316 



FARMERS' REGISTER— ON GAMA GRASS, 



yet when it gets hold, no land produces more vigo- 

 rously or is more improved by it. Vegetable mat- 

 ter corrects many ot'its defects. It pays well him 

 who cultivates well — it starves him who cultivates 

 badly. A crop is never drowned by wet. No 

 land stands drought better. It vv ashes as little un- 

 tler good culture as any land — as much under bad. 

 Grass was not indigenous, except a few late sum- 

 mer grasses and coarse weeds. You now find 

 the clover, the sassafras and the brier, struggling 

 for the mastery — tlie clover taking it the first crop, 

 the sassafras and bner the second. It was origi- 

 nally very fertile, and tempted at an early period 

 capitalists, who desolated it with their tobacco, 

 their overseers, and their negroes. The first step 

 at reclamation with many has been achieved; the 

 surface is smoothed, and again produces vegeta- 

 tion; but the most advanced are far Irom a maxi- 

 mum. It will be a rich district. The energies of 

 the soil when properly developed, are of the most 

 vigorous character. 



Lands more soluble in water, acquire a com- 

 pactness under the action of hasty rain, which 

 cause them to admit the water more slowly. 

 Your horizontal furrows fill to overflownng— one 

 breaks over into the one beneath it — that into a 

 third — thus the water becomes embodied, and pro- 

 duces the evil you desired to arrest. The red land 

 of the South West Mountain if ploughed so deep 

 that the water cannot float, the whole suriace ad- 

 mit it like a sieve, and it passes ofl' into a substra- 

 tum two or three feet below, as is proven by roads 

 worn on hill-sides, which no matter how elevated, 

 invariably become springy in wet weather. 



Your correspondent quotes a passage from Ara- 

 tor, viz: "hilly lands will admit of narrow ridges 

 as well as level, by a degree of skill and attention 

 so easily attainable, that I observed it to have ex- 

 isted in Scotland above a century past, under a 

 state of agriculture otherwise execrable, and 

 among the ignorant highlanders." Did tlie author 

 of Arator intend to convey the idea that horizon- 

 tal ploughing existed in Scotland a century ago? 

 Lord Kaimes (I quote from memory, not having a 

 copy of the work, and therefore cannot give his 

 words) in speaking of this crooked ploughing of 

 Scotland, does not call it horizontal, but speaks of 

 it as without object, resembling the uncertain zig- 

 zags of an animal walking uncontrolled through a 

 field. This expression could not have been used 

 where crooked beds were designed for a particular 

 object. A rator has certainly fallen into an error 

 on this subject. 



The rain being over, and my horses done eat- 

 ing, Mr. Editor, I must take my leave of" you. 

 Don't be surprised that one who follows the plough 

 daily should quote Lord Kaimes to you. It is not 

 always the case that those who have most leisure, 

 have most learning. 



A FURROW TURNER. 



EXPERIMENTS ON GAJIA GRASS. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



Among the difi'erent experiments I have made 

 for the purpose of ascertaining fully and correctly, 

 the various modes in which the gama grass may 

 be advantageously used in feeding cattle, and for 

 which purpose it seems to me admirably calcu- 

 lated, I have been much gratified with one, on 



which I stumbled^ and the result of which may be 

 worth communicating. 



Having been in early life macli accustomed to, 

 and a close observer of Pejinsylvania farR)ing, I 

 was much pleased with the German economy ot* 

 increasing forage for their cattle, by the aid of art, 

 in mixing footl — they being assured thcit the pro- 

 cess adds to the capacity of each ingredient, fo? 

 furnidiing nutritive properties. 



This theory they put in practice throughout 

 many parts of the state, in their mode of putting 

 up green clover, as a forage for milch cows during 

 the winter; not only preserving, as they beiieve^ 

 in a superior manner the fine qualities of the 

 clover, but augmenting equally the «iuantity oi" 

 forage. As fiist as the clover is cut, they stack if, 

 mixing equal quantities of well preserved straw, 

 and a small portion of salt, sprinkled rcgvilarly 

 over the clover as the layers are completed. Thu 

 gratification with which the cattle appear to feed 

 on tliis preparation throughout the winter, I eariy 

 noticed, especially when it was cut up in the box, 

 and served out to them in troughs — one tin pint 

 cup full of rye, or Indian meal, seasoning the food 

 of a day, when confined to their stalls. 



I once had the pleasure of witnessing an experi- 

 ment made by an intelligent German farmer, to 

 ascertain the advantage of steaming this prepara- 

 tion, before feeding, and was much pleased with 

 the residt. The milk evidently was increased 

 twenty-five per cent., and the capacity of the food 

 for giving out its nutritive quaJities,^ almost the 

 same. 



A recollection of this fact induced me fo endea- 

 vor to imitate the course of the intelligent Ger- 

 man; and commencing the last July, I built up a 

 considerable stack, of equal quantities of gama 

 grass and tcheat straw, in thin layers, taking the 

 grass from the scythe, and on each layer of grass, 

 as I built my pile, sprinkling a little salt (ground 

 alum;) — straw; then grass and salt. The straw 

 was in a state of perfect preservation. The stack 

 was built in the old Pennsylvania barrack fashion, 

 a good thatched roof, moving up and down, as 

 required, on fixed posts. 



On the 1st of December, I found the prepara- 

 tion sweet and in fine preservation, and com- 

 menced feeding four favorite milch cows, in a 

 trough, under an open shed in my "dung stead."' 

 This shed was protected on the north and west. 

 The preparation I cut up in a patent cutting box, 

 to about one inch — this was the work of rainy 

 days, two hands cutting several hundred bushels 

 per day; as cut, it was packed closely away in a 

 small apartment in my cutting room, to be used 

 as required. On taking the cover from the stack, 

 or barrack, it gave out a fine flavor, resembling 

 that discoverable on opening a stack of" well pre- 

 served corn blades. This I wished to preserve as 

 much as possible, believing it to add to the gratifi- 

 cation of the animals while eating it, for I found 

 that afier my cattle were accustomed fo the pre- 

 paration, on going up to a bundle of straio, they 

 would smell it strongl}'', and immediately go in 

 search of another, but never leave that one min- 

 gled with the grass. 



In the morning, previously ascertaining the 

 quantity requisite to feed on to 12 o'clock, I put it 

 in the troughs, sjirinkling it with a liquid (I kept 

 always ready by having two casks) composed of 

 water and corn meal, in which the vinous fermeii- 



