THE GENESEE FARMER. 



308 



1 liave already detained you longer tlian 1 ex- 

 pectel.' One word more as to the excessive pro- 

 auction of straw, and I have done. We often liear 

 the remark, "I have straw enough for forty hush- 

 jls, but the crop fell down and turned out badly.'" 

 Dan iuiy thing be done to give us a stiffer straw and 

 I better yield of grain? As I liave said, the prae- 

 ;ice of plowing in so much clover undoubtedly has 

 I tendency to produce an excessive growth of 

 itraw. We must raise clover in order to enrich 

 >ur land, but it would be better to eat it on the 

 and with sheep, or make it into hay and return 

 he manure to the soil. 



Another reason for an excessive growth of straw 

 3, that the manure we use is too poor. It is often 

 ttle better than rotten straw. We must feed 

 lore grain and clover hay. 



On rich land salt has a tendency to check an 

 xcessive growth of straw. In some experiments 

 lade recently on the farm of the Royal Agricul- 

 aral Society, the unmanured plot of wheat pro- 

 ueed 29 bushels per acre, and the plot dressed 

 nth 3 cwt. of common salt 38f bushels, or an in- 

 I'ease of 9| bushels per acre. A few years ago I 

 'as on the farm of John Johnston o£ Seneca 

 inntj. He had dress ^ part ol a ueiu of wheat 

 ith a barrel of salt per acre, and the effect was 

 iost decidedly benelicial. The wheat was heavier, 

 [id the straw much brighter and stiffer. It also 

 peued several days earlier and escaped the midge 

 i consequence. Mr. Johnston is here with us to- 

 ly, and he has just informed me that he thinks 

 lere is nothing like salt for stiffening the straw 

 rich land. He sows a barrel per acre on the 

 Hows just before sowing the wheat. He has 

 wn as much as 75 barrels in a year on his wheat. 

 Lime is also a splendid manure for producing 

 amp heads of wheat and a stiff" stravv. There 



nothing like it. There is a general impression 

 at in this limestone region our soil dues not re- 

 tire lime. I question, however, if ]i;ne would 

 >t prove of very great benefit. Mr. Johnston 

 ys if he was a young man, he would lime every 

 re of his farm. In 1844 he applied 2U0 bushels 



lime on two acres, before sowing tlie wheat, 

 d it was a magnificent crop— over 50 bushels 

 r acre ; and he says he can see the effect of 

 at lime on the land to the present day. The 

 nimou error in regard to lime, is in not using it 

 suflicieutly large quantities. I think 100 bushels 

 r acre is as small a dressing as sliould be used. 

 y lather used to eay that small dres.«ings of lime 

 .1 no good. You want sufficient to cliange tlie 



character of the soil. Its effects will then last for 

 many years. I trust some of the wheat-growers* 

 of Monroe County will give lime a fair trial. 



NEW YOKK STATE FAIR. 



The Twenty-Third Annual Fair of the New 

 York State Agricultural Society, held at Utica 

 September 15-18, was a decided success. The 

 weather, till the last day, was all that could be de- 

 sired, and the attendance Wednesday and Tlmrs- 

 day taxed the Utica street cars and omnibuses to 

 their utmost capacity, and hundreds could find no 

 means of conveyance to the grounds. The trains 

 on the New York Central Railroad were ak;o un- 

 able to carry all the passengers that presented 

 themselves at the various stations along the route, 

 and many were undoubtedly deterred from attend- 

 ing the Fair by the diflaculty of getting there. 

 Many articles intended for exhibition were also 

 delayed on the road. We mention these things 

 not in any fault-finding spirit, but to show that, 

 notwithstanding the excit«d state of the country, 

 our people have not lost their interest in agricul- 

 ture and the mechanic arts. 



THE STOCK DEPARTMENT , 



Was not as full as on former occasions. Some of 

 our most celebrated breeders did not exhibit. One 

 of them informed us that the demand for his stock 

 had been so large that he had little left to bring to 

 the Fair. Still the exhibition of stock was good, 

 though not large. 



Among the cattle the Shoethorns, as usual, 

 were most numerous. There were some splendid 

 animals of this valuable breed. In the class of 

 three-year old bulls and upward, "Hotspur," bred 

 and owned by T. L. Harison, of Morley, St. Law- 

 rence county, was well worthy of the first prize 

 and diploma awarded him by the committee. We 

 iiave felt much interest in watching his progress 

 since he was first exhibited at the State Fair at 

 Watertovvn, in 1861, where he took the first prize 

 as the best yearling bull, and the sweepstakes as 

 the best Shorthorn bull of any age. He has fully 

 sustained his early promise, and the farmers of the 

 northern counties are to be congratulated in hav- 

 ing such excellent stock among them. "Iron 

 Duke," owned by Messrs. L'kodii:, CAMrisEU. rf" ■ 

 Co., of New York Mills, Oneida county, Whick 

 took the second prize in this class, is also a large, 

 well-grown bull. Among the two-year-old bulls» 

 that shown by T. G. Ayorigg, of Passaic, N. J., 



tliough somewhat low in condition, has many good 

 euiical, as well as to some extent the mechauical 1 points, and is well worthy the honor of the fii'rt 



