222 



NEW ENGLAND FARjVIER. 



May 



cows. In two or three days after taking the 

 medicine they manifested a greater desire for 

 food and water. I wrote to him in Boston, 

 suggesting that it might be well for him to see 

 Mr. Flint, the Secretary of the Board of Ag- 

 riculture, and ascertain if he could give him 

 some clue to the cause of the trouble and the 

 remedy for it, or refer him to some one who 

 could do so. Mr. Flint could give no infor- 

 mation, but gave some references to parties 

 he thought it would be well to consult. From 

 the suggestion of the person in charge of his 

 place, Mr. Fay has decided to defer having a 

 veterinarian examine his stock until some one 

 of them is so reduced by the disease as to pre- 

 clude all hope of its recovery, then kill it and 

 have an investigation, and if possible ascertain 

 the seat of the trouble if its organs will dis- 

 close it. 



I will also state that calves until a week or 

 two old have an appetite for their food ; after 

 which it begins to fail, the hair in some in- 

 stances comes off, and they eventually die. 

 Mr. Fay lost some last spring, and gave away 

 some. One was taken away by Mr. LeBaron 

 to Mattapoisett. It was unable to travel 

 much ; would tumble down and required help 

 to get up. He put it on one of his cows, and 

 in the autumn it took a first class prize at the 

 Plymouth County Fair. 



Other like facts might be adduced, but the 

 foregoing, it would seem, ought to arrest the 

 attention of those who by reason of their po- 

 sition can influence the public mind ; also of 

 thoi-e familiar with the disease of animals. 



March 7, 1870. k. o. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 SPBING "WORK. 



Our almanacs tell us spring has come, but 

 in this latitude, seed-time, the up-shooting 

 blade, the opening bud and flower, and the 

 rapid springing into active life of the whole 

 vegetable kingdom are still far in the future. 

 Although wintry winds and frosts prevail for 

 fully one- half of the season, the lengthening 

 days and increasing warmth of the sun's rays 

 remind us that the busy time for farmers has 

 again arrived. A day's work of ten houre can 

 now be made, and teams and men are actively 

 employed in preparing for planting, or in 

 pushing forward permanent improvements. 



A thoughtful and careful preparation for 

 planting is of vital importance in a climate 

 like New England, where the season for 

 growing a crop is so short. The farmer who 

 is thoroughly prepared for all his planting at 

 the right time of puttmg the seed into the 

 ground can do it (juickly and well ; and if 

 ready to grapple with the weeds he can make 

 easy work of the after cultivation. When 

 planting is begun without due preparation it is 

 generally hastily and imperfectly done, and te- 

 dious and expensive cultivation is the usual re- 

 sult ; indeed it is almost impossible to make 



up by any after care for the neglect and defi- 

 ciencies in planting. 



Those who believe in being thoroughly pre- 

 pared have a system in doing their work ; they 

 determine long beforehand what crops they 

 will plant, and the amount of land they will 

 give to each. They examine carefully their 

 stock of seeds, and buy early such as they 

 need. They believe in owning all the tools 

 they use upon the farm, and in keeping tbem 

 in perfect order ; they cannot afford to bor- 

 row, even if their neighbors are willing to 

 lend, for the time spent in going after and re- 

 turning a borrowed implement, in busy sea- 

 sons, is generally worth more than the interest 

 upon the cost of the implement itself. Keep- 

 ing tools in order means more with them than 

 keepmg them housed ; it means keeping them 

 clean and bright, and repairing promptly when 

 broken, and look auead to prevent breakages. 

 If harnesses have weak or worn parts, they 

 are replaced by new ; if chains have links 

 which show indications of breaking, they are 

 cut out and new ones put in. They always 

 have on hand extra pomts for ploughs and 

 teeth for cultivators and harrows, for they 

 know if these break when work presses, the 

 delay and time lost in sending tor others is 

 much greater than the cost of new. They have 

 duplicates of those parts of the mower and 

 reaper which are most liable to give out. A 

 breakage of either, which requires sending to 

 the agent or manufacturer, may occasion a de- 

 lay a delay of one or two days for repair, the 

 effects of which will in some seasons amount 

 to many dollars. They do not think of com- 

 mencing the busy season with old and rickety 

 carts and wagons, for they are well aware that 

 money is lost every hour that men and teams 

 are working with poor tools. They are so 

 well prepared that vexatious delays and losses 

 from the want of any implement seldom oc- 

 cur. 



Early spring Is the time for preparing every- 

 thing for a vigorous campaign. Every day 

 something may be done to facilitate business. 

 Commencing early is one secret of success, 

 and those who do it are the ones who keep up 

 with their work and drive it rather than being 

 driven by it. Besides preparing for planting, 

 fences may be repaired, the old walls laid up, 

 new lines built, bushes beside walls cleared 

 up, rocks dug, stones picked up, new land 

 ploughed, something done at (.itching and 

 draining, and in short permanent improvements 

 of all kinds can be pushed forward. Repairs 

 on the roads can be done at this season better 

 than later ; gravel can be moved easier, and 

 if the work is done early the public is benefited 

 thereby. August is generally considered a 

 good time for making permanent improve- 

 ments, but after the exhausting labors of the 

 hay and grain harvest, heavy work drags slowly 

 and tediously along under the sweltermg and 

 enervating atmosphere of this month ; more- 

 over at that season, there is much to be done 



