i^i)t farmer's iHcintl)lij fajgitor. 



15 



buildings or yards, from 50 to 100 fowls may lie 

 kept on every furni of a liinidred acres, and llie 

 contrihmions tliey \vill tniike in eggs and chick- 

 ens to the iiioducts sold, will amount in the end 

 to a han<lsonie sum. It is true, to he made a 

 source of profit tliey must receive allentiou ; the 

 eggs must he gathered daily, two or three liens 

 must not (as is iVequently the case,) he allowed 

 to sit on one nest;conps must be provided tor 

 the chickens, as they are hatched, and they, as 

 well as other domestic animals, must he fed. 

 Fowls will sometimes, perhaps, do a little mis- 

 chief; if idlowcd access to grain fields, they will 

 break down and destroy more than they will eat, 

 and if they find the planted corn, they will show 

 a perseverance and dexterity in tracing out the 

 rows, and extracting the plants, worthy of any 

 featlierless hiped that lives by his wits and the 

 plunder of the public. The true way to put an 

 end to such trouhlcs at once, is to confine the 

 depredators, when you do not wish to kill them; 

 and then a little extra feed is all that is necessajy 

 to save both your crops and your fowls. 



Domestic |)oultry usually do much better that 

 run at huge, than they will if restricted to nar- 

 row limits in the coop or yard. Their health is 

 improved, their flesh is finer and better tasted, 

 and they will produce more eggs, at large, than 

 in confined situations. The turkey, in particu- 

 lar, is a strenutnis advocate of the largest liberty. 

 Hens in a garden are a pest, but there is no ne- 

 cessity of being troubled with them there. A 

 common jiioket-fence five feet high will effectu- 

 ally exclude them; it being well known that 

 fowls rarely attempt flyini: over such a fence, 

 and when made plain, such a fence costs per- 

 haps as little as almost any other. 



To have the ponltry-yard j)rofitable, the fowls 

 should not he kept until they are old. There is 

 no objection to ineserving a favourite cock so 

 long as he is active and lively, but hens after 

 three years will not produce as many eggs as 

 those of one or two years. Much, however, is 

 depending on the breed kept, but more on the 

 manner in which they are kept, so far as good 

 layers are concerned. 



The Game cock l)reed and the Bantnm breed, 

 are not generally kept, exi-ept by amatem- poul- 

 try breeders; rarely by lUriuers, as they attbrd 

 little profit as layers or rearers of chickens. 

 The chickens of the game cock breed are so 

 pugnacious as to he constantly fightiiig with 

 one another, and in this way sad devastation is 

 made amono- ihe broods : the Bautun.s are so 

 small as to be undeserving of notice, except as 

 objects of curiosity. 



One of the most beautiful of our fowls is the 

 Hamburg, or Poland Top-knot, and it is also one 

 of the best with which we are acquainted. 

 Both Mowbray and Boswel!, in their works on 

 poultry, speaks highly of this breed ; the first 

 saying, "they are one of the most useful vaiie- 

 ties, (larticularly on account of the abundance of 

 eggs they lay, being least inclined to sit of any 

 other lireed, whence they are sometimes called 

 encilasliiio; l(i;/ers, and it is usual to set their eggs 

 imder other liens;" and the last remarking,'- this 

 is a kind we esteem above all otherj^, both for 

 their appearance and usefulness, and we regret 

 they are so seldom lo be njet with pine in this 

 country." Mr. Hement says,'- they are hardy, 

 enduring well tlie extremes of heat and cold, al- 

 though they are not so thickly covered with 

 feathers and down, as some other breeds. Their 

 colour is of a shining black, or a deep glossy 

 changeable purple, with a large white top-knnt 

 of feathers, covering so much of their head us 

 almost to blind their eyes, and often require 

 clip[iinir. The contrast of this pertiictly white 

 cn)wn with the black plumage, is tndy beanliiiil; 

 but lh:;t of the cock diflfers from the hen, hers 

 being lir.)ad and erect feathers, while his are 

 narrow and hanging down in every dirrclion." 

 We have seen a'few inslunceSi in which a small 

 lidt of brillian-t red fi'athers existed in the centre 

 of the white knot, almost realizing the appear- 

 ance of a spleiidicl flowei-. — Cultivator. 



Facts Worthy of Note. 



Whenever the farmer or jiUinter discovers his 

 fields covered with slieep sornl, he may conclude 

 that (he soil needs linr'7i<r, the presence of the 

 sorrel being unerring evidence of the absence of 

 calcareous itiatler, and that the soil is too acid tor 

 the purposes of heaKliful ycgetation. 



Lands too, whose natural growth is pine, re- 

 quiie lime, as that wood almost alwajs delights 

 in an acid soil devoid of lime. 



Clover, Snnfoin, Lucerne, ami all grasses of this 

 family requiie that there should he lime in the 

 soil on u Inch they may be grown, and, indeed, it 

 may be said to be luhciV lost, to attempt to cidti- 

 vatethem advantageously on lands in which this 

 mineral does not form a constituent element. 

 Now, may it not be the absence of lime in much 

 ot' the soil of some of the southern portions of 

 our (-ouiitry, whi(-h opposes such obstacles to the 

 growth of clover? We think it demonstr.iblc 

 that it is, and we are etpially ceitain, that, if lime 

 or marl were applieil to all such lands, that clo- 

 ver might be grown there as well as in any other 

 part of the country. — American Farmer. 



Farmina;lon Falls, Me. Jan. 30, 1843. 



Dear Sir: — At the time you were in Farm- 

 ington 1 mentioned to you that I would send you 

 oiie of "Beard's patent Bee-houses'" if you would 

 accej)t it. If I recollect aright you said that if 

 yon could arrange for one on your grounds you 

 would take one, and that you would communi- 

 cate «itli me through my imcle. 



As the winter is fast passing away, and as 

 sleighing is the most conveinent time for con- 

 veyance I have taken the liberty of addressing a 

 letter lo you upon the subject. If you think it 

 worth your while to try them I will give direc- 

 tions to have a house sent to you at Concord. 



Tiie profit of a single house might not be an 

 object to one of so many engagements as your- 

 self, hut to the scientific agri(Mdtmalist the mat- 

 ter of profit is a trifle compared with the pleasine 

 of witnessing one successful experiment. That 

 there are large gains from bees in these houses 

 to those who keep them for that purpose I could 

 furnish abundant testimony— that their operations 

 are a great natural curiosity worthy the attention 

 of the naturalist or man of science caimot be 

 disputed, or that the box-honey is a luxury that 

 any geutleniiMi might well I)b proud to place up- 

 on'liis table, is a (piestiou about which there can 

 be but one opinion. Enclo.-.ed is the description 

 of the house, &c.. about wl;ich you spoke. 



If you feel disposed to publish any thing in 

 relation to it, it would lie very gratilying, but 1 

 feel very anxious that you should try them your- 

 self, that you may he enabled to speak from |ier- 

 soual acquaintance. 



To say tliat you have seen a man and do not 

 know aiiy hurt of him is faint praise; but to 

 say that you have an intimate .-icquaintance with 

 him, that you have found him to be a man of 

 sterling worth and imdouhted integrity, is giving 

 a man a character worth possessing. Be so kind 

 as to write as soon as convenient and inform me 

 whether you will take the trouble of a house and 

 greatly ol)lise 



Your obedient and very humble servant, 

 E. C. ROLFE. 



Hon. Isaac Hill, Concord, N. H. 



We remember our fiiendand his group of bee- 

 hives, alihongh we had but a moment to s])end 

 in viewiiiL' them. We will try the bees and 

 watch over them, if he will send us the sanqile 

 he nieiiiions; and thank him too. 



Old Fields.— Inquiry. 



Hon. Isaac Hill— We helieve_ that the im- 

 provement and renovation ol" old fields that have 

 been worn out by the old system of cnhivation, 

 can be effected by the liberal usi; of clover and 

 plaster, at a cheaper rate than by the use of sta- 

 ble manure. This has been eft'tclually tried by 

 the Shakers at Canterbury, in the Uee use of clo- 

 ver aiul pl:t.ster and feeding oft'tlie crop by cattle, 

 or turning it under as a green crop. But it has oc- 

 curred tons, that ploiighhig the ground at a good 

 de|ith, some three or four limes in the course of 

 the season, without cropping at ail, would im- 

 prove tli;- quality of the soil, in a good degree. — 

 We should like "to bear your opinion on this sub- 

 ject Yours triilv, 

 •■ ■ L. DURAND. 



Derby, Conn., Jan. 27, 1843. 



^^Tf' It is our present belief that all worn out 

 lands may be renovated by the jirocess of simple 

 |)loiigliing: yet the clover and plaster process 

 mu-it uenerally be as easy as any other process. 

 —Editor. 



We deeply regret that we have not made this 

 number of the Monthly Visitor all it ought to bo 

 fioin om- own labors. An absciK^e of six weeks, 

 with inilispositiiin while from home, previ nied 

 our writing out the remainder of our imeresting 

 journey in Maine, and the description of ilu Mus- 

 quash Meadow Farm in Vermont, with has of 

 other matters set down in our note book. We 

 call ourselves a better scholar in the study late in 

 life of that most exhilarating subject. Agricul- 

 ture ; and we mean to forget nothing of it once 

 committed to memory. Driven into the field of 

 politics by untoward events, we yet while on the 

 way gladly tinu to our intelligent farmers lor the 

 details of their experience, admiring the fact 

 presented in all our towns that the sure path to 

 Independence is to be found in the prudent cul- 

 tivation of the Farm when it may fail in every 

 thing else. 



Good and safe calculators, who have taken pains 

 to ascertain the fiicts in both countries, affirm 

 th.-it although the price of labor in this country 

 for the benefit of tlie laborer is three for one to 

 the price in Great Britain, yet so great are the 

 burdens of taxation upon all prodin-tion in the 

 foreign country, that the coiit of producing, is less 

 in this country tliaii it is theie. 



The millions of British subjects in the fiir-ofi" 

 India, besides other modes of indirect taxation, 

 contribute directly to the usurping government, 

 a full third of the proceeds of their labor: in the 

 island of Britain itself it may be affirmed that all 

 of two-thirds of the people's earnings goes to 

 the government. In such a state of things, how 

 much better is the condition of the British labor- 

 er than the American slave ? 



TJieMilford Hop Growers, 



In 1840 sold at 3.5 cents— in 1841 at 15 cents — 

 in 184'2 at 8i cents |)er pound ; and this last price, 

 a good and fbrtimate hnshandmaii informs us, af- 

 forded them a living profit. If so, how ought 

 New Eiiirland farmers to " go on their way re- 

 joicing" ill the prospect that better times may 

 make them more and more independent. 



The New York Tribune contains an account 

 of a Power Loom recently invented by Air. Clin- 

 ton G. Gibbons. Among the peculiairties of this 

 new loom, is its dispensing entirely with cams, 

 headdles and trenddles, in weaving every descii[i- 

 tion of cloth. The new I'eatiire, which the in- 

 ventor calls a " weft puller," seems almost in- 

 stinct with intelligence and life, drawing every 

 thread of the weft tight, alter the shiiitle has 

 been thrown, drawing it forward and drawing it 

 up to the iitce of the cloth, thereby preventing 

 the looping of the weft thread occa,sioned hy the 

 diagonal. The machine stops the instant a shut- 

 tle is exhausted or a thread broken, thus securing 

 that perfi'cl ap|<earance indispensable to figured 

 cloths. And although working at a speed of 

 1000;»H-« or threads of welt per minute, the 

 fabric produced was absolutely faultless. 



Small Productive Farm. 



I raised, the past year, liom 30 acres of land, 

 700 bushels of potatoes 80 bushels of barley, '<J5 

 bushels of beets, 15 bushels of wheat, 1(1 bushels 

 of beans, 4 tons ot mowed oats, 6 tons ol' English 

 hay, 10 tons of meadow hay, 40 bushels of corn, 

 •20 bushels of carrots, 75 i-hickens and turkeys, 

 and a great variety of garden sauce. I have killed 

 one hog, wi;ighiiig 3!-'0 poinuis, made 400 pounds 

 of butler, kept three cous, .-i pair of oxen ; two 

 h(!ifers, two steers, eight sheep and four hog.s, 

 I have been on the place but two years, and 

 have laid six acres of land to grass ; the land a 

 clay loam, easy to work. I have no convenienco 

 for my hogs lo graze, neither do I believe it 

 economy, for the extra inanuio that can be made 

 by yarding them, will pay the extra feed. 1 mi.* 

 lime with niy ccunpost, and [ilaster my corn, po- 

 tatoes and grass, i sort my potr.toes heliue sale, 

 and by that me:ms save half a peck per bushel, 

 which would he lost to me if not sorted. Final- 

 ly, 1 cook every thing I give my liog.a, and feed 

 warm and keep warm, A. T. PERKINS. 



— Maine Farmer. 



It is said, the wheat crops of France, liave been 

 almost diuililed within the last thirty years ; and 

 the poiatoe crop, more than qiuuhupled witliiu 

 the same period, 



