WORCESTER SOCIETY. 181 



young gentlemen with me, the system of chafF-feeding was 

 fully established, and the quantity needful for the horses, and 

 for the oxen, separately ascertained. 



" One hundred weight of hay was found to yield twenty 

 bushels of chaff pressed into the measure, and piled as high 

 as it could be safely carried ; consequently each bushel weigh- 

 ed about 5^ pounds. It was found that the five horses would 

 eat twelve bushels of chaff during the twenty-four hours ; and 

 that the four oxen could consume an equal quantity in the 

 same time. Ever since, the oxen have been fed with chaff 

 only ; they have very evidently improved in condition, as have 

 also the horses, although their work has latterly been on 

 heavier soil, and of course, more severe than formerly. 



" Twenty-four bushels of chaff, at twenty to the cwt. (112 lbs.) 

 amount to about 21|^ tons yearly : which deducted from 48 

 tons (the quantity we were consuming within the year) gives 

 a saving of about 26^ tons, or more than one-half. 



" I have, however, carried the retrenchment further, by cut- 

 ting in beanstalks, to the extent of about a quarter of the chaff. 

 These being laid uppermost in the cutting trough, keep the 

 hay well pressed, and cause it to be cut more regularly. Thus 

 we now use about 25 cwt. of hay monthly, instead of four 

 tons. 



" It is customary in our quarter to throw beanstalks under 

 cattle, a practice which cannot be too speedily abolished. 

 Mine had suffered much by standing out full a month in the 

 late rainy weather, yet all my cattle ate the chafi" from them 

 alone, without hesitation ; indeed, rather in preference." 



On page 400 of the same volume of the Massachusetts Ag- 

 ricultural Repository and Journal, is the statement by Benja- 

 min Hale of the saving made by the use of the straw cutter 

 employed to cut hay and straw as fodder for horses. 



Mr. Hale was a proprietor of a line of stages then running 

 between Newburyport and Boston. He says : — 



" The whole amount of hay purchased from April 1 to Oc- 

 tober 1, 1816, (six months,) and used at the stage stable, was — 



32 tons 4 cwt. 10 lbs. at $25 per ton, (the lowest price 



at which hay was purchased by him in 1816,) is . $800 00 

 From October 1, 1816, to April 1, 1817, whole amount 



