1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



301 



best. It is an affair, in some degree, of social 

 training — it is one aspect of knowledge of the 

 world. Those who are little in general society — 

 who confine themselves to family intercourse or to 

 that of a set or clique, whatever the position, 

 ■whatever the intellectual or moral pretensions of 

 that clique — are almost sure to fail in it in new 

 scenes. All persons of a single idea, engrossed by 

 one object, are perpetually infringing on the rules 

 of good taste. If they are religious, they are 

 pragmatical and intolerant, regardless of sensibil- 

 ities. If they are useful, they do their work with 

 unnecessary fuss. If they are learned, or deep, or 

 clever, they make these good gifts unpopular. If 

 they are merry, we are kept on thorns — if they are 

 grave, they are a check and restraint. They fail 

 in every social crisis. In every difficulty they take 

 the wrong way. They are forward when they 

 ought to be retiring — their diffidence is constantly 

 misplaced. There is no knowing where such peo- 

 ple are — to what lengths an emergency or excited 

 spirits will drive them. It is the cause of half the 

 seeming injustice of society. The man of bad 

 taste cannot comprehend why things are not tol- 

 erated in him which are alloMed in others. He is 

 the last to see that the presence or absence of a 

 correct taste makes the same practice or amuse- 

 ment agreeable or repugnant — that nothing can 

 be judged fairly without taking the manner of do- 

 ing it into consideration. He is therefore for ev- 

 er grumbling at the inconsistencies of mankind. 

 The fact is, every hinge, with some people, grates 

 and creaks, at each turn jarring on sensitive 

 nerves ; while good taste is the oil which keeps 

 the machinery of society, with the least wear and 

 tear, noiselessly and profitably at work. — London 

 Saturday Bevieic. 



Fvr tlte New England Farmer. 



NOTES FROM THE MONOMACK. 

 BY SAGGAUEW. 



Sparks from a Locomotive Farmer. — A 

 short time since the writer enjoyed an hour's rail- 

 road ride with that well known and well to do Es- 

 sex farmer, Mr. John Day, of Boxford. Wheth- 

 er or not the hour was well improved, let the read- 

 er judge, after glancing at the following 'sparks." 



•How HE Started. — Mr. Day commenced as 

 a farmer by taking a small farm to "carry on at 

 the halves." He commenced without any capital 

 whatever, except his own hands and brains. For 

 twenty years he gave particular attention to rais- 

 ing grass for the market, and during all this time 

 he annually sold nearly his entire hay crops. 

 Notwithstanding this exhaustive process, his land 

 actually improved year by year, so that where he 

 at first cut only ten tons of hay per year, he has 

 for the past twelve years averaged o)ie hundred 

 tons a year ! 



How HE DID IT. — In the first place, he annu- 

 ally used, and still uses, large quantities of peat 

 muck. This he composts with anything and ev- 

 erything he can get hold of that will assist in its 

 decomposition. He has it constantly in his barn- 

 yard, in his pig-pen and in his barn-cellar. He 

 adds two cords of muck to every cord of manure 

 dropped by his stock ; one cord to every four 

 bushels of wood ashes he can collect ; large quan- 

 tities to the contents of his privy and his hennery ; 



and in this way he annually collects pretty large 

 heaps of manure. But not satisfied with this, he 

 is constantly purchasing manure, and also the va- 

 rious other fertilizers, such as lime, gypsum, su- 

 perjihosphate of lime, guano, ashes, &c. 



How HE Manures.— He adopts the plan of a 

 four years' rotation of crops — first year, corn or 

 potatoes; second year, grain; third and fourth 

 years, grass — and applies twenty cords of manure 

 per acre to the planting crops. He thinks that 

 one-third muck and two-thirds stable manure 

 makes the best fertilizer for general purposes he 

 ever used. He had rather have a cord of muck 

 well composted with four to six bushels of wood 

 ashes than the same bulk of clean stable manure. 

 He thinks that no farmer, who has muck within 

 reasonable distance, can afford to sell his wood 

 ashes for less than one dollar per bushel, or leached 

 ashes for less than fifty cents per bushel. He 

 values coal ashes very highly, as an absorbent. 

 He values sawdust at one dollar per cord, for the 

 same purpose. He can't aftbrd to shovel loam 

 for compost, if he can get muck instead. 



His Crops. — For twelve years he has averaged 

 from eighty to eighty-three bushels of shelled 

 corn per acre. He nov/ plants only the twelve- 

 rowed corn, as he has found by experience tliat 

 the same land and labor that will give him eighty 

 bushels per acre of the twelve-rowed, will not give 

 him above sixty bushels of the eight-rowed varie- 

 ty, and he thinks twenty bushels bonus worth 

 having. He has now under cultivation only thir- 

 ty-nine acres of tillage land, and he keeps twen- 

 ty-five cows, six oxen and two horses. He raises 

 and feeds on his place about 1000 bushels of grain 

 annually. He can't afford to sell it. (He sells 

 large quantities of milk.) He don't think mead- 

 ow hay is worth harvesting. It is only fit for 

 bedding, and he had rather have sawdust for that 

 purpose. 



Breeds of Cows. — He has tried various breeds 

 and crosses for milk, and has concluded that as a 

 general rule the half-blood Durhams are decided- 

 ly the best for milk sellers. They give a large 

 quantity, and of a good color. The Jerseys he 

 thinks are an excellent kind for a single family 

 cow. The Ayrshires are desirable where a great 

 quantity of milk is wanted. 



Milk versus Water. — He found by actual 

 measurement the past winter that during a period 

 of two Aveeks, in which his cows were not once 

 allowed out of the barn, they drank an average 

 of forty-six quarts of water per day each ; while 

 for the week following, during which they were 

 daily allowed several hours in the yard, the con- 

 sum])tion of water was not more than one-half as 

 much, and the gross product of milk was four 

 gallons less per day. One reason for this difler- 

 ence, he thinlvs, is found in the fixct that when his 

 cattle are in-doors, they are quiet, warm and con- 

 tented ; but when turned out, they are apt to be 

 restless, cold, and perhaps worrying one another. 

 Under the latter circumstances they seem to eat 

 more, but drink less. He allows his cattle free 

 access to salt at all times. Both coarse and fine 

 salt are kept constantly within their reach. 



Sorghum. — He thinks that our New England 

 farmers will in time make all their own molasses. 

 He has proved that he can make as good an arti- 

 cle as he can buy, and at a cost not exceeding 

 twenty-five cents per gallon. At first, he was 



