378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



Has a drain from his yard, and irrigates an excel- 

 lent crop of grass. 



Mr. Parker, of Jefferson county, had never 

 summered ten loads of manure. In December, 

 January, February, and the first half of March, 

 drew out the manure while fresh, and piled it up 

 into a large heap. In April spread the manure 

 and sowed wheat. Where the heap was, the 

 wheat was too rank and blasted. This satisfied 

 him that manure should not be piled. (We sup- 

 pose Mr. P. is in favor of spreading it on the sur- 

 face while green, as he remarked that his land is 

 not hilly, and there was no danger of the manure 

 being washed away.) When he had not straw 

 enough to litter, he goes to the woods and gath- 

 ers leaves. Puts muck, straw, leaves and horse- 

 manure into the pig-pens, and the pigs make it a 

 prime article for the garden and orchard and for 

 the corn-field. 



Mr. Faxton, of Utica, alluded to the time when 

 the farmers on the Mohawk used to make "bees" 

 to clean out their premises, drawing their manure 

 out on to the ice, so that when the river broke up 

 it might be washed away, and thus save them any 

 further trouble ! Now, the farmers wisely took 

 great pains to keep up the fertility of the soil. 



S. Walrath, of St. Lawrence county, said his 

 biggest crop was manure. Does not believe in 

 having foul seeds in manure. Cuts the hay and 

 weeds before the weeds go to seed. Saves every- 

 thing ; draws muck, grass, weeds and refuse of all 

 kinds into the barn-yard to rot. Applies his ma- 

 nure not to corn but to grass. Corn very clean, 

 grass free from weeds, and both of much better 

 quality. 



On Wednesday evening, the subject for discus- 

 sion was : 



"Dairy Farms. — Is it advisable to cultivate 

 dairy farms so as to secure fresh pastures, or are 

 permanent pastures most profitable ; and how can 

 noxious weeds be excluded from pasture lands the 

 most advantageously ?" 



Mr. Walworth, of Lewis county, thought that 

 on some of the gravelly soils of the county the 

 old pastures were best ; but on the limestone soil 

 like that in his section, breaking up the land once 

 in eight years or so was a great improvement. 

 Cows did not like the new seeded grass best. 

 White daisies, yellow dock and moss are trouble- 

 some on the old pastures, and even on the new it 

 is difficult to keep them down. 



Mr. Brown, of Lewis county, had a sixty acre 

 pasture run over with briars. It kept about ten 

 cows. He cut them, and subdued it by keeping 

 sheep. The June grass came in and spread over 

 it like a mat. It now keeps twenty-five to thirty 

 cows. Thinks this better than if it had been 

 broken up. Had sowed a little plaster on it. It 

 is limestone soil. 



Mr. Miller, of Lewis, agreed with Mr. Wal- 

 worth. Cows and horses will resort to the newly 

 seeded land, and leave the original pastures. 



Mr. Walwoetii — It is important to manure as 

 well as plow. 



Mr. Lyon, of Lewis, said gravelly land re- 

 quired to be plowed oftener than the limestone 

 lands. Cattle will leave timothy and clover, and 

 go to the June grass brought in on the native 

 pastures. 



S. Walrath, of St. Lawrence county. — The 

 great point is to get land clean before seeding. 



President Geddes remarked that Mr. Wal- 

 rath's farm was the cleanest and neatest he had 

 ever seen. Not a square foot of weeds on the 

 whole farm of fifty acres. If Mr. W. would come 

 to Onondaga, they would send him to Congress. 



Solon Robinson. — That would be but a poor 

 compensation. 



Mr. Walratii. — Land quite natural to white 

 clover. Top-dressed his grass lands ; cows did 

 not like it for a few weeks, but after mowing pre- 

 fer it to all others. Considei'ed June grass a weed, 

 and took as much pains to destroy it as any other 

 weed. Cows prefer the new seeded land. Inju- 

 rious to the new grass to feed it the first year. 



E. L. Halsey, of Cayuga, said permanent pas- 

 tures gave a better quality of butter. Clover will 

 carry more stock. 



Mr. Stanley, of Lewis county, has pastures 

 sixteen years old, that produce better than lands 

 seeded three years ago. Cows prefer the old pas- 

 tures in the spring. The grass starts quicker. 



Mr. Lyon, of Lewis county, had two pastures 

 — one which had been down three years, and one 

 seven years. The former afforded double the feed 

 of the latter. 



Mr. Ellison, of Herkimer, spoke highly of 

 plaster for grass lands. Cattle prefer the plas- 

 tered grass. Frequent plowing is not beneficial. 

 Plaster in the spring, and manure in the fall. 



Solon Robinson recommended salt as a top- 

 dressing for grass lands. It had proved very ben- 

 eficial on his farm at Westchester county. It 

 sweetens the grass. He had sowed as much as 

 ten bushels per acre. 



On Thursday evening, the subject for discus- 

 sion was — 



"TuE Agriculture of New York. — Is it 

 paying a fair compensation for the capital and la- 

 bor employed ?" 



D. Parker, of Watertown, did not keep a rec- 

 ord. If he did, he thought it would show that 

 farming was not very profitable. He had got a 

 living, however, and his farm would sell for $4000 

 more than when he commenced. He ran in debt 

 for the farm (93 acres.) Had had rather a hard 

 time of it, but it was now all paid for, with good 

 buildings, etc. 



J. J. Thomas mentioned sevei*al cases in Cayu- 

 ga county, where farmers had made large profits. 

 One young man, with $1000, bought "a $5000 

 farm, and in five years had paid all but $1,800 

 from the profits of the farm. Another had bought 

 a $6,000 farm, and paid $1,000 a year on it from 

 the profits. Several such instances of successful 

 farming were mentioned. Others of equal intelli- 

 gence might do the same. 



A gentleman asked, "What crops those far- 

 mers had grown?" Mr. T. replied, "In most 

 cases, mixed husbandry — wheat, barley, oats and 

 peas ; in some instances, peas had been substitut- 

 ed for barley. They had also underdrained." 



A. L. Fish, of Herkimer, thought the subject 

 hardly debatable. The State of New York had 

 become wealthy, and the principal source of it was 

 agriculture. 



Solon Robinson eloquently elaborated the 

 same idea. The majority of merchants in New 

 York were bankrupts at the end of fifteen or 

 twenty years. 



Mr. Ellison, of Herkimer, thought if the mer- 

 chant had j^racticed the same economy he would 



