28 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Jan- 



Spirit of tl)e ^cjncultmal Ipresa. 



Fattening Animals. — A memoir una read to ihe Acad- 

 my of Scienoea at Paris, by M. M. Dumas, Boussingault 

 aiid Piiynn, •' Of researches on the fatteninp of animals, 

 and on the formation of milk." These philosophers an- 

 nounce tlieir belief that fatty matters are formed in plants 

 alone; that they thence pass, ready formed, into tlio bodies 

 of herbiviri, entering the chyle duct by the liicteals, and so 

 passing into the blood; that the first degree of oxidation 

 forms .slearine or oleac acid, a further degree produces the 

 margaric tieid which characterizes fat; a still further degree 

 the volatile fatty acids — in opposititm to Liebig, who traces 

 the origin of fat to the sugar or starch of the tood. In confir- 

 mation of their views, iney show that hay contains more 

 per cent, of oleaginous matter than is produced in the butter 

 iVom a row fed on thia hay, and that cows fed on potatoes, 

 or other roots poor in I;it, producL^ niucli less butter. They 

 advunre an inllucnci-, which bearn inucli on rural economy, 

 thiit a cow eliminates twice as much fat from a given quan- 

 tity of food as does an ox; and hence the commerce of milk 

 an.i butter deserves a high degree of attention. Some rela- 

 tive experiments on fattening pigs bear out the same general 

 principles. — J'ttl. Reoicio. 



SuiisoiL Plowing. — Ex-Governor Hill states in the Visitor, 

 that he has found great benefit from subsoil plowing on the 

 *' driest plains" near Concord, N. II. He states that in a 

 field of potatoes on these plains, the past season, he found 

 the length of the potato vines "'sure index of the depth of 

 the plowing." Wherever the ground was cheated of the 

 subsoil plow, upon a balk, or in t!io field, the vines were as 

 much shorter, as the soil was stirred a less depth.'" He 

 gives the result of an experiment in eubsoiling made several 

 years since. The ground was plowed with a surface plow, 

 eight inches deep, and a subsoil plow run in each furrow 

 eight inches deep. Ho left two strips, a yard wide, not snb- 

 soilcd. He had taken six crops from the field — three of grass, 

 one of oats, one of corn— and the inferiority of each crop on 

 the portions not sub-soiled was apparent, and could be seen 

 at the distance of forty to fifty rods. The .subsoiled part 

 gave from two to three tons of hay la the acre. 



Starch fkom Indian Corn. — The Ohio Suttesman in- 

 forms us that large quantities of sUirch are made from this 

 grain in that State. An establishment near Columbus is 

 said to use 21), 000 bushels of corn annually for this purpose. 

 No attention is now paid to the color of the corn, as by the 

 improved modes of manufacturing, as light-colored starch is 

 pr'idtieid from the dark-colored varieties, as from white. — 

 The ijiiaiity of the starch hero made is said to be superior, 

 eoiiuuaiuhng a higher price in New-York and New-Orleans 

 than that made from wheat. The oflhl of the grain is feed to 

 hogs, and at the manufactory alluded to, 500 to 000 head are 

 annually fattened. 



Potato Disease not causkd by Insects — Mr. Curtis, a 

 distinguished English entomologist, bus just published a 

 volume in reference to insects which attack the potato. — 

 Spinking of the malady which has prevailed so extensively 

 Ki ; iii.fliH'N I'lr .sr\or;d yrarN, be remarks — "Amongst the 

 iipiiirr'ii^ i;iiiscs ulmh have been assigned for the appear- 

 nnir of thiy alarmnig and severe visitation, insects have been 

 frequently taxed as the destrntivc agents; but I am convinced 

 the calamity is not to be attributed to their presence." Ho 

 admits that there are many species of insects which prey 

 upon the potato in its various stages; hut he thinks there is 

 no evidence that llieir attacks are in any way connected 

 with what is called the potato disease. — Albany Cultivator. 



Hot'SES OF Unburnt Bricks. — Houses of unburn! bricks 

 may be made perfectly wind and water proof by being cov- 

 ered externally with a thin coat of mastic, which is prepared 

 by mixing very coarse, sharp sand, or sifted road drift, with 

 dry White Lead and Litbargee, beaten up with Linseed oil, 

 ntul rendered sufficiently soft to work well with a trowel. 

 This plastering becomes in a short lime, so bard as to resist a 

 nail, and will stand for an ago without cracking or needing 

 repair, Kor insido plastering, sharp sand and lime morlar is 

 sutlieicnt; papering the walls when dry. — Boston Cultivator. 



This is a Great Country. — A correspondent of the New 

 York Times Btates tbnt, according to the report of the Com- 

 missioner of the General i^and Ofiice, that part of the Ignited 

 Slates territory not yet formed into Sttitea. will nwko fortt/- 

 .s?.f Slates as large as Pennsylvania; each of wliieli will con- 

 tain twenty-eight miltious of acres. 



Hkssian Fi.y and Good Wheat.— J. Oglesby, in the 

 Pennsylvania Cultivator, states that he had q nine acre lot. 

 from which he obtained 60 bushels of oats, the rest of the 

 crop being briars, sumac, sassafras, Canada thistles, poke, 

 elder, and nearly all other kinds of weeds. When the 

 oats were harvested, the bushes were grubbed, and the 

 weeds cut with a scythe. When nerfeetly dry, they were 

 burned in a strong wind, ps they lay over ihe ground. The 

 nine acres then received 700 bushels of lime— the land was 

 well plowed — and the next year it yielded 390 bushels of 



§ood wheat, unlouchcd by the Hessian Fly, the fire having 

 estroyed them. 



Ventilating Bricks. — The London Hnilder says there 

 has been registered in the Patent Office a brick so shaped 

 that when two are placed end to end a circular space is left 

 at the junction. This circular space connecting from course 

 to course, n wall formed with them is, to a certain extent, 

 hollow, and admits of currents of air through it either heated 

 or otherwise. Each brick is nine inches square and t)u-ee 

 inches thick, the size of two common bricks. 



We saw, the other day, some nice, large, healthy looking 

 potatoes, which were grown in the center of a heap, of liard 

 coal ashes. The height of the heap, to say nothing of the 

 soil, if such it could be called, seemed most unfivorable lo 

 production of any kind, yet we have seldom seen finer pota- 

 toes raised under the most favorable circumstances. It m;iy 

 bo thought that the value of coal ashes in agriculture is yet 

 to be understood. — Cambridge Chronicle. 



Cellars FOR Manure. — The claimants for the premiums 

 on farms, otTered by the Middlesex (Mas.) Agricultural So- 

 ciety, generally speak highly of the advantages of keeping 

 manure in cellars. U. Chaffin states that he considers one 

 load of manure composted in the cellar inider his barn, worth 

 three which have b cen exposed to ihe action of fr.>st, rain, 

 evaporation, &,c. His cellar is closed, excluding the fia-it 

 and rain altogether. His cows are kept in the barn, nighls. 

 all the year; their manure goes into the cellar wliere hogs are 

 kept to root over the different materials, and mix them into 

 a compost. — Albany Cultivator. 



A New Machine.— A model of a machine called T^te Bran 

 />«s^er, was exhibited at the Fairs held in this city in Otlo- 

 ber. of which vve hui tlic opportunity of w iimssiuii the op- 

 eration, and which w.- d.'.MU worthy O.ir alUution of millers. 

 This machine' will, in e\cry lOJ barreU of ilour, inake4bbU. 

 more which escapes with the bran, by the usual modes of 

 grinding. The saving is thus easily calculated, niii will be 

 found an item of no inconsiderable amount. The m ichin^s 

 sell for $300 to $400, and no doubt will soon be adopted by 

 every miller. \Vc understand thai they are aboMt being 

 placed in some of the mills near this eily, II can be i;een in 

 operation at the Turning establishment of Mr. i>u>\\c. v.i 

 Uhler's Alley.— /l,virtv:ca.7 Fanner. 



Flax Culture.— Mr. J. Galbraiih. of Wi.^conin. his 

 undertaken to introduce the cultivation of Hax into that Sl;ite. 

 He has been about two years in Wisconsin, and is well versed 

 in the methods fidlowed in Ireland, Holland and Belginm. 

 His first trial was made at Musquinago, with .'iO acres, and 

 this year he has harvested the products of 100 ctTis. The 

 fabric is stated to be quite equal to that of Irish and Belgiin 

 ihix.—Farmer ^^ .Merhanic. . 



Important Discovery. — A surgeon of Gottin-jen lias di-;- 

 covered a complete antidote to arseiMc. It in p.roxyde or 

 the red oxyde of iron, twelve part.-; of whirh uentrdize one 

 of oxyde of arsenic. Experiments with thi? antidote li;ive. 

 been tried upon rabbits and other animals with complete 

 success. One advantage of it is that no injury c:»n be don? 

 by too large a dose. In cases where too large quantities of 

 arsenic have been taken, it has been found usefid firj«i to 

 encourage vomiting. 



Provisions from America. — Huring the last tw- Ive 

 months there were imported into Liverpool alone froui the 

 United Suues, 'JiJ.OOO tierces beef, 37,000 hnrrels poik. 

 •2-J4,000cwts. bacon. 1.^..000 hams, 50,000 barrels lard. 100,0)0 

 boxes cheese. 8,H0I> firkins butter. The value of the above 

 is £1,000,000 slerUiig. 



Large Crop of IIkets. — Wehave received n bushel oftiice 

 and large Blood Beets, as a specimen of the crop raised by 

 Mr. Turner, of the Insane Hospiuil in this town. Mr. Tur- 

 ner raised this season one hundred and sixty bushels of 

 these beets on fifty-six rods of land. — Mtim Farmer. 



Irish Settlement. — Rev. Mr. Dove, of Irelnnd, has 

 bought 20,000 acres of land in Catlaniugus Co., \. Y., and 

 gone home to bring the population to settle 





