FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 15 



himself unsuccessful in the culture of this grain, he may 

 conclude that either his soil, of whatever kind it may be, or 

 the climate in which his farm is. situated, is not suitable to 

 the culture of barley. 



Some Farmers of Fairfield, in this county (Herkimer) 

 have raised goods crops of this grain, tor six or eight years 

 successively, on the same ground, without any manuring, 

 and with rather an increase of the crop, The soil on 

 which this is done is a deep darR-colored loam. The crops 

 are usually about forty bushels to the acre, and are raised 

 with but slight culture; the stubble-lground where the last 

 crop grew being merely ploughed up in the Fall, and crop- 

 ploughed in the Spring, when the next crop is harrowed 

 in. In harvesting", after the crop is cut with the cradle, 

 and has lain a sufficient length of time, it is raked up like 

 hay, wi hout any binding into sheaves, and carted in. 



How long these lands will endure this culture, without 

 any manuring, and yet produce good crops, or whether 

 similar results, may in general be obtained from all other 

 good barley lands, is more than we can determine. 



Wherever a country is found suitable to the culture of 

 barley, and not so lor raising wheat or rye, there, particu- 

 larly, it becomes highly expedient to erect mills for hulling 

 barley ; for this grain, when hulled, can be converted into 

 very good bread. Peas may also be hulled at such Mills, 

 which renders them excelent for soups, &c. 



BARN. The size of the barn should be proportionate to 

 the produce of the farm ; for in this Country, where build- 

 ing is not expensive, all the hay and grain should be stored 

 in a building sufficient to cover them. Many Farmers con- 

 tent themselves with a small barn, perhaps not sufficient to 

 hold half their produce; while most of their hay is left in 

 their meadows, in stacks, to be there foddered out to the 

 cattle in the course of the Winter. In this way the 

 manure is almost totally lost, as a stack containing five 

 tons of hay, fed out in this way, would not manure an 

 eight of an acre to any essential purpose. Cowdung, in 

 particular, is most beneficial when buried in a dry soil; but 

 when laid on a wet soil it answers but little purpose. In 

 the mean time, if the meadow happens to be bare and un- 

 frozen, as is often the case, the cattle may indeed have the 

 chance of picking some dead grass; but at the expense 

 of destroying the roots, and of poaching the soil with their 

 feet, which produces an additional injury to the meadow. 



If the ground will admit, the barn should be about so far 

 distant from the house, and in such direction from it, as to 

 preclude all danger of fire being communicated from the one 

 to the other, by the means of the most prevalent high winds. 



