88 



GENESEE FARMER 



April. 



Plaster- "Wood Ashes. 



C. N. Bk.ment, of Albany, in his valuable 

 communication in the last Farmer, on " Ma- 

 nurcs'and their application," says — "I had once 

 great faith in the use of gypsum, but after many 

 experiments with it, I became satisfied that it 

 was of no benefit on my soil, and I have there- 

 fore abandoned its use altogether." Mr. Be- 

 MENT is not singular in his opinion of the value 

 of i)laster, as it is generally applied, broad-cast, 

 to the growing crop. I daily liear our best Sen- 

 eca county farmers observe, that plaster has lit- 

 tle or no eflect on the crop, except clover ; that, 

 evSh on this, its effect is often imperceptible. 



In the first place, we may infer that farmers 

 expect too much, from plaster alone ; then it 

 may often happen, that the carbonate of lime in 

 the soil, has been made into plaster by the min- 

 eral and vegetable alkalies, deposited in the soil 

 by the manure applied to it, or by decompos- 

 ing clover previously plowed under ; besides, 

 plaster being slow to dissolve, one large dose, 

 coarsel}^ ground as it is with us, may suffice for 

 several successive crops. 



If farmers were as zealous to procure house 

 ashes, as they are to provide themselves with 

 plaster, melhinks they would reap a ten-fold re- 

 ward. At this time, the soap boilers' pedlars are 

 picking up the best house ashes in this village, 

 at the exchange of 1 lb. of black soap, for more 

 than an imperial bushel, about 4 cents for the 

 large bushel. I know of no article, shame on 

 our farmers to say it, which at this time is sold 

 so very far below its intrinsic value, as our do- 

 mestic wood ashes. 



But there is another office in the economy of 

 manures, in which plaster may be advantageous- 

 ly applied; let everj' farmer keep it in his sta- 

 ble, and strew it frequently over his barn-yard, 

 in warm dry weather; the escaping ammonia 

 from the dung and urine, will then be converted 

 by it into the' sulphate of ammonia, a non vola- 

 tile salt. When applied to the field with the ma- 

 nure of the yard, the growing crop will disen- 

 gage and assimilate the ammonia, leaving the 

 plaster again to assume its former character, the 

 sulphate of lime. S. W. 



Waterloo, March 14, 184G. 



Massachusetts becoming a Wheat-Grow- 

 ing State. — " In Essex county, 40 bushels of 

 White Flint winter wheat were raised to the 

 acre, the past year, weighing 61 pounds to the 

 bushel, and was sold for seed at •'^^2,50 per busli- 

 el, yielding 8100 dollars to the acre, less the 

 cost of plowing, &c., and 6 casks of lime 

 (slacked, ) which cost $3,37. The land had been 

 mown for several years, was broken up and well 

 harrowed, limed, the grain limed, then sown, 

 and l)arrowed, and rolled in on the sod. There 

 is no doubt that drought operated unfavorably. — 

 The soil is a rich, dark loam, and a clay pan." 



Farmers' Clubs. 



American Institute, \ 

 March 10, 181C. S 



Dear Sir : — I am highly pleased to see, in 

 your valuable paper, the Genesee Farmer, the 

 strong recommendations of the foundation of 

 Farmer's Clubs. In my opinion, and in that of 

 our most able members, these Clubs are destined 

 to effect more real good to the country than al- 

 most every other kind of associations — and the 

 daily correspondence which we have, convinces 

 us that we ai'C right. 



And we intend to persevere in the practical 

 work of interchanging, to the utmost extent, 

 grafts of ail the most valuable fruit trees — the 

 most useful seeds of all plants — and to give, with 

 them, such careful descriptions as will insure to 

 him who receives them a certainty of their results. 



By persevering in this interchange, we shall, 

 in a few years, cover our fields and gardens with 

 fruit of the most precious sorts. Much may be 

 done, this season, by a simultaneous movement 

 of the Clubs already formed. 



If you think with us, take hold of the subject, 

 and make it a prominent topic in your periodical. 

 I am respectfully vours, 



F. B." Wakeman. 



Remarks. — The above letter was not intend- 

 ed for publication ; but our friend Mr. Wake- 

 man will pardon the liberty, as it brings a very 

 important subject, that of improving our fruits, 

 in a plain and practical v/ay, directly before the 

 public. We trust the day is not distant, when 

 every town in the State will have a well organ- 

 ized, working Farmer's Club, for the improve- 

 ment, not only of fruits, but of all cultivated 

 plants, and domestic animals ; and above all, for 

 the improvement of that infinitely higher and no- 

 bler being — Man himself. 



To Cure a Stifled Horse. — Take one gal- 

 lon of urine, and put therein a small handful of 

 junk tobacco, boil down to one quart ; then add 

 two ounces of the oil of spike, one ounce of the 

 oil of amber, two spoonfuls of spirits of turpen- 

 tine, and two spoonfuls of honey. Put into a 

 jug, and cork it tight for use. 



Process of application. — Rub the stifle bone 

 hard with the mixture fifteen or twenty minutes; 

 then dry it in thoroughly with a red hot fire 

 shovel, then ride the horse forth and back one 

 hundred rods. Repeat the above two or three 

 times, and the cure will be effected. — A?ii. Ag. 



Two Facts worth considering. — According 

 to the official returns laid before Parliament, 

 tliere were imported into the United kingdom of 

 Great Britain in 1840, from all countries, 1,993.- 

 405 quarters of wheat. This is the first fact. — 

 The second is that, with equal advantages as to 

 duty, the farmers of the United States sent to 

 England in the year named, only 73,75.5 quar- 

 ters, or one 25th of the whole. 



