318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



THE TIME TO CUT GEAIN" AND GRASS. 

 This is an important matter, and one that has 

 not received sufficient attention. Farmers are in 

 the habit of cutting their grain and grass at the 

 most convenient time, and without much regard 

 as to what effect such cutting has upon the weight 

 and nutritive qualities of the crop. They Avill con- 

 tinue to do this, because they have not bestowed 

 thought or investigation upon the subject, and 

 therefore do not realize the losses which they in- 

 cur by neglecting to harvest grains and grasses at 

 the proper time. The reasons of this loss are so 

 plainly set forth by Mr. Anderson, the learned 

 editor of the Farmers' Journal, published at Mon- 

 treal, that we prefer to employ them, to using 

 words of our own. He says that 



"Grass, while still green, contains a large amount of 

 starch, gum and sugar. The sugar is perceived in the 

 sweetish taste of the juice ; the starch and gum, being 

 nearly tasteless, are not so readily perceived. The 

 principal nom-ishing ingredients in all kinds of food are 

 starch, gum, sugar, and some nitrogenous compound. 

 But the starch, gum and sugar are mainly cljangcd into 

 hard indigestiblu woody fibre when grass fully ma- 

 tures. If the ripening process be arrested eight or ten 

 days before its completion, and the phuit be dried rapid- 

 ly, dou))le and treble the amount of starch, gum and 

 sugar will be secured. The same reasoning holds true 

 of all kinds of gi-ain. Every one is ftimiliar with the 

 sweat taste of green corn, wheat in the milk, etc. When 

 the growth is completed, cut these crops and you save a 

 considerable amount of rich nutriment which Avould 

 othcnvise be changed to the woody fibre of the outer 

 shell. The only point to be looked to, is, to wait imtil 

 the accumulation of juices is completed, and then begin 

 the hai-vcsting at once. The only exception to this rule 

 is with crops designed solely for seed ; these may well 

 be left to the natural full ripening upon the stalk, espe- 

 cially when the seed is to be kept long. 



The proper time for cutting gi-asscs is at the moment 

 the seed is set, or immediately after the fiowerhig is 

 over. Clover should be cut as soon as in full bloom. 



A large number of experiments on wheat and other 

 grains indicate that the proper time for liar\'esting is 

 when the kernel is fully formed, but still soft enough to 

 yield to a moderate pressure between the thumb nails. 

 This is usually about ten days before maturity.'" 



This reasoning is undoubtedly correct, not only 

 because it is founded on true scientific principles, 

 but also because it is confirmed in an abundance 

 of experience by those who have put the matter 

 to practical test. It would be safe, we think, to 

 say that millions of dollars would be saved to the 

 country annually, if this single item of business of 

 the farm were carefully investigated, and such a 

 practice adopted as the investigation would cer- 

 tainly suggest. 



The Avant of a more accurate knowledge of the 

 business in which he is engaged, of a clearer in- 

 sight into matters which he cannot comprehend 

 at a glance, is one leading reason why the profits 

 of the farmer do not more constantly meet his ex- 

 pectations. It certainly is not because there is 

 any inherent defect in our soil or climate, or that 

 nature is not generous, even lavish in her favors, 

 but rather that the farmer does not closely ob- 

 serve the_,wants of the soil, the influence of cli- 

 mate and the effects of depositing seed, gathering 



crops, or doing many other things at a wrong 

 time, or in an improper manner. He must be- 

 come a iJiinker, as well as worker, before the pro- 

 fession in which he is engaged will keep pace 

 with the progress of other arts, or afford him that 

 material aid and comfort which he fancies other 

 occupations confer. 



In the coming harvest, there will be opportuni- 

 ty for every farmer to test the value of these re- 

 marks, by cutting a portion of his grain at that 

 moment when the kernei is fully formed, hut so 

 soft that when he presses it between his thumb 

 nails, he can squeeze it to a pulp, and notice a 

 slight milky juice in the mashed mass;. Theo 

 leave a portion ten or twelve days later, and upon 

 threshing and cleaning up carefully, compare the 

 results. If this course were adopted by one or 

 two intelligent farmers in every neighborhood, 

 and reported to the agricultural papers, it would 

 do much to settle the question and introduce a 

 uniform practice. 



To test the value of hay cut early with that cut 

 later, may be a more difficult matter — ^but still, by 

 weighing portions of the two kinds, and by a crit- 

 ical observation of the manner in which the cattle 

 eat them, and then- apparent effects, somothiug- 

 may be learned that will be valuable. A pretty 

 fair test would be to lay equal portions of each 

 kind of hay, side by side, in front of the stan- 

 cheons before the cattle are tied up, and on bring- 

 ing them to their places, observe whether they 

 make a selection. 3t would be necessary proba- 

 bly to try this more than once, and if the p-efer- 

 ence of the cattle were uniform upon one kind of 

 the hay, we should feel tolerably safe m being 

 guided in our practice by their instincts. 



We hope experiments will be made and reports 

 sent us that may be published for the benefit of 

 aU. 



jFbt ilte New Engiand Farmeir. 

 IlSrOCULATIOlSr op diseased CATTLE. 



Since it seems evident that the cattle disease is 

 much more extensive and troublesome than at fu'st 

 feared, and that the means taken to prevent its ex- 

 tending farther have failed, as might have been 

 reasonably expected from the first, would it not 

 have been both prudent and wise to have tried in- 

 oculation, which has been fron>J;he first stated to 

 be effectual, upon those portions of infected, iso- 

 lated herds, which were not already diseased? 

 Or do our commissioners and veterinary surgeons 

 esteem it their only province to kill ? It seems 

 to at least one person, that a far better way would 

 be to forthwitli inoculate every one of a herd where 

 the disease makes its appearance. Legislative 

 measures will prove powerless, unless a measure 

 of this kind is resorted to. I have been told, on 

 what I consider good authority, that cattle from 

 a diseased herd, several animals having died from 

 it, of the identical disease now prevalent in Mas- 

 sachusetts, have within a few weeks been sold in 



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