Vol 1.— No. 47. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



Old varieties of the potato have also been revi- 

 ved by a particular treatment ; and President 

 Knight has most honorably recorded this fact, 

 though it contravenes his favorite theory. 



I believe I have now examined every argument 

 advanced by A. E. D. T. 



Grealficld, Cayuga co. 11 mo. 10, 1831. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



ON PLOUGHING IN THE FALL. 

 Ploughing late in autumn is practiced to a con- 

 siderable extent, and generally believed to be in 

 perfect consistence with good fanning. Not un- 

 lYequently the subject is brought into view in the 

 Agricultural Journals and books treating of hus- 

 bandry, and always pressed upon the farmer as 

 having strong claims to his attention. The prin- 

 cipal arguments, adduced in favor of autumnal 

 ploughing, are, 1st. That it gives to the farmer 

 an opportunity of doing in the fall, when time is 

 less valuable, and teams are strong, a portion of 

 his team work, which, if deferred at that time, 

 must be done in the spring, and that too with a 

 team much less able to perform it ; — that the far- 

 mer who adopts anil pursues this practice, will, in 

 the spring, find his business ill a more forward 

 condition, than otherwise it would be, and be bet 

 tcr able to keep it so through the season. 2d, 

 That ploughing late in autumn, contributes to an 

 improvement of the. soil. This is supposed to be 

 done, by giving it a greater exposure to the frosts j 

 of winter, by the agency of which the soil is more 

 perfectly pulverized, better prepared for admix-! 

 lure in subsequent tillage, and consequently ren- 1 

 dered more productive. Another consideration ur- \ 

 .ged in connection with this, is, that ground plough- , 

 cd in the fall, will, at the time of spring culture, i 

 lie found in a better state of tillage, than it could j 

 be brought to by the same process of ploughing 

 in the spring. 3d. That, by ploughing late in 

 the season, many of the eggs, or deposites, of 

 worms and other insects, are exposed to the se- 

 verity iof winter's frost, and by that means de- 

 stroyed; and of course, ploughing at that season, 

 contributes something towards relief from the 

 mischievous effects of such depredators. These 

 are the principal arguments relied on, to sustain 

 the practice of autumnal ploughing; and to me 

 they appear worthy of great consideration. Yet, 

 the doctrine of ploughing late in the fall, is by 

 some denied. There are farmers of good sense, 

 men in the vicinity where I live, who have the 

 impression, that ploughing late in autumn, is 

 hurtful to the soil ; and on that account, they en- 

 tirely abstain from the practice. To my surprise, 

 I lately noticed in an address, delivered before the 

 Hartford (Ct.) Agricultural Society, an utter pro- 

 scription of this practice, as an infallible means, 

 if practiced and persisted in, of ruining the soil. 

 Is it so? It is important that farmers should 

 know the truth in relation to this subject. It is, 

 indeed, admitted by many of the advocates for 

 late ploughing, that an exception should be made 

 as to lands, that are composed chiefly of sand, and 

 are, of course, light, 'oose and porous. An ex- 

 ception should also be made as to all lands, lying 

 on steep declivities. Fall ploughing, on such lo- 

 cations, would be likely to result in considerable 

 injury to the soil, as valuable portions of it would 

 be washed away by the rains, and, especially, by 

 the freshets of spring. Granting these exceptions, 

 i proceed. 



Last fall, 1830, I ploughed in November, the 

 fourth part of a field of wheat stubble, containing 

 8 acres, and intended for corn as the next crop. — 

 The soil was loam, of loose texture, and easy til- 

 lage. Another part of the same field, had been 

 turned over immediately after wheat harvest; and 

 stdl another small part remained unploughed till 

 spring. The crop of the whole field was fine; 

 but that of the part ploughed in November, obvi- 

 ously excelled ; and I know not for what cause, 

 unless it was, ploughing at that season. During 

 the long period in which I have been engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits, I have, not unfrequently, 

 ploughed late in autumn; and never did I suspect, 

 nor do I now, that any injury to my soil, resulted 

 from it. 



If ploughing late in the fall, be detrimental to 

 the soil, it might be supposed, that digging pota- 

 toes at that season, would have the same effect 

 It gives to the soil nearly the same exposure to the 

 atmospheric influence of winter. But who ever 

 suspected that the operation of potato digging 

 was hurtful to the soil 1 So far as I know, a po- 

 tato crop is universally considered as an excellent 

 preparation for any other crop that is to follow. 



I have long maintained the sentiment, that 

 ploughing late in the fall, certain soils and loca- 

 tions being excepted, was safe in regard to the 

 j soil, and, in many instances,, a well timed, and ve- 

 I ry profitable item of husbandry. Sustained in 

 this, as I think I am, by the general sentiment of 

 farmers — sustained by the evidence of my own 

 practice, extended through a series of many years, 

 and sustained too, as I perceive I am, by the Gen- 

 esee Farmer, I must be permitted still to believe 

 that, on such soils as generally prevail in West- 

 ern New- York, and on all soils of sufficient tena- 

 city to be good for wheat, the fanner may plough 

 | in October, November and December, without the 

 ! least danger of injuring his soil, and, often times, 

 to his great advantage. 



DAN BRADLEY. 

 Marccllus, Ibth Nov. 1831. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



The Genesee Farmer states, page 184, that the 

 poison of ivy is an acid, and by dogwood (Pisci- 

 dia) of an alkaline nature. The plants referred 

 I to are of the same genus, and apparently possess 

 j the same properties. What is called ivy, is a 

 ! species of sumach, Rhus radicans, and seems to 

 j be spread over all the country. The poison of 

 dogwood is less common. It is not the Piscidia 

 ! of botanists, which is a tree of the West Indies, 

 ' and called Jamaica dogwood or Fish-bean. Like 

 the Phlomis and some other plants, it has the 

 property of intoxicating fishes, so that they are 

 caught by the hand. Hence the name, piscis, a 

 fish, and caedo, to kill. The poisonous dogwood 

 here referred to, is not a Cornus, so common eve- 

 rywhere, but it is, also, a species of sumach, Rhus 

 Toxicodendron. Its more frequent name is poi- 

 son oak, but in many parts of New England it is 

 called Dogwood. It grows two or three feet high, 

 and its leaves are much like those of the poison- 

 ous ivy, or mercury, as it is often called. But the 

 mos' poisonous plant in the United States, is 

 the poison sumach of the swamps, Rhus Varnix, 

 or Vaniish Sumach. It has been a subject of 

 earnest debate in England, whether this is the 

 true Varnish tree of Japan; and each side of 

 the question has enlisted the talents of able bota- 



3T3 



msts. It may be worth inquiry, whethi t our trc 

 may not be usefully applied to afford a vaniish. 



I have known some twenty or thirty ferailie 

 poisoned at the same time, from the use of wood 

 lor fuel taken in clearing a swamp, where the 

 poisonous sumachs abounded. A number of rem- 

 edies are mentioned in the earlier volumes of thi 

 New England Farmer. The writer of this arti- 

 cle has often been thus afflicted, and found little 



use in any prescription but patience and time. 



Dr. Nathan Smith, one of the best surgeons and 

 physicians our country has produced, and with 

 whom this calamity was familiar in forty years' 

 practice, once advised him to ungirth cathartics, 

 and apply Indian meal, rubbing it on to allay ir- 

 ritation. This course proved as useful as any of 

 the numerous remedies previously recommend- 



ed - E. Y. 



Cleveland. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



HEDGING. 



The log, pole, and bush, hedge of the early set- 

 tlers has given way to the rail, post and rail, and 

 board fence, and stone wall ; and as stone is not 

 found in many parts of the Genesee Country, 

 suitable for wall, it is daily becoming more and 

 more an object of importance to our farmers, to 

 substitute some material of a more durable nature 

 than rails or boards, for fencing, as these articles 

 are already becoming very scarce in many pla- 

 ces. 



Several of my neighboring farmers, as well as 

 myself, are anxious to commence a system of 

 hedging ; but, as we have no experience in the 

 business, and our knowledge upon the subject ne- 

 cessarily very limited, the experience and knowl- 

 edge of others, would not only save many a pen- 

 ny to those who are entering into the business, but 

 be of great advantage to the agricultural commu- 

 nity, and add much to the improvement of this 

 section of the country. 



I know of but few instances of hedging in this 

 part of the state. In one case, where the English 

 thorn was tried, that part of the hedge which was 

 clipped, was mostly destroyed by a small snow 

 white insect, with which it was in many cases lit- 

 erally covered. That which was not clipped, did 

 better : none of the plants have yet been destroy- 

 ed by this insect, although found upon it in several 

 places. I have seen several kinds of the native 

 thorn, and the crab, tried; but the experiments 

 were so limited, that it is difficult to say much re 

 specting their utility for hedging. 



Any information upon this subject communica- 

 ted tnrough the Genesee Farmer, would doubtless 

 promote our general interest. ONTARIO. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



MILITARY TRAININGS, No. 4. 

 I am no soldier — but a man ; speak not 

 Of soldiership — I loathe the word and those 

 Who pride themselves upon it. — Bijron. 



Our numbers being published with several day? 

 interval between them, it becomes necessary to 

 recapitulate a little to make ourself intelligible. — 

 In our last number we attempted to show that all 

 occasion for the continuance of our militia system 

 had long since ceased, and that the laws upon the 

 subject ought consequently to be abrogated. But 

 we hear among our neighbors various objections 

 to the total abolition of the system, some of which 



