18 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



tion of plants afford no index to their manunal 

 wants. Give me enough strong nitrogenous stable 

 manure made bv corn-fed a.iinials, and I ask tor no 

 inorganic or special manure. It is the injudicious 

 ap])lication of farm yard manure, not its quality, 

 that makes it injurious t j young trees. 

 ^TiiE Fast Cool, Wet Season.— This has been a 

 great season for herbaceous plants, very favorable 

 to poor, rolling, or to all well- drained, manureless 

 lauds ; but I must say that my rich, well-drained 

 garden has yielded better in the dry est of dry 

 seasons, onions and cabbages perhaps excepted. 

 Although the frost kejit off until the 20th of Octo- 

 ber, it was so wet and cool that large Sorghum did 

 not perfect a single seed ; toniatoes were late and 

 almost a failure, and Lima beans were a full month 

 later than usual. But I got the largest celery on 

 ground trenched after a crop of green peas were 

 removed. This was my only double crop. 

 Waterloo, Dec. 1th 1857. 



CHEAP BAKN-DOOR FASTENER. 



Editors Genesee Farmer: — I send you a draft 

 of a cheap, durable, and convenient barn-door fast- 

 ener. The doors are of common construction in 

 this part of the country, composed of ui)right 

 scantling, 3 by 4, arms let in to the scantling and 

 braces to support the arms. A. A. are rockei-s 

 about 4 feet long, IJ inches thick, 3 inches wide in 

 the center, and nailed fast to the braces edgewise. 

 B. lever, which plays on an iron bolt with a head 

 on one end and thread and nut on the other. The 

 holt is passed through the door and lever and 

 screwed up on the inside. The rockers and lever 

 should be of hard wood. A piece of hard wood 

 board should be spiked on the outside of the door, 

 for the bolt to pass through, and also allowed 

 to lap the other door about an inch. When one 

 door only is recpiired to be open, the other should 

 be lastoiK'd with hook and staples, to prevent the 

 wind from banguig the door, as is often the case.— 

 A block of wood, some two inches thick, should 

 be bored and slipped on to the bolt liefore the lever 

 is put on, to keep the lever from slipping up to the 

 arm. You will perceive the upper and lower arms 

 of the door, to which the hook is attached, lap the 

 other door. This is not actually necessary, but, in 

 my opinion, prevents the doors from warjnng. 

 ■• Seymour, N. Y. ^ _ J. C. ADAMS. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



Olttbs, for the discussion of topics connected with 

 the theory and practice of agriculture, have been 

 common for many years, both in Britain and Ame- 

 ica; and much of the improvement that has taken 

 l)lace in the practice of agriculture, may be traced 

 to their intiuence. _ ' 



The object of a farmers' club may be briefly sta- 

 ted, to be the improvement of the members in their 

 agricultural practice, and to afford opportunities of 

 g?ving and receiving information on all matterr» 

 connected with agriculture. The meeting of farm- 

 ers together in such clubs has a tendency to pro- 

 mote a social spirit, and will be the means of making 

 farmers know and respect each other ; they will 

 teach them to think more accurately, to act more 

 systematically, and to observe more closely and cor- 

 rectly, in order that they may speak or write more 

 fluently on any given subject; besides, it is very 

 pleasant to spend'an occasional afternoon or even- 

 ing, discussing with our friends and neighbors the 

 subjects that we are best acquainted witli, and in 

 which we are all most interested. 



One of the first and most obvious obstacles to the 

 improvement of agriculture, or any other art, con- 

 sists in the ignorance of its practitioners, or in its 

 being carried on by persons who are unable to take 

 a comprehensive view of the principles of tlieir pro- 

 fession, and who have not sufficient curiosity to in- 

 quire after the best modes of ])ractice, or under- 

 standing to discern the value of any new practice 

 that may be explained to them. 



It ought never to be forgotten tliat the art of the 

 farmer Ts an intricate and extensive one, and one 

 that requires long practice to become a pi-oficient 

 in. One of the chiaf circumstances which has hith- 

 erto retarded its improvement, has arisen from the 

 secluded situation of the persons engaged in it ; they 

 are scattered over the face of the country, instead 

 of being congregated in towns, so as to derive aid 

 from each other's experience. Now, if there was a 

 well attended farmers' club in every locality, the ex- 

 perience o^each might be^cune the property of aZZ. 

 In commencing a farmers' club, the frequency and 

 the places of meeting should be made as convenient 

 as possible to the members; and whether they 

 should meet in a school-house, or some other ceu-. 

 tral place, or from house to house of various mem- 

 bers, can only be settled after a club has been es- 

 tablislied, and by each club for itself. It is of great 

 importance to the prosperity of a club, to choose a 

 Chairman or President— one who is generally res- 

 pected in the neighborhood — one of tried experi- 

 ence, discretion, and ])ro(1ence, and who is generally 

 looked up to as a leader in all agricultural im- 

 provements ; and has the necessary tact to draAV 

 out all the information the members present may 

 possess on the subiect under discussion ; and who, 

 if occasion should require it, can repress (without 

 giving offence) thoss who may be inclined to take 

 up more than their due share of the time of the 

 meeting. 



The ofticer of next importance to the success ot a 

 club, is the Secretary. He will need to work hard 

 himself, as on him will often devolve the business 



