1858 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
107 
soil from one to two feet deep, almost into brick dust. 
But, after all, the roots of the hedge came up through, 
and that same piece is now a good hedge Burning off 
stubble and killing the top in that way, or prairie 
grass, only makes it grow the thicker and better; and 
some trim their hedges only by such burning down, I 
am told, in the south, as the old stocks will stand till 
the new shoots come up again to their relief. 
I believe I have now, my dear sir, answered all of 
your questions in order as proposed, according to the 
best of my knowledge; and I am not aware of being 
under any particular bias in the matter, for instead of 
desiring to extend my operations in the hedging busi¬ 
ness, I would prefer, as things now are, to contract it, 
and sold out all my farms with the intention of so do¬ 
ing, so far and so fast as I find it expedient and prac¬ 
ticable. 
If anything further is desired, I would most cheer¬ 
fully give you all the information in my power, so soon 
as time and other duties will permit. 
Allow me also to say that I have seen and felt in 
connection with this hedge business of the west, as well 
as with all our other farming interests, such great and 
urgent need of a system of State institutions, similar 
to those proposed in Hon. Mr. Morrill’s bill now pend¬ 
ing in Congress, that I have devoted most of my spare 
time for some years past, to that great national object, 
as the Report herewith sent will show; and I hope 
your time and talents are not so fully employed, but 
that you will find time to give this great interest an 
effective helping hand. J. B. Turner. Jacksonville , 
III., Feb. 1, 1858. 
-- 
Culture of Hungarian Grass or Millet. 
Messrs. Editors —I see in your January Cultiva¬ 
tor, an inquiry of A. B. Reynolds, for the best ‘‘Sub¬ 
stitute for Hay”—whether green oats, green corn, 
millet, &c., or carrots, or other root crops, are the best 
substitute. It is my opinion that the Hungarian Grass 
Seed is far preferable to either of the above. That 
any kind of land that will raise good corn or oats, will 
raise good Hungarian grass, and on land that will 
raise from 60 to 75 bushels per acre, will raise from 
3 to 5 tons per acre. It has been grown here in the 
West at the rate of 7 tons per acre. When it grows from 
3 to 5 tons per acre, it will turn out from thirty to 
forty bushels seed per acre. One bushel seed will 
be sufficient to sow three acres. At this place it 
is now selling for $3 per bushel from our seed stores. 
I however bought five bushels from a country wagon 
last week for $12, weighing full 50 pounds to the 
bushel. The ground should be prepared the same as 
for sowing oats, and be sown from the first to the last 
of May, and it will then be ready to cut right after 
oat harvest. 
If cut for hay it must be cut when in bloom, and 
about the time the lower blades or leaves begin to 
turn yellow. If cut for seed, it should be cut when 
the seed is in a thick doughey state, and then bound 
in sheaves the same as wheat, which makes it much 
more convenient for threshing in a machine. The seed 
is of an oily nature, and horses or cattle will cat the 
seed before corn or oats, and the hay before timothy 
and clover. Horses haviug been fed on grain and good 
timothy hay being changed to one-half the grain and 
this hay, began to improve immediately in flesh, and 
their coats more sleek and shiny. Cattle will do very 
well on this hay after the seed is threshed out. The 
grass has good roots, grows deep in the ground, and 
will stand dry seasons much better than any other 
kind of grass. The dryest seasons in the West will 
not make the grass wilt in the middle of the day. 
After the grass is mown, it will sprout or sucker up 
very thick, and will probably make much more pas¬ 
ture than timothy and clover, after being mown, du¬ 
ring the summer and fall. It will not stand the winter, 
and of course must be sown annually. I shall sow 
about 15 acre the coming season, and shall then be 
better able to test the quality of the grass. In some 
parts of Iowa, where timothy hay sells for $10 per 
ton, the hay of the Hungarian grass brings from $12 
to $15 per ton. S. P. Kirkbride. Quincy , III. 
Although our correspondent pronounces the Hunga¬ 
rian grass superior to Millet, we suspect he has never 
seen the latter plant cultivated under its proper name, 
for we can assure him that the Hungarian grass is 
identical with the German millet. It is a valuable 
forage plant, and especially adapted to the light rich 
soils of the prairies, where enormous crops of it were 
grown the past year. 
- • - 
The Value of Hay Caps. 
Hay caps, made of stout cotton cloth, have been ex¬ 
tensively introduced into use in many sections of the 
country, within a few years past, and judging from the 
best sources of information within our reach, we know 
they are generally approved of, on the score of econo¬ 
my, by those who have given them a fair trial. 
In the autumn of 1856, Mr. Flint, Secretary of the 
Mass. Board of Agriculture, directed to one or more 
farmers in every town in the state, a circular contain¬ 
ing a series of questions pertaining to the farm. The 
tenth question was, “ Have you used hay caps 7 and if 
so, with what result in point of economy 7 How were 
they made, and at what cost 7” 
To the above questions he received numerous replies, 
and in almost every case the use of the hay caps was 
highly approved. 
A practical farmer of Hampshire county says : 
“In reply to your question as to the utility of hay 
caps, it gives me pleasure to say, that after using them 
constantly for the last seven years, I consider them of 
the first importance in the most critical branch of farm¬ 
ing- 
“ I can safely affirm that my hay has been intrinsi¬ 
cally worth on an average,one or two dollars a ton more 
than my neighbors, which has been proved by the re¬ 
markable health of my animals. * * Having these 
covers always at hand, it has been my practice to mow 
my grass when it was ready, without consulting the 
almanac or waiting for a change of the moon , and the 
result has been, I have had more than my share of 
good luck in this important branch of business. 
“They are also very useful as a protection against 
heavy dews, and as a cover for coarse clover and timo- • 
thy, I consider them indispensable .” 
A Worcester county farmer says : 
“ I have one hundred, made of cotton sheeting, two 
yards square; the hundred cost me just forty dollars. 
I think they have saved me twenty dollars this year. 
I had at one time this season, one hundred and thirty 
cocks standing out in a six days storm. One hundred 1 
were covered—not having caps enough, thirty were left d 
uncovered. The uncovered was worth but little, while ^ 
the covered was passablo hay. I stooked some oats, 
