.'I 



104 



^l)e jTarmn'g jHontljIg Visitor. 



From Ihe Albany Cultivator. 



' Good Management. 



Should some yoiiiif; uiid inexpeiienced farmer, 

 with small means tocoiiinieiice business, lie ben- 

 efilled by this brief sketch lioni my pen, my high- 

 est object will be attained. 



About ten years ago, 1 purchased fifiy acres of 

 land — forty imjiroved, ten woodland — for which 

 1 paid $41 per acre. I had, by prudence and in- 

 dustry, laid up $500, which was all J was able to 

 pay down. For the remainder I was in debt, and 

 when I looked around on the old shattered build- 

 ings, and Ihe rotten old fences, tbe prospect to a 

 young, inexperienced /iunier, just starting in life, 

 was somewhat discouraging. I was determined, 

 however, to have some rules and regulations about 

 the matter. 1 soon became b reader of the Cul- 

 tivator, from which I leiuned sonic very useful 

 lessons, and 1 determined I would stick to the old 

 maxim — 



" A little farm well tilled." 



For the first four years of the above ten, I hir- 

 ed one man for about seven months per year ; for 

 the last six years, one man from eight and a half 

 to nine months per year. This is all the lielp I 

 have hired. One pair of horses has performed 

 all my team work, and they have been fat winter 

 and summer. 



I have raised all kinds of grain except winter 

 wheat. 1 will not occupy room in giving my ex- 

 perience in regard to cultivating all these crops, 

 but will briefly describe an experiment I made in 

 cultivating Indian corn. 



I selected a piece of ground containing seven- 

 eighths of an aere, cleared ofl^all ?he etones,and 

 spread on the surface 25 loads of coarse manure, 

 which was turned under with the sward, about 

 three inches deep. After ploughing, 1 spread 

 about twelve loads of pulverized manure on the 

 surface. The strongest of this was night-soil, 

 the next hog manure. I harrowed it thoroughly, 

 and planted it to eight-rowed yellow corn — rows 

 three feet ajiart each way ; hoed it tliree times. 

 Perhaps I ought to state that I planted every hill 

 of this corn myself, about the (ith of May. 1 

 was very particular in the work, so nmch so that 

 my hired man called me a " hook farmer." How- 

 ever, 1 was proud of the name. In hoeing, 1 

 avoided the old-fashioned way of lulling ten or 

 twelve inches high, and kept the ground nearly 

 level, well stirred and loosened. 



In harvesting my corn it was all measured in a 

 bushel basket, every basket making, if shelled, 

 a plump half bushel. 1 had 152i busliels of ears, 

 equal to 764 bushels of shelled corn — or at the 

 rate of 855 busliels per acre. The corn, at f)8 

 cents per bushel, amounted to $51.85. 



The corn-fodder was worth $3, and the pum|>- 

 kins grown on the lot $2,— making the whole pro- 

 duce of the seven-eighths of an acre, $5G.85. 

 The cost of cultivation was $16, leaving $40.85 

 clear profit. 



The tbllowing spring I ploughed this piece of 

 ground some two inches deeper than when it was 

 plouglied for corn, and sowed it to spring wheal, 

 soaked in brine, and well rolled in lime. 1 had 

 22 bushels of the first quality, v\orlh $1..50 per 

 bushel, and which afforded me a clear profit of 

 $28. The same piece was seeded to clover and 

 timothy, and the tliirti year horn tlie time it was 

 broken up, gave two tons of good hay, worlh $8 

 per ton. Calling the cost of culling, &c., $4, Ihe 

 clear profit fiom the hay was $12. Thus, seven- 

 eighths of an acre gave a clear profit in three 

 years, of $80.85, or $00.95 per acre. 



I will give the product of ten cows for the last 

 season. 1 commenced with eleven, but one by 

 accident was rendered unfit for the dairy, and 

 was slaughtered. My rows arc not jet arranged 

 to my mind, yot I have five which 1 value at $50 

 each— tlic remainder not more lliun $30 each. 1 

 sold (i-om the ten cows 4087 lbs. of cheese, and 

 812 lbs. of butter. Our liunily consisls of four to 

 five persons the year round. VVi; used 220 lbs. 

 cheese, and, by estimaiiou, IHH M,.-. butter ma- 

 king the whole quaiilily prodiinil by ilie cows, 

 4300 lbs. cheese, and 1000 lbs. biiiier. Tliu cheese 

 was sent to Boston, by a men liuiit of our town, 

 and brought us over $(i per hundred. Our butter 

 fiir the past ten years, has been sold mostly at 

 New Lebanon Springs. As to quality, those who 

 purchase it can answer for this. 



In my course of fiirming I have made no ex- 

 penditures except such as I have been able to 



make from the |iroiluce of the farm. 1 have ex- 

 pended $3400 for land, about $1500 for buildings, 

 to say nothing of increase of stock, farming" im- 

 plements, fences, blind ditches, uiider-drains, &.C. 



II. Mattison. 

 JVew Leban on, (M Y.) May 2 0, 1847. 



Results of Industry. — [The following ftJi- 

 nishes a good example of what may be accom- 

 plished in farming by laborious industry and per- 

 severance. There are probably tiiatiy such in our 

 country, and it is proi>er thai they should he lieltl 

 up for Ihe encouragement of others. The writer 

 of this article, it should be remembered, is loca- 

 ted in a region which many look upon as very un- 

 favorable to agriculture. — Eds. Cultivator.] 



I commenced clearing land from a wilderness 

 estate in 1820; Ihe growth was heavy hard wood 

 of beech, maple, birch, with some liemlock and 

 spruce. I felled but little each year, at first, as 1 

 had neither ox, horse, or man to help me, unless 

 I hired or exchafiged my own labor for them ; 

 (the latter I often did.) I practiced clearing eve- 

 ry movable thing from the land, sowing it with 

 some kind of grain and grass seed. It scarcely 

 ever failed to produce a good crop of grain, and 

 afterwards grass in abundance, for ten and some- 

 limes for fifteen years. I have cleared, with the 

 assistance of my own sons, principally, about one 

 hundred acres of woodland. I have about twen- 

 ty-eight acres well cleared of stones, which is in 

 a good stale of ciiliivatioii. My slock consisls 

 of oxen, cows, and young stock, to the number 

 of twenty-five, one horse, and about forty sheep. 

 I have plenty of hay for my slock, and sell from 

 five to ten Ions yeai'ly. My barn, previous to 

 1840, was 40 by 50 feet, standing where the 

 ground sloped to the southwest, about four feel 

 in fifty. In 1846 1 built an addition on the lower 

 side of the old part, 102 feet long and 30 wide. 

 I have dug a cellar under Ihe old part seven feet 

 deep — dug a trench still deeper for drain under 

 the wall, which is substantially built under the 

 two sides and upper end of the old part, leaving 

 the lower end immediately connected with the 

 space or cellar under the new one, which is from 

 six to ten feet deep, — without a single post to in- 

 terfere with caning, — as the floor over it, with its 

 conlents, is supported by king posts. My cattle 

 are watered under the new barn from a well. — 

 Young stock is fed at racks undi-r the Irarn. The 

 cattle are chiefly tied over the cellar of the old 

 barn, and are kept abiiiidanlly littered with straw, 

 &c. The manure is thrown into the cellar through 

 a scuttle. John McGlauflin. 



Charlotte, Me., M arch, }847. 



Large Hogs. — I send you the weight of six 

 hogs killed in this town in the month of Decem- 

 ber last, with their ages at the time they were 

 slaughttred. The breed is without a name, but 

 is probably the result of several crosses of native 

 breeds; they are usually white. 

 Chester Nye, one hog, age 22 irios., weight <536 Iba. 

 Soloiuon Abel, " " 21 " " ,591 " 



Septimus Loonier," " 21 " ■* 593 " 



Ceorge Wright, " " 16 " " 550 " 



Samuel K. West, " " 21 " " 518 •■ 



" " " " 21 " " B60 " 



Whole weight, 3,54S lbs. 



Average weight, 591^ lbs. " 



I believe that there were about twenty hogs 

 slaughtered in this town last fall and wiiiter,which 

 weighed over 500 lbs., and also the same number 

 of pigs that weighed over 300 lbs. each, some 

 weighing near 400 at eight and nine mouilis 

 old. ,FoHN S. Yf.omans. 



Columbia, Ct., J} pril^, i6 i7.—Jllb. Cult. 



I'kkserving Eggs. — This is the sca.son to put 

 up a store of eggs, against " time and need." — 

 There are various modes of preserving them. 

 Lime-water has bciii found to ansvver well. Mr. 

 II. A. I'arsons, of ISufliilo, inlbrms us that he has 

 been successful in preserving them wilh s;ill. He 

 takes large stone jars, or tight kegs, and packs the 

 eggs oil the small end, first pulling in a layer of 

 salt, and then a layer of eggs, taking care that the 

 eggs do not touch the keg or jar. In this way 

 the vessel is filled to near the tup, when it is care- 

 fully covered over and kept in a cool dark place. 

 Mr. I', has kept them in this way, perfectly good 

 for three years. It is iinporlanl that the eggs 

 should bo new, not more than ten days old, when 

 put up, if it is intended to keep them a great 

 while. — Jtlbaufi Cult. 



Col. Capron's Farm Again ! 



yf'ashington, D. C, July 12, 1847. 

 To THE Editor. 



In the Visitor (or May 1 notice an interesting 

 article by Col. Capron, of Laurel Factory, Mary- 

 land, upon the renovation of worn-out lands. 

 Your introductory remarks to tliat article are just, 

 and perhaps about all that may be said without a 

 personal inspection of the farm in question. Hav- 

 ing recently had the pleasure of a short visit to 

 the farm, and a somewhat hasty glance of the 

 slock, crops, buildings, &c., and having symptoms 

 of that deplorable malady upon me, the cacotlhea 

 scribendi, I will try to abate llieni by giving an ac- 

 count of what I saw. 



The fame of Col. Capron's good deeds has 

 spread far beyond the limits of the middle Stales, 

 as he will observe by your notice of his article, 

 when I send him the number of the Visitor which 

 contains it. 



I had frequently heard of his good examples, 

 and of his successful o|)erations in farming, and 

 ha<l seen his fine mule teams, stock, poultry, &c. 

 at Ihe Aimual Fairs at Marlborough, in Prince 

 George's county, and consequently felt a strong 

 desire to see his premises and appearances at 

 home. 



Accordingly, on Saturday last, our mutual friend 

 James Adams, Esq., cashier of the Bank of Wash- 

 ington, and a Yankee of the first water, and my- 

 self, jumped into the cars at 12, noon, and Id an 

 hour arrived at Laurel Factory, about half the 

 distance from this city to Baltimore. The loca- 

 tion is romantic and New England like. The 

 Paluxent, at that time a turbid, yellowish-color- 

 ed stream, flows through a deep valley with pre- 

 cipitate hills on either side ; and a few noble spe- 

 cimens of the primeval forest, that doubtless num- 

 ber hundreds of years in their ages, give the 

 whole a picturesque and inviting appearance. — 

 After " presenting our credcnlial.<," we were in- 

 vited, with a heartiness of wclcoine and an easy 

 aftiibility which I understand distinguish Col. Ca- 

 pron, to his mansion and to dinner. 



Soon af^er arriving it commenced raining — it 

 being a continuation of the storm of the previous 

 day, and the first considerable rain that had fall- 

 en in ihis secliiin of the oountiy since the 25tli 

 of March. While taking a brief look at the Fac- 

 tory, the cattle and sheep weie driven from the 

 pasture, so that we might see them without trav- 

 elling tliroiigh the wet grass. Col. C. has on his 

 farm about seventy head of neat cattle — twenty- 

 five mules, and ten or twelve carriage and saddle 

 horses, besides numbers of olhers belonging lo 

 different individuals, and kept lor varimis periods 

 on the place. The fiirm consists of twelve hun- 

 dred acres, about half of which is under cultiva- 

 tion, and at the time of his entering u|ion it ten 

 years ago, presented ipiite as forbidding and un- 

 couth an appearaiieo as you have described them 

 The slock is the best of its kind — each breed be- 

 ing kept pure — and it is interesting to observe 

 the marked difference, not only in the color and 

 physiognomy, but in ihe conformalion of animals, 

 natives of the same island, and often of counties 

 almost contiguous to ea*i other. Thus ihoheail 

 of the North Devon "ox is small, singularly so, 

 relatively to the bulk of the aiiiiiial, yet it has n 

 striking breadth of forehead. It is clean and free 

 from flesh about the jaws. The eye is very proin- 

 inenl, anil the animal has a pleasing vivacity of 

 countenance plainly disliiigiiishing it from other 

 breeds. Its neck is long and thin, ami there is a 

 peculiar rising of the forehand, reminding us not 

 a little of the blood-horse." The "cow is com- 



