158 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOVEMBER 37, 1933. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOV. 27, 1833 



FARMER'S WORK. 



There may, perhaps, be time enough before 

 winter commences in full severity to construct or 

 modify barn yards, cattle sheds, &c. so that they 

 may be better adapted to making and sa\ing ma- 

 nure than some, which seem contrived on purpose 

 for wasting the principal means of fertilizing farms 

 and gardens. 



The farm yard, which may he called the farmer's 

 manure-manufactory, and chief magazine fur the 

 food of plants, should be on the south side and 

 adjacent to the barn. The other farm-buildings, 

 such as the cattle sheds, hog-stye, corn barn, &.C 

 should be erected on the east and west sides of 

 this yard to afford shelter to cattle from driving 

 storms and cold winds, and to make it convenient 

 to convey the manure and rubbish of those farm 

 buildings to the said farmer's bank of discount and 

 deposit. 



The size of the cattle yard should be propor- 

 tioned to the quantity »f stock to be kept in it. 

 With regard to the shape and manner of making, 

 &c. we will give again* Judge Buel's judicious 

 directions : " Excavate the centre to a concave 

 form, placing the earth removed upon the edges 

 or lowest sides, leaving the borders ten or twelve 

 feet broad, of a horizontal level, to feed the stock 

 upon, and from two to five feet higher than the 

 centre. This may be done with a plough and 

 scraper, or shovel and band-barrow, after the 

 ground is broken up with the plough. I used the 

 former, and was employed a day and an half, with 

 two hands and a team, in fitting two to my mind. 

 When the soil is not sufficiently compact to bold 

 water, the bottom should be bedded with six or 

 eight inches of clay, well beat down and covered 

 with gravel or sand. This last labor is seldom re- 

 quired, except where the ground is very porous. 

 My yards are constructed on a fine loam resting 

 on a clay subsoil. Here should be annually de- 

 posited, as they can be conveniently collected, the 

 weeds, coarse grass and brakes of the farm ; and 

 also the pumpkin vines and potato tops. The 

 quantity of these on a farm is very great, and are 

 collected and brought to the yard with very little 

 trouble by the teams returning from the fields. 

 And here also should be fed out or strewed as lit- 

 ter, the hay, stalks and husks of Indian corn, pea 

 and bean haulm, and the straw of grain not wanted 

 in the stables. To still further augment the mass, 

 leached ashes and swamp earth may be added to 

 advantage. These materials will absorb the liquid 

 of the yard, and, becoming incorporated with the 

 excrementitious matter, double or treble the ordi- 

 nary quantity of manure. During the continuance 

 of frost the excavation gives no inconvenience ; 

 and when the weather is soft the borders afford 

 ample room for the cattle. In this way the urine 

 is saved, and the waste incident to rains, &c. pre- 

 vented. The cattle should be kept constantly- 

 yarded in winter, except when let out to water, 

 and the yard frequently replenished with dry litter. 

 Upon this plan, front ten to twelve loads of unfer- 

 mented manure may be obtained every spring for 

 each animal ; aud if the stable manure is spread 

 Over the yard, the quality of the dung will be im- 

 proved, and the quantity proportionahly increased. 

 Any excess of liquid that may remain after the 



dung is removed in the spring, Can he profitably 

 applied to grass, grain or garden crops. It is used 

 extensively in Flanders, and in other parts of Eu- 

 rope." 



With regard to letting cattle out of their yard 

 to uatcr. Dr. Deane observed, " The practice of 

 driving cattle to water, at a distance, is attended 

 with great loss of manure. The well that serves 

 the house, or one dug for the purpose, should be 

 so near the yard that a watering trough may reach 

 from it into the yard." Some have a well in the 

 yard ; but this is not so advisable, as the water 

 may become impregnated with the manure and 

 thus be Unwholesome as well as unpalatable. 



The practice of having a barn yard so situated 

 on a declivity, that the wash may spread over a 

 portion of land near it, is not to he commended. 

 A small quantity of laud very near the yard may 

 thus be made too rich, by the liquid manure, which, 

 if retained within the yard, might be absorbed by 

 straw and other litter, and its value be thus en- 

 hanced for manuring other parts of the farm. The 

 enriching substances of the farm yard should be 

 judiciously applied and distributed to be of much 

 service to the cultivator. 



An Apple Tree in Duxbury, on the farm formerly 

 occupied by Col. Partridge, produced this season, 

 121 bushels of apples. The Tree is said to be up- 

 wards of one hundred years old. — [CoittmBiit'calerf. 



CHAPPED HANDS. 



To have chapped hands is always an unpleasant, 

 and not unfrequently a painful complaint, at this 

 season of the year. 



The following is the best remedy with which 

 we are acquainted : — wash your hands with castile 

 soap ; apply it with a flannel, and if necessary use 

 a brush, in order to get the dirt from under and 

 around the nails and fingers, till they are perfectly 

 clean. The water in winter, if convenient, may 

 be warmed ; then rinse them in a little clean wa- 

 ter, and while they are wet rub them well all over 

 with about half a tea spoonful of good honey; then 

 dry them well with a clean towel. This should 

 be done once or twice a day, aud always before 

 going to bed. — Gootlsell's Genesee Farmer. 



* See N. E. Farmer, vol. iv. p. 402 



BEAUTIFUL NATIVE PLANTS. 



It is a good time now to remove the llepatica 

 and the jsanguinaria from the woods, and to plant 

 them in the garden on the north side of a fence, 

 or wall. This aspect retards their growth in 

 spring, which is favorable on account of the frost ; 

 preserves their blossoms from the sun, and greatly 

 increases their duration. In the open border they 

 are so transitory as hardly to deserve a place ; but 

 when protected in the manner proposed, they are 

 very beautiful, and occupy but very little room. 



The popular name of the llepatica triloba is 

 Liverwort, the same that has been used in diseases 

 of the lungs ; and that of the Sanguinaria cana- 

 densis is Blood root. — Ibid. 



DOMESTIC ANGOLA GLOVES. 



" You can have no more of a Cat than her Skin," 

 is an old adage, but we are now fully convinced 

 that it is not a true one. A gentleman of this town 

 exhibited in our office a few days since, a pair of 

 handsome Gloves, very much of the appearance of 

 the Angola in softness and complexion. We were 

 rather surprised at the novelty of their being pro- 

 duced from the back of his common house Cat, of 



the Maltese species. The fine hair was combed 

 from her back at the season when she would natu- 

 rally sited her coat, and the product of two years 

 has enabled bis wife to prepare this new and ele- 

 gant species of domestic manufacture.— Portsmouth 

 Jour. 



ITEMS OF INTELLIGENCE, 



Statistics of the Globe. The population of the Globe 

 is estimated variously from 600,000,000 to 800,000,000; 

 the geographical square miles at nearly 3tf,000,000, or 

 49,000,000 English square miles. The population to a 

 square mile is, in France 61, Asia 27, Africa 10, Ameri- 

 ca 3, Oceanica less than 1 ; the average of all about 17. 

 The densest population in any whole province or state, 

 is in Hamburg, where it is 13U2 to a square mile. It is 

 980 in Bremen, 783 in Frankfort, 523 in Lubec, 464 in 

 Lucca, (Italy.) 302 in Belgium, 314 in Saxony, 277 in 

 Holland, 257 in Great Britain, the Sicilies 236, 208 in 

 France, Austria 165, Prussia 155, Portugal 121, Den- 

 mark 119, Spain 101, Turkey C3, Greece 51, Russia 37. 



In Asia some provinces have a population of from 200 

 to 500 to the square mile; Japan 139, China 42, Siam 

 57, English Indian Empire 185. In Africa, Morocco 

 has 46, Tunis 45, and some of the interior kingdoms a 

 little more. In America, Hayti has 36, Central Ameri- 

 ca 12, Chili 10, United States 7£, Mexico G. 



The votaries of the different religions are reckoned as 

 follows by Pinkerton :— Christianity 235,000,000. Ju- 

 daism 5,000,000, Mahometan 120,0C0,Bramanism 65,000, 

 000, Buddhim 180,000,000, all others 100,000,000. 



The dwelling house of Mr. Wm. Woodbury, in Leb- 

 anon, was burned on the night of the 20th, between the 

 hours of ten and eleven by ashes deing placed in a shed 

 adjoining, most of the furniture was saved in the lower 

 rooms. In the chambers and cellar all was lost. $1000 

 no doubt is a reasonable estimate of the loss. When 

 will our citizens abandon the wicked practice of endan- 

 gering their lives and property in the manner above ? 



Newport Spectator. 



Capt. Ross and the Arctic Expedition. — The Caledonian 

 whaler from the Davis' Straits fishery, reports having 

 fallen in with the Alfred whaler, of Hull, which had 

 touched at a small island, Lancaster Sound, where the 

 men found two or three portable soup cairftisters, and a 

 quantity of tobacco pipes, on which, was the word 

 ; ' Deptford." It was conjectured that these articles bad 

 belonged to the unfortunate expedition of Capt. Ross. 

 There was not the slightest appearance that there had 

 been an}' erections for shelter ; but the remains of a hu- 

 man hand were also picked up. 



The winter seems to threaten severity. Snow has 

 fallen slightly, both to the south and north of us ; and a 

 degree of cold, unusual at this season, already prevails. 

 Happily, the provision of coals in this city is ample, and 

 all the time on the increase ; and the very general use 

 of the anthracite as a fuel, renders the question of the 

 quantity of wood, of less consequence. Of that too, 

 however, judging by prices, there is a good supply. 



JV. Y. American. 



United States and Alabama. The general government 

 has chartered two vessels at Baltimore to take five hun- 

 dred troops to Alabama. We have not beard of any new 

 difficulty with Gov. Gayle, or of any particular service 

 for these troops, and it is probable they are only intended 

 to relieve those which are already in Alabama, a part 

 having quarrelled with the State authorities. 



The new floating steam-bridge, intended to ply be- 

 tween Morice Town and Torpoint, was tried on Thurs- 

 day last, when it passed and repassed several times. The 

 Rbrht Hon. R. P. Carew, Mr. Reudel, engineer, and oth- 

 ers, were present, and were much gratified at the success 



