Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-12-17

er and more densely settled localities. But
now in many portions of the western States,
and in several OF the newer territories, men
are sufficiently near to afford Z" aid and COM
fort to each other in agreat variety of ways
We have always looked upon Farmers
Clubs as among the most potential associa-
tions for good that have been organized
among agriculturists. 81
They are schools in which each member is
teacher as well as student, for he must be a
dolt indeed, who cannot relate some expert
enoe or originate some idea that shall be of
benefit to his neighbors following the same
profession. They educate in habits of thought
and reflection, and afford practice in giving
them Ineligible expression.
They afford exercise to the powers of criti-
| cism aud comparison, that result in general
| improvement in farm management.
They develop the social qualities of men,
| and greatly tend to eradicate neighborhOod
jealousies and petty differences. They en-
gender kindly feelings and general interest
| in the welfare of all. Especially is this true
| if, as in many parts of New England, and as
is the case with one or two Of these organi-
cations that we know of in the West, the
meetings are held successfully at the houses
of the different members. 81 gt.o
j. If the proceedings are carefully noted down
by Secretary, as they should be, and given
to the local press or the agricultural papers
for publication, they become still more wide
| ly beneficial Indeed, it is hard to estimate
all the good that arises from well conducted
clubs of this kind-PraiTie Farmer
MIXED FEED FOR SHEEP-In making up
| mixed food for sheep, composed of the die
ferent products which are found most availa-
BILE and economical, care should be taken to
keep the proportion of the nutriment to bulk
| such that proper supply of the former can
be taken into the stomach without depressing
| that organ. It has been seen that three and
/ one-third per cent of the live weight per
diem in hay about meets the demands of the
| animal economy and it probably also about
| fills the stomach to a comfortable state of
| fullness. If, then, sheep weighing ninety
pounds received half its nutriment in hay and
half in the better kinds of straw (Which con-
| tain half as much nutriment as hay,) it would
be required to consume one and One-half
pouRds of hay and three pounds of straw
daily-an aggregate of four and one half
pounds, which, think, could not be daily
! taken into and digested in the stomach of a
sheep of that size. Therefore, to put sheep
on half straw feed, it is necessary that some
other portion of their feed be more cOncen-
trated or more nutritious in proportion to
bulk than hay-as, for example, grain or
roots-or else they will not get their proper
supply of nutriment.
My own course when feeding straw has
been to give feed of hay at morning and
evening INTENDED to average about pound
per head each time all the straw the sheep
| will eat, and about a pound of cut turnips
,,ch at noon--the latter being little in
creased if the hay and straw are not of prime
quality. But do not often give over two
4
of turnips to a hundred. Hay here does not
average eight dollars ton and though | re-
gard feeding turnips as economical, my ma
jor object in growing and feeding them is to
promote the health and thrift of nay breeding
ewes, and the growth of my lambs.
Some excellent sheep farmers on grain and
cloyer-seed farms lying a few miles north OF
nowhere a contiguous city market raises
the average price of hay about fifty per cent.
higher than here-give their store sheep no
hay until March, feeding them in lieu of it,
bright good straw in abundance, clover, chat,
and daily feed of Indian corn, ranging from
one and half to two gills per head, accord
ing to the size and other circumstances. The
straw and grain chaff are generally fed fresh
from the threshing floor half dozen times a
day, and the sheep are not required to eat it
at all close: After the first of March a full
supply of bright clover hay is given and the
grain FEED taken off. The sheep, as L have
had repeated occasion to observe, winter
well, and the breeding ewes raise good lambs.
l do not believe that breeding ewes or
lambs could properly be fed enough straw
and turnips-particularly if the straw was
dry and ripe-to obtain the equivalent of
full supply of hay. If turnips are fed in ex-
cess they render the evacuation too thin and
active for severely cold weather. But
1a,la rsfl
little diminution of the corn otherwise re-
quisite, would ] think, constitute a better
and cheaper feed than entire corn and straw.
The comparative nutriment of the different
kinds of straw has been given in the table of
nutritive equivalents. Dat and barley straw
cut quite green and cured bright are highly
relished by sheep. l had rather have them
particularly if threshed with fail so that
few small green kernels remain in the ends
of the hea0s) than hay in the situation in
which is frequently cured for uae. Wheat
Estraw ranks next among the common varie-
4 ties of straw. Sheep do not relish it, and
| will not eat it very well if they get any hay.
But when confined to it and grain they learn
to eat it and thrive on it. They must not
however, be compelled to eat it as close as
oat and barley straw. Ripe rye straw, unless
cut fine and mixed with meal, is dry, harsh,
| lOOu
| for sheep. All straws are eaten much better
by them when fresh threshed and fed fire.
quently in small quantities
Cornstalks are contained in neither of the
preceding tables OF nutrition. When cutand
| cured bright, before frost, no feed is better
relished by sheep than the leaves and some
finer portions of the stalks; and they thrive
admirably on them.
Pea-haulm, if cut and cured green, is high
| ly valuable and is highly relished by sheep;
but when not harvested until dried up and
dead, according to the more common mode,
it is utterly worthless for them.
In seasons Of great scarcity of hay and
straw, sheep have been repeatedly and sue
cessfully wintered by feeding them almost ex-
clusively on grain. Such " hay -famine" oc
cured in the best sheep region of Vermont
in the winter of 1S60-61, Occasioned by a
severe drought the preceding SUMNER
Flock masters who were determined to keep
well at all hazards, fed their sheep pound
Tor quartz of oats per head, with such guam
titles of hay, straw, ETC., as they could obtain.
In better Indian corn growing regions one
pound of corn day is given under like cir
cumstances. -RnldaHs Practical Shepherd
PRUNING APPLE TREEs.-Mr. L. G. Brown,
4 in the Boston Ctltiuator, says: ''That spring,
when the buds are swelling and the sap nfull
| flow, is very bad time. Yet there are
many who prune more or less every spring"
He is right. More apple trees are destroyed
by such injudicious pruning than by all the