1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



117 



I think without any essential advantage to the 

 fodder. It appeared to me, indeed, very much 

 like adding perfume to the rose, but the suggestion 

 having been made by a neighbor, I was induced 

 to make the trial. I did not perceive that the 

 portion of the crop which received the salt, was 

 any more acceptable to the cows than that which 

 had none. It is true the animals were liberally 

 supplied with salt in its natural state, a bos being 

 kept full in the yard during the winter, and to 

 which they had, at all times, free access. It is 

 possible and quite probable that, under a different 

 method of treatment, the salted fodder would 

 have been preferred. By permitting the peas to 

 ripen, and threshing them, the value of the straw 

 or haulm will of course be materially lessened for 

 feeding purposes; it will be dry and unsucculent, 

 and unless there be warm and very dry during the 

 later stages of its growth, there will be an unsa- 

 vory taste, and a very unpleasant smell engen- 

 dered, which it will be extremely difficult, if not 

 impossible, to remove. But when cut in the man- 

 ner presented above, the dryest vines may be used 

 as food. The most economical method of using 

 them, however, is to prepare them by chaffing, 

 and mix them with meal and other sapid viands. 

 Rasped roots make an excellent accompaniment, 

 and if used constantly on the farm, will aid, very 

 essentially in effecting a profitable appropriation 

 of much that would otherwise be lost. 



FoT the New England Farmer. 

 THE FARMER. 



BY D . W . C . PACKARD. 



O, noble is the farmer's lot, — 



That man of giant frame ; 

 Ilis big heart knows no sordid spot — 



No vices dim his fame. 



His brow, it wears no bloody bays. 



Nor springs his fame from Death ; 

 But quickening Nature bears his praise 



Upon her balmy breath. 



His hand, it is an honest hand, 



And brown it is with toil ; 

 Then let the farmer take his stand, 



The sovereign of the soil. 



The forests bow to meet their lord — 



The waving fields rejoice ; 

 By countless herds he is adored — 



The ruler of their choice. 



Then let the farmer take his stand, 



The sovereign of the soil. 

 And every lip in every land 



Shall bless the farmer's toil. 

 y. Bridgewater, Jan. 7, 1853. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A YOUNG FARMER. 



Gent. : — I am G years old; I send $1,00 for the 

 N. E. Farmer, monthly. Yours, j. s. 



New Market, N. H., Jan. 13, 1853. 



Remarks. — If we can find our way to the hearts 

 of the young men and women, and to those of the 

 children, even, we shall feel sure of success. If 

 they become imbued with the right spirit and doc- 

 trine, the next generation will be right. We are 

 often encouraged with applications similar to the 



above, and earnest inquiries from the youn* in- 

 terested in agriculture. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CUTTING FODDER FOR STOCK. 



BY HENRY F. FRENCH. 



"Do you think it will pay to cut fodder for 

 stock V is the question often proposed . The gen- 

 eral impression among well-informed farmers seems 

 to be that it ivill. 



The report from the Worcester County Society 

 on feeding stock, published in the N. E. Farmer 

 of July and August, 1852, seems to have been 

 taken as conclusive on the subject. So far as the 

 opinions of that committee are concerned, they 

 are entitled to great respect, as are the opinions 

 of many persons named in their report. 



A premium had been offered for "the best ex- 

 periment in determining the advantages or disad- 

 vantages of cutting hay as food for stock," and it 

 is to the experiments offered for the premium, that 

 I wish to call attention. 



However correct may be the conclusion of the 

 committee, from all their premises, it seems tome 

 that the experiments themselves are far from sat- 

 isfactory as evidence of the profit of cutting ^ood 

 hay, or any fodder that cattle will eat up entirely, 

 uncut. -Before analyzing the results of those ex- 

 periments, I had the impression that a great sav- 

 ing in the quantity of food actually consumed was 

 made by cutting it ; but those experiments, as 

 published, show that the cattle on lohich the trials 

 were made, consumed a very little more cut, than 

 uncut hay, in the same number of days. 



The conditions of the trials were in part as fol- 

 lows : — "The trial to be made with at least two 

 animals — the time of trial to continue at least 

 eight weeks, divided into periods of two weeks 

 each. One animal to be fed with cut, when the 

 other is fed with u7icut hay, and the feed of each 

 to be changed, at the expiration of each two 

 weeks." 



Four experiments are reported. The first by 

 Mr. Demand, on two cows not in milk, both ex- 

 pected to calve in about two months. The result 

 is briefly this. Cow No. 1, gained in the eight 

 weeks, 61 lbs. She gained 38 lbs. on cut hay and 

 23 lbs. on uncut. She ate 611 lbs. oi cut and 563 

 lbs. wncwi hay. 



Cow No. 2 gained in all, 59 lbs ; on cut hay 26 

 lbs.; on uncut 33 lbs. She ate 560 lbs. oicut, and 

 586 lbs. uncut hay. Mr. Demand's two cows 

 then ate in the whole time 22 lbs. more cut than 

 uncut hay, and gained 8 lbs. most on the cut hay. 

 Calliag the hay worth $10 per ton, he lost eleven 

 cents'°worth of hay. Calling the weight gained, 

 worth four cents per lb., he gained 32 cents' worth 

 of weight. So, on the whole, he got 21 cents for 

 the trouble of cutting the fodder of two cows four 

 weeks, which, considering the wear of the ma- 

 chine, is rather poor pay. One cow, it seems, 

 gained most on cut, the other on uncut hay. 



The second experiment was made by Mr. Dodge 

 on two steers. The near steer gained in the 8 

 weeks, 50 lbs. weight. He gained 55 lbs. on the 

 uncut hay, and lost five pounds on the cut hay. He 

 ate 447 lbs. cut, and 469 lbs. rincut. The q^ steer 

 o-ained in all, 80 lbs. He gained 75 lbs. on the 

 cut, and 5 lbs. on the uncut. He ate 469 lbs. cut, 

 and 480 lbs. uncut hay. 



