The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1884-04-11
FARM AND HOME,
rur WORKOUT FARMS OF NEW ENG
LAND.
Can rhoy be Restored to Fertility.

~" " LAND.
Gan rhoy be Restored to Fertility.
There is no denying the fact that many Oh
the farms in New England are dcterioratihs.
Their productiveness is much less AZ pfcsehV
than formerly, and In many instances growing
less wear by year. Their former fertihty mas
departed. How most cheaply TO res'orc ~
fertility is an important problem upon inc eoi.
rect solution Of which the success OF iafm'"g ~
this section in a great degree depends iho
soil has been depleted by a system Oh iain"s
which has taken away more than mas pSen ~
stored. Under such management the resui'
was inevitable, aud could easily have peeh ioie-
told. o,ors;nc
Tbe remedy would seem to DO in reversing
this process and in applying to the SOL SUI
quantities of plant food in avallapie iorh 10 -
growing crops may require. In what iolni ",e
Rom what source sh all this plant be ootaihca'
A nlentv of stable manure would doubtless an
s,,er thc nurpose. Some of our best agflcuitur,
lets assert that If the crops Of the I arm are leu
rnon The PREMISES and all the tertillzmg cic-
morts saved and restored to the SOIL 'neic
,voria bc sufficient to maintain the present Ter
ti,;tv. This is probably true, but as az presen'
managed there is apt to be a loss. besioes .ns
thero are very many farms that need somcthihs
,oore tbon inst sufficient to maintain ther own'
rbev need To he made much more pfoducu'e
nv the mortgage will increase in size msteau Vi
diminishing. But to secure this Increased pro
ductiveness something more than the mere
feeding ont of the scanty crops ana the apP,ica-
ton Of tho resultant manure is needeu, IL Is
av;dapt that something from outside iources
mrst he secured. Shall the owner OF such E"
tarm who has determined to improve IL, ae-
nord ,non commercial fertilizers OF sh"i III
H., Grain To feed to stock and in that manner
;ncroos co the size and value of the manure he"p'
We have in mind q farm of about loo acieS
which is n type of many others about tne couh-
.r, This farm was sold a short time sihce lol
$1,000. q little more than one-half the cost 10
voars ago. A large portion of the hay ior .ne
iost fs,y wears has been sold, and but ht'ic
stocl has been kept so that the farm ID wen
WON. most of the fields yield a scanty crop VI
Into ton. Now what course shall the present
- ,rrc,e in order TO restore the lost ferul-
;tv IN the farm and at the same time 1hahc /"
liyinc This may seem a difficult task, put !"
,nrst ha dome or the farm will again be SOLD 10
sotisfv q mortgage. If the owner had plenty VI
go, ,r;tb which TO purchase fertilizers the
o~as,ion would he very much simplifed, for by
H. ;udicions use of abundant capital, almost
.-..,oe+,on in farming can be solvea. But
aa..,taI is NOT always abundant with young
men who purchase WORKOUT farms III vermont.
The first great need of course is tertlllzers' ioi
without these his labor will be in VAN. 10 ~
nroaSo tho size and value of the manure heap is
the first and most important WORK, ior 'm'
moons nm increase of the fertility and produc-
tive canacity of the SOIL. With this end in
view the first thing to be done is TO tear up 'no
stoblo Aoors and remove the rich fertilizinS ma
terial which has been accommodating there Tor the
ma.t on vears mr. more. This, added to the lin
tied supply to be found at the stable WINDOWS
will fertilize the garden and a small heiu VI
corn and potatoes. But Ii he does nothlng
more than this each year the farm WIN ohiy
hold its own. The man who gets a living by
the cultivation of a farm must sell some Oh tne
preducts. and he will improve his farnl lnuch
faster if these products are in the form OF ia''
because with fat he sells no fertility. ms De-
ing the case perhaps the best stock that ne can
keep will be dairy cows the, selling product Oh
which is butter. AS upon the farm that we are
considering, the feed in the pastures IS mostly
white top, and as this is OF very little value Il
allowed to head out, but If closely 1eu during
the season is worth something, then IL 1olloWs
that il should be closely fed. 10 90 THIS more
cows should be turned IN than the pasture VIII
s%upport, and the deficiency supplied al Tue DARN
with a ration of bran, corn meal or cotton SEED
meal. or all combined, as the case may 10.
Good cows should be kept; such as Win Ing
care indicated above will yield a product OF az
least two hundred pounds OF butter per year.
Regular customers should be obtained VINO VIII
,aEe tbe butter each week. This will give
ready money, with which to pay current ex-
penses
For the purpose OF utilizing the waste pro-
.arcts of the dairy let several early pigs be pur-
chased. These, if well fed will be made Ill for
the butcher by early winter, and II disposed OIL
at that time will yield a profit besides adding
materially to the size of the manure heap. &c
eke ont the feed in the pasture during the sea-
son of draught which is pretty sure to come az
the latter part of summer, a field OF fodder corn
must he planted, even if fertilizers have to be
bought.
The cows should be stabbed during the sum
.oor and the manure mixed with the proper
amount of absorbents, and sheltered FROM
the nin-pen and COW stable there Will lave az
.cumulated a large quantity ofthe very pes' Una,
,n,,re. Here the question OF the appncatioh Vi
,nenures comes in. To increase the proouctoh
nf Grass must be the object at present. WHAT
ever NAV be said about the importance OF pro-
,l,cino onr own corn, it will not be profitable TO
undertake to raise it at first very extensively
pnon a WORKOUT farm in Vermont. on such d
farm grass is more easily and profitabiy grown
Instead of following the tlme-honored system,
which has been practiced during the last few
generations and under which the farms have SC
many of them reached their present condltlon
IF infertility. the farmer must get out or the
rnts. He must avoid the practice OF putting
all the manure each year upon a small held OF
corn to be followed the next year by oats ana
seeded to grass-a course which of necessity
takes n greater part Of the plant food from the
manure which was applied to the corn crop, SC
that at the end of the rotation, the soil is in nc
better condition to produce a crop of grass than
when it was first broken except that 1T is in bet
ter filth. The better way would be, during the
coming fall, to break up a few acres of this
woy1 out land which gives nov about one-haii
ton of hay per acre, and evenly spread upon the
inverted throws about ten loads per acre Of
that excellent manure which has been saved
during tbe summer. Harrow Town fine, gel
the soil mellow and SOW a plenty of grass seed
This. if the work is well done, will give a gooo
crop of grass next year and for several years to
come without the intervening and exhaustine
crons of corn and oats. There are other thing:
connected with the management OF such iarm'
that we will treat of hereafter.
Hints on Maple sugar Making.
LIGHT AND DARK MAPLE SUGAR.
The manufacture of maple sugar is becoming
an important industry. The demand for flint
= ~ 4ha fnornnc co