1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



257 



in length under the top end of the flax and lifting' it 

 over. Ordinarily the drying can be effected in the 

 swathes ; but if the weather is wet and unfavorable, a 

 person should be consulted who is acquainted with 

 the manner of setting it up on its butts to dry. 



On all heavy lands this cultivation will secure a 

 fine crop of flax. On land that is infested with ivire 

 worms, flax is partieularbj serviceable. Flax likes, 

 as do almost all other useful plants, a deep soil, but 

 this depth should not be obtained at the expense of 

 Llie surface fertility ; so I recommend five or six inch 

 furrows. W. R. Matsi^by. —JVeivport, JY. Y., 1851. 



AGRICtJLTURAL SCHOOLS 



It is useless, perhaps, at this late day, to undertake 

 to discuss the question of the utility of " Agricultu- 

 ral Schools." All that w^e can now do, is to stand 

 and wonder that nothing has yet been done on this 

 subject ; or, if anything has been done, that it was 

 not done sooner ; or, that so little has been done. 

 And yet our wonder must cease in some degree, when 

 we consider the prevailing ignorance on the subject 

 of scientific farming, and the character of the men 

 whom we choose to make our laws. 



1st. Prevailing ignorance. This begins to be dis- 

 sipated, and yet it is no uncommon thing to hoar 

 some of our best farmers (at least in their own esti- 

 mation) say they do not believe any man in his study 

 can teach them how to manage their farm. Such a 

 remark I heard not long since ; and besides, many of 

 those that read are only gradually enlightened and 

 convinced, and their action is slow. 



2nd. The character of our law-makers. How few 

 of these are intelligent farmers ! Perhaps not one- 

 fourth ! and yet we are a nation of farmers. So long 

 then as we choose lawyers, merchants, politicians, 

 stockholders, &,c., who know nothing about farming, 

 and even less, we cannot expect that the interests of 

 farmers will be greatly consulted. Is it impertinent, 

 then to ask, " Whose fault is it if the farming inter- 

 est is left to take care of itself ]" The majority of 

 our voters are farmers and can control eA^ery election. 

 If they will not consult their own interests, who will 

 consult for them 1 The fault then belongs to the far- 

 mers themselves. Let them do their duty to them- 

 selves, by choosing men of the right class, and they 

 will soon have such laws and institutions as they 

 wish. H. — Down East, Oct., 1851. 



NOTES BY A FARMER 



" The present generalion is duath on American Forests." — 



Eilitor Genesee Fanner. 



"Why," sscys one, "do we hear so much about 

 'forests,' 'waste of timber,' Sic. The earth has been 

 inhabited several thousand years, and those parts that 

 have been longest inhabited are not yet destitute of 

 timber." The question is as easily answered as it 

 is asked. No age of the world ever required so great 

 a consumption, or made so great waste, of timber, as 

 the present, and no country requires so great a con- 

 sumption as ours ; and that consumption must neces- 

 sarily increase with the increase of population, unless 

 a substitute for steam shall be found. But as I may 

 perhaps treat of this subject hereafter, I omit further 

 remarks. 



A "Rat-Proof" Granary — One covered, or lined, 

 with tin. At least cover every joint on the out-side, 

 or on both sides, with a strip of tin. Rats will sel- 



dom try to make an opening, except where a crack 

 or joint tempts them to tho work. 



Rats and Mice. — One of the best methods of de- 

 stroying these pests, that I remember to have heard 

 of, is the following : Take a large kettle, or barrel, 

 fill it nearly full of anything that is most convenient, 

 as waste grain, chaff", beans, earth, fcc; set it in the 

 barn, or other place infested with rats, place a board 

 for them to run up on, throw over the mass a quan- 

 tity of meal and let them feed several nights without 

 interruption. Now empty the vessel and fill it with 

 water up to about six or eight inches of the top ; 

 throw over the surface a little chaff" sufficient to cover 

 it, and strew' over this a little meal and arrano-e it as 

 before.' The rats will detect the trick when too late 

 to profit by it. Scores have thus been taken in a 

 single night. 



Muck. — Quick lime will assist in the decomposi- 

 tion, if mixed with muck in the pile. From my lim- 

 ited knowledge on the subject, however, I would treat 

 it differently. I would either put it into the barn- 

 yard in the fall and let it be worked into the mass of 

 winter manures ; or I would spread it over the ground 

 in the fall, harrow it about in the spring, sow on it 

 some lime and plow it under. Muck will be of com- 

 parative little value on land already abounding in 

 vegetable matter. Its value will be conspicuous on 

 sands, clays, or, perhaps on any exhausted soils. 



SucKERiNG Corn. — This, according to my theory, 

 should be done early, in order to throw the whole 

 nourishment into the main stalk. H. — Down Eastf 

 Oct., 1851. 



MOUNTAIN ASH. 



For the information of Mr. Thomas, (in answer to 

 inquiries in the last Genesee Farmer,) I wquld state 

 that some ten years ago (I think it was the last of 

 November) I planted a handful of Mountain Ash ber- 

 ries without any preparation. I did not even pick 

 them from the stem, but covered them with earth not 

 to exceed an inch in depth, not thinking they would 

 come up under a year and a half, but was agreeably 

 disappointed when a little more than five months, or 

 early in May following, they came up so thick that 

 1 was obliged to transplant them before there was 

 hardly any root formed. This I did by breaking 

 them apart into bunches of from four to a dozen (I 

 could not do otherwise, they were so thick together) 

 in a bunch. In a few days I removed or destroyed 

 all except one or tw"o of tlie most thrifty whicli grew 

 so finely as to amply repay all the labor bestowed 

 upon them. Cordkha Ann Reeves. — Arcadia, JV. 

 v., Oct., 1851. 



Tobacco in Wisconsin. — It appears that the at- 

 tempt to grow tobacco in Wisconsin has been suc- 

 cessful. The JVaterloicti Chronicle says: "The 

 first experiments in Jefferson county at tobacco rais- 

 ing, have been made this season. In the towns of 

 Milford, Waterloo, Aztalan and Lake Mills, some 

 twenty acres have been cultivated. In every instance, 

 we learn, the most complete success has attended 

 these experiments. It has been demonstrated past a 

 peradventure, that our soil and climate are peculi- 

 arly well adapted to the growth of this plant. And 

 what is still more gratifying, the crop pays well. 

 These twenty acres, we are assured, will yield an 

 average net profit of $50 per acre." 





