16 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1. 



hogs thrive so well; that they gained surprisingly 

 well; and were led at a small expense. 



I found some superior and well managed farms 

 in this vicinity on the river, [the floosie, in Ver- 

 mont;] and an intelligent and very civil man, by 

 the name of Wright, a deputy sheriff", as I after- 

 wards learnt, and a farmer, at whose house I stop- 

 ped, was kind enough to give me considerable in- 

 formation of the agriculture of this part of the 

 country. My attention was arrested by the ap- 

 pearance of a small field, covered with the thick- 

 est mat of white clover which I had ever seen. I 

 stopped to inquire if it had been plastered, and 

 found this to be the fact. Plaster, or gypsum, is 

 applied to their oak lands with great success; but 

 not with equal advantage to lands where the 

 growth was maple. For this fact, if indeed it be 

 well established, I do not pretend to account. The 

 mode of operation of this extraordinary manure or 

 vegetable stimulant, is still enveloped in mystery. 

 No theory of its operation, though many plausible 

 ones are given, has yet satisfied me. Facts are all 

 that we have as yet got that are of any value. 

 There is every where, in all the processes and 

 operations of the material and intellectual world, 

 a limit beyond which human sagacity cannot pen- 

 etrate; and from which, however bold and perse- 

 vering its clforts to pass may be, it is invariably 

 driven back with the humiliating consciousness- of 

 its own impotency and ignorance. The grass and 

 oat crops were highly luxuriant; and making 

 due allowance for the extraordinary season, (1832,) 

 Indian corn appeared remarkably well. The hay- 

 ing season had just commenced.. The grass was 

 principally herds grass and red top. The crop ap- 

 peared heavy; they mowed, however, only once, 

 as they were accustomed to feed their meadow 

 lands closely and very late in the season, often- 

 times into June, which, upon the whole, they 

 deemed a bad practice; and they were of opinion 

 they should get more hay by two mowings. 



Large crops of oats and corn might be obtained 

 by different management. The crops were esti- 

 mated by Mr. Wright to average thirty-five bush- 

 els of oats, thirty-live bushels of corn, and two 

 tons of hay to the acre. This, however, was 

 probably only a conjectural estimate, as few far- 

 mers ever take the pains to weigh or measure any 

 thing. Their produce is applied chiefly to the 

 feeding of sheep. The yearly expense of keep- 

 ing a sheep is estimated at one dollar. This like- 

 wise must in general be mere matter of conjecture. 

 It can only be accurately determined by a careful 

 estimate of the actual value of bay andgrain; and 

 not their market value, but their value consumed 

 on the place, making due allowance for the valua- 

 ble returns of manure; and there must enter into 

 the estimate the labor of attendance, the value of 

 pasture land and fencing; and then, too, a careful 

 ascertainment of the amount of pasture required 

 for, and the amount of hay and grain consumed 

 by a sheep, and necessary to his profitable condi- 

 tion. Now these are calculations into which Paw 

 farmers have the patience to enter; and one dollar 

 per head is therefore only a conjectural estimate 

 of the cost of keeping a sheep, formed from no ac- 

 curate standard; and you can only infer from this 

 statement, that they find their husbandry profita- 

 ble, or yielding a satisfactory return at. the close of 

 the year, when they can receive for the pasture 



occupied, and the hay and grain consumed, by a 

 healthy sheep, the value of one dollar. It has 

 been found by actual experiment, that seven 

 healthy sheep will consume one ton of hay in 135 

 days, the average of our winter foddering — or a 

 little more than two pounds each per day. If we 

 value this hay at six dollars per ton, and this is 

 certainly, considering the cost of labor, a low 

 price, the cost of the hay consumed by each sheep 

 would be 85 cents. We have then about 33 

 weeks of pasturing to provide for, which cannot be 

 rated at less than one and a half cents per week— 

 or say 50 cents — which would make the keeping 

 of a sheep, even at low rates, equal to one dollar 

 and thirty-five cents per year. I make these cal- 

 culations to show how careless almost all conjec- 

 tural estimates are in matters of this kind. Whether 

 however, his pecuniary estimates are critically 

 exact or not, if the larmer at the close of the year 

 is satisfied with the balance of his receipts over 

 his expenditures, if he is so fortunate as to find 

 the balance on that side, he may be well content- 

 ed with his numerous privileges and blessings, 

 though his gains in arithmetical amount may 

 seem small compared with those of other trades 

 and professions. 



The amount of wool obtained from their sheep 

 averages about three pounds of fine, their sheep 

 being principally of the merino and Saxony race; 

 and sold this year at 42 cents per lb. A Mr, 

 Wright, neighbor of the one above named, has a 

 flock of 700. His annual loss by disease or acci- 

 dent is a very small per centage, which he attri- 

 butes to the circumstance of his never housing his 

 sheep at any season, as he was formerly accus- 

 tomed to do. His opinions and experience in this 

 matter are entirely at variance with the opinions 

 and experience of many distinguished and suc- 

 cessful sheep farmers; and especially of one,, 

 whose authority on this and various agricultural 

 subjects, from his experience, edusation and intel- 

 ligence, is entitled to great respect; I mean Mr. 

 H. D. Grove, of Hoosic. He says, "shelter 

 against the inclemency of the weather is almost 

 as necessary to the health and good condition of 

 the sheep as food itself; and for this reason stables 

 built lor that purpose are of great benefit. Not 

 only do sheep do much better, but it is also a great 

 saving of fodder and manure." Mr. Wright's 

 lambs are yeaned in May. His wool is sold on the 

 farm. The general appearance of this farmer's 

 grounds and crops attracted my particular atten- 

 tion as highly creditable. The intervals furnish 

 abundant, crops of hay and grain, and the neigh- 

 boring hills afford pasturage in plenty of the best, 

 quality. 



Comparative value of different kinds of corn — 

 what crops to manure. 



* * * The corn cultivated here [near Still- 

 water in New York,] is of the eight rowed kind; 

 rather a small ear; and though not white, yet not 

 of that deep yellow which we sometimes see.. 

 This corn was recommended for the small size of 

 its cob; but I am disposed to believe, from some 

 careful examinations, the results of which were 

 communicated to the public through the columns 

 of that admirably conducted journal, the Genesee 

 Farmer, that the weight of cob in the different va- 

 rieties of corn will be found to bear a pretty equal 



