National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-02-28
Farm, Garden and Household.
Experiments in steaming Stalks.

y
economize by cutting and cooking fee,
was able TO procure lot of cornstalA
ut four cents bundle. These ] cut II
with q Daniels cutter. | procured
large kettle and six half.hogshead tub
at cost of about $50. stamped tn
tubs full Of cut stalks, mike with bran
and poured over each tub-iull 90 gallon
OF boiling water, spreading IN inch d
bran over the top TO keep down tn
steam. The cows ate the mixtureclea
and throve upon it, preferring it 10 hay
l should think il went twice MS far a
long stalks.
In order TO economic on labor tn,
next winter procured steamer whicl
l placed several rods from the stable
connecting it with gas-pipcs laid under
ground to box in the stable holding
70 bushels. This filled with stalks
and bran, thoroughly wetting it, and
turned on the steam. | kept on the
steam five or six hours, and then il was
not ms savory mess as the scalded
stun. In neither case did | discover
that the cows either gave more milk or
Kept In better condition than they did
upon uncooked food. The only gain
was in their eating the fodder cleaner.
The experiment satisfied me that the
butts OF stalks were worth full as much
as the leaves for fodder if one could
only soften them so as to get the cows
TO eat them. To steam good hav or
FODDER which cows will eat up clean
without being starved to it is worse
than labor thrown away. Onc-half of
the saving on the corn stalks can be OBJ
tained by simply cutting, with one
tenth as much expense as il takes to
steam. Then the uneaten portion OF
the stalks makes splendid bedding and
nghtens up the manure finely In fact,
Tor the sake of the manure 4 PAYS to
cut stalks, for every farmer knows v hat
nuisance long stalks are in manure |
IL Is proper to state that / did not have |
wafer convenient TO the barn, but had |
to bring it in milk cans on sleigh
from spring some 20 rods distant.
l saved about 10 bundles of stalks
per day, one-half to be credited to cut-
ting and one-half to steaming. Could
have procured more stalks the saving
would have amounted to but 20 cents
day, but as / could not do so it saved
me aDoat 81 worth of hay. Since that
ume have been able to procure more
stalks than needed From this expert
ment / have arrived mt the following
conclusions:
l. 1t does not pay to steam unless one
mas every convenience of water and
!aoor,saving apparatus, and then only
Ior large amount of stock.
z 1t does not pay to steam good
sweet hay or any fodder which COWS in
good condition will eat ND clean.
.. 1t does not pay at all where labor
IS high and fodder is cheap. :
4. For the ordinary farmer it will not 4
pay To- go to the expense of fitting up =
steaming apparatus. :
o. Where 1t pays at all il is only in a
exceptional cases, and will not do to !
depend upon as general rule. - 4
Farmer. :
Does II Pay to Cook Feed for Stock? {
We will state that our farm contains t
Nv acres, and we generally feed 100
neaa OF cattle on grass in Summer, and >
We iatteh each Winter about forty head
Oh cattle IN stable. We raise from forty {,
70 MY acres OF wheat, twenty to thirty l
d oats, twenty of corn, and three or II !
lour acres of Swedish turnips. Our en- Il
sine Is fve-horse, boiler something o
more, with engine attached to its side. ),
ana thls threshes our grain, cuts and u
leams the fodder, pumps the water, u
Jaws the wood, and does the churninp ..
'hu 'hus Is very handy to have on the u "
we have three steam boxes, holding l.
~ bushels each, and one of these filled ~
WIN cut straw and chat, with 200 Il
POUNDS OF bran, worth rs cents Der III
lundred, evenly mixed, moistened vita ~ n,
'ater, packed in solid, and well steam. l.
q, Will iced sixty head of cattle three M
ines for one day, all they will eat nc ne
.attenlng cattle are fed extra. In this IN
,ay we can feed all our straw and corn VI
' AK, ana poor hay, if we have any, with nc
lttie gram or bran, turn it ali into nc
uick active manure to stimulate new ne
rps ana can Keep much more stock. Vi
III u, one-thlrd less expense than in vi
&c OLD way. Our stock comes ont in m'
etter condition in the Spring, and we wa
ave no doubt, from our own experience wa wa
'at tnere is saving to us of fullv In
ie-third IN the cost of winterinr orr rat
annals; In feeding hogs we find that mo
70 bushels of corn ground and cooked lsh
little better than four bushels of me
leiied corn. We have proved this Inv t
Q best test We can giveit We hoven91 me
in sayino tbot n,,r ,eJ y nv han
the economy of this mode of feedino the
'englnens with each years experience. loI
a we believe 1t is destined to be prac. con
, ~ huch more extensively in the fu- :" al. -
re. Live Stock journal. 9th
sur
Coal Ashes for Sandy Soil, sL;
A; fnes asks the Rural Ne,g- yerke, die
coal ashes are of any value TO annIv Ion,
yellow, sandy soil. Very little. we otp
nix, except in case unfermented manure had
with them. They are better anc1
stiff clays, where the object i. to nuti
,nge the mechanical texture of tbo mar
!. Ihey are useful to throw into ing
Wy vaults as deodorizers. and then ,so the
manure, thus deodorized with the leoy
es, on any crop desired They are Iyin
1 : also, as an application to grass not
where top-dressines of syst
hure are given. this
Shoais in a Barn Cellar u4uc
: Name farmer manufactures manuro fon,.
lat IL, mikes it-by keeping four Inv 4
ats IN his barn cellar where he feeds tLo ;
m raw sugar beets and a ouort of r.,.,
q put down with the manure every tbc,
'ning: he says: "The way they 20 mon
~ (the conn is perfectly lovely, Of tb
manure is rooted, re-rooted and mad,
ca again, until it is worked up as From
Is o!d manure. The stock is t,edded that
y night" '''''u ' ula'
~tv foFf Making One
10 SAID that corn, as il is peneraIlv son,
to hogs in Iowa does not nat a. knew