274 



TEE GEWESEE FAPJIEE. 



past get ufi no It^etter essmple. SeiTjember tbe im- 

 ffiieBse grairtg to the origfnal proprietors, the great ! 

 pstron fights of 'Ne\f York, «.l'c. ,' and if tiie children ! 

 are arjy copy of tbehr tatbers> osr prairies TfOuld de- ' 

 Kand in Jfew York sach notice and anxiety for pos- 1 

 jPSBJoa as ibeir grave] biJls seTsr receiyert. We will [ 

 bstter these patent faults as we grow older. [ 



ilopJBg ttat icair? of jonr, readers will visit, for j 

 themselves, oui- g-xeat yalley, S will brfog tMs article j 

 to a close. C F. 



Wdshmgi'on, Iowa. 



TSEHIPS AMONG C0E2?-B-aTTEE FEOM PEAIEIE 

 'BiBAm-TfRAllSmQ, &«!. 



Edttof.s Gekssee FARJum : — " S. W." of Water- 

 loo, N. Y., in tiae Angijst nnmber of tbe Farmer, 

 vmlses some statements ob Trbich I will take tbe lib- 

 erty to make a few conjEseata. From sowing taraips 

 .•jmong com, if he plasts his coin at the dxtaaee of 

 tbiee and a half feet, he should not expect a good 

 crop for farajly use, bat he may rely upon improving 

 ibe land by it for the next crop, even if he keeps 

 ?heep eaough to eat of all the taroips after the corn 

 33 garnered. 



In our dry climate we raise tamips which keep 

 good in otjr cellars till the middle of May to the first 

 of Jnne sweet and sound. For late keeping they 

 should he sown late; even as late as tbe last of Au- 

 gust one will often get a crop of tnrnips v/hich are 

 tender, and keep weH till the German May turnip is 

 .grown lit for use the next year. We sow usually 

 here fer a field crop from the 20th July to the mid- 

 dle of August It is a crop that every farmer should 

 hare. 



"S. W." says: "But the butter from prairie grass 

 IS white and aronialess, and in stinted supply at that." 

 J have heard that same story for twelve years past, and 

 believe it much less now than when I first heard 

 it. It is always the case that when poor butter is 

 brought to market, the fact of its being poor is at- 

 tributed to the pasture. But is it not a fact that 

 natural pastures produce the best butter and cheese ? 

 I believe this is so from all I have noticed about 

 the matter, and I have lived in a prairie region for 

 the past twelve years. 



Those who make good butter in this region (and 

 Borae of us Hosiers So make good butter) never com- 

 plain of our natural pastures; but here, let me re- 

 mark, that we have it in great abundance. Our cat- 

 tle are not confined to one particular locality, but 

 have the range and choice of the numberless varie- 

 ties of herbage which grow in such profusion in this 

 part of Hosierdom. How is it they seed meadow 

 and pasture in the dairy districts of England ? not 

 as of old with only one sort of grass. Men know 

 that stock will not thrive on timothy, clover, blue 

 grass, red top, or any single sort of grass, no matter how 

 much grain they may have. That variety is the spice 

 of life, and a change of pasture makes fat calves, is 

 true now, and ever has been; and applies as well to 

 quadrupeds as to bipeds. 



We have here no draining tile, but as a substitute 

 use rails, and split boards and brush. Thus— first 

 we dig our ditch deep — not less than four fefit; two 

 feet wide at top and bottom; lay rails of most dura- 

 ble timber in the bottom, one on each side— having 

 ready split boards from twenty to twenty-four inches 

 long; cover the rails, laying the boards across; then 



throw JD- a little 3t?aw or prairie bay. Over this put 

 m your brifflh, tramping dowa close. Cover all with 

 thfi soda wjth the grass side dowr^, and your ditch 

 is complete and vCTy dir-rablfi — mufh more so than 

 some tile drains I have- heard of. Tbe brush is not 

 mcessary, but adda to effectivensss. 



Ditches must be deep, and should run directly t© 

 the gpriag. I have a piece of prairie that was ditch- 

 etl twelvs years ago, but always remained boggy, s© 

 that at its highest part a rail could be thrust down ten 

 feet. I dr?g this spring a diteh four feet deep, run- 

 ning directly io the highest and boggiest part of the 

 prairie; the resuli' is that I have a fine spring of 

 watsr at the outlet, ajQd a piece of pyairie Iq fine order 

 for any sort of graia. 



I find I am cossiderabJy off the track I started OB, 

 but will return by asking " S. W." if he means thai 

 his cows eat tomatoes. 0, Bkaceet^. 



Rwheaier, Fultcm Co., Ind, 



ADTANTAGES OS FORETHOUGHT IN FAEMmO. 



Mess5rs. Epitors: — lljere is no pursuit in whicli 

 our countrymen are engaged, wherein such great aix3 

 lasting advantages may be attained by a rigid adhe- 

 rence to the proposition that forethought is the all- 

 important lever in successful farming; while a neglect 

 or absence of thinking hefcrehcmd, is as sure to lead 

 to disastrous consequences as that when the " blind 

 lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch.'* 



I would not DOW say that it is a settled questios 

 that the agricultural community, as a body, has 

 been injured more than benefited by the attempts at 

 enlightenment by the great mass of scribblers who 

 have no practical knowledge of the subjects on which 

 they write, and hence have only tended to mislead 

 the farmer, discourage the young beginner, and en- 

 courage a resort to experiments by the credulous, 

 without ihovght or reason, simply because some flip- 

 pant writer, whose sole consequence is in the use of 

 his pen, has caused to be spread out in pi-int the re- 

 sult of an experiment based upon a dozen hills of 

 corn or potatoes, which, if carried out according to 

 his little pet theory, would give three hundred bush- 

 els of corn, and twelve hundred bushels of potatoes, 

 to the acre But that it has been seriously injured, 

 there is no doubt; the extent is not now necessarily 

 in question. 



One moment's reflection is sufficient to convince 

 any reasonable man, that the successful attainment of 

 an object in which are so many details, and such a 

 combination of arrangement, good judgment, coupled 

 with a nice discrimination, is not only essential, but 

 actually necessary, and consequently requires a per- 

 petual fore-tliinlung. 



Agriculture may properly be termed the king of 

 all sciences and purs^tils, as upon it our individual 

 as well as national prosperity mostly depends. And 

 a? there is no royal road by which any one can at- 

 tain position and eminence in any science without 

 mental labor, and well-directed eflbrt, all must labor 

 for the prize, if they hope to win. 



Besides, the soil and climate of our country is so 

 various — so wonderfully diversified — that no general 

 chart can be followed with success, and hence nearly 

 every farmer must, in a great measure, rely upon hia 

 own judgment, and carefully study all the surround- 

 ing circumstances of his case. 



A proper selection of the field to be cultivated, 



