152 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May. 
u Mazurka 3d"—the Property of It. A. Alexander, Esq. 
Among tbe stock at Woodburn Farm, (Woodford Co., Ky.,) no one family has perhaps attracted more general 
admiration than the Mazurkas, and the heifer represented above is one not often surpassed, and dees great 
credit to her enterprising and careful breeder. We regret that we have not her full pedigree at hand, but will 
endeavor to give it on a future occasion, with some further illustrations from the same extensive herd, and in 
the meantime we desire to call attention to Mr. Alexander’s advertisement in another column, from which it 
will be seen that his Fourth Annual Sale is to be held as usual on the 2d of the coming June. 
Early Cutting of Hay. 
Messrs. Editors—I have observed in several agri¬ 
cultural papers, articles enjoining farmers to cut their 
hay as early as at the time that it comes out in blos¬ 
som, (or even earlier,) because, it is said, “ if proper¬ 
ly cured, the hay retains its beautiful green color, and 
the nutritive juices of the plant to a much greater de¬ 
gree than if suffered to stand until the seeds are fully 
formed.” 
Perhaps this may be true in regard to clover, but I 
am satisfied that it is not in regard to timothy or the 
other “ grasses.” At all events, my experience is that 
green timothy hay is not as palatable to cattle, nor to 
stock of any kind, as that which is cut after the seeds 
are fully formed, and indeed so far ripened as to 
“shell” a little, when the hay is “housed.” 
Some years ago I cut some very good timothy grass 
before harvest, and before the blossoms had entirely 
fallen off. It was cured in the very best manner, and 
placed in a mow to which I could at any time have ac¬ 
cess. After harvest, and when the seed had become so 
ripe as to shell out considerably, I cut the same kind 
of grass in the same field, and placed it a separate 
mow. At a favorable time (in the following winter,) 
for making a fair experiment, I carried out to my cat¬ 
tle, hay from the mow in which I had stored that which 
had been cut while green, (before harvest,) and fed to 
each a separate parcel. After they had fairly com¬ 
menced feeding upon it, I carried to each a parcel of 
that which had been cut after harvest, and from which 
the seed shelled when it was handled. In every in¬ 
stance the cattle immediately quit the “beautiful green 
hay,” and ate up, clean , that which was cut after har¬ 
vest, before again touching the former. Indeed, in 
many instances, they threw from their mouths the 
green hay, the sooner to get at the other. I repeated¬ 
ly fried the same experiment, and the result was the 
same in every instance. The reason of the preference 
shown by the cattle for the hay cut after harvest, I 
suppose to be this : it was much more easily masticat¬ 
ed, and sweeter in flavor than the other; that it re¬ 
tained, in the stems, leaves and seeds, all the nutritive 
matter which it possessed when green, and probably 
with some additions, derived from the earth and atmos¬ 
phere, over and above that of the green hay. 
The green, early cut hay, although it retained its 
green and beautiful appearance, was tough and diffi¬ 
cult to masticate; and very probably the crude and 
unelaborated sap acquired an acid and bitterish taste 
which was disagreeable to the palate, and deleterious 
to the health of the cattle. Be this as it may, the ex¬ 
periments fully satisfied me that the cattle were most 
fond of the later cut hay ; that they would eat more of 
it, and keep in better condition upon it than upon the 
earlier cut green hay. I have not so perfectly experi¬ 
mented in regard to horses and sheep. But I have 
observed that they always made the same choice with 
the cattle, when opportunity offered ; no doubt for the 
same reasons. J. H. H. Seneca Co. 
--— 
Next Meeting of the American Pomoi.ogical So¬ 
ciety. —We are authorized by the President, Hon. 
Marshall P. Wilder, to announce that the Seventh 
Session of the American Pomologieal Society will be 
held in the city of New-York, to commence on the 14th 
day of September next. Circulars will be issued in 
due time 
