206 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. 16, 1829. 



haps one fourth part, being those got out in the 

 summer time. However, the cows, even then, al- 

 though well pastured, seemed fond of and did eat 

 them heartily, which 1 ascribed 1o the nubbins 

 and some ears not completely husked and left 

 amongst it. 



I saved all the husks lately made, and put them 

 in a shed convenient to the cow yard and shall 

 begin feeding with them. 



With great respect, yours, 



JAMES CARROLL. 



Mount Clare, Oct. 2, 1828. 



JVEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JAN. 16, 1829. 



the berries which it produces in great abundance. 

 Its property of growing more densely than any 



The weaker animals should be kept apart ; and in 

 crib feeding in the yard, it is a good method to tie 



other tree which attains an equal size, and the i up the master beasts at their meals. 



lasting and valuable timber it produces, when full Dr Deane says, " There should be more yards 



A NEW VARIETY OF POTATOES. 



A paper entitled " Remarks on the cultivation of 

 a new variety of Potatoes," read before the Farmer's 

 Society, of the town of Florida, N. Y. by Dr S. 

 Reynolds, and published intlie A*ei« York Farmer, 

 contains the folloAving observations : 



" For a long time past, we have liad fine pota- 

 toes, for autunm, whiter, and spring use ; but it is 

 only withm a few years that I lu.ve luulgood ones 

 in the summer. Several experiments have been 

 resorted to, in order to preserve thepld roots until 

 the new ones were ripe, but all without success. 

 By or before the middle of June, the old potatoes, 

 however carefully laid up, became shrivelled and 

 watery, and almost or quite imfit for the table. At 

 this time the new ones are just begiiming to forn],and 

 are yet small and tasteless, and so continue for sev- 

 eral weeks. To sup])ly this destitute period, I have 

 found a kind of potato, which planted in a wann 

 situation and on good soil, will contribute an abun- 

 dant supply for the table liefore the old ones be- 

 come useless. They were brought from a very 

 northern latitude to this place, where they had 

 become habituated to the short stunmers of that 

 climate, and will here rijjen in forty or fifty days 

 after they vegetate, and appear above ground. 



These potatoes are white, smooth, with few eyes, 

 and of a large shape, generally a little flattened ; 

 and as they came to me anonynious, I have given 

 them the name of Florida whites. * * * 



" I have planted them for four years, and have 

 always found them a great acquisition ; nor do I 

 think they deteriorate in any respect, but have ev- 

 ery year improved in size. For the last two years 

 I have planted them upon a good soil, highly ma- 

 juired, with coarse stable dung. By the first of 

 August the tops turned yellow and (lied away. I 

 then caused the roots to be dug ami tlie laud to be 

 finely ploughed, and levelled with a liaiTow. Tur- 

 nip seed was then sown, and covered with a light 

 harrow, and the ground pressed with a heavy 

 roller. At this late season I experienced no injury 

 from the fly. The turnips were thinned out, kept 

 free from weeds, and I have both years had an 

 abundant crop of solid fine turnips. 



"The cultivation of the potato appeared to an- 

 swer all the purposes of a sunnner fallow, so that 

 1 have reason to think my turnips were as good as 

 if I had taken no previous crop." 



LIVE FENCES. 

 A w riter for the Aeic York Farmer recommends 

 " the juniper or red cedar," as well adapted for 

 hedges, and says : — " The hardy nature of the 

 plant — the ease with which it may be cultivated 

 in almost any soil or climate, is evinced from its 

 spontaneous growth in old neglected fields, from 



grown and at matvirity, are distinguished qualities, 

 which go to give it a preference, for cultivation as 

 live fence, in my estimation, over any other tree or 

 shrub. 



" Some may object to the cedar, as growing too 

 large, thereby producing a shade on the borders of 

 the fields, much to the injury of the crops growing 

 thereon. But the protection they would afford 

 against the autumnal and wintry blasts, which 

 frequently sweep over our fields, carrying with 

 them the best particles of the soil, would amply 

 compensate for the injui"y sustained from the 

 shade ; or by lopping and priming they may be 

 kept in such a state as to make but little shade as 

 they produce no additional scions under this ope 

 ration. The cedar, imlike the hawthorn, nuist 

 vegetate very quickly from the short time in which 

 it will overspread a field, where large trees of this 

 species are growing on its borders, the land having 

 been previously cleared and afterwards suffered to 

 lie donnant for a few years. I have frequently 

 seen them bordering the highways on the north 

 side of Long Island, spontaneously growing so 

 closely together as to form almost an impervious 

 hedge row and fine fence. The most easy and 

 expetUtious way of propagating cedar for fence, 

 where the young trees may be had from the old 

 fields and woods free of expense is doubtless by 

 transplanting. But I had hitherto considered the 

 cedar, like other evergreens, difficult to transplant 

 with success ; until sometime past, conversing with 

 a friend on tlie subject, he inriuiin;*! lae ihnt lie Imit^ 

 been in the habit of transplanting them for the 

 puqiose of fence, for several successive seasons, 

 and that he had experienced no difficidty with or- 

 dinary ones, in making them live and flourish well. 

 In cviltivating the cedar from berries, having deter- 

 mined on the location, which, for convenience, 

 should be by the side of an old fence — form a ridge 

 by passing two or three times forth and back with 

 the plough, and on this ridge plant the berries ; 

 and after being up, thin them out and prune them 

 as their gro^vth may require. By this means, in 

 a few years, may be produced a beautiful hedge 



than one to a bam, where divers sorts of cattle are 

 kept. The sheep should have a yard by them- 

 selves at least ; and the yoimg stock another, that 

 th'ey may be wholly confined to such fodder as the 

 farmer can afford them." 



SHEEP. 



It is recommended to give ewes with lamb a 

 somewhat more than ordinary quantity of food lor 

 a montli or six weeks before they are expected to 

 yean. Not enough, however, to make them fat, 

 asdangcrous consequences might attend their being 

 in very high condition at that period, Tuniii>s are 

 said, by some writers, to be injurious to sheep wth 

 Umb, but may he given them after they have 

 yeaned. If your sheep, whether store sheep or 

 ewes with lamb, have good hay, about a quart of 

 potatoes a day to each, will, it is said, be very be- 

 tieficial, and an ample allowance. 



" Care should be taken to place m the stable or 

 yard, in which sheep are kejit, small tubs or troughs 

 cf water for the sheep to drink in. They will do 

 very well in suimner without water, as they feed 

 when the dew is on ; but they need water in win- 

 ter, especially if fed mostly on dry food. When 

 sheep have colds, and discharge nuicus from the 

 nose, good feeding, together with pine boughs, 

 given occasionally, will cure them ; or tar spread 

 over a board, over which a little fine salt is strewed, 

 to induce sheep to lick up the tar, will cure a cold."* 

 Half a gill of Indian corn a day, given to each 

 .sVep, during winter, will, it is said, assist in kcep- 

 'V^^^ them in good lieart, prevent the wool from 

 falling off, and en;>!)le the ewes to rear their young 

 better than they would if fed altogether on food of 

 a less sidjstantial nature. 



" When several kinds of food can be procured, 

 it is right to give them alternately to the sheep at 

 different meals, in the course of the same day ; the 

 quaUties of one kind aid or compensate those of 

 another. At certain hours of the day any fodder 

 should be given, and at others roots or grain. If 

 there be any danger that the roots may decay, the 

 winter should be begun with them, for alone they 

 would not be suflnciently imtritious."t 



FEEDING CATTLE. 



An English writer observes, that two great points 

 in feeding cattle are regidarity ;md a particular 

 care of the weaker individuals. On this last ac- 

 count there ought to be ])lenty of trough or rack 

 room, that too many may not feed together ; in 

 which very common case the weaker are not only 

 trampled do^^•n by the stronger, but they are wor- 

 ried, and become cowed and spiritless ; than which 

 there cannot be a more unfavorable state for thrift; 

 besides, these are ever compelled to shift with the 

 worst of the fodder. This domineering spirit is so 

 remarkably prevalent among horned cattie, that the 

 writer has a hundred times observed the master 

 beasts numing- from crib to crib, and absolutely 

 neglecting their own provender for the sake of 

 driving the inferior from theirs. This is, nuicli 

 oftener than suspected, the chief reason of that 

 difference in a lot of beasts, after a winter's keep. 

 It is likewise, he says, a very common and very 

 shamefid sight, in a dairy of cows, to see several 

 of them gored and wounded in a dozen places, 

 merely from the inattention of the o\\nier, and the 

 neglect of ;lipping the horns of those that butt. 



MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR PRO- 

 IMOTING AGRICULTURE. 



The Committee on Agricultural Experiments, in 

 addition to tlieir Report made on the 15th day of 

 October last, ask. leave to submit the following : 



Tliat the Society's premium, of twenty dollars, 

 be allowed and paid to Mr Paul Adams, of New- 

 hurj', for the greatest quantitj- of whiter rye raised 

 ou one acre, being thirtyeight bushels and five 

 (piarts. Mr Ada.ms makesthe following statement: 

 " The soil on which the above crop grew, is a 

 yejlow loam upon a gravel bottom, in 1827 was 

 planted w illi Indian com, and manul-ed with about 

 6 (ords of compost manure, spread on and ploughed 

 ill. The said compost was made in the Iianijard, 

 from the droppings of the cattle, marsh sods, salt 

 hay, &c. trodden and pulverized by the cattle. As 

 I have been in the habit of growing rye, and ma- 

 nured with the like kind of dressings for a number 

 of years, and have uniformly had good crops, some 

 of them exceeding in quantity the last, it has sug- 

 gested to me that the saline matter which was con- 



* Diane's ^'ew England Farmer, 

 t Tessif^i Treatise on Sheep. 



