The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-08-29

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and fruit grover Of great experience.
sHoRr-HoRNs AS DAIRY cows.
There are q few men who are try
ing to prove that Short-Horn cows
are good mixers; but they will not
be able to do it, beyond an occasional
good one. This breed of cattle is
good for beef, as q general rule, and
nothing else. Indeed, they ere the
best beef cattle in this or any other
country. In speaking Of the tenden-
CIV Of all they eat going 10 fat, rather
than to milk, q Kentucky dairyman
of extensive experience says; "This
is the fatal defect in the Sbort-Ho
as a dairy COW. Instead of return
ing the food in the milk pail she puts
it in her bones, where it is not need
ed. Again, the Short Horn has been
longer before and more widely known
70 the dairymen Of the country than
au7 other thoroughbred breed of cat
tie. Is it not therefore reasonable to
suppose that if she really did possess
the milking qualities these enthusiast
tic gentlemen claim for her that the
Gairymen Of the country would have
sense enough TO find it out? | have
visited hundreds of diaries in the
dairy districts OF the country and /
renember but one herd where Short
Horn blood predominated. This is
pSoof positive to my mind that nei-
Their the Short Horns nor her grades
have proved successful in the dairy.
In this State Short-Horns are as
cheap as any other cattle: they are
set used 10 the dairy. Most men
who breed them use scrub or Jerseys
TO nurse their calves. 1t may be
argued that dairymen do not use
Short Horn 10 their herds because
they are rot willing to pay the ex-
trs price for them. This is not so,
because we see some blood of the
other fancy breeds in almost every
herd in the country, while many
have herds composed exclusively of
tboroughbreds. While ! am familiar
vita the herds OF a hundred diaries
ia the ~neighborhood Of Louisville, /.
remember but one that has as high
IS ten herd Of Short-Horns in it,"
sows IA NC THEIR PIGS.
A swine breeder says: II have
seen several articles on 'sows eating
their pigs and perhaps my expert
ence may be Of benefit. have a
SOW two yesFs old which has had
three filters. After leaving the first
litter with her owe night, u Of
them was missing in the morning.
The second morning, on going to her
pen, / saw the head OF one, the SOW
having eaten the rest. / then gave
her one or two pounds OF salt pork,
aud the rest of the pigs were saved.
The second litter she did aot trouble
at all. The third she commenced
eating, and | lost two. / then gave
her the salt pork, and all was right
again. / shall watch in future, and
have the pork ready. / should fat
her, only that she gives US very fne
pigs and is otherwise a good mother"
lie is right salt pork will prevent
sows eating their pigs.
HAY IN TIGHT BARNS.
We occasionally see in agricultural
papers that hay cut and wilted a lit
tie, and carried directly to tight
barns, is preserved in q better condi-
ton than that cured in the ordinary
way. look on such statements as
mere bosh. Here is an extract from
the Scientific farmer: THE improv-
ed practice is TO cut with a machine,
tedder it q few times, and draw it in
TO the barn the same day. If such
wilted grass is not allowed to get
wet, it is found to keep quite as well
as the usual dried hay, especially is
this the case where the barns are
comparatively tight. Recent expert
emit are reported, in which the
freshly cut grass-cut after the dew
was off-was allowed the sun but a.
couple Of hours, during which the
tedder went over it once, and was
then rsked up and housed in a build
ing, ~clapbosrded tight beneath, plas-
tered inside, and with slight ventila-
ton, which was at once closed tight
and not opened till winter, when the
grass came out fresh and bright as
the day it was put in" A farmer of
my Acquaintance got the idea into
his head from some theoretical writer,
that hay was cured too much, that
1t only required about half the drying
that it usually receives; so be had
his hay put into his barn in a damp
condition, and the result was it heat
ed and spoiled. That man now
thinks it best to make changes eau
tiously in customs that always work
ed well.
SWAMP MUCK.
Swamp muck generally is not, as
a fertilizer, worth the cost of hauling
it half q mile; but when it is hauled
it should be mixed with lime TO cor
rect the acidity in it. A farmer
writes to the New York TsBsuse, sad
states how he treats il AS the muck
was dug, he mixed with every FIVE
loads n barrel of fresh lime. This
was spread evenly in LAYERS te.ween
layers of muck d foot thick. 10
twenty-four hours the heaps were
smoking hot. He then threw muck
over the top and beat the surface
closely with the shovel TO exclude the
air, and in q few days the heat went
down. When he came TO draw the
muck, it had become a black, rich
mass, that exhaled a very pungent
odcr, much like barnyard manure