1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



351 



there fv'as a will, in this matter of muck versus 

 sand-blows, two or three acres might be thus im- 

 proved by almost any farmer, every year. 



In conclusion, I will briefly give a history of 

 an experiment in this line, though I cannot give 

 as precise data as I would like. Some six years 

 ago, in converting an alder-swamp into mowing- 

 land, I had occasion to bog considerably, taking 

 off the whole crust an inch or two in depth be- 

 tween the bogs. This crust, consisted, in part, 

 of grass bogs, but principally of loose ham- 

 mocks, abounding in brake roots, or "nigger- 

 heads," as commonly called. An acre of meadow 

 was treated in this manner in August, and the 

 bogs packed into heaps, and in the following win- 

 ter, were drawn to a sand-knoll, some thirty rods 

 distant, covering about the same surface there. 

 In the following spring, the bogs were plowed 

 under as well as possible, and the land planted 

 with corn. The crop was more than treble the 

 usual yield of the land, and the succeeding rye 

 crop was bountiful, far exceeding the yield of the 

 remainder of the piece, which, before treatment 

 with muck, was much more fertile. After rest- 

 ing one year the bogs were sufficiently rotted to 

 knock to pieces easil}', and the piece was again 

 plowed, and planted to potatoes, the Mercer va- 

 riety. The neighbors thought it foolish to think 

 of raising potatoes in that dry sand ; but the 

 yield in the fall, though less than on moist, ma- 

 nured ground, surprised them. A fair crop of 

 oats followed, and this spring we have planted 

 the same piece to corn. 



I am confident that peat alone, after a year's 

 exposure to the weather, will increase the crops 

 of light land two or three fold, if bountifully ap- 

 plied. J. A. A. 



Springfield, May, 1859. 



entertaining and instructive — and witn tne pres ■ 

 ence of such men as Mr. Grennell, Mr. Fay, 

 of the Massachusetts society. Dr. LoRlXG, Mr. 

 Davis, of Plymouth, and Gen. Whitnei, they 

 could not be otherwise. 



This comparatively young society is in the 

 hands of practical, energetic men, and is doing 

 much, to develop the agricultural capacities of 

 that portion of the valley of the Connecticut. 



PBANKLIN COUNTY AQRIOTTLTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The report of this Society for the year 1858, 

 is an interesting document, and is prepared with 

 the usual a])ility of Mr. Grennell, the accom- 

 pKshed Secretary. The thousand head of stock 

 on the grounds must have made a magnificent 

 show. There are no finer cattle to be found in 

 the State, if in the country, than the Short-horns 

 and grades of the hill and river towns in Frank- 

 lin. The hills aS'ord sweet, rich grass for the 

 summer, and the intervales abundant crops of 

 good hay for the winter. We have seen some 

 samples of their four year olds, weighing 4000 

 pounds per yoke. They are splendid animals, 

 and the cows look as though this county should 

 be the very focus of good butter. 



There are some very fine flocks of sheep in the 

 county. Mr. Field's South Downs and Cots- 

 wolds are hard to beat, and together with his 

 ox weighing 3,.300 pounds, shows that he knows 

 how to make good stock. 



The show in the other departments was high- 

 ly creditable to the society. 



The address, by Dr. Loring, was both able 

 and interesting, and the services in the hall 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 ON "WOEKING OXEN. 



Read before the Concord, llass., Farmers' Club, 

 BY CHARLES A. HUBBARD. 



Till oxen are four years old, they are usually 

 called steers, afterwards oxen. The signs of a 

 good ox for work, according to my experience 

 and observation, are these ; long head, broad and 

 level between the eye, and the eye full, keen, 

 and pleasant. Such marks indicate ability to re- 

 ceive instructions, and a willingness to obey. An 

 ox with very large horns near the head, is apt to 

 be lazy, and he will not endure heat well ; for- 

 ward legs straight, toes straight forward, hoofs 

 j broad, not peaked, and the distance short between 

 I the ankle and the knee ; these properties ena- 

 ble an ox to travel on pavements and hard roads. 

 If the ox toes out, the strain comes on the inside 

 I claw, and when travelling on hard ground, he 

 I will be lame at the joint between the hoofs and 

 the hair ; when the toes turn out, the knees bend 

 in, and an ox with crooked knees is apt to be- 

 come lame by holding heavy loads down hill ; 

 full breast, straight on the back, round rihs, pro- 

 jecting out as wide as the hip bones ; these are 

 signs of strength and a good constitution. The 

 best colors are brown, dark red and brindle. 

 When an ox has completed his eighth or ninth 

 year, he shouldjae fattened. 



TRAINING OXEN. 



A word on training oxen. I have found that 

 by far the best time to train steers is when they 

 are calves, say the first winter. Oxen that are 

 trained when quite young, are much more plia- 

 ble and obedient, and this adds much to their 

 value. Steers that run until they are three or 

 four years old, are dangerous animals to encoun- 

 ter. They are always running away with the 

 cart or sled whenever there is a chance for lliem, 

 and often serious injury is the result. I would 

 not recommend working steers hard, while young, 

 as it prevents their growth ; there is a difl^erenee 

 between working them and merely training them. 

 I have observed that very little attention is paid 

 by our farmers to train their steers to back, but 

 as they become able to draw a considerable load 

 forward, they are often unmercifully beaten on 

 the head and face, because they will not back a 

 cart or sled with as large a load as they can draw 

 forward, forgetting that much pains has been ta- 

 ken to teach them to draw forward, but none to 

 teach them to push backward. To remedy the 

 occasion of this thumping, as soon as I have 

 taught my steers to be handy, as it is called, and 

 to draw forward, I place them on a cart where 

 the land is a little descending ; in this situation 

 they will soon learn to back it. Then I place them 



