£84 



NEW* ENGLAND FARMER 



MARCH 10, 1S4I. 



Fur the N. E. Farmi:r. 



KEEPING CATTLE WARM IN WINTER. 



Mr Allen Putnam — Dear Sir — I observe by 

 the papers tliat the subject for discussion at your 

 agricultural meeting this evening, is Live Stock. 

 If I were present, I would say something on the 

 importance of keeping neat cattle and sheep warm 

 in the winter seasim ; but as I cannot be there, I 

 will address a few words to you on tne subject; 

 and if you shall regard what I write as calculated 

 to make the farmer's stock more comfortable and 

 more profitable to its owner, jfou may publish this 

 letter in the New England Farmer. 



When I commenced farming, I prepared a good 

 barn-yard, enclosed with a close fence, and a well 

 of water therein, covered with a shed. I used to 

 turn out my cattle in the morning, and suffer them 

 to remain out all day, unless there was a severe 



flection that he has discharged his duty to his live 

 stock, by placing them in a dry and warm shelter. 

 Respectfully, yours, &-c. 



WM. A. HAYES. 

 S. Berwick, Me., Feb. 18, 184L 



storm. The cattle were fed at noon with some : fly, were destroyed. 



For the New England Farmer. 



ROT IN TURNIPS. 



I have noticed several articles recently in the 

 various agricultural papers, relative to the destruc- 

 tion of the ruta baga in the field by rot. 



The disease alluded tr) is not confined exclusive- 

 ly to the ruta baga, but is not unfrequently the 

 cause of serious and fatal injury to every species 

 and variety of turi.ips now known. In the autumn 

 of 18 W, I had a yard containing no less than six 

 distinct varieties, all of which, with the exception 

 iif a few that had been sown very late, in order to 

 supply a vacancy occasioned by the ravages of the 



coarse fodder spread on the snow in the barn-yard, 

 or in racks under the shed. A plentiful supply of 

 water was kept constantly in a trough in the yard. 

 Now, sir, for years I thought that this was the best 

 way 1 could manage. I have since adopted a dif- 

 ferent course. My cattle are fed several times in 

 the morning, and carefully carded ; and at about 9 

 of the clock are turned out to water. While the 

 cattle are drinking, the stalls are cleaned out and 

 littered, and in about one hour tlie cattle are again 

 tied up. If the weather is stormy or very cold, 

 they are permitted lo return to their stal's as soon 

 as possible; but if the weather is mild, they are 

 suffered to remain out longer, but notinore than 

 two hours. They are fed in their stalls several 

 times during the day, always giving them little at a 

 time. In the afternoon they are again turned out 

 and watered, and suft'ered to remain out as long as 

 in the morning. The stalls having been again 

 cleaned out and littered, the cattle are again tied 

 up for night. Great care is taken to make the 

 barn warm. When the weather is cold, the doors 

 and windows are closely shut. In this way, the 

 cattle being more comfortable, are ke\<', at much 

 less expense nnd thrive better. A cow will give 

 more milk when kept warm than when exposed to 

 the cold. Every fanner knows that cattle eat more 

 in severely cold weather; and, notwithstanding, 

 then cows give less milk ; still few farmers lake 

 sufficient care to protect thor stock from the severi- 

 ty of the weather. Hogs, also, gain more on the 

 same food, when kept warm. 



My business calls nie often to ride through the 

 county of York, and it is distressing to see seven 

 eighths of the stock (working oxen excepted,) ex- 

 posed to the severity of the weather in cold winter 

 days, from morning till night, without shelter. Cat- 

 tle so situated will take little exercise, but stand 

 shivering with the cold, not being able to lie down 

 comfortably on the cold, melting snow. It is a 

 mistaken notion that cattle and sheep should be 

 much exposed to severe cold weather to render 

 them hardy. Some farmers say that they leave 

 their cattle out, because their business calls thein 

 from home. This is a poor excuse. It would be 

 much better lo turn their cattle out fiir water only 

 once each day, and tie them np immediately after 

 drinking, than to leave them all day exposed to the 

 open air. Then the humane farmer, when gone 

 from home and exposed to the storms of our incle- 

 ment winter, may feel some satisfaction in the re- 



A field of ruta bagas, the same season, was also 

 greatly injured by the same cause; and indeed I 

 have never been very successful in raising this root, 

 where I have manured with green or unfermented 

 dung, unmixed, with a liberal quantity of ashes or 

 unslaked lime. The best and most valuable crop 

 I ever harvested, was a crop of ruta bagas sown in 

 drills, 18 inches asunder, on green sward turned in 

 in June, and manured with ashes and gypsum, in 

 the proportion of half and half. 



The roots were perfectly smooth and symmetri- 

 cal — of an excellent flavor, and kept longer with- 

 out depreciating than any I have ever raised. 



There have been many curious speculations offer- 

 ed in order to account for this evil ; but as yet we 

 have had nothing but speculations, and no one can 

 congratulate himself upon having discovered either 

 the cause or a remedy for its effects. Whether the 

 rot IS occasioned by a radical or tropical affection, 

 or whether it is confintd exclusively to crops grown 

 on soils that have been manured with unferniented 

 dung, is a question I am unable to decide. 



Windham, Me., Feb. ith, 1841. H. D. W. 



and meat sellers dislike the pure bloods. If this 

 breed possesses a peculiar aptness to fatten, and if 

 at the same time the pork is worth less in the mar- 

 ket, then the farmer must settle the question wheth- 

 er what he saves in keep is not to be accompanied 

 by a diminished price for the pork, such as will 

 prevent his being the gainer by changing his stock. 

 Information upon the subject is solicited. — Ed. 



THE POUDREITE COMPANIES. 

 In December last, there was inserted in this pa- 

 per a notice of affidavits forwarded by Mr Anthony 

 Dey, relating to the relative value of poudrette, as 

 manufactured by the New York Poudrette Co. and 

 by the Lodi Manufacturing Co. The object of 

 the affidavits was to show that chemical analysis 

 proved the article prepared by Mr Dey In be much 

 superior to that prepared by i\Ir Minor. Last 

 week we inserted what Mr Minor called the far- 

 mers' analysis of his article. Accompanying that 

 statement was a note intimating that the analyses 

 made for Mr Dey might not have been conducted 

 with entire fairness. We suspect there may be 

 facts which would naturally prompt an honest man 

 to conjecture that Mr Dey, or rather his agents, 

 may have given too great a relative excellence to 

 his article. Our object now is, to place Mr Minor, 

 or the New York Co. on as good footing in our col- 

 umns, as was formerly given to Mr Dey or the Lodi 

 Co. Here we must stop : the private rivalries or 

 differences of the parties we must refuse to make 

 public. We may add our own conviction that 

 those who order the article from Mr Minor, are 

 more likely to obtain it, than those who apply to 

 Mr Dey. We have ordered from him a small 

 quantity for our own use, and Messrs Brock & Co. 

 are expecting to receive in a few weeks, several 

 casks for sale — Ed. 



BERKSHIRE SWINE. 

 We last week inserted a communication from 

 "One who prefers Eorm to Color" — and also cop- 

 ied from the Albany Cultivator an article, each 

 highly approving of the Berkshire. Our readers 

 must not infer that we coincide in opinion with all 

 who furnish matter for our pages, or that we adopt 

 the views contained in every article which we copy. 

 Our purpose is, within proper limits, to furnish our 

 readers with what may be said on each side of a 

 question. The Berkshire swine have recently ob- 

 tained great notoriety. Farmers from east, west, 

 north and south are inquiring into their merits and 

 defects. It is important that the true value of this 

 breed should be determined. If any one can give 

 us facts or opinions from sources which entitle 

 them to any considerable weight, that tend to show 

 that these swine are less valuable than some other 

 kinds, or that crosses with tnem are better than the 

 pure bloods, we shall be happy to lay their remarks 

 before the public. We have apprehensions that 

 Berkshires deceive the eye; that their roundness 

 on the rib makes them promise thicker pork than 

 the farmer Hnds when they are slaughtered. We 

 learn from good authority, that on the belly and 

 sides they are thin, compared with the cross of 

 Berkshire and Mackay. Report says that butchers 



Utility of Select Seeds. — Mr Gaylord, in the Al- 

 bany Cultivator, very justly remarks, that " the 

 seed that ripens first in the ear, and is separated 

 with the greatest ease, is the most prop'-r for seed, 

 as these circum.Jtances show it is the i, 'ist mature. 

 A farmer in one of the northern States ;i few years 

 since, was in the habit of selling large quantities of 

 seed wheat annually and at high prices, as his 

 wheat was of a superior quality, very heavy and 

 productive, and supposed to be a new variety. It 

 appeared, however, that he had brought his wheat 

 to that degree of perfection, by selectmg some of 

 the finest heads from a field in the first place, and 

 then instead of threshing the whole crop, and using 

 the seed promiscuously, he generally beat the 

 sheaves over a barrel, by which only the best and 

 most perfect grains were separated, and by repeat- 

 ed sowings had rendered the qualities so desirable, 

 permanent" 



It is reasonable to believe that every kind of 

 seed may be improved by a similar process of se- 

 lection. 



It is too often the case that a family of sons and 

 daughters are seen spending their time in idleness 

 and extravagance, while their parents aie laboring 

 like slaves for their support. 



The mind of a thinking man resembles the earth, 

 beneath whose surface lie many precious seeds. 

 Every rain calls forth buds, and every beam of the 

 sun produces flowers. 



