PR ACT re AL FARMER. 



165 



On the Quality and Growth of Wheat.- — 

 From a lato London paper, we learn that Col. I e 

 Coiueur, an officer in the Jersey militia, has r ?- 

 ceniiy ])iiblished a small work, "on the varietii s, 

 properties, and classification of wheat." The de- 

 tails are the resnlts of the writer's own expoii- 

 rnents, on his own property. Circnmstancos led 

 him to make a collection of wheats ; and in tlie 

 course of five years' close attention and research, 

 it increased to upwards of 150 sorts. To show 

 the importance of attendinj^ to the varieties and 

 properties of wheat, Col. Le Couteur mentions, 

 that among these varieties, there are some that 

 M'ill thrive better than others in the particular soils 

 and situations adapted to each, all over the kin^-- 

 dom ; that one ear, of a superior variety, sowcii 

 grain by grain, and suffere<l to tiller apart, pro- 

 duced 4 lbs. 4 oz. of wheat, whereas, another ear, 

 of an inferior sort, treated in the same manner, 

 produced only 1 lb. 10 oz. — a proof of the pan.- 

 nioinit im])ortance of selecting the most produc- 

 tive and farinaceous sorts for seed, the profit of 

 sowing one sort, and the loss resulting from tli-j 

 other being manifest. The writer remarks that 

 his attenjon was directed to this important sub- 

 ject, by professor La Gasca, Curator of the Royal 

 Gardi ns at Madrid ; 'that five years since, he ac- 

 c'idiMitally saw about eighty distinct sorts of wheat 

 growing in a nursery garden in J.:rsey, some sev 

 en feet high, some only four, the ears of some 

 !)eiug three, others six inches long; and that the 

 j)rofcssor explained their nature to him. He re- 

 quested the i)rofessor to visit his crops, consider- 

 jjig them to [)e as jiure and unmixed as those of 

 his neighbors. To the writer's dismay, the pio- 

 fessor drew from three fields, twenty-three sorts, 

 some white wheat, some red, some liver-colored, 

 .^ome spring wheat, some dead ripe, the corn sha- 

 king out, some ripe, some half so, some in a milky 

 state, and some green. He thereupon became 

 convinced, that "no crop, in that state, could ei- 

 ther produce the greatest weight of corn, give the 

 largest quantity of flour, or make the best or 

 lightest bread, such as would be produced from a 

 field in an equal and perfect state of ripeness." — 

 He t!i(;n selected the best and most productive sorts 

 of wheat, and secured 14 sorts, which he after- 

 wards cultivated with great care and success, show- 

 ing the great profit resulting from this care and 

 selection, and arguing on the immense consequen- 

 ces to the country, if attention to this subject could 

 be iiade a national object. The modes by which 

 Col. Le Couttuir proceeded and succeeded, occu- 

 py large portions of the volume; but the paper 

 f:om which we have drawn the preceding ac- 

 count, gives no further information. — Boston 

 Courier. 



ange. Goshen is an interior town, hut in the 



centre of a celebrated butter and grain region. 



She has no water power, and proposes to make 

 up for it by the mills in question, in using Avery's 

 newly invented steam engine, by which it is be- 

 lieved 150 bushels of grain may be ground by one 

 cord of maple wood, and with four run of stones, 

 385 bushels per 12 hours. Maple Avood delivered 

 at the mill, would cost $3,50 per cord. — A*. York 

 Star. 



SHEKP HUSBANDRY. 



Extract from a subscriber in Maryland, to the 

 editor of the Genesee Farmer: 



" While I have my pen in hand, it may not be 

 amiss to give you a brief account of the very hand- 

 some profits which I have realized from a f]ock 

 of sheep during the past year. When I came in- 

 to possession of my faim, a short time since, I 

 found on it, twenty ewes of a very indiflferent 

 breed, and of that breed, not the best in age, size, 

 or in any other respect. They were fed during 

 the last winter on corn fodder, with the addition 

 of turnips for a few days about the time of yean- 

 ing. After. this, (the early part of March) they 

 received no food except what they could find for 

 themselves in the fields. These sheep, thus treat- 

 ed, yielded an interest during the following sum- 

 mer, of 87 per cent, on the sum for which they 

 could have been readily purchased the i)receding 

 fall, as follows : 



20 Ewes at $5, $100,00 



22 Lambs at $3, 66,00 



50 lbs. of wool at 42 cts., 21,00 



A steam FlouringMill is contemplated at Gosh- 

 en, N. y., the capital of the fertile County of Or- 



$187,00 

 It is maintained by some writers in agricultural 

 papers, that the manure of this animal is a full 

 equivalent for all the food which it consumes ; 

 but supposing this to be an exaggerated estimate, 

 and that the manure of this number of sheep dur- 

 ing a year would be less in value than their food 

 by $50, still there is a net interest of thirty-seven 

 per cent. 



Is it not surprising, and much to our discredit 

 too, that when such are the profits of sheep hus- 

 bandry, we should import such large quantities of 

 wool ? and also that persons should leave their 

 pleasant homes in the northern and middle states, 

 for the wilderness of the west." 



The tremendous snows in England have, as was 

 to be expected, set alt the antiquarians at work to 

 find out parallels. The following is a lohacker 

 and a match for Col. Wildfire : — " The longest 

 snow storm that was ever known in England, took 

 place in the year 1514. It is recorded in the reg- 

 ister of the parish of VVottom Gilbert, that it be- 

 gan on the 15th of January, and continued to 

 snow every day, until the 12th of March. The 

 loss of human life and cattle was immense." 



