63*> 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Oct.  1 
of  the  times.  His  application  was  refused,  and  there¬ 
fore  a  connection  which  began  about  the  time  when 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  in  New  England,  has  come 
to  an  end.  One  would  have  thought  that  an  effort 
would  have  been  made  by  the  landlord’s  agent  to 
retain  on  the  estate  a  family  that  had  so  long,  and  I 
may  say,  so  honorable  a  record  of  tenancy — that  an 
inquiry  and  investigation  would  have  been  instituted 
with  the  object  of  adjusting  the  rentof  the  farm  to  the 
needs  of  the  times  in  which  we  now  live  ;  but  nothing 
game  of  the  application  for  a  decrease  of  rent,  and  now 
the  old  home  of  the  family  is  filled  with  strange 
people.  The  time-honored  sentiment  of  respect  and 
regard  between  landlord  and  tenant,  which  used  to  be 
a  powerful  factor  in  the  conduct  of  British  agriculture, 
cannot  long  exist  in  times  like  these,  where  estates 
are  left  under  the  full  control  of  an  agent,  who  as  a 
rule  has  about  as  much  regard  for  the  tenants  as  for 
so  many  horses  or  cattle,  and  this  only  in  reference  to 
the  profit  they  will  yield. 
The  Law  of  Distress. — The  old  ties  are  weakening 
and  breaking  all  around,  and  the  long  period  of  agri¬ 
cultural  depression  is  chiefly  the  cause  of  it.  Farmers’ 
defence  leagues  are  being  formed,  and  demands  are 
being  made  for  substantial  reductions  of  rent,  for  the 
abolition  of  the  Law  of  Distress,  and  so  on.  Probably 
some'  of  The  Rural  readers  are  not  familiar  with  the 
English  Law  of  Distress  in  its  application  to  agricul¬ 
ture  ;  it  is  this  :  A  landlord  can  issue  a  distress  for  one 
year’s  rent  so  soon  as  it  is  due,  taking  precedence  over 
all  other  creditors  of  the  farmer  ;  he  has  thus  a  claim 
preferential  to  that  of  any  other  person,  and  may 
pounce  down  any  time  on  a  tenant  who,  by  reason  of 
bad  times,  losses  of  stock,  or  anything  else,  has  fallen 
behind  with  his  rent  The  time  has  now  arrived — so 
the  farmers  declare — for  placing  all  creditors  on  the 
same  level,  giving  fair  play  to  all  and  preference  to 
none,  and  so  improving  the  farmer’s  credit. 
Bilious  Over  the  Weather. — It  has  been  recently 
declared  by  leading  men  amongst  us  that  the  present 
condition  of  agriculture  in  this  country  shows  no  im¬ 
provement  when  compared  with  that  of  any  other 
year  during  the  long  period  of  depression.  This  is 
substantially  correct,  as  a  broad  and  general  state¬ 
ment.  And  yet  it  is  surprising  what  a  difference  a 
few  days’  fine  weather  will  make  to  an  Englishman's 
inclination  to  biliousness.  That  we  are  given  to  grum¬ 
bling  all  the  world  believes,  or  ought  to  believe,  if  con¬ 
stant  telling  is  of  any  value.  Admitting,  for  argu¬ 
ment’s  sake,  that  it  is  true  we  are  chronic  grumblers, 
no  one  will  venture  to  deny  that  our  climate  provides 
us  with  a  good-enough  excuse.  The  weather  we  nor¬ 
mally  receive  is  constant  only  in  its  inconstancy  :  it  is 
of  a  patchwork  character,  with  no  such  thing  as  a 
regular  pattern  in  it.  No  one  can  predict  with  confi¬ 
dence  two  days  beforehand  what  it  is  going  to  do,  and 
even  the  barometer  cannot  keep  pace  with  it  at  times. 
And  it  is  this  sort  of  thing  we  have  to  contend  with 
all  along.  The  weather  has  been  peculiar,  as  usual, 
only  more  so,  this  year.  Early  in  the  spring  we  had 
some  grand  days,  and  could  almost  hear  the  grass 
grow  without  the  help  of  a  microphone.  But  this  was 
soon  over,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  last  six  months  have 
been  cold,  dull,  wet,  and  cheerless  all  through  the 
piece.  I  have  never  known  so  downright  poor  a  sum¬ 
mer  for  grass,  and  yet  it  followed  a  winter  of  nv're 
than  ordinary  severity.  A  hard  winter  is  followed  by 
good  crops,  as  a  rule,  but  this  year’s  crops  here  at  all 
events  have  been  an  exception.  The  severe  winter  caused 
most  of  the  previous  accumulations  of  hay  to  be  con¬ 
sumed,  and  it  may  now  be  said  that  the  stock  of  for¬ 
age  in  the  country  is  quite  25  per  cent  less  than  the 
corresponding  stock  of  last  year.  Some  persons  would 
no  doubt  put  the  disparity  at  a  higher  figure  still,  and 
they  might  possibly  be  right ;  but,  for  my  own  part, 
I  prefer  to  be  under  rather  than  over  the  mark  in  mak¬ 
ing  an  estimate.  The  pastures  have  been,  as  a  rule, 
abnormally  bare  all  through  the  seacon,  and  meadow 
crops  were  anything  but  exhilarating  to  look  upon. 
Hay  ricks  are  therefore  uncommonly  little,  comparing 
with  other  years  as  calves  compare  with  cows,  in  bulk 
and  stature.  Other  crops  have  improved  since  the  hay 
was  cut — straw  and  root  crops — and  the  outlook  is  less 
dispiriting  than  it  was  a  month  ago.  Pastures,  too, 
have  improved  a  trifle,  but  compare  badly  with 
those  of  previous  years.  It  is  the  comparative  scarcity 
of  forage,  combined  with  low  prices  of  grain,  of  live 
stock,  and  of  dairy  produce  that  makes  me  speak  of 
the  current  year  as  one  of  the  worst  of  the  series. 
Curious  Live  Stock  Features. — The  low  price  of 
live  stock — that  is,  of  cattle  and  sheep — is  owing  to 
two  causes:  first,  the  reduction  in  the  stock  of  forage, 
and,  second,  the  increase  in  numbers.  The  increase  is 
not  very  considerable,  but,  coming  at  a  time  when  the 
decrease  in  available  keep  is  serious,  it  has  accentuated 
the  drop  in  price.  Lean  stock— store  stock,  as  we  call 
them — are  some  20  to  30  per  cent  lower  than  they  were 
last  year  at  this  time  ;  and  as  winter  approaches  they 
will  be  lower  still,  unless  indeed  we  have  a  very  fine 
fall  of  the  year  Wheat  barley  and  oats  are  very  low — 
especially  wheat.  I  don't  know  about  what  you  can 
do  in  the  States,  but  we  in  England  can  see  no  fun  in 
wheat  at  30  shillings  a  quarter — no  fun,  I  mean,  for 
those  who  grow  it  But  it  is  an  excellent  thing  for 
everybody  else,  and,  as  these  greatly  outnumber  the 
growers,  we  must  be  grateful  for  “  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number !  ”  Cheese  and  butter,  too,  are 
low  in  price,  although  the  yield  of  both  has  been  this 
year  below  an  average  in  quantity,  and  also  in  quality 
both  owing  to  the  cold,  wet,  sunless  season.  Beef  is 
also  low — far  too  low  for  the  graziers’  fancy — yet  were 
grazing  cattle  bought  in  the  spring  at  prices  which 
promised  a  good  average  profit.  It  is  not  only  in  the 
drop  of  two  cents  per  pound,  as  compared  with  last 
year’s  prices,  but  in  the  lighter  weights  which  cattle 
have  grown  into  this  year,  that  the  diminished  profits 
of  graziers  are  to  be  looked  for.  Certainly,  cattle  fat¬ 
tened  very  slowly,  or  fattened  not  at  all,  during  the 
early  part  of  the  summer,  and  there  is  a  general  com¬ 
plaint  of  the  want  of  “  ripeness,”  which  characterises 
the  fat  cattle  of  the  period.  Had  they  thriven  well, 
not  only  would  they  have  been  riper  than  they  are, 
but  a  stone  a  quarter  heavier,  and  this  extra  stone  (14 
pounds)  a  quarter  would  have  increased  the  profit  or 
prevented  a  loss — chiefly  the  latter.  Indeed,  we  see  it 
reported  in  the  papers  that  cattle  are  being  sold  out 
at  less  than  they  cost  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 
Horses  and  pigs  are  making  satisfactory  prices,  the 
latter  because  they  have  decreased  25  per  cent  in  num¬ 
ber  in  the  past  year.  The  breeding  of  horses  has  been 
greatly  improved  of  late  years,  and  many  farmers 
have  brood-mares  of  a  good  stamp,  and  sell  foals  at 
good  prices.  A  neighbor  of  mine  sold  a  Shire  foal  the 
other  day  for  $375.  So  far  everywhere  good  horses 
of  the  draught  kind,  and  indeed  good  horses  of  any 
class,  remain  in  brisk  demand  at  satisfactory  prices. 
Unfortunately,  however,  cereals  of  all  kinds,  beef, 
mutton,  cheese,  butter,  milk  and  store  stock  are  much 
lower  than  they  ought  to  be,  if  farmers  are  to  pay 
their  way  and  lay  up  a  little  store  of  dollars  against  a 
rainy  day.  It  is  you  who  flood  our  markets. 
Banking  on  American  Increase. — The  time  is  com¬ 
ing,  however,  when  American  competition  will  begin 
to  drop  off.  Your  population  is  multiplying  by  leaps 
and  bounds  ;  most  of  your  land  that  is  good  for  any¬ 
thing  is  occupied  in  one  way  or  another,  and  the  days 
of  rapid  expansion  in  agriculture  and  ranching  have 
alveady  begun  to  shorten.  Irrigation  will  help  you  in 
places  where  water  can  be  stored,  but  this  can  only  be 
done  at  a  great  expense.  Indeed,  the  fact  that  you 
are  already  doing  it  pretty  extensively  goes  to  prove 
that  your  good  land  has  mostly  been  taken  up.  What 
the  future  has  in  store  we  know  not,  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  symptoms  exist  to  encourage  the  hope  that 
farmers,  not  in  England  only,  but  in  America  too,  may 
look  forward  with  hope  to  the  not  very  distant  future. 
Surrey,  England.  [prof.]  j.  p.  sheldon. 
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Medicine  for  an  Exhausted  Pasture. 
How  can  an  ordinary  pasture  be  made  more  productive  without 
cultivating?  Can  It  be  helped  by  reseeding  with  the  proper  grasses 
alone  ? 
Improving  pastures  by  reseeding  is  not  a  certain 
operation,  but  is  often  worth  trying.  Seeding  liber¬ 
ally  in  the  autumn  or  very  early  spring,  harrowing 
pretty  thoroughly  and  rolling  in  the  spring,  may 
give  good  results.  In  some  cases  a  good  application 
of  either  stable  or  artificial  manures  may  be  all  that 
is  needed.  In  practice  I  have  sometimes  found  it  best, 
when  a  pasture  has  failed,  either  in  quantity  or  quality 
of  product,  to  plow  it  and  reseed  after  two  or  three 
years’  cultivation.  [prof.]  g.  e.  morrow. 
Rules  for  a  Canadian  Pasture. 
The  term  “ordinary  pasture”  is  a  little  obscure.  I 
understand  it  to  refer  to  a  pasture  containing  prin¬ 
cipally  Blue  Grass,  more  commonly  known  with  us  as 
June  Grass.  There  would  be  no  substantial  gain  in 
trying  to  improve  a  pasture  forming  a  part  of  a  short 
course  rotation.  Such  a  pasture  can  be  made  more 
productive  by  the  application  of  artificial  fertilizers. 
These  may  be  purely  nitrogenous  or  contain  phos¬ 
phoric  acid  and  potash  as  well.  When  nitrate  of  soda 
only  is  used,  from  50  to  150  pounds  per  acre  may  be 
applied,  in  the  spring  only,  and  it  is  better  sown  in 
two  applications  than  all  at  one,  with  from  three  to 
six  weeks  intervening.  Animal  superphosphate  is  one 
of  the  best  fertilizers  that  can  be  applied  to  such 
land,  particularly  when  made  from  fresh  bones.  It 
may  be  best  put  on  in  one  application,  early  in  the 
spring,  and  at  the  rate  of  about  200  pounds  per  acre. 
The  addition  of  some  potassic  fertilizer  will  give 
much  encouragement  to  the  growth  of  clovers  in  such 
pastures.  Whether  these  applications  will  be  remun¬ 
erative  will  depend  largely  upon  the  soil  conditions. 
Such  pastures  may  be  improved  by  harrowing  in  top- 
dressings  of  decomposed  farmyard  manure,  alone  or 
composted  with  muck  and  applied  in  the  autumn  or  in 
the  spring,  but  this  involves  some  cultivation.  Another 
method  is  to  spread  farmyard  manure  over  such  pas¬ 
tures  in  the  winter,  if  they  are  not  rolling  or  hilly, 
and  in  the  green  state;  when  a  good  coating  is  applied, 
say  15  to  20  tons  to  the  acre,  an  enormous  growth  fol¬ 
lows,  but  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  it  is  a  little 
distasteful  to  the  stock.  It  furnishes  grass  that 
endures  a  drought  well.  I  have  proved  this  on  my  own 
farm  on  several  occasions.  The  good  effects  will  also 
be  apparent  the  following  season. 
The  term  “  proper  grasses”  is  also  obscure.  I  take 
it  to  include  such  grasses  as  are  commonly  grown,  as 
Timothy  and  two  or  three  kinds  of  clover,  as  the  com¬ 
mon  Red,  Alsike,  etc.  Such  renovation  cannot  be  made 
without  the  free  use  of  the  harrow.  It  can  be  best 
effected  when  the  application  of  decomposed  farm¬ 
yard  manure  is  given,  as  referred  to  above.  When 
manure  is  thus  applied  it  would  probably  pay  to  try 
such  a  mode  of  adding  to  the  number  of  the  grasses, 
but  those  that  could  be  used  with  most  advantage 
would  be  the  hardier  and  more  long-lived  plants,  as 
Alsike  and  White  Dutch  clover,  and  probably  Meadow 
Fescue  among  the  grasses. 
Another  method  of  renovating  pastures  is  by  “  teth¬ 
ering,”  that  is,  feeding  some  green  food  upon  them  to 
the  stock  every  day  in  the  season  for  this,  and  chang¬ 
ing  the  place  of  feeding  from  time  to  time,  until  every 
part  of  the  field  has  thus  been  gone  over:  the  droppings 
add  to  the  fertility.  The  harrow  should  follow  the 
process,  to  distribute  the  manure,  and  to  some  extent 
to  incorporate  it  with  the  surface  soil. 
Ontario  Agricultural  College,  [prof],  tiios.  shaw. 
The  Making  of  a  Permanent  Pasture. 
When  the  soil  is  sufficiently  fertile  and  the  right 
kind  or  kinds  of  grass  are  sown,  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  a  pasture  may  not  be  kept  fully  produc¬ 
tive  indefinitely.  This  is  proved  by  the  condition  of 
the  old  Blue  Grass  pastures  in  Kentucky  and  Tennes¬ 
see,  where  I  have  seen  fields  covered  with  luxuriant 
grass,  through  which  the  soil  could  not  be  seen  even 
by  separating  the  herbage,  and  the  land  had  never 
been  plowed.  The  same  is  true  of  the  old  pastures  of 
England,  which  have  not  been  under  any  other  crop 
for  centuries.  Some  of  the  irrigated  river  meadows 
in  England  and  other  European  countries  have  never 
been  plowed,  and  the  annual  watering  and  top-dress¬ 
ing  keep  them  in  full  productiveness  for  hay  and  pas¬ 
ture  both.  The  way  these  fields  are  kept  in  the  highest 
condition  is  by  occasional  top-dressing  with  manure 
or  other  fertilizers,  or  by  applications  of  nitrate  of  soda, 
and  fresh  seeding  at  times,  and — which  is  of  special 
importance— the  frequent  removal  or  scattering  of  the 
droppings  of  the  cattle.  This  is  not  so  necessary  when 
sheep  are  pastured,  but  even  then  I  would  not  neglect 
it.  There  is  no  danger  from  weeds  if  the  land  is  clean 
when  it  is  seeded,  and  the  meadow  is  kept  in  good  con¬ 
dition.  Luxuriant  grass  will  never  give  way  to  weeds, 
except  to  a  few  that  seem  to  be  at  home  in  meadows, 
and  do  no  harm.  A  permanent  productive  pasture 
can  be  made  only  by  the  following  method  : 
The  land  is  to  be  first  put  into  the  best  possible  con¬ 
dition  by  a  clean  summer  fallow,  liberal  manur¬ 
ing,  draining  if  necessary,  the  removal  or  burial  of 
stones  if  the  land  is  not  clear  of  them,  most  excel¬ 
lent  cultivation,  and  seeding  with  the  right  kinds  of 
grasses  in  much  larger  quantities  than  American  far¬ 
mers  ever  think  of.  Three  or  four  bushels  of  seed  of 
several  kinds  is  the  least  that  should  be  sown.  The 
grass  should  be  sown  alone,  and  no  animal  should  be 
pastured  on  it  until  the  sod  is  firm  enough  to  prevent 
breaking  through  it,  and  poaching  the  surface.  The 
grass  is  never  to  be  eaten  down  too  closely,  but  always 
so  that  it  may  never  seed.  A  mower  is  to  be  run  over 
it  whenever  any  tufts  appear  to  be  left,  and  to  remove 
seed  stems  if  they  appear.  Rolling  is  very  useful  early 
in  the  spring,  and  whenever  the  surface  may  be  in¬ 
jured  by  moles,  any  molehills  should  be  spread  before 
rolling.  Moles  must  be  killed  by  traps,  as  they  will 
make  any  grass  field  rough  and  weedy  in  a  few  years 
if  permitted.  Each  spring  a  top-dressing  of  200  pounds 
of  superphosphate,  and  100  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda 
should  be  applied.  In  the  fall  some  fine  manure  spread 
on  the  surface  by  a  harrow,  will  be  a  great  help. 
Weeds,  like  infectious  diseases,  are  most  apt  to  take 
possession  of  the  weak  and  sickly,  therefore  keeping 
the  grass  vigorous  will  keep  out  the  weeds. 
Whenever  the  first  indication  of  the  need  of  it  ap¬ 
pears,  some  seed  should  be  sown  wherever  the  grass 
may  appear  thin,  and,  when  it  is  sown,  some  compost 
kept  for  the  purpose  should  be  spread  over  it  to,  insure 
