372 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



to lead to its extended culture and use, if there were no other 

 consideration in its favor. 



Turnips, as well as other food, may be steamed before being 

 fed out to milch cows in winter, to very great advantage ; and if 

 there is not stock enough to justify the expense of an apparatus 

 for the purpose, a small pipe may be inserted in the kettle over 

 the kitchen fire, and conduct the steam into a box filled with 

 chopped turnips, cut hay and other substances. The whole 

 contrivance will cost but a trifle, and will often pay well in the 

 additional amount of nutritious, fattening and milk-producing 

 properties of the food. It need not be stated that the appa- 

 ratus should be sufficiently tight to produce a pressure of steam 

 somewhat above that of the atmosphere. 



He who loves his animals, — and the love of them is the 

 indispensable condition of success in raising them, — will not fail 

 to devise various means of providing for their comfort and good 

 health, such as warm stables and a frequent change of food, 

 with an occasional mixture of roots as a condiment. Above all, 

 he who loves them as he ought, will not fail to see that they 

 are not abused or roughly treated from the passion or wanton 

 cruelty of their keeper. 



The cultivation of fruit deserves mention in this connection. 

 The farmer who hesitates to plant a variety of valuable fruit 

 trees and to attend carefully to them, little knows how much he 

 neglects his own interests. It is idle to say, " It will not pay," 

 or that there is no time for it, or that the best means of making 

 orchards productive are not understood. Experience shows 

 that orchards can be made profitable, and even if they do not 

 add to the actual present income of the farm, its value may be 

 vastly increased in this way, since land well stocked with good 

 fruit trees will bring a far higher price, and command a far 

 readier sale than it would without them. I am convinced of 

 this, both from experience and observation ; for I have had 

 occasion to examine nearly fifty farms offered for sale during 

 the present season, and the difference in the management and 

 thrift of the orchards and fruit trees was always a prominent 

 subject of inquiry. I cannot doubt that a few hundred dollars 

 spent in this way will not only afford great gratification to the 

 owner, but will eventually prove to be an excellent investment. 



It is the opinion of a practical farmer expressed to me on this 



