THE GEInTESEE FARMER, 



179 



day, and I find they are looking nicely. Last year 

 they sheared 14 lbs. each, and this year I expect 

 them to shear 16 lbs. 



"I value the Genesee Farmer highly. It is a 

 welcome visitor at our house." 



He adds, in a private note, tliat he fed three 

 hundred sheep last winter, " but they do not look 

 as well as they should for the grain and hay they 

 have eaten/' Undoubtedly it will pay to build 

 barns. Wliat say our correspondents? 



TO DESTROY CANADA THISTLES. 



0. 0. Wilson, of Niagara county, N". Y., after 

 remarking that the leaves are the lungs of the 

 plant, says: 



"Canada thistles should be cut off even with, or 

 below, the surface of tiie ground, and as often as 

 they make their appearance repeat the operation, 

 and tliey will finally bo destroyed. 



" The old-fashioned' summer fallow gives the 

 best opportunity for extei'ininating this pest, and 

 if the laud was in corn the preceding year, the 

 chances for destroying them will be increased, as 

 the plow can then be freely used instead of the 

 hoe, and the operation need not be repeated so 

 often ; but whether the plow or hoe be used, let it 

 be done thoroughly and no green tiling left, for it 

 the leaves are j^ennitted to grow only f(u- a short 

 time the breathing apparatus will be partially re- 

 stored, and the roots, although very much weak- 

 ened, will soon regain wliat they have lost. 



" But by all means keep them down the latter 

 part of the summer, as the great object of Nature, 

 both in plants and animals, is the propagation of 

 the species, and at this season of the year she will 

 make every effort to accomplish that purpose. 

 Out them off even with tlie ground, and in a short 

 time a new stem will be sent forth with its tiny 

 leaves and embryo seed. Repeat the operation, 

 and in a few days the same thing can be seen 

 again: But persevere, for now is the time that the 

 battle is nearly won, and you will be sui-e to come 

 off victorious. These elforts on the part' of Na- 

 ture for the accomplishment of her great object 

 will draw very hard upon the roots and very much 

 weaken them, and before you are aware, if you 

 have been thorough in the business, the thistles 

 will all be gone. 



"This is not mere theory, for the practical part 

 I performed some years ago and sought fur the 

 the theory afterward. A field was plowed in the 

 fall for a summer fallow in which was a patch ot 

 thistles. The field was plowed three times the 

 next summer, and the thistles cut regularly once a 

 week; but the latter part of August they came up 

 oftener and thicker than ever, and I was about to 

 give up in despair, when I concluded to try once 

 more. This was the last of August. The first 

 week in September the ground was plowed aud 

 sowed to wheat, and not a thistle has bee/i seen 

 there since. The next year a patch in another 

 field was killed in nearly the same manner. The 

 field was broken up in the fall, and plowed three 

 times the next summer. The hoe was not used, 

 but the patch had three extra plowings." 



BLACK LEG IN CATTLE. 



Thomas Atkins, of Norfolk county, 0. W., says 



he has had some experience with this disease in 

 England, and that it originates from a too full habit 

 of body and thickening of the blood. It is little 

 known on poor soils. He recommends strong 

 bleeding, and an incision to be made through the 

 skin of the dewlap ten inches from the breast, and 

 the insertion therein of a ball composed of garlic, 

 one sprig of rue and four leaves of bear's-paw, 

 the former rolled up in the two latter and the 

 whole coated with salted lard. After inserting the 

 ball between the skin and flesh the incision is 

 sewed up, and he says it will soon effect a cure. 



THE NEW YOSK FARMERS' CLUB. 



The following extracts from the Tri'bune''s re- 

 port of the discussions at a recent meeting of the 

 New York Farmers' Oiub will be read with in- 

 terest : 



Potatoes. — Solon Robinson presented a box of 

 two kinds of budding potatoes, sent him by the 

 originator. He thought that they were not worth 

 the express charges. 



John G. I^ehgeiN — T have tried a good many new 

 seedlings, but have to come back to old and well 

 tried sorts. I should not be .willing to pay express 

 charges upcm any seedling potatoes I have ever 

 seen. If these are worth it, they are an exception. 

 Of thirty varieties of potatoes that I have experi- 

 mented with, I liave now only two or three, and I 

 consider the old Mercer one of the very best to 

 rely upon. The Buckeye is a good early potato 

 and growing in favor with farmers. TheDikeman 

 is also a good potato for early marketing. 



Dr. Trimble said that he found the I3uckeye in 

 favor in Mannn<jth county for two seasons. It 

 sells well in the market, and the crop comes off" in 

 time to sow wheat upon the ground, which is well 

 I)repared by digging the crop. For quality, there 

 is no sort superior to tlie old Mercer. Perhaps the 

 best for use at tliis season is the old blue Pinkeye. 



Mr. Bergen said there is a kind brought here 

 from Nova Scotia that is excellent at this season. 

 There are several sorts called Mercer. I have 

 grown two, quite distinct. My yield is from 80 to 

 200 bushels per acre. The Mercer has given some 

 of our Long Island farmers 300 bushels per acre. 

 The Carter is a poor yielder. The Peach-blow 

 potato requires a longer season than the Mercer, 

 and is not good if grown in a wet season. 



Prof Nash said the Carter was the best potato 

 in Mas-^achusetts, the Mercer next, but a small 

 yielder.; not as good as Peach-blows. Perhaps 

 the Mercers grown there as not the same sort as 

 those so highly commended here. 



Mr. Bergen — As a general rule the kind of 

 potatoes that grow the largest tops exhaust the soil 

 most, without regard to quantity or quality of 

 roots. It is so of other crops. I grow the' Ox- 

 heart cabbage for early market sales, and the large 

 Drumhead for late. The receipts per acre are 

 about the same, but tlie early is the most profitable 

 because it exhausts the soil the least. 



Curing the Potato Disease. — A. R. Lemon, of 

 Watervleit, Berrien county, Mich., writes again, 



