1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



151 



April continued mild, even more than usually 

 warm, and marked by no very severe changes. 

 At the close of the month the buds on the trees 

 were very forward in their incipient stages of de- 

 velopment ; but May was cold and advanced the 

 season but little from where April left it. Apple 

 trees were not in full bloom till the 25th, and 

 vegetation in general wrs proportionally back- 

 ward. Cloudy weather was the predominant fea- 

 ture of the month. 



June strove hard to make amends for the fail- 

 ings of May, and at its close had brought vege- 

 tation up to rather more than its usual stage of 

 development at this season. The month was 

 rather too dry, but otherwise exceedingly fine 

 for the farmer, though towards its close the heat 

 was extreme. Thermometer in this vicinity ranged 

 from 90° to near 100°, in the shade. At the 

 West, and paticularly along the valley of the 

 Mississippi, the month will be long remembered 

 on account of its disastrous freshets. 



July was mild in respect to heat, and although 

 there was a scanty supply of rain, growing crops 

 suffered but little in lack of it. 



Attgiist was cool, with a large proportion of 

 northeast wind, equal to one day in three through- 

 out the month. 



September and October were go'den months ; 

 and, besides bringing in an abundant harvest, 

 brought a remarkably large share of sunshine 

 and clear weather. Indeed, I think that it is a 

 rare occurrence to have two as fine months in 

 succession, as were September and October of 

 1858. 



November was cold, cloudy, and gloomy, with 

 much wind ; and squalls, snow flurries and severe 

 frosts were noticeable and characteristic features 

 of the month. 



December was a moderately cold winter month, 

 but in connection with the other two winter 

 months of this year, January and February, does 

 not alter the general character of the winter. An 

 absence of snow was also noticeable in this month, 

 only about four inches falling in all. The great- 

 est fall at one time was between two and three 

 inches ; consequently there was comparatively no 

 sleighing during the month. 



Jan. 4, 1859. J. A. Allen. 



Remarks. — The above is a literal extract from 

 the ^'Journal of a Farmer^s Boy," Mho has al- 

 ways v/orked on the farm, and enjoyed no spec- 

 ial advantages whatever. It is succinct and ex- 

 pressive, and is pretty good evidence that he 

 will soon become one of our best agricultural 

 writers. 



mingled with muck gathered from m.eadows and 

 swamps, and worked over by swine. In this way 

 the quantity of manure is increased three-fold, 

 and although it smells a little when handled, this 

 smell soon ceases to be oppressive, because it is 

 believed to be a valuable ingredient of the ma- 

 nure. I think it is called in my children's school- 

 books, ammonia; but whatever it may be, I think 

 the manure none the worse for it. Whoever by 

 the farm would thrive, must not be afraid of soil- 

 ing his hands or his trousers. I should just as 

 soon think of meeting a sweet-scented currier 

 who worked daily in his shop, as a clean farmer. 

 No man should be above his business, and that 

 business which emits the strongest stink is likely 

 to produce the cleanest chink of dollars in the 

 end. An Old School Farmer. 



January 22, 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PRESERVATION OF MANURES. 

 When I was a boy, my father and several of 

 nis neighbors who were regarded as good farm- 

 ers, used to keep the droppings of their cattle 

 as thrown out of the barn windows, where the 

 rain fell upon them from the eaves, and worked 

 and soaked them so completely as to remove 

 nearly all the stink. But a different practice has 

 grown up on these farms within the last twenty 

 years; and nearly all of these owners let these 

 droppings fall inio ccltiirs, where they are inter- 



EXTRACTS AND KEPIiISB. 



farmers' clubs. 



In accordance with a suggestion in the Farmer 

 of Dec. 11th, a few friends of agriculture met and 

 organized a farmers' club in Calais. The con- 

 stitution published in your paper was adopted 

 with slight amendments. 



The organization being a new one in this sec- 

 tion, a question arose as to the duties of the 

 standing committee. Will you inform us, through 

 the Farmer, whether the secretary should re- 

 port the substance of the discussion, or whether 

 that duty belongs to the standing committees, 

 and oblige a subscriber. A. M. F. 



Calais, Me., Jan., 1859. 



Remarks. — The most difficult post of duty in 

 the Farmers'' Club is that of Secretary, as he 

 ought to be a pretty good reporter. The discus- 

 sions and essays should be reported and entered 

 in a substantial record book, and become a part 

 of the annals of the town. 



MAKING BUTTER IN WINTER. 



Having noticed an article by a subscriber un- 

 der date Jan. 11, 1859, in regard to making win- 

 ter butter, I would say in reply, that the reason 

 why butter does not come quick in winter, is 

 that the milk is set in a cold place where it at- 

 tains to nearly or quite a freezing point. To 

 remedy this, the only way that I know of is to 

 take the cream when it is found it will not come, 

 and scald it, and set it away till cool, when it will 

 be found that the cream part of it will rise, which 

 skim off and churn in the usual way, and you 

 will find no difficulty in fetching your butter. 



Middlthury, Vt, Jan., 1859. w. D. n. 



Remarks. — If milk can be set where the tem- 

 perature is 55° to 60° the cream will rise readi- 

 ly, and if kept in that temperature, may be 

 churned into bjitter in less than fifteen minutes. 



AYRSHIRE stock. 

 I listened attentively to the recent discussion 

 at the State House, of the question, "What breed 

 of anim.als is best adapted to general farming 

 purposes in New England 9" And although I 

 was strongly inclined to the belief that the advo- 



