1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARJ^IER. 



361 



"the neighbors have often talked about the 

 quantity of butter I made, but Mr. Brewster 

 has found out the secret of it — feeding well 

 in the fall ! I begin to feed in the fall before 

 any of my neighbors, and feed well all winter." 



VVni. Locke, Jr., had bought another farm 

 this spring, from which hay has been sold ; 

 and he had been advised to use plaster and 

 still sell hay, but he should try the experiment 

 of feeding his produce to stock. Had fed 

 some meal this spring, and was satisfied with 

 the result. 



Z. E. Jameson suggested that as meat and 

 butter will not satisfy every want of the far- 

 mers' customers, some of our other produce 

 might be sent to the cities and villages, from 

 •which we could obtain fertilizers, such as pou- 

 drette, superphosphate, &c., if not stable ma- 

 nure, to assist in keeping up the fertility of 

 the soil. If a man has a farm that can all be 

 tilled, the produce of the pasture lands added 

 to the produce consumed by animals in winter 

 would go far towards bringing in as much in- 

 come as the animals themselves, and then the 

 farmer's work would be less, especially in win- 

 ter. If the farmer feeds extensively, he must 

 become a cattle dealer, which is a trade by 

 itself that it will take time to learn. 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARMING AT T^^OOD'S HOLE— SINGU- 

 LAR DISEASE AMONG CATTLE. 



For several years past I have occasionally 

 found myself at VV^ood's Hole, on Buzzard's 

 Bay, about eighteen miles east of New Bed- 

 ford, by the course of the steamer that touches 

 here in going to and from Edgarton to the for- 

 mer place. Formerly it was a place of no 

 small importance for its coasting and fishing 

 business and at one time whaling vessels were 

 fitted out here. The^e are now things of the 

 past, and so far as I have learned, not a ves- 

 tige of them remains. 



■ The only substitute is an extensive establish- 

 ment for the manufacture of Ammoniated Pa- 

 cific Guano, which gives employment to sixty 

 or more men, and furnishes a market for large 

 quantities of fish, and also for fish pumice, 

 ii'om the oil works on the coast. This place 

 Las been held in high esteem by some as a 

 place of summer resort, but can never obtain 

 any great patronage as such without improved 

 facilities for reaching it. 



Joseph S. Fay, Esq., of Boston, has a farm 

 of about four hundred acres, which for several 

 years he has been improving — especially in at- 

 tractiveness and beauty, — by planting ever- 

 green and other trees, both of native foreign 

 varieties. The Austrian and other foreign va- 

 rieties of the pine grow much faster and are 

 more trnamental than the native. Mr. Fay 

 has upwards of one hundred acres of trees 

 planted on various parts of the farm, some of 

 which have been planted sixteen years and have 



attained a goodly size. Those interested in 

 tree culture would do well to see his planta- 

 tions, as they might afford them encourage- 

 ment and instruction. 



Farming here appears to be pursued under 

 difliculties almost, if not entirely, insurmounta- 

 ble. This whole region abounds in hills and 

 rocks requiring a deal of hard work to culti- 

 vate crops, which very often return no ade- 

 quate remuneration, and sometimes entirely 

 fail by reason of the ravages of worms. They 

 not only destroy cultivated crops, but I see on 

 every hand large tracts of pasture land as bar- 

 ren of grass as the travelled road. Root crops 

 are exempt from their ravages, grow to great 

 perfection, and might be made a source of in- 

 come if judiciously managed. I ought, how- 

 ever, to state that the onion is an exception to 

 the above statement, as it is subject to the 

 ravages of the maggot that has about driven 

 its culture fuora all this region. 



A singular trouble is experienced in keep- 

 ing neat stock all along the borders of this 

 bay, from New Bedford east; and, I believe," 

 to some extent on the coast west, for a few 

 miles, which is especially annoying. Now and 

 then there is an exception, — to account for 

 which is as difficult as to gii^e a reason for the 

 general prevalence of the disease. What 

 causes the disease is involved iu mystery. It 

 is known among the farmers here as the nech- 

 ail, from its having first appeared in a section 

 of the country known as the Neck. 



The first symptoms are a disinclination to 

 drink, followed by loss of appetite and conse- 

 quently a loss of tlesh, until the animal in many 

 instances breaks down. No treatment prac- 

 ticed avails only temporarily. Physic and a 

 dose of copperas affords relief, but only for a 

 few months ; after which it is of no avail. An- 

 imals when reduced to mere skeletons by this 

 disease soon recover, if removed only a few 

 miles, — often only to contiguous estates, back 

 from the shore. 



James LeBarron, Esq., of Mattapoisett who 

 owns a large farm and usually keeps a large 

 stock, has never had a case of this disease on 

 his place, while his neighbors, on the southern 

 boundary of his farm are never exempt from 

 it. Diseased cattle when taken from his 

 neighbors' farms on to his own, soon recover. 

 I was told of a person, whose name has es- 

 caped me, .who took the best care of his stock, 

 who has long been subject to this trouble', 

 while his next neighbors, on each side of his 

 farm, have been exempt. 



Some have supposed it was owing to the 

 water, but that theory fails to be sustained. 

 The cause, as already stated, is involved in per- 

 fect mystery. I have sent healthy oxen, bulls 

 and cows to Mr. Fay's place, that in a few 

 months would be troubled seriously. If some 

 one could be found to point out the cause and 

 cure of this disease, he would secure the grat- 

 itude of all this portion of the State. The 

 hope that this may fall under the eye of some 



