1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



465 



boring counties, for the London market, many are 

 deterred from entering into the trade by the 

 expense, trouble and difficult}', as well as certain 

 loss, entailed in bring beasts to London, the loss 

 being always set down at 10 per cent. ; sometimes 

 it is even much more. The consequence is, tluit 

 the spirit of enterprise is ciiecked, and tlie farmer 

 loses the advantages of competition in the pur- 

 chase of his cattle, and is often obliged to put up 

 Avith prices that do not repay his expenses. 

 Wherever railways have been established, they 

 have been the means of removing this drawback 

 upon agriculture. If railways are allowed in some 

 jiarts of the country, they must be established in 

 ail ; if not, a monoj'oly would be enjoyed by the 

 agriculturists in the railway dist.icts; thus the far- 

 mers near the Birmingham railway will, until other 

 trunks projected for grazing counties are comple- 

 ted, enjoy the privilege of sending their cattle to 

 the London markets in a few hours, to the exclu- 

 sion of the other farmers, from want of lacility of 

 communication. 



In order, therefore, to meet the demands of the 

 fiirmers of Ilerefjrdshire, and to enable them to 

 forward their produce to the metropolis in twelve 

 or thirteen hours, which is precisely the number of 

 daj-s at present required, a railway has been plan- 

 ned and surveyed, which will connect the town of 

 Gloucester, now the centre from which several 

 important trunks radiate, with Hereford, passing 

 through Newent, Dimock, and Ledbury, thus 

 bringing railways fi-om the metropolis into the 

 very heart of this fertile and rich county. 



From tlie Genesee Farmer. 

 ORC'IIAKD GRASS AND TKE YELLOW BIRD. 



A person who is fond of na(ure'.s music and her 

 "winf^ed flowers," cannot do better than to sow a 

 quantity of the orchard grass for the accommoda- 

 tion of the cheerful and beautiful yellow bird. 

 From the time that its seeds are fairly out of the 

 blow until they are liillen off or dc\oured, a patch 

 of this grass will be frequented by these little 

 birds in troops, singing and eating alternately (rom 

 "morn till dewy eve." In gcttinff the seed it dis- 

 jjlays a tact quite amusing, lighting on the tall 

 stems of the grass, it gently sways them down, 

 and generally some of the heads in this process of 

 settling will come within reach. Should none be 

 convenient for picking from, it will draw one of 

 the head to it, as it sits perched on the stem, and 

 holdingit with one of its fiiel, finish the seed at its 

 leisure. So fond is this bird of the orchard grass, 

 that v.-heie a person has but a small quantity, and 

 is anxious to save it Ibrseed, it will be necessary 

 lo cut it as soon as the seed is sufHciently matured 

 lor growing, wliich will be when the stalk and 

 head become partiallv dried, and brown. 



G. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



Cl'Rixg clover ey cockikg. 



I have this year given (he new mode of curing 

 clover lor hay as fair a tried as circumstances would 

 admit, and it has i)erlectly succeeded. I had a 

 jnece ot" about three acres, from which [ last year 



Vol. IV— 59 



took barley and spring wheat, and seeded down 

 with clover and timothy lor mowing. It grew 

 very thick and heavj^, (by the by, JMr. Editor, it 

 was the same piece of ground for the treatment 

 of which I received, a year or two since, such a 

 gentle reprimand from an English correspondent 

 of the Montreal Herald,) lodged early, and I cut 

 it the first of my mowing. The weather was 

 good at the time of cutting, and before night, the 

 work of each day was put up in cocks of from SO 

 to 120 lbs. weight. It was of course liee from all 

 external moisture, and considerably wilted. It 

 stood in the cocks nearly a week without being 

 disturbed — did not heat except in a trifling degree, 

 and when it was opened ibr the final drying, it was 

 as bright and fi'esh as hay need to be. It re- 

 sembled plants dried in the shade, every leaf and 

 blossom remaining entire, and few or none fLdling 

 off, as is usually the case with clover cured in the 

 ordinary way. Duriug the whole time the cocks 

 stood in the field the weather was fine, with the 

 exception of one heavy shower, wliich gave them 

 a thorough wetting. Whether they would have 

 come out as well had the weather been constantly 

 wet, may be considered questionable. As it was, 

 it was decidedly the finest lot of clover hay I ever 

 saw put in a barn, and shall for the future use the 

 method of cocking in preference to any other. 

 There were about ten tons on the land mowed, a 

 tolerable crop for the first cutting after seeding. 



VV. G. 



From the Floricultural Cabinet. 

 OIV THIV CULTURE OF THE TULlPv 

 By W. J. P. 



As I emerged from the dawn of my admiration 

 of flowers, the tulip formed a prominent filature, 

 and each successive bloom strengthened and con-" 

 firmed my devotion to the cultivation of that love- 

 ly flower, not forgetting the carnation, pink, ra- 

 nunculus, auricula, &c., which may justly rank 

 among the "beauties of the creation," 



Numerous inquiries having been made upon 

 the subject, I am induced to make the following 

 detailed observations on its culture, conceiving that 

 it may be instructive and acceptable to those who 

 ardently admire the flower — are doubtlessly whol- 

 ly or nearly unacquainted with the genera/ treat- 

 ment and nature of the plant, and are desirous of 

 obtaining inlbrmation on the subject. 



Soil. — The standard of soil for the tulip should 

 indisputably be a strong, rich yellow loam, laid 

 open and exposed, previous to using, to the ac- 

 tion of sun and air, for at least one winter and one 

 summer, turned over every few weeks, by which 

 means ii becomes thoroughly decomposed and di- 

 vested of all aciid and rank qualities, and in a state 

 congenial to the natural order of the vegetation of 

 the plant. 



Manure. — There is upon this point some little 

 difference of opinion, even amongst the oldest and 

 most scientific growers of the present day ; but it 

 is, I believe, admitted by a very considerable ma- 

 jority of the most inveterate fimciers, that the in- 

 termixture of manure upon the undermentioned 

 principle is decidedly beneficial, and is acted upon 

 with the utmost success. It should be equal pro- 

 portions of horse and cow dung, laid up in a heap 



