308 



FARMERS' REGISTER— PLUCKING FEATHERS FROM GEESE. 



The foregoing letter of this intelligent and prac- 

 tical farmer is entitled to particular consideration. 

 I liave one or two other statemtMits, whicli deserve 

 attention. It is slated in the Domestic Encyclo- 

 pedia, article Soiling, tiiat "twenty-five shoats 

 were led for three months with green clover cut 

 from less than one acre; they were then fed on 

 Indian corn and when killed weighed three thou- 

 sand pounds. This is certainly an extraordinary,' 

 statement, and I have no other authoritv for it 

 than what is here given. But the Rev. Thomas 

 Mason, of Northfield, IMass. showed me the 27th 

 September last, three fine thrilty swine about nine 

 months or more old, nine-tenths of whose feed, as 

 he assured me, since the 13th of May last, had 

 been obtained trom one-eiglitli of an acre of clo- 

 ver cut and given to them o-reen. 



The preceding facts and experiments encourage 

 the belief that hogs may be raised and fiiltenedbv 

 the larmer to advantage, where corn is worth 

 about seventy cents per busliel, and his pork will 

 bring him six cents per pound. Like almost every 

 other business, especially of an agricultural na- 

 ture, success must greatly depend on skill, care, 

 selection, and good management. The best swine 

 that I have ever found have been in dairv coun- 

 tries, tor there cannot be a doubt that milk and 

 whey for every animal are among tjie most nutri- 

 tious of aliments. Indian meal probably ranks 

 next, though many farmers prefer a mixture of 

 provender, such as corn, oats, rye, or barley; but I 

 believe in all cases cooked food "will have a decided 

 advantage over that which is given in a raw state: 

 an advantage more than equivalent to the labor 

 and expense of its prcjuiration. Potatoes are a 

 valuable article of food, but the pork is not so good 

 as that fattened upon corn. Carrots are more nu- 

 tritious than potatoes. Corn given in a raw state 

 or on the ear is a most Avasteful manatrement. 



Svv'ine ought to be kept on every farm in suffi- 

 cient numbers to consume all the offal and waste of 

 the dairy and kitchen. If beyond this, a breed can 

 be obtained, which will arrive at early maturity, 

 and which can be advantageously grass fed or 

 kept at a small expense and in an improving con- 

 dition through the summer; and being put-up to 

 fatten early in autumn and forced as much as possi- 

 ble so as to be sent to market earlv in the winter, 

 the farmer will ordinarily find a fair profit in this 

 branch of husbandry. A very great advantao-e 's 

 found in the keeping of swine from the valuable 

 returns of manure both in quantity and quality, 

 which are obtained from them, where care is taken 

 to supply them with raw materials for the manu- 

 facture. Too much care cannot be bestowed in 

 the selection of the breed and the jyeneral health 

 of the animal when put up to feed; and it is 

 strongly recommended to every carefiil farmer oc- 

 casionally to weigh the animal and measure the 

 feed, that he may ascertain seasonablv on which 

 side the balance of debt or credit is likely to fall. 

 Nothing is more prejudicial to good husbandrv than 

 mere guesses and random conjectures; and thouffh 

 the result of our operations may not meet either 

 our wishes or expectations, an intelligent and re- 

 flecting mind will be always anxious as far as 

 practicable to know precisely how far they corres- 

 pond with or disappoint them. Truth, exact sim- 

 ple truth, in every thing, is the proper pursuit and 

 the most valuable possession of the human mind; 



and more nearly than any thing else connected 

 with man's true interest and hap];iness. 



hekry colman. 



Meadowhanks, Beerjield, 20th yipril, 1834 



ON Pr^UCKING THE FEATHERS FROM LIVING 

 GEIlSE. 



From Moubray on Poultry. 



A writer in the Monthly Magazine, December, 

 1823, remarks humanely on the cruelty of pluck- 

 ing the living goose, proposing a remedy, which I 

 should rejoice exceedingly to find practicable and 

 effective. He remarks on the additional torture 

 experienced by tlie poor fowl, from the too ii'e- 

 quent unskilfulness and want of dexterity of the 

 operator — generally a woman. The skin and 

 flesh are sometimes so torn as to occasion the 

 death of the victim; and even when the fowls are 

 plucked in the most careful manner, they lose their 

 flesh and appetite; their eyes become dull, and 

 they languish in a most p.itiable state, during a 

 longer or a shorter period. Mortality also has 

 been periodically very extensive in the flocks of 

 geese, from sudden and imprudent exposure of 

 them to cold, after being stripped, and more espe- 

 cially during severe seasons and sudden atmos- 

 pheric vicissitudes. There are many instances, 

 in bleak and cold situations, of lumdreds being 

 lost in a single night, from neglect of the due pre- 

 caution of comfortable shelter for as long a time as 

 it may appear to be required. The remedy pro- 

 posed, on the above authority, is as follows: Fea- 

 theis are but of a year's growth, and in the moult- 

 ing season they spontaneously flail off, and are 

 supplied by a fresh fleece. When, however, the 

 geese are in full feather, let the plumage be re- 

 moved, close to the skin, by sharp scissors. The 

 produce would not be much reduced in quantity, 

 whilst the quality would be greatly improved, and 

 an indemnification be experienced, in the uninjured 

 health of the fowl, and the benefit obtained to the 

 succeeding crop. Labor also would be saved in 

 dressing, since the quilly portion of the feathers, 

 when forcibly detached from the skin, is generally 

 in such a state, as, after all, to require the employ- 

 ment of scissors. After this operation shall have 

 been performed, the down from the breast may be 

 removed by the same means. 



A VILLAGE DEPOPULATED BY THE "mILK 



SICKNESS." 



[The singular and fatal disease to whicli are ascribed 

 the eflects stated below, was described in Vol. 1, of the 

 Farmers' Register.] 



The following extract is of a letter from a travel- 

 ler dated at St. Louis: 



A tew miles below Alton, on the Mississippi, I 

 passed a deserted village, the whole population of 

 which had been destroyed by the "milk sickness." 

 The fiamlet consisted of a couple of mills and a 

 number of frame houses, not one of which was 

 now tenanted: but the dried weeds of last year 

 choaked the threshold of the latier, and the race- 

 ways of the mills were lumbered up with floating 

 timber, while the green slime of two summers 

 hung heavy on the motionless wheels. Not an 

 object but ourselves moved through the town; and 



