The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1866-01-25
Aarieuttaral.
4 John Johnson's Farm.

Gentleman gives the following accout
Of visit to the farm Of John John
son, the great farmer OF Western Nev
r York, situated on the eastctn shore O
Seneca Lake; y "a
Tho soil on the east side Of th
lake is rather heavy clay loan, or
grsyclIy clay Mr.. Johuston has bee
here forty-four years, coming upo
the place when there was nothing bu
"A log house to live in, and clearing G,
acres of the IL of his first purchase
All the buildings on the home farm
aud the one above il have been erect
sl under his suporvision The farm
a few years since contained 3O6 acres
but recently about 200 acres have been
sold, as he found in his increasing age
and failing health that so large farm
required more care aud attention than
he could well give it. His farm now,
therefore consists Of about 100 acres
and Is very pleasantly located, slop.
ing to tho lake. Tho buildings a Q
substantial-crected for use and not
for show Hs says he attributes all
his success to manurcs and drainage.
lie obtained specimen tilo from Scot.
land in 1885, aud introduced their
manuiacture iu this country. He
commenced tiling in 1898, laying II
few tile whenit was very wet. Not
much was done, however, until 1sip,
when, as bo expressed il, al went on
strong" " In one year $4,000 tile
were laid, ..
In those times the bitches were dug
for IL cents per rod, aud the cxces,
of crops paid for tiling right along. -
he was 20 years in finishing, and ha,
laid in all 223,000 tile. The old sys.
TEN Of cutting on the syringe at the
foot of hill was abandoned and the
drains. led right up the hill, as tn,
water rises ON the highest lands
Drains are dug from q to , feet, OF
until the solid earth is reached and
the water flows in from the sides. he
sayswhen tho water flows in from the
sides, and you get good bottom, it il
useless to dig deeper. lie has ncve,
used any but the horse Shoe tile. On,
drain had been laid that was $50 rod.
long. He thought that il was cheap,
or and botter TO lay with tile than
with stone, even if the stone was on
the gronnd, Stone draius wcro. not
reliable; they were liable to be OBJ
structed, while tile well laid made
permanent thing, II stones were on
the ground he would prefer to haul
them of aud put them TO some uso
they eoald be used in various ways
upon the farm that would pay better
than in drains-since the cost of dig.
gingthc drains, when stone vas to be
used, was much more expensive than
for tile He thought ono could hard
ly drain too close. he had put drains
20 feet apart, but would put them from
fifteen TO eighteen feet nm covering
he paid no attention to tho position |
the sub-soh thrown out was to take
in thr dniihs. hut hi,Shea dtNe tooms
to the plow and covered in tina, way. \
The system of farming which has
been practiced by Mr.. j. for years
with eminent success, is to raise corn,
barley, oats, wheat and hay, aud pur-
chase shoePliu thoihll 70 fosd up the
various products raised and fatten
them for the market. In this way
manures, were secured and a greater
profit realized for the products raised
on the farm than if sold at market
pricess fIc prefsrrsd Mcfinos, land
insisted that thoy make good mutton,
bringing him, better prices or more
profit than other breeds. lie was
careful, however, in his selection, and
never had any thing to do with the
greasy fsitote,." lie wanted, the
grease mixed up with the meat, not
with the wool. He used to buy sheep
in the fall at two cents per ID. this
year ,hey, cost Eve Ccents. lIic had
sold Merino wethers at IL cents per
H., making them weigh llTf pounds
each, embarrassing thoir weight in
fatteaiug 81 pounds. The labor Of
feeding sheep was much loss than that
of cattle, as he eould take, his meas.
ure Of corn and feed 100 sheep almost
as quick as fussing about one OK.
The shecpshould be fed rcguhrgly
at the same hours each day. They
are fed twice day at first, ope-half
lb. or grain ncpch AT a feed in tho
morning at sunrise, and again at 4
o'clock p. NJ. After while the feed
$ gradually Increased to a pound of
,rain per day, Straw or hay is fed to
hem three times per day-the straw
lurigg Jths frsspart of Athe5imed do@t
loyed for fattening, ending up with
lay. The straw as soon as threshed is
tored in the barrs q Lpst fbljiie had
100 bushels of barley threshed in one
lay, Oil meal is used extensively for
'eeding when it can be- Pafehased at
rates. In estimating the rel
val..Rc nsucagsas,,l