1860. 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



221 



the green state, and then follow on •with grass, and 

 then apply again green mixed with sand or muck. 

 He cut his corn as early as possible, and after tak- 

 ing it off the land in the fall he sowed grass seed, 

 Avhich he thought was better than sowing it in the 

 Spring. Very little top-dressing was used in his 

 section except on the low grass lands. Wool 

 waste, worth $8 per cord, was considered profitable 

 by some farmers, but he thought differently. The 

 practice was to apply it as a compost, or to sow it 

 and put some in the hills with potatoes. 



Mr. Spakiluvk, of Charlestown, spoke of the 

 chemical properties of the various manures, but 

 the time having arrived for adjournment, it was 

 moved by Mr. Stoughton that the same subject 

 be continued for discussion at the next meeting. 

 This was carried unanimously, and the meeting 

 adjoui'ned- 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PLOWIITG IN GBASS. 



Mr. Editor : — 1 noticed in the Farmer of 

 Feb. 11, an article on improving the soil by plow- 

 ing in a crop of clover. As that does not agree 

 with my experience I will give another view of 

 green crops for manure. 



Several years ago, having a piece of ground 

 that was worn down, wanting to improve it, and 

 being short of manure, the last of June, the whole 

 crop of grass was plowed in well, at about 1 ton 

 per acre ; during the season, as the weeds came 

 up, they were plowed in ; this was done three 

 times. 



The next spring it was spread with a coat of 

 barn-cellar manure and planted with corn, hoed 

 three times, and a poorer piece of corn I never 

 raised! while on a piece adjoining, equal in every 

 respect, that had no grass plowed in, was a good 

 crop of corn. 



In June, 1858, wanting to sow a little more fod- 

 der corn, I broke up a piece that was taken off 

 from an old pasture adjoining apiece of mowing 

 that bore heavy grass ; the old fence being moved, 

 left a bog, running anglewise the piece ; to make 

 it square, I plowed about one-half of each, mow- 

 ing and pasture ; the grass on the mowing when 

 plowed was knee high, which was all turned in, and 

 the whole v.'as spread with manure and corn sowed 

 in drills ; I ran the cultivator between the rows, 

 but did not hoe it ; the corn on the old pasture 

 land grew 8 feet high and over, while the corn on 

 the mowing land never grew more than 2 feet, 

 and was yellow and sickly all the season. Last 

 year I sowed the same with corn, with the same 

 result. 



Such- is my experience in plowing in grass for a 

 fertilizer. W. E. D. 



Harvard, Mass., Feb. 13, 1860. 



"An Old Man, Hebron, N. H."—li the writer 

 of the article signed as above will send his re- 

 marks to the writer of the article dated at North 

 Groton, N. H., we think he will accomplish his 

 purpose better than by publishing the criticisms 

 he has sent us. 



For the New England Farmer. 



STOCK RAISING. 



Mr. Editor: — Your Chelmsford correspond- 

 ent, "T. J. P.," in an article published in the Far- 

 mer, after figuring the cost of a calf one year old 

 at 822, gravely asks the question, whether he shall 

 sell the calf at a positive loss at that age, or keep it 

 longer, with the certain prospect of a greater loss ? 

 The fact is, if there is any profit in raising stock, 

 it consists in raising animals to maturity ; good 

 cows for milk and good oxen for labor ; the best 

 of which will pay the expenses of raising, thus 

 giving their carcasses a profit to the owner. The 

 profit or loss in every case will depend on the in- 

 telligence, or want of it, in selecting the animals 

 to be raised. Accidents will sometimes happen, 

 and unavoidable losses of animals occur, and the 

 most matured judgment may make a wrong selec- 

 tion, from the fact that there is so great a want of 

 uniformity in our common neat stock; but all 

 these causes combined, though they may affect, 

 will not consume the aggregate profit of the bus- 

 iness. In this section, it is generally considered 

 more profitable to raise cows than oxen, and some 

 of the shrewdest farmers buy their oxen at four or 

 five years old, keep them a few years, and turn 

 them off with greatly increased weight ; but it is 

 evident somebody must raise them, tmd I propose 

 to take two calves and raise them to oxen, and 

 will state the case as fairly as I am able. We are 

 obliged to let our cows calve to keep them in milk, 

 spaying cows not having become general, nor is 

 it likely to become so. I will therefore enter, 



TWO CALVES. Dr. 



To 12 qts. of new milk per day, 5 weeks, at 2Jc per qt...$10,50 



To 12 qts. of skim milk per day, 5 weeks, atlc per qt 4.20 



To 100 lbs. of hay .60 



To 5 months pasturing, at 75c per month 3,75 



To 2 tons second quality hay, corn stover, straw, &c., at 



§6 per ton 12,00 



To 10 busii. carrots, at 16^c per bu 1,07 



To barn room, &c 2,00 



Cost at the end of the first year $34,72 



To 5i months pasturing, at $1 per month §5,50 



To 2i tons of mixed hay, at $7 17.50 



To barn room, and small, nameless expenses 2.00 



To interest on the first year's cost 2,0S 



To 15 bu. mangolds, at 10c per bushel 1,50 



Cost at the end of the second year $63,30 



To 5 J months pasturing, at $1,25 per month 6,82 



To 3 tons of hay, at $9'per ton 27,00 



To barn room, &c 3.00 



To 15 bush, carrots, at 10 J 2,50 



To interest on the cost 3,79 



Cost at the end of the third year $106,'U 



Or. 

 By labor $10,00 



Value of labor deducted from the cost $96,41 



To pasturing 5| months, at $1,50 per month 8.25 



To 3 tons of hay, at $12 per ton 30.00 



To 5 bush, meal, at $1 per bushel 5,00 



To barn room, and other expenses 4.00 



To interest on the cost 5,78 



Cost at the end of the fourth year $155,44 



Or. 

 By labor $25,00 



Value of labor deducted $130,44 



Our oxen are now four years old, and are capa- 

 ble of earning their living until they are five years 

 old, when they may take the place of older cattle 

 on the farm that are fatted for the market, and 

 with ordinary chances afford a clear profit over all 



