68 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



year, and tell in what you gained, and in what you 

 lost. 



Now, what do we find upon the other sheet? 

 Nothing ; we have searched for something to say 

 in its favor, but the sheet is blank, and we fear 

 must remain so. If, as j'ou peruse these lines, 

 you feel convinced that benefits would arise from 

 the system, will you not determine to commence 

 this year a new era, which shall ever remain upon 

 the pages of history a bright example of progress 

 in the nineteenth century ? Do not be deterred 

 by the seeming difficulties of the task ; they will 

 vanish as you approach them. 



J. Franklin Spaulding. 



Nashua, N. H., 1863. 



Remarks. — Good advice, brother farmers — do 

 not fail to follow it. 



SALT AND COLD VtTATER FOR SWINE. 



It is not a common ])ractice, we think, to give 

 salt to swine occasionally, while every farmer 

 would consider it a prime duty to offer it to his 

 neat stock, horses and sheep, as often as once a 

 week. To be sure, the swine get a little salt in 

 the slops from the kitchen, but only a little, com- 

 pared with the amount given to other animals. 

 In proportion to their weight, why do they not 

 need as much salt as the other stock on the farm ? 



We find an article going the rounds of the pa- 

 pers upon the use of salt for fattening swine. 

 The writer states that "he selected two pairs of 

 barrow hogs weighing 200 pounds each. One pair 

 received, with their daily allowance of food, two 

 ounces of salt ; the other pair, similarly fed, none. 

 In the course of a week, it was easily seen that the 

 salted pair had a much stronger appetite than the 

 others, and after a fortnight, it was increased to 

 two ounces apiece. After four months, the weight 

 of the salted hogs was 350 pounds each, while 

 that of the unsalted, five weeks later, reached only 

 300 pounds. The experiment was repeated with 

 almost precisely the same results." 



If such should prove to be the general result, 

 most farmers have not gained all the advantages 

 they might have done from the food fed out. 

 From the example cited, there is no indication 

 that the salt excited a morbid appetite, and px'o- 

 duced unnatural flesh and fat. Of course, a sound 

 judgment must be exercised in the use of salt, as 

 well of grain or any other food. 



Another neglect of swine — and sometimes it 

 must be a cruel one — is that of not giving them a 

 plentiful stipply of pure cold water. Why it is 

 supposed that the hog should not need water as 

 well as the cow and sheep — neither of whom work 

 — is more than we can tell. They do require it. 

 When water is not given them, although fed with 

 Bwill, they will drink heartily of the water collect- 

 ed in the yard or barn-cellar, after visiting their 

 trough several times, and finding it empty and 



dry. Nothing is more grateful to them in a hot 

 day than a bucket of cool water, dranli from a 

 clean, sweet trough. We trust that farmers will 

 give attention to the matter, and ascertain for 

 themselves whether our suggestions are valuable 

 or not. 



ROAD MAKING. 



To travel over a good road is a comfort which 

 all appreciate who have ever been jolted over or 

 dragged through a bad one ; and it is a matter of 

 surprise that so little attention is paid to this mat- 

 ter in country towns. If a road is once built in 

 good condition and according to the principles of 

 Civil Engineering, it will afterward need little re- 

 pairing unless it is subject to heavy washes from 

 rain or carried away by spring freshets. 



Our common roads are seldom constructed with 

 care. The path is staked of the desired width — 

 which is generally too narrow by one-half — and 

 the soil turned up with the plow ; sometimes 

 gravel is hauled on and the scraper used to make 

 it level. There is seldom any provision made for 

 drainage, and the washing of the hills is attempted 

 to be prevented by huge "bars," as they are call- 

 ed, which are in most cases the most villainous 

 and destructive things to carriages and comfort 

 that the perverse ingenuity of a "highway survey- 

 or" ever invented. 



On farms, little attention is paid to the roads 

 which cross the fields and woods, while the bridg- 

 es across the runs are dangerous to cart wheels 

 and the limbs of cattle and horses. 



In many places these evils are serious enough 

 to demand immediate attention, and yet such is 

 the force of habit that men will drive their rick- 

 erty hay-carts over the same old bridge or stony 

 road until the final excursion breaks the camel's 

 back and the cart goes to smash. 



We should set out with the principle that it is 

 cheapest in the long run to build a good road, and 

 for several reasons : — It costs but little more at 

 first ; it needs little repair ; it enables one to 

 move heavier loads with less strength ; it saves 

 wear of carts, carriages, horses, cattle, patience, 

 and many a broken limb ; it is a credit to a town 

 and a recommendation to any farm if the roads 

 and paths through it are neat and in good order. 



Having thus expressed our opinion, which we 

 suppose few will be found to dispute, we proceed 

 to give a few hints on road-making, which may be 

 of service to our readers. 



The best material for road surface is broken 

 stone two inches in diameter, not much more or 

 less, covered with a layer of gravel. It should be 

 made only shghtly convex, the drainage being 

 provided for at the sides by proper ditches, 

 where there is a clay soil, the ditch should be dug 

 in the middle of the road and fiUe withcoarsed up 

 stones and then the sod and other materials placed 

 on top of it. On hill-sides, unless the descent is 

 very steep, bars will only aggravate the difficulty 

 they were intended to cure. Let the road be pro- 

 perly graded — if a long hill not all in one sweep 

 from summit to foot — but in two and three grades, 

 with levels of a rod or two between ; this will ren- 

 der the ascent easy and break the flow of water. 

 The ditch should be well defined and clean each 

 side, and the surface very slightly convex. 



