76 



NEW ENGLAND FARA£ER. 



Feb. 



a large amount of food may be saved by warm 

 stabling in cold weather and consequently a 

 much greater secretion of milk secured. 



The great m^ss of the community are no 

 doubt ignorant in regard to the great d.flfer- 

 ence in the quality of milk made by the dif- 

 ferent kinds of feed. Milk made from a cow 

 fed upon turnips and buckwheat-bran or 

 •buckwheat-shorts, is totally unfit for a young 

 child, or its mother, and there is no doubt 

 but that the mortality among children is often 

 caused bv improper food of which the milk is 

 made. The physician knows the importance 

 of having the milk from a new milch cow as- 

 signed for a young child ; the why and where- 

 fore very likely he does not know. He prob- 

 ably does nnt know that the milk from a 

 farrow cow is one-third heavier and one-third 

 richer in caseine than that from a new milch 

 cow, and therefore is not as well adapted to 

 the wants of the child, nor does the mother 

 understand that tae cause of the child's illness 

 is owing to some improper food eaten by the 

 cow. If I were desirous of makirg a given 

 amount of milk the best adapted to the use of 

 the greatest number of children, I would feed 

 the cows on equal parts (in pounds) of oats 

 wheat-bran and Indian corn and the best of 

 hay and apples. 



Until we become accustomed to trying ex- 

 periments, we shall not know for a certainty 

 the quantity and quality of food that will, " 

 when fed to a lot of cows, produce the great- 

 est amount of really good milk for a given 

 amount of feed, nor shall we know whether 

 the cutting of hay for our miloh cows in winter 

 will pay for the extra expense and labor of 

 doing it. Some of our milkmen who have 

 tried cutting are of the opinion that it pays 

 well for the trouble and some contemplate 

 steaming. 



Roots, especially carrots, increase the flow 

 of milk and of the best quality, and will tend 

 to keep the cow in good health. Apples will 

 increase the quantity of milk nearly as much 

 as turnips, and of much better quality. 



In making milk there is nothing more im- 

 portant than good early-cut hay. Without 

 this it miy be doubted whether milk can be 

 made with profit. 



SOMETHINa ABOCTT MUCK. 



Several correspondents having lately re- 

 vived, through our columns, the by no means 

 new question as to tie value of muck, we 

 present for their consideration a word or two 

 upon the same subject. 



Expeiim^ntj in the analysis and practical 

 use of muck are of such number and the 

 results have been of such a nature as to prove 

 that it should never be used in its crude state, 

 or on being immediately thrown up from its 

 bed. The time it should be allowed to de- 

 compose depends to a considerable extent 

 upon the character of the deposit. If it has 



been 1} ing in stagnant water, or if water has 

 been soaking through it — in which latter case 

 it will be found of but little value for fertiliz- 

 ing purposes — it should remain exposed to the 

 action of air, rain and frosts for at least a 

 twelvemonth. If, on the other hand, it comes 

 from a dry situation it may be used as an 

 absorbent after having remained exposed for 

 but three or four ironths. Without this sea- 

 soning muck is of very little value. 



It is as an absorbent that we place the 

 greatest value upon muck. When thoroughly 

 dried it is not only a complete absorber, but 

 it is also a most perfect deodorizing agent ; 

 so that by its use in the cow stable the most 

 valuable part of the voidings of a stock of 

 cattle, and that usually suffered to go to 

 waste, the liquid portion, is not only saved, 

 but absolute cleanliness, and therefore health- 

 fulness, is secured. But when saturated, the 

 muck should not be left where it will wash, as 

 in a short time it would become almost value- 

 less, by the loss of that which it contained 

 through absorption. It must remain in some 

 covered situation until hauled upon the land. 



Again, muck forms a most useful ingredient 

 in the compost heap. Used for this purpose, 

 in connection with stable manure, lime, ashes, 

 salt, &c., it becomes a valuable dressing, aside 

 from greatly augmenting the quantity of the 

 farm fertilizers. For maoy uses, especially 

 for corn, garden crops, and as a top dressing 

 for grass lands, it is regarded by all who have 

 ever used it as better than pure dung ; espe- 

 cially if applied on light open soil, liable to 

 sufler from drougth. 



The question is often asked by farmers if 

 muck used alone is of itself any advantage to 

 the land. This question can be quite accu- 

 rately answered by saj ing that generally it is 

 not. Its value in this respect results fiom its 

 mechanical action. On sandy, porous soils, 

 such as are liable to leach, and to readily feel 

 the eflFect of drought, an application of muck 

 would give — in consequence of its quality of 

 attracting ;ind retaining moisture — greater 

 consistency to the soil ; and upon clayey soils 

 it would also serve to render them less stiff 

 and rigid and more susceptible of cultivation. 



In some of his forcible and conclusive sen- 

 tences, Liebig has shown how peat or muck, 

 consisting for the most part of inert vegetable 

 matter, and which has ceased to undergo 

 further voluntary decomposition, often con- 

 tains substances highly injurious to vegetation, 

 such as sulphate of iron, free phosphoric and 

 sulphuric acids ; but that these are capable of 

 being neutralized and turned to plant food by 

 the action of lime. This should direct all 

 farmers in the use they make of muck as a 

 fertilizer. — Maine Farmer. 



— Indiana proposes to consolidate its present 

 State University, Agricultural College and otiier 

 Statdfclucational institutions into one great Uni- 

 versity, to be located at Indianapolis. 



