234 



THE GENESEE FAR:MER. 



" Tell us, Mr. G., what is the advantage of these 

 folds and wrinkles in the skiu?" 



"Oilier things being equal, the amount of wool 

 is in proportion to the surface of the slciu; and 

 these wrinkles give us more surface, and conse- 

 quently more wool." 



We hope Mr. Goodhue will exhibit "Dick" at 

 our next Fair. ^ 



A PLEASANT RIDE. 



The next morning we took a drive through the 

 country; and such a country! The weather had 

 been very dry for several weeks, but the day be- 

 fore a heavy shower fell, and now everything 

 looks fresh and beautiful. The fields of corn and 

 beans are luxuriant and very clean— so are the 

 fallows; but the crowning glory of this section is 

 the Wheat. Here is Colonel Mtjrdock, and he 

 tells us of a 65-acre field on his farm that pro- 

 duced 2,275 bushels of wheat, and another field 

 of 12 acres that produced 648 bushels, or 54 bush- 

 els per acre ! 



Mr. Donald MoNaughton has a very large and 

 beautiful farm; and what is somewhat unusual, he 

 has a good garden and grounds around his house. 

 These large and thrifty farmers have not generally 

 paid much attention to horticulture. They have 

 good houses, but poor gardens. Such a thing as 

 a nicely mown lawn is rare indeed. 



We have not time to stay, but must step in 

 and shake hands with our old friend Wm. Gaebutt. 

 He has a beautiful and well-managed farm, and we 

 catch a glimpse of his fine herd ot Devons in a 

 distant field. Good! there is a piece of mangel 

 ■wurzel or beets. This is the first root crop we 

 have seen! Mr. G. keeps a large stogk, and make? 

 cousiderahle manure. He ajjplies it entirely to his 

 "hoed crops"— corn and roots. He spreads the 

 manure on the grass the fiill before. 



The farmers in this section are introducing quite 

 extensively another hoed crop, which we have fre- 

 quently recommended-BEANS. We need hardly 

 say that the past year they proved highly profita- 

 ble. Mr. John 0. McVean had a large field of 

 them— we think 25 acres. He had a fine crop, 

 and pot a high price for them. After the beans 

 were off, he sowed the land to wheat, and it now 

 looks nearly or quite as well as an adjoining field 

 that was summer-fallowed. 



LESS LAND SOWN TO WHEAT. 



Before the advent of the mi<lge, the old system 

 of farmliiu' was to take off a crop of wheat every 

 other year. The wheat was seeded with clover, 

 ftttd the clover plowed under whea in bloom, and 



the land sown to wheat again in the fall. But no- 

 it is customary to let the land lie in clover at lea 

 two and generally three years. On such lan^ 

 especially if it has been pastured, a spring cro 

 such as peas and beans, can be taken off withoi 

 much injury to the following wheat crop. 

 some cases corn is jdanted, but it is not easy to g 

 it off in proper season to sow wheat. We notic< 

 in Mr. MoVean's corn field, every few rods a stn 

 of peas. The object is to have a cleared space 

 put the shocks of corn on. The peas can be ha 

 vested and the land sown to wheat, and the co 

 can then be shocked up on it at once and the r« 

 of the field sown to wheat. 



The objection to this plan is that the corn c 

 only be horse-hoed one way. But as the farrat' 

 in this section drill their corn, and consequen- 

 only cultivate one way, the strip of peas is no b 

 drance. 



We next visited the farm of Mr. D. C. RooE 

 and found Mr. R., as usual, busy at work. He 1 

 just erected a new barn, 90 feet long, 40 feet wij 

 and 40 high, with basement the whole length, 

 is a plain structure, and is intended merely to mK 

 away hay and grain. It is on a side-hill, and n 

 basement forms an open shed for sheep or catK 

 There are two barn floors, with mows on b< 

 sides. The wbole cost only $1,400. In additior 

 this Mr. R. has an excellent barn and other bu 

 ings, a cut and description of which were giver 

 the Genesee Farmer for April, 1858. 



There are few better farmers than Mr. Rogb 

 He raises no spring crops except what he needs 

 his stock. Sows clover and plaster freely, i 

 keeps his land in good heart. He commen 

 sowing wheat last year on the 11th of Septeml 

 and finished (on pea land) the 28th. That «< 

 first is no earlier than that sown last. All 

 wheat is excellent. He, has a part of a field 

 wheat after peas and the other part after o 

 The wheat on the pea land is the better crop, 

 feeds out his peas on the farm to sheep ; and if 

 wheat is better after Ihe peas than after the o 

 certainly the crop of peas is quite as nntriti- 

 and the manure from them is worth twice <M m 

 as that from the oats. 



A NOBLE WHEAT FARM. 



We now approach a farm we have long wiS' 

 to see— that of the late Edmttnd Fellows. 

 was, perhaps, the most successful farmer in Moi 

 county. Coming into this country poor, he h 

 out to a farmer for a short time, and saved mc 

 enough to rent a farm. On this he did well, 



