I 860 ] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
9 
Cutting Feed too Short for Stock. 
To Ike Editor of Ike American Agriculturist 
My cattle have abundantly paid me for helping 
to do their chewing by using a feed cutter. They 
take hold of straw and stalks much better than 
formerly, partly perh-aps because it is so much 
more convenient for them, but principally, no 
doubt, because of the shorts, bran, or ship stuff, 
mixed with it, which I find make it as good as 
hay. It always appeared to me, however, that 
there was danger of having too much of a good 
thing, by cutting straw too fine, and leaving stock 
little or no use for their teeth. One of my neigh¬ 
bors has found this out to his cost. He keeps 
several horses, and has 
cut their feed, principally 
oats in the sheaf, quite 
fine, less than an inch 
long. He lost three 
horses last season from 
inflammation in the 
stomach and intestines, 
caused without doubt by 
their having swallowed 
much of their food with¬ 
out chewing, where it re¬ 
nt a i n e d undigested. 
From an inch and a 
quarter to an inch and 
a half is about right. I 
think that some people 
make a mistake in cut¬ 
ting up too large a quan¬ 
tity of hay or straw at 
one time. One man at¬ 
taches his horse power 
o a large cutter, and 
runs through hay and 
straw enough to last him 
a week or a fortnight. 
Before it is used up the 
goodness is pretty well 
dried out of it, and it is too much like chips, to 
taste well to the cattle, or to be of much service 
to them—this at least is the opinion of Jonathan. 
Remarks. —We think Jonathan is mistaken. 
Our rule is to cut the feed as short as possible, 
for horses especially. We see no more danger 
of their swallowing short bits of straw, than 
there is of swallowing oats unmasticated. The 
horses referred to must have taken sick from 
some other cause than eating short cut feed. 
For ruminating animals, that is those that chew 
the cud, it is well to let them have long feed 
enough, mixed with the cut stuff, to make up the 
cud balls in the stomach ; but for horses and 
swine we would cut the straw as short as pos¬ 
sible. We cut all the hay for horse feed, and the 
greater part of that for cows. Nor is there the 
dangei of drying out, when a mass of hay and 
straw is cut up, and left in a pile. A little water 
may evaporate, but it is replaced when the food 
is wet for mixing with the bran or ship stuff.— Ed. 
“Hungarian Grass” bad for Horses. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist- 
Last Winter several horses in this vicinity be¬ 
came seriously affected with stiffness of the joints, 
so much so as to be scarcely able to walk. In 
nearly every case they were in good condition 
when attacked, having been well fed on Hunga¬ 
rian hay or millet. The season was very severe 
on work horses—an open Winter and mud deep. 
But as animals fed on other hay were exempt 
from the disease, the general belief is, eating 
Hungarian hay was the cause of the difficulty— 
not perhaps the hay itself but its seed. Here it 
is allowed to mature its seed before cutting. Per¬ 
haps for horse feed it should be cut while in blos¬ 
som. One of my neighbors fed it to sixteen 
cows and says they gave more milk and did bet¬ 
ter than ever before. For feeding to cattle I 
think the testimony is all in its favor. W. L. J. 
Elvaston , Hancock Co. f III. 
Remark.— The above is rather inexplicable. 
The so-called “ Hungarian Grass ” is a millet, 
and we should doubt its injuring animals eating 
either the straw or seed. Perhaps the horses re¬ 
ferred to were fed too high, or there may have 
been some other special cause wholly unconnect¬ 
ed with the kind of feed that was given.— Ed.] 
American cities have now become so large and 
numerous, that they require an immense number 
of cart horses to do their work. We do not know 
of any systematic course among our farmers of 
properly breeding this highly valuable and much 
wanted variety of the horse, nor do we believe 
such to exist at present, to any great extent, in 
any district in the United States. The large 
wagon horse, as bred by the descendants of the 
Dutch settled in Pennsylvania, comes nearer the 
desideratum than anything within our knowledge ; 
but as a general rule these horses are deficient in 
several important particulars. We speak in 
general only, as thefe are occasional individual 
exceptions among these animals, which closely 
approach perfection, and may serve as models. 
The beau ideal of a cart horse may be found 
in the celebrated painting of the “ Horse Fair,” 
by Rosa Bonheur, particularly in the figure of the 
Norman dapple grey, and two or three others in 
the foreground. Few out of our city, however, 
have the advantage of seeing that celebrated 
painting, and we have therefore endeavored to get 
up an engraving of a cart horse, somewhat re¬ 
fined on the European model, and better suited 
to American taste. But the artist has not caught 
our idea exactly, as the figure should have shown 
still greater strength and solidity than it does. 
Such a horse will do pretty well, however, for 
the cart, and makes an admirable roadster. 
The cart horse should be 16 to 17 hands high 
over the withers, and weigh 1300 to 1500 lbs. 
He should have a fine head and well set neck ; 
short, strong back ; deep, full quarters ; wide 
chest; upright shoulders, rather than oblique 
wide, sinewy, flat legs, as clean of hair as pos¬ 
sible ; short, strong pasterns; clear hoofs, rathei 
broad than otherwise; heels well set up, being 
the reverse of flat footed. He should have a 
fast walk, his ordinary gait three and a half to 
four miles an hour; be docile and courageous. 
To obtain such animals as rapidly, and at the 
same time as cheaply as possible, American far¬ 
mers should import the best and most suitablo 
Norman or English stallions. The walk of the 
best bred of these animals is not only quick, but 
their trotting action is fine, and fully equal to five 
to seven miles an hour over a good road, drawing 
a heavy load after them. These qualities not 
only fit them for the 
city dray, but also for 
all kinds of farm and 
general road work. 
Large, well-bred mares 
should be selected and 
bred to these stallions, 
when the produce would 
be found all that is re¬ 
quired. Our farmers 
might commence moder¬ 
ately working colts thus 
bred, at two years old; for 
if well fed and cared for, 
at this age they are as 
strong as ordinary horses 
at three and four years 
old, and are perfectly 
able to do all ordinary 
kinds of farm work. The 
breeder thus gains one 
to two years on every 
colt he raises, thus great¬ 
ly cheapening their pro¬ 
duction. At five and six 
years old they may be 
taken to the city for 
sale, where they would 
readily command from $200 to $300. This 
is th'e best English system of rearing cart and 
heavy road horses, and our farmers will sec 
that it can be as easily practiced here in Ameri¬ 
ca. In fact, it is already done so to some extent 
in Upper Canada and the Western part of the 
State of New-York, and other districts. A Nor¬ 
man stallion or two have been introduced into 
New-Jersey and Pennsylvania. The writer now 
has the get of one of the above, at work in this city 
in a dray, and another, the produce of a Sussex 
stallion. Both of these are excellent cart or road 
horses, and make a good figure in harness. 
A Good Talk on Cattle Breeding and 
Feeding. 
At the recent annual meeting of the Agrlcul 
tural Society of East Derbyshire (Eng.), Dr. 
Hitchman, made some off-hand remarks on se¬ 
lecting, breeding, and the care of cattle, which 
were characterized by most excellent, sound, 
practical common sense. We subjoin from the 
Derby Journal the following report, which will be 
found worthy of perusal by every reader of the 
Agriculturist. The allusions to this country are 
flattering, and will be especially gratifying t-o such 
men as Mr. Thorne, and others, who have so lib¬ 
erally devoted their wealth to securing for our 
country the best cattle in the world. But hear 
Dr. Hitchman: 
We are living in an age of intense competition, 
and need all the aid we can afford to each other. 
Other nations are emulating our industry ; our 
hrolher Jonathan, on the other side of the Allan- 
AN AMERICAN CART HORSE, AND ROADSTER. 
(Engraved for the American Agriculturist.) 
The Cart Horse. 
