fo. 8, 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



115 



Washington's Agricultural 

 Notes. 



[concluded.] 



Meadows. ' 



Those already established and in train 

 must continue, and tiie next to be added to 

 them is the arms of the crook, wiiicli runs up 

 to the spring-liousc, and forks, botii prongs 

 j( which must be jdubbed up, and wrouj^ht 

 jpon at every convenient moment when tiie 

 weather vvill'pormit, down to tiio line of the 

 Jitch, wiiicli encloses tlio lots for clover, &ic. 



And as the fields come into cultivation ; 

 )r as labor can bo spared from other work, 

 md circumstances will permit, tlie iieads of 

 ill the inlets, in them must be reclaimed, 

 ind laid to j^rass, weather they be large or 

 small, forasmuch as notiung will run, or can 

 irespass upon or injure the grass; no fencing 

 jeing required. 



Mud for Compost. 



The season is'now too far advanced, and 

 :oo cold to be engaged in a work, tliat will 

 jxpose the hands to wet; but it is of such 

 essential importance, that it should be set 

 ibout t^eriousiy and vvitli spirit next year, for 

 the summer's sun and the winter's frost, to 

 prepare it for the corn and other crops of 

 1801, that all the hands of the farm, not in- 

 lispensably engaged in the crops, should, so 

 50on SLS corn-planting be completed in the 

 spring, be uninterruptedly employed in rais- 

 ng mud from the Pocosons, and from the 

 )ed of the creek, in tiie scow ; and the carts, 

 io soon as the manure for the corn and po- 

 atoes in 1800 is carried out, are to be inces- 

 antly drawing it to the compost heaps in the 

 ields, which are to be manured by it. What 

 lumber of hands can be set apart for this 

 U-important work, remains to be considered 

 nd decided upon. 



Penning Cattle and folding Sheep. 



On the fields intended for wheat, from the 

 rst of l\Iay, when the former should be 

 jrned out to pasture, nntil the first of No- 

 ember, when they ought to be housed, must 

 e practised invariably ; and to do it with 

 :iailarity and propriety, the pen for the 

 iiiAer, and the fold for the latter, should be 

 ruimrtioned to the number of each kind of 

 iick; and both these to as much ground as 

 ley will manure sufficiently in the space of 

 week for wheat, beyond which they are 

 It to remain in a place, except on the 

 sorest spots ; and even these had better be 

 ded by litter or something else, than to de- 

 irt from an established rule, of removing 

 le pens on a certain day in the week, 

 or in this, as in every thing else, system is 

 isential to carry on business well, and with 

 ise. 



Feeding. 



The work-liorses and mules are always to 

 be in their stalls, and ail littered and cleaned, 

 vvjien tiiey arc out of harness ; and they are to 

 be plentcously fed with cut straw, and as much 

 chopped gram, meal, or bran, with a little 

 salt mixed tiierewith, as will keep them 

 always in good condition for work; seeing 

 also, tliat they are watered as regularly aa 

 tiiey are fed; this is their winter feed. For 

 spring, summer and autumn, it is expected, 

 tiiat soiling them on green food, first with 

 rye, then with lucern, and next with clover, 

 with very little grain, will enable them to 

 perform their work. 



The oxen and other honied cattle, are to 

 be housed from the first of November until 

 the first of May; and to be fed as well 

 as the means on the farm will admit. The 

 first (oxen) must always be kept in good 

 condition; housed in the stalls designed for 

 them ; and the cows (so many of them as 

 can find places) on the opposite side. The 

 rest, with the other cattle, must be in the 

 newly erected sheds; and the whole care- 

 fully watered every day ; the ice, in frozen 

 weather, being broken, so as to admit them 

 to clean water. 



With respect to the sheep, they must re- 

 ceive the best protection that can be given 

 them this winter; against the next, I hope 

 they will be better provided for. 



And with regard to the hogs, the plan 

 must be, to raise a given number of ^oo<^ 

 07ies, instead of an indiscriminate number of 

 indifferent ones, half of which die or are sto- 

 len before the period arrives for putting 

 them up as porkers. To accomplish this a 

 sufficient number of the best sows should be 

 appropriated to the purpose; a.nd so many 

 pigs raised from them as will insure the 

 quantity of pork, which the farm ought to 

 lurnish. 



Whether it will be most advisable to re- 

 strain these hogs from running at large or 

 not, can be decided with more precision after 

 the result of those now in close pens is better 

 known. 



The exact quantity of corn used by those, 

 which are now in pens, should be ascertained 

 and regularly reported, in order to learn the 

 result. 



Stables and Farm Pens. 



These ought to be kept well littered, and 

 the stalls clean; as well for the comfort of 

 the creatures that are contained in them, as 

 for the purpose of manure ; but as straw can- 

 not be afforded for this purpose, leaves and 

 such spoiled straw or weeds as will not do 

 for food, must serve for the stables; and the 

 first, that is, leaves and corn-stalks, is all 

 that can be supplied to the pens. To do this 



