1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



203 



sold seed last spring have testified to its good 

 qualities as surpassing clover and herds-grass, 

 and the pleasure they feel in having it in their 

 possession. 



One man in the neighborhood said to me re- 

 centlj', "I like it well, my oxen are always ready 

 for it." I replied, "Are not your oxen always 

 ready for any good hay ?" He said, "No. Last 

 fall when I was hauling stone M'ith them, till they 

 were weary, they would lie down on other good 

 hay, to rest, before they would eat it, when at the 

 same time they would be ready for the Hunga- 

 rian." 



Similar expressions are common from those 

 •who have proved its Avorth by feeding it to all 

 kinds of stock. I will further suggest for the ben- 

 efit of any about to commence the cultivation of 

 it, that it seems to demand one day more of diy- 

 ing than other hay. 



I am much inclined to the opinion, that it will 

 be found economy to cut it at the time when the 

 seetl is mostly ripe, Avhich happens when the 

 blades are about half turned yellow. In this way 

 I have a good crop of grain, next, if not equal, in 

 value, pound for pound, to corn, and a crop of 

 hay, when well cured, that will compare well with 

 other good hay. 



This grass never grows too large and stiff, like 

 millet, but each seed throws up from the root, in 

 any thing like fairground, from one to five or ten 

 stalks, and sometimes, in rich land, sowed thin, 

 from ten to fifty of about equal size, each covered 

 with its own beautiful blades, and when ripe, a 

 heavy head. 



Should anj'- wish to examine its formation, I 

 will send a specimen on receipt of the requisite 

 postage, thi-ee cents. Wm. RiCH.iKDS. 



Biclimond, Mass., March, 1860. 



For t?ie Netc England Farmer. 



PEAOTICAL PROOFS OF PROFIT. 



Me. Editor : — In the last number of your very 

 valuable paper, a writer from South Danvers 

 heads an article thus : "Practical proofs of profit 

 in farming." The writer mentions a certain lo- 

 cality, where there are thirty or more individuals, 

 who own from five to twenty acres of land, and 

 are in comfortable cii'cumstances, &c., and have 

 managed to lay up a few hundred dollars yearly, 

 and then gives a gentle hint that they would like 

 to avoid their taxes. I do not think it is so, as 

 no class in our community is more vtilling to be 

 taxed than our farmers. I happen to be a farmer 

 in another part of the town, where good and suc- 

 cessful attention is paid to farming, and I con- 

 sider that there is no occupation more healthy and 

 honorable. Still, we cannot all be farmers, and 

 as the writer has made some allusion to our busi- 

 ness men, which seemed to me to be unjust, is 

 why I have thought fit to reply to it. As an old 

 resident in this town, my observation is, that the 

 industrial habits of the people are not, and cannot 

 be surpassed by any other town in the Common- 

 wealth ; it is the manufacturing interest of the 

 town that assists us farmers, and wherever there 

 are manufacturers of various kinds, the town and 

 adjacent towns derive great advantage. For my 

 part, I wish that the manufacturing interest might 

 increase, and then we farmers would profit by it. 



In no city or town can all succeed in business ; by 

 some unforeseen circumstances, individuals are 

 stript of their pro])erty before they are aware of 

 it ; not only the business man, but the retired 

 merchant, the farmer and professional man, all 

 alike are liable to misfortune. j. 



South Danvers, Jan. 10, 1860. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PERPETUAL CROPS OF RYE. 



Mr. Editor : — As your columns are open to 

 your various correspondents, I take the liberty to 

 note a circumstance that has come under my ob- 

 servation on the subject of raising a crop of rye. I 

 have resided in my present location in the to^vn 

 of Fairfield, Ct., for over twenty years, and have 

 noticed a piece of poor land on a hill-side that 

 has been cropped with rye for the last fifteen or 

 sixteen years. During that period, and the last 

 few years, the crops have been equal if not superi- 

 or to the first. The land itself would not sell for 

 $30 per acre for farming purposes ; it is very thin, 

 and full of rocks and boulders, similar to a por- 

 tion of the side-hill laud in this State, and the 

 proprietor, a Mr. Knapp, informed me a few days 

 since that his average rye on this lot, less than 

 three acres, has been from 40 to 45 bushels, or 

 equal to lo bushels per acre. All the manure and 

 tillage the land receives is five or six loads of poor 

 barn-yard manure, spread alternately on the land 

 before plowing ; it receives one plowing, and the 

 seed is harrowed in. It is now stocked for the 

 coming year, and its present appearance indicates 

 an average crop. If this is not more profitable 

 rye farming than the average, I am at a loss to 

 know, and if you can demonstrate the cause of 

 this land I)eing no more reduced by this succes- 

 sive cropping, I should be pleased to learn. The 

 occupier says it v/ill bear this system of cropping 

 ad infinitum. ' John Moody. 



Bridgeport, Mountain Grove, Ct. 



Remarks. — The Avriter states that this piece cf 

 land is on a hill-side. If the pieoe devoted to rye 

 has higher land above it, the wash of mineral as 

 well as vegetable mattei- — but especially of the 

 mineral — from the higher land, may account for 

 the perpetual fertility of the rye land. If this is 

 not the reason, we cannot account for it. 



Clover. — Every farmer should have a piece of 

 clover, whatever other soiling crops he may raise; 

 it not only makes up the variety necessary to keep 

 cattle in health, but its yield is large and profita- 

 ble ; it takes less from the soil, and more from 

 the atmosphere, than most other green crops, and 

 the portion remaining in the soil contains mate- 

 rial to improve its mechanical condition, as well 

 as to progress the inorganic constituents which 

 it elevates from the sub-soil after sub-soil plow- 

 ing, and is almost sure of success on any soil 

 worthy of cultivation. — Working Farmer, 



To Cure Garget in Ewes. — Rub raw linseed 

 oil on the udder once or twice a day. So say 

 Messrs. Nichols and Dickson, in the Valley Far- 

 mer. 



