Full text of "The complete farmer and rural economist : containing a compendious epitome of the most important branches of agricultural and rural economy"

See other formats

^^^E"'

• w i ' i ■ ■

B '^^

■ \ ) :

1 ■ t ;(

' Jl

Stfr i.ll mm IGtbrarg

Sfnrth Carolina Stafp ffiollEgf

III! iiilliliiil I mil I !

S00013817

94759

This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS

ONLY, and is subject to a fine of - P^VB

CENTa i. Uaj LliLimJlBl. It is due on the
day indicated below:

MAR 1 l')9I

5M— D47— Form 3

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

NCSU Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/completefarmerrOOfess

Farmer^s LAbrary, Vol. HI.

COMPLETE FARMER

RURAL ECONOMIST

CONTAINING

A COMPENDIOUS EPITOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BRANCHES
OF AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL ECONOMY.

By THOMAS G. FESSENDEN,

EDITOR OP "the new ENGLAND FARMER."

Agriculture is the art of arts : without it, man must be a savage, and the world a wilderne

THIRD EDITION,
REVISED, IMPROVED, AND ENLARGED.

BOSTON :

AMERICAN STATIONERS' COMPANY.
J. B. RUSSELL.

1838.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837,

By Thomas G. Fessenden,

in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE:

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY

FOLSOM, WELLS, AND THUKSTON

PBlNTEnS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

PREFACE.

In the following pages, the object of the writer is to give brief, but it
is hoped perspicuous and practical sketches of some important improve-
ments in modern husbandry. In attempting to carry this design into
effect, it has been his intention to insert no matter which is merely con-
jectural or speculative ; to give place to nothing not worth the attention
of the person whose livelihood depends on his pursuits as a cultivator ;
and who has neither time nor money to devote to such books as are expen-
sive, voluminous, and foreign or remotely related to available improve-
ments in husbandry.

With this view, the author has collected and generally abridged, from
the sources which his occupation as editor of the New England Farmer
has made it his duty as well as his pleasure to explore, the materials of
the little work now submitted. He does not pretend to have taken a
wide survey of the field of husbandry, much less, in this tract, to have
given a plan of the whole premises. But he hopes his observations,
though limited, may prove serviceable so far as they extend. Agricul-
ture is the most extensive as well as the most useful of the sciences ; and
as an art may be compared to the ocean, in which every stream of im-
provement in the moral and physical condition of mankind pours its con-
tribution. Still, it is not necessary to circumnavigate the whole of this
world of waters in order to make voyages of valuable discovery. We
cannot dip an oar nor launch a skiff in or upon the bosom of this great
deep, without finding something to reward our adventures.

Agriculture, although the most ancient of the arts, not only coeval
with, but in truth the sun from which emanated the dawn of civilization,
is, nevertheless, the art in which the beneficial effects of modern im-
provement are most strikingly exemplified. Let us contrast its former
with its present condition in Great Britain.

According to English laws in force from the fifth to the eleventh cen-
tury, " all the cattle of a village, though belonging to different owners,
were pastured together in one herd, under the direction of one person,
(with proper assistants,) whose oath in all disputes about the cattle was
decisive. Their ploughs seem to have been very slight and inartificial;
for it was enacted, that no man should undertake to guide a plough who
could not make one ; and that the driver should make the ropes with
which it was drawn of twisted willows. But slight as tiiese ploughs
were, it was usual for six or eight persons to form themselves into a
society for fitting out one of them, and providing it with oxen, and

94759

IV PREFACE.

every thing necessary for ploughing ; and many minute and curious
laws were made for the regulation ofsuch societies. This is a sufficient
proof both of the poverty of the husbandman and the imperfect state of
agriculture among the ancient Britons of this period."*

" By the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who flourished in the
end of the seventh and beginning of the eighth century, a farm consist-
ing of ten hides or ploughlands was to pay the following rent, viz. : ten
casks of honey, three hundred loaves of bread, twelve casks of strong
ale, two oxen, ten wethers, ten geese, twenty hens, ten cheeses, one
cask of butter, five salmon, twenty pounds of forage, and one hundred
eels."t Such has been the state of tillage in that country which is now
eulogized as the garden of Europe !

Improvements in breeds of domestic animals by judicious crosses, and
propagating from the best specimens of their species, as well as plentiful
and suitable feeding, have advanced the state of agriculture more than
the most sanguine advocate for scientific husbandry could have antici-
pated. To say nothing of the wonders effected by Bakewell and other
eminent improvers in that department of husbandry, we will glance at
the comparative stales of the London cattle market at a distant and a
less remote period. An English writer states, that " about the year 1700,
the average weight of oxen killed for the London market was three
hundred and seventy pounds ; of calves, fifty pounds; of sheep, twenty-
eight pounds ; and of lambs, eighteen pounds. The average weight at
present (about the close of the century) is, of oxen, eight hundred
pounds; calves, one hundred and forty pounds; sheep, eighty pounds;
and lambs, fifty pounds." It would be a curious item in our agricultural
knowledge, if information, similar to what we have quoted, relative to
Boston and other American markets were correctly ascertained, faithfully
recorded, and from time to time laid before the public. We should ad-
vance with more celerity and alacrity along the highway of improve-
ment, if we had means of marking and giving comparative views of the
progress which we have made and are making.

Some idea of the present state of agriculture in England may be
gathered from the following extract from the journal of a traveller :
" Every spot of ground capable of being cultivated is improved. Wher-
ever I have been, the fields are generally small, inclosed by hedges, and
made perfectly smooth by means of cast iron rollers. Numerous trees
are left to grow around the hedges, and scattered over the fields. These
are so nicely trimmed as to add greatly to the beauty of the country.
Not a weed is suffered to grow. The crops all look well, and are much
more productive than ours. The cattle and sheep feed on grass up to
their knees, and look, as we should say, fit to kill. The slight inclo-
sures that keep them in their pastures would be but a poor protection
against our lean, half-fed, unruly animals. Here the cattle have no
need to break fences. They have food sufficient within their own do-
mains. I came here under the impression that this country was bare of
trees. On the contrary, I find it better stocked in this respect than the
thick settlements of our own country. We wantonly destroy trees as if
they were of no value : here they are planted and nursed with as much
care as if they bore choice fruit."

Although we think the writer last quoted has somewhat exaggerated
the defects of American husbandry, we must allow, that his strictures
are not so destitute of some foundation in reality as could be wished.

* London's Encyc. Agr. p. 36. t Wilkin's Leges Saxon., p. 25.

PREFACE. V

We, however, have of late improved and are improving in every branch
of culture, and bid fair soon to possess a system of agriculture as well
adapted to our climate and circumstances, as Great Britain, or even
Flanders, can boast of at present. Our fields may have a less imposing
appearance, and our products may be less in proportion to the quantity
of land we have under cultivation, and still our tillage be on the whole
judicious. The agricultural implements and farming operations of the
United States are in most particulars very similar to those of Great
Britain. Circumstances and climate, however, require variations, which
the sagacity of the American cultivator will lead him to adopt, often in
contradiction to the opinions of those who understand the science better
than the practice of husbandry. In Europe land is dear and labor cheap ;
but in the United States the reverse is the case. The European culti-
vator is led by a regard to his own interest to endeavour to make the most
of his land ; the American has the same inducement to make the most of
his labor. Perhaps, however, this principle, in this countr}', is generally
carried to an unprofitable extreme, and our farmers would derive more
benefit from their labor, as well as their land, if they selected such parts
of their possessions as they can afford to till thoroughly, and to manure
abundantly. A man may possess a large estate in lands, without being
called on by good husbandry to hack and scratch over the whole as evi-
dence of his title. He may cultivate well those parts which are naturally
most fertile, and suffer the rest to remain woodland, or, having cleared a
part, lay it down to permanent pasture ; which will yield him an annual
profit, without requiring much labor.

The climate and soil of the United States are well adapted to the cul-
tivation of Indian corn, a very valuable vegetable, which cannot be
grown to advantage in Great Britain. This entirely and very advanta-
geously supersedes the field culture of the horse bean {ricia faba), one
of the most common fallow crops in that island. Root-lnisbaudrtj, or the
raising of roots for the purpose of feeding cattle, is, however, of less im-
portance in the United States than in Great Britain. The winters are so
severe, that turnips can rarely be eaten by stock on the ground where
they grow, and all sorts of roots are with more difficulty preserved and
dealt out to stock in this country than in those which possess a more
mild and equable climate. Hay is more easily made in the United
States than in Great Britain, owing to the season for hay-making being
more dry, and the sun more powerful in the former than in the latter
country. There are many other circumstances which favor the American
farmer, and render his situation more eligible than that of those who
pursue the same occupation in most parts of Europe. He is generally
the owner, as well as the occupier, of the soil which he cultivates ; is
not burdened with tithes ; his taxes are light ; and the product of his la-
bors will command more of the necessaries, comforts, and innocent luxu-
ries of life, than similar efforts would procure in any other part of the
globe.

Not only have the inducements to agricultural improvements in the
United States been powerful, but of late a corresponding effect has been
the result. We cannot better make this evident, than by a quotation
from "Remarks of the i?ep. M. Allen, of Peinbrolie, County of Plymouth,
State of Massachusetts , in the Legislature of that State, on a proposition to
renew an Jlct for the Encoxiragement of Agriculture and Manufactures,"
published in the New England Farmer, Vol. XII. p. 298.

" It has already been suggested, that the soil of the county from which
I came is not the most favorable for agricultural pursuits. The expense
of cultivation there is thought by some to exceed the amount to be de-

\l PREFACE.

rived from it. Tliis was the prevalent opinion before the introduction of
modern improvements. The operations of an Agricultural Society
have proved, that labor and skill can make even despised soils productive.
I suppose that ten bushels of rye to the acre, twenty of Indian corn, one
ton of English hay, and two hundred bushels of potatoes, were formerly
considered as average crops. Since premiums have been offered, we
have claims for from forty to fifty bushels of rye, from one hundred and
fifteen to one hundred and twenty-two of Indian corn, from three to four
tons of English hay, and from four to five hundred bushels of potatoes.
Our improvements have not been confined to single acres; in several
instances the products of entire farms have been more than quadrupled.''

The advances of agriculture of late years have not been uniform, but
accelerated ; its progress has been in what mathematicians would call a
geometrical ratio. Every step has furnished means for quickening the
pace and extending the reach of the next step, and every path has led
to a longer and wider avenue of improvement. The time may come, in
which science may impress into the service of the cultivator every ele-
ment or substance which constitutes the globe we inhabit, — the world
of matter become completely subservient to the world of mind. Then
and not till then will agriculture have attained the utmost degree of per-
fection of which it is capable.

T. G. Fessenden.

Boston, May, 1834.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Agricultural Implements, - - . - 313
Aphis, or Plant Louse, ----- 309

Apple-tree Borer, ------- 312

Ashes as Manure, ------- 203

Barley, - - r 134

harvesting of, - - - 136, 281

Barns, 44, 71

Barn-yards, ---------74

Beans, 152

Beets, field cultivation and preserva-
tion of, 243 to 254

Birds, the folly and criminality of de-
stroying, - - - - 292

Bones, use of for manure, - - - - 203

Buckwheat, 1-41

Bushes, how to extirpate, - - - - 296

Buuer, how made and preserved, - - 79

llDW made in winter, - . - 87

Calves, 54 to 61

Canker-worm, -------- 304

Caterpillar, 307

Cattle, - - - - 36

Chaff- cutting, 43

Chaff-cutter, 316

Cheese, making, 88 to 92

cleaning of, ------ 90

Stilton, how made, - - - - 90

to prevent skippers in, - - 90

to prevent having a bad flavor, 91

Cheese Presses, -------- 322

Churn, Gault's Patent, 323

Stone, 323

Clover, 15

on making into hay, - 275 to 279

Colts, 64, 242

Cotton, 263

Coolung Food for Cattle and Swine,

- - - 49 to 54

Cow-house, ---43

Cows, -----------38

manner of milking, - - - 38
winter food for, ----- 41

working of, - 42

how treated when about to
calve, ------- -42

how dried of their milk, - - 42

Cultivators, 321

Curculio, 308

Curd Mills, - 322

Cut-worm, 311

Dairy, 78

Dirt Scraper, Davis's Patent, - - - 323

Drains, - - 282

Eggs, how to choose at market, - - 291

Ewes and Lambs, -- 212

Farmer's Calendar, ------ 339

Fences, ---- ------ 204

Fiorin Grass, ---18

Flat-stalked Meadow Grass, - - - 19

Flax, .----99

Floating Fescue Grass, ----- 19
Food fermented for Neat Cattle, - - 46
Fowls and Chickens, to fatten, - - - 291

Grain, -- 25

Grain Cradles, 326

Grasses, ----------13

proper lime for sowing, &c., 22,23

Gypsum, 190

Harrow, Chandler's improved, - - - 320

Harvesting, - 279

Oats, 281

Hay-making, 275

Hedges, 206

Hemp, ---92

Herd's Grass, or Timothy, - - - - 18

Hops, 143

Horse, ---- 230

diseases of, ----- - 234

stable for, 236

Horse Rake, 327

Indian Corn, ------ 25 to 36

hoeing of, in dry weather, - 32
planting or sowing for fodder, 34

Insects, 302

Irrigation, --------- 297

Lactometers,- -------- 322

Lambs and Ewes, ------ - 212

Lice on Apple-trees, ------ 311

Lime, 182

Lucerne, -- 16,19

Mangel- Wurtzel, 243

how preserved, ----- 250

Manures, 166

liquid, 174

for grass ground, - . - - 178
how made from swine, - - 181
bones useful for, ----- 203
articles used for, - - - - 203

Marl, 196

Meadow Foxtail, 14

Milk for Butter, &c. 79

Millet, 137

Oats, 131

harvesting of, : - - - - 281

J. Smith's crop of, - - - - 134

Orchard Grass, --------14

Oxen, ---61

Pasture, 284

vin

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Pasture Grasses, ....-.-21
Pea, 147

Insects in, and diseases of, - 151
Pickering's Tree Brushes, - - - - 321

Plaster of Paris, 190

Ploughing, 267

mode of, by E. Phinnej', Esq. 273

Ploughs, 319

Potatoes, 258

Poultry, 289

Pruning Shears, 324

Kice, 142

Rough Cock's Foot, or Orchard Grass, 14

Ruta Baga, 251

Rye, 124

Rye Grass, ---------15

Sainfoin, ----------17

Scythes, Scythe Rifles, Scythe

Snathes, 324

Seed Sowers, 336

Sheep, 208

shearing of, ------ 219

disorders of, 223

Slug-worm, --- 313

Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass, - - 19

Soils, 9

Sows devouriDg their Offspring, - - 163

PAGE

Stable for horses, ------- 236

Straw Cutters, -------- 316

Striped Bug, 314

Sweet-scented Vernal Grass, - - - 14

Swine, 155

use of coal in fattening, - - 162

Tall Fescue Grass, 15

Tall Oat Grass, IS

Threshjug Machines, ------ 316

Timothj-, or Herd's Grass, - - - - 18

Tobacco, --.--.-.-- 265
Turnips, English, ..-.--- 254

Swedish, 252

Upright Bent Grass 18

Wheat, 107

preparation of for sowing, - 112
to prevent smut in, - - 113,114
use of lime for, ----- 115
how to obtain new varieties

of, 118

rust or mildew in, - - - - 119
the kind called Black Sea

Wheat, 122

Willis's Seed Sower, 336

Wire-worm, --------- 314

Woodland, 301

THE COMPLETE FARMER.

SOILS. A farmer should be well informed of the nature
of soils, and of the various plants adapted to them. Some
useful plants flourish best in what is called poor land ; and,
if cultivators were perfectly acquainted with the art of
adapting plants to soils, much manure might be saved, which
is wasted by injudicious and improper application.

It is supposed by geologists that the whole of this earth
originally consisted of rocks, of various sorts or combina-
tions. These rocks, by the lapse of ages and exposure to
air and water, became disintegrated or worn in part or alto-
gether to fine particles, which compose what are called earths
or soils. These soils are chiefly silica [sand or earth of
flints], lime [or calcareous earth], alumina [clay], and mag-
nesia [a mineral substance]. With these are blended ani-
mal and vegetable matters in a decomposed or decomposing
state, and saline, acid, or alkaline combinations.

Plants are the most certain indicators of the nature of a
soil ; for, while no practical cultivator would buy or under-
take to till land, of which he knew only the results of chemi-
cal analysis, yet every farmer and gardener, who knew the
timber and plants a soil spontaneously produced, would at
once be able to decide on its value for cultivation.

It was a maxim of Kliyogg, a famous philosophical farmer
of Switzerland, "that every species of earth may be instru-
mental to the improvement of another of opposite qualities."
All sands are hot and dry, — all clays, cold and wet ; and,
therefore, the manuring sandy lands with clay, or clay lands
with sand, is best for grain and pulse. But it is not the

D. H. HJLL LIBRARY

North Carolina State Coilege

10 THE COMPLETE FARMER

natural soil only that the farmer ought to consider, but the
depth of it, and what lies immediately underneath it. For
if the richest soil is only seven or eight inches deep, and
lies on a cold, wet clay or stone, it will not be so fruitful as
leaner soils, that lie on a better under stratum. Gravel is,
perhaps, the best under stratum to make the land prolific.

The best loams and natural earths are of a bright brown,
or hazel color. Hence, they are called hazel loams. They
cut smooth and tolerably easy, without clinging to the spade
or ploughshare ; are light, friable, and fall into small clods
without chapping or cracking in dry weather, or turning
into mortar when wet. Dark gray and russet moulds are
accounted the next best. The worst of all, are the light
and dark ash colored. The goodness of land may also be
very well judged of by the smell and the touch. The best
emits a fresh, pleasant scent on being dug or ploughed up,
especially after rain ; and, being a just proportion of sand
and clay intimately blended, will not stick much to the fin-
gers on handling. But all soils, however good, may be im-
poverished, and even worn out, by successive crops without
rest, especially if the ploughings are not very frequently re-
peated before the seed is sown.

If we examine tracts of land which have not been culti-
vated, we find nature has adapted different kinds of plants to
most of the distinguishable varieties of soils ; and though
some belonging to one may for some cause or other be found
on lands of a different quality, they seldom thrive, or perfect
their seeds so as to become general. The great care of the
farmer ought, therefore, to be, by proper mixtures, to reduce
his land to that state and temperament, in which the extremes
of hot and cold, wet and dry, are best corrected by each
other ; to give them every possible advantage flowing from
the benign influences of sun and air ; and to adopt such
kinds of plants as they afford in this state the greatest nour-
ishment to ; and to renew their fertility by a judicious allow-
ance of the most proper manures. Where these things are
done, there are few spots so unfriendly to cultivation as not
to repay his expenses and labor with a plentiful increase.
But without these, the best tracts of land will in time be-
come a barren waste, or produce little but woods.

The color of soils is important. " The Farmer's Journal "
observes, coal ashes were sprinkled over half the surface of
beds, sown with peas, beans, &.C., and on these the plants
invariably appeared above ground two or three days earlier.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. U

obviously on account of the increased warmth ; it being a
well-known fact, that dark-colored bodies absorb caloric
more readily, and in larger proportions than those of a
lighter hue.

Soils which absorb the most moisture are the most fertile.
Sir Humphrey Davy observed, "I have compared the ab-
sorbent powers of many soils with respect to atmospheric
moisture, and I have always found it greatest in the most
fertile soils ; so that it affords one method of judging of the
productiveness of land."

The methods of improving soils are too numerous to be
here fully specified. We will, however, quote one mode of
restoring worn-out fields to the fertility of new lands, or
lands lately cleared from their aboriginal growth of timber,
quoted from a "Dissertation on the Mixture of Soils," for
which the author, the Rev. Morrel Allen, of Pembroke,
Massachusetts, was awarded a premium by the Plymouth
County Agricultural Society,

"Particles in a soil, which had long been in contact, and,
in consequence of long connexion, lost much of the energy
of their action on plants, are separated in mixing soils, placed
in new connexions, and act with renewed vigor. But the
most permanent and best effects are always expected from
the mixture of soils of different qualities. When the object
is to produce as much immediate influence as possible,
merely to assist one short rotation of crops, to have the ap-
plication we make act chiefly as manure, then we may take
our materials from any situation where we know vegetable
substances have fallen and decayed.

"We may go into forests, and in certain stages of the
growth of the wood, without any perceptible injury, skim
the surface of the whole lot. This soil of the woods, carried
in sufficiently large quantities on to old fields, will restore
them to original productiveness. And this will sometimes
prove an inexhaustible resource for renewing old fields ; for
as often as the fields decline, the soil in the wood lot will be
again renewed and fit to remove. For the same purposes
the earth should be carried from the sides of walls and fen-
ces, where the leaves have been lodged from the forests. It
should also be carried from hollows and temporary ponds,
which in certain seasons of the year become dry, and afford
immense quantities of vegetable matter in different stages
of decomposition, and suitable to apply to any kind of soil.
" Where streams of water occasionally overflow the banks,

12 THE COMPLETE FARMER

an abundance of vegetable and earthy matter is lodged on
the meadows, which in many cases, especially where there
is not much extent of meadow to receive the substances
conveyed by the stream, it is prudent to remove on to higher
land. It will there act as manure, and at the same time
gradually alter the texture of the soil, rendermg it more re-
tentive of dew and rain, and easily penetrated by the fibrous
roots of plants. Of the value of those substances which
are carried in streams of water to enrich soils, we have the
most convincing proof in the unexampled productiveness of
interval lands. It is not exclusively the vegetable substan-
ces carried on to these lands which make them so astonish-
ingly productive ; there is a portion of every kind of soil
existing in the surrounding country annually carried on with
the vegetable substances. Intervals are composed of every
sort of earth the water can reach and remove. This cir-
cumstance may properly encourage the mixtures of many
kinds of earth, even when there is no particular evidence
that each kind is especially adapted to remedy any deficien-
cy in the soil which we would improve. There is less haz-
ard in administering medicines in great profusion to cure
diseases in the soil, than in the human body. In stepping
out of the beaten path of habitual practice, and calling at-
tention to experiments, which to some may look very simple,
and to others very absurd, we may become instrumental in
the discovery of highly important truths."

It will not do, however, to spread pond mud directly on
grass land or on arable ground. An experienced farmer in-
forms us, that he once injured a piece of grass land by
spreading pond mud upon it without preparation. It should
be mi.xed with lime and warmer manure, and exposed to the
atmosphere, or put into the barn-yard to be trodden upon
by cattle.

Arthur Young lays it down as a maxim, that a strong,
harsh, tenacious clay, though it will yield great crops of
wheat, is yet managed at so heavy expense, that it is usually
let for more than it is worth. Much money is not made on
such land. The very contrary soil, a light, poor, dry sand,
is very often, indeed, in the occupation of men who have
made fortunes. Some permanent manure is usually below
the surface, which anwsers well to carry on ; and sheep, the
common stock of such soils, is the most profitable sort he
can depend on.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 13

GRASSES. The limits of our plan will oblige as in this,
as in many other articles, to omit, or give but brief sketches
of, subjects which might be profitably attended to in more
minute detail.

Grass is a general name for plants used in feeding cattle,
in a green or dry state, for hay or for pasture.

It would require a large volume to describe all the kinds
of grass which are or may be cultivated in the United
States. Sir John Sinclair observed, ("Code of Agriculture,"
p. 219,) that there are in all two hundred and fifteen grasses,
properly so called, which are cuhivated in Great Britain.
The Duke of Bedford caused a series of experiments to be
instituted by George Sinclair, to try the comparative merits
and value of a number of these grasses, to the amount of
ninety-seven, the result of which is annexed to Sir Humphrey
Davy's "Agricultural Chemistry." According to these ex-
periments, tall fescue grass {festiica elatior) stands highest as
to the quantity of nutritive matter afforded by the whole crop,
when cut at the time of flowering ; and meadow cat's-tail
grass, phleiim pratense, called in New England herd's grass,
and timothy grass in the Southern States, affords most food
when cut at the time the seed is ripe.

The following- remarks are from an able and elaborate
article on the grasses, written by Judge Buel, and published
in " The American Farmer " :

" I have found in our publications on agriculture very lit-
tle information on the improvement of our meadow and pas-
ture grounds. Indeed, the names of our native grasses are
scarcely enumerated, much less are their habits described,
or their relative merits for hay and pasture pointed out, in
any American work which has fallen within my notice. A
considerable portion of our lands are unsuitable for the sys-
tem of convertible husbandry, that is, an alternation of grain
and grass crops. Of this description are our stiff clays,
marshes, and swamps, and all those lands in which tillage is
rendered difficult by reason of hard pan, stones, or wetness.
These should be improved as permanent meadows and pas-
tures ; and it is of the first importance to the farmer to know
the grasses which will render them most conducive to profit ;
for that our grass grounds are as susceptible of improvement
as our tillage grounds, by a suitable selection of seeds and
suitable management, must be apparent to every reflecting
mind. The improvement and productiveness of our cattle
and sheep husbandry, which at this time deservedly engage

14 THE COMPLETE FARMER

much of the public attention, depend materially on this
branch of farming."

After adverting to the sources from which the writer de-
rived most of his information, he proceeds :

" Sweet-scented Vernal Grass. This is a grass of diminu-
tive growth, and is not worth cultivating for hay. It is
nevertheless considered as valuable in pasture on account of
its affording very early feed, and growing quick after being
cropped. We are advised by Muhlenburg that it delights
in moist soils; by the Bath papers, that it does well in clay-
ey loams; and by Dickson, that it grows in almost any soil,
including bogs and sands. G. Sinclair says, it is eaten by
oxen, horses, and sheep, though not so freely as some other
grasses are. *

" Meadow Fox Tail possesses all the advantages of early
growth with the preceding, and is much more abundant in
product and nutriment. It generally constitutes one of five
or six kinds which are sowed together by the English far-
mers for pasture ; and affords withal a tolerable crop of hay.
It does best in moist soils, whether loams, clays, or reclaim-
ed bogs. Sheep and horses have a better relish for it, says
G. Sinclair, than oxen.

" Rough Cock's Foot. Dr. Muhlenburg and T. Cooper
concur in opinion that this is the orchard grass of the Uni-
ted States. In England, cock's foot is taking the place of
rye grass with clovers. Arthur Young speaks in high com-
mendation of it; though all writers concur in the opinion,
that it should be frequently and closely cropped, either with
the scythe or cattle, to reap the full benefit of its great mer-
its. I should prefer it to almost every other grass ; and
cows are very fond of it. Cooper rates it above timothy,
and says it is gradually taking the place of the latter among
the best farmers about Philadelphia. This is probably ow-
ing to the fact that it is earlier than timothy, and of course
more suitable to cut with clover for hay. Its growth is early
and rapid, after it has been cropped. It does well on loams
and sands, and grows well in shade.

" Colonel Powel, a gentleman who combines as much

* Judge Buel does not seem to have been personally acquainted with this
invaluable grass. Its proper situation is high, well-drained meadows. It
constitutes, in such meadows, in Massachusetts, at least one half of the whole
crop. Its chief fault is, that it is too early for the other grasses, but it aflForda
a second and even third crop if cut early. It is the grass which gives the
finest flavor so grateful to milch cows.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 15

science with judicious practice, especially in cattle and grass
husbandry, as any person in the Union, says, ' I have
tried orchard grass for ten years. It produces more pastu-
rage than any artificial grass I have seen in America.' Sow
two bushels of seed to an acre.

" TaU Oat Grass. Both Arator (Mr. Taylor) and Dr.
Muhlenburg have placed this at the head of their lists of
grasses, which they have recommended to the attention of
the American farmer. The latter says, it is of all others the
earliest and best grass for green fodder and hay. The doc-
tor was, probably, not apprized of its deficiency in nutri-
tive matter, as indicated in the table. It possesses the ad-
vantage of early, quick, and late growth, for which the
cock's foot is esteemed, tillers well, and is admirably calcu-
lated for pasture grass I measured some on the 20th of
June, when in blossom, when it should be cut for hay, and
found it four and a half feet long. The latter math is near-
ly equal in weight, and superior in nutritious matter to the
seed crop.

" Tall Fescue, although a native grass, has not fallen under
my personal observation. It stands highest, says Davy,
according to the experiments of the Duke of Bedford, of any
grass, properly so called, as to the quantity of nutritive mat-
ter afforded by the whole crop, when cut at the time of
flowering ; and meadow cat's-tail (timothy) grass affords
most food, when cut at the time the seed is ripe. It grows
naturally in wet grounds, in bog meadows, and on the sides
of ditches, often to the height of four or five feet. Our
ignorance of agricultural botany, and of the intrinsic value
of this grass, can alone have prevented its being more gen-
erally known and cultivated. It must be very valuable for
wet grounds, as, from its rapid growth, it is calculated to
smother or keep down the coarser kinds, which naturally
abound in these situations.

" Rye Grass is extensively cultivated in Scotland and the
north of England, and, where cock's foot has not superseded
it, is generally mixed with clover seeds. It is rather declin-
ing in public estimation. It does well in pasture; and as it
contains much nutriment, is considered valuable for cows
and sheep. Dicksoix says, it does best in rich, moist mea-
dows. Young does not speak well of it.

"Red Clover. There are many species of the trifolium,
and several varieties of the red clover. Whether the kind
we generally cultivate is the pratense, or not, I am unable to

16 THE COMPLETE FARMER

determine. The character of red clover as an ameliorating
fertilizing crop, is too generally known to require illustra-
tion. It cannot be depended upon for permanent grass
lands ; though it yields to no grass for alternating with grain
in convertible husbandry. It formerly w-as as indispensable
in a course of crops in Norfolk, England, (which has been
considered preeminent for good tillage,) as turnips ; and the
maxim was, and still is, ' no turnips, no crops.' But it ap-
pears from Young's survey of that country, that it cannot
now be depended on oftener than once in from eight to
twelve years. Trefoil, white clover, cock's foot, rye grass,
&c., are therefore alternated with red clover in the grass
years. There is reason to believe, that neither red clover
nor other grasses, will bear repeating for a course of years,
upon the generality of soils. They exhaust the ground of
the peculiar nourishment required for their support. In
Great Britain white clover, trefoil, rye grass or cock's foot,
are generally sown with red clover seeds. From twenty to
thirty pounds of seeds are sown to the acre. In the north-
ern states, timothy is generally sown with clover; though the
mixture is an improper one for hay; for the clover is fit for
the scythe ten or fifteen days before the timothy has arrived
to maturity. If sown alone, from eight to sixteen pounds
of clover seed should be put on an acre ; more on old land
than on new.

" White or Dutch Clover {trifolium repens), is considered
in England of importance to husbandry, if we are to judge
from the great quantity of seed which is there sown annual-
ly. With us, many districts produce it spontaneously ; but
it is too seldom sown. It shrinks greatly in drying, and
does not contain as much nutritive matter as red clover ; yet
its value as a pasture grass is universally admitted. Its in-
crease is very much facilitated by a top dressing of gypsum
lime or ashes.

" Lucerne, although affording much more green food, con-
tains less nutriment in a single crop than red clover. It
must, however, be borne in mind, that it grows much quicker
than clover, and will bear cutting twice as often. In tlie
soiling system, an acre of lucerne will keep four cattle or
horses from the 15th of May to the 1st of October. I cut
a piece about the loth of May, and again about the 20th of
June, to feed green, and then ploughed the ground, and
cropped it with ruta baga, which yielded sixteen tons to the
acre of roots, as fine as I ever saw. Mr. Fowell (see

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 17

Youno-'s 'Norfolk,' p. 345) derived a clear profit of tltir-
teen pounds seventeen shillings and four-pence per acre from
his lucerne, fed green to working horses. This is almost
equal to sixty dollars the acre. An idea has prevailed, that
it will not thrive in this latitude, (42-3,) but the experi-
ments of the late Chancellor Livingston, and of Le Roy de
Chaumont, prove otherwise. I sowed seed in 1821, at the
rate of six pounds the acre, with barley. It has stood the
winters well, much better than clover ; and has been in a
state of progressive improvement. Drought has not affect-
ed it. The plants are very tender the first year ; and re-
quire either a very clean tilth, or to be kept free from weeds
and grass with a hoe the first year. It should have a deep
loam, as it sends down tap roots five or six feet ; and it is
equally necessary that the ground should not be wet. It
may be sown either in drills or broad-cast, with or without
grain. Fifteen pounds of seed are required for the acre if
drilled, and twenty is not too much if sown broad-cast. To
the proprietor of a dairy, an acre or two of lucerne would
be valuable, to be fed to his cows in addition to ordinary
pasture.*

" Long-rooted Clover is a native of Hungary, and I do not
think has ever found its way across the Atlantic. The root
is biennial, and if sown in the fall, lasts only during the next
season. It penetrates to a great depth in the ground, and
consequently is but little affected by drought. It therefore
requires a deep dry soil. The product of this grass, when
compared to others that are allied to it in habit and place of
growth, proves greatly superior. It affords twice the weight
of grass, and more than double the nutritive matter that is
given by the common clover. It gives abundance of seed ;
and, says G. Sinclair, if the ground be kept free of weeds,
it sows itself, vegetates, and grows rapidly, without cover-
ing in, or any operation whatever. Four years it has prop-
agated itself in this manner on the space of ground which it
now occupies, and from which this statement of its compar-
ative value is made. This species would, no doubt, prove a
valuable acquisition to our husbandry, whether we consider
its value for green food, hay, or as a green crop to be turn-
ed in preparatory to grain.

" Sain Foin is peculiarly adapted to a calcareous or

* For further remarks on the culture of lucerne, see " The New England
Farmer," Vol. IX. p. 342.

18 THE COMPLETE FARMER

chalky soil. It is true it is cultivated in Norfolk, England,
which is a soil of sand and loam, naturally destitute of cal-
careous matter. But it is common there to dress their lands
Avith clay marl, which ahounds with carbonate of lime ;
without which dressing, says Young, Norfolk soils will not
grow sain foin. This writer considers it ' one of the most
valuable plants that were ever introduced into the agricul-
ture of Great Britain.' The well-known Mr. Coke culti-
vates four hundred acres of this grass, and sows it without
other seeds. Several attempts have been made to cultivate
sain foin in this country, but hitherto I believe without suc-
cess.*

" Timothy. This grass is distinguished in Great Britain
by the name of meadow cat's-tail ; in New England by that
of herd's grass. It is one of the most valuable grasses that
are cultivated ; and, what is worthy the notice of every
farmer, it affords more than double the nutriment when cut
in the seed to what it does in the flower. In tenacious,
strong, and moist soils, it is entitled to a precedence, per-
haps, to any single grass for hay, yet does not seem to be
suitable to mix with clover seeds when intended for meadow.
Another consideration, which renders it particularly worthy
of attention, is the seed which it affords, and which may be
saved without materially diminishing the hay crop. From
ten to thirty bushels of seed may be taken from an acre of
timothy, which, at the price it now bears, is of itself a hand-
some remuneration.

''Florin has of late years been brought into notice in
Great Britain, by the experiments of Dr. Richardson ; who
particularly recommended it for the cold boggy soils of the
mountainous districts, where ordinary grasses would not
thrive. The peculiar value of the florin, and of other
grasses of the agrostis family, arises from their fltness for
winter pasture : as they lose very little of their bulk or nu-
triment by remaining in the soil after they have ceased to
grow. Its name {creeping bent or couch grass) implies a
difficulty in mowing it, except on a surface perfectly smooth.

" Upright Bent G-rass. Dr. Muhlenburg considers this the
herd's grass of the southern, and the foul meadow of the
eastern States, of which tohite top and red top are varieties.

* Sain foin may be considered as out of the question in New England. So
large a portion is winter-killed tliat it is not worth cultivation. This is af-
firmed on the strength of repeated trials.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 19

This grass is more congenial to our climate than to that of
England. In any boggy soils, both varieties of this grass
have come in spontaneously, as soon as the ground has been
cleared and drained, have soon formed a compact sod, and
afforded good hay and good pasture.

"Flat-stalked Meadow Grass. This, according to Muhlen-
burg, is the blue grass, which is considered as a pest in
many of our tillage grounds. The small crop which it gives,
and the little nutritive matter which this affords, shows the
little dependence which ought to be placed on it for grazing,
or for hay.

" Smooth-stalked Meadoiv Grass is a native plant, and is
well adapted for permanent pastures. It grows quick after
being cropped, and does well upon dry ground.

" Floating Fescue grows well in swamps and bog soils,
where good kinds are most wanted.

"I would suggest, with much deference, whether grasses
may not be divided, for the practical benefit of the farmer,
into three kinds, to wit : 1. Cultivated Grasses. All kinds,
strictly speaking, which the soil does not produce spontane-
ously, are cultivated grasses. But the term as generally
used, and in the sense I here employ it, applies only to such
as are sown to altennate with grain, pulse, and roots, in a
systematic rotation of crops. The grasses selected for this
purpose are, generally, the red clovers, lucerne, sain foin,
orchard, tall oat, timothy, or rye grass. Clover is the pri-
mary dependence on all soils which will grow it, and espe-
cially where gypsum can exercise its magic powers. As
vegetables are said to exhaust the soil in proportion to the
smallness of their leaves, (the larger the leaves the more
nutriment they draw from the atmosphere, and the less from
the soil,) clovers are entitled to tlie high commendation they
have obtained among American farmers. But as these
plants are liable to premature destruction by the frosts of
winter, it is both prudent and wise to intermix with their
seeds those of some other grasses more to be depended on.

" For this purpose, on sands, loams, and gravels, and
these constitute the soils usually employed in convertible
husbandry, the orchard grass or tall meadow oat grass ap-
pear to be best calculated to insure profit. They grow
early, delight in a clover sod, and are fit for the scythe
when clover is in the bloom, the time it ought to be cut. The
hay from this mixture may be made before harvest commen-
ces ; and if the soil is good, a second crop may be cut al-

20 THE COMPLETE FARMER

most equal to the first. If intended for pasture the second
year, either of these grasses will afford more abundant food
than timothy.

" In clays, the meadow fox tail, an excellent grass, might
be substituted, though, according to Sinclair, the tall oat
grass will do well here also. In wet soils, where clovers do
not grow well, timothy and meadow reed grass would be a
good selection, sown either separate or together.

"Lucerne and sain foin require a deep dry soil, and are
generally sown without other seeds. The first does not at-
tain to perfection before the third year ; and both, where
successfully cultivated, are permitted to occupy the ground
from six to eight years.

"2. Meadow Grasses. In selecting these the object is
to obtain the greatest burden of good hay, and to mix those
kinds which may be profitably cut at the same time.

" For clayey and moist soils, many valuable and nutritious
kinds seem to be well adapted ; that is to say, meadow fox
tail, timothy, tall oat, meadow soft grass, floating fescue,
rye grass, reed meadow, smooth-stalked meadow, American
cock's foot, upright bent or herd's grass, and tall fescue.
And the five last are peculiarly suited to swamp or bog soils.
For dry loams, sands, and gravels, which never ought to be
kept long in grass, the cock's foot or orchard grass, and tall
oat, are probably the best ; and to these might be added red
and white clover.

" The great difficulty is to prevent the deterioration of
meadows. This takes place from the better grasses running
out, and giving place to coarser kinds, in moss, and to use-
less or noxious plants, aided ofi;en by a neglect to keep them
well drained. The finer and more nutritious kinds thrive
best in moist, though they will not live long in wet soils.
Hence it is of the first importance to keep the surface soil
free from standing water, by good and sufficient ditches ;
and it often becomes necessary, and it is in most cases
advisable, on a flat surface, to lay the land in ridges at
right angles with the drains. Another precaution to be
observed is, not to feed them with stock when the soil is
wet and poachy. Harrowing in the fall has been found
beneficial to meadows. It destroys mosses, and covers the
seeds of grasses which have fallen, or may be sown, and
thus produces a continued succession of young plants. In
Europe, lime is used with good effect as a top dressing to
grass lands, as are also ashes. With us, the annual appli-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 21

cation of a bushel of gypsum to the acre is found beneficial.
It not only thickens the verdure with clover, but is of ad-
vantage in most other grasses. Stable manure should be
used only when it can be spared from the more profitable
uses of tillage. When the means above enumerated fail to
insure a good crop of hay, it is time to resort to the plough,
and a course of crops.

"3. Pasture Grasses. But few of the grasses most valu-
ed in Great Britain for pasture are the natural growth of the
United States ; but it is believed that if the seeds are once
introduced upon our farms, we shall find little difficulty in
naturalizing them. Neither the orchard nor vernal grass,
which are said to be indigenous to our country, are recog-
nised in the grass lands which have come within my ob-
servation : yet they constitute, with fox tail and tall oat
grass, the earliest and most valuable varieties for perennial
pastures. The meadow fox tail and orchard grass, together
with our white clover and green meadow grass, poa tiivi-
alis, (which seldom require to be sown,) I think would form
the best selection for all grounds which are moderately dry.
The rye and oat grasses, or meadow soft grass, might be
either substituted for the two first, or combined with them.
These would afford spring, summer, and fall feed, abundant
in quantity and wholesome and nutritious in quality. On
wet soils, (though pastures require to be drained, as well as
meadows, to insure a rich herbage,) the tall fescue, smooth-
stalked meadow, upright bent, and herd's grass, may be in-
troduced to advantage. Gypsum is applied to pastures with
the same benefit that it is to meadows."

Two able papers, " On Grasses," have been written by
the Hon. John Welles, for "The Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository." One of these, republished in " The New
England Farmer," (Vol. I. page 235,) contains the following
observations on the loss of weight of certain grasses, by
evaporation, " in the process of drying or making, for safe
and useful preservation."

It should be premised that the time of cutting the several
grasses, &.C., in the following statement, was the same as is
usually practised by husbandmen in this State.

" Of 100 lbs. of vegetables, cured in 1822, the product was as follows,
viz. :

100 lbs. of green white clover gave of hay 17i lbs.

100 " of red do. " 27* "

100 " of herd's grass " 40 "

100 " of fresh meadow " 38 "

22 THE COMPLETE FARMER

100 lbs. of salt grass gave of hay 39 lbs.

100 " of mixed 2d crop, English rowen " 181 "

100 " of corn stalks " . 25 "

100" of do. cut in "the milk with the ear " 25 "

" It is to be observed, that the weight will vary from ripeness, and many
other canses, such as wetness of season, shade, thickness of growth, &c."

In a subsequent number of "The Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository," was published another elaborate com-
munication from the same pen, from which the following
table is extracted.

Table showing the loss of weight in drying grasses.

1822.

1823.

100 lbs.

, of green white clover* gave

100 "

of redf clover "

27i

100 "

of herd's grass "

100 "

of fresh meadow "

100 "

of salt grass:}: "

100 "

of 2d crop, or English rowen "

18*

100 "

of corn stalks "

100 "

of spiked oat grass "

100 "

of red top "

100 «

of Rhode Island "

100 «

of couch grass "

100 «

of marine black grass "

On Sowing Grass Seeds. A diversity of opinion exists
relative to the best time for sowing grass seeds. Some pre-
fer the fall ; but the majority of those who have written on
the subject, recommend sowing in the spring; and that sea-
son, so far as our acquaintance extends, is most generally
chosen. European writers direct, even when grass seed is
sown on the same ground with winter grain, to sow the grass
seed in the spring, and harroiv it in. They say that the har-
rowing will on the whole be of service to the grain, though a
few of the plants will be torn up by the process. The Hon.
Richard Peters likewise directed to " harrow your winter
grain in the spring, in the direction of the seed furrows, or
drills, and be not afraid of disturbing a few plants; manifold
produce will remunerate for the destroyed."

"The Farmer's Assistant" says, " Clover may be sown
with barley, oats, or spring wheat, when that article is rais-

* The white clover of 1822 was taken in the shade; that in 1823, from a
light warm soil exposed to the sun.

t The red clover in 1823 was taken in the first year of its product, in close
growth, and for that reason falls short of 1822.

:}: The salt grass of 1822 was, I havtf reason to suppose, a second growth,
which accounts for the difference of the two years.

If enabled, experiments will in these cases be hereafter given, so as to fix
the result with sufficient accuracy.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 23

ed; or it may be sown with winter wheat in the fall, if
the land be dry and warmly exposed ; or in the spring, when
it should be lightly harrowed in." The "Domestic Encyclo-
pedia" asserts, that " experienced farmers generally prefer
sowing clover with wheat rather than with barley or oats, as
in dry seasons the clover frequently overpowers the oats or
barley, and if it be sown late in order to obviate this evil, it
often fails, and the crop is lost for that season. Probably
the diversity of opinion respecting the proper time of sowing
clover seed may arise from the difference in the nature of
the soil on which trials have been made. An experienced
agriculturist, (Edward Duffield, Esq., of Philadelphia coun-
ty,) assures Dr. Mease, that he repeatedly failed in obtaining
a crop, when he sowed his clover in autumn or winter; and
he is uniformly successful when he sows in the spring. His
soil is a light loam."

On the other hand, an experienced and scientific cultiva-
tor, whose suggestions on this subject were published in
*'The New England Farmer," (Vol. VI. p. 238,) dated Wes-
ton, and signed J. M. G., says; "Dear-bought experience
has taught me the inefficacy of sowing grass seed in spring
with grain; it was a custom imported with the ancestors of
the country from Old England, where the cloudy summers
and moist climate will warrant a practice which, under our
clear sky and powerful sun, is altogether unsuitable. I
must add, that grass sown in the fall imperiously requires to
be rolled in the spring, as soon as the ground is in fit order;
otherwise the small plants, slightly rooted yet, and heaved
up by the frost, will suffer much, perhaps total destruction ;
and truly, among the many uses to which the roller may be
applied, none, perhaps, would be more valuable than to roll
all grass lands in spring. The plants suffer from the wind
and from the heat, and this being the case more or less every
spring, it must necessarily bring on a premature decay, which
the yearly use of the roller at that season might prevent."

We cannot reconcile these authorities; but it is probable
that both in fall and spring sowing of grass seeds, there may
be successful and unfavorable results, according to circum-
stances of soil, season, &c. Fall sown grass seeds are lia-
ble to be winter-killed, or destroyed by frost ; spring sown
grass seeds may perish by drought and heat. But, when-
ever sown, there will be less danger either from frost or
drought, if the seed is well covered with a harrow, and the
ground pressed on it with a roller.

24 THE COMPLETE FARMER

Young's "Farmer's Calendar," under the date of August,
says, " This is the best season of the whole year for laying
down land to grass; and no other is admissible for it on
strong, wet, or heavy soils. Spring sowings with grain may
succeed, and do often, but that they are hazardous I know
from forty years' experience."

There is likewise a great difference of opinion as respects
the quantitij of seed to be sown when land is laid down to
grass. Sir John Sinclair says, " It is a great error, in laying
land down to grass, to sow an insufficient quantity of seeds.
In general, twelve or fourteen pounds of clover is the usual
average allowance. But that quantity, it is contended,
ought greatly to be increased, and in many cases doubled."
"The Farmer's Assistant" tells us, that "the quantity of
red clover seed to be sown on the acre is about fourteen
pounds, and none but clean seed ought to be sown."

The " Memoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State
of New York," (Vol. II. p. 30,) in giving an account of the
methods of culture adopted by farmers in Rensselaer coun-
ty, state, that " Farmers differ in opinion in regard to the
most suitable quantity of seed. S. Germond, H. Worthing-
ton, C. Porter, C. R. Golden, and some others, say that
eight quarts of the mixture of clover and timothy seed
should be sown on every acre. And colonel J. Carpenter
sows sixteen quarts on an acre. He says, when the grass
and clover grow very thick, it will be more tender feed, and
more fine hay, and that it will not run out so soon. But J.
Phillips, G. Eddy, and many others, consider four quarts as
sufficient.

"All agree that the proportions of the mixture of the
seeds should be governed by the nature of the soil : that in
a sandy soil three-fourths of the seed should be clover; in
clay loam it should be equal parts ; in clay soil but one
fourth clover seed.

"There should be at least a bushel of plaster sown on
every acre of clover and grass land of a sandy, gravelly, or
loamy soil. Also on all upland natural meadows. Two
bushels per acre are much better than one on sandy or
gravelly soil."

Payson Williams, Esq., of Fitchburg, Massachusetts,
who received a premium from the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Society for the greatest quantity of spring wheat, rais-
ed by him in the summer of 18*22, in giving a description
of the mode of culture by him adopted, says, "The quan-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 25

tity of grass seed used by me is never less than twelve
pounds of clover and one peck of herd's grass (timothy) to
the acre. Here, permit me to observe, that innumerable
are the instances in this country where the farmer fails in
his grass crops by not allowing seed enough ; and, what is
worse, the little he does give with a sparing hand is suffered
to take its chance under that pest of agriculture called the
bush harrow, which not only drags stones and other loose
matters into heaps, but leaves the soil dead and heavy, and
does not cover the seed deep enough to strive with our July
drought effectually."

We have, however, been verbally assured, by very cor-
rect and scientific agriculturists, that six or seven pounds of
clover seed, where the ground is highly manured, is amply
sufficient, and that by exceeding that quantity the plants so
shade and stifle each other that there is little substance in
the hay made from them. No doubt much depends on the
quality and richness of the soil. The poorer the soil the
greater the quantity of grass seed. Clover seed of a bright
yellow, with a good quantity of the purple and brown color-
ed seed among it, (which shows the maturity of the seed,)
should be preferred.

GRAIN. Grain, strictly speaking, signifies seeds, grow-
ing in spikes or ears, and includes wheat, rye, barley, oats,
&c. Of the culture of these we shall treat under those heads,
respectively. We shall here give some directions for im-
proving grain of any sort which has become musty, or sour.

"The wheat [or other grain] must be put into any con-
venient vessel, capable of containing at least three times the
quantity, and the vessel must be subsequently filled with
boiling water; the grain should then be occasionally stirred,
and the hollow and decayed grains (which will float) may
be removed; when the water has become cold, or, in gener-
al, when about half an hour has elapsed, it is to be drawn
off. It will be proper then to rinse the corn [grain] with
cold water, in order to remove any portion of the water
which had taken up the must; after which, the corn being
completely drained, it is, without loss of time, to be thinly
spread on the floor of a kiln, and thoroughly dried, care
being taken to stir and to turn it frequently during this part
of the process." — Code of Jlgricidture.

Indian Corn. Indian corn, or maize, as it is sometimes
3

D. H. HILL LIBRARY

North r^.ari^irn. o*_^_ ^ ..

26 THE COMPLETE FAKMER

called, is a very important crop. The celebrated English
agriculturist, Arthur Young, in speaking of the agriculture
of France, observed, " The line of maize [corn] may be
said to be the division between the good husbandry of the
south and the bad husbandry of the north of the kingdom ;
till you meet with maize, very rich soils are fallowed, but
never after. Perhaps it is the most important plant that
can be introduced into the agriculture of any country, where
climate will suit it. The only good husbandry in the king-
dom (some small rich districts excepted) arises from the
possession and management of this plant. For the inhabit-
ants of a country to live upon that plant, which is the pre-
paration for wheat, and at the same time keep their cattle
fat upon the leaves of it, is to possess a treasure for which
they are indebted to their climate." The perfect tillage and
plentiful manuring requisite for Indian corn make it an ex-
cellent substitute for a summer fallow; it is a crop not liable
to be injured by too much or too coarse manure; it not only
enables, but, as it were, forces the farmer in the course of
its culture to subdue his land and exterminate weeds.

Soil. A light loomy soil is best for this crop, and even if
sand greatly predominates it will produce good corn with the
help of manure. Corn will not flourish on lands in which
clay is the chief ingredient, and which are therefore stiff"
and wet.

Preparation. " The best preparation for a corn crop is a
clover or other grass lay, well covered with a long manure,
recently spread, neatly ploughed, and harrowed lengthwise
of the furrow. A roller may precede the harrow with ad-
vantage. The time of performing these operations depends
on the texture of the soil and the quality of the sod. If
the first is inclining to clay, or the latter tough, or of long
continuance, the ploughing may be performed the preceding
autumn; but where sand or gravel greatly preponderate, or
the sod is light and tender, it is best performed in the
spring, and as near to planting as is convenient. The har-
row, at least, should immediately precede planting. All
seeds do best when put into the fresh stirred mould. Stiff"
lands are ameliorated and broken down by fall ploughing ;
but light lands are rather prejudiced by it. When corn is
preceded by a tilled crop, the ground should be furrowed,
and the seed deposited in the bottom of the furrows. Where
there is a sod, the rows should be superficially marked, and
the seed planted on the surface. Where the field is flat, or

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 27

the sub-soil retentive of moisture, the land should be laid
in ridges, that the excess of water which falls may pass off
in the furrows.

" The time of planting must vary in different districts,
and in different seasons. The ground should be sufficiently
warmed by vernal heat, to cause a speedy germination.
Natural vegetation affords the best guide. My rule has
bees to plant when the apple is bursting its blossom buds,
which has generally been between the 12th and 20th of
May.

' Preparation of the seed. The enemies to be combated
are the wire-worm, brown grub, birds, and squirrels. Of
these, the first and two last prey upon the kernels, and
against these tar offers a complete protection. I soak my
seed twelve to twenty hours in hot water, in which is dis-
solved a few ounces of crude saltpetre, and then add (say
to eight quarts of seed) half a pint of tar, previously warmed,
and diluted with a quart of warm water. The mass is well
stirred, the corn taken out, and as much plaster added as
will adhere to the grain. This impregnates and partially
coats the seed with tar. The experience of years will war-
rant me in confidently recommending this as a protection for
the seed.

" The manner of planting is ordinarily in hills from two
and a half to six feet apart, according to the variety of corn,
the strength of the soil, and the fancy of the cultivator.
The usual distance in my neighbourhood is three feet.
Some, however, plant in drills of one, two, or three rows,
by which a greater crop is unquestionably obtained, though
the expense of culture is somewhat increased. The quan-
tity of seed should be double, and may be quadruple* what
is required to stand. It is well known that a great differ-
ence is manifest in the appearance of the plants. Some
appear feeble and sickly, which the best nursing will not
render productive. The expense of seed, and the labor of
pulling up all but three or four of the strongest plants in a
hill, it is believed will be amply remunerated by the increas-
ed product. If the seed is covered as it should be with
mould only, and not too deep, we may at least calculate
upon every hill or drill having its requisite number of plants.

* Messrs. Pratts, of Madison county, New York, obtained the prodigious
crop of one liundred and seventy busliels per acre, and used seven bushels of
seed to the acre, the plants being subsequently reduced to the requisite number.

28 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" The after culture consists in keeping the soil loose and
free from weeds, which is ordinarily accomplished by two
dressings, and in thinning the plants, which latter may be
done the first hoeing, or partially omitted till the last. The
practice of ploughing among corn and of making large hills
is justly getting into disrepute ; for the plough bruises and
cuts the roots of the plants, turns up the sod and manure to
waste, and renders the crop more liable to suffer by drought.
The first dressing should be performed as soon as the size
of plants will permit, and the best implement to precede the
hoe is the corn harrow, adapted to the width of the rows,
which every farmer can make. This will destroy most of
the weeds, and pulverize the soil. The second hoeing
should be performed before or as soon as the tassels appear,
and may be preceded by the corn harrow, a shallow furrow
with the plough, or, what is better than either, by the cul-
tivator. A slight earthing is beneficial, provided the earth
is scraped from the surface, and the sod and manure not ex-
posed. It will be found beneficial to run the harrow or cul-
tivator a third, and even a fourth time between the rows, to
destroy weeds and loosen the surface, particularly if the
season is dry.

" In harvesting the crop, one of three modes is adopted,
viz. : 1. The corn is cut at the surface of the ground when
the grain has become glazed or hard upon the outside, put
immediately in stooks, and when sufficiently dried the corn
and stalks are separated, and both secured. 2. The tops
are taken off when the corn has become glazed, and the
grain permitted to remain till October or November upon the
butts. Or, 3. Both corn and stalks are left standing till the
grain has fully ripened and the latter become dry, when both
are secured. There are other modes, such as leaving the
butts or entire stalks in the field after the grain is gathered ;
but these are so wasteful and slovenly as not to merit con-
sideration. The stalks, blades, and tops of corn, if well
secured, are an excellent fodder for neat cattle. If cut, or
cut and steamed, so that they can be readily masticated,
they are superior to bay. Besides, their fertilizing proper-
ties as a manure are greatly augmented by being fed out in
the cattle yard and imbibing the urine and liquids which al-
ways there abound, and which are lost to the farm in ordi-
nary yards, without abundance of dry litter to take them up.
By the first of these methods, the crop may be secured be-
fore the autumnal rains ; the value of the fodder is increas-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 29

ed, and the ground is cleared in time for a winter crop of
wheat or rje. The second mode impairs the value of the
forage, requires more labor, and does not increase the quan-
tity or improve the quality of the grain. The third mode
requires the same labor as the first, may improve the quality
of the grain, but must inevitably deteriorate the quality of
the fodder. The corn cannot be husked too promptly after
it is gathered from the field. If permitted to heat, the value
of the grain is materially impaired."

To the above directions (which are quoted from an excel-
lent article written by J. Buel, Esq., of Albany, originally
published in " The Genesee Farmer,") we shall add some
further particulars from various sources.

A writer for Goodsell's "Genesee Farmer," with the
signature W. P. W., recommends wetting seed corn with
soft soap, and rolling it in plaster, and gives the details of
an experiment which tested the utility of this practice.

William Clark, Jun., of Northampton, Massachusetts,
published an article on the culture of corn in "The New
England Farmer," (Vol. XI. p. 337,) giving in detail a num-
ber of experiments, which favored the opinion that an equal
distance each way is the best method of planting corn ; and
that on soil "similar to what I have described, [a sandy
loam somewhat exhausted by neglect and severe cropping,
manured with about twenty cart loads of compost to the
acre,] about nine square feet of surface is sufficient ground
for one hill." That is, the hills were three feet apart each
way from centre to centre ; but he does not state how many
kernels were planted, nor how many plants were suffered to
remain in a hill.

It has often been stated that great advantage was derived
from selecting seed corn from stalks which had borne two or
more ears. " The Hampshire Gazette," published at North-
ampton, Massachusetts, mentions a farmer who " has select-
ed his seed corn in this way for three years past, and the re-
sult has exceeded his expectation. He states, that it is not
uncommon to find in his corn-field this season [1831], stalks
with three, four, five, and sometimes six ears, and three of
them fair, full grown, and fit for seed, and that too in hills
containing four or five stalks." He says, " I think my crop
has been increased several bushels this year by the experi-
ment. I would suggest a mode of selecting seed to those
who do not cut up the corn at the roots. When they are
picking corn, and find a stalk with two or more ears, let
3*

30 THE COMPLETE FARMER

them tie the husks together, and the ears will be easily
known at husking."

A solution of copperas in water has been recommended
as forming a good preparation for seed corn. Mr. J. Ells-
worth, of Ketch Mills, Connecticut, in a communication
published in "The New England Farmer," (Vol, X. p.
331,) stated as follows :

" Last year I soaked our seed corn in very strong copper-
as water, as near as I can recollect from twenty-four to
thirty-six hours ; every kernel was made as black as char-
coal ; the man who planted the corn called me a fool, and
said it would never vegetate. But every hill planted came
up well, and during its growth excited the remarks of all
who saw it, as being the most even field of corn they ever
saw. Not one hill in the whole seven acres was injured by
worms ; and we had often in previous years been compelled
to replant several times, when it had been cut down by the
worms. We had over sixty bushels to the acre." Copper-
as water will not preserve corn against the exit-worm, which
eats off the young plants at or just below the surface of the
ground. It has been often asserted, (but we have not
known it tested by experiment,) that the kernels of corn
from the but-ends of the ears are better for seed than those
from any other part of the ear. It is said that the nearer
the seed is taken from the largest end, the larger the pro-
duct. Others recommend to reject some part of both ends,
and plant only seeds taken from the middle. Further exper-
iments are desirable to ascertain these points.

" The following table," says Judge Buel, "exhibits the
difference in product of various methods of planting, and
serves also to explain the manner in which large crops of
this grain have been obtained. I have assumed in the esti-
mate that each stock produces one ear of corn, and that the
ears average one gill of shelled grain. This is estimating
the product low; for, while I am penning this, (October,) I
find that my largest ears give two gills, and one hundred
fair ears half a bushel of shelled corn. The calculation is
also predicated on the supposition that there is no deficiency
in the number of stocks, a contingency pretty sure on my
method of planting.*

* Planting an extra niimljer of plants and thinning them at the first or sec-
ond hoeing.

,■*»'

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 31

h!Ils. bush. qts.

1. An acre in hills four feet apart each way will

produce

2. The same, three feet by three

3. The same, two by two and a half feet

4. The same, in drills at three feet,

plants six inches apart in the drills

5. The same in do., two rows in a drill,

six inches apart, and the plants
nine inches, and three feet nine
inches from centre of di'ills, thus :

2722

4840

5808

Btalks.

29,040

113

6. The same in do., three rows in a drill,
as above, three feet from centres
of drills, thus :

30,970 120 31

43,560 170

" The fifth mode I have tried. The ground was highly
manured, the crop twice cleaned, and the entire acre gather-
ed and weighed accurately the same day. The product in
ears was one hundred and three bushels, each eighty-four
pounds net, and sixty-five pounds over. The last bushel
was shelled and measured, which showed a product on the
acre of one hundred and eighteen bu.shels ten quarts. I
gathered at the rate of more than one ,hundred bushels to
the acre from four rods planted in the third method, last
summer, the result ascertained in the most accurate man-
ner. Corn shrinks about twenty per cent, after it is crib-
bed. The sixth mode is the one by which the Messrs.
Pratts, of Madison County, obtained the prodigious crop of
one hundred and seventy bushels per acre. These gentle-
men, I am told, are of opinion, that the product of an acre
may be increased to two hundred bushels."

We believe that nearly all the large and premium crops
which have been noted in the annals of agriculture, were
procured by planting the corn in drills, either single, double,
or treble. There has, however, been a difference in opinion
relative to planting corn in ridges or on a flat surface.
This, we think, depends on the nature of the soil. A
loamy soil, or such as is proper for corn, ought, irl our
climate, to be cultivated in a flat way, that it may the better
retain moisture. Dr. Black, of Delaware, advises to plant
corn in such a manner that the rows may run directly north
and south. General Hull, of Newton, Massachusetts, in
cultivating a premium crop of corn, "drew furrows north

32 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and south three and a half feet apart. No ridges were form-
ed. Hills were then made with the hoe in those furrows
two feet apart, not flat, hut descending to the south, with a
small bank on the north side of each hill, for the purpose of
giving the young plants a fairer exposure to the sun."

When corn is planted on greensward land, the holes for
the hills or drills should be made quite through the furrows,
and dung put into the holes. If this caution be not observ-
ed the crop will be uneven, as the roots in some places,
where the furrows are thickest, will have but little benefit
from the rotting of the sward. But if the holes are made
through, the roots will be fed with both fi.ved and putrid air,
supplied by the fermentation in the grass roots of the turf*

Some entertain an idea, that it is injurious to stir the soil
when it is dry and the plants are suffering for want of rain.
The error of this supposition is well exposed, in an article
written by the Hon. J. Lowell, headed, " Stiri-ing the Earth
a Relief against Drought," puhVished in " The Massachusetts
Agricultural Repository." The following is an extract :

"In this extraordinary [very dry] season, I had a small
patch of early potatoes, planted in a warm and sandy soil,
purposely to procure an early crop ; the soil was, at least,
three-quarters pure sand, mixed with some food for plants
among the sand. The severe drought threatened a total loss
of the crop. The potato stalks were feeble, drawn up,
scarcely larger than goose quills, and I expected every day
to see them wither; all hopes of a crop were abandoned. I
thought that they were the fair subjects of a desperate expe-
riment. On one of the hottest and driest days, I gave them
a thorough ploughing, passing the plough four times through
each row: first ploughing two furrows from the hills, as
near the roots as possible without throwing out the seed po-
tatoes, and then returning the loam or earth instantly back
by two other furrows. No rain intervened for ten days. In
three days after, the potatoes changed their color, they
started afresh as if they had received the benefit of ample
showers, while not a drop of rain had fallen.

"The dews, which were abundant, settled upon the new
turned earth, while before the ploughing no moisture had
been apparent.

"The last fact, though it cannot have escaped the notice
of the most careless cultivator, has not been as yet explain-
ed. We can easily see, that a soil rendered porous would

* Deane's New England Farmer.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 33

more readily and easily convey its moisture to the roots. It
becomes like a sponge, and is readily permeable, or rather
readily permits the moisture to pass between the particles.
But it is not yet understood why it attracts the moisture.
Perhaps, however, it may be owing to its presenting a much
greater surface to the moist air of the night. The fact,
however, which is what most concerns lis, is settled. Perhaps
some of the experiments of our distinguished countryman
Dr. Wells, a physician of London, who rendered himself
distinguished by his remarks on dew, may tend to explain
this fact, though it is not my purpose to examine the
theory.

"Every man who feels an interest in the question, can
satisfy himself at once by stirring a small piece of earth in
a time of severe drought, and if he does not find it in the
morning more filled with moisture than the undisturbed
ground in its vicinity, let him continue an unbeliever.

" But there is another mode, and it is one which I have
never heard suggested, by which I apprehend the stirring ot
the surface, and making it light and porous, is beneficial in
great droughts. It is this : light porous bodies are bad con-
ductors of heat: perhaps because they have more air be-
tween their interstices. The facts are familiar to us. Me-
tallic bodies acquire an intense heat under the rays of the
sun; so do stones in proportion to their density. The earth,
when very compact, will become exceedingly hot, but
garden loam, which is very porous, remains cool at noonday
two inches below the surface. I believe, therefore, that
moving the surface, and keeping it in a light and porous
state enables it to resist the heat of the sun^s rays; that the
air between the particles of earth communicates the heat
more slowly than the particles themselves do when in close
contact.

" Such is my theory, but I am an enemy to theories. I
always distrust them; I look only to facts; and having ob-
served that a slight covering of half an inch of seaweed
would preserve my strawberries from drought, which can
only arise from its lying so loose on the surface, I have been
led to infer that the undoubted fact, that soil in a loose pul-
verized state resists drought, is owing to the same cause, to
wit, the slowness with which the heat of the solar rays is
communicated to the roots. But, be the theory sound or
unsound, I am persuaded that every farmer will find that the
free use of his plough and hoe, in times of severe drought, will

34 THE COMPLETE FARMER

be of more value to him than as much manure as that labor
would purchase. I have always been convinced, from my
experience as an horticulturist, that the great secret in culti-
vation consists in making the soil porous. In raising exotic
plants we know it to be true, and our flower-pots are always
supplied with soil the most porous which we can obtain.
The farmer may borrow light from an occupation which he
looks upon with disdain, but which serves to elucidate and
explain the secrets of vegetation."

Corn is sometimes profitably planted or sown for fodder.
In an " Address to the Essex Agricultural Society," by the
late Colonel Pickering, we find the following remarks :

" Every farmer knows how eagerly cattle devour the en-
tire plant of Indian corn in its green state; and land in good
condition will produce heavy crops of it. Some years ago,
just when the ears were in the milk, I cut close to the
ground the plants growing on a measured space, equal as
I judged to the average product of the whole piece; and
found that, at the same rate, an acre would yield twelve tons
of green fodder; probably a richer and more nourishing
food than any other known to the husbandman. And this
quantity was the growth of less than four months." *****
" It has appeared to me that the sort called sweet corn,
yields stalks of richer juice than the common yellow corn. It
is also more disposed to multiply suckers, an additional re-
commendation to it, when planted to be cut in a green state
for horses and cattle, and especially for milch cows ; and
the time of planting may be so regulated as to furnish sup-
plies of food just when the pastures usually fail. I am
inclined to doubt whether any other green food will afford
butter of equal excellence."

Colonel Pickering recommended planting northern corn
in preference to southern corn, when fodder is the object.
He observed, that "the green stalks of our northern corn
are incomparably sweeter than those of the southern States,
at least when both sorts are grown in the north."

Corn intended for fodder may be sowed either broad-cast
or in drills. The former is the least trouble, the latter will
give the greatest produce, and leave the soil in the best
order.

If the land on which you propose to raise your corn is
mowing or pasture, fresh ploughed for the purpose, broad-
cast sowing will be best, as the sod after being turned over
should not be disturbed, and there will not, probably, be

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 35

much to apprehend from weeds. If you sow broad-cast,
from three to three and a half bushels to an acre are recom-
mended, though some say that a larger quantity will be still
better. If in drills, you will run light furrows about three feet
asunder, three or four inches deep, and drop the seed corn
in the furrows, about as thick as peas are sown for field
cultivation. The seed may be covered with the plough ; and
a harrow drawn lengthwise of the furrows, followed by a
roller, (if you have one,) or perhaps your harrow turned
bottom upwards, for want of a roller, will complete the
planting. If you mean to dry it for winter use, it will be
advisable to sow early in the season, for it will then be fit to
cut at a time when it can be most easily cured for preserva-
tion in your barn, or other receptacle for fodder.

The following remarks on the culture of corn, are from. the
pen of the Rev. Mr. Colman, of Greenfield, Massachusetts,
one of our best practical and scientific farmers.

" In the cultivation of this crop, it is in the first place
important to secure an early kind, as the best security
against backward springs and early frosts. A field of corn
in Lexington, planted on the 21st of June, belonging to Mr.
Daniel Chandler, yielded an ample crop, and was perfectly
ripened. The seed was of the twelve rowed kind, much es-
teemed there, and easily procured. The kernel is small,
but it yields as much to the acre, and weighs more to the
bushel, than the eight rowed kind, with a larger kernel.
Now a kind of this description, which will ripen in nine or
ten weeks, in so unpropitious a season as the last, when
there were few warm nights, which are generally considered
most important to the forwarding of this crop, is certainly a
great acquisition. It will be well to remark here, that it is
not only important to procure an early kind, but it will re-
quire particular attention to keep it so. Plants, like animals,
have a constant tendency to become accommodated to the
place and season in which they grow. Indian corn brought
from the north to the south will become later and require a
longer season for its ripenmg, unless particular care is
taken in the selection of the earliest ripe ears for planting;
which is, that high manuring has a tendency, by rendering
the growth of a plant more luxuriant and succulent, to retard
its ripening and to lengthen its season.

"We are satisfied from long observation and experiment
that an early planting of corn is generally and strongly to
be recommended. The last season, it is true, formed an

36 THE COMPLETE FARMER

exception to this rule ; but it was a rare case. Now, a kind
of corn which by early planting and consequently early
ripening gives an opportunity of laying down the same
ground seasonably with winter grain and clover ; or which,
where the first plantings will afford us the prospect of a full
crop, when the vacancies are not supplied or the planting
cannot take place until after the middle of June, certainly
is a great object to farmers.

" The kind of land best suited to this crop, I am satisfied,
is greensward, completely inverted, rolled, and so culti-
vated as not during the whole season to disturb or break the
sod which has been turned over. This is a point of great
importance; for the decomposition of the vegetable matter
in the ground, which is effectually secured in this way, but
entirely lost by the common mode of cultivation, will great-
ly contribute to the nutriment and vigor of the plant, supply-
ing in fact an amount of manure greatly beyond what any
conjectures would have made it, had not an exact experi-
ment determined that in ordinary cases it may be rated over
twelve tons of vegetable matter to the acre.

" In the next place we protest against the practice of very
deep ploughing for this crop, and that of burying the ma-
nure deeply under the sod. The depth of ploughing may
be in some measure regulated by the nature of the soil ; but
three or four inches in sward land may be regarded as am-
ple ; and not so much as this, where this would carry you
below the vegetable mould. All circumstances considered,
I am satisfied that it is most eligible to spread the manure
upon the surface, ploughing it in with a very light plough
and harrow ; and though something may be lost in this way
by evaporation, yet not so much as burying it under the sod;
and the land is left in much better condition for the next
crops where the manure is thus spread, than where it is
placed in the hill ; nor is the corn so like to suffer from the
drought, and the saving is considerable."

NEAT CATTLE. Neat cattle form a very important
part of every farmer's live stock. In selecting them, two
things are very material : first, the health and soundness of
the stock from which they are purchased ; and secondly,
the quality of the soil on the produce of which it is intended
to feed them. Stock for the dairy or the butcher should be

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 37

selected from a breed of which you know or can ascertain
every particular relative to their general health and sound-
ness, and the manner in Avhich they have been reared, in-
cluding their food, shelter, &c.

" The Farmer's and Grazier's Complete Guide," by B.
Lawrence, an English writer, observes, "Much has been
written as to what breeds are the best ; and a considerable
greater stress has been laid on this part of the question than
is borne out by any positive result ; there are good and bad
of all kinds ; and provided you select sound and healthy
animals from warranted stock, you will, if you treat them
properly, have little to care for and less to fear.

"Always purchase cattle that have been fed on lands of a
poorer quality than your own ; but you must not too sud-
denly put them to the richer food, or they will be liable to
several dangerous diseases. It rarely happens, however,
that cattle purchased from rich lands thrive well on poor
soils ; but, on the contrary, those from poorer farms do well
on good land. The choice of neat cattle, therefore, for the
stocking of farms, must, in a great degree, be regulated by
the nature and quality of the soil intended to feed them on.

"It is also essential that the cattle should be young, as
well as healthy and of sound constitution ; for the younger
they are, the more likely they will be to do service. Their
age may easily be known by the teeth ; like sheep, they
have no fore teeth in the upper jaw ; it is in the lower,
therefore, by which this must be determined : the horns also
afford some guide in this respect.

" The eight fore teeth of the lower jaw are shed, and re-
placed by others which continue through life : the two mid-
dle fore teeth fall out at about two years old, and are suc-
ceeded by others not so white. At three years old they
have two more next to those of the previous year ; and thus
by the two succeeding years all the fore teeth are renewed ;
they are then termed full mouthed, and are five years old.
At the sixth year the row is even, the last two being com-
pletely up. Besides these they have ten grinders in each
jaw.

" At the age of three years the horns are smooth and
even ; in the course of the fourth year, a wrinkle or circle
forms round the basis of the horn near the head ; this is
every year succeeded by another, which always seems to
move the other forward. In looking therefore at the horns
of neat cattle, if the first circle be considered as three years,
4

38 THE COMPLETE FARMER

it will be an easy task to tell the age of the beast at any sub-
sequent period. An implicit reliance cannot, however, be
placed on these marks, particularly in purchasing of stran-
gers, or cow jobbers, such persons having been known to
file down some of the animal's teeth, and alter the appear-
ance of the horns so as to give them the semblance and
marks of young cattle of the most valuable breeds, and pass
them off as such to strangers."

Cows for the Dairy. In selecting cows for the dairy, the
following indications should be attended to. Wide horns, a
thin head and neck, dew-lap large, full breast, broad back,
large deep belly ; the udder capacious but not too fleshy ;
the milch veins prominent, and the bag tending far behind ;
teats long and large ; buttocks broad and fleshy ; tail long,
pliable, and small in proportion to the size of the carcass,
and the joints short. The Alderney breed gives a very rich
milk. The Durham short horns, however, exceed them as
respects quantity ; and we have the testimony of the Hon.
Levi Lincoln, late governor of Massachusetts, that the milk
of Denton's progeny, a branch of that race, is not only
abundant, but of excellent quality.*

Cows should be milked regularly morning and evening,
and as nearly as may be at the same hours. At six in the
morning and six at night is a good general rule, as the times
of milking will be equi-distant from each other. But if they
are milked three times a day, as Dr. Anderson recommend-
ed, the times may be five, one, and eight. He asserted
that if cows were fall fed, they will give half as much again
if milked three times as if only twice. At the same time, it
would prevent too great a distension of their bags, to which
the best cows are liable.

The cow which is desired to remain in perfection, either
for milking or breeding, should not be exhausted by drawing
her milk too long after she becomes heavy with calf It is
paying too dear for a present supply of milk. She should
be suffered to go dry at least two months before calving.

The expense of keeping cows of a poor breed is as great
and sometimes greater than that of keeping the best. If
cows are poorly kept the difference of breeds will scarcely
be discernible by the product of their milk. Some have
therefore supposed that it is the food alone which makes the
odds in the quantity and quality of the milk. This supposi-

* See New England Farmer, Vol. IV. p. 318.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 39

tion is very erroneous, as may be shown by feeding two
cows of a similar age, size, &c. on the same food, the one
of a good breed for milk and the other of a different kind,
and observing the difference in the milk product. No farm-
er, unless he is very rich, can afford to keep poor milch cows.
He might almost as well keep a breed of '" naked sheep," such
as Swift mentions in " Gulliver's Travels." The farmer who
raises a heifer calf that is from a poor milker, or of a breed
of little value, is as foolish as he would be, if, in clearing
land, he should burn on the ground the birch, maple, and
walnut, and save white pine and hemlock for fire wood. And
yet many sell the calves of the best milch cows to the butch-
ers, because such calves are fattest !

Those cows which give the greatest quantity of thin milk
are most profitable for suckling calves, for rich milk is said
not to be so proper food for calves as milk which is less val-
uable for dairy purposes. Milk which contains a large pro-
portion of cream is apt to clog the stomachs of calves ;
obstruction puts a stop to their thriving, and sometimes
proves fatal. For this reason it is best that calves should be
fed with the milk whicli first comes from the cow, which is
not so rich as that which is last drawn.

Mr. Russel Woodward, in the "Memoirs of the New
York Board of Agriculture," says, " I have found that
young cows, the first year that they give milk, may be made
with careful milking and good keeping to give milk almost
any length of time required. But if they are left to dry up
early in the fall, they will be sure to dry up of their milk
each succeeding year, if they have a calf near the same
season of the year ; and nothing but extraordinary keeping
will prevent it, and that but for a short time. I have had
them dried up of their milk in August, and could not by any
means make them give milk much beyond that time in any
succeeding years."

A writer in the "Bath and West of England Society's
Papers," states, that if at any time a good milch cow should
go dry before her milk is gone, get a young calf and put it
to her in order to preserve her milk against another year ;
for it is well known, if a cow goes dry one year, nature will
lose its power of acting in future.

Cows should be treated with great gentleness and soothed
by mild usages, especially when young and ticklish, or when
the paps are tender ; in which case the udder ought to be
fomented with warm water before milking, and touched with

40 THE COMPLETE FARMEK

great gentleness, otherwise the cow will be in great danger
of contracting bad habits, becoming stubborn and unruly,
and retaining her milk ever after. A cow never gives down
her milk pleasantly to a person she dreads or dislikes. The
udder and paps should be washed with warm water before
milking, and care should be taken that none of the water be
admitted into the milking pail.

The keeping of cows in such a manner as to make them
give the greatest quantity of milk, and with the greatest
clear profit, is an essential point of economy. Give a cow
half a bushel of turnips, carrots, or other good roots per
day, during the six winter months, besides her hay, and if
her summer feed be such as it should be, she will give near-
ly double the quantity of milk she would atTord if only kept
during the winter in the usual manner ; and the milk will be
richer and of better quality.

The carrots or other roots, at nineteen cents a bushel,
amount to about eighteen dollars ; the addition of milk,
allowing it to be only three quarts a day for three hundred
days, at three cents a quart, twenty-seven dollars. It should
be remembered, too, that when cows are thus fed with roots
they consume less hay, and are less liable to several dis-
eases, which are usually the effects of poor keeping.*

The keeping of cows is very profitable. Allowing one to
give only si.\ quarts a day, for forty weeks in each year, and
this is not a large allowance, her milk at two cents per quart
will amount to upwards of thirty-three dollars ; which is
probably sufficient to purchase her and pay for a year's
keeping.*

" A farmer some years since kept eighteen cows on a
common, and was often obliged to buy butter for his family.
The common was enclosed, and the same person supplied his
family amply with milk and butter from the produce of four
cows well kept.

" Great milkers seldom carry much flesh on their bones,
but they pay as they go and never retire in our debt. The
difficulties in cow keeping are these : the expense of their
food is considerable, more especially with respect to any
which must be purchased, and if the produce be inconsid-
erable it may be a losing concern. You may be feeding a
sparing milker into flesh, and if you stint her or allow her
only ordinary food you get neither flesh nor milk."!

* Farmer's Assistant. t Mowbray on Poultry, &c.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 41

Amateurs in this line should procure the largest milkers,
and I had almost said give them gold, could they eat it. In
this case it may be depended on, milk is always of more value
than the best coiv-food ; and a cow, the natural tendency of
which is to breed milk, will convert all nourishment, how-
ever dry and substantial, into that fluid; in fact, will require
such solid kind of nourishment to support her strength and
induce her to take the bull.*

Keep no more cows than you can keep well; one cow well
fed will produce as much milk as two indifferently treated,
and more butter; and if the cow be wintered badly, she will
rarely recover, during the succeeding summer, so as to be-
come profitable to the feeder. Cows should by all means
be housed in extreme weather, and particularly those which
give milk, or a failure in the quantity of milk will be expe-
rienced. Wherefore, instead of keeping twenty cows poor-
ly fed and but half of them stabled, sell ten and give the
remaining ten food in amount equal to what the twenty orig-
inally had ; procure constant stabling for them, and you
will receive quite as much milk and butter in return as was
derived from the former mode of treating twenty. Sweet
potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, and ground oats, are unques-
tionably among the best articles for food for milch cattle ;
and they occasion the milk and butter to assume a fine
flavor and color, as well as increase of quantity. |

IVinter Food for Cows. Mr. Chabert, the director of the
veterinary schools of Alfort, had a number of cows which
yielded very great quantities of milk. In his publications
on the subject he observed, that cows fed in winter on dry
substances give less milk than those which are kept on a
green diet, and also that their milk loses much of its quality.
He published the following receipt, by the use of which his
cows afforded him an equal quantity and quality of milk
during the winter as during the summer. " Take a bushel
of potatoes, break them while raw, place them in a barrel
standing up, putting in successively a layer of potatoes and
a layer of bran, and a small quantity of yeast in the middle
of the mass, which is to be left thus to ferment during a
whole week, and when the vinous taste has pervaded the
whole mixture, it is then given to the cows, who eat it
greedily."

Pure water is an essential article for cows. Dr. Anderson

* Mowbraj on Poultry, &c. t Trenton Emporium.

42 THE COMPLETE FARMER

says, he knew a man who acquired great wealth by attention
to things of this nature, and one of his principal discoveries
was, the importance of having a continued supply of the
purest water which could be obtained for his cows ; and
he would on no account permit a single animal to set his
foot in it, nor allow it to be tainted even by the breath of
animals.

Parsnips cause cows to give milk in abundance, and that
of the best quality.

Working Coivs. An English cultivator, whose observa-
tions are published in the appendix to Plymley's " Survey of
Shropshire," says, " Cows are fattened easier and are bet-
ter laborers than oxen. The uses of cattle are to work,
milk, and fatten. I have seen barren cows work as well as
oxen; therj require less keep and walk faster. When first I
commenced farmer, I followed the example of my prede-
cessor in feeding chiefly oxen; but I soon found that cows
fattened much faster, and on less meal, and for some years
past I have carefully avoided having any oxen in my
stalls."

Cows which are shortly expected to calve ought to be
lodged at night in some convenient place under cover for a
week or two before calving, as it might be the means of
saving the life of the calf, and perhaps of the dam likewise.
The day and night after a cow has calved she should be kept
under cover, and her drink should be lukewarm. Let her
not be exposed for some time to the dampness of the night.

Cows which are near calving ought to be fed with better
and more substantial food than usual. Grain of any kind is
now useful, but it should be crushed, bruised, or coarsely
ground. If the cleaning of a cow after calving be delayed,
it may be promoted, according to Deane's " New England
Farmer,"by giving her a pail of warm water with some ashes
in it; or, according to " The Grazier's Guide," the only thing
to be given is toast and weak wine, or good cider or perry.
If wine be preferred, mix it with an equal quantity of water.
This toast should consist of four pints of wine and water,
and about a pound and a half of bread toasted.

Inflamed teats should be washed with two drachms of
sugar of lead in a quart of water. Should tumors appear,
apply a common warm mash of bran with a little lard.

To prevent cows from sucking their own milk, it is said
that rubbing the teats frequently with the most fetid cheese
that can be procured is an effectual remedy.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 43

In order that it may be ascertained what is the proper
time for cows to go dry previous to their calving, an ac-
count should be kept of the time when each cow is put to
bull, so that the cow may be dried otT in due season. The
following prescription for drying off cows is given in Monk's
" Agricultural Dictionary."

" Take an ounce of powdered alum; boil it in two quarts
of milk till it turns to whey; then take a large handful of
sage, and boil it in the whey till you reduce it to one quart;
rub her udder with a little of it, and give her the rest by
way of drink; milk her clean before you give it to her ;
and as you see need repeat it. Draw a little milk from
her every second or third day, lest her udder be over-
charged."

Cow-house or Stable. The most healthy stables are those
which are open to the east, or have an eastern aspect. It is a
common practice to build them too close. The stable should
never be completely closed up, however cold the weather
may be, although it is desirable that strong draughts of cold
or damp air should be guarded against, especially in winter.
It may be held as a general rule, that stables or cow-houses
are too close when on entering the breath is affected, or
any smell of urine can be perceived.

It is also very important to keep cow-houses or cattle
stables clean and well littered. Dung left in stables soon
renders the air unwholesome, and is the cause of disorders.
Cows in a stable should be allowed a square space of at
least six feet each way for each cow. Two or three venti-
lators near the ground on the north side afford, at a trifling
expense, an excellent way of renewing or sweetening the
air in stables in the summer time, and on the south side in
winter, without occasioning draughts ; and these may be
shut when necessary by means of straw, or, what is better,
a sliding door.

It is of no small importance that the floor of a cow-house
be very tight, so that none of the stale be lost, which is of
great value as manure, when mixed with other substances.
A farmer might as well lose the dung as the urine of his
beasts.

"The common cattle stalls of our country are so ill con-
trived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the cattle
are constrained to lie down in part in their own dung. This
dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarters, from
which they are not relieved till they shed their hair in the

44 THE COMPLETE FARMER

spring. They are thus rendered uncomfortable. To be un-
comfortable is to suffer some degree of pain ; and no one
will suppose that animals in pain can thrive, or preserve
their plight with the same food equally with others perfectly
at ease. Even hogs, though prone to wallow in the mire
in warm weather, are always pleased with a dry bed, and
thrive best when kept clean." *

The following, from the " Memoirs of the Pennsylvania
Agricultural Society," is extracted from a letter from R.
Smith to J. H. Powel, and will be of use in directing the
most economical management of dairy cattle.

" My barn is constructed according to the best Pennsyl-
vania models. The yard is to the south of it. On the east
and west sides are cow-stables, containing one hundred and
ten well made stalls, ventilated by a sufficient number of
windows and double doors. At the tails of each range of
cows there is a drain made of strong planks, and so fixed as
to receive all their dung and urine. These several drains
have a sufficient declivity to carry all the fluid matter to their
southern terminations, where they intersect similar drains,
which convey all this liquid manure into a cistern, fifty feet
long. This cistern is so placed and constructed as to re-
ceive not only the urine of the stables, but also the liquid
matter of the farm-yard. In it there is a pump, by means
of which its contents are pumped into a large hogshead,
fixed on a pair of wheels drawn by oxen. To the end of
this hogshead is attached a box pierced with holes, into
which this liquid manure floats through a spigot and faucet,
and is then sprinkled over the ground as the oxen move for-
ward."

Food for fatting Cattle, keephig Stock, S^c. It has been
often said, and we believe correctly, that it is not profitable,
generally speaking, to fatten cattle on any kind of grain.
Lawrence on Neat Cattle asserts, that "corn [by which is
meant oats, barley, rye, peas, beans, wheat, &c.] cannot be
used in the fattening of bullocks and sheep, except in sea-
sons of superabundant plenty. Even Indian corn is often
too costly food to be used solely, or principally, for the prof-
itable fattening of cattle ; and grass, hay, and roots are the
materials which true economy requires. ""f It is, however,
asserted, that beef fattened on oil cake, raw potatoes, tur-

* Colonel Pickering.

t See a communication foi " Tiie New EngUiud Faimer," Vol. I. p. 234.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 45

nips, &c., will not be so firm, nor of so good a quality, oth-
er things being equal, as that which is fattened on Indian
corn. If that be true, it might be well to commence feed-
ing with turnips, potatoes, &c., and give the animals richer
food as they increase in fatness.

An able writer says, " With respect to feeding, the first
rule is, little at a time, and oflen ; because experience has
shown that animals that eat much in a short time do not fat-
ten so well as those which eat less but more frequently.
The second rule is, to begin the course with cabbage and
turnips, then to employ carrots and potatoes, and lastly
Indian, oat, or barley meal. These aliments ought to be
varied several times a day, and oftener if convenient ; and
instead of always reducing them to a meal, there is advan-
tage in sometimes boiling them. A little salt given daily is
very useful."

It would be advantageous to the community of farmers if
something like the following experiments were made, and
their results published. Let a number of cattle of similar
or the same breed, age, propensity to fatten, as ascertained
by handling, &c., be fattened at the same time. Let one be
fed entirely on potatoes raw ; a second on the same root
steamed or boiled ; a third made one half or two-thirds fat
on potatoes, and his fattening completed with Indian corn ;
a fourth be fattened on Indian corn, or corn meal ; a fifth
be fed with a mixture of all these kinds of food, given
together in the same mess, or in different messes. The first
food in the morning, for the last-mentioned bullock, might
be a small quantity of potatoes, pumpkins, or turnips ; the
second, ruta baga or carrots, mangel-wurzel, or parsnips.
Then, as the last course of the day's feast, give Indian meal,
or other food the richest you have. It would be well, like-
wise, to try the virtues of sweet apples. The most impor-
tant object of such experiments, however, would be to as-
certain whether the beef of cattle fattened on potatoes or
other roots, raw or boiled or steamed, is equal in quality to
that which is fattened on Indian corn. If not, whether an
ox may not be made nearly fat enough for profit on roots and
hay, his fatting completed on corn, and the fiesh be as good
as if he had been fattened wholly on corn. And if an ox
partly fattened on roots, and his fattening completed on corn,
gives as good beef as one wholly fed on corn, the question
occurs, hoio long a time will it require to give the beef its
good qualities arising from the corn ? We know, as re-

46 THE COMPLETE FARMER

spects swine, that farmers make them partly fat on any thing
which they will devour, and then feed them for some time
before they are killed with Indian corn or meal, to " harden
the Jlesh," as they express it ; and perhaps the same process
will answer for beef cattle. Some farmers say that the red
or La Plata potato, given raw to sw^ine, make as good pork
as that wdiich is corn fed. Others say that any kind of po-
tatoes, if steamed or boiled, will make as good pork as can
be made of corn. If this be true of pork, it may be so of
beef

It is a truth which has been confirmed by repeated exper-
iment, that food for siiine fermented till it becomes a little
acid will go farther and fatten them faster than unfermented
food of the same quantity and quality. But it is not, I be-
lieve, generally known in this country, that acid food is most
valuable for neat cattle in certain circumstances. Mr.
Bordley, (a celebrated American writer on Rural Economy,)
however, asserts, that oxen made half fat, or in good plight,
on grass or turnips, are then finished, in France, upon a
sour food, prepared as follows : rye meal (buckwheat or In-
dian meal may be tried) with water is made into paste, which
in a few days ferments and becomes sour ; this is then dilu-
ted with water, and thickened uilh hay, cut into chaff', which
the oxen sometimes refuse the first day, but when dry they
drink and prefer it. All the husbandmen are decidedly of
opinion that they fatten much better because of the acidity.
They give it thrice a day, and a large ox eats twenty-two
pounds a day. Maize [Indian] meal, or maize steeped till
it is sour, should be tried. This sour mess is given during
the last three weeks of their fattening, and they eat about
seven and a half bushels of meal, value four dollars.

Care should be taken that the process of fermentation be
not carried too far. The paste should not become mouldy,
nor the liquid food in the slightest degree putrid. We think,
moreover, that there is good reason for waiting till animals
become " half fat," or in good plight, before they are fed
with acid food. Acids, like alcohol, create appetite by
stimulating the stomach, but if long continued they weaken
the digestive powers, and in time entirely destroy the tone of
the stomach. The animal will then be visited with what in
a human subject would be called dyspepsia, or a want of the
power of digestion ; fattening him will be out of the ques-
tion, and he will be worth but little more than the value of
his hide. The constitution of an ox may be destroyed by

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 47

excessive eating, and it is only towards the close of his
days, near the last stage of his preparation for the butcher,
that he should be allowed to become an epicure, and in-
dulged with as much as he can eat of rich and high-seasoned
food.

Store keep should neither be too rich nor too abundant; and
if an ox is once made fat and then loses his flesh, he is like
one of Pharaoh's lean kine, the more he devours the leaner
he becomes. If young cattle are kept in rich pastures in
summer and poor fodder in winter, sometimes stuffed, at oth-
er times starved, they lose their disposition to fatten. To
such cattle Mr. Lawrence alludes, when he says, " It is ex-
tremely imprudent indolently to continue to keep at high
food animals which do not thrive ; I advert chiefly to indi-
viduals with which the first loss is always the least." " Stock
cattle," said Mr. Bordley, "are kept, others are fattened.
The feeding is different. Cattle kept need no kind of grain,
nor even hay, unless to cows about calving time. Straw,
with any juicy food, such as roots or dranh,* abundantly suf-
fice for keeping cattle in heart through the winter, provided
they are sheltered from cold rains. Mr. Bakewell kept his
fine cattle on straw and turnips through the winter. A drank
for keeping cattle may be made thus : roots, chaff, or cut
straw, and salt, boiled together with a good quantity of
water ; the roots cut or mashed. The cattle drink the
water and eat the rest. Drank for fattening cattle thus :
roots, meal, flax-seed, chaff, or cut straw, and salt, well
boiled together in plenty of water. If given warm, not hot,
the better." The same author says, "Hay, meal, and lin-
seed jelly with drank must be excellent food in stall feeding.
Linseed jelly is thus made : seven quarts of water to one
of flax-seed, steeped in a part of the water forty-eight hours,
then add the remaining water,' cold, and boil it gently two
hours, stirring constantly to prevent burning. It is cooled
in tubs, and given mixed with any meal, bran, or cut chaff.
Each bullock (large) has two quarts o^ jelly a day ; equal
to a little more than one quart of seed in four days."

In a tract entitled " Notices for a Young Farmer," writ-
ten by the Hon. Judge Peters, formerly president of the
Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, are the following direc-
tions :

* The word drank is given us by Count Runiford for distinguishing tliis com-
position from water.

48 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" Cut or chaff your hay, straw, corn tops, or blades, and
even your stalks, with a straw cutter, and you will save a
great proportion which is otherwise wasted or passed through
the animal without contributing to its nourishment. One
bushel of chaffed hay at a mess, given in a trough, three
times in twenty-four hours, is sufficient for a horse, ox, or
cow. A bushel of chaffed hay, lightly pressed, weighs from
jSve to five and a half pounds. A horse or horned beast
thrives more on fifteen pounds thus given than on twenty-
four or twenty-five pounds as commonly expended (including
waste) in the usual manner of feeding in racks; to which
troughs, properly constructed, are far preferable.* Salt
your clover and other succulent, as well as coarse hay.
But over-salting diminishes the nutriment. More than a
peck to a ton is superfluous. Half that quantity is often
sufficient. Ten or fifteen pounds is usually an ample allow-
ance. Feeding your stock by weight and measure of food
will not only save your provender, by its orderly distribu-
tion, but frequently save the lives of animals, too often
starved by niggardliness or neglect, or gorged and destroyed
by profusion. If it be true, as it is, that the master's eye
makes the horse fat, it is equally so, that the master's eye
prevents the horse from being pampered, wanton, pursive,
bloated, foundered, and finally wind-broken and blind."

If hay is salted by using salt in substance, it should be
done at the time it is deposited in the mow. It is often a
good practice to sprinkle a solution of salt in water over
hay or other food for cattle in the winter time, especially if
the fodder be of an inferior quality.

Colonel Jaques, of Ten Hills farm, Charlestown, (Mass.)
has been very successful in the breeding and rearing of neat
cattle, and recommends from actual experiment the following
mixture :

T.ike Riita Baga, cut fine.

2 bushels.

" Wheat bran,

1 bushel.

" Powdered oil cake,

i bushel.

" English hay, barley straw, and

salt hay, cut, of each.

7 bushels.

" Water,

10 gallons.

Let them be perfectly mixed. Give a bushel of the mixture
to a cow of the common size every night and morning, and
proportionably to greater or smaller animals.

* See further, Straw Cutter, under the head Agricultural Implements.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 49

On soili7ig laboring Oxen and Horses. By soiling do-
mestic animals, is meant keeping them in yards, &.C., and
cutting and giving them grass, with or without other green
or dry food. Instead of turning your oxen and horses,
which you have occasion to use frequently, into a pasture,
perhaps adorned with thickets of brushwood, in which the
animals may hide themselves beyond the reach of a search
warrant, you had better soil them, and thus have them al-
ways at hand. You must be careful that they are always
well supplied with water, and plenty of litter to absorb the
liquid manure, unless you have reservoirs, &c. to answer
the purpose of preventing its waste. The famous cultivator
Arthur Young, observed, that lucerne is the best plant for
soiling, and an acre of it will go farther than any thing else.
But clover or any other grass, green or dry, butts of Indian
corn cut up near the roots, cabbages, &c.. Sec, may often be
economically disposed of in soiling cattle or horses, whose
services are requisite for the daily and hourly labors of the
husbandman. But soiling on a large or general plan will
not soon, if ever, be adopted in New England, where there
are so many thousands of acres of pasture land which are
fit for nothing but grazing.

Cooking Food for Cattle. Among the most useful im-
provements of modern husbandry, may be numbered the
practice of steaming or boiling food for domestic animals.
Some account of the origin of this practice in Great Britain
maybe found in " The Complete Grazier," an English work of
reputation, from which we have made the following extracts.

" Steamed food may be given to milch cows to great ad-
vantage. For this important fact in rural economy, we are
indebted to the ingenious and persevering experiments of J.
C. Curwin, Esq., M. P., whose attention to the comforts of
his tenants, and judicious zeal for the improvement of agri-
culture, are too well known to require any eulogy. In pros-
ecution of a system which he had long practised of giving
cooked food to animals, Mr. Curwin turned his attention to
the cheapest mode of supplying milch cows with it ; and in
a communication to the Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, &c., (which was honored with their less gold medal,)
he stated his belief that he has at length been completely suc-
cessful. He uses a steam boiler of 100 gallons' contents,*

* An engraving of it is given in the thirtieth volume of the Society's Trans-
actions.

50 THE COMPLETE FARMER

on each side of which are fixed three boxes, containing
eleven stones* each of chaff, (the husks of wheat, rye,
St.c.,) which by being steamed gain more than one third of
their original weight. The steam is conveyed by various
cocks into the lower part of the boxes; and thus two or
three boxes may be steamed at the same time. The quanti-
ty of fuel required was about two pounds for each stone of
chaff.

"In giving the steamed chaff to the cattle, two pounds ot
oil cake were mixed with one stone of chaff; and the milch
cows are fed with it morning and evening, having an allow-
ance of one stone at each time. On being taken from the
steamer the food is put into wooden boxes, which are mount-
ed on wheels, to be drawn to the place where it is intended
to be used; and the chaff requires to stand some time before
it is fit for use.

"The average milk on a stock of thirty-six milch cows
was nearly thirteen wine quarts for 320 days. The cows
were never suffered to be turned out; and to prevent their
being lame, their hoofs were properly pared, and they stood
with their fore feet on clay. One great advantage attending
this method was, that most if not all the milch cows were in
such a condition, that with a few weeks' feeding, after they
were dry, they became fit for the shambles, with very little
loss from the first cost. As a substitute for chaff and oil
cake, Mr. Curwin recommends cut hay ; which, when
steamed, would make very superior food, and he entertains
no doubt would greatly augment the milk as well as the
health of the animals."

An apparatus for steaming food for cattle should be con-
sidered a necessary appendage of every arable and dairy
farm of a moderate size. The advantage of preparing dif-
ferent sorts of roots, as well as even grain, chaff, and hay,
by means of steaming apparatus, for the nourishment of cat-
tle, begins now to be generally understood. It has been long
known that many sorts of roots, and particularly the potato,
become much more valuable by undergoing this sort of
preparation. And it is equally well known, that when thus
prepared, they have been employed alone as a substitute for
grain, with cut chaff for hay and grain, in the feeding of
horses as well as other animals. To a farmer who keeps
horses or cattle, or even swine or poultry, the practice of

* Fourteen pounds a stone.

AND RURAL ECONOiMlST. 51

boiling their food in steam is so great a saving and ad-
vantage, that it deserves the most particular attention.
Though potatoes have often been given raw both to horses
and cattle, they are found to be greatly preferable when
cooked by steam, as they are thereby rendered much drier
and more nutritive, and better than when boiled in water ;
this has been long since shown by the experiments of Wake-
field, of Liverpool, who, in order to ascertain it, fed some of
his horses on steamed and some on raw potatoes, and soon
found the horses fed on the steamed potatoes had greatly
the advantage in every respect. Those fed on steamed
potatoes looked perfectly smooth and sleek, while the others
were quite rough.

A steaming machine on a simple and economical plan con-
sists of a boiler, and a wooden chest or box, placed over or
near it. The box may be of any size, and so placed as to
be supplied and emptied by wheel or hand-barrows in the
easiest manner, either by the end or top, or both, being
made to open. If the box is made eight feet by five, and
three feet deep, it will hold as many potatoes as will feed
fifty cows for twenty-four hours, and these may be steamed
in an hour.*

The practice of cooking food for cattle is by no means a
novelty in New England. A simple apparatus for this pur-
pose much used is as follows :

A kettle, holding twelve gallons or more, is set in a fur-^
nace of brick or stone, and over this a hogshead with one
head taken out and the other bored full of holes. This is set
so close that the steam of the kettle, when boiling, can only
rise through the holes, and thence ascend among the arti-
cles to be boiled in the hogshead, and pass off at the top. In
this way a hogshead of potatoes will be nearly as soon boil-
ed as a small part of them could be if placed in the kettle
underneath.

As the kettle is so closed as to prevent any steam from
passing off but through the bottom of the hogshead, a pipe
or tube is set in such a manner that with the aid of a funnel
water may be poured into the kettle as often as is necessary.
After the water is poured in, the tube is stopped with a plug
for that purpose.

Grain of all kinds may be steam-boiled to great advantage

* For a simple apparatus for steaming food for cattle and swine, see a cut
under tlie head Agricultural Implements,

52 THE COMPLETE FARJIER

for feeding and fattening cattle; but in that case it is requis-
ite to liave the bottom of the hogshead covered with a cloth,
to prevent the grain from running down through the holes.

In the fifth volume of "The New England Farmer," (p.
306,) are some notices of the use made of steam in prepar-
ing food for cattle, in a letter from R. Smith, Esq., President
of the Maryland Agricultural Society, on the management
of dairy cattle, &c., to John Hare Powel, Esq.

" For the purpose of augmenting the quantity and improv-
ing the quality of the food of my stock of every kind, I have
established a steaming apparatus. It consists of a boiler and
two wooden boxes, in which boxes is steamed the food.
These boxes contain each eighty bushels. By this simple
apparatus, every species of coarse vegetable offal is convert-
ed into nourishing food, and all the ordinary provender is
rendered more nutritious.

" In the dairies near Philadelphia, it is well known, that
sweet butter of the first quality cannot be made but from
cream quicklij produced from fresh milk, and that whenever
the milk remains many days to produce its cream, such
cream acquires an unpleasant taste that is imparted to the
butter.

" Since the month of January, 1823, my dairy people
have been in the practice of always placing the pans con-
taining the milk in water simmering hot. The oily parts
which constitute the cream are by such heat separated from
the other ingredients, and then, from their specific lightness,
they of course ascend to the top in the form of cream.
Cream is thus obtained during the coldest weather in winter
in the course of about twelve hours after the milk has been
taken from the cows. And the operation of churning such
cream never exceeds twenty-five minutes. The milk pans
remain in the hot water about thirty minutes. The butter
has invariably been of a fine flavor, and of a beautiful yel-
low color ; and, in the nature of things, it never can be
otherwise, unless the dairy woman should be utterly igno-
rant of the art of making sweet butter.

" It may not be amiss to state to you, that the skim-milk
under this process is a very pleasant beverage. In summer
and winter it bears the agitation of a carriage without be-
coming sour. And every morning through the year a per-
son comes to the farm and takes from 250 to 300 quarts, for
which he pays two cents per quart, cash, and on the same

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 55

hay he retails the whole among the people of the town, at
three cents per quart.

" The hot water in which the milk pans are placed is con-
tained in large flat wooden vessels, attached to a stove. The
water is heated by means of a flat tube fastened to the side,
and near to the bottom of each vessel, and introduced through
an aperture into the stove. The heat of the stove affords
the additional advantage of preserving in the dairy house
the requisite temperature during the winter season.

" The dairy house is a stone building, consisting of three
spacious apartments for the preservation of the milk, the
cream, and the butter, and for the making of the butter.
Two of these apartments are under ground and arched, and
properly ventilated. To the south side is attached a con-
venient shed, with the requisite shelves, and with a copper
boiler for washing and keeping in good and sweet condition
all the dairy utensils. In front is a pent house."

Jesse Buel, Esq., recommends using a boiler instead of a
wooden vessel for cooking food for swine. He observes, " I
have thrown by my steamer for hog food and substituted a
boiler. The former consisted of a sixty gallon cask, over a
potash kettle badly set. I could only work off four or five
casks a day, with great labor and trouble, and the appa-
ratus required to be luted with clay at every operation.
With my new kettle, holding thirty gallons, which is a thin
and beautiful casting, I have cooked eight and nine barrels
in half a day, and much better than by the steam process.
This food consists of small refuse potatoes, of which I have
nearly 100 bushels, or fifteen per cent, of my whole crop,
pumpkins, and a small quantity of Indian meal. A half
day's boiling serves my hog family for four or five days; and
it is always kept prepared in advance. The actual expense
of fattening hogs thus, upon the refuse of the farm crop, is
fifty to seventy-five per cent, less than feeding with dry
corn.

" The economy of my apparatus consists much in setting
the boiler so as to have all the advantage of the fire. The
interior brick work is made to conform to the shape of the
boiler, leaving an interval of four to six inches between
them for the fire, round the whole exterior of the kettle,
with the exception of a few inches at top, where the flange
or rim rests upon the projecting bricks. Thus the boiler is
not only encompassed by the flame, but the heat is augment-
ed by radiation from the brick work. The fuel is burnt on
5*

'54 THE COaiPLETE FARMER

a grate, which extends nearly to the kettle, four or five in-
ches above the level of its bottom. My boiler being in ope-
ration while I am preparing these remarks, I have ascer-
tained, that a kettle of potatoes with three pails of cold
water, covered with boards, has been completely boiled in
eighteen minutes from the time they were put in, another
boiling having been just previously taken out. My kettle
was set by a son in his teens, without assistance, and was
his first effort in masonry."

In cooking for cattle, however, when hay and other bulky
articles of food are prepared by heat, steam will be found
the best medium. Care should be taken to make the vessel
in which the steaming is effected so tight that the steam
cannot egcape till it becomes quite hot and elastic. A cover
of good weight sitting close, but capable of being raised a
little by steam of high pressure, may be made to operate
like a safety valve, and at the same time confine the steam
till it exceeds 212 degrees, the heat of boiling water. Any
food is better when cooked by steam of a high temperature,
than when merely soaked in an artificial fog, not much
warmer than a mist which caps the hills on a summer's
morninff.

CALVES. Calves designed for veal should be taken
from the cow the next day after they are calved. They
should be permitted to suck only two teats during the first
week, three during the second, and should have the whole
of the milk the third and fourth week, at the end of which
time they will be fit to kill. The teats not allowed to be
sucked should be previously milked.

When calves are to be reared, some permit them to run
with the cow, and take all the milk the first season. But
fine animals are raised without taking any milk from the cow
after three or four days. They should have more or less
milk for about twelve weeks. They may be fed with skim-
med milk or water gruel after the first fortnight ; or hay tea
may be mixed with their milk, or their milk may be mixed
with meal and water. After a calf has sucked or drank
milk for the space of a month, take some fresh and sweet
hay, and put small locks of it into cleft sticks, in such a
manner that the calf can easily have access to them, and he
will soon learn to eat hay.

Whether calves are intended to be fattened or to be reared,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 55

it is best to feed them three times a day. But whether they
are fed two or three times, the intervals between their meals
should be regular, and as nearly as possible equi-distant.

'J"he method for rearing calves pursued by Mr. Crook, as
mentioned in "The Letters and Papers of the Bath and
West of England Society," is as follows : He purchased
three gacks of linseed, value '21. 2s., (equal to about nine
dollars,) which lasted him three years. One quart of seed
was boiled in six quarts of water for ten minutes, to a jelly,
which was given to the calves three times a day mixed with
a little hay tea. And he states, that his calves throve much
better than those of his neighbours, which were fed with
milk. Thus it seems, that less than eighteen cents' worth of
ffax-seed, with a trifle of hay, is sutficient for one calf.
Linseed oil cakes, when pulverized and boiled, make an
equally good broth or jelly.

If skim-milk is given to calves it should be boiled, and
suffered to stand till it cools to the temperature of that first
given by the cow. It is better boiled than when warmed
only. If the milk be given too cold it will cause the calf to
purge. If this is the case, put two or three spoonfuls of
runnet into the milk, and it will stop the looseness. If the
calf is bound, pork broth is said to be a good and safe thing
to put into the milk.

Dr. Deane was of opinion, that it was better to wean
calves on hay than on grass. " They are more docile when
raised in the barn, and thrive better." A Mr. John Gordon
says, that " calves should not be suffered to eat any grass the
first year, and from experience I find it much the cheapest
to keep them shut up and feed them, as the land sufficient
to pasture one will produce hay enough to feed two calves
through the year, and pay the expense of cultivation, and
one year's growth will certainly be added to the cattle."*

It is not probable, however, that many of our farmers will
incur the trouble of raising calves in a barn : therefore,
" when calves are put in a pasture, it should be such as is
dry and sweet. White clover is the best for them ; red clo-
ver or trefoil is also good. Mr. L. Hommedieu recommends
that there be no water in the pasture, but sufficient shade.
The effect of this is, that the calves learn to feed at night, or
when the dew is on, and lie by in the day ; and as the grass
while wet with dew is believed to be most nourishing, they

* jMassachusetts Agricultural Reports, Vol. V. p. 78.

56 THE COMPLETE FARMER

will in this way thrive much better than those which have
free access to water ; for this, it is contended by Mr. L.
Hommedieu, has a tendency to stunt them, and make them
pot-bellied. Probably the better way is, to give them a lit-
tle nourishing drink at certain times, when the dews fail, or
at mid-day, when the weather is very warm."*

The best calves for bringing up, are those calved early in
the season, or before June. "When calves are weaned,
they should not be suffered to be with their dams any more
till fall ; neither should they be pastured within sight or
hearing of them. It will cause them to neglect their feed-
ing ; and they will not forget their sucking.

" At the setting in of cold nights in autumn, calves must
be nightly housed ; and not be out early in the morning, ndV
late in the evening. And as the pinching cold of winter
will be extremely detrimental to them, they should be kept
very warm in their house, well supplied with water, and let
out only on the warmest days. A great deal of care is
necessary to bring them through the first winter, which is
the most dangerous period of their lives. They will acquire
so much strength during the following summer that they
will have nothing to fear from the cold of a second winter."
— Buffon, Hisloire JVaturelle.

" The American Farmer " gives the following method of
making hai/ tea for calves. Take about a pound of red clo-
ver hay, well got in, and si.x quarts of clear spring water ;
boil them together till the water is reduced to four quarts ;
then take out the hay and mix a pound of barley, oat, bean,
[or Indian] meal amongst a little water, put it in the pot or
cauldron while boiling, and keep it constantly stirring until
it is thickened. Let it cool, then give it to the calf, adding
as much whey as will make a sufficient meal.

To make calves lie quiet, more especially during a tempo-
rary scarcity of milk, balls made of wheat flour, and a sufti-
cient quantity of gin to form it into a paste, are recommend-
ed by Mr. Marshall; three balls about the size of walnuts
to be given about a quarter of an hour before each meal.
The effect is, that instead of wasting themselves by incessant
"bawling," they lie quiet, sleeping a principal part of the
time. Probably, Indian or rye meal, mixed up with gin,
whiskey, or other cheap spirit, might answer a good purpose
as an occasional expedient. We should not advise, however,

* Farmer's Assistant.

AND RUIIAL ECONOMIST. 37

to often diet calves in that manner, unless they were intend-
ed for the butcher; for we should be apprehensive that feed-
ing them with such nice messes would render them too deli-
cate and mcalij mouthed to become hardy and prolitable cattle.
Young advises, when calves are troubled with scouring, to
give them powdered chalk and wheat meal, worked into a
ball with gin.

The following is the mode of rearing calves adopted by
the Shakers, in Canterbury, N.H., communicated in a letter
from Mr. Francis \Vinkley to iNIr. Levi Bartlett, of Warren,
New Hampshire, and published in " The New England
Farmer," (V^ol. II. p. 305.)

" We let calves that come in the fore part of March suck
about a week or ten days, then take them from the cow, giv-
ing them a moderate allowance of new milk to drink, till
they have learned to drink it freely; then put in some skim-
med milk ; and we feed them wholly with skimmed milk,
taking care to give it at about the temperature of milk taken
directly from the cow, by heating a part of it and mixing it
with the rest. Care should be taken not to scald the milk
when heated; also not to give them any sour milk, for this
will make them scour. The trough or vessel in which they
drink their milk should likewise be kept clean, and not suf-
fered to become sour.

" We let the milk stand about twelve hours before it is
skimmed; giving a calf at first about four quarts night and
morning; increasing the mess as need requires till he is six
weeks old, from which time till ten weeks old he will re-
quire, perhaps, about twelve quarts per day.

" When about ten weeks old, we begin to di.minish the
quantity of milk for about the space of two or three weeks,
at which time we wean them. During the whole process
from two to fourteen weeks of age, calves should be well
supplied with good hay, salt, and provender; such as oats,
wheat bran, and oil cake, ground fine.

"The particular advantages to be derived from the above
method of treatment are the following :

"1. It is much cheaper than to let them suck in the ordi-
nary way; whereas it makes a great saving of cream for
butter, and that without injuring the calves, if they are prop-
erly attended to.

"2. It prevents calves from moaning or pining so much
while weaning, as they would otherwise do, when taken from
the cows.

68 THE COMPLETE FARMER

"3. It not only prevents the cows being injured in conse-
quence of the calves biting the teats, but also prevents their
holding back the milk from the milker, which often serves to
diminish the quantity of milk afterwards.

"The only disadvantage to be found in the above method
of treatment is, that it requires some more labor to feed
them, where they thrive equally well in every respect as
those do which are permitted to suck in the ordinary way."

The following is from "The United States Gazette."

" Among the modern improvements in farming, the dairy
has of late years been very much neglected. So much of
the profit of breeders depending upon the facility with which
the milk of the cow may be reserved during the sucking
time of the calf, the following substitute, used in Germany,
for the natural food of the young progeny, may be accep-
table to our country readers.

" Let as much water be heated on the fire as the calf will
be disposed to drink, and when it boils throw one or two
handfuls of oat meal* into it, and after continuing in that
state for one minute, take it oflf, and let it be cooled to the
temperature of new milk, when one or two pints of skimmed
milk are to be added to it. With this beverage, the young
animal will fatten and thrive prodigiously: the milk of the
parent will be applied to the dairy, and the intelligent far-
mer will immediately discover the great advantage to be
derived in the produce of the dairy from such an expedi-
ent."

Willich's "Encyclopedia" observes, " In order to make
calves fine and fat, the best and most efficacious way is, to
keep them as clean as possible, by elevating their coops in
such a manner that the sun may not have too great power
over them, and to such a height above the level of the
ground that their urine may pass off; by giving them fresh
litter every day, and suspending over the coop a large chalk-
stone, so that they can easily lick it. Besides this, it is
usual to bleed them when they are about a month old, and
again just before they are slaughtered; which practice tends
in a considerable degree to the beauty and whiteness of the
flesh, and is therefore more frequently repeated by some
farmers; [in England;] but this is not altogether necessary;
twice bleeding being fully sufficient for that purpose, in the
opinion of the most experienced breeders. It is, however,

* Indian meal will^o as well.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 59

to be observed, that those calves which are intended for
bulls or for oxen should be selected as soon as possible; as
the operation necessary to make them oxen should not be
deferred till the calves are more than twenty days old.

A writer for "The New England Farmer," with the sig-
nature .S. X., (Vol. VIII. p. 76,) observes, that "A very
intelligent practical farmer states, that he considers nothing
more conducive to the thriving of sucking calves than to
keep in their pen an ample supply of dry yellow loam, of
which they are at liberty to eat freely as they choose. They
will eat it eagerly, and he regards it of more value than
Indian meal. There is no better evidence of its utility than
the fact that no man's calves find a readier sale or bring a
higher price in our market than his. The philosophy of it
we do not pretend to explain."

Moubray says, " The calf may be sold (or taken from the
cow) as soon as it has drawn the biestings or first milk, un-
less any coring or defect in the cow's udder or teats may
render it desirable for the calf to suck a few days, in order
that the action may clear oft' any obstructions, for which the
butting of the calf's head is generally the best remedy. If
intended to be fattened for the butcher, it must be kept in a
pen particularly dry and clean; suckled twice a day at regu-
lar hours; always have the first, which is the thinnest of
the milk," and not be permitted to overcharge its jstomach.
Lumps of soft chalk are usually placed for the calf to lick,
as an absorbent to neutralize the acidities engendered in the
stomach from feeding on milk. It seldom pays to fatten a
calf beyond ten or twelve weeks.

" Weaning and rearing Calves. A calf may be weaned by
being gradually accustomed to suck milk in a pail through
the fingers. Many are reared on very little milk mixed with
hay tea, linseed, or other slops; fed on straAv in the winter,
and in summer on the common: such cannot be expected to
turn to much account. The best cattle are reared from the
teats, well wintered in good shelter, and full fed until they
attain their growth. Warmth and dry lodging are of the
utmost consequence to the improvement of all young ani-
mals. Calves may, however, be reared to good profit, by
being suffered to suck_ a very moderate quantity daily, the
bulk of their food consisting of skimmed milk, thickened
with oat or wheat meal; their winter food being carrots or
Swedish turnips sliced, and cut straw, with a small quantity
of hay, daily."

GO THE COMPLETE FARMER

"The Grazier's Guide" observes, " If tlie calf be in-
tended for the butcher, it mav be taken from the cow in
about a week or ten days, and fed the remainder of the time
by hand ; but the time of taking the calf away must be deter-
mined bv the state of the cow's udder; for unless that be
free from kernels and indurations, the calf must be allowed
to suck, as the jolting of its head is the means of healing or
restoring the udder, and preventing the downfall or inflam-
mation in this part, which might cause much trouble, and
even endanger the life of the cow.

"But if the calf is intended to be reared, it should not be
weaned until at least six weeks or even two months old,
whether male or female. For such, there is no food like the
cow's milk; and if she does not yield a sufficient quantity,
that of another ought to be had recourse to. It is an incon-
trovertible fact, that the longer a calf sucks, not only the
larger and stronger will it become, but it will also acquire a
much better form and more robust health."

Calves which come early should be preferred for the rear-
ing. Those Avhich come late, do not acquire sufficient
strength to bear the cold of winter; they languish, and are
reared with difficulty. Calves should not be weaned too
suddenly, but by little and little. The less they are able to
eat, the more they should be allowed to suck; after a while
they may be brought to take it from the pail. This is done
by placing the hand in the milk, with the palm upwards, and
under the milk, while the fingers are raised above the sur-
face of the milk for the calf to lay hold of with its mouth,
which it does very readily, and sucks up the milk with great
ease.

When they are completely taken away, they should be
fed with a little bran, and some of the best soft and fragrant
hay of the second crop ; they should be allowed plenty of
the skimmed milk, and now and then a little water in which
barley has been boiled and broken up, or a little buttermilk
occasionally. There is at first some difficulty in bringing
them to drink, but a little perseverance will accustom them
to it.

INIoderate warmth and dry lodging are of the utmost con-
sequence to young calves ; and if we would turn them to
any good account, they must not be stinted either in these
or in their food. Calves which have recently been weaned
and are not at pasture should be fed often, at least three
times, and it is better five times a day. As soon as they are

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 61

fit to follow the mother they should be let out, as they are
greatly benefited by air and exercise. Calves sometimes ac-
quire a habit of sucking one another, of which trick they
may be broken by separating them.

Calves cannot be kept too clean, nor have fresh litter too
often. If they are suffered to lie on their own dung and
urine, they will become mangy, and scarcely ever thrive.
They are subject to several disorders, such as diarrhoea,
dysentery, costiveness, &c. As a means of preventing the
greater number of the diseases to which they are liable, the
following rules are prescribed in "The Farmer's and Gra-
zier's Guide."

" 1st. Let the young calf suck the first milk. This will
cleanse its bowels, and prevent costiveness.

" 2d. Let it suck from its mother at least two months, and
then wean it gradually.

"3d. Let its first food be such as is easy of digestion,
and let it have plenty of sweet skimmed milk and good hay.

"4th. Keep it very clean, well rubbing it occasionally
witVi a wisp of hay or straw.

" 5th. Keep its stable clean, and perfectly free from all
impurities.

" 6th. Let it have gentle exercise ; the best will be fol-
lowing the mother in the meadow or pasture.

7th. Do not stint it either in good food or good drink, and
change its litter often enough to keep it clean, sweet, and
dry."

OXEN. Till oxen are four years old they are usually
called steers ; afterwards oxen. The signs of a good ox,
according to Dr. Deane, are these : thick, soft, smooth, and
short hair ; a short and thick head ; glossy, smooth horns ;
large and shaggy ears ; wide forehead ; full, black eyes ;
wide nostrils ; black lips ; a thick fleshy neck and large
shoulders ; broad reins ; a large belly ; thick rump and
thighs ; a straight back ; a long tail, well covered with hair;
short and broad hoofs. The best colors are brown, dark
red, and brindled. When an ox has completed his eighth
year he should be fattened.

If oxen are worked in the yoke in wet weather, their necks
are apt to become sore. To prevent this, a little tallow
should be rubbed on the parts of the yoke which lie upon
their necks, and also on the bows.
6

62 THE COMPLETE FARMER

The following remarks on the management of working
oxen, are from "The New England Farmer," Vol. VI. p.
191.

*' Do not retard the growth of your beasts of draught, en-
danger their health, and render them insignificant in the eyes
of many, by working them hard while young. But the
younger they are inured to light work, the more docile they
will generally become.

"An English writer recommends carding oxen, and says
' the ox, after the sensation becomes familiar, receives pleas-
ure from the operation, and will momentarily forego his
meal to receive the full enjoyment. His feeder perceives
this, and brushes the part which gives the most pleasure.
The ox shows his gratitude by wagging his tail ; the feeder
in return calls him by name, and ingratiates himself with
him. Thus not only an intimacy but a mutual affection is
formed, which at once gives attention to the keeper and do-
cility to the ox, and renders the labors of both pleasant.'

" Their labor and their fodder ought to be proportioned,
that their health and their spirits may be kept in full tone.
Their coats ought to be sleek ; their hides loose and silky ;
the flank should fill the hand, and the shoulder handle mel-
low. If they be overworked or underfed, sluggishness and
disease will inevitably follow. A working ox ought always
to be beef, that in case of accident he may be fit for the
table."

The common mode of working oxen by a yoke, has been
condemned by many agricultural writers. Mr. Cooper, an
Englishman, according to Young's "Eastern Tour," used
collars on oxen as on horses, except that they were buckled
on with the narrow and open end downward. They draw in
harness abreast, in pairs, single, or in a line, and icalk as fast
as horses. Mr. Bordley said, he " saw a wagon in Pennsyl-
vania drawn by two bulls and two oxen, bridled and geered
in harness and collars."

It appears, by a work entitled "Letters from Cuba," by
Dr. Abiel Abbot, that in managing the oxen of that island,
the yoke is made fast to the horns, " near the root, behind,
so that it does not play backward and forward, and gives to
the oxen a similar but better chance of backing, (as, in
teamster's phrase, it is called.) I have been astonished at
the power of those oxen in holding back. There is a short
hill in one of the streets of this city, at an angle nearly of
forty-five degrees. Standing at the foot of it, I saw a cart

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 63

and oxen approaching at the top, with three hogsheads of
molasses, and the driver sitting on the forward cask. The
driver did not so much as leave his perch ; the oxen went
straight and fearlessly over the pitch of the hill, and it
seemed as if they must he crushed to death. The animals
squatted like a dog, and rather slid than walked to the bot-
tom of the hill. Have we any animals that could have done
it ? And if they could, have we any docile enough to have
done it with the driver in the cart } Thus superior is this
mode of yoking in holding back the load in difficult places.

" It gives them still more decisive advantage in drawing,
A fillet of canvas is laid on the front below the horns ; and
over this fillet the cords pass, and the animal presses against
the most invulnerable part of his frame ; his head, his neck,
his whole frame are exerted in the very manner in which he
exerts his mighty strength in combat. It is the natural way,
therefore, of availing yourself of this powerful and patient
animal to the best advantage."

A writer for " The Genesee Farmer " observes, that "the
frequent abuse of our laboring animals by those who receive
the benefits of their labors, and who ought in return to treat
them mercifully, has often given me great pain. I have em-
ployed in the course of my business a great many men and
teams, both with oxen and horses, and I never yet knew a
bawling, noisy, whipping teamster who did a great day's
work ; nor have I scarcely known such a one who kept a
fat team. The best man who ever did me any labor was a
good substantial farmer ; his oxen were always fat, and spry
as colts ; he would never hitch them to any thing which he
knew they could not draw ; of course they were not dis-
couraged ; and he hardly ever spoke to them louder than in
a low tone of common conversation. He would frequently
talk to them soothingly, and encourage them when he had a
hard job on hand, which was often the case. Afler making
a heavy pull he would sometimes pat them on the back, but
I rarely ever knew him to strike or worry his team. He
carried a slender goad with a short lash to guide them with,
and a mere swing of the whip was sufficient for his purposes.
I have known several such persons in my life, and I do not
hesitate to say, that any person who so manages his team
will get more labor at less expense, and with more ease to
himself, than by the ordinary bawling, whipping method so
much practised in our country. All the difference with these
people is, that the one understands and studies the nature

64 THE COMTLETE FARMER

and disposition of his animals, and the other does not. 'An
even temper and a steady hand,' ought to be the teamster's
motto, the world over."

The following valuable observations on the subject of
breaking steers and colts, are extracted from a communica-
tion written for "The Xew England Farmer," by JNIr.
James Walker, of Fryeburgh, Maine, and published in that
paper. Volume XII. p. 113.

"I call my young cattle calves till they are one year old.
I have a little yoke made with a staple and ring in it. I tell
my little boys to yoke up their calves : a small boy can do
it, and it is quite a pastime to them ; they being so young,
are not so strong but that he can manage them with ease ;
any small stick or twig answers to drive them with, and there
is no danger of the boy or steers being hurt. When he can
drive them where he wishes them to go, which will soon be
the case, he will hitch them to a small piece of wood, or if
in winter put them to a hand sled, and drive round with that;
they will soon become docile. There is no trouble with
them afterward, especially if they are yoked a few times the
second winter ; it makes them fond of their mates. Oxen
that are trained when young are much more pliable and obe-
dient, which adds much to their value : steers that run till
they are three or four years old are dangerous animals to
encounter with ; they are always running away with the
cart or sled whenever there is a chance for them, and often
serious injury is the result. I would not recommend work-
ing steers hard while young, as it would prevent their
growth ; there is a difference between working them and
barely training them.

" Colts I begin with very soon after they are foaled ; the
mare should be bridled and led to the door, and given a lit-
tle salt. When the colt is one or two days old, take him by
the neck, handle him gently; he is then so young that he is
not afraid, if his dam is near by him; continue this practice,
and he will very soon become fond of his owner, and will
come on purpose to be handled, after two or three weeks.
It does not hurt the mare or the colt to use her moderately
If you want to go to meeting on the Sabbath, harness the
mare into the chaise or wagon, and tie the colt to the arm of
the carriage; he may be a little obstinate at first, but in go-
ing a few rods will be peaceable and very orderly; if there
are many other horses about, your colt is always with you :
if you want to stop at a place any time, let your colt loose;

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 65

he can be taken again without difficulty, and before you start
off tie your colt again; in this way there is no trouble of
the colt following other horses away. When they become
old enough for service, you do not have to run all over the
pasture for the horses; they can always be taken with ease,
Colts trained in this way are completely halter broken.
When you begin to harness them, they are not frightened at
the noise of the carriage behind them, and are sooner made
quiet in the harness. It has been a common saying, that if
colts are handled when they are young, it depresses their
courage, which I am convinced is not the fact. I have
raised as many horses as most farmers of my age in this vi-
cinity, and some oC them the most spirited I ever saw. The
above rules I have practised for quite a number of years, and
can recommend them to others with confidence."

On training Oxen to back a Cart. A writer for " The Maine
Farmer," with the signature of "A Teamster," states as
follows :

" I have observed that very little if any attention is paid
by our farmers to learn their steers to back; but as they be-
come able to draw a very considerable load forward, they
are often unmercifully beaten on the head and face because
they will not back a cart or sled with as large a load as they
can draw forwards, forgetting that much pains have been
taken to learn them to draw well forward, but none to learn
them to push backward. To remedy the occasion of this
thumping, and the delay, which is always disagreeable, as
soon as I have learned my steers to be handy, as it is called,
and to draw forward, I place them on a cart where the
land is descending in a small degree. In this situation they
will soon learn with ease to back it ; then I place them on
level land, and exercise them there; then I learn them to
back a cart up land a little rising: the cart having no load
in it thus far. When I have learned them to stand up to the
tongue as they ought and back an empty cart, I ne.xt either
put a small weight in the cart, or take them where the land
rises faster, which answers the same purpose. Thus in a
few days they can be learned to back well, and know how to
do it, which by a little use afterwards they will never forget.
This may appear of little consequence to some, but when it
is remembered how frequently we want to back a load when
we are at work with our cattle, and how commodious it often
is to have our cattle back well, why should we not learn
them for the time when we want them thus to lay out their
6*

66 THE COMPLETE FARMER

strength? Besides, it saves the blows and vexation often
encountered, which is considerable when one is in haste.
It is a merciful course towards our brutes. I never consider
a pair of oxen well broke until they will back with ease any
reasonable load, and I would give a very considerable sum
more for a yoke of oxen thus tutored than for a yoke not
thus trained."

Oxen sometimes contract a bad habit of pulling or hauling
against each other; and sometimes crowd each other, so as
to render them almost entirely useless as laborers. It is said -
that by turning them out to feed in the yoke they will learn
to move in concert, and thus be broken of the habits of pull-
ing and crowding.

In the " Transactions of the Society of Arts," the follow-
ing mode of training oxen to the draught is recommended:
" Put a broad strap round their necks, fasten one end to a
large log of wood; permit the ox to drag it about as he feeds
in his pasture, before he is put in harness, by which his do-
cility is much forwarded." If a yoke of oxen were fasten-
ed to a heavy loaded sled or drag, placed in a pasture, and
the oxen secured in such a manner that they could not cast
or injure themselves, and the load were so heavy that they
must act in concert to move it, they would soon learn to pull
together, and be true to the yoke. Having eaten the grass
within reach of their first location, they would of necessity
unite their efforts to remove their load to a fresh spot, and
would adopt for their motto, united we feed, divided we
starve.

Diseases of Cattle. Our limits v.ill not admit of our being
very copious under this head; but some of the most common
ails to which cattle are subject shall be bri,efly treated of,
and the remedies prescribed.

Cattle are apt to be hoven or swollen, in consequence of
having eaten too much green succulent food. The common
remedy for this disorder has been, to stab the infected animal
with a penknife or other sharp instrument under the short
ribs, and put into the orifice a tube of ivory, elder, a quill,
or something of the kind, to give vent to the confined air
The wound is then dressed with some sort of adhesive plas-
ter, such as Burgundy pitch, and thus in general the cure is
efl^ected. This, however, according to "The Grazier's
Guide," is a bud practice; a second attack becomes more
difticult to cure, as the wound adheres to the side, and every
repetition increases the danger.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 67

The thirty-third volume of Young's " Annals of Agricul-
ture," prescribes the following recipe for hoven cattle, which
it states will effect a cure in the most desperate cases in half
an hour. Take three quarters of a pint of olive oil, one
pint of melted butter or hog's lard ; give this mixture by
means of a horn or bottle, and if it does not produce a fa-
vorable change in a quarter of an hour, repeat the same
quantity, and walk the animal gently about. For sheep at-
tacked with this n)alady, the dose is from a wine-glass and a
half to two wine-glasses.

The following remedy for this complaint has also been re-
commended. Make about a pint of lye, either with hot em-
bers thrown into a sufficient quantity of water, or by dis-
solving therein about an ounce of pot or pearl-ash, and turn
it down the throat of the ox or cow affected. A propor-
tionably less quantity will answer for a sheep. This is said
to give immediate relief, by neutralizing the carbonic acid
gas in the stomach of the animal, which causes the swelling
and other symptoms of the complaint to subside.

Besides these remedies, flexible tubes and canes, with
knobs on their ends, tarred rope, whip handles, &c., have
been used to force a passage from the mouth to the stomach,
to let the confined air escape upwards from the trunk of the
animal affected. Descriptions of some of these instruments
may be seen in "The Domestic Encyclopedia," (Vol. I.
pp. 409, 410.) Loudon likewise observes, that "the flexi-
ble tube for the relief of cattle that are hoven or choked,
consists of a strong leathern tube, about four feet long and
half an inch diameter, with a leaden nozzle, pierced with
holes at the insertion end. It should be kept in every farm-
ery. There is a similar one, on a smaller scale, which should
be kept by every shepherd."

In turning cattle or sheep into fresh and rank clover or
lucerne, care should be taken at first to let them remain but
a short time when the grass is dry, and then turn them out
again, that they may by degrees become accustomed to the
rich herbage.

Hoof-ail, or Hoof Distemper. A writer for "The Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. IV. p. 339,) gives
some account of this disorder, from which we extract the
following.

" Symptoms. When an animal is at all lame, its foot
should be carefully felt. The first indication is, usually, an
uncommon degree of warmth, and a soft and pufl^ed feel of

68 THE COMPLETE FARMER

the parts immediately connected with the sUt between the
hoof, either before or behind the foot, and generally just
above it. If in the hind foot, and not easily handled, a ful-
ness may generally be perceived, by standing behind the
animal, and carefully comparing the appearance of the two
feet between the dew-claws and the hoots, (for it very rarely
commences its attack on more than one foot.) In the fore
foot it generally swells forward; and in taking up the foot the
slit between the hoofs will generally have the appearance of
dryness, easily distinguishable to a person used to cattle ;
and the animal frequently licks the front part of the foot.
Instances frequently occur of sudden and extreme lameness,
without any appearance of heat or swelling in the foot; and
these are often the worst cases; but one symptom rarely
fails to accompany the disease, which is extreme restlessness
and appearance of anguish, attended with loss of appetite
and flesh, but without in the least affecting the brightness ot
the eye, and, perhaps, sometimes unnaturally increasing it;
but the eye has a peculiar cast. As a general rul«, it is
safest to attribute all lameness of the foot which cannot be
traced to a sufficient cause, to the hoof-ail. Lameness of the
foot can generally be distinguished from that of the leg, hip,
or shoulder, by making the animal step over a stick or rail,
and carefully watching its motions.

"Remedies. The foot should be carefully washed and
cleansed, and thoroughly examined, to be sure that the lame-
ness does not arise from a nail casually run into the foot, or
a prick in shoeing, from a wound from a stump or other
substance between the hoofs, (a case frequently occurring.)
If no appearance occurs of any break in the skin, while the
foot is still wet, apply as near as may be to the centre of the
slit between the hoofs, from one to three grains of corrosive
sublimate, (reduced to a fine powder,) the dose to be propor-
tioned to the size of the animal and the violence of the at-
tack. Care must be used that the powder is put completely
in this slit, for it is a very strong poison, and the animal, as
soon as at liberty, will begin to lick the foot if a sore one.
The moisture left by the washing makes the powder adhere,
and the effect is produced in a very short time. Some pre-
fer mixing the powder with hog's lard, which answers ; but
is thought less powerful : it has one advantage, however, as
being less dangerous to keep in a house, (for no one takes
salve inwardly.) Where corrosive sublimate cannot be ob-
tained, any other violent stimulant may be applied. Com-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 69

mon salt is often effectual in very slight attacks ; but it is
of the greatest importance to lose no time. The application
is to be repeated every twenty-four hours till a cure is effect-
ed, or till the foot shows unequivocal signs of a gathering
which will break."

Loss of the Cud. Rumination, or the chewing of the cud,
i that motion of the rumex or first stomach by which the
food is forced back into the mouth to be perfectly masticated.
This motion is not sudden or violent, like that of vomiting ;
but gradual and gentle, when the animal is healthy. When,
therefore, an animal ceases to perform this essential act of
digestion, it is an evident proof that the stomach is out of
order; it may depend on the state of the first stomach, or
it may proceed from the third.

Loudon asserts, that although " loss of the cud enters into
the list of most of cow leeches' diseases, it is less a disease
than a symptom of some other affection ; indeed it is evident
that any attack sufficient to destroy the appetite will, gene-
rally, occasion the loss of the cud. It is possible, however,
that an occasional local affection, or paralysis of the paunch,
may occur, particularly when it is distended with unhealthy
substances, as acorns, crab-apples, the tops of some of the
woody shrubs, &c. The treahnent in such cases, consists in
stimulating the stomach by tonics, aloes, pepper, and gin,
mixed. Though these as liquids may not enter the stomach
in common cases, yet in this disease or impaired action of
the rumex they will enter there."

Mr. Lawrence, an English writer, says, in loss of cud,
" Let the animal fast some time, then give a warm bran or
pollard mash, with good hay and warm water with salt.
Tliis treatment alone may succeed with patience, even should
the maw be obstructed with acorns or crab-apples. An aloes'
tincture made with brandy and ginger, or capsicum [red
pepper], might be of use in this case. After conquering the
obstruction, bitter infusions made of camomile, hoarhound,
oak bark, &c. in beer may be required, as restoratives, al-
though, perhaps, good dry nourishing food will have an
equally good effect."

Horn-ail, or Horn Distemper. In the spring, cattle which
have been poorly kept through the winter, are subject to a
wasting of the pith of the horn, which is usually called the
horn distemper. It is sometimes in one horn only and some-
times in both. The indications of the disease are, coldness
of the horn, dulness of the eyes, sluggishness, want of

70 THE COMPLETE FARMER

appetite, and a disposition to lie down. When the brain is
affected, the animal will toss its head, groan, and exhibit
indications of great pain.

To cure the disease, Dr. Deane directed to bore a hole
with a nail gimblet into the lower part of the horn, through
which the foul matter may be discharged. By this boring,
which should be nearly horizontal, or in the depending part
of the horn, and two or three inches from the head of the
animal, the cure is sometimes completed. When it proves
otherwise, a mixture of rum and honey with myrrh and aloes
should be thrown into the horn, with a syringe, and be seve-
ral times repeated if the disease continue.

Lovett Peters, Esq. of Westborough, Massachusetts, in a
communication published in "The New England Farmer,"
(Vol. VII. p. 194,) gives the following recipe for curing this
disease, which he observes was furni.shed him by an aged
friend, and successfully applied to " a cow taken with horn-
ail to that degree that she had nearly stopped eating, and
from giving a large quantity of milk had become nearly
dry."

" Take of salt one half-pint, of soot one half-pint, of
black pepper one table-spoonful ; make all fine, and give
one or two spoonfuls at a time, night and morning. It is
easily done, by drawing the tongue out of the mouth with the
hand, and putting the spoon as far. down as it will reach;
then let go the tongue, and keep up the nose, and it will all
go down." Mr. Peters says, " I followed the directions, and
in two days my cow was better ; and in a week was perfectly
well. The same may not cure in all cases of horn-ail, as
my informant said it would, but it is worth a trial."

It should seem, however, as Mr. Peters suggested, that
the above-mentioned remedy is not infallible. Mr. Thomas
Hazen, in a communication published in "The New Eng-
land Farmer," (Vol. VII. p. 234,) states, that he tried it
without success ; but by the advice of a large owner of
cattle, he freely applied spirits of turpentine to an ox in high
flesh, but afflicted with the horn-ail, on the top of the head
along the roots of the horns, for a number of days. The ox
soon began to feed well, and in a few w-eeks was sold for
market. It is a severe remedy, throwing the animal into
extreme agony."

Dr. Cooper, in the last Philadelphia edition of AVillich's
"Domestic Encyclopedia," directs, For the hollow horn,
saw off the diseased part ; dress with turpentine ; keep the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 71

animal warm, and do not starve him. It is a disease owing
to want of food and exposure to cold.

Remedy for Cuttle when choked by Roots or other substances.
Mr. Joseph VVingate, of Maine, in a communication for
"The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. page 57,) says,
that every farmer should have a rope, which is to be put
down into any animal's throat when choked with any hard
substance, such as a turnip, potato, or an ear of corn. " I
have used this rope, and never found the least difficulty in giv-
ing immediate relief Many cattle have died for the want of
it, and many have been killed outright by using other means.
Take an old tarred rope, six feet long. Let it be served
[strongly wound round with twine], and, when finished, be
one inch in diameter. When put down the throat it should
be pushed gently down four feet and a half into a cow or an
ox. In cold weather it is stiff enough, but in warm weather
it should be wet with cold water before it is used."

Mr. E. Williams, of Westford, New York, in " The New
England Farmer," (Vol. III. p. 81,) directs to an easier
method to relieve this complaint : "It is merely to pour
down the throat one quart of very strong soap suds. I have
seen it tried in numerous instances, and invariably with the
best efTect. It affords instantaneous relief"

BARNS. It is a common practice, and with many a
general rule, to build a farm-house adjoining, and perhaps
in contact with the sheds, barns, and other outhouses.
When the buildings are thus all situated in one clump, if
one takes fire, the whole will, probably, be consumed. Be-
sides, it is disagreeable and unwholesome to live too near
manure heaps, and as it were in the midst of your herds of
cattle and swine. The barn should, therefore, be placed at
a convenient distance from the dwellinghouse and other
buildings, but as near as may be without danger of fire, or
annoyance from the effluvia of manure heaps. Too low a
spot will be miry in spring and fall. Too high an eminence
will be inconvenient for drawing in loads, and on account of
saving and making manui'e. If other circumstances permit,
it may be best to place a barn in such a manner as to de-
fend the dwellinghouse from the force of the coldest winds.

The size of the barn should be proportionate to the pro-
duce of the farm ; for in this country, where building is not

72 THE COMPLETE FARMER

expensive, all the hay and grain should be placed under
cover. It is a bad practice to leave hay in stacks, in the
meadows where it is cut, to be there foddered out to the cat-
tle in the course of the winter. By this mode of manage-
ment the manure is almost lost. The ground under and
near the stack receives some benefit from the droppings of
the cattle, the litter, hay-seeds, &c. of the stack. But this
benefit is trifling, as the sun, air, and rains, soon exhale and
wash away the manure, which, being left on the surface of
the soil, is soon given to the winds and the waters.

The farmers of the older parts of Pennsylvania, generally,
build very large barns, and to prevent the hay or grain from
heating in a large mow, four poles or pieces of timber are
set up in the middle, so as to form within them a square
space of about two feet. The poles are braced by cross-
pieces at certain distances. Through the aperture thus
made, the extra moisture in the hay or grain has a chance to
escape, so as to prevent its being mow-burnt. Their barns
are usually built of stone, and in the walls a large number
of small holes are made for the admission of air. Their cat-
tle are chiefly all housed, and their dung is under cover,
when thrown out of the stables to prevent its being injured
by the rains. The roofs of the barns are usually painted,
to preserve them against the weather.

" The floor of the barn should be kept tight, so that the
grain cannot fall through in threshing ; and for this purpose
it should have a layer of thin boards under it. It is most
advisable also to have a place set apart in the barn for the
purpose of storing away the grain after it is threshed. The
bins for the grain should be made of hard plank, to prevent
the rats and mice from eating through them, and should have
lids, which can be fastened down with padlocks." — Farm-
er's Assistant.

The following description of a large barn built in the
town of Hancock, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, by the
family of Shakers located in that place, was originally
published in the INIiddletown (Conn.) " Sentinel."

"The barn is built on ground inclining southwardly, in a
perfect circle, and is ninety feet in diameter across it from
side to side. The walls are of stone, twenty-two feet in
height, of a suitable thickness, and laid in lime, and well
pointed on each side. Round the barn, on the inner side,
are stables, forming a circle, the manger within, and suit-
able places over it to throw or feed down the hay; the stable

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 73

and rnanger occupy about twelve feet, and are eight feet
high ; the stables open to and from several different barn-
yards, in order to make as many and such divisions of stock
as they have thought proper. The covering of the stables
forms the barn floor, which also extends round the barn.
There is but one large door-way for entrance with teams and
loads; this is from the northern side, from an offset or cause-
way, eight feet above the base, and of course fourteen feet
below the eaves. The cart or wagon that enters with a load
makes the whole circuit of the floor, and after unloading
comes out at the same door; thus eight or ten teams with
their loads can occupy the floor at one time in unloading,
and not hinder each other. Within this circle of the stables
and barn floor is an area or bay, as it is usually called,
which is filled with hay, &c., which must be over sixty feet
in diameter. This is pitched in and on from any side or
place most convenient, or where wanted. The roof comes
to a point at the centre, and sheds off the rain all round,
something similar to an umbrella. It is supported from the
inner circle of the barn floor. The roof boards are laid up
and down, which, by a transverse sawing of the log, were
all brought to a point, and then shingled round in the usual
mode."

A writer for " The New England Farmer," whose com-
munication was published, (Vol. III. p. 81,) describes "a
barn of ordinary size, and the main part of it built in the
usual shape, but a good deal neater and tighter. The bays
were upon each side of the floor, and the bottoms of them
were sunk eight feet below it. This gave room for a large
quantity of hay below the floor. The large doors were to-
wards the south, to admit the sun, when necessary, with a
small door in one of the large ones to enter at, when the
w-eather was windy and made it dangerous to open the
large doors. Barns ought always to have a small door to
use in the winter, when you must often be in and out.
There were twelve squares of glass arranged over the door,
to admit the light when the large doors were shut; besides a
small window in each of the gable ends, very near the
ridge, for the same purpose. Under the floor was a con-
venient cellar, in which were kept potatoes, and all kinds of
vegetables for green fodder in the winter. The cellar was a
very warm one, and well lighted with two windows. This
cellar struck me as being the most useful apartment in the
whole establishment. There you may keep as many turnips,
7

74 THE COMPLETE FARMER

cabbages, potatoes, Sec, as you please, and they are always
handy to fodder out in the stable to your cattle; and the
cattle need scarcely go out of the stable in a month.

" The yard was well watered by an aqueduct, and a trough
on the south side of the barn was kept always full. Upon
the north or back side of the barn were the stables : they
were built in one building, and joined to the main part, about
twenty-five feet in width, thirty feet long, and twelve or four-
teen feet high. A door led from the barn into it, besides
another from without upon the east side, where the cattle
were admitted from the yard. A floor was laid overhead,
at the distance of seven feet from the lower one. The stalls
were arranged on each side of the building, so that the cat-
tle stood with their heads towards the outside of the building,
leaving a space in the middle to pass.

" In foddering, the hay was pitched from the bay in the
barn through a window, over the stables, and then put down
into racks; very little hay could be wasted in this way, and
the boys could be trusted with the foddering. The manure
made in the stable was put down through the floor into
another cellar, large enough to admit of a cart and team to
take it away."

A Report of the Committee on Farms, in the county of
Essex, for the year 1824, states, that Colonel Moses New-
hall, in West Newbury, " has lately built a barn, which, for
convenience and durability of construction, is worthy of
much praise. It is calculated better for the farmer's use
than any one we have seen. It is not too much to say, that
during the haying season, the most busy season with the
farmer, its superior conveniences will save at least the labor
of one man on the farm. It is about eighty feet in length,
thirty-four feet in width, and twenty feet post. It has two
floors, one eight feet above the other; on the upper of which
the hay is carried in."

The Shakers of Harvard, Massachusetts, have built a
barn, which is probably larger than any other structure of
the kind in the United States. The dimensions are one hun-
dred and Jifly feet in length, and forty-Jive in width. It is four
stories in height, and the calculation is, to drive in on the
upper floors, from the hill side, and pitch the hay down,
thus rendering much hard labor easy.

Barn-Yards. The following " Remarks on the Construc-
tion and Management of Cattle Yards," are from the pen of
Judge Buel, of Albanv:

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 75

"Vegetables, like animals, cannot thrive or subsist with-
out food; and upon the quantity and quality of this depends
the health and vigor of the vegetable, as vv'ell as of the an-
imal. Both subsist upon animal and vegetable matter, both
may be surfeited with excess, both may^be injured by food
not adapted to their habits, their appetites, or their digestive
powers. A hog will receive no injury, but great benefit,
from free access to a heap of corn or wheat, where a horse
or cow will be apt to destroy themselves by excess. The
goat will thrive upon the boughs and bark of trees, where
the hog would starve. The powerful, robust maize will
repay, in the increase of its grain, for a heavy dressing of
strong dung; for which the more delicate wheat will requite
you whh very little but straw. The potato feeds ravenous-
ly, and grows luxuriantly, upon the coarsest litter; while
many of the more tender exotics will thrive only on food
upon which fermentation has exhausted its powers. But
here the analogy stops : for while the food of the one is
consumed in a sound, healthy, and generally solid state, the
food of the other, before it becomes aliment, must undergo
the process of putrefaction or decomposition, and be reduced
to a liquid or ssriform state.

" I have gone into the analogy between animals and vege-
tables thus far, to impress upon the minds of our farmers the
importance of saving, and of applying the food of their vege-
tables with the same care and economy that they do the
food of their animals. How scrupulously careful is the good
husbandman of the produce of his farm, destined to nourish
and fatten his animals ; and yet how often careless of the
food which can alone nourish and mature his plants: while
his fields are gleaned, and his grain, hay, and roots carefully
housed, and economically dispensed to his animals, the food
of his vegetables is suffered to waste on every part of his
farm. Stercoraries we have none. The urine of the stock,
which constitutes a moiety of the manure of animals, is all
lost. The slovenly and wasteful practice of feeding at stacks
in the fields, where the sole of the grass is broken, the fodder
wasted, and the dung of little effect, is still pursued. And,
finally, the little manure which does accumulate in the
yards, is suffered to lie till it has lost full half of its fertiliz-
ing properties, or rotted the sills of the barn; when it is
injudiciously applied, or the barn removed to get clear of the
nuisance. Again: none but a slothful farmer will permit the
flocks of his neighbours to rob his own of their food; yet

76 THE COMPLETE FARMER

he often sees, but with feeble efforts to prevent it, his plants
smothered by pestiferous weeds, and plundered of the food
which is essential to their health and vigor. A weed con-
sumes as much food as a useful plant. This, to be sure, is
the dark side of the picture; yet the original may be found
in every town, and in almost every neighbourhood.

" Is it surprising, that under such management, our arable
grounds should grow poor, and refuse to labor its accustom-
ed reward ? Can it be considered strange, that those who
thus neglect to feed their plants should feel the evil of light
purses, as well as of light crops ? Constant draining or
evaporation, without returning any thing, would in time
exhaust the ocean of its waters. A constant cropping of the
soil, without returning any thing to it, will in like manner
exhaust it of its vegetable food, and gradually induce steril-
ity. Neither sand, clay, lime, or magnesia, which are the
elements of all soils, nor any combination of part or all of
them, is alone capable of producing healthy plants. It is
the animal and vegetable matter accumulated upon its
bosom, or which art deposits there with the auxiliary aid of
these materials diffused in the atmosphere, that enables the
earth to teem with vegetable life, and yield its tribute to
man and beast."

Judge Buel suggests the following cheap and practicable
mode of providing food for vegetables ;

" The cattle yard should be located on the south side of
and adjoining the barn. Sheds, substantial stone walls, or
close board fences, should be erected at least on the east and
west sides, to shelter the cattle from cold winds and storms;
the size proportioned to the stock to be kept in it. Exca-
vate the centre in a concave form, placing the earth removed
upon the edges or lowest sides, leaving the borders ten or
twelve feet broad, of a horizontal level, to feed the stock up-
on, and from two to five feet higher than the centre. This
may be done with a plough and scraper, or shovel and hand-
barrow, after the ground is broken up with the plough.
When the soil is not sufficiently compact to hold water, the
bottom should be bedded with six or eight inches of clay,
well beat down, and covered with gravel or sand. This last
labor is seldom required, except where the ground is very
porous. Here should be annually deposited, as they can be
conveniently collected, the weeds, coarse grass, and brakes
of the farm; and also the pumpkin vines and potato tops.
And here also should be fed out, or strewed as litter, the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 77

hay, stalks, and husks of Indian corn, pea and bean haulm,
and the straw of grain not wanted in the stables. To still
further augment the mass, leached ashes and swamp earth
may be added to advantage. These materials will absorb
the liquid of the yard, and, becoming incorporated with the
excrementitious matter, double or treble the ordinary quantity
of manure. During the continuance of frost the excavation
gives no inconvenience; and when the weather is soft, the
borders afford ample room for the cattle. In this way, the
urine is saved, and the waste incident to rains, &c. prevent-
ed. The cattle should be kept constantly yarded in winter,
except when let out to water, and the yard frequently re-
plenished with dry litter. Upon this plan, from ten to twelve
loads of unfermented manure may be obtained every spring
for each animal; and if the stable manure is spread over the
yard, the quality of the dung will be improved, and the
quantity proportionably increased. Any excess of liquid
that may remain after the dung is removed in the spring,
can be profitably applied to grass, grain, or garden crops.
It is used extensively in Flanders, and in other parts of
Europe.

" Having explained my method of procuring and preserv-
ing the food of vegetables, I will proceed to state my prac-
tice in feeding or applying it. It is given, every spring,
to such hoed crops as will do well upon coarse food, (my
vegetable hogs and goats.) These are corn, potatoes, ruta
baga, beans, and cabbages. These consume the coarser
particles of the manure, which would have been lost during
the summer in the yard; while the plough, harrow, and hoe
eradicate the weeds which spring from the seeds it scatters.
The finer parts of the food are preserved in the soil, to
nourish the small grains which follow. The dung is spread
upon the land as evenly as possible, and immediately turned
under with the plough. It is thereby better distributed for
the next crop, and becomes intimately mixed and incorpora-
ted with the soil by subsequent tillage. Thus, upon the data
which I feel warranted in assuming, a farmer who keeps
twenty horses and neat cattle, will obtain from his yards and
stables, every spring, two hundred loads of manure, besides
■what is made in summer, and the product of his hogsty.
With this he may manure annually ten or twelve acres of
corn, potatoes, Stc, and manure it well. And if a proper
rotation of crops is adopted, he will be able to keep in good

heart, and progressively to improve, sixty acres of tillage

78 TUE COMPLETE FARMER

land, so that each field shall be manured once every four or
five years, on the return of the corn and potato crop."

DAIRY. The celebrated Arthur Young has the follow-
ing remarks on this subject :

"Unless the farmer has a very diligent and industrious
wife, who sees minutely to her dairy, or a most honest, dili-
gent, and careful housekeeper to do it for him, he will assur-
edly lose money by his dairy; trusted to common servants,
it will not pay charges. The dairymaid must be up every
morning at four o'clock, or she will be backward in her
business. At five the cows must be milked, and there must
be milkers enough to finish by six. The same rule must be
observed in the evening.

" In making butter, the dairymaids are particularly atten-
tive to one circumstance, that there must be a certain pro-
portion of sour in the cream, either natural or artificial, or
they cannot insure a good churning of butter; some keep a
little of the old cream for that purpose; others use a little
runnet; and some a little lemon juice."

In order to determine which cow's milk is best for cream,
it has been recommended to let the milk of each be put by
itself, and churn each separately.

The properties requisite in a dairy-house are, that it be
cool in summer and moderately warm in winter, so as to
preserve nearly the same temperature throughout the year,
which, according to Loudon, should be about forty-five de-
grees. A northern exposure, as much under the shade of
trees as possible, is to be preferred. A well-constructed but-
ter dairy, says Loudon, should consist of three apartments;
a milk house, a churning house, with proper boiler, as well
as other conveniences for scalding and washing the imple-
ments, and a room to keep them in, and for drying and air-
ing them, when the weather will not permit of its being done
without doors. The cheese dairy should likewise consist of
three apartments : a milk house, a scalding and pressing
house, and a salting house. To these should be added a
cheese room, or loft, which may with great propriety be
made above the dairy. This is, however, generally separate
from the dairy. But a milk dairy requires only a good
milk house, and a room for scalding, cleaning, and airing
the utensils.

A dairy for the private use of any farmer or family need

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 79

not be large, and may very economically be formed in a
thick-walled dry cellar, so situated as to have windows on
two sides ; the north and east in preference for ventilation ;
and in order that these windows may the better exclude cold
in winter and heat in summer, they should be fitted with
double sashes; and on the outside of the outer sash should
be a fixed frame of close wire netting or haircloth, to
exclude flies and other insects.*

On Making and Preserving Butter. The dairy-house
should be kept neat, should not front the south, southeast,
or southwest. An apartment in a sweet and well-ventilated
cellar will answer a good purpose to keep milk and cream
in. Cheeses should not be set to dry in the same room
where your milk is set, for they communicate an acid matter
to the surrounding air, which will have a tendency to make
the milk sour. The milk room and cheese room should
therefore be separate apartments. It will be well to place
your milk room, if possible, over a spring or brook, near the
dwellinghouse; and you may have a stone floor, and chan-
nels in the floor to pass the water round near the inside of
the walls. Into these channels the pans may be set, filled
with milk, and surrounded by water. If water could be in-
troduced into the milk room so as to fall from some height
on the pavement, it would likewise prove advantageous, as
the waterfall and the evaporation it causes will contribute to
preserve the air continually pure, fresh, and cool. As the
milk itself when brought in warm will naturally tend to raise
the temperature of the milk room too high, it is recommend-
ed to have an ice-house attached to the dairy, especially
where the advantage of a current of water cannot be obtain-
ed. An ice-house would prove still more profitable if the
dairy be situated near large towns, where the ice could be
sold in summer. According to Dr. Deane, the temperature
of the milk room should be from fifty to fifty-five degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer; and "The Complete Grazier"
says, " Where the temperature of the milk room has be-
come affected by the carrying of newly drawn milk into it,
it may be easily reduced to the proper temperature by sus-
pending a small quantity of ice at a considerable height from
the floor; and if, during winter, the cold should become too
great, a barrel of hot water closely stopped, or a few hot

* For several different plans of dairy-houses, see Loudon's " EncyclopiBdia
of Agriculture," Par. 6300, &c.

80 THE COMPLETE FARMER

bricks placed on the floor or table of the milk room, will
readily counteract its effects. But on no account whatever
should a chafing-dish with burning coals be used, as it will
certainly impart a bad taste to the milk."

The proper receptacles for milk are tin or earthen pans,
not glazed nor lined with lead, or wooden trays. Lead,
copper, or brass utensils, as well as earthenware vessels
glazed with lead, ought on no pretext whatever to be used;
for the acid which is contained in milk combines with these
metals, and forms a poisonous compound with them. Sir
John Sinclair recommends vessels made of cast iron, soften-
ed by annealing them in charcoal, so that they will not break
by an ordinary fall, turned smooth in the inside, and laid
over with a coat of tin, to prevent the iron from coming in
contact with the milk. These milk dishes are stated to be
kept more easily clean than wooden vessels; and their su-
perior power of conducting heat cools the milk so rapidly,
that the Scottish farmers' wives, who have given them a fair
trial, affirm that they throw up one third more cream from an
equal quantity of milk.* Cast-iron vessels, without being
tinned, would give no poisonous quality to the milk, but they
might render the produce of the dairy unpalatable.

"All dairy utensils ought to be most carefully scoured,
first with hot water, and afterwards rinsed with cold, and
kept in an air)' place, in order that every possible degree of
acidity may be removed. Should one or two scourings be
insufficient, they must be repeatedly cleansed until they be-
come entirely sweet, as the slightest taint or acidity may
cause material loss."t Slate, according to some accounts,
makes very good milk coolers, and perhaps freestone might
answer as well.

The quality and quantity of cows' milk greatly depends
on the nature of their food. Potatoes, carrots, and parsnips
are recommended as causing cows to give excellent milk;
and mangel-wurtzel is highly spoken of for the same pur-
pose. Cabbages, if sound, answer an excellent purpose, but
the decayed leaves give a bad taste to the milk. It is
thought best to milk cows three times a day if fully fed, and
great caution should be exercised by the persons employed
to draw the milk from them completely, not only to increase
the quantity of produce, but to preserve its quality. Any
portion which may be left in the udder seems gradually to be

* Agiicultural Report of Scotland. t The Complete Grazier.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 81

absorbed into the system, and no more is formed than
enough to supply the loss of what is taken away; and by the
continuance of the same mode a yet further diminution takes
place, until at length scarcely any is produced. This last
mode of milking is practised when it is intended to render a
cow dry.

" After the milk is drawn from the cow, it should be care-
fully strained through a Unen cloth or a hair sieve, (Dr. An-
derson prefers a sieve made of silver wires, on account of its
superior wholesomeness,) into the cream dishes, which
should never exceed three inches in depth, though they may
be made so wide as to contain any quantity required, and
which ought to be perfectly clean, sweet, and cool. If any
ill flavor is apprehended from the cows having eaten turnips,
&c., the addition of one eighth part of boiling water to the
milk before it is poured into the dishes will effectually
remove it.* When filled, the dishes ought to be set upon
shelves or dressers, there to continue till the cream is re-
moved. This should be steadily done by means of a skim-
ming dish, if possible, without spilling any upon the floor,
because it will speedily taint the air of the room; and the
cream poured into a vessel, till enough be obtained for
churning."

The " Farmer's Assistant " judiciously observes, " If new
milk be kept as warm as when it comes from the cow, no
cream will rise on it ; but when sufficiently cooled, the
cream separates from the rest and rises to the top. In order
then to effect this to the best advantage, the new milk should
be made as cool as possible, and the cooler it is thus made
the more suddenly and effectually the cream will rise. To
set milkpans made of tin in beds of salt would no doubt be
useful, where the cellar is too warm; and to set all milk ves-
sels on a floor which is constantly covered with cold spring
water is also an excellent plan."

The following remarks relative to the best mode of mak-

* Mr. Young has recommended the dairyman to boil two ounces of nitre
in one quart of water, and to l)Ottle the mixture; of which, when cold, a
large tea-cupful is to be added to ten or twelve quarts of milk as soon as it
comes from the cow. The quantity of saltpetre is to be increased as the
turnips become stronger. The feeding of cows with the roots alone will, as the
earl of Egremont found, prevent the milk from having a bad taste. Another
method of removing any ill flavor arising from the cows having eaten turt)ips,
consists in warming the cream, and afterwards pouring it into a vessel of
cold water; from which the cream is to be skimmed as it rises to the surface,
and thus the unpleasant taste will be left behind in the water.

82 THE COMPLETE FAKMER

ing butter, are chiefly derived from Dr. Anderson's valuable
Essay on that subject. 1. The milk first drawn from a cow
is always thinner, and inferior in quality to that afterwards
obtained; and this richness increases gradually to the very
last drop that can be drawn from the udder. 2. The portion
of cream rising first to the surface is richer in quality and
greater in quantity than that which rises in the second equal
space of time, and so of the rest, the cream decreasing and
growing worse as long as it rises at all. 3. Thick milk pro-
duces a smaller proportion of cream than that which is thin-
ner, though the cream of the former is of a richer quality.
If thick milk therefore be diluted with water, it will afford
more cream than it would have yielded in its pure state,
though its quality will at the same time be inferior. 4.
Milk carried about in pails, or other vessels, agitated and
partly cooled before it is put into the milkpans, never throws
up such good and plentiful cream as if it had been put into
proper vessels immediately after it came from the cow.

From these fundamental facts, the Doctor deduces, in sub-
stance, the following rules :

1. The cows should be milked as near the dairy as possi-
ble, to prevent the necessity of carrying and cooling the
milk before it be put into the dishes; and as cows are much
hurt by far driving, it must be a great advantage in a dairy
farm to have the principal grass fields as near the dairy or
homestead as possible. In this point of view, also, the prac-
tice of feeding cows in the house, rather than turning them
out to pasture in the field, must be obviously beneficial. *

2. Ihe practice of putting the milk of all the cows of a
large dairy into one vessel, as it is milked, there to remain
till the whole milking be finished, before any part is put into
the milkpans, seems to be highly injudicious, not only on
account of the loss sustained by the agitation and cooling,
but also, the more especially, because it prevents the owner

* Mr. Lawrence, in his " Treatise on Cattle," observes, that " it is stated
bv theoretical writers, that to feed cows in the home stall increases their
quantitj' of milk; a fact which various experiments compel me to disprove.
With me it has ever had the effect of adding to the substance of the animal,
and of diminishing the quantity of her milk ; probably from defect of the
exercise she was wont to take in collecting her food, and the selection of herb-
age she was enabled to make." This writer, however, is of opinion, that
" llie aggregate quantity of milk in a dairy may be enlarged by keeping
pastures free from the tread of the cows, since a greater number may be kept,
perhaps by one third, on the same extent of ground; at the same time the ani-
mals may be secured from the harassing and debilitating effects of the sun and
flies."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 83

of the dairy from distinguishing the good from the bad cow's
milk, so as to enlighten his judgment respecting the profit
that he may derive from each. Without this precaution, he
may have the whole bf his dairy produce greatly debased by
the milk of one bad cow for years together, without being
able to discover it. A better practice, therefore, would be
to have the milk drawn from each cow separately put into
the creaming pans as soon as milked, without being ever
mixed with any other ; and if these pans were all made of
such a size as to be able to contain the whole of one cow's
milk, each in a separate pan, the careful dai* would thus be
able to remark, without any trouble, the quantity of milk
afforded by each cow every day, as well as the peculiar
qualities of the cow's milk. And if the same cow's milk
were always to be placed on the same part of the shelf, hav-
ing the cow's name written beneath, there never could be
the smallest difficulty in ascertaining which of the cows it
would be for the owner's interest to dispose of, and which he
ought to keep and breed from.

3. If it be intended to make butter of a very Jine quality,
it will be advisable, not only to reject entirely the milk of all
those cows which yield cream of a bad quality, but also, in
every case, to keep the milk that is first drawn from the cow
at each milking entirely separate from that which is got last;
as it is obvious, if this be not done, the quality of the butter
must be greatly debased, without adding much to its quanti-
ty. It is also obvious, that the quality of the butter will be
improved in proportion to the smallness of the quantity of
the last drawn milk which is used, as it increases in richness
to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder at
that time ; so that those who wish to be singularly nice will
do well to keep for their best butter a very small proportion
of the last drawn milk.

Dr. Anderson proceeds to state in substance, that in the
Highlands of Scotland the common practice is to let the calf
suck till the dairymaid judges that it has had enough ; it is
then separated, the legs of the mother having been previous-
ly shackled by a very simple contrivance, to oblige her to
stand still, and the dairymaid milks off what is left by the
calf In this way, he observes, the Highland butter has
been greatly celebrated as the " richest marrowy butter

* A provincial word, denoting tlie person wiio has the chief concern in a
dairy.

84 THE COMPLETE FARMER

which can anywhere be met with." The milk which is
first drawn, and consequently of inferior quality, may be
converted into an inferior kind of butter, sold sweet, or made
into cheeses, which, by being made of sweet milk, if made
with care and skill, may be of fine quality.

Churning ought to be regularly continued till the butter
comes, or is formed. If the motion in summer be too quick,
the butter will, in consequence, ferment, and become ill-
tasted ; and, in winter, it will go back. Churning, it is said,
may be made easier by putting the bottom of the pump churn
about one foot deep into a vessel of cold water, and continu-
ing it there till the butter is made. The addition of one or
two table-spoonfuls of distilled vinegar, after churning
awhile, will, it is said, produce butter much sooner, in many
instances, than it can be formed without such addition.

Some writers advise to wash the butter, after it is formed,
thoroughly in several waters, till all the milk is removed.
Dr. Anderson, however, advises to force the milk out of the
cavities of the butter by means of a flat, wooden ladle, fur-
nished with a short handle, at the same time agitating the
butter as little as possible, lest it become tough and gluey.
" The beating up of butter," he observes, " by the hand, is
an indelicate practice, particularly if it be constitutionally
warm; and as it is hurtful to the quality of the butter to pour
cold water on it during this operation, the butter, if too soft
to receive the impression of the mould, may be put into
small vessels, and there be permitted to float in a trough of
cold water beneath the table, without welling the hulltr, which
will soon become sufficiently firm. Or, when butter is first
made, after as much of the milk has been got out as possi-
ble, it may be thinly spread on a marble slab, and the re-
maining moisture he absorbed by patting it with clean dry
towels."

It is said, in Bordley's " Husbandry," that "dashing in
water, and then, without pause, clearing the butter from
every particle of the water, is widely different from washing
butter by kneading and letting it remain at all in the water.
Very good butter for flavor, color, and consistence, is made
by one who washes it twice, but never lets it remain in the
water a moment." Another butter-maker says, mix the salt
in the butter in the evening, and let it rest till morning, then
work out the liquor, but never let it be once touched with water.

Dr. Anderson remarks, that a considerable degree of
strength as well as dexterity is required in the working of

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 85

butter. The thing wanted is, to force out the milk entirely,
with as little tawing [working] of the butter as possible, for
if the milk be not entirely taken away, the butter will spoil
in a short time; and if it be much worked the butter will
become tough and gluey, which greatly debases its quality.

Before you put butter into the vessels which are to contain
it, great care must be taken that they be well seasoned by
frequent washing and exposure to the air for two or three
weeks. As it is difficult to season new firkins, it will always
be preferable to employ those which have been used. The
most speedy method of seasoning firkins is by the use of un-
slacked lime, or a large quantity of salt and water, well
boiled, with which they should be repeatedly scrubbed, and
afterwards thrown into cold water, to remain there three or
four days, till wanted. They should then be scrubbed as
before, and well rinsed with cold water; and before the but-
ter is put in, every part of the inside of the firkin must be
well rubbed with salt.

Butter may be salted by working into it one or two ounces
of salt, after the buttermilk has been forced out. The salt
should be thoroughly incorporated, and be of the best and
purest quality. Dr. Anderson, however, recommends the
following preparation, which he has experienced to be much
superior, as it not only prevents the butter from becoming in
any degree rancid, but also improves its appearance, and im-
parts a sweeter and richer taste than could be given by com-
mon salt only. For every pound of butter take half an
ounce of best common salt, one quarter of an ounce of loaf
sugar, and one quarter of an ounce of saltpetre; beat and
blend the whole completely together. Butter thus cured,
should stand three or four weeks before it is used, that the
salts may be well mixed. The best butter is made in sum-
mer, but by adding a certain portion (which experience
alone can determine) of the juice expressed from the pulp of
carrots to the cream previously to churning, winter-made
butter will thus acquire the appearance and flavor of butter
that has been churned during the prime part of the summer
season.

A writer for "The Journal of Humanity " gives the fol-
lowing rules for making good butter. " If you have four or
five cows, it is best to churn every day ; and by no means
less frequently than every other day. If you cannot churn
every day, throw into the cream, when gathered, a handful
of nice salt. In very warm weather, when milk sours soon,

86 THE COMPLETE FARMER

put two heaping table-spoonfuls of salt into every pail of
milk before straining. The quantity as well as the quality
of the butter is greatly improved by this method. If you
have ice, put a small piece in every pan of milk, and also
into the cream when you churn. If you have no ice, put
the cream into a pail, and hang it in the well twelve
hours before churning. In the warm season, cream should
be skimmed as soon as it is in the least sour, and in the
coldest weather, milk should not stand more than thirty-six
or forty-eight hours. The utmost care should be taken to
keep every article used in making butter perfectly sweet, by
frequent and thorough scalding."

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. VI. p.
370,) observed as follows :

" It does not, in my opinion, improve the butter to have
the milk sour before the cream is gathered; but at this sea-
son of the year [June] it can hardly be prevented. It
should, however, never be suffered to stand till the milk cur-
dles. When the cream is gathered it should be set in an
open vessel, where the air can have free access to its sur-
face; and during the time that the cream is gathering for a
churning of butter, it should have a stick or spoon kept in
the vessel where the cream is, by which the cream should be
stirred at least half a dozen times a day, enough to mix it
up well, and bring a new portion of it to the air; and it
should stand before the Avindow of the milk room, or some
other, the most airy position afforded by the room. When
you have gathered a mess for this season of the year, fill
your churn over night with cold water, and empty it in the
morning. Put in your cream and churn it with a regular,
steady, and not too rapid motion. It will generally come in
from ten to twenty minutes, and when fetched it needs no
coloring matter.

"I know that women say flies will get into the cream if
left uncovered; let them get in, and pick them out, rather
than cover up the vessel containing the cream.*

"The windows to milk rooms, in many houses, are not
sufficiently large, with from four to eight small panes of
glass. This affords too stinted a portion of air. If your
glass is small, you want a twenty-four lighted window to

* Perhaps a covering of gauze, millinet, or other light and porous sutetance,
or a lid perforated with small holes, might admit air and exclude the flies. —
EdiloT.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 87

the milk room, with bHnds to exclude the sun. If two
such windows, so situated as to afford a draught of air, the
better. But stint your milk room of air, and keep the cream-
pot covered tight to exclude flies, and your butter will be
tohite and bitter, besides being a long while coming."

Making Butter in Winter. A friend has furnished us with
the following observations on this subject:

" In February, 1825, I spent a iew days with Dr. Jones,
who lives near Hyco Bridge, in Halifax County, Virginia.
Mrs. Jones prepares her cream for churning by heating the
milk after it has stood twelve or twenty-four hours.

"She places it over coals the evening before churning,
until the milk as it stands with the cream on is heated ready
to boiling, when she sets it by till morning. The cream is
then skimmed off, and churned by stirring in an earthen
vessel. The butter is delicately white and clear in its com-
plexion, firm, and fine flavored.

" This process would, no doubt, prove more successful in
any part of New England, since the climate of Virginia is
generally less favorable to the dairy than that of the eastern
States."

From the same pen we are favored with the following:

Garlic in Butter. " When milk has the flavor of garlic,
or wild onion, add a quart of boiling water to each gallon,
and set it away in vessels, having the bottom covered the
thickness of an inch only with milk. The cream that rises
will be sweet and free from any disagreeable flavor."

L. Peters, Esq. of Westborough, Massachusetts, says,
relative to making winter butter, "My wife's method is, to
set the vessels in which the cream is collected near the fire
a while before it is put into the churn, and frequently stir it
a little, and turn the vessels, that it may be warmed equally,
till it is as warm as cream in the summer, as near as she can
judge; and before putting it into the churn, that is scalded
with scalding water. When the churning commences, it is
done moderately, and if there is any frothy appearance, then
warm water is put in, the churn put near the fire, and
occasionally turned, till the temperature is altered, and the
churning is finished, which is generally in a short time. If
a dash churn is used, set it into a tub of hot water, and fre-
quently move the dash a little, to mix the warm and cold
cream, till it is of a suitable warmth, which an observing
person will soon ascertain by practice." — JVew England
Farmer, Vol. VI. p. 370.

88 THE COMPLETE FARMER

A valuable paper on the making of butter in cold weather,
by the Rev. W. Allen, states the results of several trials, by
which it appears that butter may be obtained in the coldest
weather within from ten to twenty minutes, if the cream at
the commencement of the churning is brought to the tem-
perature of about seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit.

E. H. Derby, Esq. of Salem, Massachusetts, recommends
the making of butter by the aid of frost, as follows:

" The milk when taken from the cows is immediately
strained into earthen pans, and set in the coldest part of the
house; as soon as the frost begins to operate, a separation
takes place, the cream rises in a thick paste to the top, and
leaves the milk, without a particle of cream, frozen in the
pan. The cream is not so hard but that it can be easily
scraped off with a spoon, to the solid ice; it is then set aside
until a sufficient quantity is collected for churning, when
it is warmed just so much as to thaw the cream sufficiently
to put it into the churn. I have never known it to require
more than five minutes to convert such cream into butter,
after the churning had commenced."

CHEESE, — Method of making. " The milk is universal-
ly set for cheese as soon as it comes from the cow.

"The management of the curd depends on the kind of
cheese: thin cheese requires the least labor and attention.

" Breaking the curd is done with the hand and dish. The
finer the curd is broken the better, particularly in thick
cheeses. The best color of this kind of cheese is that of
bees-wax, which is produced by annotta, rubbed into the
milk after it is warmed. The dairywornan is to judge of
the quality by the color of the milk, as it differs much in
strength. The runnet is prepared by taking some whey
and salting till it will bear an egg; it is then suffered to
stand over night, and in the morning it is skimmed and rack-
ed off clear; to this is added an equal quantity of water
orine, strong as the whey, and into this mixture some sweet-
briar, thyme, or some other sweet herbs; also a little black
pepper and saltpetre; the herbs are kept in the brine three
or four days, after which it is decanted clear from them.
Into six quarts of this liquor four large calves' bags, or, more
properly called, calves' stomachs, are put. No part of the
preparation is heated, and frequently the calves' bags are
only steeped in cold salt and water. Turning the milk dif-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 89

fers in different dairies, no two dairywomen conducting ex-
actly alike.

" Settinfthe milk too hot inclines the cheese to heave, and
cooling it with cold water produces a similar effect. The
degree of heat varies according to the weather. The curd
when formed is broken with what is called a treple cheese
knife. The use of this is to keep the fat in the cheese. It
is drawn the depth of the curd two or three times across the
tub, to give the whey an opportunity of running off clear;
after a few minutes the knife is more freely used, and the
curd is cut into small pieces like checkers, and is broken
fine in the whey with the hand and a wooden dish. The
curd being allowed about half an hour to settle, the whey is
laded off with the dish, after it is pretty well separated from
the curd.

"It is an almost invariable practice to scald the curd.
The mass is first broken very fine, and then the scalding
whey is added to it and stirred a few minutes; some make
use of hot water in preference to whey, and it is in both
cases heated according to the nature of the curd; if it is
soft, the whey or water is used nearly boiling; but if hard,
it is only used a little hotter than the hand. After the curd
is thoroughly mixed with the hot stuff, it is suffered to stand
a few minutes to settle, and is then separated as at the first
operation. After the scalding liquor is separated, a vat, or
what is often called a cheese hoop, is laid across the cheese
ladder over the tub, and the curd is crumbled into it with the
hands, and pressed into the vat, to squeeze out the whey.
The vat being filled as full and as firmly as the hand alone
can fill it, and rounded up in the middle, a cheese cloth is
spread over it, and the curd is turned out of the hoop into
the cloth; the vat is then washed, and the inverted mass of
curds, with the cloth under it, is returned into the vat and
put into the press; after standing two or three hours in the
press, the vat is taken out, and the cloth is taken off, wash-
ed, and put round the cheese, and it is replaced in the vat
and in the press. In about seven or eight hours it is taken
out of the press and salted, the cheese is placed on a board,
and a handful of salt is rubbed all over it, and the edges are
pared off if necessary ; another handful of salt is strewed
on the upper side, and as much left as will stick to it; after-
wards it is turned into the bare vat without a cloth, and an
equal quantity of salt is added to it, and the cheese is return-
ed into the press; here it continues one night, and the next

90 THE COMPLETE FARMER

morninor it is turned in the vat, and continues till the suc-
ceedino- morning, and the curd is taken out and placed on
the dairy shelf: here they are turned every day or every
other day, as the weather may be. If it is hot and dry, the
windows and door are kept shut; but if wet or moist, the
door and windows are kept open night and day."

Cleaning the Cheese. "The cheeses having remained
about ten days after leaving the press, are to be washed and
scraped in the following manner: a large tub of cold sweet
whey is placed on the floor, the cheeses are immersed in it,
where they continue one hour, or longer, if necessary, to
soften the rind. They are then taken out and scraped with
a common case-knife, with great care, so as not to injure the
tender rind, till every part of the cheese is smooth ; they
are after the last operation rinsed in the whey and wiped
clean with a coarse cloth, and placed in an airy situation
to dry, after which they are placed in the cheese room.
The floor of the cheese room is generally prepared by rub-
bing it with bean or potato tops, or any succulent herb, till
it appears of a black wet color. On this floor the cheeses
are placed, and turned twice a week; their edges are wiped
hard with a cloth once a week, and the floor is cleansed and
rubbed with fresh herbs once a fortnight. They must not lie
too Ions or they will stick to the floor. This preparation of
the floor gives the cheese a blue coat, which is considered
of great consequence."

Stilton Cheese, how made. " The Stilton cheese, which
may be called the Parmesan of England, is not confined to
StiUon and its vicinity, for many farmers in Huntingdon-
shire, and also in Rutland and Northamptonshire, make a
similar sort, sell them for the same price, and give them the
name of the Stilton cheeses.

" Take the night's cream and put it into the morning's
new milk with the runnet ; when the curd is separated, let
it not be broken, as is done with other cheese, but take it
out, disturbing it as little as possible, and sufi'er it to dry
gradually in a sieve ; and as the whey separates, compress
it gradually till it has acquired a firm consistence ; then
place it in a wooden hoop, and suffer it to dry very gradual-
ly on a board, taking care at the same time to turn it daily
with close binders round, and which must be tightened as
the cheese acquires more solidity."

Cheese, Skippers iyi. "Wrap the cheese in thin brown
paper, so thin that moisture may strike through soon ; dig a

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 91

hole in good sweet earth about two feet deep, in which the
cheese must be buried about thirty-six hours, and the skip-
pers will be found all on the outside of the cheese ; brush
them off immediately, and you will find your cheese sound
and good."

To prevent Cheese having a rancid, nauseous flavor. " Put
about one table-spoonful of salt to each gallon of milk, when
taken from the cows in the evening, for the cheese to be
made the next day ; put the salt at the bottom of the vessel
that is to receive the milk ; it will increase the curd, and
prevent the milk from growing sour or putrid, the hottest
nights in summer." — Massachusetts Agricultural Rcposito7-y.

[Tlie following is from the pen of a friend, to whom we are indebted for
several valuable articles, written expressly fur this work.]

" To make Cheese. A person whose dairy enjoys a high
reputation gives the following directions for making cheese :
'•' 'Take a gallon and a half of water and throw into it a
pint and a half of common salt. Boil and skim it, and add
three or four ounces of rose leaves. After it is sufficiently
steeped, let it cool, and put in one ounce of saltpetre and
four runnets. A great-spoonful of this preparation is enough
to turn rifteen gallons of milk. When the curd is made, dip
it out carefully, and put it into a cloth that sits in a vessel
with its bottom perforated with holes. Let a person on each
side of the cloth take up the corners, and raise the curd
carefully, and turn it from one side to the other in the cloth,
in order to the better draining off' the whey ; then lay it as
before, in a vessel perforated with holes, and thus turn it
once in fifteen or twenty minutes, and in the intervals place
a follower upon it, Avith a stone above ; cutting the curd
through each time. When the whey is out, season it with
salt to suit your palate, while cutting it up in small pieces
with a suitable knife ; then put it up for pressing. Let it
stand under thirty or forty pounds' weight twenty-four hours,
and then turn it, and let it stand twenty-four hours more un-
der the same. A severe pressure, which is sometimes given,
spoils a rich cheese entirely.

" ' Set your cheese in closets made for the purpose, which
flies cannot enter.

" ' The outside may be rubbed with a mixture of butter
and Spanish brown, which answers very well, but other
mixtures may answer equally well.

" ' A small quantity of otter, say the size of a kernel of
rye, setved up in a cloih, may be put in each curd.

92 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" 'Never wash out your cheese cloth with soap, but boil
it out in whey.' "

HEMP. The following essay on the culture of Hemp, by
Hon. Henry Clay, was originally published in " The West-
ern Agriculturist." It is a complete treatise on the best
manner of raising and preparing an article, which always
commands cash sufficient to reward liberally the cultivator
who proceeds correctly in obtaining this valuable product.
The author of the essay is not less favorably known as a
statesman than as a practical and scientific agriculturist, and
his name will give it that weight and currency with Ameri-
can farmers which is due to its intrinsic excellence.

"The preparation of the ground for sowing the seed is by
the plough and horses, until the clods are sufficiently pul-
verized or dissolved, and the surface of the field is rendered
even and smooth. It should be as carefully prepared as if
it were for flax. This most important point, too often neg-
lected, cannot be attended to too much. Scarcely any oth-
er crop better rewards diligence and careful husbandry. Fall
or winter ploughing is practised with advantage ; it is indis-
pensable in old meadows, or old pasture grounds, intended
for producing hemp.

" Plants for seed are ordinarily reared in a place distinct
from that in which they are cultivated for the lint. In this
respect, the usage is different from that which is understood
to prevail in Europe. The seeds which are intended to re-
produce seeds for the crop of the next year, are sowed in
drills about four feet apart. When they are grown suffi-
ciently to distinguish between the male and female stalks,
the former are pulled and thrown away, and the latter are
thinned, leaving the stalks separated seven or eight inches
from each other. This operation is usually performed in
the blooming season, when the sexual character of the plants
is easily discernible ; the male alone blossoming, and, when
agitated, throwing off farina, a yellow dust or flour, which
falls and colors the ground, or any object that comes in con-
tact with it. A few of the male plants had better be left,
scattered through the drill, until the farina is completely dis-
charged, for an obvious reason. Between the drills a plough
is run sufficiently often to keep the ground free from weeds
and grass ; and between the stalks in each drill the hoe is
employed for the same object. The seed plants are gen-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. \)3

erally cut after the first smart frost, between the 2oth Sep-
tember and the middle of October, and carried to a barn or
stack-yard, where the seeds arc easily detached by the
common flail. They should be gathered after a slight, but
before a severe frost ; and, as they fall out very easily, it is
advisable to haul the plants on a sled, and, if convenient,
when they are wet. If transported on a cart or wagon, a
sheet should be spread to catch the seed as they shatter out.
After the seeds are separated, the stalks which bore them
being too large, coarse, and harsh, to produce lint, are usu-
ally thrown away ; they may be profitably employed in mak-
ing charcoal for the use of powder-mills. In Europe, where
the male and female plants are promiscuously grown togeth-
er in the same field, both for seeds and for lint, the male
stalks are first gathered, and the female suffered to remain
growing until the seeds ai'e ripe, when they are also gath-
ered ; the seeds secured and lint obtained, after the rotting,
from both descriptions.

" After the seeds are threshed out, it is advisable to spread
them on a floor, to cure properly and prevent their rotting,
before they are finally put away for use the next spring.
Seeds are not generally used unless they were secured the
fall previous to their being sown, as it is believed they will
not vegetate if older ; but it has been ascei'tained that when
they are properly cured and kept dry, they will come up
after the first year. It is important to prevent them from
heating, which destroys the vegetating property, and for
that purpose they should be thinly spread on a sheltered
floor.

"The seeds, whether to reproduce seeds only, or the lint,
are sowed about the same time. Opinions vary as to the
best period. It depends a good deal upon the season. The
plant is very tender when it first shoots up, and is affected
by frost. Some have sowed as early as the 1st of April ;
but it is generally agreed, that all the month of May, and
about the 10th of it especially, is the most favorable time.
An experienced and successful hemp grower, in the neigh-
bourhood of Lexington, being asked the best time to sow
hemp, answered, immediately before a rain. And undoubt-
edly it is very fortunate to have a moderate rain directly
after sowing.

" When the object is to make a crop of hemp, the seeds
are sown broad-cast. The usual quantity is a bushel and a
half to the acre ; but here again the farmers difTer, some

94 THE COMPLETE FARMER

using two bushels or even two and a half. IMuch depends
on the strength and fertility of the soil, and the care with
which it has been prepared, as well as the season. To these
causes may be ascribed the diversity of opinion and prac-
tice. The ground can only sustain and nourish a certain
quantity of plants ; and if that limit be passed, the surplus
will be smothered in the growth. When the seeds are sown,
they are ploughed or harrowed in ; ploughing is best in old
ground, as it avoids the injurious effect of a beating rain,
and the consequent baking of the earth. It would be also
beneficial subsequently to roll the ground with a heavy
roller.

" After the seeds are sown, the labors of the cultivator
are suspended, until the plants are ripe, and in a state to be
gathered ; every thing in the intermediate time being left
to the operations of nature. If the season be favorable un-
til the plants are sufficiently high to shade the ground, (which
they will do in a few weeks, at six or eight inches' height,)
there is strong probability of a good crop. When they at-
tain that height, but few articles sustain the effect of bad
seasons better than hemp.

" It is generally ripe and ready to be gathered about the
middle of August, varying according to the time of sowing.
Some sow at different periods, in order that the crop may
not all ripen at the same time, and that a press of labor in
rearing it may be thus avoided. The maturity of the plant
is determined by the evaporation of the farina, already no-
ticed, and the leaves of the plant exhibiting a yellowish hue:
it is then generally supposed to be ripe, but it is safest to
wait a few days longer. Very little attentive observation
will enable any one to judge when it is fully ripe. In that
respect it is a very accommodating crop, for if gathered a
little too soon, the lint is not materially injured, and it will
wait the leisure of the farmer some ten days or a fortnight
after it is entirely ripe.

" Two modes of gathering the plants are practised, one
by pulling them up by the roots, an easy operation with an
able-bodied man, and the other by cutting them about two
inches (the nearer the better) above the surface of the
ground. From a quarter to a third of an acre is the com-
mon task of an average laborer, whether the one or the oth-
er mode is practised. The objections to pulling are, that the
plants with their roots remaining connected with them, are
not aflerwards so easily handled in the several operations

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 95

which they must undergo ; that all parts of the plant do not
rot equally and alike, when exposed to the dew and rain ;
and, finally, that before you put them to the brake, when the
root should be separated from the stalk, the root drags off
with it some of the lint. The objection to cutting is, that
you lose two or three inches of the best part of the plant
nearest the root. Pulling, being the most ancient method,
is most generally practised. I prefer, upon the whole, cut-
ting ; and I believe the number who prefer it is yearly in-
creasing. When pulled, it is done with the hand, which is
better for the protection of an old leather glove. The la-
borer catches twenty or thirty plants together, with both
hands, and by a sudden jerk draws them without much diih-
culty. The operation of cutting is performed with a knife,
often made out of an old scythe, resembling a sickle, though
not so long but broader. This knife is applied much in the
same way as the sickle, except that the laborer stoops more.
" Whether pulled or cut, the plants are carefully laid on
the ground, the evener the better, to cure ; which they do
in two or three days, in dry weather. A light rain falling on
them whilst lying down is thought by some to be beneficial,
inasmuch as the leaves, of which they should be deprived,
may be easier shaken off or detached. When cured, the
plants are set up in the field in which they were produced,
in shocks of convenient size, the roots or butt ends resting
on the ground, and the tops united above by a band made of
the plants themselves. Previous to putting them up in
shocks, most cultivators tie the plants in small hand bundles
of such a size as that each can be conveniently held in one
hand. Before the shocks are formed, the leaves of the
plants should be rapidly knocked off with a rough paddle or
hooked stick. Some suffer the plants to remain in these
shocks until the plants are spread down to be rotted. Oth-
ers, again, collect the shocks together as soon as they can
command leisure, (and it is clearly the best,) and form them
into stacks. A few farmers permit these stacks to remain
over a whole year, before the plants are exposed to be rot-
ted. By remaining that period in stalks, the plants go
through a sweat, or some other process, that improves very
much the appearance, and, I believe, the quality of the lint,
and this improvement fully compensates the loss of time in
bringing it to market. The lint has a soft texture and a
lively hue, resembling water-rotted hemp ; and I once sold
a box of it in the Baltimore market at the price of Russia

96 THE COMPLETE FARMER

hemp. In every other respect, the plants are treated as if
they were not kept over a year.

" The method of dew-rotting is that which is generally-
practised in Kentucky. The lint so spread is not so good for
many purposes, and especially for rigging and ships, as when
the plants have heen rotted by immersion in water, or, as it is
generally termed, water-rotted. The greater value, and
consequently higher price of the article, prepared in the lat-
ter way, has induced more and more of our farmers every
year to adopt it; and if that prejudice were subdued, which
every American production unfortunately encounters when
it is first introduced and comes in contact with a rival Euro-
pean commodity, I think it probable that in a few years we
should be able to dispense altogether with foreign hemp.
The obstacles which prevent the general practice of water-
rotting are, the want of water at the best season for the
operation, which is the month of September; a repugnance
to the change of an old habit; and a persuasion, which has
some foundation, that handling the plants after their submer-
sion in water during that month is injurious to health. The
first and last of these obstacles would be removed by water-
rotting early in the winter, or in the spring. The only dif-
ference in the operation, performed at those seasons and in the
month of September, would be, that the plants would have to
remain longer in soak before they were sufficiently rotted.

"The plants are usually spread down to be dew-rotted
from the middle of October to the middle of December. A
farmer who has a large crop on hand puts them down at dif-
ferent times for his convenience in handling and dressing
them. Autumnal rotting is more apt to give the lint a dark
and unsightly color than winter rotting. The best ground to
expose the plants upon is meadow or grass land, but they
are not unfrequently spread over the same field on which
they grow. The length of time they ought to remain ex-
posed depends upon the degree of moisture and the tempera-
ture of the weather that prevail. In a very wet and warm
spell five or six weeks may be long enough. Whether they
have been sufficiently rotted or not is determined by experi-
ment. A handful is taken and broken by the hand or ap-
plied to the brake, when it can be easily ascertained, by the
facility with which the lint can be detached from the stalk,
if it be properly rotted. If the plants remain on the ground
too long, the fibres lose some of their strength, though a few
days longer than necessary, in cold weather, will not do any

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 97

injury. If they are taken up too soon, that is, before the
hnt can be easily separated from the woody part of the stalk,
it is harsh, and the process of breaking is difhcult and trou-
blesome. Snow-rotting, that is, when the plants, being
spread out, remain long enough to rot, (which however re-
quires a greater length of time,) bleaches the lint, improves
the quality, and makes it nearly as valuable as if it had been
water-rotted.

"After the operation of rotting is performed, the plants
are again collected together, put in shocks or stacks, or,
which is still better, put under a shed or some covering.
When it is designed to break and dress them immediately,
they are frequently set up against some neighbouring fence.
The best period for breaking and dressing is in the months of
February and JNIarch, and the best sort of weather, frosty
nights and clear thawing days. The brake cannot be used
advantageously in wet or moist Aveather. It is almost in-
variably used in this state out of doors and without any
cover; and to assist its operation, the laborer often makes a
large fire near it, which serves the double purpose of drying
the plants and warming himself. It could not be used in
damp weather in a house without a kiln or some other means
of drying the stalks.

"The brake in general use is the same hand brake which
was originally introduced and has been always employed
here, resembling, though longer than the common flax
brake. It is so well known as to render a particular de-
scription of it, perhaps, unnecessary. It is a rough contri-
vance, set upon four legs, about two and a half feet high.
The brake consists of two jaws with slits on each, the lower
iaw fixed and immovable, and the upper one movable, so
that it may be lifted up by means of a handle inserted into a
head or block at the front end of it. The lower jaw has
three slats or teeth, made of tough white oak, and the upper
two, arranged approaching to about two inches in front, and
in such manner that the slats of the upper jaw play between
those of the lower. These slats are about six or seven feet
in length, six inches in depth, and about two inches in thick-
ness in their lower edges; they are placed edgewise, round-
ed a little on their upper edges, which are sharper than
those below. The laborer takes his stand by the side of the
brake, and grasping in his left hand as many of the stalks
as he can conveniently hold, with his right hand he seizes
the handle in the head of the upper jaw, which he lifts, and
9

98 THE COMPLETE FARMER

throwing the handful of stalks between the jaws, repeatedly
strikes them by lifting and throwing down the upper jaw.
These succesive strokes break the woody or reedy part of
the stalks into small pieces or shoes, which fail off during
the process. He assists their disengagement by striking the
handful against a stake, or with a small wooden paddle, un-
til the lint or bark is entirely clean, and completely separa-
ted from the woody particles.

" After the above operation is performed, the hemp may
be scutched, to soften it, and to strengthen the threads.
That process, however, is not thought to be profitable, and
is not therefore generally performed by the grower, but is
left to the manufacturer, as well as that of beating and hack-
ling it. Scutching is done by the laborer taking in his left
hand a handful of the lint, and grasping it firmly, then lay-
ing the middle of it upon a semicircular notch of a perpen-
dicular board of the scutching-frame, and striking with the
edge of the scutch that part of the lint which hangs down
on the board. After giving it repeated strokes, he shakes
the handful of lint, replaces it on a notch, and continues
to strike and turn all parts of it, until it is sufliciently cleans-
ed, and the fibres appear to be even and straight.

" The usual daily task of an able-bodied hand at the brake
is eighty pounds' weight ; but there is a great difference not
only in the state of the weather and the condition of the
stalks, produced by the greater or less degree in which they
have been rotted, but in the dexterity with which the brake
is employed. Some hands have been known to break from
one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds per day. The
laborer ties up in one common bundle the work of one day,
and in this state it is taken to market and sold. From
what has been mentioned, it may be inferred, as the fact is,
that the hemp of some growers is in a much better condition
than that of others. When it has been carelessly handled
or not sufliciently cleansed, a deduction is made from the
price by the purchaser. It is chiefly bought in our villages,
and manufactured into cotton bagging, bales, and other kinds
of untarred cordage. The price is not uniform. The ex-
tremes have been as low as three and as high as eight dol-
lars for the long hundred, the customary mode of selling it.
The most general price during a term of many years has
been from four to five dollars. At five dollars it compen-
sates well the labor of the grower, and is considered more
profitable than any thing else the farmer has cultivated."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 99

"The quantity of net hemp produced to the acre is from
six hundred to one thousand weight, varying according to
the fertihty and preparation of the soil and the state of the
season. It is said that the quantity which any field will
produce may be anticipated by the average height of the
plants throughout the field. Thus, if the plants will average
eight feet in height, the acre will yield eight hundred weight
of hemp ; each foot in height corresponding to a hundred
weight of the lint.

" Hemp exhausts the soil slowly, if at all. An old and
successful cultivator told me that he had taken thirteen or
fourteen successive crops from the same field, and that the
last was the best. That was, however, probably owing to a
concurrence of favorable circumstances. Nothing cleanses
and prepares the earth better for other crops (especially for
small grain or grasses) than hemp. It eradicates all weeds,
and when it is taken off, leaves the field not only clean, but
smooth and even."

FLAX. The following observations on this subject, are
extracted from " Essays on Flax Husbandry, by S. W.
Pomeroy, Esq., First Vice President of the Massachusetts
Society for Promoting Agriculture."

Change of Seed. Notwithstanding it is an opinion well
established among experienced flax-growers in this country,
that a change of seed is advantageous, it is apprehended
that they are not aware of the extent of the benefit to be de-
rived by selecting seed from a soil or climate essentially dif-
ferent ; and it may be owing to a want of attention in this
particular, that the flax crops are so uncertain, and the qual-
ity inferior, however perfect in other respects the system
may be conducted. Mr. Young observes, that " foreign flax-
seed was universally used in Ireland, when it could be ob-
tained ; otherwise they were careful to procure seed which
grew upon soil of an opposite quality from that which was to
be sown ; that American seed was to be preferred, and pro-
duced finer flax than any other." Baltic seed produced
more, but of a coarser quality. It is well known that Amer-
ican seed always bears the highest price in the Irish market.

Mr. Pomeroy cites a number of examples to show the im-
portance attached to the culture of flax in Europe, " and to
justify the conclusion, that in this country a continued, judi-
cious change of seed will be indispensable to the successful

100 THE COMPLETE FARMER

prosecution of flax husbandry ; and a further inference may
be drawn, that experiments on various soils, with seed the
growth of different chmates, are requisite to direct the far-
mer to the quarter from whence his best seed may be ob-
tained. Here opens a legitimate field for our numerous
agricultural societies to labor in : on their exertions the far-
mer must depend in the outset ; but let it once be ascertain-
ed that Riga seed is best in one section, Dutch or German
in others, and mercantile interest, if not patriotism, will dis-
tribute them.

" Should it be objected to importing seed on account of
the expense, we reply, that large quantities of linseed oil are
constantly imported, and the difference of price between our
own seed and that imported will not much exceed what is
now paid for good clean seed for sowing or export, and that
which is sold for crushing; but if it is fitly cents per bushel,
or more, it can be no object, compared with the advantages
that may be reasonably expected to result ; and the farmer
need not be told, that ' in all his operations parsimony is
never so ill judged as when it is exercised in the selection of
his seeds.' It is not pretended, however, but that, from the
great variety of soil and climate in the United States, the
object in view might be obtained without importation ; yet
it may be important to have a good stock to begin with,
when trials could be instituted with its produce. At any
rate, it cannot be expected that individuals will embark in
such a course of experiments, either with foreign or domes-
tic seed, unless encouraged by agricultural societies, or
other public bodies."

In speaking of the soils most suitable for flax, Mr. Pome-
roy observes, "The soils which rank first in this country,
are the flat bottoms that are covered by the fall and spring
floods, which subside early enough in the season to get in a
crop; those river flats on the second banks that have a depth
of strong alluvial soil; the reclaimed marshes and swamps,
with a black unctuous soil, not too peaty, with as much clay
in the composition as will permit its being rendered soon dry
and mellow, and not retain water on or near the surface ; if
it stands two feet below, so much the better, but it must be
well guarded by ditches and dykes against sudden freshets.
Such is the soil of the province of Zealand, where more flax
is raised, and of better quality, than in any other part of
Holland. The next in estimation are the strong black loams
on clay or hard pan, that will retain moisture. Yellow

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 101

loams, with a holding subsoil, may be rendered suitable for
flax by proper cultivation ; and since the discovery that
plaster of Paris is an excellent manure for it, a crop may be
obtained with much more certainty on lighter land than for-
merly. Perhaps the characteristic of best garden mould
may be applied to a flax soil, viz., retaining sufficient mois-
ture, and all that falls, without ever being saturated; but on
any soils the surface should be completely pulverized, and
never be worked when wet.

" No dung should be applied to the land when the flax is
sown, but may be put on bountifully with the previous crop.
The objection is, that dung forces the growth so rapidlv,
that the plants draw weak, have a thin harl, and are the
more liable to lodge. Lime, marl, shells, leached ashes, &c.
do not produce such effects. Top-dressings, soon after the
plants appear, of plaster, ashes, soot, Slc, are highly bene-
ficial, as they not only encourage the growth, but are a pro-
tection against worms, which sometimes attack young plants,
and may be considered the only enemy they have except
weeds.

" Salt has been mentioned by the late Dr. Elliot, of Con-
necticut, as an excellent manure to plough in with flax, at
the rate of five bushels to the acre;* probably more would
be better. Plaster is now much used in Duchess county, the
best cultivated district in New York, as a manure for flax,
on which its good efl^ects are as apparent as on corn.

" The late chancellor Livingston viewed a piece of flax
on the 20th of May, 1791, belonging to a poor tenant, very
injudiciously sown on a dry sandy declivity ; it looked so ex-
tremely sickly that the tenant thought of ploughing it up;
the chancellor gave him three bushels of plaster, which was
sown the next morning before the dew was off", and had the
satisfaction of seeing his tenant gather more ffax from his
half acre in an uncommon dry season, than was produced
from any acre in the neighbourhood.

" The best preparatory crops in this country at present
appear to be potatoes, corn, and roots; they will most gen-
erally repay the extra manure, and, if well managed, check
the production of weeds.

"The following rotations may serve as an outline subject,
to be varied, and hemp or other crops introduced, as circum-
stances require, viz. :

* See Elliot's Essays on Field Husbandry.
9*

102 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" No. I. Low, cold, or reclaimed Soils.

1st year, Potatoes.

2l1 do. Flax, with seeds.

3d do. Herd's grass and red top, or tall meadow oat grass, to continae
three years or more, and tlie course repeated.
"No. II. Strong Uplands.

1st year. Potatoes or corn.

2d do. Corn or roots.

3d do. Flax, with seed.

4th do. Clover.

5th do. Orchard grass or herd's grass, to continue thi-ee years or more.
" No. III. Light Lands.

1st year. Potatoes or corn.

2d do. Com or roots.

3d do. Flax, with seed.

4th do. Clover, to be mown once, tlie after growth to be turned in, and
rye sown thick on the furrow, which may be soiled or fed in the spring by
sheep or milch cows, and ploughed in for,

5th year, Corji.

6th " do. Spring wheat or barley.

7th do. Clover; and the course to be pursued as before ; when flax will
occupy the land every seventh year. In all cases, except when hemp is sub-
stituted, the tillage crops should receive the dung.

" If the land is ploughed into beds or convex ridges, like
turnpike roads, about a rod wide, especially if low and level,
the crop will be much more secure from injury by heavy
rains, and the grass crops will be better if it remains in that
form. On any soils, fall ploughing in narrow ridges will
facilitate its early working in spring, and should not be dis-
pensed with."

Mr. Pomeroy gives the following directions relative to
choice of seed.

" That of the last year's growth should be obtained if pos-
sible. The usual marks of good seed are, that it be plump,
oily, and heavy, of a bright brown color, sinking readily in
the water, and when thrown into the fire to crackle and blaze
quick. A very simple method of trial is, to sprinkle it thin
between two pieces of wet paper, which plunge into a hot-
bed or dunghill, and in less than twenty-four hours the pro-
portion that will vegetate can be discerned, which should be
ascertained, in order to regulate the quantify to be sown.

"On this head no particular directions can be given, as it
depends on the various qualities of soil, goodness of seed,
&c. The rule for sowing small grains is reversed; flax re-
quiring to be sown thickest on rich soil, as not more than
one stalk is wanted from a plant. In England and Scotland
never less than two, nor more than three bushels to the acre
are sown. Two and a half is the most usual portion. In
Flanders and Ireland seldom less than three bushels are

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 103

sown, except when seed is an object. Thick sowing is to
obtain fine flax. In this country it will be important at
present to sow at such a rate as will insure good crops of
each; and experience only can determine the exact point.
It is probable that six pecks is the least, and two bushels the
extent that should be sown to obtain the most profitable re-
sults, till the demand for seed is considerably lessened."

Sowing. Mr. Pomeroy recommends sowing as early as it
is possible to prepare the ground ; says that it is important
that the seeds should be equally distributed, and " fortunate-
ly what has long been a desideratum is now attained. A
machine for sowing small seeds broad-cast with perfect regu-
larity has lately been invented, and performs to great satis-
faction." *

Weeding. "Weeding is considered in Europe, and by
good husbandmen in this country, as necessary to secure a
good crop of flax, which is a very tender plant when young,
and more easily checked in its progress by weeds than any
other. It is not supposed to be injured by the clover and
grass sown with it; on the contrary, the Flemish farmers
think them beneficial, by protecting the tender roots from
drought, and keeping the weeds under. It should be care-
fully wed when the plants are three or four inches high ;
they are not then injured by the laborer going barefooted
over them."

Pulling. " This should be performed as soon as the
leaves begin to fall and the stalks show a bright yellow
color, and when the bolls are turned a little brown. The
seed will continue to ripen afterwards. When the flax is
lodged, it should be pulled immediately, in any stage of its
growth, or it will be entirely lost. Great care is requisite in
sorting the different lengths, and keeping them separate till
after the flax is hackled, or much waste will ensue in that
process."

Saving Seed. ''As soon as the flax is dry enough to be
put under cover, it should be rippled, as it is termed. A
comb, resembling the head of a rake, but with teeth longer
and nearer together, made of hickory or oak, is fastened up-

* Bennett's machine for sowing broad-cast; a description and drawing of
which are given in the " Memoirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society,"
Vol. IV, with ample testimony of its usefulness. It is pushed forward by a
rnah, like a wlieel-barrow, and will sow more than one acre in an hour, un-
impeded by wind or light rain.

104 THE COMPLETE FARMER

on a block, and the flax, taken in parcels no longer than the
hands can firmly grasp, is drawn through, and the bolls rip-
pled off; attention to sorting at the same time should be con-
tinued. The bolls are to be riddled and winnowed immedi-
ately; spread thin on a clean floor, or on sheets, in the sun,
and when sufficiently dry, and beginning to open, threshed.
By this method, the foul seeds are completely separated with
little trouble, and good clean seed is ready for an early
market, often the best, without the use of expensive ma-
chinery to make it so. Here the operations of the farmer
ought to end ; the process of preparation being foreign to
and unconnected with his other pursuits; and which has been
the greatest objection to extensive flax culture. Can there
be a reason why the farmer is to prepare his flax more than
the hides of his cattle, which he sends to the tanner .-' They
are both chemical processes; and to dissolve the glutinous
or resinous substances by which the fibres are attached to
the stem, without impairing their strength, is perhaps as
critical, and requires as much care and judgment, as to ex-
tract the animal juices from the hides, and fill the pores with
tannin. In short, the flax grower and flax preparer and
dresser should be distinct professions. They are said to be
so in Flanders and Holland, and were extensively so in
Scotland, where the farmer sold his flax on the ground, or in
sheaves at his barn or rick.

"The preparation of flax by steeping is very general in
the great flax-growing countries in Europe, but it is not
quite finished in the water. It remains spread some days on
the grass, which is necessary to render it soft, and give that
silvery appearance so desirable. The destructive process of
dew-rotting is most commonly practised in this country, and
when water is resorted to, it is at an improper season and
the process imperfect ; which is the cause of its being so
harsh and brittle. Perhaps no part of the system requires
such an allowance for difference of climate. In the humid
atmosphere of Ireland, it is not very material when it is
spread ; but in this climate, when exposed to a July or
August sun, every drop after a shower becomes a burning-
glass, and literally scorches the fibres : besides, such a
highly putrid fermentation as will then take place in the
water, though it separates the harl more speedily, not only
injures it, but communicates a stain, that renders the process
of bleaching much more tedious and expensive.

"The flax should not be put into the water till about the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 105

first of October, and remain from ten to fourteen days, ac-
cording to the temperature of the weather ; and should be
taken out before the fibres will separate freely, spread on
the grass, when the frost will very much assist the operation;
and the fiax exhibits a gloss and softness that it is impossible
to give it otherwise. The following method of preparing
hemp, will apply with great force to the point under discus-
sion. During the late war, an experienced ship-master in
Connecticut, and who was also a good farmer, raised a crop
of hemp. As soon as it was dry enough to be stowed away,
it was put under cover, and remained till October; was then
put into clear soft water, till the fibres would separate with
some difficulty, when it was spread on the grass; the frost
completed the operation, and when dry it was immediately
secured. There was no putrid fermentation to deteriorate
the harl, nor was it mildewed by being exposed to the wea-
ther, and when dressed exhibited that fine silver-green hue
by which the Russian hemp is distinguished;* and when
worked up, was pronounced by the rope-makers to be equal
to any hemp ever imported ! Here is a lesson for our west-
ern brethren, that is worth more to them than mines of silver.
Clear, soft, stagnant water, is preferred in Europe. A canal
forty feet long, six broad, and four deep, is said to be suffi-
cient for the produce of an acre of flax, at one time. It should
be formed on a clay or some holding soil, where the water
from a spring or brook can be conducted in with conveni-
ence ; the expense would not be great, and on most farms
suitable sites may be had. May not boiling or steaming be
found the most advantageous process of preparing flax ?
The very superior sample of thread exhibited at Brighton, in
1818, for which Mrs. Crowninshield, of Danvers, received a
premium, was spun from flax prepared by boiling. It ap-
pears by the ' Transactions of the Swedish Academy,' that a
method was practised in Sweden of preparing flax to resem-
ble cotton, by boiling it ten hours in salt water, spreading on
the grass, and frequently watering, by which- it becomes soft
and bleached. Boiling or steaming will not appear very for-
midable or expensive when we examine the subject. A box
twenty feet long, six feet wide, and four deep, well construct-
ed of stout planks, a boiler, from which a large tube extends
into and communicates with the water in the box, will boil

♦ The best Riga hemp supplied for the British navy is prepared by steeping;
during which it is shifted three times.

106 THE COMPLETE FARMER

the produce of a quarter of an acre in a day; that is, if we
allow double the room to boil in that is required for steeping.
A steam-pipe, instead of the tube, and having the top of the
box well secured, would permit the process of steaming to
go on. It is probable that by either method, spreading on
the grass will be necessary to obtain soft flax. The yarns
of which the sail cloth is made at Paterson are all steamed.
The navy board expressly forbid their being boiled in alka-
line lye, as is usual in most manufactures of linen. It is
from this precaution that their canvas has the pliable, oily
feeling, which so much recommends it. It should not be
lost sight of, that by boiling or steaming, much time and ex-
pense will be saved in bleaching.

" In dressing," says Mr. Pomeroy, " our climate gives a
decided advantage over Ireland, Flanders, or the north of
Europe, where flax is dried on hurdles, over a peat fire, in
ovens, or kilns, requiring great care in regulating the heat,
to prevent injury. All this trouble and hazard is obviated by
our dry atmosphere and keen northwest winds. Dr. Deane
estimated the expense of dressing flax by hand at one third
of the product. I believe the present price does not vary
much from his estimate. A respectable gentleman from
Duchess county, New York, informed me that mills or ma-
chines, impelled by water, have been erected there, that
break and completely dress the flax for a toll of one tenth !
It is said one or more of them are in operation in the west-
ern part of this State. These mills were invented in Scot-
land, and are now said to be brought to great perfection.
They are erected in all directions in the principal flax dis-
tricts in Ireland, and notwithstanding the low price and limit-
ed demand for labor, are resorted to by the poorer classes
of people, the dressing by hand being mostly abandoned.
There are machines in England that dress the flax immedi-
ately from the field, without any preparation whatever. An
account of them may be found in the fifth volume of the
Massachusetts Agricultural Journal. It appears by the re-
port of a committee of the House of Commons, that in 1817
they were in successful operation. A man and three chil-
dren impelled the machines, and dressed sixty pounds a day.
Should they be susceptible of the application of water or
steam power in any degree proportionate, the advantage may
be incalculable; but in the present inquiry, we place these
machines, however desirable, entirely out of the question."

Product. " It is not uncommon in Great Britain and Ire-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 107

land to obtain eight hundred pounds of flax from an acre I
Six hundred pounds is estimated, in some districts, as an
average; but it should be observed that little, if any, seed
is obtained. The average crop in New England, as far as
our information extends, cannot be estimated at more than
two hundred pounds, and six or eight bushels of seed. (We
do not include the rich bottoms on the Connecticut, and
some other rivers.) Dr. Deane was of opinion, that four
hundred pounds might be calculated on with proper manage-
ment.

"We think that four hundred pounds of good clean flax,
and eight or ten bushels of seed, may fairly be assumed as
a medium crop on favorable soils, where the culture becomes
such an object as to make other farming operations subservi-
ent to it, and due attention is paid to change of seed.

" Those who grow flax to any extent are of opinion, that
the seed, at the price it has been for some years past, pays
for all the labor bestowed on the crop to the time the flax is
ready to be prepared or rotted."

WHE.A.T. To raise good wheat is considered, both in
America and Europe, as an object of prime consequence to
the cultivator, and agricultural writers have of course been
very voluminous on the subject. We shall select and con-
dense some of their remarks, which appear to us of the
greatest importance, and add what our own observation and
experience has suggested.

Wheat is thought to be the most useful of the farinaceous
plants; and as the bounty of Providence has generally de-
creed, that those things which are most useful shall be most
common, wheat accordingly will grow in almost any part of
the globe. It thrives not only in temperate, but in very hot
and in very cold regions: in Africa and Siberia, as well as in
the United States and Great Britain. It requires a good
loamy soil, not too light nor too heavy. The "Memoirs of
the New York Board of Agriculture," (Vol. II. p. 28,) state,
that " wheat grows best on land which contains just as much
clay as can be combined with it without subjecting the wheat
to be frozen out." And the author of that article, Mr. Amos
Eaton, observes, "Since it is the clay which absorbs and
retains most of the water injurious in wheat soils, I adopted
a rule for the consideration of farmers, founded on that prin-
ciple, and confirmed by all the observations I have been

108 THE COMPLETE FARMER

enabled to make. Rule. — Wash a little of the soil in a
tumbler of water, and observe the time required for it to be-
come clear. If the time required exceeds three hours, it
may be considered as liable to be injured by frost." W.Van
Dusen, a farmer of Rensellaer county, New York, says
" that if wheat be sowed the last week in August, on clay
soil, it will generally resist the etfect of frost in the winter,
and of insects in the spring." " A clay soil," according to
the same work, " having absorbed a large proportion of
water, becomes cellular as the water freezes, or rises up in
various protuberances, so that the roots of the wheat plant
become disengaged from their hold in the soil. It is very
manifest, that if wheat be sowed so early that each plant may
have time to extend its roots into the soil, its chance for
retaining its hold will be better." We believe that not only
clay, but lime, chalk, marl, or other calcareous substance,
is necessary to bring wheat to perfection, and the grounds
of our belief we shall exhibit hereafter.

"The Complete Farmer" says, that "the best time for
sowing wheat is about the beginning of September. But if
the earth be very dry, it had better be deferred till some
showers have moistened the soil." Mr. Mortimer says, he
has known wheat to be so musted and spoiled by laying long
in the ground before rain came, that it never came up at all;
to which he adds, " that he has seen very good crops of
wheat from seeds sown in July." We should apprehend,
however, that it would be necessary to feed wheat sown so
early, in order to prevent its going to seed the first year, or
getting too far advanced in its growth to resist the frosts of
the succeeding winter. Sowing in dry ground is generally
recommended for seeds ; but wheat, being liable to be smut-
ty, is commonly prepared by steeping in brine or lime, and
in consequence of the steep vegetation commences ; and if
the seed in this state is placed in earth which is and contin-
ues for any time dry, vegetation is checked by the drought,
which kills or greatly injures the seed.

Early sowing requires less seed than late, because the
plants have more time, and are more apt to spread, and
throw out a good number of stalks. More seed is required
for poor than for rich lands, and rich land early sowed re-
quires the least of any. Bordley's " Husbandry ". says,
" The climate and soil of America may be believed to differ
greatly from those of England, respecting the growth of
some particular plants. W^heat sown there, two to three

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 109

bushels on an acre, yields great crops. Two bushels an acre
sown in Maryland or Pennsylvania would yield straw without
grain. In Maryland three pecks are commonly sown. I
never had better crops than from half a bushel of seed wheat
to an acre, in a few instances. In these instances the ground
was perfectly clean and fine, after many ploughings or horse-
hoeings of maize, [Indian corn,] on which the wheat was
sown in September, whilst the maize was ripening. It was
a clay loam, highly pulverized. But because of the loss of
plants at other times, I preferred to sow three pecks an
acre." " Grain which is thin sown, says the Complete
Farmer, is less apt to lodge. Every one must have observ-
ed, that in places where foot-paths are made through wheat
fields, by the side of the paths, where the corn is thin, and
has been trodden down in winter and spring, the plants have
stood erect, when most of the corn in the same field has
been laid flat on the ground ; an advantage proceeding from
the circumstance of the stalks having more room."

" The Farmer's Assistant " asserts, that " the time for
sowing wheat probably depends much on previous habit.
Thus if it were sown a number of successive years by the
middle of August, and then the time of sowing were chang-
ed at once to October, the crop would probably be much
lighter on that account ; yet where wheat has become ha-
bituated to he sown late, it will do tolerably well. The later
it is sown, however, the more seed is requisite. When early
sown, a bushel to the acre is believed to be sufiicient ; but
when sown later, a bushel and a half, or more, may be
necessary." The estimate of seed, however, should be
formed, not so much from the capacity of any particular
measure, as from the number of grains which that measure
contains. The larger and fuller the seed is, the greater
quantity by measure will be required ; the smaller, the less
quantity. Much, therefore, must be left to the discretion of
the fanner, who must take into consideration the time of
sowing, the quality and preparation of the soil, as well as
the plumpness or the shrivelled state of the seed wheat.

If naked summer fallows are used at all, they may as
well be made preparatory to a crop of wheat. It may some-
times be expedient to suspend, for one season, the raising of
crops of any sort on land which is exhausted or greatly in-
fested with weeds ; and during the summer and autumn,
plough and harrow it several times, and thus thoroughly
subdue it. When such a process is adopted, wheat is gen-
10

no THE COMPLETE FARMER

erally the succeeding crop. The custom of naked fallow-
ing, however, is not much approved of in modern husbandry,
and that mode of preparing for wheat is rarely adopted by
scientific cultivators. Sir John Sinclair says, "The raising
clean, smothering, green crops, and feeding stock with them
upon the land, is not only much more profitable, as far as
relates to the value of the crop substituted in lieu of a fal-
low, but is also a more effectual method of procuring large
crops of wheat, or any other crop, which may succeed the
green crop." There is a disadvantage sometimes attending
fallows, which we apprehend may be more detrimental in
our climate than in that of Great Britain. Land which is
kept in a light and pulverized state is liable to be washed
away by violent rains, and the showers of our summer sea-
son are usually more plentiful, and fall with more impetuosi-
ty than those of England, although the mean moisture is
less, and there is less rain falls in the course of the year on
this than the other side of the Atlantic.

In modern tillage, wheat more usually follows clover than
any other crop ; and Bordley's "Husbandry " says, " clo-
ver is the best preparative for a crop of wheat." In such
case, English farmers, and indeed all others who woi-k it
right, give but one ploughing, and harrow in the seed by
passing the harrow twice in a place the same way with the
furrows. Mr. Bordjey directs, that the operations of plough-
ing, harrowing, and sowing, should immediately follow each
other. Mr. Macro, an eminent English farmer, says, " From
upwards of twenty years' experience I am of opinion, that
the best way of sowing clover lands with wheat, is to plough
the land ten or fourlctn days before you sow il, that the land
may have time to get dry, and after rain to make it dress
well. I am at a loss to account for the wheat thriving better
on lands ivhich have been ploughed some time, than it does on
fresh ploughed lands which dress as well or better ; but I
have often tried both ways on the same lands, and always
found the former answer best." Mr. Bordley, in attempting
to account for this effect says, " I conjecture that the clover
plants being buried and the wheat sown at the same time,
they both ferment and run into heat in the same period ;
ihe germ then shoots, and the root is extremely delicate and
tender for some days ; during which, the buried herbage
obtains its highest degree of heat ; which, added to the in-
ternal heat of the germ, may, though only slightly, check
and a little injure the delicate shoots of the wheat. In

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. Ill

sprouting barley for making malt, a little excess of heat in the
bed checks, and a little more totally stops the sprouting or
growth of the roots. Both modes give crops superior to
what are produced on fallow. Farmers may well try both
methods, for determining which to prefer ; that is, as well
immediate sowing, on ploughing in the clover, as the method
of sowing not till ten or fourteen days after having ploughed
in the clover : suppose a half each way."

We believe that wheat would flourish better if it were
buried deeper than it generally is in broad-cast sowing. Our
opinion is founded on the following facts, relating to the
physiology of the wheat plant. " A grain of wheat, when
put into the ground at the depth of three inches, undergoes
the following transformations : as soon as the farinaceous
nlatter which envelopes the frame of the young plant con-
tained within it is softened into a milky state, a germ is
pushed out, and at the bottom of that germ small roots soon
follow. The roots are gathering strength, whilst the germ,
by the aid of the milky fluid, is shooting upwards ; and when
the milk is exhausted, the roots are in activity, and are col-
lecting nourishment for the plant from the soil itself This
is analogous to the weaning of the young of animals, which
are not abandoned by the mother till they can provide for
themselves. But the care of nature does not end here ;
when the germ has fairly got above the surface, and become
a plant, a set of upper roots are thrown out, close to the sur-
face of the ground, which search all the superficial parts of
the soil with the same activity as the under roots search the
lower parts ; and that part of the germ which separates the
two sets of roots is now become a channel, through which
the lower roots supply the plant with the nourishment they
have collected. What an admirable contrivance to secure
the prosperity of the plant ! Two distinct sets of roots
serve, in the first place, to fix the plant firmly in the ground,
and to collect nourishment from every quarter. The upper
roots are appositely situated to receive all the nourishment
that comes naturally from the atmosphere, or artificially as
manure, to the surface; and serve the further purpose of be-
ing the base of new stems, which are tillered up, and so
greatly increase the productiveness of the plant. The ex-
cellence of the drill system in grain may probably be per-
ceived in this explanation ; for in broad-cast sowing the
seeds lie very near to the surface, and in this situation it is
not only more exposed to accidents arising from birds, in-

112 THE COMPLETE FARMER

sects, and the weather, but the two sets of roots are neces-
sarily crowded together, so as ahiiost to become indistinct ;
the plant is less iirm, and has fewer purveyors, collecting
food for it." *

Dr. Deane observed, that " wheat that is sowed in autumn,
a clover ley excepted, should, instead of harrowing, be cov-
ered with a shallow furrow, and the surface left rough. It
will be less in danger of being killed by the frost in winter,
and less injured by drying winds in the following spring.
The furrows should be left without harrowing; for the more
uneven the ground is, the more the soil will be pulverized
and mellowed by the frost." But if the crop which succeeds
the wheat crop should require a smooth bottom, the land,
after sowing, must be harrowed, and should be rolled. Some
husbandmen advise, when wheat is sown on a clover ley, to
plough in the clover with a deep furrow, then plough in the
seed wheat with a shallow furrow; and if the next crop in the
rotation requires a level bottom, it will be necessary to har-
row and roll the field as smooth as possible, after having
ploughed in the seed.

The greatest care should be exercised with regard to the
kind, quality, and preparation of seed wheat. There are
many varieties of wheat ; but winter wheat, in the United
States, is generally distinguished by only two appellations,
red wheat and white wheat, of which the latter is held in
highest estimation.

In preparing your seed wheat, the first thing to be attend-
ed to is, to clear it perfectly from every injurious foreign sub-
stance. "One error here may mar our whole system, and
render our skill productive of as much evil as good. On
poor and worn-out land, the evil of sowing a mixture of im-
pure seed with grain or grass seed would be great; but where
the ground is in high order the crop is more injured; the
noxious plants take firmer hold, and are more difficult to be
eradicated."! Indeed, it would be better for a farmer to
pick over his seed wheat by single handfuls, and make a rid-
dle of his fingers, than to sow cockle, darnel, tares, wild
turnip seeds, and other vegetable nuisances, which are as in-
trusive as unwelcome, as tenacious of life as they are un-

* Mr. Featherstonhaugh's Essay on the Principles and Practice of Rural
Economy.

+ See a communication by O. Fiske, Esq., New England Farmer, Vol. I.
p. 222.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 113

worthy of existence. The first preparation therefore should
be to screen, winnow, and riddle the grain till perfectly freed
from these, and other improper ingredients. When this is
thoroughly accomplished, washing and steeping, for the pur-
pose of preventing smut, should meet attention. The first
step in the processes to be instituted against smut, as recom-
mended by Sir John Sinclair, is "to run the grain very gently
through a riddle, when not only the smut balls, but the im-
perfect grains, and the seeds of weeds, will float, and may be
skimmed off at pleasure." The same author enumerates, as
modes by which smut may be prevented, 1. The use of pure
cold water and lime. 2. Boiling water and lime. 3. Water
impregnated with salt. 4. Urine pickle. 5. Lye of wood
.ashes. 6. A solution of arsenic. 7. A solution of blue
vitriol. It seems that almost any acrid, corrosive, or poison-
ous application will secure a clean crop, if properly used for
that purpose.

Mr. Arthur Young sowed fourteen beds with the same
wheat seed, which was black with smut. The first bed was
sown with this wheat without washing, and had three hundred
and seventy-seven smutty kernels. A bed sowed with seed
washed in clean water produced three hundred and twenty-
five smutty kernels; washed in lime-water, forty-three do.;
washed in lye of wood ashes, thirty-one do. ; washed in
arsenic and salt mixture, twenty-eight do. ; steeped in lime-
water four hours, two do.; steeped in lye four hours, three^
do.; steeped in arsenic four hours, one do. Again, that
which was steeped in lye, as before mentioned, twelve hours,
had none; and that which was steeped in the same kind ot
lye twenty-four hours had none; that also which was steeped
twenty-four hours in lime-water had none ; that steeped in
arsenic twenty-four hours had five.

A correspondent of " The New England Farmer," * (who
is, We believe, a practical and scientific agriculturist, and
whose statements are worthy of implicit confidence,) with
the signature Berkshire, in giving directions for preparing
seed wheat, observes: " The only successful course is to
prepare the seed about ten days before sowing-time. This
is done by selecting clean and plump seed, passing it through
water in a tub, about half a bushel at a time, and washing it
and skimming off the matter that floats; then empty it into a
basket to drain, then lay it on a clean floor and rake in two

* See New England Farmer, Vol. I. p. 275.

10*

114 THE COMPLETE FARMER

quarts of slacked lime and one quart of plaster to the bushel,
and if too dry sprinkle on water, and continue to stir it
until all is covered with the lime and plaster. In this way
you may proceed until you have prepared your whole seed.
Let it remain in a heap one day, then spread it and move
it daily, until it becomes perfectly dry; it is then fit to sow,
and you ma; sow it if the land should happen to be quite
wet."

We shall now speak of the liability of wheat to become
winter-killed. The author of "Letters of Agricola" states, as
an objection to the cultivation of wheat in Nova Scotia, " its
liability to be thrown out in the spring, and thus subjecting
the farmer to serious inconveniences, and often disappoint-
ment of a crop. Grasses are not exempt from the same
hazard; and the hopes of the year are thus blasted by a
cause which, in many cases, will admit of remedy, in all, of
alleviation. I am not sure but sowing the wheat seed under
furrow, at least four or five inches deep, in September, in
order that it may extend its roots and take a firm hold of the
soil before the approach of winter, and rolling it in the
spring with the box heavily loaded, would obviate the evils
of our climate, and enable us to cultivate that grain accord-
ing to the improved modes of England. It ought to be re-
collected that even there, about sixty years ago, winter wheat
was not of general cultivation, and the heaving of the soil
was accounted a powerful obstacle to its success. In Scot-
land, too, during the same period, spring wheat almost uni-
versally prevailed; and her northern and bleak position was
thought to be incapable of any change to the better, and
utterly unfriendly to autumnal semination. The zeal and
industry of British farmers, combined with their skill, have
baffled all these gloomy predictions, and taught us at once to
copy the example of our sires, and not to despair in the race
of improvement."

A method, according to the same author, made use of in
Norfolk, England, to guard wheat against the changes and
inclemency of winter and spring, is to adopt the following
rotation: "After a turnip crop, they sow barley the second
year with clover seeds; the third year they cut hay, and
plough down the ley, and sow their winter wheat on the
matted sod. The roots of the grass bind the soil, and pre-
vent it from heaving, which is much akin to the same effect
produced by the tangled and bound surface of our new and
cleared lands." This fact may suggest another inducement

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 115

to SOW wheat next in rotation after clover, as has been re-
commended.

It is well kno\vTi that our lands, where the soil is at all
suitable, will produce good crops of wheat when first cleared
from their native growth of wood; but after having been
tilled for some years, they generally yield wheat with diffi-
culty, and it is often found impossible to raise it by any of
the modes commonly adopted for wheat culture. In most
parts of Massachusetts, and in some parts of New Hamp-
shire and Vermont, the farmers scarcely ever attempt to
raise wheat, and still more rarely succeed when they do
attempt it. Yet, we believe, wheat was a common and pro-
fitable crop in those places in the early period of their settle-
ment. In process of time, however, the land became ex-
hausted of its wheat-bearing faculty, and our farmers were
forced nearly to forego its cultivation. The same variations
and appearances have likewise been observed in Europe.
Wheat countries, by continued cultivation, have become
almost incapable of yielding wheat. The cause and remedy
of this partial barrenness, this falling off, with regard to par-
ticular plants, was alike involved in obscurity, till modern
discoveries in chemistry threw light on the subject. It has
been found that the texture of every soil is defective unless
there is a mixture of three kinds of earth, viz., clay, sand,
and lime; and that lime, in some of its combinations, exists
in wheat, both in the straw and kernel. In some soils, fer-
tile in other respects, lime may either have no existence, or
be found in very minute portions, and be soon exhausted.
If lime be a necessary constituent of wheat, and is not in the
soil where we attempt to raise wheat, it must be supplied by
art, or wheat will not grow. Or if native lime exists in the
soil in small quantities, the land may bear wheat till the lime
is exhausted, and then become incapable of producing that
plant, till a fresh supply of lime, marl, pulverized bones, or
some other calcareous substance, is added. Mr. Young
says, ("Letters of Agricola," p. 299,) " It cannot be de-
nied, that since the plentiful use of lime has been adopted,
lands in Europe will produce wheat which otherwise were
incapable of bearing it;" and quotes several instances in
proof of this assertion. Dr. Anderson likewise gives an ac-
count of a field which had a top-dressing of lime for the pur-
pose of raising wheat, but the lime, by accident, was not
applied to a small patch of the field, and in that patch there
was no crop, while every part of the field to which the lime

116 THE COMPLETE FARMER

•was applied produced wheat luxuriantly. It would be easy
to adduce many more instances to prove that lime, in Great
Britain, is considered not only useful, but indispensable for
the production of wheat. A British farmer, we believe,
rarely undertakes to raise wheat without the use of lime, and
an American farmer as rarely undertakes to raise it with the
use of that substance for manure.

If the foregoing premises are correct, it would seem not
impossible, and indeed scarcely improbable, that by the judi-
cious use of lime, or other calcareous substances, wheat may
be as well raised in New England as in the western States.
The subject is certainly of very great importance, and de-
serves repeated experiments.

It will be objected against the use of lime, 1st, that it is
too dear to be used for manure; and, 2dly, that our farmers
do not know how to apply it, and, as it is a powerful sub-
stance, it may do more harm than good, unless in the hands
of a chemist, or one practically acquainted with its operation.
With regard to the dearness of lime, we are informed that
there is no want of limestone in almost every part of the
United States; and probably, by proper search, many more
limestone quarries might be discovered in New England
than are at present known. And the price of lime would,
doubtless, be diminished by increasing the demand, because
if great quantities were wanted for agricultural purposes, a
greater number of persons would find their account in making
a business of manufacturing it ; improvements would be in-
troduced in the processes connected with its manufacture,
and of course it would be afforded cheaper. Besides, small
quantities would alone be needed for the purpose of furnish-
ing that calcareous matter which nature inclines to incorpo-
rate into the substance of wheat, clover, &c., and probably a
top-dressing of two or three bushels to the acre would be ot
essential benefit, though doubtless more would, generally, be
preferable. Mr. Young says " a small quantity of quick-
lime, scattered on the surface of lands newly cleared, will
prove highly beneficial during the whole length of time they
remain untilled. Thirty bushels of shells [lime fresh from
the kiln] to the acre, slacked into a fine powder, will produce
the most surprising effects, if not on the first crop of wheat,
at all events, on the verdure, luxuriance, and quality of the
future pasture."* A writer in the " Museum Rusticum," an

* Letters of Agricola.

Ai\U RURAL ECONOMIST. 117

English work, says, " that he sows his wheat without laying
on any manure, but, early in the spring, gives a top-dressing
of twenty bushels of lime, pulverized, and mixed intimately
with forty bushels of sand; and if the weather be dry, he
doubles the quantity of sand." We are disposed to believe
that at least lime enough for light top-dressings might be
easily procured by almost every cultivator in the Union.
And such light dressings, if our theory is correct, would be
all that is indispensable to the production of wheat.

With regard to the mode of applying lime, nothing cars
be more simple. It should be evenly spread, after being
water-slacked, on the surface of the soil, and not ploughed
in, or, if ploughed in, it should be with a very shallow fur-
row, because its tendency is to sink below the reach of culti-
vation. If used in a quick or burning state, it will be safest
to mix it with about double its quantity of sand, loam, clay,
or some other material. The additional material may be
made to correspond with the wants of the soil to which it is
applied. Thus, if the soil has too much clay, mix sand with
your lime ; if too much sand, mix finely pulverized clay,
&c.

It is said that British farmers apply lime in great quanti-
ties directly from the kiln in its most caustic state, even to
land which is replete with putrescent or vegetable manure,
and run the risk of consuming or wasting the manure by its
corrosive qualities. But the soil of Great Britain is generally
wetter than ours, and of course the lime sooner becomes
mild. Besides, there is a great difference in the strength of
lime, and that of the United States may be, generally speak-
ing, stronger than the English lime. In short, we should
advise every farmer to use quicklime as manure, in small
quantities at first, mixed with a large proportion of earth, or
some other substance, to dilute it, and thus take care not to
burn his seed, his fingerg, or his growing vegetables. And
with these precautions, we would make use of it for wheat
as a top-dressing in spring. We would likewise try it mixed
with wood ashes, together with earth ; for we have been
told by a practical farmer, that ashes and lime form a union
much more valuable than either separate.

In an article on the Culture of Winter Wheat, by R. H.
Gardiner, Esq., of Gardiner, Me., the writer observes,
" The cultivation of winter wheat is preferable to that of
summer on a great variety of accounts. It is sown and the
ground prepared in a season of much greater leisure. One

118 THE COMPLETE l-ARMER

of the great disadvantages of our northern climate is the
extreme shortness of our spring, so that it is difficult for our
farmers to complete the work which is absolutely necessary
to be done, after the frost is out of the ground, and before
the season of planting is over. If, therefore, any work, as
the sowing of wheat, can be advantageously postponed till
the autumn, it is of great importance. The winter wheat is
le,ss liable to injury from insects than the summer; mine has
never suffered from them. It affords good fall feed, and the
larger quantity of roots and stubble to be ploughed in makes
the land in a better state for the next crop. The grain is
heavier, and the same number of pounds will yield a larger
quantify of flour, and of a much superior quality. From my
experience, I should recommend that winter wheat should
not be sowed later than the middle of September, that the
soil on which it is sowed should be of a light loam, and that
about five pecks of seed be sown to the acre. I have also
found the use of plaster on wheat advantageous, as also roll-
ing the wheat, after it is well up."

To procure new varieties of wheats, (says Mr. Loudon,)
the ordinary mode is to select from a field a spike or spikes
from the same stalk which has the qualities sought for, such
as larger grains, thinner chaff, stiffer straw, a tendency to
earliness or lateness, &c. ; and picking out the best grains
from such ear or ears, to sow them in suitable soil, in an
open, airy part of a garden. When the produce is ripe, se-
lect the best ears, and from these the best grains, and sow
these; and so on, till a bushel or more is obtained, which
may then be sown in a field apart from any other wheat. In
this way many of the varieties of the common winter wheat
have been obtained.* Other varieties have assumed their
distinctive marks from having been long cultivated on the
same soil and climate, and take local names, as the Hert-
fordshire red, Essex white, &c.

Marshall (Yorkshire) mentions a case in which a man of
accurate observation, having in a piece of wheat perceived a
plant of uncommon strength and luxuriance, diffusing its
branches on every side, marked it, at harvest gathered it
separately, and thus introduced a new and superior variety.

Jonathan Townsend, of Andover, Conn, gives the follow-
ing directions for obtaining good crops of wheat, preceded
by Indian corn : " Select a piece of ground suitable for In-

* See also New England Farmer, Vol. X. p. 309.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 119

dian corn and winter grain ; spread on evenly twenty com-
mon cart loads or upwards of stable and yard manure to the
acre: plough it in just three inches deep and no more; har-
row it lengthwise of the furrow; cross mark for the rows, three
and a half feet for the small, or four feet for the large kind of
corn; let the corn be properly tended, by keeping the ground
loose with the plough and hoe, and free from weeds; and if
the season is not very unpropitious, you may calculate on a
large crop. But if the ground is hard and stony, so that it
cannot be ploughed shallow as above mentioned, then plough
as shallow as possible, and spread on the manure afterwards
and harrow it in, and proceed as above directed; the crop
will not probably disappoint your expectations. As soon as
the corn has become ripe, or too hard to roast, and if possi-
ble before it is touched with frost, cut it up, bind and carry
it out of the field, and shock it in the usual way. If you
have drawn the earth around your corn into hills, (which I
would advise never to do in any case,) harrow the hills down
with a heavy harrow, plough three inches deep, and spread
on evenly four or five loads of well rotted manure,* and sow
three pecks of good clear wheat to the acre, and plough it
in with a light horse plough; and unless something disastrous
happens, the summer following your garner may be filled
with the finest wheat. The same directions will apply to
ground planted with potatoes. I would insure a crop sown
on ground thus managed for ten per cent, less than if sown
on a summer fallow in the ordinary way."

Wheat is subject to several diseases; the most common
and generally injurious are mildew or rust and smut. Some
writers assert, that mildew is caused by a minute parasitic
fungus or mushroom, which fastens on the leaves and glumes
or stems of the living plant. The roots of this fungus, in-
tercepting the sap intended by nature for the nourishment of
the grain, render it lean and shrivelled, rob it of its flour,
and the straw becomes black and rotten, unfit for fodder.

Mr. Butler, in "The Farmer's JManual," says, in sub-
stance, that the rust on wheat commences in July, at the
time of the filling of the kernel in the ear, when a combina-
tion of heat and moisture bring into action rich manures,

* It has generally been advised not to apply manure to a wheat crop the
same year tlie wheat is sown, but the small quantity mentioned above would,
perhaps, serve as a top-dressing, without giving too great luxuriance to the
straw, and cause it to be mildewed or blasted.

120 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and forces into the straw, which has now finished its growth,
more juices than the kernel can take up, being already filled
out. These juices burst the straw, or pass through the
natural pores of the stalk. When these juices come to the
air, they lose by evaporation their thinner parts, become
glutinous, and form the matter called rust or mildew.

Willich's "Encyclopedia" observes, "Common wheat
is more subject to this destructive disease than that which is
bearded, especially if the land has been newly dunged.'" Oth-
er writers, likewise, attribute this disorder to the application
of fresh dung, in too great quantity.

The remedies against rust or mildew, according to Sir John
Sinclair, are as follows : 1. Cultivating hardy sorts of wheat.
2. Early sowing. 3. Raising early varieties. 4. Thick
sowing. 5. Changes of seed. 6. Consolidating the soil.
7. Using saline manures. 8. Improving the course of crops;
and, 9. Extirpating all plants that are receptacles of rust.
10. Protecting the wheat plants by rye, tares, and other
crops.

Very able and instructive Essays on the Culture of Wheat,
by the Rev. Henry Colman, were pubUshed in "The New
England Farmer," Vol. XII. pages 25, 49, 57, 65, 73. Mr.
Colman gives in detail many experiments, some of which
were made by himself He states, in substance, that he
sowed three acres of winter wheat on some of the best
land in the Deerfield (Mass.) meadows. The land was green
sward, turned up in the fall, rolled and harrowed, and the
seed soaked in brine, limed, and sowed at the rate of two
and a half bushels to the acre, on the 27th of October. One
half the field was abundantly manured, and to the other no
manure was applied. The seed came up finely, and nothing
could exceed the beauty and luxuriance of the growth, a
greater part of the field averaging more than five feet in
height.

"Above half the field," says Mr. Colman, "including
an equal portion of the manured and that not manured, was
passed over twice in the spring, after the grain had got to
be six inches in height, with a light harrow drawn by one
yoke of oxen ; and three weeks after was subjected to the
same process, according to the method practised in France.
The efl^ect of this was to destroy very (e\v of the plants, and
to render the growth of what remained much more luxuri-
ant, producing such an increase of the stem and such an
extension of the heads, as to attract the notice of the most

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 121

casual observer, and to induce several persons, who were
ignorant of the process to which it had been subjected, to
inquire for the cause of the difference in the two parts of
the field, and to ask if a different kind of seed had been used.
After all, however, to my extreme disappointment, the whole
field has been blasted, and I shall hardly get back the
amount of the seed sown, and that in a small shrivelled grain.
The crop is housed, but will scarcely repay the expense of
threshing. Now that this result was not owing to the use
of stable dung is obvious, because none was used ; and in
that part of the field where the blight appeared to com-
mence, and to make most rapid progress, no manure what-
ever was used. It was not owing to the want of the spe-
cific property in the soil, as far as that is to be found in
lime and slaughter-house manure, for both of these were
employed ; the seed was limed, and the above manure co-
piously applied. It is not to be attributed to the luxuriance
of the crop, for several pieces, as I learn in my neighbour-
hood, have suffered equally and from the same cause, when
the cultivation was by no means so high. It is not a time of
universal failure, for a good deal in this vicinity is perfectly
healthy and sound, and I have already reaped on the same
farm a small piece of wheat, say half an acre, on higher
land, which was healthy and fair, though from the condition
of the land it gave but a small product. This, however,
though sowed at the same time, was ready for the sickle
more than a week sooner than the other, from the drier and
poorer quality of the soil. What then was the cause of the
Ijlast ? I will not assume to decide this question, but as far
as appears, it was atmospheric, occurring at a particular
state of the plant, which rendered it peculiarly liable to
blight. As the wheat was fiUing fast, we had frequent
showers, and much of what w'e Yankees call nni^gy weath-
er ; one day in particular the air was sultry, the heSt in-
tense, and the showers frequent, with intervals of sunshine,
and the earth was steaming most profusely. An intelligent
farmer in my employ, accustomed to the cultivation of this
grain in one of the best wheat districts in New York, re-
marked to me, that this was very severe weather for my
wheat, and that he feared I should lose it. The rust in fact
appeared for the first time the next day, and rapidly extend-
ed itself over the whole field, presenting no difference either
in the manured or in the parts of the field not manured, and
of course less luxuriant. Had my wheat been sown earlier,
11

122 THE COMPLETE FARMER

SO as to have been farther advanced, it would probably have
escaped the blight ; had it been sown later, so as not to
have been so far advanced as it was, perhaps I should have
been as fortunate ; but the occurrence of such a peculiar
state of the atmosphere being wholly accidental, at least as
far as we are concerned, it is impossible to make any cer-
tain calculation about it."

Mr. Colman quotes authorities, to show that wet and warm
weather, when the kernel was beginning to form, had usual-
ly been accompanied with mildew in wheat, in Great Brit-
ain. He states, in substance, that the crops of wheat, both
summer and winter, have been in this vicinity good and
abundant, and on an average full twenty bushels to the acre.
In Northfield, Mass. the crops of 1833 rated as high as
seven thousand bushels.

Mr. Colman states, that William Pomroy, of Northfield,
from twenty-three acres of old meadow land, on the banks
of the Connecticut, harvested more than five hundred bush-
els of winter and spring wheat, "of as fine a sample as
ever floated on the Erie canal. A part of it was reckoned
to yield full thirty bushels to the acre." Most of this
wheat was sowed very early, and was too forward to be in-
jured by the sultry and foggy weather of July. One piece,
however, was blighted in consequence of late sowing.

Mr. Colman says: "Early sowing, from the best obser-
vation I have made of the wheat crops which have come
under my notice, from the united and decided opinion of the
British wheat growers, and from many American authori-
ties, is to be strongly advised. The reason is obvious : the
wheat crop should be as far advanced in the spring as possi-
ble, that it may perfect its seed before the hot and sultry
weather usual in July."

Sir John Sinclair says, " If a field be evidently affected
[with "mildew] and the progress of vegetation stopped, the
only way to preserve the straw and the grain, if any has
been formed, from being entirely lost, is to cut it down im-
mediately, even though the crop should not be ripe. The
straw is thus preserved, either for food or litter, and it is
maintained that any nourishment in the stem will pass into
and feed the grain, and make a greater return than could
well be expected."

Bi.ACK Sea Wheat. Payson Williams, Esq., of Fitch-
burg, Massachusetts, has introduced into this country a new
kind of wheat with the above appellation, which he has thus

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 123

described in a communication published in " The Northern
Farmer."

" The wheat I not only consider as a remarkable crop in
quantity, fifty-five bushels and three quarters, (it being
spring wheat,) but very excellent in quality. Its history, so
far as I am able, shall be given. Three years since, my
brother. Captain Stephen Williams, brought me one bushel
from Smyrna, which he obtained from a ship while discharg-
ing a cargo of that kind of grain from the abundant shores
of the Black sea ; hence its name. Observing by the map
that we were in about the same latitude, I made trial the
first season of but one peck, (not being certain that it was
spring wheat.) The product was large in slraiu; but owing
to our unpropitious storms and bad weather for a wheat crop,
the kernel was not so fair as the original. Nothing discour-
aged, however, I sowed from this product rather than the
original; the product from which more than answered my
expectation. From this last product I sowed, the 19th of
April, two bushels and a quarter on one acre of land which
had potatoes grown on it the previous year (crop, six hun-
dred and thirteen bushels and a half) This field, immedi-
ately previous to sowing, had been ploughed deep and Jine.
After the grain was harrowed in across the furrows, the field
was rolled in, and left from that time to putting in the sickle.
I would here observe, however, that my usual custom has
been, to sow on about twenty bushels of good unleached
wood ashes to the acre, so soon as the wheat plants are two
inches in height, and in a damp morning, if such can be
had. The value of such dressing I have considered to con-
sist, 1st, in the caustic quality of the ashes, as it is a pre-
ventive to the ravages of the white maggot which sometimes
preys at the roots of the young plants ; 2d, considered as a
manure or top-dressing, it no doubt contributes to the earlier
perfecting the kernel or berry, and at the same time to a
more vigorous growth of the straw.

" The seed was prepared as usual, by stirring into the
heap thick whitewash made from quicklime, until every
kernel received a coat of the same ; say one quart of un-
slacked lime to each bushel of wheat. I prefer lime to lye
made of wood ashes, [only,] on account of its whiteness,
thereby rendering it easier to throw the seed (broad-cast)
more evenly on the field.

"The character of the soil is a deep loam, intermixed with
cobble stones. Its naturjfl forest growth had been oak, (white
and red,) beech, rock maple, chestnut, and hemlock.

124 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" The character of the wheat appears to differ from our
usual kinds, by the straw being much taller; (some of which
was five feet ten inches in height;) and although it is what
we call bearded, and the heads of two varieties, similar in
appearance to our red and white, yet there is a variety, (say
a sixth part perhaps,) which, notwithstanding the head is
short, yet the kernels are so closely set that I have repeat-
edly counted over eighty kernels from one ear or head.
This variety I call the pearl, from its clear appearance. The
kernel throughout the crop was very plump and large ; the
straw stout as well as tall, bearing the beating of our New
England storms better than any I have heretofore grown.
I have not the least doubt but it will succeed well, where
other varieties have prospered, and have no hesitation in
believing it will be a valuable acquisition for many years to
come to the agricultural interests of our country."

RYE. The farmer who has it in his power to drive his
business, instead of being driven by it, will do well to sow
his winter rye some time between the middle of August and
the middle of September. If it be sowed so early, it will be
less apt to winter-kill, will require less seed, the growth will
be stouter, and the produce greater, other things being
equal, than if the sowing was deferred till late in autumn.

Some foreign writers on agriculture assure us, that winter
rye and spring rye are of the same species; and, " The Far-
mer's Assistant," says " There is but one kind of rye ; but
this may be made winter rye or spring rye, by gradually
habituating it to different times of sowing. Take winter rye,
for instance, and sow it later and later each fall, and it may
at length be sown in the spring, and become spring rye.
On the contrary, sow spring rye very late in the fall at first,
and you may gradually sow it earlier each year, until it
may be sown in May, and used the first season for pasture
or mowing, and then grown to perfection the second year."
The same opinion is likewise expressed in Deane's " New
England Farmer."

Rye is capable of being cultivated on most kinds of land,
but the light sandy soils, where wheat will not thrive, are
the sorts of soil on which it will, generally speaking, be
found most profitable to raise this kind of produce. Sir
John Sinclair observes, that " thislspecies of grain is not so

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 125

extensively cultivated in Scotland as it ought to be; (for
weighty crops of it might be raised on soils of the most po-
rous and arid nature, and upon almost pure sand along the
seashore;) and the winter sort, without which the people
living on the coasts of the Baltic could hardly be subsisted,
is almost unknown. Thirty-five bushels of rye were raised
upon an acre, on land that would not have produced twenty
bushels of oats. Indeed, oats, sown along side of the rye,
upon the same field, and on land as nearly as could be judg-
ed of the same quality, were scarcely worth the expense of
reaping. On moorish land, rye has been found a more
certain crop than oats. Mr. George Culley remarks, that
rye, like oats, will answer in crude soils without lime, or
calcareous manures, which renders that crop peculiarly cal-
culated for waste lands when first brought into cultiva-
tion."

Lands which will produce tolerable crops of wheat had
better be cultivated for the purpose of raising wheat than
rye. And, if we may believe what English writers tell us
relative to this subject, the use of lime for manure will often
so far change the nature of a poor soil, proper only for rye,
that wheat may be made its substitute. Mr. Marshall, in
his " Rural Economy of Yorkshire," says, "Before the use
of lime was prevalent, much rye was grown on the lighter
lands upon the margin of the Vale, and in the Moorlands
scarcely any other crops than rye and oats were attempted.
Now, rye is principally confined to the Moorland dales; and
even there the alteration of soils by lime has been such that
wheat has become the more prevalent crop. Nevertheless,
on light, sandy soils, rye is generally more profitable than
wheat, and the bread which is made from a mixture of the
two grains is here esteemed more wholesome to people in
general than that which is made from wheat alone."

When rye is sown upon light land it ripens much earlier
than on a cold, stiff ground, and it is said by some writers
that, by continuing to sow on such a soil for two or three
years, it will be forwarded so much as to ripen a month ear-
lier than that which has been raised upon strong, cold ground.
For this reason, those who sow their rye late will do well to
provide themselves with this early seed.

Dr. Elliot informs, that if rye be sowed successively every

year upon the same land, both the crop and the land will

be greatly improved, insomuch that some grounds, which

would yield but five bushels to the acre at first, have in time

11*

126 THE COMPLETE FARMER

produced a crop of fifteen bushels, without the charge of
manure; and Dr. Deane observed, that he " had known the
same spot produce twenty crops of this grain in succession,
excepting that it was planted with Indian corn once or twice,
to subdue the weeds, and that the crops yearly increased in-
stead of diminishing." But this, it is said, will not be the
case, unless the soil is naturally of a good quality, and the
stubble be completely turned under, immediately after reap-
ing. If the ground is suffered to remain after harvest with-
out being ploughed till the stubble is dried and shrivelled so
that it possesses but little substance, and the seeds of weeds
have had time to ripen, the crops of grain in each succeed-
ing year will be diminished, and the weeds will take an al-
most exclusive possession of the soil.

" The Farmer's Assistant " is opposed to the raising of
successive crops of rye, unless as much as twenty-five
bushels of this grain can be yearly had from the acre; as
such an annual product would probably afford a clear profit
to the acre of half that number of bushels; and such a profit,
he observes, in some of the lighter and in some of the hard-
er kinds of soil is not to be despised. The same writer re-
commends sowing winter rye and spring rye, alternately, ia
order that the ground might, every other year, be enriched
by the application of gypsum. " The growing crop of rye,"
he says, "receives no benefit from the application of this
manure; but it quickly covers the ground with a fine sward
of white clover; and as soon as the ground is thus swarded,
it is in good condition for bearing any crop. Let the gyp-
sum, therefore, be sown in the spring, on the growing crop
of winter rye, and by the middle of October following the
ground will be covered with white clover; turn this sward
over in the latter end of the fall, and in the spring sow a
crop of spring rye ; and, as soon as this is taken off", turn
the ground over again for a crop of winter rye; and in the
spring repeat the process of manuring with gypsum, as be-
fore, for a crop of spring rye; and thus proceed with these
crops alternately."

Some sow their winter rye at the last hoeing of Indian
corn, and hoe it in; and this, Dr. Deane observed, was a
good practice, when it is sown on flat land, or on a rich or
heavy soil, where grain is apt to suffer by the frost of
winter; for the plants of rye will be mostly on the corn hills,
and so escape injury from frost; at least they will most com-
monly escape, or so many of them as are necessary to give

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 127

a good crop. The plants that are killed will be those in the
low spaces betwixt the hills.

Rye is not only a proper crop on land which is too poor
to produce a good crop of wheat, but it should be sown on a
soil which is very rich, in preference to wheat, because it is
less apt to grow so rank as to lodge or blast than wheat.
It is a very suitable crop for drained bogs. In the first vol-
ume of "Communications to the British Board of Agricul-
ture," (p. 341,) in speaking of the culture of rye in Russia,
it is observed, that the produce from boggy lands drained and
sowed with rye is upwards of forty bushels to one sowed;
and they generally use a much smaller quantity of seed in
sowing such lands. Another proof that rye will bear very
plentiful manuring, may be adduced from a case reported by
Mr. L'Hommedieu, of New York, who observed, in sub-
stance, that a neighbour of his manured twenty square rods
of poor, gravelly, dry soil, with four thousand Menhaden fish,
and sowed it with rye, at the rate of about one bushel to the
acre. In the spring it was twice successively eaten off,
close to the ground, by sheep breaking in, after it had ac-
quired a height of nine inches the first time, and six inches
the latter. These croppings, however, only served to make
it grow thicker and stronger than before; and when harvest-
ed it produced sixteen bushels, or at the rate of one hun-
dred and twenty-eight bushels to the acre; giving to the
owner, according to the calculation of Mr. L'Hommedieu,
at the rate of eighty-five dollars to the acre of clear profit.*

In the "Memoirs of the New York Board of Agricul-
ture," (Vol. I. p. 82,) it is said, "Rye should be sowed the
last week in August, or the first week in September, at the
rate of about thirty-six quarts per acre; some say forty-eight
quarts. But if it is not sowed at that time it may not come up
until spring. A Worthington had a good crop, which he
sowed in a January snow storm. Rye raised on upland
makes much better flour than that which is raised on low or
damp land."

Rye may be sown in autumn to great advantage for green
fodder for cattle and sheep, particularly the latter, in the
spring. Ewes and lambs will derive much benefit from it,
at a time when little or no other green feed can be procured.

* Transactions of the New York Agricultural Society, part 3, pp. 35, 36. —
This account may seem incredible, but Mr. L'Hommedieu declared thiit it was
attested to by many crcdil)le witnesses.

128 THE COMPLETE FARMER

When it is meant for this purpose, it should not only be sow-
ed early in autumn, but should be sowed thicker than when
it is intended to stand for a crop of seed. Some say that it
may well be mowed for hay two or three times in the course
of the summer; and this piece of husbandry is recommend-
ed for farmers whose lands are mostly dry or unsuitable for
grass.

The quantity of seed to be sown on an acre should vary
according to the soil, the time of sowing, and the purposes
for which it is intended. If it be sowed in the latter part of
August, or beginning of September, and is intended to re-
main for a seed crop, the quantity should vary from thirty-
two to forty-eight quarts, according to the goodness of soil.
Later sowing requires more seed, and in some cases two
bushels to an acre will not be too great a quantity. Ban-
nister's Husbandry says, " When this grain is sown for
sheep feed, it is proper to allow three bushels to the acre,
for where the blade, haulm, or stalks form the primary ob-
ject, a much larger proportion of seed is requisite than when
the crop is meant for harvesting."

Mr. Adams Knight, of Newbury, Massachusetts, received
a premium of twenty dollars, from the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Society, for a crop of rye, obtained as follows:

" The soil is a gravelly loam, rather dry than otherwise.
The land was planted with corn in the spring of 1831, and
manured in the hills with about six cords of manure to the
acre, of common quality. In the month of August follow-
ing, said acre was sowed with three pecks of seed, and hoed
in the usual manner. In the month of August, 1832, the
rye was reaped and threshed, and found to measure forty-
five bushels and five-eighths of a bushel. There is standing
on said acre of land seventy-five appletrees, from two to six
inches through at the root."*

The same year Mr. Gideon Foster, of Charlestown, Mas-
sachusetts, obtained thirty-eight and one-sixteenth bushels of
rye from one acre, as follows:

"The land is bordering on, and near the mouth of Mystic
river. The soil is principally a black loam, with clay bot-
tom. In 1831 it was planted with potatoes, with a moderate
supply of manure, and yielded an ordinary crop. The pota-
toes were removed the last week in September, the land well
ploughed and harrowed in the usual way, with one and a

* Kew England Farmer, Vol. XI. p. 238.

AND KUUAL ECONOMIST. I'iS

half bushels of seed to the acre. I owe my success princi-
pally to the use of night manure, and to that in consequence
of its being well prepared by age, and thoroughly mixed with
a large proportion of earth, and frequently removed by the
fork and the shovel; so that in this way, being ripened for
use, it went immediately (not to burn, as when applied green
or new, but) to nourish and fertilize the soil. There was
early in the spring of the present year spread on the field
about eight cords of the above described manure. The field
was harvested the latter part of August, the grain threshed
soon after, and measured by the purchaser, whose certificate
followed, showing the product to be sixty-one and three-
fourths bushels, or thirty-eight bushels and two quarts to the
acre."*

The following is from the ' ' Transactions of the Essex
Agricultural Society."

•' To the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural Society.

" Gentlemen, — Having for many years past been more than commonly
successful in raising large crops of winter rye by a process of cultivation which,
I believe, is entirely new, I have been induced to submit a statement of the
mode of culture, with tlie produce. And, that the success of the experiment
this season may not appear to be altogether accidental, it will, perhaps, be as
well to communicate the result of the process for the three or four previous years.

" The land on which the experiment has been conducted, is situated on the
Merrimack, about a mile and a half east of Haverhill bridge ; and came into
possession of my father in 1S27. The soil is a sand, approaching to loam as it
recedes from the river. Perhaps the term plain land (by which it usually
passes) will better convey an idea of the quality of the soil. It is altogether
too light for grass. The crops we find most profitable to cultivate on it, are
winter rye, Indian corn, potatoes, and to some extent turnips. Oats might
probably be raised to advantage, were it not that the land is completely filled
with the weed commonly called charlock, which renders it entirely unfit for any
spring crop, excepting such as can be hoed. The crops of rye on the neighbour-
ing soil of the same nature vary, I believe, from seven or eight to twelve or
thirteen bushels per acre, according to the cultivation, and their approximation
to the river. We usually raise ou this land from thirteen to thirty bushels of
Indian corn per acre. Potatoes are very good in quality, but the quantity is
quite small ; not sufficient to be profitable, were it not that the land is very
easily cultivated.

" In the summer of 1827, we sowed three bushels of winter rye near the river,
on about two acres of land, which produced twenty-eight bushels.

" In 1828, we sowed four bushels on four acres of land running the whole ex-
tent of the plain from the river. This piece was sowed in the spring with oats;
but they were completely smothered with charlock, and about the middle of
June, the whole crop was mowed to prevent the charlock seeding. By about the
middle of August, a second crop of charlock having covered the land, it was
ploughed very carefidly, in order completely to bury the charlock; and then suf-
fered to remain until the 15th of September, when we began sowing the rye in
the following manner. A strip of land about twelve yards wide was ploughed

* New England Farmer, Vol. XI. p. 243.

130 THE COMPLETE FARMER

very evenly, to preveat deep gutters between the furrows, and the seed immedi-
ately sown upon tlie furrow and harrowed in ; then another strip of the same
width, and so on, until the whole was finished. We found tlie oat stubble and
charlock entirely rotted, and the land appeared as if it had been well manured,
though none had been applied to this part since it had been in our possession.
The rje sprung very quick and vigorously, having evidently derived great lx:nefit
from being sown and sprouted before the moisture supplied by the decaying
vegetable matter in the soil had evapwrated to any considerable' extent. This
crop produced one hundred and thirty-three bushels.

" In 1S29, the charlock was suffered to grow on the land appropriated to rye,
until it had attained its growth and was in full blossom. The land was then
ploughed very carefully, and the charlock completely covered in. In a short
time a second crop appeared, more vigorous than the first. This also was al-
lowed to attain its growth, and then ploughed in as before. A third crop soon
appeared, which of course was destroyed, when the land was again ploughed for
sowing, about the middle of September. This piece of land was a parallel strip
running from the river, and containing two acres. Two bushels of rve were
sowed. The crop presented a remarkably promising apjsearance, and "yielded
eevenly-four and a half bushels.

" In 1S30, the land appropriated to rye included nearly all the lighter part of
the soil, and owing to a pressure of business was not attended to as we could
have wished. It was ploughed in (he early part of the summer; but harrowing
to destroy the weeds was substituted for the second ploughing. This, and the
unusual blight which afiected all the grain in this part of the counuj , led us to
anticipate a small crop. It yielded, however, fifteen bushels to the acre.

" The land on which the crop of rve was raised the present season had for
three or four previous years been planted with Indian corn; and owing to the
extent of our tillage land, we have not been able to apply more than four or five
loads of manure to the acre this season. The charlock was suflfered to attain its
growth as usual; and on the 18th and 19th of June it was carefully ploughed in.
The second crop was ploughed in on the 6th and 7th of August. On the 14th
and 15th of September it was sowed in the usual manner, namely, a small strip
of land was ploughed, and the seed sown immediatelv upon the furrow, and then
harrowed in; then another strip of land was ploughed, and so on, until the
whole was completed. One bushel jjer acre was sowed, as usual. The seed
was originally obtained from a farmer in this vicinity, and I suppose is similar
to that which is generally used. We have never prepared our seed in any man-
ner, but have directed our attention solely to the preparation of the land ; and
to this we attribute our success. Owing to the unusual severity of the winter,
the crop was considerably winter-killed, but recovered very soon in the spring,
excepting in the midfurrows. There, as the land lies verj- level, the water set-
tled, and so completely destroyed the rye that they continued bare the whole
season. This would of course cause some diminution in the crop ; perhaps a
bushel or two. The rye was reaped at the usual season, and, as the weather
was favorable, immediately put into the barn. The land contained one acre and
thirteen rods, and yielded forty-six bushels and three pecks : a remaTkably fine
s am fie.

" Sowing the seed immediately after the plough we consider very advantage-
ous to the crop. The soil being then moist, causes the seed to spring immedi-
ately, and gives a forwardness and vigor to the plants, which they ever after
retain.

" The process of ploughing in three crops of w-eeds, before the seed is sown,
very much enriches tJie soil. It would be altogether unnecessan.- to attempt to
refute the notion, that by such a process nothing more is applied to the soil than
was before derived from it. If one could not discover by the light which chem-
istry has shed upon the subject of agriculture sufficient reasons for the contrary
conclusion, observation, one would think, would be sufficient to convince any
intelligent oian of the fact.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 131

" And here I would suggest, that I do not consider the experiment, as we
liave conducted it, quite complete. To render it more so, in the first place, in
ploughing ill the weeds, 1 would uot turn a furrow after tlie dew had evaporated.
I have no doubt but that a large portion of that fertilizing quality in the soil,
which (during the summer months) is continually exhaled from the earth, is by
the dew brought again within our reach, and it would be wise to avail ourselves
of the opportunity of again burying it in the soil. And in the second place, I
would by all means use a heavy roller after each ploughing. It would fill all
the cavities left by the plough, and by pressing the soil more closely to the
weeds, at once hasten their decomposition and very much retard the evapora-
tion from the soil.

" But the land is not only very much enriched by this process. There is, I
conceive, no method by which it can be so effectually cleaned. Three times
during the season a fresh surface is presented to the atmosphere; and each time,
as the decaying vegetable matter increases in the soil, so is the exciting cause
augmented to make a more vigorous effort. We have in this manner gone
over nearly all our land which is infested with charlock, and the diminution of
the weeds is quite suflicient to warrant the expectation, that in a few years it
may be comparatively eradicated.

" Very respectfully, John Keely.

" Haverhill, September 22, 1832."

OATS. The following remarks are extracted from a com-
munication for the "New England Farmer," written by
Henry Stevens, of Barnet, Vt.:

"Various are the kinds of oats. The barley or Scotch
oats, so called, I have cultivated, but not with very great
success ; their weight is generally about forty-two pounds
per bushel. I have seldom been able to raise more than from
twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre. The black oats I
have cultivated; their weight is about thirty-six pounds per
bushel, and produce about as many bushels per acre as the
barley or Scotch oats. The greatest objection I have to the
barley or Scotch oats is, that they must be harvested suddenly
after they are fit, in order to prevent waste. The common
oats which are raised I consider preferable. My average
crop of late years has been from forty to fifty bushels per
acre, and in one instance sixty-five bushels per acre.

" I make oats principally, and generally speaking, my first
crop, in the line of a rotation of crops. I break up the piece
intended for this crop in the fall, if possible, and in the spring
cross-plough and harrow thoroughly before I sow my grain ;
then harrow again until the turf is well pulverized; then
sow ten bushels of clover-seed chaff per acre, and roll it in.
As soon as the grain is harvested, and the young clover has
received its growth, I plough it in. This clover with the
stubble is about equal to a common dressing of compost ma-
nure. In the fall, plough, in the spring T cross-plough, after

132 THE CO>rPLETE FARJrER

taking from my compost heap thirty loads per acre, which
are carefully spread. The lot then being well harrowed and
furrowed, is ready for planting, either with corn, potatoes, or
turnips. This is my second crop. For my third crop, I
aoain sow wheat, peas, flax, oats, Slc, and stock the lot down
with herd's grass and red top, which I believe make the best
of hay. I let the lot remain in grass three years. Thus I
till three years, or mow or pasture three years. My first
and third crop is principally oats.

" I have frequently been told, that oats and corn were very
impoverishing crops; but I find no difficulty in enriching my
land as above stated. Ten years ago my average crop of
corn was from thirty to forty bushels per acre ; but in pass-
ing over a lot the second time, which was managed as above,
in the summer of 18-21, I had the satisfaction of harvesting
ninety-six bushels of corn per acre, and received the society's
premium. 3Iy other crops have advanced in about the same
proportion.

" The inquiry will naturally be made, what I do with my
oats .' Well, sir, after I have reserved for my stock and for
seed, I take the remainder to my mill and manufacture them
into flour and meal. It will be understood that the oats are
kiln dried, then hulled about as clean as rice, then ground,
and bolted or sifted, as the case may be. That which I bolt
is calculated to be mixed with wheat flour, for bread ; in
which case the oat flour, being kiln dried, must be scalded
before it is mixed with the wheat flour, otherwise the bread
will be too dry. Good oat flour, prepared as above, mixed
with wheat flour, half and half, will make as light and plea-
sant bread as common country wheat flour, and it will
trouble good judges of bread to tell it from clear flour bread.
Again, it is excellent to make butter cake, by the Yankees
called slapjacks. The oatmeal is calculated for puddings,
and is a substitute for rye meal to mix with corn meal or rye
meal for bread. In either case, the oatmeal must be scalded
before it is mixed.

"Thus after supplying my family, the remainder is for
market. The oat flour I have generally sold in Boston and
New York to the druggists. The meal is also purchased by
the druggists. I have generally sold them oat flour for from
four to five dollars per hundred, and the meal from three fifty
to four fiftv, which is by them retailed as medicine, from
twelve to twentv cents per pound.

"The mealis frequently bought by foreigners, by the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 133

barrel or hundred, for family use. The sale of oatmeal is
at present rather limited; the reason is, that but very few
people in this country, save foreigners, are acquainted with
the use of it, except for medicine. Foreigners generally
prefer oatmeal to flour. I really hope, both for our health
and the interest of agriculture, that the time is not far dis-
tant, when oat flour and meal will be used in every family
for food.

" Much may be said, as to the value of this article as medi-
cine, as well as for food. It has been a common article for
food in Scotland and Ireland for many years. Seldom, if
ever, an English, Scotch, or Irish vessel sailed without a
supply of oatmeal; and I may say, it would be well for every
commander of an American vessel, in making up his order
for ship stores, to include a sufficient quantity of oatmeal or
flour for his voyage."

A writer in ' ' The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, "
(Vol. V. pp. 331-2,) says, " It appears to us best, all things
considered, that the first crop, after turning over sward,
should be oats. The reason why an oat crop should pre-
cede a potatoe crop is, that it not only pays well by its pro-
duct for the year's labor, but enables the husbandman to
deepen his ploughing, preparatory to the second year's
series in the rotation."

We believe that oatmeal is of more value as an article of
diet than is generally supposed in this country. Loudon, in
his "Encyclopedia of Agriculture," observes, that

"Oatmeal, when it is sufficiently diluted with any sort of
liquid, is known to be laxative, aperient, wholesome, and at
the same time a strengthening food for those engaged in
hard labor. Engineers who superintend the excavation of
canals have assured the reporter, that those laborers who
lived entirely on oatmeal and milk, did a third more work
than those who used butcher's meat and ardent spirits. All
of the former saved money, while many of the latter involved
themselves in debt. As this sort of work is done by the
piece, it affords a fair comparison not only of the wholesome-
ness of oatmeal in promoting health, but its power in sup-
plying labor."

In harvesting oats, it is recommended to mow, instead of
reaping them, as soon as they begin to turn yellow. If they
are then well dried, the straw will make food for cattle, after
being threshed, which will be eaten by the animals in pre-
ference to the best meadow hay.
12

134 THE COMPLETE FARMER

Mr. Jacob Smith, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, is said to
have raised, in 1833, the prodigious crop of seventy-four
busheh and three pecks of oats on four-fifths of an acre. The
average height of the plants at the time of harvest was esti-
mated at five feet four inches.

BARLEY. The following is from the pen of judge Buel,
of Albany.

" The soil for barley should be such as will grow good
turnips, or other green crops, including clovers, and which
embrace the varieties of loams and sands that are not wet,
or very dry and poor. Indeed, I have taken my crops, and
they have been pretty good, from my lightest turnip soils.
Barley cannot be cultivated to advantage upon stiff, heavy,
and wet grounds, or on such as are of a cold and tenacious
quality. This crop occupies the ground but about three
months; and it is only in a dry, light, mellow soil, that its
roots can extend with sufficient facility, and supply the food
necessary to bring the grain to rapid and perfect maturity.

" Previous Crop. Crops that precede this grain should be
such as leave the ground mellow and free from weeds; and
for this reason hoed crops arc to be preferred, such as tur-
nips, potatoes, peas, beans, &c. Small grains should not
precede it ; they impoverish the soil, leave it foul, and, be-
sides, it is contravening one of the most salutary maxims of
husbandry to grow two dry crops in succession. It may
follow clover; but if the soil is heavy, the ley should be
ploughed in autumn. Barley is successfully sown upon the
fallows in England, (not summer, but autumn fallows,) and
is sown sometimes after wheat ; but in the latter case the
turnips are pulled, and previously fed upon the stubble; a
practice which I think is not likely to obtain here. I have
generally sown barley after ruta baga or potatoes, these
crops having received a good dressing of long yard or stable
manure.

" Manure should not be applied to the barley, but to the
preceding crop. The short period that this grain occupies
the ground, does not afford time for the manure to decompose
and yield its food to the plants; and, if applied in excess, it
causes a too rank vegetation, and the straw lodges before
the grain is matured. When a fallow or clover ley is em-
ployed and ploughed in autumn, dung may be previously
employed and ploughed under.

ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 135

" Preparation of the Ground. Where barley follows a root
or hoed crop, one ploughing will generally suffice ; but in
all cases a complete pulverization of the soil is necessary;
and to effect this a roller is often of material benefit. If
sown upon grass leys, ploughed in autumn, the spring
ploughing should be shallow, so as to leave the sod reversed.
But the preferable way may be to harrow the fallow, plough
in the seed with a light furrow, and smooth off with the
harrow.

" The Seed and Sowing. Loudon enumerates six species
and sub-species of the barley. The kinds uniformly culti-
vated here, are the two, four, and six-rowed spring, (hordcum
vulgare and hordeum distichon.) Thin-skinned, pale, plump
seed should be selected. I sow as soon as the ground is
sufficiently dry in spring. The young grain is not hurt by
the ordinary frosts of the latter part of April and May. I
sow from six to eight pecks per acre, according to the rich-
ness of the soil and the forwardness of the season; the poor-
est ground and the latest sowing requiring the most seed.
In England, the common quantity of seed is from eight to
sixteen pecks. Our climate being much warmer than that
of Great Britain, barley and other grains till better with us,
and consequently we require less seed. We uniformly sow
broad-cast, generally on the fresh furrow, and harrow in
both ways ; and those who have a roller use it in the finish-
ing operation. It gives a smooth surface, breaks down the
lumps, brings the earth in contact with the seed, and if grass
seeds have been sown, its use is doubly beneficial. I steep
my seeds twenty-four hours in a weak solution of nitre, the
crude kind of which costs me only eight cents per pound
by the quantity. From the analysis and observations of
Grisenthwaite, there is reason to believe that this salt is
peculiarly beneficial to the barley crop, the grain yielding it
on analysis. I have made no comparative experiments, but
I think this step serviceable. I have applied to this grain,
as a top-dressing, with singular success, the powdered dung
of pigeons and dunghill fowls, at the rate of twenty to thirty
bushels the acre.

"The crop admits of no after-culture when sown broad-^
cast. Yet the application of the roller, when the plants are
two or three inches high, is no doubt salutary, especially if
there have been no considerable rains. Rolling gives a salu-
tary compression to the soil, which in the spring is apt to be
loose and porous, and full of cracks, by the alternation of

136 THE COMPLETE FARMER.

freezing and thawing, or of wet and dry weather; it de-
stroys many insects ; and, above all, it partially buries the
crowns of the plants, and introduces a multiplication of seed
stalks. I can recommend the practice from experience.
When grass seeds are sown with barley, the luxuriance of
the young grass sometimes chokes the grain, robs it of
nutriment, and sensibly diminishes the product. To obviate
this evil it has been recommended to sow the grass seeds
after the barley has come up, and to cover them with a light
harrow and a roller ; and it is said, and I think with truth,
that this operation will not materially injure the grain. In
dry seasons, the crop is sometimes attacked by worms,
while young. In this case the roller should be applied and
sufficient weight added to require the draught of two or
three cattle.

" Time and Method of HarvesHng. When the soil is rich
and the season propitious, this grain is very liable to lodge.
If this happens after it has blossomed, no material injury is
sustained in the product; if before, the crop is greatly di-
minished. This shows the danger to be apprehended from
making the soil too rich, and of applying fresh manure.
Barley is known to be ripe by the disappearance of the red-
dish cast on the ear, or what the English farmers term red
roan; by the ears beginning to droop, and bending themselves
round against the stems; and by the stalks becoming brittle,
and of a yellowish color. This is the particular period for
cutting, as, if suffered to stand longer, the heads break off",
and the grain wastes with the slightest touch. And it may
be cut with the cradle, sickle, or scythe, according to cir-
cumstances. If it stands straight, and is not too heavy, the
cradle is to be preferred; if heavy, or lodged, the sickle or
scythe. But as the grain is yet soft, and the straw contains
much moisture when it ought to be cut, it should be suffered
to become well dried in the swath before it is bound in
sheaves, or carried to the barn or stack. If cut with the
cradle or sickle, it is bound in sheaves; but the more com-
mon practice is to cut the crop with the scythe, rake the
ground, and load it with the barley fork.

" Barley improves for malting by lying till October before
it is threshed ; though it is often threshed immediately from
the field. The great difficulty in preparing it for market is,
to rid it of the awns. This may be done with flails, after it
has passed once through the fanning mill; and, where it is
in great quantities, it may be spread from four to six inches
upon the barn floor, and trodden with horses.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 137

" Produce and Profits. The average product in England
is stated by Donaldson at thirty-two bushels per acre. The
product in New York varies from fifteen to seventy bushels,
according to season and soil ; and I think the average is
somewhat short of that of Great Britain. Compared with
wheat, its product is as two or two and a half to one; com-
pared with oats, about equal, provided the soil is adapted to
this grain. It is, however, to be remembered, that neither
wheat nor oats are adapted to a barley soil; the first re-
quiring a more stiff and tenacious, and the latter a more cold
and moist location. The average price of barley is at least
two-thirds that of wheat. Supposing wheat, then, to be one
dollar and twelve cents the bushel, and the product fifteen
bushels per acre, and barley to be seventy-five cents, and
the product of an acre thirty bushels, and the expense of cul-
tivation equal, the profits of the barley will be nearly as three
to two compared to wheat. Barley, besides, is a less preca-
rious crop, is subject to fewer diseases, and has fewer insect
enemies to encounter than wheat."

A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural Society writes,
"The last spring being remarkably dry, I soaked my seed
barley in the black water taken from a reservoir, which con-
stantly receives the draining of my dung heap and stables.
As the light grains floated on the top, I skimmed them ofl",
and let the rest stand twenty-four hours. On taking it from
the water, I mixed the grain with a sufficient quantity of
sifted wood ashes, to make it spread regularly, and sowed
three fields with it. The produce was sixty bushels per
acre. I sowed some other fields with the same seed dry,
but the crop, like those of my neighbours, was very poor, not
more than twenty bushels per acre, and mixed with green
corn and weeds, when harvested. I also sowed some of my
seed dry on one ridge in each of my fields, but the produce
was very poor, in comparison of the other parts of the field."

MILLET. (Panicum Miliaceum.) The stalks and leaves
of this plant resemble those of Indian corn, though much
smaller. It grows to the height of three or four feet. A
sandy soil suits it best. It bears drought admirably well.
It is said to produce as large a quantity of grain as Indian
corn, when cultivated in drills three feet apart and six inches
in the rows; but owing to the difficulty in saving the crop,
on account of birds, of its ripening unequally, and its shelling
12*

138 THE COMPLETE FARMER

out, it is generally thought best to sow it broad-cast, and cut
it when iu milk for fodder.

Mr. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, sowed one peck to the acre
in May, and put in four acres ; cut it the middle of August,
and dried it in the sun two or three days. He had seventy-
five bushels of seed to the acre, and six tons of fodder on
four acres. His cattle relished it very well.

It is stated in "The Plough Boy," that millet sowed in
June, on good ground, will give from two to four tons of fod-
der, and from twenty to thirty bushels of seed, equal to corn
for fattening hogs. It is cultivated in Pennsylvania and
Maryland as a fodder crop, and cut in the milk. It is pre-
ferred in winter by neat cattle to clover.

" The American Farmer " gives the following very flatter-
ing account of this grain. INIillet sown from the 1st of JNIay
to the i20th of June has invariably furnished more fodder
than could have been obtained from grass under similar cir-
cumstances. On the 5th of May, five bushels were sown on
four acres; on the 5th of July it was harvested, and esti-
mated at four tons per acre. It requires in all cases fine
tilth, and as much strength of soil as is necessary to produce
heavy oats.

A crop of fodder can be produced if sowed as late as the
last of July.

Mr. N. Davenport, of Milton, Massachusetts, gives the fol-
lowing account of growing a crop of millet :

" From the 10th to the 23d of June, I sowed about twelve
acres of millet, at about sixteen quarts per acre. About one-
third was on land planted the year before, and I think pro-
duced nearly three ^;ons per acre; the other two-thirds was
on green sward, ploughed and harrowed but a few days be-
fore being sown; and on very light land, without any manure
on either. I had not much over one ton per acre on the
green sward, the land being so light that it did not bear
more than two or three hundred of hay per acre. I mowed
my millet from the 1st to the 12th of September; and I
found the tops of heads perfectly ripe and fit for seed."

John Hare Powell, Esq., of Pennsylvania, has given us
the following observations on the culture of this crop :

" I have made many experiments on various soils, and at
different seasons, to ascertain the product as well as the prop-
erties of millet. Upon light land, in good condition, it suc-
ceeds best. It requires in all cases fine tilth, and as much
strength of soil as is necessary to produce heavy oats. I

ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 139

have not seen, either in Europe or America, any green crop
which so largely rewards accurate tillage and plentiful sup-
plies of manure, as the species of millet usually grown in
this and the adjacent counties. I have sown it from the 1st
of May to the !20th of June, and have invariably obtained
more fodder than could have been had from any grass, under
similar circumstances. In the autumn, eighty bushels of
caustic lime per acre were strewed upon an old sward, which
was immediatebj ploughed, closely harrowed, sown with rye,
and rolled. The rye was depastured in the winter and suc-
ceeding spring. Early in April the land was ploughed
again; the lime and decomposed vegetable matter was thus
returned to the surface. About three weeks after, it was
harrowed, to destroy weeds; early in May it was again har-
rowed for the same purpose; within a fortnight it was stirred
with Beatson's scarifier to the depth of nine inches, harrow-
ed, sown with millet, and rolled. The crop was fairly es-
timated at three tons per acre. After the millet was cut,
the field was stirred, and repeatedly harrowed, to destroy the
after growth of noxious plants. I intend to again sow rye,
not only to obtain pasturage, but to pi-otect the soil from the
exhalations of the sun. In the succeeding spring, a slight
dressing of fresh manure was ploughed under; the scarifier,
roller, and harrow, were used at intervals as before. On the
5th of May, five bushels of millet seeds were sown on four
acres; on the 5th of July the crop was hauled, and estimat-
ed at four tons per acre. I have obtained this season forty
tons from sixteen acres, of which four only had been manur-
ed; the remainder could not have borne a good wheat crop.
One of the loads was weighed; an account of them was
regularly kept; their size was made as nearly equal as pos-
sible. I have generally used a large quantity of seed, as
not more than two-thirds of that which is usually sown will
vegetate. Whilst my oxen consumed millet in its green
state, they performed their work with more spirit and vigor
than they had done before, or have shown since, except
when fed with grain. My cattle, of all ages, prefer it to
both red and the best white clover, meadow, or timothy hay
" I am not disposed to cultivate it as a farinaceous crop,
since I have found great difiiculty in protecting it from the
ravages of immense flocks of birds, which it attracts, and in
securing it sufficiently early to prevent a large part of the
grain from being left on the ground. The seeds on the up-
per parts of the stalks generally ripen and fall before those

140 THE COMPLETE FARMER

below have been filled. I therefore invariably cut it when
the upper parts of most of the heads contain seeds which
are hard. In this stage it affords fodder more nutritious,
and more easily made, than any sort of hay. The expense
of tilling the land, is not so great as at first view would ap-
pear. A yoke of good oxen can scarify three acres and a
half, without difficulty, in one day. I would recommend
millet, not merely for its value as a food, but for the means
it affords of making clean the land, without summer fallows,
or drill crops. The ingenious arguments which have been
adduced, to prove that deep stirring between growing crops
is advantageous to them and the soil, are founded upon
English experience, properly directed by close attention to
the effects of a moist climate. Some of our writers have
profoundly asserted, that as ' dew drops ' are found on the
under leaves of plants after deep stirring has been given in
a time of great drought, the practice is sound. I should
suggest, that moisture had better be at such times conveyed
to the roots, than be exhaled by the sun, or placed on the
leaves until his rays shall have exhausted it all. The valua-
ble parts of most manures readily assume the gaseous form;
every deep stirring, to a certain extent, in hot weather,
therefore, impoverishes the soil. Deep ploughing, sA proper
seasons, is, I conceive, the basis of all good farming. Such
crops as shall enable the husbandman to extirpate weeds,
and obtain large supplies of fodder, without much exhaus-
tion, should be the great objects for his aim. I would pro-
pose that a foul sward receive its proper quantity of quick-
lime, which should be spread and ploughed under, in its
caustic state, in the early part of September; that the field
be harrowed sufliciently; sown with rye at the rate of two
bushels per acre, as early as possible; that it be depastured
late in the autumn and early in the spring; that in May it
be again ploughed, three inches deeper than before; that it
be harrowed, and left until the small weeds begin to appear.
Early in June millet should be sown; in August the crop
can be removed, after the labors of the general harvest.
The field should be slightly stirred with the scarifier, oc-
casionally harrowed, and left throughout September, for the
destruction of weeds, as before. In October it may be
manured, and sown with wheat, or left for a crop of Indian
corn."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 141

BUCKWHEAT. (Poli/gonum.) In light lands this crop
may be raised to advantage. In this climate it should not
be sown till after the middle of May. One bushel is seed
enough for an acre, if sown broad-cast, as is usual; but if
sown in drills, less than half that quantity is sufficient. In
the State of New York, farmers sow it in August with win-
ter wheat. It affords them a ripe crop in the fall, without
injuring the crop of wheat, which grows with and succeeds
it.

Buckwheat is harvested by mowing, in the manner of
barley. After it is mown it should be several days before it
is housed. It is in no danger of the seeds falling, nor does
it suffer much by wet. From its great succulency it is lia-
ble to heat in a mow, on which account it is better to put it
into small stacks of five or six loads each, than either a large
one, or in a barn.

Mr. Loudon observes, "that the use of the grain of buck-
wheat in Great Britain is almost entirely for feeding poultry,
pigeons, and swine. It may also be given to horses, which
are said to thrive well upon it; but the author of " The New
Farmer's Calendar," says he thinks he has seen it produce
a stupefying effect. Young says, that " a bushel of buck-
wheat goes farther than two bushels of oats, and mixed with
at least four times as much bran, will be found sufficient for
a horse a week. Eight bushels of buckwheat meal will go •
as far as twelve bushels of barley meal."

The meal of buckwheat is made into thin cakes, called
crumpets, in Italy, and in some parts of England. Buck-
wheat pancakes are likewise common, and thought to be
wholesome as well as palatable, in many parts of the United
States. Buckwheat blossoms afford rich food for bees, and
are useful as well from, the quantity of honey which they
enable the bees to make, as the long time they continue
without fading or ceasing to be fragrant. On this account
the buckwheat plant is highly prized in France and Ger-
many; and Du Hamel advises bee-keepers to carry their
hives to fields of this crop in autumn, as well as to heath
lands.

"The Farmer's Assistant," says, "We cannot recom-
mend the culture of buckwheat on lands which are suitable
for more valuable crops; but on light, smooth lands, particu-
larly, the farmer may find his account in keeping a field of a
few acres for a yearly crop of buckwheat, as well for family
use as for assisting in fattening his swine, Ste. A bushel of

142 THE COMPLETE FARMER

gypsum to the acre, or perhaps less, applied yearly to the

ground, would be found to keep it rich enough for good
crops."

RICE. [Oriza Saliva.) This is a genus of plants, con-
sisting of several species, which, however, may be divided
into two varieties, viz. mountain rice, which grows in dry,
elevated soils, and marsh rice, sown in low swampy districts.
The former kind was raised by Mr. Bordley, on dry, sandy
land, near Annapolis, in Maryland. It is perhaps possible
that this plant may be gradually introduced into the north-
ern States, and made to grow in dry and elevated ground.
This is mucli to be desired, as rice is the cheapest nutriment
known, containing, it is said, ninety-six parts in a hundred
of nutritive matter.

"The Farmer's Assistant," gives the following directions
for the culture of this plant : " Early in the spring, the
ground is to be fitted with the plough for the reception of
the seed, which is to be drilled in, in rov.s, at the distance
of about twenty-seven inches apart. When the young plants
have acquired a suitable height, the weeds are to be eradi-
cated from the crop with tlie plough, or with a small harrow
to be guided by handles behind, run twice between tlie
rows, and the work is then completed by the hoe, and per-
haps some hand-weeding.

" In due season after this, the water is to be occasionally
let on the ground, for the purpose of killing the weeds and
grass; and then to be let off again, in order that the crop
may have such farther ploughing and hoeing as may be
found necessary. If water is not used, the growing crop is
to be kept clear of weeds, like other hoed crops, till the
ground becomes sufficiently shaded to prevent farther trou-
ble from them.

" The grain will be found sufficiently ripened while the
stalks are still green; and on this account they are valuable
as a substitute for hay. If the crop be flooded, the water is
to be let off in due season, so that the ground can be laid
sufficiently dry before harvesting. With regard to this ope-
ration, we will merely observe, that he who understands the
manner of harvesting wheat, rye, barley, or oats, need be at
no loss as to the best method of gathering this crop; remem-
bering, however, that the straw should be sufficiently dried
before threshing or stowing the crop away."

AND RURAL r,(;ON0MIST. 143

HOPS. The following was written by William Blan-
chard, Jun. Esq., and first published in " The New England
Farmer."

"The hop is a native plant. It is found growing sponta-
neously on the banks and intervals of many of our large
rivers. There are several distinct species, all bearing a
near affinity to each other; (I have noticed five.) At present
they are cultivated together, promiscuously ; no preference
having been given to any particular one of them by the
brewer.

" The soil best calculated for the production of hops, is
a sandy loam, rather low and moist. I am led to this con-
clusion from my own observation, and from finding the lands
which produce them naturally to be of this kind. Yet, I
have seen fine crops raised on very different soils.

" I should recommend the following mode of preparing
the land and managing the crop. In the fall (October)
plough the land deep, nine or ten inches. In the spring fol-
lowing, pass a heavy, sharp, iron-toothed harrow over the
land, in the same direction it was ploughed; after which,
spread your manure evenly over the same, si.xteen cords per
acre, and more if the land be much reduced; then cross-
plough the land nearly the same depth, and furrow it as for
planting corn, the furrows to be at least four feet apart.

"It is customary to plant corn or potatoes with the hops;
(I should prefer potatoes.) Plant every other hill in every
other row with hops, thus placing the hop hills at least eight
feet apart. Put four cuttings from the running roots, about
eight inches in length, into each hill, and cover them the
common depth of potatoes.

" Many yards have been much injured by being planted
too closely. It is of great importance to have the hills so far
distant from each other as to admit a free current of air (o
pass through the yard.

" All the attention requisite the first season after the hops
are planted, is to keep them clean from weeds, which is easi-
ly done when hoeing the crop planted amongst them. In
the fall, (October,) to prevent their being injured by the
hard frosts of winter, carry on and lay out of your cart one
shovelful of compost manure on the top of each hill ; ma-
nure from the hogsty I should prefer.

" In each following spring, before the hops are opened,
as it is termed, spread evenly over the yard about eisht
cords of manure per acre, (coarse, strawy manure I should

144 THE C;OMPLETE FARMER

prefer, as it will have a tendency to keep the land loose,)
and plough the field both ways at the first hoeing. They
require but three hoeings in a season, unless necessary to
subdue the weeds; the last of which should be performed
when the hops are in full blossom, (about the beginning of
August.)

"After the first crop, it is necessary to open the hops,
every spring, by the middle of May; which is performed by
making four furrows between the rows, turning the furrows
from the hills, and running the plough as near to the same
as possible without injuring the main roots. Then the earth
is removed from the roots with a hoe, all the running roots
cut in, with a sharp knife, within two inches of the main
roots; the tops of the main roots must also be cut in, and
then the hills covered with earth about two inches deep.

"The next thing necessary to be done is to set the poles.
This should be done as soon as the hop-vines begin to make
their appearance. By so doing, much time and labor will
be saved in tying up the vines to the poles, as many of the
vines will naturally take to the poles. There should not be
to exceed two vines to one pole, nor to exceed two poles to
one hill, nor any pole to exceed sixteen feet in height.
Many yards have been very much injured by letting a great-
er number of vines grow on one pole, and almost destroyed
by over-poling.

"Very much depends on paying due attention, in the
spring, to select the most thrifty vines, and training them to
the poles, which is done by fastening them to the poles with
a piece of yarn, slightly twisted together with the thumb and
finger.

" It will be necessary to inspect your hop-yard frequently,
until the hops begin to blossom, and 'tie up the vines,' as
it is termed, as they are subject to be blown off the poles by
every high wind.

" As soon as the hops are ripe, which is about the begin-
ning of September, they must be immediately gathered, or
the crop is lost. The quality of the hops depends consid-
erably on their being picked clean from leaves and stems.
The labor of picking or gathering the hops may be well per-
formed by women and children, having one man to a bin to
handle the poles and to inspect the pickers. The bin is a
wooden box, about nine feet long, three feet wide, and two
and a half feet high, made of thin pine boards, that it may
be easily moved over the yard, acro.ss which the poles are

AND RITRAI, ECONOMIST. 145

laid, and into which the hops are picked by hand. Care
should be taken, when gathering the hops, to cut the vines
two feet from the ground, that the roots may not be injured
by bleeding.

" The most important part in the management of hops is
the curing or drying them. Here I would note, that hops
always grow first sort, and that all second sort and refuse
hops are made so by unfortunate or unskilful management.

" Much depends on having a well-constructed kiln. For
the convenience of putting the hops on the kiln, the side of
a hill is generally chosen for its situation. Care should be
taken that it be a dry situation. The kiln should be dug out
the same bigness at the bottom as at the top ; the side walls
laid up perpendicularly, and filled in solid with stone, to give
it a tunnel form. Twelve feet square at the top, two feet
square at the bottom, and at least eight feet deep, is deemed
a convenient size. On the top of the walls sills are laid,
having joists let into them in like manner as for laying a
floor ; on which laths, about one and a half inches wide, are
nailed, leaving open spaces between them three-fourths of
an inch, over which a thin linen cloth is spread and nailed
at the edges to the sills. A board about twelve inches wide
is set up on each side of the kiln, on the inner edge of the
sill, to form a bin to receive the hops. The larger the stones
made use of in the construction of the kiln, the better ; as
it will give a more steady and dense heat. The inside of
the kiln should be well plastered with mortar to make it
completely air-tight. Charcoal (that made from yellow birch
or maple I should prefer) is the only fuel proper to be used
in drying hops. The kiln should be well heated before any
hops are put on, and carefully attended, to keep a steady and
regular heat.

"Fifty pounds of hops, when dried, is the largest quanti-
ty that should be dried at one time, on a kiln of this size ;
and unless absolutely necessary to put on that quantity, a
less would dry better. The green hops should be spread as
evenly and as light as possible over the kiln. The fire at
first should be moderate, but it may be increased as the hops
dry and the steam is evaporated.

" Hops should not remain long in the bin or bag after they
are picked, as they will very soon heat and become insipid.
The hops should not be stirred on the kiln until they are
completely and fully dried. Then they should be removed
from the kiln into a dry room, and laid in a heap, and there
13

146 THE COMPLETE FARMER

remain, unmoved and unstirred, until bagged, which is done
with a screw, having a box made of plank, the size the 43ag
is wished, into which the cloth is laid, and the hops screwed
into the box, which is so constructed that the sides may be
removed, and the bag sewed together while in the press.

"The hops, after laying a kw days, will gather a partial
moisture, called a sweat. The sweat will probably begin to
subside in about eight days, at which time, and before the
sweat is off, they ought to be bagged in clear dry weather.
As the exact time when the hops will begin to sweat, and
when the sweat will begin to subside or dry off, (the proper
time to bag them,) will vary with the state of the atmos-
phere, it will be necessary to examine the hops from day to
day, which is easily done by taking some of them from the
centre of the heap with your hand. If on examination you
find the hops to be very damp, and their color altering, which
will be the case if they were not completely dried on the
kiln, and not otherwise, you must overhaul them and dry
them in the air.

"The most convenient size for a bag of hops, to handle
and transport, is about five feet in length, and to contain
about two hundred and fifty pounds. The best bagging is
coarse, strong tow cloth, of our domestic manufacturing; nest
to that, Russia hemp bagging. The East India sugar and
gunny bags, so called, ought never to be used. The sugar
bags are of an unreasonable weight, and both they and the
gunny bags are of no value to the brewer ; whereas the
other bags are worth prime cost.

" It is now common for those who have entered consider-
ably into the cultivation of hops, to build houses over their
kilns, which, in wet weather, are very convenient ; other-
wise, a kiln in the open air would be preferable. It is neces-
sary to have these buildings well ventilated with doors and
windows ; and to have them kept open night and day, ex-
cept in wet weather, and then shut those only which are
necessary to keep out the rain. If a ventilator was put in
the I'oof of the building, directly over the centre of the kiln,
about six feet square, built like those in breweries and dis-
tilleries, they would be found very advantageous. I have
seen many lots of hops much injured both iii color and flavor
by being dried in close buildings.

"Where the houses over the kilns are built large, for the
purpose of storing the hops as they are dried, which is a
great saving of labor, a close partition should be made be-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 147

tween the kilns and the room in which the hops are stored,
to prevent the damp steam from the kilns coming to them, as
it will color them, and injure their flavor and quality very
much.

" I expect that many of our farmers will object to the
mode of manuring hops which I have recommended, their
common practice being to put the manure in the hills when
they plant the hops, and afterwards to apply the manure on
the hills at the first and second hoeings. I find the hop-
roots are very liable to be injured by the worms, and to de-
cay. My opinion is, that the manure in the hill has a ten-
dency to produce the worms, and its fermentation at their
roots to cause their decay ; and that the crop is not more, if
as abundant, as when manured in the manner I have recom-
mended ; and, farther, that a hop-yard manured in this
manner will continue in a healthy state for many years.

"I also expect the quantity of manure I have recommend-
ed will be objected to by many, it being the commonly
received opinion, that hops should have little or no manure.
I find it a general complaint amongst the farmers where hops
have been cultivated many years, that the quantity raised
per acre does not exceed the one half raised by their ances-
tors on the same land ; inferring that the ' hops are running
out,' as it is termed, and cannot now be cultivated to ad-
vantage. Hops, in common with all sorts of grain and veg-
etables, flourish best and produce the finest crops when
cultivated on new lands, which require little or no manure ;
and such were the lands which their ancestors cultivated.
The same complaint, I presume, would be made against all
sorts of grain and vegetables, if raised with little or no
manure, on lands that have long been cultivated."

PEA. (Pisum Sativum.) The pea is a nardy annual, a
native of the south of Europe, cultivated in Great Britain
from time immemorial, and in this country from its first set-
tlement.

Times of Soioing. ' ' The dwarfs are generally employed
in hotbed culture, which, however, succeeds badly, and is
neither worth preserving nor describing, and the less so, as
early crops may be more certainly had by sowing in the fall,
in sheltered situations, and covering during the winter with
a layer of leaves, and another of long stable-litter, loosely

148 THE COMPLETE FARMER

applied, to keep the leaves in their places. After the earth
takes a temperature favorable to vegetation, your pea sow-
ings should be made once a fortnight, to keep up a regular
and successive supply." — ^irmst)'ong.

Quantity of Seed. "Of the small, early kinds, one pint
will sow a row of twenty yards ; for the larger sorts, for
main crops, the same measure will sow a row of thirty-three
yards."

Process in Sowing. " For early sorts, make the drills one
inch and a half deep ; and let parallel drills be two feet and
a half, three, or four feet asunder. Peas that are to grow
without sticks require the least room. For summer crops
and large sorts, make the drills two inches deep, and four,
five, or six feet asunder. As to the distances along the drill,
distribute the peas according to their size and the season ;
the frame, three in the space of an inch ; the Charltons,
Hotspur, and dwarf marrowfat, two in an inch ; the Prus-
sian blue and middle-sized sorts, three in two inches ; the
large marrowfat and Knight's, a full inch apart; the moratto,
rouncivals, and most larger sorts, an inch and a half apart ;
and the Patagonian, two inches."

Soil aiid Situatiori. " The soil should be moderately rich,
and the deeper and stronger for the lofty growers. Peas
are not assisted, but hurt, by unreduced dung recently turned
in. A fresh, sandy loam, or road-stuff, and a little decom-
posed vegetable matter, is the best manure. The soil for
the early crops should be very dry, and rendered so, where
the ground is moist, by mixing sand with the earth of the
drills." — Loudon.

Armstrong says, " A loose and warm soil is most favor-
able to this vegetable, which, by the way, is neither improv-
ed in quality nor quantity by stable manure. The soil of
Clichy, and of Point de Jour des Colombe, kc, in the
neighbourhood of Paris, is a pure sand, principally devoted
to pea crops, and yielding these most abundantly without the
application of dung, new or old."

Subsequent Culture. "As the plants rise from half an
inch high to two or three inches, begin to draw earth to the
stems, doing this when the ground is in a dry state, and
earthing gradually higher as the stems ascend. At the same
time, Math the hoe, loosen the ground between the young
plants, and cut down rising weeds. Early crops should be
protected during hard frosts by dry straw or other light lit-
ter, laid upon sticks or brushwood ; but remove the cover-

AND RURAL ECONOiMIST. 149

ing as soon as the weather turns mild. If, in April, May,
and the course of the summer, dry weather occurs, watering
will be necessary, especially to plants in blossom and swell-
ing the fruit ; and this trouble will be repaid in the produce.
Rows partly cut off may be made up by transplanting. In
dry weather, water, and in hot weather, shade, until the
plants strike. All peas fruit better for sticking, and continue
longer productive, especially the larger sorts. Stick the
plants when from six to twelve inches high, as soon as they
begin to vine. Provide branchy sticks of such a height as
the sort will require ; for the frame and Leadman's dwarf,
three feet high ; for the Charlton and middle-sized, four or
five feet ; for the marrowfat and larger kinds, six or eight
feet ; for the rouncival, and for Knight's marrow-pea, nine
or ten feet. Place a row of sticks to each line of peas, on
the most sunny side, east or south, that the attraction of the
sun may incline the plants towards the sticks. Place about
half the number on the opposite side, and let both rows
stand rather wider at top than at the ground. Some
gardeners stop the leading shoot of the most early crop
when in blossom ; a device which accelerates the setting
and maturity of the fruit.

To forward an early Crop. " Sow or plant in lines from
east to west, and stick a row of spruce-fir [or other ever-
green] branches along the north side of every row, and slop-
ing so as to bend over the plants, at one foot or eighteen
inches from the ground. As the plants advance in height,
vary the position of the branches, so as they may always
protect them from perpendicular cold or rain, and yet leave
them open to the full influence of the spring sun. Some
cover, during nights and in severe weather, with two boards,
nailed together lengthwise, at right angles, which forms a
very secure and easily-managed covering, but excludes
light. A better plan would be to glaze one of the sides, to
be kept to the south, and to manage such row-glasses, as
they might be called, when over peas, beans, spinage, &c.,
as hand-glasses are managed when over cauliflower; that is,
to take them off" in fine weather, or raise them constantly or
occasionally by brickbats, or other props, as the weather
and the state of the crop might require." — Loudon.

Management of a late Crop. The best variety for this
purpose is Knight's marrow-pea, which may be sown at in-
tervals of ten days from the beginning to the end of June.
"The ground is dug over in the usual way, and the spaces
13*

150 THE COMPLETE FARMER

to be occupied by the future rows of peas are well soaked
with water. The mould upon each side is then collected, so
as to form ridges seven or eight inches above the previous
level of the ground, and these ridges are well watered. The
seeds are now sown in single rows, along the tops of the
ridges. The plants grow vigorously, owing to the depth of
soil and abundant moisture. If dry weather at any time set
in, water is applied profusely once a week. In this way,
the plants continue green and vigorous, resisting mildew,
and yielding fruit till subdued by frost." — Hort. Trans.
Vol. II.

To save Seed. " Like other vegetables, the pea is sus-
ceptible of considerable improvement, and by the simple
means of marking the finest plants of each variety, and
keeping them for seed. Wilson's frame and the Knight pea
have been formed in this way, and afford sufficient proof of
the wonders produced by a very small degree of observation
and care." — Armstrong.

Field-cuUure of the Pea. The most common mode of
sowing peas is broad-cast; but the advantages of the row
culture, in a crop so early committed to the ground, must
be obvious. Loudon says, " In Kent, where immense quan-
tities of peas are raised, both for gathering green and for
selling ripe to the seedsmen, they are generally sown in
rows from eighteen inches to three feet asunder, according
to the kind, and well cultivated between. Peas laid a foot
below the surface will vegetate ; but the most approved
depth is six inches in light soil, and four inches in clay soil;
for which reason they ought to be sown under furrow when
the ploughing is delayed till spring. Of all grain, beans ex-
cepted, they are in the least danger of being buried too
deep." — Loudon.

Deane observed, that " for field peas, land that is newly
ploughed out of sward is generally accounted best ; and
land which is high and dry, and has not been much dunged.
A light, loamy soil, is most suitable for them ; and if it
abound with slaty stones, it is the better. But they will do
in any dry soil. The manures that suit peas best are marl
and lime. Our farmers do not commonly allow a sufficient
quantity of seed for peas, in broad-cast sowing. When peas
are sowed thin, the plants will lie on the ground, and per-
haps rot; when they are thick, the plants will hold each
other up with their tendrils, forming a continued web, and
will have more benefit of the air."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 151

Insects and Diseases. "The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository," for June, 1822, contains some remarks of the
Hon. T. Pickering, relative to a bug or fly, {bruchus pisi,)
which preys on the pea, in which he observes, that an
effectual remedy for this evil is late soioing; but the hot sun
of June will so pinch the vines of the late sown peas, that
the crop will be small, unless the land be moist as well as
rich. He then details some experiments, by which he con-
.. eludes, that this insect is limited to a certain period for
depositing its eggs; and if the tender pods are not found till
that period has passed, the peas will be free from bugs.
Colonel Worthington, of Rensellaer county. New York,
" sowed his peas on the 10th of June, six years in succes-
sion, and a bug has never been seen in his peas; whereas
his neighbours, who have not adopted this practice, have
scarcely a pea without a bug in it. He supposes the season
for depositing the egg of the pea-bug is passed before the
peas are in flower." — Memoirs of JVeiv York Board of
Agriculture, Vol. II. p. 23. " The only insect that com-
monly injures our peas, is a small brown bug or fly, the egg
[or larv^] of which is deposited in them when they are
young, and the pods easily perforated. The insect does not
come put of its nest till he is furnished with short wings.
They diminish the peas in which they lodge nearly one half,
and their leavings are fit only for the food of swine. The
bugs, however, will be all gone out if you keep them to the
following autumn. But they who cat buggy peas the winter
after they are raised, must run the venture of eating the
insects." — Deane's JVciv England Farmer.

The same writer recommends, when seed peas are known
or suspected to contain insects, to scald them a quarter of a
minute in boiling water, spread them about, and sow them
without delay. If any of the bugs should be in the peas,
this scalding will destroy them; and the peas, instead of be-
ing hurt, will come up the sooner, and grow the faster.

Mildew is another evil attending peas, especially such as
are sown late in the season. This disorder is supposed by
Knight, to be caused by " a want of a sufficient supply of
moisture from the soil, with excess of humidity in the air,
particularly if the plants be exposed to a temperature below
that to which they have been accustomed." The remedy
which he recommends is, to "give water rather profusely
once a week, or nine days, even if the weather proves show-
ery."— See Mw England Farmer, Vol. I. p. 414.

152 THE COMPLETE FARMER

Use. The use of peas for soups and other cuUnarj pur-
poses is well known. They are likewise very serviceable in
fattening hogs, for which purpose they should be harvested
dry, and ground into meal. If the straw be forward in au-
tumn, and has been harvested without injury, it will be little
inferior to ordinary hay for feeding cattle.

" In boiling split peas, some samples, without reference to
variety, fall or moulder down freely into pulp, while others
continue to maintain their form. The former are called
boilers. This property of boiling, depends on the soil; stiff
land, or sandy land that has been limed or marled, uniformly
produces peas that will not melt in boiling, no matter what
the variety may be." — Loudon.

" When peas are sown before winter, or early in spring,
they are very apt to be eaten by mice. To prevent this,
soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before you sow
them, which will encourage their vegetation, and render
them so obnoxious to the mice that they will not eat them."
— Domestic Encyclopedia.

BEANS. Loudon gives the following directions for the
culture of runners, or jjole-beans, as they are commonly call-
ed in this country: — The runner kidney beans may be sown
in a small portion towards the end of April, [about the mid-
dle of May in New England,] if tolerably warm, dry weath-
er ; but as these beans are rather more tender than the
dwarf sorts, more liable to rot in the ground by wet and
cold, especially the scarlets, the beginning or middle of May
[first of June in New England] will be time enough to sow
a considerable crop; and you may sow a full crop about the
beginning of June. Allot principally the scarlet and large
white runners. Some Dutch runners are very eligible as a
secondary crop. The first crops should have the assistance
of a south wall. Intermediate crops may be sown in any
open compartment, or against any fence not looking north.
The latest sown will continue bearing longer under a good
aspect and shelter. In sowing, draw drills about an inch
and a half, or not more than two inches deep. Let parallel
rows be at least four feet asunder, to admit in the intervals
tall sticks or poles for the plants to climb on. Place the
beans in the drills four inches apart, and earth them in even-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST lo3

ly the depth of the drills. A row contiguous to a fence or
building may ascend upon lines. Some may be sown in a
single row along a border, or on each side of a walk, and
havo the support of a slight trellis of laths and lines ; or
they might be arched over with similar materials, to form a
shady walk or bower. In a cold, wet season, or when re-
quisite to have a few plants more forward than the general
crop, some scarlets may be sown in April, either in a slight
hotbed, or in pots, under frames of hand-glasses, to raise
and forward the plants, till two or three inches high ; then,
at the end of May, transplant them into the open garden.
As the plants come up, and advance from three to six inches
in growth, hoe some earth to the stems, cutting down all
weeds. When they begin to send forth runners, place suita-
ble supports to each row; and conduct the tendrils to the
sticks or lines, turning them in a contrary direction to the
sun. The ascending plants will soon come into flower, pod-
ding at the joints, in long succession. They are so prolific,
that the returns from three sowings, in May, June, and July,
will last from July till October.

Taking the Crop. Gather the pods, both from dwarfs and
runners, while they are young, fleshy, brittle, and tender, for
then they are in the highest perfection for the table ; and
the plants will bear more fully, and last longer in fruit, under
a course of clean gathering, not leaving any superabundant
pods to grow old.

To save Seed. Either sow a portion for that object, or
leave rows wholly ungathered of the main crop, or preserve
a sufficiency of good pods promiscuously. The beans saved
should be the first fruits of a crop sown at a period which
throws the entire course of growth into the finest part of
summer. Let them hang on the stalks till they ripen fully,
in August and September ; then let the haulm be pulled up
and placed in the sun, to dry and harden the seed, which
should be afterwards cleared out of the husks, bagged up,
and housed.

The pea, English bean, and kidney bean, are liable to the
attacks of various insects, especially the aphides, [plant lice,]
in dry seasons. When early crops are newly sown or plant-
ed, mice will burrow for and eat the seed, and when it be-
gins to penetrate the soil, it is attacked by snails, slugs, the
cut-worm, &c. The usual means of guarding against the
ravages of insects must, therefore, be resorted to by the
gardener.

154 THE COMPLETE FARMER

As regards the field-culture of the bean, we would observe,
that the white kind, which is most generally approved of in
New England, will produce pretty good crops on poor,
sandy, or gravelly soils ; but, when planted on such ground,
it is good husbandry to wet and roll them in plaster before
planting. They may be planted in hills or drills, the rows
two and a half or three feet apart, according to the strength
of the soil, and cultivated like other hoed crops. They may
be planted the latter end of May, or beginning of June, or
about the time of planting Indian corn. If planted in hills,
they may be placed from fourteen to twenty-four inches apart
in the rows, and the rows the distance before mentiDned.
Five beans are quite enough to remain in a hill. Hogs'
dung, mixed with ashes, is said to be the best manure for
them ; and it is said to be very injurious to beans to hoe
them while the dew is on, or in wet weather.

Judge Buel, of Albany, has given the following notices
of some experiments in the field-culture of this vegetable :
" Beans may be cultivated in drills or in hills. They are a
valuable crop ; and, with good care, are as profitable as a
wheat crop. They leave the soil in good tilth. The China
bean, with a red eye is to be preferred. They ripen early,
and are very productive. I cultivated beans the last year
in three different ways, viz. in hills, in drills, and sowed
broad-cast. I need not describe the first, which is a well-
known process. I had an acre in drills, which was the best
crop 1 ever saw. My management was this ; on an acre
of light ground, where the clover had been frozen out the
preceding winter, I spread eight loads of long manure, and
immediately ploughed and harrowed the ground. Drills or
furrows were then made with a light plough, at the distance
of two and a half feet, and the beans thrown along the fur-
rows, about the 25th of May, by the hand, at the rate of at
least a bushel on the acre. I then gauged a double mould-
board plough, which was passed once between the rows, and
was followed by a light one-horse roller, which flattened the
ridges. The crop was twice cleaned of weeds, by the hoe,
but not earthed. The product was more than forty-eight
bushels, by actual measurement. The beans brought me
one dollar the bushel last fall. The third experiment was
likewise upon a piece of ground where the clover had been
killed. It was ploughed about the 1st of June, the seed
sown like peas, upon the first furrow, and harrowed in. The
drought kept them back ; but about sixty-five rods of ground,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 155

on which the experiment was made, gave a product of twelve
and a half bushels. The crop was too ripe when it Avas har-
vested, and as it was cut with 'a scythe, I estimated that
about two and a half bushels were left upon the ground. No
labor was bestowed upon them from the time they were sown
till they were harvested.

SWINE. Notwithstanding their evil propensities, filthy
and mischievous habits, and insatiable voracity, swine are
very profitable animals to a farmer. Indeed, every family
in which there is any cooking done should keep at least one
hog, always confined in a proper pen, in order to consume
the washing of pots, dishes, refuse food, &c.

As much depends on the breed of swine as of any domes-
tic animal, as relates to the profit of keeping. The old-
fashioned, thin, long-legged, long-nosed, gaunt-bodied hogs
are now, we believe, hardly tolerated in New England, and
are becoming as scarce as they are ugly and unprofitable.
We are but little acquainted with the different breeds of their
successors, and shall not therefore assume the responsibility
of recommending any particular race. O. Fiske, Esq., of
Worcester, an able, enlightened, and patriotic cultivator,
says, " My hogs are of the Bedford breed, so called in Eng-
land ; and experience has proved to my satisfaction that this
breed is far the best that has been introduced into our coun-
try. They are quiet in their nature, fat easy, and with little
expense or trouble. I have had some weigh at twelve months
old about three hundred and forty pounds, and a considera-
ble number of eighteen months old four hundred pounds."

" Tiie marks of a good hog are, a moderate length in pro-
portion to the size of the body ; the nose short ; the cheek
plump and full ; neck thick and short ; quarters full ; car-
cass thick and full ; hair fine and thin ; with a symmetry
adapted to the breed to which it belongs. Above all, it is es-
sential that it be of a kindly disposition to fatten early."

The sow should be selected with great care, broad and
straight-backed; wide hips; a great many teats ; short legs,
and fine bone. It is said that the sow will produce the
stronger and better litter if not allowed to breed till a year
old, and the boar should not be younger than that age when
put to sows. Sows may be allowed to breed till they are six
years old, and boars till five ; and both be made good pork

156 THE COMPLETE FARMER

after this period, by methods which do not require descrip-
tion. One male, according to " The Complete Grazier,"
should not be permitted to have access to more than ten fe-
males in a year. Sows will usually have pigs twice a year,
and should be put to the males at such times as will bring
one litter in April and another early in September.

"Those sows are accounted the best breeders," says
"The Farmer's Assistant," "which have about ten or
twelve paps. They should be kept clean and well littered ;
but should not have too much litter at the time of pigging,
lest they overlay their pigs in it. At the end of a week or
ten days, they should be let out of their sties into the yard
for three or four hours each day. Where several sows are
farrowing about the same time, they must be kept in sepa-
rate apartments in the sty, lest they devour the pigs of each
other. Young sows will sometimes eat their own offspring,
which may be prevented, by washing the backs of the pigs
in an infusion of aloes ; and, for this purpose, the sows
must be watched. It is said that supplying them with plenty
of water at this time will prevent any mischief taking place
of this kind."

Mr. Featherstonhaugh says, "Farmers differ much in
their plans of raising stock for pork ; some permitting their
shoats to run at large eighteen months, till they are penned
up to fatten ; this is the most troublesome and least profita-
ble way ; others give them a range in clover pastures, and
begin to fatten them earlier. I apprehend there is a much
more profitable way, and attended with less trouble for those
who have the right breed. According to the quantity of
pork wanted should be the number of breeding sows kept
over, and there should be no other hogs on the farm [that is,
kept over winter] but the breeding sows. These, when they
pig the latter end of March, should be fed in the most at-
tentive manner, with swill and shorts. The pigs from a full-
grown sow will generally be twelve in number; these should
be thinned down to eight, and as soon as they begin to feed
freely out of the trough should be weaned, and afterwards
fed regularly with green tares, clover, boiled potatoes, ground
peas, unmerchantable corn, or any other nourishing food ;
turning them out every day into a small yard, where there
is a shallow pond for them to lie in. A remarkable breed
of pigs, which had been treated pretty much in this manner,
were exhibited at Duanesburgh fair; when eight months old,
one of them was slaughtered, and weighed exactly three

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 157

hundred and eleven pounds ; they all attracted universal at-
tention, and I never saw such animals before. This method,
as it is attended with little trouble, and leaves so small a
quantity of stock on hand to winter over, appears to me to
be more economical, in every point of view, than any other
which is practised."* In the county of Rensellaer, New
York, some farmers assert, that "March pigs, killed about
Christmas, are the most profitable for pork." Others say,
" pigs ought never to come until June; for the cost of earlier
pigs exceeds the profit." And, farther, we learn that " the
methods proposed for fattening hogs by the different farmers
in that county are very various. General H. Moffit, H.
Piatt, Esq., Colonel Worthington, Messrs. J. Phillips, A.
Bush, and some others, recommend keeping hogs in pas-
tures, with some slops from the dairy, &c., till near the last
of August; some say a little later. All agree that near this
time they manifest a disrelish for grass. Small patches of
peas, or even of corn, will then be convenient to turn them
into for a few weeks. About the first of September begin
with boiled potatoes and pumpkins, mashed together, with a
little Indian meal, ground oats and peas, or other grain,
stirred into the mixture after it cools. From two to four
weeks before killing time, the food should be dry Indian
corn, and clean cold water. Mr. Yonghans fattens his hogs
in a large yard or field, with a shelter in it to which they
may retire to sleep. But elder Turner says, hogs should
never know what liberty is, but should be kept close all their
lives, and as inactive as possible ; that with this method
double the quantity of pork can be produced with the same
expense of feed."|

The practice in Scotland is,^to rear swine chiefly on raw
potatoes, and to fatten them on these roots, boiled or prepar-
ed by steam, with a mixture of oats, barley, or bean and
pea-meal. Their troughs should be often replenished with
a small quantity of food at a time, and kept always clean,
and seasoned occasionally with salt. J " The Farmer's
Magazine " says, "The outside leaves of cabbages, salted
and let stand a month, and then mixed with buttermilk, will
fat a hog in three weeks." Mr. Marshall says, (" Midland
Counties," Vol. V. p. 453,) "Young pigs require warm

* Memoirs of the New York Board of Agriculture, Vol. I. p. 332.

t Memoirs of the New York Board of Agricnlttire, Vol. II. pp. 39, 40.

:}; Report of Agriculture in Scotland.

158 THE COMPLETE far:.:er

meat to make them p-ow. Com and cold water will make
them healthy; but warm beverage is considered as requisite
to a quick growth." The same writer mentions another
practice, which perhaps it may be thought proper to imitate
in this country, because it saves labor and care. Some
English farmers, he says, " keep two or three little store
pigs in the fatting sty. ^Vhile the fatting hogs are taking
their repast, the little ones wait behind them, and as soon as
their betters are'served, lick out the troughs.

"Besides the advantage of having by this expedient no
waste nor foal troughs, there is another. The large pigs
rise alertlv to their food, lest the small ones should forestall
them; and till themselves the fuller, knowing that they have
it not again to go to.

" The disadvantage of this practice is, I understand, the
large ones are apt to lord it too much over the little ones;
especially in a confined sty. If. however, they had a sepa-
rate apartment assigned them, with an entrance too small for
the fatting swine to follow them, this disadvantage would be
in a great measure remedied."

If one wishes to fatten hogs, and either irom indolence or
too much occupation does not expect to give them a con-
stant and regular attention, perhaps he may adopt to advan-
tage the following mode, pointed out bv an English writer.
"Mr. John Adams, of Cherrington, near Newport, Shrop-
shire, has fattened eight pigs in the following cheap and easy
manner: he places two troughs in the sty, one he fills with
raw potatoes, the otlier with peas, and gives no water: when
the pigs are dry they eat the potatoes. The eight pigs were
fattened so as to weigh from sixteen to twenty score each,
and ate no more than thirty bushels of peas, and about two
hundred bushels of potatoes." Xo doubt dry Indian corn
and potatoes might be fed out in this way with as good an
effect as peas and potatoes.

Rubbing and currying the hides of fattening hogs is of
great advantage to them. It is not only very grateful to
them, but conducive to their health. It will be well, like-
wise, in every sty to place a strong post for the animals to
rub against. During the time of their fattening they should
have plenty of litter, which will be a double advantage, pro-
vidincr for the comfort of the animal and increasing the
quantity of manure.

Boiled or steamed clover hay will, it is said, keep store
hogs in the winter, but the addition of boiled or steamed po-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 159

tatoes or carrots will much increase the value of the wash.
Mr. Young directs to soil or feed swine in a yard on clover,
cut up with a scythe, in preference to pasturing them in the
field. But Judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, says, " In sum-
mer my hogs chiefly run on clover. Swine feeding on clover
in the fields will thrive wonderfully; when those (confined or
not) fed on cut clover will fall away." In Indian harvest,
the unripe ears of corn should be picked out and given to
the hogs as fast as they can eat them. Soft corn (as it is
called) will do them much more good in a green than in a
dried state, and it is very difficult to dry it without its turn-
ing mouldy.

There is a great advantage in boiling, steaming, or baking
almost all sorts of food given to swine. The last American
edition of "The Domestic Encyclopedia," informs, that
"Mr. Timothy Kirk, of Yorktown, Pennsylvania, fed one
pig with boiled potatoes and Indian corn, and another with
the same articles unboiled. The two animals were weighed
every week, and the difference between them was as six to
nine. The experiment was continued several weeks, and
the animals alternately fed upon boiled and unboiled food,
with a uniformity of result, which sufficiently showed the
very great profit arising from boiled food." Steaming will
answer as good a purpose as boiling, and with a proper ap-
paratus may be more easily and cheaply effected.* Potatoes,
meal, and a little linseed boiled together, make a rich and
excellent wash. Boiled linseed, it is said, has a tendency to
make pork soft and oily, and should therefore be but little if
at all used towards the close of the time in which hogs are
fattening. Grains of distilleries and the refuse of starch
factories are excellent for fattening swine. Sweet apples are
very good food for them, and a change of diet pretty often
promotes their health and quickens the process of fattening.
Their meals should frequently be seasoned with a little salt.
" The Complete Farmer," says, that " moist sedgy grounds
are good for swine, the roots which grow in such soils they
•will eat; likewise brakes, ground-nuts, acorns, chestnuts,"
&c. Dr. Anderson said, that the hogs that are fed upon the
acorns that they gather in the woods of Germany and Poland
are reckoned to yield the finest bacon of any in Europe; and
it is to this that most people ascribe the superior excellence
of Westphalia hams. It might be well to try acorns, steamed

*See New England Farmer, Vol. I. p. 23.

160 THE COMPLETE FARMER

or boiled, in order to correct their crudeness and bitterness;
and it has been recommended to moisten them, and keep
them on hand till they begin to sprout, when they will be
more sweet and nutritious than in their original state. " The
Complete Farmer" asserts, that "when hogs are fatted entire-
ly on acorns, chestnuts, and other productions of the forest,
the flesh will eat much better and sweeter than if fattened in
a sty. Some indeed say their fat will not be so solid, nor so
profitable, and therefore they commonly shut them up a week
or ten days, and feed them with dry peas; but this is a mis-
take, experience having shown that hogs fatted with acorns
only have their fat as solid as those fatted with peas." If this
be correct, the value of acorns as food for swine is not gene-
rally known in those parts of the United States with which
we have been acquainted. We have seen places in the
neighbourhood of farmers' dwellings where bushels might be
had for stooping, but were as much neglected as if they had
been pebble stones. The acorns recommended are, we be-
lieve, those of the white oak; and whether the acorns of the
numerous other kinds of oak are of any value as food for
swine we cannot say. It might be well to try them, not only
raw, but boiled or steamed, and likewise ground into meal,
and given with, as well as without other mixtures. We sus-
pect that acorns alone would prove astringent, and if so, they
might be qualified with a trough full of raw potatoes.

Carrots, according to Mr. Young, are better than pota-
toes, and some other writers assure us, that parsnips are bet-
ter than either for feeding hogs. An English writer says,
"They fatten all their pork in the island of Jersey with
parsnips. They are much more saccharine than carrots, and
it is well known that nothing fattens a hog faster or makes
finer pork than the sugar-cane: " and we are told, that pars-
nips, suffered to remain in the ground where they grew
through the winter, and drawn in the spring, and boiled, tops
and bottoms, made most excellent food for swine when other
food was scarce.

Acid or fermented food for swine has been highly recom-
mended. Mr. Arthur Young, whose authority amongst hus-
bandmen is almost equal to that of the pope with Roman
Catholics, says, " that the most profitable method of con-
verting corn of any kind into food for hogs is, to grind it into
meal, and mix this with water in cisterns, in the proportion
of five bushels of meal to one hundred gallons water; stir-
ring it well several times a day for three weeks in cold

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 161

weather, or a fortnight in a warmer season, by which it will
have fermented well and become acid, till which it is not
ready to give. The mixture should always be stirred im-
mediately before feeding, and two or three cisterns should
be kept fermenting in succession, that no necessity may oc-
cur of giving it not duly prepared." Judge Peters, of Penn-
sylvania, whose authority is, in our opinion, not inferior to
that of any man who ever wrote on agricultural topics, says,
in substance, that "sour food is most grateful and alimenta-
ry to swine. One gallon of sour wash goes farther than two
of sweet." But

An English work, entitled "Farmer's Calender," (author's
name not given,) declares, that " much has been said, and
little understood, about purposely souring food for hogs. It
is not that acidity can possibly tend to pinguefaction, [mak-
ing fat,] but it is found the pigs will readily fatten upon acid,
or rather acescent food, a sweetish taste and glutinous quality
succeeding fermentation; and that they icill do so still more
readily upon such as has never reached the acid state, I know
and have seen in hundreds of instances. Is a proof wanted ?
How much more readily do the country hogs feed upon
sweet and unfermented food, than those of the starch-house
upon the fermented and subacid wash, however rich. I say
subacid, for did not starch-makers run off a great part of
that which is really sour, they would kill instead of fatten
their hogs."

In order to reconcile these writers, it will only be necessary
to advert to the different stages of ordinary fermentation,
and the products of each stage. The first stage of fermen-
tation produces sugar, and is called the saccharine fermenta-
tion. The second stage developes alcohol, or spirit of wine,
and is called the vinous fermentation. The third stage pro-
duces vinegar, and is called the acid fermentation; and the
fourth and last stage converts the matter fermenting into a
substance which is not only offensive, but poisonous, and is
called the putrid fermentation. Thus if you soak wheat or
other farinaceous substance in water of a proper temperature,
it will first become sweet, and begin to sprout or vegetate;
it will next afford spirit or alcohol; continue the process, the
wash turns sour, at first slightly, and then more strongly
acid; and at last the whole becomes putrid. It probably
contains most nourishment when it is sweetest, but it is valu-
able till very sour, when it is worth little or nothing; and
when the putrid fermentation has commenced it is worse

162 THE COMPLETE FARMER

than nothing, as food for any animal. The farmer then
should give his wash to his pigs while it is yet sweet, or but
beginning to turn sour.

Fattening Pigs on Coal. Cunningham, in his "Two Years
in New South Wales," relates, "I had often heard it said
among sailors that pigs would fatten on coals, and although
I had observed them very fond of munching up the coals and
cinders that came in their way, still I conceived they might
relish them more as a condiment or medicine than as food,
till I was assured by a worthy friend of mine, long in com-
mand of a ship, that he once knew of a pig being lost for
several weeks in a vessel he commanded, and it was at last
found to have tumbled into the coal-hole, and there lived all
that period without a single morsel of any thing to feed upon
but coals : on being dragged out, it was found as jjlump and
fat as if it had been feasting on the most nutritious food.
Another friend told me of a similar case, which came under
his observation; and although these may be solitary instan-
ces, yet they serve at least to show the wonderful facility
which the stomachs of certain animals possess of adapting
their digestive powers to such an extraordinary species of
food, and extracting wholesome nourishment therefrom.
When we consider coal, however, to be a vegetable produc-
tion, containing the constituent principles of fat, carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, our surprise will decrease."

An Ohio farmer also, in a southern paper, recommends
coals as useful in fattening hogs. After giving his hogs a
small quantity daily, say two pieces to each, about the size
of a hen's egg, they discontinued rooting, were more quiet,
and appeared to fatten faster. He omitted the coal a few
days, and they commenced rooting ; he gave it again, and
they ceased to root. He supposed that the coal corrects the
morbid fluid in the stomach, which incites them to root deep
in search of fresh earth.

The following mixture for fattening swine has been re-
commended :

Wash potatoes clean, boil and mash while hot, mix in at
the same time oats and pea meal. Put the mixture into a
large tub, which must stand till it becomes sour, but not
putrid. Keep a quantity of this on hand, always fermenting,
and give it to your hogs as often as they will eat.

Apples have been much recommended as food for swine.
They are good raw, but better if boiled and mixed with
meal. A writer in a Brattleborough paper observes, " I have

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 163

tested by ten years' experience the value of apples as food
for animals. I keep five or six hogs in my orchard, upon
nothing but apples and a little swill ; and have uniformly
found them to grow and gain flesh faster than hogs fed upon
any thing else but grain. On the 1st of November, they
are very decent pork ; after which I feed them about six
weeks on grain before I kill them ; and I believe I have as
fat hogs and as good pork as my neighbours, who give to
their hogs double the quantity of grain that I do to mine."

Soivs devouring their Offspring. It is not unfrequently the
case that sows destroy their offspring. In "The New Eng-
land Farmer," (Vol. V. p. 214,) is a communication from
the Hon. O. Fiske, in which he observes, " In most cases
where I have inquired into the fact, whether in old or young
breeders, I have ascertained that they have been disturbed
in some of their essential habits, either having been remov-
ed from their companions, their range restricted, or from
being removed from one pen to another. All these changes,
however, may be efTected with safety, by allowing them suf-
ficient time to become accustomed to them, four or five
weeks at least. I have known sows do well with a second
litter after having destroyed a first under one of the above
excitements. Hence, it would be unwise to condemn to
death one which bid fair otherwise to be a valuable breeder,
even for this most unnatural crime."

Another writer directs to " separate the sow from the rest
of the swine six or eight weeks before her bringing forth, so
that she may become accustomed to her pen. Care should
be taken, however, to have her pen kept dry and well lit-
tered ; always give them litter enough so as not to be oblig-
ed to give any for six days before the time, for nothing dis-
turbs a sow more than an abundance of litter, and which in
my opinion has a great tendency to induce her to destroy
her young. If the sow is with the other swine till within a
few days of her bringing forth, and then separated, she
will not get accustomed to her pen, and being disturbed, she
will be pretty sure to destroy her pigs.

"Raw salt pork, cut in small pieces, and given, will pre-
vent them from eating their pigs. I have seen it given after
they had ate two or three of their litter, with good success.
But to prevent any mischief it should be kept by them at
this time."* A writer for the same paper, (Vol. XI. p. 298,)

* New England Farmer, Vol. XI. p. 297.

164 THE COMPLETE FARMER

observes, "I have been careful for about a week before my
sows were about to farrow, to give them some butcher's re-
fuse meat, which does not cost much ; if easy to be pro-
cured give them a plenty, and I will venture to say that they
will not eat their pigs."

Another, in the same volume, p. 305, observes, " When
the period of yeaning is near, I take the sow apart and give
her free access to a ivarm bedroom of ample dimensions in
my barn, with a dry plank floor, where the shingled walls
prevent the entrance of cold, rain, or wind, with just enough
straw to amuse her ' moments of anxiety,' but not enough to
allow a single pig to cover his head and lose his road to the
fountain of comfort." A writer with the signature "Berk-
shire," in the same volume, p. 321, states as his opinion, that
the evil is caused by confining the sow in a light pen from
the ground, and the want of a suitable supply of potatoes,
turnips, ruta baga. Sec, in addition to their other food.
" Whaler,'' in the same paper, p. 338, who has raised fine
pigs on board of a whale ship, at sea, without grass or roots,
Iselieved animal food the specific remedy for the unnatural
inclination of sows to devour their offspring. And "A
Subscriber " "is sanguine in the opinion, that if sows are so
placed as to be able to come to the ground a few days before
pigging, no disappointment would ever happen in the loss of
pigs. It is not convenient to let them ramble at large ; a
temporary pen upon ground is equally good."

Swine should not be kept in close and filthy pens. Though
they wallow in mire, their object is coolness, not nastiness,
and they thrive faster and enjoy better health when allowed
clean and dry lodgings than when they are not thus accommo-
dated. The late judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, in an arti-
cle entitled "Notices for a Young Farmer," Sic, observed,
that " there is no greater mistake than that oi^ gorging swine,
when first penned for fattening. They should, on the con-
trary, be moderately and frequently fed, so that they be kept
full, i3ut do not loathe or reject their food, and in the end
contract fevers and dangerous maladies, originating in a hot
and corrupted mass of blood. In airy and roomy, yet mod-
erately warm pens, paved and boarded, and often cleaned,
they are healthy and thriving. They show a disposition to
be cleanly, however otherwise it is supposed, and always
leave their excrementitious matter in a part of the pen dis-
tinct from that in which they lie down. No animal will
thrive unless it be kept clean."

AND RURAL ECONOMIaiT. 165

The same writer asserted in substance, that fatting hogs
should always be supplied with dry, rotten wood, which
should be kept in their pens, for the animals to eat as their
appetites or instincts may direct. It has been supposed,
likewise, that swine thrive the better when they can obtain
fresh earth, which they are often observed to swallow with
greediness.

It is an object of much consequence to obtain the best
breed of swine, not only as regards the saving of food, but
producing the best qualities of flesh. The Hon. Oliver Fiske,
of Worcester, as before observed, has rendered great ser-
vice to the community, by introducing to the notice of far-
mers in this country a variety of this animal called the
Bedford Breed. This breed has been highly recommend-
ed by many who have ascertained their merits by trial. His
excellency Levi Lincoln, late governor of Massachusetts,
and president of the Worcester Agricultural Society, has
given his opinion of this variety, in a letter, from which the
following are extracts :

" I have great pleasure in voluntarily offering myself as
your compurgator in the representations with which you
have recently favored the public, of the Bedford breed of
swine. The care and perseverance which have marked your
attention to the prospects and value of these animals, and
the success which has followed your exertions to introduce
them to the favor o( practical farmers, require, at least, an
acknowledgment of obligation from all those who have been
particularly benefited by your liberality, and from no one
more than from myself This breed of swine has taken the
place of a long-legged, long-nosed, flat-sided, thriftless race,
called by some the Irish breed, by others the Russian, which
would barely pay by their weight for ordinary keeping, and
never for one half the expense of fattening, if, indeed grain
would make them fat.

" I had three pigs butchered from the same litter, precise-
ly seven and a half months old. Their weights, when
dressed, were two hundred and thirty, two hundred and thir-
ty-five, and two hundred and thirty-eight and a half pounds.
One sold in Boston for six and one-fourth cents per pound ;
the others were put up here for family use. The expense
of keeping and fattening these pigs, I am satisfied, was less
than with any other breed I ever raised, and the proportion
of bone and offal to the valuable parts was surprisingly
small, I have fifteen more on my farm, part designed for

166 THE COMPLETE FARMER

the market in the spring, and part to be kept over as store
swine, and their appearance will furnish ocular satisfaction
of the propriety of all which has been said in favor of the
breed."

This breed of swine was .brought to this country as a
present to General Washington, from the Duke of Bedford,
who committed them to the care of an English farmer by
the name of Parkinson. This man took a farm in the neigh-
bourhood of Baltimore ; but instead of sending the swine to
General Washington, Parkinson sold them.

Captain John Mackay, of Boston, has exhibited at Brigh-
ton a peculiar and excellent breed of swine, which have re-
peatedly received premiums from the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Society.

MANURES. No soil will always prove productive with-
out manure. Though naturally fertile, if some equivalent
for its produce is not returned to it ; if it is always yielding
and never receiving, it must, at length, become barren.

Particular spots, like Egypt, and other alluvial or interval
lands, which are annually overflowed, derive manure from
the bountiful hand of nature, and cannot be rendered barren
by bad husbandry or continual cropping. Some soils, like-
wise, are not easily exhausted, and are easily recruited, in
consequence of being composed of materials which attract
and retain the food of plants from air and water, as well as
afford a proper medium to prepare and communicate the
principle of fertility.

Every species of matter capable of promoting tlie growth
of vegetables may be considered as manure. Vegetables are
composed of certain substances, called by chemists oxygen
[formerly called vital air], hydrogen [inflammable air], car-
bon [coaly matter], and nitrogen, or azote, one of the con-
stituent parts of the atmosphere. The substances employed
as manure should be composed of all or some of these ele-
ments.

Vegetable and animal substances, deposited in the soil,
are consumed during the process of vegetation ; being
mostly absorbed by the roots of plants, combined with wa-
ter. These substances compose what is called the food of
plants. This food is mostly taken in by the roots, which are
analogous to the mouths of animals, but some portion of the
nourishment of vegetables is also derived from the atmos-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 167

phere, imbibed by the leaves and bark. Thus the carcas-
ses of lambs and other small animals are sometimes hung on
the limbs of fruit-trees to promote their growth, and cause
them to bear abundantly, and thus produce some effect ; but
the practice is slovenly and wasteful, as the air is contamin-
ated, and the carcass buried near the roots would be much
more efficient as manure.

A controversy has existed relative to the degree of fer-
mentation which manure should undergo before it is applied
to the soil. Some agriculturists contend that long, fresh, or
unfermented manure is to be preferred. Others assert, that
stable and barn-yard manure never should be spread in the
field till the fibrous texture of the vegetable matter is entire-
ly broken down, and it becomes perfectly cold, and so soft
as to be easily cut with a spade.

Sir Humphrey Davy observes, " If the pure dung of cat-
tle is to be used as manure, there seems no reason why it
should be made to ferment, except in the soil ; or if suffered
to ferment it should be only in a very slight degree. The
grass in the neighbourhood of recently voided dung is always
coarse and dark green ; some persons have attributed this
to a noxious quality in unfermented dung ; but it seems to
be rather the result of an excess of food furnished to the
plants.

" During the violent fermentation which is necessary for
reducing farm-yard manure to the state of what is called
short muck, not only a large quantity of fluid, but likewise
of gaseous matter, is lost ; so much so that the dung is re-
duced one-half or two-thirds in weight ; and the principal
elastic matter disengaged, in carbonic acid, and some am-
monia ; and both of these, if retained by the moisture of the
soil, are capable of becoming useful nourishment of plants.

" It is usual to carry straw that can be employed for no
other purpose to the dunghill, to ferment and decompose;
but it is worth an experiment, whether it may not be more
economically applied when chopped small by a proper ma-
chine, and kept dry till it is ploughed in for the use of the
crop. In this case, though it would decompose much more
slowly and produce less efiect at first, yet its influence would
be more lasting."

■ Robert Smith, Esq., president of the Maryland Agricul-
tural Society, in an address to that society observed, " With
respect to stable-dung, I shall for the present content my-
self by barely suggesting, that my experience strongly in-

168 THE COMPLETE FARMER

clines me to the opinion that, however long, it ought to be
ploughed into the ground without any previous stirring, and
as soon as practicable after it has been taken from the farm-
yard."

We believe that the question relative to long and to short
manure must depend on circumstances. In certain soils, and
for certain crops, long manure which has undergone but a
slight fermentation is to be preferred. But if used for wheat,
and other kinds of grain, and in all crops which cannot con-
veniently be hoed or weeded, or, probably, when applied to
soils containing acids or some substances which may prevent
fermentation and retard the progress of putrescence and dis-
solution, it must be well rotted.

Rotting manure, however, in a barn-yard, or in any situa-
tion in which its volatile and liquid products escape into the
atmosphere, or soak into soil not designed to support vege-
tation, is very slovenly and wasteful, and always to be avoid-
ed if possible. The effluvia or gas which is suffered to es-
cape from fermenting manure is not only almost altogether
lost to useful vegetation, but, what is still worse, fills the at-
mosphere with particles injurious to health, and often de-
structive to life. The evaporations from a manure yard
rob the farmer of a part of his substance, starve his crops,
and it is well if they do not, moreover, poison him and his
family by their contaminating influence. Some farmers'
barn-yards, hog-pens, and other receptacles of manure, are
very offensive, and if they do not generate typhus fever, in
its worst form, which we fear is frequently the case, they at
least cause a degree of languor and debility, which embit-
ters existence, and in a great measure disqualifies for any
useful purposes of life. It is a fact that those exhalations so
injurious to animal life are the essence of vegetable life, and
the volatile substances which offend our senses and injure
our health, if arrested in their transit by the hand of skil-
ful industry, may be so modified in the great laboratory of
nature as to greet us in the fragrance of a flower, regale
us in the plum or nectarine, or furnish the stamina of life
in substantial viands from the field and the stall of the cul-
tivator.

If we are correct in the foregoing, an important axiom
may be adduced, viz.: JVb putrefactive j)7'ocess ought to be
suffered to proceed on afarmer^s premises, without his adopt-
ing some mode to save, as far as possible, the gaseous products
of such putrescence. These gaseous products constitute im-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 169

portant elements of vegetable food, and a farmer may as
well suffer his cattle to stray from his stall, or his swine
from his sty, without a possibility of reclaiming them, as
permit the principles of fertility expelled by fermentation or
putrefaction to escape into the atmosphere for the purpose
of poisoning the air, instead of feeding the plants. It is
very easy to arrest these particles. A quantity of earth
thrown over the matter in which the fermentation is going
on will check its violence and arrest its gaseous products,
which will be imbibed by the soil, and afterwards yielded to
plants in such proportion as the wants of vegetation may
require.

"Fermentation, that destroyer of all organic conforma-
tion, is not to be feared by the farmer, if it be conducted
and carried on in the presence of earth, which fixes and
secures the gases as fast as they are liberated. Even the
degree of the process is a matter of less consequence ; be-
cause if the elementary principles are in keeping, and re-
served for future usefulness, it is immaterial whether this
has happened by a new absorption, or by still holding their
original and unchanged form. In his composite hill [com-
post heap], the whole animal or vegetable structure may be
dissolved, and leave behind no trace of existence, without
the least waste of the principles of fertility ; because the
ingredients superadded to the diing have become surcharged
with them, or, to speak philosophically, fully saturated. We
may go farther, and state that complete decomposition is
desirable in this case, which is so much to be avoided in the
farm-yard ; because putrescent matter can only become
vegetable food by its resolution into primary parts, and if
this be effected by any preparatory step, the young crop
receives the full and instantaneous benefit. The compost
manure is carried to the fielti ready to give out its richness
on the very first call, and to supply the nascent radicle
[young root] with a copious share of nourishment.

"The putrefactive process may be carried on in the pres-
ence of pure earth only, or of earth intermingled with
fibrous roots, or lastly in the presence of peat, which is an
assemblage of inert vegetable matter, and compost dunghills
may be formed according to this threefold method.

" The simplest of all composts is a mixture of barn-yard

dung and surface mould taken from a field under regular

culture. The proportions between the ingredients are fixed

by no determinate laws, and consequently great liberty is

170 THE COMPLETE FARMER

allowable to the operator. I have known some instances
where two cart-loads of dung were used for one of earth ;
others, where they were blended in equal quantities;, and it
is not unfrequent to compound two of earth with one of dung.
In fact, such is the uncertainty in the composition, that al-
most every farmer adopts one peculiar to himself, and with
equal success. No man need therefore follow implicitly the
rules which have been laid down in this department of rural
economy, but may vary and multiply his experiments, ac-
cording to the suggestions of fancy or the dictates of con-
venience. If we slightly glance at the principle, we shall
see the cause of this seemingly endless variety in the com-
binations of the ingredients. The only use of intermixing
the soil with the dung is to imbibe the gaseous elements of
vegetable life, and hinder their dissipation. If there be much
soil, these elements will be diffused through it with less den-
sity and compression; if little, it will be more abundantly
saturated and enriched with the nutritive vapors. The only
error into which the farmer can run is, to supply such an in-
considerable quantity of soil as will be incapable of im-
bibing the elastic and volatile particles, and thus by his own
mismanagement occasion a waste of the vegetable aliment.
One cart-load of soil to two of stable-dung is the least pro-
portion which he should ever attempt to combine, and per-
haps if the two were mixed equally, he would be compensa-
ted for the additional labor and expense.

" Simple earth, although excellent for bottoming and
strewing over the pit dug near the barn, is of all materials
the most unprofitable in compost dunghills. A matted sward,
thickly entangled with roots, or mud dragged from the bot-
tom of bogs or ditches, and replete with aquatic plants, are
clearly preferable on this account, that, besides bringing
earth to the composition, they supply a large proportion of
vegetable matter. Whenever the soil must be carted to the
heap, it is better to lay out the expense in transporting these
enriching materials ; because they will not only equally ab-
sorb and retain the evaporating gases, but greatly augment
the quantity of manure. "*

The path proper for a farmer to pursue in order to make
the most of his manure, and preserve his own health and
that of his family, is as plain as a turnpike. Whenever pu-
trid fermentation is going on in any part of his premises, and

* Letters of Agricola, by John Young, Esq.

and' RURAL ECONOMIST. 171

consuming his substance by a slow but wasteful combustion,
let him apply earth, peat, or some other earthy substance in
quantities sufficient to attract, imbibe, and retain all the
effluvia. Health, profit, and cleanliness, equally require
such a proceeding. We shall say a word or two on the lat-
ter topic. If a man were to swallow daily a quantity of
filthy matter, or to eat his food impregnated with vapors from
a manure heap, or from some other putrefying and offensive
substance, when he might by a little exertion avoid such
nauseous viands, and substitute something nourishing, palat-
able, pure, and wholesome, we should esteem him no better
than a Hottentot. But a man may almost as well take filth
into his stomach as filthy effluvia into his lungs; he may
about as well dine with a crow or a buzzard as sup with a
toad " on the vapor of a dunghill."

The farmer who arrests the rank vapors which emanate
from decaying animal and vegetable matter, and instead of
permitting them to pass into and contaminate the air he
breathes, treasures up the invisible particles with which they
are laden, and applies them to feed useful vegetables, causes
the atmosphere to be healthy, and his plants to be thrifty by
the same means.

The celebrated lord Erskine, in a speech delivered at one
of the annual sheep-shearings at Holkham, in England,
made the following remarks on this subject :

" If we consider the subject of manure, we shall perceive
one of the most striking beauties and benefits of divine or-
dination, and of that wisdom with which we are blessed a
thousand ways without knowing it. This very substance,
had it been useless, must have accumulated in heaps, intoler-
ably noisome and perpetually pestilential; but by the bless-
ing of Providence, it is every man's interest to remove these
otherwise increasing mountains of filth, and by decomposi-
tion, in various ways, in a great measure concealed from us;
it gives increase to our fields, and adds to our means of
industry, and the reward of the husbandman."

Those who cultivate the ground do not always act the
provident part supposed by lord Erskine, in the sentence
above quoted. On the contrary, farmers too often suffer
manure to accumulate and waste in heaps, generating
effluvia " intolerably noisome and perpetually pestilential,"
without fear of fever or famine, both of which are courted
by such conduct. Not only dung is too often allowed to
waste its richness on the tainted air, but straw and other lit-

172 THE COMPLETE FARMER

ter is suffered to grow mouldy and consume by what is
sometimes called the dry rot, both of which might be pre-
vented, or their bad effects obviated, by covering or mixing
them with a suitable quantity of earth. Besides, dead ani-
mals, contents of privies, the emptyings of sinks, spoiled
provisions, the refuse of the dairy, the pantry, and the cellar,
are allowed to mingle their odours in nauseating and dele-
terious profusion. Sometimes the highway is rendered al-
most impassable, in consequence of a dead horse, sheep,
dog, or cat, undergoing the process of decomposition in a
situation correctly calculated to annoy travellers. Some
farmers hang dead lambs, cats, dogs, &c., in the forks of
apple-trees, or throw them on hovels or stumps, at some
elevation from the ground, to give the pestilential emanations
a chance to diffuse themselves, without coming in contact
with the earth, which might convert them from poison to
men and animals into food for plants. If, however, such
animal remains are deposited in a barn-yard or manure heap,
they are too often suffered to lie and rot on the surface,
offending the senses, and injuring the health of a whole vil-
lage. Practices of this kind are well reproved by Sir
Humphrey Davy, who says, " Horses, dogs, sheep, deer,
and other quadrupeds that have died accidentally or of dis-
eases, after their skins are separated, are often suffered to
remain, exposed to the air, or immersed in water, till they
are destroyed by birds or beasts of prey, or entirely de-
composed; and in this case most of their organizable mat-
ter is lost from the land on which they lie, and a consider-
able portion of it employed in giving out noxious gases to
the atmosphere.

"By covering dead animals with five or six times their
bulk of soil, mixed with one part of lime, and suffering them
to remain for a few months, their decomposition would im-
pregnate the soil with soluble matters, so as to render it an
excellent manure ; and by mixing a little fresh quicklime
with it, at the time of its removal, the disagreeable effluvia
will be in a great measure destroyed, and it might be em-
ployed in the same way as any other manure to crops."*

If, however, quicklime cannot readily be obtained to ac-
celerate the conversion of dead animals into manure, it is
probable that covering the carcasses with a pretty thick coat

* Agricultural Chemistry.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 173

of unleached ashes, and placing over all a quantity of earth,
or earthy substance, would hasten decomposition, and secure
the gases resulting from putrescence. Earth alone will
answer a valuable purpose, and, in time, the largest animal
will be decomposed in nothing but common soil.

Not only the carcasses of animals, but their excrements
and urine are rendered of little value by long exposure to the
air. Indeed, every moment of such exposure robs them of
a part of their fertility, as well as contaminates the atmos-
phere. " He who is within the sphere of the scent of a
dunghill, (says the celebrated Arthur Young,) smells that
which his crop would have eaten, if he would have permitted
it. Instead of manuring the land, he manures the atmos-
phere ; and before his dunghill is finished, he has manured
another parish, perhaps another county." As few exhala-
tions as possible ought to be suffered to rise from the excre-
ments of animals. Fresh manure ought to be kept as care-
fully from the sun and rain as grass which has been cut for
hay. When cattle have been yarded over night, it would
be well to throw their droppings into small heaps or beds,
and cover them at least with a sufficient quantity of earth to
prevent fermentation, or absorb its products. This would
cost but little labor, and would much enhance the value of
the manure.

It has been, and we believe in some instances still is, in
vogue among farmers, to turn over and mix barn-yard ma-
nure several times before it is carried to the field. This
practice, however, is exploded among the best informed cul-
tivators. Mr. A. Young says "no turning, but if circum-
stances of the richness, quantity, or weather have occasion-
ed too much fermentation, or this is suspected, scatter every
now and then a quantity of the same earth over the surface,
with which the yard was bedded. This may be so propor-
tioned as to keep the mass from too much fermentation."

It is remarked by the author of " Letters of Agricola," that
"Earth is a powerful absorber of all the gases which arise
from putrefaction. The earth possesses not only the prop-
erty of retaining the putrid steams which are formed from
the dung of decomposing bodies within itself, but also of
attracting the efHuvia when floating in the air. The salu-
brity of a country depends on this latter quality ; as the
practice of burying the dung in the earth is founded on the
former. The stench proceeding from the dissolution of
organized matter never rises through the ground to assail
15*

174 THE COMPLETE FARMER

the nostrils, although it is sufficiently offensive from bodies
corrupting in air or water. A strongly dunged field, after
being ploughed, sown, and harrowed, sends forth a health-
ful and refreshing smell; a proof that all the putrid vapors,
which otherwise would annoy us, are absorbed and retained
for the nutrition of the crop. It is on this account that the
poorest earth can be enriched in a very high degree by mere
exposure to the gases of putrefaction. Put a layer of com-
mon soil along the top of a fermenting dunghill, from twelve
to eighteen inches thick, and allow it to remain there while
the process is carrying on with activity, and afterwards
separate it carefully from the heap, and it will have been
impregnated with the most fertilizing virtues. The com-
posts, which of late have attracted such universal attention,
and occupied so large a place in all agricultural publications,
originated in the discovery of this absorbing power of the
earth, and in the application of it to the most beneficial of
purposes. A skilful agriculturist would no more think of
allowing a violent fermentation to be going on in his dung-
hill, unmixed with earth or other matter to fix and secure
the gaseous elements, than the distiller would suffer his ap-
paratus to be set at work without surmounting his still with
the worm to cool and condense the rarefied spirit which
ascends to evaporation. In both the most precious matter
is that which assumes the ceriform state; and to behold it
escaping, with unconcerned indifference, is a demonstration
of the most profound ignorance."

Liquid Manure. Water in its purest state, when it has
been distilled or filtered through sand, still retains somewhat
of the food of plants. Its component parts, oxygen and
hydrogen, under certain circumstances, are seized by vegeta-
bles while in their growing state, and converted into the pro-
ducts which form the constituents of all vegetables. But
pure water forms a meagre diet for plants. It may support
life in vegetables, and some plants will maintain a feeble
growth with very little nourishment except what is afforded
them by pure water and air. But when water is impregnat-
ed with certain salts and gases, particularly such as are
evolved during the fermentation and decomposition of vege-
table and animal substances, it becomes what is called liquid
manure. Urine, or the stale of all animals, is water holding
in solution certain salts and other substances, which are
the essence of manure, or the food of plants in a concentrated
stale.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 175

Fresh urine is a very powerful and efficacious manure,
when properly applied, but if not mixed with solid matter it
should be diluted with water, as when pure it contains too
large a quantity of animal matter to form a proper fluid
nourishment for absorption by the roots of plants. Urine is
lessened in value, but its useful qualities are not entirely
lost, by putrescence. During putrefaction the greatest part
of the soluble animal matter that urine contains is destroy-
ed; it should therefore be used as fresh as possible, with the
precaution of diluting it with water, or mixing it with earth.
Putrid urine, however, is a valuable manure. It abounds in
ammoniacal salts; and though less active than fresh urine,
is very efficacious.*

According to some writers and practical farmers, the
vahie of the urine of cattle, if properly preserved and applied
to the purposes of vegetation, is greater than that of all the
dung which the same animals would yield ! A letter from
Charles Alexander, near Peebles, in Scotland, addressed to
Sir. John Sinclair, in 1812, contains much valuable informa-
tion on this subject. " This intelligent farmer had long been
impressed with the great importance of the urine of cattle
as a manure, and he set about to discover, by a long and
well-conducted series of experiments, the best method of
collecting and applying it. He began by digging a pit
contiguous to the feeding-stall, but distinct altogether from
that which was appropriated for the reception of the dung.
The dimensions of this pit, were thirty-six feet square and
four feet deep, surrounded on all sides by a wall ; and the
solid contents were one hundred and ninety-two yards.
Having selected the nearest spot where he could find loamy
earth, and this he always took from the surface of some field
under cultivation, he proceeded to fill it; and found that,
%vith three men and two horses, he could easily accomplish
twenty-eight cubic yards per day; and the whole expense of
transporting the earth did not exceed twenty-two dollars.
When the work was complete, he levelled the surface of the
heap in a line with the sewer which conducted the urine from
the interior of the building, on purpose that it might be
distributed with regularity, and might saturate the whole
from top to bottom. The quantity conveyed to it he esti-
mates at about eight hundred gallons. The urine was sup-
plied by fourteen cattle, kept there for five months on fodder

* See Davy's Agricultural Chemistry.

176 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and turnips. The contents of the pit produced two hundred
and eighty-eight loads, allowing two cubic yards to be taken
out in three carts ; and he spread forty of these on each
acre, so that this urine in five months, produced a compost
sufficient for the fertilization of seven acres of land. He
states farther, that he had tried this experiment for ten
years, and had indiscriminately used in the same field either
the rotted cow-dung or the saturated earth; and in all stages
of the crop, he had never been able to find any perceptible
difference. But what is still more wonderful, he found his
compost lasted in its effects as many years as his best
putrescent manure; and he therefore boldly avers, that a
load of each is of equivalent value.

" It appears, then, that in five months each cow dis-
charges urine which, when absorbed by loam, furnishes
manure of the richest quality and most durable effects for
half an acre of ground. The dung-pit, which contained all
the e.xcrementitious matter of the fourteen cattle, as well as
the litter employed in bedding them, and which was kept
separate for the purpose of the experiment, only furnished,
during the same period, two hundred and forty loads, and
these, at the same rate, could only manure six acres. The
aggregate value of the urine, therefore, when compared
with that of the dung, was in the ratio of seven to six."*

We apprehend that the farmers of the United States are
not, generally speaking, careful to turn the urine of their
cattle to account for manure. There are some cultivators,
however, who have taken measures to secure this substance,
and to apply it to useful purposes. Mr. Robert Smith, of
Baltimore, has his stables constructed in such a manner that
all the liquid discharges of his cattle are conducted, togeth-
er with the wash of the barn-yard, into a cistern, pumped
into a hogshead, and applied in a liquid state to the soil
M'hich it is wished to manure. j" This mode of making use
of this substance is likewise recommended in the " Code of
Agriculture," as follows: "The advantages of irrigating grass
lands with cow urine almost exceed belief Mr. Harley, of
Glasgow, (who keeps a large dairy in that town,) by using
cow urine, cuts some small fields of grass six times, and the
average of each cutting is fifteen inches in length. There
are disadvantages, however, attending this mode of applying
this powerful manure. It must be applied soon after it is

* LeUers of Agiicola. f See New England Farmer, Vol. I. No. 6. p. 44.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 177

formed, or oftentimes the putrefactive process will com-
mence, and deprive it of a part of its efficacy. And as
urine is of a scorching quality, it is unsafe to apply it to
growing crops in great heat or drought. Hence it is un-
advisable to use it, except for grass, after the month of April
or May, unless diluted. It is particularly useful in the
spring, when the application of liquid manure gives a new
impetus to the plant, and makes its growth more vigorous.
This manure forces newly planted cabbages in a most
remarkable manner."

If it be true that more manure can be obtained from the
stale of cattle than from their dung and litter, in the propor-
tion of seven to six, (as would seem by Mr. Alexander's ex-
periments as above detailed,) and that by our common modes
of husbandry this stale is nearly or quite squandered away,
the discovery is of very great importance indeed to agricul-
ture. It is nothing less than a method by which farmers
may, with a small expense, somewhat more than double their
usual quantity of stable manure. And if farmers should
" value manure as a miser does his strong box, should grasp
after and hoard it as eagerly and anxiously as a covetous
man accumulates treasure,"* surely the wise cultivator will
not grudge some labor and expense to acquire more than
double the usual quantity of so valuable an article. It is
very true there are many things to be taken into considera-
tion in all these economical processes. A principal inquiry
should ever be, whether the saving will cost more than the
benefit arising from it will be worth. Many improvements
which are highly valuable in old and populous countries,
where labor is cheap and land dear, cannot be advantage-
ously adopted in this country, where the object, in general, is
rather to make the most of our labor than of our land. It
is to be recollected, likewise, that in New England, during
a considerable part of the time in which cattle are usually
housed, the liquid manure is soon converted into ice, and in
that state must be transferred to the dung-heap, or inconve-
nient accumulations will take place before a thaw would
render it practicable to separate the liquid from the solid
parts of the manure. Still, with all these disadvantages, we
believe, in most cases, it is highly advisable to preserve the
liquid portion of stable manure separate from the solid part;

* These expressions, we believe, belong to the Hon. Mr. Peters, of Penn-
eylvaoia, but we do not recollect where we found them.

178 THE COMPLETE FARMER

especially where cattle are soiled or horses stabled during
all or the greater part of the year.

Manure for Grass Grounds, Top-dressings, Sfc. An in-
telligent and scientific cultivator has given the following
directions on this subject.

There is scarcely any question on which farmers are
more divided than as to the policy of applying manure as a
top-dressing to grass lands, in the spring or tall. The rea-
soning seems to be in favor of spring dressing, and it is sup-
ported by many excellent names. But it ought to be known,
t^at intelligent farmers near the metropolis most generally
dress their lands in autumn. Besides the reason stated
above, that grass lands are less injured by carting over them
in the fall, it may be added, that it is a season of greater
leisure ; and although it is confidently asserted, that the
manure is wasted by rains and snows, yet much ought to be
allowed on the other side for the protection afforded by the
top-dressing to the tender roots of the plants during winter;
and ought we not to add something for the low temperature
of the atmosphere in winter, which prevents evaporation ?
Whatever principles of fertility exist in manure, are in win-
ter carried down into the soil. We are fully convinced that
a scorching sun and drying air are more pernicious to ma-
nures spread thinly over the surface than any drenching
rains can be, unless on declivities, where top-dressings are
unquestionably of less value than on level grounds. The fact
that farmers who grow rich by supplying the great towns
with hay generally adopt the practice of fall-dressing their
grass lands, deserves weight.

Top-dressing should not be used in the fall for winter
grain, because they would be apt to make the young plants
come forward too fast and grow so rank that they would be
liable to be winter-killed. Top-dressing for wheat, rye, &c.
should be applied to the growing crop in the spring or early
in the summer, when it is suspected that the land is not rich
enough to bring a full crop to perfection.

With regard to the materials for dressing your grass
grounds, afler your garden is supplied with manure, you may
as well cart on to your mowing land all that you can collect
from your barn-yards, your stercoraries or dung-heaps, hog-
pens, compost beds, night soil, &c. All sorts of dung, how-
ever, before being applied to grass land, should be well
mixed with loam, sand, or some kind of earth which will
imbibe the gas or effluvia of the dung or putrescent manure.

AND UUKAL ECONOMIST. 179

We have said before, in substance, that all kinds of putres-
cent manure (that is, those animal or vegetable substances
which are liable to putrefy, mould, and be wasted when ex-
posed to the sun and air) are in a great measure thrown
away, if applied to the surface of the soil before being made
into compost. * " Spreading putrescent substances upon the
surface of a field of grass ground, is to manure, not the soil,
but the atmosphere ; and is justly condemned as the most
injudicious plan that can be devised, in an arable district." "f
If dung not made into compost nor mixed with earth or any
substance which will attract and imbibe its gas, effluvia, vo-
latile products, or (to be more plain) that which causes it to
smell unpleasantly, be applied to a field of plough land, it
ought to be spread evenly and ploughed, or at least harrowed
in immediately. If a farmer's chief dependence is in graz-
ing land, and he has dung, or putrescent manure not made
into compost, to apply, we would suggest it for his consider-
ation whether it might not be well, first to spread his dung
as evenly as possible over his field, and then spread over the
whole at least an equal quantity of good earth or loam. By
such means a compost is made in the field after the putres-
cent manure is applied, and the earth or loam spread over
the dung will not only absorb its gaseous products, but in a
great measure protect it from being dried by the air or
scorched by the sun, till its fertilizing qualities are dissipated.
This method of managing with top-dressing for grass land,
however, we should suggest merely as an expedient for the
saving of labor in cases where farmers have much dung, but
little plough land in proportion, and with whom the saving
of labor is a very great object. As a general rule, the fol-
lowing maxim of Sir John Sinclair will apply as well in this,
country as in Great Britain. " There are strong objections
to the application of dung to grass lands ; (much of its
strength being evaporated, from its being exposed to atmos-
pheric influence ;) composts are greatly to be fref erred. They
may be applied at the rate of from thirty to forty cubic yards
per acre. To keep grass land in good condition, a dressing
to this amount is required every four years. The applica-
tion of unmixed putrescent manure will thus be rendered
unnecessary."

The mode in which some farmers manage with regard to
manuring their grass lands is not only absurd, but ruinous.
Early in the fall they cart their dung from their barn-yards

* New England Farmer, Vol. I p. 321. f Code of Agriculture.

180 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and sties, which perhaps had been a year or more accumu-
lating, and of course is finely pulverized and ready to take
the wings of every breeze. Tiiey place it on a tough sward
in little heaps about the size of a two bushel basket. The
sun, high winds, rain, and drying atmosphere, all conspire
to rob these little heaps of nearly all their fertilizing quali-
ties, and leave little but a dead mass of matter as " dry as a
husk." Late in the spring, and generally during or just be-
fore a dry time, Mr. Cultivator spreads these little heaps
(reduced by exposure to wind and weather to about the size
of a half bushel measure) over the sward. If the season
proves dry, the manure, particularly that part which was
collected from the stye, has scarcely any other effect than to
assist the sun in scorching the grass. In the mean time the
arable land, being left destitute of manure for the sake of
dunging the grass ground, yields not half a crop. The poor
farmer believes his land worn out, and thinks it high time to
" pluck up stakes and be off" to the Ohio ! "

Unless you have plenty of manure, you had better not ap-
ply any dung to your high, gravelly, or sandy soils, but dress
them with plaster of Paris. Uneven grass grounds will not
admit of top-dressing to any advantage, on account of the
manure's being liable to be washed away.

Previous to manuring your grass lands, it will be well to
harrow or scarify them. " Rolling was formerly considered
to be indispensable in the management of grass lands, tend-
ing to smooth and consolidate the surface, to prevent the
formation of ant-hills, and to render the effects of drought
less pernicious. But scarifying the turf with a plough, con-
sisting only of coulters, or with a harrow so that the whole
surface may be cut or torn, is to be recommended when the
pastures [or mowing land] are hidebound. That tenacious
state, rolling tends to increase ; whereas by scarifying, the
surface is loosened, and the roots acquire new means of im-
proved vegetation. This operation seems particularly use-
ful when it precedes the manuring of grass lands ; for if
well scarified, the ground is so opened, that any manure
spread upon it gets at once to the roots ; consequently a
small quantity thus applied, goes as far as a larger one laid
on in the old mode, and without such an operation. Thus
the force of the objections to the application of putrescent
manure to grass lands is in some degree obviated."* After

♦ Code of Agriculture.

AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 181

such process it may be well to sow grass seeds, to produce, a
new set of plants, and supersede the necessity of breaking
up the soil to prevent its being " bound out,''' as the phrase is.

It is a bad practice to feed your mowing land very closely
in the fall. There should be enough of the after-grass left
to protect the roots of the grass against the frosts of winter.
We have known good farmers who would not suffer their
mowing land to be pastured at any time of the year. But
if the soil be well dressed with manure it can do but little or
any injury to pasture it in the fore part of autumn, taking
care not to let cattle run upon it when wet, and so soft that
they would make much impression on it with their feet.

Manure from Sivinc. Very valuable manure, with a little
attention, may be obtained from swine by methods similar to
that described by a writer for " The New England Farmer,"
(Vol. II. p. 178,) as follows:

" I usually keep and fatten four hogs in a year. These I
keep confined in a yard twenty feet square, with a warm and
convenient shed attached thereto as a shelter for them during
the night time, and in cold and stormy weather. Into llieir
yard I put the scrapings of ditches, the dirt which is con-
tinually collecting in and about the dwellinghouse and other
buildings, together with the straw with which they are lit-
tered, frequently clearing it out of their house and granting
them a fresh supply. During the summer season I often
throw in large quantities of weeds, brakes, and other rubbish
that may come to hand, which helps to increase both the
quantity and quality of the manure. In this way I make
from twenty-five to thirty loads of manure in a year, which
answers a more valuable purpose than that which I take from
the stable or barn-yard.

" I planted a field containing two acres with corn. One
half of the piece was manured in the hill with ten loads from
the hogpen, the other half with the same quantity of the
best manure the barn-yard afforded. A visible difference
was to be seen in the growth of the corn through the sea-
son, and at the time of harvest the difference was still more
discernible. That part manured from the hogpen produced
ears generally much larger than that manured from the barn-
yard, a great proportion of the stalks bearing two, and many
of them three ears each. Having harvested and measured
my corn, I found the result to be as follows : the produce of
the part manured from the hogpen fifty bushels, while that
IG

182 THE COMPLETE FARMER

of the other part was but forty-two bushels, making a differ-
ence of eight bushels in favor of the former.

Manures may be divided into two classes. The one is
called animal and vegetable or putrescent manures. They
consist of decayed and decaying animal and vegetable sub-
stances. The other class is denominated fossil manures.
The last mentioned do not properly constitute the food of
plants, although they enter into the composition of vegeta-
bles in minute quantities. Fossil manures stimulate plants,
and cause them to take their food faster than they otherwise
would. They are like what medical men call condiments,
and answer the same purpose, as respects the economy of
vegetables, which salt, pepper, spices, kc. effect as regards
the animal economy.

The principal fossil manures are lime, gypsum, and marl.
We shall make a few observations on each.

1. Advantages of Lime. Though there are exceptions to
the rule, yet, in general, it may be confidently asserted, that,
unless where a soil has by nature enough of calcareous
matter in its composition for the purposes of vegetation, it
can neither be brought into its most fertile states, nor will
other manures be so useful as they ought, if lime or some
other calcareous earth be not previously applied. By lime
spread upon a moory soil, good herbage is produced where
nothing but heath and unpalatable grasses grew before. By
the same means, grass lands, instead of yielding nothing but
bent, and other inferior grasses, have been covered with those
of a more valuable description. The utility of lime to tur-
nips is so great, that, though in the same field, where no
lime had been applied the crop died away, yet in the limed
part the turnips flourished with unabated vigor. On the
Mendip lands in Somerset, by the application of lime, the
value of land was raised from four shillings to thirty shillings
per acre ; and dung, which previous to liming had no sensi-
ble effect, operated after its application as on other lands.
Macclesfield forest in Cheshire, and vast tracts in the north-
ern and more elevated parts of Derbyshire and adjacent dis-
tricts, have been astonishingly improved by the same means.
The rye lands of Herefordshire in 1636 refused to produce
wheat, peas, or vetches ; but since the introduction of lime,
they have been so fertilized, as to be successfully applied to
the growth of every species of corn. In maiden soils of a
tolerable quality, the richest manure will not enable them to
bring any crops, but those of oats or rye, to maturity ;

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 183

whereas, if they receive a sufficient quantity of lime, crops
of peas, barley, or wheat, may be raised to advantage. The
benefit resulting from the use of lime has been indisputably
proved in the same farm ; for the richer parts that were left
unlimed were uniformly inferior in produce to the poorer that
had been limed, during a period of not less than twenty-one
years, under the same course of management.

2. The principles on which lime operates as a manure.
Quicklime in powder, or dissolved in water, is injurious to
plants ; hence grass watered with lime-water is destroyed.
But lime freshly burnt, or slacked, forms a compost with
vegetable matter, which is soluble in water, and nutritive to
plants. Mild lime (as chalk, or quicklime again impregnat-
ed with carbonic acid) chiefly operates by improving the
texture of the soil and its relation to absorption.

3. The varioxis sorts of Limestone. Sometimes limestone
is almost perfectly pure, as is the case with marble, which
frequently contains scarcely any other substance but calcare-
ous matter. Several sorts of limestone, however, have mix-
tures of clay and sand, in various proportions, by which the
efficacy of the manure, in proportion to the quantity of these
substances, is considerably diminished. It is necessary,
therefore, to analyze limestone, to ascertain the proportion
of pure lime, before it is advisable to use so expensive an
article in great quantities, more especially if it must be con-
veyed from a distance. Bituminous limestone makes good
manure. But the magnesian is the species which requires
the greatest attention. Limestone sometimes contains from
20.3 to 23.5 of magnesia, in which case it would be injurious
to weak soils to apply more than from twenty-five to thirty
bushels per statute acre, though in rich soils double that
quantity may be used, and still more with peat, on which
soil it would have a most powerful effect in producing fer-
tility.

4. Mode of preparing it for use. Limestone is burnt in
kilns of various constructions. It is applied with advantage
to soils recently reclaimed in a caustic state ; but is gene-
rally slacked, by throwing water upon the lumps, until they
crack and swell, and fall down into a fine powder. This
operation, when it is to be done, should not be delayed ; for
if properly burnt, calcined lime is easily reduced into a fine
powder, which may not be the case if the slacking be post-
poned. If water cannot easily be obtained, the lumps may
either be divided into small heaps and covered with earth,

184 THE COMPLETE FARxMER

by the moisture of which they are soon pulverized, or made
into large heaps, the lumps and earth six inches thick, and
the whole covered with earth. Where it can easily be had,
it is a great advantage to slack the calcined limestone for
manure with sea-water or urine. When applied to land in
a powdery state, lime tends to bring any hard vegetable
matter that the soil contains into a more rapid state of de-
composition and solution, so as to render it a proper food for
plants.

5. Application. Summer is the proper season for liming
land. That experienced farmer, Mr. Rennie of Phantassie,
is of opinion, that the most profitable period for applying
lime is when the land is under summer fallow, in the months
of June and July, that it may be completely mixed with the
soil before the crop is sown. This is also the general prac-
tice in other districts. For a turnip crop, it should be laid
on early in the spring before the turnips are drilled, in order
that the lime may be thoroughly incorporated with the soil,
by the ploughings and harrowings it will receive ; the land
will thus have time to cool, and the lime will not dry up the
moisture necessary for bringing the turnips into leaf. For
potatoes, lime is not to be recommended, as it is apt to burn
and blister their skins. When applied to old ley, it is a good
practice to spread it on the surface previously to the land
being broken up, by which it is fixed firmly on the sward.
One year has been found of use ; but when done three
years before, it had produced still greater advantages ; in
the former case, the increase of oats being only at the rate
of six to one, and in the latter, that of ten to one of the seed
sown. The quantity applied must vary according to the
soil. From two hundred and forty to three hundred bushels
of unslacked lime may be applied on strong lands with ad-
vantage. Even six hundred bushels have been laid on at
once, on strong clays, with great success. On light soils, a
much smaller quantity will answer, say from one hundred
and fifty to two hundred bushels ; but these small doses
ought to be more frequently repeated. When applied on
the surface of bogs or moors, the quantity used is very con-
siderable, and the more that is laid on, the greater the im-
provement. The real quantity, however, of calcareous mat-
ter used, depends upon the quality of the stone. It often
happens, that five chaldrons do not furnish more effective ma-
nure than three, because they do not contain three-fifths of
calcareous matter.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 186

6. Effects of lAnie. Many farmers have subjected them-
selves to an expense at the rate of ten shillings per acre per
annum for the lime they used, and have been amply remu-
nerated. The benefit derived in the cultivation of green
crops is sufficient for that purpose. Such crops may be
raised by large quantities of dung ; but where calcareous
substances are applied, it is proved, by long exp3rience, that
a less quantity of animal and vegetable manure will answer
the purpose. This is making the farm-yard dung go farther,
with more powerful and more permanent effects ; and from
the weightier crops thus raised, the quantity of manure on a
farm will be most materially augmented. Indeed, upon land
in a proper state for calcareous application, (as old ley,) lime
is much superior to dung. Its effects continue for a longer
period, while the crops pi'oduced are of a superior quality,
and less susceptible of injury from the excesses of drought
and moisture. The ground likewise, more especially if it
be of a strong nature, is much more easily wrought; and, in
some instances, the saving of labor alone would be sufficient
to induce a farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit
derived from the application than the opportunity thereby
gained of working it in a more perfect manner.

7. Rules for the management of Lime. 1. It is necessary
to ascertain the quality of the soil to which lime is proposed
to be applied ; and whether it has formerly been limed; and
to what extent. In general, it may be observed, that strong
loams and stubborn clays require a full dose to bring them
into action, as such soils are capable of absorbing a great
quantity of calcareous matter. Lighter soils, however, re-
quire less lime to stimulate them ; and may be injured by
administering a quantity of lime recently calcined, that would
prove moderately beneficial to those of a heavy nature. 2.
As the effects of lime greatly depend on its intimate admix-
ture with the surface soils, it is expedient to have it in a
powdered state before it is applied, and the drier and the
more perfectly powdered the better. 3. Lime having a ten-
dency to sink in the soil, it cannot be ploughed in with too
shallow a furrow, or kept too near the surface. 4. Lime
ought not to be applied a second time to weak or poor soils,
unless mixed with a compost ; after which the land should
be immediately laid down to grass. *

The following, on the " Stimulation of Soils," was written

* Encyclo|TOedia of Agriculture.
16*

186 THE COMPLETE FARMER

by the Hon. John Welles, of Boston, and published in the
New England Farmer.

" From a frequent perusal of the benefits derived from lime
in its application to soil in Europe, I have been induced for
more than a score of years, successively, to make use of it
for agricultural purposes, to the extent of more than one
hundred casks annually.

" One of my first experiments arose from a desire to give
a top-dressing to a piece of land, which it was otherwise in-
convenient to do. The soil was a heavy black loam. Hav-
ing a quantity of black earth from a trench, (or top stratum,)
I procured a quantity of lime. A bottom of four or five buck
loads of earth was first placed; then a couple of casks of
lime were spread thereon; then earth and lime again, till
my materials were used, or the quantity needed was had, at
the rate of eight or ten casks to the acre; thus a cask be-
ing supposed to produce about five bushels of slacked lime,
the cost of which, if the casks are swelled and the lime
partly slacked, is eight to ten cents a bushel. This is the
most moderate application in Europe, and the cost is about
the same.

"This mixture, after lying twelve or fourteen days, was
shovelled over, and after some days being found fine and
well mixed, was spread from the cart on the ground. To
my surprise, I found the effect produced to be equal to what
is usual from common compost manure !

" In England, where lime is most used for agricultural
purposes, it is considered that in its crude state, or uncal-
cined state, it is most beneficial, if pounded or made fine.
This, where limestone abounds, it is well to know; but there
is little of it in this neighbourhood. Encouraged by this
experiment, I continued to purchase and apply considera-
able quantities of damaged and air-slacked lime * in my cul-
tivation, particularly for a low, flat piece of land. This be-
ing intersected with small ditches, furnished the earth I
was not able otherwise to procure to mix with the lime. It
is not well, however, in such cases, to lower the surface by
taking off more than will keep the ditches open. When the
earth is tough with sward, &c., it may be made finer by be-
ing carted out and put in heaps on the ground, and spread
afterwards. Indeed this is done to great advantage in the

* Lime long exposed to the air, such as sweepings of stores, &c., is of less
value and more cheaply obtained.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. ^ 187

winter; the poaching the land, or making a rough surface
for the scythe, being then well avoided.

" As this land cannot advantageously be ploughed, I have,
in applying every third year a top-dressing, as my custom
is, ahernated, giving first a dressing of earth and lime, and
at the expiration of three years, a coat of compost manure.

" This has been done on the principle that a more judi-
cious mixture would be made, and a better composition of
soil be had. I have been guided herein from general rea-
soning, not from any proof that the lime might not be re-
peated.

" It seems, however, to be a prevailing opinion, where
lime has been most in use, that it opens the sod and makes
it more porous, giving thereby a better action to other ma-
nures, which a judicious husbandry should in succession ap-
ply. In this application of lime to a grass sward, in a deep
springy soil, I have been for a long time well satisfied. It
was several years before I undertook the same practice on a
light soil, and I did it with less expectation. But I was
somewhat surprised to find it equally beneficial.

" So far lime has been mentioned as a component article
in top-dressing for a green sward. Its effect will be shown
on ploughed land, and in a grain crop.

" With a view of increasing fertility, I frequently have
applied on the side of the hills of Indian corn a small hand-
ful of slacked lime. I so placed it, lest the caustic quality
of the lime should prove injurious to the tender plant when
it first started from the soil. This is my opinion and prac-
tice; though I have often since seen large pieces slacken
and expand on the soil without injury to the grass, which in
a lively green color pierced through it. This application of
lime to the hill I continued for some time, and though small
in quantity or effect, I still thought it of some advantage. I
was led, however, to a more extensive and satisfactory exper-
iment.

" I had a piece of ground of about four acres, of rather
light soil, which gave promise of a very small crop of grass.
Being without the means of obtaining manure, as I had a
quantity of earth of the top stratum, taken up on building a
wall, I forthwith procured a quantity of lime and mixed it in
the manner before mentioned. About the middle of June
I had the grass mowed and the land ploughed. The lime
compost was then spread and lightly harrowed in. An early
sort of yellow corn, which when ripe husked itself, was pro-

188 THE COMPLETE FARMER

cured. And my neighbours, who knew the process, were, in
the fall of the year, much surprised by the stout ears of
golden grain thus unfolded to view !

" It has been observed, that if lime is a fertilizer of soil,
why is it that where it abounds and often forms an under
stratum a greater fertility does not prevail ? To this it may
be answered, that lime is a constituent principle, it is believ-
ed, in all soil, and may be supplied, where from experience a
deficiency is found. But when it superabounds, as in most
other things, excess may be injurious. In all this more ex-
perience is wished for, as the only safe and profitable
guide."

The following is extracted from a letter from Daniel Buck-
ley, Esq., of Salisbury, Pennsylvania, to J. Buel, Esq. pub-
lished in " Memoirs of the New York Board of Agriculture,"
Vol. III. p. 124.

"The land which I cultivate, according to M'Clure's trea-
tise, is transition, composed of white and yellow clay and
limestone, much of the latter appearing on the surface, in-
termixed with flint. Upon this soil I have made a liberal
use of lime, ever since the year 1790, and think I have been
well rewarded for the expense and labor, by the increased
value of my crops.

" The method of applying the lime which I have adopted
in common with my neighbours is, in the first place, to plough
up a sod field with a strong team, in the spring or fall; har-
row it the way it is ploughed, and mark the field into as
many squares as you intend to put on half-bushels, say one
hundred on the acre, which will bring the furrows about
twenty feet apart each way, and require fifty bushels to the
acre. This quantity I have found to be most profitable.
When the lime is burnt, and as soon as it is cool enough to
handle, it ought to be hauled on the land already marked,
and a half bushel deposited in the centre of each square, in
as compact a heap as possible. If water is convenient, I
prefer to slack the lime immediately, rather than to wait for
rain, as it becomes finer and can be more evenly spread. As
soon as it has slacked, it is immediately spread and well har-
rowed. This method I prefer for Indian corn, barley, oats,
rye, and potatoes. On all the above crops I have experienc-
ed a great benefit from lime the first year after its applica-
tion. With potatoes I add about fifteen two-horse loads of
barn-yard manure to the acre, before planting. A second
liming is often given, and much approved of, after an interval

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 189

of three or more years. This amalgamates better, and can
be more intimately mixed with the soil.

" There are good farmers who differ as to the quantity of
lime that is most profitably applied; some say sixty bushels
on the acre, some seventy, and some more. I have applied
one hundred on an acre of limestone land, at a dressing; but
have not been able to discover any benefit from using it
thus freely, nor any injury except in the loss of lime.

" Wheat seldom receives any benefit from lime imtil the
second or third year after it has been applied, except it lias
been mixed in a compost of yard manure and earth. This
method is much practised in the lower counties of this State;
though not by good farmers, until they have applied lime as
the basis of melioration. By this management they have
raised their lands from an impoverished state, produced by
injudicious cropping, to such a state of fertility, as, I am in-
formed, to enable them to fatten a bullock of six hundred
weight on an acre, and to cut grass from the same acre suffi-
cient to winter another.

" Sandy soils are greatly improved by the use of lime.
I lately purchased some of that kind, which was originally
covered with chestnut timber, and was called mountain land.
It has been cleared seventy years; but lying a distance from
the farm buildings, had never received any manure but a
dressing of lime. This land I have had repeatedly farmed
since I owned it ; and although to appearance it seemed to
be almost a caput mortuum, with the aid of ten or twelve
four-horse loads of the gleanings of a yard of a public house,
it has produced as much, and as good wheat, rye, oats, timo-
thy, and clover to the acre, as any land in the township in
which it lays. I consider the liming which it had fifty years
ago as the principal cause of its fertility.

" It is a general opinion amongst good farmers, that liming
should be repeated every ten or fifteen years, and that the
increased crops richly compensate the expense. It matters
very little how it is applied, provided it is evenly spread im-
mediately after it is slacked. If suffered to air-slack, or to
lie after it has been water-slacked, it re-imbibes carbonic
acid, which the fire had expelled, becomes lumpy, and is
more difficult to be incorporated with the soil. Some spread
it upon the sod and plough it under, and think they have as
much profit from it in this way as in any other. When thus
applied, it powerfully contributes to decompose the tougher

190 THE COMPLETE FARJiER

fibres of the sod, and to convert them into nutriment for the
crop."

Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris. It is said, that the pro-
perties of gypsum as a manure were fast discovered in Ger-
many, by a laborer, at a quarry of that substance. In passing
across a meadow to shorten the distance home, he observed
the luxuriance of the grass where he had walked, and sup-
posing it to be caused by the dust of the gypsum from his
feet and clothes, made experiments, which verified his sup-
position.

Great differences exist among agriculturists respecting the
uses of gypsum and the manner of its operation. Some
have supposed that its efficiency as a manure is altogethe-
owing to its power of attracting moisture from the air. But
Sir Humphrey Davy expressed an opinion, that but little
effect can be produced by such attraction. " When com-
bined with water," he observed, " it retains that fluid too
powerfully to yield it to the roots of the plant, and its ad-
hesive attraction for moisture is inconsiderable; the small
quantity in which it is used likewise is a circumstance un-
favorable to this idea." Some have supposed that gypsum
assists in the putrefaction of animal substances, and the de-
composition of the manure in the soil. This philosopher,
however, proved by repeated experiments, that it rather re-
tards than accelerates putrefaction. He likewise says, " In
examining the ashes of sainfoin, clover, and rye grass, I
found that they aflorded considerable quantities of gypsuin;
and this substance probably is intimately combined as a ne-
cessary part of the woody fibre. If this be allowed, it is
easy to explain why it operates in such small quantities;
for the whole of a clover crop, or sainfoin crop, on an acre,
according to my estimation, would afford by incineration
only three or four bushels of gypsum. The reason why
gypsum is not generally more efficacious, is probably be-
cause that most cultivated soils contain it in sufficient
quantities for the use of the grasses. In the common course
of cultivation gypsum is furnished in the manure ; for it is
contained in stable dung, and in the dung of cattle fed on
grass. Lord Dundas informs me, that having tried gypsum
without any benefit on two of his estates in Yorkshire, he .
was induced to have the soil examined for gypsum, and this -J^"
substance was found in both soils."* >-. 'lJsk

^:^^'

* Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, Lecture VII. "'^SiK

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 191

It has been made a question, whether burning and calcin-
ing gypsum make any difference with regard to its fertihzing
properties. This is said to be the practice among French
cultivators, and was likewise recommended by Dr. Deane.
But an English writer on agriculture observes, that " calcin-
ing is not likely to make any difference, because the sulphu-
ric acid in gypsum cannot be expelled by the most violent
heat of the furnace ; and an experiment of Arthur Young
countenances the assertion, that the effects of gypsum are the
same, whether calcined or rough."

Dr. Joseph E. Muse, of Maryland, in an essay on the sub-
ject of gypsum, and its mode of operation, published in the
"American Farmer," (Vol. I. p. 338,) gives it as his opinion,
"that the chief, if not the only cause of the efficacy of gyp-
sum in promoting vegetation, is to be found in its tendency
to become phosphoric," and produced many facts and deduc-
tions therefrom, to show that gypsum by exposure to the at-
mosphere becomes phosphoric; andthat phosphorus exists in
vegetables.

The late Dr. Gorham, in a paper read before a Society in
Boston, oiaserved, "When plaster of Paris is applied to the
seed it stimulates the little root, the action of the vessels is
thus increased, absorption goes on more rapidly, and it ac-
quires more nourishment for a given time than in ordinary
circumstances; the consequences are a quick growth and
enlargement of the organs."

Colonel Taylor, of Virginia, observed, in substance, that
he sows of plaster from three pecks to one bushel to the
acre. Sown on clover in the spring, it benefits it consider-
ably. The best way of using it is in the spring upon the
long manure of the preceding winter, to be ploughed in with
it. He thinks it a valuable ally, but by no means a substi-
tute for manure. That there should be intervals of two,
three, or four years between applying it to the same land.
That its effect is graduated by the quantity of vegetable
matter on which it is sown. That on closely grazed land it
does little good at first, and repeated would become perni-
cious; and that it must be united either with long manure
of the winter, or the ungrazed vegetable cover produced in
the summer. That all crops are ultimately improved by its
improving the soil, even when its effects are not immediately
visible; but he does not recommend it as a top-dressing,
except for clover.

M. Canolle, a French writer, observes, that plaster, act-

192 THE COMPLETE FARMER

ing chiefly on the absorbent system of plants, its effects are
not like those of manure buried in the soil, which act prin-
cipally on the roots. The latter, according to their particu-
lar nature, divide, soften, enrich, warm, or stiffen the sods
with which they are mixed. The quantity of plaster spread
upon the land is so trifling that it can have little effect on
the soil. I speak from experience. Plaster buried in the
earth where sainfoin has been sown, has produced little al-
teration; whilst the same quantity of plaster spread over the
same surface of sainfoin has produced the most beautiful
vegetation.

" From this experience, so uniform in the application of
plaster, I am led to believe, that one must consult as well
the nature of the soil, as the kind of plants to which we ap-
ply plaster. Thus, whatever may be the soil, on which clo-
ver, lucerne, and sainfoin naturally flourish vigorously, or
with that vigor which encourages us to apply manure, there
is no risk in trying plaster.

" It is to be remarked, that plaster operates on plants in a
direct ratio to the size and number of their leaves. I have
spread plaster on land where sainfoin was mixed with the
common grasses which compose our meadows. The growth
of the sainfoin and wild honey-suckle has been beyond com-
parison greater than that of the common grasses. It is to
this cause I attribute the failure of success on grass ground
chiefly filled with common grasses. I have a field of lucerne
separated from a natural meadow only by a brook. I have
greatly increased the lucerne by the plaster, whilst the effect
of a like quantity on the adjoining grass land was scarcely,
if at all perceivable.

*' It has been ascertained by repeated experiments, that a
liberal application of plaster to clover, at the time of turning
it down and preparing for a wheat crop, is by far the most
advantageous to the crop, and much preferable to turning in
the clover in the usual way, and plastering on the surface.
The action of the plaster, thus excluded from atmospheric
air, upon the clover, covered over, is instantaneous, and the
putridity is so certain as to cause considerable gas, which in
its passage through the clod impregnates it with all its ma-
nuring qualities, and the root of the plant shoots down and
feeds on a bed of manure."*

A writer for "The New England Farmer," (Vol. II. p.

* American Farmer.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 193

10,) states, in substance, as results of his experience, that
plaster was found by him to be useful as manure, after hav-
ing been kept on hand in a box seven years; that its benefi-
cial effects on pasture land are very great. He sows it on
the same piece of ground every second year, and thinks five
or six pecks to an acre are sufficient; that his pasturing is
essentially improved by that application, producing nearly
double the quantity of food which it formerly did; that sow-
ing plaster on his grazing land had a tendency to destroy
the bushes, by giving increased luxuriance to the grass; that
this manure has been found very useful for flax and pota-
toes, &.C.

Dr. Cooper, editor of the last Philadelphia edition of
" Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia," says, " Gypsum will
not answer beyond two and a half bushels to the acre ; one
and a half bushel is better. It will not answer on wet or
swampy, or clayey soils. It should be scattered over the
ground as a top-dressing. Suppose you were asked if a
stone brought you is gypsum. 1 . Gypsum can be scratched
by the nail, scraped by a knife, ground by the teeth. 2. It
will not dissolve in spirits of salt as limestone will; nor is
it half so hard as limestone. 3. Its color and crystalline
appearance distinguish it from clay ; nor does it give a clayey
odor when breathed upon, unless clay be mixed with it. 4.
Powder it, boil it to dryness, with four times its weight of
pot oi;- pearlash. Wash out all that the hot water will dis-
solve ; the remaining powder (if the stone be gypsum) is
carbonate of lime."

Gypsum has been highly recommended as a manure for
potatoes. The potatoes, just before planting, should be wet
and rolled in pulverized plaster; and a handful of plaster
applied immediately after the first and second hoeing to the
leaves, and scattered over the hill.

A writer for "The Genesee Farmer," with the signature
" Onondago," observes, "Pla.ster is always to be sown on
wheat unless the land is wanted for a spring crop the ne.xt
year, after clover seed, at the rate of one, two, or even
three bushels per acre. After harvest the young clover
ought not to be pastured much, if any; the next year the
clover is suffered to grow as large as it can be, and be well
turned over, which is then done, the ground fallowed and the
wheat sown ; the next year sow the clover seed and plaster,
and so on from year to year ad infinitum, the land always
getting better, as is suppospd l)y those who practise this
17 •

194 THE COMPLETE FARMER

method. Plaster we think should be sown in pasture. An
old farmer, and one who has proved his skill by making a
fortune at the business, and who now tills nearly five hun-
dred acres, told me, that a ton of plaster sown on ten acres
of pasture would make it yield as much as fifteen acres un-
der the like circumstances without plaster."

J. Spicer, in " Goodsell's Farmer," says, " When I apply
plaster to corn, which I have done for nearly three years
past, I mix it with one-half leached ashes, as they are leached
for common family use ; put it in a cart, and shovel and mix
it well. I then put one gill to the hill immediately after the
first hoeing, and the same thing over after the second hoe-
ing. I have tried the same quantity of clear plaster, side
and side, twice, and find the mixture to produce the greatest
effects."

The Hon. J. Lowell, in an article published in "The
New England Farmer," (Vol. V. p. 1,) contradicts an idea
which has been generally prevalent, that gypsum is of no
use to lands near the seacoast, and observes as follows :

" I shall set out with the fact, that plaster has been used
with success on lands on the seacoast of France, where the
southwest wind, the prevalent one in summer, in that coun-
try, brings with it the ocean air : and in our country, in
Massachusetts, for example, the prevalent winds do not bring
with them an atmosphere filled with saline particles. It can-
not therefore be the vicinity to the sea which renders gypsum
inert and inefficacious with us. The cause of its inefficacy
near the seacoast, must therefore be sought for in something
else ; in the nature of our soil, perhaps already sufficiently
imbued with the constituent parts of gypsum, or in our more
free use of stable manure, which furnishes the plants with
all the food they require.

" I have been in a constant and invariable course of ex-
periments on plaster, and these are the results. It seems to
be of no use, ever, to clover, on low meadow lands ; of no
use to any plants on a good rich, well-manured soil. But I
have three decisive proofs of its utility on dry, hilly, gravelly
soils.

" The first I shall mention, was an experiment made by the
late R. S. Esq., of Roxbury, on a lofty hill of old pasture
land. He applied it for several years, and his own convic-
tion was, and it was also the full conviction of many others,
that it materially improved the condition of his pasture. It
was green at an earlier period, and the white clover came

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 195

into it more generally and luxuriantly than into other lands
in the same situation.

" Seven years since, I applied plaster to a newly laid down
field of clover, one half of which was a dry, gravelly knoll,
with very little vegetable soil. When it was lit for cutting,
I showed it to the trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Society, and without pointing out to them the part to
which the plaster had been applied, they at once, on sight
of it, detected and pointed out the superiority of the crop
on the part to which the gypsum had been applied ; and
their designation agreed, by metes and bounds, with the
stakes I had driven, indicating the part to which plaster had
been applied, and which were then concealed by the grass.
This superior crop was on a pure gravelly soil, far inferior
to the rest, which was a deep rich loam.

" This year I had a piece of clover in its second year of
growth. It was similarly situated. Two thirds of it was a
gravelly, thin soil. I cut the whole on the 10th day of June.
The gravelly part, owing to the drought, did not yield more
than half a ton to the acre ; the rich part an excellent crop.
As soon as the hay was in, I gave a dressing of plaster to
the gravelly knoll only, at the rate of three bushels to the
acre.

"The effect has been as great as has ever been represent-
ed to be produced by gypsum by persons in the interior.
The second crop on the gravelly land is far superior to that
on a rich and deep soil in the same field. It may be discov-
ered at ten rods' distance ; and you can mark by your eyes
precisely the line of the ground to which the plaster was
applied.

" Gypsum is of no service on low lands, or on good land,
nor of much use to any products except to clover and lu-
cerne; but on sandy and gravelly soils, and applied to these
plants, especially in dry seasons, I am convinced it will
prove valuable. I paid only four dollars for ten bushels,
ground; and I applied only sixty cents' worth to this land,
and am convinced, that the plaster will increase the value of
the second crop to five times the cost of the application."

A writer for "The Genesee Farmer," with the signature
"V. W. S.," recommends to sow plaster from the box of a
wagon, driven slowly over the field in which it is to be dis-
tributed. He sowed five and a half bushels of plaster over
four acres of meadow in just an hour, and performed his
work well; sowed the ground twice over, extending the cast

196 THE COMPLETE FARMER

each time to the track the wheels last made, by which the
driver guided his course across the lot. The writer recom-
mends a windy day for his purpose, and believes a yoke of
cattle might be preferable to a horse. He says :

" It will be readily perceived, that while my mode of sow-
ing plaster makes a great saving of manual strength, the
great advantage derived from it is, in the expedition with
which the process is performed. One man and boy, in a
one-horse cart, can dress from forty to sixty acres per day ;
thus making a very important saving of time, at a season
when the farmer is obliged to husband closely. The injury
of driving a wagon over a field of grain would be but little,
and could not be considered a moment, when compared with
the value of the time gained. In sowing from a wagon it
will be found necessary to stop occasionally, to pick up or
loosen the plaster, which becomes compacted by its motion.
The elevated position of the sower enables him to make a
very broad cast, and if advantage is taken of the wind, he
will be able to avoid the respiration of any great quantities
of dust."

Marl consists of calcareous matter, clay, and sand, or
some two of these earths, (of which lime or chalk is always
one,) in various proportions. The blue clay marl is free
from sand. Clay marl is also sometimes of a yellowish
white, yellowish gray, or a brown or red cast. The shell
marl seldom contains clay. In schistus or stone marl, some-
times sand and sometimes clay preponderates, generally the
former. The sand marl, whether shell or schistus, should
be applied to clays; and clay marls to sands. In both cases
they correct the defects of the soil, by rendering it, in
the first, less adhesive ; and, in the latter, less open and
porous.

The earths are not the food of plants. They constitute
the stomach, analogous to the stomach of animals, in which
vegetable and animal matter is received, digested, and with
the aid of the leaves [lungs] assimilated to vegetable chyle
and blood. The best soil for this digestive process, is that
in w'hich the three above-named earths are suitably blended.
A sandy or gravelly soil is called hungry, because it
digests rapidly, and dissipates the food committed to its bo-
som. Hence green crops, or frequent manurings, are ne-
cessary to continue it healthy and productive. Such soils
are defective in clay and calcareous matter. Their texture
may therefore be improved, and their fertility increased, by

ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 197

the application of clay marl ; or, what is the same, by clay
and lime separately; though these materials are found most
pure and best blended in the substance of marl. The quan-
tity should be proportioned to the natural deficiency of these
materials in the soil. From eight to one hundred loads per
acre have been applied in one or two dressings; and their
beneficial effects have been known to continue thirty years.
All the sand soils of Norfolk, England, have been marled
[clayed]. Calcareous, matter, combined with sulphuric acid
[oil of vitriol], is usefully applied to soils in the form of gyp-
sum, or plaster of Paris; as is also powdered limestone and
chalk, both calcareous. I am induced to believe that neither
wheat nor sainfoin grass will thrive in a soil destitute of
calcareous matter, which is the condition with most of our
sands.

A stiff, moist clay, is called cold, and is unfriendly to the
finer grasses as well as grains. Its texture is too compact
to permit the roots to extend freely, and its temperature too
cold to carry on the digestive process sufficiently rapid for
the plants which grow upon its surface. Sand and lime, or
siliceous marl, loosen its texture, render it permeable to
heat. Sac, and powerfully assist to concoct the food of vege-
tables.

Marl may be known by the most ordinary observer. The
application of a mineral acid, and even of good vinegar, will
cause an effervescence. This is the operation of the acid
upon the lime. Its siliceous and argillaceous properties may
be ascertained by the sight and feeling, by the aid of water,
or of glass. Sand subsides or settles quicker than clay in a
liquid; and will scratch glass, which clay will not.

It is a remarkable fact in the economy of nature, that the
indigenous plants of every country are precisely those which
are best adapted to furnish the proper sustenance to its ani-
mal population, and to satisfy its medicinal wants. So in
regard to our soils; every district generally affords the means
of producing fertility. Hence the clay marls generally un-
derlay sands ; and shell and sand marls most abound, in the
neighbourhood of clays. And in addition to the variety of
fossil substances which are calculated to increase fertility,
every thing that grows upon the earth, every particle of ani-
mal and vegetable matter, is reduced to air and water by the
chemical operations of nature, and in these forms become
the food of new plants, to nourish animals. It is a truth
calculated to teach humihtv, that the animal, the vegetable,
17*

198 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and the putrid mass of dung, are found on chemical analysis
to be very nearly alike, and that, in the natural order of
things, they constantly nourish, feed, and produce each oth-
er. " Nothing is nourishment for a vegetable but what
enters into the permanent composition of a vegetable.
Nothing is nourishment for an animal but what was original-
ly a vegetable." Man is enjoined to earn his bread by the
sweat of his brow. He finds the most noble incitements to
duty scattered around him, and he is seldom disappointed
in obtaining the rewards, competence, and health, which
industry promises to her votaries. But I have another re-
mark to make as to the food of vegetables. How scrupu-
lously careful is the farmer of his grain, hay, and roots,
which are destined to nourish and fatten his animals ; and
yet how thoughtless and inattentive as to the food of his
plants ! Vegetable and animal substances are suffered to
waste in his fields and yards, unmindful of the havoc which
the rains, winds, and sand, are daily making upon them;
while a moiety of his fertilizing materials, the urine of his
stock, is altogether lost. He will not suffer the flocks of
his neighbours to rob his own of their food; yet he sees, with
but feeble efforts to prevent it, his plants plundered by
pestiferous weeds of the food which is essential to their
health and vigor.

" To find the composition of a marl, pour a few ounces of
diluted muriatic acid into a Florence flask; place them in a
scale, and let them be balanced: then reduce a few ounces
of dry marl into powder; and let this powder be carefully
and gradually thrown into the flask, until, after repeated ad-
ditions, no farther effervescence is perceived. Let the re-
mainder of the powdered marl be weighed, by which the
quantity projected will be known. Let the balance be then
restored. The difference of weight between the quantity
projected and that requisite to restore the balance, will show
the weight of air lost during effervescence. [That air pro-
ceeds from the calcareous earth alone, which contains forty-
four per cent, of this carbonic acid air. Suppose five
hundred grains of marl lose forty-four grains by the escape
of air, then that marl contained one hundred grains, or one-
fifth of its whole weight, of limestone. — T. C] If the loss
amount to twenty or twenty-five per cent, of the quantity of
marl projected, the marl assayed is calcareous marl, or marl
rich in calcareous earth. Clayey marls, or those in which
the argillaceous ingredient prevails, lose only eight or ten

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 199

per cent, of their weight by this treatment, and sandy marls
about the same proportion. The presence of much argilla-
ceous earth may be judged by drying the marl, after being
washed with spirit of salt, when it will harden and form a
brick.

"To determine with still greater precision the quantity of
calcareous earth in marl, let the solution in muriatic acid be
filtered and mixed with a solution of carbonate of potash,
till no farther precipitation appear. Let the sediment sub-
side; wash it well with water; lay it on a filter, previously
■weighed, and dry it. The weight of the dry mass will show
how much carbonate of lime the quantity of marl submitted
to experiment contained. See Kirwan on Manures.

" The quantity necessary to be used, varies according to
the nature of the soil; but the utmost caution is requisite,
because if too large a portion be scattered on the land, it
cannot be easily removed, and if too little be employed, the
deficiency may be readily supplied. On sandy, gravelly, or
light soils, it will be advisable to spread as much as will
form a thick coat, in order to bind and stiffen the ground.
But, of whatever nature the land may be, the most judicious
cultivators recommend such a portion to be laid on it, as will
form a thin coat over the whole surface.

" The proper season for snarling is the summer; as this
kind of manure is then perfectly dry, and not only lighter,
but also more easily reduced to a powder. Marl, however,
may be advantageously spread during the winter frosts; as
in the latter season, there are few opportunities of perform-
ing other labors of the field.

" Previously to marling, the land ought to be diligently
cleared from all weeds, and rendered level, both with the
brake and the common harrow, so that the marl may be
equally spread on the surface, where it should be suffered to
lie during the winter. In the month of February, [March,
or April,] and in dry weather, it will be proper to draw a
bush-harrow, well weighted, over the land, that the marl
may be uniformly distributed ; but, as this manure is very
ponderous, and sinks to the bottom of the furrow, if injudi-
ciously ploughed in, it has been suggested to turn it into an
ebb-furrow for the first crop : during the growth of the latter,
the marl will incorporate with and become a part of the
soil, from which it does not readily separate. So permanent,
indeed, are its fertilizing properties, that if land be properly
marled, it will continue arable for the space of twelve or

200 THE COMPLETE FARMER

fourteen years ; and, for pasture, during a much longer
period.

"A good aHificial marl may be prepared by mixing equal
quantities of pure clay and lime, in alternate layers, so as to
form a heap, which should be exposed to the winter frost :
this compound is well calculated for light lands ; but if the
soil be strong and heavy, it will be necessary to substitute
loam and sand for the clay. Such compositions may be
usefully employed where marl is not easily procured ; as
they will amply repay the labor bestowed on mixing them,
being little interior to the genuine calcareous earth." —
Domestic Encyclopedia.

An English writer on agriculture observes, that " whoever
finds marl finds a mine of great value. It is one of the best
and most general manures in nature; proper for all soils,
and particularly so for clay." It is usually found under
moss or peat, in low sunken lands, and especially nigh the
sea or large rivers. It has been sometimes discovered by
ant-hills, as those insects bring up small pieces of shells from
their holes.

Peat is a well-known substance, used both for manure and
for fuel. In its natural state peat is of but little or no ser-
vice as manure, but by exposing it to the effects of fermenta-
tion it becomes very useful as food for plants. In its unfer-
mented state it contains a considerable quantity of tannin,
which is a powerful astringent, resisting all approaches to
putrefaction ; and is impregnated with acids injurious to
vegetation, which can be expelled by fermentation with barn-
yard manure, and other suitable substances.

The following method of preparing peat for manure is
extracted from a small treatise by lord Meadowbanks, which
was printed and distributed gratis among the Scottish pea-
santry, and- has been highly approved of both by practical
and scientific cultivators.

" Let the peat-moss, of which compost is to be formed,
be thrown out of the pit for some weeks or months, in order
to lose its redundant moisture. By this means it is rendered
the lighter to carry, and less compact and weighty, when
made up with fresh dung for fermentation; and accordingly,
less dung is required for the purpose, than if the preparation
is made with peat taken recently from the pit. The peat
taken from near the surface, or at a considerable depth, an-
swers equally well. And the more compact the peat, and

AXD RURAL ECONOMIST. 201

the fitter to prove good fuel, so much the more promising it
is to be prepared for manure.

" Take the peat-moss to a dry spot, convenient for con-
structing a dunghill, to serve the field to be manured. Lay
the cart-loads of it in two rows, and of the dung in a row
betwixt them. The dung thus lies on the area of the com-
post dunghill, and the rows of peat should be near enough
each other, that workmen in making up the compost may be
able to throw them together by the spade. In making up,
let the workmen begin at one end; and at the extremity of
the row of dung, (which should not extend quite so far at
that end as the rows of peat on each side of it do,) let them
lay a bottom of peat, six inches deep, and fifteen feet wide.
Then throw forward, and lay about ten inches of dung above
the bottom of peat; then four or five of dung ; and then
cover it over with peat at the end where it was begun, at
the two sides, and above. The compost should not be
raised above four feet and a half high, otherwise it is apt to
press too heavily on the under parts, and check the fermen-
tation: unless the peat, when dry, be very puffy and light,
and then a much greater height is desirable. Neither should
it be much lower, otherwise it will prove wanting in the
compactness, and soon also, if the weather is very dry, in
the moisture required for the ingredients of which it con-
sists, to act chemically on each other. When a beginning
is thus made, the workmen will proceed working backwards,
and adding to the column of compost as they are furnished
with the three roAvs of materials directed to be laid down
for them. They must take care not to tread on the compost,
or render it too compact; and of consequence, in propor-
tion as the peat is wet, it should be made up in lumps, and
not much mashed or broken.

" In mild weather, seven cart-loads of common farm-yard
dung, tolerably fresh made, is sufficient for twenty-one cart-
loads of peat-moss; but in cold weather, a larger proportion
of dung is desirable; at least, it is prudent to omit putting
any peat between the two upper layers of dung, and rather
thicken the outer coating with peat. It is also proper in
winter, if ground with a dry bottom can be conveniently em-
ployed for the purpose, to increase greatly the breadth of the
dunghill, which, in that case, maybe done without any limit,
by adding, all round the dunghill, circles, consisting of layers
of dung and peat, of seven feet in breadth. And if the mass
of the dunghill is thus enlarged, there is little occasion to

202 THE COMPLETE FARMEH

exceed the proportion of dung recommended for making up
to prepare in the milder season ; especially if a covering of
coarse vegetables of any sort, such as waste hay or straw,
rushes, broom, or furze, or brushwood of evergreens, is
thrown over the dunghill. In fact, a covering of this sort is
scarce less useful in summer to prevent the escape of mois-
ture, than in winter to exclude cold.

"To every twenty-eight cart-loads of the compost, when
made up, it is of use to throw on above it a cart-load of
ashes, either made from coal, peat, or wood; or if these can-
not be had, half the quantity of slacked lime may be used,
the more finely powdered the better. But these additions
are in nowise essential to the general success of the com-
post, provided a sufficiency of time is allowed to the prepa-
ration to compensate for the want of them.

" The dung to be used should either have been recently
made, or kept fresh by compression; as by the treading of
cattle or swine, or by carts passing over it. And if there is
little or no litter in it, a smaller quantity will serve, pro-
vided any spongy vegetable matter is added at making up the
compost, as fresh weeds, the rubbish ofa stack-yard, potato-
shaws, sawings of timber, &c. And as some sorts of
dung, even when fresh, are much more advanced in decora-
position than others, it is material to attend to this; for a
much less proportion of such dung, especially if abounding
in animal matter, as is less advanced, will serve for the com-
post, provided care is taken to keep the mass sufficiently
open, either by a mixture of the above-mentioned substances,
or, if these are wanting, by adding the peat piecemeal, that
is, first mixing it up in the usual proportion of three to one
of dung, and then, after a time, adding an equal quantity,
more or less, of peat. The dung of this character of great-
est quantity is shamble-dung, with which, under the above
precautions, six times the quantity of peat, or more, may be
prepared. The same holds as to pigeon-dung and other
fowl-dung; and to a certain extent, also, as to that which is
collected from towns, and made by animals that feed on
grains, refuse of distilleries, &c.

" The compost, after it is made up, gets into a general
heat, sooner or later, according to the weather and the con-
dition of the dung; in summer, in ten days or sooner ; in
winter, not perhaps for many weeks, if the cold is severe.
It always, however, has been found to come on at last; and
in summer, it sometimes rises so high as to be mischievous,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 203

by consuming the materials, (fire-fanging.) In that season
a stick should be kept in it in different parts, to pull out and
feel now and then ; for if it approaches to blood-heat, it
should either be watered or turned over ; and on such an
occasion, advantage may be taken to mix with it a little
fresh peat. The heat subsides, after a time, and with great
variety, according to the weather, the dung, and the perfec-
tion of the making up of the compost; which then may be
allowed to remain untouched, until within three or four
weeks of using, when it should be turned over, upside down,
and outside in, and all lumps broken: then it comes into a
second heat, but soon cools, and is fit to be taken out for
use. In this state the whole, except bits of the old decayed
wood, appears a black free mass, and spreads like garden-
mould. Use it, weight for weight, as farm-yard dung; and
it will be found, in a course of cropping, fully to stand the
comparison."

Many other articles are useful for manure, such as blood,
offals of animals, hair, refuse feathers, woollen rags, hoofs
and horns of cattle, sheep, Stc. ; bones of all kinds, pound-
ed, broken, or ground, at the rate of sixty bushels to the
acre; raw skins; fish of all kinds; swamp mud, river mud,
pond mud and sea mud, wood ashes, turfs, sea-weeds, moss
mixed with dung in holes, — good for potatoes, — turf from
highways, &c. ; shells of shell-fish; scrapings of streets and
back yards ; rubbish of old houses, and earth which has
long been under cover. Both of these collect and retain
nitre. Old brine of salted meat or fish, which contains, be-
sides salt, some blood, oil, &c., in composts. Sea water,
which contains other substances besides water and salt,
which are fit for nourishing plants. Soap-suds, replete with
a prepared food for plants; excellent for watering gardens
in dry weather. None of this should ever be lost. If the
garden be distant or wet, it may enrich the dung heap.
Water in the hollows of farm-yards. Instead of suffering
this liquor to soak into the earth, it should be taken up by
straw litter, or some absorbent substance thrown into it, or
carried out in a water-cart, and sprinkled over land which
needs it, in the manner in which streets are watered in
cities.

In the " New England Farmer," (Vol. IX. p. 245,) was
published an article written by Hon. John Lowell, from
which the following is extractecl:

" A few years since, the Hon William Ellis, of Dedham,

204 THE COMPLETE FARMER

recommended to me the use of the head and feet bones of
oxen, as a highly valuable manure on meadow lands. He
said he had observed, in passing, that I had grounds re-
markably well adapted for this manure. I, however, neglect-
ed this hint, though I constantly kept it in mind, until the
last year, when, seeing an immense load of the heads of
oxen passing by, I inquired of the owner for what purpose
he was carting these materials, and he answered me to the
following facts, viz. : that he came down a distance of eight
miles with an empty team, and was carrying back a load,
which cost him two dollars, to put on his meadow land. I
found it was no new experiment with him, and that he came
often for that purpose.

" I made the experiment. Its success surpassed all his
descriptions. The manure brought in new grasses. It en-
couraged and invigorated the old.

" I am aware it is only of limited application, but it is no
trifling thing to render useful an article formerly thrown
away. We know so little of the philosophy of manure, that
I shall not speak positively on the subject. All I shall say
is, that there is much animal matter still adhering to the
bones, and animal matter has been found by experience to
promote the growth of vegetables.

"The mode of application is, to break them up with a
sledge, or with the back of an axe, and then to press them
below the surface by a rammer or beetle. The only point
to which I offer my testimony is, that Ihe effects are much
greater than an equal quantity of horse and cow dung. This
may be relied on."

FENCES. The kinds of fence and manner of fencing,
should vary, according to the difference of soils and the
kinds of materials for fencing. In new lands logs are and
ought to be most used. When built of white pine, they will
last about twenty years. Other sorts of wood, such as pitch-
pine, hemlock, ash, oak, &c., will endure for a considerable
time if not placed too near the ground. If a fence be made
partly of white pine and partly of other wood, the former
should be laid nearest to the ground. If logs are peeled
they will last the longer in fences.

It has been practised by some farmei-s to make posts for
fences very durable by the following simple process. They

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 205

bore a hole in that part of the post which, when set, will be
just at the surface of the earth, with such a slope as will
carry it downward an inch or two. They then fill the hole
with salt, which will preserve the timber a long time from
decay.

In many parts of the country posts and rails will be found
the cheapest materials for fence. In making fences of this
description, it is advised by Mr. Preston, of Stockport, Penn-
sylvania, to set the posts with the top parts in the ground;
and he asserts that they will, in that position, last three or
four times as long as when they are set with the butt ends
down. He advises, also, in making fences, always to place
the rails with the heart side up.

The best timber for rails, according to Dr. Deane, is red
cedar. It is easy to split, light to carry and handle, suffi-
ciently strong, and the most durable of any. In the Trans-
actions of the Society of Arts, in England, there is an ac-
count which states, in substance, that posts of oak, and oth-
ers of chestnut, were set down in Somersetshire, where they
had to undergo repairs in eighteen years. The oak posts
were then found to be unserviceable, and the chestnut very
little worn. The oak posts were renewed, the chesnut re-
mained, and in twenty-five years afterwards they were not
so much rotted as the oak.

If the lower ends of posts are scorched in a hot flame be-
fore they are put into the ground, they will last the longer.
Some recommend soaking them in sea-water to keep them
from rotting. The posts should be set at least two feet in
the ground. Some farmers cut their posts so long, and mor-
tise them in such a manner, that they can turn them upside
down, when the lower ends become rotten.

It is said in the Barnstable Journal, that " Deacon Wins-
low Martin has on his farm a kind of fence, which for dura-
bility and beauty can hardly be exceeded. On each side of
the road adjacent his dwelling, are rows of large button-
wood trees, set ten or twelve feet asunder. Into these, when
young, cedar rails were inserted, as into common posts. As
the trees increased in size, the wood formed closely around
the ends of the rails, and firmly secured them in their
places. It is certainly a durable and cheap fence, because
it will require no repairs at least for one generation, and is
moreover constantly increasing in value. Were our roads
lined with this kind of fence, it would add not a little to the
beauty of the country and the comfort of the traveller."
18

206 THE COMPLETE FARMER

The "Farmer's Guide" observes, that "post and rail fences
and board fences are very good where the soil is dry. In a
wet soil, the posts will be moved by frost. Red cedar, locust,
and chestnut, are best. Butternut, black walnut, and oak,
are pretty good, lasting about fifteen years. For the rails,
cedar is best, lasting perhaps an age. If timber is scarce,
and the ground is level and free from stones, post and rail
fences, set in a bank of the earth of two small ditches,
thrown up together, ought to be preferred. If the posts are
too small to have holes made through them, the rails may be
flattened at the ends, and fastened to the posts with spikes,
or with wooden pins well secured."

When ground is wholly subdued, and the stumps of its
original trees quite rotted out, stone walls, properly made,
are the best and cheapest fences. On hard, sandy, or gravel-
ly soil, a wall will stand many years without repairing. On
a clay or miry soil, the foundation should be laid in a trench,
nearly as low as the earth freezes. But a wall of flat or
square shaped stones will stand pretty well on any soil on
the surface.

A writer for the " Genesee Farmer " gives the following
directions for " Planting Posts for Garden Fences, &c."

" Instead of filling the holes up with the earth taken out
in digging them, I would recommend filling in around the
posts leached ashes instead of common earth, and topping
off" with five or six inches of unleached ashes above the sur-
face of the ground; for it is generally between tvind and
water, as the sailors term it, that garden posts begin to de-
cay. My reason for recommending ashes is, that I have fre-
quently found pieces of board, hoops, and staves, buried
under heaps of leached ashes, which had lain there many
years, and were quite as sound as when first buried. No
doubt many of your readers have noticed the same, in re-
moving old ash-heaps near potash works."

HEDGES. In some soils, situations, and circumstances,
hedge fences will be found most advisable and economical.
The following remarks on this subject, by the Hon. John
Lowell, were published in the " New England Farmer,"
Vol. X. p. 339.

"It is not my intention to recommend live hedges for this
rocky part of the 'United States. Our own stones furnish

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 207

the best divisions we could ask for or desire ; and on most
farms the removal of them from the soil would be economi-
cal, and the placing them as partitions for fields is the cheap-
est and most natural mode of disposing of them. Still, in
New England, there are extensive tracts of country of allu-
vial or diluvial soil, in which no rocks are found, and in
which a stone wall could not be obtained without great ex-
pense. Such is the state of the greater part of the old col-
ony below Plymouth, and of some parts of the county of
Middlesex. But wherever wood fences are required it may
be useful to substitute live hedges.

" The Virginia thorn, is in most cases utterly useless as a
fence. This is chiefly owing to the ravages of a worm at
its root; whether it be the same which attacks the apple and
the quince, is a point not settled. The same objection is
applicable to the English hawthorn. And to this fatal one is
superadded another, the appearance of a fungus of a yellow
color on the leaves, which utterly disfigures them and strips
them of their foliage in September. The gleditsrhia triacan-
thos is not suited for hedges with us. If left to grow they
soon grow out of all reach, if checked they are winter-killed.
We are indebted wholly and entirely to the experiments of
Ezekiel Hersy Derby, Esq. for the possession of a plant,
the buckthorn, {rhamnus catharticus,) which, from ten years'
trial, seems to afford every desirable quality for a healthy,
beautiful, and effectual hedge.

"I have tried this plant for six years. It is hardy and
rapid in its growth, of impenetrable thickness, and so far as
that extent of experiment enables me to judge, not subject
to any disease, or the visitation of any insect whatever.
As it is very provoking as well as expensive to cultivators to
be led astray, and to find after five or ten years that they
have been deceived, they would do well to examine growing
hedges of the buckthorn."

The following is extracted from a notice of Mr. Derby of
the cultivation and uses of the buckthorn. The tree from
which my plants were raised, formerly stood in the garden of
the venerable Dr. Holyoke, who used the berries for medici-
nal purposes, and was as large as any of our common apple-
trees. He was induced at last to cut it down, as it shaded
so much of his garden. I was so pleased with the healthy
and clean appearance of the tree, and the next spring ob-
serving several young plants, raised from seed dropped in

208 THE COMPLETE FARMER

the autumn, that I was induced to transplant them to a nur-
sery, where they grew with great rapidity.

" After trying several kinds of trees for the purpose of
making a hedge, without much success, I was induced to try
this, which has afforded a most beautiful fence, so much so
as to attract the attention of every person who has seen it.
It divides my garden, is about three hundred feet in length,
the plants set nearly a foot apart, is five feet high, and two
feet wide at top, which is cut nearly level. It shoots early
in the spring, makes a handsome appearance, and continues
its verdure till very late in the fall. It has not so much
spine as either the English or American hawthorn, but I
think sufficient to protect it from cattle. The plant bears
the knife or shears remarkably, and makes as close and tight
a fence as either of the others, and is not subject to blight,
as both of them have been with me. The tree furnishes a
large quantity of seed, which rapidly vegetates ; and I
make no doubt it can be propagated by cuttings."

We are apprehensive that no species of thorn can be cul-
tivated to advantage in New England for the purpose of
making hedges, on account principally of the insects which
in this part of the country infest that plant. Some, however,
prefer the American thorn, {crcdcegus cordata.) A valuable
communication relative to the use of this and other plants
for live fences, by B. S., M. D., may be found in the " New
England Farmer," Vol. IX. p. 209.

Upon consulting Mr. Lowell, as to any changes it would
be proper to make on the article of hedges, he states, that
he still gives the preference to the buckthorn, but that the
Newcastle thorn, grown by John Prince, Esq., is more
beautiful, and it bids fair to be as enduring and as free from
disease. The rapidity of growth of the buckthorn is, in his
judgment, a full equivalent for the beauty of the other.

SHEEP, There are a great many varieties of sheep, with
differences more or less marked. To give even an abridged
account of all the kinds described in foreign publications,
would require a large volume. In England, the principal
division of sheep is into the long wool and the short wool
kinds. Among those bearing long wool, are the Leicester,
Devonshire JVots, Exmoor, Heath, the Bakeivell or Dishley

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 209

breeds, &c. &c. The origin of the last-mentioned breed of
sheep is thus described by an EngHsh writer:

" Mr. Bakewell selected from his own flock, and from the
flocks of others, those sheep to breed from, which possessed
in the greatest degree that perfection of form he was de-
sirous to retain and perpetuate. By judiciously crossing
them, and selecting the most perfect of their progeny, he at
length succeeded in forming the breed, which has been dis-
tinguished by the name of the New Leicester, or Disliley
breed; and having attained his object, he carefully guarded
against any future intermixtures, with other breeds. This
breed exceeds all others in its propensity to fatten ; and
by crossing by rams with this breed, a considerable portion
of the long-wooled sheep in England have been greatly
improved in this respect.

"The Dishley breed are distinguished from other long-
wooled breeds by their fine lively eyes, clean heads, straight,
broad, flat backs, round (barrel-like) bodies, very fine small
bones, thin pelts, and inclination to fat at an early age. The
last property is probably owing to the before-specified quali-
ties, which, from observation and experience, there is reason
to believe extend generally through every species of domes-
tic quadrupeds. The Dishley breed is not only peculiar for
the mutton being fat, but also for the fineness of the grain;
the flavor is superior to the mutton of most other long-wool-
ed breeds. The weight of the carcass may be stated in
general : ewes three or four years old, from eighteen to
twenty-six pounds per quarter; wethers two years old, from
twenty to thirty pounds."

Among the short-ivooled sheep, the English possess, be-
sides the Merino breed, Soiilh Downs, the Ryeland, the
Shropshire, the Shellcmd, the Dorset, Wills, 8i.c. &.c. Merino
sheep were first introduced into Great Britain in the year
1787; and although it was formerly a general opinion, that
the excellence of their fleece depended in a great degree
upon the temperature of the Spanish climate, it has been
ascertained that the fineness of the Spanish wool is not im-
paired by breeding the sheep in England, France, Saxony,
Hungary, &c.

It is important in the management of sheep to keep the
store sheep in as equal condition as possible, but not too fat,
all the year round. In the grass season they should be kept
in dry pastures, in which the grass is short and sweet. Dur-
ing the winter they should have a steady and measured al-
18*

210 THE COnpLETE FARMER

lowance of suitable food, and not sometimes be fed profuse-
ly, and at other times scantily.

3Iortimer says, "The farmer should always buy his sheep
from a worse land than his own, and they should be big
boned, and have a long greasy wool. For the choice of
sheep to breed, the ram must be young, and his skin of the
same color with his wool; for the lambs will be of the same
color with his skin. Those ewes which have no horns are
found to be the best breeders."

The farmers of Europe know how to distinguish the age
of sheep by their teeth. When a sheep is one shear, as they
express it, that is, has been sheared but once, or is in its
second year, it has two broad teeth before; when it is two
shear, it will have four; when three, six; when four shear,
or in its fifth year, it will have eight teeth before. After
this, their mouths begin to break.

" The fat pastures breed straight, tall sheep, and the bar-
ren hills square and short ones. But the best sheep of all,
are those bred upon new ploughed land, the reason of which
may be easily guessed, as such land is commonly the most
free from bad grasses. All wet and moist lands are bad for
sheep, especially such are subject to be overflowed, and to
have sand and dirt left on them. The salt marshes are an
exception tVom this general rule ; for their saltness makes
amends for their moisture; any thing salt, by reason of its
drying qualities, being of great advantage to sheep. The
best time for sheep to yean, which go twenty weeks with
lamb, is in April, unless the owner has any forward grass,
or turnips. Ewes that are big should be kept but bare ; for
it is dangerous for them to be fat at the time of their bring-
ing forth their young. They may be well fed, indeed, like
cows, a fortnight beforehand, to put them in heart."

31. Buffon says, " One ram will be sufficient for twenty-
five or thirty ewes; but that he should be remarkable for
strength and comeliness; that those which have no horns
are very indifferent; that the head of a ram should be large
and thick, the forehead broad, the eyes large and black, the
nose short, the neck thick, the body long, the back and
rump broad, the testicles large, and the tail long; that the
best are white, with a large quantity of wool on the belly,
tail, head and ears, down to the eyes; that the best sheep
for propagation are those which have most wool, and that
close, long, silky and white; especially if at the same time
they have a large bodv, a thick neck, and are light-footed."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 211

He says, " That ewes fatten very fast during their pregnan-
cy ; that as they often hurt themselves, and frequently mis-
carry, so they sometimes become barren; and that it is not
very extraordinary for them to bring forth monstrous pro-
ductions. But when properly tended, they are capable of
yeaning during the whole of their life, or to the age of ten
or twelve years. But most commonly when they come to
be seven or eight year old, they begin to break, and become
sickly ; and that a ram is no longer fit for propagation after
eight years, at which time he should be fattened with the
old sheep."

According to the same writer, " Sheep should in the sum-
mer be turned out early in the morning to feed; and in four
or five hours, after watering, be brought back to the fold, or
to some shady place. At four o'clock, in the afternoon,
they should be turned to their pasture again, and continue
there till evening; and were it not for the danger of wolves,
they should pass the night in the open air, which would
render them more vigorous, clean, and healthy . As the too
great heat of the sun is hurtful to them, shady pastures are
best for them ; or else to drive them to a place with a west-
ern descent in the morning, and the contrary towards even-
ing." That their wool may be saved, they should not be
pastured in bushy places, or where there are briars. Sheep
are often thus deprived of most of their fleeces; which, be-
sides the loss of the wool, is very hurtful to the animals,
when the weather is not warm.

The above writer directs, " That every year a flock of
sheep should be e.\amined, in order to find out such as begin
to grow old, and ought to be turned ofl" for fattening. As
they require a particular management, so they should be put
in a flock by themselves. They should feed while the grass
is moistened with dew in the morning. Salt should be given
them to excite thirst, as the more they drink the faster they
will grow fat. * But to complete their fattening, and make
their flesh firm and solid, they should have some corn or
grain given them." They may be fattened in the winter ;
but it is commonly too expensive, as they will require a good
deal of richer food than hay. When sheep are once be-
come fat, they should be killed; for it is said they cannot be
made fat a second time. The teeth of ewes begin to decay

* It has been found, however, that salt given in excess is injurious to
sheep.

212 THE COMPLETE FARMER

at five, those of wethers at seven, and those of rams not
until eight.

Ewes, Lambs, «^c. It is recommended to give ewes with
lamb a somewhat more than ordinary quantity of food for
a month or six weeks before they are expected to yean;
not enough, however, to make them fat, as dangerous con-
sequences might attend their being in very high condition at
that period. Turnips are said to be injurious to ewes with
lamb, but may be well given them after they have yeaned.
If your sheep, whether store sheep or ewes with lamb, have
good hay, about a quart of potatoes a day to each will, it is
said, be very beneficial, and an ample allowance. But when
the object is to fat them, according to a writer in Rees' Cy-
clopedia, about a gallon of potatoes a day, with a little hay,
will be the proper quantity; but this is dependent, in part,
on the size of the animals, and in part on the quality and
quantity of the hay which is allowed to them. Potatoes,
besides their use as food for sheep, are said to be very ser-
viceable as an article of diet, which usually supersedes the
necessity of medicine. They have, when given raw, an
opening or purgative quality, which is thought to be of use,
and answer a similar purpose with sheep which is effected
with swine by brimstone and antimony. Potatoes, baked,
steamed, or boiled, will furni,sh more nutriment than those
which are raw.

Care should be taken to place in the stable small tubs or
troughs of water for the sheep to drink in. They will do
.very well in summer without water, as they feed when the
dew is on, but they need water in winter, especially if led
mostly on dry food. " When sheep have colds, and dis-
charge mucus from the nose, good feeding, together with
pine boughs, given occasionally, will cure them; or tar,
spread over a board, over which a little fine salt is strewed,
will induce the sheep to lick up tar, and this will cure a
cold."* Half a gill of Indian corn a day, given to each
sheep during winter, is recommended as keeping them in
good heart, preventing the wool from falling off", and enab-
ling the ewes to rear their young better than they would if
fed altogether on food of a less substantial nature.

*' When several kinds of food can be procured, it is right
to give them alternately to the sheep at different meals, in

* Deane's New England Farmer.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 213

the course of the same day; the qualities of one kind aid or
compensate those of another. At certain hours of the day,
dry fodder should be given, and, at others, roots or grain.
If there be any danger that the roots may decay, the winter
should be begun with them, mixing, however, some dry food
with them, for alone they would not be sufficiently nutri-
tious. "*

Writers do not agree on the quantity of food which a
given number of sheep will consume to advantage in a given
time. Probably, it would be very difficult to lay down any
rules on the subject which would not be subject to very
nearly as many exceptions as coincidences. Sorrie seasons
would require more food than others for the same sheep ;
the same number of sheep of different sizes, ages, sexes,
and breeds, would also consume different quantities of food
of the same quality. When we add to these causes of er-
ror the consideration that food of the same kind is often very
different in quality, — one ton of clover hay, for example,
mowed at the right period of its growth, and well made and
housed, may be worth two tons of the same sort of hay
grown and made under different circumstances, — nothing,
therefore, can be hoped for in this inquiry, except some ap-
proximation to truth. We may, however, perhaps provide
ourselves with materials for the exercise of those qualities
for guessing, for which New England people are celebrated.
When a man is laying in fodder for his sheep or neat cattle,
it may be of great consequence to be able to form a con-
jecture approximating the truth, relative to the quantity and
quality of provisions for that purpose which it may be
expedient to accumulate.

Mr. Lawrence says, " Sheep will eat, on an average,
twenty pounds of turnips each in twenty-four hours. An
acre of good turnips in the field, between November and
March, will keep one hundred sheep six weeks. One gallon
of raw potatoes will suffice a sheep twenty-four hours, but
some will eat much more. Fourteen hundred sheep will eat
up and spoil an acre of good turnips in a night. Of the
quantities of hay and corn [grain] which a sheep will con-
sume daily, I do not recollect any accurate experiments. To
feed liberally one hundred sheep with this precious article
throughout the winter season, ten tons at least would be re-
quired; although I have lately been informed by a great

* Tessier's Treatise on Sheep.

214 THE COMPLETE FARMER

sheep-master, that he allows but that quantity to a flock of
one thousand; his turnips being excellent, with plenty of
grazing ground.

" As to corn [grain], a large sheep will eat several pints or
pounds per day; and the comparison of quantity of food be-
tween the sheep and the ox may be generally stated at one-
eighth or one-ninth part for the sheep."

" One thing (says M. Tessier) cannot be too much recom-
mended, which is, to place the hay in the racks while the
sheep are out of the house; by this precaution, the dust
will not fall upon the fleeces." Dr. Deane observed, that
the rack in which the hay is put should be upright, so that
in feeding, the seeds, chaff, &c. should not fall into the wool
about their necks. Under the rack should be a trough for
catching the seeds of the hay and feeding the sheep.

With regard to giving salt to sheep, writers have disa-
greed. It is believed to be better not to give them any than
to allow them too great a quantity. M. Tessier says,
" Sheep have been known to be attacked by long and
troublesome looseness, in consequence of having taken too
much salt; which has induced the belief that sea-water is
poisonous to them; and that his sheep have always been
healthy, though he had never given them any salt. But he
states that it may be indispensably necessary in wet coun-
tries. And Dr. Cooper, editor of the last edition of the
Domestic Encyclopedia, recommends one-fourth of an ounce
a day as a proper quantity for sheep. Mr. Grove likewise
says, " Salt is required by sheep at intervals during the
whole year, but it is often given in too great quantity, and
almost forced upon the sheep; which is often injurious, and
often injures the digestion so that the best grain will pass
through them unaltered."

The same writer says, "In the season for dropping lambs,
the utmost care is necessary. The birth is most commonly
easy, but often slow. Ignorant shepherds are very apt on
such occasions to be aiding in the birth, which is always
useless and often very injurious."

"It often happens," says Mr. Grove, " that ewes will not
own their lambs, particularly the first they bear; and in this
case I would advise to the sprinkling a little salt on the lamb,
which induces the ewe to lick it, after which she will gene-
rally allow it to suck. If not, the ewe with her lamb should
be placed in a separate inclosure (of which several should
be previously prepared) and fed with the most nutritious fod-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 215

der, particularly with nourishing liquids, that the udder may
be uncomfortably distended; and if this be not sufficient, she
must be tied by the legs till the lamb has been once suckled;
after which there will be no further difficulty."

Sir John Sinclair observed, that "there is no food of
which sheep are fonder than pea-straw; and where circum-
stances are favorable for that crop, peas ought to be cul-
tivated more for the straw, from the advantages that would
thence be d&s'ived by the sheep-farmer." Mr. Youno- also
observes, that " the straw of early white peas, applied to
sheep, is the most valuable return made by straw."

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. IV. p.
234,) with the signature M. R. C, gives the following judi-
cious remarks on sheep.

"Perhaps there is no domestic animal that requires more
nice and constant attention than the sheep, and no other that
will more richly pay for generous keeping. Though he may
not be more liable to disease, nor require a better quality of
food than neat stock, still that management which will keep
cattle in good case will not answer for sheep. His habits
and mode of feeding are entirely different. For instance, in
the winter season a cow may be kept tied to the stall twenty-
two hours out of the twenty-four, and, if well fed three times
a day, keep her flesh and get sufficient exercise for her
health. Serve a sheep in the same manner and it would not
probably live a month. It is natural for sheep to move about
and change situation. Turn a flock of hungry sheep into a
pasture, they will run to the end of it before they begin to
eat; feed them in troughs, they will run over all till they
come to the last, when they have it in their power. They
are almost continually shifting situation from hill to dale,
from one kind of food to another; and it is a fact that sheep
will thrive better on two or three different kinds of ordinary
fodder, than they will to be confined to one kind that is of a
superior quality.

" The proper time to yard sheep in the fall is while they
are yet in good order from fresh feed, and before the frost
takes the nourishing qualities from the grass : but a time in
which many sheep are not folded, they are left to nibble
over the frozen pastures till they lose the flesh of half a
summer's keeping, and which takes half a winter to regain.
It is a great error which is persisted in with an idea to save
fodder. But setting aside the injury done pastures by close
feeding at this season of the year, the sheep which stray

216 THE COMPLETE FARMER

away and are lost, and the time spent in hunting them, which
are not idle considerations, the farmer would more than get
repaid for his extra fodder, and a few weeks' attention in
yarding his sheep sooner, by preserving their health and
condition. When they are put to winter-quarters, they re-
quire as much variety as possible, not that they want so
much room, but they need a number of different apartments.
Two yards and one shed will do very well for one flock, or,
what will answer the same purpose, if a large number of
sheep are to be kept near each other, have the yards in
a row, and one more yard than flocks of sheep. Then by
shifting one flock to the spare yard it leaves another vacant,
and so on. Thus may all be changed, which should be
done at every time of feeding. As fast as the yards are
empty, the food should be put in them, and never while the
sheep are there. One hundred sheep are enough to be kept
together. Cleanliness is of the utmost importance. Their
yards should be littered with straw or something of the kind
constantly, or they will be in danger of losing in a degree a
relish for their food.

"The next thing necessary is, to have proper places for
your sheep to eat hay in, which are the common board man-
gers, and may make partings to the yards. Take six joists,
say three inches square, and four feet long; have the boards
of a length, then nail two of them to the joists set up per-
pendicularly in such a manner that one joist will be in the
middle of each board, and the other two at the ends, and
that the top edge of the boards will be one foot from the
ground; then nail short boards on the ends two feet and a
half long, the width of the manger, the next board on the
sides to be placed eight inches from the lower boards, then
board it tight to the top of the joists, and the manger is
finished. A manger eighteen feet long, of this description,
will accommodate thirty sheep. Single mangers may be
made along the outside fence of the yard, which do not re-
quire to be so wide. The great superiority of these man-
gers over racks is, first, the facility of putting hay into them
without dropping it on the ground, secondly, it obviates the
danger of hay-seed falling on the wool of the sheep ; and
thirdly, it prevents any waste of fodder. The next thing
after mangers for hay, should be a place appropriated for
feeding out roots, which every farmer should raise to a cer-
tain extent. Although we cannot turn them to so good an
account as the English feeders do, on account of the severi-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 217

ty of our winters, still a proportion of them as food for our
stock is of great importance. In order that the farmer may
make the most of his roots, he should have a cellar fixed to
receive them in the fall, without too much labor, and ac-
cessible at any time in the winter, without endangering them
by frost. The cellar should be placed as near the yard as
practicable, with a watering-place at hand. A good way of
washing roots is, to have an oblong box that will hold two
or three bushels, with the bottom perforated with auger
holes, and rockers placed on the under side of the box; then
by pouring in a little water and rocking them, the dirt will
directly wash through the bottom of the box. They should
then be cut fine with a sharp shovel, and they are fit for
feeding out. Browse in the winter occasionally for sheep is
very palatable, and is of considerable use in preserving their
appetite, and as a change of food, but care should be taken
to select the right kind. There are many kinds of hard
wood, of which the bark and buds are very injurious.* The
bark of the black cherry eaten by ewes with lamb is almost
sure to produce abortion. Generally winter green is to be
preferred to any other browse. White and yellow pine are
best.

" Regularity in feeding sheep is of prime consequence in
cold dry weather. It is not necessary to feed them oflener
than three times a day, if discretion is used in the quantity
of fodder. In warm weather, and especially if it is muddy,
they should have little at a time, and be fed four or five
times a day. Daubenton and others calculate that two
pounds of hay are sufficient for the support of one sheep a
day, (which, by the way, in our climate is not enough.)
Calculations of this kind, if made with the utmost accuracy
on one, or any number of sheep at one time, will not ap-
ply to the same sheep at another; because so much depends
on circumstances. A sheep that will eat three pounds of
hay in a cold day will not, perhaps, eat more than two in a
warm day following; and still less in a damp one. Not that
they require so much more food in cold weather than ia
warm, but that sudden changes afiect their appetites and
whhout injuring their health. Again, a sheep of proper
form and inclination to fatten, Avill not need so much nutri-
ment to preserve its flesh as one of the same weight of a

* The wood disease, so much complained of in France, is wholly owing to
sheep's eating fresh hurts.
19

218 THE COMPLETE FARMER

coarse, rawboned, uneasy make. And one kind of hay may
have double the substantial qualities of another. Therefore
no certain rule can be given as to the quantity necessary for
their support; though experiments of this kind are not with-
out their use, for, as remarked in one of the " New England
Farmers," they afford " a fine opportunity of guessing at the
proper quantity necessary to keep a stock a given time."

" There exists a great diversity of opinion in regard to the
proper time of year for lambs to come. A New '^ork wri-
ter thinks that rams should not be taken from the ewes at
all; that lambs should come early in the winter, which is
the natural time. This I think erroneous; the natural time
is the most convenient time, and the proprietor should be
governed wholly by his means. There are advantages in
having lambs come early, and disadvantages, and vice versa
the same in having them come late. If a man has con-
veniences for guarding against cold, and plenty of succulent
food for his ewes, February and March is decidedly the
best time for them to come. It is true that they require
more attention at this season than in warm weather, but time
is not worth so much, and the lambs learn to eat hay before
they are turned to pasture, consequently they do much bet-
ter the following winter. They get out of the way of foxes,
and are able to take care of themselves at washing and
shearing time, which is of considerable consequence. On
the contrary, if the farmer is deficient in proper food and
other conveniences for his sheep, and has a pasture near, that
he can look to his flock, it may often be advisable to have
his lambs come in April or May.

"When sheep are turned to pasture in the spring, the tran-
sition from dry food to grass causes a relax, which spoils, or
very much injures a great part of the wool on their buttocks
and thighs, and makes double the work at the time of wash-
ing; therefore, before they are turned to pasture the wool in
the way should be carefully shorn off, which is very little
trouble, and makes a saving worth noticing.

" In selecting a flock of sheep, the first care undoubtedly
should be, to get those of the evenest and finest wool ; the
next, those of the best form and most peaceable disposition;
and the next care, which is very little thought of, to get those
that are without horns. Any one who has had the manage-
ment of sheep in the winter, can testify to the injury which
large-horned sheep do in crowding after fodder and running
through gates, &c. Horned rams kept with pregnant ewes

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 219

do great mischief. In many parts of Spain they amputate
the horns of their rams, for which there are various proces-
ses: some use a large chisel; others a saw, which is the
most expeditious way, and is preferable. There are other
serious objections to the keeping of horned sheep, which I
cannot better exemplify than by quoting the following words
from Henry Cline, an eminent surgeon.

" ' Horns are useless in domestic animals. It is not diffi-
cult to breed animals without them. The breeders of horn-
ed cattle and horned sheep sustain a loss more extensive
than they may conceive; for it is not the horn alone, but also
much more bone in the skulls of such animals, to support
their horns; besides, there is an additional quantity of liga-
ment and bone in the neck, which is of small value. The
skull of a ram with its horns weighed five times more than
another skull which was hornless. Both these skulls were
taken from sheep of the same age, each being four years old.
The great difference in weight depended chiefly on the horns,
for the lower jaws were nearly equal, one weighing seven
ounces and the other six ounces and three-quarters; which
proves that the natural size of the head was nearly the same
in both, independent of the horns and the thickness of the
bone which supports them. In a horned animal the skull is
extremely thick, in a hornless animal it is much thinner,
especially in that part where the horns usually grow.'

" To those who have not reflected on the subject, it may
appear of little consequence whether sheep or cattle have
horns; but, on a very moderate calculation, it will be found
that the loss in farming stock, and also in the diminution of
animal food, is very considerable from the production of
horns and their appendages. A mode of breeding which
would prevent the production of these, would afford a con-
siderable profit in an increase of meat and wool and other
valuable parts."

Shearing Sheep, Sfc. Deane's "New England Farmer "
states, that " we shear our sheep in general too early in this
country. In England, where the spring is more forward
than in this country, the approved time of shearing is from
the middle to the latter end of June. They should be wash-
ed in a warm time; after this they should run three or four
days in a clean pasture, before they are shorn. It is good
for them to have time to sweat a little in their wool, after
washing."

Mr. Lawrence says, " June seems [in England] to be the

220 THE COMPLETE FARMER

general shearing month, and where no extraordinary precau-
tions are taken, the business had better be delayed till to-
wards midsummer, more especially in cold, backward springs;
because in such seasons we seldom until that period have
any settled fair weather. Besides, a more perfect fleece is
obtained, and fuller of yolk from the perspiration of the ani-
mal.

" Washing previous to clipping the sheep is the general
custom, with few exceptions, in this country; indeed it is
proper with all long-wooled sheep, but not so easily practi-
cable with the matted, greasy, and impenetrable fleeces of
the Spanish and carding-wool breed, which in Spain they
invariably shear dry, as has been the practice in Devonshire,
with the short-wooled sheep, for centuries."

It is observed by Loudon, that " sheep-shearing, inRom-
ney Marsh [England], commences about midsummer and
finishes about the middle of July. Those who shear latest
apprehend that they gain half a pound weight in every fleece,
by the increased perspiration of the sheep and consequent
growth of the wool. Besides, they say, in early shearing the
wool has not the condition which it afterwards acquires.
But then in late shearing the fleece will have the less time
to grow, so as to protect the animal against the rigors of the
succeeding winter; and if a year's interval is allowed be-
tween each clipping time, after your routine is established
the wool will have had the same period for its growth,
whether you shear early or late. Sheep with fine fleeces,
which are shorn without being washed on the back of the
animal, may be clipped earlier in the season than those
which are exposed to suffer for half an hour or more in cold
water."

Lemuel W. Briggs, Esq., of Bristol, Rhode Island, in
articles published in the "New England Farmer," (Vol. III.
pages 273, 287,) stated certain facts, which would seem
favorable to early shearing; and in certain circumstances,
and particularly with sheep which are not washed, there can
be no doubt but the practice is beneficial. Mr. Briggs stated,
in substance, that Mr. Rouse Potter, of Prudence island,
Narraganset bay, Rhode Island, who kept nine hundred and
fifty sheep, and lost but two the preceding winter, begins to
shear them by the 1st of May, if the weather is favorable,
and continues daily, until he completes his shearing. For
the first week, he puts those sheared under cover or in close
yards every night; by that time the wool will grow so as to

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 221

give them a sufficient covering. By this practice of early
shearing he gains much wool, which formerly, when he put
his shearing off till the middle of June, the sheep would
shed; and farther, when thus early sheared, the wool begins
to start and grow much quicker than when shearing is deter-
red to the usual time. He says, that formerly, being expos-
ed immediately after shearing to the rays of the sun, their
bare backs would frequently become sore and scabby, when
no wool will grow till healed, and then what does grow from
these scars is thinner and coarser than the rest.

"Mr. Potter states, that he has found from actual experi-
ment, that he not only gets more wool, which would other-
wise be lost, but the succeeding wool will be from half an
inch to an inch longer, if sheared early, than it will be if
delayed to the usual time of shearing. And farther, there is
not the same necessity for washing the sheep, as the wool is
much cleaner, more free from sand and dirt, when taken off
early, than it would be if suffered to remain on their backs
until a hot sun had compelled them to seek refuge under
walls and fences."

The foregoing authorities are apparently altogether con-
tradictory, as respects the time of year in which to shear
sheep. But it is to be observed, that Mr. Potter did not
wash his sheep before shearing, which must make considera-
ble difference with regard to the risk from cold; and Mr.
Potter appears to have been careful to shelter his sheep
afler shearing, which must in a great measure obviate the
disadvantages of early shearing.

Mr. Lawrence, an eminent English writer, asserts, " It
has frequently appeared to me, on reflection, that it might
be preferable to shear all kinds of sheep unwashed, and to
wash them after shearing, when it would be much more ef-
fectual with respect to their health. Such as were affected
with foulness or eruption of the skin might be washed and
scrubbed in a lye of water and wood ashes, in a large tub
which would contain three. It would both conduce to the
health of the sheep and promote the regular growth of the
wool. Wool would probably keep best in the grease, and
dust might be shaken from it. Any difficulty in respect to
fixing the price of wool in an unwashed state would vanish
in a season or two."

" Clipping off the coarse soiled wool about the thighs and
docks," says Loudon, " some weeks before the usual time
of washing and clipping the sheep, is an excellent practice, as
19*

222 THE COMPLETE FARMER

by this means the sheep are kept clean and cool when the
season is hot ; and with ewes, the udders are prevented from
becoming sore."

In separating for the purpose of washing, the flock is
brought to the side of the washing-pool, and those lambs
and sheep of different kinds fit to be washed are put into
separate inclosures; and such lambs as are too young to be
clipped are not washed, but confined in a fold or inclosure ol
any kind, at such a distance from the washing-place that
they may not disturb their mothers by bleating.

In performing the operation of washing, it was formerly
the method to have the washers standing up to their breast
in the water; but from the inconvenience and danger of it,
various other modes of performing the operation have been
proposed. Among others, that of sinking an empty hogs-
head or other vessel of sufficient capacity for a man to
stand in while washing the sheep, may be as eligible as any.
A boat near a bold shore of a sheet of water, with one end
aground, by which the sheep is introduced and put over-
board, while the man who washes him remains in the boat,
and extends his arms over the sides, and thus performs the
necessary manipulations, furnishes a convenient mode of
washing sheep. A small perpendicular waterfall, under
which sheep are conducted, may likewise be used to ad-
vantage for that purpose.

It was uniformly the practice, immediately after shearing,
to smear the bodies of sheep with some ointment, in which
tar is the chief ingredient. This, however, has been con-
demned, as causing a waste of wool in carding and manu-
facturing into cloth. But if the tar is mixed with a sufficient
quantity of some greasy substance, the benefit may be ob-
tained, (which is to preserve against ticks and the scab, as
well as to increase the growth of the wool,) without any bad
consequence resulting. A writer in " Rees' Cyclopedia,"
on wool, says much in favor of a composition greatly used in
Northumberland, England, and gives the following directions
for making it: "From sixteen to twenty pounds of butter
are placed over a gentle fire and melted; a gallon of tar is
then added, and the mixture is then stirred with a stick until
the tar and butter are well combined, and form a soft,
tenacious ointment." Some skill is required in its applica-
tion. The locks should be divided, and the ointment ap-
plied directly to the skin. It does no good to apply it to the
outside of the wool, but it must come in contact with the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 223

skill. This is best effected by opening the wool along the
neck and back, and applying the ointment with the finger.
In short, you must apply it in such a manner that it will be
most Hkely to spread over every part of the body. The
quantity laid on each animal differs in different districts. In
the lighter mode of greasing, one gallon of tar and twenty
pounds of butter will be sufficient for fifty sheep. In Scot-
land, where greasing is applied merely to preserve the ani-
mal from inclemency of the climate, a much larger propor-
tion of tar is used. This would be very injurious to the
wool were it any other but the coarsest kind. To derive
the greatest advantage from the ointment, both to the wool
and the sheep, it should be applied immediately after shear-
ing, and again on the approach of winter. By the first
greasing, the wool will be kept soft and moist during the
suhry heats of July and August, and the top of the staple
will not become harsh and discolored. One acknowledged
advantage of greasing immediately after shearing should
not be overlooked : it destroys the sheep tick, and has a
tendency to prevent cutaneous distempers, and to protect
the skin against the bite of the fly.

Mr. J. Nelson published a recipe for the scab on sheep,
similar to the above, but which we should suppose might
answer a still better purpose; it is as follows: " Take three
gallons of tar and three gallons of train oil, boiled together,
to which add three pounds of roll brimstone, finely powdered
and stirred in." This quantity is sufficient for ninety sheep.
It is poured on with a pitcher or ladle from the top of the
backbone to the tail.

When the object is solely the destruction of ticks, a strong
decoction of tobacco is probably as good an application as
can be prescribed. Lambs often suffer much from ticks,
after the sheep are sheared; as the ticks which are driven
from the old sheep take refuge with the lambs. It will,
therefore, be advisable to apply either the ointment or the
tobacco decoction to the lambs as well as to their elders.
And in all cases see that your application goes to and
spreads over the skin as equally as possible, instead of wet-
ting or smearing the outside surface of the fleece, where it
will be of more harm than benefit.

On the Disorders of Sheep. The following observations
are extracted from an Essay on Sheep, written by H. D. G.,
a scientific shepherd, who has been acquainted with sheep

224 THE COMPLETE FARMER

husbandry, as practised by the tcool-groivers of Saxony,
France, and other parts of Europe.

"Ahnost all the disorders which attack sheep are caused
by the want, and seldom or never by the excess of activity ia
the vital organs. The nerves are very susceptible, but sel-
dom act with great force, and whenever they are powerfully
excited, this excitement soon passes off and leaves the ani-
mal extremely weak. It follows from this, that most of the
means required for the cure of diseases among sheep should
be calculated rather to excite than to allay the activity of the
functions of life. A few of the most common diseases
among sheep deserve to be particularly noticed.

" The Rot exhibits itself scarcely at all externally. The
blood loses its high color and tendency to coagulate, and be-
comes watery. The first perceptible symptom, therefore, is
the loss of the bright red appearance about the eyes; the
lips and inside of the mouth also become pale, as well as the
skin generally under the wool. The animal continues to
feed well and does not grow poor, although the natural vi-
vacitv is diminished and some signs of weakness occur.

" The disease commonly gains strength in the winter.
Watery swellings are formed, particularly under the chin,
which are often absorbed and then reappear. Soon after
these the animal generally dies, without showing any symp-
toms of violent pain. Ewes attacked by this disease die
most commonly about the time of dropping their lambs.
The body on opening exhibits copious collections of water
about the chest and entrails; the blood is extremely pale as
well as the flesh. This disorder is unquestionably caused
by feeding in swampy grounds, and a few hours are suffi-
cient to fix it upon a sheep. It is increased by damp, foggy
weather, while, on the other hand, dry warm weather and
high pasture, especially where there are many aromatic
herbs, are sometimes sufficient to counteract the first symp-
toms and effect a cure. This disorder, however, when it
has reached such a point that a common observer may no-
tice the symptoms, is probably incurable. At a very early
stao-e a cure is possible, if the flock is kept carefully on high
land where aromatic herbs are abundant, and particularly
among juniper bushes, and in bad weather carefully housed
and well fed. Horse-chestnuts are an excellent article for
fodder in this case; also a mixture of juniper berries, worm-
wood, sage, gentian, angelica roots, willow bark, and other
bitter herbs, with a little salt and grain, which they will eat

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 225

of their own accord, or if not, it should be administered in
small quantities in the morning before they are driven to
pasture. If the rot makes its appearance in a decided man-
ner before the winter sets in, it is useless to attempt any
thing more than to fatten the animal as soon as may be and
sell him to the butcher. The rot certainly is not infectious,
and it very often occurs that only a few sheep are attacked
in large flocks; and generally, in such cases, if the shepherd
is honest, the disease may be traced in every case to some
swamp or other wet place, where these particular sheep may
have strayed.

" The Moulh and Hoof Distemper. These complaints
seem to have a mutual connexion, since the former, which is
the mildest, very often precedes the latter. In the mouth,
the principal evil to be feared is, that the sheep become ema-
ciated from the inability to eat. The best remedy is to bathe
the parts affected with a strong decoction of sage, mixed
with an equal quantity of vinegar and a little honey. If the
blisters continue to spread, half an ounce of blue vitriol
should be added to a quart of this mixture. The disorder in
the hoofs is soon discovered by lameness, and if this is evi-
dently not produced by any external injury, and especially
if several sheep in a flock are attacked at the same time,
great care should be taken to obviate the effects of this dis-
order. The best remedy is a poultice of dough, or fat loamy
clay, which should be applied to the foot by means of a little
bag, but not tied hard to the ankle, and kept constantly wet
with vinegar, till a swelling appears on the upper side of the
foot or in the cleft of the hoof. This should then be opened
with a sharp knife and the dead hoof pared off. The wound
must be washed with cold water and sprinkled with dry vitriol.
The lame animals should remain carefully separated from the
sound ones, and the washing and sprinkling with vitriol re-
peated till the cure is effected. This disease is not only
contagious, but also infectious, in the highest degree, and
oftentimes so violent as to produce caries in the bone after
the hoof is destroyed.

" The Itch or Scab. This disorder is dreaded more than
any other, and did, in fact, more damage in many districts
than any other, until the proper mode of treatment was dis-
covered. The scab is certainly contagious, and may readily
be propagated by merely touching the skin of a healthy ani-
mal with matter from a pustule on another sheep ; but as far
as my observation has extended, the infection is not conveyed

226 THE COMPLETE FARMER

through the atmosphere, though it often seeras to he epi-
demic, and particularly in very damp summers, which affect
sheep in many other ways so unfavorably.

" It is discovered by the animal's constantly rubbing or
scratching itself, and making at the same time a peculiar
motion with the lips ; the scabs are sometimes drv and some-
times moist, and spread very rapidly, though the animal con-
tinues healthy in other respects, and generally more lively
than before. Afterwards, however, the disorder becomes
internal, the sheep becomes emaciated, and dies from weak-
ness and pain. If the scab is observed at an early period it
may be easily cured, or at least prevented from spreading.
One of the best remedies is a strong decoction of tobacco,
to be applied to the diseased parts after scratching off the
scabs with a comb or other instrument. The decoction of
tobacco mixed with lime-water and oil of vitriol, and used
constantly, for some time, will generally effect a radical cure;
another excellent remedy is a decoction of hellebore mixed
with vinegar, sulphur, and spirits of turpentine. Internal
remedies are of no use, except when the disorder has induc-
ed other complaints by weakening the general health.

" The Sheep-Pox. This disorder is contagious, and prop-
agates itself by exhalation from the sick to the healthy ani-
mal, but it has not yet been discovered how far these exha-
lations may extend. If, however, it appears in a neighbour-
ing flock, care should be taken to mitigate its effects by a
general and careful inoculation, since it is certain that the
disorder is less violent if taken by inoculation than in the
natural way. The operation is perfectly simple and easy.
The animal is laid on its back and held by two or three men,
while the operator introduces the matter, from a pustule five
or six days old, in two or three places between the legs or
on the tail. The lancet should be introduced in a slanting
direction under the skin about an eighth of an inch, and
M'hen it is withdrawn, the skin should be pressed down upon
it so as to wipe off the matter and leave it in the wound. A
pustule is formed generally in four days, and reaches its
greatest size on the sixth, when a few others generally ap-
pear near the first. Soon after this, the usual symptoms of
fever and general eruption take place, which last is, howev-
er, more regular and safe, than if the animal had taken the
disease without inoculation. The only care necessary dur-
ing the progress of the disorder is to keep the sheep in a
cool and airy situation. Internal remedies are not required,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 227

but the sores should be often washed with a strong infusion
of camomile flowers, in which a little blue vitriol has been
previously dissolved, and afterwards dressed with a salve
made of yolks of eggs and turpentine, mixed with a little
powdered charcoal.

" The Reeling Sickness is never infectious, but generally
incurable. Its first symptoms are a weakness in the gait,
and a disposition in tiie animal affected to remain separate
from the flock. The head is thrown into an unnatural pos-
ture, generally on one side. The animal then begins to
turn round, always in one direction ; stumbles and falls re-
peatedly, sometimes with the head under the body, then
ceases to feed, and soon dies. Lambs and yearlings only
are usually liable to this disorder, and very rarely sheep over
two years old. The seat of the disorder is always to be dis-
covered on the brain, where one or more blisters are formed
and filled with a watery secretion. The origin of this com-
plaint, and of course the proper preventive treatment, re-
main as yet undiscovered. A cure is sometimes effected by
an operation through the skull to let off the water. The first
step in this case is to examine the skull carefully in search
of a soft spot in the bone, which usually indicates the spot
affected. The skull is then perforated with a trocar, accom-
panied by a tube through which the water may escape ;
after which the tube also is withdrawn and a few drops of the
essence of myrrh applied to the aperture. This operation
is sometimes successful, but more often the reverse. If it
succeeds, however, in only one cure out of five, it seems
worth the trial, since without some relief the sheep must
certainly perish.

" Swelled Paunch. When sheep or other ruminating ani-
mals eat more than they can digest, the food ferments in the
stomach, emitting great quantities of gas, which stretch this
organ so as to draw together its apertures, the paunch be-
comes excessively distended, the lungs oppressed, the breath
and pulse obstructed, and the death is very sudden. This ef-
fect may be produced by fodder of any kind, but most readily
by such as the sheep prefer, especially if they are not accus-
tomed to it. Green clover and lucerne have, therefore,
often been observed to bring on this disorder ; but it is nev-
ertheless certain, that neither of these substances are in
themselves injurious, since I have known sheep accustomed
to them eat their fill day after day, for months together, with-
out suffering any ill consequence. Any young green feed is

228 THE COMPLETE FARMER

more likely to be hurtful in this way than dry fodder; but
only when eaten in excess after long abstinence. If the ap-
proach of the swelling is observed in season, it may be pre-
vented by violent friction of the back and belly and driving
the sheep rapidly. These remedies are assisted by a previ-
ous dose of lime-water, which should be repeated half an
hour afterwards, taking care that the lime is good and not
previously air-slacked. If the attack is so violent as to
leave no time for these remedies, an opening must be made
in the paunch with the trocar and sheath ; an operation
which cannot easily be described, but may be exhibited with-
out any difficulty to any person unacquainted with it."

A writer in " The New York Farmer," says : "A gen-
tleman who was losing his sheep, without apparent cause, had
occasion to use some clay about his house in the winter, and
observed that his sickly flock ate it with avidity; he caused
a load to be placed in their yard, much of which was devour-
ed and his sheep speedily recovered." As a cure, therefore,
I would recommend clay to be placed in the sheep-yard,
which can, at worst, do no harm, as the animals will not eat
it unless prompted by instinct; or, when it is practicable, the
boughs or branches of resinous trees, as the pine and hem-
lock, may be given to the flock in limited quantities. Roots
of any edible kind will also be highly serviceable. As a
preventive in future, I advise sheep-farmers to raise and lay
in a good stock of ruta baga or other turnips, which are not
only the healthiest but cheapest food for the winter consump-
tion of sheep.

Worms in the head of Sheep. There exists in some parts
of the country a species of fly, which naturalists call (Estrus
ovis, of the same genus with that which deposits eggs in the
hair of horses, and causes hots. This fly attacks sheep,
from about the middle of August to the middle of Septem-
ber, deposits its eggs in the nostrils of the animals, and
causes those wo7'ms which so frequently destroy them. The
"Mechanic's Gazette" recommends, as a preventive, "cov-
ering the nostrils of sheep with a list of gauzy substance,
through which the animal can breathe, and keeping it in its
place by some adhesive substance." We doubt, how-
ever, the practicability of " keeping it in its place " by any
"adhesive substance." Another preventive which sheep-
owners tell us is effectual, is to keep the noses of the sheep
constantly smirched with tar, from about the middle of Au-
gust to the latter end of September. If the sheep swallow

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 229

some of the tar, so much the better, as it prevents or cures
the rot, and confirms their health.

If the fly has performed its mischievous function, and the
seeds of the disorder are already sown, you may make use
of the following :

"Take half a pound of good Scotch snuff, pour two
quarts of boiling water on it, stir it and let it stand till cold ;
inject about a table-spoonful of this liquid and sediment up
each nostril of the sheep with a syringe. This must be
repeated three or four times, at proper intervals, from the
middle of October to the 1st of January; the grubs are then
small and are much easier destroyed than afterwards, and
have not injured the sheep, as they will if deferred until la-
ter. Half an ounce of assafoetida, pounded in a little water
and added to the snuff, will make it more effectual. The
owner of the sheep need not be alarmed, when the operation
is performed, to see" the sheep very drunk and apparently in
the agonies of death, as they will in a few minutes recover.
Dry snuff may be blown up the nose with a quill, and have
a good effect; but it is a tedious, dirty job."

-Instead of " Scotch snuff," a decoction of tobacco will
answer the purpose. A gentleman who owns a large flock
of sheep informs us, that he had used it with perfect success.
Spirits of turpentine have been injected into the nostrils of
sheep, as a remedy for worms; but that substance appears to
possess one material disadvantage, which should preclude its
use for that purpose, viz. when thrown into the nostrils it
kills the sheep as well as the worms.

Mr. Alexander Reed, of Washington, Pennsylvania, in an
article on the management of sheep, published in " The New
England Farmer," (Vol. III. p. 60,) observes, that " daub-
ing the sheep's nose with tar is considered as a protection
against this enemy. What experience I have had is rather
calculated to strengthen this opinion. I have always made
free use of tar among my sheep, and I do not know that I
ever lost one by the worms in the head."

It is said by some writers that if sheep are kept in good
condition there is no danger of their suffering greatly from
worms in the head; as they will be strong enough to expel
the insects by sneezing. This may be; but still, the applica-
tion of tar to the noses of the animals would prove servicea-
ble by preventing their being teased by the fly, which causes
great pain and distress at the time the nits are deposited, as
well as eventuates in the disease of the sheep.
CIO

230 THE COMPLETE FARMER

HORSE. One of the most useful of tame quadrupeds.
The marks or evidences of a good one are these; a high
neck, a full breast, a lively eye, a strong back, a stiff dock,
full buttocks, ribs reaching near to the hips, well-made
hoofs, rather large, and a good gait.

The size of a horse should be in proportion to the work
in which he is chiefly to be employed. Small sized ones
often prove good in the saddle. They are apt to be hardy,
and, in proportion to their size and the quantity of their eat-
ing, usually are the most profitable. Plough horses, and all
drauglit horses, should be large, as their weight is of impor-
tance in drawing ; as it is often inconvenient to put two
horses to one plough, especially in horse-hoeing. Large-
ness is also of importance, when they are used single, in
journeying, as they most usually are, in a chaise or sleigh.

A horse's manner of going is a matter of no small impor-
tance. The ambling gait, or what in this country is vulgar-
ly called pacing, is not good, either for the hoi'se or the
rider. It is tiresome to both. It habituates a horse to
carry his feet too near to the ground, so that he is the more
liable to trip and stumble.

The method so much practised formerly, in this country,
of teaching horses to pace swiftly, and racing in that gait, is
highly pernicious. It puts them to a much greater strain
than running ; and numbers have been thus ruined. Some
colts naturally amble, and others trot. But all may be made
to trot, if due care and pains be taken with them while they
are young, or as soon as they are first ridden. In a carriage
an amble is tiresome to a horse, appears highly improper,
and is disgusting to every one ; and I do not see why it
should appear at all more tolerable in the saddle. When
any change of gait is wanted for the ease of the rider, the
canter is to be preferred, than which none can be more
easy.

The way of breaking a young horse that is mostly used in
this country is highly absurd, hurtful, and dangerous. He
is mounted and ridden before he has been used to the bridle
or to bearing any weight on his back. If he will not go for-
ward, he is most unmercifully beaten; by which his spirits
are broken and his strength impaired. If he rears up, he is
pulled backwards, with the risk of hurting both horse and
man. If he runs and starts, as he probably will, under such
management, he flings the rider, perhaps is frightened, gains
his liberty, and is encouraged to do just so the next opportu-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 231

nity; and the unfortunate rider blesses himself, as he has
reason to do, if he escapes without broken limbs. Or, if
the horse should chance to go kindly, the rider continues
the exercise till the horse is fatigued, discouraged, and in-
jured.

Instead of this mad management, the way practised in the
older countries should be adopted. Let a horse first of all
be tamed with the bridle, by leading him again and again ;
in the first place, after or by the side of another horse; and
afler he walks well, bring him to trot after his leader. In
the next place, put on the saddle, and lead him in that, time
after time. Then lay a small weight on the saddle, and if
he be apt to start, fasten it, that it may not be flung off; in-
creasing the weight from time to time, till he learns to carry
what is equal to a man's weight. Lastly, let a man gently
mount him, while another holds him by the bridle, and fix
himself firmly on the saddle. The place of riding is recom-
mended to be a ploughed field. Let him thus be ridden with
a horse going before him, till he learn the use of the bit, and
will stop or go forward at the pleasure of the rider, and
without the application of much force. Being exercised in
this manner a few times, and treated with all possible gentle-
ness, there will be no more occasion for leading him. He
will go well of himself; and be thoroughly broken, without
so much as giving him one blow, and without danger or
fatigue to the horse or his rider. And, what is much to be
regarded, the horse's spirits will be preserved, though he be
sufficiently tamed. In teaching a horse to draw, gentleness
must be used. He should be tried first in company with
other horses, whether in carting or ploughing ; and the
draught should not be so heavy as to fret him or put him to
great exertion till he has learned to draw steadily. After
this he may be put to draw light loads by himself Lastly,
he may be put to a pleasure carriage, but coupled with
another rather than alone, and to a sleigh rather than a
chaise.

It may be taken for a general rule, that the gait which is
easiest to a horse will be the easiest to his rider ; for jaded
horses, it has always been observed, are apt to go hard, and
to tire their riders.

The feeding of horses has not been sufficiently attended
to in this country ; which is, doubtless, one reason why they
are in general so mean and despicable. Too many keep
horses who cannot well afford to feed them. They should

2-j-i THE COMrLETi: FARMER

neither run upon the roads and commons, nor in pastures
that are tilled with wild and water grasses. They love a dry
pasture, not too much shaded, and short grasses of the best
kinds. Clover and white honey-suckle, both green and dry,
are excellent food for them. It nourishes them well, and
prevents costiveness, which is very hurtful to them. The
best of clover hay will keep them as well as most other kinds
of hay with oats.

To fit a horse for a journey he should not be suffered to
grow too fat and gross. He should for some time be kept in
the stable rather than, in the pasture, and fed mostly with
hay and provender; but rather sparingly if he incline to be
fat. He should have exercise daily, to harden his flesh and
keep him in the habit of travelling. He should be shod
some days before he begins a journey, that the shoes may be
well settled to his feet, and the nails a little rusted at the
points, that they may hold the faster. And the pads of the
saddle should be well fitted to his back, so as to fill the hol-
lows, and bear equally on every part. And while he is on
the journey, he should be stabled every night. It is de-
structive to expose a horse to the dampness and cold of the
night after severe exercise. But it would be best if neither
horses nor any of our cattle were wholly confined to dry
meat in winter. Horses indicate this by their eating snow
with their hay. Set a basket of snow within reach of a
horse, when he is at his manger, and he will take a mouth-
ful from each alternately. Of all juicy food for horses in
winter, writers on husbandry seem to give carrots the prefer-
ence. They have been found by experience to answer well
instead of oats for laboring horses; and to fatten those which
are lean.

He that would be sure to keep his horse in good order
must beware whom he suffers to ride him, and must see that
he is never abused. Profuse sweating should always be
avoided. And when a horse is much warmed by exercise
he should not be exposed to cold air nor night dew, and
much less to rain and snow. If he cannot be instantly rub-
bed down and housed when warm, he should be covered with
a blanket; and he should always have a dry stable, and be
well littered. The neglect of these precautions may bring
on incurable disorders.

Horses should not be too much deprived of the liberty of
motion, as they too often are. Close confinement after hard
labor -will be apt to abate their circulations too suddenly.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 233

make them chilly, and stiffen their joints. To be deprived
of motion is bad for man and beast. Horses therefore
should not be straitened for room in their stables. Stables
should not be so low as to prevent their tossing up their
heads as high as they please. Some stables have so little
room overhead as to bring horses into a habit of carrying
their heads too low ; they become afraid to lift them up.
They should also have room in their stables to turn their
heads to any part of their bodies, that they may defend
themselves from the biting of insects, allay itching, &c.
And their halters should always be so long and their 'stables
so wide, that they may lie down conveniently. Nor should
horses be so placed as to be able to deprive each other of
his fodder.

When horses are kept in stables, as they generally are in
the coldest half of the year, they should be daily dressed, as
it is called. The curry-comb and the brush should be vvell
used on all parts of their skin which are covered with hair.
This increases perspiration through the pores of the skin,
which is necessary to health; and causes the blood to move
faster in the veins. This treatment will not only cause them
to look better, but they will have better health, and more
activity and courage. They will digest their food better,
and be better for service. But if rubbing and friction be
wholly neglected, or slightly performed, the hair will appear
dry and rough; the perspirable matter hardens in the pores
of the skin, or remains lodged at the roots of the hair, and
has the appearance of a dirty white dust, and sometimes
like small scales, attended with itching. More especially is
rubbing necessary for horses when they are growing cold
after being sweated by labor. In such cases it should never
be omitted.

Columella observes, " that the bodies of cattle ought to be
rubbed down daily, as well as the bodies of men "; and says,
" it often does them more good to have their backs well rub-
bed down, than their bellies well filled with provender."

But in warm weather it would be best for them, that they
should not have the confinement of the halter, nor even of
the stable. A small spot of feeding ground, if it were only
a few rods, adjoining to the stable, and the door left open,
that a horse may go in and out alternately as he pleases,
would greatly conduce to the health of the animal. This
degree of liberty will be most needful when the flies are
troublesome ; and be better for him than confinement to a
20*

234 THE COMPLETE FARMER

stable that is perfectly dark. In fly time, it gives a horse
much ease and comfort to smear his limbs, neck, and head,
with rancid fish oil, or something else that will keep the flies
from attacking him. And in all seasons, when horses have
been heated with exercise, they should be well rubbed or
curried.

When a horse runs in a pasture during the grass season,
he should have some shelter; not only a shade to defend him
from the intense heat of the sun, but a shed, or a clump of
trees, that he may retreat from the inclemencies of the
atmosphere.

But horses that are daily worked in summer should be
mostly kept upon green fodder in stables, rather than grazed
in pastures. The tendance of them will not be so burden-
some, with a spot of high and thick grass at hand, as lead-
ing them to and from a pasture, at the distance of a quarter
of a mile. This will prevent their being often chilled by
feeding in wet nights. A large quantity of manure will thus
be saved. And a very small quantity of land will answer,
in comparison with what it takes for the pasturing of a
horse. Keeping a scythe and a basket at hand, a horse
may be foddered in this way in two or three minutes ; and
by the time that the whole spot has been once mowed over,
that which is first cut will be grown up again. V/here a
number of horses are soiled, a pair of poles, or a hand-cart,
will be better than a basket to carry the hay to them. This
practice, called soiling, answers well near cities and large
towns, where lands for pasturage are not plenty; and where,
by means of the plenty of manure, lands may be made to
yield the greatest crops of grass. For very thick grass
should not be fed off" ; because the greater part of it will be
Avasted by the trampling and the excrements of animals.

When grain is given to horses, it is an economical practice
to have it either ground or boiled. When horses are soiled,
or fed in a stable on green grass, it should be cut and car-
ried in during the morning while the dew is on.

A disorder, called plyalism, has for some years past been
gaining ground among horses in various parts of the United
States, which is an excessive watering or slavering at the
mouth. Various causes have been assigned for this disorder,
but none of them satisfactory. Soiling them is, however, a
certain remedy.

The following remarks on the diseases of the horse were
written by Dr. J. B. Brown, of Boston, and were first pub-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 235

lished in "The New England Journal of Medicine and
Surgery" : —

"The horse is not subject to fever; that is, he has no
simple, idiopathic fever; no cold, hot, and sweating stage, as
man has. The feverish action which the heart and arteries
of the horse sometimes assume is sympathetic, and is always
preceded by some local affection. It is a disease of irrita-
tion.

" The eyes of the horse are subject to a species of catar-
act that affects no other animal. It arises from a constitu-
tional disease, brought on by bad stabling. It is ne\ier
produced by local injury. This species of cataract com-
mences with an inflammation of the conjunctiva, without any
apparent cause. Local applications have no effect in remov-
ing it. The only rational method of treating it is to remove,
if possible, the constitutional disease, and improve the health
and condition of the animal.

" Oxen and cows have the disease called bots in their skin,
but in the horse this disease (if it may be so called) is con-
fined to the stomach.

"Farcy and glanders, are diseases peculiar to the horse.
They are contagious diseases, but may be produced without
contagion, by bad stabling. The poisonous matter of farcy
will produce glanders, and vice versa. Farcy is now as-
certained to be a disease of the superficial absorbents;
whereas, in all the old books on the veterinary art, it is re-
presented as a disease of the veins.

"A horse glandered has the whole mass of blood con-
taminated. This may be considered by medical gentlemen
as an important fact, as it goes to prove the doctrine of
humoral pathology. That the whole mass of blood is dis-
eased, in a horse affected with glanders, has been proved by
the following experiment, made by Mr. Colman, professor
at the Veterinary Institution, England.

" He took a young, healthy ass, an animal, as he states,
])eculiarly susceptible of the disease, and introduced a pipe
having a stop-cock- into the jugular vein, united by means
of an ureter to another pipe, which he introduced into the
carotid artery of a glandered horse. He then bled the ass
to death by opening his carotid artery, and turning the stop-
cock, admitted the blood of the horse into his vessels, and
resuscitated him. The result was, that the ass became
violently glandered. He inoculated other asses from the
matter produced in him, and v/as able to carry on the same
diseai?e.

236 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" Corns in the feet of horses are very unlike corns on the
feet of the human subject. There is nothing which grows
in the feet of horses that constitutes corns. There is no in-
crease of substance. Corns in the feet of horses are mere
bruises. Every body has seen or experienced the effects of
bruises upon the human nail. Corns in the feet of horses
are injuries of a similar nature. The red appearance which
they have is caused by an extravasation of blood, which
spreads itself among the fibres of the horny hoof Corns
are generally occasioned by the shoe. They may, however,
arise from other injuries. They are easily cured by suitable
remedies and a proper mode of shoeing, unless the inflam-
mation occasioned by the injury has been of long standing,
and assumed a chronic character. In this case, the cure is
more tedious.

"Horse-ail. Strictly speaking, all diseases of horses are
horse-ails ; but custom has given this epithet to a species of
disease very common among our horses. The disease refer-
red to is called strangles, in most of the old books on far-
riery. It consists in an inflammation of the membrane lining
the nose and the arytsenoid cartilages. This disease is ac-
companied by a cough and discharge from the nostrils. The
cough is sympathetic, and is produced by the extreme sensi-
bility of the membrane thus inflamed. The lightest dust, or
even a drop of water lodged upon this membrane, in this ir-
ritable state, produces coughing. The inflammation some-
times extends to the lungs, and then this disease is accom-
panied with a disease of the chest, and requires speedy and
energetic treatment, as inflammation of the lungs in the
horse is apt to terminate speedily in gangrene. Copious
bleeding, from six to ten quarts at first, and smaller bleed-
ings afterwards, as the state of the case may require, and
small doses of aloes, from one to two drachms, given daily,
have been found the most successful remedies in inflammation
of the lungs. Drastic purgatives should be avoided, as they
increase the irritation and put the life of the horse in extreme
hazard "

The following judicious remarks on the management and
diseases of horses, &c., are taken from an English publi-
cation.

" The stable. As the preservation of health ought to be
considered as an object of equal, if not superior, importance
to that of curing or alleviating disease, and as it can only
be accomplished by a proper management of the horse with

AND RURAL KCOXOMLST. 237

respect to feeding, exercise, and the general economy of the
stable, I think it proper to begin with this subject.

" In the construction of a stable there is, perhaps, no cir-
cumstance more deserving attention than that of ventilation,
or of having contrivances for the ready admission of fresh
air, and for the escape of that which has been rendered im-
pure by breathing ; and it is really extraordinary that so
little attention should have been paid to so important a cir-
cumstance. Grooms in general make a point of closing eve-
ry aperture they can find ; and if, at any time, they are pre-
vailed upon to open a window, it is commonly so small, and
so inconveniently situated, as to be of but little service.
Let any one for a moment consider how foul an atmosphere
must be produced in a close stable, in which several horses
are kept, by the constant exhalation of unwholesome vapors
from the litter, by the steams of perspiration from the skin,
and by noxious airs from the lungs, and he will not be sur-
prised at the long catalogue of diseases to which this im-
proper treatment must subject these useful animals.

" If a doubt remain in the mind of any one as to the impro-
priety of such close stables, let him enter one early in the
morning, on its being first opened, and he will experience
such a painful sensation in the eyes, and so violent a cough,
as will afford him the most convincing proof of the noxious
and stimulating nature of such an atmosphere ; yet such is
the obstinacy and ignorance of grooms in general, that they
cannot be prevailed upon to abandon this injurious practice.
Even at this time stables are generally built too low, and
unprovided with effectual means of ventilation.

"A stable should be as lofl;y as it can be made convenient-
ly, at least twelve feet ; the foul air will then circulate in
the higher parts, and the animal will not be constantly breath-
ing an unwholesome atmosphere, which he must do when
the ceiling is scarcely higher than his head. Proper aper-
tures must also be made in the ceiling, communicatino- with
the atmosphere by square wooden tubes, so contrived as
not to admit the rain into stables ; the foul air and other
unwholesome vapors will then readily pass off, while a proper
quantity of fresh air may be admitted by means of win-
dows. The next circumstance to be attended to is nearly
connected with, and not less important than ventilation ;
namely, the so constructing a stable as to be able to regulate
its temperature, or keep the air at any degree of heat that
may be thought proper. It is generally allowed, that a uni-

233 THE COMPLETE FAKMER

form temperature in a stable is very desirable ; and it is
certain, that many of the diseases of horses are caused by
sudden changes in this respect. Even slight variations of
temperature, if frequent, are injurious ; yet few stables are
to be found where this inconvenience is effectually guarded
against. To accomplish this desirable purpose, the win-
dows should be in diiferent sides, so that when a cold wind
blows from any point it may be shut out, while fresh air is
admitted by the opposite window. There should be several
of the apertures we have described in the ceiling, that they
may be occasionally shut, either wholly or partially, so that,
by means of these and the windows, the temperature can at
anv season be easily regulated, according to the weather or
state of the horse's health, more accurately if a thermometer
be kept ; an instrument which appears to be a necessary
appendage to a well-conducted stable. If, during the cold
days of winter, the contrivance we have proposed should be
found insufficient to raise the temperature of the stable to
the desired point, the air may be easily warmed to any degree
by means of stoves placed on the outside, with iron chimneys
passing through the stable. It may be placed in the saddle-
room; this, however, is scarcely necessary.

" Light is also a thing of much importance in the con-
struction of a stable ; and, for the purpose of admitting it
readily to every part, the windows should be large and prop-
erly placed. There is no doubt that the eyes of horses are
often injured by dark stables ; and when a horse is just taken
from a dark situation, it is easy to perceive that light at first
irritates the eye and gives pain ; and this is more remark-
able when he is brought suddenly into the sunshine ; nor is
it to be wondered at, that so delicate an organ as the eye
should suffer materially from the frequent repetition of this
sudden change.

" Though a light stable is desirable, the sunshine should
not be allowed to tall on the eyes of a horse as he stands in
his stall ; nor should the walls or ceiling be of a white color,
as, under such circumstances, the eyes would be over stimu-
lated and rendered weak. And when it is considered how lia-
ble horses are to diseases of these organs, and how frequent-
ly they terminate in blindness, no one will think any circum-
stance tending to their preservation too trifling to be noticed.
With regard to the best color for the walls and ceiling, a
stone or dove color is perhaps to be preferred, and may be
made by mixing a little lampblack, ivory-black, or blue-black
with the common white-wash.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 239

" The door should be larger and higher than we usually
see it ; for horses are very liable, in passing through a nar-
row or low one, to strike their hips or heads.

" The stalls should not be less than six feet wide, and the
sides sufficiently high to prevent any sort of contact or com-
munication between the horses. They should also be of
considerable depth, that a horse may not, by drawing back,
have the power of kicking those in the adjoining stalls.
The floor of the stall should be made of hard brick, as a
more equal surface is then formed than can be obtained by
paving with pebbles. Very little declivity is necessary to
drain off the urine; and as great inconvenience sometimes
arises from suffering a horse to stand in a stall where the
fall is considerable, creating unnecessary exertion in the
muscles of the hind leg, and keeping the ligaments constant-
ly in a tense state, it has been recommended to make the
drain in the middle of the stall, whereby the hind and fore
feet of the horse might stand on a level. In whatever way,
however, the stall is made, it should be carefully cleaned,
twice a day, that none of that putrescent matter may accu-
mulate which generates ammonia, or that pungent vapor
which is so abundantly found in close, filthy stables. An
iron rack is preferable to one of wood, being more easily
kept clean, and furnishing no splinters ; which, where wood-
en racks are used, sometimes injure the mouth. The man-
ger may be so contrived as to slide into the wall like a
drawer; and then, while the groom is wisping him, he would
have nothing to lay hold of with his mouth, by which prac-
tice horses often become crib-biters. The height both of the
rack and manger should be such as to enable the horse to
feed with the greatest ease. The former is sometimes made
so high that the horse is obliged to exert the muscles of his
neck considerably in order to reach it ; and this has been so
placed, under an idea of its having a tendency to make him
carry his head more gracefully; it is more probable, how-
ever, that the only effect of it is to make the horse uncom-
fortable while feeding. It has been recommended, as the
best plan, to place the racks on a level with the manger, so
that the horse may feed as he does in a state of nature.
This plan is a good one . It has been tried both for wagon
and saddle horses, that is, both single and double, and found
to answer extremely well. It was observed, however, that
some horses would throw out part of the hay with their noses
when it was of a bad quality; but by placing one or more

240 THE COMPLETE FARMER

bars across on the upper part, from the front to the back,
this was effectually prevented. The manger should be rath-
er wide, and not less than eighteen inches deep. When a
horse is fed principally with chaff or cut hay, a deep manger
is particularly necessary, as many horses, in endeavouring to
pick out the oats from the chaff, will throw out a great deal
of the food with their noses when the manger is shallow. In
larger stables, where many horses are kept, each stall is to
contain two horses, which will require a space of twelve
feet. A manger is placed at each end, and the hay crib in
the centre. A very short halter is sufficient to allow the
horses to lie down, and then there is no danger of entangling
themselves with it, an accident that often occurs when long
halters are used. La Fosse, in his Manuel d'Hippiatrique,
says, that the fall in the floor of the stall should not be more
than one inch to two yards. The gutter behind the stall is
commonly too deep, and often so placed as to be in the way
of the horses' hind feet. When a stable is properly attend-
ed to, scarcely any gutter is required ; and when there is
one, it should be very shallow and wide.

" When a stable is ventilated by means of a tube or chim-
ney, it should be placed in the centre of the ceiling, the
opening in which should be large, in proportion to the num-
ber of horses kept ; it cannot well be too large, but may be
contracted upwards, so as to have a conical shape, or it may
be made so as to resemble a dome or cupola. It should be
carried a few feet above the top of the roof, and have lateral
openings, by means of slanting boards, but closed on the top;
by which contrivance there would be a free communication
with the atmosphere, and the rain would be effectually ex-
cluded.

"There have been different opinions held with respect to
the removal of the litter during the day ; but when we con-
sider how rapidly and abundantly ammonia or the volatile
alkali is generated in it, and how injurious that vapor is to
the eyes and lungs, there can be no doubt of the propriety
of removing it. Dr. Egan, of Dublin, has discovered, that
the urine of the horse begins to generate volatile alkali very
soon after it is voided ; and it is well observed by the same
author, that if this vapor be capable of painfully stimulating
a sound and healthy eye, its eflects upon one that is inflam-
ed, and consequently extremely irritable, must be both highly
painful and prejudicial to the organ. In confirmation of this
opinion, the author relates the following experiment. A horse

AND RURAL ECONOxMIST. 241

laboring under inflammation of the eye was removed from
the stable, where he kept both eyes constantly shut, and
placed in a cool, airy situation; in the space of half an hour
he began gradually to open his eyes, and in the space of two
or three hours he kept them open boldly. The horse was
again placed in the stable, and in a few minutes he began
gradually to close the eyes, and after an hour or two kept
them constantly shut. Not satisfied, however, with this ex-
periment, though it seems pretty conclusive, the horse was
again removed to the cool situation, and the same effect fol-
lowed as at first. If the vapors produced by foul litter prove
so injurious to the eyes, it cannot surely be less prejudicial
to the lungs ; and it is highly probable that if coughs are not
produced in this way, they are often aggravated and render-
ed incurable by those irritating effluvia. Another evil to be
considered is the propensity observable in many horses to
eat their litter. This is often the case with such as have a
chronic cough, or are disposed to become brokenwinded, or
have worms ; and in all these diseases there is nothing,
perhaps, more likely to increase them than the animal's eat-
ing foul litter. It must be obvious, that horses employed in
severe labor should be allowed to lie down whenever they
are inclined to do so ; but even then all the litter may be
turned out early in the morning, the floor of the stall swept
perfectly clean, and a bed of fresh straw put in. If the foul
litter be spread abroad in the open air, and shaken up two
or three times during the day, the greater part would be
again fit for litter, and, with the addition of a little fresh
straw, would serve to replace that upon which the horse has
rested during the day. It has been said, that horses which
stand constantly on litter are apt to feel the difference of the
road and become tender-footed. Mr. Clark observes, that
the heat arising from the litter occasions a more than ordi-
nary derivation of blood to the legs and feet ; and hence
arise swelling or gourdiness of those parts, greasy heels,
and stiffness or numbness. If the horse lies down for relief,
the heat of the litter soon forces him to get up again, and
after repeatedly lying down, and forced to get up immediate-
ly from the above cause, he attempts it no farther; he stands
upright, or perhaps a little straddling, often shifting the
weight of his body from one leg to the other. This erect
position, in which he is obliged to stand, increases the swel-
ling of his legs, Stc, and recourse is then had to bleeding,
purging, diuretics, &.c.
21

242 THE COMPLETE FARMER

" Lord Pembroke, in his ' Military Equitation,' observes
that after working, and at night of course, as also in lame-
ness and sickness, it is good for horses to stand on litter ; it
also produces staling, &c. At other times, it is a bad cus-
tom ; the constant use of it heats and makes the feet tender,
and causes swelled legs ; moreover, it renders the animal
delicate.

" Swelled legs may be often reduced to their natural size
merely by taking away the litter, which, in some stables,
where ignorant grooms and farriers govern, would be a great
saving of physic and bleeding, besides straw.

" Lord Pembroke has noticed, by repeated experiments,
that legs swell or unswell, by leaving litter or taking it away,
like mercury in a weather-glass. Mr. Blaine is of opinion,
that the custom of standing on litter ruins more horses than
all the mails or stagecoaches put together ; that it is the
fruitful source of contracted feet, and brings on that ruinous
affection with more certainty than the hardest work. In my
own stables (he says) no litter is ever suffered to remain
under the fore-feet during the day. The horses stand on bare
bricks, which, in summer, are watered to make them more
cool ; by which means I have experienced astonishing bene-
fit. Behind, a little litter is strewed, because they are apt
to kick and break the bricks with their hind feet ; and be-
cause the litter thus placed sucks up the moisture of the
urine, which would be detrimental to the iiinder feet, which
are more liable to thrushes than contraction."

Colls. " Colts are usually foaled about the beginning of
summer, and it is the custom to let them run till Michaelmas
with the mare, at which time they are to be weaned. When
first weaned, they must be kept in a convenient house, with
a low rack and n)anger for hay and oats ; the hay must be
very sweet and fine, especially at first, and a little wheat
bran should be mixed with their oats, in order to keep their
bodies open, and make them eat and drink freely. When
the winter is spent, they should be turned into some dry
ground, where the grass is sweet and short, and where there
is good water, that they may drink at pleasure. The win-
ter after this, they may be kept in the stable, without any
farther care than that which is taken of other horses. But
after the first year, the mare foals and horse foals are not to
be kept together. There is no difficulty to know the shape
a foal is like to be of, for the same shape he carries at a
month he will carry at six years old, if he be not abused in
after keeping."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 243

" We often hear it lamented, that our breed of horses is
bad. But I am convinced that, as our colts are managed, if
we had any other breed, we should soon make it appear to
be as mean as our own, if not worse. The abusing of colts
in the first winter is the principal cause of their proving so
bad ; for our farmers seldom allow their weaned colts any
food besides hay, and that is not always of the best kind.
So that they seldom fail of being stinted in their growth, in
the first winter, to such a degree, that they never get the
better of it. A colt that is foaled late should not be weaned
till February or March, and should have oats during the
whole of the winter. In some countries, they allow a young
colt fifteen bushels. We need not grudge to feed them with
meal, oats, and bran, besides the best of clover hay; for they
will pay for it in their growth. After the first winter, they
will need no extraordinary feeding till they are grown up.
Were the above directions observed, we should soon see an
improvement of our breed of horses. They would be capa-
ble of doing much greater service, and be likely to hold out
to a greater ajje." — Deane.

For farther remarks on the management of colts, and
training or breaking them for service, see page 64 of this
work.

MANGE L-WURTZEL. Field Culture of the Mangel-
wurtzel Beet and the Sugar Beet. Soil and Preparation.
The soil for these roots should be a loam, inclining to clay,
in good tilth, well manured, and made fine to a good depth.
John HarePowel, Esq., corresponding secretary to the Penn-
sylvania Agricultural Society, in giving an account of his
mode of cultivating this crop, says, "My soil was not natu-
rally strong; it has been gradually so much deepened as to
enable Wood's plough, No. 2, drawn by four oxen, to plough
fourteen inches deep. Fresh barn-yard manure was equally
spread upon the surface, and ploughed under in the early
part of April, in quantities not larger than are generally used
for potato crops in this country. Early in May, the land
was twice stirred with Beatson's scarifier, harrowed, rolled ;
after stirred, harrowed and rolled again in the opposite
direction." The soil, on which Messrs. Tristram Little and
Henry Little, of Newbury, Massachusetts, raised their
premium crop, in 1824, is a clay loam. In 1823, about three-

244 THE COMPLETE FARMER

fourths of the same was sowed with onions, and manured
with about eight cords of compost manure to the acre. The
other quarter was sowed with wheat without manure. In
the fall of 1823, there were about ten cords of compost ma-
nure drawn on the lot, and put in a heap. Most of the said
compost was drawn from the salt marshes, when ditching
the same ; the other part was from the barn-yard. In the
month of April, 1824, the heap was thrown over, and well
mixed.

Planting. Colonel Powel says, " The holes for the seeds
were made by a wheel, containing pegs in its circumference,
which penetrated the ground about an inch, leaving intervals
of four inches ; the rows were made two feet asunder ; two
capsules were dropped into each hole ; the wheel of a com-
mon barrow was passed over them, thus compressing the
earth, and leaving a slight rut for the retention of moisture."

Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little observe, that, " Be-
tween the 8th and 1 1th of May, the land was ploughed and
sowed in the following manner. After one deep ploughing,
the ground was furrowed two and a half feet apart, and the
manure put into the furrows, and covered with a double
mould-board plough ; a roller was then passed on the top of
the ridge, and the seed dibbled in with the finger over the
manure, about six or eight inches apart." The quantity of
seed, according to English writers, is four pounds to an acre.
Mr. David Little, in obtaining a premium crop, sowed four
pounds, but observed, that he thought half that quantity
would have been sufficient.

After-culture. Colonel Powel says, "A small cultivator,
which I had contrived for the purpose, was drawn between
the rows soon after the weeds appeared ; a three inch trian-
gular hoe removed the alternate plants, leaving the others
at distances varying from eight to twelve inches asunder.
The cultivator was twice used before the 20th of July. The
heavy rains of August made another hoeing necessary, and
surcharged the ground so much with moisture, that all roots
increased much less in that month than during the same
time in the two last years." The Messrs. Little, " in the
course of the season, thinned their plants, and left them
from six to twelve inches apart in the rows. They were
once hoed, and ploughed three times between the rows."
Mr. Powel, in raising a previous crop, had placed the rows
thirty inches apart, and left the plants six inches apart in the
rows. He says, " I this year desired smaller roots, which

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 245

might grow so closely as by their leaves to protect the soil
as much as possible from the rays of the sun. My cultiva-
tor, by its peculiar form, enabled me to cut off the weeds
when the plants were so young, that, if I had applied the
plough, their crowns must have been covered in many in-
stances by earth occasionally falling from its land side. The
failure, which attends the cultivation of most root crops in
drills, proceeds from the neglect of weeds in their early sta-
ges. Four or five days of delay frequently make the differ-
ence of fifteen days in the labor of making clean an acre ot
ground. The same weeds which a boy with a sharp shingle
could remove at the commencement of one week, may, before
the end of the next, require the application of an implement
drawn by a horse. I ascribe my success, in great measure,
to the use of Wood's exlraordmary plough, which enters the
soil more deeply, and pulverizes it more perfectly, than any
other I have ever seen, with equal force, in any country ; to
the use of cultivators, which complete the production of fine
tilth ; to the destruction of the weeds on their first appear-
ance, — leaving the smallest space upon which a horse can
walk between the rows ; and, above all, to planting the seeds
of a proper kind upon a surface which is kept perfectly flat."

General Remarks. Agriculturists have not agreed, wheth-
er it is most expedient to plant the seeds of this root on
ridges or on a level. Colonel Powel condemns planting on
ridges in this country, as a practice not adapted to our soil
and climate, in which vegetables are very liable to suffer by
drought. He says, "Among the various practices into
which we have been seduced by the plausible theories of the
advocates of European husbandry, there is none which ap-
pears to me more absurd than that which has led us to drill
or dibble our crops on ridges. The English farmer wisely
contends with the evils produced by too much rain ; the
American husbandman should as anxiously guard against
his most formidable enemy, drought. I am inclined tolhink
that there is no crop cultivated in this State (Pennsylvania)
which ought not to be put on a flat surface." The climate
of New England, especially its northern part, is not so warm
and dry as that of Pennsylvania, and in that part of the
United States, perhaps, the nature of the soil should decide
the question ; if dry, level planting, or if moist, ridge plant-
ing should be adopted.

We have heard complaints from American farmers, that
the seed of this root is slow and uncertain in coming up
21* ^ *

246 THE COMPLETE FARMER

Perhaps the seed, or soil, or both, may sometimes be too dry
at the time of sowing. A writer in the " EngHsh Farmer's
Journal," says, " I have of late years steeped my seed for at
least forty-eight hours. I made an experiment with twenty
sound seeds, not steeped, twenty steeped twenty-four hours,
and the same number steeped forty-eight hours ; every seed
of the latter produced plants, which came up two or three
days sooner than either of the others, and some of those not
steeped did not come up at all." INIr. Cobbett, in treating
of the culture of the common garden beets, (American Gar-
dener, par. 198,) directs to soak the seed four days and
nights in rain-water before it is sowed; and observes, that
the mangel-wurtzel should be cultivated in the same manner
as the other kinds of beets. American writers, so far as we
have observed, give no directions for soaking the seeds of
this vegetable before planting ; and it is possible, that the
omission of this part of the process may cause the slowness
and uncertainty of vegetation complained of The capsule,
or husk, which contains the seeds, is dry, and it requires a
long time for the moisture which it may derive from the
earth to penetrate this integument, so as to cause the seed
to sprout. But if the soil be very moist at the time of sow-
ing, soaking the seed had better be omitted.

Much has been written and said on the subject of strip-
ping these plants of their leaves for feeding cows and other
economical purposes. An English writer observes, that six
or seven crops of leaves and stocks may be taken off during
the growth of the root. Women and children can take off
the leaves, which is done as follows ; they should place their
hands on each side of the root, at the foot stalks of the
leaves, leaving about six of the smallest central leaves be-
tween the fore-finger and thumb of each hand ; (the small
leaves are to be left on the root to grow, to make a fresh top ; )
then, spreading the hand flat with their face downwards,
push them both at the same time towards the ground, and thus,
by one motion, will the whole of the top of each root, ex-
cept the small leaves to be left to form a fresh head, be re-
moved without unsettling the root or its fibres, which would
check its growth. Some affirm, that stripping the plant of
its leaves is no injury to the root, and others are of opinion
that the root is injured by this means. We have doubts,
whether, in field cultivation, it will often be deemed expe-
dient to expend time and labor in this manner. The thin-
nings, or superfluous plant?;, however, should be preserved,
as thev make excellent food for milch cows or store sv.ine.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 247

Some cultivators affirm, that it is never worth the trouble
to transplant these roots to fill vacancies. " I have seen,"
says an English writer, " much labor and expense employed
in transplanting into vacant spots, when the seed has not been
dibbled thick enough, but have never seen the transplanted
roots worth half the trouble ; the tap-root being broken in
the drawing, nothing but the top and useless rough roots and
fangs are produced. It has been remarked by other writers,
that the most common cause of failure in transplanting this
root is the taking them up when too small, before the plants
have obtained strength and size sufficient to bear the opera-
tion of transplanting.

Use. The following remarks are from a paper communi-
cated to the trustees of the "Massachusetts Agricultural So-
ciety," by J. Lowell, Esq., president of said Society. They
are derived, principally, from a French publication, by the
Abbe Rosier.

"This root is very little affected by changes of weather.
It is attacked by no insect ; drought affects but little its
vegetation. It prepares the land extremely well for other
crops. It may be sown and treated precisely like the com-
mon beet, except that it ought to stand eighteen inches
asunder. In good land, they often weigh nine or ten pounds,
and are stripped eight or nine times. In a light, sandy, but
well manured soil, they sometimes weigh fourteen and even
sixteen pounds each ! The first crop of leaves in France
is taken off in the latter end of June, or the beginning of
July. In this country, probably, the latter period would be
preferable. The lower leaves, those which incline towards
the ground, ^re those which are taken away, and care must
be taken to preserve the top leaves, or the crown of the
plants. The leaves may be taken off every fifteen days
after the first gathering. O.xen, cows, and sheep devour
them greedily, and fatten readily upon them. All domestic
poultry eat them readily, when chopped fine and mixed with
grain. Horses will feed upon them very well, mixed with
chopped straw. Hogs also fatten upon them.

" Cows fed upon this root solely give a greater quantity
oT milk and cream, and of better quality for the first fifteen
days, after which they grow too fat, and the milk lessens.
The food of cows must therefore be varied. Oxen and sheep
fatten very well upon them. Cows should have grass in
proportion of one-third to the beet leaves, or every third day
they should be turned to grass. In this mode their milk

248 THE COMPLETE FARMER

will be excellent. The trouble of gathering the leaves is less
than that of gathering any other green fodder. It may be
done by children, while men are required to cut other green
food for cattle. It is the surest crop, since the plant will
stand the longest droughts. The roots are gathered and
treated like those of the common beet. The skin is very
tender, and care should be taken to handle them so as they
may not be wounded, as they will, in that case, not keep so
well. In order to preserve the seed in purity, care must be
taken to change the ground in which the seed beets are
planted. The seed can be preserved, after it is gathered,
three or four years, without injury. In giving these roots
to cattle for food, they are first washed, and then cut up into
pieces about the size of a nut. It is always best to accom-
pany them, when given to horned cattle, with clover, or oth-
er hay or straw ; and if the hay or straw has been previously
cut fine, it will be preferable. If horses are fed with this
root, with a proportion of hay or cut straw, (half of each,)
they will be fat, vigorous, and healthy. If they are worked
severely, a little oats or corn may be added. It is thus they
are treated in Germany, where this root stands in the stead
of meadows or grass lands, and whose excellent horses are
well known.

"Hogs fed upon them raw, after they have been cut up
fine and mixed with milk or other drink, fatten as well upon
them as upon boiled potatoes, by which the fuel and trouble
of boiling is saved.

" As to the quantity given to animals, much will depend
on the proportion of other fodder which you allow them.
Cows fed twice a day in winter upon eighteen pounds of
these roots at each time, together with four pounds of hay or
chopped straw, will give as much and as good milk as in
summer, and they will be kept in the best possible state.

"Oxen fed with forty weight of these roots per day, with
ten pounds of hay, for one month, and after that with fifty
weight per day of the roots alone, will be fat enough for sale
in two months more.

" Man can eat this vegetable throughout the year ; it is
agreeable and healthy. No insect attacks it, and it sufl^ers
but little from the variety of the seasons. The leaves of
this plant form alone an excellent food for every species of
domestic quadruped, during four months in the year. Tur-
nips and other vegetables are, besides, liable to be destroyed
by insects, whereas this beet is not. The roots can be pre-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 249

served eight months in a sound state, while turnips are of
little value after March. In some soils turnips will not grow,
particularly in those which are very stiff or strong. The
root of scarcity grows everywhere. The milk of cows fed
on turnips has a bad taste ; that of those fed on this plant is
excellent, as is also the butter made from it. This forage
on green fodder comes also at the. hot seasons, when almost
all other green food is scarce, and sometimes not to be pro-
cured. Cattle never get tired of it. In many parts of Ger-
many, where it is raised with success, they prefer it to every
tiling else to fatten those large herds of cattle which they
annually export to France. In feeding cattle with beets, the
same dry food must be given which is usually given with
turnips."

Colonel Powel observes, " My neat cattle prefer mano-el-
wurtzel to any roots which I have offered to them. I have
found its effects in producing large secretions of good milk
very great. I selected, in November, two heifers of the
same breed, and very nearly of the same age, and in similar
condition ; they were fed in adjoining stalls, and have been
fed regularly three times a day, by the same man. One of
them has had three pecks of mangel-wurtzel and four quarts
of corn-meal daily ; the other, foui" and a half pecks of
mangel-wurtzel. The last, which has had mangel-wurtzel
alone, is in the condition of good beef; the other is not more
than what graziers call half fat.

" The application of mangel-wurtzel as food for sheep is
not the least important of its uses. Ewes yean usually at
the season when grass cannot be supplied. The health
of themselves and the thrift of their lambs essentially depend
upon succulent food being had. I am inclined to think, that
no small portion of the success which English breeders have
met, is to be ascribed to the large stores of roots which they
always have at command. It cannot be denied, that Indian
meal will of itself, in most cases, produce extraordinary fat-
ness, as well as great size ; but I have been led to believe,
that diseases are early engendered by this species of forcing,
which is always expensive, and too often eventually destroys
the animal which has been thus reared."

Messrs. T. and H. Little observe, as to the value of the
roots for feeding stock, "There is a variety of opinions ; but,
from a number of years' experience, we think them a valua-
ble addition, and highly worth cultivating. Comparing them
with English hay, and we know of no better standard, in

250 THE COMPLETE FAUMER

our opinion, three tons of mangel-wurtzel, or potatoes, (of
the two, we value the mangel-wurtzel the highest,) are
equal to one ton of hay, for feeding stock generally ; but
for rnilch cows, we think two tons of equal value. For feed-
ing store swine, mangel-wurtzel is the only root that we
know of which we can cultivate and feed to profit. Six
bushels of raw mangel-wurtzel we think equal to one bushel
of Indian corn."

Quantity to an Acre. The premium crop of the Messrs.
Litile was thirty-three tons ten hundred weight and four-
teen pounds on an acre. Colonel Powel inclosed certificates
to the president of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society,
showing that sixteen hundred and thirty-four bushels of man-
gel-wurtzel, weighing seventy-eight thousand four hundred
and forty-eight pounds, were produced upon one acre and
fourteen perches ; and a part of the same field, containing
thirteen contiguous rows, produced at the rate of two thou-
sand and sixty-five bushels per acre, weighing forty-four
tons five hundred and twenty-seven pounds. In Great Bri-
tain, it is said that upwards of sixty tons have been raised
on an acre.

Gathenng and Preserving. In gathering the roots, care
should be taken to cut ofi' the leaves about half an inch
above the crown, as they will not keep so well if cut more
closely. Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little say, "As to
the best mode of preserving them, we have tried divers
ways, — by pitting them, by putting them into a barn and
covering them with hay, and by putting them into the
cellar ; the last mode we think the best." Colonel Powel
observes, that one of his crops was " piled in a cellar, in
rows, as wood, and covered with sand." A writer in the
" English Farmer's Journal " observes, that he has practis-
ed, with success, the following mode of preserving this root :
" I pack it in long heaps, about seven feet wide at the bot-
tom. I begin by forming the outsides with the roots, not
stripped of their tops ; tops outwards ; the internal parts to
be filled with roots without leaves ; continue one laver over
another, until the heap is about six feet high, and about two
feet broad at top, which may be covered with straw and
earth ; the ends of the heap should be covered in the same
way. The leaves form an efficient covering against rain and
frost."

Mr. M'Mahon's mode of preserving beets and other
roots is as follows : "Previous to the commencement of

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 251

severe frost, you should take up, with as little injury as pos-
sible, the roots of your turnips, carrots, parsneps, beets, sal-
sify, scorzonera, Hamburg or large-rooted parsley, skirrets,
Jerusalem artichokes, turnip-rooted celery, and a sufficiency
of horseradish for the winter consumption ; cut off their
tops, and expose the roots for a few hours, till sufficiently
dry. On the surface of a very dry spot of ground, in a well
sheltered situation, lay a stratum of sand two inches thick,
and on this a layer of roots, of either sort, covering them
with another layer of sand, (the drier the better,) and so
continue the layers of sand and roots till all are laid in, giv-
ing the whole, on every side, a roof-like slope ; then cover
this heap or ridge all over with about two inches of sand,
over which lay a good coat of drawn straw, up and down,
as if thatching a house, in order to carry off wet and pre-
vent its entering the roots ; then dig a wide trench round
the heap, and cover the straw with the earth so dug up, to a
depth sufficient to preserve the roots effectually from frost.
An opening may be made on the south side of this heap,
and completely covered with bundles of straw, so as to have '
access to the roots at all times, when wanted either for sale
or use.

" Some people lay straw or hay between the layers of
roots, and immediately on the top of them ; this I do not
approve of, as the straw or hay will become damp and
mouldy, and very often occasion the roots to rot, while the
sand would preserve them sweet and sound.

"All these roots may be preserved in like manner in a
cellar ; but in such a place they are subject to vegetate and
become stringy earlier in spring. The only advantage of
this method is, that in the cellar they may be had when
wanted more conveniently during winter than out of the field
or garden heaps.

" JVote. All the above roots will preserve better in sand
than in common earth ; but when the former cannot be had,
the sandiest earth you can procure may be used."

RUTA BAGA. The following is an account of the
method of cultivating ruta baga, adopted by Rev. Henry
Colman, in obtaining a crop for which he received a pre-
mium of twenty dollars from " The Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Society, '• in 1830; from "The New England Far-
mer " ; —

2o2 THE COMPLETE FABMER

" On an acre, on one side of the field, there were gath-
ered seven hundred and torty-one baskets lull ; and forty
baskets of the above-named weighed at the town scales two
thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds net weight. This,
allowing fifty-six pounds to a bushel, the standard weight
assumed by the Society, would give a crop of nine hundred
and three bushels to the acre.

" The turnips were planted on the 29th of June and 2d of
July ; about one pound and a half of seed was used for the
acre ; and they were gathered and stored in cellars and in
the barn, in the last part of November.

"The ground on which they grew is a good soil, neither
wet nor dry, and bore the last year an abundant crop of
onions, and corn the year preceding the last. It was well
manured at both times, and in fine tilth. It was manured
with at least six cords to the acre of barn manure, the last
spring, and sowed again to onions ; but the seed entirely
failing, it was ploughed, harrowed, furrows struck out, and
about eight cords of barn manure spread in the furrows ;
ploughed again, so as by a back furrow to form a ridge over
the manure, and the seed sown with a small drill-harrow on
the ridges, making the rows about twenty inches asunder.
As soon as the plants were of sufficient size, a drill-harrow,
with small shares fixed to it, to cut off all the weeds, was
passed through the rows ; and the plants thinned with u
small weeding hoe to the distance of about eight inches
apart, and the vacant places filled up by transplanting from
the supernumerary plants. They were once more harrowed
and cleaned, which was a very small labor ; and owing to
the very unpropitious weather were not harvested until very
late. Some of them were very large ; one weighed fifteen
pounds, and many were nearly as large. The exact expense
of cultivating the acre cannot be estimated, as it was inter-
mixed with other farm work ; but the whole, from the sow-
ing to the gathering, was not two-thirds of the labor usually
bestowed on planting, cultivating, and gathering an acre of
potatoes.

"My Swedish turnips the last year were fed off to my
oxen, dry cows, young stock, and fatting sheep. To the
cattle they were of very great advantage ; and for feeding
sheep, they proved worth from ten to twelve and half cents
per bushel. Three years' experiment has increased their
value very much for these purposes in my own estimation."

AND Rl'RAL ECONOMIST. 253

A correspondent in "The New England Farmer," (Vol.
XI. p. 277,) says :

" The soil for the culture of the ruta baga must be rich
and dry; and the more it inclines to a sand loam the better.
Clay is the worst, and wet soils will not answer at all. My
general practice has been, to manure well a piece of pasture,
or clover ley, from which the hay has first been cut, plough
it handsomely over, and harrow it well. I sow in rows, at
two and half or three feet, with a drill-harrow. The sooner
the preceding operations succeed each other the better. I
have sown broad-cast, but the expense of thinning and
culture is increased. A man will drill in three or four acres
a day. We allow a pound of seed to the acre, though half
this, properly distributed, is enough. Sow from the 26th of
June to the 10th of July.

" Culture. I use a cultivator, that may be graduated to
the space between the rows, drawn by a horse, as soon as
the plants can be well distinguished. This is repeated in a
few days, back and forward, and the implement carried so
close to the drills, as to leave only strips of from four to ten
inches, which are then thoroughly cleaned with a skim hoe,
and the plants thinned to eight and ten inches' distance.
The cultivator soon follows for a third time, and if necessary
the skim hoe, when the crop is generally left till harvest.
The great aim is to extirpate the weeds, and to do this while
they are small.

" Harvesting is postponed as long as the season will per-
mit. The roots are then pulled up and laid on the ground,
the tops of the two rows towards each other. The pullers
are followed by a man or boy with a bill-hook, who with a
light blow cuts the tops as fast as three or four can pull.
Three men will in this way harvest, of a good crop, three
hundred bushels in a day. The tops are gathered into heaps
and taken to the yard in carts daily, for the stock, until
they are consumed. An acre will give from five to ten cart-
loads of tops. The roots are piled in the field if dry ; the
pits, two or two and a half feet broad, covered with straw
and earth, and as cold weather approaches, with manure, to
prevent frost. N. B. With a crow-bar make one or more
holes on the crown of the pit, which must be left open, to let
off the rarefied air and prevent the roots from heating.

" Use. The tops serve for autumn. As soon as the mild
weather of spring will justify, I break through the frost, and
take the contents of a pit to mv barn, and cover the roots
22

254 THE COMPLETE FARMER

with straw or hay. From thence they are fed to my stock,
being first chopped up with a snik, (Dutch meat-chopper,)
or spade. They are excellent for sheep, especially for ewes
that have young ; and hogs and horses eat them freely.
Steamed, they are used in the north of England for horses
as a substitute for grain. I have fattened sheep and bul-
locks upon them with profit. They constitute, particularly
from February to June, an excellent culinary vegetable for
the table. A bullock will thrive fast upon two bushels a
day, and will consume hardly any hay, and requires no
drink.

" Product and Cost. ^Nly average crop has been six hun-
dred bushels per acre, though others have raised much heavi-
er products. The cost in manure and labor, when they are
secured for winter, has been from two to three cents per
bushel.

" N. B. Cattle or sheep fattened upon this root should
be kept from eating them for eight or ten days before they
are slaughtered^ otherwise the meat will have an unpleasant
savor. J. B."

ENGLISH TURNIPS. Every farmer will find it profit-
able to raise a quantity of these roots. The mangel-wurtzel
and the ruta baga, useful as they undoubtedly are, will not
completely supersede, nor altogether supply the place of the
old-fashioned English turnip. In the " oNIemoirs of the Board
of Agriculture of the State of New York," (Vol. I. p. 26,)
we find the following remarks on the best mode of cultivating
this valuable root :

" There is no difficulty in raising turnips on new land; but
it is very desirable to know the best mode of raising them,
at least a small patch every year, on old farms. 3Ir. Henry
De Bois, of Rensselaer county, and Major E. Cady, of
Columbia county, say, that they have succeeded in obtaining
good crops several years in succession by the following pro-
cess. Turn over a turf of old sward the first week in June.
Yard your cattle at night on this, in the proportion of six
head at least to a quarter of an acre, until the 20th of July.
Then harrow lengthwise the furrows, so as not to disturb or
overturn them, and sow in the proportion of about half a
pound of seed per acre.

" If it is not convenient to yard cattle upon it sufficiently,
about two inches of well-rotted manure, harrowed in as

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 255

above, will do as a substitute. Mr. C. R. Golden applies the
manure by strewing it in shallow furrows, two feet apart ;
then buries the manure by two side furrows, and harrows the
ground level, lengthwise of the furrows. This method re-
quires less manure, and he has the advantage of hoeing the
turnips in drills."

We recollect likewise, that we have read, in several of our
New England newspapers, that fine turnips have been raised
by ploughing up old sward ground some time in June, har-
rowing well, and sowing from the 1st to the 20th of July,
and this witho\it the application of manure. But there can
be no doubt that folding sheep or horned cattle on the land
thus ploughed would very much enhance the crop.

All American writers on this subject, whose works we
have perused, advise to sow seed of the common English
turnip as late as about the middle of July. They tell us, that
late sowed turnips are much the best for the table, and that
they are less liable to be injured by insects, if sown so late,
than when sown much earlier in the season.

Turnips are frequently, if not most generally, raised in the
United States as a second crop ; and no doubt this practice
is often very eligible, and may be perfectly consonant with
the soundest maxims of good husbandry. But when it is
intended to ma^-e the most of ijour crop oj turnips, or to obtain
as great a product as possible for the purpose of feeding
cattle, we do not perceive any objection to giving turnips a
larger portion of the season to grow in than has been with
us the general practice.

An English writer on agriculture, whose remarks on this
and other agricultural topics appear to us to be judicious,
and to display a thorough knowledge of the subjects of his
essays, says, "It is not pretended, that there lies any solid
objection to early sowing of turnips, simply considered ; on
the contrary, such seems to be the most proper means of ob-
taining a full crop ; but the advantages of early sowing,
whatever they be, are given up, and the season postponed
from near three to five months, by way of retarding the
growth of the crop, that it may last to a later period in the
spring, and receive less damage from the frosts than that to
which it would be liable in its early maturity. The disad-
vantages attending this plan are a crop far inferior in weight
to what might be obtained from the land, and the very common
risk of destruction from drought and fly. The weight and
perfection of the turnips being the objects, the land may be

2o6 THE COiMPLETE FARMER

got ready for them as for any other early spring crop, and
the seed sown with the first warm showers. This will afford
ample scope for resowing, should the first seed fail, of which,
however, granting it to be good, and the land sufficiently
fine, I believe there is scarcely any risk. As to any advan-
tages of a crop previous to the turnips, nothing scarcely can
stand in competition with the first crop of roots.

"The true turnip soil is a deep sand or sandy loam. Every
gardener knows the proper time to begin hoeing turnips. In
general, when the plants spread a circle of about four inches
they are ready for the first hoeing. They are commonly
left about a foot asunder. The second hoeing three weeks
after the first."

Those who desire to go extensively and successfully into
the turnip culture should raise their own seed from the finest
transplanted roots. An English cultivator savs, " It is won-
derful what a small quantity of seed suffices for an acre of
ground, and indeed equally so how it can be delivered and
spread over such a breadth. A pint might be more than
enough, but it is usual to broad-cast a quart on an acre."

Dr. Deane's "New England Farmer " asserts, that "the
quantity of seed sown on an acre is never less than one
pound, frequently a pound and a half, and by some two.
According to the same work, it is very necessary for the suc-
cess of the crop that a heavy roller be passed over the field
immediately after harrowing in the seed, provided the ground
is sufficiently dry, or as soon as it is in a fit condition. By
this means the clods are broken, and much of the seed that
would otherwise be exposed to birds, &c. will be covered,
and the surface rendered smooth and compact thereby, and
consequently more retentive of moisture, which will great-
ly promote the vegetation of the seed and growth of the
plants."

If a quantity of lime were sowed over the field immediate-
ly after putting in the seed, it would probably preserve the
crop against insects and prevent the turnips becoming
spongy, as well as increase their size. Unleached ashes,
soot, and plaster, have also been highly recommended as
manure for turnips. Thomas Mellville, Jun. Esq., of Pitts-
field, Massachusetts, in raising a crop which received the
premium from " The Massachusetts Agricultural Society,"
in 1817, and which amounted to about seven hundred and
fifty bushels to the acre, sowed his seeds in drills of twenty-
eight inches the Slst of June, on ground previously well

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 257

manured. The following day sowed on the acre thirty
bushels slacked lime and fifteen bushels house ashes.

What we have said about the early sowing of turnips we
would merely suggest as a hint, or something to be thought
of, and perhaps become a matter of experiment. It appears
to us that our custom of sowing turnips so late in the season,
as is commonly practised, is an usage borrowed from British
husbandry, without duly considering the difference of our
climate from that of Great Britain, and the different uses to
which this crop is commonly applied in the two countries.
In England they usually feed turnips off the ground with
sheep ; or draw them for neat cattle during the winter, as
fast as they are wanted, and often let them stand in the field
till spring, to supply green food for sheep at the time of their
yeaning, &c. But in the United States, this crop must be
harvested in autumn and secured from frost ; and it would
seem to be desirable that they should have had time to ob-
tain their full growth before they are gathered.

Ellis, an old writer on husbandry, says, "Turnips sooted
about twenty-four hours after they are up will be entirely
secured from the fly." Some advise, and it may be well, if
not too much trouble, to leach soot and sprinkle the young
turnips with the liquor. M'Mahon, in treating of the culti-
vation of turnips, says, " the plants should be left from seven
to twelve inches every way; this must be regulated accord-
ing to the strength of the land, the time of sowing, and the
kind of turnips cultivated ; strong ground and early sowing
always producing the largest roots."

The width of the hoe should be in proportion to the me-
dium distance to be left between the plants, and this to their
expected size. The critical time of the first hoeing is, when
the plants, as they lie spread on the ground, are nearly the
size of the palm of the hand ; if, however, seed-weeds be
numerous and luxuriant, they ought to be checked before
the turnip plants arrive at that size ; lest, being drawn up
tall and slender, they should acquire a weak and sickly
habit. A second hoeing should be given when the leaves
are grown to the height of eight or nine inches, in order to
destroy weeds, loosen the earth, and finally to regulate the
plants ; a third, if found necessary, may be given at any sub-
sequent period. Here will the farmer exclaim against the
expense and trouble of hoeing ; but let him try one acre in
this way, and leave another of the same quality to nature,
as is too frequently done, and he will find that the extra
22*

258 THE COMPLETE FARMER

produce of the hoed acre will more than compensate for the
labor bestowed.

Loudon says, archbishop Garrie, a Scottish gardener of
merit, tried steeping the seed in sulphur, sowing soot, ashes,
and sea-sand along the drills, all without effect. At last he
tried dusting the rows, when the plants were in the seed-leaf,
with quicklime, and found that effectual in preventing the
depredations of the fly. " A bushel of quicklime," he says,
" is sufficient to dust over an acre of drilled turnips, and a
boy may soon be taught to lay it on almost as fast as he
could walk along the drills. If the seminal leaves are pow-
dered in the slightest degree, it is sufficient ; but should the
rain wash the lime off before the turnips are in the rough
leaf, it may be necessary to repeat the operation, if the fly
begins to make its appearance."

POTATOES. " Above two nundred and forty years have
elapsed since the introduction of the potato into the British
isles. During that period, it has been gradually making its
way in the favor of the inhabitants ; but its progress for a
long time was very limited. So slight, indeed, was the esti-
mation in which it was held, even after the era of the revo-
lution, that we find the celebrated Evelyn, in the year 1699,
giving directions to plant potatoes in the worst grounds.
' Take them up,' he says, 'in November, for winter spend-
ing ; there will enough remain for a stock, though they be
ever so exactly gathered.'

" The potato began however to be extensively cultivated
about the middle of the last century ; and now it is grown
in every farm and cottage garden, almost without exception.

" If experience seemed to have proved beyond a doubt
that this root may be deemed one of the most important vege-
table productions ; if, in the face of every assertion to the
contrary, it be found a very valuable and, generally speak-
ing, a most salubrious article * of diet, and admirably adapt-

* It has been argued that the potato, at least under certain conditions, pos-
sesses a slightly poisonous quality. The idea may have originated in the botan-
ic character of the plant ; in fact, it is one of the family of the nightshade,
tile solatium tuberosum of Linnseus, and of the old natural order luridae, which
included plants whose appearance was described as being " dusky, dismal, and
gloomy." The genus or family solarium is the type of that numerous tribe or
order in the natural system, solanea, many of whose members exhibit great
beauty of appearance and possess veiy useful properties.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 259

ed to supply nutritious food for animals and poultry ; it
becomes a serious interest to determine with certainty that
mode of culture which shall, at all times, and in all situ-
ations, tend to produce the heaviest crops, and of the finest
quality.

" Mr. Knight, the president of the ' English Horticultural
Society,' has observed, that he planted his potatoes upon a
soil naturally poor and very shallow ; upon a rock full of fis-
sures, giving no more manure than is usualhj given to a crop
of turnips ; the manure was mixed up with the soil, and not
thrown into the drills at the time of planting. The plants
sutfered from drought during a part of the year ; neverthe-
less, he had very good crops from many varieties. These
varieties he had himself originated from seed ; and they pos-
sess the important quality of scarcely producing any blos-
soms, and therefore the vital powers of the plant are en-
tirely employed in the production and support of those tube-
rous processes, the potatoes, which are the sole object of the
cultivator. The produce of two of the sorts is stated as
follows ; of the one, twenty-three tons two hundred weight
seventy-six pounds ; and the other, twenty tons two hundred
weight one hundred and one pounds, per acre. Of four
other varieties he observes, ' the produce exceeded twenty
tons each per acre, all of good quality.' If the reader will
reduce these weights to pounds, he will find them (reckoning
the yield at twenty tons only per acre) to amount to five
hundred and sixty Ijushels, each of eighty pounds' weight.

" One of the chief, if not the primary, agent in effecting
vegetable developement and maturity, is light. Deprive a
plant of that, and you either paralyze the operation of its
vital principle, or induce imperfect and diseased action. The
leaves of vegetables are the media upon which light acts ;
and, therefore, it should be the object of the gardener so to
arrange his crops, that the utmost breadth of their foliage
may be exposed to the full influence of the solar rays.
Hence, the rows of potatoes ought to point north and south ;
for, in the first place, plants so exposed command the great-
est breadth and duration of light ; and in the second, the sun,
at the time of his highest meridian altitude, that is, at the
hour of noon, shines directly along the extent of the rows ;
his light is also most equally distributed upon the whole
foliage as he approaches to and recedes from the meridian.
The perpendicularity of growth, which is of considerable
importance to the complete success of the crop, is less likely

260 THE COMPLETE FARMER

to be disturbed by this mode of arrangement, than by any
other that has heretofore been employed. It is generally the
practice to plant small potatoes, or sets of large tubers, cut
with one or two eyes to each. These sets are planted in
rows, from sixteen to twenty inches asunder, and the sets
about half that distance, or nine inches apart, without any
consideration being had to the aspect or direction of the
rows. As the stems advance in growth, they are very liable
to fall over and become entangled one with another, thus in-
tercepting the solar light, which then acts unequally upon
the disorderly masses of foliage. Hence the crops become
very unequal in point of bulk and weight.

" Mr. Knight's philosophical directions lead to a very dif-
ferent result. He recommends the planting of whole potatoes,
and those only which are of fine medium size, none to be of
less weight than four ounces ; and he often prefers those
which weigh six or eight ounces. The earlier sorts, and,
indeed, all which seldom attain a greater height than two
feet, are to be planted about four or five inches apart in the
rows, centre from centre, the crown ends upward ; the rows
to be- from two feet six inches to three feet asunder. The
late potatoes, which produce a haulm above three feet in
height, are to be placed five or six inches apart, centre from
centre, in rows four or five feet asunder.

" When potatoes are thus planted in rows pointing north
and south, the utmost energy of the light will be exerted,
not only upon the foliage of the plant, but upon the surface
of the intervening spaces of ground. If we suppose that the
main crops will be planted at the latter end of March and
during the month of April, the sun's meridional altitude will
be advancing daily for at least nine weeks ; and during that
period, the developement and growth of the stem and leaves
will be in a state of rapid progress. After the turn of days,
and when the plants have attained their full growth, the sun
will continue to exert its most powerful influence. Should
the ground be of a proper texture and quality, the plants
will stand erect, and the maturing process will proceed with-
out interruption ; and after favorable summers, wherein
there have been regular and moderate supplies of rain, par-
ticularly during May and June, with a prevalence, however,
of bright sunshine, the crops of potatoes will be regular, the
tubers generally of a medium size, and the quality mealy,
and altogether superior. If the soil be a strong mellow
loam, enriched with much manure, the haulm will, in all prob-

AND RUKAL ECONOMIST. 261

ability, grow too rank, and finally fall over ; nevertheless
the large spaces between, the rows will greatly remedy this
evil, for the sun's beams will act upon one surface at the
least, and the matting and other injurious consequences re-
sulting from close drilling will be prevented or obviated.
We hear everywhere of potato plants running away to haulm,
and thus expending their vital energy upon useless stem and
foliage, instead of employing it in the production of tuberous
roots. Now this remark is wholly opposed to philosophical
fact, for invariably the strongest and heaviest bulk of potatoes
is found attached to the most lu.\uriant haulm. The evil of
over-luxuriance is not to be referred to the paucity of tube-
rous product, for that is always great ; it is a consequence
of an over-rich soil, which causes the haulm to grow so tall
as to fall over, become entangled, and thus to lose the ma-
turing influence of light. Hence, such haulm seldom ripens
in due time ; it remains green even in December ; and the
tubers, though large, numerous, and heavy, are immature,
void of mealiness, and vapid in flavor.

" A fact of great importance to the growers of potatoes
remains to benoticed. The outside rows, and all single rows,
will be found to produce far greater crops than any of the
interior rows of a plot in the garden or field. This depends
upon a variety of causes, the chief of which is, the more
perfect exposure of the foliage to the agency of air and
light. Mr. Knight obtained from one outside row, of an
early seedling variety of the preceding year, which was two
feet six inches exterior of an adjoining row, ' a produce
equivalent to more than ffly-eight tons per acre. No con-
clusions,' he says, ' can be drawn from the amount of
produce of an external row. I mention it only to show the
enormous influence of light.'

"Experience has established the truth of this philosophical
remark. Every cultivator, who has the opportunity of crop-
ping upon long detached slips, in airy, open situations,
should make the experiment of close planting in single rows,
either whole potatoes or well-cut sets from very large pota-
toes, each to contain two eyes at the least. These sets
should be taken from the crown end, or middle of the tuber,
and not from the lower or root end. Sets may be planted at
still less distances in the rows than whole tubers ; and al-
though the preference ought, in all cases, to be given to a
southern direction, where such can be conveniently given,
still, for absolutely single rows, it is not indispensably re-

.^ii

262 THE COMPLETE FARMER

quired, because air and light will act on each side of the
stem and foliage, and there will be no intervening shadow.

'• The soil ought to be sandy and light, though moderately
rich ; that is, if fine, mealy, and dry potatoes be required. It
should not by any means be glutted with manure, and need
not be deep.

" With respect to the properties of this vegetable, and the
purposes to which it may be applied, the following observa-
tions of an eminent physician, Dr. Pare, may not be deemed
inappropriate.

" ' Potatoes are found to produce, First, Cottony flax from
the stalk. Second, Sugar from the root. Third, Potass by
consumption. Fourth, Vinegar from the apples. Fifth,
Soap, or a substitute for bleaching, from the tubercles. And,
finally, when cooked by steam, the most farinaceous and
economical of all vegetable food.'

"It is also known that much farina, or rather amylum, or
starch, is yielded by grinding and washing the pulpy mass.
This starch may be employed as a substitute for that made
from wheat ; and as an article of diet, prepared as Indian
arrow-root. It can also be introduced in making bread,
though there is some difficulty in the manipulation. As
food for all cattle of the farm, — horses, cows, pigs, and
likewise for poultry, potatoes are all but invaluable. Every
creature appears to relish them, particularly when they are
steamed or carefully boiled. It would be well worth the in-
telligent farmer's while to pay great attention to the use and
effects of potatoes, raw and boiled. It is asserted, that a
cow may safely eat them in a raw state to the extent of,
perhaps, fifty pounds per day, provided the eyes have broken
and begun to shoot. Whenever they be given raw, how-
ever, they should be chopped into pieces to prevent ac-
cidents. The utility of raw potatoes is, however, doubted
by many, and therefore the experiment requires close ob-
servation ; perhaps straw, hay, and chaff, might be employ-
ed as a very proper adjunct, with a few ounces of salt added
to each feed. Whenever steaming in the large way can be
profitably employed, it must be an advantage for pigs and
poultry particularly ; and, in all cases, it would greatly tend
to prevent the possibility of the danger of suffocation which
has been known to result from the hurry and greediness with
which cattle devour the raw roots." — Biitish Farmer's
Magazine.

Potatoes renewed from Seed. " Take the apples in the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 263

beginning of October [or whenever they are ripe] before the
frost has hurt them ; hang them up by the foot-stalks, in a
dry closet, where they will not freeze ; let them hang till
March or April ; then mash the apples, wash the seeds from
the pulp, and dry them in a sunny window. Sow the seeds
in a bed, about the 1st of May. When the plants are four
or five inches high, transplant them into ground well pre-
pared, one or two plants in a hill. They will produce full
grown apples, and some of the roots will be as large as hen's
eggs. But if the seeds were sown in autumn, some of them
would come up in the following spring. Nothing is more
common than their appearance in fields where potatoes have
been raised the preceding year."

The process stated in "Monk's Agricultural Dictionary,"
an English work, is similar to that mentioned by Dr. Deane,
excepting that it is recommended in that work to hang the
apples of the potatoes in a warm room till Christmas. Then
wash out the seeds, spread and dry them in paper, and pre-
serve them from damps till spring.

Potatoes thus obtained will produce roots of the full size
the second season after sowing, when their qualities may be
more fully ascertained than they could well be the first sea-
son. They will be found to vary very much from the kinds,
from which the apples were gathered. It will be expedient
to plant but one potato of the regenerated sorts in a hill,
that you may keep each variety separate. Then, by keep-
ing the produce of each hill by itself, and boiling one or two
of each, you may ascertain which is best for the table ; and
by observing the quantity of produce in each hill, you may
form a pretty good estimate relative to the productiveness of
each sort. In that way you may introduce new varieties of
potatoes, and supply yourself and neighbours, and eventually
the market, with potatoes of a quality much superior to any
of the worn-out and degenerate kinds which are now to be
found. The subject is of importance, and the man who will
introduce new and improved sorts of potatoes, will deserve
but little less of his country than he who improves our
breeds of domestic animals.

COTTON. [Gossypium.) There are many varieties of
this plant, all of which are natives of warm climates, but
only four are cultivated. In Georgia and South Carolina

264 THE COMPLETE FARMER

two kinds are planted. One grows on the upland, has a
short staple, with green seed. Another has black seed, and
is cultivated on the islands near the coast.

Pierce Butler, Esq., a successful cultivator, has given the
following directions for raising this article :

" If the land has been recently cleared, or has long re-
mained fallow, turn it up deep in winter ; and in the first
week in March bed it up in the following manner. Form
twenty-five beds in one hundred and five square feet of land;
(being the space alloted to each laborer for a day's work ;)
this leaves about four feet two and one half inches from the
centre of one bed to the centre of the next. The beds
should be three feet wide, flat in the middle. About the
15th of March, in latitude from twenty-nine to thirty degrees,
the cultivator should commence sowing, or, as it is general-
ly termed, planting. The seed should be well scattered in
open trenches, made in the centre of the beds, and covered.
The proportion of seed is one bushel to one acre ; this al-
lows for accidents occasioned by worms or night chills. The
cotton should be well weeded by hoes once every twelve
days till blown, and even longer if there is grass, observing
to hoe up, that is, lo the cotton, till it pods, and hoe down
when the cotton is blown, in order to check the growth of
the plant. From the proportion of seed mentioned, the cot-
ton plants will come up plentifully, too much so to suffer all
to remain. They should be thinned moderately at each hoe-
ing. When the plants have got strength and growth, which
may be about the third hoeing, to disregard worms and bear
drought, they should be thinned, according to the fertility of
the soil, from six inches to near two feet between the stocks
or plants. In rich river grounds, the beds should be from
five to six feet apart, measuring from centre to centre ; and
the cotton plants, when out of the Avay of the worms, from
two to three feet apart. It is advisable to top cotton once
or twice in low grounds, and also to remove the suckers.
The latter end of July is generally considered a proper time
for topping. Gypsum may be used with success on cotton
lands not near the sea. In river grounds draining is proper ;
yet these lands should not be kept too dry. In tide lands it
is beneficial to let the water flow over the land without re-
taining it. In river lands a change of crops is necessary.
From°actual experiment it has been proved, that river tide
lands, having the preceding year had rice sown on them,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

265

yielded much more cotton the succeeding year than they
would have afTorded by a continuation of cotton

" The mere growing of cotton is but a part of the care of
the planter ; very much depends on classing and cleansino- it
for market, after it has been housed. Sorting it before" it
goes to the jennies, moteing and removing any yellow par-
ticles, are essential to assure a preference at a common
market of competition."

TOBACCO. (Mcotiana.) This plant is named from To-
bago, one of the Caribbee islands. It was first introduced
into England by the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, and from
thence it spread over the other parts of Europe

In order to raise the young plants, it is recommended to
burn over the surface of a piece of ground earlv in the
spring, rake it well, and sow the seeds. When the plants
have acquired leaves the size of a quarter of a dollar they
are fit for transplanting. They require a dry, light rich
soil, made mellow by ploughing, and folding is also advised
IJr. JJeane observes, that, the common way of raising to-
bacco in cow-pens and barn-yards is detestable. The ta^te
of such tobacco is intolerable. Transplant the youna seed-
lings when the ground is wet, as you would cabbage ''plants
Set them about three and a half feet apart, and weed them
as you would growing cabbages. Destroy the large green
worms, which are apt to infest this crop.

When the plants have grown about three feet high a little
less or more, as they may be more or less thrifty, their tops
should be broken or cut ofl^, excepting those designed for
seed, which should be the largest. The tops should be taken
ofl:- so early in the summer as to allow time for the upper
leaves to grow to the same size as the lower ones Of this
time the cuhivator must judge from circumstances, previous
observations, or the advice of some person accustimed to
raismg tobacco. All the plants should be topped at the
same time whatever may be their height, that they may
ripen together, and produce leaves nearly of the same size
and thickness. The suckers which shoot out from the foot-
sta ks of the leaves should also be broken or pinched off" as
last as they appear.

The ripeness of tobacco is known by small dusky spots
appearing on ^the leaves. The plants should then be^cut

266 THE COMPLETE FARMER

near the roots, on the morning of a day of sunshine, and
should lie singly to wither. When sufficiently withered, the
plants should be laid in close heaps under cover to sweat,
forty-eight hours or more. After this, they should be hung
up under cover to dry. This may be done, by running two
stalks on the sharp ends of a stick about eight inches long,
and suspending them across a pole about sixteen inches
apart, in a pretty tight apartment. As the plants become
dry they may be placed nearer to each other, to make room
for more, if necessary. When they have hung till there is
no greenness in the leaves, and at a time vvhen the air is
damp, the leaves should be stripped off the stalks, tied up in
hands, and packed away in chests or casks, well pressed
down, and kept in a dry place, not in a cellar, which would
soon spoil the tobacco.

The use of tobacco for chewing and snuffing is uncleanly,
unwholesome, and becoming unfashionable with the more
respectable parts of the community. The habit of chewing
it, however, is not easily broken. A writer for the " Nation-
al Intelligencer," with the signature "J. B.," states, in
substance, that he was suffering under a pulmonary com-
plaint, supposed to be brought on by chewing tobacco, and
that by making a substitute of slippery elm bark, and swal-
lowing the juice, he at once got rid of his disorder and his
propensity to chew this poisonous plant. The dust or pow-
der of tobacco, thrown over beds where plants are just
coming up, preserves them from worms. It is said, also,
that a few tobacco plants set out among cabbages and tur-
nips, the tobacco plants about one rod apart, will save the
cabbages and turnips from insects.

M. M'Louvin, in Loudon's Magazine, observes as fol-
lows : " I procure from the tobacconists a liquor expressed
from tobacco, to every gallon of which I add five gallons of
water ; this mixture, with Read's garden syringe, I sprinkle
over the trees, putting it on the finest rose, and being careful
to wet all the leaves ; this operation is performed only in the
hottest sunshine, as the effect is then much greater than
when the weather is dull. In this manner I have, with five
gallons of liquor, reduced as above stated, cleaned seven-
tepn peach and nectarine trees, twelve of which average
seventeen feet in length and twelve in height. The black
glutinous insect, provincially called blight, so destructive to
the cherry trees, is destroyed in the same way, with equal
facility. I have also found that the grubs which attack the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 267

apricot may be destroyed almost instantly by immersing the
leaves infested in this liquor.

" When trees have got so bad that their leaves are much
curled, some of the flies, being protected within the curl, will
escape: in this case more force must be applied to the
syringe, and in a day or two the trees should be looked over
again, and whatever part of the leaves has not been wetted
should be washed with a painter's brush ; but a careful per-
son will render this process unnecessary by taking them in
time."

Instead of liquor from the tobacconist, which may not al-
ways and in all situations be easily procured, a strong de-
coction of the stems or damaged leaves may be a cheap sub-
stitute. The uses of tobacco in destroying lice on cattle,
ticks on sheep, &c. are too well known to render it necessa-
ry to make any observations on this application of a plant
which seems to be abhorred by every animated being but
man and the tobacco worm. But a quantity of tobacco
ought to be grown by every cultivator, to enable him to
wage successful war with insects.

PLOUGHING, is the most important of agricultural ope-
rations. On the manner in which this is performed depends
all the subsequent operations of tillage on the same land.
A large volume might well be written on this subject, but
we shall confine ourselves to practical hints, expressed as
concisely as is consistent with perspicuity.

In all stiff', heavy, and adhesive soils, that are much dis-
posed to moisture, it should be a common rule not to plough
them whilfe wet in any considerable degree, especially if
there is much clay in their composition. When such land
is ploughed wet, the particles of which it is composed are
apt to cake, or run together into hard lumps, which require
much trouble and labor to reduce to a fine state. Besides,
much injury is produced by the treading of the team, and
greater power is necessary in performing the operation.
But, on the other hand, such soils are ploughed with much
difficulty when very dry ; unless before the ploughing they
were in a state of tillage, and not baked or bound down very
hard. To break up grass ground composed of a strong loam,
or a soil in which there is clay in any considerable quantity,
when in a dry state, is next to impossible. You might al-

268 THE COMPLETE PARMLR

most as well attempt to plough up a brick pavement or slate
rock. Green sward in general can hardly be ploughed too
wet, if it be not miry. Marshy, moory, and peaty or mossy
descriptions of soil should in general, when already reduced
to a state of tillage, be ploughed when the season is dry.

In dry, sandy, and perhaps in some of the more mellow
kinds of loamy soils, the business of ploughing may be per-
formed when the earth is in a state of considerable moisture.
But very dry sandy land, whenever the weather is hot and
dry, should merely be stirred in such a way as may be ne-
cessary to prevent the growth of weeds ; otherwise the
great exhalation of moisture in such seasons may render
them too dry for the vigorous vegetation of the seeds or
plants which may be sown or growing upon them. The
cultivators of this kind of soil have, therefore, many ad-
vantages over others who are engaged in the more stiff and
heavy sorts of land, in being able to perform the various
operations of arable husbandry with much less strength and
expense of team, and by being much less interrupted by the
wetness of the seasons. Stiff clayey soils, which are al-
ready under the plough, may be beneficially ploughed in dry
weather, and it is said, that stirring such soils in a dry sea-
son causes them to imbibe moisture, but in sandy soils the
opposite result is produced by the same means.

It is very fashionable, and, as a general rule, very correct
to recommend deep ploughing. But this rule has a great
many exceptions, and the cultivator who should be governed
by it without regard to the nature of the soil and the pro-
posed crops, would only labor hard to injure his land and
reduce his products.

It may not be amiss to attend to what some writers have
observed, respecting the dangers and disadvantages which
attend ploughing deep without regard to the nature of the
soil and other circumstances. It is observed in " Dickson's
Agriculture," that " though deep ploughing has been recom-
mended by some modern writers, upon particular kinds of
land, where the bottom and top were of two opposite quali-
ties, and neither of them perfectly good, that a mixture may
sometimes be very beneficial, and the experiment of going
below the common depth sometimes answer ; but that when
the top and bottom for eighteen or twenty inches depth con-
sists of the same soil, it is not believed it is ever worth while
to exchange the upper part, which has been enriched for
centuries back, for a part less rich, merely because it is

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 269

more fresh. On retentive soils, where the practice of loosen-
ing them to some depth by other implements is omitted, deep
ploughing is however extremely necessary."

In an "Essay on the Best Means of Converting Grass
Lands into Tillage, by James Roper Head, Esq.," published
in " Communications to the Board of Agriculture," it is
observed, that " it seems reasonable to prefer light to heavy
ploughing ; because, all things being equal, it must be prefer-
able to have a small depth of soil to cultivate and improve ;
and inasmuch as the fibres of grass in general are led from
the upper surface of the earth alone, if they tind sufficient
pabulum, all that lie underneath their nourishment, and has
been with much labor moved by the plough, is like a stock
in trade, which requires an extra capital, unproductive of
interest.

"I have endeavoured by all means to search into the na-
ture of sainfoin, clover, and lucerne, and the result of my
opinion has been, that the long penetrating tap-roots of these
grasses pierce the earth in search of moisture only ; that the
tap-root is the mere syphon and duct ; that the branches of
the crown of the plant are fed alone by the upper surface of
the soil ; and that the luxuriancy of their produce depends,
not upon the congeniality of the bed or nidus [nest] of the
tap-root itself, but on the congeniality of the soil of the up-
per surface, which alone feeds and furnishes it vegetation."

An article in " Communications to the Board of Agricul-
ture," written by John M. Mardo, Esq., contains the follow-
ing statement : " We have witnessed instances where old
pasture lands composed of a gravelly loam were broken up
in the spring for barley by trench ploughing. The old
sward was turned into the bottom of the furrow, and a dry
subsoil brought to the surface from a considerable depth.
The crops failed entirely, and there appeared two very ob-
vious reasons for the failure ; first, the subsoil brought to
the surface to form the seed bed had long been deprived of
the ordinary influence of the atmosphere and the rains ;
consequently must have been cold and infertile. Secondly,
the dry tenacious sward having been placed half broken
under the seed bed, the natural moisture of the ground, as
well as that which falls in rain, was speedily and habitually
evaporated. Unless in a season of uncommon moisture, a
crop under such preparation could not prosper."

A writer in the " General Report of Scotland," Mr. James
Brownhill, says "Old leas [grass grounds], in my opinion,
23*

270 THE COMPLETE FARMER

should be ploughed if posible not above four and a half
inches deep by eight and a half or nine inches broad. If the
old lea be a dry soil, it will plough very well with those
dimensions ; if it be ploughed deeper it must also be plough-
ed broader, as the furrows will not ply close to one another,
unless you have breadth in proportion to the depth."

Sir John Sinclair speaks highly of the advantages of deep
ploughing, in some circumstances and for some crops, but
says, " it is a general rule never to plough so deep as to pene-
trate below the soil that was formerly manured and cultivat-
ed, excepting upon fallow, and then only when you have
plenty of lime or dung to add to and improve the new soil."
The farmers of Flanders, which is said to be the best cul-
tivated part of Europe, gradually deepen their soil by
ploughing or digging up fresh earth as their manure in-
creases. Mr. Authur Young likewise observes, that in poor
hungry soils some proportion ought to be observed between
the depth of a ploughing and the quantity of manure annual-
ly spread. The same writer informs us, that the depth of
ploughing in various towns of England, on an average, in
sandy soils, was four inches ; in loamy soils four and three
quarters, and in clayey soils three inches and a half.

Disputes have arisen among farmers in this country and
in Europe relative to the best manner of laving the furrow
slice. Some contend for turning the furrow slice completely
over, and laying it quite flat ; but others allege, that it is
most advantageous to place each slice in such a manner that
its outer edge may extend a little over the inner edge of the
furrow which was drawn ne.xt before it. " In several districts
in England it is usual to lay the furrow slice quite flat, and
this is particularly the case where there are no ridges ;
but in Northumberland, and in Scotland, a contrary system
is adopted. It is founded on this idea, that as two of the
principal objects in ploughing are, to expose as much as pos-
sible to the influence of the atmosphere, and to lay the lasid,
so that the harrows may, in the most effectual manner, raise
mould to cover the seed ; these objects are most effectually
accomplished by ploughing land of every description with a
furrow slice about seven inches deep, and which, if about
ten inches and a half broad, raises the furrow slice, with a
proper shoulder, forming the angle forty-five, the point which
ought to be referred to when determining between the merits
of different specimens of ploughing. For that purpose, the
depth of the furrow should, in general, bear a due propor-

AND UURAL ECONOMIST. 271

tion to the breadth, that is, about two-thirds, or as six inches
deep is to nine broad. This is the general, if not the univer-
sal opinion of the Scotch Farmers."* The angle forty-five
is strongly recommended in " Bay ley's Essay on the Con-
struction of the Plough," in his "Durham Report," and in
" Brown's Treatise on Rural Affairs." In the southern coun-
ties of England, however, they generally prefer to turn the
furrow quite flat, or horizontal ; and allege, as a reason for
that practice, that the weeds, grass, &c. ploughed under, can-
not well be smothered or withered unless the roots are turn-
ed completely bottom upwards, and the turf covered so
closely as to have no communication with the atmosphere.

In Flanders, land is frequently cultivated by an implement
called the binot, which is highly esteemed. By this instru-
ment the land is not turned over, as by the plough, and the
weeds buried ; but the soil is elevated and pressed into small
ridges, and thus is better exposed to the beneficial influence
of the winter frosts, and becomes much sooner dry in spring
than when the land is turned over perfectly flat. When fur-
row slices are set up edgewise by a plough, they become
small thin ridges, are more easily pervaded by frost, and are
in a situation to attract more of the fertilizing influences of
the atmosphere, than when they are turned over so as to lie
in a horizontal position. Perhaps this mode of ploughing
land may be advantageous in stiff, hard soils, where several
ploughings are necessary to prepare for the reception of the
seed. If land of this description is broken up in the fall or
summer preceding the sowing or planting of the seed, and
cross-ploughing in the spring is made use of, preparatory to
putting m the seed, we are inclined to think that the "feather
edged ploughing," as it is sometimes called, (in which the
furrow slices are not laid so flat as to exclude the air from
between and from the lower part of the furrow slices,) is to
be preferred. " Ploughing previous to winter setting in is of
great use to clays, or stiff lands, exposing the surface to the
frost, which mellows and reduces it in a manner infinitely
superior to what could be accomplished by all the operations
of man."f If, then, exposing the surface of stiff soils to
the frost is of great advantage, the more surface there is ex-
posed the greater the advantage ; and if the furrow slices

* Code of Agriculture.

t See Husbandry of Scotland, Vol. I. p. 229, and Vol. XI, Appendix,
p. 26.

272 THE COMPLETE FARMER

are set partly or entirely on their edges there will be, as be-
fore intimated, more surface exposed than there would be if
they were laid perfectly flat. And if they were turned in
such a manner as to form an angle of forty-five degrees, the
outer edge of the furrow resting on the inner edge of that
which immediately preceded it, there would be but little
chance for the weeds or grass to grow up between the fur-
rows, which may be the case when the slices are set per-
pendicularly, or nearly so, on their edges. There will like-
wise always be a cavity under the edges of the furrow slices,
containing stagnant and sometimes putrescent air, which
will enrich the soil. Moreover, if ridge-ploaghing is at all
advantageous, we cannot see why a mode of ploughing
which makes a ridge of every furrow slice; or at most a ridge
by turning the edge of one furrow slice on the edge of its
it7imediate predecessor, should not be likewise of advantage.
Besides, by these modes of ploughing you form a covered
or open drain or hollow place between the furrows, which,
by carrying off superfluous water, will render the soil fit for
tillage earlier in the spring than would be possible if every
furrow slice was laid flat as it was turned upside down. The
harrow will also more readily take hold of a .soil where the
furrow slices form little ridges or protuberances, and thus a
proper mould will be procured for the covering of the seeds,
or earthing up plants in a growing crop. And if there is
danger of the lands lying too loose and hollow, repeated
harrowing, and rolling it with a heavy roller after sowing,
will furnish a remedy.

Dry sandy soils, such as ought not to be ploughed in
ridges, should be turned over completely, and be laid and
kept level as possible. Such soils, if rendered loose, and
laid light by cultivation, will be robbed of their fertilizing
particles as well by rain as by sunshine. In other words,
they are liable to suffer by washing, by scorching, and by
too much draining. They do not need to be made any light-
er, by " feather-edged ploughing," or setting the furrow
slices edgewise, being too light under ordinary cultivation.
It is therefore " a great advantage to such soils to fold sheep,
or to consume the crops of turnips upon the ground where
they are raised. These practices greatly contribute to the
improvement of such soils, not only by the dung and urine
thus deposited, but by the consolidation and firmness of tex-
ture which the treading of sheep occasions."*

* Code of Ajiriculture.

AND RURAL ECOXOMI^T. 273

On the whole, although it would not he possible to give
general rules not liable to many exceptions, on the shape
and position of the furrow slice, which should be cut and
disposed of according to the views of the cultivator, the
nature of the ground, the proposed crop, &c., we are in-
clined to believe that Sir John Sinclair's maxim will apply
to most of our New England uplands. That eminent agri-
culturist says, that " the point which ought to be referred
to, when determining between the merits of different speci-
mens of ploughing, is the angle of forty-five degrees."
That is, other things being equal, the nearer the furrow
slice comes to forming an angle of forty-five degrees with
the horizon, the more perfect the specimen of ploughing.
But another maxim of the same writer is equally worthy of
attention. " Dry soils being deficient in moisture ought
to be tilled flat, as any sort of drainings which the fur-
rows might afford would be prejudicial rather than advan-
tageous. In Kent, dry land is left as level as if it were
dug with a spade. The moisture is thus equally diffused,
and retained under the surface of the earth."

The following is extracted and abridged from an address
delivered before the Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and
Manufacturers ; by Elias Phinney, Esq.

" In May, 1829, the field having lain three years to grass,
and the crop of hay so light as to be worth not more than
the expense of making, with a view of ascertaining the
quantity of vegetable matter upon the surface, I took a sin-
gle foot square of green sward, and after separating the
roots and tops of the grasses from the loam and vegetable
mould, it was found on weighing to contain nine ounces of
clear vegetable substance ; giving, at that rate, over twelve
and a quarter tons to the acre. This convinced me of the
importance of taking some course by which this valuable
treasure might be turned to good account. That a great
part of this mass of vegetable matter is exposed to useless
waste, by the usual mode of ploughing, cross-ploughing, and
harrowing, must be obvious to any one. In order therefore
to secure this, as well as the light vegetable mould at and
near the surface, which is liable to waste from the same
causes, I had two acres of the green sward of this field
turned over with the plough, as smoothly as possible. After
removing the outside furrow slices into the centre of the
plough land, and thereby effecting the double purpose of
covering the vacant space in the middle and preventing

274 THE COMPLETE FARMER

ridges at the sides and ends, the field was rolled hard, with
a loaded roller, by which the uneven parts of the furrows
were pressed down and the whole made smooth. It was then
harrowed lengthwise the furrows, with a horse harrow, but
so lightly as not to disturb the sod. Twenty cart-loads of
compost manure, made by mixing two parts of loam or peat
mud with one of stable dung, were then spread upon each
acre. It was then harrowed again, as before, and the poor-
er part of the soil, which had been turned up, and remained
upon the surface, was thereby mixed with the compost ma-
nure. Corn was then planted in drills upon the furrow, the
rows being at the usual distance and parallel with the fur-
rows. At hoeing time, the surface was stirred by running
a light plough between the rows, but not so deep at this or
the subsequent hoeing as to disturb the sod. What Mr.
Lorrain calls the ' savage practice ' of hilling up the corn
was cautiously avoided. As the season advanced, I care-
fully watched the progress of my corn-field. In the early
part of the season it did not exhibit a very promising ap-
pearance ; but as soon as the roots had extended into the
enriching matter beneath, and began to expand in the de-
composing sward, which had now become mellow, and more
minutely divided by the fermentation of the confined veg-
etable substances beneath than it possibly could have been
by plough or hoe, the growth became vigorous, and the
crop, in the opinion of those who examined the field, not less
than seventy bushels of corn to the acre. As soon as the
corn was harvested, the stubble was loosened up by running
a light horse plough lengthwise through the rows, the sur-
face then smoothed with a bush-harrow, and one bushel of
rye, with a sufficient quantity of herd's grass and red top
seed, to the acre was then sowed, the ground again harrow-
ed and rolled. The crop of rye was harvested in July fol-
lowing, and the two acres yielded sixty-nine and a half
bushels of excellent grain, and over five tons of straw. The
grass sowed with the rye took well, and the present season
I mowed, what those who secured the crop judged to be,
two and a half tons of the very best of hay from each acre.
" Thus, with one ploughing, with the aid of twenty cart-
loads of compost manure to the acre, I have obtained two
crops of grain, and stocked the land down to grass."

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 27a

HAY MAKING. It is a matter of much importance to
the husbandman that he should take time by the foretop
during the season for making hay. He must drive his busi-
ness instead of being driven by it. Indolence or improper
management in hay-time will soon give a sorry complexion
to a farmer's affairs. A day or two lost or misemployed
while the sun shines, and your grass suffers for lack of the
scythe and the rake, or your grain is going back into the
ground, while the sickle is rusting on a peg behind the door,
and its owner is asleep or gone a journey, may be the means
of introducing Mr. Deputy Sheriff on your premises, who
may do more harm than a crop of thistles or a host of Hes-
sian flies.

It is best, generally speaking, to cut your very heaviest
grass first of all; and if it be lodged, or in danger of lodging,
or the lower leaves and bottom of the stalks are beginning
to turn yellow, although the grass is hardly headed, and ap-
pears not to have obtained more than two-thirds of its growth,
you had better begin upon it. But when you have help
enough, and your grass stands up well, you will do best to
wait till the blossom is fully formed, and is beginning to
turn brown. Clover is the most critical grass, and requires
the most attention. " In all cases," says Sir John Sinclair,
" clover ought to be mown before the seed is formed " * that
the full juice and nourishment of the plants may be retained
in the hay. By the adoption of this system the hay is cut
in a better season, it can be more easily secured, and is
much more valuable. Nor is the strength of the plant lodged
in the seed, which is often lost.

" After being cut, the clover should remain in the swath
till it is dried about two-thirds of its thickness. It is then
not tedded or strewed, but turned over, either by the hands,
or the heads of hay rakes. If turned over in the morning
of a dry day, it may be cocked in the evening. The hay is

* It may not be amiss, however, to state, in this place, that a^ricultniists
do not altogether agree on this point. In " Memoirs of the New York Board
of Agriculture," (Vol. II. p. 30,) it is asserted, that " all the grasses are more
nutritious if not mowed until the seed is fully grown. It should not be entirely
ripened, however." The " Farmer's Assistant " tells us, that " the best time
for cutting herd's grass [timothy], where but one crop is cut in the season, is
when the seeds of the grass are fully formed, but before they have become fully
ripe; but as farmers cannot all cut their hay in a day or two, it is necessary
that they should begin before this time, tiiat they may not end too long after it.
The same time is also proper for cutting clover; or rather when a part of the
heads begin to turn brown. Foul meadow or bird grass may be cut much
later, without being hurt by long standing."

276 THE COMPLETE FARMER

as little shaken or scattered about afterwards as possible ;
and if the weather is good, after remaining two or three
days in the cock, it may be carted into the stack."

It is asserted by the " Farmer's Guide," that " grass will
not thrive well that is not mown quite close ; and the loss in
the crop where this is not done is very considerable, as one
inch at the bottom iveighs more than several at the top."

The fore part of the season for making hay is, we believe,
usually attended with less rain than the latter part. The
days, too, are longer, and the dews are less copious. Far-
mers will, therefore, find additional motives from these cir-
cumstances to industry and exertion in early hay-time. Be-
sides, if haying is protracted till harvest commences, the
business of one season presses on that of another, and some
crops will be nearly or quite spoiled in consequence of not
being gathered in due time. The forehanded and indus-
trious farmer thus possesses great advantages over one
whom indolence or poverty induces to procrastinate the in-
dispensable labors of his vocation.

Great advantages would result to the farmer, particularly
in haying and harvesting, if he could form an estimate of the
weather so as to be able to foresee with tolerable accuracy
what would be its state for a few days, or even for twenty-
four hours subsequent to the period of observation. Dr.
Jenner's versified statement of " Signs of Rain," (published
in the ^ew England Farmer, Vol. II. p. 288,) may prove
useful for this purpose, and the rhymes may assist the mem-
ory. A certain French philosopher, some years since, pub-
lished an article, in which he asserted, in substance, that the
web of a common spider is a sure index of the state of the
air for twelve or fourteen days to come. If the weather is
to be fair and calm, the principal thread will be spun to a
great length; if, on the contrary, the weather is to be stormy
and boisterous, the thread will be short and thick ; and if
the spider is seen to repair the damages its slender thread
may sustain, you may anticipate pleasant weather for many
days. So says the philosopher, but we cannot vouch for the
accuracy of his saying. It may, however, not be amiss for
the man of observation to pay some attention to this sub-
ject ; for we know that the instinct of an insect is often more
to be depended on than the researches of science.

In this climate, a southerly wind, if it continues stedfast
for forty-eight hours is generally followed by rain. If the
wind, however, shifts its course with the sun, or, as sailors

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 277

phrase it, goes round with the sun, in the morning blowing
from the south, or east of south, and changing westerly as
the sun advances, it generally indicates dry weather. If the
wind shitls in a course opposite to the apparent course of
the sun, rain commonly succeeds. If the wind continues
southerly, and blows briskly through the night, it commonly,
as the phrase is, "blows up rain." This effect of a south
wind in this country may be thus accounted for. A souther-
ly wind is a current of air which has its origin in warmer
latitudes than those in which we are situated. This current
in passing over the ocean imbibes or takes up as much water
as air of its temperature can hold in solution. Passing into
higher or colder latitudes the air of the current parts with a
portion of its heat or caloric, and cannot retain so much
water as it held in its outset. Clouds or vapors are there-
fore formed, and the excess of moisture is deposited in mist,
rain, hail, or snow, according to circumstances, the season,
&c. On the contrary, a northerly wind, coming from a com-
paratively cold latitude, acquires caloric as it advances, and
with that acquisition its capacity for holding water in solu-
tion is increased. Therefore a northerly wind is a drijing
wind, and its predominance soon dissipates clouds and intro-
duces fair weather.

But to come down from the clouds to matters more within
the reach of the reader. It has been often recommended by
writers on agriculture to cart hay, particularly clover, before
the stalks are dry ; and either to put it up witli alternate
layers of straw, or to salt it at the rate of from half to one
bushel of salt to the ton.

" Salt hay in this country has usually been hurt by lying
too long in the swaths. The method in which I have treated
it for several years, is, to cock it the next day after it is cut,
and carry it in, without delaying more than one day, and
put a layer of some kind of dry straw between load and load
of it in the mow, to prevent its taking damage by over-heat-
ing. The straw contracts so much of its moisture and salt-
ness, that the cattle will eat it very freely ; and the hay is
far better than that made in the common way."*

The making of herbage plants [such as clover, lucerne,
sainfoin burnet, &c.] into hay, is a process somewhat dif-
ferent from that of making hay from natural grasses. As
soon as the swath is thoroughly dry above, it is gently turn-

* Deane's New England Farmer.

278 THE COMPLETE FARMER

ed over (not tedded nor scattered) without breaking it.
Sometimes this is done bv the hand, or by a small fork ;
and some farmers are so anxious to prevent the swath from
being broken, that they will not permit the use of the rake
shaft. Another writer observes, that the practice of the best
English, Flemish, and French farmers, is to expose the hay
as little as possible to the sun. It is carried in dry, but pre-
serves its green color ; and we see hay of one or two years
old in their market, of so bright a green color that we could
scarcely conceive it to be cured. Yet they are in the prac-
tice of preserving it for years, and value it more for its age.
If such a course be best in climates so cool and cloudv,
how much more important would it be under our scorching
summer suns.

" But if the weather be unsettled, or if showers be fre-
quent, it may be better to spread grass well as soon as it is
mowed, stir it often, cock it the same day it is moved ; open
it the next fair day, when the dew is off; let it sweat a little
in the cock, and house it as soon as it is dry enough. It
will bear to be laid greener on a scaffold than in a ground
mow ; and in a narrow mow greener than in a broad one ;
and that which is least of all made should be put upon the
scaffold." — Deane.

Sir John Sinclair is very explicit on the subject of " mak-
ing clover into hay." "The process," he observes, "is quite
different iVom the plan of making liay from natural grasses."
Mr. Lorrain gives us both sides of this question. He savs,
" I did not like to abandon the practice of curing hay in the
swath, having observed that it saved labor. The grasses are
at all times very expeditiously turned in the swath. If con-
tinued rains occur, the swaths are not only quickly turned,
but if the sun shines powerfully between the showers, the
inside of them is not parched by its rays. By turning the
swaths throughout long-continued rain, as often as the un-
der side of them was likely to be injured by fermentation, I
have saved extensive fields of hay ; while my neighbours,
who gave no attention to this interesting subject, had their
crops entirely ruined. If the grasses, however, be raked up
into small winrows, they are as readily turned, and may be
as effectually preserved as if they remained in swaths, but
in this case the labor is greater."

The same writer, however, in the next paragraph, takes
other ground. " Curing hay," he observes, " in swath, to
save the juices, seems to be not only practically wrong, but

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 279

also opposed to reason. The confined heat and moisture in
the interior of the swath promote fermentation, and must be
more or less injurious to the nutritive matter contained in
the grasses. It is exactly calculated to weaken the grasp of
the leaves, and to separate them from the stalk. It also
greatly weakens their general texture, and causes them to
crumble into pieces when they become dry. While this is
doing, the outside surface of the swath is scorched by the
rays of the sun, and becomes but little better than straw,
before the inside is moderately cured. In raking, cockino-,
heaping, and inning, the swaths are so far separated, that
many of the leaves are lost before the hay gets into the
mow ; but few of them get into the rack."

We have thus given both sides of the controverted ques-
tion in agriculture, and our readers will take that which ap-
pears to them most tenable. We confess ourselves rather
inclined to embrace the opinions of a correspondent who
says, "If it be correct to 'make hay while the sun shines,'
it may be well to make it as quickly as possible ; but in this,
as in many other processes, circumstances alter cases."

HARVESTING. It is asserted, as a general rule, that
the proper time to reap wheat or rye is when the straw be-
gins to shrink and become white about half an inch below
the ear. This appearance is a sure indication that the grain
has ceased to receive nourishment from the roots of the
plant ; and by cutting early, provided it is not taken to the
barn or stack too green, the following advantages will be
gained : 1st. -The grain will make more and whiter flour.
2d. There will be less wasted by the grain's shelling. 3d.
By commencing harvest early, you will have a fairer pros-
pect of finishing before the last cuttings become too ripe, so
that much of the grain will shell out in reaping and securing
the crop. 4th. If you cut your grain as soon as it will an-
swer, your straw and chaff will contain much more nourish-
ment than if it were bleached and made brittle by the sun,
air, dew, and rain, all of which combine to deprive it of most
of its value for fodder. 5th. Should you plough in your
stubble immediately after harvest, or mow it and secure it
for fodder or litter, (either of which modes of management
is perfectly consonant with the rules of good husbandry,)
the stubble will make mu(;h better food for your cattle or ma-

280 THE COMPLETE FARMER

nure for your ground, than if it had yielded all its sweets
and much of its substance to the greedy elements above
mentioned.

If your wheat or rye is much affected by blight or rust, it
should be cut even while still in the milk, and afterwards
exposed to the sun and air, till the straw is sufficiently dry
and the grain so much hardened that it will answer to de-
posit in the barn or stack. The heads, in such cases, should
be so placed by the reapers as not to touch the ground. This
may be done by laying the top ends of each handt'ul on the
lower end of the preceding one.

If your grain is encumbered with grass or weeds, you
must cut it pretty near the top, in order to avoid as much as
possible those extraneous substances. It will also be neces-
sarv to reap somewhat earlier than might be otherwise ex-
pedient, that you may have time to dry the weeds without
danger of the grain's shelling out. If your grain is very
ripe when you harvest it, the bands should be made early in
the morning while the straw is moist and pliable. And Dr.
Deane recommends, in such cases, to bind the sheaves when
the air begins to be damp towards evening, as the least
degree of moisture will toughen the straw.

It has been recommended by several English writers to
bind wheat as well as rye with only one length of the straw.
If the straw is pretty long, and not very thoroughly dry, this
may be good economy. You save the trouble of making
bands ; your wheat will dry better in the sheaf ; (as the
sheaves must of course be small ;) and though it may take
some more time and trouble to pitch and handle it, we believe
the advantages, in many cases, will turn the scale in favor
of binding wheat with single lengths of straw.

In stowing wheat or rye, some persons deposit the sheaves
on a mow of hay ; but this is a bad plan, as the grain pres-
ses the hay so that it is apt to become musty, and communi-
cate a musty or mouldy taint to the superincumbent grain ;
which will be harder to thresh than if it had a more dry and
airy location. It may be placed on a scaffold of rails, laid
on the beams, and over the floor of a barn ; though it is not
so easy to procure it for threshing as if it were laid on a
scaffold of less elevation. But this disadvantage may be
more than compensated by its being in a situation favorable
for drying. If there is a deficiency of barn room, the
sheaves may be stored in stacks. In that case, " care should
be taken that the grain may not draw moisture from the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 281

ground, by laying boards, straw, or rubbish under the stack.
A better way still, is to have a tight floor of boards mounted
on four blocks, set in the ground, and so high from the
ground as to prevent the entering of vermin.

" In building a stack, care should be taken to keep the
seed ends of the sheaves in the middle, and a little higher
than the outer ends. No fowls can then come at the grain;
and the rain that falls on the outer ends will run ofl^, and not
pass towards the centre. The stack should be well topped
with straw, that the rain may be completely turned off."

Oats. It is advised to harvest oats before the straw has
■wholly turned yellow. The straw will be of little value, if
permitted to stand till it becomes white and destitute of sap.
Though oats should be well dried on the ground, after cut-
ting, they should not be raked nor handled when they are in
the driest state. They should be gathered mornings and
evenings, when the straw is made limber and pliable by the
moisture of the air. If they are housed while a little damp,
there will be no ^Janger, if they have been previously tho-
roughly dried.

Barleij. We are told by the wise men of agriculture,
that some of the rules which should be observed in harvest-
ing wheat, rye, and oats, will not apply to barley. Willich's
"Domestic Encyclopedia "states, that, " with respect to the
time when barley is fit to be mowed, farmers frequently fall
into the error of cutting it before it is perfectly ripe ; think-
ing it will attain to perfect maturity if it lie in the swath.
This, however, is a very common error, as it v/ill shrivel in
the field, and afterwards make but an indifferent malt ; it
also threshes with more difficulty, and is apt to be bruised
under the flail. The only certain test of judging when it is
fit to mow must be from the dropping and falling of the ears,
so as to double against the straw. In that state, and not
before, it may be cut with all expedition and carried in with-
out danger to the mow.

Dr. Deane's "New England Farmer" states, that " some
have got an opinion that barley should be harvested before
it is quite ripe. Though the flour may be a little whiter,
the grain shrinks so much that the crop seems greatly di-
minished and wasted by early cutting. No grain, I think, re-
quires more ripening than this ; and it is not apt to scatter
out when it is very ripe. It should be threshed soon after
harvesting ; and much beating, after it is cleared from the
straw, is necessary in order to get off the beards. Let it lie
24*

282 THE COMPLETE FARMER

a night or two in the dew, after it is cut, and the beards will
come off the more easily.

DRAINS used in farming are of two kinds, open and
covered. Drains should be of a size and depth proportioned
to the extent of the swamp and the probable quantity of
water for which they are designed to be channels. They
should generally be carried through the lowest and wettest
part of the soil, although it should be necessary, in order to
effect that purpose, to deviate from straight lines. Open
drains sometimes answer the double purpose of conveying off
superfluous water and of inclosing fields ; but they make a
hazardous and inconvenient fence without the addition of a
bank, hedge, or railing. The " Farmer's Assistant" says,
" When a ditch is made for a fence, it ought to be four feet
Avide at the top, one or less at the bottom, and about two
and a half deep ; with the earth all thrown out on one side,
and banked up as high as possible." Sir John Sinclair
states, that " it is a general rule regarding open drains, with
a view of giving sufficient slope and stability to their sides,
that the width at top should be three times as much as that
which is necessary at the bottom, and in the case of peat-
mosses or soft soils, it should be such as to allow the water
to run off without stagnation, but'not with so rapid a motion
as to injure the bottom."

But before you attempt to drain a piece of land, it will be
well not only to calculate the cost, but to ascertain the nature
of the soil which it is proposed to render fit for cultivation.
If the subsoil or under layer be clay, the swamp may be
worth draining, though there should be no more than six
inches of black soil or mud over it, for the clay and the mud
mixed will make a fertile soil. But if the subsoil or under
stratum be gravel or white sand, it will not, in common cases,
be best to undertake draining, unless the depth of black mud
be as much as from fifteen or eighteen inches deep ; for the
soil will settle after draining, and be less deep than it was
before. But the situation of the land to be drained may
authorize some variation from these general rules.

The manner of draining a swamp is as follows. Beginning
at the outlet, pass a large ditch through it, so as mostly to
cut the lowest parts. Then make another ditch quite round
it, near to the border, to cut off the springs which come from

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 283

the upland, and to receive the water that runs down from
the hills upon the surface in great rains. These ditches
should be larger or smaller, in some proportion to the size
of the swamp, the shape and size of the hills which surround
it, and other circumstances, which might tend to greater or
less quantities of water being occasionally or generally led
to the ditches. If the swamp be large, it may be necessary
that some smaller cross drains should be cut in several of the
lowest parts. The bottom of the main ditches, when the
soil is not of an extraordinary depth, must be lower than the
bottom of the loose soil ; otherwise the soil will never be-
come sufficiently dry and firm.*

It is said, by Sir John Sinclair, (Code of Agriculture, p.
182,) that, " in all drains, it is a rule to begin at the lowest
place and to work upwards, by which the water will always
pass from the workmen and point out the level. This ena-
bles the laborers also to work in coarse weather, and prevents
their being interrupted by wet so early in the season as
otherwise might happen."

The mud and other materials which are dug out of a ditch
or drain should not be suffered to lie in heaps or banks by
the side of the ditch, but should be spread as equally as pos-
sible over the surface of the drained land. In this way, the
matter taken from the ditches will tend to level the surface
of the swamp, will, perhaps, serve in some measure for ma-
nure, and will not present any impediment to the passage of
the water to the ditches. In some cases it may be advisable
to transport the earth which is taken from the ditches to
the farm-yard or the hogpen, to form a part of that layer
which good farmers generally spread over those places in
autumn, to imbibe liquid manure, or make into compost with
dung. In many instances, we are told, that the earth thus
dug out of ditches is thought to be worth enough to pay for
the expense of digging the ditches.

Mr. Henry W. Delavan, in a communication on the sub-
ject of Under draining, in "The New England Farmer,"
(Vol.X. p. 97,) says : —

" Without this salutary and simple operation, no in-
considerable proportion of many valuable districts of our
country must continue little better than waste. It is gener-
ally total loss of labor to the farmer who attempts to cultivate
wet lands in our rigorous climate, and by draining, these

* See Deane's New England Farmer, article Drains.

284 THE COMPLETE FARMER

useless inhospitable acres have been found of the kindliest
and most productive character.

" Having a surplus of stones on my estate beyond what
fences require, I use the smaller and ill-formed for drains ;
they have the advantage of brush in durability and of tiles
in economy. My drains are, for the most part, three feet in
depth, two feet in width at top, sloping to one at bottom.
The bottom stones are largest, and are carefully placed to
allow the water to flow freely beneath, while above the small
stones are thrown in at random, so that when levelled they
are beneath the plough. Over these swingle-tow, shavings,
or straw, may be thrown, after which the earth can be re-
placed by the spade or plough, so as to present a rather
higher surface than the grounds adjacent, and the business
is accomplished. It is very essential that the descent be
easy, neither too quick nor too slow, and that all surface
water be excluded, as it would speedily choke and destroy
the underdraining. I estimate the average cost of such
drains at sixty-two and a half cents the rod. It should be
remarked, that underdrainins is adapted to lands presenting
sufficient declivity to carry off" the springs, and it is only the
under water that is meant to be drained in this manner,
while open ditches are adapted to the bottom lands for the
conveyance of surface water. I will state what appears to
me the prominent advantages that the cultivator may prom-
ise himself by a thorough system of draining.

" In the first place, he creates, as it were, so much addi-
tional terra firma, and adds essentially to the health of all
around him, by correcting the ill tendencies of excessive
moisture. He can cultivate reclaimed lands several weeks
earlier and as much later in each year than those that are un-
reclaimed, and his crops are better and more sure. The labor
of after tillage is much diminished. The stones that impede
the plough and scythe are removed; and not the least essen-
tial benefit is the constant supplies of water which may be
insured in any field inclining to moisture, which, with refe-
rence to animals, will, as a permanent convenience and ad-
vantage, fully compensate the expense of drains."

PASTURE. 'To manage pasture land advantageously, it
should be well fenced in small lots, of four, eight, or twelve
acres, according to the largeness of one's farm and stock ;

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 285

and these lots should be bordered at least with rows of trees.
It is best that trees of some kind or other should be growing
scattered in every point of a pasture, so that the cattle may
never have to go far in a hot hour to obtain a comfortable
shade. The grass will spring earlier in lots that are thus
sheltered, and they will bear drought the better. But too
great a proportion of shade should be avoided, as it will give
a sourness to the grass.

" Small lots thus sheltered are not left bare of snow so
early in the spring as larger ones lying bare, as fences and
trees cause more of it to remain upon the ground. The
cold winds in March and April hurt the grass much when
the ground is bare. And the winds in winter will not suffer
snow to lie deep on land that is too open to the rake of
winds and storms.

" It is hurtful to pastures to turn in cattle too early in the
spring ; and most hurtful to those pastures in which the
grass springs earliest, as in very low and wet pastures.
Potching such land in the spring destroys the sward, so
that it will produce the less quantity of grass. Neither
should cattle be let into any pasture until the grass is so
much grown as to afford them a good bite, so that they may
fill themselves without rambling over the whole lot. The
20th of May is early enough to turn cattle into almost any
of our pastures. Out of some they should be kept later.
The driest pastures should be used first, though in them the
grass is shortest, that the potching of the ground in the wet-
test may be prevented.

"The bushes and shrubs that rise in pastures should be
cut in the most likely times to destroy them. Thistles and
other bad weeds should be cut down before their seeds have
ripened ; and ant-hills should be destroyed. Much may be
done towards subduing a bushy pasture by keeping cattle
hungry in it. A continual browsing keeps down the younop
shoots, and totally kills many of the bushes. Steers and
heifers may mend such a pasture, and continue growing.

" But as to cleared pastures, it is not right to turn in all
sorts of cattle promiscuously. Milch kine, working oxen,
and fatting beasts, should have the first feeding of an inclo-
sure ; afterwards, sheep and horses. When the first lot is
thus fed off, it should be shut up, and the dung that has been
dropped should be beat to pieces, and well scattered. After-
wards, the second pasture should be treated in the same

286 THE COMPLETE FARMER

manner, and the rest in course, feeding the wettest pasture
after the driest, that the soil may be less potched.

"Something considerable is saved by letting all sorts of
grazing animals take their turn in a pasture. By means of
this, nearly all the herbage produced will be eaten ; much
of which would otherwise be lost. Horses will eat the leav-
ings of horned cattle ; and sheep will eat some things that
both the one and the other leave.

" But if in a course of pasturing, by means of a fruitful
year or a scanty stock of cattle, some grass of a good kind
should run up to seed and not be eaten, it need not be re-
gretted ; for a new supply of seed will fill the ground with
new roots, which are better than old ones. And I know of
no grass that never needs renewing from the seed.

'* A farmer needs not to be told, that if he turn swine into
a pasture, thev should have rings in their noses, unless
brakes and other weeds need to be rooted out. Swine may
do service in this way. They should never have the first ol
the feed ; for they will foul the grass, and make it distasteful
to horses and cattle.

" Let the stock of a farmer be greater or less, he should
have at least four inclosures of pasture land. One inclosure
may be fed two weeks, and then shut up to grow ; then
another. Each one will recruit well in six weeks ; and each
will have this space of time to recruit. But in the latter
part of October, the cattle may range through all the lots,
unless some one may become too wet and soft. In this case,
it ought to be shut up, and kept so till feeding time the next
year.

"But that farmers may not be troubled with low miry pas-
tures, they should drain them, if it be practicable, or can be
done consistently with their other business. If they should
produce a smaller quantity of grass afterwards, it will be
sweeter, and of more value. It is well known, that cattle
fatted in a dry pasture have better tasted flesh than those
which are fatted in a wet one. In the old countries it will
fetch a higher price. This is particularly the case as to
mutton.

"Feeding pastures in rotation is of greater advantage than
some are apt to imagine. One acre, managed according to
the above directions, will turn to better account, as some
say who have practised it, than three acres in the common
way. By the common way I would be understood to mean,
having weak and tottering fences, that will drop of them-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 287

selves in a tew months, and never can resist the violence ot'
disorderly cattle ; suffering weeds and bushes to overrun the
land ; keeping all the pasture land in one inclosure ; turn-
ing in all sorts of stock together ; suffering the fence to
drop down in autumn, so as to lay the pasture common to
all the swine and cattle that please to enter ; and not putting
up the fence again till the 1st of May, or later. Such
management is too common in all the parts of this country.

" Land which is constantly used as pasture will be enrich-
ed. Therefore it is advisable to mow a pasture lot once in
three of four years, if the surface be so level as to admit of
it. In the mean time, to make amends for the loss of pas-
ture, a mowing lot may be pastured. It will thus be improv-
ed : and if the grass do not grow so rank afterwards in the
pasture lot, it will be more clear of weeds, and bear better
grass. Alternate pasturing and mowing has the advantage
of saving a good deal of expense and trouble in manuring
the mowing grounds. -

" Though pastures need manuring less than other lands,
yet, when bushes, bad weeds, &c. are burnt upon them, the
ashes should be spread thinly over the surface. The grass
will thus be improved : and grass seeds should be sown upon
the burnt spots, that no part may be vacant of grass.

" Sheep, calves, and horses, unless they are worked, it is
said, require no water in their pastures. The want of water
induces them to feed in the night, when the dew is on and
the grass the more nutritious. Cows however want pure
water.

"In pastures which are on side-hills, water may generally
be obtained by digging horizontally into the side of the hill,
till it is found, and then carrying it out with a pipe." —
Deane.

" Three modes have been adopted in Great Britain for
consuming clover and other herbage plants by pasturing.
These are tethering, or fastening the feeding animal to a
stake, hurdling, and free pasturage. In the ' Agricultural
Report of Aberdeenshire,' it is stated, that there are some
cases in which the plan of tethering can be practised with
more profit than even soiling. In the neighbourhood of
Peterhead, for instance, they tether milch cows on their
grass fields, in a regular and systematic method, moving
each tether forward in a straight line, not above one foot at a
time, so as to prevent the cows from treading on the grass
that is to be eaten ; care being always taken to move the

288 THE COMPLETE FARMER

tether forward, like a person cutting clover with a scythe,
from one end of the field to the other. In this way, a great-
er number of cows can be kept on the same quantity of grass
than by any other plan, except where it grows high enough
to be cut and given them green in houses. In one instance,
the system was carried to great perfection by a gentleman
who kept a few sheep upon longer tethers, following the
cows. Sometimes also he tethered horses afterwards upon
the same field, which prevented any possible waste, for the
tufts of grass produced by the dung of one species of animal
will be eaten by those of another kind without reluctance.
This mode was peculiarly calculated for the cow-feeders la
Peterhead ; as, from the smallness of their holdings, they
could not keep servants to cut or horses to carry home the
grass to their houses, to be consumed in a green state.

" In hurdling off clover or herbage crops, a portion of the
field is inclosed by hurdles, [movable wooden fences,] in
which sheep are confined, and as the crop is consumed the
pen is changed to a fresh place, until the whole is fed off.
This practice is very extensively adopted at Holkham [Eng.,]
and is peculiarly calculated for light and dry soils. Its ad-
vantages are, that the grass is more economically consumed;
that the stock thrives better, having daily a fresh bite ; and
that the dung which falls, being more concentrated, is more
likely to be of use." — Loudon.

Water should be provided for every field under pasture ;
and also shelter and shade, either by a few trees, or by a
portable shed, which may be moved with the stock from one
inclosure to another. Where there are no trees, rubbing
posts are also a desirable addition. In Germany they have
portable sheds which are employed both in summer and win-
ter, and generally with a piece of rock-salt fixed to a post for
the cattle to lick at will.

Some graziers mix a few sheep and one or two colts in
each pasture, which both turn to account, and do little in-
jury to the grazing cattle. In some cases, we are told that
sheep are beneficial to pastures, by eating down and de-
stroying white weed, and some other useless and pernicious
plants.

So various is the appetite of animals, that there is scarcely
any plant which is not chosen by some and left untouched
by others. The following is said to be a fact, known and
practised on by graziers in Holland. When eight cows have
been in a pasture, and can no longer obtain nourishment,

AxND RURAL ECONOMIST. 289

two horses will do very well there for some days, and when
nothing is left for the horses, four sheep will live upon it ;
this not only proceeds from their differing in the choice of
plants, but from the formation of their mouths, which are not
equally adapted to lay hold of the grass.

Stocking a pasture with as many sheep as it will support
is recommended for forming a tender herbage, and causing
the grass to mat or grow very thick at the bottom.

An English writer says, "in turning out horses to grass in
the spring, it is usual to choose the forenoon of a fine day to
do it in ; the natural consequence is, the horse fills his belly
during the sunshine, and lays down to rest during the cold
of the night, thereby probably exposing himself to disorders.
In some parts of Yorkshire a better practice prevails : the
horse is turned out at bed-time ; the consequence is, he eats
all night, and sleeps in the sunshine of the next day."

POULTRY. In order to have fine fowls, it is necessary
to choose a good breed, and have a proper care taken .of
them. The Canton breed is thought highly of; and it is
certainly desirable to have a fine large kind, but people differ
in their opinion which is best. It is as important to cross
the breeds of fouls as of other animals ; hence it is improper
to saVe males and females from the same sittings of eggs, if
they are to be kept for propagation. The black is very
juicy ; but do not answer so well for boiling, as their legs
partake of their color. They should be fed as nearly as pos-
sible at the same hour and place. Potatoes boiled, unskin-
ned, in a little water, and then cut, and either wet with
skimmed milk or not, form one of the best foods. Turkeys
and fowls thrive amazingly on them. The milk must not be
sour.

The best age for setting a hen is from two to five years ;
and you should remark which hens make the best brooders,
and keep those to laying who are giddy and careless of their
young. In justice to the animal creation, however, it must
be observed, there are but few instances of bad parents for
the time their nursing is necessary.

Hens sit twenty days. Convenient places should be pro-
vided for their laying, as these will be proper for sitting like-
wise. If the hen-house is not secured from vermin, the
eggs will be sucked and the fowls destroyed.
25

290 THE COMPLETE FARMER

Those hens are usually preferred which have tufts of
feathers on their heads ; those that crow are not looked upon
as profitable. Some fine young fowls should be reared eve-
ry year, to keep up a stock of good breeders ; and by this
attention, and removing bad layers and careless nurses, you
will have a chance of a good stock.

Let the hens lay some time before you set them, which
should be done from the end of February to the beginning
of May. While hens are laying, feed them well, and some-
times with oats.

Broods of chickens are hatched all through the summer,
but those that come out very late require much care till they
have gained some strength.

If the eggs of any sort are put under a hen with some of
her own, observe to add her own as many days after the
others as there is difference in the length of their sitting.
A turkey and duck sit thirty days. Choose large clear eggs
to put her upon, and such a number as she can properly
cover. If very large eggs, there are sometimes two yolks,
and of course neither will be productive. Ten or twelve are
quite enough.

A hen-house should be large and high ; and should be
frequently cleaned out, or the vermin of fowls will increase
greatly. But hens must not be disturbed while sitting ; for
if frightened, they sometimes forsake their nests. Worm-
wood and rue should be planted plentifully about ^heir
houses ; boil some of the former, and sprinkle it about the
floor, which should be of smooth earth not paved. The
windows of the house should be open to the ri.sing sun, and
a hole must be left at the door, to let the smaller fowls go
in ; the larger may be let in and out by opening the door.
There should be a small sliding board to shut down when
the fowls are gone to roost, which would prevent the small
beasts of prey from committing ravages ; and a good strong
door and lock may possibly, in some measure, prevent the
depredations of human enemies.

When some of the chickens are hatched long before the
others, it may be necessary to keep them in a basket of wool
till the others come forth. The day after they are hatched,
give them some crumbs of white bread, and small (or rather
cracked) grits soaked in milk. As soon as they have gained
a little strength feed them with curd, cheese parings cut
small, bojled corn, or any soft food, but nothing sour ; and
give th^ clean water twice a day. Keep the hen under a

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 291

pen till the young have strength to follow her about, which
will be in two or three weeks, and be sure to feed her well.

The food of fowls goes first into their crop, which softens
it ; and then passes into the gizzard, which by constant fric-
tion macerates it ; and this is facilitated by small stones,
which are generally found there, and which help to digest
the food.

The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking dirty water, or
taking lilthy food. A white thin scale on the tongue is the
symptom. Pull the scale off with your nail, and rub the
tongue with some salt ; and the complaint will be removed.

It answers well to pay some boy employed in the farm or
stable so much a hundred for the eggs he brings in. It will
be his interest then to save them from being purloined, which
nobody but one in his situation can prevent ; and six or
eight cents a hundred will be buying eggs cheap.

To fatten Fowls or Chickens in four or five Days. Set
rice over the fire with skinnned milk, only as much as will
serve one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled out:
you may add a tea-spoonful or two of sugar, but it will do
well without. Feed them three times a day, in common
pans, giving them only as much as will quite fill them at
once. When you put fresh, let the pans be set in water,
that no sourness may be conveyed to the fowls, as that
prevents them from fattening. Give them clean water, or
the. milk of rice, to drink ; but the less wet the latter is when
perfectly soaked the better. By this method the flesh will
have a clear whiteness which no other food gives ; and when
it is considered how far a pound of rice will go, and how
much time is saved by this mode, it will be found to be
cheap. The pen should be daily cleaned, and no food given
for sixteen hours before poultry be killed. A proportion of
animal mixed with vegetable food is said to cause poultry to
thrive rapidly, but they should be confined to a vegetable
diet for a fortnight or three weeks before they are killed for
eating. A quantity of charcoal, broken in small pieces and
placed within the reach of poultry, is said to increase their
appetite, promote their digestion, and expedite their fat-
tening.

To choose Eggs at Market and preserve them. Put the
large end of the egg to your tongue ; if it feels warm it is
new. In new-laid eggs there is a small division of the skin
from the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to
the eye at the end. On looking through them, against the

292 THE COMPLETE FARMER

sun or a candle, if fresh, eggs will be pretty clear. If they
shake they are not fresh.

Eggs may be bought cheapest when the hens first begin
to lay in the spring, before they sit ; in fall and winter they
become dear. They may be preserved fresh by dipping
them in boiling water and in.><tantly taking them out, or by
oiling the shell ; either of which ways is to prevent the air
passing through it ; or kept on shelves, with small holes to
receive one in each, and be turned every other day ; or close
packed in the keg, and covered with strong lime-water.*

BIRDS. The following remarks on shooting birds, &c.,
are from a communication, published in the " New England
Farmer." Vol. IX., p. 338 ; —

" It is a well-known fact, that the alarming increase of
worms and insects in making ravages upon our fruit-trees and
fruit, not only paralyzes the efforts and disheartens the hopes
of the cultivator, but threatens total destruction to many of
the most delicious kinds. So extensive are their ravages
that but very few of our apricots and plums ever ripen with-
out premature decay from the worm generated by the beetles
which surround our trees in the twilight of the evening in
great numbers when the fruit is quite young. And when
the produce of our apple, pear, or peach trees is small, but
few of these escape the same fate.

" I attribute the rapid and alarming increase of these
worms and insects xcholly to the diminution of those birds
which fall a prey to our sportsmen, which are known to feed
upon them, and for whose subsistence these insects were ap-
parently created.

" In addition to the important usefulness of these birds,
their musical notes in the twilight of the morning are
peculiarly delightful ; awaking the cultivator to the sublime
contemplation and enjoyment of all the infinite beauties of
creation.

" In vain will be all our toil and labor, in vain the united
efforts of horticultural societies for increasing and perfecting
the cultivation of the most delicious varieties of fruits, unless

* For Treatises on Poultry and their different varieties, see Fessenden's
Mowbrav, published iiv Lilly and Wait, and New England Farmer. Vol.
IX. p. 254, 27S, 293, 318, 341.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 293

we can increase, or at least cease to diminish these useful and
melodious birds.

" If we have a statute in this commonwealth providing for
the protection of these birds, let us unite our efforts to arrest
this wanton destruction of them by enforcing (he penalties of
Ike law in every instance of ils violation. Our Horticultural
Society can scarcely do a greater service in promoting the
objects of its organization, than by making a spontaneous
and vigorous effort to this effect.

" If there be no statute for the protection of these invalua-
ble creatures, I would earnestly, yet respectfully, suggest to
the Horticultural Society the propriety and even necessity
of their petitioning our legislature at their next session for
such an act.

" It is a common practice with these sportsmen through
the summer to range the groves and orchards in this vicin-
ity, almost every pleasant day, and more numerously on
holidays, and to shoot every bird that comes within their
reach.

"It is not however a small nor an easy task for one indi-
vidual to get their names, residence, and the evidence neces-
sary for their conviction ; but it requires the united efforts
of all who are immediately interested. Already have these
sportsmen commenced their v/anton destruction of these
useful creatures, even before they had time to build a nest
for the rearing of their young. Birds that have survived the
dreary winter in a more genial clime, having now returned
to bless our efforts by their industry and to cheer our days
with their melody, are scarcely permitted to commence their
vernal song, ere they must fall victims to a wanton idle-
ness that is as destitute of moral feeling as of useful employ-
ment."

The following was originally published in the Boston Pa-
triot ; —

" On Birds and their Misfortunes. We have already inti-
mated our opinion, that the labors of the scientific ornithol-
ogist are of far more practical utility than the casual ob-
server might suppose ; and that, even in the business of
legislation, a regard to his researches might prevent many
errors, which may much affect public welfare. The legisla-
tion on the subject of birds has been marked by some essen-
tial errors, which have led to real evil. By the law of 1817,
woodcocks, snipes, larks, and robbins, were protected at cer-
tain seasons of the year, whilst war to the knife was de-
'25*

294 THE COMPLETE FARMER

clared against crows, blackbirds, owls, blue-jays, and hawks;
these last were treated as a sort of pirates, subject to sus-
pension at the yard-arm with the least possible ceremony.
It so happens, that the character of these very birds has been
singularly mistaken ; for while the ordnance of legislation
has been thus systematically levelled at them, they, on a
principle which man would do extremely well to imitate,
have been returning good for evil ; they have been diligently
engaged in extirpating all sorts of vermin, while never were
the vilest vermin half so ill-treated by the human race. The
crow, for example, who is generally regarded as a most sus-
picious character, has had great injustice done him. In the
spring, when the ground is moist, he lives in a state of the
most triumphant luxury on grubs : he eats the young corn,
it is true, but it is a necessary of life to which he never
resorts except when his supply of animal food is shortened.
After the corn is tolerably grown, he has nothing more to do
with it ; and in any stage he destroys at least five hundred
pernicious grubs and insects for every blade of corn which
he pillages from man. In the southern states, he is regu-
larly permitted to accompany the ploughman, and collects
the grubs from the newly-opened furrow ; his life is thus
secured by the safest of all tenures, that of the interest of
man in permitting him to live.

" There is scarcely a farm in England without its rookery;
the humid atmosphere multiplies every species of insect, and
those birds reward man for his forbearance by ridding him
of legions of his foes. By a policy like that which dictated
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, they have occasional-
ly been exposed to the mischievous propensities of unruly
boys, who, as far as utility is concerned, «ire not to be com-
pared to crows ; but the error of this step soon became ob-
vious, and they are now received with a universal welcome.
The hawk enjoys a doubtful reputation in the hen-roost ; he
sometimes destroys the chickens, but with the consistency
of man does not like to see his infirmities copied by an-
other ; and by way of compensation demolishes the fox,
which eats twenty chickens were he eats but one ; so that
it is hardly the part of wisdom to set a price upon his head,
while the fox, a hardened knave, is not honored with a penal
statute. How the owl came to be included in this black
list, it is difficult to conjecture ; he is a grave, reflecting
bird, who has nothing to do with man, except to benefit him
by eating weasels, foxes, raccoons, rats, and mice, a sin for

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. !295

which most housekeepers will readily forgive him. In some
parts of Europe he is kept in families, like the cat, whom
he equals in patience and surpasses in alertness. Another
of these birds, the blackbird, is the avowed enemy of grubs,
like the crow ; in the middle states, the farmer knows the
value of his company to pluck them from the furrow ; and
while other less pains-taking birds collect the vermin from
the surface, his investigations are more profound, and he
digs to the depth of several inches in order to discover them.
When the insects are no longer to be found, he eats the corn,
as well he may, but even then asks but a moderate compen-
sation for his former services. Five hundred blackbirds do
less injury to the corn than a single squirrel. The last upon
the catalogue of persecuted birds is the blue-jay. Whoever
watches him in the garden will see him descend incessantly
from the branches, pouncing every time upon the grub, his
enemy and ours.

"We have already seen, that the act to which we have
referred protects some birds at certain seasons of the year ;
among others, the robin, who lives on insects and worms,
and has no taste for vegetable diet, and the lark, who is ex-
tremely useful in his way. The only wonder is, that it
should have been thought expedient to allow them to be shot
in any season. The quail, another of the privileged class,
has no title to be named in company with the others ; in the
planting ti(ne, he makes more havoc than a regiment of
crows, without atoning for his misdeeds by demolishing a
single grub. Nor is the partridge a much more scrupulous
respecter of the rights of property ; though, as he lives in
comparative retirement, he succeeds in preserving a better
name for honesty.

"There are some of our most familiar birds, of which a
word may here be said. Every body has seen the little
goldfinch on the thistle by the way-side, and wondered, per-
haps, that his taste should lead him to so thorny a luxury ;
but he is all this while engaged in devouring the seeds,
which but for him would overrun the grounds of every far-
mer. Even the bob-o'-link, a most conceited coxcomb, who
steals with all imaginable grace, destroys millions of the
insects which annoy the farmer most. All the little birds,
in fact, which are seen about the blossoms of the trees, are
doing us the same service in their own way.

" Perhaps there is no bird which is considered more decid-
edly wanting in principle than the woodpecker ; and, cer-

296 THE COMPLETE FARMER

tainly, so far as man is concerned, there is none more con-
scientious. So long as a dead tree can be found for his nest,
he will not trouble himself to bore into a living one ; what-
ever wounds he makes upon the living are considered by
foreign gardeners as an advantage to the tree. The sound
tree is not the object ; he is in pursuit of insects and their
larvae. In South Carolina and Georgia, forests to a vast ex-
tent hnve been destroyed by an insect, which would seem as
capable of lifting a tree as of destroying it. The people
were alarmed by the visitation, and sagaciously laid the
mischief at the door of the woodpecker, until they found
that they had confounded the bailiff with the thief

" The injury arising from the loss of a single crop is hard-
ly to be estimated. The experience which is taught us by
our own misfortune is very dearly bought ; and we think
that if we can derive it from others, — if, for example, we
can learn from the ornithologist the means of preventing
such injury, as in many instances we may, — the dictates of
economy combine with those of taste, and warn us not to
neglect the result of his researches."

It was remarked by Colonel Powel, that " instead of being
regaled by the whistling robin and chirping bluebird, busily
employed in guarding us from that which no human fore-
sight or labor is enabled to avert, our ears are assailed, our
persons are endangered, our fences are broken, our crops are
trodden down, our cattle are lacerated, and our flocks are
disturbed by the idle shooter, regardless alike of the expen-
sive attempts of the experimental farmer, or of the stores of
the laboring husbandman ; whilst all the energies of his
frame and the aim of his skill are directed towards the mur-
der of a few little birds, worthless when obtained. The in-
juries which are immediately committed by himself and his
dogs are small, compared with the multiplied effects of the
myriads of insects which would be destroyed by the animals
whereof they are the natural prey."'

BUSHES. In many parts of our country, the pasture
grounds are infested, and often overrun with noxious shrubs ;
this is the most slovenly part of our husbandry, and ought
to be cured.

Eradicating them, says Deane, requires so much labor,
that farmers are most commonly content with cutting them

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.. 297

once in a few years. But the more cuttings they survive,
the longer Hved they are apt to be, and the harder to kill,
as the roots continually gain strength.

It is undoubtedly true, that cutting bushes in the summer
will do more towards destroying them than doing it in any
other season, particularly in August. Other circumstances
being equal, the wettest weather is best for destroying shrubs
by cutting. Spreading plaster on ground where bushes have
been cut may tend to check their re-sprouting, by encourag-
ing the growth of grass.

It is said to be a good method of destroying bushes, to cut
them with hoes close to the surface, when the ground is
frozen hard ; and that more may be destroyed in a day in
this way than in the usual method of cutting with a bush-
scythe.

Bushes which grow in clusters, as alder. Sec, may be ex-
peditiously pulled up by oxen ; and this is an effectual way
to subdue them.

Elder is considered harder to subdue than almost any
other kind of bush ; mowing them five times in a season, it
is said, will not kill them. The roots of the shrub-oak will
not be killed but by digging them out.

To destroy bushes in swamps, flooding two or three sum-
mers is the most approved method. But if this is not con-
venient, draining will so alter the nature of the soil, that the
shrubs which it naturally produced before will not be any
longer nourished by it ; and one cutting may be suthcient.

After all, extirpation, by digging them out, and by fire, is
cheapest and most effectual. — Farmer's Guide.

IRRIGATION. The following Essay, by Dr. Jeremiah
Spofford, is from the "Transactions of the Essex Agricul-
tural Society."

" Some degree of knowledge of what constitutes the food
of plants seems indispensable to any well-conducted system
of producing them in the greatest perfection ; and such
knowledge seems most likely to be obtained by minutely ex-
amining their structure, and carefully observing the manner
of their growth.

" Plants constitute one of the great divisions of organic
life, and one formed or constituted by systems of fibres and
vessels, and endowed with certain powers and appetences

298 • THE COMPLETE FARMER

which place them at a greater remove above unorganized
matter than they are below animal life ; and appropriate
nourishment is elaborated, and a complete circulation is car-
ried on, to the minutest extremity, in a manner extremely an-
alogous to the circulation which is carried on in the arteries
and veins of the most perfect animals ; and the apparent
intelligence with which plants seek for nourishment, light,
air, and support, appears in some instances to bear a strong
resemblance to perception and knowledge ; and the circula-
tion of fluids in the vessels of plants and animals appears to
be carried on much on the same principles, and is perfectly
involuntary in both.

"The indispensable agency of water, in constituting the
fluids, and carrying on the circulation in these systems of
vessels, has been universally acknowledged ; and could not
be overlooked by the most careless observer, while he saw
innumerable instances in which plants wither and dry for
want of this substance. But while this universal agency has
been acknowledged, it is believed that a very inferior office
has been assigned to it from that which it really performs.
It has been considered as the mere vehicle which carried
and deposited the nutritious particles of other substances,
while it in reality was contributing much the largest portion
of the actual nourishment to the plants which annually clothe
our earth in living green.

" If this idea is correct, then he who possesses water at
his command with which to supply his plants at pleasure, or
who has a soil adapted to attract and retain moisture in
suitable quantities, possesses a mine of inexhaustible wealth,
from which he can draw at pleasure, in proportion to his
industry and his wants.

" In proof of the abstract principle that water constitutes
in a very large proportion the food of plants, I may be al-
lowed to mention one or two accurate experiments of dis-
tinguished philosophers upon the subject, which appear to
me to be quite decisive on the case.

" ' Mr. Boyle dried in an oven a quantity of earth proper
for vegetation, and after carefully weighing it, planted in it
the seed of a gourd ; he watered it with pure rain-water, and
it produced a plant which weighed fourteen pounds, though
the earth producing it had suffered no sensible diminution.'

" ' A willow tree was planted by Van Helmont in a pot,
containing a thousand pounds of earth. This plant was
watered with distilled water or pure rain-water ; and the

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 299

vessel so covered as to exclude all solid matter. At the end
of five years, iiijon taking out tlie plant, he found it had in-
creased in weight one hundred and nineteen pounds, though
the earth had lost only two ounces of its original weight.'

"The experiments of Mr. Cavendish and Dr. Priestley
have sufficiently proved, that vegetables have the power of
decomposing water and converting it into such fluids as they
need for circulation in their own vessels ; and that they
elaborate from this substance such juices and fruits as they
are by nature calculated to produce.

" The great effect which is so frequently observed to
follow the formation of ditches from the road-sides on to
mowing-ground, is, no doubt, in part, to be attributed to the
manure which is thereby washed on to the ground, but is
also in part owing to the more copious supply of water which
it thereby receives.

"That pure water is capable of producing similar efTects,
I have the following experiments to prove :

" Several years ago, when resident with my father on his
farm at Rowley, I labored hard to divert a stream, which fell
into a miry swamp, from its usual course across a piece of
dry upland. The stream was pure spring-water, which is-
sued between the hills about fifty rods above, running but
just far enough to acquire the temperature of the atmos-
phere, but without receiving any more fertilizing quality than
was obtained in passing through a pasture in a rocky chan-
nel ; the effisct, however, was to double the quantity of
grass. The same stream I again diverted from its course,
about forty rods below, after it had filtered through a piece
of swamp or meadow-ground, and with the same effect ; and
again, still lower down its course, I succeeded in turnino- it
on to a piece of high peat-meadow, which had usually pro-
duced but very little of any thing ; and the effect was, that
more than double of the quantity of grass was produced, and
that of a much better quality. I was led to this latter ex-
periment by observing, that a strip of meadow which natural-
ly received the water of this run, and over which it spread
for several rods in width without any particular channel, was
annually much more productive than any other part of the
meadow.

" But the best experiment, and on the largest scale of any
which I have known, was made by my late father-in-law,
deacon Eleazer SpofTord, then resident at JafTrey, New
Hampshire. A letter from Rev. Luke A. SpofFord, in an-

300 THE COMPLETE FARMER

swer to my inquiry on this subject, observes : ' My father
commenced the experiment as early as the year 1800, and
continued it till 1820, or to the time when he sold his farm.
The last ten years of his time he flashed perhaps twenty
acres ; and it produced, I should think, twice as much in
common seasons, and three times as much in dry seasons, as
it would have done without watering. This land would
hold out to yield a good crop twice as long as other land of
the same quality,' (that is, I presume, without flowing.)
* In dry weather he watered it every night, and the produce
was good, very good.'

" i am acquainted with the lot of land which was the sub-
ject of this experiment. It is a northern declivity, and rather
a light and sandy soil, on the eastern bank of Contoocook
river ; and the water used was that of the river, about one
mile below its formation by the junction of two streams, one
from a large pond of several hundred acres in Rindge, and
the other a mountain stream, formed by innumerable springs
issuing from the skirts of the Monadnock.

" From the foregoing premises may we not conclude, that
water performs a more important office in the growth and
formation of plants than has generally been supposed ; and
that it not only serves to convey nourishment, but that it is
itself elaborated into nourishment, and thereby constitutes
the solid substance ? and we may further conclude, that eve-
ry farmer should survey his premises, and turn those streams
which now are often useless or hurtful on to lands where
they are capable of diflTusing fertility, abundance, and
wealth.

"It appears, further, that the immense fertility of Egypt
is not so much owing to the alluvial deposit brought down
by the annual inundation, as to the canals and reservoirs
in which the waters are retained, to be spread over the
lands during the succeeding drought, at the will of the cul-
tivator.

" 1{, according to the experiments of Boyle and Van Hel-
mont, almost the whole food of plants is derived from water,
then the principal use of the various manures is to attract
moisture and stimulate the roots of plants to absorb and
elaborate it ; and we have also reason to think that lands are
much more injured and impoverished by naked exposure to
heat and wind, and washing by water that runs off" and is
lost, than it is by producing abundant crops.

" In the present state of population, nothing more could

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 301

be expected or desired, than that every farmer should make
use of such means as the small streams in his vicinity may
afford ; but in a densely peopled country, like Egypt in
former ages, or China at present, it should doubtless be one
of the first enterprises of a good government to take our
large rivers above their falls and turn them off into canals
for the benefit of agriculture."

WOODLAND. Ground covered with wood or trees.
They are mostly designed for fuel and timber. In felling
them, care should be taken to injure the young growth as
little as possible. Firewood, as well as timber, should be
felled when the sap is down ; otherwise it will hiss and fry
upon the fire, and not burn freely, although it should be ever
so long dried. To thicken a forest, or to increase the num-
ber of trees in a wood-lot, it should be well fenced, and no
cattle be permitted to be in it. And something may be done,
if needful, by layers and cuttings. — Deane.

The practice of the populous nations of Europe, whose
forests have been cut off centuries ago, and who are com-
'pelled to resort to measures of the strictest economy to sup-
ply themselves with fuel, ought to have great weight with
us. France, in an especial manner, ought to be looked up
to for wise lessons on this subject. Her vast and thickly
settled population, her numerous manufactures, her poverty
in mineral coal, the eminence which she has attained in all
economical arts, entitle her to great respect. It is the prac-
tice of the French people not to cut off their woods oftener
than once in twenty or twenty-five years, and by law, when
they are cut over, the owner is obliged to cut the tchole
smooth, with the exception of a very few trees, which the
officers of the government had marked to be spared for
larger growth. Without giving any opinion as to the pro-
priety of the direct interference of the government on such
a topic, we should say that the example proves, that in the
opinion of the French scientific and practical men, it is ex-
pedient when woodlands are cut that they should be cut
smooth, in order that the new growth might start together,
not overshaded by other trees of larger growth. We have
no favorable opinion of the utility of cutting down trees in a
scattered manner, as thov appear to fail, and still less of
26

302 THE COMPLETE FARMER

planting acorns in thinner spots of the forest. The growth
thus produced must remain for ever feeble. — Lowell.

A valuable paper by the Hon. John Welles, in " The
Massachusetts Agricultural Repository," recommends cut-
ting hard-wood trees between forty and fifty years of age ;
and the writer states, that "though trees may shoot up in
height by standing longer, yet the period of the most rapid
vegetation is mostly over, and by this means much of the
under-growth is necessarily destroyed." Mr. Welles is of
opinion, that in cutting over a wood-lot to obtain fuel, it is
best to take the whole growth as you proceed. He observes,
that " we have been condemned as evincing a want of taste
in cutting off our forests without leaving what it would take
half a century to produce, — -a sliade near where it is pro-
posed to erect buildings. The fact is, that trees of original
growth have their roots mostly in the upper stratum of earth,
and near the surface. A tree acts upon its roots and is act-
ed upon by the wind, sustaining in common with the whole
forest the force of this element, and it becomes accommo-
dated or naturalized to its pressure. But when left alone or
unsustained, it is borne down by the first gale, often to the
injury of property and even of life." The " Farmer's Assis-
tant" likewise says, " if woods are old and decaying, the bet-
ter way is to cut all off, as you want to use the wood, and
let an entire new growth start up, which will grow more
rapidly."

INSECTS. It would far transcend our limits to give
even a brief description of the various sorts of insects which
injure gardens, cultivated fields. Sec, and destroy the best
productions of out soil. We shall, therefore, confine our-
selves to stating, briefly, some of the most approved modes
of counteracting the ravages and effecting the destruction
of a few of those which are most injurious to the cultivator.

The preventive operations are those of the best culture,
in the most extensive sense of the term, including what re-
lates to choice of seed or plant, soil, situation, and climate.
If these are carefully attended to, it will seldom happen that
any species of insect will effect serious and permanent inju-
ry. Vegetables which are vigorous and thrifty are not apt
to be injured bv worms, flies, bugs, &c. Fall ploughing, by

A.\D RURAL ECONOMIST. 303

exposing wornis, grubs, the larvaj of bugs, beetles, &,c. to
the intense frosts of our winters, is very beneficial. Insects
may be annoyed, and oftentimes their complete destruction
eflected, by sprinkling over them, by means of a syringe,
watering-pot, or garden engine, simple water, soap-suds,
tobacco-water, decoctions of elder, especially of the dwarf
kind, of walnut leaves, bitter and acrid herbs, pepper, lye
of wood ashes, or solutions of pot and pearl-ashes, water
impregnated with salt, tar, turpentine, &.c. ; or they may
be dusted with sulphur, quicklime, and other acrid sub-
stances. Loudon says, " Saline substances, mixed with wa-
ter, are injurious to most insects with tender skins, as the
worm and slug ; and hot water, where it can be applied
without injuring vegetation, is equally, if not more power-
fully, injurious. Water heated to one hundred and twenty
or one hundred and thirty degrees will not injure plants
whose leaves are expanded, and in some degree hardened ;
and water at two hundred degrees or upwards may be
poured over leafless plants. The effects of insects may also
be palliated on one species of plant by presenting to them
another which they prefer : thus wasps are said to prefer
carrots, the berries of the yew, and the honey of the hoya,
to grapes ; honey, or sugared water, to ripe fruit, and so on.
One insect or animal rnay also be set to eat another ; as
ducks for slugs and worms, turkeys for the same purpose,
and caterpillars and ants for aphides, and so on."

The Rev. iNIr. Falconer, one of the correspondents of
" The Bath Agricultural Society," strongly recommends
soap-suds, both as a manure and antidote against insects.
He observes, that "this mixture of an oil and an alkali has
been more generally known than adopted as a remedy
against the insects which infest wall fruit-trees. It will dis-
lodge and destroy the insects which have already formed
their nests and bred among the leaves. When used in the
early part of the year, it seems to prevent the insects from
settling upon them." He prefers soap-suds to lime-water,
because lime soon " loses its causticity, and with that its
efficacy, by exposure to air, and must, consequently, be
frequently applied ; and to the dredging of the leaves with
the fine dust of wood ashes and lime, because the same
effect is produced by the mixture, without the same labor,
and is obtained without any expense." He directs to make
use of a common garden-pump for sprinkling trees with
soap-suds, and says, if the water of a washing cannot be had,

304 THE COMPLETE FABMER

a quantity of potash dissolved in water may be substituted ;
and that the washing of the trees with soap-suds twice a
week, for three or four weeks in the spring, will be suffi-
cient to secure them from aphides, kc.

Other modes of counteracting the effects of insects are
pointed out, in treating of the plants which are most liable
to be injured by them. We shall, however, make some re-
marks on a few of those which are most common and injuri-
ous to the interests of the cultivator.

Canker-icorm. We shall not attempt to give either a de-
scription, or the natural history of the canker-worm, but
refer to Prof Peck's Memoir on the subject, originally
published in " The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository,"
and direct our attention exclusively to the remedies which
have been used or suggested to preserve fruit-trees from
this formidable enemy.

The female of this insect comes out of the ground late in
the fall, early in the spring, or, sometimes, during a period
of mild, open weather in winter. Those which rise in
autumn or in winter are less numerous than those which as-
cend in spring ; but, being very prolific, they do much inju-
ry. One method of preventing the ravages of the worm is,
to bar the ascent of the females up the stem of the tree.
This has generally been attempted by tarnng, of which
there are several modifications :

1. A strip of linen or canvas is put round the body of
the tree, before the females begin their ascent, and well
smeared with tar. The insects, in attempting to pass this
barrier, stick fast and perish. But this process, to complete
the desired effect, must be commenced about the 1st of No-
vember, and the tarring continued, when the weather is mild
enough to permit the worms to emerge from the ground, till
the latter end of May, or till the time of their ascent is past.
It is necessary to fill the crevices in the bark with clay mor-
tar, before the strip of linen or canvas is put on, that the
insects may not pass under it. Having put on the strip,
which should be at least three inches wide, draw it close,
fasten the ends together strongly, then tie a thumb-rope of
tow round the tree, close to the lower edge of the strip. The
design of this is, to prevent the tar from running down the
bark of the tree, which would injure it. It should be
renewed in moderate weather, once a day, without fail. The
best time is soon after sunset, because the insects are wont
to pass up in the evening, and the tar will not harden so
much in the night as the dav.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 305

2. Another mode of tarring is, to take two pretty wide
pieces of board, plane them, make semicircular notches
in each, fitting them to the stem or body of the tree,
and fasten them together securely at the ends, so that the
most violent storms may not displace them. The crevices
betwixt the boards and the tree may be easily stopped with
rags or tow ; then smear the under sides of the boards with
tar. The tar, being defended from the direct rays of the
sun, will hold its tenacity the longer, and, therefore, weed
not be frequently renewed. The trees in this way will be
less liable to be injured by the drippings of tar, by leaving
a margin of two or three inches on those parts of the boards
which are next to the trees, to which no tar is applied.

3. A gentleman informs us, that in Plymouth, Massachu-
setts, they make use of the following mixture as a substitute
for tar in preserving fruit-trees against canker-worms, viz. :
White varnish, soft soap, and whale oil, one-third of each to
be mixed and applied as tar is usually. This mixture is not
soon hardened by the weather, and does not injure tjie trees.
Another simple mode of preventing the ascent of the insects
is, to wind a band of refuse flax or swingle-tow round the
tree, and stick on the band burdock or chestnut burs, set so
closely together that worms cannot pass between them.

The "Massachusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol.
III. No. 4,) contains some remarks on the canker-worm, by
the Hon. John Lowell, president of "The Massachusetts
Agricultural Society," from which the following is ex-
tracted :

" I had the turf dug in around sixty apple-trees, and the
earth laid smooth. I then took three hogsheads of effete, or
air-slacked lime, and strewed it an inch thick round my
trees, to the extent of two or three feet from the roots, so
that the whole diameter of the opening was from four to six
feet.

" I tarred these trees, as well as the others, and although
I had worms or grubs on most that were not limed, I did not
catch a single grub where the trees were limed.

" I do not speak with confidence. I am, however, strong-
ly encouraged to believe the remedy perfect. It was as-
certained by Professor Peck, that the insect seldom descend-
ed into the ground at a greater distance than three or four
feet from the trunk, and to the depth of four inches, or that
the greater part come within that distance. The lime is
known to be destructive of all animal substances, and I have
26*

306 THE COMPLETE FARMER

little doubt, that it actually decomposes and destroys the
insect in the chrysalis state ; at least, I hope that this is the
case.

" There are many reasons which should encourage a repe-
tition of this experiment. The digging round the trees is
highly useful to them, while tarring is very injurious. The
expense is not great. A man can dig round fiftv trees in
one day. The lime is a most salutary manure to the tree.
After the spot has been once opened and limed, the labor
of keeping it open will not be great. Three hogsheads of
air-slacked lime, or the sweepings of a lime-store, will suf-
tice for fifty trees, and will cost three dollars. As it is done
but once a year, I think it cannot be half so expensive as
tarring.

" I repeat it, that I mention my experiments with great
diffidence, as being the first of my own knowledge. It may
induce several persons to try it in different places, and where
trees are surrounded with others which are treated different-
ly. All I pray is, that it may prove successful and relieve
us from this dreadful scourge, which defaces our country,
while it impoverishes and disappoints the farmer."

The remedies proposed by Professor Peck were, 1st. Turn-
ing up the ground carefully, in October, as far as the
branches of a tree extend, to half a spade's depth, or five
inches, so as completely to invert the surface. A great
number of chrysalids would thus be exposed to the air and
sun, and of course destroyed. 2dly. Breaking the clods,
and smoothing the surface with a rake, and passing a heavy
roller over it, so as to make it very hard, and without cracks.
In grass grounds the sods should be turned with the grass
side down, and placed side by side, so as to be rolled. The
winter's frosts would heave and crack a smooth surface, but
it might be smoothed and hardened by the roller, or by other
means, in March, with much less trouble, time, and expense,
than roiling requires. As lime, when slacked, is reduced to
an impalpable powder, and is thus well adapted to close the
openings in the surface, Mr. Peck is inclined to think its
good effects are produced this way as well as by its caustic
qualities. — Thacher^s Orchardist, p. 93.

John Kenrick, Esq., of Newton, Massachusetts, propos-
ed, between the time in June after the worms had disappear-
ed and the iOth of October, to take the whole of the soil
surrounding the trees, to the extent at least of four feet from
the trunk, and to a suitable depth, and cart it away to a dis-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 307

tance from any trees which the canker-worms are in the
habit of feeding on ; and returning an equal quantity of com-
post or rich earth intermixed with manure.

A writer for "The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. p.
327,) states a case of an orchard having been preserved
from canker-worms by means of a large number of locust-
trees, equal to about double the number of apple-trees.

Mr. Roland Howard, of Easton, Massachusetts, observes,
(New England Farmer, Vol. IV. p. 391,) that "a quantity
of lime was collected from the sweepings of a lime-store,
and spread on the ground around a certain apple-tree, some
time in the month of November ; (the foliage of which tree
had been destroyed by the canker-worm the preceding sum-
mer ;) the ground being in a pulverized state, the lime was
spread as far from the trunk of the tree as the drippings from
the branches extended : the effect was stated to be the entire
disappearance of the worm, and an increased vigor of the
tree." The same writer observes, that " moving the earth
with a plough or hoe, late in November, or beginning of
December, has been found very efficacious in destroying
them." This last mentioned remedy, if it will always prove
efficient, will probably be the cheapest and most expedient.
But the worm must be capable of enduring a considerable
degree of cold, or unerring instinct would not lead it from
its dormitory in November (as it frequently does) to brave
the rigors of winter on the stem or branches of the tree.
We are inclined to believe, as well as to hope, that the ap-
plication of lime, as above stated, will prove effectual : and
if so, it will probably be preferable to any mode of applying
tar, or attacking the enemy above ground.

When the insects have ascended, their numbers may be
lessened by jarring or shaking the body or limbs of the tree,
causing them to suspend themselves by the threads which
they spin from their bodies, and striking them off with a
stick. It is said, that those which thus fall to the earth do
not rise again. Whether they would be able to resist the
effects of a sprinkling with soap-suds, saline or bitter infu-
sions, &c., is more than we can say ; but we wish their
powers might be tested, by showering them with those mix-
tures which are found to be the best antidotes against other
insects.

Caterpillar. "This is one of the worst enemies to an
orchard when neglected ; but easily destroyed by a little at-
tention. In the spring, when the nests are small and the

308 THE COMPLETE FARMER

insects young and tender, they never venture abroad in the
early part of the day, when the dew is on the trees, or in
bad weather ; they may then be efTectually destroyed by
crushing them in the nest. This attention, continued a short
time every spring, will destroy those in existence, and will
prevent their increase in future years : if left till grown
strong, they wander from their nests, and cannot be effectu-
ally overcome without great trouble and expense." — Coxe,
on Fruit- Trees .

The Hon. Timothy Pickering, in a letter to the corre-
sponding secretary of " The Massachusetts Agricultural
Society," has recommended an implement for the destruc-
tion of caterpillars. It is made by inserting some hog's
bristles between twisted wires, in such a manner as to form
a cylindrical brush, which will present bristles on every
side. This is attached to a pole, of such length as the trees
may require, and the caterpillars are brought down by it,
and then crushed. Other methods have been proposed,
such as casting over the tree a few handfuls of ashes, in the
morning, before the dew is dissipated from the foliage, or
after a shower of rain. A strong whitewash of fresh stone-
lime, applied by the means of a mop, or sponge, fixed to the
end of a pole, strong soap-suds, spirits of turpentine, a little
oil of any kind, particularly blubber oil, are likewise fatal
to the insects. But, perhaps, the most effectual remedy is
the hand, by which the insects may easily be removed at an
early stage ; but if this be neglected, it is thought that the
next best remedy is the use of Colonel Pickering's brush; as
above. In applying either of these remedies, care must be
taken to choose that part of the day when the caterpillars
are in their nests. They rarely quit them till nine o'clock,
and generally return to them again about twelve.

Curculio. This is a small bug, or beetle, which perfo-
rates the young fruit of the pear, apple, and all stone fruits,
and deposits its eggs in them. The eggs soon hatch, and a
small maggot is produced, which feeds either on the pulp of
the fruit, or on the kernel of the seed ; for the tastes and
habits of the different species are not similar. In the stone
fruits, this injury destroys their growth, and they fall, with
the little enemy within them. The insect retreats into the
earth, and passes the winter in the chrysalis state, and comes
forth just as the young fruit is forming, or the petals of the
flowers are falling, to renew its mischievous labors. This
insect continues its depredations from the 1st of May until

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 309

autumn. Dr. James Tilton, of Wilmington, Delaware, in
an article on this subject, published in the American editions
of" WilJich's Domestic Encyclopedia," observes, that " our
fruits, collectively estimated, must thereby be depreciated
more than half their value ;" and adds, in his directions for
destroying the insect, " all the domestic animals, if well
directed, contribute to this purpose. Hogs, in a special
manner, are qualified for the work of extermination. In
large orchards, care should be taken, that the stock of hogs
is sufficient to eat up all the early fruit which falls from May
till August. This precaution will be more especially neces-
sary in large peach orchards ; for otherwise, when the hogs
become cloyed with the pulp of the peach, they will let it
fall out of their mouths, and content themselves with the
kernel, which they like better ; and thus the curculio,
escaping from their jaws, may hide under ground till next
spring."

" The ordinary fowls of a farm-yard are great devourers
of beetles. Poultry in general are regarded as carnivorous,
in the summer, and therefore cooped some time before they
are eaten. Every body knows with what avidity ducks
seize on the tumble-bug, (^scaraboeiis carnifex,) and it is prob-
able, the curculio is regarded by all fowls as an equally de-
licious morsel. Therefore it is, that the smooth stone liuits,
particularly, succeed much better in lanes and yards, where
poultry run without restraint, than in gardens and other in-
closures, where fowls are excluded."

Instead of turning swine into orchards, to pick up the
fruit which falls, and thus destroy the worms which it con-
tains, it will often be found most expedient to gather such
fruit, and give it to swine in pens, Stc, either raw, or, what
would be better, boiled. If such measures were generally
taken with fruit which falls spontaneously, as to prevent the
insects, which generally cause it to drop prematurely, from
escaping into the ground, the worms, which destroy one half
our fruit, and very much deteriorate a considerable part of
the other half, would soon be extirpated from our orchards
and fruit-gardens.

Aphis, Plant-louse, Fuceron, or Vine-fretter . " This genus
of insects comprises many species and varieties, which are
so denominated from the plants they infest. The males are
winged, and the females without wings ; they are viviparous,
producing their young alive, in the spring ; and also ovipa-
rous, laying eggs in autumn. Water, dashed with force

310 THE COMPLETE FARMER

from a syringe, [or garden engine,] will prove as destructive
to tiiem as any thing, when on trees ; and smaller plants
may be washed with lime-water, with tobacco-water, with
elder leaves, infused in water, or with common soap-suds,
any of which will destroy the insects." — Loudon. "Tie
up some flour of sulphur in a piece of muslin, or fine linen,
and with this the leaves of young shoots or plants should be
dusted, or it may be thrown on them by means of a common
swan's-down putF, or even a dredging box. Sulphur has also
been found to promote the health of plants, on which it was
sprinkled, and that peach trees, in particular, were remark-
ably improved by it." — Domestic Kncyclopcdia. " In
green-houses, they are readily destroyed by the smoke of
tobacco, or of sulphur ; but in the open air, fumigation,
though much in vogue many years since, is of no avail.
The best remedy is the simplest. Soap-suds, forcibly ap-
plied, will, after one or two applications, effectually destroy
them, without apparent injury to the plant." — Deane.

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. p.
9,) after stating a number of experiments with soap-suds, for
destroying aphides, which were unsuccessful, or but partial-
ly succeeded, says, " I was led to conclude, that it is not
sufficient to wet the upper side of the leaves, thinking to
make them disagreeable or poisonous to the insect, but that
they must be well drenched or immersed in the suds. I
therefore applied again the same lemedy ; but with this dif-
ference, — instead of sprinkling the upper side of the
branches, I carried a pailful of suds from tree to tree, and, bend-
ing the tops of small trees, and the branches of larger ones,
immersed all the parts infested with lice, holding them in the
liquor for a moment, that none might escape being well wet.
On examining the trees, the next day, the greater part of the
lice were destroyed. It was found necessary to repeat the
same process once or twice, with suds not too weak,
say about two or three ounces of soap to a gallon of
water." Another writer in the same paper, (p. 10,) says,
"I have applied soap-suds to my apple-trees, in order to
kill the lice. It will be sufficient for me to say, that just
sprinkling them with suds will not kill them ; neither will
dipping the branches which are infested with them kill them.
But dipping and holding them in, as long as I can con-
veniently hold my breath, will destroy every one. The suds
do not appear to injure the leaves. I tried suds made on
purpose, and suds which had been used for family washing.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 311

The latter answers the purpose much the best." It is pos-
sible to make soap-suds so strong as to kill the tender
branches, as well as the insects which infest them. The
proportion above mentioned, of two or three ounces of soap
to a gallon of water, is probably most advisable.

Cut-worm. This is an ash-colored worm, with a stripe al-
most black on its back. When fully grown, it is about the
size of a goosequill, and about an inch and a quarter in
length. They are very apt to cut offyoung cabbages, cauli-
flowers, beets, &c. They never voluntarily appear on the
surface of the ground in the day time, but may be found
about an inch below it. In the night they make their ex-
cursions, cut off the stems of young plants, just at the top of
the ground, and again bury themselves.

Dr. Deane observed, " I once prevented their depreda-
tions in my garden, by manuring the soil with sea-mud,
newly taken from the flats. The plants generally escaped,
though every one was cut ofl" in a spot of ground that lies
contiguous. From the success of this experiment, I con-
clude that salt is very ofTensive or pernicious to them. Lime
and ashes, in some measure, prevent their doing mischief;
but sea-water, salt, or brine, would be more effectual anti-
dotes. The most effectual, and not a laborious remedy,
even in field-culture, is to go round every morning, and open
the earth at the foot of the plant, and you will never fail to
find the worm at the root within four inches. Kill him, and
you will save not only the other plants of your field, but,
probably, many thousands in future years."

There is some danger, in making use of salt, brine, or
sea-water, of injuring the plants in attempting to destroy
insects ; and we should, therefore, generally prefer decoc-
tions of elder, walnut leaves, or tobacco. Mr. Preston, of
Stockport, Pennsylvania, preserved his cabbage-plants from
cut-worms by wrapping a hickory-leaf round the stem, be-
tween the . roots and leaves. — JYew England Farmer,
Vol. III. p. 369. The Hon. Mr. Fiske, of Worcester,
Massachusetts, in speaking of this insect, says, "To search
out the spoiler, and kill him, is the very best course ;
but as his existence is not known except by his ravages, I
make a fortress for my plants with paper, winding it conical-
ly and firmly above the root, and securing it by a low em-
bankment of earth." — JYe'io England Farmer, Vol. IV,
p. 362.

Lice on apple-trees. There is a species of insect infesting

312 THE COMPLETE FARMER

apple-trees which may be styled tlie bark louse, to distin-
guish it from the plant louse, or aphis. It is, in form, like
half a kernel of rye, but much smaller, with the flat side
sticking to the bark of the tree. Jesse Buel, Esq., of Alba-
ny, gives the following statement of his mode of destroying
them : "In June last, I observed directions in ' The New
England Farmer,' for destroying the parasitic enemy ^ and,
that being the particular time to make the application, I im-
mediately set about it. For this purpose, I took eight parts
of water and two of soft soap, and mixed with these lime
enough to make a thick whitewash. With a whitewash and
paint brush I put this upon the trunks and limbs of trees, as
high as was practicable, filling the cracks in the bark, and
covering the whole surface. The effect has been, not only
to destroy most of the lice, but to give the trees an improved
and vigorous appearance. The outer bark, which, from a
stinted growth, had become rough and hard, has, in a meas-
ure, fallen off in flakes, and disclosed a soft, smooth bark,
the sure indication of health."

Jipple-tree Borer. (Saperda bivitata.) The scientific de-
scription of this very pernicious insect is thus given by Pro-
fessor Say, of Philadelphia: "Hoary ; above, light-brown,
with two broad white fillets. Inhabits the United States.
Body, white ; eyes, fuscous ; a small spot on the vertex, ana
another behind each eye, light-brown ; anlenntB, moderate,
slightly tinged with bluish ; thorax, light-brown, with two
broad, white lines, approaching before ; elytra, light-brown,
irregularly punctured ; a broad, white, longitudinal line on
each, nearer to the suture than to the outer edge. Length,
from one-half to seven-tenths of an inch. A very pretty in-
sect. In the larvae state, it is very injurious to the apple-
tree, boring into the wood." — Journal of the Academy of
Sciences, Phil., Vol. III. p. 409.

Professor Say, in a letter to Jesse Buel, Esq., says, " You
state that it leaves the pupa, and becomes perfect, in the lat-
ter part of April, and that the eggs are deposited beneath
the surface of the soil. These two circumstances ascertain-
ed, I would recommend the application, early in May, or
the latter part of April, of common bricklayer's mortar,
around the base of the tree, so as to cover completely the
part, and its immediate vicinity, where the deposit is made.
This preventive was successfully employed by Mr. Shotwell
against the attacks of the peach-tree insect, (see ' Ameri-
can Farmer,' Vol. VI. p. 14,) and I see no reason why it

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 313

should not be equally efficacious in the preservation of the
apple-tree." — Memoirs of the JVcw York Board of Agri-
culture, Vol. III. p. 479.

The " Massacfrusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. V.
p. 360,) contains a paper on this insect, by John Prince,
Esq., by which it appears, that worms of this kind are got
rid of by "digging round the tree, and clearing away the
earth to the roots, and then, with a sharp-pointed knife, a
chisel, or a gouge, and a small wire- to probe, if they are
deep in the tree, they may easily be destroyed." After tak-
ing out the worms, the wounds should be covered over with
grafting-clay and a large proportion of dry wood ashes
mixed, and the earth then returned to the tree. The process
for cleansing the trees from borers should be performed in the
spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, or at least
before the month of June, as the perfect insect escapes be-
fore that time.

Slug-worm, or JVaked Snail. These reptiles appear on
the leaves of fruit-trees in the month of July. Professor
Peck has ascertained that they are the progeny of a small
black fly, which deposits its eggs in the leaf in the months
of May and June. They may be destroyed by means of
lime, sprinkled over the leaves in the form of powder. For
this purpose, a wooden box, of convenient size, having its
bottom perforated with numerous small holes, is to be filled
with lime. This being mounted on a pole and shaken over
the tree, distributes the lime among the leaves, and the slugs
are immediately destroyed. The labor is very trivial ; a
man may cover a large tree in three or four minutes ; and
the desired effect is certain. Fine earth shaken tlirough a
basket or perforated box will answer as well.

" Another remedy, it is said, will prove equally effectual.
If is a strong infusion of tar, made by pouring water on tar,
and suffering it to stand two or three days, when it becomes
strongly impregnated. This, if sprinkled over the leaves by
means of an engine, will kill these vermin instantaneously.
A strong decoction of tobacco will probaUly produce the de-
sired effect, and tanner's bark put round the tree, it is said,
will have a salutary tendency as a preventive." — Thacliei-'s
Orchardist.

Forsyth recommends watering the ground where these in-
sects are with soap-suds and urine, mixed with tobacco-
water. Ducks admitted into a garden will destroy all within
their reach.

314 THE COMPLETE FARMER AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

TTire-icorm, or Red-u-orm. This insect is slender, and
usually about an inch long, with a hard coat, and a pointed
head. INIr. William Moody, of Saco, (Maine.) in a commu-
nication to Hon. Josiah Quincy, published in " The Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. IV. p. 353,) ob-
serves, " 1 am persuaded, from experience, that sea-sand,
put under corn or potatoes with manure, or spread on the
land, will go far, if not wholly, to the total destruction of
these destructive worms, on which nothing else seems to
have any effect. It has a beneficial effect spread on land
before ploughing, or even after land is planted with corn or
potatoes, not only to destroy the wire-worm and other in-
sects, but to increase the crop. With ray neighbours, a
load of sea-sand is considered as preferable to a load of the
best manure, to mix in with their common barn manure, or
to spread on their gardens and low flat land."

Probably sea-mud or sea-water would produce good ef-
fects as preservatives against this and other insects.

Soaking seed corn in a solution of copperas in water, has
been found effectual against this insect. See page 30 of this
work.

The Striped Bug, or Yellow Fly. This is a small insect
of the coleoptcra order, or such as have crustaceous elytra, or
wing cases, like the beetle. The elytra of this bug are
striped with yellow and black. They prey on the young
plants of cucumbers, melons, squashes, and others of the
cucurbitacece species. " These insects may be considerably
thinned by killing them in a dewy morning, when they have
not the free use of their wings, and cannot well escape. But
nothing that I have tried has proved so effectual as sifting or
sprinkling powdered soot upon the plants when the morning
dew remains on them. This forms a bitter covering for the
plants, which the bugs cannot endure the taste of" —
Dcane. " We would recommend sprinkling the plants with
a little sulphur or Scotch snuff." — Farmer^s Assistant.
But the surest defence against these insects is, inclosing the
plants with a frame, and a muslin or gauze covering.

For able and scientific descriptions of most of the insects
which infest our fields and gardens, we would refer to a
" jDifcoiirse delivered before the Massachusetts Horticul-
tural Society, by Thaddeus W. Harris," published in
"The Xew'Engiand Farmer," Vol. XI. p. 204, and fol-
lowing pages.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

It was remarked by Sir John Sinclair, that the introduction of new
agricultural implements into a district is often a matter of the greatest
difficulty, owing to tiie ignorance, the prejudice, and obstinac}' of farm
servants and laborers. Many farmers, therefore, very absurdly retain
their old implements, though convinced of their inferiority, rather than
sour the tempers of their laborers by attempting to introduce new ones ;
in many cases however they have succeeded by attention and persever-
ance, and by rewarding their laborers many new and valuable imple-
ments have been brought into general use.

The farmers of JNew England are too enlightened, and have too much
regard for their own best interest, to be under the dominion of such prof-
itless prejudices. Accordingly, we find not only a very increasing de-
mand for new and improved agricultural machines, tools, «&c., but that
our practical farmers see that it for their interest to procure the best.

The Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store, in Boston, 51 and 52
North Market Street, Jos. Breck & Co. proprietors, has become so exten-
sive and of so much importance to the community, as to induce the pro-
prietors to continue and extend it in all its various branches for the ac-
commodation of the practical and scientific farmer, by the introduction
of new and useful implements of husbandry, and to furnish the best
tools for his business.

An establishment of this kind not only answers the above purpose,
but serves as a depository in which the inventive artisan may place his
articles for sale. Tlie proprietors do not hesitate to say, that among the
variety of articles on hand at this establishment, many are far superior
in tiieir form and construction, and far better adapted to the purpose for
which they are intended, than any others which have been in use in this
country.

316

THE COMPLETE FARMER

Threshing Machines. Pope's improved thfeshing machine was in-
vented by the late Joseph Pope, Esq., of Hallowell, Maine, and has
been in successful operation in different parts of the country for many
years, and is found to be the best operating machine for all kinds of
grain that has been in use ; it is vi^ell adapted for getting out rice.

Hale's Threshing Machine. Hale's newly invented rice and grain
threshing machines are found on trial to be the most thorough and
effective implements we have had in operation for the purpose intended ;
it is a very simple operating machine, and powerful and quick in its
motion ; does the work well, separates and cleans the grain at the same
time. This machine must be to the rice planter an indispensable imple-
ment ; it requires but one man and a horse to work it.

Straie Cutters. The straw cutter is a machine well worth the atten-
tion of every farmer, and should be iii common use with every person
feeding stock ; and from the gieat improvement and simplicity of ihe
machines now in use, the work is done with great expedition and facility.
It is a subject of great regret to every friend of the agricultural interest,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 317

that these machines are not in more general use. Every fanner who is
disposed to use fodder to the best possible advantage, and preserve his
animals in the best health, in all cases cuts his fodder. For farther ex-
planation of the profits and advantages arising from cutting fodder the
following statement is given : '

Mr. Benjamin Hale's account of the savings made by the use of Straw
Cutters, employed to cut Hay and Straw as Fodder for Horses.

Mr Hale is proprietor of a hne of stages running between Newbury-
port and Boston. He says.
The whole amount of hay purchased from

Apiil 1 to Oct. 1, 1816 (six months), and Tons. cwt. qrs. lis.

used at the stage stable, was 32 4 0 10

At twenty-five dollars per ton, (the lowest

price at which hay was purchased in 1816,) $800 00

From Oct. I, 1816, to April 1, 1817, whole

amount of hay and straw purchased for,

and consumed by the same nu'mber of

horses.

, viz.

cwt.

qrs.

lbs.

Cost.

Straw

$160 23

Hay

350 00

$510 23
Deduct on hand April I, 1817, by estimation,
four tons more than there was Oct. 1, 1816,
at twenty-five dollars per ton, 100 *410 83

Saving by the use of the straw cutter, four
months of the last six months, or the dif-
ference in expense in feeding with cut
fodder, and that which is uncut, $389 77

Whole amount of hay used for the horses of

the Salem stage, twenty- five in number, T. act. qrs. lbs

from April 1 to Oct. 1, 1816, viz. . 22 0 0 0

At thirty dollars per ton, (the lowest price in

Salem,) ^ggQ qq

Whole amount consumed by the same num-
ber of horses, from Oct. 1, 1816, to April 1.
1817,

T. net. qrs. lbs. Cost.

Straw 15 13 0 0 $187 80

Hay 2 15 0 0 81 00

Saving in using chopped fodder five months, $391 20
Total saving in using the straw cutter nine

months, viz. : at Newburyport, four months, $389 77

At Salem, five months, 391 gg

Total, $780 97

The members of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Society, to whom the above account was communicated by Mr.
Hale, were informed by that gentleman, that he used no more grain

27*

318

THE COMPLETE FARMER

from Oct. 1816, to April, 1817, than was used from April, 1816, to Oct
ldl6.

Remarlis. — There is not only much saving and gain in cutting fodder
when hay is low, but the animal is, kept in better health, more particu-
larly old horses, and such as may have been injured in their wind.

It is a fact that horses will live and continue serviceable much longer
when fed on cut fodder. The machine invented and manufactured by
Willis, known as " Willis's improved Slraic and Hay Cutter" is the
most durable and best operating machine that has come to our knowl-
edge ; and what is worthy of notice, ihey require but one person to
operate them, which is not the case with many other machines; in this
there is a great saving in cutting feed, and likewise the fodder may be
cut of any length required ; the knives beiiig placed in front of the
machine, can be at all times examined and kept in good order. The
feedmg rollers are so constructed, that while the machine is in the act
of cutting, the rollers cease to feed, which renders the cutting operation
very easy.

Eastman s Straw Cutter, with improved side gearing and cylindrical
knives. This machine is well calculated for large and extensive estab-
lishments. Price, fifty to sixty dollars.

IVillis's Vertical Straw and Hay Cutter. It is well constructed, made
of the best materials and of the best workmanship. Fed and worked by
one man ; works free and easy, and not liable to get out of order. It will
cut from thiity-five to forty bushels per hour. Price thirty-five dollars.
For the cost this is the best machine in use.

This is to certify, that I have used Willis's improved straw cutter the
past season, and consider it the best machine for the purpose now in
use. NATHAN ADAMS.

The Common Dutch Hand Cutting MaMne, is one of those implements
in common use, and known to every practical farmer ; and is considered
as good a machine for a small establishment as ^any in use. Will cut
from ten to twenty bushels per hour.

Safford's Improved and Common Straw Cutter, with side gearing ; well
approved, and is in very general use.

Green's Patent Straic Cutter. The most approved machine now in
use for cutting fodder : very simple in its construction, and in no way
liable to get out of order; does the work with great ease and despatch.

Root Steamer. The above cut represents a root steamer, described ii
the Farmer's Magazine, (a work printed in Scotland.) Vol. XVIII. page
74, and alluded to in page 51 of the present work. It consists of a boiler,
and wooden chest or box placed over it or near it. The box may be of
any size, and so placed, as to be supplied and emptied by wheel and hand

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 319

barrows in the easiest manner, either by the end or top, or both, being
made to open. " If the box is made eight feet by five, and three deep,
it will hold as many potatoes as will feed fifty cowa for twenty-four hours,
and these may be steamed in an hour."

Ploughs. This implement, one of%he oldest and most useful employed
on a farm, has undergone of late years a wonderful change in all its
most essential parts, and has been greatly improved. The cast iron
plough is now most generally used among the best farmers, and consid-
ered decidedly the best. Among the different ploughs now made of cast
iron, Howard's stands unrivalled. They have been used at the different
catlle shows and ploughing matches, and have in all cases been approved
by them. At the Brighton cattle show at the exhibition in October,
1832, they received the premium of ten dollars, awarded as being the
best plough presented.

[Extract from the Report of the Committee.]

" The ploughs were all of cast iron, and by six of the most approved
manufacturers. The one by Mr. Charles Howard, of Hingham, was a
superior implement, considerable improvements having recently been
made by him, in making the mould-board longer than usual, and swel-
ling the breast of the share, so as to make every part bear equally ; by
which means the plough runs more true and steady, is always free from
carrying forward any earth, and wears perfectly bright ; and being made
on mathematical principles, he informed the committee he could make
the different sizes always the same." JOHN PRINCE,

EBENEZER HEATH,
JOHN BAKER, 3d.

" The duty of awarding a premium ' to the plough which shall be
adjudged best of all those used at the ploughing match,-' devolved on
the two committees , and they agreed unanimously to award it to Mr.
Charles Howard, of Hingham, for his new and improved plough ; ten
dollars." GORHAM PARSONS,

Chairman of Single Teams.
JOHN PRINCE,

Chairman of Double Teams.

There has been no plough presented since 1832 which has been con-
sidered better than the Howard plough; therefore the committee have
not awarded a premium since that year ; they still offer the premium of
ten dollars for the best plough.

Side hill Plough. This plough, for which a premium was given at
Brighton, is found to be a very great improvement on the ploughs now
in use. for working on side-hills. The mould-board is so constructed as
to shift on each side, as may be required, by turning on the under side
of the plough as the team turns at each end of the furrow.

320

THE COMPLETE FARMER

Howard's Improted Double Mould-Board Plough. This plough is
well calculated tor furrowing out land, splitting hills, ploughing between
corn, potato, and vegetable cultivation, to great advantage. A great
labor-saving machine ; saves nearly all the hoeing of corn or potatoes.

Bigdoic's Plough. This plough is made of wrought iron, and is in
general use, and very much approved, being very strong and quite light;
does the work well with little labor.

Morse's Plough. Similar to Bigelow's, but a better made article.

Rice's common Wood Plough. Of all sizes.

Shovel Plough, and Plough Scrapers. Of all sizes, made to order at
the shortest notice.

Quaker Hand Plough. For gardens, a very useful implement, and
used to great advantage in garden cultivation. Steel pointed.

Chandler's Improved Double Harrow. This harrow is so constructed
ae to be in two parts, and joined together by hinges on two straight cen-
tre pins, so that one part can be raised and swung over on the other half
as occasion requires. Its advantage over the common harrow is, that it
is less liable to be stopped, as one side may be elevated or turned to a
perpendicular position, while the other side proceeds horizontally ; it
may thus be drawn nearer to rocks, trees, &c. It will likewise better
adapt itself to ridges, hollows, and uneven land.

Tree and Bush Pullers. The tree and bush puller is one of the most
useful and effective implements in use ; it is employed in clearing land
of under brush, small trees, barberry and other bushes. It is of iron, of

ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 321

any size or dimensions required, sometliing in the form of a rake or claw,
with the teeth much bent. The ground is loosened around the tree or
bush which is to be removed. The teeth or claws are entered on one
side, a horse or oxen are attached by a chain to the claw and drawn on
the opposite side. One man and horse or one yoke of oxen will do more
work with this implement than five men can do without it, in digging
and clearins land.

Cultivators. Howard and Seaver's patent fixed and expanding culti-
vators, of all sizes. The cultivator is an implement that is coming into
very general use in all parts of tlie country, and serves in a great meas-
ure in lieu of hoeing. The teeth are so constructed as to raise the
ground, and leaves it very light and free for cultivation, and at the same
time destroys the weeds ; and is well adapted to southern and western
cultivation.

These cultivators are adapted to all kinds of ground, for running
through rows of corn, potatoes, and vegetables of all kinds ; and used
in the cultivation of hops, instead of the plough and hoe, and are found
far superior to either It is likewise well adapted to harrow in grain and
grass seed ; and, for the many uses to which this implement may be ap-
plied, it piust be considered one of the most valuable tools that is used
on a farm, and is coming into very general use.

This certifies, that I have used Seaver's cultivator, and find it a much
better article to work among corn and potatoes, than any machine that
I have ever tried ; it clears the weeds between the rows much more
efieclually than either a plough or harrow, and saves a great deal of
labor. BENJ. WHEELER.

Framingham, 1834.

Broad-Cnst Machine. Bennet's broad-cast machine. This machine,
which is designed for sowing broad-cast is found, when used on smooth
and even ground, to answer a good purpose, sows very regular and even,
and is used with great despatch.

Tree Brushes. Pickering's improved wire brushes are found to be the
most effective implements for the purpose of clearing trees and destroy-
ing caterpillars, of any thing that has ever been used. This brush, which
is made in a spiral or taper form, and about eight inches long, is fixed
on the end of a pole, the small part of the brush is entered into the
webs, and a moderate twist of two or three turns takes the web and all
connected with it clear from the tree. It should be used very early in

322

THE COMPLETE FARMER

the morning and late in the afternoon, when the insects are in their
neets.

Cheese Presses. Quaker's improved self-governing cheese press. The
press is so constructed as to govern and regulate itself, jn pressing a
cheese of any size, wilhnut any weights.

Leavelt's Improved Cheese Press; which is so constructed, that seven
or fourteen pounds' weight will press any common sized cheese.

Cheese Hoops, different sizes.

Cheese Cloths.

Curd Mills, for cutting cheese curds, which facilitates the labor of the
dairy.

Lactometers. This invention is found to be of great utility and ad-
vantage in testing the quality of cream given by each cow. It consists
of a small mahogany frame which contains four or six glass tubes of
ten inches in length and half an inch in diameter. These tubes are di-
vided into tenths, and numbered from one to ten, which show the quan-
tity of cream given by each cow. This little article is found very use-
ful, and is much used in large dairies.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

323

Gaull's Patent Churn, which has been in use for several years, is the
most approved and convenient churn now in use. The particular ad-
vantage is the facility with which it can be worked. From its quick
and powerful motion it will produce the greatest quantity of butter from
the same quantity of cream ; is easy to clean, and no way liable to get
out of order.

Mr. Fessenden, Editor of the JVew England Farmer.

Sir, — In answer to the inquiry respecting the Gault's churn, which
I purchased at the agricultural warehouse, I give it as my decided opin-
ion, that they are the best churns I have ever seen in use. They are
very convenient to keep clean, bring the butter very easy, and require
not more than fifteen or twenty minutes to do a churning.

Respectfully yours, B. REYNOLDS.

Sharon, June 15, 1829.

Stone Churn. A small article, well calculated for small families.

Davis's Improved Patent Dirt Scraper. This road or dirt scraper, in-
vented by Shadrock Davis, is used to great advantage in removing dirt
or gravel, more particularly in stony lands, from the peculiar construe-

324 THE COMPLETE FARMER

tion of the points, which are similar to those of a plough point. They
enter the ground very free and easy, fill and discharge themselves, and
are easily managed by one horse or a yoke of oxen. Ploughing is un-
necessary where these shovels are used.

We liie undersigned hereby certify, that we have used Davis's patent
plough-pointed road and dirt scraper, and we consider it a great improve-
ment on the common road scraper, and can with confidence recommend
it to the public, as being superior to any implement of the kind we have
ever used,* particularly in sandy and stony land, being so constructed as
to load itself without the use of ploughing, which is common in using
the old-fashioned dirt scraper. We consider it one of the greatest laoor-
saving implements to the road-maker that can be used, and as such we
fully recommend it to the public.

ABM. WASHBURN. Bridgewater.
HENRY S. PACKARD, .\orth Dartmouth.
BRADFORD HOWLAND, South Dartmouth.

Pruning Shears. This article, which was formerly made by ^V'ake-
field, of Gardener, has since been very much improved, and is now con-
sidered as one of the best and most approved implements^in use, and
has taken the place of the pruning knife ; and for grape vines and
small trees is considered much the best; as upon an easy drawing stroke
it cuts very smooth and fair without injury to the bark or wood.

Scythes. The agricultural concave scythes, which are found, fiom
the peculiar form and shape in which they are made, to cut upon the
principle of a drawing stroke, and are very easily ground and kept in
good order, and are considered the best scythes that are manufactured.
From the peculiar construction of these scythes the edge is always left
true in the middle of the scythe.

Scythe Rifles. Austin's and Derby's rifles are considered the best arti-
cles made for the purpose. Tliey are about the size of the common snnd
rifle, are cased with fine emery, and give a very sharp and good eds'e.
They are of very general use, and good substitutes for the scythe stone.

Scyllie Snathe. This article, though in very common use, has been
altered and improved to great advantage within a few years past. The
snathes manufiictured by V'ickery Baker for the proprietors of the ai^ri-
cultural warehouse are found to be the most approved and best calcu-
lated to work free and easy. The regular quick turn at the heel, and
the strong and substantial iron rings winch secure the scythe and nibs,
are considered a great improvement in those snatlies.

Willis s Patent Brass Syringe. This syringe is intended for watering
all kinds of green house and out-door plants, and for preserving grape
vines from mildew, and has been used with a solution prepared for that
purpose, with great success. See the following recipe :

Take a pint and a half of sulphur, and a lump of the best unslacked
lime ; put these in a vessel of about seven gallons' measurement ; let
the sulphur be thrown in first, and the lime over it ; then pour in a pail
of boiling water, stir it well, and let it stand half an hour ; then fill the
vessel with cold water, and after stirring well again, allow tiie whole to
settle : after it has 'oecome settled dip out the clear liquid into a barrel,
and fill the barrel with cold water, and it is then fit for use. You next
proceed with a syringe holding about a pint and a half, and throw the
liquid with it on the vines in every direction, so as to completely cover
foliage, fruit, and wood ; this should be particularly done when the fruit
is just forming, and about one-third the size of a pea, and may be con-

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 325

tinued twice or thrice a week for two or three weeks. The whole pro-
cess for one or two hundred grape vines need not exceed half an hour.

Harris's Improved Paint Mill. This mill can be used by hand, horse,
or any other power that it may be attached to, and works to great advan-
tage. From the very plain and simple manner of its construction, it is
easily taken to pieces and cleaned, and shifted from one place to
another, and used with great faciUty, and is considered one of the best
and most useful mills in use.

CERTIFICATES FOR HARRIs's PAINT MILL.

I the undersigned hereby certify, that I have used Harris's improved
patent paint mill, purchased at the agricultural warehouse, Boston, and
consider it the best and most convenient mill for the purpose intended
of any I have ever used. It is very readily cleaned and put in order.

Hingham, Feb. '20, 1834. SETH B. CUSHING.

326

THE COMPLETE FARMER

I the undersigned do certify, that I have used one of Harris's paint
mills for grinding a variety of paint for about two 3'ears, and do not hesi-
tate to give it the preference to every other mill I have ever used.

Ware, May 2(j, 1834. THOMAS B. WESTERN.

I hereby certify, that I have been in the paint business for fifteen years,
and have used different kinds of paint mills, and have not found any so
good as Harris's patent mill. I have ground with one of these mills
one hundred pounds of lead in two hours. I. BARTLETT.

I have used one of Harris's patent paint mills for grinding small col-
ors for some time past, and find it the best mill for the purpose in use.

Boston, June 20, 1834. GEORGE YENDELL.

Winnowing Machines. Holmes's improved winnowing machine is one
of the best that is in use. It is very plain and simple in its construction,
and very powerful in its operation ; is well calculated for cleaning all
kinds of grain, and may be applied to many other purposes, such as
cleaning rice, coffee, «&:c.

Elliot's patent horizontal mill is for the same purpose. Though
smaller and more compact, is found equally' as good ; is considered as an
improvement on the common winnowing machines now in use. The
motion of the flyers is horizontal, and the sieves have a forward and
backward motion.

Grain Cradles. This article, like tlie scythe snathe, has undergone
a very great alteration and is much improved. The scythe is well
secured, and finished in a superior manner, and made of the best cast
steel.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

327

Revolving Horse Rake. The revolving rake, which has been in gen-
eral use in most parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is found to be
one of the most useful and labor-saving machines now in use. One
man and horse, with a boy to lead, will rake on an average from ten to
fifteen acres per day with ease, and do the work well. They are coming
into very general use in all parts of the country, and will no doubt in a
few years supersede the use of the common hand rake.

Cast Steel and Common Ajces. This very common article among our
farmers is one of the most useful implements ever invented. Under-
bill's cast steel a.xes have been considered as the best, and most ap-
proved in form and shape, and are warranted in every respect to be
of the best quality. They are finished in the most perfect manner, and
ground to a fine smooth cutting edge.

Hatchets, cleavers, and many other tools, made by different woikmen,
and finished in the same manner.

Hoes. Great improvement has been made in this article of late. A
great variety of hoes are now manufactured, of difierent forms. Those
made by Morgan are considered the best now in use ; they are made of
the best of steel, crooked neck, and socket handles.

328

THE COMPLETE FARMER

The Prong or Potato Hoe is one of the most useful, simple, and im-
proved implements that is employed. It was invented and used in the
first instance for digging potatoes ; it was afterwards found as useful for
planting £is for digging them, and hkewise is used for almost every pur-
pose for which a hoe has been used; and they are emploved to the great-
est possible advantage in stony or rocky lands, and in planting new
land; they are hkewise used as a garden hoe, being one of the best im-
plements a gardener can have in use, or in working between rows of
vegetables, digging round young trees, loosening the ground, &c.

Lord VernoTis J\'ew Tillage Hoe. The utility of this garden hoe will
be duly appreciated upon trial. Few gardeners or nursery men employed
in gardening wdl be without them when once they have been used,
They are employed to great advantage in deep tillage ; in many cases
they are superior to digging or forking the land.

Cast Steel Shovels and Spades. Ames's improved Cast Steel back
Strapped Shovels and Spades are very superior in every respect to the
common iron and steel shovels. They wear much longer, continue
brighter, more sharp, and are used with great ease. This article, though
one of the oldest and most common implements in use, has been much
improved. Also a great variety of other kinds of spades and shovels,
made by different manufacturers. Irish shovels and spades with long
handles.

Bill-Hook. This article is much used in England in pruning and
clearing brush, and is a good tool as a substitute for the pruning saw and
chisel, and can be used with more expedition.

Garden and Field Rollers. E. Phinney, Esq., of Lexington, has made
great and successful use of the roller for grass land, and has given a de-
scription and dimensions of what he considers the most convenient and

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

529

best proportion, viz. : The rollers to be six feet in length and five feet in
in diameter, placed on an iron axle of the same length by one inch and
a half in diameter; the roller to be made of oak or any hard wood plank,
each plank to be about four inches wide and two and a half thick ; the
roller is made in two parts, of three feet each ; each end of the axle is
secured in a frame which is made of joist, of a suitable size to receive
the end of the axle ; to this frame is attached the shafts in which the
horse is, or a tongue to which the oxen are attached, which completes
the rollers.

Mr. Phinney says, this sized roller presents the following among other
advantages, viz. : If the ground is very mellow, the large sized roller
presses the small stones more directly into the ground and renders the
surface more regular and even ; the large roller also moves easier, and
the weight falling more directly upon the small stones, they are, as he
has before observed, better pressed into the earth, the lumps of earth
more finely broken, and the surface left much smoother. For garden
rollers or gravel walks the stone or iron rollers are prepared, of different
sizes.

Com Sheller. A corn sheller is one of the most convenient and labor-
saving implements that the practical farmer has in use. Various ma-
chines for this purpose have been invented. The most improved and
28*

330

THE COMPLETE FARMER

best adapted for common use aje those of Harrison, with the patent ver-
tical wheel. It can be employed in all cases for large or small-sized ears.
It is very simple in its construction jmd durable in its operation, and no
way liable to get out of order ; one man can work it to good advanteige,
though a man to turn and a boy to feed it works it much better than one
alone. In this way it will shell ten to twelve bushels per hour. They
are so light and portable as to be easily removed from place to place,
and one machine will serve for several families, or even the inhabitants
of a small town.

WillLs's and Hale's improved Portalle Horse Poicer, may be worked
by one or more horses, mules, or oxen. As every farmer keeps more or
less of these animals, no additional expense is required in working these
powers. They are calculated to propel any kind of machinery or agri-
cultural implements in common use, such as tlireshing machines, cider
mills, corn and cob mills, straw and hay cutters, corn shellers, grind-
stones, winnowing machines, &c. ; they are likewise well adapted for
machine shops, in working the circular or web saw, turning lathes, or
any machinery where power is required. The alterations and improve-
ments made in this power render it very simple in its construction and
easy in its operation, and not liable to get out of order when properly
made. They occupy but the small space of nine feet by two, and are
easily removed ; they are truly labor-saving machines, and must come
into general use with farmers and mechanics. They are hkewise well
adapted for the use of plantations, being Ccdculated for working saw or
roller gins, and other purposes to which they may be applied ; they are
so portable as to be transported at a moderate expense, and may be put
in operation by any person of common capacity.

Bark or Plaster Mills. The Troy bark and plaster mills. These mills
are cJtered and much improved from the old-fashioned mill which has
been in use for many years.

Family Hand Mills. Willis's improved patent family or plantation
mill, calculated for grinding corn, colFee, Six:., has a small balance wheel,
which regulates its operation and causes it to work free and easy.

Glass Covers for Plants. These covers are used for covering plants,
— protecting them in their growth and preventing mildew.

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

331

milts s Stationary Horse Foicer, and Corn Cracker Mtached. Corn
and Cob Cracker. This mill, which is calculated for grinding cob and
corn together, is found to make the best provender and the most eco-
nomical food for flittening hogs or horses. It is so constructed as to be
used with a common grist mill or separate, as circumstances may require
and may be worked by a single horse or any other power. From thirty
to forty bushels per hour have been ground in those mills.

Grindstones on Friction Rollers. Grindstones of different sizes hung
on friction rollers and moved with a foot treader, are found to be a great
improvement on the present mode of hanging grindstones. The ease

332

THE COMPLETE FARMER

with which they move upon the rollers renders them very easy to turn
with the foot, by which the labor of one man is saved ; and the person
in the act of grinding can govern the stone more to his mind by having
the complete control of liis work. Stones bung in this manner are
coming daily moie iu use. and wherever used give universal satisfac-
tion. The rollers can be attached to stones hung in the common way.

Hay Knives. These knives are for the purpose of cutting the hay in
the mow, and are a desirable article for that purpose, and almost indis-
pensable where hay is stacked in the yard, and the farmer would wish
to spend his hay to the best advantage.

Peat Knires, for cutting peat ; an article which is daily increasing in
use for fuel, and in many parts of our country is found in great abun-
dance, and if cut at a suitable season of the year, is used to good advan-
tage.

Pomace Kmves. These knives are almost indispensable in a cider
country.

Ditching Knives, far ditching Low Lands.

Cast Steel Edging and Trimming Kiiizes. These knives are calculated
for edging and trimming grass-plats, borders, <fcc. ; are found to be one
of the most convenient tools a gardener can have in use.

Grass and Edgeing Shears. These shears are for the purpose of edg-
ing banks and slopes, for trimming and keeping the banks in good order,
and the oftener they are used the more thrifty and thick the grasa will
grow.

Hale's Improved Rotary Pump. This pump, which is a great improve-
ment upon the various rotary pumps now in use, is very plain and sim-
ple in its construction, and no way liable to get out of order ; but works
with great facility, throws a constant and regular stream by a very sim-
ple operation of a crank, and is calculated for all kinds of domestic pur-
poses, as well as for green-houses, factories, &c. There are different

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

333

sizes of these pumps manufactured, which are so constructed as to
answer as forcmg pumps, in such a manner as to carry water to any dis-
tance, and are a good substitute for an eno-ine

Zinc Hollow Ware either for culinary °use or tiie dairy, by wholesale
or retail, may be had at tlie agricultural warehouse. The proprietors are
sole agents for vendmg the above wares. The prices of this ware will
upon exammation be found not to vary materially from that of tin and
iron, yet as durable as iron, easily cleansed, not subject to rust, giving
the article cooked or kept in it no unpleasant taste, and containing in
itselt no poison, like copper, brass, and lead.

Zinc kettles will be found to cook rice, hominy, and all kinds of
sweetmeats, better than any other kind of metal, neither discolorinjr nor
varying the flavor of the substance cooked; and for these purposis, it
will ere long be substituted for brass and copper, to avoid the poisonous
corrosions of those metals. ^

Zinc pans, for the dairy, will be found by the dairy-woman an object
worthy of her attention, from these considerations : that they will areatlv
outlast any other pans, that the same size pans will produce oni-sixth
more cream or butter, and of a superior flavor; they are more easily
cleansed and will keep milk siceet longer by a number of hours. Zinc
tubs and firkins will keep butter sweet several davs longer in hot
weather than those of wood or other kinds of metal. ' This has been a
subject of experiment, and the results safely warrant the statement
Hence families who prefer sweet butter to rancid, will do well to avail
themselves of these tubs, for keeping their butter sweet and retaining

Scott, Keith, <^ Co.'s Improved Cast Iran Pump. This pump was in-
vented by Jesse Reed, of Bridgewater, and proves to be the most simple
and best constructed pump that is in use, being made of cast iron, which

334 THE COMPLETE FARMER

is considered the best metal which water can pass through ; is very
durable and cheap. It has metal boxes so constructed, that in raising
the handle the lower box or valve is opened, and the water let off, which
prevents its freezing. They are so plain and simple in their construc-
tion, that they can be put up or taken down by any common workman,
and no way liable to get out of order. They are attached to wooden
logs or lead pipes, and are well calculated for all domestic purposes.

Cattle Chains. These chains have of late been introduced for the
purpose of securing cattle to the stall, — are found to be the safest and
most convenient mode of fastening cows and oxen in the stanchion.
• They consist of a chain which pasaos round the animal's neck, and by
a ring attached to the stall plays freely up and down, and leaves the
animal at liberty to lie down or rise at pleasure, and keeps him perfectly
secure.

Brooks's Patent Silk Spinning Machine. Brooks's silk spinning and
reeling machine, is found to be a very simple and easy operating ma-
chine,''and yet one of the most perfect that has been invented lor the
purpose of reeling and twisting silk from the cocoons, and manufactur-
ing it into sewing silk. By the different arrangements of this machine,

AND RURAL ECONOMIST.

335

it will operate upon a single or double thread, as may be required, and
prepare it for twisting or weaving. E.Yperience has fully proved, that by
uniting the filaments of silk as they are drawn from the cocoons, wet in
tlieir natural glutinous substance, before they dry, the thread is more
firmj smooth, and strong. The simplicity of the machine, and the very
easy way in which it is used, bring it within the comprehension and
capacity of any person to use it. Mr. Brooks has received a premium
for his invention from several societies, and of late a premium and medal
from the Scott's legacy, in Philadelphia.

Lightning Rods and Glass Blocks. From the repeated and almost
daily occurrences which happen from the effect of lightning, occasioning
death, and destruction of much property, it is a matter of surprise that
every farmer does not have attached to his dwelling-house and barn a
lightning rod, and guarded in the best possible manner, which is done
by passing the rod through glass blocks which are constructed for the
purpose.

Ox Yokes. Many improvements have been made in this article, and
even in the bows and keys.

Brass and Composition Balls. These balls are not only ornamental,
but are very useful in preventing the animal from hooking, or being in
other respects mischievous and troublesome. They have been in very
general use, and add much to the appearance of the animal.

Pomroy's Patent Spring Staple, for securing horses. The improve-
ment in this staple, is such, that if the horse is cast, or in any way en-
tangled, he can disengage and free himself. Many fine and valuable
horses are lost for the want of this self-regulating staple.

Carriage Lifter, or levers, for raising wagons, carts, or carriages of
all kinds, or for raising loads, pressing goods, &c. Being a small handy
implement, it may be taken in a carriage, while travelling, and found
very convenient and handy for the purpose. Carriage winches and
wrenches are likewise very handy and convenient travelling compan-
ions, and should always be at hand.

Jlpple Barer. The apple paring machine is used to great advantage
in that part of the country where much attention is given to paring and
drying apples for market. This is a small simple machine, which is
very convenient for the use it is designed for, and is as much of a time

336 THE COMPLETE FARMER

and labor-saving machine as tliose which are more expensive and com-
plicated.

JVillis's Improved Seed Sower. This machine, which was designed in
the first instance for sowing small seed in gardens, is found on using to
sow large as well as small seed to advantage, and proves to be one of
the best field and garden implements in use. It is particularly adapted
for sowing ruta baga, turnip, &c. The saving of seed in the use of this
implement is quite sufficient to pay the cost of it in one season, and the
seed is sown more regular and even.

Hardens Improved Seed Soicing Machine. This is one of the best
labor-saving machines in use, calculated for sowing small seeds in the
field or garden.

Patent Curry- Combs, and Brass Teeth Cattle Cards. Patent and com-
mon curry-combs, and cards with brass teeth. No stock farm should
ever be kept without a good supply of these articles, and constant use
being made of them.

Straw Splitters. This little implement, which is plain and simple in
its construction, is one of the most useful implements, and should be
introduced and used in every family, in town and country.

Sato and Roller Gins. Cotton gins have become the indispensable
articles of the cotton planter. A new roller gin has been invented by
a Mr. VVhittemore, and is coming into very general use ; it is readily
worked bj' hand or horse power.

Stamps, of all descriptions, for marking and branding the farmer's
tools, of which every farmer who is in tlie habit of lending and accom-
modating his neighbours and friends, as all farmers are and must be,
should have every tool marked with his name. This prevents the loss
of many tools, and much inquiry and trouble among neighbours.

Garden Reels and Lines. Very handy and convenient implements for
the gardener, in laying out his borders, beds, alleys, &c.

Pruning Chisels and Saws. Of all the implements that are used on
the farm, there are none used to so much profit and advantage as the
pruning knife and saw. Too many of our fruit and ornamental trees
are suffered to run to wood ; from this circumstance we have less and
poorer fruit.

Manure and Hay Fork. No one implement has undergone so thorough
an investigation and improvement as the hay and manure fork. Since
the first introduction or use of these articles, great improvement has
been made in the form of them, and the quality of steel from which

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 337

they are made. Among the most approved manure forka in use are
those of Willis, cast steel, manufactured from one piece, in which no
welding is necessary. These forks have been in common use for many
years. They are so well tempered as to have that degree of elasticity,
that they discharge the manure with the greatest ease ; they are in no
way liable to clog or foul, and are very strong and durable. Unfortu-
nately for this article, there has been wreat quantities of a very inferior
kind made and sold in the form ana shape of the true patent ones,
which, having been made of very poor steel and slighted in the manu-
facturing of them, has injured the use of this very useful and almost in-
dispensable article.

Budding and Pruning Knives. A great variety of budding and pruning
knives are now used, of various forms and shapes : some very superior
ones.

Fruit Shears. Those shears which are attached to a pole are for the
purpose of taking off fruit from the extreme branches of trees, or such
parts as are not to be come at conveniently in any other way. For this
purpose they are found to be very convenient and useful ; they are like-
wise used for taking off scions, &.c.

Tree Scrapers. This article, which is indispensable in keeping trees
in good order, should be used every season in removing the dry and hard
barK from trees, to increase a quick and vigorous growth, and keep them
in full bearing.

Transplanting Trowels and Forks.

Post Augurs and Post Jlxes. These two implements are used for one
and the same purpose, that of mortising posts.
Pickaxe. A common but very useful article, on an improved plan.
Post Spooiis. With this implement and a common crow-bar, posts are
set with great advantage and expedition.

Stable Door Hasps, for the purpose of securing barn or stable doors,
gates, &c.

Willis's Improved Family Sausage Filler. This machine, which is
intended for filling sausages, is one of the most convenient and expedi-
tious things for the purpose that can be conceived of. One man will do
more in preparing and filling sausages with this machine, than ten men
can in the old manner of working them.

Fessenden's Patent Lamp Boiler and Tea-kettle. The lamp apparatus
for heating water, &c. here represented, has been found very useful in
small families, and such persons as may wish to prepare tea or coffee

338 THE COMPLETE FARMER

drink, cook eggs, oysters, &c., in their own apartments, without the
trouble or inconvenience of a wood or coal fire. It is very convenient
in public houses, coffee-houses, and other places, where it is wished to
keep any hot liquid constantly on hand. Besides answering all the pur-
poses of what is called the nurse lamp, it may be made to boil from one
pint to a gallon of water, by a method which in many cases will be found
the most economical and expeditious which can be devised.

Description of the Cut. — [A] Sheet iron case, in which the tea-
kettle, boiler, &c. may be placed, removable at pleasure. It has a hole
in the bottom, to admit the heat of the lamp to pervade the bottom and
sides of the boiler. [B] Lamp with five or six wicks, more or less,
placed when in use under said case. [C] Pan or boiler, which, when
in use, is placed in the sheet iron case. [D] Tea-kettle in its place for
boiling. [E] A small sheet iron cylinder, a little tapering, so as to
form the frustrura of a hollow cone. This is occasionally placed within
the case, so as to surround the hole in its bottom, in order to place upon
it a coffee-pot, tea-pot, flask, tin porringer, or other small vessel, in which
it may be wished to heat water.

Farnhain's Improved Patent Grater Cider Mill. The improvement in
this mill is in grinding, or rather grating the apples very fine, so that
all the juice is pressed out } and produces a greater quantity of liquor
from the same quantity of pomace. The above mills are in extensive
operation, and very much approved of. They will grind two bushels of
apples per minute, and are in no way liable to get out of order.

With little alteration it can be made one of the best vegetable grinders,
for grinding or cutting food for animals.

Cider Presses. Presses of different descriptions to correspond with
the cider mills.

Vegetable Cutter. Leavitt's improved patent vegetable cutter, for
cutting ruta baga, mangel-wurtzel, turnips, &c. Cutting those kinds
of vegetables is found to be very beneficial to animals, particularly to
milch cows, not only by increasing the quantity, but the quality or the
milk. It is a very perfect and complete machine for the purpose.

Plouglishares. Wrought and cast iron ploughshares, of all sizes, fitted
and prepared in such a manner as to be at all times ready and fit for
immediate use.

Patent and ■ Common Horse Phlemes. The patent phleme is a very
great improvement on the common kind, and in the hands of an expe-
rienced and careful person is used with perfect safety, and is very effec-
tual in its operation.

Carter's Patent Guideboard. Made by branding the letters and figures
on boards ; when done in this manner, are more legible and durable
than the usual mode of painting. A full set of letters and figures will
be furnished, calculated to answer all the purposes for one town.

Directions for using the Brands. — The brands are to be heated to a
cherry red, then applied to the board, and guided by a straight piece
tacked on to keep them in a line. The board is then to be lightly planed
over, and the white lead applied in the usual manner with a brush.
The black letters will not lose their brightness, for the durability of
charcoal is well known. STANLEY CARTER.

FARMER'S CALENDAR

The followinff calendar is intended merely as an agricultural prompter,
noting that certlin kinds of work should be performed about the time m
the ylar specified at the head of each article. The figures refer to he
pages in this little volume, in which further directions may be found
relltive to the operations which the season in general demands from tlie
diligent, correct, and careful cultivator. , .. u„ u^^ r,-

"At the beginning of every month, a good farmer, whether he has or
ha^ not a book of this sort, is obliged to reflect on the work he has to
perform in that month: he ought to foresee the whole at once, or it is
impossible that he should make due provision for its performance. 1
leave it to any one to judge, if such an estimate of monthly busmess can
be gained so easily without such an assistance to the memory as is attord-
ed by such a calendar ; and even if such a work but once m a year gives
intimation of some important work which might otherwise have been tor-
gotten, its worth must be acknowledged.' * j , ^ *u iw^^ v^o.

The directions in the following pages, are intended for the New J!.ng-
land States, or about the latitude of forty-two degrees north, and the
vicinity, or a small elevation above the sea. Allowance, however, should
be made for heicrht above the sea, as well as for situation north or south
of any particular latitude ; but we believe it not possible to state with any
near approach to precision what such allowance should be. Ihe nature
of the soil, the aspect, the exposure, the forwardness or backwardness, or
what may be styled the general character of the season, are all to be re-
garded. We will, therefore, not claim precision, where accuracy is not
attainable. " Calendars," as Loudon has well observed, " should be con-
sidered as remembrancers, never as directories.'

JANUARY.

Stock If cattle are fed with straw, it should be done with necessary
attentions and limitations. The celebrated Arthur Young observed tliut
" the best farmers in Norfolk are generally agreed, that cattle should eat
no straw, unless it be cut into chafi" mixed with hay ; but, on the contrary,
that they should be fed with something better, and have the straw thrown
under them to be trodden into dung :" and I am much inclined to believe,
that in most, if not in all cases, this maxim will prove a just one. bee
that your cows are of the best breed Page 38. Give them roots as well
as hav, and they will give you more than an equivalent m niilk tor their
extra keep. Page 40. Provide pure water for your milch cows, and

* Young's British Fanner's Calendar.

340 THE COMPLETE FARMER

not oblige thein to go a mile, more or less, after it, manuring the high-
way, and running the gauntlet of dogs, teams, the horse and his rider, the
eleigh and its driver, with more annoyances than Bonaparte met with
in his retreat from Moscow. See also that the master-beasts do not
tyrannize over their weaker brethren ; and if any are inclined to domineer,
take them into close custody, and deprive them of the liberty of the yard,
till they will give indemnity for the past, and security for the future.
Cut or chaff your hay, straw, corn-tops, bottoms, &c., with one of Willis's
or some other straw-cutter, to be found at Break & Co.'s Agricultural
Warehouse, No. 52 North Market street, Boston, or some other place.
You may also make use of Colonel Jaques's mixture, (page 48,) without
charge for the prescription. If you give your cows good hay, roots, and
comfortable lodging, you may make as good butter in winter as in summer,
and become rich by sending to market the product of your dairy. Pages
54, 87, 88, &c.

FEBRUARY.

Attend particularly to cows which have calved, or are about to calve,
as well as to their offspring. You know, or should know, what time
your cows may be expected to produce their young, by means pointed
out page 42, where you may find a receipt for those cows which need to
be doctored, that they may stop giving milk. You will find observations
on rearing and fattening calves, pages 54, &c. to page 61. Your ewes
and lambs will now require that care and attention which is indispensa-
ble to make sheep husbandry profitable. Page 212. The way to doctor
lambs to advantage is, to give good food, and a plenty of it, to their moth-
ers. Half a gill of Indian corn a day to each ewe before yeaning, and
about two quarts per day of potatoes, turnips, or other roots, when they
have lambs to nurse, will make your sheep and lambs healthy, as well as
their owner wealthy. But if you half starve your sheep, you will quite
kill your lambs. You will continue to cut, split, and pile wood in your
woodhouse, till you have enough to last at least two 3'ears. It is very
bad. economy to be obliged to leave your work in haying or harvesting,
to draw every now and then a little green wood to cook with, which is
about as fit for that purpose as a brickbat for a pincushion, or a lump of ice
for a warming-pan.

MARCH.

You may sow grass seed either as soon as the snow is off the ground,
or, as some say, in August or September. You may see the question
relative to the time for this purpose discussed, pages 22, 24. Be sure to
use seed enough, say about twelve pounds of clover and one peck of
herd's grass [timothy] to the acre. Page 24. If you did not sow grass
seed in autumn with vpinter grain, you may now sow it, and even harrow
it in. Though a few plants will be torn up, the grain will on the whole
receive benefit from being harrowed in the spring. Before the spring
work presses hard upon j'ou, it will be well to employ your boys, under
your superintendence, to train your steers or calves and colts to the yoke,
saddle, or harness; for which you may see some excellent directions, by
Mr. James Walker, page 64. Top-dress winter grain. Top-dressings
should not be used in the fall for winter grain, because they would be
apt to make the young plants come forward too fast, and be the more
liable to be winter-killed. Page 178. Attend to fences, page 204, and

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 341

to drains. Page 282. By often changing the direction of your water-
courses, you may render your mowing even, and prevent one part from
becoming too rank and lodging before tlie other part is fit to cut.

APRIL.

Plovghing. Light sandy soils had better be ploughed in the spring,
and no^ late in autumn, lest they become too porous, and are washed
away bj^ the rains and floods of fall and winter. For general rules on
this subject, see page 267, «fcc. It is best to sow spring wheat as soon as
it can well be got into the ground. The soil and preparation should be
the same as for winter wheat. Page 107. Sow barley as soon as the
ground is sufficiently dry. Page 134. Sow oats. Page 131. Spring
r^'e is cultivated in the same manner as winter rye. Page 124. Field
peas as well as garden peas make an excellent crop. Page 147. Beans
are also highly worth the judicious cultivator's particular attention. Page
152. Plant some potatoes of an early sort on early ground, to be used in
July and August, as food for your hogs, that you may commence fatten-
ing them early in the season. Page 258. Potatoes in small quantities at
a time are good food for horses and oxen, as well as most other animals,
especially in spring. They will go further, if steamed or boiled, but when
given raw, they are useful as well for physic as for food, being of a laxa-
tive and cooling quality. It is now about the time to sow flax, page 99,
and hemp. Page 92. Every tool, utensil, &c., which will be wanted for
tlie labors of the season, should now (if not done before) be critically in-
spected, thoroughly repaired, and such new ones of the best quality added
as will probably be needed. We know of no place where every want of
that kind can be better supplied than at Breck & Co.'s Agricultural
Warehouse, No. .5'J North ftlarket street, Boston; connected with which
is a seed store, where may be procured the best of seeds both for garden
and field culture.

MAY.

Attend to your pastures. Do not turn cattle into pasture ground too
early in the spring, but let tlie grass have a chance to start a little before
it is bitten close to the soil. If your pastures are large, it will be good
economy to divide them as stated page 285. Cleanse your cellars, as
well as the rest of your premises, from all putrescent and other ofl^ensive
and unwholesome substances. Plant Indian corn as soon as the leaves
of the white oak are as big as the ears of a mouse. Page 25. Not only
Indian corn, but peas, oats, buckwheat, and probably most other seeds,
are benefited by wetting them in water just before sowing, and rolling
them in plaster. Plant potatoes for your principal crop. Page 258.
Sow millet. Page 137. Sow lucerne on land thoroughly prepared, and
keep it free from weeds. Page 16. Declare war against insects. Page
302. The artillery for the engagement may be elder juice, or decoction
of elder, especially of the dwarf kind, decoction of tobacco, quicklime,
lime-water, soot, unleached ashes, strong lye, tar or turpentine water,-
soap-suds, ifcc. Dissolve about two pounds of potash, in seven quarts of
water, and apply the solution to your fruit-trees with a painter's brush,
taking care not to touch the leaves or buds. A lot of land well stocked
with clover is wanted by every good cultivator for pasturing swine.
Page 159.

29*

342 THE COMPLETE FARMER

JUNE.

Summer-made Manure demands attention. Most farmers yard their
cows at night, through the summer ; their manure should be collected
into a heap, in some convenient part of the barn-yard, to prevent its
being wasted by the sun and rains. A few minutes' attention in the
morning, when the cows are turned out to pasture, would collect a heap
of several loads in a season, ready for your grass grounds in autumn.
Dress your Indian corn and potatoes, thoroughly extirpating weeds, and
please to place a handful of ashes or plaster, or a mixture of both, on
3-our hills of corn and potatoes. These substances are commonly applied
before the first or second hoeing. But aslies or quicklime (which is also
an excellent application for corn) will have a better effect in preventing
worms if laid on before the corn is up. Be careful to save all your soap-
suds afler each washing, as they answer an excellent purpose when ap-
plied to fruit-trees, both as manure and as an antidote to insects. " Plas-
ter or live ashes sown upon j'our pasture grounds, will not onl^' repay a
handsome profit by increasing the value of your feed, by bringing in the
finer grasses, such as white clover, &c., but will greatly improve your
lands for a potato fallow, and a succeeding wheat crop, whenever you
may wish to take advantage of a routine of crops."

JULY.

Hay-making. Page 275. Make as much of your hay as possible in
the early part of the season, as there is at that time a greater probability
of your being favored with fur weather. More rain falls on an average
in the latter part of summer, or afler the 15th of July, than before. If
the weather is so unfavorable that hay cannot be thoroughly cured, the
application of from four to eight quarts of salt to the ton is recommend-
ed. In this way it can be saved in a much greener state, and the benefit
derived from the salt is many times its value. Another good method
of saving green or wet hay, is that of mixing layers of dry straw in the
innw or stack. Thus tlie strength of the grass is absorbed by the straw,
and the cattle will eagerly devour the mixture.

Harvesting. Page 27-J. The time in which your grain crop should
be cut, is when ihe straw begins to shrink, and becomes white about
half an inch below the ear ; but if a blight or rust has struck wheat or
rye, it is best to cut it immediately, even if the grain be in the milky
state. Barley, however, should stand till perfectly ripe.

^ AUGUST.

Please to attend in season to preserving your sheep from the cestrus
Otis, or fly which causes worms in their heads. Page 223. This may
»be done by keeping the noses of the animals constantly smirched with
tar from the middle of August till the latter part of September. In
order to accomplish this, it has been recommended to mix a little fine
salt with tar, and place it under cover, where the sheep can have access
to it, and they will keep their noses sufficiently smirched with tar to
prevent the insect from attacking them. Destroy thistles, which some
say may be done by letting them grow till in full bloom, and then cutting

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 343

them with a scythe about an inch above the surface of the ground. The
Btera being hollow, the rains and dews descend into the heart of the plant,
and it soon dies. Select the ripest and most plump seeds from such
plants as are most forward and thrifty, and you will improve your breeds
of vegetables by means similar to those which have been successful in
improving the breeds of neat cattle, sheep, &c. As soon as your har-
vesting is finished, you will take advantage of this hot and dry weather,
to search your premises for mines of manure, such as peat, page 200,
marl, page 196, mud, «fcc., which often give unsuspected value to
swamps. Now is also a good season to work at draining. Page 282.
You may drain certain marshes on your premises, which will afford you
better soil than you now cultivate, cause your land to be more healthy,
and the earth taken from the ditches will make valuable deposits in your
cow-yard and pig-sty.

SEPTEMBER.

A correctly calculating cultivator will make even his hogs labor for a
livelihood. This may be done by throwing into their pens potato-tops,
weeds, brakes, turf, loam, &c., which these capital workmen will man-
ufacture into manure of the first quality. Page 181. You cannot sow
winter rye too early in September. If it be sowed early, its roots will
obtain such hold of the soil before winter, that they will not be liable to
be thrown out and killed by frost. Page 124. It may be sowed early
to great advantage in order to yield green food for cattle and sheep, par-
ticularly the latter, in the spring. Winter wheat, likewise, cannot be
sowed too early in September. Page 107. Attend to the barn-yard, and
see that it has a proper shape for a manure manufactory, as well as other
accommodations, adapted to its various uses. Page 74. You may as
well have a hole in your pocket, for the express purpose of losing your
money, as a drain to lead away the wash of your farm-yard. True, it
may spread over your grass ground, and be a source of some fertility to
your premises, but the chance is that most of it will be lost in a high-
way, or neighbouring stream.

OCTOBER.

Ploughing. Page 267. Stiff, hard, cloggy land intended to be tilled
should be ploughed in autumn. Fall ploughing saves time and labor in
the spring, when cattle are weak, and the hurry of the work peculiar to
that season presses on the cultivator. A light sandy soil, however,
should not be disturbed by fall ploughing, but lie to settle and consoli-
date through tlie winter. Select your corn intended for planting next
season from the field, culling fine, fair, sound ears from such stocks as
produce two or more ears, taking the best of the bunch. Page 29. You
will consider well which is the best method of harvesting corn, and
adopt one of the methods mentioned by Judge Buel. Page 28. If the
husks and bottoms of your corn, when stowed away for winter, are
sprinkled with a strong solution of salt in water, (taking care not to use
such a quantity of the solution as to cause mould,) and when dealt out
are cut fine with a straw-cutter, they will make first-rate fodder. Do
not feed hogs with hard corn without steeping, grinding, or boiling it.
The grain will go much the farther for undergoing some or all of these

344 THE COMPLETE FARMER

operations ; and if a due degree of fermentation is superadded, so much
the better.

NOVEMBER.

In many situations it will be excellent management to rake up all the
leaves of trees, and the mould which has been produced by their decay,
which can be procured at a reasonable expense, and cart and spread
them in the barn-yard as a layer, to absorb the liquid manure from your
cattle. Likewise it would be well to place quantities of them under
cover, in situations where you can easily obtain them in winter to use as
litter to your stables, &c. They do not rot easily, but they serve the
purpose of little sponges to imbibe and retain liquid manure, ana by
their use you may supply your crops with much food for plants which
would otherwise be lost. Attend with diligence and punctuality to the
wants of tlie four-footed tenants of your barn, hog-sty, «Sic. Do not
undertake to winter more stock than you have abundant means of pro-
viding fur. When young animals are pinched for food at an earli' period
of their growth, they never thrive so well afterwards, nor make so good
stock. See tliat you have good stalls, stables, &c., page 236 ; cow-
houses, page 43 ; a proper implement for cutting hay and straw, page
48; an apparatus for cooking food for cattle and swine, page 49. You
may also carry out and spread compost, soot, ashes, &c., on such of
your mowing grounds as stand in great need of .manure. Though some
say that the best time for top-dressing grass land is immediately after
liaying : any time will do when the ground is free from snow, and the
grass not so high as to be injured by cattle's treading on it.

DECEMBER.

Woodland. We think tliat cultivators may derive advantage from
attending to the observations by the Hon. John Welles, relative to wood-
lots, the manner of cutting, them over, &c. Page 301. We advise
every farmer, and his help, «fcc., so to treat domestic animals that they
may be tarne and familiar. It is said of Bakewell, a famous EngHsh
breeder of cattle, that b}' proper management he caused his stock to be
very gentle. His bulls would stand still to be handled, and were driven
from field to field with a small switch. His cattle were always fat,
which ho said was owing to the breed as well as keep. Colts should also
always be kept tame and familiar, and you may then train them to sad-
dle or harness without danger or difficulty. Page CI. The farmer
should obtain his year's stock of fuel as early in the season as possible,
and before the depth of snow in the woodlands renders it difficult to
traverse them by a team. You may, when the ground is frozen, cut
and draw wood from swamps, which are inaccessible for cattle in warm
weather. If you cut wood with a wisii that the stumps should sprout,
let it be after the fall of the leaf, and before the buds swell in the spring.
[See Gen. Newhall's statement, New England Farmer, Vol. X. p. 230.]
The Rev. Mr. Elliot wisely recommended, when bushy ground, full of
strong roots is to be ditched, beginning the ditch in the winter, when
the ground is frozen two or three inches deep. The surface may be
chopped into pieces by a broad axe, with a long helve, and the ditch
completed in warm weather. The farmer may, probably, hit on a good

AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 345

time for this work in December, when there happens to be no snow, and
when it will not interfere with other farming business. When the sea-
son has become so severe that little can be done abroad, much may be
done relative to farming operations, and other good works, by the fire-
side, in contriving the proper course of crops for each field, settling ac-
counts, reading useful and entertaining books, and laying the foundation,
by mental culture, for the usefulness and respectability of those who
compose the fanner's family.

O.H. HlU. LIBRARY
Worth Carolina Staf<. College

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The complete farmer and rural economist : containing a compendious epitome of the most important branches of agricultural and rural economy"

See other formats