232 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
the equivalent of a bushel of corn for consider¬ 
ably less than this would cost,—especial]}’- when 
due allowance is made for the value of the ma¬ 
nure left after consumption by animals, which 
is, according to Lawes’ Tables, $0.65 from com 
costing $40 per ton; $14.59 from wheat bran 
costing $32 per ton; and $19.72 from linseed 
cake costing $60 per ton.* 
Still, for all this, the question is still an open 
one with me, as with most eastern stock farm¬ 
ers ; and although the argument and the figures 
seem to be all one way, the force of old habits, 
the custom among our neighbors, and the disin¬ 
clination to try novelties may continue for a 
long time to maintain the supremacy of “King 
Indian,” oven at Ogden Farm. 
So long as corn is to be raised, it is very de¬ 
sirable to devise some means by which the de¬ 
lay caused by cross-marking for planting may 
be avoided. It has been suggested that an ap¬ 
paratus may be made by setting two wheels of 
equal diameter at a proper distance apart, to 
mark the rows in one direction, and to put 
studs on their rims, to mark the proper distances 
of the hills. Guide-rods, carrying light chains, 
could be run out from each end of the axle. 
The first row should be marked out absolutely 
straight; then, commencing at one end of this 
line, with one stud of each wheel directly under 
each axle, the marker should be moved across 
the field on the line of the row. The studs will 
mark the positions of the hills for the first two 
rows. In returning, for the third and fourth 
rows, let one of the chains hang directly over 
the second one, and set the studs exactly in 
range with the hills first marked. Very little 
care will be required to lay off a whole field in 
perfectly regular check-lines. 
During the month of June our soiling was 
temporarily suspended. What with the poverty 
of the soil, its foulness, and the winter-killing 
that our open season caused, the clover field 
that was laid down last j r ear (as a temporary 
make-shift and without manure), was not worth 
mowing, except where sea-weed had been ap¬ 
plied as a top-dressing. The only thing to do 
was to feed off what clover there was, which 
amounted to a good deal, and to clip the white 
weed with a mowing machine. As soon as the 
lye became too coarse for feeding, the cows 
were turned on to the unmanured clover, and 
there is a fair prospect that it will carry them 
through until the sowed corn is ready. This 
will enable us to seed a part of the first and 
nearly all of the second growth of rye, and to 
cure for hay all of the oats provided for soiling. 
This illustrates one of the safe-guards of the 
soiling system. The provision of fodder may 
be made as bountiful as you please; and there 
will be no loss, for every thing that is not con¬ 
sumed cau be cured and stowed away for win¬ 
ter feeding. Oats cut at any time before they 
get beyond the “milk” state, seem to be as 
good as the best hay for winter use. 
We are just commencing to keep a record of 
the weight of milk given every morning and 
evening by each cow. A printed blank for each 
week is tacked against the wall, and a lead- 
pencil hangs near it. As each cow is milked, 
the pail is hung on an ordinary spring scale. 
The pails being of uniform weight, it is easy to 
make the record sufficiently accurate for practi¬ 
cal purposes. At the end of each week the to¬ 
tal yield for each cow is footed up and divided 
by seven for the daily average. The total 
* Lawes’ estimates are in gold, and tlie cost of the 
food iu currency. 
weekly yield of the whole herd is also recorded. 
The utility of such a record, especially if con¬ 
tinued for a series of years, wifi be great. It 
will show:—1. The performance of each ani¬ 
mal in her different conditions, and especially 
the degree in which she holds to her milk to¬ 
wards calving time. 2. The relation that the 
progeny bears in its milking qualities to its dam. 
3. The milk-producing quality of the progeny 
of certain bulls. 4. The effect of different 
kinds of food, and of different systems of feed¬ 
ing, on the production of milk. 5. By compar¬ 
ing the weekly yield of milk with the weekly 
production of butter, the effect of feeding can 
be determined in regard to this latter. 
The practical results of the knowledge thus 
obtained will be valuable. We shall know 
which animals to sell and which to keep; which 
bulls to breed from ; which families to depend 
on for the final herd, and what methods of feed¬ 
ing it is best to pursue in winter and in sum¬ 
mer,—this will be especially valuable as showing 
the relative advantages of soiling and steaming, 
as compared with dry feeding and pasturing, 
and the relative value of corn-meal, wheat 
bran, etc. 
Our present oat field stretches quite across 
the farm, and occupies portions of the land that 
was planted to corn in ’68 and ’69. Last year, 
the cornfield of ’68 was occupied by ruta-baga 
turnips, for which a heavy dressing of manure 
was applied. This land has never been deeply 
plowed, and neither tract was manured this 
year. The oats are decidedly the best on the 
older tract. This is partly due, no doubt, to 
the double cultivation and manuring; but cer¬ 
tain spots on the corn land of last year indicate 
that a still greater effect is to be ascribed to the 
depth of the plowing; for, wherever the clay 
turned up from the subsoil is visible, the oats 
are small and light-colored. It becomes more 
and more evident that our subsoil must be 
brought into good condition by degrees, and 
that it will be several years before it can be 
made to render good service at tiie top. 
Where this deeply plowed land has been ma¬ 
nured this year, the result is much better, and 
the fodder corn planted upon it looks very well. 
It is worthy of note, that wherever iu the corn 
crop of the present } r ear the rows strike the 
dead furrows, the growth is extremely small and 
yellow ; the moment they leave these and touch 
the surface mould, the growth is dark and luxu¬ 
riant. While I have been in every instance dis¬ 
appointed by the results of deep cultivation, I 
have been more than satisfied by the effects ob¬ 
tained by all operations that are confined to the 
immediate surface. On'our poorest grass land, 
where little beside wiry grasses and sorrel grows, 
(or, at least, is noticeable), a copious dressing 
of stable manure brings into prominence the best 
of the natural grasses, and makes a crop that 
pays well for mowing and pasturing. At the 
same time, the ability to withstand drouth is 
vastly increased. This is by no means to be 
considered as establishing a general rule; only 
as indicating that the subsoil of Ogden Farm, 
which lias been for years water-soaked and de¬ 
prived of all atmospheric action, is yet so crude 
as to be little better than an absolute poison to 
cultivated plants. Now that the water has been 
drained away, and the air can have access to 
do its wonderful chemical work, there is no 
doubt that, after a few years, the nose of the 
plow may be safely sent some inches deeper. 
As, little by little, the roots of the clover and 
other crops find their way into the subsoil, they, 
too, will add to it's fertility, and, on their decay, 
will leave inviting channels down which future 
roots will go to make a better, ami, in its turn, 
a still more ameliorating growth. Until the 
good day comes when I can plow deeply my¬ 
self, I shall do the best work I can near the sur¬ 
face, and shall continue strenuously to advise 
other farmers, whose subsoil is not thus defect¬ 
ive, to plow as deep as possible,—satisfied that 
Deep Plowing is the Golden Rule of good farm¬ 
ing, and that such exceptional cases as mine by 
no means disprove its general value. 
I have recently made a tour among some of 
the breeders and importers of Jersey cattle in 
Massachusetts, hoping to find some choice ani¬ 
mals for sale at a moderate price. In this I was 
disappointed. The inquiry for this breed, which 
my own correspondence bad indicated, seems 
to have been even more active there. The de¬ 
mand from the West is increasing, and there 
were several large orders being filled for Cali¬ 
fornia. For the few cows that I especially 
coveted, I should have had to pay no less than 
$1,000 each, so I came home witli only a very 
choice yearling bull, for which I paid a round 
price, and $200 worth of eight-montbs-ohl heif¬ 
er. These high prices, however, attach only 
to choice animals; second-class stock, such as 
is brought by the ship-load, on speculation, from 
the Island of Jersey, is sold at very moderate 
figures, and, in my judgment, is very clear at the 
price. These speculators’ lots are generally 
picked up from the cheap refuse of the Island, 
and are sold here to the large class, who attach 
more value to the simple fact of importation 
than to careful arid judicious breeding. 
I was for a long time perplexed by the failure 
of a valuable mare to get with foal. She is 
thirteen years old, and probably has never bred. 
After passing a year with a young trotting 
stallion without result, she came into my pos¬ 
session, and though frequently served by Dallas 
through two seasons, she continued to come 
regularly in heat, I searched high and low 
among the horse books for something applica¬ 
ble to the case, but I failed to find, not only this, 
but anything of value connected with the man¬ 
agement of horses and mares at the time of 
serving. There is no reason why the literature 
of agriculture should be deficient in so impor¬ 
tant a particular, and those whose knowledge 
and experience qualify them to give the much- 
needed instructions, can render no better ser¬ 
vice than by so doing. Practical books failing 
me, I applied to practical men, and rvas at last 
told by a knowing old stable-keeper, to turn the 
horse and mare loose together immediately after 
the first union. The mare’s shoes were remov¬ 
ed, and immediately after the service the fetters 
and both baiters were taken off. The animals 
were in a large barn-yard, with high fences; 
they were together for nearly half an hour. 
Owing to the restlessness of the mare, Dallas’ 
most determined efforts were evidently unavail¬ 
ing, and they were separated. As it was very 
late in the season, the fact that the mare did not 
again come iu heat was not taken as an indica¬ 
tion that she had conceived. We have been 
watching in vain for her to come in beat again 
this spring, and have at last discovered the 
movements of an active foetus and every indica¬ 
tion of approaching parturition. Precisely how 
much this circumstance teaches, it is impossible 
to say. There was no complete union after the 
usual one at the halter, and such unions had 
failed steadily for two years. My theory is, 
that the presence of the horse and the mental 
effect of his repeated efforts caused the result. 
