10S 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
COU RESPOND BN C E. 
STACKING HAY—DUTTON CORN, &c. 
Hamptonburgh , Orange Co. September 7th, 1835. 
J- Buel, Esq.—Having recently, in consequence of impaired health, 
relinquished an active business in the city, our great commercial metro¬ 
polis, for the more quiet, retired, and I would hope more healthful occu¬ 
pation of an agriculturist, I take the liberty of making some inquiries in 
regard to my new employment, through the medium of your most inte¬ 
resting and useful publication, the Cultivator. 
There is just now one subject strongly on my mind, to which I will first 
call your attention. I refer to the mode almost universally pursued in this 
vicinity, and indeed so far as my observation extends, in this county, of 
securing hay, stalks, &c. for winter use, in stacks scattered in various parts 
o the farm. I came to the country strongly opposed to this, as I consider¬ 
ed it a doubly wasteful practice. But when I find our best and most intel¬ 
ligent farmers, men who have acquired wealth by their system, defending 
the practice both by argument and example, I am almost staggered in my 
intention of putting up preparatory for the ensuing season, additional build¬ 
ings to secure the hay, &c. which we are now obliged to stack, and to 
afford shelter to the stock of cattle from the severity of our winter storms. 
The opinions of such men are entitled to much respect, but still I am not 
altogether convinced that theirs is the better practice. They say it saves 
much labor in the carting of both hay and manure. I say it occasions a 
ruinous waste of both. They also say, and this view of the subject is of 
much moment, that cattle do not do well confined to a yard or sheds and 
stalls; that they thrive and do better in the open field, exposed to all the 
inclemencies and changes of the weather. Of this I cannot judge from 
experience, but as it is a matter of deep interest to the grazier, I shall be 
thankful to you, Mr. Editor, for more light on the subject. 
Much has been said on the advantage of cutting hay and straw both for 
horses and neat cattle, and the estimates have been various as to the 
amount of saving in provender, but all agree in making it very large; none 
I believe less than one half Can this, Mr. Editor, be correct? Can it be 
possible that so much is wasted in the usual mode of feeding cattle? If 
one half can be saved by this method, it follows of course that double the 
quantity of stock can be wintered, and how much would this add to the 
manure and to the profits. But what has been your own experience." for 
plausible theories and hear-say stories will not do; facts, well authentica 
cated facts, are all we can depend on. 
Should you recommend this mode of wintering our stock, you will see 
the necessity of informing us where we can obtain the most approved kind 
of cutting machine; a kind not too expensive will be required to come in¬ 
to general use. Will it answer to cut corn stalks for our cattle? It strikes 
me a great saving would be realized in that article, provided the whole 
would be eaten, if cut. 
Our corn crops in this region promise to be abundant. A few days more 
exemption from frost will put it beyond its reach. Last spring hefore 
leaving the city, I procured a few ears of your Dutton corn of my friend, 
Thorburn, which I had planted. I am much pleased with it; it is very 
productive, and is now ripe. We shall commence cutting it up at the 
ground to-day or to-morrow. 
Excuse this long epistle. My anxious desire to profit by your know¬ 
ledge and experience in a business new to me, and in which I shall doubt¬ 
less commit many blunders, but a business to which, nevertheless, I feel 
much attached, must be my apology. W. W. I 
Bv the Conductor. —Our correspondent will find most of his queries anti- 
cipaied in our last paper. But we repeat our strong conviction, that the feed¬ 
ing hay from the stacks in the field is a most wasteful and slovenly practice. 
Much of the hay is certainly wasted, and the manure is virtually lost. If hay 
must be stacked out, there is economy and neatness in putting it in large mas¬ 
ses, and thatching it well, to preserve it from the injurious effects of storms and 
winds; of cutting it down, and carrying it to the barn, when required for use. 
In regard to corn stalks, we have a machine to cut them, worked by band, the 
knives of which move horizontally. It works expeditiously, was bought in 
this city, and cost $20. We intend to scald the cut stalks the coming winter, 
for our cows, and to feed them while warm, sprinkled with ship stuff'. In re¬ 
gard to the best straw and hay cutter, we are disposed to give the preference, 
at present, from our partial knowledge of the many in use, to Green's patent, 
the description, cost, and performances of which are notice ! in another co¬ 
lumn of this paper. We have not hitherto cut our hay, but intend doing it 
the coming winter, when we shall be better qualified to answer our corres¬ 
pondent as to our own experience. 
ORIGINAL CHINA HOGS. 
Mr. Buel —Sir—Having been disappointed in procuring a drawing of 
one of my Berkshire hogs in time for this number, I have substituted the 
original China, which I have copied from Loudon’s Encyclopedia of Agri¬ 
culture. 
The finest specimen of this breed which I recollect ever to have seen, 
was a sow and litter of pigs exhibited at the Albany County Fair and Cat¬ 
tle Show in 1824, by the late Thomas Hillhouse, of Watervliet. They 
were perfectly black, and excited the admiration of all who saw them. 
Yours, &c. C. N. BEMENT. 
“ Original China Hogs .—The Chinese Img is 
distinguished from llie common, by having ihe up¬ 
per part of its body almost bare, its helly°hanging 
nearly to the ground; its legs are very short, nn3 
its tail still more disproportionately short. 'I'he 
flesh of this variety is w hiter and more delicate. 
The colour is commonly a dark grey. It abounds 
_ _ in China, and is diffused through New-Guinea, 
and many islands in the South Sea. The new Hebrides, the Marquesas, the 
Friendly and the Society Islands, possess this animal, and cultivate it with 
great care, as il is almost the only domestic animal of which they can boast. 
The varieties of hog cultivated in Britain, are partly the result of climate and 
keep, in ihe European variety, and partly the effects of crossing with the Chi¬ 
nese. At the same time, it is only in particular districts that so much attention 
has been paid to this animal, as to give rise to any accurate distinction of 
breeds; and no where has it received any considerable portion of that care in 
breeding, which has been so advantageously employed on the other animals 
of which we have treated. Yet, among none of the varieties of these is there 
so great a difference as an ong the breeds of this species, in regard to the meat 
they return for the consumption of a given quantity of food. 8ome races can 
with difficulty be made fat, even at an advanced age, though fed from ihe 
trough with abundance of such food as would fatten any other animal; while 
others contrive to raise a valuable carcass out of materials on which rro other 
creature conld subsist.” 
“ The Chinese race , according to Cullv, has been subdivided into seven va¬ 
rieties or more: and it would be easy to point out tw ice the number ol as pro¬ 
minent distinctions among die sorts in the third class. But such an affectation 
of accuracy" is as useless as it would be tedious. One general form, approach¬ 
ing to that of other animals kept for their carcass, ought certainly to he pre¬ 
ferred; and Ihe size which is the other distinguishing characteristic, must be 
chosen with a view to the food provided fur i heir maintenance, and not because 
it is possible to raise the individuals to a great, and probably, unprofitable 
weight. The fineness of the bone, and the broad, though also deep, form of 
the chest, denote in this, as in the other species, a disposition to make fat with 
a moderate consumption of food; and while it may be advisable to prefer the 
larger breeds in those places where bacon and flitches are in most demand, the 
smaller breeds are most esteemed lor pickling, and are beyond all doubt, most 
profitable to those farmers who allow them little else than the range of the farm 
yard, and the offals of the kitchen.” 
To the Editor of the Cultivator: —Sir—For the last se ven years I have 
been in the practice of cutting my hav, straw and cornstalks, for my hor¬ 
ses and cattle, and can assure you, have profited much by the use of the 
cutting box; not only by the great saving of hay, but by the superior con¬ 
dition in which mv stock are wintered. Some pretend to say that one- 
half is saved, but l think that is asking a little too much—one third, I 
think, would be a fair calculation. 
By cutting, the coarsest hay, cornstalks, and straw may be used to ad¬ 
vantage. My corn, last year, was cut near the ground, and cut and fed 
out to my cattle in January, which they ate readily, and throve well on 
them, with hay at noon. 
In feeding sheep, I found it particularly useful, as when cut they would 
eat with avidity, that when fed long they would reject. 
I have used, until last winter, one of Salford’s cutting machines, and 
supposed it the best one in use, until I accidentally found one of Green's 
patent, which I think, exceeds all others, that has fell under my observa¬ 
tion, in execution, with the small power required. 
For a particular description of the machine, I cannot do better than give 
you the following, from the New-York Farmer and Gardeners’ Magazine, 
with a drawing. CECONOMIST. 
“Greene's Straw Cutter. 
“ This is the mostsimple 
and efficient machine of the 
kind that lias yet been of¬ 
fered to the public. It is 
made very strong, and not 
liable to become injured, 
nor to get out of order. 
The apparatus consists 
principally of two cylin¬ 
ders; the upper one is of 
iron, having the lequisite 
number of knives secured 
in groves. The under cyl¬ 
inder is of lead, and can bo 
raised or low ered, so as to 
have the knives merely to 
come in contact w ith it. It 
will be perceived that the 
knives perlorm the double 
All that is necessary in operating is to put 
After the straw is once cut, it can be put in 
again, and cut, with increased rapidity", the second lime. More than double 
the quantity can be cut in the same space of time by this than by any other 
machine, used in this section of the country. 
I set a man at the crank, and w ith the hay close to the machine commenc¬ 
ed feeding. With my utmost exertion, I could not keep it regularly supplied. 
In five minutes we cut eleven bushels, heaping measure, of hay. Had it been 
fed according to its power of execution, one-fourth more would have been cut. 
operation of cutting and feeding, 
in the straw, and turn the crank. 
