1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



259 



kill all the surface weeds, and leave the ground m 

 good shape for the cultivator. I then follow up 

 with the two-horse cultivatoi-, and go over with 

 this three or four times, or as long as corn needs 

 working. Be very careful to pull all the weeds 

 out of the hills." 



For the New England Farmer, 

 CUTTINO AND CUKING HAY. 

 There are many different methods of prac- 

 tice in this branch of farm husbandry, each 

 thought by its adherents to be the best. Of 

 course the object sought is to secure the hay 

 crop in the best possible con(Htion, to the end 

 that the greatest amount of benefit may be 

 derived from its consumption. There are ver_v 

 many conditions entering into the considera- 

 tion of the subject, as early or late cutting, as 

 • regards the season, the manner of curing, 

 whether in the cock or out of it, &c. No 

 doubt extremes are run into in all cases. The 

 hay is cut when it is too young or stands until 

 it is too old — it is dried too much or secured 

 in too green a state. There is probably no 

 part of the farmer's labor that requires the ex- 

 ercise of greater judgment than this, since 

 upon its successful accomplishment depends 

 the condition and welfare of the stock. There 

 is no one but that has noticed with what 

 avidity the herd will devour the richly per- 

 fumed, well cured hay, and with what a dis- 

 relish they attempt to sustain life, perhaps by 

 eating musty, unsavory fodder. Now is it 

 not a cpiestion, whether hay can be cut too 

 early, from this fact, that it is generally con- 

 sidered that the aftermath or rowen is the 

 best hay that can be given to milk cows, in- 

 creasing the flow of milk considerably more 

 than the hay from more mature grass. It is 

 said that in some portions of Switzerland 

 where the fields are irrigated, as many as six 

 or seven tons of hay are cut from an acre by 

 cutting as many times, which is as soon as the 

 grass has a fair growth, and long before it 

 even arrives at the period of blooming. One 

 thing is certain, that cattle, when left to roam 

 the pastures and select their own food, in- 

 stead of selecting the more mature portion as 

 their free choice, invariably choose the younger 

 and more succulent, so that, in time the pas- 

 ture presents the singular appearance of being 

 covered in parts with matured hay, and in 

 others closely grazed ; nor is this peculiar to 

 cattle alone, since the same desire pervades 

 the horse and sheep kind. So, then, the de- 

 sire of animals so far as it can be expressed, 

 seems to favor a young growth. Another 

 fact, too, is frequently noticed, in the falling 

 off in flesh, in the change from pasture to the 

 stable, and vice versa, and again in the fall 

 fattening of stock by pasture alone, which the 

 most successful farmer would little think of 

 doing by feeding of hay. Now all of this 

 ■would seem to point to the necessity S,lraost, 

 to say nothing of the advantage, of cutting 



hay while young and tender. Not that this 

 should be done as early, or as often as in Swit- 

 zerland, unless the circumstances recjuire it, but 

 with proper top dressing two good crops will 

 be obtained which will be more valuable than 

 to let the first crop grow until perhaps the 

 seed is fully ripened, whereby only one crop 

 is obtained. No one need hesitate for a mo- 

 ment regarding the palatableness of this kind 

 of food for stock ; for if they have any doubts 

 let them place a cpiantity of both kinds before 

 their animals, and they will soon find that the 

 youngest cut hay, if properly cured, will be the 

 first to disappear. 



Undoubtedly these views may be at variance 

 with many, but it is the interchange of views 

 that brings to light the best methods of prac- 

 tice. Then let all present their own modes 

 of practice and reasons therefor that the less 

 experienced may have the benefit of that ex- 

 perience which otherwise, they will be obliged 

 to purchase. w. h. y. 



A MASSACHUSETTS FARM. 



A correspondent of the Boston Journal re- 

 cently wrote as follows to that paper from 

 Dracut : 



"During our first visit to this ancient town 

 we heard of a farm and farmer, which, upon 

 personal observation, reminded us of what 

 we had before seen on the prairie lands of the 

 West. The estate lies about a mile from the 

 'Centre,' and two miles from Lowell, which 

 is in full view. Mr. Milton Fox is the 

 owner of five hundred acres, on two hundred 

 of which he has this year raised two hundred 

 tons of hay, one hundred tons of carrots and 

 one hundred tons of Swedish turnips. Of 

 these crops, the carrots are quite as profitable 

 as any other. They were all off his hands as 

 soon as ready for market, at twenty dollars 

 per ton. 



"He has five barns, 100 feet by 40, clap- 

 boarded, painted and well fitted. He keeps 

 four yoke of oxen, five span of horses and 

 fifty cows. The ground is so thoroughly 

 cleared of stones that the agricultural ma- 

 chines for harvesting can go anywhere over 

 his well walled and highly cultivated acres. 



"The farm house is a French roof mansion, 

 with modern improvements. The crops raised 

 last year will bring about $12,000. 



"Mr. Fox is a liberal, enthusiastic farmer, 

 and his success a splendid illustration of what 

 may be done by practical knowledge and en- 

 terprise on our comparatively hard and sterile 

 New England soil." 



The Maple Sugar Crop. — The Montpelier 

 Watchman saj'S : "The maple sugar crop of Ver- 

 mont will be larger this j'ear than for anj' one 

 year during the past twenty, and will he a veiy 

 important item in the productions of the State — 

 even at the low price sugar brings now — the best 

 being from 8 to 10 cents a pound." 



