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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



SPmiT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 



Wash for Buildings.— The following recipe for making 

 •whitewash was given in the Genesee Farmer sometime 

 a^o. It is now " going the rounds," and may at this time 

 not inappropriately form an item in our "Spirit of the 

 Agricultural Press:" 



" Tdke a clean barrel that will hold water; put into it 

 half a bushel of quick lime, and slack it bv pouring over 

 ic boiling water sufficient to cover it four or live inches 

 deep, and stirring it until it is slaked. Dissolve in water 

 and add two pounds of sulphate of zinc (white vitriol,) 

 and one pound of common salt, which will cause the wash 

 to harden on the woodwork in a few days; add sufficient 

 ■water to bring it to the consistency of thick whitew.ish. 

 To make the above wash of a jjleasant cream color, add 

 three pounds of yellow ocliie. For ftvvvn color, add four 

 pounds umber, one pound Indian red, and one pound of 

 lam]i black. For gray or stone color, add four pounds 

 raw umber and two pounds lamp-black. 



"The foUowinor is the formula for the whitewash used 

 for the minor buildings coiinected with the President's 

 residence at Washington, D. C, both externally and in- 

 ternallv: Slack six pounds of lime in hot water, covered 

 from the air. Pass it through a seive in a liquid state. 

 Add one-quarter of a pound of whiting or the same 

 quantity of pulverized burnt alum, one pound of white 

 sugar, three pints of rice flour made into a paste and one 

 pound of glue (liirht colored). Add tive gallons of boil- 

 ing water to the "whole mixture. Apply it warm to the 

 outside of buildings, and cold on the inside. One pint 

 will cover a square yard of outside work." 



Cotton in Illinois.— The editor of the Illinois Farmer 

 says cotton " is now becoming one of the regular crops 

 in all that part of the State south of the Great Western 

 Railroad, and small patches will be planted north of that 

 point." Having visited the cotton regions of Alabama 

 and Mississippi last season, he gives directions for its 

 culture. The seed is sown in rows three feet eight 

 inches apart, using plenty of seed and thinning out the 

 plants six to twelve inches apart in the drills. Close 

 planting dwarfs the plants and favors maturity. The 

 young plants make little progress for the first few weeks, 

 and in weedy lands the weeds would make bad work with 

 the crops. To avoid this, " scraping," as it is called in 

 the South, is resorted to. This is simply hoeing and 

 scraping away the weeds from each side of the rows, but 

 with our improved cultivators this is not needed. It is 

 probable, he says, that topping may be beneficial by 

 hastening the maturity of the crop. 



How WIDB APART SHOULD ApPLE TrEES BE Set?— The 



Gardener's Monthly states that this question was discus- 

 sed at a late meeting of the Fruit-Growers Society of 

 Eastern Pennsylvania. Some members allowed their 

 trees to branch from the ground, and never cultivated 

 about them. Those thought twenty feet apart sufficient. 

 Others, who insisted on cultivating the trees, and had to 

 trim high for this purpose, advocated thirty feet. The 

 question was finally decided by vote, as follows: For 40 

 teet apart, one vote : for S3 feet, 6 votes ; 30 feet, 9 votes; 

 25 feet, 70 votes ; 20 feet, 3 votes. 



Clover Seed in England. —The London Fanners' 

 Magazine says: "Fine red clover seed is so scarce that 

 extravagant prices have been paid for it, say 90s. per cwt. 

 (say 111 per bushel in gold, or $17 in our currency), 

 while some is only worth 40 shillings. Good American 

 is worth .'iOs.a.")2s, per cwt.; and there has been free ship- 

 ments to France in consequence of a bad crop there." 



Canada Barley. — The Country Geniltntan recently 

 remarked: " Out of the 2,814,700 bushels of barley re- 

 ceived here (Albany), only about 500,000 are produced 

 b}' our own farmers. Why should they abandon its cul- 

 ture thus largely to the Canadians?" The Hon. George 

 Geddes, in reply to this question, alludes to the Recipro- 

 city Treaty, by which Canadian barley can be brought 

 here free of duty. But surely this is no answer to the 

 question, for the same is true of other grains. Another 

 reason assigned is that " barley grows best on heavy soils 

 in a cold damp climate, and in much of Canada all these 

 eciuditions are found." Mr. Geddes is a gentleman of 

 great experience, and his statement's deserve careful con- 

 sideration. But is there not some mistake in regard to 

 barley growing best on heavy soils ? We have always 

 supposed that it did best on rather light, warm, active 

 soils. That it will do well on heavy soils that are brought 

 into a fine mellow condition we know, but with ordinary 

 cultivation a lighter soil we supposed was preferable. 



Clover Seed. — A correspondent of the Country Gentle- 

 man, observes, truly, that the seed of the large or late 

 clover is difficult to obtain, even at much higher rates 

 than the small kind. He says a neighbor of bis in 

 Niagara Co., N. T., raises it very successfully by pastur- 

 ing the clover quite close till about the middle of June, 

 and then, after cutting or digging up all docks or other 

 weeds, allows it to go to seed. It then ripens about the 

 right time in September to fill well. He has averaged 

 five bushels of seed per acre for several years. 



Hog Cholera. — A correspondent of the Country Gen- 

 tleman, states that he and his neighbors have been suc- 

 cessful in treating this disease, as follows : He pounded 

 together four ounces of copperas, four ounces of cooking 

 soda, and one ounce of sulphur, and gave each hog a 

 tablespoonful twice a week in its feed. 



Illinois Farms. — The sales of lands by the Illinois 

 Central Railroad Company are now greater than at any 

 former period. The Illinois Farmer says "things now 

 look as though we are on the eve of tne largest immi- 

 gration of farmers to the State that has yet occurred. 

 Let them come. With the present price of farm pro- 

 ducts, farming land must advance." 



Fat PiiKKP.— The Country Gentleman states that J. 

 WiNNE, of Albany Co., lately sold 453 head of sheep at 

 an average price of $11. 75 per head. Of this number, 

 414 weighed 156 pounds each before leaving Mr. W.'s 

 farm. They were Leicesters and crosses of that breed, 

 purchased in Canada West last fall. 



Morgan's Improved Harrow. — John Jodnston, in the 

 Country GentLman, speaks highly of this new harrow. 

 He says "it is a wonderful improvement on any harrow 

 he ever saw." It will do double the work of the Scotch 

 harrow in the same time and do it bettor, and not any 

 harder for the team. 



Bkans.— The same writer, who has had much experi- 

 ence in the cultivation of beans, gives it as his opinion 

 that the " Medium" is the most profitable variety of bean 

 in this section. It ripens early and more easily than any 

 other kind, and the crop is off in time for sowing fall 

 wheat. 



