hxmex] 



^XSXwX* 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC IIILI.. 



'Thoiie who laror i:< the earth are the chose:* rEopLK or God, whose breasts hb has made his peculiar deposits for substantial and genuine virtue." — Jefferson. 



VOL. 8. NO. 6. 



CONCORD, N. H., JUNE 30, 1846. 



WHOLE NO. 90. 



Tll-^ P.VK-1IE!:X'S M03IT1II.Y VISITOR, 



Pl'Rl.ISHKl) BY 



ISAAC HiLL, & SONS, 



ISSLtD ON TliE LAST UAV OF KVKUV MO.NTII, 



At Athcuinn Building* 



IJi^-GENrnAL AfiENTs.— H. A. BtLL, Kfi'ne, N H. ; John 

 Marsh, WiisliingUm St. Bui^ton, Mas:;.; Charles Wabuen, 

 Brinley Row, Worcester, Mass. 



TEIIT>I.S.— To single subscribers, F(/?y Cents. Ton piT 

 crnt. wiil bj alluwrd ii> ihe pcrt-oii who sii.tll svu<\ more (iiiiii 

 one siib-scribcr. Twelve copit'S will be sent fur the atlvance 

 payineYilof Mrf Dollars; twcnly-five cupiL-s for Ten Dollars; 

 sixty copies tur Twenty Dollars. Tlie jtayjiiciit in every case to 

 be mriiie in advance. 



^"Moiiey and subscriptiansy by a regulutiun of the Pust Miusttr 

 General, may in all cases be rcinUtcd by the Post Master, free oj 

 postage. 



55".\ll gentlemen who have heretofore acted as Agents aie 

 reqiU'Pteil to i-oniinne thfir Agenr\'. Old subscribers who 

 cum.- lUKlt^r the new Ugiin^, will please notify us of the names 

 already on our books" 





Feediuff Cows. 



BY THE EDITOR OF THE rAKMEu's LIBRARY. 



The cow ro(]iiin;s to be supplied willi ul)uii- 

 (faiice of food, not to iiiidis her lat, whiidi is not 

 dr.^^'iralilu, l)UI. to kei'p up a rciiidar secnuiou of 

 inilU in llie system. The feeding must be regu- 

 lar, from morning to night, and pure water must 

 be otti-red at proper intervals, if the cow has not 

 the liberty of going to the water herselt; 



Regarding the nature of the food of cow?, al- 

 though soiling, or artilic-iai feeding in the house 

 i> at all times ccononiical, l!i;Me can he no df>nltt 

 that the best milk and l)utler is produced by cows 

 fed on natiual pasture ; and, although the (]uanti- 

 ly of milk is not so great, yet the butter has a 

 sweet lasle, never to lie discovered in the produce 

 of soiled cows. It was fortnerly the case in Scot- 

 land, and the practice is still continued in some 

 ]'.-,ris, to put llie cows out to grass in tlif spring 

 in such an emaciated state that a considerable 

 part of the best season was gone before they 

 yielde<l the quaiility of milk they otherwise would 

 have done. On well enclosed liu'uis, it is the cus- 

 tom of many to keep their cows out both night 

 and day, iVom ftiay idl the end of October, so long 

 as a full bite can be obtained; and some bring 

 ihern into the house twice a day to he milked. — 

 Soiling or keding entirely in the house or court- 

 yard, is hut seldom practiced, except liy some 

 liuniers in arable districts. Although complete 

 soiling is only occasionally resoited to, yet a con- 

 siilerable tpianlily of rich green food is serveil 

 out to the dairy slock in their stalls at ifiglit, and 

 in the heat of the day, by such farmers as bring 

 their cows into the house at these times. This 

 mode of feeding is more especially followed when 

 the pasture liegins lo fail ; the second crops of 

 clover and tares, cabbages, coleworls, and other 

 itarden produce: are all given lo the cows in the 

 house at this pejind. It is n)inn this system that 

 the whole perfection of the Flemish "husbandrv 

 is fomided ; and it could be put in practice, with 

 the most beneficial results, in many other coim- 

 tries. In Holland, the cows, when fed in the house, 

 have their drink of water invariably mixed with 

 oil-cake,.rye, or oatmeal. Dairy cows are allow- 

 t",l to he much injured by being denied a due sup- 

 ply of salt, which is said to iujprove the quality 

 and increase the quantity of the milk. In the 

 best managed dairies in Scotland, when the cows 

 ore taken in for the winter, they are never put out 

 to the fields imtil spring, when the grass has ris- 

 er, so , Rich as to afford a full bite. In the moor- 

 ish districts, however, they are put out to the fields 

 for some hours every day when the weather will 

 permit. lu these districts tlie winter food is tur- 



nips willi marsh meadow hay — occar-ionally straw 

 and boiled chaff. 



In the rich district.s, turnifis and straw are giv- 

 en, and occasionally some clover hay in spritig, 

 or when the cows have calveil. Upon this sub- 

 ject nothing neeil be added, but that the quantity 

 and (piality of the nfdk will be in proporti(Ui to 

 the nourishment in the tijod. White turnips af- 

 foril a good (piantity of milk, but they impart a 

 very disagreeable taste, which may be removed, 

 however, by sunming (u" boiling ilic turnips, or 

 by putting a small (]uantity of dissolved saltpetre 

 into the milk when new drawn. The (]uality of 

 the milk ilcpends a great deid on the cow ; influ- 

 enced, however, by the Ibod she eats. Linseed, 

 peas and oatn eal produce rich milk ; and a mix- 

 ture of bran and grains has been recounnended 

 as food in winter. Brewers' grains are said to 

 proihice a laru'e quantity of milk, hut very thin— 

 the quality being somewhat similar to that sold 

 in largo towns, yielding neither good cream nor 

 butter. It has been foimd of sojne importance 

 lo feed cows frequently — three or four times a 

 day in summer, ami five or six in winter — and to 

 give lliem no muio at a time than they can eat 

 cleanly. 



WJiat has been staled regarding llie feeding of 

 the cows applies princi|)ally lo those kept on dai- 

 ry (jirms. in establishments for the supplying 

 of large towns with milk, the method of liieding 

 is somewhat different; there the practice is to 

 I'l^i:^ them chielly on distillers' wasli, brewers' 

 grains, and every sortof liquid stuff that will pro- 

 duce a large quantity of milk, without reference 

 to its quality. The Edinburgh cow-keepers I>e- 

 gin to feed with grain, dreg, and bran, mixed to- 

 gether, at five o'clock in the morning; ft;ed again 

 at one o'clock in the afternoon, and a third time 

 at seven or eight o'clock in the evening; graEi.Lu 

 summer, ami turnips and potatoes in winter, be- 

 ing given in two intervals. The grass is laid up- 

 on the straw in order to impart to it a certain fla- 

 vor, and make it palateable, it is eaten after the 

 grass; and, in winter, straw or hay is given 

 after the turnips. Part of the turnii>s and pota- 

 toes are boiled, particularly whe!i- llicrc i.-> a scar- 

 city of grain. 



The following is mentioned in the " F^armers' 

 iMagazine,"as an improved mode ofieeding nfdch 

 cows, near Faridiam, in Surrey : — ^"Go to the cow 

 stall at six o'clock in the inoitnng, winter and 

 summer; give each cow half a bushel of the 

 mangel-wurzel, carrots, turnips, or potatoes, cut ; 

 at seven o'clock, the horn- the (hiiry-niaid comes 

 to milk them, give each some hay, ami let them 

 leed until they are nil milked. If iiny cow relil- 

 ses hay give her someihingslie will eat — such as 

 grains, carrots, &c. — during the time she is milk- 

 ing : it is ahsoiulebj necessary the cow should feed 

 wiiile ndlking. As soon as the woman has fin- 

 ished tnilking in the morning, tmn the cows into 

 the airing ground, and let there be plenty of^rcs/i 

 ira.'cr in the troughs ; at nine o'clock give each 

 cow three gallons of the mixture (as under — to 

 eight gallons of grains add iijur gallons of bran 

 or pollanl;) when they have calen that, put some 

 hay into the cribs; at twelve o'clock, give each 

 three gallons of the mixtme as beli>re. If any 

 cow looks for more, give heranother gallon. On 

 the contrary, if she will not eat what you give 

 her, t.ike it out of the manger; for never at one 

 time let a cow have more than they will eat up 

 clean. Mind and keep your mangers clean, that 

 they do not get som-. At two o'clock, give each 

 cosv half a liushel of carrots, mangel-wurzel, or 

 turnips; look the turidps, &c. over well, before 

 you give them to the cows — as one rotten turnip, 

 &c. will give a liad tasle to the milk, and most 

 likely spoil a whole dairy of butter. At four 

 o'clock, put the cows into the stall to be milked; 

 feed them on hay as you did at milking time in 

 the morning, keeping in mind that the cow, while 

 I milking, must feed on something. Atsix o'clock, 



give each cow three gallons of ihe ufixuire as be- 

 fore. Hack them up at eight o'clock. Twice in 

 n week, put into each cow's feed at noon a quart 

 of saltilnsi." 



Discussion iu Relation to Cattle. 



The discussion at Ihe weekly Agricultural 

 meetings at Boston the past winter, have been 

 reported in many of the papers publisheil in that 

 cily. Judging Iroin the reports, we should sup- 

 pose the meelings hail been generally v/e!l at- 

 tended, and that n considerable number of the 

 farmers have taken part in most of the discuss- 

 ions. We give the lidlowing abstract from the 

 rejiorts of the discussion on neat cattle: — 



Mr. Gleason, of Wayland, pays considerable 

 attention to rearing cows, and is careful to select 

 calves that come from good milkers; the bull 

 should also be of good stock. Two calves are 

 put with a farrow cow and tinned to pasture. If 

 the cow is unwilling to "own" the calves, lie 

 shuts up the cow and puts the calves in a pen 

 near by. She will generally own them in a few 

 days, but if not, he puts a dog in the stable with 

 the calves. Tlie dog \vM bark and the cow oel- 

 lovv, and in a short time she will own the calves. 

 He lets the calven run four months with the cow. 

 lie keeps more or less of the no-horn or "buf- 

 falo" cows, and thinks they are good milkers. 

 [The Boston Cultivator, in reporting this dis- 

 cussion, calls these no-horned cattle " Gallo- 

 ways," and we have noticed some of tlie otiier 

 Boston agricultural papers apply that nuine to 

 them, but with what pro|)riely we cannot dis- 

 cover. We have s^en, in various parts of the 

 country, many of these " bnffalos," (a strange 

 name truly, for cattle which have no horns,) but 

 have never found iv.ore than three or lour which 

 exliibiled any of ihe distinguishing marks of the 

 Gitllowtiys.] In selecting cows, Mr. G. prefers 

 those which have a briglit full eye, light neck, 

 thin shoulders, broad hips, small tail, flat horn, 

 and the udder of a yellow color, lie would 

 avoid a cow with black teals. Ho would avoid 

 driving milch cows any considerable distance — 

 even half a mile he thought loo tUr to dilve to 

 jiasture, and was satisfied it made the quanlily of 

 milk less. He was certain a cow wintered in the 

 stable would give less milk than one which had 

 the range of the yard. 



For oxen, Mr. G. prefers a full eye, long face, 

 broad back, deep, broad brisket, rump rather 

 sloping than rising. An ox with a very thick 

 hide is not gefierally so spirited. He was careful 

 not to buy an ox with crooked legs, as they were 

 more likely to get lame. Commences breaking 

 steers when they are two years old. 



In relation to breeds, he said he had reared 

 Durhams— they were larger and handsomer than 

 native cattle, and sold more readily — had seen 

 fine milkers among the Ayrsliires and Durhams, 

 but he thought the native cows, on the whole, 

 were as good as any. 



Mr. Btickminster, editor of the Massachusetts 

 Ploughman, admilted he was somewhat preju- 

 diced against the Durliam breed of cattle. He 

 said he bad taken much pains to know what was 

 their product in milk and butler. He had invited' 

 the owners of such cattle to show the yield of 

 their dairies, and though he had found instances 

 of very gooil cows of that breed, he was hound 

 to say," generally, they were not equal to the na- 

 tive cattle of the country. He said we have cows 

 in New England that have made their 14, If!, and 

 18 pounds of butter per week, and he thought it 

 would be easier lo find a do2en such cows, than 

 a dozen Durhams that would yield as much in 

 proportion to their size. We want the greatest 

 yield in proportion to the size of the animal and 

 the nourishment she requires. He called atten- 

 tion to the fact that the State Agricultural Socie- 

 ty, in its efforts to improve the stock of the coun- 

 try, had lately iinported Ayi'shires and Devons, 



