154 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



October, 1842 



ry's hill, look as if in fiir distant times they had 

 been thrown out of the chastn in which the wa- 

 ters anil fishes of the pond repose. Tlie farm of 

 the Messrs. Dow is no very wide strip of land 

 extendinft north over the old west parish road 

 one mile to the " hog road" as it is called, lead- 

 ing to the Horse hilf bridge on the Contoocook. 



The Messrs. Dow's farm has been improved 

 while in their possession by the erection of more 

 than 400 rods of the best kind of stone wall : it 

 is laid off into convenient fields of eight or ten 

 acres, exten/ling to water and a common pass- 

 way on the westerly end, by which the lots may 

 at anytime be thrown into pasture: the new wall 

 has effectually cleared the land of the superfluous 

 rocks. In making the walls many large rocks 

 have been blasieij and forever taken out of the 

 way. One |jeculiarity of these walls was their 

 directness in line, and" such a disposition of the 

 rocks Bt the base as to forever keep them in 

 ]>lace. 



The fields upon this farm are very clean and 

 neat. Every year adds to the quantity of hay 

 and produce taken from it. It was considered 

 when these young men commenced some ten or 

 twelve years ago a worn out farm: their cultiva- 

 tion has proved that our worn out lands may be 

 hereafter made our best lands. Thorough ma- 

 nuring and deep ploughing never fail to bring 

 their reward. 



Their plan is, after a field has been cleared of 

 rocks in the way of the plough, to break deep 

 into the ground and tear up the hassocks with 

 the plorg'.i, and where the land is very rough to 

 plant first with potatoes and a moderate dose or 

 111) manure at first. The second season thirty to 

 forty stout loads of manure to the acre arc spread 

 and ploughed in. The third year generally a 

 crop of oats, barley or wheat, with the requisite 

 quantity of herdsgrass and clover seed sown 

 with it, is taken off. As a sample of the crops, 

 may be mentioned seventy-eight bushels of thresi 

 ed and winnowed barley from one bushel and 

 half of seed, and three hundred and filly bushels 

 of oats taken from four measm-ed acres the pre 

 ent season. 



Napoleon's Gkave.— The NortI 

 introduces in an article of its own on the recent 

 removal of Napoleon's remains to Paris, the fi 

 lowing eloquent extract ti-om the June number of 

 Frasei-'s London Magazine : 



"If the true sublime alone were consulted, lie 

 would have been allowed to remain at St. H 

 iia. He had it all to himself— he was the sole 

 man buried in the Atlantic, with a distinct burial- 

 place in the bottom of the ocean. In pagan my 

 thology, Sicily was not more decidedly the burial 

 ])laceof Enceladiis, than St. Helena is one of the 

 giant disturber of our own generation. There 

 he rested alone — quite alone — a mark lor all wh 

 sail along the watery waste. The islands an 

 coast of the tropics have given their last lioiis< 

 to millions s^ince death began in the world, an 

 no doubt the bones of many a gallant and woi 

 thy fellow are there deposited, but of them who 

 takes thought? Those who traverse the high- 

 way from Europe to India, from the continent he 

 had all but won, to the empire which was forev 

 cr the dazzling object of his ambition — all who 

 •'On tlie Hading flonj, 

 Through the wiiU; Kthiopian to Uni Cape, 

 Ply etemming nightly »o the pole" — 

 all whose thoughts turn to the shores of America 

 or Africa — all u lio go down in ships, or think of 

 wandering over llie liice of the deep, to them is 

 the tomb of Bonaparte vividly present. 



in this sunset hour; how the resplendent hues of I litter, or the corn which is usually reserved for 



topaz, and amethyst and gold beautifully lilenil | 

 with each other, and stream in living ligh across 

 the other sky. It is the very gate of heaven — and 

 that lone star, seems a beacon light, hung out 

 froin his golden portals, to guide us, erring wand- 

 ers, home. We can also hear their blest voices, 

 ;w they mingle around the throne of the Most 

 High. Whose soul will not kindle within him, 

 and whose spirit will not ilirill wiih cMacy on 

 contemplating scenes like tliisc '- WImi ilms not 

 feel that he is holding conv(?ise uitli puif luings, 

 that he is 



" Just on the boundary of the spirit land. 



Close to the realm where nngels have their birth V 



How eloquent is nature ? — who is not purer 



and better when he listens to her voice! How 



ipressively does God speak to us, at this sweet 



d season. How he lets his goodness and glory 



iss before us. He makes all nature beautiful, 



and gives us faculties to enjoy his beauties. — 



Sweet flowers, ye too, in your ever varying hues 



and delicious odor.s, whispering the name of your 



Creator. Ye wear the richest dyes, and send forth 



the sweetest fragrance, as you are about to fade 



and die. Apt emblems of life. 



The autumn of our days is coming. But if we 

 are ready, like the glorious forests and beautiful 

 flowers, we may wrap our garments about us, and 

 wait in holy peace, till we are called to bluom in 

 " beauty immortal," in the gardens of Uod. 



October. — October has come — the sweetest. 

 saddest montli uf all the year. Its sunsets and 

 its gorgeous (oresi.s, how beautiful — and brief as 

 beautiful their gorgi-ous dyes. 



There is a |uiisivi' beauty in October days; au- 

 tumn is now ciiithrd iu her lovliest drapery; the 

 forest leaves mk- not yet dry and crisp ; natiire has 

 not yet put on liir Irigd aspect, but the sighing 

 of the hrcezi- ami t!ie falling leaf is nature's knell 

 for her lalliii glories; soon all these beautiful 

 things will liMM' lost their lieantv, all these bright 

 things their l,rl,::l,nu-ss. This c'linngeful though 

 lovely scenery, leiul a tcucliiiig inteiest to autumn 

 liays. Go iiiln tlietiii,-k ileep wooil ; listen to the 

 hushed, deep murninr of ijie evening breeze, as 

 it gently nudulaies llie glorious and richly colored 

 foliage; look away into yonder vault of heaven, 



Managemeut of Swiue. 



Washington, D. C, October 10, 1842, 

 Hon. Isaac Hill — Dear Sir: — Some year or 

 two since the Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, of this 

 city, the present Commissioner of the Patent 

 Office, a gentleman whose practical, as well as 

 theoretical knowledge, and whose untiring efforts 

 in all that relates to the advancement of agricul- 

 ture, have fairly entitled him to the thanks of the 

 community at large, made an experiment upon 

 the rearing and fattening of Swine. As the 

 spot which he selected for his operations was 

 not far from my residence, I watched his move- 

 ments with some interest, in order to see how 

 far his practice might correspond with my no- 

 tions upon the subject, and with some experience 

 which I had had in a similar unilertaking, al- 

 though on a much smaller scale. What the re- 

 sults of his experiment were I never have known. 

 That his pens and sheds arose and dotted the 

 plain, and at length became quite a populous pig 

 villa, and then declined and left the landscape 

 imcheckered by these goodly tenements, is all 

 that I can say as to results. Witnessing his ex- 

 periment, however, induced me to commence an 

 article at the time upon the subject for your val- 

 uable paper, but it was never concluded, and my 

 object now is, to offer you a few remarks ujion 

 the 



REARt;>"G OF SWINE. 



The first grand object to be attained in the 

 profitable management of swine, is to construct 

 such pens and yards, with a proper economy, as 

 will afford the most convenience to the animals 

 themselves, and the greatest facility to those who 

 have the charge of them. In doing this, regard 

 must be had to the situation, as well as the mode 

 of construction. The most convenient and 

 cheapest form of building that I have ever known, 

 I mean a buililing whieli will enable the farmer 

 to rear swine with profit, would be .something af- 

 ter the following manner: Put up a structure, 

 say 40 feet long and 1.5 feet wide — let the posts 

 be 7 feet high. Cover the whole well, and lay a 

 tight and stony floor. On one side, through the 

 whole length, leave a jiassage of 4 feet. Then 

 at every 10 feet |uit up a cross partition, which 

 will give four rooms, each 10 by 11 leet. These 

 rooms should each he divided into an eating and 

 a sleeping apartment. Each eating apartment 

 should be provided with a good trough, nailed to 

 the floor, bound with iron hoop on the top edges, 

 and six or eight inches deep, and at least eigliteen 

 inches wide. Over each trough there should be 

 a spacious shoot, in the parlitioii, so that the food 

 may be conveyed to it lidiii the passagi-. These 

 dimensions would probably accomuiodate about 

 twenty-five animals; if the intention is to keep 

 a large number, the building should he propor- 

 tioned accordingi}'. The roof of the building 

 should he made quite steep, which would pre- 

 serve it from decay for a great number of years, 

 and afford room over the beams for straw for 



husking, or for depositing tl-.e lighter 

 tanning implements, such as hoes, shovels, rakes, 

 &c. during the season when they are not in use. 

 If this building should he so extended as to 

 admit of a kettle being set in one end, or in the 

 centre, by making the building in the T form, it 

 would add greatly to the convenience, and in the 

 end to the economy of the business. The yards, 

 if possible, should have a southern exposure, 

 divided oft' as the inside of the building is, and 

 of such length as will ;;ive sutfieieut room for the 

 swine to perform their part of the business in 

 the manufacturing of manure, of which I intend 

 to speak before I close. If these yards can be 

 so placed as to receive the manure and litter 

 from a large hovel of the barn, it will be found 

 very advantageous. 



FEEDING or SWINE. 



Having thus provided suitable accommodations, 

 and premising that the animals are not of the 

 flap-eared, long-nosed and long-legged breed,ap- 

 parently more "fit to enter the lists with a blooded 

 racer than to he quiet and fat, the next thing of 

 importance to be observed is the manner ot feed- 

 ing. In 1816, that year of gloom and distress 

 throughout New England, when corn was two 

 dollars a bushel, and difiicult to be procured 

 even at that price ; when the frosts and the cut- 

 worm prostrated the young crops for two or 

 three successive planting.s, and seemed to threat- 

 en almost a total annihilation of every thing that 

 possessed vegetable life, men were driven to ex- 

 pedients which might never have occurred to 

 them so long as the earth should yield her in- 

 crease in her accustomed profusion. In the uni- 

 versal scarcity of potatoes and all the grains, a 

 spot was selected near the piggery, containing, 

 perhaps, three square rods, which was covered 

 w ith knot-grass. This spot was carefiilly divest- 

 ed of every thing that would obstruct the scythe, 

 and a basket of this short, sweet grass was then 

 cut and thrown to the swine, who ate it with the 

 utmost rc;lish. This was repeated some half 

 dozen times each day. By the time the whole 

 spot had been cut over, the grass had spmng up 

 fresii and sweet on that part which had first been 

 mown, and thus the operation was continued 

 through the summer with such beneficial results 

 to the swine as excited the surprise of all. They 

 not only kept along and held their own, whicli 

 was about all that was expected when the ex- 

 periment was commenced, but throve exceeding- 

 ly well, and that without five dollars ex()ense for 

 any feed beside the grass. This was thrown to 

 them in small quantities many times during the 

 day. A basket constantly supplied was kept 

 standing in the pas.sage of the piggery, and it 

 was expected of every one who passed that way 

 to remember the switic. This practice was found 

 so beneficial that it was always pursued after- 

 wards, even though potatoes were as low as six- 

 teen, and corn seventy-five cents a bushel. I am 

 clearly of the opinion that swine may be kept up 

 f/ieo/;cr than they can be kept running at large; 

 as in the latter case they must he looked after 

 and fed at least once a day, and their manui'e, 

 and Iheir labor in mailing manure, are both lost, 

 which are important items to be deducted from 

 the cost of their feed when we come to sum up 

 the whole matter in order to ascertain the loss 

 and gain. The grand secret to he discovered in 

 tiie rearing of all stock is, how to make it grow the 

 greatest possible amount in the shortest space of 

 time. With regard to swine, particularly, this se- 

 cret does not consist so much in the quantity or 

 the quality of the food fed out, as in the manner 

 in which it is prei>ared, and the regularity with 

 which it is given. Between the first of Septem- 

 ber and the first of May, they should receive no 

 raw food, or only in very small quantities. I am 

 satisfied that one bushel of meal, cooked, is worth 

 as much as a bushel and a half uncooked, and 

 that the disproportion is still greater in potatoes 

 and pumpkins. My method of preparing food 

 wax, as soon as potatoes were ripe, to dig a quan- 

 tity and throw into a tub of water about a bushel 

 at a time, and with a stout stick dash them about 

 a few times until the dirt was washed off; after 

 boiling a sufficient quantity for a day or two, boil 

 the Slime quantity of pumpkins, and in a largo 

 tub for the purpose, mix the whole to a pulp, and 

 while scalding hot throw in such proportion of 

 meal as circumstances would reqii're, taking the 

 price of corn and the condition of the stock, 



