1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



345 



bury, thinks the term very indefinite. I con- 

 cede that it is so, and that it was meant to be, 

 because of the fact that but few are inclined 

 to use manure with the profusion that corn 

 will pay for in increased production. 



If I had gone into particulars and told of 

 the practice of good farmers in the town where 

 the crop referred to was raised, either my ve- 

 racit}' or the wisdom of such heavy manuring 

 might have been questioned. 



Notwithstanding J. H. thinks twenty-five 

 loads of good manure to the acre the limit of 

 profitable application for a corn 'crop, I can 

 assure him that in some localities I am famil- 

 iar with, it is but a fraction of the amount 

 considered desirable and profitable to use on 

 what is regarded as strong dark loam. 



It has been a general practice to put on 

 from forty to forty-six cords of good sea 

 muck, consisting of rockweed, mosses and 

 kelp, to the acre. This is turned under the 

 sward or stubble. After the ploughing, from, 

 fifty to seventy-five barrels of fish were put 

 on the surface, with some manure in the hills. 

 The seaweed is worth as nnich a cord as the 

 average of the manure taken from the stables 

 in Boston. Much of it is as valuable as any 

 known manure. A crop of oats usually fol- 

 lows the corn, and the same manuring is re- 

 peated on the stubble for another crop of corn 

 and grain with hay seed, which completes the 

 rotation and gives a good condition of soil for 

 five or six years' hay crop, usually large 

 enough without any top dressing. 



I think it is very difficult to put on too much 

 manure for a corn crop. It is a ravenous 

 feeder, and I never saw the manure too pro- 

 fuse for it unless it was put in the hill — always 

 a questionable practice, the wisdom of which 

 but few are willing to endorse. It is too much 

 like rtnn strength for man. 



It is a question of much magnitude with 

 every farmer as to how much manure he can 

 afford to use to the acre. He cannot afford 

 to raise small crops, for in so doing he wastes 

 his manure and labor also. It is found true 

 that the man who manures very liberally is the 

 man who succeeds in making iioney by farm- 

 ing ; and that he who furnishes insufficient 

 food for his cro2:)S is in a fair way to be short 

 fed himself. 



Every prudent farmer will give this subject 

 much consideration, especially if he takes the 

 above view of it, and regards "manure as the 

 mother of the meal chest," as the Scotch say- 

 ing has it. We may consider it as heavy ma- 

 nuring when we have done so to the extent of 

 our capacity in order to secure the best results 

 for our outlay. 



When we take into consideration the high 

 cost of labor, and the inadequate return the 

 farmer obtains for the products of that labor, 

 every reflecting man must see that he cannot 

 afford to employ labor unless he can in some 

 way secure a supply of manure sufficiently 

 large to ensure what is usually termed large 



crops. These and these only will pay his labor. 



It costs as much to cultivate a small crop of 

 corn, aside from the cost of the difference in 

 the quantity of manure vised, as it does to 

 cultivate a large one. K. o. 



May 12, .1871. 



RAISING CALVES AT AN AQRICULTU- 

 KAIi COLLEGE. 



The London Milk Journal tells how stock is 

 raised at Hohenheim. The rules laid down at 

 this great agricultural college are, that it is 

 best to rear calves entirely hy hand so as to 

 have less trouble with both the cow and the 

 offspring, and the quality and amount of food 

 must be regulated as follows : 



l8t week, daily, 12 lbs. milk. lbs. oatmeal. Ofcs. fine hay. 



2d " " 16 "0 "0 " 



3,1 " " 20 "0 "0 " 



4th " " 22 "0 "0 " 



5'h to 7th " 22 " }i " yi " 



Sth week " 21 " >i " >^ " / 



9th " "20 "1 "1 " 



lOih " " 16 "2 "3 " 



11th " " 12 "2 "6 " 



12th " "8 "2 " 10 " 



13th " "4 "3 " 10 " 



In the ninth week, the milk is first mixed 

 with water, and a little fine oatmeal. The 

 meal is afterward mixed with the dry fodder. 

 After three months the milk is withheld, and 

 then the young animals receive daily, till two 

 and a half years old, from twenty to twenty- 

 two pounds of hay, or its equivalent. But the 

 calves never after receive, even in summer, 

 any dry food till they are nine months old. 

 The average feeding is so divided that the 

 younger portion receive less, the older more, 

 till two and a half years, when they begin to 

 receive the regular rations of the older cattle, 

 including the grain fodder, as indicated above. 

 The growth with this treatment is so remarka- 

 ble, that it is only a little surpassed by the 

 rapidly maturing short-horns. 



Heifers. Bulls. 



Average weight of calves at 3 months 233 lbs. 353 tt>8, 



" " " 6 " 351 472 



" " " 1 year 640 750 



" " " 2 " 1184 1300 



Daily increase of calves 15 1.8 



" " iu second year ... 1.4 1.5 



The college whose management of young 

 stock is given above by the Milk Journal, 

 was established in 1818, by King William, on 

 the Roville estate in Hohenheim, Wurtemberg. 

 Like all the other similar institutions in the 

 country, it is distinguished for its excellent 

 management and practical results. All the 

 agricultural schools in Germany are sustained 

 and directed by the government. At Hohen- 

 heim, forty courses are given during the term, 

 comprising agricultural matters, forest matters 

 and kindred sciences. It has from 125 to 150 

 students at a time, and its graduates must 

 now number some 2000 or more. Professor 

 Hitchcock says that nowhere in Europe can 

 there be found a better model agricultural and 

 scientific school. It comprises a farm of 825 

 acres, a forest of 5,000 acres, a botanic gar- 



