1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



157 



Answers to Correspondents. 



W. II., of iM iiiiit Morris. No sroiiml ran lie under or 

 liiji ilraiiii'd, VMilioiii MJlKcifiit de.-.(;tiii lo curry oil' the 

 vvalfl-, i-vcciU l>y (iiiivfyiiig ii into I:iiiks or reservoirs, anil 

 riiisii.ji it. hy ni irliiuiry, us iliey do in tlie fens of England 

 and llie low l.in.ls of Holland. 



Till! desirinMio" of llie (Jan id i Tliisilc involvos more 

 poini.s and opinions than we li ivu time or ^pace to bestow 

 on tlie snhject. We advise W. II. lo consnit llie prize 

 e.-sav 111 the St ito Agrioidtiir il Society's J'rans u-tions for 

 184j. It coataius tlie whole story — all that caji be said on 

 llie subject. 



On iha sn'>j -ct of liedsrps for fencin;. we almost despair 

 of secinu II succe«Hl in ibis country. The Eni^lish White 

 'I'horn has an cneiiiy in llu- .-cale louse, ihal is fatal to 

 ii ill most loca.rie.s— ml all oihtr snbsiil.ito.s noiiued as 

 foreign are killed hy the mice duiin^ our hard winters, who 

 burrow in the malcli of il; id grass, and the accumulation 

 of leaves al ihe ri'o!s. The .\ iiive Thorn is nearer right 

 for this purpose than -iny ollii^r imiiL^eiio.is shrub. 'I'lie 

 seeds should be siivvn in ihe fall in a bed— kept clean, as 

 they require lo lie in ihe earth a year before they come up 

 — alter which tiiey may be in ly be .set al iwo years jirywth. 



W. S , Brandt, N. Y. On lookinT (,ver ihe authorities. 

 we lind no di-:ease of tht barn yard fowl, that corresponds 

 with your descripiinn. Wo one i li id occ isioiiaily a fowl 

 aflecfed very niuiHi like yours, and stopfied its progress by 

 feeding 111. ii 111 corn meal dough, in which, lo each pini, 

 was mixed one tilde s|ioonfiill of sulpur, and ten drops of 

 spirits of turpentine. We have also seen fowls lose the 

 use of llicir legs and die, by e iling salted articles. Too 

 much salt is always fatal lo ihein. 



O. S. G., MiiUna, O. On your upland sandy soils well 

 rotted or composie.l m inures are preftrahle, and the coarse, 

 strawy parts--chip m inures, sawdust, in fici every thing 

 Ihal will decoMipo^' — use on your cl lys and reteniive 

 soils ; it renders iheiii m ire porous an I pervoiis to water. 

 Clover on light an I open >()iis is ihe only manure that Cifi 

 be depended upon f.ir extensive use. 



The disease in cattle called " black feet." is in our 

 opinion 11 >thing more nor le.ss than frosted feet, and it is 

 not at all oniikely that ii is superi.iduced by the disease on 

 grasses and grains known as Erg^ t or Spurred K\e, as a 

 small qutintiiy has the eff'Ct won lerfully to decrease the 

 circnl iiion oi the blood, reducing the pulse from HO to 40 

 in a short lime. Cattle atfecied thus during their expo-iire 

 to exireine cold, would inevitably fraez,! their extremities. 



Lime, ashes and plaster may bo useil together. They 

 are all alkaline in ihcir liase. Sow br<iadoiisl on the 

 grasses, and plow in fir wheat, oais, &c. I'lastcr is of 

 little use on lo \ wet I ind. AsIc s in any shape, are good 

 every where — except on very strong clays, on which lime 

 is prefenble. 



Soi/nig cattle in the stable, on green food, is Ihe inosi 

 profiiable way on small araMe firms, as twice the (pianiily 

 may be siisiained on the same number of acres, besides the 

 great q lan'ity of mmiire saved. But it is hard lo learn 

 old dosis n> w tricks, and yon will lla^•e lo ovf rcouie all the 

 old habits and prejudices, before you can carry it into elVect. 



J. P.. N-rth C/arenre, N. Y. To eflect the curing of 

 corn in the ear and secure it against ihe depredaiions of 

 vermin, we would recommend the ereclion of an indepen- 

 dent buildiiii; of (iroper size ; tiie si les diverjfing one fooi 

 in ten. covered wi'h I inch tioards wiih I J inch opinings, and 

 the roof with projeciing eaves and end cornices — and either 

 set upon pillars of wood ilw^ li- iuht of a wagon bottom, or 

 the posts to reach doun ihil I'isi nice to a stuiie found iliim 

 — one fool in width of each pill u to be covered with tin 

 or sheet iron, to ( revent any possibility of access to ver- 

 min. There .should be a passage or hall in the ceiiier, with 

 bins made of 4 inch stufl", as well as the floors. 



Thf. nkxt Stvtf. Fair. — 4t a recent meetinsr of the 

 ICxecniive Comminef^ of the N. Y. State Agriciiliiiral So- 

 ciety, it w IS leleririned to h'dd the next Stale Pair on the 

 5/h,' nil, a'ifi ~tli iif fipvt.'m^-pr w.rr — instead of the 12ih. 

 13lh and llth of that nmnih. as had been previously ap 

 poiiifd. The Tair, as we have before slated, is to be held 

 at BulTalo. 



To Repel llie Curculio. 



Mf;s?rs. Fditohs :— I noticed in the April number of yonr 

 valuable paper, an article relative to the expulsion of llie 

 curculio from plum trees. 



The rem 'dy sjioken of may do well for a farm orchard ; 

 but for garden trees, the manure aiul urine are objeciion able, 

 for two reasons. Theammonial vajiors, orstench. ascend- 

 ing from Ihe in inure and urine and didusing iiself ihrough 

 all the atmosphere in the neighborhood, is almost as oflen- 

 sive to (Uir olfactories, as to those of the curculio. Also, 

 ihe unsiLihily appearance of a heap of manure under a 

 frit'it tree, is objection ible, and more particularly so to the 

 keen wpiics of ihe fairer sex. 1 purpose offering a s'l/'sti- 

 ti/te, which if suci-cssful wiili you, will be far preferable to 

 any kind of manure or urine. 'Ihe curculio, l.ke nil insecis 

 ami animals i ossess an innate principle called instinct, 

 and this instinct guides siiid directs them to where they can 

 subsist and propagate their species. 



'I'he plum seems lo be their fivorite place of congregating, 

 and the ground bem^ath as favorable a pi ice for multiplying 

 their species as any other.* Whether they ehe.ijh an 

 " eternal itnlr" to the plum, and therefore persecule it " to 

 Ihe death," or whether they carry in their bosoms the 

 "glowing tires of artlciion," and destroy it with their pen- 

 ptrathig love, I know not — it nutters not — within their 

 reac!i, the plum dies. The c irculio cannot propagate its 

 species on a dry and barren rock, or any other substance 

 akin to it. Therefore in laying a close pavement of brick 

 from Ihe body to t e circumference of the tree, and kept 

 clean, the plum at once hecomes protected — the curculio 

 takes the hint — comes not near, or quits the premises 

 altogether, and leaves us to the full enjoyment of regaling 

 our palates with the most delicious sweets of on'^ of the 

 finest of fruits. ( Kirhmorid, la., \M8.) A.N.N. 



* The insect depo.sits its egg in the young fruit : it there 

 hatches and feeds upon llie fruit until it dro-s. The grub 

 then enters the ground, and in a space of three vveeks or 

 so is supposed to have completed its transformation to the 

 beeile form. We have ob.served some instances where 

 paving seemed effectual, and parlicurally in a garden in 

 Ohio, where the trees were closely paved around, and clean 

 swept every day, not a curculio was to be found ; but in 

 other cases paving has proved fruiiless. — Ed. 



Sowing Whe.vt in .Iui.v.— J. .Fonks. of Wheatland Md., 

 writing to the Amfricnii Farmer, in nn.swer to an inquiry 

 on the subject of sowing wheat in .Inly, gives some fiicts 

 which will be interesting to many of our readers. We are 

 nol aware that the same method {and time) of i-owing wheat 

 is practi-sed in other sections of the country than Delaware 

 and Maryland. Mr. Jones says : " I have made enquiries of 

 several of the friends of early sowing, and have been in- 

 formed hy a neighbour of Mr. Hossenger. of Newark. Dela- 

 ware — u-lw was the firs: to sow wlfat ni July in this country 

 — that his practice has been for five or .«iix years, to sow 

 wheat amongst his corn in July, and cultivate it in, from 

 which prticiice he has olitained as high as 2-5 bushels per 

 acre. I also understand, that during that time he has not 

 fail d to make a uood crop but once. Mr. Hossenger con- 

 tinues that practice — many others in that neighbourhood 

 have adopted the same plan ; others have sow n cornstalk 

 fallow, and even dover-lay, with a like good result. Mr. 

 Hossenger and most others, do not approve of pasturing 

 down their wheat either in fall or spring. But Mr. Wm. 

 Ron-man, one of the best and most successful farm'TS of St. 

 (leorge's Hundred, is in the habil of pasturing his .hily sown 

 wheat with sheep. Possibly pasturing with shm> would 

 be no disadvantage if fly wis in the wheat. I should prefer 

 to risk the fly. and not i>asture. The July wheat sowers 

 are generally our best farmers, and our best fiirmors gener- 

 nllv al this day of agriiultural improvement, put in all their 

 fillow wheat with ihe drill. I have not sown any yet in 

 standing corn, but 1 think I will put in in that way next 

 .lely, and either cultivate or have a machine made with five 

 drills, nine inches apart, to run between the rows of corn. 

 I have been in the habit of planting with the drill in rows 

 four feet six inches apart, and one stalk in the hill, one foot 

 apart in ihe rows. Although I have seen others sowing 

 wheat in July wi'h great success, I have never yet sown 

 any till near the last of August, and too often, late in Sep- 

 tember. I am so well satisfied with the ( raciice of Mr. 

 Hossenger, that I shall try to pit in all my when this year, 

 at least a month earlier than I have ever done before." 



