864 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MAY 3*, l-.iT. 



(From the Brandon 'I'elegrapli.) 

 SHEAHIlVa TIME. 



Respeetcd Friend Editor : Wlien I was a young 

 man — now between tliirty and forty years since — 

 I had occasion to cross yonr Green Mountain 

 State, from the bcnntifiil Connecticut to Lake 

 Cliainplain, four times. Butfioin that time to 

 the past year, I have not been within the State» 

 Within the past year, I again had occasion to 

 cross V^ertMonl,from Windsor on the East, to Bm'- 

 lington on the West, and witnessed with pleasure, 

 the growtii and iniprovemenls that have bi'en 

 made, in comfort and conveniences, so remarlia- 

 l)ly ap|iarcnt in all tl:e N. E. States. 



But I was somel.ow struck witli the conviction 

 that, not only the iidiabilnnts of divers sections 

 and regions of your Statu, but numerous emigrants 

 wlio traverse from one section of country to anoth- 

 er, in search of " f;god land," are quite ignorant 

 of the fatness of tlie soil, as well as the important 

 privileges of your State over and above the " Far 

 West," now-adays so eagerly sought after by the 

 restless and the ambitious. 



In travelling from Burlington, on the stage road 

 leading to Stanstead,as far as Latnoille river, con- 

 sidering the goodness of the land and the low 

 price of cultivated farms, it appeared to me a re- 

 gion altogether worthy the attention of enterpris- 

 ing farmers — not to Harne other classes. We well 

 k!;ow that this is not a soil and climate suited to 

 the growth of cotton or cane 5 hut it is suited to 

 other growths c(|ua!ly productive, all things con- 

 sidered. For grazing, it appears to me that no 

 land exceeds it ; and the location is almost unri- 

 valled for raising cattle ami siieep. When we 

 lake into vjew the contiguity of this regioii to 

 Jiuilington on Lake Cbamiilain, and the easy wa- 

 ter couimunication thence to Albany on the Hud- 

 son, and to New York, the great Lomlon of Amer- 

 ica, we tiiay be struck with no small degree of as- 

 tonishment, that such advant.Tges should be over- 

 looked by a quick-sighted, discorning people. I 

 am led to behove that a farn)tr, free from embar- 

 i-assment, could hardly in other region better in- 

 Test bis capital, and improve his facilities, iW Jiis 

 own benefit uiid the benefit of liis fellow men. 



I tnay just observe here, that J owi) no proper- 

 ly, of any kind within tJje State, to t)ias my opin- 

 ion ; nor do I ever e.xpect to, being myself settled 

 in the bookselling business in the city of New 

 York, 



There was another subject that arrested my at- 

 tention, and grieved my feelings ; and the one 

 which was the procuring cause of this effort to be 

 useful to my fellow men. It was, as I conceived, 

 a mistaken policy, or economy, |)ursned by those 

 farmers who raise sheep at the season of shear- 

 ing, now approaching. 



After some weeks of warm weather, during 

 which the sheep have been burdened with an 

 ftbundant fleece, they are shorn of the whole at 

 once, which causes tliem to suft'tr during the 

 nights of moderate weather; and in cold storms, 

 imless the farmer has provided some arbor for 

 them to run under, a great loss is sustained, in 

 the health, and freque«tly in the life of the flock. 



" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 

 mercy ;" and this mercy, 1 believe, it i.«i our boun- 

 den duty to extend, not only to all the human 

 family, but to all dumb animals. The truly mer- 

 ciful man is merciful to the brute creation, as w.dl 

 as to his own species. But interest and economy 



it would seerji, woidd pronijit to the retrieval of 

 the evil now under consideration. 



One farmer informed me that he had lost sixty 

 sheep, the past season, by turning out his flock 

 after shearing, without providing a shelter for 

 them. Sad neglect! which no provident farmer 

 should stiffer himself to overlook. Two boys, of 

 fifteen, could in a day or two, build a bower suf- 

 ficient for two hunilred sheep to run under in a 

 storm. It could be done with posts and poles, 

 covered four feet from the ground, with pine- or 

 hemlock boards, at the expense of ten or fifteen 

 dolars, imd would last for years. The fanner, 

 who neglects such a preparation, and depends on 

 bringing up his fjock to the barn in the time of a 

 storm, ten to one, lie will in time neglect his sheep 

 altogether. 



Respectfully thy Friend, 



An Old Man. 



New York, 4th mo. 17, 1837. 



cKroni the Maine Katnier.j 

 USE OP THE ROLiLER— RAISING POTATOES. 



Mr Holmes : — The first knowledge I had of 

 the roller, I obtained from the N. E. Farmer some 

 years since. Being always desirous to tr.v "new 

 things," if they promise utility, and especially if 

 they cost but little, I set ab(Tut constructing one. 

 ,^s I could procure neither s/one nor cast iron, and 

 was too poor to do it, if they had been within tny 

 reach, I took a "ji-ink" out of a hemlock log, 

 about six feet in length — inserted gudgeons in the 

 centre at each end, on which was hung a sort of 

 frame, with a tongue like a sled. 



With this machine, I went over my Wheat 

 ground, breaking every ' lump,' and sjfiking every 

 small stone, and left the field in excellent order 

 for the scythe. .^ 



Nor is this all the benefit (lerived froin rolling. 

 By pressing the soil closely round the grain, much 

 inore of it will vegetate than with the usual man- 

 agement — and in case of drouth, the ground will 

 »ot "dry up" so quickly. As to making the 

 ground heavy, (as some fear it will) I think it has 

 about the same effect, with respect to that, as the 

 liand of the housewife has, in being passed over 

 the surface of the brown loaf, before conimi'ting 

 it to the oven. 



Much has been s.?id in the Farmerupon raising 

 potatoes — each writer has lather a better method 

 than the others. I am well satisfied with the meth- 

 od I have adopted, which is, to select a piece of 

 grass ground (the siroother the better) and cart on 

 a large dressing of green barn manure, at my lei- 

 sure. When ready to prc|)are for planting, i 

 spread the manure evenly as possible, but no more 

 in a day than I can turn under — turn the soil flat 

 and roll well immediately — tlnm harrow length- 

 wise of the furrows with a light hnirow, till the 

 interstices between them are filled, next mark oflT 

 the rows with a small plough or chain, and plant 

 on the surface with a covering of about two inch- 

 es. I have practiced hilling lightly, but think I 

 shall or.iit it altogether this year. ] stir the ground 

 well with the Cultivator. 



Some of the advantages of this mode of cul- 

 ture I conceive to be the following: The ground 

 not being [iloughed till late, the grass gets a good 

 start, and being covered^ together with the unfer- 

 mented manure, ferments, and forms a hoi bed, 

 which brings forward the crop surprisingly, and 

 continues to afl^ord nourishment in abuudaiice, till 

 t comes to maturity. The rolling prevents the 



furrows from being torn up by the harrow, and 

 the fil'ijlug of the crevices between tlie furrow pre- 

 vents i*iie possibility of any grass or wtieds grow- 

 ing from the manure, and you have a clean field, 

 if the soil is Crac from foul seeds, in fine order for 

 a crop of wheat the next spring. 1 have pursued 

 the same course with my corn for three years 

 past, with the addition of a light top dressing of 

 old manure, and I have never had better sue 

 cess. 



Farming begins to look up in this section of the 

 slate, and with the bounty on wheat, and the pres- 

 ent pinching scarcity of provisions, in view, I 

 think, with the blessing of a bountiful Providence, 

 we shall be better sujiplied for tlie future. 



Horace Wilder. 



North Dixmont, April 1837. 



HOW TO IMPROVE A POOR FARM. 



Richard A. Leonard, of Middletown, N. J. has 

 furnished us an interesting account of his manner 

 of improving a worn-out farm, and of the sale of 

 its products the lastyear; and we regret that from 

 the great accumulation of matter on baud, we 

 cannot give his letter in detail. We are obliged 

 to content ourselves with a brief abstract of ma- 

 terial facts. 



Mr Leonard came into possession of 90 acres 

 of cultivated, but exhausted land, in May, 1833. 

 In that year the sale of its products amounted to 

 $5.50,83; in 1834,tlie sales amounted to $718,05; 

 in 1835, to 81,125 04 ; and in 1836, notwithstand- 

 ing the unfavorable Season, and the failure of most 

 of his staple crops, to .^1,16(5 13 — thus more than 

 ilonbling its products, by judicious management, 

 in three year.', llisexjiense during the last year 

 for labor dung and freight, amounted to 6-'254 72, 

 thus leaving him a nett [uofit on his fiirin of §912 

 41, or more than ten dollars per acre per annum. 

 We will quote Mr Leonard's statement of the 

 means he adopted to thus double tlie fertility of 

 his soil. 



"My farm," says he, "was in so low a condi- 

 tion that it would not produce more than 10 bush- 

 els of rye, or twenty of corn per acre ; and as I 

 had no other income but what 1 could make upon 

 this poor farm, I set about farming in earnest. I 

 found it was vain to attempt improvement without 

 manure, so I contrived to get about four bun Ired 

 loads a year, three hundred of which I made in 

 the following manner. I have marl, though of 

 very inferior quality. I cart about one hundred 

 loads of this into my barn yard, and by yarding 

 my cattle upon it through the season, contrived 

 to increase it to twe hundred loads. I also cart 

 about fifty loads to my hog jieii, on which 1 keep 

 my hogs the year round. In this way I got one 

 hundred loads more, which is excellent for pota- 

 toes, corn, &c., and as my farm is situate near the 

 bay, I obtain from New York, annually, from fif. 

 ty to seventyfive loads of the best stablj dung, at 

 about one dollar per load on delivery and by mix- 

 ing it with the earth, &c., make up the four hun- 

 dred loads. By Ibis treatment I find my land 

 improve rapidly, and my income in like propor- 

 tion. But I am sorry to say there are many far- 

 mers among us who are still pursuing the old 

 land killing system, scarcely making both ends 

 meet. I might say something concerning the 

 beneficial results of underdraining, and of lime as " 

 a manure ; but I conclude for the present." 



This communication affords a worthy example 

 of prudent industry and good innuagement, and 



