274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 11, 1S35. 



tbrou.^h a cloth into t!,r rrc.m and the effect has 



ecu to ..utke the bt.ttcr con.c quicker and give ■ 



U^",or and sweetness of May buncv; so sweet 



and waxy has heen the hotter made in thi» way 

 that rt.ose persons who have eaten of ,t, c^ould not 

 bel e . thev wore eating winter hntter. We.con- 

 Ser it the greatest i.nprovem.tt we have ever 

 known in making butter at this season 



I Pnr Uie New F.npl:iiui Farmer.] 



KEPORT O-N MB SUELDEn's FARM. 

 I Continued from paje2G9.) 

 .?™/c Trecs.-Thcre are 220 Apple Trees on 

 „,; Farm, 60 are pbnted in an otxhard, about 

 WO which are grafted. The residue are natu- 



Jurees, and are scattered in '"«--%' tshels 



The (luantity of winter apples, 30 bus itls. 



atIl:yof ei,L made, 5 barrels The ^bard 



is ploughed and planted occasionally, and thetiees 



''Tli is one circumstance in connexion with 

 ,ide making, which it may not be improper to 

 rnenio in tllis connexion. Good cider is a de- 

 Samm. This may always be ob..ned by Ob 

 «ervin<r the following process. After the apples 

 a" ound and the juice expressed, let the liQUO 

 be' p'ut in wholesome casks. Let it then be put 

 into a cellar not exposed to changes of a,r, fer- 

 mented and bunged tight. When this ru e has 

 been adhered to! I have never failed of having 

 first rate cider. 



Form and dimension of Bams. Of l^.-"-"s » 

 • have two. These are 30 feet apart, and connected 

 S a building used as a stall for cattle below, and 

 cranary above. One is 34 feet long and 30 fee 

 ^vide! with a bay on one side of the floor-way, and 

 r£l for cattle on the other. The pther barn 

 was forn.rrlv an old foshioned, narrow building, 

 "g feet iaVby 72 long. To this I added a Im- 

 ?er 3 feet in width, the whole length of the barn 

 Afcr a few years, my hay ^^- '"-^-f^-J 

 tindin- myself in need ot more room, I enlaiged 

 S e ba°rn by splitting it lengthwise, setting it open 

 by s rewsf 14 feet, and fdlhig up the space. 

 This gives two floor-ways. The hay on the north 

 .idc is filled by driving into the centre floor-way, 

 and ho centre filled by driving into the south 

 floor way, which greatly diminishes the labor oi 

 sto in<^ In tl>c centre, or new part, the beams 

 ar"' raised three feet higher than the old beams, 

 "hove these, is a granary 14 feet by 72, with tv^^o 

 win.lows in each end. These barns are on the 

 northern side of the yard. On the easterly side 

 of the yard is an open shed 36 feet long. 



The barn yard is about 150 feet m length by 

 100 fi'ct in width. 11 is divided ill the centre by 

 „ fence, in which stands a watering trough. It s 

 ^upoli.d with water from a pump standing in the 

 ba'ri. The yard .leclin.s from tl... edge to t^ie cen- 

 tre, consequently no water can escape except as . 

 may be lei off by a .Irain leading under ground 

 across the road, which is usually kept closed A 

 causeway is built through the lower part of 1 • 

 yard for the passage of teams. On "''"^•■^■J'=/'^ 

 ,he causeway, we make our compost, by haul i g 

 soil, swamp muck, and mixing them with the 

 scrlpings of the yard. The wash of the sink 

 and the suds from the wash room is conducted by 

 a drain to the heap. Under the linter on the 

 south side of the barn is a reservoir which e- 

 ceivofl all the urine from the cattle. This is also 



mixed with compost, and used by sprinkling as 1 

 before described. 



TRe number of oxen is six. The average num- 

 ber of cows, 38. Horses 8. The cows are of 

 the native breed, the milk of which '^ .-old n 

 Salem market. The amount of milk sold, 

 amounts to 13000 gallons per annum. 



About 200 lbs. butter are made yearly, lioni 

 milk reserved for family use. 



Swine. Average number, 20. The quantity of 

 pork made, 6000 lbs. This pork is made from 

 shoats purchased in the fall, and kept about three 

 months in a slaughter yard, then fotted upon grain 

 and part killed in the spring, and the residue the 

 ensuing fall. 



Labor employed in carrying on the Farm. t?ix 

 men in summer, and four in winter. 



qiiantiiy of ardent spirits consumed, 20 gallons. 

 Manner of feeding stock. In the winter ; by 

 chopping the different kinds of hay and corn-fod- 

 der I feed 44 cattle. These eat 3 bushels of 

 meal ground with the cob, and six bushels pota- 

 toes m- other vegetables chopped fine, and mrxed 

 with a suflicicnt quantity of lodder. About 3 

 bushels of the composition are given daily to each 



""Thave thus presented you with a brief, and as 

 I hope, comprehensive account of my larm, and 

 its management. In conclusion, it may be proper 

 to observe, that it has been in my possession about 

 nine years. At the time of purchase, the farm 

 Tsilted of 127 acres. To this I added 85 acres 

 pasture land, for which I paid $1400. The stock 

 Ihen kept was 4 oxen, 8 cows, and 1 horse. From 

 5 to 8 tons English hay were sold yearly. ^ 

 I remain very resiiectluUy, 



Your obedient servant, 



Amos Shelden.^j 



Essex, ss. Beverly, December 26^, mi. Then 

 the above mentioned Amos Shelden, Esquire, 

 personally appeared and made oath to the truth 

 of the foregoing statement by him subscribed. 

 Before me, Robert Rantoul, 



Justice of the Peace. 



self. We have occasionally more assistance in 

 the" summer season, but the labor they T'erform 

 on the farm is not more than equal to that per- 

 formed on work not connected with the iartii. 

 About one half the labor performed by the eight 

 horses and six oxen, is also not connected with the 

 farm. One horse is kept as a stud. 



5. The kind of potatoes raised, were the 

 Chenango ami Long Red. . 



6 We had hoed one j.icce of our corn, when 

 we received a ddtivator lioin Mr J. R. Newell of 

 the Agricultural Warehouse, Boston. This we 

 u«ed on the other field at the first hoeing, and ,t 

 answered an admirable purpose ; and 1 am free 

 to recommend it as a labor-saving instrument. 



7 Manure. Since the farm came into my 

 possession, I have purchased manure in Salem to 

 an an.ount not exceeding three hundred dollars 

 From the slaughter yard, we have the manure of 

 about 350 cattle per annum —estimated at about 

 15 cords The quantity brought from balem 

 vearly, would not vary much from 15 cords — 

 making in all about thirty cords used over and 

 above what we make on the farm. 



8 Salt Hay. I purchase about twelve tons 

 annually, and use about the same quantity of 

 other fodder for transient stock not enumerated m 

 the preceding statement. 



9 Calves. My calves are generally slaugh- 

 tered, or sold at about three days old, excepting 

 when we have a surplus quantity of milk or veal 

 is valuable in market. Last, March, 1 sold four 

 calves, (averaging forty days old,) in market, lor 

 risin- $11 each. My method of managing calves 

 intended for veal is as follows: To keep them_m 

 a warm pen, and supply them plentifully with 

 clean straw every day -allowing them as much 

 milk as they will take. They are led to the cow 

 and are not allowed to run or to eat dirt of an) 

 kind. When this course has beeilj^gfrictiy ad- 

 hered to, I have not failed to have veal of th. 

 whitest and fattest kind. 



Very respectfully, yours. Inc. 



Amos Shejlben.. 



Benj. Guild, Esq. 



ADDENDA. 



In preparing the statement of my ftu-m entej-ed 

 for the premium offered by the Massachusetts 

 Society for the promotion of Agriculture a lew 

 items were omitted, which 1 herewith forward 

 that they may be considered in connexion. 



1 III re.rard to the result of feeding stock, &c. 

 When the cattle first went into the barn, they were 

 fed with fodder in the usual way, and in the same 

 quantities as mentioned in the previous statement 

 I'n consequence of a press of labor we did no 

 ...ommence cutting the fodder until the catt e had 

 been in the barn two or three weeks, — at the ex- 

 piration of which time it was cut and mixed m 

 the manner before described. In three days after 

 we commenced feeding with this mixture, the 

 increase of milk from thirty cows was four gal- 

 lons. , J . 



2 In the fall of 1833, we purchased two eo^,- 

 .et ewes. These with their lambs, and three 

 wethers since added, making seven in all, were 

 pastured with cows not in milk. 



3. A bull should have been enumerated m the 

 statement of slock before made. 



4 In regard to labor. The five men, men- 

 tioned in the former paper, did not include my- 



MANTJFACTURE OF AXES BY NEW MODES. 



Mr Fk.ssenden, . , 



Dear Sir,— If you Aink it an object, as 1 d. 



"to shew the insenuitv of Yankees in competin 



with foreian nations by their inventions and lab< 



saving machines, the following is at your se 



vice It will afford new evidence of the onwa;, 



march of improvement. William Kenrick. 



Beino- lately at Douglas, Mass. I was invited 



my fritmd, Griftin Clark, Esq. of that place 



vi<;it the Manufactory of Axes, belonging 



Messrs Hunt & Co. At this establishment, abr 



500 axes and hati'hets are manufactured m a di 



of all descriptions, and of the most l>euutilul a 



perfect workmanship, an.l chiefly by a new mo 



Besides Adzes, and a variety of other spee.es 



cd-e tools, I noticed tlu; Pittsburg broad-axe 



is "not deep, but the broadest of all I have e 



seen ; the edge straight, and about sixteen mc 



in its width; its form resembles the ship-carp 



trr's nxe. The Kentucky axes differ ti-om 



choppimr axes, only, in being heavier, and hav 



a very long bit. The chopping axes and all 



larger size are formed in the usual way by dc 



ling the iron. But all of a smaller descnp 



are formed by a new and more expeditious m 



Bars of cold iron, about an inch thick and : 



