44 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No.l. 



expression of every opinion sustained by well at- 

 tested (acts on a subject so important." Of the 

 origin of this fly, I know nothing. As to the ef- 

 ficacy of the above remedy, I had little more con- 

 fidence than yourself; but thought it wrong to 

 condemn without trial, and accordingly made ex- 

 periment as directed — by soaking and liming a 

 half bushel of wheat. This I sowed upon a good 

 piece of land, on either side of which, and upon 

 like land, I sowed unlimed wheat. In the spring, 

 when I discovered that the fly had commenced its 

 depredations, it reminded me of the lime experi- 

 ment; and 1 at once determined to test its efficacy 

 by making an examination. In passing through 

 some unlimed wheat, I found the fly quite numer- 

 ous: when I reached the limed wheat, my sincere 

 desire was, that the experiment should prove suc- 

 cessful, and that not a vestige of the fly be found; 

 but alas! Mr. Editor, how often are our fondest 

 hopes blasted. Upon examination, I found the 

 fly as numerous here, as elsewhere, and, I really 

 imagined, that it was more so. When this 

 wheat was harvested I could not discover that it 

 possessed any superiority whatever over the other, 

 either in quality or quantity. This experiment I 

 have never tried but once, and do not doubt but 

 that it has proved successful under peculiar cir- 

 cumstances. But from the trial I have made, I 

 am satisfied in my own mind, and shall never at- 

 tempt it again, until the remedy has been fully, 

 fairly, and incontestably proven to be effectual. 



Whilst I am writing, it will not be amiss, per- 

 haps, to fill out the sheet; you can take it for what 

 it is worth. 



As the season for planting corn is approaching, 

 permit me to recommend an article in the 14th 

 Vol. 59th page of the American Farmer, to the pe- 

 rusal of your readers, upon the subject of prepar- 

 ing or tarring seed corn, as a means of protection 

 against crows, hens, black birds, and all others of 

 the feathered tribe. In case the work should not 

 be at hand, I will give the substance of the article, 

 which will be sufficient for any one who is dispo- 

 sed to try it. The process is as follows: "Take a 

 peck of corn and pour on it hot water, (without 

 detriment) — after standing a few minutes, draw 

 off the water. The tar, having been warmed suf- 

 ficiently to reduce it to a fluid state, is then applied 

 to the corn in small quantities, stirring at the 

 same time, until all the corn is thoroughly daubed 

 with tar. Then apply plaster, ashes or lime, one 

 of these substances, intermixed with the corn will 

 prevent cohesion and give better thrift to the crop. 

 A peck of corn is as large a quantity as will be 

 found convenient to operate upon at a time. A 

 quart of tar is sufficient for a bushel of seed. The 

 tar however, should not be applied sparingly. No 

 injury, to my knowledge, has ever been done to 

 seed, by any part of this process. I have prac- 

 tised preparing my seed corn in this manner for 

 more than thirty years, and can recommend it as 

 an effectual security against all manner of fowls 

 that have been known to disturb corn fields." 

 It would seem perhaps, that the author of the 

 above, was rather sanguine in his assertions; but 

 if any statement of mine, as an anonymous wri- 

 ter, will have any bearing, or corroborate those as- 

 sertions, I can bear testimony to most of the facts 

 therein stated. The tarring process has been 

 practised upon my farm for several years, and as 

 far as it has come under my observation, I believe 



it. to be an effectual security against the depreda- 

 tions of the whole feathered family. But there is 

 another advantage from tarring corn, which is, 

 that plaster adheres more readily, and in a much 

 larger quantity, which is a matter of much im- 

 portance in this section of country. 



1 wish that some of my Madison and Orange 

 acquaintances could be prevailed upon to write 

 for the Register, knowing that they possess much 

 interesting and valuable information, which they 

 willingly communicate orally, but when applied 

 to to write, they seem to startle at the very idea; 

 and that false sense of reserve, or a distrust in their 

 own dormant powers, so frequently condemned, 

 and which has been so injurious to the agricultu- 

 ral interest, causes them to lose sight of every 

 other consideration. Owing, no doubt, to this 

 cause, much valuable agricultural knowledge has 

 been lost to posterity: its possessors choosing rather 

 to keep it locked up in their own bosoms, and carry 

 it unrevealed to their graves, than to communi- 

 cate in writing a few plain, simple, unvarnished 

 facts:-such Mr. Editor, as are not only more conve- 

 nient to the editorial fraternity, but more interesting 

 and acceptable to the general reader. There are 

 other matters that I intended to have noticed, but 

 fearing that I have already trespassed too long, 

 and that I shall run into the other extreme, of 

 writing too much, I am therefore admonished to 

 conclude. May success attend you in the cause 

 of agriculture — which is the cause of our coun- 

 try. 



CROOKED RUN. 



Madison County, Va. 



[We concur entirely with our correspondent in the 

 general remarks on communications from practical 

 men, and the strong aversion to writing which such 

 men generally feel. There are hundreds among our 

 readers, each of whom could tell sufficiently well in 

 few words, of some facts, or observations, which would 

 be useful to many other readers, and perhaps interest- 

 in"- to all. But in addition to the general repugnance 

 to writing, (which this work has done what we deem 

 its greatest service, in lessening,) thousands of such 

 matters are kept back by those who know them, be- 

 cause, as they would say, if asked to give any such 

 matter to the public, "Oh ! that is quite too trifling to 

 write about." Now, this is a great mistake, which 

 reason alone and common sense ought to prove — but 

 which would be proved beyond dispute to every one 

 who would look over any dozen copies of different ag- 

 ricultural papers. It will be there seen that nearly all 

 the articles copied from other publications are very 

 short — indeed it would seem that with many editors 

 the small size of an article formed its principal recom- 

 mendation for selection and republication. We have 

 observed that most of the very short original articles in 

 the Farmers' Register on particular subjects, are re- 

 published in almost every agricultural paper of the 

 country — while but few that occupy several pages are 

 republished in any: and none that are long, however 

 good, are favored with any thing like the extent of 

 circulation, as many of the shortest, of very moderate 

 claim to merit. Let any of our readers try the ex- 

 periment, by sending us some practical fact or useful 



