834 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



away, and in alluding to this event the author 

 says, in his introduction, that he "has had more 

 zeal and courage in attempting to promote im- 

 provements in agriculture, since the happy termi- 

 nation of the late struggle for independence than 

 before. Our holding the rank of a free and inde- 

 pendent nation allows us to consider the country 

 as indisputably our own, and ourselves as mon- 

 archs over our farms. But the most forcible rea- 

 son for our cultivating this art, is the indispensa- 

 ble necessity of it, to enable us to live as becofties 

 an independent people. The alarming effect of the 

 present low state of husbandry is, that we are ne- 

 cessitated to import much of cur food, and cloth- 

 ing, while we are incapable of making proportiona- 

 ble remittances in the produce of the soil, or in 

 anything else. As a good system of national gov- 

 ernment is now established, I see no reason to 

 doubt but that a spirited attention to husbandry 

 and manufactures, accompanied with a more gen- 

 eral practice of frugality and economy, would put 

 us on a respectable footing ; so that such a foun- 

 dation would be laid for our increasing wealth, 

 that we should be able, in a short time to cancel 

 our publick debts ; and might reasonably hope 

 ere long to become an opulent, respectable and 

 very powerful nation." 



We think, the readers of the New England 

 Fakmek in 1870 will be interested in the follov*'- 

 ing paragraphs written by the author of the "New 

 England Farmer" in 1790. <'Forty years ago" is 

 an expression that is often considered as sugges- 

 tive of better times than our own. Here is a pic- 

 ture of New England farming, as it was seen by a 

 careful observer, twice forty years ago : — 



It is much to be regretted, that the most com- 

 plicated of all the arts, in which the brightest ge- 

 nius may find sufficient room to exert and display 

 itself, should be slighted and neglected by a peo- 

 ple not generally wanting in ambition. And it is 

 equally strange and unaccountab'e, that the most 

 useful and necessary of all employments should 

 have been considered, even by the enlightened 

 people of New England, as below the attention of 

 any persons, excepting thoje who are in the lowest 

 walks of life ; or, that persons of a liberal or polite 

 ediuation should think it intolerably degrading to 

 them, to attend to practical agriculture for their 

 support. 



Perhaps, one occasion of the low esteem in 

 which husbandry has been held, in this country, 

 may have been the poor success which has most 

 commonly attended the labours of those who have 

 embraced the profession. Not only have most of 

 them failed of rapidly increasing their estates by 

 it, but too many have had the mortification of 

 making but an indifferent figure in liie, even when 

 they have used the strictest economy, and worn 

 out their constitutions by hard and incessant 

 labour. The mii-fortune has been, that a great 

 proportion of toil has been lost by its misapplica- 

 tion. To prevent this evil in future is a leading 

 design of the present publication. And since 

 many among us begin to be convinced of the ur- 

 gent necessity of having the attention of the pub- 

 lick turned to agriculture, it is hoped that the fol- 

 lowing attempt to promote the knowledge of its 

 mystciics, and a spirited attention to the opera- 

 tions of it, will meet with the greater approbation 

 and success. And as a very respectable Society 



in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have un- 

 dertaken to propagate the knowledge of husban- 

 dry, the day may be at hand, when'the employ- 

 ment of the farmer shall no more be treated with 

 contempt; when the rich, ttie polite, and the am- 

 bitious, shall glory in paying a close attention to 

 their farms ; when respectable persons shall con- 

 fess it is one of the noblest employments to assist 

 nature in her bountifal productions; when it 

 shall be our ambition to follow the example of the 

 first man in the nation, who does not think an at- 

 tention to husbandry degrading; and when, in- 

 stead of being ashamed of their employment, our 

 laborious farmers shall, as a great writer says, 

 "toss about their dung with an air of majesty." 



HUNGAKIAN- QHAS3. 



If properly managed, a large amount of excel- 

 lent fodder may be obtained by growing this grass. 

 But, as is true in the case of herdsgrass, good fod- 

 der and good seed should not be expected at the 

 same time. If allowed to mature its seed the fod- 

 der becomes woody, dry, hard, and of little value. 

 For fodder it must be cut early, and if seed is 

 wanted, a patch of suitable size should be raised 

 by itself for that purpose. The attempts to raise 

 both together has excited much prejudice against 

 the Hungarian grass. 



The following remarks of a correspondent of the 

 Prairie Farmer are worthy of attention, as they 

 state the difficulty correctly. By following them 

 we shall get one of the most valuable crops for 

 horses and milch cows :— 



The trouble about Hungarian grass is that it is 

 not generally cut at the proper time. I have 

 raised it several years, and consider it the very 

 best hay for horses. They will keep fat on it, 

 when on Timothy hay they will grow poor. Cut 

 it when in the blow, before any seed is formed; 

 wilt it in the swathe, the same as clover, and 

 make it in the cock. The stalk is nearly solid, 

 and the hay very heavy ; and if made in this way, 

 will be as green as grass, and a horse will vt^ant little 

 grain for farm work. Give your horses all they 

 will eat of it, and they will fat with decent forage. 

 But if allowed to turn yellow, and form seed, it is 

 the same as any other grain, and will, of course, 

 injure a horse, the same as if he were fed wheat in 

 the bundle to excess. It is better to rake it by 

 hand, but on a good soil you will tumble up a big 

 cock in a small space." 



If cut and cured in the same way, there is no 

 better feed for milch cows, nor any that will make 

 more milk. We think the best after treatment is 

 to plough in the stubble as soon as the grass is 

 cut, and sow grass seed in the fall. Grass seed is 

 not apt to catch well when sowed with it in the 

 spring. 



MissorRi. — The agricultural college of Misciouri 

 has been located at Columbia, Boone county, in 

 connection with the State University. To secure 

 this location the citizens of the county gave a deed 

 of 640 acres of land, conveniently located to the 

 present University grounds, and f 30,000 in cash. 



The St. Louis Rural World says, the soil, cli- 

 mate, position and social surroundings of the 

 State Agricultural and Mechanical College, are 

 such as will please every friend of indubtrial edu- 



