Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-07-04
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word for Holiday

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tile eratondensed, as it would appear,
us ly sVermont agricultural report, in
ing MI there is given an account of the
an ttice ofMr. Amaro Scott, mer-
say ant of Craftsbury, in that State, who
gssr several years, has been in the habit
Of having his grass cut and in the barn
before any heads appear his theory
being ''that if the grass is ext before
the seed-stalk commences to shoot up
ward, the same stalk that is cut of will
continue to grow, instead Of starting
new shoot from the root, as is the case
where the cutting is delayed until the
seed-stalk Is partially or fully develop
ed. He thus secures ar, earlier growth
for the succeeding CROP" His small
farm is in the highest condition, and
produces in favorable seasons three
crops. Scales are kept on the place,
and in conducting his experiments he
weighs his crops, etc.
In favorable seasons he has cut as
high as five tons per acre at the three
cuttings, Is pounds ofwhich, by actual
experiment, was The amount per day
required to keep large cow in the
highest condition, and 80 pounds per
day, fed to pair Of yearling steers,
without any other food, produced an
average growth ofover three pounds per
day during the entire winter In the
production Of milk and butter, Mr..
Scott's experiments, here detailed,
show this early-cut grass to be greatly
superior to ordinary, as it is also i'll
feeding young steers for the market. A
pair Of steers, sold at the age "a months
weighed 1850 pounds, and dressed
1880 pounds. Another pair, half
short-Horn blood, at 234 months old,
weighed 2,750 pounds, and had made a
gain during the preceding u months,
and an average growth from birth of
ITO pounds per month. All these
cattle were raised on skim milk, with
hay-tea and dried grass; no grain of any
kind or roots we've fed to any of them,
except the last pair for while before
they were sold, The feeder, being,
short Of the dried grass, was compelled
to feed common hay, and, to keep his
cattle from growing poor, was obliged
to feed potatoes and meal, but he says
that during this very period his cattle
made the slowest growth.
These experiments and the deduc-
tions of Mr.. Scott are certainly worth
the attention Of intelligent farmers.
Two facts having an immediate bearing
upon the subject, and strongly corrobo-
rativc of these deductions, must be re-
garded as unquestionable, to witt
First, that green grass will fatten stock
and make the best of beef and mutton {;
while the best Of hay, as generally cut
and cured, does not, as a general rule,
when fed in the most liberal quantities,
keep stock from running down in condi-
ton during the winter. The other fact
is, that while, as general thing, our
meadows show diminished production
from year to year, even on good lands,
on the same lands the pastures, under
proper management, are found to i'm
prove with age. The first fact tends to
prove that our hay is not cut early
enough to preserve the highest nutritive
value of TIL grass and the second fact
tends to prove that allowing the grass
to mature before cutting injuriously
effects the future life of the plant. 1t
seems to us that curing grass cut so
early may be attended with difficulty !;
but, Mr.. Scott says, he generally gets it
into cock the first day, and into the
barn the second, with favorable weather.
At all events, we regard these expert
ments as worthy Of being repeated by
our farmers +; and whatever may be the
final conclusion, we are satisfied that
it will be found that we must cut earlier.