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No. 12. 



A ND G A R D E x\ E R'S J O U R N A L. 



Fiotectiou of tattle 



KINDNESS TO JM.MiLS IS A CHRISTIAN DUTV. 



Cattle icliosc hcUics arc kept well filled, have nn ac- 

 tive, vigorous ciiculntion ol [lie Ijlood, wliicli keeps 

 them warm during tlie iucleinrnt winter ecnson, pro- 

 vided they biive access loan open shed to protect them 

 from wet. It is iinicli to be regretted, that so many 

 barn-yards are destitute of open shcd^, to furnisU pro- 

 tection to enltle. Those animals which are furuiehed 

 with warm stables during the nis;bt, suffer much 

 more from want of pi'otcction iVom v.-et during the 

 day-time, than if they were exposed niyht aitd day to 

 the elenuMita. An ndvantnge of no tiitling amount 

 also, arises from open sheds in a barn yard protecting 

 the manure under them from being bleached by rains, 

 which depreciates its value one half An accurate 

 experiment has been nindo by nn intelligent firmer 

 on this subject, which resulted in proving that one 

 load of manure which was protected in this mannei', 

 goes as far as two loads which had lain exposed to all 

 the rains of the season. A rough shed costs but a 

 email sum, and it matters not how cheap and rough it 

 ia made, so that stock can be kept dry under it. 



Try it; go to work and erect one yet, before win- 

 ter; it can be done in a day or two, at a very incon- 

 Biderable outlay, and it will pay for itself, with a hun- 

 dred percent, profit, before this time twelvemonth. 



Have youwaterin your barn-yard tor your stock, or 

 do you permit your cattle to wander abroad for several 

 hours every day, in pursuit of it elsewhere ? If you 

 have not, [urn to page 314, Vol. 4, Farmer's Cabinet, 

 nnd rend, "A penny eaved, is two pence earned," 

 &c., then think nnd net, without a day's delay, if yon 

 desire to thrive. But if you don't wish to improve 

 yiuir condition, go on in the old way, and let yonr 

 stock get drink where they can tind it, nnd drop their 

 manure whereit willbeanuisniieerailier thana benefit, 

 for this is the plan pursued by all careless, lazy farm- 

 ers; nnd they are unilbniily rewarded according to 

 their woilis. — Far. Cuhhid. AGRICOLI. 



183 



■m 



III 



If 



I', ti 



The Hessiau Fly. 



Dear Sik — I have this day finished a work which 

 I never did before, and I hope may never be under the 

 necessity ofdoing again. What your correspondents, 

 " Vir," and " Edmund Cross," as well as yourself, 

 may think of the operation, I do not know. It is noth- 

 ing more or less than this: A few days ago I started my 

 teams and ploughs into a wheatfield, which had a 

 most fl-nirit^hing and promising appearance to a super- 

 ficial observer. The wheat was sown on the ]5ih of 

 September, but, owing to the dry season, it did not 

 make as much progress as it eonietiines does in the 

 same length of time, yet, it was the best field, to ap- 

 pearance, in the neighborhood. Eveiy person that 

 passed along the turnjiikes would stop, and enquire 

 the reason of so unnsuul an occurrence, as plouehing 

 up a fine wheatfield. Some think me inad; some ad- 

 vise one thing, and some another; all would beg of 

 me to leave, at least, a part unturned, to convince me, 

 as they think, of my folly — but all to no purpose — be- 

 cause, had I left n part standing, this would have been 

 a nursery for the (ly to stock the whole field again in 

 the spring. 



Now the cause of all this mischief is the fly — the 

 Jly. Not a plant or sprout could i find in the field, 

 but what had from two, to a dozen, or more, of nits, 

 or cggF, at the root: and, 1 am confident, that hence- 

 forth the wheat would have been getting less, and the 

 weeds more, until the whole would have been nothing 

 but a massot rank weeds — an eye sore — that I dread- 

 ed to look tipon. I have, however, some satisfaction 

 inburyingsucb a mass of eorrupiion, and, if the sni- 

 son is farorablc, hope to renp a better crop than if I 

 had left the first remaining. This wheat was at- 

 tacked by the lly as soon as up, and was certainly not 

 diseased at that time, and, in fact, did not show symp- 

 toms of disease, above ground, at the time I ploughed 

 it under. The fact is, if the season is favorable to the 

 fly, and unfivorable to the wheat, attack it they will, 

 no matter what kind of a soil, or how the soil has 

 been cultivated. When the soil is highly manured, 

 either with dung or lime, or both, it sometimes out- 

 grows the fiy, and they do very little damage; but if 

 the whent is kept back, as your correspondents say, to 

 harden it, the fly has the advantage. Fortunately, the 

 Bamplcs of wheat you sent me, with ten others, rc- 

 ceivid from Biston, I did not sow until after the frost 

 ('22d S >ptember) nnd these are all clear of fly, as yet. 

 I am afraid tlie Hy wiU do much dnmnire this fall nnd 

 next spring: I sec it in other fields besides my own. 

 Respectfully, J. G. 



Octubcr 2o, 1810. [Furmcrs' Cabinet. 



A lieti House. 



A hen-house should be n building fur that purpose 

 exclusively; and for the accommodation of fifty hens 

 nnd their progeny, in size about 10 by 12 feet, and 7 

 to (S feet height of walls; with a door in the centre of 

 the south or east end, mnde to shut as close as the doors 

 ol our dwellings; nnd a small nperture near the door, 

 about 8 by 10 ineht-s, and 'J feet iioni the ground, for 

 the admission of the fiwls. In each gable end, n 

 window hole 18 by iU inches, with a lattice, so as to 

 excliide ravenous birds, and n shutter inside to bo clo- 

 sed tight in winter, but to be kept open in the sum- 

 mer for the purpose of ventilation. The inside of the 

 house should bo plnslcred nnd white-washed as tho- 

 roughly as a farmer's kitchen. There must be no 

 ground floor, but a tight lloor on three sides, 3 feet 

 wide, nnd well joined to the wall, about 4 feet from 

 the ground. Above the lloor place the roosts, two on 

 ench side, the outer one 12 inches from the wall, the 

 other 1.5 inches from that. The roosts, if practicable, 

 should be sassafras poles with the bark on, as this wood 

 is found to be a slow conductor of heat, and is thought 

 to be less lirdjle to bo infested with lice than most oth- 

 er kinds of timber, owing to its peculiar aromatic 

 sinell. Under the floor, place a row of boxes for nests 

 2i feet from the ground. The bo.xes to be 10 by 12 

 inches, nnd G or 7 inches deep. In the bottom of the 

 boxes put I of an inch i-f fine lime or ashes, then fill 

 nearly lull with fine straw. The interior of the house, 

 should be thoroughly cleaned and white-washed early 

 in the spring, and the ground well coveied wNth slack- 

 ed lime or ashes. In cold weather, put a little fine 

 straw on the ground. If at any time the house be- 

 comes infested with lice, clean and white- wash as be- 

 lore directed. On the ground place your feed bo.xes, 

 which should not be very deep, but of sufficient capa- 

 city to hold half a bushel each, and keep them well 

 supplied, the year round, with corn, buckwheat nnd 

 oats, or other kinds of gra'n, having one box for lime 

 and gravel in the winter. I nm satisfied that whoev- 

 er will adopt the above jilan nnd regulations, will soon 

 find thenjselves well paid for the expense. — Alb. Otil- 

 iivator. P. of N. 



Farms in Siiglaud. 



Nine-tenths of the cultivated lauds of Great Britain 

 are leased to tenants, Nvho pay from two to five pounds 

 sterling per acre, annual rent. Now admitting tnxes 

 nnd labor and other expenses to be no higher here than 

 they are there, it will at once he seen that our common 

 cultivntion will no where do much more than pay the 

 price of rent; but by superior productiveness, occa- 

 sioned by superior cultivation, the British farmer is 

 not only enabled to pay rents nnd taxes; finding every 

 thing for husbandly, and all articles put upon the 

 ground, nnd nil utensils by which the ground is work- 

 ed; but he obtains also, wealth from the pursuit of his 

 cnlling. 



Murwen stated the produce of nn English (nrm of 

 894 acres, in the year f--l I, to be £8,576 — equal to 

 $o8, OUO. On this ground were carried, in that year, 

 the almost incredible quantity of 13,746 one-horse 

 cart loads of manure, nnd in the next year 10,250 

 more ! Suppose the rent of this farm to be twelve 

 dollars an acre, the expense of manure and its applica- 

 tion twelve dollars more, and the interest on outlay, 

 taxes, andadditional labor of cultivation, &c., twelve 

 dollars more; still there will be left, as profit, ten dol- 

 lars nn ncre; lenviug a clear gain of about ten thou- 

 sand dollars to the tenant. 



A hay-farm, near London, of IGO acres, was rented 

 for twelve dollars nn ncre, or 11120 dollars a year: the 

 tenant commenced with a grent outlny for manure — nn 

 outlay which would here be considered at least equal 

 to the value of t!ie land before it was manured, a 

 large outlay for farming implements, nnd for aceom- 

 modiilions nnd wages for laborers: and yet he has eon- 

 slnntly been neeumuiating riches from this farm, after 

 paying all expenses. — iJov.tlily Visitor. 



Bork Farming. 



Do the. irorils produce a sneer ! Be that as it may 

 — the thivg, or what is often .''tigmnti/cd ns that tiling, 

 is not contemptible. For, whnl ia it ? Not an at- 

 tempt to comply with the advice nnd copy the exam- 

 ple of every one who furnishes nn article for an agri- 

 culiural journal ; not the adoption of every method of 

 husbandry that is recommended in print ; not n de- 

 parture from all the usages of our fathers and neigh- 

 bors ; not n preference of the theories contained in 

 books, to the results of experience. No ! I pity the 

 stupidity of the man who thinks that if we use books, 

 we must close our eyes against the light that is beam- 

 ing upon US from other soiuccs ; or that we must be- 



come mere theoriscrs, and the victims of ruinous ex- 

 periments. What ! does a man lose his own common 

 sense, his prudence and his judgment, whenever ho 

 lakes up an agricultural paper, or opens a book upon 

 hiisbandry ? Cannot one make himself ncquninted 

 with the doings of others, without losing his power to 

 judge whether it would be well for him, in his circum- 

 stances, to copy their examples '1 Our brains nre not 

 so weak ns this. The knowledge acquired from books 

 does not mnke us all nind. But if it did, there would 

 be more zest end true enjoyment in the learned mad- 

 man's course, than in that of him who has learned out, 

 nnd who thinks that books cnnnot make him wiser. 

 I ask what book- farming is? Common book-farming 

 is, learning by menus of books, new facts, opinions, 

 results o( experiments, modes of operation, and the 

 using such parlsof the inlbrninlion as can be turned to 

 profitable account in our individual situations. If this 

 be folly, we nre content to be culled fools. An agri- 

 cultural paper will be worth to you every month, if 

 not every week, more than its annual cost. — Jllr. I'ut- 

 natn's Aililrcss. 



Preiiare for next year. 



There nre causes at work, which will by another 

 year mnterially advance prices, particularly of bread- 

 stuffs nnd other provisions. It is the part of true wis- 

 dom to be in readiness to make the most of good foi- 

 tune. It is a vexntion to have one's dish wrong side 

 up w hen it rains pottage. This fall let farmers make 

 ample calculations and preparations for extensive sow- 

 ing and pinnling next spring. Turn over swnrd land 

 with the plough before the winter frosts set in. The 

 notion of frost upon the inverted soil is excellent ; nnd 

 besides, what work of this sort is done in Autumn is 

 so much gained upon the labors of Spring, when every 

 thing must be done in a hurry. As to wheat, we think 

 there is reason to hope and believe that the worst days 

 of the weevil's depredations are ovtr. The pest eca- 

 son was less disturbed by these vermin than the pre- 

 ceding-. It may be we shall sec and hear but little of 

 them the next year. Such scourges nre, in the provi- 

 dence of God, seldom perpetual. At any rate, let us 

 do our duty, nnd trust to Him for good results, If 

 we do not sow, it is certain we shnll not reap. 



There is no danger of planting too many potatoes. 

 If raised in locations too far for market, they may most 

 profitably be consumed by hogs, neat cattle, sbtep and 

 horses, and they will pay for themselves well thus in- 

 vested. In towns near the seaboard or rivers, where 

 vessels can come, they will always command mniket; 

 for Maine potatoes are so much better thnn these reieed 

 west and south, that vessels will always visit us to 

 take cargoes of them to Boston, New York, New Or- 

 leans and all along shore. The raising of potatoes at 

 25 cents per bushel, which is about the average in our 

 market towns, is ns profitnble a business ns our farmers 

 can go into. 



We must, too, prepare largely for corn. Say what 

 you will about it, this is nn excellent crop — not perhaps 

 to sell, but to consume at home. And as for the old 

 idea that Maine is no place to raise corn,. — this is all 

 moonshine. It is as sure as most other crops. It is 

 well to depend upon some early variety, so as to mnke 

 sure in n bnd senson. We know of some early sorts, 

 which produce long and large ears of heavy corn. 

 They were originally brought from Canada, nnd have 

 attained a large growth nnd become acclimated by long 

 culture in this latitude. 



The Tree Corn. We are satisfied that this will 

 yield more than other sorts; but ordinarily it is too late 

 for nui climate, cud exhausts the soil too much by its 

 exuberant growth. Last yenr, which was a dark sea- 

 son, it did not have a fair chance, and but little of it 

 ripened hereabouts ; but that which we planted this 

 year was fully ripe long belcire we had any frost. — 

 Maine Cultivator. 



" Keep Maring." — Throughout all nature, want of 

 motion indicates weakness, corruption, inanimation, 

 and death. Trenk, in his damp prison, leaped nbout 

 like n lion, in his fetters of seventy pounds weight, in 

 order to preserve his health; nnd nn illustrious physi- 

 cian observes, *'I know not which is most necessary 

 to the support of the human frnme, yonil or motion." 

 Were the exercise of the body attended to in n corres- 

 ponding degree with that of the mind, men of great 

 learning would be more healthy and vigorous — of more 

 general talents — of ampler practical knowledge — more 

 happy in their domestic lives — more enterprising, and 

 more attached to their duty ns men. The highest im- 

 provement of the mind, without bodily health, can 

 never present any thing more than half a human be- 

 ing. 



