34 



il[)t jTavmcr's iUontl)l]a bisitcv. 



was tloubieH whether the cost of the process du 

 „ot oi.lwKij;h llie advantiiye gumeil. He was ol 

 opinion that where the cost couM he reduced to 

 so insigi.ifi.-antasiim as by liis method, the ad- 

 vaiit.i"e «as great. 



" '1 he effect of steattiing was not to alter me 

 namie of the food ; it <lid not convert the poor 

 f„„d into rich ; its simple effect was to reirder 

 more of the mitriiioiis part ol tlie lood (h-estihle. 

 By hniisinf; grain, every particle was exposed to 

 the action of the juices of the stomach, and cat- 

 tle could crush the snhstance of roots and sreen 

 crops thoroughly wiih their teeth; hut ui dry 

 fodder, some part of the nutriment escaped tlie 

 action of the stomach, hecause the hhre could 

 not he thoroughly hroUen nphy mastication. I5y 

 cuttins fnd<ler into short lenyths, and sleamiii;.', 

 it was rendered tender, and ma.le to resemh e 

 crceii food. By steamiiiir, hay and siraw mi^'lii 

 be marlo more nutritious, and we mi-litsiil)sti- 

 tute a portion of straw for hay, and still keep 

 cattle doinsr as well as on dry hay alone. 



"During the past winter he had ninety head ot 

 cattle and horses, and he fed them durin|r the 

 whole lime on steamed hay and straw. Up to 

 the 14th of Febriiarv, he kept all his stock on 

 one-third hay mixed with two-thirds straw. Al- 

 •erihat, finding his cows get in low condition, he 

 used half straw and half hay, and gave the milk- 

 ing beasts a foddering of hay nioriinig and night. 

 As they calved, lie added a pound ol linseed 

 to their steamed food. With this diet, his cows 

 grew fast, and got into milk as well as he ever 

 remembered. . 



"Contrasting his consumption ot hay m this 

 and former yeans, he calculated that he had saved 

 thirty tons. The ditference between the price ot 

 thirty tons of hay, and thirty tons o( straw which 

 supplied its place, reckoning hay at £3 lOs., and 

 straw at £1 5s., would amount to £67 lOs., while 

 - the expense of cutting and steaming amounted 

 to less tlian £5." 



From the " Chroiiir.le iif ttie Seasons." 

 Snow Storms. 



The snow storms of England are seldom so dangerous, 

 and perliaps we may say s.j grand, as those ol moonloin- 

 ous countries. VVe are not, therefore, so lorcih y im- 

 pressed hy these phenomena as Highlanders, and the in- 

 habitants ol Alpine countries ; and indeed, unless we at- 

 tend to the recorded instances ol celebrated snow storms 

 in Scotland and other countries, we can lorm but a laint 



idea ol' the subject. . ^ i- .t. . 



The shepherds of Scotland hand down from father to 

 6on the terrors of the "Thirteen Drilly D.iys, a term 

 applied to a period when Scotland was visited by a lear- 

 lul tnow slofm, in the year 1G60 ; indeed, ..t is ijaid that 

 even now, the mention of this period to an old shepherd, 

 nn a stormy winter's night, seldom lails to impress his 

 mind with religious awe, and often sets him on his knees 

 before that Being who alone ctn avert such another ca- 

 lamity. For thirteen days and nights the tailing and 

 drilungof the snow never abated; the ground was cov- 

 ered liv Iroz. n snow when it commenced, and duriiig an 

 the tuna <>f its counnuance, the sheep were without lood. 

 The shepherds h,ad the pain of seeing their poor helpless 

 flocks die off without having the power to shield them 

 either from cold ..r from hunger. About the tilth day ol 

 the storm, the younger sheep, became sleepy and torpid, 

 which was .-eiierally followed by death m the course ol a 

 lew hours ; <.r if exposed to the cnlling vv,,,d they were 

 Bomeumes deprived of life almost immediately alter the 

 torpor commenced. But the tenth day of the stor.n, so 

 many sheep had died, that the slie,. herds began to build 

 up large semi-circular walls of the Irozei; dead bodies ill 

 order to aflord some sort rtfshclirrf.r the sheep which 

 still remained alive. But these began by this tune to 

 suffer so much from want of lood, that they tore one an- 

 other's wool with their teeth. , .,-, ,1 , 



At the termination of the storm, on the thirteenth day, 

 there were many larms on wliicli not a single sheep was 

 le't alive Misshapen walls of dead bodies, surrounding 

 a'contrarUnot of other sheep, also dead, was the sight 

 which m too many instances met the eye ol the ruined 

 Bhenhcrd or farmer. On those fa.ms which were situated 

 in ihc glens between mounlains, many ol the sheep sur- 

 vived the storm, but their conBtilulions suffered so se- 

 Vftielv that lew ultimately recovered. Mine-tenths ol the 

 eheep in the south of Scotland arc supposed to have per- 

 ished by tins snow storm. In the pastoral district ol l-.sk- 

 dale-Mnir, out of twenty thousand sheep, only lorty 

 vounii wethers and live old ewca were preserved. Many 

 of the farms were so utterly ruined, as to become tenant- 

 leas and valueless for several years. . 



About si.Uv or seventy years alter this event, one single 

 day of snow was so extraordinarily severe that upwards ol 

 twenty thousand sheep, as well as some ol the shepheids, 

 were destroyed. An anecd..le has been related in con- 

 nection with this storm which shows the degree ol atten- 

 tion with which the Scottish shepherds nonce the appear- 



""'"iMie'dav '''/question was the 27tli of March; it was 

 Monday and on the previous day the weather was re- 

 marked t" be unusually warm, A party ol peasanls, g..- 

 ■ 1 Time from Yarrow church on Sunday evening, saw a 

 shepherd who had collected all his sheep by the side ol n 



ivood. Knowing that he was a Teli{.M0Us man, and unac- 

 customed to collect Ins sheep in that manner on the Sab- 

 liath they asked him his motive, to w hich he replied, 

 ihai he had noticed cetiain appearances in the sky which 

 led him to conclude that a snow storm was approaching. 

 All the villagers laughed at him ; hnt he bore their jokes 

 .'ood-huinoredly, and provided l..r the salely of his sheep. 

 The latal storm occurred the following day, and ttis 

 -hepherd was the only one who saved the wlir le of his 

 -heep. VVe may remark, in releronce to weather obser- 

 vations such as these, that provided they be kept within 

 reasonable limils. thev are exceedingly valuable. Persons 

 who put undivided laiih in " wealher almanacks," and in 

 the popular omens and prognostics which aic so abund- 

 ant, are liable to be duped and led into repealed errors ; 

 but' those who pretend to despise the experience ol bumble 

 observers, and to lay down doctrines relating to the weath- 

 er, Iroin theory only, err almost as much on the other 

 side. . , K- n 



Perhaps the most extraordinary snow storm with whicn 

 Scotland was ever visited, was that which occurred on 

 the 2ttli of January. 1794 ; extraordinary both in relation 

 to the enormous depth to which the snow accumulated 

 in a lew hours, and to the devastation which it oc- 

 casioned. . , ,.i u J " 



Mr. Hnrrg, so well known as the " Ettrick Shepherd, 

 was then^a young man, and was involved in the conse- 

 quences of this' storm. In the evening ol his lile he 

 wrote a graphic account of the occurrence, Irom which 

 we shalfborrow so much as will suffice to convey an idea 

 of this remarkable storm. 



Mr Hogg and a few young friends had formed them- 

 selves into a sort of literary society for the reading and 

 criticism of essays and papers. They were all shepherds, 

 and were accustomed to meet at each others houses, 

 where they frequently remained together all night. Un 

 the evenin" in question a meeting was to beheld at t,ler- 

 trony a place distant twenty miles from Hogg's residence, 

 over a wild and rugged country. He had written what he 

 terms"aHamingbombastical essav," and set olt with ll 

 in his pocket, to allenil a meeting ol his compeers. As 

 he was trudging along on foot, he thought he perceived 

 symptoms of an approaching storm, and that ol no ordin- 

 ary nature. There was a dead calm, accompanied by a 

 sli'^ht fall of snow, and a very unusual appearance was 

 presented bv the distant hills. He thought ol the fiock 

 of sheep that was usually under his care, but which was 

 now consigned to the charue of another, and he began to 

 think it would be prudent to retrace his steps. Altera 

 long contest between his inclination and his duty, he 

 turned back with a heavy heart, and wended homewards. 

 On his road he called at the house of an elder relative, 

 who told him that the symptoms foreboded a snow during 

 the night and advised him to hasten homeward wi h all 

 speed. 'I'he old man further stated as to guide Hogg, in 

 conducting the sheep to a quarter where they would be 

 bcstshcltered.thatif, during his journey, he should see 

 any opening in the rim, or host-log, he might conclude 

 that the storm would spring up from ihatquarter. Hogg, 

 however, observed no such opening in the log, and fanally 

 reached home, when he went to bed, inlendmg to rise 

 at an early hour, and go out to find shelter lor his sheep. 

 Just before he retired to rest, he observed a brightness 

 in the north, and remembered his friend s advice ; but 

 thought he might postpone acting thereon. About two 

 o'cio" k in the ro<nning a storm commenced with such 

 suddenness and fury, ihat he was startled Irom h'S Jjcd, 

 and, on putting his arm into Uie open air, he touiid the 

 air so completely overloaded with falling and drilting 

 snow, that, but lor the force of the wind, he loll Ihat as 

 if he had thrust his arm into a wreath ol snow. 1 e slept 

 in a kind of out-lmuse. distant ibout fourteen yards Irom 

 the dwelling-house ; and, upon going down stairs, he 

 found this place packed wilh snow, nearly as high as he 

 walls of his hou^e. With great difficulty he reached the 

 dwelliug-house,and lounoall the inmates in a stale ol 

 dismay. 'I'he slate of the sheep belonging to the larm 

 he.'ame an object of anxiety to all; eight h"''d''e'l °' 

 the-e poor animals being out on a very exposed hill at a 

 considerable distance livm the houses. They made a 

 hasty breakfast, joined in a simple but earnest pra>er lor 

 the safelyofall.and the male inmates starlcd on a peril- 

 ous venture, having previously filled their pockets with 

 bread and cheese, sewed their planlsalound their bodies, 

 tied on their hats, mid provided themselves each with a 



^' As soon a,s they got oul into the open air (two hm.rs 

 before daylight) the darkness was so great that to grope 

 their way was the only method of proceeding. Some- 

 limes they had to wade through masses ol snow, at oth- 

 ers to roll or clamber over them ; while the wind and 

 drift were so violent, that the travellers were lorccd, eve- 

 ry three or four minutes, to hold down their heads to re- 

 cover breath. So perplexing were the difficulties which 

 they had to encounter in the utter darkness, that thev 

 were two hours leaching a distance of three hundred 

 yards from the house. As day dawned, ihey were able to 

 advance a.Jittle taste-, one ta,king the lead and the others 

 following close in the rear. This leadership could only 

 be maintained three or four minutes at a time, on account 

 of the piercing wind which blew uniuterruptcdiy in tiicir 

 faces. In a siiort time one of the party, who, as leader, 

 had been unconsciously leading them out ol the w^iy, 

 was found nearly insensible; shortly allerwards Mr. 

 Ho^g fell down a precipice, and was nearly buried in the 



proceeded onward to a spot where another flock had been 

 Uft He was able to extricate about half <d these, and 

 to procure them a place of safety ; after which he made 

 the best of his way home again groping along as well as 

 he could, for although day time, it was impossible to -ee 

 twenl»- yards around; and the snow was so deep as to 

 conceal every vestige of the lofty trees in some ol the 

 glens, fay after day the party sallied lorUi, until they 

 found and brought home either dead or alive, nearly the 

 whole of the sheep most of which were found buried lo 

 the ilepth of six to ten feel in snow. All were a ive when 

 found, but a large number died shortly allerwards 



By this one night's snow storm, seventeen shepherds in 

 the south of Scotland lost their lives, while upwards ot 

 thirty more were carried home insensible. One larmer 

 lost seventy-two scores of sheep, and many others Irom 

 iwcnty to thirty scores each. In some cases whole Hocks 

 were overwhelmed with snow, and no one knew where 

 they were till the dissolving snow exposed the dead bo- 

 dies Many hundreds were, by the violence ol the storm, 

 driven into waters, burns, and lakes, where they were 

 buried or frozen up, and these the floods carried away, 

 so that they were never again seen or found by the own- 

 ers At one place, where several streams flow into the 

 SoVway Frith; there is a kind of shoal called Ulc Beds of 

 Fck vvhere the tide throws out and leaves whatever is 

 carried into it l>y these streanrs. At this spot when the 

 flood after the storm had subsided, were lound the dead 

 bodies ol two men. one woman, forty-hve dogs, three 

 horses, nine black cattle, one hundred and eighty hares, 

 and eighteen hundred and forty sheep. 



Scofland is frequently visited by snow storms of con- 

 siderable severity, though not compar.ible to '''"i^'-.J"^] 

 described ; and Mr. Hogg gives a pleasing account ol the 

 manner in which these visitations are borne by the inhaD- 

 ilants "Thed.aily (eeling naturally impressed on Ihe 

 shepherd's mind," says he, •■ that all his comlorls arc so 

 entirely in the hand of Him that rules elments, contri- 

 hules not a litllo to that firm spirit of devotion lor which 

 the Scottish shepherd is so much distinguished. 1 know 

 of no scene so impressive as that of a fimily sequestered 

 in a lone glen during the time of a winter storm ; and 

 where is Ihe glen in the kingdom that wants such a habi- 

 taloMi ^ There they are lelt to the protection ol Heaven, 

 and they know and feel it. Throughout all the wild vi- 

 cissitudes of nature, they have no hope of assistance Irom 

 man but expect to receive it from the Almighty alone.— 

 Before retiring to rest, the shepherd unil'..rmly goes out 

 to examine the state of the weather, and make "^ jeport 

 to the little dependent group within ; nothing is to be^seen 

 hnt the conflict of the elements, nor hearr^ but the raving 

 of the storm. Then they all kneel around him. while he 

 recommends them to Ihe protection ol Heaven ; and 

 thoagh their little hymn of praise can scarcely I"; he-"-d 

 even by themselves, as it mixes with the roar ol the tem- 

 pest, thev never fail to rise from their devotions vvith 

 their spints cheered, and their confidence restored, and 

 g., to sleep with an exaltation of mind, of which kings 

 and conquerors have no share." 



Alter innumerable disasters, they at length reached one 

 of the flocks of sheep. The sheep were standing in a 

 close body, one half of Ihe number being covered with 

 snow to the depth ol ten Icot, and the other hall being 

 forced up auainst a brae. The outer ones being wih 

 some dillicully extricated, the rest were, to the ai;reeabl. 

 surprise of the shepherd-, able to walk out liom l>;>i"-;'tl 

 the superincumbeut load of snow which had consolidated 

 mtoamass. Mr. Hocg, quitting the other shepherds. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Well prepared Soil. 

 One, and not one of the least advantages of a 

 small farm is, that we have more time to pre|iare 

 the groiiml well before we put in the seed lur the 

 crops. On a huge farm we are often il not con- 

 stantly (hiven— on a small one we nuiy drive our 

 business, and the irtitalion and fietfulness an 

 amhitioiis farmer feels when he has more than 

 he can well attend lo, is almost as bad il not 

 worse than lieing out of cash and teased by a 

 dun. The reason why light, sandy soils are gen- 

 erally the most productive, is no other than that 

 the t-ools of our crops easily find llieir way and 

 penetrate deep and wide for the necessiiiy lood.; 

 hence the more stifi' and firmer soils call lor the 

 •irealer labor of the cultivator, and when well 

 milveiized aliiio,sl al«a\s are superior to those 

 iliat are natm ally less compact. The stifler soils 

 hold the manure better, keep it wulim the reach 

 of the roots of the plants, and in this way otUet 

 the advanluges of those that are mellow. But m 

 all soils as a general rule, they cannot be loo fine 

 or mellow, and an additional plnugliing is often 

 far better than woulil he a ihessing ot niaiuire 

 wilhoiit it. As a general rule, farmers are too 

 hasty in sowing; the reluctance to wail, and the 

 apprehension of a change of weather lor the 

 worse, and the seeds are given t.. the soil lo ger- 

 miniile and endeavor to loicc their leeble roots 

 among the hard and tenacious lumps ot earth lot- 

 orowth and sustenance. If w liirmers would 

 niily recollect the inslaiices where onr fields have 

 been often and taithliilly ploughed, and the in- 

 creased ptoduclions over those that were but 

 half iloiK!, we should not longer pursue a prae- 

 lice so adverse to our interests. .\ season passed, 

 like the water that mrns the mill wheel, does not 

 a"ain return, and we are one remove lurtlier on 

 in the brief juuriiev; we have but hall a crop, 

 uo lose the otli.r ha'lf by our neglect. The inter- 

 est upon the value of our laud, and the ettects of 

 the niaiiine we apply are also gone forever lo the 

 winds and elements. Doubly true ts the good 

 maxim of the thrifty hoii.sowife, when applied 



