NI3W EMCJI-ANB FAHMEK, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISH 



EU BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agkicultural War£House.)-T. &\ FESSENOEN, EPri'OR. 



VOL. XIII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 10, 1835. 



NO. 48. 



[For Hie New England Farmer,] 

 BIRD KILLING CONDEMNED. 



SOOTHBORO, JcNE ], 1835. 



Mr Editor — I am sorry at the return of Old 

 Election, that our ears should again be pained hy 

 the incessant popping of guns in destroying our 

 small birds. It is an infamous recreation ; and a 

 practice so cruel and inhuman — so repugnant to 

 the interest of fiu-mers that it cannot h 



interest 

 plated without regret. 



I feel satisfied that this unfeeling practice will 

 be discountenanced o< once when its evils are taken 

 into consideration. 



It is the remark of common observation that 

 our birds are becoming fewer from this periodical 

 destriictioii. 



There is ignorance and a want of common 

 sympathy in a young man, who will stroll about 

 in groves and orchards, purposely to delight him- 

 self in wantonly massacrcing the innocent and 

 harmless birds. It must be wounding to the si-n- 

 sibjiity of any one, who will stop to thiidi, to see 

 the mothers killed off at this season, and the 

 young broods left dqy after day, to send forth their 

 hungry cries, opening their mouths in vain to re- 

 ceive the expected morsel, and then perish of star- 

 vation. 



Moreover we cannot be ignorant of the addition 

 of beauty and loveliness which our birds make :o 

 our meadows and groves and to country scenery, 

 in the exhibition of their versi-colored plumage — 

 their music, and habits of industry and skill. 

 Their very presence seems to make up a part of 

 spring and summer. In truth the month of May 

 would scarce be May, with all its bursting buds 

 and vernal breathings, without the lively notes of 

 the Lark, the modest strain of the robin, and the 

 melody of other songsters, to cheer up the morn- 

 ings, and console our evening hours. 



But these are not the only reasons that induce 

 one to plead for their safety and preservation. 

 They are useful. — Without them the hopes of the 

 farmer would be faint indeed. 



The feathered tribe [jerform a very important 

 work in the economy of nature. Most of them 

 feed on insects, and therefore must serve to keej) 

 that low order of beings in check, or prevent an 

 unlimited increase of them. Most of that variety 

 of birds that are common to the country are con- 

 stantly preying upon the worms and insects that 

 infest our fields of grain, gardens and fruit trees 



The labors of a pair of robins, for the sup- 

 port of their broods, if centered upon a gar- 

 den of ordinary size, would be sufficient protec- 

 tion (while their labors continued) against the 

 common ravaires. 



In fact, most of the birds are insectivorous, (pr 

 fond of insects) at tliis season of the year. Ac- 

 cording to the observation of r>Ir Bradley a single 

 pair of sparrows in supporting their brood will 

 destroy three or four thousands, weekly, of catter- 

 pillars. 



i will venture to say that a flock of larks, or 

 black birds of two dozen, if their labors could be 



confined to a ten acre pasture would clear it of 

 grasshoppers in one week, even if that insect were 

 very numerous. 



This practice of destruction originated I pre- 

 sume in the belief that many were mischievious 

 to the fields of corn and other grain. But the 

 crow and crow-blackbirds are the only birds, so 

 far as I have observed, that yuW up corn to that 

 de',-ree that it is desirable to kill them, while many 

 of the small birds that li>!iit n, on tiie fields to lick 

 off the insects are brought in guilty of the doings 

 of the striped squirrel. 



It is hoped that this practice of indiscriminately 

 shooting the small harmless birds, only for sport, 

 in the last of the month of May, a practice hos- 

 tile to agriculture, full of cruelty, and destitute of 

 good taste (or the taste of a gentleman) will not 

 be countenanced by an enlightened community. 

 Respectfully, yours, J. B. 



MAKING CLOVER IIAV-IS COCKS, 



Nothing is so hard to combat as the prejudice 

 of armers, who think th ey can learn nolJiing in 

 their business. We have often recommended 

 curing clover hay in cocks, as the means of 

 douldingthe value of this kind of hay, besides 

 lessening the expense of curing it. Many good 

 farmers and intelligent men, have ridiculed the pro- 

 cess, because it run counter to their practice, and 

 was what they could not reconcile to their idea of 

 good management. But they would never make the 

 trial ; if they had done so, they would have seen 

 that they were wrong, and we right. We beg 

 leave here to say, that in many districts of Great 

 Britain, spreading hay from the swath, or tedding 

 it, is going wholly out of practice, as causing un- 

 necessary labor, and as diminishing the value of 

 the hay. But they are not blessed with our ordi- 

 nary sunshine and heat in the haying season. The 

 hay curhig process, with them is a business of 

 some days, on account of their comparatively 

 cool climate and humid atmosphere. But with us 

 when the grass is matured, aiul thin, and the 

 weather good, it is often the business of a day. 

 But this cannot be the case with us with early- 

 mown hay, particularly where clover abounds. 

 The grass is then full of juices, and the succulent 

 stalks of the clover rcepiire time, as well as sun- 

 shine to part with their moisture. Spread and ex- 

 posed to a hot sun, the leaves, blossoms, and exte- 

 riors of the stems soon dry, but in drying the exte- 

 rior of the stems become induiated, and refuse like 

 wood painted when green, to part with the inte- 

 rior moisture. The consequence is, the grass must 

 either be housed in this half-cured condition, and 

 spoil in the mow, or if the curing process is com- 

 pleted, so as to prevent damage, the leaves and 

 blossoms, which constitute the best parts of the 

 hay, are over dried, crumble and are lost. Cureil 

 in cociv, every part of the grass, whether the 

 leaves or the thick sta'ks, dries alike, and is alike 

 preserved, and the evaporation of moisture goes on 



and the rarified air which it generates, being spe- 

 cifically lighter than the atmosphere, is constantly 

 passing off. 



We have been induced to these remarks,at this 

 untimely season, in consequence of finding in 

 the Farmer and Gardener, an agricultural paper 

 published at Baltimore, a communication from 

 John Smith, fully confirniing the utility of our 

 recommend.iiion and long practice. It would 

 seem that Mr Smith was led to make tlie experi- 

 ment rather from necessity than from choice. But 

 we will let him tell his own story. 



"It will perhaps be recollected," he says, " by 

 all attentive agricultural readers of that j aper 

 (the American Farmer) that it was recommended 

 to farmers to i)ut their ha}% in its green state, or as 

 soon as cut, into small cocks, and cure it by sweat- 

 ing. 



"When I commenced cutting my clover hay 

 the present seasoii, the prospect for favorable 

 weather was fiaitrring, but in a short time it 

 changed, and it became evident we sliou'd have a 

 wet spell. I then dropped the scythes and jiut all 

 hands to putting up the grass (then perfectly green 

 but exenij)! from external wetjinto cocks of about 

 200 pounds, cured hay, building them compact 

 and high, to avoid the introduction of rain as 

 much as possible. Rain came on before ! secured 

 all the cut fraSK, but the next day v.as fair, and i 

 succeeded, hytinfemitted attention in getting the 

 water dried out of the remainder, and put it up 

 in the same way. It continued rainy ten days, 

 and aflbrded no opportunity to cure in the sun; 

 the cocks were examined daily, by running the 

 hand and arm into them, and contrary to all expec- 

 tation, gave no indications of fermentation. At 

 the end of ten days the weather became fair, th^-, 

 cocks were opened and found to he in a perfectl-j 

 sound condition, except so far as the rain had pen- 

 etrated, and the external wetting alone, in niy 

 opinion, made it necessary to open it at a 1. Tell 

 farmers they need not fear losing their hay on ac- 

 count of unfavorable weather at harvest. I have 

 never seen worse weather in hay harvest, and I 

 saved mine entirely ti'di. It is most escellekt 



HAY." 



Our practice has been,except in cases of neces- 

 sity, like the one above, to lei our hay wilt in 

 swath, that is, to cock in the afternoon, that which 

 is cut hi the forenoon, and to have the cocks not to 

 exceed fifty to seventy pounds hay when cured. 

 We are glad to see that a larger quantity will cure 

 well. Let it he remembered that the cocks must 

 not be made by rolling, but by placing with a fork 

 one layer aboveanother, till the cock is completed. 

 — Albany Cultivator. 



The Cattle up country are really in a suffering 

 condition— those that are left, for many have died, 

 are mere skeletons, meagre and so weak as to be 

 scarcely able to go fi.rth in quest of the^grass, 



lie 



i' beTieve in even wet weather ; for a partial, tho.igh I which is just beginning to shoot.— Bangor Courier 

 in no wise a prejudicial fjrmentatioti takes place, June 2d. 



