1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



459 



pearance, antl is likely to yield from thirty 

 to forty bushels per acre. It lays in a central 

 part of a large 4ield, and in a depression that 

 has at times been too wet for satisfactory cul- 

 tivation ; but a stone under-drain was made 

 through it last year that carries off the surplus 

 water which irrigates the grass lands below. 



To show the cause of so good a crop, I must 

 refer to the system of rotation adopted. The 

 land is allowed to remain in grass about eight 

 years. It is then ploughed in the fall, about 

 ten inches deep, and oats sowed the next 

 spring, without manure. The next fall the 

 manure that was made the previous winter is 

 applied before ploughing, and then it is 

 ploughed six or seven inches deep, leaving 

 some of the old sod undisturbed ; about thirty 

 loads, of thirty-five bushels each, are put on 

 an acre, — each load makes five heaps, before 

 spreading. As early the next spring as the 

 land will do to till, it is well harrowed, and 

 two bushels wheat per acre are sown, of a va- 

 riety brought from the west, called Fife, and 

 the grass seed is sown at the same time. 



Last spring, as the ground was in good con- 

 dition at the time of sowing, it is probable that 

 the under drain assisted materially in drying 

 it. A rich, well-prepared seed bed sown at 

 proper season will seldom disappoint the far- 

 mer in a crop. 



This land is well adapted to wheat. One 

 year Mr. Baker raised four hundred bushels ; 

 some of the land yielding forty bushels per 

 acre. It will be seen that in this management, 

 hoed crops do not enter into the rotation, and 

 the manure is at the bam through the summer 

 after it is made. 



Some farmers may, at first thought, object 

 to this method, believing that a hoed crop is 

 necessary to secure a thorough pulverization 

 of the soil, and the destruction of weeds. 

 Mr. Baker secures the first by his manner of 

 ploughing and harrowing ; and the second, by 

 his management of the manure, which is al- 

 lowed to ferment during the summer suffi- 

 ciently to destroy the vitality of the weed 

 seeds thab>may be in it. 



His manure is all under cover, and in two 

 places hogs have so worked over the mass that 

 one could hardly imagine a richer fertilizer, 

 well decomposed, unctuous, and juicy. In an- 

 other shed ten grade Dutch calves have been 

 fed milk or whey all summer, and are making 

 the largest growth of any lot of calves raised 

 by Mr. B. since he commenced farming. They 

 are not fed meal, but have very nice hay. 



The other crops, barley, potatoes, turnips, 

 and fodder corn, occupy a few acres, and are 

 making such a growth as speak well of the 

 fertility of the soil. 



His held of Dutch cattle have increased by 

 one calf, dropped by the heifer "Beauty," the 

 first of June, when she was only eighteen 

 months old. She is as large as some three- 

 year-old native cows. The imported cow 

 suckled her calf until he was six months old 



and she four months with calf again. At that 

 t«ime she gave thirty pounds of milk a day. 

 This stock is so little known and so lately in- 

 te-oduced, that I look upon its growth and de- 

 velopment with much interest. 



The cows on this farm have two pastures, — 

 one for days, and the other for nights. The 

 hours for milking are five o'clock P. M. and 

 five A. M. The cows are tied up in the sta- 

 bles when milked. During the month of June, 

 twenty-two cows yielded over one hundred 

 pounds of butter per week to sell, beside sup- 

 plying the family. In July, twenty-four cows 

 make a sixty pound cheese a day. Three 

 cows suckle their calves. One veal calf, a 

 half-blood Dutch, five weeks old, dressed 125 

 pounds of meat, according to the butcher's es- 

 timate. The calves raised to keep, have been 

 fed on sour milk, whey and hay, and have not 

 diminished the profits of the dairy. 



After visiting such a farm, one's respect for 

 the calling is increased. Its management is a 

 trade to be learned, as well as a work to be 

 performed. Z. E. Jameson. 



Irasburg, Vt., July, 1868. 



HAY TEDDERS. 



I had a little experience with the hay tedder 

 three years ago, in drying a piece of rowen, 

 or second cutting, of eight acres, which was 

 all clover, and quite heavy for a second crop, 

 I had taken oil forty loads at the first mowing, 

 in two weeks, the last of June and first of 

 July, without the use of the tedder. The 

 20th of August I commenced on lihe second 

 crop, full one and one-half tons to the acre, 

 some of it so heavy as to fall down or lodge ; 

 and being desirous to hay and house it as 

 soon as possible, I borrowed a tedder of a 

 neighbor, and went into it with all possible 

 despatch. The weather was fair and hot, and 

 every particle of it was dried and housed with- 

 out any wet. The tedder was used freely, but 

 before I got half through I noticed the stemmy 

 look of the hay and was aware of the loss of 

 branches, leaves and heads, but hastened to 

 save it all while the weather was so favorable, 

 and kept the tedder going ; but was fully con- 

 vinced of my error on feeding it the next 

 winter to sheep. Clover will generally be 

 eaten with great avidity, but this was so dry 

 and stemmy the sheep loathed it, and not more 

 than half was eaten, whiie the first cutting, 

 thoKgh much coarser, was eaten very much 

 cleaner and with better relish. Full half the 

 value of the rowen was lost. The tedder 

 should not have been used, though it is a val- 

 uable implement in all grasses but clover, and 

 a great aid in hay making.— ./. W. 0., Mont 

 Vale Farm, Vt., in Jour, and Watchman. 



— Punch advises farmers to sow their P's, keep 

 their XJ's warm, hive their B's, shoot their J's, feed 

 their N's, look after their potatoes' I's, and take 

 their E's. 



