430 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Sept. 



For the JVew England Farmer. 

 RHODE ISLAND FARMING. 



The latter part of June is a favorable time 

 to view any country to jrain an opinion of its 

 fertility and of the skill of its farmers. 



It was my good fortune to pass through this 

 Island, June 23, and I venture to make u, few 

 notes. 



There are as excellent land and as intelli- 

 gent farmers here as cm be found in New 

 England ; and there are alt-o unproductive 

 acres and bungling management in some cases. 

 The fields were showing a fair burden of grass 

 and the clover was beginning to bend upon its 

 succulent stalk ; the pastures gave abundance 

 of feed ; the pears and peaches had begun to 

 assume their comely shapes; but apples have 

 blasted and dropped off from the thrifty old 

 trees that should produce abundantly, and in 

 some places the canker worm and caterpillar 

 had stripped the branches of their verdure, 

 leaving almost a wintry nakedness. 



There was one other blur in the beauty cf 

 the vegetation, that spreads from shore to 

 shore over this beautiful undulating Island, 

 and that was, the ox-eye daisy, that in many 

 fields almost obscured the emerald tints by 

 the abundance of its glaring white blossoms. 

 It may be a comely flower to the eye of the 

 botanist, but to a farmer who sees beauty in 

 utility, it is sad to see so worthies asweed ma- 

 turing its seeds in such unlimited abundance. 

 I am told that it was not known here until 

 within ten years, and now but few farms are 

 free fiom it. As we look across the water to 

 the main land, the sloping fields in Tiverton 

 and Little Comptom are filled with it. How 

 can it be subdued? 



I called Pt the Ogden farm, and saw soiie- 

 thing of the system of soiling practiced there 

 Twelve cows, thrt e bulls, two mares and colts 

 and some calves were at the barn, and the 

 noon-day meal of clover and timothy was be- 

 ing eaten with the greatest apparent relish. 

 The Jersey cows have improved in condition 

 since February. The drained land is sown 

 with grain that looks favorable for a large 

 yield of fodder for soiling or a good crop at 

 harvesting ; and present indications are that 

 the land will now yiehl a constant profit if 

 dressed with the manures that constantly accu- 

 mulate, and that Col. Waring has made a good 

 investment, if this draining cost no more than 

 one hundred dollars per acre. 



Along the east shore the inhabitants believe 

 they have the best land on the island, but the 

 farmers in other sections are equally preju- 

 diced in favor cf their own localities. 



There are gems of furms in all parts of the 

 Island, but on the east side the seventy-five 

 acre farm of Wm. M. Rogers, is not excelled 

 in thorough culture and productiveness. Some 

 of the management may have been more as a 

 relaxation from business than a profitable in- 

 vestment, yet the results have been generally 



satisfactory. A field of twelve acres of grass 

 has yielded three tons of hay per acre ; and 

 nine acres of oats have averaged eighty-three 

 bushels per acre. On this pleasant June day 

 there can be seen sixty sheep and lambs of the 

 South Down and Cotswold breeds in a pasture 

 of only nine acres, and at the same time such 

 an abundance of orchard g.ass, a foot high, 

 that one might infer that the grass is unpala- 

 table, or that there is too little stock. An- 

 other nine acres keep eight cows, and show 

 the same surplus of feed. The other side the 

 wall from the cow pasture is a beautiful field 

 of eight acres in corn, very even and thrifty, 

 and probably the best piece on the Island, of 

 its size. Several different kinds of fertilizers 

 were used, each of which shows a good effect. 

 Three ; cres of early potatoes, Sebec and 

 Goodrich, will be sent to market in July. 

 Several acres of Surprise oats, from excellent 

 seed, procured from Geo. A. Deitz, Cham- 

 bersburg. Pa., now two feet high, give pro- 

 mise of a large crop. Other lots are maturing 

 heavy growths of grass for hay. 'J he result 

 is, that more farming is done here on seventy- 

 five acn-s than on two hundred acres in some 

 parts of the country. 



Among purchased fertilizers, ashes are re- 

 garded with the most favor by Mr. Rogers. 

 He finds that a dressing upon newly seeded 

 grass land insures a good growth. He has 

 this summer bought 1000 bushels of leached 

 ashes at thirty cents per bushel, from Maine. 



The crowning glory of this beautiful home 

 is in the a rangeuient, the abundance and the 

 thrifciness of shade trees, hedges, flowers, 

 well trimmed turf and gravelled walks, on 

 the two acres of ground immediately about 

 the house. In the twelve years since Mr. 

 Rogers commenced these rural embellishments, 

 the trees have made a vigorous growth, and 

 are now from twenty to thirty feet high, mak- 

 ing a screen against the wind, and a home for 

 innumerable birds that fill the air with their 

 music. Here there is such a commingling of 

 (lowering shrubs, shade and fruit trees, that 

 the beauty of art and cultivation combines 

 with the seclusion of the natural grove. As 

 we look from the east windows the view is 

 quite extensive. Fields descend the gentle 

 slope to the shore of the arm of the bay that 

 divides the Island from the main land. This 

 bay is of such width here as to give a good 

 water view in connection with the ascending 

 swell of land on the opposite side. 



I have mentioned the number of cows, but 

 would add that two of them are Jersey, and 

 others are grades of the same blood. I saw 

 the churning of butter from one week's milk 

 of the half blood cow Cherry. It weighed 

 eight pounds thirteen and one-half ounces. 

 The full blood cow, Maggie, made twelve 

 pounds of butter in a week last October, but 

 has not been tested this spring. Topsy, three- 

 fourths Jersey, made four pounds nine ounces 

 butter in four days at one trial, and is now 



