164 



Potatoes. — Heavy Fleece. 



Vol. X 



I 



round, and I have as large a portion of grain 

 crops as most other people have on farms of 

 equal extent — 52 acres. 



" No doubt, the system, if ill-wrouglit, 

 will fail. Some who trj' it, will bring their 

 cows info the house; they are tied up and 

 perhaps injudiciously confined — kept filthy — 

 not regularly curried — a large quantity of 

 some particular kind of food is put before 

 them, and this repeated, cloys the appetite, 

 and the animals refuse their food. They are 

 perhaps neglected in water — by-and-by they 

 fail in milk — get out of condition — and the 

 whole experiment is a failure, from being 

 wrongly conducted. The house itself must 

 be airy, well ventilated, and kept perfectly 

 clean. The animals must be well curried 

 and brushed at least twice a day. There 

 ought to be one particular person to super- 

 intend and pay attention to the feeding; and 

 one of the first and most important parts of 

 his duty is, to ascertain the appetite of every 

 beast. Cows, like other animals, will eat 

 more or less; and they ought to be supplied 

 accordingly as they require it, being kept 

 rather with an appetite than otherwise. As 

 soon as the animal has eaten its food, ail re- 

 fuse should be taken away, and nothing suf- 

 fered to remain in the stall before it. Should 

 it seem delicate or careless in eating, let the 

 Ibod be at once removed. The times of feed- 

 ing are also of great importance, and ought 

 to be strictly obbcrved and -regulated. The 

 cattle will know the hour of feeding as cor 

 rectly as the clock can tell it, and will be 

 disappointed and fretted if neglected. This 

 neglect is prejudicial both to milking and 

 fattening. I give six feeds in tiie day, sum- 

 mer and winter — beginning at six o'clock in 

 the morning, and ending at nine in the even- 

 ing — viz: at 6, at 8, at 12, at 3, and at 9. 

 They get water in their stalls at 10 in the 

 morning, and at 5 in the afternoon. They 

 are likewise turned out one hour from 10 to 

 11, where they exercise and drink if they 

 choose. 



" The kinds of food I use are chiefly the 

 following: in summer, at 6, feed with pe- 

 rennial or Italian rye-grass and clover; at 8, 

 with cabbages or leaves; at 12, with cut hay 

 and straw, mixed — this feed is to prevent the 

 action of too much green food on them — at 

 3, upon vetches; at 6, upon mangold w'urzel, 

 leaves, or refuse of the farm or garden ; at 

 9, clover or grass; or this may be a dry feed, 

 if the state of tlie bowels require it. 



"In winter, at 5, feed with steamed food : 

 at 8, with turnips, raw; at 12, cut hay and 

 straw: at 3, W'ith mangold wurzel, raw; at 

 6, with steamed food ; at 8, w-ith turnips, 

 raw; at 6, with steamed food; at 9, with 

 hay and straw. Water must be given or 



offered, and plenty of salt used in the steamed J 



food." I 



With respect to ventilation of cattle 

 houses, Mr. M'Cullocli stated that he con- 

 sidered too little attention had been paid to 

 this important matter, as nothing tended to 

 promote the health of animals more tlian 

 well ventilated houses. There should be a 

 small aperture below and above in the wall, 

 behind each animal, so that by the admission 

 of fresh air beneath, the respired vitiated air 

 — carbonic acid gas — which is very injurious 

 to animal life, together with the pernicious 

 effluvia from the skin, urine and dung, may 

 be forced out by the upper aperture, and in 

 this way have a constant renewal of air. 

 Mr. M'C. was astonished to observe that 

 even in the establishments of our most emi- 

 nent agriculturists, this important subject 

 was so much overlooked. You Vv'ill often 

 observe openings in ihe upper part of the 

 hovel, or in the roof, for the escape of the 

 contaminated air, but it seems to be forgot- 

 ten that there must be an admission of fresh 

 air below, to cause the effective expulsion of 

 the contaminated atmosphere. — American 

 Farmer. 



Potatoes. — A curious fact has been stated 

 to us by a person in the neighbourhood of 

 Carriagline. It is, that having planted po- 

 tatoes in alternate beds of sea-weed and farm 

 manure, the potatoes in the latter are en- 

 tirely destroyed by the prevalent disease, 

 while those planted in the beds covered with 

 sea-weed, have escaped untouched. The 

 proportion which the infected bear to the 

 healthy roots varies. In some places the 

 destruction seems almost complete, and the 

 progress of the disease is so rapid that in 

 many others it threatens to become so. 

 Even after brought home and housed, the 

 potatoes are attacked. Several people who 

 purchased in the market last week, and 

 found them excellent for a few days, have 

 since been obliged to throw the remainder 

 out, so that it is impossible, from present ap- 

 pearances, even to guess at the quantity 

 which may ultimately be secured for an acre 

 or a field. — Cork {Ireland) Advertiser, Oc- 

 tober 9th. 



Heavy Fleece. — Mr. Buel Warner, of 

 Cornwall, Vermont, states tliat his sheep 

 was yeaned the first week in April, 1844, 

 and was sheared the 23rd of June last. The 

 fleece weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz., well washed and 

 in good condition. Accompanying this ac- 

 count was a sample of the wool. It is clean, 

 and of remarkable quality for such weight. 

 — Cultivator. 



