18 



THE GENEflEE FARMER. 



sulisdils, are unnMe to allow tin' atir.ospherlc air 

 to circulate in them, and can not absorb any por- 

 tion of its nitrogen, and are generally regarded as 

 barren or waste lands. 



4. Tlie average annual fall of water in the State 

 of Xew York, in the form of rain and snow, is 

 w'itliin a fraction of three (8) feet, of which only 

 one twenty-fourth (1-24) is appropriated by plants ; 

 Beven-twelfths (7-12) pass otf by evaporation, and 

 three-eights (.3-8) are carried away by water- 

 courses, either open or moving beneath the earth's 

 surface. 



5. Where these water-courses are deficient in 

 number, imperfect in flow, or obstructed in their 

 outlet, the first essay of the drainer is to remedy 

 tliese defects; and where the adjacent land is 

 porous in its character, as in the case where sandy 

 particles predominate, the simple ditch, judiciously 

 located, is suflicient to provide for the escape of 

 all surplus water. 



6. Where, in addition to the annual supply from 

 the skies, the soil is saturated with water boiling 

 up from tlie stratified subsoil, or underlying or ad- 

 j.-.eent rocks, it is then expedient, by boring^ to 

 c-nuluct the excess of this supply to the main 

 ditch directly, or by lateral drains leading into it. 



All these methods may be classed under the 

 primary method of drainage. 



7. In soils deficient in, or wholly deprived of, 

 sandy or porous constituents, the escape of the 

 twenty-three twenty-fourths (23-24) ot the rain 

 and snow fall is retarded, the average temperature 

 of the soil is lowered by six and a half degrees 

 (fti") of Falirenheit's scale, equal to seven degrees 

 (7-^) of higher latitude, and the water, forced up 

 from tlie fissures of adjacent stratifications (if any 

 there be,) make the receipts of a more thorough 

 system of drainage, which may he styled the 

 secondary oi* complex method. 



8. In proportion to the density and tenacity of 

 the soil, ditches must be dug at intervals varying 

 from twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) feet apart; and 

 in order tliat the plowing and laying down of the 

 laud may be effective, the ditches must be covered; 

 au'd this ha.s inaugurated the system of tile-drain- 

 ing, at an expense of from twenty ($20) to forty 

 ($40) dollars per acre, rendering land, previously 

 of but little value, capable of the highest produc- 

 tion. 



9. This, however, can never be fully realized, 

 unless the draining is followed by the deepest 

 plowing, not only by the ordinary but by the sub- 

 soil plow, and also by a system of high manuring, 

 which shall s<i|iply not only nitrogenous manures, 

 and thoHe ricli in the mineral food of plants, hut 

 also tlione which al)ound in carbonaceous material, 

 and will insure a perfect a3ration of the soil, and 

 prevent its subsidence to its original compact and 

 impermeable conditinn. Care, however, should be 

 taken that none of these several materials should 

 be supplied in excess; and ec«mt>my re<piires that 

 neitlier shoulil be added to soils enjoying it nat- 

 urally in sufficient amount and in a soluble form. 



10. Tile-draining should only he undertaken after 

 ft careful fnirtey by a competent person ; the drains 

 plxiuld be accurately delineated upon a map for 

 fnfiire reference; the tiles should be laid on an 

 nnit'omi grade, so as to avoid sa^s in whidi silt 

 uigUt ikccuu^iilate ; the oatlet« sboold be as few as 



possible and carefully guarded, and, in some cases, 

 with traps, to prevent their stoppage by the en- 

 trance of vermin. 



11. As illustrative of the vast importance of this 

 subject to tlie farming interests of the State of 

 New York, it is believed that but a comparatively 

 small portion of its arable land possesses a good 

 natural drainage; a large proportion has this, but 



in an imperfect degree; and probably * per 



cent, has none at all, but demands a thorough ap- 

 plication of the methods of the secondary system 

 of drainage. 



KILLING AND PEEPARATION OF FOWLS. 



In a French "Work on Poultry, by M. Jacques, 

 there are some excellent hints on killing fowls, and 

 preparing them for market. "We make some ex- 

 tracts from a translation in the London Journal of 

 Horticulture : 



" It is not by a massacre we should end the 

 career of the beautiful animals we have given our- 

 selves so much trouble to rear, and that have come 

 to us so often when they have heard our friendly 

 voice. Let us listen to the precepts on this subject 

 given by M. Allibert. He writes thus : 



" Like cattle, fattened fowls should not be killed 

 till they liave fasted about twenty -four hours, 

 which allows the crop and intestines to become 

 emi)ty. The extraction of the latter is easier in 

 consequence. Lean, or half-fattened fowls, are 

 killed by cutting the venous conduits near the 

 head, and then holding the bird suspended by the 

 feet; this facilitates the bleeding, and makes the 

 flesh whiter. Choice fowls, however, require more 

 care, and are killed with a sharp, pointed knife, or 

 the fine blade of a pair of scissors, which is thrust 

 through the, palate to the brain; then the large 

 vessels inside the throat are cut without injury to 

 the skin ; the animal is then suspended by the feet, 

 in order that all the blood may run away, and its 

 beak is then washed. 



" As soon as it is dead all the intestines shonld 

 he withdrawn without making any opening, but 

 drawn carefully out and cutoff at their origin close 

 to the gizz.ard. The liver and gizzard should re- 

 main in the abdomen. This operation is indispen- 

 sable; for, if the intestines remained some time in 

 the bird after death, the smell and even the taste 

 of stercoral substances would invade the meat, 

 rendering it detestable, and facilitate its de- 

 comi)osition. The vacuum caused by withdrawing 

 the intestines is filled up with halls of i>aper,which 

 are put in the natural openinc, through which the 

 intestines have been withdrawn ; this keeps up the 

 size and shape of the fowl. 



"Fowls should he picked while they are hot. 

 In this operation the greatest care should \% taken 

 to avoid tearing the skin, which spoils the appear- 

 ance and injures the sales : after being i)icked, the 

 fowl is ])nt in cold water if the weatlier is hot, in 

 order to become thoroughly cold ; if that be not 

 necessary, it is washed, wiped, and wrapped in a 

 cloth. Tlie poultry women of La Bresse sew up 



•This pcrcpnlnce was to htivp lioon .oiipp^ledhy Hon. T. C. 

 Petfbs, of Genocpp, from notes liikcii by him while engappd in 

 \\\p work of iqualizing the a»»e.«snn-nl3 of landed property in the 

 State, and will doabtleas be furnished to the Society at an early 



