162 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



themselves, and with a supply of pure water, will 

 he satisfied so as to lie down quietly and chew the 

 cud or sleep. If cut feed is given them a less time 

 will be required for them to eat what they will 

 take with a good appetite. 



Now if, after taking this course with the cow, 

 she finds all her wants satisfied and is lying in 

 that delectable state, half sleeping and half waking, 

 the digestive mill in quiet operation, and every 

 (unction in full and healthy action, suppose you 

 step in and shake up a lock of sweet hay, what is 

 the effect? The animal rouses up, tempted by the 

 appearance and flavor of the sweet morsel, and 

 with a cloyed appetite picks daintily upon fodder 

 which she would eat voraciously in the morning. 

 How much the digestive process is disturbed by this 

 we are unable to say ; but that it gets the animal 

 into an uneasy, expectant habit, there can be no 

 doubt. Judging from our own feelings, however, 

 occasioned by frequent eatings we should have no 

 hesitation in believing that the process of digestion 

 is considerably retarded and rendered unfavorable 

 for the best health of the cow. 



"We have always supposed that it is not so much 

 the large amount that is eaten that produces milk, 

 fat and muscle plentifully, as it is the amount that 

 is properly digested and thoroughly assimilated for 

 the purposes desired, as flesh, chyle, blood, &c. 

 A certain time is required to chew the cud, as the 

 digestive organs cannot act without this natural 

 process — if the cud is lost, the animal soon be- 

 comes sick. Liebig says that rumination (chew- 

 ing the cud) has plainly for one object a renewed 

 and repeated introduction of oxygen, for a more 

 minute mechanical division of the food only short- 

 ens the time required for solution. A man in a 

 surfeit will scarcely find much benefit from the 

 quantity with which he has gorged himself, though 

 it may be of the most nutritious character. Like 

 the mill-stones too freely fed from the hopper, they 

 become clogged, and finally refuse to grind at all. 



Cattle turned to pasture where the crop is plenty, 

 usually feed briskly for a couple of hours in the 

 morning, and then lie down for several hours. 

 About noon they will feed a short time and rest 

 again until four or five o'clock, when they feed 

 steadily until taken to the barn. 



Will it not be well, then, to reduce attention to 

 our cattle to a system, and ascertain whether Ave 

 cannot get as much flesh or milk as we now do 

 from a much smaller quantity of food 1 If so, that 

 surplus will enable us to keep more stock and thus 

 increase our profits. 



The Working Farmer. — This paper is now pub- 

 lished by Fred. McCreadv, Esq.-, at the rooms of 

 the ^aerican institute, 351 Broadway, N. Y. It 

 is about enough for us to say that it is conducted, 

 as heretofore, by Professor James J. Mates, agen- 

 tleman perhaps better qualified to conduct an ag- 



ricultural journal than any other person in our 

 knowledge. We like it all but one thing — its form. 

 Give us your agricultural works, friends, in the 

 royal octavo form. No one has shelves for. quar- 

 tos or folios. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HONEY BEES. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in your last number of 

 Feb. 14th, an inquiry as to the cause of the de- 

 struction of bees in winter when they have plenty 

 of honey in their hives. 



I would like to ask your subscriber, if in those 

 hives which he has seen, the bees were not clus- 

 tered where there was no honey in the comb 1 I 

 have not the least doubt they were ; then the rea- 

 son is plain. They died from the long continued 

 spell of cold weather ; for had they changed their 

 position in the extreme cold weather, it would 

 have been death ; so rather than to break their 

 cluster and let in a chill that would be death to 

 them, they remain and die when honey is almost 

 within their reach. I have noticed many so, and 

 have no doubt that is the cause of their destruc- 

 tion — it is the long continued cold iveather that de- 

 stroys them. Some times they die for want of 

 numbers to keep up a proper warmth in the hive ; 

 then the anchor frost proves destructive. Bees 

 should be watched close in so steady a cold winter 

 as this has been, and if you find a swarm that does 

 not answer to the call, carry them in to a good 

 warm fire and warm them up, and let them change 

 their position, and then return them to their place. 

 To have bees winter well, put your swarms into 

 hives of medium size, and a good swarm in that 

 shape is mure likely to winter than otherwise. 

 Yours respectfully, S. H. Stockwell. 



Sutton, Feb. 16, 1852. 



SKILL IN FARMING. 



The farmer has quite as much need of skill and 

 tact in cultivating the earth, as any other class of 

 citizens. Skill, tact, good management, contribute 

 quite as much to success in farmers as hard work. 

 The head must work as well as the hands, and be 

 mutual helpers. In the article of butter, for in- 

 stance, the same outlay is required to make a 

 miserable poor article as a good one. But rancid 

 butter will not sell in market for half as much as 

 that which is pure, and sweet, and skilfully put 

 up in yellow balls, and in clean, wholesome firkins. 

 It is the skilful dairyman that pockets the most 

 cash and establishes a goud reputation for himself 

 and his butter. Just so is it in all the various 

 departments of agriculture. The man who culti- 

 vates his mind, and lays up a fund of useful and 

 scientific knowledge, as he cultivates his farm from 

 year to year, is sure to reap a rich reward in the 

 time of harvest. — Vermont State Journal. 



Parsnips for Swine. — In the Isle of Guernsey, 

 the raising of parsnips for swine is a leading branch 

 of farming. The root is almost exclusively used 

 for pork making. A gentleman who once resided 

 there, noticing the peculiarly fine flavor of the 

 pork, inquired the reason of it, and was informed 

 that it was owing to the hogs being fattened on 

 raw parsnips. The pork, lie says, was beautifully 

 white, sweet, juicy and firm. 



