Vol. X — No. 46. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



365 



It is my conviction, therefore, that on the ex- 

 tefidetl cultivation of Indian corn, carrots, and ruta 

 baga, tlie Essex farmer may lay the foundation of 

 a profitable husbandry. Of the cultivation of other 

 crops and particularly of the smaller grains, wheat, 

 barley and rye, I have not time to speak. In re- 

 spect to wheat, much of our land is unfavorable, 

 probably from a deficiency of lime ; and this might 

 be remedied by the application of lime to the soil, 

 either in a crude or composite state, as it exists, 

 for example, in the spent leaches of soap boilers. 

 The prejudice generally entertained, that the vi- 

 cinity of barberry bushes will occasion a blast of 

 the grain, deserves farther inquiry ; as I have for 

 the two last years, had sound crops of wheat di- 

 rectly in their neighborhood. 



2. I propose next to speak of the application' 

 of the produce of the farm. 



The raising of live stock cannot be pursued to 

 any great extent by the Essex farmer. The scan- 

 tiness of our pastures forbids it. Yet in a small 

 degree, by producing large crops of succulent veg- 

 etables, by a careful saving of his corn-fodder and 

 straw, and by sending bis young animals to anoth- 

 er part of the country for pasture in summer, he 

 may at least keep his stock good and often go be- 

 yond this with advantage. Every farmer should 

 have young stock sufficient to consume his coarse 

 fodder ; and he can often purciiase stock brought 

 from the interior at a low rate, the growth of 

 which in this way will be more than equivalent 

 for their feed. 



The dairy is another object with the Essex farm- 

 er. Butter and cheese always find a ready mar- 

 ket in the towns and villages, which are accessible 

 to every part of the county. It should be an ob- 

 ject with him to extend this.part of his husbandry 

 as much as possible, and to obtain a milking stock 

 of the best qualities. This requires that his ani- 

 mals should be well kept. The produce of a cow 

 in the summer will be materially affected by the 

 manner in which she has been kept in the winter ; 

 and our scanty pastures may be greatly assisted by 

 clearing up, draining, and the application of ashes 

 to the surface ; besides which we should find great 

 advantage in the cultivation of green summer feed 

 for our cows, such as Indian corn sown for this 

 purpose, and especially lucerne, which bids fair 

 to become a valuable auxiliary to our dairy hus- 

 bandry. 



Essex county has the honor of having pos- 

 sessed some cows, whose produce has scarcely 

 been exceeded ; but we are certainly deficient in 

 attention to the good quality of our milking stock, 

 and, from ignorance or indolence, keep animals 

 which are comparatively worthless. In a com- 

 parison of the quality of the milk of two of my own 

 cows, in order to ascertain the proportion of cream 

 given by each, I found in milk taken on the same 

 day and in the same quantity, and allowed to stand 

 in the same place for the satne length of time, an 

 extraordinai-y difference, the milk of one giving 

 only two tenths of an inch of cream and the other 

 giving an inch and three tenths ; and yet this in- 

 ferior cow was most promising in appearance, and 

 the most expensive cow in the yard. 



Essex county has one small dairy, which pre- 

 sents a fine example of successful management in 

 this branch of husbandry, not exceeded by any 

 within my inquiries. I refer to the dairy of Mr 

 Jesse Curtis, of Marblehead, all of native cows and 

 most of them raised by himself. 



In 1824, from (il*cows, he made 73'2 lbs. of butter. 

 182.5, " 7 " 880 



182G, « G « 74,1 " 



1827, « Cf " 83(1 



1828, " 8 " 1272 " 

 182!), " 7 " 117.5 



1830, " G " lO'JO lbs. 13 ozs. 



Which last yield is at the rate of one hundred and 

 eightyone pounds to a cow, and this without any 

 extra feed. 



The next mode of consuming your produce on 

 tlie place is by stall feeding sheep, to be put up in 

 autumn and turned oft" to the butcher in the spring. 

 My own experiments in this way, though conduct- 

 ed under many disadvantages, have been favorable 

 to its continuance, since it has furnished a home 

 market for my produce, at the current rates, with- 

 out the trouble and loss of carrying it from the 

 farm ; and the manure has been an equivalent for 

 the attendance. To stock of this description, car 

 rots, ruta baga and common turnips are a valuable 

 feed, and for this purpose may be raised to advan- 

 tage. Mutton fattened in the immediate vicinity, 

 certainly deserves and will command the prefer- 

 ence with the butchers, over that which is driven 

 a great distance or which is brought down in a 

 half-frozen state. 



Pork is another article, which, even at the pres 

 ent low prices, may, I believe, be fattened without 

 loss and perhaps to a very small profit ; at least, it 

 furnishes a market for our produce without the 

 trouble and expense of carrying it fiom the farm, 

 and it leaves a valuable manure for its benefit. I 

 need not say anything of the important differences 

 in the breeds of swine. Some will scarcely repay 

 the trouble of attendance, while from an im()roved 

 stock I have had a gain for weeks and months to- 

 gether, of two pounds, two and a quarter pounds, 

 three pounds, and three and a half pounds, per 

 day. Cooked food for swine is greatly to be pre- 

 ferred to raw food ; Indian meal is more fattening 

 than any other feed ; the growth of the first year 

 is a much greater gain than that of any subsequent 

 period ; and I believe it is best to keep them from 

 the first not merely in a growing but in as fat a 

 state as we can get them. 



In regard to the fattening of beef animals, my 

 experience has been little and that by no means 

 encouraging. In a single experiment, where an 

 exact account was kept, it was attended with a 

 great loss, as in general the profits in such cases 

 go to the butcher. I have wished to make further 

 trials ; and I should express the hope, that a Soci- 

 ety distinguished for the judicious selection of its 

 subjects of premium, will deem it of particular 

 importance to encourage various and exact exper- 

 iments, to determine what may be profitably done 

 in this way, and to devise other successful modes 

 of consuming the produce of a farm, so that what 

 is carried away may not impoverish it. 



Next to the importance of cooking food for 

 swine, and I believe it would be found of almost 

 equal advantage for all other animals, is the cutting 

 up of all long feed for neat cattle and horses. My 

 own experience has been considerable in this way, 

 and always strongly in its favor; so has that of 

 many other persons within my knowledge ; but I 

 shall refer you only to the testimony of a Mr Phil- 

 lips, of Pennsylvania. He says, " I have fixed a 

 moveable shaft upon the top of my cider mill, on 

 which is a large drum, and with another small 



' One cow fjr half the season. 



drum connected by a strap, the chaft-cutter is 

 worked by one horse, the fodder is cut of any size 

 from one quarter to an inch long and with ease, 

 from 120 to 140 bushels an hour are turned out, 

 one boy only attending the machine. Since I have 

 used fodder thus ])repared, I have kept from twen- 

 tysixto thirtyfive headof cattle, besides horses and 

 sheep, during the wiiiter, and have used at least 

 ten loads of hay less than when I kept only twelve. 

 This spring (1824) my cattle were in better order 

 than usual."* 



I owe an apology to the Society for detailing 

 my own experience, and so often speaking in the 

 first person. It would be affectation in me to pre- 

 tend ignorance of an art in which I have been 

 more or less interested and occupied for many 

 years, and with a strong feeling of its great and 

 essential importance to human comfort and good 

 morals ; but I am not unaware that I stand in the 

 presence of many, of much more experience and 

 knowledge than myself; and in speaking of what 

 I have done, I am prompted by a feeling of the 

 duty of every farmer to communicate to his breth- 

 ren the results of his own experiments, whether 

 favorable or otherwise, as the best means of ad- 

 vancing an art, where facts and experience are 

 the safest instructers. 



There were other topics upon which it was my 

 wish to have remarked ; but I fear I have already 

 trespassed too nmch upon your patience. Agri- 

 culture cannot be looked to as a source of wealth ; 

 but money is far from being one of the greatest 

 goods of life. Its profits, under the most favored 

 circumstances, must be small and can only be se- 

 cured by hard labor, persevering industry, and ex- 

 treme frugality. Yet the situation of every sober 

 and diligent farmer in our country, may always be 

 one of substantial independence. A comfortable 

 dwelling, a sufficiency of wholesome food and 

 good clothing, the means of rearing a family, the 

 opportunity of procuring the best education for his 

 children, the power of gradually improving hit 

 property and condition, and of accumulating some 

 humble resources against the time of old age and 

 sickness ; and above all, the quiet and comforts 

 and endearments of home, and the perfect enjoy- 

 ment of his religious rights and privileges ; are 

 blessings as much within the reach of the indus- 

 trious and honest farmer in New England, as of 

 the richest man in the world, and are sufKcient to 

 satisfy any but an inordinate avarice and ambition. 

 The fanner's gains are honest gains. What he 

 gets, he gets not at the expense of suffering or loss 

 to others, but as the lawful fruits of his own in 

 dustry and toil. lie above all others should be a 

 religious man ; for the fruits which he gathers 

 seem to be poured at once into his lap from the 

 divine bounty ; and the various domestic animals 

 which depend on his care and are to be daily fed 

 from his hand, remind him that he is the almoner 

 of a merciful and kind Providence. Every oper- 

 ation of husbandry, with all its beautiful and mi- 

 raculous results, admonishes the thoughtful mind 

 of that unseen hut omnipresent and beneficent 

 agency on which all creatures subsist, and which 

 is everywhere difiusing life and happiness and 

 good. The flowers of the field in their splendor 



* Memoirs of N. Y. Agriculture, vol. iii. page 374, — 

 [I have myself tried various cutting machines; where 

 much work is to be done, I can strongly recommend the 

 machines invented and patented by Jonathan Kastman, of 

 Baltimore, which are now made in Boston, as the best 

 within my knowledge.] 



