328

THE BRITISH AMERICAN.

£10. 42

AGRICULTURAL.

From the .New England Farmer.

Potatoes—The best grow in a dry soil, but a wet one will yield the most. Plough deep, and the more pulverized the earth, the better the crop ; except the wreen sward, which produces at one ploug ting, the greatest crop of any land. Poor land, well cultivated, will yield 100 bushels per acre. Hogs dung, mixed with a great pro- portion of straw, rubbish, Ste. excellent manure for them. As they will grow al- most any where, they are apt to be neg- .lected ; but no cmp will pay the farmer better. Cut seed better than whole; a middling potato will give six pieces, with one or two eyesin each piece: and any part. even the rind, and heart will produce, put three pieces in a hill six inches apart, and coverthem deep. The shooting part ofa potato like a tree ; the but end of it, a stun p—therefore cut length ways as much as you can, in hoeing do not earth them up too much, and let the last hoeing be when they are in blossom ; when par- boiled, very good for swine, not so good raw—~they increase milk in cows. A en- tleman in Nova-Scotia used to wash, and cut them, and give them in plenty to his fattening cattle: he informed me, that a bushel would make a pound of tallow in a creature so fed.

Sow. Ifshe will not call for the male, give her a little bit of rennet. Feed her a few~days before she pigs, plentit'ully ; it will prevent her devouring them. She should pig in March or April if the pigs are to be reared.

Sr:st not natural to the climate degene- rate—should be changed annually, if only from one ﬁeld to another. Aeonsidera- ble distance better. Flax and most early seeds} carried 100 miles north, do well~- late ones carried as far south, do well also. Corn, barley, oats and seeds of all kinds, should be changed everyyear ; it will pay the farmer fourfold for all his trouble in doing it.

SHEEP. Buy them, and indeed all cat- tle, from a soil poorer than your own. Buy large boned ones, with long, ﬁne greasy wool. Dry land good to feed them on, and so are salt marshes. They go with lamb ‘20 weeks. . One male sufﬁcient for 20 ewes, or more. Propagate those which have large bodies, with long, silky wool. Shady pastures, and free from brush, best for them. The more a sheep drinks the faster he fats. Once fat, kill them, never will be so fat again. Wash them in a warm day, in the middle, or last of June: Let them run three or four days in the pas-' ture, and sweat in their wool, before you shear them ; and then avoirl pricking and cutting them. If a cold rain falls soon af- ter shearing, house them. Black wool is never matrong, nor ﬁne, as white.

SALT-HAY may be cut one day, cocked the next, and housed the third--throw straw between each layer, in the barn. A portion ofit excellent for cattle in the win- ter.

.Millch Cows.-——The following, according to the “ Farmer’s and Grazier’s Guide,” is the manner in which cows are managed in the neighborhood of L0ndon, for the pur- pose of furnishing milk for that metropolis.

The cows during the night are conﬁned in stalls ; about three o’clock in the morn- ing each has half a bushel of grains. From four till half—past six, they are milked by the retail dealers. \Vhen the milking is ﬁnished, a bushel basket ofturnips is given to each cow, and soon afterwards the tenth part of a truss of ﬁne soft grassy hay. These feedings are all given before eight o’clock in the morning, at which time the cows are turned out into the farm yard, or home stead. At twelve o’clock they are again conﬁned to their stalls, and a similar quantity of grains allotted as in the morn- ing. At half-past one. the milking again commences, and lasts till about three, at which time the same quantity of turnips, and atterwards hay, is given as before. This mode of feeding continues during the whole of the turnip season, which is from September to April or May- During the other months of the year, they are fed with grains, cabbages, and tares, instead of tur- nips, with the same quantity of rowen or second-cut meadow hay, and are continu- ed to be fed and milked with the same re- gularity as before described, until they are turned out to grass ; when they continue in the ﬁelds all night, and even during this season grains are given to them, which are kept sweet and palatable, by being buried in deep pits for that purpose till wanted.

The calves are generally sent to Smith- ﬁeld at two or three days old ; when they are bought by johbers and others to be reared and fattened for the butcher. Those cows that give the mast milk, are not found, in general, sufﬁciently productive to be kept longer than three or four years ; when they are fattened and sold to the butcher. The quantity averaged from each cow is estimated at about nine quarts per day.

Besides the keep already mentioned, the cows On these two dairy farms have a por- tion of distillers’ wash, now and then mix- ed with their dry provender. Their food is also occasionally varied with potatoes‘and mangel wurtzel, great quantities of which are now consumed by the cow-keepers in the vicinity of the metropolis, and some- times procured fiom places many miles distant.

The milk is conveyed from the cow-house in tin pails, which are carried principally by strong robust W'elch girls and women, who retail the same about the streets of the metropolis. It is amazing to witness the

labour and fatigue these m, dergo, and the hilarity and cheerfulnes, which prevail among them, and which tend greatly to lighten their very laborious em. ployment. Even in the most inclement weather, and in the depth of winter, the arrive in parties from different parts om]. metropolis by three or four o’clock in the morning, laughing and singing to the music of their empty pails : with them thev re. turn loaded to town ; and the weight'they are thus accustomed to carry on their yokes, for a distance oftwo or three mile, is sometimes from one hundred to one bun: dred and thirty pounds.

OATs‘ cannot be sowed too early—three bushels to one acre—the poorer the so“ the more seed must be Sowed on it—ploug}, them twice— once may (lo—mow them ear- ly, the straw not wholly turned yellow. Neither rake nor stir them in the middle of the day or when they are dry—morning and evening best to move them—are apt to shell out.

PLouamNG should never be done when the soil is so wet that it will not crumble— except green sward, nor when it is very dry; it is hard. and the furrows will not turn. Ingeneral farmers do not half ploug their ground; neither do they plough in the right seasons—by ploughing only, you may restore an old ﬁeld, and bring it to any de- gree of richness. Always plough in your corn when the dew is on. Ploug lands in the latter part of summer.that they may rot well. All tillage land should be ploughed in the fall—Indian hills split and deep. All above the pan, will become dark earth. in a year or two—never plough a hill up and down, lest it wash and gully away. Ribhing hills, eight or ten feeta- part, is beneﬁcial, will catch the rain and retain moisture.

To cure wounds on Horses and Cattle.— As there are many useful receipts hidden from the public for the sake of speculation in a small way, by many who would be thought something ofin the world, I am in- duced to lay before the public areceipt for making King ofOil, so called, which perhaps excels any other for the cureo wounds on horses or cattle, and which has long been kept by a few only in the dark. Feeling a desire to contribute to the good of the public, but more especially to th Farmers ofGennessee, I send you the fol- lowing very valuable receipt for publica- tion :-—-one ounce of green copperas, " ounces of white vitriol, 2 ounces of com-

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of West India molasses. ﬁre ﬁfteen minutesin a pint ofurine; when almost cold, add one ounce ofoil of ritual, and four ounces of spirits of turpentine. Apply it to the wound with a quill or fea ther, which will immediately set the sor to running, and perform a perfect cure Yours respectfully, Srsr. PALMER.