1847 



GENESEE FARMER. 



281 



manure heap, you will perceive, is then well 

 wet down by rains and snows which fall at inter- 

 vals, while the straw is being spread over the 

 yard, and, interspersed with the excrements of 

 the cattle, is ready about the last week in April 

 or first of May to cart to the field designed for it, 

 which I do at the rate of about thirty or forty 

 cart loads (according to the condition of the land,) 

 to the acre. I then commence spreading and 

 plowing, turning the manure under about ten 

 inches deep, taking care not to have it spread 

 faster than just to accommodate the plow, to avoid 

 drying up by the sun and wind. It is sometimes 

 necessary to have a man follow the plow with a 

 a rake to draw the manure into the furrow to 

 prevent clogging the plow. When this is done, 

 and rightly done, I roll down the furrows, har- 

 row well and plant to corn — planting an early 

 kind that it may be ready to harvest by the mid- 

 dle of September ; which latter is done by cut- 

 ting up at the ground and drawing off. The 

 ground is then plowed and sown to wheat about 

 the 20th of the month. This I count as good as 

 a naked fallow, and frequently turns out better, 

 while the corn crop is much benefitted and no 

 value of the manure for the wheat crop lost. 



Yours, R. 



Sweden, K Y., Nov., 1847. 



Ashes on Corn.— -An Experiment. 



Mr. Editor : — Last spring, after I planted, I 

 took what ashes I had saved during the last year, 

 and put on my corn, at the rate of about 3h bush- 

 els to the acre. In a part of the field which was 

 as near like the rest as possible, I left two rows 

 which I did not, ash. The soil was light — a 

 sandy loam on a hard-pan bottom — in many 

 places not more than 6 inches deep. The effect 

 of the ashes was so plain that it could be observ- 

 ed 60 rods oflf- 



On harvesting 1 cut up the two rows which 

 were not ashed (or twenty rods of them,) and set 

 them apart from the others in stouts ; and then I 

 cut up two rows of the same length, on each side, 

 which had been ashed, and set them by them- 

 selves. On husking, the following was the result : 



No. 1. The two rows, ashed, on the west side, 

 gave of corn in the ear, 207^ lbs. No. 2. The 

 2 rows not ashed, gave 166 i lbs. No. 3. Two 

 TOWS on the east side, ashed, gave 205 lbs. 



1 then sorted each lot and the difference was 

 still greater. No. 1 had of pig, or soft corn, 29^ 

 lbs. No. 2 had 45i lbs. No. 3 had 27 J lbs.— 

 Thus leaving of merchantable corn in the ear — 

 No. 1— P78 lbs.; No. 2—121 lbs.; No. 3— 177i 

 lbs. 



I then measured off" an acre, and made a cal- 

 culation upon it, after having weighed one bush- 

 el of ears of merchantable corn, (which weighed 

 42 lbs.,) and the result would be as follows, per 

 acre : No. I — 72 bushels and 2 Ibs.j No. 2 — 



48 bushels and 41 lbs.; No. 3—72 bushels and 

 1^ lbs. 



Thus you will perceive that where I had ash- 

 ed I have 23 bushels more of ears of merchanta- 

 ble corn per acre, than where I did not ; and 

 hence, on the 5 acres, the grain was 115 bush- 

 els. Beside I think I had one-fourth more of 

 corn fodder where the crop was ashed — and all 

 for 17^ bushels of ashes. 



Yours, &c., Wm. Van Dusen. 



East Barry, N. Y., Nov., 1847. 



Remarks. — We thank Mr. V. D. for the 

 above. It is another conclusive evidence of the 

 great benefit of ashes as a manure ; and we trust 

 the result of the experiment, so accurately and 

 briefly given, will prove valuable to many of our 

 readers. 



SJirinking of Pork. 



Mr. Editor : — Can you, or any of your cor- 

 respondents, give the correct reason, or the rem- 

 edy, or both, for the " skrinking of pork," when 

 boiled in summer 1 I have heard several rea- 

 sons assigned, but none of them are satisfactory. 

 Some have ascribed it to the influence of the 

 moon, but of this I have no evidence. Othei-s 

 say, that if the animal be killed when his appe- 

 tite is good, when he feeds well, and is conse- 

 quently in a thrifty, growing state, his flesh will 

 not shrink when boiled. But this is contrary to 

 my experience- I always kill at such times, and 

 yet my pork shrinks. Others say, that if the an- 

 imal be long fatted, so as to give his flesh time 

 to become firm, &;c., the pork will not shrink. 

 This too is contrary both to observation and ex- 

 perience. 



My father always commenced feeding his 

 hogs as early as the latter part of August, and 

 continued the operation till near the first of Jan- 

 uary, (about four months,) supplying them plen- 

 tifully with peas, boiled potatoes, and, for the 

 last five or six weeks, corn ; and yet he always 

 complained of the shrinking of his pork. In re- 

 gard to myself, I have always been troubled in 

 the same way, except the first one or two years, 

 when my casks were new ; and then my pork 

 was all that I could wish. I have ever since 

 managed in the same way, but not with the same 

 results. I have sometimes thought that the casks, 

 (which are made of oak,) become unfit for use, 

 after the first or second year. 



Any information that you, or any of your sub- 

 scribers, can give, through the Farmer, will be 

 gratefully received. H. 



Fairport, Nov, 1, 1847. 



Iron-water for Fowls. — A writer in the 

 English Agricultural Gazette, recommends that 

 a piece of steel be kept constantly in the water 

 to which fowls have access. Iron-rust, he says, 

 is an excellent tonic. A roll of brimstone is also 

 recommended to be kept in the water- 



