THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



36 



The gentleman to whom he referred not only weighed his 

 animals, but their food also. He adapted the food to the 

 beast, and selected that which was of the best quality for 

 the purpose. He knew that rapecake was much better 

 than oilcake for milk and butter purposes; and, were he 

 asked to go into the question chemically, he could tell the 

 reason why. He would tell them that, unless they pro- 

 cured the best Hamburgh cake, avoiding the East India 

 cake, they would not succeed; and that, when they did 

 obtain the right food, and administered it in the right way, 

 by giving them small portions at a time during the day, 

 they would find the quality of their butter and cheese very 

 materially improved. Even in hot weather, such a course 

 secured fine firm butter, such as the dairymaid loved to 

 look at, and not the soft, flabby stulf which was too often 

 produced. He employed all the scientific agents he could 

 think of, giving certain animals such proportions as were 

 suitable to their temperaments; and, what was more to 

 the purpose, he made it pay. But it was quite possible 

 that agriculturists generally, who merel}' pursued farming 

 for a living, should not become scientific farmers ; nor was 

 it desirable. In the same way, no man could always 

 bear to dine oft' dishes dressed by scientific cooks upon 

 scientific principles; but that was no reason why they 

 should not occasionally have something better than ordi- 

 nary fare. If they could not afford to buy all the agricul- 

 tural literature of the day, he would recommend them to 



join some club where the principal periodicals and works 

 upon agriculture could be read; for they all knew how 

 effectually the press disseminated useful knowledge of every 

 description. By this means, they could acquire all the im- 

 portant results of the best farming in the kingdom, and 

 adapt just such portions as were applicable to their wants. 

 It would not be necessary to have the soil of the locality 

 analyzed, in order to ascertain what treatment would be 

 best adapted to its cultivation ; but they would be able to 

 see at once what was wanted, by the peculiar herbage of 

 the place. Then they could set to work at once, and 

 apply what remedies were required. They would leara 

 that common " muck" was most suitable for grass-lands. 

 He would say that with a limitation ; for he was aware 

 that, although it was the best fertilizer of grasslands, it 

 was not the best adapted for the produce of good milk and 

 butter. And why was that.'^ He would appeal to his 

 friend Mr. Clarke, who had taken so active a part in or- 

 ganizing their society, to bear him out in the conclusion he 

 drew. It was well known that the dairy-cow extracted, 

 with its food, from the land, the phosphates which were a 

 component part, and which formed an essential ingredient, 

 of butter : consequently, if the cow could not get it, it did 

 not pass off in the shape of butter ; so that, if the manure 

 were unnatural, the produce would fall oft' in quality, and 

 dressings of lime would be necessary to restore the grass to 

 its proper quality. 



CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE. 



This is the general month for sowing wheat. 

 Plough the fallow lands quickly, and sow without 

 delay; steep the seed in stale urine, or in a very- 

 strong solution of common salt ; skim oif the light 

 grains, and encrust with quicklime, and sow imme- 

 diately by the hand or drill. Put gates and fences 

 in repair, and shut up the sown fields for the winter. 



Prepare, by fallowing, the lands intended to be 

 planted with early green crops. 



Raise potatoes from the ground in dry weather; 

 pull by hand, and carry the haulm to the dung- 

 yards. Dig the crop of tubers with the dung-forks, 

 as the narrow points of the implement pierce the 

 ground, and leave holes and openings for the per- 

 meation of air and water. Carry the potatoes to a 

 dry place, form the heap longitudinally and about 

 four feet high, cover with turf and earth, and thatch 

 with straw. Secure mangel wurzel, carrots, and 

 parsnips in a similar way, and remove from clayey 

 loams the crops of rutabaga, in order that the land 

 be sown with wheat. Give the tops of Swedish 

 turnips and of beet-root to cattle and sheep — 

 moderately at one time, in order to prevent hoving. 

 Plant potatoes with farmyard dung on fallowed 

 lands ; drill the ground widely and deeply, to pro- 

 tect the sets from the frost. 



Put rams to the ewes— one to fifty — and place 

 each lot in a separate field; give to eat turnip-tops 

 and of beet, which will much promote the salacity. 

 All aged, and unsightly, and ill-shaped animals, 

 and bad thrivers, and those ewes that missed lamb 

 last year, must be rejected from the purpose of 

 breeding, and the place supphed with the same 

 number drawn from the ewe lambs now eighteen 

 months old. Much care and discrimination must 

 be exercised in assorting qualities for the purpose 

 of propagation. Mark the rams on the brisket with 

 red paint or black pigment, which will mark the 

 ewes on the rump, and enable the shepherd to put 

 marks on the ewes regularly as they are impreg- 



nated, during every fortnight, and are very useful 

 in the spring in housing the ewes for lambing, and 

 in preventing any lambs being dropped unseen. 

 Ewes must be raised into good condition for the 

 tupping season. 



Sheep are smeared with some liquid ointment 

 during this month, to kill vermin, and to prevent 

 rubbing and tearing the fleece ; tobacco liquor is 

 much used, mixed with a small quantity of spirit of 

 tar. The most approved mode dips the animal in 

 Bigg's composition dissolved in water, dipping the 

 sheep for a few minutes, and then drying them on 

 bare clean ground ; it kills all vermin^ and very 

 much promotes the growth of the wool. 



The lambs will require the assistance of artificial 

 food in the end of this month, as the grass will 

 begin to fail. If the turnip lands are dry in nature, 

 confine the animals on spaces of the crop divided 

 by hurdles, and give fresh spaces as the others are 

 finished; but if the lands are wet and poachy, carry 

 the turnips daily for the lambs to a dry stubble or 

 grass field, and cut oflf the roots on the field where 

 they grow : the sheep intended to be fattened will 

 require turnips in a similar way. 



The oxen that are foremost in condition must be 

 tied to stakes in stalls singly, or lodged in yards 

 two or four together, and amply supplied with tur- 

 nips, with the tops and roots cut off. Give the 

 tops to the store ewes or young cattle ; the latter 

 must be placed in yards six or eight together, and 

 carefully fed and well littered. 



Feed milch cows with cabbages, the tops of tur- 

 nips, and of beet-root ; give hay and straw in chaflf, 

 or steam the roots and chaff in mixture ; juicy food 

 is indispensable for the secretion of milk. 



Begin to feed hogs for bacon ; use steamed food 

 of meals and roots mixed, and finish with hard corn. 



Get the manure pit in readiness; fill it with 

 earthy and vegetable matters, in order to absorb 



