36 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



advertising. In the December number we put in an ad- 

 reitisement for a New York firm dealing in guano, and the 

 following letter from them tells of its influence on their 

 business : 



Gkntlkmev : — We hare been run down, both by letter and calls 

 IE person, for Peruvian guano, almost to require tlje assistance of 

 an extra clerk ta answer tke iaiiuiries, both by letter ami verbally. 

 We understand you liavc a journal situated down south. Will 

 you oblige us by having the sjmie advertisement of guano go in 

 the January iuid Febru.iry numbers of that paper? Also, con- 

 titiue the s.<uae in the Geiieice Farmer to February and March 

 numbere. Yours respectfully, Lo.voktt & Geiffin. 



New York, Nov, 27, 1853. 



Premiums for Volume XV., Second Series. — "We in- 

 vite particular attention to the liberal Premiums to be paid 

 on subscriptions to Volume Fiftfen, second series, of the 

 GrrKsee Farmer, as advertised on last page. 



This journal has just twice the number of pages, and 

 nearly three times the reading matter, which are contained 

 in the Wool- Grower and Stock Register, while the price 

 of both papers is the same. Did we make the Farmer no 

 larger than the Wool-Grotcer, and expend no more for 

 original engravings and premiums, than it does, our profits 

 would be ten times larger than they now are, with our 

 present circulation. There are but few dollar monthlies 

 that equal tlie Genesee Farmer as now printed, in the quan- 

 tity of reading furnished in each number ; so that if the 

 Farmer can live by laboring for the million, they ought to 

 realize handsome fortunes from the patronage of " the up- 

 per ten thousand" of the feinuing community. 



Tlaiis, in addition to paying one hundred and fifty dollars 

 in cash premiums, we offer, and shall give a bonus of one 

 extra copy of the Farmer to every person who sends us IG 

 subscribers at 37 cents a volume. Everyone that sends for 

 24 copies, will receive two extra volumes. To such as or- 

 der 32 copies, three extra volumes ; to such as order 40 

 copies, four extra volumes, or any agricultural book worth 

 one dollar ; and to such as order 48 copies, five extra vol- 

 umes of the Farmer, or any agricultural book worth a dol- 

 lar and a quarter. 



These premiums have all to be paid out of the few cents 

 profit which we hope to realize on each volume, when sold 

 at thirty-seven cents. Our object is not to make a fortune, 

 nor to rnjure tlie circulation of any other agricultural jour- 

 nal, but to render the farmers and gardeners of the United 

 States the greatest possible benefit in our power. To theni 

 we look for s^inpathy and support. 



~^^^».^mm. 



Scientific American. — The success of this Journal of 

 Applied Sciences, is, we venture to say, unprecedented in 

 this or any oth^ country ; but it is no greater than it de- 

 serves. In the useful work of creating a popular taste for 

 the study of the principles of science and art, it is render- 

 ing the public an invaluable service. Its numerous illustra- 

 tions of recently invented machines of all kinds, and its 

 lucid explanations of the principles on which they must 

 operate, if at all to any advantage, confer equal benefits on 

 the heads that plan and the hands that execute the greatest 

 achievements. It is not perfect, or it does not fill our ideal 

 of what such a paper ought to be, while it approaches 

 nearer to it than any other in any language. The Scien- 

 tific American is a weekly publication, by Mckn & Co., 

 New York. Price $2 per annum. 



Shall Congress do antthino for Agriculture ? — 

 The above is a pertinent question, now that the National 

 Legislature has commenced its biennial long session, which 

 is likely to last until next September. Joint resolutions 

 have been introduced to purchase Mount Vernon, with a 

 view to establish an Experimental Farm, and an Institution 

 that shall turn out thoroughly educated teachers of rural 

 sciences and arts — a class of men more needed than any 

 other in all the States. The latter are utterly unable to 

 found valuable professorships of scientific husbandry in 

 their colleges, because the science of husbandry can not 

 now be properly pursued and learnt in the United States, 

 and consequently, we have no men fuUy prepared to do jus- 

 tice to any department of either husbandry or agriculture 

 as a profession. To educate teachers of military and naval 

 sciences the country supports a military school at "West 

 Point and a naval school at Annapolis. This is right ; but 

 science is not less useful to advanced agriculture than to ad- 

 vanced warfare on land and on the ocean. 



Let the agricultural press and the educated owners of 

 the soil move in this matter -without delay, if they would 

 have Mount Vernon cease to be a disgrace to the nation, 

 and not become a mere hospital for disabled politicians. 

 Congress may purchase Mount Vernon and yet do nothing 

 whatever for the advancement of agriculture. Petitions 

 should be forwarded by every Agricultural Society in the 

 Union in favor of an Experimental Farm to develope new 

 truths in tillage and husbandry. This is what we reallj 

 need more than new agricultural books filled with old saws 

 that have been re-set and filed a thousand times with na 

 improvement or change. 



Shelter for Firewood. — Railroad companies art" 

 wisely in providing good sheds for their firewood at al) 

 their stations. Thousands who cut wood to haul or boa< 

 into cities, let it lie for years exposed to the weather in 

 smaU heaps, because half rotten wood, if dry, is very light 

 to handle, and sells better than green wood, although it is 

 really worth no more than its dry weight would indicate. 

 One that cuts wood for his own use should either house it 

 immediately, or pile it in large masses so that no chemical 

 change will take place in the tissues of the sap or heart 

 wood. We have just bought a cord of "White Beech at $4, 

 which has been damaged 25 per cent., although apparently 

 sound as well as seasoned, by incipient decay. Firewood 

 ought to be dry and sold by weight. A pound of dry Pin« 

 or Hemlock will yield the same amount of heat as a like 

 weight of Hickory or Sugar Maple. Pure woody fiber is the 

 same in all forest trees, but water, gum or resin often 

 makes a large difference in the value per foot or cord. 



Honey a Profitable Crop.— Mr. T. A. Newton, gro- 

 cer, of this city, has shown us specimens of beautiful honey 

 produced by a" farmer in Livingston county, N. Y. (whose 

 name we have unfortunately forgotten), who has realized 

 the handsome sum of one thousand dollars from the labors 

 of his bees the past season. The honey is all deposited by 

 the industrious insects in wooden boxes six inches by eight. 

 Not one-tenth of the honey of the country is collected at 

 all, or turned to any profit whatever. 



