268 



Laic Courts. — On Cutting Cattle Food. 



Vol. VI. 



are too well acquainted, althoutrh it might 

 not come under the head eittior of agricul- 

 ture, horticulture, or rural afiiiirs. 



"Q. What is your name ■? A. John Smith. 

 Q. Where do you dwelH A. At D. Q. 

 "What is your occupation 1 A. I am a farm- 

 er. Q. Where does — A. I beg pardon, but 

 nay I be permitted to address a very few 

 words to the court 1 C. You may : say on. 



" Gentlemen of this honourable court : — I 

 come here to answer to the best of my ability 

 every question that might be put to me relevant 

 to the cause on trial. I have sworn to speak 

 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 

 the truth, and have invoked the Almighty to 

 enable me to do so. I have neither prejudice 

 nor preference — I respect the opposing coun- 

 sel and I honour the court, and it is perfectly 

 indifferent to me which way the trial termi- 

 nates; but after this, 1 wish to be permitted 

 to say, I have made up my mind, solemnly 

 and fearlessly, not to answer any question 

 that is not relevant to the subject on hand, 

 and of such relevancy I must be allowed to 

 judge for myself. I have told you my name, 

 my residence and my occupation, by that you 

 will know where to find me if 1 bear false- 

 witness, and this I consider sufficient. If my 

 mind is to be disturbed by cross-questions that 

 have nothing earthly to do with the subject, 

 and if 1 am to be harassed and baited like a 

 bull at the stake, I may lose my temper and 

 offer indignity to the counsel whom 1 respect, 

 or to the court which I honour — no one 

 knows how I might commit myself — I have, 

 therefore, in the fear of God and relying on 

 his assistance, deteimined to answer no ques- 

 tions that do not bear on the business, and 

 upon which I have been subpoenaed much 

 against my will and my convenience; and in 

 this my resolution, I throw myself upon the 

 court for protection." 



Now 1 should like to know what would be 

 the result of such an address 1 I may be told 

 the judge is to decide what is relevant and 

 what is not, and to him an implicit obedience 

 must be yielded; but I should fear for my- 

 self in the hands of any judge that I have 

 ever yet known, and I have never heard of 

 but one who did what I consider his duty in 

 this respect, and his name I now forget. It 

 was on occasion of Vicary Gibbs, when, as 

 counsel, tormenting a witness even to dis- 

 traction, that he exclaimed, " you scorpion, 

 Jet the man alone." I grant there may be 

 circumstances and situations in which the rule 

 would not work, but it is the universal cros.s- 

 queslioning of every witness who appears in 

 court that I deprecate. A man of good sense 

 and sound judgment can easily di.«criminate 

 between individuals tliat are brought before 

 him, and, assuredly, the poor friend, of whom 

 I have been speaking, might have been seen 



through at a glance by any man of discern- 

 ment in his profession, and I could not but 

 consider him a proper object for the protec- 

 tion of the court. But I bless God that I am 

 totally ignorant on this subject, never yet 

 having been in any court, either as plaintiff, 

 defendant or witness, and fear that on trial I 

 should be found quite as " non compos" as my 

 friend and neighbour, who, even yet, has not 

 regained his usual serenity of mind and self- 

 possession. 



There is, however, another business of a 

 more legitimate nature, of which I am more 

 competent to form a judgment, upon which I 

 shall soon have to address you, and which ad- 

 mits of no cross-queslioning ; it is on the 

 planting of potatoes — a thread-bare subject 

 truly, but one that ought to be examined into, 

 for I am loth to believe that while the " Ver- 

 monters" can raise their 1800 bushels per 

 acre, we must of necessity be compelled to 

 content ourselves with about half a quarter 

 of that quantity. Now as this is a question 

 which I cannot understand, I cannot believe 

 anything about, and am not therefore prepa- 

 red to receive the statement upon trust. I 

 am preparing to put the matter to the test of 

 experiment, and hope to present you with the 

 result for publication in your very useful 

 pages at some future day. Veritas. 



March 15, IM'i. 



On Cutting Cattle Food. 



A nivER.siTY of opinion exists among some 

 of our correspondents, as to the length which 

 hay and straw is most advantageously cut for 

 horses and cattle — one party contending that 

 an inch is short enough, and the other that it 

 is not. We incline to the former opinion, 

 and we would respectfully offer our reason?. 

 The object in using the straw-cutter is to 

 prevent waste, and to facilitate the process of 

 mastication. It is not enough to get the food 

 into the stomach, but it should go there in a 

 proper condition for easy diirestion — in a per- 

 fect masticated form, the fibre broken down, 

 and intimately incorporated with the saliva 

 of the glands. It is uniformly enjoined upon 

 persons who are sickly, or have weak sto- 

 machs, and it is a common admonition to the 

 hale, to eat slow, and to chew well their food 

 before they swallow it, that it may more rea- 

 dily digest. And we see that cattle, high- 

 fed with corn and oats, often void tlie perfect 

 grain, witiiout its having benefited them a 

 particle. Whether tliis would not be more 

 or less the cnse witli fine-cut hay, we cannot 

 judge from observation, but we are told it 

 would be so. There is another difficulty to ' 

 be apprehended from short-cut food, if given 

 to ruminating animals, as cattle or sheep, i 

 which chew the cud — that they would \ifi i 



