822 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUI.Y 



est since I commenced taking it. And may it con- 

 tinne to jirosptr for a long time to come. I thinlv 

 one of tlie great secrets of farming is a thorough 

 pulverizing of the soil. 



When I commenced farming for myself, twenty 

 j'cars ago, I had a capital of only one hundred 

 dollars, and when I sold my fiimi, two years ago, 

 I had over thirty-five hundred dollars. Now if 

 any one thinks fai'ming does not pay, I shall beg 

 to dililr from him, although I must admit the 

 truth of the old maxim, 



"He thill by the plough would thrive 

 Himself must either hold or drive." 



Galen Ross. 



Springjield, Mass., May, 1871. 



For the New Enu^and Farmer. 

 NEATNESS ON THE FARM. 



"Wlio that has ever travelled about among 

 the farmers of the country has not sometimes 

 been disgusted with the untidy appearance of 

 some of the places he has visited. One may 

 sometimes find a man who carries neatness to 

 the extreme, and spends more time in keeping 

 tools polished than is profitable. I have seen 

 a man show with nnich pride a set of shovels 

 and forks that had always been kept up to a 

 high state of brightness, by scouring in sand 

 every time they were put away ; and this after 

 they were so badly worn that no man with a 

 true idea of economy would have allowed him- 

 self or his men to use them at all. One can- 

 not alford to wear a fork, or hoe, or shovel 

 clear up to the handle. Most people use 

 ploughs, harrows and cultivators as well as 

 shovels, hoes, and forks too long after they 

 are worn below a profitable working condi- 

 tion. The best carpenters keep their saws, 

 chisels and planes constantly sharp, and find 

 economy in it. So should the farmers keep 

 their ploughs and cultivators in good working 

 order by changing the old points for new 

 ones nmch oftentir than they do ; and as long 

 as they are worth using, they should be kept 

 clean and bright. 



I have known many tolerably good farmers 

 to buy a new plough or cultivator and when 

 done using it for the day, leave it out in the 

 rain or dew over night, without ever wiping 

 oil" the dirt that adhered to the castings. The 

 next time the tool was used it would be found 

 covered with dirt and rust, which it would 

 cost ten times as much to remove, as it would 

 to have kept it off if it had been attended to 

 at the right time. No rusty or dirty farm 

 implement is profitable to use. It is the work 

 of but a few nn'nutes to wipe the dirt from a 

 plough, horse hoe, or any of the many hand 

 tools used on the farm, if done at the moment 

 ■we are done using thein. A woolen clotli 

 with or without grease, or even a dry sod will 

 remove the dirt from a plough, and save much 

 scouring in the future. ISIany plough and 

 cultivator castings are broken every year by 

 being thumped against rocks, while in use, to 

 kno(^k oil" the dirt that adheres in consequence 

 of their not being kept clean and bright. 



In laying down fields to grass, neatness as 



well as economy requires that loose stones 

 and rubbish of all kinds should be removed, 

 and the land well rolled down, and as far as 

 practicable the larger and fast stones should 

 be removed either by sinking, or blasting and 

 cleaning off from the field. A mowing field 

 never looks quite as neat if it is covered by 

 rocks and stone heaps, as it does if all are 

 cleared out and the land left as smooth as a 

 well kept lawn. I have heard men argue that 

 removing large rocks did not pay. They said 

 it cost a great deal, and when done there was 

 nothing left but a hole in the ground which 

 must be filled up by carting in soil. I have 

 known those same men to find time almost 

 any cloudy day to go off fishing, and when 

 night came all they had gained was an empty 

 stomach, and possibly a half dozen httle mud 

 pouts. 



A year's stock of wood for fuel all cut and 

 piled under cover is a pleasant sight to almost 

 any farmer's wife. I find different farmers 

 have quite different ways of getting together 

 such a pile. I see some who bring all the 

 refuse fuel on the farm right up to the door 

 and leave It there till they find time for them- 

 selves or their men to cut it. Old fence posts 

 and rails, broken down trees, and broken 

 down wheels and other farm implements past 

 use, are dumped close by the kitchen door. 

 In a few years the yard is covered with saw- 

 dust and chip dirt, and the green grass gives 

 place to burdocks, nettles and other coarse 

 and disagreeable weeds. I find other farmers 

 who have their wood pile a little farther off 

 from the buildings, in the corner of some lane 

 or pasture, and when the wood Is all cut in 

 stove lengths as It should be, and well sea- 

 soned. It is thrown on a wagon and carried to 

 the wood house and neatly piled. 



There is nothing like a good green turf 

 around farm buildings to prevent dust from 

 being blown into the parlor, kitchen or dairy 

 room. On a dairy farm, neatness can hardly 

 be carried to an extreme. The stables, the 

 yards, and the rooms used for keeping the 

 milk and making the butter or cheese, cannot 

 be kept too clean. The yards should have 

 suitable drainage, and be provided with dry 

 walks for the attendants. The stables cannot 

 be kept either clean or comfortable without 

 l)lenty of bedding or a liberal supply of sand, 

 Lam or muck dried and stored under cover, 

 to be used freely at all times as absorbents ; 

 while with these, a stable may be kept in such 

 a condition that the dair}- farmer may not be 

 ashamed to receive his friends or customers 

 at any time. 



Some people object to hauling sand or mutk 

 to be used In the stables and yards because of 

 the expense. I do not think the danger lies so 

 much in the direction of doing too much, as to- 

 wards doing too little. I consider a room near 

 to the stable when a six months stock of dry 

 earth can be stored for daily use, one of the 

 I best investments a fanner can make. It en- 



