168 



GENESEE FARMER. 



July. 



Forwardness of Ihc Seasons. 



To present the reader with a comparative view 

 oi" the forwar(h)ess of the seasons for the last 

 I'leven years, I have selected tlie following facts : 

 llie time of the llrst appearance of rohins ; the 

 (lowering of maple, sliadbush, currant, peach, 

 plum, cheny. ami apple : the ripening of straw- 

 berries anti clierries ; the commencement of the 

 wheat harvest ; and the first fi'ost in autumn. 



In l!!:i7. rot)ins were llrsi .seen Mnrcii -.'(Jtti ; peach uiul 

 filiiin in blossom ftluy I'/tli, and clierry May y.id. 



In 18:jl!, rodins lirst seen Marcli 24t)i. 



In 18:i<t, robins first .seen April 3il ; pcepinsr I'rogs lir.-t 

 lieard April L'd ; maple in llouer April Htli : and .vhadbush 

 faniclanchier canadensis] in flower April ','.')th. 



In 184(1, robin first seen Feb. 2i)th ; and sbadbnsh in How- 

 <>r April '23d ; first frost in nutinnn Oct. 13lh. 



In 1841, robin> lir.st seen March 2Cth ; frogs first heard 

 .Vpril ITth ; cnrrants in blossom May 14th, peach !\lay 18th, 

 plum 15th, cherry ;,'lsi, and apple 'J7th ; cherries ripe July 

 3d ; wheal harvest commenced July 28ih ; first fro.st in An- 

 iiimn Oct. (3th. 



In 1842. robins lirst seen .March 3(1 ; frogs first heard March 

 llh ; rnaple in blossom I'March 3d, shadbush April 23d, 

 currant .\pril 24th, peach April loth, plum 19lh, cherry 22d, 

 and apple Alay 2d ; strawberries and cherries ripe June 11th ; 

 wheat harvest commenced July ISttli ; first frost in autumn 

 •September 2.'>th. 



In 1843, robins first heard .April 3d ; frogs first heard April 

 21st ; maple in bi<issom April 2.')th, .shadbush May Sth, cur- 

 rant May 7th, peach ItJth, plum 12th, cherry 10th, and ap- 

 ple 16th ; strawberries ripe June Ifith, cherries Jime 23d ; 

 w heat harvest commenced July 20th ; first frost Sept. 11th. 



In 1844, robins first heard March Uth ; frogs first heard 

 March 28th ; maple in bloom March !Hh, shadbush April 

 14th, currant April 19th, peach IGth, plum 15th, cherry Iti, 

 and apple 24lh ; strnwfjerries and cherries ripe May 25th ; 

 wheat harvest commenced June 29tli ; first frost Sept. 23d. 



In 1845, robins fir.st .seen March (Jtli ; frogs first heard 

 March 27tli ; maple in t>lossom March 25th, shadbush April 

 2l8t, peach, plnm, and cherry all in full blossom at the same 

 time, April 24th, apple .\pril 29th ; Strawberries ripe June 

 II til ; cherries June ID: wheat harvest commenced July 

 llth ; first frost Sept. 22d. 



In 1846, robins lirst seen IMarcl* 18th ; frogs first heard 

 March 25th ; maple in blossom March 24th, shadbush April 

 26th, peach April 29tb, phim 28th, cherry 29tli, apple May 

 "til ; strawberries ripe .May 28th, cherries June 1st ; wheat 

 harvest commenced June 30th ; first frost October 3d. 



In 1847, robins first heard March 22ti ; frogs first lieard 

 .April 9th ; maple in blosstmi April 9th, shadbush .May 7tli, 

 currant I3tli, peach 14lh, plum 13th, cherry 14th, and apple 

 2l8t ; strawberries ripe June 9th, cherries June 10th. 



It will be observed that the facts praposed to 

 be given are much more full for the last seven 

 year.s, than for those years prior to this' period. 



Prof. J. H. Coffin was requested, by Dr. E. 

 Emmons, to prepare an article on the cliinate and 

 temperature of this State for that part of the 

 Natural Ili.story of State relating to the subject 

 of Agriculture. lie did .so ; and from tliat article 

 I give the following results : From the observa- 

 tions made at forty-four localities over the State 

 for fifteen years ending with 1842, it appeared 

 that the mean date for the appearance of the robin 

 was March lOtli; the mean date for the flower- 

 ing of the shadl>usli, from olxservations made at 

 forty-eight localities, May 1st; do. peach, from 

 tifty-seven localities, .May 2d ; do. currants, 58 

 localities, May 4th ; do. plum, .")2 localities, May 

 6lh; do. cherry, .')2 localities, May 7th ; do. ap- 

 ple, 59 localities, May 15th ; strawberries ripe, 

 ri8 localities, .Tune J2th ; wheat harvest com- 



jmenced, 45 localifies, .l^aly 25th j first killing 

 j frost, 57 localities, Sept. 23d ; mean annual tem- 

 perature, 59 localities, 46.40 degrees. 



Thus it appears that the average time over the 

 State for the flowering of fruit trees, (including 

 peach, plum, cherry, and apple.,) for the last 15 

 ! years prior to 184;}, was from May 2d to 15th. 

 Tl)is season, which is regarded as being very 

 late, the peach, plum, and cherrj'^ were in full 

 blossom May i;3:h and 14th ; in 1837 they blos- 

 .somed May 15th to 23d; in 1841, May 1.5th to 

 21st ; and in 1843, May 10th to 16th. In 1842 

 the peach, plum, and cherry were in blossom 

 April 1.5tli to 22d ; in 1844, April 15th and 16th. 

 In 1842 the maple was in flower March 3d, and 

 shadbush April 23d ; and in 1844, maple March 

 I 9th, and sh.idbush, April 14th. 

 I This comparison shows that the present season 

 i must be classed with the latest within the period 

 'named : not quite .so backward as was 1843 or 

 1841. The reader will observe that there is a 

 difference of more than a month between the 

 earlie.st and latest seasons, as shown by the ap- 

 petirance of the robins and the flowering of the 

 fruit trees. The observations presented in this 

 article were made, for the last seven years of the 

 eleven, by the writer, and may be relied on. — 

 The other.s, what tew there are, were taken from 

 the Regent's Reports, and are supposed to be, 

 generally, correct. LE.tNDEn Wetherell. 



Roches! er, Jane 24, 1847. 



Preservation of Fenc« Posts. 



Mr. Editor : — 1 notice in the last number of 

 the Farmer an inquiry, by D. of Ovid Center, 

 relative to the best process of making durable 

 fence or other posts .set in the ground. The fol- 

 lowing 1 have taken from a Philadelphia paper : 

 Pkf.sermng TiMBr.R. — The simple method of placing 

 timber or wood used for building purposes in a small pond 

 or vat of lime water, is found to be of incalculable advan- 

 tage. After the timber is cut to the size required, it is im- 

 mersed in the lime water for two or three weeks, according 

 to its size. Wood that i.s known to rot in from three to 

 seven years, has lately been found to be perrectly sound af- 

 ter the lapse of more than forty years. Carpenters have 

 found, on working such wood, that their t«x)ls qnickly be- 

 come dull, which is owing to the .acid of the wood crystal- 

 i/ing by combining with the alkali of the lime. 



If you consider the ab<:)ve worthy of a place in 

 the Farmer, yon may make such use of it as you 

 may think best. P. <t. Bonesteel. 



Victor, March, 1847. 



We give the above with the remark that lime 

 water is worth something to preserve timber, but 

 we doubt the existence of any "acid" in wood 

 that will form crystals with lime. Decaying wood 

 will yield carbonic acid, which will form an insol- 

 uble carbonate, if free from an excess of the acid. 



Transactions op the N. Y. State Agri- 

 ct;LTiJRAL Society for 1946. — We are indebt- 

 ed to the Secretary of the above Society, B. P. 

 Johnson, Esq., for a copy of its volume of 

 Transactions for 1646. Notice in our next. 



