1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



137 



the better. If not as flat as is desirable, chink 

 and cobble up till they lay firm and secure. 



Fences built of these light materials do not an- 

 swer so well to set posts and increase their height 

 by adding a couple of narrow boards, as the winds 

 have too much power to disturb the structure. — 

 But in those cases where stone enough cannot be 

 found to build the entire fence a very pretty ex- 

 pedient is resorted to. At about 6 inches from 

 the ground a sill of 3 by 4 scantling or other 

 wood is laid into the wall, projecting beyond it 

 about 3 inches at each end — far enough to make 

 a 2 inch augur hole at the same angle as the 

 wall, in which are fitted two stakes or rounds, 

 with one or more yokes of 2 inch stuff, bored 

 and fitted on, to lay on poles or rails — or another 

 short rail may be fitted on the top of the fence, 

 into which the stakes enter, and into which is 

 morticed a post to nail board to. This makes a 

 very secure and durable fence, even when the 

 stone work is only two feet above the surface. 



In your next number, if your readers will tol- 

 erate me, I will give you another yarn about 

 Fences, being something of an itenerant and an 

 old pedlar — but now old Farmek Tim. 



Monroe County, 1847. 



Chess — Transmutalion of Oats, &€. 



Having seen in the March number of the Far- 

 mer, a case of apparent transmutation of wheat 

 to chess, which many suppose impossible on ac- 

 count of the difference of species, I would like 

 to call attention to the fact of the change of oats 

 to rye, as given by the author of Vestiges of Cre- 

 ation, on the authority of Dr. Lindley in the 

 (London) Gardner's Chronicle for August, 1844 : 



"When oats sown at the usual time are kept cropped 

 down during the summer and autumn, and allowed to re- 

 main over winter, a thin crop of rye is the harvest present- 

 ed at the close of the ensuing summer. This experimen; 

 has been tried repeatedly with but one result; invariably 

 the secale cereal (rye) is the crop reaped, where the avena 

 saiiva (oat, ) a recognized different species was sown. Now 

 it will not satisfy a strict inquirer to be told that the seeds 

 of the rye were latent in the ground, and only superseded 

 the dead product of the oats ; for if any such fact were in 

 the case, why should the usurping grain be always rye." 



Again, in the " Sequel to the Vestiges," page 

 78-9, the following is related : 



" In 1843 the Rev. Lord Arthur Hervey sowed a handful 

 of oats, treated Ihem in the manner recommended, by con- 

 tinually sloping the flowering stems, and the produce in 

 1844 was for the most part, ears of a very slender barley, 

 having much the appearance of rye, with a little wheat, and 

 some oats." 



It is also stated as a certain fact that in orchi- 

 aceous plants, forms just as different as wheat, 

 rye, oats, and barley have been proved by the 

 most rigorous evidence, to be accidental varia- 

 tions of one common form, brought about no one 

 knows how, but before our eyes, and rendered 

 permanent by equally mysterious agency. Then, 

 says reason, if they occur in these plants, why 

 should they not also occur in corn plants? for it 

 is not likely that such vagaries will be confined 



to one little group in the vegetable kingdom ; it 

 is more rational to believe them a part of a gen- 

 eral system of creation. How can we be sure 

 that wheat, rye, oats, and barley, are not all ac- 

 cidental offsets from unsuspected species ? And 

 this supposition having at least some appearances 

 in its favor, we may safely suppose chess to be 

 in the same class, which would account for its 

 appearance in the case cited by your correspond- 

 ent. E. S. Johnson. 

 Penfield, March, 1847. 



Eagle C Plow. 



Some competent person ought to write the his- 

 tory of the Plow. The study of its progressive 

 mutations and improvements from the forked 

 limb of a tree, used by the Romans, Arabs, and 

 Mexicans, up to the "Eagle C Plow" manufac- 

 tured and sold by Messrs. Nott & Elliott of 

 this citjfc would be alike interesting and instruc- 

 tive. The Locomotive and the Railroad furnish 

 no stronger evidence of the developement of in- 

 tellect, when compared with the strength and lo- 

 comotion of the ancient wagon drawn by a cow 

 and an ass yoked together, than is exhibited in 

 the apparently perfect construction of the most 

 useful implement ever placed in the hands of 

 man.- 



There are several millions of acres annually 

 plowed in this State ', and a saving of one-tenth 

 of the power of traction, by an improvement in 

 the plow, will amount to hundreds of thousands 

 in the pockets of New York farmers. The sa- 

 ving of horse and ox flesh is, however, only one 

 item in the gain that accrues from a superior 

 plow. The mellowing of the soil, and the kill- 

 ing of all pernicious weeds and plants, by cover- 

 ing them deep in the earth, are points in a good 

 implement, the value of which can hardly be 

 over-estimated. 



We have seen a plow of the kind manufactur- 

 ed by Messrs. Nott & Elliott, go a half mile or 

 more through the soil on the Hudson river flats 

 between Albany and Troy, and doing fair work, 

 with no one holding it — so perfect and easy does 

 it run. This was at a trial of several plows by a 

 committee of the State Agricultural Society. — 

 The inventors of this improvement are Messrs. 

 RuGGLEs, NouRSE & Mason, Bostou, who have 

 had orders from the Emperor of Russia. — Roch- 

 ester American. 



To Grow Peas free prom Bugs. — We are 

 indebted to Mr. Joel Chaffee, of Oswego coun- 

 ty, for the following " remedy for buggy Peas": 



" Put your peas in a vessel, and pour on suffi- 

 cient boiling water to cover them. Stir them as 

 quick as possible, for nearly a minute; then turn 

 the peas into a basket that the water may drain 

 off. Do this every year, and your peas will not 

 be infested with bugs." 



