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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



AlfOTHES "CHAPTER FEOM EXPERIENCE." 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: — In the December number 

 you published my account of "Two Crops and how 

 they Paid," one of them a barley crop. 1 then stated 

 that other fields had done far better, and others still, 

 far worse. As a specimen of the former, I send you 

 a statement of the culture and product oi five acres 

 of barley, sown like the other, after corn, but earlier, 

 and on land in better heart. The previous crop of 

 corn reached fifty bushels per acre, and was planted 

 after an application of seventy-five loads of burn- 

 yard manore. For barley, we finished plowinj;^ the 

 29th of April, sowin;^ and harrov.'ing in on the 30th. 

 Harvested the mid lie of July — the product twenty 

 bushels per acre. The account stands as follows: 



Dr. Plowing and h.irrowiBp. $2 per day, ,- .S8,00 



Seed, 12,^i 'uushels, $1,25, ,.16.63 



Sowing and harrowing in, ^.. 4.37 



Harvesting, 9,00 



Threshing and marketing, 7,00 



Interest on land, $50 per acre, 17,50 — $61,00 



Or. 100 bushels of barley, sold at $1,25, §125,C0 



Profit of the crop, $0-1,00 



This crop of barley, instead of costing ^1,60 per 

 bushel, cost only 61 cents. It was sold at $1,25, the 

 last of August; the other crop is still on hand, and is 

 estimated in the statement at $1,13 per bushel. The 

 seed sown cost one shilling per bush'"', more than this 

 — having been secured later in the season. One ma- 

 terial reason why the product of the crop formerly 

 reported was less, was its ten days later sowing, leav- 

 ing it exposed to gi-eater injury from the drouth — an- 

 other was the less favorable soil, both in character 

 and fertility. Here the stronger soil prevented the 

 effects of dry weather in a considerable degree — com- 

 bined with the greater strength of the plant from 

 earlier sowing. 



Barley is now our most profitable crop, and farmers 

 •who have land suited to its production will do well 

 to engage in its culture. Give it early sowing, a rich 

 sandy loam, and thorough preparation, and in favor- 

 able seasons it will pay 200 per cent profit. I have 

 known several crops to do better than that, in this 

 neighborhood. Sown late, on a poor soil, it yields 

 poorly, and should the season prove unfavorable, en- 

 tails loss upon the farmer. Of its effect upon the 

 character and productiveness of your farms we have 

 yet to learn; I think, however, in a judicious rotation, 

 it will do them no injury. Succeeding best after well 

 manured corn, it will incite farmers to better care of 

 that crop, to the increase of manure by means of 

 stock feeding, and the gathering of neglected fertil- 

 zers. A Young Farmer. 



PEODUCTIVENESS OF HEADLANDS. 



Messrs. Editors: — "The best swath is always 

 next the fence," said an old man some ten years ago, 

 about the time I commenced farming for myself — 

 And as 1 sat reading the remarks of B, Niagara, on 

 " Dead Furrows and Headlands," in the January No. 

 for 18.57, — (by the way, a splendid sheet, a whole 

 book of itself, and worth the price of a year's sub- 

 scription.) I was forcibly struck with the remark, and 

 must state that I have often noticed what "B" speaks 

 oC arid as often noticed a still greater difference where 

 • the headlands were left loose and mellow. I must, 

 therefore, attribute it to some other cause than 



tramping,—- else why not tramp the whole field? I 

 admit, that aorne kinds of grain need a more com- 

 pact soil than others. 



As there is a perceptible difference in the gratb. 

 grown, on the headlands, and other parts of the field, 

 it becomes us as farmers to know why this diilerenjce 

 exists. 



The reason I shall attempt to give, may be entirely 

 wrong, and if so, I should be pleased if my brother 

 farmers would set me ri^ht. 



The difference is attrii)utable to the droppings of 

 the farm stock, as they gather near tha fence for pro- 

 tection, against the driving storm, or the scorching 

 rays of a noonday-sun; to the decaying fence; to the 

 )nice, ground-squirrels, woodehucks, &c., that burrow 

 there, committing depridations upon the standing 

 grain ; to the gra.--3 suffered to rot in the corners of 

 the fence; to the leaves of the trees and loose straws 

 that are carried by the win ', and deposited there; ft> 

 the snow bank that melts away and leaves a rich sed- 

 iment of pulveriz'id earth: to the rain and to the sun 

 as its rays are re.'iected from the fence; to the careless 

 farmer who suffers his ground to be heaped in this 

 particular spot, to the detriment of the rest of the 

 field ; to the plow boy that invariably stops his 

 team there, for a drink, or to have a chat with the 

 boy in the nest field. These and many other things, 

 too numerous to mention, contribute their mite to the 

 enrichment of the headland. — J. C Adams, Sey- 

 mour, JV. Y, 



DISEASE IN THE FEET OF CATTLE 



Editors Gexesee Farmer. — Perhaps you are 

 aware there is a complaint among cattle occasionaltyi 

 in this part of the world, and it may be in many others. 

 I have heard of it in Canada. I do not know the 

 correct name. It is not the hoof ail although it 

 attacks the hind feet of cattle, and, if not arrested, 

 the limb will rot off, up to the second joint of the 

 leg, and the animal must be killed, or it will dio— 

 after it has proceeded so far as to be incurable the 

 only way is to knock in the head. 



I write this to inf(>rm your numerous readers of a 

 cure we have here, althout;h, perhaps, the remedy is 

 generally known. It is to cut off the toes of the 

 hind foot (in which only it appears,) about an inch 

 horizontal, so as to open the foot sufficiently there for 

 the blood to come oat; then put the foot in a stock- 

 ing with plenty of tar at the toe. If taken in time> 

 this will effect a cure. It must be done early, how- 

 ever, when the animal first shows symptoms of the 

 complaint, by a frequent and slight kicking out of the 

 hind foot, as if prickeil with something. 



I have heard the cause attributed to poisonous hay 

 such as smut. Do you, or any of your correspond- 

 ents know anything about it ? If so, let us have 

 your, or their, experience. Chilton Ford. 



Morristown, St. Law. Co., N. T. 



The Sheep Rack, figured in the November num- 

 ber, pleases me very much on trial. There is no 

 waste from their treading the fodder into the mud 

 and snow — they eat all clean before them. I would 

 not be without them for twice their cost. I was told 

 that the sheep would fill their necks with chaff ineat- 

 ing out of a rack — but the small depth of mine pre- 

 vents this, as they cannot pull out hay without 

 " standing from under " the rack. B. H. J. 



