The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-07-11
p40my Among New England Farm

erS.
a western man never knows the
ming of the word economy, in its
II +st sense, unless he has taken
IN Sns on farm in New England.
dere few acres is all the average
farmer will attempt to cultivate, and
the eamount Of labor and capital that
annually must be expended on these
y SO great that every possible source
OF income must be made available.
ana strained to its utmost in order to
Keep the balance, at the close of the
year, from falling on the wrong side
of the account.
N0thing that has a penny in it is
allowed to be wasted, even though it
may take full penny's worth of
labor to get it out.
West of the Mississippi river [ have
eerhundreds of cords ofrich manure
!, f-5lled OF ard dumped anywhere, so
as 10 get it out of the way. Here this
fertilizing substance is regarded as the
very life and support of the farm.
Barn cellars are constructed and
sheds are built that it may be stored
where ii will not go to waste; and
large tanks are made for holding and
preserving the liquid drippings of the
stable floors.
The droppings about the yard are
gathered up daily and thrown on the
pile under cover, and even house,
slops are thrown where they will
help solve the all'impOrtant problem
of keeping the farm from running
down.
The owners of stables in the cities
and villages find ready sales for all
the manure they have at from S5 to
Sc per cord, and the measuring is care
fully attended to.
l am here reminded of a heated
discussion | recently overheard be-
tween the buyer and selIersof a pile
of manure, 1t was to be measured in
the cart, and the purchaser claimed
the right to get on the load and tread
it down with his feet twice while
loading, The seller cOntended that
it was customary to tread but once.
They could not agree, and 1T had to
be left to third party, when it was
finally settled that the treading pro-
cess should be performed but once on
each load.
The soap man passes through the
county every week, buying wood
ashes, for which he pays about twen-
- cents per busheI. After he has ex.
tracted the potash, through the pro
cess of teaching, he sells the ashes
back to the farmer at the same price
per bushel as he paid. He also buys
all the bones that have been saved
for him after having done faithful
service in the line of soap making.
After he gets through with these they
pass on to the manufacture of fertil-
izers.
Little boxes save the scraps of old
iron, pieces of old nails, screws, etc.,
for the foundry. Bits Of rags and
newspaper are saved for the tin ped
dler, with his Yankee notions. These
dealers make their visits so often that
they keep the country well cleaned
of its rags, usually buying small
amounts whose value is figured in
pennies-but paid for in goods. As
l pass a house with a tin peddIer's
cart in front, the woman has just sold
six cents worth Of rags, and wants
cash. After several minutes talk the
dealer, in view of the fact that she is
an old customer, departs from his
usual rules and pays her half cash in
hand, while she taxes the balance in
trade.
All the corn fodder is cut before
frost, if possible, and carefully cured
and stored away for winter use.
The huge piles of straw that are
burned in the West would be worth
Sc to SS per ton here to feed to stock
The poorest kind of hay, straw, leaves
or anything that will do for bedding
finds ready sale. Even saw-dus
brings one cent per bushel at the
mills.
Thus the little economies are prac
ticed on the farm and in the house
hold. Children are reared amid itE
practices, are taught its necessity anC
shown its beauties. The child is the
smartest who can see the penny tina
is buried deepest beneath the rub
bish. He becomes pr0verbially sharp
and whatever he allows to sill
through his fingers may he safely
passed by as northeastern. West
erp PLOlUn1d1.
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