150 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Makch 



and constant observation of other farms in the If your land is ah-eady in sward and needs re- 

 State, knows what may be accomplished at the [setting, another method is to tm-n the sod mider 

 State farm, under a judicious management. There] eight to twelve inches, dress with compost manure, 



is an opportunity to implant a love of rural life that 

 shall guide hundreds of these unfoitunate boys 

 through life in the paths of usefulness ar d peace. We 

 regard the agricultural teachings there — properly 

 directed, to be of as much importance as the moral 

 and educational in their schools, and beheve our 

 opinion would be sustained by the facts, if the lives 

 and characters of all who have left the institution, 

 could be ascertained. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



COLD DAYS. 



his month has had an uncommon number of 

 cold days, I have kept a minute so far as follows : — 



1856— January 5, Mercu.-y at 7 A. M. 26 below zero. 

 January 7, Mercury at 7 A. M. 24 below zero. 

 January 16, Mercury at 7 A. M. 12 below zero. 

 January 21, Mercury at 7 A. M. lU below zero. 

 January 22, Mercury at 7 A. M. 20 below zero. 



Montpelier, Ft. 



Charles Bowen. 



SEEDING land TO GRASS — DIFFERENT MODES OF 

 DOING IT — WHAT CROPS SHOULD PRECEDE IT. 



Mr. Editor : — As you have a column dedicated 

 to "Extracts and Replies," I should like to inquire 

 what is the best crop to seed land down with ? (a.) 



Also Avhat the best crop to raise before that, with aj-E. Farmer sent me some weeks ago, were read 

 good coating of manure? (6.) My farm is stony, 'with no small degree of satisfaction. I know not 

 and I want to know the grass that will be the most 'how a farmer can spend a dollar to better advan- 



harrow finely, and sow grass and turnip seed to- 

 gether, in the last of July or first of August. The 

 turnip, not exhausting the soil much, costs little 

 more than the expense of gathering, and will afford 

 an excellent change with the dry food of winter. 



(6.) Crops that precede seeding down to grass, 

 should be such as leave the ground mellow, and 

 free from weeds ; and for this reason hoed crops 

 are to be preferred, such as turnips, potatoes, corn, 

 peas and beans. 



If your farm, as you say, is "stony and rather 

 wet," you will be quite likely to commit an error 

 common to most of us — that of attempting to culti- 

 vate too much land. Suppose you select a single 

 acre, or field, thoroughly drain it, plow deep, ma- 

 nure liberally, and cultivate well every way, and 

 keep an exact account with it for three years, doing 

 the same by an equal amount of land managed in the 

 ordinary way, and then compare profits, and let us 

 know the result ? This would be the way to ascer- 

 tain wliich mode would ensure the largest profits. 



THE NEW I::NGLAND FARMER. 



Dear Sir : — The specimen numbers of the JV*. 



profitable, and still leave the land in the best poS' 

 sible condition for grass. 



I am not able to drain my farm yet, and as it is 

 rather wet to work to advantage at all seasons, it 

 is very desirable to have it produce well as long as 

 possible when once down to grass. j. b. f. 



Lebanon, Oct., 1S55. 



Remarks. — (a.) The queries of "J. B. F." sug- 

 gest a reply extended to a column, or more, but 

 we think in a few words, he may be afforded some 

 reUef. If your land has been planted a year or 

 two, and you wish to lay it down m the sjjring, 

 plow deep, manure and pulverize well, and if the 

 soil is a- heavy loam, inclined to be wet and tena- 

 cious, sow oats Avith your grass seed at the rate of 

 two and a half or three bushels to the acre ; but if 

 the land is a gravelly loam, sow barley from five to 

 seven pecks per acre, according to the richness of 

 the soil and the state of the season. You may 

 plant corn, cultivate without hills, and at the 

 third hoeing sow grass seed and rake it in. The 

 corn keeps the ground moist, facilitates the sprout- 

 ing and springing of the germ, and shelters the 

 young plant when it is up. In harvesting the corn, 

 the stalks should be level with the ground, so as 



tage than to enroll his name on your subscription 

 list. Pay in advance makes subscribers like both 

 editor and paper a hundred ])er cent, better than 

 when they know they are in debt to both. 



CROPS IN CHESTER COUNTY, PENN. 



We had a fine fall, but January has been severe, 

 with good sleighing. Wheat appeared well before 

 the ground was covered, and there is a large quan- 

 tity put in. We had good crops of corn and pota- 

 toes. There will not be as much corn put in the 

 coming spring as last, because so much of the 

 ground is occupied Avith wheat. 



JVear Lewisville, Pa., C R. 



To Correspondents. — x\rticles have been re- 

 ceived on Willow Fences, How to raise Colts, Sin- 

 gular Apple, Things in Vermont, South Down 

 Sheep, In Regard to Capt. Symms's Hole, Liquid 

 Manures, Horse Racing at Cattle Shows, Preserv- 

 ing Forests, Barns, Farm Buildings, Use of Plaster, 

 Planting Cut Potatoes, Poultry, Rearing, Prepara- 

 tion for Market, <S:c., Orcharding for Stock, a fine 

 Ayrshire Cow, Science and the Farmer, Green Com 



for Soiling, Reports on Cashmere Goats, Experi- 

 not to interfere with the scythe when mowing the ' ments with Superphosphate of Lime, The Open Po- 

 grass crop the next season. This is one of the sztr- lar Sea, The Plow, Green Wood, Management of 

 est methods of seeding down land to grass, and we j Stock, State Reform School, Sec. These articles are 

 believe one of the cheapest ; we have never known mostly from practical farmers, and v\ ill be given as 

 a crop to fail when seeded in this way. our limits will permit. 



