18 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
CUTTING STRAW, HAY, CORNSTALKS, &c., FOR FODDER. 
There are few farmers unwilling to admit that straw, 
cornstalks, and even hay, are far better for food when 
cut, or converted into chaff, than when fed out uncut; in¬ 
deed, this is one of those things that are self evident to 
all who understand any thing of the action of the stomach 
on food, or what is necessary to nutrition. Great, how¬ 
ever, as is the acknowledged benefit of feeding animals 
in this way, the few that attempt it only serve to show 
how deeply rooted the habits of the farming community 
are, and how averse they are to all change. 
There are many advantages in cutting hay, straw, and 
cornstalks, when used for fodder, or the food of animals. 
In the first place, there is little or no waste of food. 
Every farmer is aware that of hay, clover hay in parti¬ 
cular, when fed without cutting, a very large portion, 
and of cornstalks nearly one-half, and that the most nu¬ 
tritive part, is rejected by the animal and wasted. Se¬ 
condly, it is presented to the stomach in a condition the 
most proper for the action of the digestive organs, an es¬ 
sential point in ascertaining the necessary amount of food 
required to keep an animal in condition to travel or to 
labor. Thirdly, an animal consumes much less time in 
making its meal, or filling its stomach with cut food, than 
When uncut; a most important matter to the poor animal 
that requires rest after labor, and not to be compelled to 
spend half the night in eating to satisfy hunger, when it 
ought to be quietly sleeping; and lastly, there is a great 
saving in the quanity of food consumed, to keep an ani¬ 
mal in equally good condition, or fit to perform a given 
quantity of labor. 
It appears from a statement in “ British Husbandry,’ 5 
vol. I., page 141, that the allowance of food to cavalry 
horses, is 12 lbs. of hay and 10 lbs. of oats, or 22 lbs. in 
all; but experience has proved that work horses or cart 
horses will require 28 to 30 lbs. to keep them in good 
condition; and the large dray horses of the metropolis 
consume from 36 to 40 lbs. of hay and oats daily. The 
great contractors, the Messrs. Wiggins, allow their heavy 
horses 16 lbs. of clover hay, 4 lbs. of straw, and 18 lbs. 
of oats daily. This is a much less quantity than is usu¬ 
ally consumed, or rather wasted daily by our ordinary 
farm horses, and proves that we are very far from being 
as economical as we might be in the matter of feeding. 
In the 19th volume of the Sporting Magazine is a letter 
from Dr. Sully, a physician of extensive practice, giving 
the results of his experience in feeding horses, and they 
are the more entitled to notice, as made in all respects 
with the greatest care and precision. The animals upon 
which his experiments were made, were his own saddle 
or draught horses, usually driven at a rapid pace, and yet 
kept in perfect working order. The kinds of food used 
by Dr. Sully, were divided into four classes, in the fol¬ 
lowing proportions, and experience proved that they 
were nearly equal in keeping the animals in good condi¬ 
tion; a slight preference being, however, given to the 
first and second classes, of which potatoes form a part: 
1st. 2d. 3d. 4th. 
lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 
Bruised or ground beans, peas, or white corn, 5 5 10 5 
Hay, cut into chaff,. 7 8 10 8 
Straw, do. . 7 10 10 8 
^teamed potatoes,. 5 5 
Malt dust, or ground oil cake,. 2 •• 2 
Brewer’s grains,. 6 
Bran,. 7 
30 30 30 30 
It must be remembered that the ee white corn ” men¬ 
tioned is not Indian corn, but the common white grains, 
such as barley, wheat, &c., and that the same quantity 
of ground Indian corn might be substituted for the grain 
in each of these cases. All this food was made into what 
is called manger meat, that is, it was cut and mixed in 
tubs, and fed in the manger, no racks being used for hay 
or straw. Two ounces of salt were allowed to the daily 
feed of each horse; but this we think a rather liberal al¬ 
lowance. Any farmer who will look at this table, and 
then at the amount of food he is in the habit of giving 
his horses, in hay and grain, will see there must be a 
great loss somewhere, and might readily calculate whe¬ 
ther there would not be a saving effected where a num¬ 
ber of horses are kept to justify the purchase of the fix¬ 
tures necessary for such a preparation of food. A few 
years since, a failure in our hay crop compelled us to 
keep our working horses on cut straw and corn meal, 
with two or three carrots thrown to each horse daily, 
and never have we had our teams in finer condition, or 
better fitted for the labor of the farm than in that year. 
Our rule is to salt our horses once a week, and to mix 
with the salt for each animal a handful of ashes; as a 
preventive of disease, such as bots, colic, &c., we think 
this method unrivalled. In no country in the world are 
the great principles of economy in the management of 
the farm so thoroughly studied, and successfully prac¬ 
ticed, as in Flanders, and no where are the farm horses 
so universally fat and in fine condition for labor, as there; 
yet the food is all cut, ground, or steamed, before using, 
and racks in stables for horses are unknown. In Eng¬ 
land, where extensive experiments have been made to 
test the comparative merits of feeding prepared and un¬ 
prepared food, the saving effected by cut or prepared 
food has been estimated at from one-fourth to one-sixth 
of the expense; probably one-fifth maybe about the true 
medium, It may be added here, that the arguments in 
favor of cutting food for horses, are, so far as the same 
kinds of food are concerned, equally conclusive in favor 
of so feeding other stock. 
The things most necessary for farmers who would like 
to feed their stock economically and yet effectively, (for 
the common economy of farmers in this respect, is the 
greatest of losses,) would seem to be a warm range of 
stabling, and the proper machine for cutting hay or 
straw, and breaking or grinding the grain. Whatever 
may be the method of feeding animals, it is indispensa¬ 
ble for their comfort or thrift that they should be pro¬ 
vided with comfortable, well ventilated, but not hot sta¬ 
bles. The man who thinks to keep an animal of any 
kind in good condition, exposed to the cold and storms 
of our winters, must have paid little attention to some of 
the first principles of animal economy, and must have 
provided himself with an extra supply of fodder, as it 
will surely be needed. A little attention to keeping up 
the animal heat by comfortable stables, would save much 
food that is now required for that purpose, and which is 
far more costly than providing the stables. 
The implements necessary for feeding animals in this 
way, are not costly. A straw cutter worked by hand, or 
what is better, by horse power, will convert, in a few 
hours, hay or straw enough into chaff to last for days or 
weeks. The grain can be bruised or ground at our corn 
cracker mills, or some of those mills invented for the 
farmer’s use and adapted to such purposes, may be readily 
procured. It surely is not a hard way of feeding horses, 
to mix the food, cut straw or hay, and meal or roots, in 
a comfortable stable; and experience will convince any¬ 
one, as it has us, that it is an expeditious one. One of 
the most decided advantages of a chaff cutter, particu¬ 
larly if worked by horse power, is the facility with 
which the thick, and usually wasted stalks of Indian corn, 
may be converted into the most palatable and nutritious 
food. That great improvements may be made in our 
methods of feeding animals, few will doubt; that the 
importance of the subject demands more attention than 
it has yet received, will not be disputed; and any man 
who will furnish facts, having a bearing on the matter, 
will confer a benefit on his fellow farmers. 
FINE STOCK GOING WEST. 
The farmers of the West appear to understand their 
true policy, and the advantages of their position. There 
is no part of the world offers such advantages for raising 
stock, as the whole valley of the Mississippi. We find 
in the Michigan City Gazette, that “Mr. T. J. Field has 
lately returned from Onondaga county, N. Y., bringing 
with him eleven hundred sheep, principally fine Saxons, 
and a very superior lot. Mr. Field availed himself of 
the opportunity of attending the great Agricultural Fair 
at Rochester, and was much gratified with the exhibition. 
He bought at Auburn a beautiful Durham heifer, two 
years old, and weighing 1,400 lbs.” Northern Indiana 
has many public spirited farmers, and any district that 
has such men as Robinson, Steinbergen, Clark, Field, 
and others, will be sure to go ahead. 
