188 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



BEC. 13, IS- 



LAND DRAINING. 



Tlie Hon. Isaac Hill, editor of llie Farmer' 

 Monthly Visitor, copies our article upon "Land 

 Draining, in which we alluded to the experiments 

 of Mr Frencli, of Braintree, and appends the fol- 

 lowing remarks : 



" The testimony of nur friend Breck and tlie ex- 

 ample which he presents in favor of land draining, 

 confirms fully what the Farmer's Monthly Visitor 

 has repeated in nearly every paper for the last 

 two years. We know the patriotic individual well, 

 Hon. B. V. French, who is bringing up his farm in 

 Braintree, at the expense of iJ^O an acre, by under- 

 draining : ho is intelliijent and practical in liis pro- 

 fession, and would be the last man in Massachusetts 

 to throw away his money by covering it under 

 ground. 



Our hilly rocky grounds in New England, are 

 generally of the land that has turned out belter to 

 the tirst settlers than any other lands, saving, per- 

 haps, the comparatively small tracts of river allu- 

 vion. Farmers who made their pitch on these 

 lands on tho sunny side of hills with the right 

 slope that naturally drained themselves, and who 

 thus have found their lands of permeable deep and 

 warming soils, have been able to keep up the cliar- 

 acter of theirs as good farms ; but much of the 

 lands which at first turned out great crops, have 

 flattened down and become both cold and sterile. 

 There are hundreds and thousands of acres of land 

 long mowed, and pasture grounds covered with 

 moss and hard-hack, that now seem to be worth 

 but a mere trifle either for the crop gathered or 

 fed. Much of this land will not pay tl.f taxes and 

 the interest of any nominal sum put down as its 

 estimated value. 



The sour cold land south of Boston in Norfolk 

 and Plymouth counties, {that part of Massachusetts 

 in which Mr French resides,) is much of it even 

 harder to reclaim than the more hilly country fur- 

 ther in the interior. If he can disjoint the supera- 

 bundant rocks and dispose of them in drains, at 

 the expense of thirty dollar.s the acre, we should 

 Bay that much of the cold hard lands among the 

 higher hills of Middlesex and Worcester, in Mas- 

 sachusetts, and Hillsborough, Merrimack, Cheshire 

 and Grafton, in New Hampshire, might be cleared 

 say for twenty dollars the acre. Indeed, we know 

 of no way more convenient or less expensive for 

 disposing of superabundant rocks, than digging 

 trenches which shall cut otf the cold springs in 

 hard-hack pastures and in side-hill basins where 

 the wild meadow grasses only grow in meagre 

 quantities. The rocks are put out of tha way of 

 the cultivator forever, and will always be perform- 

 ing a useful service as a drain bed for the surplus 

 water that, while lying near the surface, is of se- 

 rious detriment to the growth of all useful vce- 

 tation of the surrounding land. 



The main drains should be constructed with 

 great care, so as to leave space for the running of 

 water: this is very easily done. If the ground be 

 porous and soft, a. board laid along at the bottom 

 will prevent its gullying; and a little care will be 

 neuesiiary to place the stones in a position so there 

 shall bo no caving. The rocks may afterwards be 

 laid in promiscuously until within about a foot of 

 the surface, when shavings, straw, or if nothing 

 more convenient, turned-over sods will prevent the 

 din from falling into the crevices so as to clog or 

 prevent the passage of the water. Where the 

 ground is near a level, there must be more frequent 



ditches and passages made for the water. The 

 main passages should be completed in the first in- 

 stance; and if the smaller passages shall not be 

 sufficient to efl'ectually drain the land, then other 

 subsidiary drains mny be very convenient to dis- 

 pose of the additional rocks that shall bo brought 

 upon the surface by the deeper plowing. 



It will be found upon all these heavy lands, that 

 the most valuable part for cultivation will be over 

 the covered ditches. The moisture of the covered 

 rocks furnishes protection at all times against 

 drought; and the influence of the sun and atmos- 

 phere imparts that genial warmth so necessary for 

 the free growth of vegetation. 



Where the drains are sufficiently nnmerous, the 

 plow, year after year, should be struck deeper and 

 deeper, an inch or two, into the hard pan, if there 

 be a rocky hard pan, as is commonly the casp. 

 Every turning up an inch of the pan will be equal 

 in its effect of several years, to the value of a coat 

 of manure. If too much be brought upon the sur- 

 face at once, until it has had an exposure to the 

 atmosphere, it will rather injure than benefit the 

 first year's crop ; and from this circunistance arises 

 the dread felt by most farmers at plowing up "rav- 

 el from below the surface mould. It is our sin- 

 cere belief that on any cultivated ground, a quantity 

 of this lower sand or gravel brought up and mixed 

 with the surface mould will always be beneficial ; 

 there is no hard pan stirred by deep plowing, that 

 will not ultimately be of great benefit in any cul- 

 tivated field." ♦ * * » » 



MAKING CAPONS. 



The following article on making capons, ia the 

 best within our recollection. It is taken from the 

 directions accompanying the sets of instruments 

 for caponizing, made by Mr John Mendenhall, 

 Philadelphia. — .4mec. Jigricult. 



'• Fowls intended to be cut, must be kept at least 

 twentyfour hours without fond, otherwise the en- 

 trails will fill the cavity of the belly and render it 

 almost impossible to complete the operation ; be- 

 sides, when they have been starved the proper 

 length of time, they are less liable to bleed. 



The chicken is taken at any age, from five days 

 old until it begins to crow, or even after. Lay the 

 fowl on its leftside on the floor, draw the wings 

 back, and keep it firm by resting the right foot on 

 its legs, and the other foot or knee on its wing.s. 

 (The table, with the apparatus, does away with 

 the necessity of this stooping position.) Be careful 

 that the head of the fowl is not held down, or even 

 touched during the operation, as it would be sure 

 to cause it to bleed. Pluck the feathers off" from 

 its right side near the hip-joint, in a line betiveeii 

 that and the shoulder joint: the space uncovered 

 should be a little more than an inch square. Make 

 an incision between the two last ribs, having first 

 drawn the skin of the part backward, so that when 

 left to itself it will cover the wound in the flesh. 

 In some fowls. the thigh is so far forward that it 

 covers the two last ribs ; in which case, care must 

 be taken to draw the flesh of the thigh well back, 



so as not to cut through it, or else it would lame »e.uom uie arier, unJess they have received so 

 the fowl, and perhaps cause its death in a few days internal injury, or the flesh of the thigh has bt 

 after the operation, by inflaminor. <•..» ti.r«..«i. r _-. ■_ ■ . .- . , 



The ribs are to be kept open by the hooks — the 

 opening must be enlarged each way by the knife, 

 if necessary, until the testicles, which are attached 

 to the back bone, arc entirely exposed to view, to- 

 gether with the intestines in contact with thein. 



The testicles are enclosed in a thin skin, con. 

 ing them with the back and sides; this mus 

 laid hold of with the pliers, and then torn ■ 

 with the pointed instrument — doing ii first oi 

 upper testicle, then on the lower. (The lowei 

 tide will generally be found a little behim 

 other — that is, a I ttle nearer the rump.) Nex 

 troduce the loop; (which is made of a horse 

 or a fibre of cocoa-nut ;) it must be put round 

 testicle which is uppermost, in doing which 

 spoon is serviceable to raise up the testicle 

 push the loop undrr it, so that it shall be bron 

 to act upon the part which holds the testicle t(i 

 back ; then tear it off by pushing the tube to 

 the rumpof the fowl, at the same time drawing; 

 loop. Then scoop it and the blood out witi 

 spoon, and perform the same operation on the c 

 testicle. Take away the hooks, draw the skin 

 and close the wound ; stick the feathers that 

 pulled off' before, on the wound, and let the birn 

 Remarks — If the operalion be performed vi 

 out sufficient skill, many of the fowls will p 

 not to be capons; these may be killed for us 

 soon as the head begins to grow large and get 

 and they begin to chase hens. The real c; 

 will make itself known by the head remai 

 small, and the comb small and withered ; the fc 

 ers of the neck or mane will also get longer, 

 the tail will be handsomer and longer : they sh 

 be kept to the age of fifteen or eighteen moi 

 which will bring them in the spring and sumi 

 when poultry is scarce and brings a high p 

 Take care, however, not to kill them near moul 

 time, as all poultry then is very inferior. The 

 eration fails, principally, by bursting the test 

 so that the skin which encloses the soft matter, 

 mains in the bird, and the testicle grows ag 

 Birds of five or six months are less liable to 1 

 the testicles burst in the operation than your 

 fowls, but they are also more apt to bleed to d(. 

 than those of from two to four months old. 



A skilful operator will always choose fowl 

 from two to three months; he will prefer, a Isc 

 take ofl" the lowest testicle first, as then the bl 

 will not prevent him from proceeding with 

 other; whereas, when the upper onels taken 

 the first, if there should be any bleeding, he 

 to wait before he can take off" the lower teli'ticle 

 The large vein that supplies the entrails v 

 blood, passes in the neighborhood of the testici 

 there is danger that a young beginner may pie 

 it with the pointed instrument in taking off 

 skin of the lotver testicle, in which case the chi 

 en would die instantly, for all the blood 'in its b, 

 would issue out. There are one or two sma 

 veins which must be avoided, which is very ea 

 as they are not difficult to see. If properly m 

 aged, no blood ever appears until a testicle is 

 ken off: so that should any appear before that i 

 operator will know that he has done someth.l 

 wrong. 



If a chicken die from the operation, it is 

 bleeding; (of course it is us proper for use as 

 bled to death by having its throat cut;) they V( 

 seldom die after, unless they have received so 

 internal injury, or the flesh of the thigh has bt 

 cut through, from not being drawn back from 

 the last two ribs, where the incision is made ; 

 of which are apt to be the case with youn^^ prac 

 tioners. ° 



If the te.'ticles be found to be large, the bamb 

 tube should be used, and it should have a 8tro 



