Show STEAMING FOOD for FOB CATTLE the following on the subject of steaming g food for stock written by C co T alvord esq P ot of wilmington W 0 vermont is from the country Gent gentleman levian the subject 0 steaming food for stock seems to be engrossing the attention of farmers in many parti of the country espe especially cally caily in those places where here hay ha commands a hig big high urlce urice price and thy the results of those ose experiments w which ic have been tried ina lna in a thorough and systematic syte matic manner would seam to prove that in point of profit it was erab e to the ordinary modes of keeping more especially is this the case in ke keeping ng cows during the past fall I 1 had the pleasure of forming the acquaintance of mr air H 11 peters of oe South boro mass blass this gentleman is largely engaged in producing mil mii t for the boiton market his herd of catti consisting of about 60 th rough bred Ayr shires which is sald said to be the largest and fi iest lest herd of this breed of catt e in the uni un eed red ed states for two winte a past pas mr nir peters bas has been experimenting in the differ eilt wa s of keeping his stock through he winter such as cutting mixing and steaming the food for them his hib apparatus for steaming food fo foi stock is thus described in ia the boston cutti vitor silt it consists of an upright boiler such as Is commonly common lv used for wi we aking akine the ord nary elevating engines used on board ships ond in i in stores it is placed in one corner of the barn cellar and surrounded by fie fife proof walls the smoke smote odne flue connects witti a chimney on the outs e which is ia carried above the roofs of the nearist buildings the fuel used is hard coal there are two steam vats vate standing in in two barns which join at ione cne corner a and form a right angle the vats are on the floors where the cattle stand ion I on pip a cary carty the steam aiom the boilers to the vats besides these gutta percha pipe pipea a e used to take th steam 0 o the casks or tubs in which abl abi oats 4 fcc c are cooked these pipes can also b bd pu into the water which is constantly running in and out reservoirs in the barris and can be made to warm it to any de gree that may be desired to make it e or beneficial to the stock the whole cost of the apparatus was about four hundred pounds of fodi r is usually steamed in each vat at one rime and the vats are filled once a day the time of st aming being beier three hours the two vats are oiled filled ith different substances one from which the working oxen and several steers steer helfers and dry cows cowa cows cowa are fed is filled with cornstalks corn stalks t ie corn having been buat cul at the ground and shocked soon at af er i it was 9 globed la c and wheat chaff chair barley chaff or beards or oat cat straw in about e i eions the cornstalks corn stalks arid and straw T having been pla pis passed a r cutter the rod rodder fodder d er is damp ned in the vat aud and alad wb eat mixed adith ith ia it at t the rate quarts to each f ed the milk I 1 are fed from the other vat which blikh la is filled with good hay that has been run through a cutter and the same quantity of shorts for a cow as mentioned for the other stock when the vats are thus f ille llie 1 I the steam stam is islet let iet on the steaming is done in the fore 1 art of the day and the cooked fodder is taken into larger troughs which are p aced on wheels and are r it along the floor wy ay in f ont of the cows as they are fed the fodder is let in the troughs several hours to cool but it retains sufficient beat even the coldest eather weather i to make it warm enough to be eaten by cattle the cattle which have been fed wholly holly on corn fodder straw and chaff with the quantity of shorts mentioned are in god go d order although the ox n have reen been beeh worked all the time all the fodder is eaten we could not see that the amount f a liand handful tul tui of corn stalks was left among the fifteen head bead fed in this way the rhe prepared food appeared to be v very e palatable ala aia table it has an agreed agreeable ble bie odors re bambling Bem e bling newly y bak baked iced yankee brown bread an I 1 the stock ea eat t it rea lly liy ily lily toe cows are also in good condition as cou d be expected considering the length of time they have been in milk and the large quantity they give the average cost of the food for all the cattle about fifty head exclusive of the calves of last season la is fifteen cents per head a day it is the opinion of mr dir peters that there is ia considerable saving in rough fodder buch such as corn stalks straw chaff ac cooked in this w way wax a at least cattle will eat much more of it a and nado do better in the meanwhile than when fed in the ordinary way mr nir peters estimates the cutting of the feed cooking it and se beving gitig it out to the ca tle tie to amount to about two cents a head bead per day which added to the cost coat of feed would amount to seventeen cents a head per day for the fifty animals from the co side bide ra ion of the vari varl various ous experiments exp eap eri erl ments made and andl published on the subject of steaming food I 1 lor tor or I 1 cattle it will b seen that the cast of keeping i wui win depend in a measure on the cost coat 0 at the apparatus used the value valoe ot of the mat rials used for feed and the kind of catte cattie kept the aror profits its of this method of steaming over the ordinary way of feeding must depend mainly on khe the cash value ot of the raw material ted sed |