1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



105 



ses3 little nutritive value, become tough and 

 hard and are more suitable for beds and bed- 

 ding and making paper than for even the four- 

 fold stomach of the ox or sheep. Thus the 

 office of both stalk and leaf is to support and 

 perfect the ear or grain, and their value varies 

 with the growth of the plant. 



Where the practice of planting corn for 

 fodder is to sow thickly in drills which have 

 been well filled with the strongest kind of ma- 

 nure, a rapid, rank growth of partially devel- 

 oped stalks is produced, as the pale green, 

 sickly yellow, or blanched appearance of a 

 large part of the fodder is ample evidence. 

 There is no room for full development. Cut 

 this when half or two-thirds grown and you have 

 an imperfect stalk at its most valueless period. 

 A large bulk may be produced, but the juices 

 are watery and insipid — not nutritious. It is 

 better calculated to allay thirst than to satisfy 

 hunger. It is no wonder the butter-maker is 

 disappointed, and the milkman fears his cus- 

 tomers will grumble. 



The large, coarse and late varieties of corn 

 make the poorest fodder ; for they must be 

 planted more closely and cut earlier than 

 smaller kinds to have it eaten at all — conse- 

 quently the stalks are furthest from maturity. 

 It is probably from u^ing fodder grown in this 

 way that disappointment arises and the cry of 

 condemnation is heard. Would there were 

 more milk-producers who take pride in having 

 a good article and giving their customers an 

 equivalent for their money. 



Now, it must be conceded that bulk In grow- 

 ing fodder is no consideration unless there is 

 a corresponding amount of nutrition ; quality, 

 rather than quantity, is the main thing to be 

 attained. An innutritlous, bulky fodder un- 

 duly distends the stomach, and the labor of the 

 digestive organs is greatly increased ; their 

 power Is weakened thereby, and the food will 

 be Imperfectly digested. If the smaller vari- 

 ties are planted thinly la the drill, giving each 

 stock room and time to attain its natural size, 

 or nearly so, and to produce an ear, and is cut 

 while the ear is forming, the stalk will be In its 

 greatest perfection and the fodder worth raising 

 — its deep, rich, luxuiiant green will betoken a 

 healthy growth, and both stalk and leaf be full 

 of the sweet juices which go to form the grain ; 

 one stalk is worth three of the large Western 

 or Southern varieties but half matured. This 

 fodder will produce cream as well as milk. It 

 is good for oxen and sheep, and horses eat It 

 readily and thrive upon it. For several years 

 1 have used sweet corn and find it far superior 

 to the common yellow; it is excellent for fat- 

 tening animals, and I have fed it to working 

 bor.ses with satisfactory results. 



Corn fodder is just what we make it. If 

 we plant so thickly that the stalk cannot be 

 well matured and cut before it has attained its 

 maximum goodness, — getting only a poor, 

 watery article, — it is surely no fault of the 

 corn. If well planted and allowed to remain 



until the ear or grain and the weather have 

 extracted all the goodness, we have only a 

 hard, tough and Indigestible stover. While 

 if managed rightly, all the virtue of the grain 

 may be retained in the stalk and leaves, and 

 the whole form a palatable and nutritious food. 

 Precisely the rules that are followed in raising 

 other grains for fodder are applicable to corn. 

 Any farmer of experience in sowing rye, oats 

 or barley for that purpose would sow thinly 

 and cut while In the milk, for he knows full 

 well if seeded so thickly the stalks could not 

 head out, and the result, though bulky, would 

 be a poor, trashy stuff. 



Complete success, however, cannot be at- 

 tained without attention to something more 

 than the proper quantity of seed and right 

 time of cutting. It requires a good soil, in fine 

 tilth, with a liberal supply of manure, part of 

 which has been ploughed or harrowed In. In 

 short, the cultivation should be so thorough 

 that a good crop can be secured In an unfa- 

 vorable season, for It is needed most when 

 hay and pasture are failing. 



Taking all things into consideration, green 

 corn Is the best thing yet offered for soiling or 

 supplying a deficiency In pasturage. Its easy 

 cultivation, almost certainty of a large yield, 

 small expense, and the fact that It imparl no 

 objectionable flavor to the milk or flesh of an- 

 imals, all commend it. Moreover, what is not 

 wanted in a green state can be cured and fed 

 dry with profit in the winter. We must, 

 therefore, advocate Its use, although, occa- 

 sionally, we hear denunciations against it. 



Lawrence, Mass., Dec. 27, 1869. n. s. t. 



MA-WAGSMENT OF FARMERS' CLUBS. 



I will tell you how I think a Farmers' Club 

 should be managed, or rather how its exer- 

 cises should be conducted. My method may 

 not be the best — perhaps I am wide of the 

 mark ; still I speak from conclusions drawn 

 from a connection with one for several years. 



The rules and regulations by which the 

 members are governed should be few and 

 simple. In general It will be found that an 

 assemblage of farmers, unused as they are to 

 public speaking, will talk more freely and 

 more willingly, if left unhampered by par- 

 liamentary rules. The more at ease the 

 members feel, the less they have to try to do 

 the thing right, the more active they will be- 

 come in their membership, the more Interested 

 they will be in the meeting, for they will feel 

 that they can do It right as well as anybody. 

 When they feel thus at ease they can talk and 

 act unembarrassed, and the Club will get at 

 their best thoughts and ideas. 



If toe number of members Is not too large 

 the best place for the meetings is at the 

 houses of the members. Under this arrange- 

 m.ent, in addition to the Information derived 

 from each other, and the interest In farm life 

 awakened, there will be fraternal feelings 



