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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



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are other very strong arguments in favor of soiling 

 cattle i by a judicious management of the manv.re, 

 which should be soiled, with a good soil taken from 

 the road-side or muck-bed, which would be lost, 

 were the cows turned to pasture, by the heat of 

 summer. The item of waste milk, by driving long 

 journeys to pasture twice a day, every good dairy- 

 man knows is of no small amount. 



Much more might very properly be said, and I 

 wonder more is not said in your valuable paper up- 

 on this important subject ; but, for fear I have al- 

 ready wearied the patience of those more experi- 

 enced, I will stop by sajing I have been able to 

 procure a few bushels of the Egyptian millet seed. 

 I shall be pleased to supply those who wish to try 

 it. The millet grows from eight to ten feet high, 

 and is readily eaten by horses, cov/s or hogs. From 

 the best of my knowledge, the seed was brought 

 from India since 1852 or '53. I procured the seed 

 while trading in the Southern States. 



Sunderland, Mass. F. H. WlLLlAMS. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SHELTERING LANDS. 



Half a century ago, if the barns and sheds built 

 in those days are admissible evidence, they fur- 

 nished but a sorry protection to farmers' animals. 

 Built in exposed situations, with large crevices be- 

 tween the boards, the rude winds whistled through 

 every cranny, and the cold winter air sought refuge 

 in their partial retreat from the softening influence 

 of sunbeams. The storms too played hide-and-seek 

 through the inviting crannies, and left their tribute 

 to the discomfort of man and beast. 



We have seen a change, a beautiful change, in 

 these things. J\l'oiv, no one thinks his barn com- 

 plete unless it can in a few moments be made wind 

 and water proof. Experience has every where 

 shown the benefit of this timely care. Sheep, pro- 

 tected from cold and storms, produce better and 

 finer fleeces. Cows yield more milk, and all ani- 

 mals are rendered more docile by the kind care of 

 man. They retain their flesh better, too, on much 

 less amount of food, than when exposed to the ex- 

 tremes of temperature to which our climate is so li- 

 able. 



Here, then, a great gain is found in the matter of 

 winter comfort and winter economy. Yet it was 

 once thought unnecessary, no doubt, to be at all 

 this labor for the comfort of animals. There is yet 

 another improvement to be adopted in this impor- 

 tant matter, one which to the many seems as vis- 

 ionary and unnecessary as the benefits of warm sheds 

 and barns did to the men of the last century. We 

 allude to a work which some are already commenc- 

 ing, that of planting belts of trees around our build- 

 ings, to break off the force of winds and subdue the 

 severity of temperature. It will be of comparative 

 little labor. A trench may be started with a plow, 

 and the ground prepared by sjiading, in a short 

 time. The trees, (we recommend small ones with 

 branches growing to the ground,) should be taken, 

 if they can be found in such localities, in old fields 

 where the soil is thin, and the roots run near the 

 surface ; for, in such localities, where the ground is 

 wet and adhesive, very nearly all the soil may be 

 removed with them, without difficulty, in the early 

 stages of spring, and scarcely give a sign of injury 

 from the act ; or they may be removed from dry 

 lands in May or June after the buds are fairly start- 



ed, with scarcely a risk. We have thus removed 

 them when the new growth had made at least three 

 inches, which growth was lost of course, but a new • 

 one started, which gave new wood of length equal 

 to that attained by trees in their native locality. 



It is a wrong impression that in putting out ever- 

 greens, there is a gain in getting large ones. Our 

 experience is decidedly against this. In living, the 

 chance is decidedly in favor of small trees, say from 

 two to three feet high. To produce symmetry of 

 form, a small tree has every advantage over larger 

 ones, and ten years will give them a large size. 

 Yours truly, w. B. 



Richmond, ^pril 7, 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 



BUTTER MAKING, 



OR WHAT KIND OF CHURN TO USE. 



I am a farmer, live in Ludlow, Vermont, have 

 kept a dairy of twenty-five cows for fifteen years, 

 think I have had some experience in butter, and 

 cheese-making. I saw a piece on butter-making, 

 in the JVeiv England Farmer, (a very valuable pa- 

 per to me) in favor of Fyler's butter working churn. 

 I think the gentleman who wrote that piece is very 

 much mistaken ; he says he works his butter and 

 salts it in the churn, he works it but once, then 

 packs it in the tub. Now, I pretend to say no 

 man or woman can make firstfrate, butter by work- 

 ing it enough when first churned, no matter what 

 churn he uses. Now I would like to give my ex- 

 perience in the use of churns. I was using a churn 

 made by Leonard Palmer, of Danbury, Vt., when 

 Mr. Holmes first introduced the Fyler churns in 

 our place ; he left one of his churns for me to try ; 

 I gave it a fair trial, and will give you the result. 

 I took ajar of cream stirred the cream thoroughly, 

 then divided it equally between the Palmer and 

 Fyler churns ; two of us commenced churning at the 

 same time, one of us just as fast as the other ; the 

 Palmer churn brought the butter first ; the Palmer 

 churn made six pounds, the Fyler churn five 

 pounds ten ounces ; it was weighed when the butter 

 was ready to pack in the tub. We were not satisfied 

 with one trial, the second trial proved the same ; 

 besides it is a third more work to keep the Fyler 

 churn clean as it should be. A Suescrieer. 



Ludlow, March 11, 1857. 



Street Trees. — In some portions of the old 

 country, there is, or was a law requiring every man 

 at the birth of a child, to plant a fruit or other tree 

 in the street or highway. Every young man, on 

 arriving at years of discretion, or twenty-one, is re- 

 quired to plant two or more trees in the street ; 

 and again, two or more upon being married. These 

 trees sujiply shade and fruit to the traveller, as well 

 as to the poor. We wish a similar law could be en- 

 acted in Ohio ; then our roadways would be shaded, 

 and our orchards unmolested by thieves. — Ohio 

 Farmer. 



Eggs, which are now so abundant, can, it is said, 

 be better preserved in corn meal than in any other 

 preparation yet known. Lay them with the small 

 end down, and if undisturbed, they will be as good 

 at the end of a year as when packed, — Germantown 

 Telegraph. 



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