MODERN FACTS, OPINIONS AND PRACTICE. 



22a 



$10— Mr. Hickman, Pa.; No. 7. $4.3, and No. 8, $41— Mr. Boiling, Va. ; No. 9, $45— Mr. Brown, 

 Md. ; No. 10, $41— Mr. Jessup, Baltimore ; No. 11, $40— Mr. Peyton, Tenn. ; and No. 12, $40— 

 Mr. Hall, Sussex, Del. 



Mr. Re Y BOLD was then called upon to put up some of his fine Leicester ewes, eight of 

 whicli were sold to the follovviug persons : 



Lot No. 1,2 ewes, $28 per head— Mr. Holt, N. C. ; Lot No 2, 2 ewes, $14 per head— Maj. Pe- 

 ter, Md. ; Lot No. 3, 2 ewes, $13 per head — Maj. Peter, Md. ; Lot No. 4, 2 ewes, $11 per head — 

 Mr. Jessup, Baltimore. 



MODERN FACTS, OPINIONS AND PRACTICE. 



DRAWN FROM EXPERIENCE ; AS DETAILED IN THE BEST ACCOUNTS OF 

 ENGLISH AND SCOTCH HUSBANDRY. 



The winter-feeding of horses in Scotland is hay and oats. The former is giv- 

 en ad libitum ; in other parts of Scotland oat-straw is given instead of hay. Ma- 

 ny judicious farmers think one as economical as the other ; but that, with us, 

 must depend on circumstances. There are thousands of farmers south of the 

 Delaware who do not yet grow a pound of hay for winterage. Governor Gil- 

 mer of Georgia, yet lively, active and vigorous in mind and body, is the first per- 

 son who regularly " made hay " in that State. 



The raw oats in Scotland are usually crushed ; and it is considered by expe- 

 rienced, thinking farmers, that four bushels of crushed oats will go as far as five 

 uncrushed. 



Soiling. — The advantages of soiling are thus forcibly stated in a few, and, in 

 some respects, new words, worthy of being noted : 



" In the Lothiaiis, where, on almost every 

 farm, some extent of bare fallow has to be 

 tilled during the period interveuing betv/een 

 the completion of turnip sowing and the 

 commencement of harvest operations, the 

 vi'ork-horses are now generally supplied with 

 green clover and rye-grass in the stables or 

 court-yards, which is decidedly a better prac- 

 tice than that of turning the animals afield to 

 graze during the midday rest. When we 

 consider the many advauUiges accruing from 

 this practice, we feel rather astonished that it 

 is still but partL-illy adopted throughout the 

 kingdom. It is not difficult to conceive tlie 

 fatigue endured by horses, from being com- 

 pelled after a forenoon's hard work, to under- 

 go the additional labor necessary in a pasture 

 field, and that probably a bare one too : to 

 satisfy their hunger, not to speak of the an- 

 noyance to which tliey are at the same time 

 subjected from a host of bisects ; the most 

 troublesome of which are the horse-fly or cleg, 

 and the bot-fly ; whereas when supplied in a 

 cool, airy sliible or court-yard with clover and 

 rye-grass or vetches, they soon and easily fill 

 themselves, and having thus more time for 

 rest, are fresh and vigorous for the remaining 

 labors of the day. 



"Another imi)ortant advantage arising from 

 the soiling of farm horses is that their e.xcre- 



t>' ; the solid and licpiid excrements of horses 

 being quickly decomposed in the open air, 

 their most valuable constituents are soon dissi- 

 pated, and consequently the field droppings 

 produce comparatively little benefit. This 

 objection to gi-azing does not, however, apply 

 with equal force to black cattle, their excre- 

 ments being of a colder and less decomposa- 

 ble nature than those of horses ; still the value 

 of cattle droppings is greatly diminished by 

 exjiosure to the sun and wind. But the soil- 

 ing system is preferable to grazing, not only 

 as affording the animals more time for rest and 

 producing an increased quantity of excellent 

 manure ; it also effects a considerable saving 

 of grass or green forage. It is admitted that 

 the cutting and cartage of the forage required 

 by a large number of horses necessarily occa- 

 sions some labor, which would be avoided by 

 grazing ; but this is amply compensated by 

 the improved condition of the horses, and the 

 other advantages above referred as arising 

 from soiling. When a sufficiency of litter is 

 available on the farm, the work-horses may 

 with much advantage be kept m the stables 

 over night, in which cases the evening feed 

 of oats may properly be withheld even though 

 the animals be at hard labor. It has been 

 found in practice that a statute acre of a fair 

 crop of clover and rye-grass suffices lor twen- 

 ty horses during a period of fifteen days, each 

 horse getting as much as he can consume over 

 night and during the midday rest." 



meats are thereby preserved, by which a very 

 considerable adilition is made to the quantity 

 of h.)me manufactured manure. The dutig 

 made in this way is also of the very best (juali- 



Tbere is ao doubt to be entertained that an extension of the soiling system will 



maric the farther progress of economical improvement in American husbandry. 



If circumstances would admit of its entire substitution for pasturing abroad, it 



