430 



NEW ENGLAND F A R iM E R 



rounded, and of small elevation Cdmpaied with the I that the whole may be made into small cocks be 



hills of the east, and they diminish in height unt 

 they become only gentle swells, or what is called 

 rolling, and the north west corner of Ohio, and the 

 central and southern parts of Indiana, are flat and 

 level, or nearly so. 



[Continued on page 43G.) 



From the Farmi' 



HAYMAKING. 



fore night. The second day these cocks invst re- 

 main untouched, let the iceuther he wet or dry. The 

 third day, if the weather be certain and fine, throw 

 the cocks open ; but if the weather be wet or 

 threatening, they may remain another day, or until 

 it is certain to be fine for the day. The cocks 

 should then be thrown, according to the crop, into 

 beds of two or three lows, and after three or four 

 hours' e.\posure, turned over, and taking time to 

 gather the wh(de into wind-rows and cocks before 

 j night — let this operation commence accordingly, 

 is near at , and none be left open. The day after tliis, which 

 numerous in fine weather will be the fiurth, the cocks must 



Sir, — As the season for haymaking 

 hand, I feel desirous of bringing your 

 readers acquainted with a practice, that is based on again remain untouched, or not be opened, wheth- 

 eo true a. theory, that — as ought always to he the [er the loeather be wet or dry. On the fifth, or the next 

 case — they go hand in hand to the end of the ! dry day, these cocks will i nly require to be open- 

 chapter. As so much of the happiness of the far- cd for an hour or two, afler which time they will be 

 mer depends on the stock of hay which he can pre- ■ fit for the stack. 



pare for his winter consumption, any information. The novelty of this mode, consists only in suffer- 

 tending to facilitate the process, and at the same I ing the hay to reman in cock the second, third or al- 

 tiuie lessen the labor and expense and hazard of | ternate days ; and at first sight it may appear that 

 the business, I consider of great importance. The i so much time in fine weather must be lost, but this 

 following observations, reflections and instructions, | is by no means the case, for whilst the hay remains 



are therefore presented 

 friend and well-wisher, 



M J., May, 1840. 



their notice, by their in cocks, a slight fermentation, or what is termed 

 I sweating, will take place ; and in consequence, af- 

 Jo.vAH CoRBiT. j tor it has been opened on the third and fifth days, 

 I it will prove to be just as forward as If it had been 

 worked every day ; and the advantages resulting 

 from this are obviously the following : 



By shortening the time of open exposure, the 

 color of the hay is more perfectly preserved, and 

 consequently, the quality — and the fermentation or 

 sweating which takes place in the cocks, proves so 

 much to have diminished the principle or inclina- 

 tion, as to prevent its heating injuiiously in the 

 stack — and the whole operation of making, wheth- 

 it takes four days or eight, requires three days' la- 

 bor only; and the hay being left in that state 

 every night, in which it is the least possibly expos- 

 ed to the injuries of the weather, and in which it 

 may remain for a day or two in ur.certain weather, 

 without injurious exposure, most painful anxiety 

 and useless attendance of labors are obviated." — 



"Having observed, that in a season where there 

 was no rain whatever, and the hay had been made 

 with rapidity, and carried within a short time after 

 it had been cut, that a greater quantity had been 

 injured by being over-lieatod and burnt, than in a 

 catching irregular season; that when hay had not 

 heated in the stack, it was frequently mouldy; that 

 as hay lost its native green color and approached a 

 brown, it lost its nutritive qualities; and that, alto- 

 gether, the making of hay, as usually conducted, 

 was a very precarious and troblesome operation : — 

 I determined on trying to arrange a system on 

 more regular and certain principles, and in which 

 I succeded — and by adopting a certain and regular 

 course of operations, was enabled to make my hay 

 of a uniform good quality ; and, let the weather be | Haywetrd Science of Agriculture. 

 as it might, at a pretty regular expense for labor, 

 and considering such a process not only of impnr- I 



taiice, as it insures a more perfect quality, but as | Krnm the AU>any Cultivator, 



it affords a more certain protection against the in- 

 juries usually consequent on the uncertainty of the 

 weather, and over-heating in the stack, and that it 

 thus removes two great causes of anxiety, it may 

 be well worth the public attention. 



In the first place, then, as to the state of the 

 weather — it generally happens at this season of the 

 year, that there are three or four rainy and 

 three or four dry days, [in England,] — therefore, 

 on beginning to cut the grass, as it is wull known 

 the grass may be cut and suffered lo remain in the 

 ewarth for several days without injury, and it be- 

 ing desirable where hands are plenty to have a 

 good quantity or as much as will complete a stack in 

 a day. in the same state of forwardness, I should pre 



LIME. 

 " Were lime a manure, it would be a noble sub- 

 tance for enriching and restoring fertility to lands 

 worn out by a succession of crops ; but, as worn 

 out land is not restored to fertiliiy by the applica- 

 tion of lime, we are warranted to consider it in a 

 different light ; or, in other words, as an article to 

 bring certain principles into action, previously pos- 

 sessed by the soil. This conclusion is sanctioned 

 by experience ; and experience is a far better guide 

 than the most plausible theory." — Morton on 

 Soils. 



to be appropriated to the use of plants, the ap- 

 plication of lime is entirely useless, so far as the 

 restoration to fertility is concerned. Every one can 

 see, that when all the vegetable and animal mat- 

 ter has been exhausted in a soil, by ceaseless crop- 

 ping, and nothing but the primitive earths, silex, 

 alumine, lime, magnesia, &c. of which it is com- 

 posed, remaining, that the application of more of 

 any one of these primitive earths, will add nothing 

 to its fertility or capability of producing vegeta- 

 tion. 



If, on the contrary, there is vegetable or nutri- 

 tive matter in the soil, lying dormant for want of 

 exciting agents, or in an insoluble state, and there- 

 fore inaccessible to vegetation, an application of 

 lime by removing one or both the causes, may 

 render the most essential aid to the farmer, in the 

 production of his crops. A neglect of this impor- 

 tant fact has led to serious error in the use of lime 

 in England, and in this country. Because, in 

 some cases lime has produced the best eftects, it 

 was at once expected in all ; and, because, where 

 nutritive matter existed to be called into action by 

 the lime, a great increase of the crops were the re- 

 sult, it was supposed that this effect could be re- 

 newed at pleasure ; and liming without manuring, 

 became at once the order of the day. As must 

 have been expected, a failure in the crops, in such 

 cases, has been the result; and a prejudice against 

 the use of lime, resulting from its application on 

 false, principles, has succeeded the most unbounded 

 confidence in its favor. 



Lime is a noble substance — it cannot be dispens- 

 ed with in soils, but like the other earths it is pow- 

 erless alone. The man who eats curry or cay- 

 enne with his roast beef, does not expect liis nour- 

 ishment from them — they are only the accessories, 

 the stimulating agents. The farmer who has just 

 views on the subject of vegetable nutrition, does 

 not expect his plants to subsist on the lime, salt or 

 gypsum he furnishes them ; nor does he expect that 

 these stimulants of them, without the application, in 

 some form, of vegetable or animal matter of which 

 the plants can avail themselves, will restore fertili- 

 ty to exhausted soils, or continue it in such as now 

 possess it. No farmer should forget that no single 

 substance can ensure fertility; not one of the earths 

 or one of the stimulating or nutritive manures, can, 

 do this ; the presence of all is necessary — and the 

 best proportions ensure the greatest productiveness 

 in any soil. 



We think this short extract has, in ver^ few 

 fer, rather than to wait for fine weather, to begin to \ words, set right a matter of great importance to the 

 cut in rainy weather. However, be this as it may, ; farmer, and corrected an error which is prevalent, 

 the swnrths should not be opened but on a fine iitit only in Great Britain, but also to a considera- 

 day, and when this is done, the grass should be well ble extent, in this country, viz: that lime will re- 

 shaken apart and equally spread over the ground — store to fertility all lands that have been exhausted 

 and as soon as the upper surface is dry, uirn it well by cropping. But lime is not a manure, in the 

 over, and in this operation great care should be sense in which animal and vegetable matter is — 

 taken to open and spread any cocks that may not it is not nutritive itself, it only assists in nutrition ; 

 have been divided in the first opening : this being , and however important the part it acts in this way, 

 done, commence raking into windrows in time, unless nutritive matter is existing in the soil, ready 



Jerusalem Artichoke. — Some experiments 

 with this common root are on record, which would 

 seem to show that, with proper management, it 

 might be made valuable in cultivation, particularly 

 as a winter food for store hogs. Once introduced 

 into a piece of light rich ground, it is not eradicat- 

 ed without considerable difficulty, as all those who 

 have planted it in their gardens are aware. In the 

 kitchen garden, the artichoke should always have 

 a place, as the fresh roots in the spring, gathered 

 and sliced thin and eaten with vinegar, are relished 

 by most peaple — and they make a very good arti- 

 cle for pickling. If intended for swino, they should 

 be planted at least two years before the swine are 

 turned into them— after which, the annual rooting 

 of the swine will be all the cultivation or stirring 

 of the earth that will be required. The smallest 

 pieces are sure to grow, which renders their propa- 

 gation as easy as their extirpation is difficult. — M- 

 bttny Cultivator. 



