188 



NEW E N G L A x\ J) FARMER, 



DEC. 16, 1841. 



Fnr the N. E. Farmor. 



I'VE C>.MK TO HELP.— CHOPPING H.\Y. 



Mr Editor — I do n't exactly call myself a book 

 (arincr, althoiinrfi [ luke your paper, which is, when 

 at ilie end of the year put toorether, something of 

 the shape of a bnok — in which are to bo found many 

 pretty thing's and ;roof/ tilings, which my good wife 

 (and yon never seo'd a better one,) likes to read as 

 well as myself. Von, Mr Editor, have been call- 

 ing out for help, and want we fanners who expect 

 to be qniot this winter, to turn out and lend yon a 

 hand. Now, the same application which has taken 

 a leetle of the starch out of Farmer A.'s fingers, 

 has affected mine ; and wife's head and my fingers 

 have concluded to go together — (don't think I 

 mean to»(riAehor! I mean, to mork together;) — 

 and perhaps with lier head and my fingers, we can 

 help you. She is a very obsarving woman, and 

 she says we get along better and the farm looks 

 slicker than it did before we sold them are turkies 

 to pay for the N. E. Farmer, and she xcill make me 

 pay for that paper year after year. And seriously, 

 the truth must come, it has taken a good deal of 

 the starch out of my notions of things about the 

 form. You have talked so much about muck, that 

 wife says you would make a capital husband, for 

 sho is satisfied that that is the stuff, when we clean 

 our boots, after digging, before we go into the 

 hou3?, and because she and you think alike about 

 the conversation you had, just before you talked 

 with Farmer A., when you told about a man's get- 

 ting a woman to lend him a hand and give him a 

 heart. 



I 'vc been wanting to tell you how much it saved 

 me in feeding my cattle, and iiow much more milk 

 the cows give, and this wife sees clearly, cause 

 now they eal nothing but mince meat, as thoy liave 

 alt their fodder cut for them, which saves me one 

 fAirJ of the hay and adds to the amount of milk, 

 and could you see them are cows and oxen in the 

 spring, you would think that they had Thanksgiv- 

 ing all the time ; and with a few roots, the cxpenue 

 is not near so much as when I fed them without 

 cutting and without roots. As one of the IMe in- 



(lispensablts begins to cry, wife says stop bo you 



will hear no more from farmer Z. 



ECONOMY OF PASTURES. 

 The question has often been mooted and dis- 

 cussed, whether it be better to depasture stock, or 

 noil them-' that is, wliethcr it be more economical 

 to let them run on the meadows and gather their 

 own food, or keep them up through the grass sea- 

 son, and cut and carry the grass to them; but as 

 yet tho old custom of depasturing prevails, thougli 

 every one who has made the experiment of soiling, 

 boars testimony to its superiority on the score of 

 the economy of provender, as well as manure. In 

 England, where there has been much experience, 

 the difference in favor of the lastsystem of feeding, 

 IS so apparent, that but very few attempt to contro- 

 vert the claims which are there put forth in behalf 

 of Its advantages. To be sure, labor, a great essen- 

 tial, is in that country much cheaper than here, 

 but as half the labor of a hand would bo compe- 

 tent to cut a sufficient quantity of clover for, and 

 to foddrr 20 head of cattle, that should not be por- 

 miticd to operate to the non-adoption of the plan, 

 as tho cost would not be any thing in comparison 

 with tho value of the extra quantity of manuru 



which would be made under a well devised and 

 properly executed system of soiling, over and above 

 that which enures from depasturing. Even if it 

 took the same quantity of land to support cattle un- 

 der the former system, which it does not, as we 

 will presently show, still the great saving in ma- 

 nure alone should be of sufiicicnt moment to influ- 

 ence the judgment in behalf of the latter. 

 Let us see how the two systems compare : 

 In grazing, an acre of^ooJ grass is considered 

 necessary to the support of each head of stock; 

 of ordinary grass one and a half, or two acres are 

 not more than enough. 



In England, where the soiling system has been 

 very generally adopted, and carried on with care, 

 according to Mr Curwen's experience, some years 

 since, three acres of grass cut and carried, sup- 

 plied thirty milch cows with 28 lbs. each, daily, 

 during a period of 200 days. And this gentleman 

 observes, that to have supplied a similar number of 

 cows with a like quantity for the same period, 

 would in the usual way of management, have re- 

 quired 75 acres of land for its production. And to 

 have grazed such a number of cows at liberty that 

 length of time, must, it is obvious, have taken a 

 very considerable number of acres. Again ho 

 says : 



"This vast produce from so small a piece of 

 land, may at first appear very problematical ; but 

 experience and good management will soon con- 

 vince the ('airyman that he may realize the advan- 

 tage, great as it may appear. To enable the mea- 

 dow to support this exhaustion from tho scythe, it 

 should be cleared at the end of every autumn, from 

 all kinds of weeds and rubbish, and fresh grass 

 seeds of the best kinds, cast upon the bare places. 

 A coat of good rotten manure, or ashos, should thon 

 bo allowed, consisting of all that can be collected 

 from tho household, or procured elsewhere, mixed 

 up and augmented with virgin earth." 



If we admit that the number of acres assumed 

 by Mr Curwen, three and a half to each cow, be 

 too great, and take one, tho minimum quantity 

 named hy us, as the proper one, thon there will 

 still be a saving of 27 acres of grass by the soil- 

 ing over the depasturing system. And if we re- 

 serve this grass to be cut for hay, it will give a 

 sutBcient quantity to carry thecows through the 

 winter, or foddering season ; so tliat, to this amount 

 there will be a. clear gain. Then let us add the 

 immense quantity of manure, which will be accu- 

 mulated in the soiling yard, and we cannot hesi- 

 tate a moment in coming to an opinion as to tho 

 relative merits of the two plans of feeding stock ; 

 for all will admit, that summer made manure is 

 very far bettor than that made in winter, as also 

 that the most of the droppings in pastures is lost, 

 by nieans of evaporation and rains, In all the availa- 

 ble purposes of the farm, and no one will contend 

 that the cost of the price of half tli.j labor of one 

 hand, and that of a horse and cart iliiring the time, 

 should be considered to be of more value than the 

 savings wo have pointed out. Suppose that, in ad- 

 dition to the accumulation of manure from the 

 droppings of tho cattle, tho yard ho covered some 

 !) or 12 inches dorp with mould or uLher earth from 

 tho woods or headlands, to act as absorbents of tho 

 cattle's stale — wo say, suppose this bo done, and 

 wo will venture the assertion that every square 

 foot of such mould or earth would bo so saturated 

 with the urine of the cows as to bo equally as valu- 

 able as thoir droppings. Thus then, in whatever 



light we may consider the subject, the advaotagei/ 

 in favor of soiling are apparent to the judgment. 



It may be urged against the soiling system that 

 it would not afford the requisite exercise to the 

 stock. W'e are free to admit that exercise, to t 

 certain extent, is necessary to the health of the 

 brute creature, but at the same time we are free to 

 maintain, that all that is indispensably .necessary 

 to ensure health and comfort, may bo obtained in 

 a yard of a fourth of an acre in extent, and wo 

 doubt much if regularly fed and watered therein at 

 stated hours through the day, and salted semi, 

 weekly, whether they would not maintain as mm 

 physical vigor thus confined, as they would roami 

 at large in a pasture of many acres. It is qu 

 tionablo with us also, whether they would notyieli 

 fully as much, if not more, milk and butter. At 

 all events, the experiment is worthy of a trial, and 

 we therefore commend it to our readers' attention. 

 — American Farmer. 



([J='\Ve agree fully with the editor of the Ame. 

 rican Farmer that "the advantages in favor of soil.l, 

 ing are apparent to the judgment." But many eal 

 periments are needed before the question can 

 satisfactorily settled. The opinion that cows coi 

 fined to a yard embracing only one fourth of 

 acre would have sufficient exercise, we are fi 

 from being ready to adopt. Could it be convi 

 niently done, we should require cows to take moi 

 exercise than they now generally get; especial 

 such as find luxuriant pasturage in summer. A: 

 may not the evil — if evil it be — find a remedy, 

 our heifers arc trained to the yoke, and the co 

 made to work — to work not as constantly as cot 

 oxen do, but with sufficient frequency to strengthea 

 the system and give firmness to the health .' Look 

 at the human animal, and judge from your obser- 

 vations whether labor or indolence is most condu- 

 cive to health and to the furnishing of nourisluiieDt 

 for the young.— Ed. N. E. F. 



ASSISTA.MCE TO EDITORS. 



We gave a call for help: the judicious and ex- 

 cellent editor of the Cojineclicut Farmer's Gazette 

 has done the same, and has appended our call to 

 his own. His appeal suits our views and wants M 

 well, that we must repeat it in part : 



" It is true we have been more industrious wil 

 our own pen, and the amount of editorial matti 

 has been much greater than heretofore ; but surel 

 the farmers will not rest satisfied with our uttei 

 to enlighten them from the meagre sturehousi 

 our own knowledge. We have not cultivated 

 the farms in the State ; tee have not raised the bi 

 crop of corn and potatoes ; tee have not made thtfl 

 greatest improvement in the manufacture or applet 

 cation of manures ; we have not tested the differ 

 breeds of cattle, or sheep, or swine, and determini 

 which are tho most profitable stock for the fa 

 tcf cannot fill the columns of the paper with 

 results of our own practical experience and obi 

 vation. This duty devolves on others, and all 

 we can do is to offer our columns as a medium 

 communicaliim between one farmer and anothi 

 and urge thorn to use the privilege ws tender Iheq 



"Our paper is intended to be a farmer's papt j 

 and the farmers of Connecticut have it in their po^ 

 or to make it of inestimable value to Odcli olher.- 

 Only come forward, brother farmers, and do yoil 

 duly to yourselves and to each other, and it woui 

 be impossible to estimate the value of the paper.Ti 

 If any of you have succeeded in managing jofl 



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