THE GENESEE FARMEK. 



US' 



]>i:ANa IN lIiLis ou Diur.LS. — One of our correspon- 

 dents residing- at Asliton, Wis., gives us the result of an 

 CTpeiiment ia iilanting beans in hills or in drills. The 

 rows in both cases were three fset apart. The hills being 

 two feet apart in the rows in the one case, and in the 

 other the beans were scattered along the row " nearly as 

 thick as peas." The result was that those jilanted in hills 

 required much more labor to keep them clean, and the jield 

 was onl}' eighteen pushels per acre, while those planted 

 in diills yielded thirty-six bushels per acre. 



He finds it best not to plow the land till just before 

 planting, say the first of June, as the land turns up loose 

 mid mellow and the beans get the start of the weeds. 



Male ok Fkmale Progent at will. — 1 have noticed. 

 a number of articles on this question in the agricultural 

 papers, and will give my experience, which 1 think will bo 

 a " settler" on this point. My practice is to put the bull 

 to the cows after milking. Last season I had from five 

 cows five male calves, but old " Spec" got in -with the bull 

 late in the afternoon, before milking time, and she produced 

 IX pair of bulls. W. L. B. 



lirando7i, Vt. 



Tke Principles of Agricultdre Universally Ar- 

 rciCABLE. — Most of our farmers have an idea that the 

 matter contained in an agricultural magazine published in 

 Western New York is not api)licable to prairie farming ; 

 but my experience is that good farming in the State of 

 New York is good farming in Illinois or New Hamp- 

 shire, and vice versa. With some allowance for soil, cli- 

 mate, and a hundred other things which the experience 

 and judgment of every good farmer (in every location) will 

 make, I am certain that our Northern Illinois farmers will 

 lose nothing, and gain much, by having the experience and 

 experiments of the able, scientific agriculturists and horti- 

 culturists of Western New York. Horace Starke y. 



Spring W'iieat In Kentucky. — Mr. B. Decker, of 



California, Ky., sends us his method of cultivating spring 



wheat. Take a three or four year old blue grass or clover 



seed, break it up eight or ten inches deep the last week of 



August or first of September, and let it lie all winter. — 



Tlie following March give another thorough plowing, 



turning the sod up again. Then harrow well, and about 



the middle or last of March sow from six to seven pecks 



of wheat per acre, and harrow crosswise or both ways. — 



The yield is usually from eighteen to twenty-four bushels 



per acre. ' 

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■ Spring Wheat. — An esteemed correspondent at 

 Springliill, Bradford Co., Pa., writes that spring wheat is 

 frequently sown too early in that section — the ground is 

 plowed when too v.-et, and the consequence is that at har- 

 vest it is difBcult to tell whether it was intended to sow 

 wheat OT timothy grass. In ISoi there was an unusual 

 snow storm about the middle of April, and in consequence 

 o*ir correspondent did not sov/ his wheat till the Gtli of 

 May. This was considered entirely too late ; but at har- 

 vest it was admitted by all to be one of the finest lots of 

 spring wheat they had ever seen. 



The liuRAL Annual should be in the hands of all 

 about to commence gardening operations. It contains 

 just the information they need, and more of it tlian many 

 dollar books. Sent postage paid to any address, on the re- 

 ceipt of 25 cents in postage stamps. Bound in cloth 50 

 cents. Address Joseph Harris, Rochester. N. Y. 



To Kill Lice on Anything. — Take half a cents 

 worth of Scotch snuff for each animal, dry it thoroughly 

 and rub it into the hair the whole length of the back and 

 both sides of the neck, just forward of the shoulders ; re- 

 peat in eight or ten days, and the work is done. 



Brandon, Vt. 



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The wheat crop in this section does not look as promis- 

 ing as it did when the snow passed off in February. There 

 are some complaints of winter-kill, yet as a general thing 

 the prospect of a fair crop is favorable. Mucli less breadth 

 of land, however, has been sown to wheat than usual in 



Western New York. 



»«-► 



Black Beans. — Mr. D. Van Horn, of Bennettsvile, 



Chenango Co., N. Y., sends us a sample of Black beans, 



which he obtained nineteen years ago in Sullivan Co., N. 



Y. He has cultivated them ever since, as well as many 



other varieties, but he thinks the Black the best string 



bean he has ever seen. We will give them a trial. 



Keep the Milk Roosi Sweet. — La-st fall, when tli« 



fruit was gathered, a quantity was placed in the milk 



room, and soon a change in the flavor was perceptible. 



Upon removing the fruit, no more of the unpleasant flavor 



was observed, showing conclusively its effect upon the 



butter. E. A. T. 

 ♦♦.. 



Fall Plowing for Barley. — Mr. Andrew Wilson, 



of Prescott, C. W., informs us that he has made several 



experiments in regard to sowing barley on land plowed in 



the fall or in the spring, and in all cases the fall ploined 



land gave the heaviest and best crops. 



Soaking Barley in Nitbe Water. — Our esteemed 

 •orrespondent, Mr. IIichard Francis, of South Cort- 

 laaid, N. Y., says he once soaked some seed barley in wa- 

 tar containing saltpetre, and " Avas surprised at the ' in- 

 ereftsed langth of the head, some having betv/^ecn p.inety 

 and a hundred kernels in them." It was the six-rowed 

 kind. Soak about twenty-four hours. . 

 ►•-» 



Sub.tects tou Prize Essaysj. — We intend to continue 

 our offer of premiums for short essays, and shall feel i 

 obliged if our readers would suggest subjects. ' 



The quantity of water requisite to cause germination 

 in some seeds is very great. Decandolle found that a 

 French bean, weighing 544 milligrammes absorbed 736 

 milligrammes of water. 



The promise of an early spring has proved delusivB. 

 We are now (April 21) enjoying (?) a heavy snow storiii 

 which will delay fp.rmirg and gardening operations for 

 some time, even under the most favorable circumstances. 



Choice Flower and Vegetable Skedb by Mail. — 

 See advertisement on last p»ge. 



♦e'« 



A NUMBER of Book Notices, as well as much other 

 matter, are necessarily omitted this month. 



