170 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
f ■ - - ■ ' = 
Sow Corn for Feeding. 
Hardly another item of farm labor is so im¬ 
portant as this, for June. Pastures are usually 
short, the last of August and September, and 
even in the best of grass years, the green succu¬ 
lent stalks of corn are a welcome addition to 
the feed of every grazing animal. If not abso¬ 
lutely needed for green fodder, then the stalks 
can be kept for winter use; and, if cut seasona¬ 
bly and properly cured, they are nearly as valua¬ 
ble as English hay. The ground can hardly be 
made to produce so much valuable fodder, at so 
.ittle expense, with any other crop. 
The ground should be in good heart; if not so, 
iet it be manured with 10 to 20 cords of stable 
manure per acre. The corn is sometimes sown 
broadcast, but the crop is not as large as when 
sown in drills, 2i to 3 feet apart, and cultivated 
2 or 3 times, before it is too large for the operation. 
If foddered from the field, the cutting may com¬ 
mence about the time the spindle makes its ap¬ 
pearance, and may be continued until the ears 
are glazed. If it is to be cured for winter use, 
it should be cut just as the ears are beginning to 
silk. If left later, the ears will not cure well. 
As a rule, it should not stand later than the mid¬ 
dle of September, at which time the season is 
sufficiently warm to cure the stalks rapidly. 
There is a choice in the varieties of corn for 
this purpose. The small kinds that have been 
cultivated mainly for the grain, for many gen¬ 
erations, are not so good as the larger varieties. 
Some use the Southern corn altogether, for this 
purpose, and it does well. Others use sweet 
corn only, thinking there is more nourishment 
in the stalks. We have used, for several years, 
the Stowell’s Evergreen Sweet Corn, and, on 
the whole, prefer it to any variety we have ever 
experimented with. It yields an enormous bur¬ 
den of fodder, and is one of the best articles for 
feeding swine, as well as neat cattle. Horses, 
also, are very fond of it, and it may economical¬ 
ly make up half their food while it lasts; But 
the variety is not a very essential matter. Sow 
sweet corn if you have it, or can readily pro¬ 
cure it. But, by all means, sow corn, and keep 
up a full flow of milk in September and October. 
Millet for Fodder. 
This plant has an unfortunate history in this 
country. Its several varieties have been seized 
upon by swindlers, who, by naming it Honey 
Blade Grass, Japanese Wheat, Egyptian Corn, 
etc., and publishing lying pamphlets and adver¬ 
tisements, have duped purchasers into paying 
exorbitant prices, and reaping disappointment. 
Nevertheless, millet has undoubtedly much 
value as a forage crop. Conflicting accounts are 
given as to its excellence for feeding. Some of 
the correspondents of the Agriculturist deem it 
equal, or even superior to timothy hay, if cut at 
the right time and properly cured; others are 
of opinion that it is positively injurious to stock, 
particularly horses. Thus, according to the Du¬ 
buque Herald, it was resolved by the Dubuque 
Farmers’ Club, after a full discussion last Win¬ 
ter, that “the cultivation of Hungarian grass, 
(German millet,) is injudicious.” But from the 
weight of testimony offered, we are of opinion, 
that properly cultivated and cured, it affords a 
cheap and safe method of adding to the winter’s 
supply of fodder, and that it is well fitted for 
cutting and feeding green, to supply deficiency 
in pasture. 
It may be sown after the season for the main 
grain crops is past. The middle of June is not 
too late to secure a good crop in this latitude. It 
is more exhaustive of the soil than clover or 
grass, and therefore land intended for it should 
be liberally enriched. For a hay crop, ten qts. 
of seed per acre is none too much; thick seed¬ 
ing gives a less rank growth of stalk. It may 
very well occupy land this Summer, which is 
wanted to seed down with winter grain, or with 
oats next year, but where it w r as impracticable 
to plant corn. It would be greatly preferable to 
naked summer fallow. It might not be advisa¬ 
ble to substitute this crop for oats, nor to disturb 
a good sod for its introduction; but where ma¬ 
nure is plenty, and there is a piece of poor pas¬ 
ture, or other land unoccupied, try millet. 
Flax Competing with Cotton. 
We refer to this subject in no controversial 
spirit. It is, to say the least, very doubtful wheth¬ 
er Flax will ever be able to rise to any thing like 
the practical importance of the great Southern 
staple. But the subject is now up for public 
consideration, and we notice it merely as one of 
the signs of the times. 
For a year or so past, statements have ap¬ 
peared in the leading city journals, that a new 
method had been invented for preparing the 
crude flax, so that it could be woven in ordi¬ 
nary cotton mill looms, with only a slight alter¬ 
ation of the machinery. Until lately, we could 
not trace these paragraphs to any reliable au¬ 
thority. Not long ago we received an official 
report of a discussion on this subject by the 
Legislative Agricultural Society of Massachu¬ 
setts, held at Boston. The meeting was quite 
large, filling to overflow the great Hall of Rep¬ 
resentatives in the State-House. This shows 
how deep is the public interest on the subject. 
We are indebted to the “ New-England Farm¬ 
er ” for a report, which we much condense. 
The discussion was opened by Mr. S. M. Al¬ 
len, who, we understand, is a cotton manufac¬ 
turer. He remarked that the successful growth 
of cotton is confined to narrow limits in the re¬ 
gion of the tropics, while flax can be grown al¬ 
most every where, from Canada to Florida. 
Wild Flax is indigenous to California and Ore¬ 
gon. It has also been raised in other countries, 
from the earliest authentic history, the fiber be¬ 
ing used for clothing and the seed for oil. 
Egypt, Rome and Britain used it for making 
linen, and the American Colonists brought the 
custom with them to these shores. Up to about 
the year 1750, it was used in its simple, clear 
state, but after that time cotton filling was in¬ 
troduced, making a mixed goods, which became 
very popular. As improvements were made in 
cotton machinery, by Arkwright and others, 
this material came into more general use, and 
flax gradually lost ground. Since 1767, it has 
become only a secondary product in Europe and 
America. The principal reason of this change 
lay in the supposed difficulty of preparing the 
flax fiber for spinning. On this point we quote 
Mr. Allen’s own words: 
“ The old method of working flax was in long 
line, using the filaments and fibers in a united 
thread, without reducing them down to the ul¬ 
timate fibril, either in length or size; and using 
in their manufacture machinery peculiarly 
adapted for the purpose, and differing material¬ 
ly from that used for manufacturing either cot¬ 
ton or wool. The mode of preparing the fiber 
was also peculiar, the same being subjected 
while in the straw to a fermenting or rotting 
process, which tended to set the gluten and al¬ 
bumen, and, when followed by boiling in alka¬ 
lies, rendered the fibers harsh and brittle, and 
hard to spin, making the whole process of man¬ 
ufacturing linen more expensive than cotton or 
wool... .The process of making fibrilia, as well 
as cloth and yarns, from the same, is entirely 
different from the old methods, and a corres¬ 
ponding result is produced. The albumen, glu¬ 
ten, and other substances which pervade the 
filaments and fibers on the original stalk, and 
which cement them together, are dissolved and 
removed by simple solving processes, and the 
fibrils are separated to their original length, of 
from one to two inches, by a review of the 
solving process with a simple mechanical one, 
which fits the fibrils for spinning on either cot¬ 
ton or woolen machinery, and which makes it 
resemble those fibers both in color and white¬ 
ness, and in length of staple.” 
After this general exposition, the speaker ex¬ 
hibited specimens of fibrilia made from flax, 
looking much like cotton or wool, and which 
could be used with either of these fibers, or 
alone. It spins like cotton, and makes a strong¬ 
er and better yarn and cloth. He believed flax 
could be raised and manufactured at the North 
cheaper than cotton at the South, and at a fine 
profit to both farmer and manufacturer. It is 
now grown in considerable quantities at the 
West, for the seed alone, the fiber being thrown 
away. Good land will produce two tons of straw 
to the acre; five bushels of seed can be got 
from this, worth $1.50 a bushel, and if the straw 
be broken on the ground, three or four hundred 
pounds of fibrilia, ready for the spindle, can be 
obtained, leaving 2,500 pounds of stalks, which 
are about as good for cattle as hay. [There 
must be some mistake about the value of the 
stalks as food.— Ed. Am. Ag.~\ From a quarter 
of the cultivated lands of the North, flax enough 
could be raised to more than four times equal 
the cotton crop of the South.” 
These statements of Mr. Allen were followed 
by remarks and inquiries from other gentlemen. 
One observed that both cotton and wool had a 
serrated or notched edge, and would therefore 
hold fast when wound together, whereas flax 
was round, and could not be made to unite 
firmly. He also doubted the profitableness of 
the crop, considering the great labor required 
to produce it, and the comparative cost of labor 
at the North. He thought, if a farmer with 50 
acres of land grew five acres each year in flax, 
for ten years, at the end of that time he would 
be ruined. 
Another replied that, if flax-fiber has a round 
edge, it becomes flat at the ends when broken 
by the new Randall machine, and in the solving 
process, and so will easily and firmly unite with 
either cotton or wool. He also said the original 
difficulty in working flax on cotton machinery 
lay “ in its long staple, the thread being bound 
in the stem of the plant as a bunch of rods.” 
But Randall’s machine breaks the stem, and 
separates the fiber, after which it can be mixed 
with cotton or wool, and be spun and woven 
with either. 
Another gentleman, from this city, remarked 
that cotton-flax, as exhibited at this meeting, : 
could be produced for two-thirds the price of 
cotton. At the West it is harvested by mowing 
machines, and thus got in at a cheap rate. The 
old idea that flax can be grown on the same 
land only one crop in seven years, is now ex¬ 
ploded; all that is wanted, is manure every other 
year. It is a good preparatory crop for wheat. 
Flax raised at the West is now delivered in Bos¬ 
ton for four and a half cents a pound, and after 
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