1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



PREPARATION FOR WINTER -ITS IMPROVEMENT. 



The great work for the season is now over, and the 

 winter, the time of rest for the farmer and his fields, 

 is fast approaching. The seed has been sown, the 

 crops cultivated, and gathered into the storehouse for 

 future use, or sold to replenish the farmer's purse. 

 Few, we think, can look back upon the past season 

 without noticing something which might be improved 

 another year. Dull must be the intellect of the man 

 who has passed through the summer without learning 

 some useful lesson of importance in his profession. 

 The season has been remarkably favorable for the 

 perfection of vegetation, for which we ought to be 

 grateful to him who " tempers the wind to the shorn 

 famb." But, we will venture the assertion that, ex- 

 traordinaries excepted, the success of each has been 

 in proportion to the amount of intelligent labor ex- 

 pended. It is not him who works the hardest that 

 does the most work. It is not always him who 

 expends the most labor and toil and sweat on his 

 land, that works the most successfully. The horse 

 or the ox has strength — the power to labor — far 

 beyond man ; yet how useless is it, unless directed 

 by mail's intelligence. 



The farmer may now calculate his profits for the 

 year ; but we fear there is one matter too often for- 

 gotten in such estimates. The farm is the farmer's 

 capital— his stock in trade. The profits over paying 

 cost of labor, fee, is the interest on this capital. If, 

 in making the crop of the present year, the land has 

 been made poorer — less able to produce a good crop 

 next year— you have been taking from your capital, 

 and dreaming that you were only drawing the inter- 

 est — you have been lessening the value of your stock 

 in trade, and calling the proceeds the legitimate 

 profit of your business. You have been foolishly 

 killing the hen to get a hat full of eggs at once. 



There is much to be done in the fall by every 

 farmer, to render all comfortable through the winter. 

 Sheds need repaidng, or new ones should be built. 

 Apples, potatoes, and garden vegetables need atten- 

 tion. If not already secured from frost, no time 

 ought to be lost in protecting them from the same. 

 Bank up the cellar, have a good supply of fire wood 

 under cover, and sec that all stables aud yards are 

 ready for use. Remember that to a considerable 

 degree, warm shelter for domestic animals is equiva- 

 lent to food. If exposed to storms and severe cold, 

 they will need thirty per cent more forage to carry 

 them well through till May than they will if properly 

 housed and fed. In addition to this, their manure can 

 be all saved and turned to a valuable account next 

 season. By attending to the comfort of the animals 

 over whom the Almighty has given man control, 

 therefore, by a wise provision of Providence, he ad- 

 vances his own interest ; and not only his own inter- 

 est, but his comfort. Who can sit comfortably by 

 the blazing fire of a freezing winters night, and enjoy 

 themselves, while they know that their animals are 

 exposed to the peltings of the pittiless storm. Duty 

 and interest go hand in hand. 



Keep your dung heaps under shelter, that they may 

 lose nothing by leaching. Make provision for wa- 

 tering stock con.'eniently, if your premises lack in 

 that regard. 



While preparing for winter, forget not to add a 



few choice books to your agricultural library, for the 



whole family to read and improve in useful knowledge. 



Tne following remarks are from Prof. Norton ■ 



"Although the northern farmer is precluded from 

 plowing and sowing during the winter months, and 

 although his time for actual field operations is thus 

 materially shortened, his condition during the cold 

 season is by no means tedious or unpleasant. He is 

 able to give his undivided attention to the feeding 

 and well-being of his stock, and ought to study their , 

 nature thoroughly, as well as observe carefully the 

 effects of various kinds or preparations of food upon 

 them. Ilis reduced force may thresh out the grain ^ 

 at their leisure ; all tools should be put in the best 

 possible order for the coming campaign, also carts, 

 wagons, and harnesses repaired, so that they will 

 not" be likely to fail at any critical juncture. It is 

 the time, too, for making out and 'oallancing farm 

 accounts, writing up records from notes of past ex- 

 periments, and devising new or confirmatory ones 

 for the coming season. These are fit occupations 

 for the long evenings. But, more than this, he has 

 abundant time for study and reading. It is a com- 

 mon complaint among practical men, that they can 

 not understand scientific books, or what scientific 

 men say. This is certainly their own fault, for 

 there are few farmers who could not, by a little study 

 and perseverance, get enough iastruction to be of 

 very great advantage to them in these respects. It 

 is the improvement of leisure hours, by reading and 

 reflection, that produces the clear-headed, sound- 

 thinking men, a few of whom are to be found taking 

 the lead in nearly all of our country villages. Their 

 aim, hower, has hitherto been chiefly to increase 

 their stock of historical and political knowledge, or 

 of general information. They ought now, in ad- 

 dition to these, to devote attention seriously to sciene 

 in connection with agriculture. The mechanic, the 

 manufacturer, the engineer, who could not tell why 

 he employed such and such machinery, or invented 

 certain new arrangements, or point out with dis- 

 tinctness the results to be arrived at by certain com- 

 binations, with the reasons therefor, would be con- 

 sidered but poorly acquainted with his business ; 

 and yet, how many farmers are to be seen every day, 

 who do not even know what one of their crops con- 

 tains, what their land is made of, or what is the 

 necessity of applying manure, so far as to explain 

 its effects. Let us hops that this state of things 

 will not long continue ; that farmers as a body will 

 rapidly improve under the spirit which now begins 

 to prevail among them ; that they will soon under- 

 stand their own profession, both practically and the- 

 oretically, as do those who engage in other pursuits." 



Peemit me for the benefit of those who read your 

 paper, to bring to notice through its pages a recipe 

 for making a mixture called rat gas. There are 

 some individuals in this place making the sale of 

 recipes a matter of self interest, and I therefore 

 propose giving it to the farmers on a cheap scale. 



Jlccipc. — 1 oz. phosphorus, 2 oz. Curcume, 1i lbs. 

 lard, 33 lbs. wheat flour, 3 J qts. water. First put 

 in the water and lard, let it warm so you can hold 

 your hand in it ; then put in the flour and curcume, 

 and stir it tiH well mixed ; then put in the phospho- 

 rus and stir it till it is done sparkling. When it 13 

 cool it is fit for use. It explodes in the stomach and 

 causes death. It can be given on bread, with a lit- 

 tle lard over it, or in meal. G.—Spufford, JV. 1., 

 Oct. 1850. 



P. S. I hope T. B. BIiNER will toll us how to 

 remedy moth in Bees. 



