VOL.. XIX. NO. I. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



For the New England h'aritier. 



BOOK FARMERS, &c.— HAYMAKING. 



Boston, July ist, 1840. 



Mr Colman — There are in the cities, I am in- 

 formed, <;ent!emeii who arc called (perhaps in de- 

 rision) booli farmers ; who own t'arnis, but have lit- 

 tle practical knowledge of husbandry. If they be 

 judicious rncn, however, I should be far from think- 

 ing' meanly of the utility of their labors. They 

 have the means and the time to collate and exam- 

 ine the various practical facts presented by working 

 farmers, and the various theories offered by specu- 

 latists. And then, opinions based upon so much 

 valuable data cannot fail to bo respei'table. The 

 voluntary and gratuitous labors of such members of 

 the agricultural societies, to say nothing of their 

 money contribntiiins, ought to be encouraged. In- 

 deed it may be hoped that th-? time will come (so 

 much desired by Franklin) when these men ofleis- 

 ure and fortune will transplant some of their sons 

 and daughters into the happy abode first made for 

 man, instead of overloading the learned professions 

 with supernumerary members and breaking down the 

 real merchant by a crowd of pretenders — depriving 

 agriculture of her natural arms, and then increas- 

 ing its labor by charging it with the maintenance 

 of a host of bankrupts. 



On the continent of Europe it is absolutely a ti- 

 tle of nobility to possess and improve a good farm; 

 and those who have this good fortune, call them- 

 selves the lords of the land, and their title is not 

 disputed. A little estate which I held, till lately, 

 in France, with one other small circumstance, en- 

 titled me to be a baron of the empire, under Napo- 

 leon, if such a title could have been acceptable to 

 a republican. 



If the agents of the census had been instructed 

 to inquire what number of young men had left the 

 fields for commercial pursuits, and those who had 

 adhered to the plough, and the results of their re- 

 spective labors at the end of fifteen years could 

 have been known, few will doubt that the balance 

 would be in favor of the farmers : especially when 

 it is known that more than three quarters of the 

 traders in our great cities fail. 



It is to the practical fanners, however, that we 

 must look for the facts still wanting to fill the meas- 

 ure of agricultural science, .^nd no one should 

 think so humbly of himself as to suppose, that Ac 

 cannot contribute something towards the filling 

 that measure. The most trivial circumstance, if it 

 appear new, and out of the common order of events, 

 should be noticed and couniuinicated, so that it may 

 find its way into print. By itself it may be of lit- 

 tle value or quite insijnificant : but in the hands of 

 a master workman in his study, it may prove to be 

 the lost pleind, the very essential star that was 

 wanting to complete some new and brilliant galaxy 

 in vegetable physiology. The workingman fur- 

 nishes the facts without which the synthetic philos- 

 opher can build up no sound and philosophical 

 theory. Let then every intelligent farmer take 

 note of every variety of product, and every anoma- 

 ly in nature's seeming freaks, but wise though un- 

 known purpose, and in due time man will be able 

 to read her work-< perhaps more understandingly, 

 and probably with more fruit than he now reails 

 the bible. 



I claim not to be a practical farmer — (I wish 1 

 cbuld) — nor yet a cbinet farmer, for I do not pos- 

 sess one book on anriculture ; nor do I remember 

 to have read one. In my youth I destined myself 



for a farmer, and engaged land for a settlement be- 

 fore I was twentyone ; but I was opposed by my 

 parents, and have thus been nothing. But my first 

 love comes back to me in my old age, and I would 

 discourse about it as much as I dare to, without 

 exposing too nmch my ignorance. Where my no- 

 tions or suggestions may appear unsound to those 

 who have some real knowledge, I hope to be par- 

 doned for my presumption. Perhaps my blunders 

 may prove to be fruitful hints to them. 1 will now 

 venture on one of them. 



HAY. 



'I'he hay I made and saw made in France, was 

 done very much as it is here. But their scythes 

 were inferior to ours. Their hay is kept in barns 

 and mows, like ours, and is subject to the like acci- 

 dents. 



My intention now is to propose a means of pre- 

 serving it better, which has been suggested to me 

 by a practice common in Switzerland for preserving 

 what is called Swiss tea, or certain aiomatic herbs 

 found in the mountains. These herbs are com- 

 pressed, after drying, into a very small compass, so 

 as to exclude perfectly the air, and thus to preserve 

 their aroma. The Shakers, I believe, preserve me- 

 dicinal herbs in the same way; sj that they may 

 be kept for years, and are taken for the longest 

 voyages. 



Here then is the source from which I propose to 

 borrow some useful knowledge, for this or some 

 other place — for this or some other time. 



The principle is with me, I am sure; however 

 circumstances may be unfavorable to ptactice. The 

 aroina of the Quaker herbs, as the aroma of the 

 hay, con.stitute essentia] parts of their value. To 

 judge of hay the 'first act is to smell it ; not to le.irn 

 if it be musty only, but to know if it be sweet smell- 

 ing. This sweet smelling indicates a more impor- 

 tant quality than may at first appear. It is not to 

 gratify the cattle with a luxury like a pinch of 

 snuff; but it is something more substantial. ]t an- 

 nounces the presence of those essential oils which 

 may be evaporated by exposure to the air, as the 

 essential oils ol the aromatic plants of the Quakers 

 would be, without the pressing. These oils are 

 essentially nourishing. '! heir presence informs us 

 that there is in the hay, well cured and well kept, 

 certain farinaceous and saccharine matter in a state 

 of slow fermentation, from whence emanates a fra- 

 grant spirit — the alcohol of the plant, if I may be 

 allowed to use the term. This saccharine princi- 

 ple, however, is not wanted in the shape of alcho- 

 hol for our cattle, no inore than it is wanted from 

 grain or molasses for man. But it is the grand nu- 

 tritive principle, without which the hay would be 

 no better than chaff. Now our object is to pre- 

 serve this important substance, and not let it es- 

 cape and be wasted in the air. 



'I he time for cutting hay should be, I presume, 

 that in which the juices of the grass are sufficient- 

 ly elaborated to produce the seeds very soon, but 

 not to have completed that object. The saccharine 

 matter is then in the grass. If it were in the seed 

 and they were ripe, the seeds would bo apt to fall 

 and be lost. 



The grass now cut, and at the proper time, re- 

 quires vigilance, judgment and good weather. Too 

 much drying would take away much of the quali- 

 ties mentioned above ; too little would expose it to 

 the putrid fermentation. It must, then, be well 

 dried, and immediately housed or stacked. When 

 I was a boy, I remember to have seen the barns 

 quite open-work ; seemingly with the intention of 



letting in the air. Now, if the hay wanted drying, 

 it ought not to be housed. If it were well dried, 

 then it could not be kept too close. 



You see, sir, that I am coming to the pressing of 

 hay, in imitation of the Shakers' process on herbs. 

 Ves, that is the object of this letter ; and I offer the 

 suggestion humbly, to those who know more about 

 the matter than I do. 



If hay coming from Maine, or other distant pla- 

 ces by water, exposed to the rain, and perhaps put 

 up wet, often show to disadvantage, these unto- 

 ward circumstances should be taken into account 

 before taking such hay for a sample of the system. 



If any simple contrivance can be devised for 

 pressing hay, as I doubt not there may, the saving 

 of room alone, it would seem, would compensate 

 for the trouble. Our barns need not be half so 

 large, and no hay need be exposed to the weather. 

 And if it were convenient or necessary to stack it 

 in the fields, it might then be much better protect- 

 ed from the air and the rain. 



Now all this, it will be said, is theory, — Boston 

 notions. However boldly I may theorise, it is my 

 practice to give some reasons for what I offer ; and 

 to adduce, when 1 can, the experience of others, 

 and the common sayings (which often contain the 

 short-hand popular philosophy of the time) in sup- 

 port of my theory. I this view, I will remind you 

 of what you have often heard, probably. 



Hay cut from the mow will feed more cattlethan 

 that from the barn. Now I believe that hay in 

 mows is closer packed and more protected from the 

 air than that in our common barns, although it un- 

 dergoe nothing like mechanical pressing. It is 

 moreover said, that hay two years old will go far- 

 ther than new hay. Hay two years old, to be eata- 

 ble at all, must have been well preserved; there- 

 fore its superior nutritive quality must proceed from 

 a certain degree of that conservative care which it 

 is my present object to make general, more easy 

 and systematic. If I have been correct in princi- 

 ple, F have no fear that the seeds I attempt to sow 

 will fall on a barren soil : the American farmer's 

 mind is a very fruitful soil. 



Yours, WM. FOSTER. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



Messrs Editors — A correspondent in the 

 fourth number of the Farmer wishes to know the 

 best method of raising the grape. My way is to 

 trim those vines that have been growing some 

 years, in the winter, so as to prevent the sap from 

 running in the spring, which is apt to retard their 

 growth. When the buds begin to start, I rub all 

 from the the old part, leaving those on the last 

 year's growth only which will produce grapes. 

 After they have grown to the size of shot, I clip 

 the ends of the vines and free them from branches, 

 leaving a few of the thriftiest, which I keep free 

 from branches, so that in the fall I have a number 

 to raise a crop from the next season. By the mid- 

 dle of .August I take the leaves from the vines that 

 have grapes on, and by this means get them ripe 

 before frost. If the buds have not been taken off 

 when they first started, the surplus branches of the 

 present year's growth may be clipped off in the 

 forepart of June. By pursuing this course my 

 grapes ripen without being frozen. C. 



PoH Gibson, M Y. 



