14 



THE FAIliMEKS" REGISTER. 



The hay from these natural meadows is ex- 

 ceedintrly covetfd by the callic and remarkably 

 nutritious. It consisis of a very grenl variety ol 

 plants, but what is called the English bent 

 (agrostis alba,) prevails with a slight iniermixiurc 

 of clover. I do not know what lias given it the 

 name o( English, as it is without doubt indigenous 

 to the soil. It requires to be cut early, otherwise 

 it becomes iiard and wiry. Some ol' the liiraiers 

 are in the habit of making or drying this hay 

 much less than formerly. It was considered best 

 to dry it as much as possible ; but this is not now 

 (he case. Hay, wet from external mois'ure, whe- 

 ther dew or rain, always suffers and becomes 

 mouldy and sour, il' packed away with any ol this 

 dampness upon it. But hay when perlecily dry 

 may' be put away with much of the sap remaining 

 in it ; and though it sweats severely in the mow 

 and becomes somewhat discolored from the heat, 

 yet it is not the less relished by, nor the less 

 nutritious to, the fatting cattle. This is the actual 

 experience of some of the best feeders ; but 

 though no evil may come from giving euch hay 

 to cattle soon to pass into the hands ol the butcher 

 yet in the condition in which it is often given to 

 fatting cattle, it would be quite pernicious to horses. 

 There ie reason to believe, that hay is generally too 

 much dried ; and with some farmers, the practice 

 of curing it in the cock is much approved. In this 

 case, the hay being perfectly dry Irom any exter- 

 nal wet, after being slightly willed in the sun, is 

 made up into cocks. The second day these cocke 

 are opened and afierwards doubled. In good 

 weather it will soon become sufficiently cured to 

 be carried salely into the barn. In bad weather it 

 is in a great degree secure from theeffiects of rain, 

 if the cocks are macle up with care. In this way, 

 the hay is never so much dried as to be broken ; 

 nor are the leaves and seeds, as in the common 

 way of making hay by tossing it about a great 

 deal, scattered and lost. Two of the best farmers 

 in the county, residing in Bernardston, are of 

 opinion, that herds-grass should not be cut until it 

 is ripe, and the seed perlectly formed. They 

 speak with confidence in this matter from having 

 made many experiments in the fatting of cattle. 

 They are persons, whose word is above question 

 and whose judgment is entitled to great respect. 



ON THE QUESTION OF TOPPING AND STRIP- 

 PING CORN. HARVESTING THE CROP. 



Prom the same. 



The subject of topping the stalks has been 

 much discussed ; and its inexpediency may be 

 considered as settled. A Pennsylvania farmer, 

 highly intelligent and observing, made an experi- 

 ment with a view accurately to test this point. 

 Taking three equal rows in the same field, top- 

 ping two and leaving one untopped, the result was 

 as follows : — 



" Produce of the row which had not been top- 

 ped, nine bushels and five-eighths of corn in the 

 ear. 



" One of the rows which had been topped and 

 etripped, — that is, the blades of the plant taken 

 off, — measured seven bushels and six-eighths; 

 and the other, topped and stripped, measured 



seven bushels and three-eighths of corn in the ear. 

 Thus it clearly appears that mutilating the corn 

 plant before its fiuitis perfected, is a very injurious 

 practice." 



The experiment of Josiah Quincy, of Quincy, 

 Norlblk county, was to the same effect. This was 

 upon carrois, and I shall give the account in his 

 own words : — 



"It was stated confidently, by some English 

 writer on the cultivation of carrots, that the tops 

 might be cut early for the purpose ol" feeding 

 cattle which were soiled, not only without injury, 

 but even with benefit, to the roots, which it was 

 said, would in this way grow larger. Mr. Quincy 

 took twenty-six beds ot' carrots in the same field 

 and of the same size, with a view of fully testing 

 these statements ; and in the month of July, 

 when the lower leaves first began to wither, he 

 caused every other bed to be cut as directed, be- 

 ing careful not to crop the crown or the head of 

 the root — so that there was a cut to an uncut bed 

 alternately through the whole piece. They were 

 gathered, and the roots measured carefully, on 

 the 20ih October. The total product of the uncut 

 beds was 104^} bushels : the total product of the 

 cut beds was 58 bushels. Judging by the eye, 

 the size of the roots of the cut bed was nearly two 

 thirds less than that of the uncut bed." 



But the question may be considered as put to 

 rest by the experiment of William Clark, Jun., of 

 Northampton, Hampshire county. The experi- 

 ment was conducted with much care and intelli- 

 gence ; and, omitting several of the details, 1 shall 

 give only the results: — 



Row No. 2, on which the experiment was 

 commenced, was as follows, viz : 

 46 hills on which the stalks had not 



been cut, gave - - - 42 lbs. 8 oz. 



Dry shelled corn, equal per acre to bs. 60, 8 lbs. 

 46 hills from which the stalks had 



been cut, gave - - - 33 lbs. 7 oz. 



Dry shelled corn equal per acre to bs. 47, 18 lbs. 



The loss by cutting the stalks per 



acre was - - - - 12 bs. 46 lbs. 



The four rows taken together, stand as follows : 



No. 1 and 4, on which no stalks were cut, gave 

 an average per acre of 60 bs. 8 lbs. 



No. 2 and 3, from which half the stalks were 

 cut gave an average per acre of 54 bs. 25^ lbs. 



Loss by cutting half the stalks 

 per acre, - - - - - 5 bs. 38^ lbs, 

 or cui.Uing all the stalks would make 

 a loSplqual per acre to - - 11 bs. 21 lbs. 



The difference in the result of the two cases is 

 1 bs. 25 lbs. per acre ; or in the two experiments, 

 i( it may be so termed, there i^ an average loss by 

 cutting the stalks, of 12 he. 3^ lbs. per acre ; a- 

 loss quite equal to all the e.xpense of hoeing and 

 harvesting. Mr. Clark adds, " if this experiment 

 is a fair test, it seems that about twenty per cent, 

 or one-fifth part of the crop is destroyed by cut- 

 ting the stalks in the way they are usually cut." 

 Aiiother exact farmer in Conway has made a 

 similar experiment in reference to this very point. 

 By a careful measurement he states that the 

 difference between cutting the stalks at the cus- 

 tomary time or leaving them uncut until after the 

 corn is ripened was eight bushels per acre in favor 

 of the latter practice. 



Mr. Clark advances another opinion, which is 



