THE GENESEE FARMER. 



331 



it not be due to the plaster accelerating the growth 

 of the young plants, and enabling them to throw 

 out roots and occupy the ground, and thus helping 

 them to get all the food they required ? 



If this is the true explanation, the one great 

 practical trutji to be drawn from these experiments 

 is the importance of giving plants an early start. 



In a future number we hope to be able to give 

 the amount of sugar and other ingredients con- 

 tained in the produce from the various plots. 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMERS. 



Ten farmers in Chester county, Penn., have 

 formed themselves into a club for the purpose of 

 making experiments in agriculture. The idea is a 

 most happy one. The farmer who originated the 

 movement deserves the thanks of the whole agri- 

 cultural community. We do not know his name, 

 or we would put it at the head of the agricultural 

 worthies of the age. We would — make him an 

 honorary life-subscriber to the Genesee Farmer, or 

 testify our respect in any other way that would be 

 most acceptable to such a true friend to agricul- 

 tural improvement. Long may the Experimental 

 Farmers' Club of Chester county flourish, and may 

 their example be followed in every county in the 

 land, until the present guess-work system of cul- 

 tivation shall give way to one based on exact and 

 definite knowledge ! 



The first experiment they made was to deter- 

 mine the proper time to cut wheat. We have not 

 space to give the details, which are published in 

 the Germantown Telegraph, but may say that the 

 experiments prove that the best time to cut wheat 

 is when the grain can be pressed between the 

 thumb and finger, and leave nothing but the husk 

 and a thick pulp, without any fluid around its 

 edges. If cut earlier, when there is a milky sub- 

 stance in the grain, there will be a loss; and if 

 later, when the grain becomes hard, the weight per 

 bushel is less, and the quality is not so good. In 

 this particular case the wheat cut July 11 was the 

 best; three days before or after this date made but 

 little difference 



The Club is also making experiments to deter- 

 mine the best time to cut oats ; also the effect of 

 applying plaster to potatoes at different stages of 

 their growth ; and also the effect of salt and plas- 

 ter, alone and mixed, on wheat and grass. They 

 also propose to ascertain by experiment whether 

 there is not a loss sustained by allowing manure to 

 remain long spread before plowing in. 



If any member of the Club sustains any loss in 

 experiments, the other members make it up by 

 contribution. This is well ; for all who have had 

 experience know that it is impossible to make ex- 

 periments without more or less pecuniary loss. 



One common error in making experiments is 

 attempting too much. Take for instance an experi- 

 ment made a few years ago on the " Model and 

 Experimental Farm" at Petersburg, Va. The 

 managers wished to ascertain whether wheat did 

 best after peas or after corn. They also wished to 

 ascertain whether guano was best harrowed in or 

 plowed under. So some pea-land was sown with 

 wheat, and also some corn-land. So far, so good. 

 The. result would have shown which was best. 

 But in order to determine whether it was best to 

 plow under guano or harrow it in, they sowed 

 guano on the corn ground and plowed it under, and 

 also the same quantity on the pea-land and har- 

 rowed it in ! Now had these experiments been 

 made separately, they would have shown whether 

 peas or corn were best to precede wheat, and 

 whether guano should be harrowed in or plowed 

 under. As it was, the experiment proved nothing. 

 They aimed to kill two birds with one stone and 

 missed both ! 



Another point of great importance is to deter- 

 mine before making the experiment what it is you 

 wish to ascertain. Sit down and draw out a plan 

 of the experiments, and then imagine the crops 

 harvested with certain results, and see if they 

 prove what you wish to find out. This may seem 

 unnecessary, but the absence of a single experiment 

 to determine a certain point may render the whole 

 series of experiments of no value. For instance: 

 A few years ago a committee was appointed to 

 make experiments on the "Massachusetts Model 

 Farm" at Westboro. They undertook, among 

 other things, to determine the value of different 

 artificial fertilizers. They sowed guano, super- 

 phosphate, poudrette, &c, &c, on different plots, 

 out forgot to leave any plot without manure ! so 

 that when they got through they could not tell 

 whether the manures did good or harm 1 



Small-Pox among Sueep. — The small-pox has 

 attacked the sheep in Wiltshire, England, to such 

 an extent as to make public action on the subject 

 necessary. Innoculation has been practiced very 

 extensively, but an innoculated animal is as dan- 

 gerous to a flock of healthy sheep as one which 

 has the disease from natural causes ; so that the 

 trouble has often been much aggravated by this 

 means. 



