THE GENESEE FARMER. 



67 



ind the Genesee Farmer. — I. W. Sanborn, of Ver- 

 tit, writes : " A ' happy New-Year' to you, and abun- 

 t success in your noble work. I have just sent away 

 last volume of the Genesee Farmer to be bound. The 

 ding of the monthly being purely agricultural and re- 

 ile, it is eminently worthy a convenient form for pro- 

 ration and reference. Each volume will make a book 

 aearly four hundred octavo pages, worth to every far- 

 r double the subscription price and cost of binding, 

 subscriber should fail to get the Genesee Farmer bound, 

 . give it a place in his library for ready reference." 



>. T. Clark, of Vestal, N. Y., writes : " I have taken 

 eh pleasure in perusing the pages of your most excel- 

 t paper. I look upon it as the most reliable and prac- 

 .1 journal I have seen — in fact, the cheapest and the 



Inquiries and Answers. 



Ibans vs. Corn for Sheep — Culture of Beans. — Please 

 w me through the columns of your highly interesting 

 much prized paper, to inquire respecting the relative 

 ,ie of cull beans to corn for feeding purposes. They 

 I of course be fed to sheep, but their value and way of 

 linir, whether ground or not, mixed or otherwise, is 

 question. 



would also like some information as to the most econo- 

 :al method of raising beans, planting time, description 

 ilaming, etc. The seed it requires and the work of 

 ing, &o, are great obstacles in the way of raising them 

 i profit, even at the present high prices. The piece 1 

 ■nd planting with beans is a young orchard of two years 

 wth since transplanting, aud is a rich and pretty dry 

 n. 



ie have taken your paper for two years, and all we have 

 egret is that we did not subscribe for it before. We 

 er expect to be without it hereafter, that is, as long as 

 t published. — B. P. Tabek, Cayuga Co., N. Y. 

 7e think there is not much difference in the nutritive 

 le of beans and corn — but the beans make much the 

 lest manure. We should prefer to grind them and 

 I half beans and half corn meal. We shall be glad to 

 r from some of our experienced correspondents on this 

 stiou, and also on the culture of beans. 



ots in Horses. — I had a fine seven year old horse last 

 ter that I had raised from a colt. He was always a 

 lthy horse and in good condition, and had never been 

 ly sick. He was kept at work steady all the time. I 

 t him away one morning to work and he appeared in 

 ellent spirits. He did his work until night as well as 

 al. About seven o'clock in the evening he was taken 

 :, and by seven o'clock the next day he was dead, and 

 :n I opeued him, half an hour after, I found his stomach 

 sted and so eaten away by the bots that you could 

 lpare it to nothing but a cobweb. When the food was 

 led out of the stomach it would not bear its own 

 ght. The mystery is how did the horse look well, and 

 his food and do his work in such a state ? Some vete- 

 iry surgeons say that the bots never cuts through a 

 se's stomach while alive. Had the bots time to make 

 this havoc in half an hour after he was dead? Will 

 le one throw some light on this subject, and confer a 

 jr on the owners of horses ? — R. Taylor, Nile, C. W. 



•sage Orange Hedges.— The Osage Orange Hedge I 

 nted and trained according to the directions coutained 

 your Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory for 

 7, is a perfect model of a hedge. In summer a perfect 

 ,uty, so close as to exclude the air from passing through 

 I clip it three times a year. Last fall, after the leaves 

 I fallen off, I observed some spots where the barks was 

 te black and white mouldy spots. The wood and bark 

 en cut appeared quite healthy and sound, and may not 

 are it, but I fear the consequences, and if any thing is 

 >wa in regard to the disease, and whether it may or 



will prove injurious in future time, would be gratefully 

 received through the medium of the Genesee Farmer. — 

 Benj. F. Bartolet, Chester Co., Pa. 



Stretches in Sheep. — Being troubled considerably with 

 stretches in Sheep, I wish some of your correspondents 

 would give a remedy in the Farmer. — George K. Edger- 

 ton, Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Feathers for Beds. — Will some of your experienced 

 correspondents tell us how to prepare feathers for beds? 

 —A Lady Reader. 



Muck.— (John Henshaw.) Muck varies materially in 

 its composition and value, according to its origiD. Ac- 

 cording to the analyses of Prof. S. W. Johnson, the 

 amount of potential ammonia in the various deposits of 

 dry muck and peat which he has examined varies from 

 0.58 to 4.06 per cent. In other words some kinds of muck 

 contain seven times as much ammonia as others. For the 

 purpose of comparison we may state that ordinary barn 

 yard manure contains only about 0.5 per cent, of actual 

 and potential ammonia. It will be seen from this that 

 dry muck of the poorest description contains as much 

 ammonia as barn yard manure, while the best deposits 

 contain seven times as much. Dried muck, too, contains 

 five times as much organic matter as well rotted barn 

 yard manure. 



Cotton in Southern Illinois. — (R. Thomas.) We 

 know very little about the culture of cotton, or the proba- 

 bilities of its succeeding in Southern Illinois. Last sum- 

 mer we were in that section, as far south as Cairo, and 

 saw a sample of cotton that was grown there. We 

 learned, too, that formerly cotton was raised in that por- 

 tion of the State. It will be necessary to get the right 

 kind of seed. That from cotton raised last season in 

 Southern Illinois or the Southwestern States will be the 

 best. This is a green seed. The Government has sent an 

 agent to Beaufort to obtain seed, but it is believed that 

 such seed will not answer in the Southwest. It is a black 

 seed, while the seed that is needed is of a green color. 



Pigs. — (M. A.) As a general rule, it is not best to keep 

 a breeding sow over three years. At this age she |oa* 

 easily be fattened. She should not be placed with the 

 boar before she is ten months old. This is also true of 

 the boar. If used earlier, it will impair the generative 

 powers of both : the sow becomes worn and feeble from 

 breeding, and produces unhealthy litters; the boar is 

 stunted in growth and speedily shows signs of age. The 

 period of gestation is about sixteen weeks. You may get 

 five litters in two years, but it is too much. Better let the 

 sow have a reasonable time for rest. For the large breeds 

 ten is a good average litter, and twelve for the small 

 breeds. 



Warts on Cattle. — (Thomas Embry.1 A thick paste 

 made of potash, moistened with water and bound upon 

 the wart, is said to prove effectual. The potash should 

 not be allowed to remain too long, as it is very caustic — 

 say half an hour, when it should be removed and the place 

 washed with vinegar to neutralize the potash. 



Moss on Meadows. — (A Subscriber.) Harrow the mea- 

 dow in both directions, so as to tear up as much of the 

 moss as you can, and then top-dress it with well rotted 

 manure or ashes and plaster, or with 200 lbs. of guano. 



