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* * * * *
[Illustration: frontispiece]
DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
OF THE
HORSE, MULE, CATTLE, SHEEP, SWINE,
POULTRY, AND FARM DOGS.
WITH DIRECTIONS FOR
THEIR MANAGEMENT, BREEDING, CROSSING, REARING,
FEEDING, AND PREPARATION FOR A
PROFITABLE MARKET
ALSO,
THEIR DISEASES, AND REMEDIES.
TOGETHER WITH
FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE DAIRY.
BY R. L. ALLEN,
AUTHOR OF "COMPEND OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE," ETC.
NEW-YORK:
ORANGE JUDD, 41 PARK ROW.
AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER.
1865.
Entered according to an Act of Congress in the year 1847
By RICHARD L. ALLEN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
INTRODUCTION.
The object of the following work, on the History, Breeding, Management,
Diseases, &c., of Domestic Animals, is to afford the Stock-breeder and
Grazier a connected view of the entire subject in which he has so deep
an interest. The writer has endeavored to compress within the limited
space assumed as necessary to secure a general circulation and perusal,
such principles and practice, and give to each that relative prominence,
which it becomes the practical man to observe, to realize the greatest
amount of value for the labor and capital devoted to his pursuits.
Their history is essential, as it shows their introduction into the
United States, their progress during the various stages of their
improvement, and the comparative value of the improved and ordinary
breeds. A knowledge of the best mode of breeding and management is of
still higher importance. The first will enable the breeder to preserve
the high character of the animals in his hands, or perhaps still farther
to advance them; while proper management and feeding will prevent that
deterioration and loss from disease, which frequently subtract so much
from his profits.
A larger space has been purposely devoted to the last topics, in
preference to the subject of diseases, as prevention is not only less
troublesome than cure, but much more economical. Feeding and management,
after breeding, are really the important objects in view to the
Stock-breeder and Grazier, for if these be judiciously attended to,
disease among the herds will rarely be known.
The subject of animal diseases is complicated and little understood; and
to be properly comprehended, requires years close, intelligent study,
under every advantage for obtaining the necessary information. Nearly
every disorder assumes various shades of difference, and to remove it
effectually a corresponding change of treatment is required. How absurd
then the idea, that a compilation of formal remedies, administered by an
unskilful or inexperienced manager, will be of material service in
rescuing his herds or flocks from the ravages of disease. All that can
consistently be done, is to give a few simple remedies for the most
common and well-known ailments, and leave to nature or a professional
farrier, such as are more complex or unusual.
This work (with many subsequent and important additions) constitutes a
small part of the "Compend of American Agriculture," the favorable
reception of which, though but recently given to the public, has induced
the writer to offer this important division of the subject in its
present detached form.
New York, November, 1847
INDEX.
PAGE
Animals, domestic, reared in the U. States 9
their number and value 9
their improvement 10
adaptation to various objects 10
general form and characteristics 13
the lungs 14
respiration 14
effects of 17
perspiration 18
food which supplies respiration 18
circumstances which augment respiration 19
food 21
purposes fulfilled by food 22
nutritive qualities for various animals 23
profit of feeding 23
See CATTLE, SHEEP, &c.
Ass, the 181
varieties 181
characteristics 182
breeding in the U. States 182
as a beast of burden 183
Breeding--principles of 11
See CATTLE, SHEEP, &c.
Cattle--neat or horned 26
various domestic breeds 26
native cattle 27
Devons 29
short horns 30
Herefords 35
Ayrshire 38
management of calves 39
breeding 41
breaking steers 42
management of oxen 42
fattening and stall-feeding 45
Diseases 41, 50
hoven 50
choking 52
inflammation of stomach 52
mange or scab 52
horn-ail--jaundice 53
mad-itch--bloody murrain 54
hoof-ail 55
loss of cud--scours or diarrh[oe]a--warbles or
grubs--wounds--puerperal or milk-fever 56
caked bags--garget--sore teats--warts 57
Cows for dairy 60
management of 61
milking 61
See DAIRY.
Comparative value of oxen and horses 190
Churns 69
Dairy, the 60
Dairy--selection and management of cows 60, 61
milking 61
properties of milk 62
variations in 63
cream--clouted ditto 65
Making butter from sour, sweet, and clouted cream 66, 67
sourness of cream 68
quickness in churning 68
over-churning 69
temperature of milk and cream 69
advantages of churn'g the whole 69
cleanliness in churning 70
premium butter, how made 70
Orange county do. do. 71
Making cheese, how effected 72
creamed and uncreamed 73
buttermilk cheese 73
whey do. 74
vegetable substances added 74
preparation of rennet 75
different qualities of cheese 77
warming the milk 77
quality of rennet 78
quantity of rennet 78
treatment of curd 79
separation of whey 80
cheese, salting 81
addition of cream 81
size of cheese 81
mode of curing 82
ammoniacal cheese 82
inoculating do. 82
premium cheese, how made 83
Ducks--see POULTRY.
Farm dogs 207-214
Feeding defined 21
See CATTLE, SHEEP, &c.
Food, comparative nutritive qualities of 22
how given, purposes fulfilled by it 22
changes in 24
See ANIMALS, PRODUCTS, &c.
Geese--see POULTRY.
Guinea-hen--see ditto.
Hens--see POULTRY.
Hinny--see ASS.
Horse--the Arabian and Barb 138
the English 139
American 141
Arabians in America 139, 140
Ranger, the Barb--Bussorah--Narraganset pacers--Messenger,
imported 140
Morgan horses 142
Canadian and Spanish 143
Conestoga 143
Norman 144
Cart, Cleveland bay, Belfounder 145
Eclipse, American 141
points of 146
habits 147
breeding 148
management of colts 149
breaking 150
longevity, feeding 151
Diseases 154
glanders 154
lampas, heaves, &c. 155
catarrh or distemper, spasmodic colic 156
flatulent colic 158
inflammation of bowels 159
physicking 162
worms 164
bots 164
wind-galls 165
the fetlock 166
cutting 166
sprain of the coffin-joint--ringbone 167
enlargement of the hock 168
curb 168
bone-spavin--swelled legs 170
grease 171
setons 173
founder--poison from weeds 174
inflammation of the eyes 175
stings of hornets, &c. 175
sprain 175
bruises--fistula 176
wounds--galls 176
shoeing, contraction of the foot 176
corns 177
over-reach, forging or clicking 178
the bearing-rein 178
the bit 179
stables 180
comparative labor with oxen 190
Mule, the--breeding in the U. S. 183
rearing and management 184
advantages over horse labor 185
valuable qualities 185
enduringness of 186
in California 188
economy of mule-labor 189
Poultry--their value 214
Hens--constituent of eggs 214
food 215
general management 216
the poultry-house 218
varieties 220, 221
diseases 222
Turkey, the 223
breeding and management 223
Peacock, the 224
Goose, the--varieties--breeding 225
feeding and food 225
Ducks--feeding--varieties 226
breeding and rearing 227
Sheep, the 84
uses of--importance of 85
varieties of wild--domesticated 87
native 89
Merino, the, history of 90
exportation from Spain 92
importation into the U. States 93
varieties 94
Saxon, the 96
Rambouillet, the 99
history of Merino in U. States 101
improvements of 102
peculiarities of 103
breeding 104
localities for rearing 106
South-Down, the, history of 106
Cheviot, the 109
Long-wools, the 110
improvement of the Bakewell 110
improvement of Cotswold and Lincolnshire 112
peculiarities of the Long-wools 113
importation into the U. States 113
breeding sheep 113
Winter management 116
sheep-barns and sheds 116
racks, mangers, and troughs 117
food 118
management of ewes, yeaning 119
management of lambs 119
castrating and docking 120
tagging or clatting 121
Summer management and food 121
washing 122
shearing 124
smearing and salving 125
weaning 126
drafting 126
stall feeding--management on the prairies 127
Diseases 128
diarrh[oe]a or scours 129
looseness in lambs, dysentery 130
hoven, braxy 130
costiveness, stretches, poison, inflammation of lungs, rot 131
foot-rot 132
flies, maggots, gad-fly 133
swollen mouth, foul noses, weakness, scab 134
ticks, pelt-rot, staggers or sturdy 135
abortion, garget, bleeding 136
wounds 137
to protect from wolves and foxes 138
Shepherd's dog 209
Swine 192
various breeds 194
breeding and rearing 198
rearing and fattening, large weights 199
treatment of food 201
products of the carcass 202
lard oil, how made 203
slearine and oleine 203
curing pork and hams 203
Diseases 204
coughs and inflammation of the lungs, costiveness, itch,
kidney-worm 205
blind staggers 206
Wild Boar 193
DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS--GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING, NUTRITION,
MANAGEMENT, &c.
The principal domestic animals reared for economical purposes in the
United States, are Horned or neat cattle, the Horse, the Mule, Sheep,
and Swine. A few Asses are bred, but for no other object than to keep up
the supply of jacks for propagating mules. We have also goats, rabbits,
and the house domestics, the dog and cat; the two former, only in very
limited numbers, but both the latter much beyond our legitimate wants.
There have been a few specimens of the Alpaca imported, and an
arrangement is now in progress for the introduction of a flock of
several hundred, which, if distributed among intelligent and wealthy
agriculturists, as proposed, will test their value for increasing our
agricultural resources. We shall confine ourselves to some general
considerations, connected with the first-mentioned and most important of
our domestic animals.
Their number as shown by the agricultural statistics collected in 1839,
by order of our General Government, was 15,000,000 neat cattle;
4,335,000 horses and mules, (the number of each not being specified;)
19,311,000 sheep; and 26,300,000 swine. There is much reason to question
the entire accuracy of these returns, yet there is doubtless an
approximation to the truth. Sheep have greatly increased since that
period, and would probably number, the present year, (1848,) not less
than 30,000,000; and if our own manufactures continue to thrive, and we
should moreover become wool exporters, of which there is now a
reasonable prospect, an accurate return for 1850, will undoubtedly give
us not less than 33,000,000 for the entire Union. There has been a great
increase in the value of the other animals enumerated, but not in a
ratio corresponding with that of sheep. This is not only manifest in
their augmented numbers, but in the gradual and steady improvement of
the species.
It may be safely predicted, that this improvement will not only be
sustained, but largely increased; for there are some intelligent and
spirited breeders to be found in every section of the country, whose
liberal exertions and successful examples are doing much for this
object. Wherever intelligence and sound judgment are to be found, it
will be impossible long to resist the effects of a comparison between
animals, which, on an equal quantity of the same food, with the same
attention and in the same time, will return 50, 20, or even 10 per cent.
more in their intrinsic value or marketable product, than the ordinary
class. This improvement has been, relatively, most conspicuous in the
Western and Southern states; not that the present average of excellence
in their animals surpasses, or even reaches that of the North and East;
but the latter have long been pursuing this object, with more or less
energy, and they have for many years had large numbers of excellent
specimens of each variety; while with few exceptions, if we exclude the
blood-horse or racing nag, the former have, till recently, paid
comparatively little attention to the improvement of their domestic
animals. The spirit for improvement through extensive sections, is now
awakened, and the older settled portions of the country may hereafter
expect competitors, whose success will be fully commensurate with their
own. Before going into the management of the different varieties, we
will give some general principles and remarks applicable to the
treatment of all.
_The purpose for which animals are required_, should be first
determined, before selecting such as may be necessary either for
breeding or use. Throughout the Northeastern states, cows for the dairy,
oxen for the yoke, and both for the butcher, are wanted. In much of the
West and South, beef alone is the principal object; while the dairy is
neglected, and the work of the ox is seldom relied on, except for
occasional drudgery.
Sheep may be wanted almost exclusively for the fleece, or for the fleece
and heavy mutton, or in the neighborhood of markets, for large early
lambs. The pastures and winter food, climate, and other conditions,
present additional circumstances, which should be well considered before
determining on the particular breed, either of cattle or sheep, that
will best promote the interest of the farmer.
The kind of work for which the horse may be wanted, whether as a
roadster, for the saddle, as a heavy team horse, or the horse of all
work, must be first decided, before selecting the form or character of
the animal.
The range of pig excellence is more circumscribed, as it is only
necessary to breed such as will yield the greatest amount of valuable
carcass, within the shortest time, and with the least expense.
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING.
All breeding is founded on the principle, that _like begets like_. This
is, however, liable to some exceptions, and is much more generally true
when _breeding down_ than when _breeding up_. If two animals (which can
never be exactly similar in all respects) are requisite to the
perpetuation of the species, it necessarily results, that the progeny
must differ in a more or less degree from each parent. With wild
animals, and such of the domestic as are allowed to propagate without
the interference of art, and whose habits, treatment, and food are
nearly similar to their natural condition, the change through successive
generations is scarcely perceptible. It is only when we attempt to
improve their good qualities, that it is essential carefully to
determine, and rigidly to apply, what are adopted as the present
scientific principles of breeding. We cannot believe that we have
penetrated beyond the mere threshold of this art. Unless, then, we
launch into experiments, which are necessarily attended with
uncertainty, our duty will be, to take for our guide the most successful
practice of modern times, until further discoveries enable us to modify
or add to such as are already known and adopted. We may assume, then, as
the present rules for this art,
1st. That the animals selected for breed, should unite in themselves all
the good qualities we wish to perpetuate in the offspring.
2d. These qualities, technically called _points_, should be inbred in
the animals as far as practicable, by a long line of descent from
parents similarly constituted. The necessity for this rule is evident
from the fact, that in mixing different species, and especially
mongrels, with a long-established breed, the latter will most strongly
stamp the issue with its own peculiarities. This is forcibly illustrated
in the case of the Devon cattle, an ancient race, whose color, form, and
characteristics are strikingly perpetuated, sometimes to the sixth or
even a later generation. So far is this principle carried by many
experienced breeders, that they will use an animal of indifferent
external appearance, but of approved descent, (_blood_,) in preference
to a decidedly superior one, whose pedigree is imperfect.
3d. All the conditions of soil, situation, climate, treatment, and food,
should be favorable to the object sought.
4th. As a general rule, the female should be relatively larger than the
male. This gives ample room for the perfect development of the f[oe]tus,
easy parturition, and a large supply of milk for the offspring, at a
period in its existence, when food has a greater influence in perfecting
character and form, than at any subsequent time.
5th. Exceptions to this rule may be made, when greater size is required
than can be obtained from the female, and especially when more vigor and
hardiness of constitution are desirable. For this purpose, strong
masculine development in the sire is proper, and if otherwise
unattainable, something of coarseness may be admitted, as this may be
afterwards corrected, and nothing will atone for want of constitution
and strength.
6th. Pairing should be with a strict reference to correcting the
imperfections of one animal, by a corresponding excellence in the other.
7th. _Breeding in-and-in_, or propagating from animals nearly allied,
may be tolerated under certain circumstances, though seldom; and only in
extreme cases between those of the same generation, as brother and
sister. When the animal possesses much stamina and peculiar merit, which
it is desired to perpetuate in the breed, it may be done either in the
ascending or descending line, as in breeding the son to the parent, or
the parent to his own progeny. This has been practised with decided
advantage, and in some cases has even been continued successively, as
low as the sixth generation.
8th. It is always better to avoid close relationship, by the selection
of equally meritorious stock-getters of the same breed, from other
sources.
9th. Wholesome, nutritious food, at all times sufficient to keep the
animals steadily advancing, should be provided, but they must never be
allowed to get fat. Of the two evils, starving is preferable to surfeit.
Careful treatment, and the absence of disease, must be always fully
considered.
10th. Animals should never be allowed to breed either too early or too
late in life. These periods cannot be arbitrarily laid down, but must
depend on their time of maturity, the longevity of the breed, and the
stamina of the individual.
11th. No violent cross, or mixing of distinct breeds, should ever be
admitted for the purposes of perpetuation, as of cattle of diverse
sizes; horses of unlike characters; the Merino and the long-wools, or
even the long, or short, and the middle-wools. For carcass and
constitution, these crosses are unexceptionable; and it is a practice
very common in this country, and judicious enough where the whole
produce is early destined for the shambles. But when the progeny are
designed for breeders, the practice should be branded with unqualified
reprehension.
GENERAL FORM AND CHARACTERISTICS.
Within certain limits, these may be reduced to a common standard. All
animals should have a good head, well set up; a clean fine muzzle, and a
blight, clear and full, yet perfectly placid eye. With the exception of
the dog and cat, whose original nature is ferocity, and whose whole
life, unless diverted from their natural instincts, is plunder and prey;
and the jockey racehorse, which is required to take the purse, at any
hazard of life or limb to the groom; a mild, quiet eye is indispensable
to the profitable use of the domestic brute. The neck should be well
formed, not too long, tapering to its junction with the head, and
gradually enlarging to a firm, well-expanded attachment to the back,
shoulders, and breast. The back or chine should be short, straight, and
broad; the ribs springing out from the backbone nearly at right angles,
giving a rounded appearance to the carcass, and reaching well behind to
a close proximity to the hip; tail well set on, and full at its junction
with the body, yet gradually tapering to fineness; thighs, fore-arms,
and crops well developed; projecting breast or brisket; the fore-legs
straight, and hind ones properly bent, strong and full where attached to
the carcass, but small and tapering below; good and sound joints; dense,
strong bones, but not large; plenty of fine muscle in the right places;
and hair or wool, fine and soft. The chest in all animals should be
full, for it will be invariably found, that only such will do the most
work, or fatten easiest on the least food.
The Lungs.
From the last-mentioned principle, founded on long experience and
observation, Cline inferred, and he has laid it down as an
incontrovertible position, that the lungs should always be large; and
Youatt expresses the same opinion. This is undoubtedly correct as to
working beasts, the horse and the ox, which require full and free
respiration, to enable them to sustain great muscular efforts. But later
physiologists have assumed, perhaps from closer and more accurate
observations, that the fattening propensity is in the ratio of the
smallness of the lungs. Earl Spencer has observed, that this is fully
shown in the pig, the sheep, the ox, and the horse, whose aptitude to
fatten and smallness of lungs, are in the order enumerated.
This position is further illustrated by the different breeds of the same
classes of animals. The Leicester sheep have smaller lungs than the
South Down; and it has been found, that a number of the former, on a
given quantity of food, and in the same time, reached 28 lbs. a quarter,
while the South Downs with a greater consumption of food, attained in
the same period, only 18 lbs. The Chinese pigs have much smaller lungs
than the Irish, and the former will fatten to a given weight, on a much
less quantity of food than the latter. (_Playfair._) The principle would
seem to be corroborated by the fact, that animals generally fatten
faster in proportion to the quantity of food they consume, as they
advance towards a certain stage of maturity; during all which time, the
secretion of internal fat is gradually compressing the size, by reducing
the room for the action of the lungs. Hence, the advantage of carrying
the fattening beast to an advanced point, by which not only the quality
of carcass is improved, but the quantity is relatively greater for the
amount of food consumed. These views are intimately connected, and fully
correspond, with the principles of
RESPIRATION IN ANIMALS.
From careful experiments, it has been found that all animals daily
consume a much larger quantity of food than the aggregate of what may
have been retained in the system, added to what has been expelled in the
f[oe]ces and urine, and what has escaped by perspiration. Boussingault,
who combines the characteristics of an ingenious chemist, a vigilant
observer, and a practical agriculturist, made an experiment with a
"milch-cow and a full-grown horse, which were placed in stalls so
contrived that the droppings and the urine could be collected without
loss. Before being made the subjects of experiment, the animals were
ballasted or fed for a month with the same ration that was furnished to
them, during the three days and three nights which they passed in the
experimental stalls. During the month, the weight of the animals did not
vary sensibly, a circumstance which happily enables us to assume that
neither did the weight vary during the seventy-two hours when they were
under especial observation.
The cow was foddered with after-math, hay, and potatoes; the horse with
the same hay and oats. The quantities of forage were accurately weighed,
and their precise degree of moistness and their composition were
determined from average samples. The water drunk was measured, its
saline and earthy constituents having been previously ascertained. The
excrementitious matters passed, were of course collected with the
greatest care; the excrements, the urine, and the milk were weighed, and
the constitution of the whole estimated from elementary analyses of
average specimens of each. The results of the two experiments are given
in the table on the next page.
The oxygen and hydrogen that are not accounted for in the sum of the
products have not disappeared in the precise proportions requisite to
form water; the excess of hydrogen amounts to as many as from 13 to 15
dwts. It is probable that this hydrogen of the food became changed into
water by combining during respiration with the oxygen of the air."
FOOD CONSUMED BY THE HORSE IN 24 HOURS.
Key to columns:
[F] = Forage.
[W] = Weight in the wet state
[D] = Weight in the dry state
-----+---+-------+-----------------------------------------------------------
| | | Elementary Matter in the Food.
[F] |[W]| [D] |-------+------------+------------+------------+------------
| | | | | | |Salts and
| | |Carbon.| Hydrogen. | Oxygen. | Azote. | Earths.
-----+---+-------+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------
|lb.|lb. oz.|lb. oz.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.
Hay |20 |17 4 | 7 11 | 0 10 7 | 6 8 8 | 0 3 2 | 1 6 14
Oats | 6 | 5 2 | 2 7 | 0 3 18 | 1 10 14 | 0 1 7 | 0 2 10
Water|43 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 0 0 8
Total|69 |22 6 |10 6 | 1 2 5 | 8 7 2 | 0 4 9 | 1 9 12
-----+---+-------+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------
PRODUCTS VOIDED BY THE HORSE IN 24 HOURS.
-----------------+------------+------------+ ...
| | |
| Weight in | Weight in |
[P]=Products. | the wet | the dry |
| state. | state. |
-----------------+------------+------------+
|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|
[U]=Urine | 3 6 15 | 9 9 14 |
[E]=Excrements |38 2 2 | 9 5 6 |
-----------------+------------+------------+
[T]= Total |71 8 17 |10 3 0 |
[F]=Total matter}|69 0 0 |22 6 0 |
of the food}| | |
+------------+------------+
[D]=Difference |27 3 3 |12 3 0 |
-----------------+------------+------------+ ...
----+----------------------------------------------------------------
| Elementary Matter in the Products.
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[P] | | | | |Salts and
| Carbon. | Hydrogen. | Oxygen. | Azote. | Earths.
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.
[U] | 0 3 10 | 0 0 7 | 0 1 2 | 0 1 4 | 0 3 10
[E] | 3 7 17 | 0 5 15 | 3 6 14 | 0 2 10 | 1 6 10
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[T] | 3 11 7 | 0 6 2 | 3 7 16 | 0 3 14 | 1 10 0
[F] |10 6 0 | 1 2 5 | 8 7 2 | 0 4 9 | 1 9 12
| | | |
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[D] | 6 6 13 | 0 8 3 | 4 11 6 | 0 0 15 | 0 0 12
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
WATER CONSUMED BY THE HORSE |WATER VOIDED BY THE HORSE
IN 24 HOURS. | IN 24 HOURS.
------------------+---------------+--------------------+------------
| lbs. oz. | | lbs. oz.
With the hay | 2 3 |With the urine | 2 6
With the oats | 0 14 |With the excrements | 23 8
Taken as drink | 35 3 | |
+---------------| |------------
Total consumed | 38 4 | Total voided | 25 14
|Water consumed | 38 4
| |------------
Water exhaled by pulmonary and cutaneous transpiration | 12 6
-------------------------------------------------------+------------
* * * * *
FOOD CONSUMED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS.
-------------------+------------+------------+ ...
| | |
[F]=Fodder. | Weight in | Weight in |
| the wet | the dry |
| state. | state. |
-------------------+------------+------------+
|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|
[P]=Potatoes | 40 2 5 |11 2 1 |
[H]=After-math hay | 20 1 2 |16 11 0 |
[W]=Water |160 0 0 | ... |
+------------+------------+
[T]= Total |220 3 7 |28 1 1 |
-------------------+------------+------------+ ...
----+----------------------------------------------------------------
| Elementary Matter in the Food.
[F] +------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
| | | | |Salts and
| Carbon. | Hydrogen. | Oxygen. | Azote. | Earths.
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.
[P] | 4 11 2 | 0 7 15 | 4 10 17 | 0 1 12 | 0 6 13
[H] | 7 11 11 | 0 11 7 | 5 10 17 | 0 4 17 | 1 8 6
[W] | ... | ... | ... | ... | 0 1 12
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[T] |12 10 13 | 1 7 2 |10 9 14 | 0 6 9 | 2 4 11
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
PRODUCTS VOIDED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS.
------------------------+-------------+------------+ ...
| | |
| Weight in | Weight in |
[P]=Products. | the wet | the dry |
| state. | state. |
------------------------+-------------+------------+
| lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|
[E]=Excrements | 76 1 9 |10 8 12 |
[U]=Urine | 21 11 12 | 2 6 17 |
[M]=Milk | 22 10 10 | 3 1 0 |
+-------------+------------+
[T]=Total |120 11 11 |16 4 9 |
[F]= " matter of food |220 3 7 |28 1 1 |
+-------------+------------+
[D]=Difference | 99 3 16 |11 8 12 |
------------------------+-------------+------------+ ...
----+----------------------------------------------------------------
| Elementary Matter in the Products.
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[P] | | | | |Salts and
| Carbon. | Hydrogen. | Oxygen. | Azote. |Earths.
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.|lb. oz. dwt.
[E] | 4 7 0 | 0 6 13 | 4 0 9 | 0 2 19 | 1 3 8
[U] | 0 8 7 | 0 0 16 | 0 8 3 | 0 1 3 | 1 0 6
[M] | 1 8 3 | 0 3 3 | 0 10 6 | 0 1 9 | 0 1 16
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[T] | 6 11 10 | 0 10 12 | 5 6 18 | 9 5 11 | 2 5 10
[F] |12 10 13 | 1 7 2 |10 9 14 | 0 6 9 | 2 4 11
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
[D] | 5 11 3 | 0 8 10 | 5 2 16 | 0 0 18 | 0 0 19
----+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
WATER CONSUMED BY THE COW | WATER VOIDED BY THE COW
IN 24 HOURS. | IN 24 HOURS.
------------------------+------------+----------------------+-----------
| lbs. oz. | | lbs. oz.
With the potatoes | 23 12 |With the excrements | 53 10
With the hay | 2 9 |With the urine | 15 14
Taken as drink | 132 0 |With the milk | 16 3
+------------+ +-----------
Total consumed | 158 5 | Total voided | 85 11
|Water consumed | 158 5
+-----------
Water passed off by pulmonary and cutaneous transpiration | 79 2
We here perceive a large loss of water, carbon, hydrogen, &c. Nearly all
this loss of carbon and hydrogen escaped by respiration, while most of
the water, oxygen, nitrogen, and salts, passed off in perspiration. In
further illustration of the subject of respiration, Liebig says, "from
the accurate determination of the quantity of carbon daily taken into
the system in the food, as well as of that proportion of it which passes
out of the body in the f[oe]ces and urine, _unburned_, that is, in some
form uncombined with oxygen, it appears that an adult taking moderate
exercise, consumes 13.9 oz. of carbon daily." The foregoing are facts in
the animal economy, capable of vast practical bearing in the management
of our domestic animals. But before following out these principles to
their application, let us briefly examine
The Effects of Respiration.
We have seen from the experiment of Boussingault, that there is a loss
of 6 lbs. 6 oz. of carbon, and 8 oz. 3 dwt. of hydrogen in the food of
the horse, and something less in that of the cow, every 24 hours, which
has not been left in the system, nor has it escaped by the evacuations.
What has become of so large an amount of solid matter? It has escaped
through the lungs and been converted into air. The carbon and hydrogen
of the food have undergone those various transformations which are
peculiar to the animal economy, digestion, assimilation, &c., which it
is not necessary, nor will our limits permit us here to explain; and
they appear at last in the veinous blood, which in the course of its
circulation is brought into the cells of the lungs. The air inhaled is
sent through every part of their innumerable meshes, and is there
separated from the blood, only by the delicate tissues or membranes
which enclose it. A portion of the carbon and hydrogen escapes from the
blood into the air-cells, and at the instant of their contact with the
air, they affect a chemical union with its oxygen, forming carbonic acid
and the vapor of water, which is then expired, and a fresh supply of
oxygen is inhaled. This operation is again repeated, through every
successive moment of animal existence.
Besides other purposes which it is probably designed to subserve, but
which have hitherto eluded the keenest research of chemical physiology,
one obvious result of respiration is, the elevation of the temperature
of the animal system. By the ever-operating laws of nature, this
chemical union of two bodies in the formation of a third, disengages
latent heat, which taking place in contact with the blood, is by it
diffused throughout the whole frame. The effect is precisely analogous
to the combustion of fuel, oils, &c., in the open air.
Perspiration
Is the counteracting agent which modifies this result, and prevents the
injurious effects, which, under exposure to great external heat, would
ensure certain destruction. And this too, it will have been seen, is
provided at the expense of the animal food. When from excessive heat,
caused by violent exercise or otherwise, by which respiration is
accelerated and the animal temperature becomes elevated, the papillae of
the skin pour the limpid fluid through their innumerable ducts, which in
its conversion into vapor, seize upon the animal heat and remove it from
the system, producing that delicious coolness so grateful to the
laboring man and beast in a sultry summer's day. These two opposing
principles, like the antagonistic operations of the regulator in
mechanics, keep up a perfect balance in the vital machine, and enable
that entire division of the animal creation, distinguished as
warm-blooded, including man and the brute, all the feathered tribes, the
whale, the seal, the walrus, &c., to maintain an equilibrium of
temperature, whether under the equator or the poles; on the peaks of
Chimborazo, the burning sands of Zahara, or plunged in the depths of the
Arctic Ocean.
The connection between the size of the lungs, and the aptitude of
animals to fatten, will be more apparent from the fact, that the carbon
and hydrogen which are abstracted, constitute two of the only three
elements of fat. The larger size, the fuller play, and the greater
activity of the lungs, by exhausting more of the materials of fat, must
necessarily diminish its formation in the animal system; unless it can
be shown, which has never yet been done, that the removal of a portion
of the fat-forming principles accelerates the assimilation of the
remainder.
The Food which supplies Respiration.
This, in the herbivorous animals, after they are deprived of the milk,
which furnishes it in abundance, is the starch, gum, sugar, vegetable
fats, and oils that exist in the vegetables, grain, and roots which they
consume; and in certain cases where there is a deficiency of other
food, it is sparingly furnished in woody and cellular fibre. All these
substances constitute the principal part of dry vegetable food, and are
made up of three elements, _which in starch, gum, cane-sugar, and
cellular fibre, exist in precisely the same proportions_, viz: 44 per
cent. of carbon, 6.2 of hydrogen, and 40.8 of oxygen.
Grape sugar, woody fibre, and vegetable and animal fats and oils are
made up of the same elements, but in different proportions, the last
containing much more carbon and hydrogen than those above specified. In
the fattening animals, it is supposed the vegetable fats and oils are
immediately transferred to the fat cells, undergoing only such slight
modification as perfectly adapts them to the animal economy, while
respiration is supplied by the other enumerated vegetable matters. If
these last are taken into the stomach beyond the necessary demand for
its object, they too are converted by the animal functions into fat, and
are stored up in the system for future use. But if the supply of the
latter is insufficient for respiration, it first appropriates the
vegetable fat contained in the food; if this is deficient, it draws on
the accumulated stores of animal fat already secreted in the system, and
when these too are exhausted, it seizes upon what is contained in the
tissues and muscle. When the animal commences drawing upon its own
resources for the support of its vital functions, deterioration begins;
and if long continued, great emaciation succeeds, which is soon followed
by starvation and death.
The carnivorous animals are furnished with their respiratory excretions,
from the animal fat and fibre which exist in their food, and which the
herbivorae had previously abstracted from the vegetable creation.
Circumstances which augment Respiration.
These are, exercise, cold, and an abundant supply of food. Exercise,
besides exhausting the materials of fat, produces a waste of fibre and
tissue, the muscular and nitrogenized parts of the animal system; and it
is obvious from the foregoing principles, that cold requires a
corresponding demand for carbon and hydrogen to keep up the vital
warmth. The consumption of food to the fullest extent required for
invigorating the frame, creates a desire for activity, and it insensibly
induces full respiration. The well-fed, active man, unconsciously draws
a full, strong breath; while the abstemious and the feeble, unwittingly
use it daintily, as if it were a choice commodity not to be lavishly
expended. If the first be observed when sleep has effectually arrested
volition, the expanded chest will be seen, heaving with the long-drawn,
sonorous breath; while that of the latter will exhibit the gentle repose
of the infant on its mother's breast.
The difference between the food of the inhabitants of the polar and
equatorial regions, is strikingly illustrative of the demands both for
breathing and perspiration. The latter are almost destitute of clothing,
and subsist on their light, juicy, tropical fruits, which contain
scarcely 12 per cent. of carbon, yet furnish all the elements for
abundant perspiration; while the former are imbedded in furs, and devour
gallons of train oil or its equivalent of fat, which contains nearly 80
per cent. of carbon, that is burnt up in respiration to maintain a
necessary warmth.
The bear retires to his den in the beginning of winter, loaded with fat,
which he has accumulated from the rich, oily mast abounding in the woods
in autumn. There he lies for months, snugly coiled and perfectly
dormant; the thickness of his shaggy coat, his dry bed of leaves, and
well-protected den, effectually guarding him from cold, which in
addition to his want of exercise, draw slightly upon respiration to keep
up the vital heat. When the stores of carbon and hydrogen contained in
the fat are expended, his hunger and cold compel him to leave his
winter-quarters, again to wander in pursuit of food.
Many of the swallow tribes, in like manner, hybernate in large hollow
trees, and for months eke out a torpid, scarcely perceptible existence,
independent of food. Activity and full respiration, on the return of
spring, demand a support, which is furnished in the myriads of flies
they daily consume. The toad and frog have repeatedly been found in a
torpid state, imbedded in limestones, sandstones, and the breccias,
where they were probably imprisoned for thousands of years without a
morsel of food; yet when exposed to the warmth of the vital air and the
stimulus of its oxygen, they have manifested all the activity of their
species. This they are enabled to sustain only by an enormous
consumption of insects.
Dr. Playfair states, that in an experiment made by Lord Ducie, 100 sheep
were placed in a shed, and ate 20 pounds of Swedes turnips each per day;
another 100 were placed in the open air, and ate 25 pounds per day; yet
the former, which had one-fifth less food, weighed, after a few weeks,
three pounds more per head than the latter. He then fed five sheep in
the open air, between the 21st November and 1st December. They consumed
90 pounds of food per day, the temperature being at 44 deg., and at the end
of this time, they weighed two pounds less than when first exposed. Five
sheep were then placed under a shed, and allowed to run about in a
temperature of 49 deg.. At first they consumed 82 pounds per day; then 70
pounds, and at the end of the time they had gained 23 pounds. Again,
five sheep were placed under a shed as before, and not allowed to take
any exercise. They ate at first, 64 pounds of food per day, then 58
pounds, and increased in weight 30 pounds. Lastly, five sheep were kept
quiet and covered, and in the dark. They ate 35 pounds per day, and
increased eight pounds.
Mr. Childers states, that 80 Leicester sheep in the open field, consumed
50 baskets of cut turnips per day, besides oil-cake. On putting them in
a shed, they were immediately able to consume only 30 baskets, and soon
after but 25, being only half the quantity required before, and yet they
fattened as rapidly as when eating the largest quantity. The minimum of
food, then, required for the support of animals, is attained when
closely confined in a warm, dark shelter; and the maximum, when running
at large, exposed to all weathers.
THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS.
This should be regulated by a variety of considerations. The young which
may be destined for maturity, should be supplied with milk from the dam
until weaning-time. No food can be substituted for the well-filled udder
of the parent, which is so safe, healthful, and nutritious. If from any
cause there is deficiency or total privation, it must be made up by that
kind of food, meal-gruel, &c., which, in its composition, approaches
nearest in quality to the milk. At a more advanced age, or the time for
weaning, grass, hay, roots, or grain, may be substituted, in quantities
sufficient to maintain a steady but _not a forced growth_. Stuffing can
only be tolerated in animals which are speedily destined for the
slaughter. Alternately improving and falling back, is injurious to all
stock. _An animal should never be fat but once._ Especially is high
feeding bad for breeding animals. Much as starving is to be deprecated,
the prejudicial effects of repletion are still greater. The calf or lamb
intended for the butcher, may be pushed forward with all possible
rapidity. Horses or colts should never exceed a good working or breeding
condition.
Purposes fulfilled by different Kinds of Food.
The objects designed to be answered by food, are to a certain extent the
same. All food is intended to meet the demands of respiration and
nutrition, and fattening to a greater or less degree. But some are
better suited to one object than others, and it is for the intelligent
farmer to select such as will most effectually accomplish his particular
purposes.
The very young animal requires large quantities of the phosphate of lime
for the formation of bone; and this is yielded in the milk in larger
proportions than from any other food. The growing animal wants bone,
muscle, and a certain amount of fat, and these are procured from the
grasses, roots, and grain; from the former when fed alone, and from the
two latter when mixed with hay or grass.
Horses, cattle, and sheep need hay to qualify the too watery nature of
the roots, and the too condensed nutritiveness of the grain. Animals
that are preparing for the shambles, require vegetable oils or fat,
starch, sugar, or gum. The first is contained in great abundance in flax
and cotton-seed, the sun-flower, and many other of the mucilaginous
seeds. Indian corn is the most fattening grain. The potato contains the
greatest proportion of starch, and the sugar-beet has large quantities
of sugar, and both consequently are good for stall-feeding. The ripe
sugar-cane is perhaps the most fattening of vegetables, if we except the
oily seeds and grain. The Swedes turnip is a good food to commence with
fattening cattle and sheep; but where great ripeness in animals is
desired, they should be followed with beets, carrots or potatoes, and
grain.
The table of the average composition of the different crops, which we
subjoin from Johnston, shows the comparative qualities of various kinds
of food, and it will be found a valuable reference for their nutritive
and fattening qualities. He says, "In drawing up this table, I have
adopted the proportions of gluten, for the most part, from Boussingault.
Some of them, however, appear to be very doubtful. The proportions of
fatty matter are also very uncertain. With a few exceptions, those above
given have been taken from Sprengel, and they are, in general, stated
considerably too low. It is an interesting fact, that the proportion of
fatty matter in and immediately under the husk of the grains of corn, is
generally much greater than in the substance of the corn itself. Thus I
have found the pollard of wheat to yield more than twice as much oil as
the fine flour obtained from the same sample of grain. The four
portions separated by the miller from a superior sample of wheat grown
in the neighborhood of Durham, gave of oil respectively: fine flour, 1.5
per cent.; pollard, 2.4; boxings, 3.6; and bran, 3.3 per cent. Dumas
states that the husk of oats sometimes yields as much as five or six per
cent. of oil." The columns under starch, &c., and fatty matter, denote
the value for respiration or sustaining life, and the fattening
qualities; that under gluten, the capacity for yielding muscle and
supporting labor; and saline matter indicates something of the
proportions which are capable of being converted into bones.
Water. Husk or Starch, Gluten, Fatty Saline
woody gum, and albumen, matter. matter
fibre. sugar. legumen, &c.
Wheat, 16 15 55 10 to 15 2 to 4 J. 2.0
Barley, 15 15 60 12? 2.5 J. 2.0
Oats, 16 20 50 14.5? 5.6 J. 3.5
Rye, 12 10 60 14.5 3.0 1.0
Indian corn, 14 15? 50 12.0 5 to 9 D. 1.5
Buckwheat, 16? 25? 50 14.5 0.4? 1.5
Beans, 16 10 40 28.0 2 + 3.0
Peas, 13 8 50 24.0 2.8? 2.8
Potatoes, 75? 5? 12? 2.25 0.3 0.8 to 1
Turnips, 85 3 10 1.2 ? 0.8 to 1
Carrots, 85 3 10 2.0 0.4 1.0
Meadow hay, 14 30 40 7.1 2 to 5 D. 5 to 10
Clover hay, 14 25 40 9.3 3.0 9
Pea straw, 10 to 15 25 45 12.3 1.5 5
Oat do. 12 45 35 1.3 0.8 6
Wheat do. 12 to 15 50 30 1.3 0.5 5
Barley do. do. 50 30 1.3 0.8 5
Rye do. do. 45 38 1.3 0.5 3
Indian corn do. 12 25 52 3.0 1.7 4
This table, it will be perceived, is far from settling the _precise_
relative value of the different enumerated articles. An absolute,
unchanging value can never be assumed of any one substance, as the
quality of each must differ with the particular variety, the soil upon
which it is grown, the character of the season, the manner of curing,
and other circumstances. An approximate relative value is all that can
be expected, and this we may hope ere long to obtain, from the spirit of
analytical research, which is now developed and in successful progress.
More especially do we need these investigations with _American
products_, some of which are but partially cultivated in Europe, whence
we derive most of our analyses. And many which are there reared, differ
widely from those produced here, as these also differ from each other.
What, for instance, is the character of _meadow hay_? We know that this
varies as four to one, according to the particular kinds grown; and our
Indian corn has certainly a less range than from five to nine.
The Changes in the Food of Animals.
Potatoes, when first ripe, are estimated to be worth, for feeding
purposes, nearly twice as much as when old; and the relative value of
the different kinds, varies greatly at the same age and under similar
conditions of growth. Perrault ascertained by careful experiment, that
hay, clover, and lucerne lost much of their nutritive qualities by
drying, and in lucerne this loss amounted to about thirty-five per cent.
This is an important consideration in the feeding of green and dry
forage. Oats are among the best feed, both for young and working
animals; but it has been found that they are greatly improved for the
latter, and perhaps for both, by allowing the new crop to remain till
the latter part of winter, before feeding.
The improvement by steaming and cooking food, is seldom sufficiently
appreciated. Food properly managed, can never be made worse by cooking
for any stock; although it has not been considered so essential for
working, and generally, for ruminating animals, as for swine, and such
as were stall-feeding. But the alteration produced in cooking, by
fitting it for a more ready assimilation, must, as a general rule, add
much to the value of the food, and the rapid improvement of the animal.
The effect of slight fermentation, or souring the food, produces the
same result. Animals accustomed to this acid food, will reject what is
unprepared when they can get at the former; and we have no doubt, from
our own experience, that there is a saving in thus preparing it, from 20
to 40 per cent. A mixture of food should be supplied to all animals.
Like man, they tire of any constant aliment. For such, especially, as
are fattening, and which it is desirable to mature with the greatest
rapidity, a careful indulgence of their appetite should be studied. They
should be provided with whatever they most crave, if it be adapted to
the secretion of fat. Cutting, crushing, and grinding the food; cooking,
souring, and mixing it, are each by themselves an improvement for
feeding; and frequently two or more of these preparations combined, are
of great utility in effecting the object proposed.
The Profit of Feeding.
It is evident, that this consists in a valuable return from the animal
of the food consumed. In the horse, this can only be received in labor
or breeding; in the ox, from labor and flesh; in the cow, from the milk,
the flesh, and her young. In the sheep, it may be returned in its
fleece, its carcass, or its progeny; and in the swine only by its
progeny and flesh. The manure we expect from all; and if this be not
secured and judiciously used, few animals about the farm will be found
to yield a satisfactory profit for their food and attention; though it
is evident, it should form but a small part of the return looked for.
Animals are only profitable to the farmer, when they yield a daily
income, as in their milk or labor; or annually, by their young or
fleece; unless it be in a course of regular improvement, either in their
ordinary growth or preparation for the butcher. The animal must consume
a certain amount of food merely to keep up its stationary condition, and
to supply the materials for waste, respiration, perspiration, and the
evacuations. These must first be provided for in all cases, before the
farmer can expect any thing for the food.
Frequent observation has shown, that an ox will consume about two per
cent, of his weight of hay per day, to maintain his condition. If put to
moderate labor, an increase of this quantity to three per cent., will
enable him to perform his work, and still maintain his flesh. If to be
fattened, he requires about 41/2 per cent. of his weight daily, in
nutritious food. A cow to remain stationary and give no milk, eats two
per cent. of her weight daily; and if in milk, she will consume three
per cent. If these statements are correct, which it is certain they are
in principle, though they may not be entirely in degree, it will require
the same food to keep three yoke of cattle in idleness, as two at work;
and the food of every two that are idle, will nearly support one under
the most rapid condition of fatting. Two cows may be kept in milk, with
the same feed that will keep three without.
No practice is more impolitic, than barely to sustain the stock through
the winter, or a part of the year, as is the case in too many instances,
and allow them to improve only when turned on grass in summer. Besides
subjecting them to the risk of disease, consequent upon their privation
of food, nearly half the year is lost in their use, or in maturing them
for profitable disposal; when if one-third of the stock had been sold,
the remainder would have been kept in a rapidly improving condition, and
at three years of age, they would probably be of equal value, as
otherwise at five or six. It is true that breed has much to do with this
rapid advancement, but breed is useless without food to develop and
mature it.