur in large quantities. It is met with in the roots of the dandelion, chicory, and many other plants.
Gumis an abundant constituent of plants. The kind termed gum arabic, so largely employed in the arts, is a very pure variety of this substance. Common gums are said to be essentially composed of a very weak acid—gummic, orarabicacid—united with lime and potash. The solution of gum is very slightly acid, and has a mucilaginous, ropy consistence: it is almost tasteless.Mucilage, orbassorin, is simply a modified form of gum, which, though insoluble in water, forms a gelatinous mixture with that fluid. It exudes from certain trees—the cherry for example—and exists largely in linseed and other seeds. Gums are nutritious foods, but it is probable that they are not equal in alimental power to equal weights of starch or sugar.
Vegetable jelly, orpectin, is almost universally diffused throughout the vegetable kingdom. It is owing to its presence that the juices of many fruits and roots possess the property of gelatinizing. It is soluble in water, but prolonged boiling destroys its viscous property.Pectoseis a modification of pectin; it is insoluble in water. According to Fremy, the hardness of green fruits is due to the presence of pectose; which is also found in the cellular tissue of turnips, carrots, and various other roots.
Celluloseis a fibrous or cellular tissue, allied in composition to starch. It is the most abundant constituent of plants, and forms the very ground-work of the vegetable mechanism. Linen, cotton, and the pith of the elder and other trees are nearly pure forms of cellulose. Ligneous, or woody tissue (lignin) is indurated cellulose, hardened by age. It is almost identical in composition with cellulose. Pure cellulose is white, colorless, tasteless, insoluble in water, oil, alcohol, or ether. It is heavier than water. Sulphuric acid is capable of converting it into grape, or starch sugar. In its fresh and succulent state cellulose is digestible and nutritious; but in the form of ligneous tissue it opposes a very great resistance to the action of the digestivefluids. Digestible cellulose is probably equal in nutritive power to starch.
Oils and fatsoccur abundantly in vegetables, more particularly in their seeds. In the seeds of many cruciferous plants the proportion of fat and oil exceeds 35 per cent. The oils and fats termedfixedare those which possess the greatest interest to agriculturists; thevolatile oilsbeing those which confer on certain plants their fragrant odour. There are a great variety of vegetable oils, but the proximate constituents of most of them are chieflystearin,margarin,olein, andpalmitin.
Stearinis a white crystalline substance, sparingly soluble in alcohol and ether, but insoluble in water. There are two or three modifications of this substance, but they do not essentially differ from each other. The melting point varies from 130° to 160° Fahr. Stearin is the most abundant of the fats.
Margarinpresents the appearance of pearly scales. It is the solid fat present in olive oil, and it is also met with in a great variety of fats and oils. It melts at 116° Fahr.
Oleinis the fluid constituent of oils and fatty substances. It resists an extreme degree of cold, without solidifying. There are several modifications of this body—the olein of olive oil being somewhat different from that of castor oil; the olein of linseed is sometimes termedlinolien.
Palmitin.—This fat occurs in many plants, but as it makes up the great bulk of palm oil, it has been termed palmitin. It is white, and may be obtained in feathery-like masses. Its melting point varies from 114° to 145°, there being, according to Duffy, three modifications of this substance.
The fats and oils are lighter than water. They contain far more carbon and hydrogen, and less oxygen, than are found in the sugars and starches. They all consist of acids (stearic, palmitic, &c.) united with glycerine. On being boiled with potash or soda, the latter take the place of the glycerine, which is set free, and asoapis produced. The fatty acids strongly resemble the fats. In nutritive power, one part of fat is equal to 2½ parts of starch or sugar.
The Albuminous substances contain, in addition to the elements found in starch, nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus.Albumen,fibrin, andleguminconstitute the three important members of the "Nitrogenous" constituents of plants.
Albumenis an uncrystallizable substance. It is soluble in water, unless when heated to 140 deg. Fahr., at which temperature it coagulates,i.e., becomes solid and insoluble. Theglutenof wheat is composed chiefly of albumen, and of bodies closely allied to that substance.
Fibrin, when dried, is a hard, horny, yellow, solid body. It contains a little more oxygen than is found in albumen. This substance is best known as a constituent of animals, and it does not appear to be abundant in plants. The portion of the gluten of wheat-flour, which is insoluble in boiling alcohol, is considered by Liebig and Dumas to be coagulated fibrin.
In the seeds of leguminous and a few other kinds of plants large quantities of a substance termedleguminare found. It resembles the casein, or cheesy ingredient of milk; indeed, some chemists consider it to be identical in composition with that substance. When pure, it is pearly white, insoluble in boiling water, but soluble in cold water and in vinegar. The saline matters found in plants are always associated with the albuminous bodies; the latter, therefore, form the bones as well as the muscles of animals.
A great many substances are found in plants, such as wax, mannite, "extractive matter," citric, malic, and other acids, of the nutritive value of which very little is known. The substances described in this section constitute, however, at least 95 per cent. of the weight of the vegetable matters used as food by live stock.
The Grasses.—More than one-half the area of Great Britain and Ireland is under pasture; the grasses, therefore, constitute the most important and abundant food used by live stock.The composition of the natural and artificial grasses is greatly influenced by the nature of the soil on which they are grown, and by the climatic conditions under which they are developed. Many of them are almost worthless, whilst others possess a high nutritive value. Amongst the most useful natural grasses may be enumerated Italian rye-grass, Meadow barley, Annual Meadow-grass, Crested dogstail-grass, Cocksfoot-grass, Timothy or Meadow catstail-grass, and Sweet vernal-grass. Amongst grasses of medium quality I may mention common Oatlike-grass, Meadow foxtail grass, Smooth and rough stalked Meadow-grass, and Waterwhorl-grass. There are very many grasses which are almost completely innutritious, and which ought, under no circumstances, to be tolerated, although too often they make up the great bulk of the herbage of badly-managed meadows and pastures. Such grasses are, the Meadow soft-grass, Creeping soft-grass, False brome-grass, and Upright brome-grass. The rough-stalked Meadow-grass, though spoken favorably of by some farmers, is hardly worthy of cultivation, and the same may be said of many of the grasses which have a place in our meadows and pastures. (See "Analyses of Natural Grasses in a Fresh State, by Dr. Voelcker," on next page.)
TheSchræder bromeis a perennial lately introduced into France. It is described as an exceedingly valuable forage crop, and one which is admirably adapted for the feeding of dairy cows. It would be desirable to give it a trial in these countries. The composition (which is very peculiar) of this plant is stated to be as follows, when dry:—
Tussac Grass(Dactylis cæspitus) is recommended as an excellent plant to grow on very poor, wet, or mossy soils.25It is an evergreen grass, somewhat resembling coltsfoot. It is relished by cattle.
The "artificial grasses" embrace the clovers, vetches, lucerne, and a few other plants, some of which are seldom cultivated.
Cloveris very rich in flesh-forming and heat-producing substances. There are several varieties of this plant, of which the Alsike Clover appears to be the most valuable, as it contains a high proportion of organic matter and gives the largest acreable produce. The nature of the soil influences, to a great extent, the composition of this plant: this no doubt accounts for the somewhat discrepant result of the analyses of it made by Way, Voelcker, and Anderson.
The composition of the Vetch, Sainfoin, and Lucerne, resembles very closely that of the Clover: indeed, it appears to me that all these leguminous plants are nearly equally valuable as green forage, but that the best adapted for hay is the Clover. In the following table the composition of these plants is shown:—
The artificial grasses are, on the whole, more nutritious than the natural grasses; but I should explain that the analyses of the natural grasses which I have quoted refer to those plants in what may be almost termed their wild state: under the influence of good cultivation—when irrigated or top-dressed with abundance of appropriate manure—their analyses would indicate a higher nutritive value. The grasses, and more especially the so-called artificial grasses, are more nutritious and digestible when young. In old clover the proportion of insoluble woody fibre is often so considerable as to greatly detract from the alimental value of the plant.
TheLentils, theBirdsfoot, theTrefoil, and theMelilotare leguminous plants which occasionally are found as constituents of forage crops. Lentils are extensively cultivated on the Continent, and are the only kind of these plants the chemistry of which has been at all studied. The straw contains 7 per cent. of flesh-formers.
The Yellow Lupineis cultivated rather extensively in Germany, France, and Belgium, partly for feeding purposes, partly to furnish a green manure. Its seeds constitute a nutritious article of food for man, and its stems and leaves are given to cattle. An attempt was made a few years ago to introduce its cultivation, as a field crop, into England, and very satisfactory results attended the first trials made with it. Mr. Kimber, who has cultivated this crop, states that it is likely to prove valuable on light sandy soils, where the ordinary green fodder crops are not easily cultivated. The produce per acre obtained in Mr. Kimber's trial was about nineteen tons. Cattle and sheep relish the Yellow Lupine, but according to Mr. Kimber, pigs reject it. Professor Voelcker examined this plant, and found that it resembled in composition the ordinary artificial grasses, except in one respect, namely, a remarkable deficiency in sugar. Altogether, it is not so rich in nutriment as any of the commonly cultivated leguminous plants; but as it can be cultivated on a very poor soil, and gives a good return, it is probable that the Yellow Lupine will yet become a common cropin Britain. The following table exhibits the results of Dr. Voelcker's analysis.
Rib grass plantain(Plantago lanceolata) is one of those plants, the value of which for forage purposes is questionable. Many persons believe it to be a useful food. Its composition, which looks favorable, is as follows:—
The grasses, natural and artificial, are occasionally affected by a formidable and well-known fungus, theergot. Italian rye-grass is the most liable to the ravages of this pest, and there are on record several cases in which ergotted rye-grass proved fatal to the animal fed upon it. Clover and the various leguminous plants appear more liable to the ergot disease than the natural grasses (except rye-grass), but I have on several occasions noticed this fungus on the spikelets ofHordeum pratense,Festuca pratense, andBromus erectus. It has also been noticed that rye-grass rapidly developed under the influence of liquid manure is so rank that young animals fed upon it are poisonously affected.Alderman Mechi states that in July, 1864, ten out of his thirty Shorthorn calves died in consequence of eating the heads of Italian rye-grass, and that the survivors' health was seriously injured. He was also unfortunate with his lambs, which, during the same month, were folded on Italian rye-grass. "Four days ago," writes the Alderman, "it was sewaged, having been prior to the former growth also guanoed. In four days it had grown from four to five inches, was of an intense green, and pronounced to be, by sharp practical men, just the food for lambs. Well, we put on our lambs, taking care to do so in the evenings after they had been well fed. My bailiff accompanied them, and, within five minutes, turning accidentally round, he saw two of the lambs with their heads in the air staggering (stomach staggers it is called) and frothing at the mouth. He immediately saw the mischief, removed the lambs, and on their way back to a bare fold some of them vomited the Italian rye-grass that they had just eaten, accompanied by frothy slime; others brought it up during the night. Some of them trembled, gaped, and showed all the same symptoms that my calves had done, such as rapid pulse, &c. Two or three of them are rather queer to-day. I hope that Professor Simmonds or some capable person will tell us how this is? If we mow this grass, bring it home, and cut it into chaff, all which tends to heat or dry it, it becomes wholesome food. The same remarks apply in degree to very succulent tares. If the Italian grass is brought home and given long and quite fresh to the calves, it will kill them. It does not appear to injure old ewes as it does lambs or shearlings. The dry weather has something to do with it. In wet weather the evil is much diminished, or disappears."
It is probable that the juice of this poisonous herbage was extremely rich in matters only semi-organised, and perhaps abounded in the crude substances from which the vegetable tissues are elaborated. Such rank grass as this was should not be used until it has attained to a tolerably developed state: in mature plants the juices contain more highly organised matters than are found in young vegetables.
TheSorghuo,or Holcus Saccharatus.—This plant, introduced to the notice of the British farmer but a few years ago, is only grown in these countries in small quantities. It is very rich in sugar, and cattle relish it greatly. Its composition, according to Dr. Voelcker, is as follows:—
The plants referred to in the above analysis were cut in September. It is found that the composition of the plant is very different at different seasons.
Green Ryeis employed as a forage crop, for which purpose it is well adapted. It is about equal in nutritive power to clover. According to Dr. Voelcker its composition is as follows:—
Buckwheatis occasionally cut in a green state and used as food for stock. Its composition, according to Einhof and Crome, is as follows:—
Rape is one of our most valuable plants for stock feeding. Two varieties are cultivated in these countries—the summer rape (Brassica Campestris oleifera) and winter rape (Brassica rapus). The great utility of rape arises from the circumstance of its being generally obtained as astolencrop; for otherwise it is not quite equal to other plants that might be substituted for it—cabbages, &c. This plant is very rich in oily matters, and has been found well adapted both for the feeding of cattle and the fattening of sheep. Its composition, according to Voelcker, is shown in this table:—
With respect to the value of rape for the feeding of stock in spring, Mr. Rham makes the following remarks:—
If the crop is very forward it may be slightly fed off, but in general it is best to let it remain untouched till spring. In the end of March and the beginning of April it will be a great help to the ewes and lambs. It will produce excellent food till it begins to be in flower, when it should immediately be ploughed up. The ground will be found greatly recruited by this crop, which has taken nothing from it, and has added much by the dung and urine of the sheep. Whatever be the succeeding crop, it cannot fail to be productive; and if the land is not clean, the farmer must have neglected the double opportunity of destroying weeds in the preceding summer, and in the early part of spring. If the rape is fed off in time, it may be succeeded by barley or oats, with clover or grass seeds, or potatoes, if the soil is not too wet. Thus no crop will be lost, and the rape will have been a clear addition to the produce of the land. Any crop which is taken off the land in a green state, especially if it be fed off with sheep, may be repeated without risk of failure, provided the land be properly tilled; but where cole or rape have produced seed, they cannot be profitably sown in less than five or six years after on the same land. The cultivation of rape or cole for spring food cannot be too strongly recommended to the farmers of heavy clay soils.
The Mustard Plantis occasionally used as food for sheep, for which purpose its composition shows it to be well adapted. Voelcker's analysis proves it to be very rich, relatively, in muscle-forming elements and in mineral matters; it might, therefore be with advantage combined with food relatively deficient in these principles.
The Prickly Comfreyhas been recommended as a good forage plant. It yields an abundant crop—or rather crops, for it may be cut several times in the year. The plant is a handsome one, and it might combine the useful with the ornamental if it were cultivated on demesne or villa farms. Dr. Voelcker states its composition to be as follows:—
Chicoryis used as a forage crop on the Continent, and Professor John Wilson surmises that it may yet be generally cultivated for this purpose in Great Britain. At present it is rarely grown except for the sake of its roots, which are used as partial substitutes for, or adulterants of, coffee.
Yarrow(Achillæa millefolium) is usually regarded as a weed, but sheep are very fond of it, and when they can get it, never fail to eat it greedily. It possesses astringent properties. Some writers have recommended it as a good crop for warrens and sands. Its composition, according to Way, is as follows:—
MelonsandMarrowshave been used, but to a very limited extent, as food for stock. Mr. Blundell advocates their use in seasons of drought. He states that he has obtained more than forty tons per acre of both melons and marrows. They are relished by horses, oxen, sheep, and pigs. Mr. Blundell's advocacy has not been attended with much success, but it would be desirable to give these vegetables a further trial.
Dr. Voelcker's analysis of the cattle melon shows that it contains:—
The Cabbage.—The composition of the Drumhead Cabbage has been studied by Dr. Anderson. He found a larger proportion of nutriment in the outer leaves than in the "heart," and ascertained that the young plants were richer in nutriment than those more advanced in age. His results show the desirability of cultivating the open-leaved, rather than the compact varieties of this plant.
According to Fromberg, the composition of the whole plant is as follows:—
Dr. Voelcker, who has more recently analysed the cattle cabbage, furnishes us with the following details of its composition:—
The fresh and the dry matter consisted of:—
In the following table the results of a more elaborate analysis of theheartand inner leaves are shown:—
If I were asked what plant I considered the most valuable for forage, I certainly should pronounce an opinion in favor of cabbage. This crop yields a much greater return than that afforded by the Swedish turnip, and it is richer in nutritive matter. Cabbages are greedily eaten by sheep and cattle, and the butter of cows fed upon them is quite free from the disagreeable flavor which it so often possesses when the food of the animal is chiefly composed of turnips. If the cabbage admitted of storing, no more valuable crop could be cultivated as food for stock.
Mr. John M'Laren, of Inchture, Scotland, gives in the "Transactions of the Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland for 1857," a report on the feeding value of cabbage, which is highly favorable to that plant:—
On the 1st December, 1855 (says the reporter), two lots of Leicester wethers, bred on the farm, and previously fed alike, each lot containing ten sheep, were selected for the trial by competent judges, and weighed. Both lots were put into a field of well-sheltered old lea, having a division between them. All the food was cut and given them in troughs, three times a day. They had also a constant supply of hay in racks.
At the end of the trial, on the 1st of March, 1856, the sheep were all re-weighed, sent to the Edinburgh market, and sold same day, but in their separate lots. As I had no opportunity of getting the dead weights, I requested Mr. Swan, the salesman, to give his opinion on their respective qualities. This was to the effect that no difference existed in their marketvalue, but that the sheep fed on turnips would turn out the best quality of mutton, with most profit for the butcher. Both lots were sold at the same price, viz., 52s. 6d. During the three months of trial, we found that each lot consumed about the same weight of food—viz., 8 tons 13 cwt. 47 lb. of cabbage, being at the rate of 211⁄3lbs. per day for each sheep, and 8 tons 10 cwt. 7 lb. Swedes, being at the rate of 209⁄10lb. per day.
It will be seen, by referring to the table (see next page), that in this trial the Swede has proved of higher value for feeding purposes than the cabbage, making 11 st. 4 lb. of gain in weight, whilst the cabbage made 10 st. 9 lb. At the same time, 3 cwt. 40 lb. less food were consumed; and taking the mutton gained at 6d. per lb., the Swedes consumed become worth 9s. 3¼d. per ton, while the gain on the cabbage, at the same rate, makes them worth 8s. 7d. per ton. But from the great additional weight of the one crop grown over the other, the balance, at the prices, c., mentioned, is in favor of the cabbage by £1 15s. 11¾d. per acre.
These results certainly speak strongly in favor of the cabbage; but the weight of the acreable crop of cabbages stated in the table appears to be unusually great. So heavy a crop is rarely obtained.
Furze(Gorse, or Whins).—Notwithstanding the natural historical knowledge of Goldsmith, his poetical description of the furze is far from accurate. This plant, instead of being "unprofitably gay," deserves to rank amongst the most valuable vegetables cultivated for the use of the domestic animals. It grows and flourishes under conditions which most injuriously affect almost every other kind of fodder and green crop. Prolonged drought in spring and early summer not unfrequently renders the hay crop a scanty one; while autumn and winter frosts change the nutriment of the mangels and turnips into decaying and unwholesome matter. Under such circumstances as these, the maintenance of cattle in good condition is very expensive, unless in places where a supply of furze is available. This plant is rather improved than otherwise by exposure to a temperature which would speedily destroy a mangel or a turnip; and, although it thrives best when abundantly supplied with rain, it can survive an exceedingly prolonged drought without sustaining much injury.
The furze is a member of the familyLeguminosæ, which includes so many useful plants, such as, for example, the pea, the bean, and the clovers. There are three varieties of it met with in this country—namely, the common furze,Ulex europæus, the dwarf furze,Ulex nanus, and the Irish, or upright furze,Ulex strictus.
The common furze is a hardy shrub, and grows luxuriantly at an elevation far higher than the limits of cereal cultivation. It flourishes on any kind of soil which is moderately dry, and heavy crops may easily be raised on uplands almost incapable of producing grass. The dwarf furze is never cultivated, but as it grows at a still greater elevation, and on a poorer soil than the larger varieties, it might be profitably cultivated on very high uplands. The Irish furze yields a softer and less prickly food than the other kinds, but as it does not usually bear seed, and must therefore be propagated by cuttings, its cultivation has hitherto been limited to but a few localities.
The produce of an acre of furze appears to be at least equal to that of an acre of good meadow. The Rev. Mr. Townsend of Aghada, county of Cork—the most zealous and successful advocate for the cultivation of this plant—informed me that he had obtained so much as 14 tons per acre; a fact which proves that the furze is a plant which is well deserving of the attention of the farmer.