41861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



265 



centage of comfort, health and money, than a ju- 

 dicious selection and a proper management of a 

 moderate number of fowls. I have kept i few 

 for several years, and besides the gratification af- 

 forded in rearing them, have enjoyed the luxury 

 of a good supply of fresh eggs nearly all the year 

 round ; although obliged to confine them to the 

 hennery, and buy all their eatables, I find that it 

 pays me more than the cost. Still, I would not 

 presume to compare accounts with "J. B.," of 

 Salem, who will confer a favor on many of your 

 readers, if he will give U3 a few additional items 

 in relation to the management of his fowls, which 

 proved with him so eminently successful. Did they 

 run at large, or were they confined to a hennery ? 

 When were the scraps fed to them, and in what 

 quantity ? What was given them to furnish 

 shells for their eggs ? And any other particulars 

 affecting the result. 



What is the reputation of the Leghorn hens as 

 layers, or for the table, and where can the pure 

 bloods be obtained ? I have found the Black 

 Spanish to be good layers, but not worth cook- 

 ing for the table, their flesh being very dry, 

 tough and stringy at six months. I have also 

 kept the Bolton Greys, and have found them to be 

 less prolific layers, but very excellent for eating. 



Brookline, AprilZ, 1861. J. R. B. 



For the Note England Farmer. 



VABIOUa METHODS OP ECONOMIZING 

 OUR COKN" CHOPS. 



This subject may seem to be out of season, just 

 now, as most farmers have not probably fully de- 

 cided how much they will plant, neither can they 

 for a certainty know whether they will have any 

 to economize if they do plant. It is here that 

 our faith comes into exercise, and our confidence 

 in the stability of our Heavenly Father's govern- 

 ment is manifested. The past is ever regarded 

 as the surety of the future, and the Christian man 

 regards it as a striking fulfilment of the Divine 

 promise, that while the earth remaineth, seed time 

 and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and 

 winter, and day and night, shall not cease. We 

 all expect a harvest if we plant and sow, and 

 however toilsome the occupation of the tiller of 

 the soil, all are cheered on by the hope of a boun- 

 tiful remuneration. How, then, can we secure 

 the greatest return for our labor, is the great 

 question for every man to ponder. The past sea- 

 son gave us a short hay crop ; prices hereabouts 

 were high for that article, and many sold stock at 

 low prices rather than purchase provender for 

 them. I think it can be made to appear that the 

 evils of a short hay crop can be in a great meas- 

 ure obviated by a more judicious management of 

 our corn crop, from beginning to end. I there- 

 fore present the matter previous to the usual 

 planting season, so as to give those who are dis- 

 posed an opportunity to test the suggestions I 

 now make. To many, the suggestions are not 

 new, but to a majority I suppose they are, if we 

 are to judge from their prevailing practice. 



It has become a fixed fact with me, that the 

 fodder from an acre of corn is worth more than 

 an acre of grass yielding two tons, to feed to stock 

 upon the farm. This result is attained by plant- 

 ing thicker than most do, and cutting the corn by 



the ground, when sufiiciently hardened, and put- 

 ting it in large shocks to cure. I generally plant 

 forty-two by twenty inches, leaving three stalks 

 in a hill, from which I generally harvest from fif- 

 ty to seventy-five bushels of corn to the acre. On 

 one occasion I harvested from one acre and one 

 hundred and fifty rods, one hundred and seventy- 

 two bushels. This piece was planted 18 X 36. 

 The yield of fodder was very great. 



I state the yield of corn for the purpose of an- 

 swering a prevailing notion that corn will not 

 yield good crops planted so close together. For 

 more than twenty-five years I have put corn in 

 shocks, containing from one and a half to two 

 bushels of ears without any serious injury at any 

 one time. Once, a long, wet, warm period of 

 weather caused some to mould, but not as bad as 

 much that was standing in adjoining fields. I 

 have often shocked when the dew was on, and 

 even raining. Not one-half the risk as in wilting 

 the fodder previous to shocking, as it will then 

 pack so close as to prevent the free circulation of 

 the air, which is not the case when put up green 

 or wet. As the stalks wilt, they shrink, and thus 

 the shock is open for the air freely to act through 

 them. Another advantage of large shocks is, 

 there is not so much waste by outside exposure 

 as in small ones. Some recommend putting but. 

 a half-dozen hills into a shock, some a little 

 more. Such shocks must of course expose meat 

 of the fodder to the elements, greatly injuring it. 



When the corn is sufficiently cured, 1 general- 

 ly husk in the field, binding the stalks in bundles 

 of suitable size to handle easily, setting two rows 

 of shocks together, and let them remain until 

 ready to stack, or house them, as you prefer. 



The important question nov/ is, how to use this 

 fodder to the best advantage ? I will not a^ttempt 

 to show the fallacy of any practice, but simply 

 state what appears to me the best method I know 

 of. I saw a machine for chopping stalks the past 

 winter in Daniel Sisson's barn, in Rhode Island, 

 that was operated by horse power, which would 

 prepare, in two hours, enough feed for forty or fifty 

 head of cattle for twenty-four hours use, a man and 

 horse doing all the work. The Lonsdale manu- 

 facturing company feed forty cattle, and use the 

 same description of machine, requiring the same 

 time and force. Cattle eat this chaff all up when 

 mixed with a very little shorts or meal, and cows 

 will give more and better milk than when fed on 

 hay. By resorting to the methods I have indicat- 

 ed, I see not but we can keep our stock as well as 

 farmers usually do, and much more of it. 



For a number of years past I have used a stalk 

 cutter which cuts them into two or three inch 

 pieces, and I found the stock would eat up all but 

 the big pieces, which I threw under them for bed- 

 ding. This I think economy, but not so good as 

 chaffing. The chaffing machine I have alluded to, 

 is made at Harrisburg, Pa. K. o. 



Rochester, April 16, 1861. 



Setting Milk. — Cream can not rise through 

 a great depth of milk. If, therefore, milk is de- 

 sired to retain its cream for a time, it should be 

 put into a deep narrow dish ; and if desired to 

 free it of cream, pour it into a broad flat dish, one 

 inch in depth. 



