1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



171 



difference, for the buttermilk will make as good a 

 cheese as skim milk. 



In summer it is difficult to reduce the tempera- 

 ture of the cream as low as 55°, but the whole 

 milk need only be reduced to 65°, to which most 

 cellars, without any difficulty, reduce it. 



In Brittany, the milk of the previous evening is 

 mixed *ath the morning's milk, and after standing 

 a few hours, the whole is churned, and is said to 

 produce a larger amount of butter, of a better 

 quality, and will keep longer. — DAIRYMAN, in Ger- 

 mantoum Telegraph. 



CLOVER HAY FOR HORSES. 



Dr. McClure is one of the leading veterinary 

 surgeons of Philadelphia, and, we may add, of the 

 United States. His opinion, therefore, on any 

 matter connected with the food and health of the 

 horse can be quoted with confidence. In a recent 

 article in the Guitarist he advocates the feeding* 

 of clover hay to horses, and thinks it would pre- 

 vent a disease now prevailing among the horses of 

 this city, during which they will not eat timothy 

 hay ; so little of it being brought to market. He 

 then proceeds to say : 



Why is this the case ? Simply because there is 

 a prejudice existing among all classes of horse- 

 men, and from them communicated to the owners 

 of horses, against feeding this kind of hay. First, 

 because it is said that clover hay produces heaves, 

 and secondly, because it is said that it is not 

 respectable to be seen feeding with clover hay, as 

 it looks parsimonious. These opinions concerning 

 this article are so widely and firmly fixed in the 

 mind of almost every groom and stableman, as 

 well as horse owner in Philhaelphia, that I believe 

 it has been the cause why most farmers are not 

 found giving clover cultivation to the extent it 

 ought to be, or as its superiority as an article of 

 provender demands. Let us now examine in brief, 

 the objections that are laid against it. It is said 

 it will produce heaves in horses. The idea is as 

 false as it is preposterous. If broken wind is pro- 

 duced by an article of food, it certainly is not 

 from food, but from the quantity given. In like 

 manner, heaves may be caused by a too great 

 quantity of water, oats, or any kind of hay what- 

 ever, given at an improper time, as when the ani- 

 mal has a journey to perform. In a word, it is the 

 person's fault in giving too much food at an im- 

 proper time, and not the character of the food 

 that thus produces heaves in the horse. The man, 

 who, when feeding a horse, would fill its manger 

 with oats and corn, would not be considered a, very 

 fit man to feed and care for horses, neither is that 

 man who would fill a large rack full of clover hay ; 

 as the animal will not stop eating until it has hurt 

 itself; as every horse is fond of it, and, as before 

 stated, sick horses will eat it when they will not 

 eat anything else. Without another word, the ar- 

 gument is complete. 



For argument's sake, let us see what there is 

 in the other objections of clover hay. It savors 

 meanness. Does this opinion arise from the idea 

 that the queenly cow eats and feeds upon it in all 

 our large cities ? How much inferior is she to the 

 horse, and which adds most to our domestic hap- 

 piness as well as health ? Is it mean to purchase 

 for horse feed, hay which is superior to any other, 

 and sold forty cents to half a dollar less than the 

 best kinds reported in the market ? Or, is it a 



generosity in the deportment or character of any 

 man, to feed his horses upon that which the ani- 

 mals do not seem to relish, trample a large portion 

 of it under their feet, to be carried thence to the 

 dung hill, when another article superior to it, in 

 point of nutriment, and costing from forty to fifty 

 per cent., less may be obtained? 



The whole may be summed up in a few words, 

 as follows : 



Good clover hay contains forty-five per cent, 

 more fattening matter than timothy hay, and about 

 forty per cent, more than the English rye-grass 

 hay ; about ten per cent, less than dried lupins or 

 vetches, which are extensively used in Europe 

 for the feeding of both horses and cattle, and which 

 are second only to the Trifoliumfajbridum or Alsike 

 clover, so named from a district in Sweden called 

 Alsike. Alsike clover contains the properties of 

 both the red and white clover, and was first intro- 

 duced into Great Britain about 1854. This vari- 

 ety of clover has for the last few years engaged 

 the_ attention of agriculturists in Scotland and 

 various parts of England to a great extent. Its 

 reputation is now so firmly established, that more 

 of it has been sown the last year than ever before. 

 It is said by many agriculturists that animals will 

 leave any other grass or clover to feed on the 

 Alsike, and they say farther that the more it be- 

 comes known the greater will be its cultivation. 



We may add to the foregoing that thirty years 

 ago farmers never raised timothy for their own 

 use, and upon many farms, even "within reach of 

 the Philadelphia market, not a pound of timothy 

 hay was produced. Farmers fed clover exclusfVe- 

 ly to their horses, with cut straw and shipstuff, 

 and moderately with whole corn. These horses 

 were put to all kinds of work, were ridden and 

 driven at all times ; and we venture to say, backed 

 by our recollection, that the horse at that period 

 was not subjected to one-half the diseases that it 

 is now. The truth is we will have to go back to 

 clover, probably of the new variety named, to a 

 considerable extent. — Oermantown Telegraph. 



SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTER. 



This vegetable has never been extensively cul- 

 tivated in this country, although it is more fre- 

 quently met with now than formerly. In its gen- 

 eral habits and modes of growth, it resembles the 

 parsnip, though the roots are much smaller, and 

 the yield of course less. It requires a deep, rich 

 and rather warm soil, and should be sown early 

 to secure a good crop. As soon as the plants are 

 fairly up, they should be weeded, and the ground 

 kept clean and light by frequent applications of 

 the hoe. The best manure is that from the hog- 

 sty, or stable dung, well decomposed. 



This vegetable derives its name from the near 

 resemblance it has, in taste, to the oyster. It is 

 a wholesome edible, and is greatly admired by 

 those who have acquired a taste for it. On suita- 

 ble soil, it yields well, and so far as our experi- 

 ence enables us to judge, is very little subject to 

 injury from attacks of insects or vermin of any 

 kind. The second year the plants flower, and the 

 seeds may be gathered by hand as they ripen. 



