496 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



leaves ol" the tiuuips, and as many of the roots as they wish, leaving their iiiauurc upon 

 the ground evenly distributed, and the field in good condition for a succeediug crop of 

 grain. 



Mr. Hirain E. Eoberts contributes au excelleut article on tlic subject 

 of how to make farming i)ay. He regards it as the safest, and in the 

 long ran the most advantageous, of any calling within his knowledge, 

 especially' for men who have the physical ability for manual labor. To 

 those who dissent from his views, and allege that they cannot keep up 

 the fertility of their farms, he answers as follows : 



Most assuredly they cannot keep up the fertility of their laud if they take off more 

 than they return to it. There is no need of this exhaustion. Have not a very largo 

 proportion of the farms of this State the means upon themselves of keeping up their 

 fertility, ^vheu all the manure, both solid and liquid, is properly preserved and judi- 

 ciously applied, which can bo made on the farm ? The amount of valuable manure is 

 not small which can be made from one horse, one cow, one hog, and a small family, 

 when the collections from the barn, pig-jieu, sink, and jirivy are all preserved by being 

 mixed with muck, scrapings from the road-side, or even sand. It would seem that the 

 tillage laud of our farms ought not to grow poor when properly cared for, for they have 

 the advantage of the manure made from the hay cut on lAncl that needs no dressing, 

 and from pastures, besides what can bo made on the farm. Every farmer should avail 

 himself of all the manure, whether natural or artificial, that he can apply to advan- 

 tage. The doctrine that our farmers should continue to grow poor needs investiga- 

 tiou, for all history shows that great crops have been raised for hundreds of years on 

 land from dressing collected from the land itself; and cases almost numberless can bo 

 shown iu our own State where farms have been greatly improved from dressing made 

 on the farm. But dressing is not all that is needed on a. farm to make it jiay. Ho 

 must see that everything on and about the farm is attended to, from Januaiy to Janu- 

 ary: he must see that his land for cultivation is properly i)lowcd when it is not too 

 wet; that his seed is of the first quality ; that it be sown or planted at the proper 

 time ; that it bo not choked with weeds from May to November ; that his crops be 

 harvested in due season ; that all articles intended for sale bo prepared iu first-rate 

 order, and be sold at the right time. Take care of everything raised on the farm ; let 

 not so much as a bean or au apple be lost for the want of care ; have every domestic 

 animal, from the tiny chicken to the noble beef-os, kept in a constantly thriving con- 

 dition ; keel) the best of tools to work with, and see that they do not get out of order 

 by neglect. If help is needed employ the best. Keep fields as free from small stones 

 and as smooth as possible, so that a large amount of work may be done with machinery 

 with horse or ox power ; look well after the orchards ; prune them every year, and 

 keep the land mellow about them ; jiay particular attention to the i^astures, that much 

 neglected part of many otherwise good farms ; drain the wetlands on them, and do not let 

 the cattle into them too early in the spring ; cut down, or up by the roots, when it can be 

 conveniently done, all scrub trees or bushes ; running juniper, iiincs, &c., can readily 

 be cut up with a bog-hoe when the ground is frozen. Plow all laud inclined to bushes 

 or moss as often as either of these obstruct the grass ; sow down with red-top and 

 clover. Ashes can be very advantageously applied. They will aid the grass and keep 

 down bushes and moss. Plaster can be used to good advantage on some soils. All 

 land inclined to bushes and too rocky to be jilowed should be allowed to come up to 

 growth. 



Mr. J. H. Harvey contributes an article on the same subject, a con- 

 siderable portion of which he devotes to a discussion of the importance 

 of manures in the operations of the farm. He says that the manure 

 heap can be greatly increased by furnishing hog-yards, cattle and horse 

 stalls with turf, as" an absorbent ; from the road-side, from under stone 

 walls in the fields, and such corners as no plow can reach. A thousand 

 loads, ho thinks, can thus be taken from every small farm, from places 

 where grass has rotted and leaves collected, Avithout bringing the banks 

 down lower than they were fifty years ago. Saw-dust and swamp-mud 

 make a very good fertilizer. He advises that cattle and liorses be 

 housed in summer as well as winter, and tliat ab.sorbents be spread 

 under them to save the liquid part of the manure, which is fully as val- 

 uable as the solid. In support of this statement Mr. Harvey gives the 

 following experiments : 



