1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



23 



wheat, oats and grass follow it better than they do 

 23otatoes. 



1 asked how our farmers had contrived to pay 

 for their farms, build, paint and blind their houses, 

 have money to let, and stock in corporations ? I 

 should answer the question by the above estimate. 

 If "T. J. P." can account for it in any other way, I 

 should like to have him. 



Ilollis, Nov. 14, 1859. Ed. EjfERSON. 



Remarks. — Thank you, Mr. Emerson, we have 

 no doubt great good will come out of this discus- 

 sion. Mr. Emerson's name will be recognized by 

 many readers as that of a frequent correspondent 

 to these columns, — but for the gratification of those 

 who do not know him, we will say that he is quite 

 largely engaged in farming, working with his own 

 hands and directing his affairs in person. No one 

 can justly charge him with being a fancy farmer, 

 or of giving undue credence to books. 



COlsrCOBD FARMBS.S' CLUB. 



The Annual Meeting of the Concord Farmers' 

 Club took place on the evening of the 10th inst., 

 when the foUoM'ing persons were elected as its of- 

 ficers for the ensuing year, viz. : 



MiNOT Pratt, President. 



Abiel H. Wheeler, Vice President. 



Joseph Reynolds, Secretary. 



Elijah Wood, Treasurer. 

 The subjects prepared and adopted for the sev- 

 eral evenings during the winter are as follows : 

 Corn ; Sheep Husbandry ; Subjects for Premiums 

 at Agricultural Exhibitions ; Rotation of Crops ; 

 Preservatioii of Meats ; Vegetable Food other 

 than Hay ; New Plants ; Soiling Cows ; Experi- 

 mental Farming ; Manures and their Application 

 to Different Soils ; Draining ; Root Crops and 

 their Comparative Value ; Preparation of, and 

 Marketing Produce ; Best Breeds of Cows ; Fruit 

 Trees and their Culture ; ^Market Fairs ; Grass 

 and Grass Lands ; Culture of Flowers ; Small 

 Fruits ; Articles of Food for the Family, and their 

 Preparation ; Forest Trees. 



It required much care to select topics that had 

 not already been under discussion, perhaps more 

 than once, and to express them, so as to require 

 a somewhat different turn of thought from what 

 they had heretofore received. It was thought that 

 some of the old subjects, such as the corn or hay 

 crops, seeding, reclaiming or draining, might be 

 presented in such a light as to give them a new 

 interest and value. 



The first meeting of the season was o])ened 

 with a manifestly increased sense of the import- 

 ance of the object of the association. If we can 

 have access to their records, we shall find plea- 

 sure in laying an occasional account of their do- 

 ings before the reader. 



For the Keio England Farmer. 



"WARMING THE EAKISr AND COOKING 

 THE FOOD. 



Mr. Editor : — While reading Mr. Flint's admi- 

 rable work on Dairies and Milch Cows, the ques- 

 tion arose in my mind, can New England farmers 

 profitably adopt the custom of warming their sta- 

 bles, and steaming, or in any way cooking the 

 food for their cattle ? With the present style of 

 barns, it seems to mo an impossibility. AVitli a 

 properly constructed stable, and a well devised 

 heating and ventilating apparatus, I think this ob- 

 ject can be readily attained. I therefore propose 

 to suggest a plan of heating and ventilating for 

 the consideration of the readers of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer. 



In the outset, I wish to lay down certain con- 

 ditions, which I regard as essential to cheap and 

 effectual ventilation and heating. 



1. No apartment can be properly heated and 

 ventilated, into which the pure, warm air is ad- 

 mitted at the bottom, and has a ventilator at its 

 top. With such an arrangement, the pure air be- 

 ing lighter just in proportion as it is warmer, 

 rises to the top and passes directly out, carrying 

 Avith it most of the heat, and leaving in the room 

 the cold, impure air, save the trifle which mixed 

 with the pure air in passing upwards. 



2. The air within the room should be influenced 

 as little as possible by external currents. 



3. There should be a constant and uniform sup- 

 ply of pure warm air furnished, to take the place 

 of what is withdrawn. 



4. The warm and pure air should be agitated 

 and mixed as little as possible with the impure 

 cold air. 



5. Either a heated flue, or some mechanical 

 power, must bs introduced to draw out the impure 

 air. 



6. The apparatus should be so simple as to 

 work uniformly, and not get out of order. 



A proper construction of the stable is of the 

 first importance. Wherever it is practicable, it 

 should be built on a side hill, and the whole space 

 in tb^e basement appropriated to the cattle, an 

 apartment for cooking their food, one for dry 

 muck, or other absorbents, and itie root cellar. 

 The walls, Avhere built against the earth, if not 

 laid in mortar, should be faithfully pointed, and 

 have the earth well compacted on the outside. 

 Where exposed to the weather, a small space o 

 confined air should be left in the interior, and it 

 would be well to have double windows. Over 

 head, the room should be plastered or ceiled with 

 jointed and matched boards, and the space be- 

 tween the joists filled with chaff or cut straw. It is 

 evident that a stable constructed in this manner, 

 and filled with a stock of cattle, would require but 

 little artificial heat, and that could be readily sup- 

 plied by the fire which cooked their food. In this 

 apartment all the excrements of the cattle should 

 be faithfully mixed with absorbents, and, at least 

 once a day, carefully removed. A thrifty farmer 

 would of course see that a proper receptacle was 

 provided for them. 



The cooking-room should be provided with a 

 chimney two feet square on the outside. It should 

 be built in the most substantial manner, smoothly 

 plastered on the inner side, and rise above the 

 highest part of the barn. In the interior of the 



