1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



343 



Like almost everything else, the business may 

 be carried to excess and overdone. I incline 

 to the opinion that the salt hay crop is a bene- 

 fitto the farmers of" Essex county ; and I submit 

 that all farmers who do not have to go more 

 than seven or eight miles are better off for hav- 

 ing a share in it. N. B. Butler. 

 Hamilton, Mass., March 28, 1867. 



coming season for harvesting acrop of "dried 



grass.'''' 



UP IN THE BARN. 



Remarks. — We have sometimes doubted 

 whether the salt hay crop of Essex county, 

 has been profitable to the farmers who harvest 

 it ; but the facts so clearly and minutely stated 

 in the above well drawn article, make us agree 

 with the writer in the result to which he has 

 arrived, viz : — that farmers who do not have 

 to go more than seven or eight miles for it 

 may be better off for having a share in it. 



FEEDING EAJILT CUT GRASS. 

 In some notes on the farm of Hon. Harris 

 Lewis of Frankfort, N. Y., President of the 

 Little Falls Farmers' Club, by Mr. X. A. 

 Willard, in the Corintry Gentleman, we find 

 the following remarks on his use of early cut 

 hay :— 



Mr. Lewis holds that grass, all things con- 

 sidered, is the best food for milch cows ; and 

 that dried grass is cheaper and better for cows 

 in the spring, than hay and grain. He usually 

 commences cutting his grass in June — cures it, 

 if possible, without rain, and so that it will 

 come out of the mow with a bright green col- 

 or, and with the fragrance of newly mown hay. 

 This he uses for cows giving milk in spring, 

 before turning out to pasture. 



He used to feed his cows in spring with 

 grains, ship-stuffs, &c. — often what would be 

 called "high feeding" — but found it to result 

 in various troubles and serious losses ; garget 

 attacked the udder, ill-health prevailed in va- 

 rious ways, and his cows gave out sooner than 

 they ought. He then changed to his present 

 system of feeding, and with the most happy 

 results. His cows are healthy, they keep 

 in flesh, they yield a good supply of milk, and 

 it is all done with much less expense than the 

 grain feeding. His cows to-day (May 13th,) 

 are in good flesh, thrifty, healthy and strong, 

 and yet they have not had a mouthful of gram 

 or any other feed than "dried grass.''"' 



We have given the facts, and they may per- 

 haps be suggestive to those who have been 

 paying out large sums for grain to feed, and 

 who perhaps have troubles in their herds for 

 which they are unable to account. If the sys- 

 tem adopted by Mr. Lewis is the true one, 

 (and he contends that it is,) then it should be 

 generally introduced. To say the least, it is 

 worth the testing, and our stockmen and dai- 

 rymen will do well to make some provision the 



BT THOMA9 LACKLAND. 



Old Farmer Joe steps through the doors 



As wide to him as gates of Thebes ; 

 And thoughtful walks about the tioorfl 

 Whereon are piled his winter stores, 

 And counts the profits of his glebes. 



Ten tons of timothy up there, 



And four of clover in the bay; 

 Red-top that's cut, well, middlin' fair, 

 And bins of roots, oblong and gquare, 



To help eke out the crops of hay. 



A dozen head of cattle stand 

 Reflective in the leaf-strewn yard; 



Axid stalks are stacked on every hand, 



The latest offering of the land 

 To labor long maintained and hard. 



Cart-loads of pumpkins yonder lie — 



The horse is feeding in his stall. 

 The oats arc bundled scaflbld high, 

 And peas and beans are heaped hard by, 

 As if there were some festival. 



At length Old Farmer Joe sits down — 



A patch across each of his knees ; 

 He crowds his hat back on his crown, 

 Then clasps his hands — so hard and brown— 

 And, like a farmer, takes his ease. 



"How fast the years do go I" 



"It seems, in fact, but yesterday. 

 That in this very barn, we three- 

 David, Ezekiel and me — 

 Pitched in the summer loads of hay I 



David — he sails his clipper now; 



And 'Zekiel died in Mexico— 

 Some one must stay and ride to plow, 

 Get up the horse and milk the cow — 



And who, of course, but little Joe. 



I might have been — I can't tell what I 

 Who knows about it till he tries? 



I might have settled in some spot, 



Where money is more easy got; 

 Perhaps beneath Pacific's skies. 



I might have preached, like Parson Jones; 



Or got a living at the law ; 

 I might have gone to Congress, sure} 

 I might have kept a Water Cure ; 



I might have gone and been — oh, pshaw I 



Far better is it as it is ; 



What future waits him, no man knows: 

 What he has got, that stire, is hisj 

 It makes no odds if stocks have riz, 



Or politicians come to blows I 



Content is rich and somethin' more— 

 I think I've heard somebody say; 



If it rains, it's apt to pour; 



And I am rich on the barn floor, 

 Where all is mine that I can raise. 



I've plowed and mowed this dear old farm. 



Till not a rod but what I know; 

 I've kept the old folks snug and warm — 

 And lived without a twinge of harm — 

 I don't care how the storm might blow. 



And on this same old farm I'll stay, 

 And raise my cattle and my corn ; 



Here shall these hairs turn wholly gray; 



These feet shall never learn to stray; 

 But I will die where I was born.'' 



And Farmer Joe pulled down his hat. 

 And stood upon his feet once more; 



He would not argue, after that. 



But, like a born aristocrat, 

 Kept on bis walk about the floor. 



