824 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Agricultural Items. 



PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR TIIE OENB9EE FARMER. 



J. H. Hollistkr, of California, has a flock of eight thou- 

 sand sheep. 



Ekgland consumes 300,000 bushels of grain per day 

 more than she produces! 



A cheese sent to the International Exhibition from 

 Canada weighed 1,042 lbs. 



The Wisconsin State Agricultural Society has decided 

 not to hold any Fair this year. 



The early sown spring wheat this [year is said to be 

 much better than the late sown. 



The crops in Maryland are almost a failure, owing to 

 the depredations of the grain aphis. 



During a single week in August, there arrived at Cin- 

 cinnati over ten thousand bushels of peaches. 



In the Iowa Homestead of Aug. 7th, we notice no less 

 than seventeen advertisements of stray horses. 



McDonald, of Baltimore, the owner of Flora Temple, 

 has sold all his blooded stock and has abandoned the turf 



The Shakers it is said are joining the Jews and Mahom- 

 etans, in eschewing pork — because they think it is un- 

 healthy. 



The crop of flax seed this year is said to be unusually 

 large. That of Ohio alone is estimated at a million 

 bushels. 



Parson Brownlow, of Tennessee, has accepted an invi- 

 tation to deliver the address at the Michigan State Fair, 

 Sept. 23—26. 



The Russian Government has recently purchased some 

 Shorthorn cattle, Oxford Down and Southdown sheep 

 and other improved stock, in England. 



C. E. Goodrich, the great potato authority at Utica, 

 N. Y., says this is, thus far, the most prosperous potato 

 season of any during the last 18 years, with the exception 

 of 1S52. 



The largest prize Shorthorn bull of his age, at the late 

 show of a Royal Ag. Society, was 8 ft. 8 in. round the 

 girth. He was near 2J years old. At the same age, the 

 Shorthorns were larger than the Herefords. 



The Illinois State Fair was appointed to be held at Pe- 

 oria the first week of October. It appears that the Fair 

 grounds have been appropriated to military purposes, and 

 it has been decided not to hold any exhibition this year. 



Josiah Qdinct, Jr., has a farm of 200 acres, which he 

 devotes to producing milk for the citizens of Boston. He 

 keeps from 100 to 130 cows. They are kept in the barn 

 all the year round. He soils his cows in summer with 

 green food. Corn, millet, barley, rape and other grains 

 and plants are grown, and cut green for this purpose. 

 By this means he has raised the farm to a high degree of 

 productiveness. He cuts about 400 tons of hay per annum. 

 It averages from two to three tons per acre. The cows 

 are principally Natives and Ayrshires ; the average yield 

 is from 8 to 10 quarts of milk per cow. As soon as one 

 fails to give 5 or quarts, she is fattened for market. 

 Some cows at this time give 15 quarts per day. 



Inquiries and Answers. 



Corn Husker. — (John Williams,) R. L. Howard, o 

 Buffalo, manufactures a corn husker, which is said to bi 

 good, but we have never used it. A very convenient 

 thing to assist in husking corn is a peg of hard wood 

 about four inches long, sharp at one end, and fastened 

 to the hand by a leather 

 strap passing over the two 

 middle fingers. The point 

 comes up between the thumb and fingers, just right to 

 use instead of the thumb-nail .in tearing off the husks, 

 and out of the way in handling and breaking off the ea^ 

 It is of especial use if the corn has been cut a little green' 

 and the husks are thick and tight. 



Sowing Winter Rye. — (N. H.) Rye may be sown both 

 earlier and later than winter wheat. On corn land, from 

 which the corn cannot be removed in time to sow wheat 

 with safety, rye may be sown and do well. It succeeds 

 well on very light sandy soils — on soils too light and too 

 poor for winter wheat. If sown early a bushel and a half 

 of seed per acre is sufficient — if later, two bushels. It 

 germinates slowly, and if the laud is wet it is apt to rot in 

 the ground when sown late. 



Sorghdm for Sugar. — (W. M.) We have had no expe- 

 rience in making sugar from sorghum. We believe a 

 slight frost does not hurt it if ground up immediately, 

 before it has time to ferment and sour. For making syrnp 

 grind the whole stalks, except the extreme upper portion; 

 for sugar, cut off one-third of the upper portion and feed 

 it to stock. 



Preserving Wood. — (M. Allen.) The process you al- 

 lude to is to soak the shingles three or four days in a so- 

 lution of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). About a pound 

 of vitriol to two quarts of water is the proper strength. 

 Posts should be soaked a week. 



Coal Tar for Fencb Posts.— The New York World 

 says coal tar can be obtained for a trifle at our gas works — 

 at a less rate, it is said, than before the discovery of oil 

 springs — and abundant testimonies from practical men 

 show that it is highly preservative. Whether its odor 

 will drive the cut-worm forty rods, skedaddling, we are 

 not certain. It is rather offensive to human olfactories 1 ; 

 but when we consider that its odor is not injurious, but is 

 rather healthful than otherwise, the offense will be some- 

 what diminished. Heat it to boiling, and apply it hot to 

 the whole base of the post, from the end to about a foot 

 above ground. When hardened apply another coat, and 

 set the post when dry. In setting a fence post, tamp it 

 very hard at the bottom. If you then tamp it still harder 

 at the top, the middle will be solid also, and the post will 

 stand firmly. We have set thousands, and they did not 

 make a crooked fence— would hardly have staggered if 

 they had been drenched with new rum. But they rotted 

 off mighty soon at the ground surface, and we wished 

 they had been smeared with coal tar ; but did not know, 

 before setting, its value for such a purpose. 



The Ohio Field Notes has been merged in the Ohio 

 Fanner, Colonel Harris, the old editor of Field tote* 

 taking charge of the paper. 



