1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
277 
driven one or two miles in the evening, seemed very- 
lively and playful, and was put in his stable about nine 
at night. When first seen in the morning, he was roll¬ 
ing, tumbling, and pawing, frothing at the mouth, 
sweating, &c. and died in one or two hours. He had al¬ 
ways appeared well and hearty since he came into our 
possession. At the time he was taken, he was thought 
to be healthy and gaining in flesh. I am told by those 
present, that a part of the contents of the stomach were 
found to have exuded through the maw, which organ 
looked more like a sieve or network of thread than any 
thing else. I cannot think he was killed by worms, 
because they were unable to find an) r , except a very few 
bots, which I think could not have so wholly destroyed 
the maw in so short a time; and if they had been long 
at work, the horse must have shown some symptoms of 
distress. 
I have tried to be as particular as possible in describ¬ 
ing all the above cases, that those having any knowledge 
of such things maybe able to suggest the causes through 
the columns of the Cultivator, coming as it does direct¬ 
ly before the eyes of so many of our farmers, breeders 
and raisers of horses. I wish I could say it comes to all 
our farmers; for if there is any other plan by which the 
farmer can invest a dollar and make a greater per cent 
profit thereon, I have yet to learn what that plan is. 
I want to ask of the contributors to your columns 
more attention to the interests of the horse; more infor¬ 
mation in regard to the best breeds, and directions in 
breeding and rearing them, that we may learn to raise 
less worthless nags, and lose less valuable ones. We 
have enough to risk in raising horses to warrant our tak¬ 
ing time and trouble in learning to avoid as many mis¬ 
haps as possible, and have the best animal when reared. 
One way we sometimes miss of having a valuable horse, 
for sale or use, I consider altogether needless; I mean a 
miss in training or breaking. Although there are va¬ 
rious dispositions among horses as among men, yet if 
we deal justly with the colt, while in training, the horse 
will most certainly do us justice in turn. 
John Keese. 
Peru, 7th mo. 13 th, 1846. 
PROPER TIME FOR CUTTING- GRASS. 
In an article in our June number, on “ Hay-making,” 
we advocated the practice of cutting grass for hay be¬ 
fore it shall have gone to seed. The reasons given for 
the practice were, that plants at the time of flowering 
contain starch, gum and sugar, which are known to nou¬ 
rish animals, and that in the formation of seed these 
substances are exhausted from the stems and leaves, 
and woody fibre deposited in their place. We have 
seen but one attempt to controvert this reasoning, and 
we are inclined to believe the general views set forth in 
our article, are in agreement with the opinions and 
practices of our best farmers; nevertheless we cannot 
forego the satisfaction of further strengthening our own 
arguments, by adducing others which seem to have been 
founded on the closest scientific investigation. The 
Quarterly (Edinburgh) Journal of Agriculture for July 
last, contains a notice of a Government report lately pub¬ 
lished, on the “ Chemical Nature of Grass and Haxj as 
Food for Cattle ,” from which we extract the following: 
“ Grass, as may be readily imagined, varies consider¬ 
ably in its composition, according to its age, and also, 
as may be expected, according to its species. The ex¬ 
periments undertaken during the present investigation, 
have sufficiently demonstrated the first of these posi¬ 
tions. But the second is still open for inquiry, since 
chemists who have previously analyzed grass and hay 
have omitted to particularise the botanical names of the 
plants which they have examined. The grass used in 
the present experiments consisted almost entirely of 
Rye-grass (Lolium perenne). The amount of solid mat¬ 
ter in this grass varied from 18 to upwards of 30 per 
cent, according to the early or late period of its growth. 
When grass first springs above the surface of the earth, 
the principal constituent of its early blades is water, the 
amount of solid matter being comparatively trifling; as 
it rises higher, the deposition of a more indurated 
form of carbon gradually becomes more considerable, 
the sugar and soluble matter at first increasing, and 
then gradually diminishing, to give way to the deposi¬ 
tion of woody substance. * * * If, as we have endea¬ 
vored to show, the sugar is an important element of the 
food of animals, then it should be an object with the 
farmer to cut g-rass for the purpose of hay-making at 
that period when the larger amount of matter is con¬ 
tained in it. This is assuredly at an earlier period of its 
growth than when it has shot into seed; for it is then 
that woody matter predominates—a substance totally 
insoluble in water, and therefore less calculated to serve 
as food to animals than substances capable of assuming 
a soluble condition. This is the first point for conside¬ 
ration in the production of hay, since it ought to be the 
object of the farmer to preserve the hay for winter use 
in the condition most resembling the grass in its high¬ 
est state of perfection.” 
CORN DESTROYED BY CROWS, 
Every farmer is aware, is often 
a serious loss. Tarring the seed 
is effectual; but where several bu¬ 
shels per acre are sown for raising 
fodder it is entirely out of the 
question. Stretching cords hori¬ 
zontally on upright poles about the 
field, has been resorted to with 
success, and is becoming common. 
Dr. Cook, of Sodus, lately showed 
us the result of an experiment 
which was somewhat interesting, as 
exhibiting the singularly cautious 
nature of these black scoundrels. 
An oblong piece ofland was sown, 
five bushels to the acre, broadcast, 
for fodder. A cord was stretched 
on poles, in a zigzag direction, 
from one end of the field to the 
other, as shown in the annexed fi¬ 
gure; all the parts of the field indi¬ 
cated by the letters, B, B, B, be¬ 
ing in angles formed by two straight 
portions of the line, were wholly 
untouched by the crows; but the 
part A, though near the line, but 
not inclosed in an angle, was 
stripped clean by these marauders 
Killing Insects. —The Genesee 
Farmer says, they have tried ashes, 
salt, soap-suds, decoction of tobacco, 
and killing bugs with the fingers, 
for protecting cucumbers and me¬ 
lons. The latter they find most 
effectual. We never heard of its 
not being effectual, when vigo¬ 
rously applied—other remedies of- 
Soap as Manure. —T. Dalton, a silk dyer, says, in 
the London Agricultural Gazette, that he uses 15 cwt. 
of soap weekly, to discharge the oily matter from the 
silk, and forming of itself a kind of soap,—the whole of 
which yields from 4000 to 6000 gallons of strong soap¬ 
suds per week. This he has lately applied to his farm, 
and “ its effect is most extraordinary.” It has been 
used only one season, and its results cannot be accurate¬ 
ly given, but he considers it more powerful than any 
other manure; and he thinks if farmers were allowed 
the drawback of the duty on soap used as manure, as 
manufacturei-s are, it would soon supercede guano. 
Richness of Milk. —The Boston Cultivator says that 
Alderney cows usually give milk so rich, that 7 quarts 
will often yield a pound of butter; and that of other 
cows it requires nineteen or twenty quarts. The milk 
from the famous cow. Blossom, required 19 quarts for 
a pound of butter. 
