1868. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



303 



If operations begin with the winter, haul on 

 the sand while the ground is frozen, — it is 

 the very best tinife, — and cut the ditch if he 

 can. If it is too wet, wait till after haying 

 next summer, and then cut as many ditches as 

 are needed, and spread the sand, and haul on 

 the compost, and sow the grass seed, and har- 

 row it in. It is quite as well to seed down in 

 the autumn, as in the spring. If you wait till 

 you have cut the ditches before you haut on 

 the sand, you will have to wait until another 

 winter, and it will be two years before you get 

 a crop of good hay. 



Fencing with durable fences, may be con- 

 sidered a permanent improvementof the farm. 

 If you have good land encumbered with stones, 

 take them from this, rather than from some 

 distant rocky pasture or poor land that will 

 not be benefited by their removal, and you 

 will kill two birds with one stone. You im- 

 prove the land from which you take them, and 

 at the same time get material for your fence. 

 If you must use posts and rails, let the posts 

 be cedar, chestnut or white oak, and if possi- 

 ble cut in the summer. The rails may be of 

 white pine or red oak, got out in the winter. 



Special atttjntion should be given to make 

 your exterior fences permanent and substan- 

 tial. As to interior fences, have as few as you 

 can get along with. It would be a permanent 

 improvement of no small value to many farms, 

 to remove one-half or more of the cross 

 fences, and throw the small fields into large 

 ones. Inquire if you cannot remove the cross 

 walls to the outsides of the farm, and thus 

 have sufficient material to lay over, in good 

 shape, your exterior walls. 



Have you a piece of good land near the 

 house, always under your eye, and ever a no- 

 ticeable i'eature in the face of your farm, that 

 is disfigured by boulders, lying on the surface 

 or partly buried in the soil, which are in the 

 way of the plough and mowing machine ? The 

 loose ones should be hauled off as you have 

 leisure, and the larger ones dug under and 

 sunk, if possible, out of the reach of the plow. 

 Will not the land be worth as much more as 

 the labor will cost, besides getting rid of a 

 nuisance and an eye-sore ? 



Have you a pasture that yields but little 

 grass, and is covered with moss and bushes ? 

 What can you do to restore the feed ? This 

 is an important question and should be seri- 



ously asked with respect to much of the pas- 

 ture land in New England. If it is near the 

 barn — even if it is somewhat rough and rocky 

 — had you not better plough it, and plant it 

 one year. The sod is thin and loose, the 

 grass roots having mostly died out, and it will 

 decay and become mellow in one year. Then 

 sow it down with several kinds of grass seed, 

 and you will have a good pasture for ten years. 

 If it is at a distance from home, so that it will 

 be expensive to cart on manure, plough and 

 sow rye and grass seed and harrow thoroughly, 

 or harrow thoroughly and sow grass seed and 

 plaster without the rye, harrowing again after 

 the sowing. If it is an old pine plain, plough, 

 and sow buckwheat, and when it is in the hlour 

 som plough it under and sow another crop. 

 Plough this under in the fall. The next 

 spring, sow clover and redtop, and harrow it 

 smooth, and in the fall feed it off, and you will 

 have a good pasture for some years. If you 

 decide not to plough, sow on a liberal dress- 

 ing of ashes and plaster, and sow redtop and 

 harrow it thoroughly, and it will pay. 



Does your farm need all these improve- 

 ments ? If so, do not attempt to make them, 

 all in one year, but decide for yourself which. 

 is most needed, and set about making one of 

 them at least. It will cost some money,, but 

 it will be a good investment, better than bank 

 stock. 



LOCAL REPORTS ON" AGRICULTURE. 



The last Legislature of Iowa enacted that 

 when any county or district agricultural so- 

 ciety shall have raised for actual membership 

 during the year any sum of money, it shall 

 be entitled to an equal sum from the State 

 treasury, not exceeding two hundred dollars,. 

 provided that the society shall make report on 

 the condition of agriculture in the county or 

 district to the secretary of the State society. 



The affidavit of the treasurer is necessary, 

 and when this is accompianied by the certificate 

 of the secretary of the State society that a 

 proper report has been made, the auditor is- 

 sues his warrant for the amount to which the 

 society is entitled. 



Here is an important suggestion, and one 

 that may be easily carried into effect. Let a 

 proper report of the agriculture of each 

 county and district be made a condition of 

 receiving the State aid, and we should have an 



