128 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



1 HAVK on mj' place a crystalizcd stone, so soft that it can be 

 ground at a good advantjige in a ])laster mill, and it makes a pow- 

 der very while, and after it is burned is very white lime. Now, 

 what I want to know is whether there is any value in that stone as 

 a fertilizer before it is burned, when it is ground ? Wiioie the stone 

 comes to the surface, it wastes and runs down on the soil, niakins 

 it black and rich, and gives vegetables a dark, rich appearance and 

 growth. It will put you to some trouble to answer, but no more 

 than I have and will take for the benefit of the Gexesee Farmer. 

 Andrew Clakk. — Comstock Landing, N. Y. 



The limestone above mentioned may be regarJed, wlien 

 ground, a.s equal to the best marl, and used accordinfjly. 

 If exposed to the air for some months, it would probably 

 disintergate so as to be spread without grinding. The 

 freezing of a winter would probably aid in reducing the 

 porous stone to a powder. If it is abundant and cheajj, 

 use it freely on your land, for it will doubtless benefit your 

 pastures, meadows and tilled fields. Spread it as you 

 would leached ashes ; and if you can add the latter, so 

 much the better. We should be glad to pay a thousand 

 dollars for enough of such rotten limestone on our farm to 

 supply 100 acres with the needful calcareous element. 



tf the many p.apers I have seen in relation to the use of bones as 

 a manure, and their preparation with sulphuric acid, I do not recol- 

 lect having seen anj' statement of the effect of the acid on the fat 

 and gelatin contained in fresh bones. Will you have the goodness 

 to inform me, either through your paper or otherwise, whether the 

 fattj- matter is dissipated or diminished in agricultural value by the 

 application of acid ? Charles R. Paxtox. — Bloomsburg, Colum- 

 bian Co., Pa. 



Concentrated acid would burn and ultimately consume 

 the fatty matter in bones ; but as the acid is diluted in some 

 five times its weight of water, no part of the oi^anic mat- 

 ter in bones is destroyed. The gelatin in bones is far more 

 valuable as food for plants than the oil or fat which they 

 contain. At the time Prof. Johnston wrote his Lectures 

 on Agricultural Chemistry, bones boiled to extract their 

 organic elements were worth four guineas a ton, while 

 those in their natural state sold at seven guineas a ton. In 

 England a ton is 2240 pounds. 



yf. L. B., of Kalamazoo, wishes to learn the difference in 

 durability between Red Cediir and "White or Yellow, as fence 

 posts. If any reader will give information on the subject 

 we shall publish it. Jlr. B. remarks : " Great efforts have 

 been made for years to induce northern farmers to locate 

 in Virginia, on their exhausted lands. Can you inform me 

 how far those lands have given satisfaction ?" As a gene- 

 ral thing, emigrants from the North to Virginia and Mary- 

 land have done and are doing well. Their crojjs sell high, 

 and their farms yield well, if not better, than they expected. 



Our Canadian correspondent (A. M. S.), who asks for 

 some remedy to prevent wheat falling just before it is 

 ripe, has called up an important subject. The young of 

 the Hessian fly often cause wheat to fall very badly. 

 If these insects infest his crop, they may be seen in June 

 Jying compressed into the stems near tlie crown or roots, 

 by pulling down the lowest leaves and exposing a few 

 inches of the naked cvdm. The pupae resemble a flax seed 

 in size and color, being, a little smaller than the seed. 

 Wheat, however, not unfrequently falls without the aid 

 of insects, from its own weight, and a lack of flint to stiffen 

 and strengthen the stems of the plant. To remedy this 



defect, the farmer needs the best lights of chemical science ; 

 and, fortunately, practice fully sustains the teachings of 

 science in its results, in this matter. The free use of alka- 

 lies (wood ashes) and lime, on land sufficiently drained, has 

 rarely failed to brighten and strengthen wheat straw. The 

 rationale will be given hereafter. 



WnAT IS THE Bust V>'uiTEWASn FOU OuT-JiUILDINGS? 



— A friend in St. Thomas, U. C, wishes to learn how to 

 make and apply the best substitute for oil paint for the 

 preservation of barns, slieds and other out-buikiiiigs, fences, 

 &c. We have published a great many recipes in back 

 volumes of the Farmek; but perhaps some one of our 

 numerous readers may have discovered a cheap and durable 

 paint adapted to tlie purposes indicated. 



(S. C. v., Allisonville.) We do not know where the 

 California bald barley can be had. And since recent im- 

 provements have been made in different reapers, we really 

 do not know which to recommend. Our impression is 

 that Ketciium's is the best mowing machine in the country. 

 Your success with ashes onl^' confirms what the Fabmbb 

 has taught for twenty-five years. 



jMr. Editor : — Mr. Caleb R. Hobbie wishes to be in- 

 formed through the medium of the Genesee Farmer, 

 whetlier smutty seed wheat, if sown, would produce smut. 

 I have been growing wheat for the last fourteen years in 

 succession, in a rich wheat country, a;.d I have made ex- 

 periments to warrant an answer in the affirmative. When- 

 ever I sowed smut I was always sure to reap smut. See 

 Genesee Faemek, Vol. XII., pp. 10, 44. P. B. Stein- 

 METZ. — Stockertown, Northampton. Co., Pa. 



Mr. Editor: — "J. M. W.," in the February number of 

 the Farmer, wishes to know something about killing or 

 getting rid of Marsh Willow. I have had a little expc' 

 rience during the last five years in this matter, having 

 cleared and improved not less than one hundred acres ol 

 marsh land during that time, and am now clearing abou< 

 seventy-five acres more. My method is simply this : — 

 When there is sufficient marsh grass, I burn it over earlj 

 in the spring ; then folloAV with the brush scythe, hook, oi 

 axe, as circumstances require, piling the brush to be burneo 

 at some future day ; sow on Red Top where needed, anc 

 mow same season, cutting off all the young sprouts tha^ 

 come up, and which are just as good for sheep as the gri 

 I have but little trouble in getting rid of my bushes, and 

 bringing the land immediately into mowing or pasture' 

 When there is not sufficient grass to burn, as above, and 

 the brush is thick, I cut it during the wii ter and spring] 

 and burn as soon as dry enough ; sow on Red Top (and 

 Timothy, if it is not too wet) ; then pasture ; and if sproatil 

 come up, I run them over the latter part of the season witl 

 a brush scythe. Clip them off a few times in this way 

 and I think they will soon run out. Perhaps " J. ]M. W.'s' 

 Willows are different from ours. We have a variety ; tli< 

 Red and Yellow are the worst. If our friend can't gei 

 rid of them, he must set up a basket factory. 

 - I am also ditching the same — cutting" ditches along the 

 roads, eight feet wide and three feet deep, which generallj 



