NEW EN€JL.AN» FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. 02, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL,. XII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1834. 



NO. 32, 



ELLIOT'S 



PATENT 



WINNOWING 



This may certify that we have seen in operation a Winnowing Mill, made by Mr. John 

 Springer, (said to be Elliot's Patent Horizontal Winnowing Mill,) and are of the opinion that 

 it is the best now in use. 



SAML. S. SAWYER, 2d. LUTHER ALLEN, 



RUFUS HASTINGS, JAMES P. PATTEN, 



Sterling, Oct. 1833. CHARLES H WHITNEY, RICHARD HILDRETH. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CUTTING HAY FOR CATTLE. 



Mr. Fessenden, I read the minute statement 

 and details of any agricultural process or experi- 

 ment, in which exactness is attainable, always with 

 particular interest, believing that in agriculture, 

 experiment is the great means of improvement. 



With these feelings I examined with much at- 

 tention the communication of Mr. Amos Shelden 

 on the subject of cutting hay for cuttle, a gentle- 

 man whose intelligence and excellent management 

 as a farmer is well known to me ; and whose ar- 

 rangements for saving manure and conducting his 

 milk establishment, 1 have examined with very 

 great satisfaction. His establishment, and that on 

 the neighboring Burley farm belonging to Freder- 

 ick Howes, Esq. of Salem, are superior models of 

 neatness,and convenience. 



I havte no doubt, from the experience of many 

 years, of the great economy of cutting feed for 

 stock, horses in a particular manner; and from a 

 partial examination of Mr. Willis' improved Straw 

 Cutter, I am inclined to think highly of it. B"ut I 

 regret that in so important a statement any thing 

 should be matter of "guessing" when, with little 

 trouble, certainty was attainable. 



The amount of Hay consumed was according to 

 his account conjectural, and yet he ventures to 

 , state it with :tness. . This is the material point 

 F where accuracy was particularly important. In 

 the first case likewise, he gave 8 bushels of 

 red -in the second, when the milk vas 



so much increased, he gave only 4 bushels chip- 

 pee!. Does he mean it should he inferred from 

 this that "chopping" the potatoes doubled the 



.alue? The cost of labor likewise, 3 dollars per 

 month, from the amount carried out is intended I 

 presume for 8 dollars. Does this mean that the 

 cutting of the feed occupied the whole time of one 

 man? He mentions likewise 140 gallons pure 

 water. Was the fodder given in a wet or a dry 

 state ; and was the meal sprinkled upon it or given 

 by itself? These are matters which we should 

 have been glad to have had stated. 



The increase of milk, especially when the 

 amount of feed both dry and succulent was so 

 greatly reduced, is quite a remarkable fact ; and 

 as Mr. Shelden designed evidently to refer it to the 

 use of cut-feed, we should be glad to have the 

 opinions of this intelligent farmer on the whole 

 subject. That the use of cut-feed for animals is 

 matter of great economy is established, hut the ef- 

 fect here mentioned is extraordinary and new to 

 me. The philosophy of digestion and nutrition is 

 a subject very imperfectly understood ; indeed the 

 solution of the mystery can scarcely be said to be 

 approached. That by cutting the feed it is more 

 cleanly eaten up, and there is far less waste we 

 know. That much feed, such as corn-stalks and 

 straw, which in a lojig state could scarcely be 

 touched, will be consumed when prepared in this 

 way, is equally matter of experience. That work- 

 ing cattle and especially horses, from having their 

 food prepared in this way, are enabled to eat their 

 food at once, and then take their rest, is an ob- 

 vious, and to hard-worked animals, a great advan- 

 tage ; as otherwise, especially in journies; they 

 must work until very late at night in order to mas- 

 ticate th ir food, and thus their sleep is broken, 

 and the morning finds them unrefreshed. Bui 

 that ruminating animals, who like our milch cows 

 are " persons of entire leisure," should find any 



particular advantage in cut-feed other than as 

 above, is a matter not so obvious; and for which 

 a satisfactory reason is more difficult to be found. 



You will not think, Mr. Editor, that I make 

 these remarks for any disrespectful or captious 

 reasons : but as the subject is of great importance 

 I am anxious that so interesting an experiment 

 should be given in the most full and detailed 

 form. 



There is no subject more nearly connected with 

 the interest of farmers than the application of their 

 produce in the feeding of their live stock. There 

 is an immense waste of feed with most of us, from 

 our ignorance of the most economical form in 

 which it may be used. This is particularly the 

 case in respect to the keeping of horses, and the 

 use of our coarse fodder for other stock ; and in 

 respect to the stall-feeding of beef animals it is a 

 lamentable but an established fact that at common 

 prices a farmer must consent to the actual loss of 

 a great part of the hay which he gives them ; and 

 of course the sacrifice of his labor in procuring it. 

 Any mode of using his hay by which half the 

 quantity can be made to produce a great increase 

 of milk, may be supposed to be favorable in some 

 degree to an increase of meat ; and is therefore 

 matter of the most interesting inquiry. 



H. C. 



Meadowbanks, Feb. 8, 1834. 



For the New-England Farmer. 

 UUERIES RESPECTING HEOOiES. 



Haverhill, February 1834. 

 Mr. Editor, The time will come, no doubt, 

 when live fences will be more common than they 

 are. In countries where they are in general use, 

 they furnish to the farmer a valuable supply of 

 rough fuel when properly managed. In districts 

 where that necessary article is becoming evety 

 year less abundant, prudence and economy admon- 

 ish us to look ahead, and prepare for future neces- 

 sity. Stone walls are very well where rocks are 

 abundant. Rail and board fences are very ex- 

 pensive, and very unsafe. It becomes a farmer to 

 unite in his arrangements durability, safety, and 

 economy, and in nothing more than in fencing. If 

 he be a man of taste, he will combine with these 

 ornament. A good live fence, in my opinion, in- 

 cludes all these. 



I have been used to the wdiite thorn, the black 

 thorn, and the crab, for this purpose ; but I think 

 they will not answer in this soil and climate. The 

 former, I should judge, is too dry and porous, and 

 the latter is probably too warm in summer. The 

 Virginia white thorn, though natural to the soil, 

 and capable of bearing the extremes of our most 

 rigorous northern region, is decidedly too smooth 

 for fences. I have sometimes thought of the aca- 

 cia. Tins, however, you seem to condemn as in- 

 appropriate for the purpose* The pear in its wild 

 state is both rough and strong, and is good fuel; 

 but I have never known it tried fur fencing. If 

 you, or any of your valuable correspondents, know 

 of any experiment having been made upon the 

 pear, I should be glad to know. The truth is, sir, 

 I want to make about 300 rods of fencing, to ren- 

 der my ground convenient for a better state of cul- 



