102 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



VALUE OF CORNSTALKS AS FODDER. 



The question is often asked, if cornstalks arc of 

 rnucli value as foiUler. We answer, without fear of 

 contradittion, that if -well saved and properly used, 

 they are fully equal to the same weight of liay. 



Last year \vc fed three yoke of oxen on cornstalks, 

 with the addition of no more feed than we should 

 have used with the best English hay. Our mode of 

 l)rei)aring them was as follows : — 



The stalks were cut with the ordinary cylindrical 

 machine, in pieces of half an inch in length, and 

 placed in a hogshead. Three gallons of boiling water, 

 containing one gill of salt, was thrown upon them, 

 and the top of the cask covered with a blanket. The 

 steam arising from the hot water swelled and softened 

 the cornstalks to tlioir original size ; and when cold, 

 a little ground feed was thrown upon them, and 

 thus fed to the cattle. 



The oxen worked hard all winter, each yoke bring- 

 ing three loads per day, of more than a ton each, 

 from a distance of three miles, and in the spring they 

 were as well conditioned as in the fall. 



AVhen corn is raised to be pulled while green for 

 boiling, the stalks will contain much more saccharine 

 matter than when suffered to ripen. The stalks 

 should be permitted to grow after the corn has been 

 pulled. 



Cornstalks may be grown for fodder, with much 

 greater strength than hay, and entirely capable of 

 supplying food for animals, without the addition of 

 grain of any kind ; and for milch cows, it would be 

 equal Lf not superior to any other food. We refer to 

 the method adopted by Mr. Webb, of Delaware, for 

 the purpose of making sugar. 



As soon as the ears appear, pinch them off, and 

 repeat this treatment twice ; the consequence Avill be, 

 that the juice of stalks thus treated will contain as 

 much saccharine matter as that of the sugar-cane ; 

 indeed, we know of one experiment being made, 

 which gave the juice of eleven degrees Eeaurae, 

 while the juice of the sugar-cane as grown in Louis- 

 iana is but nine degrees Beaume. This mode of 

 growth, however. Mill only answer in such districts 

 as, from want of market, find it unprofitable to raise 

 corn for the cars. When this mode is adopted, the 

 planting should be early, for the stallcs will neces- 

 sarily require a hot sun to cure them. If cut too 

 late, the sugar contained in the juice will be acid 

 before they are dry. — Workinrj Farmer. 



THE PROPER MODE OF FEEDING 

 CATTLE. 



An English writer observes that two great points 

 in feeding cattle, are regularity and a particular care 

 of the weaker individuals. On this last account, 

 there ought to be plenty of rack room, that too many 

 may not feed together ; in which very common case 

 the weaker are not only trampled down by the 

 stronger, but thoy are worried, and become cowed 

 and spiritless ; than which there cannot be a more 

 unfavorable state for thrift ; besides, they arc ever 

 compelled to shift with the worst of the fodder. 

 This domineering spirit is so remarkably prevalent 

 among horned cattle, that the writer has a hundred 

 times observed tlie master boasts running from crib 

 to crib, and absolutely neglecting their own proven- 

 der for the sake of driving the inferior from theirs. 

 This is, much oftcncr than is suspected, the chief 

 reason of this difference in a lot of beasts after a 

 winter's keep. It is likewise, he says, a very com- 

 mon and very shameful sight, in a dairy of cows, to 

 see several of them gored and wounded in a dozen 

 places, merely from the inattention of the owner and 



the neglect of coupling the horns of those that butt. 

 The weaker animals should be kept apart ; and in 

 crib feeding it is in some cases a good method to tie up 

 the master beasts at their meals. Dr. Dean says there 

 should be more yards than one to the barn where 

 divers sorts of cattle are kept. The sheep should 

 have a yard by themselves, at least ; and the young 

 stock another, that they may be wholly confined to 

 such fodder as the farmers can afford them. 



THE MILKMAID'S EAR GUARD. 



Every one who has had "gumption" enough to 

 milk a cow, has experienced the miseries of a rap, 

 now and then, over the ears, and sometimes in the 

 face and eyes, by that effectual Hy-brusher — the 

 cow's tail. This is most troublesome in fly-time ; but 

 sometimes a cow, either being naturally ticklish, or 

 uneas}' from some other cause, will use her lash in 

 midwinter, when that appendage is not in a condition 

 to give you a very favorable idea of its savory or 

 odoriferous condition. Wc have often thought that 

 some simple mode of obviating this evil would be of 

 great service to milkers ; but "vvc could never hit 

 upon any thing that suited us, and so we have 

 always, when milking, borne the infliction like a 

 martyr. Being at Col. Swett's, in Hartford, Oxford 

 Co., not long ago, we saw his son, while milliing, 

 use one of the most simple, and at the same time 

 effectual contrivances for protecting your ears, in 

 such cases, that you can imagine. On inquiring 

 into the origin of it, we were informed that it waa 

 believed to be first used (in that vicinity at least) 

 by the late John xVUen, of Peru. It is made in the 

 following manner : — 



Take a rope of good size, say that which is called 

 inch rope, and cut a piece off about six feet long. 

 Tie the ends together, and make a loop or hoop. 

 Spread this open, and throw it over the cow's back 

 in such way that the upper part of it will lie across 

 the loins and forward of the hip-bones, and the 

 hinder part fall over and enclose the rump of the 

 cow, and hang down about half way from the root 

 of the tail to the hocks and gambrel joints. 



This is all, and poor muUy will find, on whisking 

 her tail, that there is a limit to its circuit ; and, 

 although it is neither tied nor chained, nor slavery 

 entailed, the "area of its freedom" is nevertheless 

 essentially curtailed, and the milkmaid's cars no 

 longer assailed. — Maine Farmer. 



TREE PLANTING. 



Among fruit trees, the apple, the quince, and the 

 peach emit roots much more freely than the pear, 

 plum, and cherry — and in light, sandy, friable soils, 

 form much more easily than in stiff, moist, adhesive 

 soils. These are familiar facts to all cultivators, and 

 they serve as a guide in planting. 



But under all circumstances it is unsafe to plant a 

 tree without reducing its branches in such a manner 

 as to compensate for the loss of root, and general 

 derangement inseparable from removal. Let us take, 

 for instance, an apple-tree, six feet high, with a fine 

 head and numerous side branches. This tree was 

 growing vigorously in the nursery, with its roots 

 sjiread out and well at home in the soil ; but the 

 tree is dug and pulled up, part of its large roots are 

 cut off, many of the smaller ones are dragged off, 

 and before it is planted a great many more are dried 

 or rotted and killed off. Thus the tree is left minus 

 a great portion of its feeding roots, on wLich the top 

 must depend for support. Its nice balance, which 

 nature and art gave it in the nursery rows, is 



