THE GENESEE FARMER. 



213 



a good implement for cultivating corn on light 

 soils, for the reasons mentioned in the ahove 

 colloquy. A cultivator or horse hoe can be made 

 which will do this work in a proper manner ; but 

 steel must be used instead of cast-iron. If the 

 teeth or feet are of the right shape, they will 

 penetrate even tenacious soils sufficiently, and at 

 the same time destroy the weeds. 



In sections where the greatest success is attained 

 in the cultivation of corn on soils winch are liable 

 to become too compact, it is considered highly 

 important to keep the soil from baking or packing 

 early in the season. Implements are therefore run 

 close to the corn in its early stage, before the roots 

 have spread much, and the space between the 

 rows is kept mellow by cultivation till the corn 

 attains such height that it chiefly shades the ground, 

 which it usually does about the time the tassels 

 appear. After this the soil is less likely to become 

 baked or hardened ; the corn roots quickly extend 

 themselves through the soil, and they are left to 

 draw from it all the support it is capable of giving. 



GREEN MOUNTAIN WAIFS. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: — It is Monday, June 

 9th. The weather is exceedingly dry, and in many 

 places vegetatiou is suffering from want of rain. 

 My diary says it is six weeks since we have enjoy- 

 ed a plentiful rain in Caledonia county. Appear- 

 ances strongly indicate a storm, but now, as ever, 

 "all signs fail in a dry time." Grain and corn are 

 just out of the ground, and there seem to rest for 

 a change of weather. Some of our farmers, I no- 

 tice, are replanting their corn, the dry weather 

 having so affected it as to destroy its growth. 



Grass upon the meadows appears finely, especi- 

 ally on the lowlands. The quality of the grass on 

 such lands is better in dry seasons than when it is 

 wet, though the quantity may be somewhat re- 

 duced. Crass upon the hills must be affected by 

 the drouth already, and a light hay crop is antici- 

 pated. Should this be the case, the considerable 

 quantity of old hay which farmers have in store 

 will in part remedy the scanty yield jn prospect. 

 The unusual depth of snow, together with the cold 

 weather of early spring, made the season back- 

 ward, and a very lengthy drought at this time will 

 materially affect all farm crops. 



The prospect of a good yield of fruit is promis- 

 ing. Apple, plum, and cherry blossoms are abun- 

 dant, and the lesser fruits bid fair for a full har- 

 vest. But little fruit was gathered in Vermont 

 last year. 



There is quite a demand for horses this spring. 

 The call is principally for the medium class or 

 grade. Prices from $75 to $125. 



Wool buyers are beginning to bestir themselves 

 considerably, and farmers will undoubtedly make 

 quick sales as soon as their fleeces are ready for 

 the market, if they do not at first " price " too high 

 for the buyers. Farmers are " talking " 45 cents 

 per lb., and buyers about 40 and 42. I thiuk, 

 however, the extremes in this case will be made to 

 meet without difficulty. There will be a heavy 

 shearing of wool in this State the present season, 

 as nearly every one bought and but few sold after 

 the rise of wool in the fall. Many sheep were 

 brought from the Cauadas. Farmers may expect 



to realize high prices for their wool so long as the 

 North maintains and clothes half a million of men 

 on the battle field. We hope, however, that is not 

 long to be, aud the present prospects strengthen 

 our hopes. i. w. sanuorn^ 



" Tlie Meadows," Lyndon, Yt. 



A SMOOTH SURFACE FOR CORN AND A ROUGH 

 SURFACE FOR WHEAT. 



Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, 111. 1 ,' con- 

 tributes an Essay on the Cultivation of Field Craps 

 and Preparation of the Soil, to the Journal of the 

 Illinois State Agricultural Society. The following 

 extracts will be read with interest: 



Where ground has been suffered to lie too long, 

 especially after a heavy rain, in clay soils, like those 

 in the West, the surface becomes glased or crusted 

 over with a sort of smooth glassy crust, of a con- 

 siderably lighter color than the same soil is when 

 not so glazed, and sometimes almost of a pale gray- 

 ish white, even in soils generally quite dark. 



Now, this crusting over of the soil, as all well 

 know, interferes at once with the processes of suc- 

 cessful growth, but the reason why it does is not 

 generally considered. 



But we shall find that it lies in three -most vital 

 points: every one of which tends directlv and se- 

 riously to retard all vegetable growth, especially of 

 such plants as corn, and others requiring great heat 

 in the soil. 



1. In the first place, this glazed surface being of 

 lighter color, has far less power on that account of 

 absorbing the rays of the sun than it would other- 

 wise have, while the glassy surface constantly, from 

 its smoothness, reflects back the rays like a mirror, 

 and from these combined causes a vast amount of 

 the first element of rapid growth, namely, heat, is 

 daily and hourly dissipated, or thrown back into 

 the air and wasted, instead of being absorbed into 

 the soil. 



2. In the second place, this smooth surface ex- 

 cludes the/Vee access of the air into the interior of 

 the soil, into which it would otherwise penetrate, 

 and (by making a constant deposit of dew among 

 its loose particles, both by night and by day, to- 

 gether with the ammonia and carbon, or whatever 

 else it contributes to vegetation) thus perform its 

 proper functions toward growth, all of which by 

 this little crust are more or less interrupted. 



3. But by thus shutting out this free access of 

 both heat and air from above, the corresponding 

 interplay of capillary attraction from below is also 

 interrupted; just as when the lamp wick becomes 

 glazed over, the lamp not only ceases to burn 

 brightly above, but the oil, in like manner, also 

 ceases to respond and to run up from below, so that 

 by this simple glazing of the surface of the soil, 

 every one of the three great essentials of each of 

 these circulatory systems, and of all successful 

 growth is at once checked or retarded, and the en- 

 tire root of the plant becomes at once robbed of 

 every one of its elements of life, namely, the heat 

 of the sun, and the gasses and moisture which sup- 

 ply its growth from the atmosphere above, and the 

 capillary attraction which supplies, when needed, 

 its moisture and all other required elements from 



i below; the mischief is, therefore, vital at every 



