1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
355 
A Good Rule on the Farm. —A rule which would 
teach careless hands what no amount of instruction 
can do, is suggested by the N. E. Farmer , viz: If 
ony one use an implement or tool for purposes for 
which it was not intended, and breaks or injures it, 
ho shall pay the full damage. For instance, if a man 
uses a shovel instead of an iron bar for prying stones 
or roots, and breaks it, let him pay the amount re¬ 
quired to make it good ; and so of every implement 
injured by sheer misapplication or carelessness. Hay¬ 
forks were made for pitching hay, but they are often 
broken by throwing down upon the floor, the jar mak¬ 
ing the tines fly like glass. The Editor says: “If 
every tool on a good-sized farm were always clean and 
in its place when not in use, it would be worth the in¬ 
terest on two or three hundred dollars annually, to 
most farmers.” The subject needs more attention. 
The Exhaustion op the Soil. —We have receiv¬ 
ed a letter all the way from Newton county, Arkansas, 
signed “ A Small Farmer,”—querying why we should 
say so much about the exhaustion of the soil, under 
ordinary farming, when heavily timbered wild lands, 
supporting “a vegetation twenty times the bulk of 
any crop that is grown,” are rather enriched thereby 
than impoverished. Hence, our correspondent is dis¬ 
posed to think that we should look to “some other 
quarter for the cause why lands in cultivation decrease 
in fertility.” * * * If A Small Farmer has a cask 
of vinegar or molasses, and every time he draws a 
pint from the spigot, will pour it directly back into the 
bung, he will find the contents of the cask last him 
considerably longer than if he carries what is taken 
out of it to the table for consumption. The “wild 
timbered lands” not only have an annual dressing of 
their own leaves, perhaps heavier than any farmer 
manures, but the gradual decay of the trees, as by 
degrees they or their boughs fall down and mingle 
once more with the soil, returns to it even more than 
has been taken from it. All the elements this heavy 
growth has derived from the air as well as those it has 
taken from the earth, are in new forms deposited to 
support in turn another generation of vegetable life. 
Whereas in farming, there is a continual drawing off 
from the field of all it yields, or nearly all, and the 
expectation is in too many cases that this constant ab¬ 
straction can be carried on forever without coming to 
an end. There are few casks so large that they have 
no bottom. 
New Way of Marketing Pigs.—A Pennsylvanian 
merchant, having concluded to go to farming, says a 
correspondent of the Boston Cultivator , bought 75 
acres of land near Lancaster, and, as he knew noth¬ 
ing of agriculture, save that he once fattened a pig, 
concluded to go into hog culture, pretty extensively. 
He accordingly erected extensive buildings, stocked 
them with the fashionable breeds, and now always has 
pigs for sale. The method by which he disposes, of 
them, is, to offer to every purchaser the pick of his 
pigs without regard to age, size, or sex, at a certain 
price—say $5—with the condition of immediate pay¬ 
ment and instant removal—never varying from these 
terms to reserve a pi<r, for even a quarter of an hour, 
though paid for The plan works well—purchasers 
come freely, every one has the best and is satisfied, 
and many are willing to pay handsomely for a fancy 
taken to particular animals. 
Old vs. New Corn, for Pork-making. —Conversing 
with an old farmer recently, he stated that one bushel 
of old corn, ground, was worth two bushels of new corn 
in the ear for making pork. That it is of superior 
quality we do not doubt, but think this estimate of the 
difference rather higher than facts will warrant. Some 
farmers feed new corn in preference to old—both in the 
unground raw state—thinking the grain, before it is 
fully hardened, more readily and fully digested, and 
sweeter, though perhaps not so oily in character. The 
point is worthy the consideration of our readers, and 
those who can, we hope will communicate their ex¬ 
perience. 
Feed for Cows. —A Maine dairyman finds clover 
much better than the low-land grasses for producing 
milk—testing the matter by accurate experiment. He 
says he never made as much milk with any kind of 
feed as with a mixture of oats and potatoes ; the milk 
was also of good quality. Potatoes, it is well known, 
increase the quantity of milk at the expense of quali¬ 
ty—perhaps oats are just the grain needed to make 
the amendment. 
Weeds for Feeding Swine. —A lady farmer in 
New-Hamshire boils the weeds, which her little boys 
collect about the premises, then cuts them up and adds 
a little bran and the kitchen slops, and feeds the mix¬ 
ture to her pig. It likes the feed and thrives upon it, 
and she thinks that weeds thus boiled are worth as 
much as the same bulk of potatoes. It is very com¬ 
mon to feed weeds to pigs, but we never heard of their 
being boiled for the purpose before. Many kinds, they 
eat heartily, raw, and any useful disposal of them is to 
bee ommended. 
Large Sale of Ayrshires. —E. P. Prentice, Esq., 
of Mount Hope, near this city, contemplating a pro¬ 
longed absence in Europe, last week disposed of nearly 
the whole of his well-known fine herd of Ayrshire cat¬ 
tle to Mr. William Birnie of Springfield, Mass. 
The purchase included twelve cows and heifers, all of 
Mr. P.’s own breeding, and the bull “ Blossom,” bred 
by Messrs. Hungerford and Brodie of Jefferson county 
—being the entire herd with the exception of two two- 
year-old bulls, which are still for sale. These cattle 
will be a valuable acquisition, even to the fine herds of 
the Connecticut river valley, whose superior stock, 
taken as a whole, it would be difficult to equal in any 
other section of the country. 
Improved Stock for the South. —Mr. C. N. Be- 
ment of Poughkeepsie, recently shipped to Hon. E. R. 
Brown of Mount Hope, Miss., three beautiful Devon 
heifers, purchased of Mr. Vassar, and bred at Spring- 
side—a splendid South-Down ram from Mr. Thorne’s 
flock at Thornedale, and a lot of fancy fowls from 
Springside. 
Potato Planter. —Among the many agricultural 
implements exhibited at the late St. Louis Fair for the 
purpose of aiding the farmer in his laborious work of 
tilling the ground, we notice a “ Potato Planter,” 
made and shown by Messrs. Munn & Co. of Louisville. 
Mr. Young, a well-known correspondent of the horti¬ 
cultural press, and a practical farmer, says that in 
May, 1858, he planted two acres of potatoes and two 
acres of corn with this machine, and found a saving of 
eight hands in potatoes, and three hands in corn, to 
the acre. “ Both have come up even, and stand as 
well, or better, than if planted by hand.” 
