The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-01-16
Farming, &c.
@ From the Albany Cultivator.a a-
Hints to those ON Small Farms

ED. CULTIvAToR--Havingb but few acres
uofland to cultivate, / hive made it my study
10 obtain as much as possible from tn ose few.
The amount of manure can command is
small, hence have not been permitted to &C
complsh this objece by heavy crops from a
high state offertility. But / have been COM
peled 10 do il by selection of crops profita-
bic in themselves; some of which are as vet
scarcely known, as farm crops, to- farmers
generally. . Pea a5'iobgmal ~ ilUds1 Hd
Among these, root crops holdan important
place. | have formerly raised ruta bagas,
and field beets largely; the former are very
easily raised on light soils, costing me usual
ly from 8 to cents per bushel, according to
the fivorabeness Nof the season. But to be
raised thus cheapiy, the land must be previ-
ously rich and well titled, aud cleared of
weeds and the young plants must be hoed
before they are two inches high. The hoe
ing must be finished before they are that
height. This is perfectly indispensable
Some ofmy richer neighbors have tried to
raise them. They have selected some WASTE
piece of ground, where a manure yard, old
stack, or demolished building formerly stood,
such spots being of richer soil. But they
seemed to forget that such places were also
richly charged with the seeds ofweeds, hence
ahard jobto hoe heyoung crop. To make
the matter ten times worse, they put off the
hoeng week, whenthe weeds had shot up
six inches IRA foot high, and the labor of
cleaning them became enormous; while half
the amount ofthe crop was lost by the stunt
ing they thus received. What was the con-
dusion? 'Why these rooty beggys are the
hndest crop Fever raised, and / shan't have
nothing more 10 do with EN-" 8#
Roots, raised in the cheap manner have
already described, l have found ofthe greatest
advantage, nay, almost Indispensable, in car
rying my stock through winter, reducing the
amount hay needed to one half and reduir-
ing nut little land comparatively for their pro-
.duction. i. sr ,t1..t ..,g ..'I M Ia 80,
but useful as have found ruta bagas. for
feedlng horses, store cattle, &C., / never
could make them answer perfectly for miseh
cows; the milk and butter would have slight
taste OF the turnip, although this was greatly
dlmlhsned ny feeding just after milking, and
by working all the butter milk from the but
ter. Hence have adopted CARRoTs as the
main root crop. They are hardly so product
i've as turnips, but their superior richness far |
surpasses all other roots. Horses, not very
fond of ruta bagas, will often prefer carrots |
to oats themselves, and feeding in company
with oats and hay, they are superb. All cattle |
eat them with avidity:and mich COWS through
winter II fed on them plentflliy, give the
richest milk and make the best butter. The
white carrot, projecting from the ground four
to six inches, is very easily harvested, and is
more productive than the yellow carrot; while
the latter has the advantage ofremaning un-
INJURED ifleft in the grouha tiil spring. Hence
lralse some of each. ~ HiHIfiu .0iU lHTuI
But the crop most neglected by farmers,
and which find the most profitable ofall, is
corn, sown IN thick drills for fodder. This
mode Of rnic "a 4 g, |
little labor, and yields So enormous crop
that it is eminently worthy the adoption of
every farmer, rich and poor, small and great.
m debt aud out ofdebt, thriving and not thri-
wing; east, west, north, and SOUTH Good soil
splowed, narrowed, and filrrowed about two
leet apart, as for potatoes; one man strews the
grain from basket along the furrow as fast
as he can walk, about fifty grains to a foot,
Or two bushels to the acre; another follows
with common harrow, lengthwise with the
lurrows' or across Them as is most convenient
and covers the seed. Passing the cultiva.or
once or twice between the rows afterwards,
IS the attention the crop needs. 1t qt1iekly
grows up, and covering the whole ground, zen
,rrey precludes the necessity of hoeing
When the cropis taken off in autumn, the
ground IS clean as floor, land they are not
nlways clean, Tam sorry to say.) Wheat
may be own after, with very great nropriety. Z,
as the rae re growth ofherbage, mo grain be- !
ing Produ ced,) does not exhaust the soil.
Hence this becomes an excellent crop for
course IN rotation. The atnount, fifsowrl thick,
enough, not otferwise,) is about five to seven }
.ohs 10 the acre, of the very hest fodder. cat
nc ea.lhg all the stalks, and by the Inost liber-
-, os'll,ate OF labor, interest on land, and cost
y. seeu, nave never made it cost more than !
iwo aollars torl-often not more than a dol
10, "s aha halt. This crop may be sown right !
S a.o tle usual time of planting corn, and be-
tod L noenig commences; and may be harves- |.
49, 'uectiy after the usual harvests. @ One J..
ao.,, " II Us worth more than twoof' common
oro n asa FODDER. lMyneighbors all around :
,h;s "s'on'sned at the advantages derive from |,
hmt ,u oloP' and resolve to try it themselves; I,
il so "non the usual time arrives for sowing ;
~ ~ So.hething prevents, or they have not land
10 spare, and it is neglected. / Because Ihave
, Gs 'allu TO spare, is the very reason adopt
o os's course; for with one acre, get as much
S,,' De..er fodderas is usually ebfained from
III VI hVe acres of meadow. hsbio9b saw II |,
IN a,3 use OF ashes, plaster, domestic boldret-
Son a.u muck, find very beneficial, inthe alb.
ana ~ vi large supply of common manure: ..
roo. .le use o.. the subsoil plow lately COM
ons "i'l'1 doubt not, be very advantage i,
~ H2ntbbr eti KY. n.
~ -------------- /
cL m1RRIED at Lebanon, MY, Nov. 26I Mr.
" Gardner,a member of the v Sen;or
TS OF Williams College, and Miss Z .aura
G;uatloerlain of Williamstown.fi Soma oftbel
~, circumstances preceding this result are = I,I
i ao sIn gular.a BY aisort ACKNOWLEDGMENT
,ng or agreement, ano interchange of sisters I
n mas 70 be made by the brother of the above
canned aani, lady on the one side, and a young
sse e friend in Connecticut on the otbeS