1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FAilMER. 



223 



corn. He considered it a question whether it was 

 not a good plan to keep an equal number of sheep 

 in pasture with cows. They destroy weeds and 

 bushes which the cows would leave, and thus in- 

 crease the amount of feed in a pasture, besides 

 feeding closer than cows. Many of the farmers 

 in Essex county are convinced that it is a good 

 plan. 



Mr. SpRAGUEsaid he owned a pasture, where ten 

 or fifteen years ago, before he bought it, sheep and 

 cows were fed, and although he had fed less stock 

 there, and no sheep, the pasture was not so good 

 now as then. He also spoke of the necessity of 

 having pure blood in breeding cattle or sheep ; 

 there is no certainty with half blood. It is said 

 that we must not breed in and in, but gentlemen 

 in England have done it for 75 years without bad 

 effect. 



The Chairman was of opinion that we might 

 "breed in and in" to a certain extent, but beyond 

 that it would be very injurious, as in the case of 

 the Suffolk hog. 



Mr. Flint read from his report the opinion of 

 the Berkshire farmers in regard to feeding sheep 

 in the same pasture with cows, which was decid- 

 edly averse to the practice. They run over the 

 pasture to got the finest feed, thus destroying the 

 coarse feed for the cows ; and being a strong- 

 scented animal, no cattle will feed where they 

 huddle. 



Mr. Russell said he had observed that his 

 sheep ate the whiteweed in his pasture, one sea- 

 son, on being removed to it from another locality 



Col. Newell said it had got to be very common 

 in Essex county to employ sheep to eradicate "ox- 

 eye" from the farms. Col. Emerson, a large far 

 mer there, fiaid he had no doubt that they will do 

 more than anything else to accomplish the pur- 

 pose- He procured them for this very object. 



The subject for next Tuesday evening is — Grain 

 Crops — wheat, rye, barley and oats — their value 

 as compared with Indian corn, and as preparatives 

 for grass. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PEEP ARE YOUR GROUND FOR THE 

 MOWER. 



In five months, haying will be upon ua. Shall 

 we break our backs over the scythe ? or shall we 

 wake up to the times in wliich we live, hang these 

 already well worn instruments ovi the "tree" and 

 with our horses shave over our fields with ease 

 and rapidity 1 



Whichever of these instruments we choos( 

 UB do one thing as soon as the spring opens ; clear 

 every stick, chip and -stone from our fields, and 

 roll them while soft. 



Whether we use the scythe or mower this labor 

 will be well expended. If you have no idea of 

 procuring the machine, your good-natured neigh 

 Dor may take pity upon you and mow your grass 

 with his mower after he shall have done a month's 

 haying in ten days. 



Don't neglect uneven fields, for these machines 

 will mow on quite uneven surfaces. 



The day is at hand when the scythe over which 

 we have so long groaned is to be laid aside, and 

 the faithful horses must be called from the shade 

 to cut our grass, and the man who persists in 

 mowing by hand will be gazed at as a relic of the 

 past, like a plow of the last century, a fit subject 

 for Barnum's Museum. 



This to some may look extravagant, but will 

 not five years hence. Show me the man who for 

 economy's sake will ride his own horse from Bos- 

 ton to New York — that will weave his cotton 

 cloth by hand — that will split his own lumber 

 with an axe, while a saw-mill is running at his 

 side, and I will admit that there is one man who 

 may continue deaf to the chipper of the mower 

 as it glides under the grass of the meadows. 



"Ketchum's" is doubtless the best mowing ma- 

 chine yet made. The Country Gentleman and the 

 Scientific American support me in this opinion. 



The machine is simple in construction having 

 had some most valuable improvements made upon 

 it since last year and is durable if properly used. 

 Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co., of Boston 

 and Worcester, are making them and from the 

 specimens of improvement which they have given 

 us, I think it safe to look for a good machine. 



David Lyman. 



Middletown, Conn., Feb. 4, 1854. 



For the New England Farmer. 



BARN STABLES. 



Mr. Brown : — By the request of one of the pub- 

 lishers of the Farmer, I send you a short article up- 

 on Barn Stables. He tells me that frequent in- 

 quires are being made at the office by those about 

 building. 



I should choose to have the leanto on the North 

 side of the barn, for these reasons. If the barn is 

 tight, the leanto will be warm enough in winter ,and 

 by being on the North side, it will be comfortably 

 cool in summer. Cows in this vicinity are "tied 

 up" every night the year round, with certain ex- 

 ceptions. It is well, therefore, in building to 

 think of the heat of summer as well as of the cold of 

 winter. Then if the leanto is on the North side, 

 the droppings are farthest from the sun and air. 

 This arrangement, too, allows the opening of the 

 cellar — which is very desirable — to be upon the 

 South side. 



With a few exceptions, the good barns in Concord 

 are furnished with stsmchion fastenings for all 

 the cattle beside working oxen. No one doubts 

 but that an animal is a Tittle more comfortable 

 tied witli a chain than by stancliions. He would 

 enjoy it to have the length of the stable ! But with 

 animals as with men, society imposes some re- 

 straints to compensate for some advantages! No 

 respectable cow within my knowledge complains of 

 the stanchions, if the good, sweet fodder is only 

 "brought on." 



With working oxen, the case is a little different. 

 They are larger, and more gentle and easily man- 

 aged. Their limits are stifler, and they require 

 more space to lie down in. Their necks are weary 

 with the heavy yoke, and need the relief of turn- 

 ing from side to side. Tlierefore, working oxen 

 should be tied with chains. 



But there is another reason : Working oxen in 



