62 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. 



Importance of Experimentiiig. 



Mr. Editor : — If the cultivators of the soil 

 would but take the trouble, or I v/ould rather 

 say, would tlsey but enjoy the exalted pleasures 

 of testing by experience the numerous unsettled 

 facts relative to their pursuits — was every farm- 

 er an experimenter, and each one's farm an ex- 

 perimental one, and the results of those experi- 

 ments annually published in the agricultural jour- 

 nals — what a fund of useful facts would yeaily 

 be produced. It can easily be done, at a trifiiiig 

 expense ; and the gratification of observing the 

 various operations of nature, in producing the 

 numerous vegetable and animal productions from 

 the earth, would of itself be a sufficient recom- 

 pense for the time s{)ent, independently of the 

 valuable results which would follow an accurate 

 knowledge of the various operations of our mul- 

 tifarious calling. And, I repeat it, that every 

 farm ought to be an experimental one. No cul- 

 tivator of the soil should allow a season to pass 

 without testing some practical experiment on 

 tillage, on manures, j;eedp, breeds of animals, or 

 on some one of the numerous varieties of vege- 

 tables for animal food, &c., &c. 



One land, or ridge, could be plowed deep, an- 

 other shallow — harrow one five or six times 

 hrough the summer, another only once, or not 

 at all. Treat some with the numerous varieties 

 of manure, to determine the quantity most profit- 

 able to apply at a time to each crop, and how to 

 apply it, whether on the surface, slightly covered, 

 or plowed under deep — whether barn-yard ma- 

 nure ought to be applied green, fermented, or 

 rotten. Test the quantity of the various seeds 

 to sow per acre, with the best method of prepar- 

 ing them. 



And many valuable facts migbt be settled rel- 

 ative to the breeding and feeding of animals — 

 the different kinds of food most profitable to feed 

 with, for the various operations of labor — or for 

 making Milk, Wool, and Flesh. Examine witii 

 accuracy and care the result of those experiments, 

 and publish them in our journals, that all may 

 receive the benefit of each individual's experi- 

 ence ; the beneficial results would be beyond 

 calculation. 



And, Fellow Cultivators, why do we not do it< 

 In no way can we spend a little time so usefully. 

 Let each one of us resolve that in future no sea- 

 son shall pass without our testing some practical 

 experiment relative to our calling. 



Wm. Gar butt. 



Wkealland, Feb. 10, 1847. 



Large Cattle — The Auburn Daily Adver- 

 tiser states that Mr. Elon Sheldon, of Sennett, 

 has one pair of yearlings, weighing 2,100 lbs., 

 one pair of two year olds weighing 3,000, and 

 one pair of three year olds weighing 3,000, and 

 one pair of four year old oxen weighing 4,5.")0, 

 lbs. Can this be beaten ! 



Scientific Farming. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you oblige a subscriber 

 and an occasional contributor to your paper by 

 publishing the annexed extract from an article 

 reviewing " Essays on the Progress of Nations 

 in Productive Industry, Civilization, Population, 

 and Wealth ; illustrated by Statistics of Mining, 

 Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, Banking, 

 Revenues, Internal Improvements, Emigration, 

 Mortality, and Population." By Ezra C Seaman. 



The writer of the article referred to after 

 speaking of Great Britain, says — 



" Turn now to our o%vn country. In the manufacturing 

 .-^tsue of Rhode Island, the earnings of labor and capital 

 amount lo 110 dollars annually for each person. In Massa- 

 chusetts t!ie amount 103 dollars. In the agricultural State 

 of Indiana it is only 44 dollars. These estimates are taken 

 irom tables v. hich are considered too favorable to agriculture. 



Now we have nothing to do with the political bearing of 

 these facts. We do not look at them with the eyes of a pol- 

 itician ; it is our object rather to consider them as eeono- 

 mists and lis lovers of moral truth. And first we are urged 

 to say, that the case of agriculture is not so bad as it may al 

 first appear. The cultivation of the soil can hardly be as 

 profitable .is some other occupation, yet if is safe. And, 

 moreover, it may be made tolerably profitable by the same 

 application of scit nee which has secured such wonderful 

 ri'sulls in the mechanic arts. Agricultural Chemistry is 

 still in its infancy ; and yet it is already almost certain, that 

 a small farm, scientifically cultivated, and not too remote 

 from a market, may he made a mine of wealth. This mat- 

 ter is not well understood. There is no wisdom in our 

 practice of dispersing ourselves over immense tracts of coun- 

 try, out of the reach of schools, churches, and markets. In- 

 dividuals and the nation at large, are insane upon the sub- 

 ject of territory. A vast amount of grain is every year 

 wasted in our country, because it cannot be brought to mar- 

 ket. We have no right, except in cases of necessity, to go 

 into the wilderness. The culture of choice fruit trees and 

 of fine vegetables, the dairy, the poultry-yard, and the flow- 

 er-garden, are not made sufficiently prominent. There are 



articles suitable to be eaten besides beef and pork. Let the 

 eastern farmer stay at home, and make ths old farm more 

 productive. We cannot dispense with the intluences of ag- 

 riculture. It is a most captivating and ennobling employ- 

 ment ; the children of the earth gain strength from the touch 

 of their mother, and drink in health with her warm sweet 

 breath. And through the aid of system and of science, wc 

 can accomplish all that is necessary in a thickly settled coun- 

 try, and escape dangers to which onr western friends are 

 exposed." — Christian Examiuer, 1847. 



What has not science done for the mechanic 

 arts ? And yet the mechanic does not rest satis- 

 fied — he is constantly seeking for new inven- 

 tions — new discoveries — new and improved ap- 

 plications of principles already known and used. 



Not so with farmers. Here you find a class 

 of men, intelligent and industrious, who, to a 

 considerable extent, are opposing the discover- 

 ies and a[)plications of science to their art — 

 speaking witli reproach of the application of sci- 

 ence to farming — and ridiculing him whom they 

 call a '■'■scienlific farmer." A brighter day is 

 however dawning for the farmer — a day when 

 the principles will be applied to his art as they 

 now are to the mechanics'. L. W. 



Monroe County, Feb., 1847. 



Asparagus. — This delicious vegetable was 

 first introduced into England in 1608. It is now 

 extensively cultivated throughout Europe, and is 

 one of the most desirable plants known. 



