1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



381 



ter. It is said that remedies have proved effectu- 

 al. We give below the following : 



Cure for hog cholera, by a resident in Ohio : Two 

 quarts flaxseed boiled in ten gallons of water till 

 the seed is thoroughly cooked ; let it stand till cold, 

 then give it to the hogs as fast as they can drink 

 it — turn it down if they refuse to drink. Repeat 

 the dose for a week or so, and it will effect a cure. 

 Pulverized charcoal and sulphur mixed in millt has 

 also proved beneficial. 



CLOVER HAY. 



In another column we have given an article from 

 the Ohio Cultivator, upon the subject of clover 

 hay. It appears by that article that the idea is 

 prevalent that clover hay is unwholesome for cat- 

 tle, and that it frequently causes them to sicken 

 and die. 



We believe this to be a great error, and that if 

 clover hay ever injures our neat stock, it is in con- 

 sequence of the imperfect condition in which it is 

 put into the barn, and not in consequence of any 

 inherent qualities of the plant. 



The object in making good hay, says Low, is to 

 prepare it as quickly as possible, and with as little 

 exposure to the weather, and as little waste of the 

 natural juices, as circumstances will allow. When 

 we are enabled to do this the hay will be sweet, 

 fragrant, and of a greenish color. We still do much 

 of our farm work under the English notions which 

 came here with our ancestors, without taking into 

 account the great difference in the climate of the 

 two countries. There, they employ fotir days in 

 curing the herd's grass, which is often admirably 

 done under our July suns in a single day ! Many 

 farmers do not consider the effect of these cloud- 

 less suns, and the consequence is that they dry 

 their hay until its juices are evaporated, and a large 

 proportion of its value lost. One cloudless July 

 day, with a slight breeze, is sufficient to cure hay 

 cut in the morning or the previous evening, where 

 there is not more than thirty hundred to the acre. 

 In such a case the swaths should be evenly spread, 

 and it will be necessary to stir it quite often, and 

 lay it up as lightly as possible from the ground. 



A general rule should be enforced that no hay 

 be left in swath or winrow over night, unless it be 

 that cut just before or after sundown. There are 

 two advantages in its being cocked : it prevents the 

 injurious effects of dew or rain, while the slight 

 heating process which is going on causes an exha- 

 lation which is retained in the cock, and gives the 

 hay a most fragrant odor. In good weather, two 

 days, at most, are sufficient to secure hay, even 

 when heavy crops are cut. The cocks' should not 

 be opened on the second day until the dew has gone, 

 and then only opened in thick masses. After lying 

 in this manner until noon, they are ready to be 

 carted to the barn. 



Clover requires a very different process. It should 



be cut close to the ground, and allowed to remain 

 until the afternoon of a bright day, in the swath ; 

 then they should be carefully turned upside down 

 with a fork, and left over night. After dinner on 

 the following day, the swaths should be taken up 

 with the fork and laid in a cock — not rolled or 

 pushed up — and then these cocks may remain two 

 nights. After that, on a clear morning, they may 

 be turned over to admit the sun and air for a few 

 hours, when they will be ready to go in, with their 

 leaves all on, and as sweet and fragrant as a nose- 

 gay. A load of brush is worth about as much for 

 cattle as a load of clover, cured as it is often done. 

 Allen, in his "Farm Book," says there is a loss of 

 nutritive matter in the ordinary mode of curing 

 hay, which is obvious to every careful feeder. This 

 is conspicuously evident, in the diminished quantity 

 of milk yielded by cows, when taken from the pas- 

 tun; and put upon the hay made from grass simi- 

 lar to that before consumed. There is undoubted- 

 ly a combination of causes to which this may be 

 imputed, but the bad condition of the hay is often 

 a prominent one. 



SALTING HAY. 



This is now, we believe, extensively practised, and 

 judiciously done, we have no doubt it is well. 

 Those who are in the habit of placing salt before 

 cattle, know that during the winter season they will 

 take but little. A cow consuming a ton of hay in 

 the cold months, we are confident would not vol- 

 untarily consume tv/o quarts of salt — and yet many 

 farmers are in the habit of applying eight quarts to 

 a ton ! This is probably the source of many of the 

 recent diseases among cattle. It leads, also, to the 

 slovenly practice of getting in the hay in a damp 

 or partially cured state, under the idea that the 

 salt will preserve all its virtues. 



For the Nete England Farmer. 



BINNERS AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 



I perceive it is said that the trustees of the Essex 

 Agricultural Society, have informally determined 

 to have no dinner together on the day of their ex- 

 hibition. What can be the meaning of this deter- 

 mination ? The exhibition dinner, where speeches 

 are made, songs are sung, and all have a good time, 

 I had supposed to he one of the most praiseworthy 

 features of the occasion. Who would have expect- 

 ed this deviation from what has become almost uni- 

 versal usage, to be started by this long es- 

 tablished and well reputed society ? Especially 

 when their exhibition is to be in the heart of a 

 beautiful and enterprising city, Newburyport, which 

 is never backward in doing the proper thing, in a 

 proper manner. What can be the cause of this de- 

 termination, I should like to know. Many of these 

 trustees I have long known ; and they are among 

 the last men to repudiate a good dinner. I hope to 

 hear the reason, if there is any good reason for it. 

 I had contemplated being present at the exhibition, 

 but am. not quite satisfied to go and return, fifty 

 miles or more, upon an empty stomach. *»* 



