THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



341 



vent the escape of most ol the ammonia. In all 

 cases, the heap should be protected I'rom rain, by 

 a good shelter. R. T. B. 



STALL-FEEDING. 



Directions to stall-feed Cattle — read before "The Phi- 

 ladelphia Society for promoting Agriculture," 

 June I, 1842, by James Mease, M. D., Vice 

 President. 



From the PhilaJelpliia Saturday Courier. 



1. The subjects on which it is intended to lay 

 an extra proportion of I'at musi be in good con- 

 dition when put up — otherwise they will not pay 

 lor the cost, leed, and care. 



2. Give one handllil of fine salt three times 

 weekly to each beast. 



3. The hay must be ol the first cutting, (ifclo- 

 ver) and well cured — that is, not left belore cut- 

 ting, in the field, until thestems are deprived ofall 

 nutritious moisture, the leaves and blossoms turned 

 black, and when cut, turned day after day in mak- 

 ing, until they fall off from age, and exposure to 

 the sun, and probably a rain or two. These con- 

 sequences (the last excepted) are the invariable 

 result of sowing timothy with clover seed, iijr the 

 first grass does not attain its lijli growth until two 

 weeks after the latter is fully ripe, and farmers al- 

 most always reltise to cut the crop until the timothy 

 is fit to mow. The union of orchard grass with 

 clover does not admit of the objections to which 

 the first combination is liable, lor both progress 

 equally to maturity, and if cut when in full blos- 

 som, and not kept too long in the field, make a 

 hay which cannot be exceeded. Hay should be 

 given thrice daily, and no more put in the rack 

 at a time, than the animals will eat before their 

 next allowance, as they become lastidious by con- 

 finement, and will reluse hay upon which they 

 have often breathed, and which is also impregnated 

 with the confined air of the stable. At night, 

 enough must be given to last until the morning, 

 and the remains of the former supply at all times 

 taken away, to give place to a fresh one. 



4. Water is to be given twice a day, and, if 

 convenient, the animals may be walked to the 

 spring, creek, or pump. The exercise will amuse 

 them, promote their appetites, and aid of course 

 the object in view. 



5. After their hay is eaten, give from 10 to 16 

 quarts of Indian corn and oats ground together, to 

 each head three times daily during ten days ; then 

 halfa peck of boiled maehed potatoes, with a hand- 

 ful of corn meal sprinkled over them. The water 

 in which the potatoes have been boiled must be 

 thrown away, as I know it to be hurtful to ani- 

 mals. In a week, a change may be made of 

 chopped pumpkins, or sliced Swedish turnips, 

 or sugar beet, for the potatoes. The new food 

 will invariably encourage appetite, unless in the 

 event of an aversion to some one article, for 

 which no cause can be assigned. Indian corn 

 meal, with or without oats, must be the never- 

 failing accompaniment of any other food. 



6. Great care must be taken to watch the appe- 

 tite of the animal, so as never to cloy it ; other- 

 wise time will be lost. He must on no account 

 be over-fed— and to avoid this, during the occur- 

 rence of an increase of temperature in the air, 



(or " a warm spell,'''') which takes place almost 

 every winter, the usual allowance must be dimi- 

 nished. The farmer should take the alarm the 

 hour that he sees the animal leave any of his 

 usual allowance in the trough or rack, clean out 

 both, and by a daily walk, extra carding, and, if 

 necessary, a dose of Glauber salts, try to restore 

 the appetite. 



7. The lood, other than hay, should be given 

 in a box and in the trough alternately, which 

 should be daily washed or dry-scrubbed, and 

 scraped, to prevent the remains of a former mess 

 Ironi turning sour, which will infallibly disgust the 

 ox. This was. the uniform practice of that first- 

 rate farmer, Joseph Cooper, of New Jersey, who 

 urged its adoption upon the writer, as one with the 

 importance of which hia own ample experience 

 had fully impressed him. 



8. Flax-seed jelly, with corn meal, is of ser- 

 vice occasionally to soften and loosen the skin, 

 and produce that " kindly leel" in it which the 

 great English improver, JSakewell, ranked as an 

 essential point in the choice and feeding ol cattle ; 

 meaning thereby a '• mellow, soft leel, yet firm to 

 the touch, and which is equally distant from the 

 hard dry skin peculiar to some cattle, as it is from 

 the loose and ffabby feel of others." 



9. Carding the animal thrice daily with appro- 

 priate cards is an all-essential part of the process. 

 The operation is highly grateful to the animal, and 

 its efiects eminently salutary. It promotes the 

 action of the small vessels on the surface, and the 

 muscular fibres, which sympathise and act indi- 

 rectly upon the stomach. Medical men are well 

 acquainted with the intimate connexion subsisting 

 between the state of the human corporeal surface, 

 and the stomach and viscera connected with di- 

 gestion, and the same connexion is observed in 

 the ox when feeding. 



10. Regularity in the hours of feeding and wa- 

 tering is essential. 



11. Cut straw, free from mould or smell, may 

 be given once a day, by way of a change, slightly 

 sprinkled with corn meal and salt. It will be 

 eaten freely. The stable should be fully venti- 

 lated, if possible — for the more pure the air, the 

 more keenly will the animals eat.' The utmost at- 

 tention must also be paid to cleanliness. The 

 animals must not be permitted, when leaving the 

 stall to drink, to walk through a yard covered 

 with wet manure, and to return to their stalls 

 with the clefts of their feet filled therewith— (or, 

 owing to the acrimony of the liquid a sore there- 

 in will be the almost certain effect, with a conse- 

 quent loss of appetite. This cleft must be occa- 

 sionally examined in both oxen and sheep, and 

 if found sore, should be washed with soap and 

 water, when the application of a dossil of tow, 

 dipped in spirits of turpentine, morning and 

 evening, for three or four days, will remove it. 



12. Clean bedding is a point obvious to all. 



TAMING HORSES — HORSE TRAINING. 



By A. J. Ellis, B. A., Windsor, Oxley. 



From an English Paper, 



Mr. Catlin, in his work on the manners and 

 customs of the North American Indians, gave 

 the following account of their method of taming 

 the wild buffalo calves, and wild horses : — 



