522 



NEW ENGLAND FAEjVEER. 



Nov. 



tricity. They were killed near Christmas ; 

 the poorest of them, which was killed the 

 first >ear. was pronounced by the butcher as 

 th^. fattest hog he ever saw, (weight 425 lbs.) 

 The nf'xt year's hog, though smaller, was 

 much the fattest. 



1 believe pigs will fit fastest on cooked 

 food, and should be fed three times a day, 

 without being able to get a particle between 

 meals, but old hogs should have uncooked 

 «'orn-meal. which they will eat the most of, 

 and yet dige.'-t it wgll, if fed only twice a day. 



A large yard, with a chance to root into the 

 fresh earth, are necessary to .•^ecure whole- 

 some quarters, and contentment for a fatten- 

 ing hog. and these are both necessary to make 

 whole^ome pork. Piiineas Field. 



E. Charlemont, Sept. 15, 1870. 



Remarks — In the abundance of apples all 

 over New England, it is encouraging to find 

 such testimony as the above, that swine are 

 fond of them, and that they are wholesome 

 and nutritious. We can add our own testi- 

 mony to that of Mr. Field. Since the sweet 

 apples began to drop, some weeks ago, they 

 have been collected, boiled, mixed wiih iorn- 

 meal and a small portion of .'•horts, and fed 

 to the hogs. They are relished better by the 

 swine if a small amount of salt is added, and 

 thoroughly stirred in. 



In this dry season, when the corn, potato 

 and pumpkin crops are short, the apple crop 

 may be made to go far in making up defi- 

 ciences in other crops. 



We thank our correspondent for this timely 

 reference to the subject. 



For the h'ew England Farmer. 



SEASON AJND CROPS IN MEW HAMP- 



bHIBE. 

 The Drou?tt,— Wheat,— Corn,— Oats,— Pot atoee —Ap- 

 ples,- Corn Fodder,— Haj ,— Garden Siuff,— Cider 

 Mills, 



The present season will be long remembered 

 as one of excessive heat and iJronght — the hot- 

 test and dr\ est, probably, in the uuemory of 

 our oldest people. In some localities in this 

 town, people are obliged to ret-ort to the 

 swamps and dig boles to get a supply of wa- 

 ter for ordinary purposes.* Our largest brooks 

 are dry for rods in succession, and stock in 

 many pastures is suffering for the want of wa- 

 ter, and the "green things" that are not grow- 

 ing. 



All the cereal crops have been uninjured by 

 the drought Corn on the light, sandy soil> 

 is a total failure, but on the hill farms it is bet- 

 ter than last jear. 



Wheat is mostly threshed, and will average 

 about fourteen bushels to the acre. I know of 



one or two pieces sown as late as May 15th, 

 entirely ruined by the ru^t, and it was done 

 August 4th, when we had a shower which 

 thoroughly soaked the straw. The kernel at 

 this time was in the milk. After the shower, 

 the sun came out hot, caaping the stem to 

 crack and the sap to ooze out, thereby ren- 

 dering it in just the right state for the attack 

 of the spores of the rust plant. 



There is no trouble in raising good wheat in 

 New Hampshire if we sow good seed and sow 

 it early. Three bushels of my seed were 

 threshed with a llail. the other six with a ma- 

 chine From careful estimates, the part of 

 the field sown with seed threshed by hand 

 }ielded 33 per cent, more to the acre than the 

 machine-threshed, being earlier, thicker and 

 better every way. In threshing for seed, I 

 thresh the tops of the bundles lightly, without 

 opening. In this way I get the earliest and 

 best kernels for seed. The late, imperfect, 

 and .short heads are in the middle of the bun- 

 dle, and of course are not threshed. I run 

 ihese bundles through the machine, and allow 

 the thresher-! for what I 'hresh off. 

 i Oats ar« fair. The White Swedish, Excel- 

 1 sior and Probstein being far superior to the 

 I Norway. Some of our farmers think the last 

 I named more suitable fjr shoe pegs, than to 

 i feed to horses. 



Potatoes are light and small. The Early 

 Rose has done the best of any variety. Every 

 one is pleased with them. 



The apple crop is enormous. The codlin 

 moth has troubl«-d the fruit but little — conse- 

 quently it is fine and nice, and buyers may 

 expect fine fruit at fair prices. 



Dairy products will be scarce in this section, 

 as there has been nothing in the pastures to 

 make milk since the middle of July, and most 

 of our farmers did not take the precaution to 

 sow corn for soiling — consequently cows are 

 nearly dry. 



I wish to add a word here in favor of corn 

 .sown for fodder. I have raised it for the last 

 fifteen years, and have fed it to my cows with 

 the best results. The cows always gain in 

 fiesh and milk, while fed with it ; horses and' 

 oxen eat it in preference to good hay, and 

 work equally as well. I sow it in drills, three 

 and a halt" f-et apart, usually manure in the 

 drill ; sow the corn by band and cover with a 

 I harrow, and hoe twice with Ford's horse hoe. 

 I The plant usually grows about eight feet high, 

 ! and the larg-st stalks are about one and a half 

 I inch in diam<-ter, and will average about 

 I twenty stalks to one foot in length of drill. I 

 find these stalks are very sweet. All my cat- 

 tle have been fed upon them night and morn- 

 ing since the first week in August, and they 

 have not wasted f^vi'. pounds. 1 had rather 

 have it, pound for pound, to feed to my stock, 

 than En^H.^h (urnips, and it does not cost half 

 as much to raise and feed out. 



The hay crop fell short at least one-third, 

 and stock is on the decline. Six feet cattle 



