No. 62.] 161 



tion. Our farms are usually lightly stocked, in proportion to their 

 number of acres of cultivated land. " Keep little and keep it well," 

 may be a good maxim, but " keep much and keep it well," is a bet- 

 ter one. The more heavily land is stocked, the more manure is 

 made, and consequently the greater its subsequent capacity to sus- 

 tain heavy stocking. The common practice of wintering stock ex- 

 clusively on hay, and converting straw directly into manure, re- 

 quires a large portion of each farm to be kept constantly in meadow, 

 and a great outlay of labor to cut and secure the hay. If straw can 

 be made to answer the purposes of hay, the land devoted to meadow 

 is saved for grazing and tillage, and the extra labor of cutting and 

 securing hay is also saved. The straw of the coarse grains, cut 

 greenisli.) can be made to answer the purposes of hay, with a small 

 addition of roots or grain. The amount of grain is scarcely percep- 

 tibly diminished by its being cut a few days earlier than usual. 



The amount of such straw which an animal will consume, (which 

 will not exceed the amount of hay which the same animal would 

 consume,) with the addition of two quarts of oat, barley, or " cob" 

 meal, or a half a bushel of roots per day, will keep the animal as 

 well as hay. Nothing is lost from the straw, for it is converted into 

 manure, which has gained in strength as much as it has lost in bulk; 

 and the cutting and curing of the hay is entirly saved, for the straw 

 would have to be cut and secured at all events. It may be safely 

 assumed that on the average, it will require twelve acres of meadow 

 to winter twelve head of grown cattle. Six acres of meadow and 

 six acres of coarse grains or roots, will winter the same number and 

 leave a considerable surplus of grain or roots, over and above all the 

 extra expense of cultivation. If 50 acres of meadow would winter 

 50 head of cattle, probably 25 acres of meadow and ten acres of 

 oats, corn, barley, or roots, would winter them equally w^ell, leav- 

 ing 15 acres, which in the same ratio, would winter a fraction over 

 21 head: and thus 50 acres would be made to winter 61, instead of 

 50 head of cattle. 



By the construction of the main feeding barns on the side of a 

 slope or hill, the grain and hay might be deposited in the upper por- 

 tion, while the lower part might be reserved for stables. A single 

 horse power placed on the upper floor, with the necessary machinery, 

 would thrash the grain, cut the straw, and, if thought advisable, the 

 hay, and cut up roots ; and these might be conveniently conducted 

 without any hand carriage, to the stables below. Chaff cutters, root sh- 

 eers, &c., should be so constructed as to be propelled by horsepower ; 

 at all events, in large establishments. If they are not, the outlay for 

 labor goes far to swallow up the profits arising from the use of these 

 machines. With a little ingenuity, these might each have their places 

 on an upper floor, and by changing the band of the horse power, 

 might each be put in motion, and deposit the roots, chaff", &c., through 

 trap doors into receptacles below, contiguous to the feeding stalls. 

 By a " swing beam,'' as it is called, an ample floor can always be had 

 without the sacrifice of much room in the barn. 



By such methods, more stock can be reared on the farm, more ma- 



[Senate No. 63. | V 



