1846. 



GENESEE FARMER 



10-; 



magnesia, iron, potash, and soda, it contained, 

 (which an analyeis would reveal,) wc could pre- 

 scribe a Compost that would fit his case to the 

 dot of an ?'. 



To prepare compost, however, on a common 

 plan, dig your swamp muck and dry it well (if 

 you can under shelter) before you haul it to 

 your barn yard, or into the field where the com- 

 post heap is to be used. One pound of dry peat 

 will absorb several pounds of water. Hence the 

 great gain in drying previous to hauling. — 

 Spread this on dry earth one foot in thickness. 

 Spread over tlie muck a layer of slaked lime four 

 inches in depth, and mix the two together. — 

 Place above this, first a layer of manure, stable 

 or barnyard, eight or ten inches thick, and a 

 layer of leactied ashes of equal thickness. If 

 you add one third anieached ashes in place of 

 the leached, the compost will be much improved. 

 The alternate layers of manure and ashes can 

 be built up four feet or more, drawing in on all 

 sides, and covering the whole heap with a mix- 

 ture of gvpsum and nsuck six inches deep, to ab- 

 sorb ajt/gi^ses, and retain them. If you have 

 reason to believe that your soil lacks soda, chlo- 

 rine, and iron — of the latter there ivS probably no 

 deficiency — then dissolve in water 50 lbs. of 

 green vitriol (sulphate of iron,) and twice as 

 much common salt (chloride of sodium,) and ap- 

 dly the brine to the compost heap. 



We commend the following to the attention of 

 corn growei's. It is taken from the Farmer's 

 Library. — 



Preparatioii of Seed Com. 



My corn crop was increased about 33 per 

 eent., by a simple preparation of the seed as 

 follows : 



At noon of the day before planting, 18th May, 

 I pul? my seed-corn to soak in a strong decoction 

 of copperas v/ater, say 2 lbs. copperas to warm 

 soft water sufficient to cover a bushel of corn. 

 The next morning took out a peck, added a pint 

 or more of soh soap, stirred it thoroughly, then 

 put on piaster enough to make it convenient for 

 planting, say one quart. The whole field was 

 planted with the seed thus prepared, except 4 

 rows, wliich were planted with the seed without 

 any preparation. The after culture of the whole 

 was alike—- passing through each way with the 

 cultivator, and hoeing twice. The fbur rows 

 last mentioned were cut up, harvested, and the 

 corn weighed and measured by itself; also four 

 rows next adjoining, the seed of which had teen 

 prepared as above. The produce of the four 

 rows of unprepared seed was eleven bushels and 

 a half. The product of the four rows from the 

 prepared seed was seventeen bushels — a differ- 

 ence of fiVG and and a half busliels of ears in one 

 hundred and twenty h'sN. The yield of the re- 

 mainder of the field a .-aged fully et^ual to the 

 four rows measured. 



The difference in the growth and appearance 

 of the corn of prepared and unprepared seed was 

 striking from the time of its appearance above 

 the ground until it tasselled — the former looking 

 green and vigorous, the latter puny and yellow. 

 it was all cut down by the frost when about three 

 inches high, but came on finely after the first of 

 June. Tliere was scarcely a soft ear in the 

 field, excepting on the four rows of unprepared 

 seed. These were about a week later in riperi- 

 ing than that from the prepared seed. The soil 

 is a sandy loam. The whole expense of prepar- 

 ing the bushel and three pecks of seed did not 

 exceed 62 i cents. The increased produce of 

 the field by preparing the seed was over 200 

 bushels of ears. Lansing Wetmork 



Cheap Paint. — An Ontario Farmer gires the 

 following recipe for a cheap paint. He says he 

 has tried it on brick, and finds it well calculated 

 to preserve them, and ju-eters it to oil paint. He 

 says, also, that it will last longeron rough siding 

 of wood than oil paint will on planed siding or 

 boards. 



Take one bushel of unslacked lime and slack 

 it witli cold water; when slacked, add 50 lbs. of 

 Spanish whiting, 17 lbs, of salt, and 13 lbs. of 

 sugar. Strain the mixture through a wire sieve, 

 and it will be fit tor use, after reducing with cold 

 water. In order to give it a good color, three 

 coats are necessary on brick, and two on wood. 

 It may be laid on with a brush similar to white- 

 wash. Each coat must have suflicient time to 

 dry before the next is apj)lied. 



For painting inside walls, take as before, one 

 bushel of unslacked lime, 3 lbs, of sugar, 5 lbs. 

 of salt, and prepare as above, and apply with a 

 brush. 



You can make any color : use for yellow. 

 Ochre instead of ?/hiting ; for lemon color, 

 Ochre and Chrome Yellow ; for lead and slate 

 color. Lamp-black; for blue. Indigo; for green, 

 chrome green. The different kinds of paint will 

 not cost more than one-fourth as much as oil 

 paints, including labor of putting on. 



Cut Worms.— To the remark that "cut worms 

 may be destroyed by continued tillage and a na- 

 ked and open soil," I beg to say that tlie cut- 

 worm would not be found in corn, were it not 

 planted in sward or sod-land. They are the pro- 

 geny of a species of beetle or other insect, which 

 could never propagate its kind without the aid of 

 dung, which is found in grass fields, which have 

 been fed by horses or cattle, and in this ihey en- 

 close their egg or eggs, and sink them a given 

 distance below the surface ; hence, an autumnal 

 or winter ])lowing of such land destroys them bj 

 exposure to the rains and frosts of that inclement 

 season — a doctrine which at least has met the 

 concurrence of every practical man among usr— 

 Boston Cultivator, 



