1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FABMER. 



59 



men who are always anxious to get of every nov- 

 elty that is presented, and who have faith to be- 

 lieve that each new invention is pregnant with 

 great riches. They dream of wealth while under 

 the soporific influence of the loquacious agent, 

 and in their deceptive ecstacy can almost imagine 

 themselves the prototypes of the patriarch Kil- 

 mansegg, whose good fortune is described in a 

 humorous poem by Thomas Hood, from which the 

 following is an extract : 



♦'Tradition said he feathered his nest 

 Through an agricultural interest 



In the golden age of farming ; 

 When golden eggs were laid by the geese, 

 And Colchian sheep wore a golden fleece, 

 And golden pippins — the sterling kind 

 01 Hesperus — now so hard to find — 



Made horticulture quite charming. 



"Moreover, he had a golden ass, 

 Sometimes at stall, and sometimes at grass, 



That was worth his own weight in money — 

 And a golden hive, on a golden bank, 

 Where golden bees, by alchemical prank, 

 Gathered gold instead of honey." 



I hare before me a pamphlet published in 1848, 

 professing to disclose a new method of making 

 manure. It claims to show how to convert al- 

 most everything on the farm into a rich fertilizing 

 compost, which costs next to nothing and is capa- 

 ble of being increased to an unlimited extent. 

 The system is somewhat complicated, and requires 

 the building of vats, drains and other appurte- 

 nances. 



This pamphlet cost the owner five dollars, and 

 1 doubt whether he ever read it through ; and al- 

 though a goodly number of farmers purchased 

 the right, I have not been able to find, after 

 the lapse of fifteen years, a single farm where 

 this method was applied. But, says one, I ob- 

 tained some good ideas from Bomer's Method. 

 No doubt of it, but would you not have obtained 

 more information for the money if it had been in- 

 vested in standard agricultural books ? 



A few years ago a new variety of corn was 

 hawked about the country at a ninepence per ear, 

 which was recommended to yield several hundred 

 bushels to the acre. Those who tested it found 

 themselves in possession of a large supply of green 

 com at harvest time, but very little of the full and 

 ripe corn. A marvelous potato appeared soon af- 

 ter, which was too costly to be sold by the bush- 

 el, and therefore was disposed of at a certain 

 price per eye. The only advantage ever derived 

 from it was the opening of the eyes of those who 

 bought it. 



Many farmers have been deceived by the agents 

 of irresponsible nurserymen, who, with a beauti- 

 ful picture-book and a smooth tongue, have 

 sponged a large order from them, and then for- 

 warded such trash as a nurseryman at all anxious 

 for his roputation would have discarded from his 

 grounds as worthless. And rather than be called 

 mean by the cheeky agent they have paid the bill 

 and set the trees. How much better to take a 

 day's time and visit the grounds of some respon- 

 sible nurseryman and make the selection yourself, 

 and know for a certainty that you have secured 

 the varieties which you desired, and which the la- 

 bels on the trees represent them to be. 



It is not the intention of the writer by these re- 

 marks to throw out the impression that strangers 

 are always imposters. Far from it. In many bus- 

 iness transactions it is necessary to deal with 



sin-angers, and as great a benefit may be received 

 from a stranger as from a fellow-townsman. But 

 it is well to remember, ihat a new man with anew 

 subject for discussion has a decided advantage in 

 his favor. By constant study he has learned how 

 to present his side of the subject in the most fa- 

 vorable light possible. And as the same objec- 

 tions will naturally arise in the minds of different 

 people from hearing the same story told in the 

 same manner, he has learned how to answer or 

 evade every objection that is raised. Let a com- 

 pany of farmers discuss the same subject among 

 themselves and they would be quite likely to ar- 

 rive at a correct conclusion. 



Be suspicious of those who, by much talking, 

 are determined to make you yield, — who flatter 

 your pride, and who propose to give more than a 

 dollar's worth for a dollar. Let no one say that, 

 because he has once been deceived, he will never 

 test anything that is new. He ought to receive 

 new things with a charitable and an investigating 

 spirit, but with discrimination also. Viator. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT ARE GOOD COWS? 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in your issue of Dec. 

 19th, an article in which some one says he had a 

 brother in York State, who had two cows from 

 which a half-ton of butter was made annually, for 

 several years, besides supporting a family of three 

 persons, together with all their company, so far 

 as butter and milk is concerned, and made 400 

 lbs. of pork ! These cows are called only good, 

 not extra, and no grain in their feed. 



Up here among the granite mountains we think 

 that if the cows are not extra the story is. Fur- 

 thermore, these cows are said to have been kept 

 on a five-acre pasture, together with a horse, a 

 yearling or two, and an indefinite number of calves, 

 while a portion of the grass goes to seed, and is 

 not fed short in the fall. I do not say I think 

 that is a tiptop pasture, for it may lie spread out 

 in some rich valley. But I do say I wish I owned 

 one like it for a calf pasture. 



Honestly, I have no doubt but they have fine 

 cows in York State, and very rich land, cultivated 

 in the best manner. But if the gentleman who 

 is the owner of the cows and the five-acre pas- 

 ture in question would be kind enough to tell us 

 the precise number of cattle he kept in said pas- 

 ture, and what amount of fodder, corn, carrots, 

 ruta bagas, or other green feed, the same received, 

 how many months they were stabled, &c, and 

 what a good cow will do there, with ordinary 

 treatment, I shall be better able to form a correct 

 estimate of the vahie of his pasture, and also of 

 what value the extra kindness is in the dairy line. 



Goshen, N. H., 1863. J. M. 



How to Catch Sheep. — Never seize them by 

 the wool on the back. It hurts them exceedingly, 

 and in some cases has been known to kill them, 

 particularly in hot weather, when they are large 

 and fat. The best way is to avoid the wool alto- 

 gether. Accustom yourself to catch them by their 

 hind leg, or, wh*t is still better, by the neck, plac- 

 ing one hand under the jaws, and the other just 

 back of the ears. By lifting the head in this man- 

 ner, a child may hold almost any sheep, without 

 danger to the animal or himself. 



