AMERICAN AG-RICELTURIST. 
[August, 
eat too mucli regularly; and after feeding all 
day in the pasture, if a cow will eat a good 
- - - " - - . fodder, the result will 
Green fodder ought 
forkfull of green corn ^ 
surely be seen in the pail, 
to be fed in racks, in the yard, and the cows 
yarded at night. Two-thirds of all their manure 
is thus saved, and the dung heaps grow almost 
as fast in summer as in winter. 
Eotation of Crops in Eastern Pennsylvania. 
There is much more uniformity in the rota¬ 
tion of crops in Eastern Pennsylvania than we 
had anticipated. The lower part of the Valley 
of the Lehigh, and the Valleys of the North and 
West branches of the Susquehanna, which we re¬ 
cently visited, are mainly grain growing districts, 
and we suspect all the best farming of the State 
would come under the head of cereal agricul¬ 
ture. Only about a fourth part of the State "was 
put down as improved land in 1850, and with 
all the rapid improvement of agriculture, there 
is probably not more than a third of the State 
now under cultivation. There are still consid¬ 
erable tracts of unbroken forest, and vast re¬ 
gions of rough, mountainous land, which the 
lumbermen are rapidly stripping of all large 
trees, and leaving it to make a second or third 
growth. The best farmiirg is to be found in 
the valleys of the rivers and creeks, where the 
soil is almost uniformly fertile and well adapted 
to grain and grass. 
The rotation is a five or six years’ course, be¬ 
ginning with corn upon a clover or timothy sod. 
The liming of the land, which is almost uni¬ 
versal, takes place in connection with this crop. 
The lime is applied at the rate of from thirty to 
a hundred bushels to the acre, and is expected 
to last through the course. There is a differ¬ 
ence of practice both in regard to the time of 
applying the lime and of turning over the sod. 
Some apply the lime upon the grass immediate¬ 
ly after mowing, and turn under the sod the 
following spring. They say the lime strength¬ 
ens the growth of the grass, and sinks into the 
soil,-so that the spring plowing brings it to the 
surface where it ought to be. Others plow in 
the fall, and lime either in the fall or spring upon 
the plowed field. We found the best farmers 
most strongly in favor of the spring plowing, 
and they would only justify fall plowing where 
there was danger of not having help enough to 
finish the needed plowing seasonably in the 
spring. The lime and the sod are the main re¬ 
liance for the corn crop, which yields from forty 
to sixty bushels to the acre. 
The second course is either oats or a summer 
fallow. The best usage is in favor of the oats, 
for they say that it is in itself a paying 
crop, and. does not very much diminish the sub¬ 
sequent crop of wheat. The third course is 
winter wheat, for which preparation is made by 
spreading all the manure of the farm upon the 
oat stubble or the fallow, and plowing it in. 
The Mediterranean wheat is the variety most 
commonly used, and the yield in good years is 
I'rom twenty to thirty bushels to the acre. The 
Avhite varieties of Avhcat formerly used Avere 
more productive, but Avere more delicate, and 
, more liable to be destroyed by insects. At the 
lime of soAving the Avhcat, timothy is soavu, and 
. clover the folloAAdng spring, about the last of the 
frosts, Avhen the ground is cracked Avith settling. 
This gives clover as the fourth course, of which 
there are frequently tAvo crops taken in the same 
season, one for hay and the second for seed, of 
which the yield is from one and a half to two 
and a half bushels. The fifth year the timothy 
has the ground, and this crop is continued for 
one or more years according to circumstances. 
If the grass is very good, or if manure is plenty 
for top dressing, it stays in grass until it is want¬ 
ed to begin another rotation. Much larger areas 
of land are kept under the plow than is com¬ 
mon in the dairy regions. Grain fields of from 
tAventy to fifty acres are of frequent occurrence. 
Upon one 800-acre farm that we visited in the 
famous Buffalo Valley, we found 80 acres in 
wheat, 50 in corn, and 30 in oats; or more than 
one half the whole area of the farm. We think 
the farms in these valleys would average one 
fourth of their whole area in these three crops. 
Rye, which is so common in the dairy regions, 
is very little raised in the valley of the Susque¬ 
hanna. In Eastern Pennsylvania it is much 
more common. This rotation is very well adapt¬ 
ed to the wants of the grain growing districts, 
and perhaps can not at once be changed for the 
better. Lime is everywhere abundant, and 
with the manure made upon the farm, furnishes 
the ready means of keeping up the fertility of 
the soil. Potatoes are not much raised, except 
to supply the Avants of the family and the nearest 
village market. The grain growing farmers of 
Pennsylvania, and of other districts also in the 
United States, have no faith in the cultivation 
of roots. They certainly could be raised profit¬ 
ably for stock feeding in Avinter, but Avould re¬ 
quire additional laborers. Grain and hay are 
the principal products sold from these farms. 
There is some fattening of cattie in the wiiiter, 
and some raising of pork and making of but¬ 
ter, but they are mainly for the home markets. 
- » , I -- 
Walks and Talks on the Farm— No. 44. 
The editor of the AgriciClturist wrote me that 
he had received a number of letters referring to 
my Walks and Talks, “some praisewise and 
some otherwise.” I asked him to forward them, 
and he did so. He must have retained the 
“ praiseAvise,” for all of them are “ otherAvise.” 
Several of them criticise my treatment of the 
cow we lost by milk fever. I had another coav 
taken sick in the same Avay, and gave her the 
same treatment, except the ergot, and she recov¬ 
ered. This does not prove, however, that the 
ergot was the cause of the death of the other, 
as one of my neighbors lost the best cow he had 
from milk fever that had not had ergot, and the 
Deacon says a farmer in an adjoining town 
lost six coAvs from milk fever this spring. He 
thinks the disease is unusually prevalent. 
One Avriter advises me to get a breed of hogs 
that Avill not kill lambs. I have both the Suf¬ 
folk and Essex, neither of which have any sav¬ 
age tendencies. The soavs that killed the lambs 
Avere some coarse, ill-bred creatures that I bought 
for the purpose of crossing AA'itli the thorough 
breds. It is said that such sows are better moth¬ 
ers than finer animals. They certainly breed bet¬ 
ter, and the little pigs take after the sire in fine¬ 
ness of bone, early maturity, and fattening qual¬ 
ities. But they need high feeding. You can 
push them forAvard so as to be ready for the 
butcher in five or six months, but if half starved, 
when young, thej^ rarely get over it, even if well 
fed aftei’Avards. It Avas Amry annoying, hoAV 
CAmr, to lose the lambs. I sold the rest of 
them to the butcher for $4.00 a head, and the 
keep of a lamb is never felt 
Another of the letters is very savage. The 
writer assails me on all sides, but makes no spe¬ 
cific charges. I take him to be a city man who 
knows nothing of agricuiture, and is annoyed 
because I do not represent farming in accord¬ 
ance Avith his imaginary notions. All I can say 
is that I tell the truth according to my expe¬ 
rience. I do not find farm-life entirely free from 
care and anxiety. Perhaps I exaggerate the dis¬ 
appointments and annoyances. But if so, it is 
not a common fault of agricultural editors. We 
hear more of tlie successes than of the failures, 
and yet the latter, properly considered, teach 
more than the former. A man Avho really loves 
farming Avill not be discouraged by hearing of 
the mistakes of others. He Avill try to avoid 
them. I liave had my trials, but think I shall 
succeed in renovating my farm. Every year 
affords me more encouragement. If I mistake 
not, we have five acres that will turn out more, 
and far better, barley than I got from tAventy 
acres the first year. And I have fourteen acres 
of clover that Avill afford more good feed than 
could have been cut from half the farm. I have 
a very fair crop of Avheat on land where the oats 
the first year only yielded 8 bushels per acre, 
and those hardly fit to feed the geese. I have 
some very promising corn on the “Deacon’s 
duck pond,” and fair grass on part of the old 
stump lot, Avhere nothing ever greAV before but 
rushes and weeds. But if I should talk in this 
style, it might be thought that I had quit farm¬ 
ing, and gone back to the old editorial chair. 
The more I use petroleum paint, the better I 
-like it. A feAV days ago Ave painted an old Avagon 
that looked as though it Avould tumble to pieces 
like the old chaise. The hubs Avere full of cracks, 
the bolsters loose, and the box decidedly shaky. 
We took off the nuts, oiled them, put on Avide 
washers Avhere the Avood was rotten, and made 
all light and snug, then put on all the oil 
the wood Avould absorb, going over the hubs 
and tires several times as fast as the oil soaked 
in. We got in at least two gallons of oil. The 
cracks closed up, the tires Avere tight, the box 
snug, and the wagon looked almost as strong as 
a neAV one. We all know that soaking wheels 
in Avater will tighten the tires, but it is merely 
temporary. As soon as the Avater dries out, the 
wheels are as loose as ever. The oil is absorbed 
more rapidly than Avater, and Avill have, I think, 
the same effect, and be permanent. But if not, 
go OA'^er the wagon again as often as needed. 
It is little trouble. It seems curious to me that 
such a use of petroleum could be patented. In 
Captain Cox’s Asiatic BesearcTies he says: “ The 
town of Rainanghong is the centre of a district 
in Avhich there are some hundred petroleum 
wells in full activity. * * * The annual 
quantity of petroleum produced by the district 
exceeds 400,000 hogsheads. It is used by the 
lower classes in lamps, instead Pf oil, and when 
mixed with earth or ashes ansAvers the purpose 
of fuel. A composition of petroleum and resin 
is an excellent material for covering Avood- 
work, etc.” It Avas also used for ship bottoms 
to preserve them from insects, etc. 
I planted potatoes this year on clover sod. 
The clover last year Avas cut for hay, and after¬ 
wards for seed, This is running the land pretty 
hard, but as nothing is exported from the farm 
except the seed, and as a bushel of oil-cake meal 
Avhich costs about $1.50, contains more fertiliz¬ 
ing ingredients than a bushel of clover seed, and 
as you can get fiA^e or six bushels of oil-meal for 
one bushel of clover seed, the farm is benefited 
by exchanging the clover seed for oil-cake. But 
unless some such plan as this is adopted, groAA'- 
ing clover seed impoverishes your laud. Last 
fall, in cutting the clover seed, a strip about the 
width of the machine was skipped, and you can 
now see the effect on the potatoes. They are 
