660 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



grain raised it is mossy, with but little grass. 

 His muck had been referred to. Where he 

 put it on near the road, the soil was sandy and 

 so light that he thought manure would have 

 made little show ; but further back where he 

 rai.^ed his Norway oats, he had a good crop 

 of corn, with no manure but muck that had 

 lain in the barn yard. He intended to use 

 more in future, and believed it would pay. 



\Vm. L. Locke, Jr., said he thought we 

 plough too much land and sell too much grain. 

 We plough more than we can manure. To 

 keep our farms up we must increase the ma- 

 nure piles. He had used sawdust foi* bedding 

 for cattle and hogs, and it prevents all smell in 

 the pens or stable and keeps the cattle clean. 

 He manured some of his corn with sawdust 

 from the hog pens and it gave an excellent 

 crop. In feeding grain, we not only get more 

 and better manure and keep more stock, but 

 get more profit from the stock. He knew 

 one man who makes from 200 to 240 pounds 

 of butter from each cow, and he keeps ten or 

 twelve. This is more than we average, and 

 it is done by good f ;eding to good cows. 



Z. E. Jameson said the question is not how 

 shall we get good crops next year and the 

 year after, but what plan of management will 

 allow us to sell all animal products, such as 

 beef, pork, wool, butter and cheese to pay 

 expenses, and yet have the land continue fer- 

 tile as does the land in China, and the plains 

 where the Patriarchs pastured their flocks. 

 There must certainly be a way to make and 

 keep land fertile, for I have read that there 

 was once a heath or moor in England of such 

 extent that persons would often become lost 

 and wander days and nights on its broad ex- 

 panse, but now, by the culture of turnips, the 

 land has become fertile, and flocks of large 

 Lincoln sheep surround the white cottages of 

 the tenants. It seenied to him that where 

 land will produce a fair crop of clover, it 

 would be best for us to plough in green crops 

 as well as feed animals, and if the result is 

 here as in other sections of country, we shall 

 tind it possible to cultivate an upland farm 

 and keep it fertile. 



Wm. L. Jameson said that some think muck 

 is of little value. What is muck ? Vegeta- 

 ble matter. What is manure ? It is simply 

 vegetable matter. Some muck, to be sure, 

 needs preparation to make it valuable, such as 

 exposure to frosts through the winter or mix- 

 ture with ashes or lime, while from other de- 

 posits it is good to apply directly to the land 

 as toptlressing or in any other way. He had 

 used a good deal, but not half as much as he 

 wished he had, nor half as much as he should 

 in future. If we keep one hog supplied with 

 plenty of this material it will not only absorb 

 all odors but make enough good manure for 

 an acre of corn. He knew it could be done. 

 He had raised, year after year, at the rate of 

 120 to 180 bushels of ears per acre with such 

 manure. Then a compost heap of a layer of 



muck with a lajer of manure, till jou get it 

 as deep as you wish, will in a few months, be- 

 come equal, load for load, to barn-yard ma- 

 nure. He believed in a theory lately published 

 that manure in a compost acts as yeast, and 

 causes a change in the whole mass. 



This ploughing of pastures is a grand way 

 to run down a farm. You take off crops and 

 give back no return, and if the cattle grad- 

 ually enrich it again, it impoverishes some 

 other portion, and all sink together. Our 

 children will not be contented to till acres that 

 are made barren by our mismanagement, when 

 they read of the fertile lands of the West or 

 South. It is better to invest all surplus in- 

 come in improvements, rather than in bonds 

 or interest bearing stocks. He bought his 

 farm for $800 about sixteen years ago. Its 

 produce is doubled and its value is now over 

 $3000. An adjoining farm of twice the acres, 

 was then valued at $2500. Its produce is 

 much decreased, and its price is about §3000. 

 To pay for a farm, raise good crops, for good 

 crops pay debts. 



A short discussion then followed in regard 

 to hiring help, in which two opinions were ex- 

 pressed, — ojie that when there was work to 

 do it would pay to hire it done ; the other that 

 it is best to let some things go undone, rather 

 than hire. 



For the Xew England Farmer, 

 GOODRICH SEEDLING POTATOES. 



We read of enormous yields from single 

 pounds of potatoes cut to a single eye and 

 spread over a large surface of no doubt the 

 very best land, with care and treatment to cor- 

 respond ; but what farmers want to know is 

 how these varieties yield with ordinary field 

 culture. 



I planted two and three-fourths acres to 

 Goodrich Seedlings this year. The yield was 

 six hundred and tifty-two bushels. 



The Harrison was planted on a quarter of an 

 acre of dry old ground, with no manure but 

 a handful of hen droppings and ashes in the 

 hill. The piece was planted to potatoes last 

 year, with very little manure. Used one bar- 

 rel seed. Yield fifty bushels. 



The Cusco was planted on three-fourths of 

 an acre of greensward, dry except at one cor- 

 ner. Manured with a compost made of a 

 large quantity of raw muck and a little fish gu- 

 ano, about two quarts in a hill.- Used three 

 and a quarter barrels seed. Yield one hun- 

 dred and seventy-two bushels. 



The Gleason was planted on seven-eights of 

 an acre of old land, naturally wet, but worked 

 so deep and thoroughly, both last year and 

 this, that it was rather too dry this year. A 

 very light dressing of manure, cultivated in, 

 and a handful of hen manure and a^hcs in the 

 hill. Raised potatoes on the piece last year, 

 with very little manure. U^ed four barrels 



