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GENESEE FARMER. 



Aug. 1845 



ignorance, vice and laziness would have to go to 

 work at some truly useful business, or starve. Now, 

 the surplus earnings of the toiling million are made 

 an immense corruption fund, to pollute the morals, 

 debauch the habits, and enervate both body and soul, 

 of all that reap where others have sown. 



The science of trade — of getting a good deal, and 

 giving little or nothing for it, at some-body's ex- 

 pense, is just beginning to wake up that Mr. Some- 

 body. If he cannot learn to keep property to sup- 

 ply all his physical and mental wants as well as to 

 produce it, then the ihing created, is far above its 

 creator. 



FRENCH AGRICULTURE. 



The Presse publishes some extracts from a Avork 

 presented to the Agricultural Congress, now setting 

 at the Palace of the Luxembourgh, by the author, 

 M. Catineau Laroche, and entitled, France and 

 England compared unth respect to A^rmdtural, 

 Manufactvring, and Commercial Industry, and the 

 conseqvences to be deduced from this comparison. It 

 appears from this work, that England, in compari- 

 son with the extent of its surface, possesses four 

 times more cattle than France. And as it is not 

 possible to pursue a judicious system of agriculture 

 without manure, and rs the feeding of cattle is the 

 most productive of supplying manure, it follows 

 . that before France can compote with England in ag- 

 ricultural wealth, she must increase her stock of 

 cattle, but in order to do so, she must increase her 

 pasture lands or meadows. ^' France," says M. 

 Laroche, " possesses but 4,200,000 hectares of nat- 

 ural meadows, or only one-sixteenth of her cultiva- 

 ted soil. From this calculation it may be easily 

 comprehended how insufficient is her supply of green 

 food, and that it becomes absolutely necessary that 

 she should substitute another to the triennial sys- 

 tem at present in use." M. Laroche concludes by 

 stating that "if the alternate system of cultivation 

 pursued in England was introduced into France, the 

 produce of corn would be doubled within twenty 

 years. Fifty-five years since, the produce of Great 

 Britain was estimated by Arthur Young at three 

 millards. At present it is estimated at five millards 

 725 millions. 



New England Schools. — A writer in a Southern 

 paper thus describes the free schools of New Eng- 

 land: 



" The poorest boy in the free schools feels as high 

 and as proud as the son of the richest. You do not 

 mean, said Gov. Barbour of Virginia, after visiting 

 the superb free school at Boston, which he admired 

 very much, that these schools are free? Indeed I 

 do, said the committee man. You remember the 

 boy that got the medal in the class that we have 

 just examined, and the boy that lost it? The first 

 is the son of that wood-sawyer there, (pointing to 

 a man who was sawing wood in the street,) and the 

 second is the son of John Quincy Adams, the pres- 

 ident of the United States. The Virginian started 

 in astonishment at a spectacle like this, and no long- 

 er wondered at the prosperity of New England." 



THE MONROE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY will meet at the office of the Genesee 

 Farmer, over the Seed Store, Front Street, on Tues- 

 day, the 12th day of August, at 10 o'clock A. M., 

 to make arrangements for the cattle show, Stc. 



For the Genesea Farmer. 



A FIFTEEN MILE RIDE IN SENECA COUN- 

 TY AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF HAR- 

 VEST—JULY 7th. 



Mr. Editor — The soil in the south side of the 

 Seneca outlet, near Waterloo, is a heavy calcare- 

 ous clay loam; the blue limestone ledge for a short 

 distance, in places, comes to the surface, affiarding 

 a mine of wealth to the fortunate proprietors. Clo- 

 ver and wheat attain a perfect growth on this soil; 

 as we progress southwest over a gently undulating 

 surface, The stiff loam begins to be ameliorated by 

 limestone aud quartz pebbles, interspersed with small 

 boulders. On both sides of the road we noticed a 

 continued succession of fields of ripening grain; the 

 wheat looked finely, the heads not as close together 

 as I have seen them, but long and full. Notwith- 

 standing the everlasting presence of wheat fields, I 

 noticed more acres covered with flax, barley, and 

 Indian Corn, than I had ever seen before in traveling- 

 fifteen miles. I must say, however, that these 

 were the best fifteen miles of land 1 have yet seen 

 in passing over seven of these United States. Had 

 a Vermont farmer been present, he would have ask- 

 ed, Where are the pastures and the cattle. The 

 axiom, " without cattle no manure, and without 

 manue no corn," has hardly begun to be felt or un- 

 derstood by the Seneca County farmer. Hitherto, 

 plaster and red clover have been the only manure ne- 

 sessary to insure a crop of wheat; but of late the use 

 of live animal manures, are found necessary to 

 bring back to the soil its original wheat-forming 

 pabulum. Many of our large farmers have com- 

 menced increasing their flocks of sheep; as experi- 

 ence has taught them that sheep dung and clover 

 must alternate with the wheat crop, to insure the 

 best of rural economy. 



As we approach the Seneca lake, the wood lots 

 merge their distinctive character for beach and ma- 

 ple, into oak and hickory. The beautiful residence 

 of John Delafield is almost hidden from the road, by 

 an extensive grove of trees of the qvei-cus family. 

 The first truly ambitious mansion we noticed, was 

 that of Wm. K. Strong; its prominent location on 

 the rise above the east bank of Seneca Lake, in full 

 view of Geneva, makes it a showy landmark in the 

 prospective of that delightful place. 



Stopped at John Johnson's, known as Scotch 

 Johnson, one of the most masterly farmers in Fay- 

 ette. He was at home, paying olThis haymakers. 

 What a pity he had not planted two or three trees 

 on the south side of his sun-stricken mansion; but, 

 like most Scotchmen, he has attended to the main 

 chance. He pointed to a field of stout wheat, which 

 he said had produced grain every other year, for the 

 last thirty years. It was a heavy clay loam, with 

 limestone pebbles, and a sprinkling of granite boul- 

 ders. Fifteen years ago this field received fifty- 

 bushels of lime to the acre, since which it has been 

 occasionally dressed with barn yard manure. Here 

 was also the cleanest field of corn and potatoes we 

 had yet seen. Mr. Johnson plows deep, keeps large 

 flocks of sheep — some improved neat stock, foe; — 

 hence the secret why he has so much wheat and ^ 

 wool to sell. We next come to Christian Kimes— 

 an excellent specimen of a Pennsylvania German 

 farmer. Enormous barns, high, strong fences, large 

 wheat fields groaning for the sickle, and fallows 

 harrowed to the death of all cohesion ; but then, 

 such stalwart prejudices against all that is yankee, 

 or foreign — such honest, fully developed hatred 



