70 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. 



\ 



THRESHING OATS. 



Messrs. Editors : — Haviiifr seen in your February 

 numbpr a communication signed "Artki.," of Horn- 

 by, N. Y., containing an estimate of cost attending 

 the ibreshing of oats with the ordinary large " Iten- 

 erant TiiroHliing Macliines," making the cost, inchi- 

 dinsj board of men and team, upwards of three and a 

 half cents per bushel, (a pretty heavy percent, upon 

 their value,) and comparing the same with the cost 

 and advantages of threshing witli the flail, I beg the 

 privilege of going a little further, first acknowledging 

 the latter mode the better of the two described by him. 

 The farmer's grain not always being in a condition 

 to allow long delay, and the quantity too large to 

 admit of the slow process, as well as the fluctuation 

 of the market at diftorent seasons, together with the 

 exposure and waste from various causes, he is in 

 most cases compelled to submit to this extravagant 

 tax, levied on him by the " Goths and Vandals'' of 

 the surrounding country, in the form of the large 

 eig:ht and ten horse powers. 



Having for many years devoted the greater portion 

 of my time and attention to the wants of the agri- 

 cultural public in the way of labor-saving implements 

 and machinery, and been engaged in the manufacture 

 and introduction of the same, I may perhaps be al- 

 lowed to "go a step further than " Artkl," and see 

 if a better mode can not be adopted, by which the 

 farmer maybe placed in a more independent position 

 in all respects, save much time and expense, and bet- 

 ter suit his own convenience at the same time. As 

 the Railroad Hors(5-Powers, together with tlie small 

 spiked cylinders now used for the threshing machines, 

 have been so simplified as to do awav tlie prejudice 

 heretofore so justly felt against all endless-chain 

 horse-powers, (on account of injuring horses,) I will 

 compare the cost, Sic, of threshing an equal amount 

 with the R. R. machines, (viz., GOO bushels,) rating 

 the capacity of the machines at the average amount 

 they will do, (and which the warranty of responsible 

 manufacturers makes a condition of sale, the pur- 

 chaser being his own arbiter, after three months use 

 and trial.) 



With a two-horse power and the other parts to 

 match ; with two horses which shall together weigh 

 not less than two thousand pounds, on an elevation 

 of 1 J inches to the foot, and a travel of 2^ miles per 

 hour, either with our without harness ; and with four 

 men, four hundred bushels of oats can be threshed 

 per day for months together, without change or in- 

 jury to horses. Taking his rate of charges, we arrive 

 at the following result, assuming the farmer to own 

 his own machine : 



Four men li days carh, $5 25 



T wr) horsps I .J days each 1 50 



Hoard of lour men 1 J days 1 14 



Hoard of two horses 1 J days, 75 



Cleaning up for market with fan-mill, 1 75 



$10 39 

 making a fraction over one cent and seven mills per 

 bushel, and having at the same time the advantage 

 of doing his own work with his own farm help and 

 team, and at such times as the market, the weather, 

 or his own convenience is best accommodated. So 

 much for the two horse machines in 1 J days. 



As a majority of farmers pursue a mixed farming, 

 and have a variety of grains and grasses, with a 

 power and a machine of the improved kinds now in 



use, he can do all his threshing and secure his own 

 grass and clover seed, if not a surplus for market. 

 The power will be found of snfFicient use, in sawing 

 wood and for various mechanical purposes tn more 

 than pay the interest on the investment an-! ordinary 

 repairs from wear. Sec. Should the farmer prefer to 

 thresh his oats day by, at the rate of twenty or tliirty 

 bushels, with his monthly laborer he can <lo so with 

 the assistance of a boy in from one to one and a half 

 hours, with but one horse, leaving the h.-laiiro of the 

 day to be devoted to making and repairing implements 

 and attending to the thousand and one wants alwnvs 

 about the farm, buildings, Sic, 8ic. When the farm 

 is small, and the quantity of grain smaP, a saving of 

 some $-25 to $30 is made by the purchaser in buying 

 a one instead of a two-horse power, with which abiut 

 one-half the amount can bo done as with the double 

 power when each are worked up to their full capabil- 

 ities. H. L. E. — many, A^ Y., 1851. 



Stock in Cayuga County. — MfKsrs. Edilors : 

 It may be of interest to the agricultural poriion of 

 your readers, to learn that an addition to the superior 

 stock of short horn cattle in Cayuga county has late- 

 ly been made, in the purchase by Elisha W. SnbL- 

 DON, Esq., of Sennett, of Mr, Geo, Vail, of Troy. 



Mr. SuKLDON has obtained two thorough bred ani- 

 mals — " Kirkleavington,'' a bull calf, is roan, out of 

 Mr. Vails imported bull '•' Duke of Wellington ;*' and 

 " Lucilla 3d," a red and white heifer, between one 

 and two years old, out of " Licilla 21," and sirel by 

 Lewis F. Allen's bull "Don.'' For extended ped- 

 igrees, see American Herd Book. 



At the hte Fair of the American Institute, " Kirk- 

 leavington'' and "Lucilla 3d*' were tach awar 'e I the 

 first premiums in their respective classes, a -d they 

 are intlesd a choice sidection from Mr. Vail's very 

 excellent herd, possessing, as they do, pedigree and 

 merit inferior to none. With such cattl^, th ; town 

 of Sennott will fully maintain her place in the pre- 

 mium lists (both County and State,) of formi-r years, 

 for which the enterprising farmers of that town de- 

 serve much credit. A. B. 



Effects of Lime, Guano, and Plvstkr. — Some 

 fifteen years ago, I was among the first who intro- 

 duced lime as a fertilizer on our farms, since which 

 time almost every farmer is makinsr eff^ rts to pro'^uro 

 it, although at considerable cost. We have to haul 

 our lime from twelve to fifteen miles, at a cost <>f 15 

 cents per bushel. Within the two last years I have 

 b?en experimenting with Peruvian guano ; and so far 

 as it relates to my wheat crop, it has had the hap- 

 piest effect. Where I guanoed, the wheat was one- 

 third better than where I limed at the rate of fifty 

 bushels per acre, accompanied with a good supply of 

 barn-yard manure. Alike in all other i)articulars. 



Last fall I put a very poor field to wheat, on part 

 of which I sowed a mixture of guano and plaster, 

 and on another part added common salt, and on the 

 balance of the field I sowed only the snlt, at the rate 

 of six bushels per acre. The parts having the gunno, 

 plaster, and salt, have the best top at this time. 

 Elida John. — Bear G ip, Pa., 1st mo-, 23d, 1851. 



Mouldy Bkans may be restored and made fit for 

 use, if not very bad, by rinsing well in hot water, 

 I and carefully drying. Mouldy corn or peas may bo 

 ; treated in the same way. 



1 



i 



»*= 



