250 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



No^ 



I 



eties in America within the last twelve months ! 

 Who can say from actual experiments, that 1000 

 pounds of ^reen grass or feed of any kintl, will yield 

 more mill;, butter, cheese, or good beef, in the living' 

 machinery of a Durham, Devon, Ayrshire, Hereford, 

 or native cow ? What breed of sheep will elaborate 

 most pounds of fine wool (not animal grease nor dirt,), 

 from any given quantity of food ? If a farmer has 

 ten tons of hay and twenty of grass to be transformed 

 into wool and mutton, who will furnish him with the 

 best machines for the purpose indicated, with proof 

 that his machines will yield a larger return in money, 

 ^han those of others ? When or wl-.ere in this coun- 

 try, were several flocks of sheep fed equal weights 

 of food for a year, to determine the exact productive 

 value of each flock ? Are we to go on guessing at 

 these things forever, without increasing our knowl- 

 edge in the least ? 



Has not the time arrived when the New York State 

 Agricultural Society should have an experimental 

 farm of its own? The truth, the whole truth, and 

 nothing but the truth, is what the 500,000 agricul- 

 turists in the Empire State both need and greatly 

 desire. How is this truth to be revealed ? By what 

 agency, and at whose expense ? We have humbly 

 urged the Legislatures of more States than one, as 

 well as Congress, to assist the friends of agriculture 

 a little, in developing tiie laws of nature which gov- 

 ern the growth of every cultivated plant and of every 

 animal product called into existence by the farm labor 

 of the United States. From these we expect next to 

 nothing ; but from agricultural societies we do hope 

 fir better things. They embody tens of thousands 

 of the true men of the nation — men who are both 

 able and willing to do something; to leave the world 

 wiser and belter than they found it. The slavery of 

 heaping up riches may be pleasant enough to those 

 trained to hear the yoke from their infancy ; but it 

 is true slavery nevertheless. The Creator of all 

 good, the Fountain of all knowledge, has j'iaccd a 

 higher destiny than that of either physical or mental 

 slavery, within our reach. Shall we make a common 

 eSbrt to attain it ? That is the question. Our faith 

 is strong that a united and successful efilirt will be 

 made. The emancipation of our race from the bond- 

 age of ignorance and superstition in agricultural 

 matters, is an achievement as certain as it will be 

 glorious. In a few years, carefully conducted exper- 

 iments in the science of agriculture will be encour- 

 aged and read with interest by millions in this Re- 

 public. Popular intelligence and opinion are coming 

 up to this. Nor shall we have to wait more than 

 another quarter of a century to see the first perma- 

 nent agricultural school established in the State of 

 New York. Slowly, silently, but with perfect cer- 

 tainty, knowledge and the pursuit of it will overcome 

 every obstacle. The study of soils, of rocks, of cli- 

 mates, of plants and animals, will command the care 

 and patronage not only of agricultural societies, but 

 of governments. It can not be otherwise in this free 

 and prosperous land, where the majority rule and the 

 tillers of the earth constitute that majority. Bread 

 and meat, fruit and potatoes, and the best means of 

 producing them, are things, and the subjects of re- 

 search, never to be dispensed with. Several county 

 societies have given premiums to good housewives, 

 for the best loaves of bread exhibited. These were 

 tasted, with delicious butter, by hundreds at the Hor- 

 ticultural Show in Rochester. It is no mean art to 

 be able to make superb wheat, corn, or rye bread, 



from the proper materials ; and we allude to the ex- 

 ample of the Rochester ladies as worthy of imitation 

 in other societies. Let farmers furnish good flour 

 and meal, produced with the greatest skill and econ- 

 omy, and their daughters be taught to make every 

 pound into edible food to the best possible advantage. 

 Domestic economy has its science, not less than 

 field, garden, or political economy. 



We rejoice at the good already done by means of 

 agricultural associations. Some are providing their 

 members with all the advantages of good professional 

 libraries. This is a movement in the right direction. 

 Do not forget the several valuable periodicals devoted 

 to rural afiairs, published in this country. They 

 deserve better encouragement than they generally 

 receive ; and county societies will find agricultural 

 journals their most efficient supporters. Keep the 

 subject of improvement fresh in the popular mind by 

 frequent meetings and public discussions or lectures. 

 There is a vast difi'erence between a living and a 

 dead body. Vitality is a power quite as essential to 

 a society as 1(3 an individual. See to it, then, that 

 the noble cause of continued advancement in hus- 

 bandry suffers no damage from the luke-warm sup- 

 port of its friends. 



ANALYSIS OF THE APPLE. 



A CRITICAL and elaborate anaysis of the apple has 

 recently been made by Dr. Salisbury, of Albany, the 

 results of which are of deep interest to farmers, as 

 throwing light upon the composition of this most im- 

 portant of all fruits. Much attention has within a 

 few years been directed to the subject of fee<ling 

 apples to stock, and although many well authentica- 

 ted instances are given, where this fruit has proved 

 exceelingly valuable, especialy for fattening hogs, 

 yet many are incredulous as to its possesing sufficient 

 nutritive properties to render it a pro' .able crop to cul- 

 tivate e.spre.-sly for that purpos' . I'he facfs elicited 

 by Dr. Salisbury, go to show ...lat whil"? i j>i les con- 

 tain about 3 per cent, rar -e of water tha i ttift ;.otato, 

 yet " in the aggregate amount of ''at pro';uc:ng' pro- 

 ducts, they do not materially differ. 



Six varieties were submitted for aua'ysis iht; T,d- 

 iruin Sweeting, Swaar, Kilham Hill, huHiwif Hw 

 set, English Husset, and li. Island Gi\:-niu^. Ot the 

 five last named, the mean of the analyses ol the ao."! 

 is as follows : 



With Carbonic Without Cnj^ 

 acid. bonic acid. 



Carbonic acid, IS.'JIO 



Silica, 1.31)2 1.637 



Phospliate of iron, 1.33S 1.593 



Phosphoric acid, 11.252 13.2(>r 



Lime 3.412 4.199 



M;ignesiii, 1AM 1.6i;9 



Potash, 31.810 37.610 



.Soda 20.810 21.799 



Chlorine, 1.822 2.1H9 



Sulpliuric acid 6.062 7.229 



Oro:anic mailer tlirown down 

 by nitraie of silver, 4.S90 .'>.823 



99.391) IDO.OJO 



" The percentage of ash in the apple Is small yet 

 rich in phosphoric and sulphuric acid.s, potash, and 

 soda. 1000 lbs. of fresh apple contain about 837, 

 lbs. of water, 170.4 lbs. of organic malter, destroyed 

 by heat, and 2.6 lbs. of inorganic malter, or ash. 

 1000 lbs. of dry apple contain between 17 and 18 lbs. 

 of ash. 100 lbs. of anplo ashes contain, when de- 

 prived of carbonic acid, about 13 lbs. of phosphoric 



