ISIS). 



THE GENESEE FARMKK. 



41 



produced by the frequenl use of horse hoes among 

 growing crops, is an advantage that must not be 

 slightly passed over. 

 The extra large yield of straw, the proportionably 



increased yield of grain, and the superior tilth or 

 cleanliness imparted to the soil by the practice of 

 drilling and horse hoeing the ordinary field crops 

 grown in our country, am of such great magnitude 

 that no intelligent cultivator should for a moment 

 neglect to make himself thoroughly acquainted with 

 the subject. Every one acquainted with the science 

 and practice of agriculture must have observed the 

 importance of thoroughly disintegrating or pulver- 

 izing the soil, and who is there but must have observed 

 the powerful influence that a single hoeing has upon 

 the growth of a crop of garden or field vegetables ? 

 No one would think of obtaining a full average of corn 

 without previously pulverizing the ground for the 

 crop, and also, would frequently employ the hand or 

 horse hoe in keeping the ground clean, for the pur- 

 pase of loosening it, so that the lateral and fibrous 

 roots of the plants might have a perfect freedom in 

 searching for the requisite supply of food to bring 

 them forward to a full and healthy state of maturity. 

 An equal benefit will be found in hoeing field crops, 

 which work cannot be done unless the seed be sown 

 in regular rows. 



There are various methods of sowing grain in 

 drills, and the variety of machines used for that pur- 

 pose in Europe have become so numerous that a 

 clear description of them w r ould scarcely be found 

 interesting to the American farmer. The ingenuity 

 of our mechanics has within the few past years been 

 happily turned to the investigation of this branch of 

 agricultural mechanics, which has resulted in the 

 production of machines for drilling grain that are 

 in many very important particulars superior to the 

 best in use in Europe. These machines are cheap 

 and simple, and before we bring our series on "Drill 

 Husbandry'' 1 to a close, shall be described, so that 

 their particular merits may be understood and ap- 

 preciated. 



Although horse hoeing is not indispensable to drill 

 husbandry, still, on the score of economy, it should 

 rarely if ever be neglected, and hence in discussing 

 the merits of the latter, we shall invariably press 

 upon the attention of our readers the importance of 

 the former. 



DESCRIPTION OF SNOW-FLAKES. 

 BY L. WETHERELL. 



" Snow is the frozen moisture that descends from the 

 atmosphere when the temperature of the air at the surface of 

 the earth is near, or below, the freezing point." 



The size of the snow-flakes depends upon two 

 causes: when the atmosphere abounds in vapor and 

 the temperature is near 32° Fah., the flakes are large; 

 and as the moisture diminishes and the cold increases, 

 the snow becomes finer. In the former condition of 

 the atmosphere it is not uncommon to see flakes that 

 are an inch in diameter. The lower the temperature 

 the less the diameter of the flakes. At 10° Fah. 

 snow-flakes rarely exceed seven-hundredths of an 

 inch in diameter. Snow has been known to fall 

 with a temperture that caused the mercury to fall 12° 

 and even to 20° below zero. But this is not common. 



The snow-flakes have a great diversity of form, 

 which, as every accurate observer will testify, con- 

 stitute beautiful and regular crystals; and it is the 



copious reflection of lighl caused by these, thai gives 



snow its brilliant u hit. 



The bulk of snow, just fallen, is ten or twelve 

 times greater, (more or le . depending upon the 

 temperature and moisture of the atmosphere,) thai, 

 that of the water produced by melting it. 



Forms of Snow-Flakes. 



Isolated crystals unite under angles of 30, 60 and 

 120 degrees. These by their different modes of 

 union form several hundred distinct varieties of snow- 

 flakes. Scoresby, an arctic navigator of great 

 celebrity has enumerated six hundred : and these are 

 all comprised under five classes. According to 

 Scoresby the starred figure, (fig. 4) in the diagram 

 given above, is observed when the thermometer «s 

 near the freezing point. The hexaedron, (fig. 2) is 

 seen both in moderate and very low temperature. 

 The diagram given above presents only eight of the 

 ninety-six figures delineated by Scoresby. From it, 

 however, the reader may be led to observe for him- 

 self, the great variety of forms which Infinite Wisdom 

 has given bodies of so small a bulk as snow-flakes. 



Red Snow and Green Snow have been known 

 to fall in the Arctic regions. The cause of this is 

 said, from examination, to be an infinite number of a 

 certain class of microscopic plants which flourish at 

 a very low temperature. But with regard to the 

 worms .which are reported to have fallen in this 

 vicinity with the snow last December, I say as a dis- 

 tinguished naturalist of the age said to some one 

 who told him that he had seen a shower of animals 

 with his own eyes : " It is fortunate,*' said he, " that 

 you have seen it, for now I believe it : had I seen 

 it myself, I should not have believed it." 



The uses of snow are too well known to the intel- 

 ligent farmer to more than need naming. It has 

 been properly styled, "the poor man's manure." It 

 forms a warm covering for the soil, and thus defends 

 vegetation from the severity of the winter. It also 

 diminishes the intensity of the darkness during the 

 long winter nights, and furnishes a favorable oppor- 

 tunity for the farmer to replenish his wood-pile, to 

 move his fencing materials, and to carry his surplus 

 produce to market. 



