408 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



the manor born," I confess to not a little mor- 

 tification in view of such a state of things. 

 When a farmer is not disposed to use what 

 brains he professes to have, and does not 

 seen) to care whether his sons learn to use 

 theirs intelligently in the operations of the 

 farm, some might be led to doubt whether he 

 had any brains at all. 



I wi-h some cf your able correspondents 

 from Vermont would take up this matter and 

 give it a thoi ough ventilation. 



Uncle John. 



Charlotte, Vt., 1869. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 IN SEARCH OP A FARM. 



Well, farmer Roods, I have been for years 

 following this slavish life of a mechanic, — go- 

 ing and coming at the sound of a bell, and 

 having saved a few dollars, I want to try a 

 farm and take comfort in my old age. 



That is very singular, Mr. Berry. The 

 fact is, when farmers get to your age they 

 want to sell their farms and take comfort in 

 villages ; but you are just ready to buy. 



The truth is, friend Roods, I think there is 

 no invc' tment as safe as real estate. No fire 

 can burn, and no man can steal such property. 



The farmers don't b-^lieve it, for they lend 

 their money to merchants and to banks or cor- 

 porations, so that others can manage it for 

 them; and the sons, seeing that their fathers 

 have no faith in their business, invest their 

 talents where their sires invest their money. 



Well, Mr. Roods, do you know of a farm 

 for sale ? 



Certainly, Mr. Berry. Nearly every farm 

 in my neighborhood can be bought ; and those 

 who most desire to sell will selt cheapest. 



What are some of the prices asked? 



There is the Smith place, at $25 per acre ; 

 but the soil is somewhat run out, the walls 

 and fences down, and buildings poor. Then 

 there is widow Brown's farm, at $100 per 

 acre ; ii good condition and very productive. 



It seems to me, Mr. Roods, that 1 had best 

 take the cheapest place. 



If that is so, you will surely take the Brown 

 farm. 



Why, I understood you to say that was 

 $100 per acre, while the other was only $25. 



Very true ; but I assure you that in farm 

 ing there is nothing to be valued higher than 

 a productive soil. Where can you get fertil- 

 izers to enrich the poor land ? Most commt r- 

 cial manures are from fifty to eighty dollars 

 per ton, and stable manures cannot be ob- 

 tained at pleasure : and while you are experi- 

 menting with a few acres, your grass land and 

 pahture is almost unproductive. On the Brown 

 farm, however blunderingly you may go to 

 work on your tillage land, your grass will 

 yield bountifully, and the tillage is already in 

 so good heart that a slight application of gu- 

 ano or superphosphate would give a start to 



crops that the soil would sustain in a contin- 

 uous growth, so that every acre cultivated will 

 pay for itself the first year, and the other land 

 will give a good interest on the money in- 

 vested. 



I am not convinced, Mr. Roods. There is 

 a great difference in the price of these farms, 

 and Mr. Tucker bought a farm near Peter's 

 Hill for $20 per acre. He just repaired the 

 walls, painted the house, hung a few gates, 

 white-washed the barn, and sold the farm so 

 as to double his money. 



That may be, Mr. Berry ; but there is a 

 great difference between improving a farm to 

 sell and improving one for a home to get a 

 living from. That farm of which jou speak 

 would not produce double the crops at the 

 double price. INIy advice to a farmer would 

 be, get your soil fertile as quick as possible, 

 and the good crops will pay for good buildings 

 and good fences. We farmers have an idea 

 that the crops are what we work fof, w hat we 

 eat, and what we sell ; and on these New 

 England farms, if the soil becomes exhausted, 

 a little guano or bone dust will not make a 

 rich soil, no more than a pint of milk will 

 make a pail of water into butter. 



Well, Mr. Roods, 1 will look at the farms 

 you mention ; and the ideas you have advanced 

 will be considered. j. 



Irasburg, Vt., 1869. 



THE HAYING SEASON. 



The season for cutting and curing the grass 

 crop having come round again, we have a few 

 remarks to make and some advice to give, 

 which may be of service to firmer friends. In 

 the first place we advise to begin the work of 

 cutting grass early. This we especially re- 

 commend, if the hay is to be fed to milch cows 

 during the winter. But few farmers are cor- 

 rectly informed in regard to the great value 

 of early cut hay as milk-producing food. We 

 made an experiment the past season which 

 proved its high value conclusively. One acre 

 of grass, a mixture of red-top and clover, was 

 cut the I9th day of June, cured in two davs, 

 taken to the barn, and st.tied upon a scaffold 

 by itself. On the first of March we put our 

 herd of ten milch cows upon this hay, and al- 

 most immediately the increase in the fiow of 

 milk amounted to ten quarts per day. The 

 hay fed to them up to the first of March was 

 of the same vari<'ty, grown upon the same 

 kind of soil, but it was cut in July, from ilie 

 middle to he last of the month. No more of 

 the early-cut hay was consumed ; it spent as 

 well, lasted as long as the later cut. It was 

 fresh, and full of the rich, succulent j'lices, 

 dry, but peifectly soluble. The money value 

 of the product from this hay, fed to ten cows, 

 was greater by nearly one dollar each day, 

 than that from the later cut if hay is cut 

 early, a good second crop is almo.-t certain to 

 be secured, and this adds greatly in keeping 



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