TTIE GENESEE FARMER. 



15 



WINTER EVENING NOTES 



FitiKNii llAiuus:— To vvhilo aw;iy a stormy even- 

 iug, 1 will sketcli ii few notes on some of the contents 

 of the December number of the Genesee Farmer. 



TuitKisn Flint Whkat. — The Patent OJjkc Re- 

 port, for IS.");"), says: 'I'his wheut is a heavy fill va- 

 riety, with a drtrkcolored chatt", a Lcavy beard, and 

 long, tiinty, lightrcolored berry, ifce., <.tc. 1 beg to 

 say I received six varieties of winter wheat from the 

 Patent Oilice in the spring of 18;') j; sowed them in 

 the fall. The package labelled "Turkish i'liut 

 V\''heat'' proved to be a white-bearded variety. It 

 most wiiiter-killfed. A package labelled " Pithusian 

 Flint V/heat, from the island ot Ivica," stood the 

 winter very well; short, barley-lookiofj heads, with 

 enormous beard?, from nine to twelve inches long; 

 the chaff and beards as black as the ace of spades. 

 The description in your paper of the Turkish Flint 

 "W'heat is an accurate description of my i'ithusian. 

 There seems to be a mistake somewliere; I am sure 

 I have made none. 



Rats and Mior, K. N. says, "are very abundant 

 and voracious all over Western ^mcw York, and asks, 

 " what will become of ns if they go on increasing 

 another winter." In the years 1850 and 1851 this 

 section of the country was overrun with " rats and 

 mice;" the damage done to fruit and forest trees, 

 by their debarking the.Ti, and the loss in hay and 

 gi'ain, and other farm crops, was immense. So 

 abundant were they in those seasons, that the boys 

 became wearied out in slaying them; and all our 

 cats were surfeited int ) uselessness by a superabun- 

 dance of mouse-meat. A fact! 



The following winter, no injury was done to fruit 

 or other trees, or grass-lauds, nor the next summer, 

 Qor since, have they done any damage to the grass- 

 land, either summer or winter. 



Where such myriads of varments came from, and 

 where they went, none can tell; and what -'besom 

 of destruction" was called into requisition to thus 

 suddenly sweep them from our raidst^ is a mystery 

 that none can solve; all we know about it is, the^ 

 next year they were " non est inventus." 



Large and Small Potatoes. — -Mr. J. H. Ham- 

 ilton gives a sketch of his experience in planting 

 large and small potatoes. The produce of the large 

 potatoes was one-third greater than that of the 

 small seed. He is " inclined to the opinion that 

 large potatoes are preferable for seed." No doubt 

 he is right in his opinion. It is a general law of 

 nature that '-like begets like," though it is well 

 known there are exceptions to all general rules. 



In the Irish Farmers Gazette, 8th November, 

 a Mr. Dixon gives the result of his experiments in 

 planting large and small seed potatoes the past sea- 

 son. The large potatoes selected weighed about 

 half a pound each — planted exactly a yard apart, 

 each way; product, a few pounds short of eight 

 tons per acre. The small seed, either whole or cut 

 in the usual way, yielded seven tons per acre. The 

 sample from the large seed were decidedly the best. 



Sowing Mountain Asn Seed. — My experience 

 in sowing mountain ash seed accords precisely with 

 that of your correspondent, G. 



Two Modes of Planting and Managing Fruit 

 Trees, is drawn to the life. I'v^ seen the very 

 thing on a large scale, more than once. But my 

 neighbor, « Old Max," says "there's as much differ- 



ence in folks as tliere is m anything." This Jact 

 explains the difference between Farmer Slapdash 

 and Farmer Forecast;. 



CniNKsK Suuak Cane.— Col. Peters wrote to me 

 a few days since that he intends to plant about one 

 hundred acres the coming season, for the purpose ol 

 manufacturing syrups. 



Your " Fair Correspondent's " essay on " cutting 

 hay" is a whole volume in a nut-shell. Please send 

 her two books; it will be cheap at that. 



Balsam P'ir Trees." — I have transplanted a great 

 many; usually mine have grown but a few inches 

 the two first years after being removed,',but go-ahead 

 after that. 



IvOcusT Trees from Seed. — To insure germination 

 the seed should be put in a suitable vessel, and near- 

 ly boiling water turned in sufficient to cover the 

 seeds. Let them soak twelve hours; sow about ♦,he 

 time of planting corn, in well-prepared ground, in 

 drills three or four feet apart; by use of the culti- 

 vator and hoe, keep the land light and free from 

 weeds. Levi Bartlett. — Warner, JY. H. Dec. 3 

 185G. 



Mulouing Potatoes with Straw. — Eds. Genesee 

 Farmer. — Having seen the advantages of covering 

 potatoes with straw this season, I deem it of sufh 

 cient importance to jot a few lines to your (or rathci 

 our,) paper on the subject. The ground selected 

 for the purpose was a side-hill facing south, and had 

 been in corn the two previous years, without ma- 

 nure. The ground was plowed on the last dxy of 

 March, as deep ac two horses could well do it, and 

 harrowed twice crosswise. The potatoes were plant 

 ed in drills on the fifth of April, and covered by 

 hand. We then left them until a few tops were visi 

 ble^ when we covered them with straw, to the depth 

 of four or five inches. This was on the 24th o) 

 April. We left them to their fate, not stirring the 

 soil in any manner until digging time, when, on tak 

 ing off the straw, some of the finest potatoes that 

 ever greeted mortal eyes, lay at our feet, on the sur 

 face, requiring very little digging. 



The same piece of land is now in wheat, and ' al- 

 though it was sowed exactly one week later than 

 the other ])ortions of the same field, it has outstrip- 

 ed it in height, and is much more thrifty every way. 

 Any one can see, almost to the inch, where the straw 

 was lain. E.— Cheviot, O., J\'ov. 12, 1856. 



RicnARDsoN ON TUE HoRSE. — In looking ovc'the 

 catalogue of "Books for the Farmers," which you 

 keep for sale, I noticed one which I possess, and, es- 

 teem very highly. It is entitled, " Horses, their Va- 

 rieties, Breeding, &c., by Richardson." He gives the 

 history of the horse as concisely as po.ssible, and 

 treats, at considerable length, of all the varieties, 

 showing the proper sphere of usefulness of the dif- 

 ferent breeds, &c. Also, on the management of the 

 horse in health, how to keep him so, and how to 

 manage him .when health has been impaired, &c. 

 He mentions the course to be pursued in breaking 

 colts, which, if properly followed, would greatly les- 

 sen the number of balky horses. No man, who in- 

 tends to raise, or even to keep horses, should be 

 without something of the kind, and I would recom- 

 mend this book, as it can be sent by mail, postage 

 free, to any part of the country, by forwaiding to 

 you twentj-five cents. D. — Gates, 



