520 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



boxes; cherries 12,000 pounds, grapes 65,000 

 pounds. The fruit boxes contain about two-thirds 

 of a bushel. The strawberries yield two crops a 

 year — May and September. 



St'BSOiL Attachment. — ^Mr. W.Brown ofHamp- 

 ton Falls, N. H., writes »o the Country Gentleman 

 that he, with others, bought the right to use the 

 patent in his town, with the privilege of ordering 

 the castings from the foundry. They cost nearly 

 double the sum represented by the agent. On 

 light soils it operated in good shape, but on such 

 land as he wished to subsoil he found it worthless 

 and had abandoned its use. It required too much 

 power for an ordinary team, and with a team of 

 sufficient strength there was great danger of break- 

 age. He prefers the regular subsoil plough The 

 attachments, however, gave good satisfaction as 

 an aid in digging tile ditches. 



Another correspondent of the same paper, in 

 Michigan, says that he has been led to believe, 

 from experiments without a dynamometer, that 

 three horses will turn a furrow ten inches dtep as 

 easily as one five inches deep and subsoil five 

 inches more, and in the former case the soil will 

 be pulverized to the full depth far more perfectly. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 KENOVATINQ EXHAUSTED LAND. 

 Successful Farming. 



In all parts of New England, farms are sold 

 and bought every jear, and other farms, occu- 

 pied by the discontented owner or by a tenant, 

 are in the market. Some of these farms have 

 old buililings, and a soil that is at present un- 

 productive. The purchaser usually pays only 

 part of the price, and calculates to pay the 

 rest from his annual crops, dairy products and 

 the growth of young stock. 



Now, with a worn out soil, there will be dis- 

 appointments often during the first few years. 

 The careless farmer has ploughed freely, 

 manured lightly, and sowed but little grass 

 and clover seed, often using the sweepings of 

 the barn floor, containing various kinds that 

 have been shaken from the hay during the 

 winter. 



Such land may well be compared to a cow 

 so nearly famisht^d, or to a fine horse in so 

 low a condition, that every bone, muscle, ten- 

 don and cord, as well as the blood, is affrfcted. 

 One generous feed to such animals does not 

 result in a generous flow of lich milk with the 

 one, nor in an ability to travel ten miles an 

 hour or fifty in a day with the other. If such 

 an animal has access to the corn-field or oat- 

 bin, the stomach becomes loaded with nutri- 

 tious food, but it imparts but little benefit to 

 the body. But continuous good care fills the 

 shrunken skin with firm flesh, mingled with 

 fat, f>o that the animal is eventually able to 

 make a good return for the owner's care. 



I he hist faim oouih of my own was occu- 



pied by a tenant during the first fifteen years 

 of my remembrance. Its soil is partly of a 

 light character, tending to sand on the tops of 

 the knolls, but on the lower portions so ap- 

 proaches clay that fence-posts are thrown out 

 by the frost, and the soil is slightly sticky 

 when wet. This farm is naturally free from 

 stone, and is part of a valley of 5000 acres of 

 excellent land. During its occupancy by 

 tenants it was at times badly managed. Large 

 fields were ploughed and sowed lo oafs three 

 or four years in succession, then lightly seeded 

 to grass. The ploughing was very shallow, 

 about four inches, and was done by bo\ s, who 

 would in mellow stubble ground run the plough 

 tiwo feet upon the land, only stirring part cf 

 the soil ; but it would farrow smooth. No 

 effort was mad"^ to preserve manure or add to 

 its quantity. What di \ accumulate in spring 

 and fall was drawn to the field, dropped in 

 small heaps, and the boys took stents in spread- 

 ing and gained time. Where the heaps were, 

 the grain would lodge. A small piece of corn 

 was usually well manured, and made a good 

 crop. 



ITineteen years ago this farm, of 220 acres, 

 was bought by G. B. and Myron Brewster for 

 §3500. These young men, with a widowed 

 mother and sisters, came from the country, 

 near Lake Champla.in, a good corn and stock 

 region, and they commenced the work the 

 first spring with good courage. A pasture 

 was ploughed for corn and potatoes, and 

 plaster applied in the hills. But as corn here 

 must be well manured, this crop was a failure, 

 as the oW residtnts here knew it would be. 

 The grain and grass was light. The pasture 

 was grown up to alders by the brook, and on 

 higher land the sweet elders and raspberry 

 bushes were abundant. The stock pastured, 

 eight cows and twenty sheep, proved enough 

 to consume the fodder raised. No wheat was 

 raised, as the midge would destroy it. So 

 with poor crops, low prices, with flour, sugar 

 and many things to be purchased, the income 

 was but little more than enough to pay the in- 

 terest on the purchase- money. 



What seemed strange was, that after a piece 

 had been well manured and cropped only twice 

 or three times, and seeded to grass, it would 

 not yield heavy crops but a short time, when 

 sorrel and June grass would come in. Thus 

 seven years passed. Both young men were 

 married; and G. B. Brewster bought out his 

 brother, paying him $1500 and assuming the 

 old debts. More attention was paid to man- 

 uring ; all made in the winter was applied in 

 spring — the coarse ploughed in, the fine har- 

 rowed in ; the soil thoroughly worked ; and 

 more clover and grass seed were sown to the 

 acre. The pastures were improved by cutting 

 bushes and clearing some woodland, and more 

 stock was kept. Dairy products brought 

 higher prices, and cows were kept better. 

 Hops were raised, and with good crops proved 

 remunerative. 



