1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



129 



cannot be obtained readily, mingle a bushel of flax- 

 seed with a bushel of barley, one of outs and an- 

 other of Indian corn, and let it be grcjuud nito line 

 meal. This will be a fair proportion for all his 

 feed. Or the meal, or the barley, oats and corn, in 

 equal quantities, may lirst be procured, and one- 

 fourth part of oil cake mingled with it when the 

 meal is sprinkled on cut feed. 



Feed two or three quarts of the mixture two or 

 three times daily, mingled with a i)eck of cut hay 

 and straw. If the horse will eat that greedily, let 

 the quantity be gradually increased until he will 

 eat four or six quarts at every feeding three times 

 a day. But avoid the practice of allowing a horse 

 to stand at a rack well filled with hay. In order 

 to fatten a horse that has run down in flesh, the 

 groom should Ijc very particular to feed the animal 

 no more than he will eat up clean and lick his 

 manger for more. 



We especially ui-gci,the attention of every stock 

 feeder to the advice contained in the two last para- 

 graphs. No errors in fcediiig is more common than 

 those of givmg too large quantities at once, and 

 of adding new food to that which has been rejected. 

 How would the reader like a badly boiled potato 

 tied to his nose while partaking of his dhmer, or 

 the remains of dinner served on his plate at tea 

 time. The scent of cattle, in certain directions, is 

 as keen as that of a dog ; and when hay has been 

 breathed upon and turned over a few times, they 

 will not eat it unless very hungry. 



What cattle or horses leave should always be re- 

 moved from before them, before being fed again, 

 and when the meal is ended, crib or floor should be 

 left clean. Especially so should this be the case 

 with swine. It is an old saying that a horse will 

 starve tied to the hay stack, even if the hay be of 

 good quality. 



STEAMING FOOD FOU CATTLE. 



Are we to see on our small New England fanns 

 the steam boiler in as general use as the mower 

 now is ? "If so great a saving as one-half can be 

 made in feeding stock, I should think some one 

 would have found it out before," says a neighbor. 

 If one-third can be saved, I think it is a gain too 

 important to be lost, unless its cost puts it bejoud 

 our reach. I saw an account of a German who 

 steamed his feed and fed it warm in cold weather, 

 thus, as he said, elfecting a considerable saving of 

 food ordinarily used by the animal, in elevating the 

 temperature of its food and water to that of its 

 body. 



Now, if any one has by a long and carefully con- 

 ducted experiment, shown the utility of steaming, 

 and is willing to give us its cost and its value in 

 figures and facts, I should be very glad to hear him. 



MEAL AND MEADOAV HAT. 



I have heard it remarked that the milk only paj's 

 for the grain consumed, leaving only the value of 

 the manure to pay for the hay and use of the cows 

 and labor, — not very lucrative business if this be 

 so. Now, if it be true that meal is too highly con- 

 centrated food for milk cows, soon destroying their 

 usefulness when freely fed to them, and that poor 

 meadow hay is so innutritious that it is of itself 

 utterly untit for making milk, it seems highly de- 

 sirable to conibhie the two articles. Indian meal 

 fed dry increases the milk very little if any, it is 

 said ; but if it were fed in the form of gruel or 

 pudding, would it not be one of the best articles 

 for the purpose, that we can get ? 



FINE FUEL. 



It is said that a cord of wood reduced to shavings 

 will in a proper boiler, make more steam than if it 

 were burnt whole. If this be so, wliy could not 

 granulated fuel be enq^loyed for this purpose. This 

 fuel is prepared from small trees and brush cut, at 

 small cost, by a machine, into pieces only a few 

 inches in length and dried under cover. As the 

 cost of the fuel would be little more than the labor, 

 perhaps it might serve the purpose better than wood 

 or coal. I should like to know if it has ever been 

 tried by any one, any where, for this purpose. 



FAILURE OF PASTUKES. 



What are M-e to- do for pasturing ? If we are to 

 increase the amount of pasture feed, or even main- 

 tain the present supply, something must be done. 

 Already some are obliged to feed their cows on hay 

 and grain during tlie whole of the year. Much of 

 bur land is too rocky to plough, and many are so 

 inclined to produce brush and wood, and they are 

 so valuable for this last named purpose, that little 

 land is now cleared for pasturing, while the old 

 pastures, which cannot be ploughed, are annually 

 producing less. Shall we let all the land now de- 

 votiid to woodland and much that has been used 

 for pastures be devoted to producing fuel only, or 

 is there some way in which at least a portion of it 

 may be subdued to grass, so as to yield a greater 

 profit ? 



DESTROYING BRUSH BY SHEEP. 



If any one has tried to kill brush with sheep, by 

 j*lacing them upon the land in the spring, — the 

 brush having been cut the previous fall, — in suffi- 

 cient numbers to consume every s)irout as soon as 

 it starts, thus kcei)hig them constar.tly succulent, 

 and feeding grain to sustain the sheep, until the 

 binish is killed out entirely, and the ground fully 

 stocked with grass, I should be very glad to learn 

 with what success and profit the operation has been 

 attended. It seems to me that this must be the 

 way to enlarge the area of our pastures, where the 

 plough cannot go. C. F. Hayes. 



Wesfford, Mass., Jan. 6, 1871. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent manifesto a 

 thoughtful, inquiring mind. His questions will 

 stir other minds, and those probably who can an- 

 swer some, at least, of his queries. Asking ques- 

 tions is said to be a Yankee's privilege ; it certainly 

 is everybody's privilege in these columns of Ex- 

 tracts and Replies. But how will the account bal- 

 ance unless about as many facts are stated as there 

 are questions asked ? Still we want the questions 

 to bring out the facts. When asked to write for 

 the paper, farmers sometimes say they have noth- 

 ing to write about. These questions furnish topics 

 or sul)jects for writing, which we hope will be im- 

 proved. 



FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 



I see that some of the readers of the Farmer are 

 considerably alarmed about the foot disease in cat- 

 tle. We have never had any cases in this town ; 

 but in the adjoining town of Comptou it has been 

 quite prevalent. I was convei-sing with a gentle- 

 man from that town, a few days since, who said 

 that the best treatment was not to do anything for 

 it. He said it was contagious, like the cow-pox, 

 and would go through the whole herd, Init would 

 not injure the cattle any more than the above dis- 

 ease. Those that had used acids and other medi- 

 cines had injured their herds much more than 

 those' that had done nothing. Give them good 

 keeping and they would soon get over it. 



