2 
January 7, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
has plenty of ‘ hay,” but does not say anything about 
tlie quality. If this hay consists of a mixture of clover 
and J imothy or some such grass, and was cut when 
it should be, properly cured and properly fed, then 
young, thrifty cows ought to live on it in good shape 
when they are dry. On the other hand, if the hay 
consists of some I imothy, more wild grasses, and much 
weeds, and is cut late and poorly cured, then is fed 
in a haphazard way, 1 pity the cows. As to the grain, 
1 hree or four tons of oats”—and three horses. This 
ROOTS OF A YOUNG STRAWBERRY PLANT. Flo. 2. 
makes a very good combination, leaving out the 25 
cows. We will begin November 1 and say the horses 
haul some wood, a little manure and go to town occa¬ 
sionally. J hen about six pounds (or quarts) of oats 
each would do. But our friend says that “some of the 
hay must be drawn 12 miles.” This means 24 miles for 
the team, and a load one way. Our rural mail man 
says no horse can stand that drive every day with all 
the grain he can eat. So I should say that our friend's 
horses should have at least 12 quarts of oats per day. 
Then “three or four tons” will last three horses 166 or 
222 days. 1 he buckwheat shorts are very good milk 
producers, but make a rather inferior quality of butter. 
The Pennsylvania Experiment Station publishes a table 
giving different kinds of feeds, their cost and the rela¬ 
tive cost of digestible matter in each, in part as fol- 
lows: 
Price per ton 
Cost of digestible 
Feed 
matters per lb. 
Wheat bran . 
.02 
Corn . 
.0131 
Gluten feed . 
.0145 
Cotton-seed meal. 
0159 
Linseed meal . 
.01 77 
Malt sprouts .. 
. 19.00 
.01 (il 
Dried distillers’ grains . 
. 25.00 
.0145 
By this table we see that wheat bran and linseed meal 
are the two most expensive feeds on the list, and I 
believe that in our case they are worth the most. I 
think if these cows were mine I should feed little or 
no grain until they began to spring bag; then I would 
feed a little (say four pounds) of oatmeal or bran with 
a teacupful of linseed meal a day, and after they 
calve increase the feed as much as circumstances would 
warrant, but not over two pounds of linseed meal per 
day. Next year I would manure some land and plant 
some corn; work it well and make it grow as big 
as I could. When afraid of frost, I would cut it and 
put it in a silo, whether great or small. I would also 
mix oats, barley and Canada peas together, and sow all 
I could of them. Peas are great for protein. I would 
make hay of some of them, and thrash and grind the 
rest. The barley will help take the place of corn- 
meal for that cow that is always a little thin, and it 
will not hurt the rest of the herd. 
New York. j. grant morse. 
Grain and Early-Cut Hay. 
It is not always wise to offer advice to those whose 
conditions are different from one’s own. We should 
hardly kqow how to keep house without feeding our 
cows, at least the milch cows, with grain feed. But 
here we have good markets for all milk and butter that 
can be produced, and that warrants grain feeding in 
spite of present high prices. If we were in the in¬ 
quirer’s position, and wished to get all we could out of 
the cows with as little expenditure for grain as possible, 
we should plan to cut our hay early, and if possible 
top-dress the mowing land as soon as cut. This in 
good seasons would warrant a crop of rowen. Early-cut 
hay and rowen are both great milk makers, and can 
be produced on our own farms. By early cutting of hay 
when first in blossom you may not get quite so large a 
yield, but the better quality that is cut and probable in¬ 
crease of rowen will make up for that. If you can ret 
bran and cotton-seed meal or some other grain with a 
high per cent of protein in place of cotton-seed meal at 
reasonable prices we think it will pay to buy some' and 
mix with ground oats, say two parts bran, two parts 
oats and one part cotton-seed meal, from four to six 
pounds daily to cows giving a fair mess of milk. Buck¬ 
wheat shorts are a fine feed, equal to gluten feed, and 
may be reasonable in price in the vicinity. Barley 
sprouts are good, but we should prefer the feeds above 
mentioned. The inquirer does not need to buy molasses 
for feed. At the prices we have seen it quoted it is 
about the most expensive food one could buy for profit¬ 
able results. Just now here butter brings 31 cents per 
pound wholesale, but farmers are turning out very little 
crfeam. Grain has been high and little fed, and by the 
time they have fed enough to make cows respond well 
prices may be down, while if they were all in condition 
now there would be some money and fun in butter. 
This wintering cows on hay alone means very little in¬ 
come from them at the time of year when most atten¬ 
tion can be given them, and when they ought to pay 
best. We prefer all-year-round dairying. 
Connecticut. h. g. Manchester. 
FEEDING ROOTS OF STRAWBERRIES. 
T. C. Kevitt, of New Jersey, argues that after a 
strawberry plant has produced a good crop of fruit 
it is time to start another plant from it. To illustrate 
ROOTS OF AN OLD STRAWBERRY. Fig. 3. 
his meaning, Mr. Kevitt' brought us samples of old 
and young plants to show the root development. Aver¬ 
age specimens of such plants are shown at Figs. 2 and 
3. Mr. Kevitt says: “In my experience where plants 
have borne a crop of fruit one season the roots of the 
old, exhausted plants become dead, wiry, and decay. You 
will notice all the new roots on an old plant are near 
the crown or surface. That is, they start out at one 
side just below the crown. Still, during the growing 
season and Autumn months the foliage may show all 
indications of strong vitality in plant. Dig up in Fall, 
and inspect the old plant carefully, with a view to dis¬ 
covering the truth in the root system, and compare facts 
with a young grown plant of current season’s growth. 
I have for nine seasons in succession retained and built 
up a field of Glen Mary, which has proved to be a pros¬ 
perous way for a successful crop from the same soil 
each season. Our method of building up the same 
field after fruiting season is this: About July 1 we 
start to cut out with a sharp hoe all plants except in 
the original rows. We retain one plant every 12 inches 
apart; rows two feet by six inches wide. When all 
plants are cut out we start the cultivator through the 
rows several times to loosen up the soil. About August 
1 each plant throws out new runners and makes new 
sets. In this way we renew the beds or field again with 
all young, vigorous plants full of life and energy, which 
become well anchored in the soil, and will not heave 
by se\ ere freezing and thawing. 1 he past season, in 
course of an argument, 1 observed the actual cost to 
build up an acre of strawberries: Cutting out plants $9; 
taking out destroyed plants 50 cents; cultivating, hoeing 
and weeding $10.5*0; total cost per acre $19. Plow 
up the old bed and reset with new plants; the cost will 
be about $25 per acre, and no returns the second year.” 
EASTERN GENERAL PURPOSE SHEEP. 
I here is probably more of the proverbial restless¬ 
ness of the shepherd among the sheep breeders of the 
Eastern States than in any other locality. Our hilly 
country seems particularly adapted to the Merino, Ver¬ 
mont especially having produced many of the best and 
most noted flocks of this famous breed the world has 
ever seen. I am now referring to the wrinkly Spanish 
type. At present we hear but little of these once- 
coveted flocks. Breeders tired of the objectionable wrin¬ 
kles, and to-day they are rapidly being replaced by the 
several famil.es of the Delaines, or by the Rambouillet 
as a close second. Unfortunately for the breeders of the 
Merino, times have changed and sheep can no longer 
be bred for their wool alone, while on the other hand 
a continually increasing demand for mutton, and lambs 
for slaughter, calls emphatically for still another type of 
sheep. Here again the breeder confronts a problem, for, 
as I have already stated, sheep can no longer be bred 
fi»r their wool alone in the East; neither can they 
be raised with profit for their lambs alone, with the 
possible exception of a choice few fattened by ex¬ 
perts, or by hothouse breeders for early markets. This 
being the case, eastern breeders have been forced to 
seek for still another class of sheep that would profitably 
produce both wool and mutton. Purebreds were tried 
with more or less success, usually less. It was soon 
found that the long-wools, such as the Lincoln, Cots- 
wold and Leicester, that thrived so satisfactorily on the 
rich bottom lands of old England, were not adapted 
to the rigorous climate of our New England, not being 
strong enough in constitution to withstand the extreme 
climatic conditions, with the comparatively scanty feed 
on our old hill pastures. 
Short-wools also sought for their share of public no¬ 
tice and favor. I he Southdown early won its way 
somewhat extensively, but its light fleece prohibited it 
fi om taking the coveted place. The Shropshire won 
many friends, but did not prove quite hardy enough 
for the average breeder. Crosses were tried. The 
Delaine Merino and Shropshire, crossed either way, 
proved perhaps the most satisfactory for an all-purpose 
sheep, but without the best of care they were too scanty 
milkers to raise ideal lambs. With the thought of im¬ 
proving our native flocks, foreign sheep were introduced, 
and v ith them came also that curse of all flock owners, 
nodular disease, which destroyed or debilitated so many 
sheep as to eliminate all profit. Discouragement comes 
to many, and it is indeed hard to keep from taking a 
pessimistic view of the situation. Nothing daunted, the 
sheep breeder should ever keep in mind that just as 
many and as difficult problems confront the breeders of 
nearly all kinds of domestic animals, and that suc¬ 
cess is nearly always bought with the price of eternal 
vigilance and the intelligent, painstaking care which 
their Creator designed them to have when He placed 
them under the supervision of mankind. The problem 
of successful sheep raising in the Eastern States should 
GRADE HOLSTEIN HEIFER, No. 7. Fig. 4. 
be more carefully worked out. The demand for both 
mutton and wool is steadily increasing, and there is 
nothing so well adapted to reclaiming our hills and 
abandoned farms as sheep. q 
Lebanon Springs, N. Y. 
