Our Forage Crops. ONE of the lessons the farmer of New England ought to learn is, that the true economy of applying manures in a mixed husbandry, where the dairy must take the lead, lies in stimulating the growth of forage crops, which will bear it. Our practice, and that of our fathers, has been to rob our grass lands to feed the hoed crops, while good judgment ought to teach us to give our manures far more liberally to our grass lands, to get our profit from a higher yield, not merely of the immediate crop, but from a greater thickening of the sod, which so improves the texture and fertility of the soil. There is nothing like a thick, heavy sward, fat with innumerable strong grass-roots, to prepare land for a hoed crop, or for a grain crop to follow. For clay soils especially, and for lighter loams, a heavy sod, thick with age, and fat with organic remains of rich top-dressings and great masses of decaying roots, is worth more for the subsequent crop than any amount of manure we can expect to apply. This improvement- -the liberal and frequent application of manure to grass -can be obtained with little or no cost, because the increased growth of grass will pay for the manure and the cost of putting it on, with a profit into the bargain. Land will constantly grow better under this treatment; indeed, it is the easiest, cheapest, and quickest method of bringing up poor land, because it encourages nature to take hold and help us. The growth of the blade is attended with a corresponding growth of root; and a sod filled, thickened, built up, and stuffed to repletion with roots, and the organic matter applied to the surface, with the portion of foliage that falls, even with the most careful harvesting, furnishes the best conditions for increasing fertility. Let us not grudge our grass-lands their full share of the best manures on the farm. Give them in liberal doses and often. Give them the coarser manures immediately after the grass is cut, or late in the season, as the winter is closing in; either time will do; but give the finer composts and chemical fertilizers early in spring. The main point is, to manure the grasses, to manure them often and liberally, to force them to the most luxuriant growth and to the greatest root-power. If this is done, the hoed crops can get along with less feeding, and still do well. THE PUBLIC DEBT. Statement of the Public Debt, September 1, 1878, not including bonds issued in aid of the Pacific Railroad Corporations. POETRY, ANECDOTES, &C. Ho! all who labor-all who strive Ye wield a lofty power: WHAT TO TEACH A CHILD. WHAT shall I teach my child? Teach him that it is better to die than to lie; that it is better to starve than to steal; that it is better to be a scavenger or wood-chopper than to be an idler and dead-beat; that labor is the price of all honest possessions; that no one is exempt from the obligation to labor with head, or hands, or heart; that "an honest man is the noblest work of God;" that knowledge is power; that labor is worship, and idleness is sin; that it is better to eat the crust of independent poverty than to luxuriate amid the richest viands as a dependant. Teach him these facts till they are woven into his being and regulate his life, and we will insure his success, though the heavens fall. THE WOMAN. NOT as all other women are Is she that to my soul is dear; Do with your might, do with your Her glorious fancies come from far, strength: Fill every golden hour! The glorious privilege to do Is man's most noble dower. Oh! to your birthright and yourselves, CAROLINE F. ORNE. DESPATCH OF BUSINESS. BEWARE of stumbling over a propensity which easily besets you from not having your time fully employed, — I mean what the women call dawdling. Your motto must be, Hoc age (Do this). Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the hours of recreation after business, never before it. When a regiment is under march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the front does not move steadily and without interruption. It is the same with business. If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and regularly dispatched, other things accumulate behind, till affairs begin to press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion. SIR WALTER SCOTT. PERISH policy and cunning, Perish all that fears the light; Whether losing, whether winning, Trust in God, and do the right. Beneath the silver evening star; And yet her heart is ever near. Great feelings hath she of her own, Yet in herself she dwelleth not, Although no home were half so fair; No simplest duty is forgot; Life hath no dim and lowly spot That doth not in her sunshine share. She doeth little kindnesses, Which most leave undone or despise; For naught that sets one heart at ease, And giveth happiness or peace, Is low esteeméd in her eyes. She hath no scorn of common things; And, though she seem of other birth, Round us her heart entwines and clings, And patiently she folds her wings, To tread the humble paths of earth. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. NEATNESS is a point in minor morals which deserves much more attention than it receives. There is such a comfort in order and tidy habits, that as a source of refined pleasure they should be taught, encouraged, and persisted in. PINESS. Do not think that it is necessary to pronounce many words. To pray is to say, Let thy will be done; it is to form a good purpose; it is to raise your heart to God; it is to lament your weakness; it is to sigh at the recollection of your frequent disobedience. This prayer demands neither method, nor science, nor reasoning; it is not necessary to quit one's employment; it wards its Creator, and a desire that, is a simple movement of the heart towhatever you are doing, you may do it to his glory. The best of all prayers with a continual reference to the will is, to act with a pure intention, and of God. FENELON. POTTED WISDOM. REMEMBER that your will is likely HAPPINESS is not impossible without to be crossed every day, and be prehealth, but it is of very difficult attain-pared for it. ment. ... The common rules are the best exercise without fatigue; gen EXCELLENCE is never granted to erous living without excess; early man but as the reward of labor. GOOD manners are a part of good morals. FACE all things: even Adversity is GRAMMAR IN RHYME. I. THREE little words you often see, II. A NOUN's the name of any thing, III. An ADJECTIVE 's the kind of Noun, As, great, smull, pretty, white, or brown. IV. Instead of Nouns the PRONOUNS stand, V. VERES tell something to be done ruin. VI. ANSWER TO LOGOGRIPH. ANSWERS TO ARITHMETICAL PUZ- ANSWERS TO CONUNDRUMS. 1. Because it keeps you dry all day. 2. When they make 22. 3. Because they have studded the heavens for thousands of years. 4. Because they never complain How things are done, the ADVERBS tell, without cause (caws). VERY QUIET.-A traveller, describing a very quiet village, said, "It was still very still, so still at night that I could almost hear my bed tick." DISPUTING DEACONS.-Two deacons in a country town were disputing about the location of a graveyard. "Well," says one of them, "I'll never be buried in that graveyard so long as I live." "What an obstinate man!" replies the other; "if the Lord spares my life, I will!" A POUCH of roasted salt carried in the pocket is said to be a preventive of seasickness; but a more certain way is to buy a barrel of flour and stay at home. CHARADES. Our Hay Crop. THE great effort of every farmer should be directed to increase the quantity and to improve the quality of the materials used for feeding stock. Grass and hay are the great leading crops of New England, and always must be in this latitude. We depend upon them for the maintenance of our stock-upon the one through the summer months, and upon the other through our long and severe winters. No other crop, therefore, exceeds the grass crop in importance. It might almost be said that no other one compares with it. It is the basis of our beef, it is the basis of our milk, of our butter, and of our cheese; and these articles lie at the very foundation of our prosperity, since the dairy must be regarded as the great leading feature of our agriculture. In the management of our hay crop we have made very great improvement within the last quarter of a century. In the methods of cutting and curing grass for hay, the improvement in mechanical inventions has led to an entire revolution. It is far more under our control than it used to be, when we were dependent upon the scythe, the fork, and the hand-rake. The work of cutting and curing is more easily and rapidly performed, and a vast amount of time is saved for other equally pressing farm operations. The importance of this great step of progress can hardly be over-estimated. In another respect also we have greatly improved upon the old methods, and that is in the time of cutting grass for hay; for whereas it was formerly the custom to begin haying soon after the 4th of July, it is now a very common practice to begin about the middle of June. We have certainly gained two weeks throughout this State, and probably throughout New England, over the old method; and the result is, better hay, and, considering the increased second crop in consequence of early cutting, more of it. There are other points in which we have made very marked and decided progress in the last few years, as, in the time of sowing, the more correct notions in regard to the extent of curing, the more liberal use of seed, and especially in the higher cultivation of our lands and the more perfect methods of laying down to grass. But improvement ought not to stop here. We can greatly increase our supplies, both for summer and winter feeding, and it should be the great study of every farmer to accomplish this result. The quantity may be increased by higher tillage, better cultivation, but the quality must depend largely upon better methods of curing, and upon a wiser selection of seed. It is a problem for each one to work out on his own farm. Chemical Fertilizers. THE use of chemical fertilizers has come to be quite extensive. It is a comparatively new feature in our system of farming, and must be regarded as of vast importance, from the fact that it increases the possibilities of production almost beyond calculation. It is of the highest consequence, therefore, that we learn how to use them with the greatest economy and skill. In the purchase, we should take the precaution to see that the seller has complied with the law. No man who is doing business in open violation of a just and equitable law is fit to be trusted; and if he sells us a spurious article, we have no remedy. He should state what he sells, and sell what he states. It is the part of discretion to require that he shall have paid his license, and to buy of no one who has not. No farmer who buys with ordinary prudence need be cheated, as the law now stands; and if the article is not what it is represented to be, there is an adequate remedy. Chemical fertilizers ought to be regarded and used chiefly as supplementary to stable manures; that is, they should be used in connection with them and to eke out a short and inadequate supply. They should be selected for this purpose with reference to the wants of the special crop. The stable manure, made up of all the wastes of the farm, is good for the land and good for crops in general; but we cannot supply it in sufficient quantity to meet the want of any special element of plant-food which a particular crop requires, without withholding the just proportion from other lands. Stable manures, for instance, contain potash in small quantities; but some special crop, like onions or clover, requires large quantities of potash; and to add mixed manure in quantities to supply that special want of the plant, would be to rob other crops and other lands. Now, how much better it would be to use a reasonable quantity of stable |
