1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
68S 
ery,  mine  is  a  dense  mass  of  foliage.  Occasionally  I 
sample  it  and  find  it,  though  very  green,  all  that  good 
taste  could  wish  for  in  tenderness  and  palatableness, 
yet  the  eye  delights  in  white  celery.  Early  and  thicker 
planting  would  give  perhaps  small  stalks  and  earlier 
bleaching.  e.  d.  r. 
A  Success  Thus  Far. 
I  have  tried  the  “new  celery  culture”  on  a  small 
scale.  I  set  out  300  plants  seven  inches  apart  each 
way.  They  were  all  about  six  inches  high,  and  grew 
well,  hut  I  did  not  attend  to  them  rightly.  They  did 
not  get  water  enough.  As  far  as  I  have  gone  with  the 
plan  it  has  been  a  success.  I  set  the  plants  out  too 
late,  however,  on  early  pea  ground,  and  watered  them 
for  about  two  weeks  with  cold  water  from  my  well. 
Then  I  pumped  a  barrel  full  and  let  it  warm  up  before 
I  put  it  on.  The  plants  are  about  18  inches  high  and 
blanching  very  nicely.  The  next  lot  I  intend  to  plant 
10x7  inches  apart,  and  put  up  a  tank  with  a  capacity 
of  about  five  or  ten  barrels,  and  pump  the  water  into 
it  and  let  it  warm  before  I  put  it  on.  The  people  made 
fun  of  me  for  planting  it  so  close,  but  they  are  chang¬ 
ing  their  opinion  when  they  see  how  well  it  grows 
and  how  much  can  be  grown  on  a  little  bit  of  ground. 
All  in  all,  I  think  the  plan  is  all  right,  if  one  uses  lots 
of  water.  w.  A.  kennen. 
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Chopping  ale  the  Fodder  at  Once. 
This  problem  is  sent  by  a  reader  in  New  Jersey  : 
I  keep  10  head  of  horses  and  cattle,  and  feed  cut  feed  during  the 
winter.  Not  owning  a  horse-power,  and  being  tired  of  cutting  by 
hand,  I  propose  to  hire  a  man  and  traction  engine  to  come  to  my 
place  and  cut  my  winter  supply  of  corn  stalks,  oats,  straw  and  clover 
hay  all  at  once  In  a  day,  but  I  am  told  by  older  farmers  that  cut  feed 
loses  in  value  If  kept  long,  and  that  It  should  be  cut  only  a  few  days 
before  It  Is  used.  Is  this  true?  If  true,  why? 
No  Loss  of  Dry  Material. 
No  actual  loss  of  material  essential  to  the  feeding 
value  of  the  feeds  named  need  result  from  cutting  a 
winter’s  supply  at  once.  It  often  occurs  that  hay, 
straw  or  corn  fodder  when  taken  from  the  mow  and 
thrown  in  a  loose  pile,  whether  cut  or  not,  and  allowed 
to  remain  any  length  of  time  exposed  to  the  air  of  the 
barn  will  lose  in  feeding  value.  This  I  understand 
to  be  due  to  the  loss  of  aroma  by  being  exposed  to  the 
air  and  probably  from  the  absorption  of  some  of  the 
odors  of  the  barn,  which  still  further  decreases  the 
feeding  value  by  still  further  lessening  its  palatabilit.y. 
This  difficulty  may  be  easily  avoided  in  the  plan  pro¬ 
posed  by  the  correspondent,  and  on  this  account  no  loss 
need  occur.  There  is  one  real  danger  of  loss  in  the 
proposed  scheme  and  this  is  from  storing  a  large  quan¬ 
tity  of  cut  corn  fodder  in  one  bin.  Unless  very  care¬ 
fully  handled  fermentation  will  set  in,  which  will 
entail  a  loss  of  food  material  and  a  reduction  of  palat- 
ability.  My  experience  has  abundantly  proved  that 
fodder  dry  enough  to  keep  well  when  stored  in  a  barn 
uncut  will  mold  quite  readily  if  cut  and  kept  in  any 
considerable  quantity.  If  the  inquirer  is  careful  to 
see  that  the  fodder  is  well  dried  before  it  is  cut  there 
need  be  no  loss  from  cutting  any  reasonable  quantity 
in  advance  of  feeding.  [prof.]  h.  j.  waters. 
State  College,  Pa. 
It  is  a  Matter  of  Relish. 
I  have  known  of  several  instances  where  several 
weeks’  supply  of  hay  or  stalks  has  been  cut  at  one 
time  to  save  the  tiresome  task  of  cutting  every  day, 
but  I  do  not  know  of  one  instance  where  animals  that 
were  well  fed,  ate  this  cut  fodder  so  treated  as  well 
as  they  would  fresh  hay  or  stalks,  or  freshly  cut  hay 
or  stalks  fresh  from  the  mow.  I  do  not  know  nor  do  I 
believe  that  the  amount  of  animal  food  is  changed  to 
an  appreciable  amount  by  storing  for  some  time  after 
it  is  cut,  providing  the  fodder  does  not  change  mater¬ 
ially  in  water  content ;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  fodder 
does  not  contain  less  muscle,  fat  or  heat-producing 
elements  than  it  did  when  first  taken  from  the  mow’s, 
but  that  the  animals  do  not  relish  it  as  well,  is,  so  far 
as  I  know,  universally  conceded,  where  the  trial  has 
been  fairly  made.  I  do  not  doubt  that  in  many  cases, 
cut  fodders  after  being  stored  for  a  considerable  length 
of  time  will  be  readily  eaten,  when  the  coarse  material 
at  the  time  of  cutting  is  in  prime  condition;  and  during 
severe  winter  weather,  when  the  stock  is  rather  scan¬ 
tily  fed,  doubtless  the  cut  fodder  will  be  greedily  con¬ 
sumed.  But  in  the  warmer  spring  days,  stock  that 
has  been  well  fed  will  much  prefer  the  food  fresh 
from  the  mow.  Corn  stalks,  when  well  cured  in  the 
field  and  cut  as  they  were  put  in  the  mow,  have  been 
kept  tolerably  fresh  and  in  good  condition  throughout 
the  winter.  This  treatment  of  corn  stalks  probably 
gives  the  best  results  of  any  fodders  cut  a  long  time 
before  feeding.  In  general,  the  objection  to  fodder 
cut  a  long  time  before  feeding,  is  that  stock  does  not 
seem  to  relish  it  as  well  as  that  fodder  which  has  been 
less  exposed  to  the  air,  probably  due  to  the  escaping 
of  that  fine  aroma  and  the  volatilization  of  the  so-called 
flavoring  oils  which  exist  only  in  minute  quantities 
and  are  very  volatile. 
In  the  spring  time  we  note  a  marked  difference  in 
odor,  crispiness  and  flavor  of  apples  in  favor  of  those 
that  have  been  kept  quite  tightly  sealed  in  barrels,  us 
against  those  lying  singly  on  shelves.  This  may  serve 
as  a  good  illustration  of  cut  fodder,  and  the  two 
methods  are  not  very  unlike.  The  question  seems  to 
be  one  of  palatability  rather  than  nourishment  and 
quite  in  favor  of  that  product  which  has  been  most 
secluded  from  the  air.  oeo.  c.  watson. 
Practical  Results  Say  “  Go  Ahead  !  ” 
So  far  as  my  own  experience  teaches  me,  here  in 
Baltimore  County,  Md.,  there  would  be  no  objection 
whatever  to  the  cutting  of  a  supply  of  provender 
enough  to  last  the  winter,  provided  of  course  it  was  in 
perfectly  dry  condition  and  put  in  a  place  where  the 
rain  or  snow  could  not  blow  in  on  it.  I  do  not  think 
there  is  anything  at  all  in  the  idea  that  there  would 
be  a  loss  or  that  it  would  not  be  so  good  on  account  of 
having  been  cut  all  at  one  time  ;  for  I  have  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  make  a  critical  test  of  this  very  thing.  I  cut  a  lot 
of  clover  hay  and  fed  it  each  day  for  a  week  after  it 
was  cut;  the  next  week  I  fed  the  same  cows  on  some 
of  the  same  hay  which  had  been  cut  for  two  months. 
There  was  no  loss  in  the  yield  of  butter  or  milk. 
But  this  is  only  from  a  practical  standpoint  and  per¬ 
haps  some  of  our  scientific  brother  farmers  could  tell 
us  that  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  cutting  of  the  pro- 
vender  so  far  ahead  was  a  most  pernicious  practice 
and  that  there  was  a  great  loss;  but  should  they  all 
make  such  an  assertion  I  would  still  be  inclined  to 
think  it  would  be  like  many  other  losses  they  tell  us 
of,  which  exist  only  in  their  own  theories. 
I  cut  feed  enough  to  last  12  mules  and  horses  and  80 
cows  every  two  weeks,  and  would  gladly  cut  it  all  at 
one  time  had  I  the  room  to  put  away  such  an  amount 
of  stuff.  JAMES  B  COUNCILMAN. 
Has  Done  The  Same  For  Years. 
I  cannot  see  why  cut  fodder  should  lose  any  of  its 
value  by  being  cut  a  long  time  before  being  fed  ;  that 
is,  if  it  is  dry  and  properly  stored  away  under  cover. 
Of  course,  corn  fodder  can  be  cut  before  it  is  fairly 
cured,  in  which  case  it  would  mold;  but  corn  stalks 
properly  cured,  mixed  with  hay  and  straw,  will  keep 
in  a  barn  all  winter  without  deterioration.  My  own 
practice  for  many  years,  before  the  advent  of  the  silo, 
was  to  cut  at  one  time  as  much  fodder  as  there  was 
room  for  in  the  barn,  enough  to  last  a  month,  and 
often,  when  nothing  else  could  be  done  to  better  ad¬ 
vantage,  more  fodder  (by  fodder  I  mean  corn  stalks, 
hay  and  straw,)  would  be  cut  and  added  to  the  pile,  so 
there  was  always  quite  a  large  quantity  on  hand,  piled 
up  in  the  bay,  and  the  bottom  of  the  pile  cut  in  early 
winter  was  fed  late  in  spring;  and  I  was  never  able  to 
distinguish  any  difference  in  the  quality  or  feeding 
value  between  that  fed  nearest  the  time  of  cutting, 
and  that  fed  out  last;  and  had  I  the  room  in  which  to 
have  stored  it,  I  most  certainly  would  have  cut  all  my 
fodder  just  as  early  in  the  winter  as  the  corn  stalks 
were  properly  cured.  There  is  certainly  much  less 
waste  of  time,  labor  and  material  in  passing  the  corn 
stalks  through  the  cutter  as  they  come  from  the  field 
than  in  stacking  and  handling  them  a  second  time; 
while  to  let  them  remain  in  the  field  and  haul  in  and 
cut  a  few  loads  every  week  or  two  during  the  winter, 
would  result  in  great  loss  and  be  a  most  vexatious 
job  or  jobs. 
If  your  correspondent  has  room  to  store  cut  feed 
sufficient  to  winter  10  horses  or  cattle,  I  would  advise 
him  to  go  ahead  as  he  proposes,  and  cut  it  all  in  one 
day  if  possible  and 
Let  foggy  neighbors  be  dismayed 
Such  heresy  to  read  ; 
His  little  hands  were  never  made 
To  cut  ten  horses’  feed.  P.  H.  MUNROE. 
Best  Way  to  Handle  Cut  Fodder. 
I  don’t  think  that  any  of  the  straws  or  well-cured 
hay  will  lose  in  feeding  value  by  being  cut  in  large 
quantity  and  kept  till  used,  even  though  the  time 
should  run  into  months.  I  have  never  noticed  that 
stock  eat  them  any  the  less  readily  after  they  have 
been  cut  and  piled  for  a  long  time.  As  regards  corn 
fodder,  the  case  is  very  different ;  after  being  cut  a 
few  days  it  loses  its  nice,  sweet  smell  and  becomes 
harsher  to  the  touch,  and  the  longer  the  time  that 
elapses  since  it  was  cut,  the  less  the  stock  seem  to  like 
it.  Whether  it  really  loses  in  feeding  value  I  do  not 
know,  but  would  prefer  to  cut  it  every  few  days  if  I 
could  do  so  economically.  Corn  fodder  being  such  a 
hard  feed  to  cut  by  hand,  I  have  always  been  in  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  cutting  a  large  quantity  at  a  time  by  steam 
power,  believing  that  the  loss  in  palatability — not  to 
speak  of  feeding  value — was  not  sufficient  to  overbal¬ 
ance  the  bother  of  getting  up  steam  often  in  order  to 
cut  small  quantities,  and  we  have  our  own  steam 
power  on  the  farm.  There  is  one  thing  I  would  warn 
your  inquirer  against,  and  that  is  if  corn  fodder  be 
cut  in  great  quantity  before  it  is  thoroughly  cured,  it 
will  surely  heat  and  mold  in  the  pile.  If  there  be  barn- 
floor  space  sufficient  to  pile  it  thinly — say  three  feet 
deep — and  turn  it  every  few  days,  then  it  may  be  cut 
safely,  but  the  more  it  is  handled  after  being  cut,  the 
more  it  loses  its  pleasant  smell,  and  the  quicker  it  gets 
the  harsh  feeling  spoken  of.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a 
pile  sufficient  for  one  or  two  days’ feeding  be  slightly 
wet,  it  will  heat,  become  soft,  and  the  cattle  will  eat 
it  much  better.  The  ideal  way  of  feeding  corn  fodder 
would  be  to  cut  it,  wet  it,  mix  the  grain  feed  with  it, 
pile  it  up,  let  it  heat  and  then  feed  it.  There  would 
be  little  or  no  difference  in  palatability  between  such 
fodder  and  ensilage,  the  slight  fermentation  it  had 
gone  through  would  have  broken  down  the  woody 
fiber.  There  is  still  another  way  your  inquirer  can 
manage  in  order  to  cut  all  of  his  fodder  at  one  time, 
and  that  is  to  mix  cut  hay  with  his  fodder  as  fast  as  it 
is  cut  ;  this  will  keep  the  fodder  from  heating,  and  the 
hay  will  absorb  the  aroma  of  the  freshly-cut  fodder 
that  would  otherwise  be  lost ;  this  will  also  keep  the 
cut  fodder  from  heating,  even  though  it  be  not  quite 
cured.  Straw  could  be  used  instead  of  hay.  I  have 
tried  this  plan  successfully.  a.  l.  crosby. 
The  stalks,  if  as  green  as  they  should  be,  would  heat 
and  be  injured  if  cut  and  packed  in  large  quantity. 
If,  however,  the  inquirer  could  arrange  to  cut  stalks, 
hay  and  straw  so  that  all  should  be  mixed  together 
after  cutting,  I  think  his  cut  mixture  would  be  safe 
from  heating  and  would  make  good  fodder.  The  “why” 
I  cannot  state,  except  that  perhaps  the  sugar  in  corn 
stalks  is  exposed  to  the  air  when  the  stalks  are  cut,  and 
fermentation  takes  place.  B.  c.  sears. 
Superintendent  New  Jersey  College  Farm. 
No  Nitrate  of  Soda  Needed. 
A.  O.  R.,  Marshall,  Tex. — I  am  preparing  a  piece  of 
ground  to  experiment  with  late  cabbage.  I  have 
turned  under  a  heavy  growth  of  cow  peas,  and  am 
going  to  apply  1,000  pounds  each  of  cotton-seed  meal 
and  hard-wood  ashes.  Will  nitrate  of  soda  be  bene¬ 
ficial  as  a  top-dressing  ? 
Ans. — No.  The  cow  peas  and  cotton-seed  meal  will 
give  all  the  nitrogen  you  need. 
Making  Up  a  Feeding  Ration. 
J.  A.  N.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. — I  have  100  acres  of  land, 
keep  nine  cows,  seven  horses  and  raise  stock  and  make 
butter.  I  have  hay,  corn  stalks,  corn,  wheat,  rye,  oats, 
plenty  of  straw.  I  don’t  care  to  sell  crops  ;  I  pref«r 
to  feed  them  to  stock,  flow  can  I  best  feed  stock  ? 
Wheat  at  75  cents  per  bushel  is  $1.25  per  100  pounds. 
Bran  is  selling  at  $1.15  per  100.  What  is  the  feeding 
value  of  wheat  as  compared  with  that  of  bran  ?  If 
eight  quarts  of  bran  be  mixed  with  corn  and  oatmeal, 
how  much  wheat  (cracked)  will  take  the  place  of  the 
bran?  Give  some  good  rations  for  horses  and  for  cows 
for  butter. 
Ans. — The  following  table  gives  the  digestible  nutri¬ 
ents  of  the  foods  you  have  on  hand,  assuming  your  hay 
to  be  meadow  hay. 
DIGESTniLE  NUTHIENTS. 
Alb.  C.  Hy.  Fat.  Nut.  R. 
Meadow  hay .  5.4  41.0  1.0  8.0 
Cornstalks .  1.1  37.0  0.3  34.3 
Corn .  8.4  60.G  4.8  8.0 
Bran  (coarse) .  10.0  48.5  3.1  5.6 
Wheat .  11.7  64.3  1.2  6.8 
Rye .  9.9  65.4  1.6  7.0 
Oats .  .  9.0  43.3  4.7  6.1 
Wheat  straw .  0.8  35.6  0.4  45.8 
Oat  straw .  1.4  40.1  0.6  29.9 
The  above  table  gives  the  amount  of  digestible  nutri¬ 
ents  in  100  pounds  of  the  material — thus  100  pounds 
of  meadow  hay  contain  5.4  pounds  of  albuminoids,  41 
pounds  of  carbohydrates,  1  pound  of  fat,  and  the  nutri¬ 
tive  ration  is  :  8  ;  in  other  words,  it  contains  eight 
pounds  of  carbohydrates  to  one  of  albuminoids.  The 
ideal  ration  should  contain  about  2.50  of  albuminoids, 
12  50  carbohydrates  and  0.40  fat.  In  computing  the 
ratios  given  above,  the  fat  is  included  in  the  carbohy¬ 
drates  at  its  proper  value.  To  begin  with,  it  is  well 
to  remember  that  wheat,  wheat  bran  and  oats  are  each 
so  nearly  perfect  that  they  can  be  used  at  any  time 
without  materially  changing  the  ration.  Wheat,  you 
will  easily  see,  is  cheaper  by  a  small  amount  at  $1.25 
per  100  pounds  than  is  wheat  bran  at  $1.15.  Assuming 
that  eight  quarts  of  bran  weigh  five  pounds,  it  would 
contain  about  as  follows:  albuminoids  0.5,  carbohy¬ 
drates  2.4,  fat  0.7.  Four  and  one-half  pounds  of  wheat 
would  contain  as  follows:  albuminoids  about  0.52, 
carbohydrates  2.89,  fat  0.05.  These  would  be  about 
equal  in  nutritive  value.  Having  the  above  constitu¬ 
ents,  you  should  be  able  to  compound  rations  without 
serious  trouble.  If  you  do  not  quite  understand  our  ex¬ 
planation,  write  again  and  we  will  try  to  help  you  out. 
