236 N. H. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



vrho "was unal)lc to ascertain the value of his cane, for tho 

 reason given that " his children and negroes eat it all up." 

 Dr. Brown, before the U. S. Agricultural Society, cited 

 cases of cattle subsisting entirely upon it for six weeks, 

 that were in good condition for the butcher. Working 

 horses have also been found to keep themselves in good 

 condition upon it. Cows fed upon it in a green state, af- 

 forded excellent milk, and do not sulEFer from flatulency as 

 often when fed on succulent clover or corn. When fully 

 matured, the hardness of the outer covering renders it 

 necessary to reduce it to fragments before feeding it out, 

 but when thus reduced it is devoured greedily by cattle, 

 horses, sheep and swine, to say nothing of the " boys and 

 negroes." For this purpose, ths "Eagle Stalk Cutter," of 

 Messrs. Nourse & Co., 13, Commercial street, Boston, will 

 be found admirably adapted, and should be found on every 

 farm for this and kindred purposes. 



Suggestions. — Soil and Manure. The ash of the plant 

 yields 50 per cent, of phosphates, and nearly or quite, 25 

 per cent of silica, showing its adaptation to a sandy and 

 even indifferent soil, and its demand for bone-dust, phos- 

 phatic guano, wood-aslics or poudrette, rather than for sta- 

 ble or other ammoniacal manures. Syrup from a cane 17 

 feet in height, and 1 1-2 inch in diameter, grown in the 

 District of Columbia on moist, loamy land, yielded only 14 

 per cent, of dry saccharine matter, Avhile that from a stalk 

 9 feet high and an inch in diameter, raised in Massachu- 

 setts, yielded 23 per cent. 



Method and time of planting. For syrup-making, the 

 the hill system, with about six stalks to the hill, will prob- 

 ably prove the best, and yield the most. For fodder, the 

 narrow drill, and double cupping will, it is thought, prove 

 prcferalde. Time for planting, same as Indian corn. 



After inanage7nent. Same as corn. 



Time for cutting for syrup. The development of sac- 



