]NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED HV THOMAS W. SlIEl'ARD, ROGKRS' BUILDINGS, fONGRK.SS S IRKi;i', (R)UR'rH DOOR FROM STA'll', STKKKT.) 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1»23. ~^ 



L. II. 



No. 11. 



FACTS AMI OBSF.UVATIOXS RFI.ATING TO 



UCULTURE & DOMESTIC ECONOMY 



[by thf. editor.] 



CVLVF.S. 



o make calves lie quiet ; more efpeciaily 



ng a temporary scarcity of Jlilk ; uiiich will 



jtimes take place. 



this case balls made ef nlieat tlour, and a 



ent quantity offfin to form it into a paste, 



vcn tliem ; three balls about tlie size o( 



uts being: sjiven about a quarter of an hour 



re each meal. 'I'he etVect is, that instead 



asling themselves by incessant '• bauling," 



ie quiet ; sleeping a principal part of their 



Bv a little custom, the calves get fond of 



paste balls; eating them freely out of the 



a proof ot their being acceptable to their 



-ichs. As an expedient, they are evidently 



Ie ; and may be of service to a restless 



ven when milk is plentil'ul. — MarshaWs 



nd Coimtics, vol. i. p. 350. 



haps balls of Indian or rye meal, mixed 



th gin, whiskey, or other cheap spirit. 



niswer a good purpose, if used as above 



bed, where wheat flour could not be easily 



red. We should not advise, however, to 



diet calves in that manner unless they 



intended for the butcher ; tor we should 



prehensive that feeding them wilii such 



Besses, would render them too delicate 



caly-mouthed to become hardy and pro.'^ia- 



ttle. 



CALVES SCOURING. 



e pondered chalk and wheat meal, work- 

 a bail with gin. — Young's Annals, vol. 

 437. 



RY cows WHtCH YOU IKTEKD TO FATTEN. 



:e an ounce of powdered alum ; boil it fn 

 nartsofmilk till it turns to whey ; then 



large handful of sage, and boil it in the 

 till you reduce it to one quart; rub her 

 with a little of it, and give her the rest by 

 "drink; milk her clean before you give 

 BV; and as you see need requires, repeat 



aw a little milk from her every second 



'dday; lest her udder be overcharged. — 



Agricultural Dictionary, vol.i, p. 228. . 



cows FOR LABOR. 



have never heard of cows being put to 

 ke in this country, but it does not inevita- 

 low that the practice may not in some 

 ■e attended with convenience if not with 



Mr. Young asserts, that "Mr. Bakewell 

 draw with oxen, but now draws all with 



He finds them as handy as oxen, and 

 •aw just as well as oxen of the same size. 

 :ps them chiefly on straw till three years 

 len they go to bull and work till nearly 

 ears old." In Spain, likewise, we are 

 iws bear their proportion of the labors 

 ield. These hints may be of use to some 

 i on new settlements, or those who live 

 II farms, and wish to make the most of a 

 ock. 



CHoici- OF Cons. 



Much depends on the clioire of cows, and the 

 care taken to mend their breed and increase their 

 milk. Cows of a red and black color are to be 

 preferred to while. Heifcra intended for breed- 

 ing should not go to the bull till the fourth 

 year. The third, fourth, and fifth calves are. 

 best to breed from. 



Cows to breed from should have eight or ten 

 white teeth in their jaw, the breast broad, the 

 tail long, the veins oi' the body distin^'uishable, 

 the brace of the navel large, a broad forehead, 

 large black eyes, wide nostrils and ears. — Bath 

 Papers, vol. i, p. 212. 



PROPER THIE FOR CATTLE TO BREED. 



The most proper age at which cattle should 

 be allowed to become productive is a point of 

 much importance, but which requires more ex- 

 periments than have yet been instituted to fully 

 ascertain it. Much may perhaps depend upon 

 climate, situation, and the manner in which thev 

 have been reared and kept. Where the situa- 

 tion is favorable, and their food rich and good, 

 ihey may he employed in this way earlier than 

 when they have been much exposed and poorly 

 kept. 



This is supported by the observation of Mr. 

 Marshall, that in Yorkshire, while the lands 

 were in the state of commonage, the heifers 

 •' were frequently kept iVom the bull till they 

 'vere three years old : now, in the state of en- 

 closure and improvement, and at the present 

 high rents, they are iVequently suffered to fake 

 bull when yearlings, bringing calves at two 

 years old. The arguments for bringing heifers 

 in at two years old are, that they come sooner 

 to profit, and that farmers cannot alTord, at the 

 present rate of rents, to let tliem run unprofila- 

 bly, until they be three years old. On the other 

 hand, the argument in favor of bringing them in 

 at three years old is, that not being stinted in 

 their growth, they make larger and finer cows 

 than those which are suflfeied to bear calves at 

 a more early age." 



It may in general bo remembered, that the 

 milk whicli comes first from the cow when milk- 

 ed is much more strongly impregnated with an\ 

 peculiar flavor than what comes last; and a- 

 that which is the first drawn is the thinnest and 

 least valuable part of the milk, it may be taker 

 away and applied to any iut'crior domestic use, 

 without diminishing in any sensible degree the 

 products of the dairy. 



By thus separating the first from the last 

 drawn milk, the quality of the butter will at all 

 times be much improved, and the quantity hard- 

 ly diminished in any sensible degree. For I 

 have found, by experiment, that a small quanti- 

 ty of milk, which comes last from the cow, con- 

 tains about sixteen times more cream than any 

 equal quantity that comes the first at once milk- 

 ing, and that the cream is also of a much richer 

 qualify ; the color of the one being of a deep 

 orange, while that of the other is as white as 

 paper. 



No method of rearing can be so beneficial 



for a dairy, as that usually practised in the 

 Highlands of .Scotland, where it is the universal 

 cuslum to allow the calf to suck its mother for 

 some lime, take it iiway, and milk what remains 

 in the cow's udder. — Hunter's Gcorgical Essays, 

 vol. vi, p. 1G9. 



ON cows GOINi; DRY TOO SOO.V. 



If at auy time a good milch cow should go 

 dry before her milk is gone, get a young calf, 

 and put it too her, in order lo preserve her mill; 

 against another year; for it is well known, if a 

 cow goes dry one year nature will lose its pow- 

 er of acting in future. — Bath Papers, vol. 2, 

 page 294. 



TO PREVENT COWS FROM CONTRACTLVG BAD HABirS 

 WHEN YOUNG. 



Cows should always be treated with great 

 gentleness, and soothed by mild usage, especial- 

 ly when young and ticklish, or wlien the paps 

 are tender, in which case the udder ought to be 

 fomented with warm water before milking, an^l 

 touched with the greatest gentleness, other- 

 wise the cow will be in danger of contracting 

 liad habits, becoming stubborn and unruly, and 

 retaining her milk ever after. A cow never 

 gives down her milk pleasantly to the person 

 she dreads or dislikes. The udder and paps 

 should always be washed with clean water be- 

 fore milking ; but care should be taken that 

 none of that wa erbe admitted into the milking 

 pail. 



MILCH cows SHOULD BE WELL KEPT. 



The keeping of con^s in such manner as to 

 make them give the greatest quantity of milk, 

 and with the greatest clear profit, is an essential 

 point of economy. Give a cow half a bushel of 

 turnips, carrots, or other good roots per day, 

 during the six winter months, besides her hay ; 

 and if her summer feed be such' as it should be, 

 ■^he will give nearly double the quantity of milk 

 she would afford if only kept during winter in 

 the usual manner, and the milk will be richer 

 and of better quality. 



The carrots, or other roots at nineteen cents 

 per bushel, amount to about eighteen dollars. 

 The addition of milk, allowing it to be only 

 three quarts a day for three hundred days, at 

 three cents per quart, amounts to twenty-seven 

 dollars. It should be remen>bered too, that, 

 ivhen cows are thus fed with rootis, they con- 

 -ume less hay, and are less liable to several dis- 

 eases, which are usually the effects of poof 

 keeping. — Farmer^s Assistant. 



PROFITS OF cow KEEPING. 



Cows are certainly very profitable. Allows 

 ing one to give only six quarts a day for forty 

 weeks in each year, and this is not a large al- 

 lowance, her milk, at two cents per quart will 

 amount to upwards of thirty three dollars; 

 which is probably sufficient to purchase her, and 

 pay for a years keeping. — ibid. 



Apple Jelly for preserving Sweetmeats. — Pare, 

 ipiarter, and core, winter pippins, or almost any 

 other kind of ujiples, and put them info a stew- 



