20 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



Jan. 22, 1831. 



©lUffiExaa. 



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THE ROSE. 



DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATING IT. 



The rose may justly be tennod tho Queen 

 uf Flowers ; and there are but few people who 

 are not more or less pleased with iheir cultiva- 

 tion. Tho first object to those cultivating, is, 

 to procure choice varieties, as to beauty and 

 fragrance of tl e Cower ; noxt to these qualifi- 

 cations, handsome shaped tops, upon hardy 

 t'ree-growinz stocks. Mo*t kinds of Ruses arc 

 disposod tu grow low and branching, malting 

 rather an unsightly hedgo, than otherwise ;. to 

 correct this, and perpetuate the most desirable 

 varieties, are tha objects of the Floricultur- 

 ist. Roses are propagated by seeds from sin 

 gle roses, by layers, offsets, or cuttings. The 

 former method is to be preferred where hand- 

 some, straight, clean stems arc warned. Va- 

 rieties may be continued by budding or graft- 

 in". As the sweet or gi cen brier, common in 

 the New England states, is the hardiest of all 

 the roses, so is it better calculated for stocks, 

 than most other kinds. Those who would 

 propagate them by seeds, should gather them 

 in autumn, and bury them in some convenient 

 place, whera they should be allowed to remain 

 until the second spring, as they will not vege- 

 tate tho first season after planting, but require! 

 to lie in tho ground through two winters ; thej 

 second spring they should betaken up, and| 

 planted out in ridges, raised six or eight inches 

 above tho level of the surrounding surfice. — 

 When the seeds have vegetated, and the young 

 plants have attained the height of three or four 

 inches, begin to level down the ridges, by remo- 

 ving the earth from the routs, at the same time 

 cut tin" away the horizontal fibres, leaving only 

 the tap or perpendioular root This operation 

 should be repeated, as tuo plant increases in 

 size, until the. ridge is reduced to a level wi'h 

 the surrounding surface. By this operation, 

 the body of the young plant is extended six or 

 eight inches below tho colyledones or seed 

 leaves; and, as there arc not any buds formed 

 below them, that part of the body gained from 

 the root, will be freb trom spro.ts. By tin-, 

 method, young trees may be raised, which will 

 not be troublesome by throwing out suckers 

 or sprouts, and the body may bo kept free from 

 side limbs, as easy as an apple tree. When the 

 stock has been thus raised.it may be budded or 

 .•rafted as other trees. Tho spines upon that 

 ■>art of the stock to be operated upon, should 

 be removed some time previous to the opera- 

 tion, and when the stocks are headed down, 

 the ends should be covered with grafting wax, 

 to prevent water from penetrating the pith. — 

 As the green brier is a free grower, those 

 stocks intended for training about windows 

 should be budded or grafted high. Some peo- 

 ple are fond of having dilferent kinds of roses' 

 upon the same stalk, but they do not form as 

 handsome heads as those which have but one 

 kind. Roses, like other trees should bo pru 

 .nedin the spring, and those who would have 

 p' Mowers in perfection, should koep tho ton^if 

 / ihem.of, wood, and shorten tho luxuriant 

 ^rowims of the preceding year. Those who 

 wish to cultivate new varieties should sow the 

 seed from fine single ones, and if seeds can 

 be procured from bushes where a number ofi 

 different kinds grew in contact, tho chance for) 

 variety will ha greater. 



GRAPE SOIL. 



We have received from our friend and cor- 

 respondent. Horatio Gates Spafford, an ac- 

 knowledgmentof the receipt of the first num- 

 ber of the Genesee Farmer, together with his 

 advice, as to the course which should be pur 

 sued, in order to make the paper useful to the 

 readers. 



From the well known reputation of this man 

 his long acquaintance with the different parts of 

 our country, his opinions are entitled to the 

 greatest deference from the agricultural part 

 of community. Mr. Spafford has, for a num- 

 ber of years past, been much engaged in col- 

 lecting information, and makin.: experiments, 

 on the cultivation of the grape, both by seed- 

 lings, and collecting the finest varieties of our 

 native grapes, as well as making experiments 

 with foreign ones. We think we cmriot do our 

 readers a greater favor, than by giving his ob 

 servations, taking it for granted, that it is as 

 good authority as we can produce, and that far 

 mers and others may trust to them without 

 fear of being deceived. He says — 



"As to tho vine much of your attention 

 should be directed to it. The country south 

 of Lake Ontario, in this state, certainly has a 

 climate more congeni d to the vine, than any 

 country on the south of Lake Erie, even to 

 the Ohio liver. I know thoso countries, and 

 am confident of the facts as stated. Your 

 soil, particularly on your poorest lands, the 

 high dry ridges, and rocky lands, is grape soil 

 and the sooner found out the better, in my o. 

 pinion. There is no region of tho United 

 StJte-, certainly none east of the Chesapeake. 



NUTRITIVE MATTER. 



Thb following is taken from Sir H. Davy's 



Table of Nutritive Matter afforded by different 

 vegetables, and may be found useful to farmers', 

 in making calculations as to the worth of dif- 

 ferent crops, for feeding stock, &c. Indian 

 corn, not being the produce of the Island of 

 Great Britain, was not analized by him, bu'. 

 we give the results fromother chemists : 

 1000 parts of each gave the following: — 

 Winter Wheat, 955. Rve, 792 



S,,nng Wheat, 910. Barlev meal, 920 

 Indian Corn, SOO. Oal meal, 670 



Potatoes, 250. Turnips . 42 



Now if we make a Table from the above 

 calculations, giving to each the produce of an 

 acre (as near as may be) we shall see at once 

 the relative value of each compared with tho 

 other, as contributing to the support of anima'. 



life: 



lbs. 

 Potatoes, 12,500 

 Indian corn, 2,400 

 W. Wheat, 1,200 

 Rve, 900 



Barley, 1,200 



Oals, 9150 



Turnips, 7,500 



lbs. nutritive matter 

 would give 3,125 

 1920 

 1,146 



7i2 



943 

 " 552 



315 



or north of the Valley of the Tennessee or 

 Cumberland rivers, where the vine will become 

 a staple production, or succeed so well, as in 

 your region. Much of this is duo to the great 

 depth of lake Ontario, aa explained in many of 

 my publications. At first, however, the cul- 

 tivators of the vino, especially, if they com- 

 mence with little experience, great fields, ton 

 many vines at the outset, must expect more or 

 Ies3 disappointment. The true way is, to be- 

 gin with a few vines, and by learning from ex- 

 perience, both as I o management and varie- 

 ties, or kinds, expend to more, say from a gar- 

 den with a few vines, tj a vineyard. Try to 

 make it a general thing, 'hat every man who 

 owns a farm, or garden, or both, shall have 

 growing a few vines, somo of foreign origin, 

 if thoy please, but by no means neglect to culti- 

 vate some of the best natives " 



N. B. It appears to be the opinion of met 

 men, experienced in the cultivation of the 

 grape, in this country, that wo should relv on 

 the nativo American grapes, for vzino making, 

 as the vines are more hardy, better bearers. 

 and tho flavor of tho wine it. found to bo supe- 

 rior to thai produced by foreign grapes, grown 

 in this olimatc. 



Thus it appears, that one acre of Potatoes 

 is equal to about two a-.reB of Indian Corn 

 throe of Wheat, four of Rye or Barley, six of 

 Oats, or ten of Turnips. J-hould the above 

 table be found incurred, we will lhank any ci 

 our farming fiienils to forward a more accurate 

 one, and wowiil give it a place in our column.-. 



SUN FLOWER. 



As wo have noticed this plant growing year 

 after year in the fields in our country, without 

 cultivation, we aro induced tobeheto that the 

 soil and climate aro extremely well adapted to 

 the growth of it as a field crop. We were 

 particularly struck with the growth of it in a 

 field, a little west of Penfield, on the inter 

 vale; it continued to grow several years with 

 out cultivation, and yet the plants were large 

 and vigorous. It may bo said, that there are 

 no mills for extracting tho oil : granted ; but 

 onco commence the cultivation of the seed, and 

 you may rest assured that some Yankee will 

 furnish a mill, or purchase the seed of you 



COFFEE. 



We know this is a hum-drum subject, and 

 directions for making it, aro found in Alma- 

 nacs, Journals, and Newspapers, from the time 

 of Wouier Von Ttsiller lo the present day, and 

 yet a cup o 1- good coffee is rare to be net with 

 in the country. Now we had rather rummage 

 all the almanacs from Beers down to Giddings, 

 than diink one cup uf tho sylabub stuff fre 

 qucmly given us at pubhe houses in tho coun- 

 try. The French are allowed to drink excel- 

 lent coffee, and tho following we know to be 

 the method practiced by many of them for ma- 

 king it. Theil kitchens are provided with 

 coffee pot or pitcher, into ivhhh the coffee i.- 

 leached : a leach or vessel fitted to the too o.' 

 t, so as to set into it an inch or two; the bot- 

 tom of tho leach is perforated full of small 

 holes : n canvass bag, tnado to fit the inside uf 

 th leach, having a boon sewed in the top, to 

 prevent it falling within tho vessel : a pipkin, 

 or sauce-pan. of sufficient size to heat water, 

 flavins selected and roasted codec, according 

 to taste, they procoed to grind it moderately 

 fine, and at evening wet with cold water as 

 much as they wish to use in the morning ; this 

 is put into the canvass bag, within the leach, 

 and boiling water poured upon the coffee until 

 sufficient quantity is passed through for use ; 

 during this operation, the veseels are placed in 

 a situation to be kept hot, but net boil, as that 

 would injure ihe flavor of the coffee. After 

 the first making, the coffee is taken from the 

 bag, and kept for the next making, when it is 

 put into tho sauce-pan, and to it one Half of 

 the quantity "f water to be used; this is boil- 

 ed, and the water decanted upon the new 

 coffeo in the leach, when the other half of 

 tho water is put upon the dregs, and again 

 boiled and decanted as before ; after which. 

 Itho old dregs are thrown away, having beer. 



