178 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DEC. 7, 1843. 



For the New England F:irmnr. 1 



USE OF MUCK AND RKCLAIMING MEA- 

 DOWS, NOT SO NEW. 



Mr Editor — There appears to be an increas- 

 ing desire among those engajred in thi.' cultivation 

 of tlie soil, to read on the subject connected witli 

 their occupation. Still there are multitudes who 

 neglect to take an agricultural paper, and give as 

 a reason, that they have not time to read — that 

 they do not wish to hear of, or try, 7iew experi- 

 ments, but had rather go on in the old way — and 

 often remark that Mr A. or Mr B. have caught the 

 niucA' fever — or meadow fever — or green crop ma- 

 nure fever, and various other mild speeches, ap- 

 plied to the new school farmers. Now the old way 

 meant by them, I understand to bo the way their 

 fathers practiced. 



George Washington, whose name is familiar to 

 all and justly honored, was a farmer, cultivated 

 four distinct farms, and gave particular directions 

 in reference to them, while residing at the seat of 

 government in the E.xecutive Chair. To show you 

 how appropriately the epithet "new fangled notions" 

 is given, I will make some extracts from the in- 

 structions given by Gen. Washington to his agents 

 on his farms. 



.Mud for Compost. 



" The S(!a.?on is now too far advanced, and 

 too cold, to be engaged in a work that will e.\pose 

 the hands to wet ; but it is of such essential im- 

 portance that it should be set about seriously and 

 with spirit next year, for the summer's sun and the 

 winter's frost to prepare it for the corn and other 

 crops of the next year. All the hands of the farm, 

 not indispensably engaged in the crops, should, so 

 8opn as corn-planting is 'completed in the spring, 

 be uninterruptedly employed in raising mud from 

 the swamp and from the bed of the creek, into the 

 scow ; and the carts, so soon as the manure for 

 the corn and potatoes is carried out, are to be in- 

 cessantly drawing it to the compost heaps in the 

 fields which are to be manured by it. What num- 

 ber of hands can be set apart for this all-important 

 work, remains to be considered and decided upon." 



Meadows. 

 '' Those already established and in train must 

 continue, and tlie next to be added to them is the 

 arms of the creek, and forks, both forks of which 

 must be grubbed up, and wrought upon at every 

 convenient moment when the weather will permit, 

 down to the line of the ditch. And as the fields 

 come into cultivation, or as labor can be spared 

 from other work, and circumstances will permit, 

 the heads of all the inlets in them nmst be reclaim- 

 ed and laid to grass, whether they be large or 

 small." 



Feeding. 



"The work horses and mules are always to be 

 in their stall*, and all litered and cleaned, when 

 they are out of the harness ; and they are to be 

 plenteously fed with cut straw and as much cliopped 

 prain, meal, or bran, with a little salt mixed there- 

 with, as will keep them always in good condition 

 fi)r work, seeing also, that they are watered as reg- 

 ularly as they are foil: this is their winter feed.' 



Washington raised carrots in the field, plowed 

 in green crops for manure, and did other things on 

 his farms, which are now called new. These 

 things were done half a century ago ; and is it 

 right — does it appear well, for men to s.iy that you 



and others are urging them to try new things, when 

 you cry ".Muck, muck, muck"'! Your advice to 

 farmers, to be cautious in trying experiments on a 

 large scale, is good ; but it should be remembered 

 by them that some things urged upon them through 

 an agricultural paper, which Ihey call jicii', may by 

 others be called old. 



WESTBORO'. 



The following paragraphs are from the "Book 

 of the Farm," published in monthly parts, at Edin- 

 burg, Scotland, and edited by Henry Stephens, Esq., 

 editor of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 The experience and opinions of Scotch farmers are 

 always valuable. 



CABBAGES FOR COWS. 



" As cabbages are considered good food for 

 cows giving milk, it may be desirable to say a 

 few words in regard to their use. The varieties of 

 cabbage most suited for field culture, are the Drum- 

 head (Brassica oleracea, capitata, depressn,) and the 

 great round Scotch or white Strasburgh, from 

 which the German sour-krout is chietly made. Of 

 these two, the Drum-hend is the most productive, 

 and the Scotch stands the winter best. It is al- 

 leged by Sinclair that, for the purposes of the dai- 

 ry, one acre of cabbages is worth three of turnips, 

 but wherein this advantage consists, is not stated, 

 as it ought to have been, as he mentions, that the 

 nutritive matter contained in Swedish turnips is 

 superior to that in the cabbage, in the ratio of 110 

 to 107 1-2. There is no doubt, however, that the 

 taste of milk i.s less tainted by cabbages than tur- 

 nips, and I believe more milk may be derived from 

 them. But there is considerable difference of opin- 

 ion with respect to the effects of cabbage on butter 

 and milk, and there is no doubt that a decayed leaf 

 or two in a head of cabbage will impart both to 

 butter and milk a strong disagreeable taste. ' This,' 

 says Sinclair, ' I have long had an opportunity of 

 proving.' The uses of these two kinds of cabba- 

 ges are, to feed milch cows, to fatten oxen, and 

 sheep are very fond of them. It is questionable 

 how far their culture should be preferred to tur- 

 nips, excepting on soil too strong for turnips, as 

 they require a fine deep strong soil- and a large 

 quantity of manure, means too valuable to be ex- 

 pended on cabbages, as an economical crop, in 

 Scotland. I have no experience of the cabbage as 

 a food for milch cows, or feeding cattle, but know 

 they are much relished by ^wes at the season of 

 lambing." 



PARSNIPS. 



"Although the parsnip (Pastinacta saliva edulis, 

 of De Candolle,) is too tender a root for general 

 cultivation in this country, it deserves notice on ac- 

 count of its fattening properties when given to all 

 domesticated animals. 'The parsnip,' says Don, 

 'has been partially introduced of late years, as a 

 field-plant, and is nearly equal to the carrot in its 

 product of saccharine and nutritive matter. Its 

 culture as a field-plant has chit^iy been confined 

 to the island of Jersey, where it attains a lame 

 size and is much esteemed for fattening cattle and 

 pigs. It is considered rather more hardy than the 

 carrot, and hn produce is said to bo greater. The 

 variety best suited for the field is the large Jersey. 

 In the fattening of cattle, it is found equal, if not 

 superior, to the carrot, performing the business 

 with as much expedition, and affording meat of ex- 

 quisite flavor, and a highly juicy quality. The 



animals eat it with much greediness. They ar 

 given, for fattening, \n\he proportion of about 30 II 

 weight, morning, noon and night, the large one 

 being spilt in three or four pieces, and a little ha 

 supplied in the intervals of those periods. An 

 when given to milch cows with a little hay, in th 

 winter season, the butter is found to be of as fine 

 color and as excellent a flavor as when feeding i 

 the best pastures. Indeed, the result of expei 

 mcnt has shown, that not only in neat cajtle, but i 

 the fattening of hogs and poultry, the animals b( 

 come fat much sooner, and are more healthy, tlia 

 when fed with any other root or vegetable ; an 

 that besides, the meat is more sweet and delicious, 



CARROTS. 



" The carrot (Daucus cnrrota snlirm, of De Cai 

 dolle,) is raised in the fields in several parts i 

 Scotland. The varieties most suited for field-cu 

 ture are the large orange, Altringham, long re 

 and green top white. Arthur Young gives the ai 

 crage produce of an acre of carrots in Suffolk ; 

 3,50 bushels ; but Mr Burrow's crops averaged uj 

 wards of 800 bushels. In the fields in Scotlan; 

 the Altringham carrot has been grown to 1 1-4 11 

 and in gardens to 2 1-2 lb. ; and a crop of the larr. 

 orange carrot, manured with night soil, has hre 

 raised by Mr Spiers, of Calcreuch, at the rate . 



9 tons the acre — probably the Scotch acre n liic 



is equal to 7 tons 1 cwt. the imperial." 



TURNIPS— FATTENING SHEEP. 

 " The way that fat is laid on sheep while on ti; 

 nips, and the mode of judging of a fat sheep, ai 

 these: — Young wethers wlien put on turnii's i 

 winter are generally lean ; for although they ha 

 been in good condition as lambs when weanc 

 from their mothers in summer, their growth in sta 

 ure afterwards is so rapid, that their flesh id bi 

 little intermixed with fat. For the first few wcc! 

 on turnips, even in the most favorable circumslai 

 ces as to quality of food, warmth of shelter, di' 

 ness of land, and pleasantness of weather, the 

 make no apparent advancement in condition; na 

 they rather seem to fall off, and look clapped in th 

 wool, and indicate a tendency to delicacy, in coi 

 sequence, I suppose, of the turnips operating mi 

 dicinally on their constitutions as an alterative, 

 not as a laxative ; but immediately after that trj 

 ing period for young sheep, especially trying i 

 bad weather, is past, when the grass has complete 

 ly passed through them, and the stomach and it 

 testines have become accustomed to the more soli 

 food of the turnip, their improvement is marked 

 the wool seeming longer and fuller, the carcas 

 filled out, the eyes clear and full, and the gait fin 

 and steady. They then thrive rapidly, and th 

 more rapidly the drier the weatlier." 



J'eils not to be Worn. — A celebrated writer o: 

 sight says, that the wearing of veils permanentl 

 weakens many naturally good eyes, on account o 

 the endeavors of the eye to adjust itself to th 

 ceaseless vibrations of that too common article o 

 dress. 



A cobbler on Dauphin street, Mobile, who als' 

 professes to teach music, has the following sig 

 over his door : 



Delightful task to mend the tunder .Soot, 

 And teacli the young idea how lo fiute. 



From 800 to 1000 buildings were in the procesi 

 of erection at Cincinnati, a short time since. 



