1865.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
113 
blooded, -nhen really they are nothing but 
grades. In-and-in breeding may be practised 
with the best of results, ivith proper care ; but 
breeding from grade male animals never. When- 
ever possible always employ well-bred males. 
•»-* Ml <^ I * 
How to Plow Corn Ground. 
We commend to our readers a practice T\-hich 
■we have followed with great satisfaction in 
plowing corn ground, whether it was sod or 
stubble, namely : by what is called " back-fur- 
rowing " — commencing in the middle of the 
field, turning the furrows iim-anl, thus plowing 
the entire field " geeing round." Find the mid- 
dle of a field with a measuring pole or tape and 
set a stake. Then turn a ridge of two furrows 
in a straight line from each corner of the field 
to the stake. These ridges will enable a plow- 
man to do his work well at the turning points. 
The advantages of plowing in this manner arc, 
there will be no dead furrows in the field. A 
row of corn, if planted in a dead furrow will 
not amount to much, except for fodder. When 
a field is plowed in lands, the soil will not be 
thoroughly broken up beneath the ridges. When 
a field is plowed by going around the outside 
and finishing in the middle, there will be a 
dead furrow from each corner to the middle of 
it. The team, moreover, must turn on the 
plowed ground, which treads down a wide strip 
from the corners to the middle of the field. 
But when a field is plowed by beginning in the 
middle, the entire team, whether double or sin- 
gle, always turns on the uuplowed ground, and 
it is easier for the plowman to turn out and set 
in his plow at the corners, than when he turns 
the furrow outward. By plowing in this way, 
the surface will be kept level, and the work 
performed in a more workmanlike manner. 
In order to have every side of the field fin- 
ish alike, measure each side from the plowed 
ground to the outside of the field every da.v. 
Then the furrows may be varied in width, or 
omitted on one side, while the plowed plot is 
small. Aim always to keep the furrow slices 
of a uniform width. 
Broom Corn. 
There are two kinds of broom corn, dwarf 
and tall. Both kinds are good, but no well- 
conducted experiments within our knowledge 
have proved which is superior. Many think 
that the dwarf is most profitable ; while others 
prefer the tall. If proper care be taken to se- 
cure good seed, there will be but little difference 
in the amount and quality of the brush. There 
is much bad management in planting half-ripen- 
ed seed, which produces weak and slender brush 
fit only for small brooms. Of course, all such 
brush will lessen the value of the crop ; and if 
!he common careless practice of saving seed be 
pursued from year to year, an increasing pro- 
portion of the brush will be inferior. Good 
brush is long, thick and uniform. The way to 
secure good seed is to tie a colored string to 
those long straight panicles that begin to ripen 
first. The seed of these should be kept separ- 
ate; and before planting run it through a fan- 
ning mill, that all the small, light seed may be 
blown out. By adopting this practice for a few 
years, seed may be obtained that will mature 
earlier, and thus probably escape early frosts ; 
and the brush will be prevailingly thick, heavy, 
and nearly two feet in length. 
The soil for Broom com should be prepared 
just as for a crop of Indian com. As the plant 
is very slender, the seed should not be placed too 
deep ; the soil should be made very mellow, 
and the seed put in freshly stirred soil. The best 
time for planting is immediately after Indian 
corn, or as soon as the ground has become 
thoroughly warmed and trees are in full leaf. 
If it be planted too early, it will be a long time 
coming up, and weeds and grass will get the 
start of it. Barn-yard manure ought to be ap- 
plied a year beforehand, as much rank manure 
tends to make a coarse brush. The seed may 
be planted in shallow drills, or in hills. If the 
soil be foul, it is usual to plant in hills, so that 
the horse-hoe may be worked both ways, to 
save hand hoeing. But if the soil be free from 
weeds, much more broom corn will be produced 
if planted in drills. In hills, six stalks are 
enough, as they will yield better brush than a 
larger number. If in drills, the stalks may be 
four, five, or six inches apart. When the dwarf 
broom corn is planted, the drills may be about 
two feet sis inches apart. But for the tall 
kind, they should be not less than three feet, or 
three and a half feet apart. Let it receive the 
same — level — cultivation as is given to Indian 
com. Directions for the securing and manage- 
ment of the crop will be given at a future time. 
Raising CMckens— A Word in Season. 
Last year the subject of gapes, especially the 
method of curing the disease was a good deal 
discussed in this journal. There is no doubt 
but the ailment comes from little worms, the 
larvae of some fly or other insect, which are 
found in considerable numbers in the throats of 
the chickens and cause their death. These 
flies or insects no doubt abound about fowl 
houses and yards, so that keeping the chickens 
in places which fowls do not frequent, and where 
they have not before been kept, goes far toward 
protecting them from the evil. A correspondent 
" Coxsackie," writes as follows : " About a year 
ago I communicated to the A(jr>culturist a ceriaiii 
mode of treating chickens, to prevent gapes. 
Since that time I have seen various modes sta- 
ted to cure the ailment. Now, 5Ir. Editor, I in- 
sist upon it that ' an ounce of prevention is bet- 
ter than a pound of cure.' There is no need of 
having gapes at all. Last year I raised nearly 
one hundred chickens, and had not a sign of 
gapes among them. Jly method is as follows : 
When the chickens are in condition to take 
from the nest, I put them with the hen in a coop 
with a board bottom, so as to keep the young 
ones from the cold and damp ground. They are 
fed with Indian meal on which boiling water 
is poured from the teakettle, well stirred and al- 
lowed to cool. I believe the whole secret is to 
keep the chickens dry and warm when quite 
young, and give them cooked feed." 
»-< — »»» I ■ — 
How Much Hay Will Cattle Eat? 
There has been a vast amount written on the 
above subject, which has tended to mislead, 
rather than to in,struct. Some writers have en- 
deavored to fix a certain number of pounds as 
the usual standard that a cow or a bullock will 
ordinarily consume. But some cows, as well as 
some bullocks, will require twice as much, 
dail}', as others. Ordinarily, a good-sized cow 
will need about twenty pounds of hay per 
day, when she has a supply of roots, or is 
"slopped." Some cows will consume thirty 
pounds, and some oxen will eat even more than 
that amount With yearlings and calves, the 
amount will vary, just in proportion to the size 
and feeding condition of the animal. This is 
the writer's own experience. 
S. S. Whitman writes to the Country Gentle- 
man that : For several 3-ears he kept cows, and 
sold the milk ; and much of the hay fed to 
them was purchased by the ton. He often noted 
the quantity, and the time of consuming it, and 
it varied so little from twenty poimds each per 
day, that he fixed on that number of pounds as 
the necessary daily amount of hay for a cow, 
in addition to slops sufficient to suppl)' the 
ordinary draught made upon them by milking. 
.John Johnston — whose authority is often 
quoted as final on such subjects — says: " It is 
all nonsense to talk of those Hohenheim oxen 
eating sixty-si.x pounds of hay per day ! It 
must be different bay from any that I ever saw, 
if they would eat half that amount. Twenty 
pounds per day would satisfy any cattle that I 
ever have fed." — The quality of the hay will 
also make a difference in the amoimt. If 
the grass were not cut until the seed had well 
matured, the hay would not of course bo so 
palatable as though it had been mowed when it , 
was in full bloom. A cow, or bullock, there- 
fore, will consume several pounds more of good 
hay than of poor hay, on the same principle 
that a man will eat more good beef than poor. 
Nevertheless, the amount that an animal needs 
depends upon the demands made upon its diges- 
tive organs, dependent upon its size (weight), 
the demands made upon it for labor, for milk, 
in parturition, etc., and to sustain its animal 
heat — an animal exposed to the weather eating ■ 
more than one stabled and warm. 
Warbles in Neat Cattle. 
Several subscribers to the AyricuUurH have 
inquired as to the cause of, and manner of treat- 
ing this affection, which is common to ne.at 
cattle. When we pass the hand along the back 
of some cows, bullocks, oxen, and, in some in- 
stances, yearlings, we feel numerous little 
bunches upon the back. This is called "the 
warbles," and cattle in the best condition are no 
more exempt fiom it than those that are very 
poor. The word " warbles " is applied also to 
hard lumps which form in the skin under the 
saddle of horses. A correspondent, who has 
been familiar with the warbles for thirty years, 
and says he has never known neat cattle to ex- 
perience any serious harm from them, writes : 
" No doubt everj' obseiTing farmer has noticed 
that, during the months of Juh' and August in 
our latitude, neat cattle are much annoyed by 
the stings of a large, dark-colored fly, called the 
Gad Fly ((Esirtis Bcmis), which will often light 
on the backs of cattle, and put the whole herd 
on a gallop ; and sometimes they will drop on 
the backs of oxen and horses, while at work, 
and, in a moment of time, render them as un- 
managable as if they had disturbed a hornet's 
nest. This Gad Fly punctures the skin of the 
animal — fat animals are better than lean ones — 
and deposites an egg, which produces a maggot 
that continues to grow for nearly a year in 
the flesh of the animal, when it emerges through 
the skin and falls to the ground, secretes it- 
self beneath some protection, and, in a few 
days, commences its attacks on the cattle. 
During the months of April, May, and June, 
in our latitude, these bunches on the backs of 
cattle will continue to enlarge, until the black 
head of a large grub will have worked its way 
through the skin of the animal's back. In this 
condition they will live and develope them- 
selves for several weeks, with their black heads 
