NEW ENGIiAMI> FARMER. 



I'UBLISUKD EY GEO. C. 13ARRKTT, NO. ai, NORTH MARKKT STREET, (at the Agricultural VV^arehouse.)— T. G. FEStJENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XI. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1833. 



NO. 39. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the JVciu England Farmer. 

 SWINE. 



Mr. Editor, — I observe in your paper of the 

 20th of March, a request for information how to 

 prevent swine from devouring their young, 



their young. I 

 have heard my neighbors make complaints on this 

 subject this season — and believe others have been 

 induced, year after year, to pour forth similar 

 lamentations in the New England Farmer. 



But, sir, I believe the difficulty rests more fre- 

 quently with the formers than witli the gninters. 

 Only imagine, Mr. Editor, the poor animal in the 

 '< most delicate circumstances," on looking about 

 for a comfortable place to perform her accouchement 

 finding only a cold bed of mud, or a desolate pen, 

 perhaps with, and perhaps without a coveiing, and 

 the thermometer at zero ! Or perhaps the consid- 

 erate owner has thrown into one of these dreary 

 abodes a hugn bundle of straw, thinking "nature 

 will do the rest" — and the old sow will soon ar- 

 range it into a suitable bed for her young, and 

 then ask yourself — can even a hog, in such a 

 place, do justice to her anticipated charge ? The 

 truth is there is no animal so abused as this de- 

 spised quadruped — the Jewish law, which forbade 

 their use, was doubtless pi-omulgatod by Moses out 

 of pure humanity. And when it was rejiealed by 

 a Christian code it would have been well ad a 

 clause been inserted that " no man should keep 

 hogs who would not take care of them." 



No animal in the farmer's possession more com- 

 pletely reflects the characterof the owner. If well 

 fed, kept warm, and clean — they thrive, grow and 

 fatten ; but neglected, they are ill-shapen, mean, 

 dirty brutes — and the whole farm is disturbed at 

 night and by day by their squealing, fighting, and 

 breaking out of bounds. 



One gets a warm place in the south-east corner 

 of their comfortless pen, another stronger comes 

 in and demands possession, a battle begins — the 

 weaker is ousted, and so the night is spent in 

 continual conflict, — for without, a strong north- 

 wester soon admonishes them, that in exercise 

 thougli in battle dire, is their only hope of retain- 

 ing a modicum of caloric. 



But now the farmer discovers that it is necessa- 

 ry for family purposes that the hogs should be 

 parted, and a few old rails are run across the bed- 

 room, to accommodate the hopeful mother. The 

 north-wester finds a clear course over the Ijiicks 

 of the others, and inflicts its merciless shafts upon 

 the tenant of the ;)rij)a<e apartment, and the fresh 

 straw is in vain mouthed about the bouse in the ex- 

 pectation of a spot being found fit for the interesting 

 deposit. But there can be no more delay, and the 

 little grunters come forth ! Old Boreas si)ares not, 

 and is greeted by a most piteous squeak. Tlie 

 nervous mother (no wonder she is seized with 

 " hysteric irritabiUty,") takes alarm, and true to 

 ■nature starts up, and in rescuing her progeny from 

 seeming danger treads on the little squeaker, ends 

 his mortal sufl^erings, and takes one roaster from 

 the farmer's market cart, another follows — and 

 another — and so on to the end of the chapter.-— 

 The " poor,' forlorn, afflicted, desolate" now con- 



soles herself, the only way she can, by enjoying 

 for once a good repast, not the less palatable for 

 heing of her ownjlesh and blood. Then follow the 

 lamentations; and learned disquisitions are sent for 

 insertion in your columns, and "powdered cliar-- 

 coal," " animal food," "corn meal," and "milk 

 porridge," are recommended to cure the imnalural 

 appetite ! and if they are faithfully administered, 

 " in season and out of season," that is every day, 

 I will answer for it, you will have less lamenta- 

 tion and more pork. 



Of one of the neighbors alluded to, who made 

 the complaint to me of^'Uiis breed of hogs being 

 run out," for they eatylp their pigs — I asked in 

 which pen he kept his sows ? (for I knew all 

 about his premises) and he answered " in the pen 

 by the wall in the lane." And it is just such a 

 place, Mr. Editor, as I have described. On the 

 north an open, single, wall, on the south a barn 

 too near to let a winter's sun approach more than 

 a few hours in the day, and on the west a few old 

 boards, just enough to keep the store pigs from 

 "hiring lodgings" in the finished apartments; and 

 the south-east corner just the one that might he 

 open, is the only one closed. I did not wonder 

 his pigs had "run out," I only pitied them that 

 they could not run away. 



Now sir I'll tell you my method, for when trust- 

 ing to others I have had "pigs eaten up" in 

 abundance, but I look to them now myself, and 

 after keeping them all the time in good flesh, 



are as important to the plant -as to the animal. 

 Ordinarily speakuig, it costs less to take care of a 

 good crop of corn, on proper corn land, than it 

 does of a bad crop on land not adapted to its cul- 

 ture. The first is light and dry. The latter stiff, 

 wet or grassy. I put the average expense of cul- 

 tivating and securing an acre, at .$15, (a) including 

 a fair rent, though it ordinarily exceeds this sure. 

 The farmer, therefore, who obtains thirty bushels 

 from the acre, estimating the grain at 50 cents per 

 bushel, gets a fair compensation for his labor and 

 the use of his land. Whatever the product falls 

 short of this is an absolute loss; and whatever it 

 may exceed it is net gain. Thus the man who 

 gets but twenty bushels from the acre, loses, upon 

 this estimate, $20 worth of his labor, on four 

 acres. He who raises 80 bushels an acre, on the 

 other hand, realizes a net profit of $100 from 

 four acres — making a difference in the profits of 

 the two farmers, in the management of four acres 

 of corn, of one hundred and twenty dollars ! These 

 data are sufticiently accurate to show the im- 

 portance of the two requisites I have suggested, 

 and the value of a little calculation in the business 

 of farming. The habit of noting down the ex- 

 pense, as well as the product of a crop, and thus 

 ascertaining the relative profit and loss, is highly 

 advantageous to the practical farmer, and one which 

 cannot be too strenuously inculcated. It will per- 

 haps be said, that I ought to add the value of the 

 manure wJ.ich is employed in the large crop ; bnt 



hen the period of yeaning is near I take the I reply, that 1 oflset this against the increased for- 



sow apart and give her free access to a xaarm bed- 

 room of ample dimensions in my barn, with a dry 

 plank floor, where the shingled walls prevent the 

 entrance of cold, rain or wind, with just enough 

 straw to amuse her " moments of anxiety," but 

 not enough to allow a single pig to cover his head 

 and lose his road to the fountain of comfort. And 

 I have now running about my yard as fine a litter 

 of roasters, just four weeks old, as ever graced 

 Boston market. 



I shall be very happy if I have been able to 

 throw any light upon the mysterious science of 

 raising i)igs in the winteV (for whether summer 

 or winter I find the same result with my neio in- 

 vention) for the benefit of yeur " Constant reader," 

 and remain, your humble servant. 



Another. 



Fron the Genesee Farmer. 

 CUL.TURE OP INDIAIV CORN.* 



BY JESSE EOEL, ESQ. 



There is no crop more beneficial to the Amer- 

 ican farmer than Indian corn. An eminent agri- 

 culturist, the late John Taylor, of Virginia, called 

 it the " meal, meadow, and manure " of the farm. 

 It is convertible into human food in more forms 

 than any other grain ; its value in fattening do 

 mcstic animals is not exceeded by any product of 

 the farm ; and no crop returns more to the soil 

 than this docs in the form of manure. There are 

 two important requisites, however, to its profitable 

 cultivation. The first is, that the toil be adapted 

 to its growth ; and the second, that the crop be 

 well fed and well tended : for food and attention 



* Read before the New York Stale AgriculUral .Society, at 

 their annual meeting, Feb. 14, 1833, 



age which this crop furnishes. Besides, by apply- 

 ing the manure in the uufermented state m which 

 it is generally found in the spring, it will be as 

 beneficial to the succeeding crops, as though it 

 had lain and fermented in the yard, and been 

 applied in the usual way in the autumn. (6) 



The soils adapted to the culture of Indian corn, 

 are such as are permeable to heat, air, (c) and the 

 roots of the plant, and embrace those denominated 

 sandy, gravelly, and loamy. Corn will not suc- 

 ceed well on grounds that are stiff, hard or wet. 

 The roots grow to as great a length as the stalks, 

 and the soil must be permeable to permit their 

 free extension. 



The manures used are generally yard and stable 

 dung, and jdaster of paris [sidphafe of lime). The 

 first ought to be abundant ; as upon the fertility 

 which it induces, depends the profit of the crop. 

 Long or uufermented manure is to be preferred. 

 It decomposes as the wants of the plant require it; 

 while its mechanical operation, in rendering the 

 soil light and porous, is beneficial to the crop. It 

 should be equally spread over the wliole surface, 

 before it is ploughed under. It then' continues 1o 

 aflbrd fresh pasture to the roots till the corn hae 

 matured, and is in its place to benefit the succeed- 

 in" crop. If put into the hills, the roots soon ex- 

 tend beyond its influence, it does not so readily 

 decompose, and the subsequent crop is prejudiced 

 from its partial distribution in the soil. In a rota- 

 tion of four or five years, in which this crop re- 

 ceives the manure, twenty-five or thirty ordinary 

 loads may be applied to one acre witli greater 

 profit, than to two or three acres. Evei7 addition 

 tells in the product ; and there is scarcely any 

 danger of manuring too high for this favorite crop. 



