1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



47 



From the Ohio Farmer. [ ]„ addition to the advantage of such reservoirs 

 BRIEF PRACTICAL HINTS TO FARMERS, for stock, it may not be amiss to hint that when 



V/ata- for StockSummer Feed— Shade and jt^e places for them are well selected, and the sur- 

 Shelter— Warmth . jroundings arranged with some degree of taste, 



The Israelites had this proverb, " He that sow-l^^^^ "^^ ^« '""f^ *° ^'^^^ .'""^''^ to the beauty of 

 eth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly, but i,^ out h.vms ; kM in favored situations, when they 

 that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifulIy.":^f",^^'"I^P''^^^'''*l\-°«'i fP'-'"g^' ^^^ them be 

 This sayin- accorded so well with their sense of 'f^^^J/;!'' ^'fj ^°*^ *'^"' ^""'"'^ * "^^ ^''^^^^ of 

 what is fitting and right, and was so often verified I" P 



in their e.iperience and observation, that it came' O^ Summer Fef.d.— During two or three of 

 to have an application much beyond the special j ^'^^ hotter months, our cattle and sheep improve 

 and simple import of the words. In fact, this prov-J but little. This is not so much owing to the dis- 

 erb is but a partial expression of the great truth, '^o^^o'^t o^ the heat, as to the fact that the grass 

 that this world is arranged on a system of order stops growing during the hottest and driest weath- 



and justice, which conditions every man's havings 

 or his doings, his receivings or his givings, his suc- 

 cess upon his enterprise depends, and it causes 

 society, and even nature, to reflect back on him 

 the tone of his own spirit, whether he be a nig- 

 gard or whether he be a man of a liberal soul. 

 On looking at the condition of our farms, and 



er. If our pastures could be kept as fresh and 

 luxuriant through July and August, as they are 

 through May and June, how much more uniform 

 would be the growth and improvement of our 

 stock. 



To secure a continual growth of feed, scarcely 

 anything is needed but a continued supply of 



thinking of the objections so often urged, and still ' ™0'*'"^'^ ^o tlie roots of the grass, and this supply 

 oftener felt, against almost every proposition for °^" "moisture may be secured by deeper tillage. On 



agricultural improvement, it has occurred to me 

 that we especially need to receive the lesson con- 

 tained in the proverb to which I have referred, 

 and to become much more deeply impressed with 

 its truth, and the extent of its application. Wheat, 

 and oats, and rye, are not all the farmer has to 

 sow ; thought, and labor, and capital are as much 

 germinal and productive principles at his disposal, 

 as the seeds of plants, and it is in his use of these. 



lands that have been deeply plowed, and especially 

 on those where subsoiling has been practiced, the 

 roots of clover, or grass, will go below the parched 

 surface, and support a continuous growth of her- 

 bage in the driest weather, or even in the driest 

 seasons. 



Underdraimng is also an important adjunct of 

 deep plowing in promoting the growth of summer 

 feed. On tenacious soils, where underdraining is 



especially, that he will find the proverb verified, "^t practiced, the surface is usually thrown up into 

 and be compelled to reap as he has sown. Thatp*"^^ ^^ facihtate the escape of what in some sea- 

 my remarks may be practical and useful,! propose l^^ns would be a superabundance of water; when 

 -- ^-- -- -• •" •■ ■ •'• Uhis is done, but little moisture penetrates the soil 



for the summer supply. Were such lands under- 

 drained at the depth of three feet, or more, the 

 surface might be left entirely level, and all the 

 water falling upon it invited to sink into the soil 

 in connection with the various fertilizing agents 



so far as time will permit, to specify cases to 

 •which this principle will apply ; or in other words, 

 I will endeavor to point out a few opportunities of 

 securing bountiful returns for some additional out- 

 lays upon our farms ; and first: — 



Of Providing Water for Stock. — In 



many portions of Ohio there is, in dry seasons, a' suspended in it; this would obviate all danger 

 deficiency of water for stock. I think its impor-|ifrom temporary or even continued droughts ; 

 tance in the animal economy cannot be understood ^^^^'^^ ii^ wetter seasons the drains would prevent 

 by many of our farmers, or more strenuous efforts '"^'^chief from excess of moisture. And in seasons 

 ■would he made by them to secure a supply, Wa-l''*^^ ^'^^ P^^^ u-oods pastures are of great value, 

 ter is needed by animals to supply the waste occa-l If those portions of our farms which are reserved 

 sioned from the blood by evaporation, and the! ""bleared for the sake of the timber, were under- 

 various secretions— the stomach needs its aid as a 'Crushed and fenced, and well seeded with blue 

 solvent of the substances taken as food, and which, [o^a^s, which grows finely in such situations, they 

 without it, cannot be readily digested ; and besides, i ^^0"'*^ in the driest months, and especially in sea- 

 it enters largely into the composition of all anim;il *o"s of excessive drought, afford more than twice 

 bodies, not only of the fluid portions, but also of tbe pasture that could be obtained from fields per- 



the solid. Some animals may indeed make out to 

 live with but a scanty supply, but none without it 



fectly cleared. A prudent farmer will certainly 

 provide against a " rainy day ;" should he not also 



can thrive as they would with an abundance of | Provide against dry days, which, in this climate, 

 water to drink. In some localities there are neith-j are perhaps more to be feared V 

 er durable streams nor copious natural springs;! Of Shade and Shelter. — What a tree hat- 

 but stock ought not therefore to be permitted to|«n.(7 spirit possessed the earliest settlers of Northern 

 suffer; certainly not, if we can find at the foot of; Ohio, and their immediate descendants. How few 

 hills, or banks, wet places where by carefully col- fine trees were left, either to beautify the land- 

 lectinjT the water by (Vrains, made of stone or drain- 'scape, or for grateful shade. In Southern Ohio, 

 ing bricks or tiles, it may be brought to one point, 'the pastures are usually shaded with groups of for- 

 and into a trough, or some other convenient way,' est trees ; and who that has seen the satisfaction 

 be made available. When springs of this kind [that cattle and sheep manifest in their shadows, iu 

 are to be improved, it is probable that on most the scorching days of summer and autumn, can 

 farms are streams or temporary water courses, I doubt their utility ? When the thermometer is up 

 large or small, which, though not durable, may be] to 90" Fahrenheit, it is as much as fat cattle, or 

 dammed up to form ponds or reservoir.^, in which indeed any cattle, can do to keep cool, even when 

 the water may be kept through the whole summer, not subjected to the direct rays of a burning sun. 

 fresh enough for stock. \ If they do keep cool under such circumstances, it 



