184 r. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



139 



Disease in Grasses, &c. 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to " H. H.," upon 

 the SLiljjectof "A new Disease in Grass," I would 

 say that, from the investigations which I have 

 made, I have come to the conchision that it is 

 the effect of early springs and late frosts. Af- 

 ter the grass has formed a joint, the center of 

 the stalk immediately above the joint is nearly 

 in a watery or liquid state, in which condition it 

 is easily congealed, and the more thrifty the 

 grass the more easily injured. By examining 

 the stalk, two or three days after it is frozen, 

 there will be found a small black decayed spot in 

 the center. I have known meadows benefited 

 by feeding the grass down in the spring, so as to 

 keep it from forming a joint until after the- heavy 

 late frosts ; but as a general thing the "cure is 

 worse tlian the wound" — especially if the season 

 comes off warm and dry. D. C. B. 



Persia, N. Y., March, 1847. 



Mr. Editor: — In the March number of your 

 valuable paper, I noticed a request that some one 

 would state the cause why the top of herds grass 

 dies, and also sometimes the stem. From care- 

 ful investigation of this subject for a number of 

 years, I am firmly convinced that the cause is 

 this : — A worm eats the stem, just above the up- 

 per joint. They are plain to be seen with a 

 good microscope. 



The first that I noticed of these worms was 

 upon bent grass, some six or seven years ago, 

 since which time they have multiplied remarka- 

 bly fast. They work upon most kinds of grass, 

 except clover. Some in this section have attrib- 

 uted this damage to frost ; but it is not so. — 

 There is a worm that works upon Johnswort, 

 and in this section have mostly destroyed that 

 pesty weed. These build their nests in the blos- 

 som, and by closing the petals destroy the plant. 



There are two other kinds of worm that work 

 upon Canada thistle — one in the stem and the 

 other in the blossom — and where they both work 

 they utterly destroy the thistle, as far as my ob- 

 servation has extended, which is by no means 

 limited. There is yet another worm that works 

 upon dock, and I most anxiously hope they will 

 destroy it. The potato rot has, in my opinion, 

 been caused by insects, but I have not found any 

 thing to prevent it, still I hope to the present year. 



The best thing that I ever tried to prevent the 

 fii-e blight on pear trees, was to hang rusty iron 

 on the body of the tree, and place cinders around 

 the roots. I should be glad if individuals would 

 take special pains to ascertain remedies to save 

 our grasses and trees, and for you to publish the 

 same in your valuable paper. 



To destroy aphides I bore into the body of the 

 tree and put in sulphur, and then close the hole 

 with a plug. 



I am now, and have been for some time past, 



the constant reader of three agricultural papers, 

 and should be glad to see them in the hands of 

 every farmer — for I find something valuable in 

 them all. Solomon Hoxie. 



Leonardsville, ^th month, 1847. 



Diseases in Swine. — Inquiry. 



Mr. Editor : — As your paper, the " Farmer," 

 is a medium for the interchange of thought, as 

 well as experience among farmers, I will venture 

 to relate a little of mine the past winter, in re- 

 gard to raising swine. I have practiced some 

 fattening early pigs, as they make much sweeter 

 eating, and 1 think I make my pork cheaper, 

 than when I winter them over, as they can easi- 

 ly be made to weigh 300, or over, at eight or 

 nine months old. 



I have a choice blooded sow, that I have kept 

 for breeding, which on the 20th Febuary last far- 

 rowed eleven pigs. I succeeded in raising eight 

 for a time : after they became four or five weeks 

 old, they began to die off strangely and suddenly, 

 their necks swelling up, and their ears turning 

 black or purple. 



I lost all but two, and these were in the same 

 state, with their ears turned black, when I took 

 them immediately away from the sow, cut their 

 ears ofi* as far down as they were black, to start 

 the blood, and shut them up by themselves, and 

 have thus far succeeded in raising them. I have 

 heard of two or three instances of the same kind. 

 What the cause may be, or what will prevent it, 

 I have not been able to learn, either from my 

 own experience, or from others who have lost in 

 the same way. 



If there are any of your subscribers weo can 

 explain the cause, or give a remedy, it would 

 oblige me, and perhaps benefit othei's. 



Respectfully, G. C. Sprague. 



Castile, April, 1847. 



Cultivation of Cranberries on Upland 

 Soils. — The attention of the public having been 

 called to the culture of this delicious fruit, and 

 Mr. Gardner, of Massachusetts, having produced 

 three hundred and twenty bushels to the acre, on 

 upland soil ; I proceed to give his mode of culti- 

 vation as follows : " I select a piece of cold wet 

 land that will keep moist through the year — re- 

 move the top soil to the depth of two inches ; this 

 prevents all grass or weeds from growing, and 

 the plant will require no cultivation after they 

 are set out. After the top was removed, 1 har- 

 rowed the ground smooth and marked it out in 

 drills, eighteen inches apart. Some I set out on 

 sods fourteen inches square, placed in holes a lit- 

 tle below the surface. They all flourished far 

 beyond my expectation : the first year they put 

 forth runners three feet long, and every vine was 

 loaded with fruit. The plants can be set out from 

 September to December, and from April to the 

 lastof June."— 5. G. Bosxoell in Farmer's Cab. 



