46 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Sorghum Strop.— The Prairie Farmer estimates that 

 2,500 barrels of sorghum, or Chinese sugar-cane syrup, 

 were made in La Salle county, Illinois, last year. 



A Heavy Hog.— The Boston Cultivator says : " Dea. S. 

 Burnham, of Dunbarton, N. H., lately killed a hog, short 

 of 20 mouths old, that weighed 075 lbs. It gained on an 

 average about 2 lbs. a day. 



Large Heifer. — The Boston Cultivator mentions that R. 

 W. Field, of Lanesboro, Mass., slaughtered on the 10th 

 ult., a t-vo year old heifer that weighed, dressed, 830 lbs., 

 and had 100 lbs. of rough tallow. 



Prolific Seeds.— The Boston Cultivator says that N. W. 

 Holmes, of Nottingham, N. H., raised in his garden last 

 year from one bean, 415 good beans; and that a cluster 

 of 18 beets from one seed was grown last year by J. Lov- 

 eridge, of Heath, Mass. 



Preserving Game.— The London Sport gives the follow- 

 ing receipt for keeping game a long time : ",Dry up the 

 wound with blotting paper; wrap up the head and soak 

 the body in coffee. Afterward the game will not suffer 

 from the most unfavorable temperature." 



Oilcake vs. Oats and Barley.— The Irish Farmer's 

 Gazette says : <: It is unquestionably true that cats or bar- 

 ley are more nutritious, weight for weight, than linseed 

 cake." We question it, and would respectfully ask our 

 cotemporary for the proof of his assertion. 



Weight of Prize Grain in Ireland — At the last win- 

 ter show of the Royal Dublin Society, the prize wheat 

 weighed 61 lbs. per bushel j barley 57 lbs.; white oats 42 

 lbs.; and black oats 40 lbs. We can raise better wheat 

 ' here, but the barley and oats are much superior to any 

 raised in America — at least that we have ever seen. 



Large Egg.— The Orleans Republican says D. B. Kel- 

 logg, station agent at Holley, has sent to that office a 

 monster egg produced by a hen owned by him. The egg 

 measures six and a fourth inches in circumference the 

 shortest way around it. The hen that lays such eggs 

 must be a great goose, when a smaller size would be just 

 as much an egg. 



Prince Albert and Agricultural Papers. — The Irish 

 Farmer's Gazette, in alluding to the lamented death of the 

 Prince Consort, says : " We had the honor to receive his 

 support as a patron of, and' a subscriber to, this journal 

 for nearly twenty years, and he unquestionably evinced 

 at all times, a deep interest in the advancement of agri- 

 cultural knowledge in this part of the Kingdom." 



The Osage Orange as a Hedge Plant in England.— A 

 correspondent of the London Journal of Horticulture states 

 that Mr. Ridgway at his county seat in Kent, England, is 

 trying the Osage Orange as a hedge plant, and that he is 

 sanguine that it will make a firm, useful, good hedge. Its 

 shining green foliage looks well in summer, and being 

 covered with thorns it is better adapted to resist the nib- 

 bling attacks of cattle than most other plants. 



Buying Korses for the French Cavalry. — McClellan, 

 Vn "The Armies of Europe," says: "Horses are pur- 

 chased at from 4 to 7 years of age, and must be of French 

 origin. The animal is brought to the commandant of the 

 remount depot, and submitted to his inspection, without 

 any price being named. If the commandant finds him 



unsuitable, he is at once rejected ; if the contrary is the 

 case, he is brought before all the officers of the depot for 

 a thorough examination. Each officer then writes his 

 estimate of the value of the animal on a slip of paper; 

 these papers are placed in a hat and shakeu up, so that 

 the estimate of each officer may not be known ; thaynean 

 of these estimates is then taken, and the commandant 

 offers that price for the animal. If the owner accepts the 

 offer, the price is paid at once ; if he refuses, the horse is 

 at once sent away, for no bargaining is allowed." 



A Fortune from a Sheep. — A correspondent of the 

 Boston Cultivator relates the following anecdote : 



" In 1802, Mr. Bidwell, a law student in Stockbridge, 

 told a poor lad that if he would catch and turn out his 

 horse he might have it to ride home to keep Thanksgiving. 

 The boy accepted the offer, and the day before Thanks- 

 giving, as he was mounted on the horse ready to start for 

 home, Mr. Bidwell handed him a silver dollar — the first 

 dollar the boy ever had. Instead of spending it for per- 

 sonal gratification, as most boys now-a-days do, he bought 

 a sheep with it. From that sheep he had, in 1832, a flock 

 of 1004 sheep which he sold for 1500 dollars. The money 

 he invested in up-town lots in New York city, purchasing 

 ten lots for 250 dollars each, which be sold, in two years, 

 for 12,000 dollars This was the beginning of the fortune 

 of Nathan Jackson, Esq., distinguished for his generous 

 and munificent donations at various times to Williams' 

 College, Mass." 



"When a boy, the writer, with his brother and sister, 

 each had a sheep given them, aud their father kept them, 

 and retained half the increase for keeping, thus affording 

 an opportunity for procuring a little money which he and 

 they could call their own. Myself, and brother, also, were 

 allowed, each, a piece of ground to cultivate as he pleased, 

 and were permitted to sell the products thereof for what 

 they would fetch. In this way we were allowed to get 

 money that we could call our own, it being the product 

 of our own skill and industry. The brother of the writer 

 is now a successful and forehanded farmer in Worcester 

 county, Mass., and the writer has a farm in Hampshire 

 county, Mass. How much these early lessons in rural in- 

 dustry and economy had to do with their present position 

 can never be accurately estimated. Doubtless something 

 and perhaps much. All farmers will find it a pleasant 

 way thus to encourage their children by giving them an 

 opportunity, by exercising skill and industry, to produce 

 something they can call their own. 



How to Preserve Potatoes at Sea. — Captain Gilbert 

 Smith, of the barque Martha Wenzel, has communicated 

 to. the Yarmouth (England) Register a method by which 

 he succeeded in preserving potatoes at sea during long 

 voyages. "To preserve potatoes," says Captain Smith, 

 "put them into a pen on deck, the door of which must 

 always be kept open in good weather. Scatter over them 

 a quart of air-slacked lime to every twenty-five bushels; 

 pick them and rub off the sprouts once every month. 

 Put up and kept in this manner, they will remain good 

 five or six months." On the first of August, 1861, he 

 says : " I have now potatoes on board that were taken in 

 at Melbourne, Jan. 20th ; the vessel since has been to Cal- 

 lao, Chinchas, and is now within a few days sail of Bour- 

 bon aud Mauritius; consequently the potatoes have been 

 on board, and daily used for six months and ten days, and 

 for cooking purposes, they are as good now as when taken 

 on board at Melbourne. I would further add in this mat- 

 ter, that if potatoes were taken out of the damp cellars in 

 the spring aud put in some dry out-building with a good 

 circulation of air, and a little lime mixed with them, they 

 could be kept until July and August in a good state of 

 preservation." 



