72 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. 



(EbitorV ^Table. 



To Correspondents . — Communications have been re- 

 ceived, since our last, from Myron Adams. H. Y., H. S. 

 Chase, M. D., Horace L. Emery, R. B. Warren, Adin Man- 

 ley, *, C. Paulk, E. P., Alvin Wilcox, S., L. Wetherell, B. 

 Allen, Utilitarian, E. Hurd, B. F. Sweet, L. E. B., John 

 Sheldon, F. W. Lay. W. E. W., J. Wells, J. H. Beech, M. 

 D., F. Hurd, W. Hodge, S. W., J. A Pease, J. B. Ellis, 

 Subscriber, J. G. Anthony, J. W. Dickinson. A. W.. D., 

 Clark Glidden, Arista, S. P. Chapman, Fenner, P. Palmer, 

 R. K. Taft, Jas. P. Knowles, Henry C. Stoddard, W. B. 

 Wheeler, J. Frye. jr., A. Western Farmer, W. S. Tupper, 

 B. S. Crofoot, L. H C, Spencer Daniels, W. J. Pette. W., 

 J. H. W., A Subscriber, J. Gibbons, and C. L. Chappell. 



Several articles from correspondents, in type, but neces- 

 sarily deferred — and a large number on file for publication. 



Acknowledgments. — We are indebted to J. W. Lincoln, 

 Esq., of Worcester, for a copy of the " Transactions rf the 



Agricultural Societies of Massachusetts for the year 1847" 



and for the transactions of the Worcester County Agricultu- 

 ral Society for the year 1848 ..To Col. B. P.Johnson, 



for a copy of the Address delivered by Hon. L. F. Allen at 

 the recent Annual Meeting of the N. Y. State Agricultural 



Society To Munn & Co., publishers of the Scientific 



American, New York, for a pamphlet copy of the American 



Patent Laws To J. R. Powell, Esq., for " Catalogue 



of the Mt. Airy Agricultural Institute, Germantown, Pa. ; 

 also an Essay on "Lime and Marl ; their Agricultural uses" 

 — by Jas. Hyatt, Chemist of the above named Institution. 



To Wm. Wood, Esq., of Canandaigua, for "Report 



of the Meetings of the Association to promote Spade Hus- 

 bandry, and Stall Feeding, on the estates of the Earl of 



Dartmouth, in Yorkshire, England." Also to Members 



of Congress, Officers of Agricultural Societies, and several 

 unknown friends, for various documents, pamphlets, &c. 



Wool Growing and Stock Raising in the Mountains.— 

 The article on this subject, in the December number of the 

 Farmer, has caused considerable inquiry. We have been 

 unable to answer, by letter, the various' inquiries propoun- 

 ded, for the want of .both time and proper information — but 

 have receieed from the senior editor, now at the South, an 

 article in answer to those who have inquired upon the sub- 

 ject. The article was received too late for insertion in this 

 number, but will be given in our next. 



An Example. — A young man thus writes us from the 

 Green Mountain State :—" Having been a subscriber the 

 past year, I wish to continue the Farmer, as I am fully 

 aware of its value. I am a young man ; farming is the 

 occupation I have chosen, and I wish to become a good and 

 successful farmer. I think your journal will aid me very 

 much, and I enclose you $1, the subscription for two years 

 in advance, I am a hired man on a farm, and will inform 

 you if I change my residence." 



We predict that, extraordinaries excepted, the writer of 

 the foregoing extract will, ten years hence, be the possessor 

 and intelligent cultivator of a farm worth more than a trifle 

 of California sand. We wish young men* of the same 

 views were more numerous in this nation of farmers. There 

 is undoubtedly a " better time coming" in this particular— 

 but the apathy and prejudice of many fathers, on the subject 

 of printed light, precludes us from specifying the period. 



Direct Testimony.— A subscriber in Oakland County, 

 Michigan, writing relative to his last crop, says:— "I shall 

 have of wheat, barley corn and oats, (principally wheat,) on 

 43 acres, about 1750 bushels.— For the continued increase of 

 my crops, / am mainly indebted to the agricultural works and 

 journals. My neighbors say it is luck, but they have the 

 same sun, soil and rain. They think they can cheat the 

 land, and not have it cheat them in return— but in this they 

 will be mistaken." 



This " lucky" farmer usually grows from 40 to 43 bushels 

 of wneat per acre, and other crops in proportion ; while the 

 crops of his " unlucky," anti-book-farming neighbors are 

 annually decreasing— becoming "small and beautifully less." 

 Comment is unnecessary. 



Read the advertising department, or cover of this number. 



i U ^l 5« something interesting, and which may prove 

 valuable. The cover does not increase the postage on the 

 I'armer— which please bear in mind. The postage on both 

 sheets, unstitched, is the same as on a single newspaper. 



Encouragement— Progress.— The accessions to the sub- 

 scription list of the Farmer, during the past month, indicate 

 that the cause of improvement is making rapid progress 

 throughout the country. Agricultural books and periodicals 

 are receiving favor with the most prominent and intelligent 

 persons engaged m rural pursuits ; and such works are cre- 

 ating a salutary influence among those who, through ignor- 

 ance or prejudice have hitherto denied their usefulness. 

 We might fill this whole paper with extracts from letters 

 recently received, in favor of Agricultural publications, 

 societies, #c., and containing gratifying evidence of the 

 onward march of improvement in numerous sections of our 

 widely extended country. Among various similar epistles, 

 received within a few days, (written by gentlemen of differ- 

 ent professions, but principally farmers,) we extract the fol- 

 lowing from a distinguished Clergyman now residing in 

 Central Michigan— the Rev. Anson Tucker : 



" Enclosed I send you two dollars for the Farmer, for 5 

 years in advance. Though not engaged in Agriculture, yet 

 I look monthly, with great interest for the appearance of 

 your exceedingly interesting and valuable journal— and as 

 the science you are laboring to promote constitutes the grand 

 basis of our national prosperity and glory, I hope you may 

 be so sustained by an intelligent public that you shall never 

 falter, never tire. I am convinced that not only every cul- 

 tivator of the soil, but every mechanic and every professional 

 man, should, as a matter of principle, as well as interest, take 

 at least one well conducted Agricultural paper. Far better 

 were it that such papers as the " Post" and the "'Courier' 

 should die, if possible, a thousand times over, then that one 

 such journal should perish." 



From California! — The publisher acknowledges the 

 receipt of $5 from California, not in gold dust, however. 

 No doubt the volumes of the Farmer ordered will be of 

 great service in procuring gold— provided their contents are 

 carefully noted and properly applied in using the plow, hoe 

 and spade, instead of the pick-axe. So mote it be. 



Speaking of sending the Farmer abroad, we will add, 

 par parenthesis, that those who wish to send copies to their 

 friends in distant sections of this country, or Europe, the 

 Canadas, &c, can be accommodated "on reasonable terms." 

 In such cases we only ask the club price (40 cents per copy) 

 — adding postage if sent to foreign countries, which is 12 

 cents on each volume. Several of our readers hereabouts 

 are sending the Farmer to distant friends— having somehow 

 obtained the impression that Western New York is the 

 source and location of the handsomest, cheapest and best 

 farmer's journal on this continent. As to the accuracy of 

 such an impression, which is apparently becoming quite prev- 

 alent among the readers of the Farmer, we express no 

 opinion. It is a subject on which we beg to remain sub rosa. 



Broome County. — In a recent letter, enclosing $10 on 

 subscription to the Farmer, Mr. Silas S. Sage, of Windsor, 

 writes us as follows :— " We have not in this section, until 

 quite recently, enjoyed the facilities for market which are 

 desirable for an Agricultural community. During the con- 

 struction of the N. Y. and Erie Railroad, all kinds of pro- 

 duce have commanded good prices ; and now we are within 

 12 hours travel of N. Y. City, so that if the citizens of this 

 county turn their attention to dairying, as they probably will, 

 I think the time is not far distant when Broome County But- 

 ter will not be many hours behind the far famed Orange 

 County. I hope we may gain some hints from your truly 

 valuable journal, to aid us in the selection of cows, the con- 

 struction of buildings, and in procuring all the paraphernalia 

 necessary for .producing the gold, without going to dig for it 

 in the sands of California." 



— And which it shall be our constant endeavor, as it will 

 be our pleasure, to furnish thee and all other kind friends 

 and attentive readers of the Farmer. 



A Suggestion and Request. — We wish to remind those 

 of our readers who are interested in extending the circulation 

 of the Farmer, that the approaching Town Meetings and 

 Elections will offer a favorable opportunity for efforts in that 

 direction. Those of our subscribers who can consistently 

 do so, may aid the cause materially by taking their numbers 

 with them to the Election, and obtaining subscriptions. It 

 is a good time to " show the papers" to those who ought to 

 subscribe — and we will cheerfully supply extra numbers to 

 all whose copies are soiled or given away, on such occa- 

 sions. Think of this, reader, and see what you can do for 

 the benefit of your fellow townsmen, in thus promoting the 

 circulation of the Farmer and similar journals. 



