570 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



skill and vigor than aii}' of the fellows under 

 him. Whoever has long and carefully ob- 

 served the operations of a farm, would not be 

 ■willing to employ a man to take charge of one, 

 •whether small or large, who could not take up 

 any tool used and show better than any one 

 else how to use it. And so it must be, in at 

 least a certain degree, in all other occupa- 

 tions. On a farm, "Come boys," is much the 

 safest order that can be given. I do not be- 

 lieve that one can thorouijhhj understand an 

 operation which he cannot go through with 

 himself. All the great discoveries of hite 

 years in chemistry, in mechanics, in physics, 

 have been made by assiduous and persevering 

 workers, by men long accustomed to handi- 

 work. It is only a vigorous mind, in a 

 healthy, vigorous body, under the guidance of 

 a conscientious spirit, which can be relied upon 

 for energetic and effective management. 



It is only under the guidance of leaders of 

 integrity, character, educated intelligence and 

 vigorous, manly energy, that operations of 

 war or peace can be carried on so as to com- 

 mand success. The men engaged in the work 

 iiuist be not only able to respect their officers 

 for tneir knowledge and intelligence, to rely 

 upon them for their justice and integrity, but 

 to look up to them as men who can do and 

 have done the work themselves, and thus un- 

 derstand all its difficulties and can sympathize 

 with those doing it. Everything indicates 

 that the time is coming when the employer and 

 the employed are to be no longer considered 

 as men of different classes and with different 

 rights. There must be a completely good 

 understanding between them as friends work- 

 ing together for the same ends. G. B. e. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 GLOOMY POSPECT IMT KENNEBEC, 

 MAINE. 



"O, the grasshoppers ! the grasshoppers !" 

 is the universal cry of the Kennebec farmers. 

 I trust they may be excused for some grum- 

 bling and some foreboding, when we take 

 into consideration the facts that the drought 

 of 1870 cut the hay crop down at least one- 

 third ; that all the surplus of all kinds of grain 

 was consumed to get the stock through the 

 winter, so that the spring of 1871 found us 

 completely destitute of all kinds of feed ; that 

 _^.the drought of the present season cut our hay 

 down nearly one-half from last jear ; and 

 that after all this, the grasshoppers have eaten 

 our grain, many of our potatoes, our gardens, 

 including fruit trees together with the fruit, 

 and in some cases the bark, leaving us nothing 

 to depend upon but our corn ; and now, as if 

 to give a finishing stroke to both our crops 

 and our patience, they have "gone for" the 

 corn, and there is every prospect of their 

 completely destroying it. 



We are now found with too mu' h stock by 

 half, worth next to nothing, and from the 



scarcity of feed, so thin as to be unsalable ; 

 with probably the smallest amount of dairy 

 products for twenty years ; with a very light 

 crop of apples, and with hired labor and taxes 

 to be paid from the hard earnings of past 

 years. Taking the whole thing into consider- 

 ation the prospect is for the coming winter 

 anything but tiattering. 



Now, what shall we do ? It is no use to 

 whine. Grumbling never cured a dog of a 

 sore head, nor ever will. Tbe old county of 

 Kennebec is to be cultivated and improved 

 by somebody in the future, as in the past. 

 It has hitherto afforded us a good living, and 

 generally a small balance on the right side of 

 the ledger, at the close of the year. Now, 

 instead of desponding, or borrowing trouble, 

 or emigrating, let us occupy the i)resent au- 

 tumn in preparing for the campaign of next 

 year. Clean up the swales ; clear off the 

 rocks ; dig out the muck ; replenish the hog- 

 pens and stock yards, — do it often, — and 

 plough or fork it over once or twice each 

 month or oftener. Economize every available 

 source of fertility upon your own premises, 

 and buy as your means or opportunities allow. 

 We must expect a short crop of hay for a few 

 years ; but instead of being discouraged at 

 this, let it rather be an incentive to greater 

 efforts in other directions to supply the de- 

 ficiency. Prepare for next year, and let the 

 mistakes and failures of the past serve as 

 warnings for the future. 



The scourge that has visited us this year, 

 if it serves no other purpose, ought to remind 

 us that after all our own efforts, we are still 

 dependent upon a vastly higher power that we 

 be permitted to reap the fruit of our labors. 

 D. H. Thkng. 



Mt. Vernon, Me., Aug. 10, 1S71. 



For the New EnQland Farmer, 

 HOW TO RAISE LARGE CROPS OF HAY. 



From different parts of New England we 

 hear a great deal about the short hay crop 

 this year, and, indeed, we hear it every year 

 among a certain class of slack farmers, who 

 wear their fathers' old shoes, walk In the same 

 old footsteps and cling to the same old Ideas. 

 There has been thousands of acres of grass 

 cut this year in New England that will not 

 average one half ton per acre. The farmer 

 that pays .$2 per day for help in haying cannot 

 afford to go on In this way. 



I do not wish to find fault with farmers, but 

 would like to tell them something. It Is no 

 secret ; they can in turn tell others — that is, 

 how easy it is to have a bountiful haj' crop ; 

 to have their barns well filled ; their cattle fat 

 and sleek — always ready for sale ; their debts 

 j)aid, and consequently, their sleep sweet and 

 undisturbed. 



Farmers, as a class, work too much and 

 think too little. They try to mow over too 

 much land, without having it in a suitable con- 



