gether conclusive, and from which it follows, that two Hampshire hogs which, having consumed 66 lbs. of gluten, and upwards of 30 lbs. of starch, had only gained 171⁄2 lbs. ; while other two animals of the same breed, having been fed with 99 lbs. of the flesh of sheeps' heads, containing from 12 to 15 per cent. of fat, had gained 35 lbs. Yet, judging from elementary analysis, these two rations were almost identical; they contained the same quantity of dry nutritious matter. The first ration contained 26.4 lbs. of dry gluten, and 30.4 lbs. of starch; the second contained 20.9 lbs. of dry flesh, and 15.4 lbs. of fat. The quantities of carbon and azote were, therefore, a little higher in the vegetable than in the animal ration; but they differed notably in this, that the latter contained an equivalent of fat for the equivalent of starch contained in the former.

In a second experiment, four hogs, fed upon boiled potatoes, carrots, and a little rye, gained 117.7 lbs. ; while other four animals, of the same age, and in the same conditions, but fed upon sheeps' heads, gained as many as 226.6 lbs.

In the course of these experiments, M. Payen was struck with this circumstance, that the increase in weight of an animal that is fattening being represented by 50 per cent. of water, 33.3 of fat, and 16.6 of azotized matter, the conviction is forced upon us that he actually fixes the greater proportion of the fat of his food in the cellular tissue of his body. The first hogs, for example, had eaten 14.74 lbs. of fat, and had gained 11.44 lbs. in weight; the four last referred to had had 18.48 of grease, and had increased 14.74 lbs. in weight.

It has now been the practice for several years, in various places, to maintain hogs in considerable numbers upon muscular flesh, horseflesh; and it has been ascertained that the article, if extremely lean, though it keeps the animals in good heart and condition, though they grow and thrive on it, yet they will not fatten. When they are to be got ready for the butcher, they must, in addition, be put upon a course that is known to be proper to fatten them.

The scientific question of fattening having, of late years, attracted very general attention, the opinions which have now been announced have been very actively contested. Among other arguments, the general freedom from fat of the bodies of carnivorous animals, and the usual fat state of those of the herbivorous races, has been cited. Whales have even mistakenly been included in the list of fat vegetable feeders; but it is known to all naturalists, that the great majority of the whale tribes, the whole of those that inhabit the northern seas, are carnivorous. And, indeed, the mention of this fact leads me to revert to one of the most curious problems in the physics of the globe-that, to wit, presented by the vast amount of animal life amidst the waters of the ocean, and its support by a quantity of vegetables which to us appear altogether inadequate to such an end. The beautiful researches of M. Morren, however, seem calculated to throw some light on this interesting subject,—that inquirer having shown that certain animalcules possess the faculty of decomposing carbonic acid in the same way as vegetables; and it is probably in

virtue of this power that the enigma is to be explained, of the source whence the myriads that people the deep derive their food.

But is it absolutely true that herbivorous animals only abound in fat? Who has not seen fat dogs and cats; and in the Cordilleras, where palm-trees abound, there is a particular species of bear, which lives in a great measure on the oily palm-nuts and young shoots of the palm-tree, which becomes remarkably fat, and proves a great attraction to the tigers of the country.

Before coming to a close with this discussion, I think it right to refer to the experiments of M. Magendie, who has so well established the fact, that the chyle of animals fed on fat food contains a large quantity of fat; and that animals kept long on such food frequently become affected with what is called the fatty liver.f

To sum up, then, experiment demonstrates that hay contains a larger quantity of fatty matter than the milk and excretions which it forms; and that it is the same with all the other mixtures and varieties of food that are usually given to animals.

That oil-cake increases the production of butter, and that, like maize, it owes the fattening properties it possesses to the large quantity of oil it contains.

That there is the most perfect analogy between the production of milk and the fattening of animals; that potatoes, beet, carrot, and turnip, only fatten when they are conjoined with substances that contain fatty matters, such as straw, corn, bran, and oil-cake of various kinds.

That in equal weights, gluten mixed with starch, and flesh meat abounding in fat, have a fattening influence on the hog, which differs in the relation of 1 to 2.

Lastly, that fat food-food which will afford fat in the digestive canal-appears to be the indispensable condition of fattening. If it be necessary that the respiration be diminished or lessened in extent, this is only that the fatty substances taken into the stomach, and which have made their way into the blood, may not be oxidated, may not be burned; not that their formation may be favored.

All these facts are in such perfect harmony with the simple view of assumption and assimilation of fatty matters, that it is difficult to conceive on what foundation the opinion can repose which would have them composed out of their elements in the animal body. Nevertheless, I am myself the first to admit, that more extensive experience may lead to the modification or even entire change of the opinion which I advocate. The facts on which that opinion is based, despite their number, are not probably yet sufficient to constitute a perfectly satisfactory or conclusive theory. New researches

* These bears, evidently, cease to be carnivorous while they live on palm-nuts and leaves. For my own part, I do not think the point settled yet. The fatty matter of the generality of vegetables is wax rather than grease. And then some of the herbivorous tribes seem never to get fat.-ENG. ED.

† I may here state the contrary fact, as announced to me by a physiological friend, in whose report I place great reliance, that the chyle of animals fed with substances that give mere traces of waxy matter, contains fat or oil that can be collected in large ps-ENG ED.

are, therefore, indispensable: it would be requisite to show, that a cow kept on a regimen abundant in point of quantity, but as poor as possible in matters analogous to fat, will continue to maintain her condition and yet yield milk abounding in cream; and that it is really possible, as some persons affirm, to fatten animals rapidly on roots and tubers alone.*

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE ECONOMY OF THE ANIMALS ATTACHED TO A FARM. OF STOCK IN GENERAL, AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE PRODUCTION OF MANURE.

In

AGRICULTURAL industry generally extends to the breeding and fattening of cattle; the breeding, or at all events the maintenance, of horses; the breeding and feeding of sheep and swine. The cir cumstances, indeed, in which the tiller of the ground sees himself spared the necessity of attending to these matters, are rare exceptions to the general rule, and in fact only occur where it is easy to obtain abundant supplies of manure from without, or in those few favored spots where the fertility of the soil is such that it continues to yield its increase without addition in the shape of manure. the vicinity of great centres of population, where dung can be bought cheap, or of guano islands, where a cargo costs a trifle, and in some tropical countries, large farming establishments may be found totally without stock in the shape of sheep and horned cattle. But in a general way the agriculturist is obliged to give himself up to the care of flocks and herds of one description or another; and, in fact, we now know that there is a certain and very indispensable relation to be maintained between the extent of surface under crop and the number of cattle to be provided for, variable as regards farms differently situated and circumstanced; but invariable when circumstances are the same, and the system of management pursued is similar in its principal features.

The question as to whether the cultivation of grain or other useful plants, or the rearing of cattle, is more profitable, which is often agitated, must receive a different solution in regard to each different locality. In one place it may be more advantageous to breed cattle or horses; in another to rear or fatten them here, the production of milk, butter, and cheese, may be the best husbandry; there, the growth of hay, (as for miles round London on the north and west;) and again, wheat and the other cereal grasses may be the staples of

* Whoever would try experiments in this direction, must be careful to mix his food; one article alone never agrees. The Americans say, a pig will die upon pumpkins and upon apples alone; but he will live and fatten on a mixture of the two. I have myself seen scores of oxen fattened upon turnips, with a moderate allowance of straw or bog-hay; and have seen pigs get into admirable condition for the butcher on little more than potatoes.-ENG. ED.

production. Even supposing that the growth of grain is that which is most advantageous on the whole, it by no means follows that the farmer shall give himself up to this exclusively; it is seldom that he can do so, indeed; he must have manure, and this entails the necessity of keeping cattle. If the latter, however, be the least profitable item in the economy of a particular domain, it will of course be kept within as narrow limits as possible.

In many places where the land is well adapted to the plough, and where the production of grain is unquestionably profitable, stock appears to offer few advantages; it sometimes happens, indeed, that the balance as regards the stall and cow-house is on the wrong side for the farmer, when the actual value of the forage that has been consumed is taken into the account. The loss is only made up for by the manure, which is in fact the return. This is the view that M. Crud obviously takes when he speaks of the stock upon a farm as a necessary evil.* I am far from participating in his opinion; the cattle upon a farm are no evil, though they may be very necessary. To be satisfied of this, it is enough, in fact, to recollect the principle which has been established in treating of rotation courses, viz: That in no case is it possible to export a larger quantity of organic matter, and particularly of organic azotized matter, from a farm, than is represented by the excess of the same description of matter contained in the manure consumed in the course of the rotation. By acting otherwise, the standard fertility of the soil would inevi tably be diminished.

This principle recognised, and I believe that it cannot be disputed, it is obvious that a portion of the produce of the fields must be returned to them to fecundate them anew, and it is precisely this portion of the forage crops destined to furnish manure that must be consumed in the stable and cow-house. Reasoning abstractly, the forage plants which it is not intended should quit the farm, might be buried directly as manure, without being made to pass through the bodies of animals; their fertilizing influence on the soil would come out sensibly the same; and this is what is done, in fact, so often as we manure by smothering. But we have scarcely made the first step in the rudiments of agriculture before we discover the immense advantages of following the usual custom, which first employs as forage for cattle the crops that are grown with a view to the production of manure. And we shall by and by find, in fact, that by adding to that portion of these crops a supplement of forage plants which it would be legitimate to export, without trenching upon the fundamental principle above laid down, we obtain the same quantity of manure, and turn the whole of this supplement into useful forces, or into animal products which possess a market value greatly superior to that of the forage before its assimilation. It is only the price of this portion of the forage, fixed or modified by the cattle on the farm, which can fairly be set down to the debit account of wool grown, of power created, and of flesh and dairy articles produced.

* Theoret. and Pract. Economy of Agricul. vol. ii. p. 235, (in French.)

As to the forage plants which are immediately turned into manure, it seems to me impossible to regard them as possessed of the proper market value; the farmer could not have sold them at this. In my mode of looking at the thing, the cost of producing the forage crop, and the value that it actually has, constitute a circulating capital, the annual interest of which, estimated at a certain rate, expresses the true cost-price or value of the manure employed in the course of a rotation. In a word, in my eyes, the value of the manure which gives fertility to the soil is represented by the price of the labor, the rent charge, &c.-by the general outlay entailed by the growth of the forage from which it is obtained.

I shall endeavor, by and by, to illustrate this topic by examples; but in order thoroughly to understand this mode of estimating the price of manure, there are several elements wanting, which I propose to assemble in this chapter. With this view, I shall first present the facts which I have been able to collect, or which I have myself had an opportunity of observing in reference to the economy of the domestic animals attached to a farm; and I shall then make an attempt to deduce the relation that exists between the consumption of forage and litter, animal reproduction and increase, and the formation of manure.

HORNED CATtle.

It were foreign to the purpose of this work, did I enter into the natural history of the animals that are usually attached to farming establishments; neither will I pretend to discuss the relative merits of the different breeds of sheep and oxen, nor speak of the best methods of improving them. I confine myself to the varieties which I have on my own farm, or which I see on the farms of my neigh bors, and upon which I have opportunity of making daily observations. It will be enough if I give a brief summary, in this place, of the general principles admitted by practical men of the highest name and authority upon these points.*

A

Between the external forms of animals and the internal organs essential to life, there is the most obvious and intimate connection. A broad and deep chest is the sure indication of ample lungs and a good general constitution. The pelvis, or bony cincture formed by the rump and haunches, ought to be spacious in the females. small head is generally the indication of a good kind. Horns in our domestic animals must be regarded as objectionable rather than useful; and by adopting measures which tend to repress their growth, we undoubtedly favor both the production of flesh and wool. The strength of animals depends far more on the degree in which their muscular system is developed than on the mass of their bones; it is, besides, flesh, not bone, that has value in the butcher's eyes; so that the farmer's business is by all means to strive after a delicate but well-covered skeleton. Animals which have been indifferently

* Cline, in General Report of Scotland; Communication to the Board of Agriculture; Spencer on the choice of male animals for breeding from; Cully's Introduction, &c., on live stock, &c.