76 



THE GENESEE FARMER, 



'"- SHROPSHIRE-DOWIf WETHEE. 



thougli for ordinary farm management, the latter 

 are in our opinion the better breed. 



We annex an engraving of one of three prize 

 Shropshire-Down wethers, bred by and the prop- 

 erty of IIenet Smith, Je., of Sutton Maddock, near 

 Shiffnal, England, which received the first prize, 

 with a breeder's silver medal, at the late Birming- 

 ham Cattle Show. The Marh Lane Express de- 

 scribes these sheep as admirable for splendid quality 

 of meat, broad chines and full filaits, and wonder- 

 fully good loins and rumps. 



THE HESSIAN FLY. 



Editors Genesee Farmer : — C. G. Dick, of 

 Higliland county, Ohio, asks "if pasturing wheat, 

 which was attacked last autumn by the Hessian fly, 

 with sheep through the winter or early spring, will 

 be likely to destroy the fly?" 



"There are," says Dr. FiTon, "two generations 

 of this insect annually. The eggs resemble minute 

 reddish grains, and are laid in the creases of the 

 vpper surface of the leaf, when the wheat is but a 

 few inches high, mostly in the month of September. 

 Tliese hatch in about a week, and tlie worm crawls 

 down the sheath of the leaf to its base, just below 

 the surface of the ground, where it remains subsist- 

 ing upon the juices of the plant, without Avounding 

 it, but causmg it to turn yellow and die." Here it 

 remains, undergoing several changes, until the next 

 May, when the fly is hatched, lays its eggs for 

 another generation, and soon perishes. These eggs 

 produce the brood which attack the wheat in 

 aatumn. 



It will be seen that "grazing through the winter" 

 will be of little or no benefit. If it liad been 

 attended to at the time the eggs were laid, and 

 before they were hatched, most of them would 

 have been destroyed. Perhaps it will be of some 

 avail to graze the wheat closely at the time the 

 second brood appears, or to roll it down with a 

 heavy roller. There is no means of making the 

 wheat grow again, which has ah-eady been de- 

 stroyed. A fertile soil and late sowing are recom- 

 mended as preventives of its ravages, combined 

 with the precautions spoken of above. Where the 

 wheat midge, also, is to be feared, little wheat can 

 be grown. j, n, b. 



SUGGESTED ITEMS. -No. 18. 



Not quite a week — yet it seemed long to wait — 

 after the 1st of Hid month, came the February num- 

 ber of the Farmer. It is a cold, snowy day, when 

 I sit down to itemize — just such a day as we have 

 been asking for, and for many of them, ever since 

 winter began. We want snow and sleigliing to get 

 up our year's wood on — to get our crops to market, 

 left unsold last autumn — to go a-visiting, etc., etc., 

 — and "an open winter" is not generally coveted by 

 the farmer. Yet he, if anybody, can "make the 

 best of it," and ought not to grumbl* about the 

 weather. 



'•^Natural and Artificial Drainage'''' are capitally 

 illustrated in your first article. The last figure 

 shows how stiff clays become friable, after a year 

 or two, if thoroughly drained, as we have seen it 

 exemplified in more than one instance. 



'•'•Three-Horse Whijfie- Trees,'''' like that shown in 

 the first figure, are in conmion use among us. The 

 "evener" is made of a tough piece of ash, with 

 holes bored in each end, and one-third distant from 

 one end, so as to put on common clevises, — requir- 

 ing a double whiffle-tree complete, three extra clev- 

 ises, and an extra single whiffle-tree, to fit out a 

 "rig" for a three-horse team. 



" Growth of Potatoes:''— S. W. thinks the yield 

 of potatoes gradually diminishing in Western New 

 York. Of course, he has some theory to account 

 for it. Will he tell us what it is? How long has 

 this diminution been going on? 



'■'■Sheep and Sheep- Ticks'''' seem well understood 

 liy your correspondent, Joiin Johnston. The sheep 

 on our farm have never been troubled with ticks 

 since we began to feed them separate Yrom the 

 cattle, in good racks, under dry, well-littered sheds ; 

 and they have raised more and better lambs, too. 

 I believe that it pays to feed and shelter stock of 

 all kinds, and am glad to see it advocated so ably, 

 by one who " has been long in the way," and whose 

 experience is so prized by your readers. 



'■'■Fattening Cattle in Wijiter,^^ if one has a good 

 barn cellar, may be done upon pumpkins. We put 

 eight wagon-loads of our best pimipkins into the 

 cellar, and piled up a dozen loads more in a shel- 

 tered place, covering them with straw, and they 

 did good service in feeding milch cows and fatten- 

 ing beef, this open Avinter. Toward the last, our 

 beef was fed on cut hay and barley meal ; and many 

 who saw it, thought better was seldom seen, dead 

 or alive. A good many farmers had more pump- 

 kins wasted, last fall, than would have sufficed to 

 nearly fatten two or three head of cattle. 



^'■Analyses of SoiU:^ — Your "Out West" corres- 

 pondent has a practical idea of the value of soil- 

 analyses — it is true that experiments with crops 

 will best determine the fertility of a soil. 



" Variety of Grass Seeds''^ should be sown, as W. 

 B. argues. But why "except hogs" from finding 

 good, cheap food, at pasture. Clover, especially, is 

 much liked by swine, and they will grow well upon 

 it — though other food should be supplied in addi^ 

 tion, to hurry their growing a little. 



^^ Profits of Fruit Culture.''^ "Our orchard has 

 brought us more money,' tliis year, than the remain- 

 der of the farm," is the language of many a farmer. 

 Other products liave been low and very dull of sale. 

 Apples have sold pretty well. _ B. .• 



Niagara Co., N. T., FtVy, 13;>*. ~- 



