154 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



KOV, 23, 183T. 



.any quantity in-donrs, the lieap should be inter- 

 sected with air pasSHf!;es (which are easily formed 

 witii the roots tiietnselveii) to prevent heatiiifr. 



As hinted in a preceding paragraph nf this pa- 

 per, the inangel unrtzel has a tendency, when 

 given in any considerahle quantity, to produce 

 laxity in cattle: in using it, therefore, in the fat- 

 teninir of live stock, wc studiously avoiil giving in 

 large ([uanlities hy itself; and, aware tliiit cattle, 

 after accustomed to it, will forsake every other 

 description of food for its sake, it is never allowed 

 them till the spring nionihs, and they are well 

 nigh fit for the shanddes; it is then given in con- 

 junction with one or other coiinnon varieties of 

 turnip, and we have invariahly witnessed a rapiil 

 improvement in the condition of the animals after 

 receiving it ; and so fond do they appear of it, 

 that, although mixed indiscriminat(dy with other 

 descriptions of food, it is carefully picked out, 

 and when given at stated i)eriods, they seem to 

 lie aware, either through instinct, or hy the cra- 

 vings of appetite, of the arrival of the period of 

 feeding, and invariably, r.t the wonted tijue, col- 

 lect in a group, and fix an eager, anxious ga2e on 

 the spot from whence they expect to be supplied 

 with their darling sustenance. 



But it is chiefly as food for dairy cows that the 

 mangel wnrtzel is adapted, and as such is supe- 

 rior to every other description of winter f(K)d, of 

 which we are aware. It is a material p»iiit with 

 the farmer, to procure food for his cows that will 

 not impart acidity to the milk ; and mangel wnrt- 

 zel is the only succulent winter vegetable, which 

 possesses lliis quality, anil doing so constitutes a 

 most valuable species of food for cows at that sea- 

 son when suceulent food possi'ssing the above es- 

 sential quality can never be obtained. 



'fhe foregoing remarks, being a desc^i'iption of 

 a system of cultivating the mangel wmlzel, and 

 using it as food for live stock, wdiich has been 

 attended with ei.nineBt success, we can confi- 

 dently submit them to be acted on, by all who 

 feel desirous of cidtivating this valuable vegeta- 

 ble. 



and as recently in Somersetshire, the timber of an 

 estate of 2000 acres, was refused to an offer of 

 50,000/. -Even in Scotland, a piece of ground not 

 wortli 30s per acre, for agricultural purposes, was 

 planted with sycamore, and at the end of sixty 

 years, the trees fetched such a sirm as paid 141 

 per acre per annuu), (luring that period. There 

 are many vvays, however, of making land, appa- 

 rently fit lor nothing else but planting, yield even 

 an innnediate i)rofit, by a very simple process ; — 

 lor it has been ascertained that a pound of tuiiiip 

 seeil sown after harvest, upon an acre of light, 

 san<!y and gravelly land, which had been worn 

 out hy over |)lougliing, and ploughed in after two 

 months' growth, leaves, roots, Slc, had as feiti- 

 lizing an efiect as could have been produced by 

 tweuty-five loads of manure upon that quantity of 



and. The practice, we believe, has not been un- 



•omuion in some parts of Surrey. 



The Economist. 



Indian Wheat. — This is a new article, and is 

 !» species of Buckwheat. It has lately produced 

 abundantly, up to a hundred and even a hundred 

 and twenty bushels to an acre ! The grain is val- 

 uable for stock yards, especially swine, and buck- 

 wheat cakes are celebrated throughout the land. 

 Such an article, in addition to our present stock, 

 would be very valuable to the farmer, and would 

 go to multiply his resources in unfavorable years. 

 Sam[)les of the grain, and small parcels for seed 

 can be obtained on application to Mr Colman,the 

 Stiite ComtTiissioner for an agricultural survey. — 

 Haverhill Gaz. 



Plantino Trkes. — He who plants trees upon 

 his persornil estate, repays a debt to his posterity 

 wliich he owes to his ancestors. A gentleman 

 whose lands were more extensive than fertile, used 

 to plant 1000 trees on the birth of every daugh- 

 ter, upon his waste groimds — which were on an 

 average worth one pound each on Iher coming of 

 age ; thus enabling him to give hera fortune of 

 lOOOJ without any extraordinary economy on his 

 part — the regular thinning of the trees at proper 

 seasons, with barking, &c., paying off all the cur- 

 rent expenses, besides yielding him a small rent 

 for the land. In the year 1758, ninety-two fir 

 trees were planted upon a piece of ground, about 

 three-quarters of an acre in extent. The land 

 was waste anil poor; no extra expense was in- 

 cin-rcd, and no furtlur attention was paid to the 

 young tries. In 1S13, they were cut down, and 

 yielded 90 tons of timber, then worth 41 per ton, 

 giving a round sum of 360/, which was equal to a 

 rent of 6/ 195 during the intervening 55 years. — 

 Can u more convincing proof be given of the fa- 

 cility with uliich a man may save a fortune for 

 his grandchildren? It is indeed, long to look 

 forward ; but who is there that docs not extend 

 his family hopes much beyond that period ? In 

 Yorkshire, very recently, 5000 oaks were cut 

 down^ which yieKled the sum of .^'100,000 ; — Imers, 



HORSES. 



Uy the general consent of mankind, it seems to 

 be conceded that the horse is the most noble, use- 

 ful and beautiful of animals. Kind, docile, and 

 even aireitionate in their dispositions, there is no 

 animal, tl)e dog peihaps excepted, that is so close- 

 ly attached to his master, and appears so well to 

 understand, even his \vislies, as the horse. We 

 never felt disposed to blame, or ridicule, the ex- 

 pressions of fondness an Arsb will bestow upon 

 his favorite mare ; one that has been aw inmate 

 of his tent, as it were, for perhaps twenty or thirty 

 years ; one that has carried him safe through all 

 his exploi;s of thieving and robbing, without fal- 

 tering or stumbling ; one that knows his voice 

 among a thousand ; and in any situation will come 

 at his bidding, always meeting giacefnily his ca- 

 resses, or bearing him off in flight proudly and 

 safely. 



I$ut when the commendation of being the most 

 noble and beautiful of animals was given to the 

 horse, those who bestowed the epithet, must, we 

 think, have had in view the finer specimens of the 

 race, rather than the miserable hangneck, poverty- 

 stricken skeletons, that are miscalled hors^jSj and 

 meet one in such countless numbers at every turn 

 in our country. For some years past, our far- 

 mers seem to have been seized with a mania for 

 breeding horses ; mares have been condenmed to 

 bear colts sans intermission ; no matter how mean 

 she may have been, or how completely unqmili- 

 fied to bring a good colt, the owner has satisfied 

 himself by repeating the adage that a bad cow- 

 may have a good calf; and the consequence has 

 been, that, while cattle have sadly decreased in 

 numbers, worthless iiorises are eating up the sub- 

 stance and prosperity of multitudes of our far- 



A man who loves a good horse, and who does] 

 not? has his feelings sadly tried by the drovers] 

 of "viliianous, s])aviiied, foundered, narragansetj 

 pacers," or trotters, that he is compelled to meet,! 

 let him go where he will ; animals utterly worth- 

 less, except perhaps to drag a plough or a wagon 

 about the farm for a few days in a year, and the 

 rfemainder of the time a dead weight upon the 

 hands of the owner. A good horse will always 

 sell well. Perhaps there is no species of proper-, 

 ty less liable to fluctmition or depreciation in val- 

 ue, than a good horse. But what in this respect 

 are horses in general? Take one hundred of the 

 first horses you meet on our farms, old and young, 

 and what think you they would bring a head, if 

 sold under the hammer for cash ? and they will 

 bring cash in no other way. Ten, fifteen or twen- 

 ty dollars on an average, perhaps ; and yet these 

 scape goats have cost their owners, in rearing, 

 nearly as much as horses that would average 100 

 dollars each. 



The plain truth is, we have too many horses 

 by one-third, and those we have are too poor by 

 one-haif ; and when we undertake to make sales 

 of them, we find such to be the fact. Such hor- 

 ses run the farmer in debt ; they do not pay the 

 expense of raising, or any where near it, and the 

 sooner this truth is realized, the better for all. — 

 Now let no farmer who is burdened with old or 

 worthless horses, say to himself cm rending this — 

 "It is true I have more horses than I want, or 

 than is profitable to keep over the winter, and I 

 must get rid of two or three of the oldest. There 

 is neighbor A. and B. they have no horses, and 

 they sometimes come to me for one ; to prevent 

 lending them one fit for service, I will give old 

 Spitfire to A. and Herod to B." If a man lias a 

 particle of lienor in his constitution, or carries 

 such a thing as a conscience in his bosotn, he will 

 go to his neighbor, and steal from him his last 10 

 dollars, his only bushel of wheat, or his children's 

 loaf of bread, before he will inflict upon liim such 

 a curse as the gi.ft of an ohl horse. We know 

 there are midtitudes of poor men, who can with 

 great difliculty provide bread, who Jiave a great 

 penchant for a horse, and will accept of one as 

 old and helpless as their grandfather, work hard 

 to keep the breath of life in it through the win- 

 ter, when they should be better ein|iloyed, and fi- 

 nally, before spring comes, be obliged to consign 

 the animal to the crows. If you have an old horso 

 who is past service, the good he lias done you, 

 deserves a better recompense than the tender mer- 

 cies of a drunken ragamuffin, or the starvation ai 

 a poor man's lot. Kill him, but do not give hinif 

 away to be abused or starved. Kill him, an(| 

 make a mound over him of lime, vegetable ma^ 

 ter and earth, which vvill jirevent all offensiv 

 smell, aTid furnish a few loads of the very bfl 

 manure ; or cut him into small pieces and but 

 him in the ground where most wanted, certan 

 that his flesh will jiroducc an immediate, and hq 

 bones a lasting benefit to the soil. A pigiswoi'tl 

 more to a poor man than a horse ; and a goOC] 

 cow which will not cost so much in kee|)ing, Hi 

 a horse, is worth a dozen. Let ever}' man whi 

 is tempted to obtain or keep supeiannuated horsi 

 flesh, remember this. — Genesee Farmer. 



REMEioy FOR CuoLEiiA.— Half an ounce of char 

 coal reduced to powder, and mixed in two pound 

 of pure water, is administeretl as an injection, am 

 a quarter of an ounce in wanri water as a drink 



