The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-11-08
Selling Farm stock.

There are SO many advantages in
soilipg, or feeding farm stock in stables
and under sheds in Summer, rather
than craze them st large, that the
practice is certain to become common
in the South at no distant day. Mr..
Rham, (high English authority, says:
"a COW crox requires from two to
three acres of pastures or meadow to
feed it all the year round, allowing
portion of hay. But by raising clover,
lucern, sainfOin, tares and other green
crops, three cows or more can be fed
with the produce of one acre, especially
IL portion is i'm turnips and other sue
culent roots. Thus the straw of the
white crops IS converted into excellent
manure, and the land kept in state
of fertility. "a ~.
The ABOVE statement shows q five
fold increase of production per acre.
That is to say, in place of giving two
and half acres to Craze COW year,
IA part being meadow that quantity of
land by soiling, will keep five cows
twelve months, giving five times the
quantity Of milk, butter or cheese, and
five times more manure for the same
area of land.
When stock are grazing, it is un.
avoidable that their drOppings should
befoul, from day 10 day, q good deal of
grass, which will not be eaten. 1t is
certain, so much of this excreu ent as
is consumed by very numerous bugs,
in all our fields. goes to support their
lives, not agricultural plants. In this
way, q large share. OF our cattle man
uie is lost. When the bugs die, we
may receive a small return, il their
todies are not devoured by other bugs,
and their organic matter carried on
indefinitely, till all is consumed TO
support animal vitality. On Sonth-
ern farms, the loss of animal manure is
great. as we now manage or rather
neglect these things. Ali know that
our working stock-mules, horses and
oxen, our cows and sheep-are serious
ly annoyed by many insects, such as
bloodsucking flies, bot bees, CAD flies,
ticks. &c. In quiet, cool. well-beded,
ventilated stable, with fair allo vance
Of nutritious heritage, given quantity
of food will return twice' the gain in
flesh: and strength to all seattle" (using
the word "cattle" in its old English
sense as applying as well to horses and
sneep, as to "net cattlc,") than can be
realized when exposed ont In open
fields. In plain words, our farm stock
receive too little protection and care,
alike i'm Summer and winter. Indian
corn, which cannot be grown to any
advantage in England, is one Of our
best sol ing plants. Clover, and all the
hest perennial grasses, are available for
the same purpose. Cutting these by
horsepower, snd hauling forage OH
cheap railways, and manure back on
the same trat k, the cost of handling
both stock-food and plant food, will be
comparatively small. Hence, under
the sound doctrine of rich land, of large
production alike of vegetable and ami
NAL growth, of healthy stock, and the
minimum of injury done by insect en-
emies, with all la Dor saving machinery
brought to perfo elton, depicting prac-
tice, with little or no restriction, must
come to a happy end.
1t is not the right way to have cows
and other stock dropping their excre-
ments on the food which they are to
eat. It is not the right way to let bugs
consume this food ofagricultural plants.
1t is not the right way to permit
swarms of biting flies and other pests
torment our useful quadrupeds, if we
can prevent it. 1t is not the right
way to call ourselves either planters,
farmers, or husbandmen, when we
neither plant, farm, nor husband any
thing as our work ought to be done.
We may be, possibly, great land xii ers,
great grumblers at kind Prudence;
but we are not frat rate cuitivators of
the soil.