fm&Y
HOME THOUGHTS.
Home's not merely four square walls,
Though hung with pictures nicely gilded ;
Home is where affection calls,
Filled with shrines the heart hath tmilded.
Home! go-watch the faithful dove,  -   .-'..'
sailing 'neath the heaven above us;   X   *-
Home is where there's one to love,
llonw is where there's one to love us.
Home's not merely roof and room;
Home needs something to endear it; ■      * -
Home is where the heart can bloom,
Where there's some kind lip to cheer it.
What is home with none to meet,
None to welcorae,none to greet us?
Home is sweet, and only sweet, "   *
When there.'sone we love to meet ns.   -'* - -
LiYG Stockv
-Jft
EFFECT OF LIGHT.OX BREEDING'
.-.•'., .;,. ■r'.gXOGKy:': •/:":■ ■''/'■'■■■ .'.'■■
We take pleasure in transferring to our
columns,', from the. Poultry .Bulletin, the
following account of experiments made by
the writer', M.-Eyre', whieh "will prove interesting and'profitable to bur. readers.
When Mr. Wright went so far as to assert,
in his last great work, that the mere pres-.
enee ofa black hen' among white ones
might cause spotted chieks, I believed him;,
but when some fanciers wrote articles
claiming that all breeds might be allowed
to run together indiscriminately, and a
separation of a few weeks be depended on
to insure purity of offspring, I remembered
the first maximin logic, Contra factanon
licit argumentare, and resolved to test the
matter by facts. I took a White Leghorn"
hen, mated with a White Leghorn cock,
and preserved her eggs. After she had
stopped laying four days, I mated her with
a Light Brahma cock. Another White
Leghorn hen I treated similarly, using a
hawk-colored or Dominique cock instead
of a large Asiatic. I allowed the hens to
remain one week with these cocks, when
they were returned to their former mate.
Every chick hatched from eggs laid before
this mating was a pure White Leghorn.
Chicks hatched from eggs laid by the hen
which had been mated with the Brahma
were feathered on the legs. Unfortunately
this hen died soon after ; but the other one
I kept for a year, and then sold, explaining
to the purchaser the facts. She remained
all this time, except the one week, with
the cock of her own breed; and still, from
eggs laid by her IT months after this week
«f mating, I hatched speckled chicks in
the proportion of 5 out of every 12. The
The hypotheses of those, who combat the
natural deductions from these facts, at
least as far as White Leghorns are concerned, are, to my mind, on a par with the
ratiocinations of the academy explaining
the reason why water will not overflow from
a completely full bowl if _fi fish be gently
placed in it, which were indulged in until
a member, to illustrate his logic, trying
the experiment, found the assertion'false.
I received, on the 17th of this month, a
letter stating that.the.legs of young from
White Leghorns known to be pure were
feathered, and asking if it could possibly
be occasioned'by their having run with
Light Brahman last fall. I unhesitatingly
answered, yes. One other test I have
made. Complaints of colored chicks from
eggs, White Leghorns, sold by me, reached
me several times before the issue of that
number of Mr. Wright's work to which I
have referred. After its perusal, I attributed the colored chicks to the presence of
Houdans in the next corral, my hens being
at that time separated by lattice-work to
within a foot ol the ground. The experiment I now mention nas led me to board
them up to the height of three feet. ,. I
doubt ii the mere sight of a colored fowl
would be sufficient to produce, such effect
unless under peculiar circumstances; hence
I placed a pair of White Leghorns in one
pen and a vigorous Houdan cock in the
next pen, in full sight of each other. Every
time the White Leghorn cock performed
his marital functions, the Houdan rushed
with much noise against the partition, and
immediately thereafter the two would fight,
The chicks produced from eggs laid while
this situation remained were colored, and
one actually had the crest of the Houdan.
The same hen, placed in another corral,
produced chicks showing no trace of.anything but pure Leghorn ; so the effects did
not remain as in- the case -where one was
mated with a colored cock. Call it, with
Mr. Wright, acting on the imagination of
the hen, or explain it inany otherway, the
fact remains, at least as far as this individual hen is concerned: and I am led to
believe that many so-called.' sports' may
be produced by like causes.
Good-Feeding and Results.—I have
a cow, writes A. Scott, of Craftsbury, Vt.,
Ho the Mirror and Farmer, from whose
I milk was churned, in G days, 13 lbs. of but-
jter; in the next G days, 12} lbs.; the next
7 days, 14_ lbs.; a little over 2 lbs. a day.
The average will be to the time of going to
grass, 2 lbs. a day. I have a farrow cow
that weighs 16(30 lbs.; these cows are natives, both of an age, and from the same
bull. These cows are fed on hay cut
from the 10th to the 20th of June, 20 lbs.
each per day (8 lbs a day per cow more
than our Auburn cor., as remembered);
two quarts of corn and cob meal made into
a thin swill, in the morning, and two quarts
potatoes at evening; that is the regular
feed per day. That makes the butter
above; and the flesh on the farrow cow,
and her milk, well pays her keeping. The
butcher says she is the fattest creature
there is in town. Then I have a calf from
this farrow cow that weighs 820 lbs. at 12
months'old, . This shows what can be advanced bv cutting grass as above described,
and regularity in feeding and milking the
cows. The feed of the calf is about _ lbs.
of hay per day,* two quarts .milk, and one
quart of potatoes, morning and.evening.—
B.,Cultivator, ' '■..-.
FEEDING YOUNG STEERS.
i We hava beep advocating the practice:of
feeding calves from their 'birth, and maturing them,as early as possible.. If a year
can be saved in time and care, it is no small
item. In; England therd are some places
where the uniform custom is to market the'
steer at the age of 100 weeks, and .his
weight ranges about* 1,500 pounds. . The
Live-Slofk Journal urges the same policy,
and quotes from an English paper the plan
of a progressive farmer of that country, as
follows: "Twelve cows are engaged in
rearing calves, which are fattened from
birth, andsold at about twenty-two months
old, when they weigh from 100 to 120stone.
The calves are, of course, well bred, while
those calves which have to be purchased
are carefully selected. They are weaned
at three months old, having been previously kept short of milk, and fed partly
on gruel, and thus induced to feed on oilcake and hay. Supposing them to be
weaned in December, their daily rations at
six months old would be If pounds or 2
pounds of linseed cake, with the same
quantity of bean meal," and a sufficient
amount of grain, mangel and hay. The
cake and meal are gradually increased till
at twelve months old the calves get twice
thequantitiesjustmentioned. In summer
the other articles of diet which have been
named are replacedby clover (which is excellent food while it lasts), tares (which
are more like peas), and grass, with second
cut clover. The whole of the green food
is cut and brought to the animals in their
sheds and houses, which they do not quit
till the proper period arrives for sending
them to the butcher, by which time their
daily rations have increased to 4 pounds of
cake and G pounds of bean meal, with roots
and a moderate allowance of hay. The
principle of management is to let the animals continually master or outgrow their
food, pushing them rapidly the last three
months, so as to land them fat at something
under two years old. This system of full
feeding from birth must be adopted in this
country before any adequate success will
be attained. The weight mentioned (1400
to 1680 pounds) at 22 to 24 months is a remarkable result, when applied to a general
average. When Western farmers can attain to this at 24 months, it can no longer
be. said that corn does not pay.. To be sure,
they must feed some more nitrogenous,
food while the animal isgrowing than corn;
but they can feed their own oilcake and
oats, which will place them on par with
English feeders. Suppose they reach 1500
pounds at 24 months; such excellent ripeness will command, at all times, seven
cents per pound, or $105 at two years,
oftener 8 or 9 cents, reaching $120 to $135
per head. No doubt an average of $60 per
year might_ be reached for this kind of
stock. This will afford round prices for
the grain and grass. What a contrast this
would be to reaching the same weight at
three and a half to four years. We think
even eastern farmers can afford to raise
beef under this system of full feeding."—
Farmer's Journal. '     ...■** '•■•
I Sale of Short-horns:—I haye recent
ly sold the following Short-horns: Daisy
and heifer calf, Lady Valentine, to W. A:
Rinehart, Delphi, Ind.; Fanny 2d and 3rd
Duke of Athol, to Frank Thomson, of
Delphi, Ind: ; J. T. Williamson.
———. » » ■- * _ - * *
Wine Drinkers.—We have always con
sidered anything like a regular use of wine
a sure-stepping-stone to tho drunkard's
platform, by far more insiduous in its effects than tho nse of strong beer, about
which there is so much clamor. The California Agriculturist says of the effects of
wine making.and drinking in that State :
"Those who have been longest in the wine
manufacturing business are the poorest;
and, besides, many of them, with their
sons and daughters, have contracted a
taste for strong drink which is fast bring
ing them to destruction ; that wine can be
bought in many of the older wine producing districts for the cost of the cask in
which it is stored.?'—Horticulturist.
 i » « ■
tFor the Indiana Farmer.
CURING FODDER.
We grow our fodder, and then spoil it,
more or less, in curing. There is but little
grown, that has not had some rain or dew
to hurt it. There [is much grown that is
half spoiled or more, and not a small
quantity that is ruined entirely, become
worthless, and yet l used'-—used for feed
by many; and in some cases it is the only
feed given—given till it is no more wanted
—the stock is dead.] Who can notremem-
[tber carcasses, resulting from such feed, or
by clover (ripe) or by straw ? Here is the
more than barbarous practice of letting
stock starve, Tt isj less the case than it
used .to be. Why?L Because people have
seen *hat ,hay or any kind of fodder deprived- of.its nutritive properties, either by
ripening or neglect in curing, will not do;
the loss is too sweeping. And:3*et we are
more or less continuing this thing; we feed
hard, brittle hay;' w'e feed pale, bleached
hay ; we do not feed the tender, well cured
grass-—few of us dp this; but we are glad
to note;.that the number is increasing.
But the loss more particularly is in curing.
The gross crop is estimated at a value of
over $500,000,000. Add to this the other
fodder that is used, and the aggregate will
show the worth of this crop. Take the
years as they run, and it is safe to say that
one-quarter, and over, of this value is lost
by bad harvesting. Look at it! Ono heavy
soaking rain, as we often get, will all but
spoil hay that has been dried. It will come
out black or pale, according qs it has been
cut early or late (inits growth), andaeeord-
ing to the timo it has remained wet, the
temperature of the weather also considered. Few farmers escape having just such
hay, or near it, fit only for dung or for litter—and yet it goes with the rest of the
hay. Sometimes when the season is unusually bad, most of the hay is of this
description, entailing a loss of several hundred hundred million dollars, and each
farmer is affected by this loss. Did we say
each farmer? There are some farmers
that are prepared for all emergencies—that
have a full complement of machinery, not
the least part of which is the insignificant
hay cap, preserving not entirely from taint
of wea.ther, but preventing loss to any
plainly appreciable extent. This the little
nay cap does. It wards off the body of
rain—just the'thing which does the great
harm to our hay, however put up in cock.
Only the outside is effected when the cloth
is'used.. There is loss, but it is small.
Dispense with the cloth, and you have the
usual _ result—a heap of manure.—
Now, if the . loss entailed is so great,
reaching every farmer, and almost
yearly, need we urjre the importance of
better attention to the, curing of the hay
crop? We do not see the actual dollars
and cents go with the rain, with the exposure for a long time to the direct, hot rays
of the sun.:. The ton of hay that is worth
fifteen dollars does not show the greenbacks that go one after another as the
weather soaks away or evaporates the
strength; this till there is a but a dollar
or two left, the worth of go much! straw or
manure, Could_we be brought to a realising sense here, see the real loss, measure
it, there would be less poor hay—much
less.: Why, even a ■ dew,* one only, will
bleach hay; and this bleaching is always a
loss; so much substance is gone; and hay
is very frail, readily affected, not only the
one side oroutside ol the stem, but the
whole (farons) stalk; A few dews, as id
commonwith hay put in cock, will destroy
the outside • and the outside of hundreds
of cocks will amount to a considerable
waste'; altogether, it would be several tons,
thirty to fifty dollars loss. The little, despised hay cap would have prevented this.
We have shown what more it has prevented. But there, is another source of evil.
Tho dew begins to fall early in the-afternoon, much earlier than it is generally
thought,, because it comes insensibly, and
yet this is the time.when most of the hay.
is drawn in, continued often till nightfall.
It is thought not to hurt- any, gust as the
dew on the cock in the morning is thought
to be harmless. But, it should always be
considered that whatever moisture gets
into hay and remains there, will as surely
cause fermentation as it is there, and thus,
in the degree that it is present, hurt the
hay. We thus often have our hay come
out, unexpectedly, affected: There is some
mold, or some smell, or change in the color,
that tells all is not right. If traced to its
source, it no doubt would be found in many
cases to be chargeable to this insidious
dew of an afternoon, or the " slight moisture " ofa morning or otherwise, that it is
thought of no hurt.   Sometimes we dry
SPANISH MERINO BUCK.
our hay, all but the thick part of the stem,
dry suddenly till the fine parts become
crisp and give to the hay the appearance
of being dry, or sufficiently cured. Here
is water that will, as in all cases; hurt,
according to the amount retained. It will
not do to cure "sufficiently," or "so as to
answer," it must be cured ; the hay must
como out of the mow as it went in, or substantially so—the slight change from
sweating is only a change, and is common
to all hay.
These littles, in the aggregate, become
much—mueh to each farmer, aud much
every year. They should be avoided as so
much cash loss; but they are permitted as
so much unseen loss. This is sapping the
profits—it is the profits that go and never
the expense; that must be incurred at any
rate. This, with hay, as we term it, including grass and clover. But there are
the other grasses that come under the head
of coarse fodder. It is more difficult to
euro corn stalks than grass or clover, and
yet when raised as fodder and well and
timely cured, there is perhaps, none ofthe
grasses, so called, that is superior as a feed,
especially for milch cows. To cure properly, sow thick, so as to get a thin stalk, and
cure in the stout. Cut early enough, so as
to secure all the the tenderness and nutriment, and the warm sun aud dry winds to
cure it, else, the rains setting in, it will be
difficult to save it. It wants to be fed
green in color and thoroughly cured, so as
to bear stocking or putting in bulk. There
are also the corn stalks of the corn crop
proper. These are more than an item,
they are an important part of thc feeding
crop, but are seldom cured well. The
thick stalk, however long kept in stout,
will not dry sufficiently to pack away.
Taken and inverted, the' buts up, several
layers'may thus be housed if not crowded
too close, without damage. This we have
on the testimony of a successful dairyman
who practices it, and we give it in confidence. Straw—thc haulm of the grains—
we scarce need mention; this is already
cured when cut, save in the few cases where
judgment directs, and both the haulm and
the berry are benefitted by the early cutting.. Treat like corn stalks cut for fodder, only give less time, as a couple of weeks
or less is all that is necessary to cure both
berry and straw,.and make a straw that is
as interesting to behold as it is beneficial
to feed. Else all this benefit goes—
shall we say to the manure heap? It were
well if it did; but it escapes by the bleaching process in the field, and the over-watering : it is lost, most ot it, but may, as well
as not, be saved. How much would be
saved, take the whole straw crop that is or
ought to be fed? It will thus be seen
what losses we are sustaining, and that
chiefly through inadvertance, but also
through ignorance. It is one of the. great
"leaks" of the farm, hurting annually each
farmer, and seriously. Shall we continue
this state of things, when it is so clear that
we can avoid it? But will you say that all
this, or most of it, can be be-avoided?
that the hay crop can be saved unharmed
in bad weather, in seasons of almost unremitting rain? AVe say that in all seasons,
the worst included, there are some farmers
who have good hay—the crop throughout
is but little damaged. They say—some of
them at least—that there is no season so wet
but there are days of sunshine and of dry
winds, take the whole season of harvesting
through; and they say these days, and
parts of days, hours, are sufficient, if employed, to secure, in good order, the hay
crop. They say further—and this is a
strong point, and not unfamiliar—that it
is important, highly, indispensable, to begin early, a kittle before the time that
would be selected, if leisure were given, to
commence the crop. You have it green,
and not quite the quantity, but you make
up in quality, and it is held by this authority that the hay is worth more per acre—
worth it to feed out, not to sell. Beginning thus early, you have the start ofthe
season.   Now improve every moment, hay
cap and tedder and all the appurtenances
of harvesting put in requisition and made
to do their utmost—no play now—and you
will find that nature is not so untoward,
but that she will give a chance, even at the
worst.   Hay cut when wet may_continue
several days in that condition unhurt, or
but little harmed.    Begin to cut when the
time comes, whether wet or dry.   For if
fair   weather, it may rain before night.
This is the nature of the weather at this
season of the year—unexpected showers
when they come. Though now, the weather
^"probabilities" are of  advantage, where
access can be had to them in the morning
of the day predicted.   They have got to be
quite reliable. F. a.
 » » »	
[For the Indiana Farmer.
WHEAT.
It is always well to look out early for
the seed for a future crop of wheat. It is
quite as important for the farmer to seek
to improve his grain as his stock. There
yet remains as much room for improvement
in our cereals as in our cattle and horses.
There is as much "scrub" grain in the
country as "scrub" stocI£ Improved
stock brings improved prices. An improved cow or bull will, for breeding purposes, bring extraordinary high prices. So
will improved grain for seed. The average
yield of wheat per acre in this State does
not exceed twelve bushels, while with improved seed and improved culture, it might
be raised to thirty bushels. There is no
law of nature moro universally applicable
than that " Every plant produces seed after
its kind," Thc best culture possible will
not produce superior grain from inferior
seed. Every farmer should make a special
effort this year to sow better seed than last.
Let every grain bo full and round. Use
the screen and separate from the seed every
little, shriveled grain, and all foreign matter^ Let none but the best and purest
grain be sown. It is not good husbandry
to take your seed wheat from the common
stock prepared for the mill or market.
Select from the field the patches containing the largest and fullest heads for seed,
and thresh and keep separate from the
market grain. Do this for the present, but
do not rest satisfied with this. There is
large room for improvement. The same
care that is used in improving stock will
improve grain. Select the bestheadsfrom
your best grain—heads that are large, long
and perfectly filled. Sow this seed on
ground thoroughly prepared. Though the
patch may be small, it will furnish a beginning for improved grain. Follow up this
process year after year, and the result will
be, grain that will compare favorably with
the most improved breeds of Short-horns,
and will command correspondingly high
prices. v.
-. ———•—♦ » —
A few days ago we, in company with
G. E. Morrow, editor of the Western Farmer,
Madison, Wis., visited the dairy farm of
S. K. Fletcher, Esq., two miles north-east
of the city. The farm is well adapted for
the purpose, and Mr. F. has constructed a
barn for storing hay and other feed and
keeping his cows, which is a modei for convenience and labor saving devices. The
milk is sold in the city and until recently
the business has been fairly remunerative,
but owing to the low prices prevailing,
Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Shank, his partner,
has been considering the propriety of engaging in butter making. We hope the
experiment will be tried and shall watch
the result with mueh interest. Mrs. Shank
and her daughter are premium butter
makers at our State Fair, and would make
an article of first quality, which would
command the highest price in market. J
Mrs. S. presented us with a specimen of "
her cheese, which was equal to any we have;
eaten anywhere and demonstrates the fact(
that there is no necessity for importing
this article from other States, if our people;
will only engage in its manufrcture.
-—_i.
"^       -c?*-