48 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



VEGETABLE CUTTER. 



When hay is selling at $20 to $25 the ton, it 

 becomes the farmer to cast about him and see 

 whether any unusual methods can be practiced to 

 save fodder, or to feed out what he has with more 

 economy. Plants feed more readily upon flnely 

 comminuted manures, as they impart their juices 

 more readily, and in this form may be mingled 

 more generally throughout the soil. So cattle re- 

 ceive the nutrient jjroperties of their food with 

 greater ease when divided into small particles by 

 our agency. It then requires less mastication, im- 

 parts it properties quickly and leaves the creature 

 opportunity for rumination and rest. Beside this, 

 it is a matter of economy. Corn-stalks divided by 

 the cutting machine and mixed with meal or shorts, 

 will be mostly consumed by the cattle, and will 

 impart considerable nourishment. But roots are 

 more difficult to be eaten without being divided 

 than the grasses or corn-stalks. Given whole, 

 they are a perplexing, laborious and dangerous 

 fodder. 



The above engraving represents a machine which 

 will obviate all these difficulties and also prove 

 economical. 



The cutting wheel is made of cast iron, faced on 

 one side, through which are inserted three knives 

 like plane-irons. These cut the vegetables into 

 thin slices with great rapidity, and then by cross- 

 knives they are cut into strips of convenient form 

 and size for cattle or sheep to eat, without danger 

 of being choked. The pieces after being cut, lie 

 loosely and anglingly together, and can easily be 



taken up by the animal. The machine is capable 

 of cutting so rapidly as to leave no olyectlou to it 

 on that account. 



For the Tfew England Farmer. 



GOOSEBERRIES. 



I have cultivated the Avild gooseberry for several 

 years, and find that there are a great many varie- 

 ties of them ; some of which have thorns and oth- 

 ers do not, and some have fine thorns and very 

 tliick, others have large, stout, sharp ones. 



Some are good growers and bearers, while oth- 

 ers are neither. I have two varieties that I think 

 maybe very valuable, one of which I found in this 

 town ; the bushes gr<)\v large and bear heavily, and 

 almost entirely thornless. The other, I found on 

 the farm occupied by Mr. Fabyan, at the White 

 Mountains. The fruit is large and sweet ; the 

 bushes have large thorns, bear abundantly, and are 

 great growers. The bushes of this variety grow 

 larger than I ever saw any other kind — I have 

 seen them six feet high. Yours, &c., 



B. F. Cutter. 



Pelham, N. H., Nov. 6, 1852. . 



AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 



The attention of the reader is particularly called 

 to a circular in this paper from a committee re- 

 cently appointed by the "Massachusetts State 

 Board of Agriculture," on the sulyect of agricul- 

 tural lectures. Although a large proportion of the 

 population of our State is engaged in agricultural 

 pursuits, we have no knowledge that half a dozen 

 lectures upon the topics in which the farmer is 

 most interested, are delivered in the course of a 

 year. Why is it that this important class and in- 



