218 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



^lAY 



For the New England Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENTS—A NEW MOVEMENT. 



Mr. Editor : — The following subjects for ex- 

 periment were recently given out in the Concord 

 Farmers' Club. The results will be reported the 

 next winter. 



To J. B. Farmer — Winter and spring barley 

 to be sowed on the same kind of land, and the 

 croi)s compared. Mr. F. sowed a piece of ground 

 with winter barley last fall. To the same — Fowl 

 nijadow in comparison with red-top and herds- 

 grass. 



To Willis Bean — ^Plow the whole field ten 

 inches. On one portion spread the manure on 

 the sod, and plow under. On another portion 

 cover the manure five inches. On another por- 

 tion three inches ; and note the result on hoed 

 crops and on the grain and grass following. 



To Joseph D. Brown — Seeding to grass with 

 rye, oats, Avheat and barley. 



To MiNOT Pratt — Soiling cows during the 

 months of June, July, August and September. 

 To keep an exact account of cost in extra labor, 

 &c. 



To N. H. Warren — Liquid manure as com- 

 pared with compost for corn. 



To J. W. Brown — Cooking Indian and oil meal 

 for milch cows in comparison with the same used 

 raw. 



To A. H. Wheeler — The culture of roots, with 

 the rows at different distances. 



To E. Wood, Jr. — Improving pastm-e land by 

 the use of various fertilizers. 



To Hiram Jones — Cultivating squash and oth- 

 er vinos by the use of different manures. 



To Willis Bean — Warm and cold drink for 

 cows, alternating several times, two weeks at a 

 time. 



To Hiram Jones and John Brown, 2d — Poul- 

 try — the best feed to produce eggs. 



To James P. Brown and Daniel Tarbell — 

 To])-dressing with mud, impregnated with sulphur, 

 to be applied in different quantities. - 



To MiNOT Pratt — Corn and potatoes in alter- 

 nate rows, and carrots and beets in do. 



To Simon Brown — Cranberries on high land. 



To Charles A. Hubbard and Cyrus Jarvis 

 — Top-dressing grass land in autumn with green 

 manure and with fine compost of equal value ; 

 and top-dressing and seeding as a means of im- 

 proving and preserving the qualities of grass on 

 low land without plowing. 



To E. W. Bull — Special manures — their ef- 

 fects upon vegetation and comparative value. 



To F. E. Bigelow — Barn manures for culti- 

 vating trees in grass land. 



Other experiments were suggested, among which 

 were the comparative productiveness of different 

 varieties of corn — Fallow tillage as a means of 

 improving the soil, &c. 



I send you this list as a suggestion to other 

 clubs, and to farmers who do not belong to any 

 clubs, to try these or other experiments, and care- 

 fully note the results. 



Yours truly, J. Reynolds, Secretary. 



Tall Grasses. — Mr. Thomas Gordon, of Bid- 

 deford, Me., handed us some grasses the other 

 day of almost extraordinary character, consisting 



of fowl meadow, herds-grass and blue-joint. The 

 fowl meadow was seven feet high, the blue-joint 

 six feet nine inches, and the herds-grass six feet 

 and six inches. These grasses grew upon his 

 farm at Biddeford, and are the natural product of 

 his low lands, such a product as might be har- 

 vested on thousands of acres in this State, if un- 

 just and odious monopolies did not permit mill- 

 owners to drown and starve out large tracts of 

 the best lands we have. 



Mr. Gordon states that he has plowed and 

 seeded swale land Avith the fowl meadow grass, and 

 that it thrives well upon it. He frequently gets 

 six tons of well made hay to the acre — hay that is 

 worth three-fourths as much as the best English 

 grass. He gathers the fowl-meadow seed by hand, 

 stripping it from the heads into a broad open ves- 

 sel. The fowl meadow and blue-joint have broad 

 leaves, and their stems, though large, are not so 

 wiry and hard as those of the herds-grass. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DAIBY PROFITS. 



Mr. Editor : — I give you an account of my 

 dairy the past year. April 1st, 1859, 1 owned one 

 cow, 5 years old, worth $40 ; bought a heifer 2 

 years old, for $27. Account stands as follows : 



Dr. 



To interest on capital $4,02 



To pasture for s;.'ason, at $5 each 10,00 



To winterinira cows, at $18 each 36,00 



To pumpkins, &c., In fall 2,00 



Tal2 busliels carrots in winter 2,00 



To pasture for 2 calves 2,50 



To 1 cwt. oil meal 2,00 



$58,52 

 Cr. 



By 320 pounds butter, at 19 cts $60,80 



By increased value of heifer 10,00 



By 2 calves last fall 16,00 



Beside this, Ave used all the milk we wanted in 

 a family of foin-, which, Avith the milk for the pigs, 

 I think well paid for making the butter. I shall 

 keep 4 coavs the coming season, and you shall 

 have the figures at the end of the year. 



I Avish to inquire Avhich is the best Avay of feed- 

 ing corn and other grains to hens, Avhether whole, 

 ground, or ground and boiled ? 



Green Mountain Boy. 



Cummington, Ilass., 1860. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HORSE 5JTCHPORKS. 



Dear Sir : — I notice in your issue of the 18th 

 inst., an inquiry in regard to horse pitchforks. I 

 would say in reply to that inquiry, that I have 

 used a fork of that kind for four seasons past, 

 and Avith some experiments made myself, and op- 

 portunities for observing the Avorking of other 

 kinds, have come to the conclusion that the one 

 I use is the most simple, cheapest, and most effi- 

 cient. 



The principle upon Avhich it operates is the 

 same as the common hand fork ; that is, the poAV- 

 er is applied to the head, or near the tines, Avhile 



