1849. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



185 



LETTER FROM FAIRFAX 00., VIRGINIA. 



Mkssrs. Editors: — Having recently become a 

 subscriber to the GbnbsBB Farmkr, 1 must Bay I pre- 

 fer it to all other agricultural documents that T ever 

 perused. I have shown it to my neighbors around 

 me, and asked them to subscribe. They say that it 

 is published too far off— that the system of farming 

 carried on in New-York will not answer for the soil 

 and climate here. Now I wish to know the reason, 

 for they are unable to give me a satisfactory one. — 

 Will any one of the readers of the Farmer give the 

 reason, if any, why the northern practice of farming 

 will not do in many sections of the south? Having 

 been born and raised in Madison county, New- York, 

 (from which I came to this place about two years 

 ago,) I am satisfied, from my own knowledge, that 

 the southern practice of farming would not do at the 

 north. 



Nature has done every "needful thing" for this 

 country, while it has been the work of the white man 

 and his slaves to mutilate and destroy. We have 

 many advantages over Western New York. We have 

 Washington and Alexandria, which are better mar- 

 kets for produce than any in Western New York — 

 and the Potomac river, with vessels on her that will 

 take our surplus to any part of the world. 



I wish to turn some of the farmers of New- York 

 this way, instead of their going to the west. Land 

 within three miles of Washington varies from $10 

 to $30 per acre, the price depending upon the quali- 

 ty of soil and location; and in my own neighborhood, 

 which is ten miles from Alexandria and three miles 

 from Mt. Vernon, (on part of the estate formerly 

 owned by Gen. Washington,) land can be purchas- 

 ed at from $5 to $15 per acre. * * * 



All this part of Virginia wants, in my humble 

 opinion, is enterprising northern farmers to settle here, 

 and it will become one of the gardens of the world. 

 In the luxurient valley of the Genesee, there is no 

 end to wheat and corn — while the valleys of the Po- 

 tomac river are grown up to pines and cedars; the 

 planters having left them, the deer and wild turkey 

 have taken possession, and roam unmolested. I long 

 to see the " Old Dominion" stand first, as of right 

 she ought, among her sister States; and northern 

 emigration would soon place her in that proud posi- 

 tion. 



The soil here is easily improved, and the water 

 good — and in fact there is every inducement that a 

 northern farmer could ask for. Where sown, clover 

 grows luxuriantly, and lime acts well on the soil. — 

 Indeed I see nothing to hinder a northern farmer, with 

 northern enterprise and tho northern mode of farm- 

 ing, from doing well here; and I advise all unsettled 

 farmers who wish to locate permanently, to emigrate 

 to Virginia instead of going to the west. 



Any one wishing to know more about lands in 

 Fairfax county, may direct their letters to me, and 

 they shall be accommodated. S. N. Wright. — Ac- 

 cotink, Fair/ax Co., Fa., May, 1849. 



Remarks. — We publish the above because we 

 think its statements will prove interesting to many of 

 our readers. If the section mentioned possesses 

 " many advantages over Western Now York," we Bee 

 no good reason why it should remain in a wild and 

 uncultivated state. We hope to receive articles from 

 other sections of the south and west, containing facts 

 of general interest to agriculturists — such as soil and 

 climate, staple products, price of land, &c. 



BREAKING STEERS. 



An Alabama correspondent of the Southern Culti- 

 vator gives tho following plan for breaking steers. 

 It strikes us as bring quite practicable. He says: 



" Make a yoke four feet longer than usual; give 

 room to put four bows instead of two, us represented 

 in the annexed figure. Hitch a pairof well broke 

 steers, one at each end of tho yoke, leaving the two 

 middle bows for your unhroke steers. Now hitch 

 to your cart, and put them at work, all four in the 



A B CD 



A D, old steers. | B (', young steers, 



same yoke, and abreast. They may cut some antics 

 at first, but they will soon find it best to obey the 

 word of command. Dont suffer them to be whipped, 

 as is common in breaking mules and oxen. Treat 

 them gently while you have them hitched together, 

 and you can break them with or without lines. You 

 will find this plan to be much better than having a 

 half-dozen negroes about them, beating and thump- 

 ing, whooping and bawling for a week or two, if 

 you manage them rightly for two or three weeks. — 

 Should a neighbor wish to borrow the gentlest yoke 

 of oxen you have, you would hesitate to say which 

 was the safest. The steers you have thus newly 

 broken would be without tricks." 



TO THE WOOL GROWERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



A purse of $100 having been offered for the best 

 25 Merino Ewes, and the best 25 Marino lambs un- 

 der one year old — by a private gentleman — the ex- 

 hibition to be at the Fair of the New-York State Ag- 

 ricultural Society, I propose to be a competitor in 

 that exhibition against any and all flocks of Merino 

 sheep that may be brought against me. I give this 

 out, not as a challenge, but simply as a proposition, 

 which shall call forth my brother fanners through- 

 out the length and breadth of the land. My object 

 is to convince myself where the best Merino sheep 

 are — if I have not got them — for I am resolved to 

 improve from the best, whatever may be the cost. — 

 By a fair and manly competition, we may compare 

 the best specimens from the best flocks — and by that 

 means may learn where the best sheep are to be 

 found. 



For a series of years, I have spared no pains or 

 expense to possess myself of the best sheep of the 

 pure merino race, that the United states could afford, 

 or to be found in the old world. It remains to be 

 seen whether these efforts have been successful: and 

 to this end I earnestly invite the merino wool-grow- 

 ers throughout the Union to meet me on the show 

 ground at Syracuse, next September, in honorable 

 competition, to compare the best 25 ewes and 25 

 lambs from our respective flocks, and thus add ano- 

 ther most interesting feature to the somewhat Na- 

 tional Exhibition which will be made at the New 

 York State Fair. A. L. Bingham. — Cornwall, Vt., 

 July, 1849. 



Oak leaves, says Thaer, are not easily decompo- 

 sed, and contain an astringent matter which is highly 

 injurious to vegetation as long as the leaf remains 

 undecomposed. 



