DaDDDDDDDDnDDDDaDDaDDDDDDDDaaaDD 8 R D D a > Eft ffiff M ■ c * W[W Iff 3 D D 9 n □ ] UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS [ LIBRARY D □ D 9 □ ___^_ g I) ■ [ 1 D a D a D D D COLLECT^ ft ARCHIVE* D 1 1 a D D D 1 1 a I l D 1 ! D D D 1 1 a D D 1 1 D a D D D D D D a D 1 1 1 1 D D D D D 1 l D D D D D 1 ! D □ 1 1 n a D S □ ii DaDnnnanDDDDDDDDDDDDaaDnaDDDDDDD jffl — rri o SS. THE GENESEE FARMER: A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE, DOMESTIC AND RURAL ECONOMY. ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, IMPLEMENTS, SHRUBS, FLOWERS, &o. ESTABLISHED IN' 1831. VOLUME XXIIL, SECOND SERIES.H1862. ROCHESTER, N". Y. : JOSEPH HARRIS, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR, TALMAN BLOCK, BUFFALO 6TKEET. 1862. w H W o R W O &■ o p o ^ | . ■■ ■•.•■■ INDEX TO VOLUME XXIII." .257. Agricultural fair in Italy... -fairs tor 1SG2 the, — paper, an old, — items 97, 197, 22S, 35s, 290, 324, — papers, I'rince Albert on, Agriculture, Massachusetts, — in our common schools, — anil the war, — of the State of New York, American farming as seen by an Eng- lishman, American lurks and hoes, — peach in England, — milking-machine in England A model New England town An English farmer's wife, Apple trees, planting, -picker ;..... pic — orchards, trimming old, Apples, Rome Beauty, — of New England, 'the,. , — American, in England, — gathering, — Nova Seotian in England, Army mittens, Artichoke, the Jerusalem, Astor family, the, Ashamed to bring straw to the city, B Jarley, cultivation of, — for sheep, steeping, — born of oats, — high price of, ?aulky horse, starting a, 21, Jams, tight, Sees, management of, 17, 47, 79, 112, 17S, 210, 277 — profits of, — Italian, reply to Mr. Rose, — wintering, — red and white clover for, •7- transporting — are I hey domestic animals, 3eets for sugar, cultivation of the,.... Uean, the white, cultivation of, Beans, beans — who kuows 'em? -for hogs,.: — plant — prolific, 3eauty of English farms, the, Big sou 1 1. kettle Birds and insects, Bones, why catlle chew, — Utility of small, Borrowing tools Borer, fruit tree, Breaehy horse, novel way of curing,.. Butter making in Ireland, — exportation of, Buckwheat, plow land twice for Cavalry horses. Carrot, the -its value, productive- ■ ness, &c Carrots and other root crops, — cultivation of, Carnation a,nd picotee, Cattle, breeds of, — Devon, Cattle, hollow-horn in, ■ — unruly, — points of a Shorthorn, — salting, — soluble food for, — over-fat show,. — relative food for, — shows of fat, — notes on — Thoriey food for 20 832 234 856 46 215 234 297 302 20 338 189 2S9 206 33 29 343 189 62 ■90 154 304 370 32 141 89 366 Cabbages for cows 172 — transplant ng, — sings on, aloes for ]8S — odor from boiling, 3:j i Canadian timber at toe Great Interna- tional Exhibition, 224 Canada, 107 — thistle, legislation on, 271 Catching Irotit, new mode of. 304 Can we compete with the West? 361 Carriage blanket, directions for knit- 'ling 874 Celery, 18!) Cereals at the Great Int. Exhibition,.. 242 Chapters from my correspondence ... 62 Chopping hay and corn, economy of,.. 117 Churning in winter, 10 — skimmed milk, 143 Oheese and butter, exportation of, 276 Chicory, cultivation of, 1ik> Cisterns, cheap, 241 Clover seed, sowing, Ins Colts, hay for in summer, 172 Cows, garget in, 54 — kicking, cause for it, 109, 179 — good, 75 — cabbages for, 172 Cow, the, 50 Corn, soaking seed, 176 — topping or cutting up by the roots,. 317 — mixing varieties of....." 34' i — about raising, 3i;s — grinding in the cob, 365 Cottee in Illinois 74 — substitutes — cultivation of chicory,. 106 Coeoauut, flowering of the, 154 Crushing oats, advantages of, IS Cross between the wild and domestic goose, 139 Crops in England, 323 D Dahlia, dwarf, 156 Design for a 1000-dollar farm-house wanted, 2' S Death of a horticulturist 316 Dewberry, 351 Distinction between a carnation and a picotee 222 Don't lei the grain get too ripe, 214 Douglas fir, the,. 220 tree, rate of growth, 253 Domestic sweetmeats, 342 Ducks and their management, 114 E Eggs, keeping in ashes 47 — how to preserve, 145 Elephantine actor 95 English colouiea at the Great Exhibi- tion, 244 — farmer's wife, an, 33 Evening discussions at the New York State Fair 336 Experimental farmers, 331 Exhibitions, the Great International — . Canadian timber at, 224 cereals at •. . . 242 English Colonies at, 244 novelties at 270 F i'airs, New York State, 323 e evening discussion at, 336 — for 1S62, 257, 292 — Royal agricultural society 233 — English Horticultural Society's, 26 Fat stock, shows of, 51 Farming in England, old and new or- der of, , 86 Farming now and then, 115 — high,' 304 Farmers wanted in Indiana 27S Farmers' boys, 287 Farmers, questions for, 110 Farms, free in Iowa, 289 — b.auty ot English 274 Farms, value of, 354 Farm roller, how to make a good, 246 — how to restore a wornout, 41 Farm, a noble, and a noble herd 268 — a prairie, .' 807 — house, design for, 208 Familiar illustration, a, 95 Fashions, summer, 153 — tor October 319 Fast horses, Beecher on, 206 Fattening fowls, a machine for, 280 Fecundity of In ns, 25 Feeding an army, 33 Feathers fur beds, how to prepare, 131 Fence-posts, coal-tar for, 322 Flax and linen trade ut Ireland 49 — cultivation of, 52, 140 Fields and cattle, notes on, 50 Fistula, cure for, 182 Fir, Douglas, 220, 253 Food for cattle, Thorley's, 211 Fowls, language of, 367 Flowers, worsted, 15s — skeleton, 256 Fruit-growers' society of Western New York 56, 349 Fruit trees in hedges, 61 — growing, profits of, 91 — culture, importance of, 157 — aarden for the family, a, 157 — tree borer, the 1S6 — stamping, '. 278 — garden in Iowa,. 313 — a new, 351 — culture, fascinations of, 372 Free farms in Iowa, 289 Furs, a few words about, 341 G Gardening in-doors 28 Garden, 'what can be raised from a small 26, 61 — flow much seed do I require for?. . 124 — how to keep clean, 215 Geothermal culture, 90 Geese, 118 — cross betwesn the wild and domes- tic 139 Genesee Farmer, bound volumes of,.. 365 Grass land, experiments on 9 irrigating. 363 — Hungarian 87, 209 Grass lands, top-dressing ISO, 346 Greenhouses, double glazing in 27 Green mountain wails, 213 Great English fair, the, 233 Grain grown upon poor soil — Is it as ' rich in all the essential ingredients of nutrition as that which is grown , on rich soil ? 273 Grain sh'd be cut before it is lipe, 214, 331 — importation into England, 272 — aphis 239 Grape vines, renovation of old, 27 transplanting in summer, 814 dead animals for 371 — cost of exporti ng, 54 — mildew in France, sulphur lor, 31 — vine, grafting tie, 61 — vines, summer pruning, 221 — growing and native grapes, 119 — cultur i in California, 156 — trellises, tightening the wires,.. 186, 220 Grapes, charcoal for, 313 — doratseat? 27 — what kind shall I plant? 155 — on Kelley's Island, 220 — guano for, 251 — keeping, 253 — buningin the ground, 814 — mildew on, dry clay as good as sul- phur for, 81 IV INDEX TO VOLUME XXTIT. Grapes, cultivation of, 3?0 e Harness, cleaning and oiling 44 FTh\ iug, ;i fey/ words on, 90$ Hedges 164 Hens, focunditj of 25 Hired help on a farm 151 Hints worth thinking of, 231 Home-made picture-frames and hang- ing baskets, ". 82 How much can be raised from a little plot of ground, 26, 61 — to so w 108 — mucli seed shall I require for my garden 124 — to , atcb a horse 881 — lo I eep a garden clean 815 Hon 'cultural show in England 26 — iu ma from foreign journals, 221, 202,285 ;i 1 5 Hojriii ulturc at the West, 248 — in t allfornla, 871 Honey bees, are they domestic ani- mals? 18 dorse disease in California, 52 — B musical, 887 — how lo catch it, 281 — starting a baulky 21,306 Horses and the war, 85 — cavolry, 16 — ] '.cccher on last, 206 — stalls for, Hi Hi gs, Berkshire,.. 151 Hog cholera, the, 272 I Implement, a useful, 84 Importation of foreign grain into Eng- land 272 Inquiries and answers, 37,67, 99, 129, 168 164, 105, 229. 250 251,824, 856 Indian corn bread, 63 cultivation of, 212 Influence of the moon on vegetation,. 289 ]n-rri outers, spare the 873 Insects, birds and, 238 — aloes for 188 — loss of fruit by in England, 251 Irrigating meadows 171 J ami It January No. of the Farmer— Thoughts on reading 117 Jefferson bs a farmer 237 Johnston, James W. F, 805 Kindling wood, 32 L Ladies' dress fashions, 94 bonnets, some bints about, 224 Language of. fowls, 367 Let farmers take courage, 18 Letter from Samuel Williams, 179 I/u n calves, 141 grain, 239 Loss of lruitby insects in England,... 251 M Massachusetts hort. society, transac- tions of, 55 Maple sugar, making, 86 MANTjRESi Ashes, leached 77 Bones, reducing and applying,;.. 23 Barn-yard manure, 75 Bran lis a manure, 146 Liquid 297 Mapes and his manures, 884 Plaster for potatoes, 108 Pondrette, value of, 171 U Trng from stable 117 Refuse pulp from elder mills 240 Bull lor wheat, 340 Sawdust as an absorbent, HO Band fbr grass land 15 Buperphosphate lor turnips, llo Tillage Is manure 19 Manure, application .of, 204 — surface application of, 214 — SawdUBt as -An inquiry 151 Manures; Mapes and file 834 Map . red, the 850 Mc*'orniiei.'s new reaper In Engli Melons, cucumbers, squashes, dec, how to grow, 151 Meadows, tOp-d icssing, Milking stool for kicking cows, Milk-rooms, pure air for, Mowing machines for small farms trial of, Moon, influence on vegetation, Musi Mules lor the army, breaking iii Mulching young fruit on the prairies,. Musical horse, a good story of, A News items 821, 884, 877 Notes from Canada "West.. 23,245,276, 888 Maine, 24, 53 — by 8. W., 866 Now' you look like a gentleman 208 Novelties at the Q-real Eng. Exhibition, 270 Nothing to do 278 New York State fair, 323 O Oats, advantages of crushing 18 Odor from boiling ham and cabbage,.. 83 Old pastures, improving 172 old apple orchards, trimming 189 Osage orange hedge a'failure and why, 93 Orchard culture and its results, 155 Orchards, cropping 222 Orchids, a few ol the best, 1S9 ( Isage orange premium hedge, 30 Pastures, improving old, 172 Patents remunerative, 1.09 Parlor gardening, glass cases for, 122 Tea" and potatoes on the same land lor hogs 18, 53 Peaches in Minnesota, 81 — in unfavorable climates, 372 Peach, pruning the 62 Peach orchards, protection to not al- ways desirable, 352 — orchards, shelter for, 372 — bon-rs 1>6 — leaf, curl of the, 188 Pear, a large 9u — culture in the Northwest, 27 . — DuChoss meal for poultry,.. . 16 Carrots for horses better than medicine, 45 Clover and grasses enrich the soil, 45 Cutting off the tops to prevent po- tato rot, 77 Corn cobs, 1 44 Cheese per cow, 170 Cheapest way to raise turnips,.... 869 Cold water for burns, 177 < lover hay for cows 257 California wheat at the Great In- ternation Exhibition 208 Cheap summer feed for hogs, 209 Cabbages every year, 77 Draught horses in the West, Ill Don't lie af aid of seed, 144 Does it pay to feed hogs ? 809 Drilling corn, ". 10 Depth of grass roots, 170 Effects of vegetables upon differ- ent animals, 144 Fall plowing for corn, 309 Fattening poultry, 840 — swine, 340 Fat cow, 75 Farmers seldom fail, Ill Facts about apple trees, 817 F errets, 45 Flax Ill Food forcaged seed-eating birds,. 44 Get your seed for spring 44 Good hogs, 44 Grafting the tomato on the potato, 45 Galled shoulders on horses, 144 How to cure kicking horses and runaways, 44 — to preserve potatoes at sea 40 — - to raise pumpkins 176 — to prove the vitality of eggs,. .. 177 Hogs packed in the West llo — in Chicago, 177 Hog cholera, 144 Horse radish for cattle, 110 Horses will be wanted, 176 Horsebacks, 209 Half Leicester and Merino sheep,. 14 Hessian fly, 44 Harnessiug arrangement, 77 Hungarian grass, 20S Improved horse-stalls, Ill Is ihehog agraizer? Ill Increased price of stock, 317 Kindness to animals, .; 15 Lambs tor the tin teller, 15 — killed by swallowing wool, 170 Large hog, , Do Lice "ii cat! e Ill Loss of cattle in California, Ill Leached ashes, 77 Large heifer 40 — egg 46 Los* oi weight in sailing pork,... 817 Magnitude 'f the egg trade. 209 .Milk and butter from Ayrshires,.. 243 Manuring for wheat, 243 Mi it ami fruit Irees 45 Morgan horse for England, 177 Melons 144 Mixing varieties of corn, 340 Now is the time to buy fruit trees,- 111 Oats shoulo. be sown thick, 177 Oilcake vs. oats and barley, 40 Over-fattened show cattle, :U7 Potatoes two years old, 10 Pork, price of, 10 Poultry, 248 Plant beans 170 Prolilieness of sows, 70 Prolific seeds, 40 Preserving game, 40 — plants during winter, 340 Prince Albert on agricultural pa- pers, 40 Questions for farmers no Babbit breeding in France, 14 Relative valueoffood lor milch cows, 209 Raising turkeys, 210 Rat-killing association 177 Bed and white clover for bees, .... 177 Salt for wheat 840 Sand on grass lands, 15 Small pigs 16 Spring wheat in Maine 248 Sheep eating each other's wool,... 176 Shall we all raise wool, 309 Soaking seed corn, 170 Scours in lambs 177 Squashes for milch cows, 144 Superphosphate of lime lor tur- nips, 110 Save the manure, 110 Setting hens,.. 110 Sawdust as a manurial absorbent, 110 Sandy soils can be stirred too much, Ill Sowing peas 77 Sorrel and other weeds, 78 Sorghum syrup 46 Tanning skins, 209 Take care of your harness, 44 The potato disease, 144 — lessons of th'e war, 840 — chinch bug :tud deep plowing,. 44 — Osage Orange as a hedge plant in England 46 — crop of m i|ne sugar, 16 — sex of eggs. 20S — potato crop in Scotland, 15 To kill lice oil -took, 206 — prevent horses kicking in har- ness, 340 — make sow - own their young. . . 177 — remove stumps, 840 — stop bleedoig, 45 Top-dressing meadows, 243 grass hoids iu the spring,... . 78 Topping corn, or cutting it by the ground, 317 Tight barns, 14 Turnip fly, 243 Transporting bees, 176 Unruly cattle, 176 Underd raining, 77, 1 i 1 Varnishing cheese, 177 Value of food for cattle, 369 Ventilating stables, 15 "Washing sheep, 176 Weight of prize grain in Ireland,. 46 Wheat in Minnesota, 16 — and corn doe# not pay in the West, 16 Warts on cattle, 77 Why do we pickle seed wheat to prevent smut ? 144 " What branch of agriculture will pay ?". Ill Worth of poultry in Britain 1000 years ago, .,243 Water-proof boot-soles, lit When to plant sorghum, Ill Yorkshire pigs, 7s Spur-pruning of fruit trees, 80 Squash bugs, aloes for, 253 Strawberry convention, 91 — cultivation of, 157 — culture in Illinois 253 Straw for fodder, value of, 101 — ashamed to bring it to the city, 3G6 Strawberries, irrigation for, 1*7 — planting at night, 252 Sugar cane at the West 54 Swallows, importance of 169 T Tallow tree, the, 872 Test of the value of manure, 58 The farmer is king, 49 The hog cholera, 275 Tillage means manure 19 Tools for farmers, mechanical, 88 To drive away rats, 53 Tobacco at :he North, cultivation of,.. 21 Tomatoes, 189 — mulch the, -. 222 Tomato, beaUhfulness of the 270 Top-dressing meadows — Sowing wheat, 246 Trees scrubbing and washing, 31 — low-headed 154 Tree peddlers— Look out for them,.. . 194 Tree planting, 371 Transplanting bearing grape vines in summer, 314 Tubs tor tiees, ornamental, 1S8 Turnip crops in Canada, premium,... 54 Turnips do not injure the land, 309 — hoe the 215 Turkeys, raising 210 V and V Underdraining, Lord Palmerston on,. 109 Uselul implement, a, 84 Utilizing subterranean fires, a method of, 90 Utility of small birds, 240 Value of manure, test of the, 58 Verbenas— Shall we have to give up? 189 Value of farms, 354 W War and th<> harvest in America, 22 Walks and talks in the garden, 152. 183 219, 247, 282, 810, 346 Water garden 353 Weather, a talk about the, 48 — notes on the, 34, 66, 96, 128, 160, lsl 220, 257, 288, 322, 355, 379 What the ladies wear, 32 — it costs to send corn from New York to Liverpool, 54 Wheat, how much do we eat? 13 — iu Monroe county, cultivation of,. . . 48 — spring cultivation of, 107 — crop in England, 138 — pedigree, 173, 278 — sowing, 26 — depth oi sowing, 271 — manuring, 276, 243 — seed, 279 — what variety shall I sow? 289 — wire worms in, 299 — salt for, 341) — rough surface for, 213 — spring in Maine, 243 — pickling seed for smut, 144 — sowing, 246 — in Western New York,., 862 When to sell wool, .' 279 Whore England gets her timber, 74 Why wool increases iu « eight by keep- ing 322 — does she kick the milk over, 588 — cattle chew bones, IS While and Gray Doyenne Pear in France — Are they the same variety ?. 27 W blows, cultivation and use of, 85 Wine, strawberry, 186 — making, 275, 299 — native, in the army,. 221 Women, American, 126 Wool, a great clip of, 379 — for the army, consumption of, 200 — when to sell, 279 — does it increase in weight by keep- ing ? 322 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. TREES AND PLANTS. Apple tree, dwarf, on the Paradise stock, 56 Astor plant, Great Emperor, in lull flower, 89 Artichoke, common, 141 — yellow 141 Carnations in layers, 218 Chicory plant, common, 107 Dewberry, plant ul the, ; 351 — fruit of th: — natural size, 852 Ferns, 11 specimens of for parlor gar- dening 128, 124 Fir, Douglas, 220 — Smith's Spruce, 220 Flax plant and roi it, 140 Gum tree, Southern, 283 leaf find flower, 284 Grape, the Diana, 121 — vine trained on the double-spur sys- tem 311 Hedge, badly trained, 219 — properly trained, 219 — American Arbor Vita?, 219 Linden, European, 312 Orchid— Showy Dendrobe, 189 Pear trees, pruning, 21S Plum, Diaper Rouge, 310 Potato showing different sections, 138 Raspberry, Brmekle's Orange, 217 Rose, Moss, 28 — Lion des Combats, 92 — General de Brett, 93 Strawberry, Jenny Lind, 216 — Large Early Scarlet, 216 Tree Tomato, the, 184 Tomato plant when set out, 185 — vine trained and in bearing, 183 Wheat, pedigree, • ••• 174 after 2 years repeated selection,. 174 — Thomas' improved 333 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 302 302 301 301 Cattle, heads of Alderneys, Aryshires, Shorthorns, Herefords,, North Devons, 301 Lon^horns, 361 West Highlands 301 Galloways, 301 Cow, Shorthorn, "68 ■ — Alderney • *<>9 — native..." 300 300 308 259 Duck, Malard or Wild 114 Goose, common, 118 — American Wild, 139 FARM AND OTHER BUILDINGS. Barn, side-hill, with sheds, 70 House, duck, I44 — farm, pian for a small, 208 ground and chamber floor for,.. 208 — milch, — Devon, Pig, points of, IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES. Apple Picker, °*° Beet Dibble "0 Pog-power Churn, -1 English Sowing-Basket, 267 H iy Horse-rake.. *0 Machine lor Stuffing Fowls, 2S0 Sowing-Sheet, method of putting on,. .267 POULTRY AND BIRDS. Cock, Crevecceur, 11 — Houdan, 1" — La Fleche, '• lz summer, Aphis, Grain, 239 Sawfly. Gooseberry, 182 Wire-Worms in wheat, 299 MISCELLANEOUS. Army mittens, diagram of, Blackberries, Law ton, trained on wires, Clipping a sheep, 1st stage of, 2d stage of, 3d stage of, Downfall of Master Fluke, Flowers, worsted. (3 figs.) Glass case for parlor plants, Johnston. Jas. F. W., Milking stool Potato Bird, the, Preparing soluble food for stock, dia- gram of, Rustic seats, Thief and the Beggar, the,.. .. Wheat, pickling to prevent smut, mode Zinc Cone, 153 142 142 143 223 158 122 305 179. 207 10 218 259 266 122 INDEX TO CORRESPONDENTS. . „ TTnwp Wm 188, 1S9 A. J. S., Mrs., Armanda, Mich., 4i I u< A. M. H., Rye, N. Y., U9, 150 Bement, C. N., 66 East 29th St., N. T., 83 Brack ett, G. E., Belfast, Me., .' 49 Bradtield J<«hn, 54 Clarke, J. W., Wisconsin,. as. b., D. C. 3., Elgin, 111 30 Dunbar, Bela, North Chili, 109, 17" D. Gates, H7 J. W.,. Egyptian, Union county, 111.,, Folsom, E., Harmony, Me., U54 G G., Ambor, III., ........... W Gregory, J. J. H., Marblehead, Mass., 215 K Kindig, H. S., Westmoreland co., Pa., 117 L. Lewis, Lyman 54 M Miner, T. B.. Clin'on, N. Y., 47 79, 84 8T 112, 116, 145, l75, 210, 275, OT,80T, 339 Mullikin, J. M Reelsville, Putnam co., Ind., •••• 27S O. R., McHenry, 111.. Phi.Miix,F. K., 1™ P. Q., il R| R. W. S., Woodstock, C. W 23, 246, 838 Rose, C. Wm., 62 Exchange Place, N. Y H,:> Ruricolist Lyons, N. Y. 186 R. N. B., Niagara, C. W., 276 S Sanders, C, St. Louis. Mo., 106 Sanborn, I. AV., Lyndon, M., 2ld Scotield.'D. C, Elgin, HI., 1«» Subscriber, a • • *°f S. B. P.. Muskegon, Mich., -••••• J" S. W.. Waterloo, N. Y„ Ho, 1" T True, O. W., Elm Tree Farm, Me., 25, -53 T.M.B I49"5 T. B. M 101 XV Williams. S, \™ w!!d":!1:.^,:::::::v:.v.v.v.v.-.6i;285 w!'B.',"s"waton, China, 24 W. H. S., Penn Yan, N. Y.,... "« «I* S.«, Attica, N. Y., SB, Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., JANUARY, 1862. No 1. EXPERIMENTS ON GRASS LAND. During the past year we made some experiments with artificial manures as a top-dressing for grass [and, the results of which may not prove wholly uninteresting to the readers of the Genesee Farmer. The ground selected for the experiments was a timothy meadow, sis years from seeding. The land nad never been manured. The manures were sown broadcast, May 9th, 1861. The hay from the vari- ous plots was accurately weighed, and the follow- ing are the results: Plot. Kind of fertilizer, Pounds per acre. No. 1. No manure, 2. Superphosphate of Lime, .... 400 a Plaster, 250 3. Salt, 150 5. Unleached Ashes 800 Hay cut per acre — lbs. 2,880 2,860 2,950 8.960 3,620 Unleached Ashes, Superphosphate of Lime,. 800 400 4.680 Unleached Ashes, S'lO ) '• j Plaster of Paris, 250 8. No manure, 3,700 3,330 9. Sulphate of Ammonia, 400 4,560 -n ( Sulphate of Ammonia 400 | . ft(!n 1U- | Superphosphate of Lime,.. 400 f °>uau ( Sulphate of Ammonia, 400 ) 11. ? Superphosphate of Lime... 400 V 5,560 ( Unkached Ashes, 800J 12. No manure, 2,600 Between plots No. 5 and 6 there was an open irain, and we skipped a hundred yards or so on Bach side of the drain, from fear that there might be some difference in the quality of the soil. In view of this fact, the most likely way to get at the real significance of the results will be to compare plots No. 2, 3, 4, and 5, with the "no manure" plot No. 1 ; and plots No. 6 and 7 with the " no manure" plot No. 8; and plots No. 9, 10 and 11, with "no manure" plot No. 12. Knowing from previous experience that in mak- ing such experiments it is not easy to get land of even quality, we left three plots without manure of any kind, in order, as much as possible, to guard against errors from this source. The results show how necessary is such a precaution. Thus the three plots without manure of any kind gave the following results : No. 1, 2,330 No. 8, 3.330 No. 12, 2,000 Such inequality in land that appeared to the eye to be ordinarily even, and which had been previously subjected to the same treatment, is very remarkable, and shows how careful we should be in drawing conclusions from the results obtained from a single year's experiment. We put the results on record, however, and shall not attempt to draw many conclusions from them, intending to repeat the experiments next season. One result, however, is very marked. It was quite manifest during the whole season, and there can be no doubt in regard to it: The plots that were dressed icith ammonia gave a very much greater quantity of produce than any others, In two or three weeks after the manures were sown, the effect of the ammonia was distinctly seen in the much darker color of the grass, and by the middle of June the outside line of plot No. 11 rose up like a wall between it and the " no manure " plot No. 12. It could be distinctly seen from the road, thirty or forty rods distant. A farmer who saw it at this time remarked that "he had never seen grass before." There is one fact that we must not forget to mention. The superphosphate and ashes on plot No. 6, brought in a large quantity of red clover. The effect in this particular was very marked. On1 plot No. 7, with ashes and plaster, there was also a little clover, but not one-tenth as much as from the superphosphate and ashes. In Mr. Lawks' grass experiments in the old park at Eothamstead, the same result was obtained. The plots which received alkalies and phosphates produced hay containing much clover and other leguminous grasses, while those dressed with ammonia pro- duced hay composed almost entirely of grasses proper (such as timothy, etc.). These results on grass land that had not been plowed for centuries, are very remarkable, and Mr. Lawes concludes from 10 THE GENESEE FARMER. these and other experiments that clover needs more phosphates and alkalies (potash and soda) in the soil than are needed hy the grasses. This has been clearly proved to be the case in regard to wheat, wHich is botanically a grass, and is probably true of barley, oats and rye, as well as of timothy and other grasses. The one distinct result of these experiments, is that the manures which have the greatest effect on grass land must be rich in ammonia. The way to get such manureT is not to buy sulphate of am- monia, but to feed out to the animals on the farm plenty of clover hay, peas, oilcake, etc. This will give a manure rich in ammonia, as well as in phos- phates, potash, soda, and all other in- gredients of plant-food. Such manure will be good on grass land, good for com, good for wheat — good, in fact, for every crop that is grown on the farm. As to the economy of using ashes, plaster, salt, superphosphate, and other mineral manures on grass land, each reader must judge for himself. Our own opinion is that such manures are better for leguminous plants, such as clover, beans and peas, than for the ceralia, wheat, .barley, oats, rye, timothy, etc. No. 3. Pump. No. 4. Lead pipe, conveying the mixture to farmyard trough. No. 5. Pump water-pipe flowing rapidly into No. 1, and disturbing the mixture. No. 6. Water level in No. 1 trough. It is important the troughs should be a good size — the larger the better — and fully three feet deep -7 SOLUBLE FOOD FOE STOCK. The Journal of the Eoyal Agricultural Society contains an article showing the advantages of sup- plying animals with water in which meal has been dissolved. The writer says: "Knowing well the advantage of giving a jaded horse a drink of meal and water, 1 concluded it would answer equally well to keep my water-trough in the farmyard con- tinually supplied with any kind of meal that happen- ed to be in readiness — such as raj e and linseed cakes in powder, ground beans, barley, etc. Water is a powerful solvent, and the nutritious properties con- tained in the meal must necessarily be found in a state of solution, and available for the stock of all kinds drinking at the trough." The method employed to provide the stock with the meal and water is shown in the accompanying diagram. No. 1 is the water-trough nearest the pump, into which the meal should be first received; it should always stand half lull of water. No. 2. Farm-yard trough, containing the meal and water, at which young and old stock drink daily. but this must depend on the quantity of water re- quired. The trough (No. 2) should be placed a few inches higher than No. 1, to prevent the per- son pumping from letting the mixture run over and causing waste. The pipe (No. 4) should not be less than l|-inch bore, and protected from frost. This plan of preparing soluble food for stock is attended with the additional labor only of putting the meal into No. 1. All the rest is self actings the water being set in motion by its own gravity. Some experience is necessary to determine the quantity of meal used ; perhaps half a pound per head per day would be a fair allowance- CnuKNiNG in Winter. — You can not get butter out of milk, if there is none in it. Feed the cows well, and thus secure good milk, and there is not much trouble in churning even in winter. Keep the cream in a warm room till it turns somewhat sour. Let the churn be scalded before putting in the cream, so that it will be well heated through and not cool the cream. Let the cream be at a temperature of 65 to 70°, and there will not be much difficulty in making the butter come. We see it stated that if a little rennet is added to the cream just before churning, it will help materially. We think this quite likely, as it would help to gen- erate lactic acid. But do not put in too much. Peofits of Bees. — S. N. Grant, of Iowa, says he is satisfied that, with proper care, a swarm of bees will yield as much profit as a cow. They pro- vide their own food, and come home at night, and are little or no trouble. THE GENESEE FARMER. 11 A FEW WORDS ON POULTRY. On opening the last number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scot- land, one of the ablest agricultural periodicals of Great Britain, we were considerably surprised to •find the leading article devoted to Poultry ! The farmers of England have looked upon poul- try raising as rather a small business. There are plenty of amateur chicken fanciers, and nowhere have game-cocks re- ceived more attention. But as a branch of rural industry, as a remunerative pursuit furnishing wholesome food for the people, poultry, as a species of live stock appro- priately connected with farm manage- ment, lias hitherto as a general rule been neglected. . Stevens, in his unrivalled Booh of the Farm, speaks of this neglect in terms of censure. " Tiie supposition," he says, "that any farmer should devote a part of his time to creveoeur cock. the consideration of poultry, is regarded by him as an unpardonable affront on his manhood. Women only, in his estimation, are fit for such a charge — and doubtless they are, and would do it well too, were they not begrudged of every particle of good food they may bestow on poultry." We do not think American farmers are quite as bad as this, but still poultry does not receive as much care and attention as might be profitably be- stowed upon them. There is such a thing, however, as keeping too much poultry. They do not thrive when kept to- gether in too large numbers. The most profitable way is to keep only as many as can obtain a good portion of their food from worms, insects and the waste of the house, stables and barnyard. They will need additional food at some seasons, but the main supply should be derived from sources that would otherwise run to waste. The chicken fever of 1851-5, though ridiculous enough in some of its phases, had nevertheless the effect of inducing a more general attention to the raising and management ot poultry. The rage for pig 'chickens has subsided., We hear little of the wonderful feats of roosters that can eat corn off the top of a flour barrel without stretching their necks ; but nevertheless the influence of the large Asiatic breeds is still felt — and felt, we think, on the whole for good. They have improved the size, if not the quality, of our common fowls, and given us better layers and larger eggs. There is still room, however, for the improvement of our stock of fowls by the introduciion of new breeds and by the judicious crossing of the old. The rapidity with which fowls multiply soon enables the breeder to correct any defects that may appear in his stock, and a few years attention to the subject would enable anyone to change his coarse, large-boned, profitless fowls into a race possessed of ev- ery desirable feature of form and quality. M. Lavergne, an able French writer, and author of a work on the " Rural Economy of England, Scotland and Ireland," after admitting that England is far ahead of France in nearly every department of agriculture, says : " But France re- taliates in another branch of animal products, which is hardly reckoned in England, but is very considerable with us — that of the poultry-yard. We have long done for our poultry what the Eng- lish are now doing for their cattle, sheep and pigs. We have developed them with respect to preco- cious fattening, and general tenderness: we have atMed to their fineness, whiteness and exquisite flavor." The dryer climate of France, as compared with England, is one reason assigned by M. Lavergne of the superiority of the French poultry, and for the same reason we ought to excel in this coun- try, as our climate is even less humid than that of France. The Journal of Agriculture demurs to the opinion of Lavergne, and thinks that want of care and skill in breeding, rather than humidity of 12 THE GENESEE FARMER, climate is the reason why English poultry has not attained the excellence of the French. Though originating in Asia, fowls have accompanied man — — & HOUDAN COCK. into all quarters of the globe, and they have a plasticity of constitution which soon enables them to adapt themselves to the most varied cir- cumstances. In Holland, The water-land of Dutchmen and of ditches — a country which it is difficult to determine whether it belongs to earth or ocean, fowls succeed admirably when properly treated, and yet the atmosphere has been described as consisting of aqueous vapor, tobacco smoke, and an odor of gin. Although it is true that fowls are raised in great perfec- tion in such a climate, it does not follow, however, that a dryer atmosphere like that of France d cattle and hogs." The varieties planted most extensively are the Baldwin, e Golden and Roxbury Russet, and Rhode Island •eening. There can be no doubt that the soil and climate of estern New York are very favorable to the growth of iples, pears, etc. The fruit is exceedingly fair, and will ways command good prices. A considerable quantity winter apples have been sent from here to England. e have no doubt that those who have exercised due care assorting out all poor and bruised fruit, and in seeing at they have been carefully handled, will realize hand- me profits from their investments. Many apples are also sent from this neighborhood to inada. The variety which commands the highest price Montreal is the Pomme Grise. It will readily bring $450 i $5.00 per barrel, while the. Baldwin sells for $2.50. It a most excellent apple, but of not sufficient size to suit le popular demand with us. It is a favorite with all who ulge apples by the taste rather than by the eye. The ourassa is also a popular apple in Montreal. Both these irieties bear well in this section and should be more euerally planted, especially by all who expect to send pples to Canada. RENOVATION OF OLD GBAPE VINES. Under this heading, in the Journal

, so 1 had neither the ridge nor the dead furrow for mv hedge row, but level ground ; (hen with a common plow' I made a furrow in which I set mv hedge,' placing the plants about four inches apart, and covered the ground so as to leave the ground perfectly level. Cultivating. — 1 took' a double shovel-plow, and as often as the weeds sprang up, or the ground became baked, 1 plowed it up, keeping the ground level. Trimming. — I did no trimming the first vear The second year I trimmed once, which I did about the first Of April, cutting the hedge about three inches above tl ground. The third year I trimmed twice; first, abo the first of April, cutting the hedge about one foot fro the ground. Second, the first of July, cutting aboi three feet above ground ; after which, my hedge has be'f completely adequate to turn all my stock. Of the hedge, the committee say: We do herebv certi; that the above-named hedge has been well cultivated, thi it is a good, substantial fence, and that it is worthy of premium from our County Agricultural Society. SPUR PRUNING OF FRUIT TREES. An article on this subject in the London Florist is s well calculated to be useful to all who cultivate fruit tree that we give a part of it, hoping that it will lead to th practice of this much neglected, but much needed kin of pruning. The last season was such a long and dr one that the wood of the trees ripened very thoi oughly, and as the fruit crop in mauy parts of the coud try was very light the past year, there is every reason fo anticipating a heavy crop for the ensuing season. Over-bearing is an evil to be guarded against, and spu: pruning and thinning of the fruit are the best means ot preventing this. The former has a decided advantagi over the latter, as it can be done when there is no othei work to occupy the attention of the cultivator. It is entirely unnecessary to have trees bent down on* year with the weight of the fruit, and the next year nc fruit at all, or else a very inferior crop. Of course, in extraordinary seasons, like the one we have just passed through, nothing will prove effectual, but in nine years out of ten it is possible to have a good crop of fruit bj carefully attending to the trees. Go where you may, you will find old trees generally full of old long spurs, with ten times more buds than are necessary, and so crowded that scarcely any sun and .air can get to them. Every useless bud which is allowed to expand exhausts the tree and deteriorates the quality of the fruit. When the spurs are crowded, the longest and weakest should be cut clear away, and in those that are left the buds should be well thinned out. All the weak buds and those in the end of the spurs should be cut clean off, leaving the roundest and most plump, and take particular care of those at the base of the spurs. When pruned, the buds should be left at such a distance from each other that the sun and air should have full influence upon them. On old trees that have been neglected, spur-pruning can hardly be too freely carried out. We have ourselves operated largely on old trees of all kinds a few years ago. From one old apple-tree, and not a very large one, either, nearly a cart- load of wood was cut, and with the most encouraging results. The trees have regained fresh vigor, and the fruit has been much finer than ever before; and where the habit of the tree had been to bear malformed, inferior fruit, we have gathered as fine and well-formed specimens as could be desired. People generally blame the season, not their own bad management for the miserable state of their own or- chards. They say that " the springs are so precarious that there is no hope of having a good crop of fruit." If they will try spur-pruning and thinning the fruit, never allow over-bearing, and give the trees a moderate amount of attention, they will find that the weather is not altogether in fault. THE GENESEE FARMER. 31 All trees that have been any way neglected should at ce be gone over. The center of the trees should be ;11 cleared oat, and all shoots when crowded should be i\\ thinned. This done, the shoots should be carefully ur-pruned, leaving the best buds. The result' will be ixt year a crop of fruit much superior in size and quan- ;y to any that has been produced for years. JLTUEE OF THE PEACH IN THE MIDDLE STATES. The editor of the Baltimore Sural Register, who has iid considerable experience in the cultivation of peach ees, remarks that orchards in the Middle States have )t borne good crops of late years, and that many or- lards in locations once famous for the size and qualities " the peaches grown there have either died out or become orthless. It is not always easy to accouut for the causes that have reduced this state of things, for they necessarily vary 1 many instances, and the conditions under which the rchards were cultivated or neglected are not usually nown. Late spring frosts also, and intervals of warm eather too early in the season have not unfrequently led ) the loss of this delicious fruit, and he has also observed lat many of the newer peach orchards have been planted 1 situations and on soils where experience has shown iat peaches will not flourish. The failure of a crop irough unseasonable weather can not, of course, be al- ways prevented, although there are occasions when, as in he case of late spring frosts, the probability of a fair eturn of fruit may be secured by resorting to the same imple means which were adopted for that purpose by ome of the older and more successful peach-growers. The peach flourishes best in a light, loose soil, rather ;andy than otherwise, and, as a general rule, on dry up- ands better than on the slopes of hills, inclined to valleys, hrough which small streams of water flow, and through vhich cold currents of air are constantly sweeping— such /■alleys, we mean, as are subject to have their vegetation .rvjured by those early and late frosts which do not reach ;he upland plateaus. Of course, where large bodies of water modify the temperature, as on the eastern and western shores of Maryland, the level sandy soils of such districts will grow the peach to perfection, and without much hazard. Elsewhere a sandy or gravelly soil, well elevated above surrounding valleys, and therefore having a dry atmosphere, is the best fitted for the culture of the peach. The orchard should, however, be protected from the northwestern winds either by a higher range of hills or by a belt of woodland. If late frosts are to be appre- hended, heaps of brush and weeds should be formed on the windward side, and a smothering fire made so as to let the smoke drift among the trees during the night. During high winds this precaution is not necessary, as it is only during moderately calm nights that the frost is apt to injure the young fruit. No crops should ever be grown in a peach orchard except such as are subject to the hoe— in other words, none but root crops and corn. These may occasionally be grown, but it is far better to plow up the peach orchard every fall, let it lay rough through the winter, and cultivate it throughout the following season without growing any crop on it whatever. If, in additiou to these simple rules, the trees are judiciously pruned ; are worked annually about their roots, when half a peck of wood ashes should be spread around the stem of each tree, and if they are also carefully freed of the peach worm by following it into its recesses under the bark at the base of the tree, we should hear much less frequently of the failure of the crop. SCRUBBING AND WASHING TREES. The Germantoion Telegraph thinks early winter the best time for scraping and washing the trunks of trees. It is well known to all observing fruit growers that the loose bark of trees is the winter quarters of myriads of insects, where they securely remain until the ensuing spring, when the warm, genial weather warrants them to quit their cozy homes and begin their destructive opera- tions for the season. We ha^e found a narrow saw, rather fine toothed, to be an excellent tool in rasping off the superfluous bark. It accomplishes it more uniformly than a hoe, trowel, or other scraper ; a trowel, or a short handled hoe, however, is very good, when the other may not be possessed. After the bark is removed, the trunks should be washed thoroughly with a preparation of whale-oil soap and water, say in the proportion of a pound of the soap to four gallons of water. It can be applied to large trees with a hickory broom or a stiff whitewash brush, and to small trees, especially dwarfs, with the hand scrub-brush. Sickly trees, which can at this season be easily detected by being covered with a species of fungi, or perhaps more properly a peculiar in- sectiverous deposit, should be scrubbed so as to com- pletely remove this. The mixture will of itself benefit the tree, while the removal from the stem of all extrane- ous and injurious substances, will give to it new health and vigor the ensuing season— in some instances to a sur- prising extent. When whale-oil soap is not obtainable, lye may be used, but it should not be very strong. Dry Clat as Good as Sulphur tor Mildew on the Grape.— P. Lazaris, of Athens, gives the results of several years' experiments which he has made with various sub- stances for arresting the oidium or mildew on the grape. He thinks any dried and pulverized substance which does not injure the fruit or foliage of the vine will answer the purpose. He prefers dried clay. It should be free from sand or gravel, dried in the sun for a few hours, and then pulverized very finely and sifted, and then ap- plied the same way as sulphur. Sulphur for Grape Mildew in France:— "M. le doc teur Guyot" has received from the Minister of Agricul- ture a commission to examine into the state of vineyards in France, and in consequence of his report, 500 francs have been given by the Government to be expended in the purchase ot sulphur, which is to be given to. the vine-grow- ers who can not afford to procure it for themselves. This shows the importance attached to the use of sulphur in arresting mildew on grape-vines. Peaches in Minnesota.— The Minnesota Farmer and Gardener says : " The peaches grown about Saint Paul are all protected in the winter by training the branches near the ground and covering in the fall. 32 THE GENESEE FARMER. ARMY MITTENS. The following directions for knitting army mittens will be interesting to many of the fair readers of the Genesee Farmer. The accompanying cut is half the length and half the breadth of the mitten. Use needles No. 15, and grey or blue mixed yarn No. 20, or coarser. Any color except white will do. Length of mitten, 11 to 11* inches. Width over palm 4i to 4 inches. The pair should weigh at least three ounces. They may be either knitted or crocheted, but the former are the warmest and most durable. It is advisable to knit a finger on the left as well as on the right hand mit- ten, so that they can be used on either hand. Kindling Wood.— Nothing is more get up on a cold morning and find, on fire, that there is no kindling wood is always a supply on hand. unpleasant than to going to light the See to it that there HOME-MADE PICTUKE FRAMES AND HANGI BASKETS. First get a carpenter to saw out a frame of the shi you wish. Gather together some pine cones, and a f nuts of different kinds, such as Brazil nuts, hazel nu hickory nuts, almonds, acorns, and the like. Dark c ored nuts are generally considered best. Take some of the largest pine cones and cut the lea* oft, glue them around the small end of a cone or the c of an acorn, in the shape of a rose. One of theie each side of the frame will do. Then glue thickly arou; the outer and inner edges of the frame these leaves oft cones, and fill in the remaining spaces with the nu, small cones and pieces of leather made to imitate oi leaves as profusely as possible, leaving no part of tl frame uncovered. Good taste in arranging them will , course, add to the beauty of the frame when finishe After this is done, glue around the outer edge of thefraj some of the smaller cones sq as to extend over the ed-e A bunch of raisins on each side will sometimes add to tt appearance, but good taste will dictate as to any addition After the glue is dry the whole should be varnishe with a soft brush at least twice, with good furniture va, rush, and left to get perfectly dry before being expose to the dust. They should be covered when the room i swept, as the dust is very difficult to remove. Some prefer a simple piece of pasteboard cut into th desired shape, but such a frame is liable to bend and the, oosen the pieces glued to it. It will do to make the firs tna on The nicest frames are made on foundation; swelled from the outer edge toward the center Th, shape of the foundation makes a great difference in th, appearance of the frame. The glue should be of the best kind and kept quite hoi while in use. A great variety of material may be used in making those frames, which are quite pretty, and cost only about one fourth the price usually asked' for them where they are sold. The baskets for dried flowers are made in the same war on cocoanut shells for a foundation. The smaller ones should be used for this purpose. recTnXr ^7 ,WbAB-A »°velty in petticoats has eceutl, been adopted among fashionable ladies in Eng- land. For all but dress, the white petticoat has been dif carded for one of alpaca; and these have a great advan age over the linen or cotton ones, i„asnn,eh&aT h™ lighter, and do not lose their stiffness. Of course i il necessary that if the dress be a grenadine, barege or other dear texture, the petticoat must be of thfslne broad bit? 5 m 6 77 fU" aDd S°red> and h^e a broad black ribbon or velvet above the hem; sometimes •keVST, 7Umng0f ^^ ribb°" P»* « i» vT dj kes. The dresses are invariably caught up at the side o show this under petticoat. Where it is not necessary o match the tint of the dress, a .tone color is the bS shade for wear Those petticoats will certain^ ,a through he winter, their usefulness being their chief re- commendation ; the material never sinking into folit however long they may be worn. ' nr^7l-~y?he.n Justinian built what is now the mosaic of St. Sophia, in 538, the mortar was charged ™S and to this day, after the lapse of thiteen centerie^ S atmosphere is filled with the odor centa.nes, the THE GENEbEE FARMER S3 POINTS OF A SHORTHORN COW. he following features constitute, I trow, he beau-Weal of a Shorthorn Cow :— ram, massive, round, deep-barreled and straight-backed ; il:,l quarters level, lengthy, and well packed ; highs wide, fleshed inwards, plumb almost to hock , wist deep, conjoining thisfhs in one square block ; oin broad and flat, thick-fleshed, and tree from dip ; ■ick rib' " well home," arched even with the hip ; ins flush with back, soft-cushioned and not too wide; links full and deep, well forward on the side ; ore-ribs well fleshed, and rounded like a drum; ore-flanks that even with the elbow come ; rop " barreled," flush with shoulder and with side , rirth large and round-not deep alone, but wide; houlde.r sloped back, thick-covered, wide at chine; 'oints snug, well-fleshed, to dewlap tapering fine; Feck vein filled up to well-clothed shoulder-point; inn 'full above, turned in at elbow-joint; ,egs short and straight, fine-boned 'neath hock and knee, ie'llv cvlindrical, from drooping free ; rsonal attention to her household, and has leisure to itertaiu handsomely the friends and guests of the family. Feeding an Army.— To feed the 600,000 troops now in le Union army there is required each month 14,625,000 ounds of pork, or 24,375,000 pounds of fresh beef; 56,994 barrels of flour; 48,750 bushels of beans, or ,050,000 pounds of rice; 1,950,000 pounds of coffee; 392,000 pounds of sugar ; 195,000 gallons of vinegar ; 2,449 bushels of salt ; 8,580,000 pounds of potatoes. The upply of candles is 292,500 pounds each week, and of oap 7S0,000 pounds. A Big Soap Kettle.— B. T. Babbitt, of New York, he well known soap and saleratus manufacturer, has wected a tub capable of holding 250 tons of soap ! The sost for the grease alone in a single charge is $20,000. Steam is employed for heating it ; and 3,000 feet of one- inch pipe, coiled on the bottom, are required for this pur- pose. Mr. B., with his facilities for cooking, could fur- nish 250,000 soldiers with two pounds of good bean-soup in one installment. An idler boasted to a farmer of his ancient family, lay- ing much stress upon his having descended from an illus- trious man who had lived several centuries ago. "So much the worse for you," replied the farmer; "for we find the older the seed the poorer the crop." Man-Eating Hyenas.— There are man-eaters among the hyenas, and these hominiverous animals are greatly dreaded on account of the exefeding stealthiness and craft with which they achieve their object, They very . seldom endeavor to destroy the adult men and women, but limit their attacks to the young and defenseless chil- dren. Ou dark nights, the hyena is greatly to be feared, for he can be guided to his prey by the light of the noc- turnal fires, which do not daunt an animal that is pos- sessed by this fearful spirit of destru'etiveness, and at the same time can make his cautious approach unseen. As the familv are lying at night, buried in sleep, the hyena prowls round the enclosure, and, on finding a weak spot, the animal pushes aside the wattle bands of which the fence is made, and quietly creeps through the breach. Between the human inhabitants and the fence, the cattle are picketed by night, and would form an easy prey to the hyena, if 'he chose to attack them. But he slips cautiously amid the sleeping; beasts, and makes his way to the spot where lies a young child, wrapped in deep slumber. Employing the same silent caution, the hyena quietly withdraws the sleeping child from the protecting cloak of its mother, and makes its escape with its prey- before it can be intercepted. With such marvellous cau- tion does this animal act, that it has often been known to remove an infant from the house without even giving the alarm.— Boutledgis Illustrated Natural History. The Horse and the Lion.— There were some horses on board belonging to Major Kemball, the Consul General ot Bagdad, one of which got loose and leaped overboard just at dawn. The steamer was then about half way to Bagdad, getting under weigh alter anchoring as usual for the night". The horse was not missed for half an hour, but was then descried ashore in what seemed very un- pleasant proximity to a noble lion. The lion circled round an 1 round him, always closing in. The horse re- mained motionless, bevond turning his head sufficiently to watch the lion's movements. Suddenly the latter gave a tremendous bound, but the horse was too quick for him, and escaped with a slight scratch ; but, instead of gallop- ing away, he onlv went a hundred yards, and again stood still. The lion commenced his former tactics with a sim- ilar result, only his bound was less vigorous this time. The horse did hot even yet take completely to his heels- he seemed either tied bv some strange fascination, or in- clined to tantalize an enemy, from whom a few minutes canter would have entirelv freed him. Again the lion commenced his circles ; but ere they were narrowed to springing distance apartv had landed from the steamer, and the instant the horse had descried them he came gallop- ing down as fast as he could, while the lion stalked break- fastless awav toward the jungle.—" The Persian War of 1856-1857," in. Blackwood's Magazine. Prevention of Sea -Sickness.— Let a person on ship- board, when the vessel is bounding over the waves, seat himself, and take hold of a tumbler nearly filled with water or other liquid, and at the same time make an effort to prevent the liquid from running over by keeping the mouth of the glass horizontal, or nearly so. When doing this, from the motion of the vessel, his hand and arm will seem to be drawn into different positions, as if the o-Hss were attracted bv a powerful magnet, Continuing his efforts to keep the mouth of the glass horizontal let him allow his hand, arm, and body to go through the various movements— as those observed in sawing, plan- ing, pumping, throwing a quoit, &c— which they will be impelled, without fatigue, almost irresistibly to perform ; and he will find that this has the effect ot preventing the giddiness and nausea that this rolling and tossing of the vessel have a tendency to produce in inexperienced voya- gers.— Athenaum. A firm in Scotland, celebrated for the manufacture of steel, has recently contracted to furnish the French Govern- ment with muskets so constructed that they will discharge seriatim through one barrel sixteen crrtridges, by means of a slide containing sixteen chambers. VV hen the con- tents of the slide are fired off, another loaded slide can be inserted by the soldier in a few seconds, by which thirty- two shots can be discharged in one minute. By drawing the trigger the chambers containing the charge adjust themselves to the barrel in succession. The model is furnished by the French Government. 34 THE GENESEE FARMER. S|"s$r> ^ft% mm for their efforts to increase our circulation, we offer ; following exceedingly liberal list of Cash Prizes : 1. FIFTY DOLLARS, in Cash, will be paid to the person who id's us the largest number of subscribers for the present volume the Genesee Farmer bef ire Hie 15th day of January, 1662. 2. THIRTY DOLLARS in cash to the person who shall send i second highest number, as above. 3. TWENTY DOLLARS for the third list. 4. FIFTEEN DOLLARS for the fourth. 5. TEN DOLLARS for the fifth. 6. NINE DOLLARS for the sixth. 7. EIGHT DOLLARS for the seventh. 8. SEVEN DOLLARS for the eighth. 9. SIX DOLLARS for the ninth. LO. FIVE DOLLARS for the tenth. U. FOUR DOLLARS for the eleventh. 12. THREE DOLLARS for the twelfth. 18. TWO DOLLARS for the thirteenth. 14. ONE DOLLAR for the fourteenth. In competing for these prizes, it is not necessary that e club should be all at one post office, or sent in at one me. Send in the names as fast as they are obtained, ac- impanied by the money, 37J cents each for the Genesee zrmer alone, or 50 cents each for the Farmer and Rural nnual together. The names of the successful competitors, together with le number of subscribers sent, will be published in the ebruary number of the Farmer, and the money immedi- ;ely paid. Now let us see who will take the prizes. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory or 1862.— Among the contents of the Rural Annual for lis year will be found articles on the Culture of Apples, 'ears, Peaches, Plums, Grapes, etc., with a list of good arieties; also of Strawberries, Raspberries, Currants, tc. ; on Anndfels and their Culture ; on the Manufacture f Domestic Wines ; on the Cultivation of Wheat, Bar- ey. Oats, Rye, and Indian Corn ; on Cutting Potatoes for Wanting; on Harrowing Potatoes; Chinese Hogs ; Eng- ish Mutton Sheep ; Making Hay ; Covering Grass Land vith Straw; Culture of Figs; on Poultry; on the Cul- ture of the Peach in the Middle States ; Fruit and Mala- ga; Protecting Plants from Frost; Summer Pruning Apples; Rules for Arranging Ornamental Grounds; Fire- proof Wash for Roofs, etc.; on Cider-Making; Seeding with Clover among Corn; to Kill Canada Thistles; Amount of Roots from Clover and Grasses ; to Destroy Insects, the Poultry Mildew; Trimming Osage Orange Hedges ; Cultivation of the White Bean ; Moss on Roofs ; Whitewash; a Novel Ice- House; Application of Manure; Toads and Bees ; on the Cultivation of Dwarf and Stand- ard Pears ; Mulching the Currant ; Mildew on the Grape ; Spirteas and their Culture; Cold Graperies; When to Gather Grapes ; Low-Headed Trees ; the Delaware Grape ; Strawberries ; Aphides on Trees ; Covering Grape-Vines in Winter; Aerating the Soil; Warts on Cattle; Cut Wovm and Corn Grub Killer; Treatment of Milch Cows, etc., etc. Price 25 cents. Sent prepaid by mail to any address on the receipt of price. Address Joseph Harris, publisher of the Genesee Farmer, Rochester, N. T. Specific Premiues.— As there are many of our Agent- friends who do not compete for the Cash Prizes, we offer the following list of Specific Premiums : 1. To every person who sends us Eiout Subscribers, (at our lowest terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send, postage paid, a copy of our beautiful twenty-five cent book, the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862. 2. To every person who sends us Sixteen subscribers, (at our lowest club terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will k send one extra copy of the Genesee Farmer, and one copy of the Rural Annual, prepaid, by mail. 8. To every person sending us Twenty-Four subscribers, (as above,) we will send two extra copies of the Farmer, or two copies of tin Rural Annual and one extra copy of the Farmer. Those who send more than twenty-four will probably take one of the Cash Prizes. If not, Specific Premiums will be sent in the same ratio as the above. •-••• A Twenty-Five Cent Premium to each Subscriber. — To each member of a club of eight subscribers for the Genesee Farmer, at 50 cents each, we will send, prepaid by mail, a copy of our beautiful twenty-five cent book, the Rural Annual and Horticultural Director)/ for 1862, as a present. In other words, for $4 we will send 8 copies of the Gen- esee Farmer and eight copies of the Rural Annual, together with an extra copy of the Rural Annual to the getter-up of the club. For $8, we will senr? 16 copies of the Genesee Farmer and 16 copies of the Rural Annual, together with an extra copy of the Farmer and an extra copy of the Rural Anuual to the person getting up the club. ~+- To our Agents. — We desire to compensate all our friends who act as agents for the Farmer and Rural An- nual. See the list of Cash Prizes. Few, very few, com- pete for them. You can secure one of the highest if you will but try. Send on the. names as fast as obtained, and the papers will be forwarded by return mail. We will cheerfully send extra copies of this number as specimens to all who desire them, without extra charge. We have also a few large showbills which will be sent prepaid, gratis, to all who can use them to advantage. Short-Horns and South Downs.— James 0. Sheldon, Esq., of Geneva, N. Y., offers some of his Short-horns for sale in our advertising columns. Mr. S. has the finest herd of thorough-bred Short-horns in Western New York, and there are no better either in Europe or Amer- ica. His South Down sheep also are unsurpassed. He has just received from Mr. Rigdon, of Sussex, England, the First Prize Yearling South Down Buck at the last Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society at Leeds. ►•-. EverySubscriber of the Genesee Farmer should have a copy of the Rural Annual for 1862. Price 25 cents. Sent prepaid by mail to any address. Every person get- ting up a club of eight subscribers for the Genesee Far- mer will receive a copy, of the Rural Annual for his trouble. «•••• The postage on the Genesee Farmer is only 3 cents a year in this State, and 6 cents to all other States. We prepay the American postage on all papers sent to Can- aad without extra charge. — — — — ♦»« , The Markets.— There has been so little change in the markets since last month that we omit our usual Report. 3G THE GENESEE FARMER. The Genesea Farmer-Opinions of the Press, Every mail brings us papers saving a good word for the Genesee Farmer. It is customary to reproduce these notices but our space forbids. We assure our brethren of the Press, however, that their good will and kind words are fully appreciated. We can find room for only a few of the many hundred notices recently received: Its contents are unsurpassed.-i^^y,^ Star {Pa.)°l&l°e. ^ ^ the handS °f *™J&™^-Mt*tom „ ju! GEu KSEE Pahmb«— This is an able farm journal and the cheapest we know of anywhere.-//^LC ,S SS^ C°UUty Deed J"St such - work.-&„w! ceived DeiTisbsn n,umber °f the Genesee Farmer is re- SiUu'ltu a„^fet-:nir^PfS0D lV'tereSted ln The Genesee Farmer contains a great varietv of n™ tical articles Thi« i,i,^i,k- < i ° . , al lev ot prac- fi, JkE ,Ge'vesee Farmer is around again This is on* «f w so cheap that all can afford to til o it w , /'Wf The Genesee Fvkmpr • rThio »~~ n * • > monthly is received I The' \ll v " Dt agricultural able. It is published in In f eniber„'> 1S specially valu- and is, therefore convenieut fcJbiSinW '" eaCh ?°- wiIrinSrnV;AopicEsE SLg" ?Ur tab,f' "--"I fi«od to promote theVS of L$8EE? "Aff- pounds theories, it does so wit h . • \ W,hlIe U pr°- bcari»g up„„ «; m-TAaKEJiSiESS _ Ihe Genesee Farmer.— The Deromh*,. „ u V.. Eh 6'- h°rtlCU ture' stock '"sing, and everythi, which can in any degree prove of interest to fame We have no hesitation in recommending it to our reade shoiTd bf t^r'T1 °f US ClaSS P"W»hed, and one wh, should be taken by every individual who has an inters m the cultivation of the soil. And then the cost (on T h!ntS .B yT} briDS'S M within the reach of every™ It has a ready, as it deserves, a very large dreulatV }Z°^tamlisent farmers of Canada ^stc-£l Genesee Farmer. -The December number of th excellent Agricultural periodical is received It contah h "gyre.UU 'It matter ^^^ t0 "S-Mft nave great pleasure in recommending it to then Joseph HarrIS, Rochester, N. Y.-sLlnel cZy™ The eleventh number of the XXII. volume of th ricliTv f^T? ,°f tl\e Genesee Fa>™>- * o« out [ab J wee-n±efi?VVlths0lid ^ncnltnrel matter We ^Mt£S^ it - by Tnsl u'ltry- It1S Polished at Rochester \ Y gnvmgs.-Congrregational (JR jrj ^w.waf pr°Pnate en The Genesee Farmer.— This cheanest anri k„W* !e nJlE GeAX„ESEE Farmer ^ an old established monthly p'EhtdWRfche^gr^ S^'^V0 ^l re r h;aIth0leTh°eTi T ^ b?e" P0™^*" S2& It Western £ & ^ ad™nced state of agriculture rresiern j\iew York is owing in great nart in th;„ paper, and we feel that we are iuitiftVH M„ P„ • tf 13 Wheat does not Pat jn Iowa.-Mt. Du,NE Wilson Secretary of the Iowa Agricultural Society, estimates the yield of wheat in that State the past year at 12 bushels per acre. The price obtained is 40 cents per bushel, or $4.80 per acre. He thinks this involves a loss of $2 per -re, or about three millions of dollars for the whole State! He thinks the farmers of the Northwestern States can not afford to raise wheat, except for home con- sumption. The great crop of the west is corn. Iowa produced ast year, estimating the yield at. 35 bushels per acre which is 10 bushels less than in 1860), over fifty-two mil- lion bushels. This Mr. W. thinks will fatten over *8>000,00U worth of beef and pork, even at the present OW prices, so that, Mr. W. says, no one need suppose that farming does not pay in Iowa. He estimates that over a million dollars worth of sorghum syrup and sugar was raised in the State last year. A todng farmer asked an old Scotchman for advice in his pursuit. He told him what had been the secret of his own success in farming, and concluded with the following Zrmn!l't'leVeT' SANDIE' ^"-ab°ve all things, nbv^ get ,n debt, but if ever you do, let it U for manure "• THE GENESEE FARMER. 37 Inquiries and Answers. Subsoil Plow. — (J. Maohor.) We are not acquainted with the plow to which you allude. Husking Corn.— (M. R.) The price usually paid for husking corn in this vicinity is 3 cents a bushel of ears. We have known 4 cents paid. Foot-rot in Sheep.— (Benj. Turner.) Pare the hoofs, and then with a feather apply some muriate of antimony, or a strong solution of sulphate ot copper. Coal tar is a preventive, as well as a cure. Grafting Apples and Pears on Crab Apple, and Peaches on Plums. — (C. H. P., Greenville, Mich.) You will probably be able to work successfully the different varieties of apples on the wild crab- apple stock, but the pear will not make a union with this stock sufficiently lasting to be useful. Working peaches on plum stocks does not reuder them hardier, but admits of their culture in land somewhat heavier than is suitable for the peach. Rice for Pigs. — (A Long Island Farmer.) We do not recollect any experiments showing the value of rice as food for pigs. This we know, however, that rice contains a huge available amount of carbonaceous matter, and must, when mixed with some highly nitrogenous food, such as peas, be very nutritious. Whether it will pay you to feed damaged rice depends on the price. It can sometimes be obtained at a cheap rate. In a London paper now before us (the Agricultural Gazette) it is offered for £4 or $20 per ton. If you use it, we shall be glad to hear the re- sults of your experiments. a " What Breed of Pigs shall I Keep ?"--(R. T.) That depends on circumstances. Near a large city, where fresh pork is in demand, a small breed will probably be most profitable, as small pigs, that are fat at an early age, al-. ways command the highest price. This is the reason why the "small breeds " are so popular in England. The Es- sex or the small Suffolk will in this case suit you. On the other hand, at the West, where corn is abun- dant, the large breeds that will attain great weight at say 18 months old, will be most profitable. Such a breed as the Yorkshire would there be desirable. Asphalte Floors. — (R. T. A.) They are quite common in England. They are made as follows : Dig sifted gravel, such as is used for topping walks, and use coal gas tar; level the ground perfectly ; mix gravel and tar, two quarts ot the latter to each bushel of the former, till every particle of gravel is saturated with tar. This is best done on a boarded or stone floor; spread evenly, about one inch thick ; roll till hard with a heavy garden roller. When dry, add from 2 to 5 inches rnore, according to the purpose for which the floor is required. Roll as soon as laid, and frequently, until it is quite solid. Grapes for Wine.— (R. H. M., Palmyra, Ind.) The Clinton Grape possesses no superior qualities to the Ca- tawba for wine purposes, where that variety can be grown iu perfection, but is in every respect inferior. The Del- aware is the only variety, in our estimation, which is bet- ter for this purpose, and we shall expect to see it planted more extensively for vineyards than any other sort. While it is equally as productive as the Catawba, it has the advantages of 'being hardier, earlier, and better iu quality. Even farther north than where the Isabella ri- pens, this sort can be produced in perfection. Best Climate for Sheep. — (W. Cook.) We have not space to answer your inquiries in full this month. Sheep can stand cold weather without injury if it is dry. Sudden changes and cold rains are very injurious. We believe sheep require shelter quite as much in the Southwest as at the North. The weather is not as cold, but is more changeable, and the sheep frequently get thoroughly soaked to the skin. In this condition a cold, raw wind, and a damp soil can not help but carry off much of the heat which is necessary to the well-being of the sheep. The natural heat of the body of sheep (105°) is much higher than that of horses and cattle. This heat is kept up by the consumption of food (or burning of fuel) in the lungs, etc., of the animal. To prevent this heat from flying off, the sheep are provided with a good warm coat of wool. To be effectual, however, the coat must be kept dry. In a cold, dry climate, if the wool gets a little wet on the outside it is soon frozen, and this acts as a coat of mail, with a good warm lining of dry wool inside, so that the heat from the warm body within does not fly off. It is said that the Scotch Highlanders in olden times, when exposed during frosty nights, wet their plaids before lying down to sleep, and by holding them for a short time from their bodies they were frozen into a stiff, hard board, sufficiently thick and impervious to defend them from the cold. The slight coat of frozen woof acts in the same way. But in wet weather there is no such protection, aud so it is that you will find it equally important to provide shelter in the warm, but wet and changeable, climate of the Southwestern States. Mixing Paints. — Will some ot your correspondents who have had experience furnish a few directions tor mix- ing paints for general use on the farm? — C, Avon, N. Y. The Rev. G. A. Anderson writes : " The December number of the Genesee Farmer has come to hand, as usual full of valuable information to any man, no matter what his position in life may be. It is to be hoped that your subscriptions for 1362 will be more than double that of the past year. Many persons have objected to what they call "book farming," but there can be nothing said against following the advice you give us. The more such a paper is read, the better will our land be cultivated, aud the less idleness and dissipation will there be." Premium Crops in Maine. — Some friend has kindly sent us the Report of the Committee on Crops of the An- droscoggin (Me.) Agricultural Society. The first prize for corn was awarded for a crop of 72 bushels of shelled corn per acre. The first prize potato crop was 280 bush- els per acre. The first prize ruta-baga crop was 165 bushels on one-quarter of an acre, or at the rate of 5S0 bushels per acre. Carrots 480 bushels per acre. ►•-• . Sheep in Iowa. — Mr. H. Ten Eyck, of Madison county in this State, took 113 Merino ewes in the autumn of 1860 to Iowa. He is so well satisfied with the result that he has recently increased his flock to 1,200. He thinks Iowa well adapted to wool-growing. ss THE GENESEE FARMER. Special Notices. Fruit-Gkowers' Society of Western New York. — The An- nual Meeting of the Fruit-Growers' Society of Western New York will be held in the Court House, Rochester, N. Y.. on Wednesday, the 8th day of January, 1862. By order of the Council. C. P. Bissell, Secretary, Rochester, N. Y. Partial List of Gifts Given at the Metropolitan Gift Book-Store during the Past Four Weeks. — 47 Gold and Sil- ver Watches, 18 Large Size Silver Ice-Pi*chers, 31 Gold Chains, 12 Silver Tea-Pots, IS Silver Cake-Baskets, 21 Silver Card-Re- ceivers, 112 Sets Silver Forks, 87 Sets Tea and Table-Spoons, 13 Silver Tea and Coffee-Urns, 31 Silver "Wine and Milk-Pitchers, 8 Silver Tea-Sets, 27 Gold Band Bracelels. 145 Gold Pens— Silver Extension Cases, besides over Ten Thousand other articles of value. A Gift accompanies each Book, varying in value from 50 Cent to One Hundred Dollars. Two Hundred Presents can be obtained at this establishment for the price of one. ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only such — will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer tor twenty-five cents a line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to our columns, at fifty cents a line. TO DAIRYMEN. THE owner of a large farm in Upper Canada is desirous of selling the milk of FIFTY COWS to a CHEESE OR BUTTER MAKER for a term of years, commencing next summer. He will pro- vide the cows, buildings, pasture, feed, bedding, and attend- ance ; and be entitled to the calves and manure. The dairyman to provide milkers, and pay for the milk by the gallon. The number of cows may be increased at the option ot the dairyman to 2 0. The land produces excellent Clover Pastures and Root Crops. No one need apply who is not' a first-rate Cheese or Butter maker, and able to pay cash weeklv for the milk he gets. Offers addressed " DAIRTMAN," Globe office, Toronto, C. W., will receive immediate attention. Toronto. C. W., Dec. 5. 1861. Ja — It FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 230 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. I^OR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLACE for upper 1 thread, and BROOK'S SIX COiID RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country: also in cases of IOO dozen each, assor ed number*, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. Ja — ly Grajje Vines— Clubbing. OPORTO VINES, $1 EACH; $6 PER DOZEN. FOR FIVE DOLLARS I will box and deliver to the Express or Railroad he following vines. one half of them 2 years old: 3 Oporto. 1 Rebecca. 2 Concord, 1 Delaware, 2 Hartford Prolific, 2 Clinton, 2 Isabella. For vines or catalogues of Lyons Nurserv, or terms to Agents, address Ja.— 3t E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. " Shorf-Homs." I HAVE f.r sale a few BULLS and BULL CALVES. COWS, and HEIFERS, mostlv by the Imported Bulls Duke of Glos- ter (11,883) and Grand Duke of Oxford flfi.lS4). Jii.-4t JAMES O. SHELDON, Geneva, N. Y. PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN CATTLE IS AND CAN BE CURED — When treated in its early stages by Hie remedies manufactured by GEO. J. SCATTERGOOD. Druggist, Nov.— St 5 and Callowhill streets, Philadelphia. HfjA PER MONTH— Made by any one with Stencil Tools. P 1UU For a circular explaining the business. Address JOHN MILLIKEN, May — ly. Lawrence, Mass. ALEXANDER GORDON. No. 68 South Saint Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y., MANUFACTURES ROCHESTER PREMIUM CUTTING BOX-One Knife. " EMPIRE FEED CUTTER-Four Knives. ALL who have seen and used the above, pronounce them su- perior to every other kind of Feed Cutters. They are sim- ple, compact, substantial and highly finished, They may be ope- rated either by hand or iiorse-power, and cut equally well Hay, Straw or Cornstalks. It is now universally conceded that it is not only economy to cut feed, but also beneficial to stock. I also manufacture 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Horse Powers, and PITT'S PREMIUM THRESHING MACHINE of various sizes. /Sent? /or Circulars, ^T" ORDERS RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED. „^J The New England Family Newspaper. THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN FOR 1862, DAILY, TRI-WEEKLY, AND WEEKLY. THE SPRINGFIELD (MASS) REPUBLICAN may not hes- itate to claim position as the first and most distinctiveof New England journals. In the scope and adaptation of its news, in the choice of its subjects for editorial discussion and the manner in which it treats them, in the great variety of its contents, and in the prominence it gives to practical, moral, and religious ques- tions, to literature, to gardening and farming, and to every theme ftf practical and theoretical interest to the' people of New Eng- land, the Republican has sought successfully 10 become their guide, companion, and friend, whether at home or abroad. Among the peculiar 'eading features of the Republican are a full Summary of New England News, arranged by Counties and States: an elaborate and comprehensive Editorial Review of the Week ; Special Correspondence of a high character from Boston, New York and Washington ; a weekly Review and Summary of all Religious Movements : original Papers on Husbandry ; Sum- maries of new ideas and inventions in Science and Mechanics : a weekly Article on Books, Authors, and Art; and an abundance of original literary articles, both of prose and poetry, with care- fully selected miscellanies from the freshest books and magazines. The editorial corps of the Republican numbers six individ- uals, including Dr. J. G. Holland, the popular "Timothy Tit- comb" of literature and lecturing. Terms. — For the Daily : One copy one year, §5. Ten copies to one address one year, $40. For the Tki-Weeklj- (published on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings) : One copy one year, $3 ; ten copies to one ad- dress, if 25. For the Weekly Republican : One copy six months, $1 : one year, $2; two copies to one address one year, $3. To clubs by mail : Five copies to one address one year, $7 ; ten copies, $12: twenty copies, $20. Kg"" All orders must be accompanied with the cash. Specimen copies sent on application. SAMUEL BOWLKS & COMPANY, Ja — It Publishers, Springfield, Mass. pRESTED HAMBURGH FOWLS.-A few choice birds of \ ' the Golden Spangled Crested Hamburgh variety, mav be had by applying to p. N. BEMENT, 66 East 29th street, New York. tft>7X A MONTH— I want to hire AGENTS in every countv

hio; Balmer & Weber, St. Louis, Mo.; Ph. P. Werlein, New Orleans; A. &, s. Nordheimer. Toronto, C. W. LIST OF PRICES. PKIOE8 OP PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS. Four Octave, C to C, f 45. Four and a half Octave, C to F, $60. Five Octave. F to F, $75. Five Octave, Double Reed, F to F, $130. PRICES OP PIANO CASED. Five Octave, F to F, $100. Six Ocave, b' to F, $130. Five Octave, Double Reed, F to F, $150, Five Octave, Two Banks of Keys, $2"0. Organ Melodeon. — Two Banks of Keys, Five Sets of Reeds, Eio-ht Stops, One and a Half Octave Foot Pedals, One Set of Seed's in Pedal Bass Independent, $350. Organ Melodeon— One Bank of Keys, Three Sets of Reeds, Six Stops. One and a Half Octave Foot Pedals, $250, One Set of Beeds in Pedal Bass Independent, $25 extra. OUR LATEST IMPROVEMENT-PRINCE & CO'S GRAD- UATED SWELL. Patented September 17, 1861. This is an entirely new idea, and its want has been noticed by all acquainted with Reed Instruments. The old swell could never be made to operate gradually ; the instant the pedal was touched for opening it, the change would be instantaneous and abrupt , . ... Our NEW SWELL is constructed on scientific principles, and •we are satisfied, by our untiring study and experiments, that it is the only one by which the tone of Reed Instruments may be grad- uated from a mere whisper to the full power of the instrument, and vice versa. The volume of tone is also very much increased by this swell, and is now all that we could desire. This, in connection with our DIVIDED SWELL (which we patented iu 1855), will be added to all the Melodeons which we manufacture in the future, and without extra charge. One other feature in our Melodeons is the IMPROVED VALVE OR PAL- LET, beinsr a combination of cloth and leather, prepared ex- pressly for the purpose. This valve we have used for the past three years, and we find it to be the very thing that has been so long needed as a substitute for the India Rubber Valve, which has I » in aeneral use since Melodeons have been manufactured, and which has canned so much trouble by the di solving and Sticking of the India Rubber. All of our instruments are now finished with this improved valve, and we can recommend them with confidence. Persons unacquainted with the Melodeon and its history, will bear in mind that we are the pioneers and leading manufacturers, not only in the United Suites, but in the world. We commenced the manufacture of Melodeons in the fall of the vear 1S47, and since that time have finished and sold T WE'nTY-SEVEN THOUSAND. These instruments are now in use mostly in the United Slates and Canada, but also in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the West Indies, and from all these quarters we ■have the most flatterinsr testimonials of the high estimation in which thev are held. AT ALL INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITIONS THEY HAVE INVARIABLY BEEN AWARDED THE HIGHEST PREMIUM WHKNEVER EXHIBITED IN COM- PETITION WITH OTHERS. We shall take pleasure in forwarding by mail (at our own ex- pense) our Illustrated Catalogue, in which every instrument we manufacture is fully described, and illustrated by elegant en- gravings. All Melodeons of our manufacture, either sold by us or dealers- in any part of t .<■ United States or Canada, arc warranted to be perfect in every respect, and should any repairs be necessary be- fore the expiration of five years from date of sale, we hold our- i elvi s ready and willins to make the same froe of charge, provid- ed the injury is not caused by accident or design. Agents for the sale of our Melodeons may be found in all the principal towns of the United States and Canada. Address either GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., Buffalo, N. Y. GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., 87 Culton street, New York. GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., 82 Lake street, Chicago, 111. Or either of the above wholesale asrents. THE OHIO FARMER. THE OHIO FARMER. THE OHIO FARMER. VOL.. XI.— 1863. THIS old and well established WEEKLY paper will com- mence is Eleventh year in January. It is pre-eminently THE FARMERS' FAMILY PAPER. The New York Tribune says of it: "It is a handsome quarto, filled with miscellaneous and agri- cultural matter, suited to an enlightened Farmers' Family." In one year it contains about TWENTY-TWO DUODECIMO VOLUMES of standard matter, as follows : ONE VOLUME OF POEMS. ONE VOLUME ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY. ONE VOLUME OF HOUSEHOLD SlORlES. ONE VOLUME OF FASHIONS. ONE VOLUME OF SUNDAY READING. TWO VOLUMES ON BEE CULTURE. TWO VOLUMES ON FLOWERS.- ' * THREE VOLUMES ON ST^.CK. FOUR DO. ON FARMING & GARDENING GENERALLY. ONE VOLUME ON INJURIOUS INSECTS. ONE VOLUME ON DRAINING. TWO VOLUMES OF MISCELLANEOUS MATTER. TWO VOLUMES ABOUT THE WAR. <£W READER, if you wish TWENTY-TWO VOLUMES per annum for $3 ($1.50 in small Clubs), subscribe at once for THE OHIO FARMER. J^-For SAMPLE NUMBERS, PROSPECTUS, &c, &c address _ THO. BROWJi, Cleveland, Oliio. Andre Leroy's Nurseries, AT AKGBKS, FRANCE. THE Proprietor of these Nurseries, the most extensive in the world, lias the honor to inform his numerous friends and the public that his CATALOGUE or Fruit a-u> Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Roses, Susdlings, Fruit Stocks, &c for the present season, is now readv and at t'V'ir disposal Apply to BRUGUIEBE & THEBA.UJX Nov— 3t 51 Cedar Street, New York. PRINCE ALREBT WINDSOR PIGS. I OFFER a few sood specimens, three and four months old, of this improved Suffolk breed, the produce of animals selected with care from Prince Albert's stock at Shaw Farm, Windsor, and imported bv me last fall. The animals sent me were pronounced by Prince Albert's steward to be equal to any pigs in England. Price, boxed for transportation, $25 each, or $50 dollars for a boar and two sows, from different parents on both sides. Dec— 2t L. MASON, JR., South Orange. N. J. & 1 f\f\ 0R MORE may be made by any LOCAL AGENT Jp ll'U without leaving his home, besides rendering an impor- tant service to his neighbors and friend*, by selling the OPORTO Grape vines. For terms to agents, address Oct.— 5t E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. FOWLER'S PATENT STEAM PLOWING MACHINERY. PATENT-RIGHTS tor States and Counties and Machines are now for sale. Descriptive pamphlets sent post free. Apply to R. W. EODISON, jan. — it 608 South Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia. POTTLTRY FOR SALE.— The large White Aylesbury Duel; Black Spanish Fowl*. Also, Ooaneoid Shstp. Address Jan —It* E. C. ARMSTRONG, Florida, N. Y. 40 THE GENESEE FARMER! INTERIOR VIEW OF THE METROPOLITAN GIFT BOOK STORE, NO. 26 BUFFALO ST., ROCHESTER, N. Y. J. F. HONE, Proprietor. THE largest and most liberally conducted establishment of this kind in the United Stales. At this establishment you can procure any book you may desire, and have the advantage of receiving varying in value From Fifty Cents to One Hundred Dollars, without any additional expense, with each book purchased. The following is a Schedule of Property, one of which will be given to every purchaser of a book at the time of sale, as a Divi- dend due our Patrons: Patent Lever Gold Watches, Hunter cases, valued and sold tor $100 00 Patent Lever Gold Watches 45 00 Detached Lever Silver Watches, Hunter, 25 00 Lepine £0 00 Detached Lever open face Watches, IS 00 Lepine do do 12 00 Gold Bracelets, $S to 10 00 Gold Lockets. $7 to 10 00 i to 5 00 4 50 5 110 1 50 5 00 5 00 1 50 2 03 3 00 50 Cookery ; Cameo Pins or Florentines. Sets Pins and Ear Kings Mosaic, rich setting Gold Breast Pins, ! Sets Cameo Drops or Paintings Gold Lockets Gents' Gold Pins, stone setting Gold Ear Drops Sets Ladies' and Gents' Gold Sleeve Buttons. Misses' Mosaic or Cameo Pins. Sets Solid Silver Tea Spoons, Table Spoons and Forks, $6 to 18 00 Sets ditto, heavy Silver Plated Pen Knives Butter Knives Mammoth Gold Pens Gold Pencils and Tooth Picks Silver Cups. .' Do Pitchers Gold Lined Salt Castors Silver Claret Pitchers 4 00 50 1 00 2 50 2 50 5 00 25 00 5 00 15 00 Silver Butter Dishes $6 to 12 00 2 00 75 50 50 5 00 4 00 5 00 Silver Napkin Kings Do Pickle Forks Do Salt Spoons Do Mustard Spoons. Do Fruit Knives Do Plated Table Forks Do Card Receivers Do Tea Sets from $80 to 50 00 Pocket Diaries 50 BOOKS AT $1.00. Green Mountain Boys; Ladies' Cabinet of Gems; Woman and her Diseases from the Cradle to the Grave; . Three Brides, or Love in a Cottage ; Hay ward's Book of all Religions; Mechanic's Own Book; Life of Christ and his Apostles ; Angel Whispers ; Old Man's Bride ; Pocket Bible, with clasp ; Green Mountain Travelers* Legal and Commercial Lawyer; Orphan Boys; Young Lady's Guide to Gentility ; Domestic Coc Methodist Hymns, morocco gilt edges ; Arabian Nights; Land of Gold; Sweet Home, or Life in the Country;' Lessons in Lite. Ten Nights in a Bar Room ; True Prince of the Tribe of Judah ; Life of Martin Luther; Brother Clerks; Mornings with Jesus; Half Hour Stories ; Spurgeon's Gems. Tales of the Ocean ; Webster's High School Dictionary; Pilgrim's Procrcs- Fifty Years in Chains ; Photograph Album. BOOKS AT $1.35. Livingstone's Travels in South Africa ; Prince of the House of David ; Throne of David ; Poetical Works of Byron, Burns, Moore, IIe.manV Mrs. Partington's Knitting Work ; Nemesis; Everybody's Lawyer, by Frank Crosby; The Horse and his Diseases, by Jenkins ; Mason's Farrier ■ Europe, its Scenes and tocietj ; Napoleon and his Army' Japan and the Japanese, by Hildreth ; ' Lady's Hand Book of Fancy and Ornamental Work ; Life of the Empress Josephine ; Cross' Masonic Chart; Romance of Revolution; Great Expectations, by Dickens' Thaddeus of Warsaw; Works of Mrs. Lee Hentz, Mrs Southworth, Mrs. Holmes • MISCELLANEOUS. Youatt and Skinner on the Horse, 8vo., $1.50 ; Josephus, $2 ; Webster's Pictorial Dictionarv, $6 ; Webster's Counting House Dictionary, $1.75; Macauly's History of England, $1.75 ; Prose and Poetry of Europe and America, $3; Papier Mache Albums, $8; Family Bibles, Pocket Bibles, Prayer Books, and Hymns • Rollin's Ancient History, $4; Hoi day Annuals, beautifully illustrated, morocco bound full gilt, from $1.50 to $10; Photograph Albums, $1 to $20. The largest assortment of Juveniles to be found in the city • All the School Books in use ; Lorenzo Dow's complete works, $1.50; Beautiful holiday Gift Books, morocco binding, full gilt, $1.60. The above catalogue is but a drop in the bucket. We have just put down only such as we have in large quantities, only we have hundreds not down. We invite everybody and their friends to come and see us, but such as can not," we ask them to try us with [an order. Remember that you can not lose anvthing,' but may gain much. You that have sent faraway tor books and re- ceived but little, do not condemn us with the rest until you have given us a fair trial. On receipt of the price of either our $1.00 $1.25 or $1.50 books and 21 cents in stamps, we will mail a copy of any of the above with Gift accompanying, to any address in the United States, or will forward by express on the receipt of the price. For further particulars, send tor our Descriptive Cat- alogue. ^"Liberal inducements offered to Agents getting np Clubs. Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER,' N. Y, FEBRUARY, 1862. HOW TO RESTORE A WORN-OUT FARM. Eds. Genesee Farmer.— I have lately come into possession of a farm that has been worked on shares for some years, till it is pretty well skinned. The soil is naturally of good quality, some portions a sandy loam and others of a more tenacious char- acter. How shall I go to work to improve it? Shall I buy artificial manures, or what other course shall I adopt? Any advice you can give me will be thankfully received. R- s- Monroe Co., N', Y. Remarks.— It is not easy to give definite direc- tions for the renovation of an impoverished farm. If there is any muck on the farm, let it be thrown up next summer, and either composted with lime and ashes, or drawn into the barn-yard and stables t# absorb all the liquid. In this way it will make good manure. Artificial manures are very handy on any farm, and especially on one that has been run down. Personally, we should not like to be without either Peruvian guano or superphosphate of lime. They can be used to advantage by any one who has the requisite knowledge of their qualities, and of the crops to which they are best applied. For instance, Peruvian guano can ordinarily be used on potatoes with profit. We have used it more or less for ten years, and in some instances 300 lbs. per acre has increased the crop from 100 to 200 bushels per acre. That is to say, $10 worth of manure gives you 100 bushels of potatoes, which thus cost you ten cents per bushel. When potatoes are as cheap as they have been the last year, this will hardly pay, but when you ean get fifty cents a bushel for them it is quite profitable. If wheat commanded as high a price, relatively, as potatoes, it would be equally profitable to use guano for wheat— as good Peruvian guano has as great an effect on wheat as on potatoes. We do not know that we shall suc- ceed in making our meaning plain. If land with- out manure will produce 100 bushels of potatoes per acre, and 300 lbs. of guano will double the crop, we get 100 bushels per acre from the use of the guano. On the other hand, if land without manure yields 10 bushels of wheat, and 300 lbs. of guano will double the crop, as before, we get 10 bushels of wheat from the use of the guano. Now, as 100 bushels of potatoes are ordinarily worth much more than 10 bushels of wheat, the use of gnano on potatoes is much more profitable than for wheat, though the effect of the manure is no greater in the one case than in the other. If wo could get $2 per bushel for wheat, guano might bo used for this crop with profit. When it sells for $1 per bushel it will barely pay, except under rare circumstances. We believe the time will come when artificial manures will be more extensively used in the East- ern States and throughout the whole Atlantic slope than in any other country, and farmers would do well to study their relative value, man- ner of application, etc. At present, however, we would not advise you to purchase largely. Try a little on various crops, and thus ascertain how they can he most profitably used. Yoar main dependence for enriching the soil will be in thorough cultivation, and in making all the manure you can on the farm. Two things must be borne in mind. One is that the growth of some crops impoverishes the soil more than others; and secondly, that some crops make richer manure than others. Thus, a crop of red clover does not impoverish the soil as much as a crop of timothy grass, while a ton of clover hay will make manure worth half as much again as that made from a ton of timothy hay. The same is true of peas and beans. The manure from a given weight of these is worth double what it is from oats, barley, rye, or Indian corn. Your object must be to raise all the clover, peas, turnips, mangel- wurzels, etc., you can, and feed them out on the farm to stock. This will give you manure, — rich manure — not rotten straw — manure abounding in all the elements of plants: manure 42 THE GENESEE FARMER. that will tell wherever applied and on whatever crop. If you can raise good clover, you may be sure of raising good crops of everything else, — if the clover is retained on the farm. Try a little super- phosphate on clover, say 200 lbs. per acre. It may pay. Plaster certainly will pay. Sow it as early as possiMe this spring. If you have any well rot- ted manur«, apply it as a top-dressing on your clover. Let it go as far as it •will. What you do, do well. Don't try to make it go over too much laud. Apply plaster, say 100 lbs. per acre, on all the clover you have on the farm, and let it lie in pasture or mow it. Do not plow too much land. This is the great error of American agriculture. Sow only as much land to wheat, barley, oats, etc., as you can prepare in the best manner. One acre of good wheat will afford more profit than three acres of poor wheat. Don't be in too great a hurry to get good crops. Renovating an impover- ished soil is slow work. It takes time, but it can be accomplished. If any of the land needs underdrainmg, as it pro- bably does, this operation must be one of the first things attended to. Everything else will fail if this is neglected. Do not think because your land is saudy and rolling, that therefore it is necessarily dry. Such land often needs underdraining. Mr. Swan, in underdraining his fine farm near Geneva, found that the highest portions of the farm, right on top of the ridges, were much wetter and needed more underdraining than the lower portions. This is frequently the case. To ascertain whether your land needs draining, dig a few holes three fee| deep in different parts of the farm, and if water remains in them you must underdrain. If you have any low, swampy places cut a ditch through them and underdrain as thouroughly as you can. Such soil, when well drained, often proves to be the mo9t productive land on the farm, and the large crops which can be obtained from them will enable you to make manure for the up- land portions of the farm. Boussingault, the celebrated French chemico-agriculturist, thinks that good meadows on such land are the manure mines of the farmer. To sum up. Underdrain. Cultivate the land thoroughly, and thus develope its latent resources. Get all the muck and other vegetable matter you can from the swamps. Bring into cultivation all the low, rich land you have on the farm. Plaster your clover and raise as much of it as possible, and feed it out to stock. Or, if this will not pay, plow it under. Raise all the peas and turnips you canT and feed them out on the farm. Be very careful to save all the manure. Let none of it run away or evaporate. There is not much danger of the latter if you have plenty of straw or muck, and if you spout your buildings there need not be much liquid lost. Sell nothing off the farm except wheat, — and, while the price is so high, beans — wool, pork,, mutton and beef. Cultivate in the best way, make all the manure you can and your farm will in a few years be in a high condition. VEGETABLE SOUP FOB PIGS. Many plans have been adopted in England to promote the economical feeding or grazing of store-pigs. The great barrier has been the expense. It has been highly recommended, and in many casts tried extensively, to keep store-pigs on a kind of vegetable soup throughout the summer. The plan followed is to collect any refuse vegetation, includ- ing weeds of all sorts; to boil them a short time to extract their virtues, and then mix into the liquid a very small quantity of meal or shorts, and give this, as required, to the pigs in an open yard or paddock. They will thrive very well upon it, but the collection and boiling for a large number is tiresome and expensive. Another and better plan is to reserve as much of the mangel-wurzel crop aa can be well spared, and give a few every day in addition to the day's grazing. Another is to pro- vide a supply of the artificial grasses, which are mown and carried to them daily ; lucerne, broad clover, and sainfoin are good food for them ; but tares and pasture-grasses are too succulent, and require a little correction in the form of pea or bean-meal porridge; indeed, this is always desira- ble under vegetable diet of this character. An- other plan, recommended in Mokton's " Cyclope- dia of Agriculture," is to have plantations of Jeru- salem artichoke, chicory, comfrey, rhubarb, as also large supplies of .cabbage, coleseed, mustard, lettuce, and the like. These plants produce a large quantity of green food, most of which are well relished by the pig. Jerusalem artichokes and rough comfrey grow very fast in early spring and yield much weight of herbage. Chicory and rhu- barb yield surprisingly, as do also cole-seed, mus- tard, and lettuce. Cabbage requires more atten- tion and culture, but it becomes the more stable food. These, if cultivated extensively, and given in conjunction with meal-porridge, will provide, it is said, acceptable and nutritious food for any num- ber of pigs, and at a season of the year when most needed. THE GENESEE FARMER. 43 PIGS-WHAT IS A BKEED? Eds. Gen. Farmer:— I feel very anxious to know what constitutes a breed— for instance, a breed of swine. Fanners are too illiterate (judging others by myself), yet I am very thankful they are in the Way of progress and improvement. In our vicin- ity there are, or have been, various kinds of swine, viz., Suffolk, Essex, Berkshire, Middlesex, Neapol- itan, Chinese, Yorkshire, Leicester, Byfield, Tusca- rora, Mackay, Russia, etc., and in the last issue of the Rural New Yorker mention is made of the White Berkshire breed. Now, I wish to know if there is any peculiar identity to each of the above- named " breeds." For pity sake, please define and particularly describe the "breed" called White Berkshire ; or, if it can not be done, do tell us through the Genesee Farmer what constitutes a "breed." I feel interested, and anxiously wait for an answer. bela dunbar. North, Chili, K F. Remarks.— We shall be glad to hear from our readers on this point. It is not easy to define what constitutes a breed. Some people seem to think that breeds, like poets, "are born, not made," but we never could see any good foundation for this opinion. In the case of hogs, certainly, our best breeds are the result of crossing. The fine- ness of bone, early maturity and fattening qualities of the English "small breeds" were derived, at no very distant period, directly or indirectly from the Chinese hogs. Such a cross, when it is firmly es- tablished and the characteristics have become con- stant, is denominated a " breed." If the pigs breed true — if they have definite qualities, always the same, they are a distinct breed, no matter how fre- quently they have been crossed before the desirable qualities have been obtained. It is, however, not easy to establish a breed. There is for many generations a tendency to breed back, and constant attention and the most careful se- lection are needed to correct this tendency before we can obtain fixity of type. But when once ob- tained, it can be preserved by simply using none but thorough bred animals. Our correspondent, or any other man with suf- ficient intelligence and patience, can originate a "breed" of pigs. Generally, however, it is more profitable to procure those which are already estab- lished, and which possess the qualities that are desired. In this way, we avail ourselves of the labors of the past. If, however, we wish to im- prove these breeds and cross them for that purpose, the progeny, whatever desirable qualities it may possess, is not a breed. To make it such, it must be bred pure for a sufficient length of time to es- tablish the new characteristics. This is a labor of years. We can not think that the " breeds " named by our correspondent can be found among the gener- ality of farmers in his neighborhood. Some traces of these breeds may exist, but farmers as a rule do not take sufficient care to keep their stock thorough- bred. We know farmers in this vicinity, who pro- cured thoroughbred Suffolk pigs, and kept thdui pure for a few years, but who to day have not a thor- ough-bred Suffolk on their premises. They have not taken the trouble to keep them pure. We do not believe there is a thorough-bred Middlesex or Neapolitan hog in Monroe county. We have not seen the article in the Rural New Yorlcer to which our correspondent alludes. Bnt there is a "breed" of White Berkshire pigs. In fact, it is not at all uncommon to find Berkshires entirely white. The most celebrated variety of White Berkshires is known as the Coleshill — bred by the Earl of Radnor, on his estate of Coleshill, Berkshire, Eng. Their color is white; their hair rather strong and thinly set; bone fine, in propor- tion to their size*; head small and pleasing; general form very good, being square, compact, broad and proportionate, though large in frame; their fatten- ing propensities almost unequalled. It may be safely asserted that the modern breeds of English pigs are pretty well mixed vp. So much so, indeed, that .they are shown at the fairs of the various agricultural societies, not a9 distiact breeds, but under the accommodating title of " Large Breeds " and " Small Breeds." We believe this is the only classification. Breaking in Mules for the Armt. — The train- ing of animals to work in harness is an important matter in the army, as may be judged from the fact that there were lately at one time, according to the New York World, about seven thousand mules, as well as a large number of horses, at the depot at Perry ville, on the Susquebannah. Samuel Emmons, of Philadelphia, a noted mule tamer, is training and organizing them into four and six mule teams. The breaking-in attracts much atten- tion. Thirty-two negroes assist him, and over thirty-four mule teams are trained and organized in a day. The mules are driven into a small pen, from which they are decoyed, by a trained mule, into the stocks, where they have a bridle and col- lar put on, a i*>pe to each front leg, one of which is passed through a rope round the animal's girth. Thus .secured, he is let into another apartment, to receive the rest of the harness. Some "ground and lofty tumbling" generally takes place. He is then taken to the wagon where broken mules are hitched in the lead and under the saddle. 44 THE GENESEE FARMER. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PBESS. Hessian Fly. — A correspondent of the Ohio Field Notes says the Hessian fly has injured some of the early sown wheat in that State. Goon Hogs. — A correspondent of the Cultivator states that J. C. Smith, of Butler Co., Ohio, latted one hundred hogs which averaged 431 lbs. each, net. The year before he had one hundred head that averaged 467 lbs. each. Beans from one Seed. — W. Metcalf, of Franklin, Mass., says he raised from two beans one hundred and fifty-three pods on one, and one hundred and fifty-six on the other. The beans counted up fifteen hundred and thirty-three, or over seven hundred fold. Food for Caged Seed-Eating Birds. — A correspon- of the London Poultry Chronicle says: — "The best food for seed eating caged birds I consider is canary seed, shelled oats and millet, accompanied with clean water, sand and green food ; occasionally a little piece of bread, or boiled carrot, potato, or broccoli, and a slice of apple or pear as a treat. Kapeseed I consider too pungent, hempseed too exciting, and both too oily to be proper for constant use." , Get tour Seed for Sprng. — The World well remarks : " One of the most important matters is the quality of seed of all kinds for farm and garden, and of the trees and vines which are to be planted. Without careful selection in these matters, all the preparation for grain and fruits aud vegetables are lessened in value. As surely as like produces like, so certainly will not poor seed produce good crops in fruits, roots, and grain. See then, instant- ly, to these matters, if you have not already arranged for supplies of the best quality which labor and expense can procure; and when you have to buy, buy only from per- sons of well-known character in the cultivation of such articles as you may desire for planting." Take Care of Your Harness. — The Wisconsin Far- mer says : "More damage is done to harness during the rainy weather of early and late winter than during all the rest of the year. Saturated with water, covered with mud, and often frozen stiff, so as to almost break when bent, in necessary handling, unusual care should be taken to keep it well oiled and hung up in proper shape when not in use. Thus treated, it will not only last many times longer, but look infinitely better than when neglected in the usual manner. " As to the kind of oil, we know of nothing better than neats-foot, or the daubing used by tanners. To give the black color, characteristic of new leather, a little lamp- black may be added without detriment, though it is better not to use this until the second going over. " Before putting on the oil, however, there are two im- portant conditions which must be observed — cleanness aud dampness. The necessity of the first is obvious, and the last is not less important, since the oil cannot pene- trate the leather and make it soft and pliable, if put on when it is dry and hard. " One of the best ways to give to the leather the requi- site degree of moisture is to wrap up the several parts of the harness in wet cloth a few hours previous to oiling. But this trouble is unnecessary where washing has been resorted to for cleaning, as the oil may then be applied before the leather is entirely dry. The oil should be rubbed in briskly with a brush or cloth, so as to insure its absorption." The Chinch Bug and Deep Plowing. — A correspon- dent of the Wisconsin Farmer relates the following inter- esting fact: "An old farmer in this town told a young farmer as follows : If you ever raise a good crop by late sowing, be sure and not tell your children of it. "I will state a fact in relation to chinch bugs and deep plowing ; and this, perhaps, should be kept from the children. " In the spring of 1857, 1 followed the common breaking plow, on prairie sod, with a common steel plow made sharp, and turned a good heavy furrow from beneath the first one, on the center of the land, being a strip about three rods wide and one hundred rods long. Since then I have taken two crops of corn and two of wheat from the field through which the three rods strip was double plowed. This year wheat grew upon it, and the three rods strip turned white from the ravages of the chinch bugs, while each side was green aud growing. The lines on each side were as straight as the farrows. "Can any one give the reasons? The only one I can find is, that in the deep plowing the bugs found better quarters by going deeper. The wheat followed corn. About three-fourths fall-plowed, and both fall and spring was done across the narrow strip." An American Apple in Europe. — The London Florist and Pomologist, for January, contains a colored plate of the Northern Spy apple, and remarks : This is not at all a new variety of apple, nor one which is to be estimated on account of its rarity, for it is. one that already exists in several nurseries of this country, and in not a few private collections, it is entirely for its intrinsic worth that we hare been induced to select it as one of the subjects wherewith to grace the first number of the Florist and Pomologist. Its size and handsome ap- pearance would alone recommend it to be grown in any collection ; but when it is known that it is a dessert apple of the finest texture and excellent flavor, it commands an interest which attaches to but few even ofonr best varieties. Although a native of North America, it is one of those varieties which attain their greatest perfection in this country. Even as a standard, an open dwarf, or a pyra- mid, it ripens perfectly and grows to a large size; but when grown against a wall or in an orchard house, it ac- quires a size and beauty and a delicacy of flavor which it does not when grown in the open ground. Our figure was taken from a fruit grown in an orchard-house by George F. Wilson, Esq., at Gishurst Cottage, Weybridge Heath. The tree was planted in a pot, and the fruit was set in the house ; but during the summer months it was turned out in the open air, and there the fruit ripened. The fruit is fragrant when ripe, large, ovate, inclining sometimes to conical. The skin is thin, at first of a greenish-yellow on the shaded side, and on the side next the sun covered entirely with a thin, pale, crimson cheek, which is covered with broken streak* of a darker crim- son ; hut as the fruit acquires maturity after being kept, the shaded side changes to a rich golden yellow, and the crimson becomes brilliant. The whole is covered with a thin bloom like a grape. Eye small and closed, set in a very deep, narrow, and furrowed cavity. Stalk three quarters of an inch long, slender, deeply inserted in ;i wide hollow. Flesh white, very tender, fine grained, crisp, and very juicy. Juice sprightly, sweel, and with a fine, delicate aroma. A valuable dessert apple, in use from December till May. The tree is a fast and vigorous grower, and has an up- right habit. When it acquires a little age it is an abun- dant bearer; but it is apt to become bushy-headed, and THE GENESEE FARMER. 45 ■therefore requires frequent attention to keep the head •open and free of spray. This excellent apple originated, about twenty years ago, in the State of New York, on the farm of Oliver Chapin, of Bloomlield, near Rochester. It-belongs to the Spitzen- burgh race, and bears some resemblance to the Esopus Spitzenburgh. Gradually it became a favorite among American orchardists, and in 1843 we find it one of the sorts which were recommended " for trial" at one of the Pomological conventions. We cannot say much for the colored plate, it does not convey a very accurate idea of the fruit. Carrots for Horses better than Medicine. — So says a correspondent of the Country Gentleman — and he is right. We know a Right Reverend Doctor of Divinity who fed short-horn carrots to his horse, but was obliged to desist because they made him so friskey that he was afraid to let the ladies drive him. They are the best "con- dition balls " that can be used. To Stop Bleeding. — A correspondent of the American Agriculturist writes that bleeding from a wound on man or beast, may be stopped by a mixture of wheat flour and common salt, in two parts, bound on with a cloth. If the bleeding be profuse, use a large quantity, say from one to three pints. It may be left on for hours, or even days, if necessary. Grafting the Tomato on the Potato. — A correspon- dent of the Horticulturist states that he succeeded, per- fectly, in grafting a scion of the tomato upon the potato vine. He cut about one-third of the potato shoot off, just above a leaf, taking care not to injure the bud at its base. The scion, being shielded from the sun, was every day sprinkled with a little water, and it took readily. In the fall the tomato was loaded with ripe and unripe fruit, and had grown to a large size. The potato and tomato are closely allied, botanically. Ferrets. — A correspondent of the Prairre Farmer, who speaks from experience, says ferrets are among the most useful, least expensive animals any nurseryman, farmer, or grain-dealer can have around their premises, in the de- struction of rats and rabbits, affording to those who have them, many days of sport and recreation. We can en- dorse all that is said of their value in this respect. But whether thay can be easily kept in our severe climate may be an open question. In England they are exceed- ingly useful, and few farmers are without them. Clover and Grasses Enrich the Soil. — The Maine Farmer well remarks: "Plowing under a thick, heavy grass sward furnishes an ample manuring for several suc- cessive grain crops. The decomposition of the abundant roots and stems of the grass supplies nutrition for growths of a different character, and having a greater money value to the farmer. Hence it may be good policy for the farmer to give a large share of his labor and atten- tion to producing a heavy growth of grass on all lands when devoted to this crop, knowing that this most cheap- ly and effectively prepares his soil for the production of other crops." This is true, especially in the case of clover. Mice and Fkijit Trees. — A correspondent of the New York Observer says : "David Thomas, of Cayuga county told us in the Genesee Firmer a few years ago, that trees should be well banked up with dirt in the fall before snow. I have always found this to be a good remedy." The editor of the Observer truly remarks that "when banking with dirt has been neglected, tramping the snow compactly around the trees will turn the mice away." We had written thus far, when one of the most experi- enced fruit-growers of western New York came into our office. " What is the best way to keep mice from fruit trees?" we asked. " Bank them up." What is the next best? "Stamp the snow around them." Agriculture in 1900.— Maxwell's Sighs, Smiles ani Sketches gives the following amusing sketch of Agricul- ture in Devonshire, Eng., at the present day, and what it may be in 1900 ; A. D. 1861, Come, wife, 'tis time for we to rise, The clock is striking five : Be quick and get the tatees fried; Now do, lass, look alive. I've got to put my barley in. And now the first of May's come; I don't know how us shall get on, If many rainy days come. I've got to cart out all my dung And lime to till the tatees ; The land's as wet as wet can be. How boihered my poor pate is! There's Brisk and Boxer cruel galled, And Tidy Mare is gripy ; And oats are down, and wheat's a'valled, And Roger's always swipy ; And all the sheep have got the scab, And wool's a g< ing down ; And I've to draw my produce in, Vul vourteen miles to town. And Lady-day's a'come and gone. And I've not paid my rent yet. And Bill, and .Ian, and little Joe Ha' ne'er to school been sent yet. Us can't get on il times don't mend — 'Tis raly quite alarming: I only wish my lease was out, I'm zure I'd give up farming. A. D. 1900. Matilda! order chocolate; It's nearly ten o'clock ;. And getting up at half-past eight Is really quite a shock. I worked so hard till nine last night, To prove that last analysis, That, should my brain be further tried, I really tear paralysis. Well, I'll just take a quiet ride: James, bring my locomotive — That halt-horse power, with trotting spring; Of health 'iwill be promotive. And, James, do fetch a gallon of Concentrated Thames .water; I'll just top-dress my cucumbers — Five acres and a quarter. Well, hi-re I'm back; I've been all round; The farm i< looking splendid. What fools ihey were, some years ago, To work as hard as men did ! I've heard my grandsire say, his dad Met with some dreadful losses : Ho wonder, when they used to work With those great horrid hosses. And, James, just touch the telegraph, And bid my engineer Turn out six dozen plows next week, To get Ihe'breaches clear i And tell Professor Faraday, And my sub-chemist, Jones, To forward, by next Monday's post, Their last extract of bones. 'Tis time 1 got my turnips in; I should not like to mess it; And as I've only one square mile, There'll be enough to dress it. And. James, do turn the battery on, The wheat is just in flower, And give it one galvanic shock, It wants a gentie shower. And syringe all the cabbage plants With ess nee of guano ; And ask Miss Jane to milk the cows Willi the new -'vaccine piaDo." And, James, fetch down my last balloon, With speed -retarding crupper; I'm going to Barnet fair to-day. And shan't be tack till supper. 46 THE GENESEE FARMER. Sorghum Strop.— The Prairie Farmer estimates that 2,500 barrels of sorghum, or Chinese sugar-cane syrup, were made in La Salle county, Illinois, last year. A Heavy Hog.— The Boston Cultivator says : " Dea. S. Burnham, of Dunbarton, N. H., lately killed a hog, short of 20 mouths old, that weighed 075 lbs. It gained on an average about 2 lbs. a day. Large Heifer. — The Boston Cultivator mentions that R. W. Field, of Lanesboro, Mass., slaughtered on the 10th ult., a t-vo year old heifer that weighed, dressed, 830 lbs., and had 100 lbs. of rough tallow. Prolific Seeds.— The Boston Cultivator says that N. W. Holmes, of Nottingham, N. H., raised in his garden last year from one bean, 415 good beans; and that a cluster of 18 beets from one seed was grown last year by J. Lov- eridge, of Heath, Mass. Preserving Game.— The London Sport gives the follow- ing receipt for keeping game a long time : ",Dry up the wound with blotting paper; wrap up the head and soak the body in coffee. Afterward the game will not suffer from the most unfavorable temperature." Oilcake vs. Oats and Barley.— The Irish Farmer's Gazette says : <: It is unquestionably true that cats or bar- ley are more nutritious, weight for weight, than linseed cake." We question it, and would respectfully ask our cotemporary for the proof of his assertion. Weight of Prize Grain in Ireland — At the last win- ter show of the Royal Dublin Society, the prize wheat weighed 61 lbs. per bushel j barley 57 lbs.; white oats 42 lbs.; and black oats 40 lbs. We can raise better wheat ' here, but the barley and oats are much superior to any raised in America — at least that we have ever seen. Large Egg.— The Orleans Republican says D. B. Kel- logg, station agent at Holley, has sent to that office a monster egg produced by a hen owned by him. The egg measures six and a fourth inches in circumference the shortest way around it. The hen that lays such eggs must be a great goose, when a smaller size would be just as much an egg. Prince Albert and Agricultural Papers. — The Irish Farmer's Gazette, in alluding to the lamented death of the Prince Consort, says : " We had the honor to receive his support as a patron of, and' a subscriber to, this journal for nearly twenty years, and he unquestionably evinced at all times, a deep interest in the advancement of agri- cultural knowledge in this part of the Kingdom." The Osage Orange as a Hedge Plant in England.— A correspondent of the London Journal of Horticulture states that Mr. Ridgway at his county seat in Kent, England, is trying the Osage Orange as a hedge plant, and that he is sanguine that it will make a firm, useful, good hedge. Its shining green foliage looks well in summer, and being covered with thorns it is better adapted to resist the nib- bling attacks of cattle than most other plants. Buying Korses for the French Cavalry. — McClellan, Vn "The Armies of Europe," says: "Horses are pur- chased at from 4 to 7 years of age, and must be of French origin. The animal is brought to the commandant of the remount depot, and submitted to his inspection, without any price being named. If the commandant finds him unsuitable, he is at once rejected ; if the contrary is the case, he is brought before all the officers of the depot for a thorough examination. Each officer then writes his estimate of the value of the animal on a slip of paper; these papers are placed in a hat and shakeu up, so that the estimate of each officer may not be known ; thaynean of these estimates is then taken, and the commandant offers that price for the animal. If the owner accepts the offer, the price is paid at once ; if he refuses, the horse is at once sent away, for no bargaining is allowed." A Fortune from a Sheep. — A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator relates the following anecdote : " In 1802, Mr. Bidwell, a law student in Stockbridge, told a poor lad that if he would catch and turn out his horse he might have it to ride home to keep Thanksgiving. The boy accepted the offer, and the day before Thanks- giving, as he was mounted on the horse ready to start for home, Mr. Bidwell handed him a silver dollar — the first dollar the boy ever had. Instead of spending it for per- sonal gratification, as most boys now-a-days do, he bought a sheep with it. From that sheep he had, in 1832, a flock of 1004 sheep which he sold for 1500 dollars. The money he invested in up-town lots in New York city, purchasing ten lots for 250 dollars each, which be sold, in two years, for 12,000 dollars This was the beginning of the fortune of Nathan Jackson, Esq., distinguished for his generous and munificent donations at various times to Williams' College, Mass." "When a boy, the writer, with his brother and sister, each had a sheep given them, aud their father kept them, and retained half the increase for keeping, thus affording an opportunity for procuring a little money which he and they could call their own. Myself, and brother, also, were allowed, each, a piece of ground to cultivate as he pleased, and were permitted to sell the products thereof for what they would fetch. In this way we were allowed to get money that we could call our own, it being the product of our own skill and industry. The brother of the writer is now a successful and forehanded farmer in Worcester county, Mass., and the writer has a farm in Hampshire county, Mass. How much these early lessons in rural in- dustry and economy had to do with their present position can never be accurately estimated. Doubtless something and perhaps much. All farmers will find it a pleasant way thus to encourage their children by giving them an opportunity, by exercising skill and industry, to produce something they can call their own. How to Preserve Potatoes at Sea. — Captain Gilbert Smith, of the barque Martha Wenzel, has communicated to. the Yarmouth (England) Register a method by which he succeeded in preserving potatoes at sea during long voyages. "To preserve potatoes," says Captain Smith, "put them into a pen on deck, the door of which must always be kept open in good weather. Scatter over them a quart of air-slacked lime to every twenty-five bushels; pick them and rub off the sprouts once every month. Put up and kept in this manner, they will remain good five or six months." On the first of August, 1861, he says : " I have now potatoes on board that were taken in at Melbourne, Jan. 20th ; the vessel since has been to Cal- lao, Chinchas, and is now within a few days sail of Bour- bon aud Mauritius; consequently the potatoes have been on board, and daily used for six months and ten days, and for cooking purposes, they are as good now as when taken on board at Melbourne. I would further add in this mat- ter, that if potatoes were taken out of the damp cellars in the spring aud put in some dry out-building with a good circulation of air, and a little lime mixed with them, they could be kept until July and August in a good state of preservation." THE GENESEE FARMER. 47 MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. Italian Honey Bees. — Much has been said during the last two years in regard to Italian bees, which were intro- duced into the United Status as being preferable to our native bees. There are no families of these bees for sale, but they are propagated by the sale of Italian queens only, at prices ranging from $S to $10 each. My opinion has often been asked in regard to the value of these over our common bees, but I have been unable to reply from my personal experience with them ; yet I think my opinion of them will be found, in the end, to be nearly correct. In the first place, on the introduction of these Italian queens I was suspicious that speculation was at the bottom of it. I sought all the information that could be obtained in regard to them, read all the rural publications, heard all the arguments in their favor, from that day to this, and still my opinion is that there is quite as much Jiumbug in Italian queen bees as there are merits over the native species. It may be said, with some show of plausibility, that in- asmuch as I have had no practical experience with these bees, my opinion is not entitled to much respect. To this I reply, that I profess to be a pretty correct studier ot human nature, and to be able to detect humbugs, in many cases, without any positive proof of their demerits. I rea- son in this wise: How does it happen that a species of honey bee should have been in existence in Italy for cen- turies, far superior to our native bees, which are the same as all others in Europe except the Italian stock, and yet none of the writers on the honey bee in Europe during tho past hundred years have alluded to that species as being worthy of culture? Indeed, it is not mentioned at all by any of the modern English, French and German authors, which is a significant fact, that this species is of no par- ticular value. Again, it seems to me to be hardly possible for so valu- able a species of honey bee, as it is pretended they are, to have reraaiued wholly unknown to the best apiarians of the old world, and the new, till the year 1860. Being deeply interested in the profits accruing from the •abors of honey bees, I should have been one of the first purchasers of these Italian queens if I had been led to believe that they were any better thau others ; and in giv- ing my opinion ou them, I do not say that I am infallible, or that possibly I may not be mistaken ; but the whole thing does really look suspicious, and if I can do the public any good by warning people of humbugs, I think that I shall be considered engaged in a laudable business. Some years ago, on the introduction of the famous, or rather infamous Diosooria Bat-ata, or Chinese yam, I did sdl I could to put the public on its guard; and I have good reasons for believing that there are hundreds of people who are indebted to me for not having their pockets heavily taxed for an article not worih receiving as a gift. I have noticed that the laudations (puff's) of Italian bees come from parties who have queens for sale. I scarcely Bee a word in their favor from disinterested sources. But still, as I said above, I may be in error, and these bees may be all that is claimed for them. Ten dollars, these times, will almost buy a cow, and to pay that sum for a queen bee, and a few workers which can, at best, be only half-breeds, is what I think the read- ers of the Genesee Farmer will be slow to do. It these bees are valuable, they will be rapidly propagated, aud in a few years the price will be down to a reasonable sum, when bee keepers will be able to obtain them at their actual value. It is said that the Italian bees are larger than our native varieties, more hardy, stronger, aud are able to gather honey from some kinds of flowers from which the com- mon bees are excluded. It was originally said that they could extract the honey from red clover blossoms, but I notice that this assertion is contradicted. If tkey can reach the honey in that variety of clover, I shall be in- clined to withdraw a large portion of my disparaging remarks in regard to them. How Far do Bees Fly? — The question is frequently asked, " How far do bees fly in search of honey?" There are instances in which they go three or four miles, when the weather is Warm and no winds exist to obstruct their flight ; but the average range of a family is in a radius of about three miles diameter. If we could place a hive of bees in the centre of a desert or sandy plain, three miles in diameter, I do not think that they woulc? be able to gather honey enough to survive, even if a great supply were to exist at tho usual season on the immediate bor- ders of said plain. In consequence of the flight of bees being thus restrict- ed, it is possible to overstock any district, in the same manner as a farmer can overstock a pasture with cattle. I consider about, one hundred families enough to stock any location, where no other bees exist within a mile and a half of the apiary. In some places, this number will be too large where the bee pasturage is poor, but in the best districts one hundred hives can be profitably kept, even if a few other small apiaries exist in the vicinity. It is surprising to see what a vast quantity of honey might be gathered in any State if we had a sufiBcient stock of bees, properly distributed. I have no doubt that enough honey is lost every year, for the lack of bees t» gather it, which, at fifteen cents per lb., would pay the entire expenses of our government in ordinary times. Clinton, X. Y. T. B. MINER. « I ■! Keeping Eggs in Ashes. — Some time ago, I read in the Genesee Farmer of eggs being found in an ash bed, where they had been kept for two years, and when found were as nice as when fresh laid. The writer thought it would be well for some of your readers to try the experiment and give the result. Well, thought I. it looks reasonable, and how much labor it will save of greasing (which was my usual successful way of packing). So I packed my eggs in nice, clean ashes, and it was but little work, at the same time telling my particular friends how cheaply I was going to keep my eggs. When Thanksgiving came, eggs brought a good round price, and now was the time to sell; but when I came to break my eggs to try them, they looked as though they had been partly boiled, and they were well saturated with lye. My neighbors have had the same luck. Who shall we lay our loss to? I would like to knriw how your corres- pondent succeeded in packing his eggs. Will ha please write and let us know? mes. a. j. e., At* mada. Mieh. 48 THE GENESEE FARMER. CULTURE OF WHEAT IN MONROE COUNTY. S. Edwards Todd, a well-known agricultural ' writer, spent a few days last Autumn in this vicinity and furnishes the Country Gentleman some inter- esting letters in regard to agricultural matters in Monroe County. We copy a portion of his re- marks in regard to the culture of wheat : When a piece of woods is cleared off and the ground simply harrowed thoroughly, without plowing, and it is sowed with winter wheat, the soil must be uncommonly wet, and the winter must be very unfavorable indeed if that wheat is much injured by freezing and thawing. And there is a very cogent and philosophical reason why winter wheat is injured less by freezing and thaw- ing on such soil than it is on old ground. We all know that when we set a stake or post perpendicularly in the ground about one foot deep, the frost will soon heave it to the surface ; but when it is set at an angle of forty, or forty-live de- grees, it will remain about as deep as it was origin- ally set until it is rotten; because as the soil freezes and thaws it is lifted with and settles back with the soil. The sod of grass ground is raised by the frost bodily, and settles back bodily when it thaws, and for this reason the roots are not all lifted out by the freezing and thawing in winter. Now when wheat is sowed on new laud that has never beeu plowed, the roots spread out almost horizontally on the surface of the ground, and thus form almost a complete mat, so that when the soil is expanded from freezing, it is raised bodily, roots and all, and thus it settles back, when it thaws, to its original position, without severing any of the roots of the plants. In new land that has not been plowed, a large proportion of the vegetable matter and the elements of fertility are near the surface of the soil, and consequently the roots spread out horizontally much more than they do vertically. But when the soil is deep, and the vegetable matter is thoroughly incorporated with it, and when the elements of fertility are more abundant six or eight inches below the surface than near the surface, the roots will strike almost per- pendicularly downward. Therefore when two or three inches of the surface of the soil comes to freeze, the plants are lifted, and the roots must either give way at the lower ends, or be severed just below the frozen earth. It is easy to perceive, when such is the case, why and how readily the wheat plant is injured and thrown out by freezing and thawing in the winter or spring. Reasoning from analogy on the subject, most good farmers in Monroe county, who have a repu- tation for raising the best crops of winter wheat, adopt the practice of MANURING THE SURFACE FOR WINTER WHEAT, in preference to mingling the manure thoroughly with the soil, as deep as it is plowed. By plowing the soil to a good depth once, and by working only a few inches in depth of the surface — rendering it fine and mellow — and by spreading finely pulver- ized compost on the surface, and simply harrowing it in about the time the grain is sowed or drilled in, the roots for the most part, will strike out hori- zontally, or nearly so, and will become so thorough- ly interwoven with each other near the surface, that they are not drawn out at the surface as they are when thejr strike down nearly vertically ; but the entire soil rises and settles back in the same manner as sod ground does, without heaving out the plants. I have made particular inquiry of those farmers who have adopted the practice of manuring on the surface, in every locality where I have traveled during the past season, and I have found that in most instances they are satisfied that winter grain will not suffer so much injury from freezing and thawing, when the manure is well rotted and spread thin on the surface, and harrowed in about the time when the grain is put in, as it will if the ma- nure is plowed under. A TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER. "Good morning, neighbor Smith." " Good mornin'. Aint this awful cold ?" •'Yes, pretty cold, neighbor; but the high wind makes it appear colder than it really is. The cold- est we have yet had was four degrees below zero." "It seems to me as it it was the coldest I ever knew it." " Oh, no ; don't you remember the cold Friday of last winter? The mercury then sank to thirty- two degrees below zero, which was the lowest tem- perature I ever recorded. These first five days of January have not been unusually cold, but very uncomfortable, from the fact that the wind has blown a gale from the north. New Year's day, you know, was warm and rainy, the thermometer marking thirty-five degrees at six P. M. During the afternoon, I noticed the barometer fell unusu- ally fast until, at six P. M., it was down to 2 .50 inches. Well, the wind hauled to north, and be- gan blowing a gale at nine P. M., and continued so until noon of the fifth. The mercury in the ther- mometer sunk during the night of the first to four degrees — a very sudden change of thirty degrees." " I thought my stock would freeze, and seemed to me they ate a quarter more than usual." "They tell about having barns too tight and warm for stock, but I don't believe in it, neighbor. Of course there may be such an one, but there aint one in this county. When the manure behind the cattle freezes, I know the ' tie-up ' aint too warm to be comfortable ; and, as you say, it does take a good deal more fodder for stock during the cold weather. The colder the barn, the more it will cost to keep the 'critter,' and the reason is just this, neighbor : A certain amount of heat is re- quired for the body of the animal. The food con- sumed is what makes or supplies that heat, and if the air that surrounds the body be very cold, a greater amount of heat is withdrawn by contact, and to supply this amount a greater quantity of food than usual is required." "Well, I don't know how that is; hut I know that my stock take right hold of almost anything, poor hay, stalks and straw. Does your barometer always tell when the wind is going to blow hard, and about storms too ?" "Yes; every change in the atmosphere is fol- lowed by a corresponding fluctuation of the mer- cury in the tube of the barometer. It falla the THE GENEbEE FARMER 49 lowest and quickest before a high wind, whether accompanied by a storm or not. During and pre- ceding fair weather, it rises and remains the high- est. As a farmer, I find it very valuable during the summer season, particularly during haying- time, when I watch it closely, as it always gives a few hours notice of rain storms and thunder show- ers. I remember one time last summer ; it was very foggy in the morning and had all the usual appearances of a storm, but the barometer said 'fair,' as the mercury was rising. "We mowed all the forenoon, and at noon the fog broke away and we had a fine afternoon to get up the hay in, while neighbor Jones kept his whole crew ' laying still ' all the forenoon for fear of rain." "I always thought I could tell pretty near what kind of weather was coming." "Well neighbor, if there is any one thing I have learned during several years of weather observa- tion and record, it is to be very careful about fore- telling weather but a few hours in advance. Belfast, Maine. GEO. E. BKACKETT. THE FAKMEK IS KING. " Cotton is King," said a Senator. " Nay," said another, " Gold is King." Nay, say we, the Farmer is King! A monarch is prepared for his throne by a careful education. But who is nur- tured with such an education as the farmer? He is nursed in the strong embrace of prolific, many- handed Nature. Our mother Nature keeps the wisest school. Great Nature — rude, yet gentle; stern, yet kindly; terrible, yet loving; frugal, yet bountiful. We almost believe that no men can be God's great men, unless nurtured in the strong embrace of our great mother on the bosom of the earth. All men should, some time in their lives, live out in the midst of Nature and till the soil. He who has been born and reared and who lives in a city, debarred the privilege of communing with Nature, is most unfortunate. He can never be a whole man. He lacks the stern poetic teachings of this great school. Nothing can compensate for it. "An undevout astronomer is mad!" exclaimed a wise man. An undevout farmer is a monster! we exclaim. What! can the husbandman receive his food direct from heaven — -its rains, and dews, and sunshine ; it smiles over him in the blue and span- gled vault, sun and moon and star lit; all around him in the wavy grass and grain, the many-tinted flowers; in the voices of the wind and the bending trees; underneath him, in prolific, fresh-turned soil — and still be a monster, out of tune with outer and inner Nature? Who lives so far from tempta- tion ? Who lives so nigh his Creator ? enwrapped all about with his arms — fed from his dazzling, munificent hand. He sleeps between the leaves of God's pictured book — the Universe. "He loved husbandry," is the enconium that in- spiration pays to one of the best Kings of Israel, and who had one of the longest and prosperous of reigns. " Hzzah, the King," says the sacred wri- ter, " digged many wells, for he had much cattle ; husbandmen also, and vine-dressers in the moun- tains, and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry." If this could have been said of his successor, the Jews had not been parted and scattered, as at this day, among the nations. As long as it can be said of the sovereigns of these States, utheyr love hus- bandry," the Republic is safe. Small farms grow true patriots. The wealth of the Republic must be a common wealth. It is the nature of power to seek to increase itself. When monarchs increase in power, it is in bald words the growth of tyranny. Not so the King Farmer. His tyranny is over bar- renness. He smites, and lo! the sterile earth groans; but it is with abundance. He brings his enemies to the faggot and the stake; but they are the thistle, the dock, the daisy and the briar. He overruns and subdues the territories of his foes; but they are the swamp. and the quagmire. He plows up the very foundations of the strongholds of his destroyers ; but they are the deadly malaria, the stinging insect, and the fanged and poisonous reptile. The earth is his slave ; but it is the sla- very of love, for it buds and blossoms before him, and the trees clasp their hands for joy for him. He chains his servants to do his will ; but they are the elements, the huge and willing ox, and the majestic horse, impatient to do his bidding, and champing lor the word that bids him go. "When the monarch Farmer raises himself on high and stretches his scepter abroad, cities spring up under its shadow. The sound of the spindle, the loom, the anvil, and the ponderous foundry and mill are heard. The hum of the industrious mul- titudes comes up like the voice of many waters ; white- winged ships fly over the unstable main; men cast aside their hides and fig leaves and are clothed in imperial garments, and women are ar- rayed in fabrics fine as gossamer and many tinted as the sunset cloud. Penury, pestilence and fam- ine he keeps bound in his prison-house. Labor stands in the door of his magazines, and in his stal- wart hand he holds the scales of human life, and weighs out the supplies of trade and art, and artists and armies; of school and church and state; food and raiment, abundance and luxury. He deals out the progress of human kind. The Farmer is King — the Monarch of men. o. n. bemext. New York, 66 East 29th strset. Pretty good — though emanating from the city of New York. But our esteemed correspondent has been long a farmer, and loves the country and doubtless sighs for its quiet enjoyments. — Eds. The Flax and Linen Trade of Ireland. — Bel- fast, the great emporium of the linen trade, export ed in 1860, 65,600,000 yards of linen and 13,200,000 lbs. of yarn and thread. Next in importance to the flax industry, is the trade in sewed muslins, employing about half a million of persons in Ire- land. Another manufacture carried on in Belfast is important in the consumption of agricultural produce — namely, starch making from wheat. Ten firms use nearly 240,000 bushels of the finest red wheat every year. The wheaten starch made by the old fermentative process, is largely used by bleachers, the goods retaining their stiffness longer than if dressed with the rice and other starches. The whole of this business is at present nearly par- alyzed, as America was the best market for Irish linen goods, very limited quantities of which have been imported during the past nine months. 50 THE GENESEE FARMER. NOTES ON FIELDS AND CATTLE. Suoh is the title of a gossiping book on farming matters, recently published in England, from the pen of Rev. W. Holt Beever. A few extracts will be read with interest. The Cow. — " However, whether we will it or no, we must believe that there exists a cousinly bond between the savage bull of Central Africa, lying sulkily iii wait for the unwary traveler ; the cun- ning bison of the American savannah, so deeply ensconced amidst the reeds of the sunken water- course as to be distinguishable only by its hump— the hunter's prize; and yon meek-eyed dapple milch cow there, sheltering knee deep in the brook beneath a verandah of ash branches, reflectively whisking off the flies from her flank with her tail so utterly regardless, meanwhile, of the aged female above, gathering cresses for the hall, in the red cloak the young ladies have given her. A cer- tain amount of relationship, such as Youatt sug- gests, one may imagine between the sharp-eyed black group there, the like of which Macgregor drove, that peer down so curiously from beneath the thick fringe upon their foreheads atthe intru- sive pedestrian; between the long, active bull- that is so apt to cut off or precipitate the salmon- fisher's retreat by the tempest-torn passage of the Awe— and the Urus of the Hercyuian forest, men- tioned by Csesar— elephantine, untameable— whose horns, polished and tipped with silver, they were wont to use for the grace-cup at their solemn festi- vals, and whose direct lineal representative is pro- bably the modern lichen-eating Lithuanian auroch; but how ever came the connection between the yak of Thibet and the improved Durham cow, it is beyond us to conceive : the one there, fronting so complacently the ferocious gale, on his exalted lair among the pointed rocks— with back exposed to the pitiless storm, bare as the traveled trunk of a bygone generation — being contented, apparently, with the rug wherewith nature has considerately enwrapped his nether limbs, in everlasting compen- sation, it would seem, for his obligatory existence on those icy Asian wastes, where litter must be scarce; the other, with such queenly calmness, scarce observant of your entrance— chewing quiet- ly the cud across her recumbent calf, as the world renowned baliff of Townley rolls back the door of her stall — on whose mellow cubic form you can detect no shade or hollow, and the elastic padding of whose meat-clad ribs your finger dents in vain." The Horse. — "Your young ones, you can not keep too well. When weaned, which should be, both for their own and their mothers' sake, but es- pecially the mothers', about September, give them plenty of new cow's milk, diluted somewhat with water, crushed corn and bean-flour, with Swedes to make them bone, a few white peas, and a lock of the sweetest upland hay. This, with gentle caresses, should daily be the lot of the young one in his pad- dock and shed. After all, what is it but so many pounds put out to interest? Starve a colt in his first year, and he is spoilt for ever. No subsequent treatment, however judicious or generous, can re- deem the neglect of his early youth — the sinking loin, the worn look, the spindle shanks, too surely attest the treatment he received in infancy, what- ever his original calibre may have b^en. In fact, whatever be the stock, 'tis keep and shelter that tell in the end. Look even at that draggle-tailed Elspeth upon the stack there, doling out their pit- tance of mouldy hay to a couple of depressed Here- ford heifers. Two years since, by courtesy Maria, she was a stylish housemaid at the castle ; to-day she is the desponding partner of a too adventurous young farmer. Better had she known when she was well off. In illustration again, only to-day I noticed a red-breasted flunkey fetch in a pair of grumbling, shiny, broad-backed porkers, which, only two months ago, I deemed too dearly bought for a pound apiece. While on the other side of the road, with the last sole surviving item of her starved litter crawling after her, there cropped the scanty grass a sow, the fac-similie on a giant scale of a young mouse — flap-eared, hairless, lank — what a few months since was a farewell gift pig, bought out of a prize Yorkshire small-breed lot, and pre- sented to an old man in our village by bis son, an artisan, upon his leaving for Australia. What a various fate hath befallen them ! The one of aris- tocratic lineage reduced to the poor-house; the other, born in a cot and advanced to aldermanic plenty. On large farms, where the fields are thirty to forty acres each, or upward, in extent, a team of bullocks pays well, there not being the loss of time in turning on such ground, which is one chief reason of complaint against the practice of plow- ing with oxen ; but there must be in addition a sufficient number of horses to do the road work." The Pig. — " ' Sus scrofa, cochon, terrat. Generic character — snout elongated, etc. ; speicfic charac- ter— back bristly, tail hairy, etc' Shades of Mor- land, Wiley, Fisher Hobbs ! Whatever will ye exclaim at such teaching on the part of Mr. Yar- rell ? How doctors have come to disagree here- upon! How diametrically dissimilar the idiosyn- crasy of those, sleek, rounded representatives of porcine civilization which are being annually im- ported from the yards of the. famous Mr. Crisp for crossing with the produce of Prussia and Russia, to the probable future damage of the present trade in bristles. To be practical, however : this inter- esting native should be, as everything else upon the farm, first-rate — broad, lengthy, deep, short-snout- ed, of fine bone, with tail well set on ; a thin pricked ear, and skin gathering in folds even to the hock to be plumped out before Christmas, and of a breed that will fatten on clover, grass, or vetches in summer, mangel wurzel in winter, sliced and slightly sprinkled with barley-meal. Innumerable are the excellent varieties of breed now-a-days pos- sessing such characteristics. Wherever he may hail from (and hail he does lustily on occasion, as you may learn for yourself if you attend an em- barkation of them at Liverpool or Cork), whether from Berkshire, Essex, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Tarn- worth, Windsor, Hampshire, Dorset — each county and district almost having its improved breed, all supremely indebted to a Chinese or Neapolitan forefather — you will have no great difficulty in ob- taining what you want. To Herefordshire was due the pork provision when the Duke was in the Peninsula. Grudge not a few extra shillings (which you may easily save by traveling third-class a jour- ney or two by way of change) in the purchase of an exemplary sow-in-pig to begin with. It is a THE GENESEE FARMER. 51 loss of time to buy second-rate stock, however ex- cellent your judgment may be, for the purpose of improving it. Climb as far as you can on the shoulders of others who have pioneered before you, and then take up the path. You will be passed in turn, never fear, by some one now a small boy munching at a crust. Start, however, as forward as you can, and do your best while your hour lasts." SHOWS OF FAT STOCK. The two principal shows of fat stock in England, viz., that of the Midhxnd Counties' Association, and that of the Smithfield Club, took place the last week in November and the first week in December — the former at Birmingham and the latter at Lon- don. These shows are interesting to American farmers, because the breeds of cattle, sheep and swine which are held in the highest estimation are at them extensively exhibited, and their relative merits to some extent tested. At the Birmingham show, the gold medal for the "best ox or steer" was awarded ton Short-horn owned by Mr. Taylor, of Bridlington, Yorkshire, and that for the " best cow or heifer " to a Gallo- way, bred by the Duke of Buccleugh, and owned by Mr. M'Combie, of Aberdeen, Scotland. The last-named animal was also awarded a silver cup, as "the best of all the cattle," without regard to sex. These awards may be taken as showing the relative merits of all the cattle exhibited, as all competed, or might have competed, for these prizes. The Herefords and Devons, it is said, " were not up to their established excellence," but the Short- horns made a fair representation, although, as has been stated, a Short-horn was not the best animal in the show. But we pass to the show of the Smithfield Club, an association of upwards of sixty years standing (founded 1798), whose exhibitions have long at- tracted the attention of the agricultural world. Until within a few years, all breeds of cattle have here competed for the same premiums ; but a change was made by which separate classes were formed for different breeds, and there is a general competition for the gold medals offered for the best ox or steer, and the best cow or heifer. Up to this time the shows have been held in London, but the Club, for various reasons, has provided for itself new accommodations at Islington. The competi- tion for the gold medals on the present occasion, resulted in bestowing that for oxen and steers on the Short-horn of Mr. Taylor, which carried the same honor at Birmingham, and that for cows and heifers on a Short-horn of Mr. Faulkner, of Bur- ton-on-Trent, which also stood first in the Short- horn class for cows and heifers at Birmingham. The Galloway heifer which was declared to be " the best animal in all the cattle classes " at Bir- mingham, competed for the gold medal of the Smithfield Club offered for the best cow or heifer, but was set aside by a cow which at Birmingham was deemed inferior to her. The award of the Club gave rise to criticism. The Marls Lane Ex- press asks : " How can it be that Mr. Faulkner's Short-horn cow has been permitted to step before the Spot?" Describing the latter, it is said : " Not only is her form perfect — back, rib, shoulder-point, breast-end, hip, loin, flank, and rump — but her thigh and twist are wonderful, the rounds of beef full and heavy to the very hocks ; her head is beau- tiful, exactly characteristic of the breed, her coat just what it should be, and she handles like what she is, a magnificent feeder, of a quality worth something to the butcher, and calculated to make the appreciative epicure smack his lips. In pro- portion to her symmetrical figure elsewhere, her girth forms her weak point; but even this is 8 feet 9 inches, at 4 years 10 months old." The girth of Mr. Faulkner's Short-horn cow is two inches less than that of the Galloway, although she is a full year older." We commend the remark in regard to the beauty of the head of this animal being "exactly charac- teristic of the breed," to persons who think the Galloways are generally "sour headed;" and would also call attention to the size, as indicated by the girth, for the enlightenment of those who, without personal knowledge of the breed, frequently speak of the Galloways as " small," " diminutive," etc. As a class, the Short-boms maintained the repu- tation of the bread at the show of the Smithfield Club. Of the Herefords, the Hark Lane Express says : " We have no excessive praise to bestow this year." Only 15 of the breed were exhibited, but some of them were highly spoken of. The Devons are spoken of as being " as pretty as ever, and this year in some instances combining splendid quality of meat with greater size than is sometimes seen." Earl Howe's steer, 3 years and 10 months old, girted 7 feet 10 inches. No Long-horn oxen or steers were exhibited, but two cows of the breed were shown which proved what this old breed, ad- ways celebrated for the dairy, is still capable of in the way of beef. Mr. Burberry's first-prize cow, 7 years and 8 months old, girted 7 feet 7 inches, and was pronounced a model of what the breed should be. The general show of Scotch cattle, which it is said " the London butchers take delight in, and which get so fat in our midland and eastern counties pastures," made a fine display. Mr. M'- Combie's polled Aberdeen ox, 4 years and 8 months old, girted 9 feet 5 inches, and the Duke of Beau- fort's West Highland ox, 8 feet 6 inches. The sheep comprised specimens of the Leicester, Cotswold, Lincoln, Kent or Romney Marsh, Che- voit, South Down, Shropshire Down, Oxford Dowd, and the Exmoor — the latter new candidates for favor at the shows of the Club, and very highly shoken of as to quality of flesh. Mr. Foljambe'b priae Leicesttr wethers, 20 months old, are said to have girted 5 feet 7 inches each. Of swine, the Suffolks of Mr. Crisp, the Berk- shire, the improved Dorset, improved Hampshire, etc., appear to have been fine. — Boston Cultivator. Sorghum Syrup. — An establishment for refining Chinese sugar cane syrup is now in successful ope- ration in Chicago, 111. It is specially devoted to the making of syrup (not sugar), which is equal, it is stated, to that obtained from sugar cane. The company offer to receive crude syrup from farmers, and refine it for ten cents a gallon. The syrup is first placed in a copper pan, and when it commences to boil a small quantity of lime water is added.' After this it is strained through canvas sacks, then filtered through animal charcoal, and afterward concentrated in the vacuum pan at a temperature of 160° Fah. 52 THE GENESEE FARMER. CULTIVATION OF FLAX. At a recent meeting of the New York Farmer's Club, the following discussion took place in regard to the cultivation of flax : Mr. Carpenter gave his opinion that this was one of the most important questions that lias evor been brought before the Club. Flax should be sown about the 10th of May, on well-prepan d soil, about half-a-bushel an acre. Flax fiber mixod with cotton improves both. Prof. Nash — The flax crop is grown at the West for the seed alone. When I was a boy every fam- ily used to grow, flax enough to make cloth for domestic use, all "over New England. It requires a strong, heavy soil, and is very exhausting — so much so that grass did not take well. If sown for seed, or to use the fibre for coarse cloth, half-a- bushel per acre is enough. For very fine fabrics a bushel and a half per acre is sown. Plow about May first, and make the surface very smooth be- fore sowing. It is pulled as soon as a part of the seed is ripe, and dried, and the seed beaten off, and then spread on grass to rot, so that it can be dressed. Dr. Trimble said that the culture of flax has been abandoned in a great measure by the Penn- sylvania farmers, who used to grow enough for all family use. But cheap cotton has driven out flax, because the labor was so great it could not com- pete with cotton. It will not be revived unless the great labor of its preparation can be done by ma- chinery, at a cheap rate ; that is the great difficulty in the way of inducing farmers to extend the flax culture. Mr. Gale — There is still a great deal of flax raised in Pennsylvania, and in the interior of this State. It is now prepared by machinery that ob- viates the most of the disagreeable hand labor of the old time. Farmers are content to raise flax at about twelve cents a pound. There is no trouble about growing flax ; the only question is about be- ing able to produce it as cheaply as any other fibre, whether cotton or silk. All the business of dress- ing flax is very dirty and disagreeable when done by hand, and most farmers prefer to raise other crops, and buy substitutes for linen cloth. Mr. Carpenter stated that it does not require a very strong soil to grow flax, nor does it exhaust the land any more than other crops, and he wants to see the cultivation greatly extended, and hopes that this Club will lend its influence to promote this object. Dr. Jarvis — Without doubt, cotton is not as healthy as flax. If flax is dirty at first in its pre- paration, cotton is always so through all its wear; it is giving off fine particles of dust that fill the air of our houses, and injure the health of all who use cotton cloth. He thought in every sense of the word, cotton has been a curse to the world. It is not as healthy as flax for any kind of clothing, par- ticularly bedding, and he thought the world would be greatly benefitted by the use of flax, to as great an extent as it now u*es cotton. Mr. Henry — I had supposed that rotting, and breaking, and swingling, and hatcheling flax, were among the antediluvian notions of the world. As to flax exliausting the soil any more than any other crop, I don't believe it ; and certaiuly with the im- proved machinery of the age, there is no difficulty in preparing the fibre for use. Prof. Nasii — Flax will grow of course, on stony land, but the soil must be good. The reason that flax culture ceased so far in this country is be- cause cotton can be produced so much cheaper. The mere act of swingling occupied a man all day to dress sixteen pounds, and the culture of flax will never be extended in this country until we can prepare the fiber at a cheap rate — by some of the processes that have been tried — either by steam, or acid, or alkali. I have no doubt flax is more healthy than cotton for garments, and it may be produced to any extent desh-ed, if it can be cheaply prepared for use. So far as my experience goes, all the operations connected with flax are laborious and generally unpopular with all farm- laborers. Pulling flax is very hard work. Rev. Mr. Weaver, of Fordham — What are we going to do with flax if we produce it in the great quantities proposed? Will it be accepted as a good substitute for cotton and wool ? I have found that it will not answer for me to wear linen in such weather as this. Is it likely to be gene- rally adopted by people, even if linen cloth can be made as cheaply as cotton ? Mr. Lancaster, formerly of N. H. — With regard to flax seed, it depends upon what the article is to be used for. If for seed alone, three pecks per acre will do ; if for seed and fiber, a bushel, or a bushel and a peck; and it should be sown as early as possible after the frost is out of the ground. It is a very exhausting and laborious crop. A band will not pull over a quarter of an acre per day. When dry, the seed is beaten off, it is spread, and not turned till it is rotted sufficiently. A man in New Hampshire, where I used to work among flax, could dress from twenty-five to fifty pounds per day. And as to the use of linen, there is no end to its use ; and there is no cloth applied to so many uses as that of flax. We can grow four hun- dred pounds per acre, and used to count it a good crop at fourteen cents per pound for the flax, and one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents per bushel for the seed, as an acre would produce twenty-five bushels. The flax question is one of great importance to the country; because, if we can prepare the lint cheaply, all parts of the country can produce a better fiber than cotton, sufficient for the use of the inhabitants, at less than the average price of cot- ton, and the fabric will be more valuable, and its use more healthy. Horse Disease in California. — A fatal disease has made its appearance among the horses in Cali- fornia. Last year, David Spear, of Monterey, lost one hundred and fifty head. It attacked the horses at the latter end of the dry season, when grazing on bottom land. It first shows itself in the ani- mals throwing out the head, with the body much drawn up, and the hind legs crawn forward — stag- gering about for several days, refusing food till it falls down, and writhes in pain till death occurs after two or three days. Post mortem examination fails to throw liglit on the cause. THE GENESEE FARMER. 53 WHAT SHALL I DO WITH MY PIG. The question that herds this item was addressed o us by a literary gentleman who had just come n possession of the carcase of a fat pig, weight ibout 200 lbs., more or less, which he professed to aiow as little what to do with as the man who von the elephant knew what to do with his prize. iVhether our friend won his pig in a raffle, or came mnestly by him by right of inheritance, we know lot. We think he could not have purchased it, and he reason, we think, is, that he is a newspaper (ditor. But no matter; he had got the pig, and he question is — What shall he do with it? As a ike accident may happen to some other gentleman, inr pig-knowledge may be useful to some others in ike distress. Therefore, we let our light shine. The first operation with a dead pig is to take off he head, pretty well up to the shoulders, by out- ing the flesh with a sharp knife, and the bone with m ax. Out off the ears as close as possible ; di- ride the jowls from the upper part of the head, on , line'with the mouth, by knife and ax. These are ixcellent salted and smoked, or they may go into 'head cheese." This is made of the upper part »f the head, with the "souse," or else it goes into he oven for " baked pig's head," in which case two nches of the snout must be cut off for souse. ?he next cut is to sever the ribs close to the back- bone along each side, and take out the backbone or roasting. Now cut the leaf- fat loose from the ibs forward, and seize it with a strong grip and mil it and the kidney out, and then, with a knife nserted under the ribs, cut them loose with as lit- le meat as possible. Now cut off both hams, and hen cut them apart, taking out the tail piece vedge shaped, and trim the hams to a handsome hape, with only a short leg on each. Now cut he shoulders off in the same way, taking out quite i chunk of the fat meat of the back between them, rhen cut up the sides, if wanted for pickled pork, a sizes to suit; if intended for "side bacon," eave them whole in two pieces. If your pig is not arge, and you want fresh roasts, you need not take »ut the backbone, but cut it with portions of the ibs and sides into suitable sized roasting-pieces. f your pig is very fat, and as lard is worth more ban pork, trim the joints and sides closely, and iut it up fine for lard. These with the leaf must >e put in a kettle over a slow fire, so as not to jurn, without water, and cooked till all the water s wholly evaporated, and the scraps thoroughly jooked. Such lard will keep sweet. It will be most convenient for you to dry salt pour bacon. First sprinkle a little saltpeter — 4 oz. ;o 100 lbs. of meat — and then rub half a gill to a rill of molasses upon each joint, and let them lay i day or two ; then rub them with fine, hot salt — 5 lbs. to 100 lbs. of meat — and then lay them upon the floor or on a table as many days as a joint weighs pounds, rubbing them over once in the time. Salt the side-pork in the same way, and afterward pack it in brine as strong as salt will make it. When the joints are ready to smoke, brush off all the loose salt, or rub it off with a wet cloth, but do not put them in water, and sprinkle them well with red pepper. Smoke them with any sweet wood, and be sure never to heat them nor to make a smoke wet days, Let your smoke-house be open for the smoke to escape, and do not hurry the busi- ness, and you will have sweet bacon. It will take two or three weeks to smoke a ham of 1G lbs. weight. Never use rotten wood. After your joints are smoked to suit you, put each in a loose cotton bag, and hang up the joint by the string, not by the bag, in a cool, dry room, and your hams will keep for years. — New York Tribune. NOTES FROM MAINE. "Peas and Potatoes on the same Land for Hogs." — Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Under the above quotation, in the January number, page 18, you ask a question' (asked you by "one of the best and most intelligent farmers") of the readers of the Genesee Farmer, to this effect : What do you think of planting early potatoes and peas to be fed to hogs upon the ground where grown — the hogs do- ing their own harvesting, cooking and milling, and fattening themselves, besides tilling and enriching the land ? This seems to be an important improvement, especially with those who grow pork largely ; and, if this thing can be so done economically, it will be advantageous to many who can not raise pork to a profit only on a small scale ; that is, hogs enough to consume the refuse materials which are seem- ingly only suitable for hogs, — which every farm devoted to mixed husbandry produces. The editor of the Neio England Farmer, in speaking of making compost, sometime in 1861, says it is better to fork it over by hand than to have the hogs root it over, because man-labor is cheaper than hog-labor with him. His suggestion was copied into many of the agricultural papers without a dissenting voice, as far as seen, while several spoke of it favorably to their readers. To fat hogs expeditiously and profitably, they must only " eat and sleep." Hence, to have to dig potatoes, to get their drink, besides gathering the peas, will be little if any short of work. Different localities will make some difference economically in this wray of fattening hogs. But, unless there is some fattening property lost by letting the peas ripen and taking the potatoes out of the ground, it would be an expensive mode with us in Maine. The succeeding cops after peas and corn are better than after potatoes almost invariably, and where corn and potatoes are grown side by side with equal amount of manure, the corn getting one the most hoeings, even the grass, after a crop of wheat, oats or rye has been taken off without any more manure being applied, will show just the bounds of the corn piece for years. As to turnips, they are not grown sufficiently extensive to prac- tically know much about their exhausting tenden- cies, butpotatoes are practically known and gener- ally considered an exhausting crop with us. Elm Tree Farm, Maine. O. W. TRUE. To Drive Away Rats. — Some six or eight years since, my wife, in order, as she said, to sweet- en the cellar, sprinkled a solution of copperas over the bottom; since which I have never observed any signs of rats in the cellar. Her custom is to use the solution two or three times during the summer, sprinkled on the cellar floor, and I am fully convinced that rats do not like it. — D., Gates. 54 TEE GENESEE FAEMEE. WHAT IT COSTS 10 SEND CORN FROM NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL. Eds. Genesee Farmer :— Any information in regard to the charges consequent on the exporta- tion of corn, may not be uninteresting to some of your readers. On a recent shipment to Liverpool, England, these amounted to thirty cents per bushel, of fifty - six pounds, after the com was on board in the port of Neio York, and comprised freight, primage, insurance, duty, town and dock dues, porterage, landing and commission. As it was sold on arri- val, there was neither cartage nor storage to include. The three first, and the last, of these items, may be more or less, according to circum- stances. In this instance, the freight was twenty cents per bushel, and the primage five per cent on the freight; the insurance, including the war risk, was one and three-quarters percent, on the amount insured ; and the commission and guarantee three per cent, on the gross proceeds of the sale — the usual charge, however, is four per cent. In New York a bushel of corn is fifty-six pounds ; in Liverpool it is sixty pounds. There is, more- over, a loss of about one per cent. The owner has to allow interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum, on the charges, not including commission, from the time of landing to the time of sale ; and three month's interest at the same rate, on the gross proceeds of the sale, less the commission, in consideration of prompt pay- ment. JOnN BRADFIELD. THE POTATO DISEASE— EARLY DIGGING AGAIN. SUGAR CANE AT THE WEST. In the January number of the Farmer, a corre- spondent, "D.," of Gates, says that the potato disease prevails to a considerable extent in his lo- cality, and wishes to compare notes with others, as to the prevalence of the disease, and also as to the policy of early digging. I respond by saying that the rot is very bad in this vicinity. I raise several varieties, some of which, as the Carter, Mountain June, Lake Erie Red, or Western Red, have suffered severely, while the Purple Mercers, White Kidney, (early; a variety of Pink Eye, orig- inated by myself,) and the Jenny Lind, or Multi- plier, rotted but very little. I dug a part of my Lake Eries in September; they have not rotted nearly as bad as the same variety dug the latter part of October. The Carters were not dug until the last of October, and I have lost the seed. Some of my neighbors who have raised the Peach Blow and Davis Seedling, say that they have rot- ted but little, while other varieties on the same ground were badly affected. The tops of my Jen- ny Linds remained green until they were killed by the frost, (Oct. 27). It is a late variety. One of them weighed exactly four pounds. I hope others will respond to " D.'s" request. w. h. ITorih Almond, N. Y. Jan. 15, 1862. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Sorgho sucre, or Chi- nese sugar cane, the seeds of which were so exten- sively distributed several years ago by the Patent Office, has proven so fully successful that great preparations are making for its production the present year. In this county very many farmers made last year from fifty to five hundred gallons — frequently averaging from two hundred to two hundred and fifty gallons per acre. Much confi- dence is felt in its complete success, not only as a syrup-producing plant, but also in its ultimately producing sugar. At Rockford, in Winnebago county, and at Earl, in La Salle county, large manufactories have been established which produced from the last year's crop, many thousand gallons of syrup. P. W. Gates, Esq., of Chicago, exhibited and operated, at the Illinois State Fair, and at our own and oth- er county fairs, a small steam engine which ran the crushers, while the steam evaporated the juice instead of its being done over a fire. A refinery has now been established in Chicago, which dessicates the syrup so perfectly that it is fully equal, for any purpose, to the best refined Cuba syrups. We hope to be able to supply a lively demand with prairie plantation syrup, next fall. g. Amhoy, 111., Jan. Yifh, 1862. ^ i ^ Garget in Cows. — I. W. Sanborn, of Vermont, ,. informs us that one of the most simple and effec- tual preventives and cures for garget in milch cows, is beans, ground and fed as provender. Try it. TIGHT BARNS. Eds. Farmer: — In the January number of the Farmer, is a piece entitled " Tight Barns." With the sentiment of that piece I fully agree, yet I am afraid it may produce a mania among our tight barn farmers, common in this section of the coun- try. Allow me to give you an illustration of our " tight barns!" You go into one of them these cold, frosty mornings, and you will see the cattle stand rounded up, with their sides covered with frost, and the manure behind them frozen solid ; also a liberal coating on either flank, which serves instead of straw for bedding. This neglectful practice is altogether too common. Would it not be better to take a portion of the straw given to the cattle as food, and use it as bedding? Would it not be a saving of food? Every one knows — or ought to know, that cattle kept warm, eat less than those kept as above ; even these " tight barn'r farmers, let them but consider, and they will agree with me there. Then why not batten an extra board on your barns, around your cattle ? It will pay well. e. folsom. Harmony, Maine. Premium Turnip Crops in Canada. — Having noticed in the Genesee Farmer several accounts of premium turnip crops for 1861, I will add anoth- er to the number. Our county Agricultural Soci- ety having offered liberal premiums for the best one and two acres of turnips, I send you the names of the successful competitors, and the number of bushels grown per acre : FOR THE BEST TWO ACRES. 1st Prize, Robert Merriman 1,408 bushels per acre. 2nd " Arthur Pollard 1.170 " " " 3d " William Barber 1,010 « " « FOR TnE BEST ONE ACRE. 1st Prize, Thomas Penhale 1,056 bushels per acre. 2nd " I. N. Hunt 973 •' " « 8d " James Casey 8S5 « - " « East Riding, Elgin Co., G. W. LYMAU LEWIS. THE GENESEE FARMER. 55 tANSACTIONS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HORTI- CULTURAL SOCIETY. We are indebted to Eben Wight, Esq., the able Secre- ry of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for a py of their Transactions for 1861. As usual, it abounds interesting and valuable information. We make a few tracts : Cultivating the Strawberry in Hills. — This p'rac- !e is not general, we believe, around Boston, but it is xted that Dr. Lodge has cultivated the strawberry for e past four years in bills, without removal, and with ntinuiug good results. This fact will be of special in- rest to cultivators just entering upon this mode of cul- re. The yield was about four thousand quarts per acre r this, the fourth year — the plants indicating perfect salth and vigor. This method is but an application of r. Lodge's theory of pruning, which is the removal of 1 superfluous wood, laterals or runners, forcing the ants to form fruit spurs, with the least possible amount ' wood and no unnecessary foliage. It will be seen from the Report of the Discussion at the cent meeting of the Fruit Growers' Society of Western ew York, in this number of the Farmer, that Mr. Knox, ' Pittsburg, states that he raises strawberries in this ay from the same plants for ten years in succession with- it renewal. Failure op the Fruit Crop the Past Season. — On le morning of February 8th, 1861, the thermometer larked 21° below zero — probably the greatest degree of Did ever experienced in the vicinity of Boston, The con- jquence was that, though the summer was favorable, the rop of fruit, on some of the most important varieties, roved almost a total failure. The trees, too, in many in- tances, were also severely injured. In many cases, this ajury has been confined to the killing of the later growth -the more tender shoots at the ends of limbs, in others a the destruction of flower or leaf buds, while in still thers it has extended to the whole tree, causing its death, r rendering it worthless or of little value. This injury ras much more severe and complete in some varieties han in others, showing a difference of vigor and degrees if hardihood in different sorts of the same kind — a differ- ;nce not sufficiently attended to when profit is the object )f the cultivator; as, for example, in pears, the Bartlett ind Beurre Bosc suffered greatly, the trees of both having seen almost universally severely injured, and in many instances wholly killed ; while on the contrary, the Marie Louise, Belle Lucrative, Urbaniste and Louise Bonne de Jersey, seemed to escape wholly unharmed ; the two first of these last-named having been, the past season, superi- or in quantity and quality to any season now remembered. Shelter for Fruit Trees. — The Fruit Committee in in their report well remark: " One of the lessons taught by the unfortunate experi- ence of the past year is plain and palpable ; it is, that in a climate such as ours, fruit trees and vines, occasionally at least, if not always, require a certain amount of pro- tection against its severity. This may be obtained by selecting a sheltered site for the garden or orchard ; and where that cannot be done, by the erection of a high close fence around it. If any question arises as to the efficacy of this last method it needs but a visit to the garden of Mr. Tudor, at Nahant, to dispel the doubt, where, protect- ed only by a high paling, fruit trees of all varieties may be seen flourishing luxuriantly, while outside of such en- closure the hardiest trees cannot resist the influence of the fierce winds that blow over that peninsula. And there is no ostensible cause for the exemption from inju- ry of the trees of Mr. Bacon, of Roxbury, and Mr. Van- dine, of Cambridge, and that these bore full crops of fine pears in a year so unpropitious as the past, but the shel- ter they receive." Strawberries. — Among the new varieties. La Constant* is highly spoken of. In regard to the culture of straw- berries the committee remark that in Belmont, where the strawberry is more extensively cultivated, perhaps, than anywhere else, the growers confine themselves mainly to a few established sorts, depending for their crops upon Hovey's Seedling, with the Jenny Lind, Boston Pine, or Brighton Pine, as a fertilizer; planting them in the pro- portion of about six of the former to one of the latter, and setting them in single rows about four feet apart, and taking but one crop from the same vines, Lave new beds every year. It is believed that this is the most economi- cal method of cultivating the strawberry. The practice of so skillful cultivators as those of Belmont is surely entitled to great consideration. Currants. — La Versaillaise and Dana's Transparent currants are commended. The former has been cultivat- ed for some years and is esteemed among the best. The latter is large, of fine flavor, and it is said, a great bearer. It is remarked that in an experience of forty years, the last season is the only one in which this fruit seemed to have met with severe injury. But the past year the blos- som buds seemed to have been destroyed. Raspberries. — The Catawissa is recommended to those who wish to prolong the raspberry season. It was shown as late as October 18th. Blackberries.— The canes of these, when grown lux- uriantly, are apt to be winter-killed and need protection. They suffered severely the past season. Cherries.— This crop was entirely destroyed. The trees seem to have been failing for some years, and will not soon recover from the effects of the past severe season. Pears.— Far below an average. There were, however, some very fine specimens shown. The Urbaniste, Marie Louise, Belle Lucrative, Beurre d'Anjou, Beurre Lange- lier, Glout Morceau, Josephine de Malines, with some others, have been peculiarly large, fine and beautiful. There was little or no second growth on th£ Pears the past year, that which, from its immature state is most apt to be injured. The extreme cold of the past winter kill- I ed, or seriously hurt, many of the trees. 56 THE GENESEE FARMER. FRUIT GROWERS' SOCIETY OF WESTERN N. Y. Thk Annual Meeting of this Society was held in the Court House, Rochester, N. Y., January 8-9. The following subjects were discussed : SUBJECT I. Dwarf Apple Trees. — Wltat is the best stock for Dwarfing the Apple, and what are the comparative merits of Dwarf and /Standard Apples f P. Barry was asked to open the discussion, and re- marked that there was little new to be said on the subject. There were two kinds of stocks used for dwarfing the ap- ple— the Paradise and the Doucaiu. Worked on the for- mer, the trees are very small, and suitable only for garden culture. The trees bear very early, and the fruit is of extra size and quality. On the Doucain stock, the trees are larger — as large as a dwarf pear. They make fine pyramids, or half standards, and might be of advantage DWARF APPLE TREE ON THE PARADISE STOCK. ■ in the West and other places for orcharding. They do not fruit so early. Would plant them 12 feet apart. On the Paradise stock, they might be planted Ji to 6 feet apart. Dr. Beadle, of Canada, asked if an orchard could be planted, under any circumstances, with either of these stocks so as to make it, profitable. P. Barry. —On the Paradise stock, the trees are short- lived. The trees would not last more than fifteen to twenty years at best — perhaps not more than half so long. On the Doucain stock, the trees are much longer-lived. Had seen them twenty years old. They do not come into bearing much earlier than ou the free stock, say six years from the bud. [We annex a cut of a dwarf apple tree worked on the Paradise stock. . The drawing was made expressly for the Genesee Farmer, from a beautiful specimen growing near this city. It will give a better idea of a dwraf apple tree than the most elaborate description.] SELECT LIST OF APPLES FOR FAMILY USE. SUBJECT II. What are the best twenty-four varieties of Apples for general vse ? Which of the twenti/four are the four best Summer vari- eties : two for the table, one for baking, and one for cooking ? P. Barry. — The Early Harvest is the most popular summer apple in America. It is grown in every State in the Union as far South as the apple is cultivated. Had seen it at Memphis, and further South, as good as at the North. W. P. Townsend, of Lockport, spoke favorably of the Primate, Early Joe, Early Harvest, and Red Astrachan, and the Sweet Bough for baking. Dr. Beadle said in Canada the Sweet Bough was the the most popular sweet apple, and the Red Astrachan ex- cellent for cooking and eating. H. E. Hooker recommended Sweet Bough for baking, and the Early Harvest, Early Joe, Primate, and Red As- trachan for eating and cooking. Geo. Ellwanger. — The Summer Rose is one of the best summer apples. ' Had he but one variety, it should be the Summer Rose. The Early Joe is a delicious eating apple, but is very apt to be imperfect and spotted. The Early Harvest is good for the table. The Sweet Bough for bak- ing, and the Red Astrachan for cooking. W. B. Smith, of Syracuse, recommended the Early Har- vest, Red Astrachan and Sweet Bough for cooking, and the Primate and Summer Rose for the table. P. Baery considered all the summer apples that had been named excellent, and well worthy of general culture, except, perhaps, the Early Joe, which is often very spotted, and the tree a poor grower. The Early Strawberry is a beautiful, excellent apple, of a peculiar and delicious aroma, and the tree a good grower. An excellent market apple; the fruit sells at a high price as a summer apple. Would name it as one of our best summer varieties. It remains longer in perfection than almost any other summer apple, ripen- ing gradually and remaining ou the tree longer than most others. Tree au erect grower, with slender branches. Dr. Sylvester, of Lyons, thought very highly of the Early Strawberry. The tree is a handsome and erect grower. Fruit ripens gradually for five weeks, For fami- ly use, this peculiarity is valuable, but ob- jectionable for market, as it is less trouble to pick all the fruit of a variety at once. Would place it among the four best. Dr. S. could hardly confine himself to four va- rieties. He wanted the Early Harvest for all purposes, Sweet Bough for baking, Red Astrachan for cooking, and Early Straw- berry, Summer Rose aud Primate for table. E. Moody, of Lockport, thought the Pri- mate the best early apple. Ripe nearly as early as the Early Harvest, and does not spot, while the Early Harvest is subject to it, and Mr. M. thought may have to be dis- carded, for the difficulty is increasing, and varieties sub- ject to it should be rejected. The Primate is entirely free, and also the Red Astrachan. The Sweet Bough is a good apple, and bears shipping well. Would like to retain the Early Joe, although it does spot. Some gentlemen pres- ent thought the Primate tree rather tender, and Mr. M. said, in reply to inquiries, that it is as hardy as a Green- ing, and very much like it in growth. It may be picked be- fore it is ripe, aud improves as much as a Virgalieu pear. L. B. Laxgworthy and H. E. Hooker thought four sum- mer varieties were not enough, and prop ised that the number be increased to six. This was agreed to. P. Barry thought the Golden Sweet a very desirable summer sweet apple, though perhaps rather late to be called a summer apple. It is an immense bearer, the tree a rapid grower, and bears early; an excellent market ap- ple, especially in New England. E. Moody agreed with the last speaker in his opinion of the Golden Sweet. It is an excellent baking apple, but not as good for the table as the Sweet Bough, and will not bear carriage as well. Most of the Sweet Boughs of Niagara county are purchased for the Boston market. L. B. Laxgworthy said Golden Sweet was the most persistent bearer he knew — equal to the Baldwin. P. Barry said a line had been handed him, requesting h;s opinion of the Jeffries apple — a beautiful, striped, very superior dessert apple from Pennsylvania. It is an excel- lent summer apple. James Vick was anxious this fine apple should be brought to the notice of the meeting. It is excellent and beautiful. H. E. Hooker had the Jeffries iu bearing the last three THE GENESEE FAEMER. 57 rears It is an excellent table apple, and the finest ac- quisition we have had in many years. Does not ripen till September. . c n Mr. Hoag, of Lockport, had received scions from Penn- sylvania, which had fruited, and he considered the Jeff- ries a very superior dessert apple. . The President, H. T. Brooks, thought the growing of apples for feeding pigs an important matter for farmers Pork is cheap, and it, is necessary that cheap food should be used in making it. P. Barry named the Golden Sweet as a good summer variety for this purpose. . Dr Beu.lb said a neighbor fed sweet apples to pigs in great quantities, first using the Golden Sweet, and later the Tolnian Sweet. . , L B. Langworthy thought they were too good to feed pies Let the pigs have the run of the orchard and pick up all the wormy, fallen fruit; but apples that are fit to sell are worth more than they would be made into pork. H X Lwgworthy said he would sum up his opinion of the Golden Sweet in a few words— it is good for feed- ing pio-s, not very good to eat, good to bake, and good to sell before half ripe. Dealers will buy it, and it is con- sidered pretty good before it hardly begins to ripen. AUTUMN APPLES. SUBJECT III. Which of the twenty-four, are the best six fall varieties? H. E. Hooker considered the Munson Sweet a superb sweet apple, productive, and good either for baking or the table. Geo. Ellwanger said Munson Sweet is the finest autumn sweet apple we have, with a bright red cheek, which makes it attractive. Excellent for baking. W. H. Smith found the Munson sweet a very profitable apple. Tree hardv and productive, and the fruit excel- lent. The Fall Jenneting good, and the Colvert a hand- some apple and an enormous bearer, always fair, and an excellent cooking apple. The Ranibo and the St. Law- rence are fine for late fall. P. Barry said Jersey Sweet ranks among the best sweet apples of its season. Dr. Sylvester had cultivated the Munson Sweet a few years and liked it. The Pound Sweet is the best autumn sweet apple. It is more juicy than any other sweet apple. For feeding there is nothing like it. Mr. Smith inquired if Jersey Sweet is generally fair. It is an excellent apple where it can be grown, but for the last few rears it had grown spotted and gnarly with him. Mr. Beadle said Jersey Sweet was an excellent apple in Canada, the fruit fair, and the tree productive. Ripe in October. Succeeds in almost all soils. Mr. Fish thought Jersey Sweet one of the very best of ] fall apples; very tender and rich. Mr. Moody said Jersey Sweet as known by him was un- worthy of cultivation, knotty and worthless. If they hap- pened'to get a fair one it was very good. H. N. Langworthy agreed with Mr. Moody. It is an unprofitable apple, knotty, and falls from the tree. Mr. Hoag bad seen the Jersey Sweet excellent in Niag- ara county, on clav soils. Mr. El'waxger' found the Jersey Sweet to be a fine apple, but very often small and spotted. Spoke well of Duchesse of Oldenburg, Gravenstein, and Pound Royal for table apples ; and the Munson Sweet for baking. Mr. Hooker said the Pound Royal is of poor appear- ance, greenish-white, often specked. Twenty Ounce is the finest of all varieties in, its season (Nov. and Dec.) of the largest size, and one of the best market apples, excel- lent for cooking, hangs well on the tree, and is a good bearer. Mr. Moody believed that the Duchesse of Oldenburg was bue of the best autumn apples, and a very early bearer, often bearing in four years from the graft, one of the tenderest table apples. Fall Pippin, after the Graven- stein, is the next best cooking apple. Mr. Fish said it is generally admitted that the Fall Pip- pin is of good quality, but he could never get many of them. Mr. Holmes had not heard the Hawley mentioned, and would like to get the opinion of members as to its quality. Dr. Sylvester said the Hawley is one of the best fall apples, but is not considered very productive. Mr. Beadle had the Hawley in cultivation some years, but of late it is not only water-cored, but water-soaked, and was about worthless. It stands in a rather low place in the orchard, and this may be the cause of the trouble. Mr. Hoag found it the same at Lockport. Mr. HERRiNGTONhad the same difficulty with it on high ground. No good specimens. Mr. Hooker agreed. He would name the Porter. It is good for the table ; good for shipping ; is very popular in Boston. Mr. Ellwanger wished to add the St. Lawrence. He agreed with Mr. Hooker in regard to the Porter. Mr. Corey, of Penfield, considered Maiden's Blush a very fine apple. Mr. Anthony said Maiden's Blush is always fair, pro- ductive and excellent. Mr. Barry said it is remarkable to notice the changes in the character of apples. Only twelve years ago the Hawley was extremely popular, and it was an excellent apple. Now it is subject to the defect noticed by several geutlemen, and is about discarded. Mr. Hooker found the St. Lawrence a very perishable, unreliable fruit. The crop is generally poor and wormy. Mr. Beadle thought the St. Lawrence had got too far south. In Canada, the further north it is grown, the higher colored, the finer, and the more perfect the fruit. It is always large, fine, and the tree productive.* Mr. Lay, of Greece, found it to ripen uneveuly. Mr. Smith said this was the case in Syracuse. BEST TWELVE WINTER APPLES. SUBJECT IV. The best twelve winter, to embrace two for stock, two for baking, two for cooking, and six for the table ? Mr. Ellwanger thought the Fameuse the best early winter apple for the table. Mr. Hooker recommended for baking, the Tolman Sweet, and Ladies' Sweet— a very valuable fall sweet apple. Mr. Barry said for market he was prepared to recom- mend the Rhode Island Greening and Baldwin. Mr. Fish recommended for late keepers the Roxbury Russet and Golden Russet. Mr. Beadle recommended the Pomme Grise as a fine late keeper, and asked information respecting the Pomme cl'Or, a good apple, somewhat resembling the Pomme Grise. He would rather have one barrel of the Pomme Grise than two barrels of Roxbury Russets. Mr. Fish said the Pomme d'Or is a small, excellent Rus- set apple. It sold last year »X ten dollars per barrel in Canada. H. N. Langworthy said he first saw this apple on the ridge road, near this city, in the orchard of Mr. Sherman. I Its fine flavor and aroma is delightful. It is the prince of Russets. It is more oblong than the Pomme Grise— sometimes quite oblong. The tree is upright in its growth, and a good bearer. For a long time he could not ascertain its name, but by searching the French pomo- logical works became satisfied that it was the Pomme d'Or of the French, and it has been called by that name. It is quite distinct from the Pomme Grise. Mr. Beadle said Norton's Melon is exceedingly valua- ble in Canada. Mr. Smith called attention to Peck's Pleasant, as it had not been mentioned. It is a very valuable early winter apple, and a pretty good bearer. Had none this winter. All the winter apples they have in Syracuse this season are the Golden Russet and Northern Spy. These two are the hardiest trees we have. Mr, Barry said the Golden Russet, as understood here, is the one with small specks on the bark. The American Golden Russet, so much grown in New Jersey and south- ward, will not do here. Our Golden Russet is not de-scribed in the books. Mr. Wright inquired of the value of Cooper's Market. Mr. Hooker said it is grown by some of his neighbors, and is a good bearer and keeps until April. It is a showy fruit, but not of first quality. The Yellow Bellflower is good, but sometimes specked. Mr. Sharp, of Lockport, inquired why some one did not mention the Swaar. *8t. Catherines, C. "W., the residence of Mr. B., is no further i north than this city.— Eds. 58 THE GENESEE FARMER. Mr. Beadle found it tender in Canada. It winter-kills badly. Mr. Smith said it has the same defect as the Fall Pip- pin— never bears a crop. Mr. Lay said the Swaar had borne well with him. Dr. Silvester recommended Newtown Pippin, wher- ever it can be grown without specks. Mr. Ellwanger said the Jonathan is an excellent des- sert apple, and highly colored. The Canada Reinette is also good. Mr. Caret considered the Bailey Sweet equal to any sweet apple we have through January and February. Mr. Hoao said the Bailey Sweet is a good apple, but it will not keep. The President said the Bailey Sweet, on the wTarm, sandy land about Moscow, is a late fall apple, but on heavy land, and in colder situations, it is a winter fruit. Mr. Beadle said the Yellow Bellflower was with him a shy bearer, and has a very large core. He thought little of the variety. W. P. Townsend, of Lockport, said the Yellow Bell- flower needs severe pruning, and if the tree is in good condition the fruit is good. Several gentlemen stated the Bellflower is tender about handling. Mr. Moody thought this a little too far north for the Yellow Bellflower, but with a little care it will succeed well. For early winter the Wagener is one of the best. He thought well of Peck's Pleasant. Mr. Barrt said the Yellow Bellflower was really a Southern apple. In the Iforth it is doubtless degenerat- ing, though it had never done well here, except in favor- ed localities, but in the South it is as line as ever. Mr. Glen recommended the Belmont as an early win- ter apple, both for the table and cooking. Mr. Barry believed it to be a seedling of the Yellow Bellflower, and a good ipple very popular in northern Ohio. Mr. Cummings recommended the Northern Spy as a late winter apple, exceedingly valuable for a northern climate. Bears well when it commences, but is not an early bearer. Mr. Hooker inquired about the Spitzenburg — an old favorite — valuable for cooking, a good keeper, and under favorable circumstances, an abundant bearer. Would like to hear what the members had to say on the last point. Mr. Moody said it was good in Niagara county. Mr. Barry said it is one of the most popular apples in our state, but requires high culture, so that the trees may be kept growing vigorously. It is useless to try to grow it in grass. Mr. Townsend said that is the reason the Spitzenburg is losing its popularity. Most of the bearing trees are old and have been neglected. Dr. Sylvester could recollect when the Spitzenburg was very popular with all who liked an acid apple. Most people like its high, spicy flavor, and it is not excelled for cooking. But the trees must be fed to get good fruit. This is the case with all high flavored fruit. Did not call it a first-rate bearer, but when trees are well cultivated it will give a fair crop. Had picked five barrels from one tree. Mr. Moody — Do you call that a large crop? Cyrus Beach, of the town of Cambria, in Niagara county, had grown twenty barrels on a tree. Ten to fifteen barrels was not more than a good crop. They got ten barrels of Baldwins to a tree. Mr. Smith said it does poorly at Syracuse. They think it has had its day and must be abandoned. L. B. Lanoworthy said the Spitzenburg was a shy bearer. He named the Red Canada as one of the bes't apples in the world. In regard to the value of apples for stock, he thought the-e was but little difference. It there was more saccharine matter in sweet apples they would be best, but he had made cider from sweet and from sour apples, and could perceive no difference in the cider. President Bkooks thought very sour apples were not good for stock. ' BEST FORM FOR AN APPLE TREE. SUBJECT V. What is the best form of an apple tree, and which is the time for pruning ? Mr. Sh*.rp, of Lockport, would head all fruit trees low. Sprouts coming out near the ground are more vigorous and stocky than those formed further up the main stem. They show a disposition to ascend instead of running out horizontally, make a good spreading top, and can bear more weight without injury. Trees trained in this way are also less exposed to the winds. It was thought that this low pruning would not allow the use of the horse- hoe and cultivator among the trees, but it was not so. When trees are trained high the branches are slender and the fruit bends them down to the ground, but when trained low the branches are strong and upright and you could get among them with a team. President Brooks asked if shading the ground would be an objection. Mr. Sharp thought that the ground would not be shad- ed any more than when the trees were trained high, for the reason that the branches were more upright. J. J. Thomas was opposed to pruning the heads of trees high. In many orchards trees might be seen some three stories high from successive grafting. Mr. Fise agreed with Mr. Sharp. Branches pruned near the root are stronger than those formed six or seven feet from the ground. Mr. Hooker considered the question a difficult one. Trees grow naturally of all forms. The Northern Spy has an upright growth, Greening crooked and drooping, while the Baldwin makes a globular, handsome, round- headed tree. Cut out the young wood from a Tompkins County King, as is desirable for a Northern Spy, and soon there would be no bearing wood left. This variety requires shortening in, while the Northern Spy requires thinning out. It is well to study the habits oftrees, for, do the best we can, they will have their peculiar shape. Mr. Herende.v asked if we could not give some general rules for pruning. Mr. Barry said there is a difference of opinion about the height heads should be formed in orchard trees. He believed in having the heads low. Many advantages result from this course. The sap has not to travel so far: branches near the ground are not exposed to so many accidents, are less exposed to the weather, and protect the trunks from effects of sun and freezing. All our orchard trees are found leaning to the east, the effect of our strong west winds. The higher the head is formed from the ground, of course, the more they are exposed. Low headed trees are more easily pruned, and the fruit is gathered with much less difficulty and danger. The advantages are numerous and obvious to every grower of fruits. Some think that the head should be formed so high that a horse with plow could work under the branches. This is not necessary. The principal feeding roots are at the extremities, and as far out a« the ends of the limbs or further. Manure and culture are not needed under branches. Plowing injures the roots by tearing and breaking them. A slight forking under the tree is all that is required. H. E. Hooker asked if an orchard could be kept for a term of years without plowing. Mr. Barry thought it could. If shaded, weeds would not grow. A light forking could be done very cheaply. It is well to plow so long as the plow does not interfere with the roots. He would head down at planting to four or five feet for standard orchard trees. Upright growing varieties might be headed down a foot lower than the Greening and other spreading kinds. Mr. Moody said farmers could not afford to use the fork. Had found no evil from plowing. Commence plowing when the trees are young, and the roots will not come near the surface. Would form heads four or five feet from the ground. Some tender trees have the bark injured by the sun in winter. This is prevented by grow- ing branches low. Mr. Beadle said the climate in which trees are grown may have a good deal to do in determining the form of a tree. Mr. Moody spoke of the sun burning the truuks of trees. Had seen the same frequently in Canada, the bark injured for seven or eight feet up the trunk. Thought it the effect of sun followed by hard frosts. By keeping the head low the trunk is protected. Never saw any ill effects from heading trees low. In Canada they have se- vere south-west winds. Every tree leans. The main crop is blown off high trees. "Mr. B. would not use a plow under or near the trees in an orchard. The roots like to come near the surface for light, and air, and dew. Mr. Hooker said the advocates oflow heads seemed de- termined to drive those in favor of high heads into a THE GENESEE FARMER. 59 Use position. Although he did not believe m forming leads as low as some, he was equally opposed to having leads as hi^h as some have described, and as is often seen But the heads should be formed so high as to admit of lorse work under the trees-say hve feet when planted. Farmers cannot use forks and spades in cultivating their jrchards-they must depend upon horses. Any plowman knows enough not to let the plow rip up the roots. . J J Thomas had made a good deal of observation in the'length of roots. The radius of the roots is equal to the height of the tree. If the tree is twenty feet 111 height the roots will extend twenty feet from the trunk in every direction. Mr. T. inquired if any one had ever known injury to result from plowing an orchard? The tearing of the roots a little, he thought, not so injurious as neg- lecting to stir the soil. Apple roots, many of them, go down low, but peach roots lie near the surface. Dr Sylvester said it is necessarv to shade the trunks of tree* and it is also necessaay to keep the tree growing to obtain good fruit. To effect this, it is necessary to keep the ground well cultivated, ^and it is hard to do this if the head is formed very low. Mr Sharp is determined to head his trees low, and has a pair of small mules for working under them, and when the trees are too low for these, will try a pair of asses. To get at the opinion of the Society, the members were requested to prepare a list of the varieties which they considered most desirable. There were — votes cast, with the following aggregate result : BEST SIX SUMMEB VARIETIES— TWO 8WBET. Rpd Astrachan 12 Summer Pearmain 2 Primate 10 Early Joe 3 Early Harvest & Lowell 1 Early Strawb. Try S Benoni 8 Keswick Codliu 2 Sweet Bough 12 Summer Rose 5 Golden Sweet 8 BEST SIX AUTUMN VAEIETIKS— TWO SWEET. Munson Sweet 7 Fall Jenetting 1 Twenty Ounce Pippin 1 Pumpkin Sweet, 1 Maiden's Blush 1 Fall Pippin 2 Sylvester 1 Colvert 2 Twenty Ounce 10 Gravenstein 9 Duchess of Oldenburgh. ... 7 Porter 7 Jeffries 3 Pomme Royal 3 Beauty of Kent 2 BEST TWELVE WINTER VARIETIES— TWO BWEET. Rhode Island Greening 13 Smith's Cider 1 Tompkins Co. King 12 Norton's Melon 1 Northern Spy 12 Canada Reinette 2 Baldwin 12 Spitzenburg » Golden Kusset .. 8 Roxbury Russet 7 Peck's Pleasnnt 7 Yellow Bellflower 5 Pomme Grise 4 Canada Red 5 Swaar . 6 Red Cheek Pippin 3 Wagener 6 Belmont 2 Fameuse 7 Rambo 5 Vandervere 1 Minister 1 Blue Pearmain 1 Eawle's Janet 6 Tolman Sweet 14 Seek-no-further 2 Green Sweet 8 Ladies' Sweet 5 Cooper's Mnrket 2 Cranberry Pippin 1 Ribston Pippin 1 Bailey Sweet 3 Jersey Sweet 3 Pound Sweet 1 Hill Sweet 1 Pomme d'Or 2 Jonathan 1 Mother 2 BEST TIME FOR PRUNING. Mr.' Huntington said that in his early days he grafted a great many thousand trees, and had to take off many large limbs. In many orchards large limbs had been taken off bv the ax previously, and he always noticed that limbs re- moved in the winter or early in the spring healed badly, often causing rot; while those taken off when the leaves were out healed rapidly, forming a lip of bark around the wound, and apparently without injury to the tree. Mr. Ellwangee had found the latter part of winter the best time to prune. The wound then becomes calloused, and there is no bleeding; but later in the season, when the buds begin to swell, if limbs are removed, bleeding often results and the wood becomes injured and often rots. If the trees are pruned when in leaf, growth is arrested for the season. Mr. Fish agreed with the previous speaker, and recom- mended pruning in the winter. Mr. Sharp, the year before last, trimmed a pear orchard early, and got a good growth. Last year a part wa3 trimmed early and a part late, and that pruned late made but little growth during the summer. H. N. Lvngworthy had found that pruning pear trees when growing always checks and often stops growth alto- gether. If large limbs are taken off old trees about the first of April, bleeding ensues and the wood decays; but if done in April, the wood seasons before the sap moves, and remains sound. Mr. Hooker agreed with Mr. Langwokthy and Mr. Ell- wanger, and thought the best time for removing trees was the present, or about the middle ot winter. CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. Mr. Barry here announced that the Rev. J. Knox, of Pittsburgh, was in attendance, and he moved that the So- ciety request him to favor them with an address. Mr. K. has a farm of some 200 acres devoted to the cul- ture of fruit. He is well known throughout the United States as a most successful cultivator of strawberries, oc- cupying about fiftY acres with this fruit alone. By a unanimous vote of the Soctety, Mr. K. was re- quested to favor the meeting with his experience. Mr. Knox then gave a very able and lucid statement of his method of cultivating strawberries. He thought a rather light loam— whet might be termed a wheat soil — preferable to a sandy soil for the growth of strawberries. Any soil, however, that would produce wheat or corn would produce strawberries. It was not necessary to make the soil very rich. He had some parts of his plan- tation where strawberries were set out on land plowed in the ordinary way, about eight inches deep, and the plants succeeded well. He preferred, however, to subsoil some eighteen or twenty inches deep, breaking up the subsoil without bringing it to the surface. The plants on this thoroughly pulverized and subsoiled land produced crofs for ten or twelve years in succession without replanting in anyway! He cuts off the runners as fast as they are formed. Plants in rows thirty inches apart, and the plants ten inches apart in the rows, making twenty thou- sand plants to the acre. Prefers setting out early in the spring. When he commenced strawberry culture, Mr. K. plowed between the rows, but latterly has discarded all implements in his strawberry plantations, except the hoe. Weeds are taken out by hand. The less soil is disturbed after planting the better, as the whole ground is covered •with a net-work of small, fibrous roots. IN ever allows tho vines to bear the first year planted, but picks off all the fruit-stems and runners. Protects the plants in winter by wheat or rye straw, put on in November. Oat straw is not heavy enough, and blows off. Plants bear much bet- ter for this protection. It also serves for a mulch in sum- mer, and keeps the fruit from being soiled by the ground. One-half the straw is wasted each year, and needs to be supplied every autumn. Two tons to the acre is about the right quantity of straw to commence with, but after that, one ton of new straw each season will answer. Varieties that succeed in some soils and situations fail in others. The Hovey is good in Boston, and Mr. K. had seen it good in Cleveland, but with him it never succeeded, no matter how cultivated. Some varietiess seem to run out after culture a number of years. Pistillate vasneties seem to do better when impregnated with some staminate sorts, than with others. On this subject he is trying ex- periments. The strawberry season ought to be length- ened It is usually about three weeks, but with proper selection of sorts may be extended to five weeks. The sorts Mr. K. liked best were the following : Early— Baltimore Scarlet, Jenny Lind, Burr's New Pine. Late— Trollope's Victoria, Kitley's Gohah, Nimrod, Buist's Prize. Medium— Brighton Pine, Boston Pine, McAvoy s Supe- rior, Scott's Seedling, Moyameusing, Downer's Prolific, Fillmore. Golden Seeded, British Queen, Vicomtesse Heri- cart de Thury, Wilson's Albany, Triomphe de Gand. For a general crop, Wilson's Albany and Triomphe de Gand are the most profitable. The "latter is the straw- berrv of all strawberries, and possesses all the excellen- cies "that can be desired— productive, beautiful, large, of fine quality, berries shipping well and the plants are hardy. It "is not as productive a3 the Wilson, but an aero 60 THE GENESEE FARMER. will bring more money. Sent (hem to Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Received orders from New York for more than his whole crop. If confined to one strawberry, he would plant the Triomphe de Gaud. Al- though not quite as productive as the Wilson, he could say with safety that it produces more than three hundred bushels to the acre. For canning, the Wilson is preferred. The only manure used is well rotted stable manure. The same plant, if runners are kept off, will bear ten years. A good many crowns will start and cluster around the original plant, each bearing a fruit stem, and all produc- ing a very large amount of fruit. Mr. Vick expressed pleasure at the remarks of Mr. Knox. They show that the very best culture is success- ful on a large scale. We are too apt to think that good culture must be confined to amateurs or garden culture exclusively, and is unsuited to the orchard and market garden. This is an error. That system which is most profitable in the garden will be generally found so in the orchard. GRAPES. SUBJECT VI. What are the best six varieties of Graf es for family use, and which are the best two for vineyard purposes. Mr. Knox had found, among the new varieties which he had tried, three which gave entire satisfaction — Hartford Prolific, Delaware and Concord. In a vine for general culture, we need two things — freedom from disease, in vine and fruit, and early ripening. Hartford Prolific and Concord are free from disease in the vine, never mildew, and the fruit is free from any disease. The Delaware mil- dews somewhat. We want early ripening, so as to be out of the way of frost. The grapes of Kelley Island are very popular, because they are obtained fully ripe. The soil is calcareous, and the season long. Such soils can be obtained, and if we had grapes that would ripen early, we should have all the advantages of that favored locality. The Concord is a splendid grape, but he watched the rip- ening with fear and trembling as the season for frost approached. Hartford Prolific, it was stated, drops from the bunches, but it did not with him. His crop is sold readily at twenty-five cents a pound. Mr. K. would not advise planting very largely of this variety, as Concord displaces it as soon as ripe. The Concord will stand more hard usage than any other grape, and bears well. It is the most beautiful grape he had ever seen. It bears early, and vines the third year after planting average ten pounds each, which will sell at from sixteen to twenty cents per pound. Prunes by the renewal system, and plants the vines seven teet three inches one way by six feet the oth- er, making one thousand plants to the acre. Trellis eight feet high. After the third year each Concord vine will yield twenty-five pounds of grapes. Dr. Farley, of Union Springs, said Diana was a favor- ite grape with him. He thought, with Mr. Knox, that the Concord would prove one of the best of American f rapes. The Isabella has done well, and has been injured y frost only two )rears. They ripen uniformly. Mr. F. has a Catawba vineyard on a point of land running out into Cayuga lake, which is there two miles wide, and they get pretty nearly or quite ripe. The renewal is undoubt- edly the correct system. The Delaware grape is excellent in quality, but he could never get a bunch to weigh over half a pound, which is too small. Has no mildew. Diana last year showed sig-is of dry rot, and its wood is not so har- dy as that of Concord or Delaware. II. N. Langworthy is well pleased with Delaware, Di- ana, Concord, Union Village, and Rebecca, for the table; and for wine, Clinton and Delaware. Mr. L. thought well of Blight's renewal system of pruning. Mr. Thomas has measured specimens of Isabella grapes at Dr. Farley's place, seven-eighths of an inch in diameter. Mr. Jacobs has bought grapes in all parts of Western New Y'ork f>r years, ami Dr. Pauley has the best he has ever purchased or seen. Dr. Farley, in answer to inquiries, said his land is mostly a pretty heavy clay, though he has a variety of soils, some gravel, lying on limestone rock. First under- drained well, then trenched. Plowed three times and succeeded in getting it well broken up eighteen or twenty inches deep. Put on muck in a crude state. Some por- tions received no nuiek and only good common culture, and there the vines did pretty well. Trenched a portion three feet deep with the spade, and gave a very heavy dressing of manure. The result was a very large growth of wood but little fruit. At first commenced planting vines twelve feet apart each way, then eight feet each way, but now eight by ten. Mr. F. had seeu some beautiful looking grapes grown by ringing, but size was obtained at the expense of quality. His soil is naturally dry, such as would not geuerally be thought to require draining, but water runs from the tile nearly the whole year. Mr. Holmes thought the Catawba and Isabella stood first on the list of grapes. Ashes he found to hasten the ripening. Mr. Avert had good ripe Catawba grapes the 15th of September. Produced by having the vine on the south side of a house and well pruued. The roots were covered with leached ashes. Dr. Sylvester considered Isabella, Concord, Hartford Prolific, Rebecca, Diana and Union Yillage, the best vari- eties for table; and the Oporto and Clinton for wine. The Rebecca does well with a warm exposure; the Hartford Prolific does not drop its berries after the vine obtains age, and the Diana Mr. S. thought one of our best grapes. Mr. Ellwanger said with him Diana does not ripen much earlier than Catawba. This year neither ripened well. The Union Village is a large grape but of poor quality and ripens too late. Could recommend the Ca- tawba" where it would ripen* and the Concord and Dela- ware. Mr. E. was not prepared to recommend other varieties at present. Mr. Moody was in the same fix as Mr. Ellwanger, and was not prepared to recommend six varieties for general culture. The Delaware would make good wine and is a good grape for the table. He ripens the Diana earlier than Mr. Ellwanger. L. B. Langworthy said he introduced the Clinton from the Hudson river, in Saratoga county, and gave it the name by which it is known. One winter the thermometer was thirty-three degrees below zero, and killed all the Isa- bella vines. A friend wrote him that he had a grape that endured that winter without injury, and he obtained cut- tings and brought them, to Rochester, and named it after Gov. Clinton. Mr. Smith said the Northern Muscadine had this year been excellent. Mr. Barry said the Rebecca, when ripe, is one of the very highest flavored grapes. Unfortunately, the vine is rather tender, and sutlers from the sun, and in some cases from the winter, but those who have a favorable situation should plant the Rebecca, and they would have a most delicious grape. Mr. Hoag fruited thirty or forty varieties last season. Of these he found a few very desirable. Would name the Delaware, Diana, Concord, Hartford Prolific, To-Kalon and Perkins. The To-Kalon is perfectly hardy, a good bearer, and the fruit superior to the Isabella, and keeps well, but the clusters are somewhat broken. The vines were on the trellis last year, and did not suffer in the least. The Perkins is the hardiest of all grapes, ripens early, only a few days later than the Hartford Prolific. It keeps well and improves by keeping. A little foxy. Mr. Lay was much pleased with Concord. Mr. Fisn thought Northern Muscadine a good grape. It does not drop from the vine. Let some remain last season until frost. H. N. Langwohthy had five or six years experience with Northern Muscadine. The bunches are very small, and it had proved very unproductive with him. At the conclusion of the discussion, it was suggested that a vote should be taken, which was ordered, with the following result: Hartford Prolific 5 Oporto 1 Northern Muscadine 2 Perkins 1 Delaware 7 To-Kalon 2 Diana G Onion Village 1 Isabella 6 Rebecca 2 Concord 7 Catawba 2 Clinton 1 The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Hugh T. Brooks, of Wyoming; Vice Presidents, J. J. Thomas, W. B. Smith, and W. R. Cop- pock; Secretary, C. P. Bissell, of Rochester; Treasurer, W. P. Townsend, Lockport. C. P. Bissell was unani- mously elected the first Life Member of the Society. THE GENESEE FARMER. 61 W MUCH CAN BE RAISED FROM A LITTLE PLOT OF GROUND. Genesee Farmer:— Some writer remarks "one ught engenders another." Hence it comes, in part, t the reading in your January No. the interesting arti- "What can be raised from a small piece of ground," determined me to give my experience the past season a plot, or rather two strips of ground, comparing id e with that you allude to, about the same as the widow's te of the olden time in value with the rich man's princely 5lot No. 1, lying on the North end of the lot, and bounded a high fence, was some 20 feet long by H wide. No. n the East side the lot, connecting on the North end th No, 1, was about the same size and bounded by a two iry barn. On the South side the main lot was, first, a ;h brick shop ; second, a huge pile of wood, while on the st was the rear end of the house. kt first sight one would exclaim preposterous the idea gardening in such a secluded place, where the light, d more than all, the warm genial rays of the sun, the itral source of life and light, could scarcely reach the ound unless at noon ; why, it is nonsense— better to try your soil up on the roof and grow your garden in xes. Saving thrown the ground up well and deeply— no lall job either, for it was terribly stony— I leveled it, and xiously awaited the time when our cold snowy spring lerging from the lap of winter would resume its wonted cation. Meanwhile, a friend having a pile of sifted coal ashes at were a great eye-sore, thought, as the ground was Id, wet aud heavy, it would be conferring a double bless- g to throw up the beds in trenches, partially fill with hes, and then level off again. Having noticed some- tiere a statement that coal ashes were beneficial on such savy soils by way of lightening them, I readily assented, it the ground was so small that when he had gone over ice the ashes still formed quite a pile, so he repeated the >eration until Plot No. 2 was full one-half ashes, and I as thoroughly disgusted. Well, I planted the bed with :ans and peas, thinking if they did anything it would be lin talking of artificial manures after this, with such i abundant supply of ashes to be had for the drawing. spell of cold rainy weather succeeded with frosts, ruiu- ig the beans, though the peas made out to live. Having jplanted the beans, and set out some tomato plants, I lanted four squash seeds, two on each end of Plot No. 1 ; ext a row of cucumbers, finishing with a border of beets. a the middle of this Plot was a grape vine, some six ears old, running upon the fence, and also the barn — rawing nourishment from one Plot while shading both. \o manure save hand labor was applied to either Plot, xcept watering during the summer with the slops saved rom the kitchen for that purpose. And now for the results : Plot No. 2 furnished about me and a half bushels string beans, and nearly one bushel leas, both suffering from the severe application of ashes, md being shaded on all sides except overhead. Between he rows I also had a few nice heads lettuce, some radishes, fcc, and late in the fall tomatoes. Plot No. 1 furnished a large amount of cucumbers, some of the vines of which fastening upon the grape forniedga pleasing contrast of full grape bunches aud pendant cu- cumbers. I also had a fine lot of summer beets, and from the four squash seeds— one dying, and one not bearing — I had nine squashes, averaging 45 lbs. each, two of the largest weighing 67 lbs. each, and the smallest 24 lbs. One of our celebrated melon growers visited the vines two or three times during the season and stated it was, under the circumstances, the greatest growth he had seen. The grape vine also gave an abundant crop. Now, Mr. Editor, in your walks about town— you see I assume Editors don't ride— have you not observed tracts or lots of land which compared with your correspondent's or mine would be immense, lying waste and desolate, waiting only the hand of cultivation to cause them to bud and blossom like the rose, repaying the tiller not only in the value of his products, but that greater and nobler good the pleasure of watching and tending the growing vegetation, noting its varied changes day by clay, from the seed to the mature fruit, and if as one quaint author re- marks, " he who causes two blades of grass to grow where onlv one grew before, is the greatest benefactor of the race," what shall be said of those who not only improve their minds but develope their muscle, ranking among the producers as well as consumers of the earth by tilling even a " small piece of ground." w. GRAFTING THE GRAPE VINE. A correspondent of the Horticulturist says: "My experience in grafting the vine for several years would furnish a chapter of failures. I think I grafted a few vines every season for about five years, and during the whole time succeeded in making but one grow and form a good vine; and this one only by disregarding the usual directions given by the professed experts. Instead of waiting for the formation of leaves, and discontinuance of the excessive flow of sap, I grafted this one early, be- fore the flow commenced. Since that time I have grafted thousands of vines, with nearly as good success as attends any other kind of grafting. I have practiced saddle- grafting, whip-grafting, and several fancy methods, but have found the common cleft grafting, carefully perform- ed, the most reliable and successful. For large, strong stocks, I hardly think tying necessary, though a covering of clay or grafting wax is undoubtedly beneficial. For smaller stocks, I use only paper covered with grafting wax on one side. I could not recommend copper wire in any case. I have also grafted on various stocks, with very little difference in result, using indiscriminately the wild frost grape of the woods, the Catawba, Isabella, Concord, and some others. I do not say grafting the vine cannot be successfully performed after the leaves have formed ; but it is a fact that up to the present time, notwithstand- ing many trials, I have never succeeded in doing it." Fruit Trees in Hedges.— Pears and various varieties of fruits are grafted into ,the hedges, in many provinces in France— not that the proprietor anticipates enjoying the fruit. They call them God's part (la -pert de Lieu). In the quince hedges of the Prince of Desdogne, branch- es to bear fruit are allowed to grow and form little trees, bearing quite an amount of fruit, "which boquets of trees," M. Gagnaim assures the editor of the Eevue Hor- ticole, "hanging gracefully in the midst of the hedges, produce a beautiful effect and render the scene less arid, being at the same time elegant and productive." 62 THE GENESEE FARMER. CHAPTERS FROM MY CORRESPONDENCE. Dr. E. S. Cooper, of Knox county, 111., an orchardist of large experience, writes : "Apples fit to eat after April first are 'rare birds' in Illinois, so far as I have seen. The Jansel or Jeniten is the very best at that season. The Tewksbury Blush is a hardy, healthy tree, but mine, some forty or fifty in num- ber and four inches in diameter, have not yet borne. Hawley is hardy but very unproductive. Bourassa hardy ; fruit resembling Pomme Grise. Chandler and Dutch Mi- gnonne hardy but poor fruit; also Beauty of Kent, Alex- ander and Surprise. Almost any tender sort, as Sweet Bough, Roxbury Rus- set, Jersey Sweet, become permanently useful trees by working them on the Yellow Bellflower, or any other hardy, free-grower, ten or twelve inches above the main forks. I have many trees so worked, perfectly hardy and productive, and I am satisfied that I could not have got them worth anything in any other way." James Smith, a well known nurseryman of Des Moines, Iowa, some 150 miles west of the Mississippi river and about the latitude of the south end of Lake Michigan, writes : " I design planting the Concord extensively— say fifty acres for wine making, though it is said it will only make a cordial ; but I have no fears as to the sale or healthful- ness of the article, and anticipate its 'cordial' reception by our American population. A certain wine grower of Missouri says it makes a first-rate wine that does not in- toxicate—a part of which I put down to 'Buncombe.' But at any rate, wine is to supercede 'sod corn,,' and the sooner it is demonstrated the better for humanity. I am for trying all the grapes that promise well for this climate, and will extend the cultivation of the best, be that what it may. I this year fruited the Delaware— fine of course, but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that a Concord vine of the same age and care would have pro- duced one hundred fold more in weight, and, to the taste of most persons, about equal in flavor. Yesterday I took a basket of apples— among them the 'Lady Apple,' so highly prized in New York city— to the Supreme Court room. Its excellence there could not be discovered, and the verdict was that apples of equal flavor could be found in any well cultivated seedling orchard. So much for fancy ! The Hartford Prolific I consider a valuable grape, though it has not proved perfectly hardy as the Concord has with me— although on moist river bottoms here the Concord kills down. But the Hartford Prolific is nearly as hardy, quite prolific, very good, and at least ten days earlier than the Concord. In quality it is at least equal, and the early family and market grape for me. Northern Muscadine is pleasant, but has been greatly overrated in size and productiveness. Diana is really fine, but the vine tender and mildews- fruit ripens up well here. Garrigues I think not equal to Isabella; tender, and a more rampant grower. Last fall, a gentleman visiting here brought samples of the North America and Franklin. The former is fine, but small in bunch and berry, and leaves a slightly unpleasant sensation on the palate, which would cause most pe: to place it with the 'good' only. The Franklin is like the Clinton— sour. To-day, Dec. 16th, I have Concord grapes on my t They keep well, but shrivel. They were left out to t pretty good freeze, which 'flattened' the taste, an keeping they appear to have lost still more of their e arating qualities. So I have come to the conclusion we must select a grape with a little acid for winter Will you keep an eye to this last point ? I have r new sorts under cultivation, and hope to find somet worthy. Of new apples, the Jefferson County, of New 1 promises well. The tree is hardy and bears young." Eloomington, III. f. K. PHCEN PRUNING THE PEACH. Eds. Genesee Farmer: I think the plan of pru the peach, adopted by the leading fruit-growers of s Illinois, would be interesting and instructive to youn ers. It is as follows : "When the the tree is transplanted at one year fron bud, cut it back to a mere stump about ten inches I without any branches whatever. After the young si have commenced growing finely, rub all off but f which should be left on opposite sides, and all at same height as nearly as possible. This will give a distaff form. The after pruning consists in keepinj shoots and branches in the center of the top cut thereby exposing the fruit more fully to the sun's i giving a higher color and flavor. Once a year, du mild weather in winter, or early in spring, all the loi branches are cut back from one-third to one-half of last year's growth. This is called here " the French system of pruning peach," and is considered by our best pomologists best plan extant. We have some orchards here nam ing from four thousand to six thousand trees prunec this manner, none of them being more than five or years old. The branches of many of them can be pres down upon the ground without breaking. Union Co, Illinois. EGTPTIA1 "King op the Pumpkins."— In the Genesee Farmer last month we stated that at the last annual ceremony promenading the " King of the Pumpkins" through streets of Paris, decorated with flags, etc., the pump selected for the honor measured 10 ft., 4 in. in circum: euce, and weighed 242£ lbs. C. H. Chase, of Elkh county, Ind., writes us that he saw, a few days sinc< pumpkin raised by a gentlemen of that county wh weighed 195 lbs. It was a tolerably, good-sized one, 1 not equal to one he saw six years ago, in Winona, M nesota, which weighed 221 j lbs. The French pumpkin yet carries off the palm. Can't it be beaten? Rome Beauty Apple. — This a favorite apple at t west. It is somewhat deficient in flavor, but is very f: and handsome. It is said to have commanded $5.50 p barrel in New Orleans, while Roxbury Russets broug _ only $3. A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer states th I its fault, if it has one, is its " constant overbearing." THE GEKESEE FARMER. 63 RN BREAD. ie editor of the American Agriculturist offered three es, of $10, $5, aud $2, for the three best specimens of bread. There were two hundred and nineteen cpm- tors ! It must have been rather a difficult matter for judges to decide on the respective merits, as they had ike into consideration the cheapness and little trouble laking, as well as quality of the bread. The first, sec- and third prize loaves were made as follows : [rst Prize Corn Bread.— Take 2 quarts of corn meal, li about a pint of (thin) bread "sponge," and water igh to wet it. Mix in £ pint of wheat flour and a espoonfui of salt. Let it rise, and then knead well >nd time. Bake 1\ hours, his loaf was of beautiful form, cut light, and was of quality when three or four days old. Except in color difference in taste, it resembled a wheat flour loaf. Second Prize. — Mix 2 quarts of new corn meal with 3 its of warm water. Add 1 tablespoonful of salt, 2 ta- 'spoonfuls of sugar, and 1 large tablespoonful of hop St. Let it stand in a warm place 5 hours to rise. Then | pint (or 1£- teacupfu's) of wheat flour and £ pint of •m water. Let it rise again 1J hours; then pour it ) a pan well greased with" sweet lard, and let it rise a minutes. Then bake in a moderately hot oven 1| irs. It is best when hot. 'his was a beautiful, almost crustless loaf, of a pleasant jetish taste, and good quality. The bottom part was a le heavy, as if not baked quite enough, or not raised Bcieutly, but a commendable bread, and rather more atable than the previous one. rHiRD Prize.— Take 2 quarts of white corn meal, 1 ta- spoonful of lard, 1 pint of hot water. Mix the lard in ter; stir it well, that it may get heated thoroughly, and 1 i pint of cold water. "When the mixture is cool mgh, add 2 well-beaten eggs, and 2 tablespoonfuls of ne'-made yeast. Bake 1 hour iu a moderately heated in. If for breakfast, make over night. fnis, owing to the whiteness of the meal, and the light- is of the texture, as well as the general appearance of i loaf, greatly resembled the ordinary loaf of wheaten >ad on our tables, and is worthy of general adoption, ere eggs are sufficiently plentiful. the third prize loaf was of the best quality, and the ;t prize was the poorest. But as the latter was the >apest, it received the prize. The third prize receipt pears to us excellent. A. prize of $4 was also offered for the best and cheapest rn cake. This was awarded to a cake made as follows : First Prize Cake.— Take S teacupfuls of corn meal, 1 icupful of wheat flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, teaspooufuls of cream of tartar, and 1 teaspoonful of It. Mix well together while dry. Add 1 teaspoonful of da (or saleratus) dissolved iu warm water. Mix the lole to a thin batter, and bake in a quick oven, | hour, ie same batter will bake quicker in patty pans, or on a iddle, like buckwheat cakes. A discretionary premium of $2 for the best corn meal ,ke of any kind, without regard to cost or trouble, was varded to a cake made as follows ; Best Corn Meal Cake or any Kind.— Take eight eggs id their weight iu powdered sugar; the weight of six 'gs Indian meal, J lb. butter and 1 nutmeg. Beat the Sites and the yolks of the eggs separately, adding the bites last. Bake 1 hour. The Committee also call attention to a cake or pudding suitable for breakfast, made as follows: Take 2 cups corn meal, 1 cup wheat flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 teaspooufuls cream of tartar, 1 teaspoonful soda, 3 eggs, 3 tablespoonfuls sugar, 1£ pints milk, and 1 table- spoonful butter. Rub meal, flour, salt soda and cream of tartar through a sieve, which will mix them thoroughly. Then beat the eggs and sugar together, adding to them the butter melted. Next add the milk, and last of all stir in the previously mixed meal, flour, salt, soda and cream of tartar. Bake immediately aud rapidly (to secure the escaping gas). Twenty minutes will finish it in a brisk oven. ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Fanner. Turtle Soup From Beans.— Take 3 pints of black Spanish beans, put them in a pot with the proper quanti- ty of water, boil them until thoroughly cooked, then dip the beans out of the pot and press them through a collan- der. Then return this flour of the beans thus pressed, into the pot in which they were boiled, tie up in a cotton cloth some thyme and let it boil in the mixture, add a lit- tle butter, and season with salt, pepper, parsley, sweet basil and sweet majorum. Have ready force-meat balls, 4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered, and add to the soup, to- gether with a sliced lemon— and wine to your taste just upon serving the soup. This will approach so near in flavor to the real turtle soup that few would be able to distinguish the difference. Election Cake. — 4 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds butter, 1 quart of warmed milk, and a tumbler of home-made yeast. Stir the butter and sugar together, and after putting in the yeast put in half the mixture of butter and sugar, and rub all thoroughly into the flour, wetting it with the quart of milk. Set it at least six hours, then add the remainder of the butter aud sugar, and rais- ins and mace, and let the whole stand over night. Then take out and put in the baking pans, let it stand a short time and bake in a slow oven. This is truly an economi- cal cake when eggs are dear. The ladies will always find this a great favorite with gentlemen. Cup-Cake, the Nicest Kind. — 1 up of butter, 2 of sugar, 3 of flour, the whites of 8 eggs, 1 cup of sweet milk, 2 tea spoonfuls cream of tartar, 1 (small) of soda. The cream of tartar to be put in the flour, and soda in the milk. Stir in the milk and flour the last thing, alternately, and put in the oven immediately. For cocoa nut cake grate one cocoa nut and add to it — or a pound of blanched almonds, and extract of bitter almond and a glass of brandy, will make delicious almond cake. A Delicate Kind of Fried Cake.— 1 cup of pul. sugar, one of sweet milk, 2 eggs, 1 table spoonful butter, 1 of cream of tartar and 1 tea spoonful of soda. Rub your cream of tartar on the flour— soda in the milk. Have sufficient flour to make a spongy paste, and roll to the thickness of less than half an inch. Then fry them with great care— aud they make a most delicious cake. Apple Puddings.— To a quart of stewed and strained apples add a piece of butter as large as an egg, sweeten well, and adfl six eggs well beaten, nutmeg or lemon for flavor. Make a nice patty and cover three or four deep baking plates, and fill with the prepared apple. This makes a very delicious pie or pudding, it is best cold. 64 THE GENESEE FARMER. uctlhic(su\ THE DUTCHMAN'S HEN: OR FEMALE PERVERSITY, " If she will, she will— you may depend on 't." And if she won't, she won't — and there 's the end on V " Once with an honest Dutchman walking, About his troubles he was talking — The most of which seemed to arise From friends' and wife's perversities. When he took breath his pipe to fill, I ventured to suggest, that will Was oft the cause of human ill ; That life was full of self-denials, And every man had his own trials. ' 'T is not the will,' he quick replied. ' But it s the won't by which I 'm tried. When people will, I 'm always glad, 'T is only when they won't, I 'm mad ! Contrary folks, like mine old hen, Who laid a dozen eggs, and ihen, Instead of sitting down to notch, Kuus off into mine garden patch! I goes and catches her and brings her, And back on to her nest I flings her; And then I snaps her on the head, And tells her: 'Sit there, you old jade!' But sH she won't, for all I say, She's up again, and runs away. Then I was mad, as mad as fire ; But once again I thought I 'd try her. So after her I soon makes chase, And brings her back to the old place. And then I snaps her a great deal, And does my best to make her feel That she must do as she was bid ; But not a bit of it she did. She was the most contrariest bird Of which I ever saw or heard. Before I 'd turn my back again, Was running off, that cursed hen. Thinks I, I 'm now a ' used-up ' man: 1 tit tist adopt some other plan. I 'II fix her now, for if I do n't, My will is conquered by her won't! So then I goes and gets some blocks, And with them makes a little box ; And takes some straw, the very best, And makes the nicest kind of nest. Then in the ne«t the eggs I place, And feel a smile upon my face As I thinks, now at last I've got her, When in the litre box I 've sot her ; For to this little box I did Consider I must have a lid ; So that she could n't get away, But in it, till she hatched, must stay. And then again, once more I chase her, And catch, and in the box I place her. Again I snaps her on the bead, Until I fear she might be dead ; And then, when 1 had made her sit down, Immediately 1 claps the lid on. And now, thinks I, I 've got her fast, She 'II have to do her work at last. No longer shall I stand the brunt Of this old hen's confounded won't! So I goes in and tells mine folks, And then I takes mini? pipe and smokes, And walks about and feels so good That ' would n't' yields at length to • would.' And as so oft I M snapped the hen, I take some ' schnapps ' myself, and then- I thought I 'd see how the old crettur Was getting on where 1 had set her ; The lid, the box so nicely fits on, 1 gently raised — (hinder and blitzen! — (Give me more schnapps and till the cup!) _ I here she « as sitting — standing up!"' —Knickerbocker Magazine, ' ^♦••■^ ! _ An Unfortunate Cultivator.— One little " gardeo patch" of ours, says a wag, has been very unprofitable this season, very. The snails ate up the cucumbers, the chickens ate up the snails, the neighbors' cats ate up the chickens, and we are now in search of something that will eat the cats. Can any of our agricultural friends aid us ? DOCTORS' FEES. A celebrated physician in London relates the fo] ing as an item of his experience : " One stormy nigl was awakened from his first nap by the ringing o office-bell. He put his head out of the window and r the usual inquiry, ' What's wanted ?' ' Och, docther, < be quick ! Me old woman, Biddy, is tarin' bad,' answ a voice below, with an unmistakable brogue. 'Wh< you ?' .said the doctor. ' Shure I'm Dinney Sullivan, honor, an' I live in Bow, an' ye must be quick.' place indicated being at a considerable distance, the tor demurred, and asked him to summon a nearer p titioner. Dinney urged, and finally, as an inducerx said, '.Docther, dear, if you'll only come, I'll give you pounds, kill or cure.' Tempted by the fee, the do assented, and after a disagreeable walk found Biddy yond human aid. He prescribed for her as well as could, and then left, and the next morning heard of death. After a time the doctor sent bis bill to Din who indignantly repudiated it, and was sued in co queuce. When the trial came on, and the doctor st his case, Dinney quietly asked the plaintiff if he had ci ' the old woman ?' He answered in the negative, course. 'Then, doctor,' he continued, in a boistei tone, 'upon the virtue of your oath, did you hill h The doctor was thunderstruck, stammered, and fin answered once more in the negative. ' Thin, your hor said Dinney, 'the docther didn't keep his contract- nather killed nor cured Biddy, and he can't have money.' The Court non-suited the plaintiff, and the ( tor acknowledged himself sold." American Education. — In Timothy Titcomb's i book, " Lessons in Life," we find the following: "W we greatly need in this country is the inculcation of sol er views of life. Boys and girls are bred to disconti Everybody is after a high place, and nearly everyb fails to get one ; and, failing, loses heart, temper, and c tent. The multitude dress beyond their means, and J beyond their necessities, to keep up a show of be what they are not. Farmers' daughters do not love become farmers' wives, and even their fathers and mc ers stimulate their ambition to exchange their station one which stands higher in the world's estimation. Hi ble employments are held in contempt, and humble p< ers are everywhere making high employments contem ible. Our children need to be educated to fill, in Christ humility, the subordinate offices of life which they m occupy, and taught to respect humble callings, and beautify and glorify them by lives of contented and g industry." Doublino-up a Judge.— Ottiwell Wood, a witness a case at the assizes, on being sworn, was asked his nan and gave it. The judge, puzzled with the unusual Chr tian name, which probably he had only imperfectly heai requested the witness to repeat it, which was done wi no better success'; and the judge somewhat, testily sai " Have the goodness to spell your name, sir." The w ness responded as follows : "0 double T, I double U, double L, double U, double 0, D." This doubling up the judge completely overcame his lordship, and he ga up all eilbrts to spell the name in sheer despair. THE GENESEE FARMER. 65 CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. iv to Restore a Worn-out Farm, 41 ratable Soup (or j»iiis, 42 s— What is a Breed? Breaking in Mules for the Army,.. 43 rit of the Agricultural Press, 44 Hessian Fly. Good Hogs. Beans from one Seed, 44 Food fur Caged Seed-Eating Birds, 44 Get your Seed for Spring. Take Care of your Harness,.. 44 The Chinch, Bug and Deep Plowing, 44 An American Apple in Europe, 44 Carrots for Horses better than Medicine, 45 To Stop Ble.'diug. Grafting the Tomato on the Potato,. 45 Ferrets. Clover and Grasses Enrich the Soil, 4o Mice and Fruit Trees. Agriculture in 1900 45 Sorghum Syrup. A Heavy Hog. Large Heifer 4(i Prolific Seeds. Preserving Game, 46 Oilcake VS. < tats and Barley, 46 Weight of Prize Grain in Ireland. Large Eci; 46 Prince Albert on Agricultural Papers, 46 The Osage Orange as a Hcd. e Plant in England, 46 Buying Horses for the French Cavalry, 46 A Fortune from a Sheep, 46 How to Preserve Potatoes at Sea, 46 n.agement of Honey Bees. Keeping Eggs in Ashes, 41 tu;e of Wheat in Monroe County, 48 'alk about the Weather, 4S ! Farmer is King. Flax and Linen Trade of Ireland, 49 es on Fields and Cattle, 50 iws of Fat Stock. Sorghum Syrup, 51 tivation of Flax. Horse Disease in California, 52 tat shall I do with my Pig? Notes from Maine, 53 Drive Away Pats, 53 at it Costs to send Seed Corn from New York to Liverpool, 54 ;ar Cane at the West. Garget in Cows, 54 5 Potato Disease— Karly Digging Again. Tight Barns, .. . 54 :inium Turnip Crops in Canada, 54 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. nsactions of the Massachusetts Hort. Society 55 lit Growers' Society of Western New York 56 sv much can be Raised from a Little Plot of Ground, 61 ifiinsr the Grape Vine. Fruit Trees in Hedges 61 ipters from my Correspondence. Pruning the Peach 62 ig of the Pumpkins. Home Beauty Apple 62 ladies' department. !lan Corn Bread 65 ginal Domestic Receipts 63 miscellaneous. b Dutchman's Hen : or Female Perversity 64 ctors' Fees. American Education. Doubling-up a Judge.. 54 editor's table. tes on the Weather, 66 ms, Notices. &c 65, 66, 67, 68 juiries and Answers, 67 erary Notices 68 illustrations. rarf Apple Tree on the Paradise Stock, 56 Great Premiums ! Great Premiums !— On the last page the Farmer, this month, will be found an extraordinary t of specific premiums to be paid to those who obtain bscribers to the present volume of the Genesee Farmer. lese premiums are offered to everybody. There are no strictions whatever. Every one who sends the name of subscriber, whether his own name or that of one of his lighbors or friends, whether at his own Post Office or sewhere, will reeeive a premium, sent postage paid, by turn mail. Read over the list, and then let each reader e what he can do for us. January Premiums. — Below will be found the names of the successful competitors for our January Cash Prizes. Our friends can draw on us at sight for the amount, or we will send the money by mail, or in any other way they may designate. It will be seen that our circulation is steadily increasing. Thus, in 1858 the First Prize was taken for a club of 107; in 1859 for 116 ; in I860 for 166 ; in 1861 for 211, and in 1862 for 319 ! Last year, the whole number sent in by the fourteen successful competitors was 1347 ; this year it is 1504. These results are certain- ly most gratifying. Notwithstanding the disturbance caused by the war, our friends have stood nobly by us, and the prospects of the Genesee Farmer were never brighter than at this moment. It has a strong hold on the affections of the thousands of intelligent farmers who have perused its pages for the last thirty years, and who by exertiug their influence to extend its circulation among their friends, as well as communicating their experience through its pages, have done much towards placing it in the front rank of American Agricultural journals. We rely with confidence on such long tried friends, andean promise them that nothing shall be wanting on our part to render the Genesee Farmer more and more worthy of their good will and patronage: 1. Joseph B. Bowman, Blair, C. W., $50 for 319 subs. 2. Thomas Atkinson, Ailsacraig, C.W., 30 " 170 " 3. Charles Howard, Hamilton., C. W., 20 4. Henry White, Charing Cross, C. W., 15 5. A. Overholt, Rainham Centre, C. W., 10 6. John McAskin, Prescott, C. W., 7. G. Patterson, Crowland, C. W., 8. L. B. Brainard, Waupaca, Wis., 9. John Dorr, Scottsville, N. Y., 10. R. W. Sawtell, Woodstock, C. W., 11. I. W. Briggs, Macedon, N. Y., 12. W. McNair, King, C. W., 13. John Haskell, Clarkson, 14. J. S. Shattuck, Aurora, Ind., 151 136 103 102 7 ' ' 74 6 ' ' 70 5 ' ' 67 4 ' 66 3 < 64 2 ' 55 1 ' 51 Monthly vs. Weekly' Agricultural Papers. — The Michigan Farmer, which has for a few years past been published as a weekly, is again changed to a semi-monthly. The publisher says : " It may not be amiss to state that when the paper was a monthly it had three times as large a circulation — and probably paid five times as well — as when we recently purchased it. Making it a weekly proved almost its ruin." The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862.— This number of the Rural Annual is highly commended by the Press. It is conceded to be the best number yet issued. It will be sent prepaid by return mail, to any address, on receipt of 25 cents. If any of our agents and friends who are entitled to the Rural Annual have failed to receive it, they will oblige us by notifying us of the fact, and it will be cheerfully sent. Or if any errors of any kind have occurred in the hurry of mailing at this busy season, they will be imme- diate! v corrected. +•* Club the Farmer and Rural Annual Together. — We still send the Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory together with the Genesee Farmer, in clubs of eight and upward, for 50 cents the two ! 66 THE GENESEE FARMER. Notes on the Weather from December 15th to the Middle of January, 1862.— The mean heat of the first half of December, 1861, was 7.2° above the average for 24 years, or was 37.7°. The mean of the last half was 28.8°, or 3.5'' above the average. Hence, the mean heat of December was 33.8°, or 5.2° above" the mean for 24 years. The lowest temperature of the last half was 11°, on the 25th, and the highest was 54°, on the 19th. The great body of wind has been from the west, or within 10° or 15° on either side of west. Much has been cloudy ; only two or three days chiefly clear. The canal was fro- zen the second time on the 21st, and sleighing began on the 24th, after rain, and snow, and hail, and wind, and on Christmas, a cold and bright day, there was good sleigh- ing, on an inch or two of snow and frozen rain, all of which melted away in the afternoon and evening of the 26th, followed by high wind on the 27th. Water of the month, only 1.38 inches. Cisterns begin to be too low, and some are empty. The barometer made rapid changes but was not very high nor very low. Its mean was about 29.5 inches. The following are some results for the year : From col- lege observations the mean heat of the year is 47.16°; for thirty years ending wi h 1861, 47.05°. Other observa- tions give for the mean of the year here 46.9°. We may take 47° as the average, very nearly. The water, rain and anow, is for the year 34.80 inches and the average for 25 years is considerably less, viz.: 32.09 iuches. The year has been characterized by high health, and abundant ag- ricultural productions. The lowest temperature was 11° below zero, February 8th, and the lowest mean was then, 1.3° below. The highest heat was 92°, August 4th, but the hottest day was 82.3°, on July 8th. The bright comet that burnt out in full splendor on the evening of July 2d, towards the northwest, was magnifi- cent. It had passed its perihilion some days before, and, of course, was diminishing in brightness. It was follow- ed with telescopes into December, and was holding on its southern course. 1862 — January. — The first day was warm and cloudy, the surface wind south, the clouds from southwest; snow melted; temperature at 12 noon, 50°; before noon the wind began to be strong, shower of rain at 1J p. m., end- ing in hail and high wind; snow-squall at 2 to 2£ with a gale, and temperature 40°; sun shone out, and at 3 p. m. more snow and higher wind, and at 3.J the thermometer stood at 33°. Violent gale and squalls through the night, temperature at 9 p. m., 25°, and the wind from the west, sweeping the storm along towards the Atlantic. The cold increased daily to the 5th, when the lowest was one de- gree. Even at Boston the temperature was 5° at 7 a. m., and 14° at noon, and only 13° at 9 p. m. From the 5th the cold decreased to the 9th, from which the weather was moderate to the 12th, and the thermometer fell to 6° on the 14th, giving us a cold day. The snow and rain ot the 12th, from the south-west, with some hail and change to cold, gave us good sleighing on the 14th. The sleighing before had been very poor, and the snow soon wore out iu our streets. On the 15th the snow fell very early from tin' south-east, two inches, perhaps, with hail at 5 a. m., and on to 11, more or less, when the snow melted some, sleighing good, aud with the cold snow-squall ia the eve- ning, and temperature 30°, and at 9 p. m., west wind, better sleighing is indicated. The mean heat of this half of January is 29.9°, h 3.5° below the average for 25 years, and the same as mean for this half last year. On the last, four days barometer has shown a very uneasy state of the ati phere: on the 12th, 28.87 inches; on the 13th, 29.88 the 14th, 30.03, and on the 15th, 29.08, at the same h 2 p. m., on each of the days. The weather has been favorable for business. The of pork, beef, and poultry, not to speak of cereals, market, indicates the farmers' activity, and, though prices are low, the current of money is very obvious, very gratifying. ►•♦ More Good Pigs. — The Rev. G. A. Anderson, miss ary to the Mohawks, Bay Quinte, C. W., writes us, in erence to our notice of Mr. Ives' Earl of Sifton pigs ir last number of the Genesee Farmer, that he had the i osity to weigh a pair of his pigs, a cross between Berkshire aud Yorkshire, that were eight weeks old, they weighed, male 66 lbs., female 62 lbs. At the same age Mr. Ives' Earl of Siftons weig male 65 lbs. and female 55 lbs. The reason we mentioned Mr. Ives' pigs was m< to show how rapidly they increased in weight Mr. Anderson mentions that he killed a pig of thes cross nine months old that weighed, when dressed, 34( Cider for Dyeing Purposes — A Hoax. — The re that the Calico Manufacturers of Manchester were u Cider to make fast colors for their printed cottons, t out to be a hoax. The manufacturers deny using it. i it is a fact that large quantities of cider have been chased in Devonshire, and other cider districts of Engl at greatly enhanced prices, the purchasers stating that bought it for use in Manchester. This is true, but it appears that it is used for making Champaigne! Good Pigs. — Mr. Joshua Calloway, Jr., of Stanle; W., writes us, that seeiug the statement of the weigh Middlesex pigs in the Genesee Farmer for October, he induced to weigh seven of his thorough-bred " impr Lancashires." They were ten weeks old, and weighe the aggregate 517 lbs, or within a lb. of 74 lbs. « This, he truly observes, beats the Middlesex pigs i tioned in the Farmer. It should be stated, however, the Middlesex are a small breed of pigs. »•-. Two Eggs in One Day. — In the January number ol Genesee Farmer, Mr. C. N. Bement says : " Some hens lay one egg in three days ; some every other day ; ot every day, and we have heard of one that laid two eg$ one da;/." Mr. James Cox, of Wheatland, N. Y., infc us that he had a hen that laid two eggs in one day, early iu the moruing, and the other towards evening, she did uot lay the next day. The Rurvl Annual and Horticultural Director Benj. F. Bartolet, of Chester Co., Pa., writes : — "Iv the present year's Rural Annual. The former six n bers of the Rural Annual I had a year ago bound in Book, and a nice little volume it is, containing everytl a farmer wauts in a practical, concise form. I would spare it for a pretty price." THE GENESEE FARMER. 67 ind the Genesee Farmer. — I. W. Sanborn, of Ver- tit, writes : " A ' happy New-Year' to you, and abun- t success in your noble work. I have just sent away last volume of the Genesee Farmer to be bound. The ding of the monthly being purely agricultural and re- ile, it is eminently worthy a convenient form for pro- ration and reference. Each volume will make a book aearly four hundred octavo pages, worth to every far- r double the subscription price and cost of binding, subscriber should fail to get the Genesee Farmer bound, . give it a place in his library for ready reference." >. T. Clark, of Vestal, N. Y., writes : " I have taken eh pleasure in perusing the pages of your most excel- t paper. I look upon it as the most reliable and prac- .1 journal I have seen — in fact, the cheapest and the Inquiries and Answers. Ibans vs. Corn for Sheep — Culture of Beans. — Please w me through the columns of your highly interesting much prized paper, to inquire respecting the relative ,ie of cull beans to corn for feeding purposes. They I of course be fed to sheep, but their value and way of linir, whether ground or not, mixed or otherwise, is question. would also like some information as to the most econo- :al method of raising beans, planting time, description ilaming, etc. The seed it requires and the work of ing, &o, are great obstacles in the way of raising them i profit, even at the present high prices. The piece 1 ■nd planting with beans is a young orchard of two years wth since transplanting, aud is a rich and pretty dry n. ie have taken your paper for two years, and all we have egret is that we did not subscribe for it before. We er expect to be without it hereafter, that is, as long as t published. — B. P. Tabek, Cayuga Co., N. Y. 7e think there is not much difference in the nutritive le of beans and corn — but the beans make much the lest manure. We should prefer to grind them and I half beans and half corn meal. We shall be glad to r from some of our experienced correspondents on this stiou, and also on the culture of beans. ots in Horses. — I had a fine seven year old horse last ter that I had raised from a colt. He was always a lthy horse and in good condition, and had never been ly sick. He was kept at work steady all the time. I t him away one morning to work and he appeared in ellent spirits. He did his work until night as well as al. About seven o'clock in the evening he was taken :, and by seven o'clock the next day he was dead, and :n I opeued him, half an hour after, I found his stomach sted and so eaten away by the bots that you could lpare it to nothing but a cobweb. When the food was led out of the stomach it would not bear its own ght. The mystery is how did the horse look well, and his food and do his work in such a state ? Some vete- iry surgeons say that the bots never cuts through a se's stomach while alive. Had the bots time to make this havoc in half an hour after he was dead? Will le one throw some light on this subject, and confer a jr on the owners of horses ? — R. Taylor, Nile, C. W. •sage Orange Hedges.— The Osage Orange Hedge I nted and trained according to the directions coutained your Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 7, is a perfect model of a hedge. In summer a perfect ,uty, so close as to exclude the air from passing through I clip it three times a year. Last fall, after the leaves I fallen off, I observed some spots where the barks was te black and white mouldy spots. The wood and bark en cut appeared quite healthy and sound, and may not are it, but I fear the consequences, and if any thing is >wa in regard to the disease, and whether it may or will prove injurious in future time, would be gratefully received through the medium of the Genesee Farmer. — Benj. F. Bartolet, Chester Co., Pa. Stretches in Sheep. — Being troubled considerably with stretches in Sheep, I wish some of your correspondents would give a remedy in the Farmer. — George K. Edger- ton, Onondaga Co., N. Y. Feathers for Beds. — Will some of your experienced correspondents tell us how to prepare feathers for beds? —A Lady Reader. Muck.— (John Henshaw.) Muck varies materially in its composition and value, according to its origiD. Ac- cording to the analyses of Prof. S. W. Johnson, the amount of potential ammonia in the various deposits of dry muck and peat which he has examined varies from 0.58 to 4.06 per cent. In other words some kinds of muck contain seven times as much ammonia as others. For the purpose of comparison we may state that ordinary barn yard manure contains only about 0.5 per cent, of actual and potential ammonia. It will be seen from this that dry muck of the poorest description contains as much ammonia as barn yard manure, while the best deposits contain seven times as much. Dried muck, too, contains five times as much organic matter as well rotted barn yard manure. Cotton in Southern Illinois. — (R. Thomas.) We know very little about the culture of cotton, or the proba- bilities of its succeeding in Southern Illinois. Last sum- mer we were in that section, as far south as Cairo, and saw a sample of cotton that was grown there. We learned, too, that formerly cotton was raised in that por- tion of the State. It will be necessary to get the right kind of seed. That from cotton raised last season in Southern Illinois or the Southwestern States will be the best. This is a green seed. The Government has sent an agent to Beaufort to obtain seed, but it is believed that such seed will not answer in the Southwest. It is a black seed, while the seed that is needed is of a green color. Pigs. — (M. A.) As a general rule, it is not best to keep a breeding sow over three years. At this age she |oa* easily be fattened. She should not be placed with the boar before she is ten months old. This is also true of the boar. If used earlier, it will impair the generative powers of both : the sow becomes worn and feeble from breeding, and produces unhealthy litters; the boar is stunted in growth and speedily shows signs of age. The period of gestation is about sixteen weeks. You may get five litters in two years, but it is too much. Better let the sow have a reasonable time for rest. For the large breeds ten is a good average litter, and twelve for the small breeds. Warts on Cattle. — (Thomas Embry.1 A thick paste made of potash, moistened with water and bound upon the wart, is said to prove effectual. The potash should not be allowed to remain too long, as it is very caustic — say half an hour, when it should be removed and the place washed with vinegar to neutralize the potash. Moss on Meadows. — (A Subscriber.) Harrow the mea- dow in both directions, so as to tear up as much of the moss as you can, and then top-dress it with well rotted manure or ashes and plaster, or with 200 lbs. of guano. 68 THE GEXESEE FARMER. Manure in Sheds. — (Levi Lobo.) We have had no ex- perience in keeping manure under sheds, and can not say whether the liquid from the animals will keep it moist enough. It depends a good deal on how much straw you use. We have seen the manure kept under sheds in New England, where little or no straw was used, and it was if anything too wet, and muck was used as an absorbent. We should be glad to hear from some of our correspon- dents on this subject; and whether the manure will be sufficiently rotted for use in spring. Moles. — (T. Cook.) We know of no better way of des- troying them than by the use of the old fashioned mole- traps. If any ot our readers do, we shall be glad to hear from them. Old Wall Paper. — (Au Economist.) It is said that old wall paper is much improved by rubbing it with a flannel cloth dipped ia corn meal. "What is the Best Variety of Onion?" — (Ezra Tompkins.) We know of no better variety than the Stras- burgh, when genuine. You can get tha seed of James Vice, of this city. Chinese Hogs. — (Joseph Kitelt). We do not know where you can obtain thorough-bred Chinese hogs. The Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. — A re- cent letter from Dr. Evan Pugh, President of the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, informs us that this institu- tion is now fairly under way, and the prospects are high- ly encouraging. There is no man in this country better qualified to take charge of such an institution than Dr. Pugh. A Pennsylvania farmer's son by birth, with an innate love for agriculture, he early turned his attention to the science of agricultural chemistry, and studied for some years in the best laboratories of Europe. He was afterwards engaged in making some scientific investiga- tions in connection with Mr. Lawes on his celebrated ex- perimental farm, at Rothamstead, England. He is a man of untiring energy, and the important institution over which he has been called to preside in his native State, can not fail to be of incalculable benefit to the future ag- ricultural interests of the country. There are now accom- modations for three hundred students. Charges $100 per annum. Catalogues can be obtained by addressing Dr. Evan Pugh, Farm School, Pa. — ♦•♦ Several inquiries, communications, advertisements, etc., have been crowded out of this number. They shall appear in our next if possible. Literary Notices. LESSONS IN LIFE. A series of Familiar Essays. By Timo- thy Timothy. New York : 0. Scuiiiner. 1801. These Essays have been lauded most extravagantly, They have been placed on a level with those of Bacon and Macaulay. They are popular with certain readers, and that is the best we can say of them. T11F. CHEMICAL HISTORY OF A CANDLE. By Michael Farraday, D. C. L. ; F. II. s. New York : Harper & Bros. This is one of the most instructive and interesting little works on the chemistry ot combustion and kindred subjects we have ever r<-ud. li conststs "i six Lectures, delivered by Prof. Farra- bAY before a juvenile auditory, at the Royal Institute of Great Britain, during Hie Chrislnias Holidays of 1360-61. We would commend it to all our young readers who wish to get a con knowledge of the chemical changes which take place dur combustion. LIFE AND ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, a Roving Printer. New York : Harper & Bros. 1861. This is an interesting narrative, compiled from the log-book two young men, who were led to engage in the whale-flsher and who spent five years in that employment. CHAMBERS' ENCYCLOPEDIA ; A Dictionary of Usi Knowledge for the People. J. B. Lippencott & Co., Philai phia, Pa. Published in parts. Price 15 cents each. This is the best work of the kind ever published. "We m every reader of the Genesee Farmer had access to it at ail tin The first and second volumes, comprising over SOI) pages es are now complete. Price $3.00 per volume. The work will ci prise six or seven volumes when completed. Tucker's Annual Register of Rural Affairs for 186! This admirable little work, published by Luther Tucker & S of the Country Gentleman, Albany, N. Y., is filled as usual v a great amount of reliable information of great valu-' to every interested in rural affairs. Price 25 cents. Gody's Lady's Book. — This popular Magazine snows no ab; ment in vigor, interest and usefulness. It is a great favorite v the ladies — and doubtless deserves to be. lis fashion plates unequalled and its steel engravings excellent. It contain lanre amount of valuable information, specially interesting to ladies. It is sent to any address for $3.00 per annum. Addl L. A. Godey, Philadelphia, Pa. The Four British Reviews and Blackwood Magazini Leonard Scott &, Co., of New York, publish reprints of tta able periodicals, at greatly reduced rates, as compared with price in England. The four Reviews and Blackwood are sen any address for $10. The price in England is $35. Arthur's Home Magazine. — "We have frequ ntly alluded this interesting family Magazine, published by T. S. Arthui Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Price, $2.00 per annum. The Continental Monthly — Is the title of a new magazi published in Boston. Price, $3.00 per annum. The Atlantic Monthly — Published by Ticknor & Fiej Boston, Mass., is undoubtedly the ablest literary magazine p lished in America. Price, $3.00 per annum. Special Notices. Coe's Superphosphate of Lime. — The following letter ft Hon, Marshall P. Wilder, one of the most eminent agrii lurists in New England, gives a very gratifying account ot so experiments with Coe's Superphosphate of Lime : — Dorchester, Nov. 20, 1861 Dear Sir: — I take pleasure in enclosing, for your exami tion, some facts in regard to the comparative value of Superphosphate of Lime, purchased of you last Spring. EXPERIMENTS ON OLD MOWING LAND. This land was divided into three equal lots, of one-fourth an acre each, and dressed as follows: Hay Prodi No. 1, with one-half cord manure, valued at. .. $3. no 864 ; No. a, wiHi 10!) lbs. Guano, « "...$3.00 750] No. 3, with 100 lbs. Coe's Superphosphate of Lime, valued at $2.50 948 1 EXPERIMENTS WITH CARROTS. This land was old sward land, turned over last Fall, t was divided into three equal lots of one-eighih of an acre ea Prodi No. 1, with 14 cords manure, valued at $8.00 75 bu No. 2. with 50 lbs. Guano, " •• &l.S0....60bi No. 3, with 5n lbs. Coe's Superphophate ' of Lime, valued at $1.25 90 bu EXPERIMENTS ON TWO ACRES OF OLD MEAD0 LAND. Tilts land bad probably never been ploughed before. In I month of August last, the brush, brakes, hedge, ele , were tak off. the sod reversed and the surface made as level as prat cab'e. It was then seeded down with foul meadow and r lop seed, willi 4l)il lbs. of your Sapi rphosphale of Lime to t acre. The seed came up well, and ai this ime Ihe ..'r.-iss is luxuriant and thickly Set, thai it :ttrftcts attention al the distal of hall' a mile or more, and should the grass not be be win* THE GENESEE FARMER. 69 killed with ice. there will no doubt he a fine crop next Sum- mer. In this instance, as in many others, the economy of the Superphosphate over common barnyard manure, Is evident, the cost of the former being not more than the expense of carting would ha\e been of a sufficient quantity of stable manure to produce a like result. The Superphosphate of Lime is therefore a valuable ferti- lizer in the reclimation and renovation of old pasture or meadow lands, and especially so where lands like the above are located a mile or more from the homestead. Superphosphate of Lime is a valuable article in promoting the growth and increasing the tiluous roots of young trees and grape vine-, and when applied in liberal quantities to the roots of bearing trees has a beneficial influence on the size and beauty of the fruit. It is equally useful as a fertilizer for cereals, grasses and Vegetables, and from experiments made heretofore. I have hopes that it may prove a preventative of Ihe blast upon young seedling pear stocks and to the mildew 3U peas and other plants subject to these diseases. As a quick and also as a durable fertilizer, I have seen many- proofs in past years. I have ever considered it as one of the most economical manures in use. Yours respectfully, MARSHALL ?. WILDER. The American Practical Cookery Book; or, Housekeeping nade Easy, Pleasant and Economical in all its branches. To which ire added Directions for Setting-out Tables and giving Enter- .ainments; Directions for Jointing, Trussing and Caning, and leveral hundred additional Recipes. By a Practical Housekeep- er. Illustrated with Fifty Engravings. 12mo , cloth. Price, $1. ?or sale at the Metropolitan Gift Book-Store, No. 26 Buffalo treet, Rochester, N. Y, and a Gift given with each book sold, va- ying in value from Fifty Cents to One Hundred Dollars. On re- :eipt of price of book and 24 cents in postage stamps to prepay lostage, a copy with Gift accompanying, will be mailed to any iddress in the United States. ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only uch — will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer for twenty-five cents , line, or $2.5il per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To ecure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous nonth. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every State md Territory, and in all the Britixh Provinces. (It has nearly iOOO subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no better or ih'eaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to ■ural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to >ur columns, at filly cents a line. For Spring of 1862. IMPORTED FLOWER SEEDS, For Sale by JAMES VICK, Rochester, N. Y. r HAVF, received during Ihe present winter, from the most re- L reli ble growers of England, l< ranee, and Germany, the larg- st and finest lot of Flower and Vegetable Seeds ever import- ■d into this country, embracing all lhat is old and valuable, as rell as everything new ami rare, regardless of cost. These seeds re put up in neat packages, sold at a moderate price, and afford tie lovers of flowers in 'his country a rare opportunity to obtain he floral treasures of Europe, as web as the choicest of its vege- tible productions. A few of the leading varieties are named be- t>w, and a full catalogue will he published about the 1st of Feb- uary, and mailed to all applicants. FLOWERS THAT BLOOM THE FIRST SEASON. jtBTERS— Double Dwari Pyramidal Boquet Flowered, Truf Kent's Peony lowered tvrfeotiou. in twelve colors, all mixed. < r in separate papers: Imbrique Pompone, or Daisy Aster of mammoth s;z,-: New drown, or Two Colored, one of the mosl delicate, yet snowy : New Chrysanthemum Flowered; 1T0CKS — Ten Week.— New Largest !• lowered Dwarf, twelve colors mixed, or e:u-h color separate; Large (lowering Dwarf Pyramidal; Wn'1-Flow er-Lcavcd ; Branching German {-Autum- nal Flowering; Emperor. JALSAMS.— Douiile Ciuielin Flowered, mixed colors: Dwarf Oamelia Fl iwered Sp tied ; R ise Flowere I mixed golors, &c PHLOX DRUMMONDII — 15esi Searlet, Leopoldi, Blue with while Eye, Kadowi z i. &<5 , all of the finest varieties anil most showy colors, mix<'.| in one package or separate, ;is desired. CTARKSPUR.— Double Dwarf Rocket; Hyacinth Flowered, an Stock Flowered PORTULACCA.— White, Striped with Rose; Yellow Striped - Vt hue. Red, Yellow, &c, dec., best mixed, ,te. ANTIRRHINUM.— Brilliant, Fi-efly, Papillonacenm. Dwarf Striped, &c, mixed or separate. PANSIES— of first quality, both English and German. CONVOL\ ULUS MINOR.— Double New, Splendeus, New Dark, Striped, o. on Sheep 75 rier 504 Do. on the Hog 75 E^g—Any of the above named works will be forwarded by mail post-paid, on receipt of the price specified. Address JOSEPH HAKKIS Rochester, N. Y. Liebig on Food, Arc Do. Relations of Chemistry to Agriculture Miner's Bee-keeper's Man- FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. 17OR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLACE for upper : thread, and BROoK'S SIX CO D RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country; also in cases of 100 dozen each, assor ed numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. Ja — ly Grape Vines — 1 ubl>it»g. OPORTO VINES, $1 EACH ; $6 PER DOZEN. FOR FIVE DOLLABS I will box and deliver to the Express or Railroad ihe following vines, one half of them 2 years old: 3 Oporto, 1 Rebecca. 2 Concord, 1 Delaware, 2 Hartford Prolific, 2 Clinton, 2 Isabella. For vines or catalogues of Lvons Nursery, or lerms to Agents, address Ja.— 3t E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. *' Short-Horns." I HAVE for sale a few BULLS and BULL CALVES. COW9, and HEIFERS, mostly by the Imported Bulls Duke of Glo»- ter (11,382) and Grand Duke of Oxford (I6.1P4;. Ja.-4t JAMES O. SHELDON, Geneva, N. Y. db-t A A OR MORE may be made by any LOCAL AGENT ^P Iv'lf without leaving Ins home, besides render ng an impor- tant service to his neighbors and friend-, by selling the OPORTO Grape vines. For terms to agent*, address Oct.— 5t E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. FOWLER'S PATENT STEAM PLOWING MACHINERY. 1) * TENT^fclGHTS for States and Counties and Machines are now for sale. Descriptive pamphlets spnt povt free. Apply to R. W. EDDISON, Jan. — It 60S Soi:th Didnware Avenue, Philadelphia. PER MONTH— Made by any one with Stencil Tools. For a circular explaining the business, Address JOHN Ml LIKEN, Mav — lv. Lawrence. Mass. EMPLOYMENT at a liberal salary ami expenses. For par- ticulars address d3t HARRIS BROS., Boston, Mass. 72 THE GENESEE FARMER. PREMIUMS! PREMIUMS ! PREMIUMS ! To Every Reader of the Genesee Farmer. ALL PRIZES AND How to Do Good and Get Pay for it. GREAT PAY FOR LITTLE WORK ! Being desirous of doubling the circulation of the Genesee Far- mer the present year, we have concluded to offer the follow- ing Premiums to those who send us subscribers: Book Premiums. 1. To every person who sends us the name of one subscriber to the Genesee Farmer for the year 1S62, and 50 cents, we will send a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaid's Di- rectory, by Mrs. Eliza A. Call, or one copy of the Rural An- nual and Horticultural Directory for I860 or 1861, sent pre- paid by return mail. 2. To every person who sends us toco subscribers and one dollar, we will send the Rural Annual and Horticultural Di- rectory for 1860 and 1S61, prepaid by return mail. 3. To every person who sends us three subscribers and $1.50, we will send a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three numbers of the Rural Annual. 4. To every person who sends us four subscribers and $2,00, we will send one copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farri- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 5. To every person who sends us five subscribers and $2.50, we will send one copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1S56, nicely bound in stiff paper covers, prepaid, by return mail. 6. To every person sending us six subscribers and $3.00, we will send Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a handsomely bound volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1S60, prepaid, by [retort mail. [The invariable price of the latter is $1.00, and there is no cheaper work.] 7. To every person sending us seven subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send one copy of Mrs. S. J. Hale's Modern Cook- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 8. To every person sending us eight subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a copy of The Horse and his Diseases, or a copy of Everybody's Lawyer, prepaid, by return mail. 9. To every person sending us twenty subscribers at 50 ce»ts each, wo will send a copy of The Rural Poetry of the English Language, the best and handsomest work of the kind pub- lished. 10. To the person sending us eighty subscribers at 50 ceate each, we will send Morton's Cyclopedia of Agricnlture, prepaid, by return ma.il. This is the best work on agriculture extant and sells for $18.00. Seeds, Grape Vines, Fruit Trees, etc. 11. To every person sending us toco subscribers, at 50 ce»ts each, we will send a package of Flower Seeds, containing six papers ol the choicest and best seeds imported from France and England, and which sell at from six to ten cents each. They will be forwarded, prepaid, by return mail. 12. To every person sending m three subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, ten papers of choice imported Flower Seeds. 13. To every person sending us four subscribers at 60 cents each, we will stnd sixteen papers of choice imporled Flower Seeds, prepaid, by return mail. 14. To every person sending us five subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a Delaware Grape Vine, prepaid, by mail. 15. To every person sending us eight subscribers at 60 cents each, we will send two Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 16. To every person sending us twelve subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send three Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 17. To every person sending us fifteen subscribers at 50 cents each, we will sen four Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 18. To every person sending us seventeen subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send five Delaware Grape Vines, or one each of Delaware, Concord, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific and Crivelen ; and for a larger club in the same proportion. 19. To every person sending us fifty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send eight dollars worth of Fruit or Ornamental Trees, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, etc. 20. To every person sending us sixty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send ten dollars worth of Fruit Trees, etc. 21. To every person sending us one hundred subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send twenty dollars worth of Fruit Trees, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plauts, etc. It must be borne in mind that these premiums are offered for subscribers at fifty centi each. All subscriptions will com- mence with the January number. Premiums at Regular Club Rates. 1. To every person who sends us eight Subscribers, (at our Uncest terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send, postage paid, a copy of our beautiful twenty-five cent book, the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862. 2. To every person who send? us sixteen subscribers, (at our lowest club terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send one extra copy of the Genesee Farmer, and oue copy of the Rural Annual, prepaid, by mail. 3. To [every person sending us twenty-four subscribers, (as above.) we will send two extra copies of the Farmer, or two copies of the Rural Annual and one extra copy of the Farmer. 4. To every person sending us thirty-two subscribers (at 37^ cents each), we will send one copy of Mrs. Hale's Modern Cook- ery Book, prepaid, by return mail. 5. To every person sending us forty subscribers (at 37X cents each), we will send one copy of Everybody's Lawyer, or The Hsrse and his Diseases, prepaid, by 3eturn mail, or sixteen pack- ages of Flower Seeds — and to larger clubs at the same rate. Our Agents can club the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual together at 50 cents the two. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genesee Farmer, February 1, 1S62. Rochester, N. T. THE GENESEE FARMER. Is the cheapest agricultural paper in the world, and has attained an unrivalled circulation. Terms — Invariably in advance — Fifty Cents a Tsar; Five Copies for $2: Eight Copies for $3, together with a Rurai Annual and Horticultural Directory to the person getting up the club. It is not necessary that the club should be all at one office — we send wherever the members of the club desire. Specimen numbers sent free to all applicants. 10^"° All friends of rural Improvement are respectfully solicited to obtain and forward subscriptions. Thr Postage on the Genexse Farmer is only 3 cents a year in the Slate of New York, and 6 cents a year in other States. Papers ar<' sent to the British Provinces at the same rates as in the United States. No extra charge for American postage. The address of papers can be changed at anv time. Address JOSEPH HAUKIS, Publisher and Proprietor of tub Genesee Farmer, Rochester, N. Y. itife& iaES§§l s&assfe.. mm mmmmmmmsmz ^iJ^Tr- Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, MARCH, 1862. No 3. CULTIVATION OF THE BEET FOR SUGAR. In 1747, a Prussian chemist, M. Maegraaf, in analyzing the Silesian beet root, discovered that it contained sugar. The discovery, however, led to no practical result till near the close of the cen- tury. France was then deprived of her sugar col- onies. Domingo, which had supplied her with 150,000,000 lbs. per annum, became free and no longer produced sugar for export. The price of sugar in France rose to five francs per kilogramme (fifty cents per lb.). The French government of- fered rewards for the best method of producing sugar from indigenous plants. The discovery of Maegraaf was soon turned to beneficial account. The beets at first afforded three per cent, of sugar. By improved methods of manufacture, tho yield was increased to four, five, six, and finally to seven per cent. The cultivation of the beet for sugar soon became quite extensive. The manufacturers enjoyed a monopoly of the market, and corres- pondingly high prices. Secure in this monopoly, the manufacturers neglected the best methods of purifying the juice. The sugar was of a very infe- rior quality. The peace of 1815 deprived them of the monopoly and high prices they had so long enjoyed, and the cultivation of the beet for sugar was greatly retarded, notwithstanding the high duties imposed on colonial sugars. In 1828 the quantity prodnced was only 4500 tons. Since that time, the manufacture has not only recovered itself, but has become firmly established among the industrial pursuits of the country. M. de Lavergne, in his recent able work on French Agriculture, states that there are now 350 sugar works in France, 150 of which are in the Depart- ment of the Nord (North), to supply which 20,000 hectares (49,350 acres) are under beet-root ; pro- ducing an average of 16 tons per acre, and yielding about 576,016 tons of sugar. In 1852, the protective duties were removed, and such had been the great improvement that had been introduced, that the manufacturers were enabled to stand the competition of the colonial growers. By actual trial, it has been found that 120,000 lbs. of beet-root will yield 8,400 lbs. of sugar, or seven per cent., and 5,030 lbs. of molasses. It is estimated that sugar can be produced at four cent* per lb. As we have said, great improvements in the manufacture have taken place. One result of the application of science and capital has been to in- crease the size of the sugar houses, while it has reduced the number. The small manufactories, with their imperfect processes, can not compete with the large establishments, where everything is done in a scientific and systematic manner. We see no reason why beet sugar should not be extensively manufactured in this country. The climate is well adapted to the growth of beets, and the present and presumptive high price of sugar would insure large profits. The cane contains twice as much sugar as the beet, but not more than seven per cent, is usually obtained from it in practice. This is no more than can be obtained from the beet-root. Sixteen tons of beet roots can easily be raised per acre. This would yield, at seven per cent., 2,240 lbs. of sugar, besides molasses. There is, too, another important item of profit— the leaves of the beets and the pulp. Both can be used as food for cattle; and it must be borne in mind that, as nothing is removed but sugar, all the manurial( elements of the crop are left on the farm. The cultivation of the beet root, therefore, is one of the very best methods of increasing the fertility of the farm. On this point, Lavergne remarks : " It was -feared, in the first instance, that the cultivation of the sugar beet would lessen the pro- duction of cattle and wheat by occupying tlie best land. But this fear was ill-founded, at least rela- tive to the best cultivated regions. It is now dem- onstrated that the manufacture of sugar, by creat- ing a new source of profit, contributes to increase T4 THE GENESEE FARMER. the other products of the soil. The extraction ot the saccharine matter deprives the root of only a part of its elements. Its pulp and foliage supply the animals with an abundance of food; and the returns of the sugar works enable them to add commercial manures, which indefinitely increase the fertility of the soil. In 1855, the city of Va- lenciennes, the principal seat of the manufacture, was able to inscribe upon a triumphal arch these significant words: 'Produce. of wheat in the aron- dissement before the manufacture of sugar, 353,000 hectolitres (961,173 bushels); number of oxen, 700. Produce of wheat since the manufacture of sugar, 421,000 hectolitres (1,158,256 bushels); number of cattle, 11,500.'" The pulp or solid residue amounts to about twenty per cent, of the entire root. "When divest- ed of the juice, it still contains two or three per cent of saccharine matter, and is greedily eaten by cattle and pigs, which fatten rapidly upon it. It is said not to be good, however, for milch cows. Ordinary beets and mangel-wurzel contain sugar, but the Silesiaa beets alone are cultivated for this purpose. By judicious selection and culture vari-. ties have been obtained which contain much more sugar than the ordinary variety. In obtaining this result, however, the size of the root has been re- duced. M. Knatjek, of Germany, has produced a variety, which he names 'the Imperial beet-root, whish eo;. tains 17i per cent, of sugar! This im- provement i>laces the beet on a par with the cane as a sugar plant, while the cultivator of the beet has several important advantages over the West India and Louisiana planters. The cultivation of the sugar, cane occupies from twelve to fifteen months, and it must all be manufactured in a few days, or great loss ensues. On the other hand, the beet requites only about four months to arrive at maturity, and then it can be stored and manipu- lated at leisure. KATS-H0W TO DESTROY THEM. Coffee in Illinois. — It i9 said that G. R. Hoff- man, of Effingham Co., Illinois, raised last year two bushels of coffee. The seed was sent him from Australia. The first year the plants were un- productive; the second year they bore a little, and produced a full crop the third year. He thinks thirty bushels can be grown per acre. Where England gets hee Timber. — Great Britain and Ireland import annually some 27.000,- 000 cubic feet, or 540,000 loads of Canadian pine timber, the greater part of which is manufactured on the Ottawa river and its tributaries. The ope- rations of this manufacture extend over upward of 11,000 square miles, and give employment to more than 40,000 men. Solon Robinson, of the New York Tribune, well remarks that this species of the genus Mus is an almost intolerable nuisance in some portions of the United States. They follow man into the wil- derness. When he located on the "r rairie in 1834, about fifteen miles from neighbors, and forty miles from what has since grown to be the city of Chi- cago, there was not a rat to be seen or heard of. For several years he was exempt from the pest. Then came abundance of shipping to Chicago, and with it abundance of rats, and they soon spread over the whole land, multiplying and devastating. Now they are great pests in the barns and stacks of prairie farmers. Our common breed is called "Norway rats," from the supposition that they originated in that country. British naturalists, however, assert that they were introduced into the British Islands from India. If they are tropical animals, all we have to say is that they easily adapt themselves to a rig- orous climate, where they multiply at a most pro- lific rate. What we are yet to do with them is a problem not easily solved. All the receipts to cure the nuisance are only preventive, not eradicative. . A correspondent of the Gardener's Monthly says: u. I tried the effect of introducing into the en- trance of their numerous holes, runs, or hiding- places, small portions of chloride of lime pi bleaching powder, wrapped in calico, and stuffed into the entrance holes, and thrown loose by spoonfuls into the drain from the house. This drove the rats away for a twelve -month, when they returned to it. They were treated in the same manner, with like effect. The cure was most complete. 1 presume it was the chlorine gas, which did not agree with their olfactories." Arsenic is considered by some who have tried it, as a failure, used for the purpose of clearing premises of rats ; because they are too cunning to partake of it after witnessing the death of two or three of the family. It is effectual, if the vermin will take the bait. Strychnine we consider far preferable, and al- though so much more costly, it requires but a few cents' worth to do the work of death upon a hun- dred rats, it is also the very best thing to use upon a troublesome dog or cat that comes prowling about your premises. One grain for a dose is suf- ficient. Mr. Robinson lias killed numerous wolves by inserting one grain of strychnine in the center of a piece of fresh meat, just large enough for a mouthful for a wolf. As rats do not bolt their food, it is a little more difficult to get them to take strychnine; it is so intensely bitter. If it is mixed THE GENESEE FARMER. 75 with cornmeal, and a few drops of oil of anise is added, it will attract the rats. Tarring and feathering rats, and then letting them run, has been practised to give the tribe a hint that it would he well for them to leave. One rather smart individual, not having tar, used spirits of turpentine. He was going to drive the rats out of his house cellar. He was entirely successful; for when he let the rat loose in his kitchen, with a " shoo " to it to go down to the cellar stairs, it took the kitchen fire in its course, and then a pile of flax that lay in the cellar way. In two hours there was not a rat in the house, unless it might be a roasted one. Plaster of Paris has proved a successful poison for rats; and it has the advantage of being quite harmless to have about the house. A tablespoon- ful of the flour of plaster, mixed in a cup of Indian meal, and slightly sweetened, will be eaten by rats, and kill them. A little grated cheese makes the food more attractive. Oil of anise would be still more so. In fact, by the use of it, rats may be coaxed out of a house to eat poison and die where their dead bodies would not be a nuisance. Phosphoms, powdered and mixed with meal, a few grains to a teacupful, has been often used suc- cessfully as a rat poison. Powdered potash, strewn in the paths frequented by rats, has been known to drive them away from a house. The theory is that, it pives them very sore feet, and- disgusts them with the place. In England, rat-catching is a profession — sons often follow it as the business of their fathers; The rat-catcher visits a farmer, and contracts with him at so much a head for all the rats he destroys. His trap is a large bag, which is set with the mouth open, baited with a piece of bread scented with oil of anise and oil of rhodium, the scent of which attracts the rats, and thus he bags enough to fill the contract. He dees not desire to rid the prem- ises, as that would "spoil business." A rat-de- stroyer would not be tolerated by the honorable company of rat-catchers. Among the many devices for trapping rats, we will mention a few of the best. A large wire- cage trap, where the second rat will go in because he sees the first in there, often proves successful in ridding a place of the pests. A large brass kettle, half full of water, with a small stone island in the center, just big enough for one rat to rest upon, the top of the kettle being covered with parch- ment similar to that of a drum-head, having a cross out in the center, is a first-rate trap. Fasten a small bait upon the point of the cut, -and the rat jumps down from a hoard arranged for the pur- pose, and through he goes into the water. He scrambles on the island and squeals for help. An- other hears him, and comes looking around, sees the bait, jumps for it, takes the plunge, and goes down upon the other fellow's head. Then comes a scramble for place, the stronger pushing the weaker off to take his chance in the water. This muss, as with men, attracts others, aud in they go. He has heard of twenty in 'a night thus inveigled to destruction. A barrel, one-third full of water, with an island, the surface covered with chaff, and a bait suspend- ed over it, he has been told, is an excellent trap. Ferrets and weasels have been highly recom- mended to be kept about the barn to drive away rats. The objection to them is that they drive away the poultry also. Ferrets have been trained so as to be obedient to the call of their master, and used not only to hunt rats, but to drive rabbits out of their burrows. Perhaps the best thing for a farmer to do who is troubled with rats, is to multiply his stock of cats. He knew one farmer who kept fourteen cats, keeping up that number for more than a year, by which means he got rid of all annoyance from rats, and they also hunted the rabbits out of an adjoining grove. ^ i m Digging Potatoes — Again. — G. R. Hnderhili. writes the Country Gentleman, in reference to the article in the Genesee Farmer in regard to digging potatoes early, that he has found from experiments that no amount or hind of manure would cause the potato to become diseased, and that the sure pre- ventive is to plant as soon as possible in the spring, with the early ripening kinds, and dig them as soon as they are ripe. If every farmer would adopt that plan, he is satisfied that we should soon hear no more of the potato rot. Good Cows. — 0. A. Holmes, of Tompkins Co., N". Y., informs us that he sold last year, from three cows, between the 20th of March, and the 20th of December, or nine months, 750 lbs. of butter, be- sides supplying his family of three persons with what they wanted for use. Jacob "Wat, of Peachara, Vt., is reported as hav- ing raised HOf bushels of wheat, by measurement, on 2£ acres of land. A chestnut gelding, called Garibaldi, in a lat« hunt in Yorkshire, Eng., jumped 31 feet clear, over high posts and rails. THE GENESEE FAKMER. SIDE-HILL BARN WITH SHEDS. 8P1BIT OF THE AGBICTJLTTTRAL PBESS. Fat Cow.— H. 6. White, of Framingham, sends the Boston Cultivator the weight of a five-year old Short-horn oo'w, Pocahontas 5th, lately slaughtered by Paoli La- throp, of South Hadley, Mass., as follows : Live weight, 1730 lbs. Dead weight : four quarters, 1,118 lbs. ; tallow, 127 lbs. ; hide, 90 lbs. ; total, 1,135 lbs. It is stated that all the grain she ever consumed was less than 15 bushels. Barn-Yards and Manure.— The Country Gentleman gives the following hints on this subject: 1. The barn-yard should be as small an enclosure as the amount of stock it is to accommodate will allow. It should be as dry as any place out of doors well can be- neither overflowed from higher ground, nor receivingt.be rain and melted snow from the surrounding barns ana out-houses. It should be sheltered from the wind and open to the sun, that it may be a place of comfort to its occupants. It should contain a convenient supply of pure water for the stock, to save labor and exposure, and the waste of manure always occurring when the stock must »cek water outside the" barn-yard. If small, dry and shel- tered, it will be easily kept littered, and thus better fit it for wintering stock and making and saving manure. 2. The greatest sources of loss of manure are from washing and over-fermentation or burning. In winter, yard manure suffers but slightly from the latter cause, and from the first there is little loss in a well arranged yard. But some fermentation is required to fit manure for use, »nd this end may be furthered by a little care in mixing and arranging the different materials for the compost heap. The stuble manure should be spread around the yard, and particular care should be taken to mix that from the horse-stalls with that of the cattle, thai the ten- dency to rapid decomposition of the first, may help the colder nature of the latter. In this way, too, the litter used is brought into a better state tor absorbing the liquid parts, and the whole supply of manure is rendered more equable and of higher value. In no case should we ne- glect to provide some absorbent for the liquid manure, as it is of equal, value with the solid excrement. 3. The sheep sheds should be well littered for the com- Ibrt of the animals, as well as to make more manure, but we have found no better method of saving the same from heating on the approach of warm weather, and consequent loss, than to remove the roof of boards (covering our sheds,) and exposing the contents to the weather. If drawn out and piled in heaps, it should be mixed with muck or strawy yard manure, and well moistened, or waste will occur from heating. Where open to the rain, it will usually decompose slowly, and be in a state for use on fall wheat or for top-dressing grass lands in autumn. The Prolieicness of Sows. — A correspondent of the Germantown Telegraph writes : "On the 25th of Decem- ber, 1860, I had a Berkshire sow nine months old to give birth, and raise to four weeks old, nine pigs, which I sold at $2 apiece, making $18. She had the company of the male in a few days after the removal of the pigs, and on the 20th of May, 1861, she came with fourteen pigs, rais- ing all but one to four weeks, which I sold at $1.75 each, making $22.75. After the removal of this litter, she had the company of the male again, and on the 24th of Octo- ber, 1861, just ten months from the time of the first litter, she came with ten fine pigs more, bringing them safely along to four weeks old, when I sold them for $1.30 each, making $13— pigs being v.nusally plenty last fall, and consequently low— making an aggregate of thirty-two pigs from one sow, within a period of ten months, and bringing me in round cash $53.75. After the lacteals were dry, the mother was ready for the meat tub. I had a Suffolk sow, also, at the same time with the Berkshire alluded to, that did fully as well, having in a period of eleven months had thirty-one pigs, which brought me $45, four of them were reserved tor stock pigs, and not counted ; and after the removal of the last litter I sold her to the butcher for $31. In all the lots I had but two whinocks. The sows ran in good grass during the summer, where THE GENESEE FARMER. 77 they had access to water, and during the period of gesta- tion shifted for themselves. But when they had their lit- tle families about them, and a week or so prior to their farrowing, I fed them unsparingly." Underdrawing.— The Canadian. Agriculturist truly re- marks : " The underdraining of land is the foundation of all agricultural improvement." Good Hogs.— B. F. Hancox & Co., of Holley, N. Y., write the Rochester Union that they purchased of D. 0. Bailey, of that town, six pigs only nine months old, that weighed respectively 361, 391, 393, 444, 448, and 487 lbs., an average of 420| lbs. each. A Harnessing Arrangement.— A correspondent of the Country Gentleman describes the following method of harnessine and unharnessing a horse to a single wagon : "In the first place my harness is made with a collar open at the bottom, and no buckle, but the hames are fastened to the collar, and there is one buckle to fasten them both. The tugs and hold-back straps are not unhitched; the lines lie over the dash, where they will not get under the horse's feet; they may be unbuckled from the headstall, or remain with it, and all hung up together. I have a wooden hook like an ox-bow, with half the length of one side cut off, so as to hook under the back saddle, collar and headstall. A cord is attached to the long end of the hook, and put up over a pully, and through another pulley, and down to about three feet from one side of the horse. Unbuckle the belly-band and the hame-straps, put under the hook, pull all up, and make the cord fast to a small hook at the side of the carriage-house. A horse will soon learn to place himself back into the breechings when the harness and shafts are let down ; three or four buckles are fas- tened, and he is harnessed." planted on yellow loam ground. Thev grew finely, and had far advanced to maturity, when I discovered their tops began to be diseased. I immediately took a sevthe and cut off the tops of all the rows excepting two "near the center of the piece. One of the latter, I left in the state nature had formed it. The other, I pulled the tops by hand, leaving the tubers in the ground. " ^°W for the result. At digging time in the fall, I found the tubers in those rows that had their tops cut off and the row that had its tops pulled off, of equal size and as near as I could judge had an equal number of rotten tubers in a row, and they were but few. The row that was left as nature had formed it, had about four times as many rotten tubers as either of the rows that had their tops cut off or the one that had its tops pulled off bv hand. JNot only that, but the tubers that were not injured were no larger than the tubers were in the former rows Thus showing conclusively that they had not grown any after their tops became diseased, and that it would have been better to have cut their tops, thereby checking the disease before it extended to the tubers. "Some farmers recommend digging immediately after the tops begin to show signs of the disease. But I prefer cutting their tops and leaving the tubers in the ground till quite late hi the fall, for two reasons. First, they keen their flavor better than they would if exposed to the air necond, there are sometimes tubers that have been inocu- lated with the disease which can not be discovered if due immediately, and if put in the cellar or in heaps in this way will cause the destruction of many tubers that were free from disease at the time of digging." Leached Ashes.— Prof. Bdckland, the able editor of the Canadian Agriculturist, says : "Wood ashes always contain a considerable amount of carbonate of potash, lime, etc., and are consequently very beneficial to such plants as require large quantities of these alkalies, such as Indian corn, turnips, beets and potatoes. Leached ashes have lost much of the principal alkaline salts, and have been deprived of the greatest part of their most important soluble ingredients; still they must not be regarded as an umimportant fertilizer, as the lime and other mineral matter which they contain is al- ways more or less beneficial to the soil. Unless the land is well worked and contains sufficient organic matter we should not consider ashes, whether leached or unlocked as alone adequate to the production of a good crop of wheat, turnips, or corn." There is something about old leached ashes that we do not understand, though we have given the subject consid- erable attention. We have seen instances where old leached ashes have had an excellent effect on wheat, while anleached ashes seemed to do. no good. We have thought thit ptrhopt the potash and soda, which had been washed out, were replaced by ammonia and nitric acid from the atmosphere. The subject is one worthy of in- vestigation. At all events, it is certain that leached ashes frequently have a very beneficial effect; and if the above hypothesis is true, the older they are the better. Cutting off the Tops to Prevent Potato Rot. G. P. Sbrviss, of Montgomery Co., N. Y., writes as follows to the Country Gentleman : " I had about a quarter of an acre of June potatoes Warts on Cattle.— The Canadian Agriculturist— good authority— says: "Warts consist in a morbidly increased! growth on the outer skin. They generally originate on* young animals, and are supposed to be associated wi(h" that state of the system when the tissues are in a grow- ing state, »s they usually appear during the period of growth, and disappear as age advances. Epidermic warts, when seen in the horse, are found to occupy various situ- ations, as on the nose, eyelids, ears, between the hint legs, or sheath, and under.tbe abdomen. When occurring in cattle, they are obiefly confined to the inferior parts of the abdomen, teats, dewlap, or about the head. The easiest and quickest method of getting rid of warts, when extending over a large surface, is to remove as much as. possible w,ith the knife, and apply a hot iron to stop the" Weeding, or tie. the blood-vessels, and afterward^ dress-' cautiously with arsenical ointment, at intervals.^ several] days. When presenting a well defined neck t^eyvmay be removed by tying tightly around them a njece of^xed," whip-cord,; this cuts off all nutrition, a,u$ as a conse- quence, they drop off. Calomel is alaec>u,se,fuj'.in removing, these excrescences," Cabbages bvbrt Year.— J. J. Hi Gre.gort, of Hubbard squash and M,ammoth cabbage* memory, in a communica- tion in the Cauntry Gentleman, lays it down as an impro- bability, if not an impossibility, to raise good cabbages two or more seasons in. s.uccessio,n. on the same piece of ground. That cabbag* crops succeeding the first will be* of all sorts— some long, legged, and some short legged^' some stump footed, and, some no footed at all, and all of' them lousy, and so, on through all the catalogua of cab- bage infirmities and dispositions. •! ' • ■> Sowing P-bas,,— The Michigan Farmer says : « Peas ma*- be planted on any good, dry soil at the earliest moment after the surface is thawed out enough to give earth suffi- cient to make the furrow in which to sow them. Tha varieties which we would recommend to sow first would be the Early Kent, Dwarf Blue Imperial, and the Urge White Marrowfat." 78 THE GENESEE FARMER. Y..i;..MiiKii l'nis.— A correspondent of the Loudon Maris Lane Express gives the weights of three "cottagers' pi;;*," which wore from the same litter, farrowed on the .■>ith December, 1860. Their respective ages and weights when killed were as follows: No. 1, killed at ten months and live days old, weighed 374 lbs.; No. 2, killed at ten months and thirteen days old, weighed 372 lbs.; No. 3, Killed at ten months and eighteen days old, weighed 421 lbs— equal to an average of 385 lbs. at ten months and eight days old. Sorhel and other Weeds. — The Massachusetts Plough- min well says : " Where the soil is free of rocks, there is no danger of sorrel prevailing to any extent. A good plow, well held, will bury it deep enough to prevent its appearance through the summer, provided that some val- uable plant is encouraged to take its place. Every decent i oil will bear something in the course of the summer, and when the farmer neglects to improve his laud he must ex- pect to find it green with some kind of vegetation. A good growth of clover will bury all the sorrel and smother it for- a whole season. A growth of buckwheat will smother all other vegetation, and come near killing all foul weeds. And buckwheat will grow in very poor soils.-" Hemlock Bark for Drains. — Geo. Campbell, of West Westminster, Vt., writes as follows in the Ohio Farmer: "Among the various materials that we see recommended for the construction of drains, I do not recollect of ever noticing that of hemlock bark. In sections of country where the hemlock tree abounds, this is one of the cheapest and most durable materials for underdraining iip be found. Hemlock timber, cut in February or March, ■will peel in May, or as soon as we have a few warm days. .June, however, is the best time to peel bark, and any one ■that is intending to do much at the business, would do best to cut his timber in June. The bark for drains should be cut about four feet in .length, and from twelve to fifteen inches in width, and spread out in the sun with the flesh side up, and it will roll up in a few days and be ready for use. It the bark is too thick for the action of the sun to do the work of rolling, a ronnd.pole of the size you want the drain can be used,, and the bark pressed around and left to dry. It js as durable as tile, and not half as expensive. Try it." Top-Dressing Grass Lakcs in the Spring. — A corres- pondent of the Country Gentleman says: "The fall has 'hitherto been regarded by the majority as the best sea- . son of the year to top-dress grass lands; and, upon close, >hard soils, upon flat and level surfaces, it has been prac- ticed with excellent success. But taking New England i Lands, with rare exceptions, is it certain that the fall is preferable ,to the spring? I think not, and the reasons 4'or this conclusion are obvious. In the autumn, more tiian in the spring, top-dressing is exposed to hazards of •loss. II the succeeding months are. wet, and the earth is washed by continuous rains, much of the fertilizing qual- ity of what has been applied is rendered valueless. It is different in the spriug. Manures or composts applied just after the frost has begun (o leave the ground, are absorbed more readily, »nd the temperature of the surface is rendered several degrees warmer by the covering it has received. Grass lands that are top-dressed in the spriug will be found to come forward earlier than those thus treated in the autumn, and the crop will prove upon trial, to b« larger. I am aware that most farmers can more conveniently attend to this sort of work in the fall than in the spring, and 1 fear that this is the principal reason which has led them to adopt the practice now so common. The heaviest crop of grass that came under my observation during the last hay season, was' a piece of ground about three acres which had been top-dressed in the last of May ; and a piece of mowing, upon which was spread, in October, a generous dressing of stable-manure, did not yield nearly so well as a piece of ground adjoining, of the same qual- ity, top-dressed in the same way in the last days of Feb- ruary. In respect to light, sandy soils, there is not a doubt that top-dressing in April will prove more productive than if done at any other time of the year." Agriculture in Oregon.— At a recent Agricultural Meeting in Boston, as reported by the Massachusetts Ploughman, Mr. Garey gave the results of his observa- tions, as a practical farmer, in Oregon during the past eleven years. The climate there, he said, is very different from the climate here. He lives five degrees of latitude farther north than we do, and yet he knows little of frost in Oregon. We have three great valleys, which present our agricultural regions. We have mountains rising to an immense height, of a conical shape, covered with per- petual snow. Our climate is more equal than yours. Cattle have generally lived unhoused through the year. The cereals are much cultivated. Wheat is a great crop with us, though there is no lime in the soil. [Didn't our friend of the Ploughman put this in ? He has, we believe, always contended that lime was unnecessary In New Eng- land—and in this he may be right. But if there is "no lime in the soil," it is certain that wheat will not grow, or any other crop.] The wheit has a very strong stem. I have seen wheat heads from six to eight inches in length. Our average crop of wheat is twenty bushels to the acre. Sometimes we get fifty bushels, though our mode of farm- ing is not the best. One piece of land produced from thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre four consecu- tive years. We raise Fall wheat sowed in February, but the best wheat is sowed in June, and is a year in matur- ing. Our oat crop is an important one. Indian corn is injured by the cool nights. The best apples in the world are raised in Oregon. The pear and the plum grow well. The cherry grows pretty well, but the peach fails. The pea is raised largely. The farmer has a great advantage, for he does not have to labor as in New England, the winters being so very mild. The natural grasses are so good, that other kiuds are nof much cultivated. The soil is not as rich as that of Illinois, but it seems to be more durable. In Washington Territory there is a different soil, pro ducing vast quantities of timber, the forests standing 300 feet high, or a hundred feet higher than those of Cali- fornia. The trees are piues, arbor vitje, the yew, etc. The only nut in Oregon is the hazel nut. The waters on the coast abound with fish. There is much desert in the country, but there are fertile spots amid the deserts. In some cases, irrigation by artificial means is required THE GENESEE FARMER. 70 MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. Ix the month of March we frequently have a few warm, sunny days, almost as mild as June. Such weather is frequently more injurious to bees than the coldest days of winter. If the hires are placed in a winter bee-house, made dark to prevent the bees from leaving their tene- ments, which is right, the warm atmosphere without will work its way in, and the bees will become aroused from their torpor, or state of hybernation, and will eudeavor to escape from their confinement, however dark the room may be. In such cases, the apiarian is much perplexed, and scarcely knows what to do. Mr. Qcinbt, of Montgomery county, who has wintered bees extensively in dark rooms, says that he has often been compelled to place large quan- tities of ice among his hives, in order to cool the atmos- phere around them on such spells of warm weather. If the weather were to remain mild at such times, we should at once remove the bees to their out-door stands ; but in most cases, within forty-eight hours, we again have the thermometer down to zero, or near that point, or a deep snow that would be much worse for the bees if re- moved, than to remain imprisoned, however warm the weather might be. The confining of the bees in their hives does not remedy the evil, as the attendant excitement and their struggles to escape are about as [destructive as to allow them to leave thir hives at will. In some cases, where no ventila- tion is afforded but at the regular passage-ways, and • these places of egress and ingress being closed with perforated tin, wire cloth, etc., which would give an abun- dance of air, if the bees would remain between their combs, but they come down and crowd around the open- ings in such masses that suffocation is produced. This effect is generally produced by the bees generating a dampness, and a chill ensues, which, as night approaches, stiffens the bees, and they become an inert mass at the passages, and prevent all air from entering. In out-door situations, where bees are fastened in their hives, this fa- tality is much more liable to occur, on account of the more sudden and greater degree of change in the atmos- phere on the approach of evening on a mild day in winter or spring. It is, therefore, never good management in winter or spring thus to confine bees, without giving extra ventilation. Raisiug the hives and placing thin wedges at the corners, about an eighth of an inch thick, is perfect security against suffocation as above stated. It matters not where or how bees are wintered, the warm days of March and April are periods of great dan- ger in our northern climate. If the bees remain out-of- doors upon their summer stands, the hives should be shaded by placing broad boards against them, which will somewhat darken the passages and keep the interior of the hives cool, and the bees will not desire to leave their hives half so much as they do when the warm rays of the sun strike directly npon them. By raising the hives slightly as above stated, and having the passage ways closed with perforated strips of tin, to run in small wire staples, the bees can be kept in their tenemeists without much excitement among them, except on wrywarm days, on which occasions, if the ground is fret of snow, it is best to remove the front boards and allow the bees free exit. Great care should be taken not to allow the bees to leave their hives when the ground is covered with snow, as vast numbers of them become chilled, and blinded by the dazzling, reflected light, and drop down upon it never to rise. When bees have been confined in their hives all winter, many of them become unable to fly, caused, perhaps, by not having voided the\r faces ; and if the hives be set out on a moderately cool day, the loss of bees will be much greater than if given their freedom on a warm, sunny day, with a south wind, and the ground entirely free of snow. It is good management, if the ground be damp around the hives, to strew refuse hay or straw about them a few feet, to afford the bees a dry alighting place; and if the boards that were used to shade the hives be placed one end on the ground and the other against the floor board of the hive, many bees that are unable to fly after having left their hives, will be enabled to enter by crawling up these boards. I have frequently found it necessary to remove the snow for a space of fifteen or twenty feet around my api- ary in the spring of the year, in order to allow the ground in the immediate vicinity of the hives to become clear, upon which I have kept a supply of straw till about the 1st of May; and by a careful use of shading boards, I have often prevented my bees from leaving their hives, without closing the passage-ways. I dislike to obstruct the passages, if I can avoid it, and keep the bees from sallying out when it is unsafe for them to do so ; but one who can not be constantly on hand to attend to his bees had better shut them in. Robbing. — As soon as warm wea|her sets in, even but- for a day or two, bees will commence robbing each other's stores. The strong families attack the weak ones ; and It does not appear that the robbers are in want of honey at all, but rather have a supply to spare to those that are really famishing. It is the nature of the honey bee to rob, and ,they [seem to exhibit a reckless daring in the ratio of the numbers of the family, and the abundance that they possess. Weak families, with sheets of comb filled with honey that they are unable to protect, are in particular danger of being robbed. A single bee from a strong family, per- haps, will enter the hive — there being few or no bees at times to guard the entrance; it ascends an outside comb and near the top finds it well filled with nectar. It fills its honey vesi'ele, and straightway departs for its home and there discloses its grand discovery. Yes ; it is a fact, that hees. have a faculty of imparting information. This, bee will, probably, inform a dozen others where the tt;eas- ure is to be found, and this dozen, in turn, will inform as many others, till thousands have infested the robbed hive. Let a hive be in a state of being robbed, and the bees suddenly ejected, and the hive closed, after a day of fruit- less struggles to enter, the robbers will depart. Leave that hive two or three days thus closed, and then on a warm, sunny day open the passage-ways, and mark the result. Presently, a single robber will flit along, singj" 80 THE GENESEE FARMER. a peculiar uar-song, and, seeing the coast clear, darts in and secures a load of honey, and returns to its home. In a few minutes several bees will flit along, stopping in front of the robbed hive, near the passage-way, still poised on the wing and singiDg that peculiar robber-song with which all experienced bee keepers are familiar. One bv one they enter, and the result is, that frequently in fif- teen minutes I have known a previously robbed hive, after a period of being closed, to be assailed by thousands of bees, through information imparted by a single pioneer robber. The remedy against robbery, is to contract the passage- ways of the hives, not after the damage has been com- menced, but before it is effected. Examine your families as you set them out in the spring, and immediately close up the passage-ways of all weak ones, so that but one or two bees can go in and out at the same time. Some fam- ilies that are moderately strong in numbers should have a half an inch of space, more or less, according to. the number of bees in the hive. Keep the passage-ways thus closed till the apple trees blossom, after which fhey may be fully opened. When a hive is discovered fully in possession of rob- bers, it should be closed at once, and the robbers let out at evening, when the hive should be closed again. In some cases, by removing such hives, if the bees are not wholly overpowered, or by a careful opening of the pass- age-ways after a day or two, the bees may be saved ; but twenty years experience has convinced me that when rob- bers get control of a hive of bees, it is useless to attempt to save anything but the honey remaining in it. Clinton, N. Y. T. B. MINER. THE CARKOT-ITS VALUE, PRODUCTIVENESS, &c. Ens. Genesee Farmer : — Much has been written ■within the last few years upon the subject of car- Tot cultivation; and the result is now being made manifest in the greater practical interest awakened, and the more extensive cultivation of that excel- lent root. In Illinois it is particularly true that during the past season more carrots were raised than had been before for many years. Experience »will demonstrate, what thousands are now ignorant .of, that this root is one of the most profitable of ,farm products, and consequently should be pro- 'duced iu greater abundance than it now is. Pars- me|»s, beets, and the different kinds of turnips, are .also valuable products; but I reckon the carrot ►superior to them all. I am prompted to make (these remarks from a personal experience of more .tlum twenty-five years. I can not, therefore, re- train from earnestly recommending its cultivation ito the readers of your widely circulated paper. OF ITS VALUE. Its value, so far as its nutritive properties are concerned, can only be ascertained proximately by a comparison with the coarser grains, as corn, peas, barley, etc. As food for swine, sheep, cows and horses, one bushel and a half of carrots, it is be- lieved, is equal to half a bushel of shelled corn. •Others estimate that one bushel of carrots is equal to a like quantity of Illinois corn in the ear — this corn yielding about twenty quarts from one bushel of ears. This maybe thought too high an estimate of its value. But supposing it is worth only one- quarter as much as corn, still it is a valuable pro- duct. I have exchanged bushel for bushel, and be- lieve this is the general rule of exchange here, though, of course, such an exchange could not be expected in sections of the country where the mar- ket price for corn is much higher. ITS PRODUCTIVENESS. When it has been proved again and again that from one thousand to fifteen hundred bushels can be raised on an acre, can any man for a moment doubt the value of such a crop ? Can a quarter of that number of bushels of corn be raised on an acre? Can you get an equivalent in oats, or rye, or barley ? No ; I venture to say you could not, with the same amount of labor, on any number of acres. ITS ADAPTATION FOR FOOD. I find from experience, that when fed to swine, young cattle, sheep, cows and horses, all seem fond of the roots and thrive on them. Pigs can be win- tered on them profitably with but little other food, as has been repeatedly demonstrated. Sheep do well on them. Cut fine with a root cutter or other instrument. They should be fed to them in long troughs or shallow boxes ; and it is a pleasure to see with what greediness they will devour them. They seem peculiarly adapted to ewes, especially in the spring, before and while they are nursing their young. Milch cows in the fall, winter and spring, also thrive on them, giving a greater quantity and a better quality of milk. I can make in mid-win- ter more butter and of better quality from a half a bushel of carrots per day, than I could in mid- summer without carrots. They seem to possess some hidden property which gives a healthy tone to the lacteal organs, proving beyond peradventure their adaptedness and value as food for cows. That they are also excellent for horses, has been repeatedly proven. Horses feed freely on them, and, with a suitable quantity of good hay, will or- dinarily need but few oats to enable them to per- form a great amount of labor; and at the same time will be less liable to diseases of the bowels and chest than when fed exclusively on hay and grain. What is not least among their recommendatory qualities, is their adaptedness to table use. Most people are fond of them when prepared for the table in the same way as beets. They make excel- lent pickles. When dried and ground the same as the coffee-bean, they make a very agreeable and healthy beverage. They also make excellent pies, and are pronounced by many as decidedly superior to the best pumpkin pies, prepared as they are very much like them, by the addition of milk, eggs, sugar and spices, after being carefully stewed and mashed. THEIK CLEANLINESS. Everyone who has raised them knows how little dirt adheres to them, especially if grown in a sandy soil and dug while the ground is not very. moist. This fact is no small recommendation, since the labor of washing before using them is dispensed with. THE^ COMPARATIVE CERTAINTY OF A FULL CROP. No crop that the fanner raises or can raise is more certain than the carrot. The tender plants, THE GENESEE FARMER. 81 when they first shoot up are not so much affected by little insects as the turnip, the beet, etc. Nor are they affected as much as many other plants b7 the extremes of weather— cold and heat, wet and dry. When corn and potatoes are wholly des- troyed in the spring by protracted culd and wet weather, or in the fall by early frosts, these still flourish and yield abundantly. I do not mean that they are not at all affected by these causes, and that they always yield equally abundantly in cold or warm, wet or dry seasons. No ; I only say that they are less affected than most farm products, and hence can be relied upon as yielding a remunera- tive crop, if the seed be sown at the proper sea- son and the growing plants are suitably cared for. TIME OF SOWING SEED. I would recommend that the seed be sown as early in the spring as the state of the weather and ground will permit. They may be sown with safe- ty, however, as late as the 15th of May in this lat- itude ; and if the extreme cold weather should hold off late in the fall, they will attain a good size. SOIL BEST ADAPTED. The carrot will grow in almost any soil, as well as in almost any climate. And this is one of its recommendations, and not among the least, of its value to man. It will grow on the hills and in the valleys— on the woodland and on the prairies— in the broad field and in the garden. The Boil, how- ever, lest adapted, is a rich sandy loam. A natu- rally cold and wet soil is obviously unsuitable, un- less it be first thoroughly underdrained. Stiff clay with a hard subsoil is also unfit, unless it be deeply trenched, thoroughly pulverized, mixed with a lib- eral quantity of well rotted manure, and the re- dundant water retained in the subsoil be drained off. This pulverization and manuring are requisite on all soils to insure a full crop, as the roots under favorable circumstances will attain to great length. I grew some last year that measured nearly thirty inches in length. There is probably no better soil or climate in the world for the production of this inestimable escu • lent than are found in Illinois. Over all these broad and fertile prairies. Nature seems especially to have lavished her blessings in such rich profu- sion, that it may be produced in enormous quanti- ties, at comparatively little cost. But there are suitable soils ana" locations on almost every farm in every State and Territory in the North American continent. METHOD OF SOWING. If for field culture, the seed should be sown in drills, a suitable distance apart to admit of the free passage of a horse-cultivator. If you wish to use hand-labor alone, the rows may be nearer (18 inches being a suitable distance), and the plants may be left to grow from 5 to 10 inches apart in the rows. The seed may be sown with the hand or seed-drill, making a liberal allowance for poor seed, the des- truction by worms and other casualties. Some prefer to sprout the seed before sowing. In this case, it will have to be sown by hand, as this pro- cess unfits it for a free distribution by the drill. In soaking the seed, great care should be taken not to sprout them too much before sowing. As soon or before the tender germ is visible, it should be sown. Previous to sowing, it should be mixed as wanted with a sufficient quantity of dry sand to enable it to escape freely from the fingers. The process of sprouting has one advantage; it pushes the growth of tke plant ahead of the weeds, so that it is not so much work to weed them. Whether sown wet or dry, the seed should be put in immediately after the ground is prepared for it, being careful to sow the rows perfectly straight and equi-distant from each other. If the seed be sown dry, it may be sown with a hand-drill, with great accuracy and rapidity. With a good drill and clean seed a man will sow from one to two acres per day. METHOD OF HOEING. As soon as the young plants are up, and the line of the rows can be distinguished, the stirring of the ground and the killing of the weeds should be commenced. This work should not be delayed a single day, as a great saving of time and labor is thereby effected. By the help of labor-saving implements, of which there are many, thiswork (the most dreaded and dis- couraging of all in the raising of this crop) is made comparatively easy and light. Thus the labor of raising carrots is reduced more than one-half. Let no one, therefore, be deterred from raising them through fear of the fancied cost in cultivating, since the labor can be so much reduced. Let every man use all the helps that science and invention have placed within his reach, to increase the product of this valuable esculent. What golden treasures may yet be dug out of the earth in these yellow roots! What immense. wealth may yet be added to the nation by their more general use among stock growers in every part of this vast agricultural do- main ! Let each individual who has it in his power contribute his mite to swell the aggregate of that wealth ; for he who shall do it will be deserving ot rich enconiums and prove himself a benefactor. McHenry, 111. O. R. HORSES AND THE WAR. The Secretary of the Vermont State Agricultu- ral Society, in his Annual Report, remarks : The number of horses in Vermont before the breaking out of the rebellion, was about fifty-five thousand, since which time, it is calculated that nearly ten thousand have been carried from the State for army purposes. This immense levy for horses has been made throughout the entire coun- try. When it is considered that comparatively i'ew of these horses will find their way back : that the number that will die of disease or become unfit for service is twenty times as great as it would be were they used in other kinds of business: that to meet this great want of the government, a large propor- tion of the business horses in our large cities, which have been thrown out of service by general pros- tration, have been bought up : it readily appears that, even during the war, horses must advance in price; and at its close, when business shall revive and trade resume its former channels, the demand for good horses must exceed the supply. Reason- ing from these premises, no more profitable labor can be engaged in than the production of good business horses." 82 TOE GENESEE FAEMER, MYSTERIES OF THE POULTRY YARD. If we call to mind the. many and valuable ac- quisitions from both the animal and vegetable kingdoms which have been made subservient to the n-e of man within comparatively a very recent neriod, if is not too much to believe that others. of nearly or quite equal value, still remain to reward tiic labor and pains of a persevering search. Then the whole of Central Africa, Central Australia, -peat part of China, and Northern India, and in- numerable half-explored or unexplored islands, all waking to be ransacked for our benefit. And without depending upon these distant regions, we know not yet what we may find at or near home; the Oaperoali. by an easy importation, has been rescued from extinction in Great Britain. Amongst the living tributaries to the luxury of mail, tin- tin-key is an example of the results yet to be expected irom the exploring spirit of our day. It is the 'most recent, and, except the hen and the goose, the most valuable of our domesticated birds. We may, indeed, call it quite a new introduction; for- what, after all, is a period of three hundred, compared with the time during which man has bad dominion) over the earth and its brute inhab- itants? The obscurity which hangs over the trans- mission of the turkey fpprn America to Europe, and which there is little chance of clearing away, except by industrious ferreting amongst old family records and memorandum books, shows that those who in- troduced it to the Old World had no idea of the val^e of what they were importing; but probably regarded it like any other remarkable production of nature. The young would be distributed among friends ; these again would thrive and increase, and the nation would suddenly find itself in the posses- sion of a race, not of pleasing pets, but of valuable, proline, and hardy stock of poultry. Such we take to be the history of the turkey in England ; and zoological and ornithological societies may here- after' find that some creature that was designated, or undervalued, or even yet unobtained, will prove unexpectedly domestic and profitable, (it may be the Cropses, Curassow, Guyan, or the elegant Hon- duras turkey,) to further which great object of these associations, they can not do better than communicate spare specimens, on the most liberal and encouraging terms, to such persona as they believe competent fairly to test their value. The reason why the turkeys seen in our poultry yards do not vie in splendor of plumage with their untamed brothers, is that we do not let them live k>ng enough. A creature that does not attain its fall growth till its fifth or sixth year, we kill at. least in the second, to the evident deterioration of out' stock. But let three or four well-selected black or bronze turkeys be retained to their really adult, state, and well fed meanwhile, and they will quite recompense their keeper by their beauty in full plumage, by their glancing hues of gilded bronze and black, and the pearly lustre that radi- ates from their polished feathers. In default of wild specimens, birds like these are sought to com- plete collections of stuffed birds. The demand for such large birds among the poultry dealers, the temptation to fat. them before they arrive at this stage, are so great, that, few .farmers can resist sending their 14 to 18 lb. cocks to market, while a young cock of the year, they think, will answer every purpose next spring as well. Some even deem it fin extravagance to keep a turkey cock at all, if they have not more than two hens, while they would send on a visit of a day or two to a neighbor who has a male bird. When the hen has once selected a spot for her nest, she .will continue to lay there till the time of incubation, so that the eggs may be brought home from day to day, there being no need of a nest egg, as with the common fowl. She will lay from 15 to 20 eggs, more or less. Her determination to sit will be known by her constantly remaining on the nest, though empty: and as it is seldom in a posi- tion sufficiently secure against the weather or pil- ferers, a nest should be prepared for her by placing some soft straw, with her eggs, on the floor of a convenient out-bouse. She should then he brought home and gently placed upon it. It is a most pleasing sight to witness the satisfaction with which the bird takes to her long-lost eggs, turning them about, placing them with her bill in the most suit- able position, tucking the straw around and under them, and finally sitting upon them with the quiet joy of anticipated maternity. Thirteen eggs are enough to give her; a large hen might cover more; but a few strong, well- hatched chickens are better than a large brood of weaklings, that have been delayed in the shell perhaps twelve hours over the time, from insuffi- cient warmth. At the end of a week, it is usual to add two or three hen's eggs, " to teach the young turkeys how to peck." The plan is not a bad one; the activity of the chickens does stir up some emu- lation in their brethren; the eggs take but little room in the nest; and at the end of the season, you have two or three very tine fowls, all the plumper for the extra food they have shared with the young turkeys. In four weeks the little birds will be hatched ; and then, how are they to be reared '. Some books tell you to plunge them in cold water to strengthen them; those that survive will certainly be hardy birds (an experiment which some women are cruel enough to try upon their own offspring.) Air and exercise increase the strength of any growing an- imal; but cold and hunger only dwarf and weak- en. Others say, "make them swallow a whole pop-corn;" which is as if we were to cram aSpitz- enberg apple down the throat of a new-born babe. Others again say, "give them a little ale, beer, or wine." We know, unhappily, that some mothers are wicked enough to give their infants gin, and we knowT the consequences. Follow nature; give them nothing; do nothing to them; let them be in the nest under the shelter of their mother's wings, at least eight or ten hours; if hatched in the afternoon, till the following morn- ing. Then place her on the grass, in the sun, under a roomy coop. If the weather be fine, she may be stationed where you choose, by a long piece of list tied round one leg, and fastened to a stump or stake. But the boarded coop saves her ever- watchful anxiety from the dread of enemies above and behind — the crow, the hawk, the rat, the weazel — and also protects herself (she will protect Iter young) from the sudden showers of summer. Offer at first a few crumbs of Dread; the little tones for some hours will be in no hurry to eat; THE GENESEE FARMER. 88 but when they rlo begin, supply them constantly and abundantly with chopped eggs, shreds of meat and fat and boiled Indian meal mixed with chives or lettuce chopped tine. Mutton suet, poured over shorts or middlings, cut up when cold ; also, liver boiled and minced, are excellent things. I he quantity consumed costs a trifle.; the attention to supply is everything. The young of the turkey afford a remarkable in- stance of hereditary and transmitted habits. From laving been attended for many generations with so much care, they appear naturally to expect it almost as soon as they are released from the shell. We are told that young pointers, the descendants of well-educated dogs, will point at the scent of game without any previous training ; and so turkey chicks seem to wait for the attention of man before they can have any experience of the value or nature of their attentions. Food which they would re- fuse from a dish, they will peck greedily from the palm of a hand ; a crumb which would be dis- dained if seen accidentally on the ground, will be relished from the tip of the finger. The proverb that "the master's eye fattens the hare," is appli- cable to them, not in a metaphysical, but m a literal sense; for they certainly take their food with a better appetite if their keeper stays to dis- tribute it, and see them eat it, than if he merely set it down and left them to help themselves. We believe this "to be the case with more domes- ticated animals than we are aware of, and appears natural enough if we remember how much more we enjoy a meal in the society of those we love and respect, than if we partook of it in indifferent or disagreeable company. The turkeys then are hatched, and we are rear- ing them. Abundant food for the mother and the young, constant attention to their wants are the grand desiderata, An open glade in a grove, with long grass, and shrubs- here and there, is the best possible location. The long grass will afford them cover from the birds of prey; the hen will drive off four-tooted enemies with great courage. ^ e have beer! amused with the fury with which a mother turkey has pursued a squirrel, till it took refuge iu t!ie branches overhead; what instinctive fear^uri:ed her we know not. Insects, too, will abound in such a situation. .When the little crea- tures are three or four days old, they will watch each fiv that alights on a neighboring flower, fix it with mesmeric intensity, and by slow approach often succeed in their final rush. But in the best position you can station them, forget them not for one hour in the day. If you do, the little turkeys will for a time loudly yelp, "lO, then, remember me," in notes less melodious than those of a prima donna, and then they will be sulky and silent. When 'you at length bring their delayed meal. some will eat, some will not. Those that will not, can only be saved by a method at all other times unjustiliable — namely, cramming; but it must be done most gently, the soft crumb of bread rolled into miniature sausages, should be introduced till their crops are full. For drink, many would give ale or wine; we advise milk. The bird wants material, not stimulant, It has been actually wire- drawn. It has grown all the hours you have ne- glected it, without any thing to grow from. Like a young plant in the spring season, it will and must grow ; but has no roots in the fertile earth to ob- tain incessant nouishment. The roots which sup- ply its growth are in the stomach, which it is your office to replenish. "Prevention is better than cure." Such a case ought never to occur iu a well-cared for poultry yard. The time when the turkey hen may be allowed full liberty with her brood, depends so much on season, situation, etc., that it must be left to the exercise of the keeper's judgment. A safe rule may be fixed at the season called ''shooting the red," a "disease," as some writers call it— being about as much a disease as when the eldest son of the turkey's master or mistress shoots his beard. When young turkeys approach the size of a par- tridge, or before, the granular fleshy excrescences on the head and neck begin to appear; soon after, the whole plumage, particularly the tail-feathers, start into rapid growth, and the "disease" is only to be counteracted by liberal nourishment. If let loose at this time, they will obtain much by forag- ing, and still be thankful for all you can give them. And now is the time that turkeys begin to be troublesome and voracious. What else can be ex- pected from a creature that is to grow from the size of a robin, to 12 or 14 lbs. in eight or nine months? The only way to keep them from ram- bling, is to feed them well and regularly at home. 0. N. BEMKNT. EYE FOE BEINGING LIGHT SOIL INTO CONDITION TO PEODUCE WHEAT. Ens. Genesee Farmer :— In a former volume of your excellent monthly text-book for farmers, the fact was alluded to, that for some years past, since the spirit of research and improvement (in a large degree due to Liebig's discoveries and incul- cations) in agriculture more generally setin, largo tracts of light sandy land, some of it so light that it blows and drifts, in Silesia and contiguous dis- tricts in Germany, had been much improved by the orowing and plowing in of successive crops of rye and lupins— the lupin being a leguminous plant, a small species of bean. It was shown, that by plow- ing- in these crops in succession the same season, so much humus or vegetable mold was accumulated in the soil, that its color was changed from that at a light sand to that in apperancC of a darkish loam, ami its quality from that of a merely rye-growing sand to a soil producing fair crops and quality of wheat. Such, if my memory is correct, were the almost, immediate results of this simple means of renovating sandy soils — means not costly, nor diffi- cult, nor laborious, nor tedious of application, but so simple and easy of demonstration, as to be with- in the reach of every cultivator of a farm, however limited his means, or the extent of his possessions; a method of improving poor light soils, so accessi- ble and economical, that not one of us need allege any other excuse but a want of will and perseyer- ence, if hereafter we allow our light sandy soils to become unprofitable by reason of a deficiency of humus or vegetable mold in them. But my object, at present, was to refer to a pe- culiarity of the rye plant— namely, its power of transforming silica or sand itself into its own growth and substance — i. e., that of its straw. Rye straw is stiller than the straw of either wheat or oats, as is shown by its much taller M THE GENESEE FARMER. growth, it being equally erect and more elastic than either oat or wheat straw. The greater extent of silicated surface in a crop of rye straw will pro- bably be in excess of that of oats and wheat, for the same number of plants, in about the degree that rye straw is the taller or larger of the three. We cannot determine this with exactitude, nor is this necessary; for, though their composition is similar, wheat will not flourish on many soils, for which, in the same condition, rye does tolerably well. (It is to this fact that may, in part, be as- cribed the settlement of Germans on much of the poorest and most sandy land in the West, as for mstance the settlement of New Holland, Michigan, and the more extensive, though scattered one north >f the For or Neenah river, Wisconsin. These plodding, industrious and eminently worthy citi- r half one even, of wheat. The question I wish ■o suggest is : To what peculiar power in the rye >lant is this success due? When both plants grow on similar soil, there is no essential difference in their general composition apparent. But when rye flourishes where wheat will not, where the soil is too sandy, I have long thought such success due in a considerable degree to the power of the rye plant to dissolve silica in a greater degree than is true of wheat; because its composition, when grown, shows that it did dissolve, for it comprises more in its straw than wheat does. One reason why wheat succeeds after the quan- tity of humus or vegetable matter has been increased, is undoubtedly to bt found in the greater supply of ammonia or nitrogen, of which wheat requires a little more than rye, that is found as con- stituent of all vegetable matter in the soil. The substance of rye plowed in supplies this necessary to wheat. But this does not explain why rye will grow where wheat fails. If, as I suspect, the success of rye is due to a peculiar power in dissolving silica more rapidly than is true of any of our other well known cul- tivated plants, then the inference suggests itself that rye is precisely the plant to prepare silica, and perhaps other minerals, for more delicately constituted plants, like wheat, oats and corn. There are certain elementary forms of mineral matter, which some plants have no power, even with the aid of the great transforming agent, oxygen, to modify or break up. This may be true as to wheat in relation to crude silica. Other plants differently constituted, in some peculiarity, have such a power. This may be true — and if it is not, I am mistaken — of rye in relation to crude silica. Often, silica has been changed from its crude form by the rye plant, its original crude and, to wheat, unassimilable form, has been broken up and changed, and thus reduced to a different or new form with new proportions suitable for the nutri- tion and growth of wheat. We know that one animal can digest and assimilate substances that are impossible of digestion with another. And the succession of different species of plants on the same soil proves something like this to be true of vegetables. If rye has this power, it may be turned to gcod account in bringing the crude min- eral of sandy soils into a condition suitable for the nutrition and growth of wheat, which is of more general importance and value. J. w. clabkb. WUconein. A USEFUL IMPLEMENT. All farmers and gardeners have felt the neces- sity of some hand implement, to enable them to cultivate crops planted or sown in drills, from one to two feet apart, with less labor than that of using a common hand hoe. The cultivation of field crops of beets, onions, carrots, turnips, etc., in drills twelve to eighteen inches apart, by the use of the hoe alone, involves a good deal of time and ex- pense, and if we can contrive, or invent any im- plement, with which we can do the work more effectually, and in less time, than can be done with the hoe, we should avail ourselves of it. I am now making for my own use a couple of cheap hand harrows, to run between the rows of vegetables, as soon as up, and so frequently there- after, that the weeds will be effectually kept down by it, except immediately in the rows, which may be pulled out rapidly by small boys, who can do little else. To illustrate the use of this implement, I will take a field of carrots, sown in drills fifteen inches apart. The land should be free from stones, and large clumps of earth, where the seed is sown, as all lands should be, when sown to drill crops, and as soon as the carrots appear, let a drag be pushed through the rows, made as follows : Take .a hard wood plank, two inches thick, and one foot wide, from which cut off a piece eighteen inches long ; then cut off* one end with a broad ax, or a hatchet, so as to turn up, like the runner of a sled, so far as the thickness of the plank will ad- mit. Into this plank drive spikes (40 penny nails) in rows, from one to two inches apart, till it is completely filled, up to the curve in front, which will leave the small ends of the nails protruding long enough to make an effective harrow on a small scale. On the back of this harrow, a little past the center towards the back end, attach a handle of suitable length, secured to an iron strap with two arms, coming to a union twelve or eighteen inches above the drag, where a shoulder should receive the handle, which should have a cross piece at th« end to take hold of to make it complete. The cultivation of the crops consists merely in pushing this drag before you, about once in two weeks, through the rows, a man going over an acre in two hours, leaving the thinning out and weeding on the line of the rows to boys. I have learned that this system, differing merely by drawing instead of pushing the impleme'nt, has been practiced by an inventive "Yankee," with the most complete success; and if it be feasible, I shall avail myself of its advantages next season, and I hope that others will make a trial of it, since none of us are too old to learn. Different sizes will be required for different width of thill-;, and it remains to be shown, how near the width of th» drills the drags, or rather pushers, can be made, and not cut up the crops. t. b. mines Clinton, If. T. THE GENESEE FARMER. 85 CULTIVATION AND USE OF WILLOWS. The Transactions of the Highland and Agricul- tural Society of Scotland contains an essay on the above subject. It was awarded the gold medal of tbe Society. A few extracts will be read with interest. The importance of willows to man has been re- cognised from the earliest ages. A crop of willows was considered so valuable in the time of Cato, that be ranks the willow field next in value to the vineyard or garden. I need not enumerate the various purposes for which they are employed, but simply remark that ihe basket-maker, the turner and the cooper, would ije less economical and useful were it not for the jenus Salix. Charcoal and cases of lead pencils ire also made from willow wood. Boards and planks of the willow are well fitted for scaffolding, and sheeting for carts, lofts, etc. ; and in localities where small timber is scarce, we cut it up for pal- ing rails. Being of a tough nature and light, it is very well adapted for these purposes. The very best kind of charcoal is made from willows, and is highly esteemed in the making of gunpowder. The bark is used for tanning several kinds of leath- er. So from this we may learn that the consump- tion of willows, if more extensively grown, migfrt be greater ; and plantations, or large beds of osiers might be very advantageously grown in almost any soil, such as banks of rivers, drained moors, etc., and, annually cut, would produce a sum of money that I have no doubt would largely remunerate the grower. And from land that can not otherwise be made available for tillage, notwithstanding the vi- cissitudes of seasons, taking good and bad under view, the writer has experimentally ascertained that an acre of willows or osiers will often bring »he grower a larger sum of money than an acre of wheat ; and likewise from land that would be al- most useless for other crops. It is rather astonishing that the growth of them is not more attended to both in England and Scot- land. As regards the nature of the soil and subsoil suitable for growing them in to the best perfection, osiers delight in banks of rivers or drained moors, and are greatly invigorated by occasional floods or irrigations. Plantations of them may also be formed, and will succeed well, on low spongy bot- toms along tbe margins of streams. In the great majority of farms will be found level, marshy, wet spots, which, by drainage, can not well be made available for tillage, which might be planted with the willow, and would afterward recompense the proprietor or farmer in a two-fold way. The land might be prepared in various ways for this crop, owing to the extent and nature of the eoil. Where the land will admit of being plowed and harrowed, and has formerly undergone culti- vation, I find that, at the present prices of willow Bets or plants, and the expense of labor, it would not cost more than $44 per acre, allowing the plants to be planted at a distance of 28 inches by 18 inches apart. But I find that for plantations of any considerable extent for osiers, the ground should be formed by the spade into beds of from 8 to 9 feet broad, with intervening furrows or narrow ditches to carry oft* the water. The plantation ' may be made at any time between the tall of the leaf and an advanced period in spring- but the last two weeks of February and the firsv week of March are the most proper times for planting the willows. Cuttings 15 inches long should be taken with a knife on an upward slope from well ripened wood of either two or three years growth ; experi- mental trial convinces me that they grow more luxuriantly when planted about two-thirds of their length in the ground, than when they are less deeply planted. Having at one time about an acre of willows un- der my care, it all received the same preparation ; but after the number of cuttings required were lopped off from the plants of second year's growth and dressed to the length of 15 inches, I caused the sets or cuttings of No. 1, or one-third part of the said acre, to be put in the soil to the depth of 10 inches. No. 2, as another third part of the same, had its cuttings planted to the depth of 1 inches. No. 3, another third part, planted to the depth of 4 inches. A decided difference was yearly to be seen in the growth of the plants — No. 1 pro- ducing in autumn of the third year one-fourth value of more willows than No. 2; and No. 2 equiv- alent, or nearly so, to the same value over No. 8. I can learn from frequent trials that, when depth of soil can be obtained, osiers succeed best in a deep, moist, free soib— ground dug to the depth of 24 inches, with a small quantity of dung and old lime rubbish put in the bottom of the trench. The willow, for the use of the basket-maker, should be cut every year slopingly with the knife, within three buds of the point whence the shoot issued, and will admit of being cut back once in three years for the use of the cooper, exactly to the swell of the shoot of the three years growth — thus compressing the plant back to its ancient dwarf form, at the same time realising a handsome return. Moreover, by treating osiers in this way, they will last and procuce well for a great many years. The ground should be deeply stirred with the hoe and kept clear of weeds ; but digging with a spade around the roots of willows often proves very hurt- ful to the fibrous feeders, as we often meet with a great portion of such oozing and growing very near the surface of the soil. Plantations of osiers thus treated, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of the seasons, will bring the grower at least the 6una of $60 for every year after they arrive at their full stage of growth. This sum of $60 I have minute- ly tested, can be at the present time realized from an acre of willows, after all expenses of cleaning and cutting down the crop are deducted. The way in which willows are most commonly disposed of after being cut is — they are sorted into trusses and tied into bundles of two and sometimes three feet in circumference; and if intended to be stripped of their bark, they are set on their thick end, immersed a few inches in standing water, and left there until the latter part of the following month of May. It has of late been asserted by various respecta- ble parties that as high a sum as from $65 to $70 of net profit, and sometimes more, could be derived at the present time from an acre of willows, under very ordinary treatment. Thev succeed best in 60 THE GENESEE FARMER. 'northern exposures, provided they are not over- topped. Should the ground be at all suitable for the crop, each set will produce the first year two gbbd basket-rods, or 24,000 — worth 12 cents per loo or 120, The second year, the sets, being much stronger, will produce on an average six rods, one irtiire or less being considered a very common num- ber— OMe of which may be left on each stock for hoops, and the remaining 00,000 cut for baskets, u-inch would be worth about $120. By the third ve.-ir there ought to be at least. 12,000 hoops, worth $L per 100 or 120, and from 28,000 to 29,000 rods, worth at least $07. MAKING MAPLE SUGAR. Tue superior flavor ot maple, and high prices of other sugar, will lead every one, this year, to tap the maples. Experience commends the following peculiarities in making maple sugar: Tapping tue Trees. — If small, boring with a bit from a quarter inch to an inch will injure trees less than gashing. It is not useful to tap very deep. Hal? an inch to an inch beyond the bark is sufficient. Tap high enough to have the bucket out of reach of animals. Buckets. — If new ones are to be obtained, tin, round shape, of about ten or twelve quarts capac- ity, well wired at top, and made just slanting enoiiiih to pack into each other — with an ear soldered on or made by a- loop in the wire to hang them to the tree — will be found cheapest and best- — most cleanly and most durable in proportion lo cost. Such cost, here, 30 cents each. Spouts! —Sheet iron (old refuse or scraps may be use>') cut three or four inches long, and an inch and a half Wide at one end, and an inch at the other — filed "i' ground sharp at the broad end, and then roundel by a blow when placed between a hol- lowed piece of hard wood and a rounded one to match — makes the cheapest and best spouts. Drive it into the i'arlc with a hammer. Hooks. — Go to a smith shop and pick up the old nails taken from horse-shoes; straighten them; hammer the points flat; and, placing them edge- wi-c on the anvil with the head over the edge, or over the hole in it, draw the head to one side. Drive them into the tree below the spout, sufficient- ly to support the bucket— and your tapping is done. Gathering-. — A cask, with tunnel to fill by and faucet, for emptying, and a sled, are the best imple- ments, whether you use a team or hand labor for getting sap home. Boiling Apparatus. — Pans, made by thickly ■ailing sheet iron to plank for the sides, and turn- ing Up the iron for the ends, .are cheapest and best. Set them over a mortar-laid arch a foot narrower (six inches on each Bide) than the pan — having a faucet at one corner of the pan to draw off the syrup. Have chimney sufficient to keep a flame under your pan. Have a regulating faucet to your sap reservoir, and let the pan be ted by a stream, that shall fill as fast, as it evaporates. Si'oapino Down. — Use a kettle of iron or brass, with the bottom On the ground, and keep a quick and uniform fire around it till the sugar (or syrup, if you desire) is done. If you wish white sugar, cook it only so as to grain ; pour it into a bucket, and when it crusts over, tip it on edge to drain. The drippings will. be good maple molasses. Clean- liness, most scrupulous, is the only direction we urge in the manufacture — leaving clarifying pro- cesses to be used, of course, as each one may find best by experience or common information. Closing Up. — See that your buckets and pans are clean and dry. Spouts, ditto. Draw the hooks, not merely for future use, but to save your axes and saws if you ever use the tree. Attica, m Y. t%-L,Z.%% THE OLD AND THE NEW ORDER OF FARMING IN ENGLAND. A " Practical Farmer " — one of the oldest cor- respondents of the London Marie Lane Express — furnishes that journal with an interesting sketch of the Old and New School farmers of England. We copy what he says of the Old School. The remainder will be given next month. Take him in person : the burly personification of old honest "John Bull," in his holiday dress — his large broad-brim, full neckcloth, frilled shirt showing gaily from his capacious waistcoat, (not vest,) his nether garment — i. e. breeches — of buck- sWn, his long, straight, loosely-fitting coat, and heavy top-boots, all of the best materials, and made after the Sir Tattou Sykes type, and now, in good specimen, occasionally to be met with in Somerset- shire. In his every-day dress he would have been found in his slop of blue and his stockings of grey, his chocolate tie, and his buckled shoes, disdaining gloves and gaiters.' In his daily habits he would have been found to rise with the dawn in the sum- mer, and long before it in the winter. He would breakfast at five, dine at twelve, sup at seven, and to bed -at eight; his meals consisting of meat, bread, and beer, morning, noon, and night; occa- sionally joining his wife in a "cheery cup of tea," as a token of a kind and compassionate feeling for womanly weakness. His employments were not very complicated or numerous — business the same in fact and order as it had been for a century pre- vious. His place was with his men, working with them, directing the operations, and merely taking upon himself the higher departments of labor. He would be seen in winter, in all weathers, at the earliest dawn, leaving the threshold with his "fork and fothering-band," making his way to "top twenty closen," where were located some 1 alf- score hardy steers, dependent upon him for their breakfast off the haystack, which invariably, from time immemorial, had been stacked in the precise corner most sheltered. From thence he would visit the sheep, helping them to a few bents of hay each, and an occasional bite of turnip, which now began to ciime into use amongst the improving farmers, who had heard of "Norfolk turnip-growing;" at- tention to, ami superintending his stock being his especial department; the shepherd (a sort of super- numerary') working under his'master — if, indeed, such an appendage was attached to the farm. His "shepherding" done, he saw to his thrashers, who, with flail in hand, were beating out the corn iu his ample barn as best they could. His carters were winter-ploughing, or leading out the manure THE GENESEE FARMER. 87 S. the mixen; his hedger was plashing and repair- £g the fences; his "pig-boy" attending to tUe swine, boiling the potatoes, and mixing the .meal; and his dafty-maid milked her cows and did the kitchen-work. Hi* wife managed the house the cooking, and her children. Nearly a 1 « done « wicl.ru themselves." There was neither thought nor enterprize in all their economy— as did their fathers, so did they. In the summer, spring, and autumn the various duties were carried through in a similar way. 1 he master taking the higher work, he was the seed- sower of the farm. With " hopper hanging to his shoulder," be sows the wheat, the barley, the oats, and the rye. The beans were mostly dibbled. Peas, as a crop, were scarcely known. In the sum- mer he attended to his stock, worked with the weeders, superintended his men, took his place, at the sheep-shearing, often joined them in mowing the grass, as in making and stacking the hay. In harvest-work he was first and foremost, as it the whole depended upon himself. He would be up with his reapers and mowers, and he would "pitch" or " stock" the corn. In fact, the com- mon farmer of the days J speak of was a hard- working man. He was a model of industry ; and he contrived, with strict economy, to " pick up a living" in a most homely and inexpensive way. The commercial, and what is now termed the "scientific" part of his business never troubled him a whit. True, driving his "cartee, and with his wife, he attended his usual market, to sell ins corn, and she to sell her poultry, butter, and eggs; besides, "our fair" always found him behind his stand of cattle, or his pens of sheep, or his geldmg or young horses; but here ended his commerce transactions. The main feature in his farming was, to have something to sell, nothing to buy. lhe purchase of seed for change, of artificial manure (then scarcely known) to aid his coleseed crop or the few turnips he cultivated (mangolds were then unknown) never entered his head. Nor .did he care a rush to procure a better bull or a better ram. To him a bull was a bull, and a ram a ram, and that was all, provided they would get stock; and al- though the breeding of his horses was more com- mendable, yet it did not depend upon his fore- thought, but upon the general custom to travel entire horses of repute. The strides that have latterly been made in every department of modern agriculture were unknown to him. His lease was his text-book and guide; his account-book, the balance in his stackyard when all was paid— "That's mine!" My rent, tithe, taxes, rates, Christmas bills all paid— "That's mine," as he looks mpon the standing stack; and that is, in fact, the balance of his last year's account (yes; and a balance which many a good modern farmer would have been glad to find during the past_ three years.) He never seriously thought how his farm could be made more productive by introducing new-fangled schemes of management, and new- fashioned implements, and new kiuds of stock. He would have sooner thought a man doing this would probably lose his farm. His first inquiry would, likely enough, have been, " What would Mr. Cox or his lordship say ? We shall all want new leases; and that means a raise of rent. No, I shall let things alone: I won't go first." Thus for ages was the intellect of the fanners cramped and curbed, and their minds kept down to certain definite courses; and he was thought a daring, presumptu- ous man, who ventured to strike out a new path for himself. It can not be wondered at. The ab- sence of knowledge and enterprise fed to the adoption of every course in farming likely to save expense. Men did not travel a9 they do now. Learning was a difficulty of great magnitude. Where was a plain man to obtain knowledge? Now, everywhere it is to be found. The world teems with information. A man can not, if be would, be ignorant. It meets him at every point, at every turn. He must, in spite of himself, gain knowledge — yes, knowledge of the most useful kinds. But what was a man to do, fifty or sixty years since? He might hear of the Holkham Sheepshearing, or the Woburn Gatherings ; but they were thought to be gentlemen's schemes, that could do the farmer no good; and so he sets him- self to save and save. He must reduce his labor- ers' wages. He must not hire a servant for the whole year. It makes one pauper more; and that increases the poor's-rate. The taxes are heavy; and he must lay aside his "cartee," and his wife must mount the "pillion." The boys must come to work, and save schooling. The girls don't re- quire any. Tom may manage the pigs, and do the boy's work, and Ben attend to all the little matters. The girls must help their mother; and the las* must have less wages, or leave. HUNGAEIAN GKASS. I nAVE grown this grass for several years and find it a profitable crop. I sow a half a bushel of seed to the acre, about the 25th of May, but it may be sown as late as the 10th of June, and pro- duce a good crop. But when sown the last of May, it is ready to cut before the dry,, warm weather of summer is past, and is more easily cured than when sown later. Three tons per acre is a fair average crop on o-ood land. If it be left for the seed to ripen, it makes almost as good hay as when^ut earlier. In- deed, the seed is mostly matured when the grass is ready to he mowed. Twenty to thirty bushels of seed are produced to the acre, worth $1 per bushel to feed out to stock, either ground or whole. It is supposed that this grass impoverishes the land very rapidly ; but I am not fully prepared to endorse this opinion yet. I will, however, state a circumstance that occurred in my experience with it. I sowed a field of rich sod land, that had not been plowed for 40 years, nor since the timber was cut off that was growing upon it when first settled br immigrants, about the year 1800. The crop was enormous. The next year the same land was planted to corn, and the crop was almost a total failure, although the season was favorable to its growth. It it probable that the Hungarian grass draws such constituents from the soil as corn chief- ly feeds on, to such an inordinate degree that a corn crop can scarcely be produced upon land where it has been grown, without an application of manure. In regard to the alleged injury to stock, by teed- ing them on Hungarian grass, I will observe that I 'have not experienced any disadvantage at all in 86 THE GENESEE FARMER. feeding it to horses or cows ; but from reading all, or nearly all, the statements that have appeared in the agricultural papers, during the past few years, in regard to this grass, I am led to consider that in some instances it has proved injurious to horses, but never to any other kind of live stock. This injury appears to have arisen from the very oily nature of the seed of this grass; and it being fed out generally without thrashing, horses eat abun- dantly of the seed ends, leaving the butts, and at the same time being fed freely on grain, they be- oome weak and stiff in the joints ; but exactly how this is effected, has not yet appeared. It has been recommended, therefore, not to feed grain very freely in connection with this grass, and I think the ■uggestion a good one. For cows, and all stock to which hay is fed, the Hungarian grass is excellent. But the injurious effects arising from feeding it to horses are so rare, that it is not yet a settled point whether the injury complained of is really caused by this hay or some- thing else; but time will soon decide the question. I notice that Hungarian grass seed is selling at the West at about the price of oats, 25 or 30 cents • bushel, while it sells at the East much higher. Clinton, y; 1. T. B. MINEB. Why Does Sue Kick the Milk Over? — "Like a cow that gives a good mess of milk, and then kicks it all over," is the proverb that is applied to the man that does a kind act and follows it with a foolish or damaging misdeed. Proverbs are founded on practical truths. It is a truth, then, and a common one, that "a cow gives a good mess of milk, and then kicks it all over." If a fact, the proverb must be not merely a truth, but one founded in reason. So, if the cow stands quiet till "a good mess of milk" has been drawn, there must be a reason for her kicking it over after- wards. And, the reason for her kicking being •withdrawn, the probability is that the kicking will either cease or not come in just after milking. Should any reader chance to own one of these proverbial cows, he may observe that the signal for that kick is the milker's allowing his fingers to slip from her teats with a jerk in stripping. If so, just oheat the old cow out of the signal, till the "good mess of milk " is beyond the reach of her kickers! — f|L. s. {J, Attica, N. Y. MECHANICAL TOOLS FOR FARMERS. No good farmer should be without a set of me- ohanical tools sufficient to enable him to do such repairing of his agricultural implements as any man can, and ought to do, rather than employ a professional mechanic. In the first place, you require a room in some out-buikling in which to keep your tools, and to do your mechanical work. A work-bench, which any man can make in a few hours, is first to be erected, near a window. Over this bench, against the wall, place a shelf about a foot wide and 12 feet long, and under it put up a rack for your small tools, ■uch as chisels, gimblets, brad awls, etc. The following are among the principal tools seeded: a handsaw, broadax, hatchet, two or three S lanes, hammers, chisels of various sizes, a half a oten gimlets, an iron square, a carpenter's two- feet, rule, etc. Let all the tools be of the best make, and have a sufficient variety to enable you to do any small job that it is possible for any one to do, who is not a mechanic by trade. Procure a large and various supply of nails and screws — wrought nails of different sizes, clout nails, brads, tacks of the larger sizes — and have them so arranged that you can lay your hand upon any kind in an instant. You will be surprised with what ease and skill, after a little practice, you will be able to " tinker " up your tools out of repair, and even to make new ones, during the winter season. With a good set of tools, and all in complete order, when a door, lock, or anything else gets out of order on your premises, you will be able to re- pair it, in most cases, as well as any carpenter. In a few years one becomes so expert in the use of tools, that he feels able to go out to work to help his neighbors erect their houses or out-buildings, or to put up his own where no very nice work is re- quired. Next to an education at school, every farmer should instruct his sons in the use of tools ; and no one will ever say that it was time spent in vain. Clinton, N. Y. T. B. MINER. Test of the Value of Manure. — Hon. Josiah Quinot, Jr., at the first Legislative Agricultural Meeting in Boston, remarking on cow manure, said the test of the value of her products, as well with manure as with milk, was the quality of the food given her. This is what we have always contend- ed. "You can get nothing out of her," he well remarked, " which you do not put in. An Eng- lishman will buy a bullock, keep him for a time for his manure, and then sell him for what he gave, or less. Mr. Lawes, of England, had made experi- ments in feeding cattle on cotton seed meal, and found that while a given quantity of voidings from the food was worth $27,86, the same quantity pro- duced from carrots and turnips was worth only 86 cents." Neither of the above statements are strictly true. An Euglish farmer does not buy a bullock and sell him, after feeding him for several months, at the price he gave for him or less. Such a state- ment is obviously erroneous. Again, a given quantity of manure made from the foods men- tioned does not differ so much in value. What Mr. Quinot means — and probably said — is that the manure from a ton of cotton-seed meal is worth $27,86, while that from a ton of turnips is worth only 86 cents. From all portions of the great West, intelligence brings favorable accounts of the growing wheat crop ; and it is stated as a general fact that, at this season of the year, appearances for an abundant harvest were never more promising. THE GENESEE FARMER 89 3HM THE ASTEB FAMILY. No class of flowers can compare with the Aster for au- lmn flowering, and we depend upon it for our principal arden adornment during the fall. Fortunately it is of isy culture, perfectly hardy, and will thrive in any fair arden soil, and with ordinary treatment. No class of owers has been improved so much within the last twenty ears as this splendid genus, and none has advanced so ipidly in public favor. They are now as double as the irysanthemum, or the finest dahlia, and almost as large ad showy as the peony. Some of our readers, perhaps, ho have been acquainted with only the old common sorts ill be surprised at this statement, but we can assure lem that a perfectly double aster more than four inches i diameter is no strange thing to those who are careful » obtain seeds of the new and choice varieties, and who fterward give them good culture. We give a brief des- ription of a few of the best sorts, and also au engraving f a plant in flower. Dwarf Pyramidal Bouquet. — This variety well de- >rves its name, for the flowers are fine and perfect, and 3 numerous that the plant, when in blossom, has the ap- earance of a bouquet of flowers, the green leaves only ust peeping through, as flowers and leaves are arranged i a bouquet by a tasteful florist. The usual height is bout one foot. Peony Flowered. — A large, showy and beautiful flower, he petals are incurved, giving the blooms a globular >rm. Like the preceding, they present almost every va- iety of color. Plants from eighteen inches to two feet i height. New Chrysanthemum Flowered. — This is a new and ery desirable variety. The plants only grow about ten aches in height. The flowers are as large as Peony Flow- red, and so numerous as to conceal the leaves entirely. Imbriqde Pompone. — Flowers rather small, round, the ietals finely imbricated. New Crown or Two Colored. — This is one of the most lelicate and beautiful of Asters. Each flower is of two listinct colors, a few of the outside rows of petals being :armine, scarlet, violet, or blue, and the center a clear, ransparent white. Large Rose Flowered, or La Superb. — This is a splen- lid variety, very large, of good form, and of the purest ind brightest rose color. Flowers over four inches in liameter. New Giant Emperor. — This is tha giant of the Asters —often five inches in diameter. The plants are peculiar in their habit, as exhibited in the engraving, erect, with no side branches or blooms, and having usually five flow- ers, all of the same height. The old Emperor was only of one color — a dull lilac — but we now have fifteen differ- ent colors of the Giant Emperor. The following descrip- tion of this splendid flower is by Henderson, the cele- brated florist of London: "The Giant Emperor Asters are the most splendid flowers in Asters yet offered, whether regarded for effect, individual beauty, or compe- tition. The well known laveuder blue variety, introduced in 1858, is the model of the present section in each of the kinds now referred to, and which offer a complement of colors equal to a magnificent display of this favorite sum- mer and autumn flower. The blossoms in each variety are of great size, double to the center, and of an even cir- cular outline. Their corymbose style of growth produces similar table like clusters of flowers, and consequently show a greater expanse of bloom than anr other section GIANT EMPEROR ASTER PLANT IN FLOWER. of the asters. The Giant Emperor is also admirably adapted for pot culture, but for medium or large beds, either in miscellaneous mixed colors, or in their respec- tive harmonized tints by separate groups, it is incompar- ably the finest variety, whether individually or collectively considered, in its adaptation to the well furnished design of a villa garden, or the more extensive requirements at- tached to larger domains, in their broad acres of flowers, and massive belts of bloom for the late summer months." The above will make a superb collection of varieties of this beautiful flower. 90 THE GENESEE FARMER. A METHOD OF UTILIZING SUBTERRANEAN FIRES. M. Naudin, of the Revue Eorticole, who has written a pamphlet ou geothermal culture, mentions in one of the late numbers of that periodical, several instances of the successful use of natural subterranean fires. A correspon- dent from Wisserling says that this method of culture has been followed for many years in a village of Prus- sian Silesia, where the inhabitants take advantage of the spontaneous combustion of a coal mine to grow in the open air pineapples, remarkable for their perfection, and which are sent to the Vienna, Paris and London markets. The establishment of Dr. E. A. Geitner, a well-known chemist, at Planitz, near Zwickan,in Saxony, from its ex- tent and successful operation, deserves something more than a passing notice. The land which now forms Dr. Geitner's garden, was twenty years ago remarkable for its apparent infertility, yet in winter ifcavas covered with a rich green turf, which formed a striking contrast to the surrounding fields white with snow. This phenomenon was caused by warm vapors which went out from numer- ous fissures in the earth, and which were caused by the burning of a thick seam of coal, situated sixty-five yards below the surface. This conflagration has endured from time immemorial — it goes back- at least to the fifteenth century. At present it occupies a spade four hundred yards in length and one hundred and twenty yards in width. No one had thought of making this heat useful until Dr. Geitner conceived the idea a few years since. After purchasing the land, he had a hot house erected, and un- der the borders in which he planted pine-apples, he con- veyed the heated vapors from the crevices of the earth by means of conductors of mason work. Other plants were put in pots and arranged in the ordinary way. The ex- periment proved a complete success. A few years later the establishment passed into the hands of a son of Dr. Geitner, a passionate horticultural amateur. Now it is composed of two conservatories and green-houses, be- sides a multitude of aquariums, or glazed basins, heated, and filled with aquatic plants. The Palm house is the king of the whole collection. No garden in the world, perhaps, has so many species of palms. And the various hot-houses which derive heat from the depths of the earth contain a collection very nearly complete, of every varie- ty of exotic plant cultivated in Europe. This seems to be a very excellent proof that geothermal culture may be made very successful. Of course it would not be best to set fire to a coal mine in order to provide means of heat- ing green-houses, but the possessors of ground warmed in that manner, may regard themselves as very fortunate The atmosphere which rests upon this heated earth must necessarily be very much elevated in temperature, but still be cooler than the earth itself, and this is the new principle which is involved in the theory of geother- mal culture, the heat being produced by means of proper apparatus. A Laroe Pear. — A pear grown in California last sea ■on, and sent to the Secretary of the Kentucky Horticul- tural Society, weighed 2J lbs. THE APPLES OF NEW ENGLAND. The apples of New England ! How bang their Loaded boughs, Over the grey stone fences In reach of the dappled cows; Oli ! everj red cheeked Baldwin Hath a merry song to sing Of some old moss roofed collage Where the farmer is a king. Yes, king of his bursting acres,' Whose grain takes a thousand hues In the wonder-t'nted sunshine — Yes, king in his cobbled shoes; King of the sturdy plow share; King of the sickle keen ; King over God's full meadows, Budding in wi.ite and green. The Russets of New England ! What ruddy fires they se\ Where the crack of the veiny walnut And the crack of the pine agree ; Where the herbs hang high in the chimney, And the cat purrs on the hearth, And the rollicking boys guess riddles, With many a shout of mirth. Oh! the Greenings of New England! Of the old Rhode Island stock- Brought from the English gardens To grace the land of rock ; As fair as Britain's daughters. As hardy as her men ; But fairer lads and lasses Have plucked tlieir truit since then. Oh ! the Pearmain of New England! With its blended milk and ros6, There's a smell of Albion's orchards Wherever the good tree grows; A stout old Pilgrim* brought it. And to cradle its seed be broke The sacred soil of Hartford, By the roots of the Charter Oak. Oh ! the Pippins of New England ! What lover's smiles they see. When their yellow coats in letters * Tell tales at the app'e-bee; What rosy cheeks at quiltinas! What kisses in husking time ! That soon lead off to the parson, Or end in a wedding chime. Oh ! the apphs of New England ! They are famous in every land! And they sleep in silver baskets, Or bjpsh in a jewelled hand ; They swell in delicious dreaming On a beautiful, crimson lip, And taste of the Declared blisses No lover has dared to sip. They go to the southern islands, They go to the western wild, And they tell oj their glorious birth-plase, To every frolicking child ; Of the home where men are noble, And woman as good as fair ; Ob! the apples of New England, They are welcome everywhere! MRS. M. A. DENNISON. * Governor Gf.okge Wtllys, of the old " Wyllys place" in Hartford, since made famous as the grounds where grew the Charier Oak. Wyllys brought that Pearmain tree from England in 168S — tico hurirlrert and ticenti-Uirce years ago, or nearly back to the lime of Shakespeare— o'W the original free &Bt If ie yet standing on the spot where th» old Pilgrim planted it, a little way south of the house. The new streets, and oilier - improvements" in those historic grounds, have spared the Wyllya Pearmain Tree, which still flourishes at the green old age of nearly two and a half centuries, and still bears its annual fruit. It is doubtless the old- est known apple tree in America, and one of ihe three oldest fruit trees — the Stuyvesant Pear Tree in New York, and another in Salem. Mass., being about as old. New branches have sprung from the failing old trunk, and these bear fruit. Probably no other spot of ground in the world can boast of two such historic trees as these which together grew green on each succeeding spring, for more than two centuries. THE GENESEE FARTHER. 91 STRAWBERRY CONVENTION. WHAT STRAWBERRY IS THE BEST? One of your correspondents asks the above question, is easier to answer than to satisfy the many querists at we are right; for there are so many things to be ten into account, that a berry suited to one person's Hits and soil, would be unsuited to another's. To one 30 raises fer market, it is essential to select such a va- .tv as will yield a surplus of one hundred or more per nt, on its cost of cultivation. To the amateur, the cost not so much an object as the size, beauty and flavor of e berry. At this time, when over one hundred ditfer- t varieties of strawberries are grown under distinct imes, each one of which has its claimant tor superior- ly the difficulty of selection is more than at first sup- jsed; for when we have named Triomplie tie Gaud, jcause of its size, beauty and delicious flavor, Wilson's Albany eps in, and says, "Pooh! I produce two quarts of ;rnes to that lady's one; and if my berries are not quite ) highly polished, or so sweet, yet they sell nearly as ell, and the quantity is so much greater that my owner fully satisfied of my value." Now, up jumps HOOKER'S SEEDLING \ And mav it please you, my good friends, who have just loken, have told but the truth ; and all very well, I pre- ime, for the kind of society with which they have to sal ; but I belong to a higher grade, and although I can jt endure jolting rides, yet when I am carefully gathered id placed upon the tables of the judges, I find everybody dls on tin1 again and again, and each time with such a sculiar twinge of the mouth, that 1 am led to believe they ppreciate my delicacy above all others. Again, I am jt niggardly in yielding ; to those who care well for me, am bounteous in return; but I can not btar neglect in ly body." THE "DOWNER" eve steps forward, and says: "Although originating 'In State where now there is more or less of disloyalty, I xi true to all the interests of the North ; require no pet- ng or extra care to keep me fresh and vigorous, and am isposed to yield a large and bright fruit, of a fine flavor, nt quite equal to my friends, THomphe de Garni, or the ist speaker, but so' firm that transportation, even over in- distances, does not injure my looks. My numbers, !.-' . are nearly as great as my friend ' Wilson.' " As the Efowner" sits down, longworth's prolific. ises and addresses the meeting much as follows: " Al- lough not having received the hundred dollar premium y a noted society of pomologists, yet 1 may say without gntism tiiat it is' conceded by all who have had my ac- uaiutauee two or more years, that to me, rather than {$Avoy's Superior, should the award hare been given; ;r I am not so easily affected by changes of climate. I roduce more berries, and they are equally as large and f as good color; and although they are not quite as elicate and aromatic, yet their firmness and sprightli- ess are such that T am generally preferred when berries re sought to be grown for market, or for the purpose f sugaring for dessert. Again, I find myself much iked-i'or canning." JENNY LIND, ot the singer, but the strawberry with that world-re- owned name, next modestly remarks that "she could ot boast especially of size, modesty, if nought else, rordd forbid ; yet she could claim, with all due deference, hat she is an early riser, and for early maturity and pro- [uctiveness few can excel her; and her firmness and priglitliur:-s are qualities she had never heard contro- ■erted. Sin.' felt, therefore, that although she did not vish especially to press the matter, yet any gentleman vould find his domestic garden sadly deficient without ler presence." the old early scarlet lere popped up in high dudgeon. ' "She had been for nanv years the first to show her ruddy cheek at the sea- mi people began to look for the visits of strawberries, md now to have her claims disputed by a foreign named My, was too bad; although she must in justice aeknowl- sdge that lady had not overrated her merits. She, how- ever, desired her listeners to think twice before leading her behind. They would find her berries abundant and of delicious flavor, although she could not boast of size; but she had alwa\ s performed two Offices, viz.: that of bearing her own burden, and at *he same time assisted .Mistress Hovel/, and others of her class, to perfect their works." As the "Early Scarlet" concluded, hovey's seedling arose and said, "she had now been over twenty years before the public, and although she had almost invari- ably reigned supreme at all exhibitions, and generally wa« ranked highest on the market grounds, yet she hud the effrontery to say she was unwilling to yield the chaplet of honor to any of those with whom she was acquainted, and her list of acquaintances counted up something over one hundred names. She would say that for sprightli- ness some of her rivals outshone her, while others had more aromatic delicacy; but when all the qualities were combined that were requisite to form a good strawberry, she thought ere any one discarded her, they would look the matter over very carefully. She said she loved good care and good feed, as who should not; but no one ever vet complained of her when they had treated her liberally to such items as strawberries ought always to have." THE PYRAMIDAL CHILIAN here begged leave to remark, that "she noticed a great many of her associates standing with open mouths, ready to speak, and as she knew they could not all have time to tell their neighbors' faults, much less get through with their own praises, she would move an adjournment; but before all had gone, she should say it was her char- acter to be a little retiring; and while her associates were ruddy with fruit, she only exhibited her blossoms; but after her friends had exhausted their stores, she exerted herself, and she believed with great success, to prevent too great a depression among their lovers, by supplying their wants until some other variety of fruit came natu- rally into use." trollope's victoria here jumped up. and said that "before the meeting ad- journed, she would like to ask some friend to grow her along side of Methven Scarlet another season, and report how far she excelled that once highly reputed berry." The Western Queen, Fillmore, Bprttett, Dundee, and many others whose names are prominent before the world, each' and all attempted to speak, but the Editor of the Farmer remarked that his printer was calling for copy, and they must excuse him from reporting any further remarks this week, but if his correspondent was not sat- isfied with what had now been said, he would, at a future time, listeu to and print the modest laudations of all the others. — E., in Ohio Farmer. The Profits op Frdit Growing. — The Rochester Union says : " There is no question but that fruit growing has been a source of great profit to farmers of Western New York within the past fifteen years, and strange as it may seem, the business improves as the number of grow- ers increases. An instance of the advantage of fruit growing is related by the Orleans American. A lady in the town of Gaines bought, eight years ago, eight acre* of old, worn out land, at less than $40 per acre, cropped it two years; then in November — six years last Novem- ber—set it out to orchard, at an expense of less than $200; has cropped it every year since, and realized an annual revenue of over $20i>, over and above expenses. She re- cently declined an offer of $2,500 for the field — will no* sell for less than $3,000. There is no building or other improvement on the land except those mentioned." A Prolific Pear Tree.— The Boston Cultivator says: ""W. R. Preston, of Portsmouth, N. H., has a pear tree that for eight successive years has bloomed and fruited three times a year. On October last, a pear of the firsi weighed 14 ozs., the 2d 4 ozs., the Sd 1 oz. 92 THE GENESEE FARMER. ROSES. Wkll, what can be said, new, about roses? Nothing, reader; and, therefore, in the outset we disclaim any pre- tensions to novelty in presenting these remarks to your notice. The rose has been handled by writers of every grade, in all times, and every part dissected and. analyzed. One talks of its leaves, and another of its petals, its buds, its flowers in every stage of development, and praises LION DBS COMBATS ROSS. hare even been sung to its thorns. But the subject is al- ways new. "As sweet as a rose," "as beautiful as a rose," " as perfect as a rose," are continually falling upon our ears, and convey to our minds the highest images of perfection the imagination is able to conceive. The rose bud is particularly admired ; the whole class of moss roses is cultivated especially for the buds; but a rose bud of any kind is beautiful. We know little of the mathematical properties of Hogarth's " line of beauty ;" but if it does not exist in a perfect rose bud, we fear that the great artist has made some fatal error. Beautiful as the wild rose bud is just as it has come to us from its Maker its beauty is yet excelled by the gentle, nursing care of art. This whole great natural order, Rosacese, would seem to have been created expressly for the encourage- ment of horticulture. Nearly every member of it has habits so pliable as to enable it to be moulded almost at the pleasure of the human will; and in this family of'1 plants horticulture has achieved her most brilliant triumphs. Contrast, for example, the "best" apples and pears of our orchards with the wild crab and the choke pear, and the cherry, the plum, the peach, the apricot, and the nectarine, with their representatives in a state of nature, or yet a full blown La Reine, Geant des battailles, or Gen. Jacqueminot, with its little wilding relative, pretty, but so poor, beside its rich and high bred cousin, as almost to make one's heart groan with pity. The bud, no less than the flower and the fruit, changes its form under culture ; and thus, instead of one, it exhibits an endless variety of shapes. This change takes place especially in the sepals of the calyx, which are expanded into an infinite variety of beautiful forms. The sepals, in some cases, assume the form of perfect leaves, aDd from this extreme of development, they vary through every conceivable de gree to the simple sepal. To de- scribe these ever changing forms would be impossible, and we can give no better idea of the effect they produce, than by referring to the annexed engravings. The beauty of this leafy calyx is not even confined to the bud, for when the flower is full blown, it forms a rich green back ground, coming up to the flower closer than the leaves, and by contrast greatly enhancing the effect of the whole. Leafy calyxes are found in many varieties of the hybrid perpetuals, and of such that exhibit this pecu- liarity we shall particularize only a few sorts first rate in every re- spect. Besides Lion des Combats and Gen. De Brea, shown here, we will mention Marquis de Bocella, Olivier de Serres, Comte de Derby, Gen. Jacqueminot, Caroline de Sausal, Poniatowski, Charles Boissiere, and Duchess of Sutherland. In connection with this subject, we here take ocoasion to specify a few more varieties of the best hybrid perpetual roses, which should be found in every good collection : Adele Meange — A large, full, double rose, rose color, tinged with lilac ; it blooms in clusters in great profusion, and is a very desirable sort. THE GENESEE FARMER. 93 ugustie Mie— One of the best ; bright rosy scarlet, large Ifull, vigorous habit, and profuse bloomer. iron Prevost — An indispensable sort ; very large and (ble ; a very strong grower, and great bloomer, aroline Langelier— A dwarf-growing sort; flowers e and double, bright lively crimson Chateaubriand ; able for its peculiarly soft, delicate rose color ; its |ers are best when half expanded. r. Amal— A dwarf-grower; flowers medium size, very l;ht crimson, almost equal in color to Geant des bat- ies, but more vigorous than that variety. r. Marx — Very large and full; i carmine ; a vigorous grower and b bloomer, and altogether one of best. Iward Jesse — A large, full and itiful rose ; very vigorous grower free bloomer. sant des Battailles — No rose has been more popular in this coun- than this, and it well deserves its ; ; it is of medium size, but quite Die, of a bright, glowing crimson, )st dazzling ; a very free bloomer, good grower. i Heine — Very large, double, rosy ; splendid; a vigorous grower, free bloomer. Enfant du Mont Carmel — A very ist and strong grower, and the t profuse bloomer known ; very e and double; deep purplish red. >rd Raglan — This is the most bril- t crimson of all roses, and leaves 5 more to be hoped for in point olor ; the plant is moderately vig- is, but appears to be a compara- ly shy bloomer; a single flower t, however, is worth a season's ure. adam Laffay — Bright, rosy crim- ; large and double; a strong grow- ind free bloomer, rs. Elliott — Very large and double ; i purple ; a strong grower, and of the most profuse bloomers, ius IX. — Very large and full ; ;ht, purplish red; a very vigorous wer, and free bloomer. idonie— Large and full; blush rose dwarf habit; vig- ils and profuse bloomer; if profusion of bloom can be excess, it is so iu this variety, and in L'Enfant du it Carmel. ouvenir de Levison Gower— Very large and full ; bright ded crimson ; a strong grower, and free bloomer. 7m. Jesse — Large and double ; bright, rosy crimson ; arous habit, and free bloomer. and those are quite narrow and thin at the base, but much broader and thicker at the top; in fact, wrong end up as regards torm, in the opinion of those competent to judge in such cases. In attempting to grow an Osage Orauge hedge, two points of the greatest importance are almost always overlooked, viz.: thorough cultivation and proper pruning. I look upon hedging the same as on any other branch of business; to be successful, vou must be thorough, and unless you are, you may as wefl give up first as last. Cultivate and prune properly, and if you don't get a fence in three or four years that suits, don't give up, but persevere one, two, or three years longer, as may be necessary, and if you commence aright, you will have a fence that is just the thing, both usetul and orna- mental— that will stop man or beast. Now, don't go and SAGE ORANGE HEDGE A FAILURE, AND WHY. » traveling a distance of sixty miles, recently, I noticed le twenty-five or thirty attempts at raising Osage ges: all but two, judging from appearances, have be«'ii ;ady, or soon will be abandoned as failures. Two, with addition of an occasional stake iu the more open :es, are considered a suflicieut barrier to tuiu stock, GSNBKAL DB BREA BOSE. stick your hedge down on the north side of, and within less than a foot of a boarded fence, as I have seen iu more than one instance, nor close to any other fence, but give it plenty of room. What would you think of a man that wished to fat a bullock, aud instead of feeding it eight or ten quarts of meal a dav for five or six months, as many of our cattle feeders do, would give three or four quarts a day for about half that time, and because it did not get fat and sleek, would turn out, quit feeding, and condemn the whole system ? Yet it is just so with nine- teen-twentieths who attempt to grow Osage hedges. In- stead of cultivating a strip of land eight or ten feet wide, for five or six years, as they should, they about half cul- tivate a strip three or four feet wide, two or three years, and perhaps do not prune at all, and because it does not make a substantial fence in that time, they look upon it all us moonshine, only fit for amateurs to bother their brains with. 1> it to be wundered at, that with them hedging is a failure?— R. F. Bingham, hi Ohio Farmtr, THE GENESEE PARMER. OKIGINAL DOMESTIC KECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. To Restore Black Crape Veils.— Hold the crape over boiling water until it becomes damp with the steam, and then pin it down evenly upon a carpet, and it will become stiff, and when dry, will have the appearance of new crape. Frozen Eggs. — Mrs. Sophia Damon says that frozen eggs can be restored, by putting them into cold water, and placing them on the stove, where they will warm gradually. If used immediately, will be as good as any egg*. Pulverized Borax. — A lady correspondent says she wishes to recommend this article as invaluable for a lady's toilette. It is an excellent dentifrice; it removes all stains from the hands; it cleanses the hair from dan- druff, and is particularly good for washing muslins and laces. Cyanide of Potassium.— This article will be found infal- lible in removing stains from any kind of white cloth. A distinguished chemist in the city of New York says that he has never found any stains that can not be removed by its application. Cover a small quantity of it with tepid water, and apply it to the stain immediately. It will even remove indelible ink. Soyer, the great French cook, says that cookery has been thought beneath the attention of men of science; and yet, Was there ever a political, commercial, or even a domestic event, but what always has been, and always will be celebrated either by a banquet or a dinner? Nothing, he says, more disposes the heart to amicable feeling and friendly transactions, than a dinner well cou- oeived and artistically prepared. In ancient times, a cook, especially if a man, was looked upon as a distinguished member of society; and there are a few still in the high circles who highly appreciate the knowledge he possesses, and have classified cookery as a high art. One of the great- est chemists of the day (Liebigi pays the highest eulo- gium to culinary science. Soyer considers it worthy the attention of a peer of the realm, and that the morals of the country greatly depend on the production and pre- paration of its food. If this be so, it is surely worthy the attention of the women of this country who are house- keepers, to make it a matter of the deepest interest to at- tend to the preparation of food tor their families. It is said of many who have resided for a time or traveled in France, that a real French dinner, consisting often of seven courses, is so perfectly prepared and seasoned, and such an adaptation in its variety to the digestive organs, that no one would feel that he had eat too much, although he had taken something from each course, and that the most inveterate dyspeptic could eat a French dinner with im- punity, if culinary science can be carried to such perfec- tion, surely cookery should be ranked among the fine arts. Fashions tor Ladies' Dress. — The present fashio: for ladies' dress is really sensible. The high, thic boots, linsey-woolsey dresses and grey sacques for tli streets, which are now in vogue among fashionable cit ladies, are just what is needed in the country. Theladw are now adopting the habits of street dress of high-bra English ladies, and a great improvement it is upon ti customs in this country for many years. Now, Indies wl dress fashiouably are warmly clad when exposal to U weather, instead of the flaunting, showy style former] worn by young ladies, when they could never be wan unless, as their mothers would say, "Pride kept the warm." The latest Paris fashions for bonnets for full dress a rose color, or blue uncut velvet, trimmed on the top i the front with flowers or feathers of the same color. T] front is quite large and high at the top, but very clo and snug at the sides of the face. The strings of tl same color with the hat, broad and long, and tied wi quite large, prominent bows under the chin. A veil composed of both black and white blonde lace much worn, and particularly admired. The fashions for dresses remain almost unchange Grave colors are worn for fashionable visits, even young ladies ; and the principal charm of the prese fashion is, that each lady can adopt the mode of dr< most fitted to her style of face or figure, and still dressed fashionably— for every style is worn. Zouave jackets and short sacques, pointed waists, a waists with belts and clasps, high-necked waists for w< ding dresses, and low-necked for young ladies. Bla silk and velvet wadded sacques are much worn aga. and short, circular cloaks, trimmed with a broad floun "To be pleased with one's self, is the surest way of offending everybody else." Washington Irving on Woman's Love. — " It is a co mon theory to laugh at all love stories, and to treat i tales of romantic passion as mere fictions of poets a novelists, that never existed in real life. My observatic on human nature have convinced me of the contrary, a have satisfied me that, however the surface of the ch acter may be chilled and frozen by the cares of the wo and the pleasures of society, still there is a •warm curri of affection running through the depths of the cold heart, that prevents its being congealed. Indeed, I an true believer in the blind deity, and go to the full exti of his doctrine. Shall I confess it? I believe in brol hearts, and the possibility of dying of disappointed loi I do not, however, consider it a malady often fatal to i own sex, but I firmly believe it withers down man] lovely woman into an early grave. Man is the creati of interest and ambition. His nature leads him lot into the struggle and battle of the world. Love is but embellishment of his early life, or a soDg piped in the tervals of the acts. But a woman's whole life is a histi of the affections. The heart is her world; she eniliai her whole soul in the traffic of affection ; and if sh wrecked, her case is hopeless, 4>r it is a bankruptcy the heart." "Expect no constancy from fickle Fortune, for the f cient dame has been the wife of many a thousand bri< grooms." THE GENESEE FARMER 95 Ilttstcllcinroits, eCENT of the Eagle. — In Forest Creatures, by Chas. [er, we have an account of the remarkable power sssed by the eagle of instantaneously arresting him- svhile dropping through the air at a certain spot, with d wings, even when descending from a height of i or 4,000 feet. "When circling so high up that he S but as a dot, he will suddenly close both wings, falling like an aerolite, pass through the intervening j in a few seconds of time. With a burst, his broad ins are again unfolded ; his downward progress is ited, and he sweeps away horizontally, smoothly, and mt effort. He has been seen to do this when carry- sheep of twenty-six pounds weight in his talons; 'rom so giddy a height that both the eagle and his r 'were not larger than a sparrow. It whs directly a wall of rock in which the eyrie was built ; and ! the speck in the clouds was being examined, and ts entertained as to the possibility of its being the , down he came headlong, every instant increasing ;e, when, in passing the precipice, out flew his mighty s ; the sheep was flung into the nest, and on the mag- mt creature moved, calmly and uuflurried, as a bark geutlv down the stream of a river." Elephantine Actor. — Sir Emerson Tennet, in his ral History of Ceylon, says the elephant occasionally s death in order to regain his freedom. Of a recent ve he writes : " It was led from the corral as usual sen two tame ones, and had already proceeded far rds its destination, when, night closing in, and the es being lighted, it refused to go on, and finally sank i ground apparently lifeless. Mr. Cripps ordered the lings to be removed fiom its legs, and wheu all at- ts to raise it had failed, so convinced was he that it lead, that he ordered the ropes to be taken off and arcass abandoned. While this was being done, he a. gentleman by whom he was accompanied leaned ist the body to rest. They had scarcely taken their -ture and proceeded a few yards, when to their ishment the elephant rose with the utmost alacrity, led towards the jungle, screaming at the top of its , its cries being audible long after it had disappeared e shades of the forest." t's Reaot Wit. — A traveler in Irelaud having been led to deny that the peasantry were humorous, was to ask any question of the first laboring man he met he road. Accordingly, on seeing a sturdy fell >w sing stones, he says, "Now, my man, if the devil to come here just now, whether would he take you e?" "Me, to be sure," says the man, "for he's cer- of your honor at any time." distinguished character once called on Sir Eardly mot, and related to him the particulars of a serious y he had received from a person high in the political d. When he had told his story, he asked Wilmot if raid not be manly to resent the injury. " Yes, Sir," the Judge; "it would be manly to resent it; but it d be God-like to forgive it." - Sociktx for Tin; Prevention of Cruelty to Hut bands. — In cold winter, when a horse's bit is lull of frost, never put it (we are told) into his mouth without previ- ously warming it. You should not treat your husband with less kindness than you would your horse. Therefore, during the winter, put none but warm bits into the dear creature's mouth. Not to do so is very cruel, as it is very well known that the husband's mouth is much more sen- sitive in cold weather than at any other period of the year. It only makes him restless, snappish, ami spoils his temper, so much so that it is ..almost dangerous at times to go near him. Hence, whatever you do, avoid cold mutton. — ranch. Good for Everybody. — Marryin' is a good thing, it is a grate thing, as Aunt Jane ses ; a grate in&titushion i how she noes I can not tell, for she never had a chance to try;) it's good for everybody. Are you old? — marry, it'll make you young (or you'll die tryingto 'pear so.) Are you young? — it'll make you old. In fact, it is sooted to ev'ry and en ny body. It's a briar-rose hedge that society has set up to keep folks inside the bounds uv good behavior; and tho' I've had ups and downs in it, and no all about it, still, I say, hooray for marryin'! It's good for every- body. The Duke of #sorfolk had a fancy for owls, of which he kept several. He called one, from its resemblance to the Chancellor, "Lord Thurlow." The Duke's Solicitor was once in conversation with his Grace, when, to his surprise, the owl-keeper came up and said, " Please you, my Lord, ' Lord Thurlow's ' laid an egg." A Familiar Illustration. — A medical student, under examination, being asked the different effects of heat and cold, replied: "Heat expands, and cold contracts." " Quite right ; can you give an example ?" " Yes, Sir. Iu summer, which is hot, the days are longer; but in winter, which is cold, the days are shorter." A celebrated barrister, retired from practice, was one day asked his sincere opinion of the law. "Why, the fact is," rejoiced he, " if any man was to claim the coat upon my back, and threaten my refusal with a law-suit, he should certainly have it — lest, in defending my coat, I should lose my waistcoat also." A Nice Distinction. — Rev. T. Starr King, an Univer- salist preacher to an Unitarian congregation, lately de- fined the difference between the two bodies to be this: " The Universalists hold that God is too good to damn them ; and the Unitarians hold that they are too good to be damned by Him." Nothing Like Trying. — Frederick the Great asked an Englishman whether one hundred of English guardsmen could beat the same number of Prussian. "Upon my word, I don't know," said the Englishman; "but fifty would try !" Caught a Tarter. — Young Snobby insulted a " Frieud " one day by accosting him thus: " Well, Broadbrim, are you much of a Shaker?" "Nay, not much ; but I can do a little in that way." So he seized Snobby by the collar, and nearly shook him out of his boots. 96 THE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Cultivation of the Beet for Sugar, 78 Coffee in Illinois Where England gets her Timber, 74 Eats — How to Destroy them, 74 Digging Potatoes, again. Good Cows, 75 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 76 Fat Cow. Barn-yards and Manure, 75 Prolitieness of Sows, 76 Underdraining. Good Hogs, 77 Harnessing Arrangement. Leached Ashes, 77 Cutting off the Tops to Prevent Potato Rot, 77 Warts on Cattle. Cabbages every Year, 77 Sowing Peas, 77 Yorkshire Pigs. Sorreland other Weeds, 78 Top-Dressing Grass-Lands in the Spriug, 78 Management of Honey Bees, 79 The Carrot — Its Value, Productiveness, etc., 80 Horses and the War 81 Mysteries of the Poultry Yarn, 82 Rye to bring Light Soils into Condition to Prodnce Wneat,. .. 83 A Useful Implement, 84 Cultivation and Use of Willows, 85 Making Maple Sugar 86 The Old and New Order of Panning in England, 86 Hungarian Grass, , S7 Why does she Kick the Milk over? 88 Mechanical Tools for Farmers, 88 Test of the Value of Manure, 88 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. The Aster Family, 89 A Method of Utilizing Subterranean Fires. A large Pear,... 90 The Apples of New England, 90 Strawberry Convention. Profits of Fruit Growing, 91 A Prolific Pear Tree, 91 Roses, 92 Osage Orange Hedge a Failure, and why, 93 LADIES DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 94 Fashions for Ladies' Dress, 94 Washington Irving on Woman's Love, 94 MISCELLANEOUS. Descent of the Eagle. Elephantine Actor. Pat's Ready Wit, 95 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands, 95 Good fcr Everybody. A Familiar Illustration, etc., 95 editor's table. Notes on the Weather, 96 Agricultural Items, 97 The Markets, \\\\ 97 Items, Notices, Ac, 96, 97, 9S 99 Inquiries and Answers, 99 ILLUSTRATIONS. Side-hill Barn with Sheds, 76 Giant Emperor Aster Plant in full Flower, 89 Lion des Combats Rose, 92 General de Brea l;ose, .' . ..'..'. 93 To Our Friends.— On the last page of this number of the Genesee Farmer will be found a remarkable list of Premiums to all who send us the names of subscribers, old or new, for this year, Never were more liberal Pre- miums ottered. These Premiums are offered to all. There is not one of our readers who can not send us from one to a dozen subscribers, by simply speaking to their friends aud neighbors, and asking them to subscribe. The Farmer is so cheap that no one can object to take it on account of the hard times. The back numbers from January will be sent iu all cases. Notes on the Weather from January 15th to Fk ruary 15th, 1802. — The weather continued pleasant the end of January. The snow, hail and rain of the 15' prepared us for good sleighing on the 16th, which co tinued through the last half. For snow fell often in smi quantity so as to compensate for a little melting and ml wearing out of paths. The temperature of the last half exceeds the averag by near 2^, being 26.5° ; and of the whole month w nearly one degree below the average, being 24.7". T lowest was one degree on January 5, and 6° on the 14t and the lowest in the last half was 11° on the 16th ai 27th, while 41° was the highest on the 29th, and the hig est mean, 38°, was on the same day. The quantity of water in the month was 3.51 inches. The great storm of the month began on the 24th ou t coast of North Carolina from the N. E., and moved nort wards, reaching New York at 9 p. m., and extending : snow and rain and wind over much of the 25th; began Boston late on the 24th, and gave much snow and rain the 25th ; and began in Belfast, Maine, at lOj a. m. on t 25th. Of course, the change of wind to the west folio ed the same regular course, being at New York on t 25th p. m., and extending to the north. The railroa were blocked up by snow on the Hudson, from the Hig lands northwards, and over Vermont and west of N< England. The storm did not reach west of the Allega Mountains, in New York, though 3 or 4 inches of snow the vicinity of Rochester and more further east withe any considerable wind. In this storm, the Rev. H. C. Dwight, Missionary at Constantinople, and on a visit this country, was instantly killed by the overturning the car at 9 j a. m., a few miles north of Bennington, V on its route northwards, by the great violence of the E. wind on the 25th. There was a heavy gale on Che: peake Bay, and along the coast, and the tide was ve high in New York on the 25th, as well as at Boston. At Washington, and on the Potomac, the weather w unpleasant for the month ; at Philadelphia also ; at N< York, and west into New Jersey; but in this vicinity, a: even west of this State, the weather has been pleasant ever, with moderate temperature, and we have on t ground a foot or more of snow and ice. February has so far been pleasant, slight thawing snow once or twice, with enough of snow to continue t sleighing very good. Two or three inches of snow f in the last few days. The highest temperature was 4 on the 6th, and the lowest was 11° 011 the 14th, 13* on t 2d and 8d and 5th, and only 14° on the 10th and lit The good sleighing, with slight drifting, has made bo business and pleasure easy. The mean heat was 24. £ or 1.4° below the average for 25 years. The range 1 the average for this half of February in a few years, h been from 15.9° in 1856, to 29.1° in 1857. The cold h not yet been down to zero this winter. A Great Fruit Year.— The winter has been high favorable for fruit trees in this section. The buds are v, safe, and the prospects now are that we shall have a r markably productive year. The fine weather last fa ripened the wood perfectly; the failure of the fruit la season imparted increased vigor to the trees, and ever' thing is favorable for an immense crop. THE GENESEE FARMER. 97 Agricultural Items. — France, Ireland, Italy and Por- gal still want grain, and the Mark Lane Express says It will be well if the producing countries of Europe, as lirell as America, can meet the heavy demands certain to Be made." In the new Museum in Kew Gardens, England, there is \ specimen of cotton, 600 hanks, weighing only a pound; pun so fine, tbey measure more than 500,000 yards, or 250 miles in length. The last crop of English grown clover seed is of poor Iquality, and the yield was not good. A " gentleman of veracity " asserts that he saw a horse's nose frozen in, while drinking at a trough, at Portland, Maine, a few days ago. The wheat crop in England looks favorable. The plants were never better. Dallas, in his Animal Kingdom, tells us that he was informed by a Scottish minister that on his first going to his parish in Morayshire, he had seen a cow, a sow, and two young horses yoked together, and drawing a plough in a light, sandy soil, and that the sow was the best drawer of the four. The Artificial Cattle Foods, which are so extensively advertised in England, are universally denounced by the scientific men. They are worth only about one-fourth what is charged for them. The Courrier of Odessa states that that town and the surrounding district have had a general invasion made on them by mice, and the cats have become so fat with the number they have eaten, that they are no longer ca- pable of performing their duty. M. Boussi-ngault, the great experimental farmer and chemist, has been chosen Vice President of the Central Agricultural Society of France. Great eflorts are being made to repeal the hop duty in England. E. Cornell, of Tompkins Co., has been elected Presi- dent of the New York State Agricultural Society, for 1862. A better man could not have been chosen. Restoring a Worn Out Farm. — H. J. Collins, Esq., of Collinsville, Ct., writes us that he raised last year 70 bushels of shelled corn per acre, all sound, from land which a few years ago would not keep a cow alive. He toils his cattle in summer, and feeds them in winter on steamed corn-stalks, with oil-cake meal, bran, etc. He composts his manure with muck, and saves all the liquid from the house, etc. This system enabled him to keep 30 head of cattle on a farm that formerly would keep only 6 or 8 head. He makes 750 loads of manure a year, and expects soon to make 1,000. He adds: "I take all the best agricultural papers, and the Genesee Farmer is a little the best one of all. The Albany Cultivator comes next, and close on your heels. You will not consider this faint praise." We certainly do not. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862.— The first edition of the Rural Annual is nearly exhausted and we are now printing a second edition. It will be sent prepaid by return mail to any address on re- ceipt of 25 cents. The volumes for 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61, and '62, will be sent prepaid to any adlress tor $1.40, or 20 cents each. There is no cheaper or better work published. The Markets. — Under the influence of the pacific ter- mination of the " American difficulty," the grain markets of Europe manifested a declining tendency for a few days. The last Mark Lane Express, however, says " the wheat trade has partly recovered from the late depression, the average gain in value being about Is. per quarter" [3 cents per bushel.] This high authority estimates that England will require before next harvest forty-four mil- lion buslieU of wheat. Others estimate it much higher. Hogs still continue very low, but there is a slight ten- dency to advance. The price in New York ranges from 4Jc. to 5£c. for the dead weight, or from 3 to 4c. live weight. Hay in New York is in demand for shipment in bales at $15a$17 per ton. Coarse wool is somewhat lower, while fine maintains its price. There is little change in the grain market. At the last cattle market in New York, the supply of beef cattle was light, and prices advanced one cent per lb. A I Durham white steer, 7 year old, and weighing at home 3,240 lbs., sold for $250. 14 head of Ohio Dur- hams, estimated at 13 cwt. each, sold for $115 per head. Milch cows are looking up. The rrnge of price is from $30 to $45 for cows with young calves. The veal that is offered in market, the Tribune says, " is undoubtedly tender, as they are often killed at two or three days old." Sheep brings 5a5|c. per lb. live weight. Game in England. — An English farmer once told us that the hares destroyed wheat, barley, turnips, and other crops on his farm to the value of $500 per annum. The abundance of game, and the high price it commands, render poaching very common, and to check it as far as possible, it is now proposed to make those who sell game attach a ticket to it stating from whom it was purchased. The Mark Lane Exp>ress suggests a ticket after the fashion of the Smithfield Club card, that the butcher so carefully carries off' with him for display in his shop windows. The sarcasm is admirable: CLASS I. FAT HARES OF ANT AGE. J/'irSt yriit to the breeder, the Right Honor- able the Earl of Wholesale , of Slaughterers, , Bagsheer. Fed by Mr. Veake Tims, of the Open House Form, upon young wheat, tur- nips, swedes, carrots, and other roots. Purchased by Fur <£ Feather, of the Market Place, Buy shot. Copper Medal to the Feeder. — Mr. Veake Tims. Seeds by Mul. — The new law allowing seeds, plants, etc., to be sent by mail at one cent per ounce, affords an excellent opportunity for obtaining choice varieties at cheap rates. Several reliable parties offer valuable seeds in our advertising columns. Our readers may send to them with confidence. If desired, we will attend to any orders for seeds, plants, etc., that our friends need. Bound Volumes of the Genesee Farmer. — We can furnish any of the back volumes of the . Genesee Farmer for 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60 and '61, handsomely bound in cloth, at One Dollar, sent prepaid by return mail. The six volumes will oeseut by express for $5.00. 98 THE GENESEE FARMER. Western- Cokx in this State. — Our esteemed corres- pondent, Samuel Williams, of Waterloo, N. Y., sends us a sample of Dent corn, grown by Joseph Weight of that village, and says: ''I send you the corn from one of Jos. Weight's large ears of dent corn; it. was 22 rowed, with a red cob ; some were 27 rowed, but not as large kernel nor as heavy ears as the sample. If you will procure the largest ear of flint corn grown with yon, you will find, as I did, that it weighs, shelled, one-third less than the dent ear, while the cob of flint, 8 or 12 rowed, is still heavier. One peculiarity of the dent corn is the very small stem that holds the ear to the stalk, and the ear is filled around the butt to the stem, while the flint corn has a stem so large that no corn can grow around even the edge of the butt end. There can be no doubt but that with seed fresh from the West, this dent corn will yield one-third more on the same acre than any variety of Northern corn; and it never fails to ripen here if planted early on extra rich drained soil. Hence I consider it a desideratum for every farmer, who has plenty of manure and but little land, to plaut this corn. Joseph Wright's seed was from Illinois. J. J. Thomas measured the corn, and found it from 13 to 15 feet high, and about one-third more corn to the acre than the 8 rowed planted on the same soil. I planted two rows in my garden, of the same variety, but the seed was grown by Wright last year; it was in drills 4 feet apart, and only 6 inches in the drill ; every stalk had one ear, and some two; but the kernel was smaller, and the stalks 2 feet# shorter than Wright's from fresh Illinois seed. Next year I shall plant from Wright's grown here this season, and shall thin to 8 inches apart, in order to get larger ears, and more with two on a stalk. It bears no suckers; every year was fully ripe by the 1st of October, and every ear full at both ends of the cob, leaving a space of about § of an inch for the stem. I am positive that the yield was over 120 bush, of shelled corn to the acre. You can, after weighing this corn, calculate what the yield would be 4 feet by 8, or say y inches apart, counting only one ear to the stalk. Wright cuts all the stalks tine by horse power, and his bright wheat straw is untouched by his stock as long as cut stalks are in the manger. They are cut and stacked as soon as the corn glazes." Death of Prince Albert.. — In alluding to the death of Prince Albert, the Journal of the New York State Agricultural Society says : " He has held a very important position in the English nation. He was the President elect of the Royal Agricultural Society, and took a very deep interest in the welfare of the Society. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was originated by the Prince, and owed much of its success to him, and be was actively engaged in forwarding the approaching Exhibition for 1862. The Americans who were present at the Exhibition in 1851 will long remember his Highuess for his unweari- ed efforts to have the exhibition in the American division properly brought before the public, and his kind greetings to us after the trial and success of the American reapers, plows, and other implements, when he visited our di- vision with Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, will not be for- gotten ; and his parting shake of the hand as be left us after the examination, shows that even Princes can ap- preciate the efforts of others, and can give their aid when most needed to those who have no special claims upon U»»m." Pure Seeds. — The importance1 of sowing clean see can not be over-estimated. Saxfoki> Adams; of BostB MSsS.', lias invented a very simple and efficacious nsachio for the purpose. The New England Fainter1 says: "We have seen his machines, andjfound his sifting pre cesses truly wonderful, lie Iira broiigtit them to sue perfection, and will furnish the means of doiug the .-a-m so cheaply, that t|iere is no necessity fpr the farmer ajj longer to sow' foul seeds, and thus entail upon himself an! posterity a perpetual plague and loss. " What struck us as the most surprising in Mr. Adams apparatus, is the great simplicity with which tje accorl plishes so much. He not only separates products of di! i'eient sizes and shapes, but by the application of screw to fan mills, he does so by their specific gravity-'' More Pork. — I have just returned from a visit to m; friends in Schaghticoke and Easton — called at Nathan G Akins', in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., in the after nodi of the 4th of February. He had just finished dressiuj six hogs. One, two years old, weighed 865 Lbs., aud fiv yearliugs weighed severally as follows : 767 lbs., 1142 lbs. 572 lbs., 538 lbs., 530 lbs. They were fine-boned, of th breed familiarly known with us as the " Wagman " breed in Saratoga County. Orren Bewel, of Easton, Washington Co., dressed oi the 3d in6t. six fine-bone pigs, nine months aud fourteei days old, which weighed as follows : 412 lbs., 44S lbs., 45 lbSy 41» .lbs., 372 lbs., 380 lbs.— Abnee Devol, Gansi voort, j¥. Y. .-»-«■ What is Said of the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annua Never have we received so many encouraging notice of the Genesee Farmer and of the Rural Annual and Hoi Hcultwal Directory as during the present year. We giv below a sample of the many hundred notices receutl received. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory fo: 1862. — For the last five years we have had occasion t speak of this work, as the successive volumes have bee: received. All have been good, and the present one, fror the glance we have given it, seems not inferior to the pre ceding. The price is twenty-five cents per cop}-, whic makes it a very cheap source of information. — Boston Oui tinitor. The Rur\l Annual and Horticultural Directory. - Such is the title of a little book published at the com mencement of each year by the editor of the Genesee Fat 7/ier. The volume for 1862 is received. It is a work whic! can not be too extensively circulated among all interested in rural pursuits. The six previous volumes receive very general commendation, and that for lsfi2 will b found fully equal to any ot the series. — Maine Farmer. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for lSfiii. — This is the seventh annual publication of thi very useful and popular Annual, the high character o which is fully sustained by the present volume. It is, a several of our readers are aware, published by Mr. Jos Harris, at the office of the Genesee Farmer, at Rochester in the State of New York, from whence it can be obtain ed by mail, by remitting the price, only 25 cents ! Thi small sum will appear extraordinary when it is considers that the work is very neatly printed, and illustrated b; numerous wood cuts. Publications of this nature can no fail to ensure a highly beneficial influence on the practie> of agriculture, and the minds of all that are in any wa; engaged in country pursuits. — Canadian Agriculturist. The Genesee Farmer. — This excellent and extraordi narily cheap agricultural paper has now obtained a stand inm (if more than thirty years, and a circulation surpass ing most of the agricultural publications of the presen day. The Genesee Farmer .is truly the "Farmer's owi paper," aud cannot fail to interest and please, as well ai THE GENESEE FARMEE. 99 istruct its numerous readers. No one who has had the rivUege of reading the Fanner the past two years will e willing to do without it. In fact, he can not afford to o without it. Many of the numbers are worth the Whole bet of the vear's subscription; Published monthly, at Rochester, N. V., by Joseph Harris, at 60 cents per an- um. Subscribe for it.— Jleposttory ani Hon. GaUnet. Genesee Farmer.— This old and really excellent month- v has a very large circulation and has always been a ;eneral favorite with the public. It is published at Kocn- ster bv Joseph Harris, and costs only titty cents a year. f any of our friends want a good paper for a very little noneV, we advise them to make au investment of titty ants with Mr. Harris. It will pay loo per cent.— 2^ Dairy Farmer. The Rurvl Annual and Horticultural Directory roa 1862.— This little, volume published by Mr. Harris, he well-known editor of the Genesee Farmer, is designed m a hand-book to those engaged in the culture of the soil, whether in the raising of grain or fruit. It will be found l0 contain much useful information respecting the culture if wheat, rve, barley, oats, and Indian corn ; the plani- ng and culture of fruit trees, and especially ot dwart ind standard pears; cider-making; culture of grapes; implication of manures, and many other practical articles >f value to the farmer and the horticulturist. A large number of engravings illustrate these articles, and yet the volume is offered at the small charge of twenty-hve :ents. — New York Evangelist. The Genesee Farmer. — We know of no production which has tended to impart so much agricultural infor- mation to its readers as the Genesee Farmer. If our sturdy sons of the soil would more generally subscribe to this practical manual, they would fiud themselves not only more wise and better operatives, but richer men. Every monthly issue develops something new and useful to farmers— and lately the public has been surprised by an excellent work from the Genesee Farmer office, which every fto-riculturist and horticulturist should have upon his table. The cost of the Genesee farmer is nominal. The cost of the Rural Annual, containing infinite instruction, (and among other things, the method of wine-making,) is 25 cents. — Gleuwood, Iowa, Times. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directort Inquiries and Answers. Pedigree Wheat.— (L. P. Stoughton.) We have no seed of this wheat for sale, and do not know where it cab be obtained in this country. Mr. Hallett, the originator, resides at Brighton, England. Orchard Grass.— (J. Cuppage, Orillia, C. W.) The specimen of grass you send is the Orchard grass of this country, or the Cocksfoot grass of England tlJactylis ylom- erta). It is a well known and useful grass. Milking.— (A Young Milker.) An old milker can get along with a one-legged stool, but one with three legs is better. Do not put the pail on the ground, or stick your head into the flank of the cow. Sit up straight, aud close to the cow, and hold the pail between your legs. There is then very little danger of the cow kicking over the milk. After the milk begins to flow freely, do not stop till you are through. Milk steadily, and do not speak a work, except some soothing expressions to the cow. Strip clean. This is very important. A poor milker, and one that leaves milk in the udder, will dry up the cow. The stoppings are far the richest milk. Ten cows an hour is good work. We have milked six, except strip- ping, in half an hour, but they were all easy milkers. Scab in Sheep. — Can some of your experienced corres- pondents give me a remedy for scab in sheep?— H. A., Ann Arbor, Mich. Sweet Potatoes.— I would be very glad if you or some of the valued contributors to the Farmer would write an article on cultivating aud preserving sweet potatoes.— Young Farmer, KManing, Fa. Lightning Rods.— Will some of the experienced corres- pondents of the Farmer give us some information in re- gard to lightning rods— their construction, putting up, etc I am building a new barn, and would like to know .Jwe? hare received this'annnal, in the form of j if I can ventilate with board box conductors to an open- e. duodecimo of one hundred pages, aud in relation to it ing in the peak of the root.— W., Delaware Co., Iowa. we not hesitate to say that it contains a greater amount of interesting and instructive matter than any other work of an equal number of pages tXat we ?iave had before us. It contains an immense variety of agricultural and horticul- tural matter, collected with judgment and good taste, and well adapted to the intelligence of all classes of farmers, while it must prove interesting to the genera', reader. It is in quite a neat cover, and will prove in every way an ornament to the parlor-table of the farmer's homestead. It is published by Mr. Harris, editor of the Genesee Farmer, Rochester, N. Y., from whom it may be procured, free of postage, by remitting the price, twenty-five cents. — Evans's Mural Economist. The Genesee Farmer in Canada.— John McAskin, of Prescott, C. W., who sent us 102 subscribers for this vol- ume of the Genesee Farmer, writes us under date of Feb. «th, as follows: "Having received the February No. of your Farmer, I have found that Canada has done something large in com- petition this year, plainly proving that the more your paper becomes circulated," the more it is appreciated and sought after; not on account altogether of its cheapness, but for its sterling merits and genuine usefulness. As I said in my last letter to you, some of the subscribers had never seen nor heard of the paper, and the .general im- pression was in two or three weeks after they signed, that the paper was nothing but a humbug; but when the Jan- wary number came, it cast all this nonsense in the shade, they having found it to surpass their most sanguine ex- pectations, by treating ably on many subjects of which before they were almost totally ignorant. I think it will be quite easy to raise a pretty large club in this part for next year, on account of its "being better known." Sowing Clover and Timothy.— I find trouble m sowing timothv and clover seed by hand. Will you or some brother farmer inform me through the Genesee larmer where I can pm'cliase a machine that will do it up right, and at what cost. Also, information with regard to the quantity of seed per acre, aud in what proportion of clo- ver to a gravelly soil ? After sowing, would you harrow it or not? Will some practical man give his views, and by so doing oblige— J. H. McCollum, Xeufane. Sod Fence, etc.— Can a permanent fence be made to turn farm stock, by placing two parallel rows ot blue gra^s or oilier sod on the edge, grass side up, filling in with the earth from outside of base, carrying It up conic slnpe 3 to ?,\ feet above the surface— the removing ot tue earth to till in forming a ditch 1} feet deep on each side of base? Will frost or drouth injure the sod m that ele- vated position? .,,,.,■ . Also what is the best mode and season to irrigate meadows? Will some of the readers of the Genesee Farmer give their experience ?-T. H. P., lappan, Ohio. Drain Tiles.— Will some of your correspondents iu- form me what size of tile I should lay 'for a mam dram to drain twenty acres? There is no spnng— only the wa- ter that falls on the surface. The soil is a heavy clay, and quite lcel Will it do to have an open drain alongside the main covered drain, to carry off the water behind the niece I want to underdrain ? Will three feet be too deep to put 1he side drains, in a soil so hard that I have to pick it after I get down eighteen inches'' Will 33 feet be close enough to put the drains '. Is it necessary to put straw on the tiles?— Wm. Frasee, Esquessing, C. TV. 100 THE GENESEE FARMER. Beans and Corn tor Feeding Sheep. — In your Feb- ruary number, B. F. Taber inquires " respecting the rela- • tive value of beans to corn for feeding purposes." Some of our farmers who keep from 200 to 500 fine- wooled sheep, have fed beans to their flocks in past winters. A few days ago, I met with one of these flock masters, and made inquiries respecting the matter. He has just sent me a written statement, the substance of which I here forward : "Mr. Bartlett :— We have fed 'white beans' to our breeding ewes, 120 in number, to the amount of 50 bush., for each of the two last winters. We consider them worth one-third more by weight than corn for the production of milk. We first tried them ground ; but they can not be crack- ed without there being a flour produced, which they will not readily eat on account of there being a sticky dou^h formed by means of the moisture from their mouths. We then soaked them in boiling water for an hour or two but not long enough to start the skin. The beans cost, delivered at our depot, $1 per bushel and were the cheapest feed we have ever used. If we could get them for $ 1.25 per bushel, we should use them this year; but we can not, therefore shallpurchase shorts B. W. Couch & Co." The Messrs. Couch keep about 500 superior fine-wooled sheep, and enter into the business with a right good will, and consequently are successful, making money thereby, having just sold their wool at 50 cents per pound, cash on delivery. Corn here is worth 84 cents per bushel, but for their breeding ewes they would prefer beans at $1.25. You say, Mr. Editor, "we would prefer to grind them;" so thought the Messrs. C; but for reasons given, they soon abandoned it, finding the soaking process much the best. I am of the opinion that soaked corn, upon trial, would be found far preferable to that of the dry feed for sheep or any other animals. Judging from the analyses of corn and beans, we should prefer corn for feeding sheep, if fattening them was our object. But for the greatest production of wool, muscle, milk and lambs, we should give beans the preference. As to the nutritive value of corn and beans, according to some of the most eminent agricultural chemists and writers io Europe, 45 lbs. of beans are equivalent to 50 lbs. of \orn. Mr. Lawes, basing his calculations upon the constitu- ents of a good Peruvian guano, and its commercial value, estimates the value of the manure derived from a ton of beans at about $18, while that derived from a ton of Indian corn to be worth only about $8— a very mate- rial difference, and one that should be taken into consid- eration by the farmer who grains his sheep, whether he raises the feed or purchases it. You, Mr. Editor, in the columns of the Farmer, have time and again called the attention of your readers to the importance of growing more largely of leguminous plants-clover, peas, beans, •tc— and if they have not profited by these teachings, you may set them down as incorrigible.— Levi Bartlett Warner, If. If. Grapes from Raisin Seeds.— Mr. Charles S. Raci of Canada, writes us that he has seen some beautiful larj white grapes that were produced from plants raised fro the seed of a raisin. He recommends others to expei ment with raisin seeds. Take out the seeds, and wai them, and then plant in a warm soil in the spring. Hessian Fly.— J. T. Ferguson, of Clinton Co., Ola writes us that the early sown wheat in his neighborboc is generally destroyed by the fly. We are indebted to the Hon. Alfred Elt for the Patei Office Report for 1860, and for the Smithsonian Reporl for 1859 and 1860. Special Notices. Boston Silver Medal ScREENs.-These Serum have becon celebrated for assorting and cleaning Wheat for seed, Barter Oats, Kye, Buckwheat and Beans'. Two Screens, for wheat *n oats, 15 by 15 inches, with tray, $2.75. One Screen and tray 1 by 30 in., for taking oats, cheat, pink, and all foul stuff from when S3.2o. Four Screens and tray,- 15 by 30 in.., for sorting marro* fat, medium aud pea-beans, broken and refuse, 5 ki^da at on operation, $7. Orders by mail or express executed at short notice. Manufac tory, 34 North Market Street, Boston, Mass. Sash-or* Awn Inventor aud Proprietor. Bean Drill.— If there is a good machine for drilling beans manufactured in your State, I shall be glad to know the address of the maker.— Bucketk. American Bb»-Journal.-(C. Sandksow.) This paper i* not now published. Coe's Superphosphate of LaiK.-Th* following decisive tet timony to the value of Coe's Superphosphate as a superior fertil umg agent, is from Hon. Ajias-a. Walker, of Massachusetts : ,, _ . _ ■ ■ Norih Brookpield, Nov. 26. 1S61. **" • «** Co-, Boston, ftenllemen :-You may recol'ec Lime haidm°LJ;0,U '"I V*** B «*** °f " -Perp&pha?* « £Zt. u ° Me.of " '" se,re,'a, w«>'3-i» each case with satic factory results. First, on corn. 1 planted one part of a del, with the use ot fifteen loads of bam manure to the acre, and th other part with your phosphate-a small handful in each hill pro bahly at the rate of three hundred lbs. to the acre. That whi™ was planted in the latter way was quite as thrifty and vigor™, a in the former, and yielded as largely. This much exceed n* expectations. Secondly, I used the phosphate i» planter pot* toes, and obtained an excellent crop in exhausted patUri land plowed lip for the purpose< Third,^ , Med articVfrra dre» ng for an oat crop-wit* no other manure, and the land previous. on nf0qn,?H "?"- I B°l 4° bushels t0 the acre. *>y 'ho applic* lion ot ow«rs, Combined Threshers and Cleaners, Threshers and Vi- irating Separators, Clover Machines with Huller and Cleaner ombined— also, with Thresher, Huller and Cleaner combined ; Vood Sawing Machines, both Circular and Drag; Cider Mills .nd Corn Shellers combined ; Dog or Sheep Powers, Ac. 13^" For Inscriptions and Prices of above named articles, ap- tly for an Illustrated Circular. Addsess G. WE3TINGHOUSE A CO., March.— 3t Schenectady, N. Y. TREES A~T LOW PRICES. For Spring of 1862. ELLVANGER & BARRY Respectfully invite the attention of the public to their present mmense stock, covering upward of Five Hundred Acse of L.and, and embracing everything desirable in both Fruit and Ornamental Departments, Jrown in the very best manner, and offered either at wholesale >r retail, at greatly reduced prices. Parties who contemplate planting should avail themselves of his opportunity, the like of which may not occur soon again. Descriptive and Wholesale Catalogues forwarded gratis on re- seipt of a stamp for each, and all information as to prices, &c, promptly given on application. MOUNT HOPE NURSERIB8, ROCHESTER, N. T. GENESEE SEED STORE AND AGRICULTURAL WAREHOUSE, 17 South St. Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y. Seeds for Spring of 1862. I HAVE received, during the last fall and present winter, from English, French and American growers of undoubted veraci- ty, " not " the largest and finest lot of Flower and Vegetable Seeds ever imported into this country (I have a so done the same thing for fourteen years), but five times as large, and just as good, and in some cases better than another party who boasts of the largest stock ever iaiported into this country. I will send to any party for One Dollar, 20 papers of Choice Flower Seeds. Among them, one each of the finest Asters, Bal- samines and Stocks, all to be as good 9S can be got in this city at double the price. I will also send for One Dollar, Twenty papers or packages of Flower and Vegetable Seeds, assorted as parties may desire. CATALOGUES of Garden, Field and Flower Seeds sent to all applicants. 1 will send as above, to all who may favor me with an order, by mail, post paid, to any part of the United States, or to the lines, if ordered for Canada. Address. J. RAPALJE. TOMATO DE LAYE, And other Seed, Forwarded by Mall, Post-paid. THE NEW FRENCH TOMATO.— This new variety is called Bush, or Tree Tomato, being very stocky and erect, differing markedly from any other variety. The fruit is large, solid, and of excellent quality. A single stake is all that is needed to sup- port the plant when laden with fruit. Packages containing 50 seeds, 15 cents. New White Tomato, 18 cents. Perfected (Les- ter's), 12 cents. Early Paris Cauliflower 'the best early Variety), 25 cents. Early Frame Cucumber (improved by Newhale). 10 cents. New White Spine Cucumber, 10 cents. Squa>h Pepper (warranted true and fresh), lOcents. Tom Thumb, or Strawberry Pea (grows but eigbl-iQch.es high and bears well), 12 cents. Dar- ling's Early Sweet Corn (besT-of the early sweet varieties) 10 cts. Burr's Mammoth Sweet Corn (besrof aH lire laTge varieties), 10 cents. Stowell's Evergreen Corn (excels all in Beeping long in green state), 10 cents. Indian Chief Bean (pod is nearly transpa- rent and always fit for stringing), Id cents. Tenn's Ball Lettuce (early), 8 cents. Imperial Cabbage, 0 cents. Mountain Sweet Watermelon (new and excellent), 10 cents. Christiana Mu.-kinel- on (early and superior), 8 cents. Cole's Crystal While Celery, 11) cents. Hubbard i quash (purest grown), 12 cents. Dandelion Seed, 10 cents. Early Scarlet Radish, 6 cents. Extra Pun- Mar- row Squash, 10 cents. Danver's Early Yellow Onion, 10 cm Is All of the above will be sold by the ounce or pound. fay CATALOGUES of every variety of Garden and Flower Seeds, with prices, forwarded gratis. Part of my seed is of my own growing, the remainder from re- liable sources. JAMES J. H. GIIEGOKY. Marblehead, Mass. Marblehead Cabbage Seed. STONE MASON CABBAGE.— I have received numerous let- ters from farmers residing in Canada and all the Northern, Middle and Western States, who purchased seed last season, ex- pressing the highest satisfaction with this Cabbage— its reliability for heading, the large size of the head, the peculiar sweetness and hardness of the head, and first-rate keeping qualities. A large number took the first premiums at the Fairs of their respective counties A number write that every plant set a handsome head ; one that he sold $50 worth from less than a seventeenth of an mere of land. I have copied a number of these letters into my Seed Catalogue. MARBLEHEAD MAMMOTH DRUMHEAD.— Numbers have written me of their success with this monster variety ; that they raised eabbages weighing from 25 to 45 lbs. — the general wonder of the community. They have been raised weighing 62 lbs. I regret that I have ' ut a limited supply of seed this seaton. I will IIU orders as long as it lasts. Stone Mason Cabbage, per ounce, I prepaying postage, 25 cts. ; per lb., $2.6T. Marblahead Mammoth, per package of about 1000 •eeds, 25 cents. Hubbard Squash, per package, 12 cents. The seed is of my own raising, and warranted of the purest qualitv grown. 13^" CATALOGUES forwarded to applicants, of every Tariety af Garden seeds and many hundred rarieties of Flower seeds. JAMES J. H. GREGORY. March. — 4t Marblehead, Mass. DEWEY'S COLORED FRUITS AND FLOWERS, T^OR the use of Nurserymen and Tree Agents — embracing 1? nearly 400 varieties of Apples, Pears. Plum", Cherries, Peaches, Quinces, Apricots, Nectarines, Grapes, Strawberries, Currants, Raspberries, Flowers, Roses, Evergreens and Shrub- bery, Carefully Drawn troh Nature and Colored by Expe- rienced Artists. I have in my employ some of the most experienced Litho- graphers and Horticultural Colorists in the United Stat- s. A large number of the more popular Plates are Lithographed — which enables me lo produce the most perfect Plates m;'de; for the accuracy and beauty of which, I have received the SILVER MEDALS of the New York State Agricultural Society, also Med- als and Diplomas from other State Societies. |^~ CATALOGUES sent on application by mail. Imitations of my Plates have been made and offered at low prices. To guard against imposition and inferior Plates, I hare my name attached to all my Plates. Nurserymen and Tree Agents, please send for a Catalogue. Address D. M. DEWEY, Ao't, Rochester, N. Y. Wanted — Concord Grape Vines. ANY person having GENUINE Concord. Grape Vines for sale in lots of 100 to 1,000, mav hear of a cash purchaser by applying to T. B. MINER, Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. VARIETIES OF BURH-STONE FLOUR AHD GRAIU MILLS. Prices fn.m $60 to $500. Illustrated Catalogues furnished. EDWARD HARRISON, New Haven, Conn. 50 28 CENTS EACH.— MICROSCOPES magnifying 500 tiraea. Five, of different powers, $1. Mailed free. Mar— 3t* F. H. BO WEN, Box 220, Boston, Matt. 102 THE GENESEE FARMER. Everybody should have a Copy. tal Jutmwl an& Jwtiittliural girtcicrr, IF OR 186S. PRICE ONLY TWENTY-FIVE CENTS! THE Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory is a bonk of 120 pages, published at the beginning of each year, at the office of the (Jmesee Farmer. It is filled witlt matter interesting and useful to everyone engaged in ttoe culture of the soil, in town, village, country or city. Among the contents will be found articles on the following subjects : PLANTING FRUIT TREES ; ANNUALS ANDTiIEIR CULTURE; EVERLASTING FLOWERS; MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC WINES; CULTURE OF DWARF AND STANDARD PEARS; CULTIVATION OF THE CEREALS; ON CIDKR MAKING; AMOUNT OK ROOTS FROM CLOVER AND GRASSES; CUTTING POTATOES FOR PLANTING; CHINESE HOG*; HENS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT; CULTURE OF THE PEACH IN THE MIDDLE STATES; CoVERI.v: GRAPE VINES IN WINTER; treatment of milch cows; application of manure; culture of white beans; the English mutton sheep, With a great variety of other matters of general interest. Price only 25 cents. It "ill be sent prepaid by return mail to any address Send the money in postage stamps. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, ■ Publisher of the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual, Rochester, N. Y. gSF" The Rural Annual has been published seven years. The seven numbers— lor the years 1856, '67, '58. '59, '60, '61 and '62 — will be sent, prepaid, by return mail, to any address lor $1.40. IMPORTANT TO STOCK GROWERS. THE FOUKTH VOLUME OF THK AMERICAN STOCK JOURNAL, Commenced January 1,1862. IT is devoted exclusively to matter relating to the breeding, care and management of our domestic animals, and is the largest, cheapest, ami most widely circulated periodical of the kind in this country. Thirty-two large octavo pages, handsome- ly illustrated. Every stockman should have it. k Published monthly at 25 Park Row, New York, at $1.00 per year. Specimen copies sent gra'is on application to A. G. jIAi.CH, General Agenjf, Windsor, Vt. D. O. LINSLEY, Editor and Proprietor. OTIS F. R. WAITE, Associate Editor. Tlie Cheapest and Best LITERARY MAGAZINE IN THE WORLD IS THE FIVE CENT MONTHLY. EACH number contains 32 bound pages of choice Original Romances,1 Tales, Sketches, Poems arid Criticism. Only 3 cents a number. Subscription price, •r»<> cents a year, by mail to any address, Specimen copies sent- upon the receipt of two red stamps. Address E 11. BULLARI) k CO., Publishers, tTCornh ill,; Boston, Mass. Marco. — 2t " Sliort-Horns." I HAVE for sale a few BULLS and RULE CALVES. COWS, and HEIFERS, mostly Jy (bo Imported Bulls DukeofOlos- le-r (U,3S2) and Grand 1 ml; e of Oxford (16.18*). Ja.-4t JAMES O. SHELDON, Geneva, N. Y. FOWLER'S PATENT STEAM PLOWLNG MACHINERY. PATENT-RIGHTS for states and Counties and Machines are now for wale. Descriptive-pamphlets sent post frete. Applv to R. W. EDDISON, Jan.— 4t 608 South Delaware Aveuuc, Philadelphia. ""HE following works on Agriculture. Horticulture, >fce.,mayb blamed at the Office of the Oknf.sk:: Faii.uik: Books ior Farmers and Fruit Growers I American Florist's Guide . . 75 Bright on Grape Culture.. 50 Browne's Bird Fancier.. 25 & 50 Cole's1 Am. Fruit Book 5o Oana's Muck Manual 1 0" Do. Prize Essay on Ma- nures 25 Everybody's Lawyer. $1 Sz, 1 25 Every Lady her own Flow- er Gardener 50 Farm Drainage, (II. F. Frencb) 1 00 Genesee Farmer (bound volumes) each 1 00 Liebig's Animal Chemistry 2". Liebjg on Food, &c 25 Do. Relations of Chemistry to Agriculture 25 Miner's Bee-keeper's Man- ual 1 00 Modern Cookerv,"by Miss Aeionand Mrs. S. .1. Hale 1 On. Nash's Praol eal Horse far- rier ool Quimby's Mysteries *>f Bee- keeping Explained Rabbit Fancier 25 Richardson on the Hog.... Do. Domestic Fowls Do. Pests "I the Farm. .. Do. on the Dog Rural Annual and Hort. Directory for 1861 (First, five "vols, do., 1856-7- 8-9 and CO, sent for Rodgers* Scientific Agricul- ture Rural Poetry of V. e En- glish Language, (a beau- tiful book for a present) . . Smith's Landscape G-ard'g Skillful Housewife The Rose Culturist 25 Tin' lb.rse and his Diseases Wilson on Flax Youatt on the Horse Do. on Sheep Do. on the Hog 1 0 &B 2 •I 2 2 1 ii ZST" \ ny of the above named works will be forwarded by mai p >-i-i..."!, ■!. receipt of the price specified. Address .JOSEPH HAKtilS, Rochester, N. Y- Rochester Lake Avenue Xslnrseries rjMIE Proprietors have on hand a general assort'; ent of -*- Fruit and Ornamental Trees Grape Vines, Including all the new varieties that are desirable; SHRUB; ROSES, and HERBACEOUS PLANTS. Among the latter, DDNNELLAN'S NEW SEEDLING PIE0NIES. Also. GREENHOUSE and BEDDING-OUT PLANTS, BULB: &c, &c, <£W Send /;„■ OA TAT.OGVES. Addrees J. DONNELLAN & CO., Rochester, N. Y. SEEDS! GARDEN SEEDS T7ROM HALLOCK'S SEED AND AGRICULTURAL WARI .1? HOUSE.— The subscriber will forward by mail, p< stage pa to any address in ths United States, a package ol twenty six pen) papers, well tilled with good and reliable Vegetable seeds, of got varieties to supply the garden, on receipt of $1 by mail. A pa Flower seeds will be substituted if desired. Send on your unlet If you wish any particular varieties, name them and they will 1 substituted it they are lo be had in this market. Address March— 2t* E. D. HALLOCK. A<;t„ Roch ester, N. Y. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes ol the Wood Cuts used in the Gen see Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Hire tory. A book containing Impressions of over Seven Hundred f these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on Hie recei of 50 cents. The book contains aD index, showing where de cxiplions of the culs will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Kooiij-stek. N. Y. Grnpe Vines — Clubbing. OPORTO fiN*E8, $'I EACH ; $6 PER DOZEN. T7VOR FIVE DOLLARS I will box and deliver lo the Expre I or Railroad 'he following vines. one half of them 2 years ok 8 Oporto^ 1 Rebecca. 2 Concord, 1 Delaware, 2 Hartford Prolific, 2 Clinton, 2 Isabella. For vines or catalogues of Lyons Nursery, or terms to Agenl address Ja.— St E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. h ?0Ti SALF— Rv the subscriber, a MORGAN BLACK HAW STALLION, sired by Black Hawk, Jr., is five years oh and stands fifteen and a ball hands high. Is a beautiful ntahoj any bay, with black legs, mane and 'ail Weighs about 1100 lb when in good condition. Is compactly built, possessing remarl able intelligence and muscular powers, having a strong, vigorot Constitution. Has an easv, open gnit. and bids fair I i make a fa traveler. JACOB IIOUSTATER, March.— ni* Pekin, Niagara Co., N. Y sk \l\i\ PER MONTH— Made by any one with Stencil Tool ■rp I \"t For a Circular explaining the business. Address JOHN Ml:. LIKEN, Mav — lv. Lawrence, Mass. rP0 WOOL IGROWERS— I completely cured 100 Sheep < JL the FOOT-ROT last year, at the (small expense of 8*ve c/*nt*. The recipe for doing which, I will send to any ncMrei for 50 cent*. * D. HALL, Medina, N. Y. THE GEXESEE FAP.MER. 103 For Spring of IS6&, FINE IMPORTED FLOWER SEEDS9 For Sale by JAMES VICK, Hoclieste,, N. Y. r II.WK received during the present winter .from ^.F**™- I reU Me growers ol England, France, and Germany, toe larg- ^t n flneftM of Flower and Vegetable Srasns eve* import- ,dinio UN country, embracing all thai is old and valuable, as r ',,',• u,,-m n ;" packages, sold at a moderate price, and afford he veri of ii wers in mfe wuntBy a rar,. opportunity to obtain I e ■ v.,^ of Europe, as well as fee choices! ol us vege- LbirproduS A few ft the leading varieties are named be- ;,„'. L 6 i Wl catalogue Mill be mantta to all applicants, ' FLOWERS THAT BLOOM THE FIRST SEASON. LsTEES.-Douhle Dwarf Pyramidal Boquet Flowered; Truf- ■ feut's Peon > owered Perfection, In twelve colors, all mixed, or I i llpr-u ■',,.,. ts: ImtoriqHe Pompone, or Daisy Aster; Nov Crown"* Two Colored, one of the most descale, yet showy : New Chrvsanfhemum Flowered. l 5TOCKS-r«n tTeefe-New Largest Flowered Dwarf, twelve colore mixed, or each color separate; Large Flowering Dwarf Pyramidal; Wa!l-Flower-Leaved ; Branching German ; Autum- mil Flowering; Emperor. , _ , BAT.S \MS — Double Oamelia Flowered, mixed colors'; Dwarf t-am'elia Fi iwered Spotted; Rose Flowered, mixed colors, «fcc. pm ox DTatTMMONDir.— Best Scarlet, Leopold!, Blue, with while Eve Radowiraii, &c. all of the finest varieties and most Bbowy colors, mixed in one package ... -separate as desired. LA rfKSPUR.— Double Dwarf Kocket ; Hyacmth 1- lowered, and PORTTJLVCCU— White Striped with Rose; Yellow Striped; White Red. Yellow, ,&e., &c-, best mixed, &c. ANTIRRHINUM.— Brilliant, Frefly, Papillonaceum, Dwarf Strip. -d, &c. mixed or separate. PAN«IEd— of first qniditv, both English and German. pONVt iLVULUd MINOR.— Double New, Splendons, New Dark, eONVOLVULUS MAJOR— Morning Glory— In every variety of color, separate or mixed. also : CaUiopsis; Chinese Pinks; Dolichos Lablab; Nasturtium, in a ,\,J.n varieties; Gillia; Petunia: Leptosiphon: EschoHzia; SalhiglossU, tall and dwarf: Sensilive Plant ; Ice Plant; Cocks- comb; Nemophilla; Marigolds; Zinnia Elegans; bweet Peas, adozen colors: Marvel of Teru; Sweet Scabious, and almost every Annual worthy of cultivation. EVERLASTING FLOWERS. I have every known variety of this interesting and beautiful class of flowers, now so popular for winter bouquets, worthy ol cultivation. , . , . .„„_ 1IFI [CHRISUM.— One of the largest and most showy, in tour varieti.-s. each of many colors. Monstrosum— Large and tine mixpd c.ior< ■ i: .sen plenb; Red ; Double Dwarf, Ac. ACROGLINITTM-r-Roseum and Album, (pink and white,) most ddicate and beautiful; ___ , &LOI5E AM \ R \N Pi! -Red.'Flesh Colored, Striped.VWhite, and Yellow, in separate papers. XERANTHEMUM— Atba pi.; Cernlapl.; ('ompacta. and Purple. RHoDANlliE MANGLE8II, Polyacolymna Stuarti, etc. ORNAMENTAL GRASSES. These, with fee Everlasting Flowers, form the best of Winter Bouquets. Basfcetsyand other Winter Floral Ornaments. I have twenty varieties. The following are some of the most desirable: Anlhoxanthurh Gracile, Brizn, Minima. Medium and Maxima; Lamarkia aurea; Chloris Radiate; Elymus llystnx; Lagurus Ovatus: Pennisetem Longistilum; Briza Geniculate. FLOWERS THAT BLOOM SECOND YEAR. HOLLYHOCK— Fine seed from best Double varieties, of Dwarf habit. „ . PICOTEES and CARNATIONS— From the best Continental grow -rs. SWEKT WILLIAM— Extra fine. AQCTLE'JIA— Finest Double varieties. Aconitum : Canterbury TVlls; Tielphinum, several beautiful vari- eties; Digitalis; Everlasting Pea; Oriental Poppy ; jLobelia ; Pcnslemon, and many other Herbaceous and Perennial Plants VEGETABLES. CABBA'.E— Farly Winningstadt, Blood-Red Late, Large White Erfurt. Large-Headed Savoy. KOHL RABI— Large Early Purple and Large White. CELERY— Several best varieties. CUCDMRKRS— Half a dozen best sorts. LETTUCE— Xlalta Drumhead. Early Ezg, Largo Pale Green Asiatic, Large Princess, and Paris White Coss. ONIONS— S\r*sbiirgh, Bl 1 Reurl, Sulphur Yellow, silver Skin- ned, Spanish, and Large Madeira. CARROTS— Long u-l Surrey, Large, WJute Qreen rop, and Early French Short Horn, for table. TOM.ATOES^-Lester°s Perfected, Large Early ll-\. Yellow Egg- Shaped, and Red Egg-Shaped. gQTJ \sil — All desirable Summer varieties, and the ttUDDara lor Ai.so-Ag''od"varietv of Parsnips, Heels, Turnips, Sajs f.V, Spiu- aeh. Savoy, Pepper, and other Vegetable Seeds. For the convenience of those who order Seeds I Will send any of the above, by mail, postage paid, at ten cents per package. When the order amounts to $1, two packages extra maj be or- dered. For .$2, six packages extra, and lor * >, twenty extra naekages,— all which will be sent free of posteg ■. To those who leave The selection to me 1 will send fifteen papers for *1. with a fair proportion of the newer and more expensive varieties. NEW AND RARE SEEDS. DI VNTHUS HEDDEWIGII— Seeds per package, 15 cents. DIaNTHUS LACINIATTJS— 16 cents. DIANTHUS HEDDEWIGII— Double, 25 cents. All the European novelties, a list of which will be forwarded to all who desire. ASTERS.— Nkw Giant Emperor, the largest and best, five inch- es across. 25 cents ; Nf.w Rose, or La Bui-ebb. a magnificent new variety, bright rose, four inches in diameter, 20 ci nts. DOUBLE ZINNIA— More double tnan the Dahlia, and as beau- tiful. French Seeds 26 cents per package. Seeds of my own growing, from best flowers. 13 cents. Seeds taken feom Double •and Semi-Double flowers. 10 cents. FRENCH TREE TOM ATO-Gmwing about two feet in height. With strong stem and blanches, requiring no other support than a short, strong stake, to help the main branch hold up its enormous weight of fruit— 25 cents a paper. C.U I.IFLOWEK.— Fault Paris, early and fine, per oZ. $1, per package, 20 cents; Lk Normand, extra large, per.oz. $1, pack- age, 20' cents; Ebfurt Large Early White, per o/. *1.2.\ per package, 25 cents; Large Asiatic, a tine large variety, and one of the best large sorts, 25 cents; St.uuioi.per a new large German variety, with very large bead and fine flavor, 25 .ems; Waloheren, a splendid variety, and by many (Ohsidered the best, 23 cents. CHOICE ENGLISH GARDEN PEAS. I offer to the lovers of this delicious vegetable some twenty- varieties of the newest and choicest Eng ish Garden Ftqa. em- bracing the earliest, medium, and late, which w II give a succes- sion during 'be season. These will be found very far superior, and in fact bearing no comparison, to the varieties c monly grown. EARLIEST —Daniel O'Eout.ke, growing from 2>; to 3 feet; Farly Emperor. 2K feet: Dickson's Early Favorite; fine and' good bearer, 5 11. ; Early Washing! on, fine, early, 4 ft. ; Sebastopol, large podded, productive, 4 ft. , MEDIUM. —Harrison's Glory, fine bearer and excellent, 2% to 8ftt; II akuison's Pereeciion, very productive and eood,'.',. to 3ft.';' Napoleon, excellent cropper and line. 2,V fi.; LORD Kao- lan. splendid qualitv and very prolific,? ft; F.ugkwa, new. fine and «reat producer, 2V, ft.; Veitch's PhrfbCTIOS, at ieust one of the best in cultivation for quality and produetu d, 8 ft; Climax, prolific, good. 3 ft. ; Rising Sum, b( st early green mar- row, 4 ft.; .New Purple Blossomed Sugar, flne,sweet, eatable LATE— Nb Plus Ultra, dark green, fine, good bearer, G to T ft -. Tall Gef.em Mammoth, very fine, 6 to 7 ft. ; Competitor, very large, green, tall aud excellent. I wiR send any of the above choice Peas by mail, in strong- cloth bags, each containing eight ounces, postage paid, lor J» cents each. A quart will weigh about 20 ozs. FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS! PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 2C0or50D vard spools. White, Black, am' Colored. T7»OB MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT SLA) F for rrpper 1^ thread, and BROOK'S SIX COiJDBED TICKET for nnder thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city anil coJiDtry: also in eases of 10 .i dozen each, assor ed numb, rs, by >\ M. HEM. i SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street. New "Vork^ ,)* — ly The New Lettuce. TP.UE BOSTON CURLED LETTUCE.— I introduce this new varietv as surpassinz all varieties of the Lettuce family in ex- eellen.e arid elegance. I would invite attention to the rare beau- ty of its structure and unequalled symmetry of Us growth. It is perfectly bar. ly. Packages containing seed sufficient to supply a family for a season, with directions for cultivation, posl paid, -0 cents each ; six packages, $1. Every .variety of ^ear^n seed for sale. Catalogues gratis, JAMES J. H. GKEODWr, yeD,_2t Marblehead, Mass. 104 THE GENESEE FARaIER. PREMIUMS! PREMIUMS! PREMIUMS! To Every Reader of the Genesee Parmer. ALL PRIZES AND NO BLANKS! How to Do G-ood and G-et Pay for it. GEEAT PAY FOE LITTLE WOEK ! Being desirous of doubling the circulation of the Genesee Far- mer the present year, we have concluded to offer the follow* lng Premiums to those who send us subscribers: Book Premiums. 1. To every person who sends us the name of one subscriber to the Genesee Farmer for the year 1SG2, and 50 cents, we will Bend a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaid's Di- rectory, by Mrs. Eliza A. Call, or one copy of the Rural An- nual and Horticultural Directory for 1S60 or 1861, sent pre- paid by return mail. 2. To every person who sends us Pico subscribers and one dollar, we will send the Rural Annual and Horticultural Hi- rectory for 1S60 and 1861, prepaid by return mail. 3. To every person who sends us three subscribers and $1.50, ▼e will send a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three numbers of the Rural Annual. 4. To every person who sends us four subscribers and $2,00, we will send one copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farri- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 6. To every person who sends us five subscribers and $2.50, we will send one copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1S56, nicely bound in stiff paper covers, prepaid, by return mail. 6. To every person sending us six subscribers and $3.00, we will send Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a handsomely bound Tolume of the Genesee Farmer for 1S60, prepaid, by Teturn mail. [The invariable price of the latter is $1.00, and there is no cheaper work.] 7. To every person sending us seven subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send one copy of Mrs. 8. J. Hale's Modern Cook- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 8. To every person sending us eight subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a copy of The Horse and his Diseases, or a copy of Everybody's Lawyer, prepaid, by return mail. 9. To every person sending us twenty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a copy of The Rural Poetry of the English Language, the best and handsomest work of the kind pub- lished. 10. To (he person sending us eighty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send Morton's Cyclopedia of Agricnlture, prepaid, by return mail. This is the best work on agriculture extant and sells for $18.00. Seeds, Grape Vines, Fruit Trees, etc. 11. To every person sending us two subscribers, at 50 cents each, we will send a package of Flower Seeds, containing six papers ot the choicest and best seeds imported from Franoe and England, and which sell at from six to ten cents each. They will be forwarded, prepaid, by return mail. 12. To every person sending us three subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, ten papers of choice imported Flower Seeds. 13. To every person tending u. four subscriber* at 50 cent* each, we will stnd sixteen papers of choice imported Flower Seeds, prepaid, by return mail. 14. To every person sending us five subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a Delaware Grape Vine, prepaid, by mail. 15. To every person sending us eight subscribers at 50 cento each, we will send two Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 16. To every person sending us twelve subscribers at 50 cento each, we will send three Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 17. To every person sending us fifteen subscribers at 50 cento each, we will send four Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. * 18. To every person sending us tevtnteen subscribers at 50 cents «ach, we will send five Delaware Grape Vines, or on* each of Delaware, Concord, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific and Crivelen ; and for a larger club in the same proportion. 19. To every person sending us fifty subscribers at 50 cento each, we will send eight dollar* worth of Fruit or Ornamental Trees, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, etc. 20. To every person sending us sixty subscribers at 50 cento eacli, we will send ten dollars worth of Fruit Trees, etc. SI. To every person sending us one hundred subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send twenty dollars worth of Fruit Trees, Grape Vines, Slrawberry Plants, etc. It must be borne in mind that these premiums are offered for subscribers at fifty cents each. All subscriptions will com*' mence with the January number. Premiums at Regular Club Rates. 1. To every person who sends us eight Subscribers, (at our lowest terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send, postage paid, a copy of our beautiful twenty-five cent book, the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862. 2. To every person who sends us sixteen subscribers, (at our lowest club terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send one extra copy of l he Genesee Farmer, and one copy of the Rural Annual, prepaid, by mail. 3. To every person sending us txeenty-four subscribers, (at above,) we will send two extra copies of the Farmer, or two copies of the Rural Annual and one extra copy of the Farmeb. 4. To every person sending us tldriy-two subscribers (at 37# cents each), we will send one copy of Mrs. Hale's Modern Cook* ery Book, prepaid, by return mail. 5. To every person sending w forty subscribers (at 37^ cento each), we will send one copy of Everybody's Lawyer, or Th« Horse and his Diseases, prepaid, by return mail, or sixteen pack* ages of Flower Seeds — and to larger clubs at the same rate. Our Agents can club the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual together at 50 cents the two. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genksee Farmer, March 1, 1862. Rochester, N. T. THE GENESEE FARMER. Is the cheapest agricultural paper In the world, and has attained an unrivalled circulation. Terms — Invariably in advance — Fifty Cents a Teak: Five Copies for $2: Eijrht Copies for $8, together with a Rural Annual trnd Horticultural Directory to the person getting up the club. It is not necessary that the' club should he all at on* office — we send wherever the members of the club desire. Specimen numbers sent free to all applicants. ja^" All friends of rural improvement are respectfully solicited to obtain and forward subscriptions. The Postage on the Genesee Farmer is only 3 cents a year in the State of New York, and 6 cents a year in other States.' Papers are sent to the British Provinces at the same rates as in the United States. No extra charge for American postage. The address of papers can be changed at any time. Address JOSEPH HARK1S, PUBLISUBB AND PbOFBIBTOE OF THE GkNESEE FaRMRB, Roo'kbstbk, N. I. -^sanifi. Tol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, APRIL, 1862. No 4. CULTIVATION OF BARLEY. We have frequently called attention to the fact hat American barley is far inferior to that grown 1 England. The wheat grown in "the Genesee ountry " and in Canada West, is often superior > the best English wheat; but our best barley rill not compare with an average sample of that rown in the moist climate of Great Britain. The eason of this is, doubtless, owing in part to the aortness of our growing season. It is not impro- able, however, that we might produce much bet- jr samples of barley if we were more careful in electing the seed, preparing the ground, sowing arly, and in cleaning the crop for market. Barley requires a dry, warm, active, mellow )il. What are popularly known as " barley soils " i England are rather too light and sandy for 'heat, without the consolidating action of the ieep which eat off the turnips on the land during ie winter. Unfortunately, light, sandy soil is very ften deficient in plant-food, and needs to be ma- ured in some way before it will yield maximum rops of barley. This is the great difficulty in rowing barley in this country. In England, the ght barley soils are enriched by the growth and onsumption on the land of a heavy crop of tur- ips. But as yet we have no crop that occupies he same position in any of our systems of rota- ion. We can enrich our land for wheat by plow- 2g in clover; but this cannot be done for barley. The usual way of enriching land for barley 5 by manuring the soil for corn. We know of no etter plan. We might use some artificial manure ar barley, such as superphosphate of lime or Jar- is & Baker's Island guano, mixed with Peruvian uano. Superphosphate of lime and the phos- hatic guano are found in England to have a better ffect on barley than on wheat. It is better, how- ver, to mix them, half and half, with Peruvian :uano. We do not say that these manures will pay, ut they are worth trying, especially on poor land. By plowing the land in the fall after corn, barley may be sown in the spring without again plowing the land, except with a gang plow or cultivator. The advantages of this plan are, that it saves labor in the spring, when other work is pressing, and the barley can be sown earlier. Barley should be sown as early as the ground is in good working condition — the earlier the better. It is the first crop to be attended to in the spring. But as it requires fine tilth and a mellow soil, working it while it is wet must be specially avoided. We usually sow too little barley seed. We would never sow less than two bushels per acre, and 2-J- bushels if sown broadcast is usually none too much. When the plants are up out of the ground, the barley may be rolled, if not done be- fore. Of course, the land must be dry enough not to clog. In England, clover is generally sown with the barley crop in the spring. This is not generally done in this section with us ; but where it is desirable, clover can be sown with barley to advantage if the ground is clean. In this case, it is well to sow a bushel of plaster per acre on the land, not eo much for its effect on the barley, as on the young clover plants. It may benefit the barley some- what, but is always sure to help the clover more than enough to pay the slight cost of the plaster. In saying that barley likes a light sandy soil, we would not be understood as asserting that it will not succeed on soils of a heavier character. This is not the case if such lands are thoroughly worked and got into a mellow condition. The heaviest crop of barley we ever saw was on a strong clay soil that had been summer fallowed the year be- fore, with the intention of sowing it ta wheat. It so happened that the wheat could not be sown, and barley was sown the following spring. The result was an immense crop of barley. We also saw the same thing, some years ago, on the farm 10G THE GENESEE FARMER. of John Johnston, in Seneca County, N. Y. He had a field summer fallowed for wheat, but gave up the idea of sowing it on account of the rav- ages of the midge. He sowed it to barley the next spring, and had a noble crop. These instances show that thorough cultivation will enable some- what heavy land to produce large crops of barley. COFFEE SUBSTITUTES-CULTIVATION OF CHICOK'f. Joseph Harris, Esq.— Dear Sir: Knowing you to he well posted on English agriculture, stock raising, etc., and, I presume, with the specialities or miscellaneous branches of agriculture which abound in England, it has occurred to me that you would be the most likely person to be able to tell us some- thing about the culture of chicory; but more es- pecially what the prospects for profit and success would be to introduce its culture into this country. I know that chicory is used very extensively in that country, by coffee roasters and dealers, to adulterate their coffee with, and by families and those who prefer to buy it unadulterated, i. e., whole, to mix with theirs; that it comes nearer to coffee than any other substitute, is not easily de- tected, and is said indeed to improve the coffee itself; that people there do not object to the use of chicory, but object to pay coffee price for it, and mix it themselves, and prefer to have it rather than their coffee without it. Now, coffee is high in this country, and is likely to continue so, and everybody is looking arouud for., and using some substitute, either wholly or to mix with coffee, and are generally falling back upon the old articles, rye, corn, peas, etc., while dozens of other articles are suggested by one and another, all of which are, after all, really but poor substi- tutes, being insipid, flavorless, not stimulating, and the merest makeshifts. Chicory has not, I presume, been much used heretofore in this country. But there is now a tariff on it (I am told) as well as on coffee; and the high price of the latter, with the people loudly calling for substitutes, and the tariff on chicory, would it not be likely to become a special crop — one th.it a demand might be created for, and be made to pay if introduced? Can you oblige me with any information, or your opinion, first, on these points ; second, on its mode of culture, pre- paration for market, average yield and price, and any other statistical matters concerning it, with reference to England, and if any examples of its culture have come under jour observation in this country? If you can, would it not be worth em- bodying in an article in your excellent Genesee Far- mer, as it is a subject claiming a good deal of atten- tion, and I think would prove interesting to very many of your readers? I do not see that the seed is named in any seed catalogue that I have got hold of — Thorburn's, Buist's, Dreer's, and others. It can not probfbly be procured in this country. Yours truly, St. Lends, Mo. C. SANDEES. Chicory (Cichorium intyous) was first introduced into England by Arthur Young, in the year 1780. It was principally grown for sheep. It was found to flourish upon almost any kind of land, and it is thought that it will keep more sheep per acre, du- ring the early summer months, than any other kind of herbage plant. For this purpose the seed ig sown broadcast in the spring, at the rate of from seven to twelve lbs. per acre. When raised for fodder, the seed is sown in drills about nine inches apart, and the plants thinned out with the hoe six inches apart. With clean culture, the plants will last for eight or ten years, and pro- duce abundant crops. When sown in drills, 4 lbs. of seed per acre is sufficient. The plants grow from six to eight feet in height, The stem is branched, and clothed on all sides with leaves, up to its very top. It is, therefore, very desirable that the plants be not too thick. It will be seen that the cultivation of chicory for fodder is very similar to that of lucerne. There is this difference, however, between the two crops; lucerne requires very rich land, while chicory will grow on the poorest soils, and is, therefore, well adapted for renovating impoverished farms. Chicory has been grown on the continent of Europe, as a "substitute for coffee," for many years, and it is now extensively cultivated in York- shire and other parts of England for the same pur- pose. "Morton's Cyclopedia of (English) Agri- culture," speaking of it, says: "As a plant of such speedy growth, and in all seasons, wet or dry, it can not be too strongly recommended for general use, and more particularly for the small occupiers. Cow-keepers would do well to cultivate it, and cot- tagers ought by all means to employ it in a doubU manner." The " double manner " refers to the use of the roots for coffee, while the stems are used for fod- der. Von Thaer, a well known and reliable Ger- man agricultural writer, says: "Of all plants which have been proposed as substitutes for coffee, and which when roasted and steeped in boiling water yielded an infusion resembling coffee, chico- ry is the only one that has maintained its ground.'* When grown as a root crop, the cultivation of chicory is very similar to that of the carrot — in; soil, preparation, manuring, seeding, weeding, har- vesting, etc. When dug, the tops are neatly cut off, and the roots washed and cut into slices by hand or with a turnip cutter. The slices are then dried in a kiln, and afterward sold to the grocers, who roast and grind it as they do coffee. An average crop of fresh roots may be stated at eight tons per acre, and the price in England at THE GENESEE FARMER. 107 $15 per ton. This would give $120 per acre. The cost of culture would be about the same as carrots. According to the analysis of Dr. Anderson (High. Soc. Trans., 1853, pp. 63 and 655), the fresh roots contain 80 per cent, of water. A crop of eight tons, therefore, would give 3,200 lbs. of dry roots (or coffee) per acre. =^v COMMON CHICORY PLANT. We annex an excellent engraving of the leaves md flower of chicory. The plant in appearance s not unlike the dandelion. The " dandelion cof- ee " sold in our drug stores, is chiefly, if not en- irely, chicory. ia i i Canada.. — The last London Mark Lane Express lays: "Previous to the exhibition in London and r'aris in 1851 and 1855, few people gave Canada credit for aught beyond dense forest and hyper- >orean climate ; and they were amazed to find her iust#ining pretensions which indicated a fine cli- nate, a fertile soil, wealth in mine and forest, and i people who add to energetic industry a full aver- ige excellence in the mechanic arts. Her soil is )Oundless and fertile ; her forests, extending over 160,000 square miles, have no superior on the face if the globe, and are waiting only the application ;)f labor and capital. Her past progress is mar- relious, and her future will be more so." CULTIVATION OF SPRING WHEAT. The principal aim in tbe cultivation of spring wheat should be to get the soil into a fine, mellow condition. It does best after corn that has been well cultivated. The soil should be warm and ac- tive. "We think it seldom does welr*on sod ground plowed in the spring, and sowed at one furrow.* On clover sod, however, that has been summer fallowed, it succeeds admirably. It is frequently sown on land that is too low and soft for winter wheat. Heavy crops are occasionally obtained from rich soil of this description. But with us the result has not generally been satisfactory. If the summer is dry and hot, a good crop may be obtained ; but in a cool, moist season, the mildew or rust is almost sure to strike it. In regard to the time of sowing, there is much difference of opinion. Many farmers prefer to prepare the land in the fall, and then sow as early as the ground will work nicely in the spring. We would not sow as long as the ground is wet and clammy. Nothing is gained by burying seed in a cold soil surcharged with water, and land plowed while it is wet can never be got into good tilth. Others prefer to sow spring wheat quite late — say the middle of May. They say that by doing so, all danger of the midge is over before the wheat comes into flower. We have known in- stances where late sown spring wheat has escaped the midge, while that which was sown earlier was much injured. Our rule would be to sow early, if the ground can be got into good condition. If not, wait till after the other spring crops are sown. It is very desirable to give the plants a good start. The roots of winter wheat ramify through the soil much more than spring wheat. The latter, like bailey, have a more circumscribed range. It is, therefore, more necessary to have the "food of plants" in the soil in a more concentrated and more available condition for spring than for win- ter wheat. Mineral manures are seldom needed for winter wheat. But, for the reasons already mentioned, it is not improbable that they may prove beneficial on spring wheat. Last spring we made some ex- periments with the view of testing this point. The wheat was sown May 10th, and the manures were sown broadcast the next day. The plots were a quarter acre each. One plot was dressed with 50 lbs. of plaster, or 200 lbs. per acre. The next plot received 50 lbs. superphosphate of lime (200 lbs. ' . per acre.) The next plot, 50 lbs. superphosphate 108 THE GENESEE FARMER. of lime and 100 lbs. of unleached wood ashes (400 lbs. per acre.) Two plots, one on each side, were left without manure of any kind. The result was, that we could see very little difference between any of the plots. Those that had no manure of any kind were nearly, if ftot quite as good as those which were top-dressed with plaster, superphosphate, ashes, etc. The land was an old meadow, that had lain in grass for many years. It was underdrained and broken up in 1860, and planted to corn, and sown to wheat the next spring. The crop was rather poor on the whole. The variety was the Fife, the seed being obtained from Canada. "We believe this variety one of the best, but it is per- haps better adapted to dry upland than to soils of a softer character. SOWING CLOVEB SEED. "Were we gifted with a poet's genius, we would sing of Cloveb. Not of its beauty, not of its fragrance merely, but of its utility. It is the grand renovating plant of American agriculture. Its roots bring up nutriment from the subsoil, and its leaves sip fertility from the atmosphere. "Raise your own clover seed, and sow it with an unsparing hand," is our standing advice to all wheat growers. If land will produce a good crop of clover, you may be sure it contains all the min- eral plant-food required to produce a maximum crop of wheat, or corn, or barley, or oats, or any other cereal. Any thing which increases the growth of clo- ver indirectly increases the growth of wheat and other cereal crops. In this way plaster or gypsum becomes a valuable fertilizer for the wheat grower. It. has itself little direct elfect on wheat, but it frequently increases the growth of clover to a con- siderable extent. This clover when plowed in for wheat, or if consumed on the farm either in the green state, or made into hay, furnishes manure of good quality. It may be said that the same is true of the grasses, oats, corn, etc. But there is this great difference between them. The clover retains all the ammonia it gets from the soil and the atmosphere, while the grasses and grains do not. The growth of grains and grasses always involves a certain loss of ammonia, but this is not the case with clover, peas, beans, and other legummous plants. Grow clover, then ; grow it as a renovator ; grow it for its food and for its fertilizing power. Grow it wherever it can be brought into the ro- tation. Sow it with wheat, sow it with barley, so it with oats, sow it with corn. Sow it on a sandy soil, even if you intend to plow up the land the next spring. " When shall we sow, and how?" "We care not, only scatter it with a liberal hand. Some like to sow it on their winter wheat early in the spring, when there is a little snow on the ground. Others prefer to wait till the ground and weather are warmer. Some few think it better lo harrow the wheat after sowing the clover, thus covering the seed and benefiting the wheat at the same time. Others, again, and we think wisely, prefer to sow on a frosty morning in April, after all danger of severe weather is over. Sow in the morning till the sun thaws the ground, and repeat the operation the next frosty morning. If sown with barley or oats, let the ground be made fine before sowing the clover seed, and then run a light harrow on the ground, or roll it after the barley is np. The shallower it is covered the better. It will do very well on a moist soil if not covered at all. "How much seed per acre?" "We think many farmers err in being too sparing of seed. Four quarts or eight pounds per acre is the usual quan- tity. "We would never sow less, and unless the soil is in excellent condition, would prefer to sow an- other quart. The English farmers, especially on light sandy soil, not unfrequently sow from 16 to 20 lbs. of mixed clover seed per acre. Our soil and climate are so well adapted to the growth of red clover, thatsuch.extreme thick seeding is not neces- sary, but thin seediug is generally poor economy. Plastee fob Potatoes. — In this section, wo think plaster or gypsum a profitable dressing for potatoes. Sometimes it does little, if any, good; but again the effect is quite beneficial, and as the cost is slight, it is always worth while to sow a bushel or so per acre at the time of planting, or after the potatoes are up. In some experiments of our own, not yet published, the effect of plaster was quite beneficial, especially in arresting the ravages of the disease. How to Sow. — Look at that field of wheat. You can see every sweep of the sower's hand. What is the reason? He let his hand fall down after leaving the seed-bag or hopper, instead of raising it before throwing the seed. It is the great fault in sowing. Raise your hand up level with your head, or nearly, before throwing the seed, and then it will be scattered evenly. In sowing clover or other small seeds, this is very important. THE GENESEE FARMER. 109 LORD PALMERSTON ON UNDERDRAWING. Lord Palmerston, the present Prime Minister of England, has written a long letter embodying the results of his /experience in draining. " This valuable letter," says the London Agricultural Gazette, " remarkable because it was written with instant dispatch in the midst of momentous mat- ters of national importance, is to be published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, and we shall then see the grounds upon which our gifted Premier could descend from the high region of war and politics to cope with engineers within the precincts of their own Institution upon a sub- ject peculiarly their own." REMUNERATIVE PATENTS. Whatever doubt the sceptical may entertain as to the superiority of the United States over Eu- rope in art, arms, and literature, it is certain that in one thing, at least, they "whip all creation," and that is, in making patents remunerative. In this country, patentees are often content if, by means of a patent, they can obtain some slight advantage over a competitor in respect of the cost of production, never dreaming that the invention will be required beyond their own works. Others, again, will protect what they consider a good thing, and leave the world to find out its merits, never troubling themselves further than to reply to applications for the patentee's terms for a license to use the patent. And even those who patent with the view of pushing their inventions to the utmost, will not unfrequently reject all offers for the privilege of working under their patent. Thus opportunities are neglected or frittered away, which would not only bring large profits to the in- ventor, but the benefits to be derivable to the pub- lic for his discovery are retarded, or perhaps en- tirely lost, new circumstances arising to render the patented process altogether inapplicable. In the United States, however, patentees seem to have learned the art and mystery of making money to an extent scarcely credible by sober-minded Euro- peans ; but that there is no romance about the state- ments, or exaggeration of the facts, which every now and then are published, is manifest, from the pecu- niary interest of the inventor being to estimate his profits at the lowest sum consistent with truth. It is only when an extension is required of an expiring patent that the profits of a patentee are brought to light. The extension is sought in the States or in this country on the ground of inade- quate remuneration ; and to prove this, a sworn statement of the outgoings and incomings has to accompany the petition. From such accounts we learned that the original patentee of the sewing- machine had realized the large sum of £97,000, which was deemed by the Patent Commissioner disproportionate to the benefits conferred by his invention on the community, and he therefore, be- came entitled to a renewal of his patent. In a recent number of the United States Railroad and Mining Register we find that the inventor of the reaping-machine, which carried off a gold medal at the 1851 Exhibition, applied for an extension of his American patent, but failed, from not being able to prove to the satisfaction of the Patent Commis- sioner the inadequacy of, his profits. From the filed accounts it appears that the receipts from his manufacturing business nearly touched $4,000,000, and that his clear profits amounted to $1,409,000. To realize this sum from an implement of such limited use as a harvesting machine, is to the Euro- pean mind almost incredible, but the truth cannot be questioned. There are other American patents which we know to have been more profitable than this; but we cannot call to mind one English patent that has yielded to its owner one-third of this sum. A singular case occurred, some years ago, of a patent, during the first year of the grant, producing a profit of £20,000; but having to do with dress, the fashion changed, and there was an end of it. The Times reviewer of Dr. Percy's book on Met- allurgy, refers to Dr. Muntz's patent for yellow metal, or ships' sheathing, as one of the most luc- rative patents known, and bases his assertion on the fact that its proprietor died leaving property that was sworn under £600,000. This is, how- ever, an unjust conclusion of the value of the patent; for Mr. Muntz's evidence, adduced before the Privy Council, when applying for an exten- sion of this patent, showed that his profits did not exceed £55,000. Again, the enormous fortunes made by Sir Rich- ard Arkwright and the first Sir Robert Peel give no satifactory evidence of the value of the patents which helped them to those fortunes; for it is not unlikely the greater bulk of their profits was de- rivable from their prudent mercantile enterprize, which, if otherwise directed, would most probably have yielded them similar returns. The fact then remains, that American patentees possess a secret which European inventors have as yet failed to discover, but which, as we think, is deserving of careful investigation, both on account of the pat- entees themselves, and of the public ; for we hold that, in respect of the extended working of an in- vention really worthy of the name, the interests of the patentee and of the public are identical. — We would therefore advise that, instead of ignor- ing statements which cannot be controverted, the proprietors of valuable British patents should seek to apply the means' by which American patentees are enabled to bring their inventions so extensively into use, and instead of obstinately persisting in a course which has created the odious term of "ob- structive patents," follow in the steps of their mop© " cute" cousins. — Newton's London Journal of Arte and Sciences. Cows — Kicking — Cause for It. — It is a fact that stripping cows with a jerk is one cause for- their kicking; and another prominent cause is, the- finger nails of the one who milks are long and. sharp, or rough and scraggy. Please examine' Biddy's or Tommy's finger nails, and pare them; off smooth and nice before letting them begin to milk, and it will pay in two ways at least. We shall have more milk, and our cows will stand and be milked quietly. Who would not dodge if pinch- ed with sharp finger nails? — Bexa Dunbab> liorth CMU. 110 THE GENESEE FARMER. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PSESS. Horse Radish for Cattle. — The Homestead says horse- radish is good for cattle and horses when appetite fails, and good as a medicine in various diseases in either. It is to be cut fine and mixed with potatoes or meal, or both. Large Hog.— The Boston Cultivator says John Cooper, of New Hampshire, killed a hog last December that weighed 733 lbs. He was nineteen months and twelve days old. Up to the 20th of June, he received no corn, and after that eat 27i bushels. Hogs Packed in the West. — The Cincinnati Price Current has returns of the number of hogs packed at one one hundred and thirteen points in the West, which foot up comparatively as follows: in 1861, 1,568,083; in 1862, 1,868,782— increase, 300,699. The complete report will show an excess of fully 400,000. The crop will be the largest ever packed in the West. Application of Manure. — N. Reed, of Duchess Co., N Y., say.s in the Count?']/ Gentleman, that farmers in that Section are becoming more in favor of applying their manure to grass land. The immediate effect is a dimin- ution of the crops of corn and other grain, but in a few years the whole farm is increased in fertility. He ad- vocates applying manure to grass land at the time of seeding. A heavy crop of grass is the result, and this, fed off by stock, he says, "is the best preparation for corn." A Thousand Plow Patents. — The New York World Bays: "It may surprise many of the multitude who use plows, as well as those who do not, to learn that about one thousand 'patents have been issued for alleged im- provements in plows since the foundation of the Ameri- can government. About two-thirds of these patents have been granted since the year 1847. Some curious investi- gator will doubtless mount this hobby, and give us a book about the origin and progress of the implement which the farming world is now trying to discard— if it can find anything better to use in cultivating the soil." Questions for Farmers. — A correspondent of the N. H. Journal of Agriculture asks the following questions : Are raw potatoes wholesome food for an idle horse? Are they profitable to feed to a horse when they can be purchased at one fourth the price of corn ? Is corn fodder good feed for sheep? Will they winter well on coin fodder without hay? Can corn sown broad- cast or in drills, and cut up while green and cured, be raised as feed for sheep' at a less price than hay? What is the process jiid what ttie expense of curing an acre? What, amount of turnips will a sheep eat dailv and prolitably ? Would straw and coarse hay be more valuable as food for stock if made as fine as meal? By what means can hay and straw be ground ? Superphosphate of Lime for Turnips.— For the last dozen years we have repeatedly recommended superphos- phate of lime as a manure for turnips. When drilled with the seed the effect is most astonishing. We have seen numerous instances where it has doubled and tripled and quadrupled the crop, and even more. There is no manure equal to it for turnips. In the last number of the Massa- chusetts Ploughman, A. J. Aldrich states that he put a little of Coe's superphosphate of lime on an eighth of an acre of French turnips, and left a small piece without any to see the effect. " The result was," he says, " that I had a good crop of turnips where the superphosphate was 'used; but the turnips were hardly worth pulling where it was not used. The proportion would be about one pouud of turnips where there was no mauure, [super- phosphate,] to eight pounds where there was mauure." In other words, the superphosphate increased the yield eight-fold. Save the Manure. — " Recollect," says the Ohio Farm- er, " that every shovelful of manure wasted is a loss to your crops, and consequently to your pocket." Sitting Hens. — The Ohio Farmer says, " always choose the evening hour for sittiug a hen." The reason assign- ed is that the hen, having a natural desire for roosting and resting at this time, will take to her duty more con- tentedly than if set in the morning. This is new to us, but there may be something in it. Sawdust as a Manurial Absorbent.— F. J. Kinney, of Wayland, Mass., gives in the New England Farmer, an in- teresting account of his use of sawdust for bedding, as a fertilizer and absorbent. In January, 1859, he commenced hauling sawdust and fine chips from a clothes-pin manu- factory. There were two horses, seven head of cattle, and several swine ou the farm, and in course of the year he used 100 cords of this material as bedding for these animals. The stable floois were covered with it about six inches deep, and as fast as that under the swine and cattle became saturated with urine, it was removed with the solid excrement to the manure cellar. The horse-bedding and manure was piled under a shed. In both cases it soon began to burn or firefang — this was remedied by running water upon it, mostly from the eaves of the barn and sheds, by wooden troughs from the conductors, and by keeping it as solid as possible until drawn out for use. Under a pair of steers kept for two months in the fall of 1859, at night, in a yard 14 feet square, he put one- third of a cord of sawdust three times a week. This laid until the next spring, when it yielded four cords of No. 1 mauure. There was but little loss in bulk by decompo- sition— an increase in weight — a good deal of rain having fallen during the autumn. In his opinion, it can not be kept too moist, up to the point of leaching. The stock which made 15 cords of No. 1 manure in 1858, made from 80 to 100 cords of No. 2 mauure in 1859. The average time employed per cord was about three hours — in drawing, distributing, trampling and watering. The effect when applied to the soil, in com- parison with barn manure, was fully equal, though not quite as lasting, and after the sawdust had lain two years, so as to become fully decomposed, it was considerably in- creased in value. In closing his communication, Mr. Kinney remarks: " Wherever I have examine'd the roots of a vegetable groWn where sawdust, chip or leaves and stable manure had been used, I found them embracing with their deli- cate fibres every atom of the vegetable matter within thejr reach, and drawing their natural sustenance from them ; and there is nothing I have ever tried as an assist- ant fertilizer that holds so much liquid or retains it so long, where only the air and sun operate upon it, as hard wood sawdust; and nothing that yields up this embryo vegetable so readily to the petitions of the rootlets." THE GENESEE FARMER. Ill Lick on Cattle. — A correspondent of the N. H. Jour- nal of Agriculture says kerosiue oil is the best thing in the world for this purpose. It kills them quickly, and does not injure the hair or health of the cattle. Underdraining. — A correspondent of the Farmer and Gardener, who visited Scotland last year, says: "Any one who wishes to learn the beneficial effects of under- draining, should go to Scotland, and see what has been accomplished there. Scotland can feed twice the number of persons now that it could fifty years ago — all by draining." Flax. — The same writer says that, "owing to the Am- erican war, preparations have already been made in Eng- land and Scotland to sow ten times the breadth of flax that ever was sown before ; and it is said that the ' Gem of the Ocean,' Ireland, will have a fourth of its surface oovered with flax next [this] year." Farmeks Seldom Fail. — The Massachusetts Plough- man states that out of 1,112 persons who took the benefit of the late bankrupt act in that State, only 14 were farm- ers. In this State, 2,550 took the benefit of the act, and only 46 were farmers. The profits of agriculture may be slow, but they are sure. Sandy Soils can be Stirred too Much. — A corres- pondent of the Farmer and Gardener thinks the New Jersey farmers use the plow, harrow and cultivator too frequently, and the roller too seldom. Sandy soils are too full of air, and require much heavy rolling to make them compact ai,d retentive of moisture. "What Branch of Agriculture will Pay?" — The Minnesota Farmei' and Gardener says this is the great question of the day at the West, and the general answer is, to " raise less wheat and more stock, horses, sheep, Borghum, flax, etc." It is thought that sheep and wool growing afford good promise of profits. Now is the Time to Bdy Fruit Trees. — The New York World urges farmers to avail themselves of the present low price of fruit trees, to plant largely, and adds: "The demand for fruit is almost illimitable — in- creasing with the improvement of the supplies — i.nd the prices for really good fruit pay enough to satisfy any man of intelligence and energy who applies himself to the cultivation of orcharding." Improved Horse Stalls. — The Germantown Telegraph contains the following description of a new plan for lay- ing the floors of horse stall's. It appears to be an excel- lent one. "It consists in making the horse stall floor level fore and aft, and with an obliquity of three-quarters of an inch from each side to the center of the floor, where there is an opening made in the floor half an inch wide and six feet in length, or from a line of the back stall posts towards the manger six feet. The plank of the floor is laid crosswise of the stall, the plank being cut in two in the middle, and so laid that the ends are a half inch apart, thus forming the opening which I have described. This opening is provided for dropping the urine directly through the floor, instead of allowing it to flow on the floor from where it falls to the back end of the floor of the stall, thus wetting the greater portion of the floor, and when the horse lies down, wetting his body and clothing, and especially his tail ; for there is generally no provision made for conveying the urine farther than the rear of the stall. " I place a galvanized sheet iron urine gutter under the opening in the floor, which has obliquity in itself, the manger end being two inches deep, and the discharge end six inches deep. It discharges into a plank urine gutter six inches deep and ten inches wide, which runs along behind the stalls under the floor, and is carried by a loose floor plank, which may be taken up at pleasure and the gutter cleaned out. This gutter has a good des- cent, so that the urine is discharged from it, but some dirt and refuse will get into it through the narrow open- ing in the stall floor. All the atteution that my arrange- ment requires daily, is just to pass the fork tines through the slat in the floor. "Those who use my improvement say that tire bedding will keep drier and cleaner for forty days than it will for four as ordinarily arranged. The iron gutter costs %\, and the wooden gutter behind the stalls and under the floor will cost about 75 cents per stall ; otherwise this ar- rangement costs no more than the common way." Loss op Cattte in California . — The California Farmer of Feb. 7th says : " The late severe cold weather has destroyed a large amount of cattle, sheep, and swine. We have information from all sections, of quantities of stock that has perished by the cold, and the late floods, and as the short fed stock were poorly prepared to stand the severe cold weather, they have perished by the hun- dreds of thousands. Sheep have also perished in lamb- ing, by reason of the severe weather following the ex- posure to the flood — and swine also. Horses, also, have perished. It is to be hoped that the trials and losses of the year will teach lessons of wisdom, and induce stock owners to be merciful to their stock, provide them with shelter for the wet season, and raise food for winter feed, such as root crops, and the saving of fodder that for years has been burned." When to Plant Sorghum. — The Bucyrus (Ohio) Foium contains an article from the Rev. A. Myers of that place, in which he states that the experience of forty persons of his acquaintance demonstrates that early planting is not practicable. " Of all the experiments from the last of April until the 10th of May, not one matured; those from the 10th of May until the 20th were ripe, or nearly so; and all, without exceptions, from the 20th of May until the 1st of June were perfectly matured, demon- strating, conclusively, that the latter part of May is the best time to plant." It is absolutely essential to suc- cess in making sugar, he says, that the sorghum should be fully matured, and as early planting is not safe, he thinks we must have some preparation to bring the seed up speedily. What that is, he professes to have discov- ered, and will announce in time for planting. We hope he will do so. Draught Horses in the West. — A correspondent of the Minnesota Farmer and Gardener urges the farmers in that State to raise more draught horses— not slim-shanked racing horses. Thousands of dollars have been wasted in trying to raise the latter, while substantial draught horses will sell in any inaiket, and will pay. 112 THE GENESEE FARMER. MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. April is the month, in this climate, to remove bees confined in buildings, cellars, etc., to their summer stands. Let it be done just as soon as the weather becomes mild, and the ground free from snow. If it is convenient to set each hive where it stood last season, it is well to do so; but it is not u' nil necessary, as the bees take a new survey and marking of the posi- tions of their hives after a winter's confinement, and anew position appears to be just as good as an old one. But be careful to set the hives where no change of position will be necessary, till again removed to winter quarters. When cases do occur in which it is necessary to remove hives a few feet, after being placed in position for the sea- son, it should be done by degrees, a few inches at a time. If a hive stands by itself, or five to ten feet from any ^ther hive,* it maybe removed several feet at once with safety ; but when hives are placed in rows, side by side, with about a foot of space between them, as is frequently the case, it would produce great confusion and loss of bees, to move the hives laterally, so as to trench on the original position of each other. In such a case, the bees of the different hives would become badly mixed, and many would be killed in the battle that would ensue. In a few days they would become regulated again, but with greatly diminished numbers. If I were under the necessity hi removing bees in such a case, I should do it by moving the hives a few inches daily, till I gained the desired position. Hives may be moved back and front a foot or two daily, without derangement to the bees; and where no other hives exist in close proximity, they may perhaps be moved ten or fifteen feet at once, and alt the bees will find them readily. When bees are removed from their place of wintering to their stands, the first operation performed by them on their sallying out, is to mark the position of their hives. This is done by a series of circular flights, with which all bee keepers, I presume, are familiar. On these occasions the position of the hive is marked with such accuracy, especially the entrance of it, that if removed only six inches, the bees, on their return from the fields laden with pollen or honey, alight exactly where the entrance tvas, not where it is on their return, From this circumstance, it is shown that the color, size or shape of the hive has nothing to do with the correct return of the bees to their ;>wn tenements. A row of hives may be so alike that no man can discern the least difference between them, and , hey may stand within a few inches <$ each other, yet the "oees will seldom make a mistake and enter the wrong liive. Even if a white hive be substituted for a black ne, or vice versa, the bees in the fields while such change .s made, would return with the same unerring exactness .to their hives as if no such change had taken place. It appears that the transposition of hives, or their re- moval to new localities, is not attended with much loss of bees at any time after cold weather sets in, while the bees ire confined to their hives by the severity of the weather. Last fall, the last of November, on protecting my bees for he winter, I moved the hives to a new location, mixing iem without any regard to their previous position, suppos- in w that cold weather had sot in for the season, and that my bees would not leave their hives again till spring. But unfortunately in a few days after the hives were arranged, and protected with a packing of straw, a warm spell of weather set in, and the bees became uneasy, and began to- escape through the straw in such numbers that I was compelled to uncover the hives in front, and allow the bees to sally out. They had previously been confined to their hives by cold weather about ten days, which led me to think that they would mark the positions of their new stands, and a less number of bees would be lost by fight- ing, in consequence of getting mixed, than would occur if they had not been thus confined to their hives. In this opinion I was not mistaken. I noticed but very little con- fusion in the bees by not entering their respective domi- cils ; perhaps a quart of bees were killed only in fifty hives, and after the second day of issuing they had be- come perfectly " at home," and no further loss was sus- tained. In this case, the hives were placed as close to- gether as they could be set, and were mostly removed several rods from where they stood during the summer. The result of this operation is of some interest to bee keepers, as it shows that bees may be removed with safety and the hives placed in any position, without much loss, after cold weather has set in, and the bees have been con- fined a week or two to their hives by the severity of the atmosphere, even if they sally forth in large numbers as soon as removed. In this month, the stands or bottom boards of the hives should be cleaned of all the foul accumulations of winter, and the combs examined for the purpose of removing any dead bees between them, which is best done by the feather end of a quill. Mouldy combs should be cut out, and such families as are short of honey should be supplied with honey in the comb, strained honey, or a syrup made of sugar. This should all be done on removing bees from their winter quarters, when they are wintered in a sepa- rate location from their summer stands. The hives should rest closely upon the bottom boards till very warm weather sets in, about June 1st in this cli- mate and earlier in more southern latitudes, when they should be raised three-eighths of an iuch all round. The moth worms that occasionally appear in April and May need not create the least alarm in the mind of the in- experienced bee keeper, as these pest are found more or less in all families of bees. They should be destroyed when seen, and a watch kept for their cocoons, in which they wind up as silkworms do, and come forth a winged miller, which is far more dangerous than the original worm. While I do not advise bee keepers to spend much time in ferreting out the hiding places of moth-worms, it is not amiss to lay split elders, or anything having a hollow groove or cavity on the under side, upon the floor boards of the hive, under which the worms will take refuge, and may thus be easily destroyed. It is also advisable to raise the hives about once a week from April to June, and destroy such worms as may be found under the edges of them. There is no necessity to place the boxes or caps for sur- plus honey iu their positions till next month ; but be sure and get them on early in May, and attach a small piece of empty comb in the corner of each box, which causes THE GENESEE FARMER 113 the bees to commence filling the boxes sooner than they would do if no such combs were placed there. Take new combs of last year's make, and cut into pieces about two inches long and one inch or less thick — the lower edges of combs being best Then melt some beeswax, take a stick with a rag tied to the end, about as large as a walnut, and first lay a coating of hot wax upon the place where the piece of comb is to be cemented, then dip the edge of the comb to come in contact with such coating quickly in the wax, and place it in its position before the wax has time to cool, and it will adhere firmly. You can give di- rection to the store combs in the caps, by placing these small pieces of comb lengthwise, as you desire the combs to be built. It is not a difficult matter to attach pieces of comb in boxes that are closed, with no opening except the holes through which the bees pass. In such cases, the pieces of comb should be no larger than will easily pass through the holes, and the placing in position is to be done with the swab, the stick above referred to. Clinton, N. Jr. T. B. MINER. ITALIAN EEES. Eds. Genesee Farmer: — The February No. of the Gen- esee Farmer contains an article on Italian honey bees from Mr. T. B. Miner, which, it strikes me, is so much at variance with the spirit which characterizes the contents of your valuable journal, so inconsistent, and displaying such ignorance of modern bee literature and physiology, that one would suspect the writer had confined his read- ing strictly to his own book on the Honey Bee. which, valuable as it is, does not exhaust the subject. As many place deservedly high confidence in Mr. Miner's practi- cal skill, they may be led astray by his statements in the article on the Italian bee. For the sake of brevity, I will go over the same ground without referring to his statements. Those iuterested in the subject may, by comparing our statements, judge for themselves which article is best supported by facts, and which is written in the best spirit to advance truth and dispel error. Families of Italian bees, as well as queens, have been offered for sale, by advertisement, by several parties for more than a year past; but from the extra risk and ex- pense attending transportation of families on long jour- neys, we do not advise their purchase. There was never " speculation" or "humbug" in the importation of the Italian bee, either into this country or into different parts of Europe. As early as 1849, a few families of Italian bees were imported into Germany by amateurs. They were kept and bred by scientific men, who had made bee culture the study of their life, and not a business; and they employed this most interesting insect to elucidate some of the most important and inter- esting truths in the mysteries of bee life. (See the writ- ings of Dzierzon, Borlepsch and Siebold.) At Dzier- zon's apiary, and aided by him, the learned and renowned Siebold armed himself with facts which made clear the existence of true parthenogenesis in bees by experiments with both the black and Italian honey bee*. Whilst Dzierzon was conducting various experiments, which ex- tended over several years, and which could only be carried on by the presence of the two races together, he and other observers noticed striking differences in favor of the Italian race, and then a natural and legitimate de- sire arose to obtain them. Since 1849, much has been written about them by highly educated men in Germany, England and France. Mr. Langstroth was, I believe, the first to publish an account of them in this country, and, if I mistake not, it appeared in the first edition of his valuable work, translated by his friend Mi\Samuel Wagner from the German Bienenzeitung . Each subsequent edition contains a more minute account of them. Since Mr. Langstroth's first notice, a growing interest has existed in this beautiful and useful insect, which induced several gentlemen to import them; among other attempts, the Patent Office at Washington, which effort, I regret to say, was unsuccessful. I would here, for the public good, demand of Mr. Miner proof that the workers can, "at hest, be only half breeds." This shows that he is either ignorant of the physiology of the bee, as given by the highest modern authorities, or that he discards their views. I never part with a queen until I have seen her progeny, and know them (the progeny) to be full blooded. Owing to the distance queens fly when on their "first excursion," it is necessary, in order to insure a certainty of having a ma- jority of Italian queens purely impregnated, to have com- mand of all the native bees for at least two miles distant. This, of itself, involves considerable trouble and expense, which, together with all the expenses — first cost and im- portation— is such that it must take several years for an importer to realize from sales at any price his first sea- son's outlay, if ever he does it. Description, etc. — This peculiar bee exists only on the southern slopes of the Alps, in Lombardy and Southern Switzerland. I say only, for in no other part of the world is this species found as a native. It is marked distinctly with three light yellow bands, and is there- fore entirely different in external appearance from the common black bee. It is about one-ninth larger than the black bee, if hatched in cells of its own make. As to its superior qualities, although attested by the highest au- thority, I may add my own experience. I find them stronger, more hardy, and more laborious than the black bee. In the early morning, before the black bee is to be seen, they are out at work, and in the evening, when all is quiet about the black hive, you will still see the Italian worker returning to her home. On cloudy mornings and windy days they show more courage; you will then see twice as many Italians active as others. Their strength is superior beyond question, and they will invariably commence to rob the black hive first, if placed in their vicinity; whereas, I have never in my experience seen the black hive attempt to rob an Italian colony. The reason that this species has only of late years come into renown, is from the fact that the region in which this bee is exclusively found is not much in com- munication with the other parts of Europe, being very mountainous, and not traversed by general highways, rivers and railroads. c. wm. rose. No. 63 Exchange Place, New York. 114 THE GENESEE FARMER. DUCKS AMD THEER MANAGEMENT. C. N. Bement, an acknowledged authority on poultry matters, writes: Any calculation as to the return to he expected by those who keep ducks turns entirely on the pos- session of a suitable locality. They are most likely to be kept with profit, when access is allowed them to an adjoining marsh or water meadow, where MALLARD OR WILD DUCK. they are able in a great measure to provide for themselves; for if wholly dependent on the breeder for their living, they have such ravenous, insatiable appetites, that they would soon, to use an emphatic phrase, "eat their l^eads off." No description of poultry, in fact, will devour .so much or feed so grossly. But certain moderate limits are necessary for their excursions, for otherwise they will gradually learn to absent themselves altogether, and acquire semi-wild babits, so that when they are required to be put up for feeding, or immediate sale, they are found wanting. Ducks, too early allowed their liberty on large pieces of water, are exposed to so many enemies, both by land and water, that few reach maturity ; and even if some are thus fortu- nate, they are ever after indisposed to return to the discipline and regular habits of the farm-yard. They may be kept in health in small enclosures, by a good system of management, though we fear not with profit — which is the point to which all our advice must tend. A drake and two or three ducks will cost but little to maintain, and will do incalculable and un- known service by the destruction of slugs, snails, worms, and the larvae of gnats and other annoying insects. The only trouble they will give, is, that if there be much extent of water or shrubbery about their home, they will lay and set abroad, unless they are got up every night and confined, which should always be done; otherwise they will drop their eggs carelessly here and there, or incu- bate in places where their eggs will be sucked by carrion crows or skunks, and half their progeny destroyed by weazels or rats. In the neighbor- hood of large pieces of water, or wide-spreading marshes, this will be either impossible or attended with more waste of time than the ducks are worth. Ducks are much more prolific than they have credit for, and, even for eggs, can be made a profit- able bird, if well fed and properly managed. Any common duck so treated, if not old, will yield in a season one hundred or more large, rich, delicious eggs. When they lay, it is daily or nightly, and if kept from setting (which is easily done by chang- ing their nests frequently), they will lay with little interruption from March until August. But the trouble is, a duck lays only when eggs are most abundant, while hens' eggs may be procured at all seasons. A single drake is sufficient for six to eight ducks. If well fed in winter, and lodged in a comfortable, dry place, they begin to lay the latter part of March or first of April. They must then be closely looked after, for they are very careless and deposit their eggs wherever they happen to be — in the water, in the shady and secluded places, even after having concealed them from the person who has charge of them ; they hatch them secretly, and some fine morning bring their young brood to the house to ask for food without requiring further trou- ble. It is prudent, when the spring is at hand, to give them food three or four times a day, but, little at a time, but always in places where it is wished they should lay, and in placing their nests wheie they once have lain. Where they are kept in considerable numbers, they should have accommodations of their own. The duck-house must be secure at night against prowling animals, such as foxes, skunks, weazles and minks. The walls and root should be low and thickly thatched with straw, for warmth in win- ter, with the necessary openness for ventilation, and ingress and egress of the ducks. The con- struction of a piece of rustic work like the above figure (which we take •from "Brown's Poultry- Yard), after selecting the situation, can easily be made by any person accustomed to the use of the saw and the ax. All that is required is a little taste, having your plan well digested before commencing, so as to require no alterations. Join four pieces of saplings in an oblong shape for the sills; confine them at the ground, erect at the mid- dle of the two ends a forked or crotched post, of suitable height, in order to make the sides quite steep ; join these with a ridge-pole ; rough-board it from the apex downward by the sills to the ground; A DUCK IIOUSE. then cover it with bark, roughly cut in pieces a foot square, laid on and confined in the same man- ner as ordinary shingles; fix the back end in the same way, and the front can be latticed with small poles with the bark on, arranged diamond fashion, as shown in the sketch— a part to be made with hinges for a door. Something like this, placed on a bank, or small TEE GENESEE FARMER. 115 island of a Jake, pond, or small stream, and half covered with vines or shrubbery, would make a very pretty home for aquatic birds. The size of tKe building may vary according to the wants of the owner. Laying and setting boxes may be placed at either or both sides of the building, under the rooting, on the ground. They should have a place separate from other fowls, on account of the great difference in their habits. When circumstances will permit the ar- rangement, we recommend having the house ad- joining the pond, which should be enclosed. The laying ducks should have plenty of room for the sake of cleanliness, and should never share the hab- itation of geese, as the ducks are liable to persecu- tion. When accustomed to be fed in the house, they readily present themselves at the proper time ; in the morning they get their feed apart from the geese and fowls — in which case they are not perse- cuted by the former, nor pilfered by the latter; and thus, too, their eggs are secured with far greater certainty, since the birds are not released from their enclosure till after the hour which usually witnesses the deposit of their eggs. The duck gen- erally lays at night or early in the morning, and is usually disposed to lay away from her house ; but by our plan many eggs are secured which other- wise would have probably been lost. A strong desire for the selection of her own nest is generally found to influence the duck ; but this is mainly the case as the time draws near for incuba- tion. Wood is seldom secure against rats, and does not so well suit the cleansing process of water and the lime brush, and few places require their application more frequently. Do not crowd your birds, and always arrange for good ventilation. "When the flock is large, sep- arate the young ones, that they may thus have the advantage of better food, and that no risk may be incurred of finding the eggs of the older ones trod- den under foot and broken, at your morning's visit. On this account, the laying ducks should always have plenty of room, and be kept by themselves. REARING AND FEEDING THE YOONG. The hest mode of rearing ducklings depends very much upon the situation in which they are hatched. On hatching, there is no necessity ot taking away any of the brood, unless some accident should hap- pen ; and having hatched, let the duck retain her young upon the nest her own time. On her mov- ing with her brood, prepare a coop and pen upon the short grass, if the weather be fine, or under shelter, if otherwise; a wide and shallow dish of water, often to be removed, near by them. Their first food should be crumbs of oread moistened with milk; curds, or eggs boiled hard and chopped fine, are also much relished by, and are good for them. After a few days, Indian meal boiled and mixed with milk, and if boiled potatoes, and a few cives or lettuce chopped fine be added, all the bet- ter. All kinds of sopped food, buckwheat flour, barley meal and water mixed thin, worms, etc., suit them. As soon as they have gained a little strength, a good deal of pot-herbs may be given them, raw, chopped fine, and mixed with a little bran soaked in water, barley and boiled potatoes beat up together. They are extremely fond of angle-worms, grubs, and buys of all kinds, and for which reasons they may be useful to have a run in the garden daily. All these equally agree with young ducks, which devour the different -substan- ces they meet with, and show, from their most ten- der age, a voracity which they always retain. No people are more successful in rearing ducks than cottagers, who keep them for the first period of their existence in pens two or three yards square, feeding them night and morning with egg and flour, till they are judged old enough to be turned out with their mother to forage in the field. It is necessary, to prevent accidents, to take care that the ducklings come regularly home every evening; and precautions must be taken, before they are permitted to mingle with the old ducks, lest the latter should ill-treat and kill them, — though ducks are by no means so pugnacious and jealous of new-comers, as common fowls uniformly are. FARMING NOW AND THEN. "When this deponent came to little Seneca in 1821, all the good farming here was confined to growing the largest fields of wheat of the best quality from the then virgin soil. The man who then sold the most wheat from his farm was called the best farmer; he, of course, grew a large patch of rye to feed with the cut st^raw to his heavy Ger- man plow horses ; but his corn field was then small, always neglected, and very weedy, so that he rarely harvested more than corn enough to tat pork for his family. Farmers who then harvested 600 or more bushels of wheat, rarely ever kept more than two or three cows, and poor ones at that — only a lew rough sheep to make the wool for the linsey woolsey and fulled cloth of the fam- ily. But all that is changed now — thanks to the advent of the wheat midge for jostliug'the farmer out of the old track of depending on the wheat crop as the only paying product of the farm ! Be- ing thus driven by a mysterious insect from con- tinuing to grow wheat after wheat, to a more general and varied system of husbandry, grass and clover growing, and stock raising has enabled the farmer to grow large crops of Indian corn, oats, potatoes, etc., with a manure pile continually in- creasing, and also extra rich in plant-food ; so that at this time, as the midge leaves us, the wheat crop is again very profitably included in the judicious rotation of the farm. During the late long continued good sleighing, in driving along the western shore of the Cayuga, I was delighted to see the great improvements that have been made in the last thirty years. In every farm yard we passed, instead of a few straw-fed cows and pot-bellied yearlings, and a leaky log shed, as of old, we now see the ample yard enclos- ed on two sides with deep shingle-roofed sheds, which now shelter well-conditioned bovines of im- proved breed, and fine-woolled sheep, all up to their knees in straw, but not straw-fed. The extra large, painted, and blind-ventilated barn is full of well-cured fodder and grain ; and the tall stacks of dark-looking, but early, well-cured clover hay near by, gives an earnest that the farmer knows how to feed his soil, as well as his stock. If the farm house does not bring to mind the chaste specimen of Grecian or Gothic architecture, 116 THE GENESEE FARMER. and its surroundings are somewhat crude or de- ficient in sylvan or floral decoration, you feel as- sured that there is both comfort and plenty within, and that all its inmates are ever happily exempt from that conflict between pride and poverty, which is so often the plague of the domestic circle, -except in rural life on the well managed farm. Waterloo, 2T. T. . S. W. CARROTS AND OTHER ROOT CROPS. Eds. Genesee Farmer: — In the Farmer for March, " O. R." writes urging the value of the carrot, and the importance of its culture, valuing the carrot above other roots, while admitting the high value of turnips, etc., and giving good, sensi- ble directions for the cultivation. The cause he advocates is a most' worthy one. The farmers of all parts of the country would surely profit largely by growing more roots — profit in several ways — in economy, in the health of their stock, and in the increased value of manure, while insuring clean tillage, because a good root crop (potatoes ex- cepted) cannot be grown without. But I fear that he is too eager an advocate, and incline to think that "roots" have been pronounced a "humbug" by many who have undertaken to grow them after reading just such promises as to their yield and value, and that all who sow carrots with the idea of getting 1,200 to 1,500 bushels per acre, three bushels equal in feeding value to one of corn, will be disappointed. First, as to the yield. Nine years trial give me 600 bushels as a good average crop, with clean, careful field culture, plenty of manure, a good sandy loam, the crop taking its place in the regu- lar rotation — much larger crops, on land devoted specially to this crop, and tilled like a garden, with a foot of good loose soil, and manured every year abundantly — in one case, 400 bushels from a quar- ter acre ; but I never found another piece of land on my farm that would do it. It is, however, to be noted that the carrot can be grown for many years on the same land if manured, with a con- stantly increasing yield. Second, as to feeding value. Botissingault makes the nutritive value of 882 lbs. of carrots, or say 6| bushels of 60 lbs. = 676 of Swedes, or say 11| bushels = 70 lbs. of Indian corn = 100 lbs. of hay — a result, I think, no farmer will acquiesce in. Fresenius, 542 lbs., say 9 bushels of carrots = 100 lbs. of hay = 391 lbs. of mangold. The average of seven experiments in Germany makes 280 lbs. of carrots — 346 of mangold = 100 of hay ; and four of the same set of experiments average the result that 262-^ lbs. of Swedes are of the same value,* the other experimenters not hav- ing included this root in their lists. Let us be cautious in deciding where doctors disagree, so much as they do on this question. For myself, I think two quarts of corn meal, or four of ground oats, a higher daily allowance for a cow than a half bushel of carrots or turnips, and that 8 bush. of carrots are no more than equal to one of corn or two of oats. On the other hand, the roots are more wholesome, and have a health-giving value that can not be over estimated. Third, as to the comparative value of carrots and other roots. For young horse stock, I consider a few carrots a necessary almost. For cattle, bushel for bushel, 1 would as lief have Swedes; but, 'of course, this is only my insignificant opinion. Fourth; although 1 would never be without a few carrots, I prefer either the Swedes or the man- golds, because I can grow these roots in my regu- lar rotation, whereas carrots require rather a petted piece of ground; because the culture of the other roots is easy, while the carrots, owing to their puny growth at first, are difficult to till and easily injured; besides, they are so slow of ger- mination that the weeds are apt to get the start of them ; because I can be as sure of 750 to 800 bushels of Swedes as 600 of carrots, or even 500, and can use green manure. As to the fly, a little superphosphate, or well prepared fine bone dust compost, makes the turnip crop safe, and pays in the next crop. Lastly ; let us have lots of roots; but if a man wants 1,200 bushels of carrots, he had best plant two acres, and take good care of them. p. q. CULTIVATION OF POTATOES. * Cultivator tor July, 1861. Table taken from Flint on Dairy Farming. One would suppose that at this late day, it would be difficult to say any thing in regard to potato culture that is new or worth reading. "Well, it is so in a great degree, yet we do not appear to know any more in regard to the best methods of culture than people did fifty years ago. It was a prom- inent question then as now, " Are small potatoes as good for seed as large ones?" We are also un- decided, as we were in "old times," whether it is best to plant in hills or drills, or furrows, as is done in many places. But farmers are quite as eager to learn how to cultivate this crop, as they would be, apparently, if it were a new vegetable just intro- duced to the rural public. One says, "I'm ut- terly discouraged with potato culture ; I frequently get but little more than the seed I planted, and half rotten at that." Another remarks, "I gen- erally have dug my potatoes late in the season, and have had a great many diseased ones; but this year I dug early, and lost nearly the entire crop;" while a third exclaims, "I dug early, and seldom lost any by disease ; but I was induced to leave my crop in the ground last fall till the middle of Oc- tober, and when I went to dig 'em, they were all gone, except a few not worth the expense of dig- ging." Now, what are we to do under such a state of disagreement and uncertainty ? I think I can lay down a few brief rules, that can safely be followed by all persons engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. First, plant fair, medium sized potatoes, and plant early, just as soon as the ground can be pro- perly prepared. Plant in hills or drills, but the furrow system, placing the seed about ten inches apart, a half or whole potato, with manure, when used, coarse, and over the seed, will generally give a greater yield per acre, than when planted in hills. In both cases the manure should be top of the po- tatoes. Second, let the furrows or hills be deep, so that the seed will lie full six inches below the surface of the soil. I find that potatoes rot less when deep in the soil, than when near the surface, yet this THE GENESEE FARMER. 117 may not always be the case ; but six inches is the established depth of those who have experimented on potato culture in Europe with the best success. Third, dig in October; no matter what you have heard or read, the great preponderance of testi- mony goes to show that late digging is the best. There are, undoubtedly, cases in which the reverse of this seems to be true, but the practice of grow- ers of this crop, since it became diseased, goes to show that digging in September is bad policy gen- erally. T. B. MINER. REMOVING MANURE FROM STABLES. Eds. Genesee Farmer: — A correspondent in your paper, not long since, said, "Put plenty of straw in the stables for bedding, and then put extra side- boards on vour wheelbarrow to remove the manure from the stables." Now, I think the first advice very good ; where straw is plenty, put it in the stables to the horse's belly ; but, then, a wheelbar- row, even with sideboards, is of little account where there are three or four large stables to clean aut. We use a sled, made by putting together two boards or planks about ten inches broad and some six feet long. We simply bore about five quarter boles in each plank. The first holes are to put the breast chains through, to haul it by — so that we need no swingle-tree. In the other holes we put ;ross bars, about six inches shorter than the breadth >f our door ; then by putting a short rope or chain ;o the rear of the sled, we draw it backwards into ;he stable, put on a load as much as a horse can ivell draw, drive to where you wish it to lie, throw t off and drive back for another load, putting the nanure from the horse stable where that from the sow stables was last put, so that it may become nixed, which is a very important item in managing ;he manure heap. Or, which is still speedier and easier, get a horse hook, made out of inch square ron prongs, fourteen inches long, handle two feet ong, with a ring in the end to hook your spread n, and having three prongs one foot apart, made )y welding the three prongs together near the end ivhere the ring is. You may have a ring on the ;op of the middle prong, to lift it out when you wish to unload. When you wish to load, drive t in with a wooden maul or mallet; then start four horse, and you will be astonished at the speed with which you can clean a large stable, where pou use straw enough to make the manure adhere together. h. s. kindig. Westmoreland Co., Pa. w ■ . Thoughts on Reading the January No. of rHE Genesee Farmer. — It is pleasant to read the results of scientific experiments, and particularly in regard to growing grass, in which department there have been so few reliable and exact results recorded in this country. Ashes, and even coal ashes, are good fertilizers, and as shown by your figures to be nearly equal to the more costly arti- cles, and brings to my mind that for two years past [ have burned coal, and having thrown the ashes the first winter around a pear tree, during the sum- mer the red-clover came up and grew luxuriantly where for years there was none, or very little, to be seen. I saw no improvement in the pears. The article on soluble food struck my fancy as being valuable, and if practiced to considerable ex- tent, we should see fewer horses stiffened by founder. The subject of tight barns might, with profit, be discussed by our agricultural clubs throughout the country, and I think it an open subject, and as the old barns are rapidly giving place to new, now is the time. The subject of churning is well treated, but the cows, which give or make occasion for the use of the churn, and the science of churning at all necessary, are not even mentioned, or how they should be treated. The winter fare of the cow influences the use of the churn to a great extent. — D., Gates. CHAFFING HAY AND CORN STALKS ECONOMY. A great deal of pro and con has of late been published on the economy of chaffing corn stalks and buy as food for bo vines and horses. The vet- eran JonN Johnston says he has tried it, and the increase did not pay the matting; and for the same reason he never grows a patch of roots for the delectation of his milk cows in winter. But what is fair economy for Mr. Johnston on his large and very productive farm, should not- be practiced by the small farmer who is at less expense for labor, and is necessarily obliged to make the most of every vegetable product. In the March Farmer, we read of a Connecticut farmer who has brought up a worn out farm to keep thirty head of bovines, that would keep only six or eight head before. He not only chaffed his well saved stalks, but he steamed them also, with meal, oil cake, bran, etc.; soiling his cattle 'in sum- mer, by which means he was enabled to make 750 loads of composted manure yearly. This not only manured his corn, but top-dressed his meadows. But there is an advantage gained to the wheat- growing farmer in the fineness of the manure from cut feed. Joseph Wright of Waterloo had a field of 20 acres of the fairest white wheat grown the past season in this country ; while all other crops were short from freezing, his was saved by a lib- eral coat of fine manure from cut stalks, which formed a mulch for the wheat, thus performing the office of the leaves and vegetable humus of a new clearing. At almost all the large livery stables. in New England and New York, the hay and stalks fed to horses is chaffed fine and treated with ground com, oats, etc., by which a great saving is made in hay, which in all large towns is much dearer than grain in proportion to its nutriment. It is said to have been fully ascertained by repeated experiments in England, that nineteen pounds of cut hay will take the place of twenty-five pounds in the long state. A pains-taking correspondent of the Country Gentleman writes that at all the omnibus and rail- road stables in New York, the hay is cut fine and mixed wet with corn and oats ground, in the pro- portion by measure of three measures of corn to two measures of oats, the proportion varying only with the market price of the grain. The propor- tion fed of cut hay to grain is generally nine pounds of hay to seventeen of grain, averaging ten quarts of meal a day to the largest horses. At the Sixth Avenue stables, where the horses do not av- erage over 1,000 lbs. each, the Delaware is ranked first by the most experienced grape growers ; and if such is the case where the Catawba can be produced in perfec- tion, how much more surely is it entitled to such prefer- ence here, where it proves the hardiest vine grown, and one of the very earliest to ripen its fruit, being at least a full month in advance of the Isabella. We could go on adducing reliable statements, all to the same effect, in regard to the value of this variety, until a volume was filled, but we deem it unnecessary in the present state of information on the subject. We have said thus much to assure our readers that this grape has lost none of the favor with which it was first regarded, by the repeated and various trials to which it has since been subjected. The following brief description will suffice to distin- guish it by those to whom it is not familiar: Berries small, round; skin thin, of a beautiful amber color; flesh juicy, very little pulp ; flavor sweet, sprightly and deli- cious; bunches medium size, very compact and some- times shouldered. A good, free grower and one of the hardiest vines known. In our memorandum book of last year we find the fol- lowing at the date of Sept. 9 : Delaware ripening well, a few bunches quite colored, all more or less. Sept. 19. A great part of the fruit already used. Diana. This variety, in quality, ranks only inferior to Delaware. As we have never before given an engraving of it, we now present one. Its berries and bunches lire larger than the Delaware, and it is also a stronger grower — equalling, we think, the Isabella, in this respect. It ranks very high in the estimation of practical fruit grow- ers, and like the Delaware, is placed by the American Pomological Society on its list for general cultivation. In the severe winter of 1860-61, this variety in this vicin- ity, with the Isabella and Catawba, was badly injured by the cold, and we have no reason to suppose it any hardier than them. The Delaware, Concord and To Kalon were the only ones among some forty varieties that were able to stand this test of Arctic cold. It would be unfair, therefore, to place much against the Diana on this ac- count. Dr. Miner, of Houeoye Falls, in this county, who has had most experience with this variety, regards it very hifhly, and as a most profitable sort for extensive culture. Nicholas Longworth, the great grape grower and wine maker of Cincinnati, says: "The Diana I deem superior as a table grape to the Catawba." In reference to the Diana as a wine grape, Mr. Schneike, whose remarks in relation to the Delaware we quoted, said, in connection therewith, that with the Diana he had but little experience, but from the wine he had made from it he was inclined to place it next to the Delaware. The bunches of the Diana are large and compact; ber- ries large, amber colored, round, abounding with a rich, vinous and aromatic juice ; ripens in this vicinity from one to two weeks before Isabella. Our memorandum of Sept 9 says: Diana commencing to color: Concord. This variety, from its hardiness, fine ap- pearance, vigorous growth, productiveness and early- ripening, must become extensively planted. Berries large, round; thick bloom, dark color; bunch, in size THE GENESEE FARMER. 121 1 form similar to Isabella, and the fruit ripens two eks earlier. 3rivelin. When more shall be known of this variety, think it will rank high among the new sorts. "Where mginated, in Pennsylvania, it has superseded the Isa- 11a, as it is better in quality, and ripens two or three Hartford Prolific. This variety resembles Isabella in many respects, but is much earlier in ripening, and on this account will become a favorite. Memorandum, Sept. 9, reads: Hartford Prolific ripening finely, many bunches being fit to cut; and Sept. 13 : Hartford Prolific and Del- a ware have many bunches fit to cut. eeks earlier than that sort. In general appearance, it osely resembles the Isabella. Flesh melting, juicy" and veet. Our memorandum of Sept. 19 reads thus : Crive- n, well colored and sweet — fit to eat. Isabella, in open round away from buildings is just commencing to color, i fact, this may be snid only of here and there a buncb, le great mass yet remaining green. But by the sides of ouses and in very favorable and sheltered situations, lere are many bunches well colored, but not uniform, or have they yet attained any sweetness. THE DIAN'A. GRAPE. Rebecca. One of the most beautiful and delicious of all the native grapes, but will undoubtedly require more than usual care. It can not be too highly recommended for a garden variety. It is a white or yellowish white grape; berries medium size; obovate; very juicy, melt- ing, and free from pulp ; flavor rich, sugary, vinous, brisk and luscious; skin thin, greenish white, and cov- ered with a thin, white bloom; bunches medium size, without shoulders. Ripens about two weeks earlier than Isabella. 122 THE GENESEE FARMER. Blood's Black. A sort of which as vet we know but little, but are impressed in its favor. In size and quality it compares with the Isabella. Memorandum, Aug. 27th, says: Blood's Black nearly covered with red. Sept. 4th: Blood's Black fully ripe. Sept. 9th: Blood's Black all eaten by the birds. Ontario. Not enough is yet known of this noble ap- pearing fruit to enable us to say much positively in refer- ence to it. We hr.d the pleasure of tasting it last sum- mer, but it was grown under glass. We should not, we think, be warranted to ascribe to it in the open air the tine quality it then presented. It was show fully ripe at the State Fair held last year at Watertowu, Sept. 17-21. It is a fruit of great promise; bunches very large, double the size of Isabella; berries large, black; skin thin, cov- ered with a rich bloom ; flesh with very little pulp, juicy, aromatic and vinous. Perkin3. A variety but little known. Although not equal to some other in quality, it is so hardy and so very prolific that it bids fair to be a sort which will be consid- erably planted. At the meeting of the Fruit Growers' Society of Western New York, Oct. 1, 1S61, Mr. Town- send said that he had " seen the Perkins on Mr. Hoag's (of Lockport) grounds, and had never seen a vine so im- mensely loaded. It is of fair quality — as good as Isabella and better tfaan Hartford Prolific, though only second rate as compared with Delaware." The time of ripening of the Perkins varies but little from that of Hartford Prolific. GLASS CASES FOR PARLOR GARDENING. The use of glass cases in rooms for growing certain varieties of plants, is becoming deservedly popular, and we hope to see this taste wide spread throughout our GLASS CASE FOR PARLOR PLANTS. country. No object can be introduced into the parlor more ornamental, or vthich will afford so constant and lasting a pleasure. Especially with a people inhabiting a latitude where we are confined to our houses the greater portion of the time for several months iu theyear, should tins branch of horticulture be carried to its highest limit. The cases employed for this purpose may be very sim- ple, consisting only of a wooden pedestal, which the wood turner can make, somewhat similar in form to the one represented in the annexed engraving, and a simple glass case, such as are sold by the crockery and glassware mer- chants. The glass case ought not to be less than a foot or fourteen inches in diameter, and the pedestal made to fit it closely. The upper surface of the pedestal should be turned out or hollowed, so as to leave a basin from half an inch to an inch in depth, which should be closely lined with zino to prevent the water from being absorbed by the wood, which of course would soon destroy it. The engraving we here give is of a case much larger than that of which we are now speaking, and suitable to grow a greater variety of plants and those of a larger size than could be employed in the small case. The cut and the description of it which we here give are taken from the Journal of Horticulture (English.) The writer of the article says: I should prefer a stand similar to that represented in the engraving; it should have a diameter of three feet, but Jess would of course suffice, in cases where that may be thought too large. The glass case should be made to fit exactly to the inside of the stand, and should have the framework formed of stout brass bars, well secured to a strong rim of zinc round the bottom. A department on each side should be made to open, care being taken that these openings are made as nearly air-tight as may be, and a few hooks should be securely fastened to the bam in the upper part of the dome, by which to suspend small plants in pots. The stand sho'd be filied nearly to a level of the rim with broken pot-sherds or sandstone, or any rubbl v porous material. Over this should be laid a small stratum of sand, to make a very level surface. Iu the centre, on this level surface, place a four sided cone of zinc, about l(i inches in height, with a saucer at the top, and having some strong pieces, of about 2 inches square, well fastened to and projecting from the sides. Next commence around the base of the cone, and place angular pieces of sandstone of about five or six lbs. weight each, and pile up thus completely over the cone. The projecting pieces will assist in retaining the stones in position ; and a most important point to be observed is, that every stone must be laid perfectly firm from bottom to top, as the plants will not flourish on a movable stone. Tins may be insured by the use of a little cement as the operation proceeds; but I have also made use of small flexible wire, passed several times round the mass, for the same purpose. The interstices between the stones may be tilled with some nice iibry loam, sandy, so& and unctuous to the touch. As it will be difficult for most people who may wish to construct these cases to procure glass curved so as to form the top as it is represented in the engraving, we would suggest that the case be made polygonal in form and the top pyramidal, and then plane glass can be used for every part. A case with a diameter of three feet would require, to be in good proportion, a height of from four to six feet. Such a structure, with its furnishing; would of course be quite heavy, and care should be taken that the lint. loin be constructed of good solid material. A set of strong castors will einifle it to be moved from spot to spot as convenience may require. THE GEKESEE FAR1LEE. 12& The plants suitable for a small case are, on account of ts size, oficourse, comparatively few. The best of these u-e Lycopodlum dent iou latum (fig. 1), a green, moss-like, weeping plant, of great beauty. L. Wil- denovii is an upright variety, growing from six to ten inches high. It has several shades of color, varying from light green to blue Fig. 1. and brown. L. ccesi- an is a very beautiful trailing variety. Tradcscaidia Zebrina, variegated-leaved spider-web. — L pretty, trailing, variegated-leaved plant. Linaria cimbalaria, Kenilworth ivy. — A little trailing >lant; leaves smooth, cordate, fine obed. Lysimachia numrmdaria ■ money- rort.— This is a pretty, delicate, little, ;reen, trailing plant, with opposite, oundish, cordate leaves, bearing a mall, yellow blossom. Cissus discol-or. — A most beautifully •ariegated leaved, twining plant. From the varieties of native ferns, re have selected the following, on ac- ount of their small size and their beau- y, as most suitable for a very small ase: Polypolium vulgar e (fig. 2). — Frond ir leaf deeply pinnatifid, smooth ; nearly a foot high and livided into segments nearly to the midvein. Pulypodiu.m Dryopteris (fig. 3). — A very beautiful slen- der variety, nearly a foot high; frond consisting of two light green, compound, drooping leaf- lets, of a very delicate texture; root black and very slender; grows in shady places and moun- tainous woods — comparatively rare. Asplenium Trichoma nes.— Frond )innate ; lance linear in outline, from three to six inches ligh, with eight to twelve pairs of small, roundish- >bovate leaflets ; stipe or stem black and polished. A small aud delicate fern. Op/tioglossum vulgat'im, Adder's tongue, (fig. 4). — A suri.ous little fern growing in low grounds; fronds solitary, two to three inches long, »nd two thirds as wide. The lit Ie, green, narrow-pointed leaves, seated on a narrow stalk or neck, and peeping up from among the grass, may not be unaptly compared to a snake's tongue. Asplenium Montanum. — Frond smooth, bi-pinnate, narrowly oblong, lanceolate in outline; grows in tufts four to eight inches high on mountain rocks. Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair fern). — This is the most beautiufid of all our native ferns, abounding in deep, Fig. 2. Fig. 4. rocky woods. Stipe eight to fourteen inches high, slender, of a deep, glossy purple, approaching a jet black. At the top it divides equally into compound branches, each of which gives off, at regular intervals, six to eight pin- nate leafllets from the outer side, giving the whole frond the form of the crescent. In a larger case, a much greater variety of plants may be introduced— especially of ferns, the most beautiful of all plants for this purpose, and to which particular atten- tion should be directed. But little thought or care has yet been bestowed in this country, to growing collections of ferns, and of course it is at present impossible to obtain here many of the fine exotic varieties of this graceful plant; but, as our own forests furnish us with a great number of the most beau- tiful and highly.prized sorts, no one need be debarred the privilege of cultivating them, since it only requires the trouble or pleasure of collecting them from sources easy of access to nearly every oue of our readers. Besides the plants mentioned and described above, we here specify a few others suitable for a large case : Sarracenia purpurea, Side-saddle flower, (fig. 5).— A native plant famil- iar to many of us. Grows in wet mealows and about mud lakes. Leaves six to nine inches long, ever- green, composed of a hollow, pitcher- form petiole, swelling in the middle, Fig. 5. with a wing-like appendage, extending the whole length inside, from half an inch to an i ch wide, and extended on the outside of the mouth into a lamina covered with reversed hairs. Their ca- pacity, when of ordinary size, is about that of a wine glass, and they are generally full of water. It bears a single, large, purple, nod- ding flower, almost as curi- ous in structure as the leaves. Saxifraga Sarmentosa, Beefsteak geranium, (fig. 6). A plant of Chinese origin, common in m ist green-houses. Leaves variegated, roundish, toothed, very hairy. Throws out runners which strike K)ot like the straw- berry. Calla EtMopica, African lily, (fig. 7). — This familiar plant is well adapted for a large case. Its dark li^een foliage, of pecu- liar form, has a luxuriant tropi- cal appearance, and the large, show-white flowers would be or- naments of great beauty. Vinca varietated major. — A new variety of periwinkle, with variegated leaves. Like the other periwinkles, it is a trailing plant. Foliage very large, and beautifully mar- gined, striped and blotched with silver. Fig. 7. 124 THE GENESEE FARMER. Nepenthes distillatoria, Pitcher plant, (fig. 8).— This is the famous pitcher-plant of China and the East Indies, which bears leaves, the extremities of which are hollowed out into cup- like appendages, which are generally filled with water, which seems as if confined within them by a lid, by which they are surmounted. This plant probably requires more heat to keep it in good health than most of the others here mentioned, and should, therefore, be used only where a pretty warm temperature is kept up, say from 70° to 80°. Dionce Muscipula, Venus' fly-trap, (fig. 9). — This is a native of the Southern States. It is a singular plant in respect to its leaves, which are of an anomalous form, and have a sin- gular motion by which they catch insects. Loudon says : " Linnaeus affirms that when the entrapped in- sect ceases to struggle and is quiet, the leaf opens and permits it to es- cape." This does not agree with Ellis' account, for he affirms that the lobes never open again so long as the animal continues there. He g- thinks it probable that a sweet liquor discharged by the red glands tempts the insect to its destruction. He adds that if a straw or pin be introduced between the lobes, they will grasp it as fast as if it were an insect. A friend of ours who has had considerable experience in growing this plant has informed us that when an insect is caught in a leaf,- it remains closed until the structure of the in- sect is destroyed by decay, and he considers that the plant draws nourishment from this source. Goodyera discolor. — An herbaceous plant, with fleshy, chocolate-colored, ovate leaves. Of native ferns, in addition to those already noticed, we will add, for a larger collection : Aspidium cristatum, Crested shield fern. — Frond twelve to eighteen inches high, pale green ; remarkable for its broad, ovate-lanceolate outline. Grows in moist woods, in New England and the Middle States — rather rare. Aspidium Lancastriense, Lancas- ter shield fern. — A beautiful fern, quite distinct from the preceding, l!\ ^&'72fp/Mri'& twenty-four to thirty inches high. Frond dark green, from fifteen to eighteen inches long and five to eight inches in widtu ; narrowly ly lanceolate. Aspidium tenue, Brittle shield fern. — A delicate fern, on moist rocks — frequent. Fronds six to twelve inches in height, dark green ; its divisions rather remote, and with subdivisions considerably variable in form. Aspleuium Filix-fozmina (fig. 10). — A delicate, finely, divided fern, found in moist woods. Fronds from one toi two feet high, with sub-opposite divisions. These are subdivided into distinct obtuse seg- ments, which are themselves cut in- to oblong, deep serratures, and last- ly, the serratures are mostly with two or three teeth at the summit, the whole producing a very graceful and pleasing effect. Osmuuda regalis, Royal flowering fern, (fig. 11). — Almost too large for a case, for which, however, small plants may be used. It is a large and beautiful fern, found in swamps and meadows. The fronds are three or four feet high, smooth in all their parts, lance-leaved in outline. Leaf- lets or pinme opposite, remote, each with six or nine pairs of leaves, with an odd one. Fig. 1!. "HOW MUCH SEED SHALL I REQUIRE FOR MY GARDEN]" This is a question often asked, but which can not be answered definitely unless all the circumstances are known. The general mle is to buy enough to ensure a crop; in other words, take the advice of the seedsman, who alone knows how far Ms seed will go ! The London Gardeners' Chronicle has an article on the subject from which we make a few extracts: The uncertainty in the quality of seeds may be owing in part, and in some cases (as with onions) almost wholly, to their having been produced in a bad climate, the husks alone being formed, without the presence of a living germ within. Another cause is the destruction of ,the vital principle in consequence of seeds having been stored be- fore they were dried, the inevitable effect of which is the loss or fatal weakening of germinating power. In some instances an eager gardener gathers them before they are ripe, as is much the case with those flower " seeds " which are not seeds at all, but seed vessels, such as China Asters and other composite flowers, or esculent Umbelli- fers like carrots; these may be fair to the eye, although but emptiness within. And there is the dead remainder of a seed drawer invigorated by the addition of a fresh young crop. These causes, to say nothing of others, are more or less in continual operation, and seedsmen themselves can by no means always guard themselves against being deceived by appearances. But it is evident that unless seeds are uniformly alike in quality, there can be no certain rule by which to determine the quantity to be sown. You can not de;il with living as with dead matter. In the affairs of mankind, it by no meaus follows that two and two practically make four; life sets arithmetic at nought. In like manner a pound of cabbage seed is not like a pound of shot, although the two are a good deal alike. A pound of shot will always produce the very same effect under equal circumstances. Hut a pound of cabbage seed will do no such thing ; not one-halt— not more than a quarter — will take effect, so that two pounds or even four pounds may be required to do the work of one pound. THE GENESEE FARMER. 125 i it otherwise, all seedsowing might be reduced to e rules, and tables like the following, for which we ged to a correspondent, would be the best advisers eners. > contains ia^oz, 7,754 seeds; in 1 lb., 24S,12S seeds. " % oz„ 4S5 " " 15.520 " ge " "X oz-> ioz 1.S33 " " 120,5^2 " ! " "1 oz., 1,950 " " 81,200 « e same manner the quantities of seed in a lb. might be stated. The number of plants required d acre of ground is as follows : .inch apart... 6,272,640 ■ I " 1,568.100 i « ' 696.960 u ' ■ 392.H40 i « " " 250,905 ; « 174,240 jfore, 1 lb. of turnip seed, if every seed would rould be sufficient for nearly an acre and a half of •et seedsmen recommend 4J lbs. to be used for that y be alleged that those who sell seeds are interest- eading their customers to purchase as much as b, and that no inference can be properly drawn ich a case as that just mentioned. Supposing it to and making every degree of allowance for that it still remains evident that the quantity of seed d for a given space can not be determined by fixed but that so many adverse influences are in action :nder miuute calculations worthless, and to compel sioti to a large amount of waste. In the case just i it is assumed by the seedsman that only about two l thirteen will come to anything— a "ery large loss be confessjd. Matters being in this state, theo- quantities can only mislead. rder to judge what is the real germinating power mple of seed, it is the practice among the princi- dsmen to have " trial books," in which the.y record •centage of seed which grows under the following stances. A hundred seeds are sown in a garden ed with fine, light soil ; the pot is placed in a gen- bed, and as soon as the young plants have fully ap- they are counted. If the seed is wholly good, the is 100 ; if good only in part, it may be any lower r — we will say 50. In that case, as only half grows, require two lbs. to do the work of one. This is a Id practice, and seems at first sight to be uuexcep- e; nevertheless it is far from being so good as it It is well known that in earth constantly warm ,mp, seeds having very feeble vital power will grow ctorily, and soon gain vigor from the surrounding jhere; but in cold soil they lie and perish. Now hardy seeds are committed to the ground at that f the year when even at midday its temperature is ove 43°, and when at night the thermometer may 32°. Under such conditions, which are wholly un- lose of the " trial " pots, the same result can not be :ed. If indeed our open gardens were like Miss g's plant-cases, and as carefully looked atter, very y seeds would come up ; but as the circumstances itirely different both as to temperature and skill, ady's success would be no evidence of what would n in the open air. ertheless we believe the trial system to be by far the best that seedsmen can employ, and if it deceives them it is because it can not be otherwise, in the nature of things. We all know how loud and ceaseless are the cries of gardeners as well as amateurs that the flower seeds they purchase will nofgrow. It never seems to occur to the complainants that they themselves are the executioners and the seeds their victims. And. yet we are perfectly certain, from nearly half a century's experience, that such is the case. Seeds of a plant inhabiting a dry country with little winter's cold and a genial, early, steady spring, are sown here in the open border in March or April; there they lie in most uncongenial soil, exposed to wet and cold. But the force of life is strong within them, Nature will have its way, germination begins some bright sunny day, after which comes an ice cold dew at night, and the young embryo is rendered torpid. Nevertheless, weak- ened as it is, the succeeding day sees a renewed effort at growth — followed by renewed torpidity. The same alter- nation of paralysis and revival goes on for a little while, till at last the powers of nature are exhaus'ed and the seed expires. Now, these early efforts are out of sight ; no eye watches the struggle, the seeds die while buried — and the seedsman is abused. Mignonette often affords a . striking example of this. Although a native ot the hot sandy regions of Northern Africa, where it is a little woody bush, it nevertheless is able to ripen its seeds in our northern latitude. But when the time for sowing them arrives in spring they are cast carelessly upon the cold (ground, and there they perish. Then come com- plaints— "Mr. Flowerdew," exclaims tbegeutle Lucy Bell, who is devoted to flowers, and who has been looking for- ward to the delights of « charming bed of Mignonette, which will not come, "it is very tiresome indeed, that youf seed never will grow — it is really quite shameful;" and then she sees in the pits a great quantity of beautiful pots of the plant, 4 or 5 inches high, standing as close as quills on a hedgehog. " Why look there, I declare you have sold me bad old seed, and kept the good yourself!" " Madam, I assure you that I have but one sort of seed, of which you have had a part." " Well ! it is most ex- traordinary." At last the gentle damsel buys as many pots as she requires, but at the same time remains per- fectly convinced that she was cheated in her seed. Should this meet her eye it is to be hoped that she will be more charitable in future, and blame herself for having des- troyed the lives she had thought to cherish. Depend upon it, ladies, the blame of your ill success in getting up your seeds lies at no other door than your own. Sow them when the weather has become warm ; cover them at night with a screen, or constantly with a thin coating of nice, neat straw, such as the market gardeners raise their spring radishes under, and you will incur no further disappointment. Or, if you have them, hand glasses will do as well. A Common Mistake in Raising Bdlbs. — All bulbs feel extremely any dryness after their growth has once set in in earnest. It is quite discouraging to have tulips and crocusses going out of bloom too fast. When this is the case, it will be often found, on examining the soil, that it is too dry, for the quantity of water absorbed and tran- spired by bulbs is something quite astonishing, and a good watering will often renew the blooms— give them, as it were, a new lease of life, 120 THE GENESEE FARMER. gairiis' JcMrimcni ORIGINAL DOMESTIC EECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. A Boiled Pudding.— Remove the crust from a loaf of •bread, put it in a cloth tied tightly, and boil it an hour; then serve with a nice warm sauce. This is very cheap and a very good pudding. A vert Nice Pudding.— A loaf of cake made with soda, rather plain, steamed thoroughly, and eaten with a warm sauce made of wine or cider, is very good. If the butter and sugar are thoroughly mixed by long stirring before the wine or cider is added, it will look creamy, and greatly improve the taste ot the sauce. J* Indian Bread. — Take two quarts of sifted meal, pour on boiling water enough to make the meal quite moist. When cool, add a quart of wheat flour, half a pint of ris- ings, two-thirds of a tea-cup of molasses, and a little salt. Mix well together, put into large basins and let it rise. When light, bake in oven one hour, and then steam two bonrs over a pot of boiling water. How to Trt Lard.— The trying of lard is an impor- tant branch of economy, requiring a little care and some direct information. Water, be it remembered, should never be made use of in this process, since it cooks the fat and makes it soft, and causes it to become speedilv rancid. Put a lump of fat into a pot, and let a little of the fat try out over a moderate fire ; after which, put the fat over the fire, with such precautions that there is no danger of the lard scorching, and no need of water. The lard, when fully cold, will be found quite firm and solid, which can not be the case if water is made use of in try- ing out. Rennet. — It is now decided by the best judges that the calf should be taken from the cow sixteen or eighteen hours before killing it. When the rennet is taken out, pick out the straws if there be any, and fill it with salt. Never wash it in the least, inside or out. Place a layer of salt on the bottom of a large stone jar, then put in the rennet that has been filled with salt; add auother layer of salt, and so on until the jar is filled. Be sure and have so much salt that there will be no brine. Cover it tight, and set it in a cool place. When wanted for use, make a strong brine, throw in a few sprigs of sage, and put in the rennet— one, two, or half a dozen, according to the number of cows in the dairy. They should be put to soak two or three days before needed for use. When soaked a day or so, they should be turned wrong side out and thoroughly rubbed. One gallon of brine is sufficient for two rennets. A teacup two-thirds full, where two ren- nets have been soaked, should bring one milking of thirty cows. But be sure and use rennet enough to bring the milk the first time; better have a little too much than not enough. If you get in a little too much, and it is sweet, it will not hurt th'e cheese in the least, as it will work off in the whey. Never use sweet whey to soak rennet, for it has a tendeucy to sour the curd. Never use a drop of rennet but what is perfectly sweet. The best vessel to soak rennet in is a stone jar, set in a cool place all ered tight. When the liquor is used off, mor$ should be added, but a greater quantity will be ne* bring the cheese. One very important fact should be remembered, and that is tto have the rennets i well salted. Boiling Vegetables and Meats.— In boiling ^ bles, they should not be put into the water until it i heated, and then there should be no cessation o until the cooking is done. But when meats areH boiled, quite an opposite proceedure is to be obs They require to be put into the water while it is col in the case of fowls, while the water is a little warm then, instead of rapid boiling, the water should be i simmered. By this process, the meat is made I while by fierce boiling it is hardened and made Potatoes should be put into boiling water and boi quick as possible— not over twenty minutes. Even potatoes will become mealy boiled in this way. [So writes an experienced housekeeper. We however, that in the case of boiling meat, it is be' put the meat into boiling water, and let it remain few minutes to harden the outside. Then pour in cold water and keep the water below the boilingi till the meat is done. This will keep all the goodm the meat, and it will be fender. If put in cold wai will make good soup, but the meat will not be so American Women.— A German writer, J. G. KoH undertaken to describe American women.. The pic not a flattering one. As to good looks, he thinjj great majority of American women are moderately] but " their charms are concentrated more in their fe than in their demeanor, figures, or corporeal shape, thinks the reverence tor women in America has parol and spoiled them. They do not make good help-meet pities the poor husbands. "If a lovely America: sinks into the arms of a man, to be bound to him ft she does so much in the same way as she throws h< into her easy chair. Marriage is her pillow, her so which she intends henceforth comfortably to repose, on it she confidently throws all the burden of her and troubles; she regards her husband as her facti who has to provide for all her wants. He must pr her a house according to her fancy; he must furnisl house exactly as she wishes it; he must arrange ai minister kitchen and cellar, and even go every moi before breakfast to make the necessary purchases fo day's meals." "Even farmers' wives often bold themselves mucl high for business of chis sort, and scenes of the folio nature may be seen at market: A young farmer's w once saw sitting in a little one-horse chaise and hoi the reins. In her elegant dress she could not, of cot be expected to go into the dust and confusion of market, so she had sent off her husband.# He was I among the stalls, like a swallow collecting insects its young, and presently appeared again laden wit! sorts of boxes and parcels. These the farmer's v naturally, could not take on her silk lap, so the bust had to hold them carefully in the chaise." THE GENESEE FARMER. 127 Ipsallaiufltts. l Potatoes.— Some years ago, a gentleman visit- armer at Tallond, Conn., took from his pocket a iotato which somehow had got in there at home. ,hrown out with a smile, and the farmer took it in d to look at it. A littie boy of twelve at his elbow what it was. "0, nothing but a potato, my boy; id plant it, and you shall have all you can raise till you are of age." The lad took it, and the farmer t no more about it at that time. The boy, however, pising small potatoes, carefully divided it into as ieces as he could find eyes, and put them in the . The product was carefully put aside in the fall, ed for several hills was obtaiued for the next The product was all kept for seed, until the year, the yield being good, the actual product was mdred bushels. The farmer, seeing the prospect ■ another year the potato field would cover his 'arm, asked to be released from his promise, i the same calculation, prudence and industry, how ybo are disposed to regard the trifling things upon fortunes are built, as too "small potatoes" to re- leir attention, would have been in independent cir- nces if they had husbanded their 'small advanta- Small potatoes should not be despised, even though ; at first "few iu a hill." Purchasing a Husband.— Susan, a country girl desirous of matrimony, received from her mistress a present of a five pound bank note for her marriage portion. Her mis- tress wished to see the object of Susan's favor, Mid a very diminutive fellow, swarthy as a Moor, and ugly as an ape, made his appearance. " Ah, Susan," said the mistress, " what a strange choice you have made." "La, madam," said Susrn, "in such hard times as these when about all the tall fellows are gone for soldiers, what more of a man could you expect for a five pound note?" Love of the Beautiful.— A farmer was one day visiting the owner of a beautiful country-seat in Brook- lyn, and walking with him through the little grove, out of which. all the underbrush had been cleaned, paths had J)eeu nicely cut and gravelled, and the rocks covered with woodbine, suddenly stopped, lifted up his hands, and ex- claimed: "This I like; this is Nature with her hair combed !" A Scotch Stoic. — " Ah ! John, you won't have me much longer. I shall never leave this bed alive." "Please thee-self, Betty, and thee'll please me," returned John, with great equanimity. "I have been a good wife to you, John," persisted the dying woman. " Middlin', Betty, middlin' '," responded. the matter-of-fact husband. t-PuArED Himself. — During the prevalence of the i in Virginia, the negroes on the different plauta- ecarae dreadfully alarmed, and thought they would ily die with it. Among others, in one of the upper 58j was a negro boy who, having heard his father at the cholera would soon be along that way, left rk one day and betook himself to the woods. Here i found by his overseer soon after, fast asleep. Be- ;en to task by him for leaving his work, he excused .f on the ground that, not being " prepared to die," d gone to the woods "to meditate." "But," said rerseer, "how was it that you went to sleep?" I, I don't know, massa, how dat was 'zactly," re- ed the negro ; " but I speck I must have over-prayed A Fast Man. — A journalist has discovered that, all things considered, railways are very slow, and behind the age. He says that, when traveling, he blushes to think that the message over the telegraph flies like lightning, while he is lazily creeping at only thirty or forty miles an hour. A young Irishman who had married when he was about nineteen years old, complained of the difficulties to which his early marriage had subjected him, and said he would not marry so young again, if he lived to be as old as Methuselah. salutary Thought. — When I was a young man, lived in our neighborhood a farmer who was usual- lorted to be a very liberal man, and uncommonly at in his dealings. When he had any of the pro- )f his farm to dispose of, he made it an invariable 3 give good measure— rather more than could be re- i of him. One of his friends, observing him fre- ly doiug so, questioned him why he did it — told him ve too much, and said it would not be to his advan- Now mark the answer of this excellent man. Almighty has permitted me but one journey ch the world, and when gone I can uot return to y mistakes." Think of this. But one joarney o-h the world ! The Latest.— A gentleman rode up to a public house in the country, and asked, "Who is the master of this house?" "I am, sir," replied the landlord; " my wife has been dead about three weeks." " There is no duty, there is no pleasure, there is no sen- timent, which does not borrow from enthusiasm a charm which is still in perfect unison with the simple beauty of truth." A Good Wife. — A preacher, in a funeral sermon on a lady, after summing up all her good qualities, added, " that she always reached her husband his hat without muttering." member always that if you would be loved, you must liable. Love's Wonders. — One year of love would do more to- ward setting us mutually right when in the wrong, than an eternity of wrangling. ^ i ■■ To be pleased with one's self is the surest way of of- fending everybody else. Woman. — A down East Yankee very cutely says : "Though the men hold the reins, the women tell them which way to drive." 128 THE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Cultivation of Barley 105 Coffee Substitutes — Cultivation of Chicory 106 Canada. Cull. vation of Spring Wheat 107 Sowing Clover Seed. Planter for Potatoes. How to Sow! .. 1(8 Lord Pal merston on Underdrainin'g, 10!) Remunerative Patents. Cows— Kicking— Cause for It li 9 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 110 Horse Radish for Cattle. Large Hog Ho Hogs Packed n the West. Application of Manure 110 A Thousand Flow Patents. Questions for Farmers 11(1 Superphosphate of Lime for Turnips. Save the Manure 110 Sitting liens. Sawdust as a Manurial Absorbent 110 Lice on Cattle. Underdraining. Flax ill Farmers Seldom Fail Ill Sandy Soils can be Stirred too Much m "What Branch of Agriculture will Pay?" Ill Now is the Tim« to Buy Fruit Trees Ill Improved Horse Stalls. Loss of Cattle in California... Ill When tQ Plant Sorghum. Draught Horses in the West 111 Management of Honey Bees 112 Italian Bees '. , U3 Ducks and their Management 114 Farming Now and Then 115 Carrots' and other Root Crops. Cutivation of Potatoes 116 Removing Manure from Stables 117 Thoughts on Reading the January No. of the Farmer 117 Chaffing Hay and Corn Stalks Economy 117 Geese US HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Grape Growing and Native Grapes 119 Glass Cases for Parlor Gardening 122 How, much Seed shall I Require for my Garden? 124 A Common Mistake in Raising Bulbs 126 LADIES DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 126 American Women. 126 MISCELLANEOUS. Small Potatoes. Over-prayed Himself. A Salutary Thought. 127 Purchasing a Husband. Love of the Beautiful, &c.. &c 127 EDITOR S TABLE. Notes on the Weather, 12S Inquiries and Answers, ]2y The Markets, . ..'. 129 Items, Notices, &c 12S 129 HO Record relating to Birds, Plants, &c ' 'l30 How to Prepare Feathers for Beds 131 ILLUSTRATIONS. Common Chicory Plant 107 Mallard or Wild Duck. A Duck House .' "... 114 Common Goose : 118 The Diana Grape 121 Glass Case for Parlor Plants. Zinc Cone 122 Eleven Specimens of Ferns, &c, for Parlor Gardening. 123, 124 Not too Late to Subscribe. — As we stereotype the Genesee Farmer, the back numbers can always be sup- plied. All who subscribe now will receive the three first numbers, together with the remaining numbers of the year, and will thus have the volume complete. We contiuue our offer of Premiums to all who send subscribers. The books and seeds are sent by return mail, and the grape vines, etc., will be sent in good sea- son for planting. A better opportunity to secure valuable seeds, plants, etc., was never offered. There is not one of our readers that can not get at least two of their neighbors to sub- scribe for the Farmer, and thus secure a package taining six papers of the choicest imported flower ! What lady can not get four of her friends to take tt per, and thus receive by return mail sixteen pape the choicest flower seeds to adorn her garden? that wants a Delaware grape vine, can not procur subscribers for the cheapest and best agricultura horticultural paper published? Will not all our friends oblige us by availing thema of these extraordinary offers? JVbiv is the time. Notes on the Weather from February 14th, to M 16th, 1862.— February had a quite uniform tempen not very low or very high for this month. The avi of the last half was 24.7°, or 2.5° below the mean f years; and the average of the month was 24.7°, 01 below that of the month for those years. The cc was 4° on the 25th, and the mean of the day was 1 the next warmer was 5° on the 15th', which was coldest day of the month, 12.3°, and the 16th onlj degree higher. Still, the heat of February, 1861, T or 4 degrees higher than this. The hottest noon was 49° on the 23d, and on the day was the great storm of the month. It began the E. or S. E., on the coast of North Carolina, was s! at Washington, and extended as a N. E. storm to M pouring down rain, and then snow at New York, Be Portsmouth, and northwards on the coast. The wi] Washington was S., and rain began at 10| a. m., and i 11 the wind changed to a tornado from N. of W., an steeple of a church fell before it. The storm, less se continued into the night. The barometer was at inches before the storm on the 21st, fell to 29.25 ii as the rain began, and had risen on the next day to at 11 a. m. At New York the wind chauged, and violently at 3 p. m. from the west. At Rochester, I at 2 p. m., the change from the west ; at Barnstable, J the change was at 8 p. m. ; at Belfast, Me., the cl from the west was at 9 p. m. ; and at Quebec the gah storm was severe at 11 p. m., changed then to N. 0; and continued to 2 a. m. of the 25th. At evening, a der storm extended from Maine along the coast to Island sound, and to some extent into the int Here, the thermometer fell all the 24th to 4° on the morning, the lowest in the month. The storm was violent, as well as very rapid in its motion northw and the telegraph line was strongly affected all alon coast. In Western Massachusetts the violent W. came on about 7 p. m,, and the cold fell below zero. The water fallen was 2.82 inches. The sleighing was fine all the month, as well as o last half of January— six weeks of good sleighing successive days. The month was fine for the opera of business. A great quantity of snow has fallen the eastern part of this State and over New England March began with cool, pleasant weather, and th< sleighing was not materially affected by the rain 0: 3d. On the 8th and 9th, the snow melted under warmth, and the rain of the 10th, and its temperatu noon of 46°, perished the sleighing for the present, fields, however, abound in snow. The Genesee hegf rise, and on the 12th at 11 a. m., the ice of the Get THE GENESEE FARMER. 129 oft' under high pressure of deep water. On the 1 eve some rain from the S. E., and a great rain ed through the night of the loth, and to the very )f that day. If the storm should be as great at the and other parts of the State, a high flood is to be . We wait for the news. West of Rochester, in is and Niagara Counties, the rain of the 15th froze ell, loading the limbs of shrubs aid trees with ice than an inch thick, and breaking down the limbs, great injury of fruit trees. average heat of this half is 30.6°, only half a de- bove the mean for 25 years. The first day was the t, 18°, and its average, 20.7"; the greatest heat was a the 10th, and its mean, 41.3°. The season has avorable to our fruit trees. ile sugar appeared in the market in the first week as of the month, and is now dear, though no ' than the first new sugar of last year. demand for apples, and consequent high price of twelve shillings a bushel, has brought out a con- ble quantity from the stores, laid up for use at such The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARMER. ) Rochester, N. Y., March 25, 1S62. j most noteworthy transactions since last report are the great iions in the price of pork. In New Tork, Feb. 6, medium, d, dressed hogs sold for $4.25@$4.50 per 100 lbs. ; Feb. 13 @.$5; March 6, $5.75@$6; March 13, $5@$5.25; March f5@$5. From the middle to the end of February, the arket was greatly excited. The Union victories, and the ;ts of the opening of the Southern market at no very dis- y, caused a gre^t speculative demand, and prices advanc- itly all over the country. Orders were sent West, we are " buy at any price." The first week of March, however, jitement begun to subside. It was ascertained that the >p of the West was much larger than previous years, and position to speculate was less rife. The next week, the de- •vas confined principally to the local tradf, and prices re- ully $1 per bbl. on mess pork, and dressed hogs are but a gher than they were six weeks or two months ago. lave no doubt that pork will adrhnce — but it may not be eral months. It is now below the producing point, and :e everything else, sooner or later find its level. We would our readers lo hold on to what they have — but not to spec- price of beef cattle in New Tork is about the same as last say first quality, 8>j@.9c per lb. estimated dressed weight; n, 7^@S^'c; poor quality, 6>£@,7c. The market has an 1 tendency. I mutton sheep have advanced since last month. They are t 5X@6c per lb., live weight. Last week, 1,037 sold at ing's at a'n average of $5.54 each. Pelts sell at $1.75 with rard tendency. king oxen are in better ('emand. Prices" range from $P0 to sr pair for medium, and $180@$140 for large, active, well cattle. Milch cows are in excess of the demand, especi- or ones. Some sold as low as $20@$25 each, while a few :ood milkers with calf brought $5u@.$5o. class vial lambs are worth 0c per lb. The market is over- 1 with " hobs." and the price is low — as it ought to be. sell at $1@,$1.50 each! •oad and omnibus horses sell in New York at $110@.$115 322 head of horses for the Rhode Island troops brought ?n ;e of $100 each. They were quite inferior. Some heavy orses were sold last week at $200@,$225 for first class, and $175 for second class. ix Market. — There is little or no change in the price of since last month. In fact, prices have changed very little he first of January. The tendency of the market is down- Corn is lower in New York. We quote Western mixed 10. Rye is lower — 80@82c. Oats are also lower— SS@,40c. has advanced. It is quoted at 81c@$l per bushel in New The Injury to Peach Trees by the Late Storm. — Since the paragraph on the next page was written, we learn that in the western part of this County, and in Or- leans and Niagara Counties, considerable damage has been done by the ice breaking off the limbs of trees. We are told that whole orchards have been stripped, and even forest trees have been very roughly " pruned." The injury is undoubtedly much more serious than we at first supposed. In Canada, too, much damage has been sus- tained from the same cause. J. W. Snell, of Rainham Centre, C. W., writes, under date of March 18th: "The amount of ice collected on the trees during the great rain of last Saturday surpasses anything in the recollec- tion of the ' oldest inhabitant.' Every little twig of the size of a straw is covered with ice fully an inch thick, and then icicles from four to six inches long hanging from the limbs. Many of the younger and more tender sorts of trees are broken down. Our fruit trees being most apples, which are strong, have stood the test pretty well, but peach trees, where they exist, have gone down." In this immediate vicinity, little or no damage has been done. Everything is favorable for a good crop of fruit as yet. The weather is cool, and this keeps the buds from starting, and there is now no danger as long as they remain dormant. The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862. — We have now a new supply of the Rural An- nual for this year. It will be sent to any address, by re- turn mail, for 25 cents. The Rural Annual has been published seven years. The seven numbers, 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid, by return mail, for $1.40, or 20 cents each. No farmer or fruit grower should be without them. Premiums Extraordinary. — We continue our offer of books, seeds, grape vines, fruit trees, etc., to all who pro- cure subscribers for the Genesee Farmer. See last page of this number. Inquiries and Answers. Cheese Vat. — (John Craig.) Roe's Western Reserve Cheese Vat is one of the best we have ever seen. We think it is manufactured in this State, but do not know the address of the manufacturers, or the price. We saw it at the State Fair at Watertown last fall, and were much pleased with its simplicity, convenience, etc. Apples and Appple Trees. — (J. C. Burnbrae, Sey- mour East, C. W.) We are unable to identify the apple which succeeds so well with you, from your brief de- scription. If a specimen or two could be sent us, we should probably be able to give its name. Of what varieties are the trees which do not succeed with you ? Pruning-Neglected Vines.— (J. G., Kingsville, C. W.) When vines have been left until the sap begins to flow, it is best not to use the knife at that time on the old wood, but to wait until the young shoots have pushed a little, when the buds not wanted to grow can be rubbed off and the redundant wood removed. In this way there will be no loss of sap. 130 THE GENESEE FARMER. Record. — In the August No. of the Farmer, Geo. E. Brackett, of Belfast, Maine, gave a "Register" of the time of blossoming of shrubs and trees, and the appear- ance of migratory birds', etc., for the spring of 1S61. He gives his location as 44.23° N. latitude, and 09.8° W. longi- tude. For the sake of comparison, I give a similar "Register" for the same spring. My location is 42.28° N. latitude, 77.58° W. longitude. Altitude, about 1,800 feet above tide, which will about compensate for the differ- ence in latitude. RECORD FOR THE APPEARANCK OP BIRDS, ETC. Robin and blue bird appeared February 28. Song sparrow (ground sparrow — March 2. Phe'be bird— March 29. Barking frogs and striped snake — April 6. Golden winged woodpecker (yellow hammer) — April 15. Virginia nightingale — April 22. Barn swallow and meadow lark — April 24. Oat bird— April 24. King bird— May 9. Rice bunting (bob-o-link) — May 15. Chimney swallow, humming bird, and scarlet tarriger —April 22. Red-head woodpecker — April 25. Wren Cuckoo — April 26. RECORD OF BLOOMING OF SHRUBS, ETC. Hepatica triloba bloomed April 8. Lilac and violets — April 27. Siberian crab apple — May 25. Tulip and hyacinth — May 25. Apple— May 29. Aquilegia and garden ranunculus — June 1. White clover — June 7. Peony and snow ball— June 8. June roses — June 28. Pear, plum, peach, cherry and grape flower buds all killed. We had a very warm spell of weather the last of Feb- ruary, and then cold, stormy weather all through March. We had thunder showers on the 23d, 25th and 26th of April— then cold again— and on the 1st of May it snowed four or five inches, and at night froze ice one inch thick in tubs, etc. On the lyth of May, it snowed a little, and at night froze ice half an inch thick. On the 13th of June, there was a light hoar frost in the valleys. Not- withstanding our spring was so cold and backward, and summer unusually cool, grain of all kinds, even to corn, ripened and produced well. The first fall frost, severe enough to kill cucumber vines, was on the morning of October 27.— Wm. Howe, florth Almond, Alleg. Co., N. Y. Fruit Ppospects.— At the present time (March 20) the prospects for fruit were never better. Some have feared that the cold storm of March 15 and 16 would injure the buds. But this is not the case. In fact, there was no danger at all. The buds are still dormant, and the ice with which they were encased so much from injuring them acted as a protection from the cold. They would have stood a very much lower degree of cold than any to which they were subjected. Later in the season, after the buds had started, such a coat of ice might have proved injurious. We hear some complaints that the branches of trees in Western New York, especially of peaches, were much broken by the wind while encased in ice, but trust, and believe, that the damage is not as serious as was at first anticipated. Everything is yet favorable for a great fruit year. Agricultural Books Published in 1861.— A wri the Country Gentleman gives the following list of] that were issued during the past year in this count! on agricultural subjects. Notwithstanding the wi citement of the times, in no year since 1S50, if we j 1859, have so many works of this kind been publ We fear, however, that the sales have not been sue! make the publishing investment profitable: Allen, L. F.— American Herd Rook of Short Horn Cattle v. Buffalo, N. V. : It. Wheeler & Co. 500 pp. \ Allen, Stephen L.— FibriUa ; A Practical Treatfse on Flj tare. Illustrated. Boston : A. Williams & Co. 78 Beight, Wm.— The Single Stem, Dwarf, and Renewal Sj8 ©rape Culture. Second edition. Philadelphia, ] 50 cents. Clarke, W. S.— Report on Horses, submitted to the Mas setts Board of Agriculture. Boston: William 94 pp. Emeeson, George B., ard Flint, C'nAians L.— A Manual rlcnltore, for the. School, the Farm, and the t of Ornamental Plants. Boston : J ] ton & Co. 75 cents. Thomas, .T. J.— The Illustrated Annual Register of Rural for 1862; containing Piacteal Suggestions for the F nnd Horticulturist. Albany, N. Y. : L. Tucker & 144 pp. 25 cents. Tuttlk, J. II.— Barrie's Arabian Method of Horsemanshin pp. 50 cents. K Tenbeook, J. W. -The Sweet Potato Culturist. New Yor M. Saxton. 95 pp. 25 cents. Wood, A.— Class Book of Botany; being Outlines of the ! ture. Physiology and Classification of Plants. New A. S. Barnes & Burr. $2. Test tour Seeds.— It will often save much rexa loss and trouble in replanting, if the vitality of s was tested before sowing. This can easily be don placing a few seeds on an inverted piece of sod covering them with an another piece of light sod, keeping them moderately moist and warm for a s time. Count the seeds before you put them in, and can thus ascertain what proportion will be likely to fl Veterinary Surgeons.— A correspondent writes u reference to the great need of skillful veterinary surg in the United States and Canada. We fully agree I him, and hope that our young men will turn their at tion to this inviting field of professional labors. THE GENESEE FARMER. 181 ro Prepare Feathers for Beds. — lu the Febru- iber of the Genesee Farmer there is an inquiry, 3 prepare feathers for beds." In my experience, d no further care than a good baking, which our and grandmothers effected by putting them in a le oven, after the bread was taken out, until suf- dried to exclude the worm from the end of the n our day, when most of us have no brick oven, 2 object can be attained by placiug the bag near 2 for a length of time. (r beds should be frequently sunned and used to moth from them.— M. L. Bbatty, Aurora, N. Y. Special Notices. upEitpnospnATE of Lime. — The testimony in favor of ' Coe's Superphosphate of Lime, is trom the most relia- ?s, and of so conclusive a character; that there should be ion on the part of farmers and others to apply it in the every description of farm crops. Levi Bahtlett, one st intelligent and successful agriculturists in the coun- i as follows: Warner, N. IT., Dec. 23, 1861. Coe & Co. :— Your favor of the 14th inst. was duly re- in repty to your inquiries about the use and results of .■rpliosphate of Lime in this vicinliy the past Season, I y to say its application cave very general satisfaction — so that the testimony is strongly in favor of its use, and t used it the past season will purchase more largely next perphosphate was mostly used for the corn crop ; some mers esiimating the increase of the crop at least 25 per red a bag of your brand at Manchester, last spring, and g of Peruvian Guano. I experimented with the two in equal quantities, on different soils and crops — such as itoes, beans and turnips. In every instance tho Super- l exhibited the most marked effects, las been but little Superphosphate used in thi« vicinity pring, and that mostly* on the corn crop. I have ivg her experiments would have shown it equally valuable f our farm crops — and much more so on the turnip tribe I used it freely in growing the Sweet German turnip, ; averaging twice the size of any grown in previous similar land and culture, except the Superphosphate. iware of the importance attached to Superphosphate in tain, in the growtli of turnips and other root crops. The of plants are tho same the world over. The same ma- nd useful on the long cultivated soil of Old England, >und equally useful on the long-cultivated soil ot New Among the artificially prepared manures in England, sphale has a well deserved and high standing. i some idea of the expenditures of British farmers for and superphosphate of lime, I will g ve the following icently employed by Professor Anderson, of Glasgow, r on "'Analysis and Valuation of Manures" : mount of bone dust, 40,000 tons, at £6 £240,000 mount of superphosphate, made from bone and ashes 770,000 mount of superphosphates from coprolites 3GO,000 £1,370,000 tars, six million eight hundred and fifty thousand, annu- nded for bone and superphosphate for manuring their acres " English, Irish and Scotch farmers find it for rest to purchase largely of commercial manures in addi- I that can be made upon their farms, which is generally with the most scrupulous care and economy. It will •>r our New England farmers to carefully test the expert- ising superphosphate. (Signed) LEVI BAETLE'IT. s. — The sudden changes of our climate are sources of ley, Bronchial and Asthmatic Affections. Expert-, ing proved that simple remedies ofien act speedily and , when taken in the early stages of the disease, recourse i once be had to " Brown's Bronchial Troches," or Loz- t the Cold, Cough, or Irritation of the Throat be ever so by this precaution a more serious attack may be effectu- led off. Public Speakers and Singers will find them ef- >r clearing and strengthening the voice. From the Evening Post, N. Y. «'s Bronchial Thociiks, advertised in another column, ly recommended for public speakers and others, for the colds and to clear the voice. Their efficacy is strongly by congressmen, clergymen, and actors and singers who i. Among the ceitifica'es to their merits, we observe let- Ilenry Ward Beecher, N. P. Willis, E. H. Chapin, and ' eminence. )N.— As there are many imitations, asfc for and obtain only •■ Brown's Bronchial Trocltcs" wlvch by long experience have proved their value, haying received llie sanction ol phvsi- ciails generally, and testimonials from eminent men throughout the country See advertisement in another column. ADVERTISEMENTS, A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only such — will be inserted in the Genesee Fanner tor twenty-five cents a line, or $2,511 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every Stait and Territory, and in all the British Provinces. (It has nearly 5000 subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no belter or cheaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to rural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to our columns, at flftv cents a line. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 3— tf $j AA OR MOKE may be made by any LOCAL AGENT, J.UU without leaving his home, besides rendering an impor- tant service to his neighbors and friends, by selling the OPORTO Grape Vines. For terms to agents, address E. WAKE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. EMPLOYMENT— A NEW ENTERPRISE. The Franklin Sewino Machine Co. want a number of active Local and Traveling Agents. A liberal salary and expenses paid, or com- mission allowed. Address, with stamp, HARRIS BROTHERS, Boston, Mass. (Clip this out for reference ) NURSERY STOCKS. CHERRY, Pear and Quince, very first crade, from the Nurse- ry of D. Datjvessk. for sale by C. RAOUX, 78 Cedar street, New York. Agent lor P. Dauvpsse, Orleans, France; FERDIN- AND Gi.okde, gabions, France, and Joun Stewart & Sons, Dun- dee, Scotland. * BEAN PLANTER-Patented 1860. WE manufacture the cheapest and best Bean Planter in use. Worked by one Horse, Plants two rows at a time, and in hills. Rows from 28 to 30 inches apart, and hills 14 inches apart Price $12. WHITESIDE, BARNETT & CO., April— 2t Bmckport, Monroe Co., N. Y. ITALIAN BEES. ITALIAN QUEENS of brilliant color, purity guaranteed, for- warded by express to any part of the United states. Price, $5 00. Cash to accompany the order. £3^" No Dark colored Queens sent out from on r Apiary. BAKER & TA¥LOK, April — 4t ' Hulmeville, Bucks County, Pa. GRAPE VINES! THOSE wishing to plant Vineyards or to buy Grape Vines by the quantity, wi 1 do well to apply to the undersigned. A large and fine stock of Delaware, Concord, Rebecca. Logan, Cuyahoga and Ontario, besides Clinton, Catawba and Isabella, and also a large number of varieties in smaller quantities, are of- fered at low rates. Address C. W. SEELYE, Rochester Central Nurseries. VERBENAS BY MAIL. AVERY fine collection of the finest varieties of Verbenas are offered for sale. For description of varieties, send for cat- alogne. 23?" For $1, we will semi one dozen strong, healthy Planls to any address in the United States, postage paid. Address C. W. SEELYE, Rochester Central Nurseries. French Imported Sugar Cane Seed by Mail. IJOBERT BUIST & SOX, Seed Growers. Philadelphia, have Li just received, per Havre steamer, from Paris, a choice lot of PURE CHINESE SUGAR CANE SEED, which they offer to Farmers and Planters at the following prices : BY EXPRESS, per lb.. 40 cents. BY MAIL, postage paid, per lb., 60 cents. Will also receive in two weeks, by sailing vessel, a large quan- tity, which they will offer to the trade at low rates. SP^"* Remittances to accompany orders. ROBERT BUIST & SON, SEKD GrOWEBS AMD NuRSERTMKN, April— 2t Philadelphia, Pa. 132 THE GENESEE FARMER. J. M. THORBURN & CO.'S SEED WAREHOUSE, 15 Jotin Street, Mew York. SEEDS BY MAIL SEEDS FOR THE FARMER. SEEDS FOR THE GARDENER. SEEDS FOR THE FLORIST. SEEDS FOR THE NURSERYMAN. SEEDS FOR THE AMATEUR. SEEDS FOR THE DEALER. Send for our Descriptive Priced Catalogue of Vegetable and Agricultural Seeds for 1S62. Send lor our Descriptive Priced Catalogue of Flower Seeds for IS 62. The two combined contain the largest collection of seeds to be found in this country, embracing every standard and im- proved variety, together with all the novelties of the day. GARNET CHILI POTATOES. A see.iling introduced by C. E. Goodrich; he claims for it a higher degree of hardiness and adaplation to all soils and weather than any other sort known, and in good soils and seasons, and with fair culture, they will yield from 250 to 350 bushels to the acre. Price per peck, 50c; per bushel, $1.50 ; per barrel or 1% bushels, $4. All the following varieties of Seeds mailed, postpaid, to any part of the United States, (with the exception of those marked thus *, which may be mailed to those wishing them by this con- yeyance, at an additional expense of one cent per oz.,) on re- ceipt of the amount annexed: Cts. New Speckled Lima Beans per pkt..25 New Corrugated Pole do do. ..25 Thorbum's Nonpareil Cauliflower per oz. 75c. do. . .10 Earlv lJaris do do. 75c. do. ..10 Giant White Solid Celerv do. 25c. do. ..5 Improved N. Y Purple Egg Plant do. 60c do. ..10 Early Winuingsadt Cabbage do. 20c. do. ..5 New Cottager's Kale do. 20c. do. . 5 Early Vienna Kohl Rabi do. 20c. do. ..5 New Jersey Hybrid Cucumber (very long) do. 30c. d«. ..5 Early Curled Silesia Lettuce... do. 20e. do. ..5 New White Japan Melon (early) do. ..25 'Huntington' do. (very large) do. ..25 Strawberry Watermelon do. ..25 French Scarlet Turnip Radish per oz.,.10 New Madras fbdibl<- pod) Radish., perpkt.,10 Honolulu Nectarine Squash pei oz...30 F^jee Island Tomato per oz. 25c. per pkt.. 5 French Upright do do. ..15 Berlin Tellau Turnip per oz...l0 •Extra Early Princess Peas per qt...30 •Champion of Scotland, Eugenie and Napoleon Peas, each '.-• do. ..50 Large Sweet Mountain Pepper per oz. 40c. per pkt.. 5 ♦Large Red Onion per lb. 75c. per oz...lti Extra Early Turnip Beet do. 75c. do. ..10 Borage do. ..2(1 Mammoih German Cabbage (extra) do. ..25 ♦Long Orange Carrot per lb. 75c. do. ..10 ♦Balsam Fir Seed do. $2.' TUllNIi The Beets are Imported French ; Carrdts and Turnips own growth— all of which are warranted first quality. Forwarded by Express at 40, 30, 75, 40 and 40 cents per Forwarded by Mail, "postage paid," at 60, 50, 95, 60 i cents per lb. %W Wholesale quantities at greatly reduced rates. ] lances to accompany all orders. EORERT BUTST & SON, Seed Growers and Nupsekymjei April— 2t Philadelphia, GRAPE VINES BY MAIL. ONE DOLLAR will pay for any one of the following t varieties of Vines, which will be sent by mail, post f any part of the country : Concord, Crivelin, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Diana, Eliz Hartford Prolific, Rebecca, Logan, Ontario. Parties wishing Catalogues will be furnished on applicati Address C. W. SEE LYE. Rochester Central Nurse NANSEMOND SWEET POTATOES NORTHERN Farmers can grow no more profitable cro cities. Planls from 1st Mav till July. Price, 400, $1 $2; 5 000, $9; 10.000, $15. Packed and guaranteed to cj good condition throughout the country. $W° Directions fir Cultivation and Preservation sent Send for one. Address M. M. MURRAY, April— 2t Loveland, Clermont Co., C WARS AND rumors 'of wars have reduced the price of N Trees. For Price List of Lvons Nursery, address E. WARE SYLVESTER Lyons, S 1?0R .SALE.— Thirty acres of land, at Harlem, 111., eigh J from Chicago, and near the Kailroad Station. Good Orchard or Market Garden. Price, $60 per acre, wilh easj of payment. Apply to E. NORTH, IV* Clinton, Oueida Co., N THE GENEbEE FARMER 133 FOR amity and Manufacturing Use, 495 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. . C. GOODWIN, 93 State St., Rochester, JV. Y. ferities in all the principal Cities and Towns in t?ie United States. THE GROVER & BAKER S. M. CO. NOW OFFER IN ADDITION TO THEIR SPLENDID STOCK OF MACHINES, MAKING THE CELEBRATED GROWER & BAKER STITCH, NEW AND SUPERIOR huttle, or "Lock-Stitch" Machines, LDAPTED to all varieties of sewing. Much more Simple. Durable, N Useless and Perfect than any other " lock-slitch " achines heretoiore in use. E3g*~The Grover & Baker machines have taken the first pre- iums, over all competition, at every State Fair where they were hibited last year. DWARF BROOM CORN SEED. V NEW variety, which seldom grows more than four feet A high, and produces a greater weight of corn and of supe- >r qualitv to the ordinary kind, is now offered for sale for the st time by ROGERS & GEST, April— 2t No. 18S Market St., Philadelphia, Pa, A NEW GOOSEBERRY AND NEW RASPBERRY. rTATIVES of the Great "West. The Gooseberry is smooth, N prolific, larger than Houghton, of fine flavor, and free from ildew. The Raspberry is a Black Cap, better than Doolittle's □proved. Circulars on application. April.— 2t HEFFRON & BEST, Utica, N. Y, BEDDING PLANTS AND BULBS. ^TEW Verbenas, Petunias, Geraniums, Dahlias, Heliotropes. 1 &c, &c. Also, a large assortmnt of the best Gladiolus and uberose Bulbs. HEFFRON & BEST, April.— 2t Utica, N. Y. Sronghiai PRAIRIE FLOWER SEEDS. * LARGE assortment of Prairie and other Flower and Gar- r\. den Seeds, at the Utfca Union Nurserv Depot. Send for a Catalogue. HEFFRON & BEST, April— 2t Utica, N. Y. « Short-Horns." [ HAYE for sale a few BULLS and BULL CALVES, COWS, L and HEIFERS, mostlv bv the Imported Bulls Duke of Glos- sr (11,882} and Grand Duke of Oxford (16.184). Ja— 4t JAMES O. SHELDON, Geneva, N. Y. r ARGE VINES— Of the CONCOED, CEEVELIN, DELA- Vj WARE, DIANA, HARTFORD PROLIFIC and EEREC- !A. Prices low. Send stamp for Catalogue of over eio-hty va- ieties. HEFFRON & BEST, April.— 2t Utica, N. Y. "A SLIGHT COLD," Cough. Hoarseness, or Sore Throat, which might be checked with a simple remedy, if neglected, often terminates seriously. Few are aware of the importance of stoppng a Cough or a "slight 0OLD"in its first saiie; trial whifeb-rn the beginning would yield to a mild remedy, if not attended to, soon attacks the lungs. "Brown's Bronchial Tsroches" were first introduced e'even years ago. 11 has been pror, d that //,,■;, are tlu '>"■> article be- fore the public tor Coughs, Colds, Bronchitis. Asthma, Ca- tarrh, the ffacMng Cough in Consumption, and numerous at- fections of the Throat, giving immediate, relief. Public Speakers and Singers will find them effectual for clearing and strengthening the voice. "That trouble in my throat (for which the ' Troches' is a spec- ific), having made me often a (jiere whisperer." " I recommend their use to Public Spf.akep.s." REV. E. H. CHAPIN. "Have proved extremely serviceable for Hoarseness." REV. H. W. BEECHEE. "Almost instant relief in the distressing labor ot bre, thing pe- culiar to Asthma." REV. A. C. EGGLESTON. "Contain no Opium or anything injurious." DR. A. A HAYES, Chemist, Boston. " A simple and pleasant combination for Coughs. &c." DR. G. F. BIGELOW, Boston. " Beneficial in Bronchitis." DR. J. F. W. LANE, Boston. "I have proved them excellent for Whooping Cough." REV. H. W.« WARREN, Boston. " Beneficial when compelled to speak, suffering from Cold." REV. S. J. P. ANDERSON, St. Louis. "I have been much afflicted with Bronchial Affection, pro- ducing Hoarseness and Cough. The Troches are the only effectu- al remedy, giving power and clearness to the voice." REV. GEORGE SLACK, Minister C/rurch of England, Milton Parsonage, Canada. " Two or three times I have been attacked by Bronchitis, so as to make me fear that I should be compelled to desist from min- isterial labors, through disorder of the throat. But from a mod- erate use of the Troches. I now find myself able to preach night- ly, for weeks together, without 'the slightest inconvenience." REV. E. B. RYCKMAN, A B. Wesleyam Minister, Montreal. From Rev. HENRY WILKES, D. D., Pastor Zion Church, Montreal: . ... " When somewhat hoarse from cold or over-exertion in public speaking, I have uniformly found Brown's Troches to afford re- lief." CA.TJXI03ST- The market is full of imitations, represented to be the same as ".Brmcris BroncJiial Troches,'" which are in most cases produc- tive of positive injurv. Many dealers will recommend interior preparations and lower priced articles, affording more profit, to themselves. Ask for and obtain only " Brown's Bronchial Tro- ches,'" which by long experience have proved their value, having received ihe sanction of physicians generally, and testimonials from eminent men throughout the country. IW Sold by all Druggists and Dealers in Medicine, at 25 cents per box. "SKTTs/L. PATERSON'S Improved Superphosphate of LimeT MANUFACTURED and for sale at Division Street WharfT Newark, N. J., and by the manufacturer's agents in this and other States. {sp™ CIRCULARS, with particular instructions for use, will be sent by mail when requested, or on application to his agedts. WM. PATERSQN, The oldest manufacturer of Superphosphate of Lime in the Union. April— 3t ?OWLER'S PATENT STEAM PLOWING MACHINERY, PV TENT-EIGHTS for States and Counties and Machines are now for sale. Descriptive pamphlets sent post free Apply o R. W. EDDISON, Jan. — 4t 608 South Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia. ITALIAN QUEEN BEES. I SHALL continue to breed this season from my well known stock of Italian Bees, imported in March. 1861, by steamer New York. I guarantee the perfect purity of my Queens, being in possession of the Only 'Six Live Original Italian Queens in the United States. To suit the times, I have reduced my price to §7 50 for a Queen and a few hundred workers. For particulars anplv to C. WM. ROSE, April— 3t 63 Exchange Place, New York. 134 TTTE GEKESEE FARMER. PEINCE & CO,'S IMPROVED PATEVT MELODEONS Warranted for Five Years. THE Oldest Estab ishment in the United Slates, employing 200 men, and finishing 80 instruments per week. WHOLESALE DEPOTS. 87 Fulton street, N. Y., and 82 Lake street, Chicago. Manu- factory, corner Niagara and Maryland streets, Buffalo. WHOLESALE AGENTS. Russell it Tolman, Boston, Mass. ; W. F. Colburn, Cincinnati) Ohio; Balmer & Weber, St. Louis, Mo.; Ph. P. Werlein, New Orleans; A. &, S. Nordueimer. Toronto, C. W. LIST OF PRICES. PRICES OF PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS. Four Octave, C to C, M5. Four and a half Octave, C to F, $60. Five Octave. F to F, $75. Five Octave, Double Keed, F to F, $130. PRICKS OP PIANO CASED. Five Octave, F to F. $100. Six Ocave, b' to F, $130. Five Octave, Double Heed. F to F, $150. Five Octave, Two Banks of Keys, $2i 0. Organ Melodeon. — Two Banks of Keys, Five Sets of Reeds, Kight Stops, One and a Half Octave Foot Pedals, One Set ot Heeds in Pedal Bass Independent, $350. Organ Melodeon — One Bank of Keys, Three Sets of Reeds, Six Stops, One and a Half Octave Foot Pedals, $250. One Set of Reeds in Pedal Bass Independent, $25 extra. OUR LATEST IMPROVEMENT-PRINCE & CO'S GRAD- UATED SWELL. ■ Patc»itcd September 17, 1861. This is an entirely new idea, and its want has been noticed by all acquainted with Reed Instruments. The old swell could never be made to operate gradually; the instant the pedal was touched lor opening it, the change would be instantaneous and abrupt Our NEW SWELL is constructed on scientific principles, and we are satisfied, by our untiring -tudy and experiments, that it is the only one by which the tone of Reed Instruments may be grad- uated from a mere whisper to the full power of the instrument, and vice versa. The volume of tone is also very much increased by this swell, and is now all that we could desire. This, in connection with our DIVIDED SWELL (which we patented in 1855), will be added to all the Melodeons which we manufacture in the future, and without extra charge. One other feature in our Melodeons is the IMPROVED VaLVE OR PAL- LET, being a combination of cloth and leather, prepared ex- pressly for the purpose. This valve we have used for the past three "years, and we find it to be the very thing that has been so long needed as a substitute for the India Rubber Valve, which has been in general use since Melodeons have been manufactured, and which hits caused so much trouble, by the di solving and sticking of the India Rubber. All of our instruments are now finished with this improved valve, and we can recommend them with confidence. Persons unacquainted with the Melodeon and its history, will bear in mind that we are the pioneers and leading manufacturers, not only in the United States, but in the world. "We commenced the manufacture of Melodeons in the fall of the year 1847. and since that time have finished and sold T AENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND. These instruments are now in use mostly in the United States and Canada, but also in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the West Indies, and from all these quarters we have the most flatterine testimonials of the high estimation in which they are held. AT ALL INDUSTRIAL 'EXHIBITIONS THEY HAVE INVARIABLY BEEN AWARDED THE HIGHEST PREMIUM WHENEVER EXHIBITED IN COM- PETITION WITH OTHERS. We shall take pleasure in forwarding by mail (at our own ex- pense) our Illustrated Catalogue, in which every instrument we I manufacture is lully described, and illustrated by elegant eni graving.'. All Melodeons of our manufacture, either sold by us or dealers in any part of t-.e United States or Canada, are warrantecl to hi perfect in eviry respect, and should any repairs be neeessnry be- | fore the expiration of five years from dale of sale, we hold our- elves ready and willing to make the same fr?e of charge, provid- ed the injury is not caused by accident or design. Agents for the sale of our Melodeons may be found in all lbs principal towns of the United States and Canada. Address either GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., Buffalo, N. Y. GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., 87 rultnn slreet, New York. GEO. A. PRINCE & CO., 82 Lake street, Chicago, ILL. Or either of the above wholesale agents. Sale of Imported Thorough-bied Cattle. THE subscriber offers for sale the whole of his lately imported herd of Improved Short-hums, with their produce, chiefly of the Booth blood. Full pedigrees lor each, authenticated by re- ference to Coates' English Herd Book— to be seen till the 15th of Aprdnext. G. II. PHILLIPS, Woodford, Ogdensburgh, N. Y. P. S. Five of the cows have been served this year by an Im- pirled Bull, and are supposed to be with calf. for sewing Machines. jonas brook & brothers* prize medal spool cotton, 2"0 or nOO yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOKS PATENT GLACE for upper thread, and BKOOK'S SIX CO;.D RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country ; also in cases of MM dozen each, as«or ed numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, E6 Vesey street, New York. Ja — ly PERUVIAN GUANO, Gi OYERNMENT Brand and Weight, * SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. BONE DUST, LAND PLASTER, For sale by A. LONGETJ, 84 Cliff street, corner of Fulton, N. Y. 16 ACRES STRAWBERRIES. JENNY LIN'D (verv early and prolific). WILSON'S ALBA- NY and PYRAMID CHIlLlAN, plants $3 per 1.0U0, and 10,000 for $25. CRANBERRY PLANTS, $2 per 1.000. RASPBERRIES (six varieties), $10 to $20 pe1- 1X00. Address A. M. PURDY, April— It* South Bend, Indiana. LAWTON BLACKBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES. IAVILL sell Lawton Blackberries this season for $3 per IcO, or $20 per 1,000— fine plants. RASPBERRIES. Merville d' 4 Seasons, Belle d'Fontenny (everbearing), and Purple Cane. $1 per doz., $0 per 100. Kinland's Seedling and Doolittle's Black, $3 per 100, $20 per 1000. II. B. LUM; Sandusky City, Ohio. 170R SALE— By the subscriber, a MORGAN BLACK HAWK ' STALLION, sired by Black Hawk, Jr., is five years old, and Btauds fifteen and a hall hands high. Is a beautiful mahog- any bay, with black legs, mane and ail. Weighs about llou lbs. when in good condition. Is compactly built, possessing remark- able intelligence and muscular powers, having a strong, vigorous constitution. Has an easy, open gait, and bids fair to make a fast traveler. JACOB IIOUSTATER, March.— 3t* Pekin, Niagara Co., N. Y. ONTARIO GRAPES. NATIVE WINES. ("1 OOD, strong, well-sorted Vines, true to name, and grown by T myself from wood from the original vine. Price, $2 eack, or $10 per dozen. PRESBREY'S NATIVE TWINES— The pure juice of the Grape. Isabella. Port and Sherry received the first premium at the New York State Fairs of 1860 and '61. $3 per gallon, $7.76 per doz. OTIS F. PRESBREY. Prospect Hill Vineyard, Buffalo, N. Y. A AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. GOOD assortment, for sale by A. LONGETT, 84 Cliff street, cor. of Fulton, New York. 1 I 1 Hi UlJili^OljO Everybody should have a Copy. Jural gmual anb horticultural gircetctij, FOR 1863. PRICE ONLY TWENTY-FIVE CENTS! rHE Rural Annual and SdrtieuWural Directory As & be u\ 120 pages, puDlisheil at the beginning of each year, at; is a bo<~k i he' f the Genesee Farmer. It is flfled with matti-r interesting nd asefuj to every one engaged in the culture 61 the soil, in town, illage, country or city. Anion? the contents will be found articles on the following lbjects : PLANTING FRUIT TREES; ANNEALS AND THEIR CULTURE; EVERL x STING FLOWERS; MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC WINES; CULTURE OF DWARF AND STANDARD PEARS; CULTIVATION OF THE CEREALS; ON CIDER MAKING; AMOUNi OF ROOTS FKOM CLOVER AND GRASSES; CUTTING POTATOES FOR PLANTING; CHINESE HOGs; HENS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT; CULTURE OF THE PEACH IN THE MIDDLE STATES; CWERI.VC GRAPE VINES IN WINTER; TREATMENT OF MILCH COWS; APPLICATION OF MANURE; CULTURE OF WHITE BEANS; THE ENGLISH MUTTON SHEEP, VRh a great variety of other matters of general interest. Price only 25 cents. It will be sent prepaid by return mail to ,ny address Send the money in postage stamp*. Address JO-EPII HARRIS, Publisher of the Genesee Fanner and Rural Annual, Rochester, N, T. p&- The Rural Annual has been published seven years. [Tie seven numbers— lor the years 1S56, '57, '53. '50, 'CO, '61 and 52— will be sent, prepaid, by return mail, to any address lor $1.40, Books for Farmers and Fruit Growers. V HortieullBre,&c, may 1 :k Fabmkb : HE following works on Agriculture. btained at the Office of UicGicnksi American Florist's Guide . . 75,Quimby's Mystcriesof Bee- Brielit on' Grape Culture.. 50 keeping Explained 1 0©> 50 Browne's bird Fancier.. 25 & 50 Colo's Am. I' mil Book 50 Dana's Muck Manual 1 0: Do. Prize Essay on Ma- nures 2" Everybody's Lawyer. $1 & 1 25 Every Laiiy her own Flow- er Gardener Farm Drainage, (11. F. French) Genesee Farmer (hound volumes) each Liebig'S Animal Chemistry Liebig on Food, «fcc...-. .. Do. Relations of Chemistry to Agriculture Miner's Bee-keeper's Man- ual Modern Cookery, 'by Miss Acton and Mrs. S. J. Hale 1 00 Nash's Pract cal Horse Far- rier 50 Rabbit Fancier 25 & 50 Richardson on the Hog 25 D... Domestic Fowls 25 Do. IVslsol the Farm. .. i!5 Do. on the Dog 25 Rural Annual ami Hort. Directory for lbtil 25 (First live "vols. . I o , 1 85G-7- 8-9 an. I 60,sen( lor 1 00 Uodgers' Scieuntic Agricul- ture 75- 1 00 Rural Poetry of t e En- 25 glish Language, (a beau- tiful book lor a present).. 3 00 Smith's Landscape Gard'g 1 2& Skililut Uousewile 25 The Rose Culturist 25 & 50 1 0(1 The Horse and his Diseases 1 00 Wilson on Flax ■.. 25 Youalt on the Horse 1 25 Do. on Sheep 75 Do. on the Hog 75 1 00 82F**Any of the above named works will be forwarded by mail post-paid. V« receipt of the price specified. Address JOSEPH HARKI*, Rochester, N. Y. SCHENECTADY AGRICULTURAL WOKKS, G. WESTINGHOliSE & CO., Proprietors, ANUFACTURE Endless Chain or Railway Powers, for One, M' Two end Three Horses; Four and Eight Horse Lever Powers, Combined Threshers and Cleaners, Threshers and Vi- brating Separators, Clover Machines v.illi Huller and Cleaner combined— also, with Thresher, Huller and Cleaner combined; Wood Sawing Machines, both Circular and Drag; Cider Mills and Corn Shellers combined ; Dog or Hieep Powers, ne that he sold $50 worth from less than a seventeenth of an icre of land. I have copied a number of these letters into my Seed Catalogue. MARBLEHEAD MAMMOTH DRUMHEAD.— Numbers have written ine of their success with Ibis monster var ety ; that they raised cabbages weighing from 25 to 45 lbs.— the general wonder of the community. They have been raised weighing 62 lbs, regret that I have I ut a limited supply of seed this season Blf orders as long as it lasts. Stone Mason Cabbage, per ounce, I prepaying postage. 25 rts. ; per lb.. $2.07. Marblahead Mammoth, per package of about 1000 seeds. 25 cents. Hubbard Squash, per package, 12 cents. The seed is of my own raising, and warranted of the purest quaiitv grown. &§T CATALOGUES forwarded to applicants, of every vanely of Garden seeds and many hundred varieties of Flower seeds. JAMES J. H. GREGORY, March. St Marblehead, Mass. Trie Cheapest and Best LITERARY MAGAZINE IN THE W0ELD IS THE FIVE CENT MONTHLY. EACH number contains 32 bound pages of choice Original Romances, Talcs, Sketches, Poems and Criticism. Only 5 cents a number. Subscription price, 5G cents a year, by mail to any address. Spcemen copies sent upon the receipt of two red stamps. Address E Jti. BULLARD & CO., Publishers, 87 Oornhill, Boston, Mass. Marco.— 2t SEEDS! GARDEN SEEDS! FROM HALLOCK'S SEED AND AGRICULTURAL WARE- HOUSE.—The subscriber will forward by mail, poslage paid t > any address in ths United States, a package of twenty sixpenny pap'.-rs, well fihed with good and reliable vegetable seeds, of good varieties to supply the garden, on receipt of $1 by mail. A part Flower seeds will be substituted if desired. Send OB your orders. If you wish any particular varieties, name them and they will be substituted if they are to be had in this market. Address March— 2t* E. D. HALLOCK, agt., Rochester, N. Y. Concord Grape Vines. I WOULD give notice that I shali not be able to supply Vines for any more Vineyards till next fall, when I shall have about SJ.000 more' vines to sell, 50 per cent, low r than others ask, and on a year's credit ! I will, however, sell a few tlie coming spring, one year old vines, grown in the open air, at $3 per dozen. The Concord is going up with a rush, ahead of the Delaware, ami every other variety. T.B.MINER, March.— 8t Clinton, N. Y. PER MONTH— Made by any one with Stencil Toole. For a circular explaining the business, Address dOHN MLXIKEN, May— ly. Lawrence, Mass. The New Lettuce. TRUE BOSTON CURLED LETTUCE- 1 introduce this new- variety as surpassing all varieties of the Lettuce family in ex- cellence and elegance. I would invite attention to the rare beau- ty of its structure and unequalled symmetry of its growth. It is perfectly hardy. Packages containing seed sufficient to supply a family lor a season, with directions for cultivation, post paid, '40 cents each ; six packages, $1. Every variety of garden sead for sale. Catalogues gratis, JAMES J. H. GREGORY, Feb.- utalogues grati -2t Marblehead, Mass. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the "Wood Cuts used in the Gene- see Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A book containing Impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipt of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. OQ CEHTS EACH —MICROSCOPES magnifying 500 times. JiO Five, of different powers. $1. Ma Mar.— 3t* F. H. BOWEN, Box 220, Boston, Mass, 136 THE GENESEE FARMER. PEEMIUMS! PREMIUMS ! PREMIUMS ! To Every Reader of the Genesee Farmer. ALL PP*SZES AND NO BLANKS! How to Do Good and G-et Pay for it. GREAT PAY FOR LITTLE WORK! Being desirous of doubling the circulation of the Gen-esee Far- mer the present year, we have concluded to offer the follow- ing Premiums to those who send us subscribers: Book Premiums. 1. To every person who sends us the name of one subscriber to the Oenesee Farmer for the year 1862, and 50 cents, we will send a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaids Di- rectory, by Mrs. Eliza A. Call, or one copy of the Rural An- nual and Horticultural Directory for 1860 or 1801, seut pre- paid by return mail. 2. To every person who sends us two subscribers and one dollar, we will send the Rural Annual and Horticultural Di- rectory for 1S60 and 1861, prepaid by return mail. 8. To every person who sends us three subscribers and $1.50, we will send a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three numbers of the Rural Annual. 4. To every person who sends us four subscribers and $2,00, we will seud one copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farri- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 5. To every person who sends us five subscribers and $2.50, we will send one copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1856, nicely bound in stiff paper covers, prepaid, by return mail. 6. To every person sending us six subscribers and $3.00, we will send Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a handsomely bound volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1S60, prepaid, by return mail. [The invariable price of the latter is $1.00, and there is no cheaper work.] 7. To every person sending us seven subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send one copy of Mrs. S. J. Hale's Modern Cook- ery, prepaid, by return mail. 8. To every person sending us eight subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a copy of The Horse and his Diseases, or a copy of Everybody's Lawyer, prepaid, by return mail. 9. To every person sending us twenty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a copy of The Rural Poetry of the English Language, the best and handsomest work of the kind pub- lished. 10. To the person sending us eighty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send Morton's Cyclopedia of Agriculture, prepaid, by return mail. This is theAest work on agriculture extant and sells for $18.00. Seeds, Grape Vines, Fruit Trees, etc. 11. To every person sending us two subscribers, at 50 cents each, we will send a package of Flower Seeds, containing six papers of the choicest and best seeds imported from France and England, and which sell at from six to ten cents each. They will be forwarded, prepaid, by return mail. 12. To every person sending us three subscribers at 50 cents each^ we will send, prepaid, by return mail, ten papers of choice imported Flower Seeds. 13. To every person sending us four subscribers at 50 cents each, wo will send sixteen papers of choice impor.ed Flower Seeds, prepaid, by return mail. 14. To every person sending us five subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send a Delaware Grape Vin^, prepaid, by mail, 15. To every person sending us eight subscriqers at 50 cents each, we will send two Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 16. To every person sending us twelve subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send three Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 17. To every person sending us fifteen subscribers al 50 cents each, we will send four Delaware Grape Vines, prepaid, by mail. 18. To every person sending us seventeen subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send five Delaware Grape Vines, or on& each of Delaware, Concord, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific and Crivelen ; and for a larger club in the same proportion. 19. To every person sending us fifty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send eight dollars worth of Fruit or Ornamental Trees, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, etc. 20. To every person sending us sixty subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send ten dollars worth of Fruit Trees, etc. 21. To every person sending us one hundred subscribers at 50 cents each, we will send twenty dollars worth of Fruit Trees, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, etc. It must be borne in mind that these premiums are offered for subscribers al fifty cents each. All subscriptions will com- mence with the January number. Premiums at Regular Club Rates. 1. To every person who sends us eight Subscribers, (at our lowest terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send, postage paid, a copy of our beautiful twenty-five cent book, the Rukal Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1862. 2. To every person who sends us s-ixteen subscribers, (at our lowest club terms of thirty-seven and a half cents each,) we will send one extra copy of the Genesee Farmer, and one copy of the Rural Annual, prepaid, by mail. 3. To 'every person sending us ticenty-four subscribers, (as above,) we will send two extra copies of the Farmer, or two- copies of the Rural Annual and one extra copy of the'FARMER, 4. To every person sending us thirty-two subscribers (at 87^ cents each), we will send one copy of Mrs. Hale's Modern Cook- ery Book, prepaid, by return mail. 5. To every person sending us forty subscribers (at 37^ cents each), we will send one copy of Everybody's Lawyer, or The Horse and his Diseases, prepaid, by return mail, or sixteen pack- ages of Flower Seeds— and to larger clubs at the same rate. Our Agents can club the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual together at 50 cents the two. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor oe tiie Genesee Farmeu, Mnrch 1, 1862. Rochester, N. Y. THE GENESEE FARMER. Is the cheapest agricultural paper in the world, and has attained an unrivalled circulation. Terms — Invariably in advance — Fifty Cents a Year: Five Copies for $2: Eight Copies for $3, together with a Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory to the person getting up the club. It is not necessary that the club should be all at one office — we send wherever the members of the club desire. Specimen numbers sent free to all applicants. {3^"° All friends of rural improvement are respectfully solicited to obtain and forward subscriptions. The Postage on the Genesee Farmer is only 3 cents a year in the State of New York, and 6 cents a year in other States. Papers are sent to the British Provinces at the same rates as in the United States. No extra charge for American postage. The address of papers can be changed at anv time. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR OF TDK GENESEE FARMER, Rochester, N. Y. safe l. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, MAY, 1862. No 5. THE VALUE OF COMMERCIAL MANURES. 3r. Evan Pugh, President of the Agricultural liege of Pennsylvania, communicates to the untry Gentleman the result of analyses made in i College laboratory of some of the artificial nures offered for sale in this country. 3.6 adopts Prof. S. "W. Johnson's estimate of the ue of the leading ingredients found in manures, follows : ash (as in wood ashes), 4 cts. per lb. isphoric acid in raw or burned bone phos- phates, 4X " " isphoric acid in combinations soluble in wa- ter (as in Superphosphates), 12^ " " •ogen in forms easily soluble IT " " )huric acid 1 " " Chis is as fair an estimate as could be made. It somewhat higher than that usually adopted in gland, and is, therefore favorable to the manu- turers. ["he following artificial manures have been ana- ed and their composition accurately determined. e amount of ingredients which they contain be- ; thus known, nothing is easier than to ascertain sir exact value. Full details of their composi- n are given, and the results are "as follows : Selling Heal Manures. price. value. ides' Superphosphate $45 00 $37 50 ger & Butts' .Superphosphate, 45 f)0 23 80 igh & Son's Raw-bone Phosphate, 45 00 22 40 igh ifc"Son"s Ground Raw-bone, 35 00 36 20 ker & Clarke's Phosplioric Ferlilizer, 40 00 25 40 ker & Clarke's Meat and Bone Compost, 25 00 12 60 pes' Nitrogenized Superphosphate, 50 00 14 60 li Company's Poudrette, 2 pr bbl. 11 40 uvian Guano, 60 00 62 80 ^eminent Peruvian Guano, 60 00 37 60 :iflc Ocean Guano, 50 00 45 60 Peruvian guano and the ground raw-bones are > only articles that stand the test. None of the ters are worth what is charged for them. ;odes' superphosphate comes nearest to the irk. Dr. Pugh says : rhe greatest cheat in the whole lot is that of ipes' sorcalled nitrogenized superphosphate. It 3old for nearly three times as much as it is worth, d when sold contains so much worthless matter at the cost of transporting the latter would very iterially increase the cost of what little valuable material was obtained in it. The manufacture and sale of such a manure at such a price, implies either gross ignorance or dishonesty, and points out the necessity of our having some means of protecting the farmer from the shameful imposition that sales of such manures inflict. The sale of every 100 tons of such a manure annually would imply a loss of at least $3,500 per year to the farmer, to say nothing of the still greater loss of crops resulting from the use of such a worthless manure. The Lodi Company's poudrette is sold by meas- ure, and it is, therefore, not easy to determine its real value. The agent of the Company informs us that it weighs about 220 lbs. per barrel, say nine barrels in a ton. Dr. Pugh gives the price at $2 per barrel. This would be $18 per ton, while the real value is only $11.40. When seven barrels are taken, the price in New York is $1.50 per barrel, or $13.50 per ton. This, compared with many others, is not a very wide difference between the selling price and the estimated value ; but it is a bulky article, and the freight, in proportion to its value, would be much higher than on Peruvian guano. The real question is: what is a manure worth, delivered ot the farm, and what can it be obtained for — not in New York, out on the farm. A ton of ordinary barn-yard manure, according to the above estimate, is worth $2. But if it had to be transported any long distance, it would not be worth anything — the cost of freight would be more than the value of the manure. In estimat- ing the value of poudrette, therefore, or any other bulky fertilizer, this cost of freight is a very im- portant point. In regard to Mapes' manures, little need be add- ed to the remarks of Dr. Pugh. The Boston Cul- tivator, of April 12, in alluding to the above facts, says: Some persons may remember that examinations made by Mr. Harris, of the Genesee Farmer, and Prof. S. W. Johnson, of Yale College, some years ago, of Mapes' superphosphate and other manures manufactured by him, presented similar discrepan- cies to the above, in regard to the selling price and calculated value. 138 THE GENESEE FARMER. This is true, and if fanners will waste their money in purchasing such worthless stuff, we can not help it. We have for years done all that we could to put them on their guard. It will he seen even that Peruvian guano differs greatly in composition and value. One sample an- alyzed was worth $62.80 per ton, while another, selling at the same price, was worth only $37.60. The large dealers in England have the cargoes an- alyzed before purchasing, and this the only way of securing a good article. The consumption of artificial fertilizers in this country is destined to be very large, and the agri- cultural press should fearlessly expose all attempts at imposition. Let it be distinctly understood that a good chemical analysis will show the real value of a manure with infallible accuracy, and let such men as Prof. S. W. Johnson and Dr. Evan Puon be encouraged to examine every commercial manure found in the market, and we shall soon be rid of the imposters who rob the farmers of their hard earnings. The honest and intelligent manufactur- ers and dealers should themselves use their influ- ence in this direction. Let them have their man- ures analyzed, and then give a guarantee that such represents their real composition, and if such should not prove to be the case, they might be sued for damages. A short time ago, a manufacturer of a new fer- tilizer in New York asked us to advertise and re- commend his article. He had a number of testi- monials from those who had used it, and was him- self eloquent in its praise. " That is all very well," we remarked, " but all know how easy it is to get testimonials. Send a fair sample to Prof. S. W. Johnson, of Yale College, and if he finds 10 per cent, of ammonia in it, we will give you a good puff without charge." If the agricultural press will adopt a similar rule, manure dealers will soon understand that they can not impose upon farmers with impunity. THE WHEAT CROP IN ENGLAND. The Marie Lane Express issued a circular, ad- dressed to reliable parties in different parts of Eng- land, asking, '• Is there a good breadth of wlieat sown in your neighborhood?" and "Has it been put into the ground in good condition?" Two hundred and ninety-nine answers were re- ceived, from which it would appear that an un- usual breadth of laud has been sown to wheat, and that the plants on the whole look exceedingly well. The editor of the Express remarks: Referring again to the tables, it will be seen that the breadth of land now under wheat is unusuallj large. This may be ascribed in a. great measure to the small quantity that was sown during the pre- vious year, from the unfit state of the land. Not only has a very large breadth been sown, but th« seed has been put in under the most favorable cir- cumstances. If, to some extent, rather too late (as a rule), yet the mildness of the winter has favored it, and the plant generally is strong, healthy, and without breaks in the rows. It would be needless to give any condensed table of this schedule, as, with the exception of about four or five cases, tin whole of the returns agree in their accounts, botl as to the largeness of the breadth and the wonder- fully fine appearance of the plant. If no disastei intervene between now and harvest, there is tin prospect of this important product yielding th< largest amount of produce that ever was known.' CUTTING POTATOES-EARLY AND LATE CROPS. We have in previous volumes of the Genese Farmer alluded to the fact that the rose end of th« potato will start sooner and produce an earlie crop than the middle or heel of the potato. The reason assigned for this by Dr. Lindley, wa that the rose end was better matured. We though that this could not be tli true reason, from the fai that the rose end was ■ latest formed portion of tl potato and could, therefor hardly be supposed to bei well matured as the he end, which was older. "Vi thought the true explan tion was, that before a se< 2. Centre could germinate it must \ decomposed. uTbatwhi< thou sowest is not quickened except it die." Ai the rose end being less matured — the elements \>* ing in a cruder form and less organized — the sei would decay sooner and the plants would sta: earlier. Since these views were expressed — and which] true, are of much practical and scientific impo tauce — we have met with the following fact whi< seems to confirm them. Dr. Fkombehg has an lyzed the different parts of four varieties of pot toes, and in each case he found that the rose ei contained more inorganic matter and water tlu the heel end — in other words, it was less organize Prof. Wilson, in his recent work on ''Our Far Crops," in commenting on these results, says tin " help to strengthen the claims which science h; upon all engaged in farming pursuits, by givir them a solution of many apparently mysterioi circumstances connected with their daily avoo; Rose End. 8. Heel End. fHE GENESEE FARMER. 139 ions. Now, to an observant man, this identified ifference may be made serviceable in this way : fith one tuber he has the means of raising three istinct plants — from the "rose end," from the centre," and from the " heel sets " — each of diich will come to maturity at a different period, ie produce of the " set " from the " rose end " 3ining forward first, that of the centre being next, rhile the "set" cut from* the "heel end" will re- uire some two or three weeks longer before it is >ady for harvesting. In cutting the sets for plant- ig in districts where it is important that the crop lould come to maturity at a given time, this low- • portion should be separated from the others, and irown aside for feeding purposes, only the upper id centre portions being retained for use as seed." CULTIVATION OF THE WHITE BEAN. For years we have earnestly advocated the ore extensive cultivation of the white bean as a jld crop on American farms. The great need of American agriculture- is a good fallow crop " — some plant that will stand our )t, dry summers, enrich the soil, and allow the ie of the horse-hoe to clean the land during its owth. A plant, in short, that shall occupy the me place in our rotation as the turnip does in aglish agriculture. The white bean comes nearer to this than any her plant yet introduced. If the beans are con- med on the farm, — as the turnips always are in igland — their cultivation would add materially to I fertility. There can be no doubt on this point. II the leguminous plants — including clover, peas, itches, beans, etc.— contain large quantities of trogen, and this when consumed by animals or owed under, is converted into ammonia — the try thing which we most need for the growth of e cereals. Let us, then, grow beans. No crop will pay stter. When prices are good, as at present, they n be sold ; and if prices fall, they can be fed out i the farm with advantage. In regard to their cultivation, we have written much in previous volumes of the Genesee Far- er, that little need be added at this time. They e generally grown on warm, light soil, but will cceed on almost any soil if properly cultivated, ar this, as for all other crops, the land should be ell underdrained, either naturally or artificially, tie land may be plowed in the fall and again in ie spring, and made clean and mellow before anting; or a clover sod may be turned over and the beans planted at once. The common " white medium " is generally considered the. most produc- tive variety, but the White Mountain or Marrow yields nearly or quite as well, and brings a better price. It is a little larger, rounder, plumper and handsomer, and is gaining in popular esteem. They may be planted in hills two and a half feet apart and fifteen to eighteen inches apart in the rows, dropping five to six beans in each hill; or they may be drilled in with a machine, in rows two and a half feet apart, and a single bean two inches apart in the rows. The latter, perhaps, gives the larger crop, but the former requires less labor in hoeing, etc. In this section, they are usually planted the first week in June. CROSS BETWEEN THE WILD AND DOMESTIC GOOSE. A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer, speak- ing of the hybrid between the wild and domestic goose, says they frequently " pair like other geese, and lay quite a number of eggs, yet their eggs will not hatch." He has tried them repeatedly, but the eggs were always rotten at the expiration of four AMERICAN WILD GOOSE. weeks— the period of incubation for both the wild and common goose. He says the mongrels yield more and better feathers, and can be picked oftener in a year than common geese ; that they are larger than either of the parent stocks; that they are stronger and hardier than the com- mon geese, smaller eaters, and more easily reared. In winter "they sit on the snow and ice and keep up their wild yells night and day." He gives the testimony of his wife, that the eggs of these mongrel geese " make better pan-cakes than any other eggs she has tried." The editor of the Boston Cultivator calls atten- tion to this fact, and says he has heard before that these mongrel geese sometimes lay, but never heard of an, instance of their eggs having hatched. 140 THE GENESEE FARMER! 0. N. Bement, in an article written for the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1859, men- tions the same fact. Speaking of the American wild goose, he says : " This bird, by all foreign writers, is called the Canada goose. Most writers on poultry call it a variety of the common goose ; but it is no more a variety of goose than the swan, which it greatly resembles. Cuvier seems to doubt whether it is a goose at all, and says it can not properly be sepa- rated from the true swans. We once possessed a wild gander that had been pinioned by a shot in the wing, which mated with a common domestic goose, and we bred trom them for more than ten years ; hut their produce was not fruitful, although they laid eggs. The hybrids never showed any disposition to pair or mate with either the wild or domestic goose. They partake largely of the wild habits, and if their wings are not clipped spring and fall (and more particularly the in spring), they are very apt to fly away and not return. "We annex an excellent portrait of the wild American goose, CULTIVATION OF FLAX. An unusual interest is felt at the present time, both in this country and Canada, in regard to the culture of flax. That our soil and climate are well adapted to the growth of flax, there can be no doubt. Russia, with a climate in many respects similar to that of the United States, is the greatest flax producing country in the world. The only drawback we can perceive to its extensive culture is the high price of labor as compared with Russia and other great flax-growing countries. But, as the introduction of improved machinery has enabled our farmers to overcome this difficulty in the cultivation of other crops, we see no reason to doubt that such will be the case in the cultivation of flax and the prepara- tion of the fibre for market. Flax can be grown on a wide range of soils — from heavy clays down to those of a mucky char- acter. Sandy loams in good condition and alluvial soils are best suited to its production. In Ireland, large crops are sometimes grown on peat-bog lands with a clay subsoil. A deep, open soil, either naturally or artificially underdrained, is very essen- tial, as the fibrous roots ramify through the soil in all directions and not unfrequently to the depth of two or three feet. Flax is supposed to be an exhausting crop. We do not think that this is especially the case. It likes a rich soil, however, and large crops can only be grown with good tilth and clean culture. It is thought best to plow the land in the fall, and get it as clean and as fine as possible, and then to sow the seed in the spring without plowing — merely cultivating the land. One advantage claim- ed for this practice, is that the flax can be sown earlier in the spring. If grown for fibre, early sowing is more impor- tant than if grown merely for seed. In this coun- try, especially in Ohio, a large amount of flax ia sown merely for the seed. When this is the case, it need not be sown before May, and the prepara- tion of the land is not of so much importance. For either fibre or seed, it should not be sown till the land is in good working condition. Some prefer FLAX PLANT AND ROOT. to turn over a clover sod immediately before sowing In this way, the plants get the start of the weeds. In Belgium flax generally follows oats, and the land is seeded down with the flax. Sometimes carrots are sown with the flax. If grown for fibre, thick seeding is necessary. Two bushels of seed per acre is the usual quantity. In Europe it is generally drilled in, and the crop is afterward carefully weeded. In this country it is- generally sown broadcast. It is essential to cover the seed at an even depth, as uniformity in the ri- pening of the crop is important. When sown merely for the seed, much thinner seeding is required. From three pecks to a bushel per acre is ample. THE GENESEE FARMER. 141 THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. A few years ago the agricultural papers teemed with the most extravagant recommendations of this plant. It would grow anywhere and every- where, required no cultivation, produced enor- mously, and added greatly to the fertility of the soil. Allen's "American Farm Book" stated that it would yield two thousand bushels of tubers per acre, and from four to five tons of dry tops, equal to the best hay ! Many farmers were induced to plant it. It need hardly be said that the result was not equal to COMMON ARTICHOKE. — (FIG. 1.) their anticipations. Those who had praised it so immoderately, were justly censured, and its culti- vation was soon all. but generally abandoned. This result is much to be regretted. The plant has many qualities to recommend it. Like the parsnep, the tubers can remain in the soil all win- ter without injury. It will grow on poor sandy soil, and yield a large amount of produce. It draws most of its nourishment from the atmos- phere, and its growth and consumption on the farm adds largely to its fertility. It is extensively grown on many of the poor sandy soils of Europe. Bottssingault, several years ago said, " Of all the plants that engage the husbandman, the Jerusalem artichoke is that which produces the most at the least expense of manure and of manual labor." The French agricultural writers of the present time speak of it as one of the best renovating plants that can be grown on a farm. The cultivation of the Jerusalem artichoke the first year is very similar to that of the potato. When once in the soil, however, no further plant- ing is required. There will always be tubers enough left in the soil for the next crop. It is im- possible to get them out. This is one of the objec- tions to the plant as an ordinary farm crop. TELLOW ARTICHOKE. — (FIG. 2.) The usual plan is to select a piece of ground-- generally some spot that can not be profitably cu! tivated with anything else — and plant it with arti chokes and let them occupy it for a number of years. The tubers should be planted iu rows three feet apart, and twenty inches in the rows. The next season there will be enough tubers left in the ground for a crop. They may be thinned out by running a plow or cultivator through them. This is all the cultivation required. In France, it is not uncommon to feed off the tops with sheep in the fall. In this country, this may be done, and the pigs afterward may be al- lowed to root up the tubers. We can not but think that there are many places on American farms where the Jerusalem artichoke may be raised to considerable advantage. There are two varieties of the Jerusalem arti- choke in cultivation. Fig. 1 is the more common kind. Fig. 2 is the Yellow variety, and is usually smaller and more irregular in shape. The latter is the best for garden culture, being of a more agree- able flavor when cooked for the table. Lice on Calves. — Feed them well; keep their pens clean and well littered with fresh straw, and they will seldom be troubled with lice. A little sulphur in their milk is also good. If they are af- fected, Scotch snuff or a solution of tobacco will kill the lice. 142 THE GENESEE FARMER. SHEAEING SHEEP. An Ohio correspondent asks for an article on this subject. We should much, prefer to shear a (FIG. 1.) — THE FIRST STAGE OF CLIPPING A SHEEP. we have had engraved for the Genesee Farmer. He says : Clipping consists of three stages, the first of which is represented in fig. 1. After setting the sheep on its ramp, and on the supposi- tion that the clipper is a right-handed man, he rests on his right knee, and leans the back of the sheep against his left leg a, bent. Taking the shears in his right hand, and holding up the sheep's mouth with his left, he first clips the short wool on the front of the neck, and then passes down the throat and breast between the fore legs to the belly. Then placing the fore legs b under his left arm c, he shears the belly across from side to side down to the groins. In passing down the belly and groin, where the skin is naturally loose, while the shears d are at work, the palm of the left hand e pulls the skin tight. The scrotum/ is then bared, then the inside of the thighs g g, and lastly, the sides of the tail h. . These are all 'the parts that are reached in this position. For the clipping of these parts small shears suf- fice; and as the wool there is short and of a detached character, it is best clipped by the points of the shears, as carefully held close like d. Fig. 2 represents the second stage of clipping. Its position for the sheep is dozen sheep than to attempt a description of the I gained by first relieving its fore legs o from their operation. I P0^'011 m figure 1, and gently turning the sheep It is a matter of surprise to us that so few farmers know how to shear sheep. The operation is not a diffi- cult one. Every farmer's son should learn as soon as he is old enough. When a boy, it was our delight to assist the shearers — to catch the sheep, turn them up, and shear the wool from the belly, etc. And by-and-by we could make further progress, and final- ly could go through the whole operation. The work can not be expected to be done perfectly at first, but no farmer should hesitate to let his son learn, even if he does not turn out the sheep at first as smoothly and handsomely as could be desired. Stevens, in his "Book (FIG- 2.)— the second stage of clipping a sheep. of the Farm," gives a minute description of the I upon its far side,, while he himself, resting on both operation accompanied with illustrations, which | knees, supports its far shoulder upon his lap. Yoa THE GENESEE FARMER. 143 may always rely upon this fact— the more a sheep feels at ease, the more readily it will lie quiet to be clipped. Supporting its head with his left hand the clipoer first removes the wool from behind the head, then around the entire back of the neck to the shoulder top. He then slips its head and neck a under his left arm g, and thus having his left hand at liberty, he keeps the skin tight with it, while he clips the wool with the right from where the clipping in the first position, fig. 1, was left off to the back bone, all the way down the near side. In fig. 2 the Ueece appears to be removed about half way down the carcass; the left hand b lying fiat, keeping the skin tight; while the right hand e holds the shears at the right part, and in the proper position. The clipper thus proceeds to the thigh and the rump and the tail d. which he entirely bares at this time. and an irksome one for the maD, who has to bow much down to clip the lower part of the animal. In the second stage, fig. 2, the man still remains on his feet, and the sheep upon its rump, while he se- cures its head between his legs, in order to tighten the skin of the near' side, which is bent outward by his knees. The skin is certainly tightened, but at the expense of the personal ease of the animal ; Clearing the sheet of the loose parts of the tieece, the clipper, holding by the head, lays over the sheep on its clipped or near side, while still continuing on his knees; and he then rests his right knee, fig, 3, over its neck on the ground, and his right foot b on its toes, the ankle keep- ing the sheep's head down to the ground. This is the third position in clipping. The wool having been bared to the shoulder in the second po- sition, the clipper has now nothing to do but to commence where it was then left off, and to clear the fleece from the far side from the back bone, where it was left off in fig. 2, in the second position, toward the belly, where the clipping was left off in the first position, fig. 1 — the left hand e being still at liberty to keep the skin tight, while the right hand /'uses the shears across the whole side of the tail. The fleece g is now quite freed from the sheep. In assisting the sheep to rise, care should be taken that its feet are free from entanglement with the fleece, otherwise, in its eagerness to escape from the unusual treatment it has just received, it will tear the fleece to pieces* On comparing the attitudes of the clipper and of the sheep, in the different stages of clipping just described, with those of a mode very common in the country, it is necessary to look again at the first stage of the process, fig. 1. the common prac- tice of conducting which is to place the sheep up- right on its tail, and the clipper to stand on his feet, supporting its back against his legs — which js both an insecure and painful position for the sheep, ♦The artist has erroneously represented the sheep lying on its far side, and the clipping to proceed from the belly to the back- bone, which is the proper posture. for the second T'osition, as also the keeping of the sheep's head down with the left leg a, where- as the sheep should have lain upon its near side, the wool been shorn from the back boue to the belly, and the head kept down with the right leg, as described above. (FIG. 3.) — THE THIRD AND LAST STAGE OP CLIPPING A SHEEP. for the hand can tighten the skin as well, as shown in all the figures, at b and e; whilst the bowing down so low, and as long, until he clips the entire side, can not fail to pain the back of the clipper. The third position is nearly the same in both pluns, with the difference in the common one, which keeps the left leg bent, resting on its foot — a much more irksome position than kueeiing on both knees. Skimmed Milk Cheese. — A skillful dairymaid can make very fair cheese from skimmed milk. But extra care and time are required. The cheese must be set very cool, or it will be sour and un- palatable— "Too big to swallow, and toi hard to bite." It was an article of this kind which elicited a rather jfithy criticism from a half-witted fellow who got his living by running errands about Dun- blane, in Scotland. On one occasion he was sent to a farm-house where the " creaming-dish " was very rigorously used, and on being set down to a repast composed of bread, butter and cheese, he was observed to spread the butter pretty thickly over slices of cheese, muttering all the while, quite loud enough to be heard by the bystanders, "Deil be in their fingers tliat ever pah-ted ye.M 144 THE GENESEE FARMER. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. Hog Cholera. — The Illinois Farmer says: "We have lever heard of a farmer losing his hogs by this disease who kept them in good clover pasture during the summer." Bran as a Manure. — A correspondent of the New Eng- land Farmer used bran as a manure for potatoes. The result satisfied him that the advice of his better-half was correct, " that he had better give the bran to to the cows and let them compost it before using it forrcanure." We agree with his " better half." Squashes for Milch Cows. — A correspondent of the Valley Farmer says summer squashes are excellent for feeding cows in summer. They are easily raised, very productive, and continue bearing till frost. They are nu- tritious, and cows eat them with avidity. He thinks the Yellow Bush Summer Crookneck the best variety. Don't be Afraid of Seed. — The Ohio Farmer says: "As a rule, farmers in this country use too little seed ; the ground must and will be occupied, and if the seed you desire to grow be not there, weeds, etc., will take its place. Some good farmers have learned this by experi- ence. Put in plenty of seed, and that of the very best kind." Bad Seed and the Mangel Wurzel Crop. — The Mark Lane Express furnishes an interesting table of statistics in regard to the crops of last year in England. Out of 380 returns, 237 report the crop of mangel wurzel as poor. This is ascribed to the ungenial season of 1860, which prevented the seed from properly ripening. A large proportion of it rotted in the ground. The loss sustained by farmers — and the country — from poor seed is enormous. The Potato Disease.— J. B. Austine, of Warren, Mass., writes to the Boston Cultivator, that five years close ob- servation and experience in regard to the potato disease, prove conclusively, to his mind, that the best remedy con- sists in separating the tops from the tubers as soon as the former show any evidence of disease or blight. This is done by carefully pulling the tops, the workman placing his feet around them so as to prevent the tubers from be- ing drawn out. Effects of Vegetables upon Different Animals. — The Scottish Farmer says : " Horses seldom eat crucifer- ous plants (cabbages, turnips, etc.), but will feed on reed grasses, amidst abundance of which goats have been known to starve ; and these latter again will eat and grow fat on the water hemlock, which is rank poison to other cattle. In like manner, pigs will feed on henbane, while they are destroyed by common pepper; and the horse which avoids the bland turnip will grow fat on rhubarb." Water-proof Boot Soles.— The New York Tribune says: "If hot tar is applied to boot soles, it will make them water-proof. Let it be as hot as the leather will .bear without injury, applying it with a swab and drying lit in by tire heat. The operation may be repeated two or three times during winter, if necessary. It makes the surface of the leather quite hard, so that it wears longer, as well as keeps out the water. Oil or grease softens the sole and does not do much good in keeping the water out. It is a good plan to provide boots for winter during sum- mer, and prepare the soles by tarring, as they will then become, before they are wanted to wear, almost as firm as- horn, and will wear twice as long as those unprepared." Corn Cobs. — The New York Observer says truly, " cobs are not worth the crushing." The cost of grinding them with the grain is more than they are worth as food. Melons. — A correspondent of the Valley Farmer urges every reader of that paper to plant at least melons enough to save the boys from breaking the eighth commandment! A dozen hills will be sufficient for an ordinary family. Fence Posts. — The Ohio' Farmer says: "Many years ago, we were building a netv fence, and when setting* our posts, we saturated that part which we placed in the ground, and about one foot above, with coal tar, rosin 3nd lime. The proportions were about eight parts of tar to one of lime ; and sixteen of tar to one of rosin. We melted the rosin before mixing, but the lime we put in as we bought it from the kiln. Those posts are novv nearly all of them sound and good, although the timber was a sorry mixture of basswood, beech, oak, chestnut and maple." Why do we Pickle Seed Wheat to Prevent Smut ? — A correspondent of the Iowa Homestead says : Smut is said to be prevented by soaking the wheat in a solution of salt, or in a solution of nitre, or in a solution of blue vitrol, each of which is undoubtedly good. Why ? Because, acting as fertilizers, they give vigor to the growth of the wheat — accelerating its growth, and thus enabling it to resist the early and pernicious influences of too much heat, or too much moisture. This is not the reason. These substances do not accel- erate the growth of the wheat. They do not act as fertil- izers. In fact, wheat that is " pickled " with salt or cham- ber lye, and dried with lime — the most common mode of treating seed wheat to prevent smut— seldom starts so early or grows so vigorously at first as that which is not pickled. The reason why these substances prevent smut is this : The spores of the smut, or, more properly, " bunt," ad- here to the seed wheat, and, if not destroyed, propagate rapidly under favorable circumstances, and are in some way carried into the circulation of the plant and injure the crop. We pickle the wheat in order to destroy them. Galled Shoulders in Horses. — A correspondent of the Germantown Telegraph writes: "Some say that if a col- lar fits a horse as it should, he will never have sore shoul- ders. Now, I do not think that this is the case, for I have a pair of horses who could not be worked at plowing or harrowing for a week, without having sore shoulders, yet their collars fitted them well. It seemed that one hide had to be rubbed, and as that of the collar was the hard- est, the consequence was that the horses' hide got the rub- bing. The galls I could soon cure, but if the horses were worked I could not prevent them. Chancing one day to take hold of an English agricultural journal, the first thing which I noticed was an editorial proposing that a piece of leather should be laid on the horse's neck under and disconnected from the collar. I saw that the theory was good, and concluded that as one hide had to take a THE GENESEE FARMER. 145. rubbing, the collar and leather might settle it between them as best they could. So having procured paper and scissors, I cut out a pattern for my havelock. I cut the pattern so that it could be sewed together on top of the neck and in front of the breast, and at the same time fit the neck neatly without creasing. They were made con- siderably wider than the collar, say from ten inches to one foot. I then applied my patterns to a piece of leather, and cut out their counterparts, and sewed them together, and after soaking them over night I applied them to the horses' necks, taking care to keep them smooth and nice. Since then my horses have never had sore shoulders ; and any one seeing the havelocks after three months use would not wonder that the horses' shoulders were sore, or rather would wonder that all horses' shoulders were not sore. " I have cured the shoulders of horses with the follow- ing compound : Good brandy, 1 qnart ; \ lb. alum well powdered. The brandy and alum should be placed iu a bottle, and when used should be well shaken. The mix- ture should be rubbed on with a sponge, and a pad (an old stocking leg stuffed with straw) should be placed be- low the gall, and I will insure a cure if the collar is as soft as it should be. I have cured shoulders with this mixture, even when the skin was broken, without taking the horse from his work. But use the havelocks, and you won't want the mixture." MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. I now propose to make a few remarks on the Lang- stroth Movable Comb Hive, in regard to which a good deal has been published in the agricultural papers. I do this, [as I write all other matter here, for the benefit of the readers of the Genesee Farmer. If others think dif- ferently from what I shall say, it is only what takes place on all subjects. There is not, probably, a single article that appears in this paper in a year, which does not evince a disagreement iu opinion with many of its readers. In the Langstroth hive, each comb is attached to a sep- arate moveable frame, which may be removed at the pleasure of the apiarian. It is alleged that the advanta- ges of such combs are : that weak stocks may be quickly strengthened by supplying them with maturing broods from stronger ones; queenless colonies provided with the means of obt?ining another queen, and the ravages of the moth prevented by the removal of combs, and the moth worms destroyed. It is also said that new eolonies may be formed with this hive in a very expedi- tious manner, and the surplus honey taken from the combs. I quote "Mr. Langstroth' s own words. He says : "Colonies may be safely transferred from any other hive to this, at any season of the year from April to October, as the brood combs, honey and all the contents of the hive are transferred with them, and securely fastened to the frames." Here we have about all the alleged benefits that are claimed for this hive. In the first place, the hive costs considerable more than most other hives. It was said, when they first came out, that they could be constructed for about $4, and Mr. Langstroth has since stated that the price has been re- duced in some measure. The price, however, would not be objected to, if such hives were really necessary in or- der to obtain the greatest degree of success in bee culture. But a serious difficulty in the way of the successful working of this hive, exists iu the frames becoming glued fast to the sides of the hives by the bees; it being natu- ral for them to close up every crack and crevice with pro- polis. When this occurs, aud it is frequent, all the al- leged advantages are unavailable. Even if these obstruc- tions did not occur, it is very doubtful, in my mind, whether the extra time spent in performing operations, with the extra cost of hives, will " pay" in the end. If I had a weak colony of bees, I would sooner strength- en it by transposition with a stronger family, than by the movable comb system. In regard to queenless colonies : when discovered, which is known by the inactivity of the bees, very few of such families are sufficiently populous to recover on being sup- plied with brood comb, from which another queen may be reared. In most cases, the first intimation we have of a family having lost its queen, is the desertion of the hive ; the bees having made a forced entrance into the adjoin- ing hives. This occurs generally in the spring of the year, on the first, few mild, sunny days that take place — more queens being lost in winter than in any other sea- son. I, therefore, consider the facilities offered in the Langstroth hive for supplying larvae to queenless hives, as worth but very little in a practical point of view. The alleged benefits in affording an opportunity to des- troy the bee moths in the combs, I consider wholly worth- less, because no strong family of bees was ever known to become badly infested with moths, and when a weak one was in such a condition that it is necessary to remove tho combs and cut out the worms, it is scarcely in a savable condition— the moths having got the upper hand, and the bees so reduced in numbers as to be of little value. Mr. Langstpoth, I believe, lays considerable stress on the alleged advantages of his hive to form new colonies — to make artificial swarms. Avery attractive theory can be written out on this basis, 'but when we come to practice on it, we find a very differ- ent matter. I have tried artificial swarming, by attach- ing brood comb iu a hive, and then forcing bees to occu- py it, ;which is Mr. Langstroth's system, without his hive, and I have become convinced that natural swarming is the most advantageous. The chief disadvantages of this plan are : the bees do not work with the same activ- ity as when swarmed naturally, and considerable time is lost in rearing a queen. This artificial swarm theory is an old one — one that was exploded long before Mr. Langstroth invented his hive. In some cases, where the season is favorable, artificial swarms made early will do well; but, as a general rule, it is not destined to be fol- lowed by the bee keepers of the United States. In my remarks I refer more particularly to the interests of those who are compelled to count the cost in all they do. Any person who has leisure, time and money to spare, may very properly use the Langstroth hive, if for nothing more than as a matter of amusement. But for farmers, who can not spare time to "fuss" with movable bars, and supply brood to a queenless family, I think 1 am correct when I say it will not pay. t. b. miner, Clinton, tf. T. 146 THE GENESEE FARMER HOW TO PRESERVE EGGS. As the season approaches when hens are most prolific of eggs, and eggs are plenty and low in price, is the best time to preserve them for future USe — when they are scarce and dear. We offer the following receipts for the benefit of the readers of the Genesee Farmer ; several of which we have repeatedly tried with perfect success, and found the eggs, after one year's packing, perfectly sound and tit for eating and all culinary purposes. Nothing was known scientifically on the subject of preserving eggs till M. Reaumur was led to take it up. Eggs, after being laid, it was shown, lost daily by transpiration a portion of the matter which they contain, notwithstanding the compact texture of their shell and of the close tissue of the flexible membrane lining the shell and enveloping the white. When an egg is fresh, it is proverbial- ly full, without any vacancy : and this is a matter of common observation, whether it be broken raw, or when it is either soft or hard boiled. But in all stale eggs, on the contrary, there is always more or less vacancy, in proportion to the loss they have sustained by transpiration; and hence, in order to judge of the freshness of an egg, it is usual to hold it up to the light, when the translucency of the shell makes it appear whether or not there be any vacancy in the upper portion, as well as whether the yolk and white are mingled and turbid by the rotting and bursting of their enveloping mem- branes. The transpiration of eggs, besides, is propor- tioned to the temperature in which they may be placed — cold retarding and heat promoting the process. Hence, by keeping a fresh laid egg in a cool, dry cellar, of even temperature, they will transpire less and be preserved for a longer period .sound, than if they are kept in a warm place or ex- posed to the sun's light, which has also a great effect in promoting the exhalation of moisture. As, therefore, fermentation and putridity can only take place by communication with the air at a moderate temperature, some means must be devised to exclude such connection by closing the pores of the shell. Thd first material which M. Reaumur tried was alcohol varnish, made with shellac, and he says that "it was impossible to distinguish the var- nished eggs, which had been kept for a year, from those newly laid." It is an indispensable condition of the material used for stopping the pores of the shell of the egg, that it should not be capable of being dissolved by the moisture transpired from the interior, and the varnish fulfilled this condition. But unfortunately, though varnish is not very expensive, it is not a common article in country places where eggs are most abundantly produced, while many people, be- sides, are not easily brought to make use of any- thing to which they have not been accustomed. In order to get over this difficulty, M. Reaumur was led to try other substances, and soon found another material, very cheap and everywhere to be had, which would very well supply the place of varnish. The material was fat or grease, such as suet or lard. But the best of these was proved to be a mixture of mutton and beef suet, melted to- gether over a slow fire, and strained through a linen cloth into an earthenware pan. When thoroughly melted, an egg was dipped into it, and immediately taken out again, when it was in a fit state to be kept for months or more. Five lbs. of this fat melted might prepare all the eggs produced in the neigh- borhood in one season. "The chief advantage in the use of this fat, rather than varnish, is that the eggs rubbed over will boil as quickly as if nothing had been done to them — the fat melting off as soon as thpy touch the hot water; wheraas the varnish, not being soluble even in hot water, only becomes moistened by it, and still hanging about the egg, prevents the transpi- ration of the juices necessary to bring the egg into that state in which it is to be eaten. SVhen the egg, on the other hand, which has been preserved by the fat, is taken out of the water there remains but little tat upon it, and what there is can easily be wiped off upon a napkin." The method of preserving eggs by means of fat is greatly preferable to that of varnish, when they are intended for putting under a hen to be hatched, for the fat easily melts away by the heat of the body of the hen, while the varnish remains and impedes the hatching. It is safer, however, to im- merse the eggs in hot water not exceeding 100°, and then wipe them carefully with flannel or soft woolen cloth. By this means, and carefully packed in dry sawdust, oat3, or almost any other dry, soft substance, if fresh laid, eggs may be carried to a distance and hatched. In the meanwhile air should be excluded from the eggs as much as possible. It is best to set them on end, and not to suffer them to lie and roll on their sides. Dry sand or hard-wood sawdust is the best for packing. When choice eggs are ex- pected, it is more prudent to have a hen waiting for them, than to let them wait for her. A good sitter may be amused with a few addled or glass eggs, and so be ready to take charge of those of value immediately on their arrival. There is another method of preserving eggs a long while fresh, depending on very different prin- ciples from the preceding, but well worth notice. We are indebted for the discovery, if indeed it can be termed one, to the same ingenious French expe- rimenter, M. Reaumur. Having remarked that there was a very great difference among eggs as to the rapidity with which they become unfit for use and putrid, he investigated the cause of this differ- ence, and found that it was the eggs which had not been fecundated or made reproductive by the cock that continue long uncorrupted. In order, there- fore, to have eggs to keep fresh from spring to the middle or even the end of winter, it is only neces- sary to remove the cocks and to deprive the hens of all communication with them for at least a month before the eggs are put away. Without knowing this, people often find among the eggs they buy some which soon spoil and others that will keep for a long time. Some hens produce eggs with much thicker shells than others. These of course will keep longer than those with thin shells. The egg3 from Guinea hens are the hardest, and will keep longer and bear transportation better than any others. Eggs may be kept any length of time, if the air is perfectly excluded, turned often, and the place of deposit kept at a low temperature. We have THE GENESEE FARMER. 147 tried many experiments to preserve eggs, and Lave been most successful with lime water. We place the eggs carefully in stone jars in layers, with the small end downward, and then turn on them strong lime water, in which we dissolve two handsful of salt to four gallons of water. If, after standing a few days, a scum or crust should form on the top, we add more water and salt to dilute it, for if too strong it will injure and sometimes spoil the eggs. Tlie jar should be kept in a cool and dry situation. In this way we have kept them good for more than a year. The lime and salt closes the pores of the shell, and the liquid secures them from atmos- pheric influences. "We have also preserved eggs by packing them as above in tine salt. They kept very well, hut we found the salt, after a few months, packed so tight around the eggs that it was difficult to remove them without breaking the shells. Eggs for preservation should be removed from the nest daily, and then laid down as fresh as pos- sible. One bad egg may spoil or contaminate doz- ens or a jar full. Another excellent method, as we are informed, for preserving eggs, is to mix a bushel of quick lime, two lbs. of salt and half a lb. of cream tar- tar together, adding a sufficient quantity of water, so that an egg may be plunged in to the point. When a paste has been made of this consistence, the eggs are put into it, and may be kept fresh, it is said, for two years. " It ought not to be overlooked," says Dixon, " with respect to the preservation of eggs, that they not only spoil by transpiration of their mois- ture and the putrid fermentation of their contents, in consequence of air penetrating through the pores of the shell, but also by being moved about and jostled when carried by sea or land. Any sort of rough motion, indeed, ruptures the membranes which keep the white, the yolk, and the germ of the chick in their appropriate places, and, upon these becoming mixed, putrifaction is promoted. u The dealers are reported to have recently dis- covered that immersing eggs in sulphuric acid is a very effectual means of preservation, and it is very probable it is so, for the sulphuric acid wilU act chemically upon the carbonate of lime in the shell, by setting free the carbonic acid gas, while it unites with the lime and forms sulphate of lime, or plas- ter of Paris. The pores of the shell will in this way be closed up with plaster of Paris, and in a more minute and effectual way, too, than could be done by its direct application." Another method to preserve eggs in a fresh state, is to dip them in a solution of gum Arabic, and then pack them in powdered charcoal. The gum Arabic answers the purpose of a varnish for the eggs much better than any resinous gum, as it can be easily removed by washing either in warm or cold water, besides it is much cheaper. Eggs pre- served in this manner will keep any length of time, as the bed of charcoal, from its porous nature, is a non-conductor of heat, and consequently maintains around the eggs a uniform temperature — prevent- ing them from suffering from alternations of heat and cold, when they are removed from one climate to another. This method is said to be infinitely better than greasing them, for when the grease be- comes rancid it hastens or promotes putrifaction of the animal matter in the egg. The gum Arabic may bo applied as follows: — Take equal quantities of gum Arabic and water; when the gum is dissolved, coat the egg with a soft brush. When this coating is dry, add another coat, and the eggs will keep fresh till wanted. A German chemist has discovered an easy mode of preserving for six years, or probably for a longer period, eggs perfectly fresh and fit to eat. All that is necessary is to put fresh-laid eggs into a bottle with a large mouth and short neck, and fill it with lime-water. The way to make lime-water is as follows: — Throw into a vessel containing ten or fifteen quarts of water, five or six lbs. of unslaked lime, shake it well several times, then let the lime settle and pour off the water, which is perfectly limpid, although it has dissolved a portion of the lime. To make sure of its being saturated with the lime, after hav- ing filled the bottle containing the eggs until the water is about three inches above them, add a small quantity of quick-lime and close the bottle. Pickled Eggs. — At the season of the year when eggs are plentiful, boil some five or six dozen in a capacious saucepan until they become quite hard. Then, after carefully removing the shells, lay them in large-mouth jars and pour over them scalding vinegar, well seasoned with whole peppers, alspice, a few cloves of garlic, aDd a few races of ginger. When cold bung them up closely, and in a month they are fit for use. When eggs are plentiful, the above pickles are by no means expensive. 66 East 29M street, New York. C. N. BEMENT. BUTTER MAKING IN IRELAND. The Irish Farmers'1 Gazette, one of the very best of our foreign exchanges, contains an interesting article on the management of the dairy. We ex- tract some remarks on butter making, which will be read with interest : Supposing the cows to be all milked — and this must be thoroughly done, for the last milk which can be drawn from the udder is the richest — then the milk is poured through a milk sieve into the dishes, so as not to be more than two inches in depth ; at the same time, four to six inches is more common. Cream will not rise when there is a considerable depth of milk placed in the dish, and some people do not allow it to exceed one inch. It also rises sooner in warm weather than in cold, and for this reason it must be skimmed sooner when the weather is warmer than usual. In or- dinary cases, the cream should be skimmed about 20 to 24 hours after the milk has been put into the dish ; in warm weather taking it off somewhat sooner, and allowing it to remain a little longer in cold weather. As the cream is skimmed, it is put into an earthenware jar, the top of which is cov- ered with a piece of muslin, in order to prevent flies or dust getting into the cream, whilst it ad- mits air. As additions of cream are made to that in the jar, the whole should be thoroughly stirred and intermixed together, and the contents should not be allowed to remain longer than three or four days without being churned. When the whole milk is churned, it is strained, 148 THE GENESEE FARMER. as milked, into milk dishes or coolers ; but a greater quantity is put into each dish than is done when the cream is to be taken off. In the north of Ire- land, where churning the whole milk is a prevalent practice, the milk is strained into a jar or " crock," successive milkings being added until the jar is full, but. avoiding putting in new milk just before churn- ing ; that is, suppose churning takes place in the course of the forenoon, the morning's milk is not added to the contents of the crock which are to be churned, but put into a fresh crock, and beeomes the beginning of another gathering. This system, however is not so good as keeping each milking by irself so that the warm and cold milk is not mixed together. The frequency of the churning will partly depend on the weather, but the whole milk ought not to be allowed to remain longer than three days in ordinary cases, or, perhaps, four, with- out being churned ; and, in warm weather, it may be churned in two days from the time the first of it was taken from the cows. In large and even moderate-sized dairies the churns are driven by power, which is preferable to manual labor. Hot water is often added to milk or cream, to bring it up to the proper temperature for churning — say 52° or 53° ; but this is not a good practice, and where an increase in the tem- perature is necessary, it is better to acquire it by putting the churn containing the milk or cream in- to a tub filled with a sufficient quantity of water to bring the contents to a proper state. During the process of churning, the temperature will rise to 56° or 58° ; but it is requisite that attention be paid, so that it may not rise much higher than that point, otherwise the butter will be injured. When whole milk is churned, it will stand, however, a higher temperature than cream. Rapid churning is not desirable, and over churning is equally bad ; but the best medium will be found when it takes an hour and a quarter of steady churning, in ordinary weather, to produce butter. There is a difference of opinion as to the best mode of handling butter after it is taken from the churn. Some put it into a small, flat tub, and wash the buttermilk out of it by kneading it among clear, cold spring water, the milky water being oc- casionally poured off, and fresh supplies added, un- til it ceases to become tinged with milk ; others knead it and beat it in a clean cloth, which absorbs the butter milk, and is frequently wrung dry, until the buttermilk is entirely taken away ; whilst a third set of butter makers say that it ought to be worked by means of a wooden skimming dish, and that to work it in any degree by the hand is to spoil it, from the heat and perspiration, which is said to render the butter waxy. Mr. Ballantine's method, as detailed in the prize report in the " Transactions of the Highland Society," was to extract the milk by working it with the cool hand, but the butter itself was not washed or worked in water. Mr. Dillon Choker, who paid great atten- tion to the management of butter, recommended that, after finishing the churning, the milk should be drawn off by a plug from the bottom of the churn, and replaced by a quantity of pure spring water. A few turns of the wheel is then given, and the water run off; this is to be repeated until the water appears as clean as when it is put into the churn, showing that the milk has been all ex- tracted. A strong pickle, well strained, is now put on the butter, and several turns of the paddles given, so that every part will feel the effect, which finishes the operation. If the weather should prove warm, it will be advisable, he considered, to- let the butter lie in the churn for a few hours, which will render it firmer than it was when the washing was finished. The salting process should commence directly after the buttermilk has been all extracted from the butter, and the quantity of salt must be regulated by the purpose for which the butter is intended. When it is to be sold merely powdered, a quarter of an ounce of salt wtll be sufficient for a pound of butter. For ordinary keeping purposes, or the London market, it may be cured with half an. ounce of salt to the pound of butter, and many add quarter of an ounce of yellow sugar, and one- eighth of an ounce of powdered nitre. For ex- port to the colonies, or long keeping, more salt is necessary, and as much as one ounce of salt, with a proportionate quantity of sugar, and the fore- going quantity of nitre, will be required. Nitre and sugar are both omitted by many, but these in- gredients assist in flavoring and preserving the butter. The salt used must be of the purest description, free from the salts of lime and magnesia which exist in ordinary sea salt. Prof. Johnston recom- mended the purification of common salt for dairy purposes "by pouring two quarts of boiling water upon one stone or two of salt ; stirring the whole well about, now and then for a couple of hours, and afterward straining it through a clean cloth. The water which runs through is a saturated solu- tion of salt, and contains all the impurities, but may be used for common culinary purposes, or may be mixed with the food of cattle. The salt which remains in the cloth is free from the soluble salts of lime and magnesia, and may be hung up in a cloth till it is dry enough to be used for mixing with the butter,, or with cheese." The salt must be rendered as fine as possible, which may be done by crushing it with a rolling- pin, and the nitre and sugar well mixed with the salt, when these ingredients are used along with it. In Salting, the butter is spread out thin in the tuly and the salt, etc., carefully sprinkled over it, and worked in with " the heel of the hand," until the whole is uniformly and thoroughly intermixed. Some only work in half the salt at first, and then lay the butter aside until next day, when the re- mainder is added, after pouring off any brine which has come from the butter. A great deal of Irish butter is spoilt by over-salting. When the saltiug process is completed, the but- ter is packed into "crocks" — earthenware jars — or into small casks. The former answers well enough when the butter is intended for home use, but when it is to be sent by rail or steamboat, it should be packed in firkins. These are made of ash or oak, and previous to being filled with butter, they must be first filled with boiling water, which will he allowed to remain in them for 20 or 24 hours; they are then well rinsed in clean, cold water, and filled with a strong hot pickle, which may remain in them till they are required for use. The firkins :u\- weighed before the butter is put in, and half a pound being allowed for any additional soakage THE GENESEE FARMER. 149 iat may take place, the weight of the firkin is •anded upon it. A little fine salt is then sprink- le) in the bottom, and the butter packed tightly ith a wooden rammer, or with the knuckles, and ie greatest attention must be paid to this opera- on, so that there shall not be any vacant point ft, as the air contained in that vacant place, no atter how small, would soon spoil the butter. If the firkin or jar is not filled at one churning, e butter must be covered with pickle, or some It sprinkled over it, and a clean cloth pressed ose upon it, to keep out the air, until the next mrning is ready, when the pickle is poured off, ! the salt carefully removed with a spoon, and the aooth surface roughened or raised into furrows, r the purpose of allowing the last packed butter i become perfectly united with the first, without ly appearance of seam, which would be the case ere this precaution neglected. When the firkin or tr is filled, a little salt is strewed on the surface, id a piece of linen, dipped in strong salt and wa- r, is spread equally over the top, when the cask ay be headed, and is then ready for market, to hich it should be sent with as little delay as pos- itfe. Butter whieh has been improperly packed, or herwise affected by the air, becomes rancid ; but is may be cured by beating it in water into which sm twelve to fifteen drops of chloride of lime to e ponnd of butter have been added. After orking it well, leave it lying in the water for two >urs, and then wash it in pure cold water, when will -be found to have become sweetened. CULTIVATION OF CAEEOTS. Eds. Gen. Farmer : — Noticing in both the March id April numbers of your paper, a communica- jn in reference to the cultivation of carrots and her root crops, and disagreeing with both your irrespondents in some respects, I should like to' ve them the benefit of my limited experience rough your valuable paper. Of the value of the carrot, in comparison with her roots, enough has already been said — and in will hardly find any two persons who exactly ;ree in this respect, and as to the proper quantity be fed. Carrots are undoubtedly the best of all iOts for horses, but for horned cattle and hogs I •eatly prefer the mangel wurzel beet. As far as y experience goes, cows will give more milk and itter quality, and both fat and working cattle will irive better on mangels than on either carrots or mips. The best soil for carrots is a light, rich loam, but ey will grow on any soil if properly prepared. I ive raised them upward of thirty inches long on w, damp ground, when deeply subsoiled. The yield of the carrot crop depends entirely on ie preparation and tillage. The ground should be ell manured — not less than twenty ox-cart loads jr acre, and thirty or forty would be better. I ive used raw manure with as good results as when ell rotted. Plow thoroughly, incorporating the lanure with the soil, and follow the first plow with good, stirring subsoil plow. Do not ie afraid of "Ming too deep. Harrow level and roll lightly be- >re planting. For this purpose, I use a combined arrow and roller, — a one-horse machine — with which in three hours I can prepare half an acre^of rough plowed ground for the seed drill, thereby sav- ing all the expense of harrowing and raking the ground as it is usually done. As to the time for planting carrots, I do not agree with u O. R." in the March number of the Farmer. He recommends sowing as early as pos- sible. I have invariably found the crop better when sown between the first and fifteenth of May, than when sown before that time. When sown in April, the early rains promote too great growth of tops, and [during the latter part of summer seed stalks are thrown out, which prevent the roots from attaining any size. In sowing, I use a seed drill of my own inven- tion, which sows and covers two rows at once. I can sow two acres per day. I put my rows six- teen inches apart, and thin to about four inches in the row. I have found it a good plan to mix radish seed with the carrot seed (the Yellow Summer turnip is a good variety) ; about one ounce of radish to one lb. of carrot seed is sufficient. The radishes come up in a few day, and enable me to trace the rows distinctly during the first hoeing. As fast as they are large enough, they are pulled up for mar- ket or home use, and therefore do not interfere at all with the growth of the carrots. After seeing and trying different implements for the cultivation of carrots and other root crops, and being satisfied with none, I got up a hand cultiva- tor, which works admirably. It cuts close to the row, and is adapted to any depth not exceeding two inches, and any width not exceeding two feet; leaving the ground level, with the weeds on the surface. One man can tend from one to two acres per day with it. The crop should be hoed as soon as the rows can be distinguished ; and as soon as the weeds show themselves in the rows, set the boys at work. It is good policy not to wait for the weeds to show, but to run a cultivator through the rows every two weeks, until the tops shade the ground, after which they will need but little more care before bar vesting. Dig the crop while the ground is dry, and store in a dry, cool cellar, but where they will not freeze. It seems to be a very prevalent idea that carrots should be planted with the rows wide apart, and thinned out to eight or ten inches in the row. It is a mistaken one. Just as large carrots can be raised with the rows sixteen inches apart, and thinned out to four or five inches, as by the former method, and I think that if "P. Q.," in the April number of the Farmer, will try my plan, he too will become an " eager advocate," and not pro- nounce 1200 bushels of carrots per acre a "hum- bug. A. M. H Rye, N. T., April 1, 1802. Sowing Carrots. — Carrots should be sown as early as you plant corn, and before, if the season is warm and forward. From 15 to 18 inches apart the drills should be, and seed of last season's growth used, as carrot seed that is old will not vegetate. Do not let the weeds at the first hoeing get so large as to cover the carrots ; if they do you will have a hard job on your hands to cultivate them properly. — t. b. m. 150 THE GENESEE FARMER. CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN IEELAND. At a meeting of the Westmeath Farmers' Club, a series of questions were submitted to the Club in regard to the culture of potatoes. One of the members, C. Letinge, had succeeded in producing seventeen tons of potatoes to the Irish acre (H acres) last year. The following is a condensed re- port of the replies to the questions : Q. 1. — "Autumn culture and the time for plow- ing." R. — A good deep furrow should be given to the land early in the autumn, say in November at latest. Q. 2. — " Whether drills or ridges are preferable." R. — In dry seasons drills answer well, and probably in such seasons produce most, but on an average of seasons ridges preferred. This latter point af- firmed, on a vote, by a large majority, and that the ridge potatoes are far best for eating. Q. 3. — -"Proper width for ridges." R. — From 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet, with 18 inch furrows. [Mr. C. Levinge recommends the narrower width.] Q. 4. — '• Degree of fineness of soil." R. — The better the land is tilled and prepared, the better for the crop. Q. 5. — "Quality and quantity of manure." R. —There should be a liberal dressing of barn-yard manure, through which a mixture of bog mould is desirable, where practicable. Ashes alone cause the crop to yield well ; also pure bog mould alone on stubble, where the soil under is good, and on a limestone substratum. Mr. C. Levinge had used guano, but the potatoes were large and hollow. On high red bog, however, guano had been used with success for this crop. Q. 6. — "Mode of applying manure." R. — Plant on the manure. [It was agreed to try a piece of ground with the manure laid on over the sets, and another with the potatoes stuck, and the manure put on before the potatoes appear over ground, as in Connaught.] Q. 7. — "Kind of seed." R. — Choose a large, hardy variety. Q. 8. — "Preparation of seed." R. — Should be cut clean,, and not broken. Mr. Richakd Cody re- commends cutting with a thin sharp knife, and says the effects of a nick of the spado in digging shows the necessity for this, as where the spade cuts, the tuber rots around. The seed should be allowed to skin over, after being cut, before being planted. Mr. C. Levinge says there will be more marketable potatoes from large potatoes with sin- gle eyes, and one cut in each potato, than any other way. Q. 9. — "Period for planting." R. — As soon as the bud begins to show on the potatoes, probably end of February or beginning of March, for the general crop ; but each variety should be planted without delay as the bud appears. Nature points this out. Q. 10. — "Second moulding or earthing up." R. — Before the plant comes over the ground ; if done after, the growth is checked, and the progress of the plant retarded, to the great disadvantage of their after-growth. If they should bo up before second culture, it is better to earth them up mere- ly, as in the case of drills, not to cover them. Q. 11.— "Time for raising the crop." R,— Be- fore the bottom of the stalks is quite dry and pow- dery; that is, while there is yet some green in the lowermost parts of the stalk. Q. 12. — "Best mode of storing." R. — In pits, made on a level with or over the surface of the ground, and then clamped up and kept dry over- head with straw or other material. CULTIVATION OF THE SWEET POTATO. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — In your March num- ber, " Young Farmer," of Kittaning, Pa., makes an inquiry about sweet potatoes. Perhaps I can help him with my experience, as I have been quite suc- cessful in that line. And, as there is a probability of there being a scarce supply this season, these re- marks may be of use to others- also. The Seed. — In the culture of ordinary potatoes, the tuber is planted ; with sweet potatoes^ the sprouts are planted or set out. I prefer to raise- my own sprouts, as I am then certain of the varie- ty. I procure medium size, smooth potatoes, well tilled with eyes, allowing at the rate of four bush- els per acre. These will probably cost $2.50 to $3 per bushel. Be sure the potatoes have no black or soft spots, and above all do not let them get bruised, for if you do, they will rot instead of sprouting. Seed Bed. — Between the 1st and 15th of April, take a hot-bed frame and put in it stable manure to the depth of a foot, tramping it down hard. Cover this about one inch deep with sand, level it and lay the potatoes on it about two inches apart. Cover them with sand one and a half to two inches deep, water moderately and put on the glass. Do not water again until the sprouts show themselves, and then very moderately, unless the bed become very dry and parched. The moisture from the heating manure is usually enough to sprout them. .Allow just air enough to carry off the surplus moisture. [As this communication will appear too late for the seed-bed to be available, I will state that sprots can be obtained from reliable growers at 25 to 50 cents per 100. Allow at the rate of 6,000 sprouts per acre.] Planting and Culture. — The sweet potato re- quires a warm, sandy soil. With me they have succeeded best on a soil rather gravelly. About the middle of May ir the first of June, manure your plot moderately, and plow or spade it in about six or eight inches deep. Then plow fur- rows about three and a half to four feet apart, and the same depth as previously worked. It is better to run these furrows north and south, for then both sides of the ridges get the benefit of the sun. Fill this furrow about one-half full of well-rotted horse manure. Then turn the furrow back from each side, covering the manure, and making the ridge about six inches high and from fifteen to eighteen inches broad on top. On this ridge, set out the sprouts about eighteen inches apart. If the ground is very dry, and there is no prospect of rain, give them a little water at the time of setting out, which should be just at evening. It is not necessary to take up the potatoes to ob- tain the sprouts, but merely rub them off with the linger as soon as large enough to set out; leaving the tuber to throw out a second crop. THE GENESEE FARMER. 151 Culivate them the same as ordinary potatoes in hulls; being particular to lift up the vines and lay ;hem along the sides of the ridge every other week. [f this is neglected, the vines will take root from lie joints and draw off the sustenance from the ;ubers. During the latter part of August, the hills may >e opened carefully and the largest taken out for lse. Fill the hole up and the smaller ones will soon be ready for the same operation. For winter keeping, they should be dug on a warm, dry day in the first of October. Dry them ;wo or three hours in the sun, and pack them in barrels or boxes in dry sand, chopped straw, or, what is still better, oat chaff. Store them in a warm, dry place. a. m. n. Rye, N. E, April 2, 1862. HIRED HELP ON A FARM. In these times, when the farmer has to pay a »ood share of his profits to the Government in the shape of taxes, it will not do to be over easy with 5iir hired help. "When I hear it said. of a farmer, 'he is a nice man to work for," I conclude that he s rather too easy with his men in some respects. For instance, hands who have no interest in the re- sult of their labors, beyond receiving their wages, 3an and often do fritter away a great deal of valu- ible time in useless conversation. One begins a ;'yarn," and the rest have to stop and listen, then work a little and stop to get the " hang " of the story ; and the day passes, and about three-quarters sf a fair day's work is done by each man. Now, if the farmer who employs these men al- lows such a waste of time, he is called " a nice man to work for," but he pays very dear for the empty honor of such a name. A little sternness and determination on the part of the employer is not amiss. When you hire a man, let him under- stand at first that his labor and time belong to you. You can tell him very properly, in plain English, that if he is accustomed to keeping his tongue on the wag when at work, you don't want him ; that if he works for you, in a gang of men, he has got to keep a close mouth, or his name is "walker." Nor should a farmer be absent from his hired hands a minute more than is absolutely necessary. Some farmer has observed that '• his old hat stuck up in the field was worth a dollar a day to him, in causing his hands to keep steadily at work." "Gentlemen farmers," who have retired from cities to the country, are subject to a severe tax in not being present with their hired men, and they often sigh over the results, "Ail I have grown cost me fifty per cent more than to buy my provisions in the market." t. b. miner. Clinton, N. Y. How to Grow Melons, Cucumbers, Squashes, etc. — As soon as the seeds begin to crack the ground in upward vegetation, lay over each hill a half a newspaper or other sheet, a little raised in the centre, and place a hoeful of dust at each cor- ner, so that the winds can not blow the papers away. Keep them on till the third leaf grows, and no bugs will trouble the vines, and they will grow as fast as in a hot-bed. — t. b. m. AN INQUIRY-SAWDUST AS MANURE. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — I have often seen saw- dust recommended in agricultural papers and books, but have never seen any article in which there was any distinction made between the dust from differ- ent kinds of wood. Now, I am well convinced that decayed wood is a very valuable manure, but I can easily perceive that the soil around a decayed oak stump is at first more fertile than that around a pine stump. Is it on account of the difference in timber, or because one decays faster than the other? We have here a very large tract of sandy plains, with a rich, deep soil for the kind, originally cov- ered with oak and pine, with a large predominance of the latter, but now covered with logs and stumps, the debris of lumbering establishments, and oak grubs. Our soil lacks in organic matter, on account of the fires that have run over it, and consequently it lacks in the capability of retaining moisture. We have around our lake (Muskegon, six miles long and two broad), fifteen steam saw- mills, cutting in the aggregate some 50,000,000 feet of pine lumber per annum. The sawdust (except the small quantity used to support the steam) is carried off in carts, and either burned or used in filling up docks, wharves, gullies and sloughs, or in paving the roads ; but at the rate it accumulates, these places will all soon be filled up, and it is a question of real importance whether this article can be used to any benefit on our land. Pine is a good timber to last where it is kept from the ground, but when used for stakes or posts it rots off at the surface of the ground very quick, especially in a sandy soil. The power of the dust to retain moisture seems very great, for where it lies in any depth it is always moist an inch or two below the surface, and where it is kept constantly moist it does not seem to decay. The inference that 1 draw from these facts is, that if spread upon our soil to the depth of one or two inches, and worked into the surface soil, it will assist in retain- ing moisture even when green, and that it will there decay very fast, and that when so decayed it will enrich the soil. Am I correct? I ask you, Mesrss. Editors, or any of your readers or corres- pondents who have had any knowledge of the mat- ter, either by theory or experience. Of one thing I am sure, from my own observa- tion— that in the absence of straw, as with us, it makes a good litter for horses and cattle, and that when mixed with the droppings of horses, it pre- vents entirely that rapid fermentation so destruc- tive to this kind of manure. Does it not also fix and retain the ammonia from their liquid evacua- tions? s- B. p. Muskegon, Mich. Berkshire Hogs. — The pure Berkshire hog is black, with streaks of white on the face and some- times white spots on the legs. They grow to about the same size and weight as the Suftblks — usually dress about 200 lbs. at eight months old, and at one year reach from S00 to 350 lbs. It is almost impossible to get this breed in a lean condition. I sold a pair last season to a neighbor, who tried to reduce the sow in flesh, for breeding, and almost starved her, and yet she remained as fat and plump as ever. I have none for sale, so don't consider this a '? puff." — t. b. m. 152 THE GENESEE FARMER. WALKS AND TALKS IN THE GARDEN.-No. I. "What splendid weather we are having! A week ago the snow was still on the ground in some places, and now the soil is in first rate condition to work." " True. There is some danger of cold weather yet. It seems scarcely possible that we are to have summer all at once. A warm April, like this, is often succeeded by a cold May. In such a climate, it is hardly worth while trying to have much of a garden without the aid of haud- glasses, or boxes with a pane of glass 8 by 10 on the top, fitting in a groove, so that the pane can be moved up and down for ventilation. The cost is but little, and the ad- vantages very large. For melons, cucumbers, and Lima beans, they are indispensable." "Even a box without glass is useful. An old cheese box is just the thing. A piece of paper, or anything that will break the wind, is advantageous." off any excess of moisture in the ground, and thus check the succulent growth of the trees." " Spurry is perhaps the best crop for this purpose. It can be sown the latter part of July. It is one of the best renovating crops known, and will grow late in the fall. It might lie ou the ground all winter, and be turned under next spring. It is just the crop for peach orchards — far better than clover, as that robs the soil of moisture du- ring the early part of summer, when the trees need all they can get. When plowed under, it would furnish a large amount of organic matter, and this on our light, sandy-soil peach orchards, is very desirable." " The prospects for fruit were never finer. These peach trees are full of fruit buds, and if nothing happens, we shall have a grand crop." "Confound the borers! Got a knife? No gardener should ever be without one. Scrape away that soft mass. You'll find him. Up his hole, is he ? Well, here is a piece of wire. Poke him up. Squelch! There is one »ascal less." "Lime and ashes are said to be good to destroy borers, scattered around the base of the trees. But I have not tried them. A writer in the last number of the Monthly says burning fluid, applied with a sponge around the roots of the trees, will destroy them. Or, if they are in holes, send it 'after them with a small syringe. Possibly good; but ' cold steel ' certainly is." "Too bad! isn't it? Nicer pear trees never were seen. Over thirty blighted. Well, plant again. There is no- thing else to be done. Choice pears are a great luxury, and, like everything else, can not be enjoyed without labor. There is no certain cure for the blight, any more than there is for the cholera. People in good health suf- fer the least. So healthy pear trees are less liable to the blight. The great point is to have the wood thoroughly matured. It is possible that we manure too highly — es- pecially with organic matter. Lime, ashes, superphos- phate and other mineral manures, will probably be found favorable to the early maturity of the wood. Thorough summer pinching is also worth trying. Mulching during ' the early part of the season is undoubtedly good. But toward the end of summer, it strikes me it would be use- ful to sow some crop among the trees that would carry " It is not a hot-bed. Merely a cold-frame for sowing cauliflower and cabbage seeds in, and pricking out celery and tomato plants from the hot-bed. It is a great thing. Quite as important as a hot-bed, and less expensive. Plants raised in a hot-bed need hardening off before set- ting out in the open ground. And if you have not a hot- bed, a great many plants can be started in a cold-frame, such as cauliflowers, cabbages, tomatoes, celery, annual flowers, etc." " No. Melons do not transplant easily. Sow them where you intend them to remain. Make the ground rich and let the soil be thoroughly pulverized. Sow six or eight seeds in a hill, and cover with a box. Attend to the ventilation. Pull out the weaker plants, and let three or four good, strong plants remain in each hill." "Let the whole ground be dug, and manured if needed. The roots spread to a considerable distance. It is a great mistake to dig a small hole and put a little niauure in it, and leave the rest of the ground so hard that the roots can not penetrate it, and so poor that if they could they would find little plant-food in it." "Four feet is far enough apart for the hills. Pinch in the runners thoroughly. It is nice work for a lady who has any taste for gardening. You will get as many melons as if they occupied twice the ground, and they will be far better." "Treat cucumbers in the same way." "Rather risky to plant Lima beans yet. But I mean to try a few, and cover them with boxes. If they fail, it is only replanting." " The mice have played the mischief with these grape vines. They have eaten off many of the buds and in some instances whole canes. They were laid down and covered with earth, but I guess it was not altogether free from rubbish, which afforded a harbor for the mice. Out ou the trellises in the open ground, though covered in the same way, they have done no damage. These, trained to the fence, alone suffered. The fence drifted the snow and thus gave the mice a better opportunity to work. If they had been Isabellas I should not have cared so much, but who likes to have the Delaware, Diana and Rebecca used up in this way?" " Those are some Oportos I got from Dr. Sylvester yesterday. If these are a sample, the Doctor sends out good vines. Canes as thick as your big finger, two feet long, with plenty of roots. I can not but think these more likely to succeed than the small plants, no thicker than a lead pencil, generally sent out by nurserymen. With proper care, however, even these do very well. THE GENESEE FARMER. 153 " They were taken out of their winter quarters yester- day. The canes are strong, and the buds large and healthy. Bending them down in this way, and putting a little soil on them, is the only way to make sure of a good crop of raspberries. The winter has been so mild that it was unnecessary this year, but this could not be known beforehand." "The blackberries were left uncovered. They were trained to straight sticks last year, but this year, as you see, we are arching them over — tying two hills together across the rows, and leaving the stakes to train the young shoots to, so that they will be out of the way." "Yes. The plan first recommended was to train them VvmV^WX^A' thin out. Onions and carrots, especially the Early Short- horn, can be thinned out after they are large enough to eat. In fact, these young carrots are more delicate than when older and larger." "Oh, of course, always sow in drills. Who that has once had to weed onion beds would sow broadcast? It is less labor, and the hoeing benefits the crop. Nothing like the hoe. It weeds and waters and manures all at the same operation." " The potato was by no means popular when first in- troduced, and its botanical brother, the tomato, as Buist says, was 'almost detested' in this ' country thirty-five years ago. Ten years later, it was the great panacea for all the ills that flesh is heir to, and the patent medicine men advertised all sorts of 'extracts of Tomato.' Now it occupies as much ground as the cabbage, and is found in every garden throughout the United States. Everybody likes it. It is good in all forms, in all seasons, raw or roasted, stuffed or stewed, canned or pickled, in summer or winter. It can be raised so easily and produces so abundantly that its culture has been recommended to far- mers as a crop for their milch cows." "Start them in a hot-bed and prick them out into a cold frame, wheu an inch or two high. This will give you early and stocky plants." " One of the most successful tomato grow- ers in this city tells me that he finds the plants which spring up from self-sown seed produce almost as early a crop as those raised in a hot- bed. He prefers a warm, light, sandy soil, not too rich. If too rich, they are apt to run all to vines, but this may be prevented by pinch- ing them in thoroughly." LAWTON BLACKBERRIES TRAINED ON WIRES. to a couple of wires stretched along the rows and fastened to posts at each end." "As you say, it is perhaps true that most gardeners sow peas too thick, yet for an early crop I like thick seeding. It seems to be a well established fact that thick seeding is favorable to early maturity. The plants being thick on the ground are ehecked somewhat in their growth, and thrown into premature fruitfulness, just as dwarfing a pear or apple will make it bear earlier. I have just sown a quart of Daniel O'Rourke in a row seventy feet long. The usual allowance is one quart for a row one hundred feet long. The English rule, I believe, is thirty peas for each lineal foot, for the early dwarf kinds; and for the late marrowfats, only twelve peas to the foot." "I have heard of planting peas in hills three to five feet apart, and poling them like beans, and the plan strikes me favorably. They would get plenty of light and air. Five or six peas in each hill is enough." "I believe in plenty of seed for all crops. You may calculate that 25 per cent, will not germinate, and 25 per cent, be killed after it has germinated, and another 25 per cent, of the plants be killed after they are up, by cold rains, winds, etc. ! Sow enough to insure a crop and then " Salsify, or vegetable oyster, is getting to be quite popular — as it deserves to be. At this season of the year nothing is nicer, when properly cooked. Like the parsnep, it can remain in the ground all winter. Cul- tivate as you do carrots." " This ground where the celery was last year, is just the ground for beets — rich and deep. Sow a few radish seeds along the rows. They will mark the rows and ena- ble you to hoe before the weeds get the upper hand. The radishes will be ready to pull before the beets need thinning." "For a winter crop, sow the blood beet about the last of May." "Buist says, 'those who can plant corn can plant Lima beans.' True enough; but it is one thing to plant and another to reap the fruit. Lima beans are planted in hills like corn, and some seasons require no more care. But often the first sowing perishes, and you must replant, and then the crop is apt to be late and poor. Make a good hill of warm, rich earth ; work it over till it is as fine as an ash heap. Plant eight or ten seeds in each hill. If three grow, it is enough. If more, thin out. The poles should be twelve feet high, and it is better to stick 154 THE GENESEE FARMER. them in the ground at the time of sowing, and thus avoid the risk of disturbing the plants after they are up." "A fork with five flat tines is better than a spade for most garden purposes. It breaks up the soil equally well and with less labor. Among trees, it is greatly to be pre- ferred to the spade, as it does not cut off the roots. Grapes especially are often injured by spading the ground, «ven at a considerable distance from the vines. Few peo- ple have any idea how far the roots of the vines extend— or, for matter of that, of any other plant or tree. If cut off at this season, the roots of the grape will bleed as profusely as the canes. The Dutch hoe or scuffle and the digging fork should be more generally introduced into American gardens." "But, excuse me, the sun is coming out, and I must go and cover over the glass of the hot-bed, and give a little more air." FLOWERING OF THE COCO-NUT PALM. A vert great aud wholly unexpected event, says the ■Gardeners' Chronicle, has occurred in English horticul- ture. The Coco-nut Palm has flowered. At Syon, where so many fine things have been produced which no other garden has seen, where the almost uncultivatable Man- gosteen has ripened its fruit in perfection, this the most valuable of all the products of the vegetable world pro- vided by an all bountiful Providence for the support of man, has expanded its flowers. Not however on that lofty Palm tree which Rcmphius called the Arbor Calap- pus sive Cocbifera altissima, but on a specimen of the pigmy breed from the neighborhood of Galle, in Ceylon. The trunk of the Palm at Syon is not, we should say above two feet high, and it is from among the magnificent leaves that form a bright green plume of unrivalled stateliness that the yellow blossoms have sprouted out. It must be highly gratifying to the noble Duke in whose celebrated garden this success has been achieved, to find that he alone in Europe is the possessor of so rare a specimen. AMERICAN APPLES FOR ENGLAND. A P0M0LOGICAL MAP. Walter Elder, who visited Great Britain last year, furnishes the Farmer and Gardener some interesting ob- servations on the agriculture of that country. We copy what he says about raising apples for the English market. Apples all over Great Britain are far inferior to ours. If numbers of farmers near to railway stations or steam- boat lauding were to plant ten or twenty acres each with apple trees, and give them good culture, for the sole pur- pose of exporting them to Great Britain, it would be the most lucrative speculation they could enter into. They could be landed in Liverpool, in a fortnight after they were picked from the trees, and in twenty-four hours more they would be transported to any part of the United' Kingdom. Agencies could be made in our princi- pal cities and in Liverpool, so that farmers would get ready cash for them as easily as they now get it for their grain. Indeed, if the thing were fairly begun, merchants would go and buy them upon the trees aud take them away. Hedges. — A correspondent of the London Farmer's Magazine says one of the great errors in planting hedges is the neglect of the subsoil. No matter how well the surface is prepared and the weeds kept, out, if the subsoil is not right, the hedge can not be durable. Mr. William Ingham, a correspondent of the London Florist, in a short article ou the influence of soil and climate on pears, which he says are more susceptible to these influences than any other fruit, suggests that a Po- mological Map of Great Britain should be formed, so that persons desiring to plant fruit trees may readily obtain information to guide them in the selection of varieties suitable for the section of country in which they reside. This would be fully as useful with us as in England. In- deed, even more so ; for our country is still more variable as to soil and climate. The complaint is often made that it is impossible to succeed in pear-culture, and undoubtedly one reason is that in purchasing trees no allowance is made for the peculiarities of the locality, where they are recommended, in transplanting them to other places. Mr. Ingram men- tions two places, onl}' twenty-five miles distant, where the pears which in one are excellent, in the other are utterly worthless — scarcely one variety being equally good in both. Most fruit-growers know that they have often, in reading a list of fruits recommended by some local society, been astonished to find the names of pears which they had tried and knew to be tasteless and in every way poor, connected with such adjectives as " sweet, juicy, melting, aromatic, delicious;" and among the condemned list to find their favorites. For nurserymen more accurate information on this sub- ject would be invaluable, and would relieve them from much of the opprobrium which is now cast upon them by those whose trees prove a failure. There is so much in- terest now in pomology that it would not be difficult for the American Pomological Society to gather the necessary information for such a map as Mr. Ingram suggests, if all the local societies would do tbejr part in collecting aud arranging the observations of experienced fruitgrowers in their neighborhoods. Horticulturists are proverbially liberal in imparting information, and no one at all in- terested in the subject would hesitate to take the trouble to make the necessary record to promote this object. Duchesse d'hiver, or Tardive de Toulouse Pear. — This new pear, an article or. which, from the Iievue Hor- tieole, we gave in the July number of the Genesee Farmer last year, has borne the test of another season with great success, and appears destined to become a popular and useful fruit. A late number of the journal above men- tioned publishes a colored plate of it. The specimen which is there represented is about four and a half inches in diameter, both transversely and longitudinally, being nearly spherical. "The grained skin of a clear green, sprinkled with fawn colored dots, is orange red in the sun, and at maturity takes a general color of pale yel- low." A winter pear having the qualities ascribed to this one, must be of great value, and we hope that next year it will be introduced into this countrv. Low-Headed Trees. — The IllinoiD Farmer says': "The system of low heads is bound to win, as one after another gives in his adhesion to it. It is certain that with high heads, the fruit crop is not only tardy, but uncertain ; with low heads, we can not be any worse off, and may be much better. Let us give it a thorough trial." TIFE GENESEE FARMER. 155. "WHAT KINDS OF GRAPES SHALL I PLANT V At a recent meeting of the- American Institute Farm- ers' Club, Solon- Robinson said be had been induced to undertake to answer this question in consequence of re- ceiving the following letter from a German friend : I have two sons to whom I wish to leave esach a vine- yard. I came from Steinberg, aud my sons inherit a love for the vine; but your favorite American kinds are not good to our palates. Now,, will not the American taste soon so far improve as to reject such poor flavored kinds as the Isabella and Concord, and just as the vineyards come into bearing, will they not be found worthless, and the taste all gone" to Delaware and Diana, which remind me of our own Traminer and Rissling, which refresh like wine? I'lease tell us, and by so doing, tell many in Moumouth county who, like us, desire to know. Have you had the long and extensive observation that is ne- cessary to form an opinion, or can you tell me who has ? Your friend, gotlieb bukzel. Mr- Robinson remarked that this is the most important agricultural question of the present daj'. It is important because it has now become as certain as anything of the future, that America will surely become a great vine- growiug and wine-producing country. That this event will certainly happen we are just as sure as we are that France is already a great producer of grapes. The ex- tent of vineyards already planted is greater than the mass of people have any conception of; and of the extent of preparation for planting no one has an idea, except the very few whose interest or taste has led them to in- quire. We are assured by the best authority in this country that there are now planted, and in preparation for plant- ing, at least a thousand acres of laud in the small State ot New Jersey, and that in only a few counties, and yet grape growing in that State has been as yet hardly thought of, and so little talked about that its own citizens are not generally aware of the progress of this new and great in- dustrial pursuit of a few of the people. Yet in a few years the grape crop of New Jersey will become one of the most important of that State, and the product of its vineyards will not only furnish New York with an abun- dance of fresh fruit, but will put a strong check on the importation of wines. There has been within a year past one tract of twenty thousand acres of forest land, in Cumberland county, opened to settlement, aud a town laid out in its centre called "Vineland," because the proprietor believes the soil well adapted to the growth of grapes, and intends to encourage all the settlers to devote their attention to their cultivation. We should not be surprised to see five thou- sand acres of this tract planted or prepared for planting with vines within five years. Monmonth county, too, will soon become as famous for its great crops of grapes, as it has been in past years for its peaches. • Pennsylvania is also moving, in all its breadth, from the Delaware to the Ohio, in its preparation to become a wine making State. New York has already several vineyards of considerable importance, which furnish its cities with some hundreds of tons of fresh grapes, and some of them have made wine to a limited extent, which we hope never will be any greater until their proprietors learn to make something more worthy of the name of wine than the sweetened al- coholic beverages which they have produced, and which some of them have the effrontery to advertise as- "pure- juice of the grape for sacramental purposes." In Connecticut, there is at this time a very decided "awakening" upon the subject of grape growing, and large quantities are already produced, and the intention of making it eventually a wine-producing State is very evident. Mr. Robinson mentions several facts, all tending to prove the Delaware the best of all the hardy American* grapes. It was thought that it would no* prove a popu- lar market grape on account of its comparatively small size, but a gentleman who had sent them to the New York, market fouud that those who once purchased them re- turned for more, and they had been sold at fifty cents per lb. ■ — m > w ■ ORCHARD CULTURE AND ITS RESULTS. Immediately after the orchard is set, coarse manure or spent tan-bark should cover the ground from four to six inches deep over a diameter of six feet, with the tree standing in the center, aod remain there during the first season, while the rest of the ground is being tilled with a hoed crop. Corn is preferable. The plow should never come within three feet of the tree, nor any vegetable allowed to .grow. Year by year the plow should recede farther and farther from the tree- till it be excluded from the orchard entirely. Yet a sur- face culture should be continued by means of a cultivator,, aud the ground sown with buckwheat till the size of the trees exclude all culture except by hand. At this stage of the orchard, a general mulching might take the place ot cultivation, or hog-culture when practicable, or any way by which the vegetation might be promoted to grow- ing and the ground receive sufficient nutriment for the- beuefit of the orchard. Pruning should begin when the trees have grown two years, and thereafter annually, with a knife, and no limb should remain to grow so large as to require a saw to est it off that is to be removed at all. The trees require the entire resources of the soil, in a good state of cultivation, from the time of setting out un- til it begins to produce crops of fruit, when manuring is- necessary in proportion to the quantity of fruit produced. The supply to the soil must necessarily be in proportion to the crop of fruit produced in order to secure annual productiveness. Without it, the fruit will degenerate in quality, size and quantity, the trees become unthrifty and the orchard a failure, as is generally the case. With good trees, set in a good soil, and well cared-for as above, small crops will usually be produced the fourth or fifth year, and an increase each succeeding year — often the eighth year the orchard averaging from one to two barrels of fruit per tree. Annual productiveness from annual manuring is a set- tled fact, and the few (very few) who follow the rule reap a rich reward. I could adduce many instances in demon- stration, but will mention two : In the first case the or- chard was planted of one hundred and fifty trees, by Benj. Hoyt, of New Canaan, Conn., in 1853, on an old piece of laud which had been under cultivation since long before the Revolutionary war. The trees were set eigh- teen feet apart each way, and treated after the above re- 156 THE GENESEE FARMER. commendation. His orchard began to bear the fourth year, and a regular increase of quantity continued till last fall (1861), when many of his trees averaged two barrels of apples each, and others nearly two barrels. He sold more than five hundred dollars worth from this" single crop. The entire orchard of Moses Jones, of Brookline, Mass., averaged over two barrels per tree the eighth year from planting. Apple trees produce just as much fruit as there is ma- terial in the soil to sustain. A bushel of apples exhausts the soil as much as a bushel of potatoes, and nearly as much as a bushel of onions, and every farmer and onion raiser knows that he could not raise successive crops of these for a long time without great deterioration of the soil and crop, without annual manuring. Deep plowing or seeding with grass or the small grains would soon destroy the value of an orchard. The feed- ing roots of the apple tree mostly run near the surface, and the plow would cut them off, and then the food neces- sary could not reach the tree to benefit the fruit. The orchard generally blossoms, and the principal assignable reason for the blasting and failures of a crop of apples, is want of food, d. c. scofield. Elgin, III., April, 1862. DWARF DAHLIAS. We have never admired the dahlia, either in the garden or on the exhibition table, as most persons think all lov- ers of flowers should. It has, without doubt, great beau- ty of color, and there is a certain charm in its regularly formed, wax-like petals; but it is too stiff for in-door dec- orative use, and is never fitted for boquets. It seems to be totally destitute of the power of assimilating* with other flowers — it can never be arranged except with the different varieties of its own species. In the garden, it produces a fine effect ; but to rank it, as florists do, with roses, camelias, china asters, and car- nations, is, we must think, in exceedingly bad taste. After these objections to these "grand autumnal flow- ers," we have pleasure in announcing that a new race of .them has been introduced by leading European florists, — the Pompon or miniature-flowered varieties — to which some at least of the foregoing objections do not apply. They are a new race of the well known florists' dahlia. At the present, the principal dif- ference consists in the somewhat more slender character of the plants, and the smaller size of the "flowers" or flower-heads, which latter may be taken as about half that of the varieties usually grown for show purposes. The average diameter of the flower-heads being a couple of inches, very few reaching 2£ inches. Many of the free flowering plants have branches bearing three or four flowers, which are suitable for table boquets. Their odor rather than their size exclude them from hand boquets. Some of the varieties grow to a height of four feet, and some even five or six feet. Some form a fine, spreading head of long-stalked blooms, while others are stiffer hab- ited, with the blooms closer to the foliage and altogether less graceful. Some have the regularly cupped and shell- like florets of the best show flowers. When these Pompon dahlias shall have been thoroughly dwarfed (as who can doubt they will be?) and we have plants two or three feet high only, with the little balls of florets thrown out well above the foliage in gracefully spreading heads, we shall have one of the prettiest plants that can be desired for the garden in the late summer and autumnal months. At the present time, four feet plants are, as a rule, the dwarfest ot these Pompons which are available for the parterre, but these will be found to be very pretty objects in situations to which this stature is not inappropriate. Some of the most desirable of the dwarfer varieties are: Annie— blush tipped; flower heads two inches in di- ameter. Little Darling — bright rose crimson. Canary Bird, sulphur ; Child of Faith — white. Fairy Nymph — rosy lilac. Crimson Beauty- — rich maroon crimson. Star and Goldtiuch — yellow tipped. These grow three or four feet high. MULCHING YOUNG FRUIT TREES ON THE PRAIRIES. A correspondent of the Wisconsin Farmer, residing at La Prairie, says that when he set out his first orchard he mulched his trees with manure, and let it remain through the summer. The consequence was, that as the manure became rotten, the white grub became so numerous that they ate the bark off around the roots and killed many of the trees. His neighbors suffered in the same way from the same cause, and he has come to the conclusion that if trees are mulched, it should be with dry straw, and when it begins to rot it should be removed. He adds: I keep my orchard tilled and well manured, and do my pruning in the summer. I take pains to keep my trees j free from worms, and have the most trifty and best bear- ; ing trees, according to age, of any in the neighborhood. ! I have a poplar and locust wind-breaker on the west ard south, which I think is indispensable on the prairie. I am satisfied that if we observe this rule — that is, make a good wind breaker on the east, west and south — get the hardy kinds of fruit, and when one tree is lost, replace it with another, and take good care to keep the trees clean from their enemies — every farmer can have plenty of good fruit, even on the prairies. GRAPE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. The Legislature of California last year authorized the Governor of that State to send a commissioner to Europe for the purpose of collecting information in regard to the culture of the grape, manufacture of wines, etc. The Governor appointed Col. Harasztht, and he at once pro- ceeded to Europe on his mission. He has just returned and made his report, from which it appears that he has made large purchases of the cuttings of the best varieties of grapes cultivated in the different countries of Europe. They have been planted out, and it is thought over 300,000 rooted vines will be ready for distribution this fall. Col. Haraszthv thinks the soil and climate of Califor- nia the best in the world for the culture of the grape. He also thinks " no country can surpass this (California) in raising the sugar beet, sorgho and imphee. There is no part of the world, except, perhaps, Africa, which can produce the same quantity of these commodities to the acre." THE GENESEE FARMER. 257 THE IMPORTANCE OF FRUIT CULTURE. The New York World calls attention to the sanitary feet of a plentiful supply of fruit in large cities, and ids : " To such an extent is the apple now made mer- lantable for foreign exportation as well as for consump- on on our eastern sea-board; that four or five agencies r Boston and New York merchants bought about half a illion of dollars worth of the last crop, in three of the 3st apple-growing counties of this State — Monroe, rayne and Orleans. This, to be sure, is far beyond the usual extent of this ade within such brief limits ; but there are several her counties scarcely inferior to those above named, in bich the traffic is large and growing — though it would i difficult to find any superior locality for this kind of ■oduct, or, we might add, for fruit culture generally — e soil and temperature being suitable, and the farmers id dealers finding reciprocal interest in promoting the crease and distribution of the crops. Here is example and stimulant for persons who desire ral pursuits— as fruit culture is freed from sundry diffi- ilties (real or supposed) which prevent many from 'em- .rkiug in ordinary farming. The peach, the pear, and other fruits, find ready sale w within reasonable railroad distance of our eastern ;ies. "Western New York is becoming, if it is not al- ady, one of the greatest localities in the world for fruit all kinds consistent with the temperature. The facili- is of railroad transit to the seaboard euable that region supply readily all the cities between "Washington and lebec. Boston and New York, however, are the chief ints of the trade. The prices realized for some of the e fruits, such as the choice pears, are almost fabulous." There are many other sections, both in the United ates anc Canada West, where apples can be raised with ual if uot greater profit, than in Western New York — ajhly favored by soil and situation though it be. Ever}' :tion should raise at least enough for its own con mption. substance whatever. As the vines which bear this fruit require great moisture to bring the fruit to its proper size, the soil and solution in which they are placed must not be too dry. Propagation. — The usual time for transplanting straw- berry plants is August. That time is chosen because they have done bearing, a#d have made offsets, if the season has been favorable, of strong plants, set from their run- ners. Plantations made at this season will bear some fruit the next summer. But if you can get good, vigor- ous plants in May of the preceding season, I prefer to plant them, as it saves a year nearly, the plants being ready to bear abundantly the next year. Why could not wild flowers be Jransplanted in the same way? c. s. e. A FRUIT GARDEN FOR THE FAMILY. CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — I now send you a few remarks ten from "Saxton's Rural Hasd-Book," page 106: Culture op the Wood Strawberry. — This variety is • before any other in point of flavor, and if transplanted ;o gardens, may for two or three years answer very ill, and if not too highly manured, preserve their flavor d increase their size. But new plants must be obtained ery two or three years, from the woods, to make new intations, or they will degenerate. Soil and Manure.— The soil proper for this variety, well as all others, is light, warm and gravelly, and the mure to be applied should be exclusively vegetable, d not animal manure. The usual practice is to manure i ground with rotten dung, with a view to increase the ;e and quality of fruit; but, in doing this, the flavor is stroyed in proportion to the richness of the soil. Be- les, high manuring produces strong vines, and no fruit, itten leaves, decayed wood ashes, in small quantity, xed with other vegetable substances in a compact heap, 11 make better manure for strawberries than any animal i Evert family should have a fruit garden. Fruit is not only a great luxury — it is essential to health. A few dollars expended in setting out plants and trees will save many a dollar from being paid to the family, physician. First — You should have a small piece of ground, say from one-eighth of an acre to an acre for a fruit garden. This should be deeply plowed once or twice and thor- oughly harrowed. Or it may be worked with a spade in- stead of the plow. Now procure from two hundred to five hundred strawberry plants, and set them out in rows three feet apart, and two feet apart in the row. The only culture they need is to keep out the weeds, and work the ground occasionally with the hoe. The following season you may rely upon a crop of berries that it will do your eyes good to behold. More bushels of strawberries can be produced from the same ground than potatoes. A few dozen plants of gooseberries should be set out in rows five feet apart each way. The Houghton Seedling is the only variety we have found to succeed well in this climate. t Currants must not be forgotten. They are so indis- pensable to every family. In their green state, what de- licious tarts [and fine pies they make in early summer time, before we can obtain other fruit. When ripe, and served up with sugar on the tea table, they are liked by nearly every one. And what delicious jelly can be made from them to eat [with roast turkey, or wild ducks, or other meats. How can the good wife get along without a few dozen currant bushes ? The thing is impossible, and especially to get along well. The Large Red Dutch is the best variety. Plant in rows about ti"e feet apart, and be sure to cover all the ground in which they are planted five or six inches deep with old straw, hay, littery ma- nure, or something of the kind, so as to 'keep the soil moist and cool. With this treatment, they will make double the growth they otherwise would ; their leaves will not drop in August, as they do when not mulched in this climate, and they will yield ten times as much fruit. Bear this in mind if you would have a large crop of cur- rants. The luscious raspberry must also come in — for it is one of the finest of fruits when in perfection. Put up in cans or bottles, like strawberries and peaches, it far surpasses either. The fruit is not as watery as the strawberry, and is better on this account for canning purposes. We al- ways lay in a good supply, and have never found any one who did not relish them. The New Roehelle or Lawton blackberry, where land can be had in abundance, and especially where wild blackberries are not abundant, should be planted. It will take two or three years to produce much of a crop ; but then it will be found very prolific, and if the fruit is left on until perfectly ripe, it is excellent, All acknowledge that the blackberry is one of our most healthful berries. A hundred plants will be abundant for a family. They should be put in rows about eight feet apart, and six feet apart in the row. It is better to mulch the plants, as is also the case with all the plants we have mentioned. They will grow better and be more productive,— Valley farmer 158 THE GENESEE FARMER. fato' gqmrtmcnl WORSTED FLOWERS. Godet's Ladys Booh is publishing patterns and direc- tions for making boquets of worsted flowers, and we have had a few of the prettier ones engraved, thinking that they might interest the lady readers of the Genesee Fai-mer. CONVOLVULUS. Cut a circle in pasteboard exactly sixteen inches in di- ameter. Make with a punch a small hole exactly in the centre. Make twelve marks on the edge of the card, at precisely even distances one from the other, and pass twelve pieces of wire through the hole, over the edge of the card, and through the hole again, at exactly the places marked. You have thus twelve sides of wire, perfectly regular. Fasten these wires firmly together, and cut at the ends. Take yellow zephyr, attach an end to the wires at the hole in the card, pass this worsted round each wire once, back, and round the nest, till you make the circle. Make eight rows in this way. Fasten on white worsted by slipping it under one of the yellow rounds, and make six circles of white ; then fasten on pale pink, make three rows, then three of a deeper piuk, three still deeper, two again of the second shade, and then two of the lightest. Fasten off the zephyr, take the wire, and bend it to form a bow or cup-like flower, like the annexed engraving. Take six light green pistils*, and, passing them through the base of the flower, attach them to a wire nine inches long; then finish by twisting green zephyr round this wire to form the stem. Blue or violet may be used instead of pink, if preferred, or the boquet can contain one of each color. ANEMONE. Procure a mould two inches long and two inches wide at the broadest part; or, if you prefer it, cut one of smooth card. It should be exactly the form of a half circle at the top, but be sloped nearly to a point at the base, to form the shape of the petal of an anemone. Take two pieces, twelve inches long, of brass wire, ex- treme1}- slender, and with it encircle the mould. Take pink zephyr and wind it smoothly around the wire, ♦Stamens and pistils are usually purchased ready-made, but if you prefer it you can make them quite easily with an exceedingly slender wife, and Borne colored wax. Separate a piece of zephyr worsted into as many threads as possible, and with these wind the wire, and put the wax on the end, imitating nature as closely as possible. to form the edge of the petal ; then carry the zeph lengthwise from one side of the wire to the other, win iug it over the wire each time it passes backward and f< ward, until the mould is entirely covered. Then remo the mould and twist the wire ends firmly together at t base. Make four of these petals exactly alike. Fasten a stem nine inches long, three large green stamens. P the four petals round these stamens, fastening th( lightly together. Twist green worsted around the ste RANUNCULUS. The ranunculus has seven petals of a bright red. T mould for these should be one inch and a half wide, a ' the petal formed like those the anemone. The heart of the flower is a deep maroon color. Mak circle of wire, and pass 1 maroon worsted across it ut it is entirely and smootl covered; then on the edges this make small bunches loops of green worsted, a between these place small j low pistils. Fasten, out sight, a stem, by putting four wires at regular distan on the circle which forms the heart, and twisting th together in the centre. Then sew the petals, as seen the picture, to the maroon colored circle. Cover the st with green zephyr. SUMMER FASHIONS. The fashions for this season are but little changed fr last year. In bonnets, the same styles prevail — wl crape and black lace, with bright colored flowers, i sometimes a band of ribbon, the same color as the fli ers, is put across the bonnet and forms the strings. 1 flowers are not put on the front as before, but just ab the cape, near the crown : or if they do commence the front, they run back to the crown. Children's r. are a little altered. For boys, the crowns are rather h and bell-shaped. A white straw, with rather droop brim, trimmed with black velvet, and a knot of lilies the valley, makes an exquisite hat for a young girl. Black and white checks, with sacques of the same i terial, are favorite street dresses. Standing linen coll and very narrow cuffs to match are much worn. '. fancy neck-ties still continue in favor. Garribaldi shi made like those worn with Zouave jackets, are now in of various materials, silk, muslin, maaseilles, flam etc., and worn with any skirts — scarlet silk or flam braided with black, are quite stylish. Mantillas are made pointed in the back and with lo square tabs, either fitting to the neck or as scarfs, and trimmed with ruffles. Barege shawls, like the dn trimmed with ruches or bound with ribbon, will be in worn this summer, and short black silk sacques with little trimming, made like the cloth ones, will take place of the long sacques and heavy mantillas that h made a warm day in summer such a terror to all fashi ably dressed women for two or three years past. THE GENESEE FARMER. 159 IRiscdhtittous, I idolize the ladies. They are fairies That j-juritualize this world of ours. From heavenly hot-beds, most delightful flowers, Or choice cream-cheeses from celestial dairies. But learning, in its barbarous seminaries, Gives ihe dear creatures many wretched hours, And on their gossamer intellect sternly showers Science, with all its horrid accessories. Now, seriously, the only things I tiiink . In which young ladies should instructed be, Are stocking-mending, love and cookery — Accomplishments that very soon will sink, Since Fluxions now and Sanscrit conversation Always form part of female education. [ongtont. — \fonotony is pleasant in itself, morally isant and morally useful. Marriage is monotonous, there is much, we trust, to be said in favor of holy ilock. Living in the same house is monotonous; but ;e removes, say the wise, are as bad as a fire. Loco- ion is regarded as an evil by our Litany. The Litany, usual, is right. "Those who travel by sea or land" to be objects of our pity and our prayers ; and we do ' them. I delight in that same monotony. It saves iosity, anxiety, excitement, disappointment, and a host )ad passions. It gives a man the blessed, invigorating ing that he is at home : that he has roots deep and ick down into all he has, and that only the Being who do nothing cruel or useless can tear them up. It is isant and good to see the same trees year after year — same birds coming back in spring to the same shrubs le same banks covered with the same flowers. That i who offered twenty pounds reward for a lost carpet full of old boots was a sage, and I wish I knew him. y should we change one's place more than one's wife, ne's children ? Is a hermit crab, slipping his tail out one strange shell into another, in the hopes of its ng him a little better, either a dignified, safe or grace- animal ? No. George Reddler was a true philos- " Let vules go searching var and nigh, We bides at whum, my dog and I." -Frazer's Magazint. rE are all naturally benevolent when no selfish inter- interposes, and when no advantage is to be given up. can all pity distress when it lies complaining at our , and confesses our superiority and happier situation. I have seen the sufferer himself become the object of y and ill-will as soon as his fortitude and greatness of d had began to attract attention, and to make the ious person feel the superiority of birth over good une. * ^ !»■ iportance op Swallows. — As a proof of the valuable ■ices rendered by swallows, it is estimated that one of ;e birds will devour 900 insects in a day ; and when it onsidered that some insects produce as many as nine erations in a summer, the state of the air but for se birds maybe readily conceived. One kind of insect le might produce 550.970,489,000,000,000 of its race in ngle year. ^hy are seeds when sown like gate posts? Because y are planted in the earth to prop-a-gate. A manufacturer and vender of quack medicines re- cently wrote to a friend for a strong recommendation of his (the manufacturer's) " Balsam." In a few days he received the following, which we call pretty strong: " Dear Sir— The land composing this farm has hitherto been so poor that a Scotchman could not get his living off it, and so stony that we had to slice our potatoes and plant them edgeways; but hearing of your balsam, I put some on the corner of a ten-acre field surrounded by a rail fence, and in the morning I found that the rock had entirely disappeared, a neat stone wall encircled the field, and the rails were split into firewood and piled up sym- metrically in my backyard. I put half an ounce in the middle of a huckleberry swamp — in two days it was cleared oft', planted with corn and pumpkins, and a row of peach trees in full blossom through the middle. As an evidence of its tremendous strength, I would say that it drew a striking likeness of my eldest son out of a mill- pond, drew a blister all over his stomach, drew a load of potatoes four miles to market, and eventually drew a prize of ninety-seven dollars in a lottery." A bird-collector died in Paris lately. A trait of sa- gacity on his part was to insure the attendance of the jackdaws of the Louvre to his funeral, which he effected in the following manner: His residence was on the Quai Voltaire, and for the last seven years of his life he always placed on his balcony, exactly at three o'clock in the af- ternoon, several plates of meat cut in small pieces. The jackdaws were most punctual in their attendance. He had, therefore, only to give directions in his will that his funeral should take place at three precisely. The jack- daws came that day as usual — and if he had wished to have real mourners, he certainly succeeded ; for, as their usual meal had not been prepared, they were loud in their lamentations, much to the amazements of all the friends who attended his obsequies. In Venango County, Pennsylvania, is a queer fellow by the Mme of Tom Barton, who drinks and stutters, and stutters and drinks. He has a brother Jim, who is glib of tongue, and was a great liar — we hope he has reformed, for he professed to become a good man, and was baptized in the river. It was a bitter cold day in winter, and the ice had to be cut to make a place for the ceremony. Tom was in attendance, and close by. As Jim came up out of the water, Tom said to him : " Is it c-c-c-cold, Jim ?" " No," replied Jim ; " not at all." " D-d-d-dip him again, m-m-minister," cried Tom; "he -1-1-liesyet!" The word Timbuctoo, supposed to be rhymeless, was once mated by a London professor of mathematics, who was challenged to find a rhyme for it, in the following: . "If I were a eassaow«ry, On the sands of Timbuctoo, I would eat a missionary, Skin, and bones, and hymn-book too !" "Can you tell me, Billy, how it is that the chanticleer always keeps his feathers so sleek and smooth V "No." Well, I'll tell you. He always carries his comb with him. 160 THE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. The Value of Commercial Manures 137 The Wheat Crop in England 138 Cutting Potatoes — Early and Late Crops 138 Cultivation ofthe White Bean 139 Cross between the Wild and Domestic Goose 139 Cultivation of Flax 140 The Jerusalem Artichoke. Lice on Calves 141 Shearing Sheep 142 Skimmed Milk Cheese 143 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 144 Hog Cholera. Bran as a Manure.... 144 Squashes lor Milch Cows. Don't be Afraid of Seed 144 Bad Seed and the Mangel Wurzel Crop- 144 The Potato Disease 144 Effects of Vegetables upon Different Animals 144 Water-proof Boot Soles. Corn Cobs 144 Melons. Fence Posts. . ... 144 Why do we Pickle Seed Wheat to Prevent Smut?... ... 144 Galled Shoulders in Horses 144 Management of Honey Bees 144 How to Preserve Kggs 145 Butter Making in Ireland 147 Cultivation of, Carrots. Sowing Carrots 149 Cultivation of Potatoes in Ireland ..."""" 150 Cultivation of the Sweet Potato l,f,0 Hired Help ou a Farm :...... 151 How to Grow Melons, Cucu mbers, Squashes, etc 151 An Inquiry— Sawdust as Manure 151 Berkshire Hogs 151 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Walks aud Talks in the Garden— No. 1 152 Flowering of the Coco-Nut Palm "'"" 154 American Apples for England. Hedges "" 154 A Poninlogic;d Map. Low-headed Trees 154 Duchesse d'niver, or Tardive de Toulouse Pear ... 154 What Kinds of Grapes shall I Plant? '.'.'.'.'.'.'. 155 Orchard Culture and its Results 15a Dwarf Dahlias .'.'.!.'.'.! 166 Mulching Young Fruit Trees on the Prairies "*.!'.!".! 156 Grape Culture in California .. 150 The Importance of Fruit Culture 157 Cultivation of the Strawberry 157 A Fruit Garden for the Family 157 ladies' department. Worsted Flowers. Summer Fashions 158 miscellaneous. Monotony. Importance of Swallows, etc 169 editor's table. Notes on the Weather, 160 The Markets, !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 161 Items, Notices, &c, .' '16O 1*6*1*, 1 62 Inquiries and Answers, ' ] 63, 161 illustrations. Potato showing different sections 13S American Wild Goose ..'. igji Flax Plant and Root !.'.'."!.'.'.'."!! 140 Common Artichoke '.'.!'. .!!.'..! .!'. 141 Yellow Artichoke ..!!.!!!!!!!! 141 The First Stage of Clipping a Sheep !!!!!!!!!!!! 142 The Second Stage of Clipping a Sheep '. ... 14" The Third and Last Stage of Clipping a Sheep.'.'.'.."'!'..".'.!! 1-13 Lawton Blackberries Trained on Wires 153 Worsted Flowers (3 flgs.) !!.!.!!!!!!!! 158 Phemiums.— We have seat of all the grape, vines flower scads, books, etc., to those who are entitled to them for obtaining subscribers to the Genesee Fanner. We hope, and believe, they will give satisfaction. If any fail to re- ceive them, we hope they will inform us. We are always happy to correct mistakes. Notes on the Weather from March 15th, to Apr 16th, 1862. — The mean temperature of the first half < March was near the average, but of the second half wi 3° below the average, so that the heat of March was 1.; below the mean for 25 years. The month was rath pleasant — the winds not strong, storms not severe, ai the heat not variable, as usual ; cool, but not severely s The coldest was 17° on the 26th, and the hottest, 49° < 27th. No sleighing since the 10th, and the ice left tl Genesee on tlfe 17th at its mouth, carrying one or tv vessels into the Lake, without doing much damage. A robin was seen on the 16th, and more soon followi with other spring birds. On the evening of the 30th, a thunder shower of snc and rain of great extent. Here the lightning was bril ant at 9.j in the northeast; the shower was heavy at A burn, and further east; at Pittsfield, Mass., was splendi It also occurred in Medina county, [Ohio, on the sar evening. The ice-shoiver in Niagara and Erie counties on the 15 was great in Herkjmer county ; very slight here, b splendid in some parts of Ohio. The snow and rain give 5.15 inches of water for Marc The snow had disappeared in the open fields, but aloi north aud south fences and in the woods, it abounded the close of the month. In the eastern and northe parts of the State, and in Massachusetts and the nor portion of New England, the snow is quite deep at t close of the month. The manufacture of maple sug has thus been made more laborious, and the coming warm weather will lessen the expected amount. T month has been pleasant for business. April began rather cool, aud so continued, or rath colder, till the 13th ; the last three days being quite wai and springlike, giving us 70° at noon on the 14th, anc mean of 57°, and 58° on the loth for the mean. T half mouth has been regularly cool, and we have held to be very cold, owing perhaps to the snow on the grou and with so much wind from the Lake from the snow Canada. Yet the average, 39.6°, was only 1.4° below t mean for 25 years. This is 6° lower than the average this half of April in 1858. On the 7th the temperati was, at sunrise, 22°, and at 7 a. m., 26°, and very lit higher all day, and at eve down to 26° again. On tl and the 8th snow did not melt, nor the earth thaw, in t shade. Little rain and snow have fallen in the fortnight ; t as the snow, now gone chiefly, except in the woods, r. melted slowly and the water passed into the earth, t springs are amply supplied. The dust is flying in 0 streets. The red maple was in full blossom on the 13 in warmer situations, but only stamens in them. Peaci in flower at Yorktown, Va., on the 11th. The uniform weather of winter aud of March is held be very favorable to the wheat, and fruit trees hava ( caped any cold that would destroy their flower buds. The snow and rain of the 7th to the 9th was heavy 1 the Potomac, and very trying to the army at Yorktov and further south: snow deep at Philadelphia and ov Pennsylvania, and cm mountains of Virginia; much le at New York; here we had northeast wind with fall < I barometer, and snow expected, but no rain or snoi THE GENESEE FARMER. 161 ideed, the storm did not cross the Allegariiea in the ate of New York, if it did at the South. This storm gan at Washington just after noon the 7th; at no time indy.'but much rain and snow for parts of three days. The season is late; grass just shows itself; crocus in irds has been in bloom for a week ; such warm days as e loth will soon cover the earth with the dress of spring. At the last moment, we hear of the great depth of snow i the ground in the north part of the State and over ervnont and New Hampshire, and the mountains and lis and plains, too, of parts of Massachusetts. Beardsley's Hat Elkvator. — One of the leading char- teristics of American farmers is the readiness with aich they avail themselves of mechanical contrivances r lessening the heavy labors of the farm. Allusions to achines for cutting grain are met with in the writings the ancient Romans; and in England, Boyce, Salmon, riTH, Bell and others invented and used reaping ma- ines early in the present century ; but it was reserved America first to make the reaper generally available in e harvest-field. At the present time, the greater bulk of our grass and ain is cut by machinery, and the period is not distant len the dreaded labor of gathering and harvesting our ops will all be performed by horse-power. In fact, this is now the case on many farms, and at this ne especially, when so many have left the peaceful pur- its of agriculture and taken up the sword and spear in fence of the laws and liberties of our beloved land, is obligatory on those of us who remain at home to adopt ery mechanical invention that expedites and cheapens e labors of the farm. One of the best of these inven- >ns is the Hay Elevator. Machinery has long been used for unloading hay. On e farm of David Leavitt, of Great Barrington, Mass., i have seen au apparatus that would unload hay at the te of half a ton per minute. But it was too cumbrous r general adoption. What we need is something clieap d simple, that can be used on every farm. Such a one ; believe is the Hay-fork invented by Levi A. Beards- ;r, of South Edmeston/-Otsego county, N. Y. We are tisfied that its use will save much bard labor, and that can not be too generally adopted on American farms. D. Farman says he stacked fifty tons of hay with it st season, in stacks thirty feet high, and the fork lifted e hay as fast as three men could mow it away. We ive received from Mr. Beardsley a circular giving a 11 description of his Fork, with directions for its opera- m. Mr. Beardsley will send one of these circulars to 1 who desire them. Mr. B. informs us that he has sent one of his machines Prince Albert's Model Farm at Windsor, England, id also one to Louis Adams, of Moscow, Russia. It will so be exhibited at the World's Fair in London, and we mbt not it will attract considerable attention, and add lother triumph to American ingenuity. Chinese Sugar Cane Seed Free. — I. W. Briggs, of acedon, Wayne Co., N. Y., writes us that he will send ly of the subscribers to the Genesee Farmer a package ' pure sorghum seed on a receipt of a one cent envelope ith the address of the party wishing the seed written on . Send for a package. The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GEXESEE FARMER, ) Rochester, N. Y., April 24, 1S62. ) WnKAT has fallen about 8 cent? per bushel since last month's report. It is now about the same price as last October, and from 8 to 10 cents per bushel less than at the commencement of the present year. Millers and speculators expect a rise. Perhaps the wish is father to the thought. Future prices depend on so many contingencies that we can not hazard an opinion at pres- ent. The wheat crop in England is very promising and prices declining. In this country, so far as our correspondents have in- formed us, winter wheat generally looks well, and fully an aver- age breadth has been sown. We have had rather a mild winter, but the spring opened 'late. Very little plowing has yet been done in this section. But there is still plenty of time to put in the crops in good condition. No change in the price of barley. Oats are a shade better. Corn is about the same as last month. It is 5 cents per bushel lower than at the commencement of the year. In fact, all grains are lower than they were four months ago. Farmers may expect good prices for their wool the present season, though some of the dealers thinkjthe clip will be unusu- ally large and the demand but moderate. At all events, a large advance on last summer's prices may be looked for with con- fidence. New York Cattle Market. — In the New York market April 16, there were only 3.517 beeves, or 1,600 less than the previous week, and 1,000 head below the average of last year. Over 200 bead were taken by Government, and the remainder sold rapidly at improved rates. One fine drove came from Virginia. Two- thirds of the cattle hailed from Illinois, and were of excellent quality. There was a large supply of sheep, and prices declined 50 cents per head. Country dressed mutton sold at SJ4 to 6 cents per lb., according to freshness and fatness. Milch cows are in little demand,'and the market is overstocked. Good calves sold at 4 to 4*£ cents per lb., live weight. Heavy fat hogs were in somewhat better demand. Horses are in better demand. Some first-ciass coach pairs sold at $S >0@,$950 per pair. Good single horses, for family or road, $200@,$300 each ; those with speed, $300®!J450. First- class draft horses, $200@$225 ; second-class, $1S0@$175. Cana- dian ponies, $60@tH6 each. Raiiroad and omnibus horses, $110 @$125. Clover Seed is in better demand. It sells in this city at $4 87^ to $4 75. Eggs are plenty at 9@,10 cents per dozen. Butter 16@17 cents per lb. • ♦•« Seeds for the Month op May. — We would call the at- tention of our readers to the advertisement of Messrs. J. M. Thorburn & Co., of New (York. The new postage law allowing seeds to be sent by mail for one cent per ounce (instead of six cents, as previous) affords an excel- lent opportunity to get the choicest and best seeds at rea- sonable rates. The Messrs. Thorbdrn have one of the largest and best seed establishments in the United States, and anything that is ordered from them will give satis- faction. The Ladies' Department. — Some of our brethren of the press fail to give us the usual credit for articles copied from the Genesee Farmer. Especially is this true as re- gards the "Ladies' Department." The articles for this department are written expressly for the Genesee Farmer by a lady of experience, and we are not surprised to see them extensively copied. We do not object to this in the least, but simply ask that proper credit be given. Self-Raking Reaper. — Seymour, Morgan & Allen, of Brockport, N. Y., manufacture an excellent self-raking reaper. See their advertisement in this number. 162 THE GENESEE FARMER. Tiik Grain Trade of Chicago.— The following facts aie obtained from the recent Report of the Board of Trade of Chicago. They show the movements iu the articles mentioned at that port for 1861. The grades of wheat are : No. 1 white winter, of which 57,750 bushels were shipped; No. 2 white winter, 47,250 bush, shipped; No. 1 red winter, 374,850 bush, shipped ; No. 2 red winter, 546,- 950 bush, shipped ; rejected winter; 82,110 bush, shipped; extra club, 350 bush, shipped ; Northwestern club, 238,000 bush, shipped; No. 1 spring, 6,772,718 bush, shipped; No. 2 spring, 7,006,716 bush, shipped; rejected spring, 1,813,588 bush, shipped. Total, 16,940,282. The quantity of corn inspected was 25,261,123 bushels. Of this, 24,900 bushels were pure white, 452,300 pure yel- low, 22,348,582 mixed, 2,266,988 rejected. It is estimated that, in the wheat and corn given above, the farmers lose over $500,000 in not properly cleaning the first and in un- necessarily mixing the latter. Either pure white or pure yellow corn is held from one to three cents higher in the market than the mixed. The quantity of rye inspected was 487,649 bushels. Of this, 409,619 bushels were No. 1, 9,800 No. 2, and 68,050 rejected. The number of bushels of oats inspected was 1,072,556. Of this, 962,706 bushels were No 1, 14,950 No. 2, and 94,- 000 rejected. The quantity of barley inspected was 108,945 bushels. Of this, 5,250 bushels were No. 1, 82,650 No. 2, and 20,555 rejected. The capacity of grain storage in the city is estimated at 45,970,000 bushels. There are fourteen elevators in operation, with a capacity for receiving and shipping dailj* 675,000 bushels. They can ship daily, when in store, 1,750,000 bushel. This capacity for shipping will soon be added to by at least 300,000 bushels daily by two other houses. ' — ♦•- Farmers, Write for your owx Paper. — The editor of the Ohio Field Notes thus eloquently urges his readers to write for the paper : "Give us field news, stock news, horse talk, cattle talk, hog talk, bear talk, turkey talk, fox tulk, duck and goose talk, always giving preference to the more useful and substantial items in the above list. Write early, write often, and continue to write. Take up your rusty pens, O ! ye Cattle Kings, ye Horse men, ye Shepherd of hill and plain, ye Dairy men and women, ye \\ heat growers, Corn growers, Grass growers, ye Apple Kings and Garden diggers, ye men and women of the rose tree and the pansy bed, ye lovers of the grape and the juices thereof, ye Nimrods of the bush and the saddle, ye Women of the gridiron and the frying pan, who know the mysteries of broiled quail and lordly steaks, and such generous dishes as make us stout and good uatured." Pretty Good. — A lady friend of ours was reading over the list of Premiums on the last page of the March num- ber of the Genesee Farmer. Coming to No. 8, where for eight subscribers we offer to send the " Horse and his Diseases," she remarked, " I should prefer the horse with- out the diseases." ►♦♦ — - Moths. — A correspondent of the London Field recom- mends tallow candles, (common,) done up in paper, and put in the sack or drawer with cloths, to prevent moths destroying the cloth. literary Notices. NO'IICE TO QUIT. By W. G. Wilu?. author of "Life's Fo shadowings." New York: Harper &. .Brothers. Adajk Dabney. One of the fifty cent novels which are being constantly issi by this well known publishing house, and neither much better worse than the average. THE STEP-MOTHER. By the anthor of the "Heir of R. clyfe." D. Appleton & Co. This, like all Miss Yonge's novels, is interestns; in its pecul style, and has the charm of teaching a pure morality and a pr tical religion. AIDS TO FAITH; A Series of Theological Essays. By seve writers. Edited by William Thompson, D. D. New York : Appleton & Co. Steele & Avert. This is ah answer to ihe famous "Essays and Reasons." Eqv ly well written with the book to which it replies, it will proba not meet with half the sale, as truth is always stale, while c cast-off errors have a charm to a certain class of minds, wh includes a large proportion of the reading public. If faith, oi shaken, can be restored by logic, the skeptic would find here excellent refutation of his doubts concerning miracles, propht inspiration, and cognate subjects. SPARE HOURS. By John Bbown, M. D. Boston : Ticki &, FlKLDS. One of the most fascinating books that has been publish' d season. " Rab and his Friends" would redeem a stupid bi but every article in this is worth reading, as well as too inter ing to leave unread. RELIGIO-MEDIOI. A Letter to a Friend, Christian Mor Urn Burial, and other papers. By Sir Thomas Bbown h, j M. D. Boston : Ticknor Ax. Fields. A republication of an old book, which has a quaint charm its own — an exceedingly pleasant companion for a though leisure hour. Trek Peddlers. — B. Smith, of Cuba, Missouri, in article in the St. Louis Valley Farmer, advises farmer: " set the dogs on the tree peddlers when they cc around." Dishonest tree peddlers are a great nuisai and, while we can not endorse Mr. Smith's recommen tion, we could wish that farmers would deal only w men who sell for respectable nurserymen. There many such — men who sell good trees and deliver tb accordiug to agreement — but it is not likely that they often found in Mr. Smith's neighborhood ! Packing Eggs for Long Journeys. — The bestsubsta for packing eggs that have to be sent long distances rail or otherwise, especially if intended for sitting, is husks of buckwheat. Bran and grain are full of dust, i should not be used unless each egg is wrapped in paj These substances also are apt to pack, and the pack becomes oue solid mass. There is no elasticity, and constant jars break the delicate membrane which s pends the yolk iu the shell, and the egg is " killed." Agriculture the Great Interest of the Nation. — . cording to the census of 1850, the total capital of United States was about $6,000,000,000. Of this si 5,000,000,000, or five-sixths of the whole amount, was vested in agricultnre. The late Prof. Johnston, of Sc land, estimated that nine-tenths of all the fixed capital the world is embarked in agriculture. Chapped Hands.— A correspondent informs us that finds equal parts of lard and camphor, well mixed, a ci for chapped hands. THE GENESEE FARMER. 163 Inquiries and Answers. Iests for Sogar.— (J. H. Coldwell.) The "common od beet" is not grown for this purpose. The Silesian ;ar beet is the variety that is grown for the mauufac- e of sugar. lljn.ois Coffee.— (John Shelton.) We would not ise you to purchase any of this so-called coffee. More ent information indicates that there is considerable ubug about it. Fnderdraining an Apple Orchard. — (F. R.) Put a in between each row of trees, say from three to four ; deep. Drain tiles or pipes are better and cheaper a stones. If you use stones, it will be necessary to cut drains wider. Vinter Apples.— (J. B., Pennsylvania.) Our nursery- q here can probably furnish you apple grafts, if ap- ;d to. A good selection of winter varieties in your lo- ty should contain Golden Russet, Yellow Belleflower, ith's Cider, Fallenwalder, Rhode Island Greening and dwin. v'hat shall I do with an Egg-Eating Hen? — (John lliams.) Give her plenty of food — not too much of ! kind of grain, but a little of several kinds, such as eat screenings, barley, rye, oats and Indian corn, with ittle fresh meat. If after this she eats her eggs, put — in the pot with a piece of pork. i'oRMS Infesting the Black Currant. — (J. H. F. tsburg.) It is true as you state, although probably new most of our readers, that the black currant, in some dities, is infested with a kind of span worm (some cies of Abraras) which feeds upon the leaves. During present season, we shall endeavor to procure speci- ns of this insect in its various stages, and wdl then ak of it more fully. ;rafting Wax.— (J. B., Drayton P. 0., C. W.) For in' ir grafting, or for saturing strips of cloth to be used side, the following composition will be found very id: 1 lb. tallow, 2 lbs. beeswax, and 5 lbs. rosin, melt- together. •"or grafting large trees, where the wax is to be applied ectly to the graft, a mixture about in proportion of bs. tallow, 3 lbs. beeswax, aud 3 lbs. rosin, will be ind to work well. Mahaleb Cherry from Layers — Double Worked ars. — (R. H. M., Palmyra, Ind.) We think your ex- •iment of growing mahaleb stocks from layers will jve a failure ; if not so, please inform us. When a dwarf pear tree is desired of some variety lich does not succeed well on the quince stock, the ick is first worked with a sort which forms a strong ion with it, and afterwards the new pear shoot is dded or grafted with the variety which is to form the >e. 3sage Orange from Cuttings. — (R. B., St. Thomas, W.) We have had no experience in growing Osage inge from cuttings. A gentleman in this city informs that some green cuttings clipped from the!hedge at the st summer pruniug, that were accidentally nearly cov- jd up, were found after a few weeks to have many among them that were well rooted. A friend of his says, also, that he has succeeded in a measure in striking ripe cuttings. There has never yet existed a necessity here to employ this mode of progagation, siuce the seeds are to be pro- cured so cheaply. Smut in Wheat.— (J. H., Buffalo, JV. Y.) There are several ways of preparing seed wheat to prevent smut. < The spores of the smut adhere to the seed wheat, and the object is to destroy them before sowing the seed. The common way is to moisten the seed with fermented chamber lye, and then dry it with quick lime. The spores of the fungus contain considerable oil, and the ammonia of the lye and the lime attacks this oil, forming a kind of soap and destroying the vitality of the smut. An equally effective remedy is to wash the seed wheat with a solution of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). For each bushel of seed, dissolve three or lour ounces of blue vitriol in about one quart of hot water. Spread the wheat out on a floor, about six inches thick, and, when cool, sprinkle the solution equally over it, and then mix thor- oughly with shovels till every grain is moistened. Old wheat will require a little more water. The seed will be ready to sow in two or three hours, though it is better to allow it to remain a day or two before sowing. When treated in this way, lime should not be used, as it will decompose the sulphate of copper and do harm rather than good. » Madder Seed. — Can any one tell me where I can get madder seed or sets, price, etc.? — E. Ware, Hancock, N.H. Java Wheat. — Can any of the readers of the Genesee Farmer tell me where I can procure some Java wheat seed? — Geo. N. Peacock, Porter's Corners, Saratoga Co., N. Y. Hard Soap. — Will some one, through the Genesee Far- mer, give us a receipt for making hard soap. It would please me, and probably many others. — D. E. Davis, Dun- daff, Pa. Cotswold Sheep. — I wish to buy a Cotswold ram the coming summer. Will those who have one from 8 to 24 mouths old tell me the price, etc. — S. Amsbaugh, Domes- tic, Williams Co., Ohio. An Old Orchard. — I have purchased a farm which has an old orchard on it that has not been trimmed for some time. What is the best course to pursue in such a case ? — G. R. Lawson, Murray, C. W. Cranberry Culture. — Your subscribers in this vicini- ty would esteem it as a favor if some one would give us information respecting the culture of cranberries, the most desirable varieties for market, etc. — M. Guernsey, East CobbleskUl, K Y. Hungarian Grass and Flax. — I should like to obtain some information in regard to the cultivation, product, value as food, proper time for cutting, etc., of Hungarian grass. Probably some of the readers of the Genesee Far- mer can give the desired information. Also, some information in regard to cultivation of flax, produce of straw and seed per acre, and also the amount of clean flax, with the best mode of preparing it, proper time and best plan for rotting, for cottonizing purposes. — B., Fvansville, Ind. Underdraining an Orchard. — Will some of your cor- respondents who have had experience give me some in- structions about underdraining. I have planted some apple trees on a piece of ground a little rolljng or de- scending, so that some fall may be obtained. The ground is not wet, but I have been led to think that underdraiu- 164 THE GENESEE FARMER. ing would improve it. My trees are about 30 feet apart. Will it be necessary to make a drain for every row, or will a less number be sufficient? Will there be need of cross drains? How deep should the drains be made ? I intend to put in small stoue, so as to allow the water to filter through. How small should the stones be broken for this purpose? How deep should the drains be made? To what height should they be filled with stone ? What precaution will be necessary to prevent the soil from fall- ing or washing in among the stones, so as to obstruct the passage for water? — T. R., Crawford Co., Pa. Leached Ashes.— (Robert Macauley.) They are good for almost any crop on light hind. Unleached Ashes for Corn. — (R. M., Hamilton, C. W.) Apply a handful to each hill after the corn is well up, before the first hoeing. To Clean Foul Casks. — (R. T.) Fill them with meal or bran and water, and let them stand until fermentation takes place. The casks, it is said, will then be sweet, and the mixture, will be better than before as food for swine. Grinding Sugar Beets. — Can sugar beets be ground in & common eider mill, and the juice be boiled down to sugar or sirup in the same way as maple sap. — c. w. d. They can. But will some of our readers, who have had experience, favor us with an article on this subject? Hoeing and Harrowing Wheat in the Spring.— (H. B. H.) There can be no doubt that hoeing wheat in the spring is very beneficial. The only question is, " Will it pay?" Try half an acre or so and determine this ques- tion for yourself. We have known wheat benefitted ma- terially by harrowing it early in the spring. Copferas for Seed Corn. — (Wm. Haines.) The object of using copperas for seed corn is to prevent worms, squirrels, chip-munks, crows, &c, from eating the seed. It has no effect on the cut-worm and other insects that eat the blade. One pound of copperas is sufficient for a bushel of seed. Dissolve it in warm water sufficient to cover the seed, and let it soak for twenty-four to thirty- six hours. If necessary, dry it with plaster, but not with lime, as the latter would decompose the copperas. A Cow Sucking Herself. — (A Subscriber.) Many remedies have been published in back numbers of the Genesee Farmer.. The last we have noticed is to split the cow's tongue with a sharp knife, about two inches, making two equal parts. Give her soft food for two or three days, till the tongue heals, wheu she will be as well as ever and effectually cured. Another remedy is to smear the teats with grease and dust, then with cayenne pepper. A few dressings, it is said, will effect a cure. Ornamental Vanes for Farm Buildings. — As your paper is designed for improvement in rural affairs, I would offer a suggestion that you publish, in a future volume of the Farmer, a number of designs, with illus- trations, for an ornamental vane, to be placed on the ridge of the wagon-house, as that is generally the most conspicuous' of outbuildings. The designs should cm- brace some variety from cheap wooden structures, or mostly so, to more costly styles. Those of wood should have the spire turned in a lathe and fastened on the build- ing by cutting through the ridge-board and fastened on the inside. Those of metalic materials should have a base of cast-iron, with four legs, spiked to the roof on the ridge aud connected with the lightning-rod. These would improve the appearance of out-buildings very much. You could procure the designs in no better-v than by offering a prize similar to those formerly offei for prize articles, so that you could procure a number different styles. — Cyrus Baker. We will cheerfully give a copy of the Rural Poeti^y the English Language — a three dollar book— for the b essay on this subject, with illustrations. Suckers on Apple Trees. — (E. Walker.) If on body or limbs of the trees, strip them off as fast as tl are formed. If not allowed to grow too large, a ki will be unnecessary, as they can be stripped off qi easily. Suckers at the base of the trees are less eas destroyed. We know of no other way than to cut th off as fast as they appear, and keep cutting. Proba some of our readers can give us a better plan. Ammonia, Superphosphate, &c. — In what form ammonia, or sulphate of ammonia, or superphosphati lime, to be bought for manure? These terms are p zling to a beginner. — R. M., Hamilton, V. W. Ammonia is a gas, lighter than the atmosphere. I an alkali, and unites with sulphuric acid, forming : phate of ammonia. This is a salt, quite soluble, but volatile. It can be obtained in New York for seven a per lb. Superphosphate is made from bones. It is, in i soluble bones. The bones are made soluble by the us< sulphuric acid. Rhodes' superphosphate, advertisec this number, is one of the best articles in market. ■"Is there ant Cure for Heaves in Horses?" — (. West.) There is probable no absolute cure. But m may be done to help the horse. Feed him on cut hay, mill-feed moistened in water. Work him gently, and n< let him drink more than a pailful of water at a time, this season of the year give him a tablespoonful, e^ other day, of a mixture of equal parts by weight of 5 petre, sulphur, antimony and powdered liquorice-r It is one of the best "condition powders" we have < used. Soap for Seed Corn. — (A Canadian Subscriber.) Marshall's plan of preparing his seed corn, as givei the Genesee Farmer of last year, is as follows : "Heat some soap in a kettle, and then pour the soap on the corn. It is better to have the corn in a li kettle, (not the kettle in which the soap is heated,) a can be stirred better than in a tub. Stir the corn at same time the soap is poured on, till all the kernals smeared with it. Then add as much plaster as will cs the kernels to separate, and nicely dry the seed. His ot is to get as much soap and plaster to adhere to the i as possible. He does not prepare more seed at a t than can be used in half a day. Keep it standing in shade. If'exposed to the sun it will dry, and cause soap and plastei to scale off. The soap and plaster d the moisture, and cause the seed to germinate and ci up quickly, aud the plants look healthy and vigorous. Beet Root Sugar. — In the March No. of the Ger, Farmer I find an article on the "Cultivation of the I Root for Sugar," and being well satisfied that the farn of Canada, in many localities — myself among the n ber— would do better to change their practice in farm (as many are doing), the inquiry with me is, Would beet root sugar-making be preferable to the cultivatio: flax, which is so often urged upon us? If the figures the article in question are nearly correct, I am confider would, and have determined upon trying it in a small m if I can get the right kind of seed and necessary insti tions in the art of manufacturing the sugar. Know of no better way of obtaining the requisite informati THE GENESEE FARMER. 165 [write yon, hoping that you will be able, through your japer, to inform your numerous readers where the true seed can be obtained, and also the right directions tor making the sugar, with the implements needed in its manufacture. — David Bastado, Princeton, C. W. You can get true Silesian beet root seed from J. M. Uhorbcrn & Co., New York. Your other inquiries shall je attended to in a future number. Snails, Slugs, Ac— Can you inform me of a good and mre way of getting rid of the snail or slug? They are jetting to be quite an annoyance on cabbages, tomatoes, kc, &c. I can not afford the expense of a galvanic bat- ;ery for each vine and plant, and have used, with some success, lime and plaster and ashes, one at a time, dry md sprinkled carefully on the ground so as not to touch ;he fruit. — Lewis De Volk. Chinese Sugar Cane Seed.— (S. Egberts.) Sorghum seed was mostly obtained from the Southern States. The supply is of course cut off. We must now depend on seed imported from France. It is thought that much spurious seed will be thrown on the market, B. K. Bliss, )f Springfield, Mass., in an advertisement in this number )f the Farmer, states that he has imported a quantity Tom the well-known house of Vilmorin & Co., of Paris. Vfr. Bliss is an honorable and reliable man, and we have 10 doubt his seed is genuine. At all events we intend to ise it ourselves. Large and Small Sheep.— (T. T.) For mutton the arge sheep, other things being equal, are the most profit- ible. For wool the reverse is true. It has been proved that, as a rule, sheep consume food in proportion to their live weight; and it has- also been lemonstrated that Cotswolds [large sheep] fatten more rapidly from food consumed than the South Downs small sheep.] On the other hand it has been shown that small sheep produce more wool, in proportion to live weight, than large sheep. And, of course, it follows that, when wool is the only object, the small sheep are the most profitable — they produce more wool in proportion to the food consumed. Italian Rye Grass. — (A. P.) When.sown alone, from 35 to 40 lbs. of seed are required per acre. The seed weighs from 15 to 18 lbs. per bush. It can be sown either in the spring or fall. As a general rule it lasts but two years in perfection, although there are instances in which five or six crops have been mowed in successive seasons ; but it is probable that the land was resown from the seeds dropped from the crop, as it sheds its seeds very easily. It delights in rich, deep soil. The land can not be too wet. No crop will bear so much forcing. It is of all grasses the best for irrigated meadows. It has not been sufficiently tried in this country to warrant us in speaking more fully of its merits. We hope you will give it a trial, and report the result. 1S62, says : " Rhodes' is the cheapest American superphosphate, "and if Mr. Rhodes will sell under legal guarantee an article to " contain even 14 or 15 per cent of anhydrous phosphoric acid in "combinations soluble in water (with ten mniutes boiling), his "manure would deserve unqualified recommendation as one of " the very best superphosphates manrfactured in the world, and "very much better than any manufactured in this country." The following report of analysis of one thousand (1,000) tons RnoDEs' manure, made by G. A. Liebio, shows even higher re- sults than Dr. Pugh requires ; Baltimore, February 28. 1862. Messrs. B. M. RnoDEs & Co. — Gents: I have analyzed the two samples of Rhodes' manure which were averaged from a lot of one thousand (1,000) tons at the works, and sent to me by Messrs. Potts and Klf.tt. Sample No. 1 contains of phosphoric acid soluble in water 16.84 per cent., equal to 27.75 of bi-phosphate ol lime. Sample No. 2 contains 16.44 per cent,, which is equal to 27.10 of bi-phosphate of lime. Both of the samples came fully up to the standard qualities of your Superphosphate. Very respectful'y, G. A. Liebig, Ph. D. Agriculturists and dealers apply to B. M. Rhodes & Co., office 82, South street, Baltimore. Also, Henry E. Moring, General Agent for New York and New England, 97 Pearl street, near Hanover Square, New York. The following Report was made at the late Fair held at Utica, N. Y., upon the merits of Sewing Machines. The Report will be interesting to those inquiring for the best Family Sewing Machine : " We come now to the last article on our list — specimens of " Machine Sewing. We confess cur great hesitation in deciding " upon their merits, where all are so well done ; but feel assured "that our judgment must meet with approval when we award the " First Premium to No. 971, W. S. Taylor (Qrover & Baker's Ma- " chine), considering the variety of articles made up of different " materials, exhibited there. To No. 306, two machine-made "shirts, Mrs. Gallup (Wheeler & Wilson's Machine), we would "recommend the Second Premium. In justice to our decision, "we would no ice the fact that all the specimens of work done on '' the Wheeler & Wilson's Machine are upon plain, heavy fabrics, "which are not considered by the ladies so good a test of the "powers of a machine designed for family use, as when lighter •' materials are neatly made up by a skillful operator." Mrs. Selden Collins, CWn, Mrs. C. S. Bf.nnett, Mrs. George Lane, » Mrs. G. O. Green hill, Committee. Special Notices. Rhodes' Superphosphate.— The Standard Manure.— Man- faclured under the supervision of the eminent manufacturing and analytical chemists, Robert B. Potts and Frederick Klett. The Sulphuric Acid is produced on a large scale atthe works at Camden, N. J. Guaranteed perfectly pure and free from all adulteration. Dr. Evan Pugh, President Penn. Farm School, in his Report on Artificial Manures, published in Country Genttemen March 27th, ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only such — will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer for twenty-five cents a line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every State and Territory, and in all the British Provinces. (It has~nearly 5000 subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no better or cheaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to rural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," it appropriate to our columns, at fifty cents a line. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 3— tf MARBLEHEAD CABBAGE SEED. STONE MASON Cabbage seed, 25 cents per oz.. 75 cents four oz . $2.67 per lb., postpaid by me. HUBBARD SQUASH, the purest grown, 12 cents per package, $1 per lb. J5^° CIRCULARS, contaiug Priced Lists of everv variety of Garden Seeds, gratis. JAMES J. H. GREGORY, Marblehead, Mass. TOM THUMB PEAS. I WILL send, for 25 cents, Six Ounces of the above Peas to any Postoffice address in the Spates, by mail, postage paid. This Pea grows only eight inches high, and is very early and pro- lific. J. RAPALJE, Genuse - . . ER MONTH— Made by any one with Stencil Tools. 3n Jll/U For a circular explaining the business, Address JOHN MIlLIKEN, May— ly. Lawrence, Mass. 168 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. ROE'S WESTERN RESERVE ^Patent IPremrum Vata With Improved Heater and Valves. THIS well known CHEESE VAT was first int»oduced to the Dairymen more |than seven years ago. Several thousand have since been sold throughout the country— mora than one thousand the past season. Numerous and valuable improve- ments have been added from time Jto time, to embrace every- thing wanted in a Cheese Vat, and we believe it now is the most compute, simple, durable and convenient Cheese-making Appa- ratus in the world. Our long experience enables us to warrant our Vat to give entire satisfaction. By getting one of these Vats, a single Dairyman in any partofthe country will have as com- plete an Apparatus as is used in the largest dairying localities. The Cui, shows the back side of the Vat when opened, after using; the tube on the end of the heater is for the escape of steam ; the knob at the top operates the valve. Roe's Patent Adjustable Expansion Cheese Hoop. ; A very nice thing. One hoop makes three sizes, and expands *to lift off the cheese. J^~ Send, for a Circular, to ROE & BLAIR, Madison, Lake Co., Ohio. R OOTS FOR FEEDING STOCK. 1,000 lbs. LONG RED MANGEL WURZEL BEET. 1,500 lbs. WHITE SUGAR BEET. 500 lbs. LONG ORANGE CARROT. 5,000 lbs. PURPLE TOP YELLOW RUTA BAGA. 10,000 lbs. RED TOP "STRAP-LEAVED" TURNIP. The Beets are Imported French ; Carrots and Turnips of our own growth— all of which are warranted first quality. Forwarded by Express at 40, 30, 75. 40 and 40 cents per lb- Forwarded by Hail, " postage paid," at 60, 50, 95, 60 and 60 cents per lb. p&~ Wholesale quantities at greatly reduced rates. Remit- tances to accompany all orders. ROBERT BUIST & SON, Seed Growers and Nurserymen, April — 2t Philadelphia, Pa. SEEDS! GARDEN SEEDS! FROM HALLOCK'S SEED AND AGRICULTURAL WARE- HOUSE.— The subscriber will forward by mail, postage paid to any address in ths United States, a package of twenty sixpenny papers, well filled with good and reliable vegetable seeds, of good varieties to supply the garden, on receipt of $1 by mail. A part Flower seeds will be substituted if desired. Send on your orders. If you wish any particular varieties, name them and they will be substituted if they are to be had in this market. SEEDS TO CANADA. As there is some difficulty in sending seeds to Canada by mail> I will send them by Express, and will add Ten extra packages (making Thirty packages for one dollar !) to pay express charges on all orders received from Canada. If two or three parties would order their seeds together, they would in this way get them at exceedingly low rates. Address E. D. HALLOCK, Agt., No. 31 Exchange street,Rochester, N. V. ITALIAN QUEEN BEES. I SHALL continue to breed (his season from my well known stock of Italian Bees, imported in March, 1861. by steamer New York. I guarantee the perlect purity of my Queens, being In possession of the Only Six Live Original Italian Queens in the United States. To suit the times, I have reduced my price to $7 50 for a Queen and a few hundred workers. For particulars apply to C. WM. ROSE, April— 3t «3 Exchange Place, New York. -WIVE. PATERSON'S Improved Superphosphate of Lime, MANUFACTURED and for sale at Division Street Wharf, Newark, N. J., and by the manufacturer's agents in this and other Stales. %W° CIRCULARS, with particular instructions for use, will be sent by mail when requested, or on application to his agedts. WM. PATERSON, The oldest manufacturer of Superphosphate of Lime in the Union. April — 3t RHODE'S SUPERPHOSPHATE}, The Standard Manure, ENDORSED by Prof. S. W. Johnson. G. A. Liebig and Dr. Evan Pugh. Sold under a Leg'rt Guarantee of purity and freedom from all adulteration. H. E. MORING, General Agent, 97 Pearl street, near Hanover Square, New York, to whom agriculturists and dealers of New York and New Eng- land will apply. B. M. RHODES & CO., May- 2t Office, S3 South street, Baltimore. NANSEMOND SWEET POTATOES. NORTHERN Farmers can grow no more profitable crop near cities. Plants from 1st May till July. Price, 400, $1 ; 1,000 $2; 5 000, *9; 10,000, $15. Packed and guaranteed to carry in good condition throughout the country. {a?r~ Directions for Cultivation and Preservation sent gratis. Send for one. Address M. M. MURRAY. April — 2t Loveland, Clermont Co., Ohio. FOR SALE— By the subscriber, a MORGAN BLACK HAWK STALLION, sired by Black Hawk, Jr., is five years old, and stands fifteen and a half hands high. Is a beautiful mahog- any bay, with black legs, mane and tail. Weighs about 1100 lbs. when in good condition. Is compactly built, possessing remark- able intelligence and muscular powers, having a strong, vigorous constitution. Has an easy, open gait, and biffs fair to make a fast traveler, JACOB UOUSTATER. March.— 3t* Pekin, Niagara Co., N. Y. BEAN PLANTER-Patented 1860. WE manufacture the cheapest and best Bean Planter in use. Worked by one Horse, Plants two rows at a time, and in hills. Rows from 28 to 80 inches apart, and hills 14 inches apart. Price $12. WHITESIDE, I3ARNKTT & CO., April— 2t Brockport, Monroe Co.. N. Y. DWARF BROOM CORN SEED. ANEW variety, which seldom grows more than four feet high, and produces a greater weight of corn and of supe- rior quality to the ordinary kind, is now offered for sale for the first time by ROGERS & GEST, April,— 2t No. 183 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa, A NEW GOOSEBERRY AND NEW RASPBERRY. NATIVES of the Great, West. The Gooseberry is smooth, prolific, larger than Houghton, of fine flavor, and free from mildew. The Raspberry is a Black Cap, better than Doolittle's Improved. Circulars on application. April.— 2t HEFFRON & BEST, Utica, N. Y, ' ELECTEIC WEATHER INDICATOR. THE original and only genuine Instrument of the kind — fore- tells the approach of storms 24 hours in advance. Agents will find for this article a ready and profitable market everywhere. Samples mailed for 50 cents bv LEE & CO.. Newark, N. j. KA HONOLULU NECTARINE SQUASH SEEDS-Free, OU 9 cents: Giant Emperor and Truffaut's Penaflowered As- ters, mixed, 9 cents ; Zin' ia Elegans, 9 cents, All the above tree for 24 cents. P. SUTTON, Ransom, Luzerne Co., Pa. * l. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, JUNE, 1862. No 6. CULTIVATION OF ROOT CROPS. diE general introduction of any new system of tculture is proverbially slow. We were once an English farm where seventy-five acres of nips were grown every year,- and the farmer ntioned, as a curious fact, that in the lease of former occupier there was a clause compelling i to sow twelve acres of turnips every year, and 5 he considered a great hardship. Certain it is t he would not have grown so many had it not :n one of the conditions of the lease. Now one rth of the entire arable portion of the farm is upied with turnips and ruta bagas. n looking over the back numbers of the Genesee <-mer for the last thirty years, we have been ick with the urgent advocacy of root culture. 3 same is true of the Albany Cultivator. The at advantages of root crops have been repeatedly iwn, and yet to-day how few grow even roots •ugh to give their sheep and cows a taste during winter and early spring months! rrorn twenty to twenty -four years ago, the dil- ation of roots was more warmly advocated by lerican agricultural writers than at the present le. The lamented Judge Bdel especially spoke quently in their praise, and through the pages the Cultivator did more than any other man to I the attention of farmers to the subject. He not, however, confine himself merely to advo- ingthe culture of root crops, but demonstrated ictrcally on his own farm that turnips could be icessfully raisud in this country. Others were uced to do the same thing, and one can not but struck with the interest that seems to have been I on the subject. Why has this interest abated? We do not say it fewer roots are raised now than formerly, but tainly farmers are less enthusiastic in their lise. * Perhaps they expected too much. Like many ler new things, it is not improbable that turnips were lauded too highly, and that those who tried them failed to realize their extravagant expecta- tions. Root crops require extra cultivation. An English farmer expends more money and labor on his turnips and ruta bagas than on any other crop in the rotation. At the same time he finds that it is not directly profitable. He feeds them out on his farm, and the profits from his cattle and sheep when fed on these crops are not more than the cost of raising the turnips. In fact, as a general rule, we believe there is a loss rather than a profit. But the manure is valuable. This is the source of his profits from root culture. Taking into consid- eration the value of the manure and the effect of their growth and culture on the soil, the cultiva- tion of turnips proves very beneficial. In fact, the turnip has been very justly termed "the sheet- anchor of British agriculture." A good English farmer once said to the writer, "Insure me a crop of turnips, and I will insure you every other crop in the rotation." The rota- tion is, first, turnips ; second, barley, seeded with clover; third, clover; fourth, wheat; and then tur- nips again, and so on. A good crop of turnips, eaten on the land by sheep, means good barley and good clover. Good clover means good wheat. The turnips and the clover may not yield much "profit, but the extra yield of barley and wheat more than compensates for the great labor and ex- pense bestowed on the turnip crop. There is felt at this time a renewed interest in the culture of roots in this country and in Canada West. We are anxious that the true value of the turnip family should be known— that the source of its profits should be definitely understood. We are satisfied that root culture may be extended with advantage, but the immediate profits will not be large. Airong the advantages of root culture may be named — 1st. The thorough preparation required, and the use of the horse-ho^ between the rows cleans, mel- lows and enriches tne soil. 2d. The growth of turnips and their consump- tion on the farm furnishes much valuable manure, and thus serves to enrich the soil for subsequent crops. 3d. A large quantity of healthy and succulent food is obtained for the use of sheep and cattle du- ring the winter and early spring months, when such food is much needed. The drawbacks to root culture in this country are — 1st. Our dry, hot climate is not as favorable to their growth as the moist climate of Great Britain. 2d. We are obliged to put them in cellars or in pits to preserve them through our severe winters. The first objection is, in our mind, not so serious as the second. Good crops can be raised in this climate. In Canada West, where much more at- tention is paid to root culture than with us, as heavy crops of ruta bagas are sometimes raised as in England, and their culture is rapidly increasing. The secret of their success is not any superiority in the climate, but in the thorough preparation of the ground and the subsequent cultivation. They generally plow the land in the fall and again in the spring, with repeated harrowings, till the ground is clean and mellow. Then throw the land into ridges 2-J- feet apart, and put a good dressing of well rotted manure in the ridges, and cover by splitting the ridges with a double mould-board plow. Then drill in the seed on the ridges with a drill, having a light roller before and after the seed drill. They sow usually about the middle of June. Sow from one to two lbs. of seed per acre. When the plants are coming into the rough leaf, thin out with the hoe from ten to twelve inches apart, and use the horse-hoe frequently between the rows. To sow ruta bagas (Swedes) broadcast is a boot- less task. Mangel wurzels are better adapted, we think, to our climate than Swede turnips, and more nutri- tious. They require very rich soil and good cul- ture, and then large crops can be obtained. They keep well into spring, and are excellent food for milch cows or the ewes with lambs in the spring. They deserve more attention than they have yet received. Prepare the land as for Swedes, and sow about the first of June. Thin out by hand and with the hoe to from twelve to fifteen inches apart. More nutritive matter can be obtained from an acre of mangel wurzels [The name means "scarcity root"] than from any other root crop. But it must have very rich soil, or extra manuring. The culture of beets is similar to that of mangel wurzels. If raised for sugar, they should be sow on warm, dry land, thoroughly pulverized, and n\ too rich. Small beets contain the largest per cen age of sugar. They need not be left more ths eight inches apart in the rows. It is better' earth them up as they grow, so as to keep all tl root under ground. In Ireland, a dibble is used for making the hoi into which the mangel wurzel or beet seeds a dropped. The accompanying figure will render description unnecessary. Any farmer can mal one for himself. The common white turnip is not as nutritive the Swede or ruta baga. It will not keep so wi through the winter. The English farmers sc them principally to eat off on the land from Oct ber to December. It will hardly pay to hou them. We think they may be raised in this cou try on light sandy soils, for the same object, wi advantage. They require far less cultivation ths the ruta baga. They may be sown broadcast ai time in July. Hollow Horn in Cattle. — Much has been sa and written upon the subject of hollow-horn horn-distemper ; and some persons seem to be constituted, with such tender feelings and pu morals, that they admonish, if not rebuke, any p< son who has the temerity (?) to use the easy mea of preventing the hollow-horn by cutting off small piece of the animal's tail once or twice year. Surely such persons are changeable-mindc or if the raise any cattle of the male kind, tb are fully supplied with uncastrated animals, have raised some cattle, and it is my rule to cut c a small piece of the tail of all my cattle in tl spring of the year, just before they go out to p« ture, and if at any time during the summer I d: cover the brush of the tail being curled, or Ioi and twisted, I forthwith cut off half an inch (mo or less) of the tail — being careful to cut as little the hair brush as possible. I hasve never knov an animal to have tine horn-ail that was treated the above described manner. — Bela Dunba North Chili, N. Y. THE GENESEE FARMER. 171 THE VALUE OF POUDRETTE. A correspondent of the American Agricultur- t says : "It has heeu estimated that a single in- vidual produces 500 lbs of urine per annum, hich Prof. Johnston shows is worth $50 per ton. village of 1,000 inhabitants would consequently ■oduce 250 tons in a year, which would be worth, this rate, more than $10,000. The population New York and Brooklyn would furnish annual- for country farms $10,000,000 worth of this fer- jaing material, if it could be saved for that pur- >se." Of all the wild estimates we have seen of the blue of nightsoil, this is the wildest. It has been certained by actual experiments, that on an aver- ;e males from 15 to 50 years of age void in the urse of a year, feces, 95 lbs. ; liquid, 1,049 lbs. >tal, liquid and solid excrement in their fresh ate, 1,144 lbs. These contain: Of dry substance — faeces, 23f lbs. ; urine, 39£ lbs. )tal, 63£ lbs. Of mineral matter — feces, 2-J lbs. ; urine, 12 lbs. )tal, 14£ lbs. Of carbon— feces, 10 lbs.; urine, 12 lbs. Total, lbs. Of nitrogen — feces, 11-5 lbs.'; urine, 10 4-5 lbs. )tal, 12 lbs. »• Of phosphates — feces, 1^ lbs. ; urine, 4£ lbs. To- 1, 5£- lbs. In other words, fresh urine contains 96 per cent, water. One ton contains only 80 lbs. of solid sitter. What is this 80 lbs. worth? We ail low what the 1,920 lbs. of water is worth. The 'o together, according to the above estimate, is ortli $50. Now, if the water is worth nothing, follows that the 80 lbs of dry matter in a ton of ine must be worth $50, or over 60 cents per lb. ! there not some error here ? Has not the writer r the Agriculturist misunderstood Prof. Johns- »n ? Did not Prof. J. mean that the dry matter urine was worth, if you could get it, $50 per n ? He certainly could not mean that the fresh •ine was worth $50 per ton. Let us see what a ton of fresh urine contains, id then we can tell to a certainty what it is orth — or at least we can tell what the ingredi- its which it contains can be purchased for in her forms. One ton of fresh urine contains about 20 lbs. of trogen, worth 17 cents per lb., or $3.40 ; 10 lbs. phosphates, worth 6 cents per lb., or $0.60 ; 25 s. of mineral matter, worth, on a liberal esti- ate, 50 cents ; 25 lbs, carbonaceous matter, worth very little indeed, say 50 cents; and 1,920 lbs. of water, worth nothing. So, then, one ton of fresh urine, instead of being worth $50, is worth only $5, and this is a very liberal estimate. IRRIGATING MEADOWS. There are few subjects which merit the atten- tion of American farmers more than that of irri- gation. In many parts of New England, and in the grazing and dairy districts of this State and Pennsylvania, there are thousands of acres of land that might be irrigated in the simplest, easiest and most economical manner possible. We have often been surprised to see small streams of water run- ning to waste while the parched and poverty stricken meadows in the neighborhood, which might easily have been irrigated by this water, produced not more than a ton of hay per acre, and often much less. In irrigating, as in underdraining, it is frequently necessary for a few neighbors to combine in the work. And this is not always an easy matter to accomplish. In fact, this is one of the greatest difficulties in the way of any plan for the intro- duction of irrigation. We have no remedy to pro- pose which will overcome this hindrance. All that we can do is to call attention to the great ad- vantages which irrigation would afford in some sections, and endeavor to show that such combina- tions as we have alluded to would be mutually beneficial. That irrigation is a great means of increasing the produce of grass lands, will not be disputed. In England we have known many instances where at least three times the amount of hay has been obtained simply by irrigation, with ordinary water, from a small stream that was dammed up and the water conducted in furrows and allowed to flow over the land. In the last number of the " Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England," it is stated that the spring feed alone on the irrigated meadows on the Avon is sometimes let for $40 or $50 per acre, and even $60. Levi Bartlett, in describing the farm of Mr. Sanborn, of New Hampshire, in a recent number of the Albany Cultivator, says Mr. S. commenced irrigating his "old mowing fields" about twelve years ago. At that time many of them yielded very scanty crops of grass, not over ten or fifteen cwt. per acre. Now, by the application of water alone, these fields yield two tons of first-rate qual- 172 THE I GENESEE FARMER. ity hay per acre, and those which have been irri- gated longest yield the heaviest crops. Boussingault, the well known French chemist and fanner, considers a good meadow the cheapest means of enricliing the farm; and this is undoubt- edly true. The extra produce obtained by irrigat- ing grass lands, when fed out tp animals, furnishes an extra quantity of manure for the use of the arable upland portions of the farm. STEEPING BAKLEY FOE SHEEP. In the Genesee Farmer for December, 1861, page 365, we stated that in Mr. Lawes' experiments on sheep, "considerable advantage was found from steeping grain from 24 to 36 hours in cold water, before giving it to the sheep.'1'' A correspondent of the Country Gentleman makes the following remarks on the subject : Credit Sometimes Wrongly Given. — Messrs. L. Tucker & Son:— In Country Gentleman, vol. 18, No. 23, p. 364, I find an article taken from the Genesee Farmer, wherein the author, Mr. Lawes, gives the result of feeding a lot of sheep. " Four sheep in ten weeks eat 280 lbs. of crushed barley, and gained 81 lbs. Four sheep in an ad- joining pen eat in ten weeks 280 lbs. of crushed barley steeped in water, and gained 101£ lbs. This shows a gain of over 20 lbs. in favor of sim- ply steeping in cold water. We must add that the sheep were allowed all the mangel wurzel they would eat, and the pen having the steeped barley consumed much more than the pen having it dry. The former in ten weeks eat 5,321 lbs., while the latter eat only 3,867 lbs. of these roots." Mr. Lawes in his article, if I understand him, attributes the 20 lbs. gain in one lot of sheep over the other to the steeping of their food in cold wa- ter, but to my mind the chances are that the gain was produced by their eating 1,454 lbs. more man- gel wurzels than the sheep did that eat their barley dry. Had Mr. L. given each lot of sheep an equal number of pounds of mangel wurzels, and there had been a gain of 20£ lbs. in favor of the sheep that eat the steeped barley, he might, I think, have more justly attributed it to the steeping of their food. G. P. SERVISS. Mr. Serviss1 remarks are to the point. We did not, however, wholly "attribute the 20 lbs. gain in the one lot of sheep over the other to the steeping of the food in cold water." In fact, we distinctly stated that the one lot of sheep eat more mangel wurzels than the other. The only conclusions we drew from 'he experiment are those given in the above i xtrnct put in italics, viz , that there was "con- siderable advantage" from steeping the grain. We did not say thai the increase was due merely to the steeping of the barley. The fact is an interesting one, and as such it was mentioned. The only difference in the two lots of sheep was that one eat dry barley, and the other the same amount steeped in cold water. Both had what roots they choose to eat. Those having the steeped barley bad a better appetite than the others, eat more roots, and laid on fat more rapidly. IMPROVING OLD PASTTJBES. At a recent agricultural meeting in Cheshire, Eng., Richard Dutton read a paper on the " Ag- riculture of Cheshire," in which he remarked: An old pasture-field, rich in good herbage, should never be brought under the plow, on a dairy or graz.- ing farm, without an urgent necessity. On our best dry soils, old pastures are apt to become rough, and, in some cases, covered with moss. This may be prevented, to a great extent, by a top-dressing of salt during the winter, at the rate of 10 cwt. per acre; or, in some cases, a good dressing of lime, at the same time freely harrowing the surface; or, what is less expensive, stocking them with sheep during the winter months, at the same time feed- ing them with turnips or corn. In a very produc- tive summer, or when a farmer has been unfortu- nate with his stock, he may, with advantage, mow such parts of his pastures as can be spared for the purpose. It is superfluous for me to say that on a very large proportion of our grass lands draining and bone-dusting are the great means of improve- ment. A question of some importance may be asked : "Are all our clay soils improved by drain- ing for mowing and pasture purposes?" / think not. When there is nothing in the herbage pro- duced which indicates the presence of too much water, I think draining will add nothing to the fer- tility of such soils so long as they are in grass. « ■ 61 Ears imperfect-wet season 39 52 Thus, by means of repeated selection alone, the length of the ears has been doubled, their contents nearly trebled, and the "tillering" power of the seed increased five-fold. In commencing his experiments, Mr. II. selected ears in reference to their quality, rather than size. In 1857, he selected two ears of wheat from a field of red "Nursery wheat" of the first quality. These two ears contained together 87 grains. These 87 grains were planted one foot apart each way. One grain of these 87 produced 10 ears containing each 55, 60, 66, 68, 68, 69, 73, 74, 76 and 79 grains; or 688 grains from one grain sown. The finest 10 ears that could be selected from the whole produce of the other 86 grains contained only 598 grains. This was the harvest of 1858. In the fall of 1858 the 79 kernels from the best ear were planted one foot apart. One of these grains produced seventeen ears (besides five green ones), containing 55, 58, 61, 63, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 67, 72, 74, 75, 76, 86, 87 and 91 grains; or a total of 1,190 grains from one. This was the harvest of 1859. The 91 grains from the best ear were planted in the full of 1859. The one that tillered the most produced thirty-nine ears, containing 2, 45 gtains. This was the harvest of 1860, which, it, will be recollected, was one of the wettest known in Eng- land for jnany years. The crop was so beaten about and injured by the rain that only two ears 174 THE GENESEE FARMER. on this stool were perfect. These contained res- pectively 71 and 74 grains each. The 74 grains of the largest ear were planted in the fall of 1860, and one of them produced fifty- two ears. The best one of which was 8f inches long and contained 123 kernels. This was the harvest of 1861. As to the yield per acre, Mr. H. says: "The pedigree wheat planted singly, Sept. 9, 1859, in holes 9 inches apart every way, produced in 1860, notwithstanding the very disastrous character of the season, If bushels on 698 square feet on umna- nured land, or 108 bushels per acre! Up to this time Mr. H. had not sufficient pedi- gree wheat to test it on a large scale, and the fall of 1860 was so wet that he could not sow till the last of October — fully six weeks too late for the quantity of seed sown, which was only one peck per acre. Nevertheless, on a field of ten acres, which Mr. H. says " was the worst wheat-field on my farm," he obtained 57 bushels of wheat per acre. Under the circumstances, this is undoubt- edly a large yield, and plainly shows that under favorable conditions an immense crop may be raised. "We shall look with great interest to the results of this year's harvest. We annex a cut of one of the two original ears, and one of the best ear produced in 1859, after two years " breeding." The Journal contains a cut. of the best ear obtained in 1861, after four years re- peated selection, but it is too long for our columns. It was 8| inches long and contained 123^ grains, and there were 52 ears on the stool ! BEANS-BEANS-WHO KNOWS 'EM. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Most likely you have little room in the Genesee Farmer for letters more merry than wise, but your correspondent claims to be p-q-liar in this, that his mind is made as easy whether his letters be printed or not. Now, beans are a very nice crop to raise, very pretty to look at, and very good for the soil, no doubt, especially if rather heavy, and if you feed out your crop on the farm. But there are doubts in your correspondent's mind as to the profit, if grown for sale, and, if the white bean be planted, as to the feedin' on 'em out. As to the profit, I have no data as to what is a fair crop, but assume (subject to correction) that forty bushels per acre would be very satisfactory, and, at two dollars per bushel, quite profitable, but for robbing the farm of a large amount of nitrogen. Some years ago, beans sold at $2 and upward, and the price is now high again ; but for two or three years back it has been as low as 75 cents, and at that price I think it would not pay to grow them for sale. Again, the culture of beans in small and occasionally in large quantities has been universal THE GENESEE FARMER. 175 in the part ot the country where I live since its settlement, and is now almost abandoned, except that they are still grown in patches for family use. "Why ? I can only suppose because corn and pota- toes were found more profitable. Then, as to feeding out white beans. Can you do it? Mind, I don't say you can not; but can you ? "When beans were beans, a few years ago, I got tired of paying sixteen and eighteen shillings a bushel for them, and determined to assert my in- dependence. So I plauted an acre or so (paid eighteen shillings a bushel for the seed), and had a very nice crop, cured it well, threshed them and put them in the granary. Now, thought I, I've beans enough for many years, — bean soup, boiled beans, baked beans, pork and beans — and I shall get back some of the money I have paid for beans. Well, one day along comes a general produce buyer, hap- pens to see my bin of beans, and blandly suggests that they are really very nice beans, and he will take 'em at 75 cents. "'Seventy-five cents!" says I, "no, you don't. Corn is worth a dollar, and oats five shillings, and I'll feed 'em first." So I began to offer them to the " kettrypids." I sup- pose they'd have eaten them at eighteen shillings, but at six shillings it was no go. Not a " kettry- pid " but turned up his nose at them. We boiled them, we ground them, we baked them, we made soup of them, we offered them in every way ex- cept the very agreeable combination with pork, but it was no use. I had no "alligator" pigs, so the experiment was hardly as complete as could be wished. But I was (dis)satisfied. I had beans for many years, sure euough, and they were, I will say, just as good at four years old as when new. I used up the last just before the price went up again. Now, I do not say beans are a humbug, and I call you to witness, Messrs. Editors, that I didn't say that 1,200 bushels of carrots per acre were a humbug. (On the contrary, I consider the latter a highly satisfactory — when accomplished, as it some- times is — fact.) But I should like the privilege of drawing on you at sight for a bushel (or say half a bushel) of English field beans — horse beans — to experiment upon, if you will have it I shall plant beans. I am told that Mr. Wainwrigiit, of Rlune- beck, grows the English horse bean with good suc- cess, but he has gone to the wars — worse luck for his brother farmers, except for those who went with him. p. q. Remarks. — Our esteemed correspondent is one of the best breeders in the State, and his " kettry- peds " have frequently taken prizes at the Fairs. Perhaps they are puffed up with pride and good living, and turn up their noses at plain, wholesome food! Be this as it may, we have abundant evi- dence that cattle and sheep will eat American white beans and do well on them. One other point in our correspondent's letter must be alluded to briefly. Selling the beans may and does " rob the farm of a large amount of ni- trogen." That is to say, the beans contain a high per centage (from 4 to 5 per cent.) of this impor- tant element, and if the beans are sold, the farm loses just so much of this essence of manure. But on the other hand, it does not follow that the growth and sale of beans robs the land of more ni- trogen than the growth and sale of corn. The beans contain twice as much nitrogen as corn, and it is believed they derive this nitrogen from the atmosphere, while corn does not. Or, to speak more correctly, it is thought that corn during its growth takes up nitrogen from the soil and dissipates it through its leaves into the atmosphere. In other words, it wastes ammonia or nitrogen during its growth. "Wheat, barley, oats and other cereals are supposed to do the same, while beans, peas, and other leguminous plants do not waste ammonia or nitrogen during their growth. It is on this fact, which we have again and again stated, that we base our urgent advocacy of the culture of beans, peas and clover. They enrich the land, while the cereals have a tendency to impoverish it, especially of ni- trogen. EDS. BORROWING TOOLS. Probably there is no practice that a farmer can pursue that is more reprehensible than that of bor- rowing farm implements, when he could have them of his own without the least inconvenience. In some particular instances it is proper to borrow — when an implement is broken, or in some emer- gency where the want of a certain implement could not be foreseen. My system through life has been to purchase every tool that I had occasion to use, if I had to send ten miles to obtain it, rather than trouble my neighbors. I keep an excess of hoes, shovels, spades, etc., on hand, so that in any emergency I can profitably employ any addition to my hired help. Some farmers, I suppose, do not own a crowbar, others have but one spade, one shovel, one nail hammer, one handsaw, and that not worth picking up in the road. This is all bad management. You should own every tool or implement tliat is needed on your premises, and several of those that very often you require to place in the hands of a hired man or two. You do not know what a bad name you get, by running to your neighbors as often as once a week to borrow something, while you own nothing fit to lend yourselves. t. b. miner. Clinton, 2T. Y. Sugar Beets. — The red mangel wurzel, or sugar beet, is an excellent root crop for cows and cattle of all kinds. Sow early this month in drills 18 in. apart, and leave the beets about 8 inches apart in the rows. A much larger crop can be grown of this root than of carrots, and the cultivation is less expensive, as the crop may be easily pulled in the fall by small boys, while gathering carrots is much more labor. — t. b. m. 176 THE GEKESEE FARMER. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. Cheese per Cow.— A correspondent of the Country Gentleman states that his dairy of 24 cows averaged, last year, 650 lbs of cheese per cow. Depth of Grass Roots.— In reply to an inquiry as to how deep grass roots will penerate, the editor of the Irish Farmer's Gazette says " some have been found at a depth of twelve or fourteen feet." Plant Beans. — The Maine Farmer seconds our ad- vice to raise beans and adds: "We know of instances where corn and beans mixed and ground have been fed to milch cows with the very best results. Sheep too, can consume them with profit." Lambs Killed by Swallowing Wool.— A correspondent of the Irish Farmers' Gazette says he has lost quite a num- ber of lambs this spring from their eating small particles of wool. He finds the wool in the stomach and bowels with the milk curdled round it. Sheep Eating Each Others Wool. — A correspondent of the Country Gentleman has two flocks of sheep, in one. of which the sheep have the habit of eating each oth- ers wool to such an extent that they will soon "strip one another naked." The other flock is free from the unfortunate and perplexing habit. He wants to know the cause and cure. Buckwheat. — A correspondent of the Country Gentle- man in Clinton, N. Y., says he has a field of ten acres, a part of which has been sown annually with buckwheat for the last thirty years without manure, aud the other part nearly as long. It averages from 25 to 30 bushels per acre. He uses the buckwheat principally for feeding milch cows, three parts buckwheat meal and one part corn meal. A correspondent of the Maine Farmer says a cow be- longing to Mr. E. Ramsdell, of Canaan, dropped a calf this spring that weighed, when four hours old, 121 lbs. Its girth was two feet nine iuches, length three feet five inches, and stood two feet eight inches high. The same paper states that Mr. J. 0. Payne, of China, has a cow which dropped a calf this spring weighing 136 lbs., and girted three feet. Washing Sheep.— The Boston Cultivator thinks that so long as the rules which generally govern purchasers prevail the practice of washing sheep will be less followed than it has hitherto been. One reason assignid for this is that the sheep can be shorn earlier. More wool is ob- tained from shearing early in May, whereas the water is frequently too cold to wash the sheep with safety till the last of May or the first of June. Soaking Seed Corn. — A correspondent of the Boston .Cultivator says that Mr. Cobb, of Newton, Mass., has for two years past soaked his seed corn in a solution of chlo- ride el' lime aud copperas, in equal parts. He thinks a pound .cf each enough for twenty acres, though if the eolutio* is stronger it will do no harm. He uses hot water enough to cover the seed when soaked, and lets it Roak twenty-four hours. Last year Mr. C. planted half an acre of.cern with seed thus prepared, on the 16th of June, where 'She birds had destroyed the first planting. The corn on the fourth day was an inch above ground, and on the fifth day it had three leaves. It assumed a dark green color and grew rapidlj', so that at harvest it was only three days later than that of the first planting. When seed is so prepared the birds disturb it but little. Bees and Ashes. — L. A. Jenkins says, in the Wisconsin Farmer, that bees dislike ashes so much that they will leave their hive when it is placed near an ash heap. Unruly Cattle. — We find the following in the New York Methodist : — " An ox or cow that is accustomed to throwing fences, may be prevented doing so by taking a large wire and bending it in the shape of a bow; then bend the points in the shape of a fish-hook; tie two strings to the wire, place the hooks in the nostrils light- ly, and tie one string to the point of each horn. This will prevent the most unruly ox or cow from throwing fences." Transporting Bees. — A correspondent of the N. E. Fanner gives the following directions for transporting bees: — "Spread down a sheet and set the hive on it; then bring up the corners and tie over the top, or invert the hive, and put over the bottom a piece of muslin eighteen inches square, fastened at the corners with car- pet tacks. A wagon with elliptic springs is best for con- reying them. In all cases, the common box hive should be bottom up, to avoid breaking combs. When moved late in the season, they should be set several feet apart." How to raise Pumpkins. — T. S. Colton, of Wisconsin, writes the Farmer how he raises pumpkins. He says : — "Take the poorest land in the corn-field; plow deep; mark 12 feet each way; dig holes \\ feet deep; fill with well-rotted manure; cover with earth 12 inches; then plant. When they begin to run, thin out, so that but two or three remain in a hill. The 25th of May is early enough to plant. One acre cultivated in this way will produce more than ten acres with com. Last season I had 31 pumpkins from one sprout — averaging 20 lbs. each, or 620 lbs. from the vine ! " A Cross Between the South Down and Long Wools. — A correspondent of the Maine Farmer says it is "uni- versally known that he prefers a cross between an im- proved South Down ram and a large long wooled sheep. He had 40 such ewes last fall, and now (April 21,) thirty of them have 40 lambs bjr their side, and teu more- to lamb. One pair of twins weighed, when dropped, 18 lbs; and a single one, dropped the day he wrote, weighed 11£ lbs." A cross between a thorough bred South Down and common long wooled sheep is undoubtedly good. If both were thorough bred we should prefer to keep them pure. Horses will be Wanted. — The Wisconsin Farmer well remarks, "it is inevitable that horses should be in greater demand than for years before the war. Immense numbers will be killed, crippled, and used up, while the uses to which they have been accustomed to be put, will be in no respect, diminished. It would be well to breed extensively, and from horses of the best blood. The policy which prompts so many of our farmers to employ cheap 'stock horses,' is of the same class with that which would recommend an inferior quality of seed because of a less price. It costs no more to raise a fine animal than a mean and worthless scrub." THE GENESEE FARMER. 17T Morgan Horse for England. — The Lewiston (Me.) Journal states that a Morgan mare has been purchased in that neighborhood for a gentleman in Liverpool, England. The price paid was $800. She has trotted her mile in 2:50. Varnishing Cheese. — A writer in the Dairy Farmer states that it is the practice of some dairymeu to coat each cheese thin ly with a varnish made from shellac dis- solved in alcohol, when about to be shipped for market. It is said to improve the appearance of the cheese and to keep it from losing weight and gathering mold. Rat-Killing Association. — We have before alluded to the fact that a rat-killiug association had been formed in Pickaway county, Ohio. It appears from the Circleville Watchman that last season the association, consisting of forty-two persons, killed 17,370 rats, or an average of 413 to each man engaged in the hunt ! The Watchman esti- mates that these rats would have eaten 35,000 bushels of grain. Big Calves, Lambs, Pigs, etc. — Correspondents of the Maine Farmer are telling big stories of wonderful calves, Iambs, pigs, etc. One had a calf that weighed, as soon as it was dropped, 109 lbs. ; another had one that weighed 120 lbs. ; another had a cow that dropped four calves this spring, and the year previous three calves. Another had a lamb which weighed 11 1 lbs. at birth, and 29| lbs. when 31 days old. It was half Cotswold. A Hen Covered up all Winter. — The Keene Sentinel says a hen was discovered under a girt in a barn in that town, on the 28th of March last, where she had been ac- cidentally covered up with clover hay about the 10th of July — having lain there nearly nine months without any- thing to moisten her throat but the snow that fell near crevices of the barn in whiter. The hen was found alive, but much emaciated, and she " still lives." Scours in Lambs. — A correspondent of the London Mark Lane Fxpress says he has lost for the last two years one-fifth of his flock of lambs from scours, and after due reflection he has come to the conclusion that one great cause of the disease is pasturing the lambs in a field that lias been heavily stocked with sheep the previous season. The remedy he suggests is, as soon as the tiymptoms ap- pear, to give them grain and oilcake, well salted, and change their pastures frequently — as often as once a day, if possible. Oats should be Sown Thick.— J. D. G. Nelson, of In- diana, writes to the Country Gentleman that he formerly sowed two bushels of seed oats per acre, and was glad to get a return of thirty or forty bushels. Now he sows never less than three and generally four bushels per acre, and if the land is very rich, moist and abounding in veg- etable mould, he sows even more. He now gets fifty to seventy bushels per acre, and is never troubled with weeds. When he sowed thin, the oats frequently lodged, and were full of weeds. A Trot on the Ice.— W. W. Moore, of Crowu Point, N. T., writes the N. E. Farmer as follows : " A trot came off on the 14th of April, on the ice, between the black mare Fanny Barret, of this town, and bay mare Green Mountain Queen, of Bridgeport, Vermont. The town of Crown Point is situated on Lake Champlain, on the New York side, and Bridgeport ou the Vermont side. The trot was on Lake Champlain between the two places. There was a large number of people on the ice to witness this trot, attracted there not so much to witness the speed of these two beautiful ' nags ' — but the idea of a trot upon the ice on the 14th day of April excited the curiosity, and for that reason much interest was taken. The .mares made a good race, but the result become a disputed point, and was finally left unsettled. Years will roll away be- fore the people in this vicinity will again witness a scene so novel and rare, as a horse trot upon the ice on Lake Champlain on the 14th of April." Hogs in Chicago.— The Report of the Board of Trado ot Chicago shows that the number of live and dressed hogs received in that city during 1861 was 675,902. This is 135,516 more than in any former year. To Make Sows Own their Young. — A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator says that he had a sow which would not own her pigs, and that after trying various things without effect, he gave her a pint of rum, which had the desired result. The rum was put into the swill, and, he says, " she drank it like any old toper, and was perfectly quiet for three or four hours afterward." The Maine Farmer says [the same prescription will prevent sows from eating their young. We suppose the rum makes them feel comfortable. Cold Water for Burns. — Mr.. Seth Hunt, of North- ampton, gives, in an exchange, the following statement of the success of treating with cold water a severe burn and scald in his family: "Cold water was applied by immersion, till the pain ceased; the water being changed as often as it became warm. The part was then kept swathed with wet bandages, a dry woolen one enveloping them, until the injury was healed. The healing was rapid, and effected without leaving a scar. The instant relief which the cold water gave from the excruciating pain, was highly gratifying." How to Prove the Vitality of Eggs. — De Berri, Rye, N. Y., writes to the American Agriculturist : " It is em- phatically 'Love's labor lost' to set a hen on eggs lacking vitality. For some years I have generally been success- ul in 'counting my chickens before they were hatched.' About the second week in March I selected fresh eggs of medium size, and set as many hens as possible at the same time. After three days, examine the eggs at night with a light, those having the embiyo chick will appear dark, while those lacking vitality will look as clear as ever. Remove them, as they will not hatch, but are still fit for family use. Transfer the good eggs from one nest to another to make up deficiencies, and give the robbed hens fresh eggs." Red and White Clover for Bees. — The Fee Journal (now discontinued) says: "When it happens that bees can not gather honey from other sources, while the red clover is in blossom, they will occasionally resort to this plant for supplies. But they find it difficult to accomplish their object, because the tube of the blossom is so long and narrow, that they can not reach the nectaries in the usual manner. They can only gain access to them 178 THE GENESEE FARMER. through a slit in the tube, situated between the calyx and the corolla. The tube has only two such slits, and Ihe bees are not always successful in their efforts to extract the nectar through them. The humble bees, having the advantage of a longer proboscis, readily reach the nectar through the mouth of the tube. The blossoms of white clover, as well as those of white and yellow melilot, have short tubes, and the bees encounter no difficulty in ex- tracting the honey through them." MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. The past winter, though very mild and favorable to bees with plenty of stores, has been exceedingly disas- trous to all stocks short of honey. In some cases, more than half the number of families on hand in December last have perished. Even the most experienced bee keep- ers have lost largely, owing to the mild winter causing the bees to comsume their stored honey much faster than is the case in colder seasons. The only remedy against such losses is to feed all the families which have not stored up an abundant supply, liberally in the months of October and November, on mild, warm days. But then comes the question, Does it pay to feed bees in the fall? My experience is that it does pay, if but a few pounds of honey or sirup of sugar are required for each family, and the feeding can be done without attracting all the bees in the neighborhood — which it requires considerable experience to do. The next question is, should each family be fed sepa- rately, or should the bees of the entire apiary be fed in common? Though this subject is not particularly in season now, perhaps it will be as well to dwell on it sufficiently to give my readers the benefit of my general experience on that especial point. Feeding a large apiary, say forty or fifty hives, would require — if fed in common — five or six shallow boxes, about two feet long by six to eight inches wide, with a float made to fit closely to each, made of half-inch board, and either bored thickly with a gimlet, or sawed in nar- row cuts to near the centre, and the slits cut out on both sides to enable the bees to extract with facility the honey which will rise into these chaunels. If the float is bored the holes should be burnt out a little with a hot iron, to make them smooth. Now we will proceed to feed said forty or fifty stocks on some warm, sunny day in October. We want the job done in " double quick time," so as to attract as few of our neighbors' bees as possible ; and in order to trail the bees to the honey speedily — as it sometimes takes half a day to let them know that the boxes contain honey, so as to draw them out in full force — the previous day we will place a few empty combs in the places where we intend to set the boxes, and either fill the cells with strained honey or sirup made of sugar, simply sufficient to draw out the bees to these places in search of food ; and the next day, as soon as the boxes are brought out— not be- fore 9 or 10 o'clock— the bees will immediately find the supply, and in two hours every box will be empty, though each were to contain three gallons of honey or sirup. ires, it is a fact that fifty families of bees in a single day would, if an opportunity were afforded them, and if they had combs to store it in, carry fifty gallons of honey into their hives. Now, if a full supply be afforded at one filling of the boxes, I think but little honey would be carried off by neighboring bees. Every family with but little honey stored up, would require from one to two gallons of honey, or from 10 to 20 lbs., to carry it through the winter. The cost of a gallon of strained honey — such as comes from the West Indies— is about 75 cents to $1 ; and a gallon of sugar syrup — white coffee sugar is best — is about 80 cents. But the honey is best, and, at $1 per gallon, should be preferred. So it will cost from 80 cents to $2 per hive to save most of the bees that perish in the winter season for want of food. But feeding in common has this disadvantage : The strong families that already have enough, will take more honey than the weak ones, which alone require feeding. This is rather a serious drawback to the system, and some bee keepers may find it quite too unprofitable to practice it. Feeding the weak families — such as are short of honey — by themselves is, perhaps, the best way. This is done in various ways ; but great care is necessary to avoid at- tracting other families to the hives fed, which leads to robberies, if the fed families be weak in population. If honey in the comb be placed in the supers of the hives — where the boxes for the surplus honey are placed — the bees will take away no more than their present necessi- ties require, and will leave the balance for winter use — which would be right if the weather were not often so cold that they can not ascend into these supers to ".obtain it, and consequently perish. If strained honey or sirup be placed in the supers in shallow boxes or pans, with floats upon them, perforated as before stated, the bees will carry it down into their cells and store it there, which is a safer way of feeding weak families than with comb honey. Some apiarians attach a covered box containing honey to the side of the hive, with a tin tube to connect with the combs in about the centre of the hive. This is a good plan, and does not attract other bees much if the boxes are tightly closed. Another method, is to make boxes open at both ends, about eight inches deep and of the same size as the hives. These boxes are placed upon the hive stands at the close of the day, and boxes of honey or sirup placed in them, and the hives raised and set upon them, closing the pass- age ways to keep out the bees of other hives in the day time. The bees in hives thus fed should not be allowed to come out till they have carried up the honey in the boxes, as other bees are sure to enter and carry off this honey, if allowed an opening. It is a good plan to attach some covering over these boxes, raised about an inch from their tops, to catch the droppings of the bees while engaged in storing the honey. Bees are very neat in their habits, and if the fed honey becomes covered with particles of comb and other foul matter, they will not store it up as freely as they do under other circumstances. t. b. mines. Clinton, N. Y. THE GENESEE FARMER. 179 LETTER FROM SAMUEL WILLIAMS. Our old friend and correspondent, Samuel Wil- liams, of Waterloo, K Y., writes us a pleasant gossipping letter, which, though not designed for publication, will be read with interest. Yon now begin to have your reward for being the first to expose Mapes' frauds on the fanners, but it will be some time yet before the majority of them will know much about it. Methinks Joseph Harris, with his plot experiments, and Johnson and Pugh, with their manure estimates, must do the "state some service." Your remarks on the seed of the potato are very interesting. You may get earlier potatoes from the seed ends, but I always get larger and better ones when I throw away the seed ends. Cut a good sized potato, two seed eyes to a piece, and plant ten inches apart in the drill; but my rich clay garden soil gives more weight of stalks than potatoes, hence I plant only a few early ones. I grow pole beans only. I have an improved kidney (find four enclosed for one pole). They hang in clusters, eight and nine in a pod, yielding twice the quantity of the pole cranberry, or the large flowering bean. Joseph Wright has just received his seed corn from Illinois. There is positive proof that he gets one-third more grain from this corn, on the same soil. Cutting those large stalks by horse power to feed will only pay when hay is dear, and you have, as he has, plenty of help. My wife says, after reading your Bement egg- preserving essay, that she has tried both lime-wa- ter and grease, but that her best success is to pack them fresh in good dry salt, in stone crocks, and keep them in a cool, dry basement cellar. They kept well over six months. A small ration of beets and carrots is relished by a cow, and it undoubtedly contributes to the digestion of the hay ; but my still-fed cow soon cloys of them, and is greedy only for fine, early cut hay and bad potatoes. If I should tell a farmer how many mangel wur- zel beets I got from three square rods, he would call it a fish story. I have been trying to grow tomato plants in pots in the house — a bootless task, unless you use swamp muck, and harden them by exposure to outside air. But no man knows, who has not tried it, what a treasure this muck is to both a clay and. sand soil. Taylor, our new nurseryman, at my instance paid $40 an acre for four acres, l-£ miles north. The muck is seven feet deep, is dug late in the season in dry weather, and hauled in in winter. It is chiefly a deciduous leaf mould, and not a poor, sandy, hemlock swamp mould. I like your " Walks and Talks in the Garden." Those only who use swamp muck freely on their borders have fine verbenas, etc.; even a daffodil puts on a more joyful bloom in such a border. Lima beans grown here are small, and no richer than other beans. I plant no more of them. Growing sweet potatoes is about -as bootless; yet Mr. Cock has sent to Ohio for one thousand plants, to plant himself and give away, but I'll not bother with such a gift. I plant sweet corn to-morrow (May 2). Peas and onions ready to hoe. I have hardly time to read the sensation news now, but to-day the soil is too wet for the spade or hoe. MILKING STOOL FOR KICKING COWS. A short time since we gave our method of milk- ing, advising to sit close up to the cow, holding the pail firmly between the knees, and not to put the head into the flank, as it commonly done. In this way we have seldom had the pail upset by a kick- ing cow. A correspondent of the Iowa Home- stead gives the following description of a stool to use in milking kicking cows, and says : Most people use the old fashioned milking stool, with three or four legs, which just answers the purpose for the milker to sit upon, and affords no security to the milk or pail, except to set the latter upon the ground in front of the milker, where it is liable to be upset by a kicking cow; or to hold it between the milker's knees. There is a much more convenient form for a stool than that, which may be made out of inch boards, as represented in the cut. Upon this stool the milker has room to l-t.ACl*<-* MILKING STOOL. sit, and at the same time to have sufficient room upon the point end for the milk pail to stand upon, making altogether a kind of two-story stool. Bring the pail between the knees of the milker, where it can be held securely without much effort. The milker should, if the cow is a kicking one, set the front part of the stool, with the pail upon it, directly under the udder, as if milking a gentle cow, and at the same time press his left knee gent- ly and constantly against the cow's right, hind leg, holding the pail firmly between his knees; and if the cow should kick with the right foot, let him keep his position, and grasp the leg of the cow, as she raises it, and prevent her from throwing it for- ward ; or at least compel her to throw it so far to- ward the other hind leg, and away from the pail, as to cause no injury or loss of milk. A firm grasp in that way, for a few times, -will certainly cure a kicking cow, as it gives the milker complete control over her, and she soon becomes convinced that you are her master. We have had a little practice in the matter, and speak advisedly. The stool can be made in twenty minutes ; and besides being a convenient one for kicking cows, it is a very useful affair for a gentle cow, as the pail is kept free from the mud, and close to the udder, thus preventing any waste of milk, by milking over, etc. 180 THE GENEirEE FARMER TOP-DRESSLNG GRASS LANDS. Levi Bartlett contributes an interesting article on this subject to the Country Gentleman. After alluding to the importance of the subject, he says: Among the most important experiments in top- dressing grass lands with different fertilizers, those of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, of Roth'amstead, Eng., take precedence. ''The land selected for the experiments comprised about six acres of the park of Rothamstead, and it had been under permanent grass for certainly more than a century. Early in 1856, nine plots of half an acre each were meas- ured off, for as many different combinations of so- called artificial manuring substances ; two of an acre each to be continuously un manured, and two of a quarter of an acre each, to be manured annu- ally with farm dung." We can not here go into the particulars' of the whole series of the different plots and fertilizers, but must content ourselves with some of the general results arrived at by Messrs. L. and G., viz: Where purely mineral manures were used, they greatly increased the growth of leguminous plants (clo- vers), with very little increase of the true or long- leaved grasses. Where the purely ammoniacal salts were applied, the effect was to much increase the graminaceous or lung-leaved grasses, without at all increasing the growth of clover. Where a mixture of both mineral and ammoniacal manures were applied, the increase of hay was very strik- ing, over that on the plots receiving the two kinds separately. It was found that although the ammoniacal salts when used alone, gave an annual increase of only eleven cwt. of hay, the same amount of ammoni- acal salts, when in conjunction with the "mixed mineral manure " (plot ten), gave an annual in- crease of one ton, fifteen and three-eights cwt. of hay. That the combination of ammoniacal salts and the mixed mineral manure gave more than three times as much increase as the ammoniacal salts alone, and four times as much as the mineral manure alone. The average annual produce by the mixture of the ammoniacal salts and mineral man- ure, amounted in fact to within less than a hundred weight of three tons of hay per acre, by the side of one ton, four cwt. per acre on the continuously unmanured land. The above statements seem to point out pretty conclusively, that for the greatest increase of our farm crops, the manures applied should contain all the necessary ingredients of the crops, both organic and inorganic, of which good farm-yard manure, is the "type." The above may be laid down as a general rule, to which there may possibly be some exceptions — as in the cases of superphosphate of lime for the turnip plant, and ammonia for the wheat plant. But the farmer who depends upon raising maximum crops, and keeping up the fertili- ty of his soil for any great length of time, by the continued use of either class of manures alone, will ultimately find his system of manuring has been a bad one. "Among the most interesting of the points inci- dentally brought out by the experiments, is the striking confirmation which the results afford of the (so to speak) special adaptation, in a course of practical agriculture, of certain of the crops of our rotations, according as they belong to one or the other of the two great families of plants," the le- guminous— clover, lucerne, peas and beans ; and the graminaceous — wheat, barley, rye, timothy, and other long-leaved or natural grasses. The u inter- esting points" brought out were, that the applica- tion of the mineral manure alone greatly increased the clovers without anything like a corresponding increase of the natural grasses; while the effect of the ammoniacal manures was exactly the reverse. And, where the two kinds of manures were used conjointly, " the produce consisted almost exclu- sively of graminaceous plants. There was scarcely a clover or any other leguminous plant to be found on the plot." The past season Mr. Harris, of the Genesee Far- mer, experimented on grass lands with several kinds of fertilizers, both organic and inorganic, alone and mixed. The application of the several kinds of manure exhibited similar results to those obtained by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, viz,, " the plots that were dressed with ammonia, superphosphate of lime, and unleached ashes, gave a very much greater quantity of produce than any others." There is one fact that we must not forget to men- tion. The superphosphate and ashes on plot No. 6, brought in a large quantity of red clover. The effect in this particular was very marked. On plot No. 7. with ashes and plaster, there was also a lit- tle clover, but not one-tenth as much as from the superphosphate and ashes." The field experiment- ed on was a timothy meadow, six years from seed- ing. Mr. H. does not attempt to draw any con- clusions from the results, intending to repeat the experiments next season. The "Transactions of the Essex Ag. Society, 18(51," contain an interesting statement on top- dressing grass lands, by Richard S. Rogers, Esq., of South Danvers. He says, "There is no subject in agriculture deserving of more inquiry, and of greater importance to the farming interest, than the knowledge of the best kind of fertilizers to be used for top-dressing grass lands. As yet but little is actually known by which to arrive at any prac- tical results for obtaining the largest crops of grass. "The desire of knowing something more definite and practical on this interesting subject, induced me last season to institute in a small way a series of experiments, in the hope that I might derive some benefit myself, and be useful to others. Ac- cordingly, in April, 1860, I selected a field best adapted to the purpose— very uniform in the sward,, free from shade and other objections — and staked out five several lots, each measuring 250 feet long by 45 feet wide, and top-dressed with the various fertilizers, as follows : No. 1. — 2 cords of manure, well rotted and mixed with 1\ horse carts of soil. No. 2. — 120 bushels leached wood ashes. No. 3. — 2 cords green cow manure, the drop- pinas of only a few days before. No. 4. — 80 bushels unleached or dry wood ashes. No. 5. — 225 lbs. of Peruvian guano, mixed with l'J horse carts of brook mud. " The cost and value of the top-dressing for each lot was as near $10 as possible. The grass was carefully cut and made — the first crop in July, THE GENESEE FARMER. 1S1 >e second in September— and accurately weighed, ielding as follows." Mr. R. gives, in his report, well arranged tables f figures, showing tbe weight of dried hay of 1st nd 2d crops on each plot for the two years, 1860 nd 1861. But for want of space we omit his fig- res, and give some of the more important facts licited. The weight of hay on each plot for two years, p-as as follows, viz., compost, 3,260 lbs. ; leached ,shes, 2,520 lbs.; green cow manure, 3,350 lbs.; Iry ashes, 3,*?40 lbs. ; guano, 2,240 lbs. The com- >ost giving the least yield ; green cow manure the greatest, but only 10 lbs. more than the dry ashes. Che guano dressed lot in 1861, on its first cutting, ;ave only 730 lbs., against 1,300 lbs. in 1860. The Iry ashes very much increased the crop, the second ^ear giving 1,350 lbs. at the first cutting, against )00 lbs. the first year. u The green cow manure lid well both seasons. The leached ashes likewise lid well." " The Peruvian guano is a great stimulant, and ;an be used for some purposes to great advantage, >ut as a durable or permanent top-dressing ,for jrass, excepting for one crop, I should doubt its ifficiency." Mr. R. says : " Having turned my attention very )articularly to top-dressing my grass lands for sev- eral years past, I may be permitted to speak very (onfidently of the great advantage to be derived rom practicing it, and perhaps have realized as nuch benefit as any one from pursuing it." We think if Mr. Rogers had left a plot of ground idjoining, of the same size, without manure, con- rasting the yield with the manured plots, the k profit or loss " of the several different applications :>f manure would have been more accurately deter- nined. We should also have been glad to have earned whether the growth of clover was greater an the plots receiving tbe ashes than on those that were top-dressed with the guano and green cow manure. That the green cow manure should cause a yield of hay so much greater than the same quantity of well rotted manure, no doubt may surprise some persons — a fact widely at variance with the general practice and theory of farmers, but facts are what are wanted. Of the correctness of Mr. R.'s state- ments and figures, there can not be a shadow of doubt. In O. L. Flint's Agrioulture of Massachusetts for 1857 and 1858, we find the statements of H. J. Hodges on the use of different fertilizers on grass lands. " In April, 1857, staked off seven half acre lots on the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Ag. Society's grounds at Northampton. Each lot was of precisely the 'same quality of [soil and in the same condition, and in grass, timothy, red and white clover ; six of the seven lots received a top- dressing, each with a different fertilizer, having one lot without any. Each lot was mowed at the same time, and managed alike, and the hay upon each weighed separately. The soil is a loam with sand and clay so well mixed that good judges dis- agree whether to call it sandy loam or clay loam — it is a cold land, and retains moisture late in the spring. The treatment of the lots was as follows : Lot No. 1, no manure ; No. 2, poudrette, 2 bar- rels; No.; 3, plaster, 500 lbs.; No. 4, superphos- phate, 150 lbs. ; No. 5, horse and cow manure, 4 loads; No. 6, ashes, 10 bushels; No. 7, guano, 15S lbs. Mr. Hodges gives a table of figures, showing the cost of the fertilizers; quantity of hay first and second mowing of ootli years, total value of hay at $6 per ton, increase of hay from fertilizers first year, with the loss or gain first year from fer- tilizers. The tables show that ashes is the only profitable fertilizer to be used as a top-dressing here. For the two years the increase of hay is much the greatest, and the oidy lot on which the increase of hay paic for the fertiltzar the first year, and the increase of hay did not pay for fertilizer on any other lot for the two years. The lot where guano was used, gave greatest increase of hay for first year, but ashes did for second. Mr. H. very sensi- bly remarks, " it is not to be supposed that the same result would follow from all soils." By his figures, there appears to be a loss on all the fertilizers, ranging all the way from 74 cents to $6.44 for the first year, except on ashes; here there was a gain of $2.19. Why there should be such a similarity of action by the ashes in Mr. Rogers' and Mr. Hodges' experiments, and such a wide difference in that of the cow manure in the two experiments, is to us inexplicable. It is true we do not know how much a plot of Mr. R.'s ground unmanured would have yielded. The plot the first year with the compost gave 1,170 lbs. of hay; that with cow manure gave 1,600 lbs. The same plot second year gave 1,750 lb?., while the guanoed plot same year yielded but 870 lbs. In some places hay is worth, as put down by Mr. Hodges, but $6 per ton ; in others $12 per ton; in others $18, or more per ton. At the last named price, the figures would have presented quite a dif- ferent face from that exhibited by Mr. Hodges in his tables. To the importance of the hay crop in regions where farm stock must be fed from the barn from five to seven months each year, we have already alluded. Census statistics show that there has been a very great reduction in the number of horses, cattle and sheep in some of the rortliern States within the past twenty years. This decrease of farm stock probably is mostly due to a corres- ponding decrease of hay ; if so, then it is a matter of high importance that means should be taken to increase it. This can be largely effected by top- dressing and irrigating grass lands. The state- ments quoted in regard to the first method we ad- mit do not establish any general rule that will economically apply in all cases, seasons and soils. We have experimented to some extent in the use of both composted and green manure, both in spring and autumn, and always with satisfactory results. After spreading the manure we have usu- ally sown grass seed — from one-third to one-half as much as if newly stocking down to grass — and then have thoroughly harrowed the ground, and sometimes have followed the harrowing with han ' rakes, clearing off any obstructions that might in- terfere with the subsequent mowing and raking. On many farms there are patches and plots of grass lands, yielding light crops of hay, that can not well and profitably be plowed and cultivated, arising from the rocky nature of the land, or wet- ness of the soil, or from the distance of the field 182 THE GENESEE FARMER. from the barn. Such fields can frequently be top- dressed or irrigated to the best advantage, and the interests of the owners of such should prompt them to experiment in one or the other of the above named ways. NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS, Eds. Genesee Farmer : — In looking over a vol- ume of the Connecticut Homestead, for 1855, 1 find an article accredited to your valuable paper upon Miloh Cows and Calves — It which it is stated that " the first milk should be drawn out of the bag before the calf sucks." The writer's name is not given, hence I am unable to learn its author — that is, whether it is editorial or not; but, as far as the proposition is concerned at present, it will make but little difference. Still, when an article is taken from one agricultural paper and published in another, it would be satisfactory to have the writer's name, when given, appear with the se- lected article. But to the point. Is it according to nature's law to deprive the calf of the first drawn milk or beastlings? Is not this milk just what the calf wants to clean out and set into healthy action the whole alimentary canal? Says Youatt, after advising that the calf should remain with its mother till the milk is suitable for use, " The farmer acts wrongly when he throws away, as he is too much in the habit of doing, the beast- lings, or first milk of the cow," because it is that " which nature has given an aperient property " to carry off" "the black and glutinous foBces" which always accumulate in the intestines before partu- rition. Sowing Clover Seed. — Your remarks upon this, in the April number, are to the point, and ought to be read and re-read by a large proportion of far- mers, till its teachings are as familiar as "house- hold words," so that the echo of their own steps would sound in their ears as though the walls were chanting, Sow more clover, sow more clover ! In respect to the amount per acre, I think you have set it rather too low, though it grows so bountifully under many unfavorable circumstances. Eight to ten lbs. used to be the usual amount per acre here, but farmers now put in fifteen to twenty lbs. per acre as frequently as they used to ten ; and besidas, those who raise it and seed as they think land ought to be, quite generally put in twenty to thirty lbs with four to eight quarts of timothy per acre, when it is intended to raise seed a year or two and then to be cut for hay. I have known twenty-five lbs. seeding to give two hundred to three hundred lbs. of seed, when half the seed, on just the same quality of land, side by side, other things being equal, would not give half the amount, and this repeatedly. It is found to hold out longer and to yield a fine nutritious hay where twenty lbs. and more is put on with timothy. The timothy will not show itself much the first, and perhaps the second, year, it is true, when the clover does well, but after this the two will be about equal. It is an object to seed down land, where it is not suit- able for tilling, for durability, and this is accom- plished by sowing bountifully of several kinds of seed. Potatoes for Horses. — "Are raw postatoes wholesome food for an idle horse ?" is given out for farmers to answer if they please. " Inquirn and Answers " is a useful feature, growing more i repute. They are generally perused next to th war news, it seems, and well it is so. For an occasional feed, say once or twiceaweel when a horse is fed on dry feed, they are a goo change, but for daily use for an idle or workin horse they have not been found so desirable a fee for the horse as for neat stock or sheep. Were feeding coarse, dry feed to a horse, I should preft a few potatoes to all corn, at one-fourth the price but if the feed was to be good English hay, should take the corn ; and farther, I should, as general thing, rather have the same value in oat than in corn. Let the farmers and those who hav used horses to hard labor and tried different kind of feed, speak forth upon thts question, because i is one of importance to a large class of laborers. Lice on Cattle. — What kind of kerosene oi they have elsewhere, I know not, but such as i made in Maine will kill lice on cattle sure, and jus as sure will it take the hair and outer skin (epider mis) off as it is put on sufficiently to kill tha lice I saw it recommended a year and a half ago, an< tried it on cows and calves very carefully, fearin) its effects, and have seen it tried this past winter and wherever it was tried it made clean work The hair grows out in due time. Why this differ ence in experience with this oil ? o. w. true. Rural Home, near Phillips, Maine. Receipts foe Hard Soap. — In reply the inquin of D. E. Davis, in the may number of the Genese Former, I send you the following receipts for niak ing hard soap : 1. 6 lbs. washing soda, 6 lbs. fat, 3 lbs. unslacke< lime, 1 teacupful fine salt, and 5 gallons soft water Put the soda and lime in a tub, and pour over then the water boiling hot. Stir to dissolve. Let i stand until it is clear and all dissolved, then pou: off the clear liquid. Add the fat and salt and boi all together four hours. Then pour into pans o: deep dishes to cool. Then cut out into bars o; squares to harden. Tallow makes the most beautiful white soap There should be very little of the sediment lef after the liquid is poured from the lime and soda The sediment left is a purifier of sinks, etc. 2. To Make Soap without Grease. — 1 lb. rosii soap, 1 lb. sal soda, 1 oz. borax. Dissolve the sodj and borax in 4 quarts of rain or soft water. Thei add the soap, and boil until dissolved. Pour ou to cool. Cut in bars. The above first receipt has been tried, and wil make more than 30 lbs. of excellent white hard soap, at a very small cost. To the farmer, the out- lay will only be for soda, 24 cents. Perhaps the addition of 6 oz. of borax would be a great im- provement, as borax is good for washing clothes and hands. Any one can try for themselves. — A Subscriber. A Cure for Fistula. — One ounce sal ammoniac, one-fourth lb. of May apple root, one-half lb. of lard. Pound the root fine. Put all together and fry on a slow fire about half an hour* Rub on the sore, and heat with an iron. Two or thres appli- cations will effect a cure. — J. W. THE GENESEE FARMER. 183 ALES AND TALKS IN THE GARDEN.-No. II other advantages of a settled community are obtained, the bugs and worms, and beetles, and flies innumerable come Tn to render increasing vigilance Still necessary. This gooseberry saw-fly ia no new thing. It has been known in England for centuries. It can be destroyed, or rather so far kept under as to do comparatively little dam- age. The most approved remedy in England is to dust the bushes with Black Hillebore powder." "Another good plan is to train the bushes on a single I stem, and then you can shake off a good many of the cater- pillars and destroy them, or by putting a little tarred cotton round the stem prevent them from crawling up again." "It first attacked the currant bushes to any extent in A^Things are suffering, but I tbis vicinity in 1858, and in the Genesee Farmer- tor July nl it to wn t. It is a bad sign when a farmer, of that year you will find a full account of tfs habits, his- dlner covins of dry weather. When I firstwent tory, &c„ together with a cut of the fly and the caterp.l- ted Z 1 21 aied me about my father's farm, J£ The fly emerges from her winter quarters in Apnl crops we raised yield, &c. I told him it was a light, or May> according to the season, and deposits her eggs rm soil and produced well in wet seasons. He quietly on the leaves. These hatch in about a' week and the narked ' I fear your father is a poor farmer.' 'A good caterpillars soon commence their work of destruction, mer' he said, 'always dreads a wet season.' By a od farmer he meant a 'high farmer '-one who manured *hly and kept a large stock feeding on oil-cake, clover, I Lawes was right. Make the land rich, keep it clean d mellow and drought will seldom injure it." " The trouble is you can't get a gardener that likes to ,e the hoe. Most of them prefer to rake and make ings smooth. I sometimes feel like banishing the rake om the garden. This dry weather is just what we want i destroy weeds. Even this abominable chickweed will e if cut off while it is so hot and dry. You can't hoe ,o much unless the soil is exceedingly sandy. A rather iff soil that is apt to bake in dry weather, should be oed-I was going to say everyday, but that is asking jo much. However, it can't be hoed too often. Those rho have not tried it will be surprised to see how things rill -row if the hoe is constantly used. A weed never ught to be seen in a garden after the first of June. Leep the ground so thoroughly hoed that they have no hauce to grow. Don't let the weeds get the start of you. SVeeds are like fire ' a good servant but a bad master.' Chey are sent as an incentive to hoe-to stir the ground, to let in the sunshine and air, and dews, and rain, and thus warm and enrich, and water it. But let the weeds get the start of you and it is difficult to get them un- der." "The worms are on the currant and gooseberry bushes already. Look how nicely the eggs are glued to the un- dersides of the leaves. A few days of this warm weather will hatch them, and then the caterpillar will soon strip the bushes of foliage if not checked in some way." "Nonsense. A sensible man like you ought not to talk of giving up the culture of anything merely because it is attacked by insects or fungus. I would like to know what plant, or shrub, or tree is exempt from them. In the Garden of Eden there were no insects or weeds, but no garden since has been exempt. In a new country there are so many discomforts that nature provides some slight compensation by allowing the first settlers a short period of comparative exemption from insects injurious to their crops. As society, good roads, good markets and GOOSEBERRY SAW-FEY. If you do not destroy the first brood, the caterpillars, when full grown, descend to the earth, undergo their transformations and emerge again as perfect flies to re- new the work of distruction. In this way you may have two or three broods in a season, and if people let them alone they will spread with fearful rapidity. Go home and declare war with the rascals. Hoist the black flag. Give no quarters-and you shall have currants still in spite of the saw-fly. " The mildew on the gooseberry is a sorer trouble.— It i« difficult to raise the large English kinds. Mulching the bushes and scattering sulphur on the leaves and fruit as soon as the first appearance of mildew is seen, are the only preventives I know." « Yes. I think sulphur will check it if applied m Urn*. The mildew on the gooseberry is closely allied to the grape mildew, and we know that sulphur dusted on the 184 THE GENESEE FARMER. leaves and fruit is a certain cure for grape mildew when done early enough. So it is for mildew on hops, and I believe it will be found efficient on the gooseberry." "Here is the 'tree tomato' so much talked about. This plant has been in the green-house all winter, and is almost as stiff as a dwarf apple tree. It is quite hand- some, and the French papers speak of its productiveness, hardiness, and other good qualities in high terms." "No doubt about that. If you have time, toma- toes can be trained on trellises or on a board fence so as to present a very beautiful appearance, and also to produce a large quantity of fruit of superior quality. The plan you allude to was described in the •Genesee Farmer for June 1857. Drive stakes :iHo the ground when the plants are set out — and as they grow nail some strips of wood across so as to form an espalier to train the plants upon, a foot apart. Long thin poles tied to the stakes will answer just as well. Train the main stem right up the post and when it has set the first branch of fruit pinch out the leading shoot to one leaf above the bunch of fruit. It will immediate- ly push another leader, and also throw out laterals from 'he bottom. Train these laterals along the trellise on each side of the main stem, and when they have set the lirst bunch of fruit pinch out the leader to one leaf, the same as in the main stem. They will soon push again and set another bunch of fruit, which must be treated in the same way. Mr. Salter, who has raised them in this w#y for many years, thinks the fruit is everyway superior, and certainly they look much better than when allowed to trail on the ground." "The poet Shelley sighed for a 'small house and a large garden.' Very poetical doubtless, but a little ex- perience would have convinced him of his eror. A small garden is a great deal better when it is cultivated as a recreation. I should want it a little bigger than a China- man's garden on the top of a house, or on the deck of a canal boat, but not so large that I could not do most of the labor, except digging, with my own hands. Such a garden, for all persons engaged in sedentary pursuits in our cities and villages, who have any taste for horticulture, would prove the source of much pleasure and afford healthful occupation for many a leisure hour. The best gardens in this country — those most thoroughly culti- vated— generally belong to such persons. With few ex- ceptions, farmer's gardens do 'not deserve the name." " Look at this Wistaria. These vines have been here for several years, but never looked so well before. They are entirely covered with flowers, and nothing can be more beautiful. I suppose the reason is that the fine weather last summer and autumn ripened up the wood perfectly." " Imnfature wood is the source of most of the failures and diseases in fruit and ornamental trees. I am accused of having a sort of immature wood mania. Few people can bring themselves to think that the pear blight, curl of the leaf in peaches, black knot in the plum, and a thousand and one diseases that atfect fruit and ornamen- tal trees are all attributable to immature wood. But in my opinion this is one ot the principle causes. In every department of Natural Science we see a vast number of THE TREE TOMATO. effects produced by one cause. In fact this causes the admirable simplicity which the student everywhere per- ceiving in the laws of nature. Look at the law of gravi- tation. What an infinite number of different effects, ex- tending through all space, are produced from one cause." " And so it is no objection to the theory that a great number of apparently diverse effects in horticulture are produced by the simple cause of immature wood. But I must not mount my hobby at this time." "According to Dr. Fitch we are not likely to be so much troubled with aphides this summer as last. But. there are a few already on this pear tree. Soap suds, or tobacco water, if thoroughly applied, is said to be good." " The Curculio can be kept under. Ellwanger & Bar- ry raise magnificent plums every year in their grounds. Jarring the trees is the only known remedy. Merely I shaking the trees will not bring down the 'little Turk.' THE GENESEE FARMER. 185 It requires a sharp jar on the trunk, or on the end of a limb sawed oft*. It should be done early in the morning, before the curculio is fairly waked up. lie falls more readily when cold. Lay sheets under the tree and pour the chaps into hot water. This process gets rid of the insects, but it is also advisable to collect all the stung and fallen fruit and destroy it, or let the pigs and poultry do the work for you. 'Jarring' and the ' pig and poultry ' very thick and full of weeds. The gardener remarked to the person who was watering : ' You need not water them ; they are very thick ! ' His idea evidently was that the plants and weeds shaded the ground I " " The truth is that the weeds alone evaporated the wa- ter nearly as fast as he carried it, and had he pulled out the weeds and thinned the plants, less rather than more water would have been required." TOMATO PLANT WHEN SET OUT. remedy, if faithfully carried out, would soon lessen the number of curculios, and we should again be able to raise plums and apricots." " Strawberries promise well. I have just given them a little superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia, and to- Imorrow I intend to mulch them with the clippings of the awn. Tan bark is better if it could be had." " Things are suffering for want of rain. The fly is eating lp these cabbage and cauliflower plants. If we had a good shower they would grow so fast that the flies could do ittle damage. Vigorous growth is a grand remedy igainst most of the ills that plants are heir to." " Oh yes ; you can water, but it takes time, and water- ng as ordinarly done, is useless. If you water at all, it ihould be done thoroughly. The ground must be soaked o the depth of the roots, merely sprinkling the surface is vorse than nothing." " It is astonishing what ideas people have about water- ng. I saw a couple of men, the other day, watering lome celery plants in a cold frame that had been pricked ut and were thin on the ground. On another part of he frame there were some cabbage plants that were TOMATO TINE TRAINED AND IN BEARING. "Plants suck up water out of the soil and evaporate it through their leaves into the atmosphere with a rapidity that few people have any idea of. When I was at Roth- amsted we made some experiments to determine how much water plants evaporated during their growth. The results showed that an acre of wheat would evaporate on an average 4111 lbs of water per day, while an acre of clover, which covers the ground more closely, evaporated 8600 lbs per day." "You doubt it? "Well, I cannot help that. I have no doubt that in our dry climate the evaporation is even still greater. You must recollect that a good days rain, say one inch, brings 120 tons of water per acre. We have, in this section, about thirty inches fall of rain in a year, and this is equal to an average of 19,700 lbs of water per day on each acre." " Put up that two quart watering pot. It rains ; it rains ! Hail, blessed rain ; offspring of Heaven ! Wel- come to earth ! thrice welcome to this hot and dusty gar- den ! ! Now for transplanting cabbage, and cauliflowers, and celery! Take them up with a 'ball" and they will not know they have been moved." 28G THE GENESEE FARMER. THE FRUIT TREE BORER. We recently called on a friend who is famous for the success of his apple crop. He is no believer in the gen- erally received opinions about "changes of climate" since the days of our forefathers, " wearing out of the soil," " degeneracy of varieties," and the theories that are sat- isfactory to most people for their ill success; and we asked him for his •' recipe " that we might add it to the number already on file. " My plan," said he, " is simply to keep away the bor- er." "The borer," he continued, "weakens the trees, and once weakened, the fruit drops before it is mature, or it can not recover from the slightest injury that any in- sect inflicts on it; moreover, the tree becomes sickly, and and then insects prey on it; for they do not like healthy trees. Insects have an office in nature to perform, which is to hasten to decay what nature has intended to remove from living families— just as worms soon take away the life of a sickly pig." " Easy enough talking," observed a friend with us, " but how do you keep away the borer ? Tobaco stems ?" "No." "Lime?" "No." "Ashes?" "No, none of these." "Pray, what then?" "Now you give it up, I will tell you. I merely keep the soil scraped away from the trunk down to the bare roots all the year round — sum- mer and winter." My companion laughed increduously if not contemptu- ously ; " and,' said he, " friend C. I have given you credit for better understanding than to suppose any amount of freezing or roasting will kill a borer once domiciled with- in the trunk of the tree." "I do not suppose it will," he replied, "I have no such object. If I can ever find one in, I trust to my jack-knife or wire for his destruction, and not to heat or frost." This was a poser. " What then is your object ?" was the next inquiry. *' It is to keep the borer out. Did you ever see the borer enter the stem of the tree, at any height above the ground ? No. And why ? It requires soft moist bark for the pur- pose; and whenever you remove the soil, and render the bark hard and firm to the collar, the borer instinctively goes to other and more favorable places for the secure raising of its young." "But will they not go into the main leading roots?" " I have found them to avoid these roots as if it were un- fit to rear their young; in fact, I have never known them attack mine." Nor had they; that was evident. A clean, healthful orchard — never cropped, annually top-dressed, grass kept away several feet from the stem, so that no insect could find a cool and moist harbor for its larva?, and every suc- cess following. Certainly the borers did not attack these trees ; and the novel reasoning struck us as so philosoph- ical, that vve have thought it worth recording in our pa- ges, for further observation and — for we want to be re- paid for the suggestion — report in these pages. — Garden- er's Monthly. ■ i ■ WHALE OIL SOAP FOR THE ROSE SLUG. with a square end, stir and " mash " the soap till it is all dissolved. Let it stand for a few hours, and strain through a piece of coarse sacking into a tub, which till with water. As you use it, dilute still more, to as many as eight pails of water. Apply it at night, in fair weather to the plants by means of a good garden syringe, with a fine rose. And here let me say, the work must be thor- ough. Commit it to no hired help ; if you do it may be slighted. But grasp the syringe yourself, and make a fu- rious attack on the plants. Charge upon them at every point ; go round and round, aud round again each bush, and drive, with all the force you can command, the fluid into every part, and under every leaf. Get down upon the ground and force it up, wetting the underside of the leaves, where the insects at this time of the day most abound. After feeling sure you have thoroughly drenched the entire plans, you will find, by turning up the under side of the leaves, they have not all been wet. But charge into them again, and draw them through the wet hand; for, if you have been faithful, your hands and clothes will have become pretty well wet. But no matter for that; you are engaged in a just war, and you must not count the cost. And if your good wife should turn up her nose at the offensive odor which for a while attaches to you, she will excuse it when she comes to look upon the clean, glossy, healthy foliage of her rose bushes, res- cued from ruin by so efficacious an agent. I have found one application sufficient. But should they show them- selves again "in force," you must repeat the application. I5ut be assured that every one you thoroughly wet will commit no more ravages. Some years ago, the Massachusetts Horticultural Soci- ety offered a prize for a remedy for the slug which feeds on the leaves of the rose. The prize was awarded to David Haggerston. The remedy consisted of syringing the bushes with a solution of 2 lbs. of whale oil soap in 15 gallons of water. This remedy has been extensively used, and is undoubtedly effectual. A correspondent of the last Gardener's Monthly says he has used it for eight or nine years, and it has not only preserved his rose bushes from the ravages of the slug, but has greatly less- ened their numbers from year to year, so that now the labor of protecting the bushes from this insect is materi- ally lessened, though his bushes are much larger. He Bays : As late as may be in the season, before the opening of the blooms, put into a bucket, say about 4 lbs. whale oil soap (of late years I have not been particular to weigh or measure, being governed by the color, taste and smell). Upon this pour a kettle of boiling water. With a stick, GRAPE TRELLISES-TIGHTENING THE WIRES. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — I was thinking, after I got home from my late visit to your office, that it might not have been amiss for me to have mentioned, when con- versing briefly about grape vines, the method I mean to try to stretch the wires for my trellis. I have never seen or heard of it, but it may be stale to you. I have pur- chased some " saw rods," at five shillings per dozen, or five cents apiece. The wire can be attached to each end and then tightened up, and it strikes me that it will be considerably stronger than a thread cut on the wire itself, and is, besides, more convenient for tightening or loosen- ing as the weather may demand. I have nothing but theory to show in the matter now, but hope before long to test it fully, and will communicate the result. Lyon»,N. Y. EUKIOOLIST. m i * Strawberry Winb. — Charles D. Bragdon, of the Ru- ral New Yorker, states that E. Sims, of Broome county, Indiana, informs him that he has had great success in making wine from strawberries. He states that he "real- ized full six hundred dollars net profits from not over half an acre of land in strawberries." He states that he has sold the wine readily at $2.50 per gallon. He has forty acres in strawberries in Illinois — eighteen of which are in the southern part of the State, for an early market — and intends to make from seventy-five to a hundred bar- rels of wine the coming season. Peach Borers. — A correspondent of the Gardener'i Monthly says a friend of his applied spirits of turpeutine to his peach trees affected by the borer. The remedy was " radical and thorough, the trees in two hours being so dead that no borer could injure them." The same writei has tried with success a strong solution of tobacco water, applied on a dry day in June, and the tobacco leaves lefl around the collar of the tree. In the autumn following! only one worm was found in a dozen trees. THE GENESEE FARMER. T8T IRRIGATION FOR PEAR TREES, STRAWBERRIES, &C. Ik the agricultural department of the Genesee Farmer this month, we have spoken of the great advantages to be derived* from irrigating grass lands. The subject of irrigation is one of such vast importance in our dry, hot climate, that we need not apologize for again calling attention to the results which have attended its use in this country. We find in the Boston Cultivator a communication from Artemas Newell, Esq., of Needham, Mass., embodied in the Report of the Norfolk County Agricultural Society, for 1861, giving the results of irrigation on grass lands, fruit trees, &c, under circumstances where to the casual observer a supply of water would be difficult to obtain. Mr. N. says : "That part of my land which I judged might be im- proved as to its general productiveness, by both drainage and irrigation, lies between the public road on the south and a pond on its northern boundary. A portion of the land, perhaps eight or ten acres, is a dry, gravelly loam, surrounded on every side by low meadow or peat bog, the water formerly standing or running some tour or five feet below the level of the highest part of the land to be irri- gated; consequently it seemed impracticable to use the water for that purpose. . The center or highest part of the land was cultivated and three or four acres planted with pear trees, between the rows of which were planted strawberries and currants, and in some instances pota- toes, carrots, and other roots. The other portion of the high land was devoted to grass or grain. The pear trees were planted in rows nine feet apart each way, giving 81 square feet to each tree, and 537 trees to an acre. Between the rows of trees, beds were prepared for strawberries by back furrowing very deep to the center, leaving beds just three feet wide, with a hollow between each bed and row of trees for the water to run in when needed. In the center, between the trees in the rows, a currant bush is planted, thus giving as many of these as there are of the trees. "In commencing the work, I first ascertained by levels whether I could drain the upper end of the lot, which is a deep peat bog — the surface of the mud and water there being apparently much below the surface of the dry land. It was found practicable to drain it considerably by dig- ging through the high part of the land for a distance of 600 or 800 feet towards the pond on the north, but impos- sible to carry the water to those higher portions where irrigation was most required. To obviate that difficulty I caused the bog or basin at the head to be made deeper and larger, by removing large quantities of muck, which was used for compost, and this excavation opened numer- ous additional springs. Then the water was secured by damming up all the old drains leading from the pond so formed, by which means the water rose to a sufficient height to carry it quite above the highest and driest part of the field. "I describe these preliminary proceedings with some particularity as to the details, because they embrace the most important part of the process. Without those ex- aminations, I should hardly have known from which end of my field the water would run, although the fall was bundant when it was made available. Judging from my own somewhat limited experience and observation in these matters, I think that even a superficial examina- tion, by the aid only of a common level, will show that there are many farms in our country where irrigation can be successfully practised, with trifling expense com- pared with the benefit, though the owners now look on. the object as impracticable for such localities. There are few farms that have not some facilities for irrigation, if they are sought for and made available. In some cases the sources whence water may be obtained are not on the land most requiring it, but by a small amount of labor a head may be raised where a supply is found in swamps or ponds, and by channels it may be conveyed to the places where it is wanted. It is not unusual to see water carried for miles along the sides of mountains and hills for the purpose of irrigation, in countries where the ben- efits of the process are duly appreciated. Here, we often see a brisk stream of pure water running through a dry pasture in a crooked channel. In many cases, if proper attention were given, it could, without much expense, be dammed, and carried along the head of the descent and spread over the whole or a greater portion of the pasture during several of the spring and fall months, and, per- haps, by opening the springs, a supply might be obtained that would continue through the summer. "My plan for distributing the water, is to convey it from the reservoir to the upper end of the pear-tree lot, where it falls into an artificial channel or ditch, which, extends across the lot at the ends of all the rows of trees,. strawberries, &c. To that side of the ditch next the ends of the rows, is fitted a two-inch plank ten or twelve inches wide, set edgewise, and through the plank, at in- tervals of four feet and a half, corresponding with the distance of the rows from each other, a round drain-pipe of an inch bore is inserted, with a cork to each, by which the whole or any portion of them may be closed when desired. Each row of trees, strawberries, &c, is thus supplied with an equal quantity of water. When the water has run down the whole length of the rows, it falls into a similar ditch as that at the upper end, and is from thence distributed over the grass field below, or let into a reservoir in which is put strong manure for the- purpose of making liquid manure, which is distributed in rivulets over the mowing land — a method of spreading manure which is found to be of great advantage and re- quiring little labor. " That part of the water which is not taken into the head pipes as it passes, (and this is much the largest part,) falls into a channel which conducts it to another pear-tree lot, arranged with strawberry beds, where a part of it is turned through channels between the rows, as before described, and a part runs into an artificial fish pond, the outflow of which is conducted to a small work- shop in the garden, and by means of an over-shot wheel, six feet in diameter, turns grindstones, works a turning lathe, circular saw, hay-cutting machine, corn-sheller, pump, Ac, &c. " In regard to some of the effects of irrigation, I con- sider the hay crop more than doubled by water alone, without the application of liquid or other manure. "The pear trees, which are mostly on quinae stocks, were imported from France, part of them planted in the 183 TOE GEN"ESEE FARMER. spring of 1857, and the other part, from the same nur- sery, in the spring of 1859. They were two years from the bud. The principal fertilizer they have received is the water applied by irrigation, as before described. On some parts of the grounds the irrigation has been more thorough than on others. Under such circumstances the trees have made more than twice the growth of wood. The difference between those which have been well watered and those which have not, can be seen almost as far as the trees can be seen — the size and luxuriance being so much in favor of the former. The best trees are where there is irrigation on the surface and drain pipes laid directly under them, four feet below. "Strawberries I plant between the rows of pear trees, in deep, light beds, three feet wide only. By this ar- rangement the soil is never trodden down, either in planting, weeding, trimming, or picking the fruit, and they are much more easily kept free from weeds. The beds are liberally supplied with strong manure, placed in one deep furrow in the center of the bed, at least one foot below the surface. One row of plants is set directly over the manure, the plants fifteen to eighteen inches apart. They are set in the month of M*y. The hole for the plant is made with a tool like a marliu-spike, reach- ing down well into the manure. The roots are let down and the hole is carefully filled with fine earth without pressing, then soaked with water, and dry earth placed over the top to prevent baking. The effect of placing the manure so deep, is to carry the roots of the plant through the manure to the soil in a dry time, to entirely cover the beds by autumn with the most vigorous plants, and to keep the seeds of weeds and grass so low that they will do no harm. The fruit is mostly grown on the new plants, which have derived their vigor from the manure chiefly through the roots of the original plant, the run- ners of which are cut off in the spring for the purpose of weeding, &c. "Most of my strawberry beds are watered liberally by a constant flow of water along the channels, which have been described. The results are, that the berries are laro-e and fair; they do not ripen quite as early, but con- tinue in bearing much longer; the crop is certain, even in the dryest seasons, when those on dry lands are cut off— sometimes before half the crop is matured. In fact, I deem irrigation almost indispensable for the successful cultivation of strawberries in dry seasons." Ornamental Tubs for Trees. — The Royal Horticul- tural Society has offered a prize of fifty dollars for the best ornamental tub for trees in pots. It seems that in England they are as destitute as we are here of anything at all elegant for such purposes, as the Gardener's Chron- icle says that the trees in the conservatory of Capt. Fowke, in the Garden of the Society itself, stand in pieces of hogsheads and clumsy rectangular cases of wood. There is quite a demand here for ornamental pots, but there is no supply. It would seem to be an excellent field for the young artists in our Schools of Design to put into exercise the teachings which they have received. Gas is now being used in England to heat small con- servatories, and it is said very successfully, and that it is not more expensive thau coal, when properly managed. THE CURL OF THE PEACH LEAF. Evert spring after the peach leaf is about two-thirds grown, it is attacked in some strange manner, and caused to blister, curl, and eventually drop off. The cause is a subject of various opinions ; some attribute it to an in- sect, others to cold winds, others to other causes too numerous to mention. To remedy this curl is an item of interest to every one. One remedy recommended is, to sprinkle the trees, just before the opening of the flower buds, with a mixture compounded of equal parts of lime, flour of sulphur and soot, dissolved in water. We have no faith in this or any other external remedy. The cause of the curl of the leaf is undoubtedly owing to a lack of vigor in the tree. This weakness in the tree may be the result of a severe winter, or of immature wood, or of overbearing the preceding year, or of ex- haustion of the soil, or of sowing crops in the orchard. One great cause, we think, is the coldness of the soil in the spring as compared with the temperature of the at- mosphere. The warm atmosphere starts the sap, and the soil is so cold that the formation of new roots is pre- vented, and the sap which should go to form roots is thrown into the circulation of the tree and becomes dis- eased. Underdraining and planting on the north side of a hill, are remedies which suggest themselves, as likely to correct this difficulty to some extent. ALOES FOR SLUGS ON CABBAGE, &C. Eds. Genesee Farmer :■ — In the last number of the Farmer, L. De Volk inquires what to do with slugs on cabbage, &c. I answer, dissolve two ounces of aloes in a gallon of hot water, and give his plants a good sprink- ling with the solution (when cool) occasionally. I have used it two years, and find it to be a complete protection to cabbage and tomato plants against insects, as also a protection to squash", cucumber, &c, vines, against the striped bug, rose bushes, &c, against slugs, and what will please many house-wives, it is an "extinguish- er" to that pest, the bed-bug. Boil your bed-cords in it, and wTet the joints of your bedstead with it a few times, aud you will certainly be rid of bed-bugs. The best way to apply it to plants is with a garden syringe. If friend De Volk is troubled with cot worms in his cabbage yard, ' cut payer into pieces about two inches square, and wrap a piece around the stalk of each plant before setting, so that the paper will reach a little below the surface of the ground when set out, and the worms will not cut off one in a thousand plants. w. howe. Planting the Large Tree of California for Timbek ■• in England. — The Wellingtonia gigantia seems to be, very hardy in England. A correspondent of the Cottagtl Gardener, speaking of one he had seen at Worsley Hall,j near Manchester, planted by the Queen two or three} years ago, as a commemoration of a visit she then madej to the Earl of Ellesmere, prophecies that this "magnifi-* cent denizen of California" will be planted largely by the uext generation for timber purposes, and with every prospect of success, as it has grown well, and stood the frost of December, 1860, without being at all injured. Stop the Melon and Cucumber Vines. — As the vines run, pinch off the heads. It will strengthen the vines and throw the sap into the fruit. THE GENESEE FARMER. 189 A FEW OF OUR BEST ORCHIDS. Jnder this head the Loudon Journal of Horticulture sses the Showy Dendrobe, (Dendrobium speciosum,) a ;ive of New South Wales. We annex a beautiful cut i fine plant five feet in diameter, with nineteen spikes of om, each spike two teet long, and each comprising about i hundred pale yellow, sweet-scented flowers. It is Tomatoes. — A correspondent of the Gardener's Monthly says: "When the young plants are ready to transfer from the hot-bed to the open ground, remove all the buds at the axil of each leaf, except the two upper ones; this can be easily and rapidly done with a sharp pointed splin- ter of hard wood, without injury to the plant. Trans- plant carefully with a ball of earth into rich soil, and as A FIXE ORCHID — SHOWY DENDROBE. ; cultivated in a greenhouse throughout the year, with perature suited to Pelargoniums. An English culti- ir succeeded admirably by the following treatment: The plant was grown in an intermediate-house vary- from 65° to 75° in summer, but at other seasons from to 55°. In May, its season of rest, it was placed in a pit, exposed to the sun, and very little water given. September, the commencement of its growth season, ras returned to the intermediate-house and freely jred. [t blooms during February and March. If grown in )ve it. is luxuriant, but does not produce flowers." dimming Old Apple Orchards.— G. R. Lawson, Can- West, inquires about his old orchard, as to trimming, If he wishes to renew the tops, give it a pretty re trimming in February, or before the sap begius to ilate. New limbs start out profusely when the grow- season comes on. If the tops do not need renewing, snly thinning, trim in June or July; new shoots will start very sparingly, which rub off" as soon as they . Give your trees a good mulching with chip ma- , or rotten wood and leaves from the forest ; such are is much better for fruit trees than barn-yard . — Wm. Howe. American Peach in England.— The last number of lOndon Florist mid Pomologist contains a finely colored of the Early York peach. It was introduced into ind a few years ago from this country, and appears adapted to the climate, and "infinitely superior in respect" to the Early Anne; which had previously the best early peach raised in England. soon as well established pinch off all the lower leaves. Thus only two branches are formed, which grow with great vigor, and set a large amount of fruit, which is of much larger size than that grown by the usual mode. Many of mine, of the Large Smooth Red variety, weighed over two lbs." Celery.— The Cottage Gardener says:— "Do not by any means dig the trench for celery too deep ; for to dig a ditch as deep as the cultivated soil, and then dig in some raw dung into an obstinate unfertile subsoil, and plant immediately, is very bad practice, and is the cause of so much celery running so many weeks in summer without making any progress. Subsoil requires fertili- zation, and until that is done the roots will not occupy it. Celery is one of the gross feeders, drinking in large quan- tities of liquid manure, like a toper. It, however, bene- fits much by it, and may be treated thereto with advan- tage during the growing season." Shall we have to give up Verbenas ? — A correspond- ent of the Country Gentleman says the veroena last year was attacked by blue lice on the roots. In other places the blight has prevailed for several years, and seems to be increasing. He thinks that we "shall soon be obliged to give up the verbena as a bedding plant." We hope not, for there is no plant equal to it for this purpose. Last year, in this section, verbenas never were healthier or finer. Improved Black Cap Raspberry.— A correspondent of the Wisconsin Farmer says that from one acre of these plants, a year from planting, he raised last season twenty- Jive bushels of berries. 190 THE GENESEE FARMER. fafe' gjprtmnit ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. Soyer's Pudding. — Take slices of bread and spread them with butter, and lay them in a pudding dish with layers of any kind of fruit or preserves, and then cover with a nice custard, and eat with a sauce. Baked Eggs. — Put half an ounce of butter into a small tin pan ; break four eggs in it, keeping the yolks whole. Throw a little pepper and bits of butter and salt over. Put into the oven till set, and serve. They will take about six minutes doing. Rhubarb or Pie Plant Pie. — Every one does not know ■what a very great improvement a little molasses is to a pie-plant pie, but any one who will make the experiment will be pleased with the result. Currants or gooseberries mixed with the pie-plant add to the flavor very much. Green Peas and Pork. — Put a piece of salt pork of about two lbs. into a pan with a quart of peas. Fill up with water, add two teaspooufuls of salt, one of pepper, one of sugar and two onions. Bake for three hours. A little mint might be added. Three pints of large peas aloue, with a little dripping, is as good as above. — Soyer. Gooseberry Fool. — Put in a pan a quart of green gooseberries, with a wineglass of water and half lb. of sugar. Stew on a slow fire for twenty minutes ; keep stirring. Put in a basin and whip a pint of cream. "VTheu tbe-fruit is cold, mix with the cream and serve in cups or a hollow dish with pastry round it. Rhubarb and any of the small fruits may be done in the same way. Salad Sauce (French). — Boil one egg hard. When cold, remove the yolk, put it into a basin and bruise it to pulp with a wooden spoon. Then add a raw yolk and a teaspoonful of flour, a small teaspoonful ofsalt, a quarter of pepper; then add half a spoonful of vinegar, stir it round, pour over a tablespoonful of oil by degrees, then a little more vinegar, and two more of oil, until eight tea- spoonsful of oil aud three of vinegar are used. Season with half a teaspoonful of chopped onions, two of pars- ley and a pinch of cayenne. It will keep sometime if properly cooked. Strawberry Short Cake. — This is an exceedingly de- licious dish, although a little like painting the lily, for the strawberry is too luscious in itself to require any of the aids of cookery. We give it, not for the benefit of Our dyspeptic readers, — for we warn them against it — but for those who can eat hot cakes for tea, and can not dis- pense with strawberries while they are in season. The cake should be made like soda biscuit, rather richer, but very light, and baked in a round tin about the size of a dinner plate. Immediately upon taking it out of the oven split it in three parts, aud spread them with butter very thinly. Have your strawberries prepared by covering them with sugar. Spread a thick layer of these upon one of the slices of the cake, and pour over them the richest cream that you can procure ; then add another layer of the shortcake and another of strawberries, as before. Cover the whole with the remaining slice of the cake, i some cream and powdered sugar, and you have a i which would tickle the palate of an epicure. Timothy Titcomb on Women. — Women, in my apa hension, is the mistress, not alone of the melody ot nnJ but of the melody of life. Whatever it may be possij to do by cultivation and a long course of development is doubtful whether a woman would ever sing bass Wf I am aware that she has the right, and the organs, bu question whether her bass would amount to anything whether it would be worth singing. When women ts with me about their right to vote, and their right to pp tice law, and their right to engage in any business \vh! usage has assigned to man, I say "yes— you have those rights." 1 never dispute with them at all. Iude you see how I have put myself forward as the defeni of these same rights ; yet I should be sorry to see tb exercised by the women I admire and love. It is all v well to say that the presence of woman at the ballot-1 would purify it ; but I have seen enough of the world learn that all human influence is reciprocal and reacti ary. Mau and the ballot-box might gain, but won would lose, and men aud the ballot-box themselves wo lose in the long run. The ballot-box is the bass, am should be man's business to sing it, while woman sho give him home melody with which it should harmoni: Baby's Shoe Sock. — Use four needles. Cast 22 stitt on each needle of white split zephyr or the finest Sax two-threaded yarn. Knit 7 shells deep ; put in the ct cast on 12 stitches and rib back across 4 shells, mal one row of holes through the centre for strings. I off' 12 stitches on each end to complete the straps, li instep 7 shells in white; 7 double ribs for heel in c«i Narrow off" and take up on side 120 stitches ; knit 7 doi ribs to toe; continue to knit in the color all aroui double ribs, narrowing like a stocking and bind off. Shells. — Seam three stitches; widen 8 at once ten Each time after the seaming, narrow the 2 first of tht and slip and bind the last 2, until the number is redi to the original 8. Repeat this seaming 3 between. 'Good Cooking not Inconsistent with Piety.— nothin' to say agin' her piety, my dear, but I know 1 well I shouldn't like her to cook my victuals. Wh< man comes in hungry an' tired, piety wont feed hii reckon. I called in one day when she was dishin' up Truman's dinner, an' I could see that the potatoes v as watery as water. It's right enough to be speretiu I'm no enemy to that; but I like my potatoes mealjj don't see as anybody 'ull go to heaven sooner for my gestiu' their dinner — providin' they don't die the sooi as mayhap Mr. Truman will, poor dear man ! — jk Bede. The Paris women are excited about an electric h« dress invented for the Empress Eugenie. It is a en formed of globules of glass lighted by electric light, i set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. It emits si an effulgence as to light up of itself a dark room, an« ever put into general use will supersede the necessity gas jets or wax candles. Every lady will be her o chandelier. THE GENESEE FARMER. 191 WwttlfoMQVL&. OUR SENTIMENTS. &B>' This longing after beauty, This sighing after curls — This chasing after Fashion, Wherever fashion whirls — [And all that sort of thing.] May do for those who like them — For those devoid of taste — For those who barter diamonds off For diamonds made of paste, [And all other blockheads.] But to a Wife who truly loves — Who'd be what she appears — Who'd spread a sunshine round the man Who keeps away her tears, [And brings the " taters " home.] We'd whisper softly in her ear — We'd grave it on her heart — That knowing how to fry a stake Beats Sentiment and Art [Con-sid-er-a-ble.] Woman's Courage and Devotion. — DuriEg the whole ;ord Dundonald's arduous services and romantic ad- jures in South America, Lady Dundonald accom- ied him, to soothe his anxieties, to sustain his hopes, miniate his exertions, to share his dangers. One it, while he was in command of the Chilian fleet, ship got becalmed under a battery, from which he was iled with red hot shot. His men were seized with a c and deserted their guns. If the fire from the shore not returned, it would speedily become steady, sus- ad and fatal. He went down in the cabin where she " If a woman sets them the example, they will be med of their fear; it is our only chance." She arose followed him upon deck. The first object that met ;ye was the battery, with its flaming furnaces — round rk figures were moving, looking more like incarnate s than men. A glance at her husband's features, and terrible " calmness reassured her. She took a match red a gun when he had pointed it. The effect on the was electrical ; they returned to their posts with a t, and the battery was speedily silenced. Awful Comparison. — Sir William Brown, a pom- sort of a man, being at a parish meeting, made some 9sals which were objected to by a farmer. " Sir, do enow that I have been to two universities ?" " Well, said the farmer, '-what of that? I had a calf that d two cows, and the observation I made was, the he sucked the greater calf he grew." Sir William I heard the last of that. celebrated physician one day advised Voltaire to up coffee, having just found out, he said, that it was ,v poison. " It must be very slow indeed," replied French poet, "for I have been using it over sixty \, and am still alive." e is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but Itle things, in which smiles and kindness, and small ations given habitually are what win and preserve leart, and secure comfort. t not the stream of your life be a murmuring stream. Sometime since a lady of rather inquisitive character was visiting our country seat. Among other places, she visited the jail. She would ask the different prisoners for what crime they were put in there. It went of well enough till she came to a rather hard looking specimen of humanity, whom she asked, "What are you here for?" "For stealing a horse." "Are you not sorry for it?" " Yes." " Won't you try and do better another time ?" "Yes; I'll steal two." Muggins was passing up-street one day, with a friend, when he observed a poor dog, that had been killed, lying in the gutter. Muggins paused, gazed intently at the de- funct animal, and at last said : " Here is another ship- wreck." "Shipwreck! where?" "There's a bark that's lost forever." His companion growled, and passed on. Mr. Peabodt, the American banker of London, has re- solved on erecting a number of houses for the working classes, who, through innumerable improvements in the metropolis, have been rendered almost homeless. For this purpose he is to give $500,000, and also undertakes to pay the first year's interest of the money — $25,000. Small wits are great talkers, as empty barrels and shallow streams make the moist noise. It has been said that the smaller the calibre of the mind, the greater the bore of a perpetually open mouth. "I talk a good deal, but I talk well," said one of these men to Cardinal Riche- lieu. "Half of that is true," said the Cardinal. Puzzle. — Edward told Willie that he would sit on three separate seats in the parlor, where they were both by themselves ; every seat he sat down in he would get up out of it, and give Willie an opportunity to sit in each vacant seat, but that Willie would not be able to sit but in two out of the three. How did he do it ? How Kind ! — The following notice was posted, in 1860, on the estate of a noble Marquis in Kent : " Notice is hereby given that the Marquis of Camden (on account of the backwardness of the season) will not shoot himself nor any of his tenants till after the sixteenth of Sep- tember." While we are coldly discussing a man's career, sneer- ing at his mistakes, blaming his rashness, libelling his opinions— that man, in solitude, is perhaps shedding hot tears, because strength and patience are failing him to speak the difficult word and do the difficult deed. Improvement in Churns. — The ordinary mode of churning butter in Chili is to put the milk in a skin — usually a dog's skin — tie it on a donkey ; mount a boy on him with rowels to his spurs about the length of the ani- mal's ears, and then run him four mile heats. Punch says you know a gentleman by his gait — a black- guard by his Billingsgate. Why shouldn't a man be known by his gate?— the country people always say that a good farmer may be known by his fences, just as a vil- lain is by his of -fences. Wht is a miser like seasoned timber? Because he never gives. 192 THE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Cultivation of Root Crops 169 Hollow Horn in Cattle 170 The Value of Poudrelte. Irrigating Meadows 17) Steeping Barley fur Sheep. In proving Old Pastures 172 Cabbage for Cows. Hay for Colts in Summer 172 " Pedigree Wheat" 173 Beans — Beans— Who knows 'em 174 Borrowing 'lools. Sugar Beets 175 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 176 Management of Honey Bees 17S Letter from Samuel Williams 179 Milking Stool lor Kicking Cows , 179 Top Dressing Grass Lands 180 Notes on Back Numbers. Receipts for Hard Soap 182 A Cure for Fistula' 182 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Walks aud Talks in the Garden— No. 2 188 The Fruit Tree Borer. Whale Oil Soap for the Rose Slug... 186 Grape Trellises — Tightening the Wires, 186 Strawberry Wine. Peach Borers 186 Irrigation for Pear Trees, Strawberries, &c 1S7 Ornamental Tubs for Trees. Curl of the Peach Leaf. 188 Aloes for Slugs on Cabbage. &c 188 Planting Large Tree of California for Timber in England. .. lt-8 A few of our best Orchitis. Trimming Old Apple Orchards. 189 An American Pe.ich in England. Tomatoes. Celery 189 Shall we have to Give up Verbenas 1 189 LADIES .DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 190 Timothy Titcomb on Women. Baby's Shoe Sock 190 MISCELLANEOUS. Our Sentiments. A Women's Courage and Devotion, &c... 191 EDITOR S TABLE. Notes on the Weather, 191 Agricultural Items 193 The Markets, 193 Items, Notices. Ac 192, 193, 194 Look out for the Tree Peddlers .■ 194 Inquiries and Answers, '195 ILLUSTRATIONS. ABeet Dibble 170 Pedigree Wheat— One ot the Original Two Ears 174 '% " After Two Years Repeated Selection 174 Milking Stool 179 Gooseberry Saw-Fly 182 The Tree Tomato 184 Tomato Plant when Set Out 185 Tomato Vine Trained and in Bearing 185 A Fine Orchid — Showy Dendrobe 189 The Genesee Farmer for Six Months. The next number of the Genesee larmer commences a half-volume. Now is a good time to subscribe. The half-volume, or six months, from July to December, in- clusive, will be sent to any address for 25 cents. On the last page will be found a list of Premiums which we offer to those who procure subscribers to the half-volume. Will our fiiends make an effort to induce their neighbors to try the Farmer for half a year ? We are using our best efforts to make the Genesee Farmer worthy of the liberal patronage it enjoys. We have re- peated assurances that no intelligent farmer can read' single number without getting some hint worth the cd of the entire volume. There are now thousands(of farn ers who are taking no strictly agricultural journal, ai if our friends would present the claims of the Gene\ Farmer to their neighbors, a large number would suJ scribe for it. It is so cheap that no one can object I take it on the score of cost. The Premiums we offer are all good, and are well worl the effort it will cost to secure them. If, however, ai of our friends do not wish to take advantage of the Premiums, we will let them have five copies of the ha! volume for $1.00, or 16 copies for $3.00, together with copy of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directa for 1862, to the getter up of the club. We can still supply the back numbers of this year, ai those who prefer it can have the whole volume at t] same rates. •-•-• Notes on the Weather, from April 15th to Mj 15th, 1S62. — While the mean heat of the first half i April was one and a half degrees below the average f twenty-five years, that of the last half was one-third c gree above the average; so that the mean of the mon was one degree below that for twenty-five years. V temperature for the last half was 47.3°, and for the mor 43.4°. The highest heat was 77°, on the 16th, and i lowest 82°, on the 24th. We had a hard frost on the 24 and 25th, but the buds of fruit trees were too close o< ered to be injured. The rain was 1.89 inch in the month'; a small quanti Still, the earth is well watered. At Washington, D. I the rain amounted to six inches. The weather has been quite pleasant, and the en: flowers, such as Trailing Arbutus, Spring Beauty, Sil* leaf, Dutchman's Breeches, Blood-root, &c, appeal about the usual time, as they are all wood's plants, j May opened with the same regular weather with whj the month had just closed. The average temperati was 52.6° for the first half, which is nearly a degree) low the mean for twenty-five years. The hottest no was 77°, on the 12th ; the coldest morning was 42°, at A. M. the 8th, and at sunrise of the 14th was 418, 1 much white frost on roofs and plank-walks, and very lit on plants. The flowers seemed not to be injured. 4 blossom, apricot on the Gtb, common cherry on the 14 peaches on the 14th, pears just showing flowers oirl 15th. Very little rain in this half month; the weather fa and the season fine for farmers, who have driven th> business. Much clear and fine weather, and many brig nights. Vegetation rapid on 9th and 10th, aud on t last two days ; as forward as last year. The Provincial Fair of Upper Canada is to be held Toronto, Sept. 23-27- -»•« . The list of Premiums for the New York State Fair c be had at this office. THE GENESEE FARMER. 193 Agricultural Items. Che New York State Fair will be held in tbis city it. 30th, and Oct. 1st, 2d and 3d. The indications are t it will be one of the best ever held in the State. I. P. Johnson, Secretary of the New York State Agri- tural Society, has gone to England on busiuess con- ned with the American department of the Great Ex- ition. He will be back in time to attend the State r. 'he Homestead Bill has been signed by the President, ! is now a law. Any citizen of the United States, or se who declare their intention of becoming such, by ing the charges for surveying, &c:, and who will re- i on and cultivate it for five years, can have a farm of acres of government land without charge. t Mr. Thomas Richardson's sale of imported Alder- cows, in New York, prices ranged from $140 to $185 St. Some good Ayrshire cows, recently imported, sold q $80 to $140 each. pine spar, 230 feet long, has been sent to the Exhibi- iu London, from Vancouver's Island. It is to be :ted in the grounds of the Royal Horticultural Socie- Garden. 3hn Johnston, of Seneca Co., turned his cattle into a d bite of grass April 30th. This is earlier than he • turned his cattle out before on his farm, during 40 •s. B. Lawes, Esq., offers a silver cup, worth $250, to tenant farmer who shall grow the best ten acres of des (Ruta bagas) in Ireland the present season. bw crops have beeu planted in Virginia this season, if other Southern States. We shall have to make up deficiency by extra crops at the North and West. K. Phcenix, of Bloomington, 111., the "Rochester of West," writes us, May 19th: "Weather favorable; a 1 show for fruits, if not killed by late frosts." trial of Reapers, Headers, Mowers and Grain Bind- will be held at Dixon, 111., the coming harvest, under auspices of the 111. State Ag. Society. grkat Wool Exhibition, open to all parts of the ted States and Canada, is to be held at the next Ohio e Fair, in Cleveland. severe hail-storm occurred at McConnelsburgh, Pa., 21, which did great damage to fields of grain and trees law was passed by the late Legislature of this State event cattle running at large in the public highways. jother attempt is being made to introduce salmon England into Australian waters. ere are complaints of the loss of lambs this spring a kind of throat disease. e great International Exhibition, in London, was ally opened May 1. bacco has been extensively planted in Missouri the mt season. e Ohio State Fair will be held at Cleveland Sept. Trr-Giiowrp.s' Society op Western New York. — The Meeting of the Fruit-Growers' Society of Western New will b>' held Rl (lie Court House in Rochester, N. Y., at ock A. M.. "ii Wednesday, the 25tU day of June, 1S62. ne 6how of (raits may be expected. By order rtf the Council. O. P. liissELL, Secretary, Rochester, N. Y. The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GEN'ESEE FARMER, ) Rochester, N. Y., May 29, 1802. ) Grain pf all kinds has again fallen from 3 to 5 cenis per bushel. The better grades of white and red wheat are now considerably lower in N«w Fork than they were this time last year, while the poorer qualities are about the same price. Corn is about the same price as it was twelve months ago, while'rye is from 10c. to 15c. per bushel higher, and barley from 9c. to lie. higher than a year ago. , We hare had reports of wet weather in England that injured the growing crops, but more recent advices report favorable weather and good prospects for an abundant harvest. In this country, as a general rule, the wheat crop looks very well. There is a large amount of grain of last harvest still in the country, and th'e prospects on the whole are not favorable to any great advance in prices between this and harvest. Beans are scarce and in demand at full rates. Extra choice Marrows bring $2.S0 per bushel, and $3 is asked. Mediums, $2 4rf@8c. Eggs plenty at 9@10^c per doz. American Short-horns in England^- We noticed some months since that Saml. Thorn, of Duchess Co., N. Y., had sent several head of his celebrated Short horn cattle to England, and that they weresold there at a high price. Mr. Thorn has sent out another lot, and these too were immediately puachased at high figures. One two-year bull, bred by James O. Sheldon, of Geneva, N. Y., was sold to the Hon. Col. Pennant, M. P., of Penshyt Castle, Bangor, for 600 guineas, or over $3,000 ! Another year- ling bull sold for 400 guineas. The Duke of Devonshire purchased another at 400 guineas. Partial List of Gifts Given at the Metropolitan Gift Book Store, No. 26 Buffalo Strekt, Roche»ter, N\ Y., Dur- ing the Month of April.— 22 Gold and Silver Watches, 1G En- graved Silver Plated Ice Pitchers, 31 Silver Plated Vegetable Cas- tors, 11 Silver Engraved Cake Baskets, 9 Silver Card Receivers, 26 Gold Lined Silver Cups, 13 Gold Guard Chains, 82 Gold Band Bracelets, 9 Silver Wine Pitchers, 16 Gold Lined Salt Oastnrs, 6 Coffee Urns, heavily Engraved, Silver Plated, 8 Silver Tea Pots, 3 Silver Tea Sets, 13T Sets Tea and Table Spoons, 72 Sets Silver forks, besides over 1800 other articles of value. A Gift accompanies each book, va ying in value from 50 cents to $100. Descriptive Catalogues mailed free to any address upon applica- tion. The largest stock if books to select from in the ci'.y. A New Book on the Grape.— Mr. John Phin, of this city, has written an excellent work on the culture of the grape in the open air. We have not space this month to notice it as its merits deserve, but would call the atten- tion of our readers to the book, an advertisement of which will be found in another column. Every one inter- ested in the culture of the grape will read it with pleas- ure and profit. 194 THE GENESEE FARMER. Look Out for the Tree Peddlers. Thb editor of the Illinois Farmer exposes some of the tricks resorted to by the tree peddlers in the West. "A hulf a dozen men residing in Illinois or otherwheres, enter into an agreement to sell trees ; they get up a cata- logue headed the ' Kochester Nurseries, by J. Jones & Co.,' or the ' Dayton, Ohio, Nurseries of John Frank & Co.' With these catalogues they travel for orders, in the meantime one of the number looks after the trees to fill the orders. An Iowa nursery is purchased to supply the apple trees and other standard fruits, which are labelled to suit the wishes of customers; a row of Kambo or Sweet June going out under twenty different names. The ornamentals are procured, in most instances, further east, sometimes at Rochester or Syracuse, the orders arc duly packed— marked to destination with the imposing label ' From Rochester Nurseries,' or ' Dayton Nurseries,' as the case may be. Some of these packages go to the next station, some of them to the same village, and others longer distances. Central and Western Iowa thus purchase thousands of dollars worth of Iowa grown trees, while Missouri, Kansas, and the river counties of Illinois, come in for a share. The tree peddler is not confined to the east, for we have a good supply of them here, and we believe that the largest number of this class of petty swindlers are residents of the west, and deal largely in western trees. " There is another class of men for whom we have more respect, and those are the agents of reliable nurseries both east and west. These men reeeive a commission in most cases and sell at regular prices, and the principals are responsible for the correctness of the varieties sent out." There is no class of scoundrels for whom we have a greater contempt than dishonest tree peddlers. If you buy a galvanized watch, that will go only when it is car- ried, you are cheated by just the price paid for it. But if you buy worthless trees, you are cheated, not only out of the money paid for them, but out of all the labor and expense of cultivating them for years. Farmers have it in their power to prevent these frauds. When a tree peddler comes into a town or village, pur- porting to be agent for the " Rochester Nurseries of J. Jones & Co.," let some of our readers drop us a line in- quiring whether there is such a nursery firm, and whether the man is an authorized agent. We will cheerfully do all that we can to aid in exposing these shameful impo- sitions. There are many honorable men engaged in selling trees, and these should be encouraged. We are safe in asserting that our leading Rochester nurserymen are too honorable and high-minded to lend themselves for a mo- ment to encourage impositions on the farmers and fruit growers of the country. Mistakes may occur in this business as in all others, but on the whole such firms as Ellwanger & Barry, H. E. Hooker & Co., C. W. Seelyb, Frost & Co., John Donnbllan & Co., Hooker, Farley & Co., and many others, undoubtedly furnish trees true to name and of good quality. Parties purchasing trees and plants from an authorized agent of any of these nurseries may depend on fair and honorable dealing. Drain-Tile Machine. — Having witnessed the operati of one of the Drain-TJe Machines manufactured by Id A. Latourette, of Waterloo, Seneca Co., N. Y., we c confidently recommend it. We know of no machine tb turns out tile so rapidly. We could wish that one more drain tile machines were at work in every county the United States and Canada. The advantages of undi draining are now universally admitted, and so far as o experience and observation extend, it is much cheat to underdrain with tile or pipes than with stone. 1 labor of digging the drains is much less, and a propel laid tile drain will work much better and last longer tb a stone drain, as commonly constructed. We believe who have used tiles will bear us out in this assertion. One of the drawbacks to the general introduction underdraining, is the difficulty in many sections of p curing tiles at sufficiently low rates. They are a hei article, and can not be transported long distances with great expense. It is therefore desirable that the ti should be made in the vicinity where used, and we i not but think it would pay any enterprising man, almost any agricultural region, to purchase a mach and manufacture tiles. A supply will create a dema And when once a farmer begins to underdrain, he rai stops as long as he has a wet spot on the farm. The cost of one of Mr. Latourette's large machine $300. It makes all sizes and shapes of tiles and pi] from 1£ inches to 12 inches. We are assured that it * make 100 rods of 2-inch tile per hour, and from what have seen of its operation we do not doubt the f Certainly it turns out tiles faster than any machine have ever seen in this country or in England. The chine is constructed wholly of iron. It grinds the i and turns out the tiles at both ends at one operation, can be worked with one heavy or two light horses. Mr. Latourette also manufactures a hand drain machine, that turns out 400 two-inch tile per hour. P $175. Those wanting a good machine can not do better 1 to put themselves in communication with Mr. La' rette. We feel confident that his machine will give isfaction. Underdraining lies at the very foundatio all agricultural improvement, and we are glad to 1 from Mr. Latourette that the demand for machini greatly on the increase. He informs that in some pi a number of enterprising farmers unite together in chasing a machine, and we can not but think that su practice could be extended in many sections with g advantage. The Genesee Farmer— Morgan Horse Wanted. - James Stimson, of St. George, C. W., writes us as lows: "My "Farmers" for 1860 and '61 are bouu two vols., half calf, and are among the most valued I of my library. It would be a great pleasure to m possess all the back volumes uniformly bound in half One of the greatest recommendations of your .paper, v. fact that each year makes a book of very convenient worth— well, the worth of it never can be told ; abo ing, as it does, in valuable information, suggestions hints, the knowledge of which saves dollars upon do to such farmers as take the papers. The fact that you THE GENESEE FARMER. 195 nit, for clubs of Canadian subscribers, premiums amount of $150 during the first month of this year till hold out to us great inducements to subscribe), 3 that you are generous, and have the success of rs at heart,— that Canadian farmers (some of them it) are alive to their own interests — and that, in re- br your efforts in their behalf, they are determined port a purely agricultural paper, the best of its kind lerica. you know of any person owning a genuine Morgan which has a good pedigree and is a first-rate road- vho could be induced to come to this part of the ry with his horse next season on a venture ? farmers of this and the surrounding counties are, ale, well supplied with horses for agricultural pur- ; but when they come to sell their colts, they seldom ; good prices, because said colts " can't go." They i\\ able to pay for a good horse, if they can be con- 1 that it will pay ; and no better way of convincing occurs to me than to persuade them to make the iment just once. ny opinion, such a horse as I have described, com- nong us well recommended by you or some other isible parties, would be well supported. His owner certainly confer a great benefit upon our farmers, proviug their stock in the very point where it needs . most susceptible of improvement." «•« king and Sowing Sorghum Seed. — In the Genesee ',r for April we alluded to some experiments made s Rev. A. Mters, of Bucyrus, Ohio, in regard to the ime of planting the Chinese sugar cane seed. Mr. nks that it should rarely, if ever, be planted before th of May, and as it is essential, in order to make , to have the plants fully matured, it becomes a on of great importance to ascertain the best means ising the seed to germinate rapidly after it is put in •ound. Mr. Mtres has kindly sent us his method of ring the seed to accomplish this result, which is as s: vke the quantity of seed to be planted any one day, aving prepared boiling water pour it over the seed, ig, that all the seed may be equally heated ; let it n in the boiling water 1£ minutes; then cool down liug cold water to a luke-warm state. Enough boil- iter must be poured on to swim the seed. good preparation to accompany the above is 1 lb. of ie of lime and 4 oz. vitriol to 1 peck of seed. ith the above process I have brought the cane up ■* the rows were visible across the field in three or lys." M. sends us the details of his experiment, which o sustain his opinion. Inquiries and Answers. »kin Seeds.— I wish to know whether pumpkin .re good to feed to hogs, fat cattle and store cattle. )f our neighbors say they are, and some say they .. Will some of your correspondents give me some a the subject ? — D. B. N., Union Mill, Erie Co., Pa. ral Inquiries. — Will some of your numerous cor- lents furnish information as to the following a the Genesee Farmer : How to make a good farm roller. Have you used the Wethersfield Seed Sower ? If it be adjusted so as to drill seeds evenly, and at an istance apart, from the size of ruta baga to beans? 3d. — Is there no more easy or expeditious way of har- vesting peas tliau mowing with a scythe, or " pulling them, as the Canadians call it? 4th. — Would kyanizing chestnut shingles have a ten- dency to toughen them, so as not to be so liable to split? 5th. — It would save many a trip to the village grocery, when some one is sick, and furnish a good, wholesome part of the farmer's dinner to be carried with him to the distant field, if every funnily knew how to make water aud butter crackers. — B., Cooperdown, I'a. Canada Thistles. — Will some of your correspondents oblige me by giving, through the Farmer, the best meth- od of destroying or keeping under Canada thistles V— J. L., King, C. W. Root Cultivator. — Noticing in the May number of the Genesee Far-mer an article on the cultivation of car- rots, on page 149, from the pen of A. M. H., in which he says he has got up a hand cultivator which works admir- ably. Now, will A. M. H. be kind enough to furnish me with a description of said cultivator? I am desirous of availing myself of every facility for the cultivation of roots, in which I am engaged quite extensively. — John Kievell, Greensville, G. W. Rennet for Scours. — (Wm. Haines.) We have never tried this remedy, but it is well spoken of. Soak the rennet in warm water for twenty-four hours, and give six tablespooufuls before the calf is fed. Cattle should have a larger dose. Milk thickened in wheat-flour is our usual remedy for mild cases of scours in sheep. Liming Shingles. — (John Henshaw.) The object of liming shingles is to increase their durability, and also to render them less liable to take fire. The process is not difficult, aud fully compensates for the labor. It is sim- ply soaking the shingles for a few hours in a solution of lime, salt, and lye from ashes. We do not know the pro- portions, but as the water will only take up a limited quantity of these ingredients, there is no danger of get- ting it too strong. Letting Sheep go Unshorn tor Two Tears. — (John Thompson.) We have had no experience on this point. The only experiments that recur to us at this moment are those made by Lord Western on British Merinoes. He let some of his sheep go unshorn for three years, and the resnlt was that the weight of the wool from these sheep at the end of that time considerably ex- ceeded the aggregate from an equal number shorn annu- ally, the treatment of the two lots being in other respects the same. The quality of the fibre had not been im- paired, while the greater length of the staple made it more valuable, because fitting it for a greater diversity of purposes. Soiling Milch Cows.— (R. T.) We do not think it will pay you. In the neighborhood of large cities, where land is high, it might be profitable, but in your case the saving of food and the increased quantity of manure, will not, we think, pay for the extra labor. One thing will pay. Provide a supply of green corn fodder for the cows when the pastures become dry. Sow it at once, in drills, three feet apart. Make the drills with a one-horse plow, and scatter the seed in the drills quite thickly, say forty grains to the foot, or about two and a half bushels per acre. Keep it clean by running a horse-cultivator between the rows. In this way, if the land is rich, you will get a great crop. This is a far better way than sow- ing broadcast. 196 THE GENESEE PARMER. Special Notices. Rhodes' Superphosphate.— The Standard Manure.— Man- faclured und«r the supervision of tlie eminent manufacturing and analytical chemists, Kobekt B. Potts and 1 redbrick Kmtt. The Sulphuric Acid is produced on a large scale at the works at Camden, V. J. Guaranteed perfectly pure and free from all adulteration. Dr. Evan Pcgh, President Penn. Farm School, in his Report on Artificial Manures, published in Country Gentlemen March 27ih, 1862, says : " Rhodes' is the cheapest American superphosphate 'and if Mr. Rhodes will sell under legal guarantee an article to " contain even 14 or 15 per cent of anhydrous phosphoric acid in "combinations soluble in water (with ten mniutes boiling), his "manure -would deserve unqualified recommendation as one of " the very best superphosphates man: faclured in the world, and "very much better than any manufactured in this cour.try." The following report of analysis of one thousand (1,000) tons Rhodes' manure, made by G. A. Liebig, shows even higher re- sults than Dr. Fugh requires ; Baltimore, February 28. 1862. Messrs. B. M. Rhodes & Co.— Gents: I have analyzed the two samples of Rhodes' manure which were averaged from a lot of one thousand (1.000) tons at the works, and sent to me by Messrs. Potts and Klktt. Sample No. 1 contains of phosphoric acid soluble in water 16.84 per cent., equal to 27.75 of bi-phosphate of lime. Sample No. 2 contains 16.44 percent., which is equal to 27.10 of bi-phosphate of lime. Both of the samples came fully up to the standard qualities of your Superpuosphate. Yery respectful y, J i r i G A Liebig, Ph. D. Agriculturists and dealers apply to B. M. Rhodes & Co., office 82 South street, Baltimore. A lso, H/.nry E. Moring, General Agent for New York and New England, 97 Pearl street, near Hanover Square, New York. ADVERTISEMENTS. 3 — tf MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N.Y fll-fWK KEWARD-For procuring three hundred paying nihil D subscribers to HALL'S JoUUNAL OF HEALTH for 1862. $1 a year. $100 for two hundred subscribers. * Dr. W. W. HALL, New York. BUY THE BEST. AT THE EMPIRE AGRICULTURAL WORKS. THE BEST TILE MACHINE. SMITH & WINEGAR'S PATENT, "With La Tourette' Improvements THE above engraving represents a Drain Tile Machine wh has been used lor years, and, with its recent impruvemei Is undoubtedly the best and most durable Tile Machine in Am iea. It performs the whole labor of grinding Ihe clay, screen it to free it from i ravel, and presses it in tile at the same ope tion, and may be propelled by either water, steam, or horse-pi er. It makes all sizes and shapes of tile and pipe, from IX tf inches, and moulds 1C0 rods of 2-inch tile per hour. The i chine is simple in construction, durable (being made of iron),; not liable to get out of order. In the great essentials of simpi ity. capacity and durability it has no equal. It was awan the First Premium at the Ohio State Fair in 1860, which aw was approved by a special committee of practical tile maker* pointed bvthe Sti.te Board of Agriculture at the special reqi of interested parties, who were dissatisfied with the decision the first committee. For further particulars, or illustrated circular, addres A. LA TOURETTE, Jr., Agent, Waterloo, Seneca Co., N. 1 THE undersigned manufacture CHANGEABLE ENDLESS chain railway horsu :i?o-we:r.s, Combined Threshers and Cleaners. THRESHERS, SEPARATORS. WOOD SAWS, &c. These Powers produce more Power with less elevation, and arc operated with greater ease to the team than any other, re- quiring very slow travel of horses, being only about ljtf miles ru r hour when doing a good fair business, which is 4(0 to 50J bush- els of oats per dav. or half that quantity of wheat or rye The Thresher and Cleaner runs easy, separates Ihe grain per- fectly clean fmm Hie straw, cleans quite equal to the best Fan- ning Mills, leaving the grain fi! for mill or market, and is capable of doing a iargir business without waste or clogging than any other two horse CieaneY before the public. J^° For price and description, send for circulars, and satisfy yourself before purchasing. Address B. <& M. HARDER. Cobbleakill, Schoharie Co., N. Y. The New York Self-Raking Reaper and Mo* IS the best and most economical Harvester of Grain and C- vct invented. Only on.- hand is neccssan to manage it, a requires less labor to bind afier il than aft' r the best hand-ra It is simple and durable, not liable to 2cl out of order, an< savins in labor by the sell-rake alone will pay for the entire chine before il is worn out. AH the gearing is hung on an iron frame, and the cutter-b made of steel. For Circulars and other information, apply to the mnnufa er!< SLYMOUK. MOKGAN & ALLEN. May 2t Brockport, Monroe Co., N. 3SrO"W TREA-IDY OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTUR A PRACTICAL Treatise on Ihe Garden find Vineyard hire of the Vine, and the Mamifactiirk of Dour Wink. Designed for the use of Amaicrs : ml others it Northern and Middle Stales Profusely iilusir.ih .1 with Ne» gravities from carefully executed . o*igns, verified by direct tlce. By John Phin. mho of'E«say »pon Open Mr f Culture.'' to which was awarded the Firsl Premium ..f ihe A ican Institute. To which is ndclod a se oetion • f ExampI American Vinevard Practice, and a carelnllv prepared det lion of the celebrated "Thomery System of Grape Culture." ?W° Price, One Dollar. Sent free of postage on reeel ce. Evert/ verson who has a (/rape vine should een very ext-nsivelyused during ■ past thre, Inry.^s. and its superiority over any others in the Irttet established l»-yom I question, nd, corside/ing its ennaci- an. cost of construction it is at least fifty percent cheaper than v other similar machine in use. CLOVER M LLS AND CLEANERS rhh is believed to be one of the best machines for the purpose nr made: can be drive., by one. t«m or more horsea, • [ „ l\,.h •^w Telocity, and d,. equally good work, and with wet and 1 as well as good condition of lb- clover i hafT It cleans ihe id, and delivers il filfor market at th • same operation. CIDER Mr LLS, r Power and Hand use, with and without Press attached ese Mills and Presses are or a superior style and utiPty to any icrs in use. y • SAWING MILLS. With Circular Saws for cutting firewood, slittrns boards, plank. &C.,ff r fencing and building purposes ; a so with Machine Cross- mai/s;ig's.:sr fbrwou,J'shing,es' *■«* **« -^ Mi»3 * STALK AND STRAW CUTTFRS, ^ b*h?£2 8tr"n? °nd ,h,rab'e maC"ine' and adJ"3tabI° FEED MILLS, For grinding all kinds of Grain f r Feeding, as well as corn in and iXJSfiP* Bw™1 8iZ«' !"'" With « Wilh<*« ^ves ILLUMINATED CATALOGUE. The Proprietors have completed their new Pa^logne-tne most complete and beautifully illustrated work ever published bv anr manufacturer, embracing a great number and variety of finely executed and carefully prepared y y ILLUSTRATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS With anip'e references, as well as the Price* Terms of Sale, W ehl, Cub^c Measurements Capacity, Directions for Use, Du^ rab.l.Iy and Warranty of their ' Machinery, Implements and Seeds. o,,Ura,5icamsree Cen,S '" Sli'mpS t0 raj' ^^ '" Wi" be 8ent "Local Agencies solicited for the sale of the above Machines EMERY BROTHERS, Nos 62 & 64 State Street, ALBANY, N. Y. THE GENESEE FARMER. New York State Agricultural Works. WHEELER, MELICE& CO., PROPRIETORS, A.X^BA.TSr^ST, 3ST- "3T-, MANUFACTURE WHEELER'S PATENT IE POWERS, FOB ONE AND TWO HORSES; LAWRENCE & GOULD'S PATENT RAILWAY CHAIN HORSE POWERS, FOE ONE, TWO AND THREE HOE8ES ; Plantation or Lever Horse Powers, FOUE HORSE OR SIX MtTDE GEAR; WHEELERS PATENT COMBINED THRESHER AND CLEANER. No. 1, 30 inch and No. 2, 26 inch Cylinder; Bargefs Patent Cleaning Attachment, AS SHOWN m OUT BELOW. This Cleaning Attachment can be used with any ordinary Thresher, over or undershot, dispensing with the Shaker or Sep- arator and takes no more power to drive it than to drive the Sha- ker—to which we call the attention of farmers having Threshers without Cleaners— and <:an be attached without the aid of a me- ■chanic. OVERSHOT TRESHERS AND SEPARATORS' And other Farming Machines for Horse Power use. Circulars containing List of Prices, and full description and •Cuts of each Machine, with statement of their capacities for work, will, oh application, be sent by mail, free. p^- Liberal Discount* are mad-e to Dealers. RESPONSIBLE AGENTS ARE WANTED in sections where ■we have none. Address . WHEELER, MELICK <& CO., ALBANY, N. Y. SEEDS! SEEDS! SEEDS! BY MAIIj. 33Y JMATTi. In Large Quantities by Express or R. R. Extra Early Cedo Null) Peas, best for Summer plant- ing per qt.. 80c. ♦Madras (edible pod) Badish per pkt. . 10c French Scarlet Turnip Badish, may be sown at any time with success during the summer. p. lb. 75c. p. oz. .10c Black Fall or Spanish Badish •. per lb. 75e. per oz.. 10c ♦Rose Colored Chinese Winter do., splendid for late sowing, keeps well all winter " ..20c ♦Early Curled Silesia Lettuce, the best for succession and Summer crops " ..20c Fine Long Orange Carrot per lb. 75c. " ..10c Red Altritigham do " 75c. " . .10c Corn Salad or Fetticus, excellent for Fall and Winter use " 75c. " ..10c *New Speckled Lima Beans (extra fine) per pkt. .25c Horticultural Pale or Speckled Cranberry Beans per qt..25c Early Mohawk Bush Beans (the most productive). . . " ..20c. *Fine Lung Green Cucumber for pickles or ta' le use per lb. $1.50 per oz.. 20c *N. J. Hybrid Cucumber (extra long varieU) '• ..30c *West India Gherkin for pickling per pkt. 5e. " ..40c. *Fme Green Curled Endive for fall and winter Salad " ..20c. *True Hubbard Squash " ..20c ♦Honolulu Nectarine do " ..30c ♦Seven Year Pumpkin, very best late keeping sort.. " ..30c. ♦White Leghorn Squash, a fine variety, growing to weigh 150 lbs per pkt.. 25c ♦New White Japan Melon, the very ealirest in culti- vation, and of superior flavor " ..25c TURNIP SEKIK Early White Dutch, finest early variety per lb. 75c. p. oz..10c Bed Top Strap Leat for early or late use.. " White Strap Leaf do do do .. ' Yellow Stone, fine Winter variety for fami- ly use ' Yellow Aberdeen or Scotch ' Bobson's Golden Ball or Orange Jelly ' Waite's Eclipse, very productive ' English Green Globe ' English White Norfolk ' White French — We recommend this as the finest and most productive winter va- riety in cultivation either for family use or for field culture Improved Buta Baga of our own growth . Skirving's do Laing's do English Purple Top do FLOWER SEEDS. ♦Beaulifnl Collections Phlox Drummondii (5 distinct sorts)... 40c ♦Beautiful Collections of Portulacca (7 distinct sorts) 35c ♦10 Varieties of Keautiful Annuals 50c. ♦25 do do do $1 *50 do do do and Pereunials $2 ♦100 do do do do $4 OT/R OWN SELECTION. Any of the above varieties marked thus ♦ will be MAILED FKEE OF CHABGE on receipt of the amount annexed. For all the others, if required by mail, an additional 1 cent per ounce must' be remitted. J. M. THOBBUEN & CO., Seed Warehouse, 15 John St., New York. 75c. " .10c 75c. u ..10& 75c. a ..10c. 5ue. " ..10c" 75c. (C ..10c 75c. ft ..10c. 50c. u ..10c 5(Jc. ..10c. 75c « ..10c. 75c. «( ..1()C 50c. (( ..10c 50c. !< ..10c' 50c. 16 ..10c- Show and Sale of South Down Sheep. PROVIDENCE permitting, my TwelfHi Annual Sale of Year- ling Bams, Bam and Ewe Lambs, will take place on WED- NESDAY, Sept. 3d 1862. Having used Mr. Webb's choice stock Bams the past four ye^pi on my flock, and imported the best Breeding Ewes from his floSk. I can with confidence invite the attendance ef all Sheep Breeders at said sale, when 1 hope to show size, thrift, wool and fine quality -surpassed by no flock in any country. Please send for ciicular. Particulars abotit routes, &c,'in August papers as welt as in cir- cular Ji C. TAi f/OB, June— 2t HoLmdel, N. J. TO THE UNEMPLOYED. I CAN GIVE STEADY EMPLOYMENT to active young men to solicit orders for the LITTLE GIANT SKWIIVG MACHINE— Price, $15. Hemmer, Gauge. Screw-driver and extra Needles. Will pay a liberal salarv and expenses, or allow large commissions. COUNTY EIGHTS given to Agents. An Agent wanted in every County. For particulars, descriptive catalogue, &c, ad- dress, wKh stamp, T.S.PAGE, Gen'l Agent for U. S., Toledo, O. Peruvian (~i OVEENMENT Brand and We Guano ht, SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. BONE DUST, LAND PLASTER, For sale by * A. LONGETT, 84 Oliff street, corner of Fulton, N. Y. A AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. GOOD assortment, for sale by A. LONGETT, 84 Cliff street, cor, of Fulton, New York. THE GENESEE FARMER. m Price, $15. Books tor Farmers and Fruit Growers. TIIE following works on Agriculture. Horticulture, &c., may be obtained at the Office of the Genksek Farmer : 75,Quimby's Mysteries of Bee- 50j keeping Explained 100 Dana's Muck Manual 1 00 Do. Prize Essay on Ma- nures 25 Everybody's Lawyer. $1 & 1 25 Every Lady her own Flow er Gardener 50 Farm Drainage, (H. F. French) 1 00 Genesee Farmer (bound American Florist's Guide Bright on Grape Culture Browne's Bird Fancier. .25 & 50JRabbi"t Fancier ~ ." ." . 25 & 5o Cole's Am. Fruit Book __ 50 Uichardson on the Hog. ... 25 Do. Domestic Fowls 25 Do. Pests of the Farm . . . 25 Do. on the Dog 25 Rural Annual and Hort, Directory for 1S01 25 (First Ave vols, do., 1S56-7- 8-9 and 60, sent for. 1 00 Rodgers' Scieniific Agricul- ture 75 volumes) each 1 00 Rural Poetry of t.e En- Liebig's Animal Chemistry 25| glish Language, (a beau- Liebig on Food, &e 25 tiful book for a present). . 3 00 Do. Relations of Chemistry Smith's Landscape Gard'g 1 25 to Agriculture 25 Skillful Housewife 25 Miner's Bee-keeper's Man- |The Rose Guitarist 25 & 50 ual 1 00 The Horse and his Diseases 1 00 Modern Cookery, 'by Miss Wilson on Flax 25 Acton and Mrs. S. J. Hale 1 00 Touatt on the Horse .." 1 25 Nash's Practical Horse Far- Do. on Sheep " . 75 rier 50l Do. on the Hog.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.' 75 K5P~Any of the above named works will be forwarded by mall post-paid. vr. receipt of the price specified. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. T. ITALIAN QUEEN BEES. I SHALL continue to breed Ihis season from my well known stock of Italian Bees, imported in March. 1861. by steamer New York. I guarantee the perfect purity of my Queens, being In possession of the Only Six Live Original Italian Queens in the United Stales. To suit the times, I have reduced my price to $7 50 for a Queen and a few hundred workers. For particulars apply to C. WM. ROSE, Apnl— 3t 63 Exchange Place, New York. "WJVE. PATERSON'S Improved Superphosphate of Lime, MANUFACTURED and for sale at Division Street Wharf Newark, N. J., and by the manufacturer's agents in this and )ther Stales. ^T" CIRCULARS, with particular instructions for use, will be lent by mail when requested, or on application to his a^edts mu ,, WM. PATERSON^ The oldest manufacturer of Superphosphate of Lime in the Union. April-3t rnMPLOYMENT.-A NEW ENTERPRISE. The Franklin 1JJ Sewing Machine Co. want a number of active Local and l raveling Agents. A liberal salary and expenses paid or com- mission allowed. Address, with stamp, HARRIS BROTHERS poston, Mass. {Clip this out for reference.) April— 8t ' Everybody should have a Copy. Sural gnral stir Jmtmlknl Jimtorg, 3P OIR, 1862. PRICE ONLY TWENTY-FIVE CENTS: TH? ,£?rai Annual <™d Horticultural Directory is a book nffljS ?h P^geS' Pub!isbed at l'le beginning of each year, at the office of the Genesee Farmer. It is filled with matter interesting and useful to every one engaged in the culture of the soil, in town, village, country or city. ' ' subec'ts^ the contents wiU be found artidsa on the following PLANTING FRUIT TREES ; ANNUALS AND THEIR CULTURE; EVERLASTING FLOWERS; MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC WINES- CULTURE OF DWARF AND STAND ARd' PEARS • CULTIVATION OF THE CEREALS ; ON CIDER MAKING; AMOUNT OF ROOTS FROM CLOVER AND GRASSES- CUTTING POTATOES FOR PLANTING ■ CHINESE HOGS; , HENS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT; CULTURE OF THE PEACH IN THEMIDDLE STATES- COVERING GRAPE VINES IN WINTER • TREATMENT OF MILCH COWS; APPLICATION OF MANURE; CULTURE OF WHITE BEANS ; THE ENGLISH MUTTON SHEEP, With a great variety of other matters of general interest. Price only 25 cents. It will be sent prepaid by return mail to any address bend the money in postage stamps AddT>eS.Sr ^ , u A JOSEPH HARRIS, I ubhsher of the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual, Rochester, N. Y. «3P The Rural Annual has been published seven vears The seven numbers-lor the years 1856, '67, '58. '59, '60 '61 and' b'2— will be sent, prepaid, by return mail, to any address Ibr $1 40 K'OR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS- PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored FOR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLACE for UDDer thread, and BROOK'S SIX CORD RED TICKET for unde? thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and counYrv al£ L1,C5S?3 of 10J dozen each> assor.ed numbers, by WM HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. j" -ly RHODE'S SUPERPHOSPHATE, The Standard Manure, ENDORSED by Prof. S. W. Johnson. G. A. Liebig and Dr. Evan Pugh. Sold under a Legal Guarantee of purity and freedonifrom all adulteration. H. E. MORING, Gf!neral Agent, 97 Pearl street, near Hanover Square, New York, to whom agriculturists and dealers of New York and New Ene- Iand will apply. b. M. RHODES & CO.. Ma>'~ 2t Office, 82 South street, Baltimore. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the Wood Cuts used in the Gene- see farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A book containing impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipt of 50 cents. The boob contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts wiU be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. fe1 00 PiF MONTH-Made by any one with Stencil Tools, |[p vxryj Jbor a circular explaining the business Addref JOHN MILLIKEN, May— ly. _ A Lawrence, Mass. ITALIAN BEES. ITALIAN QUEENS of brilliant color, purity guaranteed for- »K nnwar^etlby exPres8 ,0 an>' Part of the United fctates. Price, 85 00. Cash to accompany the order. £^"No Dark colored Queens sent out from our Apiary ..... „ baker & taylor) April— 4t Hulmeville, Bucks County, Pa. CENTS EACH-MICROSCOPES magnifying 500 times. Five of different powers, $1. Mailed frle. -3t* F. H. BO WEN, Box 220, Boston, Mass. 28 200 THE GENESEE FARMER. Half Volume of the Genesee Farmer. js:e»:eox A3j frizes. FOR Family and Manufacturing Use, 495 BROADWAY^NEW YORK. V. C GOODWIN, S3 State St., Rochester, N. Y. Agencies in all the principal Cities and Towns in the United States. THE GROVER^T BAKER S. M. CO. HOW OFFER IN ADDITION TO THEIR SPLENDID STOCK OF MACHINES, MAKING THE CELEBRATED GROVES & BAKER STSKH, NEW AND SUPERIOR Shuttle, or "Lock-Stitch" Machines, A DAPTED to all varieties of sewing. Much more Simple A Durable, N useless? and Perfect thau any other lock-suteh machines heretofore in use. K^-The Grover & Baker machines have taken the first pre rahSts, over all competition, at every State Fair where they were exhibited last year. _____ BOARDMAU, GRAY & CO., PIANOS, THE BEST AND MOST DURABLE. Our large, elegant and superior Pianos of 7 and VA Octaves at low price for Cash. PIANOS FOR SMAL.I* PARLORS, 6)4 and 7 Octaves, elegant and durable. All our Pianos have the Insulated Iron Rim, Giving strength and durability, and requiring less than half the usual amount of tuning. ROSE-WOOD YOUNG AMERICA PIANOS, Warranted to prove good and give perfect satisfaction, or no sale. gST-SEN'D FOR DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUES. BOARDMAN, GRAY & CO., Manufacturers, Jnne-8t_ ALBANY, N. Y._ THE FIVE CENT MONTHLY MAGAZINE ! The Cheapest and Best Literary Magazine in the Country. EACH number contains 32 bound pages of Choice, Ordinal articles on a great variety of subjects, interspersed with 1 o- eUAftcr "the issue of the number for June next, the Five Cent Monthly will eon.:,',! NO MoltE CON . INUED STOUIES, so that each number shall be n complete book Of itselt EF- SUBSCRIPTION PRICE ONLY FIFTY CENTS A YEAR. . .. Persons sending the amount of subscription will receive it.e Monthly free of poslaee. t-pedmen copies will be sent to ari\ SSSS* ree'eiptof five'eent* All < =— « *ou!d be addressed to ^^ ™™BOH ^ June— 2t No. 3 Tremont Row, Boston, Mass. A half volume of the Genesee Farmer commences with the next number. It will be sent to any address for ticenty-Jire oewts, and the following Premiums will be paid to ull who send us subscribers; , BOOK PREMIUMS. 1. To any person sending us the names of two subscribers for the coming half volume of the Genesee Farmer at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaid's Directory, by Mrs. Eliza A. Call or one copy of the literal Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1S60 or 1861. 2. To anv person sending us fowr subscribers to the half vol- ume at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, two copies of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for any years that may be wished. 3. To any person sending us six, subscribers to the half vol- ume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three volumes of the Rural Annual. 4. To any person sending us eight subscribers to the half vol- ume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, one copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farrier. Price, 50 cents. 5. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half vol- urne, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, one copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1856, niceiy bound in stiff pa- per covers. Price, 75 cents. 6. To any person sending us Uoelee subscribers to the half volume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a bound volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1S60 or 1861. Price of the latter, $1. 7. To any person sending us fourteen subscribers at 25 cents ench, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Mrs. S. J. Hale's Modern Cookery. Price, $1.00. 8. To any person sending us sixteen subscribers, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Every- body's Lawyer, or a copy of The Horse and his Diseases. Price, $1.25. 9. To any person sending us forty subscribers at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Rural Poetry of the English Language. Price, $3.00. GRAPE VINE PREMIUMS. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half volume, at 25 cents each, we will forward, prepaid by mail, to any part of the United States one Delaware grape vine For sixteen subscribers, two Delaware, grape vines. For twenty-four subscribers, three Delaware grape vines. For tnirty subscribers, four Delaware grape vines. For thirty-four subscribers, fioe Delaware grape vines, or one each of Delaware, Concoad, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific and Crivelin. The grape vines will be sent in time tor planting next fall. We offer these Premiums for subscribers to the half volume, commencing with the July number. The first six numbers of in s year can still be furnished, and one subscription to the whole volume, at 50 cents, will count the same as as two to th* half volume, at 25 cents each. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Gf.ni see Faritrb, Juno 1,1863. Rochester, N. Y. Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, JULY, 1862. No 7. THE VALUE OF STRAW FOR FODDER. In the last "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England," Dr. Voelcker gives the results of investigations on the " Composition and Nutri- tive Value of Straw." Like all Dr. Voelcker's productions, it is a paper abounding with practical suggestions and scientific facts. It is the most in- teresting contribution to agricultural science that has appeared for some time. Many farmers, Dr. V. thinks, '• form much too low an estimate of the feeding value of every kind of straw except pea- tiaulru." Perhaps this is true, but in this country tve have thought that some farmers estimate it too highly, as they feed little else ! The value of straw as a fertilizing substance is jertainly over estimated by most American farm- ers. In itself, it contains a very small proportion }f fertilizing constituents. "Its chief value," Dr. V. remarks, "are as an absorbent of the most valuable portions of the excrements of animals, md as the best fixer of the ammonia which is al- ways generated when excrementitious matters in intact with porous materials and a sufficient mantity of moisture enter into active fermentation, rhe action of straw in fixing ammonia may be thus explained. During the fermentation of dung the ivoody fibre of straw is converted by degrees into llmic, humic, and similar organic acids, which im- part to liquid manure or to the drainings of dung- leaps a more or less dark brown color. The grad- lal resolution of the nitrogenized part of the ex- ;rements into ammoniacal compounds proceeds limultaneously with the formation of organic acids jelonging to the humic acid series. All the acids )f that series possess great affinity for ammonia, in virtue of which they unite with the ammonia of he volatile carbonate of ammonia, which, without he addition of a proper quantity of litter, would vaporate from a heap of fermenting excrements. Straw thus furnishes the raw material for the pro- luction of a number of organic acids, which, by laying hold of ammonia, preserve that most valua- ble constituent in our manure." In other words, straw does not contain much fertilizing matter it- self, but it affords the means of preserving the ammonia produced by feeding out grain, oil-cake, clover hay, etc. Those who do not feed out these rich foods fail to avail theniselves of the chief use of straw on the farm, so far as the manure heap is concerned. The quantity of water in well harvested straw at the time it is stacked varies from 25 to 3G per cent. After stacking, a good deal of water evapo- rates, and soon sinks to 16 or 18 per cent. Straw is such an hygroscopic substance that the quan- tity of water it contains varies greatly according to the state of the atmosphere. Dr. V. found as little as 8 per cent, and as much as 19 per cent, of water in straw taken at different times from the outside of the same stack! He thinks that, on an average, straw contains about 10 per cent, of water. WHEAT STRAW. Two samples of wheat straw were analyzed, one fairly ripe, the other over-ripe. They contained, in 100 lbs. : Over-ripe. 9.17 4.»1 S6.02 100.00 100.00 The ripe straw contained 1.10 per cent, of oil, while the over-ripe contained only 0.65; of gum, sugar and extractive matter, the ripe contained 6.28 ; the over-ripe, only 3.46 ; of soluble protein compounds, ripe 0.50, over-ripe only 0.06 — that is to say, the ripe straw contained more than eight times as much as the over-ripe straw. From these results it would appear that the ripe straw is worth twice as much as that which is over-ripe. BARLEY STRAW. In this case two samples were also taken, one " not too ripe," the other " dead ripe." The for- mer contained of substances soluble in water, 12.40j and the latter only 5.80 per cent. Here Ripe. Water 8.14 Substances soluble in water 8.77 Substances insoluble in water 83.09 202 THE GENESEE FARMER. again, the early cut straw is worth double that which is dead ripe. The barley straw on the whole is more nutritious than wheat straw. Dr. V. thinks that " barley straw not too ripe, is nearly equal to oat straw, cut in the same state of maturity." It is of softer texture and contains more albuminous matter than wheat straw. OAT STRAW. Three samples of oat straw were examined, one "green," another "fairly ripe," and the third " over ripe." In this case, as in the others, the degree of ripeness greatly affected the composition and nutritive value of the straw. Of soluble pro- tein compounds, the green straw contained when dry, 6.56, the ripe 3.13, and the over-ripe 1.54 per cent. ; of sugar, gum, mucilage and extractive mat- ters, the green contained 19.08, the ripe 12.59, and the over-ripe 3.79 per cent. The total per centage of nitrogen in the dry state was: green 1.62, ripe 0.76, over-ripe 0.68. These are very remarkable result. The amount of protein or flesh forming compounds in green oat straw is as large as in ordinary meadow hay. The greater portion of this matter, too, is found in a soluble condition and would therefore be easily di- gested. As the straw approaches maturity this nitrogenized matter dwindles down to less than one-half. "The question arises," says Dr. V., "what becomes of all the nitrogenized matter, which disappears with extreme rapidity when our oereal crops arrive at maturity? Although I have not made any special experiments with a view of ascertaining this point, it does not appear to me likely that this matter is all stored up in the grain ; and I have not much doubt that, as observed by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, a considerable loss of nitrogen takes place in the growth of corn-crops, which loss is particularly noticeable when the crop arrives at maturity." Of sugar, gum, and other matters soluble in water, not less than 19 per cent, are found in the green straw, against less than 4 per cent, in the over-ripe straw. These are the most valuable nu- tritive constituents, and the results show that the straw of oats cut green is four times as nutritious as that allowed to get over- ripe. The sugar, etc., of the straw is turned into indigestible woody fibre. The green straw contains only 25 per cent- of this substance, while the fairly ripe straw con- tains 32, and the over-ripe 42 per cent, of this in- digestible matter. Dr. V. suggests that where oats are raised for use on the farm, it would be well to out them in the green state and feed them out without thrash- ing. This is often done in England, and we have known a number of working horses kept in good condition all winter on this chopped green fodder, without any hay or grain. PEA STRAW. Pea-haulm is considered by English farmers the most nutritious of all straw, and the analyses of Dr. V. confirm this opinion. It contains 14 per cent, of soluble matter, 1^ per cent, of nitrogen, and over 2J per cent, of oil. It approximates more closely to hay than any other straw. Assuming that all are harvested in like degrees of maturity and condition, Dr. V. thinks pea straw best, oat straw next, then barley, and wheat last. A FEW WORDS ON HAYING. A considerable amount of hay has already been safely mowed away, but yet the great bulk of the hay crop of the country is still to be harvested. Its cutting, curing and gathering will form no in- considerable portion of the labor of the farm du- ring the first half of the present month. Fortu- nately, the general introduction of mowing ma- chines and of "hay elevators" greatly facilitate the operations, and the work need no longer be dreaded. These machines, too, enable us to cut at the right time, and to secure the crop in the best and most expeditious matter. The " right time " to cut, however, is a matter not fully determined. There are those who think that our ordinary meadow grasses should be al- lowed to stand till the seeds are nearly or fully ripe. There can be little doubt that this practice gives the largest amount of produce per acre. On the other hand, the great majority of experienced farmers are in favor of cutting while the grasses are iu flower, or, at the latest, as soon as the seed is formed, and while it is in the milk. Much has been written on this subject, and many experiments made to decide the question, but as yet we have no certain proof as to the best time to cut gras for hay. The reason of this is, thai the old methods of chemical analysis employed to determine the amount of nutritive substances in grass cut at different times, are now thought to be inaccurate. The results, therefore, can not be re- lied upon. Till further experiments are made, we must rely on practical experience. Our own opinion is that there is some danger of cutting grass too soon. We should prefer to wait till the seed is partly formed, rather than to cut while the grass is in blossom. On the other hand, THE GENESEE FARMER. 203 e should prefer to cut while it is in hlossom ther than to wait till the seed is even approb- ating to ripeness. It is better to be too early than o late. It must not be forgotten, too, that when grass is t early the aftergrowth is much heavier. Many fanners contend that it is injurious to tim- hy or permanent meadows to cut too close — cer- inly not closer than an inch. As to the best method of curing hay, there is o much difference of opinion. It seems to be cided, however, that if properly cured the less i grass is exposed to the hot sun and drying nds the better. Hay is often dried too much, cured so that it will keep well in the mow, that ill that is desirable. If cut with the machine in i morning after the dew is off, and left spread on i ground till one or two o'clock, it can be drawn o winrows with the horse-rake, and put into all cocks towards evening, and then put in the n the next day or the day after. If the grass is y heavy, it will need turning while lying spread i on the ground, before it is- ready to rake up. CLOVER HAT. Ls a general rule, clover hay is undervalued in i country. For sheep, there is no hay equal to md even for horses, when properly cured, it is ellent. 'o cure a heavy crop of clover is more difficult n to cure a crop of grass. At all events, it oc- ies more time. Clover is quite succulent. We e determined the quantity of water in many iples and found it to amount to from 75 to 80 cent. It takes some time to get rid of this ;e quantity of water, though in our dry, hot late clover can be cured much more readily i in Western Europe, and especially in England Ireland. lover, from its succulent nature and tender •es, is more liable to scorch when exposed too :h to a hot sun than timothy or other grasses. this reason, it should be cured in the cock as :h as possible. Another point to be observed he saving of the leaves. These are the most [able portion of the plant, and unfortunately off easily when not carefully handled. For this on, when cut with a scythe clover should not pread out. It must be allowed to remain in sward, and be turned in the afternoon before ;ing into cocks. It is then left in the cocks till ciently cured, which will be in three or four ?, according to circumstances. It is well to turn cocks before drawing them in. In England, where the weather is often very "catching," clover bay is mixed with straw in stacking, a thin layer being spread between the layers of clover. The dry straw absorbs the juices of the clover, and the cattle eat straw and all with a relish. A quart of salt to each load can also be scattered upon it to advantage. Another method practiced by the English farmers in stacking clover hay may be mentioned. When the hay is so damp that there is danger of its heat- ing excessively, a large four bushel sack is filled with cut straw and placed upright in the centre of the stack, the clover being placed round it. As the stack rises with each additional layer of hay, pull up the sack, and so on to the top. This will leave a chimney in the centre of the stack, through which the gases and moisture can escape. In this country, such a practice is seldom needed, but may occasionally be resorted to with advantage. "NOV/ YOU LOOK LIKE A GENTLEMAN." Such was the remark we heard a farmer's daugh- ter make, a short time since, to her brother. He had been hard at work, and his clothes, and espe- cially his boots, were covered with dust and dirt. His cravat was untied, his hat slouched, and alto- gether he presented rather an untidy appearance. He felt dirty and uncomfortable. He sat down, took up a paper, but seemed uneasy. At length a sudden idea seemed to strike him. He sprang up with resolution in his eye. Presently the blacking brush was heard in the woodshed, and the broom whisp played a lively tune on the dusty coat and pants. Shortly our young friend made his appear- ance, smart and clean, and bright as a button. "Now you look like a gentleman/' said his sister, and truly. Better still, he felt like one. And why should not farmer's sons look like gen- tlemen ? There is surely nothing in their vocation to hinder. It is the " most honorable, the most healthy, and the most useful pursuit of man." Why should not those who follow it be gentlemen? In the majority of cases they are gentlemen. Why should they not look like gentlemen? It must be confessed that they do not. Don't be of- fended, for we are ever ready to "stand up" for Ainericau farmers, and especially for the young farmers of this country and Canada. Take them as a whole, they are second to none in industry, enterprise and general intelligence. Perhaps a little too self-important, but that we can excuse in young men otherwise unexceptionable. In intelli- gence, they compare favorably with the farmers 204 THE GENESEE FARMER. and farmers' sons of any other nation— but in per- sonal appearance, No! When the late Rev. Rob- ert Newton, the eloquent English Methodist preacher, himself a farmer's son, returned home from, a visit to this country, in a conversation with a friend of the writer, he spoke highly of the in- telligence of American farmers, of their ingenuity of their sialwart frames and strong arms with which they had cleared the forest and made it hlossom.as a rose; "but," he added, "they are rather a rough looking set of men." This was twenty years ago. Since then the con- dition of American farmers has materially changed for the better. The heavy work of clearing the land has been accomplished. The rude log-cabin has given place to the neat frame house, and taste, refinement, and the comforts of high civilization characterize the majority of the homes of our rural residents. Still, we can not but think that our farmers son's neglect their personal appearance too much. .We detest a fop. We have no admiration for a dandy. We have little respect for the young man Who boasts more of his fast horses than of his skill in turning a straight furrow. We do not want farmer's son's to be gentlemanly (?) loafers; but we 'do want to see them pay more attention to their style of dress, to their habits, manners and general appearance. Why need a farmer's boots be innocent of black- inften embellished the pages of the Genesee Farmer, sends us the following description of a Potato Bird : It is a new genus. You will find no figure of ;his "rara avis" in the most celebrated works on )rnithology, like Audubon's, Prof. Gould's, &c. — 't has proved to be a very fine bird, .hough, one always on the wing to lo good service, — a solution of that grand problem, the " perpetual mo- ion"; with, of course, the only addi- ;ional qualification that, as long as t is lasting, and the body, head, vings and tail keep together, it is )erpetually moving. Its name is ;iven by good authors as "Potato 3ird," and it belongs to the interest- ng family of the Scarecrows. Habit. — It lives in the cheapest >ossible wr;y, viz: on air, — which nvolves another important point — t don't cost its owner a bit to keep fc alive. The Great Purpose. — The busi- less of its existence is to protect he seed plants of turnips, cabbages, isc, from the depredations of small nrds, like the Yellow bird ; and it ulfils its destiny very faithfully in caring away those winged, cunning hiefs, those pests of the garden and arm, perhaps as effectually as the oyal eagle, the swift falcon, or the doomy, wise-looking owl. Although t is a mocking bird, still it is only inartificial bird. That is the secret; md no doubt every ingenious reader las found it out by this time — and lere follows the receipt to manufac- ure one : Composition. — One large potato, say a big 'inkeye, adorned with feathers of any kind — those >f a defunct chicken do very well — stuck in in such |, way that the the largest feathers form the point |f the wings, the tail being feniike and spreading. the head is a small potato ; the neck a little stick onnecting the head and body ; the bill two quills r sticks; legs, ditto. In the body, small feathers |jiay be inserted ad libitum. A pole eight or ten et in length is set in the ground between the ed plants, to the top of which is attached a nailer piece in a hoiizontal position. At the end f this a strong twine about fifteen feet long is istened, which passes through the body of the otato bird in the middle — and then the kite is iady to fly and to scare the native birds. In these our days of patent inventions, many a ercenary soul given to speculation at the expense his cotemporaries, would hare tried to get a itent on such a grand and useful invention ; but te inventor bids his fellow readers of the Genesee irmer welcome to share the profits, and if this lent messenger of love and protection for their fields and gardens proves himself useful in saving their seeds by the ounce, |K>und, or even hundred- weight, expects nothing in return but their silent thanks. And if they have no serious objections^ something more on kindred subjects might follow, illustrated by his peu and pencil. Besides, he detests the possible danger of a formidable law suit with some insidious individual vho might claim a perogative to the invention, on the old adage that there is " nothing new under the sun." Nil novi sub sole. t^*ttACV"*>- THB POTATO BIRD. Liquid Manure. — S. Edwards Todd, in on^of," Ids many interesting and instructive eojiimufcica- tions to the Country Gentleman, remarks.:- "I have known farmers to haul liquid manure to the corn field, and pour about a pimt of it around each hill when the corn was more than afoot high. But such manure must be applied with care, for it will injure the corn, and perhaps kill it, if it be sprinkled on the leaves. "My daughter applied a little liquid manure to our tomato plants, and killed them." Very likely. We once knew a gardener who had a choice lot of cabbage planfs that he wished to push forward as much as possible before trans- planting. He took a quantity of fresh liquid from , the cow stable, and watered them with it. Every plant died. The fact is that fresh urine is injurious to plants. It should be fermented before it is applied, and also be diluted with twice its quantitj of water. 208 THE GENESEE FARMER. UE"8waEIsc A OESIGN FOR A THOUSAND DOLLAR FARM HOUSE WANTED. PLAN FOR A SMALL FARM HOUSE. over 3. A passage next the stairs leads to a small We should feel obliged if some of our readers would furnish us with designs for a farm house, costing not to exceed from $1,000 to $1,500. To set the ball in motion, we here annex a description of a house built for a gentleman in Wisconsin : • • • • GPOUVD FLOOR. CHAMBER FLOOR. First Stqry. — 1. Rustic porch covered by a vine 2. Entrance or vestibule. 3. Family room, 15x16 feet, with fireplace. 4. Alcove or recess for a bed, with a closet. 5. Living room, 15x16 feet. 6. Pantry. Y. Oven. ■8. Shows how a kitchen may be added, with a rustic verandah on the side. To this kitchen may be added a scullery, dairy, etc., as occasion requires. 9. Staircase, with cellar stairs underneath. Second Story. — The stair landing is over the oven ; a large closet over 4, between which and the chimney is a door opening into a large chamber bed-room over 2, and a partition divides the space over 5 into two chambers. When the kitchen wing is added, the second story will furnish two more chambers, both of which may be entered from the stair landing, by doors on each side of the kitchen chimney. This arrangement supposes the chamber divided by a partition running from the chimney to the rear end of the room. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. The Sex of Eggs. — M. Genin lateiy addressed fhf Academie des Sciences on the subject of " The Sex of Eggs." He affirms that he now is able, after having studied the subject for upwards of three years, to state with assurance that all eggs containing the germ of males have wrinkles on their smaller ends, while female egg; are smooth at the extremities. California Wheat at the Great Internationa] Exhibition. — The London Agricultural Gasettt, in i notice of the agricultural department of the great Inter national Exhibition, says : "The finest Wheat shown at any of the stands, and th finest that we have seen in the building, is the exquisitel; beautiful sample of ' Wheat from California,' shown b Mr. W. E. Chambers, of Mark Lane, at stand 708, of pure cream color, everv grain like its neighbor, a short small, thin-skinned, full-bodied berry, with no stain c deeper tinge on anv part of its surface, and weighing <> pounds a bushel— this specimen may be taken as an ex ample of what Wheat ought to be. In the same case ar specimens of a good six-rowed Barley in ear. "Is the Hog a Grazier?" — The Maine Farmer ha known a hog to live all the year round and keep in goo oider, on grass in summer and clover hay in winter Green clover is undoubtedly good for hogs, but we di not know that they would thrive on clover hay. A corn spondent of the Country Gentleman, however, gives a account of twenty-five shoats that were provided wit warm and comfortable quarters and fed on clover ha alone, and says they were in better condition than man shoats having grain and no shelter. THE GE^TISEE FARMER. 209 A Great Cabbage Stort.— The California Farmer, of April 11, says: "We kuow a case where a farmer having a good lot of cabbage is now selling them at $7 to $8 the hundred lbs. ; from this crop alone he will realize some $12,000 to $15,000 for cabbages raised the past autumn." To Kill Lice on Stock of all Kinds. — A correspon- dent of the Country Gentleman says: "Take one ounce of ' cocculus indicus,' which should be bought of any druggist at from ten to twelve cents per pound, and steep it iu one gallon of water, and apply as is recommeded for tobacco extract. It will be found quite as effectual, and much more pleasant to use. I have used it with unvary- ing success for killing lice on canary birds. Dip them in, keeping the head out, and soak well. It is perfectly safe." Tanning Skins. — A correspondent of the New England Fanner gives the following method of tanning fox and coon skins : " If the skin is green from the body, scrape all the flesh from it, then pulverize equal parts of salt- petre and alum, and cover the flesh part of the skin with it; put the flesh in in such a manner as to hold the brine when dissolved, then lay it away in a cool place, — say the cellar — and let it lay four or or six days; then cover the flesh part with soft soap, and wash oil' clean with water. Dry in the shade, roll and pull occasionally while dry- ing; then roll and pnll until soft and pliable." Hungarian Grass. — It is some four or five years since this grass was introduced, and each succeeding year a larger breadth has been sowu. It is now, says the Prairie Farmer, "one of the standard crops of the West." It is a prolific grass, yielding considerably more per acre than either the prairie or tame grasses, and is superior to the common Millet, though not differing materially from it iu its nature. Its seed is more oily, and consequently a heavier feed thau Millet, is a somewhat more vigorous grower, and hence a surer crop. Indeed, so deep-rooted is it, *,hat severe drouth does uot affect it in the least, and it may be sown upon the highest and dryest soils without fear of failure. All kinds of stock, cattle, horses, sheep and hogs are extremely fond of it, and when fed judiciously, we have yet to hear of an instance where any injurious effects have followed its use. Doubtless many horses have been injured, perhaps killed outright by its use, but these cases, to the best of our knowledge, are where the seed has been given immoderately, just as over-feeding of any heavy grain will produce disease in animals. Magnitude of the Egg Trade. — Few have any idea of the magnitude of the egg trade carried on between the city of New York and the Western States. The New York Tribune gives the following as one item in the business : " One wholesale produce commission house on Friday, May 16th, received 320 barrels of eggs; 1G5 barrels were consigned by one man in Peoria, Illinois, and all came forward in one shipment. These were sold at buyer's risk, at 8$ cents a dozen packers count— the best fresh eggs counted out being worth, say, 10 cents a dozen. — The same house had previously received two shipments of 120 barrels each from the same man, and sold them at 10£ cents a dozen. On being advised of the last shipment, the house telegraphed the shipper that eggs had declined to 9 cents or less, asking instructions. The shipper re- plied, 'Go ahead; it is your business to sell eggs. I will take care of my end of the line. Lots of hens iu Illinois ; plenty of corn and eggs are cheap.' Decidedly they must be, to pay cost, freight, commission, and a profit on 8§ cents a dozen- Illinois is a great country. Great on eggs, and New York is a mighty place for eating all that Illinois can produce." Horsebacks. — The Maine Farmer says : " It is not a little remarkable, that what with us are denominated horsebacks, and which are found in considerable numbers in our State, seem to be a peculiar characteristic of our own soil, as they scarcely occur out of the State, and nothing at all similar to them described out of New Eng- land, unless it be the escars of Northern Europe. The general features of these horsebacks, are a narrow ridge of coase sand and gravel, attaining a height of from thirty to forty feet, situated in a level country, with some- times an undulating summii,the extreme ends being gen- erally of the same elevation above the ocean." Relative Value of Food for Milch Cows. — The Scottish Farmer observes : " Several French and German chemists estimate the relative value of several descrip- tions of food for milch cows as follows : That 100 pounds of good hay are worth 200 pounds of potatoes ; 460 pounds of beet root, with the leaves ; 350 pounds of Siberian cabbage ; 250 pounds of beet root, without the leaves ; 250 pounds of carrots; 80 pounds of hay, clover, Spanish trefoil, or vetches ; 50 pounds of oilcake or colza; 250 pounds of pea straw and vetches ; 300 pounds of barley and oat straw; 400 pounds of rye or wheat straw; 25 pounds of peas, beans or vetch seed ; 50 pounds of oats ; or 500 pounds of green trefoil, Spanish trefoil or vetches. Cheap Summer Feed for Hogs. — A correspondent of the Homestead gives the following as an economical man- ner of summer feeding hogs, practiced by one of his neighbors. Simon Brown, of the N. E. Farmer, says he has practiced this plan for many years, and finds it an ex- cellent one : "A few rods of grass-plat convenient to the pen is reserved for this purpose, and is manured by the weekly suds from the wash-room. Commencing at one side of the plat, a large basket of the thick, short grass is mowed each morning while the dew is on, and a part given to the swine at each feeding three times a day. By the time the last portion of the grass is cut, the first is ready to be cut again, and in this way the ground is mowed over many times during the summer, while the grass is kept short, thick, tender and sweet. It keeps the hogs in a healthy growing condition — they are fed with as much as they will eat every da}', and but little addi- tional food is required besides the slops from the kfljehen." A Stort of a Chicken. — The Boston Journal vouches for the truth of the following story: A friend who keeps poultry had two hens who insisted upon setting on: one nest. The result was not altogether favorable, although, after awhile, the bipeds managed to divide the eggs. — Only one chicken was hatched from the whole nestfull. Both hens undertook the duties of mother to this chicken,, and were quite motherly for a week, when both took it into their heads to go to roost at night, utterly regardless 210 THE GE1STESEE FAPwMER. of the loud "peepr peep" of the deserted chicken, which could not follow them. The little fellow managed to fly upon the top of a barrel, where, curiously enough, the old cock— 'he head of the family— took compassion upon him and roosting on the barrel, sheltered him under his wing. This he now does nightly, the hens taking care of the chick in the day time, which is thriving well under this excess ot maternal and parental care. A "Writer in the Dollar Newspaper who has been very successful in raising turkies, manages them as follows: "First, I never allow a turkey to set until about the middle of May. They will commence to lay early in April, but I take their eggs away as fast as laid, and keep them' until they lay their second batch, which will be finished about the second or third week in May. I then give her some eighteen or twenty eggs, and let her set,— Along about the middle of June she will be off. I then take her, put her with her young on an old barn floor, or other out-building that is dry, and feed on curd and cracked corn. Curd is the best lor a continual feed when the farmer has plenty, but cracked corn or coarse meal, mixed with lobbered milk, will answer about equally as well. After they have been indoors for two or three days, or long enough to get fairly on their legs, (for the turkey is the weakest of all fowl when young,) I let them out, providing the weather is tine, and them is no dew on the grass. The great reason why people can not or do not raise' turkeys is, because they turn them out as soon as hatched, and about the first" wetting they get they keel over and die. To succeed in raising turkeys, therefore, you must keep them dry until at le«t ten weeks old, when they will stand as much water as other fowls— geese and ducks excepted. Of course, they must be driven in even- night, and on all occasions when a storm is threatening. The reader will at once perceive there is care in all this, but when 'Thanksgiving' and 'Christmas' come— to say nothing of all the Sunday roasts during the winter, our care is lost iu enjoyment, and we come to the conclusion that ' turkeys are worth raising.'" MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. Doubling Swarms of Bees.— July is the season to dou- ble or treble swarms of bees. Long experience teaches me that it is poor policy to attempt to winter weak fami- lies. I make it a rule to double all swarms that issue in July, that are small, or even medium size. Swarms may be joined when one is three days old, but it is not advisable to go beyond that time. I unite them by bringing the latest swarm, after sundown, in front of the older one, or one issued the same day, spread a sheet or blanket, set the hive not to be dislodged upon it., raised in front an inch or more, then quickly dislodge the other swarm to fall directly in front of the first hive, into which they will enter, and iu the morning they will be quiet, and will work harmoniously together. A few bees will generally be killed, but not enough to be of much consequence. ITALIAN BEES — REPLY TO MR. ROSE. The April number of the Genesee Farmer, containing a criticism by Mr. Rose on my remarks on Italian bees, was missent and came to hand late in May. I am not dis- posed to spend much time in replying to correspondents who differ with me in their views; yet I think a few re- marks on the assertions of Mr. Rose will be of interest to the bee-keeping readers of the Genesee Fanner. Mr. R. says: "I would here, for the public good, demand of Mr. Miner proof that the workers can, ' at best, be only half- breeds" This shows that he is either ignorant of the physiology of the bee, as given by the highest modern authorities, or that he discards their views. I never part with a queen until I have seen her progeny, and know them (the progeny) to be full blooded. Owing to the distance queens fl}' when on their 'first excursion,' it is necessary, in order to insure a certainty of having a ma- jority of Italian queens purely impregnated, to have com- mand of all the native bees for at least two miles distant. This, of itself, involves considerable trouble and expense,, which, together with all the expenses — first cost and im- portation— is such that it must take several years for an importer to realize from sales at any price his first sea- sou's outlay, if he ever does it." If we place a pure Italian family of bees in an apiary of black or native bees, the young Italian queens on sal- lying out to meet the drones for impregnation would be very likely to effect their object with their native drones, and their progeny would thus become " half breeds." If, however, the union of the queens and drones happens to occur with the drones of the pure Italian family, then, I admit, that the progeny of these queeus for life would be purely Italian. Mr. Rose claims that, in order to secure pure, or, as he says, merely a " majority " of pure Italian queens, it is necessary to remove all native bees within the distance of two miles. Even by effecting such removal, if it were practicable, it would only ensure a'" majority" of pure families of Italian bees, which shows that this system is not reliable. But who has ever purchased all the native bees within a circle four miles in diameter, iu order to rear pure Ital- ian bees'? I venture to assert tlftit it never was, nor never will be done, in a thickly settled country. Has Mr. Rose done it, as he would have the public infer? If he will make an affidavit to that effect, I will pay the expense thereof, and publish it in the Farmer for his especial ben- efit. Now, Mr. Rose, here is a chance to prove the purity of your Italian bees, without cost to you, and when the matter shall be published, at my expense, it will aid you materially in the sale of your queens. But how does Mr. Rose know that a distance of tivo miles will ensure even a "majority" of pure queens? No one has ever proved such an allegation. Bees fly fre- quently four to five miles. I admit that, in the general pursuit of their stores, about two miles is the extent of their flight. It is not at all certain that the removal of native bees within two miles would secure a " majority" of pure Italian queens; hence I consider what Mr. Rose says on that point simply hypothetical, wanting a practi- cal test. Will Mr. Rose also engage to remove all the wild bees in the forests, within two miles of Italian queens? If so, I think he would have adilhcnlt job on his hands in many sections of the country. What I said on Italian bees in the Genesee Farmer was simply as the case appeared to me, I did not claim infalli- bility, and if they really are superior to oar native bees, I hope to see evidence of it that is reliable — not mere as- sertions, based on no particular experience. It is time now for American bee keepers, who have purchased Ital- ian queeus, to send in accounts of their success to the press. Who will give us facts, in black and white, favor- able or otherwise '.' i. B. miner. Clinton, iV. Y. THE GENESEE FARMER 211 THORLEY'S FOOD FOR CATTLE. 8011E time since our opinion was asked in regard to this compound, and we replied that, while it contained nothing detrimental to health, and while it was undoubtedly a highly nutritious food, yet Hie price charged for it was most extravagant, and that if cattle' needed "condiments" or "cordials," they might be purchased from the druggists and mixed with oil-cake, corn meal, etc., at greatly cheaper rates than those charged for the same articles in Thorley's Food for Cattle. The question of condimental foods has elicited much attention in England, and recently formed the subject of discussion at a stated meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society. Full reports appear in the Maria Lane Express, Agricultural Gazette, and other London papers, but as they are too long for our colamns, we avail ourselves of a resume of the discussion in the Boston Cultivator, the editor of which, Sanfoud Howard, Esq., has spent two summers in England, and is able to give valuable information on this and all other subjects connected with agriculture. The preparation of compounds under the name "cattle food" has been carried on in England of late years to great extent, and so far as relates to the venders of the articles, much to the advantage of some of them. The most popular of these com- pounds has been extensively advertised under the name of -Thorley's Food tor Cattle." It has found its way to this country — agencies for its sale having been established in New York and other American cities. But as yet the sale of the "food " in this country has not been on a very great scale. If the article possesses the virtues which are claim- ed for it by its manufacturers, our farmers might make use of it advantageously. Notwithstanding the extensive use that has been made of it in Britain, there has always been con- siderable difference of opinion as to its real value. To bring the matter as nearly as practicable to a demonstrative test, Mr. Lawes, of Rothamsted, instituted, some time since, a series of experiments in feeding sheep and swine with "Thorley's food." The results of these experiments were that more of other food was required to produce a given amount of increase when the animals received a certain quantity of the artificial food, than when they had none of the latter. The report of these experiments attracted considerable attention. Af- ter much private discus-son, the general subject of cattle condiments was taken up by the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, and ably and thor- oughly discussed at a stated meeting. The testimony thus elicited varied much in re- gard to the effect producd on animals by Thorley's food. Mr. T. Beale Brown, a well known farmer and .stock-breeder, was the leading advocate of the condiment, but some other gentlemen stated that they had used Thorley's and other similar compounds with advantage. Other gentlemen. however, stated that their use of these articles had not been attended with favorable results, on the score of profit. Mr. Lawes was called on for a statement in re- gard to his experiments, and the deductions to be drawn from them. lie stated in the outset that no one who had listened to the discussion could doubt that Thorley's food had certain beneficial qualities. Mr. Brown's experience, for instance, was, that certain sheep of his which did not get fat on cake and grass, throve very well on this condiment. ' "But that," Mr. Lawes said, " icas a question of medicine.'''' He contended that the question which affected agriculturists was, whether these things were beneficial to animals in health. '■ In his ex- periments, nothing was more striking than the greatly increased consumption of food to [which these condiments led. * * * In this case there was an increased consumption of food without an increase of flesh. In other words, if the condi- ment had been given to him, he had rather not use it, because his animals, in order to produce the same amount of meat on barley meal, ate more. * * * The real question was, how much food passed through an animal to produce 100 lbs. in- crease of flesh? He found that, without Thorley's food, it required 274 lbs. of clover chaff, 137 lbs. linseed cake, and 3,824 lbs. of Swedes. With Thorley's food, it took 285 lbs. of clover chaff, 107 lbs. of linseed cake, 3,980 lbs. of Swedes, and 35 lbs. also of Thorley's food ; the difference between the two being, that in one case it took 4,236 lbs., and in the other 4,409 lbs. : that was to say, with Thorley's food about 200 lbs. more food was re- quired to produce a given increase." This result was obtained from the pigs. The re- sults from the sheep were slightly less unfavorable to the condiment. The increase was 4,536 lbs. without Thorley's food, and 4,576 with it — a differ- ence which would go but little way toward paying for the condiment. Professor Simonds said there could be no doubt that the nitrogenized material which these com- pounds contained was purchased at an enormous expense, and the results did not pay for the outlay. He had examined a great many of these condi- ments. He could readily understand that a great many of them had the effect of invigorating the system, and' therefore enabling the animal, if its digestive powers were weakened from age or some other cause, to digest a given amount of food in less space of time, and consequently to appropriate by assimilation a larger amount of food than would otherwise be assimilated. But he thought the whole might be obtained in a much simpler and safer way. He did not hesitate to say that if they were to take well ground linseed meal, and mix it with well ground bean or pea meal, or any of those highly nitrogenized matters, and add to that a small quantity ot salt, which would simply salts of soda to the functions of the liver, and increase fhe quan- tity of bile, and if they would add to that any simple stomachic substance — cummin seed, carra- way seed, ginger, gentian, or any of those materi- als which would act simply as stomachics — they- would then have all that they required, and would obtain just as much good as would be derived from any other source. The Edinburgh Veterinary Feview, in comment- ing on the discussion above referred to, speaks of 212 THE GENESEE FARMER. the general effect of condiments on animals, especi- ally on man, and remarks: "So far a9 simple con- diments are concerned, in their effects on man, physicians are as one in urging their very sparing employment. They are useless to those who, being healthy, are also moderate in their tastes, and are neither intemperate feeders nor drinkers. When a man eats for eating sake, he forces his digestive or- gans into unnatural work by cayenne and mustard, which he can not afterward dispense with without suffering from dyspepsia. Salt is the materia' most universally and necessarily employed to render foods palatable, and to aid their nutritious proper- ties. But in excess salt is also very injurious." The Review says that the Danish Government was the first to take up the subject of cattle condi- ments in a systematic manner, and that judiciously conducted experiments thus instituted, led to con- clusions similar to those published by Mr. Lawes. CULTIVATION OF INDIAN CORN. The Boston Cultivator publishes the following colloquy between farmers A. and B : A. On what kind of land do you raise corn this year, neighbor B ? B. I have planted a part of " the plain," which, you know, is rather light, dry soil. A. How do you cultivate it — I mean what is the course after planting ? B. It is planted in hills about four feet each way; I plough it and hoe it three times — weeding, half-hilling and hilling. I use the common "horse plough," and make two furrows to the row at each hoeing, working over with a hoe the spaces not plowed. Sometimes I go both ways, but I always intend to plough the second time the con- trary way from the first. I am not very particular as to the first and second hoeings or ploughing?, but at the third I want the plough put down deep — no matter how high the corn is — I don't care if it is all tasselled out and is higher than the horse's back. A. I confess I don't see the advantages of your mode of cultivation over mine. Most of my corn land is similar in character to yours, and I plant my corn in a similar way. I don't use the plough among my corn at all ; I use a cultivator, and with that I can work over the surface of the ground, close up to the young corn itself, going twice in a row. This kills the weeds, if it is done at the right time, and sufficiently stirs the ground. It leaves but a narrow strip to be hoed. I have no set number of times to hoe or cultivate my corn — I do it as often as it is required. Something depends on the season : I make it a rule to keep the weeds down, whether it requires two workings or four to do it. If the ground is clean and the surface tolerably light, I do not think it will pay to work it after the corn is a foot high. Then, as to your practice of running a plough deeply between the rows after the corn has fully tasselled out; it cute off, turns up, and destroys myriads of roots. By the time the stalks have attained the height you speak of, the roots have formed a complete net- work through the soil from row to row. If you examine closely after you have ploughed a furrow, you will see the fine white fibres almost as numer- ous and close together as the threads in a piece of sheeting. If rain happens soon after you have ploughed, you can see the roots very plainly. — Now, why should these roots, which the vital energies of the plant have produced, be destroyed ? Is it reasonable to suppose that their destruction c*n aid the plant in the great object for which it was designed by nature, and which is also the great object of man, viz., the production of seed? B. Well, I don't know about that; but I have raised corn in the way I mention, and am satisfied with it. A. But did you ever try an experiment fairly, between ploughing deeply between the rows after the corn gets as high as the horse's back, and working over two or three inches of the surface just as the tassel begins to shoot from the sheath, and then laging the field by, as they say at the West? B. No, I never did, because I am satisfied with the way I have adopted. But did you ever try my way? A. Yes, or something very similar to it. I had a field of corn which I intended to finish cultiva- ting, and lay by before haying, but was under the necessity of leaving a part of it for a week or ten days after the main portion had been worked over. During this time the ground had become more compact, and the weeds had grown some. The man who was sent to finish up the work thought, he could not make the cultivator, which had been used on the other portion of the field, answer for this, and he therefore took a horse-plough, such as you say you use. With this he went through the corn twice to a row, putting the plough pretty well down. It was hoed as the other portion had been, and left till harvest. The corn on the part worked last, was soon noticed not to be doing so well as that on the other part, and when it was gathered, the difference, to a row, was so marked and striking as to attract the attention of the harvesters the moment they passed from one portion to the other. There certaiidy was not half the corn per acre on the part that was worked over last that there was on the other part. It is right to say that pretty dry weather followed the last working, and the operation produced the effect on the corn which in some sections is called fired. I wish to state another objection to the use of the common plough among corn on dry land ; it exposes the land to drought. It is impossible to use this implement without throwing the ground more or less into ridges and hollows, thereby exposing more surface to the sun and air, and making more channels for the rain water to escape. Remarks on the foregoing. — Methods of cultiva- ting corn should be varied according to the char- acter of the soil. Loose, open soils can be readily worked with the common cultivator. Even those with cast-iron teeth or feet will answer on this kind of land. But on soils which tend to become too solid, this implement will not produce the requisite friability. Something must be used fre- quently almost from the time the corn is put in the ground, that will keep the soil tolerably open to the depth it was plowed for the crop. The common horse plough is not adapted to this purpose, because it lias not much pulverizinS effect, and in passing through the soil actually compresses that at the bottom of the furrow. Neither is this THE GENESEE FARMER. 213 a good implement for cultivating corn on light soils, for the reasons mentioned in the ahove colloquy. A cultivator or horse hoe can be made which will do this work in a proper manner ; but steel must be used instead of cast-iron. If the teeth or feet are of the right shape, they will penetrate even tenacious soils sufficiently, and at the same time destroy the weeds. In sections where the greatest success is attained in the cultivation of corn on soils winch are liable to become too compact, it is considered highly important to keep the soil from baking or packing early in the season. Implements are therefore run close to the corn in its early stage, before the roots have spread much, and the space between the rows is kept mellow by cultivation till the corn attains such height that it chiefly shades the ground, which it usually does about the time the tassels appear. After this the soil is less likely to become baked or hardened ; the corn roots quickly extend themselves through the soil, and they are left to draw from it all the support it is capable of giving. GREEN MOUNTAIN WAIFS. Eds. Genesee Farmer: — It is Monday, June 9th. The weather is exceedingly dry, and in many places vegetatiou is suffering from want of rain. My diary says it is six weeks since we have enjoy- ed a plentiful rain in Caledonia county. Appear- ances strongly indicate a storm, but now, as ever, "all signs fail in a dry time." Grain and corn are just out of the ground, and there seem to rest for a change of weather. Some of our farmers, I no- tice, are replanting their corn, the dry weather having so affected it as to destroy its growth. Grass upon the meadows appears finely, especi- ally on the lowlands. The quality of the grass on such lands is better in dry seasons than when it is wet, though the quantity may be somewhat re- duced. Crass upon the hills must be affected by the drouth already, and a light hay crop is antici- pated. Should this be the case, the considerable quantity of old hay which farmers have in store will in part remedy the scanty yield jn prospect. The unusual depth of snow, together with the cold weather of early spring, made the season back- ward, and a very lengthy drought at this time will materially affect all farm crops. The prospect of a good yield of fruit is promis- ing. Apple, plum, and cherry blossoms are abun- dant, and the lesser fruits bid fair for a full har- vest. But little fruit was gathered in Vermont last year. There is quite a demand for horses this spring. The call is principally for the medium class or grade. Prices from $75 to $125. Wool buyers are beginning to bestir themselves considerably, and farmers will undoubtedly make quick sales as soon as their fleeces are ready for the market, if they do not at first " price " too high for the buyers. Farmers are " talking " 45 cents per lb., and buyers about 40 and 42. I thiuk, however, the extremes in this case will be made to meet without difficulty. There will be a heavy shearing of wool in this State the present season, as nearly every one bought and but few sold after the rise of wool in the fall. Many sheep were brought from the Cauadas. Farmers may expect to realize high prices for their wool so long as the North maintains and clothes half a million of men on the battle field. We hope, however, that is not long to be, aud the present prospects strengthen our hopes. i. w. sanuorn^ " Tlie Meadows," Lyndon, Yt. A SMOOTH SURFACE FOR CORN AND A ROUGH SURFACE FOR WHEAT. Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, 111.1,' con- tributes an Essay on the Cultivation of Field Craps and Preparation of the Soil, to the Journal of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. The following extracts will be read with interest: Where ground has been suffered to lie too long, especially after a heavy rain, in clay soils, like those in the West, the surface becomes glased or crusted over with a sort of smooth glassy crust, of a con- siderably lighter color than the same soil is when not so glazed, and sometimes almost of a pale gray- ish white, even in soils generally quite dark. Now, this crusting over of the soil, as all well know, interferes at once with the processes of suc- cessful growth, but the reason why it does is not generally considered. But we shall find that it lies in three -most vital points: every one of which tends directlv and se- riously to retard all vegetable growth, especially of such plants as corn, and others requiring great heat in the soil. 1. In the first place, this glazed surface being of lighter color, has far less power on that account of absorbing the rays of the sun than it would other- wise have, while the glassy surface constantly, from its smoothness, reflects back the rays like a mirror, and from these combined causes a vast amount of the first element of rapid growth, namely, heat, is daily and hourly dissipated, or thrown back into the air and wasted, instead of being absorbed into the soil. 2. In the second place, this smooth surface ex- cludes the/Vee access of the air into the interior of the soil, into which it would otherwise penetrate, and (by making a constant deposit of dew among its loose particles, both by night and by day, to- gether with the ammonia and carbon, or whatever else it contributes to vegetation) thus perform its proper functions toward growth, all of which by this little crust are more or less interrupted. 3. But by thus shutting out this free access of both heat and air from above, the corresponding interplay of capillary attraction from below is also interrupted; just as when the lamp wick becomes glazed over, the lamp not only ceases to burn brightly above, but the oil, in like manner, also ceases to respond and to run up from below, so that by this simple glazing of the surface of the soil, every one of the three great essentials of each of these circulatory systems, and of all successful growth is at once checked or retarded, and the en- tire root of the plant becomes at once robbed of every one of its elements of life, namely, the heat of the sun, and the gasses and moisture which sup- ply its growth from the atmosphere above, and the capillary attraction which supplies, when needed, its moisture and all other required elements from i below; the mischief is, therefore, vital at every 214 THE GENESEE FARMER. point, and its real effects any one can see by simply keeping this crust broken every day with a hoe, on one row of cabbages or other plants in a garden, and allowing another to stand glazed over week after week. But, on the opposite extreme, the upper surface may be too rough. In this case there is the same or even a greater loss of heat, especially in the spring, than before, while all the other processes are. interrupted from an opposite cause. The sun's rays are caught in great clods by day, blown away at night, wh:le the .interior heat of the earth is fearfully wasted by the more rapid radiation from the rough, uneven surfaces. All are aware how a light snow will melt sometimes from a smooth or rolled field in a single day, while it remains for weeks on an adjacent uneven or cloddy Held. This shows us how much heat is wasted by leaving the field rough and full of clods, in the spring months, which would otherwise be absorbed into the soil and laid up to push the young corn into an early maturity of growth. For the best manure heap any corn raiser has is the sun, the next best the air with its gasses, and the rest he may find in Ids field below, or in his farmyard, or wherever he pleases ; but if he so cultivates as to constantly waste the power of the sun and the air, he can not raise a first rate crop of corn, manure it as he will. Since our spring climate usually has too little heat for corn and too much for wheat, we should keep our corn surfaces smooth so as to save as much heat as possible, and wheat surfaces rough or rigid so as to avoid it as much as possible. So, in all cases, we save heat by smooth surlaces, if they are not glazed or glassy — and dissipate it rapidly by rough ones: both that which comes from the sun above and from the centre of the earth below. Water also stands and lodges upon rough, cloddy surfaces, aud thus again dissipates, in its evapora- tion, an immense amount of this vital element of the corn crop, for it wastes the same amount of heat to boil away or evaporate a quart of water in the field that it does in a kettle over the fire. Such rough surfaces also retard the deposit of moisture and gasses from the air above, and to the same ex- tent interfere with the capillary attraction from below, much as too much frizzling the top of the lamp wick arrests all its proper modes of burning. The free and proper access of the air to the soil below is everywhere interrupted by dry clods and inequalities, which it can not penetrate, or if so, only to have its deposits blown away again by the winds; and, while the natural action is thus inter- fered with at the surface, that from below must be correspondingly impeded, and the whole process, either of recuperation or growth, in like manner retarded. Don't Let the Grain get too Ripe. — The analyses of De. Voelcker show that the straw of grain cut before it is fully ripe is fully twice as nutritious as that allowed to get over-ripe. It is also certain that so far as the quality of the grain is concerned, (especially of wheat,) early cutting is advantageous. Gut as soon as the berry, on being pressed between the thumb and finger, shows no milk. The circulation has then ceased, and the grain derives no more nutriment from the soil. APPLICATION OF MANURES. Few questions have been more frequently dis- cussed by farmers, than the depth to which manure should be buried. Theory as well as practice in relation to this point has varied widely. One man holds that the great point is to guard against the waste of manures by exposure to the atmosphere, and that there is no danger of loss by leaching. In a discussion at the State House last winter one speaker went so far as to say that no fertilizing element could be carried away by water through six inches of sand. Others take the position that manures lose nothing by exposure to the air, aud that they may be simply spread on the surface of the ground, with a certainty that the toil and crops will ultimately receive the full benefit of them. Heretofore we have had but little positive evi- dence in regard to these points — the advocates of the different theories and methods reasoning rather from general observation than from the actual re- sults of experience. As a means of settling some of the questions in which the subject is involved, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agricul- ture offered, in 1859, premiums for a series of ex- periments, the programme of which was published in many of the agricultural papers. The list has since been continued from year to year. The basis laid down for the experiments wa3 this : Five lots of land of equal quantity and quality were to be selected ; each of the five lots were to receive a deep plowing, a shallow plowing, and a harrowing; the only difference being that, on lot No. 1 , the manure was to be plowed in deep — which is understood to mean as deep as it could be conveniently done by the plow; on lot No. 2, plowed in shallow; on lot No. 3, buried only slightly — say by harrowing; on lot No. 4, left on the surface. An equal quantity and quality of ma- nure was to be applied to each of these four lots, but lot No. 5 was to be left without any manure. Common barn-yard manure was to be used, and the different lots planted to Indian corn. The character of the weather as to moisture, was to be noted. In the Transactions of the Society for the past year, we have a summary of the general results of the experiments the first year — the number of en- tries being thirteen. It appears that the plots deeply manured produced the Second Third Fourth Fifth Best Crop in 2 experiments. " " 1 « " 3 " Second Third Fourth MANURED SHALLOW. Best Crop in 4 experiments. 7 " " " 1 " " " 1 '• HARROWED IN. Best Crop in 6 experiments. Second " " 4 " Third ' " 2 " Fourth " " 1 « LEFT ON THE SURFACE. Best Crop in 1 experiment. Second " " 2 " Third " •' r " Fourth ', " 8 " The inference from these results is, that manure slightly buried produced the best crops; the re- THE GENESEE FARMER. 215 turns being Letter from the lots where the manure was either plowed in shallow or harrowed in, than from where it was plowed in deep or left on the surface — though the results from the latter were better than from the deep burying. But it should be borne in mind that these are only the results of one season, and that the produce of the same lots must be compared in sevaral succeeding years be- fore we can assume that the advantages of either deep or shallow manuring are demonstrated. In re- gard to the experiments, it is observed that, "in order to have a completely satisfactory result, suf- ficient manure, say not less than ten or twelve cords of barn-yard manure, or its equivalent, shculd be applied to the acre; enough, at all events, to have the effects of it felt during the period of the trial." Some trials in the application of manures by the late B. V. French, of Bramtree, are alluded to. In plowing a piece of sward ground, he plowed in manure at the rate of about ten cords to the acre on a portion of it. It was green, strong manure, just from the stable, and he took much pains to have it placed in the furrow, so that it should be fairly buried to the depth which the plow ran, which was not less than eight inches. We can state these points with some particularity, as we have often heard Mr. French describe the experi- ment, and have been with him over the held where it was made. As we have said, it was on only a part of the field that the manure was put in the furrows. After it was all plowed, it was all manur- ed alike and the manure worked in slightly. None of the succeeding crops for several years showed any advantage in favor of the part where the ma- nure was put in the furrows, and Mr. F. used to say that he believed the manure which was thus deposited " was as completely lost as if it had been dropped into the dock at the end of Long Wharf." The soil in this case was rather cold, and for a considerable portion of the year, too, wet. The space at the bottom of the furrows formed chan- nels for drainage, and the water coming into imme- diate contact with the manure probably carried off its soluble elements. — Boston Cultivator. Hoe the Turnips. — One great reason why many do net succeed in raising turnips is, that they ne- glect to hoe them. They should be thinned out to about one foot apart- If sowen broadcast, passing the harrow over them is better than nothing, but hoeing is the only certain method of thinning them out properly and keeping down the weeds. Short-horns in France. — The Durhams, or, more correctly, Short-horns, are making great pro- gress in France. It is some thirty years since the first importations were made into that country, and now there are some 1,600 animals and about 143 breeders registered in the French Durham Herd- book. Plow Land Twice for Buckwheat. — S. Ed- wards Todd says that, in his experience, no crop pays better for twice plowing than buckwheat, lie would plow sod ground in May and again in July, when the buckwheat is sown. MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. Massachusetts is a small state in territory. There are but three of the sister states behind her in this respect. Divide the State of New York into parcels of equal dimensions, and she would give six states. Virginia is eight and one-halt times as large ; Missouri has nine times as much land. — Texas could spread twenty-nine such states on her soil without crowding them, and California has a lap capacious enough to hold twenty-five such states. She has the most sea-coast in proportion to her size, of any state in the Union, excepting perhaps the peninsula of Florida, the Atlantic forming the whole of her eastern and lull one- fourth of her southern boundary. This exposes her to the blasting influence of east winds at all seasons of the year. Her soil is of all elevations, from the level of the ocean to the summit of Graylock, in Berkshire, 3,500 feet above tide-water. Her natural produc- tions were heavy forests, rocks and ice. The former have yielded to the progress of civilazation and the arts. Her rocks gave firm footing to the Pilgrims when they landed at Plymouth, and have become enduring monuments of the country's his- tory, at Bunker Hill and in Charleston harbor — Her ice has become an article of traffic in India and throughout the tropical regions. She has sent forth her sons and daughters into all lands, and is liberally represented in all the settled portions of the North and West. Still, she has now on her small farm, a home population of a million and a fourth of inhabitants, ranking the sixth state in the Union in free population. Still she has room and ample employment for more. Her soil is hard, but yields liberally to the skill of the cultivator. Her winters are long, extending almost to the dawning of summer. Her springs are short, and the transitions they produce resem- ble the work of magic. Her autumns are long and beautiful — some portions of them magnificent through beauty of her scenery. — Co. Cent. BEANS FOR HCGS. Eds. Gen. Farmer : — P. Q. is out with his lan- tern in search of the man who knows beans — as food for stock. In the winter of 1859, 1 fed about twenty barrels of refuse beans to hogs, with a good degree of success. My object was not so much to fatten the animals as to keep them in fine condition. The beans were purchased of wholesale dealers, mostly the mere refuse of their lots, at about $1.25 per barrel. I threw them into water in lots of half a bushel each, and left them to soak about thirty-six hours, after which the water was thoroughly drained off and the beans rinsed when they would often ap- pear of a quality but little inferior to those brought to table — the defect of refuse beans being usually limited to the skin. The beans were then poured into a large boiler, holding upward of a barrel, a liberal supply of beef or pork scraps was added, a small quantity of meal thrown in, and the whole boiled until the beans were thoroughly cooked. In this way I brought sixteen porkers to "know beans," and consume them, too. MarUehead, Mass. J. J. H. GREGORY. 216 THE GENESEE FARMER. ISEMMMW WALKS AND TALKS IN THE GARDEN.-No. III. "That shower which interrupted our last walk and talk in the garden was like the Irishman's 'poetical' horse, 'better in the promise thau in the performance.'" " We have had no rain worth naming for two months. These cabbage and cauliflower plants I set out after the last shower and when it seemed as if we were going to have a good rain, look rather scaly. The black beetle, or 'turnip flies' show them no mercy. They literally cover the plants and devour the leaves. When a man is down, everybody kicks him ; and when a plant is a little below par every little insect and bug and beetle and fungus fastens on to it, and sucks out the vital sap with impunity. A good heavy shower would make these flies ' skedaddle.' They might return, but if the land is in good condition, the plants would soon grow out of harm's way." "Is there no way of killing them?" "Soot, lime, ashes, plaster, &c, dusted on the leaves check their depredations somewhat. But in a dry time like the present they are not of much use. In England, this fly used to be the great dread of the turnip grower. I have seen acres and acres entirely destroyed. Since the use of superphosphate, however, this insect is no longer feared. Sow plenty of seed, and drill in the superphos- phate with the seed, and it pushes forward the plants so rapidly that the flies can do little damage." " Last night (June 16th) we had a very severe frost. — What with cold and drouth the season has been anything but favorable for the gardener. This is the second time these tomatoes have been nipped with the frost. I believe in pinching in the shoots, but Jack Frost's method of summer pruning is decidedly too severe. These beans are effectually used up, and even the potatoes are nipped a little. Some of the corn is killed outright, but fortu- nately it is too thick, and there will be plants enough left. The lima beans look hard. At the suggestion of a clerical friend, who is usually very successful in their culture. I planted them in hills raised some twelve inches high, in order, as he said, to throw oft the cold rains and keep the soil warm and dry. The hills are certainly dry enough, — and so are the beans! One thing is curious about them, they were far less injured by the frost last night than the spring beans, which were more luxuriant. "The melons were covered with boxes, and are all right." "Strawberries are looking better than one would think. Those grown in hills and mulched stand the dry weather very well, while those allowed to occupy the whole ground have suffered considerably. Jenny Lind is quite ripe. It is a good early berry, and is larger than the cut which was drawn for the Genesee Farmer, a year or two since." JENNY LIND STEAWBERRT. "Wilson's Albany is as productive as ever. "Triomphede Gand is a splendid looking berry. When cultivated in hills and the ruuners removed it bears we 1. Its quality is ordinarily fair, but sometimes you meet w 'h an overgrown berry that is as pithy and tasteless as a big turnip. Still, on the whole, it is a very fair berry, and pleases all those who judge fruit by the sight rather than the taste." " Large Early Scarlet is unusually fine this season. — After all, there is nothing better, on the whole, than this well-known variety. A vigo- rous grower.early, productive, and popular in market." " Look at these standard apricot trees. Nothing can be handsomer. If the time ever comes when we get the upper hand of the curculio apricots will be extensively cultivated. As yet it seems not. to have hurt them." large early scarlet. " < How did I succeed with the caterpillars on the gooseberry and currant bushes? Admirably. The tar remedy was a success. As fast as the worms hatched out on the leaves I shook them off, and by keeping the tar around the stems fresh and sticky by repeated applications, they could not crawl up again. You would have laughed to see them attempt it. They marched rapidly up the stem till they reached the ring of tar. Here they halted* Some turned back, evidently thinking it was a masked battery, while others crept all THE GENESEE FARMER. 217 ound, to see if there was any breach By this time the tern was completely covered. Nothing but caterpillars iould be seen, and in some instances they were two or hree deep. They would stick out their heads and look wistfully at the nice green leaves above, and then take mother smell at the black, sticky tar that intervened »etween them and the object of their desires. At length me, more bold than the rest, mouuted the breastworks ! le progressed slowly for a few moments, and then seeing hat he was not seconded, and finding the road very soft o his feet and unpleasantly adhesive, he beat a retreat. Jut ' retreats are always dangerous,' and o he found it, for on attempting to ' tack' ie ' shipped a sea' and foundered in the ar. Seeing the iguoble end of their eader, the rest raised the siege, and the lext morning I found them by the hun- Ireds bleaching in the summer's sun. So lerish the enemies of all our fruits and lowers ! " " To prevent the mildew on the goose- berries, I dusted them with sulphur, and hough they are principally the large English kinds, which are always subject o mildew in this country, they are as yet ntirely free from it." " These raspberries are unaffected by he drouth. They never looked better or nore promising. No fruit requires less abor — none more delicious or produc- ive." " As soon as it rains, I intend to set nit these young suckers. They can be ransplanted as easily as cabbage plants, *nd will bear fruit next season." " For market, the Hudson River Ant- verp and Frauconia are said to be the jest. Put for home use, there is nothing mperior to Briuckle's Orange. It is '•ery handsome, delicious and productive. Iochstein made a very nice drawing of it for the Gene- \ee larmer. But of course it does not show the beautiful >range color of the fruit." " Sulphur is a cure for most forms of fungus or mildew, if applied in time. The cracking of the pear is undoubtedly caused by a fungus, and I have great hopes [.hat it will check this great drawback to the culture of the Virgalieu pear. The difficulty is to apply it so that the fruit shall be dusted over with the sulphur. Syringing the trees with a solution of sulphur is probably the best method. By boiling for some time lime and excess of julphur together in water, we get penta sulphuret of calcium — a compound containing about eighty per cent, of sulphur. If this is largely diluted with water, and the trees are syringed with it, as the water evaporates the sulphur will be left on the leaves and fruit. I have great faith in this plan, and mean to try it thoroughly. I boiled eight pounds of sulphur and one of lime for several hours. I then poured off the clear liquid and added another pound of lime to the sulphur left at the bottom and boiled again." "As you say, sulphur and lime have often been used in this way for syringing grapes in the vinery. There isf however, this difference. The ordinary method of boiling lime and sulphur gives hyposulphite of lime, containing only one atom of sulphur to two of lime, whereas the method I adopted gives a compound containing five of sulphur and one of calcium, or ten times as much sulphur in proportion to lime as the other. Sulphur is insoluble brinckle's orange raspberry. J in water, and we have to adopt this method to render it soluble." "Grapes are looking well, though the frost last night nipped off many of the young shoots, and in some instan- ces did much damage. The frost played many curious freaks. One plant would be cut down, while another standing close beside it would be entirely unharmed. Some gardens escaped altogether, while others near by suffered severely." "As to pruning grapes in summer, the principal thing is to strip out the useless shoots and shorten in the others to within two or three leaves of the fruit." " ' Strip off the leaves ? ' Never in this climate. Strip off the useless shoots and shorten in the others, so that the streugth of the vine may not be expended in forming useless wood, but otherwise do not strip ofi* a single leaf." "Yes, a statement was published some time since iD the Genesee Farmer that clay dust scattered on the vines would prevent mildew. I know nothing about it perso- nally. Sulphur I faiow dusted on the leaves and fruit as soon as the first symptoms of mildew are seen, or before, 218 THE GENESEE FARMER. is a (certain cure, and there is no necessity for grapes ever being injured materially by mildew." " I have just been thinning out pears. The dwarf trees bear so profusely that unless this is done the fruit will not only be of small size and poor quality, but will exhaust the tree. Look at these Seckels. There are five pears on almost every fruit stalk, and two are as many as should be left. Perhaps it would be well to leave more on the lower than on the higher branches. The growth of the trees is stronger towards the top, and by leaving more fruit this tendency would be checked. Some think it is too early to pinch in the shoots yet, but I cannot keep my hands off. I do not like to see the strength of the tree running into shoots that will have to be cut oft at the next winter pruning. Better nip in these young shoots ( a. a.) now, ( at b. b.) so as to leave only three or four buds. This will con- centrate the sap, and convert the lower part of the shoot into a fruit branch." " If done later, some prefer to bend .down the shoot (at a.) instead of cutting it off. This checks the flow of sap without stopping it entirely, and prevents all danger of the remaining buds pushing into wood." "Of course all superfluous shoots should be pinched or nipped off at once. They only weaken the tree." " Nothing is easier than to propagate carnations by layers. The process is simply to strip off the leaves LAYERING CARNATIONS. from a shoot as far as it is necessary to imbed it in the ground ; then cut off an inch or so from the leaves at the end of the shoot; then cut the stem below a joint half way through, and turn the knife upward and slit the stem to the next joint above. Then bend the stem into the grouud, peg it down and cover it with soil, leaving the head of the layer in as upright a position as possible. It should be done as soon as they have ceased blooming. Roses may be layered in the same way." "You will find some admirable designs for summer houses and for rustic seats in Mc Intosh's Book of the Garden ; or if you have not that, in the Rural Annual for 1S58. Come in and I will show vou them." June 19.— "We have had a glorious rain. The ground is well soaked. Now, if we have warm weather, things will bound." "See how the aspect of everything is changed. The strawberry leaves are full of sap, the peas have a green hue, the lawn does not look quite so parched and browu, and even the drooping, fly- devoured cabbages begin to hold up their heads." " It is a splendid time to transplant. Those cabbages that have departed this life under the combined attack of grubs, insects and drouth shall have their places refilled. It is also just the time to set out celery. I think those trenches are too deep ; six inches below the surface is deep enough. Set the plants a foot apart and earth up as they grow." ?:>•■ ill' «fevl l[i**t-<*r* . ,— r— — vt-t -- ^\:"'">~~-^jKfc " Annual flower seeds have not come up very well. Some, however, are too thick, and these can be. thinned out, and the plants used to fill out vacancies." THE GENESEE FARMER. 219 " What is the best plant for hedges ?" "That is a difficult question. For fences, there is )erhaps nothing better than the Osage Orange. But it las many drawbacks. If neglected, you will soon have handsome. In fact, they have hedges of nearly every plant that can be used for that purpose. Running through their magnificent grounds is a well-kept grass walk, with flower border and a hedge on each side. Every few rods, the hedge is made of a different plant, such as buckthorn, hawthorn, beech, locust, American and Siberian arbor vitae, Norway spruce, and many others, affording an admirable opportunity of ascertaining their comparative merits." " Did you ever observe what a difference there is in the habits of the Norway Spruce ? Here are two. One is of a drooping, slender, graceful habit, while the other is stiffer and stronger and more upright. There is as much difference between them as between an Easter Beurre and Seckel pear. And why should there not be? They are raised from seed, and while all the plants are Norway spruce, we may have distinct varieties. I have no doubt that such is the case — and that some are much handsomer than others. I see no reason why the same is not true of other ornamental trees raised from seed. Maples and horse chestnuts growing side by side differ materially in BADLY TRAINED HEDGE. . hedge of fishing poles. It is no little labor to keep it rimmed, and even with the best care there will be an iccasional gap. Many hedges have been set out in this nd other sections, but it is rare to see a good, well ormed and effectual fence. Here is a good specimen of he class of poor osage orange hedge. I lave seen many worse, but this is bad nough. Every few rods it is necessary o stick in a rail or a board to make ven an approximation to a safeguard gainst cattle, while a hog will go through ,ith impunity. Occasionally you see a edge that has been well trained, and rhen out in full leaf nothing is hand- omer. The main point is to cut it in ufficiently to render it broad at the ottom and gradually taper toward the ap ; or it may be rounded as this is, but prefer to taper it up rather more to a oint." "The Privet makes a handsome hedge, ut it is not strong enough to turn attle." ''Perhaps the best plant for a screen or ornamental | their habits, time of flowering, &c. But I do not recollect AMERICAN ARBOR VITAE HEDGE. edge is the A rbor Vitae. It grows rapidly, bears clipping rell, and is quite hardy. Mr. Hooker has one of the PROPERLT TRAINED HEDGE. aost beautiful arbor vitae hedges I ever saw. It is worth ;oing to see. Hochstein made a drawing of it for the renesee Farmer. It is quite an ornament to the grounds, nd iuvaluable as a screen to break the force of the find." " The Norway Spruce makes an excellent screen. Ell- fANGEB & Barry have a hedge of them that is very seeing any explanation of the fact or even an allusion to it." "The black-knot on the plum does not seem to be so bad this season as usual. A gentleman informs me that he had a young tree that was affected this spring, and he cut out every limb that had excrescences on it. The tree is now healthy and full of fruit, while another tree simi- larly affected which was left untouched ] resents a very sorry appearance. It will not do merely to cut off the excrescences. They will come on again. You must cut off the limbs as fast as any appearauce of the knot i3 seen." " The rain has gone in about three inches on hard ground and nearly a foot in loose soil, — showing the advantage of keeping the ground mellow." "Seven tenths of an inch of rain fell last night and this morning. This is equal to heenty-one thousand four hundred and four gallons of water per acre, or between four and five gallous per square yard. This shows that to derive much benefit from watering, it must be done more thoroughly than is generally thought necessary." 220 TIIE GENESEE FARMER. TRELLISES FOR GRAPES AGAIN. Eds. Gexesbe Farmer: — I see in the June No. of the Farmer a method suggested by " Ruricolist " for stretching wires on grape trellis." Now, I think I have a better plan, and full as cheap, as " Ruricolist." Take seven-sixteen round iron, five or six inches longer than the diameter of your post; take your iron to a machine shop where they have the facilities for cutting bolts ; have a thread cut four or five inches on one end, the other end flattened down to half its thickness. Through this end have a hole drilled one size larger than your wire, this will admit the wire to pass through the flattened end of the bolt easily. Now fasten your wire securely, and pass the screw end through a hole in your post, two sizes larger than the bolt. Put on the washer and burr, and you will find but little difficulty in making your wire as tight as you desire. In this case, it is all important that the end post should be securely braced. w. h. s. Perm Yan, N. T. THE DOUGLAS FLR. The London Gardener's Chronicle speaks of this tree m the highest terms, both for ornamental puposes and for timber. Experiments recently made in France show that the timber of the Douglas fir from Vancouver's Island is of great strength, and its vast height and freedom from knots render it superior to all others for masts of vessels. It thrives well in all parts of Great Britain, except the extreme north, and is, "of all trees, that which deserves the attention of planters for profit, j It is a native of British Columbia, where the climate is very severe. "The trees there," Dr. Lindley thinks, " must have iron constitutions, and their offspring may- be expected to resemble them in every particular." He recommends the importation of large quantities of seed, and the extensive propagation of the plants in England. The subject is one which deserves the attention of arbori- eulturists in this country. The Douglas fir has been supposed to be rather tender in the northern parts of the United States. It is quite possible that by selecting the seeds from trees growing in a more elevated and colder region, we may get hardier plants. Mr. Sargent, of Duchess Co., N.Y., says " with me plants in low, damp ground suffer occasionally in color* if not in loss of leader, while those grown in the shade, or on an exposed hill-side, in poor, slaty soil, succeed admirably." SMITH S SPRUCE FIR. Mr. S. classes it with Abies Smithiana (India spruce] in regard to hardiness. We annex a cut of both these beautiful evergreens, and can only hope that both will prove sufficiently hardy to withstand the severity of our climate. Grapes on Kelly's Island. — A correspondent of the Oberliu News says there are now on Kelley's Island about 500 acres of vineyard, of which 210 are in bearing. In 1861, there were 126.J acres in bearing. From this area, the product was in value, for fruit and cuttings sold, and wine produced, $353,305, being §421 per acre. One man will do the labor required for five acres. Each acre, when in full bearing, yields about three tons of fruit. A gallon of wine is produced from eleven lbs. of fruit, and as the fruit, when sold for eating, brings about seven cents per gallon, it will be seen that the grape business must be very profitable. The appearance of this island, its rapid improvement in all respects, and the evident self satis- faction of the people, all prove that everybody is well- to-do. Thinning Pears. — One great error in the management of dwarf pear trees, is allowing the trees, especially young trees, to bear too much fruit. It is absolutely necessary, for the health of the trees and to secure good sized fruit, that the young fruit be thinned thoroughly at this season. Don't be afraid of thinning too much. THE GENESEE FARRIER. 221 SUMMER PRUNING OF GRAPE VINES. At a meeting of the Grape and Wine Grower's Asso- ation of Northern Ohio, on the 24th ult., Charles irpenter, of Kelly's Island, gave the following as his ethod of Summer Pruning : "The many directions given for summer pruning grape nes are enough to bewilder the novice, if not those of me experience, and I hope,, in attempting to elucidate, shall not further mystify the subject. As a general rule, une as little in summer as you can, and not let the vines t so thick as to cause any of the leaves in the thickest aces to turn yellow, or deprive the fruit of plenty of 'ht and air. The winter praning should be more severe an is usually done. In vineyard culture, where forty forty-five superficial feet of land are allowed to a vine, >m thirty to forty eyes to a vine for bearing are plenty r most varieties. Never leave over one bud or joint per rface foot of land where the soil is favorable ; and lere it is unfavorable, the vines should be planted :ther apart, and a less number of eyes for a given rface left. "Now, if the winter pruning has been properly done. t little will be necessary in summer, and should com- snce early by removing water sprouts, superfluous buds, d whenever, from short-jointed canes, or too close lining of them, there will evidently be too dense a mass len grown, thin out a part. "As soon as the fruit is set, select the shoots for the xt years's bearing, which should be grown on spurs, on e lower part of the stock, and trained as much as acticable aside from the fruit and above it, and have e laterals picked out for three or four feet, so as to have ;leau cane for next year, and keep the vine open near s fruit. Beyond this, remove no laterals, nor stop the ds of their canes. "Some of the fruit bearing shoots, particularly those ar the ends of the canes, will incline to make too much owth ; these may be stopped at from three to six leaves jm the last cluster of fruit. Of the fruit-bearing shoots, cept those near the end of the cane, but few will need apping, if there is a full crop of fruit, and proper tention is given to tieing up so as to keep the growth read and open. Always endeavor to prevent growth by opping ends and removing buds rather than to cut ray after the growth is made. "Iu all summer pruning and tying up, care should be ken that fruit grown iu the shade should not be ex- »sed to the direct rays of the sun. If the shade under hich it has been growing is removed, it will surely be jured, if not spoiled. " The best grapes are always grown in the shade of the liage. They require light and circulation of air. Those -own under the direct rays of the sun are smaller, irder pulped, and inferior to those grown where they A-e considerable protection." Transplanting Cabbage. — The Gardener's Monthly tys that if the plants are put in a bucket of water, and len set out as soon as taken from the water, they will ildom wither or require any protection from the sun. HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM EUROPEAN JOUR- NALS. A correspondent of the Revue ITorticole, in speaking of some of the causes which affect the size and flavor of fruits, says: "In 1861, the spring was very cold, and the late frosts nearly destroyed the fruit buds. This was fol- lowed by continued rains, until August. Then the weather became very warm, and the vines, which were supposed to be destroyed, revised, and it is said that the wine made that season was remarkably fine. The later varieties of pears grew to an enormous size, and the apple trees were loaded with magnificent fruit " The same correspondent urges, in a very interesting letter, the public schools in the various departments to add to their other studies a course of lectures upon horti- culture and arboriculture. M. Rerrin, the chief gardener of the gardens of Luxemburg, has given to his numerous assistants a gratuitous course upon the culture and "shaping" of trees for several years, and two or three other distinguished horticulturists have in this way en- deavored to popularize the science. A school for garden- ers at Paris, where there shall be regular graduating classes, is also proposed— each student being obliged, after graduating, to teach in the schools of the departments for a certain length of time. The Cottage Gardener, in an account of some fine forc- ing houses in Ireland, says: "Besides some nice crops of melons, we were shown two specimens in a fruit room. One of them was a sort of canteloup, a fine, well-swelled specimen, with an aroma to tickle an epicure, and 20 lbs. in weight! The plant had no other attention except se- vere thinning and a pretty good supply of manure water. Mr. Wm. Paul, of Waltham, has introduced a new rose, the " Beauty of Waltham," a cross between Jules Mar- gottin and General Jacqueminot. Mr. Beaton, of the Cottage Gardener, says that it "beats both its parents." A Branch of a peach tree bearing a peach and nectarine at the same time, was presented to the Horticultural Society of France in 1860. In the discussion which was consequent upon this singular and curious presentation, one of the members said that the same phenomena was mentioned in the "Transactions of the Royal Horticultu- ral Society of London." It was remarked that the scion which was developed by the side of the nectarine had all the characteristics of that fruit. J. G.Veitch has returned to England, after a two years botanical visit to Japan. He brought with him seeds of many new plants. Rev. R. W. Thomson, of England, has just published a new work on the culture, propagation and management of the Rose. The Idea that we can acclimate plants is ridiculed by Dr. Lindley. The subject is creating considerable dis- cussion, and it a plant once inherently tender has ever became permanently hardy we shall be likely to hear of it. No such instance has yet been adduced. Native Wine in the Army. — An extensive wine maker of Cincinnati says he has sold all his best Catawba wine, ready to bottle, to the United States Medical Department. 222 THE GENESEE FARMER. CROPPING ORCHARDS. We have been somewhat surprised at finding in the Gardener's Monthly an editorial article recommending seeding orchards down to grass. The editor of the Monthly is an experienced horticulturist, and his opinions on this subject are entitled to respectful attention. We give his article entire, as follows: "A question of immense importance to the fruit grower has for some time been under discussion, namely, Should orchards be kept cultivated with other crops, be kept hoed and cleaned without other crops, or be laid down as a pasture or be kept in grass? We have forborne for some time any fresh allusion to the topic, as it is one worthy of discussion without prejudice, or with an influ- ence in favor of foregone conclusions ; as an orchard in bearing is not the work of a da}', and we should be slow in adopting a practice either way that may injuriously affect our trees, without a conviction, founded on some pretty sound reasoniug, that it is a correct and proper one. "There are several good reasons in favor of cultivating and cropping an orchard. A soil that has a loose upper surface such as the cultivator leaves is always cooler and moister in summer than one which is suffered to lie iu a hard and neglected state. This must be conducive to free growth and to a full and perfect setting of the fruit. Another good point is that in cropping, manure is gener- ally applied, aud a portion of this plant food is appropri- ated by the fruit tree. This also stimulates an active growth, and in certain periods of the tree life is of course a benefit. There are no other advantages claimed for this course, and they are summed up in this way: Cultivating aud manuring make the trees grow. "On the other hand, vigorous growth is not always emblematic of health and productiveness, — rather the reverse, for vigorous growth is antagonistic to abundant fruitfulness. A tree that bears young is soon exhausted, becomes stunted, and is never worth the room it occupies ; while one that is in a continued state of vigorous growth rarely bears fruit in any abundance : and this is the ad- vantage claimed for laying an orchard iu grass, that this exuberant growth is held in check, while, by annual top- dressings, a sufficiency of nutrimeut can be furnished the trees to keep up a sufficiently vigorous growth to maintain the productiveness of the tree. "We have advocated and still defend this practice. The writer was raited in an orchard. Circumstances so ordered that trees and plants were very near the sole companions of his boyhood days. Not until the threshold of manhood was reached, had he much other amusement or occupa- tion than to note the beauties and attraction, the wants and wishes, of his vegetable friends. Yet, from that early day to this, he cannot remember an instance where fruit trees, in a well-kept and cultivated garden, remained perfectly healthy for a long period, or ever produced but a very moderate crop of fruit,— the Dwarf Pear alone excepted, and this reservation he is not sure need be made under all circumstances. On the other hand, orchards in rich pastures, or in well-cared for meadows, have uni- formly been as healthy, moderately vigorous, and with a prolonged productiveness, as the most exacting fruit, grower could desire. And since the existence of this journal, we have noted all that has appeared on even side of the question, both by actual observation and froti the experience of others ; and we cannot but conclude that the uncropped orchard has the best of the argument all things cousidered. "Advocates of this practice are at times charged witl inconsistency. ' You oppose great vigor in fruit trees, say some, ' and recommend root-pruning as a corrective yet, when we root prune with the cultivator, you opposi the practice ! ' But root pruning and fibre pruning ar> different matters, and have differeut results. The on> checks growth — the other increases it. Such is th> consequence in practice, and we need not enter hep ints an argument to explain why it is so ; our limits wil only permit us to say, as the result of a careful ex animation of the subject, that when trees appear weal and stunted, cultivate aud manure until you get then into a fair, free growth ; after that seed the orchard dowi in grass, bearing particularly in mind that annual to] dressing or mulching under each tree, must by no mean be neglGcted." Remarks. — If our friend of the- Monthly will favor u with a visit, we can show him in a drive of a few hour many instances of the good effects of cultivating th ground among peach trees, and of the bad effects o letting ground lie in grass or clover. Whenever a poor, sickly-looking peach orchard is seet there he will find that the laud is either in grass, clove! or some grain crop that is not cultivated. The effect ca be seen at a long distance. It will not be necessary t leave the carriage. The yellow leaves aud stunted growt of the trees tell the story. He who runs may read. Perhaps, though, our friend did not mean to includ peach trees, though the only exception he makes is tin of dwarf pears, and he is not sure that even this reservt tion is necessary ! One of the best apple orchards that we have seen i Western New York is cultivated with hoed crops and tt ground is kept as clean and mellow as a summer fallov There are many good apple orchards which, after tl trees begin to occupy and shade the ground, are allow to lie in grass. It is more convenient. But we nev< heard the idea advanced that the trees were any better I more productive for this treatment. The Distinction between a Carantion and a Picote — The Cottage Gardener gives two cuts, one of a perfa Carnation and the other of a Picotee, and in the artic which they illustrate says, with an apology for supposif any one ignorant on the subject, that one can be distil gnished from the other by the markings on the petal In the carnation, they are in bars from the base to tl edsje of the petal ; while iu the picotee they are confim to a lacing on the ed^e. Mulch the Tomatoes. — The Gardener's Monthly say; "Tomatoes do best when suffered to grow flat on tl ground ; but in such cases the soil should be covered wil a mulch of straw or litter to keep the tomatoes from ge ting soiled and rotten by dampness. Brushwood is 1 excellent material for them to lie on, and they seem | thrive well with it about them." THE GENESEE FARMER. 223 |ouii| |cof(f's fage. Last autumn, in one ot Farmer Thrifty's well cultivated Ids, potatoes of all kinds and degrees were assembled, it a speck or a scab was to be seen among them. They ire all good, each after his kind. All sprung from the ne earth, all received the same care and culture from od Farmer Thrifty, and all were shortly to be carried the same cellar. rhey lay down happy and content, basking in the sun- ine of the mild autumnal sky. Presently the rotund d jolly Mercer lighted his pipe and smoked away with ident self-satisfaction. He recalled the glory of his an- gave it as his opinion that there was no great merit after all in being so big and burley. " Height, now, amounted to something," he said, " but to be as broad as you are long was not his idea of beauty. Old Mercer might have taken some prizes in this country, but he was descended from the illustrious family of Flukes, who, as Mr. Mercer should know, received the special patronage of the Queen and nobles of England. Besides," said he, waxing warm under the influence of his cigar, and au admiring glance from Lady Finger, " we command the highest price of any potato in the great Covent Garden market in London." Little Mexican noticed the admiring glance which Lady finger cast on Master Fluke, and just for a moment be, too, wished he was not so short and so thin. stors, born and bred on that very farm; what teats they d performed ; how much some of them weighed, and xr many prizes had been awarded them at different ate and county Fairs. Had he been let alone, all this would have passed off in loke. They knew him to be sound to the core, and, ough a little coarse, he was generally esteemed a kind :arted, good natured fellow, and his foibles were gener- Ly excused by his companions. Little Mexican, however, sticking his hat behind him, iked up at old Mereer with so much admiration that ning Master Fluke thought that he too would like to mraand as much atteution. Now, Master Fluke was enamored of little Lady Finger, ho lay modestly concealed beneath the grass. So he ipped away and preseutly returned mounted on a pair ' stilts, cut from a pumpkin vine. Lighting a cigar, id bowing gracefully, as he thought, to Lady Finger, he But lo ! while Master Fluke was smiling and smirking at Lady Finger, and casting scornful glances on those around him, altogether forgetful to what he owed his elevation, a little Black Beetle came creeping through the grass, and finding his favorite stalk, commenced drilling into it with his little saw, when presently down came Master Fluke, scratching old Mercer as he fell, and hitting Lady Finger sirch a blow on her delicate white hand that she never forgave him, and giving himself a black eye. He picked himself up as speedily as possible, but his com- panions could not help laughing at him, and when Far- mer Thrifty came to carry them home, he found him so bruised that he thought he was not worth putting into the wagon. So he was left out in the cold field. The next day the scratch on old Mercer's side was black and blue, so he was sent to market, while liltte Mexican and Lady Finger were carried home and put in the warm and comfortable cellar, and covered with nice clean straw. 224 TEE GENESEE FARMER. faMcs' $qj;irtwcnl OKIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. To Bottle Cherries. — Take the common sour cherry, stone them, and fill any bottles that you may have. Set them into warm water on the stove, and gradually in- crease the heat until the air is expelled from the bottles. It will be necessary to have some reserved cherries to fill the bottles, as they shrink very much, and there must be no space between the fruit and the cork, hut in the corks while in the water, and seal them immediately after they are taken out. Stoning the cherries is quite a tedi- ous process, but the rest of the work can be done very rapidly. A dozen bottles can be filled and sealed in two hours. In this way, you can have cherry pies and pud- dings all wiuter. There is no fruit that keeps better than cherries, and after being prepared in this way they are much better when stewed with half a lb. of sugar to one Id. of fruit than the richest preserves. Raspberry Vinegar. — Take three or four quarts of raspberries, put them in a stone crock and cover them with vinegar. Let them stand twenty-four hours. Then strain this juice through a jelly bag and pour it on to fresh berries, letting this stand another day. Repeat this process until you have the quantity you desire. Add to each pint of juice one pound of sugar. Put it into a preserving kettle and allow it to heat sufficiently to melt the sugar. When it is cold, put it into bottles. It will keep several years. Currant Jellt. — Pick fine red and large ripe currants from the stems, bruise them and strain the juice from a quart at a time through thin muslin, pressing it gently to get all the liquid. Put a pound of white sugar to each pound of juice; stir it until it is all dissolved; set it over a gentle fire; let it become hot and boil for fifteen min- utes ; then try it by taking a spoonful into a saucer. When cold, if it is not quite firm enough, boil it for a few minutes longer. Lace and Muslin Curtains. — After washing and starch- ing them it is much better to stretch them upon a sheet fastened to the carpet than to iron them. They must be pinned to the sheet very carefully. The pins should not be more than four or five inches apart. Although this is a good deal of labor, the improved appearance of the curtains is a full compensation. Shetland shawls can be dried in the same wav. Currant Wine. — One quart of currant juice, two quarts of water, three pounds crushed sugar, and to each gallon of the mixture add one gill pure brandy. Place a cask upon its side with the bung up, and fill it entirely. It will require replenishing, as it wastes by fermentation, antl the cask should be always kept full. Strawberries. — This delicions fruit is so acid that it requires the full complement of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit to prevent its spoiling before winter. They preserve their shape and color better if they are only partly cooked in the syrup, aud theu allowed to stand in the sun two or three days; but if cooked entirely by th fire, they should be put into jars while hot and sealei immediately. Renovating Black English Crape. — Crape which ha lost its color and stiffness can be restored by ironing i between two pieces of black paper cambric wet wit alcohol. The table on which it is ironed should be firs covered with flannel. SOME HINTS ABOUT LADIES' BONNETS. A black bonnet with white feathers, with white, rose or red flowers, suits a fair complexiou. A lustreless whit bonnet does not suit well with fair or rosy complexions The white bonnet may have flowers, either white, rose o particularly blue. A light blue bonnet is particular! suitable to the light haired type; it may be ornameute with white flowers, and in many cases with yellow am orange flowers, but not with rose or violet flowers. 1 green bonnet is advantageous to fair or rosy complexions it may be trimmed with white flowers, but preterabl with rose. A rose-colored bonnet must not be too elos to the skin ; and if it is found that the hair does no produce sufficient separation, the distance from the rose color may be increased by means of white, or greer which is preferable ; a wreath of white flowers in th midst of their leaves has a good effect. A black bonne does not contrast so well with the ensemble of the typ with black hair as with the other type; yet it ma; produce a good effect, and receive advantageously aeees sories of white, red, rose, orange and yellow. A whit bonnet gives rise to the same remarks as those whic have been made concerning its use in connection with th blonde type, except that for the brunettes it is better I give the preference to accessories of red, rose, orange am yellow, rather than to blue. Bonnets of rose, red, cerise are suitable for brunettes when the hair separates a much as possible the bonnet from the complexion. Whit feathers accord well with red; and white flowers, witl abundance of leaves, have a good effect with rose. 1 yellow bonnet suits a brunette very well, and receive with advantage violet or blue accessories; the bnir mus always interpose between the complexion and headdress It is the same with bonnets of an orange color more o: less broken, such as chamois. Blue trimmings are emi nently suitable with orange and its shades. A greet bonnet is suitable to fair and light rosy complexions rose, red, or white flowers are preferable to all others.— A blue bonnet is only suitable to a fair or bright rec complexion ; nor can it be allied to such as have a tint ol orange-brown. When it suits a brunette, it may take with advantage yellow or orange trimmings. A violet bonnet is always unsuitable to every complexion, since there are none which yellow will suit. Yet if we interpose between the violet and the skin, not only the hair, but also yellow accessories, a bonnet of this color may become favorable. As an important memorandum, it must be added that, whenever the color of a bonnet does not realize the intended effect, even when the complexion is separated from the headdress by masses of hair, it ia advantageous to place between the hair and the bonnet certain accessories. — Gody's Lady's Booh. THE GENESEE FARMER. 225 <£$* i set I km to its. A DOT. "What's smaller than a dot- Can mortal biped tell? 'Tiss less than little spot, And dark as magic spell. Important still is dot, Especially to i. Absent In cold or hot— We with it live and die. What lots of dots in Life, Of pun, of fun and wit ; There's Dicken's " Dot," the wife, And little "Dot," the chit. The sky fives light in dots. Besprinkled here and there — While children, brighter spots. Are Earth's stars everywhere. A Discriminating Shot. — Two men, Jones and Martin, went deer hunting. After remaining together a while, they separated, and soon Jones, hearing the report of Martin's gun, went to him. Seeing no game, he asked him if he had shot anything. "No," replied Martin, rather carelessly, " didn't shoot anything." "What did vou shoot at?" Martin seemed confused and evaded a reply. Jones looked round a little, and saw a calf grazing i short distance off. "Did you shoot that calf?" asked Jones. " Yes," implied Martin, " I shot at it." " You did not hit it, though," said Jones. "No, I did not hit it." And Martin went on to explain. "You see, I was uncertain whether it was a calf or a deer, and I shot so is to hit it if it was a deer and miss it if it was a calf! " During the stormy days of 1848, two stalwart mobo- crats eutered the bank of the late Baron A. Rothschild, »t Frankfort. "You have millions on millions," said they to him, "and we have nothing; you must divide with us." "Yery well; what do you suppose the firm of Rothschild is worth?" "About forty millions of florins.' "Forty millions, you think, eh? Well now, there are forty millions of people in Germany; that will be a florin apiece ; here is yours." A Nice Man for a Small Party. — A country magis- trate, noted for his lova of the pleasures of the table, speaking one day to a friend, said : " We have just been eating a superb turkey ; it was excellent, stuffed with truffles to the neck, tender, delicate, and of high flavor ; we left only the bones." " How many of you were there?" said his friend. " Two," replied the magistrate. " Two !" " Yes; the turkey and myself." Eligible to Preach. — A correspondent of a Boston paper tells the following story of a fellow who applied to a magistrate in England for a license to preach. He was asked the usual question, "Can you read and write?" — " Neither," said the aspirant to pulpit honors. " Then," a»ked the licenser, " how can you think of preaching?" "04i," replied the clown, "mother reads, aud I 'spounds and 'sf loins!" Dr. Beecher says: "Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself to death. I can work out a good character much taster than any one can lie me out of it." Gougii's Aposprophe to Cold Water.— Look at that, ye thirsty ones of earth! Behold it! See its purity! How it glitters, as if a mass of liquid gems ! It is a bev- erage brewed by the hands of the.Almighty himself! Not in a simmering still, over smoky fires, choked with poisonous gases, and surrounded by the stench of sicken- ing odors and rank corruptions, does your Father in f Heaven prepare the precious essence of life, the pure cold J water ; but in the green glade and grassy dell where the red deer wanders aud the child loves to play— there God brews it. And down, down, in the deepest valleys, where the fountains murmur and the rills sing— and high up in the mountain tops, where the naked granite glitters like gold in the sun, where the storm clouds brood and the thunder storms crash — and away far out on the wide sea, where the hurricanes howl music and the waves roar the chorus, sweeping the march of God — there he brews it, that beverage of life — health giving water ! And every- where it is a thing of beauty — gleaming in the dewdrop, singing in the summer rain, shining in the ice gem, till the trees all seem turned into living jewels ; spreading a golden veil over the setting sun, of the white gauze over the midnight moon, sporting in the cataracts, sleeping in the bright snow curtains, softly about the wintry world and weaving the many colored iris, that seraphs' zone of the sky, whose warp is the rain drop of earth, whose woof is the sunbeam of heaveu, all checkered over with celestial flowers by the mystic hand of refraction. Still always it is beautiful, that blessed life-water. No poison bubbles on the brink; its form brings no sadness or mur- der; no blood stains its limpid glasses; broken hearted wives, pale widows and starving orphans shed no tears in its depths. No drunkard's shrieking ghost from the grave curses it in the words of eternal despair. Beautiful, pure, blessed, and glorious — give me forever the sparkling, pure Cold Water ! A man was brought up by a farmer, and accused of stealing some ducks. The farmer said he should know them anywhere, and went on to describe their peculiarity. " Why," said the counsel for the prisoner, " they can't be such a very rare breed ; I have some very like them in my yard." "That's very likely, sir," replied the farmer; " these are not the only ducks of the sort I have had stolen lately." The Big Fiddle. — A shrewd clergyman was once tor- mented by his people to let them introduce the big fiddle, or bass viol, into the church. He told them the human voice was the divinest of all instruments of music; but they introduced their viol, and the old man rose and said : "The brethren will, if they please, sing and fiddle the Thirty-Ninth Psalm." Perfect Discontent. — An old lady was in the habit of talking to Jerrold in a gloomy, depressing manner, pre- senting to him only the sad side of life. "Hang it," said Jerrold one day, after a long and sombre interview, "she wouldn't allow there was a bright side to the moon !" A Good Idea.— That is a good idea of Clark's: "The frost is God's plough, which he drives through every inch of grouud in the world, opening each clod and pulverizing the whole." 226 THE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. The Value of Straw for Fodder 201 A few Words on Haying 202 " Now you Look like a Gentleman" 203 Mowing Machines on Small Farms 204 The Value of Commercial Manures 205 A Model New England Town. Beecher ou Fast Horses 206 The Potato Bird." Liquid Manure 207 A Design for a Thousand Dollar Farm House Wanted 208 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 208 The Sex ol Eggs. Is the Hog a Grazier? 208 California Wheat at the Great" International Exhibition. 2t£ A Great Cabbage Storv. To Kill Lice on Stock 209 Tanning skins. Hungarian Grass 2 9 Magnitude of the Egg Trade. Horsebacks 209 Relative Value of Food for Milch Cows 209 Cheap Summer Feed for Hogs. A Story of a Chicken.. 209 Raising Turkeys 210 Management of Honey Bees 210 Ital an Bees— Reply to Mr. Rose 210 Thorley's Food 'or Cattle 211 Cultivation of Indian Corn 212 Green Mountain Waifs 218 A Smooth Surface for Corn and a Rough Surface for Wheat.. 213 Don't let the Grain get too Ripe 214 Application of Manures 2 4 Hoe the Turnips Short-horns in France 215 Plow Land Twice for Buckwheat 115 Massachusetts Agriculture. Beans for Hogs 215 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Walks and Talks in the Garden— No. 3 216 Trellises for Gripes again. The Douglas Fir 220 Grapes on Kelley's Island. Thinning Pears 220 Summer Pruning of Grape Vines. Transplanting Cabbage.. 221 Horticultural Items from Foreign Journals 221 Native Wine in the Army 221 Cropping Orchards. Mulch the Tomatoes 222 The Distinction between a Carnation and a Picotee 222 TOUNG PEOPLE'S PAGE. Downfall of Master Fluke 223 LADIES' DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 224 Some Hints about Ladies' Bonnets 224 MISCELLANEOUS. A Dot. Gough's Apostrophe to Water, &c 225 EDITOR'S TABLE. Notes on the Weather, 226 The Markets 127 Items, Noiiees. &c, 227, 228, 229 Agricultural Items 228 Literary Notices. 228 Inquiries and Answers, 229 ILLUSTRATIONS. The Potato Bird T1 Plan for a Small Farm House. . 208 Ground and Chamber Floor do 208 Jenny Lind Strawberry. Large Early Scarlet do 216 Brinckle's Orange Raspberry ."". 217 Figure illustrating Pruning Pear Trees 218 Carnations in Layers. Summer House. Rustic Seats 218 Badly Trained Hedge. Properly Trained Hedge 219 American Arbor Vise Hedge 219 Douglas Fir. Smith's Spruce Fir 220 Downfall of Master Fluke 223 Fairs.— Next month we shall give our usual list of the Fairs to be held this fall, and shall be glad if the Secre- taries of the Societies will inform us of the time and place of holding. Present the Claims of the Genesee Farmer. We have no hesitation in asking every one of our read- ers to present the claims of the Genesee Farmer to their neighbors and* friends. No one can desire a cheaper paper, and we are trying to make it more and more worthy that extensive patronage it has so lotg enjoyed from the intel- ligent farmers and fruit growers of the United States and Canada. Our ftiends are already sending in the names of sub- scribers to the half volume, commencing with this num- ber. And the object of this brief paragraph is to thank them, and to ask others to do likewise. Will not each reader speak to any neighbor or friend who does not take the Farmer, and ask him to subscribe to the half volume? No one need be without an agricultural paper when it can be had for six months for the price of eight or tea ounces of wool ! The Genesee Farmer will be sent, to any address for six months for 25 cents. Liberal premiums are also offered to all who send us subscribers. See last page of this- number. — ■ — ♦•-» ■ Notes on the Weather from May 15th to June 16th, 1862. — The temperature for the first half of May was a little below the average, and in the last half a little above it, so that the average of the month was 55.8°, and for twenty-five years was 56.1°, not half a degree below. The highest temperature was S9°, on the 18th, and the hottest day 76°. The weather in this section has betn uniformly pleasant, and destitute of any striking results. The rain of the month was only 1.95 inches, and in the previous- mouth 1.89 inches, so that the earth was very dry, and the spring crops have suffered. Severe thunder storms occurred at the South and West, but very little lightning in our city or its vicinity. The month has been pleasant and prosperous for the farmer. We had a slight frost on the 24th instant, and the next morning, which did little injury. The canals have been navigated for the month, and a great amount of cereals, lumber, Ac, has been moved eastward. The weather has been favorable for planting corn, potatoes, &c. June has been cooler, and the average of the first half is 60.7°, or only three degrees below the mean for twenty- five years, and about six degrees below last June. N» rain of consequence has fa' ten here, while abundance has been poured down at the south, and even this State below the middle line of it has been drenched. To the very end of the month the drouth is upon us, and the spring crops must soon be destroyed without rain. Well may we trust that so great an evil will be prevented by a kind Provi- dence. Yet, wells and springs are little affected, and trees and plants whose roots penetrate deep into the earth appear to suffer but little. The northern half of Western New York and most of Canada West, greatly feel fhe drouth. Rain only 0.17 inches. The highest heat of noon was 84° on the 12th, and the coldest was 50" at 7 o'clock on the 1st. The hottest day was 73°. Strawberries have begun to come to market from our gardens, and are brought abundantly from Cincinnati. Cherries begin to be ripe. Fields of winter wheat and rye were finely headed some days since, and the promise of harvest is so far fine. TITE GENESEE FARMER. 227 A Special Premium— A Chance for the Ladies. addition to the very liberal list of premiums which ifi'er to all who send us the names of subscribers to present half volume of the Genesee Farmer, (see last j,) we now otter a new and splendid premium, which interest every one of our lady readers, e have for some time used one of the Universal bes Wringers, and find it every way an excellent and ient machine, wringing the clothes dryer than can be j by hand and in the most expeditious manner. A I can wring all the clothes of a large washing. he price of this machvn.6 is $7.00. »W, we will send this machine, prepaid, by express to person who will send us 40 subscribers to the Genesee tier for one year at 50 cents each ; or 80 subscribers he half volume at 25 cents each. :ie subscribers need not be all at one post office. We send the papers to as many different post offices as is red. Now let us see who wants a Wringer. We can ire our fair readers that it is a good thing. *-•«■ American Pomological Society. i conformity with a resolution adopted at the last meet- of this National Association, the undersigned, Pres. eof, gives notice that its ninth session will commence he Hall of the Mass. Hort. Society, corner of Wash- on and West streets, Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, t. 17th, 1S62, at 12 o'clock, noon, and will continue for :ral days. All Horticultural, Pomological, Agricultu- and other kindred institutions in the United States the British Provinces, are invited to send delegations •trge as they may deem expedient, and all other persons rested in the cultivation of fruit are invited to be sent, and to take seats in the convention, he present season promises to be the most propitious fruit that has occurred for many years, and it is antic- ;d that the coming session, which takes place at the ie time with the annual exhibition of the Massachu- s Horticultural Society, may be made one of the most resting which has ever been held by the Society. All States and Territories are urgently invited to be sent, by delegation, at this meeting, that the amicable social relations "which have heretofore existed between metntiers of the Society may be fostered and perpetu- i, and the result of its deliberations, so beneficial to country at large, be generally and widely diffused, .mong the prominent subjects to be submitted at this sion will he the report of the special committee ap- nted to revise the Society's catalogue of fruits, and s to ascei tain what varieties are adapted to the differeut tions and districts of our country. The various State I Local committees who have not already made their orts on the revision are therefore solicited to forward m, without further delay, to P. Barry, Esq., Rochester, Y., chairman of said committee. And it is further uested that all other reports, which are by the By-laws de returnable to the General Chairman of the Fruit mrmttee, now deceased, may also be addressed to Mr. rrt, as aforesaid. Members and delegates are requested to contribute jcimens of the fruits best adapted to their respective districts — to furnish descriptions of the same, their mode of cultivation, and to communicate whatever may aid in promoting the objects of the Society and the science of American pomology. Each contributor is requested to come prepared with a complete list of his collection and to present the same with his fruits, that a report of all the varieties entered may be submitted to the meeting as soon as practicable. All persons desirous of becoming members c"au remit the admission fee to Thomas P. James, Esq., Treasurer, Philadelphia, or to the President, at Boston, who will furnish tbem with the Transactions of the Society, Life Membership, ten dollars; Biennial, two dollars. Packages of Fruits may be addressed as follows : "American Pomological Society, care of Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Boston, Mass." MARSHALL P. WILDER, Pres. Thomas W. Field, Sec. The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARMER. | Rochester, N. Y., June 25 1862. j Since our last report, the price of wheat has advanced from 4 to 8 cents per bushel. The reports in regard to the growing crops in England have been less favorable, an i this, together with the high rate of exchange on London, has tem'ed lo give greater firmness to our markets. During the past week, however, ocean freights have advanced, and this has had a depressing effect on prices in New York. Still, as we have said, prices are on the whole 4 to 8 cents better lhau a month ago. In New York yesterday, corn was 1 cent lower; sales of West- ern mixed at 50@51c. Oats steady at 43@.45e. Rye firm at 62@, 69c. for Western, and 73@74c. for State. Barley, f5@75c. White winter wheat, $1.22@$1.38; sales yesterday of good winter red at $1.15. Beans are wanted; medium, $2.60@,$2.70 ; marrows $2.65©$2.90. Eggs are lower— 10)n@!2>£c. per dozen. Butter is in good supply; heavy sales of Ohio in New York at 14h£@15c. Cheese is in demand, an-d receipts light— new State. 6X@7e. ; Ohio, 6@7c Hay in demand— sales in bale at $12@,$i;> per ton. Wool is in active demand. As we predicted last month, pries are quite firm and likely to continue so for some time. Farmers, however, can now get good prices, and, while we would be in no hurry to sell, it is usually the best way to accept a good offer. Money never was so abundant, and this is favorable to specula- tion and high prices. In Oh o, one of the best wool States in the Union, farmers ask 50c; 46 to 48c. is freely paid lor medium wools, while as hi-jh as 52c. has been paid for some extra fine. In this seelion, 40c is paid for good clips, and 45c for extra. New Vokk Cattle Markkt. — Last week i eef cattle receded %e. per lb., owing lo the large supply, principally Imm Illinois. Sa'es generally at 7>£@,Stj'c. The same is true of ihis week. Sheep advanced 37>A@,50c. a head. \ e qiv te *@5c. per lb. live weight. Lambs plenly at 7@7^c, live weight, and occa- sionally 8c. Milch cows are in better demand. Swine are lower— corn-fed"Weslern, $3 12X@.$3.30 per cwt. IIorsks — Sales light, but price* firm. One pair of fine bays sold at $80 i ; some second class. $Gl>0@$<'5 per pair. Draft horses in demand at $175@225 each. C mman pairs for farm, $250@,$325 per pair. Con raclors f r Government are purchasing all that arrive. Last week they purchased 30ij head at about $98 each. Money Lost in the Mail.— Whenever money is lost in the mail, we always send the paper just the same as though the money had been received. We have lost more money this year than usual, especially from Canada. Previously, remittances from Canada almost invariably came safely to hand, but this year there is evidently something wrong on the route. The post office authori- ties should look into the matter. Money may be mailed at our risk, but there is one rule which we wish our friends to observe. Do not say a ward to any one on the subject. Mail the letter yourself, and it will generally come safely. If not. it is our loss. If the papers do not come by return mail, write and inform us of the fact, and the papers will be sent. 228 THE GENESEE FARMER. Agricultural Items. At a recent meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Prof. Voelcker delivered a lecture on "Town Sewage as a manure." He estimated that the sewage of Londou is worth three cents per ton, delivered on grass land. This seems small, but it is higher than is obtained for the sewer of Edinburgh, which is used on the mead- ows near that city. In Ogle county, Illinois, the wheat crop is said to be almost a total failure. Hundreds of acres have been plowed up on account of the ravages of the Chinch bug and Hessian fly. .Farmers are offering their wheat for the cost of seed. la Iowa, too, much wheat has been plowed up from the same cause, and replanted with corn. At the last Meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, Solon Robinson asked the Club to adopt the following as one of its rules: "The object of conversation is to entertain and inter- est. To be agreeable, you must learn to be a good lis- tener. A man who monopolizes a conversation is a bore, no matter how great his knowledge." Paschall Morris thinks the Chester white pigs, now so much talked about, originated at least thirty years ago, by crossing a Bedfordshire boar, imported into Chester Co., Pa., with the best stock of the country. Thev are now considered a well established breed. Addison Gardiner, Esq., of this city, has purchased a splendid short-horn bull from James 0. Sheldon, Esq., of Geneva, N. Y. Mr. S. has also just sold a fine young Short-horn bull to E. G. Morris, and another to B. A. Huntington, of Rome, N. Y. Abd-el-Kader has sent to the Emperor Napoleou two magnificent horses of the Semen breed, the purest exist- ing in Arabia, and which the ex-Emir says must have descended in a direct line from the famous mare of the Prophet. John Johnston, an experienced farmer of Seneca Co. says he never knew anything very low without high prices following. On this account, when grain is low he tries to raise more than usual in auticpation of better prices. Hallet's Pedigree Wheat is advertised in three lan- guages at the great International Exhibition, the letters, from seven to eight inches in length, consisting of ears of the wheat advertised ! W. H. Lock, a well known Devon cattle breeder of Cauada, has moved to Champaign Co., Ill-, where he has purchased a farm of 1,300 acres. He takes his large herd of Devons with him. Dr. Geo. H. Dadd, the author ©f several veterinary works, has opened an academy for the study of veterinary scieuce, in St. Louis, Mo. John Wilson, a Scotch farmer, has written a book on British Farming, or a description of the mixed husband- ry of Great Britain. The Seneca County (Ohio) Agricultural Society has offered a prize for the largest number of shade trees set out by one person. M. Foulii, of France, has recently paid $5,700 for a stal- lion— the highest sum ever given for a horse in that country. California exported $4,000,000 of grain and flour last year, and over $1,000,000 of wool and hides. Literary Notices. REPLIES TO ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. By Seven Clergy men of the Church of England, with a Preface by the Lon Bishop of Oxford. New Tork : D. Appleton & Co. These Essays, like those to which they are replies, " were writ ten in entire independence of each other, without concert or com parison." In the preface, the Bishop of Oxford says that the pub llcation of this volume is no admission that new and powerfu arguments against the truth have rendered necessary new argu nients in its defence, but that the object is rather by stating th truth clearly to show that these re-varnished objections are neiihe new nor profound. This is precisely what is needed, for man minds are struggling with these apparently first rationalist! doubts, not knowing that they are really contending with the « suscitalod dead of the infidelity of a past age. The names of ttt authors of these Essays give guarantee that this purpose is thoi oughly carried out CONSIDERATIONS ON REPRESENTATIVE GOVER} MENT. By John Stuart Mill. This book should be extensively read, for there has been i time in the history of our country when it was more necessai that every man should understand the theory on which oureo stitutions are based, and appreciate fully both the benefits ai the dangers which may accrue from them. LEISURE HOURS IN TOWN. Boston': Tioknor & Field. The Recreations of a Country Parson were very charming Iro their freshness, and these arp exceedingly pleasant Mist them have been already published in the Atlantic Monthly. T paper on The Laird aud his Preaching is admirable. THE PEARL OF ORR'S ISLAND. By Mrs. H. B. Stows. AGNES OF SORRENTO. By Mrs. H. B. Stowk. Mrs. Stowk has not added to her reputation by these boo They aro readable, but by no means worthy of the author of Ul» Tom's Cabin. THE LAST OF THE MORTIMERS. By the author of M; garet Maitland. etc. A novel quite different in plot from those which preceded and very entertaining in a quiet way. A BOOK ABOUT DOCTORS. New York : Ru»d & Caslkti A cleverly writien, anecdotical collection of sketches of lives of doctors and the customs of the medical profession. THE BOOK OF DAY; A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities connection with the Calendar, including Anecdote, Klngra and History. Curiosities of Literature, and Oddities of Hun Life anil Character. Philadelphia: .1. 11. I.ii'I'iscoit A ( Edinburgh : W. &, R. Chambers. Parts 1 and 2. Price, cents. We give the entire title page, as it is as good a description the work as can be written. Each day in the year has w itues since tbe world began some incident of note, and, as far us po ble these are gathered here. The two patts already issued the tales of the first seventeen days in the year. The second omtnences with an account of the Carnival, and ends with story *f St. Anthony and the pigs. The illustrations areq' numerous Farmers' Advertiser. — Mr. Shelby Rebd, of Seo ville, informs us that in that town, at Ihis suggestioi a book is kept at the Post Olhce.open to public inspecti in which are entered the names of persons who h auy thing which they wish to dispose of, such as ] stock, seeds, implements, tools, or anything in the fai er's line. It forms an admirable means of commuuicat between the farmers of the town, and meets with gi favor. Long Live King Wool. — "King Cotton is Dead." correspondent of the Prairie Farmer thinks " King W is heir apparent." The falling off in the supply of cot will increase the demand for wool. Wool is kiug. L< live King Wool ! THE GENESEE 1'AKMKK. 229 The Genesee Farmer for June. Eds. Genesee Farmer: —We (myself and others) have ■ead considerably in the last Farmer to-day, and consider tan extra number. The Horticultural Department, the j Walks and Talks iu the Garden " in particular, is very nteresting, especially when we too "want rain " so much, s it because we are "bad farmers?" We don't believe t is. Let the soil be ever so rich, and light, and well mltivated, and it may suffer for want of rain, we believe. So does the Editor, we guess.) The Ladies' and Miscellaneous Departments add much o the interest of the Farmer. The many illustrations we lou't overlook. We have quite a speciality — not partiality -for pictures. The children have. We take a picture •aper, " illustrated." We believe in " Improvement," ' Progression," and all these sort o' things tanght us in he " books," and are glad that the Editor of the Farmer s " in " for the same applied to his journal. A long and ; progressive " life to him and to the Farmer. — I. W. Sanborn. — The Meadows, Lynden, Vt. Gknesee Farmer for June.— That staunch old journal, he Genesee Farmer, opens with a well-written article on he cultivation of root crops. " Management of Honey tees" is by T. B. Miner, formerly editor of the Rural imerican. Among other articles, are " Irrigation for 'ear Trees, Strawberries, etc.," "Walks and Talks in he Garden, JNo. Two." "Wheat Pedigree," " Steepinu- tarley for Sheep," and "Irrigating Meadows." Joseph larns, publisher, Rochester, N. Y. — N. Y. Methodist. The Genesee Farmer for June is received, and, as usual, re find it brimful of excellent reading for farmers. Over nd over again we have commended this journal to our eaders' favor, and we again repeat our advice to all who re at all interested in soil-culture to obtain it. Only 50 ents a year; 6£ cents for postage.— Republican Watchman. The Genesee Farmer. — The June issue of this welcome nd reliable Agricultural Monthly is promptly on our ible, and, as usual is filled with reading interesting to ae agriculturist. The low price at which it is offered laces it within the reach of every one, and no tiller of ae soil should be without it. — Repository and Messenger Genesee Farmer / — The Jnna number of this monthly i received. The Farmer is one of the most valuable ournals of its class published. We will receive sub- criptions for the half volume ending with December. — 'rice, 25 cents. — North Western, Wisconsin. The Genesee Farmer for June has arrived. It is one of ae best numbers issued in the present volume. It can e seen at the Post Office, where subscriptions are re- si ved for it. — Cayuga, ( C. W. ) Sentinel. Inquiries and Answers. Clover Seed. — (S. M.) The first crop of clover should e cut early. If not already done, mow it at once. There i nothing more to be done. If a bushel of plaster be jwn per acre soon after the first mowing, it will fre- uently increase the produce of the clover, but it is said lat it retards the ripening of the seed. What shall I Sow among Corn that Missed? — (Benj. .lling.) If not too late, beans may be planted. Some jw buckwheat. If the soil is moist and in good condi- on, sow some white turnips broadcast — not ruta bagas. re have known an excellent crop raised in this way. hey should be hoed, and thinned out to at least a foot part. ^^^ Farm Wanted. — Western New York is noted for wheat nd fruit culture. Would you or some of your corres- ondents be kind enough to sav in the Genesee Farmer 'hat the facilities are for obtaining forming lands, and if ; would be easy for a man of small means to do so ? In anada West we can get a tolerable farm, on time, for bout $30 per acre, with about half of it cleared, and not too far from stores, schools and churches. What would be the cost of a similar place in your State? or if there be none within those means or of an industrious, energetic man, where would be the next best place, taking markets and the prospects of succeeding into account? The sea- sons here are rather short and cold for profitable fruit culture. An answer would oblige — Canada, Prescott, C. W. It will not be difficult for you to get a good wheat and fruit farm in Western New York. The price, of course, will vary considerably, according to location, improve- ments, &c. Perhaps $50 per acre would be about the average price for a good wheat and fruit farm. Sugar Evaporator. — I have planted over an acre of sorghum, and intend to make sugar, or syrup at least. What is the best process? I am told that there are Evap- orators manufactured at the West, that facilitate the ope- ration greatly. Can you tell me where they are manufac- tured, the price, and which is the best? — H. C. Ogden, Monroe Co., A7. Y., June §th, 1862. Will some of our readers, who have had experience, answer the above? We have grown sorghum, but never made sugar from it. We are experimenting with it this year, and should be glad of all the information we can obtain on the subject. Grades of Spring Wheat. — (G. C.) The grades estab- lished by the Chamber of Commerce of Milwaukee areaa follows : No. 1 Spring must be sound, well cleaned wheat, weigh- ing not less than fifty eight lbs. to the measured bushel. No. 2 Spring must be sound, and weigh not less than fifty-five lbs. to the measured bushel. Extra Spring must be pure club sound, well cleaned, and weigh not less than sixtv lbs. to the measured bushel. Rancid Butter. — (M. P.) We have not ourselves tried the chloride of lime remedy. We presume it is effectual. Working the butter in strong brine and allowing it to stand on the butter for twenty-four hours is said to be good. If too salt, wash the butter in fresh water before using. Will some one who has had experience in this matter give us information on the subject ? Several Inquiries. — 1st. Is it advisable to roll corn or small grain in lime, previous to planting or sowing it? 2d. How is clover and timothy seed cleansed? 3d. How can worms on Apple trees be effectually destroyed ? 4th. This spring I manured corn in the hill wifh un- leached ashes and hen manure, putting in a handful, dropping the corn by the side of it. The corn was completely eaten up with wire worms, and had to be planted over. How should it have been applied? Beans for Sheep.— B. F. Taber, of Cayuga Co., writes us that he intends to raise a crop of beans every year, more or less to feed his sheep, his experience " in feeding them last winter and spring having satisfied him of their superiority for keeping the sheep in first-rate condition, growing a large fleece of wool aud making milk at lamb- ing time, besides improving the manure." Agricultural Libraries in Massachusetts. — W. Bacon, of Richmond, Massachusetts, states in the Country Gentleman, that there are two hundred public agricul- tural libraries in that State, nearly two to every three towns. He well remarks that such libraries are of incal- culable value, and are now easily obtained. 230 THE GENESEE FARMER. ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only such— will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer for twenty-five cents a line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lisls of subscribers in every State and Territory, and in all the British Provinces. (It has nearly 6000 subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no belter or cheaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to rural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to our columns, at filly cents a line. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N.Y 3— tf WANTED— By a praclical Vintner, Gardener, Florist and Nurseryman, thoroughly acquainted with the Culture of the Grape, and a practical knowledge of the Nursery business, uld like to engage in the sale of this t-uly valuable invention, >eral inducements wiil be offered ami good territory given them ley paying nothing for the Patent Right) in which they shall ive the exclusive sale. This Wringer is made by he Metropolitan "Washing Machine Company, Under the following patents: le Improved Patent Cog Wheel Regulator — It saves Iriction of the clothes, and prevents the rolls from wearing. is new Patent Method for Fastening the Roll to the Shaft- Never blacks the clothes. ickerman's Patent Clasping Frame, for fastening to the tub — Can not work loose from its place. fman's Patent Adjustable Gauge, tor different sized tubs — Thick or thin, straight, slanting, or circular. oodtear's Patent (of which tiiey are (he exclusive owners) for the right to make, sill and use Vulcanized India Rubber Rolls or Covered Rolls fir Wash ng, Wringing, or Starching Machines. Any one -making, selling or us'ng any Wringer (the user as ell. as the maker), the ro Is of which were not purchased of em, and a license obtained to sell and use the same, areinfring- g on their rights, and will at once he prosecuted according To w. Afteran expensive litigation in ihe United States Courts. e suits are terminated and injunctions issued against Ihe in- mgers. The purties prosecuted have setiled for past infringe- ents and are n .w acting under licenses, which (with their sup- y of India Rubber) they obtained from them w th the right lo se it for other Wringers (they paving a tarilf on all sold), but ider the most carelul restrictions as to ;erms and prices, both h«le*ale and retail. All licensed partes will have a certificate, showing their rights id authority. The public, shoul i beware of all canvassers'" for frirtgers who can imt pr iduce such certificate— they are bogus. Descriptive Or nl rs furnished bv JULiU- IVES &, CO.. General Aopnts, July. 1562— 1y. 345 Broadway, New York. |^~ Sold by Special Canvassers throughout the land. The Original Howe Sewing Machine ! • RECENT and important improvements hav ng been put to to this Machine renders it now the most perfect before the public, and persons at a distance can order a Machine with a guarantee ot its prompt and sale delivery, and that they will be able to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking needles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making any garment, however delicate or heavy, on the. same Machine, either in cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- chasing a Sewing Machine without flrsl seeing this — the latest and greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing Machine. t3F" Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices, A few responsible Agents would be dealt with liberally Addrese THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES, July, 1862.— 21t 437 Broadway, New York. Show and Sale of South Down Sheep. PROVIDENCE permitting, my Twelfth Annua) Sale of Year- ling Kams, Ram and Ewe Lambs, will take place on WED- NESDAY, Sept. 3d, 1962. Having used Mr. Webb's choice st^ck Rams the pa«t four years on my flock, and imported the best Breeding Ewes from his flock. I can with coafidence invite the attendance of a I Sheep Breeders at said sale, wh^-n I hope to show size, thrift, wool and fine quality surpassed by no flock in any country. Please send for ciicolar. Particulars about routes, Ac, in August papers as well as in cir- cular. J. c. TAYLOR, June— 2t Holmdel, N.J. FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 2C0or 500 yard spools, White, B:ack, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOKN PATENT GLACE for upper thread, and BHOOK'S SIX CO D RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all flrsl class dealers in city and country; also in cases of 100 dozen each, as-or ed mimic rs, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. Ja— ly TREE AGENTS WANTED WANTED— A few intelligent, active and trustworthy busi- ness men as Agents to solicit ord rs for Trees, Plants, Shrubs, &c, deliverable in the Fall of 18'12. A liberal commis- sion offered. Address FUnST & CO., Proprieto s of the Genesee Valley Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y. ATO MOEE FLUID LAMP EXPLOSIONS -D A Y A CO/S ^1 Kerosknk Oil Bt/rnkr adapts ihe common Fluid Lamps f>r burning Kerosene Oil. without smoke and without a chimnev A sample dozen mailed free on receipt of 60 cents by * DAY & CO., Newark, N.J. Thoroughbred Devon Cattle TV^OR SALE— Of both sexes, and of various ages. For pedi- JP grees and full particulars address me at Victory Cavuga Co N. Y. July— 3t GEO. B. LOCKWOOD. ' THE BUBAL ANNUAL— For 1856; 87, '58, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid to any address for +1 4u. JOSEPH 11KRRI9, Rochester, N. Y 232 THE GENESEE FARMER. Half Volume of the Genesee Farmer. CEl^NoiSfcl-ESS FOR Family and Manufacturing Use, 495 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. V. C. GOODWIN, 9« State St., Rochester, N. Y. Agencies in all the principal Cities and Towns in the United States. THE GROVES, & BAKER S. M. CO. NOW OFFEK IN ADDITION TO THEIR SPLENDID STOCK OF MACHINES, MAKING THE CELEBRATED GROVER h BAKER STITCH, NEW AND SUPERIOR Shuttle, or "Lock-Stitch" Machines, ADAPTED to all varieties of sewing. Much more Simple, Durable, Noiseless and Perfect than any other " lock-stitch " machines heretorore in use. j3F"The Grover .fc Baker machines have taken the first pre- miums, over all competition, at every State Fair where they were exhibited last year. sr»isciiLXj j=»rti!zms. BOARDMAN, GRAY & CO., P I A. N O Ss THE BEST AND MOST DURABLE. Our large, elegant and superior Pianos of 7 and "ii Octaves at low price for Cash. PIANOS FOR SMALL, PARLORS, 6X and 7 Octaves, elegant and durable. All our Pianos have the Insulated Iron Rim, Giving strength and durability, and requiring less than half the usual amount of tuning. ROSE-WOOD YOUNG AMERICA PIANOS, Warranted to prove good and give perfect satisfaction, or no sale. pp- SEND FOE DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUES. BOARDMAN, GRAY & CO., Manufacturer!, June— 3t . ALBANY, N. T. THE FIVE CENT MONTHLY MAGAZINE! The Cheapest and Best Literary Magazine in the Country. EACH number contains 32 bound pages of Choice, Original articles on a great variety of subjects, interspersed with Po- etry, »l»c. After the issue of the number for June next, the Five Tent Monthly will contain NO MORE CONilNUED STORIES, so that, each number shall be a complete book of itself. %W° SUBSCRIPTION PRICE ONLY FIFTY CENTS A YEAR. Persons sending the amount of subscription will receive the Monthly free of postage. Specimen copies will be sent to any address upon receipt of five cents. All communications should be addressed to WOODBURY & CO., Publishers op Five Cent Monthly, June— 2t No. 3 Tretnont Row, Boston, Mass. A tialf volume of the Genesee Farmer commences with the next number. It will be sent to any address for tuenty-jlte cents, and the following Premiums will be paid to all who send us subscribers . BOOK PREMIUMS. 1. To any person sending us the names of Hcr> subscribers for the coming half volume of the Genesee Farmer at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaid's Directory, by Mrs. Eliza A. Call or one copy of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1S60 or 1861} 2. To anv perswi sending us four subscribers to the half vol- ume at 25 c#nls each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, two copies of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for any years that may be wished. 3. To any person sending us six subscribers to the half vol- ume, at '25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three volumes of the Rural Annual. 4 To any person sending us eight subscribers to the half vol- ume; at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, on« copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farrier. Price, 50 cents 5. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half vol ume, at 2.1 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, om copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1S5G, nicely bound in stiff pa, per covers. Trice, 75 cents. 6. To- any person sending us twelve subscribers to the hall volume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail a copy of Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a bound volume ol the Genesee Farmer for 1S0O or 1S61. Price of the latter, $1 7. To any person sending us fourteen subscribers at 25 cent each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Mrs. S. .1 Halk's Modern Cookery. Price, $1.00. 8. To any person sending us sixteen subscribers, at 25 cent each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Every body's Lawyer, *r a copy of The Horse and ins Diseases. Pri« $1.25. 9. To any person sending us forty subscribers at 25 cenl each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Run Poetry of the English Language. Price, $3.00. GRAPE VINE PREMIUMS. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half volum< at 25 cents each, we will forward, prepaid by mail, to any pal of the United States one Delaware grape vrue For shrteen subscribers, two Delaware grape vines. For twenty-four subscribers, t/iree Delaware grape vines. For thirty subscribers, four Delaware grape vines. For thirty-four subscribers, five Delaware grape vines, or on each of Delaware, Concoad, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific an Crivelin. The grape vines will be sent in time for planting next fall, We offer these Premiums for subscribers to the half volumi commencing with the July number. The first six numbers c this year men still be furnished, and one subscription to th whole volume, at 50 cents, will count the same as as two to tli half volume, at 25 oe/ils each. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher an»' Proprietor of the Genesee Farmer, June 1, 1SG2. Rochester, N. Y u. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, AUGUST, 1862. No 8. THE GREAT ENGLISH FAIR. rnK Great Fair of the Royal Agricultural Socie- was held iu Battersea Park, London, the last ek of June and first week of July. It was ibably the greatest agricultural exhibition ever d in the world. ?he fair grounds comprised about thirty-five es, and these were thronged with visitors from nations. It was the ''great international w," at least so far as spectators were concerned. live stock, too, is was "international," for many the imported breeds of cattle and sheep from continent were there. The implements were acipally English. There was one American, : Canadian, one Irish and but a few Scotch firms resented. The English agricultural machines [ implements occupied miles of shedding, and catalogue filled 439 pages, and contained 5,064 arate articles, besides groups not enumerated. ■ the first time, no prizes were offered in this ss, and yet the show of implements and ma- les has never been equalled. The advantages i great market are sufficiently attractive to the aufacturers. Iteam plows constituted a prominent feature of exhibition, and the public trials were on the ole eminently satisfactory. "We may form some i of the extent to which steam is used on Eng- farms, from the fact that there were at this ex- ition over 120 steam engines— upward of 100 lg movable engines. 'he extent to which oilcake is used for feeding 3k, may be learned from the fact that there *e 60 cake-breakers exhibited. There were also i horse and hand-power chaff-cutters. ?here were 16 clod-crushers shown — one of the t implements of modern invention, and which tardly known, if at all, in this country. There re 50 cultivators and "grubbers," and 100 rows. )f "hay-tedders" (a machine for shaking out the hay, turning it, etc.), there were 25. There were 37 mowing machines, upward of 30 reapers, and 87 threshing machines. There were 200 plows and 14 exhibitors of steam cultivators. " Grain crushers " or bruisers are less common with us than they should be. There were nearly 200 of these mills and crushing apparatus shown ! Some idea of the extent of the show of imple- ments may be formed from these figures. We have, of course, only mentioned a few of the more striking features of this department of the exhi- bition. The show of cattle has never been surpassed in quality. There were some 250 entries. For the first time at the Fairs of the Eoyal Agricultural Society, the judges examined the cattle in public. Hitherto they passed judgment on the stock before the visitors were admittled. The process of " weed- ing out," by which the large classes were reduced to a few, and these placed in the first, second and third class, was watched with great interest by great numbers of spectators crowded around each separate body of judges. And especially exciting was it when the prize animals in the different classes of each breed were compared for the award of the gold medal as the best of the breed. The Short-horns were more numerous and of a higher average quality than at any previous show. In the competition of the first prize animals for the gold medal, Jonas Webb's ten months old white bull calf was the winner. He must be regarded, therefore, as the best male Short-horn in Europe ! Judges can rarely, with any degree of certainty, predict the future of so young an animal, and the award has given rise to much criticism and com- plaint. The Herefords were out in full force. There were 97 entries, against 38 last year. There was, says the Mark Lane JZxpress, "no breed of stock better represented, and none in which recent im- provement is more perceptible." There were but 68 entries of Devons. The gold 234 THE GENESEE FARMER. medal cow was as handsome as a picture— one of the most perfect specimens in the yard. It is thought that the Devons do not show that im- provement which marks the Herefords. They were as good thirty years ago as now. The Ayrshires were admirably represented. The other breeds, including Sussex, Long-horns, Norfolk and Suffolk polled, Irish Kerries, Gallo- ways, etc., etc., were all there, but we have not space to allude to their merits. The sheep constituted a grand feature of the Fair. There were 640 entries, exclusive of the Scotch and foreign entries. Cotswolds were out in great force. There were 90 entries of this breed. The Leicesters, Lincolns, and other long-woolled sheep turned out hand- somely. The South Downs, Oxford Downs, Hanip- shires and Shropshires were all there, each good after his kind. There were 200 entries of pigs— all of unusual excellence, excepting, perhaps, the Berkshires. The Suffolk and Yorkshire Middle breeds were the champions. The large breeds are less popular, and are said to be going out of fashion, even in York- shire. Of horses, there were 280 entries. The Mark Lane Express thus tersely sums up this part of the Fair: "The cart horses were very good, the coach horses very tine, and the riding horses very bad I" Of agricultural horses, the Suffolks and Clydes- dales were the two principal breeds. It is the character of these that determine the character of this department of the show. In this case, they were excellent. The Suffolks well sustained their reputation as light and active but strong and pow- erful farm horses. The Clydesdales were not nu- merous, but they were a well selected lot. Con- sidering their immense size and weight, many of them showed censiderable action, and moved their shaggy legs with an ease that approximated to gracefulness. In the foreign classes were shown six breeds of French cattle, and also some from Holland and Switzerland. There were no foreign heavy draught horses, and few of any kind. There were also some excellent French, Spanish and Saxon Merino sheep exhibited. To this department of the great show, we may allude at some future time. Agriculture in our Common Sctiools. — A cor- respondent of the N. E. Farmer, John Goldsbury of Warwick, objects to the introduction of the study of agriculture into our common schools, on th ground that teachers already have enough else to do, and because they are not qualified to teach it. AM OLD AGRICULTURAL PAPER. We have had in our possession for some time si volumes of a monthly agricultural journal, starte in London in the' year 1763, called the Musew Rusticum et Commerciale. There is a frontispiece to the first volume, sho-v ing a collection of agricultural implements : a uu with a broadaxe cutting down a tree, a boy shea ing a sheep, a young woman with a spinning whe< and a man plowing with three oxen tandem ! Th picture well indicates the condition of agricultu: in Britain at that time. The articles are exceedingly well written, and a mostly on subjects still discussed in our agrcultui papers. For instance, the first article is on t Kentish method of gathering and curing hops ; i second, on the culture of flax in Ireland; the thh on trees and shrubs which will thrive near the 1 in which the mulberry is recommended. Next have a new method of cutting wheat: "using scythe six inches shorter in the blade than the co; mon scythe, and instead of a cradle, two twigs osier put semicircular-wise into holes made in t handles of the scythe, near the blade, in sucl manner that one semicircle intersects the other." The next article is "on the manner in whi canary seed is raised." Turn over an old 1 bring it " into tolerable fine tilth," and sow pe These are hoed. After peas, sow beans, and k< them clean with frequent hoeings. "These I crops effectually kill the greensward or grass, fa off the rankness of the soil, and the frequent h ings, which are necessary to keep the weeds unci bring the land into fine tilth. After the beans off, the land gets a thorough plowing, and is tl left till spring : about the beginning of March the weather is fine and the season dryr the h gets its last plowing; immediately after which canary seed is sown." This is certainly good culture, and the pracl of cleaning land by planting two hoed crops in s cession might be, even now, frequently adop with advantage. The writer then proceeds to say that form( it was the custom to sow broadcast, but " t found it very difficult to hoe and keep clean fi weeds 5" so "at present they sow it in furr< made across the lands, constantly taking care make the ridges between the furrows as shar] possible; by this means, the seed, which is sc by hand, slips from the ridges into the furrows, the plants come up in regular rows." The ed remarks in a foot note, that •« this is a faint im THE GENESEE FARMER. 235 on of the new method of husbandry invented by [r. Tuxl.71 Three pecks of seed were sown per acre, and the ield was from 25 to 50 bushels. Next we have a letter from the Rev. Mr. Jack- 3n, " on the causes of rank, coarse meadows, and ultivating cabbage as food for cattle." He had a leadow that was "wet, pouchy, overrun with ishes and flags, and the little grass that grew on . was coarse and rank." He thought at first "it ras owing to some deficiency of the soil." [We ifer from this that there was the same talk about exhaustion of the soil " in those days as now.] [owever, he dug deep drains to carry off the su- erfluous water, and then had the land covered with 3al ashes and plowed. Thinking this was not eep enough, he hired "several stout laborers and greed with them to dig it two spits deep. He len planted cabbages and allowed four feet to ich plant. At first," he says, " the plants seemed mattered, and at a great distance from each other ; ut they soon began to thrive apace. I took great ire that the intervals were kept quite clear of reeds by frequent hoefng ; and twice in the sum- ler I caused them to be stirred with the spade : lis had a surprising effect, and the plants grew to wonderful size and weight, the land seeming en- rely covered by them. " When my crop of cabbages was come to per- sction, I caused some of them to be boiled for my imily use, and with great satisfaction found they rere much sweeter than any I ever had from my itchen garden : this I attributed, and perhaps not ithout reason, to the land not being dunged. " Being at a loss what to do with my crop, which ras not saleable in my neighborhood, I came to a ^solution of giving them to my cows, which fed q them plentifully, and greatly increased in the uantity of milk they gave ; but the milk had a isagreeable taste, as well as the butter which was lade from the cream of it ; but for this I soon >und a remedy by using Hale's method of ventila- ng it. " I afterwards, with some of these same cabba- es, brought four large hogs so forward in flesh, tiat sis bushels of barley meal made them all ompletely fat and fit for the pickling tub ; and hey turned out most excellent pork, without any ye-taste. I must, however, notice that I was at rst obliged to cause the cabbages to be boiled for he hogs, to induce them to eat hearty ; but they fere soon by degrees brought to relish them raw. " My poultry were extremely fond both of boiled nd raw cabbages ; and my draught horses, when it was cut small, relished it much when mixed with oats, and seemed rather to thrive from the change of food; they also ate much less hay than usual. " I was not at all displeased with my experiment, and I have every year since caused a piece of mea- dow to be dug and planted with cabbages for the above purpose. "In the spring, I caused all the stalks to be pulled up, and the land strewed over with the sweepings of my loft and the bottoms of my hay- stacks, adding some seed of the sweet, white-flow- ered, or honey-suckle trefoil: I then ordered my wox-kmen to fill up the drains with witch-elm fag- gots ; over them were laid some large stones, and the whole covered with loose earth, sown with hay seed like the rest of the meadow. "It is now five years since I laid it down again in grass, and there has not in that time been the least appearance of either rush or flag." Next we have articles on the use of "sea- waure " (sea- weed) as manure, on the culture of " saintfoin," " on transplanting some trees in sum- mer whilst they were in full leaf." This was done successfully by cutting in the branches so as to cor- respond with the loss of roots. This writer also incidentally remarks that the bark.on the north side of trees is thicker than on the south side, and that in transplanting care should be taken not to turn the trees round so tha the thin and tender bark on the south side should face the cold north winds. The editor, however, remarks that "Mr. Miller [We suppose the author of the Gardeners' Dictionary] says he has many times made the experiment, and could perceive no visible difference in the thriving of the plants." A correspondent asks several questions which are left for the readers to answer — such as : " What is the best method of managing upland pastures?" " Might not tares or grey peas be to advantage sown, to use either as green or dry fodder ?" "What is the best method of flooding mea- dows?" •' How are Jlow meadows to be managed, and which is the best method of improving them ?" " Which is the best method of preserving the grass and destroying the weeds, in meadows and pastures ?" " What is the best manure for meadows and pas- tures, and at what season and in what manner is it laid on?" " When land is to be prepared for wheat, is it not a good practice to sow tares or buckwheat, and plow them in, when in lull sap, as a manure?" 286 THE GENESEE FARMER. " How are farmers to be prevented from spoiling young horses by putting them too soon to the •collar?" " In what cases are oxen or horses to be preferred one to the other?" "Might not artificial ways of hatching fowls be with advantage practiced?" Then follows "A letter to the editors, recom- mending the culture of vines in our North Ameri- can colonies." The writer says he has "long thought that good wine might be made on the con- tinent of North America. The extent of territory we possess there is amazing, and the diversity of climate such, that, in more than one of our colo- nies, vines may certainly with advantage be planted. I own it is to me astonishing, that none but partial and pusillanimous trials have yet been made in this important matter, in that part of the world. A few vines have, it is true, been planted without succees. * * * * It is well known that a moist rich land is not proper for vines ; yet on such kind of soils have vines been generally planted in America. Some have planted vines and suffered them to run up the neighboring trees; but little was to be expected from this method of planting them, as they could not enjoy the full benefit of the sunbeams, and they Were too much exposed to moisture, not only from the dews, but from the perspiration of the trees which sup- ported them. ****** '• It has, I know, been urged, that the grapes cultivated in America are very apt to burst before they are fully ripe; but this must either proceed from their having too much nourishment, or from the skins of the grapes being moistened by the damp vapor which proceeds from the neighboring woods. I have known, when a cherry tree in full vigor has been loaded with fine ripe fruit, that one night's rain has made all the fruit burst; moisture will have this effect on most kinds of fruit, partic- ularly on cherries, plums, etc. * * * * I would earnestly recommend it to the planters in our several colonies, to try, with proper precau- tions, their success in planting vineyards: it would be easy for them to procure cuttings from the best vines which grow on the banks of the Rhine and Moselle; these would thrive well in Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, and the province of Massachusetts ; and ahle vignerons, for the purpose of dressing the vines, might probably be got, on moderate terms, from the Germans set- tled at the back of Virginia and Pennsylvania; ami if not, many in Germany would be glad to remove." Next we have an article recommending salt o old brine to keep moss from gravel walks in shad; places. In the next number, for October, 1763, we fin it recommended to give salt to cattle, when turne into green clover, to prevent surfeiting, and "then by greatly accelerate the fattening of the catth and make it much safer for the farmer." Farmer M writes that he planted one-ha of a field with " quartered " potatoes and the oth« half with whole potatoes. "The quantity < roots," he says, "was much the same in the tw parts; that is, the part which was planted wit quarters and that which was planted with who' roots, only the potatoes which grew from the la: were largest." A Berkshire farmer gives "a very easy method increasing the milk of cows." It is simply to fet each cow a peck of malt dust each morning milking. " Next we have " A letter to the editors on in proved methods of breeding seed wheat." Tl plan was to sow in drills two feet apart, hoe tl land thoroughly, and earth up the wheat at tl last hoeing. The result was a very superior quali of grain, and an increased yield per acre, whi there was a great saving in the amount of 6eed i quired, as compared^with the old broadcast systei In getting "seed for the next crop, the sheaves this wheat were beaten lightly, so as to knock o only the largest, ripest and best grains." We next have "An improved method of raisi cucumbers." It is simply to train them up a w with a southern aspect. Then there is an article recommending farad and gardeners to gather the leaves of trees and i them as manure. The remainder of this number is occupied pri cipally with articles on the cultivation of madd and sainfoin. In the November number, the first article is the destruction of timber, in which the edit remarks : "When a country happens to be over wood( the madness of clearing it is often carried to < cess. We have had many instances of this in Ei land ; and in some of our American colonies tl horder on the sea, the timber is so far destroy through this madness of clearing, that even ti: wood is excessively dear ; a horrid mistake ! whi one would scarcely have thought any man of co mon forecast could have been guilty of. But t misfortune is, that present profit, in general, g the better of every other consideration." Next we have an artfele on the " culture of i hog pea." It is said to " keep down the wee1 THE GENESEE FARMER. 237 md render the land in fine tilth for future crops.11 rhe grey pea makes "excellent food for hogs, which fatten on them sooner and better than on iny other food." Then follows an article on the. "culture of tur- lips,11 in which it is recommended to dust the (roung plants with wood-ashes or soot to keep off ;he fly; it is also recommended to pass a light •oiler over the plants, and thus "crush and kill he flies." Sometimes, it is said, "turnips have )een harrowed in after a crop of peas, without lowing, and have thriven amain." We have also in this number, articles on the cul- ure of burnet, which is said to grow like aspara- gus; on cole-seed and on timothy grass, which Lord Manners had just introduced from Virginia. JEFFERSON AS A FARMER. Capt. Edmund Bacon, a now aged and wealthy iitizen of Kentucky, was for twenty years the ihief overseer of Jefferson's estate at Monticello. Che Rev. Dr. Pierson, President of Cumberland College, Ky., has obtained from Capt. B. much in- brmation in regard to Mr. Jefferson not hitherto nade public. This he has embodied in a book, entitled "Jefferson at Monticello.11* It does not liscuss political or religious opinions. Its purpose s simply to describe his home, his personal ap- >eavance, and his business habits— to set the man iilly before the reader, as a farmer, manufacturer md master; as a lover of fine horses, hogs and heep ; as the enthusiastic cultivator of fruits and lowers; as the kind neighbor, the liberal benefac- or of the poor, the participator of the childish ports of his grandchildren, the hospitable enter- riner of swarms of visitors that Avell-nigh ate up lis substance and consumed his life. The work is me of great interest and we are sure a few extracts vill be acceptable to the readers of the Genesee farmer. Mr. Jefferson's farm comprised about ten thou- and acres. It was divided into four plantations ; ' Negro Jim " having charge of the negroes on the Monticello portion. Capt. Baoon says : " We used o get up a strife between the different overseers, o see which would make the largest crops, by gi v- ng premiums. The one that delivered the best srop of wheat to the hand, had an extra barrel of lour ; the best crop of tobacco, a fine Sunday suit; he best lot of pork, an extra hundred and fifty * Jefferson at Monticello. The Private Life of Thomas rEFEEKSON. From entirely new materials. With numerous fixe imiles. By Kev. Hamilton W. Pierson, President of Columbia College, Ky. New York ; Chaeles Scrib«bb, i§62, lbs. of bacon. Negro Jim always had the best pork, so that the other overseers said that it was no use to try any more, as he would get it any way." Mr. Jefferson wrote out the minutest directions for his overseer, so that Mr. B. says : "I knew al- ways exactly what to do." We extract a few : " A part of this field is to be planted with Quar- antine corn, which will be found in a tin cannister in my closet. This corn is to be drilled 5 feet and the stalks 18 inches asunder in the drills. The rest of the ground is to be sowed in oats, and red clover sowed on the oats. All plowing is to be done horizontally, in the manner Mr. Randolph does his." " 180 cords of wood are next to be cut." Min- ute directions are given where to cut it, on some flat lands, which were intended for a timothy meadow. " When these things are done, the levelling of the garden is to be resumed." " Davy and Abram may patch up the old garden pales, when work is going on from which they can best be spared." " The thorn hedges are to be kept clean wed at all times." " As soon as the aspen trees lose their leaves, take up one or two hundred of the young trees, not more than two or three feet high ; tie them in bundles, with the roots well covered with straw." They were to be sent to Washington. " When the work at the mill is done, and the fence mended up on the top of the mountain, take as much time with your hands as will fill all the gullies in the field north of the overseers home (called Belfield) with bushes, etc., so that they may be filling up by the time we are ready to clear it up. The scalded places should also be covered with bushes." " The orchard below the garden must be entirely cultivated the next year ; to wit, a part in Ravens- croft pea, which you will find in a canister in my closet; a part with Irish potatoes, and the rest with cow-pea, of which there is a patch at Mr. Freeman's, to save which, great attention must be paid, as they are the last in the neighborhood." This was in 180T. Jefferson was very fond of all kinds of good stock. "The first full-blood Merino sheep in all that country," says Capt. B., " were imported by Mr. Jefferson for himself and Mr. Madison, while he was President. They were sent by water to Fredericksburg. Mr. Jefferson wrote me to go with Mr. Madison's overseer, Mr. Graves, and get 238 THE GENESEE FARMER. the sheep. He said he knew no better way to divide them, than to draw for the choice ; and the one that got the first choice of the bucks, take the choice of the ewes. "When we got to Fredericks- burg we were greatly disappointed. The sheep •were little bits of things, and Graves said he would not give his riding-whip for the whole lot. There were six of them— two bucks and four ewes/' Mr. Bacon got the first choice, and so selected the best buck. "He was a little fellow, but his wool was as fine almost as cotton. When I got home, I put a notice in the paper at Charlotteville, that persons who wished to improve their stock should send us two ewes and we would keep them until the lambs were old enough to wean, and then give the own- ers the choice of the lambs, and they leave the other lambs and both of the ewes. We got the greatest lot of sheep— more than we wanted ; two or three hundred, I think ; and in a few years we had an immense flock. People came long'distances to buy our full-blooded sheep. At first we sold thdni for $50, but they soon fell to $30 and $20 ; and before I left Mr. Jeffeeson, Merino sheep were so numerous that they sold about as cheap as com- mon ones." Mr. Jeffeeson also imported some " Calcutta hora cutting wheat. We find it very much injured the fly and the late storms of rain and wind. iere is another little insect we find on the grain, does not appear to have injured the grain much ; it they are on the grain by the hundreds and ousands. The first we noticed them was on the ts last year. They did not seem to have injured at. I send you a head of rye with a few of them . the stem. Perhaps you can give us some ac- unt of them through the Genesee Farmer. Dilhburg, Pa„ July 10, le62. JOHN PHALL. The insect you send is the uoat aphis" (aphis ence) of Fabrictus. It has been known in Eu- pe from time immemorial. It has occasionally peared in this country, but till last season has ne comparatively little damage. Last year, how- er, it made its appearance in 'different parts of e country in countless myriads. It attacks all rids of grain : rye, wheat, barley and oats; corn- icing with the former, and when the rye gets >e and too hard for them to suck its juices, it at- :ks the more succulent wheat and barley, and tally leaves these for the oats, which are still een. As it attacks all kinds of grain, it is now more operly called the "grain aphis" (aphis eerealis). We have not heard many complaints of them is season. We were in hopes that the numerous rasites which preyed upon them last year had pt them in check. James O. Sheldon, Esq., of meva, N". Y., writes us under date July 11, that has made its appearance again on the oats in his ighborhood. Dr. Fitch states that one aphis will in twenty xs have upward of two million descendants ! ere it not for the numerous parasites which des- )y them, they would soon overrun our grain ops. Fortunately it has many parasitic foes, ch as the lady-bug, the Chrysopa or golden-eyed 3s, the larvae of different Syrphus flies, etc. If you examine a head of wheat invested with ese lice, you will find some that are large, plump .d swollen, of the color of brown paper, stand- g in a position so natural that you suppose they e alive. Touch them with the point of a pin, id you find them dead. Pick off a part of their ittle skin, and you will find inside a white mag- >t doubled up like a ball. If you put one or two ads of this wheat into a vial, closing its mouth ith a wad of cotton, you will find, according to r. Fitch, in a week or less, some little black flies, :e small ants, running about in the vial. They we come out from the dead lice. Drive one or to of these flies into another vial, and introduce to them a wheat head having some fresh lice. You will soon see the fly running about among thvm, examining them with its atennro. Having found one adapted to its wants, it dextrously curves its body forward under its breast, bringing the tip before its face, as if to take accurate aim with its sting. The aphis gives a shrug, indicating that the fly has pricked it with his sting and that by this operation an egg has been lodged under its skin, from which will grow a maggot like that first seen inside the dead, swollen aphis. And thus the little fly runs busily around among the lice on the wheat heads, stinging one after another, till it exhausts it9 stock of eggs, a hundred, probably, or more, thus insuring the death of that number of lice. And of its progeny, fifty we may suppose will be fe- males, by which five thousand more will be des- troyed. We thus see what efficient agents these parasites are in subduing the insects on which they prey. GRAIN APHIS. We annex a cut of one of the male aphide9 mag- nified (fig. 1 — 2, natural size). Also of one of the females when punctured and dead (fig. 4, natural size, fig. 3, magnified). Figs. 5 and 7 are parasitic flies which sting and destroy these insects, Aphidius avence and Ephe- drut plagiator, as given in " Morton's (English) Cyclopedia of Agriculture." Figs. 6 and 8, natural size. ■ ■ i m Influence of the Moon on Vegetation. — The Boston Cultivator alludes to the investigations of Dr. Bohl in regard to the influence of the moon on vegetation. He found that plants exposed to the moon's rays were not only more vigorous than those partially shaded, but blossomed two or three weeks earlier. THE GENESEE FARMER. REFUSE PULPSFROM CIDER MILLS AS AlFERTI- LIZER FOR APPLE TREES. M. Freke Heney, of Rennes, in an article com- municated to the Abeille Pomologlque, mentions the following interesting facts : For fifteen years he remarked that apple tree?, the lower part of whose stems was covered with cider pressings, spreading out from a large adjoining heap of that material, made double and treble the growth of trees that were not so circumstanced. ticularly to draw attention is, that some delicate varieties of which the fruit is apt to crack, for example, the Beurre d'Aremberg, or Glou Morceau, Doyenne Roux, Beurre Gris, &c, now produce fruit perfectly smooth and sound. " In conclusion, I am justified, by my own experience, in saying that I can confidently recom- mend the use of the marc of apples as a manure I for fruit trees, and thus turn to good account a substance which many allow to go to waste, not More recently,- between old and extremely even taking the trouble to mix it with the dung in exhausted willow stools, there was spread about nine inches thick of old marc, or cider pressings. In the same year of the application this produced an extraordinary effect. Those Willow stools, which for many years had produced only weak twigs, scarcely worth the expense of cutting, pushed with great vigor, and have since continued the manure heaps. " Before using the marc it would probably be advisable to throw it up in a large heap, so as to induce fermentation in order to disengage certain acid or other principles ; and then apply it to the trees when the germination of the pips takes place, that is, in the month of February. Fruit trees in pilBUCU WllUJ &iv.i*u "fc,«-1 --" 1 t - to do so. In consequence of these observations, gardens, and doubtless also those m nelas, treated __ - -i , «t ^ it „„+^a 1nV,A»t n linn/Iron. he determined on turning to account, as manure for fruit trees, an enormous heap of marc which blocked up the way. He asked the opinion of some fruit growers ; but they said the marc would burn the roots. However, in the beginning of February, observing that the pips were beginning to germinate all over the surface of the heap, he concluded that if the radicals of the embryo were act burned, it was not likely the older roots would be injured, and did not hesitate to apply the ma- nure to four hundred apple and pear trees, in the following manner : In February, 1859, he removed the soil from around trees, trained as pyramids and as vases, to the distanee of a radius of twenty-one inches, and as deep as the principal upper roots. He then put to each tree three or four forkfuls of marc, pressing as above detailed, would repay the labor a hundred- fold." m , w._ UTILITY OF SMALL BIRDS. " I have taken ' the liberty to send you in a little box what may amuse you. Here there have been, on the part of the farmers and cottagers. great complaints made of the mischief done bj small birds to corn fields and gardens. In vain di< some hold the argument that these small robber: did as much good in destroying grubs and cater pillars as harm to wheat and black currants. Fo the last two years the township has not only paii for- all dead sparrows, but so much a dozen fo all birds' eggs. I am afraid to say how man; thousand dozen of eggs were taken and paid for and as I believe, mainly in consequence of thi t down with the foot, and covering it slightly with (aided, perhaps, by the mild winter), we have th a portion of the removed soil, the remainder of year such a plague of caterpillars and grubs as whkh was spread on the borders. As marc is very never remember. Since I last wrote to you, I haj retentive of moisture, and at the same time a good had three women constantly employed picking o| conductor of heat, which was excessive in 1859, 1 gooseberry, apple and currant trees and our d numerous roots were speedily formed in its slowly struction of caterpillars has been by bushels. decomposing substance. « Even this year,' says felt so convinced that this plague was partly own Mr Henry, "-although rather colder than usual, the to the last two years' destruction of birds that effects of the impulse given as above to vegetation my own grounds and in all the coverts I order s remarkably apparent. The stems of the fruit the nests not to be molested. I now enclose % IL have become clear of Linchens and Moss ; the head of a sparrow I shot this morning in and latent buds, from the abundant flow of sap, garden. This was done to test what tood i cl were readily developed on making an incision take to its nest. I hope the head ^jeaohj where branches were wanted to be called into ex- in the same state in which it was picked up j Sence. Bad growers,, such as the Mouillebouche with three green caterpillars and three dadd -ioi "nd Bezi de Caissoy Pears, were thus made to legs in its beak. If one journey from its n flr^r ve-etotion could collect so many, it is easy to guess hownm PTB:;;i^Ltlwould wish more Pa, I may be done by them to clear trees. Mytreesf, THE GENESEE FARMER. 241 laud-picking are now pretty clear ; but I am quite sure it would have been done cheaper and better by the birds had they been left alone. I cannot ;hink I am sending you much information, but one iact is better than many theories. — An Ignoramus, near Liverpool. [ We give this communication the most prom- jaent position in our pages, because it relates to a mbject of far more importance than it is usually believed to possess. The warfare carried on against small birds is a proceeding founded on the most self-injuring ignorance that at present overshadows 3ur farmers and gardeners. A similar warfare has been carried on in France, and the same result has occurred there which our correspondent records as qow scourging the vicinity of Liverpool — namely, i plague of caterpillars and grubs. So serious has the plague become in France that the Government has interfered and a strong arm is outstretched to save the small birds from destruction. We almost regret a similar power cannot be similarly exercised on this side of the channel. We have warned our readers again and again that these birds are far more powerful benefactors than they are injurers by being thieves of seeds and fruits. They can be scared from these at a small expense, even if old women are paid to act as scarers ; whereas, if the birds are destroyed, no outlay, however large, can rescue our crops from insect mauraders. The destroyer of small birds is one of the most unmis- takable illustrations of the old saying, "He is penny wise and pound foolish." It is preventing a small loss, and insuring the occurrence of a far greater. Nor are the services of small birds restricted to the destruction of insects, for they are great consumers of the seeds of weeds. As an evidence how far in advance of us in a knowledge of these facts are our descendants on the other side of the globe, we have a letter before us detailing the successful im- portation into Australia of goldfinches, hedge-spar- rows, and other small birds. They were bought in this country, and sent by steamer to Sydney, for the express purpose of consuming the thistle seeds. We recorded some time since how a Scotchman had sown some seeds of his national emblem in Austra- lia, and that it was overwhelming the land. The public authorities have paid large sums to children for gathering the seed-heads of the thistles ; but though this has brought in a vast tribute of heads, yet the thistles are unconquered ; so the Australian authorities have allied themselves, like wise men, with the small birds. The head of the sparrow sent to us by our correspondent is now upon our table, with the green caterpillars and daddy-long- legs, parents of root-injuring grubs, in his mouth, and we wish every farmer and every gardener could see it, for it is a striking though silent rebuke to them all.] — Journal of Horticulture, London. CHEAP CISTERNS. In all soils where a hole maybe dug, without the earth caving in at the sides, cisterns may be cheaply made in the following manner : A cistern required to be ten feet in diameter, should have a hole, for the first eighteen inches of its depth, twelve feet in diameter, and beyond this, ten feet, thus leaving a curb of earth of one foot surrounding the cistern. When the hole is excava- ted, the bottom and sides should be coated with a magma made of Rosendale Cement and water, of about the thickness of cream ; this may be put on with a whitewash brush ; the watery portions will sink into the soil, leaving a coating of cement on the surface ; to this we may apply, with a trowel, to the thickness of one or two inches, a mortar made of one part Rosendale cement, and two parts of sand ; the sand should be cleaned free from lime and well washed before its use. This mortar may be of such consistency as to be readily applied and smoothed with an ordinary ceiling trowel, and should evenly cover the sides and bottom. When a pump is intended to be introduced, one large flat stone should be placed on the bottom, on which the pump may rest. And if set, at eighteen inches below, the surface should be covered with a tier of brick, well laid in the same cement which forms the cistern. On this may rest a frame or flooring, or a brick arch may be sprung upon it. Rosendale cement is now sold in a finished state, at $1.12 a bushel, and the expense of building a a cistern in the way we have named is much less than by any other method. When once set and hard, its circular form defies the outward pressure of the soil. We have known such cisterus to last for a greater number of years than the best wooden cistern. In soils which are so sandy as not to permit the entire cistern to be dug at one time without a shelter, build a cistern loosely of wood, place it on the surface of the ground, without a bottom, and with only a rim surrounding its lower edge, and loaded with stone ; then dig out the soil from the inside, passing it over the top, and permitting the cistern to settle until at the proper depth ; then pour in a grouting between this wooden cylinder and the outer soil, of Rosendale Cement, mixed very thin with water. This will fill up the inter- stices, and will help to give strength to the cistern, and if the soil should not lean against the cistern, but permit the magma to settle with the soil, this outer coating will form a perfect cement coating. The bottom may then be cemented with one part Rosendale Cement, mixed with two parts of sand in the manner recommended above. — Working Farmer. The Germantown Telegraph remarks : — Those who desire a cheap cistern, we do not question that the foregoing will suit them ; but we could never see the value of dug-out cisterns compared to those above ground. A dug cistern, however cheap it may be, will require a pump, or some other contri- 242 THE GENESEE FARMER. vance less convenient and more laborious, to raise the water. This will be an additional expense. But a cistern or tank above ground, built of wood, say eight or ten feet high and six feet square, which will hold, at a rough guess, over two thousand gallons — well lined with lead, the roof tinned and painted, with a trap door large enough to admit a man — would doubtless be more expensive, but it would be sure to hold water, would last at least a quarter of a century, and from it the water could be conveyed by pip.es into the kitchen, and if the tank be elevated enough, into the chambers. In any event, there would be no expense or labor in getting the water. We have had such a tank in use for fifteen years, and it has never cost us a dollar for repairs, nor has it ever leaked a drop. PUKE AIR FOR MILK ROOMS. We know of nothing so sensitive to bad odors as cream. It will absorb the gases given off from any fermenting or decaying substance with great rapid- ity. Every good dairyman knows how essential is the most scrupulous cleanliness to success. But it is not enough to keep the dairy and the vessels clean and sweet. The air must be pure. Stagnant water outside, or any decaying matter, will to a certainty taint the cream and spoil the butter. We once visited a great barn in Massachusetts, erected at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars and designed by a scientific gentleman of some reputation. Everything connected with it was on a scale of magnificence rarely witnessed. The dairy was elegant. The vessels for the reception of the milk were cut in solid blocks of beautiful marble. It was on the lower floor of the building, and there wTas an ice house at one end. Nothing pleasanter, nothing more beautiful. But alas, at the other end of the dairy room there was — a ma- nure cellar ! So that every time the door of the dairy was opened the warm air would rush into the cool dairy, and the consequence was that the wealthy owner of the great barn and marble dairy, purchased his butter from the less elegant but sweeter dairies of his neighbors. The editor of the Country Gentleman has re- cently visited some farms in Pennsylvania, and furnishes another striking instance of the necessity of pure air for the dairy. He says : " The spring-house, although intended only for a dairy furnishing a home supply, was twenty feet- square, and as clean as pure cold water, granite rock, and a hard-burnt brick floor could make it. A spring large enough to fill a two-inch augur hole boiled up in a sort of artificial rocky cavern, and flowing out, spread over the floor to a depth of about two and a half inches. Walks of handsomely dressed flagging above the water, gave ready access to the pans standing in the crystal water. A striking proof of the absolute necessity of pure air, as well as other requisites of cleanliness, for success in butter making, was afforded by the acci- dental deposit of a pile of manure some rods distant, the fumes of which were occasionally wafted by the wind towards the spring-house. For a week, all the butter made was quite poor in quality; when the cause was discovered and re- moved, the butter was restored to its original excellence." THE CEREALS AT THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. Lord Poetman, President of the Royal Agricul- tural Society of England, in a recent speech made the following remarks in regard to the grain show at the Great Exhibition : u It has been my duty to serve as one of the jurors in the present International Exhibition, and in the course of that duty I have had to form an opinion on the agricultural products of the world, First, we had to begin with the British exhibitors, and 1 must say to my sorrow that I have no doubt the jury will report that the cereal and leguminous specimens sent to the International Show by the British producers are neither well shown nor good in quality. I ask why is that ? It is because, not only in this Society but in the Royal Society like- wise, we have for so many years devoted oui attention so completely to the breed of animals and the improvement of implements, that we have neglected the cereals, not on our farms but for exhibition ; and I fully believe that when the farm- ers come to the International Exhibition and see how badly the British farmers show themselves, and how remarkably all other countries show them- selves, in this respect, they will think that we in our several districts and societies ought to resume or re-establish prizes for cereal exhibitions as well as for stock and implements. "Let me tell you that the finest exhibition of oats is from Nova Scotia, and the finest sample of wheal is from Australia, weighing 68 lbs. 7 or 8 ounces tc the bushel, admirably exhibited and well prepared for the miller. The best flour exhibited, in spite of the French notion that D'Arbly flour is the besl in the world, comes from Australia. It is wel manufactured from the most beautiful wheat. 1 say then go to Nova Scotia and get a good cargc of oats for seed. It is, however, I admit, cf little use to go for our wheat to Australia, because sc much of the excellence of its production depends on the climate of that country. I do not think we could get such wheat in this country. The Aus tralians took their seed from us, and by the aid o their climate have produced this most excellen wheat. " The Zollverein is another part of the exhibi tion which will be interesting to farmers. Th< Zollverein includes various parts of Germany, anc the exhibition of grain in that department is verj good. The exhibition from Hungary in the Aua trian department is also remarkably good, noticed some most beautiful specimens of bean: and peas from Brazil, probably better than tin whole world could show. Thirty gradations o these productions are shown. The Brazilians hav< given me a few specimens as seed. I have sowi them in my garden, and I hope I shall be able t( tell you of the result at our next annual meeting.' THE GENESEE FARMER. 243 SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. Clover Hay for Cows. — The JV. E. Farmer ;ates that Mr. John Day, of Boxford, Mass., who its large quantities of clover, feeds it out princi- ally to his milch cows, and he finds that when the [over is exhausted and he feeds timothy and red- >p, " twenty cows immediately shrink two cans f milk per day!" Agriculture in tiie "West Improving. — The \airie Farmer says the farmers in the "West are ow generally in better condition than for years ast; fewer debts are pressing upon them, and ley evince a determination to confine their opera- ons to fewer acres, and adopt a more systematic id better mode of farming. Asparagus Beetle. — The Horticulturist says le Asparagus beetle which appeared on Long iland about six years ago has worked its way up i far as Astoria, nearly or quite destroying the >paragus plant in its progress. It is very destruc- ve to the plant, eating it in all stages of its trans- •rmation. We have seen many fine beds utterly lined, and in more than one locality the culture f asparagus has been abandoned. Milk and Butter from Ayrshire Cows. — The oston Cultivator states that H. H. Peters, of outhborough, Mass., weighed the milk from his airy of nineteen Ayrshire cows, from June 15th > 25th — ten days. They gave an average of 32 >s. each per day. The milk from eighteen tbeing 5t for one day, gave 20 lbs. of butter. One cow ive 58 lbs. of milk in a day. Her milk for three ays gave 6 lbs. of butter, or 2 lbs. per day. This ow had two quarts of corn and cob meal per day. he rest had nothing but pasture feed. Top-Dressing Meadows in Summer. — The Illi- ois Fanner recommends farmers in that section ) top-dress their meadows immediately after the ay is removed. This keeps the hot sun'from in- ning the roots of the timothy grass, and increases lie growth of the aftermath. The crop of grass is etter the next season, than if the manure is put n in April. In fact, the editor says, " it is more nan double the value of that put on in April with is." He does not know how it would be at the last. What say the readers of the Genesee farmer t Spring Wheat in Maine. — The editor of the daine Farmer has been examining the returns roin the County Agricultural Societies in that >tate, and finds that the average "premium ' crops if spring wheat, reported for several counties, was 84 bushels per acre. This, he well observes, shows what could be done in Maine in the way of raising spring wheat, when the seasons are favora- ble for the growth of the crop and the destruc- tion of the midge. More wheat has been sown this spring than last year, but the weather has been too dry for it. Turnip Fly. — The Canadian Agriculturist says Mr. E. G. O'Brien, of Shanty Bay, has for several years used the following prescription to prevent the ravages of the turnip fly, and on each occasion the plants have escaped injury : Oil of turpentine, one teaspoonful to each pound of seed, stirred till the oil is absorbed. The seed should be sown im- mediately. After the seed has been so treated, it will have a shining, glistening appearance. It is the oil, not the spirits, of turpentine that is used. The editor of the Agriculturist has on several oc- casions used fish oil in the same way with favorable results. Poultry. — The commander of the galley " Ga nymede " said, " If it were a calm, the good ship was in a perfect safety ; if it blew hard, she sailed the faster. If the night were light, a collision was almost impossible; and if it were dark, pirates could not see them." And so, in a like happy strain, the London Poultry Chronicle, in an article urging the more extensive raising of poultry, re- marks : " If the weather is cold, dead poultry will keep; if it is hot, live poultry will grow. If the sun is scorching, fowls will bask and enjoy it. If the weather is wet and muggy, the earth will teem with animal life for chickens.'' Manuring for Whfat. — Geo. Geddes, of Onon- daga county, remarks in an article written for the Country Gentleman, that in his section " manure should be applied on or near the surface. Ground intended for wheat, after the last plowing, when the furrows are as rough as the plow has left them, is just in the condition to receive the manure that has been reduced in bulk and mixed by the pro- cesses practiced here. The harrow will mingle it with the soil, and perhaps slightly cover most of it, if it is drawn across the furrows. Then roll the land, and drill the wheat, and leave the surface un- touched behind the drill. If anything will insure a crop of wheat here, this is the way to do it." Worth of Poultry in Britain 1,000 Years ago. — Under this heading, the London Poultry Chronicle gives the following quotation from tike "Ancient Laws of Wales: "The worth of a goose one legal penny; of a gander two legal pennies. The worth of a brood 244 THE GENESEE FARMER. goose is as much as the worth of her nest, and there ought to be in her nest twenty-four goslings. [Broods have degenerated since then !] The worth of each gosling is a halfpenny, or a sheaf of barley until it lays, and after it lays each one is a legal penny in value: thus a brood goose is twelvepence in value. "A hen is one penny in value, and a cock is two hens in value. Every chicken is a sheaf of oats or a farthing in value, until it shall roost; af- ter that a halfpenny until it shall lay or shall crow." — — — i ■ CANADIAN TIMBER AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION. The Gardeners' Chronicle alludes as follows to some of the specimens of Canadian timber shown at the Great International Exhibition: The visitor to the International Exhibition who shall seek for Timber, will see on his right in the distance, as soon as he enters the Eastern Dome, a noble pile reaching nearly to the roof of the tran- sept. "When he approaches the pile, he will find that its base is surrounded by most admirable ex- amples of what Canada can produce; for he is within our Great North East American colony, the pride of England, the envy of the United Sfates. There is not such another display from the New "World ; and when we consider how near is Canada to our own shores, the rapidity of intercommuni- cation between us, and the enormous wealth which this "trophy" represents, it is difficult to avoid feelings of something like triumph at such a dem- onstration of British power. To planters in this country the exhibition of timber in Canada is particularly interesting, be- cause not a tree is represented in it with which we are unfamiliar. We can grow them all on our own estates if we think it worth while; and, given time enough, we can grow them as well. More es- pecially does it concern those who already possess old specimens of Canadian trees to study here the evidence of what they may come to. Take for ex- ample black walnut, which grows magnificently even near London. There is one specimen (No. 53) which is 4 feet 7 inches in diameter, exclusive of its bark. Such timber can be had in Quebec for £71 ($355) per 1000 feet cube. The specimen to which we now refer must be about 400 years old. North American elms thrive perfectly with us. They are, however, we believe, exclusively Ulmus Americana and fulva that have been introduced. "We now see that another kind, called the Bock elm, or Ulmus racemosa, is superior to them and to our own ; the wood being finer in the grain and less brittle. Of this there is a specimen about 2 feet eight inches in diameter. "Weymouth pines are among the commonest of our hardy Conifers. They yield the " pinewood " of carpenters. Little however do our foresters know of the huge specimens that swarm in Canada. "Average height, 140 to 160 feet; average diame- ter, 3 to .4 feet ; but common near Lake Erie 5 to 6 feet in diameter and 200 feet high ; or even in some cases 22 feet in circumference, 220 feet hight, bare of branches for 120 feet to the first limb." Such monsters are, however, too big to exhibit, and Canada modestly limits herself to about 2 feet 10 inches, or 3 feet in diameter. Then there is Plnus resinosa, or the Bed pine, which dislikes our eastern climate, 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, which is about twice its usual size. But there is no enconragement to plant it here. The ash of Canada (Fraxinus Americana), fam- ous for its toughness and strength, invaluable for handles of axes and other implements, is displayed in its small forms as well as in the giant propor- tions that it assumes when full grown. One round, with 305 circles of annual growth, is 2 feet 10 inches in diameter, an admirable example of tim- ber. There is oak, too, black (Quercus tinctoria), red {Q. rubra), and white (Q. alba), the latter little in- ferior to British heart of oak, and not far off 4 feet in diameter. This tree, as much at home with us as with Canadians, is said to be sometimes 21 feet round ! in Western Canada. Then we have Occidental plane, or button wood, 4 feet through ; tulip tree, or white wood, 3^ feet, and basswood or American lime, more than 2 feet, all excellent for cabinet and joiners' work, though unfit to bear exposure to weather. Add to these the numerous specimens of the fair growth of American chestnut, hickories, maples, beech, birch, hornbeam, hemlock, spruce, tamarac or American larch, and he who would thoroughly understand the nature of Canadian timber has a field of serious study hitherto unexampled: how serious, in a mercantile point of view, may be gathered from the fact that " Canada exports annu- ally about 30,000,000 cubic feet of timber in the rough state, and about 400,000,000 feet, board measure, of sawn timber. The revenue derived by the Province, during 1860, for timber cut in the forests, amounted to about $500,000." It appears that of the 60 or 70 varieties of woods in its for- ests, there are usually only five or six kinds which go to make up these exports so vast in quantity ; the remaining fifty or sixty timber trees are left to perish or are burned as a nuisance, to get them out of the way. m »-^— THE I ENGLISH COLONIES AT THE GREAT EXHI- BITION. The London Agricultural Gazette, in its account of the International Exhibition, speaks as follows of the products of "colonial agriculture": Corn and wine, "milk and honey," cotton, wool, and flax and timber — colonial agriculture is a much larger subject than that of Britain only. " Here are lands and seas, spice lands, corn lands, timber lands, overarched by zodiacs and stars — clasped by many sounding seas — wide spaces of the Maker's Building fit for the cradle yet of mighty nations and their sciences and heroisms. Fertile conti- nents still inhabited by wild beasts are mines into which all the distressed populations of Europe might pour themselves and make at once an old world and a new world human." This magnilo- quent description of her colonies, which Carlisle put into the mouth of the mother country some ten or twelve years ago, is already becoming super- annuated. The mighty nations hrve since that time actually grown into being — estimated only by population and still more by industry and its fruits, Canada and the Australian colonies may be already so described. These fruits are shown in great pro- THE GENESEE FARMER. 245 asion and in all their wonderful excellence in the forth-east Transept. Gold, and wool, and grain, nd cotton, and wine from Australia ; timber, grain, irs, minerals, and agricultural machinery from !anada. The catalogues of the New South Wales and lanadian collections are worthy of all praise ; the n-mer especially giving an admirable account of ae wealth, condition and resources of the colony. Ve learn from it that New South "Wales has a pop- lation of 350,860, of whom 15.39 per cent, are gricultural. The live stock in the colony at the ad of 1860 is stated along with that of the other Lustralian colonies in the following table: "In 1796 the whole of the live stock in the colo- y, exclusive of goats and pigs, was 57 horses, 227 ittle, and 1,531 sheep ; and from this stock have irung the vast flocks and herds which were feed- tg on the natural grasses of Australia at the end f 1860, as exhibited in the following table : Colony. Sheep. Cattle. Horses. 6,119.163 5,794,127 3,449,350 2,S24,811 1,700,930 19,S88,381 2,408.5S6 6S3,534 432.S90 278,265 83,366 3,886,641 251,497 69 268 23,504 49,399 21,034 314,722 General Totals "The returns of agriculture, taken on March 31, 361, give a total extent of land under cultivation F 269,798 acres. Of this quantity not quite one- ilf (128,829 acres) was sown with wheat; nearly le-fifth with maize, or Indian corn; another fifth ith barley, oats, and artificial grasses for hay and •een food for horses and cattle; and the remain- sr was appropriated to potatoes, vineyards and •chards. " The average production of wheat is a little over > bushels per acre. " Maize is grown largely as food for horses, pigs, id poultry. New South "Wales and Queensland •e the only two Australian colonies which are lapted by climate to the production of this valu- >le cereal. The average production is rather over ) bushels per acre. " Much attention has of late years been bestowed l the cultivation of the vine, and the manufacture ' wine." Of all these commodities samples are shown in te New South "Wales collection. Remarkably fine imples of maize in cob are shown by twelve ex- ibitors. W'heat is shown by eight exhibitors; a ary fine sample by Mr. S. S. Clements, of Bath- rst, and three samples shown by Messrs. MaoAr- ittr of the harvest of 1861, may be selected from nong the others. The wheat is of two kinds, one rge grained, the other extremely small. Among Messrs. Mac Arthur's samples is one very large and ae grain, which weighed in the colony 68 lbs. per ashel. Cotton and wine are also shown by New South Tales, and especially by Queensland, lying to the orth of it. As, however, the samples in the New outh "Wales collection are, we believe, excelled in nality by those from the hotter climate, so her rain is beaten by that shown from Victoria in the slder climate to the south of it. Queensland, on le other hand, shows samples of a rather coarse 3d wheat. A large case of wheats, barleys and oats has just been erected in the "Victoria collec- tion, on which agricultural visitors will look with astonishment. Among the samples of wheat is one numbered 26, which weighed no less than 69 lbs. 4 oz. in the colony, and which now weighs 68^ lbs. It is a large translucent grain. There are, how- ever, samples of a very fine cream-colored, small- berried wheat almost rivalling this weight. A sample of barley grown by Mr. Grant weighs 58 lbs. 5 oz. per bushel. The oats, too, are remarka- bly fine. A long Tartarian oat weighs no less than 49 lbs. 4 oz. per bushel — a weight which, rarely reached by any variety, is, we should im- agine, altogether unparalleled in the case of Tar- tarian oats. The South Australian colony is also very rich in samples of grain ; there is, for instance, a sample of the harvest of 1862, cut in January of this year, which weighed in the colony 68 lbs. 1 oz. per bushel, and 10 or 12 other bushel samples of grain, varying from 64 to 67 lhs. The "West Australian colony exhibits wheats and maize, and especially a fine collection of woods, but it is for its wools and its alpaca that it is more especially remarkable. The wools from all the Australian colonies are, after all, the representa- tives of their greatest agricultural wealth. Both here and among the grains the English farmer looks on specimens representing quality which his climate forbids his ever hoping to rival. NOTES FKOM CANADA WEST. Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Your readers need not wait for me to to tell them that the year 1862 has been, hitherto, a peculiar season, made up of extremes. The winter brought us a greater amount of snow, and of longer duration, than we have ever seen, and when the snow left, without any great amount of rain, the land continued so wet that we could not commence plowing operations until late ; then, before half our crops were sown, the land " sealed " and became as hard as a road, and it would have paid about as well to have sowed the seed by the " wayside," and allow the "fowls of the air to devour it," for there is very little prospect, in many instances, of "reaping where they have sown." With us the drought commenced with the month of May, and till the middle of June, I believe, was general throughout Canada. Since then occasional showers, in greater or less quantities, have fallen in almost every locality. In this neighborhood we have not had a shower that penetrated the mellow- ist soil an inch deep, or benefitted the crops more than a heavy dew, while only five or six miles away, in every direction, they have been favored by copious rains. To sum up our prospects, in as few words as possible, according to present appear- ances, I would say that the hay crop is past re- demption. Many farmers have been compelled to stock nearly all their meadows to prevent starva- tion, and the majority of that which has been left is scarcely worth cutting — say 500 pounds per acre. Fall wheat looks well where there is any to look at ; but we have to travel a long way to find a field. Spring wheat cannot possibly be more than half a crop. Barley was frozen badly, and cannot be good. Roots will, I fear, be a total failure. The carrots never came up ; and the few 246 THE GENESEE FARMER. turnips that came through were at once pounced on by the flea, and badly damaged. Many have .sown over again with the same results. The whole stock of Hungarian grass seed has been purchased up greedily by farmers, and deposited in the soil with the hope of supplying a deficiency in the hay crop. Fruit promised exceedingly, but the frost and drought have left but comparatively few ap- ples, and those will be small unless we have a rain soon. Strawberries have been pretty plenty ; cur- rants, gooseberries and raspberries will be plenty. The foregoing was written last evening, and to-day we have been favored with two or three showers of half an hour each, which will greatly assist in bringing up turnips lately sown, and for- ward late crops also, which seem to be suffering the most ; will revive the pastures and cover the ribs of our half starved cows, etc. e. w. s. East Zona, C. W., July \Uh, 1862. iHOWHTOUMAKEJIA GOODBFAHM ROLLERS Eds. Genesee Farmer : — B., Cooperstown, Pa., in the June No. inquires how to make a good farm roller. I will answer his query to the best of my ability. Go into the woods and cut a stick of sound red or white oak timber, that will square from twenty inches to two feet when hewn. Saw the log off eight feet long, then round the angles and plane the roller smoothly. Having thus prepared the body of the roller, attention should next be directed to preparing the sockets. It is done as follows : Bore about eight inches deep into the centre of each end of the roller, and drive securely into each of these holes a wrought iron socket. A frame may be constructed very simply, by morticing three cross-ties into two stout end pieces. Next provide two stout iron pins, about eight inches long in the clear from the shoulder, and one and one-half inches in diameter. Push these pins into the sockets prepared for them ; their outer euds should be made with shoulders, screws and nuts — by this means they are made fast to the end pieces of the frame, and become the fixed axle on which the roller revolves. Lastly, drive on the end pieces of the frame, fasten the tenons, tighten the nuts, and fix on a tongue. For additional strength, brace the corners of the frame and brace the tongue. If the roller is to be used exclusively in the corn field, or for rolling plowed ground, it will facilitate the process of turning if the roller is is cut into two sections, because one section will roll forward while the other turns back ; hence the tongue and frame will be relived of a great strain. These rollers are unsuitable for meadows, because they leave a little sharp l-idge between where the sections roll. Some farmers prefer the " drum-head " roller. They are hollow, made upon nearly the same principle, but require more mechanical ingenuity and skill iu their construction. The roller first described is easy to construct, and within the scope of any ordinary mechanic. If properly constructed, it is cheap, durable, strong, and I earnestly think and hope it will prove satis- factory to B. and other readers of your valuable paper. Cutting Peas. — Try a Buckeye Mower. That machine succeeds in cutting "down" and "matted'* clover. Why not cut peas with it, where they are not brushed ? hal. m i m Top Dressing Meadows — Sowing Wheat. — As one of the numerous readers of your invaluable Genesee Farmer, I wish to inquire whether it would be as well to top dress with well decomposed compost manure a Timothy meadow soon after cut- ting the grass, and let the second growth of grass remain upon the land as an additional fertilizer, instead of feeding it down. If not, what better plan would you advise. I have also thought of sowing winter wheat upon the sward of a meadow turned over the 1st of August, or soon after removing the crop of hay, by cultivating upon the sod after being turned over with gang plows or cultivator; not tearing up the sod, however, and then manure top of the sod with coarse manure, or mulch with straw. Will you please add your experience, or advise with reference to this in your next number, and oblige — A Ver- dant Agriculturist. The top dressing would undoubtedly improve the timothy meadow. We have known a fair crop of wheat obtained by turning under an old sod and cultivating in the way you propose. In regard to the application o^ coarse manure or straw to the surface we have had no experience. — Eds. Barley Born of Oats. — A Mr. Ekins, of Eng- land, claims to have some barley which was " born of oats " ! In this country, there are many who profess to be able to turn wheat into chess ; and hitherto they have enjoyed a monopoly of the business! They must now, however, look to theii laurels. To change oats into barley is more useful than to turn wheat into chess. Dr. Lindlet, to whom the barley has been sent, is incredulous, He admits that the barley sent him is unmistakably barley; but has the effrontery to ask for "proof that it ever was anything else! There is one thing still open to those enterpris- ing men who understand this process of transmu- tation : they should tell us how to change chesi into wnEAT. This would be even more useful thar to change oats into barley, and the discoverers would be entitled to the thanks of the agricultural world ! — *«*■ Potato Bells. — A correspondent of the Londor Mark Lane Express says that of late years the po- tato fields have been increasingly gay with th( purple blossoms of the potato, while in the autumc the stalks lie prostrated with the heavy berries full of seed. These seed balls are unnecessary and rob the tubers. He thinks if the flowers were cul off the plants would be stronger, and if persevered in for a few years, the plant might regain its former healthy condtiion. THE GENESEE FARMER. 24:7 TALKS AND TALKS IN THE GARDEN.-No. IV. " Come and eat some raspberries. It will be a larity. They are very fine and never more abun- mt." " Carft you sell them? " " No, you can hardly give them away. I asked grocer yesterday what they were worth, and he plied shortly, " Worth nothing." " The ' black-caps ' sell best. They are not so ft, and can be taken to market in better condi- )n than the red-raspberries." " Look at these Brinckle's orange. Nothing ,n be handsomer, and the canes bend almost to e ground under their load of berries. The Red- ntwerps are also magnificent, and so are the istolffs." " The young suckers that I set out last month all ew and are doing well." "There sire still too many young suckers left. It is ell to thin them out now to four canes, leaving, course, the strongest. In this way you get good rong canes for bearing next year." " Strawberries will do very well, set out in Au- ist, if the young plants are strong and the weather rainy. If not, it is better to wait till next spring. ie advantage of setting out in August is that the ants will bear the following year, while those set it next spring will not. You thus gain a year." " I am going to set out a lot on this plat where e have had early peas. The land was trenched 3t year, and is in splendid condition. Strawber- 3s like a deep, rich, loamy soil. It is very impor- nt to have the 6ubsoil broken up, and manure rked into it. That is to say, in trenching, throw me mannre into the bottom of the trench, and rk it into the subsoil. The roots will then de- end down into this rich soil, and the plants will )t be likely to suffer much from drouth. The fi- ist berries I ever saw were raised on land prepared this way. They were Hookers' Seedling." " By the way, the Hooker has done better this >ar than for the past two or three seasons. It is a splendid berry, large, handsome, and productive, and where it does not winter-kill has no superior." "Downing's plan of cultivating in alternate strips, was to set out the plants in rows three feet apart and a foot apart in the rows. He allowed the run- ners to take possession of every alternate strip of three feet, the other strip being kept bare by continually cutting off all runners upon it. This bare strip of three feet served as an alley from which to gather the fruit. After the crop is over, dig up this alley and prepare it for the occupancy of the new runners for the next season's crop. The runners from the old strip will soon cover the new ground, and as soon as this is the case, (say about the first of September,) dig under the whole of the old plants, and the strip will serve in its turn for an alley the next season. In this way the strips occupied by the plants are renewed every season, and the same plot of ground may thus be continued in a productive state for many years." " But if you wish fine, large berries it is better to plant in hills two feet apart one way and from eighteen inches to two feet the other way. Cut off the runners whenever they appear. Keep the ground clear by the use of the hoe and by mulch- ing in summer, and top-dress with littery manure in the fall. This will enrich the ground and serve as a protection to the plants. Planted in the spring they will bear a good crop the next summer twelve- month, ( and if in August a very fair crop, ) and will give two heavy crops and perhaps three, though it is better to have anew plantation coming on and dig up the old plants after the fourth year. Mr. K says they will bear good crops for a dozen years or more, and as he is a ' Rev.' we dare not doubt his word." " How are the cauliflowers that were planted out early and covered with l/oxes ? " " "Well sir, they are all eaten up except two. We eat one or two in the house, and the worms and flies eat up the rest ! However, I replanted, and have a nice lot coming on. A gardener must never be discouraged. Plant and replant, and plant again. Persevere, and you will finally triumph over all obstacles." " But the pear Might ? " " Well that is discouraging; but the same princi- p.o will hold good. If a tree blights set out another one this fall, and if that blights plant again. There is nothing else to be done. I have to cut out blighted branches almost every day, and I have known a branch to blight while I was at dinner ! " " The disease has been known for a century, and 248 THE GENESEE FARMER. many speculations have been advanced as to its cause, but not one entirely satisfactory. Some say it is because the ground is cultivated — but they also blight in grass land. Some think it is because we use too much animal manure; but trees that have never had any manure blight also. Others think it is owing to our severe winters ; but if this is so it seems strange that one tree should blight while another of the same kind standing beside it should entirely escape." " The late A. J. Downing thought it was caused by a severe winter following a damp, warm autumn. The wood in this case is immature, and while the winter might not kill the wood at once it might so affect the sap and sap vessels that the tree would blight the next year. This is very plausible." " I have been thinking lately that it might have been caused by a fungus taken up by the roots. The Rev. Mr. Berkley mentions several cases in which plants have been diseased in this way. If this should prove to be the case, we shall soon discover a remedy. For myself, I mean to try a heavy dressing of lime this fall, — say 150 to 200 bushels per acre. A light dressing would not do much good. It is a well known fact that since artificial manures have to a great extent taken the place of lime in England, diseases of all kinds have been more common." ^' " If it is caused by a fungus, the diseased branches should be immediately cut off and burnt. If left on the ground the spores may be washed into the soil and extend the disease next year." "Smut in wheat is known to be caused by a fungus that attaches itself to the seed and is taken up into the circulation of the plant. Pickling the seed with salt water and drying it with lime kills the spores of the fungus, and thus prevents the disease. Clover sickness, whioh is so troublesome in Eng- land, is now supposed by some to be caused by a fungus. So is 'fingers and toes' in turnips and cabbages, and so also is the potato disease. Why not the blight in the pear ? and if so, may we not discover a remedy ? " " It is pleasant to watch the cabbages, cauli- flowers and celery grow this warm, rainy weather. Here is one row of oelery much better than the others, and for no other reason except that more care was taken in preparing the trench. The bottom spit was thrown out and the surface soil put at the bottom. It is two feet high, and needs earthing up." " Perhaps celery will grow larger if not earthed up till it has nearly reached its growth, but it will not be so sweet and tender. Better earth up re- peatedly as it grows, cutting off the suckers and being careful to keep the soil from the center of the plants." " Melons are growing nicely. Some fruit is already set, and it is time to pinch in the runners." " Tomatoes never looked better. They are too good. I gave them a good feed of superphosphate when they were set out and a little peppering oi sulphate of ammonia since. The latter makes the vines grow. The former I thought would favoi early maturity. I think so still, but I fear I hav( got on a little too much ammonia, especially if w< have much rain. The vines are four feet higl already, and there are tomatoes larger than a hen'i egg. I have mulched them with the clippings o the lawn to keep the fruit clean. It will probabb be necessary to pinch in the tops." " One thing is certain. Superphosphate is goo< for beets. Here are some over four inches throng] and sweet as a nut, and tender as — Champion c England peas." Preserving Dahlia Tubers. — A correspond en of the " Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gai dener," writes as follows : " May I be permitted t offer a simple suggestion relative to the preserve tion of Dahlia roots during winter ? Though can fully dried before storing away in the autumn, used continually to lose them by the rotting of th crown, till at length the idea one day occurred i me that the mischief was occasioned through tl decay of the long stalk left attached to the tubers this becoming partially charged with fluid kept tl crown constantly wet. My remedy has been n< to leave more than four inches of stalk ; from th to scrape the whole of the outer covering or bar] and at the base to make a small opening whic permits any watery deposit to escape. The resu has been that I have preserved the whole of m tubers, while experienced gardeners around n have complained of loss, notwithstanding th; every precaution from damp or frost had bet taken." Horticulture at the Wssr. — The TLllnc Farmer says the war is swallowing up all intere in agriculture at the "West, but not so in fru growing. The last spring has been a busy one 1 the tree planter, and, for about the first tim brains, trees and muscles have been used, regai has been paid to variety, form of tree, qualit; preparation of soil, and, what is of immense in portanee, shelter. THE GENESEE FAEMER. 24$ FRUIT GROWERS' SOCIETY OF WESTERN N. Y. The Annual Summer Meeting of the Fruit Growers' Society of Western New York, was held in this city une 25th. Hugh T. Brooks, President of the Society delivered an loquent aud interesting address. He thought there was carceiy any worldly interest more important than that f fruit culture, and scarcely any that has been treated rith more indifference and neglect. In the brief record of man's early history, we are told hat "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ;round," put him into a garden and there made " to grow ivery tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.' les, good for foci. He thought that if the business aen of this age were getting up a world, about the last hing they would think of would be a fruit tree, and al- aost the last thing they would do would be to care for it. Fruit, like everything truly valuable, must be sought pith care aud pains. The rule is, that if a man will not fork, neither shall he eat. He thought the armies erf aterpillars, worms, and all sorts of insects were sent to unish man for his laziness and indifference, and to teach .s that eternal vigilence is the price of fruit. Multitudes f men and women will start up and say : We have tried verything; we have smoked, snuffed, ashed, limed, and :erosened the worms, till we have killed the bushes. iVhat more could we do? "I'll tell you," said he. 1 These enemies have been making their approaches for 'ears. -They first sent out their skirmishers, then estab- ished their pickets, but we paid no attention till they nade their assault in full force, and then we were over- vhelmed. Our agricultural aud horticultural journals lave been giving pictures of these insects for years, and elling us to be on our guard - but we paid no attention. iVhen they were few, we could pull their heads off, which feel confident, is a 'certain cure;' but having outnum- >ered the locusts of Egypt and filled the ground with heir deposits for another year, it will take a good deal of lust and smoke to use them up. Still, the regular use of laked lime will kill the currant worm." We need more knowledge. And we need the stimulus vhich meetings like the present impart, to excite us to ncreased efforts to overcome the difficulties in the way if raising fine fruit. The members of the Society proceeded to discuss the ollowing subjects : QUESTION I. Wliat is the best form of pruning the Dwarf Pear tree, ind what is the best for the Standard, and the best season 'or doing it ! President Brooks said he recently called on a friend vho had set out many trees, and he (Mr. B.) told him bey were not properly pruned, but on being asked what vas the proper method of pruning, he found it more diffi- sult to answer than he expected. Mr. Hoag, of Lockport, was called upon. He " agreed wit'h the President." Mr. Townsend, of Lockport, said in regard to the form, he decidedly preferred the pyramidal ; keeping the lower branches the longest and shortening in the top, cutting to within three or four buds. Preferred to prune after tha severe frosts of winter were passed. If pruned too early the leading bud suffers. President Beooks — " How near the ground would you commence?" Mr. Townsend — With a dwarf pear, would commence about a foot from the ground. This allows room for till- ing the ground. With standards, about eighteen inches to two feet. Would prune standards in the pyramidal form, leaving more top than with the dwarfs. Vigorous growing varieties should not be pruned so closely as those of slower growth. Would like to hear from Mr. Ellwanger. Mr. Ellwanger agreed with Mr. T. Mr. Downing, of Newburgh, thought the branches should not be too near the ground, as the fruit was small and of inferior quality. Upright growing sorts might branch a foot from the ground, but horizontal growers should be two feet, and for standards three feet. Mr. Moodt, of Lockport, thought the pyramidal not the best form. The inside of the tree should be thin and open. Pruning outside, merely to keep the tree in shape was not a good method. Mr. Townsend thought pruning should not be carried to extreme. He had suffered at first from too close pruning. H. M. Hooker had also found that be had pruned too much. The trees were too thick. This spring he had cut out the laterals — shortening them so as to make fruit spurs. Mr. Fish agreed with Mr. Townsend. Pruning was not understood. Farmers let their trees run up too much. If they pruned at all, they cut off the bottom branches and let the top run up ! H. N. Langwoutht — Pear growers are pruning too se- verely. Trees want to have a little more their own way. Has been practicing on standards; keeping the centre out and giving the side branches more room, and cut out so as to give plenty of air. Has three or four leaders to each tree. The tree will still keep a pyramidal form. W. H. Lee, of Newark, was called out. He cuts back the shoots in August, in order to develop fruit spurs next year. QUESTION II. What are the advantages of pinching ? Mr. Ellwanger— Summer pinching has several advan- tages : 1st. It checks the'lateral growth and assists the formation of fruit spurs. 2d. It assists in thinning out lateral branches, and prevents the filling up of the tree and lets in the sun. 3d. It lessens the pruning of the following winter. He pinches in June, when the shoots are five or six inches long, pinching iu to three or four buds. Does not pinch the shoots designed for the forma- tion of the tree, only the lateral shoots. If strong shoots are pinched, they will make a second growth. question in. What is the cheapest andlbest method of cultivating the Pear? Mr. Townsend was called out, and said the only way he knew was to " take a good stock, set a bud in it of the kind you wish to grow, cultivate, manure, and take care of it!" QUESTION IV. What useful results have been found to follow the use of Ashes, Lime and Charcoal? Upon what fruits, and how applied ? The President had set out an apple orchard of twelve 250 THE GENESEE FARMER. acres. Part of the orchard was on an old charcoal bed, and there the trees grew most luxuriantly, and were de- cidedly the best in the orchard. The charcoal was also applied to some of the trees. He considered charcoal a valuable manure. It should be used to absorb the liquid manure, and absorb the ammonia. Its use would double the value of manure the country through. Joseph Harris asked the President if it was not possi- ble that the land on which the old charcoal bed stood had not received more or less ashes from the wood that was burned in making the charcoal ; and if this might not ac- count for the great growth of the trees on this portion of the land? The President answered in the affirmative. Mr. |Ellwanger had the pleasure of visiting the or- chard alluded to.. He must acknowledge that he was never so surprised. The whole orchard was fine, but the trees with charcoal were exceedingly large^and hanging •down to the ground. Dr. Beadle, of Canada, said he had often heard English gardeners speak highly of the value of burned soil. They take old sods, and mix lime with them. The mass takes fire.* Did not the charcoal used by the President •contain burnt clay? He had used pure charcoal on trees and strawberries, but could see no beneficial effect from it. Fresh charcoal will absorb the gasses largely, but old charcoal will not absorb much. Dr. Sylvester said charcoal will absorb fourteen times its weight of water, and therefore charcoal will keep the soil moist. It will also absorb ammonia from manure. Some ten years ago, in planting an orchard, he put half a bushel of charcoal under each tree. He did not leave any without charcoal, but the trees did remarkably well, and he attributed it to the charcoal. He lost only five trees out of one thousand planted. Some of our black- ash swamps contain deposits three or four feet deep of a black matter closely resembling charcoal, that was an excellent fertilizer. He used it in making a compost with manure. If acid, it should be frozen, or mixed with lime and salt. Had used it for years with success. The President said the free use of animals manure often caused the trees to blight, and he was glad to hear of a substitute. L. B. Langworthy was in doubt as to the cause of blight in the pear. The free use of animal manure, and perhaps artificial manures, produced a plethoric condition of the trees, and favored disease. Mr. Ellwanger asked if the trees did not grow as luxuriantly when the country was new and before the blight was 'known ? Mr. Langworthy said he never knew a time when the pear trees did not blight, during the last thirty-three years. In regard to charcoal, he agreed with Dr. Beade. It is not a manure in itself. Ashes are valuable iov\every thing. Mr. Holmes, of Syracuse, had used ashes on a clay soil for grapes, and found that they improved the quality and early maturity of the grapes. * Is not this a mistake ? We have seen in England large quan tities of sods burnt, principally from old headlands, but we never before heard of the plan of burning them with lime. Lime and old sods make a good compost. They will decompose ; but that ihe heap will take fire, is, to say the least, very doubtful. [Ens. ^QUESTION V. The application of manures to the surface, at what season is the application most beneficial, and in what condition should the manure be tvhen applied? E. Moody thought applying manure on the surface a wasteful practice. It might do good as a mulch. But as a rule he liked to plow it in. If he applied it on the surface it should be early in the spring. He could see no advantage of applying it in the fall. L. B. Langworthy — Applying manure in the fall to meadows is universally acknowledged to be an excellent practice. For fruit trees, hie would apply the manure on the surface in a rough condition. Dr. Sylvester said ten years ago he plowed manure in deep. He has now changed his practice, and spreads a good deal on the surface. He composts his manure with muck. In the fall the heap will cut down like old cheese Applies this in the fall on the surface. Mulches straw- berry beds with it, and they do not winter-kill. Dwarl pear trees are treated to an allopathic dose. Spreads if in the fall aud forks or drags it in iu the spring. Mr. Holmes put a shovel-full of charcoal on the top o his potato hills. It absorbed all the moisture, and the potatoes did not come up. Mr. Downing would fork in manure in the fall an inch or two deep* H. N. Langworthy uses liquid manure on his trees. If has a remarkable effect. Used it last season, and the shoots of his pear trees were five feet long. They are on a light sandy soil. He puts it on in wet weather and in dry, just when convenient. Has never seen other ma- nure produce such beneficial effect. This can be applied at any season of the year. Ordinary manure, in a dry season, sometimes shrivels up the trees. When it is used, he would apply it in the fall. question vi. The Currant Worm: What are its habits ? What are thi most effective means for its destruction ? Mr. Ellwanger said slacked lime dusted on the bushes was an effectual remedy if applied thoroughly and re- peatedly. The lime does not hurt the foliage. They had an acre of currants, and had been using the lime for two weeks. The lime for an acre did not cost more than two dollars. Thinks it a certain remedy. H. N. Langworthy— Soft soap is an effectual remedy, aud within reach of every family. It must be strong, say one pint of soap to two gallons of water. Shower the bushes with it and it will kill the caterpillars. Dr. Beadle — In regard to its habits, he would say that it has the habit of eating the foliage off the bushes ! Had kilkd them with two applications of lime. Dr. Sylvester had used one pound whale oil soap dis- solved in four gallons of water. It is effectual if applied thoroughly and perseveringly every other day. question vii. The White Grub. What are its habits? What are the most effectual means for its destruction? L. B. Langworthy— The white grub is the larva of the May-bug. Is four years before it changes to the perfect insect. Commences its depredations the second year; the fourth season'it is not so injurious. Knows no way of killing them. They delight in feeding on the straw- berry plant. This season, insects of all kinds are less THE GENESEE FARMER. 251 merous than common. There were few May-bugs, but pects a great many of them next year. There are few se-bugs. The curculio is also scarce, and there are also v apple-tree caterpillars. Mr. Ellwanger had observed that where nightsoil was ed, there you would always find plenty of white grubs. should be composted for four years before using. Mr. Herendeen had tried to kill them with salt, but thout success. Had put them in salt, and they lived ;ht along! Mr. Nelson had noticed that they were abundant where w-dung was used. QUESTION VIII. Has the use of salt been found to be beneficial to quince or Tin trees t Mr. Ellwanger uses salt and ashes for plum trees, and e growth is splendid. Applies it in February, scatter- l it between the trees till the ground looks as if it had d a sprinkling of snow. Mr. Downing thought salt a good manure, but it will t kill insects. Dr. Beadle said a neighbor of his had a quince tree it bore no fruit. He read in the Genesee Farmer that It was good. He applied a peck to the tree and it has rne ever since. Mr. Townsend had applied salt to quinces with good ect. Dr. Sylvester believed in salt, but there is danger of plying too much. Asparagus liked salt, but he had lied even asparagus by putting on too much. H. N. LANGWORTHYhad used salt for the currant worm killed the caterpillars — andtlce bushes also ! QUESTION IX. Wlt-at new varieties of the straivberry have been found to omise well in the experience of this society ? L. B. Lanqworthy— "Wilson's Albany and Triomphe de ind. Mr. Ellwanger said these were old varieties. Dr. Sylvester mentioned the Fillmore, a Baltimore .riety, which promises well. Cutler's Seedling, a Boston irry that beats the Wilson in that city. Austin, large, irdy and productive. A desirable variety, but somewhat anting in flavor. The regular subjects being exhausted, Mr. Langworthy ised the question whether the increase of birds was isirable to the fruit growei ? Mr. Fish had taken pains to encourage the birds on his •ounds. They destroyed some fruit, but on the whole s thought them advantageous. Mr. Ellwanger thought that they did more good than irm. He liked to see them. Should raise fruit enough be able to spare them a little. L. B. Langworthy asked if any man knew a bird that ould eat a curculio, or a rose-slug, or a squash bug, or ,her injurious insects. He did not. They destroyed amense quantities of fruit, and he thought the law for ieir preservation " unconstitutional ! " Mr. Gavitt thought they did more harm than good, fould not eat a worm so long as they could get fruit. Dr. Sylvester — We raised the fruit and missed it; but e do not miss the insects. Open a bird, and you will nd the insects. Watch a nest, and you will be surprised ) see how many worms and insects the old bird brings > her young. The following named gentlemen were appointed as delegates from the Society, to attend the meeting of the American Pomological Society, to be held at Boston, Mass., on the 17th and lSth of September next: — Joseph Frost, of Rochester ; W. P. Townsend, of Lockport ; E. W. Sylvester, of Lyons ; S. N. Holmes, of Syracuse ; T. C. Maxwell, of Geneva ; E. Moody, of Lockport. The following delegates were appointed to attend the meeting of the New York State Agricultural Society, to be held on the 30th of September next: — E. Moody, of Lockport ; H. N. Langworthy, of Rochester ; S. B. Gav- itt, of Lyons. The Society then adjourned to meet in this city on the first day of the Fair of the New York State Agricultural Society, Sept. 30. m i ■' EXTERIOR SIGNS OF THE QUALITY OF PEARS, Pears, pyriform, uneven or gourd-shaped, with thick skin, sometimes wrinkled, of green color, with more or less russet, passing to golden yellow, and tainted more or less with carmine on the sun side : • with skin entirely hrown, russet or green bronze, or yet burnt earth of sienne color, (rich brown ) light or pale green united or relieved and tinted with vermillion or shaded with sienne, are generally those which may be judged to he buttery, melting, and of the best quality. Pears oviform, stem slender, long, with fine skin, shining, very finely and thickly studded with small brown dots, are usually melting fruits, acid, astrin- gent, ripening very quickly, and finally of the second or third order, passable or bad. ! Pears with thick skin, dark or raw green, shining, thickly dotted where the reddish hrown is placed in patches on the side which is struck by the rays of the sun, passing or not to ochre yellow and red at the latter end of the season, indicate generally fruits capable of long preservation, and suited for cooking. Observation has enabled us to state these facts-, which have very few exceptions according to us. — j. de liron d'airoles, in Revue Morticole. » » Loss of Fruit by Insects in England. — Under the head of " The Want of Small Birds,'" the Worcestshire Chronicle mentions the great damage done to plum, cherry and other fruit trees in that section by the green caterpillar. " In some places," it says, "the trees are quite shrivelled up, and sapless and withering, as though a blast from a hot furnace had swept across them." Screens on the Prairie. — The Illinois Farmer recommends the oottonwood, tree willow, and silver leaved maple for planting on the prairies. In a few years they will make an effective screen for orchard and farm crops. Guano for Grapes. — A correspondent of the Gardeners Chronicle has used guano for grapes, and speaks of its effects in the highest terms He sowed it broadcast on the border and forked it in-. -252 THE GENESEE FARMER. HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM FOREIGN JOURNALS. Cinerarias are said to be a cure for the green- fly in orchard homes. The fly attacks the cinera- rias and lets the peach trees alone. Asparagus is said to be a sure witness to the earliness and lateness of the season. This year it was a month earlier than in 1860. The Journal of Horticulture speaks of a head of Carters Champion brocoli, two feet three inches in circumference and even and beautifully grown. Arrangements are in progress for constructing an " Exhibition Palace and Winter Garden" in Dublin. The grounds devoted to the purpose comprise 16 acres. Thomas Rivers has issued another (the tenth) edition, enlarged and improved, of his little book "The Orchard House." The cultivation of fruit in these orchard houses is yearly becoming more' and more popular in England. Charles Darwin has written a work " on the various contrivances by which orchids are ferti- lized by insects, and the good effects of intercros- sing." The object of the work is to sustain his theory " on the origin of species." "We have lately heard litttle of the new lawn grass, or moss, spergula pilifera, of which so much was said a year or two ago. A writer in the last Journal of Horticulture speaks of it as tolerably satisfactory, though he thinks it will have a ten- dency to turn yellow. We tried it here, but it did not succeed. The Royal Horticultural Society has received a number of " Tree Frogs" from the south of France. u They are not only charming for their beauty, aud the marvellous similitude which they bear to the leaves among which they live, but are most useful in a conservatory in cleaning off green-fly and all sorts of insect vermin." The caterpillars on the gooseberry and currant bushes seem to be as troublesome in England as with us. A correspondent of the Journal of Hor- ticulture writes, w I have had three women con- stantly picking on the gooseberry, apple and currant trees, and our destruction of caterpillars has been by bushels." He attributes their increase to the destruction of the birds. M. Barral, in his letter of May 12th, from Lon- don, to the Remie Horticole, says, in speaking of the Kensington Gardens, that " The oriental and Chinese marvels, the enchanted palaces of fairy stories, the most beautiful conceptions of the poets, are all surpassed." And he adds, " One has need of flowers to console oneself for the grayest of skies, the most frightful weather, and the gloomiest fogs that one can imagine." M. Nattdin, in his report oi an exhibition of the Imperial Horticultural Society 6ays : " The acces- sory arts of gardening have too large a place in this exhibition. Seeing these machines of all forms, these complicated and costly utensils whose object is to perform the most simple work, only tends to discourage novices in gardening. No machine, however ingenious, can replace the common uten- sils, of which experience has sanctioned the usage. Man is the true instrument, and he it is, he alone, whom it is necessary to perfect. While horticul- tural knowledge is no wider spread, while gardeners confine themselves to the routine of their work, indifferent to anything but mere manipulation, and ever guided by old tradition, no improvement can be expected. m i m PLANTING STRAWBERRIES AT NIGHT. " Very nice strawberries, sir ; fine Hovey's Seedlings, only fifteen cents a quart," said the old marketman to me, a few mornings since. " Thank you, I am growing my own strawber- ries," I replied. " Indeed," said he, in surprise. " I thought you were giving your attention to flowers only." Last year I purchased one hundred plants of Wilson's Albany Seedlings ; planted them in ten rows, one foot apart. The man from whom I purchased them took them up, at my request, in the night time, and packed them after night ; and I planted them at night, so that no sunlight ever touched the roots. Last year they produced prob- ably five or six quarts. In September, I hoed them and cleaned them of weeds ; in December, mulched them with sawdust ; this spring, removed the saw- dust. The plants are healthy and vigorous, and very prolific bearers. I have already gathered more than two gallons of fruit from this little spot of ten feet square, and there are at least ten gallons yet in prospective now on the plants. Every family owning a house and lot in this city might, just as well as not, grow their own straw- berries, as well as many other small fruits ; hut the truth is, that there are not more than thirty or forty families, in a city of twenty thousand inhab- itants, who grow their own strawberries. — j. n. klippart, of Columbus, Ohio, in the Ohio Farmer. We do not attribute much importance to such night-work. We cannot think that a little light would have hurt the roots so much. If it does, dipping the roots in a puddle made of clay and water as soon as they were taken out of the ground would, it seems to us, by encasing the roots in a thin coat of clay, effectually exclude it This, in fact, is a practice often resorted to in transplanting trees and plants, and more especially when they TEE GENESEE FARMER. 253 ve to be taken to a distance. The object is to ?p the roots moist, but it will also exclude the lit, if that is so desirable. What Mr. Klippakt says about every family ning a small lot raising their own strawberries true. A tew plants set out at this season and )perly attended to — and it is in small gardens tt we may look for the best culture — will give a r crop of nice fruit next year. IE OF GROWTH OF THE DOUGLAS FIE TREE ["he Gardeners' Chronicle has carefully exam- d the great Douglas Fir Teee now shown at the ernational Exhibition, and says that it has taken L years to grow. The tree is 309 feet in height, I the section at the exhibition is 6 feet in diarn- r, 36 inches on one side and 34 inches on the er. Its rate of growth on the' 34 inch side has ;n as follows : 3 first two inches across were made in 7 years, second " " " " " 9 " third " " " " " 12 " fourth " " " " " 19 " fifth " « " " " 17 " sixth " " " " " 23 " seventh " " " " " 16 " eighth " " " " " 17 " ninth " " " " " 14 " tenth " " " " " 18 " eleventh " " " « " 24 " twelfth " " " " "21 " thirteenth » " " " " 24 " fourteenth " " " " " 24 " fifteenth " " " " " 31 " sixteenth " " " " " 36 " seventeenth" " " " " 42 « 34 inches in semi-diameter in 354 years. Though three centuries and a half old, and ugh for the last forty-two years it increased le more than one-tenth of an inch in diameter rly, it is perfectly sound to the heart. STRAWBERRY CULTURE IN ILLINOIS. ["he editor of the Prairie Farmer has visited the irawberry patch " of Mr. Simms, of Aurora, 111., I says: 'In the spring of 1861 he planted out twenty es, and these mostly the Wilson's Albany. The ite grub destroyed about four acres, leaving iv about sixteen acres in full bearing. Mr. S. i thirty-two acres in small fruits. The land iupied has formerly been used for general farm •poses, and lastly in corn. It was plowed about een inches deep with the Michigan sod and sub- [ plow, and thrown well into lands about a rod le. On these the rows are set ; all runners be- Ben rows are kept short, but have been allowed extend with the row. The growth of the plant rery luxuriant, and the yield and size of berries arge. Mr. S. designs to make a large quantity of wine from his berries, and has his cellar prepared on the ground, with presses, etc., in the room above. His experience with the Triomphe de Gand will not warrant him in extending its culti- vation largely." WHAT PEARS SHALL WE PLANT? At the recent Meeting of the Western New York Fruit Growers' Society, one of the questions asked was : " What are the best eight varieties of pears for market, and on what stock should each be cul- tivated ? What are the best ten varieties for fam- ily use, empracing a succession tnrough the year, and on what stock should each be cultivated ?" The members were requested to hand in the names of the varieties which they preferred. This was done, with the following result : FOE FAMILY USE — OH PEAK ROOT. Bartlett 10 Doyenne d' Ete 4 Seckel 9 Des Nonnes 2 Flemish Beauty 7 Belle Lucrative 2 Osband's Summer 6 Rostiezer 2 Sheldon 6 Beurre Giffard 2 Lawrence 4 A number of other varieties received one vote each, ON QUINCE. Easter Beurre 0 Beurre Diel 2 Seckel 9 Duchesse d'Angouleme 3 Louise Bonne de Jersey 4 Belle Lucrative 2 Glout Morceau 4 White Doyenne 2 Beurre d'Anjou 3 Vicar of Winkfleld 2 Several other varieties one each. FOB MAHKET — ON PEAR ROOT. Bartlett 9 Lawrence 3 Sheldon 5 Eostiezer and several others one vote each. ON QUINCE. Duchesse d'Angouleme 10 Flemish Beauty 4 Louise Bonne de Jersey 9 Vicar of Winkfield 3 Seckel 4 Doyenne Boussock 2 Triomphe Jodoigne, White Doyenne, Easter Beurre, and seve- ral other varieties, obtained a single vote. Aloes for Squash Bugs. — Solon Robinson says : " Pro bably the effectual, while it is the most easy remedy for the little pests that eat up our vines, is water made in- tensely bitter with aloes — say two ounces to a gallon. This may be put upon the vines with a fine rose-jet wa- tering pot ; or, better still, with a fine rose-nozzle syringe. It has been applied successfully in France and England, and to some extent in this country. It is said that it will also repel rose bugs, and the green slugs that destroy roses and grapes. If it will keep the stupid bugs off the squash and melon vines, it will be an invaluable remedy and not an expensive one."J Keeping Geapes. — The Gardeners Chronicle states that Mr. Thomson, of Dalkeith, adopted the following method of keeping grapes, with great success : In cutting the grapes he left the bunches attached to the branches that bore them ; sharp- ened the points of the branches where they had been detached from the parent stem, and ran them a couple of inches into mangel wurzel roots. They were laid on the shelf of the fruit room, and the grapes allowed to hang over the shelf, where they could -be cut as required. They kept perfectly plump till the last bunch was consumed. 254 THE GENESEE FARMEE. lottitfl f tojik's THE THIEF AND THE BEGGAE. We have here another of Hochstein's spirited sketches. A mouse has stolen some of the farmer's grain, and is met by another mouse, who, with hat in hand, humbly solicits a portion. What the artist intended to represent by the picture, we do not exactly know. Perhaps some of our young readers can discover. He may have intended to show, that no matter how fraudulently property is obtained, that " the liberal soul shall be made fat," it is neverthe- less true that it is far better to be " close," if with it we are upright and honorable in our dealings, than to be ever so generous it with it there is a lack of honesty. Perhaps, after all, he did not mean this. You see the mouse with the grain has on a working jacket and a cap, while the other has on a long-tailed dress-coat and a bat. He is, we may suppose, one of those lazy sort of fellows who think " the world owes them a living." Perhaps he was "born with a silver spoon in his mouth." His father and mother, by care and prudence, had laid by something for a rainy day. Master Mouse thought it be- eath him to work. He set up for a gentleman ; was ~~\yiii;V*«v»i ^ there will always be found some who are willing to pay | court to the possessor. Perhaps he meant to show that the receiver of stolen property is as bad as the thief. An English gentleman once won a large sum of money by betting on a race. As he was going home in his car- riage, he commenced to coimt over his big roll of bills, but falling asleep, the wind blew them all away. He awoke .just in time to see the last bill go through the window of the carriage, and exclaimed, "Light come light go." Perhaps some such idea is here represented. He who comes easily by his money, can afford to be gen- erous. You have all heard the story of the two broom pedlars- They were selling in the same town, and one tried to un- dersell the other. "How is this !" exclaimed one, " that you can undersell me ; I stole the material of which my brooms are made." "Oh!" said the other, "I stole my brooms ready made /" We sometimes hear it said that such and such a man is " close ;" while of another it is said, " he does not know the worth of money." Now, while we all like a generous man, aud while we have the highest authority for saying rather fast. When his father and mother died, he wastei his substance in riotous living, and now we see him, wit] a forlorn look and a shattered constitution, compelled t ask alms of the hard-working, active little mouse that h was ashamed to speak to in the days of his prosperity. The Boy and the Brick. — A boy hearing his fathe say '"Twas a poor rule that would not work both ways, set up a row of bricks three or four inches apart, tippe over the first, which, striking the second, caused it to fal on the third, and so on through the whole course, until a] the bricks laid prostrate. "Well," said the boy, "each brick has knocked dow his neighbor who stood next to him ; I only tipped on< Now I will raise one, and see if he will raise his neighboi I will see if raising one will raise the rest." He looke in vain to see them rise. " Here, father," said the boy, " is a poor rule ; 'twill nc work both ways. They knock each other down, but wi not raise each other up:" "My son," said the father, "bricks and mankind ar alike, made of clay, active in knocking each other dowr. but not disposed to help each other up. ■ THE GENESEE FARMER. 255 £Mtsr gejndwcni % ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. Raspberry Jam.— Allow three quarters of a pound of gar to a pound of fruit Press the berries with a ioden spoon in an earthen dish. Add the sugar and il fifteen minutes. Raspberries.— This fruit, though delicate, can be put in cans with a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pound fruit. The air being expelled as perfectly as possible setting the cans in hot water and then sealing them tile hot in the usual way. roMATOES. — Take large, smooth tomatoes, and cut them the top, carefully taking out the seeds. Prepare some jad crumbs with pepper and salt, and add a little butter. 1 each tomato with as much of this stuffing as possible I bake in a pan as you do apples. Pine Apple Ice Cream. — Pare a ripe, juicy pine apple, >p it up fine and pound it to extract the juice. Cover ivith sugar. When the sugar has entirely melted, strain ! whole into a quart of cream, and add about a pound sugar. Whip the cream, and freeze in the same man- r as common ice cream. Black Currant Wine. — Mash up the currants and let mi stand twenty-four hours. Then press out the juice straining it through a cloth, and to each quart of juice 1 two quarts of water and three pounds of sugar. Put into a barrel and allow it to ferment in the usual way. e wine is almost equal to port. Broiled Tomatoes. — In order to have tomatoes nice, )ked in this manner, the largest ones must be selected- it them into rather thick slices, seasoning each piece th pepper and salt. Use an oyster gridiron to broil 3m on — a common one will answer — and cook them but ew moments. When sent to the table add butter. Water Ices. — These are made with the juice of any id of fruit sweeteued and mixed with water. A little the pulp carefully strained may be added, and sweet- ed with sugar boiled to a syrup. It will require a full it of the mixture to fill a quart mould. The white of egg added is an improvement. The mixture must be ry rich, adding only a pint of water to two quarts of b juice. Raspberry Wine. — As home-made wines are becoming deservedly popular, that made from raspberries will ie a high place. It is made like currant wine, only ing rather less sugar. If carefully bottled, it is very od the second year. It is often forgotten that domestic nes require age to perfect them as well as imported ,es. When new they are too sweet to be either healthful palatable. Blackberry Syrup. — This should be prepared in every mily on account of its efficacy as a remedy for summer mplaints. To two quarts of blackberry juice add one and a half s. of sugar, half an ounce of cinnamon and cloves, and larter of an ounce of allspice: Boil it thoroughly, and while cooling add one pint of the best brandy. Dose.— For an adult, half a gill to a gill : for a child, a tea spoonful or more, according to its age. Tomato Pudding. — Slice the tomatoes, place a layer of them iu the bottom of an earthen dish, cover with bread crumbs profusely seasoned ; add another layer of toma- toes and cover with bread crumbs as before, and when the dish is filled place on the top a piece of butter. Put the dish into a moderate oven, and if two layers of toma- toes fill it twenty minutes will be long enough for them to be sufficiently cooked. Tomatoes are very nice stewed with bread crumbs, as they are so juicy that without the crumbs they have not sufficient consistency. SKELETON FLOWERS- These exquisite boquets do not deserve so lugubrious a name. A mystery seems to hang about them. They are not natural, and yet they are too delicate to be art. One could fancy them to be the ghosts of flowers, but not the skeletons. This is the month when the most beautifnl selections can be made, and we take pleasure in giving some directions for making them, from Godey's Lady's Book, which seem as clear as any we have seen : Directions. — The leaves should be steeped in rain water in broad open bowls, and exposed to the sun and air until all the soft parts are perfectly decayed. The water should not be changed, but the bowls filled as the water evaporates. Some kinds of leaves will be ready to clean in the course of three or four weeks, others will require a much longer time ; but as it depends very much upon the heat of the sun and the age of the leaves when gathered, no precise period can be named. In some leaves the skin will peel off in small particles, in others it can be peeled off entire, or it may decay altogether. The bowls should be examined occasionally, and the leaves ready for cleaning removed to a basin of soft water ; they should then be gently rubbed in the water with the fingers till every particle of skin or green pulp is removed from the fibre : should this not succe^p, the stronger leaves may be cleaned with soap and flannel. This will finish the skeletonizing process. The fibres should then be carefully dried, having first pressed them in a soft towel, in order to remove the moisture. They are now ready for bleaching, and may be laid away until a sufficient quantity is collected. The liquor for bleaching is prepared by pouring a quart of boiling water upon a quarter of a pound of chloride of lime, in the powder. This should be allowed to stand until cold, and the clear liquor strained off, which may be bottled for use. When wanted for bleaching, mix with cold water in about the proportions of one partof the liquor to twenty of water, in shallow dishes ; lay the leaves in, and let them remain unnil perfectly white, when they must be removed immediately and dried in blotting paper. If this solution should not be strong enough to bleach them in ten or twelve hours, a little more of the liquor must be added, but care must be taken not to use too much, or the finer fibres will be destroyed. Iu the dissecting process, the leaves invariably come off their stems ; they may be mounted, when bleached, either among some branched stalk, previously dried and bleached, or on fine wire, covered with white tissue paper. The leaves should be gathered when fully grown, or the fibre is not sufficiently strong, and some leaves dissect much better than others. Among these are the poplar, maple, pear, ivy, holly, magnolia, etc. ; the seed vessels of the large oriental poppy, the thorn, apple and henbane dissect well, and many smaller seed vessels, after they have shed their seeds, may be dried, and then bleached without steeping in water, as first directed. 256" THE GENESEE FARMER. Misnllaumts, An Indian Story. — There is an Eastern story, which has its version in many languages, of a beautiful damsel, to whom a genius of surpassing power desired to give a talisman. He enjoined her to take herself across a field of standing corn ; she was to pluck the tallest and largest ear she could find ; but she was to gather it as she went forward, and never pause in her path, or step backward in quest of her object. In proportion to the size and ripe- ness of the ear she gathered, so would be its power as a talisman. She went out upon her quest, says the legend, and entered upon the field. Many a tall stalk of surpas- sing excellence met her glance, but still she walked on, expecting always to find some one more excellent still. At last she reached a portion of the field where the crops were thinner and the ears more stunted. She regretted the tall and graceful stalks she had left behind, but dis- dained to pick those which fell so far below what her idea was of a perfect ear. But, alas ! the stems grew more ragged and more scanty as she trod onward ; on the margin of the field they were mildewed, and when she had accomplished her walk through the waving grain she emerged on the other side without having gathered any ear whatever. The genius rebuked her for her folly, but we are told that he gave her an opportunity of retrieving her error. We may apply this mystic little Indian fable to the realities of daily life. Civility is a Fortune.— Civility is a fortune itself, for a courteous man always succeeds well in life, and that when persons of ability sometimes fail. The famous Duke of Marlborough is a case in point. It was said of him by one cotemporary, that his agreeable manners often converted an enemy into a friend ; and by another, that it was more pleasing to be denied a favor by his grace, than to receive one from any other man. The gracious manner of Charles James Fox preserved him from dislike, even at a time when he was, politically, the most unpopu- lar man in the kingdom. The world's} history is full of such examples of success obtained by civility. The ex- perience of every man furnishes, if we recall the past, frequent instances where conciliatory manners have made the fortunes of physicians, lawyers, divines, politicians, merchants, and indeed, individuals of all pursuits. To men, civility is what beauty is to women — it is a general passport to favor — a letter of introduction, written in language that every one understands. A Big Apple Pie. — An old lady in the country had a daudy from town to dine with her on a certain occasion ; and on the table was an enormous apple pie. ' La ! ma'am," said the exquisite, " how do you manage to make such a pie?" " Easy enough," was the quiet reply; "we make the crust in a wheelbarrow, wheel it under the apple tree, and shake the fruit down into it." The Wives op Clever Men. — "Clever men," said Lady Selina, " as a general rule, do choose the oddest wives|! The cleverer a man is, I do believe, the more easily a woman can take him in ! " A Moral for Yocng Ladies. — "Listen," said I, "list* and attend, and you shall have a moral and exampl When the wasp now on the window entered, you flew it with a kind of violence. I wonder it don't sting eve one of you. Now in future, let a wasp, when it comi have its little bout and make its little noise. Don't stii muscle — don't move a lip — be as quiet as the statue Venus, or Diana, or anybody of that sort, until the wa seems inclined, as at this moment, to settle. Then do I do now." Whereupon, dipping the feather end of t pen in a cruet of salad, I approached the wasp, and in t softest and tenderest manner possible, just oiled it up the body — the black and yellow, like grooms' waistcoats when down it fell, turned upon its back, and was dead a minute. " There girls," said I, "see what kindness a a little oil does. Now here's my moral and example : when a husband comes home in an ill-humor don't c out and fly at him ; but try a little oil — in fact, treat yc husband like a wasp." "More' Hay." — An old gentleman who was alws bragging how folks used to work in his younger da one day challenged his two sons to pitch on a load of I as fast as he could load it. The challenge was accept the hay wagon driven around, and the trial commeno For some time the old man held his own very creditat calling out " More hay ! More hay ! " Thicker and fas it came. The old man was nearly covered ; still he k crying " More hay ! more hay?" At length, struggli to keep on top of the ill-arranged heap, it began to r< then to slide, and at last it went off from the wagon i the old man with it. "What are you here for ? " cried boys. " I came down after more hay ! " answered old man, stoutly. A Scotchman having hired himself to a farmer, hai cheese set down before him that he might help hirns The master said to him, "Sandy, you take a long tim< breakfast." "In troth, master," answered he, "a che o' this size is nae sae soon eaten as ye may think." A Small Present. — " I will give you my head," s Montesquieu, " if every word of the story I have rela is not true." " I accept your offer," said the presid< " presents of small value strengthen the bonds of frie ship, and should never be refused." " It seems to me I have seen your physiognomy soi where before," said a swell to a stranger whom he i the other day, " but I can not imagine where." " V likely," was the reply, " I have been the keeper o: prison for the last twenty years." Some malignant slanderer says, " Woman needs eulogist — for she speaks for herself ! " Thinking. — No one learns to think by getting rules thinking, but by getting materials for thought. A Man full of compliments is a dedication— a man of learning is a register. What fruit does a newly married couple resemble ? green pear. THE GENESEE FARMEK. 257 CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. le Great English Fair grieulture in our Common Schools i~i OKI Agricultural Paper ifforsoa as a Farmer rds and Insects ce on Grain. Influeuce of the Moon on Vegetation efuse Pulp from Cider Mills as a Fertilizer for Apple Trees tilily of Ismail Birds *. leap Cisterns are Air for Milk ltooms 16 Cereals at the Great International Exhibition >irit of the Agricultural Press Clover flay for Cows. Agriculture in the West Asparagus Iieotle. Milk and Butter from Ayrshires. . . . Top Dressing Meadows in Summer Spring Wheat in Maine. Turnip Fly. Poultry Manuring for Wheat Wrorth of Poultry in Britain l,0uu Tears ago inadian Timber at "the Great Exhibition le English Colonies at the Great Exhibition otes from Canada W est ow to Make a Good Farm/Roller Dp-Dressing Meadows— Sowing Wheat iiriey Born of Oats. Potato Beds HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 'alks and Talks in the Garden— No. 4 orticulture at the West ruit Growers' Society of Western New York xterior Signs of the Quality of Pears jss of Fruit by Insects in England ireens on the Prairie. Guano for Grapes orticultural Items from Foreign Journals laming Strawberries at Night ite of Growth of the Douglas Fir Tree rawberry Culture in Illinois. What Pears shall we Plant? loes lor Squash Hugs. Keeping Grapes YOUNG PEOPLE S PAGE. tie Thief and the Beggar. The Boy and the Brick 254 LADIES DEPARTMENT. riginal Domestic Receipts " 255 ieleton Flowers 256 MISCELLANEOUS. n Indian Story, Civility is a Fortune, etc 25C EDITOR S TABLE. otes on the Weather, 257 gricultural Fairs. tor 1862 257 ems, Notices, &c, 257, 260, 261 gricultural Items 258 K-uiries and Answers, 259 he Markets 260 ILLUSTRATIONS. rain Aphis 239 he Thief and the Beggar 254 he Points of a Pig 259 The Half Volume of the Genesee Farmer. — We still onttnue our offer of Premiums to all who send us sub- cribers to the current half volume of the Genesee Farmer. >ee last page of this number. New York State Fair. — The prospects are favorable ar a good exhibition. There is no better location in the itate than Rochester for holding the fair, and we have to doubt, notwithstanding the excited condition of the ountry, that the attendance will be unusually large. The ist of premiums can be obtained at this office. Notes on the Weather from June 15th to July 16th 1862.— At the close of these notes to June 16th, this sec- tion was suffering from great drouth. In the two weeks previous, rain had fallen along the middle part of the State and further westward in the southern counties. Here the drouth continued to the 17th. Frost appeared on the 16th, and heavier and somewhat injurious on the 17th, when a slight rain fell at evening and more before midnight, to the great relief of vegetation. On the next day more rain, and in the evening a rain through the night and next morning, of 0.56 inches. Warmer weather followed, and the grass, Indian corn and patatoes were no longer in ruins, but were rapidly growing. On the 25th and 2Gth fell a rain of 1.09 inches, and at the close of the month 2.23 inches, a very great rain. The spring crops were saved. The rain of the last half of June measured 4.27 inches ; in the first half only .17 inches ; in the month, 4.44 inches, and in the two previous months only 3.84 inches. The drouth could not but be severe, and yet the following rain and warmth almost compensated for it. Winter wheat did not suffer much from it. Strawberries came on in abundance. The mean temperature of the last half of June was 64.7°, or 4.4° below the mean for 25 years ; and the aver- age of the month was 62.7°, or 3.5° below that for so many years. July has so far given us the heat above the average, for the mean for this half is 71.8°, which is nearly two de- grees above that for 25 years. With this heat and so much rain at the close of June, vegetation has made rapid progress, though the rain of this half is less than one inch. Grass has greatlv improved, so that hay, which is already making, will not fail as much as was feared. Corn, potatoes, spring wheat, oats, &c, have grown with great rapidity. Winter wheat is being matured, and the harvest will be late. Strawberries have abounded ; cherries are in great profusion and excellence ; raspberries, red and black, are in market as the strawberries lessen; peas in variety, the richest now coming plentifully ; new potatoes also, for those who love such young things ; and vegeta- bles of all kinds. What a country of good things is this, where the best government receives the suppprt and ho- mage of the best hearts, " Thou crownest the year with thy goodness ; and thy paths drop fatness." Agricultural Exhibitions for 1862. t NATIONAL. Am. Pomological Soc. Boston September 17—18 National. Horse Show.. Chicago " i — 13 STATE. Vermont Rutland September 9—12 Ohio Cleveland " 16 — 20 Kentucky Lcuisvillle " 16—20 Canada East Sherbrooke " 17 — 19 Indiana Indianapolis Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 Iowa Dubuque " 30 " 3 Illinois Peoria " 29 " 4 Do Hort. Society.. .Chicago " 8 — 13 New York Rochester " 30 " 4 New Jersey Newark " 30 " 4 Michigan Detroit • " 23—26 Canada West Toronto " 22—26 A Dog Show. — A great dog show was held in London at the time of the Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society, and attracted an immense number of visitors — 10,000 in a day. There were upwards of one thousand dogs on exhibition. 25S THE GENESEE FARMER. Agricultural Items. PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. An Oregon saw-mill recently turned out a 4-inch plank 107 feet long. The wool crop of Ohio this season is estimated at 13,000,000 pounds. The London Agricultural Gazette says summer fallows are " not yet exploded in France.1' s M. L. Sullivant, of Illinois, has or had to harvest [this season 4,000 acres of grass, 600 of wheat and 100 of rye. The cherry trees in Massachusetts have not fully recov- ered from the effects of the severe winter of 1860-61. A patent has been obtained in Russia for making cot- ton or silk from the common milk-weed of this country. The Peruvian Government has advanced the price of guano in England, to $71 per ton, on all orders under 30 tons. Alonzo Simpson, of Belmont, Mass, raised this year some Hovey strawberries measuring 5£ inches in circum- ference. The imports of food into Great Britain last year, for man and animals, reached the enormous sum of $380,- 000,000. The Illinois State Horticultural Society will hold its 5rst fair at Chicago, Sept. 8-15— the time of holding the National Horse Fair. A sugar mill costing $30,000 is to be erected at Tus- cola, 111. The farmers of the vicinity pledged themselves to plant 800 acres of sorghum. The average wages paid to farm laborers who board themselves, is in England and Wales, $2,76 per week; in Scotland, $3,06 ; and in Ireland $1,70. Ten swallows were recently dissected, and in their stomachs were found the remains of 5,4S2 insects, which must have been the results of a few hours feeding. Walter A. Wood, of Hoosick Falls, N. Y., has manu- factured and sold 30,000 of his well known reaping and mowing machines. 2,500 have been sold in England, During the last 23 years, the rise in English wages has been only 12 per cent. ; in Scotland, at an interval of 20 years, 42£ per cent. ; and in Ireland, over 57 per cent. The Mayor of Southampton, Eng., fined a French poul- terer $2.50, or ten days imprisonment, for plucking a fowl alive. In his defence, he said it was the custom in France. The Illinois Farmer well observes, "Farmers who sow direct from the threshing machine can expect no other result than to have a large share of their wheat turn to ciiess ! An American bred Short-horn bull, belonging to Mr. Alexander, of Kentucky, carried off the first prize, of $75, at the late Fair of the Essex Agricultural Society, at Halstead, England. The farmers of Iowa are turning their attention more than ever to sheep, and the Iowa Homestead says, " The way Iowa will turn out stock and wool in the course of a few years will astonish somebody." The grain shovellers in New York are 'on a strike. They refuse to work in places where "elevators" are used. Foolish men ! There is work enough to do, and every man, instead of opposing them, should hail with joy every mechanical oontrivauce for lessening manual abor. The United States Agricultural Society propose to hold a great " Wine Fair " at their next annual meeting in Washington, January, 1863. Letters on the subject maj be addressed to N. T. Dennis, Washington, D. C. At a sheep shearing in California, at which there wew eight competitors, Mr. Peck sheared ten sheep in 6 hours 20 minutes. The test was for quality rather than rapidit] of work. He made the fastest time and the best work. Mechi says that in Essex, Eng., it takes the produce o four or five acres of land to keep a horse in good condi tion through the year. In the vale of Aylesbury, it take: three acres of good land to keep a cow through the year For the year ending June 30, 1861, 26,728,103 lbs. o cheese were sent from thiscouutryjto England last season Large as this is, it might be doubled and trebled if wi paid a little more attention to the quality best suited t< English" taste. Mr. J. C. Taylor's twelfth annual sale of yearling Soutl Down Rams will take place at Holmdel, N. J., Septembe 3d. Mr. T. has for six years purchased some of the bes rams at Jonas Webb's annual sale, and has undoubted!; one of the best South Down flocks in the United States A seedsman in England purchased some turnip seed o a farmer that he warranted clean, which turned out to b mixed with cole-seed. The seedsman sued the farmei claiming that the sale of this seed had injured his repu tation. The jury gave a verdict for the plaintiff, wit] $100 damages. The closing sale of Jonas Webb's South Down shee (yearlings that were not sold at his great sale last yeai came off June 18. Buyers were there from all countries and the prices realized must be considered satisfactorj 437 sheep brought $28,600. At the sale last year, 97 sheep brought $54,631. The whole flock, therefor* brought $83^231 ! Fawkes, the inventor of an American steam plow, ha come to the conclusion that the traction principle mus be given up. Steam plowing can only be done by windlass. We believe this is English experience als Great hopes were entertained of the success of Fawkei steam plow on the prairies of the West, but they hav not been realized. The Rev. Dr. Robt. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, ha accepted an invitation to deliver the Annual Address b< fore the N. Y. State Agricultural Society at its Fair i this city. A better selection could not have been mad< We need not say that Dr. B. is one of the most eloquer speakers our country can produce, and, what is not s generally known, he is also a good farmer and successfi breeder, and has always taken a deep interest in agr: culture. The Agricultural College bill recently passed by Cor gress appropriates to each State a quantity of public Ian equal to 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representativ in Congress. Iu this State, this will amount to 1,050,00 acres. The lands can be sold, and the money used fc the support of agricultural colleges and model farms Our public lands, hitherto, have been worth $1.25 pe acre. But as every actual settler can now, since the pass age of the Homestead bill, have a farm of 160 acres fo nothing, the colleges may have difficulty iu disposing c their land at this rate. It seems clear that few peopl will buy a farm when they can get one for nothing ! THE GENESEE FARMER. 259 A Middlesex Farmer, who says he makes several hun- red acres of hay every year for the London market, rites the Mark Lane Express that he has tried fire mow- ig machines, and they were all failures. The grass is eavy, and} " laid all ways and close to the ground." It lakes about two tons of hay per acre. He pays $1.50 to 1.75 per acre for mowing the grass, without beer, and it Dsts $1.00 per acre for beer for making, carting and lacking. He " pays hay-makers 62| cents, and carters ad rick-men 75 cents per day, with beer." Inquiries and Answers. Grass for Name.— (JJ Cuppage, of Orillia, O. W.) The rass you send is the Elymvs mllosus, or wild rye. Work on Botany.— (T. C.) You cannot get a better rork than Wood's Class Book of Botany. You will find , at any bookstore- Potatoes.— (J. N.) Pull out the weeds by hand. Do ot let one go to seed. But after the vines are in bloom o not disturb the ground. Sowing Timothy and Clover in the Fall.— ( S. W.) Hover is seldom sown in the autumn. The plants are able to winter-kill. For dry, warm soil, however, it fre- uently succeeds quite as well sown in the fall as in the priug. Timothy may be sown with the wheat in the fall, u fact, it frequently succeeds best in this way when sown arly enough, say the first or second week in September. Vhen sown alone, the fall is generally preferred. Plaster for Wheat.— (A Canadian.) Plaster or Gyp um is frequently sown on fall wheat in this section. It lay be sown before the last plowing or cultivating, or ?ith the seed, or after the wheat is up, according to con- venience. In regard to its effects on the wheat there is ome diversity of opinion. As a rule, it does not benefit he wheat materially, but it has almost invariably a good fleet on the clover to be sown next spring. It is thought >y some to be better to sow it in the fall on the wheat> imply for its effect on the clover, rather than to sow t on the clover itself. Sow from one to two bushels per icre. Best Practical Work on Farming for Canada West. -{R. M. M.) We know ot no work that will exactly inswer your purpose. Allen's American Farm Book is me of the best publications of the kind we have. A good vork on practical agriculture is much needed. We would modestly) hint that the back volumes of the Genesee Farmer for the last six years contain more useful, practi- cal information on agriculture and horticulture than can le found in auy book yet published. We can send you he six numbers, handsomely bound, for $5. Estimating the Weight of Hay by Admeasurement. —Will you or some of your correspondents give me a -ule for ascertaining the weight of hay in bulk. I have been told that eight feet each way makes a ton. I should be glad to know the truth of the matter.— R. H. Embry. We should be glad if some of our experienced corre- spondents would answer the above. Many rules are given, but they vary remarkably. Oue writer in this State says "ten solid yards [270 cubic feet] of timothy will make a ton. Clover will take from 11 to 12 yards to a ton." Another says " timothy and blue grass will take 17 cubic yards [459 cubic feet ] to make a ton; and for clover 512 cubic feet, or eight feet square." One from Vermont says "From 360 to 500 cubic feet will make a ton, accord- ing to how much the hay is settled." Another authority in New Jersey says " from 700 to 800 cubic feet are re- quired to make a ton of 2,000 lbs ! "j The weight of hay, of course varies considerably ac- cording to its character and conditions, the length of time it has been in the stack, or mown, &c. But it cannot vary as much as the above estimates. We think your estimate of 512 cubic feet is not far out of the way for ordinary clover hay, but much too high for timothy. We think 400 cubic feet would be nearer the mark for a well settled mow of good timothy hay. Ascertain the length, breadth and height of the mow ; multiply them into each other and divide the product by 400. This would give the weight in tons. For instance, a mow 20 feet long, 20 feet wide and 20 feet high, would contain 8,000 feet. This divided by 400 gives 20 tons as the weight of the hay. TnE Points of a Good Pig.— (B. S.) Stevens, in his Book of the Farm, gives the accompanying cut of a good Pig: "The head a is small, the face tapering to the snout i, which is short and fine; the ears are set on the crown of the head, being broad, thin, long, and so mobile as to indicate quickness of perception: The value of the head, as an article of food, is indicated by the enlargement of the muscle upou the cheek h: The neck from a to b is full ; the back from b to c, broad ; the rump from c to d full and rounp, and the roundness descends to the hams ; the ribs / are round ; the space behind the shoulder at a filled up ; and so is the flank e ; the shanks k are small and short, and finely tapered. " Covering Strawberry Plants in the Faml, &c. &c. — Will tan bark answer to cover strawberry plants in the fall, or what is the best for that purpose. Should any of the leaves be removed with the runners ? (a.) What is the best time to cut rail timber? (b.) What is the best and cheapest oil for boots, shoes and harness? (c.) Should lime be plowed or harrowed in shallow ? (d.) J. W- B., Penn. (a.) Manure is better than tan bark for this purpose We would not remove the leaves. (b.) The rails will last longer if cut in the summer rather than in the winter. (c.) Neats-foot oil is best for harness. Wash and clean the harness thoroughly before applying the oil. (d.) It makes very little difference. If anything, we should prefer to plow it in shallow. Slug on the Pear. — What causes the pear UujTd? I find upon the leaves of my pear trees a sort of slug or snail, of a greenish color, slimy, three-fourths of an iuch in length, and in shape resembling a pollywog— only it does not taper quite so pointedly. These creatures devour the life and color of the leaf, giving the tree the appear- ance of having been scorched by fire. Is this the blight ? 260 THE GENESEE FARMER. and if so, what is the remedy ? An answer to the above will confer a great favor upon your subscriber. — J. C. Adams, Seymour, JV. Y. t It is not the pear blight. This slug has attacked our pear trees here more or less for three or four years. This year it is more numerous and injurious than ever before. The same slug also devours the leaves of the cherry. Dusting the leaves of the tree with lime and ashes is the only remedy that has been resorted to here— except picking them off by hand. They are mostly on the upper sides of the leaves, and therefore it is more easy to dust them with lime or ashes than is usually the case. p Lice on Cherry Trees. — (A. W. R., Glen Aubrey, iV. Y.) Syringe them with tobacco water, or strong soap suds. Harvesting Beans. — What is the best method of har- vesting beans and preparing them for market? What can be done with the straw if no sheep are kept on the farm '! — S. O. Bone Mills. — I would like to know if there are any bone-mills made to work by horse power, and where they can be obtained. I have become very much interested in raw bones for manure. — John O'Phail, Lillsburgh, Penn. i . - • . The Weather and the Crops. — In this section the weather has been up to this time (July 25,) exceedingly unfavorable for harvesting the crops. It has rained almost every day for a week or more past. To-day is clear and fine, and farmers are busy cutting their wheat. It was feared that much of the grain would sprout, but as yet comparatively little damage has been sustained. Much of the hay still remains to be gathered in, and we fear it has been considerably injured. The crop of wheat is a full average in this section. Though the crop is late, the midge has not done as much damage as we had feared. The grain aphis has again appeared, but we trust the injury will not be great. Some farmers appear to think that it will drive away the midge, but there is little hope of such a result. Spring crops are not as good as could be wished, and the hay crop, owing to the dry weather, will be light. Corn in this section and throughout the eastern states is not very promising, but it is said to be good at the west. Apples are abundant, and there will be a fair crop of peaches. « The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARMER. ) Rochester, N. Y., July 28 1SC2. ) Since our last report wheat has advanced about 10 cents per bushel. Corn and oats are also 2 or 3 cents a bushel higher. "Wheat i9 about 10 cents per bushel higher than it was at this time last year, and about the same price as it was two years ago. Iu 1851—2—3, wheat was lower than it has ever been since. In 1351 and 1852 white wheat at this time was quoted in New York at $1.00@$1.05 ; and red wheat 85c.@$1.00. Now white wheat in New York is quoted at $1.30@$1.50 ; and red $1.00@$1.3S. The high prices of 1854—5—6—7, have led us to think that prices since then have been very low, but in reality they are fully up to the average. The trouble for the past two years has been the 7ii$h rates of freight. Though prices have not been so low in New York, yet the cost of getting the grain there has been so great that the price obtained by the western fanner has been ru- inously low. The wool market is excited and prices are higher. Exchange on England is worth to-day 180. In other words, an English pound, tho real value of which is $4.86, is now worth in New York $5.72. This is about 20 per cent, above its real value. The result is that grain and all other articles shipped to England (night to be 20 per cent, higher than if exchange was at its \ value (say 110.) American wheat in Enaland is now wo within three cents a bushel as much as it was at this time 1 year, and red wheat is C cents higher than it was two years a; White wheat is a trifle lower. We may say, therefore, that 1 average price of American wheat is as high in London now a was last year and the year before. But the money that is paid the wheat here, as compared with th-e money received for wheat in England, is onjy worth 80 cents on the dollar. Ot] things being equal, therefore, a bushel of wheat which was wo 80 cents here last year, or the year before, ought now to bri $1.00. The crops in this country are believed to be a full average — ] equal perhaps to 1S60, but as good as last season. In 1S60 the harvest in England was one of the worst on r ord. The prospects there this year are much better, but still th< are complaints of wet weather, and much anxiety is felt for crop. The Mark Lane Express of July 7th, ( the last we h£ received,) says "The past week has brought little if any impro' ment in the temperature, and Thursday was very wet and unj nial. Our lale expectations of having an early harvest s& likely, therefore, to be disappointed. Accounts are also mi less favornble, more especially of the white wheat, which 1 suffered much from the weather ; but the red, being later, lo well where the laud is good and highly farmed." The sa authority says " the markets were very short of supplies." telegraph, we have accounts to July 17. The weather was a lii more favorable, but prices were unchanged. As long as prices remain as they are in England there can no doubt that, at the present rate of exchange, there is a consi rable margin of profit on shipments there, and we think probabilities are in favor of higher prices in this country. New York, July 26.— White Wheat — sales at $1.35@$1.4 red Western. $1.34@,*1.36 ; Chicago Spring, $1.12(ai$l.lt); * waukee Club, $1.10@$1.22; amber Iowa, $1.28@,$1.85. I scarce and firm at 7(.i@,S2c. Corn — mixed Western, 56@-5 Oats, 47@,49c. Butter, H:@14c. for Ohio, and 14@,lSc. for St; Cheese— steady at 6@><}£c. Hops, 16^20e. Potatoes — new, (j @$1.00 per bushel. White Beans — of prime quality, scarce $2.15@.3.00. Canadian peas— in demand at 70@,S6c. CnicAGO, July 26. — Wheat 4c. to 5c, higher — sales of No. 1 Corn 1@,1>;C. better. Sales of mixed at 80(5^31c. Buffalo, July 28.— Sales of white Kentucky Wheat at $l.i Milwaukee Club, $l.O9@U0. Corn, 42@43e. Oats, 89c R 60@63c. '.freight to New York — Wheat, 15c. ; Corn, 13c. Cincinnati, July 21.— White "Wheat, 93@95c. ; red, S5@,S Corn, 27c. Oats, 36c. Rye, 45c. St. Louis, July 18.— Fall Wheat, 90c. ; 6pring,55c. Rye,32@c Corn, 31c. Oats, 37@38c. Toronto, July 23.— Fall Wheat, 95c @$1.05 ; spring, S0@9 Barlev, 6uc. Oats, 46@,50c. Peas, 55@«0c. Butter— fresh. 1; 15c. Eggs, 12^ @13c. per dozen. Potatoes, 80©90o. Hay— n( $15@$20 ; old, $25 pet ton. AVool, 84@35c. Philadelphia, Julv22— White Southern Wheat. $1.85@,$1.. red, $1.25@,$1.30. Rye, 70c. Corn, 60c Oats, 42c. Rochester, July 2S. — White Canadian Wheat, $1.25(gl$l. Com, 4Si'@4c. live weight. One lot of ex fine, that would give 70 lbs. of carcass, brought $5.50 each. Lamb — by the carcass, 6c, per lb. Hogs— live weight, 83:i@3%c. per lb. London, July 17.— American Wheat— red, S1.56@$1.65 ; whi $1.71@,$1.77. Indian Corn, $1,02@.$1.0S. Barley— tor grinding, 69@,74e, ; tor distilling, 90@,96c. ; malting. 90c.@.$U4. l'pas— for feeding, $P0b@$1.14 ; lor boilii $1.20@,$1.23. Oats. 67@,78c. Butter— English rolls 22@2Sc. ; Irish and Dutch firkins, 19 21^c ; American, 15(Tftl8>2C. per lb. Cheese— English, 12^@15c. ; American, S%(fy\l%c. per lb. Wool — South Down and Leicester 38@88e. per lb. Americnn Flour, $5.76@ $0:4S ; extra $6.72@$7.20. [ To get the real significance of these figures, we must add from 20 to per cent ou account of the high premiumon exchange.] THE GENESEE FARMER. 261 Periodical Phenomena, Editors Genesee Farmer: — I send the following rec- irds of the leafing and blossoming of plants, and of the irst arrival of birds, at this place this year, that your Baders may compare them with the same for last year, irinted in the August number of the Genesee Farmer for 861, page 260. george e. bkackett. Belfast, Maine, 1862. Iegister — of the leafing and blossoming of some of our principal plants, made at Belfast, Maine, latitude 44.23° N., longitude 69.8° W., in 1862: NAMES OF PLANTS. ' IN LKAF. IN BLOSSOM. ^.pple tree, May 20th. May 29th. Lpple, crab, Mav 20th. Mav 27th. Jlackberrv, upright, Mav 19th. June 19th, Jalm of Gilead, May 15th. Mav 10th. /herry, tame, May 23d. May 25th. 'herry, wild, Mav 17th. May 20th. 3urrant, red, May 15th. May 21st, Currant, black, May 17th. June 1st, }hokecherry, May 12th. June 1st. Chestnut, Horse, May 17th. May 31st. ]lder, pink blossom, May 15th. May 24th.r 5-ooseberrv, common, May 13th. May 21st. Gooseberry, English, May 12th. .Mav 21st. jilac, May 16th. June 2d. { )x Eve daisy, Early, June 24tu, 'ear, wild, May 15th, May 18th. ^lum, cummon, May 2 1st, May 25th. -•oeony, Mav 17th, lose, common, May 17th. June 19th. laspberrv. Mav 13th. June 16th. Strawberry/ Earliest. May 25th.' ?pirea, May 10th. snowdrop, May 21st. Snowball, May 20th. June ISth. Villi iw. May 15th. May 1st. Iecord — Of the arrival in spring of our principal birdti, made at Belfast, Maine, in 1S62 : Bluebird, arrived April 7th. Blackbird, " April 17th. Barn Swallow, arrived May 4th. Bobolink, Chimney Swallow " Eave Swallow, " Ground Sparrow, " Humming Bird, " Kiug Bird, " Plover, " Robin Redbreast, " Wild Goose, " Yellow Hammer, " Martin, " Swamp Robin, " Cherry Bird, " Mav 18th. May 18th. April 26th. March 31st. Mav 25th. May 14th. April 30th. April 1st. April 16th. April 27th. April 27th. April 27th. May 24th. articles. A good laugh is better than two poor sermons. Miscellaneous and Ladies Departments, Multum vn> pcirvo/ Limited in space; but who would have them omitted ? By usiug your small but clear type, you give us a monthly amount of matter which is surprising for the size of the magazine. May all who read give due heed, and they cannot fail to profit by it. — George E. Brackett, Belfast, Maine. This old favorite agricultural periodical for July has- some notable articles, as " The Value of Straw for Fod- der;" "Now you look like a Gentleman;" "Mowing Machines on Small Farms; " "The Potato Bird ; " "Cul- tivation of Indian Corn ; " besides articles in the "Horti- cultural Department," "Ladies Department," &c. A very good and valuable number, which every farmer should read. — Columbia (Pa.) Spy. Genesee Farmer for July. T We are in receipt of the July number of this pioneer journal of agriculture, now in its twenty-third volume, rhe publisher is unceasing in his efforts to keep the Farmer up to its well-known standard of usefulness. This is a good time to subscribe for the half-year, which will cost only twenty-five cents. — Lapeer Co. (Mich.) Eep. A good number, — readable, sensible, practical, progres- sive. " Walks aud Talks in the Garden " is good. Such articles " take ; " they are read, and read with a zest. ■ Now you look like a Gentleman." Friend Harris, I wish you would wander out of the agricultural path more often than you do. Ttiat article was entirely in place, but it don't take the blacking to make a gentleman. "A man's a man, &c." Cutting hay. You very truly say " It is better to cut too early than too late." Our poor grass and weeds cut early make fine fodder, but if left till late cattle decline to taste it. | Tell friend Hochstein to continue hia " illustration " Grade of Wheat in Chicago. — The following are the grades of wheat adopted by the Chicago Board of Trade for the present season : Extra club — To be sound, well cleaned, and to consist of pure Club Wheat, weighing not less than sixty pounds to the measured bushel. Amber Iowa — To be sound, well cleaned, and to com- prise all kinds of bright-amber color Spring Wheat, weighing not less than fifty-eight pounds to the measured bushel. No. 1 Spring — The berry to be plump and well cleaned, weighing not less than lifty-eight pounds to the measured bushel. No. 2 Spring — To be sound, but not plump or clean enough for No. 1, weighing not less than fifty-five pounds to the measured bushel. Bejected Spring — Not sound or clean enough for No. 2, weighing not less than fifty pounds ; and whenever Wheat shall be so dirty, or have so much other grain mixed with it as to render it, in the judgment of the Inspector, not equal in value to the grade its weight would indicate, it shall be graded according to its value7 regardless of weight. And all Wheat or Mixtures of Wheat or other Grain too poor in quality, either by reason of being damaged, dirty, or from mixing for grading, as above, shall be marked no grade, and would recommend that warehouses do not receive such grain. ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to fanners— and only such— will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer ior twenty-five cents a line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every State and Territory, and in cdl the British Provinces. (It has nearly 5000 subscribers in Canada "West alone.) There is no better or cheaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to rural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. "We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to our columns, at fifty cents a line. S. M. PETTENGILL & CO. No. 37 Park Row, New York, & 6 Stnte St., Boston, are our Agents for the Genesee Faemee in those cities, and are authorized to take Advertisements and subscriptions for us at our Lowest Kates. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 3— tf THE KUPvAL ANNUAL— For 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid to aiiy address for $1.40. JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N Y. j 262 THE GENESEE FARMER. A TREATISE ON SORGHUM WINE BECIPE FOR MANUFACTURING OF which so much has been said in the agricultural and local papers of the State, is now offered for sale. I have now matured my plans, by which I will dispose of Individual, Manufacturers, County and State Rights, to all who may desire them. Sorghum Wine has taken the country by surprise ; not only on account of its production from this plant, but of its superior quality. Such a product has Bever been thought of until its in- vention by the sut-scriber. The Wine has been examined at the State Sorghum Conven- tion of Ohio, January 7, 1862, and highly commended. It has been exhibited to wine connoisseurs in the cities of Columbus, Cincinnati, Springfield, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. It has not only surprised them, but received their unqualified commendation. It has been used by Physicians in cases of sickness with entire satisfaction, because of its purity and healthfulness. About one barrel of it has been distributed to dyspeptics, all of whom, except those whose dis- ease had assumed a chronic form, have given harmonious testi- mony of its beneficial effects, some of whom have been restored to health by the use of a few gallons. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following are a few of the many commendations which I could give. The first is from Hon. William B. Hubbard, of Columbus, O., President of the United States Agricultural Socie- ty, held annually at Washington, D. C Columbus, March 31, 1862. Rev. A. Mterb — Dear Sir : The sample of Sorghum Wine, left by you with me, has been submitted to several good wine judges who have visited my house, and, wiihout exception, has met with decided commendation. Most of them pronounce the aroma, or fragrance, of your Wine that of the Sherry, the minor- ity that of the Madeira. It is certainly a fair Wine, and destined, no doubt, from the ease and cheapness of its manufacture, to be- come an item of value to the manufacturer and cultivator. Tours truly, W. B. HUBBARD. The following is from Mr. D. M. Cook, of Mansfield, Ohio, In- ventor and Patentee of Cook's Portable Evaporator : Mansfield, O., March 15, 1862. Rev. A. Myers— Dear Sir: I have used your Wine, made from the Sorghum juice, and [I heartily endorse the fact that your Sorghum Wine is most delicious, and that it would be diffi- cult to distinguish it from the best Madeira Wine. Hoping that you will not fail to introduce your work on Sor- ghumJas also your Wine to the public benefit, I am truly your most obedient, D. M COOK. This Wine is a Mild Stimulant and NOT Intoxicating 1. An INDIVIDUAL EIGHT embraces the privilege to man- ufacture all an individual desires for the use of his own familv. Price, $1. 00. 2. A MANUFACTURER'S RIGHT embraces the privilege to manufacture all a manufacturer of Sorghum Syrup can while he is manufacturing Syrup, from the washings and skimmings and inferior Syrup for his own use and tor sale. Price from $5.00 to $25. 3. A TOWNSHIP, COUNTY or STATE RIGHT embraces the exclusive privilege of manufacturing and selling Recipes in said limits. For price, etc., address subscriber. REFERENCES. As a guarantee of honesty and ability to perform all I agree, I •refer to the President and Professors of Wittenberg College, Springfield, 0. ; any of the citizen1* of this city, or Bucyrus, O., and all the English Lutheran Ministers in the State of Ohio, es- pecially those of tee Miami and Wittenberg Synods. JE^" Persons desiring the use of this recipe, and indicating the privilege they desire,'and sending the amount to n.e by mail, or, when the sum exceeds $5, by express or draft, will receive by re- turn mail a (JertiScato of Right, and about the 1st of September will receive the Recipe. Every subscriber will be required to sign an Obligation of Se- cresy, which they will receive with the Certificate of Right, to bo returned to me when signed. This is required to secure to me my right as inventor. Honest men will not hesitate to comply, and with dishonest ones I wish to have no dealings. Persons well known in any community making up a club of ten or more will be suitably rewarded. Address A. MYERS, Springfield, Ohio. EMPLOYMENT!— Agents wanted in every county, to sell the best (Two-threa< led) Sewing Maching ever offered to the public. Liberal salary, or commission allowed, with expenses. Circular sent, by addressing with stamp, Aug.-2t ISAAC HALE, Jr., & CO., Newburyport, Mass. Z GENESEE VALLEY NURSERIE! ROCHESTEB, 3ST. "52". FROST & CO. offer an immense stock of Trees and Plants planting during the Autumn of 1S62 and coming Sprii which will be supplied at LOW RATES and on favorable ten Their Nurseries occupy at present upward of Three Hundt Acres, and contain an extensive assortment of FRUIT TRE1 both Dwarf and Standard, SMALL FRUITS, etc., as well a great stock of EVERGREENS, DECIDUOUS TREES, ROS1 etc.. etc. |J2F° Our Descriptive Catalogues Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5, of Fru Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, etc., Green House Plants and Hat Bulbs, and also No. 4, their Wholesale List, are sent free on i plication. Parties who desire to plant in large or small quantities, shot apply to them before purchasing. All communications pronip noticed.j , Aug. — 2 THE NEW NATIONAL TAX LAW. GET THE BEST. LARGE TYI With Paragraph Head-Lines and Index. BY far the best and most satisfactory edition offered is the CITIZEN'S STANDARD (DIME) EDITION, published by Beadle & Co.. New York. It has the preferei over all others in business circles. It is the last revised andj AUTHENTICATED COPY. AGENTS WANTED to sell this edition. It has already had an immense sale in I great seaboard cities, and agents have made from ten to fift< dollars per day in its sale. Everybody must have a copy — ev< manufacturer, every merchant, every mechanic and every fame Compare it with other editions and none oilier irill be tak Sample copies sent, post-paid, on receipt of ten cents. Addr or call upon BEADLE & CO., Publishers, New York CHOICE GRAPES AND SMALL FRUI1 FROST & CO., Proprietors of the Genesee Valley Nup. ries, Rochester, N. Y., offer for sale an immense quantitj choice sets of Small Fruits, &c. Their stock of the new sorts of NATIVE GRAPE', both c and two years old, Delaware, Diana. Concord, Cuyahoga, H; ford Prolific, Rebecca, etc., is very large, fine and well growi as well as FOREIGN SORTS. Also, CURRANTS, GOOSEBERRIES, STRAWBERRI] RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, Ac. Plants furnished large and small quantities at LOW PRICES. Descriptive a Priced Catalogues furnished on application. Aug. — 2 RECEIVER'S SALE OF NURSERY ST0C THE undersigned, appointed Receiver of the nursery stock the late firm of Gregory & Goldsmith, now offers the sa for sale to Dealers and Nurserymen. The stock consists 40,000 Dwarf Pears, 10,000 Standards, 20,000 Cherries, 12,' Apple trees, and a large variety of Evergreens and Ornamer Shrubs, on the late farm of James II. Gregory, adjoining nursery of Ellwanger & Barry. The property is desirable a will be sold low. Application should be made at once to PATRICK BARRY, Receiver, or his Agent, James H. Gregory Dated August 1, 1S62.— 3t FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLACFfor upi thread, and BROOK'S SIX COt;D RED TICKETior un< thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country ; a in cases of 100 dozen each, assor.ed numbers, by WM. IIEN1 SMITH, Sole Agent, 86 Vesey street, New York. Ja — li TREES AND PLANTS AT LOW PRICE FROST & CO.'S WH-OLESELE CATALOGUE. No. 4, Fall of 1802, representing Nursery Stock growd from upwi of Three Hundred Acre.? of Land, is now ready for distributi GENESEE VALLEY NURSERIES, Aug.— 2t Rochester, N. Y GENUINE STRAWBERRY PLANTS— Of the Triomp de Gaud, Ward's Favorite, Ausjin, Wilson, lloveyand otl choice varieties; for sale by E. WILLIAMS, •Si Send for Circular. * West Bloomtield, N. J piDER PRESS SCREWS— 3 feet long, 4 inches \J diameter. — These powerful Screws bring out a third m< juice than portable presses. Send for a circular. Made by July— 2t* L. M. ARNOLD, Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) Foundry THE GENESEE FARMER. 263 J?8 iulsi^iiiipaiii «. r FOR] Family and Manufacturing Use, 495 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. V. C. IxOODWIN, 93 State St., Rochester, N. Y. Agencies in all the principal Cities and Towns in the United States. THE GR0VER~&_ BAKER S. M. CO. N0"W OFPER IN ADDITION TO THEIR SPLENDID STOCK OF MACHINES, MAKING THE CELEBRATED GROWER & BAKER STITCH, NEW AND SUPERIOR Shuttle, or "Lock-Stitch" Machines, ADAPTED to all varieties of sewing. Much more Simple, Durable, Noiseless and Perfect than any other " lock-stitch " machines heretofore in use. p^° The Grover & Baker machines have taken the first pre- miums, over all competition, at every State Fair where they were exhibited last year. BOARDMAN, GRAY & CO., PIANOS, rhTHE BEST AND MOST DURABLE. ' Our large, elegant and superior Pianos of 7 and %}i Octaves at low price for Cash. PIANOS FOR SMALL PARLORS, B>£ and 7 Octaves, elegant and durable. All our Pianos have the Insulated Iron Rim, Giving strength and durability, and requiring less than half the usual amount of tuning. ROSE-WOOD YOUNG AMERICA PIANOS, Warranted to prove good and give perfect satisfaction, or no sale. B^- SEND FOR DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUES. BOARDMAN, GRAY & CO., Manufacturers, June— 3t ALBANY, N. Y. Back Volumes of the Genesee Farmer. WE have the back numbers of the Genesee Farmer, hand- somely bound, for the years 1846, 1847, 184S, 1S49. 1853, 1855, 1856, 1857.. 185S, 1S59, I860 and 1861. They will be sent free to any address for $1.00 each. The last six volumes, from 1S56 to 1S61 inclusive, handsomely bound, will be sent free by express, or by mail postage paid, for $5.00. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genesee Farmer, Rochester, N. Y. WANTED— By a practical Vintner, Gardener, Florist and Nurseryman, thoroughly acquainted with the Culture of the Grape, and a practical knowledge of the Nursery business, &c., &c, a Situation as Superintendent, or to take charge of a Vineyard on shares. Can give No. 1 references as to abilitv and character. Apply at the office of the Gen-eses Farmer, or ad- dress A. B. C, Versailles, Woodford Co., Ky„ lock-box 131. 7-St Great Austin Shaker Strawberry. THE berries of Ihis re- markable variety are much larger than any other kind cultivated in this country. It produces extraordinary crops, and the fruit is very attractive, being of a fine scarlet col- or. The Austin was ex- hibited at the office of the AmeHcan Agriculturist last year, weighing one ounce. Nearly 1,000 box - esiwere sent from Water- vleit last year, a distance of 100 miles, and sold to Taylor, corner Broadway and Franklin streets, N. Y., for 30 cents per quart, proving the Austin to be one of the most profitable market berries in cultivation. Our siock of plants is very large and fine, at the following rates : SO plants, $100; per hundred, $2.00; per thousand, $15.00. We commence delivering plants on the first of August, in rota- tion as ordered. Address either CHAUNCEY MILLER, Albany, N. Y,, Shaker Trustee, or WM. S. CARPENTER, 329 Greenwich Street, New York. Books ior Farmers and Fruit Growers. THE following works on Agriculture, Horticulture, &c, may be obtained at the Office of ihe Genesee Farmer: American Florist's Guide. . Bright on Grape Culture.. 50 Browne's Bird Fancier. .25 & 50 Cole's Am. Fruit Book 50 Dana's Muck Manual 1 OU Do. Prize Essay on Ma- nures 25 Everybody's Lawyer. $1 A 1 25 Every Lady her own Flow- 75 Quimby's Mysteries of Bee- keeping Explained 1 00 Babbit Fancier 25 & 50 Richardson on the Hog. . . . 25 Do. Domestic Fowls 25 Do. Pests of the Farm. .. 25 Do. on the Dog 25 Rural Annual and Hort, Directory for 1861 25 er Gardener 50, (First five vols. do.,lS56-7- Farm Drainage, (H. F. | 8-9 and 60, sent for 160 French) 1 OOiRodgers' Scieniific Agricul- Genesee Farmer (bound | ture 75 volumes) each 1 00 Rural Poetry of the En- Liebig's Animal Chemistry 2 Liebigon Food, &c 25 Do. Relations of Chemistry to Agriculture 25 Miner's Bee-keeper's Man- ual 1 00 Modern Cookerv,'by Miss Acton and Mrs. S. J. Hale 1 00 Nash's Practical Horse Far- rier 50 glish Language, (a beau- tiful book for a present i. . 3 00 Smith's Landscape Gard'g 1 25 Skillful Housewife 25 The Rose Culturist 25 & 50 The Horse and his Diseases 1 00 Wilson on Flax 25 Youatt on the Horse 1 25 Young Housekeeper aud Dairymaid's Directory... 25 {^"Any of the above named works will be forwarded by mall post-paid, on receipt of the price specified. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. The Original Howe Sewing Machine! I) ECENT and important improvements having been put to \> to this Machine renders it nc-w the most perfect before the public, and persons at a distance can order a Machine witbpa guarantee of its prompt and safe delivery, and that they will be able to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking needles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making [any garment, however delicate or heavy, on the same Machine, either in cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- chasing a Sewing Machine without first seeing this — the latest and greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing Machine. ffW Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices. A few responsible Agents would be dealt with liberally. Address 'THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES, July, 1862.— 21t 437 Broadway, New York. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the Wood Cuts used in the Gene- tee Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A book containing impressions of oyer Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipt of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des* criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. Thoroughbred Devon Cattle IpOR SALE— Of both sexes, and of various ages. For pedi- ' grees and full particulars address me at Victory, Cayuga Co. N. Y. July— St -->rr GEO. B. LOCKWOOD. , 2^4 THE GENESEE FARMER. Half Volume of the G-enesee Farmer. SPECIAL PHIZES. Universal Clothes Wringer, It is^the ORIGINAL and only GENUINE and RELIABLE WRINGER before the Public. IT SURPASSES ALL OTHERS IN Strength of Frame! Capacity for Pressure! Power of Action ! WE CHALLENGE THE WORLD! We Defy all Competition! WE] WARRANT EACH ONE IN EVERY PARTICULAR. WE have the highest testimonials certifying to its great value, both in the saving of labor and materials, as well as its per- fect adaptation to the use to which it is intended. These notices, however, can not be inserted here. We only ask that the public look at the facts— try our Wringer, and judge for themselves. We ask none to buy without giving it a thorough test, for which abundant opportunity will be given to all. CANVASSERS WANTED. To men who have had experience as canvassers, or any who would like to engage in the sale of this truly valuable invention, liberal inducements will be offered and good territory given them (they paying nothing for the Patent Right) in which they shall have the exclusive sale. _ This Wringer is made by The Metropolitan Washing Machine Company, Under the following patents: The Improved Patent Cog Wheel Regulator — It saves friction of the clothes, and prevents the rolls from wearing. The new Patent Method for Fastening the Roll to the Shaft- Never blacks the clothes. Bickerman's Patent Clasping Frame, for fastening to the tub- Can not work loose from its place. Lyman's Patent Adjustable Gauge, tor different sized tubs- Thick or thin, straight, slanting, or circular. Ggodyear's Patent (of which they are the exclusive owners) for the right to make, sell and use Vulcanized India Rubber Rolls or Covered Rolls for Washing, Wringing, or Starching Machines. Any one -making, selling or using any Wringer {the user as well as the maker), the rolls of which were not purchased of them, and a license obtained to sell and use the same, are infring- ing on their rights, and will at once be prosecuted according to Jaw. After an expensive litigation in the United States Cottrts, the suits are terminated and injunctions issued against the in- fringers. The parties prosecuted lave settled for past infringe- ments and arc now acting under licenses, which (with their sup- ply of India Rubber) they obtained from them with the right to use it for other Wringers (they paying a tariff on all sold), but under the most careful restrictions as to terms and prices, both wholesale and retail. All licensed parties will have a certificate, showing their rights and authority. The public should beware of all canvassers for Wringers who can not produce such certificate — tliey are bogus. Descriptive Circulars furnished by JULIUS IVES & CO., General Agents, July. 1862.— ly. 345 Broadway, New York. ! 82F" Sold by Special Camassem throughout the land. A ualf volume of the Genesee Farmer commences with the next number. It will be sent to any address for twenty-five cents, and the foliowing Premiums will be paid to all who send us subscribers; BOOK PREMIUMS. 1. To any person sending us the names of two subscribers for the coming half volume of the Genesee Farmer at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaid's Directory, by Mrs. ElizaA. Call or one copy of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1860 or 1861. 2. To any person sending us four subscribers to the half vol- ume at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, two copies of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for any years that may be wished. • 3. To any person sending us six subscribers to the half vol- ume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry, or three volumes of the Rural Annual. 4. To any person sending us eight subscribers to the half vol- ume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, ont copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farrier. Price, 50 cents 5. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half vol ume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, one copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1S56, nicely bound in stiff pa' per covers. Price, 75 cents. 6. To any person sending us ticelve subscribers to the hall volume, at 25 cents each, we will send, prepaid by return mail a copy of Rogers' Scientific Agriculture, or a bound volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1860 or 1S61. Price of the latter, $1 7. To any person sending us fourteen subscribers at 25 cent each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Mrs. S. J Hale's Modern Cookery. Price, $1.00. 8. To any person sending us sixteen subscribers, at 25 centi each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of Every body's Lawyer, or a copy of The Horse and his Diseases. Price $1.25. 9. To any person sending us forty subscribers at 25 cent each, we will send, prepaid by return mail, a copy of The Rura Poetry of the English Language. Price, $3.00. GRAPE VINE PREMIUMS. To any person sending us ten subscribers to the half volume at 25 cents each, we will forward, prepaid by mail, to any par of the United States one Delaware grape vine. For sixteen subscribers, two Delaware grape vines. For twenty-four subscribers, three Delaware grape vines. For thirty subscribers, four Delaware grape vines. For thirty-four subscribers, five Delaware grape vines, or on< each of Delaware, Concoad, Rebecca, Hartford Prolific am Crivelin. The grape vines will be sent in time for planting next fall. We offer these Premiums for subscribers to the half volume commencing with the July number. The first six numbers ol this year can still be furnished, and one subscription to th< whole volume, at 50 cents, will count the same as as lico to th half volume, at 25 cents each. Money may be sent at the risk of the Publisher Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor op the Genesee Farmer, June 1, 1S62. , - . . Rochester, N. Y. ol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y, SEPTEMBER, 1862. No. 9. SOWING WHEAT. The chief labor on many farms this month will e sowing wheat. A gentleman of this city, who takes delight in saggerated pictures of the evils resulting from the rar, remarked that "farmers felt so uncertain about le future that they were not going to sow any heat this fall!" So far from this being the case, e believe that more wheat will be sown in this jction than for many years past. The midge, hich made such fearful havoc in our wheat fields i 1856-7-8-9 and '60, has done comparatively ttle damage for the last two harvests, and farmers •e beginning to believe that we shall again be able > raise white wheat of as good quality as in days f yore. In the February number of the Genesee Farmer ir 1857, will be found a long article headed, Shall we have to abandon Wheat Growing in Western New York ?" At that time many farmers lought that we must give up wheat culture. We >ok the opposite ground and contended that there as no necessity for such a course. At two con- cutive meetings of the Farmers' Club of Monroe ounty the subject discussed was, " What substi- ites for the wheat crop can be adopted with the ost profit in this county ?" We expressed the 3inion that we could still raise wheat ; that the lidge was no new thing ; that it had, at times, nnmitted great ravages in other countries, but ad been overcome, and that we too could, by •operly cultivating and enriching the soil, sowing irly, and of early varieties, soon lessen the ravages I the midge and be able in a few years to raise as :>od wheat as ever. Our prediction has come true, he midge has not disappeared, but we have been labled to get crops sufficiently early to escape later ial injury. A day or two since we were on the farm of John ohnston, of Geneva, N. Y., the noble old farmer f underdraining celebrity. He remarked : " The midge never did me much damage." For thirty years he has fed out large quantities of oil cake, corn, &c, to cattle and sheep on his farm. He has used more or less lime and any quantity of plaster. He has raised immense crops of clover and made it into hay and fed it out to sheep. In this way be has made his land rich. At the same time he has tile-drained every field on the farm, or we might say every rod. He has laid over fifty miles of underdraining tile ! His land is dry, rich and well cultivated, and " the midge never did him much damage." No wonder that he is the great American apostle of High Farming. The midge has taught us a great lesson — one which could not have been taught us so effectually in any other way — we m.ust farm letter. We must sow less land with grain ; raise more clover ; keep more stock ; make more and richer manure. What land we sow to wheat must be well prepared and the seed put in early. It has taught us that it is much better to raise a thousand bushels of wheat from thirty acres than from sixty. We have learned that if the midge takes five bushels of wheat from a field that would yield 35 bushels t© the acre, the loss is less than if it takes the same quantity from a crop that would yield only 15 bushels per acre. The proportion of loss is much greater in the one case than in the other. In the one case, for every hundred bushels we obtain, 50 bushels has been destroyed by the midge ; in the other, only 16 bushels. And this is assuming that the midge does as much damage on the good land as on the poor, which is by no means the case. Our motto must be, " sow only as much land to wheat as can be made rich and put in early and in good condition." This is what we have advocated for years, and experieuce has demonstrated its correctness. On heavy land, we have not yet been able to dispense with summer-fallowing. John Johnston, rich as he has made his land, is yet in the habit of summer-fallowing more or less every year. J3is practice has been to top-dress his clover land in the fall and the next spring to plow it up, and prepare the land for wheat by plowing it twice more, with repeated harrowings, rolling, &c. In other words, he manures the land in the fall and then gives it a good old-fashioned summer-fallow. Latterly, since his land has been brought into such high condition, he occasionally takes off a crop of barley and sows wheat after it. In this case, as soon as the barley is off he plows it as shallow as possible to start the barley which may have been shed, seeds of weeds, &c. Then as soon as they are started, plow them under and sow wheat. On lighter soils the wheel cultivator may be used to start the seeds, &c. ■ Wheat is usually earlier on a summer-fallow than after barley or oats— and this in midge times is a very important point. In England, wheat is almost invariably sown on a clover sod, one or two years old, at one plowing. The land is turned over in shallow, narrow fur- rows, and the wheat sown immediately. Some farmers sow every day close up to the plow. We sow so much earlier in this country than they do in England, and the grass has, therefore, so much better chance to grow, that we have thought this method could not often be practiced with advan- tage, but we find that many good farmers are adopting it. The great point is to get the grass covered completely. In some parts of England a heavy roller, much resembling a wheel, and not more than an inch wide at the point, is used to run along the furrows after the plow and press in the grass. We once saw it in use on Mr. William Bennett's celebrated farm in Bedfordshire, and he assured us that on his very light sandy soil it was of the greatest value, not only for pressing in the grass but also for consolidating the land — it being well known that the great difficulty in growing wheat on such light land is to get it firm enough Where there is danger of smut, seed wheat_ should always be " pickled." The spores of the smut adhere to the grain, and when this is sown they are taken into the circulation of the wheat plant and affent the grain at the next harvest. To prevent this, we must adopt some method of killing the speres of the smut, or more properly " bunt." The method most commonly adopted is as fol- lows : Let a tub or Waif barrel, as c, in the accom- panying engraving, be placed to receive a quantity of chamber-lye, two or three weeks before it is needed, and tis soon as the ammonia is perceived pretty strong it is ready for use. If so strong thj it smarts the eye, it should be diluted with wate This is better than to use it fresh. Let two ba kets, o and d, be provided. Pour the wheat im the basket o from the sack a, and dip the basketf of wheat into the tub of lye c as far down as coti UMUBLrvtmf MODE OF PICKLING WHEAT TO PREyENT SMUT. pletely to cover the wheat. After remaining in tl liquid for a few seconds, lift up the basket, let tl surplus liquid run out of it7 and then place it upo the drainer e, on the empty tub /, to drip sti more liquid, till the empty basket is filled wit wheat and dipped in the tub. Now empty tl. basket d on to a clean floor ; and as every basketfi is emptied, riddle a little slaked lime on to tl wheat. Let the heap be repeatedly turned ov< till every kernel is coated with lime. The philosophy of this operation is this : Tl spores of the smut contain oil, and the ammonia < the lye unites with this oil and destroys the spore The lime dries the wheat and also assists in killin the spores. Many other substances will kill the spores an thus prevent injury from smut. The best of thes is blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). For eac bushel of wheat dissolve three or four ounces < vitriol in a quart of hot water, and when co( sprinkle the wheat with it, turning the wheat ove on the floor till every grain is moistened with th vitriol. Lime must not be used in this case, as i neutralizes the vitriol. Every farmer knows how to sow wheat afte some fashion, but comparatively few know how t sow properly. The great error in sowing is to le the hand fall as soon as it leaves the bag containin the seed. Instead of this, the hand should b thrown back on a level with the elbow, and if little higher it will be all the better. Do not thro'V the seed too high. The hand should not be raise* higher than at the starting point. Stephens, ii his Booh of the Farm, has the following remark on the subject: THE GENESEE FARMER. 257 The most convenient form of sowing wheat is of the semi-spheroid, made of linen sheeting, ng an opening large enough along one side of nouth to allow the head and right arm of a to pass through, and the portion passed under upon his left shoulder. On distending its th with both hands, and on receiving the seed it, the superfluous portion of the sheet is ad tight over the left arm, and gathered under to the left hand ; by which it is firmly held, e the load of grain is thus securely supported lat part of the sheet which passes over the left lder across the hack, and under the right arm. right arm, which throws the seed, finds easy 3S to the grain from the open side of the mouth ie sheet, between the left hand and the breast e sower. A square sheet, knotted together in i of its corners, and put on in a similar manner, imetimes used as a sowing-sheet ; but one ed and sewed of the proper shape, and kept be purpose, is a much more convenient article. a sheeting makes an excellent material for a ng-sheet, and, when washed at the end »f the >n, will last many years. The difficult point is ake the sowing-sheet fit the sower on the top e left shoulder, where the greater part of the lit of the corn rests ; and, in attempting this, ilfiilip HE METHOD OF PUTTING ON THE SOWING-SHEET. rincipal thing to be considered is, to make the , which goes over the shoulder, broad enough, iake the slope of the top of the shoulder from eck downwards. The gatherings of the cloth .ch side of the shoulder-top should be as neatly ited as is a shirt, and a couple of tapes should •awn through a slot-hem, to be tied tight in of the sheet across the breast. The accompa- x, figure shows very correctly the manner in h a well-made sheet should be put on and L basket of wicker-work is very commonly in England for the sowing of seed. It is sus- pended by girths, fastened to the two loops shown on the rim of the basket, by passing the girth from the left-hand loop over the left shoulder, behind the back to the other loop — or from one loop to the other, round the back of the neck; and the left hand holds the basket steady, by the wooden sfcad on the other side of the rim. THE ENGLISH SOWING BASKET. " In sowing, the sower walks on the third and fourth furrow-slices from the open-furrow, which he keeps on his right hand. Taking as much seed as he can grasp in his right hand, he stretches his arm out and a little back, with the clenched fingers looking forward, and the left foot making an ad- vance of a moderate step. When the arm has attained its most backward position the seed is begun to be cast, with a quick and forcible thrust of the hand forward. At the first instant of the forward motion, the fore-finger and thumb are a little relaxed, by which some of the seeds drop upon the furrow-brow and in the open-furrow ; and while still further relaxing the fingers gradu- ally, the back of the hand is so also turned upward, until the arm becomes stretched before the sower, by which time the fingers are all thrown open, with the back of the spread hand uppermost. The motion of the arm being always in full swing, the grain, as it leaves the hand, and partaking of its mo- mentum, receives such an impetus as to be project- ed forward in the form of a figure corresponding to the sweep made by the hand. The forward motion of the hand is accompanied by a corresponding forward advance of the right foot, which is planted on the ground the moment the hand casts forward the bulk of the seed." High casting is a common error with young sowers. The hand should be kept low, the arm stretched out, and the seed made to fly off in a curve in front, by a sharp turn up of the hand, and a free opening of the fingers »ear the end of that action, the nearest parts of the seed falling within two paces of the sower. In regard to the quantity of seed per acre, we think two bushels or two bushels and a half none too much. Thin seeding, other things being equal, is apt to make the crop later. Do not forget to clean out the dead-furrows, and to run furrows through any low spots to carry off the water. 268 THE GENESEE FARMER. A NOBLE HERD AND A NOBLE FARM. About the middle of August we had the pleasure of spending a few hours on the farm of James 0. Sheldon, Esq., of Geneva, N. Y. The farm is on the western slope of Seneca Lake. The house is situated on high ground, in the center of the farm, and commands a tine view of the lake and of the fertile farms on the opposite shore. The grounds surrounding the house are such as are rarely seen in this country. Noble elms, locusts and other handsome trees give to the scene the appearance of an English park. The farm consists of about 300 acres; only 45 acres of which are under the plow. The crops on them, however, are excellent, and clearly show that if we would adopt and have never been re-seeded, they look more like a clover field than an old meadow. At this time (August 14) they are one mass of clover blos- soms, while underneath and amongst them is a thick growth of timothy and other grasses. We would not ask for better hay than this second crop will make. But why is there so much clover? Botanists tell us that red clover is a biennial and will run out on ordinary soils at the end of two years, or at most, even on limestone land, at the end of three years. No seed has here been sown for years, and yet it abounds. In our experiments on an old meadow last year with various artificial fertilizers, superphosphate ol lime brought in the clover ; and the present year "*^^. -■>?-£? r^^jj(.pMBD&- A SHORT-HORN COW, BRED the motto, "more grass and less grain," our average yield would be greatly increased. Mr. Sheldon has now 80 head of cattle, 12 horses and 200 sheep. This is heavy stocking ; but the condition of the animals shows that they have an abundance of the good things of this life. The first year after Mr. S. purchased the farm, he cut 76 loads of hay ; this year, from the same num- ber ot acres, he cut and has now mowed away 335 loads ! In addition to this, he has many acres from which he will in a few days cut a second crop of very heavy and superior hay. He cuts early, while the clover is in blossom, believing that the hay is of superior quality. We have never seen finer grass, and one tiling particularly surprised us: though the meadows haye been down many years, BY JAMES O. SHELDON, ESQ. there is still more of it on the land having supei phosphate last year; there is also a little wher plaster was sown last year, while there is none o the rest of the field. Mr. Sheldon top-dresses hi meadows with composted manure, plaster, &c, an it may be that to this we must ascribe the clove) Certain it is, that to this is due his magnificen crops pf grass and his luxurious pastures. Nearl all his manure, — and, keeping such a large stock, h has a large quantity of it, — is applied to his gras land in the fall. The system of rotation adopted by Mr. S. is as fo lows : Break up a grass field and plant corn ; secon year, oats ; followed by fall wheat. With the whe£ timothy seed is sown, and the next spring two o three quarts of clover seed per acre is sown. Fo THE GENESEE FARMER. 269 the benefit of the grass, about two bushels of salt per acre Is sown on the wheat in the fall. Mr. S. is satisfied that salt has an excellent effect on the grass, and especially in insuring a good ** take." About eight acres of white sugar beets are raised every year. They 'do not yield se> well as mangel svurzel, but are more nutritious, affording richer milk. For ewes with lambs early in the spring they are excellent. Mr. Sheldon's herd of Shorthorn cattle, number- ing now sixty head, is unsurpassed in this country, if in England. Look at them as they quietly -crop the rich grass and bask beneath the umbrageous •elms. Every one of them has a pedigree long as ■xa Earl, and quite as illustrious 1 Of Alderneys, . especially considering its richness. It has always been a matter of surprise to us that wealthy gen- tlemen in the neighborhood of our large cities, who keep a cow for their own \ise, do not more gene- rally keep an Alderney. Mr. Sheldon has a noble flock of thorough-bred South Down sheep. Three years ago he met with a great loss. His sheep were in a barn which took fire, and some hundred and fifty head of the choicest South Down sheep perished in the flames. Since then, Mr. S. has made several importations, and also purchased largely from L. G. Morris and other celebrated breeders, and has now one of the largest and best flocks in America. He is in the habit of purchasing ewes of the common sheep of 7 *••'.' ;' "0™, Wm$r^mnmr^ AN ALDERNEY COW, BRED BT JAMES O. SHELDON, ESQ. Mr. S. has a dozen or more beautiful animals. For I the country and crossing them with South Down rich milk nothing equals an Alderney. We had I bucks, and in this way gets excellent lambs ft» the suppesed that they gave but a small quantity, but I butcher. He finds the practice quite profitable. Mr. S. says he has some that give 20 quarts a day. i He regards the South Down as the best of all the This for such small animals is a large quantity, | English sheep for this purpose. Shropshire Down Sheep. — The Maine Farmer says Oapt. Bradford, of "Winthrop, Me., has re- ceived three beautiful Shropshire Down sheep from the importation of the late Mr. Winans, of Baltimore. The importation was made through Mr. Sutton, of Maryland, who, " after examining the best flocks of England, made choice of the Shropshires as the best." The editor of the Farmer says, "with the exception of a flock imported by Geo. Miller, of Markham, 0. W., we know of no others this side o* the Atlantic." Mr. Lorillard, of New York, imported some most magnificent Shropshire Downs three or four years ago. We believe this was the first importation into this country. Indeed, it is but a very few years since the Shropshire Down sheep attracted any general attention in England. They are now admitted to be a most useful breed of sheep. 270 THE GEKESEE FARMER. JTOVELTIES AT THE GREAT ENGLISH EXHIBITION. The Irish Farmer's Gazette, one of the very best of our foreign exchanges, mentions the following among the new implements at the recent Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society : A patent combined harrow, seed drill, and horse hoe. This implement is supported on wheels, and besides its onward, maintains a lateral or zigzag motion when at work, pulverizing the soil thor- oughly, and the tines can be either let down or shortened at pleasure. It is furnished with a seed box and swing harrow, to follow in the tracks of the wheels, so as to obliterate the marks. Alto- gether, it is an excellent implement, and the won- der to us is that it has not obtained more general use than it has ; for though it it stated to be an en- tirely new implement, a similar one was exhibited in 1855 at the Royal Show at Chester. It is en- tered in the official catalogue as a " Transversal seed harrow, invented and manufactured by the exhibitor ; a wheeled harrow to work in a zigzag direction across the furrows, thereby ensuring the covering of the seeds with half the usual labour." We were particularly pleased with its action on that occasion, but lost sight of it ever since. Mr. Levi Lemon Sovereign, of Canada, exhibited several combined implements of his own invention; particularly a combined plough, drill, and harrow, which completes the whole process of ploughing, ribbing, and depositing the seed, and harrowing simultaneously. J. Gray & Co., Udingston, had all their ploughs and similar implements furnished with solid iron handles, instead of wooden ones, which certainly Is a great improvement ; the wooden ones so gen- erally rotting or getting loose in the sockets. A combined, double mould-board plough was exhibited, which had a new and very simple mode of regulating the width of the mould-boards with- out leaving the stilts, which consisted of a spring slip moving up and down on a central rod, and much quicker in action than the usual one of a screw. The Busby Agricultural Implement Company exhibited a new implement — a combined plough and land- presser, the invention of T. and J. G. Har- rison, consisting of a plough, to which a presser is attached, which completes the ploughing and press- ing the seed furrow in one and the same operation. The presser is so constructed that it can be readily attached to any ordinary plough and regulated to any breadth ot furrow. The patent-jointed clod-crusher, exhibited by Coleman and Sons, by its patent jointed bearings, accommodates itself to the undulating surface of the laud in any direction, and supplies a desidera- tum long and much wanted in the roller and clod- crushing tribe. It would be an omission in this section not to notice the capital improvement effected by Ran- somes and Sims in fixing the teeth or tines in the harrow frames, and also their flexible harrows, by which any undulating surface is harrowed as effect- ually as if perfectly plane. Tuxford and Sous, amongst their powerful porta- ble steam engines, exhibited a Lilliputian one, of one-horse power, suit'jd to work chaff-cutters, cake use." breakers, root pulpers, churns, n, which was caused by the lack of space below > rear that class of bees, owing to the cells having 3en filled with honey, before the queen was ready > deposit her eggs for drone brood. Where hives are made in moveable sections — the pper parts to lift off, a set of caps, with bees lerein may be rid of them very handily, by cov- •ing them with the upper part of the hive, while ie holes in the hive proper may be temporarily osed with anything handy for the day. At eve- ing the boxes will be free of bees, and the supers 1 the hives may be placed in their proper position. On one occasion, I tried the experiment of re- loving a set of boxes, about half filled with honey and bees, from an old stock to a swarm, about two weeks old, which I considered able to fill up said caps. The bees in the hive immediately began to eject the bees in the caps, and the war raged about 24 hours, when I judged that half, at least, of the bees in them had been killed. From this experi- ment, we learn that it is better to give the bees a day, uuder boxes, or the supers of the hives, to leave the caps, before they should be placed over other families. Cases occur where caps are filled with combs and honey, but the cells are not sealed over, and if left to have that done, a week of time is lost in the best of the honey harvest. On such occasions, I trans- fer the caps to some weak family, or swarm, with bees enough to seal over the caps, while I place an empty set of caps upon the hive from which they were taken, which are filled ; but if I had waited to have had the combs in the original set sealed over, I should have failed to obtain a second set of caps filled. My caps, when filled, weigh from six to seven pounds, and four constitute a set, worth in the New York market about one dollar each ; therefore it may be readily said that a family of bees may be made to store up four dollars'1 worth of honey extra from what is generally expected, merely by a little good management. I had one family, this season, very strong, which filled thirteen caps, and would have filled several more, had not some of those filled contained drone brood, and could not be removed. Here we have a case in which thirteen dollars' worth of honey, at least, was stored by a single family of bees, when under ordinary management, it would not have stored over 20 lbs., worth from $3 to $4 in New York. This family did not swarm, of course. But after all, bee-keeping in most hands' is not very profitable; and frequently, where large num- bers of families, say from 15 to 100, are purchased by persons who are not skilled in the management of bees, a considerable loss occurs, and eventually the business is abandoned in disgust. I advise no one to embark in this business, until he has first spent years in the careful management of bees, and then it is unsafe to invest much cash in it. If one can obtain a large apiary, by the increase of a few original families, it is well; but to invest hundreds of dollars in bees, with but little practical experi- ence, is not wise. Some people, after having read some good practical work on Bee-Keeping, imagine that they know all about it, and at once launch out into the untried field, to reap a great deal of disap- pointment, to say the least of the matter. THE GENESEE FARMER. But little can be done with bees from now till they are put into winter quarters, except to pre- vent their robbing each other's hives, which is ef- fected by letting down hives, if raised, upon the stands, and partially closing the entrances of weak families — not after the robberies commence, but now before the damage is done. When the honey harvest has not been abundant, and where weak families of bees exist, they must be looked to im- mediately, and their passage-ways closed so as to allow but two or three bees to enter at once ; and in some cases of weaker families, but one bee at a time. A little attention to this matter now will, per- haps, save the loss of several weak families in every apiary. You need not trouble yourselves at all about the strong families, as they can and will take care of themselves. t. b. mines. OUnton, N. Y. " Nothing to Do." — The New England Farmer says : " We have for several years known an elderly farmer, whose fields are level and well adapted to the use of the mowing-machine, but who could not. surmount the idea that machinery is a plague on the farm. So at early dawn he has bent over the scythe on his broad acres, until he has acquired a bend in his back that no medicament can cure. This year the pressure was too strong for him. He heard the ' clack ' of machinery all about him, and saw his neighbors clearing their fields at the rate of two acres to his one. He could stand it no longer. A wood-machine was purchased, and proved a good one, and now he may be seen early in the morning under his beautiful trees, feeding the poultry, or slowly following his fine cows as they nibble the sweet grass on the roadside, on their way to pasture. He is in no hurry, not he. He sits twice as long at the breakfast table as he did last year, and thinks the food tastes better than it did then. He rises early, to be sure, and his practiced eye scans every thing, and sees that all is right. The horses are hitched to the machine about nine, and, presto, before twelve there is as much grass down as all hands can take care of. He thinks he can earn more in the time which he has to bestow upon his stock and his care of 'little things,' than he ever did in the mowing field. In- deed, it seems, he savs, as if he had l nothing to do.' " • ^ i fc . Stamping Fruit. — A German journal publishes the following : "At Vienna, for some time past, fruit dealers have sold peaches, pears, apricots, &c, or- namented with armorial bearings, designs, initials and names. The impressions of these things are effected in a very simple manner : A fine fruit is selected at the moment it is beginning to ripen — that is, to take a red color — and paper, in which the designs are neatly cut out, is affixed. After a while the envelop is removed, and the part of the fruit which has been covered, is brilliantly white. By this invention the producers of it may realize large sums." FARMERS WANTED IN INDIANA. Eds. Genesee Farmer: — "Why don't some of your people who want farms come to this region — Central Western Indiana? The country west of Indianapolis, near the National Road and St. Louis Railroad, is -good, healthy, mild in climate, very finely watered and timbered, and is cheap. It is almost, if not quite, a first-class grass and fruit re- gion. We have most glorious woods, (excuse "glorious" — I am just from the poor timbered Lake country, and I love fine, rich forest trees)— of large beech, oak, sugar-maple, hickory, elm, pop- lar, lynn, black-walnut, ash, haskberry, &c, with almost no bushy under-growth at all. A good pas- ture is made here by simply "deadening" the beech and sugar trees, leaving the timber standing alive for after use. In two or three years you caD fence up a good pasture of the indigenous blue- grass and red-top, and clear up the dry trees as thej fall. Of course, if near the railroad, the wood if chopped and sold instead of being deadened. The creeks putting into the Wabash run for long distances through the country, and are fed b] smaller branches of the clearest water, whicl meander through and drain the whole, and spring are plenty. The bottom lands on these streams from ten rods to a mile in width, are warm, ricl and mellow, and of the very finest character. Com aider soil, climate, timber, water, stone, coal (abund ant in Vigo, Clay, Putnam and other counties,) am our land must be a desirable one. We have to fee' stock from the last of November to April first. We are a somewhat slow people. Very litth capital was brought by early settlers. Perhap nearly one-third of our people are descended froi emigrants from Kentucky ; over a third from thos from Ohio, and the residue from those of Easter States — from Maryland to Massachusetts. W need more Yankees. There ate a great many farm one-third to one-half improved, that are cleare( fenced, worn out by corn crops for the hog, bush;; briary and foul, with uo sheep on them, that coul be bought at low rates, and would require but ver- little labor to make them beautiful and valuable. As to the prices of land, I suppose $25 per acr for choice down to $10 will cover the whole trutl Many farms of 40, 80, 120 and 160 acres and uj ward, may be had at $12 to $20 per acre — somi for $10 — and the terms are generally about on< third cash and the residue on liberal time. I am from Maryland, and have beside me an ol friend from Rochester, N. Y., who is gradually leac ing me into fruits, &c. I wish some of your pe< pie who want good, cheap farms, in a mild climati who will grow grass, fruits, sheep and cattle, an exclude the hog — which has been the ruin nearl of this country — would come out here and settli J. M. MULLIKIN. EeeUville, Putnam County, Ind., Avgust, 1862. Pedigree Wheat. — The Irish Farmers' Gazeth speaking of Hallett's Pedigree Wheat, exhibite at the Royal Agricultural Fair, says, "to be caudk we did not think much of it, and the foliage of th live plants exhibited, grown from single seed.1 though they had tillered enormously, was greatl tamaged by rust." This has always been the ot jection to thin seeding — the crop is apt to rust* THE GENESEE FARMER. 279 Seed Wheat. — After alluding to the results of . Hallett., of England, published in the Genesee rmer for June, in selecting seed wheat, the New rk Tribune urges every farmer to examine the s of his wheat and select out the fairest for seed^ I «ays : Dne man gained celebrity for his seed, which he led " barrel wheat,1' from the peculiar mode of ring it, which was by whipping sheaves over a *rel in such a manner that none but the project- ; heads were shelled, and these were generally > heads of the lougest stalks, and best heads, tich first ripened. Never take seed from wheat that has been ■ashed by a machine, unless you can afford to e ten per cent., for that amount at least has 3n injured by blows of the thrashing spikes, that it will not vegetate. This has been >ved by dissecting the grains and examining with nicroscope. Never take seed promiscuously from any pile of ieat. With a good mill you can screen out one- rd or more. I^ever sow wheat that is not absolutely free of other seeds, smut included, for what you can t screen and blow out you can get rid of by shing. When to Sell Wool. — The New York Tribune Aug. 16 says: Wo believe that we can answer this important Bstion, which all sheep owners are putting to lers, or mentally to themselves, that is, " When ill I sell my wool ?" For the last ten years, we ) assured by a disinterested person who has been a position to know, good fair clipped wool has d» at prices that will average 40 cents a pound, at is, then, the price at which a farmer can ord to sell his wool at his own house or conve- :nt market town, less the expense of transporta- n and sale in this city. If he can get more than s average price he is lucky. If the price is much low that, he can afford to store his wool and ait a more favorable time. At the present time } price is more likely to rule above than below i average, for while cotton rules so high people II wear more woolen cloth and use wool in a riety of ways in preference to cotton. For bed- lg, as well as clothing, there is no doubt about i healthiness of wool over cotton. It is probable at the grade of wool that will be most in demand is season will be long staple fine, such as may be mted for delaines, which will be largely worn in ice of calicoes and other light cotton goods. Such 11 sell above the average market price. Those 10 have large clips of extra fine wool do not need y advice from us when to sell ; they know that e prospects are all in their favor. he only corroborates a very old belief. Berlasse asserted it in his Natural History of Cornwall, a hundred years ago. Mr. Jeffreys gives the passage. The sweetest mutton is reckoned to be that of the smallest sheep, which usually feed on the com- mons, where the sands are scarce covered with the green sod and the grass exceedingly short. From the sands come forth snails of the turbinated kind, but of different species and all sizes, from the adult to the smallest, just from the egg. These spread themselves on the plains early in the morning, and whilst they are in quest of their own food among the dews, yield a most fattening nourishment to the sheep. » ■ ^ Trial of Mowing Machines. — At a recent trial at Fishkill, N. Y., several mowing machines were tested by the dynamometer, under the superintend- ence of H. L. Emery, of Albany, N. Y. The length of trial swaths cut was 20 rods. The following table shows the results : NAMK OF MaCIIINE, A2JD ■WHERE MADE. * *3 » t> 3 a 5 2 a Z2 Bs o 5' <$ *3 a a o c 2 r day peed 19 : o C *s * ff B K ; 5 . c • t» ■^^«»\ m. sec lbs ac. rods. ft. 1 g B 2 : 2,- • to e desired. It is a pleasure to look at them. I tave no doubt that a naturally underdrained soil, ike his, abounding in lime, and lying on a high idehill, well sheltered from the severe winds, with i good exposure to the sun, is just what we want or pears." "He has some pears growing in grass, but they tre no healthier than those growing in his cultiva- .ed garden, and the fruit is not as large or the jrowth of the trees so good. He is satisfied that he ground in the pear orchard should be culti- rated." " It is not an easy thing to determine when pears ire ripe. It is not difficult to tell when they are at to eat ; but that is not the point. It is now universally admitted that nearly all varieties should be picked from the trtes before they are fit to eat, and ripened in the house. They should be picked as soon as they are fully matured — not ripe. The ripening process is entirely distinct and quite differ- ent from that of growth. As soon as the fruit has ceased to derive nourishment from the tree, it should be gathered, and the ripening process allowed to proceed in a cool, dark room. The difficult point is to determine when the fruit has attained its full growth. Something can be learned from observing the change of color. Perhaps the best general test is to pick as soon as the fruit- stalk will separate readily from the branch." "It has been rare weather for celery. Here is some of the new French self-blanching kind. It grows splendidly, but does not as yet, though it is two and a half feet high, show any signs of blanching. A few of the plants have run up to seed, but this is probably owing to its being so early." " The French ' Tree Tomato ' does not seem to do much, this year, in the open air. It needs to be tested more generally before it can be recom- mended." THE SOUTHERN GUM TEEE. The Sweet Gum Liquidamber {Liquidamber Sty- raciflua) is one of the most common trees of the Middle and Southern States. On large trees at the South gum is found in considerable quantities, LIQUIDAMBER STYRACIFLCA. appearing between the bark and the wood and exuding from the cracks in the former. When first issuing from the tree it is perfectly fluid and clear and has a most agreeable fragrance. It is regarded as a styptic. In regard to the latter quality, Solon Robinson, of the New York Tribune, relates that when once traveling in the Southwest he was attacked with violent diarrhoea, and was so weak that he bad to be carried from his buggy into the house, but was perfectly restored in a few hours by a decoction of the bark of the gum tree. He thinks our soldiers in the Southern States, where this tree abounds, have always at hand the means of arresting sum- mer complaints. 282 THE GENESEE FARMER. says the largest gum trees grow in . soil. He mentions one growing in a six miles from Augusta, Georgia, which, at feet from the ground, was 15 feet 7 inches in .i-cumference, with a head broad and spreading in proportion to the trunk. The wood is very com- pact and fine-grained, but when exposed to the air it soon decays. It makes very poor fire-wood. In regard to the toughness of the wood, the present war has afforded a curious instance. "We give it as it is related in an exchange : " Dr. J. W. Page, U. S. Sanitary Inspector, De- partment of North Carolina, has brought home a remarkable relic of the war: a section of a gum tree, with a 32 lb. cannon ball embedded in it. It is at present in the keeping of the New York His- torical Society. The tree of which it is a section stood within 300 or 400 yards of the 32 lb. gun in Fort Thompson, from which the ball was dis- charged, and directly in range of the field hospital of Foster's Brigade. It was felled, and the section containing the ball cut from it, on the 10th of May, by an intelligent ' contraband.' The peculiar man- ner .in which the ball is lodged in the tree is another point of interest, indicating as it does the resistance which this peculiar tree — the Hack gum — offers to the shock of a heavy cannon ball. The tree is proverbial in the South for its tenacious qualities, being capable, in the opinion of the dark- ies, of resisting even the force of lightning itself. In this instance the tree is not at all shattered by a force which would have shivered ordinary trees to atoms. The ball is simply half embedded, and the tough splinters, which it had forced in before it, have rebounded, and now clasp it to its place, as if the ball had entered from the opposite side without sufficient force to pass completely through. We should judge that this species of timber would be useful in the construction of naval vessels !" As an ornamental tree, the liquidamber deserves a place in every collection. Though a native of the South, it is perfectly hardy in this vicinity. In the spring, when its leaves are unfold- ing it fills the sur- rounding air with their delicious fra- grance; during the summer the elegant- ly shaped leaves, with their dark green glossy surface, are re- markably handsome; and in the autumn, when the leaves are LEAF AND fl<>wer. dying off, they turn to an intensely deep purple red, more or less mixed with orange. Even in the winter, the rough bark and scraggy branches give the tree a striking appearance. RURAL TASTE. Eds. Genesee Faemek : — It will be no designee flattery, if I say you exhibit, in your magazine, nc small degree of taste on the subject of landscape gardening, and ornamental culture generally. Rules of taste in laying out gardens and pleasure grounds cannot be easily established, that will gov- ern all and apply to all cases. Indeed, it is almost universally admitted that "De gustibus non disputandum est." There are, however, some obvious principles that will be recognized by mahy as essential, in the elaboration of plans for beautiful pleasure grounds The grand result to be attained, is to produce the most pleasing effect upon a given plat or plantation and the skill and taste is exhibited by making the most of the material afforded, upon which to ope rate — whether the situation be best adapted to tin picturesque or graceful style of ornament. I elo not propose, at present, to write a complete essay upon rural taste or ornamental gardening, bu simply to make a few suggestions tor the consider ation of yourself and readers; and I have been lee to this by frequently observing violations of wha seem to me the principles above mentioned. In ornamental pleasure grounds, in all situations there are necessarily laid out numerous roads ane walks, which, of course, vary according to the nat ural surface of the ground. Utility in their con struction, as in all improvements for ornament should be regarded as an important element, ane whatever may be elecided, as to their width o; adaptation to the ground through which they an constructed, they should have no termination — tha is, they should lead iuto some other avenue, or ena ble the traveler to reach the point from which h< departs without being compelled to retrace hi steps, or pass over the same ground to return, ane they should be so constructed as to appear to be the most feasible route to reach a given point, ane give most pleasure in the attempt. Mathematical precision in their construction b now almost universally considered as in bad taste, and much grace may be added by such curves as are rightly adapted to the surface of the ground — pre>vided utility be not thereby materially sacri- ficed. Where no pecuniary gain is expected, direct lines in avenues and walks are not to be tolerated. Lawn trees and shrubbery constitute an impor- tant feature in fashioning the landscape, and care should be taken to place them in situations calcu- lated to give most pleasure in viewing them. The grosser and less delicate should stand more remote from the frequented avenues, and the more rare and attractive placed where closer inspection of them can be made. In general, flowering shrubs and trees should be near, so that the beauty of their foliage and flowers can be readily examined, while majestic forest trees, intended to adorn the planta- tion by their size and figure, should stand where the vision can take in the whole oontour, without the effort necessary for minute, cle>se or critical examination. This remark will apply, in a considerable meas- ure, to the position of plants. And while I speak of them, especially such as are calculated for show in flowers or foliage, I must be excused if I cross the taste of some good people who figure herea- THE GENESEE FARMER. 285 on no small scale, in ornamental gardening, ften observe beautiful beds of plants and s — the rarest and most attractive — planted in iddle of a large grass-plat, at such a distance my walk or avenue as to prevent the enjoy- of them, for their beauty or fragrance, with- imping on the grass, while at every turn we se posted a card, '"■Please keep off the grass." absurd this really is! To forbid the near ich to a well arranged, delicate, sweet cluster Bering plants, where they are almost entirely 1 their intended effect, for want of a close )f them. re should always be constructed an avenue 5 to such a bed of plants, that a near approach in may be easily made. Besides, utility re- such access, for oftentimes delicate kid slip- rould be soiled in walking over the bedewed when a clean gravel walk would be conve- md safe. velers have often noticed this great defect in iblic grounds at our National Capital, and fashionable resorts in the different States ; i perhaps few take the trouble to consider occasions one of the most forbidding features ii grounds. le from evident utility, the graceful walks ind among flower-beds and shrubbery are an te ornament, and add much to the effect to duced. Then, should not flower-beds always dered by them ? , who can enjoy the gorgeous beauties of a ssorted and rare collection of tulips or hya- , or appreciate the delicious sweetness of a carnations or picotees, when they have no access to them ? If they are not forbidden alk upon the grass," it is not always conve- to cross a lawn for the object; and sometimes stance causes a failure to attract the attention visitor. ne painting would be little noticed and se- ot much admiration, if placed at such a dis- from the beholder as to prevent a fair view drawing and blending of colors; and the at- renes9 of the picture is often much enhanced » character of the frame that surrounds it. ionld a connoisseur judge of the excellence of ttiful piece of embroidery without being suffi- T near to distinguish the prominent features 3ems to me, then, just as absurd to form a -bed remote from some avenue giving access as to place before a guest a dish of choice meats, without a spoon or other utensil that enable him to gratify his taste. w. ssfer, Aug. 15, 1S62. lCh Orchards in Ohio. — A correspondent of wa Homestead has just returned from a visit e, and tells such wonderful stones of the crops aches in Warren county that his neighbors believe him. He thinks that county can sup- e entire North with peaches this year. He s to two farmers that have 121 acres of peach Hundreds of others have great orchards, lese are the largest. HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM FOBEIGN JOURNALS. — M. D'Arioles, of the Revue Horticole, thinks that it is not a good plan to put pears in tight boxes, but that it is better to spread them upon shelves or tables, in a cool room ; and that wrapping them in paper will only do for fruit which is entirely sound and which does not require to be examined often. He says, too, that in gathering summer and early- fall pears, the best fruit can be taken off before it has quite reached maturity, and that the small ones will in this way, having all the sap to themselves, become larger and better. This will only answer for very early fruits. With late ones the experi- ment would not succeed, as with them both their quality and preservation depend upon their being gathered at precisely the proper time. — M. Naudin, in his report of the Exhibition of the Central Society of Horticulture, tells an anec- dote of the Emperor, who last year visited the Exhibition at Fontainebleau, and was very much surprised not to see his favorite flower, the carnation. " Why," asked he, of one of the principal exhibit- ors, " have you no carnations among so many flowers ?" " Sire," was the reply, "carnations are not fashionable; no one cultivates them." This year they have become favorite flowers. — " Surprise de Jodoigne" is the name of a new peach, a seedling grown by M. Xavier Gregoire, of Jodoigne, Belgium. The Revue Horticole quotes AT. Bivort, Secretary of the Royal Commission of Pomology of Belgium, who has made a long report on its merits. At the close, he says : " This ex- quisite and remarkable peach resembles the peach in its downy skin and its stone, the apricot by the color of its flesh and its exterior, and the nectarine in its flavor." —The Yucca Gloriosa Longifolia is spoken of in the Revue Horticole as one of the most beautiful of its kind, and presenting for ornamentation two advantages, being very beautiful in form and hav- ing a great abundance of flowers. Another variety is also mentioned ; the flowers are yellow— white or sulphur, and the stalk is deeply colored, almost purple. — M. Barral, in his letter from London, says that the English floral exhibitions are much more beautiful than those in France, and much better attended; but then, he adds, they are truly fetea — the ladies are exquisitely dressed, the music good, and the whole scene extremely brilliant, 286 THE GENESEE FARMER. fairies' gfjraitimtt ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECELTTsT Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. In giving our usual receipts we have had both this month and last our sick soldiers in view, and hope that some of the ladies who are cunning in the art of cookery will remember them too. That raspberry wine and black- berry syrup— for the making of which we gave such plain directions last month— won1 d be particularly acceptable to the fevered lips of the wounded in the Virginia hospi- tals. Marmalade and jars of nice pickles would render the dry bread which many are now obliged to eat more palatable. Those who have an abundance of tomatoes can put them up in stone jars as well as in the more expen- lire cans, and they will be fully as acceptable to the brave men who have suffered so much for their country-suffer- ings that those of us who stay at home know nothing of. There was, at one time, an overplus of hospital dainties' but that was before the fighting actually commenced ; now they are it! need of those very things which were then wasted. The time has now come when anything that is sent will be appreciated, and we hope that the want ot those luxuries which we enjoy so plentifully at home will not long be felt by the inmates of our hospitals, now that their wants are known. Pickled PEACHEs.-Take a peck of peaches -wipe them carefully. Cook them with four pounds of sugar, one quart of vinegar, one ounce of cinnamon and one of cloves. The California larmer suggests to all who are fond of a "dish of greens" to try the clippings taken from the grape-vines. It is said that they are esteemed by some better than spinage, mustard, or any other article. Spice Cake.— One tea-cup of molasses, one of sugar, one of butter, three and a half of flour, one cup of sour milk, four eggs, one teaspoonful of saleratus, one of cin- namon, half a teaspoonful of cloves and the same quantity of nutmeg. Another Wat.— Pare and halve your peaches, and to five pounds of fruit allow two pounds of sugar and a pint of vinegar, with spice to your taste. Cassia buds are often used as a substitute for cinnamon. Plums may be pickled in the same way. Apple Marmalade.— Break up four pounds of loaf sugar. Put it into a preserving kettle, and pour on a quart of cold water. When the sugar has melted,.stir it. Set the kettle over the fire and let it boil for a quarter of an hour, skimming it thoroughly. Have ready four pounds of apples, pared, cored and sliced. Put them iDto the syrup, adding the grated rinds of four large lemons Let it simmer, stirring it constantly until the apple is en- tirely dissolved and forms a smooth mass. Then add the juice of the lemon. Boil very fast, continuing to stir it until it becomes a thick marmalade. It will generally require simmering an hour and boiling fast half an hour. When it is done put it, while hot, into jars, corking and sealing them closely. This is the best substitute for <^aoge marmalade. Cream Biscuit.— One pint of thin cream, tvi flour enough to make it as stiff as pound-cake, small cupsi Puffit.— One cup of sugar, one cup of butti eggs, one pint of milk, three pints of flour, two t< iuls of cream-tartar, one of soda, and a little sal! n a loaf like cake. Serve when hot for breakfas Tomatoes.— There is no difficulty in preservin toes during the winter, and enjoying them as i January as in August. It is only necessary to b« thoroughly, and put them up while hot, sealing so that they shall be air tight. If tomatoes do n before the frost comes, cut off the stalks on whic green fruit and put them in a cellar, hanging with the tops down, and they will gradually ripe Peach Leather.— To each pound of peaches al a pound of sugar. Mix them together, and put tl a kettle with just water enough to keep them fro ing. Pound and mash them with a wooden be. then boil them three hours or more, skimming ring them nearly all the time. When done, spres' on dishes, and set them in the sun for three or fo Finish the drying by loosening the leather from tl and setting them in an oven moderately heated. Hints for Clear Starching.— Collars, uudersl handkerchiefs, of very fine muslin or lace, will much squeezing or rubbing when washed. The made perfectly white and clean without either by lowing process: Rinse them carefully throug water, then soap them well with white soap, plat a dish or saucer, and cover with water ; place the sun. Let them remain two or three days, c the water frequently and turning tbem. Once ev take them out, rinse carefully, soap, and place water. The operation is a tedious and rather some one; but the finest embroidery or lace co perfectly white, and is not worn at all, where, in < washing, it would be very apt to tear. When white, rinse and starch in the usual manner. Pickled Cucumbers. — However numerous ma] varieties of fancy pickles in the store-room, cue will retain an honored place — provided they ar and brittle. In order to have them so, it is on! sary to follow a few simple directions : Put the bers— the smaller the better— into a jar, placing of salt between each layer of cucumbers, and a< little alum. Over the whole put a cloth, lettin closely on the last layer. Every two or three d move this cloth, which will be wet with the brine, it and replace it until the greenish matter is thoi extracted. In this way you can keep the cucuml winter, only pickling a few at a time, as they beco by lying in vinegar. When you wish to pickle th< them into a brass kettle with vinegar enough tt them, and let them simmer, but never come to the point until they are sufficiently cooked. JIauy co that they lose their cucumbers while lying in s; there is no difficulty in keeping them if the cloth covers them is removed often enough and kept Mangoes should never be allowed to boil in the H but cooked in the same way as cucumbers. THE GENESEE FARMER. 287 (tang feofk'a page. THE TALENTS, iread of the servant who hid in the earth [ents his master had given, y dilligent use, to redouble its worth, rht to have faithfully striven ? , you have talents: God gave them to you, ill surely require them again, e not to waste them ; if ever so few, m not have been given in vain. s speech ; then remember to watch your words well, I them be gentle and kind ; scni a small matter, but no one can tell mfort a word leaves behind. ; time. Every minute and hour of the day by your Father in Heaven, >te to improve, ere it passes away, ent so graciously given. ; influence, too, though it seems very small; greater or lesser degree, !t the improvement and comfort of all 'horn you may happen to be. ;hild who in earnest endeavors to live leir of eternity ought, ent example a lesson may give, by words he could never have taught. sider the talents entrusted to you, ay they be duly improved ; service be hearty and free, as is due hiklren so greatly beloved. yoor Mark. — Charles and Robert were two 0 went to their good grandfather's place in the It was a beautiful farm, with broad, green s and great shady trees, and the hay-fields were tratvberries, and the pastures were covered with id lambs. The grandfather was a kind old man f fond of children, and he let the boys do pretty ; they pleased. And so Charlie trampled down- ieal of grass in pursuit of flowers and berries, 3ed the sheep and lambs, just for the fun of see- ii run, until they became frightened whenever f him, and one poor little lamb, when he saw ! behind him, ran off" in such great alarm that he stop to see where he was going, and he fell from rock and was killed. One day Charlie saw a dbreast with a worm in her bill which she was j to feed her little ones, and he caught up a stone ew it with all his strength at the poor little and she fell to the ground, and when Robert ter up she was dead. Robert was a kind-hearted 1 he made the pretty robin a grave under a wild sh; and all night long he heard the little huugry ) in the elm tree calling, "Mother! mother!" but er came to feed them any more. i was a beautiful spring under an oak tree in one )f the meadow, where the two boys used often to l the weather was warm, and when their visit was i their clothes and playthings were all packed for Iobert planted a lily by the side of the spring; he last thing he did before he set out for the sta- ^he two boys were walking slowly along, for there jnty of time before the train would come, and rods were full of fruit which their grandfather had lem when he bade them good-bye. at were you doing there by the springV" asked e of his brother. "I was setting out a lily, so that grandfather might see it sometimes, and have something to remember me by when I am gone." "Nonsense!" replied Charlie. "There's something to make hitn remember me," and he lifted a large stone from the wall, and aimed it at the little mound on the margin of the spring. It did not touch the lily, but it sank into the soft earth by its side, and the beautiful green moss that grew there was ashamed of it, and crept round and leaned over it, and finally covered it up ; so that in a few years it looked like a green velvet cushion, and not like a stone. But Robert's lily grew and blos- somed a great many years, and made the air sweet with its fragrance, and the mowers were careful not to cut it down. Now, which do you think you are planting — stones or lilies? — Springfield Republican. Farmers' Boys. — In the wide world there is no more important thing than farmers' boys. They are not so important for what they are, as for what they will be. At present they are of little consequence too often. But farmers' boys always have been, and we presume always will be, the material out of which the noblest men are made. They have health and strength ; they have bone and muscle ; they have heart and will ; they have ambi- ,ion and endurance : and these are the materials that make men. Not buckram and broadcloth, and patent leather and beaver fur, and kid-gloves and watch-seals, are the materials of which men are made. It takes bet- ter stuff to make a man. It is not fat and flesh, and swagger and self-conceit ; nor yet smartness, nor flip- paucy, nor foppery, nor fastness. These make fools, not men ; not men such as the world wants, nor such as it will honor and bless. Not long hair, nor much beard, nor a cane, nor a pipe, nor a cigar, nor a quid of tobacco, nor a glass of beer or brandy, nor a dog or gun, nor a pack of cards, nor a novel, nor a vulgar book of love and murder, nor a tale of adventures, that makes a man, or has anything to do with making a man. Farmers' bojs ought to keep clear of all these idle, foolish things. They should be employed with nobler objects. They have yet to be men of the clear grit— honest, intelligent, industrious men. — Valley Farmer. " If Ton Please."— When the Duke of Wellington was sick, the last thing he took was a little tea. On his ser- vant handing it to him in a saucer, and asking him it he would have it, the Duke replied, " Yes, if you please." These were his last words. How much kindness and courtesy is expressed by them ! He who had commanded the greatest armies in Europe, and was long accustomed to the tone of authority, did not despise or overlook the small courtesies of life. In all your home talk, remember, " If you please." Among your playmates, do n't forget, " If you please." To all who wait upon or serve you, believe that " If you please" will make you better served than all the cross or ordering words in the whole diction- ary. Do n't forget three little words, " If you please." Maxims of Order and Neatness. — Perform every ope- ration in proper season. Perform every operation in the best manner. Complete every part of an operation as you proceed. Finish one thing before you begin another. 288 THE GENESEE FARMER. CM imlhuwM. Puns on Names.— When Dr. Goodenough preached be- fore the House of Lords, a wag remarked : ■ " 'Tis Well enough that Goodenough Before the Lords should preach; For sure enough, they're bad enough He undertakes to teach." The following is a lively and spirited pun : At a tavern one night, Messrs. More, Strange and Wright, Met to drink and and their good thoughts exchange. 13ays More : " Of us three, The whole will agree, There's only one knave, and that's Strange." " Yes," says Strange, rather sore, " I'm sure; there's one More — A most terrible knave and a bite, Who cheated his ii'olher, His sister and brother." " Oh, yes," replied More, " that is Wright." Fontenelle.— This distinguished author stands out among writers for having reached the extraordinary age of a hundred years. It was believed of bim that he never truly laughed or cried in the whole course of his exist- ence. The following characteristic anecdote is told of him : One day a certain bonvivant Abbe came unexpect- edly to dine with him. The Abbe was fond of asparagus dressed with butter, for which Fontenelle also had a great gout, but preferred it dressed with oil. Fontenelle said for such a friend there was no sacrifice he would not make ; the Abbe should have half the dish of asparagus he had ordered for himself, and, moreover, it should be dressed with butter. While they were conversing thus together, the Abbe fell down in a fit of apoplexy ; upon which Fontenelle instantly scampered down stairs, and eagerly called out to his cook : " The whole with oil ! the whole with oil, as at first !" The Cow and the Railroad.— When George Stephen- son, the celebrated Scotch Engineer, had completed his model of a locomotive, he represented himself before the British Parliamdnt and asked for the attention and sup- port of that body. The grave M. P.'s looking sneeringly at his invention, said : "So you have made a carriage to run only by steam, have you ?" " Yes, my Lords." " And you expect to run on parallel rails, so that it cannot get off, do you?" "Yes, my Lords," "Well, now, Mr. Stephenson, let us show you how absurd your claim is : Suppose, when your carriage is running upon those rails at the rate of twenty or thirty miles an hour — if you are extravagant enough to even suppose such a thing is pos- sible—a cow should get in the way. You can't turn out for her — what then?" " Then 'twill be bad for the cow, my Lords!" A countryman sowing his ground, two smart fellows riding that way, one of them called to him, with an inso- lent air : " Well, honest fellow, it is your business to sow, but we reap the fruits of your labor." To which the countrymau replied: "It is very likely you may, for I am sowing hemp !" Hams. — "Gripps, I understand you have a superior way of curing hams. I should like to learn it." " Well, yes ; I know very well how to cure them, but the trouble with me just now is tojoro-cure them." Soldiers must have Sound Feet. — The late Major throp, in an article written for the Atlantic Monthly, A soldier needs, beside his soldierly drill, 1. Good feet. 2. A good stomach. S. And after these comes the good head and th< heart. But good feet are distinctly the first thing; w| them you can not get to your duty. If a comrade I horse, or a locomotive, takes you on its back to the | you are useless there ; and when the field is lost, yc not retire, run away, and save your bacon. Good shoes and plenty of walking make good fei man who pretends to belong to an infantry cor ought always to keep himself in training, so that t moment he can march twenty or thirty miles w feeling a pang or raising a blister. A Captain of a company who will let his men i with such shoes as I have seen on the feet of somi fellows in this war, ought to be garroted with strings, or at least compelled to play Pope and was feet of the whole army of the Apostles of Liberty. If you find a foot-soldier lying beat out by the side, desperate as a sea-sick man, five to one his are too high or his soles too narrow or too thin, shoe is not made straight on the inside, so that the toe can spread into its place as he treads. I am an old walker over Alps across the wate over Cordilleras, Sierras, Deserts and Prairies at 1 I have done my near sixty miles a day, without di fort — and, speaking from large experience, and with fill recollections of the suffering and death I have 1 for want of good feet on the march, I say to every i teer : Trust in God ; but keep your shoes easy. Wedding Rings. — One of the most whimsical in tions was used by the Bishop of London in 1753 had been married three times. On the fourth ma: he placed as a motto on the wedding ring : "If I survive I'll make them five." One device of French jewellers is forming a mol the arrangement of stones around the hoop — the fir ter of the name of each stone forming amatory • when combined, as in the following examples: R-uby. L-apis Lasuli. E-merald, O-pal. G-arnet. V-erd Antique. A-methyst. E-merald. R-uby. M alachite. D-iamond. E-merald. A Hint for the Divorce Courts. — A Roman about to repudiate his wife, among a variety of questions was asked by her enraged kinsman : "I your wife a sensible woman? Is she not handsoi In answer to which, slipping off his shoe, he held asking them: "Is not this shoe a very handsome Is it not quite new? Is it not extremely well m How, then, is it that none of you can tell me wh pinches?" — ' ^^•■^mm An anecdote is related of a running footman (r half-witted), who was sent from Glasgow to Edinbui two doctors to come and see his sick master. He wi terrupted on the road by the inquiry : How is your ter, now ? " He's no dead yet," was the reply, " but soon be, for I'm fast on the way for twa Edinburg do to come and visit him." Hail and Rain. — " Where do you hail from !" qu a Yankee of a traveler. " Where do you rain fr< "Don't rain at all," said, the astonished Jona "Neither do I hail — so mind your own business." THE GENESEE FARMER. 289 ras on the Weather from July 15th to August 1862. — The temperature is the great moviug power; uch or too little heat, ruinous. With higher heat evaporation or moisture in the atmosphere, and vapor to fall in rain. For July the temperature t the mean for 25 years, 70.5C>; the first half rather i the mean, and the last half a little below, or 69.8°. e last half the highest heat was only 83° on the and the lowest at 7 a. m. was 61° on the 26th. teat harvest was later than usual. Most wheat was ,st year in the third week of July, but the rains in ,st ten days prevented the cutting of wheat till the that splendid day for harvesting, on which a great nt was cut. 3 rain of the month measured 4.13 inches, more than ■fourths of it in the last half. Vegetation was rapid, der showers, rare before, occurred after the 19th. Maryland and Southern Illiuois the wheat was har- i about the middle of the month, and in the quite j of that State had begun early in the month, in Lat. ». Good health prevailed, although there had been tie lightning for two months. gust began with pleasant weather, and has given us d share of it to the middle of the month. The har- lg of wheat, begun on the last day of July, chiefly, this section, was rapid, and in a fortnight the crop, l fine crop, was secured. The farmers /elt greatly >ered; no blight, no rust, no midge maggots devour- he young wheat in the heads, but its fields fully ripe, of it standing erect, and the machines operating mighty power. It was a time of gladness and con- ilation. e rain in the fortnight was 1.31 inch, rather moderate, mough, as so much fell in the preceding half month, ider showers became more frequent, and some parts ed to have a surplus of electricity. ie average heat of the first half of August is 72.9°, or above that for 25 years. The highest, 90° on the 4th the lowest, 60° on the 14th. The 8th and 9th were lays, and much 'hotter at the south, and the heat jr continued. • e growth of potatoes, Indian corn, Ac, rapid, and iuture promising. Apricots, apples, early pears, are ie market ; green sweet corn plenty, tomatoes, Ac. voice of plenty is heard on every side. jbrican Milking Machine in England. — An English leman writes us, asking if the American Milking Ma- e shown at the Great International Exhibition is as able as it is represented. A few years siuce we saw machine, and were not very favorably impressed with iractical utility. It seems to have created quite a re in England, and we understand the patent right been sold for a large sum. " What Variety of Wheat Shall I Sow ?"— This is a question very generally asked at this season. Many new varieties have been tried in this section, but farmers are falling back to the old kinds. When the land is in a high state of cultivation, and early, the Soules (white) is the favorite ; and where Soules is not likely to succeed, the Mediterranean is sown. The latter is early, and generally escapes the midge. It has, too, greatly improved in qual- ity, though still much inferior to the Soules. The "Lam- bert Weevil-Proof" is in quality about midway between the Mediterranean and the Soules. Some like it very much, while others have abandoned it. It has rather a weak straw [and is apt to fall down. The Dayton has been quite popular in some sections, but this also has been given up by some who have tried it. As yet, we know of nothing better than the Soules— nothing earlier than the Mediterranean. We would, however, advise farmers to sow an acre or so of the new kinds and give them a fair trial. »» > Free Farms in Iowa. — The Iowa papers are calling the attention of persons wishing to avail themselves of the Free Homestead law, to the government land in that State. The Sioux City Register says, in that district alone there are 4,000,000 acres of Government land, as choice as any in the State. It is in the neighborhood of a railroad. The Fort Dodge Republican says there are 50,000 acres of what are termed Railroad Lands, in that district They are owned by the Government and are held at $2.50 per acre. Under the Homestead law, a pre-emptor can locate 80 acres of this land, which is equivalent to 160 acres of ordinary Government land. A correspondent of the Homestead says there are 40,000 acres in Humboldt county subject to pre-emption after the first of next January. We think those designing to avail themselves of the Homestead law would do well to visit Iowa. It is des- tined to be one of the first agricultural States in the West »♦< Training Currants. — The Maine Farmer says : " Cur- rant bushes can be trained and made to grow in any desired form, either as a bush, tree, or upoa a trellis. If trained as a bush, only three, or at most, four, shoots should start from the ground at once. [Better train them on a single stem.] After bearing two years, allow one or two strong shoots to start from the bottom, to take the place of one or two of the old ones, which should be eut away. One shoot may be allowed afterward to grow every year, to replace an old one; and thus the plant will be entirely renewed every three or four years." Good Apple Trees.— The Maine Farmer say3 : " LoDg experience has shown that an apple tree that stands near an old wood-pile always grows thriftily and bears an abundance of apples, as the fine, slowly-decaying chip- dirt forms an excellent manure for apple and other fruit trees." »♦■« The Sorghum Business. — Our western exchanges are filled with glowing accounts of the sorghum business. It is thought that enough sugar and molasses will be pro- duced in several of the Western States for home con] sumption. LUX ttUJNESEE FARMER. Consumption of Wool for the Armt.— It is estimated that a complete outfit for an American soldier requires 25 lbs. of raw or unmanufactured wool. From the excessive wear and tear in time of war, and losses from various causes, it is thought that on an average each soldier re- quires three outfits per annum. At the lowest estimate we shall soon have over a million men in the field. The annual consumption of wool for army purposes, therefore, will amount to the enormous quantity of seventy-five million pounds! According to the census of 1850, the product of the whole United States amounted to only fifty-one million lbs. ! It is now un- doubtedly much larger— perhaps double— but at all events this extraordinary demand for wool, especially for the coarser grades, cannot fail to insure high prices. ■ .-•< . Ripening Graphs.— The Country Gentleman says, a hor- ticulturist in New Bedford— where the sea winds are often injurious if trained to a common trellis— has succeeded admirably in ripening his grapes by training them to a low, nearly level trellis, under which is placed quite a quantity of rocks, so that the grapes are but a few inches above the rocks. This gives them protection from the winds, and the reflection from the stone causes them to ripen their fruit a fortnight sooner than when in a differ- ent position. ■ 1> . Blackberry Wine.— At the last meeting of the N. Y Farmers' Club, Mrs. Ham presented a sample of black berry wine made as follows : 1 quart of juice, 2 quarts of water, 3 lbs. of sugar, fermented in casks and drawn into bottles, corked and sealed, and kept two years. It was well liked. A blackberry cordial for sick soldiers was also recommended, to be made as follows : 1 quart of juice, 1 pint of water, 1 pound of sugar, spices; mixture allowed to boil; when cool, add half pint brandy. Agricultural Items. PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE QENK8BE FARMER An " Ordnance Plow," it is said, has been patem firm in Waterloo, N. Y., for the benefit of farmers Border States, who are liable to attacks from gut It resembles an ordinary plow, and can be used a; but the beam is peculiar, being cylindrical or shaped, and provided with a bore of sufficient cal throw a shot of from one to three pounds weight, be sighted and manoeuvred almost as conveniently : I artillery on wheels. Mr. Birdsell, of Mendon, in this county, infor that the best crop of wheat in that town, this ye; on a field from which a crop of clover was mon year, and the sod turned over in a week or two aftt the wheat sown in the fall without again plowing, surface was cleaned and mellowed by the use of the cultivator, harrow, &c. The wheat was put in wi drill. Harper & Brothers, of New York, have in press work on Wine Making, by Mr. Haraszthy. ,Mr. I appointed a year or two ago, by the Governor of C nia, to visit Europe for the purpose of collecting vai of the grape adapted to that State, and to obtain inf tion in regard to its culture. His book will be look, with interest. A Good Clip.— Mr. Christopher Winne, of Perinton in this county, informs us that he sheared from 132 sheep 944 pounds of wool, well-washed and clean, or about 7 pounds 2£ ounces each. The sheep were ordinary Meri- nos, most of them two-year old wethers. They were well fed last winter, having, in the language of Mr. W., " all Mr. Atherton's herd of Shorthorns was sold at i on the 15th of July. Forty-two animals were sold average price of $375. Mr. Cornell, President o N. Y. State Ag. Society bought a two year old heife $500. At this sale, three Kentucky bred Shorthorn.- ported by Mr. Alexander, sold for $305, $315 and $] In an Essay " On Recent Improvements in Hay-: ing, by Robert Smith," commended by the Royal i cultural Society of England, the common revol American hay-rake is highly spoken of. It is being tensively introduced into England. He says if will ga two acres per hour. Mr. Sanday, of Yorkshire, Eng., has one of the fi: the grain they could eat." Mr. W. thinks the " State of I fl°Ck'S °f Leicester sheeP in the ^orld. In fact, he i I the Leicester what Jonas Webb is to the South Dow At his last auction sale, 72 rams brought an itveragf New York never beat it." Is this so? Frost and Worms.— R. G. Pardee, of New York, says : " The worms were troublesome in my garden last year, and I watched for the last day that I could spade it up before freezing. That night the newly-spaded earth froze solid, and finished off the worms effectually. I have no doubt it saved my crop of grapes this year." Sorghum Wine.— We have received from the Rev. A. Mters, of Springfield, Ohio, a sample oi his wine made from Sorghum. By referring to our advertising columns it will be seen that Mr. M. has published a treatise on its manufacture, &c. The Genesee Farmer still continues its long career as a cheap useful agricultural periodical. The present number has an interesting table of contents, and is very well illus- trated in the horticultural department, which is of special ivtevmt.— Kingston (C. W.) Dally News. $132 each. One two year old ram brought $700. Mr. Crippen, of Coldwater, Mich., lost his Shorth. bull, Wellington, last winter. He was found dead in stall in the morniug, and no cause of his death could discovered. He was the only animal in the State w Grand Turk blood in his veins. R. G. Pardee, the author of a book on the Strawben at the last meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, s« his list of six strawberries was, Wilson, Hooker, Hov< Longworth's Prolific, Burr's New Pine, and Triomphe Gand. At the late Fair of the Royal Ag. Society of Englan Mr. Fowler sold $70,000 worth of his steam plows ! Tl agricultural implement makers of England are reaping harvest out of the visitors at the International Exhibitio: The Great International Exhibition is estimated to hJ added a million of visitors to the population of London. THE GENESEE FARMER. 291 ce of fruit in Covent Garden, London, July 19th, lows: Cherries, 25 cts. to 50 cts. per lb. ; goose- cts. to 12 cts. per quart ; red currants, $1.75 to sieve ; black currants, $1.50 to $1.25 per sieve ; ies, 12 cts. to 25 cts. per lb. Ieattie, of Markham, C. W., has made another >n of Shorthorn and Ayrshire cattle and Leices- He left Annan, Scotland, with them, April was over nine weeks on the passage to Quebec, arrived in good condition. thern Illinois, where immense quantities of ire raised for Chicago, Cincinnati and other ;he Honest John is said to be the earliest, best productive peach. & Bros., of Punta de los Rejes, near San Fran- fornia, who have a dairy of seven hundred cows, iCese weighing 1,779 lbs. ! It was sold in San at 25 cents a lb., and brought $444.75. igot has just been presented with a medal by ultural Society of Amiens, for the services which endered to agriculture by improving the breed ol elm ot Maine the present season has greatly that of any former year. Inquiries and Answers. sh op Wheat. — (A Young Farmer.) There is er cent, of ash in wheat grain. The ash itself essentially of phosphates, — phosphate of potash, i of magnesia and phosphate of lime. About the ash is phosphoric acid. Potash amounts to e-third of the whole ash ; the magnesia to rather l one-third of the potash ; and the lime to about of the magnesia. We put it in this form that the more easily remember it. ust bear in mind, too, that by far the greater f the ash is in the bran. One hundred lbs. of contain only about 12 ounces of ash ; while 100 arse bran contain 7 lbs. of ash ! There is also )sphoric acid in the ash of bran than in the ash >ur. tK of Hops. — Do you know of any work that the culture of the hop? If so, what is the price 'e can it be obtained ? If there is no such wurk erhaps you or some of your able correspondents ite an article on hop culture that would be very le to your correspondent, and might be of use to four readers as would like to try their luck in ng. How would it do to get roots or cuttings common hops, such as the farmers grow for fam- If dug in the autumn, would they keep through id germinate in the spring? If so, what is the le of preservation ? There appears to be a difii- procuriug cuttings from established hop yards in lity, which perhaps is not the case elsewhere. — Jones, Ivanhoe, Hastings Co., C. W. -What are the distinguishing marks between the I female hops ? ome of our experienced correspondents answer e? Mill. — (Wm. Bennett.) Hickok's machine is an t one. It grinds the apples and presses out the seditiously and with little labor. It can be worked or horse power. Endless Horse Power Thrashing Machine. — (John Turner.) There are many excellent machines manufac- tured in this State. It is difficult to say which is the lest. We may safely say that if you get one either of Emery Bros, or Wheeler, Melick & Co., of Albany, or of West- inghouse & Co., Schenectady, you will have a machine that will suit you. Come to our State Fair and examine the various machines for yourself. Whitewash. — I have some picket fences that I want to whitewash. Will some one who has had experience give us a receipt in the Genesee Farmer for makiug it, so that it will stand the weather? — Ira L. Sprague, Ontario Co., N. Y. Literary Notices. NORTH AMERICA. By Anthony Trolope. At this time the travels of an Englishman in this country have a peculiar interest. Mr. Trolope'b book would have been wel- comed at any time, for, aside from his own reputation as a nov- elist, an account of this counlry by a son of Mrs. Trolope, who made herself so notorious here, would be worth reading. He came here last autumn, and the whole tone of the book is ex- ceedingly fair. In speaking of the war he takes the Northern side, and appreciates the patriotism which has brought such an immense army into the field. He says of our social habits what all foreigners do— that women are treated with a chivalrous re- spect, which they neither return or appreciate. He speaks most enthusiastically of Boston, and not so much so of New York, In his conclusion, he says that he has undoubtedly offended hi* friends on this side of the water, and then addresses Americans as "the thin-skinned," which is (he only really offensive thing in the book. Of course, in our relations to Great Britain he takes the English view. HEALTH: Its friends and'its Foes. Mussey. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. Dr. Mussy is a warm advocate of a vegetable diet. His book opens with an attack on corsets, tight lacing and hoops, which, with alcohol and tobacco, have his unqualified condemnation. His attacks upon the habits which he consider abuses of health, are much warmer than his advocacy of those which tend to pre- serve it. The chapters on Bathing, Exercise and Ventilation are short. There are some very good remarks on dyspepsia, and some facts in regard to epilepsy, which, if they are facte, give great hope that this terrible disease may be alleviated, if not en- tirely cured. The closing chapter, entitled, " My own Experi- ence," shows that he practices as well as preaches. RAVENSHOE. By Henry Kingsley, author of "Geoffroy namlin," &c. A very interesting novel — well written, but with an elaborate and rather intricate plot. Still, as the interest is sustained to the close, this defect is not felt; and as each character is clearly drawn and well-defined, there is no confusion, but you mingle with them all, and interest yourself in their affairs as though i was the most natural thin<» possible f r a man to discover that he has no right to a name which he has always borne, and that ser- vant and master must change places. The attempted transfor- mation of a gentleman into a groom, and of a groom into a gen- tleman, is well delineated — the '.atter change being the most suc- cessful. THE BOOK OF DATS. Part V. .T. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia; W. & E. Chambers. Edinburg. We have received another part of this curious book. Its con- tents are a medley of much that is worth knowing on all kinds of subjects. A long account of playing-cards, and how to tell fortunes with them ; a sketch of Handel and one of Sir Joshua Reynolds; an article on funeral gardeners, and some anecdotes of extraordinary marriages, forms part of the variety of subjects which enliven the month of February. 292 THE GENESEE FARMER. Agricultural Exhibitions for 1862. NATIONAL. Am. Pomological Soc . , Boston September 1 7 — 19 National Horse Show, .Chicago .... " 1 — 13 World's Horse Fair Williamsport, Pa...... , " 2 — 5 STATE, PROVINCIAL, &c. Vermont. Rutland ..September 9 — 12 Ohio Cleveland " 16—20 Kentucky L< uisvillJe ' " 16—20 Canada Bast Sherbrooke " 17 — 19 Connecticui Hartford October 7 — 10 Indiana Indianapolis Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 Iowa Dubuque Pennsylvania Norristown Illinois Peoria Do Hon. Society.. .Chicago . . New York Rochester. New Jersey Newark Michigan Detroit.. .. Canada West Toronto Canada East Sherbrooke 80 29 8—13 30 30 23—26 22—26 17—19 Special Notices. Fruit-Growers' Society of Western New York September meeting of this .Society will be held in Roehes Tuesday, September 30, 1862, at its usual rooms. In circulars to the members the Secretary will give due of the subjects to be brought up lor discussion. By order of the Council. C. P. Bissell, Secre COUNTY AND TOWN— NEW YORK. . . .Albany Sept. 23— 28 .. " 28—24 . " 9—12 . " 18—20 . " 23—25 . " 16—17 . " 10—12 . " 24-26 . " 21—26 . « 24—26 . " 17—19 . " 25-26 .Sep.So Oc.l .Sept. 25— 26 . " 10—12 . " 16— IS . " 24—26 . " IS— 19 . " 16—18 . " 22—23 . " 23—25 . •' 24-26 . " 23—24 . " 2—5 . " 24—26 . " 12—13 . " 23-25 « 28 25 Sep.80 Oct.i Albany Allegany Angelica Broome Bingbamton Brooklyn Hort. Socie:y Brooklyn Cattaraugus Olean Cayuga Southern Sherwood's Corners, Chautauqua P. nama Chautauqua Far. & Mech. .Fredonia Chenango Norwich Columbia Ag. & Hort Hudson Delaware Franklin Essex Elizabethtown Greene Cairo Livingston Genesee Oneida Rome Oxford Town Oxford Putnam Lake Mahopac Queens Newtown Rosendale Ulster Co Rushville Union Rushville St. Lawrence Canton Steuben Bath Susquehanna Valley Unadilla Saratoga Saratoga Springs. . . Tompkins Ithaca Tonawanda Valle} A ttica Ulster Kingston Westchester Mt. Vernon Washington Salem CANADA WEST. Brockville Brockville Sept. 18— 19 Durham West Newcastle Oct. 9—10 EastYork Markham Village " 9 Kingston Electoral Kingston Sept. 18 North Lanark Almonte " 16 North Simcoe Barrio Oct. 1 No. Leeds and GrenvillcFrankville " 1 North Ontario Prince Albert •' 7 Peel Brampton Sept. 17 — 18 Russell Osburne " 30 South Simcoe Bradford Oct. 2 Stormont Cornwall " 8 — 9 Keeping Grapes. — Into the bottom of a small keg or nail-cask put a layer of grape leaves fresh from the vines. On these carefully place a layer of sound, npe, dry grapes, then leaves and grapes;in alternate layers, till the keg is full. Head up the cask, and bury it in some well-drained ground, below the depth of the frost. Like other things excluded from the light and air, they will change rapidly on exposure, and hence when a keg is opeDed and they are found good, use them freely. — Lxchange. Clean Your Seed Wheat. — Messrs. Chappell & Sprague, of this city, manufacture a machine for clean- ing oats, barley, Ac, out of seed wheat, which is at once ingenious, simple and effectual. Having witnessed its operation, we can cheerfully recommend it to our readers. For further particulars see our advertising columns. Rancid Bn-rTER.— George E. Brackett, of Belfast, Me., writes: "Tell M. B. to churn his rancid butter over; that is, put it in a churn with sweet milk and re-churn it. " The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARME Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 26, 1862. Since our last report, there has been little change in th« of grain. Notwithstanding the most favorable reports of th< throughout the country, and also reports of good harvest w in England, last month's prices are fully maintained, and case of Oats there has been an advance of two or three cei bushel. As compared with this time last year, wheat is now fro to 25c. per bushel higher, and about 5c. higher than at the time in 1860, or 1S59 ; and from 10c. to 15c. higher than ii It is, however, fully 25c. a bushel lowef than at this time ii As compared with prices at this time in 1S58, '59, '60 a wheat is now from 9c. to 12c. per bushel above the averaf In regard to future prices, it is hardly safe to predict possible that prices will be higher, but as it appears to probabilities are against any material advance. Money was so abundant as now, and millers and speculators will b( to pay as much for grain as the state of the market at hon abroad will warrant. The exportation of produce from New York continues immense scale. For the week ending Aug. 19, they amour nearly three millions of dollars ! The total amount from Ja Aug. 19 is $86,3S2,935. This is five millions more than same period last year, and thirty millions more than for tht period in 1860! Exchange on England has fallen since our last report fr< to 127 ; the premium on gold has also fallen 5 per cent— it quoted at 115. The specie in the New York banks is fifl cent, higher than the average of the last nine years. M upon millions of American stocks have been sent home fro rope, but this, as the above figures show, has only sen demonstrate the financial strength of Ihe nation. In this State the crop of Barley will be light, but of exi quality. The increased certainty of the wheat crop causes and less breadth of land to be sown each year to barley. Ii ada and throughout the West the crop will be about an av. The season will open with a light stock of Malt and old 1 on hand. Oats have been seriously injured in some sections by the In this section it is thought that the Potato crop will be li{ New York, Aug. 25.— The transactions in grain and floui been less extensive for a few days past Ocean freights hai vanced, and this has checked exportation. White Wheat n quoted at $1.37@$1.56 as the range, and Red Wheat »1.10@ Mixed Western Corn, 53@61c; yellow Corn, 62@,66c; white 76c. Uye, 77@83c. Western Oats, 4S@61c; State Oats, 5 52>$c. Barley, 65@80c. Beans in fair demand— medium, @$3.00 per bushel of 62 lbs.; marrows, $3.0('@$3.10. H growth of 1S61, 14@17c. per lb. Butter in active deman home trade and for export to England— State, choice, 16^ <£ State, common to good. 14@15c; choice Western Reserve, 16c; fair to choice Western, 12fft}Mc.\ common Western, ll^c; Grease Butter, 9@9Xc Cheese, market aclive and f. choice State dairies, b@'.»c; Ohio, fair to choice, 7@8c; dan Cheese, 8@5e. Fruit — Plums plenty and cheap ; green < $1.50@$1.75 per bushel; blue Gage, $1.2S@$1 50; common* 75e. Summer Apples, $1.00@,$1. 75 per barrel. Common I $1.00 per barrel ; Bell Pears, $1.50 per barrel ; choice Pear quoted. Peaches, 50@62c. per basket. Potatoes— $1.50@ per barrel. New York Cattle Market.— Last week the Cattle m was unusually active and prices advanced )4c. per lb. E and extra, S@S?ic: common to good, 6@7%c. The greatei Tntt liJi.iNJL&^iii J?iiriJU.Ji,K. rtion of the cattle were from Illinois. They were a full average ftilch 'Cows in good demand. Prices range from $25 to $45. a! Calves in demand at 8)6@5>ic. per lb. Sheep— active at 4@4Xc; Lambs, 4X@5#C. logs— receipts light and prices Arm, with an upward tendency. ime corn-fed, 8%@8%c. live. iorses are wanted lor the army, but prices are low. There has jn more inquiry tor first-class coach horses. One pair sold at 1)00 ; another pair at $800, and a third at *6»0. Not much in- iry for good single horses ; a few sold at $150@$165. Draught d "railroad horses are very dull. Poronto, Aug. 25.— Fall Wheat. 95c.@$1.04 : Spring Wheal, &S7c. Barley, 52®53c. Eye. 60c. Oats, 35@40e. Peas, 6 c. iples plenty at 4ii@50c. per bushel. Potatoes, 4t)@5(>c. Wool, ain advanced, 35<§)38c. per lb. Hay, $16@$1S per ton. Straw, 1@$12 per ton. Beef Cattle are dull ; first class. $4.ro@,$4.50 ; second class, $3.25 $3.75. Sheep plenty ; sales at $3 01 @*3.75. Eggs scarce at 15c. per doz. Chickens, 2n@30e. per pair. icks, 30@45c. per pair. Turkeys, 75@95c. each. Butter, 15@ 3. per lb. Chicago, Aug. 25.— Spring Wheal, in store, No. 1, 95@97c: >. 2, 85@S8c; Rejected, 75@80c ; Ked Winter, No. 1, $1.04® .05 ; No. 2, 95c.@$1.00 ; Rejected, 95@96c. Corn, mixed, 35®. c. Oats firm ; sales at 36@37>£c. [This is by telegraph. '1'he •a/trie Farmer, of Aug. 23. quotes thern at 31X@32)£e. in store ■No. 1.] Eye, 60® 51c. Barley, sales of new at 6 ic. Beans, ,S0®$2.00. ' Potatoes, 80@35e. per bushel. Eggs, prime fresh, 4@5c per doz. Butter, strictly prime firkins, 10@10>jfc. per : other grades. 8@.10c. Rochester, Aug. 26.— White Wheat, $1.25@$1.30; Red, 97c @ .03. Corrn,48@50c. Rye, 60@.65e. Oats, 40c. Barley, 55@60e. fans, $1. 50®$2.00. Eggs, 10c. Apples, 25@.40c. per bushel. Haloes. 40(^,5 >c. Wool, 45@50c. Hay, $7.00@f 12.00. Straw, .50@$5.00. Buffalo, Aug. 25 — W'ueat, red winter, $1.10@$1.15; white entuckv, $1.30; Spring Wheat, sales at 95c. Com, sales at 42 43^c. " Philadelphia, Aug. 25.— White Wheat, $1.35®S1.50; red mnsylvania, $1.30®$1.33: Southern red, $1.85 Rve, new, 75c.; d, 80c. Corn, yellow, 03@65c. Oats, new, 88@40c.; old, 52c. over Seed is coming in slowly ; sales at $4.75@$5.25. Timothy ied, new, $1.70@$1.75 per bushel. Liverpool, Aug. 14.— Wheat quiet ; red western and southern, . 9d.@lls. oil. per cental of loo lbs. This is equal to $1 40® .65 per bushel. White western and southern, $1.65®$I.7S ir bushel. Corn has an upward tendency; mixed and yellow. 1 cents per bushel. London, Aug. 14.— American red Wheat. $1.53©$1.65; white, ,71@$1.8S. Barley, foreign for grinding and distilling. 69c @. .02. [English for "malting. 9iic.@,S1.14.] Indian Corn, $1.02® ..08. American Flour, $6.00@$7.50 per barrel. English fresh utter, 24@28c. per lb. Cheese, Che-hire, 12@16c; "American, £@ll>£c. per lb. [These prices are calculated on a basis of 1.80 in a pound sterling, or 24 cents in an English shilling. At e present rate of exchange, we must add 17 per cent, to the jove figures.] TO GROWERS OF SPRING WHEAT. CHAPPELL &SPMGUE, ROCHESTER, N. Y., SOLE MANUFACTURERS OF ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only IC]j — will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer for twenty-five cents line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To scure Insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous lonth. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every State nd Territory, and in all the British Provinces. (It has nearly BOO subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no better or heaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to tiral residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few "Special Notices," if appropriate to ur columns, at fifty cents a line. S. M. PETTENGILL & CO. No. 37 Park Row, New York, & 6 State St., Boston, re our Agents for the Genesee Farmer in those cities, and are uthorized to take Advertisements and subscriptions for us at our lowest Rates. ([OLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 3— tf M O « H W 3 o < 3 go > > Q O > H J» W t> w f >< td o w "BOOTH'S COMPOUND SHAKER." FOR SEPARATING OATS. BARLEY, AND OTHER FOE- eign substances from Wheat, it is the b*st, simplest, cheapest and only Machine ever invented, that thoroughly ac- complishes the desired end. Farmers can always get from five to ten cents per bushel more for their Wheat if properly cleaned. It cleans from 150 to 200 bushels per day, and a boy can operate il, and its exceeding L.OW PRICE Brings it within the reach of every Farmer. On receipt of SIX DOLLARS, a Machine (with printed instructions for operating,) will be shipped as directed. Those wishing to engage in the sale of the Machine and purchasing by the dozen, will have a fair discount made to them. All orders to be addressed to CHAPPELL & SPRAGUE, Rochester, N. Y., sep-6t Sole Manufacturers. PINE HILL NURSERY, NEAR BUFFALO, N. T. THE subscriber offers for sale a large stock of well grown Fruit and Ornamental Trees, and Grape Vines— all at greatly re- duced prices. Wholesale Price Lists and descriptive Catalogues sent to all applicants. tW Agents wanted to sell trees, &c. seplt GODFREY ZIMMERMAN. I£"l A A OK MORE may be made by any LOCAL AGENT }5 1UU without leaving his home, besides rendering an impor- ant service to his neighbors and friends, by selling the OPORTO Jrape vines. For terms to agents, address geplt E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. AGENTS WANTED AT ONCE FOR A CEMPLETE HISTORY OF THE KEBELLION==S°„rf,ISSH^Acuo: Prospectus and Descriptive Circulars sent free to those whoVrite to E. G. STORKE, Auburn, JV. 7. LYONS NURSERY. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. AGENTS and Purchasers wanted for a well grown and varied assortment of Apple, Pear, Peach and Plum Trees, and twenty varieties of Grapes. Send for priced catalogue, seplt E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons, N. Y. QA AAA DELAWARE VINES, 200,000 CONCORD ZULUUU VINES— strong, healthy and cheap. Send for Catalogue of Prices. Address WM. PERRY & SON, 8ep3t Bridgeport, Conn. 294 THE GENESEE FARMER. IMPORTED DUTCH BULBOUS ROOTS. J. M. THORBURN & CO.'S ANNUAL DESCRIPTIVE CATA- LOGUE OP Hyacinths, Tulips, Ibis, Ckoots, Japan Lilies, Narcissus, bulbocodiums, Lilt of the Valley, Ferrari as Lachbnalias, Amaryllis, Gladiolus, flOILLAS, BABIANAS, CYCLAMENS. &c, &c, &c, £ P. M. till 1% A. M. Any communication of inquiry directed to War- ren. Penn., will be promptly answered. Warren, Sept. 1 , 1862.— 3t D. M. JAMES. OUR STOCK FOR FALL AND SPRING IS VERY Ex- tensive and in quality of THE BEST, being healthy and vigorous. Farmers, <&c, by clubbing, will be supplied with handsome Trees at our wholesale rates. Correspondence solicit- ed. Send for a catalogue. Prices per 1,001) as follows, and in most cases the same rate per 100. APPLE TREES- -5 to 8 feet, $45 ; 4 to 5 ft., $20 STAND- ARD PEAR— 6 t<> s ft., extra, *250 ; No. 1, 4 to 6 a, $200 ; No. 2, $100 D W A RF PEAK— Extra sized, $200 ; No. 1, $180 ; No. 2, $G0 CHERRY (handsome)— 5 to 8. $60; do. Cherry, $70 PLUM— best in State— 5 to 7— $200; No. 2, 4 to 5, $10' i. PEACH— No. 1, 50; No. 2, $25 HORNET RASP- BERRY—$5 per 100. For varieties, seedli««s, &c, send for Catalogue, II. SOUTHWICK & SON, Dansville, Livingston county, N. Y. FRUIT AND20RNAMENTAL TEEES. ELLWANGER & BARRY BEG LEAVE TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEIR STOCK OF Nursery Articles for the ensuing Fall Trade embracing every thing desirable, new or old, in both FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENTS, is quite equal, and in some respects superior, to any ever before offered by them, and they solicit PLANTERS, NURSERYrMEN AND DEALERS to examine their Catalogues, which give details of the stock and prices. Their new Wholesale Catalogue for the season is just issued, and will be sent gratis to all who apply and inclose one stamp. _ ,. „ MOUNT HOPE NURSERIES. Rochester, N. Y., August, 1862. LODI PHOSPHATE, pOMPOSED OF RAW BONES DISSOLVED IN SULPHUR- IC ic aeid, night soil, guano and wool dust Made by the Lodi Manufacturing Company expressly for winter grain and grass hinds. This article will be warranted to contain no other mate- rial than tho>e mentioned above, and is undoubtedly the very beet manure in market from its composition, and will be sold at the low price of $45 per ton, packed in barrels of 200 lbs. each, with weight, delivered free on board of vessel or railroad in New York city. Poudrette of first qualitv for sale at usual rates. Apply to THE LODI M.-.NUr ACTURING CO., sep-2t 66 Cortland street, New York. THE CHILS0N FURNACE. THIS celebrated Furnace, which has been so extensively used in pu! lie and private buildings, and which has stood the test of eqperience alter various attempted imitations, is still for sale in Rochester. The different sizes are fitted for all classes of buildings, from thi cottage to the church. They can be purchas- ed at lower rates than ever before, and any one desiring to man- ufacture these Furnaces can, on short notice, be furnished with a full set of iron patterns tor all the different sizes. Further information can be obtained from the Editor of this Paper. sep— rf GRAPE VINES BY MAIL. T nAVE A LARGE QUANTITY OF VINES, SUITABLE JL for sending by mail, of the following kinds, at the annexed prices, in advance, free. Each. Two. Three. Six. Twelve. Concord 0 25 0 65 0 90 $160 $3 00 Delaware and Diana 0 60 $110 $160 3 00 5 50 Hartford Prolific. 0 50 0 90 180 2 40 4 50 Z3T Send Cash early to J. H. FOSTER, Jr.. Reference— Rev. J. Knox. Dispatch, Pittsburg. Pa. FOR SALE. COTSWOLD, LICE3TER AND LINCOLNSHIRE SHEEP male and female. Durham and Galloway Cattle, male and' lemale. Thirty Bucks, one year old, weighing from 22u to 2S5 lbs. each ; price, from $50 to $100 each. Canadian currency. A large number ot Buck Lambs— price from $30 to $40 each. I intend to exhibit a number of Sheep at the New York State Fair at Rochester. JOHN SNELL, Edmonton Post-office, C. W., sep-2t 20 miles west of Toronto on the G. T. RR. RUSSELL'S PROLIFIC STRAWBERRY" PLANTS. RECENT RAINS HAVE FORWARDED THESE PLANTS so rapidly, the subscriber is induced, by urgent demands to put them in market, and they are now ready for delivery. Price, $5 per doz., or $3 per half doz. Cash must accompany GEO. CLAPP, Auburn, N. Y. orders. It 100,000 PLUM TREES. TO NURSERYMEN, DEALERS AND PLANTERS.— 60,000 2 and 3 years from bud, 4 to 6 feet, stock v, $20 per 100.— Second size, 3 to 4 leet, $15 per 100. 40,000 1 year old, 8 feet, $12 per 100. These Plum trees are budded on Plum stock, not on Peach, as those worked on Peach are worthless in a few years. Address, O. REAGLES & SON, sep-2t Schenectady, N. Y. CLOVER HULLING AND CLEANING MA- CHINES. HULLS AND CLEANS FROM THREE TO TEN BUSHELS per hour. Late improvement, patented March 25, 1S62, Description of this great machine sent sralis on application. Made and for sale only by M. II, MANSFIELD, Patentee, sep-8t Ashland, Ohio. CEU *6fCSVESS FOR namily and Manufacturing Use, 495 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. r. C. GOODWIN, 9« State St., Rochester, S. Y. [gencies in all the principal Cities and Towns in the United States. THE GROVER & BAKER S. M. CO. NOW OFFKR IN ADDITION TO THEIR SPLENDID STOCK OF MACHINES, MAKING THE CELEBRATED GROVER & BAKER STITCH, NEW AND SUPERIOR ihuttle, or "Lock-Stitch" Machines, k DAPTED to all varieties of sewing. Much more Simple, \_ Durable, N -useless and Perfect than any other " lock-stitch " achines heretofore in use. E5F~The Grover &. Baker machines have taken the first pre- iums, over all competition, at every State Fair where they were :hibitcd last year. The Original Howe Sewing Machine! RECENT and important improvements having been put to \i to this Machine renders it now the most perfect before ihe iblic, and persons at a distance can order a Machine with^a larantee of its prompt and safe delivery, and that they will be ife to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking ledles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making any rment, however delicate or heavy, on the same Machine, either cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- asing a Sewing Machine without first seeing this — the latest d greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing acbine. JSP" Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices. A w responsible Agents would be dealt with liberally. Address THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES, July, 1862. — 211 437 Broadway, New York. LENESEE VALLEY NURSERIES, ROCHESTEB, 3NT. ^Z . pROST 53, 55, 1S56, 1857.. 1858.1959, 1S60 wl 1881. They will be sent free any address for $1.00 each. The last six volumes, from 1856 to til inclusive, handsomely bound, will be sent free by express, by mail postage paid, for $5.00. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genesee Fanner. rfe Roclueter. N. Y. G-reat Austin Shaker Strawberry. THE berries- of this re- markable variety are much larger than any other kind cultivated in this country. It produces- extraordinary crops, and the fruit is very attractive, being of a fine scarlet col- or. The Austin was ex- hibited at the office of the American Agriculturist last year, weighing one ounce. Nearly 1,000 box- es were sent from Water- vleit last year, a distanoe of 160 miles, and sold to Taylor, corner Broadway and Franklin streets, N. Y., for 30 cents per quart, proving the Austin to be one of the most profitable market berries in cultivation. Our siock of plants is very large and fine, at the following rates : SO plants, $1 00; per hundred, $2.00; per thousand. $15.00. We commence delivering plants on the first of August, in rota- tion as ordered. Address either CII AUNCEY MILLER, Albany, N. Y„ Shaker Trustee, or WM. S. CARPENTER, 329 Greenwich Street, New York. CHOICE GRAPES AND SMALL FRUITS. JT^ROST & CO., Proprietors of the Genesee Vailey Nurse- ries, Rochester, N. Y., offer for sale an immense quantity of choice sets of Small Fruits, &c. Their stock of the new sorts of NATIVE GRAPES, both one and two years old, Delaware, Diana. Concord, Cuyahoga, Hart- ford Proliflc, Rebecca, etc., is very large, fine and well grown — as well as FOREIGN SORTS. Also, CURRANTS, GOOSEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, &e. Plants furnished in large and smaH quantities at LOW PRICES. Descriptive and Priced Catalogues furnished on application. Aug. — 2t RECEIVER'S SALE OF NURSERY STOCK THE undersigned, appointed Receiver of the nursery stock of the late, firm of Gregory & Goldsmith, now offers the same for sale to Dealers and Nurserymen. The stock consists oi 40,000 Dwarf Pears, 10,000 Standards, 20,000 Cherries, 12,000 Apple trees, and a large variety of Evergreens and Ornamental Shrubs, on the late farm of James H. Gregory, adjoining the nun»ery of Ellwanger & Barry. The property is desirable and will be sold low. Application should be made at once to PATRICK BAKRY, Receiver, or his Agent, Jameb H. Gregory. Dated August 1, 1862.— 3t FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLAOE for upper thread, and BROOK'S SIX COKD RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country: also in cases of 10'J dozen each, assorted numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street. New YorkJ^ga Ja— ly WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the Wood Cuts used in the Gene- see Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A book containing impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the reeeipS of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. TREES AND PLANTS AT LOW PRICES. FROST & CO.'S WHOLESELE CATALOGUE, No. 4, for Fall of 1862, representing Nursery Stock growd from upward of Three Hundred Acres t>f Land-, is now ready for distribution, GENESEE VALLEY NURSERIES, Aug.— 2t Rochester, N. Y. WANTED— By a practical Vintner, Gardener, Florist and Nurseryman, thoroughly acquainted with the Culture of the Grape, and a practical knowledge of the Nursery business, •tc., &c , a Situation as Superintendent, or to take charge of a Vineyard on shares. Can give No 1 references as to abilitv and character. Apply at the office of the Genesee Farmer, or ad- dress A. B. C, Versailles, Woodford Co., Ky„ lock-box 181. 7-38 296 ["HE GENESEE FARMER. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Sowing Wheat 265 A Noble Herd and a Noble Farm 268 Novelties at the Great English Exhibition ...".! 270 Heallhfulne.-s of the Tomato 270 Depth of Sowing W heat. .!.."!!!! 271 Sheep Husbandry in Iowa ...'."! 271 Legislation on 11k- Canada Thistle ..".'. '.'.'.'.'.'. 271 An Old Virginia Estat-- .'.!!!!...! 272 Importation of Foreign Grain into England .:......"."." 2T2 The Hog Cholera ... 272 Is Grain Grown upon Poor Soil, &c !'.'.!'. '..'!!!.' 273 The Beauty of English Farms 274 Homes for the Homeless ......!!!!! 274 Wine Making. !...*:!!"!!!! 275 Manuring Wh at ."...... !!!*!! !!*!!!;! 276 Notes from Canada West ...... J !! M !"" ! 276 Exportation of Chees*- and Butter ..!!!!!".!! 276 Management of Honey Bees '.'.'.'.'.'. 277 " Nothing to Do" !!.!!!!!!. 278 Stamping Fruit .!! I!i !!!.'!!! ! 278 Farmers Wanted in Indiana ........! 278 Seed Wheat 279 When to Sell Wool .".'.' .'.*.'.".'.' !!.'.' 279 Trial of Mowing Machines '.'.'.'.'. '.'.'. '.'.'. '. 279 A Great Clip of Wool ""!!!!!!."! 279 A Machini- lor Fattening Fowls 280 How to Catch a Horse '.'.'.'.'..'. 281 Seven Hints Worth Thinking Of. ....;. i. ,'. '. '. '. 231 HOETICULTUEAL DEPARTMENT. Walks and Talks in the Garden— No. 5 282 The Southern Gum Tree .... 283 Rural Taste ...'.'.".'.'.". 284 Horticultural Items from Foreign Journals '.'..'. 285 LADIES DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 2S6 YOUNG PEOPLES PAGE.} The Talents 287 Make Your Mark 287 Farmers' Boys 287 If You Please ' '. 2s7 MISCELLANEOUS. Pans on Names 288 Fontenelle ..'...!..! 288 The Cow and the Kailroad .' 2-8 Soldiers must have Sound Feet 2SS Wedding Rings . j 288 A Hint to Divorce Courts . 288 editor's table. Notes on the Weather 2S9 American Milking Machine in England 289 What Variety of Wheat Shall I Sow? 2M) Free Farms in Iowa 289 The Sorghum Business '.'..'.'.'. 289 Consumption of Wool for the Army ". 290 Agricultural Fairs lor 1862 .-. .. 292 Items, Notices. &c, 289, 290, 291 Agricultural Items 290 Inquiries and Answers, 291 Literary Noticea 291 The Markets, 292 ILLUSTRATIONS. The English Sowing Basket 267 Method of Putiinit On the Sowing Sheet !!!!!!!!! 267 Mode of Pickling Wheat to Prevent Smut 266 Short-horn Cow 268 An Alderu-y Cow ...."...: 269 Machine i;sed in France for Stuffing Fowls.. ...'.I.!.!!..!... 2^0 The Southern Gum Tree 2-'3 " Leaf and Flower 284 T^MPLOYMENT!— Agents wanted in every county, to sell the J_J best (Two-threaded) Sewing Maching ever offered to the public. Liberal salary, or commission allowed, with expenses. Circular sent, by addressing with stamp, Aug.— 2t ISAAC HALE, Jr., & CO.. Newburyport, Mass. THE RURAL ANNUAL— For 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid to any address for $1.40. JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N Y. A TREATISE ON SORGHUM WINE AND RECIPE FOR MANUFACTURING OF which so much has been said in the agricultural and loo papers of the State, is now offered for sale. 1 have now matured my plans, by which I will dispose ot Individual, Manufacturers, County and Sta' Rights, to rll who may desire them. Sorghum Wine has taken the country by surprise ; not only < account of its production from th s plant, but of its superi I quality. Such a product has never been thought of until its i vention by the sui scriber. Tue Wine has been examined at the State Sorghum Conve Hon of Ohio, January 7, 1862, and highly commended. It h been exhibited to wine connoisseurs in the cities of Columbi Cincinnati, Springfield, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphi Baltimore and Washington. It has not only surprised them, b received their unqualified commendution. It has been used I Physicians in cases of sickness with entire satisfaction, becau of its purity and healthfulness. About one barrel of it has be< distributed to dyspeptics, all of wh< m, except those wliose d; ease had assumed a chronic form, have given harmonious tes mony of its beneficial effects, some of whom have been reston to health by the use of a lew gallons. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following area few of the many commendations which could give. The first is from Hon. William B. Hubbard, Columbus, O., President of the United Slates Agricultural Soci ty, held annually at Washington, D. C. Columbus, March 31, 1862. Rev. A. Myer6— Dear Sir : The sample of Sorghum Win left by you with me, has been submitted to several good wii judges who have visited my house, and, without exception, h met with decided commendation. Most of them pronounce tl aroma, or fragrance, of your Wine that of the Sherry, the mine ity that of the Madeira. It is certainly a fair Wine, and destine no doubt, from the ease and cheapness of its manufacture, to b come an item of value to the manufacturer and cultivator. Yours truly, W. B. HUBBARD. The following is from Mr. D. M. Cook, of Mansfield, Ohio, I ventor and Patentee of Cook's Portable Evaporator : Mansfield, O. , March 15, 1862. Rev. A. Myers— Dear Sir: I have used your Wine, mac from the Sorghum juice, and [I heartily endorse the fact th your Sorghum Wine is most delicious, and that it would be dii cult to distinguish it from the best Madeira Wine. Hoping trial you will not fail to introduce your work on Sc ghum,jas also your Wine to the public benefit, I am truly your most obedient, D. M. COOK. This Wine is a Mild Stimulant and NOT IntoxicatiE 1. An INDIVIDUAL RIGHT embraces the privilege to ma ufacture all an individual desires for the use of his own famil Price. $1.00. 2. A MANUFACTURER'S RIGH f* embraces the privilege manulaeture all a manufacturer of Sorghum Syrup can while 1 is manufacturing Syrup, from the washings and skimmings at inferior Syrup for his own use and lor sale. Price from $5.00 $25. 8. A TOWNSHIP, COUNTY or STATE RIGHT embraci the exclusive privilege of manufacturing and gelling Recipes i said limits. For price, etc., address subscriber. REFERENCES. As a guarantee of honesty and ability to perform all I agree, refer to the President and Professors of Wittenberg College Springfield, O. ; any of the citizen* of this city, or Bucyrus, 0 and all the English Lutheran Ministers in the" State of Ohio, ei pecially those of tEe Miami and Wittenberg Synods. lEiF" Persons desiring the use of this r cipe, and indicating Ui privilege they desire,*and sending the amount to n e by mail, o when the sum exceeds $5. by express or draft, will receive bv n turn mail a Certificate of Right, and about the 1st of Septembt will receive the Recipe. Every subscriber will be required to sign an Obligation of 8< cresy, which they will receive with the Certificate of Kight, to b returned to me when signed. This is required to secure to m my right as inventor. Honest men will not hesitate to comptj and with dishonest ones I wish to have no dealings. Persons well known in any community making up a club ( ten or more will be suitably rewarded. Address A. MYERS, Springflelo, Ohio. Thoroughbred Devon Cattle Tj^OR SALE— Of both sexes, and of various ages. For pedi V grees and full particulars address me at Victorv. Cavuga Co, N. Y. July— 3t GEO. B. LOCKWOOD. WB*&g£Z£~Z»m*'» ' Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1862. No. 10. AGRICULTURE AND THE WAR. It is difficult at this time to write about any- thing, or talk about anything, or think about anything, but the War. What the effect of the war will be on the politi- cal, social and moral well-being of the nation, is not for us to discuss. Whether, as some think, and as we sincerely hope, we shall emerge from the terri- ble ordeal purged of political corruption and un- scrupulous personal ambition, with brighter and more steadfast patriotism and higher and more unselfish aspirations; or whether, on the other hand, as some fear, we shall be given over to the fierce passions which a civil war is liable to engen- der, and lose that reverence for religious truth and that high christian morality which have hitherto gone hand in hand with our rapid advancement in the arts of civilization and material progress. Our trust is in God — in the justice of our cause, and in the intelligence of the people. Let us not forget that our lives and our liberties are in His hands ; let us reverence His word and keep His sabbaths ; let us humble ourselves before Him and He shall lift us up. " Happy is that nation which is in such a care ; yea, happy is that nalion whose God is the Lord." But while we may not discuss these subjects, it is quite consistent with the scope of the Genesee Farmer to inquire what will be the effect of the war on the agriculture of the country ? That it will have a great effect of some kind there can be no doubt. It is said that there were farmers who lived in France all through the revo- lution and the reign of terror, and never heard of those bloody scenes. But it is not so with us. We have be*en a peaceful nation. We kept no standing army. Our people were engaged in developing the resources of our great and fertile country. Armed rebels fired on the Stars and Stripes floating over Fort Sumter. Where is the army? We had none — or next to none. But lo ! in every city, town and village men sprang to arms. From the farm, from the workshop, from the crowded city and from the quiet hamlet they come. Half a mil- lion men leave the industrial pursuits — the source of our wealth — to fight for the Constitution and the enforcement of the laws. Still things go on in their usual channel. It was feared that the land would be left uncultivated and the crops un- gathered. The London Mark Lane Express, of July 29, 1861, said, "such an abstraction of hands must interfere with the process of husbandry, and pre- vent the tillage in many instances altogether." But such was not the case. A large breadth of land had been sown in wheat and other grain, and we have just harvested a crop fully up to the average. So far as agriculture is concerned all is yet well. But now another six hundred thousand men have left the pursuits of peace for the practice of war. What will be the effect on the agriculture of the country ? We have little data on which to base our conclusions. No such armies have been seen in modern times. The world stood aghast when Napoleon took an army of half a million into Rus- sia. But we have now double that number in the field. To clothe and feed such an army, even with the strictest economy, is an herculean task. But Americans are seldom economical. And in the present instance we have not time, even had we the inclination, to practice economy in the army. The immense demand for supplies for the army cannot fail to have an influence on the agriculture of the country. It must create an increasing de- mand for the products of the farm. Other things being equal, therefore, the war has a tendency to enhance prices. We are spending a million dollars a day, (we have talked so much latterly of millions, that we do not realize the amount.) Hitherto we have borrowed the money from the Future and spent it in the Present. The consequence is that money never was so abundant as at the present time. The fol- 298 THE GENESEE FARMER. lowing line from the New York market reports tells the result : " Monet — 3 per cent, and plenty." Now the effect of an abundance of money and a consequent low rate of interest is to advance the price of all commodities. This we endeavored to show in an article published in the Genesee Farmer for October, 1861, page 267.. We have as yet scarcely begun to feel the effect of the abundance of money, but enough so to show that our predic- tions made at that time will certainly be fulfilled. A gold dollar, worth 100 cents, now brings 118 cents. " Wheat is as good as gold," and a bushel of wheat worth one dollar ought to bring, and will bring, 118 cents. The price of commodities, other things being equal, rises as the money paid for if, depreciates. " Gold 18 per cent, premium" really means " paper money 18 per cent, discount," and this means that wheat, corn, barley, oats and other commodities are 18 per cent, above par. This is so plain that it needs no argument to prove it. So long as we keep borrowing for the future and spending in the present, so long will money be abundant. As money depreciates, everything else advances. True, it is only an apparent, not a real, advance. But it has this effect : those who owe money and are able to pay while prices are high are enabled to discharge their obligations in depre- ciated currency. To them the increase in prices is real. No matter if the dollar they receive is really only worth 80 cents ; it is, being legal tender, just as good to pay debts with as gold. Such a state of things is good for all who owe money, provided they are able to pay. The wealthy man suffers the most. But the trouble is that most people, as long as money is abundant, are encouraged to extend rather than to contract their expenses. Every man should make a special effort at this time to get out of debt. He makes money by doing so in proportion to the depreciation of the currency in which he pays. In regard to the effect of the war on the future condition of our agriculture, it is difficult to deter- mine. We shall have to pay the debt now con- tracted— or at least the interest on it. That we are well able to do this there can be no doubt. Bat it will have to come out of the soil. There is a steam machine in New York which turns out money by millions. This money is good simply because the country is pledged for its redemption. It will have to be paid, and the farmers will have to pay it. It is a tax on the labor of the country. Our aim must be to make that labor more effective. We must be more skillful, more scientific ; in other words, we must farm better — that is, we must pro- duce larger crops at less cost. "Agricultural Im- provement" must be the watchword of every American for the next fifty years. SALTING CHEESE AND MEAT. We understand that a gentleman of this State claims to have discovered a method of salting cheese which removes all risk of loss of cream in pressing out the whey. It consists, essentially, as we understand it, in saltiDg the curd before the whey is removed. On the other hand, M. Barral, the able editor of the Journal d"1 Agriculture Pratigue, recently called special attention to an improved method of salting cheese adopted by M. Dk Lignac, a celebra- ted cheese maker of France. It is simply to press out as much of the whey as possible before adding the salt. After drawing off the whey, the curd is broken up and put in a cloth and pressed gently for two hours. It is then taken out, the curd bro- ken up again, and salted in the proportion of 1 lb. of salt to 25 lbs. of curd. It is then replaced in a cloth and pressed again for two hours. It is then taken out again and passed through a curd mill, which breaks up the curd very fine. It is then placed in the cheese-mold and pressed in the usual manner. For cheese made in this way he obtains a high price. This process is not new. It is essentially the one adopted by many Cheshire cheese makers in England. M. De Lignac also adopts a new method of salt- ing meat. When meat is allowed to remain so long in the brine as is usually found necessary, much of the nutriment of the meat is lost — the juices of the meat being absorbed by the brine. In order to avoid this, he places the meat and brine in a receptacle whore he can apply considerable pressure, and thus forces the brine into the center of the meat and even into the bones. " It is in a few days salted evenly, as much in the inside as the outside, and keeps perfectly." A correspondent of the Cottage Gardener, writing from Lancashire, says: "To give your readers an idea of how matters stand here, I may state that I have had men offering to work for me for their food alone — men who have been accus- tomed to get from £1 to 36s. per week — so anxious are large numbers to be rid of the task of having nothing to do!" THE GENESEE FARMER. 299 WIKE WORMS IN WHEAT. Wiee Worms are not as destructive to wheat in this country as in England, owing, probably, to the severity of our winters. Occasionally, how- ever, they do considerable damage to our winter wheat. The true wire worms are the off- spring of the click- beetles (Elateridce), commonly known in this country as " snapping bugs." They lay their eggs in the soil, where they hatch and be- come larvaj or wire worms. These worms eat into the stem of the young plant just above the root, as it rises from the ground, and de- stroy it. At the ap- proach o f winter they bury them- 1 Wire Worm, 2. Wire Worm At tacking Young Wheat Plant. selves deep in the ground, as they cannot support much cold or much drouth. Many remedies have been suggested to counter- act the damage they inflict on our crops. Among the most popular in this country is to sow buck- wheat on the land infected with them. If sown two years in succession, no doubt this is efficacious* and even one crop will do some good. Plowing the land deep late in the fall, and thus turning them up to the frost, will destroy many of them. To destroy them while they are attacking the wheat is not an easy task. In England, salt is sometime sown on the parts of the field most affected. We have heard of instances where it was thought to have done good ; but as a general rule it is not effective. Rolling the crop, especially with a grooved roller, is thought to obstruct their ready passage through the soil and thus force them to the surface, where they are more likely to be destroyed. Dropping slices of potatoes or turnips on the land is sometimes resorted to. The worms feed on the slices, which are picked np and car- ried awav. WINE MAKING. All fattening animals should be fed with re•"•»"« lbs., say at 40 cents to give a lib- eral valuation , $246,781 Decrease in Cheese, 1,193,126 lbs., say at 6 cents ' 71 537 Decrease in Wool and Cheese....!... 318 318 Net increased Annual Eevenue from the Live Stock of ' tne8tate $5,448,794 Value of farm implements, do. Horses, number of, do. Asses and mules, number of, do". Milch cows, do. do. Value of live stock, do! Eye, bushels, do" Indian com, bushels, do. Oats, bushels, do! Tobacco, lbs., do! Cotton, lbs., do! Peas and beans, bushels, do! Irish potatoes, bushels, do. Sweet potatoes, bushels, do! Barley, bush Is, do. Buckwheat, bushels, do. Orchard products, do! Wine, gallons, do. Market gardens, value products, do Butter, lbs.. do. Clover seed, bushels, do! Hops, lbs., do Flax, lbs., do. Maple sugar, lbs., do. Molasses, gallons, do. Molasses, sorghum, gallons, do. Beeswax and honey, lbs., do. Value of animals slaughtered, do. Population, do. $248,796,951 $7,081,769 56,721 590 192.310 $80,285,7y7 63S,7"2 2,202,648 8,622,319 5,681,393 2S0 867,698 11,049,(527 1,895 601, 6u8 1,942,350 $2,064,430 52,232 $8,881,596 23,331,185 18,710 7,119,248 573,899 45s,974 55,312 265 734,230 $2,267,438 783,384 , Decrease of ths /allotting productimis sine* 1850. Working oxen, number 07 sn7 Othercattle, do WtSk Snetp, do av. 9o» Swine, do ■•• JrS'o?? Wheat, bushels [ ^ ".'.'.'.'".'.'.'. 444T/ 899 Wool, lbs. 61 6S9S Cheese, lbs 1198125 Hay, tons 'iS'Sm Grasa seed,;bu8hel« !!!.'!".'! Um 304 THE GENESEE FARMER. Flaxseed, do 978 Silk cocoons, lbs 1,515 Home-made manufactures $562,466 There are some other facts proven by this table, to which attention might be called. One of them is the large increase manifested (over two millions of dollars) in the Orchard products of the State. Another is the revival of the potato crop, owing doubtless to the gradual diminution of losses from the rot: the potato crop of the State in 1840 was reported at 30,123,614 bushels ; in 1850 it was scarcely one-half as large, viz., 15,398,362 bushels ; in 1855 it was still somewhat smaller, 15,191,852 bushels; but during the five years to 1860 it had taken a new start, and amounted by the cerfsus of that year to 26,447,389 bushels. It will also be noticed that there is an increase in the area rated as " improved land," amounting to nearly two millions of acres for the past ten years, or 16 per cent, upon the 12,408,968 acres reported under this head in 1850. We have been at the pains to make a careful money estimate of the items in the above table, showing an increase and decrease respectively, with the details of which we need not now trespass upon the patience of our readers. Suffica it to say, that the net pecuniary returns of the agriculture of the State, are thus proven to have increased in just about the same ratio as the extent of land which we are cultivating — showing conclusively that if the returns of our crops per acre are not enlarging as we wish they might, we are fully keeping them up on our old lands, and constantly adding a considerable surface every year to their extent. This, it must be added, is done — probably by the aid of our improved ma- chinery and implements — with little or no addition to the farming population of the State, for that is nearly stationary, the increase of three-quarters of a million during the past decade having been con- fined almost wholly to the enlargement of our cities. The exhibit, on the whole, should therefore be considered a gratifying one to the Farmers of the Empire State. — Country Gentleman. GATHERING APPLES. The apple crop, this year, says the New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, will be large and of good quality. Much of its valua depends on the way in which it is gathered. If you put off the job until the hard frosts are upon your heels, and then rush into the orchard with several hands, men, women and children, shake, pull and haul your trees, thresh them soundly with long poles — bring your fruit to the ground two- thirds bruised, one-half pierced with stiff straws — scramble them into barrels and knock the heads hastily upon them, you will have a good long job of picking out decayed apples, fall and winter, and will get the lowest market price for your crop. On the other hand, take the time wasted in picking them over to cull out the worthless ones in winter, hire help if necessary — go about your gathering systematically and in order. Provide good ladders and a pair or two' of high movable steps — theyare easily made, if not by yourself, by any village car- penter, and are always useful about the house or garden. Get a smooth, light pole — two or three, of various lengths, will bo convenient — take a com- •- on salt bag, or, better still, have some made of stout ticking or drilling, and distend the opening with a piece of hoop iron, bent in circular form, of sufficient form to let in two or three apples at a time — sharpen the outer, upper edge of the hoop. Handle baskets, holding a peck or more, are also very handy wben suspended by a hook on the branches, while you are on the ladder or in the tree. Thus armed, you first carefully pick off all within reach, and put into baskets or barrels, with- out bruising. And then with pole and bag attached firmly to the end of it by the iron hoop, you can cut off and catch apples on the tallest limbs. Of course we speak of valuable orchards. All things considered, the careful process is the easiest and consumes no more time than the other. You get good fruit, and it brings the highest price ; your trees are not banged or bruised to death, nor the heads of the children cracked by the falling apples. HIGH FARMING. The New York Evangelist has a sensible article on the Fertilization of Soils, in which farmers are recommended to try guano and superphosphate. We are not prepared to say that these will pay, at the present prices of produce, but the following remarks we can most cordially endorse : " The purchase of fertilizers, in about the same proportion as they increase the crops, increases the natural fertilizers of the farm. The fuller the barn is filled this year, the more fertilizing matters are there to go back into the soil next year. The soil is the farmer's bank of deposit. It is the safest bank in the world if the deposits are discreetly made. High farming, with large crops, is more lucrative than low farming with consequently small crops. We are not of those who advise rashly ; but we positively believe that the majority of farmers would be better satisfied and more richly rewarded if they would feel their way cautiously, but not very slowly, to a higher style of farming— one which undoubtedly they would find more expensive when they reckoned by the acre, but which we verily believe would prove less costly when reck- oned by the qualities produced ; less profitable perhaps the first year of trying it, but pretty sure to be more remunerative the second year, and still more the third, and onward." New Mode of Catching Trout. — Levi Baetlett describes in the Country Gentleman some trout ponds on the farm of Col. Tappan, of Bradford, N. II., and speaks also of the mode of feeding. Last winter, after the ponds had frozen over, he states that a boy was sent to feed the trout with chopped meat. Having cut a hole through the ice and put in the meat, the boy laid down with his face near the water to watch the fish, when a trout grabbed him by the nose, and the boy, by a sudden jerk of the head, threw the fish upon the ice. He thus obtained a trout of .three-fourths of a pound weight, but at the expense of a sore nose for three weeks. THE GENESEE FARMER. 305 /fauyfaj JrfLflZrus There are few men to whom Agriculture in England or America is more indebted, than to the late Professor of Chemistry in the University of Durham, Scotland, James F. W. Johnston. He was born at Paisley, about the year 1796 Like many other men who have risen to scientific eminence, young Johnston was mainly dependent on his own efforts for his education. He made rapid progress, and was in a few years able to give private instruction to pupils in the University of Glasgow. The money thus obtained enabled him to prosecute his own studies with increased facility. In 1825 he opened a school at Durham. In 1830 he married a lady of some property, and his circumstances being thus improved he deter- mined to give up his school, and carry out a plan he had long conceived of devoting himself to the study of chemistry. He repaired to Sweden and became a pupil of the celebrated Berzelius. On his return he was appointed Chemist to the Agricultural Society of Scotland and Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in the University of Durham. He now devoted himself to the preparation of works on the relation of chemistry to agriculture. He published a " Catechism ou Chemistry and Geology,1' which has been translated into almost every European language, and has gone through thirty-three editions. It has had a large sale in this country. His "Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology," delivered before the Durham County Agricultural Society, were pub . lished in 1844, and added greatly to his popularity. It went through several editions. It was reprinted in this country, and is one of the most useful and popular works we have on the subject. In 1849, at the invitation of the New York State Agricultural Society, Prof. Johnston visited this country. At the N. Y. State Fair of that year, held at Syracuse, he delivered an address on Eu- ropean Agriculture. In January, 1850, he delivered before the members of the Society and the Legisla- j ture, at Albany, a series of lectures on Agricultural Chemistry, which were afterwards published. He ! also lectured at Boston and New York, and made ' an agricultural survey of the province of New Brunswick. As the result of his visit to this country, shortly' after his return appeared two volumes of " Notes on North America," in which he said some things; which were not at all complimentary, but which' did us no harm. His last work, and the most popular one, was " Chemistry of Common Life," which originally 306 THE! GENESEE FARMER. appeared as a series of magazine articles, and were afterwards published, both in England and Amer- ica, in book form. In the summer of 1853 he was traveling on the continent, in his usual health, when he was sud- denly seized with spitting of blood, which termina- ted in a rapid decline, and he died at Durham on the 18th of September of that year. M'CORMICK'S NEW REAPER IN ENGLAND. On the 14th of August McCormickrs Nevv Self- Raking Reaper was tried in England, and judging from the following report in the London Times, seems to have given great satisfaction : In 1851 McCormick's American reaping machine at the Exhibition created a greater sensation in its way than either Powers' statue or Hobbs' locks. Its fame at once, of course, raised up for it a host of antagonists and imitators. * * * Since 1851 McCormick's patent for these machines has expired in America, and, of course, the attempt to renew it was violently opposed by all who had, or fancied they had, a better reaper themselves. * * * * Hence Mr. McCormick was driven to invent another and a better machine, and it was this which was tried yesterdny, and the performance of which we commend to the notice of our country readers. The old machine, as we may. term it now, was one which cut the corn, and as it dropped back upon the platform behind the cutters turned it off in "swathe" — i. «., left it in a continuous roll alongside the track of the machine. In very moist countries this swathe delivery is rather an evil, and during wet seasons the machine has been often left unused altogether. In addition to this draw- back a great amount of manual labor is, of course, necessitated to collect the swathe into sheaves, and this too must in some cases be done before the re- turn of the machine over the same track. The object, therefore, has always been to invent a ma- chine which will deliver on the ground the cut corn in sheaves ready for binding, and such a ma- chine Mr. McCormick has now invented. Visitors to the Exhibition will see a similar one in the rather empty court of the United States. The new machine is founded entirely upon McCormick's old machine as made by Rurgess & Key, the new patent' consisting simply in the in- troduction of an automaton rake, which, at regular intervals, by one rapid swee.p, draws the corn on the platform together, and, with a quick turn, throws it aside in a loose sheaf out of the way of the machine. This machine has been tried once before in England among some of the heavy Essex crops, when its performances exceeded the most sanguine expectations. Yesterday it was publicly tried again, in the presence of a number of gentle- men farmers, on Mr. Dixon's farm, about three miles beyond Hemel Hempstead. This trial was made under the most unfavorable circumstances; in fact, under circumstances which the farmers present contended should have prevented the ma- chine being tried at all. The night and morning had been very wet, and the rain was still falling sharply when the machine, drawn by two horses, and wielding its fans and rake in the most aggres- sive manner, was brought to a field of twenty-one acres, covered with a very heavy crop of red 1am- mas wheat, completely saturated and bent down by the rain. Along the edge of the field, where the ground was very rough, and the corn straggling and beaten down, the machine was turned. Much misgiviug was expressed before starting as to the power of the rake to act on such ground against wind and rain, and to remove the soddened crop from the platform into regular sheaves. A very few moments, however, sufficed to put these fears at rest. The reaper went to its work at the rate of about three miles an hour, making a clear cut broad track of 5 feet 6 inches wide, and turning out neat and remarkably large loose sheaves at in- tervals of about 15 feet apart. The movements of the reaper were exact and perfectly noiseless, and it was easily turned in any direction. An ordinary agricultural laborer at first drove it. Afterward Mr. Dixon took the place of driver; but there- suits were the same in both cases. The bunches were well laid, the cut was clean and close to the earth, and the spacing between the sheaves as clear and accurate as if every foot had been measured. At one part the corn was tangled and badly flat- tened— badly enough to have offered difficulties to the ordinary reaper ; but the machine went through it with the same ease and regularity as through all the rest. The horses were then turned direct into and across the thickest part of the crop from cor- ner to corner of the field, and though, as a matter of course, the passage of the animals drawing the machine trampled down a large portion of the stalks before its track, the reaper still worked as- cleanly and efficiently as ever. First came one of the fans, pushing its quantum, when cut, on to the platform; then a second, third and fourth, when the rake swept round in a semi-curve and turned the whole mass out in a thick sheaf on to the ground. The horses appeared to draw it easily — more easily, in fact, than the old machine, while, from the strength and simplicity of the improved mechanism, it was evident that, even in the most inexperienced hands, nothing but wilful damage could derange its slight but strong machinery. It is estimated that the new reaper can reap and stack in sheaves from sixteen to eighteen acres of wheat per day, at a cost, including wear and tear of plant, food of horses, &c, of Is. 6d. (36 cents) per acre. Manual labor costs from 7s. 6d. to 10s. per acre, and a good reaper only averages from half to little over half an acre a day. The new machine effects a saving of at least one-third of the manual labor that was still necessary with the old reaper. ■ »-^»- A Novel Way of Curing a Breacut Horse. — A correspondent of the Iowa Homestead was out riding the other day with a friend, and observed that one of the horses bad a hole in each ear. On inquiring the cause, he learned that it was to keep the horse from jumping. "Why," said he, "a horse don't jump with his ears." " You are mis- taken," replied his friend ; " a horse jumps as much with his ears as with his feet, and unless he can have free use of his ears he cannot jump." He ties the two ears together, and has no more trouble with the horse. We give this for what it is worth. THE GENESEE FARMER. 30T MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. Thb question is often asked, How far apart should . hives be set in an apiary? If I were to consult no other feature of bee-keeping but that of space between the hives, I should set them around singly, several rods apart; but that distance is impracticable, where many hives exist, and is not advisable in any case. I have, during the last few years, been compelled to place my hives quite close to each other for the want of space. They are in rows about six feet apart, and not over six or eight inches apart in the rows, sitting on stools only four inches high, with a close board-platform upon the ground, four feet wide, which keeps the hives free from grass and weeds. I find no disadvantage in having my hives so close to- gether; but if they were to rest upon a level stand or shelf, the bees would often, wheu the hives are so full as to cluster outside, mix with those of adjoining hives and fight and destroy each other to some small extent. In my case, the stool-shape of the stands prevents the bees mixiug,,as they go down no lower than the floor of the stool when they cluster out. The stools, or stands, are made by sawing off scantling two or three iuches thick by four inches wide, fifteen inches long, and nailing strips of pine boards upon them so firmly that no warping can take place. In former times I was led to believe that the stands should be from eighteen to twenty-four inches from the ground; but ex- perience has taught me that bees do equally well when only four inches from the ground, on a platform, as above stated. It would appear that when hives of bees are set in a close, continuous row, twenty to fifty in a line, and only a few inches apart, and all the hives as much alike as two beans, that the bees would often fail to find their own hives and would enter others, and consequently be de- stroyed. Such, however, is not the case; and how they are enabled, on their return from the fields, often after twilight has set in, to make few or no mistakes as regards the positions of their own houses, is a mystery that I am unable to solve, except on the theory that their sight is so much keener than that of man that they see something peculiar to their own hives, when all are of the same size, pattern and color, that we are unable to discover. Occasionally I have noticed bees laden with pollen alight upon the stand of a neighboring hive and seek to" enter, but instantly discovering her mistake, take to the wing again, make a giratory flight of a few feet in the air, and alight at her own domicil. It is probable that bees that are not laden with pollen often make similar mistakes, but as no fighting ensues I consider such occurrences of no essential consequence. When swarms issue, and are placed near other hives, I generally place something in front of their hives, to en- able the queens more easily to mark the location of their homes on returning from their flights to meet the drones, which occurs but once; and they are much more liable to get lost and enter the adjoining hives than the working bees are, which sally out fifty or more times a day. A strip of board, old newspaper, or any thing that will plainly denote or mark the hive, will answer, if laid in front of it and left there about a week. This is the season to feed such families of bees as have failed to store up enough honey for their winter's con- sumption, unless it be advistvble to "take up" such I families or unite them with others. It is not advisable in the latitude of Central New York and further north to attempt to winter a family with less than two quarts of bees. Any less number will generally perish on ac- count of being unable to generate sufficient warmth to I keep them from freezing to death when there is plenty of honey in the hive. Supplying families short of honey ' with caps, or boxes of comb-honey, will not always save them from staryation, when the winter is very cold and . long-continued, owing to the bees not being able to as- cend into these caps to obtain the honey. It is, there- fore, better to feed strained honey, to be carried into the! j! cells of the combs at once, if it be done in a manner not to produce robberies. The manner of feeding I have be- fore fully explained in the columns of the Farmer, and do not consider it expedient to give the details on this occa- ! sion. Clinton, 2T. V. T. B. MINER. A PRAIRIE FARM. A correspondent of the Farmer's Advocate, Chicago, gives the following account of a prairie farm which he recently visited : " I visited the farm of Messrs. Stevens & Mo- Conhies, who have about eight thousand acres of land in this county. They have, at this time, three thousand acres fenced with cedar posts and boards,' put up in the most substantial manner. In fact,, their motto is: 'Do what you do, well.1 They have this year twelve hundred acres of wheat — the very best prospect for a good crop that I have seen. They prefer wheat to weeds — plow all their land in the fall — sow from two to two and a half bushels per acre — as soon as the frost begins to leave the ground in the spring. The result is, they got 27 bushels average per acre last year. They have 700 acres of corn, which looks very fine for this season. Their corn last year gave them 55 bushels average per acre. They fed this past sea- son 250 beef cattle, whose average weight at home was 1,325 pounds, and sold in the Chicago market at $3.30 per cwt. They have 700 hogs on this farm, work 21 teams, employ 28 hands at $15 per month, and feed on the farm 125 bushels of corn per day. They have J 60 acres of tame grass for pas- ture field. They also have a half section of land of the estate of the late Hon. Daniel Webster — the 4 God-like Daniel of Constitutional fame.' The most of their lands were purchased of the Govern- ment at $1.25 per acre, in the years 1852-'53. They are breaking 640 acres this year to add to their farm. "Farmers of Illinois, would you know the se- cret of their success? They adopt the motto: 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.' 'Never leave until to-morrow, what ought to be done to-day.' Keep, if possible, one day ahead of time ; that is, plow, sow, reap, and mow, sooner than your neighbor, and as soon as the weeds begin to show themselves, call early next morning — ' Up :boys, and at ihem !' " 308 THE GENESEE FARMER. THE GENESEE FARMER. 309 DEVON CATTLE. We have the pleasure this month of presenting to the readers of the Genesee Farmer a beautiful portrait of a Devon Cow. S. L. Goodale, Secre- tary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, in his ex- cellent work on the "Principles of Breeding,"" remarks as follows in regard to tlie qualities of Devon cattle : " The North Devons are deemed to be of longer standing than any other of the distinct breeds of England, and they have been esteemed for their good qualities for several centurieg. Mr. George Turner, a noted breeder of Devons, describes them as follows : 4 Their eolor is generally a bright red, but varying a little, either darker or more yellow ; they have seldom any white except about the adder of the cow or belly of the bull, and this is but iittle seen. They have long yellowish horns, beau- tifully and gracefully curved, noses or muzzles white, with expanded nostrils, eyes full and promi- nent, but ealm, ears of moderate size and yellow- ish inside, necks rather long, with but little dew- lap, and the head well set on, shoulders oblique with small points or marrow bones, legs small and straight, and feet in proportion. The chest is of moderate width, and the libs round and well ex- panded, except in some instances, where too great attention has been paid to the hind quarters at the expense of the fore, and which has caused a falling off, or flatness, behind the shoulders. The loins are first-rate, wide, long and full of flesh, hips round and of moderate width; rumps level and well filled at the bed ; tail full near the rump and tapering much at the top. The thighs of the cows are occasionally light, but the bull and ox are full of muscle, with a deep and rich flank. On the whole, there is scarcely any breed of cattle so rich and mellow in its touch, so silky and fine in its hair, and altogether so handsome in its appearance as the North Devon, added to which they have a a greater proportion of weight in the most valua- ble joints and less in the coarse, than any other breed, and also consume less food in its production. " 'As milkers they are about the same as most other breeds; the general average of a dairy of cows being about one pound of butter per day from each cow during the summer months, although in some instances the very best bred cows give a great deal more. " ' As working oxen they greatly surpass aay -other breed. They are perfectly docile aud excel- lent walkers, are generally worked until five or six years old, and then fattened at less expense than most, other oxen/ "The Devons have been less extensively, and more recently, introduced than the Short-horn, but the experience of those who have fairly tried them fully sustains the opinions given of them, and they promise to become a favorite and prevailing breed. The usual objection made to them by those who have been aceustomed to consider improvement in cattle to be necessarily connected with enlarge- ment of size, is, that they are too small. But their- size, instead of being a valid objection, is believed to be a recommendation, the Devons being as large as the fertility of New England soils generally are capable of feeding fully and profitably. " Their qualities as working oxen are unrivalled, no other breed so uniformly furnishing such active, docile, strong and hardy workers as the Devons, and their uniformity is such as to render it very easy to mateh them. "The Devons are not generally deep milkers, but the milk is richer than that of most other breeds. It is, however, as a breed for general use, ■combining beef, labor and milk, in fair proportion, that the Devons will generally give best satisfac- tion, as they are hardy enough to suit the climate, and cheaply furnish efficient labor and valuable meat." Turnips do not Injure the Land. — Sanford Howard, of the Boston Cultivator, recently visited the farm of J. 0. Tatloe, of Holmdel, N. J., so well known as a breeder of South Down sheep, and states that Mr. Taylor cultivates the sugar beet and Swedish turnip to a considerable extent for his sheep. When he first commenced to raise roots, his neighbors told him that the turnips would injure his land for the production of grass. " His experience," says Mr. Howard, " proves that they were mistaken ; for not only does the land produce grass as well as it ever did, but some comparative experiments have proved that grass grows better after turnips than after the crops ordinarily culti- vated in the neighborhood. On one field, a part of which only had been in turnips, the line of the last row could be distinctly traced and distinguished from the part where there were no turnips, by the thicker and greener sward." They have had in Lancashire not only hard times but bad weather.; so that the operatives in the mills, who have been in the habit of raising quite a variety of vegetables in their gardens, seem to be prevented this year not only from earn- ing an honest, respebtable living in the mills, but also from enjoying some choice flowers and vege- tables of their own raising. . 10 THE GENESEE FARMER. WALKS AND TALKS IN THE GABDEN.-No. VI. " Plttms have suffered less from the curculio this year than usual, and if we had not so many peaches they would prove quite an acceptable desert fruit. Here is a fair specimen of the Diaper Rouge, plucked from the tree that our friend Hochstein sketched a few years since for the Rural Annual. DIAPER ROUGE. "Did you ever preserve plums in whisky? I knew a lady in this city who kept a quantity of Damsons by simply putting them in whisky. They kept admirably, and were excellent, and the whisky itself, I am told, was — not thrown away. They should not be too ripe. " The reason why cauliflowers run up and pro- duce such small heads is not owing, as I believe, to the soil being too rich or too poor, too wet or too dry; not to early planting or to late planting, but simply and purely to bad seed. " Fdo not mean that the seed is bad in the sense that it will not grow. The worst seed often grows the best ; but it is bad seed because it has not been properly bred. " We want thoroughbred seed just as much as thoroughbred cattle; and by thoroughbred I mean that it must have its desirable qualities so often re- peated as to become a fixed characteristic of the plant. For instance : The turnip, in its wild state, has little or no bulb, but runs up to seed the first year. Now, suppose we had nothing but this wild turnip seed, what should we have to do in order to get a plant that would form a bulb and not go to seed the next year? Why, we should select those plants which manifested the greatest ten- dency to form bulbs ; then we should allow them to go to seed, pulling out all the others. From this seed we should probably get a few plants with a still greater tendency to form bulb ; these we should save and allow them to seed, destroying all the rest. By sowing this seed again, and repeat- ing the process for several years, we should at length get a plant with a large bulb, and which did not go to seed until the following year. " Now, when you have gained the object of your desire, after years of careful selection, what would you do? Would you let all your plants go to seed, whether the bulbs were large or small? If you did, the plants would soon run back into their old habits, and all your labor would be lost. " After a turnip with the desired bulb-forming qualities had been obtained, you would carefully save the seed and sow it. But it would bo found that a few plants would still retain some of their old habits of running up to seed, or at least a ten- dency to do so, and it would be necessary to reject all such, and to continue the process of careful breeding until the desirable qualities were fixed. "To raise good turnip seed, it is necessary to select good bulbs and transplant them. If, as is now sometimes done in England, they are allowed to go to seed in the drills where they are grown, the plants raised from such seed will have a ten- dency to run too much to top. The transplanting seems to arrest this tendency. I cannot but think it would be desirable for onr farmers to raise their own turnip seed, instead of, as now, sowing that which is imported from England, and which may have been raised in the careless manner alluded to. We could thus be sure of hnving good seed. "An instance on a large scale once came under my observation, which illustrated, in a deplorable manner, this tendency in the turnip to return to its original habit of running up to seed the same year instead of forming bulbs. John IIilditch, of Stanton, sowed some fifty acres of turnips very early in the season, thinking to get a larger crop than by sowing later at the usual time. The plants came up and grew splendidly, and everybody . thought he -would have a magnificent crop ; but THE GENESEE FARMER. 311 the weather continued mild late in the fall and winter, and lo and behold! the whole field showed an unmistakable tendency to run up to seed, and he was obliged to turn his sheep into the field, and also to set men to work with scythes to cut otf the starting tops ! Under such circumstances of course the bulbs were pithy and poor, and the loss was very great. '"But what,' you ask, 'has all this to do with cauliflowers?' I will tell you: The head of a cauliflower is, like the bulb of a turnip, not the natural growth of the plant. It is the result of cultivation. The plant naturally would run up to seed without forming a head. "We have, by care- ful breeding, obtained this desirable quality, but it is not of so permanent a character that we can dispense with care in raising the seed. " To raise good cauliflower seed, we must sow the seed in September or October, and preserve the plants during the winter and let them head next spring. Some of the plants will form nice compaet heads, while others will have a tendency to run up to seed. These latter must be pulled out, and only the good heads be allowed to go to eeed. But unfortunately the seed-growers do not seem to understand this. Judging from the results, it would seem that they let all the plants go to seed whether they have good heads or poor ones. In fact, the seed is sometimes so poor that I am inclined to think they must cut all the good heads to eat and leave only the poor ones for seed! M The same remarks wTill apply to cabbage ; we 6hould raise seed only from the best heads. "Will you step into the cold grapery. The grapes are now ripe, and are worth looking at ; or at all events they are not bad to take. Rose Chasselas has been ripe for some time. " A cold grapery is not an expensive affair, and a little care and study would soon enable any one to manage it. 44 The vines are planted three feet apart, and are trained on the double-spur system. Hochstkin has made a cut of a section of one for the Genesee Farmer. 44 1 no longer fear mildew on the grape, either in the house or in the open grounds. Sulphur is a sure cure. I wish we had as certain a remedy for mildew on all other fruits. 44 If we do not bestir ourselves, and that speedily, our orchards and gardens will soon be ruined by fungus in one or other of its various forms. Not a blighted branch, or a blighted leaf, or a blighted fruit should be allowed to remain in the garden. Burn it at once. These spots on the apple are caused by a fungus ; so are these on the pear. They do little damage at first, but nothing spreads so rapidly as fungus, and it takes but little time to become an alarming enemy. • 44 Some of my friends have been inclined to laugh at the opinion that the blight of the pear is caused by a fungus taken up by the roots. They think it could not spread so rapidly as to kill a good sized tree in a day. A little acquaintance with the habits of the fungi would show that the thing is not impossible ; and besides, it is probable that the fungus has been growing in the tree for some time before it makes its appearance. SECTION OF VINE TRAINED ON THE DOUBLE SPUR SYSTEM. 44 But as a general rule trees do not blight all at once. A branch is attacked, the leaves die and the fruit shrivels. You cut it off. Perhaps the next day another branch dies, and you remove that also. The rest of the tree wrill remain healthy, or it will die, as it may chance. To me, all the effects point to a fungus taken into the circulation through the roots as the cause. Smut in wheat is known to be caused in this way. It can be produced at will by simply rubbing the wheat with the spores of the fungus; and it can be prevented by killing the spores on the wheat at the time it is sown. 44 This afternoon I dug round a blighted pear tree, and I found what convinces me still more that the blight is caused by a fungus taken up by the 312 THE GEtfESEE FAPwMER. '^^J2I?Jffll£j9.«^>s * IFSCOPEAN LINDEN. roots. There was in the soil round the roots of the tree a considerable number of oM decaying roots, the remains of former trees. All these roots were covered with fungm, aKve and growing. So far this was a confirmation of my theory. I then went to another tree attacked with the blight, and on digging round it found the same thing. I next went to another tree and removed the earth to- a considerable distance round it,, so as to lay bare the roots without disturbing them. I found, as before, plenty of old decayed roots covered with fungus, and on carefully examining the roots of the pear — or rather of the quince on which the pear was grafted — I found the fungus on the growing roots of the tree. It seems to me that this fact nearly settles the question. The fungus is there on the roots, and is doubtless taken up into the circula- tion of the tree and in time blights and destroys it. The blight has hitherto been confined pretty much to pears, but I have an apple tree which is now af- fected precisely in the same way. "It is probable that a very heavy dressing of lime, thoroughly mixed with the soil, would kill the fungus on the old roots in the grou&d, and thias prevent the blight. At all events it is worth try- ing. " If I was going to plant out a new orchard, I would BtTRN the son, before planting. "Yo® laugh: but nothing is easier. Hundreds of acres are annually burnt in England, and it is a recognized means of increasing the fertility of clay soil's. It ean be done with very little trouble and expense. Yoa pare off the old soil two or three inches deep, and when the sods are dry enough to burn you start a fire with a Kttle straw and wood, and place the sods around and over it, and as these burn put on more, and so on until yon have a large heap. The sods are not burnt, but rather charred', as the fire should not be allowed to burn through. "You would get a large quantity of charred sods and ashes. These, of course^ contain no fun- gus. It has all been destroyed by the heat. These ashes and charcoal I would put in the holes round the trees, and I believe they would kill the fvmgus. " Let us declare Death to Fungi of all kinds, andi try to rid our gardens and orchards of what now threatens to be one of our most serious enemi&s* THE GENESEE FARMER. 313 The handsomest tree on the lawn is this Euro- >ean Linden. Hoohstein made a drawing of it, mt he has, for once, hardly done his subject justice, rhe branches trail on the ground, and spread out nore than is shown in the engraving. As a shade tnd ornamental tree the Linden has no superior, rhis and the Mountain Ash are great favorites with ne ; and the Maple, and the Beech, and the cut- eared Weeping Birch, and this White Oak, and ronder glorious American Elm, are — well, I scarcely :now a tree that is not more or less a favorite, low can people enjoy life in a house with no trees iround it ? A FRUIT GARDEN IN IOWA. S. Foster, of Muscatine, Iowa, furnishes the homestead with some interesting horticultural lotes. Strawberries have been a big crop — Wilson first, ,nd Triomphe de Gand not far behind in produc- tiveness. Of Currants, the Cherry is best; then White tnd Red Dutch — the White much the pleasanter. le had an acre, four years from planting. The irop was at the rate of 100 bushels per acre. In wo years he thinks they will be double this. He thinks he shall give up the Catawba and 'sabella Grape*. The Concord is first. It is healthy, vhile his Catawbas mildew and rot. Concord and jlinton will stand the winter, and are as healthy is an oak tree with green acorns. Delaware )leases him, especially when he comes to eat the rait. In quality it is best of all. He had bragged a good deal about the good lealth of his pear trees on his white oak clay bluff, rhey look nice and healthy now, but the blight i3s made its appearance on five or six of them. In lis dwarf pear orchard, six years old, no blight has ret shown itself. His best and most productive ;rees are White Doyenne (Virgalieu) ; second, Vi- jar of Winkfield. Then comes several : Louise Bonne de Jersey, Bartlett, Seckel, and Steven's Genesee. For a standard, Bartlett is best, though it is sometimes injured by a severe winter. Flemish Beauty does very well. Some of his apple trees have the blight, also. Most of his trees that bore to excess last year are not bearing this. Northern Spy is tolerably full this season. He advises farmers in the West to plant an acre of orchard, and half an acre in strawberries, currants and grapes. No more danger of failure than there is in raising corn and wheat. He says : "Set your trees about twenty-five feet apart; plant two rows of maple and cotton wood; thick together, on the north and west, for wind-breakers. Plant your orchard with corn or potatoes for at least six years, and no sowed crops ; turn the fur- rows toward the trees every time, and get a good ridge about the roots, and let the water run off freely in winter. If your land is dry and rolling, and thin soil, you will have a good orchard, if you take as good care of it as a good farmer does of his field crops." CHARCOAL FOR GRAPE VINES. Btjlwer is writing a series of essays on "Life, Literature and Manners" for Blackwood's Maga- zine, and in illustrating some remarks on mental culture, tells the following admirable story : A certain nobleman, very proud of the extent and beauty of his pleasure-grounds, chancing one day to call on a small squire, whose garden might cover about half an acre, was greatly struck with the brilliant colors of his neighbor's flowers. " Ay, my Lord; the flowers are well enough," said the squire, " but permit me to show you my grapes." Conducted into an old-fashioned little green-house, which served as a vinery, my Lord gazed, with mortification and envy, on grapes twice as line a8 his own. "My dear friend," said my Lord, "you have a jewel of a gardener; let me see him!" The gardener was called — the single gardener — a simple-looking young man under thirty. "Accept my compliments on your flower-beds and your grapes," said my Lord, "and tell me, if you can, why your flowers are so much brighter than mine, and your grapes so much finer. You must have studied horticulture profoundly." "Please your Lordship," said the man, "I have not had the ad- vantage of much education; I ben't no scholar ; but as to the flowers and the vines, the secret as to treating them just came to me, you see, by chance." "By chance? explain." " Well, my Lord, three years ago, master sent me to Lunnon on business of his'n; and it came on to rain, and I took shelter in a mews, you see." " Yes ; you took shelter in a mews ; what then ?" "And there were two gentlemen taking shelter too; and they were talking to each other about charcoal." " About charcoal ? — go on." "And one said that it had done a deal o' good in many cases of sickness, and specially in the first stage of cholera, and I took a note on my mind of that, because we'd had the cholera in our village the year afore. And I guessed the two gentlemen were doctors, and knew what they were talking about." "I dare say they did; but flowers and vines do not have the cholera, do they ?" "No, my Lord; but they have complaints of their own; and one of the gentlemen went on to say that charcoal had a special good effect upon all vegetable life, and told a story of a vine-dresser, in Germany. I think, who had made a very sickly poor vineyard one of the best in these parts, simply by charcoal-dressings. So I naturally prick- ed up my ears at that, tor our vines were in so bad 314 THE GENESEE FARMER. a way that master thought of doing away with thera altogether. 'Ay,1 said the other gentleman, *and see how a little sprinkling of charcoal will brighten up a flower-bed.' u The rain was now over, and the gentlemen left the mews; and I thought, 'Well, but before I try the charcoal upon my plants. I'd best make some inquiry of them as aren't doctors, but gardeners ;' so I went to our nurseryman, who has a deal of book-learning, and I asked him if he'd ever heard of charcoal-dressing being good for vines, and he said he'd read in a book that it was so, but he had never tried it. He kindly lent me the book, which was translated from some forren one. And, after I had picked out of it all I could, I tried the char- coal in the way the book told me to try it ; and that's how the grapes and the flower-beds come to please you, my Lord. It was a lucky chance that I ever heard those gentlemen talking in. the mews, please your Lordship." " Chance happens to all," answered the peer, sententious]}- ; " but to turn chance to account is the gift of f(iw.,'' His Lordship, returning home, gazed gloomily on the hues of his vast parterres ; he visited his vine- ries, and scowled at the clusters; he summoned bis head gardener — a gentleman of the highest re- pute for science, and who never spoke of a cowslip except by its name in Latin.. To this learned per- sonage rny Lord communicated what he had heard and seen of the benignant effects of charcoal, and produced in proof a magnificent bunch of grapes, which he had brought from the squire's. "My Lord," said the gardener, scarcely glancing at the grapes, "Squire 's gardener must be a poor ignorant creature to fancy he had discovered a secret in what is so very well known to every professed horticulturist. Prof. Liebig, my Lord, has treated of the good effect of charcoal-dressine, to vines especially ; and it is to be explained on these chemical principles" — therewith the wise man entered into a profound disputation, of which his Lordship did not understand a word. " Well, then," said the peer, cutting short the harangue, "since you know so well that charcoal- dressing is good for vines and flowers, have you ever tried it on mine?" " I can't say I have, my Lord ; it did not chance to come into my head." "Nay," replied the peer, "chance put it into your head, but thought never took it out of yonr head." My Lord, who, if he did not know much about horticulture, was a good judge of mankind, dis- missed the man of learning; and, with many apologies for seeking to rob his neighbor of 6uch a treasure, asked the squire to transfer to his service the man of genius. The squire, who thought that now the charcoal had been once discovered, any new gardener could apply it as well as the old one, was too happy to oblige my Lord, and advance the fortunes of an honest feUow born in his village. His Lordship knew very well that a man who makes good use of his ideas received through chance, will make a still better use of ideas re- ceived through study. He took some kind, but not altogether unselfish, pains with the training and education of a man of genius whom he had gained to hie service. The inaa is now my Lord's head foi ester and bailiff. The woods thrive under him, the farm pays largely. He and my Lord are both the richer for the connection between them. He is not the less practically pains-taking, though he no longer says " ben't " and " his'n ;" nor the less felicitously theoretical, though he no longer ascribes a successful experiment to chance. BUSYING GRAPES IN THE GROUND. Some time since we alluded to a statement made in the Germantown Telegraph, of a gentleman, who, on the 28th of last March, was presented with some bunches of Isabella and Catawba grapes that were as full and plump as if just taken from the vines. The gentleman referred to was Samuel Miller, the well-known grape man of Lebanon, Penn. The following is his account of the manner in which they were preserved : " In the fall when the grapes are perfectly ripe, they are taken from the vines, when they are free from anything like moisture, handled carefully and packed in small kegs — nail kegs were the kind used in this instance. Put a layer of green leaves, right off the vines, in the bottom, on this a layer of grapes, then leaves again, and grapes, alternately, until the keg is full, then finish off with leaves. Put in the head, and your cask is ready for — what? Why, to be buried in the ground ! Dig a trench so as to admit the casks deep enough that they will have about one foot or fifteen inches of soil over them when covered. The ground should be packed moderately tight, and a board laid along on the top before the ground is thrown in. Then throw some litter on the surface of the ground over those which you wish to take up during the winter, to prevent the ground from freezing so hard as to keep you from getting at them. One important thing must be observed, that they be placed where there can be no standing water about the casks, or they will suffer." It is thought that other fruit may be kept in the same way. Transplanting Bearing Grape Vines in Sum- mer.— The Boston Cultivator says that Mr. E. S. Rand, Jr., of Dedham, while making, last month, some improvements on his grounds, found it neces- sary to remove a fine Delaware grape vine which had on it several bunches of fruit. It had stood there two years, and was three years old when set. Mr. R. resolved to save, if practicable, both the vine and the fruit. The vine was trimmed so as to bring it within manageable dimensions, and an ex- cavation was made in such a way as to leave a ball of earth a foot and a half in diameter inclosing the principal roots. The vine was then transferred to its destined place, where it has not ceased for a moment to grow. Even the fruit has pushed reg- ularly along, and bids fair to be as perfect as if the vine had not been touched. THE GENESEE FARMER. 315 HOW TO KEEP A GARDEN CLEAN. Tns Country Gentleman has an excellent article m this subject. Though rather late for this season, ve copy it entire. It deserves the attention of ivery gardener : Farmers who raise kitchen vegetables, and who lo not keep a regular gardener, are apt to neglect heir grounds toward the end of summer and early n autumn, and allow weeds to ripen their seeds. Nothing reduces the current expenses of the family, or the outlay, more than a good kitchen garden, >ut the complaint with many is the labor of keep- ng it clean — the constant fight with weeds, weeds, some have adopted the opinion that a quarter-acre ;arden will grow more weeds than ten acres of arm land, and there is ground for the belief, as ome are managed. A few weeds, allowed to per- ect seeds, will produce an abundant crop next rear ; and thus, year after year, the earth becomes illed with them, till the soil of a garden consists of hree main ingredients, namely, a soil, naturally ; i large amount of manure, artificially ; and a mmense supply of foul seeds, spontaneously. Is it not practicable to clear out entirely and otally, the last of the three? Are weeds a neces- ity ? If a garden contains a hundred thousand of hem, and ninety-nine thousand are killed by the loe, why not the remaining thousand? If nine mndred and ninety of this thousand, why not the emaining ten? The soil of a garden may oe com- pletely purified of weeds and their seeds, greatly ■educing the labor of keeping it in order, and largely iontributing to a fine growth of the crops. It is >asier to keep a garden perfectly clean, than to be jngaged in a constant warfare with the weeds, rhe labor is far less. The reason that it is not lone, is the want of care and attention. Nearly ill farmers are satisfied if a garden is neakly clean, rhi* is the origin of all the trouble — namely, eaving a few weeds to seed the whole ground. The •emedy is, begin now — eradicate everything — and ;hen, in three days go over again, and eradicate inything that may have shown its head, and so ;ontinue the examination every week, weeds or no iveeds. One morning every week should be set ipart for this special purpose. Unless something Dt* this kind is adopted, the thing will certainly be leglected. And after they are out, continue the process to keep them out. It is easier to spend a iialf hour in a morning once a week in this way, »nd have good crops, than to spend three days in jach week fighting the intruders, and as a conse- quence getting bad crops. A muskrat made a hole in a dam embankment, Mid the water was washing it larger. The owner applied to one skilled in such things, to] close the iangerous orifice. He would charge a dollar, which was more than the owner would give. The next day it had increased, and then the offer was accepted. But the price had increased to two dollars, and was again declined. From this time the breach increased enormously, and the next day the owner had to give the fifty dollars required, or lose his whole dam. It is so in destroying weeds. A little labor at the start would save an immense increase. "When a building is in flames, it will not do to suppress merely nine-tenths of the flames, but the last spark must be extinguished. Let every owner of a garden be sure that the last weed is killed, if there is such a one, as often as once a week. Potato Tops, &c. — Everything in the shape of rubbish, such as early potato tops, cucumber vines, refuse radishes, spring mulching, &c, should be buried on the spot, leaving a clean and neat surface. When an assistant digs a mess of potatoes, cause him to bury the tops at the time. They will decay and enrich the land. ; HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM FOREIGN JOURNALS. Lilitum auratum is a Japanese lily which is exci- ting a good deal of admiration in horticultural circles in England. A correspondent of the London Florist recom- mends an early stock for Isabella Gray and Cloth of Gold roses. He says that they are early bloom- ers and require an enrly stock. Working them on a stock of this character, he regards as the remedy for the difficulty experienced by many persons in blooming them. The Gardener's Chronicle says the present seems- to be a groat year for parasitic Fungi. Pear trees and apple trees are suffering to a great extent from a minute brown mould. We have never seen it so abundant, and unfortunately we know of no rem- edy. In some cases the young shoots are dwarfed by this parasite and appear unlikely to form healthy fruit buds for next year. Onions, also, are attacked by a minute mould which utterly defies the cultivator. At the Royal Horticultural National Rose Show the rose which attracted the most attention, ac- cording to Mr. Beaton, of the Cottage Gardener, was a Suffolk seedling called " John Hopper." He- adds that it is a most splendid rose, with a strong,, free habit, and a most profuse habit of blooming. The color is a rich crimson on the face of the- petal, and a violet tinge at the back. It is a cross- between Madame Vidot and Jules Margottin. According to Galignani, the French Society of Acclimatation has received intimation from Mr. G. Timon, now in China, of a new kind of silk-worm, which the people call Tien-tye, or Children of Heaven, as they suddenly appear in myriads upon the mulberry trees about two months after the ordinary silk-worm has performed its evolutions-. They live about three weeks, and at the end of that time they congregate under the leaves and spin their cocoons, an operation which takes them three- days. These worms require scarcely any «are — oaly protection from the birds. 816 THE GENESEE FARMER. In a review of a book on the Vine, the Gardener's Chronicle says that vineries can be erected so cheaply that out-door culture has ceased to be a subject of any importance. In a report of the British Entomological Society it is mentioned incidentally that three years ago multitudes of the oak-gall apple were found around London, but that the tomtits found out that the galls contained a delicious morsel and have attacked them so successfully that this year not one is to be found. In the "Answers to Correspondents" in the Journal of Horticulture, a gardener, who has been through a series of trials in the failure of crops, &c, is advised to go and see Lessing's "Martyrdom of John Huss," which is now in London, but which many of our readers will re- member to have seen at the Dusseldorf Gallery in New York. Sib Joseph Paxton keeps all his Geraniums which he uses for bedding out at Sydenham in the 6ame pots year after year. The pots are planted with them, housed with them, wintered and set out with them ; and in this way they are in bloom a month in advance of the London season. D. Beaton, the editor of the Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener, thinks that this system will soon be universally adopted. In a notice of the Ailanthus silk-worm, the Gardeners Chronicle says considerable attention has lately been directed to the breeding of this worm, or Ailanticulture, as it is now called, both in this country and in France. It is a subject well worthy of attention, for if the worm is as hardy and the product as useful as the statements made concerning them seem to indicate, this branch of industry may do something to fill up the fearful void caused by a deficient supply of cotton. Me. Cuthill, of Camberwell, has been remarka- bly successful in the cultivation of asparagus. His plan is given in the Gardener's Chronicle. The plants were set out one foot apart in the rows, and the latter were made four feet asunder, with a row of seakale in the center. When planted, the ground was merely trenched, manure being dug in after- ward. Every year the rows have had good soakings of manure water in the spring and also when dry in the summer. Plenty of salt has also been put on in March, and the soil drawn up with a hoe, so as to cover the asparagus to the depth of about four inches. The roots being so near the surface, they get well ripened, and are therefore better able to bear the changes of weather. Wm. Thomson, the well-known gardener at Dal- keith, Scotland, has written "A Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine." It is pub- lished by the Blackwoods. The Scottish Farmer says that the best cure fbr slugs and snails in a garden is a pair of Spangled Hamberghs, as they neither scrape nor burrow, and, in addition, are very beautiful. A brood of ducklings will answer the same purpose. A correspondent of the Gardeners' Chronicle, who has lately returned from the East, says that he measured eight of the oldest Cedars of Leba- non, the smallest of which was twenty-one feet in girth, and the largest forty feet. He thinks that the Cedar and the Deodar are the same tree. The Gardeners' Chronicle states that Attacus Ricine, the Eria silkworm, is reared over a great part of Hindoostan, and furnishes four or five crops in the year. The produce of this worm, which feeds on the castor-oil plant, gives a cloth of seem- ingly loose texture but|of incredible durability — the life of one person, it is stated, being seldom suf cient to wear out a garment made of it Dr. Lindley, the distinguished editor of the Gardeners' Chronicle, in a review of a work on the " Culture of Cotton," by Dr. Wright, says : " No man acquainted with the progress of agriculture, or the possible results of scientific cultivation, has ever doubted that as fine cotton as that called Sea Island may be grown in any climate warm enough and damp enough to suit its constitution. The most ill-informed observer who now visits the In- ternational Exhibition, must be convinced of this fact. The cotton of Queensland and New South Wales, both new cotton countries, is unsurpassable. Death op a Horticulturist. — The Gardeners' Monthly notices tiie death of B. A. Faiinestock, one of the Vice Presidents of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. It says: "His collection of rare plants was probably the most valuable in the Union, and his liberality in allowing the friends of horticulture to see his collections, frequently af- forded us opportunities of seeing extremely rare and valuable plants we should otherwise know only by reputation as existing in the princely gardens of Europe." The Clarke Raspberry. — The Horticulturist speaks highly of, a new seedling raspberry origina- ted by Mr. Clarke, of New Haven, Ct. It is a strong grower and bears abundantly. The berry is large, red, sweet and high-flavored. THE GENESEE FARMER. 817 SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. Lxoreasing Price op Stock.— The American Stock Jour- tal says the demand for horses for army and other pur- poses is such that the prices paid for them are from *rentv-five to thirty-three per cent, higher than the same luality of horses sold for one year ago, and yet they are •ising and will continue to rise so long as the supply is uadequate to the demand. Farmers who give their at- «ntion to the raising of good horses, will find it a remu- lerative business for the next few years. Cattle for beef, tfork and milk, though not materially higher than one rear ago, must advance considerably in price in the year to come, or we much mistake the signs of the times, rhose who have large stocks, or who have the means to aroduce them, will do well to double their efforts, with a aertainty of realizing large profits. Wool, and especially the coarser grades, has not been so high for many years as now, and it is still rising. We have heard the opinion expressed by intelligent gentlemen, in whose judgment in such matters we place much confidence, that should son tin ue as high as now, wool in fair lots will bring from Bighty cents to one dollar per pound within the coming rear. In these facts the farmer will not fail to see much to aucourage him to greater exertion to put into the market the greatest possible amount of the products of his farm, »f whatever kind, and wisdom would dictate to man}' who we eugaged in other pursuits, the propriety of giving their best energies to the proper cultivation of the earth, with svery assurance of a bountiful return. Over-Fattened Show Cattle. — The American Stock Journal says : In our observations of the cattle at several Exhibitions in England, we were very much surprised to observe that nearly every animal exhibited for premium was so overloaded with fat as« to be almost shapeless. And this was not confined to animals shown as fat cattle, but milch cows, young stock, and even breeders, all were in this gross condition. One gentleman took us to a dis- tant pen, in the class of breeding cows, to point out to us what he said was " the best cow in England." Of course we pictured to ourselves a finely developed milky mother, devoting all her faculties to the peculiarly feminine busi- ness of rearing and feeding her young. Instead of such a picture, in which we should have pardoned somewhat of thinness, as a necessary result of what our farmers call I running all to milk," we beheld an animal with fine head and limbs, to be sure, but loaded with fat, and with about as much appearance of milkiness as a two year old Steer. "Does she give a large quantity of milk ?" we innocently inquired. "Why no," was the reply, "she has not given milk for nearly a year." Of course, as she had given no milk, she had had no calf for a long time, but the exhibitor seemed perfectly satisfied as he expatiated on her fine points, indicating the highest blood, that she might be the best cow in England, without discharging any of the duties of lactation or maternity which are gen- erally esteemed among farmers and other practical men, as the true tests of value. Topping Corn, or Cutting it by the Ground. — The Country Gentleman says : " By topping corn before it is ripe, you prevent the corn from receiving that portion of the elaborated nutritive sap which it would have received from the stalks and leaves cut off, had they not been sep- arated from the corn. On the other hand, by cutting corn by the ground before the leaves and stalks become dry, and the corn fully ripe, and setting it in shocks as soon as cut, the circulation of the sap continues, until the stalks become dry, and the corn improves in the shock. The same thing is observed in wheat, by cutting it before the kernel is hard, and placing it iii shocks before it wilts ; the wheat improves in the shock, and will make more flour, and of a better quality, than if it was allowed to stand until the kernel was hard. We have two objects in view when we cut corn by the ground. Namely, the preservation of the corn and stalks from frost, which frequently occurs before the corn is ripe, and spoils corn and stalks. Whereas, if corn is cut by the ground before the frost strikes it, both may be saved and be of good quality." Facts about Appletrees. — The Farmington (Me.) Chronicle says : The most important of all fruits that can be produced in temperate climates, if not the most impor- tant fruit which the Creator has bestowed upon man, is the apple. Were people generally in possession of infor- mation which would enable them to form conclusions in relatiou to the value of a single appletree, no one who has a spot of terra firnia large enough for a house lot, would neglect to plant one. Hatward speaks of an appletree in Duxbury, Mass., which was upwards of 100 years old, was 16 feet in cir- cumference eight inches above the ground, and which produced in one year fruit from which 10 barrels of cider were made, besides 30 bushels of apples for the cellar. An appletree in Natick, Mass., was grafted to the Porter apple when 75 years old, and the 7th year from grafting produced 15 barrels, which sold for 30 dollars. The original Hurlbut appletree produced 40 bushels in one year, and 20 the next. The original Bars appletree produced GO bushels in one year. In Orange, N. J., a Harrison appletree produced 100 bushels in one year. An appletree in Farmington, Me., produced 16 bushels the 16th year from the planting of the seed. Cole says he has had fruit from an appletree in Ply- mouth, Mass., when the tree was 200 years old. An appletree brought from Englaed and planted near Hartford, Ct., produced fruit when 209 years old. Several appletrees in the United States have trunks 12 feet in circumference. Loss of Weight in Salting Pork.— A correspondent ol the Germantown Telegraph says he finds it more profita- ble to sell pork at the usual killing time than to salt it, as it loses so much in weight. Last fall he killed two hogs which weighed 659 lbs. ; after drying and salting in the usual manner, they only weighed 411 lbs. That is to say, 100 lbs. of fresh meat only gave 62 lbs. of cured pork, or a loss of 38 per cent. The same writer states that " one shoulder weighed before salting 64 lbs., after drying but 57 lbs." This is a loss of 11 per cent. We suppose in the former case tha weight of the lard, &c, was not taken into the account. , 318 THE GENESEE FARMER. Wisttl'fanwns. & A Sailor's Story of a Pig. — A curious animal is a pig gentlemen ! Very cunning, too— a great deal more senl sible than people give him credit for. I had a pig aboard my ship that was too knowing by half. All hands were fond of him, and there was not one on board that would have seen him injured. There was a dog on board, too, and the pig and he were capital friends ; they ate out of the same plate, walked about the decks together, and would lie down side by side under the bulwarks in the sun. The only thing they ever quarreled about was lodging. The dog, you see, sir, had got a kennel for himself; the pig had nothing of the sort. "We did not think he needed one ; but he had his own notions upon that matter. Why should Toby be better housed of a night than he ? Well, sir, he had somehow got it into his head that possession is nine parts of the law ; and though Toby tried to show him the rights of the question, he was so pigheaded that he either would not or could not understand. So every night it came to be " catch as catch can." If the dog got in first, he would show his teeth, and the other had to lie under the boat, or to find the softest plank where he could ; if the pig was found to be in possession, the dog could not turn him out, but looked out for his revenge next time. One evening, gentlemen, it had been blowing hard all day, and I had just ordered close-reefed topsails, for the gale was increasing, and there was a good deal of sea running, and it was coming on to be wet ; in short, I said to myself, as I called down the companion-ladder for the boy to bring up my peajacket, " We are going to have a dirty night." The pig was slipping and tumbling about the decks, for the ship lay over so much with the breeze' being close-hauled, that he could not keep his hoofs. At last, he thought he would go and secure his berth for the night, though it wanted a good bit to dusk. But, lo and behold ! Toby had been of the same mind, and there he was safely housed. " Umph, umph !" says piggy, as he turned and looked up at the black sky to windward; but Toby did not offer to move. At last, the pig seemed to give it up, and took a turn or two, as if he was making up his miud which was the warmest corner. Presently he trudges off to the lee scuppers, where the tin plate was lying that they ate their cold 'tatoes off. Pig takes up the plate in his mouth, and carries it to a part of the deck where the dog could see it, but some way from the keunel ; then, turning his tail towards the dog, he begins to act as if he was eating out of the plate, making it rattle, and munching with, his mouth pretty loud. "What!" thinks Toby, "has piggy got victuals there?" and he pricked up his ears aud looked out towards the place, making a little whining. " Champ, champ !" goes the pig, taking not the least notice of the dog ; and down goes his mouth to the plate again. Toby couldn't stand that any longer ; victuals and he not there ! Out he runs, and comes up in front of the pig, with his mouth watering, and pushes his cold nose into the empty plate. Like a shot, geutlemen, the pig turned tail, aud was snug in the kennel before Toby well knew whether there was an meat or not in the plate.— Animal Traits and Characta istics, by the Re.v. J. G. Wood. Piety and Profts.— A gentleman who employs a gre« number of hands in a manufactory, in the west of Enjj land, in order to encourage his people in a due attendanc at church on a late fast day, told them that if the went to church they should receive their wages though they had been at work. Upon which a deputi tion was appointed to tell their employer that if he woul pay them for over hours, they would likewise attend th Methodist Chapel in the evening! Taking Him Down.— Bulwer tells a good story of young lord who went to Eton, and who was asked hi name by the cock of the school, a big brave fellow, tb son of a retired wine merchant. " I am Lord Dash," sai the boy, vainly, " the son of the Marquess of Blank, "Then," said the other, taking him quietly one side, am giving him a practical lesson, " there are three kicks- one for my lord, and two for the marquess." A Farmer's Opinion.— A certain lawyer had his portrai taken in his favorite attitude— standing with his hand ii his pocket. His friends and clients went to see it, anc everybody exclaimed, " Oh, how like ! it's the very pio ture of him ! " An old farmer, however, dissented "Don't you see," said he, "he has got his hand in his own pocket? 'Twould be as like again if he had it ii somebody else's." A Scotch Pulpit Joke.— The pulpit of a church ii Scotland being vacant, two candidates offered to preach whose names were Adam and Low. The latter preachec in the morning, and took for his text, "Adam, where arl thou?" He made an excellent discourse. In the after- noon, Mr. Adam preached upon the words, "Lo, here am 1!" The impromptu gained the appointment. Boarder: "What large chickens these are!" Land- lady : " Yes, chickens are larger now-a-days than they used to he; ten years ago they were nothing like so large." Boarder (innocently) : " No, I suppose not ; they must have grown some in that time." (Landlady looks as though she thought she hadbeeu misunderstood.) Nothing teaches patience like a garden. You may go round and watch the opening bud from day to day ; but it takes its own time, and you cannot urge it on faster than it will. If forced, it is only torn to pieces. All the best results of a garden, like those of life, are slowly but regu- larly progressive. At Constantinople the Sultau recently presented the Prince of Wales with a magnificent narghileh, which he (the Prince) had smoked. It is gorgeously chased and thickly diamond-studded— its estimated value being near- ly £8,000. It was said of the first Lord Lyttleton, the absent-mind, ed, when once he fell into the river, that he sunk twice before he could recollect that he knew how to swim. THE GENESEE FARMER. 319 ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. Contributed to the Genesee Farmer. Turtle Bean Soup without Meat. — Take any quantity [v t you wish of black beans ; boil them in water until I jrAughly cooked ; then dip the beans out of the pot .;d press them through a culeuder; return the flour of .e beans thus pressed into the pot in which they were oiled; tie up in a cloth some thyme; put it into the mp and let it boil ; add a little butter, and season with lit, pepper, parsley and sweet marjoram ; make some >rce meat-balls ; add them to the soup, together with a liced lemon, and wine to your taste a short time before srving. This will approach so near in flavor to the real irtle soup that few would be able to distinguish the dif- irence. The beans must be soaked over night, j. o. Turtle Bean Soup with Meat. — One pint of beans >aked over night in cold water; one gallon of water > nit a pound of pork ; the same of beef; one or two lions; a carrot grated fine, and all strained through a rlender before serving. Add lemon and a hard-boiled jg, sliced, placed in the tureen and the soup poured over lera. If it boils too thick, add a little more water. J. D. J. Apple Meringue. — This is a simple dish, but very at- ■active looking, and very pleasant to eat. Take some «wed apple which has been carefully prepared and is itirely free from lumps. It must be strained through a ilander, if necessary. Put it into a pudding-dish ; beat p the whites of two eggs with not quite as much sugar * you use for frosting ; heap this upon the apple ; let it and in a cool oven long enough to become slightly rown. The apple may be flavored with lemon, wine or rvnamon. Any other fruit may be used. This kind of ostirig is often put on lemon and other pies which have a upper crust. Chocolate Drops, or Caramels. — One eup of milk, ro cups of molasses, one cup of sugar, one and a half ikes of chocolate, and butter the size of a hen's egg. rate the chocolate, and stir it into the milk when boil- ig; then stir in gradually the other ingredients. Try as you would molasse6 candy, and when properly boil- i spread it out in pans to cool, cutting it up in pieces bout half an inch square. This is considered a very de- ciou8 kind of French confectionary. Elderberry Catsup. — On every pint of ripe elderber- >?s stripped from the stalks, pour a pint of boiling vine- ar and let it stand in a cool oven all uight. Strain ithout pressing, and boil the liquor five minutes with alf a teaspoonful of salt. To every quart put half a ound of anchoreis, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce f white pepper, half an ounce of ginger, twelve cloves, rid two onions or garlicti. Bottle when cold with the /ices. Soft Rusk. — One tea-cup butter, two tea-cups milk, vo tea-cups sugar, two eggs and saleratus; add flour nough to make it about as thick as loaf cake. Soda Biscuit. — A receipt that never fails for this easily made but often spoiled bread is xory desirable, and many think the following one meets this want : One quart of flour, one teaspoon of cream-tartar, a small spoonfull of soda, half a tablespoon of butter. Rub these ingredients, except the soda, into dry flour, and mix with milk as soft as you can put it into pans. The soda should be dis- solved in the milk. Soft Gingerbread. — Two cups of molasses, one cup of sugar, one of butter, one of sour milk, and five of flour ; three eggs, one teaspoon of saleratus, and a tablespoon of ginger. All the materials should be warmed before being mixed. Fashions for October.— There is but little change, even in bonnets, which are the most variable of all arti- cles of ladies' dress. They are still very high on the top and narrow at the sides, The trimming is worn on the top and quite in front, or on one side of the crown. A ribbon put straight down near the front, and then forming the strings, is rery much worn. A black ribbon put on in this way, just back of a bunch of gay flowers, which should be direction the front of the bonnet, has a very good effect. Black alapaca skirts, stitched with colored silk in a pattern, or trimmed with braid, are very stylish, and have quite taken the place of the balmoral. . They are not at all equal for winter use to the heavier skirt which they have superseded, bnt with a lining of flannel or a little wadding they can easily be made sufficiently warm. Braiding, or soutache, is very much worn on everything, even on silk dresses. Cloaks and mantillas are trimmed in this way, and not made up plain as formerly. Sacques, moderately long for winter and short for fall, are still the prevailing style. Mantillas made in the form of a shawl-bias in the back, and trimmed with a ruffle of the same or with gimpure lace, are very elegant ; but cloth made in this way is rather stiff, and unless very hand- somely trimmed, does not look as well as a sacque. Black cashmere shawls, embroidered with silk and trimmed with lace, are very stylish. Linen collars are exceedingly small ; indeed, a variation of three extra threads from the established size bears so large a proportion to the whole collar, that it is notice- able. Several cords are stitched on the edge with black or colored thread. Sleeves are worn much closer than formerly, and dress- es are not made -so exclusively with round waists and belts; but silks and very heavy materials are made with waists pointed both on the back and front. "Garibaldi's" are still in favor, and^are very convenient, as they can be made of flannel and worn with skirts of a lighter material. The tendency of fashion seems, at present, to be toward the sensible and convenient, in dress, and anything that a lady wears, which is not showy nor unsuitable to her age or occupation, will not look so old-fashioned as to be odd. We take some pains to give our lady readers a few words about fashions, now and then, not to encourage extravagance in dress, but to aid those who live too much alone to have many opportunities to gather ideas from others, and are too tnuch occupied to spend much time upon settling such questions for themsslves. 320 THE GENESEE FARMER. gjnntg $eoyfe'j lap. WATCHING FOB PA. Three little forms in the twi ight gray, Scanning the shadows across the way; Six little eyes, four black awl two blue, Brimful of love and happiness too, Watching for pa. May with her placid and thoughtful brow, Gentle tace beaming w.th smiles just now; VVillie, the rogue, so loving and gay, Stealing sly kisses from sister May, Watching for pa. Nellie, with ringlets ot sunny hue, Cosily nestled between the two, Pressing her cheek to the window-pane, Wishing the absent one home again- Watching for pa. O how they gaze at the passers-by ! •He's coming at last," they gaily cry; "Try again, my pets!" exclaims mamma, And Nellie adds : " There's the twilight star Watching for pa." Jack nods and smiles, as with busv feet He lights the lamps of their quiet" street ; That sweet little group he knows full well- May, and Willie, and golden-haired Nell- Watching for pa. Soon joyous shouts from the window-seat, And eager patter of childish feet; Gay musical chimes ring through the hall; A manly voice responds to the call— '• Welcome, papa." How Far can Crows Count?— A correspondent of the Plattsburg Republican, in discussing this question, nar- rates the following incident which goes far to answer it: A few years since we were riding in a stage-coach with several gentlemen, when the conversation turned on the subject of crows, and many interesting anecdotes were related. One gentleman said he knew that crows could count, at least as far as three, for he had often proved it. Being troubled with crows in his field, he had often at- tempted to shoot them ; but they knew what a gun was as well as he did, and therefore kept out of his reach. He then concluded to put up a small booth in the field, and place some carrion (a dead horse) within gunshot! From this place he supposed he could fire at them when they alighted to eat. Whenever he entered the booth the crows all sit on the distant trees, and not one would come near until he was gone ; then all would alight ex- cept the sentinel, who remained to give warning if dan- ger approached. The gentleman, finding that plan to fail, thought he would deceive them ; so he took his son with him to the booth, concluding that, when they had seen one go away, the crows would think the coast was clear and descend to the bait. But when the son left the booth, a crow sung out, " Caw, caw, caw," (there goes one,) but not a crow would leave his place. The next day the gentleman took two persons with him to the booth, and then let them depart one at a time. The crows on the trees saw the first, and cried out, " There goes one," in their own peculiar dialect. Then when the other went, they cried, " There goes two ;" but they would not alight, for they counted three when they en- tered. The day following, the gentleman took three others with him. When they went out one by one, the crows cried, "There goes one;" "There goes two;'! "There goes three." And when these men were out oi sight they all alighted, and the gun of the fourth maA did its work. The gentleman stated that this had beenf. tried repeatedly, and it was evident that the crows couldt count as far as three, but there their arithmetic ended. When theyfwill ascend to the higher branches of mathe-t matics is yet to be ascertained. In the meantime, others can bring on their incidents of mw-nology. Self-Control. — A merchant in London had a disputa with a Quaker respecting the settlement of an acco The merchant was determined to bring the account . • court— a proceeding which the Quaker earnestly dej i - cated, using every argument in his power to convince t e merchant of his error; but the latter was inflexib Desirous to make a last effort, the Quaker called at I house one morning and inquired of the servant if h master was at home. The merchant, hearing the it quiry, and knowing the voice, called out, from the top < the stairs: "Tell that rascal I am not at home." The Quaker, looking up at him, calmly said: "Well, friend God put thee in a better mind." The merchant, strncl afterwards with the meekness of the reply, and having more deliberately investigated the matter, became con- vinced that the Quaker was right and that he was wrong. He requested to see him, and, after acknowledging his error, he said : " I have one question to ask you : How were you able, with such patience, on various occasions, to bear my abuse?" "Friend," replied the Quaker, "I will tell thee. I was naturally as hot and violent as thou art. I knew that to indulge this temper was sinful, and I found that it was imprudent. I observed that men in a passion always spoke aloud ; and that if I could control my voice I should repress my passion. I have, therefore, made it a rule never to let my voice rise above a certain key ; and, by the careful observation of this rule, I have, by the blessing of God, entirely mastered my natural temper." The Quaker reasoned philosophically, and the merchant, as every one else may do, benefited by his example. The Drt Stream. — "John," said Isaac, to his brother, " do you know that the brook in the sheep pasture has dried up?" " No ; I do not know any such thing." " It is dry." "I saw it running not an hour ago." "It was dry this morning. I was going to cross over on the fence, but there was no water in the bed of the stream above or below the fence. I heard father say the brook never failed." " I know it has not failed." " That comes pretty near saying you don't believe what I say." The brothers went on disputing till they got very angry. At first, one was sure the other was mistaken. When they became angry, one was sure the other had asserted an untruth. Now, the fact was, that both had spoken the truth. When the stream was low, there was a gravel bank by the fence mentioned by Isaac, through which the water percolated without appearing on the surface. John had seen the water flowing as usual in its channel some twenty rods below the fence. Men often dispute about things in regard to which they really do not differ. They look at the subject from dif- ferent points of view. Before you decide that a man is wrong because he differs from you, see from what point he views the matter. — Sunday IScJiool 2'imes. THE GENESEE FARMER. 321 Mtm %im. Six hundred cavalry horses are wanted for the army in this iy- Field works are being constructed in the vicinity of Newport id Covington, Ky. At Marlinsburg there was a slight skirmish, in which the Fed- als were successful. On Monday, Sept. 1st, Pope's army commenced retiring toward lirfax Court House. Lexington, Ky., has been abandoned by the Union forces, and cupied by 6,000 rebels under Kirby Smith. Baton Rouge was said to have been destroyed by our forces. has been evacuated, but, it is now said, left uninjured. The clerks of the Departments at Washington have gone out nurses. They volunteered with the utmost enthusiasm. The recent Union victories in Maryland have reduced the pre- ium on gold to 3 to 6 per cent. It is now (September 18) 6. It is thought that our loss in the first battles of the second Bull tin series has been exaggerated — that it does not exceed five ousand. There was a fight at Bolivar, Tenn., on Aug. 25th. Col. Ward tacded 3,000 rebels and completely routed them. Our loss was le killed. The attack of the Indians upon Fort Eidgely. and the massacre the people in the surrounding villages, revives the horrors of le old wars. The rebels are again threatening Cincinnati. They drove in lr pickets, September 16, two and a half miles this side of lorence, Ky. Gen. Butler has issued an order admitting the free colored ilitia of Louisiaua, who choose to volunteer, on the same footing itn the whites. All applications of persons desiring to act as nurses to the winded, should be made to Mr. H. M. Pierce, at the Surgeon- general's office. Confidence is being restored in Minnesota, as so many troops ave been sent out. It is anticipated that the Indians will be atlrely subdued. The gunboat Ottawa captured an English steamer off Charles- m. She was loaded with saltpetre, ammunition and arms, and I valued at $250,000. The fight at Eichmond, Ky., was a most gallant one on our ide. The rebels had about fifteen thousand men. Gen. Nelson r&a slightly wounded. A corresponiient of the World says that a General told him hat the only reason our troops fell back was that they were out if att munition and food. Gen. Pope has resigned his command, and it is said that he ntends to make charges against Gens. Sumner and Fitz John Ported , and other officers. Our losses in the late fights have been large in officers. Gen. £eat.ney, one of the ablest in the field, was killed it is supposed iy the wind of a cannon ball. Hole-in-the-Day, the great Chippewa chief, is said to be in jommand of the Indians in Minnesota. He is supposed to be under the influence of the secessionists. August 25th an attack on Fort Donelson was made by the rebels under Col. "Woodward, the same who took Clarkesville, but they were repulsed with some loss. Hon. J. B. Cleveland writes that in th3 village of New U)m, which was destroyed by the Indians, he saw eight men lying together with their throats cut from ear to ear. It is asserted, on secession authority, that the rebel General Bragg's forces have gone to Western Virginia and will soon make their appearance on the Kanawha river. Harper's FKRRYand 6,000 or 8,000 of our troops were given up to an overwhelming force of rebels September 15. With this ex- ception the news is of the most cheering character. When Centerville was again evacuated by our troops, the re- treat was so like Bull Eun that only the fixed bayonets of th« men within the entrenchments saved us from another panic. Shoes are at a premium in rebeldom. A lady writing from there says that her children are barefooted. She succeeded in getting some leather, but could find no one to make it up. August 26th Hooker's division, with a brigade of Kearney's under Robinson, attacked Jackson, after his success at Manas- sas, at Bristow, and succeeded in driving him from the field. The rebels were repulsed all day on Friday, August 29th, until they attacked McDowell's corps, when he fell back without fighting and left sixteen guns exposed— thirteen were taken. A great battle was fought on Sunday, September 14, near Mid- dletown, Md., and resulted in a glorious Federal victory. The rebels are retreating to Virginia, with McCleklan in hot pur- suit. The ladies at Warrenton welcomed the rebels on their return from Catlett's Station most enthusiastically, embracing them, and their patriotism even overflowed in kisses. They decorated Pope's horse with ribbons. The New York World things that the rebels would not take ten millions of dollars for their spoils at Catlett's Station. It being Pope's headquarters, his private papers, horses, uniform ami tent equipage were among the trophies. The Provost-Marshal took down the bulletins put up by the various papers in New York, because a crowd collected around them and there seemed to be quite an exci;ement. The World makes a strong protest against the act. A Pole, who was in a Georgia regiment, and is one of our prisoners, was taken with nineteen of his men, and was the only one of the party who had shoes. The privates had their feet bound up with rags, which were blood-clotted. EiGnT car-loads of hospital stores and supplies, which were contributed by the citizens of Boston on the Sunday after the bat- tles at Centerville, were forwarded by Adams' Expre.-s Company and delivered at Washington free of charges for freight. On rebel authority we have the following : Three hundred and sixty Union men, from Pierpont's dominions, joined Gen. Lo- sing a few days since, and our intelligence is that these deluded men now see the error of their ways and are daily flocking in crowds to our standard. An attack was made on Manassas by the rebels August 26th, in which they succeeded in taking an entire battery of eight guns, a large amouDt of stores and two locomotives. It was at first supposed to be but a raid, but it was soon known to be the ad- vauce of the entire Army of Virginia. A dispatch to Sec. Welles, dated Cairo, August 24th, says that the rebel transport, Fair-play, was captured, containing 1200 new Enfield rifles, 4000 new muskets with accoutrements com- plete, a large quantity of fixed ammunition, four field guns mounted howitzers, and some small arms. The Eichmond Dispatch says that anything less than armed intervention by several of the leading powers of Europe, will do their cause any good ; that an alliance with France or England would only exasperate the North, and adds that no one power in Europe can successfully invade the North. 322 THE GENESEE FARMER. THE GENESEE FARMER FOR 1863. To Oar Agents and Friends. We have not yet prepared our List of Premiums for 1868 ; but this much we can safely say— they will be fully equal to any oS'ered in previous years. In the mean time, we would suggest to our friends that the present season of Fairs is a proper tune to speak a good word for the Genesee Farmer. Put a pencil in your pocket, and take down the name of any one who is willing to sub- scribe for 1SG3, and say to him that by subscribing at this feme he can have the last three numbers of this year for nothing ! For fifty cents wc will send the October, November and December numbers of this year and the wholo volume for 1863 to all who subscribe during the present month of October. To those of our friends who design competing for next year's Premiums this will afford a good opportunity to commence canvassing. We sfall keep an accurate ac- count of all names of subscribers sent in now, and give credit for them in awarding the Premiums. We think our readers will admit that the Genesee Farmer was never more useful and interesting than at present ; certainly never has so much labor been bestow- ed upon it, or so much money expended in illustrations It is our firm determination and constant endeavor to make it more and more worthy of that extensive patron- age it has so long enjoyed. Tell Your Neighbors— That by subscribing for the Genesee Farmer for 1S63 at this time, they will get the last three numbers of 1862 for nothing. «•♦ Why Wool Increases in Weight by Keeping. A cor- respondent ot the American Stock Journal thinks that wool packed up in the summer will weigh more the next winter became the warm, light air ivhich permeates it ivhen put up is displaced by the cool, heavy air of winter. In other words, that the air which it contains, and not the wool weighs more in summer than in winter. Now, while it is true that the air is heavier in cold than in warm weather yet as applied to the case under consideration this fact has no influence whatever, because the air in which the wool is weighed is as heavy as that contained in the wool. A bag which will hold a pound of atmospheric' air, will weigh no more when it is full of air than when it is folded up and empty, because the atmosphere in which it is weighed is as heavy as that in the bag. So of the wool. If it is heavier in winter than in summer, it cannot be owing to the heavier air which it contains. The air weighs nothing either in summer or winter. A pound of water surrounded by water of the same temperature, Notes on the Weather from August 15th to Septem ber 16th, 1862.— The weather has continued fine to the end of August. The temperature of the first half waa 72.9°, or 2.5° above the mean for twenty-five rears. The last half was cooler, being 66.7°, or 0.8° below the averag The mean of the month was 69.7°, or 1.2C above the average. The hottest noon was 88° on the 26th, which was also the hottest day, 75.7°. The coldest morning at 7, was 4'J on the 30th, which was the coldest day, 57.7° ; but the coldest noon was 65°, on the 24th. The heat and cold the month is much like that of August of last year. The rain of the month was only 2.22 inches; several thunder showers. On the 22d and 26th, very heavy showers, with. almost constant lightning for two hours, passed north ot us, and were followed with great fall of temperature. The harvest of wheat was great and finely secured. Apples and pears became plenty, and plums were fine; apricots had disappeared, and were followed by peaches from our own vicinity, many of which were sent away in the last week. Peaches are a fortnight later than two years ago. All vegetables of the finest quality a abundant in their season. A very fine month of August. September began with heavy thunder and rain at 2} a. m. of the first, and in the day a great rain fell of 1.71 inches. At Buffalo the storm began at 11 p. m. the even- ing before, with high wind, but not so much wind lure, so that the storm was three hours in coming from BuflH here— the velocity less than twenty miles an hour. Very cool days were the 2d and 3d. Though the heat was onlj 43° at 7 a. M. of the 3d, very little frost was seen aboui us. These were cold days. More frost on the 14th, which touched in low places the tenderer leaves. Euin on th 12th was 0.22 inches, and on the 15th was 0.17 inches, being 2.10 inches for the half month, or very nearly equal to all the rain of August. The storm of the first of the month moved from west to east, and began at Marquette, on Lake Superior, at 9 p. m. of August 31st, two hours earlier than at Butfalo. Some frost occurred on the 3d ot the month, doing lit- tle injury, and more on the 14th, still injuring plants but little. The first frost ot last year was in October, and very severe. The season has been fine; fruits have matured. Peaches now abound, and of the finest quality, at moderate prices. The cold change at the beginning of the mouth est] ed from Lake Superior eastward over this State and New England. The comet, which appeared with little show before tl loth of August, was nearest the earth on August 26tl and disappeared some days ago, not having been disposet to make a display. The temperature of this half was 64.2°, only 0.3 above the mean for twenty-five years. The heat was at noon of the 6th 86°, and the coldest morning was 43°, on the 3d. The Genesee Farmer.— We have been favored with this valuable agricultural monthly for September. As a friend recently remarked, we do not understand how Mr. weighs nothing ; so a pound of air, surrounded 'by air of ^T pub!i8he81 s° Sood R monthly for the sma» *»*- the «p tn,„™r»t„r„ L^ 1- SUrrouuaeffl b? air 01 senp ion price asked, unless the Farmer has an enormous the same temperature, weighs nothing. ] «rculation.-Za/*«- County (Mich.) Bepublican. I itiiL, IjK&JN .&».&.& UAKMJ&K. 0Z3 New York State Fair. — Notwithstanding the excited mdition of the public mind, the indications now are that e shall have a good exhibition. We trust the farmers f Western New York, their wives and daughters, and le sous that have not gone to the war, will turn out in ill force. Next to the maintenance of the Government, le improvement of our agriculture is of most importance » the prosperity of the American people ; and next to te agricultural press, the annual exhibition of the dif- irent Agricultural Societies are the most important leans of introducing and enhancing improved methods I cultivating the soil and increasing the productiveness I the farm. Let there be a grand assemblage at Roches- sr the first week in October. We shall be happy to make le personal acquaintance of our readers on that occa- ion. One word more : Do not neglect your County and Town 'airs. They are of as much, if not greater, importance to le improvement of agriculture as the more extensive thibitions. Come to the State Fair if you possible can > ut at all events spare no efforts to make your own local inhibitions increasingly useful and popular. Health op the Army. — There is no doubt that a great eal of physical suffering and sickness in the army might e avoided by proper food and drink. The late David somas, who explored the line of the Erie Canal from ochester to Buffalo, and afterward superintended its instruction as Chief Engineer, had an unusual aud most intuitive knowledge of physiology as connected ith disease. His first or exploring company occupied 1 entire summer in passing from Rochester to Buffalo irough a new country, and encamped in tents. The lembers of this company were ordered to drink no ater thai had not been previously boiled, (either for tea, )ffee, or otherwise,) and intoxicating drinks were pro ibited. All who observed these orders remained wel uring the summer; those who broke them were taken ith fevers. It was the first strictly temperance com- any, probably, that bad been employed in such service; ad, for the amount of exposure, passed through re- tarkably unharmed, with the exceptions stated. A milar course with the United States Volunteers would oubtless save thousands. Another very important requisite for the preservation f health, is a regular supply of fruit with the food. We ave met with those who have emigrated early to the Vest, and were exposed to the epidemics which formerly revailed in newly occupied regions, who have stated that rhen such a supply could be obtained, they have nearly Iways escaped disease. Only a few days since, a resident 3r some twenty years in one of the Western States in- jrmed us that when removing there, they took a large mount of dried fruit ; and although enduring many irivations the first season, the whole family remained lealthy, as long as the supply of dried fruit remained. ?he next season and afterward, notwithstanding the ad- lition of many comforts not before possessed, several of he .family suffered from sickness. This is an abundant ruit season ; and it may be well to secure a large amount he coming autumn by drying, for those who are absent rom the comforts of home. — Country Gentleman. The Crops in England. — The English papers are filled with gloomy accounts of the late harvest. The Agricul- lural Gazette has reports from about 200 gentlemen in dif- ferent sections of the country, and the editor, in remark- ing on these reports, says : " There can be no doubt that the wheat harvest of 1862 is one of the worst we have had for many years." The last Mark Lane Express says : "Seldom has a season so altogether unpropitious in its opening been followed by so little change for the better. One looks on 'the summer' of sixty-two as chiefly re- markable for three or four hot days— a very oasis in a desert of damp, ungenial weather." It thinks that "so far as the yield can yet be proved, it is fearfully below an average." >«« Selecting Seed Wheat. — The Maine Farmer, in an ar- ticle on this subject, mentions the following interesting fact: It will be remembered that at the meeting of the Board of Agriculture last winter, Mr. Haines, of Aroostook, stated that he one year separated his seed wheat, so as to have the largest, heaviest kernels only to sow. In this way he obtainedjabout ote peck from a bushel. A bushel and a half of this selected wheat was sown side by side in another field with wheat uncleansed, and the former was four times as good as the latter, and the yield cor- respondingly heavier. The fields upon which it was sown were very uniform in character throughout, and the difference in the looks of the wheat could be distinguish- ed as far as the field could be viewed so as to see the grain. »•« Size of Sheep.— The girth of the First Prize Rams at the last Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society, was as follows : Oxfordshire Down 5 ff. 3 in. » Shropshire Down 5 ft.' Cotswold 5 ft_ Hampshire Down 4 ft. 7 in. Leicester 4 ft. 7 in! South Down 4 f£ 6 in. They were about sixteen months old. ■ •►••* Four Hundred and Eighty Pages for Fifty Cents ! — By subscribing for the Genesee Farmer at this time, a large book of four hundred and eighty pages, filled with agri- cultural and horticultural information, and other matter interesting to every cultivator of the soil, well illustrated with wood engravings, can be obtained for the nominal sum of fifty cents ! Who need be without an agricul- tural paper? . »♦» The Genesee Farmer.— The September number of this welcome agricultural periodical has come to hand. Re- peatedly we have had occasion to recommend this maga- zine to farmers and country readers. We may now ob- serve that it cannot fail to prove of interest to city people of a horticultural turn. A good portion of its space is devoted to horticultural and Horicultural matters. A series of articles entitled "Walks and Talks in the Garden" con- vey important facts in gardening in a most delightful way. — Kingston (C. W.) Daily News. ►«.. •>' A New Agricultural Journal. — Dr. C. W. Grant, of Iona, near Peekskill, N. Y., has started a new monthly horticultural and agricultural journal, which is styled "Landmarks." Dr. G. has had large experience as a hor- ticulturist and is an able writer, and cannot fail to maka a useful paper. The price is $1.00 per annum. . t . Thb Rural Annual and Horticultural Directort for 18G3 is now in course of preparation. We hope to make it fully equal to any of the seven previous volumes. 824 THE GENESEE FARMER. Agricultural Items. PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR TIIE OENB9EE FARMER. J. H. Hollistkr, of California, has a flock of eight thou- sand sheep. Ekgland consumes 300,000 bushels of grain per day more than she produces! A cheese sent to the International Exhibition from Canada weighed 1,042 lbs. The Wisconsin State Agricultural Society has decided not to hold any Fair this year. The early sown spring wheat this [year is said to be much better than the late sown. The crops in Maryland are almost a failure, owing to the depredations of the grain aphis. During a single week in August, there arrived at Cin- cinnati over ten thousand bushels of peaches. In the Iowa Homestead of Aug. 7th, we notice no less than seventeen advertisements of stray horses. McDonald, of Baltimore, the owner of Flora Temple, has sold all his blooded stock and has abandoned the turf The Shakers it is said are joining the Jews and Mahom- etans, in eschewing pork — because they think it is un- healthy. The crop of flax seed this year is said to be unusually large. That of Ohio alone is estimated at a million bushels. Parson Brownlow, of Tennessee, has accepted an invi- tation to deliver the address at the Michigan State Fair, Sept. 23—26. The Russian Government has recently purchased some Shorthorn cattle, Oxford Down and Southdown sheep and other improved stock, in England. C. E. Goodrich, the great potato authority at Utica, N. Y., says this is, thus far, the most prosperous potato season of any during the last 18 years, with the exception of 1S52. The largest prize Shorthorn bull of his age, at the late show of a Royal Ag. Society, was 8 ft. 8 in. round the girth. He was near 2J years old. At the same age, the Shorthorns were larger than the Herefords. The Illinois State Fair was appointed to be held at Pe- oria the first week of October. It appears that the Fair grounds have been appropriated to military purposes, and it has been decided not to hold any exhibition this year. Josiah Qdinct, Jr., has a farm of 200 acres, which he devotes to producing milk for the citizens of Boston. He keeps from 100 to 130 cows. They are kept in the barn all the year round. He soils his cows in summer with green food. Corn, millet, barley, rape and other grains and plants are grown, and cut green for this purpose. By this means he has raised the farm to a high degree of productiveness. He cuts about 400 tons of hay per annum. It averages from two to three tons per acre. The cows are principally Natives and Ayrshires ; the average yield is from 8 to 10 quarts of milk per cow. As soon as one fails to give 5 or 0 quarts, she is fattened for market. Some cows at this time give 15 quarts per day. Inquiries and Answers. Corn Husker. — (John Williams,) R. L. Howard, o Buffalo, manufactures a corn husker, which is said to bi good, but we have never used it. A very convenient thing to assist in husking corn is a peg of hard wood about four inches long, sharp at one end, and fastened to the hand by a leather strap passing over the two middle fingers. The point comes up between the thumb and fingers, just right to use instead of the thumb-nail .in tearing off the husks, and out of the way in handling and breaking off the ea^ It is of especial use if the corn has been cut a little green' and the husks are thick and tight. Sowing Winter Rye. — (N. H.) Rye may be sown both earlier and later than winter wheat. On corn land, from which the corn cannot be removed in time to sow wheat with safety, rye may be sown and do well. It succeeds well on very light sandy soils — on soils too light and too poor for winter wheat. If sown early a bushel and a half of seed per acre is sufficient — if later, two bushels. It germinates slowly, and if the laud is wet it is apt to rot in the ground when sown late. Sorghdm for Sugar. — (W. M.) We have had no expe- rience in making sugar from sorghum. We believe a slight frost does not hurt it if ground up immediately, before it has time to ferment and sour. For making syrnp grind the whole stalks, except the extreme upper portion; for sugar, cut off one-third of the upper portion and feed it to stock. Preserving Wood. — (M. Allen.) The process you al- lude to is to soak the shingles three or four days in a so- lution of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). About a pound of vitriol to two quarts of water is the proper strength. Posts should be soaked a week. Coal Tar for Fencb Posts.— The New York World says coal tar can be obtained for a trifle at our gas works — at a less rate, it is said, than before the discovery of oil springs — and abundant testimonies from practical men show that it is highly preservative. Whether its odor will drive the cut-worm forty rods, skedaddling, we are not certain. It is rather offensive to human olfactories1; but when we consider that its odor is not injurious, but is rather healthful than otherwise, the offense will be some- what diminished. Heat it to boiling, and apply it hot to the whole base of the post, from the end to about a foot above ground. When hardened apply another coat, and set the post when dry. In setting a fence post, tamp it very hard at the bottom. If you then tamp it still harder at the top, the middle will be solid also, and the post will stand firmly. We have set thousands, and they did not make a crooked fence— would hardly have staggered if they had been drenched with new rum. But they rotted off mighty soon at the ground surface, and we wished they had been smeared with coal tar ; but did not know, before setting, its value for such a purpose. The Ohio Field Notes has been merged in the Ohio Fanner, Colonel Harris, the old editor of Field tote* taking charge of the paper. THE GENESEE FARMER. 825 Literary Notices. ILLUSTRATED HORSE DOCTOR. By Edward Mat- IP, M. R. C. V. S. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippbncott &, Co. 2. 8 is a reprint of an English work, admirably got "P and lely illustrated with engravings, showing the horse in all of comical attitudes. There is scarcely one of the four •ed pictures that will not cause a smile. Before we saw ook we had no idea that the horse was liable to so many les, or that the subject afforded such a fine Held for the s pencil. These pictures lead one to suppose that the work of a high scientific and practical character. If a work on :ine was illustrated with comic drawings, showing a man ing under the agonies of the gout, or the tortures of the ache, or shaking with the ague, wo should be apt to con- that the author was a quack. 30N BROWNLOW'S BOOK. Philadelphia: George W- lds. 1862. h is the interest felt in the redoubtable " Parson," that ty thousand copies of his Book have been already sold. rbody desired to hear his account of the doings ol the i and his own experience in the Knoxville jail, and his final e from Secessia. Some parts of the Book are of thrilling ist. and make one's blood boil by the recital of tbe suffer- >f the Unionists of East Tennessee. Other portions are oc- d with extracts from his old paper — the Knoxrille Whig— with speeches made on different occasions — all readable ;h but not particularly interesting. The Book was evidently p in a hurry, and was made to sell. The " Parson" never •emarkable for mildness of expression, and whatever else jesaid of his Book it certainly shows his consistency in this ct. ♦♦-» The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARMER. ) Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 18, 1862. j" ce our last report there have been few changes in the price heat and Corn. The tendency of the market has been sing, owing to the increase of ocean freights, but prices are f well maintained. About the last of August, Oais advanced jw Y >rk nearly 6c. per bush., but they hare again receded ;vious rates. Rye has advanced from le. to 2c. per bush, e Wool market has been excited, and prices have advanced 5c. to 7c. per lb. Common "Wool is now worth 5c. per lb. i than fine. Tbe price ranges here from 58@5Sc. Some clean tub-washed course Wool sold in New York a few since for 70c. p^r lb. ! Of course, this was an unusually i and fine sample. ts are scarce and in demand. There is as yet very little y in Barley. e recent accounts from England prove conclusively that the est has not been by any means to abundant as was anlicipa- ind it is certain that a large amount of Breadstuffs will be ired from this country. The crops in Portugal, also, are so ient that official notice has been given that the duty on n has been removed until April next. That Europe will re- 5 all the Grain we can spare is now no longer a matter of )t. The last London Mark Lane Ex-press says : "The better ecome acquainted with the Wheat crop, the l-ess satisfactory it appear." It also says there is little old Grain on hand, that they ilmust again be in the condition of large importers lie year through." [change on England has again advanced. It is now quoted W to 181 — that is to say, from 20 to 21 per cent, above its real e. In other words, the high premium on Exchange in- ses the value of American Produce full 20 per cent. Every g favors an increase of prices, except the high rate of rail- I, canal, lake and ocean freights. A great Union victory bt reduce the rate of Exchange, and this, of course, would be followed by a reduction of prices in all articles exported ; bnt on the other hand, it might increase our importation of Foreign Merchandise, and this would tend to keep up the rates of Ex- change. It is a remarkable fact that notwithstanding the high tariff and the high rate of Exchange, our importations of Foreign Good* are much larger than they were last year. These goods cost us from 50 to 70 per cent, more thin formerly, and yet the de- mand, contrary to expectation, i» increasing rather than dimin- ishing. This extravagance in dress is greatly to be deplored, but it has the effect of keeping up the rate of Exchange, and that keeps up the price of our agricultural products. Butter and Cheese have advanced. The exportation of these articles to Europe never was so great as at this time. The pre- mium on Exchange is more than sufficient to pay Vie freight, commission and icliole co.it or exportation , so that Butter and Cheese ought to be as high in New York as in London. Rochester, September 18.— While Wheat, $1 2S@1.80 ; Red, $1.0.s@.1.10. Corn, 5t;@6nc. Oats, 42@-!6e. Barley, 60@,65c, Beans, $1 50@$2.00. Butter, 12@18c. Eggs, 10@ V.'c. per doz. Wool, 53@58c, the latter lor course. Mill feed— Shorts. 7c. per bush, of 12@15 lbs., or by the quantity at $7.00@.8.00 per ton, Shipstuffs, $12@.13 per ton; Fine Middlings, $1S@,23 per ton. New York Cattle Market — September 16. — Last month we noted an advance of Xc. P**r lb. on Beef Cattle. This advance has been fully sustained. The average of all the sales last week was 7?i(g>Sc. per U> The greater proportion of the Cattle still come from Illinois, and :ire more tban an average quality. S.me of the scrubs which have been picked np at low prices and kept in this Stale during tin' summer, are now brought into market. They are in poor condition still — it being next to impossible to fatten ihetn. It is well to remark that for fattening purposes a poor, ill-bred animal is dear at any price. [We Tesrn by tele- graph that the number of Cuttle in market this week is very large, and it is probable prices will decline somewhat.] Milch Cows continue low, and those offered foi sale are gene- rally old ones which haveseen their besl days. They are bought by the distillery milkmen at from $20 to $85 e;:ch. A good milch Cow brings .$40 and some $45, but they are rare. Good Veal Calves are in demand at 6>jc; poor are sold as low as S^c. The Sheep market is active. Last week good Sheep were worth 2:')c. a head more than the week previous. The average price is about $3.50 per head. A fat lot of 100-lb. Sheep are worth $4.50. Some extra tut ones brought 5e. per lb. 'ihere is a demand for store Sheep to winter over at about $3.00 per head. Hogs have advanced %e. since our last month's report, and the i rrket is active. Heavv corn-fed Hogs, 4@4%c; medium, Zy ©3J£c.; light, SKdP^c. per lb , live weight. Horses are dull. Few are offered, but enough to supply the demand. Dealers report a scarcity in the country, and it is thought prices must advance. The exchange on Canada, which is now 15 per cent., cuts off the supply from that quarter. It amounts to a duty of 15 per cent, on ail articles imported from Canada. New York, September 17. — White Wheat ranges all the way from *1.35@1.55 per bush., and Rod from SI.1 7@1.85, according to quality — average samples of Western and Canadian White being from 81.85@1.4(t ; and of Red Winter $1. 25 @1. 30. Ind;an Corn, mixed Western. 55@.60c. Some choice White Southern was sold for shipping at 85c. Barley, 85c.@ $1 00. live, 80@S5c. Oats, 50@55c. Beans, medium, common to good, $2.2 '(?5\2.75 ; choice do., $2.S5@8.00; Marrows, common to good, *2.25@,2.75; choice do., $3.0!t@3.25. The new crop is not yet in. The above rates are for the old, and fre merely nominal. Butter— Supply lieht. Ferkins, State, l5@2Ce. : Western Re- serve, 14(f?i,15c. ; Pennsylvania and Western, 12@18e. ; Grease Butter, 9@,9^c. per lb. Cheese— Extra choice, 9@9}£c. ; choice, 1%@,%Ke.\ poor to fair. 6^(5*7Xc per lb. Eggs— 16@16%c. per ooz. Potatoes, choice Mercers and Peachhlows. $1,88@,2.12 per brl.; common. $1.38@1.62; Buckeyes, $1.25@L50; Junes, $1.0U@ 1.25 per brl. Apples— $1.00@1. 50 per brl. Pears— Common, $1.00@1.50 per brl.; Bartletts, *3.00@5.00; Seckels, 8.50@4,00. Plums— Common, 75c. per bush.; Blue Gage, $1.50; Wash- ington and Green Gage, $2.00. Wool--60@65c. pef lb. Hay— $13@14 per ton. Hops— New crop, 16(3>20c.; last year's crop, 13@18;\ per lb. Timothy Seed— $1.75@2.00 ; rough Flax Seed, old, $2.00; new, $2.10; Clover Seed, 8%c. per lb. St. Loots, September 11 — Common Fall Wheat. COc; fair to good, 65@70c; extra, 75c. Corn, 82(9; 35c. Oats,S8@40c. Hay, in bales, $15 per ton. Flax Seed, $1.25 per bush. "White Beans, $2.25@2.75 per bnsh. 326 THE GEKESEE FARMER. Chicago, September 16. — Red' Winter Wheat, No. 1, $1.05@ L10; No. 2, 90@98c; rejected, 80<&82c; Spring Wheat. No. 1, &5©88.; No. 2, 7o@7Sc; rejected, 6u@«7c. Corn— Mixed, 30® 32c; Yellow, 85@36c. Oats,31@33c. Rye, 40c. Barley— Sales of first quality have been made at 55c; of poor lots at 35c. Beans, $1.25@2.50, according to quality. Timothy seed, $1.40® 1.50. Flax Seed, $l.30@l.40. Butter, 10@llc. Eggs, 7@Sj£c. per doz. Apples, $1.00@2.00 per hrl. Potatoes, 35@40c. per bush for good qualities. Toronto, September 16.— Fall Wheat 90e.@$1.00; Spring, 80@86c. Barley, 50@56c. Kye, 60c Oats in demand at 38© 40c Peas, 50c. Potatoes abundant, and retail from 30@40c. per bush. Apples, $1.00@1.50 per brl. Fresh Butter is selling at 15c; a week or so ago it was worth 20c. Eggs. ll@12c. per doz. Chickens. 30@40c. per pair. Ducks, 40@50c. per pair. Torkies, S0c.©$1.00 each. Hay is advancing— $20 per ton has been paid, straw, $16 per ton. WooL 40®45c. per lb. Pelts, 70@7oc. each. y ' London, September 1.— American White Wheat, $1.71® 1.88; Bed, $1.56@1.CS. Barley, foreign lor grinding, 72®90c; tor dis- tilling, 96c.@$1.02. Oats, 60©Slc. Peas, $1.08@1.26. Indian Com, $1.02® 1,08. Butter, 22®28c. Cheese. Cheshire, 12@1 6c; American, 8^@ll^c. per lb. Wool, 31@41c. per lb. [We have tlve days later news by telegraph. Wheat had declined 10©12c per bush.] Philadelphia, September 16.— White Wheat, $1.35®1.45: Red, $1.25@1.31. Rye, 70©65c. Corn, 70@71c for prime Yel- Sow. Oats, 36c. Timothy Seed, $1.75®2.00; CloTer Seed, $5.00; Flax Seed, $l.30©1.90 per baBh. Pasturing Meadows.— An old farmer writing to the Boston Cultivator gives several facts from his experience going to show that newly-seeded clover does best when pastured down in the fall, and that "old fog" meadows never produce as valuable hay as they would if fed down moderately in autumn. The grass ought to start close to the ground, and not from the stalks left by the scythe, as in that case the sprouts do not get sap enough to sup- port them, and give that quick growth that is required for good hay. He adds, also, that he never knew good ooru to grow on land that had been mowed several years, and the hay carried off, and the old fog left on the land unfed. At the recent sale and letting of J. C. Taylor's cele- brated South Downs at Holmdel, N. J., 10 shearing rams sold for $523 ; 11 ewes for $479.50 ; 10 ram lambs for $201, and 14 ewe lambs for $386. This is an average of $35 per head for sheep and lambs. For such magnificent sheep these are very lotv prices. Five rams were rented for the season for $305, or an average of $61 each. ■ ►•< Thk Apple Crop.— The apple crop hereabouts prom. ises to be the best for many years. The trees every where are loaded with thrifty fruit. This section will afford tens of thousands of barrels of fruit for other markets. •-•*• At the office of the Ohio Farmer is a sample of wool taken from an ewe five years old that never had been shorn and never had a lamb. It is three feet long ! S. M. PETTENGILL & CO. No. 37 Park Row, New York, & 6 State St., Bosto are our Agents for the Gknksee Farmek in those citieo, and i authorized to take Advertisements and subscriptions for us at I Lowest Rates. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 3— ti TO BUILDERS AND FARMER!; BUILDING BRICK 'AND DRAIN TILE. THE Rochester Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company ; now prepared to meet all demands of either Builders or F mers wanting Brick or Tile. Pipe Tile of all sizes from two six inches, and Horse Shoe from two to ten inches. The T manufactured by this Company are longer lhan that made other manufacturers, being 16 inches in length, 1,000 pieces mi ing SO rods. They are also strong, hard burned, and every w of superior quality. The following list of prices snows the I rates at which we offer our Tile, and the facilities thus afford farmers for chuap underdraining : Per 1000 pieces. Per r< 2 inch Pipe $10 00 2( 8 u " 15 00 37 4 " " 30 (10 5t 5 " " 50 00 7; Round Tile in two pieces SO 00 $1 2E Horse Shoe Tile $1 oc 1 00 " 12 00 " " 16 00 " " 25 00 Pipe 60 00 " in two pieces loo 00 Persons wishing Tiles will find it to their interest to call at t office of the Company, 22 Buffalo street, Rochester, before pi chasing elsewhere. A large quantity of Brick always on hand. All orders for Bricks or Tiles, to be shipped by railroad canal, will be promptly attended to. For further information, address »c W. OTIS, Superintendent, Rochester, N. Y. ADVERTISEMENTS. A few short advertisements of interest to farmers— and only floch— will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer tor twenty-five cents a line, or $2.50 per square, each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lists of subscribers in every State 0 000 DELAWARE VINES, 200,000 CONCORD* ?, VrW VINES— strong, healthy and cheap. Send for Catalogue of Prices. Address WM. PERiiY & SON, ^P34 Bridgeport, Conn. THE GENESEE FARMER. J27 PORTANT TO FARMERS AND FRUIT-GROWERS | RECEIVER'S SALE OF NURSERY STOCK Proposed Re-Issue of the Kurnl American. • HE subscriber having received many solicitations from his old subscribers to republish the "Rural American,™ which » discontinued in ls6i, through the pressure of the war times 11 existing, now proposes to re-issue it, as a aemi-mont/ili/, to published in Unca, N. Y., on the 1st and 15th of each month, first No. to date January 1st. 1863, provided that one tlwusand sons shall offer to subscribe within three months, merely send- in th-ir names, without any money till the paper shall be dished. 'he price of said paper will be only Fifty Cents a year, and loord, Delaware, Diana, Rebecca, and all the choice kinds of pes, to the value otJiftyeent4,vr\\l be sum free to subscribers! (I in your names, and a circular will be sent, giving all the tils of this splendid offer, which will, it is believed, succeed, withstanding the continuance of the war, and the unsettled e of things generally. 'he paper will be entirely filled with articles on practical Agri- ure, .Horticulture, Hee-Kecping, Ac. Grape growing will re- re especial attention, and the paper will be worth double its :e, to say nothing of the gratuities in choice grape vines. '. B. — My old subscribers will hear of something to their ad- tage by sending me their names. Address c ' T. B. MINEK, Clinton, Oneida Co., N.Y. rpllE undersigned, appointed Receiver of the nursery stock of X the late firm of Gregory & Goldsmith, now offers 'the same I for sale to Dealers aud Nurserymen. The stock consists of i 4ii,00ti Dwarf Pears, 10,000 Standards, 20,000 Cherries 12 odd I Apple trees, and a large variety of Evergreens and Ornamental Shrubs, on the late farm of James II. Gregory, adjoining the nursery of Ellwanger &, Barry. The property is desirable" and will be sold low. Application should be made at once to PATRICK BARRY, Receiver, or his Agent, James H. Geeookt Dated August 1, 1862.— 3t "I# ARMERS AND OTHERS that wish to obtain quickly, in cash, the highest market prices for their farm produce, must 1 all their butter, cheese, lard, eggs, poultry, hams, game, etables, green and dried fruits, flour, grain, seeds, Ac, «Stc, to JOSIAH CARPENTER, Produce Commission Merchant, 82 Jay Stukkt, Nkw Yokk. returns the cash in ten days after receipt of goods, makes ad- ces on consignment, or buys for cash; and sends a weekly rice Current" to all shippers. oc2t NC0RD GRAPE VINES, AND BLUE- BLEECKER GAGE PLUM TREES. S'OW OFFER FOR SALE ABOUT FIFTEEN THOUSAND two-year old Concord Grape Vines, either singly, by the en, hundred or thousand, and at very low prices. Persons ring to purchase will please slate how many they want, aud ill at once send them my lowest terms, with no variation to "rent customers. The Concord is now well-known as beinsr best Vineyard and Garden Grape Known, ripening early and ting the best wme of any kind known. More full details of character of the Grape sent to all applicants, also offer for sale one thousand one-year old Blue-Bleecker ;e Plum Trees at $1 and $2 per dozen. This is the only m that is positively proof against the Curculio, bearing so tensely that that insect fails to perforate more fruit than ought rop off I am compelled to prop up all my trees this season :eep them from breaking down with the load of fruit upon n. No better plum exists for all purposes, dd-ess T. B. MINER, Clinton. Oneida Couuty. N. Y. . B. — A credit of from three to twelve months will be given urchasers, according to responsibility or security offered. jp-2t FARM FOR SALE ! DJOINING THE DEPOT— In Warren, Penn., of seventy- . five acres of land, with a new Frame House, nearly all ihed below in a good substantial manner, with a good Stone ar under the same. About twenty-five acres under improve- it, with seven acres more which might be put into wheat the (ent fall with trilling expense. It is first rate wheat land, and ell supplied with pure water from never-failing springs. For an who is desirous of going into the Iruit-growing business location cannot be surpassed in Western Pennsylvania, hav- the advantage of a home market with the highest prices. gT~ One-half of the purchase money may lay for one or two rs, if desired. I can be seen in Erie every day (Sundays ex- ted) from 11 A. M. till 3 P. M , and in Warren from 6# P. M. X% A. M. Any communication of inquiry directed to War- . Penn., will be promptly answered, farren, Sept. 1,1862.— St D.M.JAMES. L0DI PHOSPHATE, OMPOSED OF RAW BONES DISSOLVED IN SULPHUR- IC acid, night soil, guano and wool dust Made by the Lodi nufacturing Company expressly for winter grain and grass Is. This article will be warranted to contain no other mate- than tho«e mentioned above, and is undoubtedly the very ', manure in market from its composition, and will be sold at low price of $45 per ton, packed in barrels of 200 lbs. each, li weight, delivered free on board of vessel or railroad in w York city. 'oudrette of first quality for sale at usual rates. Apply to THE LODI MANUFACTURING CO., ep-2t 66 Cortland street, New York. THE CHILS0N FURNACE. THIS celebrated Furnace, which has beer, so extensively used in public and private buildings, and which has stood the test of experience alter various attempted imitations, is still for sale in Rochester. The different sizes are fitted for all classes of buildings, from th° cottage to the church. They can bo purchas- ed at lower rates than ever before, and any one desiring to man- ufacture these Furnaces can, on short notice, be furnished with a full set of iron patterns for all the different sizes. Further information can be obtained from the Editor of Uii» paper, sep— tf FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Biack, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOK\S PATENT GLACE for upper thread, and BUOOK'S SIX CO..D RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country : also in cases of 100 dozen each, assor.ed numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. Ja— ly Back Volumes of the Genesee Farmer. TT7E have the back numbers of the Genesee Farmer, hand- VV sornely bound, for the vears 1846, 1847, 1S4S, 1S49 1853 1865, 1850, 1857.. 185S,1S59, I860 and 1831. They will be sent free to any address lor $1.00 each. The last six volumes, from 5856 to 1S61 inclusive, handsomely bound, will be sent free by express, or by mail postage paid, for $5.00. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genesee Farmer, Rochester, N. Y. FOR SALE. TER AND LINCOLNSHIRE SHEEP, Durham and Galloway Cattle, male and one year old, Weighing from 22o to 285 $50 to $100 each. Canadian currency. A Lambs — price from $30 to $40 each, number of Sheep at the New Yoik State JOHN SNELL, Edmonton Post-office, C. W., miles west of Toronto on the G. T. RR. C10TSWOLD, LICE J male and female, female. Thirty Bucks, lbs. each ; price, from large number of Buck I intend to exhibit a Fair at Rochester. sep-2t 20 100,000 PLUM TREES. TO NURSERYMEN, DEALERS AND PLANTERS.— 60,000 2 and 3 yeurs from bud, 4 to 6 feet, stocky, $20 per 100. — Second size, 3 to 4 feet, $15 per 100. 40,000 1 year old, 8 feet, $12 per loo. These Plum trees are budded on Plum stock, not on Peach, as those worked on Peach are worthless in a few years. Address, C. REAGLES & SON, sep-2t Sc henectady, N. Y. CLOVER HULLING AND CLEANING MA- CHINES. HULLS AND CLEANS FROM THREE TO TEN BUSHELS per hour. Late improvement, patented March 25. 1862. Description of this great machine sent gratis on application. Made and for sale only by M. H. MANSFIELD, Patentee. sep-3t Ashland, Ohio. AGENTS WANTED AT ONCE FOR A CEMPLETE HISTORY OF THE T3T7,T>T?T T T/^"\T To be issued bt Tlie Au- JA-C/-DX!j1j-L/1\J1> burn Publishing Co. Prospectus and Descriptive Circulars sent free to those who>rite to E. G. STORKE, Auburn, N. Y. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the Wood Cuisus^d in the Gene- see Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A book containing Impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipi of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Roobbstbb, N. Y. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Agriculture and the War 297 Salting Cheese and Meat 29S Wine Making 299 Wire Worms in Wheat 299 Breeds of Cattle 3"° The Agriculture of ths State of New York 302 High Farming 304 New Mode of Catching Trout 304 Gathering Apples 304 James W, F. Johnston 305 McCormiek's New Reaper in England 800 A Novel Way of Curing a Breachy Horse 80G Management of Honey Bees 307 A X'rairie Farm 307 Devon Cattle 309 Turnips do not Injure the Land 309 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 317 News Items 321 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Walks and Talks in the Garden— No. 6 310 A Fruit Garden in Iowa 313 Charcoal for Grape Vines 313 Burving Grapes in the Ground 314 Transplanting Bearing Grape Vines in Summer 314 How to Keep a Gar len Clean 315 Horticultural Items from Foreign Journals 315 Death of a Horticulturist 310 MISCELLANEOUS. A Sailor's Story of a Pig 31S Piety and Profits 818 Taking Him Down 318 A Farmer's Opinion 318 A Scotch Pulpit Joke 818 ladies' department. Original Domestic Receipts 319 Fashions for October 319 TOUNG PEOPLE'S PAGE. Watching for Pa 320 How far can Crows Count? 820 Self-Control 320 The Dry Stream 320 EDITOR S TABLE. The Genesee Farmer for 1803 Notes on the Weather Why Wool Increases in Weight by Keeping New York State Fair Health of the Army The Crops in England Size of Sheep A New Ag. Journal Coal Tar for Fence Posts Items, Notices, «&c Agricultural Items Inquiries and Answers, Literarv Notices The Markets, 322 822 ::22 323 323 323 323 323 322 324 324 324 325 325 ILLUSTRATIONS. Wire Worms in Wheat Native Cow Milch Cow • • • • Heads of Cattle (eight illustrations) 301, James W. Johnson Devon Cow Diaper Rogue Plum Grape Vine Traicned on the Double Spur System European Linden The Original Howe Sewing Machine! T)ECENT and important improvements having been put to JA> to this Machine renders it now the most perfect before [he public, and persons at a distance can order a Machine with a guarantee ol its prompt and safe delivery, and that they will be able to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking needles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making [any ourment, however delicate or heavy, on the same Machine, either in cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- chasing a Sew;ng Machine -without firs! seeing this— the latest and greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing Machine. . r^~ Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices. A few responsible Agents would be dealt with liberally. Address THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES, July, 1862.— 2tt 437 Broadway, New York. MORETON LODGE, NEAR GUELBH, C. W IMPORTANT SALE OF IMPORTED AND PURE BRED SHORT-HORNED CATTLE! Cotswold, Leicester and South Down Sheep, Berkshire an Small White Breed of Pigs. WS. G. KNOWLES beg3 to announce that he has receive! • instructions from Fred. Wm. Stone, Esq., to offer FOR SALE AT AUCTION, On Wednesday, 15th October Next, At Moreton Lodge, near Guelph, C. W., thirty imported and pull bred SHORT-HORNED CATTLE, one hundred and fifty in ported and pure bred COTSWOLD, LEICESTER AND SOUTI DOWNSHEKP, consisting of Rams, Ram Lambs and Ewes; at twenty-five Berkshire and Small White Breed of PIGS, of di ferent ages. The SHORT HORNS are imported and bred from some of fl most fashionable herds, such as Capt. Gunter's, Col. Kingscote Messrs. Tanqueray's, Ambler's,Bolden's, Bowley \s Sandy's, Jon Webb's. Smythe Owen's, and other eminent breeders. The Cot wold Sheep are imported, or bred from imported stock, from tl flocks of Messrs. Ruck, Slatter, Brown, Langston, Game, Wak field and other celebrated breeders. Mhe Leicester are impoi ed from Mr. Pawlett's flock, and the Southdowns Imported ar bred from the celebrated Buckland and Babraham flocks of S R. Throckmorton and Jonas Webb. The Berkshire Pigs, fro the finest Buckland Stock; the small Whtte Breed, from Car Gunter's. gW Catalogue, with Pedigrees and other particulars, ar are now in preparation and will shortly be issued, and may 1 had on application to Mr. KNOWLES, or of Mr. STONE, Guelph. Guelph, 8th September, 1862. TO GROWERS OF SPRING WHEAT. CHAPPELL &SPMGUE, HOCHESTER, N. Y., SOLE MANUFACTURERS 0 M O w H > > o 03 > > H Q O > H J73 td > Ed w r* fed o K > "BOOTH'S COMPOUND SHAKER" FOR SEPARATING OATS, BARLEY, AND OTHER FOE eign substances from Wheat, it is the best, simplest ciiRArKST and only Machine ever invented, that thoroughly ae complishes the desired end. Farmers can always get from fiva to ten cents per bushel more for their Wheat if properly cleaned Ii cleans from 150 to 200 bushels per day, and a boy can operate il and its exceeding LOW PRICE Brings it within the reach of every Farmer. On receipt of 813 DOLLARS, a Machine (with printed instructions for operating, will be shipped as directed. Those wishing to engage in fh« sale of the Machine and purchasing by the dozen, will have 8 fair discount made to them. All orders to be addressed to CHAPPELL & SPRAGUE, Rochester, N. Y., sep-6t Sole Mauufactu»ere. Pi"F ^» IHK 0 "W^gm Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., NOVEMBER, 1862. No. 11. EXPERIMENTS ON SORGHUM. During the past summer we made some experi- ments on the Chinese Sugar Cane, with various artificial manures, the results of which may not be altogether without interest to the readers of the Genesee Farmer. The soil on which the experiments were made is a sandy loam. It has been under cultivation for probably thirty years, and being on a detached portion of the farm, a mile or so from the barn- yard, it has never been manured. It is, therefore, in good condition for showing the effects of dif- ferent manures. It had been down in clover and grass for three years, and was broken up last spring. It was got into a fine mellow condition, and the sorghum planted in hills about 3 feet 4 inches apart on the 4th of June. The seed was treated as follows : Boiling water was poured on to it, and allowed to stand one and a. half to two minutes. Cold water was then added, and the seed remained for twenty-four hours, the water being changed once or twice. We think if it had been allowed to soak longer it would :iave been all the better, as the husk is very tough wad hard. Each plot consisted of the twentieth of an acre. Dne row was left between each plot, without any Manure, in order to prevent, the plants on one plot jetting any of the manure from the adjoining plots. The manures were applied in the hill. The soil was scooped out with the hoe, the manures put in md worked into the soil as thoroughly as possible, ind the fresh soil drawn over and the seed planted. Fhis was done so as to prevent the seed from joining in contact with such manures as are known x) injure the seed. The remainder of the field was planted to Indian ;orn, without manure of any kind, and produced l fair crop. As compared with the Indian corn, ;he sorghum seed germinated slowly and the growth )f the plants was quite feeble. When the plants had got fairly started, and the roots had firm hold of the soil, the growth on some of the plots during the hot summer weather was exceedingly rapid — much more so than that of the Indian corn in the same field. On the best plots the sorghum attained a height of at least nine or ten feet. The sorghum was cut October 7 and 8, and the stalks accurately weighed in the field. The follow- ing is the result: MANUT.E USED PER ACF.K. ACTUAL YIELD OP SOKGHUM PEE ACRE. No. 1. — No manure, 0 2. — 400 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, 4 S. — 100 lbs. superphosphate of lime, 9 4. — 400 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, ami | fi 400 lbs. superphosphate of lime, f 5—250 lbs. of plaster, (sulphate of lime.) ... 10 6. — 40 bush, unleached, hard-wood ashes, { K (2,000 lbs.) f ° 7. — 40 bush, unleached ashes, and ) - 250 lbs, of plaster (mixed together.) ) S.— 200 lbs of common salt, 8 9. — 400 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, ) 400 lbs. superphosphate of lime, and... V 4 40 bush, of unleached ashes, | | 10. — °40 bush, of unleached ashes, and. ... [ 7 400 lbs. of superphosphate of lime, J 11. — No manure, 1 Tons. Owt. Qrs. Lift. 17 9 14 4 16 3 7 14 0 3 8 0 Before commenting on these remarkable results, it may be well to state that on all the plots there were more or less missing hills. The seed either rotted in the ground or was injured by the manure. There should have been 201 hills on each plot; but the actual number of hills at the time of cutting was as follows : No. No. of /Tills. 1. — No manure, 128 2. — Sulphate ammonia, 122 3. — Superphosphate, 184 4. — Sulphate ammonia and superphosphate, 142 5.— Plaster, i«4 6.— Ashes 1 62 7. — Ashes and piaster, 169 8.— Salt 161 9. — Sulphate ammonia, ashes and .superphosphate, 112 10. — Ashes and superphosphate, 176 11. — No manure, 171 On the uninanured plot (No. 1,) it will be seen, there were 72 missing hills. Some of them came up, but seemed to die off for want of nourishment. The plot presented a very sorry appearance. Here and there a hill appeared to have got hold of something that gave it a little start, but the greater proportion of the stalks 330 THE GENESEE FARMER. were poor, shrivelled, spindling things, rang- ing from one to three feet in height — the ma- jority not more than two feet, and many of them not a foot high. On the unman ured plot (No. 11,) on the other side of the experiments, the plants did a little better. "Why we cannot say. But even here the sorghum presented a miserable appear- ance, the plants being only from two to three feet high, and many of them not that. As we have before said, a row was left without manure between each plot, and these rows, with the excep- tion of here and there a hill which seemed to have got a little food from the adjoining manured row, the plants had the same starved, stunted and shrivelled appearance. "With the exception of Mr. Lawes' turnip experiments, and where one plot was left continuously without manure for many years, we have never seen such a marked difference be- tween the unmanured and manured rows as in these experiments on sorghum. On plot No. 9, dressed with ashes, superphos- phate and sulphate of ammonia, there were 88 missing hills. In this case we have no doubt that the manure injured either the seed or the young plants. The hills that were left, however, were all strong, green and healthy, and the plants seemed to have more seed than on any other plot. On plot No. 2, dressed with sulphate of ammo- nia, there were 78 missing hills. Here, again, un- doubtedly, the manure, notwithstanding the great care which was used to prevent such a result, had injured either the seed or the young plants. It should have been diffused more generally through the soil* Assuming that none of the hills had missed, the yield per acre would have been as follows : CALCULATED YIELD PER ACXE, IF NONE OF THE HILLS HAD MISSED. jy-0. Tons. Owt. Qrs, Lbs. 1.— No manure, 1 7 0 20 % — Sulphate ammonia, 6 17 1 15 3.— Superphosphate, 10 5 3 15 4._9ul. ammonia and superphosphate,. 9 9 8 11 5.— Plaster (gypsum), 11 1 3 0 6.-AsUes, 7 3 3 20 7.— Ashes anrl plaster, 8 10 0 20 8.— Salt, 4 3 3 23 9. — Sul. ammonia, superphosphate and ashes, 8 7 3 12 10. — Ashes and superphosphate, 8 0 0 0 11.- -No manure, 1 12 2 22 Whether we look at the actual yield, or at that which would have been obtained it' none of the hills had missed, the main features of the results are the same. The effect of plaster (gypsum or * Borne may ask, " Why not have sown the manures broad- east and harrowed Ihem in ?" Such a method would be better ; but it is difficult to sow such manures broadcast by hand without getting more or less of them on to adjoining plots. Under or- dinary circumstances, we should certainly sow anamoniacal ma- nures broadcast and harrow them in. sulphate of lime,) is perfectly astonishing. At the time of the first hoeing (July 10) we wrote in our note-book, "superphosphate and plaster the best.,T These two plots (Nos. 3 and 5) all through the sea- son were obviously superior to any other, No, 4 gaining on them a little during September. The superphosphate used in these experiments was made from calcined bones expressly for our own use. It was a very superior article. But we may here remark that the best superphosphate that can be made contains over 50 per cent, of plaster. The object of converting bones into su- perphosphate is this: Phosphate of lime is in- soluble in water. It contains 3 atoms of lime, united with 1 atom of phosphoric acid. Super- phosphate is soluble in water. It contains 1 atom of lime, united with 1 atom of phosphoric acid. Now to convert the insoluble phosphate of lime into the soluble superphosphate, we have to take away by chemical means two atoms of lime-. This is done by adding sulphuric acid to the phos- phate of lime in bones. Superphosphate is, then, a mixture of soluble phosphate of lime and plaster. The 400 lbs. of superphosphate applied to plot No. 3, probably contained about 200 lbs. of sul- phate of lime or plaster. If our common plaster contains 80 per cent, of sulphate of lime, the 250 lbs. applied to plot No. 5 would contain the same quantity of real plaster as the 400 lbs. of super- phosphate applied to plot No. 3. If 90 per cent., it would get 25 lbs. more real plaster than plot No. 3. The plots receiving superphosphate and plaster, are the two best plots of the whole series. Plot No. 5 is a little the best. It is probable that it received a little more real plaster than plot No. 3. One thing is clear: the soluble phosphate of lime in the superphosphate did no good. On the one plot (No. 5) we have plaster alone; and on the other plot (No. 3) we have plaster and soluble phosphate ; and yet the crop is no better from the two together than from the plaster alone. It is evident, therefore, that the phosphate did no good. "What was it that caused such an immense in- crease over the unmanured plot? Taking the best of the unmanured plots, and adding all the missing hills, we have still over six times as much produce from the plastered land as where no manure was used! To what is this owing? We frankly con- fess we do not know. If we say the soil was deficient in sulphate of lime, why is it that salt, which contains none, more than doubled the crop; and why did the ashes quadruple the yield? May THE GENESEE FARMER. 331 it not be due to the plaster accelerating the growth of the young plants, and enabling them to throw out roots and occupy the ground, and thus helping them to get all the food they required ? If this is the true explanation, the one great practical trutji to be drawn from these experiments is the importance of giving plants an early start. In a future number we hope to be able to give the amount of sugar and other ingredients con- tained in the produce from the various plots. EXPERIMENTAL FARMERS. Ten farmers in Chester county, Penn., have formed themselves into a club for the purpose of making experiments in agriculture. The idea is a most happy one. The farmer who originated the movement deserves the thanks of the whole agri- cultural community. We do not know his name, or we would put it at the head of the agricultural worthies of the age. We would — make him an honorary life-subscriber to the Genesee Farmer, or testify our respect in any other way that would be most acceptable to such a true friend to agricul- tural improvement. Long may the Experimental Farmers' Club of Chester county flourish, and may their example be followed in every county in the land, until the present guess-work system of cul- tivation shall give way to one based on exact and definite knowledge ! The first experiment they made was to deter- mine the proper time to cut wheat. We have not space to give the details, which are published in the Germantown Telegraph, but may say that the experiments prove that the best time to cut wheat is when the grain can be pressed between the thumb and finger, and leave nothing but the husk and a thick pulp, without any fluid around its edges. If cut earlier, when there is a milky sub- stance in the grain, there will be a loss; and if later, when the grain becomes hard, the weight per bushel is less, and the quality is not so good. In this particular case the wheat cut July 11 was the best; three days before or after this date made but little difference The Club is also making experiments to deter- mine the best time to cut oats ; also the effect of applying plaster to potatoes at different stages of their growth ; and also the effect of salt and plas- ter, alone and mixed, on wheat and grass. They also propose to ascertain by experiment whether there is not a loss sustained by allowing manure to remain long spread before plowing in. If any member of the Club sustains any loss in experiments, the other members make it up by contribution. This is well ; for all who have had experience know that it is impossible to make ex- periments without more or less pecuniary loss. One common error in making experiments is attempting too much. Take for instance an experi- ment made a few years ago on the " Model and Experimental Farm" at Petersburg, Va. The managers wished to ascertain whether wheat did best after peas or after corn. They also wished to ascertain whether guano was best harrowed in or plowed under. So some pea-land was sown with wheat, and also some corn-land. So far, so good. The. result would have shown which was best. But in order to determine whether it was best to plow under guano or harrow it in, they sowed guano on the corn ground and plowed it under, and also the same quantity on the pea-land and har- rowed it in ! Now had these experiments been made separately, they would have shown whether peas or corn were best to precede wheat, and whether guano should be harrowed in or plowed under. As it was, the experiment proved nothing. They aimed to kill two birds with one stone and missed both ! Another point of great importance is to deter- mine before making the experiment what it is you wish to ascertain. Sit down and draw out a plan of the experiments, and then imagine the crops harvested with certain results, and see if they prove what you wish to find out. This may seem unnecessary, but the absence of a single experiment to determine a certain point may render the whole series of experiments of no value. For instance: A few years ago a committee was appointed to make experiments on the "Massachusetts Model Farm" at Westboro. They undertook, among other things, to determine the value of different artificial fertilizers. They sowed guano, super- phosphate, poudrette, &c, &c, on different plots, out forgot to leave any plot without manure ! so that when they got through they could not tell whether the manures did good or harm 1 Small-Pox among Sueep. — The small-pox has attacked the sheep in Wiltshire, England, to such an extent as to make public action on the subject necessary. Innoculation has been practiced very extensively, but an innoculated animal is as dan- gerous to a flock of healthy sheep as one which has the disease from natural causes ; so that the trouble has often been much aggravated by this means. S82 THE GENESEE FARMER, feSSia* THE AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. A few of our Agricultural Societies, on account of the excited condition of the country, decided to hold no exhibitions this year. The great majority of them, however, held their Fairs as usual, and, as a general thing, the wisdom of this policy was clearly shown by the result. So far as we have seen and heard, the attendance, though not as large as in more peaceful times, was fully equal to last year. Great honor is due to the enterprising officers of these societies, who, in the midst of discourage- ments and uncertainties, are found unwilling to abandon these annual gatherings, or to give up ought which experience has proved favorable to agricultural improvement. If there ever was a time in our history when all classes were interested in the advancement of agriculture and kindred pursuits, that time is now ; and we cannot but rejoice that there are found so many men of intelligence who are willing to use all their influence for the promotion of this impor- tant object. YERMONT STATE FAIE. The first State Fair of the season was that of Vermont, held at Rutland September 9-12. The Society was organized in 1851, and has done much •towards improving the breeds of horses and sheep, for which the State is so justly celebrated. In these two classes of animals the show this year was, as usual, excellent. The other departments of the Fair did little credit to the farmers of the State. Horace Greeley delivered the address. The attendance was large, and the Fair, in a pecu- niary point of view, quite a success. During the first day of the Fair a ""Wool Growers' Convention" was held, at which the Sec- retary of the State Society, Daniel Needham, delivered an interesting address. He thought there was no danger of getting too many sheep, as we annually import, as wool or woolen fabrics, the product of thirteen millions of sheep. There was a favorable prospect of high prices for wool for the next few years. The -supply of cotton was cut off, and the demand for wool for army purposes was very large. The farmers of Vermont thought the Spanish Merino best suited to their climate and mountain pastures. It seemed to be the opinion of many of the wool-growers present that it was better to shear sheep without washing. THE OHIO STATE FAIR Was held at Cleveland September 16-20. Great fears were entertained for its success. The week previous the rebels threatened to attack Cincinnati, and the whole State was thrown into great excite- ment. Still, the Fair was held, and proved a suc- cess. Over thirty thousand people were on the grounds during Thursday. The display of articles- was highly creditable to the State. In the sheep department especially the show was large and ex- cellent. A Vermont breeder informs us that he has never seen, at any Fair, a better display of fine- wooled sheep. There were eleven exhibitors from Vermont, and many sales were effected at good prices. Some pens of Cashmere goats, exhibited by S. S. Williams, of Jonesville, attracted much attention. It is said that these animals shear from three to five pounds per head, and the wool sells for eight dollars per pound ! THE MICHISAN STATE FAIR, Held at Detroit September 23-26, was in many respects quite successful. Here, as in Ohio, the entries of stock were not as large as usual, but the quality was superior. Parson Brownlow delivered the address on Thursday, and the rush of people to the grounds was unprecedented in the annals of the Society. The total receipts were $2,656 more than last year, and the Society is again in a flourish- ing and prosperous condition. THE PROVINCIAL FAIR OF CANADA WEST Was held at Toronto September 23-26. It was, in many respects, the best Fair we ever attended on this side of the Atlantic. The show of cattle and sheep was truly magnificent. There were three hundred and sixty-three different exhibitors in the stock department alone ! The number of entries in this department foots up eighteen hundred and fourteen ! The Society published this year for the first time a catalogue of the entries of stock. It made a handsome volume of one hundred pages. It was a great convenience both to visitors and exhibitors, and if possible we hope the plan will be adopted by our State Societies. Let us take a glance at the Fair — it must be but a glance; and first for the Shorthorns, or, as they are still called in Canada, the Durhams. What a grand display ! There are one hundred and twenty- two entries! The Durhams are evidently the fa- vorite breed in Canada. Fred. W. Stone, Esq., President of the Association, exhibits, as usual, some splendid animals. He has taken the sweepstakes for the best herd of Durhams. John Snell, Geo. Miller, and other prominent breeders, are also well represented. THE GENESEE FARMER. 333 In the Devon class there are nihety-tive entries. Daniel Tye, of Wilmot, shows twenty-one head, and there are many other large exhihitors. The Devons are looking up. There are but twenty-six entries of Hereford's, but the quality of the stock is unsurpassed. F. W. Stone and J. McMioking are the only exhibitors. There is a large display of Ay rehires — P. R. Wkigiit, of Ooburg, and many others exhibiting superior animals. Here we are among the black, saggy, hornless Galloways. This hardy breed is evidently in- creasing in popular favor. There are some ani- mals shown that are models of symmetry. But we must hasten to the sheep. There is a noble display — the large so-called Leicesters being most popular. There is a fair show of Cotswolds. The South-Downs, too, are out in full force. Look at this fine pen belonging to Mr. Spenoee, of Whitby, and then let us try to get into the Crystal Palace. It is a fine, commodious building, and is well filled with fruit, flowers, grain, domestic manufac- tures, &c, &c. We are always interested in the show of wheat. The Canadian farmers beat us altogether in this particular — at least in ex- hibiting. Perhaps our farmers can and do raise as good wheat, but it seldom finds its way to our Fairs. The wheat in Can- ada this season is not quite equal to former years; but nev- ertheless there is a fine show. Here is something new. A banc! i of wheat and straw labelled " Thomas' Improved." We can not find out who is the exhibi- tor. It is a short, plump ear. with a white chaff. We will take a sketch of it, and perhaps some one will tell us what art- its improved qualities. We wish the plan of exhibiting wheat attached to the straw was more general. Blue-stem and Scules' seem to be the favorite varieties of winter wheat. The show of fruit is excellent. Canada is rap- idly improving in horticulture. Here are some cauliflowers that are two feet in diameter, and as white, handsome, solid and well-formed as could be desired. Hop culture seems to be on the in crease, and here, too, is a .fair lot of tobacco leaves. As usual, there is a splendid show of roots, potatoes, &c. There is a good exhibition of agricultural im- plements, machinery, &c, but we see little that is new. Of horses there is said to be a grand display, but we have not time to examine them. We must not leave, however, without expressing our obliga- tions to Prof. Buokland, Fred. W. Stone, Esq., Hugh C. Thomson, Esq., and other officers of the Association for their polite attentions. ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY (N. T.) FAIR. St. Lawrence county has one of the most enter- prising Agricultural Societies in the State. It owns extensive, commodious and picturesque grounds, near the beautiful village of Canton. It is highly favored in possessing an active, energetic and intelligent Secretary. Such a man as T. L. Harison would make any Society prosperous. This year the weather was unfavorable, and the entries were not as large as they otherwise would have been, but as it wras the display was highly creditable. The attendance was large, including many from adjoining counties. THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR Was held at Rochester September 30 and October 1-3. The weather proved exceedingly unfavorable Tuesday and Wednesday were settled rainy days. The prospects of the Society were gloomy enough. On Thursday the clouds cleared away and the suo came out timidly, and there was a good old-fash- ioned rush to the Fair Grounds. It was clear that if the weather had been propitious the Fair at Rochester would have been one of the best ever held in the State. As it was, the receipts were several thousand dollars better than last year. The exhibition of stock was not large, but of superior excellence. James 0. Sheldon, A- B. Conger and other well-known breeders, showed some fine Shorthorns. There was also a good show of Devons, Herefords, Ayrshires and Alder- neys, though nothing that deserves special notice. Sheep were out in full force, both fine-wooled and mutton sheep. Among the latter the South-Downr of James O. Sheldon and Samuel Thotoje were conspicuous. P. Lorillard showed some of his Shropshire and Hampshire Downf, as also did Mr. Meek, of Canandaigua. John Snell and George Miller, from Canada, were on hand with their magnificent Cotswolds and Leicesters. Among the fine-wools the Spanish Merinos of George Campbell, of Vermont, were conspicuous, and many of the fine flocks of this State were also well 334 THE GENESEE FARMER. represented. Mr. Chamberlain showed some ex- cellent Silesians. There -were some very large "Cheshire" hogs which attracted notice, and one monstrous York- shire that was the "observed of all observers." He weighed eight hundred pounds ! There were a few good Sussex and Essex pigs; but on the whole the show was not equal to that of last year. The show of poultry was excellent. Of implements and machines there was a good display, but we have not time this month to par- ticularize. The fruits and flowers constituted, as usual, one of the attractive features of the Fair. The ar- rangement of Floral Hall, under the direction of Mr. James Vice, was much and justly admired. The display of fruits has never been excelled. The attendance at the evening meetings was large, and the discussions interesting and instruc- tive. We give a report of them on another page. MAPES AND HIS MANURES. The Working Farmer for September contains an article from the pen of Mr. J. J. Mapes headed "Facts Concerning Mapes' Phosphates," in which Profs. S. W. Johnson and Portee, of Yale Col- lege, Dr. Evan Pugh, President of the Penn- sylvania Agricultural College, Messrs. Luther Tucker & Son, of the Country Gentleman, Mr. Sanfoed Howard, of the Boston Cultivator, Mr. A. P. Cumings, of the New York Observer, and Joseph Harris, of the Genesee Farmer, are accused of a concerted effort to injure the sale of the arti- ficial manures manufactured by the said Mapes. It is true that all the parties named have en- deavored to convince their readers that Mapes' manures are very inferior articles, but there has been no " concerted action," and none of them, so far as we know, have ever done him injustice. True, they have said things that are not favorable to him or his manures ; but he, and not they, is to blame for that. So far as the writer is concerned, if Mr. Mapes thinks we have done him injustice, and will state it in reasonably few words, we shall be happy to lay what he has to say before our readers. Our first allusion to his manures was in the Genesee Farmer for September, 1852, page 269. A gentleman in New York sent us a sample of "Mapes' Improved Superphosphate of Lime," and we simply said that it was a poorly manufactured article — that it looked as though the animal char- coal from which it was made had not been ground previous to the addition of the sulphuric acid. We had had far more experience in the manufacture of superphosphate than Mr. Mapes, and knew that it was impossible to make a good article without grinding the animal charcoal or calcined bones. Our remarks were not unfriendly. It was simply a statement of a fact which Mr. Mapes, or any other manufacturer, might have profited by. We were personally unacquainted with Mr. M., and had not the slightest thought of saying anything to in- jure his feelings, his reputation or his business. Our next allusion to his manure was to copy the result of an analysis of it made by Dr. Antisell, and to say if this analysis was correct the manure was not worth half what was charged for it. This was in the Genesee Farmer for December, 1852, page 367. Mapes replied to this by saying that the manure analyzed by Dr. Antisell was not a fair sample of his superphosphate. In an article written for the Country Gentleman of March 3, 1853, Prof. S. W. Johnson gave the result of a careful analysis of Mapes' manure. We copied the article into the Genesee Farmer for April, 1853. Mr. Mapes savagely attacked Prof. Johnson for making and publishing this analysis. He declared it erroneous on the face of it. The ground of his charge was this: Prof. Johnson found in Mapes' superphosphate some undecom- posed phosphate of lime, and also some free sul- phuric acid. This Mr. Mapes pronounced a " chemical impossibility." The object of Mr. Mapes, of course, was to show that if Prof. John- son had made one mistake he might have made others, and that therefore the analysis was un- reliable. In the mean time Prof. Johnson had gone to Europe, and as he was not here to vindicate him- self, even had he thought it worth while, Ave stated in the Genesee Farmer for September, 1853, page 281, that if Mapes' manure was made from un- ground animal charcoal, it was not only quite pos- sible, but also highly probable, for it to contain undecomposed phosphate and free sulphuric acid — from the fact that the acid could not get at the phosphate in the hard lumps of the burnt bones. Dr. Antisell's previous analysis showed that not half the animal charcoal had been acted on by the sulphuric acid. In October, 1853, we were on a visit to Prof. Ward, of Newark, N. J., who resides near Mapes' factory. His son asked us if we would like to go over it. We assented, and he kindly went with us to the factory. We there found from conversa- THE GENESEE FARMER. 335 tion with the men in charge that the animal char- coal was not ground previous to its mixture with the acid. In December, 1853, in reply to an article of Mapes' attacking Prof. JonNSON, we mentioned this fact of his not grinding the animal charcoal as proving that there would be undecomposed phos- phate in his manure. There was no way of meet- ing this argument, except to show that he did grind his animal charcoal. In the March number of the Working Farmer Mr. Mapes published an affidavit signed by twenty men who worked in his factory to prove that he did grind the animal charcoal before the sulphuric acid was added. They also swore that they believed " Mr. Harris never passed through the factory V The fact that our article appeared in December, and that the affidavit was not taken until February 2, led us to believe that Mr. Mapes had changed his process of manufacture after the appearance of our article. We tried to ascertain this fact ; but all access to the factory was denied. We then, in the garb of an Irishman, visited the factory in disguise, and there learned that Mapes had put in a Bogarthus' Mill, and otherwise changed his pro- cess of manufacture. After this was done he took the affidavit of his men for the purpose of showing that our statement in regard to his mode of man- ufacture was not true! This is the chief charge he brings against us. In the affidavit the men swore that they believed " Harris never passed through the factory." Now Mr. Mapes says of this same visit: "Mr. Harris visited the factory and was known and politely treated while there." The fact is, the men did not know what they were swearing to. They were ignorant German and Irish laborers, and did not understand the document which their unscrupulous employer had drawn up. Mr. Mapes says : " We placed this affidavit in our desk, simply stating in the Working Farmer that we had the affidavit of the Superintendent and workmen, contradicting flatly every assertion of Harris. At last, however, being goaded by continuous false statements in the Albany Cultiva- tor, Country Gentleman and Genesee Farmer, we published this affidavit, which clearly stripped Harris of any character he might have previously claimed." Now this is all false, on the face of it. The affi- davit is dated, " Improved Superphosphate of Lime Factory, near Newark, N. J., February 2, 1854," and was published in the very next number of the Working Farmer. The affidavit was taken as soon as Mapes had changed his process, and it was pub- lished in the very first number of his paper issued after it was taken ! *' CHILIAN GUANO FRAUD." In 1855 there appeared in New York, Boston, Baltimore and Petersburg an article purporting to be " Chilian Guano." Knowing that this best of all guanos had been exhausted for some years, and as- certaining that Mapes was connected with it, we visited Newark and there found that it was manu- factured in Mapes1 factory. We took a sample of this so-called guano, made a careful analysis of it, and found that it was almost worthless. Dr. Hayes had made an analysis of this stuff, and in his report spoke of it as a guano " said to come from the coast of Chili.'1'' Below this was the following from Mr. Mapes : "Newark, N. J., February 23, 1855. " I have examined the report of Dr. Hayes, as also the guano referred to, and fully concur in his favorable opinions of its merits. J. J. Mapes, " Professor of Agricultural Chemistry." Now let it be borne in mind that this so-called " Chilian Guano," which, in the language of Dr.. Hayes, was " said to come from the coast of Chili," was manufactured in Mapes"1 factory ! It was the- greatest cheat ever attempted to be palmed off on the agricultural community. It had been sent to- New York, Boston, Baltimore and Petersburg, but our expose in the Country Gentleman put farmers- on their guard, and it was withdrawn from market- Mr.- Mapes now admits that he manufactured this article, but says he had no interest in its sale. Of this we ( know nothing. He endorsed Dr. Hayes' statement that it came " from the coast of Chili," while he knew it was a compound of sugar- house scum and Mexican guano, mixed and labelled. " Chilian Guano" in his own factory ! Surface Application of Manure. — From the the result of various trials, Professor Voelcker seems to lean to the opinion that the spreading of farm-yard compost on the surface of the soil, for even a considerable period before it is plowed in,. is by no means soj injurious a practice as we have hitherto been led to suppose. He says, "that on. all soils with a moderate proportion of clay, no fear need be entertained of valuable fertilizing sub- stances becoming wasted, if the manure cannot be plowed in at once. Fresh, and even well-rotted dung, contains very little free ammonia ; and since active fermentation, and with it the further evo- lution of free ammonia, is stopped by spreading out the manure on the field, valuable manuring matters cannot escape into the air by adopting this plan." 336 THE GENESEE FARMER. EVENING DISCUSSIONS AT THE N. Y. STATE FAIR. During the New York State Fair, held in this city, meetings for discussions were held in the evening, which were well attended, and elicited much interesting information. The meetings were ably presided over by the Hon. A. B. Conger, of Rockland county. On Tuesday evening the sub- ject selected was ; INSECTS INJURIOUS TO AGRICULTURE. Dr. Fitch, the learned Entomologist of the So- ciety, opened the discussion with some remarks on the wheat midge and the grain aphis. The latter appeared for the first time in considerable numbers two years since in the New England States, and in the eastern portion of New York and parts of Pennsylvania, Canada, &c. This year it moved west in countless myriads, and spread all over Western New York, Canada West, and portions of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, while at the East it had somewhat abated. It sucks out the juices from the leaves and straw of wheat, bar- ley, oats, &c>, and when the heads appear they leave the other parts of the plant to fasten on the ears-, sucking out the rich juices and causing the grain to shrivel. Dr. F. thought the grain aphis would not prove a permanent pest. Lady-bugs and other insects destroyed them, and he thought they would soon pass away. The wheat-midge, on the other hand, was more likely to stay with us. If the latter part of June is wet, the midge would prove injurious; but if dry, it could do but little damage, except on low lands. On Wednesday evening the subject selected for discussion was : FARM DRAINAGE. The Hon. Geo. Gkddks, of Onondaga county, opened the discussion, presenting many interesting facts. About one million gallons of water fall on an acre of land each year in this section. The larger portion of this water is carried off by evap- oration. The water in evaporating cools the land, and hence wet land is colder than drained land by several degrees, because the evaporation is greater. The Hon. J. C. Peters, of Genesee county, thought the products of the State could be in- creased one-third by thorough drainage. Mr, Foster, of Seneca county, in answer to a question, described the draining operation of his neighbor, John Johnston. He digs the drains two and a-half feet deep, and about two rods apart. The cost of such underdrawing is about $20 per acre. He preferred tiles to stone drains. Would use four-inch tiles in the main drains, and two inch in the lateral drains. T. C. Peters thought there were few localities in the State where .underdraining would not be profitable. Up to midsummer water will stand. in the post-holes — and this proved that the land need- ed draining. On such land the grass is coarse. Clover kills out, and frost appears early in the fall. Mr. Faile, of Westchester county, had under- drained some worn out land at an expense of $30 an acre. The land had risen in value from $0 to $200 per acre. Hugh T. Brooks, of Wyoming, thought under- draining profitable on some soils and in certain sections ; but on many farms it would not pay. The land would not sell after it was drained, for as much as had been expended on it in digging drains. He thought three-fourths of the land in the United States did not need draining. J. J. Thomas, of Cayuga county, had laid over fifteen miles of drains, and he knew that $100 ex- pended in underdraining had benefitted him $500. His drains cost him about $30 per acre. In three years the increased crops will pay the expense of underdraining. Digs them about three feet deep, and about ten rods apart. Mr. Baker, of Steuben county, had increased the value of hi3 land from $45 to $125 per acre. Draining pays on grass land and for sheep. The quality and quantity of the grass is greatly increas- ed, and the sheep are healthier. Mr. Bragdon, of Chicago, spoke of the benefit of mole-draining on the prairies. Had seen corn killed on undrained land; but on an adjoining field which had been mole-drained, it was entirely unhurt. Knows of mole-drains that were made eight years ago, and which are still good. On Thursday evening the subject of Fences was discussed. T. C. Peters estimated the cost of highway fences in New York State at eleven million dollars. The cost of all the fences in the State, at $1 per rod, amounts to $144,000,000. A farm of 100 acres, divided into ten-acre lots, would require 1,600 rods of fence. But as these are on both sides, we may reckon 800 rods to a hundred acre farm. This, at a dollar per rod, would be $S per acre. The interest on this is 50 cents per acre, and another 56 cents are required to keep them in repair. So that our fences cost $1.12 per acre. Lewis F. Allen thought fences could not be greatly diminished unless the practice of soiling cattle was adopted. THE GENESEE FARMER. 38T President Cornell, who had just returned from England, thought hedges were too expensive, and occupied too much ground to he profitably adopt- ed in this country. On the prairies, where shelter is desired, they might be useful ; but here they were not profitable. In England premiums were offered for the eradication of hedges. On one farm forty-five acres had been added to cultivation by removing the hedges. In France and Belgium there are few fences. He was determined to lessen the number offences on his own farm, and so s man was murdered in this ciiy last Friday night. His body was thrown into the river. Our public debt, on the 1st of October, was $620,000,000. This is much less than had been supposed. Stuart's dash into Pennsylvania seems to have been only to procure clothes and horses, in which they were perfectly suc- cessful. The rebels are arming the negroes. It is said S,000 blacks, officered by wbitn men, have been sent to garrison fortifica- tions, &c. Gov. Morton, of Indiana,"has ordered that 40 per cent, of the Quakers of the State be assessed for enrolment, and ihose drafted are to go or pay $200. Government has offered to b:iy the rebel privateer Alabama, from any party capturing the vessel, for $500,000, and in the event of its destruction, $8(10,000. The British steamer Lloyd ran the blockade at Charleston, and arrived at Liverpool on the 30lh of September, with a cargo of 1,755 bales of cotton. The population of the Sandwich Islands has dwindled to 67,000, from 150,000 in 1S23. Disease is carrying off the inhabi- tants by the thousand. Of the twenty-five thousand operatives dependent, directly or indirectly, on the cotton trade in Glasgow, five thousand are wholly unemployed, while nine thousand are working short time. The indications now are (October 2S), that our army and navy Will no< long remain inactive, and we are told that the prepara- tions *ejsuch as to insure the speedy suppression of the rebellion. Since the commencement of the war we have captured seven gunboats from the rebels, mostly in the West. All of them have been transferred to our Navy, but they still retain their original names. Tns One Hundred and Eighth Regiment, which left this city two months ago one thousand strong, can now only muster, it is said, four hundred effective men. They have seen hard fighting for raw recruits. The telegraphic communication now in course of construction by Mr. Renter, through Russia, Siberia and Mongolia, to con- nect Pekin with St. Petersburg and London, is expected to be completed in six months. The spirit ration in the Navy having been npollshed, the Gov- ernment will sell at auction, at the different naval stations, about three thousand barrels of whisky on Us arrival from different vessels and naval depots. A Protestant chapel has been inaugurated at Chalons for the French soldiers in camp there belonging to the reformed faith, who number about five hundred. Thero is accommodation in the chapel for six hundred worshippers. The betrothal of the Prince of Wales to the Princess Alexan- dra of Denmark took place on the 0th of September, at the Palace of Laeken. This is said to be an affair of the heart, and in no way connected with political considerations. It is said that most of the cotton manufacturers in Great Britain would have been ruined if the war had not stopped the supply of cotton, and so enabled them to sell off their old stock, which was much greater than the ordinary demand. The wife of Livingstone, the Missionary Explorer, died April 27th. She had joined her husband on the Lambsi river, and was with him three months. She was attacked by fever and had be- come convalescent, but suffered a relapse which proved latal. A gun called the " Hersfall Gun," which is made of wrought iron and capable of throwing a 800-pound spherial shot, was tried lately in England with great success. It pierced the target, which was made ol iron-plate and timber, through and through. A shoe dealer in Albany was last week victimized by a man who purchased a pair of boots for four dollars, and tendered therefor a two dollar Treasury note, altered to a fifty, and the rogue walked off with forty -six dollars in good money, and the boots. Our forces have been entirely successful in North Western Arkansas. A battle took ptaee October 22d. The enemy, seven thousand strong, was encamped on tbe old battle-field of Pea Ridge. They were entirely routed, with the loss of ail their artil- lery. The loss on our side was small. In the British House of Lords, Lord Shaftkssurt has ex- pressed his belief that "there is more cotton lying idle in India than would keep going all the mills in Lancashire." He added that, according to his information, the quantity of this precious article ready for market is about six million bales. An officer who has visited every plantation on both sides of the Mississippi for two hundred miles, informs us that he lound but one Union family, and he brought them North. He also said that the rebels have corn enough within their lines in the Mississippi Valley to feed their entire population tor a year, if economically used ; but, he added, usually one-halt is wasted. The losses of our forces at the Battle of Iuka, where Rose- crans defeated Prick, were 786 killed, wounded and missing. The rebel dead left on the field, wounded left in hospital, and the prisoners, numbered 1,488. Besides considerable quantities of quartermaster's and commissary stores, we captured from the rebels 1,629 stand of small arms and 18,000 rounds of ammuni- ion. We have at present nearly four hundred vessels in the Navy, either actually in service or nearly ready for use. Among these are fifty-two iron-cladjs, thirty -eight of which are yet unfinished, but will be completed in the course of the winter. Two Of them are of unusual dimensions — the Dictator and the DiiMerberg — the former being 3,088 tons burthen and the latter 1,000. There are 249 vessels in active service at the present time. An officer in Gen. Grant's army informs us that one of the Federal soldiers, the night before the commencement of the tight at Corinth, went to Gen. Prick's camp and offered to show the rebel General where our army was defenceless. He deceived the General, and brought a detachment to the place he had des- ignated. Then returning within our lines, he informed tbe propel officers where the rebels would make the attack the next morning, and when they arrived they were welcomed by two batteries which had been erected in the mean time. Since our last issuo several very important events have oc- curred. Our victory at Corinth is acknowledged by the rebels to be one of the most complete and decisive of the war. Thero were but 14,000 of our troops and 45,000 of theirs engaged. In Kentucky and Tennessee we have also been successful. The Battle of Perryville, Ky., was so disastrous to the Southern canso that Gen. Bragg has been obliged to retire through Cumberland Gap. The Richmond Whig of the 20th says that the Kentucky movement in the hands of Bragg has turned out to bo simply a fizzle. It has been from beginning to end a brilliant blunder and a magnificent failure. THE GENESEE FARMER. 345 fit WALKS AND TALKS IN THE GARDEN.-No. VII. "A "Walk i n the garden at this season of the year, i a warm sunny day, with a pleasant breeze laden ith the rich perfumes of autumnal fruits and owers, is delightful indeed. An orchard of dwarf jar trees when in full blossom, is a gorgeous spec- icle; and I have sometimes thought they would e wortli cultivating for this alone, but in the au- nnn, when the trees are loaded with fine, large >ecimens of golden fruit, I cannot but be thank- d that we have not to cultivate them merely for rnamental purposes. The fruit is beautiful to >ok at. and not that alone, — a Seckel, a Buffum, r a Duchess, is as pleasant to the palate as to the "Bad as is the blight "when it enters an orchard, re cannot give up pear culture as yet." "A grape trellis at this season is no less attract re. We have had no frost as yet, (Oct. 21) and rapes are ripening much better than was expected. Iven Dianas are ripening well, and when you get' good, perfectly ripe bunch of Diana, there is othing superior to it. It beats even my little pet he Delaware. But then the Delaware is sure to ipen, while the Diana is not. I had bunches f Delaware perfectly ripe on the open trelli* by he middle of September. " I like the Rebecca with its rich golden fruit nore than ever this year. Isabella, Concord, and lartford Prolific, taste pretty well when you are rery 'grape hungry' — but eat a bunch of Dela- vare, Rebecca, or Diana, and then try a bunch of he former, and it will taste flat enough. " Since even the ' Revised Edition of Downing's ^rui's and Fruit Trees' was published in 1858, we lave made considerable progress in grape knowl- edge. I fancy few would now endorse the remark hen made — that 'no farmer's garden, however small, should be without the Isabella and Ca- :awba.' "It is pleasant to ' walk aud talk' in the garden at this season, and behold the rich rewards of the spring and summers care and labor; but the days are getting shorter, and there is yet much to be done, and ' help' is scarce. "We must work and not talk. This beautiful fuchsia must be taken up and stowed away in the cellar, or Jack Frost will seize it in his icy hand. It is hardly worth while to try to save the verbenas. If they are well covered with leaves they may survive the winter where they are, and if they do not, we must set out new ones next spring. " I like celery, and I wish some one could dis- cover an easy way of keeping it for winter use. — As yet there is no way that I know of that does not involve considerable trouble. Perhaps the easi- est way is to put it in the cellar in layers, with some dry sand or sifted coal ashes between each layer. — Another way is to dig a trench in the ground, two feet deep and eighteen inches wide, and pack in the celery plants close together, standing upright. A trench ten feet long will hold over a hundred plants. No soil should be mixed with them, though a little may be left on the roots. The roots will continue to grow a little, and the celery will bleach nicely in the trench. A couple of boards are placed in the form of a roof over the trench — a board on each side. On dry days these may be opened to afford ventilation. When cold weather sets in, the top is covered with littery manure, leaves, etc. The cel- ery can be taken out as it is wanted, by opening one end and crawling in under the boards, closing it up again carefully to keep out the frost. In mild weather during the winter, it is well to open both ends to afford ventilation. The soil when the trench is made, of course, must be perfectly dry. I have eaten celery in May kept in this way, that was sweet, firm and delicious.- " I suppose the best way to keep winter pears is in barrels like apples, but I have had no experi- ence. They should be allowed to remain on the trees till they are perfectly matured— as long as they will hang on, and there is no danger of frost. The trouble with most fruit cellars is, that the ventilation is imperfect. Pears will ripen well on shelves in a good, dry, cool cellar, if it is thorough- ly ventilated — not otherwise. "The 'tree tomato' plants are loaded with large fruit, and I am going to dig them up and put them in the cellar, to see if they will ripen. It is said that ordinary tomato plants, hung up by the roots in a cellar, will ripen their green fruit. The 'tree tomato' is stronger and full of sap, and may be valuable for ripening in this way. Otherwise, I 346 THE GENESEE FARMER. do not think much of it. It has ripened very little fruit as yet, though the plants were very large when set out in the spring. " ' Lester's Improved ' tomato has done well this season. It is one of the best tomatoes we have. " These strawberry plants set out in August have grown splendidly. I intend to give them a cover- ing of manure and leaves, to protect tlein from the winter. " If we were sure of having as mild a winter as the last, I would risk the raspberries, but it is really very little trouble, after all, to protect them. It is only necessary to bend down the canes, and put a little soil on the ends to hold them down. A spadeful of soil will hold down two hills. "So of grapes, the labor of taking the vines from the trellis and laying them on the ground, with a little soil on them, is very little, and it insures their safety. Last year the mice eat the canes of the Delawares and Rebeccas, and did them much damage. The Isabellas that were merely covered with soil were not touched. Leaves, and every- thing that will harbor the mice, should be removed. I think if the vines are simply laid on the ground, without any covering, they will not be injured by the frost. If the wood is thoroughly ripened, they will not suffer if left exposed on the trellis. " There is no trouble about keeping the mice from fruit trees. Throw up a little soil round the trunks,' sis or eight inches high. Stamping the snow down hard round the trees has the same ef- fect. The mice burrow along the ground, and the soil or hard snow prevents them from reaching the trees. "Late cauliflowers, if taken up and the roots set in sand in the cellar, will head nicely, and be beau- tifully white and delicious. " To keep cabbages in winter, there is no better way than to dig a treuch in the ground, and place the cabbage in it with the roots upwards, and then cover the cabbages with soil. They come out iu the spring white and sweet. " A friend of mine last fall dug up his cabbages and set them in a pit, which he covered with a roof of boards and corn stalks. They all rotted. The reason doubtless was that the roof was too high, and the stalks did not keep out the frost. The editor of the Country Gentleman says he has adopted a similar plan for years with good success. He takes cabbages that have not headed properly, and sets them as closely as they will stand in a double row, in their natural position, in a wide and shallow trench. He then forms an earth roof over them in this way ; " Set in a piece of upright plank at each end t support the ridge pole (shown by the dotted lint in the figure.) Place a rail or stiff pole on thes for the ridge pole, and on this the ends of the shoi pieces of board in the form of a roof. Cover thes boards with about six inches of earth, or enough t keep the soil from freezing in which the cabbagt stand. This is the whole operation. Nearly all ( these will be handsomely headed in the spring, an being entirely excluded from the light, they will! more delicate both in appearance and flavor, tha common cabbage heads. Two hours labor last ai tumn, he says, gave him a fine supply of cabbagt for a moderate family nearly through the who' spring. " Failure has sometimes resulted by not coveric the roof with sufficient earth to keep out sevei cold. About six inches does well for the Northei States. A sheltered place is best. A small ho should be left at each end for ventilation. In ver cold weather they might be stopped up." So ends our " walks and talks" for this seasoi During the winter let us think over our plans fc the future — let us hold intercourse with the wii men of the past and the present, and seek for tl best information to aid us in the quiet and pleasai labors of our favorite pursuit. Let us, above a] hope that the tramp of hostile hosts may no longi be heard in our beloved land, — but that peac plenty and prosperity may extend throughout a our borders, and that there be no complaining i our streets. In "Notes from Paris," in the Cottage Gw dener, the difference in the selection of roses an other plants in England and France is noticed. 1 England high colors and gorgeous tints are unive: sally preferred, while in France dull-looking ros< and low-tinted flowers are the favorites. Tr. writer thinks that the climate is the cause of thi as their bright and glaring sun leads them to a< mire the more sombre colors, while the leade skies of England render the gorgeous shades moi pleasing to the eye. THE GENESEE FARMER. 347 THE PEAR TREE BLIGHT. In our " Walks and Talks in the Garden " for 3tober -we alluded to some facts which lead us believe that the disease in pear trees, known as e "fire Might" is caused by a fungus at the ots. The facts are these : "We have a pear orchard some seven hundred trees, principally dwarfs, sveral of them have been planted ten years, aey succeeded finely and bore good crops. In e summer of 1860, nearly one hundred, of these ees blighted. Their places were refilled with sw trees the same autumn. In 1SG1, the blight .rried otf eighty to ninety more trees, and the tcancies were refilled as before. This year forty • fifty more trees are blighted. In the adjoining orchards of H. E. Hooker and )Seph Hall, the blight has proved almost equally sstructive. About twelve years ago, all these aces were occupied with nursery trees, belonging the firm of Bissell & Hooker. The trees were moved, and the land sold for private residences. On digging around the roots of the blighted trees, all three of these orchards, we have found in rery case the soil filled with the old roots of the rmer nursery trees, and these roots are covered ith a fungus or mould. The soil is literally alive ith them. A careful examination, too, showed iat the same fungus was attached to the roots of ie pear trees. We have found it not only on the rger roots that were partially decayed, bnt also 1 the spongioles at the end of the fine delicate >ots, that looked fresh and healthy. Mr. Westcott, of this city, who lias a nice pear •chard of dwarf trees, has also suffered from the ight; and on examining the roots of his trees, we und the same fungus attached to the roots. The nd was formerly occupied with peach trees. C. W. Seelye also states that his pear trees [anted on ground previously occupied with nur- sry stock, has suffered much from the blight, bile his trees on new land are healthy. [Since the above was written we have examined lese trees, and found the fungus on the old de- lving roots in the soil.] These are the facts : Our idea is that the fungus growing on the old ecaying roots in the soil, is taken up into the irculation of the sap by the roots of the pear tree, ud that, during the warm weather in summer, it rows with great rapidity, decomposes the sap and auses the death of the branches, and finally of ie tree itself. In the last number of the London Gardeners' Chronicle, (October 4,) there is an article from the pen of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, one of the ablest cryptogamic botanists of Europe, in which he men- tions facts which favor our hypothesis in regard to the cause of the pear blight. He says : " A query from one of our correspondents, as to mischief amongst his Apricot and Plum trees, in- duces us once more to call attention to the disas- trous effect of old roots remaining in the soil upon new plantations. We have at this moment in our own garden a curious instance, commencing with the death of a fine Mountain Ash, whose roots have spread the fungus poison first to two Lora- bardy Poplars, and then to a Lilac tree between them, and we have little doubt that other frees and shrubs will soon follow, as we have not the means of eradicating the evil. " In making new plantations, however, of fruit trees in gardens where old trees have formerly stood, it is an act of folly or recklessness to leave the old roots in the ground. Without the most careful trenching it is quite a lottery whether the new trees are not arrested in their growth after a few years, and just as they are ready to come into full bearing their health often fails, and after a few more hopeless seasons of repeated disappointment, the new plantation follows in the wake of the old. " Our correspondent remarks : ' I have two Apricot trees fifteen or twenty years old. They flower well, but never set fruit. I have laid the roots bare and find them covered with fungus. I send you a part of the root. What must I do? I have several Orleans Plums and Greengages in the same condition, but have not examined their roots.' "If the case admits of remedy, it can only be by carefully cutting away every particle of the root which is affected, and tracing out carefully the old roots from whence it is derived. This treatment was completely effectual at Kew in the case of a Deodara which had been planted over an old Cherry root, and if the evil is not too far advanced, it may probably be successful in that of our corres- pondent's Apricots. There is little doubt that thtse as well as his Plums have succeeded old trees, whose roots were never removed, for this is the secret of trees so often failing on old walls, and not any exhaustion of the soil. " The fungus evil is of far wider extent than cultivators often imagine. In our gardens it not only proves destructive to trees and shrubs, but to Strawberry plants where the old stock has been dug in. In this case we are convinced it is a frequent cause of blight, and other maladies which consist in a depressed state of vitality which does not allow the plant to arrive at perfection. "Let the cultivator be very careful then never to dig in anything which is sufficiently woody to produce fungus spawn. Let him avoid leaf-mould which has not entered into a thorough state of de- composition, so that the component parts cannot be recognized, and above all let him abhor the bottoms of old faggot ricks, which are a very frequent cause of mischief in the conservatory. " A friend lately consulted us as to the propriety of digging in some spent bark into a clay border 348 THE GENESEE FARMER. with a view to alter its texture, but we should as soon use arsenic to fine wine. * * The hazard of such a practice is manifest enough in every hot- house, as no substance more readily produces a quantity of mycelium, and we believe almost any mycelium coming in contact with healthy roots has a tendency to depress vitality." If our views in regard to the cause of the pear blight are correct, the practice of setting out new trees in the places occupied by the blighted ones should either be abandoned, or great care should be taken to remove every particle of the old roots. One fact should also be mentioned : We have never found any of these old roots with the fungus on them more than a foot deep : In the subsoil, not a particle of fungus could be found ; and it is possible that by deep trenching and removing all the old roots, new trees might.be set out with safety. We have thought, too, that a heavy dress- ing of lime might destroy the fungus. Our plan would be to dig up the old trees this fall, throwing the soil up four or five feet, in a radius round the old tree, and let it be exposed to the frost of the coming winter. Let all the old roots be removed, and then at' the time of planting the pear trees, next spring, mix a couple of bushels of slacked lime with the soil, around each tree. If the trees have been already ordered from the nursery, they may be " heeled in " for the winter and set out next spring after the soil is prepared. If a new orchard is to be planted, avoid old roots, chip-manure and any woody matter that will produce fungus, as you would poison. We may add that standard trees are just as liable to blight as the dwarfs. We can see no difference in this respect. A GOOD APPLE PICKEB. The editor of the Country Gentleman says 1 has tried a number of experiments with differej kinds of fruit pickers— baskets with hooks, baske on poles, canvass tables, &c, but found nothing t convenient and perfect as the one represented i the annexed cut, for at least nine-tenths of the cro] if suitable ladders are provided. The simplicity and cheapness of the fruit-pick< here figured are a strong recommendation. It merely a common grain-bag, with one corner < the bottom tied to one corner at the top, and slun over the workman's left shoulder. A stick, shari ened at each end, and about a foot long, props th mouth open, leaving a triangular opening, int J. Saul, in the Gardeners' Magazine of Botany, in an article on "Budding Roses," says that the best weather for this operation is not rainy and damp days, as usually said, but a bright, warm, sunny time should be chosen. In answer to the question, " Is it necessary to extract the wood from the bud?" he says "Yes," and adds: "American writers say " No," but this is probably owing to the difference between their hot, dry climate and ours (English.) The shoots selected should be firm, and for tying, cotton yarn is the best material that can be used. At the August meeting of the Royal Horticul- tural Society, a seedling rhubarb was exhibited which has the iiavor of green gooseberries. Both of these rather inferior fruits are great favorites in England, and have been carried to a much greater 4egree of perfection than in this country. which the apples are thrust as they are pickec from the branch. The way in which the lowei and upper corner are most conveniently tied to- gether, is by placing a small stone or pebble in the lower corner, (to form a sort of bottom,) and then passing the bag strings around closely above it and tying them firmly. A piece of stiff leather buttoned on to the shoulder, serves to protect it from becoming sore if the picking is continued several days. In most cases the operator may stand on the ladder, and use loth hands, thrusting the fruit rapidly into the open mouth of the bag. which is gradually raised up a little over the shoulder as it becomes filled. Over half a bushel may be placed in it at a time, without becoming inconveniently heavy, and the time for filling it once is not usually over five minutes. Fruit gathered in this way is less liable to be- come bruised than when baskets are used, or in any other way ; and when the bag is filled it may be placed on the very bottom of a barrel in empty- ing, without that rattling and contusion caused by inverting a basket. THE GENESEE FARMER. 349 }R0 WEES' SOCIETY OF WESTERN NEW YOKE. ociety met in Rochester September SO, the first le State Fair. There was a good attendance of 5. The following subjects were discussed : Best Varieties of Native Grapes. iiomas stated that at the recent meeting of the n Fomological Society, at Boston, the Hartford -eceived a storm of approbation from all quar- he Delaware was well spoken of, the only objec- ng to its small size. Bunches were exhibited I | lb., but | lb. was the average. Nevertheless, [Ought by H. E. Hooker and others that as much aid be raised from a vine as of larger varieties, d name Hartford Prolific, Delaware and Concord. llwanger thought the Hartford Prolific more e for market, but would prefer the Delaware for eating. Had fruited the Hartford Prolific six or irs, aud this year thought more of it than ever. ius grower and productive. It did not mildew as Isabella. It is very early. In answer to a , he said it would not make good wine — certainly ella will not. We have no grape that will in this unless it is the Delaware. The Concord, in Mis- akes excellent wine. A grape to make good st be perfectly ripe — should be ripe a month on before it is gathered. es Downing said the Concord, with him, was not ctive as the Delaware. Hartford Prolific earlier, is from the vine. Creveling was four or five r, but a better grape. It does not drop; Con- ps from the bunch. . Hoag and Ellwanger confirmed the latter re- regard to the dropping of the Concord. iwning said the Clinton mildewed worse than • variety. | .lwanger remarked that at Boston a gentle- id that he had this year sold his Hartford Pro- few York at 15 cents per lb. They were the rape in market. Ioag, of Lockport, liked Hartford Prolific and it Delaware was far ahead of anything we had i three or four hundred vines of Hartford Prolific n trellises. They produce as much as Isabellas, j as much as Concords of the same age. Mildew trouble him. Rebecca is more productive as it ler. His Delawares had borne two heavy crops sion, but this year there was a poor crop. He Do vines need rest?" ss Downing replied, "No." 5l.insworth, of East Bloomfield, thought Hart- ific the best early grape, and there it ends. It jood price until other varieties come into mar- aware the best for quality. Bears very well and market. Had tried it in his cold grapery. It and he preferred it to Black Hamburg. When led, Isabella is excellent; but it does not always tartford Prolific is a week earlier. Mr. Hoag said that last fall he put n

f Honeoye Falls, in this county, was the PLANT OF THE DEWBERRY. ttor of a seedling Dewberry, but as the Dr. en desirous to fully prove the success of his aking before allowing it to be much known, tention has been but little attracted to it tie present season. A present of two baskets of this fruit— two dis- tinct varieties— and an invitation to come and see for ourselves, and we must not omit the fragrance of those two baskets of fruit nor the pleasure we enjoyed in eating them with our friends, awakened a latent curiosity to see, to feel and to handle the fruit on the plants— to learn of their mode of growth, their cultivation and their his- tory. Without detaining our readers with the details of our pleasant visit, we will mention what we saw and learned of the new fruits, for as we have intimated the Dr. has succeeded in raising two seedlings of superior merit. These seedlings were originated six or eight years ago, from seed of the common wild Dewborry, or low Blackberry (Eubtis Canadensis). Among a great number of plants which were produced and kept in cultivation until they showed their fruit, two only showed signs of merit, which were very decided ; all the other plants were discarded, and these two were cultivated with care for several years to see if their apparent characters were real and permanent. Fortunately the desires of the experimenter have been fully realized, and several years of • continuous fruiting has firmly establish- ed their value. As all our readers may not be ac- quainted with the habits of this plant, we will briefly state its distinguishing traits. A The slender stems, *bout a quarter ot an inch in diameter, trail along on the ground extending from the root to a dis- tance of ten or fifteen feet-a vigorous _ plant produces a score or more of these < stems eaoh season. The stems are furnished with a very few small thorns, and trifoliate leaves ; the leaflets are about an inch and a halt long and half as wide, of a light green color ; leaf stem from one to two inches in length and a little prickly. The fruit is borne on slender stems two or three inches in length, is shining, jet black, fragrant, sweet and Most of the fruit in a wild state in imperfect, developing a drupe only here and there over its surface; cultivation of the wiM plants does not in the least improve this habit, according to Dr. M. The seedlings to which we aow direct attention have not this fault of the wild ( juicy- 352 THE GENESEE FARMER. type, but are fully developed in every case — their size is very large, nearly or quite equalling the best specimens of the New Rochelle blackberry. In quality and flavor they are far superior to any blackberry known, and are very prolific and hardy. The plants propagate themselves by striking root at the ends of the shoots, and never throw up any suckers. The plat of ground which Dr. M. has devoted to these fruits, is about one-eighth of an acre. The plants are set out about five feet apart in squares ; early in the spring a pole or stake is driven down by the side of each plant, standing five or six feet high, around which the fine, long, flexible shoots of the previous year's growth are wound, and fastened by a string, tying them at the top, thus FRUIT OP THE DEWBERRY — NATURAL SIZE. forming a kind of cylinder or cone. By this mode of training, the fruit hangs outside, clear of the foliage all around, affording the greatest facility for gathering. The new growth is allowed to trail on the ground until the succeeding spring. The plants do not occupy much 6pace, and three feet each way would be ample room to allow them. We judged that the plants produced about two quarts of berries each. The two varieties are distinct from each other in fruit and foliage and period of ripening. The early variety is more fragrant and sweeter than the later one, and at the date we saw them (Aug. 5th) was nearly gone, while the other was perfection. It will be seen, therefore, tha varieties mature earlier than either the Dor or New Rochelle blackberries, which ai (Aug. 20th) at the height of their season. As the originator of these fruits has parted with some of the plants to different 5 uals, they will probably be spread throu country from several sources, and as no have been used to distinguish the varietl possible that some confusion may arise in rt to this matter, and we will notice that the of the leaves of the early kind are den doubly dentate, while those of the later var sharply serrate. We think it desirable that the term Dc should be used to designate these plants, in Blackberry, as their mode of growth is so different from the high Blackberry. In conclusion, we will state that it is our tion that these fruits will meet with a cor ception by the public, and for private gar preferred to the rank-growing high black in the market they will readily command i price than any other blackberry, but as th son is so much earlier they will not come into competition. For a table fruit they ; fair — sweet, juicy and luscious— no setting teeth on edge. PROTECTION TO PEACH ORCHARDS NOT i DESIRABLE. Edgar Sanders, a well-known horticult Chicago, mentions a fact in the Prairie which claim's attention. He has been to tl: region around St. Josephs, Mich., and foi in all exposed places the crop ica,s good — ( cellent — while the protected orchards were a If true, the fact should be generally For some years our horticultural writers 1 sisted on the importance of shelter. It h thought that one of the principal reaso peaches are a less certain crop in this secti formerly was owing to the removal of the which broke the force of the wind ; am been thought desirable to form artificial sci planting belts of rapid-growing trees. TI ral testimony of fruit-growers is in favor o practice. At the West, and more especiall; prairies, these screens have been thought indispensable to the success of an orchard. The fact mentioned by Mr. Sanders thro doubts on the correctness of these views, perience of Mr. Evans, of Southern IllinoL 3d as confirming the injurious effect of He would plant on "the most exposed and have no break-winds to interfere." amnion of the matter is, that "the circu- : the air keeps off late spring frosts, while trary takes place in all orchards nicely 1 from the winds." ractice of planting peach trees in valleys I been condemned, from the fact that they e liable to frosts than the higher land in the rhood— the cold air falling down into the But we had supposed that if an orchard nted on high ground, a belt of timber that >reak the force of the wind was very desi,- our experienced fruit-growers give us their n this subject? THE WATER GARDEN. manner of cultivating flowers in the house Dg been known, but as it is generally d to hyacinths or other spring bulbs, and is required for each bloom, it has not \ as general an addition to our parlors and rooms as it should be. A writer in "Godey's Book," says : " We have repeatedly grown snow-drops, and other bulbous plants in i filled with damp moss, and have thus pro- jome charming ornaments for the sideboard eakfast table" ; and then quotes from a very jk, entitled " A Flower Garden for Gentle- ad Ladies ; or, the Art of Raising Flowers it Trouble, to Blow in full Perfection in the of Winter, in a Bed-chamber, Closet, or r-room." The author regards himself as the erer of the art of growing flowers with water He had at Christmas, beside the ordinary " fine' young salads," and " great double j, red and white primroses, and striped ithuses." He says : " They flourished in asses in as much perfection as they would lone in the garden in summer." His glasses not prepared for the purpose, but were raake- — anything that he could pick up. He had glass basins, larger at the top than the m; to these he fitted corks, which floated the water. In these corks he cut holes for oots, which he placed in clusters to produce ter effect when the plants should be in bloom, .escribes, with great minuteness, his manner fijRng them — giving them a little air, a great of light, aud not allowing the bulbous roots to >vered with the water ; aud as he was evi- dently a lover of flowers, they all prospered in his hands. A rather curious experiment is also men- tioned in the same article : " Many of our readers are, doubtless, acquainted with that interesting botanical experiment of growing an acorn in water, which has been christened "the acorn tree." In country places these delicate little sprouting oaks are very favorite parlor ornaments, but we rarely catch a glimpse of them in town apartments, where their presence would be particularly desirable. An acorn tree can be grown in a common wide-mouthed phial, but more conveniently in a white hyacinth glass, which may be procured from a florist. In order to form one of these trees, take a ripe acorn, and, having removed its cup, steep it for a day or two in rain water; or let it lie among some damp moss. Then tie a thread round it, and suspend it in the hyacinth glass from a piece of cork or cardboard, which must be made to tit the mouth of the glass so tightly as to exclude the air. The acorn should hang about a quarter of an inch above the surface of the rain water, with which the glass is to be half tilled. In a few weeks the acorn will begin to sprout, and the whole process of its germination may be observed through the transparent sides of the glass vessel. As soon as the leaves reach the cork, another arrangement must be adopted. The hole through which the thread passed must be widened, in order that the leaves may be pushed through it. The young plant must then be raised and resuspended, so that its rootlets just touch the water. The tree will continue to grow, and will flourish for three or four years if proper care be taken to cleanse its roots from fungi, and to change the water whenever it becomes slimy or turbid. A horsechestnut may be grown in a similar man- ner." The London Florist says that two new grapes have been brought out in England— one by Mr. William Thompson, gardener to the Duke of Buccleuch. It produces a bunch a foot long, and weighing one pound two ounces. It has a delicious flavor, richer than any Muscat, being of a mixed honied and sugary character. It is to be named the "Duchess of Buccleuch." The other one is that raised by Mr. Melville, gardener to the Earl of Roseberry. It is a splendid black grape, re- sembling the best round Hamburgs, with a fine Frontignan flavor. It is called the "Champion Hamburg." The three new roses which seem to have borne off the palm at the various rose shows in England are "Madame Fortado," "Reynolds* Hole," both brilliant pink, and "Louis XIV." TnE Cottage Gardener, in answer to some in- quiries about the Lawton blackberry, says that in England it is no larger nor better flavored than J the English blackberry. THE GENESEE FARMER FOR 18(1 CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER, Experiments on Sorghum 829 Experimental Farmers 331 The Agricultural Fairs 332 Mapes and his Manures • 334 Surface Application of Manures , , .. . 335 Evening Discussions at the New York Slate Fair 836 A GoocTstorv of a Musical Horse 337 Notes from Canada West 338 American Forks and Hoes 838 Wintering Bees 339 Roads Up Hill and Down 339 Spirit of the Agricultural Press 340 To Prevent Horses Kicking in Harness 340 Preserving Plants during Winter 340 Mixing Varieties of Corn 340 Fattening Swine 340 The Lessons of the War 340 To Kemove Stumps 840 Fattening Poultry 840 Salt for Wheat 340 News Items 344 LADIES DEPARTMENT. Original Domestic Receipts 841 A Few Words About Furs., 841 YOUNG PEOPLE 3 PAGE. Grammar in Ehyme 842 The Elephant that Loved to be Fed 842 It'sVeryHard 342 Birds Fly 342 Kefraclion of Light 842 MISCELLANEOUS. TrelheitDie Ich Meine 343 A Fair Barbarian 343 How to be an Early Riser 343 Laughter 843 Domestic Sweetmeats 343 HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Waiks and Talks in the Garden— No. 7 845 The Pear Tree Blight 347 A Good Apple Ticker ._ , 348 Fruit Growers' Society of Western New York 349 The Ked Maple 350 A New Fruit 351 Protection to Peach Orchards not always Desirable 852 The Water Garden 353 EDITORS TABLE. The Genesee Farmer for 1863 854 Something for the Ladies 354 To Our Agents 854 To the Boys 354 Notes on the Weather 355 The Value of Farms. 855 Not Sure of his Identity 856 Rural Annual for 1863 356 Agricultural Items 856 Inouiries and Answers, 356 The Markets, 356 Literary Notices 857 Premiums for 1863 360 ILLUSTRATIONS. Thomas' Improved Wheat 338 Apple Picker 848 Plant of the Dewberry 351 Fruit of the Dewberry — Natural Size 852 The Commissioner of Agriculture has added a Ghemi- cal Bureau to his department. Dr. John Wktherill has been appointed Chief Chemist. " Owing to the scarcity of cotton rags the price oil has advanced full twenty -five per cent., and it is 1 1 that it will be still higher. It has been our rule! the Genesee Farmer at the very lowest price at wl could be printed. Our profits have never exceed<| jive cents on a year's subscription. The advance ii would, therefore, at the old price entail a loss o paper sold. We know that our subscribers do nc us to furnish the paper at less than it costs us, and have determined to increase the price of the paj cents a year. This is a trifle to each subscriber will enable us to publish the Farmer without loss. The price of the Geneeee Farmer, for 1863, will b cents a year to single subscribers, and in Clubs and upwards, fifty cents a year. We feel confident that no intelligent farmer will to this small advance. We shall spare no effoi make the Farmer still more worthy of the ext patronage it has so long received from the inte agriculturists and horticulturists of the United and Canada. We teel confident that those who h long stood by the Genesee Farmer, and used thi fluence to extend its circulation, will not object slight increase in price, when they know that it is lutely necessary. Something for the Ladies. — Our lady readers materially add to the circulation of the Genesee 1 by simply asking their friends to subscribe for it | time. Some special premiums are offered on tl page of this number, to the ladies, which are cei worth the little labor it will require to secure them your friends to subscribe at once, and then we wil them the remaining numbers of this year, togethe the whole of the next volume. The books will b prepaid by return mail. To Our Agents. — We would call the attention i agents and other friends to the magnificent I Premiums offered to-all who get subscribers for ou volume. We have never before offered such 1 premiums. One Hundred and Thirty-Seven Dollars in cas offered to those who send the highest lists before th of February next. Those who do not take any of Cash Prizes will be sure of the Special Premiums. To the Bots. — The long winter evenings ar proaching, when you will have leisure to read. < last page of this number you will find a list of book you can obtain by a little effort in getting your : bors and friends to take the Genesee Farmer. Ask to subscribe now, and tell them they will then r the remaining numbers of this year free. Let us se will be the first boy to send in a Club. The Gardeners' Chronicle of September 20 says tl columns are full of articles on steam cultivatioi they hope to treat of it for several weeks to com adds that the real contest that the rival machines-n have to wage is not with one another, but with aj tural vit inertia* THE GENESEE FARMER. 355 Paloe of Farms. — If we mistake not, we are itering on a real estate speculation. The abund- paper money has a tendency to increase the ' all other commodities. Railroad and other ave already been greatly affected by it, and have d full 25 per cent. The next property to feel the this abundance of paper money, will be real es- uring the Napoleon wars, the value of land in [ advanced to such an extent as to inspire, in the e of the Encyclopedia JBrittanica, " all classes with agricultural mania." It is now difficult to in- ney on good security at ordinary rates of inter- ans are made on gold in New York at 3 per cent, is easy to see that, oilier things heing equal, the " farms rises as the value of mouey declines. If s worth $50 per acre when money is worth 7 per ought to be worth $100 per acre when money is nly 3J per cent.; for the interest on $100 is the the one case as on $50 in the other, again, money is not only abundant, but it is depreciated. A dollar bill to-day is only worth in specie. This is an astounding fact, but fact gold dollar is worth $1.33. A dollar's worth of ght, al,so, to be worth $1.33, even if, like gold, it rely unproductive. :ase then stands thus : a farm of 100 acres that ay 7 per cent, on $50 per acre, a year ago, was 5000. The same farm would pay 3j per cent, on ir acre, or $10.000 ; and in addition to this, we Id one-third for the depreciation of money that ow be paid for it, or $3,333. So that a farm worth year ago, would now be worth, on the basis we sumed, $13,333! are of course counteracting influences at work ce the value of land, such as the high price of ixes, etc., but the increased value of our products offset to these drawbacks. Making the most lib- iwauce for all depreciating influences, it is clear price of farming land ought to advance. The ection that can be urged to this argument is, that no certainty that the low rate of interest on money aermanent. This may keep land from advancing extent which the above figures would indicate, re can be little doubt that we shall, before many , witness a considerable rise in the nominal value and other property. 2 then advise farmers to sell if land advances ? — neans. If you sell and take pay in depreciated you will have to buy again in depreciated money that you will be no better off. What we would ery farmer to do, is to try to get out of debt loney is depreciated. He might sell a part of his d pay his debts with the money. In this way he ;ain, but in no other. The danger is, that instead I economical and trying to get out of debt; farm- be tempted to extravagance, and when the reac- nes, as assuredly it will, they will suffer the pen- Notes on the Weather from September 15th to October 16th, 1862. — The mean temperature of the first half of September was 64.2°, or only 0.3° above the mean for twenty-five years. The mean of the last half was 60.6°, or 3.8° above that for so many years, and the average of the month was 62.4°, only 2° above that for twenty-five years. The highest at noon, in the last half, was only 80°, on the 23d ; but the hottest day was 71.3°, on the 18th. The coldest morning, 42°, on the 25tb, which was the coldest day. Generally very pleasant. The rain of the last half was only 0.264 inches, and of the month was 2.364 inches. Of course the earth was rather dry and dusty. The rain on the 24th was 0.26 inches. But little rain or storm occurred within eight days on either side of the autumnal equinox, September 23d, very early in the morning. The moderate rain at the last of September was not worthy of the name equi- noxtial storm. Fruits have been a little late, but have finely matured, so that apples and pears, peaches and apricots, plums and quinces, have abounded. The crop of grapes is great and fine, and some wine will be manufactured in this vicinity. As the wheat harvest has proved to be much better than anticipated in England and France, the export of our cereals, though great, will be less than had been judged probable. The weather has been fine, and much of it clear and beautiful through the month, like the two preceding months. The New York State Agricultural Fair opened here on Tuesday, the last day of the month ; weather cloudy ; wind northeast; slight rain at times; rather unpro- pitious. October [began with moderate storm, some rain, and much cloudy, for four days, with a fall of water in that time of only 0.64 inch. The State Agricultural Fair con- tinued through three of these days, and as the rain fell chiefly by night, it was not so injurious as was feared. Thousands on thousands attended, and the receipts ex- ceeded $11,000. The Fair was a success. The little storm could not be the equinoxtial ; we had no storm de- serving of that name this year or last year. The pleasant week preceding was dry and dusty, with wind on some of the days. It would have been ruinous to the Fair, as the same causes were to the Fair of 1851 here. On the evening of the Gth and morning of the 7th, there fell of water 0.49 inch, and very little rain. The 7th and 8th were hotter than any two days known in October here, the heat being 83° at noon of the Sth. A great change from the cold of the 6th, when the thermometer was 3S° in the morning, and frost enough to kill leaves of delicate vegetables. Four-fifths of the fortnight has been cloudy and dull, with a mean temperature of 58°, or about the mean for tweuty-five years. Indian corn is matured. Very good peaches are in market on the 15th of October. Grapes abound. Genesee Farmer for October. J. Harris, Roch- i. Y. Always useful, always welcome. — British Steam cultivation is attracting more and more attention in England. Fowler, Howard & Smith are the princi- pal inventors. Steam plowing is destined to revolution- ize English agriculture. 356 THE GENESEE FARMER. Not sore of his Identity.- Brother Hoyt, of the In the Farmers' Magazine, in a long article on Wisconsin, Farmer, has spent the past summer in Europe, | Improvements in Hay-making " a calculation u and as soon as he landed in New York, he heard that his I into of the comparative cost of horse-power and wife was in the hands of the rebels, and hastened to her rescue. He had passed through so many changing scenes that he began to doubt his identity. "Are we really we? " he exclaims, even after he has been back sometime in his old familiar office. After a while, the world began to look more natural again. The Legislature was in session just as when he left five months ago, "squandering the people's money, throwing paper balls at empty heads, and pitching into everything that tends to the prosperity and honor of the State." He is convinced, and exclaims, " This is Wisconsin, and we are we!" The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory fob 1863,— The Rural Annual for 1863 is nearly ready. We may safely say that a cheaper or more valuable work for farmers, horticulturists and every one interested in rural pursuits, is not published in our country. Not one of our readers should be without it. Price only 25 cents. The seven previous volumes of the Sural Annual will be sent, prepaid, by mail to any address for $1.40. »•-. Agricultural Items. PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. labor. The balance in favor of the former is s be two shillings per acre. The writer adds : "Th of money is considerable, but the increased qui work done, the improved quality of the hay, saving of time employed, are subjects of far 'm portance to the hay-farmer." ►*♦ Inquiries and Answers. Mice.— Last year the mice did great damage to j trees in this vicinity. Can you give any inform? to how it might be prevented. Also, is there a for trees already girdled ?— E. M. Mordler, Fri wards county, C. W. How to get a Free Farm.— You have spoken trenesee larmer of three sections of land in low an actual settler can get a free farm tan, the Mates Government. I should be glad to know w these three sections are the best. I have two so should be glad to get farms for them. What is tl acter of the land as to timber, nearness to mark &c; and what is the proper course to take* ] prefer purchasing the government land at $2.50 p< t U ^i8 ln a settlement, rather than to go too far I John McHenry, Madoc, Hastings county, C. W. Will some of our Western readers answer the al Hollow-horn in Cattlk.— There are cattle in tl tion that have the hollow-horn. I think it is o\ our severe winters, and want of care in housing 1 tie and in not feeding them properly. If som! c correspondents know ot a sure cure, it would be accepted. It is easy to tell when an animal has t] ease: lake hold of the horn early in the mornino- it is cold the beast has the disease. Or you can' tapping the horn with a knife or spoon, and if it m.JOU WI" kumv U bv the hollow sound. The way I have cured it is to bore a hole into tin pretty close to the head, and blow in some dry fn At a sale of Holme Pierrepont rams, seventy-two ani- mals brought £1,905. The crop of barley is spoken of as very light this sea- son throughout England. Small pox has made its appearance among the sheep in England and causes much anxiety. At the final sale of Mr. Sanday's celebrated flock of v Leicester sheep, 37 rams averaged $63 each, 174 aged and. PfPper. The hole will soon begin to dischari ewes $2S, and 75 shearling ewes $35 each. The total sale t^ Up ' but il must be °Pened and some sa amounted to £2,215 10s. I PGPPer U m aSa,u-~A ^nt Farmer, Kent, C. In England ladies compete at Agricultural Fairs in other things besides dairy products and domestic manu- factures. At the last show of the Manchester and Liver- pool Society a Miss Glassford won the first prize for the best sample of white wheat. The Farmers' Magazine speaks in the highest terms of the display of the products of the North American Colo- nies at the International Exhibition. The wheat is equal to any in the Mother Country. The barley is one pound in the bushel heavier, and the oats equal the very best produced in Haddington— the greatest grain market in the south of Scotland. The Journal d' Agriculture Pratique speaks of the trial of McCormick's Automaton Machine in competition with several others. It gave great satisfaction, but M. Barrel doubts whether the automaton movement does not pre- sent very serious iuconveniences, although it certainly is very ingenious. There is quite a change coming over the agricultural sentiment as to the kind of animals which should take the prize at cattle shows. The Farmers' Magazine, in its report of the meeting at Battersea Park, speaks in the highest terms of the Swiss Diary Cows, which are bred for milkers, and are not like the im breeds, only strong in " beef and tallow. The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FAEME Rochester, N. T., Oct. 28, 1SG2. Sincoour last report the price of Wheat [has advanced cents per bushel. Corn has also advanced 8c— the ad vane ing place during the last two weeks. Oats maintain thei lively high price, but there has been no advance. Bai scarce and high— the price in New York being from $ $1.25 per. bushel. There has not been much change in the of Rye. Beans are somewhat lower since the new crop wa vested, but prices are still high and quite firm. Butter ha vanccd 3c per lb.; Cheese l@2c. Everything thai can be exported, is in demand at high p Exchange on England is worth 145. In other words" an lish pound, the real value of which is about $4.84, is now | in New York 86.44.' If you send a quantity of wheat, or or butter, to England and it sells for £1000, this £1000 iuste being worth only $4840 in New York, as would ordinarily t case, is now worth $6440. The premium on the exchange amounts to $1600. In other words, £1000 in New York Is « $1600 more than it is in London. In regard to future prices, it is not safe to predict. Wheat con. are now about 10c per bushel higher than they were ai time last year. And last year the prices continued to adv till January. Such may be the case this year. j ,o, „ulv,u aiC uicu Rochester, October 28.— White Wheat jiwioiop;. for milkers, and are not like the improved English p5@HS: 8Prin* Wheat, $1.00@l.m oWn f8|56C ' breeds, only strong in « beef and tallow." a^^VhL*^^!^80 p£r bu8heI ; Fine Mid'd» i «K#40c per bush. Oats, 40@4Sc. Eye, 6o@65. Pelts, $l@1.75. Haloes — Mercers, $1.75@2.00; Peach Blows, $1.50@,1.76; ke\e> and l'riiice Alberts, $1.40©1 of) per brl. pples— Fall Pippins and Spiizenbergs, $1.50@1.75; Green- . >l.25@1.50; common, $1.00 per brl. iars— OQtnm'onj $1.50©2.00; Seckels, Virgalicus, &c, $8.00 LOO per brl. urns— $2.00@2 50 per bush. ; Grapes, 5@6c per lb. iinces-^$2.50@3.do per brl. ickory Nuts. $1.50@1.50 per bush. jultrv— Turkevs, 12@14c, Fi.wls 10©V2c, Chickens 12@15c lb; Dueks 75(j|,$l-00 per pair; Geese $1.25@$1.75 each; Par- tes 75c(?z). - 1 .00 per pair. Ig-i— 1 8©19c pi-r dozen. liter — ( 'h-'ice State Kirklns 28@24c ; Pennsylvania and West- Reserve I6@18c: Grease Butter 10@Hc per lb. ve.se — smte, 1' ©lie ; Western, 8©9c. csr York Cattle Market.— At the last Cattle Market, there a no Cattle from Kentucky, (the Stale having been swept by rebels) and none from Canada, (on account of the large dis- lt on nur money.) The average price was 73£c per lb., va- 2 from Cc to Sjic, according to quality. he Sheep Market was overstocked, nnd pr1«i» S0c per brl. Fresh Butter, >19e. K2es,"9@12 per doz. Chickens drawn 85@40c and ks. 40@50o, per pair. Turkeys. 40@60c each. Hay, $20 per Straw, $11 per ton. Wool, 35c. Pelts, 70@S0c each. hii.adelphia, October 24.— White wheat, $1.$5@1.65; re(Ji 2©1.45. Rve, 80@85c. Corn, 70©72c. Oats, 40@45c. rer Seed, $5.75©6.00. Timothy Seed, $1.75@2.00. Flax 1, $2.25 per bush. ufealo, October 27— White Wheat, $1.2fi@$1.30c ; red, $1. Corn, 46@.50c. Barlev. $1.04@1.06. Peas, 75c for Can- in Beans. $1.50©1.7.\ Timothy Seod, $1.25@2.00. Clover i, $4.50©5.00. Flax Seed, $1.62X- rnoAoo. October 27.— Wheat, No.l,94@96c; No. 2, S7@83c n, 3t@,S4c. incinnati, Octob-r 27.— White Wheat, $1 20@1.25; red, $1. J.1.10. Corn, 38©40c. Oats, new, 50©52c; Old, 56©5Tc. y, fi0@,62c Barley, Spring, $1.20@1.25; Fall, $1.30@1.85. r, $12@13.00 per ton. t. Louis, October 22. — Fall Wheat ranges all the way from to $1.18 per bush. Corn, 50@55c. Oats, 60c. Barley, $1.23 .45. Rye, 45@50c. Literary Notices. THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY— October. Boston: Ticknob & Fikli>s. Price, $3. on per annum. This is the best of American monthlies, and it employs the first talent of the country. Is contributors are Agassiz, Holmes, Miss Prescott, and others like them, whose names alone give an interest to any article. In the October number; "Autumnal Tints,'' by Thoreac, is one of those essays which show an ex- quisite appreciation of Nature in all her varid forms, and teach careless people, who stumble over all the wondrous beauties which lie in their paths, how much of pleasure they lose every day of their lives. We hope that in the hands of such excellent publishers as Ticknok & Fields, whose imprimature gives character to all they send out, that the magazine will be as suc- cessful as it is worthy of success. HARPERS' WEEKLY. New York: Harper & Bros. Trice, $2.50 per year. This pictorial has become a necessity, now that there is so much occurring every day that we all want to know something about, and localities are becoming famous, the names of which had never been heard of out of their own State. The portraits of distinguished and of notorious people are generally very good, and there is always one comicality that has an idea in it. A story called " No Name," by Wilkie Collins, is being published in its columns. ADVERTISEMENTS. S. M. PETTENGILL & CO. No. 37 Park Row, New York, Si 6 State St., Boston, are our Ageuts for the Genesee Farmer in those cities, and are authorized to take Advertisements and subscriptions for us at our Lowest Rates. MOLE PLOWS— By J. DUNHAM, Ithaca, N. Y 8— tf DEY'S LADY'S BOOK— November. Philadelphia: L. A. odet. Price, S3. 00 per annum. 'his monthly has come again, with the same marvelous va- y in its contents which has characterized the nine other num- s of the past year. It Is invaluable to ladies liv'ng in the ntry. It not only gives the fashions for dresses, Ac, but it plain directions for new stitches in knitting, crochet and ting, all accompanied by engravings which so illustrate the t that it is impossible not to succeed in learning any or all of m. In this number the patterns for braiding, both for ladies' 1 children's dresses, are remarkably beautiful; and the direc- ts for making a carriage blanket, after an entirely new de- n, are well worth the price of the book. There is something every member of the family in each number — pictures that Idren can copy on their slates, and new games for the older ?s to try ; receipts for the housekeeper ; directions for cooking e little trifles for invalids; and book notices, containing every v work published, whether grave or gay, light or solid. The icleB are mostly tales, more or less interesting, but never other- 5e than strictly moral, and generally there is some talk about wers and how to grow them. This month the first article is I Water Garden," which is well worth reading ; and we hope it its hints will be taken. THE KUKAL ANNUAL— For 1856, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid to anv address for $1.40. JOSEPH" HARRIS, Rochester, N Y. ABEAUTIrUL MICROSCOPE, MAGNIFYING SMALL objects 500 Times, tor 38 CENTS (coin prelerred.) Five of different powers for 81, MAILED FREE. Address F. H. BOWEN, Box 220, novtf Boston, Mass. WANTED, A PRACTICAL FARMER— Who has had experience in the culture of fruit, and can bring good references, as to hon- estv, industry and capacity. M. F. REYNOLDS. Rochester, N. Y., November, 1862. FOR SALE. ONTARIO VINES— WARRANTED TRUE TO NAME— and not the Union Village. Having fruited both varieties this year, I am satisfied they are entirely unlike. Price, $2.00 for 2-year old vines ; $12.00 per dozen. OTIS F. PRESBREY, Prospect Hill Vineyard, novlt Buffalo, N. Y. CIDER MILLS. I HAVE NOW ON HAND AND FOR SALE, HICKOK'S celebrated Hand Cider Mills. Parties wishing one of the best Mills in the country, will please call and examine them, at the Genesee Seed Store, 17 South St. Taui St., Rochester, N. Y.. nov-lt J. RAPALJE. [CARRIAGE HORSES WANTED. DAPPLE GRAY, LONG TAILS, HEADS WELL UP; LONG range in action ; weight, eleven to twelve hundred; age, seven to eight years, 16 hands high. Any person having a sound pair of horses for sale, answering the description, will please ad- dress notf GEO. A. PRINCE, Buffalo, N. Y. CHOICE NATIVE AND FOREIGN GRAPE YINES.— LENK & CO. OFFER FOR SALE A LARGE stock of Native and Foreign Grape Vines, including all the rarest and most valuable varieties. Send for a Price List. Address LENK & CO., novtf Humboldt Nurseries, Toledo, Ohio. 358 THE GENESEE FARMER. THE NEW YORK OBSERVER IS A RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR NEWSPAPER, PUBLISHED ON A DOUBLE SIIEET, SO AS TO BE EASILY SEPARATED INTO TWO DISTINCT PAPERS. In religion it is tree from sectarianism, and gives a full, fair and impartial report every week of all matters of general interest IN ALL THE DENOMINATIONS. In Politics it is entirely free from party relations or affinities, discussing great principles with freedom and candor, and giv- ing the tullest and latest intelligence of all the movements of the day. IT SUPPORTS THE GOVERNMENT With VIGOR, FIDELITY and ZEAL, in its efforts to CRUSH THE REBELLION, And restore the Union and preserve the Constitution. It criti- cizes with freedom whatever measures are not adapted to the ac- complishment of these ends: but its steady purpose, from the beginning of the war, has been, and will be, to uphold the hands and strengthen the heart of the Government, while it puts forth its energies to protect us against the most unholy rebellion that ever disturbed the peace of any country. The New York Observer is the most complete family newspa- per W THE WORLD. In the variety of its Departments, In the fullness of its Information, In the extent of its Correspondence, In the number of minds enlisted in Us editorial and other col- ums, In the amount of money expended in procuring materials to enrich and adorn its pages, In the healthful, religious, conservative, genial tone that per- vades the paper. In its stores of anecdote, biography, poetry, science, art, ard general literature, it will strive to exceed every other weekly newspaper. GREAT INDUCEMENTS. The proprietors of the New York Observer offer the following valuable premiums for NEW SUBSCRIBERS. In all cases, the new subscribers must be those lohohaxe not in their own or others'1 name*, taken the paper during the past year. To Ministers and Others. The Annals of the American Pulpit, by William B. Sprague, d. n., are comprised in seven large octavo volumes, viz : Congregational, 2 vols. Presbyterian, 2 " Methodist, 1 « Episcopal, 1 " Baptist 1 " They contain the biography of more than a thousand minis- ters, and a history of each denomination, with a statement ot its doctrinal views, making a complete library of religious biog- raphy and history. The lives of ttiese ministers are interspersed with memorable anecdotes and incidents, and illustrated by let- ters from distinguished statesmen and clergymen, rendering the volumes an inexhaustible source of instruction and entertain- ment. The publishers' price for the seven volumes is $18.50. We will furnish the whole set to the order of any person who will send us twelve new subscribers with the payment for one year, or any two volumes for four new subscribers, or any one vol- ume for two new subscribers. In all cases the money ($'2.50 for each subscriber) must be raid in advance. To Farmers and Others. We will furnish the whole set of the following works to any one who will send us fifteen new subscribers — with payment of $2.5i) in advance on each for one year — viz: American Farmer's Encyclopedia, $4.00 Allen's (K. L.> American Farm Book, 1.00 Allen (J. Fisk) on the Culture of the Grape, 1.00 Barry's Fruit Garden, 1.25 Boussingault's Rural Economy, 1.25 Bridgemau's Young Gardener's Assistant, 1.50 Buist's American Flower Garden Directory, 1.25 Comprehensive Farm Record, 8.00 Dadd's Modern Horse Doctor, 1.00 Dadd's American Cattle Doctor, 1.00 Dana's Muck Manual, 1.00 French's Farm Drainage, 1.00 Garlick's Fish Culture, 1.00 Herbert's Mints to Horse-keepers, 1.25 Warder's Hedges and Evergreens, 1.00 To any one sending us ten new subscribers, and advance ps ment for each one year, we will send the Farmer's Encycloped Farm Record, and any five other books on the list— or the < tire list, except the Encyclopedia and Record. For five new subscribers, with pa\ment in advance, we m .'end the Farmer's Encyclopedia and Farm Record, or any otl five books in the list. For four new subscribers and payment, the Encvclopedia a any book less than $3. For three new subscribers, the Farm Record and any doll book. For two new subscribers, any two books in the list costing 1< than $3 each. And tor one new subscriber, any book costi less than $3 on the list. These books will be sent by mail or express, at the option expense ot the subscribers. Every evening devoted to canvassing may secure one or mc of these volumes. They are among the most practical works now published the subjects treated. With this collection of books in his libra neither the beginner nor the more advanced farmer need go fi ther for the instruction desired in any branch of his pursuits. They are here placed within the reach of every young im in the country, without a dollar in money. Specimen copies of the paper sent free to any address. no2i FARMERS, YOUR SONS NEED A BUSINESS EDUCATION; WIT out it they may plow and reap as their grandfathers! before them, but they cannot, without such instiuotion. inte gently, methodically, or accurately, set about the successful pr edition of that especially close business, Modern Agricultu 'there is one institution in the country, and but one, Where si dents arc thoroughly trained, as well as theoretically taught where eight to twelve weeks attendance secures a perfect knori edge of every legal form of procedure in every known branch enterprise, and a ready aptitude or skill in practical busini matters. For information, address the Principal of " Fasiman\s Mas Mercantile College,'''' Rochester, N. Y. nov-31 TOWN AGENTS WANTED TO CIRCULATE A NE series of the Rural American, to be published at Utica, Y., semi-monthly, at sixty cents a year. Regular issue frc January 1st, 1S63. A splendid paper — purely Agricultural a Horticultural— adapted to every State in the Union. Coram sions very large, and a Fifty-Cent Concord Grape Vine free every subscriber, which is the best early grape in exiMenc My travelling agents sweep towns of nearly every farmer them — no difference on account of the war. Full details giv in a specimen paper, soon to be ready, which is free to all. Address T. B. MINER, Clinton, Oneida county, N. Y. P. S. — The price is sixty cents in clubs, not fifty cents, asstat in the October Farmer. GENEVA NURSERY. \TT T. & E. SMITH, GENEVA, N. Y., INVITE 1 HE A YV • tention of Planters, Nurserymen and Dealers to thi large stock of FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, Of all the most desirable sorts. 200,000 GRAPE VINES of the new and popular sorts at i unoed prices. STRAWBERRY PLANTS of Triomphe de Gan Wilson's Albany, and other fine sorts. %W Our Wholesale Catalogue will be furnished to all w] apply. novlt 1&SS&\ &* 6< ave E. WARE SYLVESTER, Lyons N Y. QHROPSKLRE AND SOUTH DOWN DRAFT SHEE O FOR SALE. Shropshire Rams, Shropshire Ewes, South Down Rams, South Down Ewes. |0P~ Inquire at 16 and 18 Chambers street, New York, of oc-3t JACOB LORILLARD. OA AAA DELAWARE VINES, 200,000 CONCOR ~i\Ji\/\J\J VINES— strong, healthv and cheap. Send Jt Catalogue of Prices. Address sep3t WM. PERRY & SON, Bridgeport, Conn. TO GROWERS OF SPRING WHEAT. CHAPPELL & SPMGUE, 'CHESTER. SOLE MANUFACTURERS OF CO pj > > H £p O f> H rOQ w a H "BOOTH'S COMPOUND SHAKER." OK SEPARATING OATS. BARLEY, AND OTHER FOR- eign substances tmm Wheat, it is the best, simplest, :apest and only Machine ever invented, that thoroughly ac- lplishes the desired end. Fanners can always get from five en cents per bushel more for their Wheat if properly cleaned, leans Irom 150 to 200 bushels per day, and a boy can operate it, 1 its exceeding LOW PRICE ngs it within the reach ot every Farmer. On receipt of EIGHT LLARS. a Machine (with printed instructions for operating,) I be shipped as directed. Those wishing to engage in the j of the Machine and purchasing by the dozen, will have a discount made to them. All orders to be addressed to CHAPPELL & SPRAGUE, Rochester, N. T., ep-6t Sole Manufacturers. FARM FOR SALE ! DJOINING THE DEP'OT— In Warren, Penn., of seventy- l five acres of land, with a new Frame House, nearly all shed below in a good substantial manner, with a good Stone lar under the same. About twenty-five acres under improve- it, with seven acres more which might be put into wheat the sent fall with trilling expense. It is first rate wheat land, and rell supplied with pure water from never-failing springs. For ian who is desirous of going into the fruit-growing business location cannot be surpassed in Western Pennsylvania, hav- the advantage of a home market with the highest prices. W^ One-half of the purchase money may lay for one or two rs, if desired. I can be seen in Erie every dav (Sundays ex- .ted) from 11 A. M. till 3 P. M , and in Warren "from 6% P. M. 7)£ A. M. Any communication of inquiry directed to War- .. Penn., will be promptly answered, barren, Sept. 1, 1862.— 3t D. M. JAMES. The Original Howe Sewing Machine! lECENT and important improvements having been put to Li to this Machine renders it now the most perfect before the ilic, and persons at a distance can order a Machine with^a irantee ol its prompt and safe delivery, and that they will be e to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking idles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making 'any •ment, however delicute or heavy, on the same Machine, either cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- ging a Sew'n? Machine without first seeing this — the latest I greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing tcbine. g^" Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices. A r responsible Agents would be dealt with liberally. Address THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES, rub/, 1862.— 21t 437 Broadway, New York. TO FARMERS AND LUMBER DEALERS. OCRIBNER'S READY-RECKONER AND LOG BOOK 19 O the most popular and saleable book ever published on that subject. The sales now amount to over 300.(00 copies The calculations are so arranged as to be easily understood, and can be relied on with perfect safety. It is designed expressly for Boat-builders, Ship-builders, Lumber Merchants, Mechanics and contains full and correct measurement of scantling boards plank, cubical contents of round and square timber 'saw-Joes' wood, tables of wages by the month, board, rent, interest tables' &c, &c. ' No farmer, lumber merchant or business man should be with- out a copy, as the price is nothing in comparison to its value For twenty-five cents I will send a book to any address free of postage. BOOKSELLERS AND BOOK AGENTS WANTING to in- terest themselves in the sale of the book in Lumber Ren-ions can have them upon such terms as will make it an object to^push the book, and can make monev by so doing. Address GEO. W. FISHER, Bookseller and Stationer nov2t Rochester, N. Y. THE CHILS0N FURNACE. THIS celebrated Furnace, which has beer, so extensively used in public and private buildings, and which has stood the test of eqperience after various attempted imitations, is still for sale in Rochester. The different sizes are fitted for all classes of buildings, from th? cottage to the church. They can be purchas- ed at lower rates than ever before, and any one desiring to man- ufacture these Furnaces can, on short notice, be furnished with a full set of iron patterns for all the different sizes. Further information can be obtained from the Editor of this Paper- sep— tf FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON, 200 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. FOR MACHINES, use BROOK'S PATENT GLACE for upper thread, and BKOOK'S SIX COKD RED TICKET for under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country; also in cases of 100 dozen each, assorted numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, 36 Vesey street, New York. Ja — ly Back Volumes of the Genesee Farmer. WE have the back numbers of the Genesee Farmer, hand- somely bound, for the years 1846, 1S47, 1848, 1349 15^3 1855, 1856, 1857.. 1858, 1S59, 1S60 and 1861. They will be sent free to any address for $1.00 each. The last six volumes, from 1S56 to 1861 inclusive, handsomely bound, will be sent free by express or by mail postage paid, for $5.00. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Gene-see Farmer, Rochester. N. Y. FARMERS AND OTHERS that wish to obtain quickly, in cash, the highest market prices for their farm produce, must send all their butler, cheese, lard, eggs, poultry, hams, game, vegetables, green and dried fruits, flour, grain, seeds, &c, Ac, to JOSIAH CARPENTER, Produce Commission Merchant, 32 Jay Street, New York. He returns the cash in ten days after receipt of goods, makes ad- vances on consignment, or buys for cash ; and sends a weekly •' Price Current" to all shippers. oc2t CLOVER HULLING AND CLEANING MA- CHINES. HULLS AND CLEANS FROM THREE TO TEN BUSHELS per hour. Late improvement, patented March 25, 1862. Description of this great machine sent eratis on application. Made and for sale only by M. H. MANSFIELD. Patentee, sep-3t Ashland, Ohio. WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes of the Wood Cms us?d in the Gene- tee Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural IHrec- tory. A bonk containing Impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipt of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. AGENTS WANTED AT ONCE FOR A CEMPLETE HISTORY OF THE T)T7DT7T T T/^TVT To be issufpby The Aw l\Jl/l>JCiJUl^lVjl> bum Publishing Co. Prospectus and Descriptive Circulars sent free to those wholwrite to E, G. STORKE, Auburn, N, T. VJ iJH X-JkJJLJJJ X' -OL.LWlILIll.LV. T H E GENESEE FARMER FOR 1863. A GREAT PREMIUM LIST ! BOOK PIUZES! SEED PRIZES! CASH PRIZES! All Prizes and No Blanks ! Wb spare no pains to make the GENESEE FARMER worthy the patronage of every farmer and fruit-grower in the United States and Canada. It has already a very large circulation, but there is no reason why it may not be doubled during the coming year. All that is necessary, is for our friends to take hold of the matter in their respective localities, and present the claims of the Genesee Farmer to their neighbors and friends As some in- ducement for them to act as agents in getting subscribers, we of- fer the following premiums : AND FIRST TO THE LADIES.— There are some ladies who already act as agents for the Geneskk Farmer, and those who do are always successful in getting subscribers. We want more agents among our farmers' sous and daughters:. We offer the following : SPECIAL PREMIUMS TO THE LADIES. 1. To every lady who sends us before the first of next January, five subscribers for 1863, at 60 cents each, we will send, pre-paid, by return mail, a copy of Mrs. Hale's Modern Cookery Book, price $1 ; or a dollar package containing sixteen varieties of the choic- est and most-beautiful flower seeds, such as we know every lady would like to have growing in the garden. 2. To every lady sending us fifteen subscribers at 60 cents each, before the first of next January, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a beautiful copy of the Rural Poetry of the English Lau- guage; price $8, PREMIUMS FOR BOYS. 1. To every boy who shall send us before the first of January, 1S63, three subscribers, at 60 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farrier, price 50 cents; or a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry. 2. To every boy sending us four subscribers, (as above,) we wll send, prepaid, by relurn mail, a volume of the Gbnesbe Far- mer for 1850, neatly bound in stiff paper cover: price 75 cents. 3. To every boy sending us five subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of Rodgers' Scientific Agricuture, or a volume of the Geneske Farmer for ls60, hand- somely bound in cloth. The wholesale price of the latter is $1, and there is no cheaper work. 4. To every boy sending us six subscribers, (as above,) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of Everybody's Lawyer or The Horse and his Diseases : price $1.25. 5. To every boy sending us eight subscribers, (as above,) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a complete set of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for eight years (1856-7-8-9, '61, '61, '62 and '63.) Price 25 cents each. No young farmer or gardener should be without a complete set of this work 6. To every boy sending us fifteen subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the Rural Poetry of the English Language ; price 13. (This is a most beautiful and appropriate book for a Christmas or New Years present.) 7. To every boy sending us titoenty-ftoi subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by express, the last six volumes of the Genbsek Fabjdse, (1856-7-8-9, '60 and '61.) handsomely bound in cloth. The price is $1 each, and there is no cheaper work pub- lished. No young farmer could have a better work in his library. It will be seen that the above prizes are for subscribers at ^ ty Cents each. If sent in during the present month,j(Noveml the last two numbers of this year, (November and Deeemb will be sent to each subscriber free. These prizes are offe only to the ladies and boys, the object being to get them ini ested in the circulation of the Farmer. PREMIUMS FOR EVERYBODY, At our Lowest Club Rates of 50 Cents each. 1. To every person sending us six subscribers, at 50 cents ea ($3.00; we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the I ral Annual for 1863. 35 cts 2. To every person sending us ten subscribers at our low club rates of 50 cents each, ($5.00) we will send a copy of I Gi-.nesee Farmer for 1863, and also a copy of the Rural A nual for 1863, (prepaid, by mail.). 85 ct8 3. To every person sending us sixteen subscribers at 50 ce each, ($8.00) we will send, prepaid, by mail, a package of flow and vegetable seeds, containing twelve papers of choice var ties, price $1, or a handsomely bound volume of the Genes Farmer for 1860: price $1. And also a free copy of the Fa mer and Rural Annual for 1863. $1.85. 4. To every person sending us twenty subscribers, at 50 cei each, ($10.00) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy Everybody's Lawyer, or The Horse and his Diseases, price $1.! and also two free copies of the Farmer for 1863. $3.45. 5. To every person sending us twenty-ftntr subscrib rs, at cents each, ($12.00) we will send either of the above books anc dollar package of vegetable and flower seeds, and a free copy the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual for 1S63. $3.10. Those getting higher clubs than the above, will probably tal some of the following C_sn Prizes. If not, books and seeds, desired, will be sent in the same tatio : CASH PRIZES! CASH PRIZES!! CASH PRIZES! !! -TO THE PERSON sending us the Ugliest numb, of subscribers, before the 15th of February, 1S68. : our lowest club rates of 50 cents each, we will seud Fifty Doi lars in cash. djiO A— TO THE PERSON sending us the second higke, flpO \J number, (as above,) we will send Thirty Dollai in cash. (jbOA-TO THE PERSON sending us the third high* number, (as above,) we will send Twenty Dollai in cash. ?tho ^1 ^\~ T° THE PERS0N priding us the fourth highet nP-lt) number, (as above,) we., uill send Fifteen Dollar in cash. db/j A— TO THE PERSON sending us thefifth highest nnm CP-LU ber (as above.) we will send Ten Dollars in cash. ^— TO THE PERSON sending us the sixth highest nam ber, (as above,) we wtll send Five Dollars in cash. d&/|— TO THE PERSON sending us the seventh highest num ?P"I ber, (as above,) we will send Four. Dollars in cash. —TO THE PERSON sending us the eighth highest num- ber, (as above,) we will send Three Dollars in cash. $W The number of subscribers, and the names of those send- ing the largest clubs, will be announced in the March number ol the Farmer, and the cash immediately paid. Clubs are not required to be at one post-office, or sent to one address. We send the papers wherever the members of the club desire. It is not necessary that the club should be sent in all at one time. Names can be added al any lime, ant] all that are sent in before the fifteenth of February will be counted in. Send on the names with the money as fas! as they are obtained. |^~ Money may be sent by mail at our risk, you need not re- gister the letters^ Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Pui5Lisiir.it and Proprietor of tub Gknesee Farmer, November 1, 1S62. Rochester, N. Y. Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1862. No. 12. CAN WE COMPETE WITH THE WEST! English farmers thought they could not live without " Protection." " Free Trade " in grain, they said, "would bring them into direct competi- tion with American farmers, who, beside having rich, new land, had no rent, tythes or taxes to pay." They said and thought that such competition would prove their ruin, and the ruin of the country. Long was the struggle and bitter the strife which wrung from the agricultural interest an unwilling assent to the removal of duties on imported grain. The manufacturing interest triumphed, and the farmers for a while suffered nearly as much as they had anticipated ; but they soon adapted themselves to their altered circumstances, and to-day English ag- riculture is, on the whole, as profitable as it was ■under protection. This has been effected by a change in the system of agriculture. They were brought into direct •competition with other grain-gron ing countries, but they had still one of the best markets in the world for the sale of butchers' meat. They turned their attention more to the raising and fattening of cattle and sheep, and an unexpected result followed. They not only had more meat to sell, but the fat- tening stock so increased the size and richness of their manure heaps that they obtained as much or more grain from the smaller area than from the larger breadth of land formerly sown! The same result has attended the growth of the beet for sugar in some districts of France. Much land was devoted to this crop, but the remaining land was so enriched by the refuse beets fed to cat- tle, that it produced more than if the whole land had been devoted to grain. Can we compete with the grain-growers of the West? The English farmers, contrary to their fears, have not been ruined by being brought into competition with other countries, partly because of the expense attending the conveyance of grain, and. partly because they turned their attention to producing beef and mutton, in which they had still very little competition from foreign countries. We have to compete with the West. Can we do so successfully ? Some farmers say we can not ; but we think they are mistaken. The high freights on grain give us all the pro- tection we need. It costs thirty-four cents a bushel to send corn from Chicago to New York, and the farmer living in the interior of Illinois can not get his corn or wheat to Chicago for less than it costs us to send it to New York; so that we receive full thirty-four cents a bushel more for grain than the farmers living on the prairies of Illinois. How they manage to raise corn and wheat and sell it at such prices is more than we can un- derstand. We get little enough here, but still; we- get thirty-four cents a bushel more than ihey do ; and it must be remembered that every >sent per bushel we get over aud above the cost e£" produc- tion is clear profit. In the production of grain, therefore^, we need not fear competition with our brethren at the- West. But how is it in the production of^eef,. pork, mutton, butter, cheese and wool ?• The freight on a hundred -dollars' worth of these articles is very much less than on a hundred! dollars' worth of grain. Other things being equal',, therefore, they are far better able to compete with us in the pro- duction of these products than intone production of grain; and the tendency of sueh a condition of' things is to force the Western tanners to raising' beef, pork, mutton and wool. So far as the c *st of sending these to market is concerned, .they lravev as compared with grain, a decided' advantage over us. This leaves us in rather an embarrassim* posi- tion. If the competition was in producin g grain instead of meat, wool, &c, we could read ily meet it. The increased production of meat find wool would enable us to make our Ian*? richeir; but as 362 THE GENESEE FARMER. it is, the more grain we grow and sell, and the less stock we keep, the poorer our land will become. The land at the "West, too, is generally believed to be naturally richer than ours; and if this is the case, it adds another drawback to our position ; for while the system of agriculture which would seem to be most profitable to us renders our poor land still poorer, 'that which is best for the West ren- ders their rich land still richer. From what we have seen of the West, however, we think the fer- tility of the soil has been exaggerated. It will wear out sooner than ours, and will, in a few years, need manure quite as much to keep up its produc- tiveness. Admitting all this, however, the fact remains that we are at present subjected to a severe com- petition in the production of beef and pork; and it would seem that wool will soon be added to the list. We have decidedly the advantage in produc- ing grain; but to raise the largest crops we need manure, and to obtain this we have to keep stock; and here we are met with severe competition from the West. What should we do ? There are two or three ways open to us: 1st. "We must, more than ever before, realize the fact that "tillage is manure1'1 — that the literal meaning of the word "manure" {mam 8, h nd, and ouvrer, to work,) is hand-labor. To manure the land is to hoe, to dig, to stir the soil, to expose it to the atmosphere, to plow, to harrow, to cultivate. The ancient Romans made Stercutius a god because he discovered that the droppings of animals had the same effect in enriching the soil as to hoe it. "We can leave the modern method of manuring land to our Western farmers, while we go back to the original method of stirring the soil. Mr. Lawes has raised a good crop of wheat every season for over twenty years on the same land by simply keeping it thoroughly clean by two plowings in the fall and by hoeing the wheat in spring by hand. The Rev. S. Smith, of Lois-Weedon, has for years raised successive crops of wheat by a process of trenching the land with a fork and by hand-hoeing. "We do not advocate this system, but the principle is applicable to our case. "We can manure our land by better tillage. 2d. We can be more than ever careful in saving all the refuse matter on the farm and in compost- ing it. We can avail ourselves of peat-deposits and of lime and of plaster, and of all other natural fertilizers. 3d. We can use more or less artificial manures. The time has not yet come, perhaps, when these can be used with profit, but that time will assuredly arrive, and our farmers — and especially our farm- ers' sons — should study the chemistry of manures if they would avail" themselves of the advantages to be derived from an intelligent use of the various fertilizers which science brings to our notice. WHEAT IN WESTERN NEW YOEK. " The extent of wheat now cultivated in Western New York is fast reaching the maximum amount of former years, when it was the granary of the West." So says the editor of the Prairie Farmer — and he is right. We can not help feeling some degree of satisfaction as we recall the position taken by the Genesee Farmer in the disastrous midge years of 1856-7. Some of our so-called agricultural papers, and not a few of our farmers, advocated the abandonment of wheat culture, while the writer labored hard to induce our wheat-growers to persevere. Wre assured them that the midge was no new thing — that it had long been known in England and Scotland, but did comparatively little damage because farmers kept their land in high condition and raised heavier crops. We recommended, not the abandonment of wheat cul- ture altogether, but the sowing of it only on such land as was naturally dry or had been well under- drained, and which could be got into the best con- dition previous to sowing. The great point we showed was to get wheat into flower earlier in the season than the midge made its appearance. The midge did the most damage on low land, where the wheat was late, and we predicted that the evil would prove a blessing by compelling us to under- drain, and to make the land richer and cultivate it more thoroughly. All this has teen accomplished. Good farmers need no longer fear the midge. But we can not too often call attention to the meaDS necessary to avoid injury from this insect depreda- tor. They are, in brief : 1. Select the earliest and dry est land ; and if it is not naturally dry, underdrain it. And it must be borne in mind that much land which appears dry is still in need of underdraining. All land which contains stagnant water at any season of the year needs underdraining to enable it to pro- duce the earliest and best wheat. High, rolling land often needs draining as much or more than low, level land. Dig a hole three feet deep and see if water remains in it ; and if so the land needs underdraining. Good seed, good culture, early sowing and the best of treatment will all prove of THE GENESEE FARMER. aea Bompar&tively little value if this fundamental ope- ration of underdraining is neglected. 2. Sow only- as much land to wheat as can he made rich enough to insure a vigorous growth. If the midge destroys five bushels of wheat per acre, and your laud is only rich enough to produce ten bushels, the midge will leave you only five bushels per acre ; but if your land is rich enough to pro- duce thirty bushels, and the midge eats live bushels as before, you have still twenty-five bushels per acre left. The midge destroys as much in both cases, but in oue half the crop is consumed and only one-sixth in the other. 3. Sow as early as possible without increasing the liability of injury from the Hessian fly. The Hessian fly deposits its eggs in the young, plants in autumn, and proves more injurious to early sown than to late sown wheat. The midge, on the other hand, deposits its eggs in the ear of wheat when it is in flower, and the earlier the wheat is the more likely is it to escape. As to the time of sowing, therefore, we. have to avoid the Hessian fly on the one hand and the midge on the other. Hi this section, if we sowed as early as the 20th of August, the Hessian fly would most likely prove injurious; and if as late as the 20th of September, the midge would almost certainly make havoc in the crop. The first week in September is now considered the best time to sow in this vicinity. 4. Select the earliest varieties, fur the reasons above named. The Mediterranean generally es- capes on account of its earliness. Its drawbacks are its dark color, (though it has greatly improved in this respect,) and its liability to lodge when sown on rich land. The Soules' is the most popu- lar white wheat we have at present. Under favorable conditions we may reasonably expect a good yield. These are the four principal points to insure success in wheat growing. They are precisely those which we advocated when the midge first made its appearance, and the experience of our best farmers has determined their correctness. IRRIGATING GRASS LAND. Salt, Sulphur and Baoon for Sheep. — A sheep- keeper in Indiana says he promotes the health of his flock by a free use of salt, and an occasional use of sulphur mixed with the salt or with feed, and two or three times a year he gives the sheep' some old bacon, which is cut up and mixed with the salt. Another sheep-keeper thinks tar better than the fat bacon, though it is more work to ad- minis! er it, for each sheep has to be caught and its mouth opened and the tar put in with a paddle. Another one thinks . resin, in powder, mixed with salt, or meal, or grain, fed to sheep, just as good as tar, and a great saving of labor. "We hail with the greatest pleasure every suc- cessful attempt to introduce the practice of irriga- tion into this country. We have witnessed its beneficial effects so frequently abroad, and are so well satisfied that it would add greatly to the pro- duction and profit of thousands of American farms, that we feel justified in frequently calling the at- tention of the intelligent readers of the Genesee Farmer to the subject. Sanford Howard, of the Boston Cultivator, who, both from his experience as a practical farmer and from his visits to Europe, is eminently qualified to speak in the matter, has recently visited the farm of Mr. Clark Rioe, of Brattleboro', Vt., where some seventy acres of grass land is irrigated in the best manner. The water is applied only to the grass Crop, and when the land is under cultivation, as a portion of it is every year, the water is shut off. Other portions are permanently in grass, and these are irrigated every year. The farm is situated on quite a high hill, near the summit of which is a basin comprising several acres, which was formerly a boggy swamp, and the sour-ceof a small stream which meandered through a portion of the farm. By throwing a dam a tew feet in bight along the lower edge of the swamp, a reservoir was formed which holds a large quantity of water. The water,' soon after it leaves the reservoir, is divided into several main channels by which it is carried to different fields, where it is made to flow in thin sheets over the grass. It is the common practice to let the water on in spring before the snow is gone ; sometimes the snow is _ several feet in depth over the whole surface when the water is turned on. The effect of the water is to melt the snow next the ground, slowly, so^that after a while there is a space between the snow and the grass. The water also thaws the ground — which sometimes, when the snow falls early, is but little frozen— and the grass soon starts, so that by the time the fields are hare they become beautifully green. The water is kept running on the grass until about two weeks before haying is commenced. As soon as the first crop of grass has been cut, the water is flushed over the ground, and the gray stubble is soon hidden by a luxuriant second growth. Most of the irrigated land produces from a ton and a half to two tons per acre at the first cutting, and an after-growth equal to half a ton per acre, which is sometimes mowed and some- times fed off. , "Mr. Rice has irrigated more or less for twenty- 364 TIIE GENESEE FARMER. five years, and he finds no diminution in the crop, while the quality of the grass improves. The large crop of grass from the irrigated meadows enables him to sell considerable quantities of hay, and yet have enough left to make manure sufficient to keep up the fertility of the farm. KEEP THE SHEEP AT HOME. The high price of pelts is inducing some farm- ers to sell their sheep. We think they err in so doing. Mutton is now comparatively low. The only reason why sheep are high is on account of the demand for wool; but as there is little reason to anticipate any reduction in the price of wool before the next clip comes in, and as there is every reason to believe that mutton will be much higher next spring than it is at present, we think it far better to keep and feed the sheep during the winter than to slaughter them now. Fattening sheep in winter, if properly attended to, is one of the most profitable branches of American agriculture. It is so not because the sheep increase very much in weight, but rather be- cause of the enhanced price of mutton in the spring. If we had to depend merely on what .the sheep gain in weight, it would hardly pay to fatten them in winter. The increase in mutton would scarcely pay for the amount of fodder consumed. Thus a sheep, weighing 100 lbs., would eat 3 lbs. of hay per day, or its equivalent, and increase say H lbs. per week. From the middle of November until the middle of March, such a sheep would eat 336 lbs. of hay ; and all that we get to pay for it is 24 lbs. of mutton, worth, at 6 cents per lb., $1.44, or $8.57 per ton for the hay. But suppos- ng such a sheep to be now worth 3 cents per lb. live weight, and next March 5 cents per lb., we should get for the 336 lbs. of hay consumed $3.20, or over $19.00 per ton. This is the proper light in which to consider the question of fattening sheep in winter, and we feel confident that it will be found profitable. "Keep the sheep at home," then, we repeat. Do not force them upon the market, and thus crowd down the price of mutton, which is too low al- ready. Mutton is now frequently sold by the car- cass in New York at 3 cents per lb. True, sheep command high prices, but it is on account of the high price of pelts, and not because mutton is in demand. We have said nothing about the value of the manure, because, as yet, many farmers do not take this into consideration. Fattening sheep in winter will pay without reckoning in the manure ; but it is clear that in estimating the comparative profits of selling the hay or feeding it cut on the farm, the value of the manure ought to be taken into consideration. THE HIGH PKICE OF BARLEY. Bakley commands an unusually high price this season. In this city it is worth over one dollar per bushel, and in New York over a dollar and a half. In some of the Western cities the price is equally high. It was thought by many that the war and the tax on beer and ale would have a tendency to lessen the consumption of barley, and doubtless this is to some extent the case ; but the demand is still greater than the supply, and prices are high in consequence. The standard weight of a bushel of barley in Illinois is 44 lbs. ; in Massachusetts and Vermont, 46 lbs. ; in Pennsylvania, 47 lbs., and in all the other States and Canada 48 lbs. The standard weight of wheat is 60 lbs. per bushel ; so that, by weight, a bushel of wheat is equal to a bushel and a quarter of barley. In New York barley is worth $1.50, and the very highest quotation for the choicest samples of white wheat is $1.65. That is to say, 60 lbs. of wheat are worth $1.65, while 60 lbs. of barley are worth $1.87i ; i'1 other words, ordinary barley, weight for weight, is worth 22^ cents a bushel more than the choicest sample of white wheat! American barley, as compared to the English, is of very inferior quality. It is not at all uncom- mon to find ordinary malting barley in England weighing 57 lbs. per bushel ; while our barley sel- dom overruns the standard of 48 lbs., and fre- quently is not over 44 lbs. per bushel. There are two causes which have tended to produce this re- sult: First. The malt tax in England, amounting to 64 cents per bushel, is the same on poor barley as on that of the highest quality. It is quite an object, therefore, with malsters to secure the best barley that can be raised. Comparatively high prices are paid for good barley, while inferior samples can not be sold to the malster at any price. Under this stimulus great efibrts have been made fry farmers to improve the quality of barley. They have succeeded so well that English barley now sometimes weighs as much per bushel as wheat. Second. While the malt tax has stimulated English farmers to great diligence in the cultivation and improvement of this grain, our farmers have hith- erto received little encouragement to improve the THE GENESEE FARMER. 365 quality of their barley. Malsters too frequently pay as much for poor barley as for good, and the consequence is the quality of the crop, instead of improving, has actually deteriorated. We believe our barley to-day is not as good as it was fifteen years ago. Malsters and brewers are now beginning, how- ever, to discover the importance of using good barley. There can be little doubt that one reason of the superior quality of English ale is owing to the excellence of the barley used for malting, and we hazard little in saying that the time is not far dis- tant when good barley, weight for weight, will command a much higher price than inferior samples. GRINDING CORN IN THE COB. "Will it pay to grind corn in the cob?" To answer this question intelligently it will be necessary, first, to ascertain what the cobs are worth as food ; and secondly, how much it costs to grind them. From the only analysis we have ever seen of corn cobs— that of Dr. Salisbury — we should say cobs, when ground, are worth about as much as good wheat straw. What it is worth to grind them we do not know, but the millers in this city charge four cents for grinding a bushel of ears of corn, and five cents for grinding a bushel of shelled corn. ■ Estimating that two bushels of ears, weighing 80 lbs., will yield a bushel of shelled corn, weigh- ing 60 lbs., we have in the two bushels of ears 20 lbs. of cobs. Now to grind this 60 lbs. of corn and 20 lbs. of cobs (two bushels of ears), costs 8 cents, while to grind the 60 lbs. of shelled corn alone costs 5 cents ; so it costs 3 cents to grind 20 lbs. of. cobs. This is equal to $3.00 per ton : in other words, the ground cobs cost $3.00 per ton. If, however, we estimate that it costs a cent a bushel to shell the corn, the ground cobs would only cost us two dollars per ton. Hay and all kinds of fodder are very high, and it would seem that the cobs should be worth $2.00 per ton. There are those, too, who think that cobs mixed with the meal are an advantage over and above the nutriment they afford. On the whole, we think it will pay well in this section to grind the corn in the cob. THE BOUND VOLUMES OF THE GENESEE FARMER.. Charles Beach, of Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y., has invented a flax-dressing machine of much merit. Messrs. Editors : Seeing your offer in the Genesee Farmer to send the last six volumes of your paper u handsomely bound" for five dollars, I concluded to invest. I received them in good order, prepaid, by express. They more than came up to my anticipations. There are no six volumes in my library that afford me move satisfaction, either to look at or examine. I have but one fault to find: The volume for I860 is better bound than the rest. Perhaps you thought this your premium volume, and that it was entitled to a handsomer dress! If this was your idea, I agree with you, though I would have preferred to have had them all bound precisely alike*. I have been examining this same volume for 1860, and am surprised at the amount of valuable informal ion which it contains. The first article in the book, on the "Nature and Value of Peat and Muck," is admirable. Every farmer should know what is there asserted on the authority of Prof. Johnson, that "a well-made compost of two loads of muck and one of stable manure is equal to three loads of the manure itself." The next long article, on "Thomas Bates," the great Shorthorn breeder, I read with much pleasure; and though I do not feel very friendly toward England just now, yet I could not help liking his honest, farmer-like countenance. Give us more lives and portraits of agricultural worthies. The next article, on "English Bacon," did not specially interest me, as I am not acquainted with the article. "Beans and Indian Corn for Milch Cows" are next spoken of — doubtless very good food, but I do not think it will pay to feed beans when they are worth $2.25 per bushel. Do you ? [No.] The "Spirit of the Agricultural Press" is good — as it always is. There is no part of the Farmer I read with more pleasure. [Excuse me, Messrs. Editors!] After this I skipped a number of short articles, the horticultural department, editor's table and advertisements, (by the way, would it not be well to leave them out in binding?) and came to the leader on "Bones as a Fertilizer," in the Feb- ruary number, which is capital. Next we are told how the Hon. A. B. Dickinson raised seventy-two bushels of barley per acre. This was not pleasant to read about. (My crop was only 18 bushels per acre this year!) On the next page I got a new idea: that heavy oats, weight for weight, are worth more than light oats. Such is, of course, the case, but it had not occurred to me. Then I turned over a page or two, and came to the " Genesee Farmer Prize Essays." We have here nineteen prize essays on various subjects, evi- dently written by practical men. These essays alone are worth the price of the volume; but in addition to them we have an immense amount of information on all subjects interesting to the farmer and gardener, and I can not but wish that every farmer in the State had this volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1860 in his library. It costs but a dol- * All the volumes are bound alike, except that the volume for 186 i has a purple-colored back. We think with you, however, that it would have been better to have had them all of a uniform color.— Eds. 366 THE GENESEE FAKMER. lar, and I can sincerely say that if I could not get another, I would not part with it for five dollars in gold! x. y. z. Remarks. — "We are glad our esteemed correspond- ent is pleased with his purchase. "We feel sure that no one interested in agriculture or horticulture can have a more useful work in his library than the last six or seven bound volumes of the Farmer — and certainly nothing cheaper and more convenient for reference can be found in the whole range of agricultural literature. "We greatly need an Ameri- can Cyclopedia of Agriculture ; but in the absence of such a work, our best and most convenient source of information on the various subjects which almost daily occur to the mind of one engaged in the multitudinous labors of the farm, the garden and the orchard, will be the bound volumes of a monthly" agricultural journal, furnished with a complete index. The volume for 1860 is one of the best of the series. The Prize Essays, to which our corre- spondent alludes, are specially valuable, and they are as useful and interesting now as on the day they were written. — Eds. ASHAMED TO BEING STRAW TO THE CITY. NOTES BY S. W. A few days since, we asked a good farmer of this county to bring us a load of straw for bedding horses. He replied, "I have plenty of straw, and would like to accommodate you; but the fact is, / am ashamed to le seen bringing a load of straw to the city ! Knowing our friend was in the habit of bringing potatoes, grain, etc., to market in person, we rlid not, for the moment,, see the point of his objection ; but we were not left long in doubt. He is an ob- serving farmer, and has found that the only way to raise good crops is to keep up the condition of his land by making manure, and for this purpose he is careful to preserve his straw both for fodder and litter. He would be ashamed to let red-root and Canada thistles overrun his wheat fields, be- cause it would show that he was a bad farmer, and for the same reason he did not like his neighbors to see him selling straw. We like the idea. It is a healthy and hopeful feeling— this sense of shame at farming poorly, — We all like the good opinion of the community in which we live, and that man is highly favored who ]ia-< tieighbors who do not approve of poor barns, broken fences, scrubby cattle, foul fields, and slov- enly cultivation. And not less so when they can see the folly of growing too much grain, keeping too little stock, and selling the hay and straw in- stead of converting them into manure. We must get our straw from a le.ss enlightened neighborhood. Eds. Gen. Far. — If anything ought to recom- mend an agricultural paper to the reflecting part of the farming community, it is the apparent un- selfishness of its editor, who spends both his time and money in experimenting with varied manures, on a growing crop, that his readers may have, gra- tuitously, the benefit of his patient labor and prac- tical experience. But perhaps I set your self-denial a little too high, and that your field experiments, year after year, are mainly due to your darling pas- sion for the art Agriculture. I well remember when I was a boy, hearing Washington Allston say, that painting was his highest enjoyment, and that the only reason he did not paint more, was that his health and strength would not permit. — You probably have as great a passion for producing the maximum in vegetable growth, as he had to reach the greatest excellence in his high art. Both lived in the gratification of a darling passion, and the scoffed miser does no less. As your experiments this season in the growth of sorghum, gives a mysterious value to gypsum as manure, I will recite a single experiment of my own, made without the aid of either gypsum or su- perphosphates, in specific form. Three years ago I grew a few rows of sorghum in my clay garden ; stall manure in a crude state had been trenched in the fall before, the soil was forked over before planting, and the drills made with the hoe; al- though I sowed the seed liberally along the drills, and covered them with fine, warm, rich soil, not more than one half germinated ; and as with you, there were many vacant spaces of two or three feet each ; as I thinned out the rows, I filled up the vacant spots with strong plants, then four inches high, and every one thus transplanted lived' and grew as thriftily as any in the rows ; the plants were thinned out to eight and ten inches apart, the rows three and a half feet apart. For several weeks the sorghum grew very slowly, not half as fast as sweet corn in the same garden ; but after hot weather set in, it was rampant, sending out many suckers that attained a bight of six or eight feet, while the main stalks were from 11 to Yo feet high, and from one to one and a fourth inches in diame- ter. I cut up the stalks in October, and fed them, cut in short pieces, to the cow, as long as they lasted, but the seed failed to ripen thoroughly. Joseph Wright has grown another monster crop of Dent corn this season, on seven acres; he got the seed as usual from the West. One acre care- fully measured, yielded 157 bushels of ears; as the ears are longer and better filled to the end of the cob than prairie corn generally, he intends to mea- sure, the shelled corn of this acre accordingly, pre- mising that it will measure nearly 120 bushels; the cob has no collar, and it, does not weigh as much by nearly one-fourth as the cob of the eight-rowed Flint corn. Vincent Shtjtx, of Fayette, has also grown the Dent corn the three past seasons, with great success; he is confident that its cereal yield is full one-third more on the same soil, than that of Flint corn. Catawba grapes only ripened well here this sea- son when they had been thinned out early; where the bunches hung in masses there were many sour grapes. I picked my Concords by the 20th of Sep- THE GENESEE FARMER. 367 mber. Isabellas were eatable by the first of Oc- ber, but did not retain their refined sugar sweet- ise after the middle of the month. We had no ist here to kill the grapevine leaves until the ght of the 6th of November; then snow fell two ches, and the mercury went down to 22°; an rnest, I take it, of a long boating season. Strawberry plants, set out in August and Sep- mber, generally failed, owing to the paucity of in. We have bad no short crops this season, if e may except buckwheat, and this failure is due extreme dry weather. The sad depreciation in the currency is anything it a present misfortune to the farmer, as it makes shipping demand for most of his productions, ren butter; and consequently raising the prices. The Waste of Manures in Cities. I have been reading in the "Miserables," Victor ugo's very lively and instructive chapters on tie wers of Paris. He quotes Liebig to show that mcient Rome's cloaca absorbed all the well-being the Roman peasant;" that "when the Oatnpagna Rome was ruined by the Roman sewer, Rome busted all Italy, and when sbe had put Italy in ir cloaca, she poured in Sicily, tben Sardinia, en Africa. With epigrammatic wit Hugo says, his example Paris follows with all the stupidity culiar to cities of genius." With her 140 miles sewers, Paris precipitates into the Seine and the a, hundreds of millions in those simple elements Inch she has gathered from the soil far and near, ver to be returned to it. Thus he says, "the jverness of man is such, that he prefers to throw e hundred millions of the best guano in the world to the gutter!" But he continues, '.' when drain- er everywhere, with its double function, restoring 5 at it takes away, shall have replaced the sewer, at simple impoverishing washing, then, being mbined with data of a new social economy, the oduct of the earth will be increased ten fold, and e problem of misery will be wonderfully dimin- led. In the meantime, Europe is ruining herself ■ leakage and exhaustion." Thus far, the Chi- se is the only nation that has from necessity been mpelled to return to the earth all the elements of e food consumed, in order that it may produce fficient nutriment to subsist its immense popula- >n. Edinburgh is, I believe, the only European ;y that has commenced distributing its sewerage the surrounding country, as manure for both ain and grass; and it is said that the experiment a great success. How soon will the day come hen what has long been a necessity in China, and iw in Europe, the appropriation of sewerage as anure, will also be a necessity to the United ates? The city of New York alone, now daily istroys the corn and cattle of a large district of untry, every simple element of which goes into e sewer, to be "in the deep bosom of the ocean iried," never to be again quickened into vegeta- e and animal life! Often has this deponent gone from the fetid ma- ire streets of New York, sickened with the con- led air and compound smells of a tainted atmos- lere, to the gravelly soils of Staten Island, or the ndy plains of Long Island, when, in the fresh and imulating sea atmosphere, the arid soil alone cried oud, for those elements of fertility which were the plague spot and bane of the great Babylon. I then could but reflect, that Providence had designed from the beginning, that those hungry silicious plains should be the recipients of the wastings of the great city ; the easy, grateful soil, being already perfectly prepared and underdrained by nature's hand, to need nothing but that which in the city was a crying daily waste, a source of squalor and disease. New York has her poor houses, her charitable institutions, without stint. But metliinks the crowning charitable institution is not that which displays the finest architecture, or that which the most comfortably feeds and lodges its eleemosyn- ary inmates ; but that which usually employs them, while it feeds them. I want to see on the under- drained, bushy plains of Long Island, a vast mar- ket, fr.uit, and flower garden, or gardens, manured by the city wastings, sewerage, if you please, and worked by the cities' poor: Such a consummation would relieve pauperism of its bane, — idleness, its demoralizing chronic helplessness — by a discipline and practical daily training, that leads to self-reli- ance and subsequent self-respect, and consequent usefulness in the world. s, w. Waterloo, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1862. LANGUAGE OF FOWLS. Eds. Genesee Faemeb : By the term "language" in reference to fowls, we do not mean sounds which can be mutually understood, but that many fowls have various sounds and voices adapted to express their various passions, wants and feelings — such as anger, fear, love, hatred, hunger, and the like. All species are not equally eloquent : some are copious and fluent, as in their utterance, while others are confined to a few important sounds ; no one fs quite mute, though some are silent. The language of sounds is quite ancient, and like the ancient mode of speech, of other bipeds, very eliptical : little is said, but much is meant and un- derstood. We shall confine our remarks to the domestic fowls of our yards, which are most known, and therefore best understood. No inhabitants of a yard seem possessed of such a variety of expression and so copious a language as common poultry. Take a chicken of" four or five days old and hold it up to a window where there are flies, and it will immediately seize its prey, with little twitterings of complacency; but if you tender it a wasp or a bee, at once its notes become harsh and expressive of disapprobation and a sense of danger. When a pullet is ready to lay, she intimates the event by a joyous and easy, soft note. Of all the occurrences of her life, that of laying seems to be the most important; for no sooner has a hen laid her egg, than she rushes forth with a clamorous kind of joy, which the cock and the rest of his mistresses immediately adopt. The tumult is not confined to the family concerned, but catches from yard to yard, and spreads to every homestead within hearing, until at last the whole neighborhood is in an uproar. As soon as sbe is a mother, her new relation demands a new language: she then runs clucking and scampering about, and seems agitated as if possessed. The father of the flock has also a considerable vocabulary ; and if a 368 THE GENESEE FARMER. bird of prey passes over, with a warning voice he bids his family beware! The gallant chanticleer has at command his amorous phrases and his terms of defiance. But the sound by which he is best known is crowing; by this he lias been distin- guished in all ages as the countryman's clock or alarum, as the watchman proclaims the divisions of the night. His "cock-a-doodle-do-oe," trans- lated, means, " Women do not ride her e-eP The peacock, with his gorgeous train, noAV de- mands our attention ; but, like most of the gaudy birds, his notes are harsh, grating, and shocking to the ear; the yelling of cats, and the braying of an ass, are not more disgustful. The voice of the goose is trumpet-like and clanking; the hiss of the gan- der is formidable and full of menace and " protect- ive of his young." The flight of wild geese is generally in a straight line, or in two lines approx- imating to a point. In both cases the van is led by an old gander, who every now and then pipes his we'1-known honk! honk! as if to ask "how they c >me on;" and the honk of "all's-well " is returned by some of the party. Among ducks the sexual distinction of voice is remarkable; for while the quack of the duck is loud and sonorous, the voice of the drake is inward and harsh, and feeble, and scarce discernible. Turkeys have a language of their own — known and understood among themselves as well as their owners understand written language. It may not be Hebrew, or Greek, or Dutch, but answers their own purpose. It can not be as extensive as that of the Chinese; but by it, young and old of a turkey community will learn to communicate their thoughts to each other in far less time than small children in an infant school will learn the elements of our vernacular dialect. By a particular word — to them it is a word — or whistle, or sound uttered by one of the older members of the flock, jartic- u'arly if uttered by the gobbler, should there be fifty of them, all will stop feeding and look up to barn what is wanted. This will be invariably done, if the old gentleman or one of the old ladies should discover a hawk hovering high in air; the mother becomes agitated with fear, and uses the natural language of that passion ; her young ones catch the fear by imitation, and in an instant con- ceal themselves in the grass. At the same time that she shows her fears by her gesture and de- portment, she uses a certain exclamation — " Koe^ ut," "Koe-ut" — and the young ones afterward know that the presence of their enemy is an- nounced, and hide themselves as before. This note of danger, as well as the other notes Ithe mother-turkey, when she calls her flock to their food or to sleep under her wings, appears to bean artificial language, both as expressed by the mother and as understood by the progeny; for a hen teaches this language with equal ease to the ducklings she has hatched from supposititious eggs^ and educates as her own offspring; and all our do- mestic animals are readily taught to come to us for food when we use one tone of voice, and to fly from our anger when we use another. The cock-turkey struts and gobbles to his mis- tress in a most uncouth manner; he has also a pert and petnlent note when he attacks his adversary. When a hen-turkey leads forth her young brood, she keeps a watchful eye ; and if a bird of prey appears, though ever so high in the air, the carefi mother announces the enemy with a little inwar moan, and watches him with a steady and attentb look ; but if he approach, her note becomes earr est and alarming and her outcries are redouble* How do turkeys know the character of the? Goths and Vandals of the feathered races unt they have experienced their ravages? They apps rently do know it from instinct. Persons, wise than ourselves, may answer the question. We ca not. C. N. BEMENT. Bennington Center, Ft., November, 1862. ABOUT RAISING CORN. "Got your corn all husked, neighbor?" "Yes; I finished up yesterday while it raine< traced it this morning, and have got it into tl chamber safe and sound." "How did it turn out this year?" t " Well, not as good as last, but a fair averag crop." " I don't see how you always manage to get goo corn when the rest of us can't raise half a croj: now mine was'nt worth much more that the ha vesting; and there's Smith, he cut his up for fo( der. My land is about the same as yours, and keep as much stock and make as much manure s you do, and I don't see why I can't raise as goo corn. Must be you've found out some differei way from us." "There is no secret in it, neighbor, and I kno no reason why my crop should be better the yours, unless it is that I take more pains in rai mg it." "What kind of ground do you plant on?" "I usually use that two years from the swar which was first sown with oats and cropped tl previous year with potatoes, giving it a good m During with barn-yard manure; then plow in tl fall and again in the spring, when it will be in go( tilth for the corn." "Do you always plant corn on old ground ?" " No. I sometimes plant on greensward broke in the spring." "Don't you think 'tis better to plow sward a corn in the fall ?" "I prefer the spring, when, if you have teai enough and 'tis properly turned, it is about as eas as old ground. Wait until corn-planting tim turn over the sward nicely, let it lie just Ion enough to become thoroughly warmed, then put the seed, and by the time it gets fairly rooted tl turf turned under will begin to heat, and you ct almost see your corn grow." " What kind of manure do yon think is best f< corn?" "Hog manure, always; and next, that from tl privy and hen-house, mixed with muck or goc loam ; but the less old leached barn-yard manui you use the better for the crop. As neighbc Jones says, 'I had about as lief have one shove full of manure that a hog has rubbed against ; two of that from the barn-yard.' " "I know hog manure is best for corn ; what I you suppose makes it so?" "One cause of the inferiority of barn-yard m: nnre is the leaching process which most of it m dergoes before it is considered good ' old manure but the principal cause is the difference in tl THE GENESEE FARMER. 3G9 alue of the food that goes to form it; for the alue of the manure from any animal depends ou le quality of food consumed, and not any pecu- arity in the animal. So you see there may be a •eat difference in the goodness of manure, even om two animals of the same species; for if one i fed on poor fodder and meadow hay, and the her on good English hay and plenty of provender, ie manure is richer in power in proportion, ence the superiority of hog manure; for except an, the hog, perhaps, receives the most nutritious id valuable kinds of food." "Don't you use any artificial manure?'" " Nothing except a little plaster. I roll the seed it, and place a little on each hill just after the rn comes up. I think this last application of pecial value if the season happens to be dry. it there is another point in which I take consid- able pains with my corn, and that is in regard to e selection of seed. It is my habit to take only ose ears that are perfectly ripe, are full and eir- ely filled out at the end, and particularly only ose from stalks which have two or more ears. I this for the reason that there is a law of Nature it ' like produces like' to a certain extent, and I pect that according to the seed I plant so will 7 crop be, other things being equal; and I think it by a careful and judicious selection of seed for eries of years the quality and quantity of corn ist be visibly increased." " How do you usually save your corn ?" ;'I trace all I can conveniently, give the pig-eat •n to the hogs, and spread the -remainder on the amber floor. It is a little more work to trace or lid up the corn, but when 'tis once done and ng up you have no more trouble with it." Mfdst, Me., 1862. GEO. E. BRACKETT. SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PEESS. 'he Value op Food for Cattle.— The Maine Farmer s: "The nutritive value of food is estimated by the mtity of nitrogen it contains." This was the old rule, since the results of Mr. Lawes' experiments in fatten, cattle, sheep and hogs, were published, we supposed idea was abandoned. It is certainly not a correct hod of estimating the value of food. It would make ashel of peas more nutritious than two bushels < f corn, ch we all know is not the case. It would be nearer truth to say that the nutritive value of food is in pro- tion to .the amount of available carbonaceous matter irch, oil, sugar, etc.,) which it contains. This should n the basis of our estimate of the value of food, and a the more nitrogen we can get in addition the better. n is perhaps too carbonaceous, and peas and beans too ogenous. A mixture of the two would be better than ier alone. he amount of nitrogen in the food determines the ie of the manure derived from it, but not the nutri- is value of the food itself. Clover hay contains twice nuch nitrogen as timothy hay, but while it is very nu- ious, it is not worth twice as much as timothy hay.— making manure, however, it is twice as valuable. 'he Cheapest Wat to Raise Turnips. — Albert .be says, in the Farming/ton (Me.) Chronicle, that he eves he " has found the cheapest way to raise Eng- lish turnips." He manures his laud at the rate of 20 or 30 loads to the acre; sows the seed by hand, about the 1st of July, first marking off the rows about 15 inches apart, with a marker made in the form of a hand rake; then cover the seed by drawing a dray load of stones over it till the surface of thegrouud is made fine and quite hard. He thins carefully, "pulling out the largest weeds."— This is all he does until harvesting. This year he got " 100 bushel* from 31 rods of ground." This is equal to 516 bushels to the acre. Not a very big crop, Mr. P., and your method of cul- ture is not of the most approved pattern. Instead of having the rows only 15 inches apart, it would be better to have them two feet or two and a half feet apart. Then instead of " pulling out the largest weeds," you could use the horse cultivator between the rows, and destroy all the weeds with the hand hoe, thinning the plants 12 inches apart at the same operation. This is the plan adopted in Canada, where a thousand bushels per acre are not un- frequently obtained on acres together. Does it Pat to Feed Hogs?— A correspondent of the Maine Farmer answers this question in the negative.— Last winter he took two shoats weighing over 100 lbs. each, and estimated to be worth $12. He fed them carrots, potatoes, corn, barley, peas and buckwheat meal, to the value of $32.45. He killed them early this fall, and the best one weighed only 343£ lbs., for which he got 6c. per lb., or $20.61— say $41.22 for the two. Deduct from this $12, the original value of the pigs, and we have a loss on each pig of $1.61. In addition to the above food, the pigs had the waste from the house and the milk of three cows for which nothing is charged. At the present prices of grain in the Eastern States, we cannot see how pigs can be fattened with profit, if the pork only sells for 6c. per lb. The American Milking Machine.— This machine which was alluded to in the Genesee Farmer some years ago, and which we thought more ingenious than practi- cally useful, created quite a furore in England. The right to manufacture was sold for a large sum, and the machine is now made by the "Cow Milking Machine Company," of Smethwich, near Birmingham. The Irish Farmer? Gazette says a public trial was recently held, in which the machine gave satisfaction, though it is admitted that "none of the cows were clean milked," but it is supposed "this will not be the case when the machine is tried on new milch cows and heifers." "Shall we all raise Wool?"— Such is the caption of an article in the Maine Farmer. It says that, stimu- lated by present high prices, many are curtailing other branches of farming, and- turning all their capital and energies to wool-growing. The writer thinks they should not be in a hurry to sell off all their cows, and all their colts and oxen, and go with a rush into the .-heep specula- tion. Extremes jin any business are seldom lasting, and it is better to pursue a mixed system of agriculture. Fall Plowing for Corn.— A correspondent of the W iscontin Farmer, plowed a field of land for corn last fall, leaving a strip in the center of the field unplowed. The field was cross-plowed this spring, and on the part not fall-plowed the crop was fully one-third less than on the rest of the field. 370 THE GENESEE FARMER. NOVA SCOTIAN APPLES IN ENGLAND. The leading article in the last numer of the Gar- dener's Chronicle, is devoted to an account of a collection of fruit, sent from Nova Scotia to the Royal Horticultural Society's Exhibition at London. The apples " were distinguished for size and the brilliancy of their colors." Among the specimens particularly alluded to are, the Gravenstein, "a Danish apple, of the highest excellence for •both table and kitchen — beautiful specimens, far finer than those sent the other day from Denmark and Germany. Blue Pearmain, an excellent variety, not unlike the King of the Pippins in shape, but three times as large, and prettily mottled all over with reddish spots, giving the whole apple a warm brown aspect." Many other well known varieties are described in glowing colors, and the editor re- marks in italics: "All these were from open stand- ards.'''' The fact that such beautiful apples can be grown on ordinary trees in the open air, seems to surprise him. After alluding to other varieties, the editor remarks : "What gives this collection special interest, is the example it affords of the excellence of the cli- mate of a Colony which half the world believes to be dismally dreary. Such apples as these are, and such pears, plums, and apricots as these were, can only come from a country at least, as genial as our own. We cannot but wonder indeed that the Eng- lish markets are not supplied with Nova Scotian fruit; for it is far finer than most of that impor- ted from the United States. Such Graveusteins, such Blue Pearmains, such Chebuctos, are rarely, if ever, seen in Oovent Garden, where they would make a fruiterer's fortune." We have no doubt about it. They would " make a fruiterer's fortune." Why is it that we do not export more apples to England? Never was there a better time to send them than the past season. Apples never were cherper, finer or more abund- ant, and yet but comparatively few, at least from this section, have been exported. These Nova Scotian Apples were "put in boxes consisting of little compartments for each variety, which was packed in bran." The editor remarks of the collection: "Notwithstanding the distance it has traveled, part of its contents are as fresh, and in as good condition as if they had been brought from the nearest fruit-room." The pears were much decayed, having been packed in moss — " the worst possible material." CULTIVATION OF GKAPES. Our friend Samuel Williams, of Waterloo, N. Y., in a private note remarks: "The grape business bids fair to be run into the ground. Fine Isabellas were sold here at five shillings (62£c) per bushel. ] have made a little wine. The pure juice was verj sweet, yet to give it alcohol to preserve it, I addec two pounds of coffee sugar to the gallon." We do not think there is any danger of running the grape business into the ground. Fruit of al kinds has been unusually abundant the past season and the prices have consequently ruled low. Sue! an excessive crop may not be produced again fo many years. There is little danger of permanent! overstocking the market with good fruit. Eve: the present year the low prices did not last ver long. Good pears in New York, such as Bartlet Louise Bonne de Jersey, Duchess d' Angoulem* Seckel, &c, which usually bring from $12 to $1 per barrel, sold this year, at the opening of tb season, for $4 per barrel ; but it was only for few weeks. We presume the low prices induced greater consumption, for it was not long befoi pears went up to $8 and $10 per barrel. It is s with apples ; there has been an immense crop a over the country, and freights have been excee< ingly high, and labor very scarce, so that even1 thing seemed to conspire to reduce the price far b low an average. Apples, however, are now highe and the probability is that before next spring goc prices will be obtained. Taking one year with another, a good apple o chard is highly profitable, and we see no reaso to apprehend a permanently overstocked marke For twenty years people have been saying that ^ were planting too many trees, but still the suppl of good fruit has not on the whole been equal 1 the increasing demand. So it will be in the futur Fruit is no longer a luxury. It is fast becoming necessity in every family, and those who plant goc varieties, and take care of their orchards, will mei with their reward. Very full extracts are given in the Cottage Ga\ dener from Miss Cooper's Journal of a Naturam in the United States, under the head of " Extrac" from a too much neglected Book." THE GEN KSE.& jjakju&k. HORTICULTURE IN CALIFOKNIA. The California State Fair was held at Sacra- mento, on the last day of September, and notwith- standing the disastrous effects of the late Bobda, there were quite a large number of entries, and a a very good attendance. The California Farmer says that "the city was filled to repletion." Figs take a prominent place .among the fruits.— One exhibitor is credited with 21 varieties. Of grapes, the largest collection was 50, and there was another of 48 varieties. Apples seem to be cultivated more than any other fruit, except grapes. Several exhibitors had over twenty varie- ties. One apple, Gloria Mundi, measured 15i inches in circumference. Five plates of Bartlett pears were shown, being specimens of five differ- ent crops grown in the same year, on the same tree ! It is difficult to find out how large the various collections were, as they are often all classed to- gether, as " a large collection of apples, pears, peaches and grapes." One exhibitor had two va- rieties of plums, and there was but one other com- petitor and he had only one variety. Jesse Moereli had Japanese pears from a tree five years old from the seed, and Major J. Bidwell, of Ohico county, had two varieties of Japanese pears. Pomegran- ates are in the list, and quinces were shown by several persons. The list of fruits was not large, and there is not a flower mentioned in the cata- logue, except two vase-boquets in the collection of one exhibitor. In vegetables the display was not large. A squash, weighing 176 pounds, and a turnip, two feet and 11 inches in circumference, weighing lrJ pounds, are mentioned as noticeable for their size. The strong points of the Fair seem to have been the display of stock and of fancy work. The large number of entries in the latter department, prove that the ladies of California are " keepers at home." The absence of " the splendid collection of fruits and flowers" from Smith & Gorden is regretted by the Gal. Farmer, and Mr. Smith is spoken of as one who has done much for the Horticultural interests of the State. His losses were so great by the flood that he was unable to exhibit. Messrs. White & Hollister are also mentioned as being prevented for the same reason from adding to the display. In the address by the President, he says that— ''In regard to fruit, soil, and climate, the market of one of our smallest towns will compare favora bly with that of a provincial city in the interior of France. Paris. Vienna, London, Berlin, cannot display as large a variety of fruits of their own raising, as the fruit stands of San Francisco or Sac- ramento daily exhibit," It is pleasant to see that in the pursuit for gold, the calmer and purer pleasures of horticulture have not been forgotten. TREE PLANTING. "Have you never heard of the student who, on being told that the" crow would sometimes live a. hundred years, bought a young crow to try the ex- periment?" Yes, indeed, we have heard of him— the irony is excellent— and of Dr. Johnson's growl "about the frightful interval between the seed and the timber." Still, we say, plant trees. They who plant at once, instead of wasting their breath in selfish complaints of the shortness of life, find luxuriant foliage waving over them much s.M.ner than expected. But, whether you live to see the maturity of your trees or not, he benevolent enough to plant for posterity. Transmit to your children the inheritance of rural beauty received from your fathers, greatly augmented. By all means plant, and plant well, and the result will overpay the labor. And let not your work end with planting. Feed your trees from year to year with generous food and guard them from injury. And in the words (slightly altered) of an old plan- ter: "What joy may you have in seeing the suc- cess of your labors while you live, and in leaving behind you, to your heirs or successors, a work that, many years after your death, shall record your love to your country! And then rather, when you consider to what length of time your work is like to last." If you have country homes to embellish, be content with simplicity. Remem- ber that a great establishment is a great care, and that the proprietor is apt to become a slave to it. Let your dwelling place be marked with what painters call "repose." Make them the abode ot com- fort and refined enjoyment, places which always af- ford you agre< able occupation, but not oppress you with care, — Fforth American fieri, w'. Dead Animals foe Geai-e Vines.— At the last meeting of the Fruit Growers Society of Western New York, the opinion was advanced that dead animals hurled beneath grape vines, imparted a disagreeable flavor to the fruit. In the discussion which followed, J. J. Thomas, to show how soon animal matter decomposed in a porous soil, stated that he once buried a cow in a heap of muck, and that in a year the whole animal had disappeared except the bones. The fact is an interesting one- showing that muck and loam not only absorb the gases eliminated, but also accelerate decomposition. Mr Thomas is not in favor of burying dead ani- mals under grape vines. He prefers thorough cul- tivation to high manuring. Like ourselves he recognizes the fact that tilbi'je \< manure, and there is probably no man in the country that has done more to disseminate the idea among farmers and gardeners. i i-iii. yjcnix Ej&EjEj j AKJMJSJt. PEACHES IN UNFAVORABLE CLIMATES. We have alluded ia the Genesee Farmer to the success of Levi Bartlett, of New Hampshire, in growing peaches by protecting them with snow in the winter. In the Country Gentleman for Octo- ber 23 he says : " About a year ago I stated that I had a number ot peach trees, the limbs of many of them being on and near the ground ; these lower branches are usually covered in the winter by the snow, and being thus protected they have been pretty sure to produce peaches every year. This year I have about twenty trees thus yielding peaches, and, as they are all seedlings, there is quite a variety as to color, size and quality-some having a beautiful scarlet blush upon one side; others are almost snoW white; others are nearly red or yellow These two last kinds ' the old folks at home' call Jiare-hpes and Melacotoons. But the great ma- jority are white— some with skins nearly as smooth as nectarines. "There are on several of the trees scattering peaches above the 'snow-line,' but few and far be- tween when compared with those branches that were snow-covered. I can 'appreciate the differ- ence between a ripe peach plucked freshly from the tree and one picked immature and carried one hundred miles to market;' audi think thousands upon thousands of our Few England fanners might have a supply ot peaches every year, that are now destitute, if they would rear trees, give them the nght training and proper winter protection— all of which can be done without any great outlay of tune or money. By training so as to have the limbs near the ground, and perhaps pinning them to it with hooked pins, the snow would usually be a sufficient protection ; but probably it would be a safer way to cover them with branches of ever- green trees, or possibly straw might answer. If teXlh 6f were Purred, they might be pro- tected by inclosing them in evergreen trees. Last T" JV bflng at the vilk^ J met with a man am mn S^ t0 me! aU e?Perime^ ^ made last anu nn with a peach tree. Late in the fall he prb- cured hemlock and spruce trees about a dozen feet • with a crowbar he made holes around the SHELTER FOR PEACH ORCHARDS. Messrs Editors -I notice in the November number of the Genesee Farmer, an article in refer- ence to the statement of Mr. Sanders in the Prai- rie Farmer. Please allow me to say, that reason- ing from his facts will not do for such as have not the advantages which St. Joseph, Mich, possesses as a fruit raising country. My reasons for making this statement are briefly these: 1. St. Joseph is on the east side of Lake Michi- gan which never freezes, and consequently the winters are milder, and the winds warmer than they would otherwise be. 2. They are for the reason above stated, pro- tected by nature's own providing from winds, which in the prairies of the West, and timber lands, too, prevent the successful cultivation of the peach. 3 To my certain knowledge, peach trees pro- tected by having corn-stalks and other material placed among their branches, have preserved their fruit, while adjoining trees have lost theirs. 4. Trees planted on the south side of a house, ami protected on the west and southwest by a large barn have fruited every year, while others in ex- posed situations, have failed every time. I am therefore in favor of protecting every tree, and always, unless in such a situation as St, Joseph. -Mm Cottage, Fulton Co., III. ELGIN hi peach tree, and set out the evergreens, so as to completely protect it from sudden changes of the weather. Early in May he removed the hemlocks, ami the result ot the operation was, that none of the enderest hmbs or blossom-buds were injured by the cold of winter. The tree is very thrifty, five o .t ttyea-T hT tLe seed- TI,is m«»ing I ™a* out two miles to examine the tree, and I have no doubt there is over two bushels of fruit upon it to- Now wfVi f;Ur;and JUSt be^nni.,g to ripen. HQJt what Isaac Hunt has done in the way of O f tKJri'i t ^"^ dry before leaving it. Dispatch is the life and soul of this work, as the camphine is of such a drying nature that it requires great expedition in the cleaning. When the dress is done, it mustte hung up lor some hours in an airy room. The smell of the cam- phine w.ll come off in a few hours in a very hot stove- room. The best method is to clean the cataphine work in the afternoon and hang it in the stove-room all night Directions FOr Knitting an Afghan or Carriage Blanket. -These highly-ornamental blankets are now so much used that in the cities they are looked upon as almost a necessity, as they combine beauty with useful- ness. For the carriage the usual style is four wide stripes of gay colors-such as blue, orange, purple and crim- son separated by narrow ones of black, embroidered either with palm leaves, a vine, or with dogs' and horses' heads, and finished at the ends with a fringe tied in and knotted to form a heading, or by nar rowing each colored stripe to a point and putting a tassel on the points. At present, the Princess Crochet Stitch (worked with a long needle,) is much used. It is better o use a coarse needle, as with a fine one the Afghan will be too heavy to be convenient. Four ounces of the hi^h colors will make one stripe about a quarter of a yard wide and sufficiently long if finished without points; with them another half ounce will be required There will be seven stripes in all, as the colors come on the out- side. In crocheting the stripes together, it- is rather or- namental to work them on the right side with black, and form in this way a cord between each stripe. If the Afghan is designed for the house, white stripes should be substituted for black. Fringe or tassels properly made require a good deal of worsted-at least eight or ten ounces. Double-zypher, which is the wool that should be used, costs now three dollars and a half a pound Afghans are made for children of blue or pink and white alternate stripes, the white being embroidered with rose- buds, and are of course much smaller. The patterns .used for embroidering Afghans require so few stitches that an ordinary worsted pattern can not be very well used, although sometimes they can be found sufficiently small to be suitable. An English writer, in some remarks on "A Lady's Dress," gives the following excellent hints on the effect of color : "We dearly love and duly appreciate color; we have hailed with delight the resumption of the scarlet cloak this winter by our fair countrywomen, especially at a time of public mourning, when our streets have worn so monotonous and sombre an aspect. The eve has been gladdened and refreshed by the warm, bright red, set off by the black dress beneath; and the welcome effect it produced proved to our minds how much pleasure we insensibly derive from the presence of color. We are hardly aware of it until we lose it. The aspect of our crowded thoroughfares lately enables us to form some ilea ot what we should feel if, by some freak of fashion the fan- sex were to adopt a costume as unvaried and hideous as the present masculine attire, and if our shops, that now display all that is lovely in color ami exquisite in design had nothing more attractive to offer than broadcloth or black stuff. We should feel depress^ The eve needs the stimulant of color and variety to keen it from fatigue; and beneath our gray and colorless sky we want more c r, not less. Some thirteen or fourteen years ago color was certainly at a discount in dress as "ell as m architecture and decoration. That there has been a revival in its favor no one will deny." Coffee.— A friend informs us that parched sweet corn is excellent to mix with Java coffee— half and half. ' THE GENESEE FARMER. S75 THE GOLDEN MAXIM OK SIR MATTHEW HALE. A Sabbath well spent Brings a week of content, And health" fur the toils of t' -moTrow; But a Sabbath profaned, Whatsoe'er ma; be gained, Is a certain forerunner of sorrow. A Good ghost story is told in Auckland's Curiosities of Natural History: "Speaking of ghosts, I have heard that some years ago, there was a lone house standing by itself near a plantation, not far from Guildford- This house nobody would ever take because it was haunted, and strange noises heard in it every night after dark : several tenants tried it but were frightened away by the noises. kt last, one individual more courageous than the rest, resolved to unravel the mystery. He accordingly irmed himself cap-a-pie, and having put out the light remained sentry in one of the rooms. Shortly he heard >n the stairs pit, pat; a full stop, then pit, pat; a full stop igain. The noise was repeated several times, as though some creature, ghost or no ghost, was coming up stairs A.t last the thing, whatever it was, came close to the door >f the room where the sentry was placed and listening; his leart, too, chimed in with the tune pit, pat, rather faster ;hau it was wont to do. He flung open the door — hurry, ikurry, bang J something went down stairs with a tre- mendous jump, and all over the bottom of the house the greatest confusion, as of thousands of demons rushing in ill directions, was heard. This was enough for oue night, rhe next night our crafty sentry established himself on ;he first landing with a heap of straw and a box of luci- 'er matches ; soon all was quiet. Up the stairs again ;ame the pit pat, pit pat. When the noise was close ;o his ambush he scraped his match and set fire to his straw, which blazed up like a bonfire in an instant; and vbat did he see? only a rabbit, who stood on his hind egs, as much astonished as was the sentry. Both man md beast having mutually inspected each other, the biped lurled a sword at the quadruped, who disappeared down stairs quicker than he came up. The noise made was )nly the rabbit's fore and hind legs hitting the boards as le hopped from one stair to the other. The rabbits had !;otiuto the tiouse from the neighboring plantation, and aad fairly frightened away by their nocturnal wanderings ;he rightful owners thereof. The more courageous seu- ,ry was rewarded for his" vigil, for he held his tongue as o the cause of the ghost. He got the house at a reduced •ent, and several capital rabbit pies made of the ghosts' Dodies into the bargain. The Childhood op Self-Made Men. — Sir Edward Saunders, Chief Justice of England in the -reign of Charles II., was once a poor beggar boy, strolling about ;he streets,, with no knowledge of his parentage. Sir Thos. jIreensham, who under the patronage of Elizabeth, be- :ame the founder of the Royal Exchange, in London, was he son of a poor woman, who, while he was an infant aban- loued him in the fields, and his life was preserved by the mirping of a grasshopper, which attracted a little boy to he place where he lay. Our own Hamilton was the of- fice boy and runner of his patron. William Jones, the friend of "Madison and Jefferson, once Secretary of the Navy, and first President of the United States Bank,— served his apprenticeship to a ship-builder. All have read of the sexton's son, who became a fine astronomer, by spending a short time every evening gazing at the stars, after ringing the bell for 9 o'clock. Sir William Pnrrps, who at the age of forty-five had attained the or- der of knighthood, and the office of high sheriff of New England and Governor of Massachusetts, learned to read and write after his eighteenth year, and whilst learning the trade of a ship-builder in Boston. David Ritten- house, the American astronomer, when a plow-boy, was observed to have covered his plow and the fences with figures and calculations. James Ferguson, the great Scotch astronomer, learned to read by himself, and mas- tered the elements of astonomy while a shepherd-boy, in the fields by night. A Timely Scrubbing. — "Abigail ! water — soap— towels — quick! — a brush — get me his tooth-brush, nail-brush, scrubber — anvthing. Hurry, quick — the brown soap — anything! Oh! fill his mouth— plaster it in— the nasty, filthy stuff! Hold him, James ! hold his mouth open, head back— fast, James !" and all this in a perfect tem- pest of excitement; and hastily throwing a towel around the boy, and rolling up her sleeves, she 'enters upon the cleansing operation. "Good gracious? Mrs. Osborne, what is the matter! You're goin' on drefful," said Abigail, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to cry at the strange catastrophe. _ "Has he hurt hisself, Mrs. Osborne?" ventured to in- quire James, holding the' struggling boy in his firm grasp. " Has he got the toothache? What ails you, Willie?" "Tobacco, James, tobacco!" eagerly resumed Mrs. Osborne. " Our boy, our Willie, chewing pig-tail ! — had his mouth full— teeth all black— tongue all dirty— breath —ah ! pah ! shall I ever get it clean"?" And in went the soap and the dripping brush, until the child's mouth looked like a shaving-pot, and he was nearly strangled in his efforts to resist the offensive application. "Hold still, child, hold still," she exclaimed; "soap's clean, but tobacco isn't! Ah! the dirty, poison stuff! Hold still ; I'll scrub it off if I can. There, now, rinse v'our mouth ; rinse it well ; gargle the water in your throat;" and the mother, suffering the flurry to subside, sank into a chair. The three witnesses stood by amazed. " If ever I seed sich a time!" said Abigail, as she re- turned, laughing;, to her cooking-stove." "Soap's healthy; they say It cures bile," remarked James, dryly, as he proceeded to his ordinary routine of business; "but I declare 'tain't so pleasant to have it chucked down vour throat at that rate." "Rinse it well, Willie," said his mother; "take plenty of water — three, four, a dozen times." There was no need of that exhortation, for more rins- ings and gurglings than could be counted were necessary to'take the taste of that strong, coarse soap out of the poor child's mouth. At last, after gaspings and swal- lowings innumerable, he recovered his speech, while tears of anger, fright, surprise or shame, or perhaps all together, flowed freely down his cheeks. "You're too bad, mother; you 'most killed me. 'Twan't Dig-tail at all — 'twas honev-dew." '"Twa's tobacco, child, tobacco; that's what it was, and that's enough. No matter what the name is; no matter how much they honey and sweeten it up ; 'twas tobacco, the filthy poisonous weed, in my Willie's mouth. What do you think father'll say ?" — Boys' ComiKinion. Thk two Wats. — "There are two ways of doing it,'> said Pat to himself, as he stood musing and waiting for a job." "If I save me four thousand pounds, I must lay up two hundred pounds a year for twenty years, or I can put away twenty pounds a year for two hundred years — now which shall I do ?" 376 THE GENESEE FARMER. isttURnniis. LEGAL WHISKERS. As o'er their wine and walnuts sat, 1 alkm.fi: "f this and then of that Two wights, well learned in the law— That is, well-skilled to find a flaw— haul one companion to the other: How is it, most respected brother. I hat you, of late, have shaved away Those whiskers, which, for many a day, Had ornamented much your cheek f Nire. 'twas an idle, silly freak." Jo whom the other answer gave With look half merry and half grave : Though others be by whiskers graced, A lawyer can't be too bare-faced." '. ■ ■ i ^ — . The Tomb of Napoleon-Ad Englishman, some years since visited the tomb of Napoleon, and indited in the register a verse on the ex-Emperor to this effect: Bony was a great man, A soldier brave and true; But Wellington did lick him at The field of Waterloo. me^ilref66 f ^ the PlHCe S00D after' and wrot«™- mediately under it: But greater still and braver far TOn.nw'Ther lhan Sh,le-Ieatht'r, Was Washington, the man wot could Have liek^ them both together. The next visitor was a Frenchman; who, like all his C^untrjmeD deep]j attached tQ the memorv SZ tT V rad the ^^ StaDZa WUh h0rror «* dis- gust. Thelankee skipper's addition next attracted his danced 1 rf " ^ read-*»P*». grinned, and scre.1 °"Vhe r°°m J" a P«ro^-» of -Agnation, screaming, "Monsieur Bull is one grand brute, but 'e I shall cut him in vera small pieces." He called for his ev ; ;nhde;: t , r to ,own' and s°»^ *• *•■£ every where. Alas ! the bird had flown God Governs Barns— A wealthy capitalist, who made the most of his own fortune, and, what was har, taken care of it, gives the following as the secret of success: "Honor the Lord with all thy substance, > with the first fruits of all thine increase; so shall barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses burst fo with new wine." The philosophy of the matter is sim this : God governs barm. We are willing to allow t: He governs nations, and guides Parliaments, and dire battle-fields. But Solomon, moreover, knew that he p sides over wheat fields, stables and wine-presses 1 acknowledge that God is to be worshiped in churcl with prayers and psalms; but Solomon will have it tl he is to be praised also with threshing implements a gram-wagons. Reader, do you act as if you aeree wi him r— A/eu> England Farmer. An American Boy Instructs NAPOLEON-Walkin. the other day on the beach at Biarritz, his Majesty happened yea,s old, who too* off his hat as he passed. The EmDe ror courteously returned the salute, and said: 7re' you Enghsh?" "No," answered the boy very quickly and drawing himself up, « Vm Am&T[J„ ..^^ can, are you? Well tAll ™„ t.- L ' Amen' South i" " w»H flu ' WhlCh are J0U for' North or Ul • . We"' father's for the North, I believe • but T am certainly for the South. For which of t» Sir'-"' ti,o u r0T wnich .of themare vou, tated a It ,e mPr;KStr0ked "" m°UStache> SmiI^> hesi- both o hCn Sa,'d: "l am for both." "For both, are you ? Well> ^ not &q ° *TZ , ^ TM^^ ** convention do TaX °n-Parig C°™^™< London 8Mmig The Best Time to FRET.^o~gar^ners had their ret eSd ra;,kiMed * ^ ** ~- °f *'h°m' "ft fretted greatly and grumbled at h,s loss, visiting his » e.ghbor some time after, was astonished to see anothe fine crop growing, and inquired how it could be. " These are what I sowed whUe you were fretting," was the reply JThy do you never fret?" "Iputit off „„ j hJ ^ Z1 n^Z1'"'" "Whj' theU there'S »« »-d to tret at all. True ; that's the reason Iputit off." Mathematical Demonstration— The late mathema can, Prof. Vince, of King's College, Cambridge, bei, once engaged in a conversation with a gentleman wl advocated duelling, is said to have thrown his adversa. completely hors du combat by the following acute ai characteristic reply to his question: "But what cou You do, Sir, if a man told you to jour very face mong the intelligent ag- riculturists of Canada West, and never larger than at present. At this time last year there were fears that the friendly relations which have so long existed between the two countries might be broken; but happily they have all past away. The soil and climate of Western New York and Western Canada are very similar, and the Gen- esee Farmer is as well suited to Canadian farmers and gardeners as to those of the State of New York and Pennsylvania. We have been compelled to advance the price of the Far- mer ten cents a year. This course has been rendered neces- sary by the great increase in the price of paper, caused by a scarcity of cotton rags. We feel sure that our liberal and intelligent Canadian friends will not object to the small advance. In clubs of six and upwards, the price of the Farmer is still only Fifty Cents a year. We shall prepay the American postage on all papers and Rural Annuals sent to Canada without extra charge. — Some of our American readers may think that it is not right to send a paper to Canada for less than it costs them. But they must recollect that the present premium on Can- ada money will fully make up the difference, We will take Canadian postage stamps for all sums less than a dollar. Look at the Special Premiums. — We have never before offered such valuable Specific Premiums to those getting subscribers. _ To every one sendiug us six subscribers al our lowest club rates of Fifty Cents, we seud prepaid by return mail a copy of the Rural Annual for 1863. For ten subscribers we send a copy of the Farmer and Rural Annual; for sixteen subscribers we send a dollar's worth of choice garden seeds, or a bound volume of the Farmer for 1860, (the best of the series,) and also a free copy of the Farmer and Rural Annual for 1863. For larger clubs, still more liberal premiums are offered. See last page of this number. Form Clubs— -Form Clubs !— The price of the Geneset Farmer in clubs of six and upward is only Fifty Cental and in addition to this the members of the club can each have a Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 1863. for fifteen cents! Let a club be formed at every Postolfice. Any one of our readers can act as Agent, and will receive our best thanks for so doing. And this is not all : he will take a valuable Specific Premium or Cash Prize. See last page of this number. " Who Can Compete for the Cash Prizes '?" — Anybody and everybody. We have no restrictions. All is honor- able and above board. There is no favoritism. You can compete and have just as good a chance to take tile highest Prize as anybody else. There are eight Cash Prizes, and if you should not take the $50, you may take ti- the $20 Prize. No one who really undertakes to get sub- scribers can fail to take one of the highest Cash Prizes. $137.— Our Cash Prizes amount to One Hundred and Thirty-seven Dollars. There are only a very few of our Agents who ever compete for them, and the indications are that there will be fewer this year than ever before. Will not our friends do us the favor to take one of these Cash Prizes ? We offer the prizes, and the money will be paid to those getting the largest clubs, however small they may be. Cash Prizes — Cash Prizes — Cash Prizes! — So few compete for our Cash Prizes that they will undoubtedly be taken for very small clubs. There is not a man or ac- tive boy anywhere who can not secure one of the highest. Monet may be sent by Mail at Our Risk — An'd if the papers do not come in due time write us at once. Letters are sometimes lost in the mail, but not often, and when they are it is our loss. Be sure, however, to address them properly, and drop them in the Postoflice without saying a word to anyone on the subject. Speak to your Neighbors.-— Will not our readers oblige us by calling the attention of their neighbors and friends to the Genesee Farmer, and asking them to sub- scribe? We will cheerfully send specimen copies, sub- scription lists, Ac, to all who desire them. Only Fifty Cents a Year. — In clubs of six and up- ward the price of the Genesee larmer is only Fifty Cents a year. Is there one of our subscribers who can not in- duce five of his neighbors to join him at this low rate? JHE GENESEE FARMER. 379 The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory !nce of the continuous fearfully tempestuous weather •eally appalling to contemplate — each day being more 1 more unpropitious for harvesting operations." The rry Journal says : "The weather continues more and re unpropitious for saving the grain crops. From the h to the 28th of October five and a half inches of rain re fallen, or about four times the average rain fall of ! season. This state of things, with more than half of : crops still exposed in the fields, has produced a de- ;ssion in the minds of the farming community, such as have never seen equalled." The Irish Farmers' Ga- te of November 1, also contains communications corn- lining of the wet weather and the "backward state of : harvest." Crops out in the fields in November is not •leasant subject of contemplation. LONDON, EDINBURGH, NOUTII BRITISH and WEST- MINSTER QUARTERLY REVIEWS. Republished by Lkonakd Scott & Co., 79 Fulton street, New York. BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE, (Monthly.) New York : Leonard Scott &, Co. • For some reason there are no essayists in the United States, which at all equal those of the Old World. Our historians, poets, and novelists, rank side by side with those of Great Britain, but essay-writing seems to require an older and more thorough cul- ture than our literary men have yet attained. Genius will not make an essayist. A poet can ji>e above the want of learning, and by the strength of his inspiration wiu a place in the hearts of the people which gives him undying fame. An essayist has no such empire — his place is in the intellect, and for him study and culture are every thing To those who enjoy receiving the cream of foreign literature, prepared for them by skillful hands, and to whom pure and elegant English adds a charm to thoughts and opinions, interesting in themselves, these republications of the Quarterlies are invaluable. The Westminster is objected to by many on account of its infidel tendencies; and on all subjects in any way connected with the Bible, or with the sentiments of the religious world, it is utterly unreliable. It has one advantage over all the other Quarterlies — it devotes several pages to cotem- porary literature, which contain notices of almost every hook on scientific, religious, or merely literary subjects, which are pub- lished in the English, French or German languages. Black- tcood, which is published monthly, has, in addition to essays of equal merit with the Quarterlies, tales written by the leading novelists of the day. George Elliot and Bulwer are among jts contributors. At present the former is writing a series of stories called " Chronicles of Carlinglord," the second one of which — '• Salem Chapel " — is now in progress. The authoress of Adam Bede fully sustains the reputation which her more elabo- rate novels have won for her. Bulwer is now contributing a paper each month on "Life, Literature and Manners," which, like every thing he writes, is replete with sense, wit and learning. Blackwood, is $3.00 a year; each of the Quarterlies $3.00; Blackwood and any one of the Quarterlies, $5.00 ; the four Quar- terlies and Blackwood $10.00. NEW AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA. Volume XV. Spiritual- ism— Uzziale. New York ; D. Appleton & Co. Article on United States very lull. Comprehensive tables of Population, Agricultural Statistics, Manufactures, Domestic Ex- ports, Imports from Foreign Countries, Commerce of the United States, Value of Domestic Manufactured Articles, Educational and Religious Statistics, Statistics of Newspapers and Periodi- cals, Annual Revenue and Expenditures. Article on United States Literature reviews briefly but fully the whole subject, and will be found valuable for reference. THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP ON HIS WAY THROUGH THE WORLD. By W. M. Thackeray. New York: Har- per & Bros. This new work of Mr. Thackeray's which has been published in serial form, but is now finished, is so much better lhan the Yir/jini'in that the public will welcome it eagerly; for with all his affectations he has many admirers, who will, of course, read his book. His detractors must read it, loo, in order to abuse it intelligently, for in this case the btock criticism will hardly answer, for there is only one or two really wicked characters in the book— and they are not women ! CHRONICLES OF CARLINGFORD — THE DOCTOE'8 FAMILY. By the author of •• Adam Bede." These papers are being published in Blackwood, and this one is the first of the series. " Salem Chapel," the next one, is still unfinished. They are like the authoress' first tales which ap- peared in Blackwood, and gave her a reputation before Adam Bede made her famous. 382 THE GENESEE FARMER. HISTORY OF FBIEDRICH THE SECOXD, CALLED FRED- ERICK THE GREAT. By Thomas Carlyle. In four vol- umes. Vol. III. Mew York : Harper & Bkos. This now volume of Carlyle's Life of Frederick the Great will be received with pleasure by all who have read the other two, as it is pleasant when one attempts to read the life of a per- son to find out something concerning the acts of the individual, and not be solely occupied with the affairs of his father and grandfather. "We learn that the fears expressed that thi3 was to be a fragment, like Jfacaulay's England, are not correct, as the author has the fourth volume in manuscript, and it will be soon published. American Bacon in England. — A correpondent of the Irish Farmers' Gazette inquires \" if the importation of American bacon into England, is likely to affect the price of pigs in Ireland ? " The editor replies as follows : "There is some expectation that the importation ot American bacon may affect the prices of Irish bacon, and as a consequence the price of pigs, both fat and stores ; but it is possible that it may not, for the mode of cure and the flavor of the American bacon will not make it an ar- ticle of general demand amongst the middling and better classes, though it will make a plentiuess of animal food amongst the lower classes, who seldom or ever touch flesh meat. We therefore cannot advise breeders or feed- ers of pigs in Ireland to relax their efforts, but would rather recommend the reverse. Bacon and pigs have been much too high in price for some years past, and if they do suffer a slight reduction, so must the feeding ; so that an equilibrium will be kept up. American bacon cau be had in Dublin at 5d. per lb. for the best, and down to 8£d., or less, for eoarser parts, which is a great boon to the poor artisan and laborer ; while Irish bacon still commands 8d. per lb. retail; and there are parties in Dublin who dress and prepare the best parts of the American bacon, even to branding with Limerick and other marks, so as to deceive the eye, and sell it as Irish ; but when cooked, the smell and flavor discovers the cheat." . Why cannot we make as good bacon as the Irish? We have as good breeds of pigs, and as good food. Cannot wejnake as good pork and bacon ? The Markets. OFFICE OF THE GENESEE FARMER, ) Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 25, 1S02. J Since our last report there have been few changes in the wheat market. Prices in New York have gone up and down according to the fluctuations in] the price of gold and exchange on England. Prices are fully maintained, and if anything area little higher. — Corn has advanced 8@4c ; and Rye 5c per bushel. Oats have also advanced about 5c. The greatest advance has been in Bar- ley. In this city it has advanced fully 20 cts., and in New York 25 to 30 cents a bushel since last month ! Beans have also advanced about 20 cents. Butter in this city declined a little, but prices in New York are fully maintained, and are very Arm. The high rate of exchange has stimulated the exportation of Butter and Cheese to an unprecedented degree. From the first of May to the 31st o* October, there were exported to Great Britain from New York' 15,448,171 lbs. of Butter, and during the same period of last year, only 9,732,905 lbs. This increased demand for Butter to export was foretold;in the Genesee Farmer. In the October number, page 325, we showed that/owing to the high rates of exchange, Butter and Cheese might to be as high in this coimlry as in 'England. Butter at that time was only worth 12 cents a pound In this city, while in Lon- don it was worth from 22c to 28c per lb. Our prediction has been go far realized, that Butter to-day in New York is worth about as much as it is in London. It ought to bejwortb, quite as much, as the premium on exchange will more than pay the whole expense of exporting it. Cheese, like butter, is also higher. It is said that some large extra fine dairies have been sold in New York for 12 to 12>ac pe pound ! There has been little change in the English markets since ou last report. There is but little change in the N. Y. Cattle and Sheep marke but a general impression prevails that prices will soon advance - The Pork trade is unusually brisk, and fat hogs are bought u] quickly by the carcass, at 6@6,^c per lb., dead weight. Goo< corn fed hogs are worth 5c per lb., live weight, and the prospect are favorable for an advance. Nkw York, Nov. 24.— White wheat $1.50(311.60; Red, $1.3! ©145; Spring Wheat $1,18@1.30. Rve, S5©90c. Barlev. 1.51 ©1.60. Corn— Mixed Western 70@72c ; Yellow, 75@T9c ; Whiu Southern, 8t)@S4e. Peas, Canadian, $1.00. White Beans, $2.2. ©3,00. Hay, $12@13 per ton. Hops are steady and in demand at prices varying from 13@25c per lb., according to quality. Butter — Orange county pails, 2b©30c; fall made State, 24@25c Firkins, State, choice, 22@24c; Pennsylvania and Western Re serve, 22(g>24; Firkins, Western, choice, 16©18c; lair do. 14@15i per lb. Cheese — 9©12}£c per pound. Poultry — Turkeys, common, 9@10c ; choice and extra choice ll@13cpar lb.; Spring Chickens, choice, 10@llc; common, 80 9c per lb. Ducks, choice, 12©13c ; common, 10©llo per lb. leathers — 41®48cper pound. Potatoes— Mercers. $2 00@2. 50 ; Peachblows, $1.62 ; Buckeye and Prince Albjts, $1.50 @1.62 per brl. Onions— $1.S7@2. 12 per brl. Apples— Spitzenburgs, $1.75@.1.S8; Baldwins and 20-oz. Apples $1.62(5)1.75; Greenings, «1.3S@1.5U per brl. Chicago, Nov. 24.— No. 1 Red Winter Wheat, 95@96c ; No. 1 Spring, 88©92c ; No, 2, 76@77c ; rejected, 66©70c. Cora, 29@ •31c. Barley, good to choice, 90c©$1.4»J ; common to fair, 75©9'ic Oats31@35c. Rye46@47c. Beans $1.25@,2.25. Potatoes 65@.75< per bushel and advancing. Onions, 75c@$1.00 per bush. Live Chickens, J$1.25@l. 50 per dozen. Turkeys, 5@6c per lb. Eggs ll@13c per doz. Butter, very firm, at prices varying from 12J£< to ISc per lb. Apples, $1.75© 2.00 per brl. Toronto, Nov. 24.— Fall Wheat, 85@95c; Spring Wheat, 75@S3c. Rye, 56©60<;. Barley, 97c@$1.00. Oats, 45@4Sc— Peas, common, 50@56c ; Prussian Blues and Black-eyed Marrow fats, 60@65c. Potatoes, 45@50c per bushel. Butter, )1 0(5} 19e pel lb. Eggs, 9@llc per doz. Chickens, 30©40c per pair. Ducks 35@45c per pair. Geese, 30©40c each. Turkeys, 40(5',75c each Pork, S2.50@3.50 per cwt. Hay, $21 per ton. Straw, $14 pel ton. , Wool, 35c 'per lb. Pelts, $1.00 each for fresh, and 40©6U< for country skins. Philadelphia, Nov. 24 — White Wheat, $1.60@1.70; Red, $1.45©1.50. Rve, 90c@$1.00. Corn, 75c. Oats, 40@48c- Barley, $1.50. Clover Seed, $6.00@6.40 per bushel. Timothj teed, $2.25 per bush. Flax Seed, $2.75 per bush. Rochester, Nov. 25.— White Wheat, $.20(3)1.40; Red, $1.1{ (3)1.21'. Rye, 65©7(>c Corn, 60c. Oats, 45c. Milll'eed advr.nc ing, Shorts, 12c (13 lbs); Coarse Middlings, 18c (20 lbs.)'; Fine Middlings, 40@45c (32 lbs.). Barley, $1.10@1.28. Beans, $&0C ©2.25. Pelts fresh, $l.50@2,00. Potatoes, 40@50c per bushel- Apples, 62>;@75c per bri. Hay— Clover, $10 ; good Timothy $18 per ton. . ADVERTISEMENTS. A fbw short advertisements of interest to farmers — and only ^uch — will be inserted in the Genesee Farmer for twenty-five cent! a line, or $2.50 per square,' each insertion, payable in advance. To secure insertion, they should be sent in by the 15th of the previous month. The Farmer has large lisls of subscribers in every State and Territory, and in all the British Provinces. (It has nearly 5000 subscribers in Canada West alone.) There is no better or oheaper medium for advertising everything of general interest to rural residents in all parts of the United States and Canada. We will also insert a few " Special Notices," if appropriate to our columns, at fifty cents a line. S. M. PETTENGILL & CO. No. 37 Park Row, New Yorlc, & 6 State St., Boston, are our Agents for the Genesee Farmer in those cities, and are authorized tt» tako Advertisements and subscriptions for us at our Lowest Rates. A BEAUTIFUL MICROSCOPE, MAGNIFYING SMALL objects 500 Times, for 38 CENTS (coin preferred.) Krva of different powers for $1, MAILED FREE. Address F. H. BOWEN, Box 220, p novtf Boston, Mass. THE GEKESEE FARMER. 383 "Everybody sliounl have a Copy." |nnd $mroal anb jjariicultol §mdsx^ FOR 1863. PRICE ONIiV TWEKTY-FIVE CENTS I THIS work is published at the oflice of the Genesee Farmer, at the commencement of each year. It was started in 1856, »n declt THE NEW NATIONAL LOAN. UNITED STATES SIX PEE CENT. BOflDS, " CALLED FIVE-TWENTIES," AT PAR. rHE interest on these Bonds is at the rate of Six per cent, per Annum, and is payable 1st of May and November in Cold. 3hey are called " Five-Twenties," because redeemable at the op- ion of the Government after five or within twenty years. The coupon Bonds are issued in denominations of $50, $100, :5oo, $1000, and the Registered Bonds in denominations of $50, 1100, $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000. To facilitate investment in them, and make them more accessi- le to the public, we have made arrangements to keep on hand a onstant supply of all denominations for sale, at the same rate at rhich they are issued by the Government, viz : Par; Interest to ommence from the date of purchase. We are thus enabled to save parties all trouble and delay in inding Legal Tender Notes, or otherwise investing in these Sonds. ORDERS OR INQUIRIES BY MAIL 'WILL RECEIVE PROMPT ATTBN- ion, and the Bonds will be sent to any address by mail or express s desired. Payment may be made in Current Bank Notes, Drafts u City Banks, or United States Legal Tender Notes. These Bonds are the Cheapest Government Security now in \p, market, and pay the Largest Interest on their cost. They are estined to become the best known, most pofclae, and most vailajble, of all the Bonds of the Government. .' TO DEALERS IN AND CONSUMERS OF ONONDAGA SALT IN THE STATE OF NEW YOEK. Office of tmk Salt Co., of Onondaga, | Syracuse, November 6W, 1862. j THE closing of the Mississippi River by the Rebellion, has temporarily cut off a large supply of Foreign Salt from the Western States, and correspondingly increased the demand lor our Salt in that direction. To supply this demand the Company has increased the amount manufactured this season, to the full extent of the supply of brine. The usual prices were maintained during the spring and summer months, and hopes were enter- tained that a full supply of Salt would be produced. About the first of October, however, it became evident that the demand at the West would so far exceed the supply, as to advance prices entirely beyond the control of the Company, and we have been compelled to advance our prices for Salt to correspond some- what to its value, in the market. We have, throughout the sea- son, maintained stringent measures to prevent its getting into the hands of parties for speculation, and have used our utmost efforts to furnish it as directly and as cheaply as possible to the con- sumer. The natural course of trade, had there been no organization controlling the distribution- of our Salt, would have sent it to the highest markets, and the consumer in this State would have been compelled to pay prices corresponding with its value for the West. The Company, taking into consideration its relations to Dealers and Consumers of our Salt in this State, decided to pro- vide for them, against the advancing prices, by a drawback cor- responding with the advance in the regular list price. In our Circular, da ed October 0th, we assured the Dealers and Con- sumers in this Slate, that the drawback would be adjusted in ac- cordance with our regular List Prices, so as not to increase the net cost, for the State Consumption, to over $1.50 per brl. for 1 ine Salt, and in proportion for the other kinds, at the Works. Since this policy was adopted, the cost of Fuel, Barrels and Labor lias ad- vanced to such an extent that the State Trade is now being sup- plied at very nearly the cost of production. From the foregoing facts it must be apparent to every one that the drawback system hai been adopted solely for the benefit of Consumers in this State; and that the Company, to protect itself from loss beyond the largo sum which the drawback will neces- sarily and legitimately amount to, must require that some trouble Mid responsibility shall be assumed by Dealers who supply the State demand. We trust, therefore, that the following general provisions will be cheerfully assented to: Fii'.st— Parties purchasing Salt for State Consumption will pay, or assume to pay, for the same at the regular List Prices. Second — The Company gives to the purchaser a stipulation agreeing to pay or refund the amount of the drawback, upon proper proof that the Salt has been sold or used for consumption in this State, and will not be removed therefrom ; and that the benefit of the drawback has been given to the consumer ; that is to say, that the Dealer has sold to the Consumer at a price giving him a fa r profit or commission on its cost, taking the drawback into account; it being understood that in cases where the Dealer receives more than such fair prices from the Consumer, the ex- cess will be deducted from the drawback. Third — The Dealers claiming drawback, will furnish an ac- count of the sale and disposition of each invoice of Salt pur- chased, stating to whom the same was sold and delivered, and at what price, verified by affidavit— the proper forms for which are furnished by the Company. All parties interested in Salt for State Consumption, are as- sured that the Company will retain a full supply for that purpose. When circumstances seem to require it, Dealers, if they so choose, will be made Agents for the Companv. novlt J, W. BARKER, Secretary. ON SALE— White Chinese Swan Geese, Cayuga Ducks, Bronze Turkeys, Black Poland (from latejimportations,) Brahma, Dorking and Leghorn Fowls may be had by applying to declt • C. N. BEMEiNT, Bermingtbn Center, Vt. 384 THE GENESEE FAEMER. TO THE UNEMPLOYED. I CAN GIVE STEADY EMPLOYMENT to active young men to solicit orders for the LITTLE GIANT SEWING MA- CHINE. Price, $15.00— Hemmer, Gauge, Screw-driver and ex- tra Needles. Will pay a liberal salary and expenses, or allow large commissions. COUNTY EIGHTS given to Agents. An Agent wanted in every County. For particulars, descriptive cata- logue, &c, address, with stamp, T. S. PAGE, dec3t Gen'l Agent for U. S-, Toledo, Ohio. U rpHE HUMAN FACE DIVINE."— Eyes, Ears, Lips, Mouth, JL Head, Hair, Neck, Hands, Feet, Skin, with " Signs of Chabaotkb." and how to read them, given in THE PH PENOLOGICAL JOURNAL AND LIFE ILLUS- TRATED FOR 1S63, devoted to Phrenology, Physiology, Physiognomy. Psychology, and to all that relates to the Intellec- tual, Social, Moral and Spiritual Nature of Man. Amply illus- trated, and adapted to the comprehension of all. New volume. Subscribe now. Onlv $1 a vear. Samples, 10 cents. Address, dec2t FOWLER & WELLS, 3US Broadway, N. Y. TO SHEEP BREEDERS. FOR SALE— A number of SOUTH DOWN RAMS and EWES. Also, SHROPSHIRE DOWN RAMS and EWES, very superior. They can be seen at the Lorillard Sheep Farm at Fordham, Westchester county, N. Y., twelve miles from New York City, on the New York and" Harlem Kailroad. Inquire at 16 and IS Cham- bers street. New York. dec6t ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF Rare and Beautiful Flower Seeds, Boots, Cuttings, &c„ by mail. Persons in writing will please name some of their friends, to whom Catalogues wifl be sent gratis. Address, decot H. B. LUM, Sandusky, Ohio. TOWN AGENTS WANTED TO CIRCULATE A NEW series of the Rural American, to be published at Utica, N. Y., semi-monthly, at sixty cents a year. Regular issue from January 1st, 1863. A splendid paper— purely Agricultural and Horticultural— adapted lo every State in the Union. Commis- sions very large, and a Fifty-Cent Concord Grape Vine free lo every subscriber, which is the best early grape in existence! My travelling agents sweep towns of nearly every farmer in them — no difference on account of the war. Full details given in a speoimeu paper, soon to be ready, which is free to all. Address T. B. MINER, Clinton, Oneida county, N. Y. P. S.— The price is sixty cents in clubs, not fifty cents, as stated in the October Farmer. THE CHILSON FURNACE. THIS celebrated Furnace, which has beer, so extensively used in public and private buildings, and which has stood the test of eqperience after various attempted imitations, is slill for sale in Rochester. The different sizes are fitted for all classes of buildings, from th^ cottage to the church. They can be purchas- ed at lower rates than ever before, and any one desiring to man- ufacture these Furnaces can, on short notice, be furnished with a lull set of iron patterns for all the different sizes. Further information can be obtained from the Editor of this paper. sep— tf FARMERS AND OTHERS that wish io obtain quickly, in cash, the highest market prices for their farm produce, must send all their butter, cheese, lard, eggs, poultry, hams, game, vegetables, green and dried fruits, flour, grain, seeds, See., &c, to JOS I A II CA R P E N T E 1 ! , Produce Commission Merchant, 32 Jay Stbebt, New Yobk. He returns the cash in ten days after receipt of goods, makes ad- vances on consignment, or buys for cash; and sends a weekly " Price Current" to all shippers. oc2t FOR SEWING MACHINES. JONAS BROOK & BROTHERS' PRIZE MEDAL SPOOL COTTON. 2C0 or 500 yard spools, White, Black, and Colored. OR MACHINES. use BROOK'S PATENT GLAOE for upper thread, and BROOK'S SIX COuD RED TICKET tor under thread. Sold by all first class dealers in city and country ; also in cases of 101 dozen each, assor ed numbers, by WM. HENRY SMITH, Sole Agent, :;6 Vesey street, New York. Ja — ly F WOOD CUTS FOR SALE. WE will sell Stereotypes ol the Wood Cmsus?d in the Gene- tee Farmer and Rural Annual and Horticultural Direc- tory. A hook containing impressions of over Seven Hundred of these cuts will be sent to those wishing to purchase on the receipt of 50 cents. The book contains an index, showing where des- criptions of the cuts will be found. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N. Y. TO GROWERS OF SPRING WHEAT. CHAPPELL & SPMGUE, ROCHESTER, N O ■H to > to > H to 0 o < 3 H pq SOLE MANUFACTURERS OF CO > fed > H to Q O > H QQ td g fed .t-1 tsl *S 8° fed o m f^ifP "BOOTH'S COMPOUND SHAKER." FOR SEPARATING OATS, BARLEY, AND OTHER FOR- eign substances from Wheat, it is the best, simplest, cheapest and only Machine ever invented, that thoroughly ac- complishes the desired end. Farmers can always get from five to ten cents per bushel more for their Wheat i! properly cleaned. It cleans from 150 to 200 bushels per day, and a boy can operate it, and its exceeding LOW PRICE Brings it within the reach ot every Farmer. On receipt of EIGHT DOLLARS, a Machine (with printed instructions for operating,) will be shipped as directed. Those wishing to engage in the sale of the Machine and purchasing by the dozen, will have a fair discount made to them. All orders to be addressed to CHAPPELL & SPEAGUE, Rochester, N. Y., sen-Gt Sole Manufacturers: CARRIAGE HORSES WANTED. DAPPLE GRAY, LONG TAILS, HEADS WELL UP; LONG range in action ; weight, eleven to twelve hundred : age, seven to eight years, 16 hands high. Any person having a sound pair of horses for sale, answering the description, will please ad- dress notf GEO. A. PRINCE, Buffalo, N.Y. CHOICE NATIVE AND^ FOREIGN GRAPE VINES.— LENK & CO. OFFER FOR SALE A URGE stock of Native and Foreign Grape Vines, including all the rarest and most valuable varieties. Send for a Price List. Address LENK & CO., novtf Humboldt Nurseries, Toledo, Ohio. SHROPSHIRE AND SOUTH DOWN DRAFT SHEEP O FOR SALE. Shropshire Rams, Shropshire Ewes, South Down Rams, South Down Ewes. §5^~ Inquire at 16 and 18 Chambers street. New York, ot oc-3t JACOB LORILLARD. AGENTS WANTED AT ONCE FOR A CEMPLETE HISTORY OF THE T3T7T)Ti,T T TYMVT To be festnri) by The Au- L\j2j\)l2jljLjL\)rS burn Publishing Co. Prospectus and Descriptive Circulars sent free to those whoVrite to E. G. STORKE, Auburn, Ar. T. THE RURAL ANNUAL-For 1S56, '57, '53, '59, '60, '61 and '62 will be sent, prepaid to any address for $1.40. JOSEPH HARRIS, Rochester, N Y. THE GENESEE FARMER. 385 THE NEW YORK OBSERVER IS A RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR NEWSPAPER, PTJBLI8nED ON A DOUBLE SHEET, 80 AS TO BE EASILY SEPARATED INTO TWO DISTINCT PAPERS. In religion it is free from sectarianism, and gives a full, fair and impartial report every week of all matters of general interest IN ALL THE DENOMINATIONS. In Politics it is entirely free from party relations or affinities, discussing great principles with freedom" and candor, and giv- ing the lullest and latest intelligence of all the movements of the day. IT SUPPORTS THE GOVERNMENT With VIGOR, FIDELITY and ZEAL, in its efforti to CRUSH THE REBELLION, And restore the Union and preserve the Constitution. It criti- sizes with freedom whatever measures are not adapted to lhe ac- jomplishment of these ends: but its steady purpose, from the beginning of the war, has been, and will be, to uphold the hands find strengthen the heart of the Government, while it puts forth its energies to protect us against the most unholy rebellion that sver disturbed the peace of any country. The New York Observer is the most complete family newspa- per IN THE WORLD. In the variety of its Departments, In the fullness of its Information, In the extent of its Correspondence, In the number of minds enlisted in its editorial anil other col- iros, In the amount of money expended in procuring materials to ?nrich and adorn its pages, In the healthful, religious, conservative, genial tone that per- 'ades the paper. lu its stores of anecdote, biography, poetry, science, art, ard jenerul literature, Will strive "to exceed every other weekly Stewapai e'. GREAT INDUCEMENTS. The proprietors of the New York Observer offer the following raluable premiums for NEW SUBSCRIBERS. In all cases, the new subscibkrs must be those who have lot in their own or others'1 names, taken the paper during the oast year. To Ministers and Others. The Annals of the American Pulpit, by William B. Sprague, d. >., are comprised in seven large octavo volumes, viz : Congregational, 2 vols. Presbvterian, 2 " Methodist, 1 ■« Episcopal, 1 " Ba ptist i 1 " They contain the biography of more than a thousand minis- ers, and a history of each denomination, with a statement ot its loctrinal views, making a complete library of religious biog- aphy and history. The lives of tnese ministers are interspersed pith memorable anecdotes and incidents, and illustrated by let- ers from distinguished statesmen and clergymen, rendering the rolumes an inexhaustible source or instruction and entertain- ment. The 'publishers' price for the seven volumes is $18.50. We vill furnish the whole set to the order of any person who will end us twelve new subscribers with the payment for one year, >r any two volumes for four new subscribers, or any one vol- ime for two new subscribers. In all cases the money ($2.50 for >ach subscriber) must be paid in advance. To Farmers and Others. We will furnish the whole set of the following works to any me who.will send us fifteen new subscribers — with payment of &2.50 in advance on each for one year — viz: American Farmer's Encyclopedia, ; $4.00 Allen's (R. L.) American Farm Book, l.oO Allen (J. Fisk) on the Culture of the Grape, 1.00 Barry's Fruit Garden, 1.25 Boussingault's Rural Economy 1.25 Bridgemau's Young Gardener's Assistant, 1.50 Buist's American Flower Garden Directory, 1.25 Comprehensive Farm Record, 3.00 Dadd's Modern Horse Doctor , 1.00 Dadd's American Cattle Doctor, 1.00 Dana's Muck Manual, 1.00 French's Farm Drainage, 1.00 Garlick's Fish Cu'ture 1.00 Herbert's Hints to Horse-keepen, 1.25 Warder's Hedg«e and Evergreens 1.00 To any one sending us ten new subscribers, and advance pay- ment for each one year, we will send the Fanner's Encyclopedia, Farm Record, and any five other books on the list— or the en- tire list, except the Encyclopedia and Record. lor live new subscribers, with payment in advance, we will fend the Farmer's Encyclopedia and Farm Record, or any other five books in tbe list. For four new subscribers and payment, the Encyclopedia and any book less than $8. For three new subscribers, the Farm Record and anv dollar book. For two new subscribers, any two books in the list costing less than $3 each. And tor one new subscriber, any look costinc less than $3 on the list. " These books will be sent by mail or express, at the option or expense ol the subscribers. Every evening devoted to canvassing may secure one or more of these volumes. They are among the most practical works now published on the subjects treated. With this collection of books in his library, neither the beginner nor the more advanced farmer need go fur- ther for the instruction desired in any branch of his pursuits. They are here placed within the reach ot every ycmaig man in the country, without a dollar in money. Specimen copies of the paper sent free to any address. no2t SIDNEY E. MORSE, .Ik, & CO.. Editors and Proprietors, 37 Park Row, New York. TO FARMERS ANDLUMBER DEALERS. SCRIBNER'S READY-RECKONER AND LOG BOOK IS the most popular and saleable book ever published on that subject. The sales now amount to over 800,000 copies. The calculations are so arranged as to be easily understood, and can be relied on with perfect safety. Is is designed expressly tor Boat-builders, Ship-builders, Lumber Merchant's, Mechanics' and contains full and correct measurement of Scantling, boards plank, cubical contents of round and square timber, saw-fogs' wood, tables of wages by the month, board, rent, interest tables' &c., ,tc. ■"' No farmer, lumber merchant or business man should be with- out a copy, as the price is nothing in comparison to its value. For twenty-five cents 1 will send a book to any address free of pos'ase. BOOKSELLERS AND BOOK AGENTS WANTING to in- terest themselves in the sale of the book in Lumber Regions, can have them upon such terms as will make it an object to push the book, and can make inonev by so doing. Address GEO. W. FISHER, Bookseller and Stationer, nov2t Rochester, N. Y. The Original Howe Sewing Machine! I>ECENT and important improvements having been put to L to this Machine renders it now the most perfect before the public, and persons at a distance can order a Machine with'a guarantee ot its prompt and safe delivery, and thai they will be able to manage it to their entire satisfaction. No more breaking needles ! No more missing stitches ! No trouble in making anv garment, however delicate or heavy, on the same Machine, either in cambric, cloth, or leather. No person should think of pur- chasing a Sewing Machine without first seeing this— the latest and greatest triumph of the original inventor of the Sewing Machine. £5F"° Send for a Descriptive Catalogue of styles and prices.' A few responsible Agents would be dealt with libemiiv Address ' THE HOWE SEWING MACHINES July, 186.2.— 21t 437 Broadway, New York. FARMERS, YOUR SONS NEED A BUSINESS EDUCATION; WITH- out it they may plow and reap as their grandfathers did before them, but they cannot, without such insltuelion. intelli- gently, methodically, or accurately, set about i ,- successful pros- ecution of that especially close business, Modern Agriculture. rI here is one institution in the country, and but one, where stu- dents are thoroughly trained, as well' as theoretically taught where eight to twelve weeks attendance secures a perfect knowl- edge of every legal form of procedure in every known branch of enterprise, and a ready aptitude or skill in 'practical business matters. For information, address the Principal of " - Eastman's Model Mercantile College," Rochester, N. Y ■ nov-3t Back Volumes of the Genesee Farmer. WE have the back numbers of the Genesee Farmer, hand- somely bound, for the vears 1846, 1847, 1848 1849 IsM, 1855, 1856, 1857.. 1858. 1859, I860 and 1861. They will be sent free to any address for $1.00 each. The last six volumes from 1856 to 1861 inclusive, handsomely bound, will be sent free by express or by mail postage paid, for $5.00. Address JOSEPH HARRIS, Publisher and Proprietor of the Genesee Farmer, - • Rochester, N. T. ; THE GENESEE FARMER. THIS GENESEE FARMER FOR 1S63. A GREAT PREMIUM LIST! BOOK PJRIZES: SEED PiilZESi: cash prizes:: All Prizes and No Blanks ! "We spare no pains to make the GENESEE FARMER worthy the patronage of every farmer and fruit-grower in the United States and Canada. It has already a very large circulation, but there is no reason why it may not be doubled during the coming year. All that is necessary, is for our friends to take hold of the matter in their respective localities, and present the claims of the Genesee Faemer to their neighbors and friends As some in- ducementfor them to act as ageuts in getting subscribers, we of- fer the following premiums : AND FIRST TO THE LADIES.— There are some ladies who already act as agents for the Genesee Farmer, and those who do are always successful in getting subscribers. "We want more agents amorjg our farmers' sons aud daughters. We offer the following : SPECIAL PREMIUMS TO THE LADIES. 1. To every lady who sends us before the first of next January, five subscribers for 1S63, at 60 cents each, we will send, pre-paid, by return mail, a copy of Mrs. Hale's Modern Cookery Book, price $1 • or a dollar package containing sixteen varieties of the choic- est and most-beautiful flower seeds, such as we know every lady would like to have growing in the garden. 2. To every lady sending us fifteen subscribers at 60 cents each, before the first of next January, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a beautiful copy of the Rural Poetry of the English Lau- guage; price $3. PREMIUMS FOR BOYS. 1. To every boy who shall send us before the first of January, 1863, three subscribers, at 60 cents each, we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the Farmers' Practical Horse Farrier, price 50 cents ; or a copy of Liebig's Animal Chemistry. 2. To every boy sending us four subscribers, (as above,) we wil send, prepaid, by return .mail, a volume of the Genesee Far- mer for 1850, neatly bound in stiff paper cover: price 75 cents. 3. To every boy sending us five subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of Rodgers' Scientific Agricuture, or a volume of the Geneske Farmer for 1B60, hand- somely bound in cloth. The wholesale price of the latter is $1, and there is no cheaper work. 4. To every boy sending us six subscribers, (as above.) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of Everybody's Lawyer, or The Horse and his Diseases : price $1.25. 5. To every boy sending us eight subscribers, (as above,) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a complete set of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for eight years — (1856-7-8-9, '60, '(51, '02 and '63.) Price 25 cents each. No young farmer or gardener should be without a complete set of this work 6. To every.boy sending us fift-em subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the Rural Poetry of the English Language ; price S3. (This is a most beautiful and appropriate book for a Christmas or New Years present) 7. To every boy sending us twenty-five subscribers, (as above) we will send, prepaid, by express, the last six volumes of the Genesee Farmer, (1856-7-8-9, '60 and '61,) handsomely bound in cloth. The price is $1 each, and there is no cheaper work pub- lished. No young farmer could have a better work in his library. It will be seen that the above prizes are for subscribers at Six- ty Cents each. If sent in during the present month ,|(Novernber) the last two numbers of this year, (November and Don mber,) will be sent to each subscriber free'. These prizes are offered only to the ladies and boys, the object being to get them inter- ested in the circulation of the Farmer. PREMIUMS FOR EVERYBODY, At our Lowest Club Kates of 50 Cents each* 1. To every person sending us sio.' subscribers, at 50 cents each, ($3.00; we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of the Ru- ral Annual for 1863. 25 cts. 2. To every person sending us ten subscribers at our lowest club rates of 50 cents each, ($5.00) we will send a copy of the Genesee Farmer for 1863, and also a copy of the Rural An- nual for 1863, (prepaid, by mail.). 85 cts. 3. To every person sending- us sixteen subscribers at 50 cents each, ($8.00) we will send, prepaid, by mail, a package of flower and vegetable seeds, containing twelve papers of choice varie- ties, price $1, or a handsomely bound volume of the Genesee Farmer for 1860: price $1. And also a free copy of the Far- mer and Rural Annual for 1863. $1.85. 4. To every person sending us twenty subscribers, at 50 cents each, ($10.00) we will send, prepaid, by return mail, a copy of Everybody's Lawyer, or The Horse and his Diseases, price $1.25; and also two free, copies of the Farmer for 1S03. $3.45. 5. To every person sending us 1/icenty-fimr subseribrrs, at 50 cents each, ($12.00) we will send either of the above books and a dollar package of vegetable and flower seeds, and a free copy of the Genesee Farmer and Rural Annual for 1S63. $3.10. Those getting higher clubs than the above, will probably lake some of the following Csii Prizes. If not, books and seeds, as desired, will be sent in the same ratio: CASH PRIZES ! CASH PRIZES ! ! CASH PRIZES ! ! ! tfjj r> A—TO THE PERSON sending us tbe highest number ^JStjU ol subscribers, before the 15th of February, 1S63. at our lowest club rates of 50 cents each, we wil! send Fifty Dol- lars in cash. Stry A— TO THE PERSON sending us the. second highest Ol) number, (as above,) we will send Thirty Dollars in cash. Si) A— TO TnE PERSON sending us the third highest Jj\J number, (as above,) we will send Twenty Dollars in cash. —TO THE PERSON sending us the fourth highest number, (as above,) we will send Fifteen Dollars -TO THE PERSON sending us the fifth highest ! num- ber (as above.) we will send Ten Dollars in cash. St"— TO THE PERSON sending us the sixth highest num- *J ber, (as above.) we wtll send Five Dollabs in cash. Sj_TO THE PERSON sending us the seventh highest num- i ber, (as above,) we will send Four Dollars in cash. SO— TO THE PERSON sending us the eighth highest num- O ber, (as above,) we will send Three Dollars in cash. 5£gpx' The number of subscribers, and Ihe names of those send- ing the largest clubs, will be announced in the March number of the Farmer, and the cash immediately paid. Clubs are not required to be at one post-office, or sent to one address. We send the papers wherever the members of the club desire. It is not necessary that the club should be sent in all at one time. Names can be added at any time, and all that are sent in before the fifteenth of February will bo counted in. Send on the names with the money as fast as they are obtained. %>&~ Money may be sent by mail at our risk, you need not re- gister the letters. Address JOSEPH HAKKIS, PUBLISHER AND PeOPEIETOE OF THE GENESEE FARMED, November 1, 1862. Rochester, N. Y. $15 in cash. S10 OCT 1969 ES0*