e^ 



^ 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Ciiitni-'s Ciililt. 



Ouu friends who arc laboring to increase our 

 circulation, in all parts of tlie country, are placing 

 iH under great obligation, which we shall endeavor 

 to repay in part by sparing neither money nor 

 labor to make our journal meet their most san- 

 guine expectations. Additions can be made to 

 clubs at any time, at the lowest club price. 

 Those who have forwarded clubs of five can in- 

 crease to eight by forwai'diug $1. The Post Office 

 law does not allow us to send receipts ; and those 

 who receive the paper, unless we write them on 

 the subject, may consider it as such. 



Answers to Ixquieies. — We endeavor to answer 

 inquiries so as to be understood by all. To do 

 this we have to occupy considerable space. Those 

 who have made inquiries and received no answers, 

 must exercise patience, as all shall receive atten- 

 tion soon. During the winter season farmers have 

 leisure to write, and we are pleased that they em- 

 brace the opportunity. We often, at this season, 

 receive enough matter in a day to fill a number of 

 our journal. All shall have a hearing in due time. 



Ladies' Department. — Although we have given 

 no pages under this heading, Mr. Barry has occu- 

 pied the room with descriptions of flowers, <5rc., 

 that we know will be acceptable to our female 

 readers. All who have applied for seed shall be 

 furnished in season for spring planting. We in- 

 tend to commence descriptions of the best annuals, 



in our next. 



t 



PouLTET Profits. — Edw. Dnnncic, of Plea'^ant 

 Mount, Pa., gives liis poultry account, for the past 

 year, as follows: 



Kept fifteen hens and one cock, fi-om which we 

 received 



IflO dozen eggs, at 13 cents, $13 00 



9T cliicKen.< at IS cents, 11 70 — 24 TO 



Costoffeed, 10 00 



Profit, $14 TO 



Large Hog. — ^D. Edwards, of Little Genesee, 

 N. Y., writes, Nov. 11: "We yesterday killed a 

 hog twenty-seven months old, connected with the 

 Leicester family, that weighed 800 lbs. He has 

 had none but common keeping until this summer. 

 We have given him his feed in a sour state, and 

 fed but three times a day." 



We suppose our western friends can beat this, 

 -but as we don't pretend to compete with them in 

 the pork line, they must let ua boast a little 

 *i V among ourselves. 



Planting Potatoes in the Fall. — C. D. Hart, 

 of McLean, N. Y., suggests the idea of planting 

 potatoes in the fall. He states that 0. Wing, of 

 Cortland county, has pursued this course, and the 

 yield is much better than with those planted in 

 the spring. 



Trying Lard. — "A Farmer's Wife," of Mount 

 Morris, K Y., wishes us to state, for the benefit 

 of other farmers' wives, that a table-spoonful of 

 salaii-atus to a pailful of lard, put in soon after 

 it begins to heat, much improves the quality, 

 rendering it a pure white. A little more atten- 

 tion than usual is necessary to prevent its burning. 



Inquiries a\\if 'jinswtrs. 



Coal Ashes and Saw-dust as Manure. — A gen- 

 tleman of Henry county, Ky., wishes to know the 

 value of saw-dust as manure, and the best means 

 of hastening its decomposition ; and E. Appleton, 

 of Pittiburgh, and others, inquire ao to the value 

 of coal ashes. 



Saw-dust contains from four to ten pounds of 

 nitrogen per ton. Tliis would indicate that its 

 manuring value was a little higher than wheat 

 straw, but it is much more difficult to decompose 

 and render fit for assimilation by the plant. If 

 plowed in in its natural state, it would do good, 

 but not to that extent the above account of its 

 composition would lead us to think, owing to its 

 insolubility and difficulty of decomposition. A 

 pound of nitrogen can not be bought in guano or 

 sulphate of ammonia for less than twelve cents per 

 pound; so that saw-dust, compared with these 

 manures, would be worth on an average eighty- 

 four cents per ton. We think it could be profit- 

 ably used as an absorbent of liquid manure, by 

 being placed at the bottom of the barn-yard, or in 

 some place where this liquid runs; it would thus 

 imbibe the water, and a decomposition would take 

 place, and at the end of a year or so you would 

 have a most valuable manure, inasmuch as this 

 liquid which in so many instances is allowed to 

 run away and be lost, is by far the most valuable 

 portion of the manure, containing all of the alka- 

 line phosphates and a greater part of the ammonia; 

 these would unite with the saw-dust and not only 

 be exceedingly valuable themselves, but convert 

 the saw-dust itself into a good manure. We hope 

 our friend will try one or both of these plans, and 

 give us the results. Chemistry, to be of much 



g?;: 



(Si 



rd 



