284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 8, 19 



said that the wire and grub worms do not affect 

 peas or biickwlieat — if so, I think some of thern 

 will get starved out, as the grass roots are scarce. 



[The plan of plowing and bedding np the muck 

 meadiiw, on the clay pan, is a good one. The 

 beds we would not make more than 30 or 33 feet 

 from centre to centre. It will do no harm to put 

 the plow a little way into the clay and bring up an 

 inch of that — not however for the reason that it is, 

 when pure, better than muck, but because a mix- 

 ture of the two is belter than either alone. The 

 difficulty with this land, we presume is, that the 

 clay pan holds the water till it stagnates. To re- 

 medy this, we should cut the ditches between the 

 beds, a foot deep into the clay, and spread the 

 clay thus dug upon the beds. This, once well 

 done, the land may be put to any crop as soon as 

 it can be sufficiently pulverized. With a common 

 dressing of manure, it will do well for corn, pota- 

 toes, grain or grass immediately, if it be mellow 

 enough. The wire-worm may work the first sea- 

 son, and therefore it may be well to have plants 

 which that worm avoids ; if there be such. We 

 have never before heard, as far as we remember, 

 that peas and buckwheat are spared by it. But 

 we have nothing to say in opposition. The course 

 of crops proposed may be very good for the region 

 where our correspondent lives. We, however, 

 Iiave a little objection to it. One thing that we 

 should avoid is, the sowing of oats with grass 

 seed ; and this, because in our practice, we have 

 found oats more unfavorable to the grass than any 

 other crop that we use when seeding down. It 

 ia doubtful whether this objection is valid as appli- 

 cable to all soils and climates. Also alter the 

 beds and ditches are properly formed, and after 

 the clay is properly spread upon the surface, we 

 should expect that the turning in of a buckwheat 

 crop, would undo our work too much ; it would re- 

 verse the clay and deform the ditches. Its bene- 

 fit, also, would be but little, if any, here ; — the 4, 

 6 or 10 inches of muck contains vegetable matter 

 enouKh. We sliould be willing to put in the grass 

 seed immediately after the peas come ofi", or even 

 to sow them simultaneously, if the ground is mel- 

 low enough. The wire-worms we should have no 

 fears from, for the draining of the ground will 

 make it an undesirable home for them. What the 

 grub-worm of our correspondent is, that works in 

 wet niuck lands, we do not know. — Ed.] 



Is there any diflTerence in pigs, as to size and 

 coming to maturity, whether they are raised from 

 a sow one or two years old ? 



[It is a common opinion that the pigs of a young 

 sow, are not as good as those of her subsequent 

 litters. In this vicinity, there are only a few grow- 

 ers of hogs that have opportunity to make the com- 

 pariapn. The common practice is, to fatten the 

 sow as soon as her first litter is weaned. We 

 never did otherwise; and yet we do not doubt that 

 older sows bring belter pigs. — Ed.] 



I have heard it stated, that some farmers of lato 

 are in tlie habit of keeping all kinds of stock away 

 from their permanent ir.oadows, and of removing 

 the hay to some other place, — the fall growth de- 

 caying on it, improving it more, it is said, than the 

 hay would, had it been fed out upon the meadow. 

 The practice looks to me as fallacious. 



[In relation to permanent meadows, we are in 

 doubt as to the exact meaning of Mr Rich. If he 



means that in his vicinity they have natural mow- 

 ing lands, or meadows that they never plow, and 

 that the custom is to cut and stack the hay there, 

 and then in autumn turn in the .stock and let them 

 consume the after-growth, and after that spread the 

 hay over the fields or meadows, to be there eaten ; 

 if this is the practice, then we have no facts to 

 give, for nothing similar is known here. If this be 

 not his meaning, we do not know what his question 

 points to. If he means to ask — and we think he 

 does — whether the second crop or after-math, if 

 left to rot on the ground, will do as much or more 

 than the consumption of both first and second crop 

 0/1 the ground by cattle, to keep the land in good 

 heart, then we will give him an opinion. Take 

 any field, especially a moist and springy one, and 

 feed it from spring to winter ; and will tliis field 

 the following year, produce more, or will it yield 

 less grass, than if you had taken off with the scythe 

 one crop in July, and then left the aftergrowth to 

 rot ? The same quantity of hay is worth more for 

 the land in its natural state, than it is when chang- 

 ed into dung and urine. That is, we would rather 

 have for manure three tons of grass which when 

 dried, would make one ton of hay, than to have 

 the droppings from cattle while they were consum- 

 ing a ton of hay. Also the equal distribution of 

 the after-growth over the surface is much more fa- 

 vorable than the irregular distribution of the drop- 

 pings of the cattle. Moreover the harm done to 

 many of the grass roots by the tongues and feet of 

 tlie cattle is not small, especially in moist lands. 

 Our opinion is, that the practice which our cor- 

 respondent distrusts, is a good one. — Ed.] 



Have you or any farmer to your knowledge, ever 

 planted corn expressly for fodder, and how many 

 tons of well cured stocks would be equal to one 

 ton of hay .' and what is probably the difference 

 in nourishment between corn-stalks, where the 

 corn ia planted so thick that it will not ear, and 

 those that do ? 



[Wo have often sowed corn for fodder, and so 

 have hundreds of others in this vicinity, some of 

 whose experiments we have published. Land that 

 will yield fifty bushels of corn per aero will give 

 probably or 7 tons of cured stalks. How they 

 compare in value, ton per ton with hay, we do not 

 know; but they are good, especially when they 

 grow so thick as not to ear. Such stalks are high- 

 ly relished by the cattle, more so apparently than 

 either the tops or butts of full grown corn; and 

 they probably contain more saccharine matter. 

 When so small and tender that cattle will consume 

 the whole, why are they not as valuable, pound for 

 pound, as hay ? We are not ready to ssy that 

 they are, but we know not any grounds on which 

 we can maintain the opposite. Such feed, in this 

 vicinity, is usually given to the cattle while green; 

 and as it is seldom dried for winter use, few have 

 had opportunity to compare it with hay. — Eu.] 



Were you to use shell-inarl, and not knowing 

 its qualitie.", how many bushels would you apply 

 to the acre, and to what soils, and if to any iirain 

 crops? An answer to all or any of the questions, 

 will be thankfully received by one of your subscri- 

 bers. QUINTUS C. KICH. 



Shoreham, Jan. 20th, 1843. 



[There is no marl here : we know nothing of its 

 use. But had we it, we would apply it in all quan- 

 titles, from 20 bushels up to 160 per acre, and on 



all the varieties of soil and on all crops, and n 

 and publish the results. — Ed.] 



P. S. Since I closed this communication, I h: 

 been and examined the land where I had spr 

 wheat last season, (snow being oflT,) and there 

 wheat alive, (caused by the grasshoppers dropp 

 the heads.) for two-thirds of a crop. Will it 

 come winter wheat .' If I was certain tha 

 would, I should not plow it up unless it spring-ki 



Q. C. R 



[Shoul4 the wheat which the grasshoppers he 

 ed down, start in the spring, we see no reason « 

 it will not fruit well in summer. And if it shou 

 we know not who would dispute its claims to 

 called winter wheat. — Ed.] 



is.a 



0.* 



For the New England Fanner. 



MENHADEN FOR MANURE. 



Mr Putnam — Can you or any of your corr 

 pendents tell me any thing of the value of Mf 

 haden (fish) as a manure ? How should they 

 applied .-' What would be the value of a compt 

 formed by a mixture of them in alternate lay( 

 with swamp mud ? Are they durable or transit 

 in their eft'ects ? 



I osk these questions because I shall probat 

 have an opportunity of obtaining a supply of the 

 the coming season, at a cheap rate. 



Are they of any value as food for swine? 

 so, should they be given raw or cooked? 



H. A. 



Qy'The fish named by our correspondent 

 often used for enriching land, and the accounts 

 its efliects are in general favorable. We have h 

 no experience in the use of it ; and therefore o 

 not competent to reply to our correspondent sat 

 factorily. Any one of our correspondents, rea 

 ers, or friends who can give the desired iiilorir 

 tion, will greatly oblige us by furnishing it. V 

 believe that it is not uncommon to apply the fi 

 directly to the crop, putting one or two fish in 

 hill. But composting would doubtless be a bell 

 course, and the swamp mud must be a good artic 

 to receive the fish. They may be put in alterna 

 layers, but the muck should be four or five tim 

 as mi:ch in quantity as the fish. Swine will e 

 many kinds of fish freely, and grow well upon tl 

 food ; but whether the menhaden is to their last 

 and whether they wiliya//en upo:) fish of any kin 

 we are unable to say. Last winter, we fed up< 

 ruti bagas and Irallibut, boiled together, and li 

 growth was good. Five swine, which weight 

 about 100 pounds each, at the middle of Novembe 

 1841, fed on the turnips and fish until April, an 

 then put upon meal, weighed, dressed, about th 

 10th of October, 1842—1999 lbs. The growl 

 during the winter was good, but the swine i 

 spring were not fnt. — Ed. N. K. F. 



The Weather. — The month just passed, has bee 

 the coldest February for 24 years, wilh the excep 

 tion of that of 1836. — Bost. Times. 



Religion. — It is a great disgrace to religion t 

 imagine it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness 

 and a severe exactor of pensive looks and solemi 

 faces. — Dr. Scott. 



Bad thoughts soon ripen into bad actions. 



