132 



GENESEE FARMER. 



May. 



SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS 



Plowing Grass Land.— In a lale number of the Mass. 

 Ploughman the editor remarks : — " We noticed that many 

 farmers wore turning up green swards last week for plant- 

 ing. Some of them have an idea that the sward will rot 

 sooner vvlien it is turned early, than when the work is 

 done at planting time. This is a great mistake, as any 

 farmer will see who examines and reasons upon it. There 

 is nothing green early in the spring, and the old straw and 

 stubble are a long while in rotting when there is nothing to 

 aid them. 



But wait till the tenth or fifteenth of May and you have 

 a green crop to turn under ; and this soon sets every thing 

 in motion. The later yon turn green sward for plnntin<; 

 the belter will you succeed in rotting the furrow. We are 

 sometimes induced to turn earlier than we would choose 

 lest the work should be too much crowded in planting time. 



Guano to Corn in the Hill. — " How much Guano 

 will it take to manure an acre of corn in the hill ?" 



We answer that 50 lbs. will be enough, and that it should 

 be mixed with 3 loads of mould from the wojds or the same 

 quantity of rotten manure, and 1 bushel of plaster to each 

 acre. These should be thoroughly mixed together — the 

 quantity named will give a pint to each hill of corn, which 

 we consider will be suflicient to start the co.-n plants at the 

 onset, and ensure their rapid and luxuriant growth until the 

 roots shall have got down to the manure which may have 

 been plowed in. We would not apply Guano alo7ie in the 

 hill, as the ammonia already formed, is in too concentrated 

 a state to be allowed to come into immediate contact with 

 the .seed while in a state of germination. By incorporating 

 it with the mould and plaster, we render the Guano harm- 

 less, prevent the escape of its most active and valuable 

 principle, convert what would otherwise be an evil, into a 

 positive benelit. prolong the period of its action, and be- 

 sides which, add two other ingredients to the soil, which, 

 of themselves, are invaluable as food, and as the provider 

 of food, to the corn plants. If the land may not have been 

 manured broadcast, it will require double the quantity of 

 mould, or rotten dung and guano, but the same quantity of 

 plaster will answer, even in that event. 



We would remark here, that we feel it due to the cause 

 of good husbandry to state it to be our opinion, ihjit nothing 

 but necessity can justify any farmer in relying upon manur- 

 ing in the hill for the improvement of his land, as nothing 

 short of broadcast manuring can effect that object — and we 

 will further state that no system of improvement can be con- 

 sidered good, which does not embrace rotation of crops, 

 liming, clover and plaster. Manuring in the hill may, and 

 no doubt will ensure a single good crop, but it is too partial 

 in the distribution of the fertilizer to effect general benefit. 

 — American Fanner, 



At the Farmer's Club of the American Institute in the 

 city of New York, a paper was read from Mr. J. P. Dow- 

 ney, furnishing his views and experience on the disputed 

 point of the ascension or descension of the gases of ma- 

 nures. His experiment appears simple in the process and 

 successful in the issue : he plowed a small patch of ground 

 from eight to nine inches deep, and spread his manure in 

 the furrows as he plowed ; he then took another piece of 

 ground adjoining, plowed it and spread the manure on the 

 top. harrowing it in thoroughly, the soil being of the same 

 quality. He found the former to yield twenty per cent. 

 over the other, although on the first start the corn on the 

 first piece did not thrive i>o rapidly as the latter ; yet, in 

 two or three weeks after it came up, it began to gain, and 

 BO increased until the time of gathering, confirming his be- 

 lief, that the gases of manure "will not(in his own Ian 

 guagejdescend, but ascend." 



Nest Eggs. — The eggs are made of clay, formed to the 

 right shnjio, in the hands. After being dried they are 

 whitewashed ; when they are ready for use. The matter 

 is so simple, that it only requires to be though of, to be 

 available. These eggs answer the purpose perfectly — the 

 hens accepting them as fully as those of their own make. 



To Preserve Water in Sea Casks and Cisterns.— 

 It is said that water may l)e preserved quite pure, either on 

 long voyages, or in cisterns, by the addition of 1 lb. of 

 black oxide of powdered manganese to 1,000 gallons ; stir 

 it well together, and the water will lose any bad taste it 

 may have acquired, and will ke?p for an indefinite length 

 of time. 



Main?', and Vermont. — Maine is a great potato State, 

 and Vermont a great hay State. We suppose the circum- 

 stances of their location have produced this trait. Maine is 

 so situated, with her extended sea-coast and navigable 

 rivers running into the interior, that si e can ship the crops 

 of her potato fields to any port with comparative ease, while 

 Vermont, not having such facilities for marketing that kind 

 of produce, has not cultivated .so extensively. On the other 

 hand, her soil being good for grass and grazing, her farmers 

 have found it profitable to grow hay, and to propagate 

 cattle, horses, slieep, &.c. Hence more attention has been 

 paid, in Vermont, to the hay crop. We think our farmers 

 should be looking about them, and enquire what is the most 

 economical mode of increasing this valuable article among 

 us. If our root crojjs fail in future, as they have for a few 

 years past, more reliance must be put on grass, and of course, 

 more grass must be cultivated. — Maine Farmer. 



Beef Law in Massachusetts. — A friend of ours, who 

 sometimes sends cattle to Brighton, made some inquiries 

 of us, in regnrd to the rules of the butchers in that State, 

 respecting the dressing and weighing of beef cattle. The 

 following is an extract from a law in that Stale, in regard 

 to it, which will answer his queries. 



"All beef cattle, except bulls, sold in market by weight, 

 shall, when slaughtered, be prepared for weighing in the 

 following manner : — The legs shall be taken otf at the knee 

 and gambrel joint, the skin shall be taken from all other 

 parts of the animal ; the head shall be taken oft' at the 

 second joint of the neck ; the entrails taken out, and all the 

 fat of the same be taken off and weighed as rough tallow, 

 and every other part of the animal, excepting the hide and 

 rough tallow, (the udder of cows excepted, )shall be weighed. 



All beef shall bo weighed upon the first week day 

 succeeding that on which it may be slaughtered." — lb. 



Philosophy of Farming. — Here is the secret of good 

 farming. You cannot take from the land more than you 

 restore to it, in some shape or other, without ruining it, 

 and so destroying your capital. Different soils may require 

 different modes of treatment and cropping, but in every va- 

 riety of soil these are the golden rules to attend to : Drain 

 until you find that the water that falls from heaven does 

 not stagnate in the soil but runs through it and off it freely. 

 Turn up and till the land until your foot sinks into a loose, 

 powdery loam, that the sun and air readily pass through. 

 Let no weed occupy the place where a useful plant could 

 possibly grow. Collect every particle of manure that you 

 can, wether liquid or solid. Let nothing on the farm go to 

 waste. Put in your crops in that course which experience 

 has shown to lead to success in their growth, and to an 

 improvement and not impoverishment of the land. Give 

 every plant room to spread its roots in the soil, and its 

 leaves in the air. — American Agriculturist. 



A friend of ours, who began life with less than ono 

 thousand dollars, and who has brought up reputably and 

 well-educated, a large family, and has now become rich 

 from the profits of farming alone, informed us that one 

 season he expended ^^00 for city manure, all of which he 

 put on twenty acres of land , that he had not a doubt but 

 this manure increased the hay product of that field at least 

 one and a half tons per acre, but he would only calculate 

 it at one ton. Hay was then worth for a series of six years 

 the average price of $15 per ton ; he thus realized $1,800 

 more within that six years than he otherwise would have 

 done, had he not purchased the manure. He calculated 

 that the grass this field produced, which he fed off after 

 mowing, was an equivalent for the extra expense of cutting 

 and marketing this extra ton per acre ; and the land at the 

 end of the six years was in much better condition than it 

 was before he put on the $900 worth of manure. — It). 



Wire Fence. — This mode of fence is becoming quite 

 common, as we learn from various sources, in the northern 

 part of Illinois. We hear of many pieces of it at various 

 places near Rock River — one of them on the farm of John 

 Shillaber, Esq., in Ogle county, being about two miles in 

 length. The cost generally, as near as we ean learn, is 

 about .35 cts to the rod. It is said to answer a most admir- 

 able purpose against all stock but swine. Cattle and 

 horses particularly, after having their noses well sawed 

 once by it, can scarcely be got near it again. A portable 

 fence mighteasily he made of this material. — Prairie Farmer. 



Salting Manure. — Mixing salt with stable and other 

 manures has a gteat tendency to prevent the development 

 of grubs and vermin, which are frequently bred in dung 

 when carried unsalted to the fields. — Am. Agriculturist. 



