182 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECEMBER 10, 183tJ. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DEC. 19, 1832. 



Profit and Expenses of Farming, Sfc. The profit 

 of farming greatly tlepciKls on the pcouomical 

 management of working cattle, witli the imple- 

 ments immediately connected witli them. An ac- 

 count shoidd be opened for teams, and charged 

 with the cost of the horses and working cattle ; 

 also the wagons, carts, ploughs, and other instru- 

 ments connected with them ; likewise shoeing, and 

 the grain, roots, hay, &c. consumed by tlicni ; and 

 at the end of the year allowing a proper per centage, 

 or premium, for the risk of their lives, the balance 

 may be struck. Perhaps less than five per cent, 

 which seems to be the usual premium, would 

 cover tliis risk on all kinds of live stock, if a full 

 supply of nutritive matter be provided for them, 

 and proper care be taken of them. A sum equal 

 to such depreciation of tlieir value as may arise 

 either from age or accident, should also be charged : 

 likewise the annual wear and tear of carts, ploughs, 

 and other instruments connected whh the use of 

 the teams, together with an average interest on 

 the account, which beuig previously credited with 

 the number of days, the horses apd o.wn may 

 have happened to work during the hrear, will de- 

 termine the cost of a day's work d^ue by one or 

 more of them. The farmer may be assured that 

 unless np more working cattle be kept than are ab- 

 solutely necessary, and great economy be practiced 

 in the management of them, and the implements 

 connected with them, the price of a dajIPs work 

 done by one or more of tlie horses or oxeiiwill so 

 far exceed credibility with those who havdnot in- 

 vestigated this important subject, that I wll omit 

 making the probable estimate, lest it might )e sup- 

 posed that it was not founded on facts that ictual- 

 ly exist when the genuine principles of run econ- 

 omy are not attended to. 



An aecoimt similar to that for the horKs and 

 working cattle, will determine the expenke and 

 cost of the animals reared or bought for salel The 

 account of teams for the ensuing year will of lourse 

 be charged whh the present actual value of the 

 horses and oxen, together with the present Ictual 

 value of the implements connected witli thert. 



The cxp«|»sc*of each crop will be deteriiined 

 by charging it with the cost of cultivation) &c. 

 Also an average interest on the capital employed 

 in it, together witli a rent for the ground, eqial to 

 an annual interest, on the sum it cost per £ ere : 

 this should be estimated by adding to the first cost 

 of farm, the cost of the necessary improvenjents 

 made to place the buildings, fences, &c. In a 

 proper condition for farming. But after the farm 

 has been put into proper order, an account should 

 k be opened for tlie general expenses of it, such as 

 m keeping the buildings, fences, &c. in order, or 

 such other charges as cannot be readily placed to 

 the debt of any particular crop, &c. and after 



balance should be carried to the account of profit 

 and loss, at the end of the year. The whole of 

 the grass grounds, for any one year, will require 

 but one account, be the fields many or few. An 

 account should always be opened for such imple- 

 ments of husbandry as are not connected with tlie 

 teams, and their separate costs and repairs charged 

 to it ; also an annual average interest on the 

 amount ; likewise tlie wear and tear of the imple- 

 ments. After this has been done, and credit given 

 for the actual value of the implements on hand, 

 the balance should be carried to the account of 

 profit and loss. 



»4 good method of using Straw. It is well known 

 th»t cattle prefer short straw to that which is long. 

 It is, therefore, an excellent practice to cut straw 

 almost as short as oats, and to induce the horses 

 to eat it, mix some oats or barley among it. 



Sheep. Every year a flock of shee]> should be 

 examined, in order to find out such as begin to 

 grow old, and ought to be turned off for fattening ; 

 as they require particular management, and should 

 be put in a flock by themselves. Sheep may be 

 fattened in winter, but it is con.monly too expen- 

 sive, as they require a good deal of richer food than 

 hay. When sheep are once become fat, they 

 should be killed ; for it is said they cannot be 

 made fat a second time. The teeth of ewes begin 

 to decay at five, those of weathers at seven, and 

 those of rams not till eiiiht. 



Preserving Meat in Snow. Meat that is killed 

 in tlie early part of winter, may be kept, if buried 

 in snow, until spring. This is an excellent 

 method of preserving fresh and good, the carcases 

 of turkeys, and other fowls. 



Set an open cask in a cold place ; put snow 

 and pieces of meat alternately. Let not the pieces 

 touch each other, nor the sides of the cask. The 

 meat will neither freeze grow dry, nor be discolor- 

 ed ; but be good the last of March. The surfaces 

 of the pieces should be a little frozen before the\ 

 are put into the snow, that the juice of the meat 

 may not dissolve the snow. The cask should be 

 placed in the coldest part of the house, or in an 

 out-house. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 Mr. Fessenden, — Will you, or any of your 

 correspondents, be so good as to inform the sub- 

 scriber through the medium of the New England 

 Farmer, the size to which the Paradise apple 

 will grow, the quality of its fruit, and whether 

 their stocks are good for grafting as standards. 



A CONSTANT READER OF TOUR PAPER. 



Dec. 6, 1832. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NEW ENGLjVND pork. 



Mr. Fessenden, — Mr. Asa Littlefield, of Fra- 

 mingham, slaughtered a hog last week, that weigh- 

 ed when dressed 678 lbs. 



., , ---1, — It was weighed at the scales of Wheeler & 



charging an aimual average on this account, the Stone, and sold to Sylvanus Phipps, of Framing- 



hara, the hog was between eighteen and nineteen 

 momlis old. The lovers of fat pork arc invited 

 to call and see so fair a specimen of New England 

 production. Yours, W. B. 



iDec. 10, 1832. 



/ From the Genesee Fanner. 



1 FATTENING HOGS ON APPLES. 



JA. friend of mine had two acres of well-grown 

 traes of natural fruit, chiefly sour. He was going 

 tojcut it down, alleging that his grafted orchard 

 afftrded suflicient fruit. I told hitn my theory. 

 ABont the last of July he put in 25 hogs, 13 of 

 wBich were of pretty good size, the others shoats 

 anj pigs. The lot had on it little or no grass. No 

 s\clp or feed was given. At the end of two months 

 and a half the hogs were in fine order, and one of 

 thani being killed the meat was esteemed delicious. 

 Mi friend has given uj) cutting down his trees. 



I wish some good fiirmer, who has sweet apples 

 to spare, would put up four pigs of the same litter 

 in two pens, two in each pen ; that he would weigh 

 and set down the weight of each ; that he would 

 gine two of them corn and water, and two of them 

 ripe sweet apples luid water, and notlimg else ; that 

 hewould measure and keep an account of both 

 the apples and the corn fed to them ; that after a 

 prbpir cour.se of feeding he would kill all four, 

 wiigli and set down the weight, that he would 

 salt the meat and smoke it ; and that after having 

 it^ quality inspected, tasted and tried, he would 

 publish the whole. 



* From the Exeter News Letter. 



GREAT POTATO STORT. 



W'f. mentioned, a few weeks since, that Levi 

 Lant, Esq. of Hampton Falls, planted one potato 

 lastscason, which jjroduced 387 potatoes, making 

 two bushels ! Now this we tliought a pretty good 

 story — Init our friend Harriman, of the Haverhill 

 Iris, tells a better. Mr. George French, of Ando- 

 ver, has raised from a single potato 447, which 

 measured three bushels and one peck. We ac- 

 knowledge ourselves beat. 



From the Trotj Budget. 

 A HINT TO FARMERS. 



Mr. Kemble : Sir — I have known nuich dis- 

 tress averted by stripping the husks from the ear, 

 when the crop of corn had been touched with frost,. 

 so that the mould consequent upon frost was there- 

 by prevented, and a tolerable crop secured by the 

 ear becoming hard in that situation. I have 

 thought this hint to farmers might be useful, par- 

 ticidarly as the backward state of the crops of com 

 this year exposes it to early frosts of autumn. 



Philanthropist. 



From Elliot's North of Europe. 

 DIAMOND MILL. AT AMSTERDAM. 



The diamond mill is one of the most interesting 

 objects in Amsterdam. It is the property of a 

 Jew, whose son, a clever lad, obligingly conducted 

 us through the rooms, and explained the various 

 parts of the process of polishing diamonds. Four 

 liorses turn a wheel, setting in motion a number 

 of smaller wheels in the room above, whose cogs, 

 acting on circular metal plates, keep them in con- 

 tinued revolution. Pulverized diamond is placed 

 on these ; and the stcme to be polished, fastened 

 at the end of a ])iece of wood by means of an 

 amalgam of zinc and quicksilver, is submitted to 

 the friction of the adamantuie particles. This is 

 the only mode of actmg on diamond, which can 

 be ground and even cut, by particles of tlie same 



