1853. 



NEW KNGLAND FARMER. 



211 



HINTS FOR THE HUSBANDMAN. 



Sorrel. — The presence of this production- 

 grass we are not permitted to call it — is always to 

 be considered as an indication of a lack of calca- 

 reous matter, for where the quantity of lime in the 

 8Ch1 is aot deficient, sorrel wilt not grow. On all 

 light, silicious lands, lime has consequently been 

 found a most useful article, and its application in- 

 variably attended with higlily favorable results. — 

 And just in the ratio of its uses, whether in com- 

 post or in its natural state, so far as our informa 

 tion extends, has been the diminution of the sor 

 rel crop. 



Goo© Tools. — The old adage — "He must in 

 deed be a good workman who can afford to work 

 with poor tools," is one which, in our opinion, 

 embodies a great deal of truth. If we farmers 

 employ a mechanic — a mason for instance, or a 

 house carpenter, to execute a "job of work," we 

 of course expect he will cume provided with the 

 requisite tools. Should he make his appearance 

 upon the premises with but half the implements 

 required for the expeditious and successful con- 

 summation of the work intended, we should not 

 hesitate to deaiur, and doubtles.s would dismiss 

 him and entrust the job to another and more com- 

 petefit hand. But how is it on our farms? Are 

 we always as j-.nilous of our interests here ? We 

 think not. How often indeed is it the case that 

 our "helps" are required to plow, mow, reap, and 

 hoe, with imple'Jients which are not only "out of 

 fashion," but too clumsy and ponderous for any 

 except an Ajax to wield. Many of the old-fash 

 ioned implements are still to be found on our 

 farms — such an plows, dung-forks, hoes and the 

 like, and with these "hired men" and boys are 

 frequently expected to perform as yyiuch work 

 daily, and to "finish it off" "os neatly" as though 

 they were provided with the best implements the 

 market can afford. This is poor economy. It 

 is better to give away a poor or inefficient tool — 

 no matter what may have been its original cost, 

 and purchase a new one of modern construction 

 that will easily enable the operator to perform 

 more work, and in a more workmanlike manner, 

 in one day, than he can possi])ly accomplish in 

 two, with the old one, than to retain it in use, and 

 lose ten times its value in the result. Away with 

 the "old fogies," then, and obtain the light, con- 

 venient, and beautiful ones of modern days. 



Good Farming. — Rawstone, in his "Remarks on 

 Lancashire Farming" — a very valuable and eru- 

 dite work, says : — 



"It may be laid down as a standing rule, and 

 as a guide to direct us, that all good forming — 

 the whole of that process by which bad land is 

 to be converted into good and productive, and to 

 be continued in that state, — is comprised in the 

 three following operations of husbandry, viz. : — 



1. To carry off all superfluous and stagnant wa- 

 ter, by means of judicious draining. 



2. To retrieve, througli the me<iium of manure, 

 the strength and fertility which has been exhaust- 

 ed by cropping. 



3. To extract all noxious weeds, that the 

 strength of the manure may be thrown into the 

 crops, and not into the weeds." Every farmer 

 who exercises his mind in the cultivation and man- 

 agement of his fields, will at once recognize the 

 importance of attending to the foregoing observ^i- 

 tions. Yet, obvious as are the truths they incul- 

 cate, many, we fear, will fail to profit by them. — 

 Farmers need "line upon line, and precept upon 

 precept," in these matters. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SUGGESTIONS IN COMPOSTING- 



BY F. HOLBRCOK. 



Mr. Brown : — Your correspondent, S. Tenney, 

 of Lewiston Falls, in a communication dated March 

 7th, upon corn culture, gives the results of deep 

 plowing and high manuring upon |ths of an acre. 

 He states that by applying as much manure into 

 four cords, on this piece as he applied the year 

 previous on 1^ acre, (of which the Itha formed 

 a portion,) and plowing deep, he obtained fifteen 

 bushels more of corn than he did the year previ- 

 ous on the ;v^hole acre and a half. 



I have to request of Mr. Tenney that he will 

 lay the i ths of an acre, and the balance of the 

 1^ acre, down to grass with grain, and let the two 

 pieces remain in mowing for say four years, care- 

 fully noting the comparative products of grain and 

 hay on them. If he does not find himself paid 

 many times over in the extra product of the for- 

 mer over the latter piece, for the extra labor and 

 expense of the manuring and deep plowing., then 

 my past observations in the field are erroneous. 

 It would be an experiment easily tried, and desi- 

 rable as affording an argument with which to con- 

 vince the farmers in his neighborhood of the value 

 of deep plowing and generous cultivation. As I 

 have frequently observed, it seems to me that here 

 in New England we need more generally to adopt 

 a system of high manuring, deeper plowing, and 

 a more thorough pulverization of the soil. Mr. 

 Tenney's experiment thus far is in the right direc- 

 tion, and I hope he will carry it forward to a full 

 demonstration. 



I would like to suggest another mode of tillage 

 to Mr. Tenney as worth his while to try. It is 

 this : take a piece of grass land that needs plow- 

 ing, and turn it over this spring. If the land hag 

 heretofore been plowed six inches deep, plow it 

 eight inches thisspring ; or if seven inches former- 

 ly, plow nine inches this spring, laying the fur- 

 rows accurately and smoothly over. If he has no 

 sod-plow that will work rightly at these depths, 

 let him procure Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co.'s 

 Deep Tiller No. 75, and he will find he has pur- 

 chased an instrument worth having. If the com- 

 post is not very strawy, spread it before harrow- 

 ing the furrows, then harrow both ways, and then 

 take alight plow guaged with a wheel to work 

 shallow and turn the manure in three to four inch- 

 es deep. If the compost is pretty coarse, then 

 harrow first, spread the dressing and plow it in as 



