1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



41 p'i 



to the others. The richness of the ground, there- 

 fore, in the first parcel, wns not the cause of produ- 

 cinfT as large potatoes from the small seed as from 

 the large. la the latter case, ground comparatively 

 poor, produced the same results. If a bushel of small 

 potatoes, that would not sell for one-fourth the price 

 of large ones, sh. ^.a prove as good for planting as 

 the large, it would be well to know the fact. I have 

 made these suggestions to direct the attention of 

 farmers to the subject. E. 



DAIRY STOCK. 



Messrs. Editors : — Being very desirous of importing the 

 best dairy stock, 1 have taken the liberty to make a few inqui- 

 rieij through your truly valuable Farmer. I have carried on 

 a dairy in Ayrshire, Scotland, for twenty-five years, and al- 

 ways considered the Ayreshire cow the best that could bo 

 obtained — milking qualities considered. The Short Horns 

 were considered tlie best for fattening. Our best Ayreshire 

 cows yielded thirty-six quarts per day, on pasture alone, and 

 our poorest, twenty-four quarts per day during June and July. 

 Now I have been a reader of the Farmer for the last two 

 years, and I have noticed much has been said in favor of 

 Short Horns as milkers, and nothing, comparatively, of the 

 Ayreshires. Is it true that the Short Horns arc better milk- 

 ers, in the United States, than the Ayreshires ? In a recent 

 visit to Toronto, Upper Canada, I found that the Ayreshires 

 were quite favorites with many of the first firmers, fi^r milk- 

 ers ; and by some, the Short Horns were preferred, in refer- 

 ence to both milking and fattening qualities. But for the 

 dairy alone, whicli do you consider the best of our imported 

 breeds, and where can they be obtained ? J. Brodie. — 

 Belleville, N. Y.. Dec, 1850. 



WIRE FENCE. 



Messrs. Editors : — I would like to learn, through the col- 

 umns of the Genesfe Farmer, the best and cheapest manner 

 of making Wire fence. Many of your readers and subscri- 

 bers are no doiibt well acquainted with the cost and manner 

 of construction, &-c. J. J. Marlett. — Hoffman's Ferry, 

 1850. 



GREAT YIELD OP SQUASHES. 



The '^ast summer I raised twenty-five crook-neck 

 bell squashes from one seed. By the help of my 

 neighbors, we put them, attached to the vine, into a 

 wagon, carried them to the County Fair, and drew a 

 premium. They weighed 400 pounds separate from 

 the vine. I measured the vine, with all its branche.s, 

 and it measured 32 rods and 4 feet. Another sort 

 that were green outside, and pumpkin-shaped, pro- 

 duced six large squashes, and the vines measured 

 40 rods. No extra care was taken with them. They 

 grew among small trees in my nursery, where they 

 had plenty of room. Amery Willson. — Marcellus, 

 Dec, 1850. 



We received a "letter from Mr. W., which was 

 evidently intended for some other person. It was 

 returned, and in correcting the blunder, which was 

 made by "putting the wrong inscription on two 

 letters sent at the same time," Mr. W. tells the fol- 

 lowing story, which is too good to be lost: — "It 

 reminded mp of a divine who was called upon for 

 advice by a neighboring society. He wrote a letter 

 of advice to them, and at the same time was called 

 upon by a man on his farm, to know what he should 

 do with some unruly cattle of his. He wrote to the 

 servant, folded the letter, and did as I did, put the 

 wrong inscription on each one, and when the church 

 members opened the letter, it read thus : — ' Chain up 

 the big black bull, and that will restore peace and 

 .tranquility.' And they chained the bull, and that 

 ended the difficulty in the church." 



COMMON SALT AS A FERTILIZER, 



As I noticed a remark, in a late number of the Far- 

 mer, on this subject, I wish to offer the following 

 remarks : 



For the superior growth' of vegetables, various 

 substances are necessary. It is not enough that 

 most of vegetables have carbon, oxygen, hydrogen 

 and nitrogen— the '"•-—• giaiU constituents in thoir 

 composition. I know J'nt these are often called 

 essential, and that some others are spoken of as acci- 

 dental, or at least, not necessary to the perfection of 

 vegetable matter. It seems to me that this is a 

 loose mode of expression, and that the implied notion 

 needs qualification. 



Thus chemistry shows that sulphur and phospho- 

 rus are essential to the existence of the fihrine and 

 albumen of animals, the former being the substance 

 of muscle, and the latter of nerve. Liebig, and other?, 

 have proved that vegetable fihrine and albumen have 

 the same composition as the animal ; and hence it is 

 the necessary inference, that animals obtain these 

 substances, ready formed, from their food, either ani- 

 mal or vegetable. The vegetable world stlstains a 

 direct importance to the animal, in the production of 

 these great vegetable substances, which become by 

 the process of digestion and nutrition and assimila- 

 tion, the most necessary of animal compounds. The 

 same remark is true of casein, which is an important 

 portion of milk, and abounds in cheese. 



In the grasses and grains, the essential food of man 

 and numerous animals, there exist silex, phosphates 

 of iron and lime, &6C., potash, soda, lime, magnesia, 

 sometimes a little common salt, and some others. 

 These substances are necessary for the plants them- 

 selves, or, they are' constituents of the plants and 

 of their fruits. 



Now, these are obtained chiefly from the soil, and 

 if the soil does not possess them, they are to be ad;led 

 in the supply of manures. Wheat, it is well known, 

 must obtain from the earth a certain amount of phos- 

 phate of lime for its highest state of excellence. 



It is to be expected that these substances will 

 exist in most soils. Hence the rocks, by whose disin- 

 tegration soils have been formed, are found 'o con- 

 tain them, in their natural state. If they have been 

 removed by any means from the soil, the farmer must 

 supply the adequate quantity of them. This is a 

 necessary, though small part of scientific agriculture. 

 Besides the common substances and fertilizers in 

 soils, some rare ones have seemed to be valuable, as 

 sulphate of iron or copperas, cominon salt or chloride 

 of sodium, sulphate of lime or gypsum, &c. 



Common salt is found in plants of the ocean, or sea- 

 weeds, while potash exists in land plants. The latter 

 we know to be a great fertilizer, and important in 

 plants of the land, but not in those of the ocean. 

 Hence we might expect to find common salt of little 

 consequence to land vegetables, but of great to sea- 

 plants. Hence, too, it would be probable that a cer- 

 tain proportion of coinmon salt would be found in 

 soils, if it vvas essential to the constitution of land 

 vegetables, as is silex, potash, phosphate of iron, and 

 the earthy phosphates and carbonates. 



Many years since Elkana Watson, Esq., stated 

 to the Berkshire Agricultural Society, at its great 

 anniversary Show and Fair, the favorable results at- 

 tained by some agriculturists in Pennsylvania, frotii 

 the use of common salt as a fertilizer. Other experi- 

 ments have since been tried with some success. The 





