152 



THE ILLIJSrOIS FAKMER. 



Mat 



for and on his own account, selected by his own 

 agent, sent out for the purpo-e, who is rtne of the 

 bedt judges in the Union. Th« farm which Mr. P. 

 occupies was formerly what is known in ihe region 

 as a Milk Farm. It was one devoted to a mil^ 

 diary, to furnish milk for the City of B -ston. He 

 flUll continues that bu-iness upon the farm, and has 

 thus had a fine opp >rtunity to test the milking pro- 

 perties of this breed of catile. After trying ne irly 

 all breeds and grades of the diflFer<nt breeds, he 

 h 18 settled upon the Ayrshires, and is making his 

 milking as w. 11 as his breeding hi;rd exclusivel. 

 from full-blooded animal-) of this breed. 



For a full descriptiori of his method of prepir- 

 ing the food, I shall refi-r the curious reftd-r to the 

 articles befon^ mentioned. My object was t ) b""- 

 come satisfied as to the fact of its adaptabi ity to 

 our region of conntry I bi'came fully satisfied, 

 form personal examination of the ca'tle and the 

 manure, that upon a grain farm,nranv other where 

 there is a large amount of course folder, as straw, 

 stalks, or coarse, rank clover or herds grass hity, at 

 leaat one-half of the expense of mantaiiiing stock 

 can be s iv d by cutting and stcaniing the food. 

 In other words, a per.-»on can keep well dotihle the 

 number of sheep or cattle or ho'ses upon thesam • 

 food steamed, that they can upon it fed dry. If 

 grain be fd, a still larger profit is received. But 

 at the same tim ■, care must be t ik>n to prot ct 

 the manure in a dry place until appii'd din-ctly to 

 the land, or an important source of profit will be 

 lost. 



Mr. P. has erected a steam.^r in the cellar of one 

 of his barns, and steams, in properly prepared 

 ateam chests, or box"8, about one hundred bn-^hels 

 ia each at a time. He has had four year.-*' experi- 

 ence, and he is firmly in fav r of the system — as 

 it adds largely to the m mu'-e pile, as well as giving 

 a large surplus of market.ble hay, wh'ch ca-i b' 

 sold at hish figures — though I think this rule is, 

 to consume upon the farm the grass, grain, and 

 straw and stalks grown upon it. 



So entirely satisfied did I become of the great 

 saving by steaming coarse food and grain, that I 

 shall put a Pmall engne into mv barn cell r to cut 

 and steam f >od this winter, even at conaderable 

 expense. I shall also sow sever 1 acres with corn, 

 as being the cheapest method of -upplying a laig • 

 amount of T iluabl>> f>od for steam'ng. I < xpeet 

 to winter double the number of cattl • that I cou'd 

 on dry food, and at less expense than if fed dry. 

 To be sure, it requires an extra outlaw of capita', 

 but thei. it repa>8 a very larg' interest, and -"avs 

 4he purchase of more 1 md to furnish winter forag • 

 for this increased stock. 



I hope to have leisure to g've some n tes In re- 

 gard to the system of farming which Mr. P. i« in- 

 augueratingintliatporti'm of Massachusetts. Wih 

 ample m -ans, — an enterprising spirit that does not 

 know the wo-d *'f<il." — he has Kteral'y made 

 " two blades of grass grow where but one grew be- 

 /ore, " and he is demonstrating that both fir pub ic 

 ^eod and financial snccfss, the intelligent applica- 

 Ifion of capital to tiie improvement of the soil, is of 

 vas public benefit as well as private gain. In the 

 ■ «ity, the .successful merchant or busine.ss man sim- 

 ylv V -getates, his mind cramped and dwa^fsd bv 

 the fi-ivolities of a highly artificial m de of life. 

 B.it in the country, and upon the fann. th** mind 

 vxpauds by its constaat intereoar<ie with the grand 



and beautiful objects of nature which are spread 

 out around one with so lavish a hand. And a man 

 feels that he is living for noble ends. T. C. P. 



Abortion in Cows produced by Smut 

 on Corn. 



The Belgian Annals of Veterinary Medicine pub- 

 lishes a statem nt that the Ustilago Madis, or par- 

 asitic mushroom, which occuis on maize or Indian 

 corn, as ergot does on rye, produces abortion in 

 cows fed with it. The article says, that in a stable 

 where cows wire given maize infe»ted with this 

 p irasite, eleven abortions occurred within eight 

 days, when, the cause being suspected and the 

 food changed i o further case happened. The au- 

 thor of the discovery then, to assure himself of the 

 .supposed fact, dried and pulverized some of the 

 fungi, and administered six drachms of the powder 

 to tw» bitch dogs heavy with pup, and abortion 

 W.IS produced in *»!ich This statement should be 

 studi' d and carefully investigated by stock keepers 

 in the United States, and more attention be be- 

 stow d by them upon the feed of breeding animals, 

 as it is very pos ibie that many otherwise unac- 

 countable cases of slunk calves can be attributed 

 to di eas'd lorn. Whether the ripeness of the fun- 

 gus, or its occurrence on green or dry fodder makes 

 any difference, are points to be settled. 



EFFECT OF THE AIR ON WEIGH- 

 ING GRAIN. 



There is generMlly much compl lint about cargoes 

 of grain fillinfi shi>rt, which have been weighed 

 into vess Is at the Western shipping port on the 

 Northern lakes, when they come to discharge at 

 the El-tern terminations of the different routes, as 

 Buffalo. Oswego Kingst n, &c. 



It is nam al to suppos • th it grain in these trans- 

 its should in rease in weight to a slight extent, by 

 absorption of moisture: there being a arcely any 

 w ste in haniili g. But 1 ke ve sels, or their 

 manager.^, have b come so used to "shortage" that 

 they would readily pay flO, or $15, per trip >\a 

 insurince against sbortMge. and consider it a good 

 operation. It is re. llv quit" a tax upon the earry- 

 inff trade of that regio i. The reasons as-igned are 

 elose weijrht. management sometimes, &c. But 

 the;e is one item which works j'gainst the orrier 

 atid tend to make ti() the defieiency, which is not 

 taken into aceonnt. It i the difference of barome- 

 tric altitude of the po'nts 'f shipping imd dischnge 

 There is not much difference b twe-n Chicago and 

 Buff.lo — 32 feet only, but between Lake Michigan 

 port- ad those of Lak • Ontario, the difference of 

 altitud ■ i- 325 feet. In figuring the difference of 

 bu >yancv nf rhe atmosph re at these two levels, 

 and its effect on a ergo of grain of 18,000 bu.shels, 

 it is found that the diffrence is 9^ bu.shel8, after 

 allowing one-third to fill the interstices between 

 the kernels, so that a caigo .-hall represent a solid 

 of two thi ds its bulk. 



The difference of altitude between Oswego and 

 New Yo k is 262 feet, and between Buffalo and 

 New Y rk it is 655 feet, so there must be still 

 another d -ficieney in reaching; tide water. 



Nine and a half bushels of wheat at $2 or there- 

 abouts per bushel, is quite too much to p .y for the 



