282 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



other purposes — possibly in many cases to 

 paying debts and stopping interest money, a 

 great source of aniioyant'e to many. Tlit- la- 

 bor in the house will be greatly diminished 

 and consequent decrease of expenses there — 

 if not a decreased expense, surely increased 

 comfort to the overworked family ; relief 

 from anxiety ever attendant upon the care of 

 stock, especially of late years, when so many 

 diseases prevail that call for the utmost vigilance 

 of our law-power to arrest them, and in many 

 instances in Europe baflling even that. Sta- 

 ble and all animal manures are considered to 

 be of universal value. Every description of 

 soil is benefited and made more productive 

 by their a[)})lication. As we propose to cur- 

 tail the source of this supply we must look 

 for as neai* a substitute for it as we can find. 



So far as m}' limited experience goes, it is 

 confirmatory of Dana^s theory, as given in his 

 Muck Manual, that three cords of good muck 

 composted with a cask of lime slacked with 

 the brine reipn'red to dissolve one bushel of 

 salt, comes as near giving us the constituents 

 and value of good stable manure as can be 

 obtained from any other combinations of 

 equal expense now .known, and at less cost 

 than stable manure, providing the muck is 

 not too remote from where it is required to 

 be used. As muck abounds in almost every 

 locality, we have in it the basis for keeping up 

 the fertility of the farm. 



An experiment I tried with muck composted 

 with oyster shell lime and ashes was highly 

 satisfactory. It was spread on a meadow in 

 alternate strips of two rods in width with fine 

 stable manure of good quality, 'the first 

 season after the ap})lication there was no per- 

 ceptible diiference between them, but suc- 

 ceeding seasons indicated a decided gain from 

 the muck over the manure. I incline to the 

 opinion that ordinary turf or sward, composted 

 according to Dana's rule for composting 

 muck, will be foiuid a profitable top dressing 

 for grass lands. I should fear to use muck 

 ■without lime or conq)ostirig it with stable ma- 

 nures. I have known so many instances of 

 sorrel disjjlacing grass that it is not prudent 

 to use nuick without some agent to counteract 

 its acidity. An acquaintance having occasion 

 to ditch through a muck deposit spread the 

 muck taken out over several acres of meadow 

 adjoining. The first season or two he had an 

 immense crop of hay. After that sorrel took 

 possession, and notwithstanding manure was 

 ap[)lied lavishly it failed to drive out the sorrel 

 or bring back the expelled herdsgrass. I 

 think that in this case the muck acted at first 

 as a mulch and subseciucntly its acidity was 

 too nuich for the grass crop and a perfect 

 jubilee for the sorrel. 



Another method of keeping up the fertility 

 of meadows is foimd in turning over the sod 

 and reseeding. INIany soils will require this 

 to be done as often as once in four to six 

 years, by reason of their becoming sward- 



bound and consequently falling off in produc- 

 tion. Plough and reseed, and we secure a 

 large amount of feed for grass. Very few 

 are aware of the large amount of vegetable 

 matter made available for crops from this 

 source. 



Ploughing in green crops, such as rye, buck- 

 wheat, and clover is another practicable and 

 profitable method of not only keeping up the 

 productive capacity of soils, but of increasing 

 their fertility. 



It is needless to enumerate all the various 

 methods that can be made available as sub- 

 stitutes for barn-yard and other manures. 

 Every farmer will be governed in his practice 

 by using that which to him seems most ex- 

 pedient under his circumstances. 



From the experience of those who have 

 given it a trial, we conclude that by cutting 

 grass in blossom, or before, and suffering the 

 aftermath to remain, not only, a falling off in 

 production in subsecjuent years will be pre- 

 vented, but an increased production secured. 

 From the little I have seen of thispractice I think 

 the reported results are true. The ripening 

 of the seed exhausts both the soil and the 

 plant, whereas if the grass is cut green, the 

 vigor of the roots is far less impaired, and the 

 aftermath will soon mulch them from the sun's 

 rays and alFord a large amount of nourish- 

 ment for subsequent crops. 



If hay is to be sold off from the farm, pas- 

 ture lands unsuitable for producing it must be 

 stocked up every summer and the animals dis- 

 posed of during the autumn. Many will con- 

 sider this as very troublesome. It undoubtedly 

 will be so for a short time, but will soon cease 

 to be the case. Create a demand for any 

 commodity at stated times, and you usually 

 find it at hand at the required time. There 

 are localities in New England where farmers 

 have long practiced this method of purchasing 

 stock in the spring. Some of them employ 

 an agent to go West and buy for them. Sheep 

 are picked up there at shearing time and 

 brought here at a cost of from two dollars to 

 two and a half, that in the fall have been sold 

 for from five and a half to seven dollars a 

 head, according to size and condition. None 

 but good sized healthy cattle and sheep should 

 be purchased, as the expense of transportation 

 is in favor of the large animal, and the risk 

 not as great of their being injured on the cars. 

 You can lay on two pounds of llesh on some 

 animals with less trouble than you can one 

 pound on some others. 



I think it is a well established fact that farm- 

 ers can make beef with profit only by pastur- 

 age. As soon as he commences feeding with 

 grain he begins to lose money. No doubt but 

 some think that their pastures will not make 

 beef and mutton ; but do they knoio that they 

 will not ? Their pastui'cs make milk, keep the 

 oxen, horses, and young cattle, in good thriv- 

 ing condition, and also the sheep ; then why 

 will they not make beef and mutton, if the am- 



