THE GENESEE FARMER 



365 



Hogs. — We find in an exchange the following : " In cold 

 weather, hogs should have a dry, warm shelter, and a good, 

 soft, warm bed. Cobbett says, give your hog a bed in 

 which you could pass the night comfortably yourself. Give 

 pure water, and generally warm food, and occasionally 

 green food, such as raw roots, cabbage leaves, raw apples, 

 &c. At all seasons when hogs are confined, give, in addi- 

 tion to the above, pure earth, charcoal, and occasionally 

 dcj- rotten wood, for an absorbent. Cive a little salt, and 

 now and then a small dose of sulphur and antimony, and 

 a little tar, and let them have access to alkalies, such as 

 adies and lime. Also, be sure to keep the issues open. 

 Hogs have no insensible perspiration of the whole body, 

 like the horse, ox, and many other animals ; but they have 

 i^ues on the inside of their fore-legs, just below the knee, 

 wbich are porous, like the top of a pepper-box. Some- 

 times these become closed, and the animals fail. In such 

 oases, take a cob, or other rough substance, and, with soap 

 stids, rub open and wash the issues." 



WooL-GKOwiNG. — We have repeatedly asserted, says 

 the California Farmer, that California will become one 

 of the wool-growing States. Everything favors it — cli- 

 mate, pasturage, season, rapid increase, and little care or 

 cost, all give the assurance of good success. Already the 

 efforts have been particularly successful. The San Joacjuin 

 valley has already 1-50,000 sheep, and the number will soon 

 be doubled by those on the way. Heavy lots of wool have 

 been received in this city for shipment to the States ; more 

 than "200,000 lbs. have gone, and more will soon follow. 

 There is no doubt but that in a little time California will 

 take a prominent part in wool-growing, adding largely to 

 the wealth of the State. 



Pretty Good Provision Against Famine. — We are 



ftflly persuaded says the National Intelligencer, that there 

 is much more apprehension expressed about a deficiency 

 in the grain crops of the season than is well founded. 

 There has been more than an average crop of wheat, rye 

 and oats througliout the country, and at least half an aver- 

 age crop of Indian corn. Let us see what all this will 

 amount to : A full crop of wheat is 120,000,000 bushels ; 

 of rye, 15,000,000 ; of oats, 150,00(J,000 ; of Irish potatoes, 

 6.5,000,000 ; of half a crop of corn, 300,000,000. To which 

 may be added — sweet potatoes, 40,000,000 ; buckwheat, 

 10,000,000 ; rice, 5,000,000 ; barley, 5,(J00,000 ; peas and 

 beans, 10,000,000 ; besides an unusually heavy crop of 

 hay. Here is about one thousand millions of bushels of 

 wiiat may be called bread — a pretty good provision, one 

 would think, for twenty six millions of people. 



PoTATO-DinGER. — Among the imjilements of farm labor 

 exbibited at the Manchester, N. H. Fair, says the Granite 

 Farmer, was a wagon with machinery attached for gather- 

 ing potatoes, the recent invention of a New Hampshire 

 farmer. The wagon is placed at one end of the potato 

 field, with oxen or horses attached ; and as it passes down 

 tfie rows, digs the potatoes. se])arates them from the dirt, 

 and loads them in the wagon. 



Straw on Wheat Fields. — The Wlieeling (Va.) 

 Times and Gazette says that the wheat-growers within 

 ten miles of the city, in Virginia and Oliio, who practice 

 uniformly selling their straw to the paper and binder's 

 board mills and thus have the straw of their wheat crops 

 regularly removed from their grounds, are seldom troubled 

 with weevil. On the contrary, those whose farms are too 

 far out, and who suflter the straw to rot on their lands, have 

 their crops very much damaged by the ravages of the 

 weevil. It is recommended, therefore, to burn the straw 

 in all cases when it cannot be removed. 



Decline of Prices in California. — We notice in 

 the California Farmer a statement that much distress is 

 now felt by the farmers of that State by reason of the great 

 fall of prices of agricultural produce. Many large farm- 

 ers are now in want of means to harvest their crops. In 

 May last, the editor of the California Farmer saw hundreds 

 of tons of potatoes lying in heaps on the ground in San 

 Jose Valley going to decay — the prices then ofi"ered not 

 even paying the expenses of conveyance to market, putting 

 aside the cost of cultivation. 



Exports of Butter and Cheese. — The amount of 

 butter produced in the United States in 1850 was 313,206,- 

 962 Rs., and of cheese 105,535,219 Rs. The average value 

 of the exports of these two articles from the United States 

 during the ten years (from 1840 to 1850) has been $1,000,- 

 000 ; during the last five years of the period, it has been 

 $1,400,000. 



Cows' Sore Teats. — First wash with castile soap and 

 waT.n water, then apply lime water and linseed oil, mixed 

 in equal parts. 



The production of rice has increased from 80,841,422 

 tis. in 1840 to 215,312,710 lbs. in 1850. 



Halliday's Wind Engine. — We notice in a recent 

 number of the Scientific American an engraving and de- 

 scription of Halliday's Wind Engine, which was in ope- 

 retion at the State Fair. A paragraph in the Atw Ycrk 

 Tribune states that during a gust of wind which tore down 

 awnings, &c., the machine in question actually came to a 

 stand still, and as soon as the force of the wind was mode- 

 rated again commenced its revolutions. 



Inquires znh glnstetrs. 



Having been a subscriber for the Genesee Farmer for some time 

 past, I have perused its columns with much interest, and have 

 found almost every thing relating to farming and building, and 

 have derived great beneDt from the paper. I would like to know 

 if anv of your correspondents can give me some information in 

 regard to making c, cellar that will keep out rats. I have been 

 troubled with them a great deal. If there is any way to prevent 

 them from digi^ing under the wall, I should like to know it. I 

 intend to move my house next spring, and one reafon for moving 

 it is to get rid of these pest.-, if possible. P. S.— Perry. 



Will some of our correspondents who have knowledge 

 of such matters please communicate their experience ? 



