FARM TALK:
A S1RIES OF
ARTICLES IN THE COLLOQUIAL STYLE,
I LLU ST RATING
VARIOUS COMMON FARM TOPICS.
BY
GEO. E. BRACKETT,
BELFAST, MAINE.
BOSTON:
LEE AND S HEPARD.
I868.
? 
OR. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
LEE AND SHEEPA'RD,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPI I AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOU'.)1'Y,
No. 19 Spring Lane. 
THIS LITTLE VOLUmE
Is
TO
MY FRIEND AND FELLOW-LABORER
S. L. BOAPiD?ZVAA.
All 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I 
CONTENTS.
GUESS FARMING. 
PEDIGREE CORN. 
ABOUT HAYING..
FANCY FARMERS..
WV I\EN TO SELL PRODUCE.3
BUTTER MAKING..
GETTING READY FOR THE CATTLE SHOW.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES..
APPLE TREES AND INSECTS. 
MIDDLE-MEN..
TAI-KING THE PAPERS.6.
THE'OLOGIES.0
AN EVENING'S CHIAT..
PLANTING FOR POSTERITY..
PARASITIC PLANTS....
ROAD-MAKING AND BR\AKING...
IN TTIE BARN..
How TREES GROW...
PIGS AND POULTRY...
FARM FENCES....
OUT IN TI-IE FIELDS...
CHAPTER
I.
II.
III.
IT.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
PAGE
9
x.5
20
26
30
36
4I
47
54
6I
66
70
75
80
86
92
97
I04
Io9
122
(I-)
4,  
- AR-' /- - T K
I.
GUESS FARMING.
E  farmers  are a  stubborn  class to
learn.  We  do not accept facts with.f.. out a good deal of proof and per         suasion, and in too many cases work
out our own injury through a fear of being too
easily deceived. This is a progressive age, and
those who allow themselves to fall in the rear
in the march of improvement must be content
to occupy second-rate positions, and be satisfied
with small pecuniary rewards.
It is somewhat surprising, that, notwithstanding the improvements in nearly every department of farming, so little has been effected
towards inducing farmers to perform their business operations in a more systematic manner, and
(9) 
Farm  Tal k.
keep a regular record and account of their farming and business, generally and specifically. But
for one farmer who practises such a method,
ninety-nine keep all their accounts " in their
head," as it is termed, and consequently are
properly called guess farmers, for they never
know anything, only guess it is so and so.
They don't know whether this, that, or the other
crop pays best; whether they can afford to sell
their stock or produce at such and such a price
or not. They can't tell whether it is for their
interest to continue a certain course of husbandry, use such a fertilizer, cultivate a soil in such
a manner, nor even at the end of the year are
they sure whether their names should be recorded on the profit or loss side of the ledger.
Having kept no account of their doings, they
are almost wholly in the dark. They can only
"guess it's about so."
These ideas were forcibly brought to my mind
last evening, as my neighbor Smith came in
while I was writing in my farm record, and,
noticing my occupation, said, with a sly twinkle
in his eye,  " What you doin', - book-keepin'?"
10 
Guess EFarmiizg.
I
" Yes, a little. Squaring up my accounts for
this year.   You  know  to-morrow is the first
day of January, and I always like to commence
the new year with a clean sheet, and to know
how I stand with the world in general, and my
fellow-men in particular.  Besides, I want to
know whether it has paid me to farm it this
y-ear.  I suppose you keep farm accounts, don't
you?"
"LlMe?  No.  It's too much  bother.   I  can
keep my'counts in my head."
" Don't you think it's better to have something
you can rely upon? You know we are all apt
to be forgetful."
" It's well enough for store-keepers, and sich,
to keep'counts; but I don't see no need of a
farmer spendin' time doin' it."
" Isn't it as much for our interests to look
after and keep posted in our own business, as
it is for the merchant to attend to his?"
" Well, yes, I s'pose so.  But what is the use
of a feller's writin' down everything about what
he does?"
It pays to do it, Smith."
" I don't see hlow."
II 
Farm  Talk.
l
" Well, look here.  How was your corn crop
this year?"
"Pretty fair; though the frost hurt it some.'
"Shall you plant some more next year?"
" Sartin. I allus plant a piece o' corn."
"What for?"
",What for! Why, because -because I alltis
have."
"Yes, I see. Now, Smith, how much did
that field of corn pay you?"
"Pay me!  Well, I guess about          "
" That isn't it.  I don't care what you guess;
do you know?"
"Well, not exactly; but I cal'late    "
" Never mind. But really, now, do you
know whether you made or lost money in raising that field of corn? There's the rub."
"Dunno as I do, for sartin."
"Now, see here, Smith. Here is my' Corn
Field Record.' I have written down everything
connected with it, and to-day I have summed
it all up, and know  all about it; there's not
a particle of guess work. Here is the size of
the field; kind of soil; when and how  many
times it was ploughed, harrowed, and furrowed;
I2 
Guess Farming.
and also the amount and kind of manure; how
it was applied, and what and how much topdressing I used.   Then  there is the time of
planting; preparation, and kind of seed; how
far apart it was planted in the rows and hills,
and how many stalks in the hill; when and
how long after planting it came up; manner of
cultivating, time of harvesting, &c.  And here
I have got, in exact figures, the cost, value, and
price of everything; planting, hoeing, and harvesting; the value of the corn, beans, pumpkins,
and fodder; the value of the manure, rent of
land, manure left in the soil, and every item set
down in full, so that I know exactly what it cost
me to raise that piece of corn, and thus whether
it pays to continue to grow corn under such
circumstances."
This is only an example. All other farm
operations may be recorded in somewhat the
same manner, more simple, if you please, and then
there would be an end of the continual guessing
and thinking, and ignorance in regard to those
things we should know about.  Of course keeping such records occupy some time, but how
can it be spent to more advantage than in thus
I3 
Farim  T(alk.
obtaining a better knowledge of our profession,
and the workings of that special branch in
which we may be engaged? Brother farmers,
think of this matter, and act upon it. Don't be
careless and stubborn, and persistently continue
to drive on in the old ruts, simply because you
have been accustomed to so doing, or because
your fathers have done so before you; but accept a change whenever it is for your advantage
to do so, if not for your own sakes, for the
good of your boys and posterity.
I4 
Pcd-,/)ree  Corn.
II.
PEDIGREE CORN.
I5
~   oaHE year I866 was a " hard corn year"
throughout all New England. Cold
weather and rainy days were the rule,
and not thie exception.   Corn loves
warmth and dryness, and pines in a cool, damp
atmosphere.   The two preceding  years were
the warmest and dryest on record, consequently
were what farmers term  " great corn years."
Corn grew and matured planted most anywhere.
But this year it was different.  There was a
fair yield, but it was very backward, and many
fields were frost-bitten before the kernel was
fairly "glazed."  An  unusually wet and rainy
September was a great drawback to its ripening.  Notwithstanding these failings on the part
of the season, my neighbor Johnson raised a
good crop of corln, and some specimen ears,
which he exhibited at the County Fair, attracted
a good deal of attention. 
Farmi  Talk.
' That's good corn for this year," said a farnier, pointing to Johnson's fine-looking trace.
"Yes," said another; "'wonder how he was
so lucky as to get such a good crop."
" Guess he must have used a big pile of manure, and had some warm soil too, not to speak
of top-dressing," said a third.
Here Johnson happened along, and they began questioning him.
"What kind of land did this corn grow on?"
" Rocky upland, well drained."
"What did you manure it with?"
" Hog manure, mixed with muck, and a handful of plaster and ashes to each hill after the
corn broke through the ground."
*' Ground ploughed in the fall?"
"No; broke up in the spring, harrowed well,
and planted on the sod."
Like it so better than old ground?"
"Yes; the turf heating and rotting, heats
the soil just when the young corn-roots need the
warmth most; and, besides, the ground is not
so weedy, requiring less labor in cultivating."
" Dung it in the hill?"
"' Yes; one large shovelful to a hill."
i6 
Pedigree Corn.
"Like hog dulng better than old manure?"
" Certainly. It's much better for corn."
"W Vhat kind of seed was yourn?"
" WVell, we call it the Dutton corn, generally;
but I don't know what is the exact name of it.
However, I call this my  Pedigree' corn; and
I consider the principal reason why I had such
good luck this year was because I took pains
with my seed."
"What did you do to it?"
Well, gentlemlen, I'll tell you all about it,
and why I call this my Pedigree corn. For
several years it has been my practice to select
the best ears of corn to be found in my field,
and preserve them for next year's seed. By so
doing, I think the quality and productiveness
of my corn have been gradually improving year
after year, until now I can see that it is much
superior to that first grown."
"Does the cob have a red peth?"
" Sometimes red and sometimes white."
" I like red peth corn best."
I never saw any difierence in the quality of
the corn, whether the cob had a red or white
pith, and am of the opinion that both may be
2
I7 
Farm  Talk.
found on the same  stalk; -but I will go on
about my seed corn.  After the corn is thoroughly ripened, I make my selection. I take only
those ears which are rowed perfectly, fully ripe,
and golden yellow, with the end tipped or covered with kernels, and only those which grow
on a stalk producing two or more sound ears.
These ears I carefully trace or braid together
by the husks left on them for this purpose, and
hang them away in a dry place, where they
will not be exposed to extreme cold, and beyond the reach of vermin.  This I do every fall,
and the next spring I have a superior article
of seed corn, which I have christened my Pedigree corn."
W Well, I donii't know; sometimes I've planted the best ears I could pick out of the lot, and
sometimes only the tip ends and common ears,
and I didn't see muich difference in the crop."
" Perhaps  not.  I do not say that the improvemlent will be discernible in one 3ear;
perhaps not in two; but I do say that such a
practice, persistingly followed  for  a term of
years, will be productive of good results. It is a
great law of Nature that like produces like, to a
is 
Pedg'rce  Corn. 
great extent, and the principle is as correct in
reference to seeds and plants, as in the case of
the higher orders of animal life.  This is a fact
which we, as farmers, do not sufficiently consider. WVe are too apt to be willing to dispose of the best of our flocks, herds, or crops,
and use the poorest for planting, sowing, or
breeding. Let us remember that the best we
can raise or obtain is none too good for our
own use, and that growing or breeding from
inferior seed or animals always has a tendency
to deteriorate, or run out the quality of the
production, and vice versa."
I9 
20
Farmn  Ta/k.
III.
ABOUT HAYING.
OMNE, boys, hitch up the mower, and
~~  we'll cut the ten-acre lot to-day.  Here
it is the ioth of July, and no grass
cut down yet.  I don't believe in feeding all straw to the stock next winter, but I do
believe in feeding dried grass, and if that field
remains miuchl longer, there will be nothing but
dead stalks to cuLt. Early cut hay is far more
valuable to feed out than that which is not cut
until it is ripe."
At this junctlure, neighbor Smith, who is looking on, and who  usually times his haying operations by mine, because, he says, I have a
' b'rometer,"' takes a fresh quid, and inquires,  " Ain't ye beginnin' a little airly?"
" No.  If the season  hadn't been  so backward I should have commenced a week ago;
but, as it is, I hope to get my grass cut in time
to be palatable to the animals next winter." 
About Hayizg.
i But don't you think it spends better not
to cut it till it's about ripe?"
" Perhaps it will spend better if cut then;
but the question is, when to cut it so that the
hay will make the best quality of food; and,
firom experience, I have found that period to
be when the plant is just opening its blossoms.
Besides, I have submitted the question to a
competent jury, which was my stock last winter, and they unanimously agreed with me, and
if they are not judges of good hay, who is?"
But themn scientific fellers say it's got the
most goodness in it when it's ripe."
" Yes, I know they say various wise things,
which, unfortunately, do not always prove to
be practicable. Now, I don't pretend to know
what is the amount of gluten, starch, sugar, or
other elements contained in the grass which I
cut so early, but I do know that my stock eat
it Lup cleaner, like it better, and keep in better
condition when fed on it, than when  kept on
hay which remnained in the field until it was
ripe before it was mown; and that is all I am
particular about knowing of the matter, from a
practical point of view."
2I 
Fariim  Ta7k.
" Well, I always kinder thought they liked it
better, but I didn't knlow."
"Certainly they do.   Stock will eat early
cut hay, even if it is of second or third quality,
and leave but few orts.  Grass in which there
are a good  many  weeds  and  brakes should
always be cut early. The English grasses will
depreciate the least by leaving until nearly ripe.
Fodder which, if allowed to remain until it has
seeded, is worthless, if cut quite early, makes
very good  feed for  sheep and  young stock.
Wlhat old lady nurse would  think of  letting
her herbs remain until dead ripe before cutting
themi? No, she gathers them while in blossom,
so as to get all the good of them,' she says.
It's just so with the plants we use for fodder for
our stock-  cut them while in blossom, and we
get all the good there is in them."
"It don't look like being a good hay day,
it's so cloudy-."
"Clear days are not always the  best hay
days."
WhIat kind of weather do you think is best?"
" I consider a cloudy day, with a fresh, warm,
southl-west wind, preferable.   A  clear day and
22 
About IJaynIg.
hot sun is not essential to haymaking.  There
is a great error, which too many of our farmers
fall into, - they' make'  their hay altogether
too much. To make good hay, grass requires
to be thoroughly dried, not scorched and burned.
No doubt but the very best method of curing
hay is to do it under cover; but this is not practicable to any considerable extent.   The best
herdsgrass hay I ever saw was mowed after the
dew was off, put into the barn green, spread
out thin, and thus made under cover, without
allowing the sun to fall on it."
How about clover?"
" Clover should be mnown when dry, wilted
in the sun, and then, if possible, made in the
cock by sweating. It can then be handled without breaking off and losing the leaves, which
are the most valuable portion of the plant. Yes,
sir, it's my opinion we' make' our hay altogether too much."
"'Twouldn't make much difference when you
cut your hay, if you was goin' to press it up
and sell it, would it?"
"Perhaps not; but it's only in very rare and
particular cases a farmer can afford to sell his
hay."
23
tz 
Fariz Talk.
"Does your b'rometer say fair weather today?"
" Yes; the mercurial column is pretty high,
and has been so for some days."
" Is that always a sure sign of good weather?"
" Generally so; but I find a barometer is not
always to be depended  upon.   It requires a
good deal of practice and observation to enable
one to judge of the weather from its changes."
"It falls for storms, don't it?"
"Most always.  But it is not always a true
prophet.  It will sometimes fall and rise without any corresponding changes in the weather.
Yet there are many times, as in the case of
sudden squalls and showers, when it is sure to
give the alarm."
"Does it pay to have one?"
"Yes, I think it does.  I remember one instance last haying season. Wve had experienced
a three days'fog storm, with the wind still firesh
to the east.  In the morning I noticed the mercury in my barometer was rising fast, notwithstanding it was still thick and foggy, and I
knew therefore we should have fair weather in
twelve hours or less; so we set our men  to
24 
About  Hay ilzg.
mowing, and worked nearly a day, while our
neighbors' crews were lying still, fearing the
weather.  It is also handy about foretelling thunder storms when there is hay out. But, though
I have observed and studied one almost daily
for many years, yet even now I would not pretend to be a wiser weather prophet than mvnany
of our old experienced farmers." 
F ar;;  Talk.
I V.
FANCY FARMERS.
v  HAT do you think of paying five hun         dred dollars for a ram?" "
Q,;.~ "Why, I think it's a pretty big
price."
" Big price! It's a regular swindle."
Don't you think such prices are paid?"
"No, I don't.  I always  calculated the reports of such great prices were humbugs, got
up by the fancy farmers, who, I think, do more
harm than good in any neighborhood. Their faist
horses, thousand-dollar sheep and big roosters,
are altogether too'fast' for us common farmers."
"WVell, neighbor, I partly agree with you.
No doubt there have been many falsely reported
sales, for purposes well understood; but, on
the other hand, a large numnber of ramns have
been sold in this country during the last five
years at prices ranging from five hundred to
upwards of a thousand dollars each."'
,26 
-Faicy  F(zarizcrs.
"But were they worth it?"
Ah, that's another question, and one which,
in my opinion, must be answered in the negative.  It is an old saying, that a thing is worth
just what it will bring; but here is an exception to' the general rule. A sheep-fever, or mania, rages throughout a portion of the country,
and rams of the most fashionable breeds comnmand prices far above their real value."
" But, neighbor, when you say that fancy
farmers cause  more harm than good to the locality in which they live, I must dissent firom
your position. As the term is usually understood, fancy farmiers are those who, possessed
of capital, expend it lavishly upon their farms
in various directions, according as their tastes
or prejudices lead them, and not always in an
economical, or even, perhaps, sensible manner.
They buy fist horses, blooded stock, fancy sheep
and poultry, artificial manures, imnproved  implements, search for new seeds and fruits, and
are always the first to take hold of any' newfangled notion' that starts up. They are usually men who have made their money by soime
other profession than farming, and consequently
27 
Fa rtm  TaZk.
are not deeply versed in its mysteries, by experience.  They are theorists,- fanatics, if yout
will,- and they enter upon new schemes with
more  impetuosity than wisdom.   In a word,
they'run things into the ground,' and in nine
cases out of ten, their experiments leave them
poorer in purse, but richer in experience.
"Now,  we  insist that such  farmers   amateurs, gentlemen farmners, fancy farmers, or whatever you see fit to terim them - are acquisitions to
any farming community.  They are the pioneers
in improvement - the extremists, who lead the
way in the path of progression. By their operations a whole neighborhood may profit. They
conduct an experiment; -if it is successful, others may profit by it without running the risks;
if it is unsuccessful, we need not attempt, and
have lost nothing.  So no  farmer, who keeps
his eyes and his ears open, but may profit by
the operations of his fancy farmer neighbor.
He buys blooded stock, and pays what you consider an outrageous price. Very well; he pays
his own money, and if he is satisfied, we ought
to be. He keeps this stock, and if of value, in
time it becomes mixed through all the surround
28 
Fancy  Farmners.
ing herds, and we are the recipients of the gain,
without being obliged to join in the expenditure.
So of fertilizers and  implements.  He  sees a
new kind of machine or manure advertised, obtains it, and makes a trial of it.  Wlhat is the
result? If it is a success and pays, you can do
the same; but if it is a failure, you are none
the poorer, rather richer in experience obtained
through the use of another's capital.
" Thus it is; and all this outcry against' fancy
farmers'  is just so muIch  spleen,  prejudice,
and a mistaken idea in regard to the matter.
To be sure it may make us feel a little envious
to see our new neighbor, fi'esh from somne occupation in which he has acquired money,
erecting nice buildings, purchasing fine stock,
improving his fields, driving a stylish team, and
spending his money generously, perhaps to us
foolishly; but such is not the right spirit. We
should strive to banish all such unworthy feelings, and, making the best of what we have,
endeavor to turn all his experiences to our own
advantage, and learn from his failures as well
as his successes."
29 
Farm;z Talk.
V.
WHEN TO SELL PRODUCE.
"; OTATOES  have got up to fifty-five
cents a bushel: do you think a feller
had better sell now, or hold on to
'em a while longer?"
Sell when it will _ay to sell."
There is no question so often asked ius dluring
the fall and winter as, "When do you. think I
had better sell" this, that, or the other crop?
and,' Do you think" such and such a thing
" will. be higher or lower?" To the former, our
invariable answer is, Sell when it pays for you
to do so; and to the latter, We cannot tell
you, for in these days of changes and  fluctuations, no man can tell what a day may bring
forth as regards the produce markets. Of course
there are certain general  facts which have a
bearing upon the matter, but these every farmer
understands who is posted, as he ought to be,
and may be.
3o 
WVhen to Sell Produce.
"But how can I tell when'twill pay?"
"There's the rub, Smith.  You  don't know
when, or at what price it will pay for you to
sell your potatoes, because you don't know what
they cost. Isn't that a fact?"
"Wall, I don't know  as I do  know what
they cost, adzactly; you see I never reckoned
clust."
There, farmers, is the whole truth in a nutshell. You don't know at whlat price you can
afoibrd to sell your produce, because you don't
know what it cost you to raise it.  Isn't it so?
How many of you can tell what your crops cost
you in the aggregate, or by the toln, bushel, or
pound, as the case may be; or can tell whether
you are making or losing, whatever the marklet
price may be?  WVe think we are safe in saying, not two in a hunidred.  You  think, guess,
calculate, about so much, but you don't know.
Wheat may be forty cents or a dollar and a quarter, aid potatoes fifty or seventy-five cents  a
bush-el, but vou don't know whether it will pay
for you to sell yours or not, because you can't
tell what they cost. And so you " go it blind."
If you hit a price that pays, you consider it a
31 
Farte  Talk.
stroke of good luck; and if you lose, you " grin
and bear it." But to return to Smith.
"' WVhat would you call paying?"
"\TWhen the amount received equals the cost
of production, with a fair percentage oni the capital employed."
This-is what we consider sound advice, and
the true policy, it being a safe course under all
circumstances.   If the market price is not sufficient to make good the cost of production, you
are fully justified in holding on to your produce,
as a general rule; but if it will return that, and
good interest on the money in addition, you are
on the safe side to dispose of it. But Smith
says, _
" You can't keep potatoes always, you know."
"Very true. Those products whichl are of
a perishable nature imust be disposed of before
another growing season, even at a sacrifice.
Potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables and fruits,
must be sold in their seasons, else they are a loss
on the producer's hands."
"'Tain't always good weather to haul stuff
to market, neither."
" That fact must also be taken into considera
32 
TVzecn to Sell Produce.
tion. Late autumn and the winter season is the
time the farmer can best attend to his marketing,
anid it will not pay to haul any distance over
bad roads, or in the busy season of the year,
for a few cents more on a bushel or pound.
Could youl afford to leave off in planting tinme
to haul your potatoes to market, even if they
were  ten cents a bushel  higher  than in the
winter?"
"No; not for twenty cents more."
" Of course not."
"I don't know, after all, but the best way
to market  your  crops is to sell  it on  four
legs."
"Vhat do you mean by that?"
"V Whiy, eat it up on the farm; feed it out to
stock, and sell the animals."
That course is certainly preferable for those
farmers who live at a distance fromn the markets,
particularly the hay and grain; but large quantities of potatoes are not conlveni.ent to feed out,
and I much doubt the expediency of so doing if
they command fifty cents a bushel, when corn
can be bought for a dollar.
3
33 
Farmi Talk.
" Do you cal'late a bushel of corn is worth
as much as two of potatoes for stock?"
" Pretty near. Potatoes are first rate for an
occasional feed, particularly with hay or dry
fodder; but corn meal is the richest and best
of anything in the shape of grain as food for
stock."
"Wall, I don't s'pose a feller can tell what
his crops cost him, unless he keeps somne kind
of reckonin' or'counts, can he?"
" Thlat's it, exactly, Smith.  We  farmers are
altogether too slack and negligent in our business matters.  \What would you think of a merchant who knew nothing of the cost of his
articles, and sold just as it happened?  Of course
he would soon fail, and he would deserve to.
We can all see the impropriety of such a course.
Then, why not apply it to our own business, our
own profession?  If anything, it is more complicated than the merchant's, and therefore requires more attention, and a stricter approach
to method and system. Let us look before we
leap.   Forewarned  is forearmed;  or,  as  the
modern adage has it, be sure you're right, then
go ahead. But we are not sure we are rig,ht,
34 
When  to  Sell Produttce.
and never can be, until the present  slip-shod
method of farming is done away with, and a
system is inaugurated whichl is more in accordance with the needs of those who obtain a living
by the cultivation of the soil."
35 
. Farm   Talk.
V I.
BUTTER MIAKING.
HILE making a call on my neighbor,
Squire Brown, the other evening, the
conversation turned on butter making
and the dairy.   The  Squire keeps a
small but fine dairy, consisting of a half dozen
cows or so, and his wife is well known as a
superior butter maker  and dairy woman.    I
asked Mrs. Brown if she had any secret method
of operation for making such nice butter at any
and all seasons of the year.
"O0, no, indeed! Only the method I've fol
lowed during these last twenty years."
"Bult your butter brings an extra price in
market, and is always so hard, yellow, and nicelooking, whether it is winter or summer.  Hlow
do you save your cream?"
" I skim the previous day's milk every morning, keep it in a stone jar, in a cool place, and
36 
Butter _Iakzkiig.
churn as often as necessary, - say, three or foul
timnes a week, according to the season."
" Vhat kind of a churn do you use?"
"The old-fashioned' dasher.' I've tried several of the'patents,' but none of them suit
me. It's a great deal of labor to keep them
clean."
" How do you'lay down' your buttter?"
I make  most of it into balls, to sutit my
customers, who like it better so for table use
The rest I pack into stone jars, cover it with
a layer of salt, and keep in the cellar until
wanted for use or the market."
" Vhat quantity of salt do you use to the
pound?"
"A very little over an ounce to a pound.
But some of my customers like it salted lighter.
I am always careful to have the very best fine
salt that can be found.   Another, and I think
one of the principal things in making good
butter, is, to keep everything you use perfectly
sweet and clean; which requires a strict personal attention, as well as plenty of scalding
water."
37 
Farei   Talk.
"How  do you operate with your cream in
cold weather?"
" Warm  the churn with scalding water, and
set the cream near the fire, if possible, until
warm enough.  Or warm water may be added
to the cream before churning, until it is of the
right temperature."
At this point, the Squire, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, broke in with,
" That's all very true, but you haven't given me
any credit. I don't believe you can make bricks
without sand, neither do I believe you can make
good butter without good milk; and I know you
can't have rich milk and cream without good
cows, well fed."
" That's my opinion, exactly, Squire; and I've
no doubt but Mrs. Brown's success in butter
making is due as muich to your out-of-door
management as to her excellent method of operation.   Are your cows  any particular breed,
Squire?"
" Well, no. The older ones are natives, and
the younger ones are part Ayrshire blood. When
I buy or raise a good cow, it don't make any
odds to me what breed or blood she is. The
38 
Butlter Making.
proof of a cow is in the milk-pail, though I
s'pose blooded stock is best to breed from."
"At what age do you have your heifers
come in'?"
"The spring they are two-year olds, always.
I don't believe in waiting till they are three-year
olds, as some do; it's a dead loss of one year.
I've tried it often enough to convince me..They
make just as good cows to come in at two as
to wait longer. To be sure the heifer gets more
growth on her if she don't calve till she's three
years old, butt I never believed in monstrous
cows. Of course I'm speaking of heifers which
are well kept, and are thrifty, and large of their
age. Only early calves, such as come in February or March, are suitable to raise.   Then
they can be weaned on hay, and, with a good
pasture, will come to the barn in as good condition to winter as common yearlings."
"W\hat is your general feed for your cows during the winter, or while they are at the barn?"
"Plenty of good English hay, with one feed(
a day of either roots or meal. Those that are
in milk get a little extra, for it. pays to do it. I
give themi as much clean water as they want
39 
Farm  Talk.
twice a day, and let them run in the yard sunny
weather. Get good cows, and give them generous food; keep them warm and clean, and use
them kindly, and there is no branch of farming that is more pleasant, or pays better."
40
'k
-V 
(-etll/ig Ready for the Catlle SIIow.  4I
VII.
GETTING READY FOR THE CATTLE SHOW.
c. UR  County Agricultural Society's an         nual fairs and cattle shows, or exhibi         tions, are  very  powerful  influences
towards elevating and bettering the
condition of the common farmer, and advancing
thle cause of agriculture, if they arle properly
conducted. But that's what's the matter. Too
many of them are made the vehicle for setting
forth the peculiar ideas of certain men, and too
many more are conducted in a manner not in
accordance with the intentions of the act incorporating them. One makes flowers a speciality, another favors sheep, and a good many
run all to horse,"- horse  walking, trotting,
and racing, with all the usual concomitants,
intemperance, gambling, and immoralities.  BuLt,
we are glad to say, that horse-racing, in connection with our agricultural exhibitions, is every
year growing less frequent, and the leading 
Farm  Tal k.
farmners and agricultural papers in the country
are taking a firm and decided stand against it.
This matter of cattle shows was brought to
my  mind  yesterday while  over  to  neighbor
Smith's. He is preparing for the cattle show;
in fact, has been preparing for the last six
months.  He has been getting ready at the rate
of a little less than a dollar a day. The particular line in which  Smith will exhibit this
year is in bulls.  He  is raising a bull calf,
which, he says, he "is bound shall take the
shine off" anything in our county, and it is
my private opinion he will get the premium.
You see, last February, one of Smith's cows
dropped a large bull calf, and hle immediately
conceived the idea of making a premium  animal out of him. So he hlas had the milk of the
dam, and also most of the milk of another cow,
all sumnier, and as a consequence has grown
rapidly, being now about the size of one of my
yearlings. Smith has taken the very best care
of him, feeding plenty of grass, and what meal
he would eat, and now he is a miracle of size
and fatness.
"What do you think of him?" said Smith
to me, looking admiringly at his bovine pet.
42 
Gettiing Ready for the Cattle Show. 43
" He's large, certainly, and sleek too."
"Won't he make a splendid bull!"
" Well, he looks like it; but you can't always
tell when they are so young."
That was as fully as I dared indorse Smith's
opinion.  When  I remembered that the  calf's
sire was a      "scrub" bull, and the dam only a
common native, I knew that nine chances to
one the calf would make an inferior stock animal. This is why we need blooded or thorouglbred animals for stock getting or breeding,they almost invariably mark their " get" with
their own valuable peculiarities and characteristics; whereas, if a native-bred bull be used, be.
he never so well-formed and fine an animal, his
offspring are likely to "cry back" to his scrub
parentage. These are facts, well grounded, and
should be duly heeded by every stock raiser, be
his speciality cattle, horses, sheep, or swine.
But Smith's bull calf will receive the first
premiuim, and a good deal of praise gratis.
There's no doubt in my mind about that, yet
the question comes  up, Will it pay?   "Ay,
there's the rub."  I asked Smith, —
" How do your pigs grow?" 
Farii  Talk.
" They don't seemn to grow very fast. Takes
an awful sight of milk for pigs."
"Butter is pretty well up, isn't it?"
" Don't know; haven't sold any this summer.
Been feeding the calf, you know."
That shows where the shoe pinches. But
Smith has got a fine, yes, an extra bull calf,
and will get the premium, and perhaps a " diplomzy." That's a foregone conclusion. The
wise and far-seeing committee on' bulls, cows,
and heifers," will view Smith's specimen of
adipose matter with a look of wisdom and
knowledge which only "committee  men" can
assume, and' pronounce favorably, for fat goes
a great ways in their opinion, and, like wealth,
covers a multitude of sins and deformities.
Thus fat and size are made the criterion; and
this false idea prevails extensively, as witness
the decisions of too many of the "judges" at
our annual cattle shows.  Do  not understand
me as decrying the habit of carrying your best
to your county fair, and of striving to raise fine
stock and good crops. Far fiom it. It is just
what I would have every farmer do; and here
let mne advise, even urge, every farmer to attend
44 
Getling Ready for the Catle Show. 45
his county fair and cattle show; and not only
go yourself, but take the family, particularly the
boys, making the occasion an annual holiday.
And further, do not go empty-handed, or to look
at what  somebody  else contributes.   Furnish
your own mite towards filling up, and making
the exhibition complete and interesting. Take
along some of the best specimens from your
crops, garden, orchard, and farm-yard, for comparison with those of your neighbors. That's
wherein you are the gainer; by learning how
others operate, and being willing to give up your
own method and opinions for anything that is
better.
But what I do condemn is the practice so
prevalent of pampering, petting, and forcing
certain animals or crops at the expense of others,
for the purpose of creating a monstrosity of size
and growth; and also the action of those committees who award premiums to such specimens.
My neighbor Smiith is not the only one who is
feeding a pet calf with nearly all the milk of
his cows, while his table lacks butter, and his
pigs squeal lustily in the sty.
*        *        *        *        * 
Farm  Talk.
" A pretty good cattle show, Smith?"
"First rate.  I got the first premium on the
bull calf."
" Ah! Did you?"
"Yes. And the committee said he was the
biggest and fattest calf ever shown on the
grounds."
" That's just as I expected."
46 
Agricultural Colleges.
VI II.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES.
CONVERSATION  which  I  lately
:t4X,    had with James Brown, my neighbor
the Squire's oldest son, in relation to
our Industrial School or Agricultural
College, presents so forcibly the opinions and
position of our farmer boys in regard to the sutbject, that I am induced to give it here. James
is a fine specimen of our well-to-do farmers'
sons, with a fair common-school education, obtained at the district school; which, by the way,
he hlas taught for the past two winters.  He is
now in his twentieth year, possesses a good constitution, and is endowed with a fair share of
intellectual capacity and good common sense.
Such young men are the pride and hope of our
country, and make its best and most estimable
citizens.
Since the agitation and discussion of the question of agricultural education, the Squire has
47 
Farmz  Talk.
been much interested, and it has been his wish
and intention to assist his son towards obtaining
such knowledge as should enable him to become
a successful farmer, and the equal of his fellows
in the other professions.   And  James  is not
averse, providing the conditions are such as he
considers practicable.  Meanwhile the years have
rolled by, and he is nearly of age, and expects
soon to enter into the labor of life upon his own
account. He has but a couple of years or less,
at most, to devote to study, and he is only one
of a large class similarly situated.
Said James to me, -
" They are going to open the Agricultural
College this spring, ain't they?"
"So I understand."
' What do you think of it, anyhow?"
" I think well of the idea, but I am not well
enough informed as to the plans of those having
charge to decide as to particulars.  It is comparatively a new project, and we must be content to wait for results."
"I've had some idea of going to this college,
but I want to understand more and better how
it is to be conducted, and what will be required
48 
Agricultural Colleges.
of the students. I've heard say that the course
will be four, or at least three years. If that's
so, then it's no use for me to talk about it. I
haven't got any such length of time to spare,
neither am I able to expend the amount of money
required to carry me through such a course.
I would like to spend a year or so more in
learning some of those things intimately connected with farming, but I have no intention
of entering upon the study of a dozen'ologies,
without a prospect of ever completing one of
them."
It is, I believe, the intention to introduce
only those studies which have a direct bearing
upon the object in view, and that practice and
theory shall go hand in hand."
'" Here I've been at work upon the farm ever
since I was large enough to do chores, and I
ought to have a tolerably good idea in regard to the various operations; what I want to
learn now is, the why and wherefore- why
such a thing is done so and so, why such acts
and methods of operating produce such results,
and the best ways of performing them, given
4
49 
50
Farmi  Talk.
and received through the medium of actual
practice, so that I can do it again if required."
" That is going to be one of the greatest difficulties in the way of conducting such a school
successfully - to find men qualified for teachers. There are enough to be had who are fully
competent to teach the theory, but are they capable of going into the field, orchard, or barn,
and putting their knowledge into practice in
such a manner as to instruct and benefit their
pupils?  That's the trouble.  On the other hand,
there are plenty of practical farmers who  are
thoroughly conversant with the methods of performing the various operations required to be
'done upon the farm; they have everything at
their finger ends, but they have not the power
and  faculty of imparting their knowledge  to
others. Thus yout see is required one of those
rare men, in whom knowledge and ability to
impart and execute are united.  SLuch men our
professors should be, and such they must be, to
insure success to the institution."
"There is anlother point, -the amount of
manual labor to be performed.  If a fellow has
got to work on the farmrn all day, or a greater 
Agricu,lural Colleges.
part of the time, it's no use for him to think of
studying to any advantage, for I've tried that.
You hold a breaking-up plough half a day, or
work in the hay field, or hoeing, or any other
kind of farm work, and I tell you a fellow feels
more like going to bed than getting a lesson."
"That's a fact; and though I am an advocate of manulal labor in connection with such
a college, as one of the very foundation stones,
yet I would have but a few hours each day
devoted to it, and then it takles more the form
of recreative exercise than labor. Some institutions of this character devote two hours each
day to manutal labor, which is certainly little
enough."
" O, yes; two hours would only be enough
for exercise. Do the teachers or professors work
with the scholars?"
In some cases they do, in others the pupils
work under the superintendence of the one who
has the general charge of the farm. The former
method is far preferable, as it gives more interest and dignity to the act."
" How  do they divide the work among the
pupils?"
5I 
Far;m  Talk.
"The best system I have heard of is where
the pupils are divided into classes, or gangs,
each one under the charge of a teacher or professor.   One  class studies  and works in the
garden for a certain length of time, and then
they are changed to the fields, while another
takes their place, anid so on, all taking turns in
performing the necessary stable work."
" That looks quite sensible.  Let every one
do his share of the labor and the dirty work;
cleaning the stable, hauling the manure, ploughing, &c. But if there's a class of students who
are not obliged to labor, 14it pay more money
instead, it would  spoil the whole  thing.   I
wouldn't stay in an establishment where such
privileges were  allowed.   It wasn't  intended
for kid-gloved dandies, but for workers.  Hlow
much do you suppose it will cost for a year's
board at the college?"
" That I cannot tell; butt I see no reason why
it might not be nearly self-supporting; that is,
each pupil would perform sufficient labor to
raise his own food.  Of course they woutld not
expect the luxuries and delicacies, but plain,
substantial food.  At any rate, with such neces
52 
Agricultural Colleges.
sary articles for the students as every farm-houtse
could furnish, I think the expense  would  be
comparatively small."
"W\ell, I believe I shall try it, if they have a
short or partial course.   There's a great many
points I want to be posted on, and which I can't
get outt of books. They only tell how things
are done, but I want to see them  performed,
and have it explained why they are done so.  I
want to understand the practice as well as
the theory of farming."
53 
Farmi   TalTk.
IX.
APPLE TREES AND INSECTS.
-    Y  neilghbor Smith is just setting out a
young orchard, and says he is " going
2,2  into raising apples."   In fact, Smith
is a little excited on the apple subject
just now; and, like a good many other worthy
men, when he gets deeply interested in any subject, is apt to run into extremes.  We  confess
that with apples at two dollars a bushel, there
is sotne temptation to try and grow them; for,
as Smith says,' Don't you see how they pay? and I might
as well make the money as anybody."
All very true; and far be it from my  intention to discoturage the planting of apple orchards.
In fact, we  consider it a duIty we owe to the
coming generations, that they may pluck the
fruits which are the results of our labors, as we
do of those who  have gone  before.  But  our
planters should not be too sanguline, nor ex
54 
Appile Trees and Inseccs.
pect to reap the rewards too soon, for they will
surely be  mistaken.   An  orchard  is not  the
growth of one year nor of five; and though a
man may reasonably expect to eat of the fruit
of trees of his own planting, yOet he must not
expect to have full-grown trees from the seed,
nor that they are to be  grown  without labor
or care; neither will the fruit always bring sc
high a price in the market.
We looked over the wall, and chatted a few
minutes with Smith, while he was digging holes
in the tough sward, and setting out his nurserygrown trees.
" What do you think of these trees?- two
years old, over three feet high, and as straight
as a candle.  Ain't they handsome?"
Here he " chucked" another into a hole, and
filled in deep with sods and wet dirt, finishing
off with a heavy stamping down.
There, I call them pretty fair.   The  nurseryman said they'd bear in six years after they
were grafted, and I'm going to graft'em next
spring."
Better add ten to the six."
"Why?   Don't  yout  think  they are  good
trees?
55 
Farm  Talk.
, O, these are not bad of the kind; but there
are better ones down in your sheep pasture."
" Do  you mean them little, gnarly, scrubby
things?"
"Yes. Some of them are perhaps a dozen
years old, and not over three feet high, but they
are stocky."
"Why  do  you think they are better  than
these?"
" Because they are well rooted, and can be
taken up with so many fibrous roots that the
transplanting will not affect them much; and
they are also very hardy, and changing from a
poor to a good soil will cause them to thrive
and  grow rapidly.   Such  stocks are preferable to forced and pampered trees fromt the nursery."
"'What do you think of this field for an orchard?"
"This easterly slope is good; but a part of
the field needs draining. Trees will not do well
with their feet in the water. And if you ever
expect to raise an orchard, you have got to
use a little more care in setting them out, besides having the ground in better condition than
this is."
56 
A}p.le  Trees and Insects.
"~'hat had I better do to it?"
" Cultivate it a few years with a hoed crop,
and manure it well, only be sure you put on a
good deal more than you take off in the form
of crops. Then you can seed it down to grass,
only keep the trees well and widely nmulched."
" I've got a lot of old poor hay and straw in
the barn; wouldn't that be good for mulching?"
" Yes; any light vegetable matter will answer. If you do not plough the ground, you
can use your old hay around your young trees
to good advantage.   Such a mulch seems to
keep the soil about the roots loose, open, and
moist during the hot summer days."
" I saw you at work in your orchard this forenoon.  Trimming it up?"
"No;  June is tile best time to prune.  The
wounds heal up quickly then.  I was digging
out borers, and cutting off caterpillar's eggs."
"Well, I never knew much about them, and
how they operate, though the caterpillars conme
pretty near eating my trees up last summer,
before I could get rid of thlem. They and the
borers come from bugs, don't they?"
" Not exactly. I will give you their history
57 
aFar;i  Talk.
very briefly.  The borer is a grub, which lives
in the bark and wood of the apple tree, near the
roots; and, if not destroyed, will girdle the tree,
and kill it. This grub, which hatches from a
minute egg laid by the parent beetle, lives in
the wood three years, eating and growing every
summer.  In the spring of the fourth year it
changes to a beetle, or perfect insect, which
comes out of the tree, flies abroad in the night,
and deposits its eggs for another generation of
borers. Thus its life is divided into four states,
or  stages:  the egg,  the grub or  larva,  the
5Pupa, which  is the  dormant  state,  and  the
imago, which is the perfect, or winged form, as
tlie beetle. They are a great pest in some portions of the country."
Can't they be hindered?"
" There is no certain preventive yet known.
The only sure way is to examine the trunk of
every tree, and  cut them out, and kill them.
This should be done twice a year, spring and
fall."
"How about the caterpillars?"
" The apple-tree caterpillar belongs to a different order of insects, and when in its perfect
58 
Aptple  Trees and  InsccIs.
or winged state, is a moth or miller, instead of
a beetle.  This moth lays the belt or bunch of
eggs on the twigs of the trees, which I have been
cutting off to-day. In the spring, when warm
weather comes, a minute caterpillar hatches out
of these eggs, which immediately begins to eat
the tender apple leaves, and grows, and eats,
and eats, throwing off and changing its skin
several times during its life, till at last it is flill
grown about the last of June, when they leave
the trees and cover themselves with an ovalshaped silken case, or cocoon, fastened in some
sheltered place, and inside of this cocoon they
change to the moth, which comes out in about
three weeks, flies in the night, pairs, and the
female lays her eggs for the next year's crop
of caterpillars."
" Do they go through the same forms as the
borers?"
"Just the same. The egg, larva, pupa, and
perfect insect."
" What's the best way to kill caterpillars?"
" There  are various methods recommended,
which may be followed with a degree of success. It is always safe and sure to cut off the
59 
Farnm  Talk.
eggs in the spring or fall, and burn them.  I
have found a good way to destroy themn, after
they are hatched and in their webs on the trees,
is to make some very strong soapsuds, and give
them, nests and all, a thorough  soaking, by
means of a brush or swab fastened on the end
of a pole.  A  soaking of strong suds is sure
death to them. This method is practicable, for
the materials are always at hand for use."
60 
Mi'ddle —Jfen.
X.
MIDDLE-MEN.
HERE  is a large class of persons in
ithis country called middle-szen, who
f  operate in all communities, and who
are of no benefit whatever. They are
non-producers, deriving their  sustenance  from
the labor of others, like a parasitic plant. They
buy from the producer; and sell to the consumer, thus directly injuring both parties, - the
one paying too high for hiis necessities, the other
being obliged to sell his products under price.
These drones in the social hive are numerous,
and are particularly inimical to the farmners' interests. From various causes we are in a condition to be more easily preyed upon by these
cormorants than any other profession. If the
producers and consumers could be brought more
directly together, so as to save the large profits
of the middle-men, it would be greatly for the interests of both, and there would be less reason
6i 
Farii   Talz.
for bewailing the small profits of the one, and
the high prices of products by the other.
These middle-men comprise several minor
classes, some stationary and others itinerant.
These latter are found perambuLlating the producing regions wherever their keen visions scent
the possibility of a " trade."  One of these gentry, whose speciality is cattle buying, called
upon me yesterday, while I was in the field,
ploughing.
" Mornin', Captin."
" Good morning, sir."
Heerd ye had some cattle to sell."
"I have a yoke of beeves. Are you buying stock?"
"W all, a  leetle; kinder  off an'  on  like.
Where's your oxen, Captin?"
"Over yonder in the pasture.  You can go
down and look at them. I am very busy today. Drive on, John."
He goes off to the pasture, and returns in
about fifteen minutes.  I ask him,
" What do you think of them? fat, ain't
they?"
' MIiddlin', Captin; only middlin'."
62 
.JI/ddle-1fcen.
" How  much do you make their girth?"
"'Bout  seven foot; rawny-boned too."
"WVhy, I make them girth seven feet two,
strong."
"Kinder flabby; they'll dress away a good
deal."
"They'd ought to be pretty solid.  I fed them
corn meal all last winter and this spring."
" WVhat's yer price, Captin?"
" Two hundred dollars."
" Two hundred!  Can't go that, no how."
" Very well. Start up the team, John."
Buyer looks rather disappointed, but follows
me round till we reach the next headland, when
he breaks out, -
" Say, Captin, ain't that rather steep? Beef's
a-goin' down.  My brother come from Brighton
t'other day, and says you can't hardly give it
away there."
"WVhen did he leave Brighton?"
" One day last week."
W Vell, I've yesterday's cattle market report,
and beef is tending upward. What makes you
so anxious to buy if it is falling?"
"Fact is, Captin, I like the looks of them
63 
}Farim   Talk.
oxen. I'll split the difference betwixt that and
a hundred and seventy-five."
" My price is two hundred."
" Let's go down and look at'em agin."
Can't spend the time."
" A feller couldn't make his salt to pay two
hundred for'em."
" You're not obliged to take them."
"That  off one ain't in near so good order
as the nigh one.  Think he is?"
"How  did  you  know  which  was  the off
one?"
Say, I'll go a five better."
You have heard mny price."
\We have reached the end of the bout.  Butyer
makes a motion  as if to leave.  I make no
remark, but set the plough in on the next fiurrow, when he suddenly wheels withi
Here's your money.   Dang  it!  I'll take
the oxen."
" All right. John, drive them utp into the
yard. Let the team'blow' a few minutes."
" Hain't got an old yoke, or halter, or somethin' that you'll throw in, to fasten'em with,
have ye?"
64 
f'ddle-Jfciz.
" Give him a halter, John."
"Good day, Captin. Looks as if we migiht
have a spell o' weather soon."
As he goes down the road, he meets Smith,
to whom  he says,  "The  Captin is a'hard
cud' to trade with:  couldn't beat him  down
a cent."
5
65
-1'~~~~~~~1 
Farmn  Talk.
XI.
TAKING THE PAPERS.
HIS  looks a little more  spring-like,
neighbor."
Y "es, this is a fine Sabbath morn         ing. The snow is all gone, except an
occasional sheltered bank, the frost is neally
out of the ground, and the patches of new green
grass we see once in a while look quite refreshing."
"Done any planting yet?"
"No; but I've got the ground ready for some
early peas and potatoes."
"Don't b'leeve in putting in seed when the
sile is so cold. What paper was that you're
readin'."
" Thze Farmer."
"What do you think about takin' so many
papers, anyhow?  My boys have been a-coaxin'
mne to take some kind of a farmin' paper, and
I thought I'd ask you which was the best one."
66 
TakgiZg  zhe Pa2pers.
That's rather a difficult qaestion, neighbor;
but I'll give you my opinion in re,ard to the
matter. To be withlout a weekly newspaper is
to be far behind the times; and for a farmer to
be without one pertaining to his profession, is
eqt,,ivalent to being behind  the age in everything relating to that profession. The number
of periodicals which a farmer should take, of
course, depends somewhat upon his means; but
no one is so poor as to be able to do without
entirely.   In the first place, he should support
his local paper, whatever it is, if it does not
deal too much in slang phrases and personalities,
which, I am sorry to say, is tile fact, in too many
cases.   Next, he should  havec his state agricultural paper, if there is one; if not, the one
published nearest him, as that treats especially
of matters around him, and is applicable to his
locality.  Then, a good monthly, devoted exclusively to agriculture, with a magazine for the
womnen folks, will answer very well for a farmer's family, with such reading as is usually obtained fromn other sources."
" But that would be a pretty big bill to pay."
" Reckon  it up, and  you  will find it will
67 
lra i  T(z Ik.
come within ten dollars, including postage and
all; and that is only the interest on a hundred
dollars for a year at ten per cent.  In what possible way could money be put to better use, or
spent to better purpose, both for yourself and
family?  The value of a good newspaper in a
family of children cannot be estimnated in dollars and cents."
"There's Brown takes two or three farming
papers, but he says he don't believe half there
is in'em."
"Of course,  it's jLust like everything  else;
we must not believe everything we  read, even
if it is in the paper. There are a good many
men who write for the press, who are like
brother Wood, at the prayer-meeting, - they are
blessed with the'gift o' gab,' use a great many
loud-sounding words, and take up a good deal
of time' a-sayin' nothin'.' It's just as hard keeping such men out of print as to keep themi out
of the church; but they soon die out naturally,
if left to themselves."
"That's so! It isn't them that makes  the
most talk that knows the most -not by a long
shot."
68 
Takizg  lhe Papers.
" But about reading for farmers.  There are
other sources fi'om  which it can be obtained
without costing mulch.  Let half a dozen farmers
in a neighborhlood each buy a good book, and
lend or exchange amiong thlemselves.  They will
thus hleave a winter's reading very cheaply.  Then
there are the monthly and annual reports from
the United States Department of Agriculture,
whlich can be obtained free, upon application;
also reports of State Societies, and Boards of
Agriculture, when they are in operation, which
can be got by applying to your representative."
69
I L 
FarT,z  Tafl.
XII.
THE'OLQGIES.
WVAS  into  Smith's  last night, and
found him in quite a state of excite       ment, consequent upoin reading an ar         ticle in an  agricultural  magazine I
had lent him.   In fact, Smith had  " got  his
dander up" in regard to the doctrines and laiiguage contained in said article, and was willing
to own  it.  HIe was "sputtering away" about
humbugs, nonsense,'ologies, &c.
" \What's the matter with the'ologies, Smith?"
" I don't believe in'em, and never dclid. What's
the use of so much' flummy-diddle'?  Plain
common sense is enough for any farmer's paper.
I'm  a practical farmer, -  none o' your science
about me; and your'ologies may'go to grass'
for all me.  I've no ulse for'em."
"\Vait a bit; don't get excited.   Let's talk
the thing over a little.  Nothinig like keeping
cool to enable a fellow to understand the gist
70 
The' Ologics.
of the matter. Now, I believe you are about
as much interested in the'ologies, as you call
them, as anybody."
"s'o, sir; I'm dead set agin'em."
" Let's argue the point a little."
";W\all, arger away; but fust try an apple,
to clear your throat."
" Thank you; I will. Fine specimens these.
WVhat variety are they?"
" Spitzenburghs: some o' my own graftin'."
Sure they're Spitzenburghs?"
" Sartin. I've took considerable pains to study
about apples, and I guess there ain't many kinds
raised hereabouts but I can tell their names as
quick as I put my eye on'em."
"I've no doubt of it; and your knowledge
on the subject proves that you are not only interested in, but pretty well acquainted with one
of the'ologies."
" How do you make that out?"
\ Why,  Po;ozology is the science that treats
of firuit, and you have shown that you know a
'thing or two' about  apples; so there's one
of the'ologies."
" Well, you've got me there."
71 
Faroz  Talk.
I think I have.  Hand me over that wormy
apple. Do you know what nmade the hole?"
"A worm, of course, -an apple-worm."
"Very well; butt do you know the history,
habits, name, &c., of this worm?"
"No; though they say the worm comes from
a miller."
"Yes, a little moth or miller lays her eggs
in the calyx, or blossom end of the young apple,
just as it is beginning to grow, and from that
egg the worm hatches which troubles the apple
so badly. After this worm is grown to its full
size, it changes to a chrysalis, in which form it
remains through the winter, and from which
the moth comnes the next spring, and lays its
eggs again for some more apple-worms. The
scientific name  of this insect  is  Carpocapsa
_pomonella, and its common name is the appleworm."
But I don't see where the'ology comes in."
" Yes, you can; for the science that treats
of insects  is termed Eintomology.  So there's
another'ology, in which you, in common with
all other farmers, are deeply interested."
" You're doing well; go on."
72 
TZe' Oo,ices.
" \Well, let's go into the subject a little deeper.
\Vhlat's the soil of your farm?"
" Hard and rocky, mostly; some sandy loom
ill the low ground and flats."
Any sanld or clay?"
Yes; there's a sand bed, and quite a clay
bank over in the corner.   There was  a'brick
kill' down there a good many years ago."
Any large stone?"
Some bowlders -granite; and the ledges
crop outt a little over in one corner of the pasture lot."
" Very well; there's another'ology - Geology; which treats of thle formation and structutre
of the earthl, and of what it is composed."
"\Well, I'll give  up.   Looks a little stormy
out, don't it?"
'What makes you think so?"
a Because there's heavy rain-clouds rollin' in
from the water, and the wind is  otout' strong."
" Thlat's another'ology- JZeleoroofogy; which
is the science that treats of the weather and
the condition of the atmosphere; a science with
which every farmer is more or less practically
acquainted. These are only a few of the'ologies
73 
Fariiiz  Taz.
in which every farmer is directly interested, and
the principles of vwhich are so fiequently brought
into his every-(day practice.  It's no use, Smith,
for you to be  down' on the'ologies."
"Can you name another?"
1 Certainly.   There's  P, ysiology, both  animal and vegetable; the former treating of everything that relates to animals, and the latter of
plants.  So  you  see it is absolutely necessary
for a farmer to know something about this
'ology. The sciences are intimately connected
with the farmer's operations at every step of his
progress. and he is not a wise man who persistently opposes whatever to him seems to smack
of science, or is comprehended under the hlading of an'ology."
74 
Ass  Evcjziig's  Czciat.
XIII.
AN EVENING'S CHAT.
HIS looks a little winterish?"
~ — B      "Yes,  decidedly  so.  Pretty good
sleighing now, isn't it?"
Pretty fail;  a day's  travel  will
make it excellent.  Isn't this earlier than usual?"
" Rather.   There  isn't more  than one year
out of ten we have sledding by the first of De
cember."
" Ne haven't had any very cold weather yet?"
0, O no; the coldest was this morning, when
the mercury was  down  to 15~; cold enough,
though, to give us warning to prepare for it."
" I was thinking of going to market to-morrow with a load of potatoes.  Do you suppose
they will freeze?"
' Not unless it is colder than it is now. I
hauled potatoes, in barrels, last winter, at any
time when  the thermometer indicated a temperature above I5~, without any danger of their
75 
Fai;ri,   Tt Cuk.
being frost-bitten; but for a long distance it
wouldn't do to run the risk. It is said it takes
several degrees more of  cold to fireeze  then
when in motion than when at rest."
"Potatoes are doing pretty well in market?"
Yes.   Footes and Jacksons bring fifty-five
cents; and at that price we can make a fair
profit raising them, providing they don't rot;
but if they do, it kills the profits."
" It's no use to plant any but these sorts for
sale or family use.  There's the Californias turn
out surprisingly, but you can't sell'em in market.  They're  nothing  but a' bag of water'
cooked- -only fit for stock; and I am doubtfiul
whether they pay then.  They are handy, though,
to have to feed occasionally through the winter,
to keep the cattle loose. I'm feeding mine out
now with my straw and coarse fodder, which I
like to get rid of before mid-winter."
WYell, Californias are poor, ain't fit to eat,
as you say; but I cooked and fed out twentyfive bushels this fall to my pigs, and they did
well on it."
" Guess you give'em  somethin' besides the
potatoes."
76 
Asi  E     nvceiin's  Chiat.
' Of course. Miixed them with corn meal."
" I see you've butchered.   How  much  did
your pigs weigh?"
" One went two hundred and thirty-two, and
the other three  hundred and two pounds, at
seven and a half months old. That sow was
the largest and fattest pig of her age that ever
I raised.  They got nothing through the summner but the waste milk of three cows and the
slops from the house, and were fatted on potatoes, oatmeal, and bran, and corn meal for
the last month.  They both received the same
keeping, yet the sow gained the fastest. I have
always found that sow pigs are best for fall
killing, but  barrows are better to keep over
winter."
"I s'pose you'll keep a spare-rib for Christ mas?"
" Yes; I have packed them into a nice, clean
barrel, with snow. They have frozen, and will
keep first rate; but I guess some of us will have
to do without mince pies, apples are so scarce,
or make them minus the fruit."
" I've got one barrel of Btldwins headed up
and put in the cellar, and I shan't open it till
77 
Faris  Talk.
Christmas.  If we have many more  such cold,
hard winters, I shall lose all my apple trees."
" Don't lay it all to the cold; it isn't exactly
that whlich kills the trees, but it's the sudden
changes, or extremes of ttmperature, usually in
March.  ThIus we  have a day or two of quite
warm weather, which swells the buds and starts
the sap up the trunk of the tree, then the wind
suddenly changes to the nor'ard, the mercury
in the thlermometer goes down with a jerk, the
sap freezes, and the buids are killed or the trunk
bursts opena.   However,  if we  experience no
sudden changes this winter, and no frost in blossoming time, we shall undoubtedly have a heavy
crop of apples next year, for the trees had a
good season last summer to rest and obtain food
for forming fruit buds for the next season's
crop."
I'm going to graft some more of mny trees
next spring. What kind should you put in?"
M Mostly Baldwins.  There is no variety that
has yet proved equal to them for a general market apple in this latitude.   But there is one
thing I would advise you not to do, and that
is, not to graft your old trees if they bear a fair
78 
Aiz  Evenizg's  Chlat.
niarketa-ble  apple, because it won't pay.   A
good  miany pretty good trees, and not a few
orchards, have been ruined by their owners getting a touch of the'graftiing' mania."
That's a fact.  I spoiled three or four.  I'll
never graft old, large trees again.  But I must
get home and put up my stock.  Good day."
Drop  in again, neighbor, some  of these
long  evenings, and we'll  have  a social chat
about matters and things in general, and farming in particular."
79
- 0 
80
Aari-z Talk.
XIV.
PLANTING FOR POSTERITY.
,f        L 4 ETTING outt shade trees?"
"Yes.  Planting for posterity."
9i,  ~     IHem! And posterity won't thank
ye for it. Let every one look out for
thlemselves, I say.  I shan't trouble myself about
what will happen fifty years after I'm gone."
" To tell the truth, neighbor, it isn't wholly
for posterity after all; there are some selfish
views at the bottom."
" You don't never calc'late they'll grow big
enough to make  any shade worth  mentionin'
in your day, do ye?"
" Perhaps not; but then they may. Do you
see those Balm o' Gileads that are higher than
the barn now? Well, twenty years ago they
were nothing but sprouts, which I stuck into
the groutnd."
"Yes; but they are fast growers, ai(nd don't
amount to anything after all." 
Plal;"/Illg for Posteirly.
1 I Liowv they are not a very valuablle variety for lumber, but it is a rapid grower,'and
easy of propagation, and while young makes a
fine shade tree."
How  old's them horse chestnuts?"
Ten years fromn the seed; and now  they
are about twenty feet high, and over six inches
through at the butt. Last year they were covered
wvith cones of splendid blossoms, making a fiery
pretty sight, I can tell you."
Butt they're in a rich place."
Every tree transplanted should be placed
in a good  soil, adapted to its nature, else it's
no use to set them out."
"It costs something to take so much  pains."
"Yes, it costs, and it pays too. It pays not
only in the pleasure of their possession, but in
real dollars and cents.   How  much  more do
you suppose your farmn would be worth if you
had a row of handsome, well-grown shade trees
on each side of the road through it?"
"I don't  know  as  t'woutld  be worth  any
more."
\Well, then, how much mnore would it brinz,
suppositng it was put into the market to-day?
6
8i 
2Fator}z Talk.
" Somet-hing, I s'pose."
"Yes; a pretty large'somethinpg.'  It wouid
bring enough more to pay for the time, labor,
and cost of setting out and takling care of tihe
trees, ten tinmes over.  There is no method of
adorning, and at the same time adding to the
value of a farm so cheaply, as by planting fruit
and shade trees."
\vell, perhaps it's so."
Then again, as to planting trees for posterity.  I consider it my  duty as well as my
pleasure to do so.  Not only so because those
I have set out in }-ears a-gone have repaid me
so well, but as a debt I owe those who, many
years since, planted these trees which now give
me shade and fruit.  I will endeavor to do for
those who come after me what my fathers have
done for me. See those noble elms, some of
them of nearly a century's growth! Supposing
our forefathers had decided that it didn't pay
to plant trees, where should we have found such
specimens?  \Vhat  better and more  enduring
mementos and proofs of their love for their race
could they have chosen? "
82 
P/(ltllig for  Postcr/ty.
a I suppose the elm is the best tree for shade
there is, isn't it? "
" It is certainly the very king of trees; but
there are many others worthy of a place beside
it.  There is the rock or sugar miaple, whlich
cannot be surpassed as a hardy, thrifty, and fast
grower,  with  a fine  form  and  foliage.  The
white or soft maple is also a fine tree, and
especially in the auttumn, when its brilliant colored leaves make it a very beautiful and desirable ornamental and shade tree.  Then there are
the ash and the oak; good shade trees, but
rather hard to transplant.  Also the beech and
the birches, which are very graceful, though
but little used."
" What's the best time in the year to transplant trees, do you think?"
In the spring, as soon as the ground is dry
enough.   At  any rate before the buds begin
to burst."
" Do you believe in cuttin' off much of the
top when they are set out?"
" That depends upon  circumstances.  If the
roots are all, or nearly all, obtained, but little
top pruning will be needed; and, if possible,
83 
Far~iz  Talk.
onlly those trees should be taken up whlich can
be removed  with most of their roots.  However, if it is thought advisable to transplant a
larger tree, and many of the roots are lost, a
severe top pruning is necessary."
" IHad the soil ought to be manured before
setting out shade trees?"
"It is not necessary if it is in good condition.
But all nlewly-transplanted trees should be deeply mulched the first year at least, to keep the
soil moist, and the roots fiom sutffering for moisture.   There is anotl-her point iln which many
tree-planlters err.  They  dig a hole deep in the
ground, thrust in the tree, cover its roots deep
with earth, anid think they hleave done their part.
Now, unless the soil is very dry and gravelly,
the tree hlad better have been set on the top of
the ground, or nearly so, and the roots covered
with  soil  taken firom  another  place.   Trees
should also be firmly staked."
" How about firs, spruces, &c.?"
" Evergreens  require a somewhat  different
treatment from the hard-wood trees. They are
harder to live, and require more care in transplanting.  It should be done in early stummer,
84 
Plantzng for Posterity.
or when the buds are swelling.   Some are very
successful in taking them  up  in the cold season, when a large lump of frozen earth can be
taken up with the roots. They should never
be pruned, or at least their lower limbs should
not be cut off, as it is their nature to grow low
limbed when standing alone."
85
A
11 
Farnz  Talk.
XV.
PARASITIC PLANTS.
OOD  morning."
"How d'ye do, Squire?  Walk in;
take a  chair, and  draw  up to  the
fire."
" Pretty cold, ain't it?"
"Yes; ten degrees below zero is about cold
enoulgh. Do you suppose this cold snap will
last long?"
" No, I guess not; the wind is haulin' so'westerly, and it's'bout time for our January thaw."
Heip yourself to an apple, Squire."
Sweet, ain't they? What do you call them?"
Talman  Sweets.  They  are the best winter sweets I ever raised. Splendid for baking,
and first rate to eat any way. I've just been
examining this one with the scabby-looking spot
on the side."
WVNhat do you make it out to be?"
It's a plant that grows on the apple."
86 
Parasitic Planets.
" A  plant!  Why, how does it grow there?"
" Like other plants; only it derives its nourishment from the apple instead of the soil.
Such plants belong to the lowest orders of the
vegetable worl(l, and are called _arassites, which
means a kind of plants which grow on and from
other plants, to which they attach themselves,
and whose juices they absorb."
How do they get there in the first place?"
These parasitic plants are propagated by
means of organs called snores, which correspond
to the seeds of other plants. When this parasite obtains its growth, it is covered with these
spores, which are so minute as not to be readily
discernible by the unassisted eye, but which are
plainly shown under the microscope. They are
scattered abroad by the wind and  other agencies, and when one of them eflects a lodgment
on some plant which is adapted to its growth,
it immediately takes root and flourishes if surrounding circumstances are favorable."
" I should think it would injure the plant or
fruit on which it grows, as you say it sucks
out the sap or juice for food to live on."
" Certainly it does.   Look  at this  apple.
87 
Far;iz  Talk.
Don't you see ti ere is a depression, or hollow
on the side where the parasite is situated. This
is  caused  by the  parasitical  plant  drinking
ulp and appropriating the juice or nourislmrent
which should have formed the flesh of the apple.  Some  of these parasites appear only as
minute spots, no larger than a pin-head; others
are as large as a dime, and others still covering
a quarter, or perhaps a whole side of an apple,
producing a gnarled and withered appearance."
"Are these parasites found on all kinds of
plants?"
Probably every species of plant has its parasite, which is, or may be present when the
plant is in a condition to sustain it. I do not
suppose a perfectly healthy plant would be thus
affected, but the presence of a parasitic growth
is evidence of disease and degeneracy."
" Are large plants, like trees, troubled the
same way?"
" Yes.  For instance, the common cherry and
plum tree is affected with a parasitic disease,
popularly known as the bZlack-knot."
"Why  is that a parasitic plant?  I always
thought worms caused tile bi'ack-knot."
88 
Parasilic Planls.
"No.  It is a parasite, which scientific men call
spliceriza  norbosa.  It is propagated by spores,
as I described to you before, and has proved
very destructive to the plum and cherry throulghout the coutntry."
" What time of the year do you calc'late the
seeds spread that make the plant?"
"In late summer  or autumn, or when  the
plant has arrived at maturity. During autumn,
or perhaps winter, the spores of the parasite
are free, perhaps floating in the air; they lodge
in, or rather on, a branch or twig of a tree, which
is in a suitable condition for retaining and nourishing the plant. There they remain, embedded
in some minute crevice in the bark, until spring,
when the warmth germinates the spore, which,
swelling, causes a slight irritation in the bark,
and the plant roots and grows. As it grows,
it appropriates a portionl of the sap which is
circulating in the twig or limb to its own use,
and spreading out its roots, changes the growth
to a mass of spongy texture, swelling, bur-sting
the bark, and continuing to enlarge, until all the
sap in the limb is required to support the parasite, when the extremity of the twig withers and
89 
Farm  Tallk.
dies. It is now, perhlaps, midsummer, and the
parasite, or as some call it, wart, excrescence,
or black-knot, is of a greenish color on the outside, and it has become the habitation of numerous' worms' or larvae of several species of
insects, which have found its soft, spongy body
a fine  place for  breeding  purposes.   Hence
arose the idea that the knot was caused by
insects.   The  plant  has  now  nearly got its
growth, and the outside of the knot begins to
turn brown, and by and by, at early autumn,
is black, and covered with the spores of the perfectly developed plant.   It is fully ripe,  and
ready for entering upon the great life labor of
all animate things - the perpetuation of its
kind. It is now coal-black, and the spores may
be seen under a microscope. They are very
minute, ripe, and ready for distribution."
"Ain't there any cure for the black-knot?"
" None as yet known and practised.  It could
be prevented, but it is hardly probable it ever
will."
"How could it be prevented?"
" By destroying the plants or parasites before
they ripen or go to seed and fully develop their
go 
Paras/t/c Plants.
spores. If the affected twigs and limbs were
cut off and burned in early summer, while the
parasite was yet growing, they would be destroyed for good, and so much done towards
'heading it off;' or preventing its further spread.
But such a course, to be effectual and practicable, would require to be thoroughly performed throughout a whole section of a country.
It is useless for one person to try to save his
trees while his neighbor's garden is full of trees
burdened with the unsightly knots from which
the spores may be scattered by every passing
breeze."
9I 
Farsmz  Talk.
XVI.
ROAD-MAKING AND BREAKING.
HO  d'ye s'pose they've  put  in road
surveyor this year?"
' Can't guess.  Hope it's somebody
who knows enough to turn a straight
furrow. Who is it?"
Same as last year."
" Is that so"?
" Yes. I guess they're going to make a life
member of him."
"Well, if they are, I hope they'll keep him
on the superannuated list."
" I don't see what the selectmen are thinking about.  Here's our roads been goin' from
bad to worse for the last three years.  It's time
we had a surveyor that knew something about
making a road."
"Perhaps he'll do better this year."
" Better!  Why, he thinks he's the greatest
road-builder'out.' Look at that piece of road
92 
Road-;zak/)g and Breakz'iig.
on the flat down below my house. HIe went
and ploughed the chimes off last year, and
scraped the dirt into the middle, leaving the
road so narrow it's almost impossible for two
loaded teams to meet and pass each other without running into the ditch or tipping over. If
it had been a rocky, hard place, there might
have been some excuse; but there was plenty
of room to plough, and enough- dirt outside of
the old ditch, - and conscience knows the road
was narrow enough before,-but he must ploutgh
off the chimes, and make it narrower still."
" I've noticed that piece of road."
" Then there's the top of the' brook' hill;he went and throwed it up last fall, makling
the hill at least a foot and a half higher, - as if
it wasn't hard enough to haul up before, - instead of ploughing and scraping it off, and thus
making the hill a little lower and easier every
year."
" That's a common fault with our road-builders and repairers. There are many small hills
and elevations, or' rises' in the roads, which, if
ploutghed and scraped down into the hollowsa little being done each year - would soon be
93 
Farmz TZalk.
on  a level, and  the road  become  gradually
graded.   But  ignorant surveyors  plough  and
throw up on these elevations just the same as
they do on the lower parts of the road; and,
worst of all, they cannot be made to believe
but their'way' is best."
"A main travelled road should always be
wide enough for loaded teams to meet and pass
each other without any danger of running the
off wheel into the gutter or of tipping over. Of
course it isn't expected cross roads, and those
but little travelled, should be made so wide."
" There is another thing in which olr surveyors are very negligent, which is, in seeing
that the main roads are properly broken out in
the winter, after heavy snow storms."
"That's a fact.  See how our surveyor broke
out our road last winter!  He put on a single
ox-sled, thus making the road just wide enough
for one team and no  more.   On  the plains,
where it was drifted badly for half a mile, he
shovelled a regular canal the whole length, just
as wide as one ox-sled, and only two or three
places for teams to meet and turn out in the
whole distance. It's disagreeable, especially in
94 
Rocad-iiak'l;g and Breakinzg.
a cold day, to have to wait five or ten minutes
for a team to come up before you can drive on;
and worse than that, every time there came a
light snow storm it would drift in full, or nearly
so, and have to be shovelled out again."
That's no way to break roads. The great
point is always to keep on top of the snow, and
make the track wide. It should be trod and
broken down under foot instead of shovelled out,
in all cases where a team can be got through.
Then it will not cost so much to keep the roads
in order during the winter season, for they will
not drift full every storm, but most of the snow
will blow over."
" Nothing like a good, large, old-fashioned
triangle,,with a big teamln of oxen hitched on to
it, to break out roads with. Haul it twice over
a road, no matter how heavy the storm was,
and it will crush down the snow solid, and leave
a track wide enough to let teams meet and pass
almost anywhere, without getting the horses or
oxen floundered in the snow."
"Yes, that's the best method  I  have ever
seen employed. It's one of those old-fashioned
95 
Farm   Talk.
ways of doing things which is preferable to
modern methods."
" There's only one thing about it.  If our
roads ain't kept in better condition for travelling this winter than they were last, I shall
complain on'emn."
96
-0 
I   thec Barie.
XVI I.
IN THE BARN.
EED  your cattle  pretty often, don't
"Five times a day."
, Hay every time?"
"No: hay in the morning as soon as I amn
up, then'ive part of them roots or grain after
breakfast, then water, and leave most of them
out in the yard if the weather is fair.  Feed
them all at noon with coarse fodder, if I have
it; if n9t, give them poor hay. \Vater, stable,
and feed thetm again at sunset, and a light foddering before I go to bed."
",Feed your sheep and horses the same?"
"No. Three times a day is sufficient for
them, unless you are working the horses hard,
theni they should be fed more."
"\Vater'em all twice a day?"
"Yes. I consider plenty of good water essential to the health and well-being of all kinds
7
97 
Far'ii  Talk.
of  farm  stock, and no  farm-yard  should  be
without it."
"Well, I know it's handy to have a plenty
of water for stock, but some farmers never give
their sheep any, and say they do first rate."
"I know some pretend to say sheep need
nothing to drink in the winter, but I don't believe any such doctrine. I know sheep will not
drink so much water, accordingly, as other animals, but I think it's best to have it where they
can get it handy, at least once a day, if they
are so inclined."
" Mine eat a good deal of snow."
" Got any lambs yet?"
"Jest beginnin' to come  along.   I find it's
'bout as much as I want to do to take care of
'em this cold weather."
' Now is the time sheep and lambs require
special care." 
"'What do you do with'em when they're
chilled?"
"Take them near a warm fire, and wrap
them dry and warm.   A good many lambs are
lost for lack of a little attention at the right
time."
98 
in  the Barn.
" Ever feed any cow's milk to'em when the
dam doni't give enoughl, or won't own'em?"
" Always;  and  save  many that  way.   It
should be given warm, by means of a false teat.
Use new milch cow's milk, if possible; but if
you have only farrow cow's milk, it will answer, if sweetened.   I remember once, years
ago, of bringing uip a pair of twins, which the
mother wouldn't own, wholly on  cow's milk,
by suckling them regularly on the cow.  They
grew and throve well, but it was costly, and a
good deal of trouble.  If a lamb lives to be
four days old, and sucks well, there isn't much
danger but they will do well."
"VWhat kind of grain is best for sheep?"
"I like oats best, though beans are first rate."
"What do you think about raising twins, anyhowv?
"I think it don't pay, unless the damn is large,
and hlas an extra flow of lmilk.  One lamb is
enough for a sheep."
"Got your fodder all fed out?"
" Nearly. There's a hundred or two more
of fodder corn, whlaich I keep for baitings. Did
you raise any of it last year?"
*   *
99 
Farmn  TaZk.
"No.  Cattle like it?"
" First rate. Mine eat it up, leaf aid stalk,
and  look for more.   With a little  pains, a
farmer could raise a big pile on an acre."
"How  did you plant yours?"
In drills, pretty thick."
Southern corn, I s'pose?"
"Yes; or rather western -the large'horsetooth' variety.  I turned over a piece of greensward  after  I had  got done  planting,  harrowed, drilled, putting a little manure  in the
drill, dropped and covered the corn, giving it a
light top-dressing with plaster as it broke through
the ground, cultivated it once, and raised a
fine crop."
"How  did you save yours?  Some find it
hard to keep it from hurting."
"Yes, I know it; and it requires some care,
the stalks are so succulent and fuill of juice.  I
cut mine  up, let it wilt thloroughly, tied it in
small bundles, hauled it into the barn, letting it
lie on the rack over one night to sweat a little,
then hung it on poles in the top of the barn, and
it cured nicely."
"Feed out any potatoes this winter?"
ioo 
ln the Barn.
"A   few; just  enough to  keep the  stock
'loose,' and to counteract the dry hay. A mess
of potatoes twice a week  is enough.  When
potatoes will bring fifty cents a bushel in market, and corn meal can be bought for a dollar,
or thlereabouts, I'd rather feed the corn; - meal
for the cattle, and corn for the horses, and a
little to the sheep."
Use bows to tie your cattle with?"
' Part of them, and some chlains."
" WThat do you think of slip stanchions?"
"Don't like'em.  They are too rigid; don't
give the cattle chance to move and rest or stand
easy. After all, there's nothing better or surer
than the old-fashioned bows.  A  set of good,
strong, easy-working bows  and  wreathings  is
safe, easy for the animal, and permanent.  Ropes
are unhandy to tie, chains will unfasten sometimes, and slip stanchions are hard for the
cattle."
"How  do you like your new shed over the
manure pile?  S'pose'twill pay?"
I,! like  it well.  It helps keep  the stable
warlmer, and the manure does not fill full of
snow in winter, nor leak away with the spring
ioi 
Farmiz  Talk.
rains. I think, too, it's a good deal stronger
when  putt on the land.  Besides, I have more
of it; it don't blow  nor wash away, and  the
cart-loads of muck  rwhich I ptt at the bottom
of the pile in the fall come oLt thie next spring
as good manure as the rest of the pile."
"'iMy  calves are getting lousy.   What would
yout do to kill'em without hurting the calves?"
" Take  some  clean soil, dry it thoroughly,
pulverize fine, and rub it into their hair; or
rub in some grease, or lard, or whale oil; most
any kind of oil is death to lice. Kerosene is
apt to hurt the calves, so is tobacco; and lime
or ashes, as some use, is sure to take the hair
off."
" Is them two-year olds of yours broke?"
"Yes; the boys always handle all the steers
when they are yearlings, and by the time they
are three-year olds they are thoroughly broken,
and drive like old oxen. That's the way to do
it; not wait till they get their strength and
growth, when it takes a strong manl to do anything with them, and they are more likely to
be cross too."
" Cows come in yet?"
I02 
Ini the  Barn.. 
" Only one; expect another to calve soon."
Goin' to raise'em?"
Certainly.  Always  raise the early calves.
They are worth more to keep for any purpose."
Give'em all the milk of the cow?"
" No. Take them from the cow after they
clean the bag thoroughly; give them some new
warm milk for a few days, and gradually change
them on to skim milk and meal, fed in a trotugh.
Once learn them to drink, and they will do
well, if you give them enough to eat. An
early calf will begin to eat hay by the time
it is four weeks old."
103
- - I., 
Farrm  Talk.
XVIII.
HOW TREES GROW.
SEE,  neighbor, you  have  cut down
the old apple tree that stood before
your door so many years."
-... "Yes.   I told the boys this morning they might  cut it down  for fire-wood.   It
was long since past bearing fruit, there being
only one live limb on it, and I've been threatening to cut it down the last three years; but
somehow I didn't like to destroy it, for memory's sake."
" How old was that tree?"
" I don't know for a certainty; but it was
nigh on to fifty years old. I made it out to be
forty, lbut it was so rotten at the heart I couldn't
exactly tell."
Some say they can tell just how old a tree
is. They cut a mast over in Tunk the other
day, that they said was a hundred years old."
" 0, yes, it's easy telling how old a tree is,
104 
How  Trees G-ow.z.
because it makes a layer of wood  on the outside next the bark every year that it grows, and
so by couniting the layers from the heart to the
bark, you can find outt its age. The sap or food
that the tree lives on comes from the grouLnd,
passes up through the roots and trunk or wood
of the tree to the leaves, where, by coming in
contact with the air, it undergoes certain changes,
which makes it fit to form wood of; it then goes
back down  the  tree, principally between  the
bark and woodc, and as it passes along, it slowly
hardens, and( forms the anlnuLal thickness of woocld.
YouL know tihe pine'sliver' that the bovs like
so well in the spring; well, that is the sap or
wood-making substance just returning down the
outside of the tree, and in a few weeks it hardens, and forms the yearly ring."
" Yes,  I understand; and I suppose  that's
what makes the top or ends of the limbs grow
the fastest. WVhen you graft a limrnb, does the
sap act just the same?"
"Yes;  the sap passes up through the scion
to the bud or leaf, and then back or down, and
if the sliver or bark is nicely joined to that of
the stock, the sap continues its course, and the
I05 
Farmn Talk.
graft will live. But if the stock pinches the
scion, it will cruLsh the pores of the wood, and
the graft won't'take' and live, neither will it
unless the bark joins."
" I don't believe in grafting large limbs -do
you?"
"No, I do not. Herel's a good example of
its bad effects in the tree I cut down this morning.  It was grafted about ei',ht years ago, aid
some of the limbs were cut off where they were
four inches through, none of tlhem being less
than two inches in diameter.  To be sure the
scions lived, but the wounds never whlolly healed,
the bark on the upper part of the limbs peeled
off, and the tree decayed gradually."
" \VWhlat do you calc'late makes the bark die
on one side of the limb and not oln the other?
I've noticed it ill a good may trees in my orchard."
a It is never so only when  large limbs are
grafted.  Cut off and graft small limbs, and no
portion of the bark is ever injured.  The cause
of the bark dying so, is, that there is not a sufficient number of boughs on the graft to make,
or rather prepare, sufficient sap or food to form
io6 
How  Trees  Grow.
a layer of wood over the whole limb; and again,
as the leaves are the lutngs of the tree, there
was not enough of them to draw up sufficient
sap through the wood for the full support of
the limb, hence some portion of the bark had
to wither and die for lack of nourishment; and
the reason why it is the upper side, is because
of the influence of the sun on that portion."
" Butt how does the sap get started in the
first place?"
" That is a question which vegetable physiologists are not yet decided upon. One of the
most reasonable theories advanced is, that the
warmth of the sun's rays in the spring causes
a swelling, or irritation, creating a vacuum in
the bud, which results in setting in operation
the powers of capillary attraction."
I noticed, when I was cutting fire-wood in
the woods the other day, when that warm spell
was, that the sap had started considerably in
the beeches, maples, and birches."
" So did I; and you remember the wind suddenly changed, and it grew very cold before
the next morning. That's what's bad for apple
trees, -having a warm spell, just enough to
107 
Farnm  Talk.
start the sap, and then a sudden change to
severe cold.  It was that which killed so many
orchards in the year of I856 and'57."
" Got your summer's wood most cut?"
"Nearly.  I shall get up a cord or so more,
and then there will be enough to last me till
next January."
",Nothing like having plenty of fire-wood on
hand."
" That's so!  There's Smith, has to get up
in the morning in haying time, and cut wood
to get breakfast with.  A  farmer  never can
get along that way. He ought to get all such
things done utip during the winter and spring,
when he is not driven with labor, so that in the
farming season he can be all ready for work."
Cutting your second growth clean?"
"No.  I cull out the poorest, and where it
is the thickest, taking a piece each year, so that
part I first commenced on is now the largest
and handsomest in the lot."
xo8 
Pigs and Poultry. 
XIX.
PIGS AND POULTRY.
HAT  you getting out timber for? go         in' to building this spring?"
;,(     "I think of putting up a building
for a hog-pen and hen-house, if I can
get time before planting.   Shall build it ten
feet posts, and use the lower floor for the pigs,
and the upper part for a hennery.  What do
you think of the plan?"
"Seems to me you're taking a good deal of
pains for the hens. Mine stay in the barn."
I don't like to have hens round all over the
buildings, especially in the winter time, when
they waste about as much hay as they are worth.
And they want a warm place and good feed,
with enough of it, else it don't pay to keep'em."
"Does it pay anyhow?"
" Yes.  I have proved to my satisfaction that
it pays well to keep a small lot, say twentyfive, for the eggs they produce. With eggs at
log 
Farns  Talk.
a quarter of a dollar a dozen, as they have been
the past year, it don't take a great while for
that number of hens to bring in a ten-dollar
greenback. It isn't a great deal of labor to care
for them, and in the summer time they will
pick up more than hal; of their living."
"Yes, and scratch up the garden into the
bargain."
"It's easy enough keeping them shut up a
week or so in planting time."
"What breed are yours? some of the fancy
kinds?"
" They are no particular breed, bult are such
as we have kept on the farm for years.  They
are medium-sized fowls, yellow-legged and flesh,
hlardy, and good layers. It has been our custom  to change the cock about once in three
years, getting one from another flock, and some
pullets are grown every year to replenish the
number, as we never keep a hen after shle is
over two years old."
"Do yours lay all winter?"
" No. WVe generally give them a resting spell
of six weeks or two months in November and
December, and they do all the better for it the
rest of the )-ear."
iio 
PIgs and Pouliry 
" Somehow I never could make my hens lay
of any account in the winter.  I feed'em all
the grain they want, but the eggs don't come."
" Hens  require  something besides  grain to
mnake them lay well in the cold season, and
when the ground is covered with snow. In the
first place, they must have material for making
the shell; grain does not furnish enough, and
their eggs are soft-shelled.  Give them burned
clam or oyster shelis, or old plaster, or anything that contains lime, and the egg-shells will
be all right.   Then again they should always
be provided with a large box of clean, dry sand
and gravel, with a few wood ashes to dust in,
for killing and preventing the lice from injuring
themn. The gravel is also necessary for keeping their digestive apparatus in order."
" I know it's queer how nmuch gravel a hen
will eat. Their gizzards are full of it."
"Another point.  In winter, hens moust be fed
occasionally with some kind of meat, or animal
food, in addition to their grain.  There is nothing better than the crumbs and bits from the
table. In the warm weather thley will provide
themselves with this sort of food, and they thus
I I I 
Farm  Talk.
destroy and devour large quantities of insects
in the fields and gardens."
" Shall you have your hens roost in the
room you are fixing up for them?"
" Yes. I shall put in some poles on one side,
and also save the droppings, which makes the
very best kind of manure, you know. I want
this room for them particularly in cold weather;
when it comes warm, let them run out.  Shall
put in a large double window on the south
side, so they may have sun in the cold days.
Light and warmth is what they want."
"Got any pigs yet?"
" One litter; expect another in a few days."
F Pigs  have been pretty high for the  last
two years."
" Well, yes; five dollars apiece is a pretty
big price to pay for a pig four weeks old."
"How many have you got?"
" Eight. One died, and the sow killed one."
What do yout do to the sows when  they
begin to kill their pigs?"
" Get them drunk as soon as possible, and
then there isn't any more danger.  They seem
to forget their cannibal propensities after they
II2 
Pigs  and  Poultry. 
get over their drunk. Give them a pint of rum
or whiskey, or a quart of hard cider.  If they
wono't driink it readily, mix it in their meal, and
it will answer the same purpose.  That's the
only sensible use I ever saw rum or whiskey
put to."
" Some sows are apt to lay on their pigs
and kill'em."
" That's sometimes the case with large sows.
To prevent it, place some poles around the pen,
about a foot from the floor, and the same distance from the wall. That gives the pigs a
clhance to keep clear of getting crushed when
the sow lies down."
" Going to have wooden floors in your hogpen?"
" Yes; plank. I believe in keeping hogs dry
and clean, or at least their sleeping-places. I
like to have them get to the ground, and always
have a yard adjoining the pen, where they can
run in and out at pleasure during the warm
weather.  You can also make several cart-loads
of the very best kind of manure, if you keep
the yard and pen supplied with muck, brakes,
straw, and other vegetable rubbish."
8
II3 
Farm,s  Talk.
"'Twont pay to keep many pigs with corn
at a dollar and fifty cents a bushel."
" That's a fact.  Neither will it pay to throw
away the waste milk of three or four cows for
want of pigs to change it into pork. Whether
it will pay to do such and such a thing depends
so much upon circumstances that it's difficult
to decide in all cases."
II4 
Ftrlalz Fcnices.
XX.
FARM FENCES.
HIS questioni  of fence or no fence is
becoming a matter of serious discus          sion among the farmers of our couLn          try.  \VWhere land is divided up into
small farms, as with tus, the cost of building and
maintaining fences amounts, in the aggregate,
to an enormous sum. In fact, it has become
one of the largest items in the small  farmer-'s
bill of expenditures.   Now, is all this outlay
necessary? \Ve think not. WVe have no reason
to doubt but that at least half of the farm fences
in this country could be dispensed with, and a
large portion of them  need  never have been
built.  This fence-building i]lustrates one of the
natural tendencies of the age.  We  are far too
exclusive as a people, and as a class of peoples.
\Ve fence round about, and hedge ourselves in,
not only in so far as land is concerned, but also
inl oLur social relations and our lives. WVe fence
I'5 
Far;,l   Talk.
our farms from the roads, and outr houses firom
the streets; fence our fields across and through?
into squares, triangles, and  angles which  do
not admit of a name,  and all without adding
any real value or convenience. Our road-side
fences, built huge and high, seem to say, "Thlus
far, and no farther;" and all our out-door farm
fixtures and appointments seemi to wear an air
of privacy and exclusiveness, strongly  in co,1trast with the farmsteads of other lands.  Of
course, a certain amount of farin fence is absolutely necessary, as around pastures for stock,
and generally on  boundarly lines; but  fulrthler
than this they may be dispensed with, and their
cost applied to some  other purpose.   Let  it
once become the custom for each falrmer to
fence only to confine his own stock, and not
against his neighbors; and let every state enact laws against cattle running at large; theni
only pasture fences will be needed.  The object
in fencing should be to keep stock in, rather
than to keep it out.
" Getting out fencing stuLf'?
" Yes. I'm going to try some more of the
stake and wire sort."
ii6 
Fa2-iil FCJS.Ce s.
\What I've seen of it seems to stand well."
" Mine does that I built last spring.  I think
it's the best kind of fence you canl find for clay
soils and loxv lands, wvhere the frost hleaves bad.
If the stakes are hove out, you  call easily go
over  it every  spring,  and  drive  themi down
again.
"O How  did you build yours?"
"I used a crowbar to make  the holes, then
drove in the stakes and wired the tops.  I set
mine a foot apart, making sixteen stakes to thd
rod.  Old growth cedar, split, makes the best
stakes; the saplings rot down in a few years.
I shave the tops off smaller, so it won't take so
nmuch wvire to go round thlem."
" MIakes a cheap fence-don't it?  \What did
yours cost a rod?"
" I can get stakes at a cent apiece; sixteen
to a rod would be sixteen cents, and the wire
wVould  be  about sixteen  cents more, making
two shillings a rod cost for materials; - the
cheapest kind of fenice, at that rate, that can
be built."
i Nothing like stone wall to last."
"Yes.   And no doubt on rocky farms, and
II7 
Far i i    7'( Zk.
where the material is handy, it is the best and
cheapest in the end.  A  stone wall, well built,
of the proper shaped stones, will stand a good
many years on upland all  dry soils; but it's
no use to build it on clay soils, for it will tulmble down, and  have to be laid up over again
every two years.   Cedar  is the material  for
fence on such land."
I'\Nhat do you think of posts and rails?"
" Make a first rate fence, eveni on clay ground,
if the posts are set in good cedar feet.  Pitchpole fence ain't of muich account, and pickets,
with iron posts, are not lasting. Board fence don't
stand well, but answers pretty well, after all."
\Vall ain't fit to stop sheep."
" No. Board fence is best for a sheep pasture, and if you have a wall, it must be well
top-poled.  How much do you calculate it costs
you annually to keep your fences in repair,
and  build  sulch new  ones as  )you  think  are
needed?"
CouLldn't  tell;  pretty lb)i  sum  though, I
guess,  come  to  reckon  up  all the time  and
labor."
" Yes;  it's larger than we  farmers have any
lis 
FciJ'tll Fciiccs.
idea of, and it's my opinion we lay out altogethler too much in fence-building. I believe
we could get along just as well with half as
imany.  They are not only a great cost, but in
many cases they are an inconvenience.  Take,
for instance, our fields where we do most of our
farming.   Nine out of ten of thein are cut up
by fences into lots, varying from one to ten or
more  acres.   Did  yout  ever  notice  how  unhandy it is to work ill a two-acre field, or any
small field, bounded  on  all sides by a fence?
It causes a great loss of time at the headlands
in ploughiug, furrowing, or whatever  is being
done, which would not be so if the fence was not
there.  Then again, there is the loss of the land
on which the fence stands, and  a  strip along
the side, which, do the best you can, will grow
iup to weeds and  small bushles.  It's about as
blad after the field is seeded to grass.  It takes
longer to cut the hay in an acre field fenced,
than it would to cut an acre taken from a large
tract unfenced."
"You've always got to have good fences
round the pastLures, to keep the stock in."
iig 
Farll Jr/
Certainly; and thlat's the only place where
a fence is absolutely necessary."
WVhlat would you do about the roads?"
"A  fence is not absolutely necessary even
there, if the pastures are well fenced, and every
man is obliged to take care of his own animals,
or pay fully for what they destroy. I have seen
here whole farms, bordering on the main road,
without a rod of fence to protect the fields and
crops from passers by; and growing and ripening crops planted up even with the roadside,
and nothing injured or harmed.  In fact this is
becoming a general practice in many sections
where fencing material  is scarce, and  I hope
the system will be followed.  In the old countries, where every foot of land is required for
some putrpose, and is valued accordingly, there
are no fences; the fields are ploughed up even
with the roadsides, and crops are cultivated by
the sides of the walks, and nothing is harmed
or destroyed, either by man or beast. It is the
custom.  They are protected by the laws, and
the crops are safe."
"Ve  ain't so hard on  it for land  in this
I20 
FariiTz  Fc-accs.
countriy, and I guess such a way of doing things
wouldn't wNork very well here."
"I know  that one of the causes that have
led to so much feince-blu1llding with us has been
the abundance  and cheapness of land; but as
the population becomes more dense, and the
soil more generally occupied, land, particularly
in the older settled portions, will become more
valuable, and a general fence-destroying practice will be adopted; and I lhave no doubt but
in twenty-five years, farmers in all parts of the
coutntry will dispense with, at least, one  half
of the present number of fences."
I2I
-'Odi, 
Fariin Talk.
xki.
OUT IN THE FIELDS.
-    HE   Sabbath  is peculiarl  the farm          er's day of rest and recuperation fiomn
the severe labors and strain upon the
physical systemn during the week, and
particularly in the growing season, or from the
time he places the first seed in the bosom of
old mother  earth until its yield has been put
away for safe-keeping in his cellar or granary.
Spring, summer,  and autumn  are seasons of
protracted toil and continual care, which is only
partially relieved by the winter's cessation from
active duties, and the seventh day is to him  a
welcome day of rest.  But few  farmers, comparatively, are so situated as to be able to avail
themselves of religious privileges, so far as relates to attending regular public services. His
home duties require attention, which  must  be
given upon all days. His chores must be done,
his stock cared for, and his growing and ripen
I22 
Ott in  the Fields.
ing crops carefully watched, lest in an hour he
should lose the result of many a hard day's
labor. But he is not entirely wanting in religious privileges  and advantages.   The  very
nature of his occupation is ennobling, and provocative of thought and feeling which acknowledges the presence of a superior power. The
various operations of nature continually going
on before him - the springing of the seed, the
flowering season, and the ripening and decayall tend to stuggest thoughts as to the why and
the wherefore, which can only admit of one
answer. If he does not read sermons in stones,
he does see and acknowledge an infinity in
everything. He can never be an atheist.
To me there is nothing in nature so beautifutl as a clear, calm Sabbath summer morning
in the country.  The quietude and stillness in
the very air, so different from the bustling sound
of the week-day; the absence of noise and commotion about the farm-house; and then, when
the church bells of the distant villages sound
outt softly upon the odorous air, a sense of peace,
and security, and of a superior Presence, seems
to fill and pervade all things.  It is suLch morn
I23 
Faii'iz Tale.
ings as these that the farmer thoroughly enjoys.
Hlie has performed his various out-door duties,
looked over his weekly papers, and, a neighbor
coming in, they stroll out into the fields.  Let
us go with them, and if their conversation is
of matters pertaining to what is before them,
and the scenes of their week-day labors, we
think it may be none the  less acceptable to
Him who hath made these things for their use.
" First-rate corn weather, ain't it?"
Splendid!  Seems  as if I can almost  see
mine grow, it pushes so fast."
Yours all in silk?"
"Yes; and has been for a week."
"Going through it agin with the hoe?"
" No; but shall go over the field, and pull out
the weeds by hand, before they go to seed."
"How  do you get along haying?"
Pretty fair; though the weather has been
catching last week. I got some nice English
wet in the shower."
" Have youl cut that field you top-dressed last
spring?"
' Yes;  it's in the  cock  now.   I've got it
covered with hay caps, and shall let it sweat
124 
Oit  iai the ficlds.
to-day, only throwing the caps off in the middle
of the day. I don't haul in hay Sunday, unless
it looks like bad weather."
' Vhat do you think of top-dressing?"
' Works well, what I've tried.  I got at least
a thlird more hay on that field than last year."
S'pose'twould pay to buy any of this patent stutff to put on an old worn-out grass field?"
" Yes. That is, if you've raked and scraped
everything possible in the shape of manure  you
can find on or near the farm. It won't pay for
Lus to buy these artificial manures while we let
oLir own  run to waste.  That  would be like
trying to fill a barrel at the spigot, while the
bunighole was open."
I believe  I shall try  some  plaster next
spring."
Ever used any on your farm?"
Not much."
"It will probably  work first-rate then; but
after you use it a good many years, it don't
amnount to much.  It's queer acting stuff too.
You can't depend upon it. Some years it does
first-rate, and then the next year it won't seem
to be good for anything."
125 
Farm;;  Tcalk.
" How's your wheat doing?"
" Looks well, so far."
'" Seen any worms in it yet?"
"No. Last year mine escaped the midge
entirely, and I have hopes it will this year again.
'Twould pay pretty well again to raise it, if
they would only let it alone."
"How  do you  s'pose they happened to let
it alone last year?"
" I expect there are but few of them in the
neighborhood. You know there hain't been five
acres of wheat a year raised in this county for
the ten years previous to the last, and so I stuppose they have nearly been starved out."
" I hope they'll stay starved out."
"No such good news as that. There will
probably be enough of them as soon as we get
fairly at it raising wheat again."
" Potatoes are getting a pretty good growthl
for the season. Seen any bugs on yours yet?"
" No; it isn't quite time for them to operate
much yet."
" Do you believe in hillinr''em up so highl?"
" It depends somewhat upon the soil.  If it
is inclined to be wet, or water stands after show
126 
Out in the Fields.
ers, they should be planted on top of the ground
and hilled up; but if it is dry and sandy, furrow deep, and keep the field nearly level."
" I don't like the idea of hillin' corn high
when you hoe it the last time."
"1 Nor I either, at any time. Corn roots lilke
to run near the top of the ground, and will
occupy about all the field when it gets full
grown, if the ground is in such a shape that it
can do so."
" Plant your peas among your potatoes yet?"
"Yes.   I still stick to the old custom.  I've
tried every way, and I find it the best method
to raise them. I know there is a good deal of
talk about their injuring the potatoes, and there
is some truth in it, if you plant them in the hill
with them; but I put mine between the hills,
covering tlhem with the coarse dirt or sods left
in covering the potatoes. It's hardly any trouble
to raise them so, and you get nice, large peas."
WVhat kind do you raise?"
" The Marrowfats.  They are large, and sell
well'n market."
" Some won't plant any beans or pumpkins
with their corn, - say it hurts the corn crolp."
I27 
EaF((rthi Tall,-.
" M,y opinion of this matter is, if your soil
is rich enough, a crop of beans and pumpkins
may just as well be g:own with the corn; but
if there. is only goodness enough in the land to
mnake a corn crop, the others had better be left
outt, though pumpkins do better with corn than
anywhere else.   Let's go over and look at my
barley field."
; Seed this down this year?"
" Yes; that's one reason why I sowed the
field to barley, - so as to get a good catch."
" Do  you think there's much in that, after
all?"
" It's the old opinion, you know, that wheat
or barley is best to seed down  with."
" Yes, I know; but sometimes I've had my
doubts about their being any better than oats.
Sow oats thin, and fix the ground as well as for
barley, and grass will catch well enough.  The
fact is, we think a nice piece of ground is too
good for oats, and only sow them on the poor,
rocky, rough fields, and then  find fault about
the grass seed not catching well. That's been
my experience."
Theire  is something in that.  There's an
I28 
0,tt iii the Fields.
other thing in favor of oats, -the fodder helps
pay for their cost; but barley and wheat straw
is only fit for bedding.  As to oats sapping the
ground more than other grain, that's all humbug.   MIanure the oat field as well as you do
for the others, and the land will be left in as
good heart after the crop is taken off."
I agree with you there."
" Let's look over the wall into the Squire's
cornfield that he manured in the new way they
talked so mulch about last year."
"'New way!  How was it?"
Putting on the manutre  in  the fall.  The
way they operate is to ploulgh, harrow, furrow,
and dutng it out in the fall, and cover the manure jutst as if they had planted; then when the
next spring comes, they put in the corn with a
planter the very first thing, without having to
wait to prepare the soil for it."
" Can get it in early - can't they?"
"Yes; thalt's one of the advantages claimed
over the old way; and  another is, that the
greater part of the labor can be done in the fall
when farmers are not so driven withl work as
in planting time."
9
I29 
130                f~~~ir;;~~~   T(tlt,.
" The Squire's corn looks pretty fair."
" I see it does.  The field was  in first-rate
order for growing a ci'op. This system will
operate pretty well on a field, level and gravelly,
like this, but would youL dare to try it on a ridge
or hillside, or any inclined ground, that was in
danger of washing bad by the spring rains?"
"Be likely to find your dung down  in the
brook, I reckon, and rather hard  finding out
where the hills were on the piece, too."
"Thlat's where the danger is.  One  of my
sowed fields washed so bad last spring that I
had to plough it up and sow it over again.
But there are many fields in which the method
will work first rate."
"Perhaps so; tell better after trying it."
"But it's most noon; go down and talke
dinner with me, will you?"
"No, I thank you; mine will be ready whlen
I get home. Good day."
UNIV, OF MICHIOAN,
fi.l:3    219i2
130