The Worthington advance., 1877-09-13

'"-<~'-~'"~
oo1sA4':3kl >Y,7I1AE;jl)ss1 |
.:,o.;, Farm, hse..s .na 'ts. Garden ln'': /
Il j.:@.'h Tsxht 9asas ssr Nay. .ytf @;ti
~ The Il general opinion among farmers
probably is that barns with air-spaces
between the boarding are better adapted
to cure and preserve hay than barns with
very tight boarding and tight bottom.
supposed fact that free access of air will
assist in carrying off surplus moisture.pnd
prevent heating and fermentation, which
supposed fact is,notaa fact at 3all when
applied to q body of,uncured hay. When
this uncured grass. is spread in thin lay
ers on the field 'apd! exposed to the air,the
moisture is carried off so rapidly as not Ito
permit any heating or: fermentationJ but
when placed in athick body in NOW
the heat, with access Of air, causes rapid
fermentation. The oxygen of the air
feeds the fermentation and thus becomes
the active. Cause Of its destruction. This
principle; is familiar to-. the good house
wife who preserves her fruit in an, air
tight jar We tried an experiment some
years ago; which applied this principle to
keeping green clover. /, We took a large
linseed oil cash, !unheaded at one end,
filed it with green cloverjust in blossom,
containing all its sap, crammed it solid,
replaced the head, drove the hoops, and
then stopped all air spaces with white
lead, and paint. On opening, ten months
after, the clover blossoms were found
almost as bright as when put in.
Only few months ago the Elmira
Farmers Club mentioned. as a warning
to one who asked advice about putting
incurred hay in barns, that member Of
the club had lost his barn by fire caused
by filling cask with green clover, ram
med in, and covering the top with two or
three inches Of earth. This mishap was
caused by not sufficiently excluding the
air. 1t did not invalidate the principle
that green: grass may be kept in air-tight
receptacles. only that it could not be pre-
served with access to air. Almost every
farmer has observed that grass needs
more curing to put in stack than in barn
showing that just in proportion as the air
is excluded may the hay be put in un-
cured The tighter, then, the barns are
made the greener may the grass be put in
NOV. 1t is Of great service to exclude the
air from the sides and bottom of NOW,
even with access of air at the top. Then
the heating and fermentation take place
clowly, turning the moisture into very
thin, gassy vapor, that escapes at the top
or passes off. If hay, or the fodder to be
kept, is packed very solid, it affords less
access to air and thus heats less rapidly
and may escape injury, when if loose it
would be- destroyed by destructive fer
mentation.
I do not advise anybody to put un-
cured grass into the barn, but there is no
doubt that hay is greatly injured by too
much drying, as general rule. It
should be cured only so much as is nee
essary to secure its preservation. All
drying increases the woody fiber. It
will be seen that the best means of keep
ing slightly cured hay is to have very
tight barns.-Co,responaencc. Country
Gentleman
Importance or Agricultural knowledge
A recent writer on agriculture has said !:
"What literature has done for theology,
for astronomy, for all the sciences that eI-
evate and ad.rn humanity. she is ready
to do for agriculture--the art OF arts-to
which we owe all the comforts of civil
lized life" And yet, what prejudice
still exists in the minds of some in regard
to what they are pleased to term book
farming" and why is it, Can any person
tell2 To be arrayed against it is certain
ly to be arrayed against knowledge, prog
ress and the light of the nineteenth
century. For to-day, the chemist over.
his cruclbles, the scholar in his study, and
and the expcrimenter in the field, arc
walking hand in hand together, searching
for the hidden truth, that the scientific re-
suit may be obtained!
Change is one of the tendencies of this
age. Even educational systems arc chang
ing. Our literature is becoming more
agricultural in its character. The high
est talent is rushing to the aid of the once
despised sciences. So that farmers who
do not wish to be left in the rear-far in
the rear-must devote their spare moments
to comparing their experience with that
OF Others given in agricultural books and
papers.
When the young child, growing up and
learning to read, will add to his knowl-
edge, and his fathers, the EXPERIENCES of
others, he will be much better prepared
for the great work of life.
We are still cropping in the dark; but
the tints of light may be seen in the far
east-soon they will! burst over us in all
their splendor and beauty.
!. Is it too much to believe that the time
will come, and that ere long, when every
process on the farm will be conducted
with the same certainty Of result which
belongs to the other sciences2 We are no
prophet, but we watch and wait-Mizton
II. Marble IN Nebraska Farmer.
Stability In Farming.
There Is no occupation of man that re-
qulres tor its successful prosecution more
careful study, more confidence. based
upon knowledge, than agriculture. We
see the want of faith in the conduct of a
large class of farmers, who never seem to
have hit upon the right line of business
Now they are dairymen, having gone into
it when dairy stock was high, costing a
large sum to start; but the product 6av.
ing been depressed for few months, all
confidence is gone in the future of the
dairy industry, and their cows are sold al
heavy loss: Next they take to sheep
but wool socn has its turn of depression
and confidence is lost in this industry
and its abandonment follows. Hopes
now become their hobby. Fifty cents
per pound is quite too alluring; but when