324 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



APRIL 13, 164». 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SOWING CORN FOR FODDER. 



To ihe Edilor of the New Kngland Farmer : 



Dear Sik — Vour paper and others, liave said 

 much about sovvin;,' corn for fodder: but I hnve 

 not seen any article conloining full directions for 

 jaisin^ this crop. Will you be so kind as to sup- 

 ply this deficiency ? 



Wo want to know the manner of preparing llie 

 land ; the amount of manure to be applied ; the 

 time and manner of sowing ; the quantity of sead 

 to be sown ; the time and manner of cutting ; the 

 method of curing the fodder — and such other things 

 as your experience will suggest. 



Last year I planted the Ilartwell corn, and found 

 k a valuable variety. Would this be a good kind 

 to sow ? Your ob't serv't, S. W. 



Reply — Mr Ellsworth, of Washington, recom- 

 mends sowing broadcast, and would put four bu.«h- 

 eU of seed per acre. Ilia mode of preparing the 

 Innd we have not learned. Our own practice has 

 diOered from his. We prepare the land by plow- 

 ing and harrowing as for corn. Then mark or fur- 

 row out about four feet apart. ITien put in the 

 drill five or six cords of good compost per acre — 

 level down the surface of the compost with a hoe — 

 then sow thick, putting perhaps throe bushels of 

 seed per acre. The seed is scattered so as to 

 give a belt of plants nearly one foot w;de on each 

 drill : the plants stand very thick. The land is 

 tilled as much as for potatoes in drills. As soon 

 as the spindles are fairly opened, we begin to cut, 

 and each evening take to the barn as many as will 

 be wanted for the stock that evening and the next 

 morning. Thus we continue until all are consum- 

 ed. Had lie more than were required for use in 

 a green state, we should cut up before the frost 

 had taken much hold of the leaves, bind in bun- 

 dles and cure in the field, as the top stalks are 

 usually cured. 



In order to have this green feed in a good state 

 from August to October, the parts of the tiela 

 should be planted at three or four ditTerent times 

 from the first of I\lay up to the middle of June. 

 Even later than that will do in many seasons. We 

 have seen good crops upon svvard land from which 

 a crop of. hay was taken about the first of July: 

 tlie land was then plowed and sowed. Should the 

 autumn be warm, the corn thus sowed would give 

 a good yield of fodder. 



The ilartwell corn has too small a stalk for tliis 

 purpose. The Southern corns do well. Even the 

 Jiumbug Chinese Tree Cora gives a noble stalk, of 

 very good quality Eo. 



deserving of far more attention than it has yet re- ] 

 ceived, that in order to preserve the productiveness ' 

 of the potato, the tubers sliould be planted whole. 



The ratinnak of this theory, although'often ridi- 

 culed, is too obvious to every reflecting raind, to 

 admit of a moment's doubt. | 



Any one who will make the experiment, will 

 find that both the productiveness, and, indeed, all 

 the more valuable properties of this invaluable es- 

 culent, are deteriorated by the continuance of the 

 practice t') winch I allude. 



It is probably true, nevertheless, that in insola- 

 tcd and solitary cases, a large and abundant crop 

 may be produced from slips; and in many instan- 

 ces, perhaps, the depreciation of the crop would be 

 of less consequence than the expense of planting 

 whole ones — particularly when they are scarce and 

 difficult to be obtained. 



But as a general thing, a few dollars extra in 

 the e.ypense of seed, will be amply repaid in the 

 future crop. If a farmer has a valuable variety of 

 potatoes, there is no possible way in which he can 

 sooner destroy it, than by planting slips, and none 

 in which he can more elTectually preserve its valu- 

 able characteristics, so far as productiveness and 

 eating qualities are involved, than by planting the 

 potatoes whole. H. D. WHITE. 



Windham, Me., AprH 7, 1842. 



'J 



From the Northern Light. 



For the N. E. Farmer 



POTATOES. 



It will not be questioned, I think, by any one 

 who has taken the trouble of experimenlini' in re- 

 lation to the subject, that whole potatoes are much 

 morevaluablt for seed than when divided into 

 Blips or parts. The saving, however, effected by 

 the latter practice, often operates as an induce- 

 ment to its adoption with many, whose experience 

 would seem to dictate the superior benefit of tlio 

 opposite course ; and hence it is that some of our 

 best and most experienced farmers are frequently 

 heard to complain that their potatoes are fast de- 

 preciating and "running out." 



It is a fact, I believe, and one certainly that is 



WINTER BUTTER. 

 Every person at all familiar with the process of 

 making butter, is well aware of the difficulty at- 

 tending the success of making it in the winter. It 

 is generally known, too, that butter made at this 

 season of the year, is very white, crumble.', and is 

 deficient bolli in flavor and color, and not consid- 

 ered fit for the table. This arises partly from tho 

 cows being kept, as they generally are at this sea- 

 son of the year, upon dry food, and partly from not 

 managing the milk rightly. 



In tho statement of Mr Merrifield, who took the 

 second premium for butter at the late meeting of 

 the State Agricultural Society, ho says "In win- 

 ter our milk stands twelve hours, is then removed 

 to t)ie stove, and scalded over a slow fire to near 

 boiling licat; the pans removed to the cellar to 

 cool ; the cream only churned : the butter placed 

 in the coolest part of the housn, will keep good any 

 length of time." His butter was much admired for 

 its rich yellow color and fine flavor, but I should 

 thing the scalding process rather tedious and trou- 

 blesome. 



On perusing the 7th edition of " Mowbray on 

 Poultry," a few days since, I found the following 

 process, as practiced in some parts of England, 

 which struck me very favorably, and I was deter- 

 mined to try some experiments. Tho following is 

 the process, as detailed in the above work, which I 

 have transcribed, as it may not be in tho hands of 

 all the readers of this journal. 



" .1 peculiar process," says iMowbray, "of ex- 

 tracting cream from milk, by which a superior rich- 

 ness is produced in the cream, has long been known 

 in Devonshire ; this produce of the dairies of that 

 country being well known to every one by the 

 name of' clotted' or 'clouted cream.' As there is 

 no peculiarity in the milk from which this fluid is 

 extracted, it has been frequently a matter of sur- 

 prise that the process has not been adopted in oth- 

 er parts of the kingdom. A four-sided vessel is 

 formed of zinc plates, 12 inches long, 8 inches 



wide, end C inches deep, with a false bottom 

 one half the depth. The only communication wi 

 the lower compartment is by tln' lip, through whli 

 it may be filled or emptied. Having first placi 

 at the bottom of the upper compartment a plate <! 

 perforated zinc, tlie area of which is equal to thi 

 of the false bottom, a gallun of milk is poured (in - 

 mediately when drawn from the cow) into it, a> P' 

 must remain there at rest for twelve hours; ( t 

 equal quantity of boiling water must then be poure 

 into the lower compartment, through the lip ; it 

 then permitted to stand twelve hours more (thatk 

 twentyfour hours altogether); when tho cream 

 be found perfect, and of such consistence that 

 whole may be lifted off by Ihe finger and tlmml 

 It IS, however, more eSectually removed by t;cnil 

 raising the perforated plate of zinc from the bnttoi 

 by the ringed handles, by which means the whol 

 of the cream is lifted off in a sheet, without remis 

 ing any part of it with the milk belon. Witi th 

 apparatus 1 have instituted a series of experui • nt( 

 and :i3 a mean of twelve successive ones, I ooiaii 

 cd the following results : — 4 gallons of milk, tretfi 

 ted as above, produced in twentyfour hours, 4 t 

 pints of clotted cream, which, after churning ool 

 15 minutes, gave 40 oz. of butler; — 4 gallons i 

 milk treated in the common mode, in earthern pan 

 and standing 46 hours, produced 4 pints of ( r.an 

 which, after churning ninety minutes, gave .'il o; 

 of butter. The increase in the quantity of creio 

 therefore, is 12 1-2 per cent, and of butler 11 pt 

 cent." 



From the above hints, I caused a pan to li 

 made, three and an half inches deep, and v»r 

 flaring; another made six inches high on the sid 

 and not so flaring, and just largo enough to receiv 

 the other pan, and then carefully soldered togcth( 

 at the top. Two short tubes were soldered inl 

 the lower pan, one about one inch in diameter, f( 

 pouring in the water, the other tube very small, t 

 the opposite side, to let the air escape when ai 

 mitting the water, and also to admit the air wh« 

 the water is to be turned out. 



With this apparatus I commenced a series' 

 experiments, and the following are the results: 



Experiment 1. Strained 11 lbs. of milk frei 

 drawn from the cow into Ihe pan ; after letting 

 stand twelve hours, put four quarts of boiling wall 

 into the under pan, ami secured the aperture wit 

 a cork. Thirtysix hours after, the cream was cm 

 fully taken off, b.-ing very thick and tough, ondi 

 a fine yellowish color. Twelve hours after, it wi 

 churned with a spoon, which occupied seven mi 

 nutes, and produced 5 oz. of butter. 



Ezperimrnt 2. The same quantity of milk wi 

 put into the same pan, and after standing tweir 

 hours, four quarts of boiling water was inlroducei 

 and suffered to stand twentyfour hours, when : 

 was skimmed, and immediately churned, whic 

 took eleven minutes to convert it into butter. Pre 

 duce, t) oz. 



Erpriimcnt 3. The same quantity of milk fre«l 

 drawn from the cow, was put into the pan — sloe 

 twelve hours, when four quarts of boiling waterwj 

 introduced, as before, and after standing tireh 

 hours longer, was carefully skimmed, and tweh 

 hours afterwards was converted into butter in*" 

 minute. Produce, 7 oz. 



The throe parcels were put together, and afti 

 being well worked, they weighed, with a comoic: 

 I pair of steelyards, 1 1-4 lb., being a fraction \tf 

 I than y 1-2 quarts of milk to produce one pound' 

 I butter; and it is my opinion, had it all been au^ 



