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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1824. 



FARMER'S CALEJ^DAR- 

 HAY MAKING. It IS a matter of much impor- 

 tance to the husbandman that he should take 

 time by the fore top during the season for mak- 

 ing hay. He must drive his business instead of 

 being driven by it. Indolence or improper 

 management in hay-time will soon give a sorry 

 complexion to a farmer's afiairs. A day or two 

 lost or misemployed while the sun shines, and 

 your grass suffers for lack of the scythe and the 

 rake, or your grain is going back into the ground, 

 while the sickle is rusting on a peg behind the 

 door, and its owner is asleep or gone a journey, 

 may be the niedus of introducing Mr. Deputy 

 Sheriff on your premises, who may do more 

 harm than a crop of thistles, or a host of Hes- 

 sian flies. 



It is best, generally speaking, to cut your ve- 

 ry heaviest grass first of all, and if it be lodg- 

 ed, or in danger of lodging, or the lower leaves 

 and bottom of the stalks are beginning to turn 

 yellow, although the grass is hardly headed, 

 and appears not to have obtained more than two 

 thirds of its growth, you had better begin upon 

 it. But when you have help enough, and your 

 grass stands up well, you will do best to wait till 

 the blossom is fully formed, and is beginning to 

 turn brown. Clover is the most critical grass, 

 and requires the most attention. " In all cases," 

 says Sir .lohn Sinclair, " clover ought to be 

 mown before the seed is formed* that the full 

 juice and nourishment of the plants may be re- 

 tained in the hay. By the adoption of this 

 system the hay is cut in a better season, — it 

 can be more easily secured, — and is much more 

 valuable. Nor is the strength of the plant 

 lodged in the seed, which is often lost. 



" After being cut, the clover should remain 

 in the swath till it is dried about two thirds of 

 its thickness. It is then not tedded or strewed, 

 but turned over, either by the hands, or the 

 heads of hay rakes. If turned over in the 

 morning of a dry day, it may be cocked in the 

 evening. The hay is as little shaken or scat- 

 tered about afterwards as possible ; and if the 

 weather is good, after remaining two or three 

 days in the cock, it may be carted in to the stack. 

 Jt is asserted by the " Farmer's Guide," 

 that " grass will not thrive well that is not 

 mown quite close ; and the loss in the crop 

 where this is not done is very considerable, as 

 one inch at the bottom -nveighs more than several at 

 tke top.'''' 



The fore part of the season for making hay 

 is, we believe, usually attended with less rain 



than the latter part. The days, too. are longer, 

 and the dews are less copious. Farmers will, 

 therefore, find additional motives from these 

 circumstances to industry and exertion in early 

 hay lime. Besides if haying is protracted till 

 harvest commences, the business of one season 

 presses on that of another and some crops will 

 be nearly or quite spoiled in consequence of not 

 being gathered in due time. The fore-handed 

 and industrious farmer thus possesses great ad- 

 vantages over one whom indolence or poverty 

 induces to procrastinate the indispensable labors 

 of his vocation. 



Great advantages would result to the farmer, 

 particularly in haying and harvesting, if he 

 could form an estimate of the weather so as to 

 be able to foresee with tolerable accuracy what 

 would be its state for a few days, or even for 

 24 hours subsequent to the period of observa- 

 tion. Dr. Jenner's versified statement of 

 " Signs of Rain" (published in our paper, vol. 

 ii. 288) may prove useful for this purpose, and 

 the rhymes may assist the memory. A certain 

 French philosopher, some years since, publish- 

 ed an article, in which he asserted, in substance, 

 that the web of a common spider is a sure in- 

 dex of the state of the air for twelve or four- 

 teen days to come. If the weather is to be fair 

 and calm, the principal thread will be spun to a 

 great length ; if on the contrary the weather is 

 to he stormy and boisterous, the thread will be 

 short and thick, and if the spider is seen to re- 

 pair the damages its slander thread may sustain, 

 you may anticipate pleasant weather for many 

 days. So says the philosopher, but we cannot 

 vouch for the accuracy of his saying. It may, 

 however, not be amiss for the man of observa- 

 tion to pay some attention to this subject, for 



we know that the instinct of an insect is often 

 •iTirtreto be depended on than the researches of 

 . science. 



In this climate, a southerly wind, if it con- 

 tinues stedfast for 48 hours, is generally follow- 

 ed by rain. If the wind, however, shifts its 

 course with the sun, or, as sailors phrase it, 

 goes round with the sun ; in the morning blow- 

 ing from the south, or east of south and chang- 

 ing westerly as the sun advances, it generally 

 indicates dry weather. If the wind shifts in a 

 course opposite to the apparent course of the 

 .sun, rain commonly succeeds. If the wind con- 

 tinues southerly, and blows briskly through the 

 night, it commonly, as the phrase is, " blows up 

 rain." This effect of a south wind in this 

 country maj' be thus accounted for. A souther- 

 ly wind is a current of air which has its origin 

 in warmer latitudes than those in which we are 

 situated. This current in passing over the 

 ocean imbibes or takes up as much water as air 

 of its temperature can hold in solution. Pas- 

 sing into higher or colder latitudes the air of 

 the current parts with a portion of its heat or 

 caloric, and cannot retain so much water as it 



But to come down from the clouds to mat- 

 ters more within the reach of the reader. It 

 has been often recommended by writers on ag- 

 riculture to cart hay, particularly clover, be- 

 fore the stalks are dry, and either to put it up 

 with alternate layers of straw, or to salt it at i 

 the rate of from half to one bushel of salt to. 

 the ton. 



" Salt hay, in this country, has usually been 

 hurt by lying too long in the swaths. The 

 method in which 1 have treated it for several 

 years, is, to cock it the next day after it is cut, 

 and carry it in, without delaying more than one 

 day, and put a layer of some kind of dry straw 

 between load and load of it in the mow, to pre- 

 vent its taking damage by overheating. The 

 straw contracts so much of its moisture and 

 saltness, that the cattle will eat it very freely; 

 and the hay is far better than that made in the 

 common way."* 



BAD MANAGEMENT IN MONEV MATTERS. There 



is an error among farmers, who have acquired 

 property, which has a very ill effect both on 

 their own and the public interest. As their 

 money abounds they purchase bank stock, put 

 it out to use, or vest it in some establishment 

 altogether foreign from their proper concern. 

 Some lay it out in buying more land than they 

 can cultivate to advantage, and are thus led to 

 half till their soil instead of cultivating it to 

 profit. A farmer's surplus cash ought, invaria- 

 bly, to be applied to the improvement of his 

 fiirm till his husbandry is carried to a stale of 

 perfection, which is rarely seen in this country. 

 Cash judiciously expended in fencing, subduing, 

 manuring, and erecting necessary and comforlii- 

 ble barns, sheds, kc. may at iir,»t seem to lessen 

 a man's capital, but it will evenlualiy prove 

 belter than mbney at interest, and probably soon 

 be worth 20 or 30 per cent. Besides by laying 

 out your money on your own land you get the 

 best possible security, have something to show 

 for what you expend, and must enjoy a degree 

 of satisfaction in dressing dame nature in 

 her best attire, making the vallies laugh, 

 and the little bill? on your premises clap their 

 hands. But when your money is all loaned to 

 interest, spent in obtaining mortgages on other 

 men's land, or purchasing bank stock, &c. you 

 ;ict like a^miser, and must live like a hermit, 

 with no means of enjoyment, or evidence of 

 property about you, except musty scraps of pa- 

 per or parchment. You cause no increase of 

 property, do no good to the public with your 

 money, ^nd live to no useful purpose as re- 

 spects yourself or the community. 



* It may not be amiss, however, to state in this place, 

 that ajfriculturists do not altogether agree on this point. 

 In "Memoirs of the New York Board of Agricultnre," 

 vol. ii. p. 30, it is asserted (hat "all the grasses are 



more nntritious if not mowed until the seed is fully | hdd in its outset. Clouds or vapors are there 

 grown. It should not be entirely ripened, however." 

 'i'he Farmer's Assistant tells us (hat " the best time 

 .for cutting herd's grass, [timothy] where but one crop 

 is cut HI the si-ason, is when the seeds of grass are ful- 

 ly formed, but before they have become fully ripe ; but 

 as farmers cannot all cut their hay in a day or two, it is 

 n«>cessary that they should begin before this time, that 

 tliey may not end too long after it. The same time is 

 also proper for cutting clover ; or rather when a part of 

 begin to turn brown. Foul meadow or 

 cut much later, without being 



heads 

 bird^ 

 ^lurt by long 



standing 



fore formed, and the excess of moisture is de- 

 posited in mist, rain, hail or snow, according to 

 circumstances, the season, &c. On the contra- 

 ry a northerly wind, coming from a compara- 

 tively cold latitude, acquires caloric as it ad- 

 vances, and with that acquisition its capacity for 

 holding water in solution is increased. There- 

 fore a northerly wind is a drying wind, and 

 its predominance soon dissipates clouds and in- 

 troduces fair weather. 



' Ueane's New England Farmer. 



FOREIGN. 



By an arrival at New York, London dates hare been 

 received to the 3d of May. They contain more news 

 than usual, with the details of events of more or less 

 importance, which given at large would occupy nearly 

 all our columns. We must therefore content ourselve.', 

 and attempt to satisfy our readers with such sketches 

 merely, as we can find room for. 



An attempt has been made by the Queen of Portu- 

 gal, and her son, Don Miguel, to elTect a change in (he 

 Government. The King was placed under duress, and 

 the I'rince assumed (he power of Regent, appointing a 

 new Minister of Police, and arresting the existing Min- 

 ister, and a great number of other officers. T he For- 

 eign Ministers interfered, and required that the insur- 

 gents should issue an order ip the King's name, direct- 



