THE GENESEE FARMER. 



813 



luxuriantly here, if the farmer will take the trouble 

 to procure the roots. 



I have an Osage Orange hedge growing. Set 

 out the plants in the spring. They have withstood 

 two winters. I also have some Locust trees grow- 

 ing finely, two years from the seed. 



The great excitement now, however, is ahout the 

 gold mines at home and upon Frazer River, and 

 the railroad building m our own State. It is ex- 

 pected that the Transit Railroad will be graded 

 before winter sets in, from Winona to a pomt 30 

 miles west of Rochester — 80 miles. Work has 

 been done upon three other roads also. Pretty 

 well for such adamantine times. g. hodges. 



Moj-ion, Olmsted Co„ 3Bnn., Aug, 



CURING CORN TOPS FOR FODDER. 



The best mode which we have tried to secure 

 the tops for fodder is to cut them above the ear 

 and let them lie a day or two on the hills to dry — 

 one good fair day will be long enough, for we never 

 bind tight or in large bundles. Bind quite near 

 the tops and the butts will hold on. 



Now set ten or twelve of these bundles in a pike 

 or shock, saving two of the bundles for the upper 

 story to be put asti'ide of the first which was set — 

 tlie first eight or ten may be tied at the top before 

 the riders are put on. Another band will bind the 

 two together, and when put on will form a veiy 

 good roof against common storms. Let these pikes 

 stand out two or three weeks, be the weather what 

 it will. The stalks will season better here than in 

 the nicest barn you can build, and the cattle will 

 eat them much better than when they have not 

 been so exposed. 



We hearken to none of the suggestions of those 

 who advise to put the bundles in barns or sheds 

 before they have had a chance to sweeten in the 

 open air. If we had but ten bundles of stalk«, and 

 an empty barn, we should keep the stalks out in a 

 shocks for at least two weeks before bringing them 

 into the barn. Our cattle have informed us that if 

 we would have them eat the tops we must first cure 

 them in the open air. 



In a dry day, after two or three weeks exposure 

 we throw the shocks open to the sun and cart 

 them in on the same day. Then we can pack 

 them down close on the hay mows or elsewhere, 

 in case we think them dry enough to pack — or we 

 stand the bundles np more loosely if they appear 

 too green to pack close. If the bundles are so moist 

 as to gather a little mould we are not much con- 

 cerned, for cattle are not very fond of stalks per- 

 fectly dry. — Mass. Ploughman. 



Eight Hundred Sheep Poisoned. — The Gar- 

 deners Chronicle states that Mr. Bird, of Benton, 

 Eng., had a flock of 867 sheep which were dipped 

 in a chemical salution to destroy ticks, lice, etc., 

 and turned out to grass. It is supposed the solu- 

 tion was washed oflf by a shower of rain and eaten 

 hy the sheep, as in four days only 26 out of the 

 whole flock remained alive. 



SOWING GRASS SEED IN THE FALL. 



The Ohio Cultivator says: "The practice of 

 sowing grass seeds in the fall is becoming more and 

 more popular, and in such a fall as we are having 

 this year, grass seeds can be put in to better advan- 

 tage than usual. The frequent showers keep the 

 land moist enough to ensure the speedy vegetation 

 of the finest grass seeds. It is one of our doctrines 

 that grass seed should be put in for a full crop, the 

 same as wheat or any other crop, and not be sub- 

 jected to the overshadowing and dwarfing of a 

 crop of wheat or oats. The benefits of this are, 

 that when sown as a full crop upon well prepared 

 soil, the grass takes immediate possession of the 

 land, to the exclusion of foul stuft", and you have a 

 crop of clean hay at once instead of its taking 

 several years to run out the weeds. The fall seeding 

 is more particularly adapted to timothy grass, to 

 timothy and clover, red top, fowl meadow, etc. — 

 Orchard grass and red clover will do well in the 

 early fall, if the ground is not too spouty. Ken- 

 tucky blue grass is best sown late in the winter, when 

 it can catch a little frost and snow." 



We had supposed that, as a general thing, clover 

 did not do well sown in the fall. What is said of 

 the advantages of sowing Timothy alone in the 

 autumn, is true ; but if the wheat and Timothy 

 together were sown on '•'■ well prepared soil,^^ there 

 would then be no necessity to wait " several years 

 to run out the weeds" before obtaining a " clean 

 crop of hay." 



FEEDING CORN STALKS. 



Feeding Hogs. — Six hogs were shut up to fatten 

 tLe first day of autumn ; they were fed one month 

 on 29 bushels of corn (58 bush, ears) and increased 

 386 lbs., or 12| lbs. gross weight for each bushel. 

 This is better than the average of good feeding. 



The best time, place and way of feeding out com 

 stalks, is in the coldest weather we have ; but as 

 far as that is concerned, cattle will eat them any 

 time, if they are fed to them in the way that I am 

 about to state. I propose, in the first place, to cut 

 up the stalks with a straw cutter, fine enough to 

 suit the farmer ; and when you give the stalks to 

 the cattle, or whatever you see fit to feed them to, 

 sprinkle meal on them. Another way is to steam 

 the stalks and meal together, and then the cattle 

 will eat all of the stalks up : whereas if you feed 

 them out without cutting, the stock will only eat 

 just the leaves off", and leave the stalk, which is the 

 very best part of the corn stalk; and when the 

 stalks are out for manure, all farmers can plainly 

 see that they will not rot or compost, and therefore 

 make it bad for handling the manure, but where 

 they are cut np they will not bother the person in 

 so doing. The best place and form that I know is 

 to feed them in the stable ; have boxes or troughs 

 for the cattle to eat from; and then I consider that 

 they will not waste so many of the stalks as they 

 otherwise would. l. haerison. 



Westfeld, Chautauque Co., If. T. 



Air-Slaked Lime is not as caustic as water- 

 slaked. In both cases, the lime slakes by absorbing 

 water. Air-slaked lime has absorbed the necessary 

 quantity of water from the atmosphere, and with it 

 a quantity of carbonic acid, which renders the ilme 

 less caustic. The reason lime gives out heat in slak- 

 ing, is that a chemical combination takes place be- 

 tween the water and the lime — the watar is con- 

 densed, and the heat, so to speak, pressed out of it. 



