I rzjii 
I 
tremely industrious and a frugal class of men. 
Instead of their being the owners of a few starv¬ 
ing cows and sheep, their cattle would be im¬ 
proved both In breed and condition, and instead 
of waging a daily war against penury, they 
would have some chance of having their indus¬ 
try rewarded ; and when old ago came upon 
thorn they might receive the jnst reward of the 
industry and frugality of their days of strength 
and youth. 
No person will for a moment hesitate to ac¬ 
knowledge the influence which belts of trees 
afford as a means of shelter for grass and corn 
lands; and in addition to this, they form a val¬ 
uable shelter for sheep and cattle. Cattle and 
sheep in an exposed position will require more 
food to keep them in equal condition to those 
who enjoy a freedom from such exposure. I 
will not weary you with statistical statements 
upon heat as an adjunct to economic feeding. 
The fact of tins is known to every old woman 
who keeps a pig. Her care to BUppiy him with 
a nice warm stye is proof of the fact. At pres¬ 
ent. however, tnkitigthogcneralityof poor moun¬ 
tain farms, the pig seems to have an unfair share 
of the luxury of heat. 1 think tho groat loss 
which fanners annually sustain among their 
young cattle, may be traced, for tho greater part, 
to the amount of wet and cold they are exposed 
to, through want of shelter. It is a custom in 
many farms to turn out. for certain honrs in the 
day dining mid-winter, the cattle—milch cows 
and all—to the upland parts of the farm. As 
the cattle arc turned out upon these upland iu- 
closurcs from warm cow-houses, they naturally 
take cold, and I regret to say that I have person¬ 
ally seen cattle die in this way. 
Now, what 1 wish to lay before this meeting 
for their consideration, is the proposal that land¬ 
lords should gi ant leases to such mountain farm¬ 
ers, and that they (the tenants) should take upon 
themselves the trouble and expense of planting, 
receiving ball' the value of tho plantations at the 
expiration of thoir leases, the weeding of the 
trees in the interim being the perquisite ol" the 
tenant, as an equivalent to his trou ble in clean¬ 
ing the woods. This has been tried successfully 
in Scotland, and if this plan were acted upon In 
this country it would be a great boon to the ag¬ 
ricultural community’. 
Supposing a mountain farmer holds 300 acres 
of land, and for purposes of shelter ho plants 
say 100 acres, taking live years to do so, and hav¬ 
ing a lease say of twenty-five years. If ho plant 
larch mixed with spruce or Scotch fir as nurses— 
being evergreens, they would give more shelter 
—the probable value of such a plantation would 
be about £50 per acre—therefore, the value of 
100 acres would amount to £5,000. You have 
only to divide this sum by two, and you have tho 
tenant’s portion, which would amount to £2.500. 
Now the cost of planting would amount to about 
£800. It will require between 3.000 and 4.000 
trees to plant an acre. The tenant-farmer will, 
of course, go about his undertaking in a very 
different way from his rich landlord. Instead of 
buying the young larch at say 25s, or 30s. a thou¬ 
sand. he will buy good seedlings, say at £7 10s. 
the hundred thousand. He will, of course, have 
to provide a misery for them. You are aware 
how closely young trees arc planted together in 
a nursery; so that the land which would be re¬ 
quired for such a purpose, although good in 
quality, would be small in quantity, and (he 
weeding not nearly so expensive as you would 
suppose, the young trees being so near each 
other as to check tho growth of weeds. The 
trees would require transplanting twice before 
they were planted out for good. 
The tenant, by an expenditure ol' £300 upon 
his farm, would he well repaid by the im¬ 
proved crops and the shelter a Horded to his cat¬ 
tle, not to mention the profit arising from the I 
thinning of the trees; and the amount derived I ] 
by the sale of the woods at the expiration of his i 
lease would be a very handsome bonus indeed, i 
Before plantations can bo made with success, 
either for shelter or profit, the planter must not t 
he too greedy of his land. A narrow belt of trees c 
nover grows quickly. j c 
I may here nolico a curious fact. A friend of 1 
iniue planted a piece of land about 30 acres in j 
extent. At first, the trees nearest the western r 
boundary, which were surrounded by a very high a 
bank, grew much quicker than those in the con- r 
ter storms, and seems satisfied for the first few 
years with providing itself with large roots, so 
that when it grows tall it may resist them ; but 
once these roots are formod, they grow as last, 
and frequently overtake tho larch. This I have 
soon myself in one instance. The best trees for 
planting in exposed situations or on any very 
high mountain land, are poplar, sycamore, beech, 
larch, Scotch and spruce firs. I may here men¬ 
tion that poplar trees, w hich wore at one time of 
little value as timber, arc now used to make rail¬ 
way brakes. 
1 may mention the following trees as suitable 
for hedge rows in mountain districts—viz., beech, 
laburnum (the two varieties). Blackthorn is 
preferable to the white, and when they are kept 
in order, common gorse. These, when seen 
afar, looked very well. There are many more 
beautiful trees that I recommend as suitable for 
planting near your farm-honse, but I am afraid 
that some of you will consider that a mountain 
farmer has no time to gratify his taste for the 
beautiful. And now for the last word. All this 
has been tried, and has succeeded. 
f airg Ijusbankg. 
GREEN FODDER-EUROPEAN METHOD OF 
PRESERVING AND FEEDING TO STOCK. 
Methods of feeding or preparing food for 
stoijk, by which any considerable expense may 
be saved over the ordinary practice, must bo of 
interest to those who are seeking economy in 
this department of farming. Economy docs not 
consist in starving cattle any more than in starv¬ 
ing the land. Annuals must be full fed in order 
to obtain from them the best results, but it does 
not follow from this that- the most expensive 
food is always tho bout. What every farmer 
who keeps stock desires to learn is, in what man¬ 
ner stock is to be well kept, both as to health 
and condition, and at tho same time at the 
cheapest rates ; and in what manner can a given 
amount of laud, at least cost, be made to keep 
the largest number of cattle. These questions 
are studied more in Europe than with us, but as 
land increases more and more in value in this 
country, methods of feeding must he adopted 
more economical than upon cheap lands. 
Of Jato, foreign journals are urging tho ad¬ 
vantages of feeding what is termed “sour 
forage’ to stock. In other words, the stalks of 
Indian corn, the straw of cereals, and other 
forage material, are fermented in pits, and when 
cured in this way tho fodder is said to be ex¬ 
tremely palatable to stock, and is commending 
itself on account of tho profits which it insures. 
This kind of food has uot only become quite pop¬ 
ular iu Frauce, but is in use in Germany. Aus¬ 
tria and Hungary, by the stock growers of those 
countries. 
Indian corn is sowed broadcast or in drills, 
Similar to our method of raising fodder corn, 
and is harvested in its green state. It is then 
buried in pits, and thus preserved for the winter 
feeding of farm animals, Iu tho Report of the 
Department of Agriculture for 1875, we find an 
interesting article on tho subject, it being a 
resume or recapitulation of the plan, as obtained 
from foreign sources, and we shall briefly refer 
to some of tho leading points presented. 
The process of storing green maize in tho soil 
is described by M. Reihlen, in tho Journal 
Pratique of Nov. 20, 1373, in answer to the re¬ 
quest of leading French agriculturists: 
“The esseutial features of tho process em¬ 
brace a ditch 5 feet deep aud 12' feet wide at 
the top. sloping to 10 feet at the bottom. The 
maize, cut green, is allowed to dry for two or 
three days iu the hot sun, and thou is closely 
packed iu parallel layers, great care being taken 
to compress them within the smallest possible 
space, and to exclude the atmosphere entirely. 
The fodder is piled in a pyramidal ridge, about 
eight foot above the surface of tho ground, and 
covered with three feet of earth, by the weight 
of which, supplemented by the trampling of 
horses aud cart wheels, the whole mass is com¬ 
pressed nearly within the trench. M. Heuu.en 
regards the trampling as vnnevcsmry, as during 
a single night the fodder, by its own weight, 
Rinks three feet; the three feet of soil then sup- 
cultural stations, it is stated that maize fodder 
(green) has a feeding value equal to 22 per cent, 
of that of hay; rye fodder, 33 per cent.; grass, 
green, 34 per cent.; wheat straw, 48 per cent. 
In a good forage ration for a milch cow, the 
ratio of nitrogenous to non-nitiogenous matter 
should bo as 1 to 5, or as 1 to 4J^. Maize forage, 
cut green, does not meet this requirement, hb it 
shows a proportion of 1 to 0 24. The maize, 
however, preserved with a mixture of straw, 
approximates the standard, showing a propor¬ 
tion of 1 to 4.31. Its increased per cent, of fatty 
matter represents also a great advantage, being 
six times greater than iu the green maize. 
Iu France it is anticipated, when this method 
of preserving fodder shall be thoroughly and 
practically understood, that the produce of one 
acre of laud will l>e sufficient for the keep of two 
head of cattle. 
The method, it is stated, has been employed 
in Hungary for seventy years, and in Germany 
for ten years. Supplementary coverings of straw 
or of timber sheds were formerly used, but have 
been discontinued as unnecessary. In some 
cases the sides of the pita are neatly lined with 
brick or atone. The fodder is pitted in all kinds 
of weather that will admit of its transportation. 
And it has been observed that rain falling at the 
time is advantageous, as leaving smaller inter¬ 
stices for air. 
By pitting, the green maize loses from 30 to 
40 per cent, of weight, but this is mostly water. 
For homed cattle tho usual daily allowance or 
ration is about 30 pounds for each 1,000 pounds 
weight; for sheep, about 15 to 20 pounds. 
A plan so radically different for the preserva¬ 
tion of fodder from that usually employed in 
this country, must seem at first thought entirely 
impracticable, and possibly there may ho objec¬ 
tions to its introduction here which do uot ob¬ 
tain in Franco or Germany. But tho plan may 
well be tho subject of experiment at onr Agri¬ 
cultural Colleges, aud the results given from an 
American standpoint. 
Our country is well adapted to growing corn 
fodder, and no doubt as largo a yield can be ob¬ 
tained here as in Europe, where it is stated that 
thirty-five tons of the green maize are easily ob¬ 
tained per acre, while tho possibilities of the 
yield, where land is strongly enriched and under 
favorableconditions of soil and culture, are double 
the amount named. And if there Is any econ¬ 
omy in preserving and feeding fodder after this 
method, the fact ought to bo generally known 
by those who keep stock, even if they do not 
see fit to put it in practice. 
-- 
CONNECTICUT DAIRYING - STARTING A 
BUTTER FACTORY, ETC, 
A coiutF.si'OMU’.NT, from Connecticut, who has 
a dairy of 30 cows, and who proposes to build a 
butter factory to work up the milk from 100 to 
150 cows, writes among other things, as follows : 
“ Mv idea is to make butter chiefly, using the 
skim-milk iu the manufacture of skini-cheeso, 
and perhaps when milk is scarco iu Now York 
sending it there. I have an excellent spring of 
water which never exceeds 50 degrees in tho 
hottest weather, and runs enough to fill an inch 
pipe or more. I propose building directly over the 
are not onfrequently made from 100 pounds of 
milk, and this is considered an extraordinary 
good average for factories where the cows are of 
no particuliir breed—being “natives” or the 
common cows of tho country. On this basis the 
butter, at 80 cents per pound, would bring one 
dollar and twenty cents per 100 pounds of milk, 
or at the rate of a trifle over two and one-half 
cents per quart . In this estimate it will be seen 
nothing is said about the investment in factory 
and fixtures and the cost of making the butter. 
This expense must be taken out. It is difficult 
to say what the skimmed milk is worth as that 
depends upon the price which can be obtained 
for skim-cheese. East year skim-cheese ruled 
very low and the prospect is that it will continue 
to be low. 
The plan adopted in New York, when milk i3 
purchased, is to make the price of cheese the 
basis for the price to be paid for milk delivered 
at the factory. That is to say, ten pounds of 
milk are taken as an average for a pound of 
cheese and the average price at which cheese is 
sold at the best factories is paid for the ten 
pounds or milk. Some factories pay for the 
milk on the above plan at the rate of the highest 
quotations in New York fur cheese, and this is 
easily figured from quotations hi reliable city 
papers. By this rule payment for tho milk can¬ 
not bo made until the following month after its 
delivery, because, for instance, tho cheese made 
from milk, produced in April, is uot sold until 
May, and the cheese made in May does not go on 
the market until June, etc. etc. 
This plan is regarded as very fair for both 
parties, since the price of dairy products is liable 
to fluctuate, and it is extremely hazardous to fix 
a price iu spring for the whole Beason upon any 
ficticious basis that will bo satisfactory to both 
parties. For it will be seen if dairy products go 
very low, the buyer is likely to lose heavily, while 
if prices go up, those who deliver milk become 
dissatisfied and often grow careless in regard to 
delivering it sound, or resort to some other 
device for slipping out of their contracts. 
It is a better way, we think, to buy milk by the 
pound than by the quart. It is more convenient, 
and the plan gives better satisfaction generally 
to both parties. At the beginning of the factory 
system iu New York, milk was taken by measure, 
but it often led to dissatisfaction, and the plan 
gave way to weighing which was liked better, 
and is uow universally adopted in tho New York 
factories. 
2. Tho building we, should say, would be large 
enough for the milk of from 100 to 150 cows, but 
we should prefer that the water be led into the 
pool for netting tho mills iustcad of having the 
pool directly over the spring. This will allow 
tho water in the spring to he always sweet and 
uncoutaminated, while the pool may be cleaned, 
from time to time, without affecting the water in 
tho spring. 
3. Prices for manufacturing butter aud cheese 
at factories vary according to the number of 
cows from which milk is delivered, say from one 
dollar fifty to two dollars per 100 pounds of 
cheese, and from two dollars to four dollars per 
100 pounds of butter, the maker furnishing 
packages and materials used in making, etc. etc. 
We prosmne a good manufacturer could be had 
■ .... W w*. i ■% VI-'VUV L'viiiwio v nu T VTV.1 lUO r - - . . , _ 
spring, making a pool, say 10x4 feet, to set the for tvom * 4 ° t0 *°° per moatb attd boar(L 
ter of the plantation ; hut when they grew as | plies all the needed pressure. It was to meet the 
high as the hedge they, of course, received a se¬ 
vere check but. in a measure, recovered from it 
before the last of the trees in the center of the 
plantation had reached this height. At this pres¬ 
ent time the trees in the center of the plantation 
are far the host. 
I think that by planting poplars on the wind¬ 
ward side of a plantation (their growth being so 
quick) the injury to the trees near that boundary 
might be obviated. Although larch is a much 
more profitable tree than either spruco or Scotch, 
in plantations intended for shelter, an admixture 
would be preferable to planting with larch alone. 
The .one being a deciduous tree, growB quicker 
at first than the spruce; the other being an ever- I 
green, presents & greater opposition to the win- | 
pressure that the sides of the pit were made 
oblique. For several days alter covering, the 
irregular sinking of the mass will cause the 
superincumbent earLh to broak into fissures, 
which must be carefully filled up.” 
M, Crevat, after several yeai-s of experiment, 
has found reason to doepen the trenches and to 
contract their width, in order to lessen the ex¬ 
pense of covering with earth. 
M. Gorxmur mixes straw and chaff with the 
green fodder, iu order to absorb the watery ele¬ 
ment, and this is found to be an improvement; 
and ho finds that his preserved fodder is suf¬ 
ficient, without any other food, to keep his ani¬ 
mals in fine condition. 
According to results obtained by German agri¬ 
• deep cans in, malting my building say 18x30 feet, 
j and having tho milk-room divided from the rest 
I by a partition, using steam to clean the milk 
1 utensils and to churn with. 
What I want to know is this:—1st, How much 
can I pay for milk per quart at a basis of 30 cent s 
for butter ? 2d, Is the building large enough to 
work the milk of from 100 to 150 cows conveni¬ 
ently. providing a boiler and engine room are 
added to the main structure ? 3d. What wages 
per month do they usually pay butter makers, 
and 4 th, ca n you put me in correspondence with 
one experienced iu tho business ? 
Where I live farmers are in the habit of using 
Up their own milk—some making butter and 
some cheese, aud very little first class of either 
is made. There would be no difficulty in getting 
the milk of 300 or more cows for a factory, pro¬ 
vided some one would start in the matter. I am 
anxious to see it done. Although my own dairy 
pays me quite w-ell as it is. as I make exclusively 
butter which I sold this last year at an average 
of 35 cents; still, like my neighbors, 1 want to 
take the milk out of the house and relievo the 
women folks." 
1. Where the milk is set iu deep cans and the 
skimmed milk made into slum-cheese about 3 
pounds of butter are taken from 100 pounds of 
milk. A quart of milk, wine measure, according 
to Gail Bouden, weighs 2 pounds and 2 2-3 
ounces, but usually 35 ounces are allowed. 
There would then be, on this estimate, a trifle 
over 45>2 quarts in the 100 pounds of milk. 
The butter then at 30 cents per pound, exclusive ! 
of the skimmed milk, would pay about 2 cents a 1 
dk iljorscnun. 
THE MODEL HORSE. 
By far too much attention has lately been 
given to tho development of extraordinary speed 
iu horses. At best this can only serve the pur¬ 
poses of show or amusement, while so great is 
its liability to abuse that society has, with rea¬ 
son, learnt to look with suspicious distrust upon 
most of those connected, in any way, with fast 
horses. Strange that association with the no¬ 
blest of irrational animals should exercise so 
demoralizing an influence over his human owner 
and attendants ! One of the worst results of 
this nndue exaltation of tieotness is a tendency' 
to neglect or undervalue tho intrinsic merits of 
the animal. It is as a helper to man that the 
horse deserves the highest praise; and in this 
capacity, a large, powerful, compactly-built and 
well-proportioned animal is far more serviceable 
than one of a lighter, but fleeter breed. 
There arc strong indications, however, that the 
world will soon recognize tho pre-eminent merits 
of large, massive horses, and among these signs 
not the least significant is the prominent posi¬ 
tion of late accorded to the rercheron-Norman 
breed of horses. These are of French descent, 
aud considering the comparatively recent date of 
their importation into this country’, they have 
already acquired an enviable reputation. 
The characteristics of the race may be learnt 
from the following description of a model or 
quait for the milk as delivered, the making up ideal animal, copied from the Stud-Book of the 
not being considered. bleed, jnst published. We are assured that there 
At some of the butter factories where all the j 8 little fanciful about the sketch, as many of tho 
cream is taken and where the skimmed milk is Percheron-Normans are very nearly as perfect- 
fed to cah es and swine, four pounds of butter The characteristics of the model horse are: 
I 
