THE GENESEE FAEMEK. 



Death ok J. P.. Norton. — While at the State 

 Fair, we heard the melancholy iutelligence of tire 

 death of J. P. Norton. For some years Mr. Nor- 

 ton has been at the head of the department of 

 chemistry applied to agriculture, and the phenom- 

 ena of vegetable and animal life, in Yale College. 

 Prof. Norton, though but a young man, only 30 

 years of age, had spent three years in Europe, 

 under eminent jDrofcssors' in Great Britaii^and on 

 the continent, and has devoted his time and tal- 

 ents principally to the investigation of chemistry 

 as applied to agriculture. Many of our young 

 men have had the benefit of his instructions, in 

 college, and his contributions to the agricultural 

 press have been invaluable. In the death of 

 Norton and Downing, the friends of agriculture 

 and horticulture have lost their brightest lights, 

 and truly have cause to mourn. But they did a 

 good work while the day lasted. Let ua follow 



in their footsteps. 



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Tkrra Culture. -r- Some correspondents have 

 inquired whether the lecture and disclosures of 

 Mr. CoMSTocK are worth the price charged — one 

 dollar. If we should lecture on the importance 

 of doi7ig every thing in season — leaving notliing 

 for the morrow that can be done to-day, — and 

 should spend an hour in enfoi'cing this rule upon 

 our audience, perhaps nine out of ten might re- 

 ceive a dollar's worth of benefit from our lecture. 

 Still, we might say nothing new — nothing but 

 what others know as well as om-selves. The facts 

 stated by Jlr. Comstock, are mostly to be found in 

 horticultural works; and the little there is new 

 in the lecture, and which Mr. C. calls liis secret, 

 we think is not sustained by facts. Mr. Comstock 

 shows very little knowledge of vegetable physiol- 

 ogy. His pretensions to prevent the potato rot, 

 the destruction of wheat by fly, weevil, ifec, is the 

 sheerest humbug. What there is good in the lec- 

 ture, every intelligent cultivator knows; and 

 what there is new, is at least very doubtful. 



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State Fairs. — The State Fairs this year have 

 generally been unusually successful. We shall 



give notices of several next month. 



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B. P. Johnson, Esq., of Albany, will accept our 

 thanks for his interesting work on the World's 



Fair of 1851. 



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Advertisements, to secure insertion in the Farm- 

 er, must be received as early as the 10th of the 

 previous month, and be of such a character as to 

 be of interest to farmers. We publish no other. 

 Terms — $2.00 for every hundred words, each in- 

 sertion, paid in aduance. 



Agrioultukal Fairs. — Below we publish all the 

 agricultural Fairs to be held this fall that have 

 come to our knowledge. 



STATE FAIK8. 



Pt'nn?yh ania, at Lancaster, Oct. 20, 21, 22 



N»>w lluiiipshire, at Meredith Bridge,. " 6, 7, 8 



Indiana, at Indianapolis, " 19 20 21 



New Brunswick, at Frederickton, " 5' to 9 



Wisconsin, at Milwaukie, " 6 7 8 



Georgia, " IS to' 23 



Maryland, at Baltimore, " 20 27 28 29 



American Institute, at New York, '• ' ' ' " ' 5 



" Kxhib. ol Stock,.. " 19,20,21 



COUNTY FAHIS. 



Genesee, Oct. 6, 7 



Cayuga, at Auburn, " g 7 



Putnam, at Carmel, " 5' g 



Richmond, " '17 



Dutchess, at Washington Hollow, " 5, 6 



Westchester, at White Plains, " 6, 7, 8 



lnquiri£0 an^ '^nsmtvs. 



(Edward Hedley, Medina.) We do not know 

 that there are feny rabbit warrens in this or ad- 

 joining States. Have never seen the silver gi-ey 

 rabbit in this country. 



(H. M. B., Oswego county, N. Y.) Swamp 

 Muck. — ^The value of swamp muck, and the pur- 

 poses for which it is best adapted, depend a great 

 deal on the location in which it is formed. It is 

 therefore impossible for us to say arbitrarily 

 whether it would or would not be of much value 

 as a manure for light gravelly soil. 



Muck, like peat, is very insoluble, and incapa- 

 ble of furnishing its elements of fertility to plants 

 until decomposed. To decompose it, however, is 

 not an easy matter, owing to its antiseptic proper- 

 ties. Composting it with caustic lime or ashes, 

 will decompose it most readily ; but as these sub- 

 stances set free any ammonia the muck may con- 

 tain, and facilitate its escape, they should not be 

 used for this purpose. A good plan is to throw it 

 up loosely in the fall, in some dry place, and let 

 the frosta of winter pulverize and dry it. When 

 dry, it may be pl^ed in alternate layers with 

 fresh horse manure, sea weeds, or any rapidly fer- 

 menting substance. If, too, the heap is so placed 

 that the liquid manure of the barn-yard could be 

 pumped upon it, so much the better. In this way 

 it rapidly decomposes, and a manure is obtained 

 which is valuable for most cultivated crops, espe- 

 cially for beets, turncps, cabbages, and other veg- 

 etables, and well repays the labor. Dry muck is 

 also of much value as an absorbent of liquid 

 manure, and may advantagously be used for that 

 purpose on all farms where readily obtained. Will 

 some of our readers who have used it, give us their 

 experience in the best methods of digging, drying, 

 and decomposing it, and the effects produced. 



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