Vor. 6. 



GENRSEE FARMER. 



107 



and wrought shares and points. In the latter, the 

 moul.i boanJ is liable to be broken, and ii" so, can 

 hardly be replaced : but, as the share and point 

 are the part.^ most liable to injury, if the-e are 

 wrouoht in iron, and fastened in a simple and firm 

 manner, the farmer who is in the neighborhood of an 

 ordinary blacksmith, or may have one upon his es- 

 tablishment, can easily repair the damage, which, in 

 the case of the cast iron plow, he could not do with- 

 out sending to the man\ifacturer or th^ foundry for a 

 new casting-. This objection to the cast iron plow, 

 is now, in a great measure, obviated by many deal- 

 ers, who are m the practice of putting up with each 

 plow, for a slight extra expense, two or more ex- 

 tra points and shares. Few plows have been patent- 

 ed during the past year. Several applications have 

 been made for patents for the substitution of steel 

 for casl or wrought iron in plows, and rejected upon 

 the well-established ground that the mere substitu- 

 tion of one well known material for another is not 

 the subject of a patent. Several cultivators and 

 combined plows for light soils, have been patented ; 

 but nothing of definite value can be predicated upon 

 this class of inventions. An ingenious instrument 

 for digging potatoes has been the subject of a patent, 

 and though it may fail to do all it professes, is cer- 

 tainly an approximation to an invention very much 

 needed. This operation is one of vast labor ; and a 

 cheap labor-saving machine, which in case of very 

 large crops, shou'd leave one-tenth, or even a larger 

 proportion of the crop in the ground, would be a 

 welcome invention. 



A promising improvement has been made in the 

 grain cradle, by making the teeth of hollow metal, 

 filling them up with wood sufficiently far to insure 

 strength. The teeth glide very easil}^ through the 

 grain, and are not liable to the objection of warping 

 and sticking where the grain is wet, as is the case 

 with wooden teeth. 



A simple and effectual instrument for gathering 

 fruit from trees, has been patented, by wh'ch the 

 ladder may generally be dispensed with, and the 

 trees and fruit saved from injury. 



Some important improvements have been made in 

 emut machines, and in machines for hulling seeds. 



The wheat fan, or winnowing machine, has been 

 of late much improved by the use of the spiral fan in 

 place of the old flutter-wheel fan : and, although 

 the introduction of the spiral fan is not recent, yet 

 it has during the past year been introduced under 

 such modifications as to render the instrument very 

 serviceable. In connection with this instrument 

 also, an interesting and useful feature has been se- 

 cured by patent, consisting of a mode of so operating 

 the screens or selves as to give just that motion 

 which is imparted to them when they are used m the 

 hand. 



Beehives, — A growing interest is evident in this 

 branch of agriculture, and a large number of applica- 

 tions have been received. Seven of them have been 

 patented, and a greater number rejected. Most of 

 the alleged improvements have claimed to be reme- 

 dies against the bee-rnoth, the pest of the apiarian. 

 As bee culture increases, the bee-moth seems to 

 become more numerous and troublesome, and should 

 therefore be vigorously met by vigilance and ingenu- 

 it3\ In this latitude, it requires every attention to 

 save the bees from this their great enemy ; and so 

 formidable has it become from numbersj that tht 

 same devices which may, perhaps, be found to give 

 protection farther norti, will not apply here. 



Nothing yet seems to be of any value, except pla- 

 cing the hive upon the ground — the hives being 

 made very tight, and the entrance of the bees being 

 as low as possible. 



From tlie CiiUivator. 



WHEAT CULTURE, 



Atone of the weekly agricultural meetings held 

 during the past winter, the subject of discussioa 

 was the culture of wheat. Mr. McVean, member 

 of the Assembly from Monroe county, m.ade some 

 very interesting and valuable remarks, which, at 

 our request, he has furnished us for publication. 



In offering a few remarks, said Mr, McVean, on 

 the cultivation of wheat, I deem it most proper,— 

 deferring the minor details of special cultivation, 

 manures, diseases, and different varieties, — to intro- 

 duce the subject by an exposition of the general 

 principles and circumstances of soil, natural adapta- 

 tion and climate, which will ever control the produc- 

 tion of this most important crop. 



An examination of the geological map of the 

 state, will at once and most readily indicate to the 

 intelligent observer, what portions of the state are 

 most naturally adapted to wheat. 



First in value, and occupying a large surface, is 

 the Onondaga salt group. The rocks of this group 

 are sometimes denominated the gypseous limestone, 

 or shales ; connected with which, are the plaster 

 quarries, the water limes, and the salines of the state. 

 This group, as a whole, embraces the most natural 

 and enduring wheat soil of the state. It includes, 

 and extends from Grand Island eastward, narrowing 

 to a point in the county of Scoharie. Its soil is 

 composed of diluvial swells, chiefly resulting from 

 and based upon the limestone— a subsoil, suscepti- 

 ble of fertility at any depth, and which, with the 

 substratum of lime-rock, is adapted to absorb the 

 superabundant moisture. Hard water, a prevalent 

 growth of oaktiniber, also upon much of its south- 

 ern line a comparative absence of vegetable accu- 

 mulation, and often of timber, consequent upon the 

 annual burning of its natural product, the opening 

 grass, characterize this group. With a surface at 

 once beautiful and accessible, few portions of the 

 state presented a more unpromising appca nt nee of 

 soil, to the first settler. Its unsurpassed and perma- 

 nent value has been demonstrated by time and ex- 

 perience, and it is due to the mineral character of 

 its soil, and the fertility and adaptation of the sub- 

 soil. 



Although I have dwelt on this group more at 

 large, because of its natural peculiarties, I am far 

 frcmi claiming for it exclusive natural adaptation to 

 wheat; and only mean to say that it is more gener- 

 ally and permanently so adapted than any other, as 

 a whole — that as a whole it is more certain and endur- 

 ing: and better resists every unfavorable vicissitude 

 of season, climate, or defective cultivation ; and 

 that under continued cultivation, there has been lit- 

 tle if any falling off, in its annual product of wheat 

 except when managed with great imprudence. 



I am aware that there are large portions of supe- 

 rior wheat soil embraced in the collatteral geologi- 

 cal groups, very much of which is but little, if at 

 all, inferior to the above in natural adaptation t.> 

 wheat. 



Of these, extending north to lake Ontario, are 

 the Niagara, Clinton and Medina grotips : rn ^ to- 

 wards the scuth, the Helderberg, Hamilton, and of 

 the Chemung group, more or lees of the northern 



