THE GEXESEE FARMER. 



Ad 



appear to imfin^ine we thiuk incoii'^istcnt with the laws 

 of vegetable physiology. However, we hope it will 

 have a fair trial. The cxpcrinients detailed above 

 by onr correspondent were'Jinadc^ on too small a plot 

 cff grouml.to be perfectly satisUctory. Affiicultural 

 journals often contain records of enormous crojis 

 obtained in the way adopted i>y our correspondent 

 in estimating the averagt* pvoHuction of the 

 Chinese Sugjir Uane, but it is well known 

 that uo such crops have been, or can be raised, on 

 an acre. We know a gentleman wiio estimated a crop 

 (rf potatoes on this principle; he found that he hud 

 almost 1,300 bushels per acre, and yet on digging the 

 whole he obtained onli' 230 bushels per acre. One 

 of our correspondents, some years ago raised an enor- 

 mous crop of turnips, as follows : The rows were 

 two feet apart, and the turnips on^^ foot apart in the 

 rows. " This gives," said he. " 21,780 turnips on an 

 acre. The turnips weighed 10 fts. each, which makes 

 about 109 tons per acre." The absurdity of such 

 a method of estimating a crop is apparent to all, and 

 yet whenever a new thing comes up, it is frequently 

 adopted. The last Patent OiTn-e Report contains an 

 account of an enormous yield of green corn estimated 

 from the weight of two or three of the hills. The 

 product of Dwarf Pear trees is sometimes estimated 

 in the same way, and the enthusiastic cultivator being 

 "afraid to look the figures in the face," reduces them 

 one-half, to meet all contingencies, and then finds that 

 the trees will yield over a thousand dollars per acre 

 annually. — Ens. 



DOCKING HORSES A EARBAECUS PRACTICE. 



Messrs. Editors : — T was considerably amused, 

 and not a little gratified, to see t!ie " Petition of the 

 Horses," in the November 'number of the Farmer. 

 The evils against horse flesh that are there enume- 

 rated are sufficiently plectiful, one would think, to 

 complete the whole category. But there is one ill 

 which horse Mesh is heir to, that has not been men- 

 tioned ; I mean cutting off ihe tails of horses. 

 Whoever first introduced this barbarous practice 

 deserves to have a monument of braided horse tails 

 erected to his memory, and a leather medal struck 

 o'ff for every one of his numerous imitators. I have 

 heard it said that the more ridiculous a custom 

 was, the more followers it would find ; and in this 

 instance have come to the conclusion that it is about 

 so. Few, Row-a-davs, esi>eciai!y those who are 

 good judges of horses, like to see a bob-tailed 

 horse ; yet, there are those who pretend to be 

 great horse fanciers, (and I am sorry to say they 

 are by far the greater portion of the community,) 

 who seem to think that a horse is not thoroughly 

 " got up," until his tail is off. 



Sometime ago I was with an acquintancc of min<?, 

 when a friend from the country drove up to the side 

 of the road with a young horse, which had evidently 

 seen but little service. The asiimal was a bright 

 bay and had a long tail and mane, and to my mind 

 was about as fine a looking horse as I had seen for 

 many a day. Ah ! observed my acquaintance, who 

 was one of the "fast" horse fanciers, what a pity that 

 animal has not his tail cut off ; what a remarkably 

 fine horse he would be. 



This, I regret to say, appears to be the opinion of 

 qine tenths of the owners of horse flesh, — and as a 

 matter of course, the tails are taken olE But, aside 



from the looks, is it right to cut off the tails of 

 horses? 1 say, emphatically, no! In the first place, 

 they would never have been put there if thoy >vorc 

 useless appendages, and whotlta.t has the least spark 

 of humanity in his composition, when he sees a horse 

 worried by gnats and flies until he is almost frantic, 

 docs not inwardly curse the man who first brought 

 into practice tliis barbarous fashion ? But thero ia 

 one more argument, and not the least important, 

 against this practice. Cutting off the tails of horges 

 weakens their strength. This is a well known fact, 

 and for this reason, if for no other, the cuatom 

 should be stopped. 



Sometime ago, I read an account of an English 

 gentleman who had a splendid liunt<jr, "AVhi.di," the 

 gentleman remarks, "could carry mo with case over 

 a five barred gate." The horse not carrying his tail 

 to suit his owner, he had it taken off, and the conse- 

 quence was, that it utterly ruined him so far a.^ hunt- 

 ing was concerned ; for he could never after leap the 

 smallest fence. 



About fifty years ago, it was customary in Eng- 

 land to cut off the horses/ tails to within two or 

 three inches of the roots ; but in our time no one 

 would argue in favor of such close dockiig-*- 

 This perhaps is owing to our advance in humanity ; 

 and who knows but that some genius may yet as- 

 tound the world by a learned and scientific treatise 

 on the progress of civilization as illustrated by the 

 comparative length of horses' tails. Let us hope, 

 however, that we, as a liberal and enlightened nation, 

 casting aside all " old fogy" notions, will at onee 

 cease, and by our example decry, iiuch a useks.^ and 

 cruel custom, and that the time is not many yc a"3 

 distant, when a " bob tailed horse" will be as great 

 a novelty as a long tailed one is at jDreseut. F 

 A. G. — Rochester, Dec 18, '56. 



ON RAISING OKIOHS. 



Large, and superior, onions may be raised by the 

 following process. Let the farmer take his corn cobs 

 after the threshing, and throw them into some bye 

 corner, to rot. After they have become thoroughly 

 rotted, haul them on to the place designed for onion?, 

 and let them be thoroughly mixed with the soil. Or 

 they may be thrown into a cauldron and burned, and 

 the ashes scattered on as aforesaid. Then take and 

 mark rows eighteen inches apart, running north and 

 south, to admit the sun, and the free use of the hoe. 

 Papers of seed purchased at the store, labelled lai'ge 

 red onions, are the right kind to sow. The seed 

 should be buried one-half or three-fourths of an inch 

 deep, and the soil be well pressed down upon them. 

 The best time to sow is from the 15 th to the 30 th of 

 April. A top dressing of ashes after the seed has 

 come up, is of especial benefit. The soil may after- 

 wards be kept rich by applications of compositiQn 

 from the stable, henroost, hog pens, &q. 



The writer, by this process, has raised onions weigh- 

 ing from 16 to 18 ounces, for the two last years, and 

 received premiums at our Town Fairs therefore; and, 

 I might add, they were far suj)ei'ior in size to any that 

 were shown, and excited the admiration of the spec- 

 tators. R. Francis, Virgil, JV. Y. 



Would not, the crop of onions be just as good 

 without the corn cobs or the ashes of corn cobs?-i- 

 -^Eds. 



