84 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June, 1845 



Another is, that one simple substance, like carbon, 

 can not be transformed into another simple element, 

 like nitrogen. Clay cannot supply the place of sand, 

 nor sand of clay. It will require as much matter, 

 and the same kind of ingredients, to form ten million 

 bushels of wheat or corn, in 1845, that were con- 

 sumed for that purpose in this state in 1844. The 

 same remarks will apply to all agricultural products, 

 whether vegetable or animal. 



How, then, can a practical farmer, cultivating 60 

 acres of arable land, send to market 20 tons of 

 grain, pork, beef, mutton, wool, roots, butter, 

 cheese, and the like, every year, to pay for his gro- 

 ceries, dry goods, nails, crockery, and mechanical 

 work, and not ultimately sell all the ingredients in 

 his 60 acres, which will form crops enough to pay 

 for cultivation, fences, and taxes ? Suppose you 

 have the materials to produce 50 good crops in your 

 now fertile soil, when those materials are worked up 

 and sent to distant cities, where then will the 

 largely increased population of the State go to find 

 their three good meals a day, clothing, &lc. 1 Do 

 you say, to the West ? But what right has the 

 present generation to consume and destroy the na- 

 tural fertility of God's bountiful earth, to the serious 

 injury of those who are to succeed them 1 



By every principle of common justice and philan- 

 thropy, we should augment the natural productive- 

 ness of the soil at least 4 per cent, per annum, or 

 double its fruits in 25 years. For in that time our 

 race double their numbers, and their physical wants, 

 in the State of New York. 



THE ALPACA. 



We are happy to learn that a few enterprising 

 wealthy gentlemen of this State are about to import 

 a lot of Alpacas from South America, this season. 

 They are said to clip about 10 lbs. of wool, worth 

 from 25 to 30 cents per lb. per head. They are very 

 hardy animals, and those taken to England have 

 done remarkably well. Several millions of pounds 

 of Alpaca wool are annually imported into Great 

 Britain. It is made into mouslin de lains, and a va- 

 riety of other fabrics, being long, fine, and almost of 

 a silky texture. We doubt not that the Alpaca will 

 prove a valuable acquisition to our present stock of 

 domestic animals. 



EXPORT OF WOOL FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 



In a late number of the London Farmer's Maga- 

 zine, it is stated that the wool exported to the Uni- 

 ted Kingdom of Great Britain, from New South 

 Wales, in 



1827, was 320,683 lbs. 

 1830, .. 973,330 

 1835, .. 2,668,440 



1840, was 7,000,727 lbs. 



1843, .. 11,942,557 .. 



1844, .. 14,000,000 .. 



The above figures show a wonderful increase 

 within a few years. The highest price realized for 

 wool from Van Diemen's Land was 2s. 6d. 



Prize wool from the Cape of Good Hope sold as 

 high as 2s. lOd. per lb. 



Chicago. — This city contains 10,864 inhabitants, 

 according to a census taken in December. During 

 the last year there were erected 871 buildings of all 

 sizes. The foreign population of the city is as fol- 

 lows : 1,056 Germans, 972 Irish, 631 Norwegians, 

 and 683 natives of other countries. There are three 

 hundred dealers in merchandise of different descrip- 

 tions, nearly one-half of whom sell at wholesale and 

 retail. The different professions seem to be as well 

 stocked as the mercantile community. There are 48 

 lawyers, 28 physicians, and 17 clergymen. 



For the Genesee Farmer. 



FALL PLOWING. 



Mr. Editor — I am a young farmer, though I con- 

 fess to some grey hairs, having been engaged in oth- 

 er avocations through life so far: and in determining 

 upon any process in the operations of my farming, I 

 have to look at the reasons and rationality of it, be- 

 fore settling my mind upon the course best to pur- 

 sue, not having the experience that other and better 

 informed heads possess. 



I for one thing want to know what are the advan- 

 tages of fall plowing green sward. If turned over 

 early in the fall the grass grows, or if late in the 

 season and immediately frozen, it does not rot nor 

 does any decomposition take place ; and as soon as 

 vegetation takes place in the spring, all the wild 

 grasses start up, and by the middle of May it is pret- 

 ty fair pasture. If you plow it again for spring 

 crops, every sod and root is perfectly alive and un- 

 rotted, and no better off than if you plowed it twice 

 in the spring. Why is it not a better process to 

 turn it over well in the spring, harrow it lengthwise, 

 and sow or plant it immediately before the grass- 

 roots can start, giving the crop a chance to get 

 ahead and master the foul grasses and weeds. H. 



Brighton, May, 1845. 



REMARKS ON THE ABOVE. 



In answer to our young farmer with the old head, 

 we will state what we think the advantages of fall 

 plowing consist in: 



With respect to its "killing the grasses," the 

 freezing and thawing and exposure of the roots to 

 the vigors of the winter, has a strong effect in 

 weakening < heir vitality, and perhaps in kill'ng some 

 of them. But the greatest effect is produced by the 

 bleaching (Etiolation, as the gardeners sa)',) the 

 leaves, which are the lungs of all plants, and caus- 

 ing them to lose their color, and to become weak 

 and feeble, so that when again plowed in the spring, 

 if as late as May, when the dry season has com- 

 menced, and the sun has power, they easily will, 

 and rot. This is the effect of the sun and exposure 

 to all plants grown in the shade. 



Another good effect is produced by the ameliora- 

 tion of the soil, by the disintegration and decompo- 

 sition of its constituent parts; especially if they are 

 inclined to clay, by the action of the frosts, and its 

 absorption of the ammoniacal and other salts from 

 the atmosphere and the snows, Avhich is proven to 

 contain a sensible portion of those all important 

 items to vegetable production. 



Another advantage is, the almost certain annihi- 

 lation of the grub, wire, and cut worm, when in 

 their incipient stages; especially when plowed late, 

 when the insects are so torpid with the cold as to be 

 unable to again burrow below the reach of the frost 

 for protection. 



Again, a good job of work is performed for the 

 advancement of spring business, and at a time when 

 there is little else to employ the teams about. 



These are the principal advantages that strike us 

 as most prominent in favor of fall plowing. We 

 should like to hear from some of our experienced 

 farmers on the subject. L, B. L. 



The Sunflower. — It is said of this unornament- 

 al but intrinsic flower, that it is destined to become 

 one of our most valuable agricultural products. — 

 One hundred pounds of the seed afford forty pounds 

 of oil. The refuse of the seeds,*after expression 

 furnishes an excellent food for cattle. 



