NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



305 



dairy stock, a pair of good oxen, a solitary attempt 

 at amateur breeding, &c; but in vain do we look 

 for any system whereby Nova Scotian produce can 

 attain that uniform character for high perfection 

 which nature intends her to enjoy. To prove our 

 facilities for prosecuting systematic agriculture, I 

 may state the heavy rich lands bear a due propor- 

 tion to the light uplands. 



Young cattle can be raised in the upland dis- 

 tricts at half the cost of their keep in the districts 

 where land is of double the value. If these breed- 

 ing districts would follow breeding only, and do it 

 mutually and systematically, they would receive 

 fair prices from the fattening districts, find ready 

 sale at home, and save the money they now lose in 

 their abortive attempts to make good beef ; and 

 the richer districts would save the valuable food 

 for fattening which they now dissipate in raising 

 young animals, which before they have their growth 

 have cost as much per head as would purchase two 

 head from the upland farmer, giving him a profit. 

 Windsor, Horton and Cornwallis ought to supply 

 Halifax with as good beef as can be found in any 

 part of the world. By a systematic arrangement, 

 the supply would be steady and uniformly good ; 

 salting ship stores and for export might be carried 

 on as a branch of business, and the breeder, the 

 feeder, the curer and the merchant would each ap- 

 proach perfection in their branches, and establish 

 a steady, remunerative business. 



Until our agricultural operations are character- 

 ized by system, it matters little what breeds of cat- 

 tle we have. Unless we have some establishments 

 within our own borders for pure breeding, our 

 money must find its way to the pockets of foreign 

 breeders every time we attempt to renovate our 

 degenerate stock. At present I consider our labor 

 and our animal food lost for want of mutual co- 

 operation and systematic arrangement. Every good 

 beef ox we see in the market has cost double what 

 he should have done, and for every good animal we 

 see, we ought to witness fifty. 



System and combined action has rendered the 

 mountains of Scotland as valuable as the alluvial 

 plains comparatively. It is from the highlands 

 that the Carse farmer procures his feeding stock ; 

 he could no more attempt to raise them profitably 

 than the highland breeder could essay the feeding 

 process successfully. 



I trust you may be able to make sense of these 

 hurried remarks, as I can hardly find time to throw 

 them together. I fully appreciate your motives ; 

 they find reciprocity with me, and I trust you will 

 favor me occasionally in the same way. 

 I am, dear sir, 



Your obed't servant, James Irons. 



Halifax , May 18, 1852. 



Remarks. — We thank our correspondent for his 

 communication and obliging disposition, and hope 

 to hear from him often. The number of our read- 

 ers in the provinces will justify us in yielding a 

 portion of our columns to their contributors, which 

 we shall cheerfully do. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 OLD PASTURES— WITCH GRASS. 



Mr. Editor: — AVill you, or some of your corres- 

 pondents, please inform the readers of the Fanner 

 the best method of reclaiming old pasture land that 

 is too stony for plowing ? And whether there is 

 any way to kill out "witch grass," other than dig- 

 ging it out by the roots 1 By so doing you will 

 greatly oblige a Suuscrider. 



Mercer, Me., June 12, 1852. 



Remarks. — In the monthly for May, page 233, 

 you will find in an article on "Scarifying the Soil," 

 some remarks upon reclaiming old pastures. But 

 would it not be better, after all, to letpastures which 

 are too stony to plow run up to wood and then 

 give more attention to enriching lands which are 

 capable of being plowed'? One acre, well plowed, 

 enriched and seeded to the various pasture grasses, 

 would afford an abundance of feed for a cow for four 

 or five months. Where farms are small and land 

 high, we shall be compelled to pay more attention 

 to pastures. Some of the best farmers in this re- 

 gion say that one acre ought to feed a cow through 

 the year; that is, if a man has twenty acres, he 

 ought to feed well twenty cows from it. We know 

 those who do more than this, but the number is 

 extremely small compared with those who require 

 half a dozen acres for each cow. 



There is a paragraph going through the papers, 

 stating that if witch grass is covered with earth 

 three or four times during the summer, while hoe- 

 ing, that it will kill it. But we doubt. We have 

 tried the most careful cultivation by hoeing and 

 raking out every root we could gather, but found 

 the next year that small pieces enough of the roots 

 were left to bring up an abundant crop. Try late 

 plowing in the autumn ; and just before the ground 

 freezes harrow thoroughly. 



E2P A man with a large family was complaining 

 of the difficulty of supporting all of them. "But," 

 said a friend, "you have sons big enough to earn 

 something for you now." "The difficulty is, they 

 are too biff to work." 



THE RADIATED OR STAR NOSED MOLE. 



We received, not long ago, a specimen of the 

 mole tribe, accompanied with a request to give the 

 name of the "critter." This species of mole is 

 oftentimes found very abundant in some situations. 

 The peculiarity in this species is the singular car- 

 tilaginous appendages to the nose, which start out 

 like radii from the nostrils as a centre, and present 

 a star-like appearance. Hence it is called radiated 

 mole, star-nosed mole, button-nosed mole, &c. It 

 belongs to what naturalists call the genus Condy- 

 lurus. We believe it is a very harmless animal 

 which burrows in the ground and feeds upon worms 

 and bugs, and such insects as it meets with in its 

 haunts. It probably comes out from its burrow 

 during the night, as it is not often seen in the 

 daytime unless disturbed by the plow or the dogs. 

 What the peculiar design of nature is in forming 

 the singular appendages to the snout we do not 

 know ; but they probably aid it in its search for 

 food. Godman, in his description of animals, says 

 the star-nosed mole frequents the banks of rivulets 

 and the soft soils of adjacent meadows, where their 

 burrows are most numerous, and apparently inter- 



