108 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



March 



ESSEX C0U2JTY TRANSACTIONS. 



Through the polite attentions of our highly es- 

 teemed correspondent and friend, the Hon. J. 

 W. Proctor, of Danvers, we are early in posses- 

 sion of a copy of the agricultural transactions of Es- 

 sex County for the year I806. They make a vol- 

 ume of 208 pages. The Address, by Col. Poore, 

 we have already spoken of. The Reports are quite 

 full, and altogether more critical than are general- 

 ly found in similar publications. The Essay by one 

 of the correspondents of the Farmer, Samuel P. 

 Fowler, Esq., upon "The destruction of Insects 

 Injurious to Vegetation," and that by Mr. Flagg, 

 " On the Sources of Fertilization," are papers -which 

 give character and value to the whole, and are a 

 credit to the society and the county. In the well 

 considered "Introductory Remarks" of the Secreta- 

 ry of the society, we get a sort of bird's-eye view of 

 the operations of the year, and something of the 

 spirit which has animated the agricultural people 

 of the county. He states that "the Trustees de- 

 cided not to offer premiums for road horses," and 

 that "after a full discussion, it was thought to be 

 inconsistent with the true objects and interests of 

 the society to encourage what might seem to be 

 mere horse-racing under another name." For 

 ourselves, we do not object to awarding premiums 

 on road horses, — but only to the mode of testing 

 their powers. 



We have but a single suggestion to make : — 

 Where a committee merely awards the premiums, 

 and can find nothing worthy of remark in the sub- 

 ject before it, let the awards go into a table at the 

 clfse of the work, and not assume the dignity of a 

 report. 



For the New England Fanner. 



FLAX CHAFF AND COWS. 



Mr. Editor : — I notice in the columns of your 

 paper for December 20, the question asked "Will 

 flax chaff kill cows ?" to which I answer, no. My 

 reasons for this positive answer are as follows : — 



I have been engaged in the crude manufacture 

 of flax for a number of years, taking it as it came 

 from the field, and necessarily had the "chaff" 

 around the mill the greater part of the year; it 

 was as that time, considered of little or no value, 

 and was thrown out as refuse, and consequently, 

 was unhoused. I soon found it was greedily sought 

 after by the cows of the neighborhood, and eaten 

 by them in large quantities ; sometimes it would 

 constitute their entire food for the day, even while 

 the sweetest of white clover grew beside it ; at oth 

 er times, they would make a part of a meal of the 

 chaff, and the balance of grass ; they found it just 

 as the weather left it, and occasionally, fresh from 

 the threshing. From inquiries made at the time, 

 I did not learn that it had any effect, except to 

 slightly increase the quantity of milk. 



I find, in a paper read before the Belfast ]p1ax 

 Improvement Society, the following : — "The chaff 

 or bran, is a very excellent food for cattle, Jsut. 



contains a large proportion of mucilage, and the 

 farmers of Ayrshire are so well satisfied of its nu- 

 tritive qualities, that they ordered 10,000 bushels 

 from me." So you will perceive our friends across 

 the water do not consider it poisonous, to say the 

 least. Occasionally, some of the bolls (pericarp) 

 would get damaged, and they were eaten with 

 even a greater relish. I remember an instance of 

 a farrow coiv kept on the premises, giving two 

 quarts of milk per day, having access to a lot of 

 bolls ; she ate as much as she wished during two 

 or three weeks, and it resulted in an increase of 

 eight quarts of milk per day ; certainly, there is 

 nothing very dangerous in such feed. 



But, I think the death of the cows to which Dr. 

 Hutchings refers, resulted from some other cause ; 

 perhajis from their eating the flax stem, in its 

 green, or unrotted state ; they will eat it when 

 green, very freely, if it comes within their reach. 

 As far as I have learned, the eating of the stem is 

 only injurious or destructive to ruminating ani- 

 mals. This results probably from two causes ; first, 

 from the peculiarity of their digestive organs, they 

 masticating their food so little before it passes in- 

 to the rumen, or first stomach, where masceration 

 takes place. Second, from the chemical constitu- 

 tion of the stem and its fibre, a large per centage of 

 which is soda, sulphuric and phosphoric acid, it is 

 soon mascerated ; fermentation now commences, 

 and gases are evolved in large quantities, and, un- 

 less they are absorbed by other food they have ta- 

 ken, or by strong alteratives, death will be the re- 

 sult. Flax. 



Groton, December, 1856. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SUMMER CLIMATE OF 1856. 



Mr. Editor: — The prosperity of the American 

 farmer is intimately connected and dependent up- 

 on the climate. The productions of this portion of 

 our countury are very sensitive to the inequalities 

 and extremes of climate. Striking instances of 

 these occur in almost every year during some part 

 of the growing season, which, on account of the 

 extent of country, and the great range of particu- 

 lar products, cause more or less loss in such in- 

 stances. 



The most immediate and obvious interest in me- 

 teorological research, is in reference to these ex- 

 treme changes, and in their relation to the general 

 or main conditions of climate. Its practical value 

 is most readily developed in this connexion. A 

 statement of the climatic changes of the season will 

 show the relation which exists between the climate 

 and the crops. 



For instance, the month of August was two de- 

 grees colder than 1855, with a great excess of hu- 

 midity, which was very unfavorable to the corn- 

 crop, consequently the crop was inferior to that of 

 last year. 



M^y was colder than last year by nearly five 

 degrees, Mhich was not unfavorable to grass, con- 

 sidering the dry weather, but copious rains during 

 the last ten days saved the hay crop. June was 

 more than three and one-half degrees warmer than 

 last year, with the extreme temperature of from 

 forty-eight to ninety degrees, which operated un- 

 favorably on the wheat crop. 

 .. jLi^ust presented almost a continued succession 



