THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



17 



maintaining the heat of the body, and tlie heat re- 

 quired to melt the snow which tlie sheep eat is so 

 much taken tVoni the animal, and enhances tlie de- 

 mand for food. Some years ago we recollect see- 

 ing a statement in the Boston Cultivator that a 

 livery-stable keeper in that city found it very ad- 

 vantageous to give his horses warm water. We 

 have no doubt that they would require less food, 

 and it is certainly more economical to warm water 

 with wood or coal than with hay and oats. 



Let shee[i, then, have all the water they ne^d. 

 It should be pumped up fresh from the well, as the 

 water in the well is not as cold as that which is 

 exposed to a freezing atmosphere. 



WESTERN FARMING. 



A FEW days ago we received a pleasant call from 

 a young friend who has for some years been 

 farming it in Central Illinois. " The West," we 

 remarked, " is destined to be a great country." 

 ''^Destined to ie a great country !" '"Why, bless 

 your honest soul, it is a great country. Great in 

 laud, great in corn, great in cattle, great in patriots. 

 Illinois has sent 20,000 more men to the war than 

 her quota, and T am come East to see if there 

 is any chance to get drafted!" 



" But, tell ns B., seriously, what have you been 

 about since you and I used to sit down on an eve- 

 ning to discuss the mineral manure theory — you 

 being Leibig and I Lawes ? " 



" Well, I went to Minnesota. Had a little money, 

 you know. So I loaned it out at three per cent, 

 a month — and got back interest and principal! 

 Great country the West." 



" I did not think you would turn Jew. How can 

 any man afford to pay such an exorbitant rate of 

 interest ? " . 



" Why, buy a farm to-day and sell it to-morrow 

 for as much again as you gave for it ! " 



" Well, what was the result ? " 



"I bought a farm, and the grasshoppers eat up 

 everything there was on it, and I was thankful 

 that I had money enough left to carry me out of 

 the Territory." 



Our friend then thought he would travel a little 

 and see the West. He is a smart fellow, well edu- 

 cated, a farmer's son, strong and healthy, a wide- 

 awake Yankee, and knows how to turn a hand to 

 anytliing. He helped to plant corn at one place, 

 at the next he was a carpenter, then a painter, and 

 thus he traveled, working his passage, seeing the 

 country and making a little money. Finally lie 

 loaned his money at 30 per cent., and of course 

 *' had to take the farm." 



He put in a field of wheat, and got 30 bushels 

 per acre, and sold it for a dollar per bushel, cash 

 down ! 



" And that crop of wheat ruined me." 



" How was that ? " 



"Ihave been sowing wheat ever since hoping 

 for such another streak of good luck. But the 

 crops have been poor and the prices poorer. This 

 year I had but four bushels per acre. Wheat can 't 

 be raised at present prices." 



" I never could understand how farmers could 

 afford to sell shelled corn at ten cents a bushel. It 

 costs nearly that to husk and shell it here." 



" Husk corn! You don't know how to husk, I 

 never saw a man at the East yet that did." " How 

 do we do it ? " " Why, di-ive into a fi'eld with a 

 wagon with three men, take two rows on each side, 

 and the one behind that the wagon has passed over 

 and husk all the good corn about as fast as the 

 horses can walk." 



" You don't cut up the corn ?" 



" Cut up corn ! Nobody does that but once, un- 

 less you want it for fodder, and it does 'nt pay." 



"Well, even in this way, I do- not see how yon 

 can afford to sell corn for ten cents per bushel." 



" We can 't. Corn can not be raised for less than 

 twenty-five cents a bushel." 



"Well," he continued, "I'm ruined. The bot- 

 tom's dropped out of the West. I have got two 

 farms, but I am going home and shall tell the old 

 folks if they will give me board and clothes I will 

 stay with them." 



THE ADVANTAGES OF UNDERDRAINING LAND. 



The Bon. A. B. Conger, who so ably presided 

 at the Evening Meetings for Discussion during the 

 last New York State Fair held in this city, kindly 

 furnishes us with the following summary of the 

 conclusions arrived at by the meeting in regard to 

 the advantages of underdraining land : 



1. The principal benefit to be secured to the 

 farmer, by underdraining, lies in the more thorough 

 tillage lie is ai)le to give to his arahle land ; yet in- 

 stances are not wanting, where pasture lands are 

 very profitably improved from what mny be de- 

 nomin.ated the primai-y or simple Juethod of 

 drainage. 



2. In the discussion of this subject, soils are 

 properly divided into those which produce, to a 

 greater or less extent, aquatic^ and those which 

 bear the cultirated grnfises ; th6 former being 

 nearly destitute of nitrogen, or the flesh-forming 

 principle. 



3. As the supply of nitrogen for plants is mostly 

 derived from the atmospliere, soils not possessing 

 the natural or artificial means of drainage for the 

 surface water, or that welled up from sttatified 



