S14 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



STOCK AND FARMING IN KENTUCET. 



Prof. "Wktherkll, of the Boston Cultivator, 

 has visited the farm of Brutus J. Clay, of Paris, 

 Ky. He speaks highly of his herd of Short- 

 horns : 



" At his stables he had four as fine bulls as we 

 eaw in the State. His two largest bulls weigh 

 about 2,200 pounds each. Duke of Paris, a two- 

 year-old bull, weighs about 1,700 pounds. He 

 gained 240 pounds in 40 days, when a yearling, 

 and 206 pounds in 30 days. His cows and young 

 stock are all very fine and give admirers of good 

 stock pleasure to look at them as they roam over 

 the fine blue-grass pastures of that region. 



"Mr Clay's stables are the finest I have ever 

 seen. They are arranged on the box-stall system, 

 these severally being 6 feet by 9. "When he wishes 

 to stable more tlian these will accommodate, 

 the stable barn being 200 feet long, he ties two an- 

 imals in a stall. Otherwise one animal is turned 

 loose into a stall. The stalls are on each side of 

 the passage-way running through the barn. A rail- 

 way runs through upon. which a car is moved con- 

 taining the feed to be served to the cattle as they 

 need. At one end of the stable barn,' he has a 

 cutting machine and a crusher for corn and cobs 

 which are worked by horse-power and used when 

 desired. Tliis is ths best cattle barn or stable I 

 have ever seen. 



"It sliould be borne in mind that young cattle 

 will live out all winter en tlie blue-grass pastures 

 and be in a better condition in tlie spring than if 

 fed on hay in a stable. This, Mr. Clay said, is 

 confirmed by experience and observation. Thus 

 a fanner in New England will not tail to observe 

 that a Kentucky stock-breeder and grazier has 

 many very important advantages over him. The 

 pastures are not only of a very superior quality 

 now, but are so the year round. Snow interferes 

 but slightly, ordinarily, with the cattle that live 

 out. 



" Speaking of the advantages derived from the in- 

 troduction of Sliorthorn cattle in Massachusetts 

 over any and all other kinds, Mr. Clay said, that 

 on reading the State Auditor's report of his State, 

 it appeared that wiiile in those i)arts of the Com- 

 monwealth wliere Siiortiiorns are introduced, the 

 cattle are valued at from $20 to $25 a head, while 

 in parts where this breed as yet has not been in- 

 troduced, the valuation yier head is set down at 

 from $3 to |5. Thus it is evident to all, that the 

 advantages derived from the introduction of fzonl 

 blood, aye, the best knowu, are very great both la 

 a public and private view. 



"Mr. Clay mentioned another interesting fact 

 bearing on this point. The farmers in a certain 

 communitvi'ieing unwilling to pav $5 tor the ser- 

 vice of a fine tiiorough-bred bull, or to p!iy the 

 price demanded tor him, received liiis nropii.-itiou : 

 The owner of ihe bull told tliem tliitt he woubl 

 allow iiiin to serve their rows as follows : ' 1 will 

 agree to pay you the ordinary price tor your caives 

 at a certain age' — which was about tlie average 

 price — to which they readily airreeil. Wlieii l.lie 

 time tor the delivery of the calv.s arrivvd. many 

 were unwilling to tulfil the con tract, as they saw 

 the owner of the bull would get more, in ine in- 



creased value of the calves over those gotten by 

 an ordinay bull, than he asked for the bull the sea- 

 son before. Such statements as the aliove, from 

 one of the most celebrated stock-breeders of the 

 United States, fully confirms what the writer has 

 often said on this subject, to wit: that it is better, 

 far better, to use a thorough-bred Shorthorned 

 bull, a good stock animal, and pay for it, no matter 

 whether the farmer intends to raise or veal his 

 calves, than to use an onlinary grade or scrub for 

 nothing." 



PICKLING WHEAT TO PREVENT SMUT. 



The practice of moistening seed wheat with 

 fermented chamber-lye, and then drying it with 

 slaked lime, to prevent smut, is almost universal 

 in England, and is becoming quite common in some 

 parts of the West. "When wheat is liable to smut, this 

 operation should never be neglected. It is very 

 little trouble, and in most cases it is a sure prevent- 

 ive of smut. Sometimes, instead of chamber- lye, 

 salt-brine is used. This answers the same purpose, 1 

 but we much prefer the chamber-lye. I 



The philosophy of the process is briefly this: 

 The spores of smut adhere to the seeds. When 

 th.e seeds germinate and grow, the spores pass 

 with the circulation of the plant, and the crop be- 

 comes smuty. Now if the seed is pickled with 

 chamber-lye or brine, and dusted over with lime, 

 the spores of the smut are destroyed and the crop 

 escapes. 



We find the following statement "going the 

 rounds," without credit, and copy it as showing 

 the advantages of pickling seed w- heat : 



" A Kentucky farmer says that in the fall of 

 1858 he prepared 20 acres of land for wheat, and 

 at the Siime time his brijther, whose farm adjoined 

 his, prejiared ten acres. The land, seed and mode 

 of preparation, and time of sowing, were the same. 

 The only ditlerence was, he says, ' my brother 

 soaked his wheat ttefore sowing, in strong brine, 

 and then rolled in lime, while I sowed mine with- 

 out either. Now mark the result: At thieshing 

 lime my yield was 13^ bushels to the acre — which 

 was about an average yield in the neighborhood — 

 while my brother's averaged 22i bushels to the 

 acre. Siill further, my wheat was damaijed by 

 the smut, while my brother's was entirely fre« 

 from smut and all foreign seeds.' " 



We should be afraid to " soak" the seed in strong 

 brine. All that is necessary is to sprinkle the 

 wheat — sliming it till every seed is moistened, and 

 then drying in lime. With chamber-lye there is 

 leS9<langer of injuring the seed. 



LiNSKKi) Tka, made by pouring two gallons of 

 boiling water over a pint of tiax seed, is said to be 

 excellent lor horses troubled with a coflgli. 



