124 THE CULTIVATOR. April, 
faithfully carried out. and am sure that every “ native 
American/’ faithful and true to the interest of his coun¬ 
try, will rejoice to see Congress make such appropria¬ 
tions as are necessary to consummate the object. W. 
Bacon. Richmond, Mass., March, 1849. 
Manger Feeding. 
Eds. Cultivator —That the common method of 
feeding horses by putting coarse hay in a rack before 
them, and giving them oats unmixed with other food, 
is not the best way, I am fully convinced. When hay 
is fed from a rack, there is usually much waste, as hor¬ 
ses are apt to acquire a habit of selecting the best locks, 
and drawing the remainder down to be trodden on and 
mixed with their litter. When oats are fed in the com¬ 
mon way, the horse swallows them so greedily that 
they are not half masticated, and consequently, a pret¬ 
ty large portion of them do not digest. Now both of 
these difficulties may be obviated, and a considerable 
saving effected by adopting a different management. 
I will describe my method, and all who are pleased 
with it may do likewise. I prepared my manger for 
containing a quantity of cut feed sufficient to last a 
horse 12 hours, by making it 20 inches deep, and 18 in¬ 
ches wide at the top—each horse’s portion being as 
long as the width of his stall. Narrow strips of board 
are firmly nailed across the top, 14 inches apart, to pre¬ 
vent the horse from tossing his feed out. I have a self- 
feeding machine for cutting hay and straw, with which 
one man can cut as much in half an hour, as three hor¬ 
ses can consume in 24 hours. Each revolution of the 
wheel to which the knife is attached brings the straw 
or hay forward one inch, so that the whole is cut in pie¬ 
ces an inch in length. I feed oat straw and hay, in 
equal proportions, and keep the manger well supplied. 
Twice a day, (morning and evening) each horse is al¬ 
lowed three quarts of oats, put in his manger dry, and 
well mixed with his cut feed; I prefer mixing the oats 
with the other feed dry, because if wet some of it will 
become sour and unpalatable. Now the advantage of 
thus mixing the oats with the cut feed is obvious; for 
the horse cannot swailow the latter without first chew¬ 
ing it, and as he cannot separate the oats from it, he is 
obliged to chew them also, and consequently they all 
digest, and the whole of their nutriment is extracted. 
Horses thus kept, and moderately worked, will be 
healthy, spirited and in good condition; old horses will 
do better on cut than on coarse feed, because less chew¬ 
ing is required; there is also an advantage gained by 
cutting the provender for horses that are kept much of 
the time in harness, os they will fill themselves quicker 
than with coarse feed, and therefore have much more 
time for rest. The only objections I am aware of to 
this system, are the cost of the machine and the labor 
of cutting; still I am well convinced that the saving of 
feed is more than an equivalent for these. Some may 
be disposed to take advantage of this plan to induce 
horses to eat musty hay, or such as has been spoiled in 
curing; but every farmer ought to be aware that such 
hay is always injurious, and is very liable to produce an 
inflammation of the kidneys. 
Many farmers in this neighborhood have the impres¬ 
sion that rye straw contains more nourishment than oat 
straw. I know not the origin of this opinion; perhaps 
the inference is drawn from the fact that a certain 
quantity of rye is of more value than the same quanti¬ 
ty of oats by measure. But horses and cattle always 
give the preference to oat straw; (and their judgment 
in this case, is of some consequence;) besides, the 
analysis of the two, shows that oat straw contains 
considerable more of the principal nutritive ingredient 
(nitrogen) than is contained in rye straw. It should 
however, be borne in mind, that any kind of straw is 
vastly inferior to hay in nutritive properties, and I 
would only recommend the use of the former for horses 
for the sake of economy, and when little labor is re¬ 
quired. 
Some prefer ground feed for graining; but if they 
will take the trouble to weigh their grists before send¬ 
ing them to mill, and again after their return, they will 
find the toll is an item worth considering. I doubt whe¬ 
ther there is any kind of feed in which so many valuable 
properties are combined as in oats, and I would always 
give them the preference, except when their price in 
market is much higher, proportionally, than the other 
kinds of grain which may be substituted for feeding, as 
rye and corn. I can see little advantage, and no eco¬ 
nomy, in having oats ground, when we can feed them 
in such a way as to ensure thorough mastication. J. 
McKinstry. Greenport, Columbia Co., N. Y. Febru¬ 
ary, 5, 1849. _ 
Digging Gold at Home and Abroad. 
There is danger that the drain to the gold regions 
will leave the country very bare of laboring hands. 
Many, very many, have gone to the diggings of Cali¬ 
fornia, as hired hands, or on shares out of their own 
work, who at home, “ to dig were ashamed.” Mere 
drones and loafers will not be missed; but clerks and 
young mechanics in the towns and cities have gone, 
whose places must be filled by others. Farmers’ sons, 
in many instances, have gone, leaving the homesteads to 
be cultivated or not, as their fathers may find help. 
This state of things calls upon those who are left to be 
up and doing;—to lay their plans judiciously;—to use 
such labor-saving machinery as they find applicable. 
Let no one take more ground under cultivation than he 
can manage well and in good season. Let the manure 
be all well applied. It may be, that a fair application 
of mind and hands and means at home, may bring a 
harvest as profitable, all things considered, as the ge¬ 
nerality of gold seekers will reap. It will be attained 
with infinitely less anxiety and danger, in all cases; and 
be followed, in most cases, with less regret. D. M. 
Allegany Co., Pa. 
Transplanting Forest Trees. 
As the season of the year for the transplanting of 
forest trees is near at hand, the following remarks may 
be useful. They were written by Mr. Amos Hitch¬ 
cock, of Pittsford, Vt., who obtained a premium from 
the Rutland County Ag. Society, for his success in 
transplanting forest trees. He describes his practice 
as follows: “ About the first of May, or when the buds 
are considerably swollen, and spring so far advanced 
as not to freeze nights, we repair to second growth tim¬ 
ber land, if we wish for maple or other forest trees. 
Provided with the necessary tools, we select our trees, 
avoiding crooked or ugly formed trunks, and commence 
the operation by digging a trench around the tree, 
eighteen or twenty inches from the tree, according to 
its size, and sufficiently deep to cut off all the large 
roots. The tree is then easily removed by the help of 
an iron bar, and a little hand lifting. Care is taken not 
to injure the small fibrous roots. After having dug in 
this, manner, as many trees as we wish, they are con¬ 
veyed: on a box wagon to the place where they are to 
be planted. We now bring the trees to an equal length 
by removing all the top, say ten feet from the root. If 
there be small shoots below this point they are suffered 
to remain, otherwise the entire top is removed. The 
holes for receiving the trees having been dug at equal 
distances, and in a direct line, the roots are then wet 
that, the earth may readily adhere to them, and the trees 
are planted to their original depth. Care should be ta¬ 
ken to work the fine earth in among the roots, so that 
