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AGRICULTURAL.
BANIEL LEE, I*l. D., Editor.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1860.
FEEDING FARM STOCK.
The leading article in the Decemlier numl>er
of the Genessee Farmer discusses the subject of
“ feeding farm stock’’ with the usual ability and
practical bearing which characterise the agri
cultural writings of Mr. Harris, the editor and
proprietor of that journal. His remarks are
copied at length in another column, and are
worthy of careful perusal It is time that the
science of feeding farm stock, and also of feeding
persons, was familiar to all men and women
who can read the English language. That there
is an essential difference between lean meat and
clear fat, whether lard or tallow, is known to
all; but how the fat and the lean parts in hogs,
cattle, sheep and children are formed out of cer
tain organized elements contained in their daily
food, few persons have even a remote concep
tion. Nor are their ideas on the subject of mak
ing a fat or lean soil, clearer, or more satisfac
tory. Let us first notice the feeding of live
stock by a hasty review of the statement of .he
Genesee Farmer. It says: “If we take a piece
of carbon, or charcoal, and burn it in a stove, it
gives out an amount of heat proportionate to the
amount burned. The carbon of foot!, when ta
ken into the animal system, is burnt in pre
cisely the same way as that in the stove, and
gives out exactly the same amount of heat.”
The above statement is true when the condi
tions of the carbon are the same in the coal and
in the food, but not otherwise. Our friend and
successor in the Farmer has overlooked an im
portant fact in the feeding and warming of ani
mals, so far as carbon and hydrogen are sources
of nutrition and vital warmth. If carbon were
in the same condition in wood-tissue, starch, su
gar and oil, then a pound of carbon in sawdust,
and one in oil, starch and sugar might be of
equal value to warm the body of a man, or that
of an ox. But its degree of oxidation by being
already partly saturated with oxygen, differs in
these several vegetable compounds. Oil, or fat,
coutains at least ninety per cent, of combustible
hydro-carbon, and only ten per cent, of oxygen.
Starch, which so largely abounds in the seeds of
all cereals, and especially in corn, wheat, rice,
barley, rye and oats, as well as in Irish potatoes,
and many other tubers and roots, has only 50J
per cent of combustible hydro-carbon. Hence,
according to Baron Liebig, Carpenter, and
other authorities, if a planter wishes to replace
in starch a pound of fat in bacon consumed in a
week’s rations by a field hand, it will take two
and four-tenths pounds of starch in corn meal to
supply the equivalent heat to be derived from
one pound of fat. If the planter lessens the
quantity of fat bacon and supplies hydro-carbon
in molaßses or sugar, still more will be needed.
One hundred parts of sugar contain 484 of
hydro-carbon and 514 oxygen; grape sugar 464
hydro-carbon and 534 oxygen. We have al
ready stated that it takes 240 pounds of starch to
replace 100 pounds of oil in warming horses,
cattle, swine, sheep and persons; and we will
now add 249 pounds of cane sugar, or 263 pounds
of grape sugar, will replace 100 pounds of oil or
fat. If any man is so foolish as to heat his cop
per by burning diluted alcohol in his system,
we tell him as a scientific fact, that he must
drink 266 pounds of whiskey, rum or brandy,
which contains 50 per cent, of absolute alcohol,
to obtain as much heat as 100 pounds of good
butter or lard will give him. At another time
we will point out the economical value of com
mon beer, cider, peach brandy, and other distill
ed liquors, when taken in moderate doses. At
present, we desire to give the unscientific reader
a clear understanding of the principal reason
why carbon in corn-cobs and corn-stalls is far
less valuable for making the blood of horses
and other farm stock, including human blood,
than carbon in the seeds of corn, from which we
make excellent bread, fat horses, hogs and
steers. Dry cobs and stalks, like dry sticks of
wood, will burn nearly as well as com in a
stove; and if they could be consumed as readily
in the animal system to warm the body, the dif
ference between a cob-meal pone and one made
of corn-meal, would be much less than it now is -
The woody matter in the cob, cornstalk, or fine
saw-dust, is in a condition not to be dissolved,
nor digested in the alimentary canal. Its car
bon, therefore, does not make any part of the
blood, which both heats and nourishes every
part of the system. The dung of camels, and
of cattle living mainly on brows and dry straw,
burns like saw-dust, because its carbon has
never been used in any way, either to warm
or repair the waste in the vital machine through
which it has passed. Every Southern farmer
knows that if he delays to pull corn-blades until
the corn is fully ripe, the value of the fodder
for making blood in live stock is greatly dimin
ished. Carbon that was digestible, and capable
of assimilation when converted into blood, as it
existed in the immature plant, becomes indiges
tible in the leaves, stems and cobs of a ripe
plant. Therefore, mature blades and stalks and
cobs make little blood, and that of a poor quality.
But if we pull blades at the right time to have
them rich in nutritive elements, we damage our
corn a little more than we gain in forage; so
that the practice is precisely like buying a valua
ble silver half dollar, and paying sit silver dimes
for each half dollar.
Eastern hay sells higher in Augusta than
Northern hay, mainly because the farmers of
New England cut their grass for making hay at
the right time, and cure it better than is gene
rally done in New York and farther South. In
the latter districts, from which our Northern
hay is derived, more attention is paid to grain
and other crops, to the neglect of meadows, and
the production of the first quality of hay. Ae
a planter, busy in his cotton fields, may omit to
TMW, SOTO MMMM HE&© M M VX&3KBX&K.
gather corn-blades at the right time, so a far
mer, busy with his corn or wheat, may cut his
grass too late, or even too soon, to have every
pound of his hay yield the maximum of blood
to the animals that shall consume it. When
our pastures were short, and we were compelled
to feed dairy cows on broad-cast corn cut too
soon, we have found ninety per cent, of water
in the feeble, half-formed plants when given
them to make rich blood, and a generous flow of
milk. Never cut peas, nor clover, nor com, nor
English grasses, nor winter rye, too early nor too
late, if you can avoid it, to produce the maxi
mum of sound blood in live stock. Cut and
cure just as the seeds begin to form, for all for
age purposes. * When young ears of com,
wheat, rye, barley and oats begin to have
weight, the stems of these plants harden rapidly,
and wood-tissue and a flint-like cuticle are de
veloped to impart solidity and strength to the
stalks and culms, and support the grain.
With regard to the plastic elements of forage
plants, or those which form the muscles, brains,
nerves and bones of animals, as contra-distin
guished from those substances burnt to main
tain animal heat, night and day, no matter how
low the temperature of the surrounding atmos
phere, much might be said. Carbon and hydro
gen are the grand supporters of all vital com
bustion ; while the elements that really build up
the living fabric, are comparatively numerous
Not only carbon and the elements of water,
(oxygen and hydrogen,) but nitrogen, sulphur,
phosphorus, and alkaline and earthy salts, are
largely consumed in the very complex organiza
tion and structure of all the higher order of ani
mals. To feed them wisely, one ought to know
what substances nature demands to give them
perfect health, and how much of each. What
is the relative value of corn-fodder in Athens at
one dollar per 100 pounds, and corn at the same
sum for 54 pounds? We are buying both to
feed cows and sheep at the prices named. How
much of each shall we feed to obtain the best
return in wool, mutton, milk and butter ? Who
will aid us in solving this agricultural problem ?
As some of our readers are buying fodder at
one dollar and fifty cents per 100 lbs., we will
suggest a few reasons why corn is cheaper. —
First, it contains four times more oil than corn
blades. Second, its large per centage of starch
is pretty easily digested and formed into blood,
while the large amount of wood-tissue in corn
leaves mainly passes out of the system undigest
ed. Third, the seeds of this plant contain twice
as much nitrogenous matter, or flesh-forming el
ments as its blades or leaves. But as the stom
ach and intestines demand more bulk than corn,
or pure corn meal furnish, if fodder is dear, grind
cobs with the corn for all stock feeding; and let
them gather in the woods or elsewhere rough
food to fill the spaces not filled by corn or its
meal.
A HOMESPUN PARTY.
Under this heading we find the following in
the Richmond IF hig:
“Tho movement towards Southern independence is
progressing steadily. The people of Virginia are indeed
earnest about this matter. While we gentlemen have
contented ourselves, as yet, with meetings, speeches, &c.,
the ladies have begun to act. Without noise they have
commenced to give force and color to our resolutions—
to put our theories into practice. We had the pleasure,
a few evenings ago, of attending a ' homespun party,’ giv
en by ajiatriotic lady of this city, whose excellent good
sense prompted her to substitute deeds for words, and to
inaugurate at once that system of self-dependence which
has been the theme of the innumerable public meetings
held recently in every county of the State. The party
was a decided, a brilliant success. More than a hundred
laities and gentlemen, belonging\Ao the most respected
families in the city, were present all of whom were at
tired in part or in whole in garments made of Virginia
fabrics, woven in Virginia looms. It was strictly a Vir
ginia cloth party.”
At a public meeting held in Alexandria last
week it was resolved—
’’That, by wav of giving a practical issue to this meet
ing, and as "the first step towards the attainment of South
ern commercial independence, the citizens of Alexandria
here assembled pledge themselves to use anil wear no
artlclo of apparel not manufactured in the State of Vir
ginia ; and to buy all our hats, caps, boots, shoes and
clothing at home and of home manufacture, and induce
our wives and daughters to do the same; and that the
directors of our several railroad companies be and they
are hereby respectfully requested to pursue the same pol
icy with reference to all articles required by their re
spective roads.”
In other cities and towns in Virginia “ Home
spun Clubs,” the members of which pledge
themselves to dress in no other than Virginia
fabrics, are being organized.
The policy of keeping out of debt for costly
imported goods, and of producing at home, as
near as may be, all the comforts of life, is de
serving of all commendation. Irrespective Os
any sectional feeling, it is our duty to study and
practice good economy by husbanding all our
resources, whether agricultural, manufacturing
or mineral, and thereby keep, as well as create
wealth. To produce a large amount of proper
ty and then spend it foolishly for gew-gaws, and
in vicious idleness, betrays a childish disposi
tion, and a weakness of purpose which are any
thing but creditable. We must learn to keep
property as well as how to dig it out of south
ern soil.
SELLING FREE NEGROES INTO SLAVERY.
The growing practice of selling free negroes
into slavery, and the interest which it is exci
ting in the public mind, will justify a few re
marks on the subject. It was recently debated
with considerable feeling in the Common Coun
cil of the city of Augusta, on a resolution offered
by Dr. Ford to the effect “ That the office of
City Recorder be abolished for the present year.”
The object of the resolution was to prevent the
selling of any free negro into slavery by that
officer. Dr. Ford is reported as saying:
It Is monstrous, sir, to give the power to one of the
police magistrates of this city. The sense of the people
of this community will rise up against this law. Sir, it
has been our boast, and we have thrown it in the teeth
of the Abolitionists, that our laws protected even the
slave; and we have contrasted the nappy condition of
the African. boDd and free, in our midst, with the same
race in the North, and shall we now withdraw that pro
tection ? The motion which I have made is the only
way which I can sec to get at the question, and I know
of no other way at present in which the law can be ren
dered inoperative and void.
This public attempt at nullification, on the
slavery question, in the State of Georgia, which
was sustained by Col. Henry Cummixg shows
a more divided state of public sentiment than
any fnend oj the South can wish to see. It
grows directly out of this fact, that both the
law which these gentlemen condemn, and the
principles which they advance in opposition
thereto, alike place the institution of slavery in
the wrong.
Mr. Gibson, who was a member of the Legis
lature, and was mainly instrumental in the pas
sage of the law, said:
I shall always advocate the law against free negroes;
for I have no use for such jiests in society. On all occa
sions, whenever opportnnitv offers, I will vote to reduce
them to slavery, believing that I am bestowing upon
them a blessing in giving them good masters. Then, let
them get masters. I have not got a negro who would
accept his freedom, if it were offered him to-day—though
I punish him when he deserves it —yet he would not ac
cept his freedom. lam the true benefaetor of the free
negro. I want the free negroes to thank me for giving
them masters and mistresses: because I believe that I
am benefltting them in doing so. This is my position;
I am the friend and not the enemy of free negroes.
AYe fully agree with Mr. Gibson that it is, on
the whole, a benefit and an advantage to the
colored race to have the guardianship and pro
tection of a race more intelligent and more cul
tivated than themselves. But it strikes us as
absurd to bestow “ benefits” and “ true bene- 1
factions” on any persons, black or white, as the
punishment for the violation of law. Mr. Gib
son, and all who voted for his bill, or concur in
the measure, cannot escape from the full force
of this palpable absurdity.
Col. Gumming is reported as saying:
But, let us ask. what is to become, by this act, of the
fund thus raised* Is it that your city coffers are to be
filled with this price of more than blood? It seems that
there was some sense of shame in those who passed this
measure, and it does not go there. Then, where does it
go? The Legislature has made it the duty of your offi
cers to make this sale; but as if cognizant of the horror
with which this people would view this act, made no
such provision. The city treasury would spew it out.
To justify the above strong language, there
must be something really cruel and atrocious in
the condition of the free ” egro after the law has
made him a slave; otherwise, to talk of “more
than the price of blood,” of “horror,” and other
extreme wrongs, in connection with slavery, as
it exists in Augusta and the South, is to take
more than a poet’s license with the truth. Let
ns briefly analyze the logic and morality of the
positions assumed by Col. C., Dr. Ford, and all
who agree with them in ideas and in sentimen
talism :
They will make a perfectly innocent young
man or woman a slave for life, because the mother
of either had been the victim of an institution
which they denounce as “abhorrent,” and in
volving “more than the price ol blood!” Near
ly four million persons are held in slavery who
have committed no crime—violated no law. To
place a few free negroes in their condition can
not be so very “ horrible,” unless tho condition
of slaves is truly deplorable. AA'e were struck
by a remark of Mr. Fillmore, in his letter, read
at the late large Union meeting in the city of
New York, in which he said: “AYearo all anti
slavery men.”
All conscientious non-slaveholders are made
so by our constant practice of placing the status
of the slave in a false light before the world.
The epithet “abhorrent” in this connection was
brought into our language by AYILBERFORCEand
his associates, when the British slave trade and
slavery were shocking to humanity.
AVe should not notice this subject at all, did
we not both see and feel that deep injuries result
from tho honest but mistaken views, so con
stantly expressed by Legislative acts, and by
our most estimable citizens.
TILE DRAINING.
Eastern hay, that is, New England hay, is
now worth in this market (Augusta) from one
dollar sixty cents to one dollar seventy cents per
100 pounds; and we invite attention to one of
the ways in which swamp lands in New England
are made worth three hundred dollars an acre
for common farming purposes. Mr. Proctor, of
South Danvers, Mass., whom we happen to know
as one of the “ solid men ” among the farmers of
the old Bay State, thus briefly describes the re
sult of tile draining a piece of swamp land in
the New England Farmer :
“The proprietor procured an accurate survey and level
of the field, and employed experts to lay his drains,
chiefly of three inch tile , at distances varying from
twenty to forty feet. This has been thoroughly done
over the whole field. It was so early done, that the Held
was planted with the various kinds of vegetables culti
vated in this vicinity. The increase of crop, over any
thing before produced on the same land, has fully paid
the expense of the draining process in all Us parts, leav
ing the land worth at least three hundred dollars per
acre—being more than double what it would have before
been estimated at.”
A very intelligent commission merchant of
this city has estimated in our hearing, the cost'
of the hay imported, and annually consumed in
the State of Georgia, at over a million dollars.
So much for dried grass; while the cash sent
North to pay for grass in the shape of butter and
cheese, amounts to at least a million more. Now,
a first rate machine for making tile costs only
$250; and if there is one in any of the cotton
growing States, the fact has escaped our notice.
If the swamps of the South were incapable of
drainage, or the climate forbid the cultivation of
any nutritious grass, then it might possibly be
wise to import so much grass from New England
and New York as to make their grass lands
worth from two to three hundred dollars per acre.
But every one knows that most of our swamps
can be drained; and that it requires as little skill
or labor to produce grass as any other crop. In
deed, we have not a little low moist ground
which is not so wet but what fair meadows can
be made thereon with only a few open ditches.
AYhy then should we remain forever without
trying to grow all the grass and hay we need for
homo consumption? AYhy not drain our swamps,
cultivate them, and let more of our thin uplands
rest ? Low ground that receives the wash of
hills, dales and mountains, can be used for mead
ows to the best advantage.
> a i
Tiie Albany Cultivator. —Among the ol d
and valued agricultural journals of this country,
which have borne the burden of improvement in
the heat of the day, no one has achieved higher
distinction than the Albany Cultivator. Indeed, J
it has more reputation both at home and abroad, ;
than any other similar periodical in the United <
States ; and yet, one has only to send fifty cents
to the publishers, Messrs. L. Tucker & Son, AI. ,
bany, N. Y., to obtain a copy for a year. ,
- GROWING GRAPES NEAR THE GROUND.
The Courrier de la C hampagne has the fol
lowing remarks on the subject of vineyards and
wine:
“Every person knows that all the grapes growing
nearest the ground are reaped the first
I made, this year, an experiment for my own satisfac
tion. I kept some grapes twenty-five millimetres* above
the ground, and the others at three feet. The most of the
first gave ten degrees of Barometer, the second, nine and
a half degrees.
I have repeated this experiment several times. There
was no difference In the result. You can see by the dens
ity of this must, that an elevation of seventy-five centi
metrest from the ground reduced the saccharine matter
one-twentieth. This experiment proves how deficient
the wine is, produced by vines elevated on trees.
I have remarked that the Riresaltes Muscat wine has
a taste very similar to dried grapes ; though this wine has
been made with grapes not very ripe. This is the rea
son: It is a usage at Biresalles, to let one branch of ev
ery stalk of vine spread along on the ground. The
grapes of these branches are reaped first and dried, com
municating to the Muscat the particular and celebrated
taste that distinguishes it from every other wine.”
As the earth radiates heat, it is easy to under
stand why the air near the ground is much
warmer than that which surrounds the tops of
trees, and appreciably warmer than the atmos
phere eight or ten feet elevated above its sur
face. Hence, as the Courrier de la Champagne
asserts from repeated experiments, more saccha
rine matter is formed in grapes that grow and
ripen near the ground than in fruit which is
grown and matured in a colder and less genial
temperature. The extremes of variation are less
close to the earth than higher in the air caused
by change of wind, and other meteorological in
fluences. Not only sugar, but the fine aroma of
'the grape is more abundant in fruit that grows
near the ground.
*) 25 millimetres are equal to one inch,
t) 75 centimetres arc equal to 29X inches.
—■
Gardenia, Lee County, Geo., )
January Ist, 1860 )
Dn. Daniel Lee,
Agricultural Editor Field and Fireside:
Dear Sir: I have just penned a letter
to my friend, D. R. Stanford, of the
American Guano Company, giving him the re
sults of experiments with the American Guano
on this plantation.
I herewith furnish you a copy of my state
ment for publication, if you desire so to use it
Four acres having 100 lbs. each of guano, pro
duced, Seed Cotton, 4365 lbs.
Four acres having 200 lbs. each, 7108 lbs.
One acre, similar quality of land, and in the
same field, produced 808 lbs.
This acre had no guano and no manure on it
of any kind.
The yield of these nine acres was carefully
weighed.
The guauo was drilled in the bottom of the
furrow and covered by a turning shovel run on
each side. About a month after, the ridge was
opened by a small scooter plow, about four inch
es wide, so as not to reach quite down to the
guano. The seed were then drilled in, and cov
ered with a forked plow, made of two scooters,
about one and a quarter inches wide each.—
When the seed commenced sprouting, a mould
board was run over the ridge. The cultivation
after that was the same as the balance of the
crop.
I will further state that the entire field in
which the guano was put, consisted of fifty-five
acrea —of which forty-five were guanoed—forty
one acres received 200 lbs. each, four acres
received 100 lbs. each, as above stated. Ten
acres received no manure whatever. These
ten acres made about 6,000 lbs. Seed Cotton.—
The whole fifty-five acres yielded 69,076 lbs.
From these data you may estimate the results
of the use of guano.
I remain, yours respectfully,
James Gardner.
The above is one of the best experiments that
have been made in Georgia the past year. If
we divide 7,198 pounds of seed cotton by 4, it
gives 1,799$ pounds per acre; and if we subtract
from this 808 pounds as the product without
manure, it shows, within a small fraction, a net
gain of one thousand pounds of seed cotton per
acre. The 100 pounds supplied too little availa
ble phosphoric acid, and the gain was only 283
pounds of seed cotton. We allow 1000 lbs. of
seed cotton to yield 300 pounds of t. : clear
staple, worth ten cents a pound or S3O; and the
cost of the manure delivered 2$ cents a pound
or SSO a ton of 2000 pounds. Gain, just six hun
dred per cent., in addition to the value of
the increase of cotton seed for live stock and
manure. As it is our purpose to analize this
guano, we shall have more to say dn the subject.
THE TURF-TEN BROECK-SAVANNAH.
The races at Savannah this week are exciting
considerable interest. We have only room before
going to press for the following account of the
first day’s proceedings which is copied from the
Republican:
Promptly at the appointed hour of one, led by
their grooms, ont came Mr. Spalding’s Nez Tay
lor, (formerly Casique) and Mr. Doswell’s Ex
chequer, who started on the first heat with a fair
start. Nez ahead on the first quarter—on the
second quarter tho horses appeared to the look
ers “on in Vienna” about even, when excite
ment was at its pitch ; (gloves and candies being
pitted against each other at a tremendous rate.
Gents 7s, Ladies 6—will be in demand ere “race
week” is over) on the third quarter Exchequer
gained upon and passed Nez, coming out one
length ahead. Time 1.58.
The second heat, was badly commenced. Nez
getting the inside for the reason that Exchequer
did not get an even start, or rather, did not get
off so soon as Nez, who was two or three
lengths ahead, which position he kept until the
third quarter, when Exchequer coming up, pas
sed him, and won the race, making the mile in
1:15$.
After a recess of some fifteen or twenty min
utes, Nicholas galloped over the tra<?k, no horse
being brought out against him, taking half of
the Jockey Club purse of S2OO.
nere there was another intermission—a
breathing time for horse and man—or rider, —
during which small bets were made, and the fol
lowing horses were led out: ,
Mr. Spalding’s Bay, (dress Green.) 1
Mr. Brail9ford’s ch. s., (“Red.)
Mr. Bryan’s “ “ (“Blue.)
The first heat was exciting; the gentlemen |
owning the horses being so well known; and
the ladies declaring that they would not bet i
against “ such and such” an horse: they liked 1
the owner—which gave additional interest to i
those who knew nothing of the horses, and were 1
determined ‘ to bet anyhow.” ]
The first and second heats were both won by t
Mr. Spalding’s bay; the whole time being 4:10$; <
Mr. Brailsford’s second, and Mr. Bryan’s in the
rear. (
HINTS ON FISH BREEDING.
The U. S. Minister at Berlin, Gov. Wright of
Indiana, sends to Mr. Howland, of Indianapo
lis, the following items of information relating
to the artificial propagation of fish :
Fish have been artificially increased and pre
served in China for centuries. A little more
than a hundred years ago, the subject began to
attract the attention of scientific men in Ger
many, where the practice has already reached a
high state of culture. In England and France
attention has been but recently directed to this
branch of industry, yet it is successfully culti
vated in both countries, and promises to become
of the utmost importance in the world. I will
not attempt a description of the different meth
ods pursued in France and Germany, as you will
find one, better written, and with details which
I cannot go into, in more than one ol our scien
tific journals. I should like to have some of our
Western men, who happen to be the owners of
small lakes or ponds, make the experiment for
themselves. The field for scientific investiga
tion is large and important, and the results, if
successful, cannot fail to be highly beneficial.
If all our ponds, lakes, brooks and rivers were
stocked with the better kinds of fish, their in
crease secured by artificial means, aud protected
against extirpation by wise legislative provisions,
we should have a cheaper and healthy article of
food constantly at hand. It is only a short time
since Salmon was a luxury in Hanover, Ger
many, only to be enjoyed by the wealthy; now
it is within the means of the peasant as well as
of the noble. On the 22d of February I had a
Salmon from Hanover, which weighed thirty
■ two pounds.
I send you the enclosed paragraph from an
English paper, as it not only serves to illustrate
the practicability of the artificial propagation of
fish, but conveys a hint toward the stocking of
our great inland seas, which should not be lost
upon our countrymen:
“ At a recent sitting of the Societe d'Acdima
tation, D. Cloquet read an interesting paper on a
successful experiment recently made by M. Coste,
in a pond situated at St. Cucufa, one of the do
mains of the Emperor, near St. Cloud. It had
hitherto been considered impossible to produce
salmon in a state of domesticity, without their
emigrating to the sea; M. Coste's experiment
proves the contrary. The small pond above
alluded to, situated in a shady valley, does not
cover a surface of more than two and a half
acres. Its greatest depth is six metres, from
which the bottom rises in a gentle slopo to the
grassy bank. It receives its waters by transu
dation from the high ground with which it is
surrounded. Three years ago it was emptied
for repairs, and when it afterwards again re
ceived its usual quantity of water, M. Coste
stocked it with some trout, which are now four
years old, and about a foot and a half in length.
In April and May, 1857, he added several thou
sand liliputian salmon, bred at the College of
France two months before, and, notwithstanding
the havoc committed by their voracious enemies,
the trout, they have thriven so well that some
time ago, in the presence of their Majesties, up
wards of two hundred kilogrammes’ weight of
these fish were brought up in a single draught
of net. They were on an average about a foot in
length. But the most important circumstance
which M. Coste remarked on this occasion, and
which adds a new fact to science, was that all
these fish were in a state of reproduction; the
spawn which they contained had come to matu
rity, and it has since been subjected to artificial
fecundation; the embryos resulting therefrom
aro so far developed that they must soon be
hatched. Hence it is proved that salmon may
be propagated in close waters; and also, that
salmon, like trout, begin to spawn at the age of
eighteen months.”
—<»i
CUTTING HAY FOR STOCK.
Some years ago, a correspondent of the Mas
sachusetts Ploughman , Thos.W.Ward, made some
experiments in regard to the economy of cutting
hay and corn fodder for horses and cattle. The
result was in every way satisfactory. One ef
fect of cutting fodder, brought to light by these
experiments, we have never seen alluded to be
fore. The solid excrements of the animals, in
proportion to the food eaten, were much heavier
from the cut than the uncut fodder. In other
words, they absorbed more liquid. This is an
important fact. The great loss in keeping ma
nure in the barn-yard is from drainage; and it
is quite reasonable that cut fodder would absorb
more liquid than uncut. In England it has been
recommended, and is to some extent the prac
tice, to cut all litter as well as the fodder. The
manure is shorter, and is sooner ready for the
land, and can be spread and plowed under more
easily; and undoubtedly absorbs more liquid.
Mr. W. says his experiments “ show a saving
of about eighteen per cent, in favor of cut hay,
and also an increase in weight of excrement of
fifteen per cent.” “Thus,” says Mr. W., “we
spend less hay, and make more manure, which
is the farmer's capital.” Ho says, m conclusion,
he will “ not attempt to solve the mystery in re
gard to least hay making most manure.” There
is no “mystery” about it. It is due, undoubted
ly, to the increased capacity of the cut straw to
absorb liquid rapidly.
Another advantage in cutting fodder for
stock is that coarser and more unpalatable food
can be used. A horse that would eat straw only
when compelled by keen hunger, will eat it read
ily, if cut up and mixed with a little corn meal ;
and the mixture will be quite as nutritious as
hay, and less expensive. In some sections, one
of the cheapest methods of wintering horses is
to cut up oats in the straw, and mix them with
a little bran; or, if the horses are hard at work,
with a little corn meal.
The hay crop is so short this year, in many
sections, that it behooves our farmers to use the
most economical methods of feeding their stock;
and cutting up the straw, corn-stalks, and hay,
will be more than usually advantageous.—Gen
esee Farmer.
Land Measure. —Every farmer should have a
rod measure—a light, stiff pole, just 16£ feet
long—for measuring land. By a little practice,
he can learn to step just a rod in five steps,
which answers very well for farm work. Ascer
tain the number of rods in the length and width
of the lot you wish to measure, and multiply
one number by the other, and divide by 160,
and you have the number of acres, as 160
square rods make one square acre. If you wish
to lay off one square acre measure thirteen rods
one side, by twelve and a half on the other.
This gives two and a half rods over a full acre.
A late American Agriculturist contains a very
good and suggestive picture, entitled ‘Going to
Law,’ from which quarrelsome people can derive
a very good lesson. It represents a cow, with
the plaintiff pulling ferociously at the horns,
and the defendant tugging just as hard the other
way, by the beast’s tail, whilst a sleek-looking
lawyer, seated on a pile of law books, is milking
the cow’s well-filled bag. That is about the fate
of all who go to law; the parties to the suit
wrangle and fight, and the lawyers get the
cream.