1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



51 



be fed out. A little cob meal or other grain add- 

 ed will give the whole a decided flavor and relish, 

 so that cattle or horses will reject nothing but some 

 of the coarser joints of the corn fodder. In this 

 way all the coarser fodder may be used in the 

 early part of winter, leaving the better portions 

 for a later period, when it is supposed the appe- 

 tite of the cattle is not quite so good. From an 

 experience of many years, we know this course 

 to be economical, while it makes the stock thrifty 

 and productive. 



Sunshine and Air- 



The practice of keeping cattle and horses in 

 the barn during the day, as well as the night, is 

 becoming quite common. It may be carried too 

 far, as that has been of keeping them in the open 

 yard through many a stormy winter day. Cattle 

 become greatly attached to their accustomed 

 stalls, and will return to them if they can, even 

 in mild and pleasant weather. But they need sun- 

 shine and air, and should be able to enjoy their 

 invigorating influences for two or three hours 

 every mild and clear day. If this practice is com- 

 menced when they are first returned to the barn 

 in autumn, it will soon become a part of their 

 habit, and they will greatly enjoy the change. 



There is too much indifference among our farm- 

 ers in all these particulars. That indifference is 

 money out of pocket. It is far easier to save by 

 system and economy what we have already earned, 

 than to labor to earn more to be wasted by negli- 

 gence and carelessness. 



GREAT DESTRUCTION- OP TREES BY ICE. 



After an autumn of unusual mildness, and of 

 an unsurpassed forest brilliancy, Old Winter set 

 in with rather a severe grip before the middle of 

 December. Up to the 25th there was no driving 

 storm, such as we sometimes have, accompanied 

 with severe cold, but a dry, low temperature with 

 the thermometer vibrating about zero for several 

 days in succession. This state of the weather was 

 preceded by a mild snow storm which soon changed 

 to rain within fifteen miles of the sea coast. Be- 

 yond this, and south-west for a distance of forty 

 or fifty miles, and a breadth of less than twenty 

 miles, north and south, the rain froze upon every- 

 thing that it touched. The ground was soon cased 

 in an icy covering, which has continued to cling 

 to it like the shirt of Nessus for more than a week, 

 without abating a jot in its brittleness or brillian- 

 cy. Nothing can exceed the grotesque forms 

 everywhere presented by the bending trees, or the 

 brilliant scene by sun or moonlight. We find in 

 the Boston Journal, the following : 



Destruction of Trees by Ice. 



The slight snow storm which occurred in the re- 

 gion of Boston, on Thursday, the 17th inst., ended 



in a drizzling rain twenty miles west of the city. 

 It commenced raining Thursday evening, contin- 

 uing through the night and most of the following 

 day, Friday, and froze as fast as it fell, to every- 

 thing it touched. When the sun was unclouded 

 for a short time on Saturday, the spectacle pre- 

 sented was truly magnificent. The late sylvan 

 was suddenly transformed into a silver world. 

 Everything was covered with glittering ice — fields, 

 fences, shrubs and trees, and when the wind slight- 

 ly moved the latter, the noise made one think of 

 the clatter of ten thousand cavalry scabbards, or 

 the rush of mighty waters. But the sight, gor- 

 geous and pleasing as it was, was attended with 

 the greatest destruction of trees by ice that has 

 ever been known in the memory of a veteran ag- 

 riculturist. Before noon, on Saturday, limbs, va- 

 rying from one inch to ten inches in diameter, be- 

 gan to fall from the grand old elms in every di- 

 rection. Sometimes the entire side of a splendid 

 tree would go down, leaving the other whole ; in 

 others, limbs would fall from different parts of the 

 tree, while in many cases nearly every branch 

 would be broken from the top, leaving nothing 

 but slivered stubs pointing to the skies. In the 

 afternoon some of the sidewalks and highways 

 became so obstructed that men were sent out with 

 axes to clear away the ruins — some of the branch- 

 es being too heavy for two men to move out of 

 the roads. Some dwelling-houses were injured 

 by the falling masses — in one case twenty or thir- 

 ty feet of the covering was rent away, slating torn 

 off, and the house otherwise injured. 



In some places the roadsides present a most in- 

 teresting appearance. The white birches, all 

 sparkling with their diamonds, are bent over on 

 each side toward the road, their tops reaching into 

 the carriage-way, while their pendulous branches 

 hang on every side, forming the most grotesque 

 arbors and arches imaginable. By the moon- 

 light they remind one of the fairy tales of the East 

 — of vast halls peopled with supernatural beings 

 and glittering with ethereal lights. But the sud- 

 den crash and the moanings in the forest, proclaim 

 the fact that our old and splendid shade trees are 

 rapidly coming to the ground. Elms suffer most, 

 having; long and sweeping branches. Willows 

 and locusts are also badly broken. Fruit trees 

 are not yet much injured ; but all are still covered 

 with thick ice. On some of the maples, every lit- 

 tle twig holds a ball of ice as large as a good sized 

 walnut, and from the under side of the ball icicles 

 of various lengths are suspended. A brisk wind, 

 while the trees are in their present condition, 

 would work wide-spread ruin among them all. A 

 friend weighed a branch with the ice on, and found 

 it fifteen pounds. On thawing off the ice the 

 branch weighed less than two pounds. 



The above description does not exceed the re- 

 ality of the case. Indeed, it would be difficult for 

 the freest pen to do so. The account, however 

 must refer to the country west of the city, as no 

 ice made there upon the trees. 



During the month of August the value of the 

 government horses brought from Canada and en- 

 tered at Detroit was $135,000. During the quar- 

 ter ending October 1, the whole number there was 

 3167, worth in round numbers $200,000. 



