NEW 
“ TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND MIND.” 
SERIES. 
Vol. v. 
ALBANY, OCTOBER, 1848. 
No. 10. 
THE FAMMS OF B. & J. LYIBE. 
Editors of the Cultivator-— I recently spent a 
few hours very agreeably, at the farms of Messrs. Bar¬ 
nard and John Lynde, in Guilford, Vt.; and although I 
have but a few moments of leisure, I have thought that 
even a brief notice of some things which came under 
my observation, might be interesting to some of your 
readers. It seenas to me that there can be no reading 
upon the subject of agriculture, more interesting or 
useful than notices of the operations of those success¬ 
ful, intelligent and practical farmers, who, in their prac¬ 
tice, bring under contribution all the real and substan¬ 
tial improvements of the times. 
The farms of the Messrs. Lynde contain over two 
hundred acres each, being a high swell of land, the 
surface moderately rolling, and the soil a strong, fertile 
loam, resting upon an impervious hard-pan, at the 
depth of 18 to 24 inches. Their buildings are substan 
tial and spacious, presenting an appearance of neat¬ 
ness and good order. Upon one farm, the barns 65 by 
40 and 30 by 40, and on the other, 70 by 45 and 30 by 
40, with horse-barns and shed-lofts. Notwithstanding 
these ample accommodations for the storage of their 
produce, the present season has been so highly propi¬ 
tious for the hay crop, that they are troubled to find 
room for all their forage; and they will soon be under 
the necessity either of curtailing their manufacture and 
application of manure, or of building more barns. 
Doubtless, however, they find some alleviation for their 
troubles, in this respect, in the contrast presented by 
the condition of the sluggard, whose worn-out acres 
and generally dilapidated appearance, under a ruinous 
c< skinning” system, have brought him to the necessity 
of requesting some shylock to “ salt him down ” with 
a mortgage; and whose perfect horror of all innova¬ 
tions upon that system—sitting like an incubus upon 
him—effectually prevents any improvement in his con¬ 
dition, and renders it quite certain that in a few years 
the well known advertisement will be posted, that a 
certain farm, “ suitably divided” &c., &c., is “for 
sale.” 
The Messrs. Lynde have been famous for their ex¬ 
cellent butter and cheese; and were formerly extensive¬ 
ly and profitably engaged in the dairying business;— 
their sales in one of the last years of their operations 
in this line, amounting to 14,000 lbs. of cheese at 11 cts., 
delivered at the farm. Of late, owing to increasing 
years, &c., they have turned their attention mostly to 
the stall-feeding of cattle, thus consuming the most of 
their 1 products upon the farm. Mr. Barnard Lynde in¬ 
formed me that he had paid toll, the past winter, for 
about 600 bushels of grain, which he had fed out in this 
way. 
Manufacture of Manure. —Every material upon 
the farm, valuable in the manufacture of manure, is 
brought into requisition. Mr. John Lynde has not 
been able to avail himself of the advantage of a barn 
cellar hitherto, on account of rocks below the surface; 
but I believe it is his intention to alter the arrangement 
of his buildings so as to obviate this difficulty. His 
practice, therefore, has been to throw in muck, under 
the stable floors, to the depth of three feet, in the fall, 
and then in the spring it is taken out and mingled with 
his other compost. His yards are well covered in the 
fall with muck, turf, &c., and in the spring the con¬ 
tents are piled up, mostly under cover, remaining in 
this condition until the next fall, when the compost is 
carted out and spread as a top-dressing on moist grass 
ground. His arrangements for the swine are excellent, 
and afford a large quantity of manure. 
Mr. Barnard Lynde has been more successful in ob¬ 
taining a cellar. Two years since, he commenced dig¬ 
ging for one, and opened a trench about 14 feet wide 
and 8 feet deep, under the whole length of the barn, 
(70 feet.) The earth taken out was all carted to the 
field and spread as a top-dressing upon a moist piece of 
mowing. The effect was truly wonderful,—doubling 
the quantity of hay. One would not have supposed 
that earth taken out, to the depth of 8 feet, would have 
produced this effect; and it certainly affords substantial 
proof of the benefit to be derived from barn-cellars, 
where the salts are annually saved and made available. 
The earth under this barn is remarkably free from stone, 
and as the cellar never is affected by frost, it is Mr. 
Lynde’s intention to keep widening it, annually, from 
time to time, in the winter, by throwing the earth back 
on to the manure, in about equal quantities with it, un¬ 
til the whole is excavated. Stone posts are set under 
the timbers of the barn at suitable distances, so as to 
make all safe. He is thus provided with material, 
ready at hand, for compost, for some time to come, and 
the application of it so far, in every form, has produced 
highly satisfactory results. The contents of the cellar 
remain there until after haying, and then, at conveni¬ 
ence, the mass is carted out into large and compact 
heaps, for the next spring’s use. 
The barn-yard is covered a foot deep with muck, 
sods, &c., in the fall, and after the hurry of spring is 
over, the contents are snugly piled, under cover, and 
the fall carted out and spread as a top-dressing on the 
moist mowing land. 
My attention was directed to a corn-field which had 
been dressed vrith a compost of muck and animal mat¬ 
ter. Two old horses were killed in the autumn, cut 
up into pieces of 15 to 20 pounds’ weight, and mixed 
in compost with about 40 loads of muck. Upon each 
piece of horse-flesh a little slaked lime was sprinkled 
