THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



contributes much to til? fertility of the soil ; 

 wherever it exists, it is Sjelievcd to be in 

 greater volume in tlie subsoil than in the upper 

 eoi! ; and for this reason ploughing below the or- 

 dinary depth increases the capacity and fertility of 

 the ground. If six or eight percent, of vegetable 

 matter suiiicc, probably three or four per cent, of 

 lime will be ample to bring into action the salutary 

 powers of ai:nost any soil. 



Some suppose that in light sandy soils the value 

 of manure is lost by filtrating in the earth, and 

 passing off below : we are inclined to the opinion 

 that t'.ie fact is not so ; but that the value of the 

 application passes up instead of down, the compo- 

 sition of the soil being incapable of holuiji^j it. 

 Gypsum applied to such a soil as this is valuable, 

 because it enables tiie earth to hold ito moisture 

 and its strength. In most cases, clay applied to 

 such a drj' nurfaee will not only enable it to hold 

 its strength, but, put on in considerable quantities, 

 will change the coli;r and apparently the nature of 

 the soil. Even if there be no pan, there will, a.''tcr 

 such a change, be little danger of the strength of 

 manure filtrating through the pores of the cartli. 



The v.llage ofAmliei.it, in this St.xte, is situated 

 upon a very level plain of the Lghteat soil, with 

 its base a perfect sand bank. la any season of 

 tolerable v/etntss, the Plain was a beautiful green; 

 but in dry, parched summers vegetation deserted 

 it as it would the sa:icU of Arabia. Thirty years 

 ago it wag the general opinion that .vegetables 

 could not be prodyced on this Plain, and few of 

 the inhibitants atlcm-isted to cultivate a g.ardcii 

 there. They depended on the richer grounds at a 

 distance fi.r a supply. The late Co!. Robert 

 Means, under the idea that all the virtue of the 

 land went into the ground beneath, was at the ex- 

 pense oi' digging over his garden and laj'ing a bot- 

 tom of clay ol' c"nside.jable depth, carefully plac- 

 ina: a rich soil upon the ton of tlie clay. Probably 

 o.ne half the quantity of clay laid upon the surface 

 and mixed withtiie superabundant soil v,-ould have 

 answered a better pnrp'"j.==e. He succeeded, ht^w- 

 evcr, in vnaUing a beautifully fertile garden, which 

 we believe couliiuies to this diy. Other persons, 

 since that tone, by some means, and w.thout laying 

 a hard clay pan at the bottom of the soil, have 

 succeeded in .niaiti.ng good g.arciens and in raising 

 fine crop.^ o:i Amheist Plain. Without doubt, this 

 has been effected by the application of continued 

 stimulants, and repeoted euUivation strengthening 

 and renovating the soil. If the strength of the 

 manure had paascd off as through a seive, down- 

 ward, no application^ however powerful, could 

 have improved that soil. 



Our light soils, even our comparatively barren 

 pine plains, may by the simplest process become 

 gome of our most proEtable lands, because they 

 are easiest of cultivation. A great change is al- 

 ready felt in the successful cultivation of much of 

 the.se lands. The frrnier, by a perfect analysis of 

 the soil, needs only to understand what is necessa- 

 ry to be applied, to avail himself of a probable 

 cheap means of making such soil bear its due pro- 

 portion of produce necessary fortlic subsistence of 

 man and l)ea.5t. 



Carrots. 

 Mr. Samuel Bla'cc, senior, who is one of the 

 most thriving if not the fattest farmer in the town 

 of Concord, and who has adopted the maxim that 

 tliere is no danger thj farmer can plough, sow, 

 plant or raise to j anucli ; informs us, that he raised 

 this year on sixteen square rods of ground one hun- 

 dred and seven bushels of carrots, being at the rate 

 of one thousand and seventy bushels to the acre. 

 Carrots are a rich cseuk-ntfor family use ; they im- 

 part a fine ilavor to various kinds of soup — tbey are 

 good with fresh or preserved meats boiled or roa.sted, 

 as is the common beet, turnip or parsnip ; and they 

 make as good a pyeas the pumpkin or squash. The 

 ino^enioub practical iarmcr covild undoubtedly raise 

 carrots with as much facility as he could raise ruta 

 baga. They may be sowed in ridges or rows from 

 one t.a two feet apart. It would perhaps be prefer- 

 able that th:^ rows, especially if thej' shall hot 

 much exceed a foot apart, siiould run north and 

 south, that the ground may have the advantage of 

 the sun. The ground should be well manured — a 

 strono- and deep, but light soil should be selected, 

 so that the root shall have a fair opportunity to en- 

 ter the ground deep. Some are of opinion that 

 carrots are not good for fattening cattle ; we v.-ish 

 the experiment might be tried ao as to leave no 

 doubt, for, as at present advised, it is our belief 

 that tliev are as good, if not better than potatoes. 

 At all events, we think they will enable tlie milch 

 cow to turn out more milk than almost any other 

 kind of vegetable. 



THE COW. 



The profits of the dairy, in the production of butter and cheese, are often sufficient to secure com- 

 petence to Ihf farmer. A gentleman in Barro, Vermont, with a farm of about one hundred acres and 

 nineteen cov/s, assii;ted by one hired man and v.oinan iii the family, sold butter and pork in the year 

 ld37 to the amount of twelve hundred dollars in cash, sustaining his family and living well on the same 

 larra. The hogs were kept and fattened on the milk and buttermilk from the cows. There are larger 

 farmers in the country who have made fortunes by keeping dairies. Col. Meacham, who lives on the 

 shore of Lake Ontario in the county of Oswego in New York, keeps one hundred and fifty cows; we 

 saw a cheese from his dairy presented to Gen. Jackson at V/ashington, weighing more than a thousand 

 pounds. Col. M. originally cleared his farm, and has drawn liis wealth from its bosom. Mr. Brown of 

 Oppenheim, Montgomery county. New York, keeps the immense number of two hundred and fifty cows ; 

 and from tlie. butter and cheese which lie sends to New York market, derives an immense personal 

 revenue., - 



Butif the, profits of the dairy be great ^\■]len the milk is coWverted into butter and cheese, still more 

 tempting are. the gains when, fromliving near the market, the milk can be sold from four to six cents 

 the quart. A pound of butter cannot be cbtiiined from less than sixteen quarts of milk ; and this at two 

 cents the quart would make the butter cost thirty-two cents. A cow that will average ten quarts of milk 

 a day through the year will yield one hundred and forty-six dollars in that time. Many of our com- 

 mon New England cows, well fed, do more than this. A good cow, well attended and kept, in her 

 milking time affords half of the sustenance of some families. 



But cows of improved breeds may be made to yield much more milk than cows of the common breed. 



The passion for the imported short horned Durham Cattle is little less than was the Merino sheep fe- 

 ver some twenty years ago. Mr. Vv''olbert of Philadelphia, in the Farmer's Cabinet, reports the sale at 

 auction at Philadelphia on the fifth and sixth of November last of sixteen imported Durham cows and 

 heifers wit.h prices ranging from S-'-IO down to $185 each : an imported Durham bull sold for $550. 

 The e.'ctravagance of price in Kentucky for the Durham full bloods is still greater. Henry Clay, jun. 

 is reported in the late papers as having sold a Durham cow at Lexington for the enormous price of two 

 thousand dollars ! 



Fevr farmers in New England can afford to pay these high prices for cattle of any sort. The price of 

 our own cows, nov,- ranging from 25 to 50 dollars, and calves of ,^i.x months at nine and ten dollars the 

 head, is suiHciently enormous. We shall, in the course of a few years, be able to improve the breeds of 

 our cattle without paying the high prices. The Shakers at Canterbury and Enfield, who are generally 

 in advance in almost every kind of improvement, have already obtained tlie improved Durham cattle. 

 We lately saw a beautiful bull and a heifer calf at Canterbury, one of v/hich weighed more than six 

 hundred pounds before it was six months old. Of these hereaf\er we intend to present pictorial represen- 

 tations, if they can be obtained. 



We preso.nt the following figure, which must strike every one as giving the points of a first ra'.e cow, 

 with the description taken from the .Albany Cultivator. 



[Figure No. 1.] 



"This, says the author of British Cattle, is a fair specimen of one of these cows, the character of the 

 Holderness and Durham beautifully mingling. These constitute almost exclusively the stock of the 

 London milkmen, and the numbers there kept to supply the metropolis with milk, amount to about nine 

 thousand. They are celebrated alike iijr their milking and fattening properties. They are kept in 

 houses, fed upon hay, turnips and brewer's grains, and milked without being suffered to go to the bull, 

 till thev no longer yield a profit on their keep, when they are dried off, and in a few weeks turned into 

 good beef They axe said to give in some cases thirty, and even thirty-six quarts of milk per day. 

 Loudon states the average product for the entire year .at nine quarts per day — Britisli Husbandry the 

 leverage quantity given by each cow (i>rol;ably when they are flush in milk only,) at twenty-two to 

 tv/enty-four quartj. Tlie good points of these cows arc said to be well expressed in the following dog- 

 grel lines, from tin; Farmer's Magazine : — 



" She's long in her face, she's fair in lier horn. 

 She'll quickly get fat without cake or corn. 

 She's clean in her jav.s, and full in her cliine. 

 She's heavy in Hank, and wide in her loin. 

 Slie's broad in her rib.'s, and long in her rump, 

 A'straight and flat back, without ever a hump, 

 She's tvide in her hips, and calm in her eyes, 

 She's fine in her shoulders, and tliin in her thighs. 

 She's light in the neck, and small in her tail. 

 She's wide in the breast, and good at the pail, 

 She's fine in her bone, and silky of skin, — 

 She's a grazier's without, and a butcher's within." 



Several of the Yorkshire cows have been imported into our country, en board of the London and 

 Liverpool packets, to supply milk on the voyage, though not under their proper distinctive name — 

 having generally been classed with the Improved Short Korns. 



