1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



215^ 



bank stock. No wonder they think they must 

 have large farms to get rich on, or migrate to- 

 wards the *' setting sun." 



This soil is what I denominate an acid soil, 

 from this one fact — it produces sorrel of an ex- 

 cellent growth. The cereals do not give a very 

 great yield until much labor has been expended 

 for its improvement in humus, by a prolific ap- 

 plication of stable manure and clover ley, yet 

 the acid seems to be too prominent for a satis- 

 factory return for the toil of the farmer. As 

 lime is quite expensive here, how would leached 

 ashes do to counteract the bad effects of the acid ? 

 Fruits cannot be grown to perfection on it, as a 

 general thing ; drouth affects them too much, 

 and also it affords a fine harbor for the curculio, 

 and other insects. B. S. E. 



Portland, Chau. Co., 1847. 



Remarks. — The fact that a soil produces sor- 

 rel is not conclusive that it contains an excess of 

 acid, although it furnishes a strong presumption 

 that such is the case. Place a pound or two of 

 the soil in a large bowl, add a pint of pure rain 

 water and let it stand thirty-six hours, and strain 

 through several thicknesses of clean cotton cloth. 

 If the liquid be sour or acid, it will change veg- 

 etable blaes to red. This is tested by a strip of 

 paper colored blue by cabbage juice, litmus, or 

 any other organic substance of the right color. 



On the open gravelly ridges in Portland and 

 elsewhere, leached ashes will be of essential ser- 

 vice both mechanically and chemically. But in 

 all sections where lime is expensive, unlcached 

 ashes should be husbanded and applied to culti- 

 vated fields with the utmost care. Our Chau- 

 tauque friends will do well to act on this hint. — 

 They have a good deal of land that needs drain- 

 ing. This will remove that excess of alum, cop- 

 peras, and other salts which exist in portions of 

 several towns with which we are acquainted. 



Expensive as it is, our correspondent and oth- 

 ers in Chautauque should give each fruit tree a 

 half bushel of lime spread over all the roots, and 

 well incorporated with the soil. To this, a bush- 

 el of good ashes will be a valuable addition. As 

 a barrel of choice American apples are usually 

 worth more in London than a barrel of Genesee 

 ilour, we expect to see the time when the lake 

 towns of Chautauque will ship cargoes of this 

 fruit to England and other foreign markets. — 

 Good railways from Westfield to Boston and 

 New York, and a free navigation from Dunkirk 

 to the gulf of St. Lawrence, will greatly benefit 

 the farmers of Chautauque county, as well as 

 many others. 



Those that sell cheese, hay, or grain, must 

 never forget the fact that they are constantly 

 robbing their farms of bone earth. 



Corn. — Papers from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, and Georgia, all speak of the excel- 

 lence of the corn crop. 



Saxon and Merino Sheep. 



Mr. Editor : — Much has been said of late- 

 relative to fine wooled sheep, which are the most 

 profitable, the Saxony or Merino. Some of our 

 most respectable wool growers seem to be most 

 in favor of the Saxony sheep. Very well — so 

 be it — as many wish to wear a finer coat than 

 can be made of Merino wool, it is necessary that 

 some should raise the Saxony ; but I find the- 

 Merino much more profitable for me, as I have 

 given both a fair trial. 



When I kept the Saxony, '2i lbs. per head' 

 was all that I could get with good keeping ; and 

 in rearing lambs I would lose at least 15 per 

 cent., and nearly the same in wintering old ones ;. 

 and I think that there is not as much difference 

 in their size, nor in the quantity of food they eat, 

 as some have intimated. To be sure the Meri- 

 nos are larger than the Saxony, but the difference 

 is not great. I think that a fat sheep will not eat 

 as much as a lean one, and certainly my Meri- 

 nos keep in much better order, on the same fare, 

 than my Saxonys did, and I seldom lose one in 

 wintering ; and in rearing lambs we seldom 

 lose .5 per cent.; and I find it fully as easy tO' 

 shear 4 lbs. per head as 2h from my Saxonys — 

 and indeed my ewes this year averaged near 4^ 

 lbs. per head, counting lambs and all. My light- 

 est fleece was 3 lbs. 6 oz., and two with lambs 

 by their sides gave bi lbs. each, and one barren> 

 ewe gave 7 lbs. 14 oz. My sheep were thor- 

 oughly washed. The man who bought my wool 

 was much pleased with it, and gave me the top 

 of the market, 37 i cts. per lb., cash for my en- 

 tire clip. My flock consists of about 2§0, about 

 half of which are pure bred Merinos of the Pau- 

 lar kind, which 1 have bred from about 40 ewes 

 and two bucks that I purchased from the most 

 approved flocks in Vermont. The other half of 

 my flock is a high cross of the common Merino 

 on the native and Saxony, which makes their 

 wool about as fine as my full blood Paulars, but 

 do not give near as heavy fleeces. Now I say 

 let every one make his own calculations, andi 

 keep the kind of sheep he pleases. 



Very respectfully yours, 



Reed Burritt. 

 Burdett, Tompkins Co., N. Y. July, 1847. 



Stone Rope. — A rope, nearly three miles 

 long, now lies at Gateshead, England, which Was 

 the other day a stone in the bowels of the earth ! 

 Smelted, the stone yielded iron. The iron was 

 converted into wire. The wire was brought 

 to the wire-rope manufactoy near Gateshead, and 

 there twisted into a line 4,660 yards long. It is 

 the stoutest rope of the kind ever made. 



It weighs 20 tons 5 cwt. and will cost the pur- 

 chasers $5,508. It is intended for the incline on 

 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near the 

 latter City. A rope of hemp, of equal strength, 

 would weigh 33 J tons and cost 1:1,400 more. 



