176 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



times of the season, made by as many different per- 

 sons nearly as there are pounds, and packed down 

 in firkins as it comes in, the complexion being 

 white, black, and yellow. Hence the term. They 

 pay 20 cents for that which would vomit a dog, and 

 only 20 cents for that which would melt as a sweet 

 iiloi-sel under their tongues. "When all is bought 

 up tliat can be had, then comes the day of deliv- 

 ery, at the depot — the day the country takes a 

 puke, and vomits forth this heterogeneous mass in 

 the face and eyes of New York. But is there no 

 ditierence in price when it reaches its destination? 

 If not, then, verily, tobacco and bad whiskey have 

 spoiled the taste and smell of this generation. But 

 report says there is an inspector of butter, who 

 examines into the various qualities, and marks the 

 worth of each on their respective heads, varying in 

 price from 10 to 30 cents per lb. If this be true, 

 there is a difference at last. But it comes at the 

 wrong time; it should be made with the producer 

 and not with the speculator. So with cheese, and 

 so with wool — dog's hair fetching within a penny 

 or tvro per pound as much as the best merino. I 

 ask, is this right ? One and all — readers, writers, 

 and editors, is there no remedy ? Then Avhere lies 

 the encouragement for the farmer to improve his 

 wool, or the good house wife to take particular pains 

 with her butter and cheese for market. Still, were 

 it not for the good, the bad would not sell at all. — 

 But, does this make it right, just, or proper, that 

 he who produces an inferior article should liave the 

 same as he who produces a superior article ? Who 

 says no ? I, standing on tip-toe, with arms akimbo, 

 hands clenohed as if in spasms, head erect, eyes 

 rolled toward the heavens, mouth agape, and face 

 as long as a rail, brought down upon my heels with 

 •full force, jarring the house to the very center, caus- 

 ing my 



Old " o'man" from supper o'er specks to look Up, 

 While tea-pot turns full both saucer and cup, 



■say, no. j. c. adams. 



Seymour, N. Y, 



WHEAT TTJENING YELLOW IN THE SPKING. 



Editors Gexesee Faemee : — Considerable wheat, 

 especially that growing on oak and pine land, has 

 turned yeUow. Generally, whole fields are thus 

 affected, but sometimes portions of a field will be 

 green. I believe that soAvn earliest is most affected. 

 At any rate, two fields in good condition, similar 

 ■soil, iind separated only by a fence, are good speci- 

 mens, the one of a healthy green, the otlier of a 

 -sickly yellow. The yellow field was sown the 7th 

 of September, and the green field the very last days 

 of September. 



To-day I have examined the roots of the wheat 

 plants in both fields, and find a considerable num- 

 ber of worms about the roots of the yeUow wheat, 

 and none at all about the green. These worms are 

 from one-fourth to one-half inch in length, little if 

 any larger tLan a cambric needle, and exactly the 

 -silvery color of the wheat rootlets. A neighbor, 

 who was with me, said they were the product of 

 the Hessian fly; but I told him I had supposed that 

 the fly destroyed the wheat in the fall, before frost 

 came.; whereas, this field appeared thrifty till 

 winter. 



A reliable man told me, the other day, that he 

 had had very fiae -crops of wheat from fields that 1 



were yellow in the spring and continued so until 

 about heading out. An honest, intelligent young 

 Englishman, who is working for me by the year, 

 teUs me that in Lincolnshire, Eng., a great wheat- 

 growing county, the wheat frequently turns yellow 

 in the spring, especially just after a hea^y ram, and 

 that, at such times, the farmers invariably start 

 their heavy iron rollers, weighing from one to two 

 tons and drawn by three or four horses, and that 

 they say the rolling either kills the worms or stops 

 their working ; but, be that as it may, the wheat 

 soon turns green again after being rolled. He sayg 

 that some farmers use spike rollers, which mangle 

 the wheat so that one would think it almost de- 

 stroyed, but it thrives after such treatment. Of 

 the appearance or kind of worms, he knows nothing. 

 I give these facts and statements for what they 

 are Avorth ; but I wish to learn more on this sub- 

 ject, for it is very certain that green will yield more 

 than yellow wheat, and, if rolling is a remedy, it 13 

 certainly a very cheap and plain one. If I can in- 

 duce my neighbor to have a part of his field rolled, 

 I will do it. If wheat turns yellow here from the 

 same cause as in England, it is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that the same treatment wDl cure it ; but who 

 knows? I do not. myeon huelbtjt. 



ArkiJOit, SUuhen Co., N. Y., May 6, 185S. 



Our esteemed correspondent, Johx Jonxsxo:^, of 

 Geneva, writing under date of May 10th, says : 



A great calamity has befallen a good deal of the 

 wheat in this section, it being totally desti'oyed by 

 a worm in the roots — one of the best fields you 

 saw when you were here. AU the wheat on hard 

 land is ruined, while that on the black land remains 

 good. There are a few spots in my own crop that 

 are kOled outright, but the whole wont amount to 

 an acre. I attribute my luck to my wheat not be- 

 ing near so forward last fall. I had a great loss by 

 the same worm in 1844 ; I then attributed it to the 

 Hessian fly. I had pan Hessian fly, but I had also 

 these worms, and now I am convinced that they 

 were the great cause of the failure. That crop was 

 very forward in the fall, similar to those now ruined. 



The Avorm is clear, almost transparent, about one 

 eighth of an inch in length, and quite plump ; has 

 several feet. In 1844, when the wheat was ripe, I 

 fomid a great many inside the stalks, and very black 

 and quite active ; they are active now. On looking 

 at the worm through a microscope, they appear to 

 have four feet, two near each end. The fourteen acres 

 on which I sowed salt last fall has none so far ; but 

 eleven acres in the same field, sown at the same time 

 and apparently same soil, has some, even close to 

 the furrow adjoining the salt. 



Aif ExTEXSiTE Faemep.. — Jacob Oaeeoll, of 

 Texas, is the largest farmer in the United States. 

 lie owns 250,000 acres of land. His home planta- 

 tion contains about 8,000 acres. Col. Cap-ri^ll 

 has, on his immense ranges of pasture lands, about 

 one thousand horses and mules, worth $.50,000; 

 one thousand head of cattle, worth $7,000; six 

 himdrod hc^s, worth $2,000 ; three hundred Span- 

 ish mares, worth $15,000 ; fifty jennies, worth 

 $2,000 ; fifteen jacks, worth $9,900 ; and five stal- 

 lions, worth $2,500. His annual income from the 

 sale of stock amounts to 010,000; and from the 

 sales of cotton to $20,000. 



