THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



249 



WOEKING ON THE ROAD. 



Last week we were notified to work out our 

 road tax, the Path-master calling for team, wagon, 

 shovel, and hoe, and setting us to drawing dirt 

 from the loamy part of the district upon the road 

 of the clayey part. A very good practice, no doubt, 

 in many instances ; but in our case, the great need 

 of the road was side ditches, and the reason why 

 we do not get them is because the amount of work 

 assessed to us will do but little toward constructing 

 all that are needed, in one year. So at least Path- 

 master D. says ; and the same reason is often urged 

 in other districts. Some of us contend, however, 

 that the true policy would be to make the road 

 right as far as the labor goes, and in time the whole 

 would be put in good order. 



In road-making, one great requisite is the ready 

 and total removal of all water. A good road is 

 impossible where water stands by its side (any- 

 where near its level) or in it. If the ditches have 

 no free outlet, the road will soak up the moisture 

 more or less, becoming soft and rutted in conse- 

 quence. It is in vain to think of having a good 

 road over a subsoil filled with stagnant water. We 

 must provide for their thorough drainage, either by 

 surface or covered ditches, with sluices wherever 

 needed, and free passage into the fields adjacent. 



The road-bed should be elevated and slightly 

 rounded, that the water which falls may run off 

 readily into the ditches. If the soil is clayey or 

 loamy, a few inches of gravel, or even coarse sand, 

 will very much improve the track. If sandy, it 

 needs a slight addition of clay to correct it, and a 

 great improvement of sandy roads can thus be 

 effected. The road will be less dusty, less liable to 

 wash, and present a firmer, pleasanter passage to 

 both team and vehicle. 



A great improvement in the condition of our 

 roads has been very cheaply effected by the use of 

 the scraper or leveler, Avhich is "just the thing" 

 for filling ruts, removing stones, and clearing off 

 obstructions generally, and should be used several 

 times in the course of the season on most road 

 districts. j. h. b, 



A BOY'S THOUGHTS ON SOME FAEMEES' PEACTICES. 



SHOWS FOR SEED WHEAT. 



In reference to my proposal of county shows for 

 seed fall wheat, you ask the question, why I wish 

 to show seed wheat ? — why not other grain ? — and 

 why will not our general agricultural shows answer 

 quite as well ? In reply, I would say — 



1st. Because no other grain is of so great impor- 

 tance, either to the farmer or to the community at 

 large, as fell wheat. 



2d. Because there are a great variety of kinds of 

 wheat, and one kind is better than another ; of this 

 fact many farmers may be ignorant, but if they can 

 meet their fellow farmers with the superior kinds 

 of wheat, and talk the matter over, — and that too 

 just at the time they want to sow, — they will be 

 likely to be induced to purchase the best, 



od. Because we are at present destitute of any 

 certain market to which we can repair, either to 

 sell or buy the best kinds and quality of seed wheat; 

 this would afford just the market we need. Then 

 all must admit that frequent changes of seed are 

 advantageous, and at such a show or fair would be 

 the ^jZfflce where and the time when such changes 

 could be made. And as some kinds are less liable 

 than others to the attacks of the midge, here you 

 would meet the best farmers in the country, and 

 hear their experience on all such matters. 



Hence I conclude, Messrs. Editors, that a show 

 of fall wheat, on or about the first of September, 

 in each county or State in all the wheat-growing 

 sections both of Canada and the United States, 

 would be beneficial. Let us hear what others say 

 on the subject. T. king. 



Ryckmcui's Corners, C. W. 



THE BAEOICETEE. 



"When I see a straw stack standing year after 

 year, without enriching any ground, thinks I to 

 myself, how much better had it been for the owner 

 of it to plow and fit his potato ground, drop his 

 potatoes, and cover eight or ten inches with that 

 same straw. 



When I see a man dropping his potatoes in rows, 

 four feet each way, and dropping three or four in a 

 hill, thinks I to myself, how much better if that 

 man would drill his potatoes, dropping them from 

 twelve to eighteen inches apart one way and four 

 feet the other, — always cutting them, and putting 

 only from one to four eyes in a hill. 



When I see a man cutting down the only tree in 

 his pasture field, thinks I to myself, how much bet- 

 ter would that man leave that tree standing for his 

 cattle a shade in a hot summer day. 



When I see a wood pile lying on the side of the 

 road, thinks I to myself, how much better had that 

 man taken his wood pile to the back yard. 



J^ear MUan, Erie Co., Ohio. JOEL WOOLVEKTON. 



We all know how important and almost indis- 

 pensable this instrument is to nautical men for the- 

 safety of their lives and ships, in forewarning them 

 of impending storms. While not so important to 

 landsmen, it affords a subject of interesting study, 

 and is of great practical value to agriculturists. It 

 has been a matter of surprise to me that it has not 

 been recommended in our agricultural papers for 

 general use by farmers. It is rarely you meet with 

 this instrument in their houses, in my own expe- 

 rience in the use of it for some years past, I have 

 come to regard it as indispensable to the best re- 

 sults of my farm operations. It has enabled me to 

 time my planting, sowing, haying, and harvest, 

 generally to better advantage than many of my 

 neighbors who consult only "the signs of the sky;" 

 and, acting on the indications of my barometer, I 

 am considered very weatherwise by the men em- 

 ployed on my farm, and am often asked how I am 

 able to anticipate the rains and storms. A few 

 weeks' use of the instrument will satisfy any care- 

 ful observer how valuable it must be to farmers. 

 A very good instrument can be had for $1() or $12. 

 To enable one more readily to understand its use, 

 books have been published, giving instructions for 

 making observations. I believe Mr. Kendall, of 

 Rochester, N. Y., who makes the instruments, has 

 published a small manual to accompany it. A small 

 work entitled ^'■Science of Thi7ig a Familiar,'" beside 

 giving rules and instructions for using the barome- 

 ter, contains valuable instruction on many other sub- 

 jects, and ought to be in every family library, e. 



