-.''^■^ MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE LIBRARY C PER S 1 G4 i&sa \A 3 THE GENESEE FARMER, A MOTTTHLY JQEEUAL DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, IIXUSTEATED WITH ENGEAVING3 OF FMM ^hM\m, mmmm, pomestic mmu, FRUITS, FLOWERS, SHRUBS, &c. EDITED BY DANIEL LEE AND JAMES VICK, JR. P. BARRY, CONDUCTOR OF THE HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. '^7'OXjiTT3VCZi3 :^XXX. — - 1052. ROCHESTER, N. Y. DANIEL LEE, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR, AMERICAN BLOCK, BUFFALO STREET. 1852. ^■■ ik s ^ INDEX TO VOLUME XHI. Agricultural Chemistry, No. 1, 9 Agricultural Implements at Great Exhibition, 22 Apples, Large, 29 Agricultural Chemistry, No. 2, 41 Apples, The Bailey Spice, 64 Agricultural Chemistry, No. 3, 73 Agricultural Progress of the U. S., 83 Agricultural Implements at Great Exhibition, ; 84 Agricultural Productions as shown by the Census of 1860, 116 Ammonia, 127 Apple Trees, Dwarf, ....'. 156 Annual Flowers, 222 Ashes on Potatoes, 227 Acknowledgements, 351, 881 Agriculture, British and American, 370 A Tine Farm for Orcharding,... 3S3 Agricultural Papers, New, 382 Agriculture in Maine, 383 B Bams, Side-Hill, 20 Bots and Colic in Horses, 36 Bones for Manure, preparing, 37 Butter Making, 51 Barnyard Manure, the value of, . . 52 Barley, Hess, 52 Barley, Growing Flax with, 52 Beet-Koot Sugar, 107 Bees, 115 Butter and Cheese making,.. 143, 801 Bones, to dissolve, 148 Bartonia, Golden 191 Barnyard Manure, management of, 208 Bee Kot, , 213 Budding, 228 Biitter, to remove garlic taste in, . . 244 Barley, Winter, 854 Barn "and Cow Stable, 355 Barn-yard Manure, 864 C Clover, Plowing in, 21 Center of Gravity, 83 Coal Ashes and Saw-Dust as Ma- nure, 67 Choked Cattle, to relieve, 84 Carts 98 Cows and Carrots, 105 Cloth for Hot-Beds, 127 Coal Tar, 127, 227 Com for fodder, 160 Cattle, Hungarian, 184 Cheese making from a small Dairy, 209 Clover Seed, a few words on grow- ingi 211 Cucumbers, how to prevent from being destroyed by the Striped Bug 213 Cow, A good, 218 Corn ground with the Cobs for food, 226 Calandrinia, 256 Celery, Cultivation o^ 258 Cattle in the "West, Improved breeds of, 274 Congress and Agriculture, 296 Cattle and Horses, wintering, 334 Cherries, New French, 849 Cranberries, 854 Chart of Chemistry, Youman's, . . . 332 Class Book of Chemistry, do. ... 382 Oomstalk Cutters at the State Fair, 382 Draining, Experiments on, 267 Downing, A. J., Death of, 280 Drouth and Deep Tillage, 302 K Experiment, Interesting, 142 F French Translation, 22 Fruit Trees, Dwarf, 26, 101 Flower Garden at Paris, Vilmor- in's, 31 Flax, Culture of, 45 Farm House, Plan of, 50 Flax Culture, 79 Fuchsia, Culture of the 92 Fruit Rooms 122 Farming in Kentucky, 146 Farming in Edgar Co., Illinois, . . . 150 Fruit Culture in Indiana, 157 Fumigator, Brown's Patent, 187 Flax Culture and Flax Cotton, ... 241 Forest Flowers, 288 Farming in Indiana, 809 Forest Trees, Beauty and value of, 333 Fattening Cattle and Sheep in win- ter, 3.36 Farm Gates, Improvement in, 339 Flowers and Flower Seeds, 852 Fruits from New Hampshire, 381 O Garget in Cows, Cure for, 85 Gas Lime, 38, 69 Granary, Eat-proof, 68 Garget in Cows, 99 Guano, Home-made, 118 Guano on Corn, 114 Grape, Culture of the, and Wine making, 117 Guano, 147 Gmbs on Melon vines, 149 Grape Vine Malady, 158 Girdled Trees, 161, 195 Growing Melons, 179 Gapes in Chickens, 180, 244 Grass Seed, when to sow, 259 Ground Moles, 290 Guano on Wheat, 322 Grapes, Preserving, 322 Genesee Valley Uort. Soc., AJnnu- al Fall Exhibition of, 851 Guano on Potatoes, 873 U Horse Chestnuts, The double flow- ering white, 29 Hogs Rooting, To prevent, 37, 99 Hams, Method of curing C8 Hot-Beds, 70 Hyacinths for forcing 95 Hartshorn, Soaking com in a solu- tion of, 114, 279 Horses for the farm, 119 Hints for the season, 125 Hedges, 150 Hogs, Chinese, 152 Horse Hoe, Wright's premium, . . . 153 Homes for the poor, 181 Hints for June, 188 Hort Society of the Valley of the Genesee, 190, 221 Hints for July, 217 Hogs, Cooking food for, 269 How can he get wisdom that hold- eth the Plow? 266 Horticultural Department of the N. Y. State Fair, 314 Horticultural Department, 846 Hogs, Middlesex, 875 I Irrigating and Manuring land by Steam Power, 187 Iron, Patent Galvanized, 214 Impoverishing the Soil, 245 Impersonality of the Press, 382 li Leached Ashes and Rotation of Crops, 38 Lice on Cattle, 147 Letter from Crawford Co., Pa.,... 220 Liebig, Letter from, 224 Leicester and South Down Sheep, 227 Leached Ashes on Wheat, 272 Lice on Hogs, 273 Leicester Lambs, The weight of, . . 309 M Manure, Application of, 69 Milch Cows and Calves, 110 Merino, South Down, and Leices- ter Sheep, 114 Manure dropped in Summer, 147 Mummy Wheat, 1.53 Manure, 154 Memoranda of the Season, 156 Mixing Soils and Manures, 171 Machine for cutting Grass plats, . . 190 MLxing Ashes with Manure, 226 Merino Lambs, Weight of, 244 Manures, Artificial, 269 N N. Y. State Ag. Society, Annual meeting of, 97 N. Y. State Ag. Society, 193 Nutrition, The philosophy of, 203 National Ag. Convention and So- ciety, 235 N. Y. State Fair, 820 Norton, J. P., Death of, 821 November, Garden hints for, 348 O Osage Orange, 70 Onion, 127 Osage Orange Hedges, 161 Oats as a Manure for Wheat, plow- ing in, 227 Oregon Peas, 840 Pears, Description of new, 29, 68 Plants, The limited duration of va- rieties of, 44 Potato Culture, Experience in,... 46 Plum, The Bradshaw, 64 Park, A National, 65 Plows, American, in England, 66 Pears, Two fine Foreign, 93 Poultry, Experiment with, 114 Potatoes, Experiment with, 118 Peas, 140 Potato Culture, 149 Potatoes for Seed, large and small, 151 Phlox Dmmmondi, 159 Plants, Observations on the growth and nourishment of, 169 Plowing in Green crops, 173 Pear, The Eastern Beurre, 189 Pears on Quince Stock, 218 Peach Trees, 221 -S. INDEX TO VOLUME XIII. Premiums, 223 Plowing, English and American,. 24C) Plaster on \A heat in tlie (ail, 244 Peas, and Pork Mailing, 2T3, 853 Pears, E.\rly Summer, 2S2 Pci'.rs that succeed wcU on the Quince, 218 Poultry,— The Hen Fever, 311 Prepare for the Storm, 33S Potat/vs, Mulching 340 Productions of Agriculture in the IT. S.. Seventh Census.. .:341. 342, 843 PhiloRopliy of Tillage — Horse-IIoc- ing Wheat, 361 Pea L'ultTire in Indiana, 872 Poraologieal Congress, Proceed- ings of the, 377 Pears, New Eoreign 880 Quinc-e, The different varieties of^ 252 R Rural Homes, 16, 47 Eeapin" Machines In England, . . 66 Koses, Perpetual, 94 Ehubarb, 100 Kuta Haga, Large crop of, 112 Kecipe for curing Sores, 149 Euta liiinii and Mangel Wurzel,.. 17S Rustic Work in Gardens, 186 Kuta Baga and common Turnep culture, 210 Eoot Grafting, 228 Eoses, new, 25-1 Eolation of crops, 310 S Slat!.stics, Agricultural, European, 12 Stock, The wintering of, 13 Sheep, Breeds of, and their com- parative value, 54 Spring and Sunmier work, 81 Strawljerries, 90 Sea Kale 100 Sunmier Fallows, 139 Stall fi-rding Sheep, 148 Suptrjihij^phale ofXime and Man- gel Wurzel, 148 Sheep, Fatting qualities of differ- ent bre0 Dwarf Convolvulus, 3l>'i Iniijrovrd MiiMlcai'X Hogs, 874 Baron i,0i iC, Prussia 6,6S4,000 4^fil(S.{ i( Ki Bavaria 2,TT0,6(>T 6,41 8,514 Bad™ 2,570,300 510,000 Switzerkind 1,000,000 1,200,000 Sardinian States 3,800,000 1,000,000 Spain ■ Netlierlands 1,999,902 1,597.906 Luxeraljurg 220,000 350,000 Denmark '. . . &40,000 4,4.80,000 ScMeswig-Holstein 886,200 1,692,600 Sweden and Norway 342,665 5,947,820 Stuf-e^. , Wfieat Kussia 19,000,000 Meclvlenburg 622,460 Hanover 1,320,000 Saxony 1,100,000 Wurtemberg 6,154,821 Hesse 1,915,000 Other German States 1,2.'50,000 Austria 29,100,000 Tuscany l,500,fH)0 States of the Church 8,000,000 Two Sicilies 19,997,700 Other Italian States 3,500,000 Portugal 8,510,000 Greece 275,000 Rye. 149,750,000 1,200,000 2,000,000 2,337,500 &40,o58 2,200,000 3,500,000 88,710,524 500,000 2,528,500 In some of these countries, barley, oats, maize, buckwheat, peas, and beans, are important staples. It is a note-worthy fact that, while we obtain the official agricultural statistics of most of the nations of Europe for 1851 before the close of the year, those of the crops grown in the United States in 1849, and taken by the census of June, 1850, we shall not get till after June, 1852. The fault is in a Congress AvhoUy devoted to party politics. Every sensible man knows that it is not necessary to wait three years after the harvest of 1849 before the public can learn the amount of said harvest. The careful study of agricultural statistics is both instructive and interesting, after one has acquired a taste for researches of this kind. If we convert the hectolitres of wheat and rye grown in France and Great Britain into bushels, and consider each in reference to the agriculture of both nations, it will be seen that while England excels in tillage, France greatly excels in kushandrij. France produces 224,402,453 bushels of wheat a year, and 145,139,305 bushels of rye. England produces 99,324,400 bushels of wheat, and 4,200,000 bushels of rye. To produce their comparatively small amount of grain,* the poor husbandmen of Great Britain require about 230,000 tons of imported guano and an immense quantity of oil cake, used first to feed cattle and sheep, and then as manure. The good husbandmen of France require very little guano or oil cake from abroad, while they annually export to England one-fourth of the bread-stuffs imported into that country. The secret of French and Belgian success in grain-culture is this : Their cultivators make the excreta from millions of people worth an average of five dollars a head per annum, as manure. At this rate, allowing the fertilizers from six millions of persons to be lost in France, and those yielded by thirty millions to be saved, their commercial value to the nation is $150,000,000 a year. The general saving of the elements of wheat, in France, is good husbandry, whatever may be their system of tillage. On the other side of the Channel, the twenty-nine millions of people habitually throw away the fertilizing elements contained in their daily food. Hence the necessity * One IbeciolUre is two and eight-tcntlis bushels. ^- of importing into Great Britain so mucli grain, flour, provisions, and gitano. Some night-soil is saved, perhaps five or ten per cent, of the quantity that might be ; but the loss of that from twenty millions of persons, is equal to casting $100,000,000 into the sea. Of our population, now twenty-five millions, no class saves fertilizers equal to the consumption of one million people, or four per cent, of the whole, so that our annual loss exceeds $100,000,000 from this source alone. But we habitually waste the drop- pings of our domestic animals, and, unlike England, export vast quantities of cotton, breadstufl:s, and pro^^sions, which added to the elements of crops washed out of the soil in the process of tillage, and by the action of our hot summer sun, bring up our loss, otherwise than in food consumed, to at least another $100,000,000 a year. More than 20,000,000 acres are devoted to the production of annual harvests, in the Middle, Western, and Southern States, whose crops are sent out of the States in which they are gro^vn. To apply a ton of guano to each ten acres thus deprived of the things that make grain, meat, cotton, and tobacco, allowing only 200 lbs, to the acre, would demand the annual importation of hvo million tons. This would cost in our seaports $40 per ton, or $80,000,000. But there are at least 60,000,000 acres being gradually impoverished in the United States ; and a single dose of manure, equal in value to four dollars per acre, involves an outlay of $240,000,000 a year. By carefully husbanding manure, the farmers of Belgium, after feeding the densest population in Europe, have a considerable surplus of meat and grain for export. It is only the people who speak the English languao-e that fail to appreciate this obvious truth: — The inhabitants of Cities ar.e bound to feed the land which feeds them. The citizens of London and New York do not possess common sense enough to comprehend one of the plainest laws of Providence. Our rural economy is anything but economical^ and that of Great Britain is but a shade better. LIVE STOCK IN SEVENTEEN OF THE LARGEST NATIONS OF EUEOPE IN 1851. Rorse^. OaiUe. Sheep. Pigs. Goats. Asses <& Mules. France, 2,S1S,196 9,936,536 82,151,430 4,910.720 964,800 T8T,380 Great Britain, 1,500,000 6,865,000 32,000,000 4,O0(i;00O 210,000 KuBsia, 13,660,000 22,120,000 39,000,000 6,300,000 1,550,000 Austria .' 2,82T,130 11,471,623 8:3,767,000 7,000,000 4*3,000 92 908 Prussia 1,570,000 5,042,000 16,260,000 2,116,000 395,000 Belgium 250,000 912,740 730.649 421,208 ' a5,000 Turkey 1,950,000 8,200,000 14,3g0,000 300,000 1,500,000 Spain, 800,000 2,000,000 18,000,000 2,000,000 4,000,000 900,000 Denmark 825,019 834,173 1,164,544 157,599 _ Bavaria, 349,690 2,625,294 1,899,898 &42,851 107,236 Sweden and Norway,.... 501,378 2,474,615 2,854,180 892,438 177,470 Hanover, 257,300 794,000 1,631,000 201,000 8,000 Wurtemberg 106,350 1,186,780 676,659 167,219 27,947 Stales of tlie Church, 64,500 171,800 1,256,000 246,200 123,300 5,500 IVoSiciUes, 160,000 400,000 4,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 210,000 Portugal, 817,000 740,000 4,980,000 720,000 1,400,000 G reece, 120,000 900,000 2,500,000 40,000 800,000 THE WINTERING OF STOCK. cLi There are three facts connected with the wintering of stock which ought to be well considered by every one who keeps a cow, horse, pig, or sheep. 1. It is a fact that the production of animal heat in the body consumes more than half of the food taken into the stomach. 2. It is a fact that external warmth serves as an equivalent of food to an extent which is of gi*eat economical importance. .3. It is a fact that the aliment daily taken into the systems of all animals, showld be precisely adapted, by its chemical composition and solubility, to the natural wants of every organ and tissue in the living being. To the above, we might add other truisms in the keeping of domestic animals, did not long experience admonish us that a few facts, clearly stated, are more useful to a majority '^ -I THE GENESEE FAEMER. Ir A of readers, than any attempt to express in one article all that ought to be said on any important topic in husbandry. It may be asked how we know that more than a moiety of food eaten by a horse, ox, or sheep, goes to create animal heat? This is our answer to that question: By the analysis of hay, oats, corn and corn-stalks, and other food of stock, we learn the amount of carbon, (coal,) oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, that 100 lbs. contain. It is known that sensible heat is always generated when carbon, in vegetable substances, (of which wood and coal are familiar examples) combines chemically with oxygen, as in combustion. Now, nearly two-thirds of the carbon taken into the stomach in forage, roots, or grain, passes out of the wind-pipe, in combination with oxygen, (vital air,) as carbonic acid. It is just as impossible to burn 20 lbs. of hay in the system of a horse, or cow, and not have it evolve heat, as it would be to burn the same hay in a stove without so much as either warming the fuel or the stove. There is really no more mystery about the production of animal heat through the agency of respiration and digestion, than there is about the heat in a steam boiler; but the needless waste of animal heat, and of the fuel that generates it, in the six coldest months in the year, in this country, amounts to a loss of many millions. To prevent this loss, is the main object of our present writing. It can be done by providing warm and comfortable stables, houses, and sheds, for all kinds of stock, including poultry and honey-bees. 13y ceiling stables in wooden barns inside with rough, boaixls, and filling the space between the outside boards and the ceiling with dry tanbark, or dry horse dung, we have made them sufBciently warm, so that no manure would fi-eeze in them except in extremely cold weather. In basement stables, surrounded by thick walls laid in mortar, and covered by a floor and hay or grain, a word of caution is necessary, not to forget due ventilation. A great many horses, cows, and oxen, are injured by being kept in badly ventilated stalls and stables. Let it never be forgotten by persons sleeping in tight rooms, and by those that rear and keep domestic animals, that the air expelled from the lungs in breathing, always contains one hundred times more carbonic acid gas than it did when it entered them. This poisonous gas should have a reasonable outlet from all stables, especially where many animals are kept in one apartment'. Nothing but knowl- edge will enable a farmer to combine warmth and ventilation for the health and comfort of all that breathe, w^hether in his own dweUing, in stables, pig-styes, bee-hives, or poultry houses. In this, as in all other matters, extremes are to be avoided. In wisely selecting the food which is best adapted to the natural wants of neat-cattle, milch-kine, working teams, sheep, and poultry, we all have much to learn. Agriculturist's in the Soiithern States do not appear to understand the art of preparing forage plants, such as cornstalks, straw from grain, grass, or hay, for consumption, so well as do the cultivators of the North, where long winters compel more attention, and give gi-eater importance, to the subject. We have been particularly impressed with the neglect of corn, in Maryland and Virginia, a month after it should have been cut up at the roots ■with a view to make forage of the stems, leaves, and "shucks," for the stock. That is to say, we have seen corn so cut up there after several frosts, and when dead ripe, and a whole month too late, according to the maturity of the crop. All cereal plants undergo important chemical changes at the time of, and immediately after, the ripening of their seed. What these changes are will be hereafter explained, under the head of Agricultural Physiology. At present, we will assume that the farmer has feed enough for the animals he intends to winter ; and if he has not, he cannot reduce his stock, by the sale of a part, a moment too soon. The value of cutting feed, such as straw, cornstalks, and hay, is a matter on which we all need more light. It is the general belief that it pays well for the labor; but will it pay to cut good hay, even for working cattle ? If one has hired help, and nothing else for them to do while cutting hay, doubtless it will aid digestion to cut up the stems and leaves of forage plants. And it may be good economy, as is often done. ^ w^-- 3 THE GENESEE FARMEE, 'dV to use a horse-power for cutting both dry and gi-een feed, such as roots and straw. Wo have cut the' feed of fifty cows in that manner, and thought we reaUzed a profit in the operation; but we usually poured boiling hot water, drawn from a heater, over 100 bu. of cut cornstalks, hay, or straw, in a water-tight box, and let it remain till cold and eaten. This mass of hot water greatly promoteis the extraction of all the nutriment there may be in stalks, leaves, and shucks or husks, by the organs of digestion. Meal, bran, or shorts, are mixed with the cut feed before the water is ap})lied ; but in feeding cut carrots, (of which we have fed a good many,) they were given raw and separate. One hundred pounds of carrots ought to yield at least fifty of milk, in good cows. The production of milk, however, is an operation of which we shall speak at another time. How to make flesh and fat to the best advantage, are points of some interest to those who keep animals and prepare them for the butcher. Our own observation leads to the conclusion that it is better economy to boil corn, peas, and barley, for fatting hogs and cattle, M'ithout grinding, if one has to pay from 8 to 16 per cent, of the grain to the miller. Cooking food, like "homony," renders all its nutriment available, and grinding can do no more, and one loses the toll, whatever that may be. Nature maintains animal heat for chemi- cal purposes, or, to aid in transforming vegetable into animal tissues. Cooking food is a step in the same direction, for it effects important chemical changes in the sub- stances cooked. How far hot water may be economically used in preparing forage, seeds, roots, tubers, apples, and pumpkins, for the consumption of fatting cattle, must bo decided by future experiments. Whatever feed domestic animals receive, it should be given them at stated periods of the day ; and all that is left, should be promptly removed, that the animal be not allowed to breathe upon it and taint it with the foid exhalations from the body. One. of the most common errors in wintering stock, is the notion that they should not gain as much in weight when kept up, or fed in a yard, as when running in a good pasture in summer and autumn. Every day that a pig, heifer, steer, lamb, or colt, lives without growing, involves the owner in expense and probable loss. The art of stunting young animals is more practiced than studied ; and the principles of making Shetland ponies, and such wee-bits of oxen, cows, and hogs, as one meets with in some States, ought to be known to all. Nature kindly contracts the body to meet the limited supply of food, by bringing the system prematurely to ripeness, till some of the adult horses weigh considerably less than the largest sheep. To add weight in muscle and fat, over and above the daily loss by necessary absorption, the keeper of young animals must give them more than barely enough to maintain life; and yet this is the rule of many a farmer in wintering his stock — hogs, cattle, and sheep. What an animal requires according to the weight of its body, to make good the wear and tear of ever- consuming life, in the hourly removal of the elements of bone, tendon, nerve, cellular and vascular tissue, faj;, &c., is not known. When an adult animal neither gains nor loses weight, if we subtract from its food all that is voided by the bowels and kidneys, and in respiration, the excess is mostly appropriated to repair the waste in solids, which is constantly in progress. But the eftete matter (dissolved solids) pass out of the system mingled with the residuum of food daily eaten, and we have no means of separating the carbon from the brain or muscles, in the carbonic acid that escapes from the lungs, from the carbon in the blood derived directly from food. Although we cannot say that such a per cent, of aliment goes to repair the bones, such a per cent, to Aake muscles, or nerves, or fat ; yet it is easy to determine by experi- ments, what kind of food, in what condition, and how much, one should feed to obtain the highest profit. As a general proposition, it may be truly said that about one-third more animals are kept than the food to keep them on will warrant. Life is supported, but 7neat is greatly decreased in quantity and value. The corn that will keep a hoo- six months without gaining a single pound in flesh, will make 75 lbs. of good pork or bacoa if skillfully fed. The same rule applies to all domestic animals. Instead of using the ^-- '"^A ir- ) 16 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. ■ ( -^ daily feed of cows to elaborate milk or flesli, the system consumes it all to make the vapor and gases that escape from the wind-pipe, and the excreta fi'om the skin, kidneys, and intestines. In keeping dairy cows, and sheep, we have had occasion to investigate grass, hay, roots, and corn, when eaten by these and other animals. RURAL HOMES, OR SKETCHES OF HOUSES SUITED TO AMERICAN COUNTRY LIFE. The above is the title of another book on rural subjects by Gervase Wheeler, the very name of which makes one feel comfortable and invites a hearty perusal of its pages. " Rural Homes " ! what an association of pleasant thoughts these words call forth — how enchanting to those, who, with a heart full of the real and imaginary charms of the country are doomed to the narrow, noisy limits of a street house m the city. Downing's delightful works on Country Houses and Cottage Architecture, as well as on Landscape Gardening, created a new era in the rural life of this country ; perhaps no man can look abroad and witness more satisfactory evidences of the salutary influence of his labors. From one end of this great country to the other, the traveler recognizes, at least, attempts at the models he has given, showing conclusively that people have begim to read and think upon the subject of architecture, and whatever concerns the comfort, convenience and beauty of their homes. This is a great point gained, and we may count hencefor- ward upon rapid and steady progress. Many eri'ors will no doubt be committed, until more accurate knowledge is obtained, and taste more cultivated and refined. For the attainment of these ends we must depend mainly upon the circulation of sound writings. The character of Mr. Downing's works is now well known, and it is unnecessary to recommend them to all who wish to read on the subject, to increase their knowledge or refine their taste. The book before us now is one we can also recommend most heartily. We hare given it a pretty thorough and careful perusal, and the pleasure and instruction we have derived makes us feel grateful to the author, and bespeak for his book a place in the library of every intelhgent person whoever expects to build or improve a suburban, village, or country house. Mr. Wheeler is an experienced practical architect, and therefore not only treats of style and construction in general, but takes up all the details from the foundation stone to the chimney top, so that nothing is overlooked or forgotten. The subjects of water conveniences, warming and ventilation, so important in dwellings, and so little under- stood, are brought forward prominently and treated with great detail and simplicity. Excellent advice is given in regard to choosing site^ for dwellings, in adapting the style to the surrounding scenery and circumstances, the exterior and interior finish, in the arrangement of fencing and grounds, disposition of outbuildings, and in fact, in whatever concerns the Home, out-doors or in. The various branches or divisions of the subject are treated of in separate chapters, and we give a synopsis of the first, and would do so of others, did our space permit. Chapter firet treats of " The Excellencies of a House — Choice of a Site^ Here the author points out the popular errors committed in building, and epitomises the " Excellencies" of a Home thus : ^ 1. Convenient Arrangement. 2. Facility of Construction and Repair. 3. Perfect Protection from Heat and Cold. 4. Adequate Means of Warming and Ventilating. 5. CONGRUITT with THE ScENERY AROUND. No matter what the style of a house, or what the size, these are the great points, and deserve the prominence Mr. Wheeler has given them. In speaking of the general "i^^' * ^ THE GENESEE FARMER. 17 arrangement of the grounds, the tenor of the suggestions are unexceptionable, but to the following we must object : "The frait and vegetable garden, with a sheltered patch for herbs you place near the kitchen and servant's offices, and are not very anxious they should be iu sight, for horticulturise it as you will, a row of bare bean poles is not a very sightly object from a window." We admit that fruit and kitchen gardens in general are not very sightly^ but we believe they may, and ought to be so. Suppose, for instance, tRat the borders are well planted with nice pyramidal and dwarf fruit trees, the walls or fences covered with grapes or trained trees, the interior compartments well cropped with vegetables ; and suppose even bean poles, not bare, but covered with beautiful running peas and beans ; — such a garden would not be unsightly, but beautiful, the pride of its bv/ner "and the admiration of his neighbors. We know of a few such gardens, though but too few, in difi'erent sections of our country, and when business calls us in their neighborhood we often travel many miles to visit them. Next month we intend to present a chapter from the book, with illustrations and description of a Suburban Cottage, WINE MAKING. BY C. BLAKELY, OF ROXBURY, CONNECTICUT. I SAW" in the October number of your paper, a request that some one acquainted Avith the process of making wane, would communicate information on that subject. To the request of your correspondent, I would add ray own, together with some remarks of a practical nature, such as my limited knowledge and e}f]perience may suggest, with the hope of ultimately securing the desired result. And here, as it seems to me, we should commence ^vith the cultivation of the grape. For the purpose of making wine, it is of no small importance that a kind of grape be selected that is well adapted to that particular use, otherwise the desired object will be, to say the least, but imperfectly accomplished. It is one thing to extract juice from a sour, ill-flavored grape, but quite another thing to convert such juice into good, well-flavored wane. The grape should also be adapted to the climate.^ and should ripen in season to avoid the autumnal frosts. The red, and white Scuppernong, which are a good wine grape south of 37° north, would entirely fail, for all practical purposes, in more northern latitudes. The Cataw^ba, which has been thoroughly tried, as a wine grape, in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, particularly by Mr. Longworth, and is esteemed by him one of the best w'ine grapes for that part of the country, besides being an excellent table grape, would probably flourish well from Washington City to Boston. I have this year raised them in great perfection, although some of them were a little injured by early frost. The Isabella, which is probably inferior to the Catawba as a wane gTape, will do for still more northern latitudes. Locality, soil, and due preparation of the ground, are other things to be considered at the commencement of grape culture. Land Avhich has a southern inclination is preferable, and, in northern latitudes, indispensable, for those kinds which ripen late in the season. High ground, which is not too dry, is also preferable to low, marshy land, both fur producing a better quality of fruit, and escaping the frosts of spring and fall. For livqpagating the vine, I consider grafting the better mode to commence with, in case a vine with roots attached cannot be obtained. When a root is to be gi'afted, it is not necessary that it should be of any considerable length ; neither is it necessary that the stump of the vine to which it belonged should be attached to it Just procure a root fi'om among the wild, native kinds, of any convenient or desirable length, then proceed to divide it into parts, say a yard in length, so that each part shall fe have several lateral branches or small fibrous roots attached to it, and then insert in the butt end of each, one or two grafts, precisely in the manner of grafting fi-uit trees. They should then be carefully placed in the ground where they are to grow, and should receive necessary care and protection. The grafts may be cut at any time from October to March, except in warm latitudes, and may be inserted in April or May following. If they are cut in the autumn, they may be preserved by burying them in the earth, in a cool place, till May or June, but no vegetable matter should be allowed to come in contact with them, or they would be liable to mildew and rot. When a vine with roots attached is once obtained, it is preferable to propagate by layers. To accomplish this, a vine or branch is selected in the spring, and extended on the earth near by where it is to be imbedded, so that the young shoots will start upward from the earth; and when they have acquired the height of a few inches, the vine or branch to which they belong should be carefully laid in a trench previously prepared for that pur- pose, and covered over with rich, mellow earth, when it will soon assume the character of a root, and will throw out small roots at short intervals along its entire length, and may, in the autumn following, be cut into almost as many portions as there are vines or branches ascendino- from it, each of which may be transplanted and become a separate vine. When it is difficult or impracticable to manage in this way, as is often the case when the vines have been trained to a frame or trellis, so that there are no lateral branches near the earth, a very convenient mode of propagating is by means of boxes. Make a box, say eight inches square, and open at the top ; saw out a piece from the top down- ward, and from two opposite sides, to the depth of a couple of inches ; fill with earth, pass the vine through the opening made by the saw, confine it there and cover over with earth. It should be frequently watered through the season, or till roots are well formed, when it may be amputated and removed ; thus becoming a separate vine. Several boxes may be thus attached to a single branch of sufficient length, in each of which a separate vine may be obtained. It is objected by some that this method tends rather to dwarf the plant, and to render it of comparatively slow and feeble growth. While the roots are forming and the vine is small, it may be well to prevent its bearing fruit for one or two years, as that will materially assist the growth of the plant. A few years since. Dr. G. B. Smith, of Baltimore, practiced this method in training a single vine, till it had acquired considerable size, when he changed his treatment of it by pinching off the young and tender twigs, instead of the young fruit, as before, thereby retarding the growth of the vine, and the result was a fine croy of grapes. The vine will occasionally need pruning, and with that, as with the fruit tree, it is better to prevent redundant growth, by pinching oft" the buds or young twigs soon after they make their appearance, thus securing the more rapid growth of those parts which are designed for bearing fruit. The grape vine, unless planted in a rich, deep, calcarious earth, will also repay well the occasional bestowment of a little manure, particularly that possessing alkaline pronerties. In conclusion, I would say, that with your permission, Messrs. Editors, I [iropose in a future number of your paper, unless superceded by some other pen, to resume the subject with which this article is headed — that of making wine. We hope our correspondent will give us his system of making wine from the grape. We give the process as pursued by Corxeau & Sox near Cincinnati, from tlie gathering ofthe grape to tlie bottling of the wine, for which we are indebted to the Western Horticultui-al Review: " 1. Gathering. — The grapes when fully ripe are gathered in baskets containing about a bushel, as well as in a sort of ' pannier' of wood, made very light and strong, and which is supported by straps, or thongs of willow, on the back of the picker ; they are brought from the vinyard in this manner and thrown upon the picking tables, where they are carefully assorted. - K "2. Picking. — This consists in removing by hand, all green, shriveled, or decayed j r W'^ ^ THE GENESEE FARMER. dy. gr.apes, which are thrown into tubs or barrels and pressed separately, to mal?e a common wine or vinegar. The finest grapes are carried thence to the stemming apparatus, where they undergo another operation. " 3. Stemming. — Besides the improvement in the quality of the wine which this process imparts, there is another material advantage derived from it, which consists in the diminution of the bulk or volume of any given quantity of grapes in bunches. The large press of the Messrs. Corneau being capable of containing upward of a hundred bushels after the stems are removed ; from which about four hundred gallons of wine may be obtained. " ' Stemming' consists in separating the berries from the stem by means of the appa- ratus of which a wood cut is appended. The grapes are thrown on the wire sieve M., which is open enough to allow the berries to pass, but retains the stems ; a little plank, P., is held in an inclined position, to which a back- ward and forward movement is given, so as to force the berries through the sieve, and to re- move out of the way all the stems as they are stript ; with the aid of this apparatus, two men can, in the course of three hours, if regularly supplied with grapes, stem fi-om seventy to eighty bushels. Improvements might be made, by which the manual labor would be diminislied ; but this simple and cheap apparatus which j\Ir. Corneau has introduced, is generally used by the wine manufecturers of France. "4. Mashing. — After passing through the stemming process the grapes fall into a wooden mill, consisting of two rollers ridged obliquely, to one of which is attached a set of screws by which their distance from each other may be graduated to the proper degree ; it being desirable that every grape should be crushed but that the seed should not be broken. " The rollers are turned by hand. The above wood cut exhibits in R, R, a section of these rollers, and that which follows shows two men, one stemming, the other mashing the grapes. From the rollers, the grape (being entirely separated from the stem and thoroughly mashed) passes into the press, where the final operation of separating the juice is performed. The wine passes from the bed of the press, by means of a conductor, into the basement, from whence it is conveyed into casks containing 260 gallons each ; these, though by no means of so large a size as those used by some of our wine manufacturers, are of a very convenient capacity for ordinary crops. The first fermentation takes place immediately, and at the end of six or eight weeks the wine be- comes perfectly clear — or what is technically termed "/we." A second fermentation takes place in the spring, about the period of the blooming of the grape. The wine should not De bottled until it is at least one year old, though it is frequently bottled for immediate use just previous to the second fermentation ; this may be done with safety if the bottles can be kept in a very cool place. There are many who think the Catawba Avine is s better at this period than ever afterward." ^ !) 20 THE GENESEE FARMER. SIDE -HILL BARN. es m Messrs. Editors : — I send you a design for a side-hill barn, with an elevation, which, if you think of sufficient merit, you can give to your readers. i B 17X25 H 10X25 b ^ PASSAGE THRESHING FLOOR. D H S 0 MAIN FLOOR. ELEVATION. SIDE-IIILL BARN. The barn is designed to be built on the side of a hill which will • allow of excavation sufficient to form the base- ment floor, which contains five stalls for horses and six for cattle, with a feeding passage between, into which is thrown the hay and oats through a trap door in the floor above. From this passage the mangers on either side may be filled very handily and with much less trouble and less risk of being kicked, than when a person has to come up behind the animals to get at their heads. A may be used as a carriage or waggon shed, or to store away straw for the use of the cattle or bedding for horses. R is a cellar for roots, &c. On the main floor, H is a place for hay and oats. T, trap-door communi- cating with the feeding passage below. D, threshing floor, 17 by 25. C and B, cribs for corn and other grain. P, passage. S, steps leading into the basement. The cost of this barn would probably be between three and four hundred dollars, and perhaps is as good and convenient as can be built for that sum. At least the plan is worthy of consideration. J. W. G. — Hillsboro, Ohio, i O i m m o d i rf BASEMENT FLOOR. ^: % S THE GENESEE FARMER. PLOWING IN CLOVER. BT JOSEPH HARRIS, OF ROCHESTER, In the Patent Office Report for 1850-51 we find the following interesting remarks on the cultivation of wheat : "Mr. R D. Kingman, of Bergen, Genesee county, N. T., says that liis 'crops of wheat for the last five yeai-8 have averaged thirty-two and a tliird bushels per acre.' We commend tliLs fact to the notice of those who have been led to believe that the 'Genesee country' was failing to produce the great staple for which it has long been celebrated. Mr. K. has the following remarks on wheat culture : " 'Time of seeding, from 1st to 16th September; of haiwesting, from 20th to the last of July. Brine and lime seed, and sow one bushel and three-fourths per acre; sometimes I sow two bushels, but find it too thick. Plow three times : have this year procured one of Nourse & Mason's subsoil plows, and subsoiled a part of each wheat field. It takes three heavy horses to haul the surface plow seven inches deep, which is my gauge. Subsoil with a yoke of oxen and a pair of horses, driving the plow six inches below the cut of the surface plow. The increase is from eight to ten bushels per acre. Within the last ten years, I have not been troubled with the Hessian fly but once. Price of wheat, from $1 to $1.12. At least one-tliird of my wheat is soAvn after spring crops, and clover always follows, beiug sown in April, at the rate of ten pounds of seed per acre with one hundred of plaster. I turn nothing into clover fields in the spring ; and when it is half in blossom, turn imder with the plow. I now raise too much straw, and feel the need of understanding chemistry to learn what to apply to increase the berry. We once had a chemist at Rochester (Dr. Lee) who would give the desired information, but I did not then know that it was needed by me.' " It wotild appear folly to condemn any system of culture or rotation that yields on an avei'age of five years thirty-two or thirty-three bushels of wheat per acre, and we have no desire to do so ; yet the fact that too much straw is produced from plowing in clover is a significant and interesting corroboration of scientific experiment, and deserves some notice. It has been shown by Mr. Lawes' experiments, that when wheat is supplied with ammonia, (nitrogen and hydrogen,) it obtains sufficient carbon from the carbonic acid of the atmosphere ; and that when carbon was supplied, either as farm-yard dung, rape cake, or ground rice, the crop was increased only to that extent which the ammonia they contained would alone have benefited it. Thus : two hundred pounds of sulphate of ammonia, containing forty jDounds of nitrogen and no carbon, had as great a beneficial effect as eight hundred pounds of rape cake, containing the same amount of nitrogen and some six hundred pounds of carbon besides. The same effect was produced with the ground rice and farm manure — no benefit being derived from the carbon. It was also found that as large a crjop could not be raised with rape cake as with ammouiacal salts ; for when rape cake was supplied in sufficient quantity for its nitrogen to be equal to that supplied in the ammoniacal salt, the straw was so unnaturally developed that the crop was laid and an inferior quality and less quantity of grain produced. That this effect was caused by the superabundance of carbon in the soil, few, we think, will question. The uniformity of the results through a series of experiments for several years leaves no doubt on our own mind, and had we space the point might be illttstrated from numerous facts of which every farmer is cognizant. A ton of dry clover hay would contain about 40 -lbs. nitrogen, 960 oxygen, 740 carbon, and 80 hydrogen. It will be seen that when this is plowed in for a few years, that oxygen and carbon would accumulate in the soil to an injurious amoimt, and " too much straw" would be raised, especially on soils in which there was not an abundance of lime and saline substances. Now, nitrogen being the only element of value that is gained by the growth and plowing in of clover, and cai-bon and oxygen being injurious, it is an interesting inquiry — HOw can we get rid of these substances and retain the nitrogen ? Nature has furnished the means, and fortunately science has discovered them. When food is consumed by animals, the carbon and hydrogen it contains is burnt in the O N ^^^^S^ to supply animal heat, while the nitrogen and greater part of the earthy matter is j ' (^L_____ ^ M^ ^ i). 22 THE GENESEE FARMEK. voided in the liquid and solid excrements, which may be returned to the soil, where, providing there has been no loss, they will be more beneficial than had the food itself been plowed in. This method also aftords an opportunity of enriching the nutritive qualities of the food and greatly increasing the value of the manure by giving to the Jinimals, w^ith the clover, rich nitrogenous foods, such as oil-cake, peas, beans, &c. But this is "high fixrming," and requires more capital than most farmers are willing to invest on their ftirms. To these generally, any caution about growing " too much straw" is unnecessary : plowing in clover is the best thing they can afford to do ; and in a few years, Avhen by this means their straw grows too rank, they will have spare capital to invest in more stock and artificial foods. "Wm. B. Le Couteulx, of Black Rock, has furnished us with the following translation fi'om the French, which we publish with j^leasure, and hi\s kindly promised us further favors : Report made to tfie Cen'tral Agricultural Societt of Paris, upon the ditferext Maxadies extstinq IN Wheat in France, particularly a new Malady which appeared for the first time in 1851. Besides the accidents from vegetation, to which the wheat is subject, and which in the markets* according to these diit'erent accidents, causes it to be called, scalded, shrunk, melted or laid down wheat* •fee, there are tliree maladies which are peculiar to it Reached by the tirst, the wheat is deformed and of bad aspect ; it is almost always deprived of the re-productive germ, and veiy often of that substance necessary to make bread. It is called Rickety — ^in French Rachitique. In the second, the grain, its envelope, and the ear, altogether, transform themselves into a black and dry dust, which the winds or rains carry away. It is called Coal — in French, Charbon. In the third, the appearance of the wheat is altogether diiierent, the ear keeping its exterior shape until harvest ; but the least pressure with the tingei-s will be sufficieut to criLsh it, and a fat, black, dusty substance, of an infectious smell, will come out of it. It is called Rot — in French, Carie. The new malady which has appeared this year, (1851,) lias no analogy with those above enumerated. Instead of Ijeing in the head of the plant, otherwise the car, it is in the low part of it. This is what caused it, from its first appearance, to be called the Malady of the foot — in French, Maladie du Pied, That malady has its seat close to the ground, or between the roots and the fii-st joint of the stalk. It consists of a mouldine.'SS which, at first sight, one would think came from being burnt. In some cases, the mouldiness covers the whole stalk, when in some others only a part of it. The part so affected dries iip, dissolution commences, and it soon loses that necessary strength to bear the weight of the plant, which bends and then drops on the ground as if beaten by storm, where it would rot, was not the hand of the farmer ready to gather it. In some parts, said malady showed itself ju'it as the wheat was beginning'to bloom ; in some others before, and in many others, after. In the first instance, the harvest is entirely lost ; in the second, the ear already formed still progresses, but not without some ditficulty, remaining short and the grain small, giving only half a crop. If an incision be made in the mouldy place with a pen-knife, it will be seen in the interior that the cellular tissue has lost all its elatiticity. — that it is no more impregnated with sap, as when in a healthy state, the fibres being stiff, dried up, breaking, and offering all the symptoms of a dead plant. If examined with the magnitying glass, it will be seen that all those white and porous filaments are nothing else tlian mushrooms, wliieli, although but just rising, have had sufficient strength to stop the ascendant 'march of the sap and bring death to the plant. This malady appeared most particularly in tlie country around Paris — in La Brie and La Beauce, in the valley of Iscre, in the departments of the Rhone, Aisne, Somme, Oise, Meuse, Ardennes, and many other parts of France, from which authentic reports are not yet received AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION. BY P. BARRY, FROM NOTES TAKEN AT THE WORLd's FAIR. I HAVE never seen a cart at any of our American Agricultural Fairs. There is no lack of plows, harrows, wagons, cultivators, straw cutters, &c., but no implement-maker in America, that I am aware of, has taken it into his head to make and exhibit a nice farm cart. May I take this occasion to call upon them to do so. Will not our imple- ment dealers in Rochester suggest to their ingenious manufacturers to try their hand on carts. They will "take," — there is no question about this. We use three in our . ^ THE GENESEE FAEMER. 23 (]U U^' nurseries now, but they are very indifferent arti- cles. It is hard to find a man who can make a cart "that is a cart" for the farm. I do not mean an ox cart — one of the most hideous pieces of mechan- ism that ever rolled on wheels. The moment one enters the English depart- ment of implements, he may jump at the conclu- sion that the cart is an implement of first impor- tance in British husbandry. Not an exhibitor ofdmple- ments but has brought along his cart as certainly as his plow. And what a variety! — the Farm Tilt Cart, the Harvest Cart skeleton, the Liquid Ma- nure cart, the Spring Cart for fat stock, and many others. Two of these at least seem to be well wor- thy the attention of agri- culturists in every country, and I have not the least doubt will soon be gener- ally in use, — I mean the One Horse Farm Tilt Cart and the Liquid Ma- nure Cart. The annexed drawing, fig. 1, is a good model, construction simple and convenient. The body sits flat on the axle, and the shafts are attached to the bottom of the body by bent iron plates ; this brings the cart level when at work and obviates the necessity of bent shafts. The tipping apparatus is also novel : an iron bar eighteen inches to two feet long, attached to the fi-ont of the body, pierced with holes two or three inches apart, through which an iron rod goes, connecting the body and shafts. By this arrangement the body can be kept at any desired angle in unloading — veiy convenient in distributing manm-e or compost in small heaps. The shelving or ladders shown in the cut can be removed at pleasure, and are only intended for carrying loads of grain, hay, &c The cost of this cart in England is about $50. w^. THE GENESEE FARMER. ^ " Bush/s Prize''' Cart, which is one of the best I have seen, has a bcKly five feet six inches long and four feet wide. AVlieels four feet six inches high and four inches wide. The felloes two inches thick inside and one and a quarter inches outside. The body sits close to the axle, and is just as Ioav as it can be to tilt. The shafts are attached to the body by the bar pivot on which the body turns. It has a shelving, or rack, coinposed of light boards on spreading knees or brackets ; two on each side and end. On the^e brackets there are iron hooks that catch on the box inside and hold it firm. The price of these carts in England is 850 for two and a half inch wheels, and C'^55 for four inch wheels. All wheels lor the land ought to be four niches wide, as they do not sink like naiTow ones. Wide tires and felloes need not be so thick as narrow ones. A Mr. Robertson, from Scotland, exhibits a very neat one-horse cart with a sliding axle, by which the weight on the horse's back is regulated in going up or down hill. The axle is moved back or for- ward by the screw behind. — Several carts are exhibited so low that the shafts require to be bent to bring the body lev- el ; in other cases the shafts are straight, but attached, as in the foregoing cut, by bent iron stays that eflect the same ob- ject as the bent shafts. "We find by experience that lifiht- ncss in the cart, as in all other implements, is a valuable prop- erty, and therefore the best quality of timber should be used in their construction. — Broad wheels, low bodies, sim- ple and convenient tilting ap- paratus, and a nice adjustment of the center of gravity, are the points of importance. The application of manures in a liquid state is now prac- tised by the best English and Scotch agriculturists, and carts for the purpose attract consid- erable attention. Fig. 2 I'ep- resents one called the Cylinder Cart, which appears to be an excellent contrivance. It con- sists of a wooden or iron bar- rel revolving upon its axle. One side of the barrel consists of a perforated board, which is kept uppermost when not at work, and to set it to work it is only necessary to turn the barrel round. Thus valves and delivery pipes are altogether unnecessary ; and however hilly the land, or however empty the barrel may be, it will always adjust itself by its own weight, and deliver its contents at a uniform rate. As a natural consequence cf ^VMt'*«\W ^ THE GENESEE PAEMEE. this greater simplicity of construction, the price is considerably lower than that of any liquid manure cart hitherto exhibited. The cart shown in the sketch, (fig. 2,) containino- 100 gallons, weighs only 5^ cwts. It may be made of any required width, and the delivery apparatus, which is simply a perforated board, can be varied at little cost to suit every description of drilled crop, and also to manure grass lands, &e., broad-cast. It has also been advantageously used in gardens and pleasure grounds, for waterino- lawns and flower beds. There is a cock from which water or liquid manure may be drawn off into watering pots, or a flexible pipe or hose may be screwed into this cock, or by fixing a small force pump into the air hole of the cart, the water can be forced to any desired height. The Tumbler Cart is another useful article. It is chiefly intended to carry off the sweepings of streets, nightsoil, &c. The design represented in the cut is highly approved and in very general use already in English towns. The body of the cart consists of a wrought iron tank, which is fitted with a delivery pipe and valve that can be 'affixed or removed in a very few minutes; so that in towns it answers the purpose of a watering cart for the streets, while for agricultural purposes the cart can at any time be adapted to the dehvery of liquid manure, either from a pipe, or in the form of a sheet over the back edge of the cart. The '^hief peculiarity of this cart consists in its extreme lowness, obtained by passino- the axle through the body of the tank, while at the same time the convenience of corii- pletely tipping the cart is attained in the larger sizes by the introduction of an eccentric which allows the body to tip, and in fact entirely to revolve on the axle without toueh- insr the ground. TUMBLER CART IN A POSITION FOR TRAVELING. The great advantage of the low body for filling, not only with fluid or semi-fluid substances, but with earth, gravel, lime, or any other material, for the hauling of all which it is exceedingly well adapted, must be too obvious to require comment. For the purpose of filling, the body can be canted to any required inclination, so that the labor becomes less than that of filling a wheelbarrow, thus effecting an immense saving in the cost of carting every description of earth and minerals. The complete method of discharging the load by entirely tipping the cart, also gives it an advantage for many purposes over every other kind of cart. I would recommend this cart to all who collect street sweepings, nightsoil, &:c. To the scavengers of large cities it would be particularly valuable. In Rochester they use boxes placed on carts, from which the filth is not unfrequently sprinkled over the streets, and I have seen contrivances quite as bad in the city of New York. ^- '^aX ^ I'T- 26 TIIE GENESEE FAKJkLEE. iinrtintltural Jepnrtinmt CONDUCTED BY P. BAEET. DWAEF FRUIT TREES. A FEW years ago tliere Avas scarcely anything known about dwarf fruit trees in this country, but of late they have attracted considerable attention and their -character ha-s become somewhat understood ; but there are a multitude of persons who have very faint and incorrect ideas on the subject, and therefore, although it may appear to the better informed class of cultivators a very superfluous undertaking at this time of the dav, we are compelled to oft'er a somewhat minute explanation in justice to many whose claims we are bound to regard. A Dwarf Tree, then, is a tree which by a certain mode of propagation and culture is reduced far below the natural dimensions ; for instance, an apple, which if budded or grafted on a common apple stock will make a tree twenty, thirty, or forty feet high, and as much in diameter, covering perhaps two or three hundred square feet of ground, will, if budded or grafted on a Paradise stock, (which is a dwarf species of the apple, attainino- only three or four feet in height,) never exceed four or five feet in height and as much in diameter, occupying little more ground than a gooseberry bush. A Dwarf Pear, is a pear tree formed by budding on a quince, or some other small species of the pear family. Thus, a pear which if budded or grafted on a common pear seedling, will attain thirty or forty feet in height with a corresponding diameter, when budded or o-rafted on a quince or a thorn will not exceed twelve or fifteen feet, and may even be reduced to three or four feet by working on a mesjjhilus, a cotoneaster, or some very small growing species of the pear family, or "alliance." So it is with other fruits, and the grand objects of dwarfing are — Ji'lrst — To obtain small trees, adapted to small gardens, enabling the proprietors to enjoy a greater variety than they could otherwise. Second — To obtain trees that will correspond in appearance with the enclosure in which they are planted. Third — To obtain trees that will bear early, for dwarfing begets precociousness ; and, Pourth — To obtain trees that are low, easy of access in all parts, easily protected where protection is necessary, and not exposed to winds that would be likely to blow off the fi-uit or otherwise injure them. These are the ordinary objects in view in dwarfing trees. But many suppose that a dwarf tree must, as a matter of course, produce dwarf, or proportionably small fruit. This is a great error, but one which the inexperienced very naturally fall into. Dwarf trees, instead of producing small fruits, or those below the natural size of the variety, very often produce them larger. In another place we have given an account of a won- drous laro-e apple grown upon a dwarf tree. This specimen was at least one -third larger than the average product of standard trees. We have had the past season Red Jstracans on a three year old dwarf tree about two feet high, nearly twice the usual size on standard trees, and a little standard four year old tree of Canada Reinette that pro- duced four extraordinary specimens, the largest one measuring over fourteen inches in circumference. Nothing in all our grounds in the way of fruits, excited so much wonder as this, from the last of August until the 1st of November. The small size of the tree and the prodigious size of the fruit induced many to doubt the reality, supposing that some trick had been played, similar to the fastening of a gourd on an apple tree. As a . general thing where a variety does succeed on the Paradise, the fruit will be larger than j r br-T —r-r^. ^ ■^ THE GENESEE FARMEE. rD on the free or common stock. So it is with pears — the hirgest specimens of Bartlett, Louise Bonne de Jersey^ Duchesse (T Angouleme, or White Doyenne, we have ever seen, were grown upon dwarf trees. The idea, therefore, that a dwarf tree must produce small fruit is just the reverse of the fact. At another time we may offer some remarks on the cause of this. Some imagine that to propagate Dwarf Trees it is necessary to take the scions from dwarfs. We have heard this notion advanced often, and in one case by a young nur- seryman. There is not, perhaps one person in ten thousand, however, but knows better than this. Dwarfing is the result of budding or grafting on a particular stock, as we have already said, and it matters not whether we take our buds or scions from a dwarf or a standard tree, from one three feet or thirty feet high, the result will be the same, if tlie scions are in both crises equally healthy. We can also take buds or scions from dwarf trees and work them on common or free stocks, to produce standards. In regard to stocks there is one point on which even many intelligent cultivators are not well informed, and that is the necessity of the stock and scion being of the same natural genera, or alliance at least. Thus, the botanical order Pomacece, or Appleworts, as LiNDLEY renders it, in the Vegetable Kingdom, embraces the apple, (pyrus malus;) the Pear, {^pyrus communis;) the Siberian Crab, (^pyrus baccata;) the Quince, (Cydonia;) the Medlar, (^Mesjnlus;) the Mountain Ash, (^pyrus aucuparia;) tlie Thorns, (cratcegus ;) the Amelanchiers, of which our native Shadblow is one ; the Pkotinia, the Cotoneaster, &c. These have all strongly marked natural affinities, and may with more or less suc- cess bo budded or grafted upon each other. But the more nearly they are related — that is, the greater the congeniality in their natures, the more successful will be the union : thus, the pear will grow upon the apple, but much better upon either the quince, thorn, or mountain ash. But, if we should attempt to graft one of the species belonging to this order of appleworts, (^pomacece^) upon another belonging to the order drupacae or " almondworts," [ Veg. Jving.'] we would be utterly unsuccessful, for these two have strongly marked botanical difierences, and little or no congeniality of nature. We can never, therefore, graft apples, pears, or quinces, upon cherries, plums, or peaches. The order Drupaceoe or Almondwort, alluded to, embraces all the species of plum, cherry, peach, apricot and almond. These have all certain prominent botanical similarities and afiinities, and may all be worked upon each other with success proportionate to the strength of the affinity : hence, the peach, apricot, almond, and plum, in general gi-ow upon one another perfectly well, but none of them can be worked to any practical advantage upon the cherry. The genus cerasus, (the cherry,) contains many species, differing greatly in appearance ; for instance, the Mahaleh and Mazzard are as distinct in general appearance of foliage and habit as an oak and a willow, yet they grow well ■ one upon the other, because of a congenial nature. We cannot at this time follow up these points further, but we have drawn attention' to them, and Avill add that every one who aims at being an intelligent cultivator should not fail to give it attentive consideration. Many people who have never seen dwarf trees, but order them from nurseries are quite disappointed when they see them. A tree two, three, or four feet high seems small to those who have all their lives been accustomed to large trees. They fear "they will never come to anything." We have seen people in search of dwarf trees, and vet ask the tallest tree in a row. Dwarf apples are of course very small when transplanted. A yearling will be from one to two feet, and at two years very little taller, but branched. Such diminutive things to the inexperienced are too small. One man says " the dwarf apples are sprouts — not what I imagined them at all." There is a much greater lack of knowledge on this subject than there ought to be, when books and papers that contain the remedy are so abundant and cheap. Young cultivators, think of these thino-s ■1 s, during the approaching stormy weather and long evenings of winter. i f ^- .J '& THE GENESEE FAEMEE. :^^ THE DOUBLE-FLOWERING WHITE HORSE CHESTNUT. ^; Ir ) THE GENESEE EABMEK 29 ^ ij The Double-Flowering White Horse Chestnut. — We copy the accompanying figure and description of this rare and beautiful variety of one of the most popular onia- mental trees from the Gardener's Magazine. We had the pleasure of seeing some fine specimens of it abroad ; the largest was in Mr. Le Roy's nurseries at Angers, France : it is some fifteen years old, and about as large as the common sort at that age in this country, dt is easily propagated by grafting or budding on the common one, and will no donbt soon be had in our nurseries. "^■EscuLTJS HiPFOCASTANUM FLOREPLENO. Doublc flowercd Horsc Chestnut. — ^A rather uncommon and very ornamental tree, equalling in vigor the common soi't, from which it differs only in its double flowc^rs. These are very showy, liaviug a strong resemblance to a good double hyacinth ; tliey are pale blusli, with deeper blush at the base of the petals. Our tigure was made from a specimen com- municated by Mr. Rivep-s, nui-seryman of Sawbridge worth, wlio informs us that he 'received it from the Continent some seven or eight ycai-s since.' The spike of flowers we have represented was not as long as usual, owing to the tip having been killed by the fi»st in May. The trees flower when quite young." Large Apples. — In our part of the country, large apples are by no means a novelty. Our Twenty Ounces^ Monstrous Pijypins^ and Pujyijyk'm apples, are so common that nothing short of the wonderful is really worthy of note. We think we have something before us that comes under that head ; if not, it borders closely upon it at any rate. A specimen of the Fall Pippin we think, produced in the garden of Aaron Erickson, Esq., of Rochester, measuring sixteen inches in circumference, and weighing twenty-six and one-half ounces. We cut this prodigious specimen and found it sound and good to the core, and of very fair quality. There grew on the same tree, another weighing twenty- five ounces, and two others nearly as large. It is a serious, if not a very dangerous mat- ter to grow such apples. Suppose one of these should fall ten or fifteen feet, upon the head of a child, or even of a grown person ? But Mr. Erickson does not apprehend any danger of this kind. The tree that produced these monsters is not over three feet high, and this will appear to those not accustomed to the culture of dwarf trees, no less remark- able than the size of the apples. We think Mr. E. may say that he has produced the largest apple on record, on the smallest tree. In aU our experience, we have seen none, nor in reading have we seen any account of such large apples. The trees are some seven years planted, and are about ten years old. Mr. Erickson has also produced the largest and most beautiful specimens of the Alexander a^Jple that we have ever seen, on dwarf trees, too. The crop on all his dwarf apple trees, the past season, has been remarkably fine, although on standard trees generally, it has been below the usual average. The dwarf pears, in the same garden, were, a few years ago, the finest in this country of their age, but the blight that prevailed here a few years past, made sad inroads upon them. DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW PEARS. BY B. DESPORTEZ, OF ANGERS, FRANCE. The Alouette pear, (Fig. 1.) — Mr. Andre Le Roy found this variety in one of his nur- series on the farm at Sauge, near Angers. The tree has a pyramidal habit, of vigorous growth, and as a standard exceedingly productive — one of the most profitable for market. The farmer gathers annually 4000 fruits from this tree, weighing 400 lbs., or thereabout, and sells them for six or eight dollars, which, considering how cheap everything is in our country, is considered large profits, and few other kinds yield so much. The fruit^is small — about two inches long and one and three quarters in diameter. Form — turbinate, regular, surface uneven. Stalk — slender, one inch long, inserted on the surface. Calyx — large, broad, deep. Color, greenish yellow, sprinkled with gray dots and rosy spots on the sunny side. Flesh — breaking, white, juicy, sweet, and agree- j K ably perfumed. Ripens beginning of September here. The hardiness and productive- J r G ^ 80 THE GENESEE FAKMEE. [i. ^ ness of this variety make it very valuable as a standard orcliard sort for the market. The fruit resembles very much the Ah mon Dieu ! or Abondance, but ripens earlier. The Barboucinet pear, (Fig. 2.) — This variety was discovered by Mr. Andre Le Roy at his nursery of Barboucinet on the farm of the same name. The tree is about 25 years old and 20 feet high, of medium vigor, branch- es slender and spread- ing— adapted to the standard fornl. The fruit is about three inches long and two inches in diameter, pyriform, irregular, surface uneven. Stalk — one-fourth of an inch long, stout, en- larged at both ends, fleshy at the base. Calyx — open, shal- low, in a broad cav-ity. Color — green ; when ripe, reddish spotted on the sunny side and gray or russeted every where, and especially around the stem ; dotted over the sur- face with deep green points. Flesh — green- ish white, tender, melting, buttery, and juicy, with a slight acidity. Ripens here beginning of Sept. This is a first rate pear and very profit- able for market. It is highly esteemed by the farmers, who pre- fer it to larger sorts. This season the tree has yielded about 600 fruits weighing 120 pounds, which makes a good profit even here where the great abundance of fruits make them very cheap. The Bezrj des Veterans j^ear, (Fig. 3.) — This is a very large fruit, nearly round, gen- geni'rally depressed on one side, near the stem. Skin — thick, gray, shaded with light yellow. Flesh — white, fine grained, firm, breaking, rather deficient in juice but sugary and grccable. It possesses the rare merit of keeping well till April and May. The tree is vigorous, well adapted to the pyramidal form, and is very productive. "We rfgret that M. Desportez liaa not given us a more full account of this variety. We have a few fine specimens on hand, and from appearances we are inclined to believe it will prove a valuable winter variety. ^ 3 ^ M^- THE GENESEE FAEMEE. %Mm' Department VILMORIN'S FLOWER GARDEN AT PARIS. TiiE following letter from Mr. Barry, while in Europe, will be interesting, aa showing the extent to which the raising of flower seed is carried in France, and the care taken to preserve all varieties in purity and perfection. "We shall receive from this establishment a large collection of geeds, (probably- some time in January,) and will distribute them among our female readers. So, fair lovera of flower? Bend on your orders and we will furnish you a collection of flower seeds, without charo-e, so fine that all who pass by in summer may know where the Genesee Farmer is taken, by the beauty of the garden. "We shall not be able to supply seed until February, but all applications are placed on file and will be attended to. Among tlie many interesting gardens I have visited in and around Paris, none have pleased me more than the great flower garden of Vilmorin. It contains, I should think between two and three acres, and is wholly, or almost wholly, devoted to the culture of annual flowers for the seeds. It is not laid out artistically like a flower garden for it is in fact a flower nursery, laid out in rectangular beds four feet wide, with paths two feet ■wide between. At the entrance gate there is a well of enormous depth, (I forget the number of feet,) from which water is drawn, by a horse, into a great cistern, and thence conveyed by pipes into the various quarters of the garden and deposited in tanks, from which it can be applied liberally with very little labor. In very warm, dry weather such as they frequently experience here in the months of July and August, the horse pumps the water runs, and the men pour it on, all day. There can be no such thino- as a drouth where this arrangement exists. I have already, in speaking of market gardens alluded to the Paris system of watering and its effects. I have seen a great many nurseries ; I think I can say I have seen the largest and the smallest, the worst and the best that exist, but I must decidedly call this flower nursery the most beautiful. I am just in time to see it — the finest things are in full bloom. What a gorgeous display of Dwarf Rocket Larkspur, immense beds of it, every color and every shade of color, by itself, red, white, purple, blue of ^ arious shades, and some beautifully striped like a carnation. They are indeed the glory of the garden. CI must say here, for the benefit of the more inexperienced, that this is not an annual but a biennial flower, the seeds being sown one year and flowering the next.) Next in importance, in point of show just now, stand the German Ten Week Stocks. Like the Rockets, they are grown in great quantitities, and every color and every shade is ke])t by itself with the greatest care and precision. Those who never see but the product vi a paper of mixed Ten Week Stocks, can have no idea of the display that can be made with this flower. Here are dark purple, of a velvety richness ; there are fiery scarlet ; next we come to delicate lilacs, then flesh color, pure white, &c., &c., through all the richest, deepest, darkest, and most delicate tints. The seeds of all these colors of Rockets and Ten Week Stocks are carefully saved and put up separately. The Balsamines and Asters are prominent objects, but I am too early for them. Among the most striking species, I have noticed Godetia rubicunda, rosy purple, and Godetia Lindleyana lilac with red spots. These are both fine, showy things. Kalffussia Amelloides has flowers of a rich, deep blue. The Yellow Centaurea is showy and fine. Lobelia ramosus and eriniis are two slender dwarf growing plants that make charming masses. The White Viscaria is gTown largely and makes fine masses. Leptosiphon (Gilia) Androsacea and Densi flora, are fine for the same purpose. I see an Escholtzia, nearly white ; a very large, double, purple, Gnaphalium (everiasting flower) ; a beauriful yellow Platystemon from California ; great beds of Alstromerias and Mesembry anthemums. The tri-colored W" 32 THE GENESEE FAEMER. ^ variety of the latter is a great acquisition. The Candytufts are quite remarkable, especially the white rockets and deep purple. No grower of annuals should be without these. The Convolvulus, or Morning Glory, makes a fine show ; the tricolor, or striped one, is very pretty. An Arc/emone, with prickly leaves, and large, showy, yellow blos- soms, appears well. I might go on and cover pages with names. It is not only in the rarity and variety of the flowers here that its greatest beauty consists, but in the wonderful luxuriance in which everything is growing. There are natives of many widely separated countries, and difierent climates, yet all are flourishing. This garden is but a small portion of the grounds of Messrs. Vilmorin & Co., devoted to Horticulture ; they have several other gardens appropriated to other objects, but, just at this time, this is the most interesting. Under the title of " Vilmorin Albmns,'''' this house publishes every year two gi-eat folio l^lates, lithographed and colored, one representing culinary vegetables of the natural size, and the other new and interesting flowers artistically grouped in a boquet. We had the pleasure of examining these Albums. They are kept in the ofBce for the benefit of purchasers of new and rare articles. The seed catalogue of this establishment is prepared in the most skilful manner ; and, besides, they issue a small, cheap work, which gives simple directions for the sowing of flower seeds and cultivation of them in the open air. The house of Messrs. Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co., is well known over all Europe, as well as in America. There is not, probably, in existence a more complete or better managed establishment of the kind. The proprietors are not mere merchants who know how to buy and sell, but they are profound botanists and skilful horticulturists, familiar with the flora of all explored countries and with the particular culture required by diflJierent species and tribes. M. Louis Vilmorin is at this moment one of the most efficient promoters of horticultural improvement in France. P. B. — Paris, July, 1851. OTSEGO HALL. ~\ N HESIDEijOE OF TETE LATE J. FENNIMOEE COOPEE, COOPEBSTOWN, N. T. DEAWN BY MISS COOPEE, AUTHOR OF "rUKAL HOMES." ^A^ (1^ THE GENESEE FAP.MER. '^uiitljs' itjwitnrat. :^ Fig. £. Fig. 3. cU (^ CENTER OF GRAVITY. . TnE following article on the Center of Gravity we take from an excellent paper in the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, on Agricultural Dynamics, by J. J. Thomas. It will prove both interesting and instructiye to our youthful readers. The center of gravity is that point in every hard substance or body, on every side of which the different parts exactly balance each other. If the body be a globe or round ball, the center of gravity will be exactly at the center of the globe ; if it be a rod of equal size, it will be at the middle of the rod. If a stone or any other substance rest on a point directly under the center of gravity, it will remain balanced on this point ; but if the point be not under the center of gravity, the stone will fall towards the heaviest side. Every farmer who erects a wall or building ; every teamster who drives a heavy load, or even he who only carries a heavy weight upon his shoulder, may learn something useful by understanding the laws of gravity. If any body, of whatever shape, be suspended by a hook or loop at its top, it will necessarily hang so that the center of gravity shall be directly under the hook. In this way, this point in any substance, no matter how irregular its shape may be, is ascertained. Suppose, for instance, we have the irregular plate or board shown in the annexed iigure, (fig. 1,) first hang it by the hook a, and the center of gravity will be somewhere in the dotted line a h. Then hang it by the hook c, and it will be some- where in the line c d. Now the point e, where they cross each other, is the only point in both, consequently this is the center sought. If the mass or body, instead of being flat like a board, be shapeless like a stone or lump of chalk, holes bored from different suspending points directly downwards, will all cross each other exactly at the center of gravity. An imaginary line from the center of gravity perpendicularly downwards, to where the body rests, is called the line of direction. Now, in any solid body whatever, whether it be a wall, a stack of grain, or a loaded wagon, the line of direction must fall within the base or part resting upon the ground, or it will immediately be thrown over by its own weight. A heavily and evenly loaded wagon on a level road will be perfectly safe, because the line of direction falls equally between the wheels, as shown in fig. 2, by the dotted line, c being the center. But if it pass a steep side-hill road, throwing the line of direction outside the wheels, as in fig. 3, it must be in- stantly overlurned. If, however, instead of the high load represented in the figure, it be some very heavy material, as brick or sand, so as not to be higher than the dark part of the figure, the center of gravity will be much lower down, or at 5, and thus the line felling within the wheels, the load will be safe from danger, unless the upper wheel pass over a stone, or the lower wheel sink into a rut. The center of gi-avity of a large load may be nearly ascertained by measuring with a rod ; and it may sometimes happen that by measuring the sideling slope of a road, all of which may be done in a few minutes, a teamster may save himself from a comfortless upsetting and perhaps heavy loss. Again, a load may be temporarily placed so much towards one side, while passing a sideling road, as to throw the line of direction considerably more up hill than usu il, ^ 3 !) e THE GENESEE FAEMEE. ^^J^ and save the load, Avhicli may be adjusted again as soon as the dangerous point is passed. This principle also shows the reason why it is safer to place only light bundles of merchandize on the top of a stage coach, while all heavier articles are down near tlie wheels. When it becomes necessary to build very large loads of hay, straw, wool, or other light substances, the "reach," or the long connecting bar of the wagon, must be made longer, so as to increase the length of the load. For, by doubling the length, two tons may be piled upon the wagon with as much security from oversetting as one ton on a short wagon. Where, however, a high load cannot be avoided, great care must be taken to have it ev^enly placed. If, for instance, the load of hay represented by fig. 4, be skill- fully built, the line of direction will fall equally distant within each wheel. But a slight misplacement, as in fig. 5, will so alter this line as to render it dangerous to drive except on a very even road. It is familiar to every one, that a body resting upon a broad base is more difiicult to overset than when the base is narrow. For instance, the square block, fig. 6, and pyramid, fig. 7, are less easily thrown over, than the tall and narrow block of equal weight, fig. 8. Because, in turning the square block over its lower edge, the center of gravity must be lifted up considerably, in the curve shown by the dotted line ; but with the tall narrow block, this curve being almost on a level, very little lifting is required. Wheel-carriages owe their comparative ease of draught t';> the fact that the center of gravity in the load is moved forward, by the rolling of the wheels, on a level, or parallel with the surfiice of the road. Each wheel supports its part of the load at the hub. Hence, on a level road, the line of direction falls Fig. 7. Fig. 8. precisely where the wheels rest on the ground ; but if the road ascend or descend, it falls elsewhere ; hence the reason that it will run by its own weight down a slope. Whenever a stone or other obstruction occurs in a road, it becomes requisite to raise the center of gravity by the force of the team so as to throw the wheel over it, as shown by fig. 9. One of the reasons thus becomes very plain why a large wheel will nm more easily on a rough road than a smaller one, the larger one mounting any stone or obstruction without lifting the load so much out of a level, as shown by the dotted lines in the annexed figures, (figs. 9 and 1 0.) Another reason is, the large wheel does not sink into the smaller cavities in the road. When a load is carried on the shoulder, it should be so placed that \he line of direc- tion may pass directly through the shoulder or back down to the feet, fig. 11. An inexperienced person will sometimes place a bag of grain as shown in fig. 12. The line falling outside hi^ feet, he is compelled to draw downwards with great force on the other end of the bag. A man who carries a heavy pole on tiH^S^ his shoulder should see that the center is directly over his shoul- Fio. 12. der, otherwise he will be compelled to bear down upon the lighter end, and thus add in an equal degree to the weight upon his shoulder. ^ THE GENESEE FAiMEE. iiMnfB €Mt 86 OuK January NtfMBER ia now before you, kind reader, and it is a specimen of what we intend our paper shall be each month during the year 1852; differing only in this respect^ that we de- sign to make each number better than its pi-ede- cessor. Already we have received largely in- creased clubs from many places, and our friends in all sections of the country are doing even more perhaps, than we had a right to expect. ^Yith- out such generous aid from the friends of Rural Progress, we could not furnish the Genesee Farm- er at such a low pj-ice; with it, we intend to give our readers at least one of the best agri- cultural papers in the world, for the small sura of THREE smLLTNGS a year to clubs of eight or more. "We invite all to show this number to their friends, and we will supply extra niimbers to those who wish them. We often receive letters inquiring on what conditions we send to clubs — whether all are requu-ed to be sent to the same office, &c Tlie onli/ rule we have, is to send our Journal to clubs in such way and manner as will best suit the convenience of our subscribers. Agricultural Report from the Patent Office, FOR 1850. — ^This is a well filled volume of 579 pages, nearly all of which are occupied with original communications from over one thousand practical farmers residing in all the States of the Union, with one excention. Eight thousand circu- lar letters were sent out from the Agricultural Department; and answers were received in return enough to fill two volumes of 1000 pages each. To re-write and condense this mass of generally badly written manuscript, so as to ex])res3 its sub- etauce in one-fourth the words, and print it on 500 pages, was a labor which but few can appreciate- Under the circumstances of the case, it was impos- sible to do full justice to so many correspondents ; but whoever will carefully read the Report from beginning to end, can hardly fail to find a great deal to instruct and interest him. Congress has ordered 130,000 copies to be printed and bound for general distribution, and no one should indulge the least hesitancy in writing to the representative in Congress from his district for a copy. The whole is already stereotyped, and if another 100,000 copies should be printed for gratuitous distribution over oiu* thirty-one States and five Territories, it would cost only $33,000 of ihe fifiij millions now annualy expended by Congress. The great farming interest shares less in the funds of the General Government than any other, be- cause farmers ask for nothing whatever. How- ever the fact may be regarded by our readers, more than three-fourths of the fifty-two millions which will be paid into the National Treasury in tlie year 1851, will be dug from American soil, and for more to its injury than isgenerally believed. The Report for 1850 does not contain the agri- cultural statistics of the U. S. Census of that year, for they were not collated and ready for the press. Among its essays is one of considerable length, on "The Study of Soils," from the pen of the propri- etor of this journal. Of the merits of this per- formance it does not become us to speak ; but we do not hositiite to commend a paper written by Mr. J. J. Thomas, of Macedon, N. Y., on "Fruit Culture," a valuable contribution to our popular literature on that subject The aim in preparin"- the document, has been to make it useful to plain, practical farmers, and not one line has been inser- ted for show. Farmers are its authors, and they will know how to estimate its value. Our friends ordering the Farmer will be partic- ular in giving the name of the Post Office, County, and State ; also, in writing names plain, as by this much perplexity may be avoided to ourselves and subscribers. Terms — Fifty Cents a year for single copies; five copies for $2, hems, forty cents each ; and eight copies for $3, being three shillings each, and any greater nmnber at the same rate. Many articles, some of them in type, we are compelled to omit ; among them several answers to inquiries, which will apjjear in our next Jnquirie0 an^ ^tistorrH. Cure for Garget in Cows. — Tour subscriber, Mr. Greaves, inquires for a cure for Garget in cows. For the benefit of Mr. G. and others, I would say that a piece of poke root (or skoke root, as it is sometimes called,) the size of a walnut, given in a potato or apple occasionally, will cure. Give three mornings, and skip three, until a cure is efFecte(L For a preventative, give ywir cows a little salt- petre with their salt say two pounds to a bushel of salt Oneida Lake, Nov., 1851. A strong decoction of sma*'t weed applied to the udder will assist in the cure. "We have received nearly a score of letters in answer to the inquiry on this subject, all nearly similar to the above. i) '^ THE GENESEE FAEMEE. BoTs AND CoLto tN HoiwKS.— Myself, as well as others, would be pleased to see some of the best remedicj? (those tliat can be relied on,) for the Bots or (trubs, and the Oilie, in horses. We are much perplexed sometimes to know how and what to administer for the relief of that noble ani- mal. Edw. K. Coke.— Murnt Ordinary, Va., 1851. We have no doubt that many liorses have been doctored for the Bots, and pei'haps some have died under the treatment, while others have recovered in spite of it, when colic, constipation, inflamation of the bowels, or some other disea.se, has been the cause of all the difficulty. "Botn" is a favorite theme with horse doctors of more pret^'usions than knowledge. The best English authorities agree in stating that the Bots is never injurious to the horse, causing no disease, or even symptoms of disease, while others claim that they are injurious. But even if this is bo, we hardly know how the insect is to be dislodged from the stomach, for Cole says they have lived in rum twenty-four hours, a de- coction of tobacco eleven hours, spirits of tupen- tine forty-five minutes, and in brine ten hours, without any effect. Their entering the stomach may be prevented to some extent by rubbing the parts where the eggs are observed, with a cloth and warm water, or applying grease or oil To make the matter plain, we copy the full descrip- tion and engraving, showing the fly, the egg, and the bots as they are attached to the stomach, from Youatt's work on the Horse: "In the spring and early part of the eumraer, horses are much troubled by a grub or caterpillar, which crawls out of the anus, fastens itself under the tail, and seems to cause a great deal of itching or uneasiness. Grooms are sometimes alarmed at the appearance of these insects. Their history is curious, and will dispel every fear in regard to them. We are indebted to Mr. Bracy Clark for almost all we know of the bot a and &, the eggs of the gad-fly adhering to the hair of the horse. c. The appearance of the bots on the stomach, firmly ad- hering by their hoolied mouths. The UKirliSor ilciivi-.'^sions are scon 'which are loft on the coat of the stf)mach when the bots are detaclied from their hold. rf, The bot detached. e. The female of the gad-fly, of the horse, prepared to deposit her eggs. /, The gad-fly by which the red bots are produced, g, The smaller, or red hot. "A species of gad-fly, e, the oetrus equi, is in the latter part of the summ.er exceedingly busy about the horse. It is observed to be darting with great rapidity towards the knees and sides of the ani mal. The females are depositing their eggs on the hair, and which adhere to it by means of a gluti- nous fluid with which they are surrounded {a and b). In a few days the eggs are ready to be hatched, and the slightest application of warmth and moisture will liberate the little animals which they contain. The horse in licking himself touches the egg ; it bursts, and a small worm escapes, which adheres to the tongue and is conveyed with the food into the stomach. There it clings to the cuticular portion of the stomach, c, by means of a hook on either side of its mouth ; and its hold is so firm and so obstinate, that it must be broken before it can be detached. It remains there feed- ing on the mucus of the stomach during the whole of the winter, and until the end of the ensuing spring ; when, having attained a considerable size, d and being destined to undergo a certain trans- formation, it disengages itself from the cuticular coat, is carried into the villous portion of the stomach with the food, passes out of it with the chyme, and is evacuated with the dung. "The larva or maggot seeks shelter in the sroimd, and buries itself there ; it contracts in size, and becomes a chrysalis or grub, in which state it lies inactive for a few weeks, and then, bursting from its confinement, assumes the form of a fly. The female, becoming impregnated, quickly deposits her eggs on those parts of the horse which he iS most accustomed to lick, and thus the species is perpetuated. "There are several plain conckLsions to be drawn from this history. The bots can not, while they inhabit the stomach of the horse, give tho animal any pain, for they have fastened on the ctiticular and insensible coat. They cannot stira- tdate the stomach, and increase its digestive power, for they are not on the digestive portion of the stomach. Tliey cannot, by their roughness, assist the trituration or rubbing down of the food, for no such ofiiee is performed in that part of the stomach — the food is softened, not rubbed down. They «mnot be injurious to the horse, for he en- joys the most perfect health when the cuticular part of his stomach is filled with them, and their jiresencc is not even suspected until they appear at the antis. They cannot be removed by medi- cine, because they are not in that part of the stomach to which medicine is usually conveyed ; and if they were, their mouths are too deeply bu- ried in the mucus for any medicine, that can be safely administered, to affect them ; and, last of all, in due course of time they detach themselves, and come away. Therefore, the wise man will leave them to themselves, or content himself with picking them off when they collect under the tail and annoy the animal. "The smaller bot, /and ff, is not so frequently found. "Of inflamation of the stomach of the liorse, ex- j:^^- THE GENESEE EAKMER. 8T ^ ;# ccpt from poisonoui? herbs, or dnigs, we know little. It rarely occurs. It can with difhculty be distinguished from inflammation of the bowels; and in either case the assiatance of the Teterinary sur- geon is required." Tlie English remedy for colic, is turpentine, 02>ium,. and aloes, given in warm strong beer — 4 drams of aloes, 1 oz. of turpentine, 1 oz. lauda- num, in 1 pint of beer. Youatt says this will generally cause the disease to cease almost as sud- denly as it appeared. If the disease should not yield speedily, he recommends bleeding to prevent inflammation. The belly should be well rubbed with a brush or warm cloth, and clysters of warm water should be injected. We have already de- Toted so much space to this article, that we can not say more of the colic in this number, but may in our next. Pkbpaking Bones for Mantjee. — I wish to gain infor- mation tliroufih the columns of your excellent paper, as to the best mode of using bones as a manure ; also of preparing Uiera fur use. By doing so, you will oblige A Suisscbibek. — Adams Center, N. T., 1851. We have on file several inquiries similar to the above. We shall endeavor to answer one and all. Bones should be crushed to fragments before being applied to the land, otherwise they decay very slowly. Ten bushels of crushed bones will show a better effect, for many years, than one hundred bushels uncrushed. It is no uncommon thing in England to see a doiible crop of turnips as the effect of the application of bone dust^ even twelve years after its application. Bones, if well seasoned, can be ground in a plaster mill. We have known them to be kiln-dried for this purpose. If they are fresh, the work of crushing can better be done at an oil mill. Another mode of preparation is to boil the bones in a strong lye until they fall to a powder, then mix the lye and bones with fine dry loam. After tlie water has evaporated, the mixture may be drilled in with wheat, turnips, and other crops; or sown broadcast. A small quantity of bones applied in this way, produces surprising effects. Still another method of preparing bones is to dissolve them in a solution of oil of vitriol. Two bushels of bpne dust dissolved in vitriol, will pro- duce a greater effect the first year than twelve applied as dust. Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) costs but from 2^ to 3 cents per pound. We give the process in detail, in the words of Professor Norton: — "To every 100 lbs. of bones, about 50 to 60 of acid are taken ; if bone dust is used, from 25 to 45 lbs. of acid is sufficient Tlie acid must be mixed with two or three times its bulk of wa- ter, because if applied strong it would only burn and blacken the bones without dissolving them. " 1. Tlie bones are placed in a tub, and a por- tion of the previously diluted acid poured upon them. After standing a day, another portion of acid maybe poured on; and finally the last on the third day, if they are not already dissolved. The maas should be often stirred. "2. Another good way is to place the bones in a heap upon any convenient floor, and pour a por- tion of the acid upon them. After standing half a day, the heap should be thoroughly mixed, and a little more acid added; this to be continued so long as necessary. It is a method which I liuve known to prove very successful. "In either case the bones will ultimately soften and disolve to a kind of paste; this may be mixed with twenty or thirty times ita bulk of water, and applied to the land by means of an ordinary water cart. Used in this way, it produces a wonderful effect upon nearly all crops. "A more convenient method in most cases is to thoroughly mix the pasty mass of dissolved bones with a quantity of ashes, peat earth, sawdust, or charcoal dust. It can then be sown by hand, or dropped from a drill machine. Two or three bushels of these dissolved bones, with half the usual quantity of yard manure, are sufficient for an acre. This is therefore an exceedingly power- ful fertilizer. One reason for its powerful eflect is, that the bones are, by dissolving, brought into a state of such minute division, that they are easily and at once available for the plant. A peculiar phosphate of lime is formed, called by chemists a stiperphosphate, which is very soluble; and in ad- dition to this we have the sulphuric acid, of itself an excellent application to most soils." To Peetext IIogs EooxrNG. — I saw in a number of the Prairie Farmer, a short time ago, an article stating tiiat liy cutting the tendons (or some other term.) that supports tlie rim of a hogs nose, it destroys tlieir properties of rooting, without injuring the hog. If this is the case, and you could and would ]ft me know how it can bo done, you would oblige me. and probably a good many of the readers of the Genesee Farmer. II. Jennings. — Wi/ocena, Wis., 1851. We have never seen the experiment tried of cutting the nasal tendon, or stout muscle on the top of a pig's nose, to prevent his rooting. The probability is that the remedy will prove success- ful. It operates on the principle of "ham-string- ing." Cut square across the top of the nose a little back of the rim. Weevil. — ^Tlie insect contained in a letter from J. D. Davis, of Reading Center, N. Y., was so compressed and broken, that all we cnn say is that it was a fly and not a weevil. We will give some account of this insect soon. U§^'' 1^' -V_^/ THE GENESKE FAKMER, Leached Asites and Rotation of Crops. — Are leached ashes that have laip the cows out. For otlier crops I have no system, only that I plow and grow three crops of ditl'er- ent kinds — then seed, plaster, and manure, for meadow or pasturing, three years. A Subscbibee vv the Town of G. On good roads it will pay to haul leached ashes five miles; they should, however, be mixed ■with lime before their application, unless the soil abounds in calcareous matter. Eventually, your wheat and clover rotation will exhaust your land, if you do not renovat* it occasionally with manure or ashes, to restore potash and bone earth removed in the seeds of wheat. Clover draws the earthy ingredients from the subsoil for the benefit of wheat plants; but the supply will not last a century without adequate restitution. Beware of "clover-sick" fields. Gas Lime. — "Will you be so kind as to inform me of what value the g;is limes are to put on to land tognjw fruit trees, tliat needs lime in some form or other. At this place 1 can obtain stone lime, fresh and fine, for $W per hundred bush- els. At the gas works in this city, they have a large quan- tity of lime that they have used ,for purifying the gas, and which was the best of the Onondaga lime, which they wii! sell cheap. There is no one here to tell me about it, and not seeing any article in the Farmer, I write you that I may get some correct information. The soil is a strong clay loam that has produced wheat twenty-five years with only two or three crops of clover. which now yields about twenty-five bushels to the acre. But as I am to put it to different purposes, I thought I had better supply some of the phosphates first. It is troubled with grubs — the larvfe of the May bug, or a large white grub with brown head — -that gnaw the roots of small trees till they die. I have lost ^.500 worth of plants this year by its depredations. To destroy this insect would be gratifying to me. I have sown thirty bushels of salt to the acre, and plowed it under. I intend to plow it again, following with the subsoil plow, that I may make the soil sixteen inches in depth. Now, for manure we shall' use muck from a swamp, that has been sweeten d with luneand salt, adding some plaster to .supply the sulphur. I will close this letter, which is much longer than I inten- ded to write at first, but I feel that I am "excused when 1 read some of the interesting articles on the relation of sci- ence to agriculture that may be found in your paper. Charles 1'. Cowles. — Syracuse, M Y., Oct., 1851. There is more or less organized nitrogen in the coal from which gas is made, and the lime used to purify it usually contains ammmouiacal compounds which, so far as they arc present, are far more valuable for agricultural purposes than lime itself. Buy the gas lime as cheap as you can, and test its value by careful experiment Mules. — "WiU some of your correspondents inform me through the columns of your valuable paper, why mules are not reared to a greater extent in this St;ite. It is stated that they are very profitable, easilv reared, and a ready sale at two years old, at prices ranging from $T5 to $100 each. K. —Oneida Lake, N. I'., Ncm., ISDl. HORTICULTURAL. (R. L. C, King's Ferry, N. Y.) The Filberts, Madeira nuts, and Almonds, of the shops will grow if sound and fresh. Sow in the fall, in any good, dry, friable soil, cover two inches deep. If you cannot plant in the fall, lay them in a thfn layer in the ground, and cover with earth three or four inches deep till spring. Doucain and Paradise Stocks are not raised from seed, 'but layers ; most of those used in this country are imported. 3fa- halch seeds can scarcely be procured in this coun- try, but the stocks can in the nurseries. (F. S., King's Ferry.) The various kinds of dwarf stocks can be obtained in the nurseries here, at $2 to $3 per 100. Mazzard cherry and Pear stocks can be obtained at prices you will find in the nurserymen's catalogues. Spanish chestnuts are not to be had here ; young plants can. (S. W. R.) The "Fruit Garden" is sold at $1.25, and the postage to jon would be 20 cts. if jtre-paid. The present postal law is unfavorable to the trans- mission of books by mail. Will you be so kind as to answer a few inquiries in the Genesee Farmer, and oblige a subscriber. 1. Does the Angers Quince produce fruit superior to the Orange or Portugal ? 2. Is the Striped Madelaine Pear tree as hardy and pro- ductive as the Madelaine ? Does it succeed well on Quince ? 8. Is it better to whip-graft Quince stocks with pears that have failed the first season to grow from bud, and trans- planted in the fall again, than wait until the next faU and bud ag.iin ? S. B. — Susquehanna Co., Pa., Kov., 1851. 1. We have'not yet fruited the Angers Quince, but it is spoken of by cultivators of Angers as being very good. 2. The Striped Madelaine pear is, according to our experience, as hardy as the common one, but not quite so vigorous. It is productive and suc- ceeds well on the quince. 3. You may get a tree sooner by grafting next spring the stocks on which the buds have failed the past summer, but you will have better trees in the end, if you wait and bud them next season, especially if they be transplanted. If inteiidcd '■■ o graft, tliey ought not to have been transplanted. The Nuesery Business in Iowa. — A correspond- ent writes us from Maquoketa, Iowa — "There is one great drawback to the nursery btxsiness here, and tliat is winter hilling. Tliere is not more than one-third the varieties of apples that will stand root-grafting in this latitude, 42-| deg. Some nur- seryjiien have lost thousands of dollars by it." Will some of our friends in the west, who have tested the hardiness of varieties in climates similar to Jackson county, Iowa, communicate some of their experience. This matter touches upon a subject of great importance to the fruit growers of this country, viz., the adaptation of varieties to certain clim:ites and localities. =^ js^ i^ THE GENESEE FARMER. CHARLES SCRIBKER, NEW YORK, HAS JUST PriiMSlIED RTTRAL HOMES, Or Sketches of Honscs Buited to Ampr- ican t'ountry I.ifo. With over 70 Original Plans, Designs, &.C. By Gekvasi! AViikeler. 1 Vol. Vi mo. Trice $1.2.'). "It commences with thv^ first foot-treml upon the spot chosen for the house; details tlieeonsictentions lliat should we-igh in selecting the site; gives nioijcls of ImildinfrHiiilVer- ing in ehar.icter, extent, iiiid cost ; shows how tfiliarmr>ni/,e the building with the surnnuiding seeuery ; teaehes how to healthfully Varm and ventilate; assists in seieeling furni- ture and the innumerable articlesi of utility and ornament used in eonstruclingand flniehing; and concludes with linal practical directions, giving useful limils as to drawing up written descriptions, specitieatioiis and eontraet.s. " In this neat and tiisteful volume. Mr. Wheeler has con- densed the results of an accomplished training in his art, and the liberal professional praetiee of it. "The cost of such establishments is carefully considered, no les.s than the comforts they should .'ifford, the display they oin Oioiu-stlyl pretend to, and all the adjuncts that go to complete the ideal of a convenient and elegant mansion. " We can confidently recommend this elabfjrate produc- tion to the attention of gentlemen who are about building or renovating their country In >u3es, fi i pre ifessional architects, and to all readers of discrimination, who wish to know what is tinily eloquent in this beautiful art, and to cultivate a taste wortiiy to cope with 'judgment of wisest censure.' " — jV. Y. Ereninri Mirror. '•It is extremely practical, containing short, simple and comprelien.sive directions for all wishing at any time to build, being in fact the sum of the author's study .and expe- rienee. as an architect, for many years." — AUninij Sjicctator. " Mr. \\'heeler's remarks convey much practical and use- ful information, evince good taste and a lirnperajipreciation of the beautiful, and no one should build a rural home with- out first hearing what he has to recommend." — Phil. I'res- hyierian. " Important in its subject, careful and ample in its de- tails, and charmingly attractive in its style — it gives all the information that would be desired as to the selection of sites, the choice of appropriate styles, the jiarticulars of plans, materials, fences, gateways, furniture, warming, ventilation, specifications, contracts, itc; concluding with a chapter on the intellectual and moral effect of rural architecture." — Hartford RcM-gious Uerald. THE FRUIT GARDEN. TniRn Enmox. A Treatise intended to Illustrate and explain the I'hysiology of Fruit Trees, the Theory and Practice of all c)])er:itions connect- ed with the Propagation, Transplanting, Pruning, and Training of Orchard and Garden Trees, as Standards, Dwarfs, Pyramids, Espaliers, &c., the laying out and ar- ranging different kinds of Orchards and Orardens, the selection of suitable varieties for different puqioses and localities, gathering and preserving Fruit.s, Treatment of Disease, Destruction of Insects. Descriiitions and Uses of Implements, &c., illustrated with upwards of one hun- dred and fifty figures, represent ing'different parts of Trees, all Practical Operations, Forms of Trees, Designs of Plant- ations, Implements, &c. liy P. Bakrt, of the Mount Hope Nurseries, Rochester, New York. 1 vol. 12 mo. " It is one of the most thorough works of the kind we have ever seen, dealiiig in particular as well as generalities, and imparting many valuable hinis relative to soil, manures, pruning and transplanting."— i?o,s'to?!, Gii:;rt(^. '• A mass of useful information is collected, which will give the work a value even to those who possess the best works on the cultivation offruit yet published." — Evening Post. " Ills work is one of the completest, and, as we have every reason for believing, most accurate to be obtained on the subject" — Jf. Y. Evangelist. " A concise manual of the kind here presented has long been wanted, and we will venture to say that, should this volume be carefully studied and acted upon by our indus- trious farmers, the quantity of fruit in the State would bo doubled in five years, and the quality, too, greatly improved. Here may be found advice suited \'^ all emergencies and the genlleman farmer may find direction for the simplest matters, as well as those which trouljle older heads. The book, we think, will be found valuable." — Newark Daily Adivertiser. " It is full of directions as to the management of frees, and buds, -and fruits, and is a valuable and pleasant book." — AVjany Evening Journal. " The work is prepared with great judgment, and founded on the practical experience of the Author — is of far greater value to the cultivator th.in most of the popular compilations on the sul)jecL"— iV. y. Ti-iliun-e. "This liouk Kupjyliefi a place in fruit culture, and that is saying a great deal, while we have the popular works of Downing, 'i'lioMULS, and (Vile. Mr. Barry has then a field to himself whieh he oceiipie.s v/ith decided skill and ability." — Prairie Fanner. New York. Jan. 1, isnj. FiUit Scions for 185',*. THE subscriber will furnish Scions for this season's grain- ing, of the celebrated fruits of Wifstern New York : yortJiern Spy, NorUni's Melon, Wagener, St. Lawrence, Canada Ped, Swaci/r, Paldu-in, Pomme Crrise, Seek-no-/ urilier. Ilertfoi'dshire Pearmain, Famevse, Bourassa, Twenty Ounce Apple, ITawley, or Dawse, CrravensIMn, Bailey iywtieilng. AI'PLE. Rihftone Pippin, /Summer Pose, Panibo, Enoxju-H SpitzenburgK, Yelloic Bellflmcer, Roxhur-y Rmaeit, Early Harveat, Early Straicberrt/, AutiMnn Straioberry, Early Joe, Fall "Pippin, Holland Pippin, PJiode Island Oteening, Talman Sweeting, Green Swe^ing Porter, rEAES. Virgalieu, I Bartlett^ Sf'ckel, Oficego Beurre, Swan\i Orange, or Ono?i- Broun Beurre, daga, | Osband''s Summer and most of the Foreign varieties. Apple .Scions $1.0(1 per 1(K), and Pear Scions Three Shil- lings per dozen. They will be carefully packed and sent by Express or by Mail. A discount on apple scions will be made to nurserymen. Early orders are requested, to insure a supply. Address me (post-paid) at Rochester, Monroe Co., New York. JAMES II. WA1T;3. N. B.— In all cases where it is passible, I will send sam- ples of the " Northern Spv" apple. Reference can bo made to Mr. ViCK, of the " Ivirmer." Rochester, .)an., Is'i'i. McCorinlck's Reaping MacSilne. THE undersigned has been appointed sole agent in New York, fbr the sale of McOormiek's Patent Reapers and Mow- ing Machines. Farmers and others de^sirous of purchasing these celebrated machines, are requested to forward their orders at an early date, that they mav be supplied in duo time. These machines received the' Gold Medal at the World's Fair, also, the first premium at every Fair in the United St;ite8, where they have been exhibited. A. LONGETT, At the State Agricultural Warehouse, No. '25 Cliff street. New York, Jan., ts.52. Osage Orange for Hedges. WE can furnish any number of fine yearling plants at $l..-.i1 per 100, or $10 per lono, or at $8 where 3000 or more are taken. Orders should be sent early. It t£ikes about oi plants to the rod, planted eillier in single rows at six inches apart, or in double rows a f>« it apart— eUher of which makes a good hedge. ELLWANGER & BARRY, llochester, N. Y., Jan., Wrl. 50,000 Apple Stocks "Wanted. TEN TO FIFTY THOUSAND Seedling Apple Stocks, of thrifty iico years' grotiih. are wanted and will be paid for in Ciuih. Apply, or send samples, with price, immedi- ately, to JAJres VICK. .Tr. January 1, lS5-2> Genesee Farmer Office. Winter Iilxlilbitlon of Fruit. ^S^~ It is proposed to have a meeting, at Mr. Fogg's Seed Store, on Saturday, 17th January, lSo2, for the purpose of ■having an Exhibition of Winter Fruits. It will be remem- bered that such an one was held last January, which re-sulted in a flue show. The Growers of Fruit in Monroe, and all other counties, are requested to be present with specimens, which, after exhibition, will be sent to Albany for a like ex- hibition before the State Society, at their annual meeting on the 20th January. The Practical and Scientific Farmer's own Paper. THE GENESEE FAKMER, A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, ILLUSTKATED Wiril NTJMEROPS ENGRAVINGS OF Farm Buildings, Domestic Animals, Implements, &c. VOLUME XIII, FOR 1852. DANIEL LEE & JAMKS VICK, Jr., Editors. P. BAEET, Conductor of Horticultural Department. Fifty Cents a Year, In Advance. Five Copies for $2 — Eight Copies for $3, and any larger number at the same rate. iW" All siibscriptions to commence with the year, and the entire volume supplied t>i all suljscribors. Subscription money, if properly enclosed, may be sent (post-paid or free) at the risli of the Publisher. Address to OANIEL. LEE, December, 1S61. Hochesi-er, N. Y. CONTEBTTS OF THIS NUMBER. Agricultural Chemistry, 9 European Agricultural Statistics, 12 The Wintering of Stock, 13 Eural Homes, 16 Wine Making, 17 Side-IIill Barn, 20 Plowing in Clover, 21 Eeport made to the Central Ag. Society of Paris, upon the different Maladies existing in Wheat in France,. .. 22 Agricultural Implements at the Great Exhibition, 22 Ladies' Department. — Yilmorin's Flower Garden at Paris, 81 Torxns' Department. — Couler of Gravity, 83 Editor's Table. — Agricultural licport from the Patent Office ; Answers to Inquiries ; Notices, &c., 36 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. £ Dwai-f Fruit Trees, , . 26 The Double-Flowering White Horse Chestnut, .... 29 Large Apples, 29 Descriptions of new Pears, 29 ILLUSTllATIONS. Two figures illustrating Wine Making, 19 Side-Iim Barn 21 One Horse Farm Tilt Cart, 23 Liquid Manure Cart, 24 Tumbler Cart in a position for traveling 25 Double-Flovrering White Iloi-se Chestnut, 29 The Alouette, Barboucinct, and Bezy des Vete- rans pears 30 Otsego Hall 82 Twelve figures illustrating Center of Gravity, 3;^, 3i The Bot, ' 86 American Agricisltmral JBoolk Depot. CONSTANTLY on^haml all the tlie principal Agricultu- ral and HortieuUural J>nol;s, Magazines, &:c., together with all works on kindred subjects — Architectural, Mechanical, and Scientific Books. N. B. — Orders for any books pubHshed in this country, on any of -the above subjects, may be made by mail to me, and they will be furnished at Publishers prices. Agricultural School Libraries made up, at $5, $10, $15, or %i» and upwards, to suit purchasers. Catalogues sent gratis on application by parties wanting books. Address D.M.DEWEY, Arcade Hall, Eoehester, N. Y. ^^ Agents supplied at wholesale upon reasonable terms. * Januarj', 1?52. 50,000 Osase Oiaiia;e Plants, ONE YEAR'S GROWTH, price .$8 per 1000. No charge for packing or cartage, if 2iii)0 or more are ordered. OSAGE' OllANG'^l'^ SEED, .at the lowest market price, wholesale or retail, as early in the winter a.s the new crop I can be obtained from Texas. M. B. BATEHAM. Columbus, Ohio. [l-2t] PEOSPECTUS FOR 1852. THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. THE LEADING LITERARY WEEKLY OF TUB UNION. THE proprietors of the Post think it unnecessary to dwell upon the distinguishing features of their v.ell known week- ly, whose brilliant success during an existence of Thirty Years is a sure guarantee for the future. We liave the pleasure of announcing our continued connexion with that distinguished authoress, Mrs. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWOKTH, Author of "The Deserted Wife," " Shannondale," &c. During the coming year, we have already made arrange- ments I'lir the followinix nouvellettes : EOHNE ; Uli MAGNOLIA VALE : By Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz, author of " Linda," " Ecna," &.c. VIOLA; OE ADVENTUEE3 IN THE SOUTHWEST: A Companion to "Prairie Flower." By Emerson Bennett, author of the " Prairie Flower," '• The Bandits ol the Osage," &c. TEIAL AND TEIUMPH: By T. S. Arthue, author of " The Iron Hand," " Temperance Tales," &c. And last, but not least, THE CUE8E OF CLIFTON: A Tale of E.xpiation and Ei'demption. By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Soutuwoutu, author of " The Deserted Wife," &c., &;c. The Post also will contain every week Selected Articles of the choicest description. One or More Engravings, Hu- morous Articles, the most Interesting News, Local News, Bank Note List, State of the Markets, the Stock Market, &.c. TEEMS.— The Terms of the Post are two Dollars if paid in advance ; Three Dollars if not paid in advance. For Five Dollars, in advance, one copy is sent three yeara. We continue the foUoving low terms for Clubs, to be sent in the city to one address, and in the country to one post-office : 4 Copies, $5 per. year. 5 '• (And 1 to agent, or gettcr-up of Club) 10 '• " 13 " (And 1 toagent, or gctter-up of Club) 15 " " 20 " (And 1 to agent, or getter-up of Club) 20 " '• The money for Clubs must always be sent in advance. Subscriptions may be sent at our risk. When the sum is large, a draft should be procured if pos.sible — the cost of which may be deducted from the amount. Address (always post-paid), DEACON & PETEESON, No. G6 South Third Street, Pliiladelphia. P. S. — A copy of the Post will be sent as a specimen to any one requesting it. [1-lt] TUe American Art Union— 1831. SUBSCRIBERS for the year 1851 will receive an elegant line Engraving from a celeln-ated American Picture, enti- tled " Mexican news," by "Woodville. Also five smaller line Engravings, as follows : Harvesting, by Crossey. Bargaining for a Horse, by Mount Mount AVashington, by Eeusett. Marion Crossing the Pedee. by Eaney. Old '7(5 and Young '4vS. by WoodviUe. Also, the Bulletins issued after the payment of subscrip- tion. Also, a Share in the distribution of several hundred Paint- ings, pieces of Sculpture, and other works of Art, in Decem- ber next. SubsiTiptions for annual membership, !?5. Certificates of membership may be obtained of D. M. DEWEY, Honorary Secretary, Eoehester, N. Y. N. B. — Subscriptions for membership may be sent by mail to -my address, and I will remrn Certificates and Bulletins, giving all the particulars of the Institution, for Eoehester and vicinity, and pay all postages. Nursery Catalogues. A CATALOGUE of superb new Dahlias, Fuchsias, Phloxes, Verbenas, and other rare and popular bedding plants for tlie coming spring, will be issued in February. Our ('atalogues are sent gratis to all applicants, but as the new postage regulations prohibit the sending of Catalogues by mail, unless prc-paifl. we must request the enclosure of Postage Stamps with applications. GKNEl'.AL DESCRIITIVE CATALOGUE. For any distance not over 500 miles, 5 cents. Over 5t)0, and not over 1500 mUes,. . 10 " 1500 " " " 2.500 " 15 " " 2500 " « " 3500 « 20 " " 3500 miles, 25 « ELLW ANGLE & BAEEY, Itlount Hope Nurseries, Eoehester, N. Y. January, 1R.'52. BTEKEOTYPED BY. J. W. BEOWX, EOCHESTEK, N. Y. V/pl Vol. XIII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., FEBRUARY, 1852. Xo. II. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. :^1 KCMBER II. I?j the January numbor of the present vohime we oflered a few remarks on what was termed " an ev^er-active force in all matter, which tends to the formation of compound bodies." This force was also spoken of as some times " quiescent ;" and the question naturally arises in the mind of the reader, how a power which is ever-active can be occa- sionally quiescent or inactive. This seeming contradiction is explained by stating tliat a chemical force is ever-active toward some bodies, while it is quiescent toward others. Thus, when iron and oxygen imite and form what is called the prot-oxide of that metal, the force or affinity that keeps these two elements together as a compound body, is ever- active ; but in reference to most other bodies this force is entirely quiescent. If, hov,- ever, a little vinegar be poured iipon a simple compound of iron and oxygen, the acid and oxydized metal immediately form a chemical union, producing a salt called acetate of iron. In this phenomenon, it is known that the vinegar and the oxide of iron were each compound bodies, whose natural forces were active and brought them into a state of permanent union, so far as any chemical union can be permanent. In the language of chemistry, all minerals that combine with acids are called bases ; and different acids and bases, and other substances, have unequal affinities, which give rise to all the diversities that are found in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. If each element in the material world Avere attracted equally toward all others, in a chemical sense, all bodies would be compounded alike, without the least variety in nature ; and life would be impossible as we now see it, and all matter vrould be a perfect chaos again. To bring order and harmony out of confusion, it is safe to say that immutable laws to govern all possible changes in matter, are indispensable. The most superficial observation enables us too see the workings of these laws ; and to no other class is their study more important than to the cultivators of the earth. In its application to till.'sge and husbandry, chemistry is so vast a subject that we hardly know how to give it a proper introduction to the reader. As we understand it, it is truly a revelation not only of the workmanship, but of the will of the Creator. The laws that govern the universe, and all its atoms, are his laws. To present rural science as illustrated by nature, in any other light, would do injustice alike to the Law-giver and the law- breakers. Man's very existence depends on physical laws, and these can not be sepa- rated from his duties, or moral obligations. Chemistry and religion arc as close together as the world and its maker ; or as the body of man and his reason and con- science. To impoverish the natural fruitfulness of the earth is to do mankind a great injury, without any excuse whatever. To avoid committing this wrong, a knowledge of the laws of Providence is indispensable. Ignorance of divine laws (and all chemical or g^ dll ^.\-\ ^-' THE GENESEE FAKMEE. natural laws are divine in tlieir origin,) may be a crime, and is generally a fault. Infinite Wisdom is not the friend of ignorance, but of knowledge ; and the clergymen and pious persons who do not exert themselves to promote the universal study of chemistiy and other branches of natural science, fall far short in their duty. Why continue a deep shade between the human soul and its God ? Physical man must look through nature to see the Divinity beyond ; and no one can diligently study natural phenomena, as the shepherds of old watched the constellations at night, and not become Jess an animal, and more a Man. The extreme divisibility/ and perfect soluhility of matter prepare and adapt it to the uses of the scientific husbandman in feeding his growing crops and growing animals. There are a thousand ways in which the extreme divisibility of solid matter may be demonstrated. If a particle of silver only the one-hundredth part of a line, or the twelve-hundredth part of an inch in extent, be dissolved in nitric acid, it >vill render distinctly milky 500 cubic inches of a clear solution of common salt. Hence the magni- tude of each atom of silver can not exceed, but must fall far short 'of a billionth of a cubic line. To render the idea of this degree of division more distinct, says Sir RocEiiT Kane, " it may be stated that, a man to reckon with a watch, counting day and night, a single billion of seconds, would roqiiire 31,G75 years." In the organi-zcd kingdoms of nature even this excessive tenuity is far surpassed. An Irish girl has spun linen yam so fine that a pound was 1432 miles in length, and of which, consequently, 17 lbs. 13 oz. would girt the globe. A distinctly visible portion of this thread could not have weighed more than the one hundred and twenty-seven-raillionth of a grain ; and yet each threa.l contained many fibres of flax, and each fibre was a mass of many cells, and each coll was composed of several distinct elementary bodies, such as. carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and the incombustible minerals Avhich appear as ashes when flax is burnt. !Micrc scopes have revealed organized creatures so small that it is said a million of them in one mass presents an object too small to be seen by the naked eye ! Although we question the entire accuracy of this statement, yet, that animalculre have a perfect organization, and their circulation of blood and its particles are as complex as those of the elej^hant, there can be no reasonable doubt. We should never forget that both the astronomer and the microscopist are indebted to art and science for the optical instruments that reveal planets and suns in the far off" regions of the heavens, and living things in air and water, and their remains in rocks and mountains, before unknown. The divisibility of matter and its plasticity being comprehended, we are prepared to consider its solubility in water. The laws which govern the solution of solids are not sufliciently known to admit of generalization. They are, however, resorted to in chemical researches and analyses, with eminent success. As was stated in the January number, the 2')ulverization, or com- minution of solids invariably promotes their solution in water ; but why chalk will not dissolve, and why the muriate of lime will, are alike unknovrn. A critical knowledge of the relative solubility of different substances is exceedingly valuable to the chemist ; nay, without this information, he can not be regarded as worthy of the title of chemist. Water is only one of many liquids used to dissolve both simple and compound bodies ; acids, fused alkalies, ether, alcohol, and oils, are among the more common solvents, which are often aided by heat in the laboratory. Water, however, is now regarded as an universal solvent — dissolving all minerals Avhen finely divided. Decaying vegetable and animal substances on the surface of the ground, yield carbonic acid and others to water, which greatly augments its solvent powers. It is sometimes charged with min- eral acids, especially sulphuric, or the oil of vitriol. This acid is formed by the decom- position of iron pyrites, which is a compound of sulphur and iron. In this process the oxygen of the air or in water combines chemically with sulphur in the proportion of 24 parts of oxygen to IG of sulphur. There are springs in Monroe county, N. Y., which contain sulphuric acid enough to render the water quite sour. Water charged with tliis ibr-i- m THE GENESEE FAEMEK. acid, no matter from what source, coming in contact witli lime either in soils or rocks, produces gypsum. In some localities, crystalizcd plaster is formed so rapidly in the manner indicated, as to throw down, like frost, stone walls, and crack the walls of brick and stone Luildings. When this phenomenon was first observed, much speculation Avas had " on the growing of beds of gypsum." Plaster can groAv in soils and beds so long as lime and sulphur last, but no longer. Lime and sulphur are indispensable elements in all soils, and every farmer should be able to determine by the use of the appropriate tests, the existence of gypsum or lime in the land he occupies, whether in meadow, pasturage, or tillage. This information we shall give in the present volume, when we come to describe the analysis of soils. To the million, a knowledge of chemical princi- ples is more important than sny description of analytical manipulations, which not one in. a thousand will ever practice. But many operations in the laboratory are so simple that any farmer may perform them with success, after a little study. If students in academies and advanced classes in public and private schools, were instructed in the uses of filters and solvents, to separate dissolved from undissolved substances, and in the application of reagents as tests in agricultural researches, an important step would be taken in the right direction. Because a youth can not reach the highest eminence in a science, there is neither sound sense nor decent logic in the inference, that he should make no effort to learn what he can of said science. Facts are the basis of all know- ledge, and the habit of ascertaining and recording fiicts in rural affairs, both in practice and theory, should be encouraged from boyhood to old age. Apply the inductive system of re'asoning and research to agriculture, and the tens of thousands of able men engaged in it will rapidly expose and correct the errors of the past, and enlarge the bounds of what is already known in tillage and husbandry. Specific gravity are words used in chemistry to denote the relative weight of any given volume of a solid, liquid, or gaseous body. In all weights and measures, some- thing is arbitrarily assumed as a standard with which other things are to be measured or weighed. Pure water, when the thermometer is at 32 dog., or at the freezing point, and th£ barometer at 30, furnishes a standard much used by chemists. Thus, a bottle that will hold an ounce (480 grams) of distilled water, will contain only 343 grains of sulphuric ether, which is much ligliter than water. It will, however, hold 885 grains of oil of vitriol, or sulphuric acid. If we make water a unit, and place it at 1000, the specific gravities of ether and sulphuric acid will stand thus : Grains. Sp. Oraviiy^. "Water, 4S0 inoo Ethpr 343 715 Sulphuric acid, 8s5 1845 To save the trouble of calculation, the bottle in use is generally made to hold 1000 gi'ains of pure water, and then filling it with the fluid to be tried, the Aveight gives directly the specific gravity. By means of a light but more capacious glass globe, the comparative weight of gases is ascertained. A gas must be either perfectly dry, or satu- rated with moisture. Assume that the globe contains 28 cubic inches, and when filled Avith dry common air of a knoAvn temperature, (32 deg.,) Aveighed 656 grains. With the air removed, it might Aveigh 647.5 gi-ains, shoAving a loss of 8.5 grains. Filled with dry carbonic acid at the same temperature, it would Aveigh 660.3. If Ave subtract the weight of the globe (647.5 grains) from the same filled Avith carbonic acid gas, the difference is 12.8', Avhile that of common air is 8.5. Call the latter 1.000, and the specific gravity of carbonic acid gas is 1.506. Variations in temperature and barometric pressure change the relations of gases very materially. How to determine the specific gi-avity of soils and other solids, will be explained in our next. Ir- ) 44 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. "THE LIMITED DURATION OF VARIETIES OF PLANTS." Since our article on this subject was written, tlie Horticulturist contains another from Mr. TowxLEY, whicli the editor of that journal pronounces, not unjustly, "one of the most interesting- it has published." We have read the facts and argument of Mr. T. with close attention, and see no reason to alter the judgment we ventured to express in our last. The questioH is not whether seedlings, and plants, and trees, propagated by buds, will deteriorate, for it is generally conceded that both will, but whether a healthy bud from an aged tree, having equal advantages of soil and climate, may not live as long and do as well as a neiv tree, as one grown from a seed from the tree that produced the bud ? Ilere is an apple tree, itself a seedling, which is on« hundred years old ; and the question to be decided is, what advantages for the production of a new tree have its seed over its buds ? If the vital principle in its buds is feeble from great age, or a want of food, the same is true of its seeds. In cellular structure they arc alike ; and they are alike in composition and function after taldng root in the ground. How does it happen that seedling potatoes are subject to the rot as well as those grown from tubers, if the cfleet is confined to the propagation from tubers instead of seeds? We found it impossible to answer this question to our own satisfaction, and hence we doubted the soundness of the "bud theory" altogether. Seedling onions, carrots, and cabbages, often rot prematurely, especially so far south as Georgia. Indeed, they appear to decay there sooner than potatoes, even before carrots and onions are pulled. Had the plants produced from seeds, in starting new races of potatoes, been entirely exempt from the malady, while those cultivated from tubers were subject to it, such evidence would have gone far to show that nature had imparted less vital force to buds than to seeds. But, let seedlings be as long abused, in one form and another, as the tubers of potatoes and other plants have been, and also all fi-uits propagated by buds, and the seedlings so treated would show equal deterioration and proneness to early dissolution. It is better to have no theory at all on the subject of budded and seedling fruit trees, and esculent tubers, than one which, if not evidently erroneous, is more than doubtful. To improve all organic structures, all vital parts, one needs a knowledge of chemistry, anatomy, and physiology, in their application to the living beings whose consti- tutional vigor and enduring powers are to be changed for the better. Without considerable knowledge of the principles of organic chemistry, one cannot duly underetand the relations that earth, air, and water, bear to cultivated plants, fruits, and animals ; and without some acquaintance with their anatomy, some information in reference to the functions of their numerous organs, or their physiology, he cannot operate otherwise than in the dark in feeding his crops, his stock, and in improving his land. A man may produce, after a fashion, the flesh, bones, and feathers, of one hundred fowls or turkeys in a yard, without the remotest idea of the elements which nature demands and consumes in their healthy gTOwth. Empiricism or accident may have given him valuable information on the subject ; but where we meet with one person who really understands the art and science of manufac- turing eggs and poultry in the most economical manner, we find ninety-nine who have the trade to learn. So it is in fruit culture, grain culture, potato culture, and grass culture. Never, until farmers are willing to study the laws of nature which govern the organization, and the extension from generation to generation, of the plants and animals which they labor to produce, can they make substantial progress in their profession. The intelligent reader knows how little has been done in the LTnited States to foster the critical study of every department of agriculture and horticulture. AYe depend on LouDEx, Knight, Lixdley, Liebig, Johnston, Boussingault^ and other Europeans, for nearly all our knowledge of rural science. Cannot original researches be made under a republican government as well as under monarchies ? a ^ -^ J^\ m piU »_5q> THE GENESEE FARMER 47 CULTURE OF FLAX. Man of all animals is the only one who requires and is able to provide himself with clothing; and it is in direct proportion to his advancement in civilization and the arts, that he clothes himself with garments agreeable to the feelings and pleasant to the sight. The animal and the vegetable kingdoms furnish him with the raw material from which he makes his beautiful fabrics — the former supplying him with wool and silk, and the latter with cotton and flax. We propose to conhne our attention at this time to the last. Flax is supposed to have been brought originally from the alluvial soils of Egypt formed by the overflowing of the Nile, where from remote antiquity it has been cultiva- ted, spun, and woven. Egyptian mummies embalmed 1200 years B. C. are found wrapped in swaddling clothes of fine linen. Its introduction from this warm to the colder climates, has materially improved the fibre and rendered it fitter for the manufac- ture of articles of fine texture. A cool, moist, and equitable temperature is best adapted to its growth, though it is grown at present to a greater or less extent in all the northern countries of Europe, in Italy, Sicily, Egypt, and to a considerable extent in Ireland and England, where great eflforts have latterly been made by government to extend its cul- ture so that it may aftbrd employment for its superabundant labor. The amount now raised in Ireland is estimated at 25,000 tons. The total amount of flax consumed in the British isles is about 100,000 tons per annum. Of this Russia furnishes about 70 per cent. ; but it is chiefly of a coarse texture, selling for about |225 per ton, whereas Bel- gian is often sold from SoOO to $700 per ton : it should therefore be the chief aim of the cultivator not so much to grow quantity but quality. The soil best adapted for its growth, is a dry, deep loam, with a clay subsoil ; and, as a general rule, all soils need under-draining for its profitable production. The prepara- tion of the soil is of great importance. It should be quite free from weeds, and be finely pulverized to a considerable depth, as the fibrous roots of the flax plant, if they meet with no obstruction, often penetrate to a depth of thirty inches in a straight line. A good plan is to sow it after wheat. Directly after harvest, the wheat stubble should be dragged with a heavy harrow, which covers the small seeds, causing them to germinate. In about three weeks it should be well and deeply plowed : this will kill all the annuals that have germinated ; but it should be dragged or cultivated at intervals in the fall, so as to destroy as many of the perennial roots as possible ; and it would be advisable, as late in the fall as possible, if the weather be dry, to give it another deep plowing, so as to leave it rough for the winter. As soon as it is sufiiciently dry in the spring, it should be dragged and rolled, and then immediately before sowing it should be again plowed, leaving the land as level as possible ; a drag should precede the sower, and a light one with thick set teeth should be used to cover the seed. The quantity of seed per acre is a matter of importance, depending on the condition of the soil and the object of the grower. If seed alone is the object, one bushel will bo sufficient, as thin sowing causes the plant to throw out branches which bear abundance of seed, but the flax is of a very coarse, inferior kind. The richer the land the less seed is required, as the plant will branch more. But if flax is required, two and a half bushels (or 126 lbs.) is about the proper quantity. If the soil is rich, three bushels should be used ; if poor, two bushels will be sufScient ; the object being to prevent the plant from branching out and to obtain a tall and slender stem. Great care should be taken to obtain clean seed. Choose that which is shining and slippery, not too plump, and of a brownish red color. It should be sown as early in April as the Aveather will permit ; but it is better to wait till the soil is dry and warm, even if it should not be sown before the first of May. The most critical time of the flax crop is before the plant has covered the ground — h'^" w- 40 THE GENESEE FAIIMER dry we.ntlicr and a liot sun often prove very injui-ious. The plant flowers about the middle of Juno, its delicate blue blossoms presenting a very beautiful appearance. Hail storms and heavy j'ains ai'e now to be dreaded. If the crop is grown entirely for the seed, it should be allowed to get fully ripe ; but if llax is the oi)ject, experience proves that it should be cut or pulled befoi'e fully ripe; for although the seed will not be so full and i)lump, yet the increased fineness of the llax fully makes up for it. The Dutch method of ascertaining when it is ready to cut is as follows : "A full grown stem is selected, and the I'ipest capsule is cut horizontally with a sharp knife. If the interior of the seed pickles is found to be firm and of a dark green, the flax is considered fit for pulling." In another number we propose a consideration of the best methods of preparing the flax for market, and also the most profitable way to dispose of the seed. EXPERIENCE IN POTATO CULTURE. BY A CORRESPONDENT AT JUNCTION, ILL. By your leave I will give you a portion of my experience for the past season. On some high ground, level and rather worn, well manured and plowed the previous fall, and plowed again immediately before planting, I marked out a piece five rods square, and on the 23d of May planted it with potatoes, (Carters,) in drills about two feet nine inches apart; potatoes cut so as to leave two or three eyes in a piece and planted nine inches apart in the drills. The first three rows had unleached ashes put upon them at the rate of five or six quarts to the row. On the second three rows I put about the same quantity of air-slaked lime. The next three rows Avere salted, four quarts to a row. On the next three rows I put charcoal dust, six quarts to a row, and the balance of the piece was all ashed as the first three rows. Alongside this five rod square piece I planted in the same way, without ashes or any other application. "When the potatoes were up six inches, I covered the first three rows with the scrapings of the barn-yard (all rotten manure) to the depth of about one inch ; they were all treated alike in other respects. The result was, that the first three rows yielded four and a half bushels of sound pota- toes ; all the others, without material variation, yielded three bushels to each three rows ; or about two hundred bushels to the acre for those not top-dressed, and three hundred bushels for the top-dressed rows — a gain of fifty per cent, to the latter. The potatoes were dug in the last week of October. Many entirely rotten ones were found — none partially decayed — no difference could be seen between those ashed and those not ashed. Not an unsound one in the lot at this date, (December 1st.) I learn from the above that it will pay to top-dress potatoes — not much else. I find that early planted potatoes in this county rotted as much as late planted ones ; that potatoes shaded do not rot as much with some of our farmers as those not shaded ; that Carter potatoes do not rot more than other potatoes, as I think I have the best crop, in the county ; that Mercer potatoes, early and late, were almost a total loss ; and that even the Merinos did not escape the rot here this season. BY JAMES B. BALLS, OF WEST POTSDAM, N. T. About the first of May I plowed a piece of green-sward, and on the 12tli planted it with potatoes. On four rows I put in each hill a small handful of plaster ; on four rows adjoining, and of the same length, I used no plaster. The difference during the season of growth was plain in favor of the plastered rows, and when dug they yielded six bush- els ; the rows not plastered, two and a half bushels. On the remainder of the piece I applied plaster to the hill at hoeing, and although an improvement, the result was not f.s favorable as when covered with the potatoes at the time of planting. s # THE XJENESEE FAEIJEE. 47 •1^^^ '^ RURx\L HOMES. A SUCUKCAN COTTAGE Ix our January niimber wc noticed a new book, entitled "Rural Ilomea," by Gervase WiiEni,!^, promising to give some extracts from the work in a future number. We ai-e well pleased that works on rural architecture are multiplying, as this fact shows a demand for reading of tliis character. Li every pai-t of the country over which we have occasion to travel, we observe neat cottages, pretty " rural homes," springing up where but a few years ago nothing attractive in the form of a house could be seen. These may not all be designed in the most correct taste — some may exhibit redun- dancy of ornament, showing the want of such a work as Mr. Wheeler's, — but still they are generally pretty and tasteful. These cottage buildings add much to the beauty of the landscape. Without further remark we give the promised quotation, selecting one of the cheapest and most convenient of the cottage plans : "A cottage Iiome suited to tlie neighborhood of some small country town, and indica- tive of refinement and taste on the jmrt of its occupants, may be made a very pleasing feature in the landscape. The illustration given here represents such a building, and I will pro- ceed to describe it in de- tail, premis'ng that its cost being but fourteen hundred dollars, it would be found within the means of most persons desiring such a house. " The character of the exterior is architectural, partaking something of the Rural Italian. Its low walls, overshadowang roof, wide veranda, and projecting ombra in its southern fi-ont, give it an appearance of sjanmetry and refinement that adapts it to the occupancy of a family of elegance and taste. The material of which it may be constructed may be stone, brick, or wood. If of stone, no change may be made in its form or the nature of its details, unless perhaps making them heavier, and their marked features still more bold. If of brick, I would merely add a projecting face, one brick wide and projecting two inches round all of the windows, and a band running horizontally below the brackets or canti- levers of the roof about a foot deep, upon which they may rest. If of wood, the covering should be clap-boarding or smooth ceiling, not battens and perpendicular planking, as the leading characteristics of the composition are horizontal lines, and Avould be contra- dicted by any other direction in the lines of the covering. The roof, of sufficiently steep a slope to carry off all water or snow, should be shingled, and the gable over the center of the southern front be made water-tight with metal strips in the valley formed by its intersection with the slope of the main roof. The chimnies, formed of brick, rise in shnple form from the ridge, and as they have no portion of the roof or building higher than themselves, need not extend above the ridge more than sufficient to ensure good proportion of height to Avidth. "Before proceeding further with the exterior of the building, I will describe tho flan. ELEVATION. SUBURBAN COTTAGE. (di •S5-- -rrc^ S: e" m 48 THE GENESEE FAEMEK. GROUND PLAN. SUBURBAN COTTAGE. " A peculiarity in this design is in the projecting half-octagon porch or ombra, which, fi-om its position, serves the double purpose of a delightful and cool retreat, and that of an entrance-hall — it is niark- ed on the plan. No. 1. In the winter, its sides might be filled with windows, and the opening in front with a glass door, thus making an enclosed vestibule or porch, and rendering the dining- room a very warm and com- fortable apartment. From this porch are doors into the dining-room, No. 2 ; the par- lor or hbrary, No. 3 ; and the kitchen. No. 5 ; and ac- coi'ding as a visitor's business in calling w'as to such and such a jiortion of the house, a door might be opened, thus saving the internal room necessary for a hall, and yet gaining all the advantages of such a portion of the building. The dining-room is a good-sized pleasant room, fifteen feet by seventeen, with French windows opening upon the ombra or porch at one end, and a recess for sideboard underneath the stairs at the other. Attached to this room are the necessary adjuncts of china, glass, and store closets, one by the sideboard, and the other in the side of the room opposite to the stove or fireplace. Back of the dining-room is a small vestibule, five feet square, enclosed so as to shut off" the staircase, and being the passage way from the pantry, scullery, and kitchen, to the dining-room. This entry is marked in the plan. No. 4, and is provided with an outer door. The economy in space attained by the arrangement of this portion of the plan must be evident at a glance, and the domestic comfort and convenience ensured, seem to me to render it very desirable. No. 3 is a large, well-proportioned apartment, twenty-five by fifteen, exclusive of a large prijecting window in the side of the room. This Avould serve as a parlor, drawing-room, or country library, as the taste of the occupants lead them to determine. The projecting window opens upon a large veranda extending along the side of the room, and from one side of this bay-window a portion of the veranda might, if thought pleasant, be enclosed, forming either a conservatory or a small summer study, attainable at very little addi- tional cost. As this house might in many places be thought adapted for the dwelling of the clergyman of some small society, I would suggest that the room I have just described would very agreeably aff'ord ample space for purposes of clerical use, and tlie small study thus attached (entered by a door from the side of the bay-window) migLt be provided with a flue in one of its sides, so as to be warmed by a stove in winter. Few houses of far greater pretension and expense have rooms so spacious and well-pro- portioned as those in this little cottage, and hence its desirableness for erection. No. 5 is a kitchen, back of which is a large scullery and Avash-room, No. 6. Underneath the building, a dry and well lighted cellar (lighted from the one end and the rear side) might contain a store and flour-room, a larder, etc., with a flight of stairs leading thereto. Back of this building, I would projwse an enclosed yard, containing wood-shed, and sut h offices as are better out of doors, and as the pleasant, occupied rooms are all on the oUicr side of the house, the yard so enclosed might extend along its entire rear length, and being conveniently opened into by means of the enclosod vestibule at the foot of the stairs, would be easy of access from the living rooms. This enclosed yard would keej ^ e m THE GENESEE FAKMEB CHAMBER PLAN. -SUBURBAN COTTAGE. everything neat and orderly in appearance round the building, and give it a refined character in keeping with its more exposed exterior. " The height of the rooms on this floor is ten feet in the clear, tlie walls to be prepared fur paper, and the inside finish of doors and windows of the simplest, plainest description. " The sleeping accommodation in the floor above is adequate to the comfort- able use of a small family, and is arranged as follows : "No. 1 is a hall, well-liglited and roomy, containing the staircase from below, and from which open the doors into the several chambers. " No. 2 is a large room over the dining-room and extending clear to a line with the front of the house, the recessed portion below being floored over. From this room a window opens upon a large balcony. No. 3, over the truncated projection of the porch below. The room is provided with a large closet for clothes, and a flue for a stove or fireplace. " No. 4 is a large linen-closet, well-lighted, and formed by the small entry from the upper hall leading to rooms Nos. 5 and 6. " No. 5 is a small chamber or dressing-room, in which might be a bathing apparatus, and serving either as a separate single room, a child's sleeping-room, or a dressing-room connected with the larger chamber. No. 6, which is over the library or parlor below, and is provided with a spacious clothes-closet and a flue for a stove or fire-place. " No. Y is over the kitchen, and has also a large closet and a fire-place, and No. 8 is a servants' sleeping-room. This room is shut off from the other chambers by an entry similar to that on the other side of the hall, and is sufficiently large for the purpose and is well-liglited and ventilated. "No. 9 is a large store-room, well-lighted and airy — completing the accommodation provided on this floor, and the compactness and convenience of the plan must, I think, favorably recommend itself. " The rooms on this floor extend partly into the roof. The walls arc seven feet high to the under side of the plate, and the ceiling follows the slope of the roof sufllciently for to allow the rooms to be ten feet in the clear. The roof is so framed as to admit this, and by such an arrangement greater internal height and airiness are obtained, with more modest lowliness of the exterior. The sloping sides of the ceiling should be firred down so as to leave a space of dead air (the most perfect non-conductor) between the lathing and the covering of the roof; by this means the rooms will be always cool and the additional height gained be very valuable. The room over the dining-room having a gable over its ceilmg would be a higher and more symmetrical apartment than the others, and hence might bp reserved as the guest-chamber, its large balcony making it a very pleasant sitting place for ladies with their books or needle-work." Tlie author further remarlcs that the furniture and UnMx of such a liouse as this should be very Bimple. The tables and chairs of oak, maple, or birch; in the summer the floor should lie covered with India matting, and in winter with carpeting of the pattern called mosaic, and the colors orange or crimson, and browTi or black, except for the parlor, which shoiild be a little more lively. Tlie paper of oak pattern, or some other one-toned character. " Around the bay or projecting window, a low chintz-covered seat, excepting whore the windows open to the veranda floor, or the door (if there be one) leads into the study l1D US -^^ THE GENESEE FARMEK. or conservatory, and as the space would be large, its center might prettily be occupied by a light and elegant work-table, or by a rustic flower-stand or jardiniere. The accom- panviiio- engraving shows a pretty rustic flower-stand just suited to such a situation, and as it is inexpensive and can easily be procured, I have given its representation. It is made of bark finished neatly and varnished. "The color of such a building should be light — whatever the general aspect and tone of coloring of the objects around, that let it be. If surrounded by trees, with a leafy background, its coloring should be warm and approach the cream ; if standing more alone, with rocky foreground and bold crags near enough to be seen in outline and color, quench the warmth somewhat by deepening the cream to a light cool brown ; if other buildings are near, and the back- ground be circumscribed, give the building relief and its features distinctness by using more than one color thereon — covering the main block with a warm light tint and deepening the prominent portions, as win- dow frames, cornices, brackets, doors, veranda posts, and ombra or porch. " Sanding paint, or mixing sand therewith, besides assisting in its preservation, takes away from the oily glare and glisten of ordinary pigments, and by less- ening the refracting power, gives to the surface of the building a softer and more pleasant tone of coloring. But I do not recommend this process in all cases, believing in no universal rule that admits not of exception ; frequently where the detail is minute, the roughened appearance imparted by the use of sand gives a clumsy as^^ect to the part, and in all cases where sharpness of outline is sought to be obtained by any particular decoration of the construction, the use of sand would be perfectly inadmissable. By using the last coat of oil color thick and smooth, without boiled oil, or any fatty, or resinous substance, a flat, unshining surface may be obtained, more durable than a brighter, reflecting coat would be, and more pleasing in eflect." RUSTIC FLOWER-STAND. Plan of a Farm-House. — Obser\'ing that you devote a portion of your paper to this subject, I send you a plan of a house which will, I think, lessen the wants of a large number of the farming community. We are, at this age of improvement, rather selfish in regrnd to our pecuniary aftairs, and it is a desire and an interest, and at times necessary, in erecting our farm buildings, to do it as cheap a^ possible. If you think the accompany- ing plan will be of use to any of \ our subscribers, it is at your disposal. I>escrij)tio7i. — 1, Parlor. 2, Dining room. 3, Kitchen. 4, Bed-room. W. &, Pantry, c, Meal-room, w, Windows, W 10X21 BX30 Wood-house. P, Porch, a. Clothes-press. d, Doors. D, D, Chiranies. S. A. T.— Gorham, N. T. ^ P" ^ cL THE GENESEE FARMER. BUTTER MAKING. It is a very general opinion among dairywomen that more butter is obtained from a given quantity of milk when set in pans partly filled than when full. If this is true, it is well worth knowing ; if not, a great deal of useless labor is expended. As the question has been often asked me, and I could give no answer, I determined to make the trial. As the result, so fur as it proves anything, is of general interest, I send it for insertion in your paper. Such an experiment is valueless unless conducted with extreme care, and your readers might well doubt its accuracy unless shown that proper pains were taken. I will therefore give the particulars. On the morning of flie 20th November, the milk was strained all together into a tub. It w^as then dipped out into a pail holding five and a half quarts, which was filled carefully to the brim. Pains were taken that if any rich milk or cream had risen to the top, it should not be skimmed oft", as it were, by dipping. The first pail full was turned into one pan, and the second into two, and so on alternately. There were eleven of the former and twenty-two of the latter. They were placed on the shelves of the milk-room alternately, lest the dilierence of position should aftect the result. The milk stood till it thickened, which was about four days. The full pans thiekened sooner than the other. As there was not quite enough cream of each kind for a suitable churning, and that not a particle be lost, considerable milk was taken off in skimming. The cream from the half filled pans was a verT/ Utile warmer when put into the churn than the other. It could hardly be perceived in the cream, but it came sooner and was a trijle softer to work over. When weighed there was 6 lb. 7 oz. from the full pans, and 6 lbs. 2.^- oz. from the pans half filled. This was an unexpected result, but I could conceive of no vitiating cause unless possibly the slight difterence of temperature in the cream might affect it. The pans were of the usual size — the bottoms being about 11^ inches in diameter. The milk stood 2^ inches deep in the full pans. A pound of butter was obtained from 9f quarts of milk. To verify this experiment, or to detect mistakes, if any, I repeated it. On tlie mornings of the 29th and 30th of November, 210 qts. of milk were set with the same precautions as before — six quarts in the full pans and three in the otheis. This stood nearly a week before skimming. No difterence of temperature could be perceived in the cream when put into the churn. If there was any difterence in the butter, that from the full pans was a trifle softer than the other — the reverse of the former experiment. From the full pans there was obtained 12 lbs. 10 oz. of butter, and from the others 12 lbs. and nearly 1 oz. The difterence in this case was about 4^ per cent., the same as in the former trial. The milk stood in the full pans 2.7 inches deep. A pound of butter was obtained from 8^ qts. It is. all of three times as much work to skim the half filled pans as the othei's. The question then arose whether still larger dishes wore not better. Another trial was made by setting 208 qts., with the same precautions as before, one-half in pans holding six quarts, and the other half in those holding twelve quarts. From the small pans was obtained 10 lbs. 15 oz., and from the larger ones 1 1 lbs. 3^ oz. The difterence in this case, of 4^ oz., was about 2^ per cent, in favor of the large pans. The reason that the full pans each time gave the most butter, I cannot give ; but I think the result is owing to unequal evaporation. The amount of cream and skim-milk is much less than the new milk. The milk from one full pan and two half pans was measured, and that from the full pan was half a pint the most, or one-twenty-fourth of the whole. This is four and one-sixth per cent., about the same difference as in the butter. If this is not the reason, I can conceive of no other. L. N. — Sherburne, JY. Y. The Value of Barn-Yard Manure. — It is now pretty generally admitted that the chief analytical criterion of the relative value of different kinds of manure is the amount of ammonifi they contain. From several analyses by Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert, it appears that a "ton of rich box manure," or manure produced by fatting animals with rich food in boxes, contained 14 1 cwt. of water and 5-^ cwt. dry suljstance ; the latter containing a large quantity of mineral matter, and nitrogen equal to 20 lbs. ammonia : while manure made by eating, treading, and wetting straw, and rotted to the same degree, contained the same amount of water with less than one-half the important minerals, and nitrogen equal to only 5 lbs. ammonia. Most fai-mers are apt to imagine that " a ton of manure is a ton of manure," irrespective of its origin ; and think if they are about the same to the eye they will be the same to the plant : but it is not so. A ton of manure made by sheep eating clover hav, would be worth three tons of that made by eating straw; and a ton from the consumption of peas or oil-cake would be worth as much as eight tons of the straw- fed manure. The value of the manure depending, other things being equal, on the amount of nitrogen in the food consumed, and not so much as is sometimes supposed on the kind of animal producing it. Joseph Harris. — Rochester, JV. Y. 1V HESS BARLEY. IIess Barley. — Enclosed T send you a head of barley, the only one I could find in my barn, the crop having been threshed out early in the fall. I think it is hardly a fair specimen, but it will serve to show you, if you have not seen the variety before, the difi'erence between this and the common two rowed barley, which consists in the kernels being placed nearer together — the same number occu- pying between one-half and two-thirds the length of head of the other variety. The straw is also much shorter and stouter, and will stand well where the other is entirely laid. It is being disseminated rapidly in this vicinity, and is estimated by different farmers to yield from ten to 20 per cent, more than the other, especially on rich land. It originated in the adjoining town of Fenner, on the farm of David Hess, Esq., about six years ago. Three heads were discovered proceeding fi-om one root among the common two rowed barley, which was planted and multiplied by him until he was able to sow two acres, I think, when he began to disseminate it among his neighbors. If you wish for a quantity of seed for distribution, I will send it to you. Perhaps a more full and accurate account of it may be obtained of Mr. Hess. J. B. Morse. — Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y. Growing Flax with Barley. — I will inform you of a practice which prevails here, of sowing flax with barley ; it may be new to some of your readers. After the ground is plowed, two bushels of barley are sown to the acre and harrowed in ; one peck of flax seed is then sown to the acre and cross harrowed. It is harvested and threshed together, and is easily separated when cleaning, by the flax seed passing into the screen-box. The barley seems to do quite as well as if no flax were sown. The past season, I had thirty bushels of clean barley and three bushels of flax seed to the acre. The land had been in corn the previous season, and was manured with stable dung and leached ashes. H. M. — Lawrence county, Pa. - €^- fs-' t p^ m THE GENESEE FARMER. $\m icHiiiliniikij. let ' VERMONT AND THE WEST. BY S. BIRD ROCKWELL, OF CORNWALL, VERMONT. What relation docs Vermont sustain to the great west, on the important and deeply interesting subject of wool-growing- ; and what breed, or breeds of sheep, are best adapted to its wants and prosperity. To the first of these inquiries we answer: Its relation is that of a vast reservoir to a distant jet or fountain ; it is that of a mine to the production and circuhition of the precious metals ; or that of the vast and full ocean to the showers that fall in ti:i!oly periods, for the refreshing of the parched and sufiering earth. Vermont can, without boasting, challenge the world to produce a race of sheep surpassing hers in true and real merit. That class of sheep which will produce the largest yield of good wool and mut- ton from a given amount of feed, is undoubtedly the best. Vermont, in her celebrated Merino flocks, has such a class.* It is an error to suppose that the Merino affords an inferior quality of meat. Th? greatest epicures in Brighton pronounce such an opinion unfounded in fact, and unsup- ported by reason ; it is destitute of any basis in truth, and may be regarded as the dream of an Englishman, or a relic of the dark ages. For weight of fleece they are unriv'^alled. In 1840, Vermont produced more wool than Ohio, and yet had nearly one million less sheep. The saving to Vermont, in way of keeping, was nearly one and a half millions of dollars, as the estimated expense is $1.50 per head per annimi. Western farmers are now eagerly inquiring for some branch of agricultural industry that will give them better returns for labor and capital invested. Wool gi-owing is that branch, and, in proportion as they obtain good sheep, so will they engage in this noble and lucrative employment. But from whence can they be obtained ? Not from the north, not from the south, nor from the west, — but from the cast. The breeders of choice sheep in Vermont, aided by a few good flocks now springing into note in the Empire State, must furnish this great field. Vermont has much of her own State to supply with better sheep. It is a mistaken notion, so generally obtained west, that all the sheep in Vermont are intrinsically valuable. The majority of the flocks in the State are indifterent in their chai'acter, and possess no peculiar merit. There is doubtless more thorough bred flocks in Addison and Rutland counties, than in all the rest of the State. The reputation of these counties is well earned and deserving. Vast outlays of capital and labor, during the last tweniy years, is the corner-stone of this reputation. Money and time have been poured out like water, and no efforts spared to secure the best sheep that the world could boast of. We can but hope that this reputation will be guarded as a precious treasure. This eminent power and skill of j^roducing stock sheep, is the cause of everything great in their position and history. It is the rude foundation of their fair Corinthian pile ; and they are as much indebted to this as Egypt to her Nile, Athens to her schools, or Rome to her policy and arms. As a box of precious jewels let this reputation be preserved, and never suffered to tarnish by neglect or abuse. Shall it be so? We have had our fears awakened that it might prove otherwise. Under this reputation, very many indifterent sheep have been glossed over with oil and lamp-black, and taken West and sold for high prices. This may be news to some ; others liave * "The Merino wether at four years old comes to perfection and makes a splendid mutton, and will invariably com- mand a good price. I am sure that an acre of land will give as many pounds of Merino mutton as from any other breed, and I am sure of decidedly better quality. In proof of this last declaration I can produce the most satisfactory testimo- nials.''— Theodore N. Davifssan, Enq., of Viryinia. Q;-- >S5 ■-^ ^. ?Sa-C ^ TIIE GENESEE FAEMEK. ^i been made acquainted with the fact to their sorrow. Some villains have attained such a doffree of skill in manufacturing these pseudo Merinos, that it is well calculated to deceive good judges. At first it was done slyly ; now it is perpetrated with fiendish boldness. It has gone too long unrebuked already. Such conduct calls for the execrations of all good men. It is not only unjust, but impolitic ; and must assuredly re-act with retributive justice upon us. In the name of Vermont — in the name of justice — in the name of everything good and true — we disclaim all fellowship with such deeds of darkness, and would hold up to tlie scorn of their fellow men all who are guilty of such meanness. "We have been advised of various deceptions practiced by the sheep-dealers of Vermont, by which they have been enabled to palm off, at high prices, very inferior sheep ; which farmers are induced to buy for the purpose of improving their flocks. It is unfortunate that so many unprincipled men are always ready to take advantage of every attempt of the farmer at improvement, to obtain liis money by fraud. K you are not a good judge, ask the advice of some competent friend ; or buy only of men of known integrity. # BREEDS OF SHEEP, AND THEIR COMPARATIVE VALUE. Few subjects are less understood by the generality of farmers than the pro})cr manage- ment of sheep and the breeds best adapted for certain purposes. No species of husbandry will pay so well at this time, in most parts of the country, as a proper and careful atten- tion to the rearing and fatting of this valuable animal ; and we are glad to perceive an awakening interest exhibited in the subject. For the manufacture of fine cloth, wool is valued according to its felting properties, and is possessed by some breeds in a higher degree than others. The serrated edge of the wool is supposed to be the chief cause of this difference, and it will therefore be interesting to give the appearance of a single fibre when viewed as an opaque object pr^22^22-»2!22^2^"'^2-^=^s?ft2Zi?^ under a microscope of 300 linear power. ^*^^^*****^*^^^*>****'*****^*^ The Merino wool was found to have 2400 serrations FiBUE OF MERINO WOOL. ^^ ^^ j^^^j^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ appearaucc of teeth on a fine set saw, projecting in one direction — from the root upwards. ^p^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The South Down wool is evidently a coarser article, ^^^^^^^^^^S^fe^^^fl with fewer serrations, and not so acute as the ISIerino. FiBHE OF sonn DOWN WOOL. It is a useful article, but is now but little used in the manufacture of fine cloth, on account of its inferior felting properties. The far-farmed Leicester, or long wool, is never used for fine cloth ; but is very useful for other purposes, on account of its strength and length. It is much thicker, FIBRE OF LEICESTER WOOL. ^|jg scrratlons are not so numerous and are less acute than either of the former. Its diameter is one five-hundredth of an inch in length, and there are but 1860 serrations in an inch. Spain, from an early period, has been justly celebrated for the beauty and fineness of its cloth. From the eighth to the sixteenth century she was about the only manufoc- turer in Europe. In the thirteenth century there were in Seville 16,000 looms. After the expulsion of the Saracens the woolen manufacture languished. Ferdinand the Fifth banished 100,000 industrious artisans and weavers from the country, because they were Moors, and was honored with the title of Catholic in consequence. His successor followed his example, and expelled between 700,000 and 800,000 Mahomedans in four years. The natural consequence of this was the destruction of the manufacturing interest. The government discovered their niistake too late to avert the injury ; yet, knowing the value of their flocks, the farmers sedulously cultivated them, and the sover- MS^ OT-^ r-TC^ r ) ■ THE GENESEE FAEATEK. 66 (^'^' eigns, except in a few instances, strictly prohibited their exportation. In 1786, tlie king of France imported 400 ewes and buclkat are really 2^/- t^ettn^ f •{•"'"' ^^\^^^^'^h dight botanical distinctions, but such as rcill ort^r/v T ^^-^-^--«^'««f --d contrasts in growth, foliage, and habit of plant, in his tnv ' <''""' rf :f''-'''^f !^' >-^-^" If P"'-oba-rs will express themselves arie ir?' 1 ''^ f they prefer half a dozen good, well marked, and really beautiful on he i lu\^'T "' 7'"'^ '^'' P''^'^' ^"' "" ''''^'''S uniformity, they will be o-etting nose to^tl "''r'l? r""'''^'";'" '™^^ ^""^'^' ^^'^'^ '^'^ generally but erroneously sup- CVmtefuir; I o r "T •"' >. ''''' ^' "'^"^^^' ^'•"' ""•' ^^-"«^' -I-owledge the ta^or gratefully. Loth professional and amateur growers should work together fn this ) TUE GENESEE FARMER. matter for the common good ; if tliey do, we venture to predict that no man will have the assurance to ask $5 or $10 for a new plant that does not possess a single character- istic to distinguish it from others that can be bought for ^5 per dozen. To return to our subject, the Fuchsia, we will state the points that claim attention in ■judging of the merits of a variety. As we have already noted, the chief attraction lies in the flowers, and it is to them we must look, in the main, for the merits of the variety. The Fuchsia flower consists, like most other flowers, of a calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil. These parts in the aggregate make up the flower ; and it is their relative size, form, and color, that give those characteristics that constitute the excellencies and beauties of the variety. The calyx, unlike the calyx in most other well known flowers, is colored, and is one of the most striking parts of the flower : a part of it, at the base, is a tube ; at the mouth it is divided into four parts called sepals, and these are more or less reflexed, (turned backwards,) as shown in some of the annexed figures, displaying the corolla, which is situated in the throat of the calyx. The more this calyx is reflexed — that is, the more fully the corolla is displayed, the better is the flower, other things being equal. The calyx and corolla are seldom of the same color ; and the qualities of the flower depend not only on the depth, richness, and delicacy of the colors, but on the beauty or novelty of the contrast between the calyx and corolla. Then the stamens and pistil, by their length, projecting far beyond the other parts, and by their coloring also, especially of the anthers and stigma, give character to the flower and constitute part of its beauty. Then the flower stalk, or petiole, must be considered : the longer it is, the more pendu- lous the flowers are, and the more graceful the habit ; the stronger it is, the better tha flowers stand out from the foliage. The requisites of a plant are — distinct and fine foliage ; free, robust growth ; and profuseness of bloom. These are the main points to look to in selecting a Fuchsia or a collection. People arc too apt to be struck with one feature, and overlook the rest. For instance, if th y find a plant with a fiower on it, and it happens to please them, they seldom stop to inquire into other important qualities that should never be overlooked. Now we shall describe briefly a few select varieties selected from fifty which we have under cultivation. The first on the list is the Pearl of England. — This, to our fancy, is the finest yet introduced ; certainly the finest of all those hybrids with light colored tubes. The annexed figure shows this in the natu- ral size. The calyx is of a pale flesh color, or nearly white, well reflexed, showing a a fine, full, bright scarlet corolla. It grows freely and blooms most profusely. New. Eliz Miellicz. — Nearly as good as the preceding, and somewhat similar. The calyx is of a rosy blu^^h towards the base, nearly white at the mouth, well reflexed, showing a deep rosy pink corolla. Grows well and blooms freely. Fair Rosamond. — A long, elegant flow- er, well named for its grace and delicacy. Calyx long, almost pure white, not much pearl of England. reflexed, but showing a fine, rich, scarlet corolla. Plant vigorous and blooms freely. Snow Drop. — Flower rather short ; calyx pure white ; corolla light crimson. Plant ^ td ^ TIIK GENESEE FARMER. grows freely, but requires pinching back to keep it compact and well branched. Magnificent. — A splen- did large flower, rosy calyx pretty well reflexed, showing a large, rich, rosy salmon corolla. — Habit spreading and vig- orous, and a free bloomer. Nonpareil. — A large, showy flower ; calyx rich deep crimson, well I'eflex- ed, showing a fine rich rosy purple corolla. Good habit. Grand Master. — Very distinct. Calyx short, of a bright red. Corolla large and conspicuous, of a deep purple. Branches dark red, slender, and drooping. Blooms profusely. President. — Very distinct. Calyx pale rose ; sepals very narrow aud well reflexed, showing an unusually large violet red corolla. Foliage distinct, large, dusty green, heart shaped, and sharply toothed, Exoniensis. — Rather an old sort now, but good and distinct. Scarlet calyx well reflexed, contrasting finely with a rich, dark violet purple corolla. Fulgens. — A distinct species, introduced a few years ago. It has tuberous roots, strong succulent shoots, and leaves almost as large as a man's hand. The flowers are produced in clusters. The calyx is two inches long, of a bright scarlet. The co- rolla, scarcely seen, is of a deep fiery scar- let. When this variety was introduced, it created quite a sensation among florists, and is yet one of the most admired. It is a strong, rapid grower, rather coarse, and attains the size of a large shrub. Cory7nhlflora.—T\\\s is also a distinct species, from Peru. It is a rapid grower,' and attains a larfire size. Foliage very MAGNIFICENT. large, of a pale green, soft and downy. Flowers in large clusters, very lon^— two inch.s or over— and of a biight crimson. A showy and an elegant plant, but somewhat coarse, and appeanng to good advantage only when it has attained larire size and full bloomin^r condition. There are two new ones that promise well — hybrids between the two h-^t named. One is called Fuhjens corymhifiora ; and the other, CorymUflora alha. Serratifoha.—Th\s is also a species, or a sub-species, quite distinct* in appearance — SERRATIFOLIA. nowly Introrluced, from Peru. We have bloomed it the past autumn, and are delighted with it It does not bloom like the others, in the summer, and we began to thmk badly o if but in October the young plants of last spring commenced bloommg,_ and contmucd hrcni.h Nov-ember and even December-a season when tbej -ej-e kghly desjrable This Mo blooming of the young plants may be a useful trait. The hakt o the plant: low„stout, bushy. The leaves are very dark, opposite m fours (verticiUate) on the THE GENESEE FARMER, branches, and the flowers are produced from their axils, one from each leaf. Flowers about one and a half inches long-, with a graceful drooping habit. Cah^x brioht rose ; points of sepals green ; corolla scarlet ; stamens prominent, bearing beautiful white anthers : making in. all a fine assemblage of colors and contrasts. This looks like a plant that will stand the sun well ; and if so, it will be a first rate bedding plant. For this purpose plants of one season's growth should be used, in order to ensure a good autumn bloom. The engraving on preceding page represents this flower of natural size. There is also a Serratifolla alba and rubra, but we have not bloomed either yet. Ser- rat'i folia multi flora is more dwarf and a more profuse bloomer than its type. Globosa major. — An old favorite, and still holding its place well among all the new and fine sorts. It is of low, bushy habit, and blooms in immense profusion, like the old Globosa, when even three or four inches high ; and it blooms all summer. The flowers are almost globular, and before they open, hang like elegant crimson beads on the branches. The calyx is crimson and the corolla purple. It suc- ceeds well in the garden in the summer, and is on the whole so fine a plant as yet to be indis- pensable. Alhoni. — This is a hybrid from Globosa. Flower short. Calyx pale rose, well reflexed. Corolla blush, edged with de;^p rose. Very pretty, and a inost profuse bloomer. Tom Thumb. — Another from Globosa. — Blooms when only two or three inches high. Flowers small, globular. Calyx cherry red. Corolla purple. SjJectabilis. — This is a species, found in th;' Andes by Mr. Lobb, (Veitch's collector,) and in- troduced into England in 1848. It is described as the " Queen of Fuchsias." The plant, like Fulgens and Corrjmbiflora, attains a large size ; has large, rich, deep green foliage, and long, ele- gant, deep red flowers. President Porcher. — Raised in 1850, by MiELLiEz, and nomed after Porciier, of Orleans, who is one of the best Fuchsia growers in France. A superb variety ; large foliage, and very large, finely shaped, purplish crimson flowers. Por- ciier says it knows no rival. Venusta is a sjyecies also, or a sub-species, of which a good deal was said ; but it turns out to be similar and inferior to Serratifolla. Syringaeflora is another specits, grown by M. Van IIoutte, of Ghent, from seeds sent him from Guatimala. In the space of one year it grew to five feet in height, well branched, and produced immense clusters of flowers after the style of a Lilac; hence its name. The beautiful engraving in the " Flore des Serres" is really tempting, but the reports of cultivators are not very favorable. We must add, before leaving this part of the subject, that we might name a dozen more fine sorts ; but our list is already long, and we have given such as we knoio to be really distinct and desirable. We intended to give some hints on the propagation and culture of the Fuchsia, but we have already extended this article beyond the allotted bounds, and must defer the remainder till next month. '^' e^ GLOBOSA. ^ ;t3 e' m THE GENESEE FAKMEE. 63 :^ D) DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW TEARS. ICL BY B. DESPOUTEZ, OF ANGERS, FRANCE. Bonne des Zees, (Fig. 1.) — Fmit — large, about four inches long and two inches and three quarters in diameter; pyriform, irregular. Surface — uneven, one side concave and the other convex. Stalk — very large, irregular, larger at the base, about two- thirds of an inch long, insert- ed on the surface. Calyx — small, set on the surface, segments open. Skin — thin. Colo)- — gray, especially to- ward the eye and stem ; greenish yellow in the mid- dle. Flesh— vi\\\ie, very fine, melting, tender, buttery, juicy, and sugary. Ripens end of September and begin- ning of October. This fine pear deserves, by its beauty and excellence, an extensive trial. It was put in the trade by Mr. Dupuy, and was originated fi'om seed at Loches, France. The tree is a vigorous grower, natu- rally pyramidal in habit of growth, and a good bearer. Beurre Derouineau, (Fig. 2.) — Some years ago, Mr. Derouineau, of Angers, having sown some seeds from the Glout Morceau, obtained young trees, one of which came into bearing in 1840. Mr. Derouineau presented the first fruits to the committee of horticul- ture, who gave to it the name of the originator. This fruit is small, as will be seen by the annexed out- line ; obovate or obtuse tur- binate, roundish toward the eye, very broad, narrowing one-third of its height towards the stem, where it terminates in a small basin, in which the stalk is inserted. Stalk — about one-third of an inch long, slender, and upright. Eye — large, broad, closed, stt in a broad, deep, and somewhat folded cavity. Color — deep gray, spotted with russety gray dots everywhere, except around the basin of the eye. Flesh — white, fine, melting, buttery, juice abundant, sugary, and highly perfumed. It is one of the most delicious new pears obtained in a long time. We compare it, for its high flavor, to the American Seckd, which it also resembles in form ; and hence we call it the French Seckel. It ipfters from it on!y in being darker colored and ripening later — about the last of Oct. ^ (& rt3 r ) 64 THE GENESEE FARMER. ( H This kind produces annually an abundant crop. The fruits are borne in clusters of four or five tof^ether. The tree is one of the most vigorous growers in the nursery, of pyra- midal form, nevertheless the branches spread at i-iglit angles with the stem. The wood is a reddish brown, covered with large hght gray dots, short jointed ; buds short and point outward ; the leaf stalks are of a rose color at the base. It is yet but very little known ; but when it becomes more so, it must occupy a place in every well assorted fruit garden. »•■« The Bradsiiaw Plum. — I noticed your description of the Bradahaio plum, in the October number of the Genesee Farmer, with some interest, because it is a particular favorite of mine. Your description is correct as far as it goes, but you failed to notice a peculiar feature in the insertion of the stem on a protuberance resembling a small butlon lying flat on the end of the plum. This feature belongs to nearly all the large speci- mens. I -have trees of this variety which have borne for several years, and the fruit has been uniformly fair and never in the least been affected by cracking or rotting on tlie tree, while that of every other variety in my collection has been more or less attected in that way. I suppose you inadvertently substituted the name of Judge Burroughs in place of mine, and South Bend in place of Plymouth If so, be so good as to correct. Grove Pomeroy. — Plymouth, Ind. We ai'c much obliged to Judge Pomeroy for calling our attention to the error we committed in referring to Judge Burroughs, as well as for the valuable information he gives us from his experience in regard to this excellent plum. «>■ The Bailey Spice Apple. — John W. Bailey, Esq., of Plattsburgh, N. Y., sends us the following note in regard to our notice of his apples. It is possible we are mistaken in regard to the identity of the Bailey Spice and Pomme Royal — another season will satisfy us. In your notice of the apples I sent you, you say that the Bailey Spice is so much like the Pomme Royal or Dyer as to leave little doubt, in your mind, of their identity. The Bailey Spice originated in my orchard ; the tree is more than fifty years old. I am quite confidant that scions of this variety have never been given out except by myself, and that within the last five or six years tmdcr the true name, and I therefore conclude that there is no doubt of its being distinct from every other variety. I have no doubt when you see fair specimens of the Walworth, you will form a higher opinion of it. John W. Bailey. — Plattsburgh, JV. Y. J. R. CoMSTOCK, Esq., of Mabbettsville, Duchess county, Kew York, wi-ites us as follows : The best November pear we have had this year is Epine Dumas* of Mantel city, of New York. Form — long, varying from oval to obtuse pyriform. Color — greenish yellow. Lasts the whole month — has been "best" four years in succession on both pear and quince stocks. Josephine de 3f alines bore this season — is ripe now — would be very fine indeed if not a little too astringent. Winter Nelis is an October pear three years in four. The great and never-failing winter pear here is the Easter Beurre on sucker pear stocks, that fill the ground as full of fibrous roots as the quince. We grow it on a warm gravelly loam, on the south side of a hill, near the base. ♦ JhK de Bordeaux. It proves with us a remarkably prolific and good pear. — Ed. S. W. Cole, Esq., late editor of the New England Farmer, author of " Cole's Fruit Book," died at his residence, near Boston, Mass., on the 3d of January. He was long connected with the agricultural press, and his death will be widely regretted. He was an industrious, observing man. § -T^ ; THE GENESEE FARMER. 65 i^' Work for the Month. — Very little can be done in the garden or orchard during the month of February. Old aiyple trees that have been neglected until the heads are become dense and twiggy, may be thinned out at any time; scions may be cut; poles for peas and beans, and supports for climbing plants, rustic baskets, flower stands, or other ornaments, may be constructed ; manures and composts collected, turned, mixed, and prepared for application ; implements maybe put in order; and various arrange- ments made that 'will facilitate operations in the spring. Those who intend to use hot- beds may be getting them in readiness for the middle of March. The fruit room will demand attention ; and it must be remembered that the conditions most favorable to preservation are dryness, coolness, and uniformity. Warm air should never be admitted among fruits, as it creates moisture by condensation, and this promotes decay. All unsound specimens should be removed at once, and nothing like decaying vegetables, or anything that emits an offensive odor, be for a moment Dcrmitted near the fruits. A National Park. — Our government at Washington has really taken one step towards the formation and improvement of public grounds. 150 acres of land within the city of Washington is to be converted into a magnificent park, embracing four or fiv^e miles of carriage drive, foot walks, ponds, fountains, statues, &c., and a complete collection of the trees indigenous to North America. The plans have been given by A. J. Downing, Esq., and the work is to be executed under his superintendence. It is supposed that three or four years will be required for its completion. The question of a great park in the city of New York is also agitated, but the New Yorkers hardly know what a park means. Philadelphia is also moving in the same direction. The times are brightening. Funis from France. — Mr. Andre Le Roy, of Angers, France, sent to the Massachu- setts Horticultural Society a case of fruits for exhibition, comprising 116 varieties of pears, 30 of apples, 12 of crabs, walnuts, chestnuts, &c. ; and we learn from Ilovey's Magazine, that only about 30 varieties of the pears, and the same number of the apples, arrived in go*l order, owing to detention in England. Mr. Le Roy has, in a recent communication to us, expressed his intention of sending a collection to our next State Fair. So much for steam communication. Europe and America will soon be making exchanofes of fruits on an extensive scale. The Season. — The winter here set in unusually early, and up to this time (Jan. 10) has been marked by extreme severity — a continued succession of hard frosts and heavy falls of rain and snow. On the night of the 2d of January the mercury fell 10 deg. below zero — a degree of cold seldom experienced here. No serious injury is yet done to fruit trees or the wheat crop, and now we have a fine warm coat of snow eighteen inches deep. We trust the close of winter will be more temperate than the beginning. The North American Sylva. — A new edition of this magnificent work of Michaux, on the Forest Tfees of North America, with Nuttal's continuation, has just been issued by Robt. p. Smith, of Philadelphia ; the whole forming six volumes royal octavo, with 278 plates. This will be a real treasure to every man who can afford to place it in his library. Price, S-15 dollars with colored plates; $31 uncolored. THE GENESEE FAEMER, (Englfeji Slgitiilturnl 3}mB. — * — Reaping Machines in England. — "We were not surprised at the success of McCormick's Reaping Machine in England, but we were certainly surprised that it should gain such a decided advantage over Ilussej's as for a time to throw it entirely in the shade. "We were sati3fied cither that Iliibsey's Machine was not in proper order, or was managed by some one ignorant of its use. The latter appears to have been the ca.se, according to the London Farmer's Magazine, from which we quote the following: "A porter from the exhibition, [possibly a cochiej/,] who had never seen wheat in his life, was on the first trial sent to work Hussey's Machine, who did not know how to set it; the consequence was, it loft a high stubble and did not work well. McCormick's had a better fate, and won the ' Great Medal.' IJence he challenged the world, at the Cleveland Agricultural Society, and IIussey or his agents accepted the challenge. Twelve practical farmers were appointed to decide on the merits of each. The day was fixed, and though it was most unpropitious, yet a vast concourse of people assem- bled ; and though it rained .'cats and dogs,' with a strong wind, yet the small, snug, simple, Hussey's Machine cut down its breadth of corn closely, evenly, and well. It was a triumph! Two horses walked gallantly away with the maclune, nor did it seem to distress them, while little effort seemi-d to be necessary to receive the corn from the well arranged platform on which the lancets, for sucli they are, left it after cutting. There were no ugly and ponderous flappers — no array of useless work, l)ut a condensed, simple arrangement of parts necessary to effect its purpose. McCormick's JMachine cume next to the ti-ial ; but itwould not work at all. It operated more like a roller ; it refused to cut the corn ; and the trial was abandoned." The jury, on account of the unfavorable state of the weather, separated without making any award. Another day was fixed, and the machines tried on wheat and barley; when the jury unanimously decided in favor of Hussey's Machine. "By a vote of eleven to one, Hussey's Machine caused the least waste, did the most work, leaves the cut corn in the best order for gathering and binding; and unanimously, that Hussey's is best adapted for ridge and furrow, and at first cost is less price, and least liable to get out of order." American Plows in England. — A ' ihe Storrington Farmers' Monthly Meeting, the subject for dis- cussion was "Agricultural Implements, and Horses." AVe give a few extracts: "Mr. Hardwick said : 'The first and most impoi'tant implement on a farm is the plow. It is made on various principles adapted to the different soils and purposes for which it is required. Hence it is impossible to point to any one particular plow, and say, "This is best,' unless the description of soil and the precise operation it is to perform be at the same time pointed out. ^ " 'The roller is also an implement indispensable to the agriculturist. A wooden one — though in my opinion not so good as an iron one of larger circumference, and in two. parts — is most extensively used, the first cost being small. " 'The drill is an implement extensively used in depositing the various seeds. Many think there is great advantage in drilling over the broadcast system. My own opinion is, that the difference in tlie two systems, if carefully noticed with regard to the weight of the crop, would be found to be very trifling. I am, nevertheless, of opinion that the drill in many cases is a very useful implement.' " Mr. Lear said : ' I will just draw your attention to th.e American plows, which perliaps some of you have seen at the exhibition. That they have been pretty well ridiculed I know ; but that does not detract from their value ; and I am inclined to think they are well adapted for the work they are intended for. The turn-furrow is exceedingly well shaped, and in fact is a business-looking thing altogether.' "Mr. "W. Battcock said if any of them had an inclination to inspect one of these plows, it might be seen at Major Sandhaw's farm, and also some work it had performed. He [Mr. B.] was ]ierfcc11y satisfied of its usefulness on light soils, for preparing the barley or turnep season. It required but one horse to draw it. [Hear,"hear. 'That's the sort we want.'] He was aware this could not be done on heavy, stubborn land; but for the purposes he had mentioned, it appeared to him a very useful implement." From a private correspondent we learn that farmers generally are putting forth all their energies to meet the low price of their products caused by the removal of protective duties. They are grow. ing more green crops and keeping a larger stock, and are thus able to make ends meet The contem- plated alteration in the franchise will strengthen the free trade, manufacturing, liberal party, and so relatively weaken the landed interest. # J^^ e^ ^ THE GENESEE FARMER. Ciiitni-'s Ciililt. Ouu friends who arc laboring to increase our circulation, in all parts of tlie country, are placing iH under great obligation, which we shall endeavor to repay in part by sparing neither money nor labor to make our journal meet their most san- guine expectations. Additions can be made to clubs at any time, at the lowest club price. Those who have forwarded clubs of five can in- crease to eight by forwai'diug $1. The Post Office law does not allow us to send receipts ; and those who receive the paper, unless we write them on the subject, may consider it as such. Answers to Ixquieies. — We endeavor to answer inquiries so as to be understood by all. To do this we have to occupy considerable space. Those who have made inquiries and received no answers, must exercise patience, as all shall receive atten- tion soon. During the winter season farmers have leisure to write, and we are pleased that they em- brace the opportunity. We often, at this season, receive enough matter in a day to fill a number of our journal. All shall have a hearing in due time. Ladies' Department. — Although we have given no pages under this heading, Mr. Barry has occu- pied the room with descriptions of flowers, <5rc., that we know will be acceptable to our female readers. All who have applied for seed shall be furnished in season for spring planting. We in- tend to commence descriptions of the best annuals, in our next. t PouLTET Profits. — Edw. Dnnncic, of Plea'^ant Mount, Pa., gives liis poultry account, for the past year, as follows: Kept fifteen hens and one cock, fi-om which we received IflO dozen eggs, at 13 cents, $13 00 9T cliicKen.< at IS cents, 11 70 — 24 TO Costoffeed, 10 00 Profit, $14 TO Large Hog. — ^D. Edwards, of Little Genesee, N. Y., writes, Nov. 11: "We yesterday killed a hog twenty-seven months old, connected with the Leicester family, that weighed 800 lbs. He has had none but common keeping until this summer. We have given him his feed in a sour state, and fed but three times a day." We suppose our western friends can beat this, -but as we don't pretend to compete with them in the pork line, they must let ua boast a little *i V among ourselves. Planting Potatoes in the Fall. — C. D. Hart, of McLean, N. Y., suggests the idea of planting potatoes in the fall. He states that 0. Wing, of Cortland county, has pursued this course, and the yield is much better than with those planted in the spring. Trying Lard. — "A Farmer's Wife," of Mount Morris, K Y., wishes us to state, for the benefit of other farmers' wives, that a table-spoonful of salaii-atus to a pailful of lard, put in soon after it begins to heat, much improves the quality, rendering it a pure white. A little more atten- tion than usual is necessary to prevent its burning. Inquiries a\\if 'jinswtrs. Coal Ashes and Saw-dust as Manure. — A gen- tleman of Henry county, Ky., wishes to know the value of saw-dust as manure, and the best means of hastening its decomposition ; and E. Appleton, of Pittiburgh, and others, inquire ao to the value of coal ashes. Saw-dust contains from four to ten pounds of nitrogen per ton. Tliis would indicate that its manuring value was a little higher than wheat straw, but it is much more difficult to decompose and render fit for assimilation by the plant. If plowed in in its natural state, it would do good, but not to that extent the above account of its composition would lead us to think, owing to its insolubility and difficulty of decomposition. A pound of nitrogen can not be bought in guano or sulphate of ammonia for less than twelve cents per pound; so that saw-dust, compared with these manures, would be worth on an average eighty- four cents per ton. We think it could be profit- ably used as an absorbent of liquid manure, by being placed at the bottom of the barn-yard, or in some place where this liquid runs; it would thus imbibe the water, and a decomposition would take place, and at the end of a year or so you would have a most valuable manure, inasmuch as this liquid which in so many instances is allowed to run away and be lost, is by far the most valuable portion of the manure, containing all of the alka- line phosphates and a greater part of the ammonia; these would unite with the saw-dust and not only be exceedingly valuable themselves, but convert the saw-dust itself into a good manure. We hope our friend will try one or both of these plans, and give us the results. Chemistry, to be of much g?;: (Si rd w THE GENESKE FARMER. fj^ value to agriculture, must have the aid of the practical farmer, who c^in carry out the indica- tious of science aud disprove or establish them by- practice. Coal ashes in England are quite plentiful, coal constituting the whole of their fuel. They are mostly preserved with care and used with guano and sulphate of lime, serving to increase the bulk and enabling the drill to distribute these concen- trated manures evenly over the soil. They are also used as a maniire for meadow grass and clover with beneficial effect. Tliey are also very useful to mix with nightsoil, absorbing the fluids and rendering its removal and application to the soil less difficult and disagreeable. On the whole, we are inclined to tliink their value is to bo attribu- ted to their mechanical effects on the soil, render- ing it more porous and absorbent, rather than to any chemical ingredients tliey may contain. It is often used by market-gardeners in forming beds for early seeds, and is particularly commended as a manure for radishes. ♦ Method of Curing Hams. — In answer to inqui- ries on this subject, we give the awards of the Maryland State Agricultural Society, at its last exhibition. The method of curing is wisely given in each case. The hams of Virginia aud Maryland have long been celebrated. T. E. Hamilton's Recite. — First Premium. — ^To every 100 lb", pork take 8 lbs. of G. A. salt, 2 oz. saltpetre, 2 lbs. brown sugar, 1^ oz. of potash, and four gallons of water. Mix the above, aud pour tlie brine over the meat, after it has lain in the tub for some two days. Let the hams remain six weeks in brine, and tlien dried several days before Bmokiug. I have generally had the meat rubbed with fine salt when it is packed down. Tlie meat should be perfectly cool before packing. J. Green's Recipe. — Second Premium. — ^To 1,000 lbs. of pork, take half a bushel and half a peck of salt, 3 lbs. saltpetre, 3 lbs. sugar, and two quarts of molasses. Mix — rub the bacon with it well; keep on for three weeks in all ; at the end of nine days take out the hams, and put those wliich are at the top at the bottom. R. Brooks, Jr's Recipe. — Third Premium. — One busliel of fine salt, half bushel ground alum salt, one and a half pound to a thousand pounds of pork, left to lie in pickle four weeks, hung up and smoked with hickory wood until the rind becomes a dark brown. C. D. Slingluff's Recite. — Fourth Premium. — To 100 lbs. green hams, take 8 lbs. G. A. salt, 2 lbs. brown sugar or molasses equivalent, 2 oz. pearl ashes, 4 gallons water; dissolve well, skim- ming off the scum arising on the surface. Pack tlie liams compactly in a tiglit vessel or cask, rub- bing the fleshy part with fine salt. In a day or two pour the above pickle over the meat, taking care to keep it covered with pickle. In four to six weeks, according to the size and weight of the hams, (that is to say the longer period for heavy hams) hang up to smoke, hock up, smoking with green hickory wood. I have put up hams for the last 12 or 15 years by the above recipe with uni- form success, equal at all times to the sample now presented. Rat-Proof Granary. — Yellow Bug. — ^Tlie best rat-proof granary Avithin my observation is set on posts smoothly turned, and sheathed with tin about a foot in width from the upper end. The posts stand three feet out of tlie ground, and the steps are liung on hinges or pivots, to be raised and turned in wlien the granary is closed. Ko rat ever dined in that crib. as£iJ"'==^ kat-puoof granary. Tlie lower floor is used for corn, (both sides being neatly slatted,) aud the second (reached from the first by stairs swung on pivots as before) for the smaller grains. Altliough out of season, it may prove of advan- tage to some of your subscribers another year to know how to prevent the ravages of the "yellow or striped bug." Tansy failed entirely, so far as my experience was concerned. Hen manure dis- solved in water and sprinkled on the vines, succeeded tolerably well, but required constant watching and repetition. But the best method for a limited number of plants, as I think, is to set over the hill as soon as they appear, open boxes eighteen inches square and six to eight inches deep, gathering the earth about the bottom to prevent their crawling under. In the same garden, during the last summer, those vines which were protected by tansy were covered with bugs, while those inclosed in boxes, only a few feet dis- tant, escaped unharmed. A dozen or two of such boxes can be made in a few hours on some win- ter's day, out of old fence boards, if need be, and had in readiness for the summer's use. Rat-Proof Granary. — I noticed In one of your numbers an inqxiiry for a rat-proof granary. In answer to that, I will only give the form of mine, which so far has had the desired effect. I make it as tight all round as convenient with common lumber, except a place in the center, overhead, for the rats to go in if they would ; but seeing no way to get back, they do not like to jump tlirough the hole. This I think prevents them from gnaw- ing at any other place. The hole must be in (he ceiling, imder the joist, and a floor over it, so the rats can have free access to the hole. P. S. — Hol-^ lin, Mich. §] ■■^■4 Ga9 Lime. — In your January number is an in- quiry as to the value of gas lune in the destruction of the larv:c of the May bug, KE, Plattsburgli, Secretary. Z. C. PLATT, do. Treasurer. I. C. MIX, Fort Ann, General Agent. October 13, 1851. This company is now organized and reaf Life, Fire, and Marine In.surance, are proper and expedient; so is Live Stock Insurance : as they all rest on the same foundation — that of mutual help and assistance. Your aid is respectfully solicited in behalf of the Com])a- ny, the first chartered in this State for this object. The Di- rectors intend it shall be prudently conducted, and one which shall deserve the contiiienee of the public. Our Capital is fify thousand dollars; and when estimated in view of the liabilities we seek to assume, will be found as large or larger, in proportion, than the usual capital of Fire, Life, and Marine Insurance Companies; those Companies often taking single risks of from three to five thousand dol- lars, while m our case no single risk will exceed four hun- dred dollars. Terms of Insurance will be furnished by Agents of the Company. Ne^v Yorlt Agricultural AVaieliouse. A. B. ALLEN & CO., 189 & 191 Water Street, New York. PLOWS of a great variety of patterns and different sizes' calculated for sward and stubble land, wet meadows and recently drained swamps, where roots abound. Among these ))lows, also, are the deep-brcal, New York. Yoric County Farm for Sale. AWY gentleman wishing to remove South, can bo accom- modated with a good Farm of 250 acres, about 70 acres open, level, abundance of marl, orchard and small dwel- ling, very healthy, and good water. The residue is well set in Pine, Oak, and Chestnut, and one mile from a bold creek. Any gentleman wishing to p;\rchase, will commu- nicate with the subscriber. EDWARD R. COKE, Feb. 1S52.— 2-2t* Burnt Ordinary, James City Co., Va. AVanta a Situation, A GERMAN GARDENER, who has been several years in this country, and is well acquainted with the difflrent branches of his profession. Would prefer a place where there is some glass. He is a young married man with a small family, and can be well recommended. Address, post-paid. Ciiaeles Meesio, care of Dr. Spence, SUirkey, Yates co.. N. Y. Feb., 1852.— 2-lt* Prices of Agj-lcultural Products at tUe Principal Marlscts In tlie United States. — Jan'y 15, 1833. Bcof, per 100 lbs do mess, per bbl . . Pork, per lUO lbs do mess, per bbl. Lard, per lb Butter, do Cheese, do yioiir, per bbl Wheat, per bush Corn, shelled, per bu. Kve, do Oats, do Barley, do Clover seed, do Timothy seed, do Flax seed, do Hay, per ton "Wool, per lb Wood, hard, per eord New York. ^i') a 5.T5 6.25 11.00 14.ST>^ 15.00 $7.00 11.00 9 14 4.S1 1.09 07 77 40 77 9 23 5.2.5 68 78 45 80 S}^a9 pr. lb. 1.37^ 16.00 40 1.35 15.00 30 Boston. a 8.00 12.50 15.75 ■ 16.00 9}^ 11 16 20 r 8. 4.50 6.00 63 68 75 77 40 45 95 1.00 9 a 12 per lb l.GO 14.00 6.50 1.65 15.00 7.00 ^3.50 11.00 5.00 15.00 7 12 4.00 67X 60 69 67 4..50 1.50 1.25 s.oo 80 4.00 a 4.25 11.50 5.50 15.50 9 16 6 4.50 90 53 70 31 70 5.00 2.50 1.50 11.00 40 4.50 Chicago. i4.00 a 4.50 8.00 3.75 4.00 10.00 10.50 5 3.00 50 28 17 10 7 4.00 05 30 19 12;^ per lb. 2.25 75 SO 3.00 40 5.00 Cincinnati. $12.50 8 G)4 3.05 57 25 50 4.50 1.50 1.00 11.00 26 11 7 S.3o 60 30 55 23 60 4.75 2.50 13.50 35 rittsburgh. $0.1.5 a 3.00 GO 16 GM U2X 40 81 46 5.25 CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Agricultur.al Chemistry, 41 The Limited Duration of Varieties of Plants, 44 Culture of Flax, 45 Experience in Potato Culture, 46 " RunU Homes"— A Suburban Cottage, 47 Plan of a Farm-House, 50 Butter Making 51 Value of Barn-Yard Maniu-e, 52 lless Barley, 52 G rowing Flax with Barley, 52 SiiEF.p Husbandry — Vermont and the West, 53 Breeds of Sheep, and their Comparative Value, 54 English AoracuLTURAL News — Eeaping Machines in England ; American Plows in England, 60 Editoks' Table — Poultry Profits; Large Hog; Plant- ing Potatoes in the Fall ; Trying Lard ; Inquiries and Answers ; Notices ; &c., 67 nOr.TICULTUBAL DEPAKTMENT. The Fuchsia, 5S Descriptions of new Pears, ' 63 The Bradshaw Plum 64 The Bsilev Spice Apple W Work for "the Month; A National Park; Fruits from France; The Season; The North American Sylva,. 65 ILLUSTEATIONS. Suburban Cottage, 47 Ground Plan of Suburban Cottage, 43 Chamber Plan of Suburban Cottage, 49 Rustic Flower Stand 50 Plan of a Farm-House, 60 Hess Barley, 62 Fibre of Merino Wool, 54 Fibre of South Down Wool, 54 Fibre of Leicester Wool, 54 Merino Sheep, 56 South Down Sheep, 57 Leicester Sheep, 57 Fuchsia, Pearl of England, 59 do. Magnificent, 60 do. Serratifolia, 61 do. Globosa, 62 Pear, Bonne des Zees, 63 do. Beurre Derouineau, 63 Eat-proof Granary, G8 Farm for Sale. THE subscriber ofTers for sale her farm, situated in the county of Onondaga, one mile west of the village of Jordan, on the Erie canal, and adjoining the Syracuse and Poches- ter Railroad. Said farm consists of one hundred acres, and is well adapted for grazing. There is about ten acres of muck, on which carrots, beets. &c., grow to an enormous size. Also, on the farm, and in immediate vicinity, are large deposits of marl. Eight acres wood land. Good dwelling hou.se, barn, and fruit For further particulars, inquire of Z. P. Mason, Jordan, Onondaga Co., N. Y. TKIPHENA AUSTIN. Feb., 1852.-2-11* Wanted, A FARM containing about 50 acres clear new land— some limestone bottom preferred — with about 40 acres maple or oak. Also a good house and out-buildings. Must be in a good farming district and convenient to churclies and schools. Would be preferred on the New York or New Jersey shores, with good facilities for carriage to market by railroad or steamboat Address letters, post-paid, to Rice Lawlo?j, care of Joim Spring, 16 East street, Boston, Mass., to which immediate attention will be paid ; also stating description of place and price. Farm for Sale. THE stibscriber will sell his farm, containing 234 acres, pleasantly situated on a main ro■^d, 2)4 miles west from the village of Attica, through which place the Buffalo and Rochester, and Buffalo and'Nev/ York City Railroads pa.ss. Said farm is well adapted to a dairy or stock. House ii6 by 46, well finished and nearly new! Good barns .ind out- houses. Two large orchards with plenty of grafted fruit I will sell for $25 per acre ; payments made easy. Ill health induces me to sell. L. PECK. Attica, Wyoming co., N. Y., Feb., 1852.-2-11* Prouty &, Mcars' Center Drauglit Ploivs. A LARGE assortment can be found at the State Agricul- tural Warehouse, No. 25 Cliff street, Nev.' York. Feb., 1S52.— 2-lt A. LONGETT. The Practical and Scientific Fanners ov:n Paper. THE GENESEK FAIIMER, A MONTHLY JOURNAL OP AGRICULTURE A^^D HORTICULTURE, ILLUSTRATED WITII NUMEROUS ENGR.^TINGS OF Farm Buildings, Domestic Animals, Implements, &o. VOLUME XIII, FOR 1852. DANIEL LEE &, JAMES VICK, Jn., Editors. P. BARRY, Conductor of Horticultural Department Fifty Cents a Year, In Atlvance. Five Copies for $2 — Eight Copies for $3, and any larger number at the same rate. |^~ All subscriptions to commence with the year, and the entire volume supplied to all subscribers. Subscription money, if projicrly enclosed, may be sent (post-paid or free) at ihe risk of the Publisher. Addrcsa to DANIEI.. LEE, December, 1851. Jiochest^ir, A''. Y. Postage on ims. Genesee Farmer. — 50 miles or under, Ave cents per year; exceeding .50 miles and not over 300, ten cents; exceeding 300 and not over 1000, fifteen cents; exceeding 1000 and not over 2000, twenty cents; exceeding 2000 and not over 40(10, twenty-five cents; for any distance exceeding 4000, thirty cents. BTEKEOTTPED BY. J. W. BROWN, EOCUESTKR, H. T. Vol. XIII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1852. No. HI. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. NUMBER III. Specific Gravity of Soils. — Cohesion. — Tlie specific gravity of soils is ascertained by finding how much water a given weight of dry soil displaces. To dry a soil where one has no apparatus designed expressly for the purpose, it may be spread to the amount of four hundred grains on a quarter of a sheet of white foolscap writing paper, which may be placed on another piece of white paper laid on a heated stove. This should bo as hot as it can be and not char or burn the paper. The soil should be stirred with a glass or steel rod, or with the blade of a clean knife, to hasten the drying. A paper with soil upon it may be put upon an earthen plate and set in a common cooking stove hot enough nearly to bake bread, where it will, if properly spread out on the paper, dry in thirty minutes. Any heat that does not burn the paper will not consume nor char the mold, or organic matter in the soil. Of this dried soil, weigh out say 357 grains, Avhich may be put into a specific gravity bottle which will hold 1000 grains. (One of a difterent weight will answer, if the weight be known.) A bottle holding 1000 grains of water ought, when 35*7 grains of dry soil are added, to weigh 135 V grains, provided none of the water was displaced by the earth. But it is obvious that so much space in the bottle as the solid matter introduced really filled, the water must leave as the soil was added. Again ; if the soil weighed precisely the same per cubic inch as the water, then it is clear that if the bottle were half filled with water and half with earth, the two together would still weigh 1000 grains, or the same that the water alone did; but the result of the experiment may show that the addition of 357 grains increases the weight of the contents of the bottle from 1000 to 1285 grains. Now, as the whole of the water and soil weigh 1357 grains, it is plain that if we subtract 1285 from 1357, the diflference is 72 grains, which is the exact weight of the water displaced, and the exact volume of the soil weighing in the air 35.7 grains — water being the standard. As 72 is to 357, or as the weight of the water is to that of the solid of equal volume, so is 1000 to 4958. In this case the soil or other mineral is 4 and nearly 96-100 times the specific gravity of water. This is heavier than any soil, but not so heavy as iron filings. The specific gravity of solid bodies of considerable size can not be determined in the manner above described ; but it may be the circumstance that water partly supports solids immersed in it, which support is greater or smaller as the body is lighter or heavier compared with its volume. A solid, in order to sink in a liquid, has to displace and push upward a quantity of it equal to its own bulk, and to resist the weight of the Hquid, or its tendency to sink down again. To illustrate the principle of the phenome- non under consideration, let us suppose one has a gold coin which, weighed in the air, d --/S^- ^ 74 THE GENESEE FAKMEK. gives the right result as to the quantity of metal present ; but there is a well grounded suspicion that the coin contains too much copper or silver. In what way, short of a chemical analysis, can the fact be ascertained ? If the coin contains a lighter metal than gold, (and copper and silver are lighter,) to give the proper weight in the atmosphere it must be as much larger in bulk as there is an excess of silver or copper. Hence, if the coin be suspended in water by a fine silk thread attached to the bottom of the pan connected with one end of the balance, and weights be placed on the opposite pan or scale, less weights will be required to support the coin the larger its volume as compared with its weight in the atmosphere — the support of the water lifting it upward equal to the water displaced. By weighing a coin in the air and again in pure water, if it give the right weight in both instances, it can hardly fail of being genuine. Platinum being a heavier metal than gold, formerly when gold was comparatively dearer than it now is, alloys of gold, cojDper, and platinum are said to have been formed so near the right specific gravity, that nothing short of an analysis would expose the fraud. Since plati- num has risen in price by its extensive use in tipping the ends of telegraph wires, and gold has become unusually abundant, any fraud of this kind would yield no profit if undetected. All weighing, whether performed by the chemist or the farmer, have for their object to measure the force of gravity of the body weighed. A variety of experiments may easily be tried to illustrate the influence of the surrounding medium on the gravity of bodies, whether in air, water, or quicksilver. Cohesion is a term used to designate that force which keeps the molecules of matter together. It is usually called " the cohesion of aggregation ;" or " attractive aggrega- tion." If there was no force antagonist to this, the whole imiverse would be one solid, immovable mass of matter. The force oi repulsion, however, so strikingly shown in the air that surrounds the globe, serves to prevent such an aggregation of molecules. In splitting logs for rails and staves, and rocks for building purposes, the farmer has occa- sion to overcome the cohesive force of both organized and mineral matter. Cohesion is strongly developed in beating gold into leaves of extreme tenuity. A single grain will readily cover 1400 square inches; and with a microscope the gold on the millionth of a square inch is distinctly visible ; so that without parting with its cohesive attraction, gold may be divided into particles of at least 1-1,400,000,000 of a square inch in size, and retain the color and other properties of the largest mass. This force of molecular cohesion acts only at a distance so minute as to escape the most delicate examination. The fragments of a piece of glass or metal just broken, when laid ever so closely together, have no tendency to unite again ; but if the surfaces be pressed together, union may take place, though only in a few points, and imperfectly. Yet when the surfaces of plate glass laid flat on each other, and subjected to consider- able pressure, are allowed to remain for some time, they are found to grow together so completely, that thick masses may be ground as if they had always formed a single piece. Surfaces of lead may be cut so smoothly that, when pressed together, the cohe- sive force is brought into play with considerable power. The viscidity of fluids is thought to arise from the same natural law, as is also the globular form of a drop of rain. When a drop of water spreads over a large surface of wood or other solid, the cohesive force between the particles of water and the solid is stronger than that between the particles of water for each other. In the wetting of dry soils, this difi'usion of water by the molecular attraction of liquids and solids is strikingly exemplified. Clairaut found, as the result of his mathematical investigations, that all the phe- nomena of capillary tubes depend on the relation of two forces : 1st, The cohesion of the particles of the fluid for each other. 2d, The attraction of the solid for those of the fluid. When a glass tube is dipped into different liquids, if the force of the attraction of the ghiss is less than half the force of cohesion of the fluid, the fluid will be depressed ^ m 3 m THE GENESEE FARMER. T5 in the tube, and not rise to its liydrostatic or proper level. If tlie attraction of the par- ticles of water for each other and for the glass be equal, the fluid will come precisely to its level ; and if the attraction between the water and the glass be greater than between atoms of water, the water will rise steadily in the tube. This explains the law oi cajnl- lary attraction and circulation. A body, when acted on by an extraneous force, if brought into a smaller space, it is said to be compressible ; if, when the pressure is removed, the body regains its original volume by the mutual repulsion of its own particles, it is said to be elastic ; if, on the contrary, it remains compressed, it is called inelastic. In nature there are but few bodies perfectly elastic, and none which are perfectly inelastic. When the pressure is removed from the so-called inelastic solids, if they have been compressed, a slight expansion occurs ; while in gases and liquids the return to the original volume is complete. Solids and liquids are so slightly compressible, that delicate tests are necessary to determine it. A pressure of 400 lbs. upon a square inch of water diminishes it the 1-1000 part. The compressibility and elasticity of gases are nearly perfect and uniform. Thus, air which under a weight of 20 lbs. occupies 100 cubic inches, is reduced in volume to 25 inches by increasing the pressure to 80 lbs. ; and it expands to 400 cubic inches if the weight be reduced to 5 lbs. Barometers indicate variations in the weight of the atmosphere, caused, doubtless, partly by the rotation of the earth on its axis and by its course round the sun ; and partly by clouds, winds, mountains, vapors, oceans, continents, &c. The essential difterance between a barometer and a thermometer is, that the former has a column of mercury wdiich is exposed to the air at its base, having, like a thermometer, a vacuum above the mercury. Hence, the least variation in the pressure of the air on the mercury in the little cup, causes it to rise or fall in the tube. In a thermometer, the mercury is hermetically sealed in the glass, and rises or falls as heat expands or cold contracts the liquid metal. In some cases gases are brought within the cohesive forces of their particles, which modify their compressibility. Thus, if a tube full of air and a tube full of sulphurous acid gas be subjected to exactly the same pressure, the volumes will not diminish in the same degree when the pressure becomes high, but as follows : The air as ICfiO a^? K9 814 Sulphurous acid aa 1000 851 554 801 In some other gases the same variation has been observed. (Kane.) Some gases have been liquified by great pressure, and frozen by their sudden expan- sion when the pressure was taken off by gi^^ng vent. Other gases, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, have been subjected to a pressure of 800 atmospheres, equal to 12000 lbs. to the square inch, without causing any change in their natural elasticity, or other properties. Heat may be regarded as an antagonist power to that of cohesion, and tends to render the molecules of a body repulsive to each other, and to separate them to greater dis- tances than they had been before. "V^Tien a solid, like salt or sugar, is dissoh^ed in water, the phenomenon is explained by saying that the particles in the solid have a greater affinity for water than for each other. Hence, their previous cohesion is destroyed ; they separate in the mass of liquid, which constitutes their solution, or the disappear- ance of the solid. Substances are soluble or insoluble, according as the force of solid or liquid cohesion, or attraction, prevails among their several atoms. Bodies insoluble in water, like resins, dissolve in other fluids, such as alcohol, ether, and Seneca oil. Gt^ • — — — — r-;c) m 76 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. CULTURE OF TOBACCO. We are receiving many inquiries respecting the feasibility of raising tobacco in tlie nortliorn and western States, and tbe best mode of culture adapted to this climate ; and though we do not wish to see tobacco raised here as a common crop, feeling assured that it can not be adopted, except on farms contiguous to cities where a large supply of manure can easily be obtained, without ultimately materially injuring the soil ; yet we will give the mode of treatment practiced by some who have successfully cultivated it here for a few years past. A dry, sandy loain produces the best quality/ of tobacco ; and it is quality and early maturity rather than quantity that should be the aim of the grower. The seed is first sown in beds, and the plants when about five inches high transplanted out into the field prepared for them. In the southern States, the seed beds are slightly charred or burnt previous to sowing, so as to destroy all the weeds. The beds should be in as warm a situation as possible. If manured with barn-yard manure, care should be taken to have it free from weeds, &c. ; and we should prefer to use Peruvian guano or superphosphate of lime sown on the top of the bed or applied as a liquid manure. A table-spoonful of seed will sow a bed ten yards long and ten yards wide. It should be sown as early as the weather will permit. The plants make their appearance in about twenty days, and in six weeks after sowing they are ready to transplant into the field. The soil should be pulverized to a good depth, and marked off in rows about thirty inches each way, and then the first showery weather the plants should be transplanted ; and if any of them die, their places should be immediately filled up. We would suggest, for trial, the application of a tea-spoonful of superphosphate of lime placed below the plant when transplanted. From the magical effect of this manure on turneps, forcing them along during the first stages of their growth, and favoring early maturity, we think it will be a valuable manure for tobacco ; the aim of the planter being not to raise a large gross crop, but a small one perfectly elaborated^ containing a low percentage of ash. For this we believe superphosphate of lime will be found eminently useful. The after treatment of tobacco is similar to that_ for the corn crop, the cultivator or horse-plow being kept continually at work as long as a weed is to be seen. The weeds close to the plant should be at first pulled by hand, and afterwards the hoe should be freely used. It is recommended to turn turkeys or other poultry into the field, to destroy insects and worms which sometimes utterly destroy the crop. When the plant begins to put forth seed heads, which it will indicate by having two leaves of the same length, it should be topped either by hand or with a sharp knife. Shortly after topping it will begin to send out suckers, which must be constantly removed, as they take away much nutriment which is required by the leaves. The time of harvesting will depend on the culture, soil, and climate. In this A-icinity it is ready about the middle of September. It should be allowed to get fully ripe — the the riper the better, though there is great risk in letting it remain out too long, as any early frost may completely spoil it, or heavy rains do it much injury. It may be cut with a sharp knife, such as is used for cutting corn ; the head of the plant laid towards the sun for a few hours, and then carried to the drying house. If the farmer does not grow more than an acre or so, he will probably find room in the barn or some shed, in which to dry the tobacco. This he will best do by getting long poles, and placing them about a foot apart across the building, and to these hanging the tobacco plant by simply fastening the twine at one end of the pole and winding it around the whole length, thus binding the plants to the poles by the butt ends. The plants should not touch each other, and a free circulation of air must be allowed in the room. If a large quantity of tobacco is grown, and the farmer intends making a business of it, it will be necessary to build a drying shed or room on purpose. The more airy this is Ol V THE GENESEE FARMER. built the better, providing the rain is kept out. The size will of course depend on the number of acres cultivated ; but it is better to have too much than too little room, as there is great danger of spoiling the crop if placed too thick in the drying room. When sufficiently dry the plants are taken down and the leaves stript off, laid in heaps about four feet high to stveat for a few days ; they are then tied in bundles with a moist leaf, placed in boxes, and sent to market. Tobacco grown in Western New York, and treated in this way, is worth in New York about eight cents per pound. 1500 lbs. per acre is an average crop here. We have said before it is an exhausting crop, and we should be sorry to see its cultivation extensively adopted by our farmers in the wheat growing districts. In several of the Western States this crop can be profitably cultivated, as the soil and climate is well adapted to its growth, and the cost of transportation on the money value is comparatively nothing to what it is on wheat and Indian corn ; or, to make our meaning plain, it costs no more to transport 60 lbs. of tobacco than it does a bushel of corn, though one is worth |48 and the other 48 cents. The same reasoning applies to wool and pork, and everything of a high price, per weight or bulk. AMOUNT OF WATER GIVEN OFF BY PLANTS DUFJNG THEIR GROWTH. ]\Ir. Lawes has recently published the result of some experimental investigations of the source and fixation of the various constituents of plants, from which we make a few selections, especially in reference to the amount of water given off during their growth. The plants taken for experiment were wheat, barley, beans, peas, and clover. The soil used was from a plot on which ten grain crops had been successively grown without having any manure supplied. There were three plants taken of each kind. One set of plants were without any manure ; one set with mineral manures added ; and one set with mineral manures and muriate of ammonia added. But we must confine our atten- tion at this time to the unmanured ones. Glass jars 14 inches in depth and 9 inches in diameter, capable of holding 42 lbs of soil, were the vessels used. After the vessels were filled, plates of glass having a hole in the center about three-fourths of an inch in diam- eter in which to place the j^lant, and another near the side by which to supply the water when it was needed, the latter one being kept tightly corked except while the water was being applied, were cemented on the top of the jars, so as to prevent evaporation from the surface. The scales employed for weighing the plants were constructed on purpose for these experiments, and were calculated to turn with a third of a grain Avhen loaded with from half a hundredweight to a hundredweight in each pan. Between the time of planting and the full growth of the plants more than twenty weighings were taken ; and weighed quantities of water were supplied whenever required. The amount of water in the soil at the time of planting was determined by analysis. The jars were placed on a truck, so that they could be easily drawn into a green-house in case of a shower. The annexed cut will give an idea of the arrangement of the experiment. The empty jar is for the pur- pose of ascertaining the amount of evaporation through the center hole. The following table shows the amount of water supplied, derived from the soil, and given oflf by the e m TS THE GENESEE FAKMEE. plants, during the entire period of tlieir growth — 1Y2 days — from March 19 to Sep- tember 7. Quantities given in grains, (7000 grains make one pound.) Description of Plant Total "Water Bupplied. Wheat, Barley, Beans, Peas, Clover, (cut June 2Sth,) 79,800 88,800 87,800 81,800 28,600 Total Water obtained from Soil. Total Water given off 33,727 31,225 24,431 27.2-^2 26,693 113,527 120,1125 112.231 l(i9,fiS2 56,093 As has been stated, the jars were often weighed, so that the amoimt of water given off by the plants during the different periods of their growth could be ascertained. The following table gives the average daily loss of water (in grains) during stated periods of the experiment : 9 Days. 31 Days. 27 Days. 34 Days. 80 Days. 14 Days. [27 Days. Description of Plant, From Mar. 19 to Mar. 28. From Mar. 2S to Apr. 28. From April 28 lo May 25. From May 25 to June 28. From June 2S to July 28. From July 28 to Aug. 11. From Aug. 11 to Sept. 7. 14.3 14.3 9.7 11.2 44.4 41 1. 9 60.2 59. S 42.9 53.0 102.4 445.5 179.5 106.4 109.2 1177.4 11(12.3 885.6 1079.8 1473.5 1535.3 1512.0 1965.0 2092.7 1101.4 1217.6 901.8 S77.2 2.30.9 237.5 135.4 Peas Clover As might have been anticipated, as the season advanced in temperature, and the mass and surface of the plants increased, the quantity of water daily given off was greater ; yet towards the end of the experiment it rapidly and considerably diminished ; and it is probable that the period of the most rapid circulation, as shown by the amount of water exhaled, was that of the greatest accumulation of materials in the plant ; and that when the evaporation and apparent circulation diminished, the ripening and elabo- rating processes had commenced. The clover plant was cut when in full bloom, July 28 ; the pea, August 11 ; the other plants, September 7th. The following table will give the total weight of dry matter, organic matter, and mineral matter or ash, in the plants. Quantities given in grains, &c. Total Dry Matter. Organic Matter. MincJ-al Matter or Ash. Description of Plant In grain. In straw and chaff. In total produce. In grain. In 8tr.aw and chaff. In total produce. In grain. In straw and chaff. In total produce. Wheat, 148.5 188.7 282.6 214.7 310.4 276.8 254.9 206.3 458.9 465.5 537.5 421.0 204.7 144.3 182.5 273.6 208.0 278.2 237.1 214.9 169.9 422.4 419.6 488.5 377.9 175.5 4.22 6.20 9.02 6.76 32.27 S9.72 40.00 36.40 36.49 45.92 49.02 43.16 Clover, J9.24 fs The above table is of little independent interest. It shows that though the soil, pre- vious to the commencement of the experiment, had been particularly exhausted of nitro- gen by the growth and removal of ten grain crops without manure ; yet with no manure of any kind supplied to the plants in the jars, the grains of the beans and peas, though highly nitrogenous, thrived better than those of wheat and barley. From this it may be inferred that the leguminous plants can and do obtain their large amount of nitrogen from the atmosphere, but that the cereals wheat, barley, on a weak tilly subsoil, are not suited to its growth. '■RoTATiox. — Flax will succeed best after Clover sod, or Oat stubble properly prepared on good 'hmd ; and after a white crop following a green crop, or after potatoes or bare fallow (>n inferior land. "PaEPARATioN OF SoiL. — Deep plowing in early autumn by one plow following another in the s.ame furrow, is necessary to the success of tlie crop under all circumstances, (except when the land has been previously subsoiled), to break the crust or pan formed below the surface soil, so as to allow tlie roots of the Flax and the surface water to go freely down ; a second furrow will in some cases be necessary in Spring before sawing, but generally running through the soil with the cultivator will be found preferable. Diy lands should be laid into flats, but cold ground ought to be plowed into twelve feet ridges, very slightly raised in the centre ; tlie manure should then be applied, the land well harowed and rolled, the seed sown on the rolled surface and harrowed in with light sfred harrows, taking care to keep the hoi-ses as much off the ridges as possible on cold land. It is very desirable that the ground selected for flax should be perfectly clean to begin with. "Manure. — ^Superphosphate of lime, at the rate of four bushels per acre, has proved to be the most suitable manure for the flax crop. Guano raises a soft inferior fibre and injures the crop ; and farm- yard manure is not approved of. The crop is found to derive most of its nourishment from the atmosphere and the sulwoil. "Seed. — ^The best seed is Riga, or the produce of this country, grown from Riga seed the previous year. Great care is necessary in the selection of the seed, so as to get it plump and heavy, and clear of the seeds of weeds. The seed should be sown at the rate of three imjjerial bushels oh good land, and 2| imperial bushels per acre on inferior land, as soon after the 20th March as the land can be got into proper order, and the weather will permit, but not later than the 20th April. Great care should be taken that the seed is distributed evenly over the surface. It is not desirable to sow grass with the flax crop, as it usually injures the fibre of tlie flax unless sown after the crop has been weeded. A crop of rape may be taken after flax with great advantage on good land, the same year, and the ground sown down with grass seed if desirable. "Weeding. — If clean land has l>een selected for the crop, and plowed early in the autumn and exposed to tlie winter frosts, few weeds will generally appear, if the seed used be thoroughly cleaned; but if there be anj^ they must be carefully pulled. This operation is best done by boys and girls properly superintended. It is necessary that they should always work facing the wind. "Pulling. — Tlie crop is ready for pulling when the seed in the boles is beginning to change from a green to a pale brown color, and the stalk becomes yellow for about two-thirds of its height from the ground; this is rather a nice i>f)int to determine and requires attention, as pulling too soon or allowing the crop to get too ripe are both injurious to the fibre. In pulling, it is necessary to clean tlie flax from all weeds (if any) to pull it when perfectly dry, to keep the root ends even, and tie it tip in small sheaves to be stocked up and stacked when perfectly dry and thorougldy winned, which will be in the course of eight or ten days after pulling." Some have thought the fiax crop an exhausting one, but it is not considered so either by formers who have cultivated it or by agricultural chemists. Dr. Anderson, chemist to the Highland Agricultural Society, states, it is scarcely po.ssible that the flax crop should produce greater exhaustion than a grain crop, certainly not greater than wheat ; if a portion of linseed or oil-cake is consumed on the farm, we should have less exhaustion than from a grain crop. Mr. Brisco and Mr. Barker have both sown clover and grass seeds with flax and other grain crops — the ground occupied by the flax producing double the eatage in the following autumn of that produced where grain crops were sown, while the grass on the ground still remains superior. Mr. C. Bedell, Berlin, Mahoning Co., Ohio, writes us his method of raising flax, and the one u.sually adopted in Nortliern Ohio. "If on sod ground., i->\o\v ver^ dee]) in the spring, as early as frost will allow ; harrow well till it is mellow ; then sow about three pecks of seed per acre, and diag it lightly. We think three pecks little enougli on sod ground, but less might do on com stubble or fallow. It is less labor, covers the ground from the scorching rays of the sun, and leaves the soil in a better preparation for wheat than the old plan of sunimcr-fallowing-. We get oa aa average 10 bu. ^^ ., . '^ ' ibs. oi dressed flax per acre. The seed sells here for $1.25 n,"- ^ ' " '^*^ ^^'^ '^ '^^^''^ ets. per lb. So that a crop yields us $40.50 dpi- "- ■" ^^iessed fkx. I do not think it prepared, we get 16 bu. npr o-^~^ » uariey or an oat crop." iHipoveri-^- SPRING AND SUMMER WORK. The intelligent farmer will have all his plans of culture for the succeeding year formed in his mind the autumn beforehand. During the winter he will reflect upon them, and use every means to increase his knowledge ; so that he may perform all his operations with facility and economy. He will also make and repair many of his implements, and get everything ready for spring ; so that when it comes he can avail himself of the first opportunity to commence operations. The sh irtness of our working season renders this forecast doubly necessary and advantageous. Barley is a crop which has paid very well for the last few years, and the demand is increasing ; so that we may expect good prices for the future. Light, dry, sandy loam, is best adapted for this crop. If the soil is rich, it may be sown after wheat ; the earlier the better, providing the soil is dry enough to work well. Two bushels of seed to the aci^ is usually sown, though we think two and a half, and in some instances, three bushels, is none too much. The land should always be iX)Ued after it is sown. If not in good condition before, it will do to roll when the barley is an inch or two out of the ground. To insure a good crop, it should always be sown the first or second week in April. Oats should be sown as soon after the barley as possible. They will grow on almost any kind of soil, from a stiff clay to a black muck. The heavy land, however, yields the heaviest weight per bushel. Two to three bushels of seed are generally sown per acra. Sixty bushels }5er acre is a good crop, and is not often though sometimes obtained- There is an opinion, in some districts, that oats are an exhausting crop, and that wheat does not do Avell after them. We are inclined to think this view erroneous. They should be cradled and tied up, as they are apt to shed much if loose. One and a half bushels of oats, half a bushel of barley, and a peck of gi-ay peas, are often sown together per acre in England. The produce is very large, and when ground, forms an excellent food for horses in the spring, Indian Corn is, of all the cereals, best a^lapted to this climate ; and on the rich lands of the great west, is raised in large quantities with little labor, excepting planting and harvesting. In New York and the eastern States, however, it is absolutely necessary to have the soil well and deeply pulverized, and in many instances well manured, and also hand-hoed twice or thrice, to insure a large crop. In this district it is usually planted about the middle of May. It should be marked each way, three feet apart, as it is then planted straighter and is much more easily horse-hoed, plowed, &c. It delights in a light, gravelly loam, and does best on an old meadow or clover ley plowed the previous, fall. Barn manure is always gratefully received and handsomely remunerated. Four to six grains are planted in a hill. When the corn is up about an inch it should be dressed with plaster — a good handful to a hill. Its good eftect is speedily visible. Wood ashes applied in the same way is often attended with good profit. Potatoes, till within the last few years, were considered one of the safest crops — never being attacked by insects or injured by disease ; but the " potato disease," which has extended to all countries, defies conjecture to account for it, and science to provide a remedy. A well drained, light, black soil, if well manured, is best calculated to produce a heavy crop. But a dry, hght, sandy soil, now yields the soundest and most palatable ^ THE GENESEE FABMEE ^ % i>otatoes Subsoiling for this crop has been attended with ^eat benefit. Good short f TT-JTiL bfst for potatoes. A handful of plaster on a hill as they just break dred bushgis |,.. _^^, , . ^^^ unleached wood ashes are of great benefit. Two hun- first of May. If planted 'm ^... ._ ^^ v^ raised. They should be planted about the rows about thirty inches apart and tweR-e incuco ,^jj.r i.^i-it. clean ; though planted in the heaviest crop. 300 lbs. of Peruvian guano sown broadcast per acre, anci |.?i^3 yield has been attended with very good results on this crop. Carrots. — The value of this crop, especially as a food for horses, has long been acknowledged, and farmers in various parts of the country are now beginning to grow an acre or so for their own use, satisfied that while they require some extra labor to the oat crop, yet the yield is so very large as to make them much more profitable. They do very well on an old meadow or clover sod well manured, plowed in the spring, well dragged the way of the furrows, till the grass is well covered and there is an inch or two of fine, loose mold. They should be sown in rows one foot apart, as they are then more easily kept clean by hoeing. Three to four pounds of seed are suflacient for an acre. About the middle of April, if the soil is dry and warm, is the best time for sowing. Six hun- dred bushels per acre is often obtained, and some farmers consider a bushel of carrots equal to a bushel of oats as feed for horses. Mangel Wurzel. — Though his root contains about 87 per cent, of water, yet more nutritive matter can be obtained per acre from this crop than any other. It is not liable to be injured by insects, and is not so susceptible of injury from drouth as ruta baga and other varieties of turneps. Land for this crop should l)e well drained, exceedingly rich, and plowed very deep. To insure a good crop of thirty tons per acre bulb and ten tons leaf, the land should be plowed in the fall after wheat ; and if subsoiled, so much the better. In the spring, twenty loads of good barn-yard manure shoul'd be plowed in, and the land well prdverized by dragging, &c. It may then be marked out in rows two and a lialf feet apart, and the seed be dropped in the rows at distances of 12 to 14 inches, with 4 or 5 seeds in a hill. We would also earnestly advise that 500 lbs. superphosphate of lime (directions for the manufacture of which from bones, by sulphuric acid, will be found in our January number, page 37,) be applied per acre ; this would be about half an ounce to a hill. Its eftcct, especially in giving the plants a start, is gi-eatly beneficial, and we recommend farmers always to use it if possible. It may be purchased, or manufactured from bones, as best suits convenience. For carrots, beets, parsneps, and mangel wurzel, this substance is a great axuiliary ; and for ruta baga and turneps, is the best manure that can possibly be used, costing about |4 per acre. Mangel wurzel should be sown the first week in June. They should be kept clean by means of a horse- hoe between the rows, and the plants must be singled out, leaving one in a hill. It is necessary to sow several seeds in a hill to insure an even crop. When pulled in the fall, the leaves should be given to milch cows, as they will make them give much more milk. The roots should be stored in the barn or cellar, for winter or early spring feed. They will keep perfectly good till midsummer, if necessary. They are an admirable food for slieep or milch cows, in conjunction with hay or straw. Ruta Baga, or, as it is called in Britain, the Swedish ttn-ncp, where there are a num- ber of varieties very extensively grown, docs not necessarily require such rich land as the mangel wurzel ; neither can such a large crop be grown. They also contain a little more water, and will not keep good so late in the spring. They are nevertheless a highly valuable and profitably cultivated crop ; and for sheep, and cattle, and hogs, there is nothing better. The SJcirving'^s Livcrjmol Swede is probably the best kind for this climate, as it is not so liable to run to seed as some others, though there are many other good varieties. In England, one and a half pouuds of seed are sown per acre — -. K^ drilled on ridges two feet apart, and afterwards hoed out twelve inches between each . ►■ ^ THE GENESEE FAEMER. g3 . /f^ plant. But as drills have not come into general use, the seed might be sown in the way recommended for mangel wurzel. And be sure you don't forget to use the sup^^^- phosphate of lime, applied as in the case of mangel wurzel ; and then, if,|.|iYrrint vou 600 loam well plowed and drained, and the plants are kept c\£^Rr:„^ i „ /i ' ' • i -e 11, '■ .^,, • X ,. /• 11 . ---'"« should not be surprized if you bushels per acre, if the season is at all A-r^— ' i j write to ii'^- — j-^^^^ \ywver. — About ten pounds of clean clover seed is usually sown per acre, in April, on the wheat fields. If should always be rolled or harrowed in, if possible. In England, clover is usually sown with the barley crop. Red clover, as found by experience, can not there be grown oftener than once in eight years on the same soil ; for if sown once in four years, the land soon becomes " clover sick." Twenty pounds of seed per acre is often sown by good farmers, in hopes of securing a crop. We have seen much heavier crops of clover grown here by the use of plaster, than we ever saw in England under the most favorable conditions of soil and manuring. Clover is often much injured by keep- ing sheep on it too late in the Ml and too early in the spring ; and it is better not to let them run on it at all in the fall, if it can be avoided. We would never let land lie with clover more than two years, as after two years there is little extension of root, and the clover is apt to die out and give place to timothy and red top, which we think as exhausting to the soil as wheat, and should never be sown except on low land not well adapted for wheat. It is to the extension of the quantity of land sown with clover and the adoption of root culture, that we confidently look for great improvement in eur agriculture and increased profits of the farmers, and, as a consequence, of the entire community. »♦♦ Agricultural Progrkss of the United States. — The following letter, addressed to the editors of the National Intelligencer, Washington, and published in that Journal, contains facts interesting to the American people : To THE Editors of the National Intelligencer : — The statistics of Agricuhure, so far as they have been published from the Census Office, disclose many instructive facts. To promote the fai-ming interest, and bring some of the most pi'ominent features of this branch of national industry under the eye of legislators and statesmen, I respectfully solicit a small space in your paper to call attention to the progress made by a nation of farmers. Maize is the most important crop grown in the United States. It i? one of the staples of every State and Territory, not excepting Oregon, whose climate is least friendly to this American cereal. The United States census of 1840 makes the corn crop of the year preceding 377, 531, 8*75 bushels. The census of 1850 shows that the crop of 1849 was 591,586,053. Increase 214,054,178 bushels. These figures indicate a gain of fifty-seven per cent.; while the increase of population was not far from thirty-four per cent. Corn being one of the most profitable crops grown any where, I have studied its increase and decrease in the several States with much interest; but a due respect for the numerous claims upon your columns forbids an extended notice of even the most abundant and remunerating produet?of our national industry. Allow me, however, to say tliat New York produced in 1839, 10,972,286 bushels; and in 1849, 17,944,808 bushels. This, for an old State whose rural population increased but little in the last decade, is a large and creditable gain. It is on^ of the many good fruits of her excellent agricultural societies, known all over this extended Republic, aa well as in Europe. Pennsylvania has advanced her com culture considerably, although less than New York. Her crop in 1839 was 14,240,022 bushels; in 1849 it was 19,707,702. Gain 6,467,680 bushels. She will do better in the present decade. Georgia has sustained an agricultural journal for the last nine years, and a flourishing State Society and others some five years. Her corn crop in 1839 was 20,905,122 bushels ; in 1849 it was 30,428,540. While Georgia haa added to her annual harvest of maize 9,523,418 bu. in ten years, South Carolina has increased hers only 1,549,503 bushels. Ohio has seventy well-organized agricultural societies, and an efficient Board of Agriculture. Her corn crop in 1839 was 33,668,144 bushels; in 1849, it was 58,922,783. Gain in ten years, 25,354,639 bushels. These official statistics speak volumes in favor of agricultural societies, and legislative aid for tlieir support. They are composed of practical reading fanners ; and I am happy that men of this stamp iW-i — i-jS % are makin<' an earnest effort to organize a national agricultural society. Should they, in its feeble infancy ask for a little a&sistance from Congress, it is to be hoped that such small aid as State Legis- latures grant to State societies will not be withheld. To say nothing of the large increase in her productS-Wi TS'ew York, by giving some forty-five societies less than $8,000 a year, has increased the ei(,hty-two7mllio7i p6unMW\ fifty per cent. The recent census shows the immense product of oyer of these articles the gain from butt*ftA?J^23 pounds.) Cheese 49,785,905 pounds. In the production Unlike the farmers of New York and Ohio, those orv'!fgk.iH'?ki.na;_amount9^to mi^ions of dollars. oi united efforts for the promotion of agriculture. In 1839 the corn crop of Virginia"wiJ^J'.*^.T^^ ^,f^ bushels; in 1849 it was only 35,638,582. Gain in ten years but 960,991 bushels. AVitli a view to correct what I cannot but regard as an erroneous judgment in that noble Common- wealth, I state the fact that from no other State in the Union has opposition been seen or felt to a national agricultural society. Intelligent business men combine their efforts and means to advance commercial, manufacturing, banking, railroad, and educational interests; and why should not farmera unite their wisdom and labors to promote improvements in tillage and husbandry ? The science of combinations is as applicable to agriculture as to any other business pursuit whatever. Isolated cultivatoi-8 of the earth may increa.se their knowledge and improve their farming operations a very little in the lifetime of a generation, but their progress will be so far exceeded by such as skilfully combine their individual powera that the former will appear to retrogade, not advance. Agricultural improvement has taken deep root in the soil of Maryland, and her corn and wheat crops have increased faster than her population in the last decade, including the large gain in the city of Baltimore. There is reason to believe tliat these staples will be doubled, without any increase of tilled land, by the year I860* if the Legislature of that State foster the plan of its State Society to establish and maintain an agricultural college and expei'imental farm. DANIEL LEE. Sheep. — I send you an account of my sheep, not thinking to excel many of my brother wool-growers, but vnth. a wish that it may stimulate some others to pay more attention to more judicious breeding and keeping. I had 76 sheep sheared last June, which pro- duced 406 pounds of wool, which sold for 44-^ cents per pound. From 44 ewes I raised 47 lambs, which sole for $1.50 per head. I commenced about the year 1816, with a cross by a fidl blood merino buck with our native ewes. I have never sold off my flock, but have tried to improve it by selecting good bucks and my best ewes to breed from. Thomas Redway. — Amber, N. Y. To Relieve Choked Cattle. — J. Y. De Baum, of Spring "Valley, N. Y., gives the following method of relieving choked cattle : " Tie the animal's head pretty high ; take hold of the tongue with the left hand, and with the right take a leathern trace (the forward end ahead) and run it down fearlessly. The remedy is easy and always at hand, and will perhaps save your animal, while you might lose it in going after a doctor." Butter Making. — A subscriber, of Borodino, N. Y., informs us that he has 2 cows, 6 and 7 years old, a cross of Devon, Durham, and Native breeds, which have the last summer given in 7 months 551 lbs. of butter; from May 21 to June 21, 146 lbs.; from May 27 to June 4, 37 lbs. This, he says, is a specimen of the cows in that section. 'AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION. BY P. BARRY, FROM NOTES TAKEN AT THE WORLD's FAIR. The old system of broadcast sowing of seeds is fast giving way in Great Britain to what is called drilling, which is a system of sowing in regtdar and equi-distant rows. This system is said to have been introduced by the celebrated Jetiiro Tull in the early part of the present century, not on account of its o\\ti merits, but in order to admit of hoe tillage such as is now practised very extensively in England by horse hoes. For a long time it met with great opposition, and in general, until more recently, met with very little favor. As things advanced, its merits became better understood, and, with imple- ments of certain and efficient execution, it is becoming almost universally adopted. In B v^ THE GENESEE FAEMEK. /TP cU this country it is also attracting attention, wheat being now mostly sown with planters or drilling implements. The advantages claimed for it are, that the seed is deposited in the earth with greater exactness in regard to depth, regularity, and proportion ; economy of seed, in giving it a good hold of the gi'ound in light soils so as to protect it against being drawn out by frosts or loosened by the wind when it has advanced to a heavy top growth ; lastly, in admitting of hoe culture, by which the growth of the plants may be stimulated and the growth of weeds prevented. It is perhaps doubtful whether hoeing will ever be applied to growing grain crops in this coun- try to any considerable extent. Where the soil is good, and well prepared previous to sowing, there is little chance for weeds to grow and little need of culture. It nuiy be otherwise ; our farmers must consider it. If this system be adopted, the drilling machines or planters must pass over the ground in straight not in zigzag lines, as we generally see over the country. At any rate, this would be a great improvement on our general culture ; for no- thing can well look more slovenly than curved furrows, fresh drag lines, and young growing crops. 1 abhor crooked plowing, drag- ging, and every crooked, careless operation on the land. A man who can not run a straight fur- row, or drive his harrow or plant- er straight, ought to feel ashamed of his awkwardness. But whether grain crops be ever horse-hoed or not, root crops will ; and as their culture is be- coming extensive and important, a glance at the most approved English implement may not be uninteresting. The best which I have observed in the exhibition, and one which is oflered for sale in all the implement shops, and generally in use, and to which a prize medal has been awarded, is Garretfs Patent Horse-Hoe. — Fig. 1 is a side view of the machine at work, and fig, 2 gives an end view, showing the manner in which the hoes pass between the rows. It is so constructed that the shafts for the horse can be fixed upon any part of the frame, and the axle-tree being moveable at both ends, it 'can be expanded or contracted at pleasure to suit all lands and methods of planting. Each hoe works on a lever inde- pendent of the others, and this adapts them to all inequalities of the ground, and the hoes can also be set to any width from seven inches to thirty. The hoes are set to any ^ --4^ '^^M THE GENESEE FAEMEE. particular angle by means of the crank "whicli stands up on the left hand side of fig. 2 ; this is attached by chains to the jointed irons on which the levers and hoes are sus- pended. There is also a swing steerage to guide it exactly, as shown in fig. 1. One of these which I saw intended for seven rows, weighed 750 lbs., and cost £15. There are other sizes up to eleven rows, cost- ing £20, ($100.) It is said that a horse, a man, and boy can hoe ten acres per day at a cost of Gd. to Is. English per acre. The cutting Fig. 2 blades are made of steel, and attached by screw bolts and nuts to the stalks that connect them with the levers. The whole affair is simple, and easily arranged by any workman. The Patent Draff, Harroiv, and Scarifier. — Here is an implement which our farmers may compare with their cultivators in use for preparing land for wheat and other crops. It strikes me as a most efiective contrivance, and considering its weight and power, easily drawn. It moves on four wheels, as will be seen from the cut ; and instead of handles like a plow, as ours generally have, it is controlled as to depth of tillage by a lever, seen on the top. The manufacturer says : " The principal novelty in this mvention is the GARRETT S HORSE-HOE. END VIEW. PATENT DRAG, HARROW, AND SCARIFIER. Fig. 3. frame at the top, suspended about six inches above the lower frame, parallel with which, by means of a lever, it is moved backwards and forwards. This simple and easy move- ment regulates the depth of the tines or prongs in the soil ; and as the implement does not require lifting, (the frame of which is at all times the same height from the ground,) all that is necessary to alter the depth of penetration is, a slight movement of the lever above referred to, which changes the inclination of the tines. It will be found to answer all the purposes of harrowing weeds and rubbish from the most foul lands ; most efliciont for opening, raising, and pulverising the soil ; and as blades of different Avidths are made to fit the tines, it may be used with great advantage as a skim to take off the couch, ines,) may be six inches closer. 3d. Keep the ground clean and well hoed as an onion bed all summer, and cut off all runners as fast as they appear, unless wanted to increase the variety, and then only two or three should be allowed on each plant. In the autumn the plants will be luxuriant and large, covering half the ground, and in a fine condition to give a good crop next season. In dry seasons, mulching with a little tan bark, saw-dust, or old manure, will assist their growth very much. 4th. Wintering. — In many districts no winter protection is needed, but as a general thing a coat of three or four inches deep of straw or leaves, protecting the plants against the thawing and freezing of winter, is found very useful, gi-eatly augmenting the vigor and productiveness of the plantation the following season. We aJways do it here at Rochester. hovey's seedling. Fig. 2. .^--- 'lEy' THE GENESEE FARMER BRITISH QUEEN. Fi^. ?. (di 5tli. Treatment of the Plants during the Bearing Season. — Attend to the culture of the soil as on the first season, keeping it clean and friable ; keep down run- ners ; and provide for a liberal supply of water in case of drouth. The greatest draw- back in strawberry culture, with us, is dry weather at the time of the swelling of the fruit ; and if we want them large, we must apply water frerli/ — let it flow over the plants in torrents three or four times a week. Weak liquid manure, occasionally, will be a great aid in giv- ing size. The result of all our obser- vations at home and abroad, in regard to strawberry culture, is, that great size and heavy crop^s can only be obtained by a liberal supply of moisture in con- nection with deep rich soil. We have no space now to quote examples in sup- port of this, but the foct is unquestion able, and it will be well to bear it in mind. We now come to the selection of va- rieties, which is a matter of considera- ble importance. After many trials and expei'iments here in the vicinity of Ro- chester, and we ought to add extensive experiments both by amateur and mar- ket growers, the following varieties are pretty well settled down upon as the best and most profitable : Bii,rr''s New Pine, (pistillate.) Fig. 1. — A large, light red berry of the finest flavor. Productive and hardy. R. G. Pardee, Esq., of Palmyra, a first rate amateur grower, exhibited specimens at last year's exhibition of the Gen- esee Valley Horticultural Society, measuring four inches in circumference, and they received the first premium. Hovcifs Seedling, (pistillate.) Fig. 2. — One of the largest and best American varieties — extensively gi'own and universally admired. Large Early Scarlet, (hermaphrodite.) — An old, fine variety. Good size, good flavor, and always bears well. One of the best for planting with the pistillate sorts. Boston Pine, (hermaphrodite.) — A large, fine, produc- tive variety, under high culture, but worthless with bad treatment. Ifudson, (of Cincinnati.) — A most productive variety — the great fi-uit of the Cincinnati market growers. The Rochester people esteem quite as highly Burr''s Rival Hudson — a late acid variety, fine for preserving. To insure the fertilization of the pistillate sorts, one row of the staminate or hermaphrodite varieties should bo planted between every four, or in some such proportion. It is somewhat remarkable that scarcely any foreign varieties prove profitable for our cultivation. In England, and indeed in France, the great strawberry of the day — the one that in every garden and in every market attracts one's attention particularly — is the British Queen, (fig. 3.) We have never seen such ELTON, ^ (^ ^ crops of strawberries anywhei-e as those of the British Queen around London, in the gardens of the market growers. It does not succeed well here ; or it has not so far, that we are aware of. A few large and fine berries, say three or four from a plant, may be obtained ; but nothing that can be called a crop. It needs more moisture than it gets with us, and we hope to see it yet tested under favorable circumstances. We had the accompanying drawing made from an ordinary specimen picked in a French garden. Next to the Queen stands the Elton, (fig. 4.) This succeeds the Queen, being later. It is a large, conical, and beautiful berry. We are not aware of its ha\'ing been successfully grown in this country, but it is worthy of further trial. In Europe no distinctions are made in regard to the " sexual " character of the strawbeny, as in this country; all their varieties are staminate or hermaphrodite — that is, have both stamens and pistils perfect. CULTURE OF THE FUCHSIA. In our last we promised some hints on the propagation and culture of the Fuchsia, which we now proceed to give. We may first remark that among green-house plants or shrubs it is one of the easiest to propagate or manage. Propagation. — The usual method is by cuttings. The plant from which we wish to propagate is brought, say in the month of February, into a temperature of 60 deg. It begins immediately to grow, and when the young shoots have attained the length pf two or three inches, they are taken oft', cut smoothly below a joint, and inserted about an inch into sand, or sandy earth, and if there be a bottom heat of about '70 deg. they will root in a week or ten days ; but they will root, without a bottom heat, in a temperature of 60 deg. When rooted, they are potted oft' into small two or three inch pots, the soil being a mixture of about equal parts of sand, leaf-mold, and decayed turf finely chopped up ; add to this a small quantity of old, well-decomposed manure. These must be well mixed. Put plenty of drainage in the bottom of the pot, (small pieces of broken pots). In two weeks these little pots, in a temperature of 60 or 70 deg., will be full of roots, and they may be shifted into others a size larger. When established in these, they may be removed into a cooler place, say 45 to 50 deg., and remain there till planted out, if wanted for that purpose. If disposed to grow up tall and slender, they should be topped to give them strength and roundness. It should be observed that when Fuchsias are planted out, a cool and rather shaded place should be given them. The Globosa, Globosa major, and Serratifolia, are best for this purpose. When the plants are intended to be kept in pots for the summer decoration of the green-house, or drawing-room window, the shifting must be continued as fast as the pots fill up with roots. The same soil recommended above will do ; but as the plants increase in size, it may be richer in manure. They must be freely watered and kept near the glass, stopping to make them branch, and tying up to give them a fine pyramidal shape ; syringing frequently over the foliage will do them good. With this treatment, the young spring cuttings will, in July, be two feet high or more, and loaded with flowers till September or October. Old plants should be taken into a temperature of say 45 or 50 deg. in February or March, pruned back nearly to the old wood, potted in good soil such as described above, and shifted and managed in the same way as young ones. The fulgens, corymbiflora, and their hybrids, must be two years old before a good bloom is obtained. The Serratifolia blooms finely in the months of October, November, and December, and if planted out in May or June, potted in September, and housed with other plants, will be a great acquisition at a dull season. THE GENESEE FAEMEK. ^ (F TWO FINE FOREIGN PEARS. Doyenne Boussock, (Fis?. 1.) — This variety has fruited at Boston for several years, and has acquired there the "highest reputation. It has borne for two seasons with us, and we have no hesitation in ranking it with the best varieties we cultivate. We are inclined to think that it will becoqie a popular orchard variety, for the tree possesses great vigor and 'hardiness, grows rapidly both on pear aiio. ->i^„ince, and bears well. It has been cieK^.,.i})gj {^^ nearly all the pomologica\ ->.,-,rks of recent date and begins now lo attract, what it really merits, considerable attention. Fruit — large, obtusely obovate, re- sembling a very large speci men of White Doyenne ; it tapers very slightly to the stem, where it is broad ; sur- face sometimes uneven, but generally smooth and regular. Color — pale yellow, slightly marked with russet, and ting- ed, on the sunny side, with brownish red. Stalk — short and stout, pretty deeply sunk. Calyx — open, pretty large, in a shallow wide basin. Flesh — yellowish white, melting and juicy, with a rich, vinous, perfumed flavor. Tree — vig- orous, and upright in growth. Wood — yellowish brown, with light specks. Leaves — - large, thick, deep green, glos- sy, and almost flat; they assume, early in autumn, a fine reddish tint, like some of the forest trees. Ripe early in October, and keeps well into November. The Duchess of Orleans, (Fig. 2.) — This is another foreign variety proved by succes- sive trials, for a few years past, in various parts of the country, to be of excellent quality. It recommends itself by its beauty, excellence, and productiveness. Fruit — large regularly pyramidal, somewhat resembling in form the old English Jargonelle. Color — pale yellow, slightly marked with light russet and tinged, generally, with light red on the sunny side. Stem — over an inch long, rather stout, enlarged on the end attached to the branch. Calyx — open, set in the surface, without any depression. Flesh — yellowish, melting, buttery, slightly musky — rich and delicious. Tree — moderately vigorous, erect ; young shoots wavy in habit. Young wood — reddish brown, and thickly covered with oblong, gray dots. Leaves — of medium size, flat, and of a peculiar yellowish green color. Last season we had finely ripened specimens, picked green, on the 25th Sept. We had others picked later, about the middle of October. It requires to be picked early and ripened in the house. When left to ripen on the tree it loses its flavor and becomes quite insipid. >j\2r ^ dS] ^^. THE GENESEE FARMER. fl ^ PERPETUAL ROSES. The classes of Roses denominated Perpetuals on account of their blooming at intervals several times during the season, are fast superceding those that bloom but once, unless it be hardy climbers and pillar roses, whose merits are not solely their flowers. Amateurs, who turn to the nurserymens' catalogues and find Remontants, Bourbons, Noisettes, Teas, &o., enumerated, find themselves at a loss in regard to the particular characters and peculiarities (of appearance) of each. We have often been solicited t^- point out the distinctions, and intended to do so, as well as we could, when '"- '^^und the following in a French journal and immediately translated it into s ""^^^ '^^ English. We must say for it that we have not found in all the Ro^^ ^^'^^^ "^^'e have read, an explanation so concise and satisfactory. We bexr *''^^e of our readers who cultivate Roses, to note it well uud c.vtcua tii«n- comparisons on the indications given. It is always satisfactory for one to know what they have, and if we have but one Rose in our garden, it will augment its interest, if not its value, to know what class it belongs to. CHARACTER OF TIIE REMONTAIS^T OR PERPETUAL ROSES.* The greater number of the catalogues of nurerymen who devote themselves to Rose culture, do not offer to amateurs any means of judging whetlier the varieties wliich they sell belong to the sections in which they are classed. A simple name designates these sections and the varieties Avhich naturally approach each other the nearest are often found the furthest apart, on account of the alphabetical order in Avhich they are inscribed in the merchant's catalogue. Having been frequently consulted by amateurs to point to them the precise character of each of the sections of Roses, I have endeavored to abridge them in a few words, following the method of botanists, who assemble under a generic name all the species most alike in their common characters. The seven principal sections are. The Portlands, called Perpetuals ; the Hybrid Remontants of Portland; the Hybrid Remontants of the Isle Bourbon ; the Bourbon Roses; the Is oisctte Roses ; the Bengals ; and the Teas. Each of the characters which serve to distinguish these sections should be taken in a general sense — separately their value diminishes to a point where it disappeai-s completely. Take for example, that of flowers united in corymbs or panicles (clusters) ; in certain cases it is insufncient, for the Noisette and Bengals, which generally and under good treatment produce clusters, may produce only feeble shoots terminating in a solitary flower, on account of bad soil or treatment. The same thing, or the reverse, may manifest itself in other selections,! and the great similarity existing between certain subjects in different sections confoimds the one with the other. It is then only by much practice, and the aid of the assemblage of many characters, that we are able to distinguish Koiscttcs from Bengals, and these last from the Teas. Section 1. Perpetuals, or Portlands. — Tlie Roses of this section have the thorns very fine, short, and so numerous as to cover almost entirely the branches, to which they give a brownish tint. Tliey have erect shoots, the flower stalks short and stiff, the flowei-s generally solitary and o\ary ; seed capsule somewhat long. Examples. — Hose dii Hoi, Duchesse de Rohan, Julie, Krudner, Bernard, La Favorite, ttc. Sec. 2. Hybrid Remontants of Portland. — ^These have thorns, hard and sharp, variable in strength and length ; the shoots erect, and tiieir habit similar to that of the Portlands. They have also a lengthened capsule, and give often one to five or seven flowers which form a bouquet erect and stift" at the summit of the branches. The Four Seasons Rose gives a correct idea of tlieir liabit and flowering. Examples. — La Heine, Baron Prcvost, Jacques Lafitte, Madain Laffay, Bnchcsse de Sutherland, Amandine, Louis Bonaparte, Clementine Seringe, Glorie d' Angers, Conite de Montalivct, d'c. Sec. 3. Hybrid Remontants of the Isle of Bourbon. — The Roses which compose this section appear to hold a middle or intermediate place between the Portland Remontants and the Bourbons, but more frequently present the aspect of the latter. The leaflets are in gcnci'al strongly dcntatod (toothed,) but tlie round form of the seed capsule distinguishes them from the Portland Hybrids. The dis- position of the branches — extended in a confused, irregular manner — give them also a particular aspect. Examples. — Cleme7itine Duval, Comte Bobrinski, Ernestine de Barante, Colonel Foissg, Geant dcs Balailles, Vicenntesse de Belleval, 6:c., dec. Sec. 4. Bourbon Roses (Rosiers Isle Bom-bon). — ^Tliis section comprises the Roses which have the wood very smooth and glossy, the side shoots often short and then terminated bv a sLngle flower; * CiEErBRE, formerly Chief Florist at the Museum, Paris, in tho Jie^e^ie IToriicole. t It is .1 vory common tiling for inexperienced cultivators to form opinions anil conclusions from the first feeble growth of a sicldy plant. Under such circumstances it is impossibio for their true characters to develop thcmsclres, and an T N opinion based upon such conditions scarcely ever fails to be wrong. — Ed. THE GENESEE FAKMER. but when a branch is developed vigorously, which often happens in many varieties, it Produces a lono-rr .i.le shoot terminated by a cluster of flowers, from three to twelve. The thorns are strong particularly at the base, scattered, and hooked. The leaves are roundish <,val, smooth, and of a deep gJeen. The Roses of this section have tlie seed capsule round, and the branches developed horizontally ^°V^\pS-S;.<'r« of the Bourbons, Madam Dc.prcz, Charic, Souchet, Paul Joseph, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Souvenir de Ath May, licmovd, 3frs. Bomnquet, &c Sec. 5. Noiseite RosES.-These Roses resemble, somewhat the Teas in their foliage, but are distino-uished by a greater vigor ; by their shoots being ordinarily very long ; smooth bark, althou-h m^ tSny, eJpccfally in some ^ases ; by their branches being terminated by a cluster of flowers, m ^xx^^vi&^jM^^- ^^ 0 j^-„^ ji^,, Mille-Eacs, Desprez du Luxembourg dx. 1, 1 f i-.f, ' ?u .r-s?s— Tlie Roses of this section have a smooth bark — the branches generally but lit le thorny; the 'it^t , ..-^ "« .ito ^^^ ^j^ ^^^^^ ^„^ toothed ; the flowers disposed in clusters or panicles— the slender shoots nevei ^... ^ ,» ^^^ flower. Tlie capsule is round; the flowers are almost invariably colored, wliilst in the Teas, to wnicu >.v i^nseg are often related the flowers are more frequently white or yellow. There are exceptions — Tea Bures, ana in»«.y otUers.* The flowers of the Bengal are rarely odorous. Examples. — Bengal Ordiiiaire (Daily China), Cramoisie superior (Agrippina), Eugene Hardg, Beau Carmine du Luxembourg, Anguxtine Hcnxan, dec. Sec. 7. Tea Roses. — ^These Roses have many characters in common with the Bengals — the bark of the shoots very smooth, with few thorns ; the leaves are shining, and the flowers, often solitary, at the extremity of the branches, these being so slender that in most eases the flowers are reversed and we see them only on the lower side. The bi'anches generally do not acquire great length, but when the plants are vigorous the branches are longer, stronger, and bear from three to five flowers in a cluster. ExAJiPLES. — Bevoniensis, Safrano, Souvenir d'un Ami, Vicmntesse Decazes, Eliza Sauvage, Bures, Goubault, Moire, Pactole, d'c. It will be observed that the peculiarities of the flowers, as to size, form, compactness, &c., which are the really practical distinctions, are not taken into accotint. M. Carriere probably supposes them to be too changing in their nature and dependent on circum- stances to be a reliable guide of any great conseqtience. We may add that sections 6 and 1 do not resist our winters in the open ground, and even 4 and 5 require protection in general, and yet these four sections are the most genuine perpetual bloomers. * The exceptions in tliis case are almost too numerous to allow the distinction to be of much practical value. — Ed. Severity of the Winter. — ^From all parts of the South and West we hear sad reports of injury done to Fruit Trees, by the unusually intense cold of the past winter. The fruit buds on nearly all sorts of fruit trees are killed, and even young trees, very generally. Mr. Bateham announces through his paper, the destruction of the buds, and many trees, on his "Pomona farm," and he has reduced the price in consequence. A gentleman writes from Kentucky, that "in consequence of the severity of the weather here on the 21st ult., (January,) I have lost all my Peach, Apricot, Nectarine, Cherry, and Plum trees." The destruction will probably be greater than has been experienced in many years. We have examined the buds here closely and frequently, and find, up to this time, only the Peach aff"ected, and even of it, enough of the fruit buds are good to yield a fair crop. A larger number are killed, however, than have ever been before, to our knowledge, at this season (Feb. 18). Trees of all sorts arc quite safe ; even tender yearlings have not suffered in the least. It fortunately happened that our coolest nights were succeeded by dark days. ;^ HrACiNTiis FOR Forcing. — From a large collection of Dutch Hyacinths bloomed in the green-house the past winter, we have voted the following as particularly fine. It should be known that some kinds, first rate in the garden, do not succeed at all in the house. Tliose of our readei-s who force Hyacinths in pots or glasses, will do well to make note now for use next autumn. Single — Baron Thuyl, dark blue; Grand Vedette, light blue; Grand Vainqucrer, (conqueror,) creamy white; Oron- datus, light blue ; Unique, violet red ; Mars, bright red ; Emilius, dark blue ; Diebiis Sabal hamskie, light rosy red ; Ileratelde Vreede, rosy pink ; Bomerus, flesh color. Double. —Very few of these force well, but the following are generally good : Bouquet tendre, light red ; Lord Wellington, light blue » La tour d'Auvcrgne, creamy wliite, large and fine, the best double for forcing. §1 rc) THE GENESEE FARMER. :^ Xaklm' Dfpiirtmcnt. We Lave the pleasure of informing the lovers of flowers that our collection of seeds arrived a few days since, and we are having them carefully put up in packages suitable for distribution, and all applicants will receive them by mail before the 1st of April. Mr. ViLMORiN informs us that although the last season was unfavorable fo'- --, '• 'f^ flower seeds, and consequently he was able only to send us small cm^'^'i ' '^' " ™^ {l*; we ordered, yet he forwarded the finest collection ever h-^ r^^ ,? ^^"^ country. VV e -^n gratified at this, as one object we had in view was to distribute much better seed than are usually kept at our seed stores. We want no better evidence than the three thou- sand applications already received aftbrd us, that a love of flowers — a love of the beautiful creations of nature — is rapidly increasing. While the farmer increases his crops of grain, of roots and grass, by a wise system of culture, that enlarges the product without injuring the soil, and the farmer's wife improves the quality of butter and cheese, a few hours by either will not be idly spent in caring for the beautiful flowers of the field, created by infinite wisdom to refine the taste and gladden the heart. Du- ring the spring we shall give descriptions of the best annuals, and also directions for culti- vation. The present month we give a figure of the Ten Weeks Stock. The plant grows fi'om one to two feet high, with an erect branching stem, hoary leaves, and long spikes of flowers ; the size and richness of these flow- ers vary greatly in the difierent varieties, and some of them are very splendid. The species is a native of the South of Europe by the sea- shore, whence it was introduced in 1731 ; but the principal varieties have been originated in England and Germany. The German varie- ties are particularly beautiful. For very early flowers, a few plants may be raised in a hot-bed, or in a pot in the house, to be transplanted into the open ground as soon as the weather is suflSciently warm. For sow- ing in the open ground, the soil should be dug deep and very finely pulverized with the rake. The seed may then be sown in drills, and slightly covered with fine earth. As soon as the plants show the third pair of leaves, if too thick in the bed, they may be carefully transplanted, leaving the plants in the bed about ten inches apart. Transplanting should be done on a damp day. If the plants are large, they should be removed without disturbing the roots. If much exposed to the wind, it may be necessary to tie them to a stake. "^■rsr GERMAN TEN WEEKS STOCK. § S ^ THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 9T ^ (BMb €Mt. cL We are more than gratified at the evidence we are every day receiving that our efforts to fur- nish a good agricultural paper, and one so cheap as to be within the reach of every farmer, are so well appreciated by those for whose benefit we are laboring. As the large lists of subscribers come in with every mail, requiring all our time to transfer the names to our books, the conviction is thrust upon us that there is "a good time com- ing," and it is with difficulty that we can suppress a little self-complacency at the thought that we must have done a little to awaken that thirst for knowledge, now becoming so general among American farmers. We are not yet able to determine what will be our circulation the present year, as "still they come," but it cannot fall for short of 50,000. For this result we are much indebted to the voluntary labors of our friends, and the friends of agricultural improvement, in all parts of the country. We are sending the Farmer now to thousands of Post offi- ces, where only from one to five copies are taken, and where, with a little exertion on the part of our friends, the number might be more than doubled. Will not each of our subscribers at these offices consider himself an agent, and form and forward a Club? Additions can be made to clubs at any time, at the lowest club price. Tliose who have forwarded clubs of five can incease to eight by forwarding $1 ; and those who have sent $1 for two subscribera can have the number in- creased to five, by sending another dollar. We aiithorize money to be sent by mail at our risk, only asking proper care in enclosing and direct- ing. Back numbers can always be furnished. Our subscribers in Pennsylvania have reason to complain of the late arrival of the February num- ber. This was unavoidable, but we think it will not occur again. ♦ Sheep Frauds. — We continue to receive com- plaints from the Western States, respecting "east- ern Sheep Pedlars palming off common sheep, which have not been shorn for a year or two, for valuable Merinos." But we were surprised to learn, from Mr. W. Anderson, Ann Arbor, Mich., and others, that even "some of the gentlemen who eloquently condemn such frauds in the agri- cultural papers," should themselves be accused of playing the same game. Such conduct is far from honorable or politic, and seriously retards the im- provement of our breeds of sheep. Annual Meeting of the N. Y. State Ag. So oiETY. — The annual meeting of this Society wai held at Albany, on the 21st and 22d of January. The following is a list of officers for the ensuing year: President— HENRY WAGER, of Oneida. Vice - Presfdents. I. James Monroe, of New York. II. Lewis G. Morris, Westchester. III. Anthony Van Bergen, Greene. IV. WiNSLow C. Watson, Essex. V. Theodore S. Faxton, Oneida. VI. Olcut C. Chamberlin, Otsego. VII. Charles Lee, Yates. VIII. James McElwafne, Wyoming. Cor. Secretary — B. P. Johnson, Albany. Jiec. Secretary — Erastus Corning, Jr., Albany. Members of the Executive Committee — J. T. Blanchard and J. A. CoRy, Saratoga ; J. Butter- field, Oneida ; J. B. Burnett, Syracuse ; and Wm. Kellet, Dutchess. Mr. Delafield, the President, delivered ap ad- dress on the subject of the World's Fair, and pre- sented the medals awarded by this Society, to those who had received premiums at the London exhibition. Prof Norton delivered a lecture on the depen- dence cf agriculture upon science for improvement, in whidi he said, that Agricultural Chemistry was in its infancy ; that it was not so easy a matter to become a chemist as some people imagined ; that several yeai's of study and practice were necessary to enable any one to analyse hi^ soil and obtain results sati-sfactory and useful. He was in favor of an Agricultural College, but advised a small beginning ; let students and teachcra be provided, and the superstructure and other necessaries would follow in their turn. The lecture was well-timed, and calculated to direct public sentiment aright in respect to agricultural improvement. There was an exhibition of fat stock, dressed meat, grain, tkc, which, although only an experi- ment^ and the weather very unfavorable, was bet^ ter than could be expected, and such as to warrant a more liberal list of premiums for the coming year. At a meeting of the i^ecutive Committee on the 23d, it was res-.ived that the Fair for this year be held at Utica, on the Yth, 8th, 9th, and 10th of September, if the requirements of the Committee are complied with, which we suppose means that the citizens pay all the expenses of the Fair, except the premiums. or^- ik i^. jJnquirlea anb ^nsroers. Hot -Beds. — "We caunot speak favorably of our sucecsa with cloth as a substitute for gla^a in ma- kin:' hot-beds. Tobacco Seed. — We refer those -who hare in- quired for Tobacco Seed to the advertisement oi' J. Il.\PAiJE & Co., in this number. "Beomer's Manure." — R.T.P., Punxsutawny, Pa. ^e know nothing of this "prepared manure' and would advise no one to purchase such articles without the composition is certified to, so that a correct estimate may be made of its value. Tire FARMEr.— "Wheat, Potatoes, MAJnrRE, and Fowls. —I have been a subscriber to the Farmer nearly a year, and have been delighted with the reading matter it contains. Before we took it, my wife had been a subscriber to a La- dies' Magazme at four times the price, but she now says she prefers the Farmer, as the most interesting and instructive. She is a lover of flowers and gardening, and, by-thc-by, wishes you to take her name as a candidate for some of the choice flov.'er seeds the coming season. I have just now been perusing the last number of the Far- mer by a cheerful fire, whilst the rain is fertilizing the parched ground without, and seeing that you notice letters of inquiry on different subjects relating to farming, garden- ing, horticulture, &c., I feel inclined to submit a few ques- tio'ns to you, which if you deem worthy of notice, of course I shaU feel flatXered. I have, for the first time in my life, come in possession of* a house and lot of my own. The lot contains four acres ; the soil is rather light and has not been improved much; it is of a saiidv, loamy nature, the stone in part flint, and u mixture of what is licre called the soap stone and iron stone. Now, as I am rather inexperienced in farming or gardening, or anything of the kind,! would like to get some instruction through your paper. There is a thin clover sod on one- half of it, which I had intended to plow under for wheat, but being busy building, and the season extremely dry, I delayed till too late. My potato crop last season was small, though what I had were very good, being very dry and mealy. I think the soil is well adapted to potatoes, and I think I should prefer cultivating them, could I produce two or tliree hundred bushels to the acre, as you say may be done, I can have access to some ashes, some barn- yard manure, and plenty of lime four miles distant, at 6)i cents per bushel. I would like, if I knew how to conduct and manage a small henery, to have one if it did not interfere too much with my little field. Could you give me some information as to their probable profit, the cheapest convenient mode of constructing the arrangements, and the best common kind of layers. C'an any kind of hens be made to lay all seasons — winter as well as summer? W'hat is the best plan of managing to effect this? But I presume I have now given yon enough questions for once. I have given so many, believing that information may be given through your widely circulated paper, either by you, or souie of your correspondents, which will be in- structive and entertaining not only to me, but to many of your subscribers in Pennsylvania. Wasiucn Steacy. — Bart, Pa., 1S51. Potatoes are a better crop than wheat to grow by one who has but four acres of land, all told. Use a little lime and a great quantity of ashes per acre, well incorporated with the soil, if you would grow a large crop of tubers. If the land lacks or- ganic matter, apply leaf mould from the woods. A little well rotted manure may be added to bring them up to a high state of productiveness. You might keep a few fowls with profit, but large numbers of fowls cannot be kept together without great care. They become diseased and die. Fowls want plenty of room, and a chance at the fresh earth. Although many agricultural edi- tors ridicule the large breeds, we have no hesitation in saying that the Shanghaes are the best layers in the country. They are yet costly, and probably cannot now be procured for less than $5 per pair, which is too much to pay except for a pair or two to breed from. They will be cheap in a year or two. It is not natural for any birds to lay during the whole year. Yet much can be done by keep- ing them in a very warm house, and feeding fresh meat and pounded oyster shells, or lime and bones. A box of ashes, or sand, is quite a luxury, and ne- cessary to their cleanliness. Carts. — A correspondent says : "I am much pleased with the plan you offer, so far as I understand it, and wish to get up a cart from the drawing, but find myself at a loss to un- derstand one or two important parts. You say the body sets flat on the axle, and the shafts are attached to the hot/- torn of the body by bent iron plates. Now it appears from the drawing, that the shafts are attached at the extreni<» tVont part of the bottom, which I think cannot be the case. How far from the front end are the shafts attached ? (1) — What is the shape of the bent irons by which they are fast- ened ? (2) How high are the wheels, and what is the width of the tire ? (3) James Gardxek. — Ilullldayihurg, Pa. (1) The shafts are attached to the bottom, by bent iron plates, near tlie axle, and it tips on the bolts which connect the shafts and body there. The usual way is to have shafts and frame attached to the axle, the body to sit on bolsters to bring it level, and to tip on the axle. (5) Flat, and of sufficient width to correspond with the timbers or wood work. (3) As a general thing, four and a half feet is the proper height for wheel^ and four inches width of tire for the land. It cannot all be made plain, without skeleton drawings, but anv good waggon maker who understands the principh can adapt the parts to each other. Tellow Spots r^ 'Wiieat. — I write for the purpose of obtaining infomiation through the columns of your valuable paper, as to the cause of the appearance of yellow spots in wheat. These spots are not generally seen until the warm weather of spring, when aU at once different parts of the field will begin to wear a yellow and sickly appearance, and become stunted in growth. Sometimes these spots are not observed at harvest. At other times the disease is nearly fatal. My own opinion is that it is caused by some insect, but what kind of one (if insect it is) is a question. It is not the work of the Hessian fly, neither is it caused by wire worms ; nor is it owing to a poverty of the soil, for ma- nuring does not prevent it ; it is not owing to a lack of potash, for I observe that the wheat is affectt-d where I burned a log heap before sowing. Any information on this subject would greatly oblige A'Subsceibek. — Olney, A". Y. Many believe that the larva; of the wheat fly (cecidomyia tritici, not Hessian fly,) are in seed wheat when sown, and that the development of occa- the insect in the young plant in the sprin, sions the injury of which our coi-respondent speaks. 'hir. W. P. KiNZEE, sm intelligent observer in Lan. ^ caster Co., Pa., saj's: "In May, young insects are easily discerned witli the naked eye, (having grown from the nita deposited in the groove of the wheat grain,) lodged in the bulb of the plant between the radicles and culm, or plumule, in the pupre state, which soon after forms chrysalis, after which, being now in a perfect state, the young fly by means of its ovi p jsitor, escapes through the bulb of the ])lant, nearly even with the surface of the ground. — (See Albany Cultivator for October, 1830.) German entomologists enumerate over a thou- sand insects that prey upon cereals, at the head of which is tricum, (wheat). We are by no means sure that Sir. Kinzer is entirely correct in his observations. We have, too, hatched out a fly from a seed of wheat, November 8th ; and we are not certain where the mature insects, so common in the wheat of Maryland and Virginia, spend their winters after their maturity. ♦ BoxE DrRT AND SppEErnospiiATB OF Lute. — Will you be pleased to inform mo, ankins would answer the purpose, and that an equal quantity could be raised at much k^s cost. But do they contain as much nutriment in a given weight as the roots generally recommended 1 or how much are they infe- rior to Indian corn ? Can they be saved through the win- ter? These are questions which I am unable to answer. ]t would be conferring a favor on mo, and probaWy on many others, i<" you or some of your numerous correspond- ents would answer them through the Farmer, and tell us all about the proper soil, mode of culture, keeping, &c., &c. MAKcrs M. MosER. — Flint Eock, Oataicba Co., N. d Bee Rot.— Last spring I purchased two swarms of bees, both large and healthy. The season being quite cold and wet, they cast ofif but one swarm. This fall I found the swarm which swarmed in the summer, to be badly affected with the " bee rot," a disease quite common in this section for a few years past. It appears that the young bees die while in the larva state, and the bees refuse to uncap the cells and rid themselves of the evil. Their decomposition goon cause* an effluvia as poisonous to the parent hive as it is disagreeable to the smell. The cause can not lie in the dampness of the season, for we have had it for several sea- sons when very dry and warm ; neither can it lie in the peculiar kind of honey gathered, for a few years since the disease was unknown. Will some of your readers inter- ested in bee-culture state, in your columns, their opinion of the cause, and if possible, suggest a remedy. D. G. Foet. — Apulia, N. Y. HORTICULTURAL. (M. B. B., Fredricka, Del.) "Burning Steatv- BERRY VrNEs." — AVc do not practice nor approve of the operation. Sea Kaxe. — ^Take a piece of good garden soil, trench eighteen inches to two feet deep, turning in about a couple of cart loads of manure and half a bushel of salt to the square rod; plant the i-oots in rows two feet apart, and about twelve to fif- teen inches apart in the rows. Tlants can be had at the nurseries at $1.00 or $2.00 per dozen, or may be grown from seed to be obtained at any of the seed stores. To be fit for use it must be blanched, either by covering the plants in spring, as it begins to grow, with suitable pots or with light sandy earth. It may also be forced by put- ting warm stable manure around it^ Rhubarb, or Pie Plant. — For this, trench the soil deep and manure heavily. Any good garden soil treated thus will be suitable. Plants should be set three feet apart each way. To be sure of having a certain variety, you must obtain roots, but very good sorts are sometimes produced from seeds. A great deal depends upon the treatment^ good deep soil and abundance of manure being the chief requisites. (L. B., Out "West.) Six best Swnmer Apples. — Red Astracan, Early Harvest, Early Strawberry, Large Sweet Bough, Early Joe, and Summer Rose. Six best Fall Apples — Fall Pippin, Gra- venstein, Pomme Royal, Jersey Sweet, Porter, and St Lawrence. Six best Winter Apples — Baldwin, Swaar, Esopus Spitzenburg, Northern Spy, Tal- man Sweeting, and Rhode Island Greening. — Scions can be sent by mail, if the quantity be small, but express companies are now so numerous that you can procure them easily and saJely through them. You will find nurserymen's ad- vertisements in the Farmer. We cannot recom- mend any one in particular. (W. B., Blenheim.) Peaches ai-e rarely grafted and do not succeed well. They can be budded on the plum or almond as well as on the peach. (A. W., Galesburg, 111.) Half decayed saw dust is a valuable ingredient in manure, and especially stiff soils. We have seen plants growing well in it alone. We have no experience in the applica- tion of coal ashes to fruit trees in a special way. Has any of our readers ? The art of feeding fruit trees to make them proof against blight, is un- known— a great subject for future investigations. We know, from experience, that a dry and moder- ately fertile soil is most conducive to their general well being. (A Subscriber, Buffalo.) Your soil being an "old brick yard" will not be suitable for the peach, which requires a dry friable loam. Tlie apple, pPPLE. Irihstone Pippin, Summer Rose, Pambo, Dwaef Frtttt Trees.— Tou have an excellent article in your last number, onr the subject of Dwarf Fruit Trees, but as they are but little known in this section, and as we are ignorant of their comparative value, you will much oblige some of us who are about to plant trees next spring, by an- swering the following questions in your ;March number. What is the longevity of rn.i- mental Trees for streets, parks, gardens, and plea.sure grounds, Shrubs, Roses, &c., is very large, and offers great inducements to those who desire first rate articles. A complete Descriptive Catalog\uMs sent gratis to all who apply post-paid and send stamps for ]iostage, which must now be pre-paid — 5 cts. for 500 miles < ir umler : 10 cts. over 500 miles and below 1000. A 'Wholesale Catalogue also furnished. t^^ See advertisement of Shrubs, j 9^ 10 8 10 7^ 8 6}ia 8 Butter, do 16 25 16 20 12 16 8 10 8 15 $0.16 a 17 Cheese, do 6>f 7)^ 6 8 6 e)i 5 7 63^ 7 6X 7 Flour, per bbl 4.ST 6.00 4.T5 6.00 4.25 4T5 8.00 4.00 3.37 3.55 2.75 3.12X Wheat, per bush . . .-. I.IT 1.22 96 98 50 68 58 61 60 Com, shelled, per bu. 6T T2 TO Tl 48 50 23 35)i 25 30 39 45 Rye, do T6 T4 T5 69 70 48 50 4C 43 Oats, do 40 45 40 46 81 17 20 22 2-3 3] Barley, do T6 80 95 1.00 6T 70 50 55 46 50 Clover seed, do 8a9>^pr. lb. 9 a 12 per lb. 4.V5 5.25 12;^ per lb. 5.30 5.50 5.37 5.50 Timothy seed, do 14.18 per tee. 2.00 2.50 2.25 1.25 2.50 Flax seed, do 1.35 1.3T;^ 1.50 1.60 1.25 1.50 1.00 1.00 Hay, per ton IT.OO 18.00 13.00 15.00 8.00 12.00 8.00 13.00 13.00 16.00 "Wool, per lb 30 44 31 46 80 40 30 40 26 85 Wooii, hard, per cord O.flO T.OO 4.00 4.50 3.25 5.00 CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Agricultural Chemistry) , 73 Culture of Tobacco, 76 Amount of Water given oS' by Plants during their growth, 77 Flax Culture, 79 Spring and Summer work, 81 National Agricultural Society, 83 Agricultural Implements at the World's Fair, 84 Ladies Depart.ment — 96 Editok's Table — Inquiries and Answers ; Notices ; ust ; Poudrette, &c. Wrought Iron Plows, Trucks, Barrows, &c., &c, always on hand. Also, the Excelsior, or California Plow. [3-3t] Tobacco Seed. TWENTY POUNDS first quality Connecticut River and Virginia Long Leaf Tobacco Seed now on hand and for sale at the Genesee Seed Store. The Seed can be sent in ounce packages, by mail, to any part of the United States. Packages, $1.00 per ounce — 1 oz. for $3.00 Postage paid. J. RAPAL-TE & CO. March 1, 1852. 65 BufTalo St., Itochester, N. Y. A Farm Wanted. A FARM of from 40 to 50 acres, with a good house and out buildings. It must be well adapted to Fruit culture. A letter, i>ost-paid, giving a description of the proprty, and mentioning t<_'rms, addressed to SMITH, to the care o/ Evans & Co, Southern Hotel, Buffalo, will receive an im- mediate answer. [3-lt] To American Inventors and Purchasers of Pat- ent Rights. DEWITT 0. LAWRENCE, late Chief Clerk of the U. S. Patent Office, having resigned for the purpose of resuming his profession in eonection with the business of that office, tenders his services to American Inventors as Solicitor for Patent Rights. All the necessary papers and drawings prepared for obtaining Patents, and personal attendance given at the office on all business entrusted to his agency. Examinations made to determine the patentability of inven- tions, previous to incurring the expense of making applica- tion, upon a rough sketch and description being furnished accompanied by a remittance of $5.00. Investigation made, and advice given, as to the validity of Patent Rights ; and searches of the records in reference to title to territory conveyed, including the fee for recording an assignment, upon a like remittance of $5.00. Current Bank notes will be received at par, thus avoiding the risk incurred from the transmitting of specie by mail. Refers to Hon. L. Cass, Hon. A. Felch, and the Members of the 31st Congress generally. Washington City, I). C„ March 1, lS.'i2. Cranberry Vines. 100,000 CRANBERRY PLANTS fine for transpl.wting, and can be packed and forwarded to any part of the Union. They are of the variety raised in New England, and abun- dant bearers. For sale by F.TROWBRIDGE, [3-lt*] New Haven, Conn. The Practical and Scientific Fanner's oivn Paper. THE GENESEE FARMER, A MONTnLY JOITRNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, ILLUSTRATED WITH NUVEKOUS ENGEAVINGS OP Farm Buildings, Domestic Animals, Implements, &c. VOLUME Xin, FOR 1852. ♦ DANIEL LEE & JAMES VICE, Jr., Editoes. P. BARRY, Conductor of Horticultural Department. F^fty Cents a Year, In Advance. Five Copies for $2 — Eight Copies for $3, and any larger number at the same rate. IW° All subscriptions to commence with the year, and the entire volume supplied to all subscribers. Subscription money, if properly enclosed, may be sent (post-paid or free) nt the risk of the Publisher. Address to DANIEL. I.EE, December, 1S51. lioc^esier, y. T. Postage on the Genbseb Fakmek. — 50 miles or under, five cents per year ; exceeding 50 miles and not over 3iHi, ten cents; exceeding 3U0 and not over 1000, fifteen cents; exceeding 1000 and not over 2000, twenty cents; exceeding 2000 and not over 4000, twenty-five cents; for any distance exceeding 4000, thirty cents. 8TEKI0TTPED BY. J. W. BEOWK, KOCHESTBK, N. T. Vol. XIIL ROCHESTER, N. Y., APRIL, 1852. No. IV. COWS AND CARROTS. Mr. J. G. HoYT, of Exeter, N. H., writes a letter of inquiry to the New England Farmer, asking information as to tlie value of carrots for milch cows, in which the opinions of several dairymen are cited to the effect that carrots do not sensibly increase the quantity of milk given, but they improve its quality and augment the per centage of butter. The editor of the Farmer quotes authorities whose statements are corroborative of the above. It is a little remarkable that, after carrots have been extensively grown and fed to cows for thirty years, no one in New England appears to know the relation which 100 lbs. of this root and 100 lbs. of good hay, grass, or corn meal, bear to any given quan- tity of milk. If our friends there do understand the practical operation? of milk-making, they will thank us for giving them an opportunity of informing iis New Yorkers how many pounds of milk 100 of green clover, timothy, herds grass, blue grass, orchard grass, or a mixture of any two. or of the whole of them, ought to vield in the system of " a good cow." We have visited Massachusetts twice in the last two years, and made particular inquiry on this point, as well as to the relation that 100 pounds of good hay, and a Hke weight of corn meal, bear to any given quantity of milk ; but we failed to ehcit any light beyond a luminous Yankee guess. Why New Englanders should be so opposed to experimental farming with a view to substitute facts for guesses, passes our comprehension, unless the constitutional desire to guess at everything be, in truth the strongest element in the mind of the people. , When a cow eats 60 lbs. of gi-ass a day for a week together, and gives 30 lbs. of milk a day at the same time, how much of the grass goes to form the milk ? If any New England State, or New York, had established an experimental farm twenty years ago, or even ten years ago, no one would now have to ask so simple a question ; nor would there be any doubt as to how much milk 100 lbs. of carrots will yield when fed with st.eeped cut corn-stalks — the way in which we have given them to dairy cows. We have bought carrots, hay, corn meal, shorts, brewers' grains, and still slops, for the production of milk to sell ; and while we do not claim to have made what our friends might consider "scientific experiments," yet our experience is decidedly in favor of carrots. Accurate scientific experiments in rural economy can not be made without costing considerable money ; and so long as a State in which eleven or twelve hundred thousand cows are milked, and which produces fifty million pounds of cheese and eighty- five million pounds of butter a year, is too poor or too rich to pay for any experiments designed to increase the yield of milk from any given amount of food, we feel no obliga- tion to give either our time or money for its benefit in that behalf. As there are 86 lbs. of water, and sometimes 87, in 100 lbs. of carrots, they should be fed with more solid feed to realize their highest virtues, whether eaten by horses, § Uss- ' 'ii:) %^- 106 THE GENESEE FAEMER. oxen, or cows. But men producing milk to sell rarely fail to feed liberally on slops of some kind, or roots that contain more water than green grass does, which is 75 per cent. We recently visited a pretty extensive daiiy establishment near Washington, and found thirty thousand bushels of turneps well housed for feeding cows. In these turneps there is not less than 90 or 91 per cent, of pure water, and yet the milk from this dairy is said to be the best sold in the city. We have frequently heard it commended by intelligent gentlemen who know nothing of the way in which the milk is produced. Nearly all the hay is sold off this farm, and a large stock is kept on roots and cornstalks, shucks and blades. The farm is the property of Mr. Charles Calvert, President of the Maryland State Agricultural Society, and contains about 2700 acres. It is grazed by some of the best Short Horns, Ayreshires, and Alderneys, in the country. Milk is sold at twenty-five cents a gallon by the quantity the year round. From an extended observation and large correspondence, we have reason to believe that the culture of carrots and other roots for the feeding of cows and other stock, is on the increase ; but it is an error to suppose that a pound of carrots is equal in value to a pound of oats for a horse or an ox. 100 lbs. of dry oats contain only 12 of water; whereas, 100 of carrots contain 86 pounds of water. One advantage in feeding carrots is, that the digestive organs separate all or nearly all of the elements of nutrition which they possess ; while cattle and horses often void corn and oats whole, or only slightly digested, and in a way that the farmer loses much of the value of the grain consumed. This remark applies more to the Middle, Western, and Southern States, than to the farmers of New York and New England. The fault we find with the latter is, not that they decline to investigate the principles of good husbandry themselves, but for virtually instructing their representatives in State and National Legislatures to withhold all aid from such as desire to study agriculture as an honorable profession. Nobody knows anything beyond a guess about producing milk, meat, or wool, in the United States ; not because there has been no young men of talent and industry to investigate these branches of husbandry in a critical and satisfactory manner, but because their desire to understand the laws of nature which establish the relations that rocks bear to soils, soils to plants, plants to animals, and animals to their fat, muscles, bones, milk, and wool, has been most cruelly crushed in the bud. A sneer at their " science" is simply adding insult to injury. There is such a thing as killing offspring when born and before ; and this infanticide is inflicted upon rural science in its embryo state, or soon after. We have just had the pleasure of an hour's conversation with Mr. Elias Ayres, an emigrant fronj Worcester county, Mass., to Loudon county, Va., where he has been engaged in the production of cheese for several years. He says that a given quantity of food fed to the native cows of the country, yields about half as much milk, cheese, or butter, as it would have done if consumed by such cows as are common in New England. Hogs require about a third more corn to make 100 pounds of pork in Virginia than in Massachusetts. We have in our possession many letters from practical farmers, which go to prove that some get three times more meat, wool, and dairy products from a given amount of grass, hay, grain, and roots, than others obtain. When we said that 100 lbs. of carrots ought to yield 50 lbs. of milk in good cows, we did not say that good cows as now kept do yield so much. The remark was made, as thousands of others have been, to provoke discussion, bring out the truth, and ultimately convince a majority of our readers that the time has come when the study of husbandry and tillage should co a- mence in this nation of farmers. Before any considerable quantity of milk can be separated from the blood of a cow, the first and paramount wants of her system, for the purposes of constant resp" ition, and to repair the waste of elements in bones, muscles, nerves, and other tissues, .mst be supplied from her daily food. The primary wants of nature being satisfied in :. skillful -. 1^^ manner, wo may then proceed to separate milk from the blood in its passage from the ■? '_^ ^m y , ^-n rjdj^ V^^ ^ THE GENESEE FAEMER. 107 extremeties of arteries into veins in the udder, or lacteal gland, to the best possible advantage. In some glands, two pounds of milk an hour, or forty-eight in twenty-four hours, have been secreted ; and even considerably more than this result has been attained. Now, if we could have our way in educating the youth who are to keep cows, every one should have a clear idea of nature's plan of separating from arterial blood a quart of rich milk an hour. There is no hocus-pocus black art in this beautiful opera- tion, and a child with half an eye may see it, if his dad will only let him. If it were not for the vinegar of prejudice, and the aqua fortis of ignorance, the laws of Providence which really govern the results of farm labor would be studied and obeyed with great success in this republic. All that we contend for is the sober, steady, and diligent investi- gation of the laws of God. If we mistake not, our highest duty and our highest interest alike demand that His laws be regarded as the basis of all agricultural principles. From no other point of view is it possible to see agriculture as it is ; or rather, as it ought to be. Principles, to be worth anything, must be founded in nature, and nature is every- where under the control of laws established by the Creator. A knowledge of these laws is science, a-nd anything short has little claim to that appellation. Hitherto science has done very little for tillage and husbandry, simply because its .principles are treated with general neglect and contempt. Why should whey, which contains very little butter and no cheese, be a valuable addition to the feed of cows for the production of cheese, in dairies for that purpose ? The large per centage of sugar in whey supports respiration, and thereby permits food that abounds in the elements of cheese to be appropriated to the formation of milk, instead of being consumed to keep the animal warm. Nature's process for making milk, and the adaptation of the raw material to her purposes, are matters to be well understood before one can expect to see the relation that 100 lbs. of carrots or grass bear to 50 lbs. of milk, under the most favorable circumstances. BEET -ROOT SUGAR. Sugar is now not only a luxury, but a necessary of a civilized community. — indispensa- ble to the enjoyment and comfort of human life. Its sources are various and inexhaust- ible, being found in greater or less quantities in nearly every vegetable. It is divided by chemists into two kinds, cane sugar and grape sugar : the former being principally obtained from the cane, beet-root, maple and palm trees ; and the latter existing in the grape and nearly all fruits. Cane sugar can be easily converted into grape sugar, but the inverse conversion has not yet been effected. Their composition is as follows : Owne Sugar. Grape Sugar. Carbon, ; 47.1 86.7 Hydrogen, 5.9 6.8 Oxygen, 47.0 56.5 100.0 100.0 Cane sugar is readily obtained in a hard crystallized form, but grape sugar is crystal- lized with great difficulty, and is usually found in the form of molasses. Starch is con- vertible into grape sugar by the use of diluted sulphuric acid, and in the malting process the starch of the grain is converted into sugar by diastase. By the use of yeast, or other nitrogenous, fermenting substance, sugar, from whatever source obtained, is con- vertible into carbonic acid and alcohol, the intoxicating ingredient of all spirituous liquors, wine, beer, cider, &c., first years' shoots should be cut down ; and the next year they will come out tliick and strong, and yield an abundant and most profitable crop. The conimon Eng-, lish willow, or osier, is the best variety for baskets. m .2 THE GENESEE FAKMEE. ' ^' LARGE CROP OF RUTA BAGA. We have received a communication on the culture of ruta haga, from John T. Andrews, Esq., of West Cornwall, Conn., which we are sorry the limits of the Farmer will not allow us to publish. It is full of valuable information, and afibrds encouraging evidence of the successful application of skill and science to farm husbandry. Mr. Andrews says : " I devoted my head and hands to the work of agriculture with the full intention of convincing my neighbors that the idea that a collegiate education spoils a man for a farmer, is a popular error. I have succeeded so well that, though this is my second year at farming, I have taken first premiums this fall, at our County Fair and American Institute, on my cattle, sheep, poultry, turneps, potatoes, and ruta baga. I must add, further, lest you should mistake me for a gentleman former, that the labor on my little fanii is performed almost exclusively by my own hands. For much of the little I have learned of the art of farming, I am indebted to the Genesee Farmer, Working Farmer, and Albany Cultivator, of which I am a constant reader. To these I owe my success^ The quantity of land cultivated with ruta baga was one-fourth of an acre. The soil was heavy and retentive of moisture, but safe from standing water by a gentle descent. It had been for many years a meadow, and yielded but half a ton of hay per acre. It was plowed, manured with twenty loads of manure per acre, and planted with potTttoes, which were a complete failure. The next year it was j^Iowed again twelve inches deep, and twenty more loads of manure applied per acre. After lying a few weeks, forty loads of manure per acre were spread over the surface and plowed in seven inches deep. It was afterwards plowed and dragged till the manure was thoroughly incorporated with the soil. Furrows were then drawn with the plow, twenty-seven inches apart, in Avhich was spread a mixture of guano from the poultry yard, nightsoil, ashes, and gypsum. The furrows were then turned back over the manure, leaving the ridges twenty-seven inches between. Four or five seeds were then dropped on the ridges in holes about ten inches apart, and slightly covered with the garden rake. When the plants "were sufticiently large to be clearly distinguished from the weeds, which were very numerous, the hoe was vigorously applied, destroying all the weeds and leaving one plant in a place. They were sown on the 20th of June and gathered on the 6th of November. The leaves were very large, of a dark green color, reaching from one ridge to the other, completely covering the ground. When gathered they were thrown into heaps of about 100 bushels each, and covered with straw and earth, to remain in the field until needed for use. The crop yielded, by actual admeasurement in a sealed bushel, 416^ bushels, or one thousand six hundred and sixty-six bushels per acre. This, at 50 lbs. per bushel, would be 41|- tons of bulbs per acre, besides a large quantity of leaves, themselves valu- able food for milch cows, &c. We speak advisedly when we pronounce 41^ tons of bulbs per acre a larger crop than has ever been raised in Great Britain. 25 tons is there considered a first rate crop, and is seldom exceeded. The quantity of manure which our friend applied appears excessive, and we hope, for the sake of agi'iculture, quite unnecessary. Twenty loads of good manure to the acre is a heavy manuring for ruta baga, and if to this is added 300 lbs. of super-phosphate of lime, sown with the seed, a good and profitable crop will be obtained. Ruta ' baga possess great power of drawing their nitrogen fi'om the atmosphere, if sujiplied with available phosphates and carbon ; but if large quantities of nitrogen are suj)i)lied in the manure, which was the case in the above experiment, this is employed in the organism of the plant, and its nitrogen-collecting powers are unless. We hope to hear again fi'om our fi-iend, and trust he will continue to unite science with practice, be as successfiU in his experiments as in the one just detailed, and, success- ful or unsuccessful, give his results to the readers of the Genesee Farmer. i