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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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tlie trench thus prepared, carefully transplant the 

 celery plants about six inches apart, with as much 

 earth remaining round the roots as possible ; wa- 

 ter them well for a few days ; and if the weather 

 is very hot, it will be necessary to shade them till 

 they have taken firm root. They grow but slow- 

 ly at first. Loosen the soil around them occasion- 

 ally, and aa they grow they must be earthed up. 

 In doing this, be careful that the soil does not get 

 between the leaves ; take the leaves of the plant 

 in one hand, and place the soil around it with the 

 other to within a few inches of the top. Repeat 

 the operation every week or so, as the plante 

 grow, and you will have a crop of celery that 

 will well repay all the labor. Before winter sets 

 ill, take it up and place it in the cellar with a 

 Utile earth at the roots, and you can have celery 



until spring. 



* 



Smut rs Wheat. — I wish to m.ake a few inquiries in 

 reg.irti to a subject very important to tlie farmers of this 

 seelioTi of Kentucky. The -wheat crop of this whole region 

 is very much affected by a disease called the smut — a dis- 

 ease entirely new to this part of tlie country — the oldest 

 inliabitants not having seen it before. 



b'or fear there may be some misapprehension as regards 

 the true aflection, I will attempt a description of it as it 

 appears here. There are no very marked differences in 

 tlie heads of wheat until a few days before ripening ; then 

 tlie diseased heads appear more full and dark than the 

 sound, and the capsules are in some instances filled with a 

 dark gnimous mass, and in others with a dark, impalpable 

 powder, auil emitting a most offensive and disgusting odor. 



Can y<iu, or some of your contributors, inform us in re- 

 frard lo i'.s cure or prevention; and whi'lber the disease is 

 iiiilihne.'d by a wet or dry season ; and also whetber the 

 dis,;i,i.' is communicated when the grain is forming, or may 

 it lie produced ^.1s gome suppose) in sound wheat merely by 

 bringing llie smutted wheat in contact with it; or, in other 

 words, whctlier wheat perfectly sound would another year 

 be diseased by having come in contact with smutted hea<ls 

 now '/ All the information you can give us upon this sub- 

 je.-t, through the columns of your valuable and widely 

 circulated journal, will be thankfully received by a subscri- 

 ber K. S. Owen. — WUsmvoille, Ky. 



Few subjects connected with agriculture have 

 been more discussed than that of smut in wheat; 

 innumerable theories have been advanced to 

 account for the cause, and as many remedies pro- 

 posed for its prevention. Of these we can not 

 now speak ; our correspcindcnt will find the mat- 

 ter du^eiissed at full length in the Fanner of 185(J. 

 Whatever may be the cause, it is pretty certain 

 that the nv^vention is easy and effectual in several 

 way.-w vv e know of notliing more siinple and 

 efficaciou.'s than to wet the wheat seed before sow- 

 ing wilh a solution of salt and water, and drying 

 it with caustic lime. Tiie solution should be 

 made so that an egg will just swim in it, and the 

 seed be well wetted and limed iinmnliatelij previ- 

 ovs to somhiff ; for if it is left for many hours in a 

 heap or in bags, it often heats, and the germina- 

 ting principle is weakened or destroyed. Instead 

 of salt and water, ehamiier lye is frequently used, 

 and is, in our opinion, preferaljle. 



WiTEN TO Sow Gbass Seed. — I have been a subscriber 

 to the Farmer for two years, and have carefully examined 

 it to find some statement in regard to sowing grass seed, 

 but have not been able to learn anything in regard to it. 

 Whtn is the best time to sow it — in the spring or fall ? 

 D. S. Chase. — Tekoimha, Mich. 



For permanent meadow, and on dry land, we 

 should prefer to sow timothy seed in September, 

 with the wheat, previous to the last dragging. 

 The plant acquires a strong, vigorous growth 

 during the fall, and will generally stand the win- 

 ter, yielding a heavier crop of hay the first season 

 than if sown in the spring, though it sometimes 

 injures the wheat crop on land naturally inclined 

 to grass. 



If timothy alone is sown, from half a bushel to 

 a bushel of seed per acre is necessary, according 

 to the soil — clays requiring much more seed than 

 rich, mellow loams. It is sometimes sown alone 

 in August or September, and in this way a good 

 crop of grass is often obtained the following 

 summer. 



Except in rare cases, we would ne^'er sow tim- 

 othy on good wheat land, as a rotation crop ; for 

 being a cereal, it exhausts the soil of the same 

 elements as wheat, and our wheat soils are not 

 now any too rich, even under the best manage- 

 ment. If timothy must be grown, let it be on 

 land not well adapted to wheat ; and on such 

 soils it must be sown in the sping, as it is apt to 

 winter-kill on low, alluvial land. 



Cooking Food for Iloofi. — I wish to make a few inqui- 

 ries in regard to the feeding of swine, &c. Will a given 

 amount of food produce a greater amount of pork \i fed 

 warm than if fed cold? It is the opinion of many old 

 farmers in this vicinity that it will, especially if fed in" win- 

 ter. Will science bear them out in this opinion V They 

 usually scald their Indian meal by the use of boiling water. 

 Is this cooking it sufficiently? S. Carter, Je. — Am/wrs(, 

 Nmjo Ila<mp^hire. 



We have never made a satisfactory experiment 

 on feeding- hogs with cooked and uncooked coin 

 meal, but have done so with barley meal and po- 

 tatoes fed raw or uncooked, and \A\\\ the potatcx^* 

 steamed till they would beat to a pulp, and the 

 barley meal mashed with them as soon aa the 

 potatoes were taken from the .steamer. The 

 result was decidedly in favor of the cooked foo<l ; 

 so much so, that the plan was ever afterward.'; 

 adopted, the extra increase of the hogs much mere 

 than covering the expense of cooking. Tlie ex- 

 periment was during the winter montlis, with six 

 hogs in each stye. 



BoxTS FOR Feehin'o Catti.e, &f. — I wish to make some 

 boxes, from which my cattle may eat hay, straw, cornstall;s, 

 itc What should be the form, size, &c. V Also some rael-s 

 for sheep. What is the best form ? Should the slats be far 

 enough apart to allow them to pass their heads thr^)ugh ? 

 Cyrus Bainbridoe. — Itmnulua, X. ¥. 



Will some of our experienced correspondents 

 give their \'iew3 on this subject ? ' 



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