1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



47 



it at regular periods. The latter may contain 

 intrinsically less nourishing matter than the corn, 

 but the change produces some unknown effect on 

 the stomach and system, that adds to the capa- 

 bility of depositing fat. The best feeders change 

 the food very frequently, and find that they make 

 a decided profit by so doing. Salt should be 

 given with every meal to cattle — say an ounce a 

 day. It preserves the appetite and prevents tor- 

 por of the liver to which all fattening animals 

 are subject. This torpor, or disease, is to a cer- 

 tain extent conducive to fat ; but carried too far, 

 the animal sinks under it. 



5. In cattle the skin should be particularly at- 

 tended to. A fat animal is in an unnatural state, 

 and consequently subject to disease. Taking no 

 exercise, it has not its usual power of throwing 

 off poisons out of the system, and if the skin is 

 foul, the whole labor is thrown on the kidneys. 

 It is found by experience that oxen, regularly 

 curried and cleaned daily, fatten better and fast- 

 er than when left to themselves ; and if the legs 

 are pasted with dung, as is too often the case, it 

 seriously injures the animal. 



6. Too much rich food is injurious. The stom- 

 ach can only assimilate a certain quantity at once. 

 Thus an ox will prosper better on thirty pounds 

 of corn and thirty pounds of cob ground togeth- 

 er daily, than on forty pounds of ground corn. 

 These mixtures are also valuable and saving of 

 cost for hogs when first put in the pen. If an an- 

 imal loses its appetite, the food should at once 

 be changed, and if possible roots, pumpkins or 

 steamed hay may be given. 



7. Oxen will fatten better if the hay or stalks 

 are cut for them, but care must be taken not to 

 cut too short. An inch in length is about the 

 right size for oxen, half or three-quarters of an 

 inch for horses. — Farmers' Com. and Horticultu- 

 ral Oazette. 



For the New England Fanner. 

 FARM IjIFE IW NEW ENGLAND. 

 WHO SILILL DECIDE WHEN DOCTORS DISAGREE ? 



The recent discussion upon "Farm Life in New 

 England," and the noted caricature of the farmer 

 that has appeared in the kid glove magazine of 

 the city, has awakened a degree of attention, that 

 will probably be productive of sound instruction. 

 In that paper are some statements prettily made, 

 and others neither pretty nor trite, so far as my 

 observation has extended. That a lady of New 

 Hampshire should have been indignant at the 

 assertion that her sex were treated by the lords 

 of the soil, with less sympathy and kindness, un- 

 der circumstances of greatest trial, than the ani- 

 mals of the stall is not surprising' No gentleman, 

 who has been permitted to enter the abode of a 

 respectable farmer would hazard such an asser- 

 tion. No one well informed, would presume to say 

 that the wives and daughters of the substantial 

 yeomanry of New England are in any respect in- 

 ferior to the better class of wives and daughters in 

 our cities. True it may be, that the life of the 

 farmer is hard — work, work, work, from morn 

 to eve, — with but a slight balance in his favor, 

 accruing at the end of the year, upon the observ- 

 ance of the strictest economy. But firm muscles, 

 ruddy cheeks, and a clear conscience, are its sure 

 accompaniments. Essex. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HOW TO KEEP FOWLS. 



In my younger days, when on the old home- 

 stead farm, I always kept hens ; but more for the 

 convenience of having good new eggs, than for 

 the profit of them, if profit there is. 



It is thought by most farmers, and many oth- 

 ers, that there is no profit, at all, in keeping 

 hens ; still, I have heretofore read accounts of 

 the keeping of fowls, where the credit was con- 

 siderable of a balance in favor of the hens. I 

 presume many persons make it profitable. 



Having some eighty or ninety hens and chick- 

 ens on hand, I mean to keep debt and credit with 

 them, on and after January 1st, so that I can 

 know exactly the cost of keeping them, and the 

 profit, if any there is. We have a good henery, 

 so that I can keep them confined in the building, 

 with the privilege of the cellar under a barn, or 

 can let them run at large, when the weather is 

 suitable. I would like to be informed of the best 

 way to manage and feed the hens through the . 

 winter, in order to keep them laying eggs, or to 

 make them lay at all — as, unless they do lay, more 

 or less, through the winter, there cannot be any 

 profit in keeping them. James Leonard. 



Leoviinster, Nov., 1858, 



Remarks. — Keep the hens in a warm, clean 

 place, where they can have access to the sun 

 whenever it shines. Feed them regularly with a 

 variety of food, such as corn, which may always 

 be before them, barley, wheat, boiled potatoes, 

 mashed, and mixed with cob meal — that is, corn 

 and cob ground together, and give them access 

 to plenty of gravel, old plaster, or broken oyster 

 or clara shells. The barley and wheat may be 

 fed to them occasionally, if convenient. Add to 

 these plenty of clear water, and pork or beef 

 scraps or bits of fresh meat two or three times 

 each week, and you will not fail to find your 

 fowls profitable. 



We shall expect an account of your experiment 

 when completed, for the benefit of others. 



Farming Well. — The great difficulty in the 

 way of good farming is too much land. Farmers 

 are so hurried in the getting in, and in the har- 

 vesting of their crops, that they have really no 

 time to devote to the improvement of the soil. 

 Let any one visit some of the ten-acre farms in 

 the neighborhood of Cincinnati, and the truth 

 will soon become apparent, that more profit can 

 be made from ten acres, properly tilled and ma- 

 nured, than can be realized from one hundred 

 acres run over in the usual negligent manner. 

 The occupants of these "ten-acre farms" are 

 growing richer every year, while many who occu- 

 py large farms barely "hold their own." — Ohio 

 Valley Farmer. 



Fattening Beef on Potatoes. — About 

 twelve years ago I fattened a heifer for beef 

 wholly on potatoes. My plan was to feed small 

 potatoes whole, without cooking, with as much 

 hay as was wanted, and but little water, and I 

 had as good beef as those fattened on corn meal. 



