354 



NEW ENGLAND FARxMER. 



June 2, 1826. 



fatting quality of hay, which has been mown in the . meuts are very different from what could have beeu ex- j among the best farmers about Philadelphia. The Tmi- 

 fidness of sap." pected from the generally reputed value of the grasses | othy after btiug mown, shoots up agaia so weak and 



I suppose nothing to be equal for milch cows, submitted to trial. Thus in the instances mentioned i jp^fiug that it leaves the soil liable to be scorched and 

 and so desirable to forward the fattening of cattle, ' above by '' Examintr," Timothy or Herd's grass, cut ( burnt up." Orchard Grass, likewise, is, we believe in 

 as a full bite of sweet grass. And Dr Anderson [ when the seed was ripe, yielded at the rate of no less | high estimation among those New England Farmers 

 (in early life a practical farmer, and always a nice ' than 3663 pounds of nutritive matter -, and Tall .Mead- -who have cultivated it. Yet, according to Mr Sinclair's 

 observer on agricultural subjects) mentioning "the i ow Oat Grass at the rate of no more than 255 pounds experiments. Orchard Grass yielded at the rale of less 

 sweetness of pastures," says — " It is, in as far as of nutritive matter loan acre. That is, the herds than a third pait of the nutriment to an acre which 

 I know, an universal rule, that in every case, the ' gra«s produced more than fourteen times as much solu- herd's grass produced. 



younger the grass is, the sweeter and more palate- ble or nutritive matter, as the oat grass : Now, if we From these and other unaccountable results of Mr 

 able it will be to beasts of every sort; and that can rely on this experiment, one acre of Timothy or Sinclair's experiments, we cannot think it strange that 

 the same weight of food will go much further [ herd's grass will furnish more nutritive matter than 14 our able correspondent should think them unworthy of 

 in nourishing or fattening an ammal, (/ it be ftri/ ' ^cres of Tall Meadow Oat Grass. We apprehend some entire confidence- 

 pleasing to the palate of the animal to which it is i ^^i^take in this conclusion, though it would stem to 

 ffiven, than if it had been less tootlisome." Be 



EJdes, the greater quantity of food an animal can 



CATERPILLARS. 

 Mr Fessende.n — The attention of your readprs 



follow from the above premises. 



The Tail meadow Oat Grass, has, by some writers, 

 be induced to eat— where tlie object is to fatten I j^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^1^^ ^_^^^ valuable of the art.f.- , »« requested to the examination of the habits of a 

 him—in a given time, the taster he wiU fatten ; | ^.^, ^^^^^^ . ^^ ^.^^ _. ^^^^ ^^^ following ex- '^^"P''"" found on the trees, at the same time 



and this inducement lies in supplying the tood : j , ,• ,-,■ , -it- ,, n ?>„ with the common caterpillars. The two are some- 



,, ,. ,^ ■ u ■ i- 1 tracts Irom the Philadelphia edition ol n ilJich's Do- 1 , ,., , ,- , , , , . 



most agreeable to him. Hence is to be interred! . , ,. i what alike; the former may be known by having 



^ ^, , , {■ ■ I mestic Lncyclopedia. ., , i , ■ • i , , , 



S to the tastes oi am- ■> '^ , „ ,, ,, , , , ^ ! a series ot eleven, oval, whitish spots on the back. 



I he Rev. and learned Dr Henry Much enburgh , „. , , . n i. i. . l i .i 



■' . ° 1 he apple tree caterpillar has a w hilish line in the 



the importance of attendin 



mals ; and in what state all articles of their food 

 can be most advantageously provided and adminis- 

 tered. That horses should prefer ripe, brown Tim- 

 othy hay, to that wliich is cut and cured in a green 

 state, I sliould be inclined to ascribe to tlie great 

 quantity of plump farinaceous seed in the heads of 

 that grass. If a horse were feeding in the richest 

 pasture, and a field of ripe grain opened to him, he 

 would quit the pasture, and eat off the heads of 

 the grain — but as certainly leave their stems. — 

 The stems or straw of ripe Timothy may be more 

 palateable than the straw of grain ; still, however, 

 much inferior, I am persuaded, to the hay made of 

 the same stems when abounding in sap. But to 

 settle this point conclusively, e.xperimcnts may be 

 made. I add, as a general remark — That the 

 quantity of nutritive matter in any plant, either 

 absolutely, or at a particular period of its growth, 

 will not alone determine its eligibility as food for 

 animals : the plant itself must be palateable, to in- 

 duce the animal to eat it, and his stomach must be 

 capable of digesting it. 



Nearly a century and a half ago, an ingenious 

 French Physician, Dr Papin, invented a culinary 

 machine in which beef bones were perfectly di- 

 gested, and made good soup : but no one would 

 hence infer that the same bones, reduced into any 

 form, but still remaining hories, would be proper 

 human food. According to Sinclair's statement 

 half a toil of timothy hay, cut when the seed is 

 ripe, contains more nutritive matter than a whole 

 ton of it cut when in full bloom, and full of sap. — 

 This in its application as food to animals, I do not 

 believe. But, as already suggested, let experi- 

 ments be made in .\"ti(i(/'e'« laboratories the stom- 

 achs of animals. EXAMINER. 



May 18, 182ti. 



Rtmarks by the Edilor—We have not seen the third 

 volume of the Memoirs of the New York Board of Agri- 

 culture, though we ha»e been for some weeks iu daily 

 expectation of receiving it ; relying on a promise of a 

 friend that he would forward it. We have however, 

 uefore us tlie Philadelphia edition of Davy's Agrirultu- 

 til Chemistry, printed in 18'21, which contains the ap- 

 pendix on grasses, from which it appears Mr Buel com- 

 piled the Table of Grasses referred to by our corres- 

 Boiident, as above. It would be highly presumptuous 

 in us to question the accuracy, or to deny the utility 

 of the experiments of Mr Sinclair, sanctioned as they 

 are, by so high authority as that of Sir Humphry Uavy. 

 But it seems that the re:ult of some of those uxper;- 



of Lancaster, Penn. has paid more attention to the nat- 



place of this row of spots. Those who may have 



ural history of the grasses of the United States than , ^^^^ ^^^p^^^^j^jj^ ^j. ascertaining the following cir- 

 auy other person. According to his trials Ihey thus j.„,^^3(j^„j.gg ^^.jjj ^^^^^^ ^ f^,^,^ t,y giving infbrma^ 

 range in point of merit. 



I. Tall Meadow Oats, cr Tall Oat-Grass ^1 



:tion through your paper. 1st Whether the cater- 

 tiia ela- pillarg of this species, form, like the common ones. 



lior imported. 



2. Tall Fescue Grass, /cjfuca elatior^ native. 



3. Meadow fox-tail-grass, ^dloiitcurm praltnsis, im- 

 ported. 



4. Meadow soft grass, or Yorkshire grass of the Eng- 

 lish, Hoteus L.a7ialus, native. 



5. Timothy, or Meadow cat's-tail grass, ;)/i/£u/npra-!ers that our common apple tree caterpillars pro- 

 Itnse, Herd's Grass of New F.ngland. |ceed from eggs laid, in a ring around a twig, by a 



6. Rough cock's foot grass (orchard grass) rfar /i//,j { '"^'^ of a brownish or cinnamon colour, uiih tuo 

 glonitrata, native. 



a web. 2d Whether they proceed from eggs de- 

 posited in a ring around the twigs of trees. And 

 .'id Whether they are confined to the apple tree, 

 have a decided preference for any other, or feed 

 indiscriminately upon several trees. 



It is probably w ell known to most of your read- 



7. Knglish or Common Rye grass, Lolium perenne, 

 imported. 



8. Sweet scented vernal grass, ctnthuxanihum odora- 

 tum., imported. 



9. Reedy Cinna. ^irundmacta, native. 



10. Broom-grass, two speci«s, brumi. 



It appears by this that the sort of grass, which, ac- 

 cording to Mr Sinclair's experiments should seem to be 

 of very little value, the Rev. Dr Muhlenburgh placed 

 at the head of his list, arranging them according to 

 their supposed worth. He, moreover, observed that 

 " this grass is of all others the earliest, latest and best 



white stripes passing diagonally across the upp'r 

 wings. This moth prefers the white cherry to any 

 other tree, and upon it the eggs are found in the 

 greatest abundance. Next to this the apple tree 

 is usually selected, as affording a kind of food con- 

 genial to its future progeny. The caterpillars ap- 

 pear as soon as the leaves begin to e.xpand, in- 

 crease ill size during seven or eight weeks, and 

 usually cease feeding about the 10th of June, but 

 sometimes earlier and sometimes later, according 

 to the advanced or backward state of the seajson. 

 Each caterpillar then retires to some sheltered 

 spot, and forms a cocoon of threads, intermingled 

 with a yellow powder ; in this case it changes to 



grass for green fodder and hay. It blossoms about the j a chrysalis, and, after the lapse of si.\tj?en or 



middle of May, [in Pennsylvania] with red clover and j eighteen days, emerges from its confinement in 



the seed ripens a month after. It grows b^st in a clo- j the perfect or moth state, and dies, when it lias 



ver soil, and rises to a height of from five to seven feet. 1 completed the purposes of its creation by provid- 



It ought to be cut in blossom shout the end of May. — ing for the sut.-ession of the species. 



The seed may be sown in the fall or spring, with or i The caterpillar before mentioned marked with 



without grain, and must be bushed in, or lightly bar- a dorsal row of white spots, forms a cocoon similar 



rowed. If mixed with clover it will make good upland 1° 'nat of tiie other species, and produces a moth 



meadow. Horned cattle prefer this grass to all others, o/a/'aie cinnamon colour, with two diagonal, brown 



But some horses do not relish it green. 1 *'''>" "'''"^^ "'<= "■'"ff*- ^hat this IS not a variety 



Hon. John Welles, of Dorchester, Mass. published a <"' sexual distinction of the other species is well 



, . , r- /-• ■ ,v m u 1. 1 ■ ascertained ; for the sexes of each species have 



valuable Essay on Grasses in the Massachusetts Agn- , , . • , , . ., .. 



cultural Repository, which was republished in the 



New England Farmer, vol. ii. page 252. In this essay 



Mr Welles observes that " the V, ild Oat Grass (A vena 

 Elatior) with the Rye, Ray or Darnel grass, with which 

 it is said to be confounded, are often seen in our pas- 

 tures and meadows, but animals seldom touch them. — 

 They have a strong woody fibre, afford little nutriment, 

 though well spoki n of south of us as well as in Europe." 

 Thomas Cooper, Esq. M. D. says (in a note in Wil 

 licli's Domestic Encyclopedia.) "Orchard Crass is, 

 gradually takin; the place of Timothy (herd's grass) 



been obtained, and present the same specific, and 

 characteristic differences in both. Any informa- 

 tion respecting this allied species will be very ac- 

 ceptable. H. 

 .mion. May 1836. 



CATERPILLARS. 

 Mr Fesse.nden — The most simple, cheap and 

 efficacious medicine that I have been able to dis- 

 cover, for the cure of the bite of the caterpillar on 

 Orchard Grass isjour apple trees, is strong soap-suds. 



When the waghwomen have finiuhed cleaninff 



