1854. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



265 



For the New England Farmer. 



GREEN COEN FOR COWS. 



Allow mc to make a few statements tlirougli 

 the columns of your paper, in regard to what is 

 so commonly known in Massachusetts and in parts 

 of N. 11., yet so seldom practiced in this section 

 of Vermont and many parts of Massachusetts, 

 even — the practice of supplying cows with a 

 cheap and valualile kind of food at that season 

 of the year when drought or rain, gi'asshoppers 

 or none, the freshness of Juno feed is past, and 

 common cows and common pastures alike "begin 

 to shrink." 



Most farmers in this vicinity consider it one of 

 the ^'■necessary evils" that, during August and 

 parts of the adjoining months, their cows should 

 be either half-stiirved or allowed to re-roam over 

 the oft-trodden pastures, and be content with a 

 supply of withered grass, or browzo from the 

 neighboring woods. The result is, of course, a 

 i'Y/?j/y ahuniluncc of milk, butter and cheese, and 

 instead of the cows gaining in flesh and preparing 

 for their winter service, are reduced in flesh, and 

 before dog-days are past, too many of them be- 

 come "spring poor," and when they come to the 

 barn for winter, look so much worse for the 

 "wear," that one must conclude that the whole 

 summer's feed has '■^nin to milk and not to flesh." 



In the spring of 1852, two bushels of the south- 

 rrn 7/eZ/oio-flat corn were procured and sowed in 

 the usual way, i. e. in drills 3 feet apart — manur- 

 ing well, and taking care that the corn be so thick 

 in the drill that no stalk should grow more than 

 an inch in diameter. The season was unusually 

 dry, and some farmers were obliged to feed out 

 hay to their cows. Those who were prevailed up- 

 on to "try" the new notion had corn in plenty 

 from the 1st of August to the 20th of September. 



The result was, this "book farming" plan met 

 with universal approl)ation, and in the spring of 

 1853, the procurer was requested to supply his 

 neighbors with seed to the amount of thirty bushels. 

 Most of this was sowed within two miles of this 

 village. 



After this fair trial during the season past, our 

 farmers estimate the value of this feed to each 

 cow, to bo from three to five dollars, over the usu- 

 al practice of grass feeding only. This is made 

 up by the milk and condition in which the cows 

 are found wlicn coming to winter quarters. 



During tlie present month, those who wish for 

 corn are sending in orders for their supply, and if 

 we may judge by tlie present amount called for, 

 full 50 buls. will bo sown in this vicinity the 

 present season. 



As dry fodder, we think a larger amount may 

 be raised on an acre than of any otlicr substance 

 we have yet been acquainted with. I have cured 

 the growth on six square i-ods, and fed one medi- 

 um size cow, giving her all slie would eat, (after 

 cutting with a straw-cutter) in thirty-seven days. 

 Thus the crop from one rod kept the cow a little 

 more tlian one week. 



The difficulty in curing will be an objection to 

 its general use on a large scale, but as green feed 

 we know of nothing its equal, when compared 

 with the expense of raising. 



The question is often asked, "Why is not our 

 tommon corn just as good ?" An equal amount 

 is as good. But the quantity on the same ground 



is very much less than of the southern, and it 

 will not reach a size fit for cutting as early. 



Our garden sweet corn is raised in some places 

 with sucocss, and Imt for the trouble of preparing 

 seed for future use, would be more valuable for 

 the latter part of the season. 



The southern corn may be had of Messrs. H. & 

 S. P. liill. No. 58 Main Street, Charle.stown, and 

 of any grain dealer in the cities, and in many of 

 our villages. 



I prefer st^abling my cows through the summer 

 (thus saving all the manuro,both solid and liquid) 

 and then feed them in the morning. In this way 

 cows will not acquire the '■^ habit'' of waiting 

 around the gate in tlie pasture, in the latter part 

 the day, as whqn fed at night. 



Plant about May 10th, June 1st, and June 

 15th, so as to keep a tender supply from July 2d, 

 through the month of Septemljcr. g. r. n- 



Rando/pk, Vt., April 15th^ 1854, 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



HOP ROOTS. 



Mr. Orson U. ADhuy, of Hyde-park, Vt., informs 

 us that he can furnish Hop roots for 25 cents for 

 one hundred, ready to plant, and that they can be 

 sent by mail, at trifling expense. 



HENS- — SHOATS — GRINDING CORN. 



M. B. C Rich, Mount Vernon, Ohio. In reply 

 to your inquiries alx)ut the kinds of hens and 

 shoats which are considered the best in New Eng- 

 land, we have to say that the Shanghai, Cochin 

 China, Black Spanish, Golden Poland, and per- 

 haps one or two other varieties, have their several 

 admirers. The flesh of the large kinds, in juicy 

 tenderness and richness of flavor, bears no favor- 

 able comparison to that of our common fowls. 

 Some of the mixtures, as the Shanghai and Cochin 

 China, are great layers, and good mothers. The 

 Buck's county. Pa., fowls, are about the right 

 size, are good layers, and are good on the table. 

 The Dorkings are a similar variety, and upon the 

 whole, would probably prove as valuable a variety 

 as any we have. 



Suffolk Swine bear off the palm at present in 

 pigdom. It is an excellent breed — is quiet, gro'WB 

 well and lays on fat readily, and when well served 

 upon the taljlo would make any reasonable Jew 

 regret that he had forsworn pork. 



There are a variety of mills used for grinding 

 corn, by hand or by horse power, and arc for sale 

 in the agricultural warehouses. 



THE YELLOW LOCUST. 



1 have about ten acres of land, on which I wish 

 to grow the Yellow Locust — will you inform me 

 how to prepare the seed so that it will vegetate — 

 where the seed can be obtained and price ? also, 

 whether the seed should be planted where the 

 tree is to remain, or is it 7icccssary to transplant? 



Windsor, Vt., 1854. Gko. B. Green. 



Remabks. — Some attention has been given to 

 the cultivation of the Locust as a forest tree, in 



