624 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



active at the tables, and in the dining-room, 

 over which they presided in an upper room. 



In the evening the hall was again crowded 

 almost to suflbcation, and the standing audi- 

 ence listened attentively to the voices of vari- 

 ous speakers, and the music of the band, till 

 the i'rci^ident, at nine oV'lock, announced the 

 close of the fair. 



OKCHARD GRASS. 



Among the many interesting articles which 

 were exhibited at the Attleboro, Mass., Fair, 

 whtch we examined, but failed to notice in 

 our brief rejjort of that exhibition last week, 

 were six specimens of Orchard Grass, or 

 "Rough Cocks Foot," grown this year by A. 

 W. Cheevgr, Esq., Sheldonville, who at the 

 close of the exhibition there, very kindly sent 

 them to this office, where they can be examin- 

 ed by any one interested in this grass, who 

 can make it convenient to call. 



On the 11th of April, 1871, Mr. Cheever 

 seeded a piece of land with Orchard Grass, 

 at the rate of two bushels of seed per acre ; 

 the seed weighing fourteen pounds and cost- 

 ing $3 per bushel. 



A specimen of this grass which was cut Ju- 

 ly 1st, is labelled No. 1. It is from two 

 to two feet and six inches in length, has a 

 "rowen" look and is cpite fragrant. 



No. 2 is from hay made on this field from 

 grass cut from the 1st to the 7th of August. 

 The leaves are wider than those of No. 1, the 

 stalk more fully developed, and to the touch, 

 as well as to the eye, it is a little rougher and 

 coarser, but still excellent hay. 



No. 3 is a specimen of second crop, cut 

 September 18, on the part of this field that 

 was mowed August 1. .This is about two 

 feet in length, and considerable clover in the 

 blossom is mingled with it. It is as sweet as 

 a rose. And just here, perhaps, is one of the 

 long-sought- for secrets of gilt-edged butter, 

 and one of the reasons why Mr. Cheever has 

 taken so many first premiums on butter at the 

 Fairs in his county, and why he is able to 

 secure customers for all he makes at prices 

 considerably above the market rates. 



To contrast with this early-cut grass he ex- 

 hibited three specimens that had gone to seed. 



No. 4 is a sample of Orchard Grass cut 

 June 20th, on land that had been mowed 

 three years. It is headed out and is from 

 two feet to two feet six or eight inches high. 



No. 5, sample of the same c«t July 1. 

 This also had gone to seed, and is somewhat 

 taller than No. 4. 



No. G consists of a few stalks that grew in 

 a rich hollow by the side of the road, cut July 

 1st. It is from four to five feet si.x inches high, 

 with stalks better adapted to sucking cider 

 than to cattle fodder. 



Though none of the three last named sam- 

 ples were cut later than Jul}' 1st, and one of 

 them as early as June 20th, yet all of them 

 had stood quite too long, as they look more 

 like parcels of straw than like the fine grass 

 hay of Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Mr. Cheever remark- 

 ed that they should have been cut as early as 

 the tenth of June. 



These samples illustrate better than could 

 be done by any mere statement, the early ma- 

 turity and other peculiarities of this grass, and 

 suggest reasons for the diflTerent conclusions 

 as to its value at which different farmers have 

 arrived who have tried it. The early maturity 

 of this grass, as shown by these specimens of 

 it that were over-ripe on the 20th of June, 

 unfits it for cultivation as hay with varieties 

 which ripen several weeks later, and is a pe- 

 culiarity that should not be overlooked. 



CORN FODDER. 



Mr. L. A. Gilbert, says in the Maine Farmer, that 

 he lias grown corn for a dozen years or more, and 

 fed it to his cows as the pasturage failed in August 

 and September, and thought he knew that the flow 

 of milk corresponded with the armful of green 

 com, whether large or small. But as some of his 

 neighbors did not believe it was worth raising, and 

 as Dr. Loring, "the man who can make three hun- 

 dred and sixty-five speeches in a year, and withal 

 say a great many good things," denounced it as the 

 most worthless stuff ever fed to cows, he deter- 

 mined to test its value more carefully. He gij-es 

 the following statement of two experiments : — 



August 9th, a two-year-old heifer in milk was 

 then being fed at night, after running in a pasture 

 where there was but little feed, witli a feed of poor 

 hay and two quarts of barle.ymeal. The daily av- 

 erage yield of milk was nine pounds thirteen 

 ounces. The hay and meal were dropped off and a 

 feed of green corn sulistituted. The amount of 

 corn was not weighed, but was a moderate armful 

 weighing probably fifteen to twenty pounds. After 

 two feeds of corn, the milk weighed ten pounds six 

 ounces per day and remained afatjout those figures 

 as long as weighed. 



A cow at the same time was running in the same 

 pasture, and received a feed of the same quality of 

 liay, but no meal. Her daily average quantity of 

 milk was nine pounds three ounces. After two 

 feeds of corn it increased to ten pounds fourteen 

 ounces, and remained at about these figures. 



