1S58. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



387 



the latter the appetite is greatly impaired for 

 other food. No fact is more clearly established 

 than that the flavor and quality of the milk and 

 flesh depend in part upon the flavor and quality 

 of the food. Various expedients have been re- 

 sorted to, to counteract bad flavors. The English 

 heat their milk and then add saltpetre to it to 

 prevent the taste of cabbages. The Virginians 

 slice and salt ruta-bagas, twelve hours before 

 feeding, to escape that odor. In this region, 

 regularity in feeding, as to quantity and time, by 

 some is considered sufiicient remedy for common 

 turnips. Experience proves that corn and car- 

 rots make first quality beef, and fcorn and pota- 

 toes first quality pork. Cows that give milk re- 

 quire more food in proportion to their bulk than 

 either oxen or horses; twenty-five to thirty 

 pounds of dry hay daily is the usual consump- 

 tion of farm animals. Of course, if roots or 

 meal are added the consumption will be less. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 

 GLASNEVIN MODEL FAKM, IRELAND 

 BY HENRY F. FRENCH. 



On the 22d of August last I visited this es- 

 tablishment, which is situated at about three 

 miles distance from Dublin. Dr. Kirkpatrick, 

 the superintendent, was absent, but his accom- 

 plished lady, who, by the way, is an American, 

 from Baltimore, and is manifestly a valuable 

 helpmate, in more senses than one, was kind 

 enough to show me over the house, lecture-rooms, 

 halls, dormitories, milk-room, and the like, and 

 to give me much valuable information. It was 

 a source of no little satisfaction to find one of 

 my countrywomen, thus unexpectedly, presiding 

 so gracefully and usefully over such an institu- 

 tion in a foreign land. It is an almost hopeless 

 task to attempt to give any correct idea of the 

 system of education which has been undertaken 

 for Ireland. The twenty-second report of the 

 Commissioners of National Education in Ireland 

 has been kindly presented to me. It consists of 

 two octavo volumes closely printed, full of fig- 

 ures and statistics, containing eight hundred and 

 sixty pages ! 



It appears that there were at the close of the 

 year 1855, in operation in Ireland, 165 agricultu- 

 ral schools of all kinds. Of these 37 were mod- 

 el farm schools, 46 ordinary agricultural schools, 

 three "school gardens," and 79 "workhouse 

 schools." Twenty of the model schools were 

 under the exclusive management of a Board of 

 Commissioners. One of this number is the "Al- 

 bert National Model Farm School," at Glasnevin, 

 to which I made the^visit referred to. It may as 

 well be stated here that the total expenditure on 

 the several agricultural schools and farms in Ire- 

 land for the year 1855 was about $55,000, of 

 which about $20,000 was returned in receipts 

 from the produce of the farms and the like. 



At the twenty model farms, about four hun- 

 dred pupils were taught in 1855. Tliese farms 

 are conducted for the public account, by an agri- 

 culturist, under the direction of the Board, and 

 the most accurate accounts are kept of all pecu- 

 niary aff'airs, as well as of all experiments and 

 farm operations. 



The Albert institution may be taken as a rep- 

 resentative of this class of farm schools. It was 

 established in 1838, and is designed to supply 

 such instruction both in the science and practice 

 of agriculture, as will qualify young men for dis- 

 charging the duties of teachers of agriculture, 

 land-stewards, farmers, &c. 



It should be kept in mind, that in England 

 most all of the land is owned by lords and gen- 

 tlemen, who have often many thousands of acres, 

 divided into farms, which are leased to farmers. 

 These farms are of various sizes, from one hun- 

 dred to a thousand acres or more. The propri- 

 etors usually have little or no personal care of 

 their lands, often not setting a foot on to one of 

 their farms for years, but leaving to a steward 

 the whole matter of leasing and superintending 

 the whole estate. The farmers who hire their 

 farms are often men of large capital. Indeed, 

 the business of farming in England is conducted 

 with an amount of labor and expenditure of which 

 we in America know nothing. In Lincolnshire, 

 it requires a capital of about fifty thousand dol- 

 lars to enter upon and profitably farm a thousand 

 acres of land. These farmers are merely tenants. 

 They own no interest in the land, but hire it, at 

 perhaps an average of five dollars an acre rent, 

 annually. To train up stewards and farmers for 

 such employments as these, is a principal object 

 of the model farm schools. 



It will be seen at once, that a thorough train- 

 ing, not only in the practical operations of plow- 

 ing, sowing, tilling, harvesting, fencing, draining, 

 and the like, is necessary, but also, a good educa- 

 tion in arithmetic, book-keeping, animal and veg- 

 etable physiology, chemistry and business aff'airs. 



The farm contains about 180 acres. Mr. Cole- 

 man visited it in 1844, when it contained but 52 

 acres, and before the present buildings were 

 erected, and his reports contain an interesting 

 notice of it, as it was then in operation upon a 

 much smaller scale than at present. Ninety pu- 

 pils were there under instruction in 1855. In 

 order to teach pupils the practical labors of the 

 farm, every one is required to take a part in ev- 

 ery operation, including the feeding and manage- 

 ment of the live stock. With a view to exemplify 

 the most approved systems of culture, various 

 rotations of cropping are followed upon separate 

 divisions of the farm. The system of house- 

 feeding cattle is pursued both summer and win- 

 ter. The arrangements afford the pupils the best 



