FOL. XIX.   \
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, APRIL 26,1884
NO. 17.
. -aw lor tb,Indiana Farmer*-.^-•'-.':   '_r '
ABTHICIAL MEADOWS.
a,,* The) are Treated in  France-
Other Agricultural Matters.
Ensilage, Fat Stock Show, Etc.
BY J. P. T.
It Is not more than a century since
frsnce bad only one kind of meadow, the
iitai-1, snd only one way  for  rearing
kock, pasturage in  summer and  hay in
.inter. Thanks to the cultivation of ar-
l.oUl grasses and rotation of  crops, the
Mirer of the land has been tripled.   All
iLi-idoned lands became natural meadow,
■ 3d will continue indefinitely so If not
[•oken'up. Artificial meadow is laid down
[rtfiied number of years, or one year
(ten, and sown with  selected  seeds.   A
ciftiral meadow demands less care and
diets less capital  than  artificial  grass
_•_, but the produce will be less.' Cer-
iin passes would die out as the mineral
ittera they preferred became less, and
ier species would in due course succeed.
i lsying lands down to meadow, not only
:e soil, but the climate should be studied.
. moderate temperature and a fair dose of
-midity are requisite for the  success of
_e_dows.  Where these conditions do not
list, lucem may succeed.     •
As the condition of soil, climate and hu-
iL.ity vary, so will the grasses or flora;
ier. are species suited for high, medium
_i low lands.   For the higher.the grasses
ieapore bracing air;  aromatic ..plants
rill abound there, and so sheep and goats
fl thrive.  For medium altitudes, the
ai will be less dry and the plants more
iandant; such pasture is excellent for
L-rses.  While  the third, if  not marshy,
rill suit black cattle.   In marshy land the
•;.M will be good, but. the  quality de-
::ie-t. The best meadows are situated in
ileys below the arable soil.   They  will
•us enjoy the drainings  of such land,
Lfrebv acquiring food and numidity.   Of
-.useiand lying on the borders of  rivers
-.d liable to be inundated,; must remain
L'SEFPI. GRASSES.
In meadow lands the aim ia to extirpate
ii grasses, keep land clean, irrigate at
aright season, and carry off allsuper-
,-ondant water. Ourches says that ordi-
■jn meadows contain 42 specimens of
■lieplans; of these, 17 are useful, tHe
-Minder worthless or injurious. On ele-
■ttd pasturages there are 38 species of
L-ases, of which only eight are useful: in
* meadows 25 species and but four use-
:!. From experiments made in Bretagne,
: results, that in the case of natural mead-
is, there would be on high lands three-
Mhs loss, and in low meadows six-
-renths, if cattle refused to consume all
."grasses that were useless and injurious.
TO START A MEADOW.
For natural meadows study the grasses
:«_liir to the locality; It the land be
■..-.T.brealt up and crop it for a few years,
:i'then lay down, sowing aftercorn suit-
is seeds, not the sweepings of hay lofts;
'sios ought to be used respecting the in-
-4ocUon of n«w Varieties,  chiefly tie
cause they are new, though they may be
natural. Endeavor to have grasses that
will come into flower at the same time.
Not a few farmers allow the cattle to feed
down the aftermath of the first crop; it is
better to allow the land to get firm. In
winter long manure is spread on the grass
and scattered by a light harrow in spring.
Mow the first crop of grass before coming
into flower, roll frequently, but never let
sheep feed thereon for two seasons,or they
vjrill bite the heart out of the young clover. And as natural meadows have not
only different species of grasses, but these
species come more or less forward as the
season Is wet or dry, select accordingly.
GRAZING.
• Lands when grazed produce more many
think than when mown. The plants tiller
better. The first inch of a blade of grass
grows more rapidly than the second and
the second more than the third. The sev-'
eral short re-growths will in the aggregate
surpass the total length of that when
mown. •
> Never feed bare a field; give it rest, and
alternate the animals;.divide the pasture
land into sections and graze accordingly;
give stock to be fattened off the best bites,
and do not torment them with such mixed
company as horses and sheep. Indeed
the latter ought ever to be suspected, as
they are very able" in snatching up the titbits! For cart horses, they are better rested, when fed in the stable on soiling. It
is now the custom to spread cracked cake
on the sward for fat stock; they pick it up
with avidity, and it hastens them for the
butcher.
A good pasturage ought not to be abused
by being fed bare. ■ It should be in harmony with the breed of cattle. The droppings, or clots, should be regularly spread
out on the land. It is a good plan to only
allow sheep to succeed after cattle; they
and horses will eat the tufts and fairy
rings that cattle dislike. On ne account
let pigs or geese en paddocks; their natural home is a special piece of  marsh land.
THE ARTIFICIAL. MEADOW.
Ibis difficult to know to what country
belongs the honor of discovering artificial
meadows. Italy claims it from Camille
Tarello, whose work appeared in 1566. In
any case, it is only recently that the artificial meadow has been called into practical rotation use. Artificial meadows require good seed, good tilth and well manured soil; they are generally sown in
spring with a cereal crop, but if rye grass,
which grows so rapidly, it is better to sow
alone in autumn or after an early crop.
The seed selected ought to be precocious,
so as to come for the feeding or fattening
of animals when the natural pasturage
may be late. Artificial grass land is the
base of all ameliorating and progressive
agriculture. It is most profitable when
the grass,cut twice daily to avoid fermentation, ls given to slock in the house.
Some farmers adopt the pen system, and
in Normandy in the districts of Caen and
Cau__ the peg and rope, plan is adopted. A
cord eleven feet long is divided into equal
parts, passed through oblique holes in a
board 20 inches long and four wide; one
end of the cord is attached to the sunken
peg, the other to the horn or' neck. The
rope is thus never entangled nor the animal's legs caught; a sweep of 2>£ feet, or
segment of sward is allowed.   Thaer  al
leges cattle give more milk when thus fed
than if pastured at large or soiled.
For Italian rye grass obtain the best seed;
here it comes directly from- Italy. The
seeds are brushed in, covered to a good
quarter of an inch and rolled. When
clover is employed, three or four varieties
are selected, as it is rather a fickle plant.
A bushel of clover seed weighs 64 pounds
and may contain from 16,000 to 54,000
seeds; a bushel of rye grass can vary from
15 to 30 pounds, and one ounce of seed contains from 15,000 to 27,000 grains.
ENSILAGE.
Ensilage in France is now confined to
experiments as to dispensing with silos in
masonry, all a matter of dollars and 6ents.
The secret of ensilage resides in perfect
compression of the mass and exclusion of
the air. Thus secured the green forage
can be conserved under a shed or in the
open air. The first attempts at ensilage
failed because efforts were made only to
exclude the air. It was M. Goffart demonstrated the necessity of heavy and continuous pressure at tbe same time. Some
experiments made at the Agricultural
Station of Munster, demonstrate that
maize is tbe best forage for ensilage; that
the total loss can reach as high as 39 per
cent. The proportion of fatty matters
augment during fermentation.while those
of a non-nitrogenous character diminish.
The sugar, gum, dextrine and similar carbon solubles are decomposed and lost in
the form of gas, but aromatics and organic
acids are formed which compensate the
loss. Further, the maize is rendered more
palatable and more easy of digestion.
THE CATTLE SHOW
just held has been very successful, but It
must never be viewed as other than a display of fat farm stock, a gathering for the
butchers. For breeding cattle it would be
ever best to exhibit these apart in a special
annex. The display of implements was
especially fine, and the bringing together
of cylinders for flour mills, instead of the
old burr stones, would alone pay the nation for the expense of the show. There
was something new in churns and in
chaffing machines. The exhibition of
farm school requisites was a novelty. The
prize ox was a Durham-charvlais, age 32
months 15 days, weight 18>_ cwts. The
spine, though it had the curved line of
beauty, was not so graceful as if perfectly
straight. In sheep the Dishleys won, the
three, aged 10 months, and less fleeces,
weighed 3% cwts; in pigs the Yorkshires
carried off the blue ribbon, the prize, aged
12 months and 15days, weight 5cwt. 191bs.
The scholastic part of the show consisted of botanical collections on the part
of masters' and pupils of the primary
schools where agriculture is taught. There
were also exhibited and recompensed
specimens of the geology and insectology
of tho locality and maps of the districts.
Another feature, and which will come better into play next year, was the reports by
teachers and pupils, on local systems of
culture, manners, customs, habits, wages,
etc., of their region. A collection of such
documents, handed over to an editor with
the patience of a Benedictine to "boil
down" and classify, would be worth cartloads of official commissioners' reports,
Hitherto the government has rather lent
at all the agricultural shows to reward the
large agriculturists; so  far excellent, for
the  future rewards  will be  made to suit
the small farmers and their wants, as well
as kitchen gardens and laborers' well-kept  _
homes.
BEET SfflAK CONTROVERSY.
Farmers and sugar manufacturers are
far from being reconciled on the subject
of beets. The fabticants desire it to be
plainly understood that their mills exist
for manufacturing sugar, and not for preparing pulp.
ARBORCULTUBE '
and the replanting of mountains are receiving marked attention. The phylloxera
still holds its ground, advancing, not retreating; however, vineyards are being replanted with American stocks, and the foe
shows no desire to come back. Those who
can do so, intend trying the summer irrigation of the vines.
Paris, France.
EDIBLE QUALITY OF CABP.
Chas. W. Smiley, Esq., editor of the
Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, last July sent out a circular containing 15 questions, covering the
whole field of carp culture. The circulars were sent to persons who had
received carp from the Commission.
One of the questions was regarding the
value of the carp as food. Over 600 replies
were received, but more than 350 of the
writers had not yet tasted the fish. Of
those who had eaten them 40 reported
them fair to very good, 96 gave them emphatic praise, 39 made favorable comparisons between them and other fish, 19 described them as sometimes soft and muddy,
17 criticised them unfavorably, 31 confined
themselves to describing the modes of
cooking .the fish they preferred. From
this mass of testimony in their favor it is
evident the carp are a desirable fish for
the table and worthy of extensive cultivation.
AGBICULTUBAL BEPOBT.
The report of the Department of Agriculture for 1883 has been sent us by Commissioner Loring. It contains nearly 500
pages,divided as follows: Commissioner's
report 16 pages, Veterinarian 47 pages,
Botanist 50 pages, Entomologist 80, Superintendent of grounds 16, Chemist 55,
Statistician 170, Experiments with sorghum cane 22 pages, Forestry 20. The
meat question. The volume contains .
numerous plates, several of them colored,
illustrating diseases of cattle, grasses,
insects, etc. This, like most of its predecessors, is an Important document, and
would be of great benefit to all farmers
who may be able to obtain copies. It would
be a profitable investment for the government to provide copies for every township
in the country.
THE GREAT MUSICAL FESTIVAL.
The May festival in Cincinnati  will begin on  the evening  of Tuesday,   Slay 20.
There will  be seven  concerts in -all, five
evening performances and two  matinees,
Thursday and Saturday afternoons.   The
concerts  will be  under  the  direction of'
Theodore Thomas, who will lead a festival
orchestra of one hundred and fifty artists,
and  a  chorus  of six   hundred and   fifty
voices.   The great festival chorus has bean
rehearsing the works  for the  festival of.
1884 for two years and to-day stands absolutely unequaled in this country  and unsurpassed anywhere. ' .-•