1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



165 



THE JERSEY COW. 

 In the account of our visit to the farm of 

 Alvin Adams, Esq., published in the Farmer of 

 Jan. 23, we spoke of his beautiful herd of 

 imported Jersey cattle, and quoted the admir- 

 ably drawn description of the race from Mr. 

 Allen's book on American Cattle. To com- 

 plete that description we this week borrow 

 from the same source a fine cut of the Jersey 

 cow. Mr. Allen says that, being natives of a 

 milder climate than ours, the Jerseys are more 

 delicate in constitution and require good shel- 

 ter and food. They will not rough it so well 

 as our common cows or some of the English 

 breeds ; but they will well repay all the care 

 given them, and should not be neglected. The 

 Jersey is a milking cow, and for nothing else 

 should the race ever be bred. The distin- 

 guishing quality for which the Jersey is prized, 

 is the marked richness and deep yellow color 

 of her milk ; yet it is moderate in quantity — 

 eight to twelve quarts a day being a good yield 

 in the height of her season — but that wonder- 

 derfuUy rich in cream and butter. It is claimed 

 that one-half or less of the Jersey milk mixed 

 with that of common cows wonderfully im- 

 proves the color and texture of the butter pro- 

 duced, and it is also asserted by some that the 

 genuine gilt-edged butter of our market re- 

 ports can be manufactured only from the milk 

 of the Jersey cow. The race was originally 

 from Normandy, France. 



For the New England Farmer, 



CAN" WE GROW WHEAT? 



In the monthly Farmer for January, I no- 

 tice an article with the above caption, also a 

 request for all New England farmers who have 



been successful wheat growers to 

 speak out. Now I am not a resi- 

 dent of New England, but of 

 Eastern New York, where the 

 soil, climate, &c., are decidedly 

 New Englandish, and as I have 

 for the past fifteen years suc- 

 ceeded in raising all the wheat 

 consumed in my own family, and 

 sometimes a little to spare, I will 

 give you my answer to the above 

 query. 



I say emphatically, yes, we can 

 grow wheat. It requires no more 

 skill, no richer land, nor more la- 

 bor to raise an acre of good wheat 

 ^'^^^^— than one of good corn. In fact, 



on land ordinarily rich a good 

 crop of wheat can be grown with 

 less manure than an equally good crop of 

 corn. 



Wheat has three enemies here at the East, 

 viz., winter or spring killing, rust and weevil. 

 The first can be prevented in several ways. 

 First sow wheat on dry land, as water stand- 

 ing on top of the ground and freezing is very 

 destructive to it ; and if the land is smooth 

 enough to adjnit of it, drill it in, so as to get 

 it well into the ground, thereby resisting the 

 action of the frost. It is also advisable to 

 sow early so as to ensure a good growth in the 

 fall, thus affording its own protection through 

 the winter. Another good protection is a 

 light coat of straw spread immediately after 

 sowing. The wheat will come up through it 

 and prevent it from being blown off. 



The only known preventive of rust is to sow 

 early, so as to have it mature early, and to 

 sow on high land. In fact, wheat does better 

 on high than low land, whether attacked by 

 the rust or not. 



The weevil does not trouble wheat much of 

 late years, especially on high land. 



I have practiced two ways of raising winter 

 wheat. First, manure the land and plant to 

 corn, then sow to oats, and as soon as they 

 are harvested plough the land carefully and 

 give It a good top-dressing of fine manure or 

 compost, then roll the wheat in lime, plaster 

 and salt ; in the proportion of two bushels of 

 t^lacked Ihne, two of plaster, and one-half 

 bushel of fine salt, sow and harrow all in to- 

 gether. If the land is liable to heave, I put 

 on a thin coat of wheat straw as soon as har- 

 rowed. The other plan is to plough in a good 

 crop of clover in June, and the middle of Au- 

 gust plough again and drill in the wheat, sow- 

 ing on the lime and plaster in the spring. I 

 usually do this way when I do not have a sup- 

 ply of manur ! to top-dress with. I always 

 seed my land in wheat. 



One thing I have observed, that when I sow 

 my wheat on oat stubble and top dress and 

 seed, I always get a good seed, and the next 

 time the land is ploughed it will give better 

 corn than if seeded down the year before with 



