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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



ever ready, in its zeal, to discover and succor the 

 needy and distressed. 



"In the days of Scorn, the storms of Hate, 

 In the darkness of Hope deferred full late. 

 Through days when the world shows desolate. 



Must sleep the good deeds thou hast done ; 

 Faithfully labor — patiently wait— 



Thy work shall see the sun." 



June is a beautiful month ; for the farmer, it 

 is also a busy one. The numerous crops on 

 which he relies for sustenance are now vigorous- 

 ly springing, and calling for his sustaining hand. 

 In the field and garden, his most unremitting at- 

 tention is required, and there, among the beauti- 

 ful forms of the vegetable and floral world, he will 

 find affluent sources of enjoyment : 



"Springs whence he may drink uncloyed. 

 The nectar draught that Heaven gives, 



And feel the pleasure unalloyed 

 Of nature's courts," &c., 



without the curse of weariness, for it is a prop- 

 erty of even her blandest blessings that they nev- 

 er weary by repetition, or produce disgust in the 

 minds of those who are qualified to appreciate 

 and enjoy them. 



-Beautiful to view, 



Month of my heart ! thou dawnest here." 



The farmer who attends strictly to his busi- 

 ness, may not, perhaps, become wealthy ; but an 

 ample competency of the goods of life is certain- 

 ly within his reach. But, in the language of 

 Tristram Shandy, "Riches are not the chief 

 object of rational pursuit, nor by any means 

 the most important reward of industrial effort.'' 

 There is, perhaps, no proposition in ethics more 

 susceptible of demonstration than that most ac- 

 cumulations of wealth, whether in the hands of 

 individuals, or of corporations, tend to popular 

 corruption and the depravity of morals. This is 

 likely to be the consequence in a majority of cas- 

 es ; but in the case of the farmer, vast wealth is 

 rarely, if ever, attained. 



In the language of Everett : "His glory is 

 to create and construct. Other men may fetch 

 and carry, and exchange ; all rests at last on his 

 primitive action. He is close to nature. The 

 food which was not, he makes to be. All nobility 

 rests on the use of land. Tillage is the original 

 calling of the race ; many men are excused from 

 it, yet if they have not something to give the 

 farmer for his corn, they must return to their 

 planting. The farmer stands nearest to God, the 

 first cause." 



Occupying a position of so much honor and 

 importance, how necessary that he should realize 

 its many duties, and by a proper exercise of his 

 heaven- conferred attributes and faculties, endea- 

 vor to secure their performance. 



FAT SOWS FOR BREEDERS. 



John Skaats, of Alexandria, N. Y., has success- 

 fully raised pigs from pork-fat sows, for the last 

 fifteen years, and his experience is, "the fatter 

 the better." The correctness of this principle is 

 doubted by the editor of the Oenesee Farmer, 

 while it is fully endorsed by a writer for the Val- 

 ley Farmer, who adds the following remarks : 



We deem the system practiced by Mr. Skaats 

 as the only correct one in breeding swine, and it 

 is precisely the one that we have always practiced. 

 Sows should never be bred till they are at least 

 18 months old, nor a boar under 12, or better 18 

 months old. Up to this age sows should not be 

 allowed to get excessively fat, until they are with 

 pig, and then they can hardly be too fat, with 

 prudent keeping. Pigs, when they first come 

 from such sows are usually small, but the sow has 

 a store of flesh which she will impart to them in 

 an increased flow of rich milk, and the pigs will 

 start ofl^ unimpeded, and, with proper care, even 

 on Western farms, may attain proper size for the 

 knife (say from 250 to 350 lbs.) at 12 or 18 

 months old. It is important that none but the 

 best sows be reserved for breeding, and it is 

 equally important that each sow bring two litters 

 a year. When the pigs are about two months 

 old take them at once from the sow. The sudden 

 check in the secretion of milk will cause her at 

 the end of four days to come in season. She is 

 then reduced somewhat in flesh, and she will not 

 fail to breed. Then continue generous feeding 

 as when she was giving milk, and she will again 

 become fat. Continuing this course, with prop- 

 erly selected sows, two litters of pigs may be reg- 

 ularly had within the twelve months, and up to 

 five or six years the sow will continue to improve 

 as a breeder. With suitable crosses and well se- 

 lected boars, the breeds of swine may be constant- 

 ly improved ; whereas, by the ordinary manage- 

 ment of ninety-nine hundreths of the Western 

 farmers, the best breeds will constantly deterio- 

 rate. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SHEEP AND DOGS. 



Sheep raising is considered one of the most 

 profitable branches of husbandry in New Eng- 

 land. But no one dares to engage in the busi- 

 ness, because the country is overrun with dogs, 

 suff"ered to go where they please. Dr. Loring, 

 of Salem, justly said, at an agricultural meeting 

 in the State House, "It is a burning shame that 

 we cannot raise sheep in Massachusetts by leason 

 of dogs." It is true that we cannot keep sheep 

 in safety ; and our farmers are deprived of a great 

 source of profit by it. It is pretended that our 

 wise legislators have provided a law, good and 

 strong, to protect the farmer against the ravages 

 of dogs, if put in force, and oblige the town to 

 pay the damages. 



This law is not worth the paper it is written 

 on, so far as giving safety to the sheep is con- 

 cerned, as it does not meet the demands in the 

 case. So long as there are five thousand dogs 

 kept, and suff'ered to run at large, in Essex coun- 

 ty, there will be no sheep raising in the county. 

 Who would invest his money in sheep, and turn 



