VOl>. XVI. N.>. II. 



A N^ D (GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



85 



Tfiis is a pretty fnir |irofit ; but let us review 

 the process ami vary it to suit our latitude, and see 

 whellier there he a gain or loss. In the first place 

 he purchased tlieshoats much cheaper than it can 

 be done with us. We should be doing pretty well 

 to get them for twice that sum, say §(13,00. The 

 regularity and precision with which they were fed, 

 and the warmth of their pens, kept them quiet, 

 and dis|iosi<l to fatten — these things cost no more 

 in our region than in New York, and shoidd be 

 much more practised than they are. In the next 

 place, we should do well to get corn or rye meal 

 at a dollar a bushel, instead of 62 1-2 cents. This 

 would aiTioiMit to $55,00, and the probability is 

 that $6 jier hundred, would be all that coidd be 

 obtained for them, at a time when corn is a dol- 

 lar per bushel. The e.\|)ense then would be $6S,- 

 00, and the sales $68,28 — making 28 cents against 

 tliern. But cannot pork be made equally as good 

 with cheaper material ? We answer yes. Ap- 

 ples, potatoes, oat and pea lueal, barley meal, &c., 

 will make it. Barley meal is thought to be equal- 

 y as good as rye or corn. At 67 cents, 55 bush- 

 els will amount to $36,85, instead of $55,00, and 

 conseijuently reduce the expense of feeding $18,- 

 15, wbirli of course would give nearly that profit, 

 allowing that they come up to the same weight. 

 From the above calculations, it follows that pork 

 makiiig is not a lucrative business: but njay be 

 made moderately profitable to those who have 

 plenty of cheap but nutritious food for hogs, and 

 take proper and suitable care of them. We have 

 this to comfort us, that the pork we do make, is 

 ^itw.una pork, and not the flabby, oily stuff which 

 is brought liom the forests of the far west, and 

 actually worth one half more in the economy of a 

 family. 



OBI MAKIVG MEADOW HAY. 



ET PATRICK MILLER, ESQ. 

 LATE OF DALSWINTON, DUMFRIES SHIRE. 



Making hay is universally allowed to be one of 

 the most iiuportant branches of agricultural pur- 

 suits, but the principle on which it should be 

 conducted, is not at all understood on this side of 

 Tweed. 



In England, however, the operation is very dif- 

 ferently performed, and with very different and 

 more satisfactory results ; for by their system, a 

 great deal of time is saved at a critical period, and 

 a fur superior article of food for their animals is 

 produced. 



Besides the greatand necessary desjjatcli which 

 is used in Englaml, much skill is also employed 

 to produce and uiaintain a lequisite degree of heat 

 or fermentation in the stack when ihe hay is put 

 up, in order to convert the juice of the herbage to 

 a saccharine state, which is found to be both more 

 palatable, and likewise i«ore nutritious to all bes- 

 tial that is fed upmi it. * 



In Scotland, on the other hand, it would almost 

 seem as if diligence was employed to uimecessa- 

 rily procrastinate the work, and subject it to the 

 risk of unfaiiirabie changes of the weather ; and 

 by the excessive bleaching and drying of the grass, 

 which is so universally practised, it is deprived of 

 the possibility of assuming the saccharine quality ; 

 and what sap is permitted to remain in il, is con- 

 verted to starch, which is neither so agreeable nor 

 nourishing for horses, as hay made upon the prin- 



-;..i i.;..u I 



.,>^A c, 



Having premised this much, I proceed to detail 

 the practice which I have pursued for many a by- 

 gone year on my farm, which, being on a limited 

 scale, shall therefore confine my description to the 

 narrow compass of my own operations, but which 

 of course, easily admits of being extended to a lai- 

 ger field as circumstances may recpiiro. 



When the hay season arrives, and the weather 

 is favorable, and when I perceive, by the height of 

 Ihe column of mercury in the barometer, and 

 likewise from the appearance of the skies, that 

 there is a likelihood of its continuing so, I set a 

 couple of mowers to work very early in the morn- 

 ing, each attended by a boy or girl about 12 or 1.3 

 years of age, and, as soon as the men have made 

 half a dozen cuts of the .scythe, the two boys or 

 girls take up the swath and shake it out as thin as 

 possible on the ground where it grew, there to lie 

 and wither till after breakfast. 



On the return of the mowers from th.eir break- 

 fast, a stout, active woman begins to turn with a 

 rake, in the direction of ihe sun, the grass which 

 was first shaken out, the men and the boys cutting 

 down and shaking out in tlie same way as in the 

 morning. 



When the woman has finished turning the ear- 

 ly cut gras.s, she immediately goes to the spot 

 where she began, and shakes it out again as thin 

 as she can, and when finished, she commences 

 turning by large rakefidls, where the mowers re- 

 sumed their work after breakfast, and commences 

 iier task in the same manner as when she began 

 in the morning, always turning as already said in 

 the direction of the sun. 



On the people returning to the field from their 

 dinner, the two boys immediately begin to shake 

 out that part of the second turned grass, which 

 had not been accomplished before going to din- 

 ner, and when that is finished, they commence 

 turning what was last cut, and then shake it all 

 out again. 



At this period, the two mowers and the woman 

 proceed to rake the first cut hay into what is cal- 

 led a wind-row, and one of the men commences 

 with a pitchfork, to put it into cocks of about ten 

 or twelve stones weight, and between five and six 

 feet in height, but on no account is a foot permit- 

 ted to go upon' it, for it cannot be put up too light, 

 neither is it to be roped, for if the weather is 

 calm, a few hours after it is in the cock, it will be 

 so com[)act itself, that it will require a violent 

 wind to overturn it. 



Thus, the hay which was cut in the coursj of 

 the day, will be, through this mode of treatment, 

 sufficiently dried and secured by the evening, 

 against any change of weather, which may occur 

 In the course of the night, anil it will stand expos- 

 ure to a storm full as well as the hay which is so 

 sadly mismanaged by the improper system at pres- 

 ent in use. 



So far the process only relates to getting quit of 

 the redundant sap in the herbage, but if the hay 

 gets ruin or any adventitious moisture, either in 

 working or stacking, it must be carefully dried off 

 before being put into the stack, or so brisk a fer- 

 mentation will ensue, that combustion will infalli- 

 bly take place. 



The next part of the operation is stacking the 

 hay, and this may take place, if the weather con- 

 tinues fine, on the second or third day afler the 



stack, for ilie purjiose of making it evolve its sac- 

 charine quality, as in the ti.alting of grain, and is 

 effected as follows : 



If a round stack is intended, let a common sack 

 be well crammed full of hay or straw, and placed 

 erect on the fijunihition where the stack is to he 

 reared, and then begin hiiildiiig all around it with 

 the first cut cocks, intermixii:g now and then a 

 few of those last put up, in order to promote the 

 fermentation ; and when the sack gets as high as 

 the to[) of the bag, the worker pulls it straight up. 

 wards, and so continues working around and pul- 

 ling it up till the stack is finished, and in this way 

 a chimney is formed for the escape of the nascent 

 gas. 



Should a long stack be preferred, then a chim- 

 ney must be brought out at the peak at each end, 

 and one in the middle by the same means, if a 

 large mass of hay is put up in the stack ; ami in 

 conclusion, I recommend that these vents shall 

 not be closed for a month, or while any percep- 

 tible fermentation is going on (^uarterltj Journal 



of Agriculture. *,. 



Death in the Canblk! — Some "new compo. 

 sition candles," which have lately been much used 

 ir. London, have been found to contain arsenic. 

 In consequence of a garlic odor being noticed im- 

 mediately after they were extinguished, several 

 were procured from different venders by Dr Ev- 

 eritt, and the condensed smoke given out durinir 

 their burning, was collected and analyzed, and in 

 every instance this metal was detected. The 

 quantity contained in each candle was estimated 

 to be four grains. It was probably used for the 

 purpose of giving the candles a betterappearance, 

 and preventing the melted fat from crystallizing 

 as it cools. The effects, in a crowded room, with 

 a dozen of these candles burning, would [irobably 

 be serious; and similar to those produced by ar- 

 senic in the stomach. — Boston Med. Jour. 



Recovery from Hydrophobia. On Tuesday 



the 5th eiirt., a bheestce, (water-carrier) wlio had 

 been bitten three weeks before, in the leg by a 

 mad dog, was carried to the native hospital, Cey- 

 lon, about three o'clock in the afternoon, with the 



symptoms of hydrophobia strongly upon him. 



He was immediately bled to the extent of forty 

 ouni^es. Thesymptoms of diseaseyielded in suc- 

 cession as the blood flowed ; and before the vein 

 was closed, he stretched out his hand for a cup of 

 water, and calmly drank it ofl^, though the mere 

 approach of water but ii few minutes before had 

 thrown him into convulsions. After the bleeding 

 he lay down on a cot, fell asleep, and continued 

 so for nearly two hours. When he awoke, the 

 symptoms of the disease were threatening to re- 

 turn ; another vein was then opened, and 8 oun- 

 ces more of bicod were taken away, which so 

 completely subdued the di-iea.se that he has not 

 had a symptom of it since. — lb. 



John Lancey, Esq. brought into our office last 

 Monday, from a field belonging to Thomas Drew, 

 Esq. of this city, a siieaf of rye on one root, con- 

 taining 15 heads, and measuring 6 feet 10 inches 

 in length, which he thinks is only about the aver- 

 age height of the whole four acres. 



Bangor Farmer. 



