174 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NOV. 30, 18*2. 



ANn HORTICULTURAL RKGISTER. 



Boston, Wednesday, Novemekb 30, 1842. 



WINTER WORK. 



The care of the stock on ihe /arm, ii the importanl 

 business of winter. Our animals should he kept dry, 

 and free of exposure to currents of cold air, rushing jn 

 through holes and cracks in the sides of the barn. These 

 may soon be stopped around the ]ean>to by a few shin- 

 gles and nails. If the shingles would be too conspicu- 

 ous and unseemly on the outside, then batten on the in- 

 aide. 



That it is good for our animals of all kinds to be kept 

 eomforlaUe there can bo no doubt. But how much 

 warmth it is dtsirable to produce in the barn in order to 

 have them truly comfortable, that is, in order to have 

 be most healthy, is not a settled point. That good fresh 

 nir for iheni to breathe, is highly important, can hardly 

 be doubled by any one who has paid the least attention 

 to the laws of liealth. But the barn can be kept cool 

 onough, even when all holes and crevices immediately 

 around and under the cattle are carefully sad complete- 

 ly stopped. 



Some farmers make cellars under their cattle stalls, 

 lay the floors not tight, and leave the ceKsrs open for 

 the free admission to the coldest of winter's wtnds. 

 These winds must be rushing up and blowing upon 

 those parts of the animals which are the most suscepti- 

 ble of harm and discomfort from cold. The belly is 

 much more easily harmed than the back. A barn cel- 

 lar in winter should be closed — this makes it better for 

 the cattle above it, and better lor the manure in it. If 

 you fear that closing up thus much will make the barn 

 too warm, the evil can be easily remedied by opening a 

 door or window in the upper part of the barn. We sup- 

 jwse that cattle may be kept too warm in cellars or base- 

 ments. They may there be made sickly. The evil, 

 however, is not so much occasioned by absolute warmth 

 as by the impurities of confined air that is breathed over 

 and over again. Above ground there is no danger to 

 getting the temperature too high, excepting for a short 

 time in November and December, when the barn is/uW 

 of hay. More cattle suffer from cold in our winters 

 than from undue warmth. There are but few farmers 

 whose hams are such that it will not be best to make 

 them as warm as possible. 



In addition to good protection from currents of cold 

 air, give your cattle the pleasure and benefits of a daily 

 carding — this, not so much lor the purpose of making 

 the hair look smooth nnd glossy, as for the purpose of 

 keeping open the pores of the skin and promoting its 

 healthy action. 



Careful feeding promotes the thrift and health of cat- 

 tle, and saves fodder. A little hay only should be given 

 nt a lime. The hay should be well shaken up. Where 

 there are various kinds of fodder, as fresh meadow hay, 

 ■alt hay, oat and barley straw, &c. &c., it is best to mix 

 the different kinds thoroughly and to put in also some 

 ^ood hay — as much of this as your supply allows. See 

 to it th.nt your stock is kept in good order at all times. 

 There is no economy in trying to keep them at any time 

 exclusively or mostly on very poor fodder. Better is it 

 to keep but seven cows and keep them well, usin" a 

 eonsiderahle portion nf your meanest hay for litter, than 

 to keep ten but poorly, making ihem consume all the 

 coarse fodder. Spend time enough in the barn to put 

 every thing that is given to the cattle into the best possi- 

 ble state for their use. 



Fuel — partly for this and partly for next year's use, is 

 to be cut and brought to the wood yard. 



Ditching. There is generally opportunily to do some- 

 thing more than tend the stock and gel up the wood, if 

 one be active and enterprising. Many winters afford 

 better opportunities for ditching, in particular meadows 

 and particular spots, than occur in the summer. E.spe- 

 cially do they afford convenienciSs for getting on to the 

 meadow with teams and taking to the upland the mud 

 or peat taken out in opening the diich. In summer the 

 meadows are, many of them, at least, loo soft to bear up 

 the team ; if a ditch is ttien opened, the contents must 

 be thrown into a bank and left in that state, or else 

 spread out upon the meadow. Left in a bank, it inter- 

 feres with the proper draining of the land, and does not 

 look well. Spread out, it may be of some service, but it 

 is much less useful there than it would be on the up- 

 lands. There is enough of the came kind of matter al- 

 ready where you put this when you thus sprpad out. 

 When the frost is not more than four or five inclics 

 deep, it will bear up the team, nnd at such times it is 

 not difficult, by the use of an axe, to take off ihe lop 

 where you wish to open your ditch, and when that is 

 dime, what lies below, may be taker, out, if it be not 

 too wet, wilh any common spade or shovel, thrown di- 

 rectly on to a drag or rockboai, and hauled ii> the up- 

 land — or if the distance be great, throw either directly 

 into a carl, or first on to the bank and then into the cart. 

 If the meadow be quite wet, use the shovel or common 

 spade till you gel down nearly to the water's level, and 

 below ihat if the mud or peat be firm enough, use the 

 turf spade, peat knit(3 or whatever else be its name. We 

 once opened a ditch in this way in mid winter, and car. 

 ried the mud to the shore, where it would have been 

 difficult working in summer, and where it would have 

 been impossible to have gone with the team when the 

 surface was not frozen. 



Gravelling Meadoms. This work can generally be 

 done with more convenience in winter than at any 

 other time, and there are but few farmers who cannot 

 find something of this kind to engage tlieir leisure hours 

 if they have but the will and energy to set about it. 



conclusion that the roots are not worth what they cost us. 

 From this limited basis, the only inference to be drawn, 

 is that we should either {;ive few if any roots, or 

 that we should have a supply sufficient for lasting tlin 

 slock from early winter until late into the spring. Wt 

 have no wish to make any inference, or to give an opin- 

 ion, but only to ask our readers whether their observa- 

 tions and experience throw any light upon this subject. 

 And if they do, we hope to be favored with a glimpse of 

 that light. 



ROOTS— THEIR VALUE AS TOOD FOR STOCK. 

 We have heard many farmers say — and they all say 

 it Biifily, as though there might be heresy in the words — 

 that they have tried roots and that their animals do not 

 thrive well upon them. This is said sometimes in refer 

 ence to roots of all kinds, but ofienef in relation to the 

 ruta baga than any other one. The statement has come 

 to us from so many different and so many observing men, 

 that we have supposed there must be some foundation 

 in fact for the remark. What, the fbundatior. was, 

 whether they teed out roots too freely and relax ihe ani- 

 mals loo much- — whether there was too much dirt (oi 

 rather too much mffinurs) adhering to roots iio as to ren 

 der them injurious — or what the cause, v/e have been 

 unable to say. One thing has always been certain 

 that in England and Scotland, beef and. mutton of the 

 finest quality, and in great quantities . have long been 

 made by feeding almost exclusively or. turnips. What 

 has been the difficulty here ? In reading a late work 

 from Scotland, we find that there, young sheep — and it 

 is not said to be different with other animals — there 

 young {sheep do not thrive on turnips for the first six, 

 eight or ten weeks Uiat they feediupon them, but rather 

 seem to fall away. Afier this, they come on finely and 

 continue to do well. Now, we seldom feed upon roots 

 for a much longer time than thai in which the roots 

 seem not to do well as food ; or if we do, our observa 

 tions are made within titat ttme, and we come to the 



FINE AYRSHIRE BULL FOR SALE OR TO 

 LET ON SHARES. 



Mr E. T. Hastings, of Medfiird, has a fine Ayrshirs 

 bull, 20 mimihs old, from an Ayrshire cow, owned by 

 Hon. Peter C. Brooks, by the bull which Mr Cushing, 

 of Wateitown, presented to the Worcester County Ag- 

 ricultural Society. 



This is said to be a very fine animal, (we haven 

 seen him,) and of pure blond. We have these slat 

 ments upon good authority. Mr Hastings is willing 

 sell the bull on reasonable terms, or he will let him ( 

 hares to any one in a stock-raising section of the coui'- 

 try, who will lake good care of him, where his servicee 

 may be turned to good account. 



SEEDLING POTAIOES. 

 Those potatoes from Mr Worsler, of Bridgewalec, 

 mentioned in our last paper, the White Harvest and 

 Brown Harvest, proved to be very good for the table. 

 They suited our taste, and we think they will be valua- 

 ble varieties. 



I vastly 

 And 



HINTS TO YOUNG- FARMERS. 



You know well that one piece of land yieli 

 more than another piece, of equal natural fertility, 

 you know equally well that one man abounds more in 

 knowledge and usefulness than another, to whom na- 

 ture has been alike bountiful. It is culiure — it is the in- 

 dustry and perseverance of man exerted in one case, 

 aitd not in the other, that produces the marked contrast 

 in both. The cultivator of the «arth is sure to be re- 

 warded in his harvests for the care he bestows upon his 

 soil — and the reward is no less certain to him who d»- 

 votes his leisure hours to the cultivation of his mind. 

 The soil administers to our animal wants. Knowledge 

 not only greatly assists in supplying these wants, but ia 

 the primary source of inlellectual wealth, which dollara 

 alone cannot give; and when consorted with good hab- 

 its, lends to refine, elevate and distinguish men abov* 

 their fellows, and makes ihem noblemen indeed. 



Bui knowledge is not ahvaj's wisdom; and therefore 

 be as scrupulous in regard to your studies, as you are r» 

 regard to the seed wliich you deposite in the soil. You 

 will reap whatever you sow ; and the mind is as liable 

 to be cumbeied with weeds as is the soil. Read, there- 

 fore, whatever tends to instruct you in your business to 

 establish you in good habits, and to fit you for the re- 

 sponsible duties of life. Acquaint yourselves with tlie. 

 inventions and improvements of modern art; wilh the 

 general facts of science ; with the wondrous laws by 

 which the Almighty governs the universe; and with 

 the endless illustrations of those laws in the world and' 

 all its parts. Siore your mind with such knowledge,, 

 and you will be possessed of wealth more lasting than. 

 gold, and a source of pleasure which gold cannot supply.. 

 — Selected. 



There are few causes of misery more prodhctive of 

 unhappiness than the undertaking of eX'jienses^ which wt: 

 cannot afford.. 



