1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



571 



dition. They start -wrong at the beginning. 

 They manure very lightly, sow on a small 

 amount of seed and leave the surface rough, 

 the stones lying broadcast all over the surface, 

 and feed the grass close in the spring because 

 they did not have hay enough the previous 

 year and no money to buy with. Hence, the 

 the cattle were so poor that they had to recruit 

 on the grass or they would die. 



Now, the farmer who has long practiced 

 this wa}' can turn over a new leaf if he will 

 try. In the first place, don't be too fast. 

 Nothing i«) ever gained by hurrying. Don't 

 expect to do eveiy thing at once, but be 

 patient and persevering and all will come 

 right in due time. In the first place, begin 

 with a small piece, — perhaps an acre, more or 

 less; as much as can be attended to properly 

 — spare no pains to get it just right ; seed it 

 ■well — don't be stingy in this part; make it 

 smooth ; pick up the stones, and get it ready 

 for mowing. And when you have done this, 

 don't ever let it run out, but compel it to 

 cut a little more each year than the previous 

 one, if possible. ^ 



This is very easily accomplished by top- 

 dressing. I do not mean, wait until it is all 

 run out ; this is a hard way ; it is like letting 

 a horse get so poor that he can hardly stand 

 before giving him any grain — it is almost a 

 hopeless task. The true and proper way is 

 to top-dress while the land is yet in good con- 

 dition. This is the way to keep the wheel 

 rolling. A little grass seed can be sprinkled 

 on once in two or three years, just before top- 

 dressing, wliich will cause the grass to. spring 

 up fresh, like a new stocked piece. Land 

 treated in this way need never be ploughed 

 after the first start ; but if it is ploughed, a 

 nice thick turf is turned over, which decom- 

 poses and is as good for all crops as a heavy 

 coat of manure. 



I am making some experiments on different 

 materials for top-dressing my fields. I am 

 satisfied that it need not be more than one- 

 fourth baru-yard manure composted with 

 three-fourths of something else. When I 

 become settled on that point you may hear 

 from me again. j. 



Morristuwn, Vt., Aug, 10, 1871. 



COST OF WEEDS. 

 What I have on the brain is iveeds. Some 

 people think, that with modern agricultural 

 implements, and the vast extent of fertile land 

 in the United States, we shall produce so much 

 more grain, and meat and wool than can 

 possibly be consumed by our population, that 

 prices will fall so low that there will be no 

 profit in farming. Were it not for weeds and 

 msects, such probably would be the case. My 

 own farm and the Deacon's are overrun with 

 weeds. We are fighting them to the extent 

 of our ability, and are meeting with gratifying 

 success. Our farms are becoming cleaner and 



cleaner every year, but even yet the weeds 

 cost us more than all other taxes, — town, 

 county, State and national — direct and in- 

 direct, combined. I do not mean that the 

 labor of destroying them costs so much, but 

 the weeds that escape damage our crops to 

 such an extent that we lose half our profits. 

 You must recollect that the actual profits of 

 farming, after deducting the interest on capi- 

 tal, the cost of labor (our own or others') , the 

 wear and tear of implements, &c., are exceed- 

 ingly small. I know of comparatively few 

 farms where, after making these dedu(!tions, 

 the actual profits are more than five dollars 

 per acre. On the otlier hand, I know of 

 scores of farms where, at least on some fields, 

 the weeds damage the crops ten dollars per 

 acre. And, depend upon it, no farmer can be 

 really successful until he makes an earnest, 

 persevering eifort to clean his land. It is 

 fortunate for us that the means used to accom- 

 plish this object will do much towards enrich- 

 ingthesoil. — J. Harris, in Am. Agriculturist. 



agkicutjTUjRAIj items. 



— Candidates for admission to the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College should appear at Amherst, 

 Thursday, at 9 A. M., August 31. 



— A Maine farmer collects a bushel of grass- 

 hoppers daily for his hogs. Scalded, they make a 

 soup that the swine swallow with a relish. 



— The University of Vermont decides to admit 

 women to its privileges, on tenns to be fixed by 

 the Faculty. The Waterville, Me., College has 

 decided to do the same thing. 



— The Doniphan (Kan.) Democrat says : "A for- 

 mer iu Jaeksun Co., Mo., after cutting his wheat, 

 broke up the ground and planted it in corn ; and 

 his prospects are good for a fair crop of the latter." 



— It is stated that trees cut in summer and al- 

 lowed to lie until the leaves dry, will have the sap 

 extracted liy the foliage, and the thuber thus treated 

 is very durable. 



— A farmer near Lewiston, Me., lately sold thirty 

 tons of hay for $30 a ton, and thus pocketed at 

 once $'900 ! There is quite a panic in that vicinity 

 about hay, and some people predict that it will sell 

 for $40 a ton yet. 



— A Western paper says : — The hai-vest of human 

 limbs by reapers in Iowa this year, is the most 

 tremendous one ever kno^\^3. We have tallied for 

 every separate one reported in our exchanges, and 

 the number is twenty-three." 



— The contract for the erection of the main build- 

 ing of the Ohio Agricidtural College has been let 

 at $112,480. A park of not less than forty acres is 

 to be laid out. The building is located very near 

 Columbus. 



— The Prairie Fanner- sa,ys, our last quotations 

 for pork was $14 per barrel ; at this time last year 

 it was quick at $30. Corn then was worth 93 



