-. XXIV. Second Series. ROCHESTER, N. Y., AUGUST, 1863 



No. 8. 



A DAY IN THE WHEAT FIELDS. 



'N the 6th and 7Lh of July, in company with 

 Hon. John McVean, of Scottsville, we had the 

 sure of visiting some of the wheat farms in 

 i, Wheatland, Caledonia and Avon, and re- 

 ed home more than ever impressed with the 

 ity of the landscape, the excellence of the soil, 

 the skill and intelligence of tlie farmers of 

 far-famed section of the Genesee country. 



GENESEE vs. WESTERN WHEAT. 



the stage from the railroad station to the vil- 

 of Scottsville were two millers,onefrom Oak- 

 county, Mich., and the other inmi Wheatland, j 

 the ccuversation turned on the comparative 

 ty of the wheat in the two sections. "There 

 a time," said the Michigan miller, " when the 

 it in this sectjon was the best in the world, 

 flour commanded the highest price in market; 

 30W Michigan and Ohio are ahead of you." 

 Wlieatlaud miller, whose name we did not 

 , was not disposed to acknowledge the claim, 

 and Michigan wheat was good—but so was 

 3f this section, and it was improving. 



EAKLT SOWN WHEAT INJUKED BY THE FLY. 



[ow is the wheat crop in Michigan?" we 



^ell, very good, where it was not sown too 



Our farmers have been in too great a hurry 



t the seed in. Some sowed as early as the 



e of August, and the fly has injured it a good 



Where it w;as sown late it is very good." 

 seems to be a fact that the Hessian fly this 

 las materially injured the early-sown wheat. 



OAK OPENINGS vs. TIMBEUPD LAND. , 



iving at Mr. MoVean's, we received a warm 

 me, and were soon listening with much profit 

 ascription of the geological formation of the 

 t, and the influence it had on the soil and 

 Mr. MoY. has been on his present fiirm 

 fty years. In the early history of the coun- 

 ) heavily timbered land was esteemed the 



most productive— and was so, in reality. The 

 annual deposit of leaves for centuries from the 

 deciduous trees formed a liberal dressing of manure, 

 while the roots left in the land after it was cleared 

 facilitated drainage. On the other hand, the oak 

 openings, on the more elevated and absorbent up- 

 lands, had been regularly "burnt over" by the 

 Indians, thus destroying the vegetable matter, and 

 leaving a surface soil, in many cases, not more than 

 three inches deep and destitute of organic matter. 

 It was very poor land. The subsoil was hard and 

 raw, and Mr. MoV. thinks he and others erred in 

 I plowiaig so deep. It would have been better not 

 to have brought up so much of this raw subsoil to 

 the surface at once. Clover, however, flourished 

 admirably. Its deep roots penetrated among the 

 shaly Hmestones, and when the crop was turned 

 under it furnished, by decay, the organic matter 

 and mineral plant-food which the soil needed. In 

 a few years it became the finest, surest, and, most 

 productive wheat land in Western New Fork. 



A FINE FLOCK OF SPANISH MEEINO SHEEP. 



"But," said our worthy host, "it will be an hour 

 before tea is ready, and as the time you can stay 

 with us is limited, let us go find see Mr. Good- 

 hoe's sheep. Mr. G. is one of our oldest and most 

 successful farmers, and his son has a great fond-. 

 ness for sheep. He has the best flock of Spanish 

 Merinos in this section." 



We found the sheep well worthy of this high 

 praise. Mr. G. has purchased freely from the best 

 flocks in Vermont, and has that enthusiasm, per- 

 severance and intelligence necessary for success as 

 a breeder. He knows every sheep in his flock. 

 Stooping down, he held out his hand, and snap- 

 ping his fingers, called to a fine lamb worth $100— 

 " Come here, Dick !" No crook was needed. The 

 lamb seemed no ways averse to be petted and have 

 his fleece parted and examined by the stranger. 

 He was all wool from head to tail, back and belly, 

 legs and nose. There was not a bare spot on him I ' 



