FEEDING OP COWS— TREATMENT OP THE HORSE DISTEMPER. 



21 



cake had entirely left the hinder quarter, and in the 

 forward quarter was about the size of a pullet's egg. 

 In this quarter the disease made its final stand, and 

 showed some obstinacy. But it was fairly cornered, 

 and in a week or two more evacuated the premises 

 altogether, after having held villainous and undispu- 

 ted sway for more than three months. The cow, at 

 this present writing, Nov. 1, is in fine order and con- 

 cfltion, and gives eight quarts per day of very rich 

 and pure milk. The quantity of medicine used by 

 Mr. Weston in this case was two ounces and a half. 

 — Maine Farmer. 



SUMMEK AND WINTER FOOD FOR COWS. 



TuE editor of the American Agriculturist has 

 recently visited the farm of S. B. Haliday, near Pro- 

 vidence, R. I. His farm contains 130 acres, part of 

 which is used as a market garden. Of course, land 

 cultivated in this way needs thorough manuring, and 

 a large number of cows are kept constantly manu- 

 facturing milk for the city, and fertilizece for the farm. 

 The cows are soiled — in other words, fed with green 

 food in the stables daring the summer months. The 

 following method is adopted: 



Mr. U. feeds his cows, beginning in the spring with 

 green rye till the stalks get quite hard, and even after 

 this, if necessary, by cutting them up short. The 

 rye is continued till clover is ready, which forms the 

 next food. Clover is followed by green millet, which 

 for this purpose, is sown as early as possible in the 

 spring. Corn — sown in drills at intervals of 10 to 

 12 days — follows millet, and continues till frost, 

 when millet is again resorted to, and used till the 

 ground freezes up. 



The winter food of his cows consists of cut corn 

 stalks, roots, oil meal and shorts. The daily food of 

 each cow is 2 quarts of -oil meal, 4 quarts of shorts, 

 half a bushel of turnips and carrots, and as much 

 cut corn as she will eat. He says that from consider- 

 able experience and observation, he is satisfied that 

 no root contributes so much to the quantity of 

 milk as the turnips, while carrots do not add much 

 to the quantity, but greatly enrich the quality. He 

 is quite certain that oil cake is the best milk yielding 

 food. He says that in feeding turnips, long continued 

 practice has proved, beyond a doubt, that a little dry 

 hay, or any dry food, given to a cow just before milk- 

 ing, will entirely prevent any turnip flavor from being 

 communicated to the milk. 



HOW TO FEED MTT.lf COWa 



I SEE in the Farmer of the 7th October, an article 

 on feediug milk cows, written by Mr. Bartlet of 

 Munson, which I know to be correct so far as corn- 

 st.alks and carrots are concerned. I have fed each 

 of my cows night and morning, one peck of carrots, 

 with hay, and get as much milk as I do on grass. — 

 I take the cornstalks in the buudle as they come 

 from the field, butts and all, and cut them up with a 

 straw cutter. I put one bushel and a half into a 

 tub, pour a pailful of boiling water over them, then 

 take three quarts of bran and scatter over the top. 

 To keep in the steam, I let them steam half an hour, 

 then stir the bran and stalks up together, which 



scalds the bran. I then throw in a pailful of cold 

 water, and let one cow have it to eat. This I do 

 morning and night. The result is, I get as much 

 milk and butter as if the cows had the best pasture 

 in summer. 



I use Macomker's straw cutter, that I bought two 

 years ago at the State Fair in Cleveland, patented in 

 1850. It has two flange wheels like a large auger 

 pod, which turn together, draw in the straw aud 

 crowd it against a straight stationary knife, and cut 

 it off like shears. It splits the largest stalks, and so 

 bruises them all that the most of them get eat up. 



I feed them to my young cattle and horses dry, 

 and think I save one-half by cutting, that is, one 

 bundle cut is as good as two not cut. 



Can you, Mr. Editor, or some of your readers, in- 

 form me where Macombee's straw cutter can be had? 

 as a number of my friends and neighbors wish to 

 purchase. I think the man I bought of said they 

 were got up in Lake county. 



We had a people's fair at Pitchville on the 2.5th 

 and 26th, where I showed my straw cutter, aud it 

 was pronounced by good judges the most perfect 

 machine they ever saw for cutting straw, stalks and 

 vegetables, as it is a self-sharpener, and has not been 

 out ot repair the two years I have used it. 



N. B. — Please let me know at your earliest con- 

 venience where those straw cutters may be had. — 

 C. C. Crittenden, in the Ohio Farmer. 



TREATMENT OF THE HORSE DISTEMPER. 



Bt request, and in consequence of having hafl an 

 unusual number of horses under treatment during the 

 last few weeks, suffering from influences (commonly 

 called distemper,) which I believe to be, to a certain 

 extent, contagious, I ask the liberty of communicat- 

 ing to gentlemen who own, or are interested in that 

 noble animal, the horse, my opinion of what predis- 

 poses and makes them more susceptible of being 

 affected by it, also what ought to be done to prevent 

 it. The conditions inducing it may exist alone, for 

 some exciting cause may be required for their full 

 developement; for instance, gunpowder wants a pre- 

 disposition to dryness, and peculiar composition in 

 order to take fire from a spark. The most prominent 

 predisposing causes, are sudden and undue exposure 

 to extremes of cold and heat, impure atmosphere in 

 stables, arising from dampness, darkness and bad ven- 

 tillation. 



The skin of a horse at ordinary work is raised in 

 temperature in order to maintain organic and animal 

 activity; there is an unusual rapid passage of blood 

 through the lungs and the whole system, and pers- 

 piration is excited; if, under such circumstances, he be 

 suddenly exposed to the action of cold, by being put 

 in a damp, cold stable, or any other way, this action 

 of cold would greatly disturb the balance of circula- 

 tion, particularly in spring, (when a horse changes his 

 coat,) and produce a contracted state of the skin and 

 its vessels, consequently blood collects round and 

 within internal organs, by being repelled from the 

 outward surface, which causes congestion of the in- 

 ternal organs, a condition only one stage short of 

 inflammatory action; for instance, suppose we perspire 

 from exercise, then to cool off, sit in a draught; in a 



