276 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Nov. 



EXTRACTS FROM OUR EXCHANGES. 



"The Benefit of the Rise." — Many farmers when 

 selling their grain, f?ell for a certain sum, and with a stipu- 

 lation that they shall have the benefit of the rise, for the 

 season of navigation, or up to a certain period. As fre- 

 quent litigations and much' trouble often arise between 

 buyers and sellers from the latter misunderstanding the 

 constriiclion put upon such contracts, we suggest to those 

 who may labor under misapprehensions that in such case 

 the seller must choose his price while current, before the 

 expiration of the period. Should he neglect to do so until 

 after that time, he could recover only the sum certain stip- 

 ulated for. The case is difierent, however, where grain is 

 sold, and the buyer agrees that the vender shall have for it 

 the highest market price that grain may sell for during the 

 period agreed upon, in the market where sold. The dis- 

 tinctions are frequently confounded. In the former case 

 the vender runs his own risk with the buyer, while in the 

 latter the buyer runs his own risk for the whole period. 



Great Corn Field, and Great Country.— A traveller 

 writes to the Toledo Blade from the Wabash Valley : 1 

 viewed the 1,000 acre field of corn (on V/ea Prairie. ) of the 

 Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, late Commissioner of Patents, 

 where this year 60,000 bushels will probably be raised 

 without hoeing, simply plowing the corn two or three 

 times. I may say, too, that I saw 5,000 acres, all adjoining. 



Corn is raised by contract, for 4 to 6 cents per bushel, 

 taken in the field. Hogs are raised on clover, oats, and 

 corn, and it is not unfreqnent to find farms with 1,500 of 

 these grunlers. On the Grand Prairie, no less than 10,000 

 cattle, from one to four years old, were feeding in different 

 herds, for the eastern market — one herdsman taking care 

 of two to four hundred, for a compensation of ten cents 

 per head, per month. 



Swill Cookery. — Every farmer will want some sort of 

 an apparatus to cook the food or swill for his hogs, some 

 set a kettle in brick, in a corner of the hog-house, which 

 makes a very convenient apparatus. We have tried, in our 

 day,sll sorts of contrivances, steamers and boilers, of differ- 

 ent patterns, shapes and sizes, but have never found any- 

 thing so convenient as Mott's Patent Agricultural Furnace. 

 It is a large kettle, fixed on to a stove. The whole is mov- 

 able, and can be placed where most needed. They are of 

 various sizes, from fifteen gallons to eighty or more'. They 

 are useful for a great many purposes. We have used one 

 now for three years, and find it well worth the cost. 



\Ve have recommended this article before, to those who 

 are in want of such fixtures, and have found no one as yet 

 who ever procured one that regretted having made the pur- 

 chase.— !/<?. Partner. 



Wood Ashes beneficial to Meadows.— Mr. S. R. Gray, 

 of Salem_, N. Y., informs us that, in the fall of 18-15, he 

 sowed 25 bushels of unleached ashes on two acres of mead- 

 ow, situated on a hill side, facing the west, which had 

 been mown annually for thirty years. The last crop of hay 

 from this ground, preceding the application of the ashes, 

 did not exceed half a ton to the acre ; but the next year after 

 (1846), it was more than double that quantity, 'i'he year 

 following (1847,) the hay crop was mown three weeks 

 earlier than usual, and was more than one fourth heavier 

 than that of 1846. 



Mr. G. attributes the increase of the last crop, in part, to 

 the influence of a small stream of water, by which one half 

 of the meadow was overflowed during the early part of the 

 season ; yet he concludes that the principal cause of the in- 

 crease, was tho application of the ashes, which he thinks 

 amply repaid tlie cost.— American Agriculturist. 



To Weld Iron, Steel and Sheet Iron.— In an earthen 

 vessel melt borax, and add to it 1-lOth of sal-ammoniac. 

 When these ingredients are properly fused and mixed, 

 pour them out upon an iron plate and let them cool. There 

 is til us obtained a glassy matter, to which is to be added an 

 equal quantity of quick lime. The iron or steel which arc 

 to be soldered are first heated to redness ; then this com- 

 pound, first reduced to powder, is laid upon them— the 

 composition melts and runs like sealing wax; the pieces 

 are then replaced in the fire, taking care to heat them at a 

 temperature far below that usually employed in welding ; 

 they are then withdrawn and hammered, and the surfaces 

 will be found to be thus perfecily united. The author 

 who is a Frenchman, asserts that this process, which may 

 be applied to welding sheet iron tubes, never fails. 



Farmers, Read the AcRfciLTORAL Papers.— Not the 

 older ones— they have no need of this superjlnity of the 

 nineteenth century ; but the younger ones can thus learn 

 something which their seniors are too wise to do. Read 

 tho best agricultural papers and journals ; one, two, or 

 three, if you can get them. Sift the chaff from the wheat, 

 the bran from the flour, and make good digestible bread of 

 the last. The expense of taking these is nothing compar- 

 atively. Look at your bills for extra horse trappings, 

 cigars, tobacco, juleps, and nonsense of any kind, wliich 

 you have both cash and leisure for, and you will find that 

 you can take half a dozen of the best agricultural papers in 

 the Union, with less than half the money you annually 

 throw away in what is worse than useless. — Amer. Ag. 

 Drain Your Lands. — Let not a particle of stagnant 

 water lie on the surface, nor under the surface of the lands 

 you cultivate. One of the best of all blessings is pure 

 wholesome running water. But see that it is running, and 

 not stagnant. The latter destroys all useful vegetation, all 

 economy in working the land, all health, and all beauty of 

 landscape. It is the loss of every thing as far as it extends, 

 and breeds malaria and disease for cattle, and all domestic 

 animals, equally with man. Manures are inoperative upon 

 wet or moist lands. Do not content yourself with remov- 

 ing what is on the surface, far stagnant water, just below, 

 is frequently equally prejudicial with that wliich is visible. 

 This may be removed by under, as the former by surface 

 drains. — lb. 



A Good Crop of Wheat.— Mr. N. B. Moore, of this 

 city, has harvested 34 bushels of winter wheat from one of 

 seed. It grew on an acre and quarter of land. He had 

 two-thirds or more of it ground into flour, which is excel- 

 lent. Tho whole crop should liave been kept for seed. 

 Had the heads of wheat grown as long as they do in the 

 Genesee Valley, he would have had 50 bushels. It tillered 

 remarkably, but the soil was defective, lacking lime, sul- 

 phur, and phosphorus to make long ears, well filled with 

 large and plump seeds. jGypsum, bones, and a little lime 

 would remedy the defect. The manure applied to previous 

 crops furnished all the elements for a noble yield of straw, 

 but when the organization of wheat was in progress, the 

 raw materials were not present in a large degree, and pre- 

 cisely adapted to the wants of Nature. — Southern Cultivator. 

 Great Dairy Farm. — One of the greatest dairies, in our 

 country, is that of Col. Meacham, of Pulaski, N. Y. His 

 farm consists of 1000 acres, 300 of which are devoted to 

 grass ; and he keeps one hundred head of cattle, and nine- 

 ty-seven cows. In one year he made 30,000 lbs. of cheese, 

 20,000 lbs. of which sold at one time, in New York, for 

 from 6§ to 7 cents per pound. He feeds his cows mostly on 

 hay and carrots ; of the latter, he raises 2000 bushels, and 

 gives each cow half a bushel per day. And besides the 

 benefit derived from his grass for his stock, he gathers not 

 less tlian 300 busliels of grass seed. — Patent Office Report. 



Potatoes. — From observation and pretty extensive in- 

 quiries, we are convinced that the potato disease lias been 

 much less destructive this year than last. In but few lo- 

 calities that we have heard of, has the crop been destroyed, 

 or very seriously injured ; while in general little or no harm 

 has been done. The yield is said to be less than in former 

 years, but it is not certain that this fact, if it be one, has 

 any connection w"ith the disease. — Jour. Com. 



Chloroform given to Horses. — A gentleman at Mor* 

 ristown, N. .1., having a valuable but an unmanagecble 

 horse, and difficult to .shoe, determined last week to try the 

 effect of chloroform. He says ; '• Having procured about 

 2 ounces of it, I administered it by putting it in a sponge 

 and letting hira inhale it ; the animal seemed to like it, and 

 snuffed it up very eagerly : in a short time it had the desir- 

 ed elT.'ct, and belaid down quietly, when the smith put on 

 the shoe while he remained as if asleep. In about 20 min- 

 utes he entirely recovered from the effects of it, and has 

 been perfectly well ever since." 



Chicken with a IUman Face. — We have heard, says 

 the New Orleans Delta, a good deal of talk for the last few 

 days, about a chicken with a human face, at the liouse of 

 Madame Martin in Cole-street, near St. Phil'ip. We paid 

 no attention to the droll stories which w-e heard, but at 

 length were so pressed that we determined to see for our- 

 selves. At the place mentioned, we saw a chicken, hav- 

 ing, instead of a beak, a nose and mouth exactly conform- 

 able to those of a human face ; the nostrils, the seaparaling 

 cartilage, the lips, tongue, chin, are all there. It was in- 

 deed a most singular lususnalurce. 



