Farming, in one point of view, is not unlike some other occupations, and therefore in order to make it pay a fair profit, it is of the first importance that a farmer should start corectly. When a man engages in the mercantile business, or opens a manufactory, he makes himself acquainted with, and, in a measure, master of his business. He feels that it is a very important consideration to have some capital to commence with. Who ever heard of a man opening a store, who had not first acquired some practical knowledge of the duties, &c., of a merchant. It is always desirable and very important, when engaging in any business, to have a good capital to begin with. And this is particular ly true with regard to farming. A The first step, then, towards rendering farming a paying business is a good agricultural education. No man can expect to succeed in the cultivation of the soil who does not have a good understanding of the various operations of the farm. A farmer in order to succeed well in the cultivation of his soil must have some knowledge of soils -of their characteristics-and what system of management will improve them, and what will impoverish them. man may become a very good shoemaker or joiner in one or two years, but it requires more than one decade of years to make a skillful, intelligent, and successful farmer, who will be capable of managing the affairs of even a small farm with discretion. The operations of a farm are so manifold that a farmer, if he expects to succeed in his business, must have a good smattering of agricultural chemistry, a good knowledge of mechanics and of the principles of draught, and of the laws of force and motion. People were once accustomed to think that if a boy or man was so unaccountably stupid that he could not, or would not, make a skillful mechanic, he must be a farmer. But there never was a more egregious error. Experience demonstrates, most conclusively, that the veriest clod-hopper in the land may succeed tolerably well in life if he serves a good apprenticeship at some one of the mechanical arts, and that were he to live coeval with the sun, he never could succeed in farming so as to make it pay. In addition to education, a farmer must have some capital, as has just been observed. If a young man has a little agricultural education and but a few hundred dollars capital he may succeed tolerably well, providing he gets a good farm, and is an energetic, thorough-going man. But no man ever expects to succeed in mercantile business, or in any kind of manufacturing occupation, without having some considerable capital to commence with; nor can a man expect to move along in farming with a very small capital any more prosperously than one can in the mechanic arts with a very limited capital. It is not impossible-indeed it is quite practicable-to make farming pay a good interest on borrowed capital; but as a general rule it would be considered rather uphill business. Dropping the discussion of these theoretical questions, I propose now to show how to make farming pay when the farm is a poor one, and the capital is very limited. And I know not how to do it in a more satisfactory manner to the readers of the Co. Gent., than by recording my own experience in the matter. Farmers always desire something tangible to aid them in their manual operations, and we all esteem a short article which tells us what has been done, what is very practicable, and what may be done again, more highly than we do a large volume which is replete with the most plausible theories. without ever thinking or caring to return anything to it in the form of manure. Crop after crop was grown on it without any manure, until, in many instances, it was a matter of doubt whether the avails of a crop would repay the expense of simply harvesting it. During the first season of my career, from eight to ten bushels of wheat, about eighteen or twenty of oats, and about eighteen bushels of Indian corn, per acre, was my average crop. It required nearly three acres of pasture per head, to keep my horses and cows during the summer. From ten to fifteen hundred pounds of hay per acre, was the maximum quantity; and in many places, the grass was not mowed, because it was so poor it would not pay for mowing. The result was, before the return of pasture, I was running about the neighborhood, like many of my neighbors, to find a little hay. My grain was threshed with a two-horse machine in autumn, and the straw thrown out of doors; and the consequence was, before winter was half gone, my straw was all used up. I had always been instructed when plowing, not to turn up any of the subsoil, because "it was barren and cold, and would spoil the soil;" and as there was not a rod of drain on my farm, and as the soil had been only skimmed over, I came deliberately to the conclusion, that such a system of management would never answer for me; and the conclusion was, that a new leaf must be turned over. The first thing then, was to adopt a system of management which would give an increase of crops, from year to year, without purchasing foreign manure, or without impoverishing the soil. Believing that such a system of management is practicable, the question arose, how am I to accomplish such an object, or how shall I render my plans progressive-tending to the end in view? Now, if a system of management could be adopted which would obviate the necessity of purchasing hay to keep my stock through the winter, one very important step would be taken towards rendering farming progressive-or a paying business. In this dilemma, I procured a railway horse-power and thresher, and horse straw-cutter, and as soon as winter set in I commenced threshing my grain. After threshing a few hundred sheaves, the straw was cut up with a little hay and some cornstalks, and moistened with water and a little meal applied to it; after which it was fed in mangers. I did not wait in autumn, until my animals had begun to fall away in flesh before I commenced feeding them cut feed, but as soon as they did not seem to fill themselves weil in the field, they received one or two feedings per day, as they seemed to need. In this way all the straw was used up in the most economical manner, and every spring, since I adopted this course, I have had hay to sell or to keep over. in case I did sell any hay, I always made calculations to purchase more manure to return to my fields than could be made from the hay sold, if it had been fed out in my own yard. To cut this subject short, I may be allowed to say, that I have followed up this system to the letter until the present time; and I know that I keep more animals on the same quantity of fodder, and keep them in better condition than they do who do not cut their fodder. But Another very important step towards making farming pay, was-and it is true even at the present day-to provide comfortable sheds and stables for my animals, in cold and stormy weather. I always considered-and do now-that every cow, calf and bullock, or sheep, is worth four cents per pound, live weight. Now then, my idea was-and it has ever been a rule of action with me--that if I could retain only one hundred pounds of cow flesh and fat per head, by expending two dollars or more per head, in erecting comfortable sheds and stalls-the fodder being always the same-my system would tend to render farming a paying operation. I commenced farming on about thirty acres of plowable land. Most of this was old land, and the greater portion Let us unfold this thought a little. Suppose we allow of it had been plowed and sowed ever since it was cleared a good cow to lose one hundred pounds of fat and flesh up, and the produce had been carried down the Cayuga lake. Different owners had worked it themselves and rented it to different tenants every year since the country was settled, who had carried away from it everything that grew, during the winter-one hundred pounds will not make a very great difference in the appearance of a cow of good size, if she is tolerably fleshy-that one hundred pounds is worth, in cash, not less than eight dollars. It is in reality, worth more than this; because there is no portion of bone and offal in the part that is thus wasted away. Now, during the following season, such a cow must appropriate grass enough to replace this one hundred pounds of fat and flesh, to have made one hundred pounds of butter. No good farmer will deny this fact. Now, computing the value of that one hundred pounds of butter, aside from the expense of making it at twelve dollars, which added to the eight dollars, for the lost flesh and fat, we have a dead loss of twenty dollars per cow per annum, in consequence of not having comfortable sheds to protect them from the pelting storms and the pinching cold. My principle was then, as it now is, that in order to make farming pay, every animal must be kept in a thriving condition; consequently every one receives a regular supply of food every morning and evening, with a portion of turnips, carrots, or potatoes, until grass comes; and when the winds howl, and he storms rage, I never lay me down to rest, until I know that every animal has been well fed and is in comfortable quarters. S. E. TODD. Lake Ridge. Buist's Dwarf Okra Plant. The Okra plant is of the Mallow tribe, and of a southern or warm climate, though it grows rapidly, and succeeds well in the middle States. We have raised it in gardens between the 42d and 43d degree of latitude. It is valuable for the healthful and highly agreeable mucilage obtained from the fruit, which grows at the joints of the branches in the form of upright cones or pods; these are cut up and boiled in soups, and give them a rich flavor. It is necessary to take off the pods while tender, after they have attained their full size, and before they harden and ripen, which they do in one or two days afterwards. Their tenderness can be ascertained by the point of a knife, and this period of the growth of the pod inust be watched, as after they become dry and hard, they afford little of the glutinous matter, and are worthless, except their seeds be used as a substitute for coffee, for which they are admirable. The green pods are also pickled; and are frequently dried and preserved for winter use by hanging on strings. They are even boiled like asparagus, and eaten with drawn butter. We are indebted to Mr. Robert Buist, seedsman, Philadelphia, for the engraving given above, which represents "Buist's Dwarf Okra," which produces pods at every joint. It is said to grow two feet high, about half the height of the old variety, and its superior advantages are that it requires much less ground to raise a given quantity, being more fruitful, while the fruit is larger in quantity and better in quality. Do good to others-it will come back to you. The water which you pour on the roo's of the cocoanut tree comes back to you sweetened from the top. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Cheap Paint. EDS. Co. GENT-I see in the "Co Gent." an inquiry for cheap paint. Enclosed is one I sent to the "Niagara Mail" in Jan., which I know to be first best. Take one bushel of unslacked lime and slack it with cold water; when slacked add to it 20 lbs. of Spanish whiting, 17 lbs of salt and 12 lbs. of sugar. Strain this mixture through a wire sieve, and it will be fit for use after reducing with cold water. This is intended for the outside of buildings, or where it is exposed to the weather. In order to give a good color three coats are necessary on brick and two on wood. It may be laid on with a brush similar to whitewash. Each coat must have sufficient time to dry before the next is applied. slacked lime, 3 lbs of sugar, 5 lbs. of salt, and prepare as For painting inside walls, take as before, one bushel of unabove, and apply with a brush. I have used it on brick, and find it well calculated to preserve them-it is far preferable to oil paint. I have used it on wood, and assure you that it will last longer on rough siding than oil paint will on plained siding or boards. You can make any color you please; if you wish straw color, use yellow ochre instead of whitening; for lemon color, ochre and chrome yellow; for lead and slate color, lampblack; for blue, indigo; for green, chrome green. The different kinds of paint will not cost more than one-fourth as much as oil paints, including labor of putting on. GALLOWAY. Clifton, C. W. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Treatment of Burns. MESSRS. EDITORS-Flour has been extensively recommended for burns; but seeing it tried several times, increasing the pain intolerably in every instance, I would not use it, nor have it used. But a short time ago one of my family was scalded on the band quite badly-flour was first applied, but could not be borne. Next the skin of hog's lard was applied, which relieved the pain almost at once, and entirely. If the skin of lard cannot be had, oiled silk would be a good substitute. If you can make use of the above to relieve a moment's pain, you and I will have our reward. Р. Р. РЕСКНАМ. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Pie Melon and Ground Cherry. EDS. Co. GENT.-I see much is said about the JAPAN APPLE MELON. I raised some last season and find them a good substitute for apples to inake pies. They also make good preserves and sweet pickles. I have two on hand now. My largest weighed 35, 37, and 46 pounds. The GROUND CHERRY I have cultivated for two years. They make a delicious pie and very nice preserves, and are very palatable to eat when ripe. They are easily cultivated, and yield abundant. I think them worth cultivating; they keep until mid-winter. P. WHITTLESEY. Wallingford, Conn., Feb. 3, 1860. Cooking the Sweet Potato. In a late no., I noticed an article on the culture of sweet potatoes. Now I will tell you two or three ways of preparing them for the table, besides baking, steaming, &c. 1. POTATO PUDDING.-Wash the potatoes, peal and grate them, (using a large coarse grater,) then take of the grated potato, eggs, butter, either sugar or molasses, (the latter is best) and milk sufficient for a batter-bake in a deep dish without crust-stir two or three times whilst cooking, and then bake brown. Flavor as desired. 2. POTATO CUSTARD.-Boil the potatoes, skin and mash them-then with the mashed potatoes, butter, eggs, sugar and milk, make a batter and bake with one crust in a shallow dish. Flavor as desired. 3. POTATO PIE.-Peal the potatoes, slice-take sugar and water sufficient to make a syrup to cover the potatoes, add a little butter and some spices, and cook until the slices are softened-then make into pies with two crusts. 4. FRIED POTATOES.-Peal them, slice and sprinkle with a little fine salt, then fry till moderately brown, in butter or lard-if in butter, no salt is needed. We depend very much upon sweet potatoes for fattening pork-on our sandy lands. The red and yellow varieties are much planted, but the Spanish is much preferable for table use. This kind is rather dry and insipid when first dug, but upon exposure to the air, becomes very sweet and even syrupy. W. NICHOLSON. Perquimans Co., N. C. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] CULTURE OF FLAX. EDS. COUNTRY GENTLEMAN-I have had considerable experience in flax culture during the last 28 years. Large quantities are raised in my section of country, and having two flax machines on my farm, and also a factory for spinning flax into shoe thread, carpet yarn, twine, &c., has necessarily given me considerable experience in this crop. proper tilth. The subject of Agricultural Education for American purposes, is one to the difficulties of which we have heretofore referred, while for the present generally contenting ourselves with a simple record of the efforts made toward their solution. The latest of these, the Agricultural Lecture Course at Yale, we announced some months in advance of its appointed time, and by subsequently recurring to it as occasion offered, we endeavored to do our Flax requires upland, and a loamy soil, or a loam with share towards attracting thitherward the steps of the far-gravel or saud, or a clay soil if it can be in season put in mers of the country. Which endeavors, by the way, apIt does not, like corn, thrive well on a pear to have at least created a strong desire for the publi-sward ley, but succeeds best after corn, and tolerably well cation of the Lectures delivered-a matter quite impracti- after potatoes. It requires, like most other crops, to be cable as well as impolitic-the former, because much was got in in good season. From various experiments, I find said that was wholly or partly extemporaneous, and be one bushel of seed to the acre the best, where we unite cause what was written is the individual property of the the seed and lint for the profits of the crop. The ground writers, who may require it for other uses the lat must be made mellow with the drag before sowing the ter, from the simple reason that the course is to be an An- seed, and dragged as lightly as possible after the seed is nual one, and that much of the inducement to attend will sown, for very little if any of the seed will grow if deeply be lost, if it is anticipated that for a Dollar or two we can subsequently purchase the whole in print. Nor is this a selfish consideration on the part of the directors-the great value of such a course lies in its drawing together as large a number as possible from all sections of the country-a source of usefulness at once discarded if the chief source of attraction is put in hazard. Farmers peculiarly are of that class, to whom, according to the scripture, "faith cometh by hearing." Nine out of ten who would refuse to read, or pay no regard to anything they should read, would perhaps receive the same information or item of experience from the lips and voice of a neighbor as an immediate lesson to themselves. covered. The ordinary yield is from 8 to 10 bushels of seed and from 250 to 300 lbs. lint. In former years much flax was water-rotted, but from the fact that the U. S. Government has not patronized, for the last 15 years, the making of duck for the navy, there has been but little demand for water-rotted flax, and this method has been abandoned. It is now, after the seed is off, spread on grass lands, thinly and evenly, and dew rotted. It gives a trifle more weight by dew rotting. the same as oats. The expense of the crop until harvesting it, is about In pulling the flax, which must be done if you wish to save the lint, a fair hand will pull his acre in three days. I had 55 acres pulled by hands at $1 per day, at an expense of $2.75 per acre. The seed would average one year with another, about $1.50 per bushel, and the lint about 10 cents per lb. ; but the past season the price for good flax has been 15 cents per lb. Hence it is that the Discussions are becoming so important and interesting a part of our Agricultural Meetings and Shows. While a whole evening expended in this way, may witness the utterance of much more that is random and unqualified where accuracy and limitation are especially necessary of much less either in amount or variety that is practically useful as a contribution from actual experience, than any one number for instance of the Co. GENT., may possibly afford, there are not a few who would enjoy the one away from home better than the other at If seed only is the object in sowing, from one-half to their own fireside, and perhaps receive from it a degree of two-thirds of the quantity ought to be sown; and if the benefit greater in proportion to the greater attention awa-lint only is the object then one and a half bushel of seed kened and thought bestowed. From a notice elsewhere of the concluding address of Prof. PORTER at New-Haven, it will be seen that another year the Lectures there are to be renewed with still greater efforts to render them effective of good. Such a course has the advantage over ordinary discussion, of presenting the observation or the experience of careful and trust worthy men, well-matured for the occasion, and subsequently overhauled and sifted by questions and by debate. Yale College, as a center for such a convention, renders New-Haven a prominent point by its high scientific and educational standing, and the proposed establishment of an Experimental Farm will also add to the advantages of the place. But it is not an idea of which Yale is destined to retain the monopoly. The propriety of taking some measures of a similar kind, during another Annual Meeting of our State Agricultural Society in this city, has already been mooted, and the example of our Connecticut friends only requires a little more testing to be extensively imitated. The Herkimer Co. Journal, published at Little Falls, in this State, comes to us with the following sensible suggestions: YALE is doing what might be done here, on a smaller scale; but with great advantage we think to our Young Farmers, A course of Lectures on Agriculture should be delivered at our Academies and Seminaries every winter. A considerable number of young men from the surrounding country go to School at the Academy only during the Winter Term. To these a course of Lectures on Agriculture from practical men would be invaluable, as it would stimulate them to look deeper into the subject, and thus lay the foundation of future improvement and success. Nor need these Lectures be expensive. There are practical men in the several departments of agriculture to be found in our own County, who are capable of giving a first class lecture, on some par ticular branch of the subject. Let a dozen such men be engaged, with perhaps a few from abroad, and we have no doubt this feature alone in the Programme of Academic Education, would awaken an interest in our schools throughout the community, which would amply pay all expenses for lectures. The flax crop is usually taken by the mill men when pulled, from the farmers, but where the farmers take care of their own flax they can get it dressed and fitted for market at $2 to $2.50 per 100 lbs. is not too much per acre. In Europe double the last quantity is sown, but in every experiment tried in this country, where three or four bushels per acre have been sown, it has proved an entire failure of the crop. I handled a crop of two acres and seventeen one-hundredths, raised by a neighbor the past season; although this was rather an extraordinary crop, the sales of seed and lint amounted to $195.19, and the whole expense of the crop was a little over $40, leaving a net profit of nearly $70 per acre. The amount of flax raised in the United States does not approach near the consumption, and very large amounts are annually imported. The statistics of NewYork in 1855, show near five millions of lbs. of lint raised in this State, but the numerous impossibilities there stated, render the returns useless for any calculations. The only difficulty in raising this crop is the bulkiness of the product, which will not allow of transportation to any great distance; consequently it can be profitably raised only in the neighborhood of flax mills; but when once dressed, it will bear transportation to any point for a market. WILLIAM NEwcomb. Rensselaer Co. N. Y. SOUTH DOWNS.-Mr. J. C. Taylor, Holmdel, N. J., has recently sold several South Down rams, to go to California. Among them, one to Messrs. Crosby & Dibblee, whom they named "Golden Fleece." He was from the imported ram Frank, bred by Mr. Webb, and a Webb ewe, bred by Col. Morris-was of large size and heavy fleece, having sheared 8 lbs. when a yearling. These gentlemen are going into sheep raising extensively, having a "ranche" of over 13,000 acres near Los Angeles. He has also sold several ram lambs, all got by his noted "World's Prize" ram, to Mr. Stanwood of Sacramento. self the question, "Has my life invariably been in accordance with the dictates of reason-have I never failed to grasp an opportunity of improvement?" The calculation was not very long ago presented as to the money value by which the lands of this State might be increased if they were all properly drained; to which some thoughtful objector responded by saying that when our territory was all thus put in order for tillage, there would be no market for its immense production. He need have given himself no uneasiness; by the time the Anti-Utopians (as a correspondent elsewhere styles them,) are all exterminated, our population will have incalculably increased, and perhaps Macaulay's antiquarian New-Zealander will have already taken his meditative seat among the ruins of London Bridge. Our friend is only one among many to whom our acknowledgments are due for liberal and valuable communications during the past two months-large numbers of which have already been published, while many more are filed for seasonable opportunity to appear. But very few are perhaps aware of the quantity of manuscript grain, The moral, then, of these discursive notes, is simply that must go into our compositors' mill to bring forth as before-Let all contribute as they can to open chanthe grist which is returned to our readers. The amount nels of light in the dark places of our farming; out of of paper occupied by pen and ink in the preparation of each much discussion, here and there shall we prompt to some printed column, bears something the same relation to the real and tangible advance, and the example of one sucregular and compact lines which this great Art compress- cessful man will exert an influence upon others in cones in bulk while it multiplies in numbers-as the pyramids stantly widening circles. A careful thinker, as well as to a hay stack, or the cotton lint' that flies loosely from thorough practical farmer, said in our office the other day: the gin, to the same product pressed and baled for the there have been just as good farmers among our fathers as market. Consequently, although not a mail arrives with- there are now-just as careful observers, just as earnest out bringing from widely scattered sources, some contri-thinkers, just as progressive cultivators. But the great bution or other to our stores, the ever recurring draft they advantage of the Agricultural papers of our day is, that sustain is so great, that we are scarcely more apprehen- they bring to light what this class of farmers can accomsive of overstocked supplies,' than we are that all the far-plish; their example, which formerly appeared to their mers of the land will simultaneously put in practice the doctrines we are teaching, and spoil the 'profits of their business by the immense crops and consequent low prices that would ensue. This remark recalls one consideration which, although very old in our own mind, has perhaps never been expressed in so many words. One of the most successful and thorough-going florists and plant growers whom we ever knew, now-if an exemplary life ever deserved such reward-at home where "the forget-me-nots of the angels" require neither culture nor human care-when asked to describe in print his methods of propagation and growth, used to answer with native shrewdness, more generous always of his money than of the secrets of his trade, "Let others find out for themselves, as I did." There need be, however, no fear in telling all the secrets of nature or art that one can learn, either in Agriculture or Horticulture-arising from any danger that too many will at once rush into the ranks of improvement. Men, like children, require "line upon line, and precept upon precept." And we do not hesitate to say that our correspondents may send us the fullest particulars of all the experience they have gained or any discoveries they may have made, without the slightest peril of thereby creating injurious competition in farming or gardening. If we should publish this month, in the way of an ordinary editorial or communication, a perfect and complete specific against the wheat midge or the curculio, we doubt if the price of plums would be a cent lower in the New-York market next autumn, or if their daily bread could then be purchased any cheaper by the consumers of that metropolis. This is the case because important changes for the better or worse resemble almost invariably the forest which old Time rears to gradual maturity, rather than the gourd that sprang up in a night for the prophet: Of a hundred who should try either of the specifics we have suggested if indeed there were so many who would go beyond the casual remark-"Well now, that looks reasonable enough," -probably a number would fail in the care requisite to ensure a fair trial; others might tire before the process was complete; only a very few would verify its correctness by ultimate success. neighbors as merely an instance of good luck, is now thoroughly sifted and discussed; the measures of advancement they take are disseminated and pushed on, instead of going with them to their graves. "I perceive," he added in effect, "a constant and remarkable change for the better, precisely in this direction, in your publications; you are continually drawing out the experience of those who have not before written, and as I never met a man who could not tell me something, so there is not a number issued that contains nothing to ponder and nothing to practice." [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Brussels Sprouts. This variety of cabbage is supposed to have originated from ly near Bruxelles and other large towns in Flanders, where the Savoy. It is a celebrated vegetable in Europe, especialfrom October to April, it is an every day dish on the table of both the rich and the poor.-Buist's Kitchen Garden. Wherever this fine vegetable will stand out of doors during the winter, it is invaluable, as furnishing a rich vegetable fresh from the grounds. Where it will not, as in these northern latitudes, an excellent way is to give them a pit, where they can be preserved in all their freshness. We recently saw at a neighbor's, a pit full of these little cabbage, from which the gardener supplied the family. They are simply taken up litter in extra cold weather. just before winter and planted in these pits, and covered with EDGAR SANDERS. PLANTING SUGAR ORCHARDS. In regard to planting sugar maples on stony hill-sides, recently noticed in this paper, (Co. Gent. Feb. 2, 1860,) a correspondent of the New-England Farmer remarks: "I have a sugar orchard on the top, and just over the east side of a hill, and I think it yields more sap and of better quality than on level land, and the leaves not only keep the but a nearly equal area on the side of the hill below is kept land on which the trees stand in the highest state of fertility, in quite a productive state; and this land being sheltered by a belt of timber on the south, and by high hills on the opposite side of the valley, east and north-east, I have planted a small orchard of apple-trees upon it, and by throwing brush on the land to catch the leaves, I succeed in getting a better growth than on another orchard on good level land well cultivated." Perhaps it will be thought that we place too low an estimate upon the enterprise-nay, even upon the common The same writer remarks upon the known variation in sense of our readers, in such statements as these. The the quality and quantity of sap yielded by maple trees of truth nevertheless is unmistakable; nor will it seem as the same size, and suggests the trial of experiments to asstrange, as it might at first be regarded, if each of us-certain whether this superiority could be propagated by whatever his position or pursuit should soberly ask him-grafting seedling trees from the best sugar yielding sorts. 66 THE CALF QUESTION---A GOOD BARN. Mr. Pettee further says, he has in two or three instances sold calves who have run with their mothers three months, for $15 to $20, which he considered the most profit he could get from the milk. To many, $20 for a calf three months old, would be thought a great price. But in the New-York cattle market, 29th of December, a premium calf four and a half months old, weighing 650 lbs., sold for $47.50, or 74 cts per pound, live weight. I take my calves from the cow when three or four days old. I take a small quantity of good English hay, and make a tea from it; I add a small quantity of milk, and a very little molasses to it. The calf drinks it freely, and very soon becomes very fond of it, and having got the taste, will eat hay at three weeks old with as much eagerness as a calf will usually eat grass at ten weeks old. As they increase in age I decrease in the quantity of milk, unmake the tea pretty strong, and give them about as much less I happen to have a large quantity of poor milk. I few carrots cut up fine, and also as much good hay as they as they would usually require of milk twice a day, with a will eat. The hay the tea is made of is not lost, as the cattle will eat it all. I think a calf may be raised till it is ten weeks old, in the manner I have adopted, for the small sum of three dollars; the trouble is but trifling. I have no difficulty in selling my cows from fifty dollars to a much higher price." The above, somewhat abridged, is Mr. Thayer's method of raising calves, and a very similar plan is pursued by many farmers in that section of New-Hampshire where I reside. A certain number of calves must be annually raised, to replace, in time, the cattle slaughtered for beef, and otherwise disposed of; and it should be the study of the farmer to ascertain the most profitable method of keeping up this supply. But farmers differ widely in this matter. Mr. cows. Pettee thinks it better to sell his calves for veal, and purchase store calves in the fall from drovers, who obtain their stock in Northern or Southern New-York, where there is no such demand for veals. The "Maryland Farmer" thinks it more profitable for him to raise his calves, and gives his reasons therefor. These reasons, as well as those of Mr. P., are before the readers of this paper, and I leave it with them to draw their own conclusions. But in connection with the foregoing, I will give the method of raising calves by two other farmers. In Colman's 2nd Report of the Ag. of Massachusetts, is a copy of a letter from Minot Thayer, a farmer of Braintree, to Mr. C., on "Raising Calves," which says: "In answer to your inquiries respecting the mode which I have adopted in raising cattle for ten or more years past, I can merely say, those that I have raised within the above time, have not cost me more than one-quarter part as much as those I formerly raised. They used generally to be with the cow from eight to ten weeks. The usual quantity of milk they took, was about eight quarts per day each; the common price of milk has been twelve and a half cents per gallon, and four cents per single quart, and more sold by the quart than by the gallon. Upon calculation, you will see that it would cost about $17, upon the lowest price of milk, to prepare a calf to go to pasture. "Another difficulty which arises from letting the calves take the milk from the cow, is when you turn them to the pasture they are very uneasy, continually bawling after their mother, eat but little, and fall away in flesh, and are often stinted. The expense of raising them in the old way has been so much that scarcely a single calf is raised in this vicinity. Consequently our farmers have bought their young cattle from droves from different parts of the country, and have had no opportunity to select the breed, the result of which is a miserable breed of cattle. Now sir, the method which I have adopted (with great success) is: This morning (26th of Jan.) I rode four miles to call upon one of our young, enterprising farmers, to take a look at his last spring calves-and other stock. Some ten months ago, cows were readily saleable here at a good price. This farmer (Chas. P. Sawyer) sold all but two; these calved in March, and he also purchased six more calves when they were three days old, for which he paid one dollar each. The eight calves were raised mostly on hay tea, the skim milk of the two cows was mostly mixed with the hay tea, which was given them night and morning-at noon they were fed with a porridge. They are now a very fair lot of calves, quite as good as are those that take the milk from the cows for eight or ten weeks. He has recently refused ten dollars each for two of them. Two years ago the coming spring he raised fourteen calves on three cows. He now has two calves, a few weeks old, for which he paid one dollar each. At this time he has only a farrow cow that gives milk-yet these young calves look as well as those do of the same age that suckle the Mr. Sawyer has made money by raising young stock, and other branches of farming, to which I will again allude. I also called upon Paine Davis, another of our intelligent young farmers. At the commencement of winter he had fifty-one head of cattle; since which he has sold 4 oxen, 8 two year old steers, and 4 calves. 35 head of cattle, eleven of which are last spring calvesfour of them he raised. Late in the fall, some thirty miles north of this, he purchased eleven last-spring calves; for these, upon an average, he paid $3.75. The four he raised, and the eleven purchased were raised upon skim milk, hay tea, &c. Another of our farmers raised eleven last spring, having for them only the milk of three cows. is my impression that the calves that take the milk from the cows, if they have a full supply, generally look better, when turned to grass at the age of ten weeks, than those do that are brought up by hand. But according to Mr. Thayer's figures it costs about $17.00 to raise a calf on the cow to the age of ten weeks, and only about three dollars when fed on skim milk, hay tea, &c., making a difference in the cost of a calf ten weeks old of $14.00. Difference in location, or the place in which different farmers may reside, the price of butter, milk, veal, hay, pasture, &c., are matters that each farmer should take into consideration in the disposal and management of his calves. In these matters he should "apply the sober second thought." What might be profitable in one place for A, B and C, in the management of their calves in their section of country, might not prove so for D, E, F and G, in their section. He now has It In the Co. Gent. of the 12th inst., under the heading of Sheltering Cattle," I had something to say of our NewHampshire barns. The past season, Chas. P. Sawyer of this town, built him a No. 1 barn, which as it has some peculiarities about it, I will attempt a description. It is 80 by 40-18 feet posts; every stick of the timber was sawed, and every part built in the most thorough manner. There were 50,000 feet of timber, boards and plank (board |