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THE GENESEE FAEMEIt. 



allowed to become perfectly dry. We box them up in natural earth -which is neither 

 dry nor wet. First put in a layer of earth an inch or two in depth, according to the 

 distance the seeds are to be conveyed, and then a layer of acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, 

 beechnuts, or other seeds. This is to be covered with more loose earth, which is to 

 serve as the bed for another layer of nuts ; and in this simple manner a box or cask 

 may be filled, and put in order for transportation. Nuts of the tea tree are extremely 

 liable to become rancid and have their germs killed. The buds on the rattoons of 

 sugar-cane used in planting, suiFer in a similar manner, as we have seen in the agricul- 

 tural department of the Patent Office. To preserve the vitality of seeds and buds, is an 

 object of great importance. 



Seeds of our native trees are in demand for exportation ; and we respectfully com- 

 mend this whole subject to the attention of our readers. In no other way can they 

 so cheaply embellish their farms, and add to their attractiveness and value, as by 

 improving their woods, groves, and forests, and planting all the choice varieties of 

 American trees on any spare ground not needed for cultivation. 



WINTERING CATTLE AND HORSES. 



Owing to the great drouth the past summer, in many parts of the country, winter feed 

 will be exceedingly scarce, and the most rigid economy will be necessary to enable many 

 farmers to carry their ordinary stock through the winter. What is the cheapest method 

 of wintering cattle, sheep, and horses ? always an interesting question, becomes now a 

 most important one ; and though we by no means pretend arbitrarily to answer it, yet 

 we will endeavor to throw out a few hints that may be useful. We would premise that 

 no particular method can be laid down, that will be applicable to all cases ; the climate, 

 locality, nature of the crops grown, and prices obtained for them, interfere with any such 

 calculations. A more serious drawback, however, is the deplorable ignorance of us all 

 on the subject of nutrition ; for were the princijiles of nutrition well understood, it would 

 be easy to alter our modes of feeding to suit cii"cumstances, and so keep the animals in 

 the best and most economical manner. 



Ditl'erent breeds of animals doubtless require different amounts of food ; yet, as a 

 general rule, it may be stated that animals require an amount of food in proportion to 

 their weight. That is to say, an animal weighing 1200 lbs. would require twice the 

 food per week as one weighing GOO lbs., other things being equal. More food, too, is 

 required in cold than in temperate Aveather — more when the animal is worked than 

 when doing nothing. Also, cows giving milk or when in calf, and young animals, 

 require more than an animal of the same weight in a perfectly normal state. If, too, 

 we wish an animal to lay on fat, we must give more food — or rather the same quantity 

 or bulk of food, but of a more nutritious quality — than would be necessary to keep it 

 in a normal condition, or without increasing or decreasing in weight. 



The amount of food necessary per week to keep an animal in a normal condition 

 under the most favorable conditions of warmth, is not accurately ascertained. The 

 amount of food, however, which animals eat when given ad libitum, depends to a great 

 extent on the per centage of aya;7ai/e non-nitrogenous substances it contains, and not on 

 the nitrogenous. Thus, an animal fed on oilcake, peas or beans, and clover hay, will 

 eat nearly three times as much nitrogen as when fed with corn meal, hay, &c., though 

 it is probable that the amount of available non-nitrogenous substances eaten, is pretty 

 much the same in either case. The advantage, therefore, in feeding a highly nitrogen- 

 ous substance, is not in the less amount required by the animal, but in the increased 

 value of the manure and the increased quantity of fat a given amount of non-nitrogen- 



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