86 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



tol?r.i1)ly -svell for haj and straw, but not for 

 corn-stalkfci. Tlie price is six or seven dollars, 

 and upwards. Tiio clieaper ones do not cut so 

 fast nor so short as thuse of higher price and 

 more numerously furiiislicd with knives. Sau 

 ford's t-traw-eutter, sold, if we mistake not, by 

 Rapalje &. Co., of Kocliester, costs about 12 dol 

 lare, and consists of two cylinders of knives work- 

 ing into each other like the teeth of two cog- 

 wheels. It answers well for corn-stalks, crushin<! 

 and cutting at one operation, but from somt 

 «iuse unknown to us, does not appear to liave 

 been extensively used. For cutting very short, 

 we have not yet found a machine that is at once 

 reasonably cheap, eflBcient, and durable for long 

 use. 



Cutting fodder lias several advantages. Straw 

 and hay may 1>e intermixed and both eaten to- 

 gether, and mastication rendered more complete 

 and perfect ; corn-stalks, if cut finely enough, 

 will be more thoroughly eaten, and the manure 

 will be fine, instead of coarse, long, and unfit to 

 apply till thoroughly rotted. We have no accu- 

 rate experiments to show the precise amount saved 

 by cutting ; an acquaintance informs us he finds 

 the yearly saving in keeping a single horse, to be 

 twenty dollars, out of fifty, formerly required ; 

 but we think his estimate too high. The public 

 very much needs more accurate experiments on 

 this subject. — Country Gentleman. 



MILCH COWS-AN ANSWER. 

 In the "Newspaper," of Nov. 16th, I find an 

 article headed "Milch Cows." W. R. wishes to 

 know how many milch cows can be v/ell kept on 

 twenty or twenty-five acres of average grass, ex- 

 clusive of winter feeding? Also, the average 

 quantity of butter that can be made from said 

 cows — the num1)er of hogs or pigs that may be 

 kept from such a dairy — the best mode of winter- 

 ing covrs, and the management of corn-fodderl In 

 answer, I would say, that from fifteen to eighteen 

 cows could be well kept on twenty or twenty-five 

 acres of grass, on good soil. Cows will produce 

 from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds 

 of butter per annum each, which will average, say 

 one hundred and seventy pounds each, for fifteen 

 cows, making a total of two thousand five hundred 

 and fifty pounds per annum. Two cows will keep 

 three liogs well. Some say two pigs to one cow- 

 is a fair proportion, but we will say three pigs to 

 two cows, to insure good feeding that will make 

 twenty-three pigs to fifteen cows. Cows should 

 have a warm stable, well ventilated, so as to have 

 a good supply of fresh air; during the day they 

 should Ite provided with a yard, having a southern 

 exposure, for cows are fond of the sun in the win- 

 ter ; the 3'ard should be provided with shelter, to 

 protect the cows from cold winds and inclement 

 weather. At night they should be stabled, and 

 fed with well cured hay. A little bran is of great 

 benefit to a milch cow', even six quarts a day will 

 make a great improvement in her milking, to say 

 nothing of lierself. Cows should be fed or fod- 

 dered tlireo times a day, and iiave a plentiful sup- 

 ply of good food, and fresh water to drink Avhenevcr 

 they Avish. As to corn-fodder, the best I am aware 

 o' is, to cut it in pieces of from eight to twelve 

 Inches in length, and steam and scald it, first add- 

 ing a little salt to the mess ; by so doing the cows 



will eat it up very eagerly, and there will be no 

 long corn-stalks in your manure. Coi-n-fodder 

 served after this manner is as good as hay for milch 

 cows. — Phil. Dollar Newspaper. 



THE LITERATURE OE AGRICULTURE. 



Our own estimate of books which exjject to make 

 farmers, where there has been no practice or ap- 

 prenticeship, is not higher than our estimate of 

 books which jjropose to make Christians by the 

 same short process. Wc remember, as if it were 

 yesterday, how blankly we looked in each other's 

 faces, when, on a fine spring morning, having 

 bouglit our radish-seed, we prepared to jilant it, 

 and consulted the "Dictionary of Gardening," — 

 and read together, "Tlie well known mamier in 

 which tliis vegetable is cultivated renders any ol)- 

 servations thereon unnecessary.''^ 



We relate this experience as a hint to preachers, 

 as to what is necessary and unnecessary in dis- 

 course. 



It is at the same time an illustration of the rea- 

 son why no book can make a farmer. AVe have, 

 noAV, two books before us, — which show, in wholly 

 different ways, how wide is the range of thought 

 which belongs to the great science of farming, — 

 and what constant stimulus to intellectual effort 

 that man has, who would diligently apply himself 

 to explore it. It is no little satisfaction to see 

 how many men set themselves to making two blades 

 of grass grow whei'e there has been but one. 



The first of these two Iwoks is the Patent-Of- 

 fice's Agricultural Repjort for 1852. It was made 

 up under some earlier administration, and only 

 concluded by Mr. Hodges, who seems to be well 

 aware of its deficiencies. To speak of the first of 

 these first, we would suggest that it ought to have 

 been completed before the 28th of February, 1853, 

 and then ought to have been pirinted before now. 

 Phillips & Sampson, Crosby, Nichols & Co., or 

 any other firm of publishers who are awake, would 

 feel disgraced if an octavo volume like this cost 

 them six or seven months time in the pi'inting. It 

 should have l)een written, printed and distributed, 

 before the 1st of March. 



Within its covers there is, as usual, an immense 

 range of correspondence, with no index, — no run- 

 ning titles, — nor other clue to its contents. There 

 Is, however, here a great deal of really valuable 

 information, mixed with the trasli to be expected. 

 It is a singular merit to lie claimed by hardly any 

 other book, that the climate, soil and needs of al- 

 most every State are specifically alluded to in these 

 different communications. And we do not doubt 

 that careful readers will draw^ information from 

 one part of the Union, into such form a« shall suit 

 their purposes in another. The book, as it stands, 

 is a sort of compost heap just made. The result 

 of it will undoul)tedly be good harvests. But it is 

 of no great use just as it is, — it needs a good deal 

 of fermentation, and careful spreading, liPvrrow- 

 ing over, and working in with other soil. 



Our other book, alluded to above, is a curious 

 illustration of the tribute of one art to another, 

 of the machine-shop to the farm. AVc have, 

 long since, made a walk tln-ough Ruggles, Nourse 

 & Mason's Agricultural Warehouse, the amuse- 

 ment and instruction of a leisure hour. We have 

 here, in a hundred and fifty pages, the catalogue 



