1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



179 



Nature having made its master effort in the animal economy, 

 it canno: be revived again in spring-time of vegetation, and 

 in the fail, when farmers have more or less of coarse per- 

 ishable food, like pumpi^ins, apples, etc., they are not in 

 as good eondition to yield milk, as when Iliey are started 

 late, and tiieir milk is kept up by sowed corn, or other 

 succulent food. 



I realized the greatest nett product of cheese in my dairy 

 in 1844 and 1845. Commencing April 20ih with half my 

 •ows in milk, average yield in 1844, 700 lbs. per cow, 

 market weight. In 1845, average yield 775 lbs. per cow, 

 weighed daily from the press, averaging five lbs. per cow 

 per day during the first five months. No one kind of grass 

 or other food is found to produce as much or as good milk, 

 as good pasturage upon soil yielding a great variety of 

 grasses, each maturing at difliprent periods, and furnishing 

 in their turn tlie_^oj<^e;- offted, from which the finest flavor 

 of butter and cheese is derived. Such soils are yrevalent 

 in this county, v\her8 the land is elevated and not over 

 worn witli tillage. Low, marshy grounds, and those hav- 

 ing a northern or northwestern descent are exceptions. 



A difference of from five to ten per cent is frequently 

 shown by the lactometer in the quality of milk from neigh- 

 boring dairies, the proof being in favor of those best fed and 

 car ed for. The practice is prevalent among dairymen of 

 pasturing the low, wet and shady portions of their farms, 

 (if they have such,) and using for meadows the more aired 

 portions. In some locations, it is impossible to make a fine 

 flavored cheese. The curd works tough and stubborn, and 

 clieese is invariably of a harsh rank flavor. If this practice 

 should be reversed, and the low lands used for meadows, 

 and the elevated, warmer portions grazed, no (foubt a great i 

 improvement would be made in our dairy products, 



More care is required in working curd where whey and 

 grain is fed, than when cows are grazed, as the milk is 

 richer, and the clieese more apt to be harsh-flavored ; when 

 oows are in heat, their milk should not be put with the rest, 

 till thoroughly cooled. It is often 7-a«^ and hitter tmA will 

 sour in a few" hours. If cows eat salt largely, beware of 

 .soft leaky cheese ; it retards flie effect of rennet to decom- 

 pose. Salt sliould lay by the cows that they may take a 

 little daily, ('orn sowed m drills will produce moie milk, 

 arising f/om cultivation and the effect of sun and air. If fed 

 when too old, it is not succulent, and will dry up the milk. 



The Essentials to Productive Farming. 



The following essentials for productive farm- 

 ing are from the pen of the editor of the Ameri- 

 can Farmer, which is, we believe, the oldest 

 agricultural paper in the United States : 



1. Good implements of husbandry, plenty of 

 them, which should always be kept in perfect order. 



2. Deep plowing, and thorough pulverization 

 of the soil, by the free use of the harrow, drag 

 and roller. 



3. An application of lime, marl or ashes, 

 where calcareous matter or potash may not be 

 present in the soil. 



4. A systematic husbanding of every sub- 

 stance on a farm capable of being converted into 

 manure, as a systematic protection of such sub- 

 stances from loss by evaporation or waste of any 

 kinds, and a carefii application of the same to 

 the lands in culture. 



5. The draining of all wet lands, so as to 

 relieve the roots of the plants from the ill effects 

 of a super-abundance of water, a condition equal- 

 ly as pernicious as drouth, to their healthful 

 growth and profitable fructification. 



6. The free use of the plow, cultivator and 

 hoe, with all row-culfered crops, so as to keep 

 down, at all times, the growth of grass and weeds, 

 those pests which prove so destructive to crops. 



7. Seeding in the proper time, with good seed, 

 and an equal attention as to time, with regard 

 to the working of crops. 



8. Attention to the construction and repair of 

 fences, so that what is made through the toils and 

 anxious cares of the husbandman, may not be 

 lost through his neglect to protect his crops from 

 the depradations of stock. 



9. Daily personal superintendence, on the 

 part of the master, over all the operations of the 

 farm no matter how good a manager he may 

 have, or however faithful his hands may be, as 

 the presence of the head of a farm, and the use 

 of his eyes, are worth several pairs of hands. 



10. Labor-saving machinery, so that any one 

 may render himself as independent as needful 

 of neighborhood labor, as a sense of the com 

 paralive independence of the employer upon 

 such labor begets a disposition of obedience and 

 faithfulness on the part of the employed. 



11. Comfortable stabling and shoes, for the 

 horses and stock, all necessary outbuildings for 

 the accommodation of the hands, and protection 

 of the tools and implements, as well as for the 

 care of the poultry. 



12. Clover and other grasses to form a part 

 of the rotation of crops, and these to be at proper 

 periods plowed in, to form the pabulum for suc- 

 ceeding crops. 



13. To provide a good orchard and garden — 

 the one to be filled with choice fruits, of all 

 kinds — the other with vegetables of different 

 sorts, early and late, so that the table may, at all 

 times be well and seasonably supplied, and the 

 surplus contributed to increase the wealth of the 

 proprietor. 



Lunar Influence — Tides, &c. 



In the third number of the present volume of 

 the Farmer is an -irticle from the pen of Mr. 

 J. W. Dickinson, in which he comments with 

 considerable freedom and some severity, on 

 some of the doctrines of " philosophy," and 

 even upon "philosophy" itself I do not intend 

 to argue the question with Mr. D., but will 

 simply remark, that if he had made himself 

 acquainted with modern philosophy, (which he 

 evidently has not done,) he would have ascer- 

 tained that some of his remarks, though applica- 

 ble once, are inapplicable now ; and that some 

 of his questions are very easily answered. But 

 I wish rather to be a learner in this matter; and 

 being one of those who still adhere to the " New- 

 tonian system" (theory?) of the tides — "for 

 want of a better" — 1 wish for light on the sub- 

 ject. And as Mr. D. more than intimates that 

 he has " a better," my wish is, that he would 

 give it to the world, and with your permission, 

 through the medium of the Farmer, that we 

 who are anxious to know the truth may not be 

 duped any longer. H. 



