10 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
CURING HAY IN COCK. 
Mr. Editor —Having been a subscriber to your valuable paper, 
some two years, and having perused it with anxiety and pleasure, 
and I think not without profit, 1 have been waiting to hear from 
some one more able to give the necessary information than myself, 
some directions with regard to the curing of hay. But as I have 
not found any thing that seemed to meet my mind, I have ventured 
to give you my views on this important subject. 
1st. What is there in hay, that causes it to sustain and nourish 
animal life? I think, sir, that the oil that it contains, is the nou¬ 
rishing part. Now, sir, this being the case, the next most impor¬ 
tant question is, in what stage of its growth does it contain the 
most oil. This, I thinK, can be answered by reference to the dis¬ 
tilling of peppermint; that herb produces most oil, if cut when full 
in the blow; and I think grass contains most oil when in the same 
state. The next question is, how can it be cured, and in the curing 
loose the least oil. Perhaps this may be demonstrated by again 
having reference to the distilling of peppermint. It is well known 
that if that herb is suffered to lie exposed to the sun after it has 
wilted, it loses a portion of the oil, and further, if it is suffered to 
lie packed together in a large mass, and heat, almost all the oil is 
carried off by such fermentation. 
Now, sir, if these facts are applicable to the curing of hay, then 
as soon as grass is wilted, it should be put up in small cocks, not 
sufficiently large to heat, and should thus remain, until sufficiently 
cured to put in a large mass without fermentation. For in case it 
heats or ferments, it loses in weight and bulk, and loses more in 
oil, or in its nourishing properties than in both, (viz., weight and 
bulk,) becomes stiff, and loses almost all its nourishing properties. 
Hence I have frequently observed, that when the weather has been 
unfavorable, I have carried hay into my barn when it was well wilt¬ 
ed, and by spreading it in the barn until it becomes sufficiently 
cured, so that though packed in a mass, it would not ferment,— 
that such hay is most readily devoured by the stock, and appears 
to afford them the most nourishment. 
This being the case, as many intelligent farmers have proved, it 
appears to say that hay should not be exposed to the sun after it is 
well wilted, and should be well cured before it is put in a mass, so 
that it may not lose from fermentation. 
Dear sir, I urn not a man of science and learning, and am not in 
the habit of writing for the press; but, sir, if there is any thing 
herein contained, that you shall think worth an insertion in your 
valuable paper, you are at liberty to insert it, after correcting mis¬ 
takes. Yours, &,c. SETH JOHNSON. 
We think Mr. Johnson is right, in his practice and in his reasons. Hay 
loses in its nutritious properties—the properties which nourish and fatten the 
animal—call it oil, or sugir, or mucilage, or what you will, by long exposure 
to the rays of a hot sun. We also dry in small cocks, after the grass is wilted. 
It then dries all alike, except a portion upon the surface of the cock—the 
baneful influence of the sun is excluded—an equalization of moisture takes 
place, and if left to cure here, it never afterwards heats in the mow or stack. 
Hay exposed several days to the sun loses its color and much of its nutri¬ 
ment.— Conductor. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Sir— I am induced to call the attention of 
sheep farmers, to a subject of deep interest, through the medium 
of your valuable and extensively circulated publication, the Cultiva¬ 
tor, which I hope may tend to arrest the progress of a disease that 
is at present reducing the flocks in many parts of this state ; so far 
as I can ascertain th's loss is confined to the full blood merinos. I 
made a considerable addition to my flock in November last of this 
breed, and they appeared to thrive well until the middle of January, 
about which time a few lambs were frozen to death by the unusual 
severity of the season; however, since then the mortality continues 
notwithstanding the greatest care of them, in food and shelter.— 
Such as appear to droop are housed in my barn, where they have 
an ample supply of the best hay, ground oats and peas, and pure 
water—I may add, the whole flock have had good feed throughout 
the winter, with a due allowance of salt. This disease commences 
by partial paralysis of the limbs, prostration of strength ensues, 
and the animal seldom survives the fifth day. On taking off the 
pelt and examining the carcass, it is found to be highly offensive, 
and the intestii.es and flanks in a putrid state, although the infect¬ 
ed animal continues to feed well, in no instance has one recovered. 
Should any of your numerous subscribers have been successful in 
curing this malady, I hope they will make their remedy known for 
the public good. As the growth of wool has become a national ob¬ 
ject of magnitude, allow me to suggest, that the publication of a 
work on the management of sheep, in the different countries of 
Europe, and the mode of treating their diseases, might prove high¬ 
ly beneficial to the sheep farmers of this country, who I have no 
doubt, would give their united support to such a work, if under¬ 
taken by a competent person. In our northern states, where the 
greatest proportion of sheep are raised, the mode of management 
and diseases incident to them, must differ essentially from the com¬ 
paratively mild climate of Spain, from whence the merino breed 
was introduced. a SUBSCRIBER. 
Hartwick , Otsego Co., Feb. 2.5th, 1836. 
Fig. 4. 
IMPROVED HARROW. 
Geddes, February 10. 
Sir —In obedience to your request, I send 
a drawing of my harrow. 
Description. — a and b hinges, which al¬ 
lows it to fit into unevennesses of the sur¬ 
face passed over. The hinges being in¬ 
serted from corner to corner of the timber, 
the harrow will be more portable, as one 
half can be laid over on the other, while 
moving it from field to field. 
The hook by which it is drawn, is a con- 
| tinuation of the pivot on which the hinge 
turns, as shown on a larger scale, fig. 4. 
The teeth, c c, are curved, otherwise the 
tracks made by them will be too far apart. 
d d, two Swedes’ bars, bolted on 
the top of the wood and fasten¬ 
ed by screws above. 
The side pieces have tenons, 
passing through the middle pie¬ 
ces, the joints being secured by 
iron plates above and below, ri¬ 
veted together. The size of the 
timber, three by three and a half 
inches. The iron used for teeth, is seven-eighths of an inch 
square, and running within two inches of each other, the thirty 
teeth make a breadth of four feet ten inches, every part of which 
is harrowed alike fine. 
Teeth passing so nigh each other as within two inches from cen¬ 
tre to centre, is perhaps more than would be necessary for common 
use. Twenty-two teeth, so set as to run within three inches of 
each other, making a breadth of five feet three inches, would make 
a lighter harrow, and do the work as well as a square harrow with 
thirty teeth. Your humble servant, 
Jesse Buel, Esq. GEO. GEDDES. 
To J. Buel, Esq. — Sir — I have read most of the periodical 
works on agriculture, which have appeared on either side of the At¬ 
lantic, but not till very recently, the Cultivator: the twenty-three 
first numbers of which were lent me by a friend, and after an atten¬ 
tive examination of their contents, I can sincerely say, that I consi¬ 
der it one of the best conducted and most useful publications upon 
the subject that I have yet perused. I have requested your agent 
in this city, to procure me all the published numbers, and shall, in 
future, be a constant subscriber and occasional contributor. 
I beg to offer the following hasty and desultory observations as 
my first communication. Writing anonymously, (for reasons men¬ 
tioned in the accompanying private note,) it may not be improper 
to state, that I am no novice in agriculture, having for several years, 
before I arrived in this country, occupied a quantity of land more 
than would suffice to form twenty farms, which would be consider¬ 
ed large in this vicinity, and I now farm 400 acres of excellent soil. 
You, sir, and your subscribers, may rely upon my stating nothing, 
as matter of fact, which I do not know to be so. 
In the Cultivator of January last, page 168, your intelligent cor¬ 
respondent, Mr. L. F. Allen, uses the following language: “ I 
hold that there is no straw, corn, fodder or grass, cut on a farm, 
with the exception, perhaps, of the straw of peas, beams, and buck¬ 
wheat, but what may be consumed as food.” This is calculated to 
impress inexperienced readers with an idea that the excepted arti- 
