THE GENESEE FARMER. 



279 



"HOED CROPS — CLEAN CULTURE." 



A GOOD word was spoken on this subject, in your 

 July number. May we add a few further induce- 

 ments to thorough work in the matter? "The 

 work of hoeing^ hke that of acquiring knowledge," 

 says a contemporary writer, "is never finished 

 until the crop is matured and nearly ready for har- 

 vest." This is certainly true, as long as there are 

 weeds to destroy, or hard clods or crust to make 

 mellow. 



Haying and harvest are over for this year, at 

 least, with our grain crops. We can do no more 

 for tkem; but our hoed crops are yet growing, and 

 growing luxuriantly, in most cases, tliough rather 

 backwai'd from late planting. Can we do anything 

 to help on their maturity? But little, it is true, 

 but that little will have its reward. There never 

 was a season, so late, so untavorable, that weeds 

 would not grow, and grow well. There never was 

 a year so propitious that worTc was not needed to 

 destroy them — to prevent tlieir injuring our crops. 

 And there is yet work of the kind to be done in our 

 corn fields, among our potatoes and other root crops. 



Let us, then, if it is a possible tiling to make 

 leisure for it, pull up these weeds, and let the corn 

 have the field and tlie rest of the season to itself. 

 If we do so, we shall certainly have cleaner fields 

 hereafter, and a hundred to one if every day's work 

 is not repaid by two or three bushels of corn extra. 

 "Who ever knew an ungrateful corn field? (as we 

 once asked in another place.) Wheat may go to 

 the — weevil, and oats or barley come short of their 

 pro]>er stature and product, but who ever knew our 

 Native American cereal to be decently treated and 

 fail to show a proper appreciation of the favor? 

 Give it, then, another lift, good friends. 



Potatoes should not be allowed to become weedy ; 

 but if here and there a specimen pig- weed has es- 

 caped the hoe, root it out — do not suffer it to seed 

 the soil for rods around it. If we would now re- 

 solve to wage a war of extermination against all 

 useless vegetation, we should find business for every 

 spare hour in the present, and a farm much easier 

 tilled and more productive in the future, j. ii. b. 



MULES vs. HORSES. 



IiT traversing a desert, where there is much toil 

 and scanty feed, the mule is preferable. He may 

 be preferred, also, where those who perform the 

 labor have no choice about the kind of animals that 

 they use; will sometimes be preferred when some 

 distemper is liable to rage among horses ; individ- 

 uals who are unable to be at the expense of keep- 

 ing horses may now and then prefer them, as a 

 man prefers a blind horse to one that has eyes, be- 

 cause his purse will permit him to obtain the for- 

 mer but not the latter; and sometimes a queer 

 genius will harness a pair of them to his carriage, 

 because they are something odd, and thus produce 

 among some, who are ambitious of notoriety, a 

 rage for mules, till a few of the inexperienced have 

 had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with 

 their virtues : but in other cases, in an enlightened 

 and fruittul country, the horse will usually receive 

 the preference. There are two reasons for this 

 preferment. 



1. His heauty. The horse is one of the hand- 

 somest objects that adorn our earth. He is sur- 



passingly beautiful, graceful, and majestic, both in 

 his form and in his movements ; while the ugliness 

 of the mule is almost painful to the view. So long 

 as man is an admirer of smiling flowers, graceful 

 trees, fine carriages, and beautiful architecture, and 

 will make sacrifices to secure them, so long he 

 must give the horse the preference, even if there 

 was a deficiency in every other excellence. 



2. His docility. The horse has great endurance ; 

 though in this he is not equal to the mule. But he 

 is his equal in tleetness, his superior in spirit and 

 courage, and greatly excedes him in docility. 

 The latter is far more prone to kick, is much more 

 inclined to stubborn willfulness, and in every way 

 is less tractable and trusty ; and as long as impa- 

 tient man prefers machinery, that will operate 

 without giving him trouble, so long he will prefer 

 the former animal to the latter. The latter in&y be 

 much less liable to disease, and attain to a much 

 greater age, notwithstanding. Man prefers to have 

 his possessions in quietness and safety for a shorter 

 period, rather than to enjoy them longer in turmoil 

 and insecurity. It will therefore ])ay better to 

 raise horses instead of mules, both for farm pur- 

 poses and for market. u. c. w. 



Metamora, Elinois, 1S5S. 



PRESERVING CHEESE FROM INJURY BY FLIES. 



As soon as the cheese comes from the press, re- 

 move it to a dark room that has been fumigated 

 with a tea-spoonful of brimstone or sulphur. As 

 soon as it is dried off a little on the outside, give it 

 a covering of cotton cloth entirely over its whole 

 surface. This cloth should first be dipped in a so- 

 lution of Gum Arabic, then apply it after it is dry. 

 If you are yet a little doubtful, rub the outside 

 over with the Gum Arabic water; this will settle 

 the matter, if you keep your room dark. If you 

 think there are flies about the room, fumigate as 

 many times as you please. Y)u may borrow some 

 trouble about the smell or taste of the brimstone^; 

 but you will realize no damage from this cause, for 

 I am in the habit of smoking my haras with brim- 

 stone, and then hang them in my garret for summer 

 or fall use, and you could not guess what they were 

 smoked Avith. If you have no Gum Arabic, then 

 make a cotton bag large enough to hold the cheese, 

 dip it in a solution of salt and water and dry it ; 

 repeat this dipping and drying process three times, 

 then put in your cheese and tie up the sack or bag 

 tight, and lay away in your dry dark room. A. L. 

 Smith. — Nichols^ iSF. Y. 



New Mediteekaxean Wheat. — As there seems 

 to be much complaint in Western New York, as 

 well as many other places, of the midge or field 

 weevil destroying the wheat, I thought it might be 

 well to recommend a trial of the new or red Med- 

 iterranean, a variety which has succeeded in our 

 county for two or three years much better than 

 the old Mediterranean, or any other variety. It 

 ripens early, makes a fine crop, and in two fields I 

 had this season I did not see any of the weevil, 

 while a variety of white wheat by the side of it 

 was very much injured by them. The straw and 

 chaff of this new Mediterranean wheat has a rauel! 

 redder appearance than the old variety, while the 

 grain is much the same, and the flour fully equal. 

 Thos, Wood. — Peiiningtonville, Fa. 



