1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
287 
FARMING AMONG THE HILLS. 
In the early part of last month, we made a short ex¬ 
cursion among the farmers of New Lebanon and vicini¬ 
ty. Our first stop was with Mr. M. Y. Tilden, to 
whose kind attentions, and those of Mr. Benj. A. Hall, 
we are indebted for an introduction to several of the 
good farmers of New-Lebanon, Stephentown, &c. We 
give the following brief notes of the principal objects 
which attracted our attention. 
Wool Growing. —This is carried on to considerable 
extent in thissection. On the farmofMr. Tilden, and 
brothers, there is a flock of 1,300, mostly of Saxon blood. 
We saw the fleeces of this yeais’ clip, which are not yet 
sold. They are generally cf fine quality, and are put 
up in very good order, being well cleansed, and of al¬ 
most snowy whiteness. The average weight this sea¬ 
son, was 2 lbs. 12 oz. per fleece. The largest fleece 
was that of a buck—6 lbs. The best buck, however, is 
a three-year-old one, bred by Mr. C. B. Smith, of Tor- 
rigford, Ct., the fleece of which weighed 5| lbs. He 
is a beautiful buck, and his wool is excellent, being 
fine, of good length, handsomely curved, white, and of 
very uniform quality over the whole body. 
Messrs. Tilden have about 800 acres of land; 300 
acres comprise the home farm, and the remainder is 
wood, and mountain pastures. 
The farm is managed chiefly by a tenant, Mr. Nelson 
Tanner, who is also a joint owner in the sheep and 
other stock. Wool is considered the staple product, 
and no more stock of any other kind than sheep, is kept 
than is necessary to manage the farm; at present there 
are kept 5 horses, 4 oxen, 6 cows, and 3 young cattle. 
The produce of hay is from 200 to 250 tons, annually. 
Mr. Tilden’s barn is sufficiently large to hold all this 
hay, and at the same time affords ample shelter to all 
his sheep and other stock. It is our intention to give a 
more particular description of it next month. 
In company with Mr. Tilden, we visited the moun¬ 
tain on which are his principal summer ranges for 
sheep. It is an elevation of some 1600 feet above tide 
wafer; presenting a rocky surface, and rather thin, 
moist soil, but producing a tolerable quantity of very 
sweet and nutritive herbage. It appears to be, on the 
whole, well adapted to sheep, and they are generally 
healthy here. The heat is never intense, and the air is 
very salubrious. We were on the summit at 11 A. M., 
and while the people in the valley were sweltering 
with heat,—the day, (7th Aug.,) being one of the hot¬ 
test of the season—we found ourselves most comfortable 
under closely buttoned coats. But the purity and 
bracing tendency of the air, was most delightful, and 
with a landscape view of surpassing beauty and great 
extent, amply compensated us for the toilsome ascent. 
Mr. C. W. Hull, of New-Lebanon, has a flock of 
about 300 choice fine-wooled sheep. He has been con¬ 
siderably noted as a breeder of fine sheep for several 
years. In 1844, he received the first premium on 
Saxon bucks, at the N. Y. State Ag. Society’s Show, at 
Poughkeepsie. His sheep are of small size, but of very 
uniform character, and show that very close attention 
to the quality of their wool, has been bestowed in breed¬ 
ing. We did not see his wool—it is at the Wool De¬ 
pot, at Kinderhook; we believe it has heretofore sold 
for about 60 cents per lb. His fleeces are, however, 
light, averaging this season but 2 lbs. 9 oz. We would 
suggest to Mr Hull the propriety of endeavoring to in¬ 
crease the weight of his fleeces without losing fineness. 
We are perfectly satisfied that this is feasible. We 
think three pounds per fleece is readily attainable, 
without the least deterioration of quality. Mr. H. has 
no bucks which are more than a year old last spring. 
They are too young for their quality to be judged of 
with confidence—especiallyjust after having been shorn; 
but some of them appear to be excellent, both as to 
quality of wool and shape of carcass. 
Dairying.—A n example of very profitable dairy 
management was shown us on the farm of Mr. Hall, 
(whose name we have above mentioned.) Mr. H. has 
a farm of about 200 acres—mostly hill-land, but moist, 
and affording good pasturage. He keeps 24 cows, (or 
rather has that number in milk—we think he has some 
dry cows.) He makes butter, which is sent regularly to 
Boston twice a week. He has an established customer 
for it in that city, who takes the whole, and allows such 
a price as the quality and the state of the market will 
justify. The average this year has been twenty cents 
per lb. It is put down in firkins, which hold 20 to 25 
lbs. each. The firkins are made of well seasoned 
spruce, clear of sap, firmly put together, and neatly 
turned, in the manner of what are called the Shaker pails. 
They are altogether a neat article. They are obtained in 
Boston, and as we understood, are manufactured in Maine. 
Ground rock-salt is used at the rate of about one oz. of 
salt to one pound of butter. This kind of salt is con¬ 
sidered better than any other, and far preferable to the 
western salt. If the butter is designed for long-keep¬ 
ing, a small quantity of loaf-sugar, (say half an ounce 
to the pound of butter,) is added to the salt and worked 
in. No saltpetre is now used at any time—former 
practice having demonstrated its uselessness, if, indeed, 
it did not actually injure the butter. 
The cream is churned while it is sweet, or at far¬ 
thest before anything more than a very slight fermenta¬ 
tion occurs. Great care is taken to extract the buiter- 
! milk, and for this purpose the butter is thoroughly 
■ worked with a brake, of somewhat similar construction 
to the ones described in our June and August numbers. 
The cream and the butter are kppt in a refrigerator. 
In connection with the dairy, Mr. Hall keeps swine 
to good advantage. They are fed with the skimmed 
milk, with some vegetables, peas, and a little grain at 
! the last period of fattening. They are kept wholly in 
I pens, with small yards attached, for the purpose of 
making manure. He sold last year over $300 dollars 
j worth of pork. This year he has adopted a different 
course which will prove more profitable. He sends off 
; his pigs via. railroad to Boston, when they will weigh 
! from 50 to 75 lbs. each, dressed, and gets for them at 
i Brighton, eight cents per pound, dead weight. This 
| is the course except with a few grown hogs, which are 
| designed to make pork for home consumption. 
Mr. Hall’s cows are evidently good milkers. They 
! are mostly of the common breed of the country, but 
have been selected. Several have a dash of the Dur¬ 
ham blood in them, and one is a full-blood, from Con¬ 
necticut. The whole lot, including several heifers only 
two years old, averaged 8 pounds and a fraction per 
week, in June last, on grass feed only. Mr. H. is con¬ 
fident that they will this year reach an average of nearly 
200 lbs. to each cow. 
We should have mentioned in the proper connection, 
that the churning is done by horse-power—from 60 to 
75 pounds being churned at once. The churn used is 
on the model of Galt’s, and the power is a horizontal 
wheel, on which the horse stands. 
The winter food for the cows is chiefly hay; though 
it has heretofore been Mr. Hall’s practice to give 
them some potatoes towards spring. He prefers the 
potato to any other root, but since it has been so much 
injured by the rot, the carrot has been resorted to as a 
substitute. It seems to be the general impression that 
the carrot is the best root to take the place of the pota¬ 
to in feeding stock; in this we also concur, and are 
gratified to see the culture of this vegetable extended. 
We shall continue our notices in future numbers. 
STATISTICS—BEANS. 
Mr. Editor —In the statistics of the Agriculture of 
your state, recently published, of the article Beans, it 
is reported that in two or three cases, over one hundred, 
bushels have been raised from an acre . Several of the 
readers of my paper have expressed to me their doubts 
as to the correctness of these figures; and if correct, 
they are very desirous of obtaining further information 
on the subject—as to the kind of beans, quality of the 
soil, mode of cultivation, &c. Perhaps if you would 
ask for this information through the Cultivator, it would 
be furnished. M. B. Bateham, 
Columbus, Aug. 8, 1846. Ed. 0. Cultivator. 
