Si 



THE ILLIiS'OIS FARMER. 



March 



It is an inextricable inconvenience that the re- 

 turns must be made up to the first of Jan., which is 

 not the beginning of the year with the farmer's 

 business. His grain is unsold and unmeasured, 

 his stock is a part of it unsold, and his feed uncon- 

 samed and unmeasured. It is impossible for one 

 living on a farm to keep his accounts perfectly cor- 

 rect, to make a just return of his income, dividing 

 the rear at that point. With many it is only a con- 

 fused guess. They should be released from such a 

 dilemma if possible. The farmer's year begins the 

 first of April. If he has kept his account as he 

 should, it is a very easy thiTig to give an exact state- 

 ment of his income. And if he gives the income 

 of the year from April 1, 1863, to April 1, 1864, it 

 will be much more nearly the true returns for the 

 year 1863 than could be made out on the 1st of 

 January, 1864. lam sure my income for the year 

 ending March 31, cannot vary much from the in- 

 come of the year ending Dec. 31. I Icnow what the 

 former is, and I safely assume t!ie-n to be the same. 

 It is my surest method of finding my income for 

 1863. If farmers will adopt this plan, they may 

 escape endless confusion, and give a more satisfac- 

 tory return. If this tax is to continue, the law 

 should be altered in this respect. 



The simplest manner of showing the increased 

 value of stock, &c., is to take an inventory at the 

 end of the year; any increase in value compared 

 with the inventory a year before should be set down 

 asa part of the products of the farm, and any de- 

 crease in value is to be placed among the expenses. 

 So of hay, grain, &c. All the products of the farm 

 consumed by the family are to be estimated at their 

 cash value. It would not be unjust for the farmer 

 to be taxed on the value of the rent of his house ; 

 he is taxed for the value of the fuel cut from his own 

 land, and for any wood and timber which ho may 

 sell, if it does not exceed the annual growth of his 

 timber land. I think ii wo'ihl sometimes be wrong 

 to tax the product of a sale of timber or wood , a 

 man may sell a lot of timber vrhicli has been grow- 

 ing fifty years. This is not the annual product, it 

 is the capital itself, almost the whole value of the 

 property. It is the annual value which the law 

 seeks to tax, and not the aucumulated capital of 

 fifty years. 



The law itself is not unjust to farmers ; the misin^ 

 terpretation of it by assessors, and the want of prop" 

 er accounts byfarmers themselves, work very great 

 inequality 



It gives a rather favorable look to the business of 

 . farming, that correct accounts expose those who 

 keep them to larger drafts by the income tax. 



Is not this a proper subject for the attention of 

 the New York State Agricultural Society to pro- 

 pose a system of taxation which shall become uni- 

 form and make the imposition of it jusc and equal ? 

 Xo doubt the department would give respectful 

 heed to any suggestions made to it l)y a committee 

 appointed by the State Society. Does not the in- 

 terest of the farming community demand of the 

 Society some such action? 



Amknia. N". Eeed. 



—The above has a value aside from the income 

 tax. Last month we published the instruction of 

 our assessors on this subject, and trust our farmers 

 will have their account books kept accordingly. 



Something that Farmers jSTeed. 



Every farmer needs a nail box, well stocked. 

 He should have, at leT!st, nine sizes. The follow- 

 ing table will show any one, at a glance, the length 

 of the various sizes, and the number of nails in a 

 pound. They are rated, "Spenny, up to 20-penny." 

 The first column gives the number, the second the 

 length in inches, and the thii'd the number per 

 pound. That is: 



S-penny. . 



4-penny. . 



5-pcnny. . 



6-penny. 



"Z-penny . 



8-pcnny. 



10-penny. 



.1 in. 55*7 na. 12-penny. ..3 in. 54 na. 



.IJin. 356 na., 20-penny. ..SJin. 3s na. 



.Ifin. 232na.i Spikes. ..4 in. 16 



.-. :_ n,.^__ Spikes... 4^iu. 12 



Spikes. ..5 in. 10 



Spikes. ..6 in. 1 



Spikes. ..T in. 6 



2 in. 

 ..2iriu 



..2iin. 101 na 

 ..2^in, 



16*7 na. 

 141 na. 



63 na. 



From this tnble an estim.ate of quantity and 

 suitable sizes for any job of work can be estimated. 



A farmer's nail box should be divided into ten 

 compartments, one of each sized nails and one for 

 spikes. It need not be large because it is only in- 

 tended for jobbing, and have a suitable sized nail 

 for all purposes, always at hand. It should have 

 a good strong handle like the bail of a has;ket. 

 Two or three gimlets, an awl or two, and a nail 

 set should have places in the nail box, and of course 

 the hammer. Another tool l^ox should contain 

 two saws, a plane or two, a drawing-knife, several 

 files, punches, cold chisel, etcetera. 



Stalls for Horses. 



The proper width of a horse's stall is four feet. 

 Length from partition in front nine feet ; deduct 

 one and a half feet for crib, and we have seven and 

 ahalf feet from crib to rear of stall. For the first 

 four feet of the rear end of the stall cut two-inch 

 hard wood plank into three and one-half inch 

 strips, and lay them five-eighths of an inch apart, 

 spike them down at each end. The remainder of 

 the floor in the stall should be laid tight of oak 

 plank. The floor under the animal's forefeet be- 

 ing tight, prevents the flow of any liquid manure 

 forward. The interstices in the rear floor conduct 

 it back to where it flows into an iron gutter, through 

 which .are drilled inch holes to carry it below. Back 

 of the gutter (which is three and one-half inches 

 wide) is an iron plate four inches wide and half 

 inch thick, to take the wear of horses hind feet ; 

 both pieces of iron to be headed into the plank so 

 as to be level with the bottom of tjie upper floor 

 should not pitch over one iuch. ~ 

 is to have the forward floor level, 

 strip floor pitch half an inch. 



The floor in rear of cows' stalls 

 ped, or the one upon which they stand raised six 

 inches, in order to keep the animals clean. The 

 floor upon which they stand should be just long 

 enough for them to stand upon, without stepping 

 down on the floor behind. From the crib, five and 

 one-half feet is long enough for small cows, and 

 one-half to seven for large ones, is about right. 

 These floors to be level. — Ux. 



The better way 

 and the rear or 



should be drop- 



The Value of Dead Horses. 



Some people will no doubt be astonished to learn 

 that large fortunes have been made every year since 



.^.Mk 



