1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIklER. 



413 



them through the winter, set out in the ground 

 and covered with leaves, straw and brush. 

 The field contained seven acres. This year he 

 expects to raise 20,000 heads. 



On one and a fourth acre he got last year 

 32 tons of rutabaga and mangold wurzel. He 

 keeps 32 head of cattle, among them 25 cows ; 

 sold last year 3,630 cans of milk ; will in- 

 crease it this year to 4,000 cans ; cuts about 

 80 tons of hay, which quantity he will probably 

 double in a few years, if his operations are 

 successful. 



Mr. Lane states that after purchasing the 

 farm, his neigbors told him that the land was 

 all exhausted by a long process of annually 

 taking off crops in the fields and grazing the 

 pastures, and that they must be very light 

 hereafter until a thorough process of tillage 

 and manuring had been gone into. "But," 

 said he, "this land where those teams are 

 ploughing brought a heavy crop of cabbage las-t 

 year with only a fair dressing of manure; it 

 was kept entirely free from grass and weeds, 

 and when thf. cabbages were harvested, the 

 land was clean and froze up so.'''' He stated 

 further, that on a portion of tbis land he 

 had just cut a fair crop of grass, although 

 nothing had been done to the land afcer the 

 cabbages were taken cflf! Upon hearing this 

 statement, I left the party, went off to 

 where one of the tearod was ploughing, and 

 found that there was no sward, but the 

 red top was eighteen inches high, and clo- 

 ver in considerable luxuriance, and took 

 samples of each to the other visitors. "This 

 is the land," said Mr. L., "that was pro- 

 nounced exhausted, but was exhausted like a 

 drowning jaan, because it couldn't breathe. 

 Now that I have let the breath of life into it, 

 see what it will do !" And it was wonderful 

 what it, was doing. 



One of his heavy operations since the snow 

 went off is the pulling up of bushes and young 

 trees by the roots over an extent of forty 

 acres ! This was done by ox-power, and done 

 so thoroughly as to bring the whole into a fine 

 tilth by the usual ploughing and harrowing. A 

 portion of this land is to be devoted to cab- 

 bage, mangold and rutabaga ; another por- 

 tion, and the seven acres where the cabbage 

 grew last year, to barley, which is to be sown 

 early in July. 



It does not seem to me that the barley crop 



will be perfected before frosts will overtake 

 it ; but he states that sixty days of favorable 

 weather will biing it to perfection. He will 

 put in sixteen acres of it. 



These operations cannot be indulged in 

 without the outlay of capital which few farmers 

 can command ; but they are examples of 

 great value to all farmers. If they prove in- 

 judicious, they can avoid them ; if successful, 

 they can imitate them, and find a profit in so 

 doing. They should be carefully observed by 

 all who can occasionally see them, so that 

 they may avail themselves of their lessons, 

 either in avoiding or imitating. To me, they 

 confirm the opinions I have long entertained in 

 regard to the importance of thorough drainage, 

 and of high culture in what we undertake. 



HAKVESTINQ SMALL GRAINS. 



The season for harvesting the small grains, rye, 

 wheat, oats and barley, and the importance of cut- 

 ting them at the proper time to secure the best 

 results, have not been fairly considered by most 

 farmers. 



This is important, whether the crop is to be used 

 as hay or for the grain ; both will be materially 

 affected by the condition in which the crop is 

 when cut. 



There has not yet, in this country, we believe, 

 been any thorough and reliable experiments made, 

 in order to ascertain the condition of grain which 

 has been cut at different periods of time, or when 

 the grain was in difi'erent conditions. To do this 

 so as to be reliable would not only incur cost of 

 time and money, but the aid of very skilful 

 manipulation, such as few persons among us at 

 present possess. 



In a discussion on "the influence of the time of 

 cutting on the quantity and quality of the produce 

 of hay and grain," Johnston, in his Elements, 

 expresses a decided opinion that the period at 

 which both hay and grain are cut materially aifects 

 the quantity and quality of the produce. 



All farmers have noticed, perhaps, that when 

 radishes are left long in the ground they become 

 hard and woody. The same natural change goes 

 on in the grasses which are cut for hay. So it is 

 with grain, both as regards the straw and the 

 grain they yield. The rawer the crop is cut, he 

 says, the heavier and more nourishing the straw. 

 That is, we suppose, after the straw has nearly 

 attained its growth ; for it is not to be supposed 

 that straw half grown would be as nourishing as 

 that which had come nearly to perfection. With- 

 in three weeks of being fully ripe, the straw begins 

 to diminish in weight ; and the longer it remains 

 uncut after that time, the lighter it becomes, and 

 the less nourishing. 



On the other hand, he adds, the ear, which is 



