338 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



ing town, is losing nearly all his lambs in pre- 

 cisely the same way. He thinks he may have kept 

 his ewes too much confined through the winter in 

 a tight, warm stable, where they were not allowed 

 to run in the open air at all. The appearance of 

 the lambs in all the above cases is the sam*, 

 which leads me to think that the trouble is pro- 

 duced by the same cause, but what that cause is, 

 I am at a loss to determine, as no one cause seems 

 to account for the trouble in all the cases. 



It is certainly something new in this vicinity, 

 and any light which can be thrown upon the mat- 

 ter will be a great benefit to us, as sheep-raising 

 is an important branch of husbandry in this 

 State. I hope to hear from somebody. 



R. Whittemore. 



St. Albans, Vt, June 10, 1861. 



Remarks. — We earnestly hope our friends who 

 are engaged in sheep culture will consider this 

 matter, and throw light upon it, if they can. From 

 a remark in the above letter, we should be in- 

 duced to give hone meal to the sheep at once, 

 mixed with a little corn or oat meal. 



GRASS, AND HAY-MAKING. 



The cutting and securing the grass crop is a 

 pleasant and interesting, though laborious, part of 

 farm labor. The days are long and the sun hot ; 

 just what is needed to secure the crop in its best 

 condition, but well-calculated to draw heavily 

 upon the strength of the laborer. The observ- 

 ance of a few simple rules, therefore, will not 

 only promote the comfort and preserve the health 

 of many, but will actually result in the saving of 

 life. 



It is necessary, in haying-time, to rise early, 

 •where the grass is to be cut with a scythe, as it 

 is cut much easier when wet with the dew than 

 when it is dry. But in order to do this, long and 

 severe labor should be avoided before breakfast. 

 Before going to the field it would be well to eat 

 a cracker or plain piece of bread, and drink part 

 of a tumbler of water. If going to the field at 

 four o'clock, as we practiced in earlier days, break- 

 fast should bo taken at six. This should not be 

 in a hurried manner, with the whole thought de- 

 voted to the day's work, but in a quiet and delib- 

 erate way, and attended by pleasant conversation 

 in relation to the business on hand, or other 

 agreeable topics. The hands, face and arms 

 should be washed in moderately cool water, and 

 wiped "bright dry," before coming to the table. 

 At ten, a light luncheon of plain bread, or simple 

 fruit pie, and some cool drink, will be all that is 

 necessary before the dinner at twelve. Tea may 

 then be taken at five, which should also be light, 

 compared with breakfast, even for men engaged 

 in an exhausting labor. 



When these simple rules are observed, espe- 

 cially those to be deliberate and quiet in every- 



thing, the severe labor of haying may be gone 

 through pleasantly, and without the slightest in- 

 jury to the system. 



It is now nowhere fashionable, to our knowl- 

 edge, to take tho morning glass of bitters, or to 

 have the "eleven" and "four o'clock" dram in the 

 field. It is undoubtedly used in moderation by 

 some persons, but rarely, if ever, distributed 

 among the men. It was once the custom to an- 

 ticipate the important advent of the haying sea- 

 son, by gracing the larder with an extra supply 

 of "crackers and cheese," "dry cod fish," "lem- 

 ons," a jug of "old Jamaica rum," and from fif- 

 teen to thirty gallons of the real "New England 

 critter," according to the number of hands in the 

 family, and their thirsty predilections ! Accord- 

 ingly, "there were giants in those days," or at 

 least, men thought themselves so, and what was 

 sometimes unfortunate, they thought their teams 

 of horses and cattle so, too, for their loads were 

 occasionally left at the foot of the hill, or imbed- 

 ded hub-deep in the black mud of the meadow ! 



Under present customs, haying is conducted 

 more quietly, skilfully and effectually than it was 

 under the spirit pressure. 



TIME OF CUTTING, AND HOW TO CUT THE GRASS, 



The average amount of land gone over by the 

 mowers of New England, M'ith the hand scythe, 

 is not much, if any, more than one acre per day, 

 and the average crop is not more than one ton 

 per acre. If a man has twenty-five tons of hay 

 to get, he will, on this average, have twenty-five 

 acres to mow over, — making, at $1,50 per day, 

 the usual wages in haying time, $37,50. To this 

 his board is to be added for twenty-five days, say 

 $6,25, making $43,75. There are mowing ma- 

 chines of recent construction or modification with 

 which a man or boy may cut six acres per day, 

 with ease, and cut it well, either with one or two 

 horses, or a pair of oxen. It can be cut nearly 

 at this rate in convenient parcels, say one or two 

 acres at a time, so as to accommodate the hands 

 that are to tend and get it in. This will cost for 

 a man, four days, $6,00— board, $1,00— horse, 

 $4,00 — interest on machine, one year, $6,00, — 

 making $17,00, which, deducted from $43,75, 

 leaves a saving of $26,75 ! But this is not all ; 

 there is tTie saving of spreading the grass, which 

 the machine does as it cuts it, and the still more 

 important item of cutting the grass rapidly when 

 you are ready to tend it, or when the weather is 

 favorable to make it into hay. To these may be 

 added the consideration of transferring this hard 

 work from man to beast, and this is especially de- 

 sirable in many cases, where the farmer beyond 

 middle life is not able to mow at all. 



From this view of the case, it would seem that 

 the farmer who has twenty-five tons of hay to se- 



