1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



371 



grain from England into Massachusetts. In 1811, 

 barley was sown as a crop in Virginia, and con- 

 tinued to be cultivated there until the settlers 

 found tobacco more remunerative. In 1626, bar- 

 ley was one of the crops grown upon Manhattan 

 island ; probably where Trinity church now stands. 

 In 1849, the barley crop of the United States 

 was 5,167,000 bushels ; and according to the in- 

 crease of the preceding decade, the crop of 1856 

 would be over seven millions of bushels. It 

 probably even exceeded this. The grain is nearly 

 all consumed in the States where it is grown, 

 principally, we presume, for malting, as the price 

 IS too high for feeding to stock. 



CUTTING AND CURING CLOVER 

 HAY. 



According to the thirty years' close observa- 

 tion made by the writer of this article, there is 

 but one method of curing clover hay that pays 

 well for the labor, and that I shall describe 

 shortly. 



Observation has taught me, that the best time 

 for cutting clover is when two-thirds of the blooms 

 begin to turn brown. At this stage it makes the 

 best hay, and is not sappy enough to reduce much 

 in the curing process. 



When the clover is in the above stage, cut it 

 as rapidly as possible ; but never cut when there 

 is dew or rain water on the clover. Let the green 

 clover be put in small shocks as fast as cut down, 

 so that the sun may not wilt it. When enough is 

 cut and shocked for a large stack, haul up and 

 stack as fast as possible. The stack should be 

 some fourteen or fifteen feet at the base, and six- 

 teen or eighteen feet high, so put up as to make 

 it the shape of a cone. With a hay fork, let one 

 hand throw up the green clover, while two hands 

 stack and trample it, so as to make it as near air- 

 tight as possible. Every foot in height should 

 have about one quart of salt sprinkled regularly 

 over it. This will require about 75 lbs. to the 

 stack. In finishing, top it off and rake it down 

 so as to turn rain. In ten or twelve days it will be- 

 come wet and hot, and smoke like a coal pit, so 

 as to have all the appearance of rotting ; but in 

 ten or fifteen days more it will cool off, .and be 

 found dry, bright, sweet hay. 



If the clover were allowed to wilt before stack- 

 ing, the hay would be dark and mouldy ; but if put 

 up green, it will be bright, green, and sweet, and 

 free from mould. This process preserves all the 

 leaves of the clover, so certain to be lost by any 

 other process ; and it also preserves all the vola- 

 tile constituents of clover, which are sure to be 

 lost when it is cured in the sunshine or open air. 



The whole management may be summed up in 

 a few words. Cut and stack free from moisture, 

 in the perfectly free state ; salt it well, and make 

 the stack as nearly air-tight as hard tramping 

 can make it. — F. H. G., in Genesee Farmer. 



Remarks. — We do not feel disposed to say 

 that clover hay cannot he cured according to the 

 above plan, because we have never tried it, hav- 

 ing learned long ago, that many things can be 

 well done that seem hard to believe until we 

 have made a personal trial ourselves. If clover 

 hay can be cured in tliis manner, it may be done 



with great rapidity, as it may be stacked upon 

 the field and removed in the winter to the barn. 

 The article comes from a respectable source, 

 and is worth considering. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 COWS THAT HOLD UP THEIR MILK. 



Mr. Editor : — In the Farmer, a few weeks 

 ago, you recommended that cows disposed to hold 

 up their milk should be fed when the milk is 

 drawn from them. That suggestion came very 

 opportunely to me, as well as to the correspon- 

 dent whose inquiry caused the advice to be giv- 

 en. I had a cow that calved in November, and 

 through the winter and spring she frequently re- 

 tained a portion of her milk, notwithstanding 

 very pressing entreaties on my part. This re- 

 tention of milk was so frequent that she did not 

 give more than two-thirds of what I supposed I 

 had a right to expect. I have always fed my cows 

 when beginning to milk, but as this one stands 

 not among the first, she no doubt often finished 

 eating what was placed before her, before her 

 turn came to be milked. On reading your sug- 

 gestion I adopted the plan of feeding her imme- 

 diately before sitting down to milk her. The re- 

 sult has been entirely satisfactory. She now reg- 

 ularly gives down her milk as promptly as any 

 cow in the barn, except in some instances, when, 

 as a test of the certainty of the remedy, I have 

 omitted the feed. In all such cases she has in- 

 variably retained her milk till the feed was giv- 

 en ; and then, rather tardily, however, the milk 

 would come. Gratefully yours, M. P. 



Concord, July 8, 1858. 



P. S. If any of your readers do not know that 

 a green leaf or two of some plant that has large 

 leaves, or a small handful of green clover placed 

 in the hat, is a great comfort and protection to 

 those who work in the hot sunshine in these 

 warm days, let me recommend all such to try it. 



THE NATIONAL HORSE EXHIBITION. 

 In another column is a more extended notice 

 of the National Horse Exhibition which is to 

 take place at Springfield, September 14, 15, 16 

 and 17, 1858. Every thing, we learn, has been 

 done, to make the show attractive. About $3,000 

 are offered in premiums. Springfield is one of 

 our most beautiful cities, and its citizens are as 

 much distinguished for their urbanity and intel- 

 ligence, as the city is for its fine attractions, so 

 that those who attend the show cannot well fail 

 to have a good time in one way or the other, pro- 

 vided they go in good nature with themselves ! 



Chalk for Warts. — A correspondent, W. 

 H.- Bennett, of Warwick, R. I., informs us that 

 by rubbing chalk frequently on warts, they will 

 disappear. In several instances known to him, 

 in which this simple remedy was tried, it proved 

 successful. We have know slightly-moistened 

 pearl-ash to remove -warts by rubbing it upon 

 them. — Scientific American. 



