30 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



minfrling together, will live as one familj. This 

 slionkl be done late in the season. If upon a pleas- 

 ant day tlioy sh(nild come out of the hive, the old 

 one should bo placed where it stood, and what bece 

 enter it can at night be returned to the other hive. 

 Kiiio<ira O)., X. Y., Pec, 1S5S. C. C. WILSON. 



FABM BOOK. 



" For the best plan of a bunk in whicli the farmer can record 

 his practice and experience in the plainest, most simple, and con- 

 cise manner" 



The value of a well kept farm record can scarce- 

 ly be over estimated. It should be clear, explicit, 

 and comprehensive — should conttiia the daily op- 

 erations of the farm, notes of the weatber and its 

 vicissitudes ; all interesting items about the animals 

 of the fiirra, dairy, orcliard ; a separate record of 

 every crop cultivated; — in short, everything worth 

 remembering about the operations of the farm. 

 This could best be arranged in two books — one for 

 daily notes of work and the operations of the farm, 

 which must necessarily be bringing many things 

 together not properly connected but only to be re- 

 membered ; the other, the book for future reference, 

 or ledger. 



The arrangement ot the daily journal would be 

 very simple — the book to be tilled regularly from 

 the beginning, with the date prefixed to each day's 

 record, so that it would be a continuous record 

 from one day to another through the year. 



The ledger should be large enough for the pur- 

 poses of one year, or may be sufficiently large for 

 several yeai-s. It should contain, under sejiarate 

 heads, so as to be easy of access, all the substance 

 of the journal, with some important additions. It 

 may be arranged as follows: First, an alphabet- 

 ical index, containing the names of the subjects 

 treated of in the book, with the number of the i)age 

 assigned to it standing opposite. Each subject in 

 the ledger is to be treated separately, on a separate 

 page, and to contain only what the farmer will 

 need for future reference. Much of tliis matter is 

 to be drawn from the journal, and may be trans- 

 ferred at regular intervals — each week, or month 

 — or at the most convenient times. If Apples bo 

 the subject of the first entry, it will be put on the 

 "A" leaf in the index, and given the first page in 

 the bonk. If Wheat is the next subject, the name 

 is t<i be put on the " W " leaf iu the index, and to 

 occupy the second page; and so of each subject to 

 be treated. 



Tlie ledger will contain much that need not be 

 recorded in the journal — as the account of each 

 field kept by itself— the kind of crop, when put in, 

 when liarve.sted, with the yield, would be very 

 useful tor future reference, and to compare one 

 year with another. In tliis way, the yield of the 

 farm, or any part of it, is easily made out. 



In its appropriate place, at the end of the year, 

 will be made the balance sheet, containing the ex- 

 pense^ the losses, and the profits. This could be 

 made very readily from a well arranged book. 



In this way, a farmer will, in a few years, have 

 l.iid up a store of experience that will bo always 

 valaal)le, and especially if he is a man of progress; 

 for if his cultivation at one time is faulty, the 

 record of it is continually before him, and the ad- 

 monition will not be lost. B. G. NYE. 

 OalMburg, JU., Dec., 1658. 



WILL IT PAY TO KEEP POTJLTKY m 

 NUMBERS 1 



I HAVE raised large numbers of barn -yard foil 

 for several years, and have invaribly found tl 

 fifty or sixty hens would produce more e| 

 through the year, in proportion, than twice ■ 

 number, as they require a variety of food to kt 

 them in health ; and when out of health or kat 

 ing, they will not lay eggs, or hatch well. If tl 

 do hatch, tlie chickens will sicken and die in a ) 

 days, for the want of insect food, feed them 

 bountifully as you will. You may prevent it, i 

 meixsure, by feeding them fresh meat twice a we 

 chopped fine, with Indian meal, until they ar 

 month or six weeks old, they will then be stn 

 enough to ramble beyond the common walk of 

 hens and obtain insects, as they keep all cl 

 where they take their daily rambles. I have k 

 ten dozen hens, and I never in the best season 

 more than six dozen eggs per day. I have kept f 

 dozen and got thirty-nine per day ; from two do; 

 I received twenty-three per day for six monthi 

 I have tried it several times, and fOund I got 

 largest quantity of eggs and twice the numbe 

 cliickens in proportion to the number of 

 hens. I found that to have hens lay eggs, f. 

 must have their liberty a share of the time, 

 is the same with turkeys. The young ones 

 very tender, and they must have animal food 

 they will sicken and droop and die. If they 

 with a hen turkey, she will take them through 

 fields when the dew is on the grass, and they s 

 die. I raise them with a. barn fowl. This 

 season I raised eighty chickens and ten turi 

 with five barn hens. They had two acres of ci 

 mtins and four acres of corn and potatoes to n 

 ble over. I feed boiled potatoes with oats, . 

 Indian meal jammed with them when hot, pla 

 where they'could eat when they pleased w 

 cool. I had five more hens that furnished 

 family of six with a plenty of eggs for tl 

 use, and do so yet. This is the results of 

 experience for many years. z. knapi 



Fortyfori, Luaenie Co., Pa„ Nov., 1858. 



rCA! 



that 



" SnOTTLD THE SuOKERS BE REMOVED FROM COR 



— Xot unless you have plenty of boys with notl 

 else for them to do. The argument in favoi 

 removing the suckers from corn I suppose to 

 this: The suckers rob the stalks of nourishrr 

 necessary to their growth and perfect developm. 

 and appropriate it to their own use. They nc 

 have but little if any corn upon them, consequei 

 are of no value except for fodder. 



I think it will not pay to remove them, unless 

 I said above, there is no other work for the be 

 and perhaps not then, unless it be to keep tl 

 out of mischief. Suckers are not often thrown 

 from corn on poor, hungry soil; and when t - 

 are, it is conclusive evidence to mo that everytl ' 

 is as favorable as it can be to the growth and ] 

 fection of the crop; that it is growing as fast t 

 can; that the roots are taking up the necess 

 food for the plant as fiist as it can be manufactcj|i 

 (so to speak) into corn, and perhaps faster; 

 that, as a natural consequence, these new sho.^t 

 suckers are tlirown out because the sap or food 

 the plant ctiu go iu no other direction.— 0. C. V 

 SON, Ketp/ane, Niag. Co., K Y., Dec, 1858. 



