172 



THE I GENESEE FARMER. 



ity hay per acre, and those which have been irri- 

 gated longest yield the heaviest crops. 



Boussingault, the well known French chemist 

 and fanner, considers a good meadow the cheapest 

 means of enricliing the farm; and this is undoubt- 

 edly true. The extra produce obtained by irrigat- 

 ing grass lands, when fed out tp animals, furnishes 

 an extra quantity of manure for the use of the 

 arable upland portions of the farm. 



STEEPING BAKLEY FOE SHEEP. 



In the Genesee Farmer for December, 1861, page 

 365, we stated that in Mr. Lawes' experiments on 

 sheep, "considerable advantage was found from 

 steeping grain from 24 to 36 hours in cold water, 

 before giving it to the sheep.' 1 '' 



A correspondent of the Country Gentleman 

 makes the following remarks on the subject : 



Credit Sometimes Wrongly Given. — Messrs. 

 L. Tucker & Son:— In Country Gentleman, vol. 

 18, No. 23, p. 364, I find an article taken from the 

 Genesee Farmer, wherein the author, Mr. Lawes, 

 gives the result of feeding a lot of sheep. 



" Four sheep in ten weeks eat 280 lbs. of crushed 

 barley, and gained 81 lbs. Four sheep in an ad- 

 joining pen eat in ten weeks 280 lbs. of crushed 

 barley steeped in water, and gained 101£ lbs. 

 This shows a gain of over 20 lbs. in favor of sim- 

 ply steeping in cold water. We must add that the 

 sheep were allowed all the mangel wurzel they 

 would eat, and the pen having the steeped barley 

 consumed much more than the pen having it dry. 

 The former in ten weeks eat 5,321 lbs., while the 

 latter eat only 3,867 lbs. of these roots." 



Mr. Lawes in his article, if I understand him, 

 attributes the 20 lbs. gain in one lot of sheep over 

 the other to the steeping of their food in cold wa- 

 ter, but to my mind the chances are that the gain 

 was produced by their eating 1,454 lbs. more man- 

 gel wurzels than the sheep did that eat their barley 

 dry. 



Had Mr. L. given each lot of sheep an equal 

 number of pounds of mangel wurzels, and there 

 had been a gain of 20£ lbs. in favor of the sheep 

 that eat the steeped barley, he might, I think, have 

 more justly attributed it to the steeping of their 

 food. G. P. SERVISS. 



Mr. Serviss 1 remarks are to the point. We did 

 not, however, wholly "attribute the 20 lbs. gain in 

 the one lot of sheep over the other to the steeping 

 of the food in cold water." In fact, we distinctly 

 stated that the one lot of sheep eat more mangel 

 wurzels than the other. The only conclusions we 

 drew from 'he experiment are those given in the 

 above i xtrnct put in italics, viz , that there was "con- 

 siderable advantage" from steeping the grain. We 

 did not say thai the increase was due merely to the 

 steeping of the barley. 



The fact is an interesting one, and as such it 

 was mentioned. The only difference in the two 



lots of sheep was that one eat dry barley, and the 

 other the same amount steeped in cold water. 

 Both had what roots they choose to eat. Those 

 having the steeped barley bad a better appetite 

 than the others, eat more roots, and laid on fat 

 more rapidly. 



IMPROVING OLD PASTTJBES. 



At a recent agricultural meeting in Cheshire, 

 Eng., Richard Dutton read a paper on the " Ag- 

 riculture of Cheshire," in which he remarked: 



An old pasture-field, rich in good herbage, should 

 never be brought under the plow, on a dairy or graz.- 

 ing farm, without an urgent necessity. On our best 

 dry soils, old pastures are apt to become rough, 

 and, in some cases, covered with moss. This may 

 be prevented, to a great extent, by a top-dressing 

 of salt during the winter, at the rate of 10 cwt. 

 per acre; or, in some cases, a good dressing of 

 lime, at the same time freely harrowing the surface; 

 or, what is less expensive, stocking them with sheep 

 during the winter months, at the same time feed- 

 ing them with turnips or corn. In a very produc- 

 tive summer, or when a farmer has been unfortu- 

 nate with his stock, he may, with advantage, mow 

 such parts of his pastures as can be spared for the 

 purpose. It is superfluous for me to say that on a 

 very large proportion of our grass lands draining 

 and bone-dusting are the great means of improve- 

 ment. A question of some importance may be 

 asked : "Are all our clay soils improved by drain- 

 ing for mowing and pasture purposes?" / think 

 not. When there is nothing in the herbage pro- 

 duced which indicates the presence of too much 

 water, I think draining will add nothing to the fer- 

 tility of such soils so long as they are in grass. 



« ■ <m< 



Cabbage for Cows. — There can be no doubt 

 that cabbage is an excellent food for cows. It is 

 more nutritious than the Avhite turnip, and will 

 produce more per acre. We think it should be- 

 more extensively cultivated, especially by our 

 dairymen. The investigations of Dr. Voelokeb 

 show that in the fall of the year milk, when the 

 cows are well fed, yields more cheeso and butter 

 than during the summer. But if the cows have 

 not a good supply of nutritious food, the milk falls- 

 off greatly. It would seem, therefore, that a sup- 

 ply of cabbage, which could easily be obtained,, 

 would prove of great advantage. 



Hat for Colts in Summep. — When colts are 

 turned into young, succulent grass in summer, they 

 not unfrequently scour. This can be avoided by 

 giving them a little hay and an occasional feed of 

 grain. The same is true of other stock. It is a 

 well known saying, that "sheep prefer roast meat 

 to boiled." It is a matter of surprise sometimes 

 how well sheep thrive in a dry summer, even in 

 comparatively bare pastures. 



