450 



NEW ENGLAND FARiMER. 



Oct. 





PARMINQ IN VEBMOMT. 



UR late journey 

 into a portion 

 of the -western 

 part of the 

 State of Ver- 

 mont, afforded 

 ( 1'"'^ iM\''7£i^y opportunity fo. 

 \y?-^^i-'W^'^^ jI^^^ many conversa- 

 i- tions with thrif- 

 ^ tv and suhstan- 

 " ( tial farmers, as 

 ^^ well as for ob- 

 servations, and 

 comparisons of 

 pracitces among far 

 mers there with those 

 ot farmers in different 

 of JNew England. The 

 methods of doing similar kinds 

 of work, do not probably vary 

 much in any of these States. The same imple- 

 ments are used in all the main items of farm 

 work ; ploughs and harrows of various con 

 struetion ; mowing machines, — in this region 

 nearly all of the Buckeye pattern, — tedders, 

 horse rakes, &c. Some of the smaller imple- 

 ments, such as weeders of various kinds, drill- 

 ing machines and se«d sowers, are not yet so 

 common as would be prohtable among these 

 people. The horse rakes we saw were not 

 generally so strong and perfect as they should 

 be, and es-pecially where such large crops of 

 hay are to be harvested. None of them 

 seemed capable of performing the work so 

 rapidly or so well as do several of other pat- 

 terns. The small, hand rake was not ob- 

 served in any field we visited, nor did there 

 seem much need of it. The drag, or "loafer" 

 rake, was common. 



The mode of curing hay in all the region 

 under observation, was somewhat different from 

 that psacticed in Massachusetts. It is lut bv 

 a machine soon afct r the dew has dried off in 

 ihn morning, and Itft in the condition in which 

 it falls, until ten or eleven o'clock next day ; 

 it IS then raked into windrows by hor.-e power, 

 and '"hauled," as they term it, from imme- 

 diately after dinner, until evening. Most 

 of that which we saw was nearly or qui^e ripe, 

 and when taken to the barn had not that full, 

 delicious fragrance which grass cut in the 

 blossom and cured in the cock gives off. 



1 here were occasional fields with hay in the 

 cock, and a few cases where hay and wheat 

 were covered with caps. 



In the town of Whiting, we visited the farm 

 of Francis D. Douglas, Esq., and went 

 mostly over it, hut by Iwrse pown- ! It con- 

 tains 375 acres, and was purchased for $15,- 

 OUO. About 75 acres are in forest. Mo.-t of 

 the remainder is bounded on the east by Otrer 

 Creek, and stretching away west, — after leav- 

 ing the intervale, — terminates in pleasant un- 

 dulations of upland and slope that overlook 

 much of the atija'jent country. Seven or ei^ht 

 men, with ttams, were engaged in having, 

 and although there were no le-s than eleven 

 barns on the farm, some fifty to a hundred 

 tons of hay would be stacked in the field. 

 1 he proprietor estimated his crop this year at 

 two hundred and twenty-five tons, — and a sur- 

 plus left over last spring would bring up the 

 amount at the close of the baying season to 

 250 tons. Besides the hay crop, he had fields 

 of oats covering a large number of acrp.s, and, 

 if we recollect light, several acres cf wheat. 

 Winters 100 head of stock; raises horses, and 

 had in the pasture ore cf the finest four year 

 old colts we have recently seen. The family 

 was making 100 pounds cf butter per week, 

 together with some cheese. The crop of oats 

 last J ear, amounting to some ten or twelve 

 hundrtd bubhels, was sold for nearly seventy- 

 hve cents per bushel. 



As we passed over the farm, various im- 

 provements were pointed out, and among 

 them some examples in draining. Nearly all 

 the soil in this region has a large per ceutage 

 of clay, so that, fertile as it genercilly is, some 

 spots are nearly barren in the midst of this 

 fertility, or at most produce coarse and harsh 

 water grasses. These places were notice ible 

 in the midst of many a rich and extended field, 

 in most cases, these spots were narrow and 

 could be reclaimed by a single line of tile. 

 There are several reasons why these places 

 should be made fertile. They not only mar 

 the beauty of the surrounding field, but there 

 is so much waste land that miy be cheaply 

 made productive, and its loss makes a neces- 

 sity for reclaiming other and perhaps more 

 distant places. 



Mr. D. spoke of the number of barns on 

 his farm, stating that he found them there 

 when he purchased, some four jears ago. He 



