244 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct. 



Crops in East Bloomfield, N. Y., in 1848. 



Messrs. Editors : — The inportance of cor- 

 rect statistical information in regard to the agri- 

 cultural productions of the country is being more 

 and more appreciated. The only way to have 

 these statistics approximate the truth, is to have 

 practical men give accounts of limited districts 

 with which they are particularly acquainted. — 

 Having heretofore given statements of the crops 

 in this town, in the old Genesee Farmer, I pro- 

 pose resuming the practice and give you an ac- 

 count of the crops for the present year. 



Wlieat. — This continues to be our great staple 

 production. The present crop is a good one — 

 better I think than for the last ten years. Of 

 the kinds cultivated White Flint and "Soules are 

 the principal. The season has been favorable 

 for the Soules, and I think Ihe greatest crops are 

 of this variety. I hear of no complaints of in- 

 sects or smut. Rust injured some fields that 

 were badly thrown out by the winter. 



Spring Wheat. — There has been a great fall- 

 ing off in the growing of this crop for three or 

 four years past, owing to poor crops. Those 

 who have persevered in growing it have this 

 year been rewarded with a fair crop. 



Barley — This crop is about an average one. 

 The high price of this grain last fall caused much 

 more than a usual quantity to be sown. The 

 amount of this grain now on hand is large. 



Oats — A good crop ; better than for the last 

 two years. 



Corn. — This season has been the best for 

 corn of any during my remembrance. Such 

 tall corn as we have here would not be thought 

 a small affair, even among the Hoosiers. 



Grass. — The crop of hay is lighter than com- 

 mon. The spring months were unfavorable to 

 the growth of grass, especially upon old meadows. 



Potatoes. — This has become the most uncer- 

 tain of all our crops. Seed potatoes were so 

 high last spring, and the crop so uncertain, that 

 comparatively but kw were planted. I believe 

 the yield is a fair one, but I have little hopes that 

 we shall escape the rot. Early planting and 

 early digging was cried up as an effectual reme- 

 dy. But this, like all other remedies of this ter- 

 rible malady, is found to be no certain preventive. 



Buckwheat. — This has been a fine season for 

 it, and the crop is a very good one. 



Peas. — The pea bug has rendered this crop 

 a very poor one, and most of our farmers have 

 abandoned it. 



Flax did very poorly last year, and this year 



I don't recollect of 



seeing any growing. 



Root Crops, such as 'Mangel Wufzel, Ruta 

 1, Carrots, (fee, seem to have had their day, 

 and are now scarcely cultivated at all. They 

 certainly do not receive that attention their im- 

 portance demands. 



Fruit.— OwY orchards are not loaded so heav- 



ily as last year, although there is a fair supply 

 of every kind. 



Wool is one of our most important productions. 

 The low prices, and unpromising prospect for 

 the next crop, will reduce the number of sheep 

 for the next winter. 



In conclusion, I would say that the past season 

 has been one of unusual productiveness. While 

 other parts of the State have suffered severely 

 by drouth, we have had seasonable rains. Pri- 

 ces for all our produce (except wool) have been 

 high. Our farmers show that peculiar air of 

 satisfaction which always accompanies pz'osper- 

 ity. And were our hearts filled with gratitude 

 to the Author of all our blessings, as our gran- 

 eries are with the bounties of his providence, we 

 should indeed be a happy people. 



Yours, (Sec, M. Adams. 



East Bloomfield, Sept., 1848. 



Wire Fence. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Louisville Journal, 

 writing from Ghent, Carroll Co., Ky., says : — 



There has just been completed on the farm of 

 Mr. William Hawkins of this vicinity, some 

 hundred and fifty or two hundred panels of this 

 fence, which, for durability, neatness, and cheap- 

 ness, far surpasses anything that I have seen in 

 the fe7ice way. 



This fence answers the purpose of the strong- 

 est post and rail fence that can possibly be built, 

 with not more than half the expense of the 

 former. Mr. H.'s fence is constructed in the 

 following manner : His posts (black-locust) are 

 first placed in the ground, say eight feet apart, 

 the first one being much larger and set deeper 

 in the ground than the succeeding ones, because 

 of the great resistance it has to make in stretch- 

 ing the wire. Afler the posts are properly ar- 

 ranged, grooves are sawed into the side of each 

 post for the wires to lay in. The wires are 

 placed one above the other from six to seven 

 inches apart. The fulcrum and lever is then 

 placed at the extremety of the wires to draw and 

 tighten them. When they are sufficiently tight, 

 they are secured firmly into the post by small 

 staples made of wire. This fence sufficiently 

 resists the encroachments of all kinds of stock, 

 and costs only twenty-five cents to the panel. 



P. S. The fence is capped with plank, which 

 gives it additional strength and firmness. 



Impkovement in Filtering Water. — A new and orig- 

 inal invention has been introduced in England. It is a 

 cylindrical filter, made of stone, so constructed as to super- 

 cede all cleansing. The passing of the water through the 

 stone frees it from all impurities in suspension, and, accor- 

 ding to the testimony ofan eminent analytical chemist, is 

 calculated to bonefit the public health materially. The fil- 

 ter is now in active operation in many of the mansions of 

 the principal nobility of the Metropolis. The Lords of the 

 Admiralty, struck with the utility of the invention as a 

 means of preserving the health of officers and seamen, by 

 remlering the water on board ship at all times pure and soft, 

 irresjiective of climate or time, haxe introduced it into the 

 Royal Navy. 



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