NO. 17. 



THE FARMERS' CABINET. 



2G1 



The business of raising onions in Wethers- 

 field, is reduced to a perfect system. The fol- 

 lowing is the method ot cultivation. Early in 

 the spring the land is manured by ploughing 

 in fine manure from the stable or barn-yard, in 

 the proportion of about ten loads to the acre. 

 That of neat cattle is preferred, as that of 

 horses is considered of too heating a nature. 

 After the manure is ploughed in, the land is 

 well harrowed and laid out into beds five feet 

 wide. The beds are laid out by turning a 

 furrow towards them each way. This raises 

 the beds above the aisles and gives an oppor- 

 tunity for the water to run off should tiiere 

 be occasion for it. They are then raked with 

 an iron-tooth, or common hay-rake, and the 

 aisles sufiered to remain as left by the plough. 

 Thus prepared, the beds are ready to receive 

 the seeds. 



As early as the season will admit, the seed 

 is sown in the following manner. A rake, 

 with teeth a foot apart, is drawn crosswise of 

 the beds for the purpose of making drills for 

 the reception of the seed. The seed is then 

 sowed in the drills, with the thumb and fin- 

 gers, and covered with the hand. From ten to 

 twelve pounds of seed is put upon an acre. — 

 After the plants come up they are kept free 

 of weeds, which generally reciuire four weed- 

 ings. A hoe of a suitable width to pass be- 

 :ween the rows is used in weeding, which 

 5aves much labor. When ripe they are 

 julled and the tops cut off with a knife. A 

 ufRcient length of top is left to tie them to 

 he straw in roping. They are then roped, 

 )r bunched in ropes or bunches of 3 1-2 

 )ounds, as required by the law of the State. 

 Vn ordinary crop is frfim 6()()0 to 8000 ropes 

 the acre. The quantity annually raised 

 n the town, is estimated from 1,000,000 to 

 ,.500,000 ropes, which are sold at an average 

 irice of $ 2 a hundred, amounting to from 

 ^ 20,000 to $ 30,000. 



Most of the labor in raising onions in 

 Vethersfield, is performed by females. The 

 ultivation of an acre requires from fifty to 

 ixty days labor of a female, whose wages, 

 icluding board, is about forty-two cents a 

 ay. Though many of the young ladies of 

 Vethersfield spend a portion of their time in 

 nion gardens; yet in personal beauty, educa- 

 on and politeness, they are not excelled by 



jmales of far less industrious habits Con- 



ecticut paper. 



Fafiiiers' Work. 



Ewes and Lambs — The New England 

 armer says: it is incumbent on every good 

 jsbandman and faithful shepherd, to feed his 

 wes plentifully for a few weeks before, and 

 r a considerable time after they produce 

 eir lambs. Good farmers have told us that 

 ey have found it very beneficial to give to 



each of their ewes about one half a gill of 

 Indian corn a day, for .j or (J weeks before 

 they have yeaned, and while suckling, to give 

 lliem good roots, or some other juicy food. 

 The want of milk in the ewes, is the most 

 general cause of death in the lambs. Keep 

 the mothers well, and their offspring will 

 thrive and be strong. 



The Fanner's Manual says, "If you have 

 stored more turneps than are sufficient for the 

 use of the table, give them to any stock that 

 will eat them, c.\cept your sheep; give to 

 them potatoes, but not turneps at this season, 

 for turneps will injure the lumbs." Weak 

 lambs should be treated in all respects as if 

 they had been drowned, and you was endea- 

 voring to restore them to life. Apply gentle 

 and regular warmth ; give them warm milk, 

 frequently, in small quantities, (the milk of 

 the sheep is best,) and if the ewe has milk 

 sufficient for the support of the lamb, you may 

 generally raise it, otherwise the lamb usually 

 dies. It requires more care and labor to 

 nurse one feeble lamb, when its dam yields 

 too little milk for its support than it would 

 for an hundred, if they were healthy and well 

 kept. 



If your sheep, whether store sheep or ewes 

 with lamb, have good hay, about a quart of 

 potatoes aday, to each, will, it is said, be very 

 beneficial, and an ample allowance. But 

 when the object is to fatten them, (says a 

 writer in Rees' Cyclopedia,) about a gallon of 

 potatoes a day, with a little hay will be the 

 proper quantity ; but this is dependent in part 

 on the size of the animals, and in part on the 

 quality and quantity of the hay, which is 

 allowed them. Potatoes, besides their use as 

 food for sheep, are said to be very serviceable 

 to those animals as an article of diet, which 

 usually supersedes the necessity oi medicine. 

 They have, when given raw, an opening or 

 purgative quality, which is thought to be of 

 use, and to answer a similar purpose with 

 sheep, which is effected with swine by brim- 

 stone and antimony. 



(?are should be taken to place in the stable, 

 small tubs or troughs of water for the sheep 

 to drink in. They will do very well in 

 summer without v/ater, as they feed when 

 the dew is on, but they need water in winter, 

 esyJecially if fed mostly on dry food. Deane's 

 N. E. Farmer states that " when sheep have 

 colds and discharge mucus from the nose, 

 good feeding, togetfier with pine boughs given 

 occasionally, will cure them ; or tar spread on 

 a board over which a little fine salt is strewed, 

 will induce the sheep to lick up tar, and this 

 will cure a cold." 



The Yankee Farmer, in giving directions 

 for raising lambs, observes that " great care 

 should be taken when lambs are born, for it 

 is frequently the case that their fore teeth are 



