202 STABLE ECONOMY. 



to Sinclair, 7,829 pounds of rye grass lost 4 194 in drying 

 It becomes still drier as it becomes older. 



Cutting the Fodder. — Hay, straw, and grass, are some- 

 times cut into short pieces. A portion of this is mixed 

 with grain, and another portion is given by itself, instead of 

 rack hay ; in a few cases the grain is given oftener than usual, 

 and divided among all the allotted quantity of fodder. ChafF- 

 cutting is general on the continent. In this country it pre- 

 vails only in large establishments, and not in all of these. 

 When the fodder is cut, it is termed chaff, and the cutting-ma- 

 chine is termed a chaff-cutter. 



The Chaff-Cutter varies in power and in construction. 

 Some are worked by the hand, others are driven by a horse 

 or an ass, a few by steam, and a few by water. Some have 

 the cutting-knives attached to the fly-wheel, and others have 

 them mounted on a skeleton cyUnder. Models are to be seen 

 in most of the agricultural museums ; and the machines 

 themselves are kept at the makers of agricultural implements. 

 With an ordinary chafl'-cutter two men may easily cut 200 

 stones of hay per w^eek, working ten hours per day. One 

 feeds, and another turns the knives ; each changing place 

 with the other as he gets tired. At the same, or less cost, a 

 much larger quantity can be cut by using horse-power. The 

 chafl^, whether of hay or straw, is all cut very short, perhaps 

 from a fourth to a half inch ; the shorter the better, if it is to 

 be mixed with grain. 



The Utility of Cutting has been much exaggerated. There 

 are five or six advantages alleged to be gained by cutting, 

 two of which are in favor of the horse ; the others in favor of 

 economy. By cutting the hay it is said that waste is pre- 

 vented ; that mastication of the grain is ensured ; that dam- 

 aged provender is consumed ; that chaff is easily eaten ; that 

 it is easily and accurately distributed ; and that horses like a 

 mixture of chaff and grain better than grain alone. All this 

 requires some elucidation. 



Prevention of Waste. — It has been said that cutting the 

 hay is attended with a saving, according to some, of one 

 fourth ; or, according to others, of a third, and even a half, in 

 the whole consumption : that is to say, a stone of chaff will 

 go as far as two stones of ^hay. This is very like nonsense. 

 But the accounts, though different, are probably all true. 

 Much may be saved, yet all the saving must not be attributed 

 to cutting, but to greater care of the hay after it is cut. The 

 chaff is no more nutritious than the hay ; the horse needs as 



