NEW ENGLAT^D FARMER. 



325 



human existence full to its very bvim in useful labol" 

 and fruition, as God dcsi2;ned it should be. 



lie stated that, in round numbers, the labor be- 

 stowed on his farm this year costs about seven hun- 

 dred and fifty dollars, in addition to the use of his 

 teams, which, if he hired them, might be two hun- 

 dred and fifty dollars ; making, in all, one thousand 

 dollars. His expenditure for manures was not 

 given ; but we hope that on the termination of the 

 harvests, he will give a full and authentic account 

 of his farming operations. Such accounts are of 

 immense value to the community. By them others 

 will be stimulated to make similar efforts. Our time 

 was too short to avail ourselves of the statistics ne- 

 cessary for such an account. Our aim, on the present 

 occasion, is only to call attention to the subject, and 

 to show in what manner persons making a trip to 

 the White Mountains or elsewhere, for health or 

 pleasure, may collect and then disseminate agricul- 

 tural knowledge. For ourselves we believe that 

 observations similar to those here given, are among 

 the most rational and useful means to promote the 

 aim of the summer tourist ; and surely they may be 

 made subservient to the best interests of the country. 



One word more. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, 

 men of rank, to ornament their heads, wore heavy 

 wigs, and to ornament their wrists and hands, they 

 wore wide ruffles. Many of our old-school farmers, 

 as if in imitation of that fashion, have allowed around 

 their cultivated fields broad margins of brush wood 

 and shrubs, doubtless for ornament ; unless it be in 

 kind charity to furnish a comfortable shelter for 

 snakes, and skunks, and rabbits. In this matter. 

 Governor Hill is an ultra radical. Instead of per- 

 mitting such an ornament even on this sand land, 

 about his potatoes, all is grubbed up ; and, instead 

 thereof, is a row of summer and autumn squash 

 vines, which have furnished about fifty barrels of 

 excellent fruit for Quincy Market. 



FLEMING GROVE. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FALL PLOUGHING. 



Mk. Editor : I believe it to be of great importance 

 to have greensward broken up in the fall. The 

 cool weather then gives strength to our teams, so that 

 they can perform the same work in less time ; be- 

 sides, it being a season of comparative leisure with 

 the farmer, time is not so valuable as in the spring. 

 Another advantage of fall ploughing is, many kincls 

 of soil are brought into a suitable condition for crops 

 with less labor. By the action of the frost, clayey 

 and other compact soils are more thoroughly and 

 uniformly pulverized than thcj' could be in any other 

 way ; and if the ploughing is performed in September, 

 or by the 20th of October, which I think is the best 

 time, the fermentation which the turf undergoes will 

 do much towards destroying or lessening the strength 

 ajid vitality of the roots of grass. 



I am confident that lands are generally improved 

 by deep ploughing, and more especially so in the 

 fall. Unless the land has formerly been ploughed 

 remarkably deep, the plough should run so as to turn 

 up from one to two inches of subsoil, or soil that has 

 never been brought to the surface. Many farmers, 

 I am aware, do not approve of breaking through what 

 is termed the " hard pa'i ; " but experience has led 

 me to believe that, in the end, the productiveness of 

 the surface soil is usually improved by being mixed 

 with subsoil ; and when it lies upon the surface for 

 some length of time, as is the case when ploughed 

 in the fall, it absorbs fertilizing elements from the 

 atmosphere, and under the influence of frost, light, 

 and air, a chemical change is wrought that adds to 



the fertility of the soil. By shallow ploughing in 

 the fall, I think more is lost than gained as it regards 

 fertility. It is only when soil is brought to the sur- 

 face that has not been acted upon by air, light, and 

 frost, that its productiveness will be increased by 

 fall ploughing. 



The fertilitj' of much of our light soil, in my 

 opinion, might be permanently augmented by deep 

 ploughing. It is very essential for the successful 

 cultivation of nearly all crops, that the soil should 

 be a deep one. In such soils, the roots will be more 

 extended and multiplied ; and this must necessarily 

 give a more vigoroxis growth to the plant. And 

 then, again, crops grown upon a deep soil arc far less 

 liable to bo injured by drought or wet weather. The 

 roots will jienetrato and draw a supply of moisture 

 from the earth long after it is denied it from the 

 clouds ; and when it is excessively wet, the earth 

 will drink up the water, when in light soils it would 

 flood the roots of plants ; and for the same reason, 

 deep ploughed lands are much less liable to be 

 washed and gullied. 



It is my usual practice to plough old lands, intended 

 for wheat or oats, in the fall. It can be done then 

 with less expense, and I sometimes wish to get in 

 such crops before the frost upon all parts of the land 

 is sufficiently out to admit of ploughing. 



Greensward broke up in the fall should be rolled 

 and harrowed. Unless the ground is very smooth, 

 rolling will be necessary to prevent the harrow from 

 inverting the sod ; and the principal benefit of har- 

 rowing is to fill up the interval between the furrows, 

 and thereby prevent the escape of gas evolved while 

 the turf is undergoing fermentation. I should have 

 remarked, when speaking of the season of ploughing, 

 that it is not advisable to plough mowing lands im- 

 mediateh' after they are mowed : they should have 

 time to throw up a good coat of fresh grass ; and for 

 the same object, it would be well to have pastures 

 unfed for several weeks before ploughing. I believe 

 the turf turned under, when well clad with green 

 grass, is equal to half a dressing of manure, or twenty 

 loads per acre. This I think is a strong argument 

 in favor of the practice of breaking up and seeding 

 land every four to six years. 



EBENEZER BRIDGE. 



PoMFRET, Vt., Sept. 12, 1849. 



For the New Enykind Farmer. 



SCRIBBLINGS FROM THE PEN OF A 

 FARMER. 



Mr. Editor : My father was a farmer, a carpenter, 

 and a cooper, although farming was his principal 

 business : he toiled, perhaps, as many hours in a day 

 as any other man in his neighborhood. In the year 

 1801, he emigrated from the town of Woodbridge, 

 Conn., and settled in the town of Butternuts, in the 

 state of New York, where he purchased a farm of 

 one himdred and nine acres of wild land, for which 

 he paid, or agreed to pay, five hundred and forty-five 

 dollars, although he paid down only one hundred 

 dollars, being the total amount he possessed, and 

 which he took with him from Woodbridge in silver 

 coin, tied up in a stocking. Here he commenced 

 operations (or I should have said they, as a young 

 man, who emigrated thence with him, purchased a 

 farm joining that of my father's) by putting up a 

 simple log hut about on the line between the two 

 farms, in which they lived, and did their own cook- 

 ing and washing. Pork, potatoes, and brown bread 

 constituted the principal part of their living. I hardly 

 dare tell the quantity of pork they consumed in the 

 course of the summer ; but I would say this much, 

 — one barrel did not carry them out. 



