78 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Y..i;..MiiKii l'nis.— A correspondent of the Loudon 

 Maris Lane Express gives the weights of three "cottagers' 

 pi;;*," which wore from the same litter, farrowed on the 

 .■>ith December, 1860. Their respective ages and weights 

 when killed were as follows: No. 1, killed at ten months 

 and live days old, weighed 374 lbs.; No. 2, killed at ten 

 months and thirteen days old, weighed 372 lbs.; No. 3, 

 Killed at ten months and eighteen days old, weighed 421 

 lbs— equal to an average of 385 lbs. at ten months and 

 eight days old. 



Sorhel and other Weeds. — The Massachusetts Plough- 

 min well says : " Where the soil is free of rocks, there is 

 no danger of sorrel prevailing to any extent. A good 

 plow, well held, will bury it deep enough to prevent its 

 appearance through the summer, provided that some val- 

 uable plant is encouraged to take its place. Every decent 

 i oil will bear something in the course of the summer, and 

 when the farmer neglects to improve his laud he must ex- 

 pect to find it green with some kind of vegetation. A 

 good growth of clover will bury all the sorrel and smother 

 it for- a whole season. A growth of buckwheat will 

 smother all other vegetation, and come near killing all 

 foul weeds. And buckwheat will grow in very poor soils.-" 

 Hemlock Bark for Drains. — Geo. Campbell, of West 

 Westminster, Vt., writes as follows in the Ohio Farmer: 

 "Among the various materials that we see recommended 

 for the construction of drains, I do not recollect of ever 

 noticing that of hemlock bark. In sections of country 

 where the hemlock tree abounds, this is one of the 

 cheapest and most durable materials for underdraining 

 iip be found. Hemlock timber, cut in February or March, 

 ■will peel in May, or as soon as we have a few warm days. 

 .June, however, is the best time to peel bark, and any one 

 ■that is intending to do much at the business, would do 

 best to cut his timber in June. 



The bark for drains should be cut about four feet in 

 .length, and from twelve to fifteen inches in width, and 

 spread out in the sun with the flesh side up, and it will 

 roll up in a few days and be ready for use. It the bark 

 is too thick for the action of the sun to do the work of 

 rolling, a ronnd.pole of the size you want the drain can 

 be used,, and the bark pressed around and left to dry. It 

 js as durable as tile, and not half as expensive. Try it." 

 Top-Dressing Grass Lakcs in the Spring. — A corres- 

 pondent of the Country Gentleman says: "The fall has 

 'hitherto been regarded by the majority as the best sea- 

 . son of the year to top-dress grass lands; and, upon close, 

 >hard soils, upon flat and level surfaces, it has been prac- 

 ticed with excellent success. But taking New England 

 i Lands, with rare exceptions, is it certain that the fall is 

 preferable ,to the spring? I think not, and the reasons 

 4'or this conclusion are obvious. In the autumn, more 

 tiian in the spring, top-dressing is exposed to hazards of 

 •loss. II the succeeding months are. wet, and the earth is 

 washed by continuous rains, much of the fertilizing qual- 

 ity of what has been applied is rendered valueless. It is 

 different in the spriug. 



Manures or composts applied just after the frost has 



begun (o leave the ground, are absorbed more readily, 



»nd the temperature of the surface is rendered several 



degrees warmer by the covering it has received. 



Grass lands that are top-dressed in the spriug will be 



found to come forward earlier than those thus treated in 

 the autumn, and the crop will prove upon trial, to b« 

 larger. 



I am aware that most farmers can more conveniently 

 attend to this sort of work in the fall than in the spring, 

 and 1 fear that this is the principal reason which has led 

 them to adopt the practice now so common. The heaviest 

 crop of grass that came under my observation during the 

 last hay season, was' a piece of ground about three acres 

 which had been top-dressed in the last of May ; and a 

 piece of mowing, upon which was spread, in October, a 

 generous dressing of stable-manure, did not yield nearly 

 so well as a piece of ground adjoining, of the same qual- 

 ity, top-dressed in the same way in the last days of Feb- 

 ruary. 



In respect to light, sandy soils, there is not a doubt 

 that top-dressing in April will prove more productive than 

 if done at any other time of the year." 



Agriculture in Oregon.— At a recent Agricultural 

 Meeting in Boston, as reported by the Massachusetts 

 Ploughman, Mr. Garey gave the results of his observa- 

 tions, as a practical farmer, in Oregon during the past 

 eleven years. The climate there, he said, is very different 

 from the climate here. He lives five degrees of latitude 

 farther north than we do, and yet he knows little of frost 

 in Oregon. We have three great valleys, which present 

 our agricultural regions. We have mountains rising to 

 an immense height, of a conical shape, covered with per- 

 petual snow. Our climate is more equal than yours. 

 Cattle have generally lived unhoused through the year. 



The cereals are much cultivated. Wheat is a great crop 

 with us, though there is no lime in the soil. [Didn't our 

 friend of the Ploughman put this in ? He has, we believe, 

 always contended that lime was unnecessary In New Eng- 

 land— and in this he may be right. But if there is "no 

 lime in the soil," it is certain that wheat will not grow, or 

 any other crop.] The wheit has a very strong stem. I 

 have seen wheat heads from six to eight inches in length. 

 Our average crop of wheat is twenty bushels to the acre. 

 Sometimes we get fifty bushels, though our mode of farm- 

 ing is not the best. One piece of land produced from 

 thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre four consecu- 

 tive years. We raise Fall wheat sowed in February, but 

 the best wheat is sowed in June, and is a year in matur- 

 ing. Our oat crop is an important one. Indian corn is 

 injured by the cool nights. The best apples in the world 

 are raised in Oregon. The pear and the plum grow well. 

 The cherry grows pretty well, but the peach fails. The 

 pea is raised largely. 



The farmer has a great advantage, for he does not have 

 to labor as in New England, the winters being so very 

 mild. The natural grasses are so good, that other kiuds 

 are nof much cultivated. The soil is not as rich as that 

 of Illinois, but it seems to be more durable. 



In Washington Territory there is a different soil, pro 

 ducing vast quantities of timber, the forests standing 300 

 feet high, or a hundred feet higher than those of Cali- 

 fornia. The trees are piues, arbor vitje, the yew, etc. 



The only nut in Oregon is the hazel nut. The waters 

 on the coast abound with fish. There is much desert in 

 the country, but there are fertile spots amid the deserts. 

 In some cases, irrigation by artificial means is required 



