244 
THE CULTIYAIOB. 
August. 
Root Crops and Straw for Cattle. 
Robert Baker, an eminent English Agriculturist, 
gives the following, as a summary of his- practice 
in feeding roots in- connection with other food, and 
which he has found'to be very successful. Our readers 
may derive some valuable hints ftom it. The advan¬ 
tages of mixed food- over feeding single substances to 
cattle are well known:— 
“ The mangold wurzels; or S wed etuffieps, are plucked 
(not sliced) with a machine constructed by myself, of 
which many are now in' use in this district, and con¬ 
sists of a revolving cylinder, into which hooks are in¬ 
serted, acting against a row of knives- to facilitate the 
operation, and which plucks the roots of Swede or other 
turneps, and mangold wurzel, into small pieces from 
the size of an egg downwards, thus avoiding the sharp 
edges produced by turnep slicers, and preventing the 
choking of the animals, as well as facilitating the readi¬ 
ly mixing them with the cut chaff. The latter is cut 
into l£ inch lengths, in the proportion of one part of 
hay to three parts of straw, and is moistened by an ap¬ 
plication of linseed meal that has been previously steeped 
forty-eight hours in cold water, in the proportion of 
lbs. to 2 lbs. for each bullock, to which is added 4 lbs. of 
barley-meal, sprinkled in the chaff. The morning meal 
is prepared the evening previous, by mixing one bushel 1 
of the plucked roots with about two bushels of cut chaff, 
prepared as above; and in the morning the evening 
meal is prepared in the same way. If it is found the 
bullocks will eat more, it can be increased by adding 
chaff only, or with a further admixture of the roots. 
The advantages of this mode of feeding, will, upon ex¬ 
periment being made, become at once apparent. The 
bullocks will thrive faster, and will never be relaxed, 
as is too frequently the case when fed upon the roots by 
themselves, and the quantity of the latter per diem may 
be exactly apportioned. They will also eat the chaff 
cut from straw without hay, if found desirable. But 
when fed upon the roots alone, they will not rest satis¬ 
fied until they have had their fill, and then will refuse 
chaff cut from straw altogether. The stomach of rumi¬ 
nating animals is larger than that of other animals', and 
requires to be filled before they will lie down to rest; 
and the large quantity of roots they will consume (if 
allowed to be fed without restriction) becomes absolutely 
injurious to them, while 50 per eent. more will be con¬ 
sumed with less benefit to the animals. 
If oilcake is bruised and steeped in the same wav, it 
will be found more beneficial than when given alone, 
and the whole of the tnuritive properties will become 
extracted, as will be at once perceived by the difference 
of the manurebut the latter, of course, will at the 
same time not be so valuable. 
With store stock one bushel of roots without ehaff is 
sufficient, and one or more pounds of linseed meal per 
diem may, if required, be added; but if an attempt be 
made to keep them upon one bushel of roots, given 
separately, they will pine after more, and remain con¬ 
stantly restless and dissatisfied. The vegetable food 
may also be “marshalled to meet the jaws,” and an 
exact calculatipn made of the extent of time they may 
be required to last.” 
Stripping the Osier. 
I saw in the October No. of the Farmer , an inquiry, 
“ if there is a machine to take off the bark of the Osier, 
or basket willow, faster than by hand.” I have never 
heard of a machine that will do the work without the 
assistance of the hand; but I herewith send you a lit¬ 
tle instrument which is used in Germany and wherever 
the Osier is prepared for baskets. It is very simple— 
nothing more or less than a round stick of hard wood 
about an inch thick, and a foot long. Quartered about 
half the length of the stick, and two opposite quarters 
cut off, so that it will leave a sharp edge on both the 
remaining two. Take the stick in your right hand, 
insert the willow with the left, in the- slit; press the 
thumb and fore-finger of your right hand, and pull the 
willow through, and the bark is loose.- But there is 
one thing that must be considered—the time or. season 
when the bark ought to be stripped off. If you prepare 
your willows for market, you have to cut them in the 
spring when the sap staxts freely, as soon as the buds 
begin to swell. Warm, sunny weather is best. As fast 
as you have a little bundle stripped, cure them, by 
laying them in- the sun until they are- perfectly dry; 
then you may tie them up in- bundles; three- feet round 
the butt end of the bundle, and stow them away in a 
dry place, else they will mould or mildew and will not 
be good'. They, should be kept free from- dust. With a 
little experience any one will find out how to do it as 
well as when the time for cutting is past. None but one 
year’s growth are used for weaving the baskets ; but 
small two year’s growth are used for bottom sticks, and 
larger ones for handles. P. Schmitz. Harmony, Jan^ 
1853.]— Wis. and Iowa Farmer . 
Neutralizing Offensive Odors. 
The North British Agriculturist furnishes a statement 
of Lindsey Blyth, in relation to a very successful ex¬ 
periment for destroying a most offensive smell in a sta¬ 
ble, arising from the decomposition of urine and dung. 
He tried the mixture of Epsom salts and plaster of Pa¬ 
ris, (gypsum)— w the most wonderful .effects followed— 
the stable keeper was delighted.” Previously, the sta¬ 
ble was damp and unwholesome; and if dosed for a few 
hours, the ammonieal vapors were suffocating. After 
sprinkling the sulphates underneath the straw, and 
along the channel of the drain, the smell disappeared, 
and even the walls became drier. He recommends as an 
economical preparation for this purpose and for sewers* 
magnesia limestone dissolved in sulphuric acid, (form¬ 
ing sulphate of magnesia or epsorn salts,) with a por¬ 
tion of super-phosphate of lime (made by dissolving 
bones in sulphuric acid)—these, at the same time that 
they retain the escaping ammonia, also add greatly by 
their own presence to the value of the manure. 
Rat-proof Granary. —A late paper gives the fol¬ 
lowing mode of rendering granaries rat-proof, proved by 
a successful trial of ten years, and founded on the fact 
that tar is particularly offensive to these little scoun¬ 
drels. The studs of the outside walls of the granary are 
“ set in,” so that a cat may pass round between these 
walls and the outside boarding of the bain. The lining 
to the floor is first laid; then the first siding board round 
the bottom; then, for convenience the floor is finished, 
and afterwards the siding or walls completed, '[far is 
placed along the edge of every board as it is fastened to 
its place, and a copious application of tar given at the 
corners, where rats are most apt to do their tunnelling. 
Let the door-sill be made of hard-wood scantling, and 
the door be always kept shut, and rats will never see 
the inside. 
The Greatest Milker we know of for a Two- 
Year Old Heifer. —Mr. Daniel B. Haight, of Dover 
Plains, Dutchess county, writes us as follows: “I can 
show you a fine two-year old Exeter heifer, when you 
visit Dutchess, which I hope will be soon. She haa 
given twenty-quarts of very rick milk per day , and 
she has a fine heifer calf got by Mr. Sheafe’s two- 
year old bull.” 
“ Exeter,” refei'red to above asthe sire of this extra¬ 
ordinary heifer, is registered in the English Herd Book 
as the “ Duke of Exeter ” (10,152.) lie was imported 
in 1849, by Mr. J.. F. Sheafe, of Dutches county, and 
was purchased at his sale of stock in August, 1850, by 
Mr. L. F. Allen, of Black Rock. Thus far he has proved 
one of the best stock getters ever brought to America. 
— Agricultor. 
