16-2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NOV. «5, 1840. 



quantity is obtained. Ten quarts of herd's grass, 

 four of red top and four of clover, are sown for pas- 

 ture. A crop of hay is usually cut tlie first season 

 after sowin". Mr T. has also a tract nf land of 

 100 acres in the north-east part of the town, whicli 

 is devoted entirely to the pasture of the cows out 

 of niilU, and young: stock. This land not bein* a 

 part of the farm offered for premium, was not visi- 

 ted by your committee. 



Ifouil. — This is principally younu' and thrifiy, 

 and has increased with ^'reat rapidity for several 

 years. It is believed that the fact that it is not 

 pastured has an important bearing upon its growth. 



ff'ater. It is an important matter on every farm 



that there should be water for the use of stock in 

 every lot. Four springs and two small streams 

 running througti the farm, in connexion with a ju- 

 ■ dicious arrangement of the different lots, afford 

 this desirable result. 



Fruit. Eight acres are in orchard, producing 



apples of nearly every variety. Early apples are 

 sold in the city at one dollar per bushel. 'I he trees 

 are thrifty and bear well. The quality of the 

 fruit and the vigor of the trees have been much im- 

 proved by pasturing the orchards with hogs. Last 

 year, though the crop was light in this region, over 

 $200 was received for apples sold. Tlie residue 

 were fed to hogs, cows, oxen and horses. They 

 are considered excellent for working oxen. Sweet 

 and sour are used indiscriminately. 



Slock. — One 3'oke of o.ifen are kept. for farm 

 work. They are seldom raised upon the farm, 

 more profit being derived from the breeding of im- 

 proved stock. Eighteen cows of the Durham 

 breed, in full or in part, are kept for the milk fur- 

 nished HI the city. Those in milk give a daily 

 average through the summer, of 110 quarts, besides 

 the milk and butter used in the family. Last year. 

 Dine calves were raised. The others were sold at 

 three days old. Through the winter the cows are 

 stabled in the basement of the barn, and receive 

 each daily, beside fresh hay, a bushel of cut feed, 

 consisting of salt hay and shorts, or oilcake. In 

 spring, until the 10th of May, they are turned to 

 pasture through the day, still receiving their cut 

 feed, and in the fall they are fed with turnips, 

 pumpkins, &c., alter the fall feed becomes short. 

 Twenty head of young stock, and one splendid pair 

 of fat oxen, of the Durham breed, are also kept. 



Few farmers in Connecticut have accomplished 

 more in improving the breed of cattle among us 

 than Mr Townsend. His fine cows and other stock 

 of the short-horned Durham breed, reared by him- 

 self, prove conclusively that the race need not de- 

 generate on the comparatively short feed of this 

 countv. The valuable stock upon the farm has all 

 been raised by Mr T. and constitutes a portion of 

 the profits of the f-iriii for several years past. The 

 original imported aninmls, from which the whole 

 stock was derived, have been sold at a very con- 

 siderable advance upon their cost. In feeding 

 stock a great saving is effected by the thorough 

 use of the cutting box. The salt hay and all coarse 

 Iiay, is thus cut, and being mingled with feed is 

 consumed without waste. 



Hogs This stock, 70 in all, consists of 12 



breeding sows with their pigs, 2 boars, and 4 fall 

 pigs for fattening. They are generally of the 

 "Thin Rind" breed, so deservedly celebrated 

 wherever known. Two litters of pigs are annual- 

 ly obtained from each sow. A few Berkshires are 

 kept in order to test tlieir good qualities. 



Sheep. — Of these there are ihirtytwo of the Bake- 



well breed. They are in good condition, and are 

 fine specimens of the breed ; which, on account of 

 the large lambs, heavy fleeces, aud excellent mut- 

 ton it produces, is well worthy the careful atten- 

 tion of our farmers. 



Horses. — Two are kept for work, one of which 

 is driven in the milk wagon. 



Poultry. — Turkeys, fowls and ducks (but no 

 geese) arc raised for family use only. 



Litbur. — One man is hired by the year, anil one 

 for eight months, for farm work, and other labor 

 through the summer, equal to one man for six 

 months. The milk is now, and for three summers 

 past has been, delivered in the city by Mr Town- 

 send's son, of 15 years. One other son, still 

 younger, is employed on the farm. Mr Townsend 

 himself, on account of feeble health, relies but lit- 

 tle upon his own labors in the operations of the 

 farm. 



It is found that the use of the revolving horse 

 rake in securing the crop of grass saves a great 

 amount of times, and enables the men emphatically 

 to " make hay while the sun shines." The hay is 

 put up with far less labor and more rapidly, and is 

 readily secured on the appearance of the coming 

 shower. In all cases it is so secured before the 

 falling of the dew. Mr Townsend estimates that 

 this simple instrument saves him the labor of at 

 least two extra hands during the season of haying, 

 beside enabling hiiu to secure his hay in better 

 condition. 



It may well be questioned whether much less 

 progress is not made by our farmers generally, than 

 would result from more attention to accurate ac- 

 counts of their outlays and income, not merely in 

 respect to their business generally, but also in re- 

 lation to each separate tract and lot of land upon 

 their farms. When their accounts are properly 

 kept, (and they are so kept with far less time and 

 trouble than any person who has never made the 

 attempt would believe,) the farmer at a single 

 glance discovers what particular crop, and what 

 precise cultivation of that crop is best adapted to 

 each separate lot and yields him the best return. 

 Statements thus founded upon certain data are en- 

 titled to more confidence than those which have 

 for their basis mere belief, since as a general rule, 

 crops tell better in the eye of the producer than 

 they do in the half bushel. Your committee are 

 of opinion that this remark applies to the state- 

 ments they received respecting some of the farms 

 which they visited. In fact, from no one of the 

 applicants, except Mr Townsend, have they been 

 able to obtain accurate and regular accounts of all 

 the results of the operation upon their respective 

 farms. They, however, wish it to be distinctly un- 

 derstood, that they do not believe that in any in- 

 stance there was any intentional over-estimate. 



From his farm accounts, .Mr Townsend has fur- 

 nished your committee with a statement of the 

 prominent items of his actual receipts and expen- 

 ditures relating to the farm for the last year. The 

 following table shows the cash received during that 

 time, over and above the consumption of a large 

 family, viz : 



Fruit, $200 00 



Vegetables, 50 00 



Neat stock, 1310 00 



Hogs and pigs, 585 00 



Wool, 50 00 



IMilk, butter and calves, 2143 00 



Rent of stock, 50 00 



Gross income in 1839, $4386 00 



Deduct cash paid for labor 



and feed for cows, 14.52 00 , 



Net income in 1839, $293*5 00 



MR WOOSTER's farm. 



During a tour into the north-west part of the- 

 county, the committee visited two farms in Middle- 

 bury, and three in Cheshire. The first was that uf 

 Mr James D. Wooster, of Middlebury. This farm 

 contains 240 acres and lies in nearly an oblong 

 square, with an irregular outline, at the nortliern 

 extremity of an extensie valley, and occupies the 

 whole to the adjoining hill tops. It has thus a fine 

 southern exposure, and is nearly in distinct view 

 from the house, which is situated near the centre 

 of the farm. 



Buildings. — These are all in good condition, 

 and are carefully arranged in reference to conve- 

 nience and economy in the raising and feeding of 

 stock. They are so placed that ail waste flows di- 

 rectly upon the mowing- ground. The effect proves 

 conclusively the importance of more attention 

 among farmers to this mode of enriching their land. \ 

 The sills of the buildings are protected from decay 

 by placing them flush with the face of the under- 

 pinning, and extending the covering some distance 

 below. The hog pen, situated on the side of a hill, 

 is surrounded by massive walls, and entirely flag- 

 ged witli flat stone, and affords an excellent oppor- 

 tunity for the annual manufacture of large quanti- 

 ties of manure. 



Soil. — The soil is excessively hard and rocky, 

 (so much so in some places as to be unfit for cul- 

 tivation,) with swales of low ground, and some 

 swamp in the bottom of the valley. From the bot- 

 tom of the valley, where only there is a small a- 

 mount of level ground, the land ascends through 

 the whole extent of the farm, for the greater part 

 with a steep acclivity. There is in fact scarce an 

 acre of level land in the whole. 



Cultivation. — The farm is devoted principally to 

 pasture and hay for the raising of stock. For that 

 purpose it is cultivated in the usual manner, but ■ 

 with more than ordinary care. No bushes or 

 weeds are to be seen throughout the whole extent. ^ 

 Fe7ices. — These are excellent. The only objec- 

 tion was their great heig-ht, and that objection had 

 reference merely to the personal convenience of 

 your committee. They are in part stone wall with 

 two rails, supported by posts or blocks ; but princi- 

 pally of six rails. The walls are, many of them, 

 of immense size, and are all set into the earth from 

 G inches to 2 leet. The foundations are thus laid 

 in the ground because of the action of the frost on 

 the soil, and the peculiar shape of the stones used, 

 but principally in order to dispose of the supera- 

 bundant material. In the construction of the rail 

 fences the timber is split on the ground where the 

 fence is to be laid, and by selecting in succession 

 those which adjoined eacli other in the timber, the 

 rails are made more perfectly to match, and the 

 spaces are more regular and uniform. 



Rotation. — So little of the farm is in reality 

 arable land, that no regular routine is followed. 

 Generally corn is planted after grass. This is fol- 

 lowed either with potatoes, or oats and grass. Po- 

 tatoes are succeeded by oats and grass. 



Corn The land is enriched by stock shut upon 



it, or is manured from the yard without any rule ae 



to quantity ; is ridged up and planted on tlie rowa 



I generally, and hoed twice ; or it is ploughed clear 



