8'iO 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAY 3. IS r. 



(From the Genesee Farmer.) 

 IMPOUTAJfT QUESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY 



SHOULD BK SETTLED. 



.Vo advantages gained hy nitliug up Corn ti'hen 

 bitten hy a frost. 



There are, in relation to practical luisljandry, 

 very many important questions, which renjainyet 

 to be settled. Nothing coulj contrihule more 

 SMCces.sfully to the advancement of the rural arts, 

 than to l>ring such questions to a satisfactory so- 

 hition. The questions to which we allude, are 

 indeed very numerous. Scarcely any truth, in 

 relation to the practice of ajjriculKue, is so well 

 and so generally ascertained and estaMi.>iied, as to 

 command universal belief, and jiroduce uniformi- 

 ty in pruciice. In regard to almost every thing 

 that comes within the province of agriculture, 

 practical men entertain different opinions. Yet 

 it is an unquestionable truth, in relation to every 

 sort of business under the sun, thai there is one 

 right way of doing it, and that there is no other 

 way equally good. When two or more farmers 

 differ in their opinions, relative to practicing any 

 specific branch of husbandry, they may indeed 

 all be wrong, but it is certain they cannot all be 

 right. 



It is very desirable that the important questions 

 which so frequently arise in relatioji to the prac- 

 tice of agriculture, should be settled in a sati.vflic- 

 tory manner. Gentlemen of scientific and prac- 

 tical attainments, who delight in rendering them- 

 selves useful as the patrons of agriculture, should, 

 with a single eye, aim at such objects. 



Important questions in relation to the ailvanta- 

 ges of using plaster, the manner of its use, and 

 the manner also of its action, remain yet to be 

 settled. The jiublic mind needs to be farther en- 

 lightened on these subjects, for it is obvious that 

 farmers do not in general avail themselves to so 

 great an extent as they might, of the nihanlages 

 to be derived from the use of this mysterious ar- 

 ticle. Important questions relative to the best 

 methods of cultivating the wheat crop, the corn 

 crop, and all the other crops connected with the 

 husbandry of the country, also remain yet to be 

 settled. There aie also yet to be settled, ques- 

 tions of the highest importance, relative to the 

 advantages to be derived fiom the culture of roots, 

 together with the manner of their culture, and the 

 most profitable uses to which they can be applied. 

 We see already, that an immense field lies in 

 -view, affording unlimited scope for inquiry, and 

 for investigations relative to the agricultural inter- 

 ests of the country. 



To these general remarks, we add two specific 

 questions, selected, not only because they are in- 

 trinsically important, but because they frequently 

 occur, and no less than any others, divide the 

 jninds of farmers. 1. If corn, while in a state of 

 imperfect maturity, be bitten and injured by frost, 

 will any thing be gained by cutting it up. 2. Is 

 it profitable, in ordinary cases, to cut up corn at 

 all, or to cut up the stalks while the ears are at- 

 tached to them ? In answer to the first question 

 we shall now ofier some remarks, and to the sec- 

 ond we may respond at another time. 



At the time of the great frost in September, we 

 happened to have a small field of corn, which was 

 Iiadly injured by that frost, and what to do with 

 it was to us a perplexing question. Having how- 

 ever, a slight impression that something might be 

 gained by cutting it up immediately, we went at 



it, and cut and put up with our own hands, as 

 much perhaps as grew nn the fourih of an acre. 

 But finding that the wnr.k was toilsome, and hav- 

 ing some misgivings as to wliat might be the con- 

 sequences of it, we concluded to discontinue our 

 labors, and abandon the crop to its fortune, what- 

 ever it might be. 



The r_'sults of this experiment were such as 

 fully to sustain in the opinions entertained hy the 

 old farmer of Waterloo, as reported by the editor 

 of the Farmer, who was present and heard the 

 cfUiversntion. — See Monthly Farmer, vol. 1, page 

 1(1.5. See also Genesee Farmer, vol. 6. The con- 

 versation turned on the question, what should be 

 done with corn that had been stricken with the 

 frost.' The old farmer "said that corn would ri- 

 pen when deprived of ils tops by the knife, and 

 why should it not ripen when deprived of its 

 leaves by the frost? But the leaves were not not 

 all killed, and the juices were fresh in the stalks. 

 He thought the best management, was to let it 

 alone." We are satisfied that the old fanner gave 

 wise counsel— that his reasoning was logical, and 

 his opinions correct. On subsequently examining 

 the results of our experiment, we were not able 

 to discover that the corn which had been cut up, 

 had, in any resjiect, the advantage of that which 

 had not been cut. The difl^erence in quality was 

 not indeed very striking, yet there was a differ- 

 ence, and it was decidedly in favor of the uncut 

 corn. 



In relation to tliis exfieriment, we submit the 

 following remarks : 1. Several of the stocks, al- 

 though put up as well as we knew how to do it, 

 got down and suffered by exposure to the weath- 

 er. In such cases the corn was sadly damaged. 

 2. No part of the corn that had been cut up, came 

 in so well as that which had not been cut, while 

 some of it v/as badly injured by exposure to the 

 weather. 3. If any advantages were gained by 

 cutting, they weie to be found only in the greater 

 value of tlie stalks fur the use of fodder. Were 

 these sufficient to balance the expense of cutting 

 and putting up, together with considerable loss 

 in damage to thecroji.' This we doubt. We 

 think, as did the old farmer of Waterloo, that 

 when unripe corn is stricken with frost, the best 

 way to manage it is to let it alone. 



Marcellus, Feb. 1837. Dan Bradlet. 



GOOD ADVICE. 



An article containing some very just remarks 

 as well as good advice, for the [iresent crisis, in 

 the N. Y. Star, concludes thus: 



To the citizens at large, we say diminish your 

 expenses. Do it at once and by an united move- 

 ment. 



The people in the country must be made to 

 know and sympathize in your sufferings. It is dif- 

 ficult if not impossible for the farmers to under- 

 stand your difficulties, while they are receiving 

 from every article produced from their farms dou- 

 ble price. Let the rich set the example and pur- 

 sue it, and the rest will fellow, and in less than 

 six months the effect will be felt in every section 

 of the country. 



Diminisli the quantity of meat you purchase in 

 the market, select the cheapest price : in sixty 

 days there will ha an overstock of cattle and poul- 

 try, and prices will come down, and butchers will 

 escape from monopolizing drovers. Forego the 

 use of butter, except in small quantities, health will 

 be improved and ]u-ices will come down. 



Instead of having a fire in every room, collect 

 the family together at one cheerful grate, and the 

 surplus of coal will soon reduce it te a resonable 

 price. Burn but one light in your parlor, and a 

 small light in your hall, and oil and candles will 

 soon bear a moderate jirice. Sell your hor- 

 ses, or if you keep them, limit their aliuvvance, 

 w;ilk more and ride less, oats and hay will hesel-* 

 ling (It the old rates of three shillings per bushel, 

 and sixty cents a hundred. 



Use rice, beans, meat and vegetables, instead of 

 flour, and twelve dollars a barrel will no longer 

 be heard of. 



By pursuing this advice, you will renderamost 

 grateful charity to the poor ; for now, even with 

 their present high wages, they can scarcely live. 

 U|ion the reduction cf prices, wages might be re- 

 duced, and their employment continued. As the 

 matter now stands, our city will be filled with 

 nun out of work and wholly destitute. Instead 

 of laying aside your hat when the fur is rubbed 

 cff from the corners — or your boots as soon as 

 the soles or uppers are broken — keep them in use 

 until they are insufficient to keep out the weath- 

 er. In these times alone, the city might save in 

 one year two millions of dollars. Let our wives 

 and daughters come down to the plain cambric 

 frock and frill, and four shilling pocket handker- 

 chiefs. They will be jiiM as agreeable. Those 

 that are married, will be mure beloved by their 

 husbands, and those who are not, will be moro 

 likely to get them. 



We conscientiously believe, that if the forego- 

 ing suggestions are followed for only sixty days, 

 the good eflfect would be made manifest, an<l when 

 meat, flour and articles of consumption come down 

 to their old prices, and yet afford a fair profit to 

 the seller, and the money is easier and confidence 

 restored, we will all feel more happy and conten- 

 ted. 



BEES. 



There has been so much written on bees, that 

 I am almost afraid to approach the subject ; still 

 I think there might be some more said, perhaps 

 to advantage. At the close of almost every win- 

 ter, we frequently hear great complaints of the 

 loss of bees, the cause of which is not generally 

 understood. At this season, or in the spring we 

 hear our neighbors complaining — " 1 have lost 

 some of the best swarms of bees, all of which 

 were in tight and warm hives — I know not the 

 cause — they had plenty of honey, and could not 

 have starved — I guess they froze to death." Now 

 this is the more comtnon opinion. We will ex- 

 amine the case, and see if this is likely to be true. 

 I have raised bees many years, and seldom lose a > 

 swarm in winter or spring. The cause is obvious. 

 The breath of bees in cold freezing weather ac- 

 cumulates in the sha])e of frost and ice, and that 

 in large quantities, on the sides of the hive and 

 on the comb — then at each and every thaw that 

 comes in winterand spring is the crisis — tiie frost 

 ami ice melt — the bees and comb become wet, 

 and the bees die of course, if not immediately 

 ventilated, which should be done by raising up 

 one side of the hive two inches or more, where 

 it should remain until the bees anil comb become 

 dry, whicli will be in three or four days, if the 

 weather is thawy— if freezing weather returns, 

 they may be put down again with safety, for the 

 danger is when the ice melts. We know that 

 hives when exposed to the sun warp, and crack 



