22 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Jan.. 



For the Genesee Farmer. 



The Potatoe Disease. 



Dr. Lee — Dear (S'/r .• The writer of an arti- 

 cle copied into your December number says, 

 '' Be very careful not to plant potatoes infected 

 with the disease. Avoid planting potatoes in pla- 

 ces where they grew this year." The following 

 facts illustrate the respective value of these two 

 directions. Upon a farm I have in Bradford Co. 

 Pa., there grew in 1844 three fields of potatoes. 

 They were planted before I came into possess- 

 ion — but I believe the seed was all sound, and 

 from the same stock. One field was new land, 

 very high, and dry. The other two were older 

 land, lower and moister. Every potatoe grown 

 in the first field was sound. In the others some 

 were diseased. The next season, 184.5, one of 

 the lower fields was again planted, using seed 

 from the high ground. The summer was drier 

 than in 1844, and the produce was all sound ; as 

 was also that on some adjacent green-sward plan- 

 ted with the same seed. Farther to prosecute 

 the experiment, I had some infected seed planted 

 on a part of the green-sward, and there the crop 

 Was more than half lost. There was no com- 

 munication of the disease, though the sound and 

 diseased hills were but three feet apart. 



In my professional rides over the mountains 

 and valleys of Bradford and Chemung counties, 

 I have observed the farmers in the valleys suf- 

 fering so much the more from this scourge, that 

 I have often advised them to procure seed from 

 their highland neighbors. 



The inferences from my observations are,that 

 the disease is not contagious, — that it is perpetu- 

 ated by infected seed, and. not through contami- 

 nation of the soil — and that low, moist localities 

 are most obnoxious to its influence. 



Sumner Rhoades, M. D. 



Blossoni's Hotel, Rochester, Dec. 184.5. 



For the Genesee Farmer. 



Sanford's Straw Cutter. 



Mr. Editor : — I see that R. F. Smith & Co.* 

 advertise for sale "Sandford's Premium Straw 

 Cutter." I purchased one of these machines of 

 Mr. Chase, at our Fair, and I am perfectly satis- 

 fied with its performance as a "Straw Cutter." 

 But what I want to say particularly, is that it is 

 most admirably adapted to another purpose, and 

 that is cutting Sausage Meat. I first cut about 

 a hundred weight for myself, and then lent it to 

 my nciglibors. They all pronounce it first rate. 

 The meat is as fine as if it had l)een grated, and 

 perfectly mixed. A hundred pounds may easily 

 be cut in thirty minutes. 



It wants no adjusting or fixing in any way, l)ut 

 to elevate the hind end, so that the meat will drop 

 into the dish on the fioor. Cut the meat into sli- 

 ces and drop it into the middle, forward of the 

 little board under which the straw passes. The 

 meat will pass round and round the cylinders, 



working towards each end as it acumulates, until, 

 it falls off more perfectly cut than by any other 

 process I ever tried. Please satisfy yourself by 

 the experiment. I think it a very valuable 

 recommendation to the machine. 



Truly yours, M. Adams. 



Adams^ Basin, Dec. 1845. 



For the Gensee Farmer. 



How to Destroy Lice on Cattle. 



Mr. Editor — A number of years since I had 

 a lot of calves that I found were very lousy. — 

 I had previously tried mercurial ointment, wash- 

 ing in tobacco, and other remedies. I had fre- 

 quently heard it said that bulls were never lousy, 

 and could assign no other reason than that of paw- 

 ing in the sand, and throv.'ing it over their bodies. 

 I took my wheel-barrow full of sand, and sprink- 

 led it over the entire body of the calves; and 

 about a week after repeated the same. A few 

 days after, I made a thorough search, and could 

 find no lice at all. 



My neighboi-s and myself have tried this rem- 

 edy several times since the above experiment 

 was made, and find it to answer the purpose. 



Euclid, Ohio, 1845. M. Linley. 



The Exports of Ohio for 1845. 



The Cincinnati Chronicle says ; — " We have 

 before us the shipments from Cleveland, Ohio, 

 and Cincinnati, for the year 1845, to the last 

 week. As the season is nearly closed, we can 

 give a tolerably accurate view of the exports of 

 1845, from this great agricultural State. 



It must be remembered, that in estimating the 

 exports of a year, commencing the first of Janu- 

 ary, we do not get precisely one season's produc- 

 tion, but only one season's transportation. The 

 production belongs to both the last and the present 

 season. 



The shipments of the surplus of flour this year 

 will be very nearly as follows, reducing the wheat 

 to its equivalent in flour : 



Ck-veland... 450,000 barrels. 



Cincinnati, 150,000 " 



Toledo, - - 100,000 



Milan. .Sandu.sky, &c 150,000 



Marietta, &c 40,000 " 



Portsmouth, &c - 30,000 " 



Total, 930,000 barrels. 



The Other articles we estimate in money, thus v 



Flour, in all 930,000 barrels, 4,000,000 



Pork, in all 3,500;000 



Cattle and beef,.__- 500,000 



Wool, (i>.000,000 lbs..) 500,000 



Cbce.^p, (.5,000,000 lbs.,) 300,000 



Manufactures, 3,000,000 



Total, $11,800:000 



We think these results are under-estimated, 

 and that there are miscellaneous articles enough 

 to make the net surplus in value twelve millions 

 of dollars. The flour product is two millions of 

 dollars less than it would have been had the twO' 

 last harvests of wheat been good ones." 



