270 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH, 5, 1834. 



NEW EXGLAfiD FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1834. 



SPRING WORK. 



I.i making post and rail fence, it is gooil econo; 

 my to set the posts with the top part placed in 

 the ground, for some experienced cultivators have 

 assured us that posts in that position will last much 

 longer than would be the case if they stood as 

 they grew. It is likewise advised, in making this 

 sort offence, to place the rails with the heart side 

 up. In both these cases, it is thought that mois- 

 ture is less easily imbibed by the pores of the 

 wood than if it was left in a more natural position. 

 It is best to insert the ends of the posts about two 

 feet below the surface of the ground, and to burn 

 those parts in a hot fire till they become quite 

 black, which will cause them to remain sound 

 much longer than they would otherwise. 



Finish cutting, splitting and piling your wood. 

 It is best to keep at least one year's stock of fire 

 wood beforehand. Philosophical gentlefolk assure 

 us that dry wood will do twice the service of green 

 wood, and in this they are perhaps about right, at 

 least so far as respects wood to be consumed for 

 cooking. 



Your carts, 'ploughs, harrows, hoes, rakes and 

 other farming implements, should be subjected to 

 a careful review, repaired where necessary, or re- 

 placed by new ones, and had in readiness for use. 

 They will last the longer if painted, and covered 

 with some suitable composition. Covering wood 

 repeatedly with oil or grease, will have a tendency 

 to preserve it. Where tools or implements are 

 exposed in the field the greater part of the year, 

 they require to be new painted, at least every 

 other year. This is as useful for iron, as for 

 wood, both of which should bl*kept coated with 

 paint or oil, so far as is practicable. 



You may as well take this opportunity to cut 

 scions for grafting. They should he cut from the 

 extremities of the branches of the last year's 

 growth, of the most thrifty, and host bearing trees, 

 and placed with their lower ends in the ground of 

 some dry cellar till wanted. 



Look to your drains and water courses, ami 

 contrive to spread over your grounds as much of 

 the wash of the highway, as can be conveniently 

 monopolized. ' By frequent changing your water 

 courses, you may render your mowing ground 

 even, and prevent one part from growing too rank, 

 and lying down before the other part is lit to he 

 cut. 



I'rocure the very besi of garden and othi r seeds 

 for the ensuing season. If you have nol good 

 seeds and good fences, and good breeds of ani- 

 mals, you cannot reasonably expect good crops, 

 will not have a good dairy, and can iicilh. r expect 

 the reputation, nor to enjoy the emoluments of a 

 good fanner. 



It is almost or altogether time to attend to the 

 commencement of horticultural operations. Carry 

 manure into such places as require it, whenever 

 and wherever frost will permit ; but do not spread 

 it till the season is so far advanced, that it can be 

 mixed with, or ploughed under the soil. Provide, 

 if you have not already, a sufficient quantity of 

 beau poles and pea rods, for the purpose of sup- 

 porting such vegetables as require poles or rods! 

 The length and size of your pea rods should be 

 proportioned to the sorts of peas for which you 

 intend them. The same kinds of rods which the 



tall glowing peas require, viz. from 6 to 9 feet in 

 length, will answer for the generality of running 

 kidney beans. The Lima and Cuba beans will 

 need strong poles, about 8 or 9 feet long. Rake 

 together, and burn the vines, haulm, and whatever 

 may remain of your last year's crops. Straw 

 mats for the hot beds, rails, lattices or trellices for 

 espalier trees, should now be, got in readiness. 

 Clean trees from moss, and protect them from 

 mice and rabbits, by white-wishing with lime, or 

 smearing with some composition, which is ollbn- 

 sive to those depredators. Attend to forwarding 

 various sorts of seedling plants by artificial means, 

 so that they may be provided with strong roots, 

 and arrive at some size by the time they would 

 naturally make their appearance above ground. 



GA1IA GRASS. 



I.v answer to many applications for the Gama 

 Grass Seed, we would say, the small parcel received 

 from Mr. Bartlett from Georgia was sent to two of 

 our friends who will try it and give accurate re- 

 ports of the results of their experiments. 



For the New-Eng-hvid Farmer. 

 PREPARING FOOD FOR CATTLE. 



Beverly, March 1, 1834. 

 Mr. Fesse.ide??, Dear Sir, I regret as much as 

 your correspondent II. C. that I could not have 

 given the result of my experiment on the subject 

 of chopping and preparing food for cattle, without 

 the necessity of guessing, knowing as I do the im- 

 portance of exactness in atPKthese experiments. 

 But as an apology for adopting It in this case, I 

 beg leave to offer the following reasons. — Not- 

 withstanding myconviction of there being a saving 

 in chopping and preparing bay, &c. yet I was not 

 aware of the saving being so great, consequently I 

 did not begin with the least idea of publishing the 

 result. If 1 had, I should have weighed the 

 quantity of hay consumed per day before com- 

 mencing chopping, and also the quantity after 

 chopping; but as I did not do this, I of coins.' 

 availed myself of the best evidence in my poss is- 

 sion, and ev'en now if practicable, I would for the 

 satisfaction of II. C. weigh itud ascertain to an 

 ounce. But to every one who has had experience 

 on this subject it must be obvious that in shifting 

 cattle from prepared food to'unprcpared, they will 

 not devour it so readily nor in so great a quantity 

 for S or 10 days, consequently I cannot now make 

 an exact statement, but will here state from proof 

 positive that in the latter cuse^J was very nearly 

 correct, and in the other also^think the variation 

 would be buftriffing, if any. Both might overrun 

 from 25 to 50 pounds per day, but the proportion 

 would be the same. But I think a calculation can 

 be made nearly as correctly by measuring, as by 

 weighing, a mow of bay, estimating (when the ha\ 

 is well .stoned and settled) six hundred square feet 

 to make a ton. This rule, 1 believe to be iw; 

 nearly correct, and will us often overrun as fall 

 short. 



As it respects the queries of H. C. concerning 

 the potatoes, &c. I will here give an account ol 

 the whole process. In a central part of my barn 

 I have a room 18 by 12 feet; this is ceiled with 

 boards, which make it tighf and warm. In this 

 room is a pump, and a pen 10 by 10 feet, which 

 is made water light, the hay being chopped and 

 thrown into a heap, outside this room, early in 

 the morning a sufficient quantity is put into this 

 pen to feed the whole stock once, to which is add- 

 ed water enough to moisten it, then meal and po- 



tatoes, when the whole is mixed with a four tined 

 fork until every part of the hay receives its pro- 

 portion of the meal and potatoes, then it is given 

 to the cattle in baskets. This process is followed 

 three times each day, viz. morning, noon, and 

 about sunset. The whole of which is performed, 

 excepting giving it to the cattle, by a man whom 

 I hire for 8 dollars per month, not 3 as stated in 

 your paper. This was done with not the most 

 improved straw cutter; now I have one of Willis's 

 improved straw cutters, the same man can. perform 

 the whole, including feeding, and the hay is cut 

 shorter and more uniformly which I think is quite 

 an improvement. 



In regard to chopping the potatoes I do not 

 think it is of much consequence, excepting, they 

 are more easily and uniformly distributed amongst 

 the hay which is of some consequence, as when 

 not chopped the cattle will devour the potatoes 

 first, when I think it is better that the whole should 

 be eaten together. In regard to the cause of the 

 difference in the two modes of feeding, if I should 

 venture to give my opinion, it would not b,e on 

 any particular part of the process but on all its 

 parts collectively ; the quantity of meal or roots 

 might be varied ; for instance, if potatoes were 

 worth more in the market in proportion to their 

 value fur feeding cattle than grain, then reduce the 

 potatoes and increase the grain, and so vice versa; 

 but some meal is indispensable with coarse fodder, 

 as it is not to be supposed that neat cattle throw 

 up-aud masticate a second time but a small part of 

 the food they devour, consequently much of it 

 passes off without imparting more than half of its 

 nutritious substance, especially when dry, hard 

 hay is given without other food or preparation. I 

 think this is more perceptible in milch cows than 

 in any other cattle ; hay given in an unprepared 

 state must of course require so great a portion of 

 moisture to prepare it for digestion that but little 

 is left for milk, consequently the hay devoured is 

 often worth more than the milk we get in return ; 

 hence the importance of preparing our winter food 

 for our cattle, and bringing it back as nearly as 

 possible into its natural state when growing in our 

 best pastures, by the most simple, easy and cheap- 

 est process. — I now, Mr. Editor, hope that 11. C. 

 will accept the very imperfect explanation I have 

 here given, and that he or some other learned gen- 

 tleman will take up the subject and do it ample 

 justice. 



Yours, with respect, Amos Shelden. 



1 



ITEMS OF INTELLIGENCE. 



A Costly Edifice.- — President Jackson has submitted a 

 plan' which lias in view the erection of a magnificent 

 edifice for the present and future accommodation of all 

 the officeSjrf^hfi Government. He proposes a building 

 facing ^Jjb President's square, eight hundred feet in 

 length, with a effionnade in front. The estimated ex- 

 pense is about three millions. — Transcript. 



A storm of the 18th Dec. appears to have been destruc- 

 tive in some parts of Germany. In the forest of Thar- 

 anderbosch, 40,000 fine trees were prostrated. The 

 bridge across the Rhine at Wesel was carried away. A 

 number of persons lost their lives, and several houses 

 were burnt by lightning. In the circle of Torgau, the 

 damage to the standing timber is estimated at $150,000. 



The Montreal Gazette of Feb. 25, says that a violent 

 storm of thunder and lightning has been experienced in 

 that city, during which the church of St. Thomas was 

 nearly destroyed — the covering was displaced for 30 feet 



and stones of great size removed. — B. Mcr. Jour. 



