provide the
blood with the requisite proportion of albumen that, even if the process
of digestion were not discontinued, there would be a superabundance of
fat accumulated beyond the power of the oxygen to consume, which would
successively absorb from the albuminous substance a part of its vital
elements, and thus a check would be caused in the endless change of
matter in the tissues in the nutritive and regressive transformations.

Potatoes, then, to be of most value as food for cattle, should be fed in
connection with grain, or with other roots in which the flesh-forming
element predominates. There seems to be no doubt that the tubers are of
most value when cooked, although some authors affirm to the contrary. It
seems possible to prove this on philosophical principles; for it is well
known that the starch contained in the potato is incapable of affording
nourishment until the containing globules are broken, and one of the
most efficient means of doing this seems to be by heat.

Boussingault, in speaking of the economy of cooking potatoes, says, "The
potato is frequently steamed or boiled first; yet I can say positively
that horned cattle do extremely well upon raw potatoes, and at
Bechelbrunn our cows never have them otherwise than raw. They are never
boiled, save for horses and hogs. The best mode of dealing with them is
to steam them; they need never be so thoroughly boiled as when they are
to serve for the food of man. The steamed or boiled potatoes are crushed
between two rollers, or simply broken with a wooden spade, and mixed
with cut hay or straw or chaff, before being served out. It may not be
unnecessary to observe that by steaming potatoes lose no weight; hence
we conclude that the nutritive equivalent for the boiled is the same as
that of the raw tuber.

"Nevertheless, it is possible that the amylaceous principle is rendered
more easily assimilable by boiling, and that by this means the tubers
actually become more nutritious. Some have proposed to roast potatoes in
the oven, and there can be little question that heated in this way they
answer admirably for fattening hogs, and even oxen. Done in the oven,
potatoes may be brought to a state in which they may perfectly supply
the place of corn in feeding horses and other cattle."

The apparent contradiction in the remarks will be observed; but the
evident leaning in favor of cooked potatoes shows that Boussingault,
although paying some attention to the the