im 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 14, 182/ 



NJEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, DKC. 14, 1827. 



FEEDING CATTLR, MANAGING MILCH 

 COWS, &c. 



Regularity of feeding- cattle is of prime impor 

 'ance. Tlireo times a day precisely Ht a certnin 

 :]Oi;r, cattle, nccordinjj to Mr Lawrence. slionM be 

 I'lirniishcd '.vith their food. Dr Deane ohserved 

 that neat cattle and Iior.ses should not have so 

 ranch laid before thorn at once .^s will quite serve 

 to fill them. The hay they have brcatheil on much 

 ihey wiii not oat up clean, unless when thev are 

 »ery hungry. It is best, therefore, to fodder them 

 -twice at night, and twice in the morning. Let 

 neat cattle as well as horses have both liirht and 

 fresl) air let ;n upon their fodder when the weath- 

 er is not too cold and stormy to allow the windows 

 to be open. What one sort of cattle leave should 

 he thrown to another sort. Those that chew the 

 cad will eat the leavings of those that do not and 

 vice vtrsa. 



"It is also well known (o farmers, that what 

 r.nttle leave in the b;irn, they will eat abroail in 

 »lie open air ; and most freely when it is laid 

 upon cUan snoiv. Not only this, but the meanest 

 «f straw should he given them in this way. Wh^t 

 !s left will help to increase the manure in the 

 ynrd. 



'■ Every farm yard, where any considerable 

 ?tock is kept shoijkl be furnished with a larje 

 shed, nnd a rrick under it. For where there is no 

 clean fdoa to 1 ly the straw, anil other mean fod 

 dcr upon, it sl;ould be put into the raci:. A larg- 

 er proportion of the dung will he dropped under 

 the shed than in any other part of the vard. And 

 this Jung uill be better than the rest, as it will 

 not be ttashed by rains, nor so mucli dried ifi the 

 £nn." 



.Sir John Siriclair says " Straw given to stock. 

 should be constanlly made use of as soon after it 

 »3 threshed as possible ; for if exposed to the in- 

 ."lUente of the utiuospherc, it becomes either musty 

 or too dry ; and in that state, cattle neither re'ish 

 nor tlirive on it so well. L'' it must be kept a 

 length of time for fodder, it should be bound in 

 busses, in which .state it is easier 'moved, lies in 

 •ess room, and retains its Ptreiigli) and flavor 

 rather lonucr, than when loose ; or it may be se- 

 '.-ured in a stack properly built, trodden down and 

 covered. Wlieat straw, on account of its strenglli 

 ■»s freuucrtly cut into chaff, and given to dorses 

 with tlicir corn, [grain.] The chaff is likewise 

 Ti.i.xcd with otiier food, in piulicular with potatoes, 

 and given to feeding aud working cattle. 



In a tract entitled " Notices for a Young Farm 

 er," uijtlcii. wo be ieve, by the Hon. Judge Pe- 

 wcRS, foru;erly Prc.-:idciit of the Pcnn. Agricultu- 

 !»! c^ocicty, are the following directions: 



" Cut or chaff your iiay, straw, corn tops or 

 Madcs, and even your stalks wiili a straw cutter, 

 and you will save a great proportion, which is 

 'ilfierwise wasted, or passed through the animal 

 n ithoMt contributing to its nourishment. One 

 kushel ofcliaffed hay at a mess given in a trough, 

 three times in twenty-four hours, is sufficient for 

 a horse, ox, or cow. A bushel of chaffed buy 

 lightly pressed weiglis from 5 to 5.V pounds. A 

 horse or herned beast thrives more on Jo lbs. thus 

 given, than an 24 or 25 lbs. as commonly expend- 

 ed, (including wiiste) in the usual mode of feeding 

 in ra'cks ;'to which troughs properly conttriicted 



are far preferable. Salt your clover and other or by being confined too much on salted provis- 

 succulent as well as coarse hay. But over salting ions. It has been recommended to keep lumps o* 

 diminishes the nutriment. More than a peck to a salt in troughs protected against the effects o 



ton is superfluous. Half that quantity is often suf. 

 ficient. Ten or fifteen pounds is usually an am- 

 ple allowance. Feeding your stock by weight 

 and measure of food will not only save your prov- 

 ender, by its orderly distribution, but, frequently 



weather, by some sort of shelter, and at all timc-i 

 accessible to neat cattle and sheep. In that case 

 i; i? thought that the instincts and appetites of the 

 animals will induce them to consume the qudntily 

 which would prove most beneficial to them. Per- 



the lives of animals, too often starved by niggard- j liaps it might answer a similar and as good a pu 

 liness or neglect, or gorged and destroyed by pro- 1 pose to permit cattle always to have access to cut 

 fusion. If it be true, as it is, that "the master's ' straw, or other food of inferior quality, moistened 

 eye makes the horse fat," it is equally so, that the vvith a strong solution of salt in water. A prac- 

 master's eye prevents the horse from being pam- tical and judicious cultivator informed us that, in 



pered, wanton, pursive, bloated, foundered and fi- 

 nally wind broken and blind." 



If hay is salted by using salt in substance it 

 should be done at the time it is deposited in the 

 mow. In some cases it may not be amiss to sprin- 



giving salt to his cattle and sheep he always mix- 

 es it with unleached wood aslies. The mixture is 

 composed of one quart of fine salt to one half 

 busliel of ashes. To this composition his cattle 

 and sheep always have access. He believes that 



kle a solution of salt in water over hay or other ' this mixture preserves the health, and promote 



food for cattle in the winter time, especially if the the thriving of the animals. 



fodder be of inferior quality. Lord Somerville ' Cows should be kept constantly in good condi- 



recommends salt to be mixed with good as well as tion, as where they are evei suffered to become 



damaged hay; and Mr Lawrence says "Of the very lean, and that in the w inter season, it is ira- 



great use of salting damaged hay, I have known possit>le that they can be brought to afford a large 



various instances. Heated and moulded hav has quantity of milk by geltiutr them in perfect con- 



thus been rendered more agreeable to the plates M\m in the summer months. W^here cows arc 



of cattle than even the finest, and has improved lean at the period of calving, no management at- 



them in an equal degree." terwards is ever capable of bringing them to at- 



. ., f ,, ~ r. ,r J V- „ i' ford for that season anything near tlie proportion 



A writer for the " Republican and leoman, '"'''" j = i r 



of milk that they would have done if they had 

 lieen supported in proper condition through the 

 winter. Food of the most nourishing and succu- 

 lent kinds sliould tuerefore be regularly given in 



whose remarks were republished in the American 

 Farmer, vol.iv. No. 21, page 161 says "The prac- 

 tice of salting cattle in the winter is extremely 



injurious and should be abandoned. To prevent . , , , , . ., 



., ■» c .u- 1 r ■u L . u 1 ■ . suitab proportions in the cold inclement months 



the necessity of this, by far the best method is to »"""""- V'"\' -j i, i- j 



put the salt upon the hay when it is put into the 



mow. If this be done your cattle will require no 



.salt in its crude state during the whole winter. 



and the animals be kept warm, arid well supplied 

 M'ith pure water. Some advise their being cleau- 

 ed bv combing and other means; but this is a 



[wnctice. which, though useful in making them 



nor will they talie It !i oLered to them. Another i." ,'•. .,, ^c ^ i ii 



. , /, ,, .. <• 1.- u ■ .1, vie d their nnlk more freely, can, perhaps, seldom 



inducement to the practice of salting hay in the •" , , ^ ■' - ', '., , 



. ., • 1 ui . r i^ j I 1, be emuloveu on an extensive scale with adT.in- 



mow, IS the unavoidable waste of salt and labour , ^ ■' 



which accompanies the old method of using it in ^ rr., .■ , ■, , 



., ■ . . . 1 . . T» 1 . ,1 Mr Loudon says " 1 hs time cows should be- 



the winter in Its crudestate. It also prevents the ■>'■""" ■',.,.. , 



, f .1 u I a- ■ ■ c I . come dry beiore their calving is not agreed on. 



danger of the hays suSering iniury from heat, i ■' ,. , , ^ , .,,* , , 



,". • ■■, ,., .,, ■ . , I some contending that they may oe milked almost 



and by improving its quality, will occasion much , „ : . , ■" , ,.- . , 



, . ■ .1 1-. f. J • .1. • to the time ot tneir dropping their call without in- 



less v/nste in the expenditureof It during the win- . , ., , ■,■•.,, 



mi.- .■ „ .• .11, -11 u lurv ; whi e others mHiutain that it is absolutely 



ter. This practice ot seasoning the hay will be -^ •' ' , , l , i l i • j j r- 



,,.,,! necessary that they should be laid dry trom one 

 health and , u V r .u i . r .i 



to two months, both for the advantage of them- 

 selves and of their calves. It is probable that 

 much in this business depends on the manner in 

 which they are kept ; as "iY^tre ilicy are well fed 

 they may bo continued* ip milk till within a week 

 or two of calving, without suffering any injury 

 v/hatever from it ; but in the contrary circumstan- 

 ces it may be bolter to lot tiicm run dry for a 

 mnnth, six weeks, or more, according to their con- 

 dition, in order to their more fully recruiting their 

 strength. It appears not iuipiobable, but that the 

 longer "the milking is continued, the more free the 

 cows will be from indurations and other affections 

 of the udder; which is a circumstance deserving 

 of attention. Where only one or two cows ai 

 kept for the supply of a family, it is likewise u.^o- 

 fill to know that by good feeding they may bo 

 ontinued in milk witliout any bad coiisequciice 



found also to conduce much to th 

 thrift of the stock. For the use of salt in the 

 winter is accompanied sometimes with costive- 

 ness, and at others it produces opposite effects, 

 and invariably renders the cattle more susceptible 

 of the cold. And it not unfrequently results in 

 the loss of flesh aud disease. The profuse use of 

 salt on hay would no doubt prove detrimental. — 

 Having for a .series of years pursued the practice 

 of salting my hay in the mow, I consider it supe- 

 rior to any other method of using salt, by at least 

 two hundred per cent." 



Dr T. Cooper, iu an article written for the last 

 Philadelphia edition of Wiliich's Domestic Ency- 

 clopedia, states that " a quarter of an ounce of 

 salt per day to sheep ; and one ounce per day lo 

 cows and oxen, is an allowance ample enough." 



Much however depends on the kind of food whic 



cattle are fed with. If they are supplied with uUnearlv the lime of calving, 

 roots, jiumpkins, or any other green and succu- 

 lent food, they will require more salt than if they 

 were confined to hay or other dry food. Salt in 

 sma" 



POTATO ONIONS. 



\ gentleman at the south, who has raisud iiiin 

 quantities, is, perhaps, necessary for the ! year two thousand of these onions, has given us 

 health of cattle as well as that of the human spe- 1 the following account of his mode of managing 

 cies ; but animals of either kind may suffer in I this valuable vegetable: — "Potato Onions are 

 consequence of using it too freely in substance, Ivory productive ; Ihcy skuuld br killed like potahs : 



