204 
AMEBICJPF AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
depend upon the width desired between the 
rows, which may vary from 2^ to 4 feet, ac¬ 
cording to the soil, variety of corn, and 
whether for a grain crop, or for fodder. Some 
one may improve upon this by a simple 
method of fastening the runners so they 
may be changed in place to make the row 
marks of any desired distance apart.—E d.] 
A Holder for Logs. 
Mr. D. D. Day, Orleans Co., N. Y., finds a 
holder for logs so convenient that he sends 
us a sketch and description of it for the Am¬ 
erican Agriculturist's readers:—“Take two 
round poles, 4 or 5 inches through, and fasten 
two legs, about 20 inches long, in the largest 
A HANDY LOG HOLDISU. 
end of each. The other ends of the poles rest 
on the ground. A number of holes are bored 
in the top of each pole, so that the log to be 
sawed may be raised and held at any desired 
hight. One man can readily roll up a log two 
feet in diameter.”—The greater ease of run¬ 
ning a cross-cut saw through a log thus raised 
is sufficient inducement to construct a simple 
holder like the one shown in the engraving 
from Mr. Day’s sketch. 
Some Facts About Cutting Hay.—I. 
BY W. H. JORDAN, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE, PENN. 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 
‘ ‘ When is the best time for cutting grass ? ” 
has been asked again and again. Replies 
have been given now and then, as new facts 
have come to light, but, after all, has the 
question been answered ? 
It might possibly puzzle the thoughtful 
farmer, who has followed the discussions of 
the past year or two, to decide what is the 
verdict of scientific investigation on the one 
hand, or of practical farmers on the other. 
The opinion most generally held is that grass 
is most profitably cut while in bloom. Yet 
no one seems to have sufficient confidence 
in this opinion to consider further investiga¬ 
tion useless. The final appeal must he to the 
actual feeding ; such trials are so difficult to 
make reliable, the sources of error being so 
many, that we have to form a partial opinion 
from information obtained in other ways. 
More investigation in this direction has 
been done in Germany than anywhere else. 
Some valuable work has been done in this 
country, however, within the past few years, 
though not yet sufficiently extensive to found 
very broad conclusions. In part of what fol¬ 
lows, an attempt has been made to summar¬ 
ize the results of American experiments. 
In discussing the time of cutting grass one 
needs to consider:—1st, Quantity ; 2d, Com¬ 
position ; 3d, Nutritive relations and effects. 
The effect of the age of grass upon the 
quantity of production is determined by cut¬ 
ting equal plots of uniform grass at different 
periods of growth and accurately weighing 
the hay. Samples of the same have been 
analyzed in some cases. The plots in the ex¬ 
periments here mentioned have varied in 
size from one-twentieth of an acre to a full 
acre, their shape usually being long and nar¬ 
row. The main source of error in such a 
method is the impossibility to select plots of 
grass that are absolutely uniform. 
The following are the results of several ex¬ 
periments made in this country, and include 
four periods of growth, the figures being 
pounds of dry substance per acre. Experi¬ 
ments Nos. 1 to 7 were made at the Maine 
State College Farm—No. 1 by Prof. W. O. 
Atwater; Nos. 2 and 3 by Prof. J. R. Far¬ 
rington ; and Nos. 4 to 7 by the writer of this. 
Experiments Nos. 8 to 10 were conducted by 
Prof. J. W. Sanborn, of the N. H. Agricul¬ 
tural College, and No. 11 by W. R. Shelmire, 
on the Eastern Experimental Farm of the 
Pennsylvania State College. In Nos. 1, 4, 
and 5, the dry substance was determined by 
analysis. The figures for Nos. 2, 3, 6, and 7, 
have been calculated by allowing the weights 
of field cured hay to contain 20 per cent of 
water. In experiments 8, 9, 10, and 11, the 
hay was reweighed after having laid in the 
barn for several months, and one-eighth (12‘/ a 
per cent) of these weights has been estimated 
as water. The figures must show quite close 
approximate to the actual yield of dry sub¬ 
stance in the several cases. 
TABLE 1. 
Tear. 
Cut when 
well head¬ 
ed out. 
Cut when 
in blos¬ 
som. 
\Cut when 
consider¬ 
ably past 
blossom. 
Cut 
when 
ripe. 
1. 
1876 
Lbs. per 
acre. 
2,479 
Lbs. per 
acre. 
3,301 
Lbs. per 
acre. 
3,117 
Lbs. per 
acre. 
3,616 
2. 
1878 
2,976 
3,040 
3,312 
3. 
1878 
2,992 
3,376 
4,456 
3,624 
4. 
1779 
2,536 
3,456 
2,784 
5. 
1879 
3,200 
2,872 
3,112 
0. 
1880 
3,620 
3,540 
3,080 
3,800 
7. 
1880 
3,420 
3,480 
3,360 
3,240 
8. 
1879 
2,415 
3,096 
9- 
1880 
2,057 
2,339 
2,963 
10. 
1880 
2.034 
2,562 
11. 
1879 
2,588 
2,772 
2,852 
Average... 
2,586 
2,996 
3,132 
3,478 
The above averages show a gradual increase 
of dry substance up to the time of ripening. 
As before stated, in some of the experiments 
samples of the hays were analyzed. This was 
done with Nos. 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9, and below is 
given their average composition at the differ¬ 
ent stages of growth. 
TABLE 2. 
100 parts Dry Substance contain — 
Ash. 
Pro¬ 
tein. 
Crude 
Fiber. 
Other 
Carbo¬ 
hydrates. 
Fat 
or 
Oil. 
Well headed out. 
6.10 
11.12 
27.85 
51.52 
3.45 
In bloom. 
5.01 
7.75 
30.33 
53.72 
3.17 
Considerably past 
bloom. 
4 67 
6 66 
32.39 
53.30 
2.98 
Ripe. 
4.27 
6.16 
36 26 
51.21 
2.08 
This table shows that the relative amount 
of ash, protein, and fat, decreases as the 
grass grows older, that the percentage of 
crude fiber increases, while the remaining 
carbohydrates do not change very much in 
their relative quantity. The last table tells 
nothing, however, as to the change in the 
total'amounts of the various ingredients If 
we multiply the total quantity of dry sub¬ 
stance produced in each case by the figures 
given for the percentage composition, we can 
then see what changes are caused in the total 
quantities of ingredient? by the increased age 
of the grass. This is shown in the next table. 
TABLE 3. 
. 
Web 
headt 
out. 
<5 
Consi‘ 
erabl 
past 
bloon 
Total pounds ash. 
157.6 
151. 
145 3 
148.5 
Total albuminoids. 
287.6 
232.2 
208.6 
214.2 
Total crude fiber. 
720.2 
906.4 
1,024.5 
1,261. 
Total other carbohydrates 
1,332.6 
1,610. 
1,669. 
1,787. 
Total fat . 
89.2 
95. 
93.4 
72.3 
Table 3 shows that the carbohydrates in¬ 
creased largely in total quantity, in passing 
from the first to the last stage of growth. 
This was especially true of the crude fiber. 
There is an apparent decrease in total quan¬ 
tity of the ash and albuminoids, which is re¬ 
markable. 
Two Levelling Devices Used in Ditching. 
Mr. Chester Town, Wyoming Co., N. Y., 
sends us sketches of levels used in ditching. 
Figure 1 shows a level 
which consists of a 
standard and a cross¬ 
piece made to swing at 
the top. To this is sus¬ 
pended a wire bearing a 
weight. Two pins are 
put in the cross-pieces 
near the ends to serve 
as “sights.” To adjust 
the level, take a sight 
at some object; then 
turn the cross-piece one- 
half way round, and, if 
it “ sights ” the same 
object, it is adjusted. 
Figure 2 shows an 
instrument to widen 
and level the ditches in places where the 
plow has left it too narrow. Two pieces of 
4 by 4 white oak scantling, 10 feet long, are 
used. The end of one pole is hewed off and 
joined to the other at such an angle that the 
opposite ends shall be as far apart as it is de¬ 
sired to have the ditch widened. Harrow 
teeth are put in two sides of the scantling— 
slanting outwards, as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, to strike against the sides of the ditch. 
BBioidlisag' Morses. —Men differ greatly 
in the amount of work they can get out of a 
team of horses, and the animals know this 
as well as the drivers. Some will fret and 
sweat a team when only drawing an empty 
wagon, while others will drive the same 
horses before a heavy load and not wet a hair. 
This difference is more easily seen than de¬ 
scribed. Kindness in manner and in tone of 
voice go a great way towards making the load 
draw easily. The owner’s handling of the 
reins is frequently far different from that of 
the hired man. We have seen teams kept 
poor in flesh by an almost incessant worry 
from an ill-fitting harness,an inhuman jerking 
upon the bits, or a frequent and injudicious 
use of the whip. Boys are not exempt from 
these strictures. Many teams have had their 
usefulness impaired by a disregard of the 
