1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMEll. 



235 



mutton or for their fleeces — how much more does it 

 cost to produce a pound of fine Merino than of ordin- 

 ary coarse wool ? The proportion of lambs annually 

 reared to the number of ewes. 



Hogs. — What the best breeds — the cheapest 

 method of producing pork and bacon — how many lbs. 

 of meat will 100 lbs, of corn yield — the best method 

 of putting up pori<, and curing bacon and hams. 



Cotton. — Average yield of clean cotton per acre — 

 cost of production per Ib.^what crops best grown in 

 rotation with cotton — best preventives against rust, 

 army and boll worms — how dce[>do you usually plow 

 for this crop ; have you any experience in subsoiling 

 or deep tillage for cotton — your experience in the 

 use of cotton seed as a fertilizer— how can cotton 

 lands best be unproved without resting them ? Is 

 guano used ; and, if so, with what result ? 



Sugar Cane. — Is the cane losing its vital force 

 and becoming more subject to premature decay than 

 formerly — should not the seeds in place of raltoons 

 be occasionally planted to produce new and healthier 

 varieties — can you suggest any improvement in cul- 

 tivation of the cane, or the manufacture of sugar — 

 cost of producing sugar per lb.? Is guano used ; 

 and, if so, with what result ? 



Rice. — Can rice be succesfully cultivated on up- 

 land — do you know of any varieties decidedly super- 

 ior to others whicii deserve increased attention — can 

 you suggest any improvement in the managemeni ol' 

 rice plantations ? Quantity grown per acre. 



Tobacco. — Average yield per acre — cost of pro- 

 duction per cwt. or hhd.— describe any new process 

 of cultivation or curing — crops best grown in rota- 

 tion to maintain the fertility of tobacco land. Is 

 guano used, and with what result ? 



Hemp. — Is the culture of hemp on the increase or 

 decrease. Describe any new process of culture or 

 preparation for market — average yield per acre — cost 

 of production per lb. 



Root Crops, (Turnips, Carrots, Beets, ^-c.) — Is 

 the cultivation of these roots, as a field crop, on the 

 increase — can you suggest any improvement in pre- 

 paring land, seeding, alter tillage and feeding ? Av- 

 erage product per acre. 



Potatoes, {Irish and Sweet.) — Average yield per 

 acre — cost of production per bushel — most prolific 

 and profitable varieties — best system of planting, till- 

 age, and manuring. 



Fruit Culture. — Is the culture of fruit receiving- 

 increased attention — cannot apples enough be grown 

 on an acre to render the crop a very profitable one to 

 the farmer — comparative value of apples and potatoes 

 for feeding hogs and cattle — what varieties best to 

 keep for winter use and for exportation — do you 

 know any preventive or remedy for the "blight" on 

 pear and apple trees, or the " yellows" on peach 

 trees? The best method of transplanting, budding, 

 grafting, &c. Make any suggestions on the culture 

 of grapes, and other fruit — the manufacture of ivine 

 and on forest culture. 



Manures. — What is regarded as the best plan of 

 making and preserving manures from waste — are 

 lime and plaster used as fertilizers — if so, in what 

 quantity, and how often applied — is guano used, and 

 with what success ? Quantity usually applied per 

 acre. 



Meteorology. — Time and degree of highest and 

 lowest range of thermometer — mean temperature of 

 each mohth in the year — fall of rain in each month, 

 and aggregate for the year. 



"PLOW DEEP." 



For three seasons I have had opportunity of testing 

 the value of deep plowing, or digging, in our kind of 

 soil. In the summer of '48, I tried it with potatoes, 

 by planting them on a black, tenacious, alluvion, cov- 

 ered and partly mixed with a gravelly, sandy, hard- 

 pan soil taken from a ditch eighteen or twenty inches 

 deep, that was dug through a bog, or mud-hole. — 

 The potatoes, in size, quantity and quality, were su- 

 perior. In the fall of '49, l" had a small patch of 

 meadow land .plowed for a garden. The ground had 

 once been an elder swamp situated nearly on the top 

 of a hill of considerable extent and elevation. It had 

 been partially drained and used several years for a 

 garden, but was abandoned as too wet. The soil is 

 black, somewhat tenacious, twelve to fifteen inches 

 deep, covering a sandy, gravelly, sub-soil. It was 

 plowed again in the spring of '50, but not deep 

 enough to disturb the sub-soil ; planted with corn, 

 potatoes, beans, peas, k.c. The corn did well, pota- 

 toes grew well but rotted ; the beans were tolerably 

 good, but the peas were a very light crop, (straw 

 large,) Last spring ('51,) plowed again, deep, but 

 not to reach the sub-soil ; and planted as before. — 

 A ditch was dug along one side, and enough of the 

 sub-soil thrown up to cover a strip five or six feet 

 wide to the depth of two or three inches. Corn on 

 this, as in other pans of the garden, nearly destroyed 

 by wire-worms ; potatoes look well, beans do,, and 

 peas iiave done exceedingly well, far better than 

 last year, pods large and full. The same kind of 

 peas, (marrowfat,) each year, and the difference of 

 the seasons not sufficient to account for the result. 

 I attribute the improvement wholly to the intermix- 

 ture of the surface and sub-soils. H. — Down East, 

 Aug., 1851. 



Unequal Maturity of diffkrent parts or a 

 Potato,— Some time since, a correspondent of the 

 Genesee Farmer, advanced the idea of the unequal 

 maturity of the two ends of the tuber. It was a 

 new thought to me, and doubtless correct ; as the 

 enlargement of the tuber is made at the further end, 

 just as a branch of a tree grows by elongation ; and 

 it is plain, that the end of the tuber, like the end of 

 the branch, is the least mature, until ripened by a full, 

 complete, natural process, just as a branch com 

 pletes its growth by the formation of a perfect bud. 

 Yet, that the end of a branch is not as thoroughly 

 matured as its base, is evident from the fact that it is 

 often killed in winter, while the base remains unin- 

 jured. The potato tuber shows the unequal matu- 

 rity by the unequal degree of adhesion of the cuticle, 

 or outer skin, on the two extremites. The tuber 

 may be considered ripe when the cuticle adheres 

 firmly to every part of it. Whether this immaturity 

 of the tuber has contributed to the production of the 

 " rol," appears rather doubtful, from the fact, that 

 the immaturity of other seeds does not appear to op- 

 erate unfavorably to their growth and perfection of 

 their product. If a seed is sufficiently ripe to grow, 

 its product is found to be good. That the tuber is 

 not a seed, seems incapable of affecting the result. 

 H.—Down East, 1851. 



Frying Fresh Fish. — Never put them into cold 

 fat. Let the lard, o-r butter, be first heated to a 

 degree just short of burning, and then plunge in the 

 fish — the greater the quantity of fat, and the quicker 

 the fish are cooked, the belter they will be. 



