378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER: 



Aug. 



dered in a hurry, and the next spring a few fee- 

 ble spires of asparagus shewed themselves, inti- 

 mating that they came to bid us a last farewell. 

 The present season the old bed of half a century, 

 and another about ten or twelve years old, salted 

 at the same time, shew nothing but the remains 

 of decayed roots. The salt was applied two or 

 three years ago. And now, Mr. Editor, if some 

 of your correspondents who are practical men at 

 cultivating asparagus, would be so good as to tell 

 me, and others, whether it was salt or some oth- 

 er mismanagement that killed my asparagus, they 

 would do me and perhaps others a favor. 

 North Wilmington, June, 1858. S. Brown. 



THE CONSTRUCTION" AND ARRANGE- 

 MENT OF BARN- YARDS. 



A well constructed barn-yard is the most im- 

 portant part of the farm. It is a kind of mine, 

 containing elements of more intrinsic value than 

 the gold of a "thousand hills." The size of the 

 yard should be made, not merely according to 

 the size of the farm, but with reference also to 

 the collection of any materials which Avould in- 

 crease the amount of the manure. Its line, 

 and location as an enclosure for the confinement 

 and convenient feeding of stock, would naturally 

 be adapted to the situation of the buildings and 

 adjoining fields ; but as a place for making and 

 saving manure, the main object is the manner of 

 its construction. The border on every side 

 should be high, with an inward slope, forming a 

 reservoir sufficient to contain all the water which 

 might in any way get into it, and with the bot- 

 tom so compact that it could not penetrate the 

 ground. 



A yard so constructed would retain all the 

 salts of the manures, — a large portion of which, 

 according to the present practice of many far- 

 mers, is entirely lost. "The dark side of the pic- 

 ture" of a barn-yard, is that side where is fre- 

 quently seen a black or copper-colored liquid 

 running into the ditches by the roadside, or over- 

 flowing some already rich portion of the land, 

 and lost for any useful purposes to the farm. The 

 waste in this way, on many farms, is very great ; 

 and the annual loss to the farmers, by neglecting 

 to provide suitable yards for the preservation of 

 their manure is beyond estimation. But light on 

 this subject is breaking into the minds of at least 

 a portion of the farming community, and a bet- 

 ter practice will eventually prevail. — Oenesee 

 Farmer. 



Buckwheat Cakes. — The American Agricul- 

 turist contains the following hint on this subject, 

 which is worth trying : 



"Buckwheat cakes ! one buckwheat cake diff'er- 

 eth from another, yet not one in a thousand is 

 made right. Yet, of all things, they are the easi- 

 est to cook, if the meal is prepared rightly. To 

 three bushels of buckwheat, add one of good 

 heavy oats ; grind them together as if they were 

 only buckwheat ; thus you will have cakes al- 

 ways light and always brown, to say nothing of 

 the greater disability and the lightening of spir- 

 its, which are equally certain. He who feeds on 

 buckwheat may be grum and lethargic, while he 

 of the oatmeal will have exhilaration of brain 

 and contentment of spirit." 



HOEING AND HAYING. 



There are some errors committed on the farm 

 —as there doubtless are in all occupations — 

 which are continued more from the want of 

 thought than as the result of ignorance. As a 

 general thing, those persons who have been en- 

 gaged in any particular business from their youth, 

 are not those who investigate its interests, and 

 ascertain what will facilitate or retard its opera- 

 tions, and consequently increase or diminish its 

 profits. Is it not so with farmers ? Is it those 

 who have been bred to the farm, from their boy- 

 hood, and whose manipulations are as familiar to 

 them as household words, who are the most in- 

 quisitive, who break away occasionally from old 

 and questionable customs — or is it those who 

 have had an innate and irrepressible love for the 

 business from early life, and who have given the 

 subject earnest thought, exercised constant ob- 

 servation, and searched the books to learn the 

 practice of others ? We have no doubt which of 

 these two classes are among the progressive ag- 

 riculturists of the land, and have had a large in 

 fluence in effecting the important changes which 

 have been wrought in farm management. 



Such were the ideas that occurred to us when 

 we took up the pen to say a word upon the sub- 

 ject of hoeing. 



The work of hoeing, like that of acquiring 

 knowledge, is never finished until the crop is 

 matured, and nearly ready to harvest. No mat- 

 ter whether there are weeds or not, the crop is 

 greatly benefited by repeated stirrings of the 

 ground. If this is so, can that practice be a good 

 one which divides off' the season, giving a partic- 

 ular time for hoeing, and presuming that it must 

 be finished within that period, in order that the 

 period assigned for haying may not be interrupt- 

 ed? . 



We believe a grave error is committed by 

 many in this respect — indeed, the fields them- 

 selves, in autumn, bear ample evidence of the 

 fact — as pigweeds and Roman wormwood encum- 

 ber the ground and rob the cultivated plants of 

 the nutrition which is needed for their perfection. 



When we had written so far, in looking over 

 our exchanges, we found our views confirmed by 

 a writer in the Oenesee Farmer. Hear what he 

 says : — 



Haying and harvest will soon be upon us, and 

 of late years they seem to come right in "hoeing 

 time," but we would remind those who would 

 raise corn or roots, and so far have done every- 

 thing in good ^tyle, to weary not, but patiently 

 continue their labors. We must remember that 

 "growing weather" is as favorable to the growth 

 oi weeds as of valuable plants, and that on no ac- 

 count should we neglect to give clean culture to 

 our hoed crops. Let us keep the cultivator going 

 among them, if no more, so as to keep the soil 



