1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



239 



The dies are also improved. It is double acting — 

 turning out tile or pipe at each end as fast as two 

 men can take them away. This machine is sold for 

 $275, to ^-0 to Summcrville, New Jersey. It may 

 be worked by hand, horse, or steam power, and is 

 capable of moulding 5000 pieces a day. 



In this age of agricultural progress and improve- 

 ment, experiment has proved that under-draining is 

 indispensable to the ecoeomical cultivation of at least 

 half the earth's arable surface : hence the impor- 

 tance of every mechanical invention which goes to 

 reduce the expense of under-draining. 



Potatoes. — One short month ago it was supposed 

 thut our potato crop had escaped disease ; since that 

 time the vines iji many fields have been prematurely 

 dying — an unfailing symptom of disease in its worst 

 form. Our amateur farmer, Jos. Wright, says that 

 his Knglish whites, planted last of April, ripened in 

 fine order ; but that his Mercers, and all other vari- 

 eties planted later, are very much diseased. His 

 soil is sandy loam, well drained and manured. — 

 }Valerloo, JV. Y., Sept., 1850. 



Remarks. — We have felt compelled to withhold 

 some remarks of S. W., on the subject of the JYeiv 

 Free School Law of this State, much as we dislike 

 to materially curtail or alter articles furnished by 

 our friends for publication in the Farmer. Not half 

 the readers of the Farmer reside in the State of N^ew 

 York, and we therefore thought it unwise to occupy 

 our very limited space with a full discussion of our 

 School Law. For this reason we have refused com- 

 munications in relation to it. There are two sides 

 to this question, and unless we were willing to open 

 our columns to a full and fair discussion of the sub- 

 ject in all its important bearings, which \Te could not 

 well do, the course we have pursued, to leave the 

 subject to the local papers, appeared to us the only 

 wise one. We have our own opinion, but as we 

 have never expressed it in the pages of the Farmer, 

 correspondents cannot complain, as we only impose 

 the same restraint on them that we bear ourselves. 



PEAT CHARCOAL MANI7KE. 



The following interesting correspondence we take 

 from the Mark Lane (London) Express : 



To the Editor of the Mark Lane Express: — Sir 

 — You challenged me to give public proof that peat 

 charcoal possessed the power of deodorizing excretory 

 matter, the admixture to produce "an inofTensive 

 manure capable of being transported by any convey- 

 ance, and of being used with the drill." I met the 

 challenge ; and in your paper of Oct. 8, 1849, you 

 obligingly stated that I had " fairly won tho thanks 

 and honor of my fellow men." • 



Permit me to say, I now challenge you. Your 

 position gives you the power of having tested, in a 

 manner perhaps beyond the reach of others, the real 

 value of this combination as a manure. Neither 

 you nor the world will, nor perhaps should, believe 

 my individual statement, that peal charcoal manure 

 is the most valuable that has yet been produced. 

 Still I aver that it is, and I seek for proof to the con- 

 trary. I now place at your disposal twelve sacks 

 (3 cwt. each,) of th's manure. 



The charcoal to produce this combination, has 

 been manufactured under my direction for "the Irish 

 Amelioration Society," the admixture made in Lon- 

 don ; six sacks contain equal parts in weight of ex- 



cretory matter and charcoal, the remaining six, equal 

 parts of peat, charcoal, and urine. 



Pray place this in the hands of six ditTercnt per- 

 sons to test each kind against guano or any other 

 manure they please. 



First, I seek comparison for one season ; next, 

 that the test be extended to three or even four with- 

 out renewal. 



I feel assured you will select those of eminence in 

 agriculture, who will take the trouble of making the 

 test fairly, and who will fully report the results. 

 — Jasper W. Rogers. 



(We entirely concur in the view taken by Mr. 

 Rogers in his letter, that the peat charcoal and 

 nightsoil manure should bo carefully and accurately 

 tested by experienced and competent practical farm- 

 ers. We accept his challenge, and have no doubt 

 shall readily obtain the assistance of able, trustwor- 

 thy parties, to test the merits of his proffered quan- 

 tities of the manure. — Ed. .Mark Lant Express.) 



FATTENING STOCK 



Messrs. Editors: — Having often enjoyed the ben- 

 efit of other men's experience, in the pages of your 

 valuable paper, I will give, with your permission, 

 some items of my own. What I have at present to 

 ofier, relates to the manner and result of fattening a 

 small framed cow, eight years old, of my ow'n raising, 

 ke|)t farrow last winter, and milked until the first of 

 August. Then, being in fair condition, I placed her 

 in goo:l pasture until the 12th of September, at which 

 time she was turned into a wheat-stubble and kept 

 without water, and fed about one bushel of pumpkins 

 cut in pieces morning and night, and during most 

 of the time half that quantity at noon. I gave her 

 no water because I thought her food contained suffi- 

 cient moisture, and she would be the more inclined 

 to eat. For this reason the pumpkins should be cut 

 so fine as to be eaten without breaking thern with 

 the front teeth, which also prevents waste, and the 

 teeth from becoming snre. I gave her salt freely — 

 two or three times a week, but think it would have 

 been better to have kept it always within her reach. 

 After thus feeding until the 10th December, (about 

 three months,) she was slaughtered, and her whole 

 weight was 815 lbs. The leaf and rough tallow, and 

 a small portion from that part of the flank which 

 always runs to tallow in fat cattle, wit* some slight 

 trimmings from the drying pieces, (these two last 

 not exceeding five or six pounds,) amounted to 200 

 lbs. She would have brought, at $3.50 per cwt. 

 and 8 cts. per lb. for the tallow, $37.50 And valu- 

 ing the cow at SI 6, which rhe would have brought, 

 and the seven loads of pumpkins fed her at sii7, with 

 an allowance of $2 for pasturing, Sic, I am left 

 .$12.25 for my labor. Jo.xatha.n Silsby. — Royal- 

 Ion, .V. Y., 1850. 



How Much Pork will a Bushki, or Corn Make ? 

 — By some experiments tried, it is believed that a 

 bushel of corn, fed to a thrifty hog, will makeI2 lbs. 

 of pork. So that corn at 21 cts. is equal to pork at 

 2 cts., and corn at 75 cts. a bushol is equal to pork 

 at cts. a pound. The manure will more than pay 

 for the labor of feeding and killing tin hogs. 



A SOUND economy is a good understanding brought 

 into action. 



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