^-^—'^^-^^r y...£vM^* ' 



OL. XXIV. Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., SEPTEMBER, 1863. 



No. 9. 



A FEW DAYS IN CONNECTICUT. 



We have recently had the pleasure of spending 

 h-w days among the the hills of Connecticut, and 

 ^turned home more than ever impressed with the 

 )verty of the soil and the wealth of the people. 

 Biding along the Naugatuck Kailroad, and pass- 

 g field after field of the poorest soil, with here 

 d there a small patch of buckwheat or corn, then 

 res and acres covered with stones, bushes and 

 e scantiest herbage, we remarked to a lady who 

 t by us, " tlvs-is a poor cdufltry." " Yea, but it 

 from such land as this," she replied, " that the 

 )nnecticut farmers have brought up large families 

 d sent four or five sons to college." 

 True, most true, and all honor to them. If the 

 rmers of Western New York were as economical 

 those of Connecticut they would soon be the 

 jhest farmeis in the world. 

 New England farmers have one great advantage — 

 od prices. Every little stream and rivulpt are 

 ade to. drive machinery, and there is scarcely a 

 lage where a considerable portion of the 

 pulation is not engaged in some profitable man- 

 loture. Everytliing the furmers can raise is iu 

 maud at prices as high, and in many cases higher, 

 m it will bring in the large cities. 

 The agricultural necessity of New England is 

 mure. The land will produce good crops if it is 

 ill manured. Superphosphate, guano, poudrette 

 d fish manure are all used to a considerable 

 teut, but the hungry soil cries out for more, 

 >NALD G. Mitchell, (Ike Marvel,) of New Ha- 

 Q, whose deligtitfu! place, in company with Prof, 

 W, Johnson, we had the pleasure of visiting, 

 ornied us thut he had used fish manure with 

 ich advantage. He aiso uses sea weed as a top 

 jssing on his grass lands, and fiuds it excdlent. 

 ick, when thrown up to dry and composted with 

 nure, or spread in the yards and stable as an ab- 

 beut of the liquid, is also used as a top dressing 

 the meadows, and has a splendid eflfect. The 



main point is to get good grass for pasture and 

 for hay. Mr. Mitchell fiuds it injurious to pas- 

 ture his meadows too close in the fall ; it injures 

 the next hay crop materially. 



SOILING cattle. 



As we have said, manure is the great object on 

 these poor lands. To obtain this farmers must either 

 purchase artificial fertilizers or ke< p more stock. 

 With the latter object in view soiling has been re- 

 sorted to. Mr. H. S. Collins, of Collinsville, 

 whose admirably managed 'farm we had the pleas- 

 ure of visiting, has for some years practiced soiling 

 and is satisfied that it will pay. He keeps from 

 forty to fifty head of cattle on a farm, which, when 

 he took it, would not support more than a yoke of 

 oxen and one cow, 



Mr. Collins has tried many crops for soiling, 

 but has finally abandoned all but tlie following: 

 The earliest feed he can get is irrigated grass. This 

 is ready to cut by the latter part of May. Then 

 comes clover, and by the 1st of Ji]ly oats and 

 peas, sown together at the rate of four or five 

 bushels per acre. After the oats and peas cornea 

 corn and the second crop of clover. 



The corn is sown iu drills 2^ feet apart. The 

 drills are made with a plow that will inakea wide, 

 shallow fun ow. The seed is sown in tliese wide 

 drills at the rate of four bushels per acre. The 

 plants are as thick as they can st«nd and soon meet 

 in the rows, and thus occupy the whole ground. 

 A more luxuriant mass of vegetation we have 

 never seen. A heavy, smothering crop Tke this 

 leaves the land very clean. The corn is sown at 

 intervals of two weeks, so as to afford a succession 

 through the season. 



The cows were formerly kept in the stables 

 through the summer, but now. Mr. Collims al- 

 lows them to run in the pasture after the iiinrning 

 milking till two or three o'clock in the afternoon, 

 when they are brought in and fed — .md ke|)t in the 

 yards or stables till the next morning. At the 



