QLl\t lanmt's iHontl)hj biBttor. 



179 



vvjis applied, iiiid the applicalioii iP[)eatecl at tlip 

 llrst :iij(l serond lioeiiifia; ilie iiii.xtiiie being ap- 

 plied direclly lo llio Inll. 



My success witli lli<; fii\-;t and siiccerding crops, 

 was liir greater tlinij Iliad vciiuiri'd to expect, 

 and such as to impress (no willi tlic helioC tliat 

 fields so siliiatetl, as necessarily to reci'ive llie 

 drilia;;o Croni forests of a eliaracler similar In tlie 

 one ahovc mentioneil, cannot lie cnllivated to [let- 

 ter profit, than in corn oi- };rain. 



Some leaves are deriderlly poisonons to certain 

 crops, and oC iliis eliaracler, are doiditless the 

 leaves ol' tliu oal< and maple. Some years since, 

 in a tonr np ilie Saco, in Ulaiiie, I cliaiiced npon 

 a larni whicli uas located in tlie very liea' t of the 

 ^vildellless— as lonely a spot as the most ascetic 

 eremite (d' the middle uses wonid have desired 

 to find. The growth, which indicated the tine 

 and gcnnine character of the soil, was principally 

 oak. On one side of the liirin tlicre was a grass 

 field, which liad heen nearly mined hv the anli- 

 i;nons forests— the cast fo'liage of which had 

 been annually wafled over, ruid into the grounds, 

 till the power of prodiiciiig iiad heen so dimin- 

 ished, that the crop scarcely renuincrated the own- 

 er for the harvesting. 



I have heard fieiinent complaints that the leaves 

 of trees, reserved li^ir oriianii'iit, oiieratcd liane- 

 fidly on the soil, and some who have had spleodiil 

 trees around their dwellings, have been indneed 

 to cut them down, as the snrionnding soil has 

 lieen rendered valueless, or nearly so, by iheii 

 foliage cast in the lidl. 



SiiKre writing the foregoing, 1 have chanced 

 upon the fi.llowing article in the "Farjieu's Li- 

 BitAiiv''— a work, which, with an obvious prepon- 

 derance of downrii:ht trash— contains occasion- 

 ally a borrowed article of intrinsic worth. 



"Oak Lkaves are not easily decomposed, and 

 coiit.Tin an asirigent matter, 'iiighly injurious to 

 vegplalion, so long as the leaf remains undeconi- 

 posed. iMaume, tlierelbre, which is partly com- 

 posed ot nak leaves, must not Ije removeil from 

 the heap for a eoiisiilerable period, if we would 

 derive aclnal benefit ti'iim it. If it is [daced on the 

 ground belong it is actually fermented, its leaves 

 remain there a long lime before they rot, and may 

 l)rove ratlier prejudicial than otherwise, es|)e<;ial- 

 ly to light .--oils." 



Our writer, had he been an American, and es- 

 ])ccially an inhabitant of the New Rnifland States, 

 wniild have known that the oak (particularly the' 

 white and yellow oak) never grows on soils that 

 are not light. You nii;;lit as well search for a 

 hazel on a sheer-hedge, as a thriftv, well-grown 

 oak on a morass. " The leaves of the beech, wal- 

 nut and chesniit trees," continues our autlior, 

 " while yet green, certainly appear lo he even 

 more injurious to vegetation, than those of the 

 oak, since little or no grass ever grows under 

 those trees; liut when mixed with dung, they 

 soon lose their bai;pnd [Properties, and rapidly 

 decompose. 



"The leaves of the alder, willow and poplar, 

 also seem to have the properly of being rapidly 

 decomposed; and they possess hut little eoiisis- 

 lence, and tend very slightly to imn-ease the vol- 

 ume of excrements wliiidi they receive."" 



In some sections leaves are extensively used as 

 hdcr for oxen, horses, sheep and swine. Thev 

 are gathered fiom the fiirests in autumn, and af- 

 lord for this purpose a very facile and valuable 

 .suhstitule for straw and haulm, when the latter 

 IS required for other uses. As their texture is 

 well adapted for the absorption and retention of 

 the liipiid excrements of animals, and in llieir 

 undecom|,osed state, to promote lightness and 

 moisture in the soil, their appropriation in this 

 way, IS highly lo be recommended. In some lo- 

 ca1itie.«, tons of leaves may be collected at a slight 

 expense, as the labor of gathering and earlui.' 

 can be performed at a season when there is oi- 

 dinarily but little to be done on the farm. Some 

 preler gathering them in the spring, when com- 

 pressed by the action of the winter snows, tlipv 

 are more easily "bandied." Mi.xed with muck 

 peat, loam and lime, leaves make an excellent 



"' n'^ITn , ,, ^ I'RACTICAI, Famiep.. 



Jiald Eagle l"arm, Nov. 16, 1840. 

 — Germanlown Telegraph. 



serving men, by supplying them with capital va- 

 rying from one to live thousand dollars, where- 

 with to commenee life and forward themselves 

 in their rcs|)ectivo callings. Altacheil lo this in- 

 stilution will be a board of gentlemen, whose 

 duty it will be to examine and report on the 

 character, lalent.s, age, and claims of each appli- 

 cant for a portion ol' the <lonor's bounty, and in 

 case they report ."atisfii-torily, the money will he 

 lorthcoming im personal security, and given for 

 an unlimited period of time, wiiboiil inierest. It 

 is a very common thing to attribute tui intention 

 to a wealthy man which has never entered into 

 his mind. I}ut Mr. Astor has shown a liberal 

 sjiirit, and the report of liis benevolet project has 

 probably some foundation. Such an institution 

 would no doubt prove very Ijenefici.-d, managed 

 "illioiit fiivor, by judicious persons. Franklin 

 had such a project in view when he provided for 

 lending small sums to yoimg and industrious 

 mechanics, without capital. If his means had 

 been as extensive as Astor's, his free and benevo- 

 lent spirit would have carried his intention into 

 e.xeeulion on the most, liberal fii-n\e.— Telegraph. 



A Benevolent Design.— An exchange paper 

 speakmi;- of ftlr. Astor the wealthiest man in the' 

 L'uiled Slates, says he designs establishing an in- 

 smution lor the advancement of honest and de- 



From tile Farmer and Mechanic. 

 Fattening Hogs. 



To fallen a hog or an ox w here there is plenty 

 of corn and potatoes, refpiires no great skill, but 

 to do it in a manner thai will render the animal 

 more valuable to ibe farmer w hen fit lor market 

 tlitm the substance consumed in (jiitening would 

 be, besides paying for the trouble of doing it, is a 

 matter woribj of consideration. 



The summer of 1836 being very dry, my corn 

 and polato crop came in light, and compelled 

 nie to try an experiment, which I (bund to work 

 so well that I have since followed it to my entire 

 satisfaction. It was this: I adopted the feeding 

 of apples, of which I had an abundant crop, 

 mixed with immpkins, a (ew potatoes, and a small 

 r|uanlity of meal prepared in the following man- 

 ner. For convenience I set in my swill-honse 

 adjacent lo the stye, a large iron kettle holding 

 about nine bushels, and then had a wooden cyl- 

 inder made that held from twelve to fifteen more, 

 and lioo|)Kd with iron bands, just large enough to 

 set npon the arch outside ol' the kettle, and by 

 putting a little clay or mortar on the arch before 

 setting on the leak— as I called it— I tnade it per- 

 feclly tight; I then had a cover or lid fitted to 

 the to|i, which was also made light or nearly so, 

 by laying on a [liece of colton cloth or canvass 

 imdernealh it, Ixdbre |)utting it on. 



Into this kettle I first put' about three bushels 

 of potatoes washed clean, llien filled to the cmdj 

 Willi cut pumpkins, and filled the curb lo ihelop 

 with a|iples, adding tuo or three or more pails of 

 water, in proportion to the f|uanlity of meal that 

 I intend to mix with it afier mashing. After let- 

 ting this boil a while, I remove the i^over and fill 

 agiiin with apples, and again make light. 



The apples and pumpkins you will notice are 

 sleamed by this proce.ss, and when all are suffi- 

 cicnlly cooked, they are taken out, well mixed, 

 and a half bushel of corn meal or a bucket of 

 ground oats and peas, or of l)u(d<wheat iiiul rye 

 instead, ailded to the mixture while hot, and thus 

 rendered more valuable (iir being cooked with 

 the mass, i think that sweet a()|iles fed in this 

 «ay to hogs, are worth nearly as much as pota- 

 toes, and sour ones more thai'i half as mncli. 



I never made pork with as little expense or 

 less trouble than since I have practiced this 

 method. 



I now prepare most of my feed in this way for 

 fattening my beefiind mutton, and find it eipially 

 advantageous ; indeed, I believe that 1 get the 

 best profit from feeding sheep in this way, par- 

 ticularly my old ones. My course is, in the month 

 of October, to select fiom my flock all that do 

 not promise fair to winter well, old ewes in par- 

 ticular, which will be likely lo die in the spring, 

 as all sheep growers know that they are liable to 

 do, and give ihem a good chance for fall feed, 

 and also feeding them with the same kind of 

 substances that 1 do my hogs, and by the first of 

 January have them all first r.ite mni'ton, bearing 

 good fleeces. This kind of I'vn] is excellent fo° 

 milch cows, and cows that come in early, or fiir 

 ewps that are with lamb. It does well" lo mix 

 with cut feed, only there shouhl be more wtiler 

 put into the mixture. 



When my potatoes get short, I put in beets and 

 carrots for my sheep and cattle, and consider 



them much better for being cooked. Turnips are 

 easily raised, and are very good food for sheep or 

 cattle dming the winter, yet will not compare in 

 value with either carrots or heels. Potatoes or 

 immpkms are valuable for bmse.s, fed raw. I 

 never knew a horse to be troubled with the holla 

 Ihat was fed with a t'i:\v raw potatoes every week. 



I have made my communication rather desul- 

 tory, but my principal objc-ct in this comimmiea- 

 tion IS to yhow the value of apples for liittening 

 hogs and sheep, when, mi.xed with other sub- 

 stances, and the .saving to larmeis from picking 

 out their old sheep and fiilening them, inst(!ad of 

 [leltmg them in the (all or letting ihem die in the 

 spring, as many do. 



When a sheep get.s old and the front teeth 

 partly gone or ijoinied, the best way is lo take 

 them out entirely, as they feed better without than 

 with them. 



Yours, 



A VERMONT FARMER. 



Windsor co., VL, Aou. \sl, 1846. 



The Starch Manukacture.— Our readers 

 probably are not aw;ire of the extent of this nian- 

 idaelure in the country. Some of llie principal 

 eslablishinents (or this purpose have been erect- 

 ed during the past few years in the State of Maine, 

 and are doing an immense business. 



The Commissioner of Patents in his late re- 

 port, remarks that in August, 183.5— quoting (roin 

 a public journal — not less than Iwenlij slcirch fac- 

 tories are now being erected in om coimiij, viz., 

 that of Franklin; and further says: "About one 

 hundred i-ods from tlie centre of Merser village, 

 are two starch factories. They are doing a good 

 business for tiie proprielors, anil also for the farm- 

 ers in the vicinity, who find a ready market (or 

 their potatoes, which as a general thing, is aa 

 profitable a crop as is cnllivated. 



"The starch made is of first-rate quality. It 

 is principally taken to Massachusetts, where it is 

 readily marketed, and consumed iriostly in the 

 calico and cotton factories. 



"We are informed that one of these factories 

 manufactured into starch the past season, risiu" 

 18,000 bushels of potatoes. " 



"Starch factories are springing up all over the 

 country. Three are under process of erection in 

 Stark's, at diiierent points. There are now being 

 completed, and being erected in Somerset county 

 alone, ten starch factories. 



"Here are thirty-five of these factories, in only 

 four counties of Maine ; giving to the fiirmers in 

 their vicinity a market for their potatoes to tho 

 amount of about six limxjred thousand i)ushels." 

 Yearly at fiiir prices, combining the manufactur- 

 ing and agricultural interests of those counties in 

 a very remarkable degree. The efforts of the 

 proprietors are being crowned with merited suc- 

 cess. — Farmer and Mechanic. 



A Word to Hots.— The "Learned Ulack- 

 smilh" says. Boys, did yon ever think that this 

 great world, with all its wealth and woe, with all 

 its mines and mountains, oceans, seas, and rivers, 

 wilh all its shipping, its steamboats, railroads, and 

 magnetic telegiaphs; with alt its million's of 

 darkly groping men, and all the science and pro- 

 gress ofage.s, will soon be given over to the hands 

 of the boys of the present age.' boys like you, 

 assembled in school rooms, or pl.aying without 

 them, on both sides of the Atlantic .' Believe it, 

 ;ind look abroa<l upon your inheritance and get 

 ready to enter upon its possession. The Kinffs, 

 Presidents, Governors, Statesmen, Philosopher, 

 Ministers, Teachers, Men, of the fulnre, are all 

 Boys, whose i'val, like yours, cannot reach the 

 floor, when seated on the benches npon which 

 Ihey are learning to master the monosyllables of 

 their respective languages. 



Cows. — Although we have been favored with 

 the luxuries emanating (i-om the cow ever since 

 the flood, we are slill very ignorant of her value, 

 and of the proper mode of managing her in sick- 

 ness and in health. We were taught to believe 

 that it was unnecessary, indeed improper in all 

 cases, to milk a cow belbre she had her first calf; 

 and if I am not mistaken, this belief jirevails uni- 

 versally at the present day. 



Our attention was recently called to a fiivorite 

 Durham heifer, whose udder was considerably 

 inflamed and distended, nearly three mouths be- 

 fore her time of ca.ving, and gradually increased 



