58 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



meal, and they lost four pounds. The first two 

 then eat five and one-half bushels raw meal in 

 three weeks, and gained sixty-one pounds. 



I have read also a report signed by Wm. R. 

 Putnam, on the Michigan plow, who says : "All 

 agree that the labor in cultivating a crop upon 

 tough grass knd, is much more than it is when 

 the common plow is used." 



There is considerable prejudice against selling 

 hay, but if, as is claimed, by some having barn cel- 

 lars, that the manure from them is worth four 

 times more than without them ; and if, as I have 

 seen stated, corn may be raised year after year 

 on light soil, with the use of muck and lime, 

 and with the thousands of acres of cold, swampy 

 land, the soil of much of which might be carted 

 off, and the land planted to cranberries with ten 

 times the profit now realized, I think very strong 

 prejudice, with all this before us, must be very 

 great folly. 



Mr. Jeremiah Tilton, of this town, has a good 

 young orchard on his best land, but thinks it 

 would have been more profitable to have had his 

 land in grass and other crops, minus the trees. 



J. W. Brown. 



Kensington, N. H., Bee. 15, 1862. 



CUTTING PODDEB FOB STOCK. 



We are decidedly in favor of it ; not from any 

 precise and accurate experiments by weight and 

 measure, but from a close and interested observa- 

 tion of the spending of cut and uncut fodder, and 

 from its effects upon the stook that consumed it, 

 through a period of several years. The difference 

 in feeding out a certain quantity of hay, cut and 

 mixed with a given amount of grain, and feeding 

 out the same amount of hay whole, with the same 

 amount of grain, has been too great with us, to 

 admit of a single doubt as to the profitableness of 

 cutting the fodder. Especially is this the case 

 with corn fodder. Fed whole, the cattle will se- 

 lect the husks and leaves, and reject the stems, 

 wherever the crop is a stout one — but when cut, 

 mixed with a small quantity of grain, moistened, 

 and allowed to stand twelve hours, cattle will eat 

 every particle of it, excepting, perhaps, some of the 

 rank and hard points of the stems. 



In most hay fed to cattle, some portion of it will 

 be less attractive than the rest, and where cattle 

 are well fed, they will leave the poorest, which is 

 quite apt to get under them as litter, or to be at 

 once thrown through the scuttle to the manure- 

 heap, or at best, scattered over the yard to be 

 pitched over again or trodden under foot. This is 

 the case with much hay that is too valuable to go 

 to such purposes. When hay is cut, this loss is 

 entirely prevented, as it is rare to find anything 

 left but bits of stick or the stems of rank weeds, 

 if such were on the hay. 



That the cutting adds anything to the amount 

 of nutriment contained in the fodder, we do not 

 argue — nor does it to the potato we eat, and yet 

 we find it vastly more convenient in a smaller 



form. It may be urged that cattle are provided 

 with the means of cutting long fodder, and there- 

 fore do not need it in a comminuted form — but 

 the buffalo, in his native ranges eats no tall grasses 

 and rank herbage if he can avoid it, but traverses 

 over vast plains to graze upon the short, tender 

 grass, thereby showing a decided preference for 

 his food in smaller dimensions than is afforded in 

 corn fodder, or in hay that affords two or three 

 tons to the acre. 



We have cut the fodder for a stock of fifteen to 

 twenty head of cattle, watching the effect with in- 

 terest, and came to the conclusion that the process 

 is an economical one — but tested by accurate 

 weight and measurement, this apparent advantage 

 might not be sustained, after all. 



A SNO-W-STOBM. 



'Tis a fearful night in the winter time, 



As cold as it ever can be ; 

 The roar of the storm is heard like the chime 

 Of the waves on an angry sea. 

 The moon is full, but her silver light 

 The storm dashes out with his wings to-night j 

 And over the sky from south to north. 

 Not a star is seen as the winds come forth 

 In the strength of a mighty glee. 



All day the snow came down — all day— 



As it never came before, 

 And over the earth at night there lay 

 Some two or three feet, or more. 

 The fence was lost and the wall of stone ; 

 The windows blocked and the well-curb gone ; 

 The hay-stack grown to a mountain lift ; 

 And the wood pile looked like a monster drift, 

 As it lay at the farmer's door. 



As the night set in, came hall and snow. 



And the air grew sharp and chill, 

 And the warning roar of a sullen blow, 

 Was heard on the distant hill ; 

 And the Norther I see ! on the mountain peak, 

 In his breath how the old trees writhe and shriek ! 

 He shouts along the plain, ho ! ho ! 

 He drives from his nostrils the blinding snow 

 And growls with a savage will ! 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AGBICDTiTUBE IN COMMON SCHOOLS. 

 I am glad to find our friend "W. B." correcting 

 some of the absurd notions of Mr. G., of W. To 

 say that boys of fifteen years are incapable of be- 

 ing instructed in the science of cultivating the 

 earth, argues a want of knowledge of that science. 

 To be sure, it may not be expected that boys, or 

 even men, will understand completely the opera- 

 tions necessary on a farm, without some practical 

 experience. Where is the difficulty in establish- 

 ing manual labor schools ? Have we not ah-eady 

 such in the State, including hundreds of pupils ? 

 Is it not better thus to educate boys, than simply 

 to instruct them in some of the arts ; such as the 

 making of shoes, for instance. Let a boy come 

 out from some of our public institutions, well in- 

 structed in the labors of the field and the garden, 

 as he might be, and ten chances to one, he will 

 become a valuable citizen. H. 



November, 1862. 



