1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



491 



withhold turni])s, both tops and bottoms, because 

 they have heard that somebody had a whole 

 churning spoiled so, once ; don't doubt but 

 what they did, but the cause was not in the 

 food, but in the way of giving it ; and I say again, 

 that makes all the difference. Now we are not 

 afraid to feed any or all of these different kinds 

 of food to milch cows, our trouble being to get 

 enough of them. Having a cold, sour pasture, that 

 wont keep any cow well, I am obliged to raise corn 

 or some kind of feed not found in the pasture, for 

 my cattle, both cows and oxen. 



I might keep poorly, throe or four cows through 

 the summer, by letting them have the after feed 

 in the fall on all my mowing lots, but by raising 

 from a half to three-fourths of an acre of corn fod- 

 der, I am able to keep six or seven well, and that 

 without feeding down my mowing fields, so as to 

 spoil them for succeeding years. In the spring, and 

 before the corn fodder can be grown, I feed with 

 good English hay at night and morning, allowing 

 the cows to get their dinner in the pasture. In the 

 morning, all that give milk have an extra feed of 

 shorts, or some kind of meal, wet up thin in water, 

 and always given when in the stall. When the corn 

 is grown enough, I cut and haul it to the barn in a 

 cart, enough at a time to last two or three days ; 

 then give at two or three feedings as much as they 

 will eat up clean, butts and all; which is a good 

 deal, especially during the driest part of the sum- 

 mer. And this I do every night and morning, 

 from July till into October, or till the frosts spoil 

 the corn ; and always in the barn, so that they ex- 

 pect it nowhere else, and when they are turned out 

 into the pasture, they have nothing to hinder them 

 from feeding on such as they may find in the pas- 

 ture. They are seldom seen lingering around the 

 cornfield, or knocking stones off from the walls by 

 endeavors to get where they ought not to be ; nor 

 do they ever learn to jump or throw fence, as cat- 

 tle always are inclined to do, when fed with stalks, 

 pumpkins, &c., from the cornfield. 



And now, you have been shown another way ; is 

 it not the icay that makes all the difference ? It 

 gives us the means to keep nearly twice as much 

 stock through the year as we could without the 

 green corn, for while we are feeding the corn in 

 the barn, we are making, or saving a great amount 

 of manure, that we could not, if we fed it in the 

 pasture. And then, by keeping our cows out of 

 the after-feed, we get much more hay the next 

 year with which to winter our extra number of 

 cows above Avhat might be kept in the pasture 

 alone during the summer. Then, during the dry 

 weather, and usual shoit feed of August and Sep- 

 tember, our cows are less affected than those that 

 have no green corn. Speaking of manure, I 

 should have said that by stabling the cows every 

 night (which we should hardly have thought of, 

 had it not been for feeding purposes) we can make 

 fully as much manure as at any part of the year. 



The corn should be planted at intervals, so that 

 it will not ripen all at once, but continue along 

 through the whole season. The large kinds of 

 sweet corn are best. There are several ways of 

 planting and tending it. I have, of late, spread all 

 the manure, planted in rows, eighteen inches apart, 

 and in the row, four or five inches with a seed-sow- 

 er or corn-planter. Then draw a cultivator tooth 

 between the rows by hand, a few times, before the 

 corn gets high enough to sliade the ground. After 



If ]Mr. B. wishes to prove that Indian corn is 

 not good food for hogs, let him feed them as he 

 did liis cows, throw enough good ears over to them 

 in the morning to last them all day. Has he nev- 

 er seen farmers do that ? And have they not, gen- 

 erally, had small, uneasy and squealing hogs ? But 

 let us feed corn, or any other good feed, to hogs at 

 their trough, and in proper quantities, and at jirop- 

 er times, and they fatten kindly and contented. 

 So I believe we may all feed cows with any kind of 

 food which they love, having due regard for quan- 

 tity, times and places, with equally favorably re- 

 sults. A. w. c. 



FARMERS' FESTIVAL AT GROTON. 



The enterprising people of Groton have held an 

 agricultural fair for two or three years past. On 

 Friday, Sept. 26, it took place for the present year, 

 and resulted, we believe, in giving great gratifica- 

 tion to themselves, and a large collection of people 

 who had com: in from other towns. The day was 

 pleasant. Recent rains had sufficiently moistened 

 the earth to prevent any inconvenience from dust ; 

 the sun was bright, and the air elastic, and they im- 

 parted their cheering influences to the multitudes 

 that thronged the highways and halls. 



There was a plowing match, a trial of working 

 oxen, a show of cattle, horses, sheep, swine and 

 poultry ; in the hall were many samples of butter, 

 some of it remarkably fine, domestic manufactures, 

 a handsome collection of herbs neatly put up in 

 boxes, sieves, brooms. Sec, presented by the Shakers 

 at Harvard, and the usual fruits of the season. 

 The Address was given by the Agricultural Editor 

 of the Farmer, and was patiently listened to by a 

 large auditory. The tent was pitched on a common 

 near the centre of the village, and most appropri- 

 ately nestled alongside of a school-house ! Through- 

 out the occasion, the idea was prominent that the 

 mind is the man. Seven hundred and fifty sat 

 down to the tables, one-third of whom were females. 

 After some interesting manipulations for the space 

 of fifteen or twenty minutes, the President, JosiAlI 

 BiGELOW, Esq., called the company "from refresh- 

 ment to labor," and the toast-master read the regu- 

 lar toasts, several of which hit so decidedly hard 

 upon individuals present, that they felt it necessary 

 to reply. These replies were short, nervous and 

 witty, and often "brought down the house" at a 

 dreadful rate. The Grotonians were wide awake 

 that day. Everything was well arranged, and well 

 up to time. We thought the exhibition, in all its 

 departments, was highly creditable, though theij 

 Ex-Governor said at the dinner-table that it was 

 nothing like as well as the people might do, iflhey 

 ivould. 



The Farmers' Club at Groton holds meetings in 

 the winter, and these, with their annual exhibitions, 

 will soon work a wonderful change in the condition 

 of agriculture about them. We wish them great 

 success. 



