202 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



July 2, ieai. 



of Old Genesee : that is— a very great pro- 

 portion of trees so obtained have failed, al- 

 though packed with the greatest care. The 

 very idea oMosing has prevented many from 

 sending, who would gladly have done it, 

 were they certain of being able to secure, by 

 that expense, the variety they wished. It 

 has formerly been a practice with nursery- 

 men not to sell scions from their choice va- 

 rieties ; but we believe that custom is now 

 considered too transatlantic to be adhered 

 fo by our best horticulturists, and scions of 

 any kind may now be obtained from them 

 at fair prices, so that there is nothing now 

 to prevent a rapid distribution of fine fruits ; 

 and any one that will, now may procure it. 

 The connection of our Horticultural Socie- 

 ties with those of Europe, has brought every 

 kind of valuable fruit, known either in Eu- 

 rope or America, within the reach of our 

 farmers ; and the direction for cultivating it 

 is daily almost forced upon them. 



HESSIAN FLY. 



This insect has made its appearance this 

 reason, in this section, but to what extent 

 <hey have damaged the wheat we have not 

 ,-et learned. As the habits of ihis insect are 

 ■veil known, farmers should guard against 

 •.heir ravages. They may be found, at the 

 time the wheat is in blossom, between the 

 stalks and lower leaves,in the chrysalis state, 

 somewhat resembling a flax-feed. During 

 ?he time the kernel is in the milk, they 

 hatch out and become moths, and deposit 

 f Jieir egt;s upon the kernel, which is too small 

 to be visible to the naked eye. When such 

 wheat is sown, should the autumn be warm, 

 they hatch, and the larvae ascends the young 

 stalks, and locate themselves among the 

 •eaves, as far down as possible. In this 

 situation they may be found before and af- 

 ter they are transformed to the chrysalis 

 state, having fed upon the juices of the 

 young stalk, which they materially injure. 

 As the insect itself is not a great traveller, 

 it is easy to destroy the egg before sowing 

 the wheat. For this purpose, place the 

 wheat, intended to be sown, in a basket over 

 a tub, and pour over it strong caustic ley, 

 scalding hot, after which the wheat may be 

 sown, and the increased vigour with which 

 wheat so managed will shoot, will compen- 

 sate for the trouble, separate from the de- 

 struction of the egg of thehessian fly. We 

 recommend it to farmers to examine their 

 fields, and if any signs of the fly are to be 

 found, to scald their wheat the coming sea- 

 son, before sowing, which will prevent them 

 in the next crop. 



HAMPTON COURT VINE, 



There is at present growing in the Gar- 

 den at Hampton Court, a grape vine of very 

 ♦arge size, supposed to be nearly two hun- 

 dred years old, and produces nearly one ton 

 of grapes yearly. It is one of the largest in 

 England, and is of that variety called the 



Black Hamburgh, and the branches extend 

 about 75 feet. It is is enclosed in a grape 

 house, as these grapes seldom ripen well in 

 that climate ; but in this country have pro- 

 duced two crops in one season. 



TO THE PUBLIC. 



The present number completes half a year 

 since the commencement of the Farmer. — 

 We know it is a busy time with the readers 

 of this paper, so what we shall say relating 

 to our own affairs, will be brief. Determin- 

 ed to succeed, in the out-set, we began with 

 an edition of 2000 copies — this number, we 

 were then aware, was large for the novelty 

 of the undertaking, but we had confidence, 

 that in Western New York, Northern Penn- 

 sylvania, and in Ohio, and elsewhere, we 

 should certainly find, when the merits of our 

 publication was known, and approved by 

 scientific and practical farmers, gardeners, 

 nurserymen, &c, sufficient support to meet 

 the expenses of publication. As yet, how- 

 ever, we have but about half the number of 

 subscribers necessary to meet the expense 

 of publication, and these widely scattered 

 over the country. We, therefore, desire the 

 friends of the Farmer, to exert themselves 

 to procure for us additional subscribers ; 

 and our esteemed correspondents are most 

 respectfully requested to continue their val- 

 uable contributions. We do not despair of 

 ultimately receiving ample remuneration for 

 our heavy disbursements ; but feeling that 

 the successful progress of our paper, will be 

 but another evidence of the advancement of 

 the agricultural interests of the " Garden of 

 America," we hope this appeal to Farmers 

 and Horticulturists, particularly of the Gen- 

 esee Country, will not be in vain. 



The embarrassments under which the ed- 

 itor labors in conducting the paper will be 

 appreciated, when it is known, that there are 

 but four or five similar periodicals from 

 which to select; and that the works to which 

 he can refer, or which he can consult in the 

 progress of his duties, are also few, and some 

 of them of foreign authorship, and not ex- 

 actly fitted to the exigencies of our soil or 

 climate. How he has acquitted himself may 

 be learned by consulting almost every jour- 

 nal, as well from their kind editorial appro- 

 vals, as from the constant, regular, weekly 

 transfer of columns of the Genesee Farmer, 

 for the benefit of their readers. 

 July 2, 1881. The Publishers. 



DRIED CHERRIES. 



Few people know how to prize dried cher- 

 ries, and fewer still ever take the trouble to 

 dry them. As this is the proper season for 

 drying them, let those who have them at- 

 tend to it. It is customary to dry them 

 without taking out the stone. This is an 

 expeditious way of securing them, but is not 

 the most profitable one. Let the cherries 

 be picked as soon as ripe, and the stone ta- 

 ken out, and the fleshy parts spread upon 



plates, and put in a moderately warm oven, 

 and in ten or twelve hours they will be suftV 

 ciently dry for packing away. It will be 

 said this is a tedious process, but we go up- 

 on the principle that it is best to save every- 

 thing from the farm that will turn to cash ; 

 therefore, instead of throwing away the 

 stones as useless, dry them also, and they 

 will always command about half as much 

 as the cherries were worth before they were 

 taken out, which will abundantly compen- 

 sate for the trouble, besides having the dried 

 fruit altogether more valuable. Those who 

 save the stones for planting, should select 

 the mazards, where they can be had.as they 

 make the most healthy and vigorous stocks 

 for grafting or budding upon, but any of 

 those kinds usually called English cherries, 

 will answer, but the common red or Kentist 

 will not do well, as they are of very slow- 

 growth from the seed, but are equally a* 

 good as the others for making Noyeaus, 



SWAMP MUD. 



Were farmers to pay more attention to 

 draining their low lands, they would find i! 

 much to their interest. Separate from the 

 advantage of rendering their low lands dry 

 and productive, much manure of the first, 

 quality might be taken from the ditches, and 

 when spread upon fallows and other upland? 

 under tillage, would well repay all the ex- 

 pense of ditching. Many seem to entertain 

 the idea, that nothing is worth carting or 

 spreading as manure, unless it has been col \ 

 Iected in the barn yard, or is the excremen'-. 

 of animals. 



All vegetable matter undergoing decom 

 position furnishes food for growing plants,' 

 and may be applied as manures. In short, 

 any thing, whether vegetable or animal sub 

 stance, which on being mixed with a soil un- 

 der cultivation, and which increases the 

 growth of plants cultivated in such soil, is 

 termed manure. Different soils require dif- 

 ferent substanoes to be applied, in order to 

 facilitate the growth of plants; thus light san- 

 dy soils which are too loose to retain mois- 

 ture are greatly benefitted by the applica- 

 tion of clay ; and such earths as are compa- 

 ratively too retentive of moisture, are great 

 ly altered for the better, by mixing with, 

 them a portion of sand, so that whatever 

 be the soil which requires ditching, the earth 

 removed may be carted to a different soil v 

 and be applied as a manure. There is on 

 some farms small swamps or depressions, in 

 which vegetable matter collects, and which 

 cannot without considerable expense br. 

 drained ; these frequently become dry du- 

 ring summer, when large quantities of ma- 

 nure might be taken out of them. Good 

 farmers will look carefully to those things, 

 but some that are new in the possession, ma;' 

 not be aware of the importance of such de» 

 posits, and a hint from us may not be con- 

 sidered amiss. 



