152 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



have neither milk nor butter sufficient for the do- 

 mestic uses of their tables, during the latter part 

 of each winter, and by the time that the cold and 

 bleak winds of March ai'rive, many of the cows 

 are on the lifl. How is it possible it can be oth- 

 erwise ? There is little or no succulent in the 

 food we have described in its dry state, and con- 

 sequently cows fed upon it, must, for the want of 

 raatter convertible into m'.lk, cease to yield it. In 

 every other country save our own, it forms a part 

 of the business of every farmer or planter, to pro- 

 vide full supplies of nutritious food for his stock 

 of every kind, and for those which comprise the 

 dairy cows, es[)ecial pains and care are taken to 

 provide a sufficient quantity of sui'h roots as are 

 heartening and succ:ilent, so that by thus provi- 

 ding a substitute for the grasses of the pasture, or 

 the soiling stalls or yards, his dairy, even through 

 the dreary and inclement period of the winter, 

 may continue to contribute largely to the comfort 

 of his family, and to the increase of his fortune. 

 No good farmer, then, will keep more cows than 

 he can keep well^and in so keeping them, he finds 

 his trouble rewarded, and has besides the satisfac- 

 tion of knowing, that in thus acting he has fulfil- 

 led an obligation imposed on him by every hu- 

 mane consideration, and discharged a duty requir- 

 ed by Him, who, in placing the beasts of the field 

 in subjection to man, enjoined that he should ex- 

 tend towards th^m his kindest protection and care. 

 We frequently hear gentlemen complaining of the 

 difficulty of jtrocuring such cows as will make 

 profitable returns, and of the impossibility of keep- 

 ing them to their milk during the winter. The 

 reason is obvious. No cow, and we care not what 

 her breed may be, whether she be of improved 

 Durham Short Horn, the Devon the Aldeiuiy, the 

 common cow of the country, or any other — we 

 say no cow can be kept in the pail, unless you give 

 her something which will both nourish her sys- 

 tem and replenish her udder. To make a cow 

 yield a liberal supply of milk through the winter, 

 she should have in addition to full supplies of 

 food, wholesome hay or fodder, at least half a 

 bushel of roots of some kind, or an equivalent of 

 cabbages or kale per day. And if the hay should 

 be fed long, each cow should have, at least two 

 days in the week, n)esses of chopped rye and cut 

 straw, to be either steamed or mixed up with boil- 

 ing water, and permitted to remain until it be fer- 

 mented before feeding. The andjition of procur- 

 ing fine breeds of animals of all kinds, is one wor- 

 thy of every praise; but that of taking good care 

 of what we have, is equally if not more laudable. 

 Besides these considerations, the interest of every 

 farmer is always promoted by feeding his cows 

 well. If fed in the niggard manner we have de- 

 seribed, their keeping, such as it is, is a dead loss 

 to their owners ; they make uo manure worth 



speaking about, and the animals themselves are 

 comparatively valueless ; and if kept generously 

 through the winter, and sheltered from the weath- 

 er, each cow will give her two gallons of rnilk per 

 day, and make from four to seven pounds of but- 

 ter per week, which latter should be set down as 

 the profit, as the milk and cream consumed by 

 the family will more than compensate for the feed. 

 In addition to this, animals thus fed make three 

 times the quantity of manure, and are always in 

 a condition to con mand good j.rices. V\'e have 

 engaged in no speculative theories in what we 

 have said, but have addressed ourselves to the 

 common sense of the agricultural community iu 

 the hope that they will ste the jiropriety of adopt- 

 ing some plan by whi'^h our object can be obtain- 

 ed. — Western Adv. 



KEW K.IMD OF INDIAN CORN. 



Newbury, Jan. 30, 1837. 

 Mr Fessenden — Dear Sir: — I send you a 

 few ears of Corn, as a sample of a kind which I 

 have raised for the two last years. It was brought 

 to this town from Rochester, N. H, some four or 

 five years since, by a Mr Clark, and is .known 

 with us by the name of the Clark corn. It has 

 in )roved much since first introduced amongst us; 

 it is principally ten and twelve rowed ; at leas 

 three weeks earlier than tlie common kind, and 

 wi! produce 3-4ths as much, jjlanted in the com- 

 m^^ ii way ; but if i)lanted as it should be, not ex- 

 ceeding three feet apart each way, making about 

 4000 hills to the acre, the yield will be about equal 

 to any kind we plant. It will weigh at least six- 

 ty pounds to the bushel, and will measure more 

 from the ear when shelled than any kind I ever 

 saw. One bushel of selected ears produced 1-2 

 bushel and 3 1-2 quarts ; one bushel not selected 

 1-2 bushel and 2 quarts, making an average, at 

 least of one bushel and 4 quarts, from two of ears. 

 In 1835, I planted 1-2 an acre at the common dis- 

 tance, say 3 1-2 feet, land a gravelly loam, which 

 produced more than forty bushels to the acre. In 

 1836, the same piece was planted about three feet 

 distant, say 2000 hills, more than 200 of which 

 were destroyed by worms and dry weather, still 

 I harvested about 35 bushels of ears of sound ripe 

 corn. Several others planted the same kind the 

 past year, and obtained a good crop. VVe think 

 it the best kind which has ever been introduced 

 into'this part of the country. A few bushels se- 

 lected expressly for seed, can be had, if applied 

 for, at the office of the New Kngland Farmer, No. 

 52, North Market Street, Boston. 

 Yours, Respectfullv, 



D.^NIEL ADAMS, 3d. 



Honey and milk is very good for worms, so is 

 strong salt water. 



