52 



GENESEE FARMER. 



April, 1845 



The advice to the Seneca Co. farmer to go west 

 and work new lands, after he has exhausted the 

 present soil, ont-Hcrods any thing ever prac- 

 ticed north of Mason k, Dixon's line. If the New 

 Eno-land farmer can thrive on his all silicious soil, 

 by the force of his own moral and indomitable phys- 

 ical power, with how much less expense of time and 

 muscle, can the Seneca Co. farmer live and thrive 

 on his calcareous alluvions. Here Nature has de- 

 posited her inorganic treasures with no stinted hand 

 — the subsoil of Seneca county is identical with that 

 of the all alluvial west. A single acre of mountain 

 detritus, covered with that evergreen laurel, whose 

 bleached sepulchral blossoms announce the death of 

 every other genus, would here command a high 

 price, as a raree show, to the lovers of primitive 

 sterility. ^^^^ S. W. 



For the Genesee Farmer. 



WINTERING STOCK— A DIALOGUE. 



James. Bro. Henry, I am glad to see you: for 

 two of my cows are sick, and I do not know what 

 is the matter with them. Let us go to the barn and 

 see them. 



Henry. The cause of your cows' sickness is noth- 

 intr but poverty. You have your cows, steers and ox- 

 en, all together in the yard, (I ought to have said 

 mudhole) without any shelter, or any means of feed- 

 ing, but on the ground; and, by appearance, not 

 much to eat; and it is a wonder that the half of them 

 are not dead. 



J. Now, Henry, you are wrong when you think 

 that my cattle have not had enough to eat; for the 

 barn was filled as full of hay as we could cram it, 

 ani"; you see that it is now almost empty. 



H. Who takes care of your cattle? 



J. Who fodders them, do you mean? 



H. Yes, and how do they do it? 



J. Sometimes one and sometimes another — 



H. And, perhaps, sometimes no one. 



J. That may happen sometimes, when we're 

 busy. We take a fork, throw^ the hay out of the 

 barn, then pitch it around the yard, at morning and 

 night. 



H. And did you do it only twice a day through the 

 severe snow storm in February? 



/. Certainly ; how would you have us do? 



H. And do you take care to make as many piles 

 of hay as there are cattle; so that each one can have 

 a chance? 



J. Why, I never thought of such a thing! Can 

 not two eat from one heap? 



H. As I said before, it is really a wonder that 

 half of your cattle are not dead: and yet you have 

 wasted more fodder than would have made them all 

 fat, if you had had but comfortable houses for them, 

 and conveniences for feeding, without the fodder be- 

 ing trodden underfoot. Then, too, your yard would 

 have been neither a snowdrift nor a mudhole, the win- 

 ter past, and your hay would not have been thrown 

 around and trodden into the mud, and the cattle left 

 to starve. But let us go and sec the calves and 

 sheep. Have they done any better? 



J. Oh, yes, we bad 8 calves, and only two of 

 them are dead: and we think there is no fear but 

 that all of the rest will come through. 



H. What do you mean by coming through? 

 J. Why, we mean that they will live through 

 winter. 



H. So you think that it is doing very well, not 

 to lose more than two out of eight? 



J. Yes; that is better than the most of our far- 

 mers do. 



H. And how is it with your sheep? 



J. Pretty well; I think there are not more than 

 twenty of them dead; are there, Joe? 



Joseph. Yes, father, there are over thirty. In 

 that heavy snow storm I could not keep them alive 

 all that I could do. 



H. You had the calves and sheep all together, in 

 the field by the stack, without any shelter, and only 

 fed twice a day through that heavy snow storm, with 

 a little hay thrown into the snow, which is trodden 

 under foot in five minutes. 



J. Like enough; but could not they have dug 

 it out? 



//. No; when fodder is trodden under foot, it is 

 lost. Your sheep and calves have wasted more hay 

 than would have wintered twice the number well, if 

 they had but been provided with comfortable shelter, 

 and good racks to feed in. Come and see my stock 

 and you will see the diiference betvi'een poor and 

 good feeding? 



J, Well, brother, I will; and will come to-mor- 

 row; so that you will not have time to slick up. 



H. Brother, I am glad you have come; let us go 

 to the barn. We will first go to the cow stable : — 

 Here are eleven head standing, all comfortable and 

 secure from the storm and cold, each one getting its 

 part of the feed, and none is trodden under foot or 

 wasted. Nor are they hooking and jamming each 

 other about; they are warm and comfortable, and 

 do not require near so much fodder to keep them in 

 good condition, as when they are exposed to the cold 

 and storms of our severe winter. 



J. They are as slick as moles, and hog-fat; but 

 then you rich farmers can do as you please; but we 

 poor ones have to do as we can. 



H. The careless and imfeeling manner in which 

 you have wintered your stock, is the cause of your 

 poverty. You have lost more this winter, in waste 

 of fodder, loss of animals, and in the wretched pov- 

 erty of those that do live, than the whole of your 

 summers work; and more than would have built 

 comfortable shelter for them all: which, besides, 

 would have prevented the cruelty of causing those 

 poor animals to suffer so much from perishing with 

 cold and hunger. " The merciful man is merciful to 

 his beast;" this ought always to be remembered 

 by the farmer. 



J. Brother, how you talk. Do you think that I 

 am cruel? 



H. Not intentionally so; but by your carlessness 

 to your animals, you have caused them very much 

 suffering, besides your loss of property. Calves 

 must be kept by themselves, and fed with the best 

 of hav, and some roots — sheep in small fiocks, with 

 comfortable hovels — the lambs, the ewes, the weth- 

 ers, and the young sheep each in a flock by them- 

 selves. They should all be fed three times a day, in 

 good weather; and when cold and stormy, four or 

 five times. 



J. What! spend so much time on our stock? — 

 They would not pay half the expense. 



H. Yes, they would pay double the profit that 

 yours have done. The better you feed your animals, 

 and the more comfortable you can keep the-Ti, the 

 better they will pay. And it is not so much labor 

 as you may think: let each of your boys know what 

 part of the stock they have to take care of, and your- 

 self see that each one does his part aright. 



