1846 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
53 
One acre of carrots, then, or 500 bushels would be equal 
to 5^ tons of hay. According to our own experience, 
such a crop may be easily raised and harvested for fif¬ 
teen dollars, which would place the carrots as a cheaper 
food than hay, if the hay were only three dollars a ton. 
But the snperiority of the condition of horses and cattle, 
when fed freely on carrots with hay, is an additional 
advantage. 
Straw .—The following shows the comparative nutri¬ 
tive properties of straw, by indicating the number of 
pounds needed to be equal to 100 lbs. of hay. But it 
must be observed that these results will vary greatly 
with the ripeness or freshness of the straw, and other 
circumstances connected with its growth or condition. 
New wheat straw,.; 272 
Oat straw,. 166 
Barley straw,. 176 
Pea straw,... 169 
Clover hay,. 94 
But as the quantity of straw is wholly dependant on 
the quantity of grain raised, and is in fact only a second¬ 
ary crop, the amount which each farmer possesses can 
only be controlled by economy in saving what he has, 
which cattle will eat freely, if mixed with hay and 
chopped, or alone, unchopped, if well salted. For 
further hints on this point, see p. 381 of our last vol. 
There is another item of cheap and nutritious food in 
the shape of corn-stalks, sown for fodder. The value of 
common corn-stalks, raised for the grain, depends greatly 
on the quality, and the amount which cattle can consume 
without refuse, depending on the size of the stalks, varie¬ 
ty of corn, &c. But when the corn is sowed thickly for 
fodder alone, all is consumed, and a ton is probably 
fully equal to a ton of hay. Five tons at least, (accord¬ 
ing to repeated trial of the writer,) may be raised as 
follows on an acre of respectable fertility, say rich 
enough for 500 bushels of ruta-bagas. Plow and har¬ 
row as usual; furrow one way two and a half feet apart 
with one horse; strew three bushels of corn to the acre 
along these furrows from a basket; cross-harrow to cover 
the corn; pass the cultivator two or three times along 
the rows, but not hoe them; and mow with scythes, 
dry, and draw in. The whole expense, including inte¬ 
rest on land, need not be more than twelve dollars,— 
placing the cornstalks, which are more palatable for 
cows than any hay, at less than two and a half dollars a 
ton. There is no exaggeration about this, but is the 
result of repeated trial. 
An objection is made to the extensive use of roots, 
on account of the difficulty of keeping them and feeding 
them out through winter. But this objection must dis¬ 
appear at once if a good root-cellar, close at hand, is 
constructed. The farmer must have a barn for his hay, 
and he must have a cellar for his roots; the latter need 
cost no more than the former. The objection, there¬ 
fore, should vanish. 
Another objection is, that animals do not like roots— 
will not eat them—or it is hard to learn them to eat. 
This difficulty may be variously obviated. Cattle scarce¬ 
ly ever refuse any kind of roots. Horses and sheep re¬ 
ject them at first; but perseverance, short allowance, or 
chopping up fine and mixing with meal, and then gra¬ 
dually returning to a coarser chopping, and a diminish¬ 
ed quantity of meal, will usually do the work. We 
have learned old horses, which totally refused ruta-ba¬ 
gas at first, to gnaw down whole ones with great avidi¬ 
ty, and a neighbor regularly wintered his store hogs 
mainly upon them without cooking. 
The comparison of different kinds of grain, with hay, 
according to the before mentioned experiments, is as 
follows:— 
Corn,. 52 
Barley,. 53 
Oats,. 67 
Peas,. 47 
Wheat, ...'. 46 
Eighteen bushels of corn, will therefore be equal to 
one ton of hay; the farmer can judge from prices whe¬ 
ther a loss or gain would result from a free or scant use 
of this grain. He can also apply the same rule to other 
kinds of grain. 
On reviewing these estimates, it w'ill be perceived 
that the greatest loss which farmers usually sustain, is 
from the neglect of the free culture of root crops, and 
of corn-stalks for fodder. An abundance of roots at 
hand would enable the farmer to save one-half of the 
hay usually fed to cattle,—or one quarter of the whole 
cost of feeding them. An equal saving would result 
from the use of corn-stalk fodder. Taking, then, these 
two articles together, and not forgetting the increas¬ 
ed amount of butter and milk and the improved con¬ 
dition of the animals, it is probable that one-half the 
expense of wintering cattle would be saved by an im¬ 
proved system; and perhaps equal advantages would re¬ 
sult in the keeping of sheep and horses. Making al¬ 
lowance for difficulties in introducing such a system in 
poor soils or unfavorable localities, and calling the gain 
only one quarter,—what would be the total gain in the 
state of New-York alone? There are in the state, accord¬ 
ing to census, about 470,000 horses, 1,900,000 cattle, and 
5,000,000 sheep; the total expense of wintering them 
cannot be less than twenty millions dollars, at a low es¬ 
timate; one quarter of this would be Jive millions, saved 
every year, in one state. 
The saving which we have made ourselves, and 
which we have seen successfully practiced by others, 
satisfies us that these estimates are very moderate, and 
that this conclusion arrived at is not speculation, but 
positive and existing fact. The great assistance which 
such a system would lend, to fertile and compact culture, 
instead of skimming and surface work, by increasing 
manure and fertility, should induce every enlightened 
agriculturist to labor assiduously for its general exten¬ 
sion. 
ADVICE TO WESTERN EMIGRANTS. 
We have received from Andrew Stone, M. D., of 
Crown Point, Lake Co. Ia., an article under this head. 
He thinks a great error is committed by emigrants in 
general, in not properly considering the difference in lo¬ 
calities in regard to healthfulness. The u great rush,” ho 
says, is for rich land, almost regardless of other circum¬ 
stances. These rich lands lie mostly on the borders of 
streams, which, Dr. S. says, are very frequently the most 
unfavorable to health. Pie remarks, very truly, that— 
“ No one in a new country can be better capable of 
knowing where sickness mostly prevails, and what situ¬ 
ations are most likely to be healthy, than a long set¬ 
tled and experienced physician. For seven years,” 
he continues, “ I have labored assiduously in the pro¬ 
fession, in the west. Six years previous to the last, 
were spent on Spoon river immediately at its intersec¬ 
tion with the Illinois river in Illinois. From accurate 
observation and inquiry, I can vouch for the fact that 
nine-tenths of the cases of sickness I have known du¬ 
ring this time were confined to the borders of rivers 
and streams. And what is another important fact to be 
kept in consideration, is, that the sickness occurring 
on the streams is far more difficult to manage, and is 
much more fatal than the sickness which occurs on dry 
lands at a distance from streams.” 
The cause of this, Dr. S. thinks, is the miasma from the 
decomposing vegetable matters of these alluvial soils, 
which, under the intense heat of the summer's sun, rises 
and fills the air—rendering it “ almost a deadly poi¬ 
son.” “Let me advise you who are coming to the 
west,” says Dr. S., “ to choo~e a high, dry, and rolling 
piece of ground, at a considerable distance from streams; 
avoid also, ponds, and stagnant water of any description. 
You had better go a few miles further to haul your pro¬ 
duce to market, or raise a few bushels per acre less, 
and enjoy health, than choose an unhealthy situation 
with the consequences I have named.” He gives a 
melancholy picture of the sufferings the emigrants 
sometimes endure. He says—“ In one family, I have 
seen nine persons sick at one time—one dead, and ano¬ 
ther dying. At the same time that this fatal sickness 
was prevailing on the river bottoms, there were fami¬ 
lies living at the distance of half a mile, above the 
bluff, who had there for years enjoyed good health.** 
