1858 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
321 
Jos. Juliand, 2d, Bainbridgo. The other was the 
North Devon Bull “ Metropolitan,” bred by R. H. 
Van Rensselaer of Morris, Otsego Co, and now owned 
by John Banks of the former place. They were the 
centre of attraction whenever upon the ground. The 
one so characteristic of a Short-Horn, of great size 
and weight, true form, perfect handling—the other a 
perfect Devon, sleek haired, a faultless symmetry of 
shape, Ac. 
The speed shown by several young horses, now trot¬ 
ted for the first time in public, showed that the far¬ 
mers’ boys were interested in changing the old slow 
moving plow horses, for a breed of horses that can be 
called the horse “of all work”—that, like a true Mor¬ 
gan, can toil at the plow willingly, and on these an¬ 
nual holidays show a proper speed and spirit. 
The fine address of Riley McMaster, Esq., was lis¬ 
tened to with great attention. It was a production of 
decided merit. In this matter our Society has con¬ 
cluded to differ from most others ; instead of sending 
for some “noted man” who will “draw a crowd,” 
we have thus far, each year, listened to the efforts of 
one of our own citizens, practical farmers themselves, 
and sons of farmers. The large attentive audiences 
show the complete success of the experiment. J. J. 
Grain Stubble. 
Messrs. Eds.— On land where I grew winter wheat 
and oats the present wet season, I have a capital catch 
of grass—clover, timothy and red top. I do not wish 
to feed it this fall, because the cattle would poach the 
ground badly, and pull up much of the young, tender- 
rooted grasses, greatly to the injury of the future hay 
crops. If left uncut and unfed, I fear much of the 
grass will be smothered by the dense growth and stub¬ 
ble left on the fields ; besides, I should fear great in¬ 
jury by the operations of field mice, under the protec¬ 
tion of such a shelter as they would find. Will it be 
safe to mow the stubble and grass, and secure it for 
winter fodder? Under such treatment, would the 
grasses be more liable to winter-kill 1 Or, would it 
be a better way to mow and spread the crop evenly 
over the ground, and leave it there to rot and enrich 
the land 1 If you or any of your numerous corres¬ 
pondents can advise in this matter, they would greatly 
oblige A Young Farmer. Plainfield , Aug., 1858. 
Remarks. —It is the general practice among far¬ 
mers in many sections of the country, to give their 
cattle full range of their mowing and stubble fields as 
soon as their crops are harvested, utterly regardless of 
the injury sustained by the tender grasses in the grain 
stubbles. 
Great injury, no doubt, frequently arises to the suc¬ 
ceeding hay crops from the trampling and poaching of 
the soft soil by the feet of the larger stock, and the 
plucking up of the tender rooted grasses. If left uncut 
and unfed, the bad results from smothering and dep¬ 
redations of field mice, might sometimes result in se¬ 
rious injury, more especially if the ground beneath the 
snow should remain unfrozen through the winter, as is 
frequently the case. The mowing and leaving the 
crop spread upon the surface of the field, would not 
much remedy the evils above named. 
Upon due consideration, we think it the better way 
to mow the stubble and grass for winter forage, wher¬ 
ever there is a thick and heavy growth of grass in 
stubble fields. The fodder, if well secured, would be 
equal to second crop hay. The stubble would be out 
of the way of the next year’s clip of grass, and would, 
mixed with the manure of the cattle as bedding, prove 
much more valuable than if left in the field to dry and 
waste away. If cut early in September, a new growth 
would start up sufficient to protect the roots of the 
grasses from the colds of winter, and yet afford but 
little “aid and comfort” to the field mice. 
If very dry weather succeeded the grain harvest, 
there might not be enough grass to pay for cutting ; in 
that case, it might be well to pass a heavy roller over 
the stubble, which, with the snow of winter, would lay 
it so fiat as to put it out of the way of the scythe next 
hay season. 
Since penning the foregoing remarks, we have had 
a ‘ talk’ with a farmer who has long practiced mowing 
most of his stubble fields. His reasons for doing so are, 
that he does not feed his newly sown grass fields. 
That he usually obtains more forage than the cost of 
cutting, Ac., and the fields are cleared of the dry 
stubble which sometimes makes the next year’s mow¬ 
ing very hard work. There is no harbor or shelter for 
the field mice, and the wormwood and other weeds 
that sometimes spring up after the grain is cut, are 
removed before the seeds ripen, which prevents their 
seeding his grounds. To the inquiry—“ is not newly 
set grass more liable to winter kill, in consequence 
of the removal of grass and stubble,”—his reply was, 
‘ if mown in September, there would, at the setting in 
of winter, be more covering for the roots of the grass¬ 
es, than there would be if fed off by cattle, who fre¬ 
quently have the full range of the fields till the setting 
in of winter.” 
Most farmers might easily satisfy themselves in re¬ 
gard to this matter, by mowing the stubble of one 
field, leaving another uncut and unfed, and closely 
feeding a third field. Such an experiment might 
impart to them valuable information. 
- 0 . m »-. 
Rhubarb Wine. 
A correspondent of the Irish Farmer's Gazette , 
furnishes the following receipt to make one gallon rhu¬ 
barb wine : 
Take 5 lbs. rhubarb, cut it small, and let it stand in 
water four-days, then bruise the rhubarb, and strain it 
through a fine sieve or loose towel; add three and a 
half lbs. good soft sugar; boil it three-quarters of an 
hour; add, when boiling, half lb. bruised raisins, the 
white of an egg, and a little isinglass, work it in a jar 
with a little yeast. It will keep for ten years, and 
improve, if well made. T. C. Clonmel , Aug. 1, ’58 4 
■-- 
Small Fields for Pastures.—Thaer says “ a 
much higher rent is paid in England for pastures sur¬ 
rounded with hedges, than for those unenclosed, and 
the more so in proportion as the enclosures are of 
smaller dimensions.” It is thought that “ fifty acres 
of land, divided into five fields, will fatten as many 
cattle as sixty acres of land all in one piece.” The 
reason of this is in the protection afforded by the fen¬ 
ces, but more in the facilities afforded for changing 
pastures, so that while the cattle are feeding in one 
enclosure, the grass shoots up again undisturbed in the 
others, without being trampled upon by the feet of 
animals, as it would were they allowed to ramble over 
l the whole. 
