362 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



it is, the more grain we grow and sell, and the less 

 stock we keep, the poorer our land will become. 



The land at the "West, too, is generally believed 

 to be naturally richer than ours; and if this is the 

 case, it adds another drawback to our position ; for 

 while the system of agriculture which would seem 

 to be most profitable to us renders our poor land 

 still poorer, 'that which is best for the West ren- 

 ders their rich land still richer. From what we 

 have seen of the West, however, we think the fer- 

 tility of the soil has been exaggerated. It will wear 

 out sooner than ours, and will, in a few years, need 

 manure quite as much to keep up its produc- 

 tiveness. 



Admitting all this, however, the fact remains 

 that we are at present subjected to a severe com- 

 petition in the production of beef and pork; and 

 it would seem that wool will soon be added to the 

 list. We have decidedly the advantage in produc- 

 ing grain; but to raise the largest crops we need 

 manure, and to obtain this we have to keep stock; 

 and here we are met with severe competition from 

 the West. What should we do ? There are two 

 or three ways open to us: 



1st. "We must, more than ever before, realize the 

 fact that "tillage is manure 1 ' 1 — that the literal 

 meaning of the word "manure" {mam 8, h nd, and 

 ouvrer, to work,) is hand-labor. To manure the 

 land is to hoe, to dig, to stir the soil, to expose it 

 to the atmosphere, to plow, to harrow, to cultivate. 

 The ancient Romans made Stercutius a god because 

 he discovered that the droppings of animals had the 

 same effect in enriching the soil as to hoe it. "We 

 can leave the modern method of manuring land 

 to our Western farmers, while we go back to the 

 original method of stirring the soil. Mr. Lawes 

 has raised a good crop of wheat every season for 

 over twenty years on the same land by simply 

 keeping it thoroughly clean by two plowings in the 

 fall and by hoeing the wheat in spring by hand. 

 The Rev. S. Smith, of Lois-Weedon, has for years 

 raised successive crops of wheat by a process of 

 trenching the land with a fork and by hand-hoeing. 

 "We do not advocate this system, but the principle 

 is applicable to our case. "We can manure our land 

 by better tillage. 



2d. We can be more than ever careful in saving 

 all the refuse matter on the farm and in compost- 

 ing it. We can avail ourselves of peat-deposits 

 and of lime and of plaster, and of all other natural 

 fertilizers. 



3d. We can use more or less artificial manures. 

 The time has not yet come, perhaps, when these 



can be used with profit, but that time will assuredly 

 arrive, and our farmers — and especially our farm- 

 ers' sons — should study the chemistry of manures 

 if they would avail" themselves of the advantages 

 to be derived from an intelligent use of the various 

 fertilizers which science brings to our notice. 



WHEAT IN WESTERN NEW YOEK. 



" The extent of wheat now cultivated in Western 

 New York is fast reaching the maximum amount 

 of former years, when it was the granary of the 

 West." 



So says the editor of the Prairie Farmer — and 

 he is right. We can not help feeling some degree 

 of satisfaction as we recall the position taken by 

 the Genesee Farmer in the disastrous midge years 

 of 1856-7. Some of our so-called agricultural 

 papers, and not a few of our farmers, advocated 

 the abandonment of wheat culture, while the 

 writer labored hard to induce our wheat-growers 

 to persevere. W r e assured them that the midge 

 was no new thing — that it had long been known 

 in England and Scotland, but did comparatively 

 little damage because farmers kept their land in 

 high condition and raised heavier crops. We 

 recommended, not the abandonment of wheat cul- 

 ture altogether, but the sowing of it only on such 

 land as was naturally dry or had been well under- 

 drained, and which could be got into the best con- 

 dition previous to sowing. The great point we 

 showed was to get wheat into flower earlier in the 

 season than the midge made its appearance. The 

 midge did the most damage on low land, where 

 the wheat was late, and we predicted that the evil 

 would prove a blessing by compelling us to under- 

 drain, and to make the land richer and cultivate it 

 more thoroughly. All this has teen accomplished. 

 Good farmers need no longer fear the midge. But 

 we can not too often call attention to the meaDS 

 necessary to avoid injury from this insect depreda- 

 tor. They are, in brief : 



1. Select the earliest and dry est land ; and if it 

 is not naturally dry, underdrain it. And it must 

 be borne in mind that much land which appears 

 dry is still in need of underdraining. All land 

 which contains stagnant water at any season of 

 the year needs underdraining to enable it to pro- 

 duce the earliest and best wheat. High, rolling 

 land often needs draining as much or more than 

 low, level land. Dig a hole three feet deep and 

 see if water remains in it ; and if so the land needs 

 underdraining. Good seed, good culture, early 

 sowing and the best of treatment will all prove of 



