The Stock-Feeder's Manual Part 1

The Stock-Feeder's Manual.

by Charles Alexander Cameron.

PREFACE.

Some papers on the Chemistry of Food, read before the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland and the Athy Farmers' Club, and a few articles on the Management of Live Stock, published in the _Weekly Agricultural Review_, const.i.tute the basis of this Work. It describes the nature of the food used by the domesticated animals, explains the composition of the animal tissues, and treats generally upon the important subject of nutrition.

The most recent a.n.a.lyses of all the kinds of food usually consumed by the animals of the farm are fully stated; and the nutritive values of those substances are in most instances given. Some information is afforded relative to the breeds and breeding of live stock; and a division of the Work is wholly devoted to the consideration of the economic production of "meat, milk, and b.u.t.ter."

Within the last twenty years the processes of chemical a.n.a.lysis have been so much improved, that the composition of organic bodies is now determined with great accuracy. The a.n.a.lyses of foods made from twenty to fifty years ago, possess now but little value. In this Work the a.n.a.lyses of vegetables quoted are chiefly those recently performed by the distinguished Scotch chemist, Dr. Thomas Anderson, and by Dr. Voelcker.

The Author believes that in no other Work of moderate size are there so many a.n.a.lyses of food substances given, and ventures to hope that the success of this Work may fully justify the belief that a "handy" book containing such information as that above mentioned, is much required by stock feeders.

_102, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin_, April, 1868.

THE CHEMISTRY OF FOOD.

INTRODUCTION.

When Virgil composed his immortal "Bucolics," and Varro indited his profound Essays on Agriculture, the inhabitants of the British Islands were almost completely ignorant of the art of cultivating the soil.

The rude spoils torn from the carca.s.ses of savage animals protected the bodies of their hardly less savage victors; and the produce of the chase served almost exclusively to nourish the hardy frames of the ancient Celtic hunters. In early ages wild beasts abounded in the numerous and extensive forests of Britain and Ireland; but men were few, for the conditions under which the maintenance of a dense population is possible did not then exist. As civilisation progressed, men rapidly multiplied, and the demand for food increased. The pursuit of game became merely the pastime of the rich; and tame sheep and oxen furnished meat to the lowly as well as to the great. Nor were the fruits of the earth neglected; for during the latter days of the dominion of the Romans, England raised large quant.i.ties of corn. Gradually the food of the people, which at first was almost purely animal, became chiefly vegetable. The shepherds, who had supplanted the hunters, became less numerous than the tillers of land; and the era of tillage husbandry began.

At present the great ma.s.s of the rural population of these countries subsist almost exclusively upon vegetable aliment--a diet which poverty, and not inclination, prescribes for them. Were the flesh of animals the staple food of the British peasantry, their numbers would not be nearly so large as they now are, for a given area of land is capable of sustaining a far larger number of vegetarians than of meat eaters. The Chinese are by no means averse to animal food, but they are so numerous, that they are in general obliged to content themselves on a purely vegetable diet.

In the manufacturing districts of Great Britain, there are several millions of people whose condition in relation to food is somewhat different from that of the small farmer and agricultural laborer. The artizans employed in our great industries are comparatively well paid for their toil; and the results of their labor place within their reach a fair share of animal food. This section of the population is rapidly increasing, and consequently is daily augmenting the demand for meat.

The rural population is certainly not increasing; rather the reverse.

Less manual labor is now expended in the operations of agriculture, and even horses are retiring before the advance of the steam plough. The only great purely vegetable-feeding cla.s.s is diminis.h.i.+ng, and the upper, the middle, and the artizan cla.s.ses--the beef and mutton eating sections of society--are rapidly increasing. It is clear, then, that we are threatened with a revival of the pastoral age, and that in one way, at least, we are returning to the condition of our ancestors, whose staple food consisted of beef, mutton, and pork.

And here two questions arise. How long shall we be able to supply the increasing demand for meat? How long shall we be able to compete with the foreign feeders? These are momentous queries for the British farmer, and I trust they may be solved in a satisfactory manner. At any time during the present century the foreign or colonial grower of wheat could have undersold the British producer of that article, were the latter not protected by a tariff; but cattle could not, as a general rule, be imported into Great Britain at a cheaper rate than they could be produced at home. Were there no corn imported, it is certain that the price of bread would be greater than it is now, even if the grain harvests had been better than they have been for some years past. A bad cereal harvest in England raises the price of flour, but only to a small and strictly limited extent, because, practically, there is no limit to the amount of bread-stuffs procurable from abroad. When, on the contrary, the turnip crop fails, or that excessive drought greatly curtails the yield of gra.s.s, the price of meat and b.u.t.ter increases greatly, and is but slightly modified by the importation of foreign stock.

Hitherto the difficulty of transit has been so great that we have only derived supplies of live stock from countries situated at a short distance, such as Holstein and Holland. Vast herds of cattle are fed with but little expense in America, and myriads of sheep are maintained cheaply in Australia; but the immense distances which intervene between our country and those remote and spa.r.s.ely populated regions have, hitherto, prevented the superabundant supply of animal food produced therein from being available to the teeming population of the British Isles. Should, however, any cheap mode of conveying live stock, or even their flesh, from those and similarly circ.u.mstanced countries be devised, it might render the production of meat in Britain a far less profitable occupation than it is now. That we are increasing the area from whence we draw our supplies of live stock is evident from the fact, that within the last two years enormous numbers of horned stock have been imported from Spain. In that extensive country there are n.o.ble breeds of the ox; and it would appear that very large numbers of animals could be annually exported, without depriving the inhabitants of a due supply of bovine meat. As Spain is not very distant, it is likely that this traffic will be increased, and that in a short time we shall be as well supplied with Spanish beef as we are now provided with French flour. Meat is at present dear, and is likely to continue so for some time; but still it is evident that, sooner or later, the British feeders will come into keen compet.i.tion with the foreign producer of meat, and that the price of their commodity will consequently fall. The mere probability of such a state of things, were there no other reason, should induce the feeder to devote increased attention to the improvement of his stock, and to discover more economical methods of feeding them. There is still much to be learned relative to the precise nutritive values of the various feeding stuffs. The proper modes of cooking, or otherwise preparing, food, are still to be satisfactorily determined; and there are many very important questions in relation to the breeding of stock yet unanswered.

It is but fair to admit that the farmer is earnestly endeavouring to improve his art, and that he is willing, nay anxious, to obtain the co-operation of scientific men, in order to increase his knowledge of the theory as well as the practice of his ancient calling. Indeed, he not only admits the utility of science in agriculture, but often places an undue degree of value upon the theories of the chemist, of the botanist, and of the geologist. This is encouraging to the men of science; but, on the other hand, they must admit that by far the greater portion of the sum of human knowledge has been derived from the experience and observation of men utterly unacquainted with science, in the ordinary signification of that term. This portion of our knowledge is also, in its practical application, the most valuable. In the most important branch of industry--agriculture--the labors of the purely scientific man have as yet borne but scant fruit; whilst the unaided efforts of the husbandman have reclaimed from sterility extensive tracts, and caused them to "blossom as the rose." That practical men should have done so much, and scientific men so little, for agriculture, may easily be explained. Countless millions of men, during many thousands of years, have incessantly been occupied in improving the processes of mechanical agriculture, which, as an _art_, has consequently been brought to a high degree of perfection: but scientific agriculture is a creation of almost our own time, and the number of its cultivators is, and always has been, very small; all its theories cannot, therefore, justly claim that degree of confidence which, as a rule, is only reposed in the opinions founded on the experience of practical workers in the field and in the feeding-house. Still, the farmer has derived a great amount of useful information from the chemist and physiologist; and they alone can explain to him the causes of the various phenomena which the different branches of his art present. There was a time when it was the fas.h.i.+on of the man of science to look down with contempt, from the lofty pedestal on which he placed himself, upon the lessons of practical experience read to him by the cultivator of the soil; whilst at the same time the farmer treated as foolish visionaries those who applied the teachings of science to the improvement of their art. But this time has happily pa.s.sed away. The scientific man no longer despises the knowledge of the mere farmers, but turns to good account the information derivable from their experience; whilst the farmer, on the other side, has ceased to speak in contemptuous terms of mere "book learning." It is to this happy combination of the theorist with the practical man that the recent remarkable advance in agriculture is chiefly due; and to it we may confidently look for improvement in the economic production of meat and b.u.t.ter, and for the enlargement of our knowledge of the relative value of food substances.

STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

---------+------------------------------------+ Enumerated, 1866. +-----------+------------+-----------+ Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. +-----------+------------+----+------+ England 3,307,034 15,124,541 2,066,299 Wales 541,401 1,668,663 191,604 Islands 17,700 57,685 22,887 Scotland 937,411 5,255,077 219,716 Ireland 3,493,414 3,688,742 1,299,893 +-----------+------------+-----------+ Total 8,316,960 25,794,708 3,800,399 ---------+-----------+------------+-----------+

---------+------------------------------------+ Estimated, 1865. +-----------+------------+-----------+ Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. +-----------+------------+-----------+ England 3,422,165 18,691,088 2,363,724 Wales ---- ---- ---- Islands ---- ---- ---- Scotland 974,437 5,683,168 146,354 Ireland 3,493,414 3,688,742 1,299,893 +-----------+------------+-----------+ Total 7,890,016 28,062,998 3,809,971 ---------+-----------+------------+-----------+

STATEMENT OF THE POPULATION AND NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND VARIOUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST RETURNS.

+--------------+-------+----------+------------------------------+----------+----------+ Date of Population Cattle. Countries. Returns according ---------+---------+----------+ Sheep. Pigs. of Live to Latest Cows. Other Total. Stock. Returns. Cattle. +--------------+-------+----------+---------+---------+----------+----------+----------+ United Kingdom 1865-66 29,070,932 3,286,308 5,030,652 8,316,960 25,795,708 3,802,399 Russia 1859-63 74,139,394 ... ... 25,444,000 45,130,800 10,097,000 Denmark Proper 1861 1,662,734 756,834 361,940 1,118,774 1,751,950 300,928 Sleswig 1861 421,486 217,751 172,250 390,001 362,219 87,867 Holstein 1861 561,831 198,310 92,062 290,372 165,344 82,398 Sweden 1860 3,859,728 1,112,944 803,714 1,916,658 1,644,156 457,981 Prussia 1862 18,491,220 3,382,703 2,251,797 5,634,500 17,428,017 2,709,709 Hanover 1861 1,880,070 ... ... 949,179 2,211,927 554,056 Saxony 1861 2,225,240 411,563 226,897 638,460 371,986 270,462 Wurtemburg 1861 1,720,708 466,758 490,414 957,172 683,842 216,965 Grand Duchy of Baden 1861 1,429,199 348,418 273,068 621,486 177,322 307,198 " Hesse 1863 853,315 187,442 129,211 316,653 231,787 195,596 " Na.s.sau 1864 468,311 116,421 84,224 200,645 152,584 65,979 Mecklenb. " Schwerin 1857 539,258 197,622 69,215 266,837 1,198,450 157,522 " Oldenburg 1852 279,637 ... ... 219,843 295,322 87,336 Holland 1864 3,618,459 943,214 390,673 1,333,887 930,136 294,636 Belgium 1856 4,529,461 ... ... 1,257,649 583,485 458,418 France 1862 37,386,313 5,781,465 8,415,895 14,197,360 33,281,592 5,246,403 Spain 1865 15,658,531 ... ... 2,904,598 22,054,967 4,264,817 Austria 1863 36,267,648 6,353,086 7,904,030 14,257,116 16,964,236 8,151,608 Bavaria 1863 4,807,440 1,530,626 1,655,356 3,185,882 2,058,638 926,522 United States 1860 31,445,080 8,728,862 8,182,813 16,911,475 23,317,756 32,555,267 +--------------+-------+----------+---------+---------+----------+----------+----------+

NUMBERS OF THE LIVE STOCK IMPORTED INTO GREAT BRITAIN DURING THE ELEVEN MONTHS ENDED 31st NOVEMBER, 1867.

Bullocks, bulls, and cows 150,518 Calves 20,720 Sheep and lambs 504,514 Pigs 45,566 -------- 721,318

AMOUNT OF ANIMAL FOOD IMPORTED DURING SAME PERIOD.

Bacon and hams cwts. 452,132 Salt beef " 163,638 Salt pork " 123,257 b.u.t.ter " 1,000,095 Lard " 213,599 Cheese " 798,267 Eggs 373,042,000

I am indebted to Professor Ferguson, Chief of the Veterinary Department of the Irish Privy Council Office, for the following statement:--

RETURN OF HORNED CATTLE EXPORTED FROM THE SEVERAL IRISH PORTS AT WHICH VETERINARY INSPECTORS HAVE BEEN APPOINTED, AND CERTIFIED AS FREE FROM DISEASE, FROM THE 18th OF NOVEMBER, 1866, TO THE 16th OF NOVEMBER, 1867 (52 WEEKS).

Fat Stock 187,483 Store Stock 317,331 Breeding and Dairy Stock 36,599 -------- Total 541,413 ========

PART I.

ON THE GROWTH AND COMPOSITION OF ANIMALS.

SECTION I.

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE.

_Functions of Plants._--It is the primary function of plants to convert the inorganic matter of the soil and air into organised structures of a highly complex nature. The food of plants is purely mineral, and consists chiefly of water, carbonic acid, and ammonia. Water is composed of the elements oxygen and hydrogen; carbonic acid is a compound of oxygen and carbon; and ammonia is formed of hydrogen and nitrogen. These four substances are termed the _organic elements_, because they form by far the larger portion--sometimes the whole--of organic bodies. The combustible portion of plants and animals is composed of the organic elements; the incombustible part is made up of pota.s.sium, sodium, and the various other elements enumerated in another page. The organic elements are furnished chiefly by the atmosphere, and the incombustible matters are supplied by the soil.

Water in the state of vapor forms, according to the temperature and other conditions of the atmosphere, from a half per cent. to four and a half per cent. of the weight of that fluid--about 125 per cent. being the average; carbonic acid exists in it to the extent of 1/2000th; and ammonia forms a minute portion of it--according to Dr. Angus Smith, one grain weight in 41242 cubic feet of air (of a town), or 0000453 per cent. It is remarkable that the most abundant const.i.tuents of atmospheric air--oxygen and nitrogen--are not a.s.similable by plants, although these elements enter largely into the composition of vegetable substances. In the soil, also, the part which ministers to the wants of vegetables is relatively quite insignificant in amount.

Plants are unendowed with organs of locomotion, their food must therefore be within easy reach. Every breeze wafts gaseous nutriment to their expanded leaves, and their rootlets ramify throughout the soil in search of appropriate mineral aliment. But no matter how abundant, or however easy of reach may be the food of plants, the vegetable organism is incapable of partaking of it unless under the influence of light.

Exposed to this potent stimulus, the plant collects the gaseous carbonic acid and the vaporous water, solidifies them, decomposes them, and combines their elements into new and organised forms. In effecting these changes--in conferring vitality upon the atoms of lifeless matter--the plant acts merely as the _mechanism_, the light is the _force_. As the work performed by the steam-engine is proportionate to the amount of force developed by the combustion of the fuel beneath its boiler, so is the rapidity of the elaboration of organic substances by plants proportionate to the amount of sunlight to which they are exposed. It is an axiom that matter is indestructible; we may alter its form as often as we please, but we cannot destroy a particle of it. It is the same with _force_: we may convert one kind of it into another--heat into light, or magnetism into electricity--but our power ends there; we can only cause force, or _motion_, to pa.s.s from one of its conditions to another, but its _quant.i.ty_ can never be diminished by the power of man.

The principle of the Conservation of the Forces gives us a clear explanation of the fact that animals can obtain their food only through the medium of the vegetable kingdom. Plants are stationary mechanisms; they have no need to develop motive power, as animals have, in moving themselves from place to place. Their temperature is, we may say, the same as that of the medium in which they exist. Such beings as plants do not, therefore, require the expenditure of force to maintain their vitality; on the contrary, their mechanisms are, for a beneficent purpose, constructed for the _acc.u.mulation_ of force. The growing plant absorbs, together with carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, a proportionate amount of light, heat, and the various other subtile forces which have their abiding place in the sun-beam--

"That golden chain, Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main."

Co-incidentally with the conversion of the mineral const.i.tuents of the food of plants into organised structures--alb.u.men, fibre, and such like substances--the light, and the heat, and the various other forces likewise suffer a change. Although the precise nature of the new force into which they are converted is still a mystery--one, too, which may never be revealed to us--still we know sufficient of it to satisfy us that it can only exist in connection with organic or organised structures. It is owing to its presence that the elements of these structures (the natural state of which is mineral) are bound together in what may be aptly designated a constrained state; or, as Liebig aptly expresses it, like the matter in a bent spring. So long as the organic structure retains its form, it will be a reservoir of latent force--which will manifest itself in some form during the recoil of the atoms of the matter forming the structure to their original mineral, or statical condition: so the bent spring, when the pressure is removed, returns to its original straight form.

_Animal Life._--The chief manifestation of the life of a plant is the acc.u.mulation of force; very different are the functions of animal life.

It is only by the continuous _expenditure_ of force that the vitality of animals is preserved; the heat of a man's body, his power of locomotion, the performance of his daily toil, even his very faculty of thought, are all dependent upon, and to a great extent proportionate to, the amount of organised matter disorganised in his body. It is by the conversion of this organised matter into its original mineral state of water, carbonic acid, and ammonia, that the force originally expended in arranging, through the agency of plants, its atoms, is again restored, chiefly in the form of heat and animal motive power.

Animals, as a cla.s.s, are completely dependent upon vegetables for their existence. There is every reason to believe that the most lowly organised beings in the scale of animal life, even those of so simple a structure as to have been long regarded as vegetables or as plant-animals, are incapable of organising mineral matter. The so-called vegetative life of animals--for I believe the term to be exceedingly inexact--is applied to their growth, that is, to the increase in their weight. This increase takes place by their power of reorganising, or of a.s.similating to the nature of their own organisms, certain of the substances elaborated by plants, and destined to become food for animals.

SECTION II.

COMPOSITION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES.