Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1863-11-13
Soiling Cattle-Horses-Mules.

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[Col. A. X. MCLURE, Of the Cham
bersburg Repository" seems TO be
good at almost anything he takes
hold of, and is now one Of the heavy
farmers of Cumberland Valley. In
a late number of his paper, under the
head of"War's Lessons to Farmers,
he objects to restoring the fences ia.
ken away by both armies recently,
and gives the following good reasons
therefor.]
Pasturing cur heavy clay lands, is
the work of death. If wet and soft,
wherever hoof treads the surface, it
bakes, and the air, one Of the best of
fertilizers, ceases TO permeate it. If
dry, the tread of stock is almost equal
ly fatal, for it has little or no elastic
ity /; and for all this damage. there is
no adequate compensation. We have,
for two years, fed all our cattle with
excellent grass, from the 10th Of
June to the 1st of september, cut
from the lawn about our dwelling
house-in all not over two and half
acres, and a considerable portion of
that is so thickly set with heavy fruit
trees as to rctard the growth of the
grass very much. We NOW it three
times, for fced-jnst often enough to
keep the lawn neat and clcan-and
cut it again, late in the fall, to prepare
the ground for light coat of manure
from the horse-stables, which lies on
the surface during the winter and is
raked off in the spring. By the first
of September, we have corn-stalks rea.
dy for the cattle. We plough deeply
and manure well, about two acres, in
April, and SOW broadcast about 81
bushels of corn TO the acre about the
first of May. 1t comes up thickly on
the ground, grows tall and slender in
the stalk, and is the very best feed for
cattle in the latter part Of August and
September, when all other pasture is
generally dried up, that could be
supplied them. In this way all our
cattle have the very best, succulent
food, from June until late in autumn.
No fences are required, no land is
damaged, no grass wasted, and the
cattle thrive better than in the pas
ture fields exposed TO the heat of
summer and tormented 10y flies. They
are stabbed in the morning, before
the heat of the day, the stable kept
dark 10 exclude flies, although well
ventilated, and in the evening, they
are turned out and fed in the yard
and have free range to running water.
Thus two acres of farm land, besides
the lawn about my house, supply all
the pasture for our cattle five months
Of the year, while most of our neigh
bors would destroy fifteen acres of
grass, not to count fences and damage
to land, in keeping the same number,
and then would have good pasture
but a short time.
We never pasture horses. They
do immense damage to land, and Of
ten are more injured than benefited
by grazing. Young clover is exhaus-
ting to them, and it is seldom that
they can be turned out without getting
it: and old clover has little more
nourishment than straw. They are
better in the stable, with good grass
cut for them when it is fit for use
and when it is not-when young clo-
ser is mixed with it-iLey arc better
than hay.
We have thus digrcsscd to enforce
our conviction that inside fences are
needless, profitless and positively
wastcful of land, of labor and of mon
ey; and we cntreat such Of our farm
ers as have lost fences, to learn the
lesson of war, and take out all re-
naming inside fences and make out
side fences in the best style. No far
mer has yet. so far as We have been
advised, tried soiling stock, and re-
turned to the old plan; and We feel
we'll assured that no farmer will ever
return to division fences after he has
fairly tried getting along without
them.
Another lesson clearly taught by
the sad events Of the last year, is the
necessity Of employing mules more
generally in our farming operations.
They are capable of doing as much
ordinary farm work as the horse, are
ten-fold more enduring, are never
sick and rarely crippled by sprains
or other accidents, they live twice
as long as the horse, and can be kept
on one-half the feed from year to year.