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2 Feeding Stock in Winter. CCTTWG FEED. Fine, early cat and well eared hay is not m much improved by cutting, as it is eaten up clean and easily digested, if judiciously fed, hi* *ll kinds of stock. But Intef cut hay, as for instant;*, Timo thy cut after it is in the blossom ; all damaged bay, and all coarse fodder, should be cut. No argument is needed 1 to show that there is a great saving in (Sitting such fodder; the experience of thousands, especially in seasons of scarcity, lias verified this fact. Usually <• xirse fodder, when cut, is moistened, and a small amount of some provender or other ground feed is mixed with it. If this is done from six to twelve hours • before feeding, so the harder portions of the fodder may be somewhat soft ened, and the whole may absorb a por tion of flavor from the grain, it will be more readily eaten and better digested. Flint, in Dairy Farming, recommend* moistening cut feed, and says: Hay cut and'thoroughly moistened, becomes more succulent and nutritive, and par takes more of the nature of green grass.” Some farmers ltaVe gone fur ther, and u'lowed the wet feed to fer ment slightly. In the Country Gen tleman, Jan. 5, ISG-), page 10, an ex periment is given, in which one third wheat straw and two-thirds com fod der, was cut and wet down with water slightly salted in vats, where fermeuta tiou.soon commenced, and was allowed to continue until the food became “smoky hot.” Cattle ate this feed with avidity, the cows keeping up their milk, and all doing well, although it don't appear, that there was any grain or otljer food mixed with it. The theory appears to*be that this moistening and ferment ation softens the feed and makes it more palatable and digestible, hav ing something like the same effect, though not equal to STEMMING IKED KOI! STOCK. All kinds of fodder that need cutting art* also largely improved by steaming. All such fodder as late cut hay, corn fodder and straw, is largely composed of , hariL_ indigestible woody fibre. Yvhfbdy fibre, sugar, starch and gum are composed of precisely the same Constituents, in the same proportions, and yet the three latter are valuable portions of nearly all kinds of feed, while the woody fibre is of little use, because it. is too hard to be well or even generally digested. So one of the main objects in steaming feed, is to make this hard substance more digestible. Not that, a given amount of woody fi lire may be made of the same value as the same amount of sugar or starch for feeding, hat that it may ho very large ly improved. Now all ripened or near ly ripened fodder, whether it is hay, straw, or cornstalks, contains a large amount of this woody fibre that can only he made really available as food for stock by rooking; this not only makes it much digestible, but it is more palatable. Steaming improves the flavor as well ;is value of coarse fodder by mixing a portion of grain (ground,) b;-an or shorts, and roots, also better if grated, with the cut feed when put in the steam box. In this way the favor and lelish of the grain and roots are largely diffused through the whole m;iss of feed. Coarse, poor fodder, that otherwise would scarcely bo eaten at all. may in this way be made very good feed, that stock will do well on ; and this can be done too on less than half the grain that without steaming must be used. Pea and bean straw should also be steamed. If well saved they contain more nutriment than other straw, and well steamed will be much more valuable. /The amount of grain that, should be mixed with the different kinds of steamed feed will be in pro portion to the value of the fodder and the object in feeding, as whether to store or fattening stock. Although not prepared to say how thoroughly course fodder should be steamed, 1 am inclined to think it should lie made soft, so it can he easily picked to pieces. I would like to see the views of prac tical men, who have had experience on this point FEEDING GRAIN. Coarse grain is now, and is likolv to ■ continue through the winter, cheaper, j comparatively, than hay. Corn is a large crop, and will be quite cheap ;U ! the West. Barley is not high, and colored samples, that are less \ alnablc BANNER OF THE SOUTH AND PLANTERS’ JOURNAL. for malting, can be bought very cheap. Sneh barley, if plump and otherwise good, will make cheap feed. Oats are not high, and may be used to mix with com, to grind for provender, which is ranch better to mix with and stick to out feed, whether it is steamed or not, than corn meal. Barley may be mixed with oats or ground alone, as conveni ent. Ail grain is much better for feed ing when ground and mixed with cut feed. This nukes more bulk, which is more natural, and is more readily and thoroughly acted on by the stomach of the animal. As one pound of grain is nearly equal to two pounds of Imy, for feeding and patting flesh, tanners can easily calculate which will pay best in their respective localities. As grain is ipiite cheap at the West, large quanti ties may be brought East to feed in dairy and other sections, where the drouth has been severe, and hay and other feed is very high. All KI10CM» BE SAVE]). There :;re many things about the farm that should be saved and led. Ap ples are plenty and cheap, and from being wormy and other causes, a large portion arc not marketable; and this is the ease in ninny places where fodder is scarce and high. In such cases all sound fruit may be saved and fed to good advantage—the ripest first, and those that save the best, fed last. Small and poor potatoes will he fed, and all good potatoes not needed, also, unless they are very high, when it will pay better to sell them ami buy grain. Os course all rcx*ts will be carefully saved and fed to good advantage. Thou sands of farmers who have stronglv argued that roots don’t pay, would find a lew hundred bushels, or better, from filly to one hundred bushels to each head of stock, pay largely this season. It is in such exceptional seasons, when fodder is scarce and high, that extra feed like a good pile of roots, is of the greatest advantage. Besides, where there is a good crop of roots there will lx; a large pile of tops that can be fed. These tops will not be a little help in saving winter fodder in November, when the frost bitten pastures polonger afford sufficient feed for stock. All cabbage leaves and poor cabbages may also be fed; the stumps should be saved; a large cabbage stump quarter ed makes four large mouthfuls for a cow. We have found such refuse cab bages, leaves, etc., excellent to keep up the flow of milk in November and De eernlier. Cabbages pay well to grow for feed, ns well as roots. good SHELTER. 'ln wintering stock to good advan tage, next to plenty of good feed, good shelter is the most important. A large share of all the food consumed goes to support life and keep up animal heat, and the colder the weather and the more animals are exposed, the more feed is required for this purpose; while the better and more warmly sheltered the stock are kept, the larger the pro portion that will go to make grow th, fat, milk or wool. As the latter have a large saleable value, while in animal heat and mere life there_ is no gain— no saleable increase—it is of the great est importance to sociye the largest possible proportion of the former, lienee good shelter should be provided for all stock, and they should Ik; kept in this shelter as closely as good health will permit. Sufficient stables and pons should be provided for all: cracks and other places that will admit wind and cold air, stopped; and the animals kept up in bad stormy weather, and omy let out for air and exercise on moderate days. As good health is very essential, of course ventilation will be provided, hut this can be done, and, at the same time, avoid any direct draft of cold winds on the stock. —Country Gentleman. ' • Dairy Stock West and South- The West and South are in a good condition to improve their dairy stock. Cattle arc called for, and dairies about to lie established. In this inceptive stage is the time to select the right blood, and there will be no difficulty hereafter. That the improved bl ' wether pure*or grade, will pied on in the future—and that close at id —no rational man will deny. In uutli. we arc just beginning to fore. seme thing like a correct idea of the im mencc importance that this rapidly in creasing dairy interest is destined to attain. In the West and South even beyond the Mississippi and Missouri , Rivers is s wide spreading country, with choice pasturage, which will ere long be settled enteiprising people The soil and climate will tender a mix ed system of agriculture most profi table to them, and the breeding and rearing of fine stock w ill largely en gage theia attention The great plains extending to the Rocky Mountains, the fields of Calfornia and the pastures of the new States—on all these, in time, will be seen through-bred horses, and the improved breeds of cattle, hogs, and sheep. It is difficult, indeed, at this time to fi x a limit to the stock rais ing interest. tret, therefore, now what is to be gotten, and anticipate the future. It will not do to take what and depend upon luck. There is little luck in farming, as in any other busi ness. What your neighbor has to sell in the common line is common j enough ; he will not sell you his best stock; yon would not sell him yours. But the best plood can be bought pure, and that is what you want, pure ; blood. It will answer all the purposes, j even if the “points"are not so manifest, j The blood you arc sure to get with' guaranteed pedigree. A full grown Jersey or Alderney Bull will cost a few ; hundred dollars, say S2OO to S3OO. A bull calf can be purchased for a third of the amount, or, possibly, a little more, as this stock is on the rise, and seems just now the most popular in the country. Thus tho very thing that is needed I —the male stock to propagate from ! —may be had at n comparatively low j rate. It needs but a cross of the Jersey with our common stock to im prove it greatly, *and put on a high ltwge of profit the butter interest of tfie country. Where only butter is made this is thd only- true course— breeding from the Jerse y—as it Is the best highest that can be reached. For cheese, the Alderney of Jersey is g xkl for nothing, as burnt of the casein is \ replaced by tlief butter making prin ciple. For buuer they exceed all other breeds W/Tiir —not so much in the quantity as in the quality, though the quantity is on a level with that of the general (lain. The Jersey butter is interesting from the high price it .commands, and invariably, ranging five to ten cents per pound over other good butter. But it is mostly the improved stock, which results from the cross on our common bred, that command attention. The richness of the milk, which is the prime and stable quality of the Jersey, never fails to-be communicated. Menee a large milker of the herd Ls sure to be improved by the union, uniting both quantity and quality—the latter in variably, the former less certainly. This comparison is relatively true of the common and improved breeds of horses, sheep, hogs, Ac., Ac. The latter with superior size, compactnes of frame, symetry of form, rapid growth, early maturity and attractive appearance, possess valuable distinctive qualities, thoroughly established with in themselves, and are capable of im parting their qualities into others. The knowledge of these important facts is spreading everywhere, and people now are rapidly learning the important truth, that a valuable horse, or cow or other animal, can be raised as cheaply as a poor one. For cheese, the Ayrshire of course, is preferred, as this breed was purpose ly bred to this end. Still the English prefer the short-horn, or short-horn grades, for cheese, and for the dairy in general. This on account of the car cass, which after the animal is exhaust ed as a milker, is of value sufficient, it is thought, to make up the deficiency in the relative quality of the milk, else the Ayrshire would be preferred, bred, as it is by the English for this very puqrose. With us the case is some what different. We are not the beef eaters that John Bail is. Milk is of more importance to us, beef less. American Mtock Journal. Management of Hogs. Hogs are not apt to root where there is plenty of grass on the ground. They should be allowed to have all the grass they will eat, as early *in the spring as possible, and clover or tame hay is good for them in winter. They are fond of ft. Bran mashes and raw potatoes should be fed to hogs on all I open days in winter. They are fond j of them. They are loosening. j Hogs that have run to grass all sum- \ mer can be shut up in a pen and fed to j advantage, six weeks or two ynonths,'] but no longer. Tbev will befeonie feverish and ravenous .if confined j longer fcnd devour each other. The hog is preferable that Will 1 fatten well j when allowed his liberty. The hog' that; when well fed, will take just. enough of exercise to keep him healthy, i* the hog for the fanner. Summer and early autumn are the season to make pork. Making it in i winter is much like running a boat Igaintt wind and tide, it requires too much food to keep up the supply of animal heat If bogs have* plenty - of grass in summer, and about half the { corn they will eat, they will fatten, rapidly, and my belief is that three! pounds of jxirk can be made from less 1 grain in this way, tlmn one pound can be in cold weather with a hog in a! close pea. The grass Ls cooling and loosening and counteracts the feverish j properties of corn ; it also keeps the liogs in a healthy condition. Hogs will never melt in summer, however fat, if they can have access to! water or mud to lie in. The hog will: cover himself so as that the flies can't j trouble him. Mud is very bad for! for hogs in cold weather; it absorbs i too much animal heat. The hog is a mammiferous animal, and milk of the right consistency, I seems to be indispensable to the proper j rearing of young pigs. It is the first' nourishment that Nature provides for i them. Figs, to lx? properly raised, \ should be plentifully supplied with : mlik ami light feed until three or four i months old. A sow may he fed like any other I store hog, up to within three weeks of ! her time to litter, when the hog raiser I \ should begin to make preparation for i : the ingress of the pigs into the world. 1 A sow should l>e allowed to run on the j j grouihl and have plenty of exercise, j except when shut up to litter, trite, should be supplied with fresh dirtj | daily while confined. The pigs i“will eat it, and it will keep them from j scouring. A. sow' should be well fed with loosening slop made of the offal from i wheat or rye and milk, or milk and water for three weeks before her time to litter. This kind of feed will looser) the sow, soften her flesh and fill it with juice.' llow can it be expected to draw from six to ten quarts of liquid in the na ture of milk from the system of a sow j every twenty four hours, without supply-! . ingtfcat draught ofliquid from the system j with another liquid? The milk of the ! sow has to servo as food and drink -for her pigs for the first three weeks of their existence, and if the sow be fed ; on corn, instead of supplying the! system with liquid, it will absorb the ! juices of her system, make her milk; thick and feverish, and give her pigs too much food and not enough drink, and the consequence is their blood be comes thick, their skin becomes dry, and they sicken and die with a cough or the mumps. All young animals are w r ont to make more motions than older ones. This ! excess activity seems to lie a law of their nature: seems to be indispensab ly neoeasaiy to a proper development, and it surely promotes digestion- No ■ man need be uneasy about his pigs, j when be sees them run, and jump and squeal with a double curl in their tails. ! —John Haight, in the Western Stock] Journal. Vegetables as Useful Disinfectants and Anti-M iasmatics. During the last few years the great prevalence of miasma of various kinds, emanating from the low-lands of the Netherlands, has attracted the atten tion of the most celebrated of the Dutch chemists, and especially those who are conversant with physiological and pa thological chemistry. This evil has been at times so great that the govern ment of Belgium at last had recourse to official steps to correct it, and in do ing so, offered large inducements to any one who would suggest the most relia ble antidote. A Mynheer Van Alston, who resided in one of these miasmatic districts, upon a large swampy tract which he had inherited, had for some time observed that the common sun flower, the helianthvt annvus of bota nists, had invariably flourished the j most, produced the largest flowers and | greatest number of seeds, upon soil and ;in districts which seemed to engender [the miasmatic fever to the greatest de ! gn» He has planted them in those Districts to a considerable extent, and j has found that they are a complete an itidote, for miasmatic poison. They [seem to derive their support more from the atmosphere than the soil. The seeds are excellent food for domestic I fowls. The oil contained in the seeds may easily he obtained by the common [inodes of compression, and the stalks, i w hen dried, make a useful and profita ble fuel. The pith of the stalk has been proposed in France, by M. Percy, j for the preparation of thy article called I “MfiXa, which is now extensively used : in medicine for the purpose of scarify- I big the skin or flesh in place of caustic, ; potash, or nitrate of silver. Moxa Ls burnt, and while in a state of combus ! tion, Ls applied to the skin or flesh for ! various purposes, where such a course ■of treatment is indicated. The sun j flower pith is well adapted for the pur | pose on account of the great amount jct nitrate ot potash which it contains, and which enables it to burn without | insufflation. The stem of the sunflower, j when the seeds are perfectly ripe, and ! consequently the plant has come toper ! feet maturity, is cut into transverse s< c t ions of less than ail inch in thickness, i and denuded of the* fibrous portions ! constituting the stalk. The pith is I then carefully dried at a gentle heat, | either in a close apartment or by the ! heat of the sun, and afterwards kept in | a perfectly dry place. A variety of the. | same plant, the helianthus, tuberosus, |or Jerusalem artichoke may be used for anti miasmatic in the place of the first-named variety, though the stalk, I leaf and flower are not so large, and [consequently have not the absorbent I power in so great a degree ; but they have an additional merit in their roots. 'or tubes, which may be pickled ai 4 : thus used as a rich, and to many a very j delicious, condiment, and are also use- I fill for feeding stock. Neithe# of these i varieties need any care in their cultiva tion, the latter not even needing to be ! planted from year to year. It is not only in the Netherlands \ where the necessity of an anti-mias | malic plants or other agents exists; there are many thousand acres of land in New Jersey, Long Island and else where, within comparatively a few miles of New York, where no human being can reside with impunity, on ac count of the poisonous miasma which I constantly emanates from the damp i soil. Many acres have been redeemed jin New Jersey from the incursions of the tide, but they are still uninhabita ble on account of the state of the soil and atmosphere. We hope, therefore, that scientific men and others will duly 1 investigate this important subject, and jby their experiments either confirm or I refute the statements of cur learned neighbors on this subject. —Journal of Applied Chemistry. horticultural. Written for the Banner of the South and Piaster s Journal. The Scupperncng Grape, i:y m. c.cook, Covington, geo. The merits of the Scnpperi.ong faiui : ly of grapes, ritis Jlotumlafoliei, have so often been discussed and described ! by able and practical cultivators (and by : Northern grape growers ignorant of its i value), its advantages over all other i grapes for general cultivation m the j South is so clearly illustrated, that it, : appeals to the general reader super | tious to enter into farther discussion of its profitable cultivation for table and wine south of latitude 3G 5 . Believing there are some points in a commercial and pecuniary sense connected with | this grape, that have never appeared : before the public; and believing any | information that will develops the ad vantages of the Seupperuong will be acceptable to the readers of the I»an ' nf.k, I propose to enumerate the re munerative advantages to be derived : from the cultivation of this remarkable grape, its manufacture into wine and brandv, and as a commercial fruit.