130 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



April 30, 1831. 



been bearing but two or three years, and these 

 particulars will show how desperate the rase 

 was. The fruit fell off, the leaves were all 

 rolled lip, main of ihem almo-t dry. and all 

 of them shrivelled. as if dying for sap. i knew 

 that oil would install. ly kill a groat many in 

 se<-ts, worms, &c, having tried it upon all that 

 1iad fallen in mv way; then wh\ not now ?* 



Taking the amp-feeder, and a little crooked 

 tin lube, I fill- d i tie whole < avity with oil. and 

 in a few moment* pulled out several dead bo- 

 rers. I left it full, and slopped the hides up 

 with earth and to make the story as short as 

 possible, coniinued to pour in oil occasionally, 

 common lamp oil. till tiio orifices were closed, 

 by the growth of the tree, in the second sum- 

 mer. I supported the tree by a sir ng stake 

 and fistemngs of lurk — ii soon assumed an 

 unusually heiKhy and vigorous appearance. 

 put out new leaves, blossomed in autumn, and 

 had apples as large as onion balls, of ihe sec 

 ond growth that year. It continues to grow 

 admirably, a perfectly healthy, beautiful tree, 

 fruitful each year. 



This, I know, is along story about one tree, 

 but it is the tale of all my fruit trees of a large 

 garden, except that I may add, that I every 

 year, in spring and midsummer, continue to 

 apply some oil to the bark of the stem, say for 

 one foot above the ground, and that none of 

 them have since been attacked by the borer. — 

 The oil does not injure the tree I kirvc upplied 

 it to theptach, pear, apple, plum, cherry, quince, 

 an*l to my daiarf apple trees, and with perfect 

 success. I'he result h is been shown, and lold 

 to hundreds of persons, and perhaps it may be 

 time to publish it. of which you are to judge. 

 H. G. SPAFFOUD. 



Lansingburgh, N. Y. April 16 1831—75. 



*I very much doubt whether, ifoil will so in- 

 stantly kill these progenies ihe progenitors be not 

 repelled by its effluvia, while seeking places (or 

 the deposit of their seeds Instinct, ai all events, 

 has much more of sagacity in it, as to its '' likes 

 and dislikes," as Gen. Jackson says, or its appe- 

 tites and aversions, than we are apt to imagine. 



SELECTION- . 



From the American Farmer. 



WOOL. 



Sip,. Shith — If any suggestions contained in 

 tbe annexed communication are, in your opin- 

 ion, of sufficient importance to interest the 

 fanners and others who subscribe to vour val- 

 uhle paper, you are at liberty to publish them 

 for their per isal. 



The farmers in this vicinity, as well as oth 

 crs interested in agriculture, are doubtless al- 

 ready aware thai wool is becoming a very im- 

 portant staple of our country: therefore "those 

 who intend raising the article for market, 

 should he in possession of all the information, 

 which thev can obtain, respecting the most 

 suitable method of preparing it. so that it will 

 meet with a ready sale ; and at the same time 

 afford the wool grower a fair compensauon for 

 the labour and expense in the care of his (locks. 

 Many facts might he given on this subject, but 

 I shall statu only those which seem of imme- 

 diate importance During the past year, I have 

 found from experience, that the wool which 

 has been offered for sale in this market, has 

 been, a great proportion of it, unwashed, and 

 very heavy : those lols which have been 

 washed are generally in a very bad condition, 

 and the manufacturers of New England, to 

 whom a large quantity of this wool has been 

 lold, have very generally made complaints re- 

 ipecting the condition ol wool shipped to them 

 from this city. 



Many farmers in Now England, have, during 

 several years pasi, devotod particular aKeu- 

 ion lo their (locks, and at this time, the groic 

 "S "f , " 3 <'' among litem has become, an extern- 

 ive anil profitable business. The experience 

 vhich they have had, and their dnily inior- 

 ourso with thu manufacturers, have led them 

 i adopt that method of sending their wool to 

 •rarkcr, whlcfrj is best calculated to ensure u' 



ready sale and at the same time give satisfac- 

 tion to the manufacturer. 



During ten vears experience in dealing in the 

 article in Boston I have found thai, the prac- 

 tice is universally adopted of washing the wool 

 on the sheep. The fleece.after sufficiently dry. 

 is taken fiom ihe sheep with much care, in or- 

 der to prevent its being torn to pieces ; after 

 which it is neatly rolled, wiih the sheared sidi 

 oui, and secured in that condition with a small 

 cord or twine. 



The manufacturer, or wool-assorter, who 

 finds the fleece in I Ins condition, is able to as- 

 sort it much more accurately, and, with at 

 least one half ihe trouble that is required when 

 the dilferent fleeces, and the different parts of 

 each fleece are mixed together. If the wool 

 is washed after taken from the sheep without 

 being assorted, as is often the case in this lection 

 of country, it is, in this condition, almost im- 

 possible for the best judges to do justice, in 

 assorting it: because washing in this condi- 

 tion mixes the heads of the fine and coarse 

 part of the same fleece, and also the different 

 fleeces together. and renders the different qual 

 tries almost inseparable. Therefore, I would 

 recommend to every person who intends send- 

 ing ther wool to market, to have it washed on 

 the slurp, similar to the manner adopted in 

 New Enjjland. 



The best method of sending (he wool (o 

 niarket,is,to have the different kinds or grades 

 ■aclied separately in coarse linen bags of suit 

 able size tocontain about one hundred pounds. 

 Those who adop( (his melhod of preparing 

 their wool, will obtain for it, if sent to (his 

 marke( for sale, a( least ten or fifteen cents 

 a pound more than (hey would if sent to mar- 

 ket unwashed, and in the condition which it is 

 now generally offered for sala. 



Vei; respectfully, your obedient servant, 



Baltimore, jSpl 13, 1831 . Lyman Reed. 



wild RICE 



W' 1 are indebted to Col. Stambajgh, Indi- 

 an agent al Green Bay. for (he following no 

 (ice of (his singular vegetable. Col. Stam 

 baugb lias left with the editor a small quanti 

 (y of this rice, which will be distributed to 

 persons who may desire to experiment on i(9 

 culture. Would i( no( grow on the margin 

 of the Delaware and Chesapeake canal ? 



U. S. Tel 



It is found in nearly all the streams and 

 marshes north of (he forty-second parallel of 

 north latitude. I have not ascertained thai it 

 is peculiar (o any par(icular hind of soil, bui 

 grows must luxuriously it) still, sluggish 

 streams, with bottoms having a proportion of 

 said and loam. Those who are best ac» 

 quainted with its his(ory at Greeu Bay, be- 

 in re it (obea biennial plant, requiring (he 

 period of (wo years from (he fall of (he seed 

 lo bring it to maturity; but the Indians pro 

 nounce it an animal plan(---(he old chiefs who 

 are now wilh me, are firm in the belief, and 1 

 have no doubt of (he correcdiess of (heir o 

 pinion- That it grow s from the seed and not 

 from the root, all appear to be perfectly satis- 

 fied. The stalk is from four (o fifteen (eel in 

 length, depending upon (he depth of the wa 

 Ut, In which element, I believe, its growth is 

 xelu-ively confined Shortest stocks, it is 

 iaid, generally yield the most grain. I have 

 seen it in great abundance, in water from three 

 ' i ten feel deep. The Indians harvest their 

 rice on Pox river and i(s tributary Streams 

 about the midd'e of September, and further 

 north proportionably earlier. In (he -17lli de- 

 gree of nor 'Ii latitude it is ripe, when it is but 

 hooting into heads at Green Bay, about two 

 nd a half degrees sonth of lha( point. 

 The mole pursued by Ihe Indians ingntho 



ring tlteir rrce is quite diverting-. Two or ma harrowing, made mellow before planting 



lir e of them lake a cnoe. and as one pads 



lesit through ther.ee. the others hem the 

 stalks into the canoe and beat off (he grain 

 tvith small sticks; in this wav (hey collect 

 t' ir load in a few minutes. It grows so lux u- 



lantly in Fox river, near (he portage of the 

 Oui-consin hat it is difficult lo find (he chan 



-I for small boa(s,alt hough it is a fine oaviga. 

 ble stream The portage between the Fok 



id Ouiscir.sm rivers is only abou( a mile and 

 a quarter. Ye; I believe ther- is not a stalk 



•: rice lo be found in the Ouisconsin. I have 

 not heard this ciicuinstance satisfactorily ac- 

 counted for; (he F .x river, you know, "flows 

 into (lie Lake, and the Ouisconsin into (he 



Mississippi. 



F-ora iho New Enclaod Farmer. 



OS THE CULTURE OF INDIAN CORN. 



We all know ihat what is nood husbandry 

 lor one kind of -oil, or one location, or fo'i 

 one farmer, is not, of course, for another. 



Corn may be grown and perhaps with profit, 

 on different soils, with a proper tillage for each! 

 Location, thai is as to the value of the use of 

 the land, the nearness to a market, and the fa- 

 cility with" which manure can be procured, 

 must be regarded. 



A large forehanded farmer can ofien do to 

 advantage what would he ruinous to one dif- 

 ferently situated. Bui this should not deter 

 us from drawing all the advantage we can 

 from the, experience and observation of that 

 class of farmers, occupying the most feasible 

 and level lands; and when n« cannot imitate 

 the course which has proved useful to them, 

 tn substitute, a'-e irding to our best judgment, 

 some method nearly resembling that which 

 may be equally useful to us. 



1 was led to these remarks bv reading ia 

 the New England Faunei Mr. Phinncy's ad- 

 dress, and therein his statement of his mode 

 of raising corn on green sward. This I had 

 before read in 1829, and it siruck me.ihen and 

 now, (hat we in ibis hilly country, with fields 

 of a very uneven surface, could not imitate 

 him exactly. But we had long before adopted 

 a <-our-e of tillage, which I think oossesses all 

 the utility of his, and avoids much of the la 

 bor and trouble to which ihat is subject. My 

 mi-thod with green sward, and I plain no oth- 

 er with corn, is this : — In the spring I feed im 

 land intended for corn a- close a- possible, tii) 

 within about a week of plaining time, gel on 

 my manure, and spread it. The field then is, 

 as we term it, plowed into ridges, ihat is, the 

 slices of two furrows turned togeti er, so t!iat 

 the edges of the two will about meet, leaving 

 a narrow balk, or space of unploughed land, 

 between the ridges. In about a week the 

 corn is planted on the ridges, at the junction 

 of the two furrows, without any regard lo 

 rows crosswise of the ridges, as they are not 

 be plowed across. 

 Al the first hoeing the balk is plowed up, 

 and the sward on it turned over, or broken in. 

 pieces. At each of the two other hoeings,tho 

 spaces between the ridges, or rows of corn,, 

 are very lightly plowed, and the ground, mix- 

 ed wiih ihe manure lef: on them. drawn up by a 

 hoc to the hills of com 



By ibis mode of cultivation, the manure is 

 all saved, being mostly covered with the fur- 

 rows, and kept free from the weather, and that 

 left on the balk, well mixed wiih earth by the 

 first plowing and hoeing of the corn before the 

 dry hot season commences. The sward is all 

 decomposed, and nourishes the corn at the 

 season when it is most wanted — Ihat is, whet) 

 Iho oars are setting, growing and filling out.-- 

 It is no objection that part of the surface ol' 

 the ground is not cut up with the plough, bill 

 covered with furrows. fur that becomes as mol- 

 low ns the other, and equally useful lo ihe 

 crops. 



If iho sward he tuugh. the first hoeing will 

 bo slow and laborious, hut the oilier two no?, 

 more so than when the ground is. by plowing 



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