The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1866-12-07
Agrifnltnral.
KEEP ALL THE STOCK YOU OAN.

The price OF hay Is such that some TAR
mers may be tempted to sell moro or less
Of their stock, and to dispose Of some part
Of their hay. This would be bal policy,
we think, in more ways than one. In the
first place stock is scarce. There Is no
getting round that fact We all know how
difficult il has been to get good cow the
past summer, without paying almost fabul-
Gus prices, and working catila have been
scarce and high. So there is no iInmedi
ate prospect Of change for the better, SO
far as purchasing or restocking Is con
cerned.
Then, again. there Is no way to keep up
n farm so readily or so well, as by keeping
all the stock il win fairly carry, in order to
produce the largest possible amount Of good
manure. Something may bo done with
artificial n,anures to be sure, but they are
to be considered mther as stimulants to the
immediate crops, than rs means Of keep.
ing up the permanent fertility and con.
dition Of the land. We believe in stocking
a farm pretty nearly up to its utmost Ca
pacity. We do not mean by this TO rec.
ommend farmer to keep more than his
farm will carry we'll, but to keep as mnch,
aud if he has to supplement little, that is
to buy more or less grain or hay to help out
a rather short crop, he had better do this
than to sell his hay for want Of stock enough
to consume it. In other words, It Is better
to sell the produce Of the farm on four legs,
than to sell il in the form Of hay and grain,
unless he has some other and extraordinary
means Of supplying full equivalent in the
form Of fertilizers, that will keep up the
condition Of the land.
We have seen hay sold in the harm In the
country, within a week, Mt thirty.thrce dol
lars ton, and that too more than forty
miles from Boston. OF course the tempta.
ton Is very strong to let it slide" at such
price. rather than to feed it out to an or
dinary stock Of cattle. No one would pre-.
tend to say il is worth that money to feed
to common stock. Cattle ought to be Of
high aud first rate quality to justify an
expectation that il will pay that to feed out
And yet i, is probable that il will 70 higher
instead Of lower in the course Of the win
ter. But we must look ahead little and
see where we are likely to land. Manure
is high as well as hay. and when We begin
tn look about to see how we are TO supply
the place Of large heap Of good harm yard
manure in the spring. it is not easy to tell
how to do il at any reasonable price.
The COOL farmers Of the Connecticut
valley, many OF whom we know persnnal.
ly, find il for their interest to buy a lurge
amount of stock in the fall, aud to buy
grain from the West at high prices to feed
out to II for the sake Of the manure. They
may loose on the stock. 1t. may sell for
less in the spring, or, ut any rate. for little
more than they paid for il in The fall. They
look to the crop which they can produce
with the manure, to make up any loss they
may sustain on the stock, and having tried
il year after year, they do not look in vain.
They have learned to put confidence in
manure, and every farmer who expects to
prosper must learn the same lesson. Ma.
nurc is the basis of the farmers prosperity.
and stock is the fertile source Of manure.
Il is therefore, short sighted policy to
sell hay IL il is possible to consume !, on the
place with good, thrifty, growing stock.
Much Of the stock in our barns Is out Of
this description, wo are sorry to say. Some
Of it viii pay and pay well. Some Of it
will consume good deal Of hay and not
pay at all. There is vast difference be-
tween the two classes Of stock In this re-
spect. A COW that is really worth from
seventy. five to a hundred dollars will pay
better in the long run for tho food she con
sumes than COW that Is really worth forty
or fifty dollars. In many cases farmer
had better pay even more than the higher
price, than to take the lower priced animal
as giA.-The percentage OF profit on the
one will be large. even with tho present
high prices Of hay and fodder Of ell kinds.
The other will pay no percentage whatever,
and Il may even cost about as much as she
is worth to fattcn her. What we need moro
than anything, in our New England sys-
TEN Of farming is higher and more prof
table class Of stock. We are gradually
coming to il. Twenty years Of tho present
enterprise and spirit Of improvement will
make great change, and the plan we sug-
gesied Of stocking our State and town
farms with pure bred stock will contribute
moro to bring about this rrsul, than any
other that we can advise. Keep good stock,
keep Il well, and winter rs much Of II Us
you can winter well IL will pay better
than to sell hay.