84 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



April 



in springs and wells, its application can hardly fail 

 to improve the soil. If it can be had at a small 

 price, the dose should be often repeated in the course 

 of successive crops, that the lime may be thoroughly 

 incorporated in the whole texture and mass of the 

 earth. With all needful facilities for its cheap 

 transportation, lime is so abundant in this country, 

 that before many generations pass away, no farming 

 district will do without this important element of 

 fertility. The mineral which makes the Cherokee 

 country in Georgia, the Trinity valley in Texas, and 

 that of Genesee, in New York, so famous for yielding 

 wheat, will be applied in due quantity, to the free 

 sand stone and granitic soils of other regions. It 

 is a mistake to suppose that the application of one 

 or two small doses of lime will form a truly calca- 

 reous soil. Such a result can be economically 

 effected only as the work of years, and after much 

 mixing by tillage with the plow, harrow, cultivator 

 and hoe. A regular system of liming carried 

 through many seasons, on a moderate scale, will 

 doubtless bring about a most salutary change in the 

 strength and productiveness of the land. 



Farmers should investigate the peculiarities of 

 every kind of husbandry ; and be able to distinguish 

 closely between all practices which impair and all 

 that improve the soil. Nothing is easier than to be 

 mistaken and disappointed in these results. Extreme 

 caution in trying experiments on a large scale is the 

 only safe course; but a little experimenting will harm 

 no one, and often brings to light some important im- 

 provement. There are many millions of acres that 

 greatly need improvement: and still other millions 

 whose natural fertility should be saved from any 

 deterioration. 



A DROP FROM THE CORNICE. 



Messrs. Editors :— As I have recently become a 



GEDDES' HARROW. 



subscriber to your valuable paper, I have, of course 

 become one of its readers. Although a Mechanic, 

 and not " a Farmer," I esteem its contents of greater 

 value than its subscription price. Now, though I 

 may be but a .small drop in the stream, if I chance to 

 get into it, I will accept the invitation friend Peters 

 has given in his fable of the Raindrop, in your Janu- 

 ary number, and come out from raider the cornice ; 

 yet I have not the vanity to think that he had me " in 

 his eye'' when he gave the invitation. 



As great things cannot be expected from so small a 

 drop as I am, I will put myself in motion by trying 

 to answer a small question, suggested by your cor- 

 respondent, "G. S. G.," in your January number, 

 though I am not an Architect. He says, in a paren- 

 thesis, "that his house looks steeper and more Gothic 

 than his drawing ; thongh he don t know why, as the 

 proportions are the same." He has undoubtedly 

 drawn the end in exact proportion with the exact an- 

 gle of the roof. Had he drawn a view of the end 

 only, the roof would then have appeared as steep 

 in the drawing as in his house ; but as he has to this 

 added a view of the side, it indicates that the point of 

 observation is not in front, but at one side of the front, 

 and from this position the end of the house itself 

 must appear narrower while the height appears the 

 same, consequently the angle of the roof would appear 

 more acute. If these laws had been observed, the 

 drawing and house would have appeared to have the 

 same proportions. I will close by hoping to say 

 something in my next to interest more directly the 

 Horticulturist and Farmer. D.— Albion, JV. Y. 



" The Geddes Harrow, so called from the inventor, 

 George Geddes of Tyler, Onondaga County, in this 

 State, is considered by those who have used both, to 

 be superior to the square harrow, inasmuch as it 

 draws from a centre, with- 

 out an uneasy and strug- 

 gling motion, and is of 

 course easier for the team. 

 The accompanying cut is 

 so simple that it needs no 

 description. Being hung on 

 hinges, it is easily lifted 

 when in motion, to let off 

 collections of weeds, roots 

 and other obstructions. It 

 can be doubled back, and is 

 of very convenient form to 

 be carried in a wagon about 

 the farm. Some have teeth put in as in common 

 harrows, simply by being driven in from the upper 

 side • others have the teeth so made as to be let 

 through the timber from the under side, with a washer 

 below, and a nut and screw on the top; this avoids 

 the loosing of teeth, by preventing them from drop- 

 ping out, as in the common harrows. 



There are several sizes containing more or less 

 teeth as required. The following table shows the 

 number of teeth in the several sizes, and their prices: 



14 teeth, for one horse, - ~""^q'm! 



18 teeth, for one or two horses - - -j-^" 



22 teeth, for two light horses, - - - ^-"" 



26 teeth, for two heavy horses, - - - *£•"" 



30 teeth, for two or three horses. 10 -" u 



The work performed by this harrow is better, with 

 one operation,' than can be done with a common A 

 harrow by going twice over the ground. ' 



This Harrow may be obtained at the Albany Ag- 

 ricultural Warehouse, Albany, and at the Genesee 

 Seed Store and Ag. Warehouse, Rochester. _ A so 

 of the principal manufacturers and dealers in imple- 

 ments throughout the country 



An Agricultural School. — We are credibly 

 informed that Mr. Wilkinson of Germantown, Fa., 

 seven miles from Philadelphia, has an Agricultural 

 School for the instruction of young gentlemen in 

 Scientific and Practical Agriculture, and that a 

 thorough English education, with four modern lan- 

 guages, is given as an adumctto the scientific course. 

 Every branch is thoroughly and practically taught. 

 The school is called the Mount Airy Agricultural 

 Institute. Its location is proverbial for health. It 

 is said that the character and advantages ot this 

 school are not excelled bv any in the Union. 1 he 

 Tuition year is divided into two terms of five months 

 each: the summer term commences on the hrst 

 Thursday of April, and the winter term on the first 

 Thursday of October. The charge for tuition, board, 

 washing, fuel and light is $100 per term, payable in 



Persons wishing further information relative to 

 this school, will address the principal, John Wilk- 

 inson, Germantown, Pa. Reference is also given to 

 the following gentlemen: Gen. P. S. Smith, Phila- 

 delphia; Thos. McElrath. Esq., N. Y. Tribune 

 N Y • Hon. Thos. Baltzell, Tallahasse, i a., and 

 Richard Peters, Esq., Atlanta, Ga. - Southern 

 Cultivator. 



