a ee ee CO EE | | 
1 Ave., 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 177 
to this the greatest absolute quantity of protein was found to be 
yielded by the second cutting. The relative decrease in protein, and 
increase in fibre, as the plants mature, is confirmed by some American experi- 
‘ments. As regards the percentage of carbo-hydrates, the experiments under 
notice showed that this, on the average, increased up to the time of the 
second cutting ; but similar experiments quoted as having been made in the 
United States did not bear this out. Inasmuch, however, as the absolute 
amount, as well as the percentage, of crude fibre increased with each successive 
cutting, the digestibility required further investigation. An experiment was 
accordingly made with three sheep, fed successively on the three different 
cuttings of each crop. The dung of the animals, representing the undigested 
portion of the food, was weighed and analysed, and the results compared with 
the weight of fodder supplied. It appeared that a gradual decrease in the 
digestibility, as measured by the percentage of food digested, was recorded as 
the growth of the lucerne advanced ; the deterioration being considerably more 
rapid between the second and third periods than between the first and second. 
But here again, owing to the greater weight of hay obtained from the second 
cutting, the results showed that the largest amount of digestible matter was 
obtained from the second cutting. The Ontario Department found that both 
sheep and cattle suffered from indigestion after being fed on lucerne hay made 
when the crops had reached a woody stage. No doubt many of our Australian 
sheep-breeders who had to have recourse to lucerne hay during the drought 
noticed symptoms akin to indigestion with some of their stock.—Dalgety’s 
Review. 
A GOOD CORN-MARKER. 
‘Among the various types of corn-markers we have from time to time 
described, the marker here illustrated is, in our mind, the best. The 
description and illustration are from the American Agriculturist, and may easily 
be Peoritood by an examination of the diagram. It will mark two rows at once, 
and the rows will be distinct on the roughest ground. To the main body is 
attached a guide (C), which is so arranged that it can, on turning, be reversed 
by lifting and throwing it over the machine to the opposite side. This arm ig 
bolted to a block (R), and being in front of (A) is held in position ; (C) is a 
round iron, and springs readily if it comes in contact with a rough clod or with 
a stump. 
FIRST STEPS IN AGRICULTURE. 
FIRST STAGE. 
6TH Lesson. 
By A.J.B. 
But all crops are not grown from seed. Some are produced by planting 
cuttings, either of roots or of the green plants themselves. Others grow from 
bulbs, or from the bulbs cut in pieces. ‘Take the so-called sweet potato as an 
example of planting cuttings of the plants. Yon may grow sweet potatoes 
from the bulbs themselves, but wherever they are grown in this State the 
growers prefer to plant cuttings. The cuttings throw out roots, and then 
long green vines begin to run over the ground from them. ‘These vines are 
very good for feeding cattle and horses, so you see how valuable the sweet 
