146 



THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



common drill macJiiue, in rows about fourteen 

 inches apart and less than half an inch deep. If 

 the seed is not first rate, it is better to double the 

 quantity than to have them too thin. They should 

 stand from an inch to an inch and a half in the 

 rows. Tlie seed may be tested by sprouting a 

 small quantity in boiling water. If it is good, it 

 will sprout in fifteen or twenty minutes. 



Thorough weeding is of much importance with 

 the onion crop. The plants are very small when 

 young, and will not bear any rough treatment ; so 

 the fingers are the only machine which can be 

 depended upon for the first weeding and thinning. 

 Much labor may be saved by allowing no weeds to 

 "ipen on the land, and using manure free from 

 their seeds. The onion hoe, an implement attached 

 to wheels, is a veiy complete instrument for clean- 

 ing the ground between the rows of this or any 

 other garden crop. 



Their greatest enemy is the grub or cut-worm. 

 They work in the niglit, but their tracks are easily 

 found by tlie rootlets and withering plants which 

 mark it. The only remedy is caj)ital punishment. 

 Gleaning the ground in the fall will lessen their 

 numbers — or plowing at tlie same time. Wet sum- 

 mers sometimes induce them to form scuUions with 

 thick stems instead of good bulbs. Breaking the 

 stems by rolling an empty flour barrel over the 

 ground, or other means, is sometimes employed. 



An average crof is five hundred bushels per acre. 



R. N. Y. 



CHINA BERRIES, 



D., of Gates, N. Y., wishes to know what "China 

 berries" are. They are the fruit of the Melia 

 Azedarach^ or great Indian Lilac — a tree of uncom- 

 mon beauty, introduced into the Southern States 

 from China, and hence the common name. It is 

 now naturalized, and grows everywhere in the 

 south. It is a popular shade tree foe streets, and 

 the wood makes most beautiful furniture — not 

 inferior to satm-wooA — and is of quick growth. 

 The seeds are very hard, and are covered with a 

 pulpy pericarpiim. Every part of the tree— the 

 leaves and seeds — are higlily odorous, and possess 

 powerful anthelmintic properties. A decoction of 

 the root is a flivorite vermifuge, and in the hands 

 of a good chemist, would likely supercede "Falme- 

 stock" or the "Dead Shot," as a saleable article 

 for this purpose. The berries will expel all worms 

 and grubs from the soil, when applied as manure. 

 The first use of them, as an expeller of the skipper 

 fly, while smoking bacon, was communicated to 

 •ne by Col. A. P. Calhoun, President of the State 

 Agricultural Society of South Carolina, and I pub- 

 lished the receipt originally in the South Carolinian 

 newspaper. The tree in the north, and in England, 

 is a beautiful greenhouse shi-ub. Here it attains a 

 height of fifty feet in a few years. A tree here, 

 ten years old, would produce at least as many bush- 

 els of fruit. A. G. SUMMER. 



Fomaria, S. C. 



Hollow Horn. — The pi-actice of our vicinity is 

 to give the animal better keeping, and a few doses 

 of Ohio Kercuma in whiskey. This may be given 

 to suit the size of the animal, which is usually one- 

 fourth of an ounce of Kercuma to half a pint of 

 whiskey. B. — Harpersville^ N. Y. 



UNDERDRAINING. 



Editors Genesee Farmek : — In the March num- 

 ber. Lot Lindley, Sylvania, Ind., wishes to obtain 

 practical inlbruaation oji underground draining. — 

 If none of your numerous correspondents send in a 

 better method, you may publish this. 



It is now nearly forty years since I laid the first 

 drain, and I have made them of diti'erent materials, 

 but where stones are convenient, I prefer them to 

 any other. The last five years, I have used tile, 

 but, except the first year, I put stones along the 

 sides of the tile, and over them to the depth of sis 

 inches, which prevents the tile from moving or fill- 

 ing up. I know the tile manufacturers will tell 

 you that there is no danger of them filling up, but 

 I have proof to the contrary. The principal drain 

 ought to be from three to three and a half feet deep, 

 and one and a half feet wide at top and one foot 

 wide at bottom. All the earth ought to be placed 

 along the one side ; and if it is sod land, the sod 

 ought to be kept near the edge of the drain, so as 

 to put them on the top of the stone, the grass side 

 down. When the drain is open, I commence at the 

 highest end, and if the bottom is soft, I put a hem- 

 lock board on the bottom and lay my tile on it, 

 Avhich keeps the tile from sinking. I prefer three 

 or four inch tile of the horse-shoe make. When I 

 have laid a few yards of tile, I commence putting 

 in stone. I do not throw in the stone at random, 

 but place them carefully on their ends, so that the 

 water will made its way through them. When 

 the first row of stone is in, the stone that go on the 

 toj) may be thrown on, but care must be taken not 

 to break the tile. When I make the drain with 

 stone, I lay the stone on each side to the height of 

 six or eight inches, and cover with flat stone, which 

 forms a small culvert. The cross drains that lead 

 to the main one may be made small. I cover the 

 stone with the sods, grassy side down, straw or 

 corn stalks, and then fill in the earth. I have 

 seen very good drains in stift" clay land, made with 

 stakes about three or four feet long, placed length- 

 wise to the depth of one foot. The bottom of a 

 stake drain is made in the shape of a V. 



It would be easier to give the desired informa- 

 tion, if friejid Lindley had described the ground to 

 be drained, as some land is too wet for underground 

 drains. In such cases, a good open drain with 

 side cuts running into it, is all that can be done till 

 the ground becomes solid. Where the ground is 

 not naturally wet and sponge, good deep plowing 

 is preferable to draining, and much cheaper. 



Troy, N. Y. April, 1858. JOSEPU CALDWELL. 



Mad-itch in Cattle. — A correspondent wishes 

 to know the cause and cure for the mad itch in 

 cattle. It is in most cases caused by letting the 

 cattle eat of the corn stalks where hogs have been 

 eating green corn. The hogs leave the entire lot 

 chewed fine, which the cattle eat, and in a few 

 days they take the mad-itch. I have seen farmers 

 lose whole herds with it. 



The best thing I know of to cure this complaint, 

 is to give one i)int of melted lard three times in an 

 hour. Sweet oil is better. Drench the animal 

 with cold water. The chewed stalks lie dry in the 

 manifold, and if tlu3 beast can be made to take 

 enough water to moisten the cut, it will recover. 

 H, — Co7inersville, Lid., Feb. 16, 1858. 



