62 



NEW ENGLAND FAUMER, 



September 5, 1832. 



Boston, Wednesday Evening, September 5, 1832. 



FARMER'S WORK FOR SEPTEMBER. 



Fatting Beasts. — Yon must now be very atten- 

 tive to the state of your fatting beasts, and the re- 

 mainder of their food ; see therefore, that the cat- 

 tle do not stop gaining flesh, in consequence of 

 being put on a short allowance. A beast that is 

 somewhat tnore than half fatted becomes an ani- 

 mal of iiict taste, and will not eat such food as 

 lean creatures would jump at, and devour with a 

 canine apjietite. If an ox which has become pret- 

 ty well under way, as respects his qualifications 

 for the slaughter-house, is turned into a dry or 

 short pasture, and obliged to depend entirely on 

 grazing for a livelihood, he will suffer a collapse 

 as it were, and will lose in a few days, more than 

 he has gained in weeks of full feeding. BIr Ar- 

 thur Young says, " it is excellent management in 

 such case to have August sown cabbages now 

 ready for the fat beasts, and to carry them on to 

 Christmas : grass declines after this month ; and 

 ifrouen is freely turned into in September, twenty 

 to one but the ewes and lambs will be distressed 

 in March and .\pril: whatever giass from mowing 

 land is now used on the farm, will pay far better 

 by sheep than by feeding at present." 



The same writer saj s, " in draw ing off a lot or 

 lots of cattle for sale, it is common to sell the fat- 

 test, and keep on the ill-doing ones for further ex- 

 ertions. If the food provided be not costly, this 

 to a certain degree is admissible ; but if the beasts 

 are for cake or corn, or the quantity of other food 

 rather limited, it is very questionable conduct. 1 

 would not give expensive food to stock which 

 have proved themselves unthrifty, but on the con- 

 trary, draw off for this purpose the most thriving 

 ones in the lot : the contrary conduct has often 

 been the reason why all winter-fatting has been 

 to heavily condemned. The moment that a graz- 

 ier is convinced that he has a bea^t that is an ill- 

 doer, the first loss is the best, and he should get 

 rid of him as soon as he can." 



COWS. 



Mr Young says, " The dairy of cows must have 

 plenty of grass throughout this mouth, or their 

 milk will be very apt to fail. Luceri)e, mown 

 green, and given them in a yard, is the njost 

 profitable way of feeding: the product is so reg- 

 ular, that it is an easy matter to proportion the 

 dairy to the plantation, and never be under a want 

 of food : for lucerne, mown every day regularly, 

 will carry them into October ; and although some 

 persons have asserted that cows will not give so 

 much milk thus managed, as when they range at 

 large, and feed how and where they will, it is not 

 a matter of inquiry ; because if they give less, 

 the quantity will pay more clear profit, than more 

 in the other case : there may be some inferiority ; 

 but the cows are kept on so small a quantity of 

 land, that there remains no comparison between 

 the methods for profit. 



" But however doubtful this matter might once 

 have been, the experiment of the cows kept at 

 Lewes, by Mr William Cramp has decided it be- 

 yond all question: a produce of from 50 lbs. to 

 70 lbs. per cow, should forever put to silence the 

 silly objections which have been made to this 

 practice, and ought most effectually to convince 

 us, that the common system universal in the 



kingdom, is on comparison with that of confine- 

 ment, a barbarous practice." 



Notwithstanding the above authority we do not 

 believe that soiling cows or other cattle, can in 

 this country be j)ut in practice to any considera- 

 ble extent with beneficial results. Barlholomevv' 

 Rudd, an eminent English agriculturist, in a let- 

 ler to John Hare Powel, Esq. says, " you read 

 much in our English publications of the expedi- 

 ency of soiling cattle in the house during the 

 whole of the year. I do not approve of tliis prac- 

 tice, for it is surely an unnatural one, as air and 

 exercise, and the selection of their own food, must 

 benefit cattle, as other animals are benefitted by 

 them. I can say from aclu&\ erpenence of the two 

 systems, that cattle thrive much better in the fields 

 during the period from the middle of May tolhc 

 middle of Noveitfljer, than they do when confined 

 inahou.se. Soiling cattle is very little jiractised 

 in England." 



The fact is, that truth in this case, as in many 

 others, lies between the disputants. If by soiling 

 is njeant confining cattle to a small space, under 

 cover or not, in summer as well as winter, we 

 doubt whether it can be profitably put iti practice 

 in the United States to a great extent, because la- 

 bor-saving is more of an object than land-saving. 

 But, on most or all fainis under correct manage- 

 ment, a part of the crops is cut green, for workiog 

 horses and oxen, and sometimes for milk-cows, as 

 well as to aid in fattening cattle. But all animals 

 which it is profitable to keep at all should be al- 

 lowed exercise in o|>en air, and if their pasture is 

 short of additional food of cut grass, cabhage.a, strip- 

 piiigs of mangold wurtzel, pumpkins, &c, itc, 

 should be given them without confining them with- 

 in too narrow bounds. Young animals require 

 exercise in the open air, and probably will not 

 thrive so well in houses or fold-yards, during the 

 summer as in j)astures; and though by confining 

 them there is a great saving of food, the long, 

 woody and comparatively naked stems of full 

 grown plants, cut with a scythe or sickle may be 

 of less value for animals than a smaller weight of 

 herbage taken in jjastmage. Milk cows, however, 

 are so impatient of heat and insectsthat soiling or 

 giving them food in a yard, stable or stall, at lea.'it 

 for part of the day in warm as well as wet and cold 

 weather should be more generally adopted. There 

 is, moreover, a great convenience in having working 

 cattle and horses.always at band ; besides as la- 

 boring stock need no extra exercise, it is better to 

 have their food cut and brought to them, than that 

 they should be forced to ramble over a great ex- 

 tent of pasture to gather the food necessary for 

 their subsistence. 



ASPECT AND PROSPECTS OF THE 



SEASON. 

 From all the information we can obtain we are 

 induced to believe that the present season will 

 prove much more favorable than was anticipated 

 from the coldness and backwardness of spring. 

 In this quarter of the country corn is backward, 

 but has a healthy appearance, and if warm weath- 

 er should hold out two or three weeks longer, we 

 shall still be favored with a bountiful crop. Rye 

 and other kinds of grain have afforded raiddlin 

 crops of good quality. Hay not so bulky as last 

 year, but, in general, we believe, well gathered and 

 of a good quality. We have not suffered by 

 droiiglit to any considerable extent. Potatoes ap- 

 pear to be good and abundant. Fruits are not so 



plentiful and to our taste not so delicious as usuad 

 The season ])erhaps has not been warm enough to 

 afford apples, pears, &c, their usual allowance of 

 saccharine matter. 



The Montreal Courant gives the following ex- 

 tract from a report, |)re6pnted to theMonireal Dis- 

 irict Agricultural Society, by the Inspectors of 

 Growing Crops. The notice applies to the latter 

 end of July, the period at which the observations 

 were made. 



"Wheat with favorable weather will generally 

 prove a full average croj). In many places the 

 diliciency in the furrows and on the edge of the 

 ridscs is very considerable, owing to the cold last 

 spring, and the land not being properly water fur- 

 rowed. Barley, a good crop, but not sown to a 

 orcfit extent. Oats have a poor appearance iu 

 general, are late sown and very short in the straw, 

 but from the late rain may still be a full average 

 crop. Peas promise well, and will be u better 

 crop than they have been for the last three years. 

 Indian corn — with few exceptions, we have seen 

 none worth reporting, and we believe very little 

 will come to maturity. Potatoes, on soils that 

 were favorable, and where they have been plaoted 

 in time, have a good appearance, but we did not 

 pi rccive them to be extensively cultivated this 

 year, and they are a short crop. Turnips are very 

 little sown. Hay, on new meadows, good, but on 

 old meadows or high dry lands, a very light crop. 

 On the whole, however, the crops are better than 

 could have been anticipated from the late cold and 

 unfavorable spring, and, with goo<l favorable weath- 

 er, tiiay turn out more abundant than even their 

 present appearance would promise." 



The Montreal Herald states, that Indian com 

 may be stated an almost total fiulure. Owing to the 

 excessive heat and long drought, the crop of po- 

 tatoes is very varied : those planted in strong soil 

 show a great many blanks, am! are very dwarfish : 

 while those on light ground appear very promis- 

 ing. The pastures are very much improved by 

 the rains, but dairy produce continues very scarce. 



The Uuehec Mercury of Augu.st 12ih says "the 

 general appearance of the country iu the neigh- 

 borhood of this city has improved greatly during 

 the past week. The warm dry weather of the 

 last three days has set up the grain, which the 

 storm of Monday had laid down, and the hay 

 making has conmjenced with a fair prospect." 



The Genesee Farmer of the 25th ult. states as 

 follows: "It is not often that we hear jieople com- 

 plaining that Providence has been too liberal in be- 

 stowing upon them the good things of this world, 

 yet many do so now. Perhaps there never was a 

 more general crop of garden and orchard fruits in 

 this section of the country than there is this seas- 

 on ; and yet those who have watched their growth 

 with care, and antici[)ated many a luxurious repast 

 for themselves and friends, now hardly dare to 

 taste the most delicate production of their gardenSj 

 This is what Solomon would call vexation of 

 spirit. We were walking the oilier day in a gen- 

 tleman's garden, and admiring the growth of his 

 apricot trees, when he observed they had produced 

 a fine crop of fruit this season, but that he had 

 them collected and flung to the hogs, to prevent 

 his children eating them. Should the Cholera 

 continue until the general crop of peaches ripens^ 

 we fear that many will not have control enough 

 over their appetites to abstain entirely from them, 

 whatever may be the consequence." 



We are sorry that any person should be pre- 



