242 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



May 



to the ticket holders, who reside within certain 

 distance from the plantation. Let the organi- 

 zation pay these farmers, or contractors, one- 

 third at planting, one-third at hoeing, and the 

 other third at harvesting. This plan will give 

 new life to New England farming. It will 

 f-imply be subscribing and paying in advance 

 for our food, the same as we do for our news- 

 papers, and running the risk of getting our 

 money's worth. 



L. Smith, Manager. 

 North Easton, Mass., iy69. 



Hemaeks. — Having been made a share-holder 

 in this company as a compliment for a notice last 

 ppringof the project of our North Easton planting 

 friends, and having duly received our shareof the 

 proceeds in cash, we have a personal interest in 

 this planting company. We regard the result of 

 this first experiment in co-operative farming as 

 more successful than could have been expected, 

 and creditable to that portion of old Massachusetts 

 soil on which it was tried. Few farmers will lease 

 their best fields, or those which were well manured 

 the previous season. The company had to take 

 such as they could get. The manure applied to 

 cultivated crops is only partially expended the 

 first year in the production of those crops. Labor 

 and team work was probaljly paid for at the high- 

 est prices. And yet the crops from these six acres 

 fell only three dollars short of the expenditures. 

 We suppose the ticket holders were mostly me- 

 chanics and manufacturers. Now, if they could 

 have done most of this labor "out of hours" them- 

 selves, and especially if they could have done it 

 on their own land, they might have greatly redu- 

 ced expenses, promoted their own health, and per- 

 haps escaped some of those "evil communica- 

 tions" and costly habits which sometimes result 

 from a different employment of their leisure hours. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 FIRE-PKOOF STABLES. 



Is it not a wonder that among all the improve- 

 ments in farm buildings with which our agri- 

 cultural papers are blied, that we have no plan 

 lor building barns in such a manner as to pre- 

 vent the repetition of such tires as that which, 

 at Burlington Vt., a few days since, burned 

 one hunri^red and fort}-hve animals ? I think 

 a barn might be built without being excessively 

 expensive that would give time to remove the 

 stock, even if it might not burn down without 

 injuring them. Instead of the ordinary cellar, 

 let the four walls be of stone, the front one 

 having two arches for entrances. Put a cheap, 

 but substantial lioor over ihc cellar about six 

 or eight inches below the top of the side walls. 

 Let this Uoor be supported by brick or stone 

 pillars, with as litt;e wood work us possit)le 

 below the (loor. Level up from the iloor to 

 the top of the wall with dirt, stone, &c., fin- 

 ishing with gravel, and grout with cement. 

 Leave sufficient openings to put down food to 



stock, but protect them with metallic trap- 

 doors. Build the barn on this foundation, 

 and in case it took fire it would be a long 

 time in heating through the cement and dirt to 

 the wood" floor. It is doubtful if it ever got 

 hot enough to bum, as heat does not readily 

 descend. As the points of egress would be 

 some feet lower than the fire there would be a 

 strong draft of cool air that would render it 

 possible to remove the stock after the heat and 

 smoke had made it impossible to approach the 

 fire on a level with it. The walls of the cellar 

 should contain windows sufficient for the ad- 

 mission of light, and ventilation. Judging 

 by the expense of grouting cellars, I think 

 that part would be cheaper than a good plank 

 floor, so that the principal extra expense 

 would be the under Iloor, and this would be 

 in part made up by the extra value of the hay 

 lying next the floor, for it is a well known fact 

 that the hay lying on a common floor over a 

 stable is nearly or quite spoiled by the absorp- 

 tion of noxious gases. I do not present this 

 as the only or best plan, but as one plan, and 

 hope others will reflect upon its necessity and 

 improve upon it, until we shall see all good 

 barns built with reference to preserving stock 

 from a cruel death in case of fire, and the 

 owners from consequent loss. Yours, &c. 



R. S. HiNMAN. 



Biver Side, Conn., March 15, 1869. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 DEGENERACY OP THE OAT CROP. 



What are we to do about raising oats ? It 

 has now been several years since a good crop 

 of this grain has been raised in our locality, 

 and I judge from accounts published that this 

 complaint is quite universal throughout the. 

 Eastern States. And when we strive to ascer- 

 tain the cause or its remedy we have nothirtg 

 to guide us but the merest speculation. Many, 

 however, think it owing to climatic influence, 

 others to the soil. For one I hardly look upon 

 it as caused wholly by poor soils, as we often 

 succeed in getting a fair growth of straw 

 without a corresponding yield of grain. 



It would seem to be good policy as long as 

 it continues to be so uncertain a crop, to sub- 

 stitute in a degree some other grain. Barley, 

 eith'jr mixed with oats or alone, is being grown 

 to some extent with us for this purpose. 



The objections to mixing these two grains, 

 are that ordinarily the barley ripens a few 

 days earlier than the oats, and also being a 

 hard shell grain shoidd be ground previous to 

 feeding. This last however, is not so much 

 an objection, as teamsters are rapidly getting 

 in the way of feeding only ground feed to 

 their teams, which, no doubt, is to be preferred 

 in an economical point of view, as it seems a 

 well proved axiom, that uuground grain should 

 be rarely fed except to young horses. 



Indeed nine tenths of all team horses are 

 probably fed on ground grain, of which corn 



