270 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept; 
scriber’s memory is poor or his examination of the Con¬ 
tents or Index too superficial. If any of your readers 
should have raised a crop of wheat, once or oftener, 
without summer fallowing, it might do good to many, 
if they would state the results of their new method 
through your columns. Obs. 
Improve Your own Stock. 
- / 
Occasionally we meet those who lament that they 
can do nothing towards obtaining an improved breed 
of animals because they cannot afford to avail them¬ 
selves of imported or superior animals to begin with. 
To such we would hint that all the improved breeds 
now commanding high prices must have sprung ori¬ 
ginally from common stock. Some particular male or 
female must have been selected for some special good 
quality, and this good quality would be inherited more 
or less by the progeny of thaj. particular animal. 
This must have been the starting-point of the most 
celebrated breeds of domesticated animals. Certain 
animals having some special superiority, must have 
been selected for breeding ; and this quality being 
sought after and aimed at from generation togenera- 
tion^and every auxiliary which good judgment could 
suggest in feeding and management, being brought 
to assist in the development of the quality or qualities 
desired, at length a breed of animals celebrated for 
some particular point of excellence was obtained. 
Now if in this way all our distinguished breeds have 
been produced in the past and in foreign countries, 
the secret is at the service of those who think they 
cannot afford to get a good animal or the use of one 
to commence breeding from. But this may be only 
an apology for indifference, or for a very questionable 
economy. It will take generations, perhaps, to im¬ 
prove at home up to a point that one may start from 
by the expenditure of a few dollars. 
Stabling Cows. 
viEssns. Editors— I saw an article in the Jan 
number of The Cultivator , calling for information in 
regard to stabling cows, by “ A Subscriber.” 
If your correspondent will adopt the English mode 
of fastening, I think his cows will be kept compara¬ 
tively clean, with less trouble. These fastenings are 
sometimes called the ‘‘English Stanchions.” 
A timber is laid for the back part of the manger, or 
part nearest the animal’s feet, which may be about 12 
inches high ; into this timber two upright scantlings, 
or stanchions, are placed about 6 inches for cows, and 
7 to 8 inches apart for oxen, in the center of the stall; 
one of them, the far side one, is permanently set and 
fastened at top and bottom, the other or near side fine, 
turns on a pin at bottom in a mortice that allows it to 
turn free; the top mortice should be some 12 to 18 in¬ 
ches in length, which is frequently made in a six inch 
scantling, placed exactly over the timber below and 
just above the necks of the cattle, and fastened to the 
partitions, or small, posts between the stalls. When 
the cow has taken her place, the stanchion is raised to 
its perpendicular position; and as pins have been 
found to work loose by continual motion, and occasion¬ 
ally to get rapped out by the horns, it is now more ge¬ 
nerally secured by a block of timber say 15 inches 
long, which turning on a pin at one end,, drops down 
into the long mortice back of the stanchion, as it is 
raised up to its place ; a thin piece of board may be 
nailed to-the bottom of the scantling under the mortice, 
to prevent the fastening block from falling, through, 
and to avoid all posibility of its being rapped up by 
the horns ; it is in this way made very seeure, and no 
accident, or inconvenience to the animal need be feared. 
The floor should be laid with short plank on a level 
with the bottom of the manger, and back from it to 
the hind feet of the cows, say 5 feet, the remaining 
part of the floor, (three to four feet is enough) should 
have a drop of 8 inches, I. e., it should be' laid with 
plank running lengthwise with the- stable, or at right 
angles with the former, 8 inches lower than the front 
part or platform on which the animal stands. 
This will secure in a great measure, with ordinary 
attention, the object of “ A Subscriber,” as his cows 
will then lie down in their places, without any neces¬ 
sity, or disposition to step back preparatory to lying 
down, which is generally, the principal cause of the 
trouble complained of. The above mode of fastening 
is adopted to a considerable extent in this country, and 
if your correspondent will make a little inquiry among 
his neighbors, I presume some one wi-iT show him the 
plan carried out, and its mode of operation. Respect¬ 
fully yours, &c. Eli Moore. Southington , Hart¬ 
ford Qo. y Ct. — 
Experiment in Feeding. 
Will Ruta Baga pay to feed ? —Having occa¬ 
sion a few years since, to feed a pair of large oxen 
and having a lot of Ruta Bagas on hand, I tried the 
following experiment. I commenced in December, 
when the one weighed 3,800 lbs. I fed them one week 
with hay and three bushels corn-meal at 75 cents, 
$2,25—increase 25 lbs. The second week, I fed them 
one and a half bushels meal and nine bushels ruta 
bagas—with this they eat very little hay—increase 
50 lbs. The third week, fed the same as the first— 
increase the same, 25 lbs. The results stand thus : 
1—3 bu. meal, $2.25—gain 25 lbs. at Gets.,..$1.50 
2 ~9" do rut baga, at 21 els. J = aia 50 lbs - at 6 cts ‘>; 3 00 
3—The same result as the first. 
I continued to feed according to 2d experiment and 
never saw oxen take on flesh faster and become soon¬ 
er fit for the butcher. Be careful always to feed clear 
meal 2 hr 3 weeks before slaughter as otherwise the 
beef may have the flavor of the bagas. My bagas 
cost me to raise about 6 cents a bushel. Cattle never 
cloy on bagas ; and I conceive them to be the only 
root that will pay for raising to feed. All stock like 
them, I think them worth more than potatoes by the 
bushel, as they never scour as potatoes do, while 4 
bushel of bagas are as easily raised as one of potatoes. 
G. W. P. 
