1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



185 



rep'.irs and improvements to his buildings, a small 

 grist mill which grinds all his corn and coarse grains, 

 a cider mill, and various other conveniences. Truly 

 this is a "gem"' of a farm. 



I next spent an hour on the farm of Mr. B. H. 

 Streetbr, one mile east of the village. He has a 

 noble farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which 

 he purchased not a year ago ; but he already exhibits 

 abundant evidence that not many years hence it will 

 be one of the best farms in this or any other county. 

 A barn is on the place, erected at a cost of $1500, 

 which combines more excellence and convenience 

 than I have ever met with. Mr. Strbetek has 

 already a variety of full blooded stock from the best 

 herds of our State, and among which I noticed with 

 high gratification a pair of twin three years old steers 

 of native breed, so perfectly alike in size, color, and 

 every mark, that the owner himself can only tell 

 them apart by the slightest possible turning in of the 

 broad spreading horns of one of them. They are of 

 bright red, except about one foot of the tail of each 

 being white. The combined weight last winter was 

 over 3,200 -lbs., and they are considerably heavier 

 now, although neither is 10 lbs. heavier than the 

 other. I was much pleased to learn that Mr. S. re- 

 gards with favor the proposal to take them to Eng- 

 land to the World's Fair next year, for I am confi- 

 dent our whole country can not produce a handsomer 

 specimen of our common stock. 



I spent the next hour or two on another " gem" of 

 a farm of fifty acres, owned by Mr. Mathew Mackie, 

 one mile north of Clyde, and I will only take the time 

 needed to refer to the trees, fruits, and flowers, on 

 Mr. M.'s beautiful place. He has a fevi' of the 

 best trained evergreens in his front yard I have 

 ever seen, and he has among them the choicest new 

 kinds also. His fruit trees numbering thousands, 

 label an assortment including those new and rare 

 seldom to be found in our established nurseries, and 

 all in tlie highest pitch of cultivation. The same 

 may be said with reference to his multitude of roses 

 and other flowers, some of which are very rare, among 

 which I noticed the finest standard by far, of the 

 Chromatella, or Cloth of Gold rose, I have ever seen 

 in any collection. His vegetables and smaller fruits, 

 such as strawberries, raspbeiTies, he, showed the 

 same extensive assortment and extraordinary culti- 

 vation. And what interested me particularly, was 

 Mr. Mackie's numerous and careful experiments now 

 in progress. His assortment is now so large that he 

 can hardly avoid propagating considerably for the 

 benefit of his neighbors and others. I have thought 

 that the western part of Wayne county could exhibit 

 rare collections of fruits, flowers. Sic. ; but I much 

 doubt if any hard working farmer in this or any other 

 county, can exhibit so much skill, judgment, and 

 taste, around their domicil, as does Mr. Mackie. 



On my return I saw a very fine hedge started, 

 composed of the common thorn of the country. — 

 Time did not permit me to visit the splendid farm of 

 Mr. Briggs, five miles north, which Galen intends 

 shall prove to be the premium farm of Wayne county. 

 The initiatory steps have been taken by the spirited 

 citizens of Galen, towards establishing an agricultu- 

 ral school at Clyde. Mr. Watson has made a very 

 liberal offer of hif farm in fee simple, free, excepting 

 a small yearly annuity to himself and wife during 

 their life, and a committee has been appointed to 

 carry the matter forward. 



Now, Messrs. Editors, after such a development of 



some of the hidden resources of the retired town of 

 Galen in the quiet county of Wayne, can you won- 

 der that this very town has obtained your premium 

 of the $30 Agricultural Library by the largest list 

 of subscribers (some 389) to the Genesee Parmer 1 

 This fact has suggested to me my apology for the 

 length of this communication. R. G. P. — Pal- 

 myra, JV. r., July, 1850. 



SALT AS A MANtTRE - ASAIN. 



The Press, no doubt, is the greatest blessing human 

 ingenuity has conferred upon our race. Man is, or 

 ought to be a social being, and through the medium 

 of your cheap and useful publication, Messrs. Editors, 

 we can quickly convey to each other our ideas and 

 sentiments. In the January number of this year, I 

 gave my views, which are original, on Salt, ^c. In 

 the March number ( am called upcm to give a little 

 more light on the subject. I think friend Jewrtt 

 does not read me correct, as he says I commenced by 

 " putting on a small quantity of manure." I had not 

 manured the land for four years, and then but very 

 little. Again, I am called upon in the April number, 

 by R. H. .1. of Lockport, to give some further infor- 

 mation on this subject. This friend has also mistaken 

 the reading of the second article. I meant a peck 

 of soaked corn over a two or three acre field, not a 

 peck of arsenic. I am not a chemist ; but, like R. 

 H. J., wanted to know w'hat effect mother earth 

 would have on arsenic. I inquired of Professor 

 Dewey, who informed me that the earth would not 

 destroy its poisonous qualities. 



Since I published my views on salt and insects, I 

 have met with two paragraphs which coincide with 

 my views to a tittle. The first is the opinion of 

 Professor Agassiz, on the multitudes of insects that 

 infest the earth : 



iKSEtr Life. — Professor Agassiz says, more than a life 

 time would be necessary to enumerate the various speeiee 

 of insects, and describe their appearance. Meiukr, a Ger- 

 man, collected and described 600 species of flies, which he 

 collected in a district of ten miles circumference. There 

 have been collected in Europe 27,000 species of insects 

 preying on wheat. In Berlin two professors are engaged 

 in collecting, observing, and describing insects and their 

 habits, and already they have puhli.shed five large volumes 

 upon the insects which attack forest trees. 



Only think of that, brother farmers, 27,000 differ- 

 ent species of insects preying on wheat. This is a 

 startling fact, and calls for the consideration of the 

 best means for their destruction. 



The following, on the use of salt, is from Bell's 

 Messenger, (a London paper,) of May last : 



The application of common salt as a manure produces thii 

 effect, in one mode, which is evidently double advantageous 

 to the farmer. We allude to the destruction of insects, and 

 the conversion of the substances of which they are com- 

 posed into the food of veg^talion. It is needless to enlarge 

 upon the countless tribes of insects of all kinds, which ten- 

 ant the farmers' lands, and prey upon their crops. It will 

 be more useful on this occasion to direct our attention to the 

 powerful action oi common salt in effecting their destruc- 

 tion. In producing some fresh evidence of this fact, it vvill 

 be well to remember that this important use of salt is not a 

 recent discovery, for it is now sixteen j'eara since w.e find 

 inserted in a work on the uses of salt in agriculture, (,Tohn- 

 son on Salt.) reports from different counties, amply proving 

 its powerful effect in the destruction, among other insects, 

 of slugs and worms. There were, for instance, those of Mr. 

 Jacob Busk, of Ponsbourn Park, in Hertfordshire. His val- 

 uable experiments extended over some hundreds of uorcs of 

 wheat. To use his own words — " In every situation, and 

 at every time, the effect appeared equally beneficial." — 

 The quantity per acre — " about four or five bushels, sown 



