72 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9. 



pariie time, be (he best methud to accomplish the 

 great object in view. 



I am, sir, very respeclRiIi}', 



Your obedient servant, 



Andrew T. Judson. 

 Hon. J. Q. Adams, 



Clialrmaa Committee on Manufactures. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 BRIDGES A^D ABUTMENTS. 



IVardsfork, Charlotte. 



Dear Sir : I send you a few remarks, not on 

 the subject of farmiuir, but they may be useful to 

 the firmer. As they are short, I hope you will 

 indulge me in their publication. 



Tlie wasliing away of bridges and abutments is 

 not an unfrequent occurrence. It is owing often, 

 to the shorines.s of the bridge. In most instances 

 it is barely made long enoujxh to straddle the 

 stream, 'fhe rest, is abutment. This is done for 

 cheapness. But let me see the result of this coun- 

 ty-court economy. The rains descend, the floods 

 ■beat upon that bridge, and it is swept away. The 



1834, my wiiiier wheat was very badly frozen out. 

 I went on and harrowed in spring wheat as soun 

 as the fiosl had left the ground. Twelve acres of 

 this wheat produced two hundied and seventy-six 

 bushels, or iweiity-ihree bushels per acre. An- 

 other piece of five acres produced one hundred and 

 forty nine and a half bushels, or thirty bushels to 

 the acre. Another piece sown on wheat stubble, 

 produced twenty-two bushels to the acre. 



Last spring I sowed ten acres of wheat stubhie, 

 which was ploui^hed once in November, and the 

 seed was harrowed in as early in the spring as the 

 frost would permit; this will yield me twenty 

 bushels per acre. I also sowed four acres, from 

 which corn had been 1aken the year previous; and 

 which will give me thirty bushels to the acre. As 

 a continuation of my former ex|)ei'iments of sow- 

 ing spririfj wheat on winter killed wheat, I sowed 

 one bushel on some spots where winter wheat had 

 been killeil out by snow drifts, one-half of vvhicli 

 at least, was pii'ked up by the pigeons, yet the re- 

 mainder produced sixteen bushels; and had I have 

 sown all that was killeil out of tlie piece of nine 

 a(;res, it would have added to my crop tiliy bush- 

 els more. 



I am so Well saiisfied with my experience on 

 this subject, that [ would in all cases where wheat 



water was cramped into the too narrow space be 



tween the abutments ; it rises and gathers greater \ '*^ badly winter killed, whether in siiots, or general 



force, until it carries off in triumph, the bridire or 

 abutments, or both. The poor overseer of the 

 road stands petrified with astonishment, while look- 

 ing over the scene of disaster, to see that the lar- 

 gest logs that he could gather from the Ibrest, piled 

 u|) as he thought strong and firm, (and with great 

 labor,) roiled away in a niirht; and with a long 

 face and stupid look, goes about asking if any one 

 had seen a stray bridge, declaring that the water 

 was higher than in the ereat May fresh, when 

 ■cocks went crowing, on their roosts, floating down 

 the river — when perhaps it was not as high by 

 two or three feet; so ignorant of the real cause. 

 Now a fresh expense is incurred, a new bridge 

 to make, and all the hands are to be summoned to 

 make new abutments, perhaps at the busiest time; 

 and all this simply because the bridge was made 

 too short at first, not giving nature fair play; for 

 what is unjustly taken from nature, will have to 

 be payed to art. These inconveniences are easi- 

 ly remedied by givins: the bridge a sufficient span, 

 so as to admit the water fi-eely in a Ir-esh, and let 

 it pass on. Both the bridge and abutments, then, 

 will not be strained, but remain firm in place; and 

 less expense is created, and less trouble to over- 

 peers of roads, and hands. 



J. R. 



From tlie Genesee Farmer. 

 CULTIVATION OF SPRING W^HEAT. 



£xtract of a letter from the Hon. James Mc Call, 

 of Rashford, jillegany county, Pa. 



Tn answer to your inquiries with reirard to my 

 experiments and experience in the culture of spring 

 wheat, I have the pleasure of saying they have 

 both been very satisfactory. Previous to 1833, I 

 had not for fifteen years sown any of that kind of 

 wheat ; when I was induced to sow two acres 

 With three bushels of seed. The product of these 



ly, recommend to sow the ground in spring u'hear, 

 and harrow it as early as you are satisfied the old 

 roots are defid. Harrowino; lightly over wheal 

 that is alive will not injure the roots at all, and the 

 scattering winter wheat that grows up will pro- 

 duce no injurious efl'ect. Between tlie two you 

 are sure of a good crop; and besides, you keep 

 out the land grass, weeds, and other foul stufl, such 

 as cockle, chess, &c.. which every farmer knows 

 w;ll spread on the unoccupied soil to a thousand 

 fold. 



Some of my best neighboring fiirmers have been, 

 for a number of years, in the piaciice of preparing 

 their ground intended for wheat, in the previous 

 fall, and sowing their spring wheat, as staled 

 above, as early as possible, and have unilbrmly 

 succeeded in getting good crops. 



Spring wheat is more apt to smut than winter 

 wheat; but I have nor had any smutty wheat of 

 this kind, neiilier do I have any in my winter 

 wheat. Being satisfied that smut is contagious, I 

 have for twenty years washed all my seed wheat 

 in strong brine, (or pickle,) and skimmed off all 

 that floats on the top. When the wheat has drain- 

 ed in a basket a few minutes, 1 mix dry lime with 

 it, letting it lie twelve hours, and if longer it will 

 sustain no injury. 



There are two kinds of sprin<r wheat raised by 

 farmers in the country, the bearded and the bald, 

 which is the best to yield, I am not able to say, 

 having raised none but the bearded, but it is evi- 

 dent the bald would be the most pleasant to work 

 amongst. 



Yours, &c. 



James McCall. 



Rushford, Nov. 12, 1S36. 



From the Sillsworm. 

 FOOD FOR SILKWORMS. 



As the season of the year has now arrived for 

 adventurers in the silk business, if they have not 



two acres was seventy bushels of wheat. In | done it before, to make preparations fiar grovvnsg 



