62 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



October last, luiikr the Trustees of the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural .Society. Distinguished 

 men were appointed judges, who made a (air and 

 thorough investigation into the qualities of the 

 Ploughs, and their work, measuring the depth of 

 the furrow, and hy a Dynanonieter ascertaining 

 precisely the power of draught ; and those who 

 were well skilled in ploughing, held the Ploughs 

 themselves, to learn which run the best, and held 

 the most easy. After this complete trial, in 

 which many Ploughs were engaged, as competi- 

 tion was invited iiom all parts of the country, 

 the judges awarded to Prouty and Mears, of Bos- 

 ton, the Premium of $100, "for the best 

 Plough that will turn the sod over and lay it flat; 

 regard being had to the Strength of the Plough, 

 Easiness of Draught, E.\cellence of work, and 

 its Cheapness." 



To Charles Howard,of Hingham, the premium 

 of $75, " for the best plough that will turn the 

 sod on the edge or obliquely, and not flat ; re- 

 gard being had to the above qualities." 



The following table from the report of the 

 Committee, shows how many inches of furrow 

 each plough turned over to 113 pounds of 

 draught. 



For Flat Fuhrows. — By Prouty and Mears, 

 Boston, 27 1-2 ; Chas. Howard, Hingham, 25 ; 

 Ruggles, Nourse and Rlason, Worcester, 24 ; 

 Barnaby and Moores, Ithica, N. Y. 18 1-3; E. G. 

 Whiting, Rochester N. Y. 14 ; another Plough by 

 Prouty and 3Iears, 26 ; Charles Howard, 25. 



Laying the sod on the edge is a method of 

 ploughing seldom practised by good farmers, and 

 when preferred, it can be accomplished by pro- 

 per management with n good plough for flat 

 work. They did not compete in this manner of 

 ploughing, being desirous to excel only in the 

 best way. 



In turning the furrow over flat, the oidy way 

 in which these ploughs were brought into com- 

 petition, Howard's plough turned over only 25 

 inches to 112 pounds of draught, while the 

 Plough of Prouty and Mears, with the same 

 draught, turned over 27 1-2 inches — one tenth 

 more than any other Plough. 



This saving of one tentli of the labor, to say 

 nothing of the superior work, would soon pay 

 for a plough ; and in wearing out a plough, it 

 would save the price of several. So it is plain 

 to every observing farmer, that it is better to buy 

 the centre draught Plough, than to have How- 

 ard's or any other plough in the above trial, gra- 

 tis. 



The most approved method of ploughing 

 among intelligent farmers, is turning the finrow 

 over flat, in order to shut in and destro'y the weeds 

 and grass, and cause n decomposition of vegeta- 

 ble matter beneath the surface, that the soil may 

 become enriched hy the gases evolved in fer- 

 mentation. 



This important principle in husbandry is com- 

 pletely accomplished by the centre draught 

 Plough, and with superiority of work are com- 

 bined the valuable cpialities of easy draught, 

 strength, and cheapness. 



Let eveiy farmer consider the great impor- 

 tance of saving one tenth of the labor of his 

 teams. It is an item in economy, that will soon 

 swell to a large sum, well worthy attention in the 

 purchase of ploughs. They manufacture these 

 ploughs of various sizes, and the materials and 

 work are superior also. They have an extensive 

 assortment of the most substantial and neatly 

 finished ploughs ever oftered in this market, anil 

 trust that they shall give satisfaction to those who 

 liivor them with iheir orders. 



Nos. 19 and 20 North Market Street, Boston, 



more than a proportionate degree to its amount; 

 thus, supposing uventy-five dollars be the lowest, 

 and fifty the highest sum that can be employed 

 in the common culture of the same acre of land, 

 it is more than probable that if twenty-five ilol- 

 lars retiun at the rate of ten per cent, the fifty 

 dollars will yield twenty, or any intermediate 

 sum, at the same progressive ratio. And admit- 

 ting this to be true — and it is presumed no ex- 

 perienced agriculturist will doubt it — it follows, 

 that a capital of .5,000 dollars, expended in the 

 cultivation of 200 acres, will only yield a profit 

 of 500 dollars, while, if applied to no more than 

 100 acres, it would produce 1,000 dollars ; there- 

 fore, it is evident that his profit would be increas- 

 ed by diminishing the quantity of his land. 

 Many a man has been ruined by a large farm, 

 who might have acquired a competency vfith 

 one of half the size. Most farmers are anxious 

 for large occupations, and many are thus betray- 

 ed into the error of taking a greater quantity of 

 ground than they have the means of managing 

 to advantage ; some, in the delusive hope of ac- 

 quiring those means by future savings ; others, 

 trom the vanity of holding more land than their 

 neighbours : hence arises deficiency of stock, im- 

 perfect tillage, and scanty crops, with all the 

 consequent train of rent in arrear, wages ill -paid, 

 and debts unsatisfied — distress, duns, and final 

 ruin! While he, who prudently commences, 

 with only such a number of acres as he has the 

 power of cultivating with proper effect, is cer- 

 tain of obtaining the fiill return from tlie soil, 

 and not being burdened with more land than he 

 can profitably employ, his engagements are within 

 his means ; and thus, while enjoying present ease 

 of mind, he lays the surest foundation for future 

 prosperity. It therefore behooves a man to weigh 

 well the charges with his means, and never allow 

 himself to be seduced by any ideal prospect of 

 gain, into the imprudence of entering upon a 

 larger farm than his property will enable him to 

 manage with the spirit necessary to insure suc- 

 cess. — British Hiishayidry. 



a good cow, carefully attended, kindly treated, 

 and well kept, will pay for herself several times 

 in the course of her life. A needy family de- 

 rives in the season of milking much of its suste- 

 nance from a single cow. 



Capital. 



Tlicrc is no mistake more common nor more 

 injurious, than that of supposing that the more 

 land a man holds, the greater must be his profits, 

 for the profit does not arise from the land itselt; 

 but from t'ie manner of using it ; foi' the best soil 

 may be made unproductive by had management, 

 while the worst may be rendered profitable by 

 the opposite course ; hut without sufficient capital 

 no land can he properly cultivated; at the s; 

 time, there is nothing to which ca])ital can be 

 applied with greater certainty of a fair return for 

 liberal expenditure, when correctly employed, 

 than la?id. In fact, assuming always that tl 

 expenditure be directed with j\idgment, it will be 

 found that the profit upon the outlay increases in 



Excellent Milch Cows. 



In the published transactions of the Essex 

 County Agricultural Society Mr. Albert Johnson 

 of Danvers, states the fact that his milch cow 

 native breed brought a calf on the 27th of March 

 1840, which, taken Iiom her at nineteen days old 

 w eiglicd 25 pounds per quarter, and sold for six 

 dollars ; that the same cow, without estimating 

 the milk given to tlie calf, gave from that time 

 to the last day of September, 2,736 quarts ot milk 

 weighing thee tons and eight hundred and forty 

 pounds, averaging very near fifteen quarts per 

 day ; and that this milk, which sold at five cents 

 a quart, presented an income of $136.80, and a 

 total income including the price of the calf of 

 $142.80. 



Mr. George Spofford of Geoigetown, Mass. 

 had a Durham cow which calved on the 4th of 

 April 1840; this calf at the age of five and a half 

 weeks sold for twenty-five dollars. From the 

 15th of May to the 29th September the milk she 

 gave weighed 3,900 lbs. the greatest quantity in 

 any one month was 1,071 lbs. in June; and the 

 greatest in any one day 48i lbs. She made 43i lbs 

 of butter in June, and 127 pounds from the first 

 of June to the last of September. Iler keeping 

 was common pasture with six quarts of shorts in 

 two pails of water per day. 



Mr. Charles F. Putnam, of Salem, from a cow 

 raised in Vermont of native breed, prociu'ed from 

 Nov. 15, 1839, to Nov. 15, 1840, (bur thousand 

 two hundred and fourteen quarts of milk, averag- 

 ing twelve quarts per day for the year. Of this 

 milk he valued as sold 3,333 quarts at 6 cents, 

 and 881 quarts at 5 cents, making $244.03: The 

 cost of keeping, driving and milking he estima- 

 ted at .S91.53 ; leaving the net profit of the cow 

 for the jcar $152.50. 



Mr. Josiah Crosby of Andover, Jlass. from the 

 Countess, a native cow, fed entirely upon hay and 

 grass, obtains an average of about 16 quarts of 

 milk jier day — her milk containing an uncommon 

 quantity of cream. 



The above cows received premiums from the 

 Essex Agricultural Society as follows, viz ; Mr. 

 Johnson $15; Mr. Spofford §15, and Mr. Crosby 

 $10. The success of the several gentlemen 

 shows the great imjiortance of selecting good 

 cows. Much is due to the quality of the animal. 

 A poor cow well kept will-give little profit: but 



Scarcity or Hay. — The " lingering of Winter 

 1 the lap of Spring " has created a scarcity of 

 hay throughout New England almost without a 

 parallel. Had the means of intercommuiucation 

 been no better than they were thirty years ago, 

 thousands of cattle must have starved. In the 

 first settlement of the country, farmers short of 

 hay used to go into the woods and cut down 

 beech, oak, maple and other trees, and from the 

 buds and sprouts of the tops of these, the cattle 

 subsisted. We learn that in consequence 

 of the general scarcity, the price of hay in Cale- 

 donia county, Vermont, has risen from five and 

 six dollars (the usual price) to twenty dollars 

 the ton ; and in many places hay is not to be 

 procured for any price. 



How Hay may be made plenty. — The scarci- 

 ty of good English hay, the high piice it always 

 hears in many places, should lead the attention 

 of farmers to the best means of increasing its pro- 

 duction. It is a lamentable fact that upon soil 

 capable of yielding the very best crops of hay 

 scarcely sufficient of the article is annually pro- 

 cured to pay for cutting, curing and gathering it 

 from the ground. On hundreds of farms the pro- 

 duction each succeeding year grows less and less. 

 How should the evil be remedied ? 



Where the worn-out or bound-out mowing 

 ground is high and dry, and not too rocly^v (or the 

 plough, the better policy will be to break up so 

 much of it as may be well manured. To be able 

 to manure the ground, the farmer should lose no 

 opportunity to increase its quantity : he should 

 scrape up and clean up in every direction. If 

 be cannot make enough to give his worn-out 

 land forty loads to the acre, let him give it thirty, 

 or exen tw'enty : first plan.t with corn or pota- 

 toes, and afterwards lay down to grass with 

 wheat, barley or oats. The two first crops will 

 pay all the expense of labor and manure ; and 

 afterwards the land will produce for two, three 

 or four years, four times and in some cases ten 

 times its i)resent value of a crop of liaj'. 



Where the bound-out laud is rocky and rough 

 and dry, let it at once he turned into pasture, or 

 if good for nothing (or pasture let it grow as soon 

 as it will into wood. If it is not naturally inclin- 

 ed to grow wood, the sowing of acorns or the 

 seeds of the maple, with fencing and shuttingout 

 cattle, will in a few years be repaid ii\ the pro- 

 duction of a fine growth of wood and tiiiiher. 



{^j^ See Doct. Fisher's Journal in the present 

 number of the Visitor. 



In low lands natiually inclined to wet, whether 

 with or without rocks, with or without a hard 

 pan — as well upon flat elevations and side hills as 

 in drained swamps — the crop of hay may be in- 

 creased to almost any extent by a process more 

 sinjple and less expensive than ploughing and 

 hand cultivation. Of this there can be no mis- 

 take. The method of making compost manure 

 is the most simple that can be imagined ; it is 

 done with facility on the sides of roads, in the 

 cow and hog yards. The refuse of chip yards, 

 leaves from the woods, peat or mud taken (iom 

 ditches, leached ashes, earth taken (iom the 

 back yards and sink spouts, the scrapings from 

 streets— a mixture of almost every refuse article 

 that can be imagined — will serve as materials (or 

 compost manure to be used on mow ing land 

 such as we have last described. The experiment 

 has been often tried, and on moist and wet ground 

 will not fail. The compost, diluted with sand if 

 t!ie ground is clayey and tenacious, may be 

 spread, and into this hcrdsgrass seed sowed will 

 take root. Where it can be done, the land, after 

 the compost is spread and seed sowed, should 

 be cut up with the teeth of a harrow, or excoriated 

 with shai-p points fixed in a heavy roller. There 

 is a piece of ditched swampland in this town be- 

 longing to Mr. Abel Hutchins, situated in the 

 roar o(" the State House, which was prepared in 

 1810, more than thirty years ago. First a ditch 

 was cut around it, and clear sand put upon it ta- 

 ken from the sand hill near it, carted on in the 

 winter, when the morass was frozen ovir. This 

 land was at first jiloughed and cultivated. Laid 

 down to grass, fioni that day to this it has annu- 



