294 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



the rye at $20, to 86,14, showing the money val- 

 ue consumed daily by each cow to be be $0.1919, 

 (nineteen cents and nineteen one-hundredths,) 

 nearly three times the estimated cost of pastur- 

 age, and considerably less than the cost of dry 

 feed at the barn. 



In Mr. Colman's "Fourth Report of the Agri- 

 culture of Massachusetts," (1841,) p. 256, some 

 facts are stated in relation to fifty cows kept in 

 Lowell for the purpose of obtaining their manure 

 for some use connected with coloring goods. 

 The cows were kept constantly in the barn. In 

 two jears they consumed 418 tons of hay, at an 

 average cost of $18,50 per ton ; and for green 

 vegetables during the same time were paid $1018 ; 

 making $8751 as the total cost of the two years' 

 feed of fifty cows — which is, according to our fig- 

 ures, a small fraction less than 24 cents (23.97) 

 per week for each cow. No calves were raised. 

 The quantity of milk obtained from the fifty cows 

 in the tM'o years, was 99,705 quarts, which at five 

 cents per quart, amounted to $4985,25 — three 

 thousand seven hundred and sixty-Jive dollars and 

 seventy-Jive cents less than the bare cost of the 

 food they ate. 



It will be perceived that in none of these cases 

 is any allowance made for attendance, or for mar- 

 keting the milk — the only object being to deter- 

 mine the cost of food consumed. 



In the monthly Farmer for January, 1857, we 

 gave a synopsis of the statement published by 

 Mr. Horsfall, of England, in relation to his exper- 

 iments in the feeding and management of milch 

 cows. Although he goes so far as to warm his 

 stables in winter, by artificial heat, as nearly as 

 possible to a temperature of 60 degrees, even cut- 

 ting and steaming most of his cows' food, yet 

 from May to October — nearly one-half of the 

 year — they have the range of a pasture. His 

 language is : 



"During May, my cows are turned out on a rich 

 pasture near the homestead ; towards evening, 

 they are again housed for the night ; when they 

 are supplied with a mess of the steamed mixture, 

 and a little hay each morning and evening. Dur- 

 ing June, when the grasses are better grown, 

 mown grass is given to them instead of hay, and 

 they are also allowed two feeds of steamed mix- 

 ture. This treatment is continued till October, 

 when they are again wholly housed." 



We have thus presented, perhaps somewhat 

 disconnectedly, a few facts which may deserve 

 the consideration of those who are interested in 

 the subject of soiling cattle. 



Remedy for Rheumatism. — Dr. Bonnet, of 

 Graulhet, in France, states, in a letter to the 

 Abe i lie Medicate, that he has long been in the 

 habit of prescribimg the essential oil of turpentine 

 for friction against rheumatism, and that he has 



used it himself with perfect success, having al- 

 most instantaneously got rid of rheumatic pains 

 in both knees and in the left shoulder. He adds, 

 that having several times soiled his hands with 

 coal tar and other sticky substances of the same 

 nature, and used the essence of turpentine, freely, 

 like water, to wash his hands in, and then washed 

 them again in soap and water, he, after drying 

 them well, always experienced a prickly sensation, 

 similar to that which is felt on receiving electrical 

 sparks on one's knuckles. This sensation would 

 last about two hours ; and it is to this exciting 

 action of oil of turpentine that he attributes its ef- 

 ficacy in rheumatism. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A GOOD CROP OP CORN, AND PRACTI- 

 CAL FARMING. 



Salmon Snow, of Saugus, raised last season 

 from one acre of sward land, one hundred and 

 seven and a half bushels of corn. The land was 

 plowed deep, and well turned the fall previous, 

 and harrowed smoothly in the spring. The only 

 dressing it had was a small shovel full of common 

 barn manure in the hill ; hoed twice, the stalks 

 cut at a proper time, and the corn suffered to re- 

 main in the field until late in the fall. This I 

 considered a great yield. But it did not happen 

 by chance ; it was the result of doing the work 

 properly, and selecting good seed. 



Corn is considered one of the standard crops in 

 New England. The farmer depends more upon 

 his corn crop than any other, and yet the majori- 

 ty of them pay but very little attention to any im- 

 proved method of cultivation. Draining is gen- 

 erally considered a waste of time and money. 

 Selecting and improving seed corn is but little 

 thought of, and yet it is one of the most impor- 

 tant things to be attended to. It should be se- 

 lected in the field. The bes"t full ears should be 

 picked off before harvesting, and traced up and 

 hung in an airy, dry place. It is improved by 

 taking it off before it gets hard and dry in the 

 field. Corn ripens earlier by bringing it from the 

 north. Land that usually yields but 25 to 40 

 bushels to the acre by the old skimming process, 

 could as well be made to produce 75 to 100 bush- 

 els per acre, with no more labor. 



Old ways and habits are hard to be changed or 

 broken up. Much has been written, said and 

 practiced upon draining, yet the majority of farm- 

 ers regard it as an outlay that does not pay j 

 while it is the reverse, nothing pays better. 



Notwithstanding all that has been written 

 against pruning apple trees in the spring, people 

 persist in doing it at that season, and ruin their 

 trees, only because it is an old custom, and a lit- 

 tle more convenient. Why not shear your sheep 

 in the winter, when you are most at leisure ? 



Farmers, do your work well, and at the proper 

 time, and we shall not hear so much croaking 

 about farming being unprofitable. I am ashamed 

 of the man that attempts to prove that farming is 

 unprofitable. Sufficient has been published in 

 the N. E. Farmer, during the past year, to prove 

 that farming is the most elevating occupation for 

 man, and that the farmer is the nobleman of the 

 land. Farming is now in its infancy. There are 

 many things to be corrected and improved. The 

 N. E. Farmer is doing its best in the work. The 



