THE GENESEE FARMER. 



243 



SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 



Clover Hay for Cows. — The JV. E. Farmer 

 ;ates that Mr. John Day, of Boxford, Mass., who 

 its large quantities of clover, feeds it out princi- 

 ally to his milch cows, and he finds that when the 

 [over is exhausted and he feeds timothy and red- 

 >p, " twenty cows immediately shrink two cans 

 f milk per day!" 



Agriculture in tiie "West Improving. — The 

 \airie Farmer says the farmers in the "West are 

 ow generally in better condition than for years 

 ast; fewer debts are pressing upon them, and 

 ley evince a determination to confine their opera- 

 ons to fewer acres, and adopt a more systematic 

 id better mode of farming. 



Asparagus Beetle. — The Horticulturist says 

 le Asparagus beetle which appeared on Long 

 iland about six years ago has worked its way up 

 i far as Astoria, nearly or quite destroying the 

 >paragus plant in its progress. It is very destruc- 

 ve to the plant, eating it in all stages of its trans- 

 •rmation. We have seen many fine beds utterly 

 lined, and in more than one locality the culture 

 f asparagus has been abandoned. 



Milk and Butter from Ayrshire Cows. — The 

 oston Cultivator states that H. H. Peters, of 

 outhborough, Mass., weighed the milk from his 

 airy of nineteen Ayrshire cows, from June 15th 

 > 25th — ten days. They gave an average of 32 

 >s. each per day. The milk from eighteen t being 

 5t for one day, gave 20 lbs. of butter. One cow 

 ive 58 lbs. of milk in a day. Her milk for three 

 ays gave 6 lbs. of butter, or 2 lbs. per day. This 

 ow had two quarts of corn and cob meal per day. 

 he rest had nothing but pasture feed. 



Top-Dressing Meadows in Summer. — The Illi- 

 ois Fanner recommends farmers in that section 

 ) top-dress their meadows immediately after the 

 ay is removed. This keeps the hot sun'from in- 

 ning the roots of the timothy grass, and increases 

 lie growth of the aftermath. The crop of grass is 

 etter the next season, than if the manure is put 

 n in April. In fact, the editor says, " it is more 

 nan double the value of that put on in April with 

 is." He does not know how it would be at the 

 last. What say the readers of the Genesee 

 farmer t 



Spring Wheat in Maine. — The editor of the 

 daine Farmer has been examining the returns 

 roin the County Agricultural Societies in that 

 >tate, and finds that the average "premium ' crops 

 if spring wheat, reported for several counties, was 



84 bushels per acre. This, he well observes, 

 shows what could be done in Maine in the way of 

 raising spring wheat, when the seasons are favora- 

 ble for the growth of the crop and the destruc- 

 tion of the midge. More wheat has been sown 

 this spring than last year, but the weather has been 

 too dry for it. 



Turnip Fly. — The Canadian Agriculturist says 

 Mr. E. G. O'Brien, of Shanty Bay, has for several 

 years used the following prescription to prevent 

 the ravages of the turnip fly, and on each occasion 

 the plants have escaped injury : Oil of turpentine, 

 one teaspoonful to each pound of seed, stirred till 

 the oil is absorbed. The seed should be sown im- 

 mediately. After the seed has been so treated, it 

 will have a shining, glistening appearance. It is 

 the oil, not the spirits, of turpentine that is used. 

 The editor of the Agriculturist has on several oc- 

 casions used fish oil in the same way with favorable 

 results. 



Poultry. — The commander of the galley " Ga 

 nymede " said, " If it were a calm, the good ship 

 was in a perfect safety ; if it blew hard, she sailed 

 the faster. If the night were light, a collision was 

 almost impossible; and if it were dark, pirates 

 could not see them." And so, in a like happy 

 strain, the London Poultry Chronicle, in an article 

 urging the more extensive raising of poultry, re- 

 marks : " If the weather is cold, dead poultry 

 will keep; if it is hot, live poultry will grow. If 

 the sun is scorching, fowls will bask and enjoy it. 

 If the weather is wet and muggy, the earth will 

 teem with animal life for chickens.'' 



Manuring for Whfat. — Geo. Geddes, of Onon- 

 daga county, remarks in an article written for the 

 Country Gentleman, that in his section " manure 

 should be applied on or near the surface. Ground 

 intended for wheat, after the last plowing, when 

 the furrows are as rough as the plow has left them, 

 is just in the condition to receive the manure that 

 has been reduced in bulk and mixed by the pro- 

 cesses practiced here. The harrow will mingle it 

 with the soil, and perhaps slightly cover most of 

 it, if it is drawn across the furrows. Then roll the 

 land, and drill the wheat, and leave the surface un- 

 touched behind the drill. If anything will insure 

 a crop of wheat here, this is the way to do it." 



Worth of Poultry in Britain 1,000 Years 

 ago. — Under this heading, the London Poultry 

 Chronicle gives the following quotation from tike 

 "Ancient Laws of Wales: 



"The worth of a goose one legal penny; of a 

 gander two legal pennies. The worth of a brood 



