118 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



On the whole, Mr. Dodge gained Z3 lbs. of hay, 

 worth 17 ccntg, and 10 lbs. weight, worth 40 

 cents, making in all 57 cents for the trouble of 

 cutting hay for a yoke of steers 4 weeks, or about 

 two cents per day. 



In each of the foregoing experiments, it will be 

 seen, that one animal gained most on the cut, and 

 the other on the'Mncut hay. They seemed to lake 

 sides on the question with considerable decision. 



The third experiment, by Mr. Lincoln, gives a 

 better result for the hay-cutter. Ilis cow Beauty 

 gained in the 8 weeks 125 lbs. She gained 100 

 lbs. on the cut hay, and 25 lbs. on the uncut. She 

 ate G85 lbs. cut, and C68 lbs. uncut hay. His cow 

 Chernj gained in all 35 lbs ; 30 lbs. on the cut, 

 and 5 lbs. on the uncut hay. She ate 464 Ihs.cut 

 and 402 lbs. uncut hayin all. The two gained 100 

 lbs. more on the cut than on the uncut hay, in the 

 whole, and ate about Vd lbs. more cut than uncut 

 hay. Upon our former estimate, Mr. Lincoln 

 gained four dollars' worth of weight, and lost but 

 9 1-2 cents' worth of hay. This result alone 

 would indicate that it pays to cut the hay. As to 

 milk, Mr. Lincoln's cows gave 22 lbs. more milk 

 on the cut, than on the uncut hay, an item of some 

 30 cents more to be carried to the credit of the 

 hay-cutter. The results were not, however, uni- 

 form as to the milk, for Beauty gave 45 lbs. more 

 on the cut hay, and Cherry about 23 lbs. more on 

 the uncut. 



Tho, fourth experiment, by Mr. Hawes,was with 

 a yoke of oxen. The near ox gained in 8 weeks, 

 in all, 12G lbs. He gained 120 lbs. on the cut, 

 and G lbs. on the uncut. He ate 1078 lbs. of cut 

 and 1028 lbs. o^ uncut hay. 



The off ox gained, in 8 weeks, 104 lbs. He 

 gained on the cut hay 17 lbs., on the uncul^llhs. 

 He ate in the 8 weeks, 1028 lbs. cut and 1078 lbs. 

 uncut hay. On the whole, the two gained 44 lbs. 

 most on the cut hay, and ate precisely the same 

 quantity of cut and uncut. The results here, 

 again, were different, in the two oxen. One gained 

 the most on the cut hay, and the other most on 

 the uncut. One ate more cut than uncut, while 

 the other ate most of the uncut. 



Mr. Hawes extended his trial longer ; but the 

 results give no new light on the subject. By my 

 former mode of reckoning, he gained 170 cents' 

 worth of weight in his oxen, by cutting their fod- 

 der four weeks. 



On the whole, the results of these experiments 

 are not very satisfactory. They are lacking in uni- 

 formity, in almost every particular. They should 

 be repeated, and it seems to me, under different 

 regulations. Two weeks is not a term long enough, 

 for each kind of food. The food of tliis week may 

 make ihQ fat of next week. Cows, heavy with 

 calf, are likely to gain in weight, on almost any 

 food, and their weight could hardly be expected to 

 vary rapidly by change of food two weeks at a 

 time, except as their bowels might be full or emp- 

 ty. It is proper to say, that all the cattle re- 

 ferred to received other food, either roots or meal, 

 during the experiments, so that it must not be in- 

 ferred that the quantities of hay above stated, are 

 alone sufficient food for such animals. 



Having glanced, thus, at these experiments, I 

 will suggest wliat seems to me the most reasona- 

 ble views on this subject. I cut all my fodder for 

 my horse and cows, this winter, not because I sup- 

 pose that there is any nutriment added to a lock 



of hay by cutting it into inch pieces, nor because 

 Nature has in general furnished animals with hay- 

 cutters of their own, insufEcient properly to masti- 

 cate their food. Horses have powerful grinders, 

 and usually chew their hay sufficiently. An ex- 

 periment reported in the Patent Office Report for 

 1851, at page 71, shows, that the food of a horse, 

 fed on tincut hay, was equally exhausted of its nu- 

 tritive properties, in passing through the animal, 

 as when fed on exit hay. 



Ruminaling animals, if they swallow their food 

 hastily, may chew it over again at their leisure, 

 and this seems to be a very innocent and becom- 

 ing recreation for a cow that has nothing else to 

 do. The advantages of cutting fodder, I appre- 

 hended, are these : 



1st. Working cattle and horses thrive better on 

 cut fodder, because they eat it in less lime, and have 

 more time for rest. And besides, they are not so 

 liable to lose their breakflist, by the oversleeping 

 of the teamster. 



2d. Old animals, whose "grinders are few," 

 can eat chopped food more readily. 



3d. Chopped hay can be readily measured, and 

 the animals receive a more regular allowance than 

 when fed with long hay. 



4th. No hay will be ivasted by over-feeding, as 

 your boys will be too lazy to cut more than is need- 

 ful, whereas common hands will always fill the 

 rack more or less, if they pitch the hay to the ani- 

 mals. 



Lastly, and most important of all, if we have 

 corn stalks, buts, fresh hay or coarse clover which 

 cattle will never eat entirely up, such fodder may 

 be passed through the hay-cutter, and they will 

 eat it much more readily. At the present price 

 of hay, (about twenty dollars a ton,) grain is 

 cheaper than good hay for cattle. By cutting 

 coarse fodder into a box, moistening it, and add- 

 ing a small quantity of meal, or shorts, much 

 may be consumed to advantage, that is usually 

 thrown into the fyard for manure. 



No good fiirmer will be long without a hay-cut- 

 ter. Whether it be worth his while to chop all 

 his hay or not, may be doubtful, but he will every 

 year find occasion for its use, for one or more of 

 the reasons already suggested. 



This matter of chopping fodder is another of 

 the thousand, that needs careful investigation at 

 the hands of Boards of Agriculture, and upon our 

 anticivaled Model Farms. h. f. f. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LIVE FSNOES. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you or some of your corres- 

 pondents, please give, through your paper, some 

 information upon live fences ; dead fences are be- 

 coming expensive in this part of the country, and 

 we wish to know if live fences are cheaper, and if 

 so, what is the best kind; where the seed can 

 be had ; at what price ; the time and mode of 

 planting, and the whole mode of operation, and 

 you will oblige, d- h. li. 



Hollis, N. H. 



Remarks. — Will some of our correspondents 

 reply to the above ? The subject is becoming of 

 more and more importance as the railroads are ex- 

 tended through the country, and the population 

 and building increases. 



