214 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



It has proved the greatest post on this continent, 

 with perhaps the exception of the weevil. 



That tlic recent appearance of depredating insects 

 is to be attributed to a new creation, or the sponta- 

 neous production of existence, would be unphilosoph- 

 ical to admit ; yet there is a mystery attached to 

 their sudden ingress into our fields and gardens. 

 They m;iy have existed as rare specimens, and of 

 dillicult propagation, until civilization and luxury 

 introduced the i)roi>er pabuliun for their existence and 

 multiplication. — Selected, 



BUSHES AROUND CULTIVATED LANDS. 



It is a very common thing, in some sections, to see 

 the borders and corners of fields cultivated in cereals, 

 and in grass, overrun with bushes. This is a bad 

 practice, and no correct farmer will allow it to exist. 

 The tendency of most bushes is to extend their roots, 

 and send up shoots at a greater remove from the 

 parent stock every year, and thus ultimately to over- 

 reach upon and occupy the field. A rod or so of 

 good fertile land around a large field is of no small 

 value, and should be cultivated, and made to produce 

 something of value to the owner, instead of being a 

 disgrace and an expense to him. When these occu- 

 pants have been permitted to stand for several years, 

 extending their roots, and acquiring annually new 

 size and energy, they become formidable tenants, 

 and most farmers contemplate their removal as a task 

 too onerous and expensive to be attempted. But the 

 best way is to cut them do^^•n close to the roots, 

 and having removed or carefully biirnt the tops, beat 

 off, as fast as they appear, every sucker the roots put 

 forth. This, in a short time, will utterly annihilate 

 them, and the soil be cleansed for the action and 

 amelioration of the plough. Old fields are often 

 defaced by clumps of bushes in the open sections — 

 generally around stumps or ledges, or heaps of stones. 

 After attaining a size too large for the scythe, they 

 are generally neglected, and permitted to occupy the 

 soil, to the exclusion of profitable vegetation, with- 

 out any attempt whatever to coerce or arrest their 

 growth. No correct farmer will permit the existence 

 of these evils. A COUNTY FARMER. 



— Gerniantoion Telegraph, 



TEMPORARY SHEDS IN PASTURES. 



It is not often the case that we find any accommo- 

 dations for shelter provided for animals while con- 

 fined in pasture lands ; although such an arrange- 

 ment appears to be indispensable to the comfort and 

 health of most animals during a part of the year, 

 and especially during the cool and bleak weather of 

 the spring and autumnal months. Temporary sheds, 

 which are erected at slight expense, conveniently 

 situated, and supplied with litter, afford ample pro- 

 tection, and are always resorted to whenever the 

 weather is inclement, or too cold or wet for the ani- 

 mals to remain comfortably in the open air, especially 

 at night. Sheep, in an especial manner, arc greatly 

 benefited by this system of protection, as no animal 

 experiences greater inconvenience from wet, and par- 

 ticularly from drenching rains, which saturate their 

 fleeces, produce chills, and often eventuate in un- 

 pleasant, if not fatal diseases. My method of erect- 

 ing such structures is, to insert four posts deeply in 

 the soil, at the four angles of a parallelogram, twenty 

 by fifteen feet ; those on the front rising to the height 

 of nine feet from the surface of the ground, and 

 those on the back, five. This gives slope enough, and 

 the animals can stand erect in the back part without 

 interfering with the roof. No floor is necessary, as I 



keep the surface of the ground constantly covered 

 witli some absorbent matter, such as loam, rotten 

 wood, chip manure, leaves, or rushes, to take up the 

 urine, and thus become manure. Gypsum is occa- 

 sionally sprinkledgi^ver the bedding to fix the am- 

 monia, and thus contribute to render the material 

 more efficient as a fertilizer of the soil. The wall- 

 ing up and roofing is accomplished with boards 

 lapped at the edges, and securely nailed. In the in- 

 terior, at proper distanc&s, there are boxes secured to 

 the walls for salt, salt and ashes, and provender. In 

 order that the animals may have free access at all 

 times to the shed, I have the front open to the height 

 of six feet, and secure proj^er ventilation by opening 

 several small holes in the ends and rear, which I pro- 

 vide with sliding shutters, so that in rainy weather 

 they can be securelj- closed. 



I have found that animals accommodated in this 

 way are fain to resort to their sheds nightly, except 

 during that part of the season Avhen the warmth or 

 heat of the weather renders it more comfortable to 

 remain in the open air. The manure made in this 

 manner by means of economizing the urine and 

 solid excrements thro\igh the agency of the absorb- 

 ent stratum and mineral fixers, more than compen- 

 sates for all the trouble and expense involved in the 

 erection of the sheds, to say nothing of the superior 

 thrift and healthiness of animals thus treated, over 

 those which are neglected and exposed. If the pas- 

 ture is large, or the number of animals kept in it 

 great, the number of sheds must be in proportion to 

 the shelter required. For sheep, lower sheds are 

 desirable — so constructed as to prevent other ani- 

 mals from entering. Where the pasture adjoins the 

 barn-A^ard, sheds are not so essential, as the animals 

 will come home for protection when the weather is 

 cold or wet. 



A MONTGOMERY CO. FARMER. 

 — Germantown Telegraph. 



THE FARMER'S LIFE. 



William Gilmore Simms, in his " Father Abbott, 

 or the Home Tourist," thus beautifully represents 

 the life of the farmer : — 



"The principles of agriculture were simple, ex- 

 ceedingly. That they might be so, God himself Avas 

 the great first Planter. He wrote his laws, visibly, 

 in the brightest, and loveliest, and most intelligible 

 characters every where, irpon the broad bosom of the 

 liberal earth ; in the greenest leaves, in delicate 

 fruits, in beguiling and balmy flowers ! But he does 

 not content himself with this alone. He bestows 

 the heritage along with the example. He prepares 

 the garden and the home, before he creates the being 

 who is to possess them. He fills them with all those 

 objects of sense and sentiment which are to supply 

 his moral and physical necessities. Birds sing in the 

 boughs above him, odors blossom in the air, and 

 fruits and flowers cover the earth Avith a glory to 

 Avhich that of Solomon in all his magnificence was 

 vain and valueless. To his hand we owe these fair 

 groves, those tall ranks of majestic trees, these deep 

 forests, these broad plains covered with verdure, and 

 these mighty arteries of flood and river, which Avind 

 among them, beautifying the loveliest inequalities, 

 and irrigating themSvith seasonable fertilization. 

 Thus did the Almighty Planter dedicate the great 

 plantation to the uses of that various and Avondrous 

 family Avhich was to follow. His home prepared — 

 supplied with all resources, adorned Avith every 

 variety of fruit and floAver, and checked Avith abun- 

 dance — man is conducted within its present limits, 

 and ordained its cultivator under the very eye and 

 sanction of Heaven, The angels of heaven descend 



