NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



457 



it is interesting to know the causes of their ill 

 success. And will not four-fifths of them 

 acknowledge that they either made a bad 

 purchase, or lacked an adequate working cap- 

 ital ? N. s. T. 

 Lawrence, Mass., Aug. 10, 1868. 



Remarks. — It is true, as stated by our 

 intelligent correspondent, that in some of the 

 instances recently narrated in the Farmer, in 

 which individuals who were successful in pay- 

 ing for and greatly improving farms bought on 

 credit, were "fresh from other occupations." 

 But is it true of any of them that they had no 

 "special acquaintance with farm management?" 

 One of the writers alluded to says, "not hav- 

 ing had much experience in farm work ;" an- 

 other says that for "twenty-five years previ- 

 ous to my purchase, I worked at boot and 

 shoe making ;" but neither cif them informs us 

 just what his early training was, although 

 the'lattcr mentions a '■'■suitable helpmeet" as 

 an es.^ential to success. Our Norwich, Vt., 

 correspondent, however, tells us that he was 

 brought up on a farm, and the successful En- 

 glishman and his wife were farm hands or ser- 

 vants. Our observation has resulted in the 

 conviction that early training on the farm is, 

 as a general rule, a condition to success, even 

 with those who enter upon the business "fresh 

 from other occupations." Exceptions may oc- 

 cur, and it is said that "exceptions prove the 

 rule." We believe that the value of the 

 knowledge and skill acquired by boys and 

 girls during a twelve or fifteen years' appren- 

 ticeship to the various occupations of the farm 

 is sti'angely underrated, and that it is wrong 

 to speak or think of such as having no trade, 

 or not having had much experience in farm 

 work. 



Quick Work. — The propmetors of the 

 Marsh Harvester having offered a premium of 

 $25 to the person who would cut and bind an 

 acre of grain with their machine the quickest 

 and best, a trial was had at Piano, 111., July 

 24. The decision of the three judges is pub- 

 lished in the Prairie Farmer. They divided 

 the premium between two men who bound an 

 acre of heavy and somewhat crinkled rye, with 

 the horses on a trot, one in thirty and the 

 other in thirty and one-half minutes — the latter 

 doing his work a little the best. Two other 

 men who had never bound on the machine did 

 the work in thirty-four and thirty-eight and one- 



half minutes, respectively. The Judges re- 

 mark, "the ease and perfection with which the 

 machine delivers the grain to the binder, and 

 the facility with which men bind on it is truly 

 astonishing. On examination of the work 

 both before and after the grain was shocked 

 up, we found it to be well done." 



TOP DEESSINQ WITH SHEEP. 

 Our Braintree, Vt., correspondent, "H. H. 

 C," whose "New Plan for Top-dressing," 

 was published in the Farmer of August 11, 

 and many who have read .that article , will be 

 interested in the following statement by San- 

 ford Howard, Esq., of the method of enrich- 

 ing land by sheep, practiced by Mr. Stone, 

 of Guelph, Can., who has about 800 Cotswold 

 and South Down sheep. Writing to the* 

 Country Gentleman, Mr. Howard says : 



Some of Mr. Stone's land lies so far from 

 his principal farm steading, that it cannot well 

 be manured in the ordinary way. Very large 

 quantities of rich manure are made, but it ia 

 chiefly applied within a distance convenient to 

 haul it. The mode adopted with the out-lying 

 lots, is to feed off successive crops with sheep, 

 until the desired fertility is obtained. First, 

 a crop of rye is sown in the fall. If it gets 

 strong enough before winter sets in-, the sheep 

 are put on it. The next spring the sheep are 

 turned on at the proper time, and the rye kept 

 fed down as long as it continues to grow vigo- 

 rously. When the growth of the rye is 

 checked, the ground is ploughed, and sown to 

 oats and vetches, which are fed off, and, when 

 this crop Is done, the ground is again ploughed 

 and sown to rape or turnips, which are fed ofi 

 in like manner. 



Mr. S. has several fields where this course 

 is now going on. His rams, which are intend- 

 ed for sale this fall, are on a field on which 

 the second crop (oats and vetches) is just giv- 

 ing way to turnips and rape. The sheep are 

 in high condition, and the ground is already 

 well manured, though the feeding off the third 

 crop will enrich it still more. The sheep, of 

 course, have been well /e(Z;when the green 

 crop would not afford them enough to eat, 

 they have had peas, or other additional food. 

 The mode of feeding the green crops is that 

 adopted in England, enclosing with hurdles a 

 certain extent, on which the sheep are put 

 from day to day. 



This is a practice which I think might be in- 

 troduced into this country with good results. 

 Our people hear of the English farmers enrich- 

 ing their land by sheep farming. But it is 

 quite- a different thing from turning sheep on 

 to the land, to live or die from the grass 

 or weeds that may grow— often to gnaw the 

 the grass to its very roots, and starve the 



