100 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. as, 1S4-5 



Gov. Hill, Editor of the Farmer's Monthly Visi- 

 tor, in commenting upon the Stalislical Statement 

 of the Shoe and Leather Business of Danvers, fur- 

 nished by J. C. Proctor, Esq., and copied into our 

 columns a short time since — has the following just 

 remarks : — 



•' What would be the prospects of the farmers 

 and producers of New England and of the country, 

 without its manufacturing enterprise and industry? 

 Go to the place where this industry prevails — 

 where Iialf of the population is engaged in some 

 useful manufacture which is sent abroad for sale. 

 You will there see comfortable dwellings and build- 

 ings, and whore the land will allow of it, very pro- 

 ductive gardens and small fields improved as a re- 

 creation to the mechanic from the confinement of 

 more sedentary labor. And you will find in the 

 neighborhood of every such community, busy and 

 prosperous farmers, who generally make tliPir lands 

 each succeeding year more and more productive. 

 Such farmers seldom fail to find in their own neigh- 

 borhood a ready market for every thing they pro- 

 duce ; and they find customers who are always 

 able and willing to pay for every thing they raise. 

 In such a community, the farmer is able to hire 

 help and pay good wages, because the purchaser 

 at his door is able to pay him promptly. 



"The example presented by a highly respecta- 

 ble citizen, of the leather business in Danvers, is 

 demonstration that every new business profitably 

 pursued, brings new profits and increase to other 

 pursuits in the neighborhood. The interests of the 

 farmer and the manufacturer are mutual : where 

 the latter docs not prosper, the former can scarce- 

 ly expect to flourish." 



FATTENING HOGS. 



Those who wish to be economical in feeding, 

 should begin early. Every farmer who is fatten- 

 ing hogs, should have a cauldron set in an arch 

 near his pen, in which he can boil pumpkins, pota- 

 toes, meal, &c., as it will be found much cheaper 

 to feed with boiled food than raw. 



Considering the comparatively Ion value of po- 

 tatoes and pumpkins, and their great weight, it is 

 better to make them the principal food in fattening, 

 and save the corn, which is a more valuable and 

 less perishable article. 



When potatoes are boiled and mashed, they 

 make excellent feed for hogs; if a proportion of 

 pumpkins are mixed with them, they are still bet- 

 ter ; and if to both a small quantity of corn rneal be 

 added, we do not know of any feed with which hogs 

 can be fattened to more advantage. 



We know that it is said that pork which is fat- 

 ted with boiled food is not as hard, and of course 

 the purchaser will endeavor to take advantage of 

 the circumstance ; but let hogs be fed in this man- 

 ner for the first three fourths of the time they are 

 fattening, the remainder with meal and corn, and 

 we assure our farmers that they will find a ready 

 market for their pork, and at first prices. 



A portion of time spent in gathering up those 

 things which of themselves are not so marketable, 

 and convening them into food for hogs at this sea- 

 son, will save much that is more directly so, and 

 will prove equally profitable as tlia*. spent in rais- 

 ing such crops — for the old adaije says, "a penny 

 saved is as good as a penny earned." — Old Gene- 

 see Farmer. 



Our wealth is often a snare to ourselves, and al- 

 ways a temptation to others. — Lacon. 



MANURING GRASS GROUNDS. 

 There is scarcely any question on which far- 

 mers are morn divided, than as to the policy of ap- 

 plying manure as a top-dressing to grass lands in 

 the spring or fall. The reasoning seems to he in 

 favor of spring dressing, and it is supported by 

 many excellent names. But it ought to be known 

 that intelligent farmers near the metropolis, most 

 generally dress their lands in autumn. Grasslands 

 are less injured by carting over them in the fall ; 

 it may be added, also, that it is a season of greater 

 leisure ; and although it is confi ontly asserted that 

 the manure is waslod by rains and snows, yet much 

 ought to be allowed on the other side, for the pro- 

 tection afforded by the top dressing to the tender 

 roots of the plants during winter, and ought we 

 not to add ■ something for the low temperature of 

 the atmosphere in winter, which prevents evap<ira- 

 tinn ? Whatever principles of fertility exist in 

 manure, are in winter carried down into the soil. 

 We are fully convinced that a scorching sun, and 

 drying air, are more pernicious to manures, spread 

 thinly over the surface, than any drenching rains 

 can be, unless on declivities, where top dressings 

 are unquestionably of less value than on level 

 grounds. The fact that farmers who grow rich by 

 supplying the great towns with hay, generally 

 adopt the practice of fall dressing flieir grass lands, 

 deserves weight. — Deane's Georgical Didionari/. 



From the American Fanner. 



MODE OF APPLYING MANURE. 



As the season has arrived for the application of 

 manure to wheat lands, the question may very prop- 

 erly be raised — What is the best mode of its appli- 

 cation .' This is an important question, and one 

 that has been frequently discussed. 



Some persons recommend top dressing after the 

 wheat is sown, but the general impression seems to 

 be, that spreading previous to sowing, and turning 

 under imynedialety, is the most efScient mode of ap- 

 plication. An experienced practical farmer in 

 Pennsylvania, of some forty years standing, was in 

 the practice, until some ten or twelve years since, 

 of turning the manure under with as little delay as 

 possible. So impressed was he with the impor- 

 tance of attaining this object, that it was his cus- 

 tom to plow in, if possible, all that was spread on 

 each day. It so happened on one occasion, that 

 the press of other business broke in on his accus- 

 tomed practice, and the manure after being spread, 

 was left to lay two or three weeks before it was 

 turned under. To his surprise, a marked diflierence 

 soon appeared in the wheat in favor of the part 

 on which the manure was suffered to lay longest 

 previous to being plowed in. This diflTerence con- 

 tinued until harvest — at which time the latter por- 

 tion was about one foot taller than the other, with 

 proportionate yield of grain. This induced him to 

 rCipeat the experiment the following year — which 

 resulted as before. It has now become his prac- 

 tice to spread the manure as soon as convenient 

 and allow it to lay on the surface until seeding 

 time, in some cases for tlie space of five or six 

 weeks. Now this is practical knowledge — the uni- 

 form result of fair and repeated experiment. As 

 to the why and wherefore, I leave it for the scien- 

 tific readers of the Farmer, of whom I doubt not 

 there are many. 



In relation to top-dressing wheat, I may say, 

 that not having quite a sufficiency of manure be- 



fore sowing last autumn, 1 was induced to try tl 

 experiment of top dressing a portion of the fiel 

 For this purpose I selected short, well lotted m 

 nure, which was evenly spread over the surface - 

 some part in the early, and the balance in the la »'' 

 ter part of the winter, the ground being frozen 

 the time of application ; though it was decided 

 beneficial, the effect both on the wheat and your 

 timothy and clover was far inferior to that portic 

 of the field where the manure was turned undi 

 previous to sowing. E. P. 



Baltimore Co., Aug. 20. 



[ttu, 



USEFUL HINTS TO YOUNG MEN. 



Start, I beseech you, with a conviction firm 

 fixed in your mind, that you have no right to \\\ 

 in this world, being blessed with a hale body ar 

 sound mind, without doing work of some sort 

 other, unless you have ample fortune whereon 

 live clear of debt. Start with this convictic 

 thoroughly implanted in your mind. To wish 

 live on the labor of others, is, besides the folly 

 it, to contemplate a fraud — and to resolve to do si 

 is to meditate robbery. 



1 suppose you in the middle rank of life. Ha 

 piness ought to be your great object, and it is to h 

 found only in virtue and independence. Look n 

 to office for support — look not for success to favc 

 to partiality, to friendship, or what is called int 

 rest: — write it on your heart, that you will deper 

 solely on your own merit and your own exertions. 



The great source of independence the Frenc 

 express in a precept of three words, " I'ivre cle peu 

 which I have always very much admired. T 

 " /I'oe vpon little," is the great security a'.r.ii]i*t sic 

 very ; and this this precept extends tf' i: >! ar 

 other things, besides food and drink. 



A great misfortune of the present day is, th; 

 too many are, in their own estimate, raised abo\ 

 their real state of life, and strive to win the repufi 

 tion of '■^gentlemen" by avoiding the appearance i 

 working for their bread. But we cannot all I 

 "gentlemen" of this sort; (and he is less than ms 

 who would wish to be ;) there must be a large pa 

 of us after all, to make and mend clothes ar 

 houses, and carry on agriculture and commerce- 

 and this part are the useful men and the genitif 

 gentlemen. 



A young man, some years ago, offered himself f 

 me, as an amanuensis. The terms were settlei 

 and I, who wanted the job despatched, rcqueste 

 him to sit down and begin ; but he, looking out c 

 the window, whence he couid see the church clocl 

 said, somewhat hastily, " I cannot stop now, sir; 

 must go to dinner." "Oh," said I, "you must g 

 to dinner, must you ? Let the dinner which yo 

 must wait upon today, have your comtanl services 

 then ; for you and I shall never agree." He ha 

 told me that he was in great distress for want o 

 employment ; but when relief was there before hi 

 eyes, he could forego it for the sake of getting a 

 his eating and drinking three or four hours, per 

 haps, sooner than I should have thought it righ 

 for him to leave off work. — Cobbett. 



Children should be taught to respect the aged 

 to feel for the oppressed, and to sympathize will 

 the unfortunate. 



God is on the side of virtue ; for whoever dreadi 

 punishment, suffers it ; and whoever deserves it 

 dreads it. — Lacon. 



