214 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 



rate cow — if I undei-etand them. She gave as much milk last May and June, after having been 



milked eight months, as my fresh cows (say 5 gals, per day) that were making their 10 lbs. a week. 



She continued to give milk forty-four weeks in the year, although the pasture the latter part of the 



season was very poor — and she had nothing else. Isaiah Michkner. — Buckingham, Bucks Co., Pa. 



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LTxLEACiiED Ashes on Potatoes. — R Hammond, of Schoharie Co., N. Y., stated in the April number 



of the Farmer that when unleached ashes were applied to potatoes, at the time of planting, ''wherever 



the ashes and the hcber came in contact there was rottenness in every instance." Unleached ashes will 



destroy any vegetable with which it comes in contact, and indeed almost any animal substance, and 



should never be applied directly to plants, or to the roots of trees, or so as to come in contact with 



the bark, unless in very small quantities. After the potash is abstracted by leaching, they arc perfectly 



innocent and can be applied in almost any quantities. I have spread unleached ashes on the ground 



before plowing, and used them as a top-dressing before hoeing, and always believed myself well paid 



by an increased crop ; though I am not able to say that so far as the rot is concerned, any effect was 



apparent. I have been long convinced that no crop destroys potash like potatoes. Some years ago, 



before I had engaged in farming, I purchased, near the city, half an acre of ground and planted it 



with peach trees. It was new land, potatoes having been raised on it only one year, and the crop 



stated to be 125 bushels. Thinking that potatoes would be the best crop for the trees, I planted them 



four years in succession. Tlie first year I had 70 bush., good ; the next year about 35 bush., and 



rather small ; the next year I offered them to any one who would dig them, and failing in this they 



were never dug ; the next year I put on about twenty -five loads of ashes, and the yield was eighty 



bushels. J. ^.—Brighton, N. Y. 



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Pate.vt Galvanized Ikon. — I have noticed of late numerous recommendations of " Patent Gal- 

 vanized Iron" as an article of great importance to farmers, mechanics, builders, &c., <&c It is 

 particularly recommended for Roofing, Wire Fencing, Telegraph Wire, Lightning Rods, Sheathing for 

 Vessels, &c., and it is urged that it is a cheap and durable material for these and divers other pur- 

 poses. With tlie limited knowledge which people generally possess of this article, there is great 

 liability to be deceived by it, and I doubt not that the high expectations which may bo formed of its 

 value, for many of the purposes for which it is recommended, will be disappointed and much money 

 will be uselessly expended upon it. 



For wire fencing, it is probably no better than ordinary ungalvanized wire. When the coating 

 gets rubbed off, as it inevitably will in places, the wire is supposed to corrode faster than it would 

 had it never been coated. This is probably owing to tJie action of tJie acid used in galvanizing, upon 

 the wire. 



Galvanized wire has been used somewhat extensively in this country in the construction of tele- 

 graph lines, but for that purpose it is now thought to be less desirable than onlinary wire, and it is 

 probable that no more of it will be put to that use. An enormous price has heretofore been chai'ged 

 for this article, notwithstanding the galvanizing is very cheaply and rapidly done. I would advise 

 farmers and others to be well satisfied of its utility before paying a high prioe for it, or using it 



extensively. M. — Rochester, N. Y. 



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VitfiiNia Land.— Having received several letters of inquiry from various persons, in reference to 

 my article on "Virginia Lands," and finding myself unable to reply to so many, without neglecting 

 the duties of my profession and attention to my farm, I beg leave to trouble you with a second, and 

 fivul article on the subject in the Farmer. This will embrace, as far as practicable, a full reply to 

 e rery question, as well as whatever else I think of interest. 



\. Soil — Productions. — Every variety of soil abounds — the stiff, red cliy, with a mixture of mica 

 — a brown chocolate, slaty — the light grey, sandy, chinquepin — the mu'.atLO — and pipe-clay soils, in 

 some parts. A farmer of my acquaintance, who has travelled a good deal, particularly in the south 

 and south-west, remarked to me not long since, "that he had never seen land better adapted to clover, 

 or that improved more rapidly from the use of gypsum, than some of the land in this vicinity." I 

 have several fields well set in clover, sown last spring, which have received no oUier help than a 

 little gypsum, in which the seed was rolled. My soil is a light grey, sandy one, well adapted to the 

 production of tobacco of the finest quality, such as, if properly managed, will bring $30 per cwt. 



The soil generally is well adapted to the growth of tobacco, corn, and oats ; tolerably well to 



wheat, and might produce it very well if proper attention was paid to its cultivation. ]\Iost time and 



-1 K care being devoted to tobacco, the land is never manured for other products. Maize is hastily planted 



''s.. 



