1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



43 



For the Xew Enrjland Farmer. 



A PLAIN QUESTION" IN AKITHMETIC. 



Mr. Editor : — Suppose a farmer buys a cow- 

 on the first day of April, weighing 1000 pounds, 

 and six* years old, for fifty dollars. On the next 

 day after the purchase she dro])s a calf, which 

 takes all the milk she gives during this month, 

 but one quart, per day, say twenty-five quarts, 

 which is sold for two cents per quart. During 

 this month she consumes two per cent, on her 

 weight of English haj', which is worth fifteen dol- 

 lars per ton, and two quarts of Indian meal per 

 day, at one dollar ]ier bushel. On the first day of 

 May, her calf is sold for six dollars. During this 

 month, May, she gives nine quarts of milk per 

 day, which is sold for two cents per quart, and con- 

 sumes hay and meal same as last month. On the 

 first day of June, she is turned to pasture, which 

 is worth eight cents per day, and increases her 

 milk to ten quarts per day, which is sold same as 

 last month. 



On the next month, July, the same facts exist 

 as last month, except she falls off" in her milk one 

 quart per day. August she falls off" two quarts of 

 milk per day from last month, July, and consumes 

 twenty-five pounds of corn fodder daily at five dol- 

 lars per ton, in addition to her pasturage. The 

 next month, September, her corn fodder is in- 

 creased to fifty pounds daily, and her milk is re- 

 duced to six quarts each day ; her pasturage is also 

 reduced half. ])uring October she runs in fall 

 feed, or mowing fields, has nothing else, and her 

 milk is reduced to four quarts per day, which is 

 sold for four cents per quart. The cost of feed 

 this month, October, the same as pasturage, eight 

 cents per day. In November she still runs in the 

 field, but is put up nights and fed with ten pounds 

 of good hay and two quarts fine feed, at eighty 

 cents per bushel, each day. Her pasturage is re- 

 duced to four cents daily this month, November, 

 milk selling for the same as last month and re- 

 duced to three quarts daily. From the first of 

 December to the first of April, she is fed wholly 

 at the barn, and consumes ten pounds of good hay, 

 one peck roots, at twenty cents per bushel, and 

 twenty pounds of meadow hay, or corn fodder, at 

 five dollars per ton, daily. In this month, Decem- 

 ber she gives two quarts milk per day, and in Jan- 

 uary, one quart, and dries up entirely the first of 

 February. All her milk from the first of October 

 has been sold, for four cents per quart. 



This, in my judgment, is a fair sam])le of milk 

 laising in this vicinity. Now I should like to have 

 your correspondents in diff'erent milk-raising dis- 

 tricts reckon this up, and let us know whether the 

 farmer has made or lost by the operation, and how 

 much. Also, how this corresponds with the bus- 

 iness in their locality. Evidently, there are some 

 minor considerations which I have purposely left 

 out of the account, in order to see how people 

 reckon in this im])ortant branch of human indus- 

 try. Although milk, to some extent, is one of the 

 necessaries of life, yet, if it is sold below its cost, 

 the evil that is done to the community is far greater 

 than the good. At some future time I intend to 

 answer this, (with your permission, Mr. Editor,) 

 myself. In the meantime I should like to hear 

 from some of your correspondents on the subject. 



Perhaps I ought to state here that I have 

 avoided in this calculation the fractions of a cent 



which often go into the prices of this article, but 

 they will not vary the account much ; at any rate, 

 will not make it any more favorable to the raiser 

 of milk in this section than I have given it. 

 For instance, one farmer told me that he sold his 

 milk through the first or spring and summer sea- 

 son for two and an eighth cents per quart, and 

 had contracted this fall and winter, at three and a 

 fourth cents. However, I prefer to have the cal- 

 culation made as I have reckoned it ; holding that 

 it is not very material whether Ave make a very 

 large or a smaller loss in the business, as it in the 

 end has about the same effect, whether we dwindle 

 along a Avhole lifetime to waste our effects or find 

 the bottom of the hill at an earlier period. 



Many ])eople seem to apprehend, that it is of 

 but a little consequence Avhether they make a loss 

 in the sale of their products or not, inasmuch as 

 they can go ahead and appear to be doing some- 

 thing ; as one man remarked, "somebody Avill get 

 the benefit of it." But let me say to my friend, 

 and all who take this view of the matter, that you 

 forget about those poor neighbors and their fami- 

 lies who have been less fortunate than you, and 

 Avho depend on their own efforts for a livelihood, 

 but cannot go into this branch of human industry, 

 except at a loss, on account of the ruinous compe- 

 tition, which only can be prosecuted by those who 

 have an income equal to this drain u]ion their re- 

 sources. T. J. PlNKIIAM. 



Chelmsford, Mass., Nov., 1859. 



Re^l^rks. — Our correspondent is determined 

 to probe this business of farming, as a business on 

 which loss and gain is concerned, to the quick. 

 He is doing the farmers a good service, and is Avel- 

 come to our columns. 



For the Aciw England Farmer. 



MR. BARBER'S POTATOES. 



Mr. Broavx : — Your correspondent, ]\Ir. Bar- 

 ber, of Warwick, Avishes some explanation vliy 

 his "potato vines" suddenly "turned black, in a 

 a day or two after the thunder shoAver the 31st of 

 August ?" There Avas a pre-disposing cause, u] ^n 

 AA'hich the rain and sudden change of atmospliLra 

 acted. Mr. Barber did not find corn, tomatoes, 

 beans and other vegetables and crops "turning 

 black" in "a day or tAvo" after the "cold" rain. 

 Why not ? Because there Avere not at the roots of 

 these various crops, enemies in myriad numbers, 

 subsisting on the sa]), the same as are found on the 

 roots and loAver joints of the potato plant. If ]\Ir. 

 Barber had made a thorough and carefid micro- 

 scopic examination of his seed potatoes before or 

 after planted, he Avould have found perforations, 

 small Avarts and slimy looking brown spots on the 

 surface, on Avhich are hibernated eggs of insects. 

 After the potatoes are planted the same genial tem- 

 perature Avhich Avarras the earth and sprouts the 

 potato, soon starts to life, from their nidus, m\Ti- 

 ads of minute larva insects. For many Aveeks, 

 these enemies suck or pump out the sap, thus en- 

 feebling the plant. It is a consumption, acting 

 upon, and spreading from the very vital part to the 

 stalks and to the tuliers. . This derangement and 

 poison may be compared to consumption acting 

 upon the vital part of the human system. The 



