1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



371 



being among some of the pleasantest occur- 

 rences of one happ}- summer, when a "hired 

 man" upon a large farm. 



On the other hand, the employe must wil- 

 lingly perform the work to which he is as- 

 signed. Do nothing b}' hal-ves ; be faithful in 

 the performance of every job ; have a per- 

 sonal care over the fields and stock, that your 

 employer suffers no loss or injury through 

 your negligence or inattention, and be willing 

 to "lend a hand" in any extra emergency out- 

 side of your regular routine. Services like 

 these will be appreciated by the man who em- 

 ploys you, and you will rarely find cause to 

 complain of "hard work and hard fare." — 

 Maine Fanner. 



CROPS AS SUBSTITUTES FOR HAY, 



In many sections another dry May seems 

 likely to result in a light crop of hay, and a 

 very short crop of oats, and many farmers 

 will need some other crops to take their place. 

 There are several which there is still time to 

 put in, that will answer a veiy good purpose. 

 The one most generally adopted is 



Sown Corn. 



There is still time to put in a good supply 

 of this crop. The land can be well prepared, 

 as for a good crop of planted corn, and laid 

 off in shallow furrows with a shovel plough, 

 and the corn sti-ewn in the furrows at the rate 

 of about forty grains to the foot. If the 

 shovel plough has a rather wide blade, and a 

 little more pains can be taken with the crop, 

 fifty or sixty grains may be sown to the foot, 

 making the row of plants somewhat wider ; 

 but this should only be done on clean land ; 

 where there are a good many weeds it is more 

 trouble to clean out these wide rows. The 

 furrows may be three feet apart from centre 

 to centre, leaving a space of over two feet to 

 be worked with a one-horse cultivator, which 

 should be all the working that clean land will 

 need. A large supply of 



Root Crops may still be put in. 



It will now be more seasonable for Swede 

 and other turnips, but some mangolds and 

 carrots may be put in if there is suitable rich 

 land that can be soon fitted and sown. Car- 

 rots should now only be sown on a deep, rich, 

 well fitted sandy loam ; as, unless they thus 

 have an extra chance, it may be too late to 

 make the crop pay. Mangolds will do well 

 on almost any well fitted soil, and are better 

 adapted to the heavier clay loams than carrots 

 or Swede turnips. Still good, deep and well 

 pulverized soils should be selected, as the crop 

 will now have less time to grow in, and should 

 have as favorable chance as possible. At the 

 same time the Swedes should have a rather 

 light soil, as they do best on such land ; so 

 where only a rather heavy loam or claj-ey soil 

 must be taken, it will be best to sow mangolds 

 mainlv, but where the land is lighter, more 

 Swedes may be put in. There is still plenty 



of time to sow Swede turnips, and most farm- 

 ers that have a suitable soil will sow the larger 

 portion of land devoted to roots, to the best 

 varieties they are acquainted with. 



Millet and Hungarian Grass. 



Cohnan''s Rural World, May 27, says, in 

 regard to millet, that 



"This is a very valuable animal forage plant. 

 Its stalks and leaves are somewhat like Indian 

 corn, but smaller, grows to the height of three 

 or four feet, bears a long panicle of very solid 

 seed that makes edible cakes. The length of 

 the panicle prevents the entire grains matur- 

 ing alike, and it is best to cut it when the tips 

 are hard and the base yet in the dough state. 

 It loves warm, rich, and rather sandy soil, but 

 will do on medium clay. Sow broadcast on a 

 very thoroughly prepared soil, but will do on 

 medium clay. Sow broadi:ast on a very tho- 

 roughly prepared soil, at the rate of about a 

 peck to the acre, about the end of May or in 

 June, and you can cut a heavy crop of excel- 

 lent feed. Some years ago it was sent out at 

 fabulous prices as Japan wheat. 



'^Hniu/arian GraiS. — This is somewhat sim- 

 ilar to the last ; matures its crop in rathei- less 

 time ; recjuires thick sowing on fair ground at 

 the rate of a peck or over per acre. It is an 

 excellent forage crop, generally relished by 

 our draft and milk animals, and makes very 

 good returns for the cost and labor expended. 

 If allowed to become quite ripe it sheds its 

 seeds and fouls the land, and if the seed be- 

 comes quite ripe it is apt to remain undige?ted 

 in the stomach of the horse, and cases of death 

 are reported. We have used it and seen large 

 crops used on the farm with great profit and 

 without detriment." 



I am aware there may, in many cases, be 

 some difficulty in getting suitable land for 

 these crops that is not already occupied with 

 something else ; but sov/n corn, Hungarian 

 grass, Swede turnips and cabbages, may be 

 put in some time yet, and no doubt there v-ill 

 be some pieces and patches of land that can 

 be well manured and put in to some of tlieni 

 to good advantage. There are often some 

 rich spots around farm buildings where a few 

 hundred bushels of roots may be grown ; these 

 places may be weedy, but a well-tended crop 

 of mangolds, swedes or cabbages, will do much 

 to subdue such land. Sown corn and Hun- 

 garian grass may be put in some place where 

 the grass or other crop is not doing anything. 

 A few acres that are not likely to produce a 

 crop worth gathering, may be manured, well 

 fitted, and made to give a good crop of sown 

 corn or Hungarian hay. — Cor. Country Gen- 

 tleman. 



— Mr. S. F. Lane of Raymond, N. H., infoi-ms 

 the Mirror and Farmer that he has cut acres of 

 bushes in some of the longest days in June, say 

 about the middle of the month, and finds that is 

 the best season to prevent their sprouting. 



