212 



Comparative value of Hay, Vegetables, and Corn. Vol. VI. 



•well. " Yellow Flower" takes her unik and 

 butteraceous qualities and her c uniry ap- 

 pearance from her dam, whose wi iirlil when 

 Blau^htered was but 72 lbs. per quarter ; but 

 from her milk alone her owner sold eight 

 pounds of butter every week, besides the 

 milk and cream, &c., used in his family, a 

 knowledge of which induced me to purchase 

 her, which I did at the price of $18. " Yel- 

 low Flower's" sire was raised by me; he 

 was from a cow of the Pea- Patch Island stock, 

 owned by Dr. Smith, of the U. S. Army, 

 sired by a first-rate Devon bull. 



I have been thus lengthy in rny description 

 of the size, weight and qualities of my cow, 

 for the reason that 1 hope, by care, to see her 

 progeny turn out superior for dairy purposes 

 to the best imported breeds of whatever coun- 

 try, pedigree or name: and that if this my 

 hope should be realized, a reference to the 

 pages of " The Farmers' Cabinet and Ameri- 

 can Herd-Book" may show that they sprang 

 from the Little Delaware Stock. 1 must 

 here state, that I was mainly induced to make 

 the experiment with my cow, from perusing 

 the pages of the "Cabinet," in which the 

 portraits of the finest animals of this or any 

 other country are to be found — need I say, 

 that single result has amply repaid me for 

 the cost of all the volumes of that work since 

 its first publication ] J. .Tones. 



Wheatland, New Castle Co., Del., Dec. 28, 1841. 



Comparative Value of Hay, Vegetables 

 aud Corn. 



I WISH briefly to draw the attention of far- 

 mers to the value of hay, compared with 

 other crops, for tlie feeding of stock. An 

 acre of hay yields one ton and a half of vege- 

 table food. An acre of carrots or Swedish tur- 

 nips will yield from ten to twenty tons; say 

 fifteen tons, which is by no means an exagge- 

 rated Ccitimate. It has been ascertained by 

 experiment, that three working horses, fifteen 

 and a half hands high, consumed at the rate 

 of two hundred and twenty-four pounds of hay 

 per week, or five tons one thousand and forty- 

 eight pounds of hay per year, besides twelve 

 gallons of oats each per week, or seventy- 

 eight bushel:} by the year. An unworked 

 horse consumed at the rate of four and one- 

 quarter tons of hay in the year. The pro- 

 duce, therefore, of nearly six acres of land is 

 neces.sary to support a working-horse by the 

 year; but half an acre of carrots, at six hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre, with the addition of 

 chopped straw, while the season for their use 

 lasts, will do it as well, if not better. These 

 things do not admit of doubt. They have 

 been subjccLs of exact trial. 



It is believ(!d that the value of a bushel of 

 Indian-corn in straw and meal, will keep a I 



healthy horse in good condition for work a 



week. An acre of Indian-corn, which yields 

 sixty bushels, will be ample for the support 

 of a horse through the year. Let the farmer 

 then consider whether it be better to maintaia 

 his horse upon the produce of half an acre of 

 ruta-baga, which can be raised at a less ex- 

 pense than potatoes, or upon the grain pro- 

 duced off an acre of Indian-corn, or, on the 

 other hand, upon the produce of six acres of 

 his best land in hay and grain ; for six acres 

 will hardly do more than to yield nearly six 

 tons of hay and seventy-eight bushels of oats. 

 The same economy might be as successfully 

 introduced into the feeding of our neat cattle 

 and sheep. 



These facts deserve the particular attention 

 of the farmers who are desirous of improving 

 their pecuniary condition. It is obvious how 

 much would be gained by the cultivation 

 which is here suggested; how much more 

 stock would be raised ; how much the dairy 

 produce might be increased; and how much 

 the mennsof enriching the land and improving 

 the cultivation would be constantly extending 

 and accumulating. But when we find, on a 

 farm of two hundred acres, that the farmer 

 cultivates only two acres of potatoes, one acre 

 of ruta-baga, and perhaps a quarter of an acre 

 of carrot.s, we call this "getting along," in the 

 common phrase ; but we can hardly dignify 

 it with the name of farming. I am aware 

 that labour of a proper kind is in many cases 

 difficult to be procured, and with our habits, 

 as difiicult to be managed. Farming, like- 

 wise, can in few situations be successfully 

 managed, unless the farmer has capital to em- 

 ploy, equal at least to one year's manure and 

 one year's crops. A large portion of our far- 

 mers, also, from the nature of their habits and 

 style of living, are so prosperous and inde- 

 pendent, that they have no occasion to extend 

 their cultivation beyond what it now is, in 

 order to meet their wants; and to incur all ' 

 the trouble, vexation and risk of employing 

 more labour, expending more capital, and in- 

 creasing their cares. 



But it is not fair to produce such instances 

 as any examples of the profit or unprofitable- 

 ness of husbandry, when carried on, as all 

 other branches of business, to be successful, 

 must be carried on with intelligence, skill, 

 industry, enterprise ; and all the capital and 

 all the labour which can be advantageously 

 employed in it. I will not, however, antici- 

 pate such general views of the subject, as I 

 propose to take in the retrospect of the whole 

 survey. — Coleman. 



What constitutes the wealth of the coun- 

 try but her cotton, hemp, sugar, rice, tobacco, 

 wool, wheat, beef, pork ? 



