1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



217 



For the Aeu> England Farmer. 



UNDER DRAINING. 



In draining grass lands, where the soil is not too 

 stony or rooty, to admit of the use of the "Double 

 Michigan" plow, I have found that plowing and 

 seeding in August and September on turf turned 

 over with this plow, has answered every practical 

 purpose, and is the cheapest mode of draining. 

 The furrows must run up hill and down, and if they 

 are turned properly, each furrow, when the turf is 

 turned under, will serve the purpose of a water 

 course or drain which will last several years ; as 

 long, at least, as the land ought to be cropped : — 

 then turn over again, manure and seed down. If 

 the land is very wet, let it be plowed in small plats, 

 from one to two rods wide, and the land furrow 

 will answer the purpose of a deep drain. 



There is also a double advantage in this mode of 

 treating grass land. Swale and poor grasses, pod, 

 rushes, &c., will always be found in wet lands, but 

 if you turn these root upwards and cover with sub- 

 soil, as the "Double Michigan" plow will do, you 

 will have, after seeding, a crop of clear, first-quality 

 English hay, besides the advantage of having the 

 land drained. j. s. s. 



Greenfield, March, 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 



ONE-HORSE POWER FOR CUTTING 

 HAY. 



Mr. Editor : — Sir — I have been much pleased 

 and interested in the many improvements which 

 are encouraged and suggested in your valuable 

 paper, especially in the improvement of agricultu- 

 ral implements. 



There is one thing which, it appears to me, is 

 yet lacking, and which I think would be of more 

 substantial benefit to the farmer than any one of 

 the inventions of the last fifty years. 1 refer to a 

 one-horse power hay and straw-cutter, 'one that can 

 be placed in one end of the barn floor; and be sta- 

 tionary through the winter, so that a horse can be 

 hitched in every morning and enough hay, straw 

 and corn fodder be cut in a few minutes to last the 

 entire stock through the day, ])robably in the same 

 time it would take a man to cut for a span of horses 

 by hand. Up here in Vermont, where hay and 

 fodder of all sorts is cheap and plenty, it is too 

 laborious, in addition to all his other duties, to do 

 much with these hand machines. In cases where 

 a man has but two cows and a horse, and no. other 

 work driving, it would be different. I think they 

 are not used by our large farmers more than half 

 as much as they were a few years ago, when they 

 •were new, and there was a little excitement upon 

 the subject. 



I know of one of our best farmers who bought one 

 for ten dollars ; soon getting tired of that, he bought 

 another for eighteen. Being in his barn floor a few 

 days since, and seeing one of them stowed up in 

 one corner, I asked him, don't you use that ? "No, 

 want to sell it." "Don't yon use the one in your 

 horse barn ?" "No." 



Now, it appears to me, if farmers had one of 

 the one-horse power, rightly constructed, they 

 would not use any straw but what they cut ; even 

 if it was for litter, it would belter absorb the 

 yquid, be worth more in manure, and be much less 



trouble to the shovel and harrow. The advantage 

 this would give him of cutting and mixing his dif- 

 ferent kinds of fodder, besides other purposes to 

 which the power might be appropriated, a circular 

 saw to saw his wood, a grindstone to hitch it to ia 

 hay season, a washing machine for Mondays, a 

 churn, a thrashing machine, a corn-sheller, &c. — 

 Miglit not something be done by our agricultural 

 societies to encourage an improvement of this 

 kind ? I throw out these hints, that others, more 

 able than myself, may give the subject attention, 

 and that I may avail myself of their judgment; 

 whether it would be a profitable outlay for me, o. 

 farmers generally, M, A, Banter. 



jVorunch, VL, 1857. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



THE HORSE. 



Mr. Editor : — For the benefit of some of your 

 numerous readers, will you insert the following 

 communication, and oblige a subscriber ? I have 

 recently lost a fine horse, on account of my igno- 

 rance concerning complaints common to that noble 

 animal. Let me suggest to owners of horses, who 

 may be as unacquainted as myself with diseases in- 

 cident to the horse, to inquire of some horse farrier 

 what is meant hy foulness among horses. By at- 

 tending to this complaint, the lives of many valua- 

 ble horses, together with an incalculable amount of 

 suff"enng, may be saved. A hint to the wise, &c. 



South Reading, Feb., 1857. Greenwood. 



CHINESE SUGAR CANE — MANURE. 



Friend Brown : — Please inform me the quan- 

 tity of seed of th^ Chinese sugar cane required to 

 plant one-eighth of an acre, and the best mode of 

 planting the same ? 



Is horse manure injured by being permitted to 

 lie in a heap, and healing through the winter ? or 

 would it not be better to mix with other stable ma- 

 nure or muck, and prevent fermentation, until want- 

 ed for use ? and oblige a SUBSCRIBER. 



Chittenden, Vt., 1857. 



Remarks. — Less than a quarter of a pound of 

 sugar cane seed is suflicient for quarter of an acre. 

 Plant same as common corn — perhaps a little near- 

 er together. 



Mingle the horse raaaure heap with other ma- 

 nures colder in their nature, and overhaul once or 

 twice before using. 



HEN majeure, TURNIPS, TOTATOES. 



One of your correspondents some months ago 

 said he had used the droppings from his hen roost, 

 on his corn, and thereby kilkd his corn ; I have 

 never used, it for corn, but have for turnips, with 

 good efiect. I have it mixed with some lime and 

 mould from the woods. Last year I had 500 bush- 

 els from less than nine-tenths of an acre ; I do not 

 know if that can be considered a large crop, but I 

 thought it was. I would also like to know if 900 

 bushels of Irish potatoes, from 2;^ acres of land, is 

 not considered a large crop ? When speaking of 

 80 and 100 bushels of corn 1o the acre, is shelled 

 corn always to be understood ? [Yes. — Ed.] 

 Isabella F. Evans. 



Sunderland, JST. Y., 1857. 



