1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



319 



while they are not tied in the stable at all. The 

 farmer who wishes to manufacture his manure of 

 an even quality will give as much of the month of 

 May as possible to the absorbents already in the 

 yard, and will also endeavor to clean and replen- 

 ish the second time as near the first of September 

 as practicable. By this method he may get two 

 crops of manure yearly. 



MOWING MACHINES ON SMALL 

 FARMS. 



In one of the Legislative Agricultural meetings 

 which took place at the State House in March 

 last, when the topic under discussion was that of 

 Farm Implements, one or more of the speakers 

 stated that they thought mowing machines were 

 profitable on large farms, but on small ones would 

 hardly pay. 



We thought, at the time, that this was an erro- 

 neous view of the matter, and upon farther reflec- 

 tion, we think so still. The farmer who has a 

 large farm, is presumed to have capital corres- 

 ponding with his acres, and to devote his whole 

 time to the management of his estate. He is 

 never single-handed and alone. If sick, or disa- 

 bled in any way,, he has strong backs and stout 

 arms to depend upon, in his hired men, still to 

 carry on the cultivation of the crops, or to secure 

 the harvests. He can even visit the seashore 

 or the mountains, and be absent for several days 

 in succession, without any special detriment to his 

 farming operations. His corn and roots are hoed 

 and kept in a flourishing condition, and his hay, 

 and wheat, and rye crops, carefully secured, so 

 that he finds loaded scaffolds of golden grain, and 

 bursting bays of aromatic hay, all safely housed, 

 to gladden him on his return. 



If he has used a mowing machine, all this labor 

 has undoubtedly been greatly facihtated, and the 

 crops have been economically secured. But sup- 

 pose he has not availed himself of this labor-sav- 

 ing implement — he has had, and always can have, 

 a force, in athletic men, equal to all the demands 

 upon liim. If there is any class of our farmers 

 who can dispense with the mowing machine, and 

 not most sensibly feel its absence, it is this that 

 we have described. This class may be indepen- 

 dent of the machine if it will, but not without loss. 



Such, however, is not the case with the small 

 farmer. His whole success is centred in his own 

 judicious management, aided by his own muscular 

 power. The hard jobs, as well as the easy, and 

 all the duties that incessantly come, both late and 

 early, are also his. His sons may be in the army, 

 factory, or behind a counter, all but the youngest, 

 who is only fourteen, and yet has swung the scythe 

 the two previous years. 



Perhaps the farmer is considerably past middle 

 life, and although in good health, his cheek is fur- 

 rowed, and grey hairs sprinkle his temples. It is 



true that the grasshopper is not a burden to him 

 yet, but he does not feel like cutting his acre be- 

 fore dinner ; he stops to whet oftener than he did 

 twenty years ago, and rests longer in the shade of 

 the big apple tree ! In fact, his "mowing ma- 

 chine" does not work as it formerly did. There 

 is plenty of will, but less power, and the work pro- 

 gresses slowly, while he looks painfully around to 

 see what he can call in to his aid, to secure the 

 crops which beneficent Heaven has matured for 

 the support of his family. 



The moicing machine comes to such a man as 

 a real blessing. It enables him to keep up with 

 his younger neighbors ; to cut his crops in season 

 and secure them without loss. He is relieved, 

 encouraged, and feels comparatively young again, 

 because he can carry on his farm as rapidly and 

 successfully as he did in his younger and stronger 

 days ! 



Perhaps the small farmer is in feeble health — 

 not really sick, but unable to take the lead in la- 

 borious work — but with the aid of a mowing ma- 

 chine and a good horse-rake, he is more than a 

 match for the best five men in the county. But 

 this is not all. Somehow, he feels better than he 

 did. His appetite is sharp — he has gained flesh — 

 stands up straighter than for many years before, 

 and with these blessings, another has come, more 

 valuable than all, in a cheerful, frnstinr/, hopeful 

 spirit, which brings a new sunshine and joy to his 

 whole homestead ! Wonderful ! And the doctor 

 says, "All this has come because you do not work 

 so hard !" 



There are other reasons why the small farmer 

 should use a mowing machine, but we have pur- 

 sued the subject too far to give them now. We 

 have said enough to suggest many more reasons 

 to those who are willing to think about it, and so 

 we leave it at present for their own pleasant 

 thoughts and, we trust, judicious conclusions. 



Quantity of Food for Oxen. — Frequent ob- 

 servations have shown that an ox will consume 

 two per cent, of his weight of hay per day to main- 

 tain his condition. If put to moderate labor, an 

 increase of this quantity to three per cent. Avill 

 enable him to perform his work, and still maintain 

 his flesh. If he is to be fatted, he requires about 

 four and a half per cent, of his weight daily in nu- 

 tritious food. — Michigan Farmer. 



Large sums of money are paid away every 

 year, by the colonial governments in Australia, to 

 boys for the destruction of thistles. These boys, 

 like the rat-catchers, talvc care not to exterminate 

 their means of living. In order to save this ex- 

 pense, and effectually destroy the thistles, it is 

 ])roposed to introduce the goldfinch, the brown 

 linnet, the red-poll and the German siskin into 

 Australia, all of which birds live on thistle seed 

 in the season. 



