348 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I. 



duct would go far towards supplying tbu 

 whole consumption of the country. 



TJie maple sugar can be made of a quality 

 equal to the best imported. We have seen 

 it formed into very good loaf sugar. It is, 

 however, in a brown state that it is generally 

 used ; and, except in the districts where it is 

 produced, it is less agreeable to the palate 

 of consumers generally, than the product of 

 the cane. To manufacture it, requires a 

 great expense not only of labor, but of fuel ; 

 and hence it probably cannot be sold, at a dis- 

 tance, for a price which will enable it to com- 

 pete with the imported article. The sap of 

 ihe tree, or maple juice, as it is called, is 

 greedily coveted by wild and domestic ani- 

 mals, who break through enclosures tor the 

 sake of obtaining it, and is generally an agree- 

 able and wholesome beverage. We have 

 been informed, however, of one instance, in 

 ■which it is proved to be of a highly intoxicat- 

 ing quality. This circumstance occurred 

 about thirty years since, in the western part 

 of the state of New York. All the sap pro- 

 cured from the maple trees of an extensive 

 district, was found to have undergone a vinous 

 fermentation ; and children who drank it freely 

 were in some cases rendered delirious for two 

 or three days. We have heard of no other 

 instance of this phenomenon, nor have we 

 learned that any probable explanation has 

 been given of its cause. 



Profits of Co^v Keeping. 



Mr. Holmes, — No branch of husbandry is 

 more profitable than the keeping of cows, if 

 properly managed. We have but few farmers 

 in the state of Maine who make great profits 

 by the dairy. Many farmers among us are 

 solicitous to improve their breeds of cows, and 

 some raise considerable quantities of good 

 roots, with which to feed them during the 

 winter. This is all very good, so far; but 

 what is the treatment of cows during the sum- 

 mer season, the time when all, or nearly all, 

 the profits are obtained? Cows kept in dry, 

 short pastures, in summer, will not be profit- 

 able to their owner, however much ruta baga, 

 mangel wurtzel, or carrots, have been fed out 

 to them during the winter. I believe it to be 

 a fact, that cows generally, (some few except- 

 ions,) are shamefully stinted in their food 

 during the summer, in our state, notwithstand- 

 ing our grazing lands are excellent. 



I believe that the most profitable mode of 

 keeping cows through the summer is by soil- 

 ing, or feeding them with grass in the barn or 

 yard. This may frighten some farmers, and 

 excite the ridcule of others; but 1 think it 

 will be granted tliat he is the best farmer 

 who realizes the greatest number of dollars 

 and cents from a given quanity of land, with 



the least amount of labor. Many farmers 

 pride themselves on raising great crops; and 

 100 bushels of Indian corn have been raised 

 on a single acre. This is a great profit, but 

 I believe that 3000 bushels of ruta baga may 

 be as cheaply raised, take one year with an- 

 other, as 100 bushels of corn. Three thousand 

 bushels of ruta baga will give about a bushel 

 and a half a day, each to six cows throughout 

 the whole year. It is easy enough to see that 

 cows fed in this way will be in excellent 

 condition, and yield immense quantities of 

 butter and cheese. 



The method of soiling as described by Dr. 

 Dean, was to feed cows with new mown 

 grass : an acre of rich ground, he says, will 

 summer a number of cows. A little hay or 

 grass will indeed be necessary at all times of 

 the year, but I believe roots should be raised in 

 great abundance, and be made the chief article 

 for feeding milch cows throughout the year as 

 far as practicable. Cows do not generally 

 yield great quantities of milk tillJune ; but by 

 supplying them liberally with roots they may 

 be made to yield as much milk in JMarch, 

 April and May, as any part of the year, as 

 Farmers, whose cows calve early, and who 

 have an abundance of roots, may make prodi- 

 gious quantites of butter and cheese early in 

 the spring. 



Farmers in Europe and in this country have 

 practised soiling their cattle during summer, 

 and those who have had experience in this 

 mode of summering, have declared it to be a 

 much clieeper and more profitable mode than 

 grazing. 



The practice of soiling cows in our state 

 would certainly make a great saving of land, 

 and of course it would give to farmers a larger 

 pasture for slieep — more land could be spread 

 for the culture of wheat — and last, not least, 

 more land could be spread for the cultivation 

 of mulberry trees. 



Immense quantities of i«ianure could be 

 made, especially by tliose farmers who are not 

 afraid of a little labor in hauling muck, loam, 

 and other materials calculated to absorb the 

 urine of animals, which is most commonly 

 entirely lost. 



Our climate is extremely well calculated 

 to keep'butter and cheese in an excellent con- 

 dition. 



The State of Maine may be the first dairy 

 country upon earth — our butter and cheese 

 might be of such quality that it would be ea- 

 gerly sought afler throughout the United 

 States and the British provinces — our farms 

 might easily acquire wealth and independ- 

 ence, if there was a little more enterprise. — 

 Maine Farmer. 



The peach trees are said, by the Hagerstown 

 Torch Light, to have been severely injured. 



