1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



77 



for a very few of the most valuable selections, 

 they deserve great credit. And when it has been 

 thoroughly done for a rich and beautiful passage 

 or selection, how much better would it be for the 

 class to be exercised upon it, until each individual 

 were able to read it naturally, with feeling and 

 with power, then to leave it, after one or two read- 

 ings, and hasten on to new lessons, which the 

 teacher has no time to make the class understand 

 and feel, and which can only by accident be read 

 well. 



I 6ay nothing of the effect, upon the mind, of 

 reading without understanding, and, therefore, 

 without inquiry or thought ; of the risk of getting 

 false impressions, instead of correct opinions and 

 an exact knowledge of facts ; or of the danger of 

 forming the pernicious habit of superficial and de- 

 sultory reading. I can only intimate some of the 

 considerations which belong to this important 

 subject. But have I not said enough to make it 

 probable that the power of reading well may be 

 better attained from often reading a few passages 

 perfectly understood and felt, than from volumes 

 hurried over and very imperfectly learned P 



Let whoever wishes to form opinions for him- 

 self upon this matter, visit, without previous no- 

 tice, any of the schools nearest him, and listen to 

 the reading. He will have to conclude, I fear, 

 that, in at least two cases out of three, the chil- 

 dren are allowed to read with so little true com- 

 prehension and feeling of the passages read, that 

 any amount of such reading can do very little 

 towards enlarging and maturing the mind, and 

 thus making good, thoughtful readers ; and that 

 at least one-half of the time now spentjn read- 

 ing would be better employed in something else. 



G. B. E. 

 EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



MOWING MACHINES. 



Will you or some one of your numerous subscribers 

 have the kindness to inform me, through the Farmer, 

 if yon know of a better mowing machine than the 

 Buckeye, made at Worcester ? A Subscriber. 



Charlton, Jan., 1864. 



ECONOMY OP 8TEAMING FODDER. 



I write to gain information through the columns of 

 your paper, in regard to steaming fodder for a herd of 

 cattle, We all very well know that hay, straw or corn- 

 fodder run through a hay cutter, wet, and then sprin- 

 kled over with meal, improves it, very much But we 

 do not all know how much better steamed fodder is 

 for our herds than dry. I am interested to know how 

 much per cent, is added to the value of hay or fodder 

 by steaming it and feeding it without meal. Perhaps 

 some of the readers of tlie Farmer steam the fodder 

 for their stock of cattle this winter, and can give the 

 desired information ; also, the expense of putting in 

 steam works capable of steaming 1000 pounds at a 

 time, and the cost per day, of running the same. If 

 steam works can be used at an advantage by farmers 

 here in New England, I hope some one who has tried 

 the operation will enlighten the rest of us, who are 

 now in the dark, as towhe her it is profitable to steam 

 the fodder for a stock of cattle or not. m. w. 



North Leominster, Jan. 5, 1864. 



Remarks. — Boiling or steaming food for hogs is 

 generally practiced by the best farmers throughout 

 the country ; but to a limited extent only, either in 

 this country or England, do they cook the fodder for 

 cattle, horses and sheep. In the agricultural books 

 and journals of Europe, and in the articles of writers 

 in our own country who take their ideas from them, 



or boiling the hay, and straw, and roots, and grain 

 which make up the food of the farm stock. In "Ste- 

 phens' Book of the Farm" we find cuts and descriptions 

 of two sets of "steamers," one costing $47 to $63, and 

 the other from $50 to $100. But a Mr. Horsfall, of 

 England, whose statement of his own success in steam- 

 ing food for milch cows, has been extensively copied 

 by editors of books and papers in this country, may, 

 in the language of the day, be denominated, "the 

 father of steaming." In the Monthly Farmer of Janu- 

 ary, 1857, (Vol. IX., p. 12,) we gave a brief synopsis of 

 his system. It is published at length in Flint's "Trea- 

 tise on Milch Cows and Dairy Farming." To these we 

 would refer our correspondent. We may, however, 

 remark that one of the leading objects with Mr. Hors- 

 fall, in steaming food, is to make his stock eat straw, 

 rape-cake, &c, which they will not do when offered 

 alone. It is a deserved compliment to the grain for 

 which our country is distinguished, that Mr. Horsfall 

 considers Indian meal the most fattening food he can 

 get. Nearly thirty years ago we called, one cold win- 

 ter's evening, at the log cabin of a Michigan pioneer, 

 and while warming ourselves at the blazing fire of logs 

 piled against one side of the room, of course, a wall of 

 rough stones, we noticed that something was covered 

 by the hot embers, and were told that they found it 

 economical to bake bread for their hard-working ox- 

 en, which they were then doing in loaves of corn meal 

 about as large as a "half bushel." In conclusion we 

 will say that we do not suppose that a large per cent. 

 is added by steaming, to the value of fodder ; although 

 its nutritive substance may be made more avaible by 

 cooking. But whether enough more so to pay, is the 

 question not yet decided in the affirmative by the prac- 

 tice of our best farmers. 



SAVE YOUR COAL ASHES. 



It has been my custom to get all the coal ashes that 

 I could and put it around my trees. In the first place, 

 it keeps the mice from eating the bark, or girdling 

 them, in the winter, when snow is on the ground ; in the 

 next place, it saves me the trouble of digging around 

 my trees : and in the third place, it keeps the ground 

 free from weeds and grass, and loose. I have used 

 coal ashes several years and by putting a wheelbarrow 

 load to a tree, my trees thus treated do better than 

 others do by digging around and manuring them. It 

 keeps off vermin, borers and other injurious insects. 



Spring Grove, Jan., 1864. S. A. SnuuTi-EFF. 



Rem auks — A friend of ours who has had much ex- 

 perience in the cultivation of grapes, puts a high val- 

 ue on coal ashes, as an ingredient in his compost for 

 the soil in which his grapes are planted. 



bump's patent atmospheric churn. 

 Since publishing the expose, by "Viator," of this 

 humbug, we have received several communications 

 from victims of the swindle, which agree so fully with 

 his statements, as to make their publication unneces- 

 sary. Not only the manner of its introduction, bat 

 the churn itself is represented as a fraud and an im- 

 position. 



A Monster Hog. — John W. Copeman, of Cay- 

 uga county, State of New York, has a cross-bred 

 hog, stated to have weighed in May last 1120 

 pounds, in September 1249 pounds, in October 

 1276 pounds, and in December he weighed 1340 

 pounds, and has been growing rapidly since, and 

 will probably now weigh 1400 pounds. His breed 

 is said to be Leicester and Suffolk with a slight 



