THE GENESEE FARMER. 



131 



Subjects for Prizb Essays. — The following subjects for 

 Prize Essays have been suggested by our correspondents : 



On the Cultivation of Hops. 



On Harrows and Harrowing. 



On pasturing Sheep in Orchards. 



On Bean Straw as Feed for Sheep. 



On Stacking and Feeding out Straw. 



On the best plan of a Cellar for a Farm-house. 



On the Duty of Kindness to Domestic Animals. 



Does it injure Butter to color it? and if so, why? 



On the best method of raising and picking Geese. 



On the best substitutes for Hay in feeding Stock. 



On the Construction and Arrangement of Barn-yards. 



Are Sheep or Hogs the most Prohtable Stock to Fatten? 



Should Cows be Milked more than once a day in Winter? 



On the best method of preserving Cheese from injury by 

 flies. 



On the importance of providing Shelter for all kinds of 

 Stock? 



The best time, place, and way of feeding out Corn-stalks 

 to Cattle. 



Can more Butter be made by churning all the milk than 

 the cream only ? 



On the best method of destroying poison Sumao — detail- 

 ing experiments. 



Would it be prudent for Farmers to adopt the Ten Hour 

 System of Labor? 



Is it injurious or beneficial to remove all the small stones 

 from the soil ? and why ? 



Will it pay to cut and steam Hay, Straw, Corn-fodder, 

 Meal, and Roots, for Stock ? 



Will it pay best to raise Mules or Horses, either for 

 Farm Purposes or the Market ? 



Should Farmers adorn and beautify their Homes and 

 Forms before they become wealthy ? and if so, how may it 

 be done in the easiest manner? 



Would it be an advantage to Farmers possessing old 

 improved Farms, to keep their Cattle and Horses stabled 

 or yarded during the whole year? 



How much stock and what kinds are desirable on one 

 hundred acres, including timber lot, managed in the usual 

 way of grain-growing and stock-raising combined ? 



What buildings and fixtures are required for farming 

 one hundred acres, including timber lot, profitably, man- 

 aged in the usual way of grain-growing and stock-raising 

 combined ? 



What tools and implements are necessary to farm it 

 profitably on one hundred acres, including timber lot, 

 Bianaged in the usual way of grain-growing and stock- 

 raising combined? 



HoETiccLTURAL SUBJECTS. — On Stealing Fruit. 



On the best method of using Liquid Manure for Gardens. 



On the best season for Transplanting Fruit and Forest 

 Trees. 



On the Cheapest and most Economical method of Con- 

 structing Cold Vineries. 



On the Cheapest and most Economical method of Con- 

 structing and Heating Propagating Houses. 



A dollar book will be awarded to the best essay on each 

 of the above subjects, sent in on or before the 1st of June, 

 BO that the essays may be given in the July number. 



Circulating Library. — Editors Genesee Farmer : — 'Rj 

 reference to your list of successful competitors for January 

 premiums, I find my own name stands No. 5, and am en- 

 titled to the amount of fl2 in Agricultural books. I have 

 enclosed a list, selected from your catalogue as published 

 in the January number, which please forward to my ad- 

 dress, and accept my thanks for the same. 



When they arrive, I intend to establish a Farmers' Cir- 

 culating Library — adding such books as I already possess, 

 suitable for the purpose — for the special benefit of those 

 who subscribe to the Genefee Farmer, at the club price; 

 and that alone shall constitute a member of the Library, 

 subject to such regulations as I shall deem necessary. This 

 will be an additional inducement, and must, I think, 

 eventually increase the circulation of the Farmer. 



It is pleasing to observe, in our community, an increas- 

 ing desire for Agricultural literature, and if I can do any- 

 thmg towards supplying that want, I consider it my duty 

 to do so, and shall be amply re-paid in witnessing an im- 

 provement in both farm and farmers. 



Perhaps some of your more successful agents, who have 

 been receiving premiums twice a year — 50, 40, 30, and 20 

 dollars worth at a time — have already formed libraries for 

 the benefit of farmers. If not, I would suggest that they 

 do so ; and will not hesitate in saying, that they will ex- 

 perience more real pleasure — and I may add profit, too, 

 though indirectly — in giving their neighbors an opportu- 

 nity to read and improve their minds, their habits, and 

 their farms, as well as their own. It will excite a general 

 interest in the science of Agriculture, and introduce th» 

 too generally neglected pleasures of Horticulture. It will 

 create a desire for the ornamental, as well as the useful ; 

 thereby beautifying the homesteads, and rendering " farna 

 live more attractive " to the rising generation. 



It has been remarked that, " Agricultural Literature is 

 too dry, aud lacks variety to engage the attention of th» 

 young ;" but such a remark must proceed only from an 

 abnormal state of mind, rendered so by fictitious reading; 

 for no science presents such a variety of aspects — such a 

 range for profitable and sublime subjects to engage the 

 mind, and the pen. It is Nature's own subject, the study 

 of which must lead the mind from " nature up to natuiV-a 

 God."^KowLAND W. Sawtell.— TFocxfs^oc'X-, C. W. 



A Fine Calp. — We have in this neighborhood what we 

 ttiink a fine Durham Bull Calf, the property of William 

 Harvey. At three months old, he weighed 380 lbs. ; at 

 four months, 490 lbs. ; at fire months, fik') lbs. ; at seven 

 months, 710 lbs. Can any of your American readei-s beat 

 tliili ? L. L.~Spart^, 0. )f. 



A Grub ih an Egg. — For the benefit of the curious, I 

 send you what I consider a strange freak of nature. Aa 

 one of my neighbors was breaking some eggs, inside of 

 one of them, perfect in all its parts, was a large whit« 

 Grub, an inch and a quarter in length. Can sonic of your 

 readers explain how it came there? L. Lewis. — t^parfa, 



a w. 



— — -»•• 



Stalk of Corn. — I have in my possession a stalk of 

 corn, which grew on my farm, with two perfect branches, 

 two perfect ears of corn, and two perfect tassels. Who, 

 among your numerous farmer readers, can beat this? W. 

 W. Graham. — A«ar Buncansville, Mercer Co., Ky. 



Inquiries and Answsrs. 



Siberian Barley. — (J. Snider, Crowland, C. W.) We 

 do not know where Siberian barley can be obtained. Last 

 year a correspondent in Pennsylvania sent us a sample of 

 barley which we thought was Siberian, but he omitted to 

 give his post-office address. If this meets his eye, we hope 

 he will inform us what success he has had in raising it, etc 

 It is similar to the common barley, except that the grains 

 separate from the chaff in threshing, and it has conse- 

 quently more the appearance of wheat, and weighs G6 lbs, 

 per bushel. It is extensively cultivated in the North of 

 Europe, and was introduced about half a century ago into 

 England, but did not succeed well there. It is probable 

 that it would do better in our short, hot summers. A vari- 

 ety somewhat similar to the Siberian has been extensively 

 disseminated in this country, under the name of " the 

 Beardless Barley." It is no new thing. It was iiitioduced 

 into England in 1817, from the Himmalayan Mountains, 

 and was called Nepaul barley, or Nepaul wheat, {Iford-^int 

 tri/unaiwn.) Like the Siberian, its culture has been 



