194 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DEC. 3?, is^.r. 



and rich; juuI that he sliouM keep no more stock 

 tlian his crops will fecfl well, and that can be 

 made profitable to the farm. 



The fanner who makes but thirty Imshe's of 

 oorn, a dozen bushels of rye, or a ton of hay, from 

 an acre of land — and there are not a few who fall 

 short of this — is hardly temiineratcd for his la- 

 bor: but he who gets these measures from lialf 

 an acre and every good farmer ought at least to 

 do so, realizes a latt product of one half the \aluc 

 of his crop, or receives twice as much trdior as 

 the first ('oes. The reason of this is, that the one 

 permits his acre to becotno poor, either from not 

 saving anil applying his niannre, or from spread- 

 ing it and his labor over too niiich land, or by 

 cro|ipiirg it too long, while the other keeps liis 

 land rich, and thereby saves his labor. I tow is 

 this disparity increased, whin, instead of being 

 double, the crop of liie good farmer exceeds that 

 of the bad farmer four-fold, incirlents that very 

 often happen on adjoining farms? If the latter 

 gets one Irundrcd dollars ])er aimiim for his labor, 

 the former gets f'jur hundred dollars for his labor. 

 No inconsiderable item this, in iln- aggregate of a 

 man's life, or in llie profit anil loss account of a 

 large farm. 



So with our animals. The food which parsi- 

 mony, or indolence, or ill judged economy, doles 

 oiit to n beast, and wliicli bai'ely keeps him two 

 years, would, if judiciously fed out, fatten him in 

 six months; nnd thereby convert three quarteis 

 of the food into meat, milk and money, which, in 

 the other case, is expended to keeji the animal 

 alive. Time is money, as well in fattening ani- 

 tnals and feeding crops, as in other expenditures 

 of human labor. 



Pasturing is a means of inducing fertility. It 

 is computed to add twenty per cent, to the ferlil- 

 ity of a first rate soil. This arises from two cau- 

 ses. .Ml that is grown upon the soil, is returned 

 to it in the droppings of the animals which graze 

 U]ion it. And in the second place, when broken 

 up by the plough, the sward is converted into food 

 lor the tillage crops, and has been found to die 

 equivalent, in a well set sod, to more. than itwelve 

 loads of dung on the acre. In .this way sheep 

 husbamlry is known to enrich lands rapidly. But 

 this remark does not apply to meadows where the 

 crop is carried of!', and no equival .lit returned to 

 the soil. In the form of manure. 



Alternation of crops is tuu|tiestianably one of 

 the best and most economical means of preserv- 

 ing fertility, and of iiu-reasing the jnofits of the 

 farm. All crops exhaust the soil more or less, of 

 the general elements of fertility, though not 

 to the sanie extent, nor' do all exhai#t it alike of 

 certain specific properties. It is believed that ev- 

 ery family of plants requires a specific food, which 

 oilier families do not stand in need of, and which 

 they do not take up. This is evinced by the fact 

 that wheal cannot be grown pro'lably, in ordina- 

 ry grounds, in two successive years, upon the same 

 field, without a gn^at falling off in the product. — 

 And it is now laid down as an axiom, in good 

 husbandry, that two crops of any small grain, 

 should ncvet be taken from the same field in suc- 

 cessive years, because they draw too largely upon 

 the same specific food, lint after an interval of 

 four or five years, in which grass and roots inter- 

 vene, the specific food of the wheat crop has so 

 accumulated in the soil, that this grain may then 

 be again profitably grown upon it. So with all 

 other farm crops, not even excepting the grasses. 



The law of natural change in the products of a 

 soil is so jialpable, that in Flanders and Holland, 

 where flax is oiu! of the most |)rufilable staples, 

 they do not think of cultivating this crop upon 

 the same ground, ofiener than once in 10 or 12 

 years. Our farmers seem to appreciate these 

 truths ill reference to tillage crops, without duly 

 reflecting, that they a] ply as well to grass as to 

 grain. Meadows do deteriorate ; in a few years, 

 the finer grasses run out, because the soil becomes 

 exhausted of the particular food which affords 

 them nourishment; coarse or innutricious plants 

 take their place, and the herbage becomes infe- 

 rior in ipiality, and greatly diminished in quanti- 

 ty. Upon an average, old e^tahlishe(l meadows 

 \vonlil yield doidd" their present crops, ;f judi. 

 ciously alternated with grain and root crops, 'i hg 

 terms "suitably divided into meadow, plough and 

 pasture lands," which are generally employed to 

 recomtiiend farms on sale, are an inilication of 

 bad husbandry, and very often betray the secret 

 which compels the owner to sell. Excepting in 

 very stony districts, every acre of land which will 

 produce j;ood grasses, may, by being rendered 

 dry .indTich, be made to |uoduce gooif grain and 

 roots. In the convertible system of husbandry, 

 permanent meadow or p!otigh lands are almost 

 unknown — every field produces in turn, crops of 

 grain, grass and root.». 



(To be continued.) 



HOGS AND MANURE. 



iMr Cooke: if you think the following worthy, 

 you may trouble your readers with its appearance 

 in your paper. 



1 think that branch of the " farmer's work," 

 which embraces the fattening of pork, and making 

 manure therefrom, is not enough attended to by 

 farmers in general. If properly managed, it will 

 afford the greatest profit from the satrie expense 

 and labor. 



My plan is this: — Yard the hogs through the 

 year. Give each hog to work upon, ten loads of 

 mud from the swamp. Give them potatoes, ap- 

 (ile.s and waste food from the house, enough to 

 keep them in good thriving order, all the time, till 

 about Sept. Then attend them regularly, giving 

 them nil they will eat, perha|is some extra food, 

 for about 4 months. 



In this way, the expense will Itc. about $20 or 

 $^25 per hog, for the whole time of growing and 

 fiittening. 



Some men, thinking to avoid expense in keep- 

 ing, i)erniit their hogs "to run at large," or in a 

 large jiastiire. This is a bad practice ; the hogs 

 "run away" so much of their flesh, that it requires 

 nearly as much to keep llieiii in a thriving state, 

 as if they were yarded. If it did not, the pasture 

 would be iinicii more profitable for other stock. 

 More than this, the hogs will convert about four 

 loads more of mud into good manure, which will 

 more than twice pay the extra cost of yarding. 



TIIF. IIESUI.T COST. 



Cost of growing and fattening each 



hog, §25 00 



Cost of hauling mud to the yard, 10 



loads, 1 00 



$26 00 



PROFIT. 



There will be eleven loads of first rate manure, 

 (the hog making one at the lowest calculation.) 



which if applied to benefit a corn crop, and t; 

 soil, will at least be worth $2,25 per load. Tl 

 may seem a high estimate, but every experienc 

 farmer must admit it. 



\'> hich will amount to $24 75 



Whii.d) Slim ih ducted, leaves roit, $1 25 



The hog, if he has done well^ will weigh fo 



cwt., which, at the iircsent prices of pork, 



worth 10 cts. per lb., $40 00 



Who can make f 1,25 net him $40,00 in ai 



oiher branch of agriculture ? — .,1m. Silk Grotvei 



Biihn Yards ought ^■0T to be used as Cc 

 Yakps. — Mr Holmes : It i.s- agreed among farme 

 llial manure is to farming, what money is to W! 

 There is a very common practice among our fj 

 mers, and many of the best alliiw themselves" 

 it, which is much to their disadvantage ; that 

 to yard their cattle liiroiigh the summer in tin' 

 barn yards. | 



According to my observation, il is a besettii I 

 agricultural sin in lliis State, and this County f 

 I articular. All experience has shown that fol ; 

 ing land is.not only the chea|)esr, but best mo ' 

 of tnauuring our land. Pasturing is partially c 

 ing it — and w li.i has, not experienced the diflTif 

 ence between pasture land, and mowed lau j 

 when broken up ? .-\ first rate farmer said to ii j 

 a few clays since, " 1 could i;ot raise crops, il , 

 did not alternate, — first pasture, then till, th 

 mow." 



A stock of twenty head of black cattle won 

 manure, fit for any cro[i, one fourth of an acre ^ 

 a half of a month. If you have a light fence, 

 might be shifted every half month, and you w 

 have 3 acres iiiaiuired for any cicp. These act 

 added annually to your manured tillage Ian 

 would be fi'lt in a few years, and make you, p( 

 liafis, a thriving farmer, when you might not ho 

 been before. 



Make your calculation upon almost aiij' tiili 

 crop, and see what the profits would be. 



If put to Ruta Baga, it would probably, with 

 little top dressing, produce you eighteen huiidfi, 

 bushels, and the land left in good order for a crt ^ 

 of wheat oi other grain. If put to potatoes, 

 would probably produce nine hunilreil busheli 

 and that amount of roots would make your slot 

 shine, if prudently given to them in the winter.- 

 1 prejume that you need no long arguments i 

 convince you of the loss of substituting a Imi 

 yard for folding yards, or as they are called, ro 

 yards. \ i ■ 



H'inthrop, Oct. 1§37. [Maine-Fai iiif 



'Useful Discoverv. — .\ si;riple method to ai 

 certain the jircsence of arsenic in food, howevi 

 small a quantiiy, has recently been discovered ;- 

 it is this: iiut a poriion of the substance to 1: 

 tried, and double its weight of soda, into a lill 



glass tube. Close the open extremity of tlir 

 with blotting i>aper, and then beat the oiln i 

 with a taper. The arsenic is sublimated in : 

 moments, and adheres to the sides of the m 

 the part which is not heated. 



nl 



Bread for Horses. — It is said in a Paris ()■ 

 per, tft have been proved by experiments that 100 

 killograiiimes or 225 lbs. of oats, made into 43 

 loaves, and two of these loaves given daily to hoi 

 scs, will keej) in a better condition than six tiinti 

 the quantity of outs given to him in a raw state. 



