198 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Jan. U, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1825. 



jFarmrv's (FnlcnTiar. 



Feeding Cattle, &c. — Perhaps there is no part 

 of husbandry uhich requires more skill and at- 

 tention, than feeding cattle and other domestic 

 animals. It is important (hat your store cattle, 

 as well as those intended tor the butcher, should 

 be maintained in a progressive state of improve- 

 ment. Whether the progress besloiv or quick, 

 they should always advance. If the animals re- 

 main stationary, you lose time anil the interest 

 of what they are worth. If your cattle are 

 suffered to lose flesh, there is a direct loss of 

 property. " Duly apportioning the stock to the 

 quantity of food, and regular feeding, are the 

 life and soul of cattle-keeping. Oft-times you 

 ^vill see store-pigs running about a man's yard, 

 which are alternately in liigli condition, and as 

 thin as grey-hounds; he ought to recollect when- 

 ever he suffers them to lose flesh, he has thrown 

 away the greater jiart of ihe jirovision which 

 was the cause of their improvement. 



" Regularity of feeding is of the ulmost con- 

 sequence, indeed of more than any unpractised 

 person can conceive. Three limes a day, pre- 

 cisely at a certain hour, ought to be the regular 

 observance; anil cattle, particularly if corn-fed, 

 require their till of water. The easy, conlenl- 

 od, and improving dis[)osition of the callle, and 

 small waste of provender, allendiint on this reg- 

 ularity, is a source of constant sntisfaclion to the 

 superintending proprietor. 



" The golden rule respecting quanlily, is--as 

 much as a beast can eat with a vigorous appe- 

 ite ; all beyond that important criterion is so 

 much lost to the jiroprielor; and not improbably 

 in impediment to the thrill of the animal. Here 

 is the foundation of a grand argument for Ihe 

 removal of that which the animal leaves, that it 

 may not remain to be contaminated by his breath, 

 !o disgust him, and to pall his appetite. I're- 

 canlions are necessary, that a suthcienf quantity 

 •.■\i Ibod of the original standard of goodness to 

 carry the stock through, be provided or procu- 

 rable ; lor 1 would advise no leeder to trust to 

 a certain vague notion, that fattening cattle may 

 be safely and advantageously reduced from rirli 

 to indifferent or even poor keeping. Frequently 

 any change is disadvantageous ; but if any, it 

 ■^urely ought to be progressive in goodness of 

 rbe food. There is often, perhaps generally, a 

 considerable saving in the provision, as the ani- 

 mals advance in fatness; but this relates chi<;l]v 

 to those who load themselves with internal lal. 

 'ioiae \vill devour nearly the same from iirst to 

 last. 



" Cattle's licking or rubbing themselves lias 

 been formerly held a bad sign ; on the contrary, 

 there can he no doubt of its being an incontest- 

 able proof of their thriving: the former notion 

 seems to have originated from the damage they 

 somotinies receive by the quantity of hair and 

 dirt collected by the tongue IVom their hides, 

 and which may form hair-balls in the stomach, 

 of dangerous consequence. Hence the use ot' 

 currying o.Nen. which are confined from going 

 out in the cold air; of keeping thf'm perfectly 

 clean, and their hides open, like ili-.i^e of horses 



in good condition. Oxen fel in the yard, and 

 cows, rnay he wiped clean without danger ol 

 taking cold."* 



Care should be taken that your cattle are well 

 littered. This will not merely keep them dry 

 and warm, but, in case you have not other con- 

 veniences for the purpose, the litter, especially 

 if it be of cul straw, will absorb the stale ; and 

 thus you at once make your cattle comfortable 

 and increase your manure. Nothing can be said 

 in favour of the practice of some farmers, of 

 suffering their cattle to lie in beds of their own 

 manure, made into a kind of mortar, which ad- 

 heres to their hind quarters, and envelopsthem 

 • in an unseemly, unsightl}', uncleaidy and unco;;)- 

 , forlable crusi, as thick and almost as hard as the 

 I shell of a tortoise. This may be prevented, in 

 j pari, by constructing yourstalls or stables in such 

 1 a inaimer that the floor may descend a little 

 \ backwards, so that ihe stale may drain oil; and 

 I be conducted hy proper grooves or channels to 

 ; proper receptacles, as has been heretolbre di- 

 rected in our observations on liquid manure. 



Straw is not a proper food for milch cows. — 



Good hay, with the assistance of roots, will keep 



them well in milk during the winter, or till 



within six or eight weeks of their calving. " Of 



roots, the preference, in respect to nutrition, is 



to be given to the parsnip, carrot, mangel wurt- 



zcl, and potatoe. Good hay alone will make 



good butter, although from such dry [irnvender 



j the quantity will be extremely small ; the hay 



I being mixed with straw, will in exact proportion 



1 to the quantity of straw <leteriorate the j)roduce 



; of the cow. To milk a cowled u)ion straw only, 



I is extremely injurious to lier constitution, and 



I of course to the protit ol" the ownor.t 



I No farmer ought to be (>ithout a steam-boil- 

 er, especially if he feeils his cattle as well as 

 swine, with grain or roots. This steam-boiler 

 may be cheajdy made by setting a Jteltle bold- 



i ing about 10 or 12 gallons, in a furnace of brick 

 or stone, and over this a hogshead, with one 

 head taken out. and the other bored lull of holes, 

 which is set so close that the steam of the ket- 

 tle, when boiling, can only rise through the 

 holes, and thence ascend among the articles to 



' be steamed in the hogshead and pass oil" at the 



I top. In this way a hogshead full of roots will 

 be cooked at a very little expense. The ket- 

 tle should be so closed as to prevent any st;^ani 

 from passing off, hut through the bottom of the 

 hogshead, and of course a pipe or tube should 

 be set on one side, through which, with the aid 

 of a funnel, the water may be poured into the 

 kettle as occasion may require. When the wa- 

 ter is poured in, the tube should be stopped 

 with a jilug made lor that purpose. When 

 grain is steamed, it will be necessary to cover 

 the bottom of the hogshead with a cloth to pre- 

 vent the grain from running through tlie holes. 



■ P.y e>.perinients made in Pennsylvania it was 

 found that Indian corn and potatoes for fattening 

 swine, would go one thinl further steamed or 

 boiled than when used raw ; and Cnglish writers 

 on agriculture agree in opinion that root.';, es- 

 pecially potatoes, will afford much more nour- 

 ishment it boiled or baked than when given with- 

 out such preparations. 



* I-awrcrc^ on Neat Cattle. + Ibid. 



F.rTalum.—Kn importam eirour occurs in the com- 

 ;irji.icalion of Mr Lowri.r. on the subject of cultivat- 

 ing; the gpi ape vine, in our last paper, paje 191, about 

 the middle of the 1st column. The passage alluded to 

 is printed as follows :— " though the vine culture may 

 succeed in those parts of the countrj- which have tho 

 misfortune to be cultivated by slaves, it may he adapt- 

 ed to our own country," &c. It should have been, " it 

 m.iy not he adapted, "'Jtc. The omission of the wordnoC 

 conveys a meaning directly opposite to the intention o\ 

 the writer. 



Jllassachuscfts Leu-hlatun. 



The Legislature of this State convened on the Olh 

 inst. Tile ujual proceedings were adoptci!, which we 

 have not room to give in detail. On the 0th inst. the 

 Governor's Message was delivered. Iij this his Excel- 

 lency coiigratiilatei'. his coustitutnt? on the general and 

 indiviJual prosperity which pervades the nation— the 

 " frank and lucid exposition of our National concerns 

 by the I'resident of the United States in his late iSTes- 

 sage" — the acquisition of the Floridas — the enterprize 

 and activity of our citizens, and the consequent accu- 

 mulation of wealth, which enables them to furnish all 

 necessary loans to the government, without having re- 

 course to foreigners— the folly of monopolies and re- 

 strictions, as exemplified by their abandonment by 

 Great Britain. He recommends attention to the sub- 

 ject of internal improvements— to the causes which 

 hive delayed the cutting of a Canal from Buzzard's to 

 Darnstable Day— to cutting a Canal through Cape Cod 

 — ti the Middlesex Canal — to iniiling the waters of 

 N'arraganset Bay with those of Massachusi tts Bay, by 

 Taunton and Weymouth rivers — to connecting by Ca- 

 nnls the waters of Connecticut with those of .Mcrrijnac 

 rivir — suggests the expediency of appointing or of au- 

 thorizing the employment cf a civil euginccr to make 

 surveys', &c. relative to such routes as the Legislature 

 may designate. Me adverts to the proposed monument 

 at Bunker's Hill, as worthy of the care of the patriot 

 and statesman — recommends a revision of our Mili- 

 lia System. Me speaks of the reception of Gen. La 

 Fayette ; and transmit? an account of the dishursments 

 made under the Resolve of the I'Jth of June last. — 

 States that a balance of cash remained in the Treasury 

 on the 1st of January, 1025, amounting to $20,579,68. 



JVational Legislature. 



Se.v.^tk. — JAM. 3. Mr Smith, from the joint Com- 

 mittee appointed to wait on Gen. .La Fayette with a 

 copy of the act concerning him, reported an Address 

 to him and his answer. In the address it is remarked 

 that " principles that have marked your character will 

 not permit you to oppose any otijection to the dis- 

 charge of so much of the national obligation to you a; 

 admits of it." In reply Gen. La Fayette states, 

 " however proud t am of every sort of obligation re- 

 ceived from the people of the United States and theii 

 Representatives in Congress, the large extent of Ihii 

 benefaction might have created in my mind feelings ol 

 hesitation, not iucansistent, I hope, with those of tht 

 most grateful reverence. But the so very kind resolu- 

 tions of both Houses, delivered by you, gentlemen, in 

 terms of equal kindness, precludes all other sentiment! 

 exc(pt those of the lively and profound gratitude ol • 

 which, in respectfully accepting the muni(icei:t favoiu', 

 1 have the honour to beg you will be the organs." 



