236 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



'1; 

 1( 





For the New Mngland Farmer. 



COST OF MILK-RAISING. 



MIDDLESEX VS. WOKCESTER. 



Mr. Editor :-Will you permit me to com- 

 pare notes 'With your correspondent, "Worcester, 

 n vour March number, page 145, whose figures I 

 have examined v;ith some interest, but with more 

 surprise at his results. The folloTvmg are facts 

 which may speak for themselves. 



One year ago I purchased a cow from Mame and 

 removed the calf from her on her arrival, 

 comes in this year on the 18th of June. 



I have milked her just 365 days with the follow- 

 ine results. She has averaged 10^ quarts per day 

 in the winter, and 14 quarts per day m the sum- 

 mer. 

 I have sold 7 quarts per day to regular customer?, 



2,555 quarts, at 5 cents per quart.. * 11 05 



msient customers, 230 quarts, at 5 cts.^.^^y^^.- i^--'^ 



.45,60 



does it appear to have completely disappeared till 



eight veara after." . , • j 



On 'the Continent every exertionis being made 

 to arrest the progress of the infection, and military 

 detachments are charged to destroy all cattle that 

 become infected in Prussia. If only one of a herd 

 should be attacked, the authorities order the whole 

 to be slaughtered ; and cordons sanitaires are es- 

 tablished along the frontiers to prevent the ingress 

 of cattle from districts in which the disease exists. 

 If these statements are not exaggerated, the loss of 

 She! so many cattle must seriously diminish the supply 

 of food in Europe, and may give rise to insurrec- 

 tionary movements on the part of the people. 



Transient cusLuiiiciD, -1^" 1 — ■■;-'— . _ j„_ 010 



Used in family of 8 persons, 2.^ quarts per day, 912^ 



quarts, at 5 cts 



Total 



EXPENSE. 

 Paid for 3 tons of rowen, at $17 per ton. 



.$185,30 



$51,00 



6,00 



Carting rowen • jq^qq 



Pasturing ...SCO 



Driving to pasture. . . • V':,",'' ' 4,00 



Carrots raised in garden, one half ton ^'^5 



Shorts. 500 lbs. at $l,2o •;••;•; 640 



Meal, 8 bushels, at 80 cts. per bushel ••••"' 



S86,65 



Total expeuse ^ ' 



Net profits 598,65 



If there is an error in the foregoing result i^t 

 must be on the safe side, as having nnilked myselt, 

 I am conBdent the average, as before stated, is 

 nearer the truth, which would result as follows: 



During summer, say 215 days, at 14 quarts per day, 



3010 quarts, at 5 cts • • '•■•' • •51SO,ou 



During winter, say 150 days, at 10^ quarts per day, 



1575 quarts, at 5 cts 111_J 



Whole expense, (the manure pays for feeding and 

 milking) 



.$86.65 



Net profits ^'^^ 



New England farmers,be not incredulous ! I have 

 no doubt that multitudes of cows,vyith proper care 

 and warm stables, might do even better, and be a 

 source of great profit. Worcester may say, we sell 

 our milk too high. We answer, this is the way we do 

 things in Middlesex, and we are not able to meet 

 the demand at this price. «— i^^at^tvo. 



March, 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CORN CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor -.—As corn-growing is a business of 

 no small importance to our State, I would like to 

 give what I deem the surest,_as well as the most 

 economical method of cultivation. 



The 15th of May, I cart on to swarded ground 

 what long or barn manure I have ; spread the 

 same, then plow immediately, quite deep ; harrow 

 the ground slightly, then plant the seed m rows 

 four feet apart each way, putting about one quart 

 of compost, made of vault manure (or something Oi 

 nearly equal strength) and good loam, in each hill. 

 This has been my practice for some years, and 1 

 find my corn comes up readily, is not troubled with 

 any kind of worm, is not easily afi"ected by drought 

 or wet, and if the soil is mellow, by using a long 

 fine teeth harrow two or three times, both ways be- 

 tween the rows, very little hoeing besides is needed. 

 Farmers having suitable ground, will hnd this 

 practive advantageous in various ways, secunng, as 

 it does, the benefit of the decomposition of the ma- 

 nure and the sward to the present crop, and also 

 'leaving the ground in a good condition for the crop 

 of the next year, when the plow should be put m 

 again deep enough to bring to the surface^ aU that 

 has been turned under. Yours, &c., 

 Mw Market, JV. H., 1857. 



E. Joy. 



South Heading. 



A Murrain Approaching.— A correspondent 

 of the London Times says that an exceedingly fa- 

 tal epidemic has been for some time ravaging the 

 herds of Central Europe, and has now reached Ko- 

 ni^sberg, where one proprietor is said tohave lost 

 three hundred head in a night. The writer says : 

 "In 1745, the same or a like epidemic was intro- 

 duced into England by means of two calves from 

 Holland. In the second year after its introduction 

 over 40,000 cattle died in Nottinghamshire and 

 Leicestershire, and almost as many more m Che- 

 shire. During the third year remuneration was given 

 hy the government, who had ordered the destruc- 

 tion of diseased cattle, for no fewer than 80,000 

 head, while twice as many more, according to the 

 report of one of the commissioners, died of the mal- 

 adv. In the fourth year it was equally fatal, nor 



Price of Labor in California.— A writer for 

 the California Farmer, in stating reasons for the 

 immediate commencement of woolen manufacture 

 in that new State, gives it as his opinion that a suf- 

 ficient number of operatives can be found there to 

 work up the raw material now produced, and at a 

 figure not much above the low price in the East- 

 ern States. He says : "I repeat it ; we have cheap 

 labor, for who has not heard in mining, agricultu- 

 ral and city-loafing localities the almost universal 

 complaint— 'can't get employment; would rather 

 work for my board than wait here for water, or 

 for plowing time to come, or for work on the new 

 brick store." Put this with the stories which are 

 afloat of the enormous wages that are paid in the 

 land of gold, and it may, perhaps, add another 

 drop to the bucketful of contentment with our lot 

 in New England that we have a right to enjoy. 



your 



(Cf> Receive your thoughts as guests, and treat 

 desires like children. 



