Vol. 6. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



67 



The Western Reserve Magazine of Agricul- 

 ture AND Horticulture, monthlij, in pamphlet 

 foam. Cleveland, O., F. R. Elliott, Editor. 

 This publication is a neat and chaste production, 

 abounding in illustrations, and has some well-written 

 articles on Fruits, Locations, and Planting Trees, a 

 subject to which the attention of the settlers in 

 new countries cannot have their attention too fre- 

 quently called. 



Ten years ago there were but three or four pub- 

 lications, including our own, in the United States ; 

 ahd now every town of any consequence, and some 

 the reverse of that claim, produce one or more : 

 they are as plentiful as blackberries ! Verily, we 

 are a great people ! 



PU^IP-LOGS— INQUIRY. 

 Mr. Editor, — I would like some information re- 

 specting the best method of laying pump-logs ; and 

 also what kind of timber will be the most durable. 

 Please answer the inquiry, and I shall feel much 

 obliged. A YOUNG FARMER. 



Our opinion is, that Avhite pine is the most dura- 

 ble, and easiest worked, of any of our forest woods, 

 and that good straight-grained timber, 4 by 4 for a 

 two-inch bore, and 10 feet long, will do more ser- 

 vice than any other form it can be made in, be- 

 cause the wood is so thin in all its parts, that it 

 is constantly wet, and consequently does not rot 

 or decay. Hoop iron, |-inch wide, is riveted into a 

 band 3^ inches in diameter, and driven into the end 

 of the timber, when one log is inserted into the 

 other. But a much better course is, to have a cast- 

 iron connecting tube, about 3 inches long, and 

 driven into the ends of the logs. Two men will 

 lay 50 rods per day. 



For tlie liciipsee Farmer. 



AURORA (Cayuga Co.) AGRICULTURAL 

 SCHOOL. 



A glorious place, this, for a School Farm ! When 

 N. P. Willis, in his " Cherokee's Threat," essayed 

 to paint the beauties of the vegetable creation, on 

 the borders of Cayuga Lake, he did worse than at- 

 tempt to adorn the lily — he caricatured the indige- 

 nous floral creation. The names of David Thomas 

 and Dr. Alexander Thomson, as connected with the 

 Aurora institution, gives an earnest that no money- 

 making scheme is attempted at the expense of the 

 community. If a thorough knowledge of practical 

 agriculture, in connection with science — if an enthu- 

 siasm for, and an intimate acquaintance with all that 

 relates to the fruits and flowers of the earth, are ad- 

 mitted to be requisite qualifications in those who are 

 to " teach the young idea how to shoot" — then the 

 Aurora school must be a desirable place, not only for 

 farmers' sons, but for any other son who has the 

 taste and good sense to prefer the good and beauti- 

 ful in the world to the world's illusions. S. W. 



Draining. — This is a branch of rural labor quite 

 too much neglected in this country. The cost need 

 not be any thing like the profit attending the opera- 

 tion. At this time we intend barely to call public 

 attention to the subject. See that your ditches are 

 all open ; for notwithstanding the very dry and un- 

 favorable weather which we have had for the last 

 three weeks, we may soon experience a touch of the 

 opposite extreme. Too much water, or any stand- 

 ing water just below the surface, is fatal to healthy 

 vegetation. 



SPROUTING SEEDS. 

 Extract from a letter to Messrs. B, F. Smith it 

 Co., Proprietors of the Rochester Seed Store, 

 from a seed-grower in Massachusetts: 

 "I find from many years experience that much 

 labor and vexation is saved by sprouting all small 

 seeds before sowing, and especially onion and carrot. 

 A little plaster of Paris mixed with the seed at the 

 time of sowing will absorb the water and separate 

 the seed. Several years since, I planted a large 

 field of carrots, with the seed dry, without sprout- 

 ing. The seed I knew to be good : but it was 

 almost a total failure ; and in searching for the 

 cause, I found that a small insect, (a sand-fly, I 

 call it,) which, sometimes, in a dry time in the 

 spring, is very numerous. This insect, I found, 

 would destroy the seed as soon as it opened to 

 vegetate^ Since then, i have always sprouted my 

 seed, and have never found any difficulty. Ano- 

 ther advantage I have found in the practice is, that 

 the seed will come up before the weeds, (say from 

 two to four days,) and keep ahead of the weeds 

 through the season . I have always recommended 

 the practice to my customers, which is generally 

 adopted. 



"If you are seed-growers, I need not mention that 

 in sprouting seeds, they must not, for any great 

 length of time, lie submerged in water. My prac- 

 tice is, to put the xjuantity of seed I wish to sprout 

 into a bucket, and pour to it water sufficient to 

 cover the seed. The water may be quite warm. 

 Let it stand over night, or until the seed is sufficient- 

 ly saturated ; then drain off" all the water, and let 

 stand in a moderately warm temperature till the 

 seed sprouts ; taking care to stir it, and not let 

 the seed get dry. 



" I have planted carrot seed with the sprouts an 

 inch in length, and had the plants appear in rows 

 on the surface in two days." 



Ppgspects of the Wheat Crop.— Wheat, on 

 the oak and dry soils, stands well, but is generally 

 backward, which in most cases is undoubtedly owing 

 to late sowing, in consequence of the excessive 

 drought that prevailed throughout this country last 

 autunm. Those that sowed early, notwithstanding 

 the dry season, have the best prospects, for al- 

 though much failed to germinate, yet it has made 

 amends by stooling out, and now looks very well. 

 On sandy soils, the high winds and dry weather have 

 had a bad effect ; and on low and mucky soils the 

 month of April has been severe, and a great deal is 

 killed out, and otherwise looks poor. A great breadth 

 of land is sown this year ; and if the late-sown es- 

 capes the rust, we th'nk there will be a full av- 

 erage crop. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



We trust that no head of a family who reads this 

 paper will fail to secure a good kitchen garden. It 

 has three important advantages •. First, it is decided- 

 ly profitable. Secondly, its products are exceeding- 

 ingly comfortable ; and, thirdly, a garden furnishes 

 more innocent recreation to a family than any other 

 thing combining the useful with the agreeable. 



Children should learn to work in the garden ; and 

 boys should be taught to practice the art of grafting 

 and budding, and to understand the theory of im- 

 proving all kinds of fruit. A garden is a capital 

 place to lecture on the laws of nature. 



