426 



STO 



STO 



nureheap be any objection. If it 

 be great he, loses the more, and 

 can afford the expense better. If 

 it be small, this is the best way to 

 make it become greater. Besides, 

 what is the expense ? What is 

 wanted ? An excavation, two or 

 three feet deep, well clayed, paved, 

 and ' dishing' as it is called, of an 

 area from six to thirty feet square, 

 according to the quantity of the 

 manure ; over head a roof made of 

 rough boards, and refuse lumber it 

 he pleases." — Massachxisetts Agri 

 cultural Repository^ vol. iv. p. 6. 



STOCK. A term used by En 

 glish farmers, to express the quanti 

 ty of money or wealth a farmei 

 should have, to enable him to hire 

 and cultivate a farm to advantage. 



The larger the farm a man hires, 

 the greater stock he should have 

 in hand. Writers on husbandry 

 reckon the needful stock is equal 

 to the first years rent, and seed; 

 expense of horse keeping, clothes 

 andpocket money ; thecost of cat- 

 tle to be kept, and farming uten- 

 sils of every kind ; besides the la- 

 bour that must be hired, including 

 fencing and draining. 



It would not be amiss, if those 

 who hire farms in our country, 

 would carefully calculate these ex- 

 penses, before they take farms, and 

 consider their ability. For want 

 of this needful precaution, they of- 

 ten find, when it is too late, that 

 they are unable to carry on the 

 culture to advantage, and are una- 

 ble to pay their rent. The conse- 

 quences are unspeakably bad and 

 distressing. Both the landlord and 

 tenant are sufferers. 



But the word stocky in this coun- 



try, is commonly used by farmers 

 to express only live stock, or the 

 beasts that are kept upon a farm. 

 These should not be all of one 

 kind, but such an assortment as is 

 best adapted to the convenience 

 and profit of the farmer. The stock 

 should be adapted to the nature 

 and circumstances of the farm. 



Young stock, in general, is bet- 

 ter than old. The more there are 

 in a growing state, the greater is 

 the profit. And very old cattle, 

 when turned off to fat, do not an- 

 .-^wer so well as those which are but 

 little past their prime, or full vi- 

 gour. It costs more to fatten 

 them, and the meat is not so valua- 

 ble. 



It is best to begin with a considera- 

 ble variety of animals ; that the 

 farmer, by observing the profit he 

 gets from each kind, may afterwards 

 vary, as he finds to be best. For 

 this cannot be determined, but by 

 some experience : Because some 

 animals prosper best on one farm, 

 and some on another; some best 

 under one manager, and some un- 

 der another. 



A variety indeed, for other rea- 

 sons, is always best : One is, be- 

 cause almost every farm produces 

 a variety of food, some of which 

 will answer best for one animal, 

 and some for another. Even in 

 the same pasture, that which one 

 species of animals leave, another 

 will feed upon. 



Also, the stock should vary, in 

 some proportion as the lands of a 

 farm do. As some farms contain 

 a large proportion of high and dry 

 pasture grounds, the greater quanti- 

 ty of sheep should be kept. Where 



