KEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Aug. 



tools, &c., wliich were not consistent with good 

 farming. Now while it will pay to be a good 

 farmer, it may not bring in the dollars to be a 

 slick farmer. 



Mr. Church asked, is the almighty dollar the 

 only thing we should live for ? Do not com- 

 fort, beauty and cheerful appearance pay us 

 well for slicking up ? When friends come to 

 visit us, does it not pay in enjoyment to walk 

 with them about a slick farm. A good farmer 

 is a slick farmer. 



]\lr. B. knew a man who probably wastes 

 $500 or $1000 a year by careless manage- 

 ment. Everything is at loose ends. At one 

 time he had about twenty barrels of tal- 

 low. The hogs got to it and destroyed a part 

 of it. At another time he went with friends 

 to see a field of wheat, and found oOO or 400 

 sheep in it. There was nothing secure and 

 tidy in his management, for he was always in 

 a hurry, doing great business with constant 

 waste and carelessness. 



Z. E. J. thought that to be a slick farmer all 

 work must be done promptly and systematically. 

 The farmer who has not sufficient help finds it 

 necessary to begin many jobs and deler finish- 

 ing them until some future time. If many 

 jobs are thus left, things get at loose ends rap- 

 idly. There are some things that can be post- 

 poned without serious damage ; others cannot 

 be left without loss. Only half my year"'s sup- 

 ply of wood is in the shed ; the rest lays in the 

 door-yard. We sometimes leave the hoeing, 

 to shear sheep or to work on the roads ; or 

 Laying, to cut grain. The farmer often acts 

 as carpenter, joiner, painter, glazier, and, if 

 handy, something may be thus saved. Will it 

 pay to hire all this done for the sake of having 

 it appear slick ? I think if a man is in debt 

 and trying to pay uj) a mortgage, slick farm- 

 ing will not bring money into his pocket. 

 Slick farming improves the looks of a farm 

 more than it increases the crops. 



Wm. L. Johnson understood this question 

 to mean, will it pay, after a man is a thorough- 

 going farmer, to put on the polish ? The ex- 

 treme slovenly cases are not the standard of 

 comparison. 



F. S. Brown thinks it is profitable to have 

 stumps and stones taken from the tillage land, 

 and all useless, refuse matter and rubbish 

 slicked up about the house and barn. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NEAT STOCK IMPROVEMENT. 



In conse(|uence of the agitation of the sub- 

 ject at our Farmer's' Lyceum, the increased 

 reading of agricultural papers, and observa- 

 tions at annual Fairs, the beginnings of im- 

 provement in this department are manifest in 

 this vicinity. 



Some two years ago, a pure-bred two-year 

 old Durham bull was obtained from abroad, 

 but there being no pure-bred cows to match 



with him, none but grade stock was the result, 

 until a pure bred cow was brought fiom Massa- 

 chusetts. She brought a bull calf, which was sold 

 at five months old for $12.5, to be kept in the 

 neighborhood. She recently drop[)ed a heifer 

 cak', which M'as valued at $150, but unfortu- 

 nately it got drowned in a mud-puddle the first 

 night ! The owner went immediately to Mas- 

 sachusetts and purchased a cow and calf and a 

 bull, being determined to give the breed a fair 

 trial on our soil and hills. 



Nearly two yeai's ago, a man in the opposite 

 part of the town got some Aldeincy calves, 

 also from Massachusetts, and is intending to 

 give that breed a hearing. 



Another man, five years ago, obtained from 

 the same State a heifer calf, half Alderney 

 and half Ayershire. She proves to make a 

 superior family cow, valued at $200. 



Last season three pure bred Ayrshires — one 

 bull and two heifers — were brought from New 

 York and Coimecticut. The bull, a yearling, 

 served about eighty cows, during the year, 

 — most of them, so called natives — with a few 

 grade Devons and grade Durhams. Those 

 calvef that have already made their appear- 

 ance give good satisfaction, and are no dis- 

 credit to their sire. They are well built, of 

 good size, and remarkably smart. As they 

 seem to understand from birth that they are to 

 be "raised," they take to drinking and eating 

 intsiinctively . I have four of them ; three of 

 Avhich drank the first time they were told to, 

 and the other required but little coaxing with 

 the fingers. My neighbor, across the way, is 

 also raising four, and says he never had any 

 calves that made so little trouble, or did so 

 well ; and he has raised several each year for 

 a long time. 



To encourage others, in other localities, to 

 make some effort for stock improvement, I 

 will say that the service of the bull amounted 

 to his first cost, the first year ; that he has 

 grown quite enough to pay for his keeping, 

 and consequently that there is yet no loss. 

 Although 1 offered a present of ten dollars to 

 any man in the neighborhood, who would get 

 one of this breed, no one would risk it. I 

 therefore risked it myself, though without suit- 

 able conveniences ; but I do not regret it, be- 

 lieving now more than ever that it will prove 

 for the public good, and a paying investment. 



One thing is certain. Very little, if any im- 

 provement of the "natives" can be expected 

 without considerable effort ; and some one in 

 every place must begin. Judging from my 

 little experience, there is but small chance for 

 pecuniary loss, even if a tall price is paid for 

 the thorough-breds to start with. But rather 

 than no l)eginning, I would say begin with half- 

 breds, which will cost much less. 



The above having been written several 

 weeks ago, and not forwarded, by being mis- 

 laid, I am now able to add that several of the 

 half-blood Ayershire bull calves that have been 

 fattened attained a plumpness and weight, at 



