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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 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     THE BRITISH AMERICAN 
     
    
   
   
    
     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- 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     £10.13 
     
    
   
   
    
     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 
     
    

    
     rm. 
     
    

    
     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'