THE GENESEE FARMER. 



06 



The varieties obtained for the "Agricultural 

 Department" may have been fresh from the vines, 

 while those for the "exhibition" had probably 

 been exposed long enough to lose more or less 

 moisture. 



We make these remarks in no captious spirit. 

 We hail with pleasure every attempt of the Gov- 

 ernment to promote investigations of this kind, 

 and we know full well the difficulty of making ex- 

 periments that shall be strictly comparative ; but 



should never he forgotten that a hasty, inaccu- 

 rate experiment is of no value. 



Dr. Wetherill alludes to Mulder's work on 

 the Chemistry of Wines, but deems it "proper to 

 disclaim any survile imitation of Europe in wines 

 or any other agricultural product." He would not 

 have us " blind followers of the chemists of simi- 

 lar departments in foreign governments," but 

 ratlier "leaders striving to establish a national 

 system of agriculture" 1 



A FRUIT FARM IN ILLINOIS. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: I wish to ask your 

 advice. I am offered a farm of forty acres, with 

 thirty acres irai-roved, an orchard of sixty bearing 

 ai^ple trees, eight years planted, a comfortable log 

 uouse, one and a quarter miles from' the Court 

 nouse' (Lewistown being the county seat,) under a 

 good outside fence, and the right kind of soil for a 

 fruit farm (a clay loam), for $1,200, or $30 per 

 acre. Ni) payment until the expiration of six 

 yeara, except interest at six per cent, per annum; 

 at the expiration of the six years, $200 and in- 

 tei-psr^ and so on untill the whole is paid. _ Wliat I 

 wanl\o know is, can a man of ordinary industry, 

 with a good team and capital sufficient to set out 

 one thousand trees annually, pay for such a place 

 upon such terras? 



Wili oak saw-dust and the ashes from a steam 

 saw mill, (which burns both wood and bituminous 

 coal,) mixed, make good manure for land ? _ And, 

 if so. in what quantities per acre; and if not 

 mixed, how should they be applied? I have some 

 laml fwish to bring up which has been hard run ; 

 a clay loam, clay predominating, (bluffs of Illinois 

 river near the prairies ;) can get plenty of saw- 

 dust and ashes, but have no barn-yard manure, to 

 s[)eak of; no muck, though I can get some black 

 soil from the creek bottoms. Can I use them to 

 advantage, and how? By answering these ques- 

 tions you will greatly oblige an old subscriber. 



Fulton County, Illinois. Elgin. 



Remarks.— We are not sufficiently acquainted 

 with your district of country to enable us to form 

 any correct opinion as to whether you can pay for 

 a farm in the way you propose or not. 



The raising of good fruit, under favorable cir- 

 cumstances of climate, soil and marJcet, is generally 

 profitable. There are, however, many risks, and 



we would not advise a man to go into fruit-grow- 

 ing as a business unless he has sufficient capital to 

 enable him to stand the failure, or partial failure, 

 of his crops for two or three years in succession. 



The person who sells you the farm runs no risk. 

 It is true you pay no money down, but the trees 

 you plant, and tlie other improvements you make, 

 will enhance the value of the farm, and thus afford 

 him ample security. 



On the other hand, you run considerable risk. 

 You expend money in making improvements, 

 planting out trees, &c. You have given a mort- 

 gage on your farm for $1,200. This mortgage 

 covers the farm and all the improvements you 

 make upon it. You pay $72 each year for interest, 

 and spend all the money you can spare in planting 

 trees, &c., relying on the fruit to pay the $272 

 which will be due at the end of the sixth year. 

 Now it may be that this will be a poor fruit year. 

 The crops may fail— and where are you? If you 

 have outside means, all very well. If you have 

 not, the mortgage may be foreclosed, and you lose 

 the farm and all the labor and money you have 

 spent upon it for six years. 



There are not many men who can run in debt 

 for a farm and pay for it from the profits after sup- 

 porting their family. It is occasionally done, but 

 there is great risk of losing all that you put on it 

 from an inability to meet your payments. 



The fact is, agriculture is not a very lucrative 

 business. The profits are not large. A man with 

 a sixty-acre farm, all paid for, seldom makes more 

 than a livelihood for himself and family. The 

 profits from fruit culture are undoubtedly greater 

 than those from ordinary agriculture, but there ia 

 more risk. The expense of planting, pruning and 

 cultivating the trees is considerable, and you have 

 to wait sometime for the fruit. 



If you had the means to buy the farm out and 

 out, or sufficient capital to render you safe trom all 

 danger of losing the farm and all the improve- 

 ments you have put on it, we would say by all 

 means plant fruit trees ; but to run in debt for the 

 farm, trusting to crops which may fail at the very 

 time when you must have money, or lose all, is 

 exceedingly hazardous. 



There is not much fertilizing matter in either 

 saw-dust or coal ashes. The wood ashes are of 

 course valuable. Unless there is a considerable 

 proportion of the latter, it would hardly pay you 

 to draw the mixture a mile. In the absence of 

 barn-yard manure, your only way of renovating a 

 clay soil will be thorough cultivation. 



