70 



THE FARMERS* CABINET. 



vol; I. 



about a fortnight previous to sowing. These 

 lots have the benefit of ray barn manure, 

 which is scattered on such portions as I 

 think reijuire it most. 



J commonly sow about one bushel twelve 

 quarts per acre, and my common yield is 

 twenty bushels of wheat per acre. Thus 

 four lots are employed, one in corn, one in 

 oats, two in wheat; the remaining three are 

 in pasture. Two of these are again to be 

 ploughed up in the fall, for wheat, and the 

 remaining one is for corn the succeeding sea- 

 son. The experience of twenty years has 

 confirmed me in the belief that this is the 

 most successful mode of cultivation in our 

 soil, and I have at all events been satisfied 

 with the amount of produce my farm has 

 yielded me. — Farmer. 



On the Management of Cows. 



Bv RussEL Woodward, 



Having formelry kept a large number of 

 cows, I observed many among them that 

 had dried up their milk so early in the fall, 

 that they were not profitable, while others, 

 with the same keeping, gave milk in plenty 

 until late in the seasen. I likewise have 

 often heard my neighbors observe, that some 

 of their cows, though very good in the fore 

 part of the season, dried up their milk so 

 early, that they were unprofitable, and they 

 should have to put them off; I accordingly 

 thought it expedient to find out the cause, 

 if possible; and when I brought to mind the 

 way that some of my young cows had been 

 kept and milked, I attributed the cause to the 

 milking of them the first season they gave 

 milk, and by many experiments since, I have 

 found that young cows the first season they 

 give milk, may be made, with careful milk- 

 ing and good keeping, to give milk almost 

 any length of time required, say from the 

 first of May to the first of February follow- 

 ing, and will give milk late always after, 

 with careful milking. But if they are left to 

 dry up their milk early in the fall, they will 

 be sure to dry up their milk each succeeding 

 year, if they have a calf near the same sea- 

 son of the year, and nothing but extraordi- 

 nary keeping will prevent it, and that but for 

 a short time. I have had them dried up of 

 their milk in August, and could not by any 

 means make them give milk much past that 

 time in any preceding year. I had two heif- 

 ers, which had calves in April, and after 

 getting them gentle, I set a boy to milk them 

 for the season, (which is often done the first 

 season, on account of their having small 

 teats ;) he was careless, and dried them both 

 off in August. Although I felt satisfied I 

 should lose the greater part of the profit on 

 them afterwards, yet 1 took it upon me the 

 following year to milk them myself, and give 



them good feed, but to no purpose. I could 

 not make them give milk much past the time 

 they dried the year before. I have two cows 

 now that were milked the first year they had 

 calves, until near the time of their calving 

 again, and have continued to give milk as 

 late ever since, if we milk them. 



Fattening Hogs on Apples.' 



Mr. E. Holmes — In my communication 

 of 1834, I described my mode of fattening 

 swine upon apples. I will now state the 

 result of my experiment. I last year fat- 

 tened an old hog and two pigs upon apples, 

 upon 14 bushels of oats and pea meal, and 

 one bushel of Indian meal only. I began to 

 feed them about the 10th of the 8th month, 

 and they were in rather poor condition. I fed 

 the pigs about three months,and they weighed 

 at seven months old, 113 and 125. The hog 

 I fatted about four months, and when he was 

 about 19 months old he weighed 415, and 

 leaves weighed 34 lbs. 10 oz. 



Paine Wingate. 



Remarks. — Mr. Wignate is a practical 

 farmer — is one of the society of Friends, and 

 like most of that highly respectable class, an 

 exact observer of things. According to some 

 of his experiments, he concludes that the 

 fattening of hogs in our section of the coun- 

 try, unless a person has slops, apples, and 

 such cheap food to give them, is a money 

 losing business — or in other words, keeping 

 hogs upon corn and potatoes alone, will bring 

 your pork to about ten cents per lb., whereas 

 if you have an abundance of slops, and food 

 of that kind, it will reduce the cost of pork 

 to a much less sum, and make it much more 

 profitable. Mr. W. brought us a piece of 

 the hog mentioned above. It was of as good 

 a flavor and of as solid a texture as any pork 

 we ever saw. In the thickest part it mea- 

 sured five inches of clear fat. Communities 

 are slow in changing their habits and 

 opinions, and especially farmers. Many 

 even now, notwithstanding the experiments 

 which have been tried by acute and observ- 

 ing men, will not believe that apples were 

 made for any thing but applesauce and cider. 

 And many very worthy men have resisted the 

 march of the Temperance cause because they 

 would have to sacrifice their orchards. And 

 others in their zeal to do away the evils of 

 excessive drinking, have actually cut down 

 their trees. Now we say the more orchards, 

 other things equal, the better. Apples are as 

 valuable for stock, and even more so, as for 

 men. Sheep like them. Cattle will fatten 

 upon them, and pork can be made more ex- 

 peditiously and economically by them; and 

 we would therefore say to all farmers, if you 

 have a good orchard, take care of it — if you 



