100 



MOOSE'S KTQFRjSlL ffEW-YORKER. 



mc. 17. 



• vm 



t this system of puturi 







: tli sit 



As to all the mod"* operandi of soiling, a detail 

 of them is not within the limits of one article. 



In vour paper of the 10th art., I find an article 

 on the" Value of Straw for Fodder," in which you 

 re for to some remarks I made upon this subject 

 at the State Fair discussion. I am glad that the 

 papers htre begun to call attention to this subject, 

 .11, .i ii. '-n(i. m it here as it naturally belongs to 

 soiling. Millions of dollars are wasted every 

 year for want of a proper knowledge of the value 

 of straw. It is hardly extravagant to say, that 

 one-half of all the horses, cattle and sheep kept 

 in the State of New York might be wintered upon 

 the straw raised, with proper cutting and steam- 



<1859,) 1,877,689 cattle, 447,014 horses, 



, if the 



.„',! n 



rthis 



iuld keep half of them through 

 the vcar. We will suppose that the keeping of 

 each one of the cattle would represent $15, each 

 horse $20, and each sheep $2. This would give a 

 total gain from straw, per year, in this State, of 

 $11,002,826. And we will suppose that from 

 ». i raw us now used, one fifth of that sum is realized. 

 This would leave a balance, in favor of cutting 

 and steaming, of |«,S02,2S0. In this estimate I 

 make tho straw take the place of hay merely. 

 "Working animals must have grain. Are not these 

 figures worth looking at '■ I have found, that by 

 selling all the hay which it would take to winter 

 my stock, and taking one-fourth of the avails and 

 purchasing meal to dust upon the straw before 

 steaming, that my stock were better wintered 

 than if fed upon the hay, aud I had thus turned 

 my straw into three-fourths of the avails of my 

 hay. And the mauure from the straw is worth 

 more for immediate use than if the straw h 

 been thrown into the yard for litter. 



It would take about thirty tuns of hay to wini 

 my stock this year. Threefourtha of this 





a-l.^f t 



worth : 



the barn (16 per tun, or $405. I will suppo; 

 that tbo extra labor of cutting and steaming cos 

 me ?.".0, (aud with my facilities it does not exceed 

 that sum.) Here is a net gain of $355. This 

 gain is larger this year than if hay were cheap, 

 but the saving is in tbe same proportion. I have 

 practiced upon this method for three years ; aDd 

 Cipoiimcnted quite extensively to determine 

 upon some formula which would show the rela- 

 tive value of straw to hay. I first used two quart 3 

 of Indian meal per bushel of straw, and fed cattle 

 upon this aud hay, side by side. The straw and 

 meal fattened the animals, while the hay did not. 

 Further experiment satisfied me that a bushel of 

 straw, with from one to one and a half pints of 

 Indian meal dusted upon it and well steamed, was 

 equal to the best Timothy hay. This moy appear 

 extravagant, but let not a matter of this import- 

 ance be condemned without a trial. It will stand 

 the test. But in the allowance of one quarter of 

 tbe value of the hay which it would lake to winter 

 a stock, for purchasing meal or bran to be used 

 with the straw, much more tbau lVJ pints may be 

 used. One thiog is evident; straw is worth 

 saving nnd using with more care and economy. 

 And it is with a view of exciting the attention of 

 farmers to their own interests in this regard, that 

 I write this article. I trust that it may fall into 

 the hands of some who are not afraid to step out 

 of the beaten track of their fathers. Farmers are 

 behind, in intelligent calculations of means to 

 ends, almost every other class of industry. But 

 from tbe improvements made in the last twenty 

 years se have reason to hope that a " 



LESSONS OF THE SEASON. 



Tut experience of each succeeding yeur fur- 

 nishes many lessons by which the observing 

 farmer moy profit. The end of the season, and of 

 the year, is an appropriate time to review the 

 experience and observations of the past, with a 

 view of proGting by their teachings. 



A prominent lesson of this kind, and one that 

 brings itself home to the attention of farmers at 

 thia time, more particularly, is tbe damage on 

 i auj potatoes in consequence of not having 





dug 



nity before the cold, freezing 



i the latter part of October. Tbe 

 quence was that many were frozen in the ground; 

 so that probably while there was not a single 

 piece that escaped without losing more than 

 enough, ata low price per bushel, to have paid for 

 digging, in many fields, such as Mercers, and 

 other kinds that lie near the top of the ground, 

 were from a quarter to half frozen. Besides tbe 

 cold bad weather, and tbe presence of so many 

 frozen potatoes, made digging, sorting and taking 

 care of the crop a much more laborious, difficult 

 and disagreeable operation than it would have 

 been if attended to early in the season. 



So too in relation to corn. On the first of 

 November nearly all the corn in this section was 

 still in tho field. At a time when farmers should 

 be finishing up their corn harvest, a large portion 

 of them were just beginning their husking— while 

 now (Dec. t!,) there are many acres of corn out in 

 the snow. The consequcoce is that the grain and 

 fodder ore both mora or less damaged, and the 



have paid for doing the work in season. 



One reason why farmers let their work run 

 alODg so late in the fail is, that some seasons say 

 once m four or five years, we have a warm, dry 

 November, when crop, ca „ he gathered with lit* 

 trouble or damage. But such seasons r lb 

 exception and not the rule; consequently, as ,! 

 general thing .t will not 4 o to depend on them. 

 Another, and the principal reason is the reluc 

 tance of farmers to employ ancient help to 



u crops in good !(Wl , BnU a „ ie ^ 

 without damage. But few i 



e of the loss they sustain bynothavinj 



which is, that farmers, as a general thing, do not 

 employ sofficient force to do the work on their 

 farms to good advantage. The remark is often 

 heard, that tbisor that crop has not been attended 

 to as it ought to have been for want of time; or, 

 that this or that job had been neglected for want 

 of help ; when probably the cost of sufficient help 

 to attend to the crop, or to do the job, would have 

 been less than half the loss or damage caused by 

 their neglect. 



Another way in which farmers often miss it, is 

 in undertaking jobs of work that might be done 

 ranch better and cheaper by mechanics. This was 

 forcibly illustrated a few years ago in the case of 

 a farmer with whom the writer was well acquaint- 

 ed. This former was asked bow bis corn crop 

 came in ; be answered that it was poor, not over 

 two-thirds of a crop— that lie had not done any 

 thing in his corn after he planted it, so the weeds 

 and grass bad got tbe start of the crop. He said 

 that when be ought to have been to work in his 

 corn, he raised up and new silled his burn, and 

 put on uew siding— that he aud his hired man had 

 done it alone, without employing a carpenter n 

 single day— bot that it took bim longer than he 

 expected; so that, instead of having any til 

 work in his corn, it was late before he could begin 

 haying. Now, as this may be considered as a 

 resentative case, it may be well to look a littl 

 the economy of the operation. First, an avi 

 crop of corn may be put down at $25 an acre, 

 third of which would he over $8, Second 

 cost of a carpenter to do the job could not have 

 been more and probably would have been less 

 than $25— which, with $10 for labor to make up 

 for tbe time spent by tho owner in assisting™] 

 carpenter, would make $35— so that the actu 

 loss by this operation, which was intended to 1 

 saving, was nearly $50. It should have been 

 stated that there was ten acres of corn and that 

 the estimated loss on the whole was over $80 



There are many other ways in which fur 

 lose more or less by not hiring sufficient 

 which wc have not room for in thia article, i 

 of which may ho brought to mind by reading 

 these crude remarks. Perhaps some other lessoi 

 of the season may he considered in another 



Orleans Co„ K. Y,, ISM. 



CB0PS. Ac., IN FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN. 



Eds. Rubal New-Yobker:— I thought a few 

 lines might not come amiss to my fellow Young 

 Ruilalists, relating to our crops, prospects, and 

 experiments this year in Fond du Lac. This por- 

 tion of the county was settled by New York 

 people (principally from Dutchess Co.,) about the 

 year l.-*4G, but as the greater portion wero quite 

 poor, financially, our progress was pretty slow 

 until within the last five or six years; but they 

 are now getting somewhat forehanded. Our soil 

 is of the first quality of wheat land; heavy lime- 

 Btone clay. But, as Houace Greeley says, they 

 don't think that they own to the centre of tho 

 earth, and consequently many only plow to the 

 small depth oT three or four inches, and are anxious 

 to obtain a broader breadth of land, which is 

 but poor policy in my way of thinking. Face of 

 our country, rolling — not hilly or mountainous, 

 but gently undulating. Wc-t seasons do not im- 

 pede our farm work as much as on the low, wet 

 prairies. Plenty of limestone for building purpo- 

 ses, &.C., and occasionally a hardhead, a regular 

 " down easier " in form and color, but fay ahead 

 in wiiyht according to siie. Our timber is oak, 

 white, black, red, pin, burr. The county is 

 divided into three clossesofland— timber, prairie, 

 and openings. We belong to the latter species. 

 We have no huge rocks, soft water, speckled trout, 

 chestnuts, black walnuts, huckleberries, black- 

 snakes, rattlesnakes, and othersuch trifles of email 

 nd with. We are generally pretty 



year ... 



> hlL-l. 



as forty and fifty. The farmer's prospects 

 brightening considerably, as wc obtain fair prices 

 for our surplus grain, which is no small amount. 

 We tried tbe experiment, to our satisfaction, this 

 season of brining, liming, and vitrioling our seed 

 wheat before sowing. We brined it to get out the 

 oats and light grains of wheat aud smut, and limed 

 it to dry it, in order to sow and to promote its 

 growth, and vitrioled it to kill the vitality of the 

 that would stick to the sound grains. The 

 t was, not a particle of smut among that 

 b was bnned, Ac, but lacking a couple of 

 bushels of seed, left a land through the middle of 

 the lot, took the seed out of the same bin, uulimed, 

 Ac, and towed it. Result, one-third smut, and it 

 proved nearly the same with our neighbors who 

 neglected or lulled to prepare their seed in the 

 above way. We are busy hauling muck from tbe 

 marsh, as an experiment on gross land. Gave it 

 an imperfect trial last spring, but withal proved 

 highly beneficiul to our stiff, heovy clay lands. 



Fond du Lac, ' 



IN,-. 



SAVING FODDER. 





iimal ted n 



feeding of animals is 

 not as good, and will not result as favorably as 

 feeding a less amount so frequently that the anj- 

 ■// hungry. We believe un 

 io time than it should or will 

 readily eat, wastes not only what it loaves, but 

 frequently by over eating. However careless and 

 slothful we may be in seasons of plenty, such win- 

 ters as this should call for care and economy. 



The philosophy we wish to inculcate in regard 

 to fodder-saving is this: — Tbat frequent feeding 

 will save, to a considerable extent, the quantity 

 generally given. Wo have seen this demon- 

 strated, but usually by parties who knew little 

 of tbe secret of their own success, and cared less 

 for imparting it, and they arc such as we arc slow 

 to follow tho practice of. A small amount of food 

 satisfies hnnger— much less than we think for. If 

 a man were to eat twelve crackers in the morning 

 be would he hungry nt noon —white, by eating i 

 cracker every hour, ho will be comfortably free 

 from the guuwings of appetite, if not laboring, for 

 a whole day. The stomach is not emphatic ' 



demands so long as food remains in it. So, if we 

 wish to save fodder, we should feed often, spar- 

 ingly. Especially should coarse fodder be given 

 frequently, and little at a time, when all will be 

 eaten ; whereat, if we give liberally, it is picked 

 over, and appetite becoming satisfied by the time 

 the poorest is reached, it is refused and wasted. 



We saw an evidence of this io the practice of a 

 poor widow whom necessity compelled to the 

 closest economy. She wintered for several winters 

 two cowa on the smallest possible allowance of 

 hay, and they uniformly came out in fob-condition. 

 She fed them regularly a little, some half dozen 

 times daily, and none was wasted. A few miles 

 from her lived a farmer keeping a fine stock of 



reproach in the neighborhood. We often heard it 

 said that Old M. took a whole foddering of hay for 

 twenty steers under his arm at once. Howevei 

 this may be, we became intimately acquaintec 

 with bis practice and its results, and found bit 

 stock as well or better cared for than his neigh 

 bors, but in a very different manner — none was 

 wasted— not any— and we doubt not his saving 

 each winter amply paid him for the extra care h< 

 took in foddering. HU cattle were certainly it 

 better condition than those whose yards wert 

 littered with the refused remuouts of frequent 

 feeding. 



This rule is good not only in saving fodder but 

 also in producing rapid growth. Peter Ri 

 of Hornby, N. Y., produced two 400-pound net 

 hogs, killed when aboutten months old, foul 

 cesBive years. They wire fed five or six 

 daily. He also found tbf same success iu growing 

 colve3— producing themfully equaling those that 

 had run with the cow. 



We suggest making a rirtue of necessity at the 

 present time, by using extra economy and pru- 

 dence in feeding this winter. Not A. Ti'ims. 



Agricultural iWwceUarm 



ENDURANCE OF DROUTH BY SANDY SOILS. 



■■niiffc 



Ocn correspondent takes for granted that a 

 sandy soil will bear drouth better than a stiff soil. 

 In this, we have no doubt, be is correct, in the 

 main, though many would be found to demur, and 

 somethink it would not be difficult to find authority 

 in the books against this position. We cannot give 

 the reason for which our correspondent asks in a 

 few brief lines, but will endeavor to be as plain 

 and brief as possible. 

 A sandy soil will hold only about half ns much 

 ater as a clay soil. If one hundred pounds of 

 clay loam be dried thoroughly, nnd water is poured 

 ill absorb from fifty to sixty pounds, 

 according to the proportion of clay, before it begins 

 op. One hundred pounds of sandy soil, dried 

 ,e same manner, will only absorb from twenty- 

 to thirty pounds. This shows very plainly 

 that during rains much more water is held by a 

 clay than sandy soil, subject to the demands of 

 growing crops. From this fact it is very natural 

 ,rgue that, in a dry time, vegetation would suf- 

 most in sandy ground. It is thia power of 

 holding water that makes clay colder than sandy 

 greater quantity of heat is expended iu 

 changing the water into vapor. 

 Soils absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and 

 has been found by experiment that a heavy soil 

 absorbs much more than a light one, other things 

 being equal. The moisture in the atmosphere is 

 condensed by any cold substance, asapitchercon- 

 nmg cold water, or by the surface of the ground, 

 growing plants, in the form of dew. The cold, 

 ,y soil, will therefore condense much more than 

 varm sandy soil. This would also seem to imply 

 that heavy soils arc the most favorable in a drouth. 

 And yet facts do not appear to justify such cooclu- 

 We have closely watched the effects of ex- 

 drouth and its opposite on different soils, 

 the past four seasons. The summer of 1854 and 

 trcmely dry, so that crops suffered in 

 owberc did we see such fine 

 crops, especially of corn and potatoes, during 

 these dry seasons, as on tbe light lands, aud so 

 little apparent injury from drouth. Heavy soils 

 re found, in many cases in 1856, to be dry as 

 owder ten or twelve inches below tbe surface, 

 rhile on the sandy soil the ground would be 

 uitc moist three or four inches down. On heavy 

 oils the injury from drouth was fur more serious, 

 'he farmers on the light lands in this section say, 

 give us good, bot, dry summers. 



Now, let us look at the philosophy of this a 



little. Heavy soils have great power of absorbing 



d retaining water, yet they Bre adhesive and 



penetrable, and a great portion of the water 



falling upon them runs off the surface, by surfaco 



creeks and rivers, while in the sandy 



less rapidly through to the subsoil, 



where it is held, if tbe under soil is atall retentive 



its nature. A heavy soil, under ordinary cul- 



:e, is never finely pulverized a sufficient depth, 



that in a dry time it is almost impossible for 



i moisture to be drawn from below by capillary 



:raction, while in the light lands everything ia 



favorable to the process. The light soil is also 



e open to the effects of the atmosphere which 



permeate through it, leaving a portion of its 



sture, as it would of courso do, in coming in 



tact with the colder earth. Although more 



dew is condensed on the surface of clay soils, we 



think the effect is not as beneficial as the less 



quantity on the lighter, as from its impervious- 



Bthen 



dissipated by the fir; 



soft 



isually when they b 



tho Rural appreciate 

 B.,of8helbyCo„Ill. 



ink I can pet up a club, at 

 Ish to do all I cm. to get I 

 a few copies to distribute, I 



i rrequenUj indebted to lai 



lr appreciation of the Boai 



I the proper l 

 abject had bcei 



e the mot! tlraulv oo-l u-.-ful i( 

 jet as most of the matter ol 

 type from a week to ten di 

 a bnve frequently received c 



he puhllca- 



itorally rejoice m the success nnd prospect, of", jo", 

 »1 whose usefulness and vitality depend, in a «„( 

 "pee, upon tho prosperity nnd progress of ih„ fcur.i 

 Population. Ia the fatnre ■■ In tbe put, our aim will 

 be t* appreciate and merit the largo measure of conit. 



olhl.j... 



I.byr 



"an pailneallyErll.il.,,,- „„, 

 'radical, Scientific and other anbJeeU intimately con 

 eeled with the business of iboie whose Interests I 



— Within the past week wo have received manv ver 



oroptlnicntnry nnd cmournglng letter, frorn near an. 



Is'uol parts of the Union and the C an ^^ w 0T ! 



Scotia un. I Now Brunswick -from the East tho's lb 



West, and tho North-letters assuring ' Ui u^ub. 



ial Is a welcome ami highly prize,! vutlor to home 



isunits of miles separated, and with people In *uu, 



ignnder different government-, ami hold 



tol 



utago] 



opp» 



rrllKlo. 



e epIaUei 





II only , 



ndlj i 



This explanation is doe Dorre*pondeni*- 1 -and w. 



published, 

 n Impossible. 



l Fakus in Westtrs New Yoisk.— In auotii 





f inquiry. The 



object of thin paragraph is 



received during the past two weeks are reliable— Ihere 



rarlous desirable localities of Western New York. In- 

 leed, we believe we could now salt the most fastidious 

 ipplicanl, and have excellent material for opening an 

 Lgency for tbe sale of tip-top, welt-located farms. But 

 nch la not our desire; and our principal object, now, 



Inquiry of Ibc gentleman whose address was not given, 



present week (at our expense,) and that those who wish 



ol undertake lo publish what hat 



t Naw-ToBMB.-WeoK 

 ■eating of the advantages 

 i but rarely allodo to oi 





:ollon." A Springfield paper {The Independent) gajs 

 iced from Washington lost spring, which he planted 

 "ally developed boll* of cotton I Tho boll presented U 



; Bubal.— Those of our subscribers 

 P.ibai. easily, and keep it for col- 

 before binding, are advised that 

 Worcester, Mass., is the patentee 



of tho Maryland Stale Agricultural Socltt 



appointed Chief Olerk of tbe Agrlcullura 



partmenl of the Paten t-0(llce. We know not bn 



W.KHi; ! KiNr,,-YVel( 

 Uoso,N. Y., that Mr. 



lately busked CO 1 ,, busho 



eu Dooh-Taiii) Fowls, DU a bottle with 

 l,,-, It bottom up through a hole in aboard, 

 ... -,!,!, tl bO Insi tied Into a saucer, or onf 

 30 vesail. As the dticks exhaust On- wnvr 



at Idler, asking for specimens, show-Mil 

 r subscriber writes-" I stopped tho Buna: 



rmvndita of "NashvIHe,' 

 no duly to hand, and to soy I 



be-'t paper, taken in every 



She PiopU't r«per.-One 



dents— a lady of Cayuga Co., 



n highly pleased 



Slates and Territories the Bubal has a large nnd In- 

 creasing circulation. Hundred* of New-Yorkers who 

 bave settled in the West of late yeais have Introdndjl 

 the paper to notice nnd support among their new friends 

 and neighbors— and in this way the Eur.AL hss become 

 'ed by thousand* of families throughout 



i nnd prairies 

 mpleof 



truly gr< 

 recent^ r. 



readers and a learni 



nnd thought. 



I years of tuie. Eight 



the weekly recipient . 



need*. Tliey n 

 reading y 



ally read Jitlte-aro 

 ought to Ihlnk. Sue 



said to me yester.liiv, 



when 1 begin n pk-cir just 





.so now on our books, A letter just received from an 

 Ive nnd earnest friend of the ItiritAL residing to a 



miuii'M t"wn "1 CuiiMin West, reporls decide! pro- 

 ■ss. As the result uf two dn\- eausussiiig hereporls 

 signatures uf xcrenlij subscribers— Including 17 who 

 ,*er look the Itu;Ai., nml 1-1 who were formerly sub 



l I nrn unable to send lilm $10 for i 

 paltrv eluh price. 11,85.' Anolfce 



uuse without 11.' iHiiiTs will drop a 



leap or take the 1: u.i. I i mtub 



Oltom oi oiy page wan similar espres 





