1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



1-il 



loamy, sandy soil, plowing in the fall was inju- 

 rious. 



]Mr. Darling replied that they were generally a 

 light, mellow loam, on the hills the soil was clayey. 

 He believed that tlie system he describecrliad been 

 found to apply equally to the clayey as the other 

 kinds of soils. 



JMr. Walker was of opinion that common sense 

 must be applied to this matter of plowing, as well 

 as to everything else. A gentleman of his acquaint- 

 ance had lieard a great deal said about deep plow- 

 ing, and determined to try it upon a field of light 

 soil, underneath which was a very coarse gravel. 

 Plowing deep, he brought this to the surface, cov- 

 ering up the natural soil, and consequently lost the 

 use of his land. With such soils the policy should 

 be to draw up the sand or gravel little by little, 

 and gradually convert it into a soil by the applica- 

 tion of manure. In a few years a soil may be in- 

 creased from six inches to a foot in depth, and thus 

 doubled in value, for it will grow double the 

 crops. 



Mr. Sprague was confident that fall plowing in 

 dry, sandy land, was injurious. He had a large 

 quantity of land with a loose, sandy subsoil, and 

 he believed that the quicker it was planted after 

 being plowed, the better. But not so with lands 

 having a hard subsoil, which will not let the water 

 down, and which may bring up vegetable substances 

 beneficial to plants. 



Col. Faulkner, of Acton, said the depth of plow- 

 ing should depend on the nature of tlie soil. He 

 cultivated eleven acres of land, which is unusually 

 infested with rocks and stones, so much so that 

 he almost despaired of reclaiming it. On the pro- 

 duce of this amount of Lind he keeps ten cows, a 

 yoke of oxen, and two horses, besides selling two 

 to five tons of hay annually. His mode of cultiva 

 tion is this. The land is jilowed as deep as possi- 

 ble. In May he plants with potatoes, and after 

 removing the crop in the fall plows again. In 

 May of the next year it is plowed and harrowed 

 twice, and then sowed with millet, which yields a 

 crop equal to a ton and a half of hay. About the 

 middle of August manure is spread over the stubble 

 left by the millet, the land plowed and harrowed 

 twice, and sowed down with timothy and red-top 

 a,lone. Not less than sixty loads of manure are 

 applied to the acre, and the land lasts seven years, 

 generally yielding two to three tons of hay to the 

 acre. 



^Ir. F. said he could raise much better potatoes 

 by using plaster and salt, mixed together, and 

 none of them had decayed since he tried it. 



Mr. Small, of Truro, said he plowed his corn 

 land about five inches deep. It would not answer 

 to plow deeper, on account of a want of manure to 

 vitalize the dead earth brought up by plowing deep. 

 But if there was no lack of manure, it was no mat- 

 ter how deep land was plowed. On the Cape, 



they always found they could raise good corn^when 

 they could bring their land over to a sward. Neat 

 cattle he considered the best means of accomplish- 

 ing this, fur after they take the feed off the grass, 

 there is nothing so beneficial to the land as the 

 manure, both solid and liquid, which they leave up- 

 on it. 



Mr. Sprague thought farmers were generally in 

 too much haste to get their seed into the ground, 

 and did not take sufficient pains to get the soil 

 permeable, and in proper condition. 



Mr. SuELDON asked leave to make some remarks 

 on the subject discussed at the last meeting, viz., 

 the importance of agriculture to the well-being of 

 the State as compared with any or all other in- 

 terests. He illustrated his views by comparing 

 the different professions, as farmers, mechanics, 

 &c., to a tree, of which the farmer formed the 

 trunk, the other classes the branches, and the la- 

 boring men who serve them all, the roots. He il- 

 lustrated at some length the results of a separa- 

 tion of the various classes of society, and the ab- 

 solute necessity of mutual assistance and depend- 

 ence. 



Mr. Sheldon then went on to remark that much 

 was said about protecting the farmer, that the 

 government had done nothing for him, &c. In his 

 view, the protection the farmer needs, is good free 

 schools, that they may feel when they are grown 

 up that they need not be ashamed to get up at 

 these meetings, and speak in vindication of their 

 own cause. He believed that every manufactory 

 started, and every mechanical pursuit opened, af- 

 forded protection to the farmer. 



Some pertinent remarks in relation to the pul- 

 verizating of soils were made by Rev. Mr. Trask, 

 of Fitchburg, and at 9 o'clock the meeting ad- 

 journed. 



For the New Ensland Farmer, 



CARROTS FOR HORSES. 



Friend Brown : — Do you recommend the feed- 

 ing of carrots to horses on the same score that 

 you do to cows? I know that the opinion obtains 

 in many sections that they are paramount to al- 

 most any other kind of grain. Yet this practice 

 has to my knowledge been attended with very se- 

 rious results. ]Mr. Holbrook has often recorded 

 his views with regard to the carrot — its culture, 

 and that for which it was best adapted, but if I 

 mistake not, he has never introduced the horse in 

 this connexion. k. n. n. 



Remarks. — We have used carrots for horses 

 with the best results, for years, and believe them 

 to be excellent feed for any stock. 



To Kill Lice on Cattle. — H. Mudgett, in the 

 Prairie Farmer, says that a small quantity of dry 

 slacked lime rubbed into the hair of cattle will de- 

 stroy all lice. If a remedy it is a cheap and easy 

 one. 



