112 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



fodder, roots and grain should be given at inter- 

 vals. No cattle, wliethor milch cows, fotting cat- 

 tle, or working stock, will thrive equally well on 

 one kind of i'ood as on a variety. They need an 

 abundant supply of water, and should have as 

 much salt as tliey will eat, both winter and sum- 

 mer. In the summer, when their food is green 

 and succulent, they should have ground bone 

 mixed with their salt. This is especially necessa- 

 ry for cows th^t arc giving a large quantity of 

 milk. Thc^y often manifi'st an insatiable craving 

 for lime, and will spend Iiours in chewing an old 

 bone, to satisfy their craving. All the lime tak- 

 en into the system, in their food, is carried off 

 through the milk vessels, and the operatives whose 

 business it is to manufacture bone, have no mate- 

 rial to work with. Our agricultural warehouses 

 should keep pure, clean bone, ground very fine, 

 for this special use. 



Cattle need a variety of grasses and herbs in 

 the summer, as well as a variety of food in the 

 winter. They like occasionally to browse among 

 the bushes, and to croj) the leaves from the trees. 

 DilT.'rent plants have different medicinal, as well 

 as nutritive properties. One has some quality by 

 which it acts u^jon one organ, and' another, some 

 property which causes it to act upon another or- 

 gan. Oue acts upon the liver, causing a more 

 copious secretion of bile. Another acts ujjon the 

 kidneys, another upon the salivary glands. A 

 proper variety of plants keeps all the organs in a 

 state of healthy activity ; feed a cow upon such 

 plants entirely as act upon the salivary glands, 

 and she would slaver like an old tobacco chewer, 

 or like a horse that has been eating lobelia. 

 Those who pasture their cattle upon land capable 

 of tillage, Avould undoubtedly find the health, 

 and consequently the profit of their cattle promo- 

 ted, by cultivating grasses of different kinds for 

 the express purpose of pasturage. Cattle that 

 have an extended range of pasturage, upon differ- 

 ent kinds of soils, and among bushes and trees, 

 more readily obtain the variety of food which 

 they need. 



Always endeavor to secure the good will of 

 your cattle and horses ; a turnip, an ajij^le, a po 

 tato or an ear of corn, given occasionally to a 

 horse, an ox or a cow, if given in a kind and 

 gentle manner, will generally do this, and when 

 the good will of such noljle animals can be pro- 

 cured at so cheap a rat(!, who would not purchase 

 it? Keep up a familiar accpuiiutance with your 

 animals, so that they shall always know your 

 step, and recognize your voice at once. Always 

 maintain a good understanding with your horses 

 and oxen. Never deceive them, and never forfeit 

 their confidence, if you would have them trusty 

 and faithful. ]Make them understand that they 

 must promptly obey you, and that you will sup- 

 ply all their wants. Teach tliom to confide in 

 your judgment, by never requiring of them tasks 

 beyond tlieir ability. Require an ox to draw a 

 load which is bcsyond his strength, and repeat this 

 two or throe times, and you have spoded him 

 completely for the draft. Never require your 

 horse to do what he cannot easily and readily ac- 

 complish, and he will soon leap a five-barred gate, 

 or draw a ton, when you conmiand it, because lie 

 has Iciirned to trust your judgment, and believes 

 you will not require wliat he is not able to do. 

 This mutual confidence between you and your an- 



imals should be scrupulously observed, if you 

 would have them cheerful and trusty servants. 

 The horse of the Arab, that lives in the tent of 

 his master, and is the pet of his family, will bear 

 him over the burning sands, the livelong day, 

 trusting with entire confidence that he will suit 

 tlie task to his strength, and supply all his 

 wants ; and the master will share his last morsel 

 of bread, and his last handful of barley, with his 

 favorite horse. 



But enough .for the present. J. R. 



Concord, Jan., 1855. 



For the New England Farmer. 



GOOD PAY FOE A LITTLE LABOR. 



Friend Brown : — Though I am a poor man, 

 and own but two or three acres of land, keep 

 but two cows, one horse, two swine, and a few 

 fowls, the latter of which a late writer in the 

 Farmer thinks more profitable than any of the 

 farm, it is my opinion that all are exceedingly 

 convenient and will well pay their way if rightly 

 taken care of. 



I am obliged to work early and late in my shop, 

 yet I welcome the evening when th(! Farmer, 

 with its bright, clean pages, is brought to my 

 house. Pleasant are the hours which 1 spend in 

 reading its columns, and valual)le to me the infor- 

 mation I learn in regard to the cultivation of my 

 fruit trees, grape vines, rose bushes, vegetables,^ 

 and in the feeding and general management of 

 my stock. 1 will give your readers my mode of 

 feeding one of my cows. I purchased her last 

 November, when she gave four quarts of milk a 

 day. I commenced feeding her with cut hay, 

 two quarts of shorts, and a few carrots, wet with 

 cold water, twice a day for one mouth. At the 

 end of that time she had not increased in her 

 milk at all. I then commenced wetting the same 

 amount of feed with boiling water, and at the 

 end of the second mouth she gave regularly six 

 quarts per day, which I thought a fair gain. 

 Where a person needs considerable milk and keeps 

 but one cow I would recommend a trial of this 

 mode of feeding. A. Brown. 



E. Ahin^ton, 1855. 



Acorns and Cattle. — The Pennsylvania Farm 

 Journal gives an instance of cattle being killed 

 by excessive eating of acorns. The fatality oc- 

 curred on the farm of Richard Lamljorn, near 

 Westchester, Pa., who lost fourteen head in the 

 course of a few days. The cattle at first showed 

 symptoms of illness by watery eyes, drooping head 

 and spiritless walk. Tiie cows failed of their 

 milk, their carcasses were almost bloodless, and 

 tlie stomach and intestines exhibited every ap- 

 pearance of suffering from powerful astringents. 

 As acorns are known to possess astringent proper- 

 ties to a considerable degree, there can hardly be 

 a doul)t that they were the cause of the difficulty. 

 Some varieties of acorns are much more astrin- 

 gent than others. The nuts in this case were 

 of White, Black and Chestnut Oak. — Am. Agri- 

 culturist. 



G^ If you know any thing that will make a 

 lirother's lieart glad, run quick and tell it ; and 

 if it is something that will only cause a sigh, 

 buttle it up, bottle it up. 



