240 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



giving hiscowa a bran-raa»h at the time of milking. 

 After a time, wlien the cows had plenty of grass, 

 he witliluld the mash— ani the cows witheld the 

 milk! lie fouud it so difficult to milk them, that 

 he had to contiaue feeding them during the pro- 



C6v-;S. 



(6) Good advice— sit close to the cow, and do 

 notpa.'ih your head into her Jianh. Sit up straight 

 on the stool, and hold the pail up from the ground 

 between your knees. 



(c) We second this recommendation. Farmers 

 should teach (not learn) their daughters and female 

 domestics not only to ''strip,''^ but to milk the 

 cows. A cow likes to be milked by a soft-handed 

 and kind-liearted woman much better than by a 

 rough, cro- a grained, hard fisted Lord of Creation, 

 and will give more milk. 



The other recommendations are good. Milk rap- 

 idly and thoroughly, and do not speak a word. If 

 you must exercise your vocal powers, hum a sooth- 

 ing tune, keeping time to the music of the flowing 



milk. 



JOUKNAL OF THE EOYAL AGRICDLTDEAL SOCIETY. 



The last number of the Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, of England, contains as usual 

 a number of excellent essays. 



" The Prize Farms of France," by the editor, P. 

 H. Frkre, contains much that is interesting and 

 inatructive. French agriculture is rapidly impro- 

 ving. The extreme subdivision of land has received 

 a check. The farms are larger, and more capital 

 and science are called into requisition. The Em- 

 peror takes a personal interest in farming. 



" Moreover," saya Mr. Frere, " in France, as 

 among ourselves, men -^^ho have made large and 

 succersful ventures in trade, in railways, or in the 

 money-market, like to cast an anchor on terra- 

 firma, and carry with them their dash, their en- 

 larfred range of view, and their command of 

 caiiital." 



The French Government offers a prize of $1,000 

 in money, and a $600 silver cup to the owner of 

 the best farm in the different departments of the 

 country. "The Prime d'Honneur" is awarded 

 •' for the best managed farm, on which the most 

 nseful improvements have been introduced." An 

 account is given of the Prize Farms, but we can 

 not spare room this month for extracts. 



The next paper is " On the absorption of Soluble 

 Phospliate of Lime by different soils of known 

 composition', and remarks on the a[.plication of 

 superphospliate and other phosphatic manures to 

 root crops," by Dr. Atjgustds Voelckkr, of the 

 Boyal Agricultural College at Cirencester. 



The main reason why the direct supply of readi- 

 ly-available phosphates is so beneficial to root 

 crops, and not to wheat, the Doctor thinks, is 

 found in the fact that turnips have a much shorter 

 season to grow in, and their roots do not penetrate 

 the soil to as great a depth, or ramify so completely 

 through it. This is also one reason why late sown 

 barley receives more benefit from an application 

 of superphosphate, than early sown ; and, if this is 

 so, it would be well for our farmers to try super- 

 phosphate as a manure for barley, as the period of 

 its growth in this country is much shorter than it 

 is in England. Dr. V. also states that superphos- 

 phate has the " additional advantage of encourag- 

 ing early maturity, and producing a finer sample 

 of grain." 



The experiments of Dr. V. demonstrated conclu- 

 sively, that ordinary soils, more especially those of 

 a calcareous character, have the power of abi?orb- 

 ing large quantities of phosphoric acid from a 

 watery solution. 



The next paper is " On the Supply of Horses 

 adapted to the English Army," with " Notes on 

 the Remount System in the French Army," by J. 

 Wilkinson. The average price paid for army 

 horses in England is £36, and it is thought that 

 this is not high e^nough to encourage the breeders 

 of cavalry horses. The same is true in France. . 

 The French Government, a few years since, under- 

 took to raise its own horses, but has abandoned 

 the attempt. It now depends on the general 

 market. 



Mr. Wilkinson complains that, while great im- 

 provements have been made in the breeds of cattle 

 and sheep, comparatively little has been done to- 

 wards improviiig the horse. The main reason 

 of this he ascribed to " the want of sufficient care 

 in securing good mares to breed from." 



We have next a report from Dr. Voeloker, on 

 the results of some experiments with different top- 

 dressings upon wheat. Nitrate of soda and Peru- 

 vian guano both proved a profitable application. 

 Two hundredweight of nitrate of soda per acre, 

 gave an increase of 15i bushels— (the unmanured 

 plot yielded 29 bushels, and that dressed with 2 

 owt. of nitrate of soda, 44^ bushels.) 2 cwt. of 

 Peruvian guano gave an increase of 14 bushels per 

 acre. l?ut the most remarkable result waa with 

 common salt. *3 cwt. of salt gave an increase of9f 

 bushels of wheat per acre! Dr. Voelckkr says : 



"This is a curious result, but it stands not soli- 

 tary, for in 1861 salt alone produced an increase of 

 nearly 7 buslielsof corn (vvhca'). But as salt alone 

 in the years preceding 1860 had hardly any effect 



