1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



163 



object of making these analyses is, to benefit the 

 students attending the institution, and not pecu- 

 niary gain. 



Wayne County Agricultural Society. 



Editor Gen. Farmer: — Having seen noth- 

 ing in your pages relative to the doings of the 

 Wayne Co. Society for the current year, I send 

 you a paragraph or two upon the subject. 



The next annual Fair of our Society is to be 

 held in the village of Clyde, on Thursday and 

 Friday^ the 1st and '2d days of October. The 

 Committee of Arrangements, and members gen- 

 erally, are making such preparations as will un- 

 doubtedly render the exhibition creditable to the 

 Society and all interested. We shall endeavor 

 to give the car of Improvement a strong push — 

 and do not mean to be outdone by any Society 

 in neighboring counties. The spirit of emula- 

 tion and improvement is onward in old Wayne, 

 this year — partially owing, we think, to the more 

 extensive circulation of the Genesee Farmer 

 among the cultivators of our hitherto much abu- 

 sed (though naturally rich and fertile) soil. — 

 By the way, speaking of the Farmer, our people 

 begin to realize the importance and necessity of 

 sustaining it creditably — many farmers consider- 

 ing your paper far better for Western New York 

 than any other similar publication. For my own 

 part, I would not be without it for five times its 

 subscription price, and can not conceive why it 

 is not taken by every bona fide farmer in Western 

 New York. Each number is worth the sub- 

 scription price for a year. But I am digressing 

 from the legitimate object of this communication. 



The oflicers of our Society for the current 

 year are as follows : 



T. Hemenway, President. 



A. G. Percy, Thos. Barnes, Jedediah Wilder, 

 Joel Hall, Joseph Watson, W. D. Cook, and 

 I. A. Miller, Vice Presidents. 



John J. Thomas, Cor. Secretary. 



D. Kenyon, Rec. Secretary. 



R. H. Foster, Treasurer. 



Samuel E. Hudson, Wm. P. Nottingham, Wm. 

 R. Smith, Abram Fairchild, and H. G. Dicker- 

 $:n, Executive Committee. 



The following gentlemen compose the Com. 

 of Arrangements for the Fair : Albert R. Fris- 

 bie, Aaron Griswold, S. Salisbury, jr., Henry 

 Goodchild, Zina Hooker. Yours, &c., 



June, 1846. Wayne. 



Mr. Jesse Harroun of Ogden, in this county, 

 has this season sheared a fleece weiging 15i lbs. 

 from a three-fourths Merino and one-fourth Lei- 

 cester buck. He was four years old — had not 

 been previously shorn — but thoroughly washed 

 every season. The only thing worthy of note, 

 is the fact that the sheep has continued in good 

 order, (with no extra care or keep,) and that the 

 ileece was in excellent condition. 



The Science of Mowing. 



Although many grass fields have been much 

 hurt by the ice, or winter killed, yet we hope 

 that there will be plenty of mowing by and by. 

 A writer in the New York Farmer and Mechan- 

 ic gave the following rules for young beginners 

 to mow easily and handsomely : 



" The first thing," he says, " is to keep the 

 scythe sharp. No man can be a good mower 

 without it. I had become a good mower," said 

 he, "when I fell in company with not only a good 

 mower, but a scientific one ; and after the second 

 or third day, finding that I could not keep up with 

 him without doing myself an injury, and painful 

 as it was for me to acknowledge it, (for I was 

 ambitious,) yet I was compelled to call my friend 

 to a stand in the midst of a swath. I said, ' Mr, 

 Picket, if you know any thing wiiich you can 

 communicate to me of the skill of mowing, I beg 

 of you to do so, for I am exhausted, and 1 may as 

 well confess at once that I cannot keep up with 

 you.' He stopped, came back, took my scythe 

 and explained to me the main governing princi- 

 ples. I adopted them, and in less than one hour 

 I could keep up with him in perfect ease. In- 

 deed, I had at least twenty j-er cent, more of 

 physical strength than he had. It \\^as science 

 alone that enabled him to lead me to this ex- 

 treme." The rules which this person taught 

 him were the following : — 1st. The scyth.e should 

 hang natural and easy, and be kept in first rate 

 order. 2d. As you approach the standing grass, 

 let the heel of the scythe move to the very point 

 of commencement and let it stop the instant it 

 has done its work. Thus there is nothing lost 

 by a forward or backward swing. If the grass 

 stands up so as to admit of moving on, measure 

 with the eye the utmost capacity forward of your 

 scythe ; take a quick easy gait, moving your 

 right foot well up towards the standing grass, and 

 your body with it, though leaning back by bend- 

 ing the knees a little forward, so as to bring your 

 whole weight to bear upon the scythe, without 

 twisting the body from right to left, as many do — 

 thus giving ease to each clip, and ability to re- 

 peat it in an advanced position without latigue. 



The above rules we are satisfied are good. — 

 Many who are considered good mowers have no 

 method about them, and hardly know themselves 

 how they mow. They "put it through" by 

 main strength. The operation, like every other 

 mechanical business, is based on cej-tain natural 

 and rational principles, which, when understood, 

 will render the labor less laborious, and of course 

 more pleasant and efficient. — Me. Farmer. 



Black and White Paints. — Tools, wagons, 

 &c., painted black, absorb the sun's says, become 

 hot, and warp and crack. Painted white, they 

 reflect, and do not absorb the rays, and conse- 

 quently do not become hot, and they remain un- 

 injured by warping. Hence all wooden articles 

 should be painted of some light color. 



