184 



TEE GENESEE FARl^IER. 



DO WE STIR THE SOIL TOO MUCH1 



Messes. Editors:— I notice what Doct. Lee 

 says in the Genesee Farmer^ page 110, and dissent 

 from the Doctor's opinion. I heg leave to give you 

 my views on that subject. Mr. E. Biixi^^tslet and 

 the Doctor seeni to think that American farmers 

 give their land too much plowing : it may he so in 

 Georgia, the now residence of the Doctor, or in 

 Illinois, the home of Mr. Billinslet, but it is not 

 so in the county of Seneca, State of New York. I 

 get my best crops of Avheat when I plow my fallow 

 four times during summer, and use the large wheel 

 cultivator at least twice ; and the better I pulverize 

 my fallow, the better my wdieat crop. 



The Doctor says: "If a farmer turns over his 

 manure heaps several times during the summer and 

 autunm, and permits rain and sunshine to fall upon 

 tliem, the organic matter will rapidly ferment, rot, 

 and dissolve and disappear, and in a few years the 

 manure, if thus treated, will be dissipated." T^iis 

 I deny. There is not one year in twenty that we 

 get too much rain on our manure heaps, if properly 

 heaped in spring, while there is ten years in twenty 

 that they would be greatly benefitted 

 by oiie or two turnings; and if the 

 Doctor will make a heap of 150 loads, 

 or as much more as he chooses, and 

 turn it for two years, I have no doubt 

 he will find it produce a much better 

 crop than manure that has not been 

 turned. Beside, manure, in my opinion, 

 must be fermented to make it valuable 

 for the first crop. Take fresh manure 

 from the yard and apply it to spring 

 crops, and with me it does no good with 

 that crop. But if fanners will not ex- 

 periment, they can not find out such 

 things ; theory or science will never 

 teacii them. Yet on sandy or shmy 

 gravelly soils it may be ditferent; in- 

 deed, theory would teach me it would 

 be so, as those soils consume manure much more 

 rapidly than clayey soils like mine ; and in that case 

 no man can dictate to another how to treat liis ma- 

 nure, or soils so far distant as Georgia or Illinois. 

 But one thing I firmly believe — that manure re- 

 quires a good deal of rain after it is heaped, and 

 turning beside ; it also requires age to make it most 

 efficient in raising crops on my land. 



I am aware that both science and theory will scofl:' 

 at some of these assertions, but I cannot help that ; 

 when I put pen to paper, I must write what I be- 

 lieve I have proved beyond any doubt in my own 

 mind. joiin Jo^^*STON. 



JW'ctr Geneva, May, 185S. 



PLAN OF A FAKM-HOTISE. 



Messes. Editoes : — I send you a rough sketch of 

 our house. The main body is 21 by 28 feet, 1-|- 

 stories high ; the lower rooms 9 feet high, the ni)per 

 8 feet, and all square corners, or no slopes to fit the 

 roof. The sihs are 8 by 10 inches, of white oak or 

 red beech ; the corner posts 5 inclies square ; the 

 window and door studs 5 by 4 mches, the others 5 

 by 2 inches, and they all, where practicable, extend 

 from the sill to the plates or rafters. The joists of 

 the second floor extend from side to side of the 

 buUding, and are secured to the studs. The plates 

 are to match the 5 inch studs, and the joists rest on 

 top of tliem and are secured to the plates and rafters 

 too. This is in tlie main body. The studs in the 

 wing are about 12 feet long, or the plates are about 



GROUND 



Deain Tiles — How Does Water get into them ? 

 — If the soil contains water and the drain tiles have 

 an outlet, "M. P.," of Ind., will find it difficult to 

 keep the water from getting into the tile; though 

 on a heavy clay, if the soil taken from the bottom 

 of the drain was returned and puddled in, it might 

 have that effect. The pores of the tile, to say noth- 

 ing of the crevices between the joints, furnish abun- 

 dant room for the admission of water. On clays, 

 like those mentioned above, it is usual to fill in first 

 the earth taken from the surface, as that is of a 

 more porous character. P. M. — Eoyalton, Niag- 

 ara County, AT. Y. 



CROUXD PLAN OF A FARM-HOUSE. 



2i feet above the chamber floor, and the roof slants 

 on to the main roof The studs to the wood-house 

 are about 8 feet long, and the roof runs on to the 

 roof of the wiug, with an extension over the passage 

 between the kitchen or cook-room, and wood-house. 

 The sides of the whole are covered with 1-^ inch 

 hemlock boards, nailed on diagonally, or bracing, and 

 then clapboarded and finished well. 



Desceiption of Ground Plan. — Porch, 5 feet 

 wide; D, dining-room; II, hall; P, parlor; K, 

 kitchen; C, closet; M, milk-room; B, bed-rooms, 

 and a clothes-press between, 3 by 10 feet, with a 

 cliimney (c,) so made that a stove-pipe may enter it 

 from the dining-room without having the pipe en- 

 danger the house. In the wood-house we have a 

 floor about 8 feet wide, on the same level Avith the 

 other floors. The main door for wood has no sill 

 except a stone one, not liable to rot. There are two 

 stairways, one from the dining-room and the other 

 from the kitchen, and under the kitclien stairs are 

 the cellar stairs, e is the chimney for parlor and 

 kitchen, and suits the chambers as well as below. 

 The cehar is under the whole house except the wood- 

 house, and 8 feet deep. The whole cost through- 

 out, not including board, about $1,200. 



If any of your readers desire any further informa- 

 tion, I will cheerfully give it. 



Little Genesee, 2^. Y.,Ma^ch,l853. D. EDWAEDS. 



