THE GENESEE FARMER. 



247 



SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PEESS. 



[ekp Down the Weeds.— The Boston Cultivator well 

 truly observes : *' Every plant may be likened to a 

 np — constantly drawing the water and throwing it off 

 he atmosphere. The extent to which this operation 

 ;oing on is not generally observed. Indeed, it is some- 

 es supposed that living plants keep the soil from dry- 

 up. A coating of dead vegetable matter doubtless 

 this effect; but living plants take water from the 

 more rapidly than it could be carried off by mere 

 Fae« evaporation. 



This has been demonstrated by experiment. Hales 

 nd that a sun-flower, three and a half feet high, lost 

 n. its leaves during twelve hours of one day, thirty 

 ces of watPT, and in another day twenty ounces. The 

 )unt of water taken up and thrown off by plants, de- 

 ds on exposure to the sun's light, it being greatest in 

 ir weather, and least in cloudy weather and during 

 iits. The amount also varies with the different species 

 )lants — those whose leaves present most surface to the 

 consuming most. 



Now, all the water which is consumed by weeds, is 

 ted; it is dissipated in the atmosphere and carried by 

 ds to other regions. Hence in a dry time the farmer 

 uld protect his crops against the abstraction of mois- 

 3 by plants from which he can derive no benefit." 



[uTTON Sheep at the West. — The United States Econ 

 st says : " In Illinois, and other parts of the West, 

 ;re corn is raised in such quantities that it is at times 

 d for fuel, the Leicester and Cotswold sheep would 



a large profit to the grower, if raised and fed for the 

 tton alone, leaving out. of the account the value of the 

 ce. Corn is a most excellent food for fattening sheep, 



there is no country on the earth that can compete 

 h the West in its production. By looking over the 

 'ket reports of the three cities of Boston, Philadelphia 



New York, it will be found that the average price of 

 t-class mutton is higher at all times than the average 

 ;e of first-class beef, but the largest profit in growing 

 sheep in our country is realized on the clip. In 

 lada, where the Leicester and Cotswold are the favorite 

 eds, the average weight of the fleece is full six pounds 

 r being washed. It is estimated in all sheep-growing 

 ntries that the increase of the flock will fully offset 

 cost of keeping, so that the clip is clear profit." It 

 ises the farmers of the West to import Leicester 



Cotswold breeds from Canada as largely as possi- 



. Profitable Peach Orchard.— An exchange says : — 

 le remember a story of a young Philadelphian coming 

 llinois some few years ago and planting a peach or- 

 vd; not a quarter acre, but a quarter section. One 

 idred and sixty acres planted in peach trees. The 

 [jbbors in pity to the inexperienced dry goods clerk 

 le and advised him, and at one time entertained ser- 

 s fears that his head was softer than it might be. He 

 nked them for their kindness, but preferred to pursue 

 own course. Time passed, the youngster grew older 

 1 so did bis peach orchaid. The third year his sales 

 reaches paid off all expenses to date, and the fourth 

 .r he Bold $17,000 worth of peaches," 



Gas-Tar FOR Seed-Corn. — Some writers have recom- 

 mended tliat seed-corn be coated with gas-tar before be- 

 ing planted, as a protection against worms, &c. Pas- 

 chall Morris, of Philadelphia, states in the Country 

 Gentleman, that he tried the tar according to directions 

 given by tiiose who were represented to have used it suc- 

 cessfully. Tliree rows of the field only were planted with 

 corn to which there was no application. The^e rows 

 came up well ; but on the rest of the field, where the 

 tarred corn was planted, it came up unequally, some hills 

 not coming up at all. The weather was ratheV dry, which 

 probably caused the tar to have a more unfavorable effect. 

 It seems that it would not be safe to apply gas-tajf to 

 seed-corn in a dry time. — Boston Cultivator. 



There can be no doubt that gas-tar is injurious to all 

 kinds of vegetation. In this section farmers have for 

 years used common tar on their seed corn without injury. 

 They dissolve it iu hot water and stir it in with the seea 

 corn, and then dry the corn by mixing it with plaster. 



Good Suggestion in Regard to the Osier Willow. — 

 The Boston Cultivator says : " Mr. Breed, late Editor of 

 the New Ham/psldre Journal of Agriculture, who is con- 

 siderably engaged in the cultivation of the osier or bas- 

 ket willow, suggested, in a conversation we lately had 

 with him, that every fiirmer should have a patch of wil- 

 lows. He said he used them for binding grain, for bind- 

 ing corn or corn-stalks in shock, and as withes for fence 

 stakes, for all which purposes he found them better than 

 anything else. The suggestion is well worthy of atten- 

 tion. A small patch of willows, which may in many 

 cases occupy land that would not be valuable for other 

 purposes, would furnish all the bands and withes a 

 farmer would want, and with vastly less trouble than they 

 could otherwise be obtained." 



Lime Sinks in the Soil. — A correspondent of the 

 Germantotvn Telegraph says : " Lime acts upon the soil 

 in two ways: one mechanical, and the other chemica.. 

 Its specific gravity being greater than that of common 

 soil, it has a tendency to sink until it finds a soil of its 

 own specific gravity. This generally takes place when it 

 reaches the subsoil; hence the benefit sometimes derived 

 from increasing the depth of the surface soil — the lime 

 which during the previous cultivation had sunk to what 

 was then the subsoil is again brought up and mixed with 

 the surface soil. This mechanical action may be more 

 readily explained than the chemical action : the lime by 

 sinking loosens the soil, and admits of a more free pas- 

 sage of air and moisture." 



A Sbasoxable Suggestion. — " The period is now here," 

 says the Germantown Telegraph, " when more than usual 

 care should be exercised to secure cleanliness about the 

 premises. Sinks and out houses should be particularly 

 looked after. Hog sties, without due attention, sometimes 

 become exceedingly offensive in July, August and Sep- 

 tember. For privies and sties a good sprinkling, once a 

 week, of chloride of lime is perhaps the best deodorizer. 

 For sinks, frequent washing, and removal of the offensive 

 matter outside the kitchen, will prove effective." 



Ashes for Swinb. — A correspondent of the American 

 Stock Journal, writing from the West, says : " I have 

 twenty swine running in a field without grass, with ac- 

 cess to plenty of water, and fed well on corn. I gave 

 them, for several weeks, two pails of ashes a week, and 

 they ate thepi with a relish. Ashes are said to be a pre- 

 ventive of hog cholera." 



