1849. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



47 



Spirit of tl)c rigriniltural JJvcsi 



Prophecy. — The Hon. Johs Lowell, in an address 

 before the, Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture, 

 in l!'.l!!. made the following remarks in reference to the 

 connection of chemistry with agriculture. They evince the 

 wisdom and sagacity of an able mind: — "There are few 

 persons who hove read the lute 1 able and interesting work 

 on agricultural chemistry, by Sir Humphrey Davy, who do 

 not perceive its intimate connection with this important art, 

 or who do nol feel a prophetic com iction of its future use- 

 fulness." Mr. Lowell went on to Bay, that though ho 

 regarded tin- as a subject with which the practical farmer 

 need not trouble himself, lest he should become "confused 

 and bewildered,'" yet he thought there was "reasonable 

 ground of hope, that men of leisure and seienec would he 

 led to more aeeurate and philosophical views of agriculture, 

 and that from their experiments their neighbors would derive 

 grent ultimate advantage." — Cultivator. 



Agricu l t ur al Publications are among; the most useful 

 printed, and it is quite important to- an improved .system of 

 farming, that they be widely disseminated. They add vastly 

 to the productive wealth, comfort, and happiness of the 

 country, and tend greatly to enlighten the minds of those 

 engaged in cultivating the soil. It is the duty, therefore, 

 of all to exert themselves in their dissemination. ^No man 

 can well do a greater good to his country. — Am. Ag. 



Vkhv TRUE INDEED. — Somebody says, when you see a 

 man who curses when it rains, frets when a fog occurs, and 

 smiles only when the sun shines, be sure that such a one 

 can never bear up with fortitude against the attacks of 

 misfortune, nor stand with equanimity the marvelous 

 changes of our daily life. 



Poultry — Hen and Chickens. — A writer on this subject 

 (and let no one say it is not an important one) in the 

 Providence American, gives the results of his experience in 

 eoonomizing the time with hens, and we think them worthy 

 of being communicated to our readers. All who are familiar 

 with rearing chickens, know that there are verj r few hens 

 that will allow newly hatched chickens to be committed to 

 their care, when their own are a few- days old. This the 

 writer attributes to the fact that the hen has become 

 acquainted with her own chickens, from color, marks, &c., 

 and considers the new-comers in the light of intruders, 

 which she too frequently punishes with death. To obviate 

 this, he puts the first hen that hatches into a coop, and 

 keeps her there with her chickens till another hen hatches, 

 when he substitutes the second hen for the first, leaving the 

 charge of the former ; and when another hen hatches, she 

 is put in place of the second, with all three broods — if the 

 aggregate number do not exceed thirty, which he says she 

 will take care of affectionately and efficiently. 



Profits of Hens. — Dr. J. Barstow, of Chicago, kept an 

 account of the expense and income of fifty hens, for one 

 year. The cost of keeping on corn, was about twenty-five 

 cents for each ben. The hens averaged ninety-one eggs 

 each. One of the editors of the Prairie Farmer states that 

 he has kept forty hens the past year ; that the cost was about 

 tho same as given by Dr. Barstow ; but the fowls averaged 

 only sixty-live eggs each. The fowls in both cases were 

 confined to a yard, but one lot of them were allowed to have 

 their liberty for a part of each day. They were fed with 

 fresh meat occasionally. — Cultivator. 



The Tea Plant in the United States. — The planters 

 and farmers of the Southern States will be gratified to learn 

 that seven cases of black and green tea-plants, Chinese 

 stock, have just arrived from London in the ship American 

 Eagle, shipped by Dr. Junius Smith, during his late visit to 

 that city. There are 500 plants, of from five to seven 

 years' growth. All are designed by the Doctor as seed 

 plants. A small quantity of tea-seed was brought out by 

 him in the steamship Britannia, which was received in 

 London overland from the northwest provinces of India. 

 Wo understand the Doctor designs to proceed soon to the 

 South, with a view of forming a plantation. More plants 

 and seed are expected from India and China this season, and 

 if we may judge from the progress already made, we have 

 now the means in hand of extending lea plantations through- 

 out such sections of our country as may be found adapted to 

 their cultivation. — Journal of Commerce. 



A bright plowshare is the cheapest commodity ever used 

 by a farmer. — Cobbett. 



Improved Road Scraper. — Messrs. <\ Schofield andG, 



J. Johns, of Albion, ftlinpif, have made a very useful im- 

 provement on a Semper lor making ami repairing common 

 roads, winch should In- adopted and employed by all our 

 farmers in every township. It isespeciallj useful for new 

 settlements. The improvement consist! in combining the 

 scoop with a plow and having the scoop fixed to the standard 

 by a swivel joint, so that by a catch lever connected with 

 ii. the scoop can be emptied with the greatest ease without 

 tumbling over the scoop, which has to be done with the 

 scrapers at present in use. 



Improved Cider Mill. — At Madison. Ww Jersey, there 

 is a cider mill which consumes about 1200 bushels of apples 

 per day. The apples are not ground, or broken by squeez- 

 ing between nuts as in the common cider mill, but they aro 

 cut into very thin slices by sharp knives around two revolv- 

 ing cylinders, and then pressed in a machine from which the 

 juice comes out entirely free from the pulp and other things 

 which are found in new cider at the old mills — the cider 

 retaining its sweetness a longer time. 



The price of apples was perhaps never lower than this 

 year. The farmers bring them by the wagon load 10 or 15 

 miles, and sell them at the mill for five cents a bushel. 



Improvements on Windmills. — Mr. Charles B. Hutchin- 

 son, of Waterloo, Seneca Co., N. Y., has recently made some 

 valuable improvements on windmills both for self-regulating 

 and reefing the sails. A common governor is used for the 

 regulating of the angle of the sails to the wind, but this is 

 employed in a most judicious and novel manner, for retain- 

 ing the ends of the booms in slot when necessary, at an angle 

 reverse to the allowing of the sails to present the square of 

 their surfaces to the blast. This mode of self-regulation has 

 been completely successful in practice during the most fitful 

 windy days of this autumn. 



Page's Portable Windmill. — This contrivance, con- 

 structed upon entirely new principles, is capable of producing 

 great power with light winds, with no danger of being 

 blown away by those that are heavier, as the sails are so 

 constructed as to set instantaneously, and throw off any 

 surplus that may occur. It has also a vane so arranged as 

 to counterbalance the power used below, always keeping 

 the wheel square to the wind. It is capable of being applied 

 as a locomotive power — the one on exhibition having been 

 so used, placed upon a common buggy wagon. — lb. 



Page's Patent Portable Saw Mill. — This mill has 

 been extensively used, and has fully recommended itself to 

 the public. Mr. Page has made several important improve- 

 ments upon it, and it is now very generally considered the 

 very best mill extant for sawing lumber. Mr. Page (who 

 is from Baltimore, Md.) has in his possession certificates 

 from gentlemen of undoubted character, saying that with 

 this machine they have cut 8,000 feet of inch boards in one 

 day, with eight horses. He has moved his mill, after 

 sawing 200 boards in the morning, thirteen miles in one 

 day, and was sawing again before eleven o'clock the next 

 morning, without any extra help other than in use at first — 

 six horses and two men. — N. Y. Farmer and Mechanic. 



Big Sheep. — It is stated that some of the sheep exhibited 

 at the last show of the Royal Agricultural Society, were 

 estimated to weigh as follows : Leicesters, of 16 months old, 

 46 lbs. per quarter ; of the same breed, 3 years and 4 months 

 old, 56 lbs. per quarter. Long-wools, (not Leicester,) 16 

 months old, 52 lbs. per quarter ; of the same breed, 3 years 

 and 4 months old, 72 lbs. per quarter. South-Downs, 16 

 months old, 36 lbs. per quarter ; of the same breed, 3 years 

 and 4 months old, 46 lbs. per quarter. — lb. 



The Atmospheric Churn Outdone ! — Tho following 

 description of a mode of churning practiced in Mexico, we 

 think goes a little ahead of tho "atmospheric" wonder: 

 " Two tin cans are enclosed in a green cow-hide — the size 

 to correspond to the quantity of milk. The hide, on drying, 

 will shrink, and adhere to tho cans. These cans are partly 

 filled with milk, and placed like saddle-bags on a hard- 

 trotting horse ; a person then mounts the horse, and rides 

 seven or eight miles into the city. The motion of the horse 

 effects the separation of the butter from the milk, and the 

 rider has only to pocket tho cash for his butter and butter- 

 milk, and wend his way home at his leisure." 



Tools and Implements. — Let every description of tools 

 and implements be examined, have those requiring it re- 

 paired, and those not in use carefully put away under cover. 

 Such attention saves both time and money. 



