172 



GENESEE FARMER. 



July 



produces a more salubrious climate, and con- 

 duces greatly to the health and moral happiness 

 of the whole population. 



Several different modes of draining are prac- 

 ticed in Great Britain, which are worthy of 

 notice — some of them are also known and prac- 

 ticed in the United States. The process of 

 draining by open ditches is the rudest, and was 

 doubtless the first form of draining. Covered 

 drait^s were next substituted, of various con- 

 struction. One form of these is made by dig- 

 ging a ditch, and then filling it with straw or 

 faggots, and covering itover with the earth which 

 was thrown out. Another form is excavated so 

 as to taper to a point at the bottom, and having 

 a shoulder left at the height from the bottom 

 which it is desirable to cover the water-course. 

 This is then covered by an inverted sod, 

 which rests on the shoulders ; after which the 

 earth thrown out in excavating is returned, and 

 the surface levelled. Another process is by the 

 mole plow : another by filling the bottom of a 

 ditch with small stones of uniform size. Two 

 other forms, called in England tile and pipe 

 drains, are constructed by means of tile and 

 pipes made of brick clay, and are said to form 

 water-courses which are both cheap and durable. 



M. M. RODGERS. 



Monroe County, June, 1848. 



Comparative Forwardness of the Seasons. 



It is with delight that the farmer, after a long 

 and dreary winter hears, for thefirst time, the 

 notes of the blue-bird and robin-red-breast, the 

 first precursors of spring. The singing of these 

 birds, the music of the frogs, and the flowering 

 of the early plants are observed and listened to, 

 with peculiar delight ; not because the early 

 songsters sing more sweetly than those that ap- 

 pear later, nor, that these flowers are more beau- 

 tiful and fragrant than those that deck the hills, 

 and cover the valleys, and fill the air with their 

 balmy fragrance later in the season ; — but from 

 the well known fact that they are the harbingers 

 of spring. 



The first appearance of the blue-bird and robin, 

 the flowering of the maple, the shadbush and the 

 fruit trees, have been so long recorded, and at 

 different localities over this state and country, 

 that from a comparison of these observations we 

 are enabled to judge of the relative advance- 

 ment of one spring with another. 



In number 7 of the 8th volume of the Genesee 

 Farmer, the writer presented a summary view 

 of these observations for the last eleven years, 

 beginning with the spring of 1837, and ending 

 with that of 1847. 



From the observations made at forty-four dif- 

 ferent localities in the state, embracing all its 

 remote parts, it showed the mean date for the 

 appearance of the robin to be March the 19th. | 



The robin and blue-bird first heard here this year 

 March the 8lh. The mean time for the flowering 

 of the shad- bush, from observations made at 48 

 different localities, was May 1. It was in blossom 

 here tliis year May 1 ; last year May 7 ; in 1846, 

 April 20; in 1845, April 21; and in 1844, 

 April 14. The earliest appearance of the robin 

 here within the last twelve years was in 1840, 

 when it was first seen February 29 ; the latest 

 appearance within tiie same period of time was 

 in 1839 and '49, when it appeared April 3d, of 

 each year. The earliest flowering of the maple 

 on record here, within the same period, March 

 3d of 1842 ; the earliest flowering of the shad- 

 bush, April 14th, 1844 This, the spring of 

 1844, is the earliest on record; plum in blossom 

 April 1.5'h; peach and cherry, the 16lh ; cur- 

 rant 19th; and apple the 24th ; strawberries and 

 cherries ripe May the 25th ; and the wheat har- 

 vest was commenced June the 29th. The peach, 

 plum, cherry and apple blossomed here this 

 year, varying from April 5th, when a peach tree 

 was in blossom, to May 1st, when apple blos- 

 soms began to open, although not in full bloom 

 until the 13th : plum and cherry wei-e in full 

 blossom about the 25th ; peach a little earlier. 

 In 1844 tne peach, ])lum and cherry were all in 

 full blossom at the same time : not so usually. 

 The spring of 1842 was earlier than the average ; 

 peach in blossf^m April 15th, plum 19lh, cherry 

 22d, and apple May 2d. Strawberries and 

 cherries ripe June 11th; the wheat harvest was 

 commenced July 19th. 



The springs of 1839, of 1841, and of 1843, 

 were uncommonly late. In 1841, which is the 

 latest spring on record, plum began to blossom 

 May 15th, peach the 18th, cherry the 21st, and 

 apple the 22d. Cherries ripe July 3d ; the 

 wheat harvest was commenced July 28th. In 

 1843, cherry in blossom May 10th, plum 12tb, 

 peac'.i 16th, and apple 16th. Strawberries ripe 

 June 16th, and cherries the 23d ; the wheat 

 harvest was commenced July 20th. Strawber- 

 ries ripe here this year May 29th, and cherries 

 June 5th. The comparative view thus presented 

 to the reader shows the present season to be 

 earlier than the average. The temperature of 

 the spring, by comparison, is shown to be above 

 the mean. 



We have had some cold days since the 1st of 

 June — but not more so than usual : — it is very 

 common to have frost, and even flakes of snow, 

 during the first half of the month of June. A 

 correspondent of the Journal of Commerce, 

 writing from Hanipshire Co., Mass., says, that 

 the frost there, since the first of this month, was 

 so destructive to agiicultural vegetation as to 

 render it necessary to replant. We had frost 

 here; but it did little damage. Many of the 

 readers of this paper will recollect the killing 

 frost of June 6th, 1816, with the same distinct- 

 ness that others remember the eclipse of the sun» 



