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THE FARMERS DEPARTMENT.

SMAL I. FflRMS—COLLECTIJVG MANURES.

The great principles of agriculture may be re- duced to these two points; keep small film, and manage them well. What constitutes a small farm, or in what consists good manage- ment, are subjects deeply affecting the best in- terests of society, and have engaged vo- lumes of the most philantrophic writings. The pagesofa work, limited in size and devoted to various purposes, can afford but a short review ofa subject so comprehensively useful, yet, by entering directly into real matter and avoiding the prolixity of books, much instruction and benefit may be obtained at an expense of mo- ney and time comparatively small.

An anxiety to grow rich has done more in- jury and produced more disappointment to far- mers than to any other class of fortune hun- ters; the merchant, who not only risks his en- tire capital. but also his utmost crediton a sin. gle voyage, may succeed even beyond his cal- culation, and may, at once increase his fortune and enlarge his credit: the mechanic, who risks all on a single project, may succeed to riches and its comforts; but the farmer, who enlarges his fields beyond his actual means‘ of cultivating them never succeeds in his design.

Land badly tilled and badly fenced, produces a small crop, which not unfrequently becomes a prey to the inroads of cattle,or suffers for want of hands to secure it in harvest; yet such must be the fate oflarge farms, that is, farms ex- ceeding the disposal means of the proprietor. Ho general rule can be laid down to determine the proper size ofa farm, as it must be regula- ted by a whole view of the farmer’s means, family, &c.; but in choosing a farm, it would be a prudent maxim to prefer one even appa- rently too small, to one that might prove too large; and perhaps the generality of farmers. who look merely to the support ofa family, might do well to confine their industry, in the first instance to fifty acres of land, exclusive of the necessary proportion of woodland. The re- sult would prove so decisively the superior ad- vantages of small farms, as more than probably to induce the farmer to continue his industry on a scale, which would yield so much in point of crops, save so much labour, render a fre- quent view of the entire farm, and the collect- ing of the produce to the barn so convenient. ‘ But,’says the farmer, who has six or eight children, ‘ fifty acres will not suffice to support my family.‘ Itmay he replied, and with more truth, ‘ no. nor one hundred acres,’ because of the undeniable fact, that one hundred acres badly tilled will produce less than fifty acres well managed, and that the labor necessary to the good tillage and management of the small farm, will not be sufficient even for the slo- venly managementof the large one.

It is unnecessary to describe, how a large farm may be ruined in the case of a propietor whose capital is small; every practical farmer can explain, and the most superficial view of hundreds ofsuch farms to be seen in all direc- tions, will at once convince the doubtful. It only remains to see how the farmer and his fa- mil can be supported on a farm of fifty acres.

Tyhe skillful farmer will keep his lands in a state of constant productiveness the most in. judicious management or the most apparent neglect can alone cause land to remain fo r years oreven for a season without contributintg to the farmers sustenance, this state, however, seldom fails to attend large farms. A rotation of crops and a suppl of manure will secure this cottetpnt state a productiveness. Every farmer tiajauflcient 'udge of the managing a rotstiut‘cfcrops, an , in some measure, acts

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on that principle; but the mind and labour are so divided in the care of large farms._ that. net- ther can be brought to act with suflicrent judg- mentor effect. A proper disposition of cattle, added to a 'udicious collecting of manure, will always pro uce the means ofenriching and in- vigorating the soil, nor can there ever appear any want ofasufficicnt supply of manure for every purpose of the farm.

The collecting ofcompost, or manure, being indispensable to the farmer, it shall be here first attended to. Compost is to be cons1dered both as to its quantity and its quality. The quantity may beincreased by mixing clay, or other unfermented matter with the manure; the entire mass will partake of the salts, and all ferment together. The quality, which seems of more importance than the quantity, may be improved by choosin a proper site for the ma- nure heap. It should not be made in a hole, because the rain water will soon fill the hole and chill the manure, which should, in order to fermentation. preserve a considerable heat . it should not be made on a hill becauscitsjuices will run from it: it should not be exposed to rain, because the water passing through it will carry away its most valuable part; nor should it be entirely excluded from the air which is essentially useful to it. With these general observations in view, the farmer will easily con. trive a proper plan for collecting a suficiency of rich compost Ior all the uses of his farm, which. thus plentifully supplied, will never degenerate into a barren waste. The manure heap should be placed near the farm yard, so that the rot- ten straw, bedding of the cattle, dye. may be easily removed to it, asewer or gutter should also be contrived to carry 06' the urine from the cattle's stalls to a reservoir near the may nure; and finally, it should be collected on a flat spot ofground, so hard as to be, if possible, impervious to the juices, which would otherwise sink into the earth and be totally lost.- .N‘. Y. Farmer.

From the Elgin Courier, published in Scotland.

OBSERVATION ON THE MAKING. CURING, AND CASKUIG 0" BUTTER.

lst. The milk house or dairy should have no internal communication with any other build- ing. It must be kept free from smoke, well aired, and no potatoes, fish, onions, Cheese, or anything likely to impart a strong or bad smell, should be kept therein. In short. no- thing but the dairy utensils, which must be kept sWect and clean.

2d. The milk when brought in from the cows should be strained through a fine hair sieve or strainer, and, when cool, put into sweet Well seasoned oaken cogs, kellers. or milk-pans—the latter to be preferred. A‘ tin skimmer, with holes in it, is the best for taking off the cream, which should always be churned while the cream is fresh.

3d. The churn whether pump or barrels should be made of the best well seasoned white oak, and as cleanliness is ofthe first importance great attention should be paid to the washing: drying, and airing of the churns immediately after use, otherwise they are sure to contract asour and unwholsesome smell, which much injure the quality of the Butter.

4th. The butter immediately after being chur- ned, should be thrown into fresh spring water where it should remain for one hour at least, thatit may growfirm: and, at the end of the third or fourth washing, some fine salt should be put into the water, which will raise the co-

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lor ofthe butter, and purge away any milk um remains among it. Before saltmg‘. it is '3 essential that no milk or water he left, other. wise a strong smell and unpleasant taste willb. the certain consequence

5th. The Butter thus prepared should 5, immediately salted. The prefiortions of “I, may be from one and one fourt to one and on, halfounce of Scotch Salt for the pound of But. ter—or, for the best stoved Rock or Bay Sal, one ounce for the ound. But when But. ter is not intended to e kept through the win. ter and spring, or for any long period, the qua“. tities of Salt recommended may be somewhat reduced, the curer exercising his own judg, ment in doing so

N. B. In Ireland. the use of salt and saltpe. tre is recommended, in proportions of one ounce, ofstoved Rock or Bay Salt. and one fifth of an ounce of saltpetre to the Aberdeen pound. .

6th. It is a very injurious practice to kee a making of butter uncured to the next elm. ning, for the purpose of mixing the two together. This mode invariably injures the flavor of the whole,and renders itoftoo soft as quality ever afterwards to get firm. This applies to cum. who are the produCers ofthe Butter, but as the greatest quantity of butter in this country' collected and cured by merchants they are par. ticularly cautioned against the practice of throwing the fresh butter together, and retain- ing itin that state for days until they have col- lected what they consider asumcient quantity to commence curing—the butter treated in that manner is invariably found inferior to what is salted after churning. Should, hov- ever, there not be a sufficient quantity collect- ep in one day to fill a package when cured, the quality of the butter may in great measure be preserved by giving it a partial saltinnr and covering it over with aclean linen cloth dipped in pickle, and placing it in a cool situation Country Dealers who are in the habit of semi ing carts through the Districts where they re side, to collect the butter should endeavour to arrange it so between themselves and the ma kers of the butter, thatit is churned upon the day it is called for.

7th. When the butter is cured, it should ht tramped firm into the firkin with a round. wooden tramp-stick of sufficient weight and thickness. The firkin should be filled up to the crose, and then covered over with a little of the purestsalt, Sufficient room merely left for the head of the cask, and must be well secured. to exclude air, and to prevent the pickle from getting out.

8th. The Liverpool stoved salt. or Portugal St. Ubes, or Bay salt, is from strength and qua- lity, always to be preferred. Allsalt must be kept quite dry. and at a distance from the fire. to prevent the first imbibing the smell of the smoke. lf kept in a cask, a little unslacked lime placed under it will prevent it from draw- ing moisture from the ground. .

9th. The mixing of the salt with the butter should be done in Wooden dishes, after the wa- ter and milk are completely expelled, and no time should then be lost in tramping it into Elie firkiu which will make it draw even ml

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to. The milk of new calved cows should at. ver be set for butter until at least four days at ter calving, as a small quantity of beast-mil butter willinjure a whole firkin. The prac- tice of scalding cream, in cold weather shoull also be avoided, as cream thus treated will at ver make good butter.

ll. Great care should be taken'not to steer- the firkin in boggy or unwholesome water. No'