626 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



same road before, he never fails to discover the 

 customary halling-place, iho'jgh ihe hut may 

 have been completely buiied under Ihe driliiiig 

 snow. Suddenly the dog will remain motionless 

 upon the trackless and unbrolcen surface, and by 

 the friendly wagging of his tail announce to his 

 master ijiat he need only fall to woik with his 

 enovv-Ehovel to find the door of the hut tliat offers 

 him a warm lodging (or the night. Tiie snovv- 

 bhovel on these winter excursions appears to be 

 un appendage without which no traveller ventures 

 upon a journey. 



In summer the dog is no less serviceable than 

 in winter. As in the one season he is yoked to 

 ilie sledge, so in the other he is employed to draw 

 the canoe up against the stream, and here they 

 display (heir sagacity in an equally e-jrprising 

 manner. At a word they halt, or where an op- 

 posing rock bais their progress on the one side, 

 they will plunge into the water, swim across the 

 river, and resume their course along the opposite 

 bank. In short, the dog is as indispensable to 

 Ihe Siberian settler, as the tame reindeer to the 

 Laplander. The mutual attachment between the 

 Siberian and his dog is in proportion to their 

 mutual dependence on each oilier. I\l. von V/ ran- 

 ge! relates remarkable insianccs of the extent to 

 which he has seen some of the people carry their 

 fondness for iheir dogs. In 1S21 an ep'idemic 

 disease broke out among the dogs in Siberia, and 

 cciried off' many thousands of them. [Hesaye] 

 "A Yukaheer fannly had lost the whole of the 

 twenty dogs of which they had recently been pos- 

 sessed, and two newly-born cubs were all that re- 

 mained. As these animals were still blind, and 

 without a mother's care, it scan-ely appeared pos- 

 sible to preserve tliem. The Yukaheer's wife, to 

 save the last remnant of the wealth of her house, 

 resolved that the two dogs should share tlie milk 

 of her breast with her own child. She was re- 

 warded. The two adopted sucklings throve won- 

 derl'ully, and became the ancestors of a new and 

 vigorous race of dogs." 



The Eutlerings of the poor inhabitants, in con- 

 sequence of the loss of the dogs, through the 

 epidemic malady that raged in 1821 and'' 1822, 

 were dreadful in the extreme. Yet will it be be- 

 li»ved, that an order was once actually issued by 

 the government at St. Petersburg, to destroy all 

 iho dogs throughout the north oi" Siberia, " on 

 account of their consuming such quantities of 

 provisions, and thereby occasioning such frequent 

 lamines." The order was not executed, because 

 it would have required the whole Russian army 

 to enlbrce the command, and after a while means 

 were found to enlighten the rulers upon the absurd 

 tyranny of iheir proposed " reform.'' 



CULTIVATIOIS OF PACTYLIS GLOBIERATA, OR 

 ORCHARD GRASS. 



From the New Genesee Farmer. 

 Messrs. Editors. — Gentlemen — In answer to the 

 inquiries of Sereneus, in liis interrogatories ihroutrh 

 the medium of your journal, I beg leave to remark 

 that I have been in the habit ot cultivating (he 

 orchard grass, both for seed and hay, (or the last 

 25 years, and am of the full conviction that it 

 stands as high for hay or feed as any other. As 



to the soil best adapted to its growth, I conceive 

 that moist rich loam is the best'; but 1 have found 

 that when I have sown it among oilier grasses 

 lor pasture, it grows luxuriantly ; and in cases of 

 severe drought, when all other grasses are appa- 

 rently dead, this stands the best, being all the time 

 green and fresh. The best time lor sowing the seed, 

 I conceive to be about the middle of July or first 

 ol'August, as probably nature direcis this the best 

 time lor sowing, when seed comes to maturity, 

 Vi'hich is about that time, or earlier — to be drag- 

 ged in on mellow land,— jei 1 have always stocked 

 in the spring with outs, at the rate of a bushel to 

 the acre, and if the oats are not too heavy it gen- 

 erally grows well, its value for hay, I think, 

 stands as high as any other grass, and (or leed 

 and ihe second crop it stands pre-eminent, as it 

 comes forward earlier in the spring and holds out 

 longer in the (all. On my farm in Connecticut, 

 fro-m whence I removed this spring, i usually cut 

 (rom two and a half to ihree tons per acre, exclu- 

 sive of the seed which I reaped beiore mowing in 

 the same manner as I would wheat, and generally 

 secured (rom 15 to 20 bushels of seed to the acre. 

 The second crop yields from one and a half to two 

 tons per acre. 



I know not how this grass will grow in (hia 

 country, but ! doubt not that the soil here is admi- 

 rably adapted to its growth, as ihe land is rich, 

 and in my opinion will grow well almost every kind 

 of grass that the farmer may wish to cultivate. I 

 brought with me a siriall lot of seed, and stocked 

 last spring with oats about an acre of land ; and 

 the result is I have a fine piece of orchard grass, 

 which is coming (orward to my entire satisladion. 

 I intend to save seed enough next year to stock 

 more, and (iirnish my neighbors some should ihev 

 wish. In conclusion, I would advise "Sereneus" 

 to try this kind of grass, and presume he will find 

 it for his interest to grow it lor both pasture and 

 hay. Zkckariaii Conh. 



Baiavia^ Scplcniher, 1S40. 



ON RAISING AND CLKAMNG CLOVER SKIiD — 

 CLOVKR MACHINES. 



From tlie New Genesee Fanner. 



JMessrs. JSditors — In your last paper you ac- 

 knowledged the receipt of my communication on 

 the subject of thrashing and cleaning clover seedj 

 and you also required more minute detai's on the 

 subject. 1 williiigly give you my experience and 

 observation. I will treat the subject systemati- 

 cally, and take each query [iroposed by you in 

 order. 



1st. ^s to the kind of soil.— As far as I have 

 been able to judge, a sajidy, or loamy, or in fact, 

 any light soil is best adapted. It seldom does 

 well on day soils. 



2d. j^s to the time and frequency of sowing — 

 We generally sow in the first opening of spring, 

 while the ground is moist and open ; m order to 

 give the seed a chance to penetrate a little into 

 the ground. There are many liarmers who sow 

 as early as the beginning of March ; and some 

 sow when there is a little snow on (he ground, 

 to enable them (they say) to sow more accurately. 

 Clover intended (or seed, ought never to lay more 

 than two years, because, after (hie, much of it will 



