202 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
June. 
in onr grain crops by thinner and later sowing, and by 
compression of the soil. To me it is a matter of aston¬ 
ishment that we do not apply gardening principles to our 
farms. It either arises from a want of capital or obser¬ 
vation ; and I am so struck to see the cottager’s luxuriant 
garden abutting on the poverty-stricken field of the ex¬ 
tensive farmer—reading, as it were to its neighbor, a daily 
lecture on man’s prejudice and improvidence.” He re¬ 
marks in another place, that the fattening quality and 
density of the root crops have greatly increased with the 
density of his soil, and his wheat seldom weighs less than 
63 lbs. per bushel. 
Farmers are usually aware of the advantages of drain¬ 
ing. But the following will be new to some: “Although 
I lose some advantages by my personal absence, I farm 
at much less cost than the general run of farmers holding 
unimproved farms. The small number of horses I keep 
will prove this. For instance, owing to drainage, my 
land works one horse lighter, and I can plow at almost 
any time; while on undrained lands there are many idle 
days and weeks for the horses.” 
Some of the other economical arrangements are thus 
pointed out: “ My manure is carted at once from under 
the animals and plowed in, thusavoiding the double cart¬ 
ings, fillings, turning-over, and waste of the ordinary 
well-washed dung-heaps. Owing to the absence of fences,* 
and by the squareness of my fields, two horses always 
plow an acre per day,- then, by steam power, the grain 
is threshed as fast as it comes from the stack, instead of 
being barned and handled twice. By using Garrett’s 
horse-hoe, I can hoe better and deeper at one shilling per 
acre, than by the hand hoe at three shillings and sixpence. 
“There are many other advantages arising from the 
removal of four and a half miles of fences; such as gain 
of space, ready drying and warming of the soil, &c., to 
say nothing of the benefit and saving resulting from being 
now able, owing to drainage, to fold my heavy land with 
sheep. 
“ Twice harrowing is now sufficient on my soil, where 
eight and ten times used to be occasionally required. 
“ It must not be forgotten that the valuation of my 
rental was raised last year three-fold , a pretty clear evi¬ 
dence of the benefits resulting from my improvements.” 
“Another important matter is the improvement of 
tenacious clays, by burning and carbonizing—the more 
foul and neglected the soil, the more grateful for the 
operation. I have converted our concave muddy lanes 
into convex dry ones, by burning some 2,000 cubic yards 
of their tenacious yellow claj 7 shoulders, and removing 
it as brick dust to our fields, at a cost of Is. per yard.” 
The remarks in this pamphlet on the condition of the 
agricultural laborers, strongly evince the humane feelings 
of the writer, and cannot but be read with interest by all 
those who regard human beings as of more value than 
sheep, or than fine, sleek, well-fed cattle. 
The following must prove highly flattering to such of 
* The reduction but not entire disuse of fences. We are informed 
that in some parts of England, sixty or seventy acre farms are divided 
into twenty-five fields, on an average of about two and a half acres 
each. “ Imagine on such a farm, twenty-five gates to open, shut, 
and keep in repair, twenty-five squares of hedge rows and timber 
• trees, ealing up the poor farmer’s crops; and twenty-five squares of 
* head-land to turn upon and destroy.” 
our own countrymen as have boasted long and loud of 
the achievements of McCormick’s reaper: “I shall 
always feel gratified (without vanity I hope) that the 
first trial in this country of what are called the Ameri¬ 
can reaping machines, was made on my farm. The 
pressure of necessity caused in America the development 
of Scottish ingenuity, for I have been informed that Mr. 
McCormick is a Scotchman, after all.” !! Believing, as 
we have long done, that merit is much better than fame, 
and that every true patriot must desire that his country¬ 
men might possess veal worth, rather than contend for 
notoriety, we forbear any comment, especially as there 
has been enough boasting over this machine to last us at 
least for half a century. 
Richness of Milk. 
It is an interesting subject to dairymen and the breeders 
of cows, not only to know the quantity of milk afforded 
by single animals, but to ascertain the amount of butter 
yielded by a given quantity. The rigid accuracy of the 
common method with the lactometer is doubted by many; 
and we greatly need careful experiments, instead of 
guess-work, for the determination of such questions as 
these, as well as the relative amount of cheese afforded 
under like circumstances. Farmers could then calculate 
with some degree of certainty, the relative as well as real 
profits, likely to result from either branch of the dairy 
business, with such animals, facilities, and markets, as 
they may possess. 
As a contribution towards this end, we furnish the fol¬ 
lowing statement which we have drawn from the recent 
proceedings of the Worcester (Mass.) Ag. Society, and 
added a few deductions. The experiments appear to 
have been conducted with care and precision. The first 
set of experiments were made in the first nine days of 
summer. 
1st COW, 
2d 
lbs. Milk. Butter. 
... 377 making 15 lbs. 15 oz. 
327 
12 
ZKX . 
3d u .. 
.254 
JiZ 
“ 13 
o 
10 
4th “ . 
.360 
“ 17 
2 
5th “ . 
.266 
“ 12 
9 
6th “ . 
.299 
“ 13 
14 
7th “ . 
. 295 
“ 14 
6 
Sth “ . 
. 290 
“ 13 
6 
During the first nine days of autumn, the same cows 
afforded the following result;— 
lbs. Milk. 
Butter. 
1st cow, gave,. 
2d “ . 
. 218 
« 8 
10 
3d “ . 
. 146 
c: 7 
7 
4th “ . 
. 195 
“ 9 
8 
5th “ ...... 
. 33 
“ 11 
0 
6th “ . 
. 235 
“ 9 
14 
7th “ . 
“ 12 
8 
Sth “ . 
. 201 
“ 12 
0 
By simple calculation, we get 
the following number 
of pounds of milk, required for a pound of butter from 
each cowr— 
1st of summer. 
1st of autumn. 
1st cow, required,... 
19 lbs. 
2d “ 
. 26 
U 
25 
3d “ 
. 19 
a 
20 
4th 
. 22 
u 
20 
5th “ 
.21 
if 
21 
6th “ 
. 22 
24 
7th “ 
. 20 
u 
18 
8th « 
. 22 
17 
This is an average of 22 lbs. of milk for 
each pound 
of butter in summer, 
and 20| lbs. in autumn. From 
these results it appears that the.common opinion that 
autumn milk is much richer in butter is erroneous. Some 
