6 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
and distillery; besides a kiln to dry the 
plums. 
This kiln, which is very high, is furnished 
with a series of drawers three feet long, by two 
broad, and two inches deep ; the bottom of these 
drawers is a trellis, formed of laths, cut in a tri¬ 
angular shape, and not so far apart as to permit 
the plums to fall through. Six drawers are 
placed side by side, and six, one on top of the 
other; the total number is thirty-six. The heat 
of the kiln is regulated so as not to exceed 60° 
Fahr., which dries plums without scorching 
them, and by this means they retain their natu¬ 
ral flavor. The drawers are changed four times 
in twenty-four hours; at the end of which time, 
the plums which when fresh filled four drawers, 
do not fill one entirely. When a drawer is emp¬ 
tied, it is filled with fresh fruit. These are 
intended for exportation to England. 
The stables of M. Schutzenbach are arranged 
in the Swiss style; the animals lie on boards, 
with slats nailed across to prevent them from 
sliding. On a farm where there are no grain 
crops raised, the ground being all occupied by 
soiling and beet crops, nothing is produced spe¬ 
cially intended for litter. 
There are very large liquid manure tanks 
provided. The manure is disposed in a walled 
enclosure, and covered by a shed. 
There are eighteen cows kept, which number is 
to be increased as soon as circumstances permit. 
The swine-sheds have a continuous roof. M. 
Schutzenbacii informed me that the expense of 
arranging his old buildings, and the construction 
of the new, did not exceed 8000 francs, ($1600). 
In the course of my entire tour up to the 
present time, I have generally found bad or in¬ 
different hemp, and very little fair oats; but 
these two crops are very fine in the vicinity of 
Baden. I have observed many small fields of 
Jerusalem artichokes and horse-radish. 
From Baden to Fribourg, a distance of about 
fifty miles, there are twenty-two railroad stations. 
This distance is traversed in four hours; such 
a slow rate, which I have not experienced on 
any other railroad, is owing, I am informed, to 
the heating of the locomotive with bad wood. 
The country appeared to me equally beautiful 
and Well cultivated, especially if the point of 
view is not at too great a distance from the base 
of the mountains, for at a considerable distance 
from these, the ground, having no elevation, 
suffers from an excess of moisture. The very 
extensive meadows appear neither good nor pro¬ 
ductive, and the crops on cultivated ground are 
not superior. It may be seen that draining 
would be necessary for their improvement. 
The potato disease had finished its ravages 
upon a large tract at a short distance from 
Baden. In more remote localities it had disap¬ 
peared temporarily, and again attacked the 
crops in the suburbs of Fribourg. 
In one of the hotels in this city, I had the 
pleasure of meeting M. Saint Sauveur, an old 
cavalry officer, of a French family, but the owner 
of land in the Baden country. He made me 
promise to visit his farm, 175 acres in extent; 
but the conveyance which was to have taken 
me to his house having been gone some hours 
before, I visited, instead, the splendid irrigated 
lands around Fribourg. My first business was 
to find the superintendent to whom the manage¬ 
ment of the operations is intrusted by the com¬ 
pany owning a water-course, 0.120 cubic metre 
in volume. This water, which runs through the 
streets of the city, is charged with a considerable 
amount of fertilizing principles, and is for this 
reason valuable in the irrigation of the meadows, 
the actual extent of which is about 550 acres. 
The manager told me in walking over the ground, 
the irrigation of which he attends to, that when 
an owner of land bordering on these meadows 
wishes it irrigated, he applies to the company 
owning the water-course. This company re¬ 
ceives an allowance of 120 francs per acre; in 
some cases the irrigator undertakes the neces¬ 
sary operations, which cost the owner about 315 
francs per juchart —a local measure almost 
equal to our acre; he pays also yearly to the 
in-igator five francs and a few cents for the dis¬ 
tribution of the water, and for the work of open¬ 
ing the water-runs. Before being changed into 
meadow, the land was rented at from twenty to 
twenty-two francs per acre. Its freehold value 
was about 800 francs. This value, after its 
change, increased to 2400 francs. The juchart, 
which previously reached twenty-two francs as 
its highest letting price, could then be rented 
for eighty francs. Three years are necessary 
to bring a new meadow into full vigor. When 
that has been accomplished, its first cutting of 
hay is worth forty-eight to fifty francs the 
juchart, and the second thirty-two to thirty-four. 
After the second cutting, the fields are left open 
to the cattle belonging to the inhabitants of the 
town and suburbs. 
During the winter season, each meadow is 
watered for twelve hours every twelve days; in 
summer, only six hours in twenty-four days, 
till a little before the time of cutting; but care 
is taken to introduce only a thin coating of 
water, just enough to cover the ground; a 
thicker covering would rot the grass. A heavy 
penalty is inflicted on any one who uses the 
water beyond his right. The ground being flat, 
it is divided as much as possible into compart¬ 
ments containing about an acre each, in the form 
of a parallelogram, and each division has a ditch 
to convey the water during the time it is used 
for irrigation. 
Fribourg and its suburbs have many manufac¬ 
tories of native coffee. In these the beet is 
more used than chicory. In my route from 
Wisbaden to Fribourg, I have seen many fields 
of maize, the greater portion of which is grown 
for the grain. They sow it in rows, three feet 
apart; and when the plants have attained a 
height of from two to three feet, they are thinned, 
leaving a tuft of three plants at every three feet; 
the remainder being consumed by the cattle. 
They point over the space thus cleared, and be¬ 
tween each tuft of maize plant dwarf beans, 
beets, or water-melons. Hemp is also sown, 
which, being grown in separate patches, yields 
superior seed. I have seen fields of maize which 
in the latter part of July was not more than two 
feet high. This was sown as a second crop, after 
a soiling crop had been cut for the cattle. They 
assured me it had still time to ripen perfectly. 
There are some fields of maize sown in rows 
with a dibble, and afterwards broadcast, in¬ 
tended also for feeding. On the 15th of July, a 
field for this purpose had not reached more than 
four inches in height. This was sown after a 
crop of rye, which had been harvested for its 
ripe grain. Many fields of beets, and some of 
tobacco, have even been planted as a stolen crop, 
after a harvest of rye. 
The property of M. Saint Satjveur, which 
bears some very fine trees, and of which an out¬ 
side strip is meadow, is very fertile. These 
meadows are irrigated, and, in addition, manured 
every five years. There are also several small 
vineyards on the estate. Thirty to forty cattle 
are fattened every year upon this farm. Ten 
cows of the Swiss breed, of a large growth, are 
served with Swiss bulls only. There are ten 
oxen, and as many heifers, besides four working 
horses. He raises also many pigs, of which 
thirty are fattened every year. The arrange¬ 
ment and keeping of his yards and stables are 
unexceptionable. The liquid manure, of which 
much use is made in this country, is collected in 
large cisterns. 
Maize for soiling is cultivated on these grounds 
in sufficient quantity to feed the cattle till the 
end of October. This kind of food is even more 
acceptable to the cattle after it has been slightly 
affected by the frost. A good application of 
manure is necessary to obtain an abundant crop 
of this excellent fodder, preferable to all others 
for cattle. It brings cows to their milk, makes 
large and profitable calves, and is famous for 
fattening oxen, which receive nothing in addi¬ 
tion to the maize fodder but a daily allowance 
of five quarts of a mixture of one half rape-cake, 
and a half of other meal. 
M. de Saint Sauveur follows a six years’ ro¬ 
tation, as follows: First year: rye, beets, car¬ 
rots, or potatoes, strongly manured; second, 
barley or March wheat; third, clover; fourth, 
wheat; fifth, maize, vetches, and poppies, ma¬ 
nured ; sixth, rye, to which a crop of flesh-colored 
clover succeeds, or a second crop of turnips. In 
addition to the strong manuring given to the 
ground when it bears maize, a little more 
should be added for the benefit of the succeeding 
crop. 
A species of globe mangold wurtzel, of a pale 
yellow color, which I have not yet seen on any 
other farm, is cultivated in this rotation. This 
is a beautiful variety, even for the use of the 
peasants of the vicinity. I brought home some 
of the seeds. 
M. Saint Sauveur supports on his farm six¬ 
teen persons. He gives them, except on fast- 
days, meat twice a day ; one half salt pork, and 
a half fresh beef. When he engages a servant, 
it is expressly stipulated that by paying him a 
month’s wages in addition to what is due him, 
he can dismiss him at his pleasure. 
His head-valet, formerly a sub-cavalry officer, 
and since a long time in his service, receives 
400 francs ($80) per annum, including the wages 
of his wife, who manages the farm household, 
where they live with their numerous child¬ 
ren. The day-laborers receive about twenty- 
five cents per day, and in addition bread and 
wine at breakfast and dinner-hour. The allow¬ 
ance of wine is about one and a half pints. The 
daily wages of women is twelve to fifteen cents, 
without board. They reap at the rate of forty 
cents per juchart of forty-four ares , or about 
one acre. 
M. Saint Sauveur complains much of the 
want of activity on the part of the people of this 
country. Four days before my visit, this can¬ 
ton had witnessed such a storm, that a small 
river carried away a double-arched bridge on 
the railroad from Fribourg to Basle. Many fields 
are still under water. I have found nothing 
particular to note in the country that I have 
passed over on my route to Basle.— Translated 
for the Agriculturist from, the Journal d'Agri¬ 
culture Pratique. 
A work-shop where tools can be kept is an 
indispensable appendage to a good farm. 
