ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND FARMING. 53 



CUTTING AND CURING GRASS. 



THE question when grass ought to be cut, it seems to us, 

 is to be answered by the purposes to which we mean to 

 put it. 



Do we wish it for the seed, or for the stem ? Are we 

 anxious to obtain the greatest weight from an acre ? or are 

 we desirous of gaining the largest amount with the least 

 exhaustion of the soil ? 



1. If one, regardless of soil, wishes the greatest weight 

 to an acre, let the grass ripen. It will have become per 

 fectly developed ; its juices will have perfected the solid 

 matter, and less loss will ensue in curing. But the stem 

 will be comparatively hard, and without nutriment. 



2. Do we desire, without particular regard to economy, 

 the most nutricious food for animals ? The grass should 

 ripen and only the upper part of the stem and the head 

 should be fed out ; for, while the buts will be hard and 

 juiceless, the grain and husk and neighboring parts will 

 have received, in a concentrated form, the height of the 

 plant s juices. Chemistry has recently shown that plants 

 prepare in themselves, the fatty matter which is afterward 

 laid on the bones of the cattle. This fatty substance lies 

 not in the grain, but the husk. 



Johnston, the agricultural chemist, says : &quot; This fact of 

 the existence of more fat in the husk than in the inner part 

 of the grain, explains what often seems inexplicable to the 

 practical man, why bran, namely, which appears to contain 

 little or no nourishing substance, should yet fatten pigs and 

 other full grown animals when fed to them in sufficient 

 quantity, along with their other food.&quot; If, for example, a 

 horse is to be trained, it has long been the practice (though 

 hitherto the reason was not understood) to give the racers, 

 the hunter, etc., only the top joint and head of hay. 

 Now the principle on which a trained horse is fed, is to give 

 the most solid nourishment in the most cempaet form 



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