40 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mr A. 1845 



ammonia — let him not prevent his children from 

 leai-ning that which he will not learn, and from Sv-e- 

 ino- ihat v liich he has neither eyes to see nor heaJ 

 to comprehend. S. W. 



SUBSOIL PLOWING. 



Col. Sherwood, of Auhurn, made use of the sub- 

 soil plow the past season on fifteen acres. A part 

 of the subsoiled land was planted to corn, and a part 

 sown with wbr^at in the fall. The soil was loamy, 

 and the subsoil oard cby and gravel. He used the 

 subsoil plow of Ruggles, Nourse k, M;ison. ^ It re- 

 quired lour oxen to draw it : and to woik to the best 

 advantage, at the depth it was run in this case, 

 which was one foot, Col. Sherwood thinks there 

 ought to be six oxen. The team worked over from 

 anlicre to an acre and a quarter a day. The ground 

 had not been plowed for thirty years. It W"as natu- 

 rally w^et, so much so, that in a wot time the water 

 would stand on it to the injury of the grass. The 

 effect of the subsoili ig was, to render the soil and 

 subsoil so friable, that the water immediately found 

 its way through : and though a portion of the past 

 season w'as very wet. the water at no time remained 

 on or so near the surface as to do the least damage 

 to the crop. That part which was put to corn was 

 first plant jd on the 20th of May, but the seed failed, 

 and it was planted again on the last day of May and 

 first day of June, and grew so vigorously, that it got 

 ripe as soon, as other corn in the neighborhood. Sev- 

 eral strips, of 20 to 30 feet wide, were left through 

 the field not subsoiled. The ditference in favor of 

 the subsoiled portion was very obvious, in the ranker 

 growth and larger size of the corn on that part — it 

 was so plain, that it might be seen to a row. The 

 different portions were not measured separately at 

 harvest-time. The effect of subsoiling on the 

 wheat crop cannot be told at present. — CuUivaior. 



discovery that the science, of nature (chemittry) is 

 eminently and necessarily applicable to the art of hu- 

 man existence — farming. I say, it is the backward- 

 ness and infancy of science, not the ignorance of 

 farmers, that deserves reflection." — JVew England 

 Former. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



A spirited waiter in the London Agricultural Ga- 

 zette, in speaking oj' the comparatively slow prog- 

 ress of improvement in agriculture since the days 

 wh^n *■ Adam delved and Eve spun," up to the pres- 

 ent time, says, the scientific world is responsible for 

 the backward state of agriculture compared with 

 other arts, and that farmers are not altogether culpa- 

 ble for their ignorance respecting the scientific prin- 

 ciples of their pursuit, since those who alone had the 

 power, and whose province it was to give them light, 

 did not diffuse it for their benefit, ( if indeed they 

 had discovered it,) till the example was set by the 

 immortal Davy. Now, however, the writer thinks 

 the farmers are promised the needed light of science, 

 and being made familiar with its doctrines and its 

 terms. Thus he says : 



" What if Farmer Dobson did think; Inst year, 

 that jlmmo-nia was the name of a gentleman's daugh- 

 ter 1 lie knows better this year ; and next A^ear we 

 shall hear of his putting sulphuric acid or gypsum on 

 his dunghill, to seize this fair lady as she tlies. Why 

 should ho be expected to be a ready-made chemist ? 

 When he was a boy, chemistry was scarcely born. 

 He had no eiucation in chemistry. How should h*^ 

 know it h^^i any thins" to do with farming 1 He is 

 not to be blamed f')r his ignora^^ce in this matter. 

 The blame, if anywhere, lies with those who a Ivance 

 it— namely, with the scientific worH, who have al- 

 lowo1 the ph^'sicnl world to jr-ow nearly six th'^n- 

 eand years oU, and have only just made the notable 



How TO MAKE A COiS'TRART HoRSB GO AT TOUR 



Bidding. — A neighbor of mine once told me, that he 

 bought one of those ill-tempered horses so often to 

 be found, and, a day or two after the purchase, he 

 took him to the woods to draw a load of fuel. Hav- 

 ing placed a reasonable load on the sled, he bade him 

 go ; but no, he would not start an inch. After ev- 

 ery fair method had been tried to induce him to start, 

 all to no purpose— (he only exhibited feats of ill 

 temper- — snorting, leaning, dancing, backing, rearing 

 up, &c.) — he very securely tied him to a sapling, 

 and left him to his will. At noon he was tried 

 again, but to no better purpose. He was then left 

 till night : still he had no mind to go. He was now 

 left over night : by this time he felt quite willing to 

 move, whicb very kindly he did, with his load. His 

 master then put him in the stable, rubbed him down, 

 and gave him a good breakfast. I was told, he never 

 after refused to move at his master's bidding. This 

 was rather a severe chastisement, but perhaps it was 

 the only way he could be cured of his contrary will. 

 Probably if this horse had been properly treated 

 when young, he might never have needed such se-* 

 verity.— -.Ifoss. Ploughman. 



Statistics of Poultry, — According to the re- 

 turns made by the census of 1840, the aggregate 

 amount of capital invested in the United States in 

 this branch of domestic industry is very great. The 

 amount in the various states and territories is as 

 follows : 



Maine $124.17^ Kentucky f53fi,439 



Now Hainpehire 97,&62 Tennessee 681,53-1 



Vermont n6,437 Louisiana 273,314 



Massachusetts 5-)0,-i95 Mi.«si3sippi 309,481 



Rhode Island 61 402 Alabama 8-29,2a0 



Connecticut 176,&!i9| Missouri , 230 283 



New York 2,373,029 Indiana .393,223 



NewJersey 412,487 Illinois 330,908 



Penn«.vlvania 1,033,172 Michigan 82,730 



Delaware 47,405 Arkansas 93,r}4<J 



Maryland 219,I5r| Florida 61,007 



Virginia 752,4G'. 



>f orth rarolina ."544 12" 



South Carolina 590,594 



Georgia 473,158 



Ohio 734,931 



Wisconsin 16,167 



Iowa 17,101 



Uislrict of Columbia... 3,092 



Ti.tal S12,176,I70 



If you would have your fowls lay in winter, you 

 must feed them w^ell, procure a warm house for 

 them, place a box containing gravel, limOy and ashes, 

 and fresh meat two or three times a week. 



There is a beaut' fal circumstance connected with 

 agricultural emulation. In many of the pursuits of 

 life, one man gets rich by making another man poor, 

 climbs the ladder by putting his feet on another 

 man's shoulder — or, he builds his own building out 

 of the fragments of his neighbor's, which he has un- 

 dermined. This is often a crying injustice, and in- 

 flicts many bitter mortifications, or arouses vindic- 

 tive and tiger passions. Emulation in agricultural 

 improvement enkindles no such baleful fires. A man 

 can make no improvements in husbandry without at 

 once exteniing the knowledge anl advantage of 

 them to others. The enlargement of the capacities 

 of the soil, and every increase of its productions, 

 confer an immodiats benefit upon the whole com- 

 munity. 



