1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



55 



and hope he will write oftener. He tinges the 

 practical and profitable with a genuine sentiment 

 that reaches above the pocket, and gives rural 

 employments the dignity and grace to which they 

 certainly are entitled. 



A NEW FARM SURVEY. 



We have recently seen a plan of an estate on 

 the sea-shore in Essex County, which represents 

 the ground in a manner very interesting to all 

 cultivators of the soil. The farm has a very un- 

 even surface, with a long shore line, a small por- 

 tion of which is beach, and the remainder formed 

 of precipitous and ragged rocks. The inequalities 

 of the surface are represented on the plan by fig- 

 ures, showing the height above mean low water. 

 The beach is represented by very fine stippling 

 with a pen, and the rocky shore is beautifully 

 shown by elaborate pen work. Trigonometrical 

 measurements are made to known points estab- 

 lished by the U. S. Coast Survey, by means of 

 which the distance in feet from the State House 

 m Boston is obtained — and also the true North 

 and South, which is shown upon the plan by fine 

 lines running across it at intervals of 200 feet, 

 and crossed by other fine lines at equal intervals, 

 running East and West. From one of the first 

 named lines, a short line diverging the right num- 

 ber of degrees, points to the magnetic North, 



The drives, walks, buildings, (large and small,) 

 yards, hedges, &c., are accurately shown. But the 

 subject of most interest to farmers, and to which 

 we wish, by this article, to call their attention, is 

 a survey of the ground beneath the surface, exposed 

 to the eye, of that farm under the farm we usually 

 cultivate, for the purpose of finding its character, 

 and the influence it may exert on the crops. A 

 general mineral analysis is given of Hill-top, Mid- 

 dle-ground and Valley, by which may be seen 

 what mechanical agencies and what kinds of ma- 

 nure or top-dressings may probably be used on 

 the land to profit. This survey is shown on the 

 plan by light tints or washes of diff'erent colors, 

 which add very much to the beauty of the whole. 

 The practical value of such surveys is destined, we 

 believe, to be very great, and we rejoice to see 

 this first eff'ort at a kind of surveying which will 

 no doubt be, in time, much employed by intelli- 

 gent farmers. 



This is the first instance of the kind that has 

 come to our knowledge, and we find pleasure in 

 stating that the work was done by our skilful and 

 industrious young friends, Messrs. Shedd & Ed- 

 son, of Boston. We should be glad to give the 

 name of the enterprising and progressive gentle- 

 man who is the proprietor of the estate, and who 

 has caused this work to be done, if we were at 

 liberty to do so. 



For the Neic England Farmer. 

 CURING CORN— DURHAM BULL. 



Mr. Editor : — Allow me to recommend the fol- 

 lowing for the benefit of those who, like myself, 

 till the soil for a living. It is well known to all 

 farmers that we quite frequently have very unfa- 

 vorable seasons for curing corn after it is harvest- 

 ed. This autumn has been one of that character, 

 and the general complaint is, that corn is very 

 much damaged by the prevalence of damp weather. 

 To avoid corn being thus damaged, allow me to 

 state my experience, or rather the way in which I 

 have for several years past saved my corn in a 

 perfectly sound state. 



All persons will acknowledge the importance 

 of having their corn cured before freezing weath- 

 er comes on. I have corn raised this year and 

 husked the last of September, fore part of Octo- 

 ber, that rattles like old corn, and though much of 

 my corn was more or less mouldy in the stalk, it is 

 all now bright and doing well, not a mouldy ear 

 to be seen, though much of it lies eighteen inches 

 thick on the floor. 



I have a building sixteen feet square attached 

 to my barn, which I occupy as a shed with a loft 

 above, having a floor made of narrow slats from 

 two to four inches wide, and one inch apart, so 

 that air can circulate freely up through the corn ; 

 also slats on two sides of the building, an inch 

 apart, so that there is plenty of air under and 

 over the corn. I should not be afraid to spread 

 my corn two or three feet thick as I husk it. You 

 will see that a very important point is gained by 

 having corn have plenty of air underneath. 



I have a very fine Durham bull calf, now 10^ 

 months old ; his girth is five feet eight inches. 

 At nine months old he weighed 700 pounds, and 

 by weighing from time to time, I find he has 

 gained from three to four pounds per day. I sup- 

 pose he will now weigh 850 pounds, and I expect 

 to make him weigh, at one year old, 1000 pounds. 

 If I do, I will let you know. 



As I have my pen in hand, allow me to recom- 

 mend a plan which I have in my mind for the ar- 

 rangement of a barn with a cellar, and with a cis- 

 tern for watering cattle, a sketch of which I send 

 you. Spencer Byington. 



Stockbridge, Dec, 1860. 



Remarks. — We are obliged to our correspon- 

 dent for the sketch of a barn accompanying the 

 above note. It has some original points which we 

 wish to examine, and if we find they can be made 

 available with other general accommodations of 

 the barn, we may have the plan engraved. We 

 are glad to find attention turned to this important 

 subject, as we believe great improvemeat may yet 

 be made in the internal arrangement of barns. 



King Pumpkin. — The King of the Pumpkins 

 for the year of grace 1860 was inaugurated at the 

 Halle in Paris, on the 24th ult. It measures ten 

 feet four inches in circumference, and weighs 319 

 pounds. It was carried about the market with 

 this inscription : "The King of the Pumpkins of 

 1860, born in Touraine on the 6th of April, gath- 

 ered September 20th, 1860." 



