1S39] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



220 



The Indian corn-crop per acre, was ahoiit 

 $33 lOf. Makint; 'he difference in (hvor ol 

 broom-corn i^'-lO 35. 



For plantinnf, our own experience has tautrhi 

 us lo lay the land oH three Jeet each way, so as 

 to avoid hoe-labor. This dislance will £rive 4800 

 hills per acre. On ihe above described land we 

 wouM leave from 10 to 15 stalks in the hill. The 

 preference is given to the finest brush. Half a 

 gallon of seed will plant an acre carelulij- dropped. 



Any funher information can be had, by appli- 

 cation at the factory. The propretors of the 

 Georgetown broom factory have, with great care, 

 selected their earliest and best seed lor planting, 

 and offer it to the farmers at a moderate price. 

 For securing the harvest, wdl be hereafter noticed. 

 George T. Mason & Co. 



From tlje Second Report of tlie Agriculture of Massachusetts. 

 DAIRY HUSBANDRY. 



I proceed to speak now of another of the great 

 interests of the agriculture of Berkshire — the dairy. 



The dairy business has always been a great bu- 

 siness. For a time it gave way to the raising of 

 fjne wool, when the prices of that staple were 

 high. Since the abatement of the demand for 

 wool, with that caprice for which mankind always 

 have been, and there is reason to think always 

 will be remarkable, many farmers have sacrificed 

 their flocks; and are now givinff their exclusive 

 attention to the dairy husbandry. These chanjies, 

 in matters so imi)ortant as the dairy or the sheep 

 husbandry involving, as they do, a considerable 

 investment of capital, and many expensive fix- 

 tures, cannot be suddenly or frequently made with- 

 out risk of serious loss and disadvantarre. 



The county of Berkshire is admirably adapted 

 to the dairy husbandry. Grass is every where 

 abundant. The soil is suited to the cultivation of 

 esculent vegetables in the highest perfection. Se- 

 veral increasing manufacturing villages, with their 

 swarming population, require supplies from the 

 farms in the vicinity. Besides this, the great mart 

 of the country, the city of New York, is easily 

 accessible. Most of the farmers in Berkshire can 

 reach Hudson with their produce, by a journey of 

 four to eight hours, and put on board the boats at 

 four o'clock P. M., it is in New York by an early 

 hour the next morning. The ftirmer usually al- 

 lows two cents a pound commission lor the freight 

 and sale of his butter; and, upon other produce, 

 it is equally reasonable. He does not return from 

 the river empty ; but carries home a load of plas- 

 ter, or of articles of necessity lor his family. The 

 great roads to the river, alter the hills are sur- 

 mounted, are among the best in the whole coun- 

 try. The rail-road, already open from Hudson to 

 WeslStockbridge, will afford to manv of the farm- 

 ers all the ficililies they can desire Ibr reaching the 

 Hudson river. 



Produce and expenses. 



1. Egrevinnt.—\ will, in this place, state, as an 

 example, the operation of a farmer who resided 

 about twenty-five miles from Hudson. The great 

 objector his attention was the making of butter, 

 which was sold every week in the New York 

 market. 



From 18 cows he sold 2400 lbs. butter, at 23 els. 



net. With these cows he fed 17 spring pigs until 

 October, whose average weight Avas 177 lbs. each; 

 half of this pork, say 88 lbs., was to be credited 

 to the cow. He is of opinion, that when pork is 

 810 per 100 lbs., a cow will give at least ^8 worth 

 of pork per year. 



Cow, Cr. 

 133 lbs. butter, at 23 cts., (comm. paid,) 830 59 

 Pork, - - S 00 



838 59 

 Cow, Dr. 

 Wintering, .... 812 00 

 Pasturing, - - - - 5 00 



Salt, 25 



Interest on 825, 10 per cent, risks 

 included, - - - - 2 50 



819 75 



Profits of a cow, - - - 818 84 



It is understood, that no extra ^ee<\ is, in this 

 case, given to the cow ; and the butter and milk 

 used in the family, it is supposed, will fully pay 

 for the attendance. This is a fair profit : but it is, 

 as I think, we shall presently see, much less than 

 it should be. No animal is better entitled to good 

 keeping than a cow ; because none makes a more 

 liberal return for all the extra kindness and feed 

 and attention bestowed on her. 



In another dairy, nine cows made 1550 lbs, of 

 butter, and 300 lbs. of cheese. 



Another dairy of twenty cows produced, of 

 butter, 500 lbs. ; of new milk cheese, 4000 lbs. 



In this town, two acres ol land are deemed suf- 

 ficient for pasturinir a cow or fatting a steer. 

 Twenty head of cattle, made up of cows and three 

 year old steers, were fatted upon thirty acres of 

 land. 



The subject of dairy-produce is of such impor- 

 tance, that I shall give various returns and calcu- 

 lations. I omit names ; I should be glad to give 

 them, and in a majority of cases it might nof be 

 disapproved ; but a fear of giving ofience, or of 

 being thought to take an improper liberty, or of 

 interrupting that freedom of communication, which 

 I wish should subsist between myself and the 

 fjrmers, and which seems indispensable to the 

 success of the survey, induces me to withhold 

 them, save where permission has been explicitly 

 granted, or the nature of the case renders it ob- 

 viously proper. The statements, which 1 give, 

 rest upon undoubted authority. 



2. In Otii,. — Twenty cows gave 5000 lbs, new 

 milk cheese, for sale ; each averaging also 25 lbs, 

 of butler ; 600 lbs. of cheese were also used in the 

 family. 



Cow, Cr, 

 280 lbs. cheese, at 8 cts., - - - 822 40 

 25 lbs. butter, at 20 els., - - - 5 00 



Calf. 4 00 



Pork, 26 lbs. atO cts., - - - - I 56 



832 96 



Balance in favor of cow, 



820 6& 

 812 24 



