THE GEXESEE FARMER/ 



43 



soil, and the farmera have found it cheaper to culti- 

 vate other crops than attempt to compete with west- 

 ern c:rowers in the production of wheat. The rava- 

 ges oftlie Hessian fly, it is true, and the impoverish- 

 ment (not exlxtustion) of the soil have also helped to 

 bring about this result, but the case is ditferent with 

 us. Our soil and climate arc exceedingly favorable 

 for the production of wheat. There is no better 

 wheat soil in the worM, and but very little in tlds or 

 any other country that is as good. -In fact the soil 

 which is naturally adapted to wheat is comparatively 

 limited on this continent. 'I'his fact is an additional 

 reason why the farmers of Western Xew York should 

 not abandon wheat culture without an earnest effort 

 to discover some method of counteractinj^ or at least 

 mitigating the ravages of the midge. If the " Gene- 

 see country " will not produce wheat, where shall we 

 look for the " stuff of life?" 



While nearly a!l the soil of Western New York is 

 well adapted to wheat culture, there are on every farm 

 some fields that are more suitable for wheat than oth- 

 ers. Vv'e must confine the cultivation of wheat to 

 such land. Let the portion of the farm less favora- 

 ble to wheat be cultivated with those crops which, 

 when consumed on the farm, furnish the most valua- 

 ble manure. Let this be used to enrich the soil for 

 wheat. (How this can best be done we leave for fu- 

 ture consideration.) In short, sow early varieties of 

 wheat on the best portions of the farm, underdrain, 

 adopt a judicious system of manuring, and our word 

 for it, wheat culture will not have to be abandoned 

 in Western New Fork. 



ITEMS SUGGESTED BY THE JAKUAEY NUMBEE. 



Christmas day brought me the Farmer for Janu- 

 ary, so I had a foretaste of the New Year, and some 

 thing to set me to thinking on my favorite topics — 

 practical and scientific agriculture. The volume opens 

 ■with an excellent editorial on 



Barx- Yard Manure. — An examination, to a con- 

 siderable extent, of wiiat is known — practical and 

 scientific — on this subject, has led me to the conclu- 

 "sion that the dung of animals possesses its greatest 

 manurial value when green, or before decomposition 

 takes place. If the straw and corn stalks fed out 

 and used as litter, were first passed through a cutter, 

 the manure would be perfectly fitted at once for plow- 

 ing under the soil — so far as its capacity to increase 

 the elements of fertility therein is concerned. As we 

 cannot, however, apply wmter-made manure imme- 

 diately, and as the coarse straw, &c., usually mixed 

 with it renders its handling and covering very incon- 

 venient, we must study the best means to prevent loss, 

 and to fit it for use when the season for its applica- 

 tion arrives. Your system is worthy of the adoption 

 of farmers, and it is one which I attempt to carry 

 out as far as my circumstances and farm buildings will 

 allow. Such a wheel-barrow as you describe is in 

 frequent use for mixing manures — for placing as great 

 a portion as is convenient under the sheds which 

 shelter the stock. 



Profits of Sheep. — Taking the estimate of Mr. 

 Gore, ia the adjoining column, of the expense of keep- 

 ing sheep, the profit of Mr. Smith's flock is about $40. 

 The rise in the market price of sheep has much more 

 to do with it than anything made from wool growing; 

 though the latter seems coming up into the neighbor- 

 hood of other farm products. It may well do so. 



Rats Axn Mice. — We have heard it remarked that 

 these "pests of the farm" were generaUy more abun- 

 dant after a snowy and steady winter, like the last, 

 and disappeared as rapidly as they came. We are glad 

 to see this confirmed by Mr. Bartlett's experience. 



Shade as a Manure. — Your (Cheviot correspon- 

 dent brings forward a fact in regard to nmlcliing po- 

 tatoes, and the after wheat crop, which would be tske 

 ken as a comfirmation of the value of shade as a ma- 

 nure. It is a fact that covering the ground closely 

 causes a change in its character and some experiments 

 show that it is produced by the rising of mineral 

 matters of a fertilizing nature from the subsoil. 

 When moisture comes up by capillary attraction to 

 the surface from any cause, it generally brings with 

 it something beneficial to the soil. 



Fall and Sprixg Pi.owixg. — It seems to me that 

 the manner of plowing had more to do with the re- 

 sult than the time, in the case stated by your corres- 

 pondent, S. W. The depth of the soil prevented the 

 full effect of the drouth, and had Aelerman's field 

 been plowed deeper, and with narrower furrows, the 

 sward would have rotted more rapidly. Still, fall 

 plowing had some effect, and I am glad to see that 

 Wright proposes to apply another test to the question. 



Beets for Milch (Jows — Though my crop of 

 sugar beets, this year, is hardly worth what it cost 

 me, yet I find them of high value for milch cows. 

 That they are worth more for milk than potatoes, I 

 have little doubt, for the increase in milk from feed- 

 ing raw potatoes, seems always at the expense of its 

 quality. S. W. says that " experiment- proves that 

 in their raw state, beets develope in the process of 

 digestion, their full nutritive value." I cut mine, add 

 warm water and salt, and mix in buckwheat bran, 

 giving about six quarts a day to one of my milch 

 cows. The result is very sj;tisfactory, though an 

 aunt of mine, a notable butter maker, used to say 

 that one beet, boiled, would make as much milk as 

 three fed raw. 



Beaxs for Stock. — In your remarks upon beans 

 as a fallow crop, you say that to obtain the full ben- 

 efit of it, they should be fed out on the farm. In this 

 country very little use is made of beans for stock — 

 indeed, I do not know that anything except sheep 

 Vt'ill eat them raw. I am feeding bean straw to my 

 sheep— they eat it very readily; and in the fall, when 

 boiling apples, potatoes, etc., for my hogs, I put in a 

 quantity of refuse beans — the screenings, of the crop 

 — which were not refused by these animals. Would 

 it be profitable to feed beans to sheep at $1.25 per 

 bushel, the present market price? 



Sprixg-halt in ITorses. — This disease, about which 

 J. K. inquires, is little understood by farriers, but ig 

 supposed to be a partial paralysis of the nerves lead- 

 ing from the I'mb to the brain, which is the cauie t»f 

 the peculiar involuntary motion observed. The fol- 

 lowing remedy is simple, and has been used with suc- 

 cess: Rub neat's-foot oil over the cord on the inside 

 of the gambrel, making frequent and thorough appli- 

 cations. In warm weather it is said that it will gen- 

 erally effect a cure, and at any time afford great relief. 



Patent Office Report for 1855. — There ig a 

 steady improvement in the arrangement and getting 

 up of this document, and the volume for 1855, gent 

 us by Hon. H. Fish, is the best yet issued. Browxe 

 is doing a good work in the Agii cultural Bureau, a« 

 men who are interested in their labor always can and 

 will. B. — Niagara Co, A*. Y. 



