NEW E]\GL<AN© FARMER. 



POBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 02 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agkicultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL,. IX. 



BOSTOIV, WEDNESDAY EVENING, BIAY 11, 1831. 



NO. 43. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMKR. 



SO.\KING SEKD CORN IN COPPERAS 

 WATER. 



]Mn Fessf.xde.n — A tew yi-ars nsio, I lliink 

 2(3, 1 soaked my seed rorii thoroughly in copperas 

 tei' before phiiuing. I\Iy grouiul was dry, and 

 ire was a very dry time at, ari<l for sevcr.il weeks 

 er plantinjr, so that the corn did not sprout, but 

 :ame as dry and liard as if lyin<f in the barn, 

 espaircd of its ever coming up. Hut wlien the 

 d liad been wet with rain, the corn .S|)routed 

 jrew well and I had a very good crop. I did 

 fiuil the copperas any protection against 

 rins; for my corn I thought, was injmed by 

 quite as much that year as usual, and I iiave' 

 jorne to recommend it to my neighbors. T'dnk- 

 owever, that this might be only a solitary fail- 

 , and finding the practice so often recommended 

 arious quarters, ii passed iiu;iotired. The ;vorrn 

 ich injured J«J/ corn, and from which I generally 

 er most, is a species that eats out the heart 

 iside of the plant while growing, and <le6iroys 

 y degrees. I do not often suffer by the g<-ubs. 

 to copperas guarding against crows, &c, I can- 

 say, as my field was not much e.vposel to 



LUCER.NE. 



aving seen Lucerne strongly recommenited 

 le New England Farmer and in many otlier 

 jdicals, I determined to give it as fair a trial 

 could. Accordingly I, last spring, prepared 

 It 40 rods of land, on which the year before 

 i about SO bushels of corn to the acre, sowed 

 nil oats, and on the first day of May, I could 

 a |;et the seed sooner) sowed Lucerne and red- 

 tc (bushed them in, and rolled the ground down 

 th. I put on at the rate of more than 20 lbs. 

 cerne seed to the acre. The oats, though 

 d and harrowed in before, had notiheii sprout- 

 The land was a dry rich loam, made mellow 

 ! think as good for lucerne as any in this vi- 

 /. It came up well and grew well, till the 

 began to choke it: they grew very rank and 

 y one half lodged. The lucerne then turned 

 w, and seemed to dwindle away, and for a 

 : I thought it would all die. After harvesting 

 ats however, it started and grew some, but 

 ot appear very promising. It is now nearly 

 ead, and the little that remains is generally in 

 3 scattered here and there, wholly insufficient 

 crop of grass. Some small patches, the 

 ss of a common sized table are thick and 

 I well, being about ten inclies high, 

 e result of this experiment has satisfied nie 

 lucerne will not answer for our soil and 

 te. No doubt it may be profitably grown in 

 places. I did not attribute my failure to the 

 less of the oats. B. 



ijmouth, Conn. Jipril 29, 1831. 



the Editor. — There is no grass, respecting 

 1 we have such varied and opposite accounts 

 Lucerne. Where it succeeds at all, its pro- 

 s very great ; but it is very liable to be stifled 

 by eeds ; and the grain which is sowed with it 

 ap irs often to monopolize the soil, to the exclu- 



sion of tlie young plants of lucerne. We have 

 given, under our editorial head of this week's pa- 

 per, some rules for the cuhure of lucerne, deduced 

 from observation, and the writings of practical as 

 well as scientific cultivators. 



v« 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



WINTER BUTTER, SHORT HORN CAT- 

 TLE, &c. 



Mr Editor — Much has been said in the N. E. 

 Farmer about y/ee:i)i^ the milk to obtain cream ihv 

 butter. My objections to this practice are, the 

 butter so made is inclining to be white, will not 

 sell well, and is crumhbj and will not cut hnndsome- 

 ly. Besides, I think the flavor hardly equal to that 

 made in the methoil we have pursued. 



Our object has been to keep the milk in a tem- 

 perature always above the freezing point — say, not 

 lower than 40 or 45 degrees. 



The methi d which we have practised, and 

 which I think best for winter, was recommended 

 to me by that great friend to agricultural improve- 

 ment, Charles Vaughan, Esq. as followed in 

 the counties of Somerset and Devon, England. 

 The milk immediately after it is taken from the 

 cow, is put in a copper or brass vessel, of a size 

 according to the quantity of the inilk, care being 

 taken that it is not more than eight or ten inches 

 in depth, and gradually brought to within 2 or 3 

 degrees of boiling heat, when it is permitted slow- 

 ly to cool. In the course of five or six hours, the 

 'iiost of the cream rises in a beautiful thick sheet, 

 and is so solid that it may be cut with a. knifu in 

 almost any form. It comes to butter almost im- 

 mediately, never requiring more than five minutes' 

 churning. The butter is of fine quality, being of 

 good color and flavor. The practice also saves 

 labor and cold fingers. We have in this way had 

 no bu'ter that was not as high colored as what I 

 send you. But perhaps the high color may be 

 owing considerably to the extra richness of the milk, 

 and this quality of the milk is wholly attributable to 

 the cows. My stock consists of the Sliort Horn 

 breed in the blood of Calebs, Denton, and Hold- 

 erness, the Herefordshire in the blood of Sir Isaac, 

 the Bakewell, and that excellent, though undefined 

 breed introciuced here from England by Charles 

 Vaughan, Esq. and the best selected native. 



I am awa're that much contrariety of opinion 

 exists as to the properties and relative value of the 

 different breeds of cattle, and my intentions have 

 been, and still are, to go through with a series ot 

 fair expeiiinents on the subject. 



So far as several years' observation and one 

 year's experience will enable me to judge, 1 am in- 

 clined to think the improved imported races (the 

 Short horns, particularly,) the most profitable, — that 

 is, taking them for all purposes. I do not know 

 that they will give any uiore milk than the ' natives,' 

 but it is, I believe, generally of a better quality, and 

 they certainly keep in much better order on the 

 same food. They are also put together more on 

 mechanical principles, are stronger, and have bet- 

 ter constitutions. I would recommend to every 

 farmer to give them a fair trial. 



Yours with respect, Sanford Howard. 



Vaughan Place, I 



Ballowell, April 18, 1S31. j 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MILCH COWS. 



Mr Fessenpfn — I am much obliged to your 

 corresi)ondents Colonus nud /f. for the notice they 

 have taken of my comnmnication of March 2 ; 

 But I perceive I did not make myself perfectly 

 understood. TIh' fact is, I cannot afl'ord to buy 

 the best cows in M.assachusetts ; much less to im- 

 port tlieni from Switzerland, Lapland, or China. 

 I wish to be grailually increasing and improving 

 my stock of milch cows as I may be able either by 

 crossing the best I now have with better stocks or 

 now and then Ijuying young cattle. 



I did hope to profit by the experience of those 

 who have tried the imported races of cattle, if it 

 is found to be true thit a innch larger proportion 

 of any of them are actually better for milk than 

 native cattle. 



The communication of Colonus is interesting ; 

 but it appears to be historical fact, and not his own 

 experience. ' Jf'.' refers to agricultural reports. I 

 know that some very good milch cows of the im- 

 ported breeds, have been exhibited at the Cattle 

 Shows. But does the experience of Massachu- 

 setts farmers prove them to be decidedly better 

 than the native, with the same treatment? In" 

 Governor Lincoln's letter to Col. Jaquks, in your 

 paper of March 9th, he speaks confidently of 'the 

 entire difference, in different breeds of cattle, be- 

 tween utter worthlessness and great productive- 

 ness and value.' This is the best authority, as I 

 am told he hat-, vJ3''t;e stock of different breeds of 

 horned cattle. If he has found by his experience, 

 any breed remarkable more especially for the pro- 

 duction of milk, the information would be of great 

 importance to the agricultural interests of the 

 state. Yours .&c, 



April 23, 18S1. A Rustic. 



WIND-MILL AT SOUTH BOSTON. 



Mr Fessenden. — I am much pleased to learn, 

 that the Directors of the Boston House of Indus- 

 try propose to erect a wind grist mill. I have 

 thought much of the subject; and previous to the 

 suggestion in your paper of the 13th ult. had made 

 a rough calculation, which satisfie<l me, that the 

 whole cost would be saved in one year. I am now 

 confiimed in the correctness of my estimate. The 

 toll, saved upon 5000 bushels of grain, would be 

 312J bushels ; which at the present average price 

 of corn and rye, would anioimt to about 235 dol- 

 lars. The whole carrying expense to the Dorches- 

 ter tide mill or to the Mill Dam, will amount to 

 nearly or quite as much more annually. The re- 

 maining balance on the cost of the mill, might be 

 gained, by grinding for those of the inhabitants of 

 S. Boston, who send their grain to mill ; if the 

 Directors would accommodate them. This would 

 be to them also a great saving and convenience. 

 Yours respectfully, L. C. 



South Boston, May 10, 1831. 



SPORTING. 

 Mr Fesse.nden — Permit me, through the medium 

 of your highly useful journal to call the attention 

 of our fanners and horticulturists to the wanton 

 practice of many young men from Boston and il8 

 environs, of shooting the biriis in this vicinity. 



