274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FENCES AND PASTURES. 



Mr. Editor: — In relation to the profits of 

 farming, a question which has been so much dis- 

 cussed recently, it is evident that whatever tends 

 to diminish the expense, without lessening the 

 income, must, in like proportion, increase the 

 net profits. 



Many of our farmers might accomplish much 

 in this way, in the item of fencing. Farmer A., 

 for instance, finds it rather troublesome keeping 

 his cattle in the barn all the spring, and is, per- 

 haps, a little short of hay withal, and concludes 

 to turn his stock out awhile each day, but frost 

 not being quite out of the ground, or not having 

 his other work out of the way, or, it may be, think- 

 ing his cattle can do no serious damage at this 

 season, if they do chance to get out, he postpones 

 repairing fences to a "more convenient season." 



Farmer B., not having "finished sugaring," or 

 cutting up his wood-pile, until near the usual 

 time of "turning out to grass," takes a look at 

 his fences, and patches up some of the worst 

 spots, and thinks his cattle will not get over, at 

 least, until he has time to repair more thoroughly ; 

 but other business crowds, and somehow it runs 

 along till perhaps in the midst of haying, the feed 

 becoming short, his animals look out for them- 

 selves ia the corn field, or meadow, and he is 

 obliged to leave his work to drive them out, and 

 of course mends the fence where they broke over, 

 but is too busy securing his hay to look farther. 

 The cattle having once got a "taste," they must 

 be stupid animals that do not try another weak 

 spot. 



Farmer A. goes through a similar course, only 

 having "begun at the root ;" his discipline is 

 likely to be more effectual, and both farmers, af- 

 ter having spent more time in running after 

 "trespassers" and patching up fences than would 

 have been required to mend the fence so as to 

 have been absolutely safe, find themselves with a 

 set of unruly cattle on their hands, to say noth- 

 ing of the damage done to corn fields, gardens 

 and orchards, or of the effects on the temper of 

 the farmers themselves. 



Overstocking pastures, too, is a common fault. 

 I believe that, in most cases, more profit would 

 be realized by reducing the stock ordinarily pas- 

 tured in this State to two-thirds the present num- 

 ber, (and this will apply to winter keeping in 

 many cases,) and of course diminishing the labor 

 of taking care of them by nearly one-third. We 

 should then hear less of old worn-out pastures, 

 and less inconvenience would be experienced from 

 drought, both from the fact that such land would 

 be better protected from its effects, and the sur- 

 plus feed which might be made use of in case of 

 necessity. 



There is room to effect another considerable 

 saving on our cultivated grounds. Nothing is 

 more common than the disposition to measure 

 the area for cultivation by the desired amount of 

 crops as income, rather than by the amount of 

 labor which can be applied in the growing sea- 

 son, which should be the rule. 



No farmer should attempt to cultivate more 

 land than he has time to keep entirely free from 

 weeds, after making due allowance for hindrances 

 from unfavorable weather, unexpected interrup- 



tion, &c. I am fully satisfied that no more land 

 should be devoted to the corn crop, than can be 

 made to yield from GO to 80 bushels to the acre, 

 under all ordinary circumstances. Whatever is 

 attempted beyond what the above rules indicate, 

 will generally increase the expense, leave the land 

 in bad condition, and give no increase in the 

 present crop. Wm. F. Bassett. 



Ashfield, April, 18G1. 



Pot the New Ensland Farmer. 



SUGAR MAKING. 



When in mute prophetic murmurs 

 Blithely sway the bratches bare, 



Prophecies of coming summer, 

 Wrought in the mysterious air, 



Ere the bright seedtime is come, 



High we raise our "Harvest Home." 



When the blue-bird and the robin 

 By the breath are born of spring, 



And we pause full oft to listen 



To the ttrains these songsters sing, 



Sweeter things our senses thrill, 



Sweets that flow from "Sugar Hill." 



Ere the lowly, loved Arbutus 

 Springs amid the parting drifts, 



Or the early blossoming crocus 

 To the sun its brightness lifts, 



Sweeter thoughts than those of these 



Dwell amid the maple trees. 

 Sugar Hill, Jpril, 1861. 



Rustic. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WASTED MANURE. 



Mr. Editor : — Perhaps it never occurred to 

 many of the readers of the Farmer, what a vast 

 amount of manure is wasted every year, all of 

 which might be saved, by a little foi*ethought and 

 judicious management. The old proverb has it, 

 "A penny saved, is worth two earned," and no 

 doubt the rule will apply to manures, as well as 

 pennies, and here is my plan for saving it. Here 

 in Vermont — and we presume it is the case in 

 other places — many of the barn-yards are so sit- 

 uated, that while the snow is melting awa}', as 

 well as in rainy times, there is quite a stream of 

 water running through the yard, leaching and 

 washing away the best part of the manure. And 

 with regard to many of the old-fashioned barns, 

 which have no cellars, the manure is thrown out 

 of windows directly under the eaves of the barn, 

 and there it lies, often all through the summer, 

 soaking and washed with every shower. This 

 should not be so ; no farmer can afford to lose 

 so much as is lost in this way every year. Every 

 barn should either have sheds, or a cellar attached, 

 in which to* deposit the manure, and every yard 

 should be highest on the outer edges. But if this 

 is impracticable, let small trenches be dug when 

 the ground first thaws, or furrows may be plowed 

 in the fall, which should have various branches, 

 and in this way the washings of the barn-yard 

 may be carried some distance, and in all direc- 

 tions. The effects of this plan of irrigation will 

 be visible all through the season, and satisfacto- 

 ry results obtained, often increasing the hay crop 

 one-half. 



Not only water which has been filtered through 



