THE GENESEE FARMER. 



207 



Wall Papkb Eaten by Stock. — A correspond- 

 ent of the Country Gentleman tells of the loss of 

 two fine heifers that died from th.e effects of eating 

 old room paper that had been removed from the 

 walls and thrown carelessly in the yard. 



Early Wheat. — The California Farmer gives 

 an account of a variety of wheat growing at San 

 Jose, California, that headed out on the 20th of 

 April last. It is a heavy, red wheat, and has never 

 been known to be affected by smut or rust, and is 

 supposed to have been originally brought from 

 Illinois. It is called the May "wheat, and is earlier 

 by some two or three weeks than Ohili wheat. — 

 The flour from it is said to be of a very superior 

 quality. 



Dogs vs. Sheep. — A correspondent of the Ohio 

 .Farmer asks which are to be protected, " Dogs or 

 Sheep?" He thinks if every dog was killed it 

 Avould be a good riddance of one of the worst pests 

 of the country. Some years since we were will- 

 ingly tased to pay the rewards for the destruction 

 of wolves, to enable us to keep sheep, but dogs 

 have now become a worse pest than ever the 

 wolves were, particularly near villages ; and were 

 we rid of them 50 per cent, more sheep would be 

 kept. 



Rust on Oats. — The Southern Rural Gentleman, 

 (Granada, Miss,,) says the oat crop, which suffered 

 K> extensively last year from the rust, is again 

 attacked. Some farmers are turning their cattle 

 on the oat fields. 



Pkinciples not Products Entitled to Awards. 

 — The American Agriculturist calls for a reform in 

 tlie management of agricultural societies, and says 

 their exhibitions should be made a means of con- 

 tributing to the science of the art of husbandry, 

 by having the reports and addresses carefully pre- 

 pared by eminent practical farmers ; and advocates 

 offering premiums in each class to those who can 

 combine the most science and utiUty with the 

 greatest economy in production. 



Hog Cholera. — This disease is making sad havoc 

 in the western and southern states. A correspondent 

 of the Southern Cultivator recommends a teaepoon- 

 ful of arsenic to be given to each hog when attacked. 

 Another, in the same paper, says, ten grains of soda 

 ash and ten grains of barilla, finely pulverized, 

 should be given to each hog two or three times 

 daily, mixed in the food. Dr. Ross, of Kentucky, 

 aays one drachm of pulverized chlorate of potash, 

 one ounce of muriatic acid, and one ounce of water, 

 W9 to be put into a tight corked bottle and kept in 

 ft dark place. Two teaspoonfuls of this mixture 

 added to a pint of water, makes a chlorine mixture, 



and may be administered at frequent intervals in 

 doses of two or three ounces at a time, to each hog 

 on his food. To destroy the infection in a pen, the 

 posts may be well washed with a strong solution 

 of sulphate of iron or sprinkled with chloride of 

 lime. 



Warmth of Soil gained by Deep Cultivation. 

 — A correspondent of the London MarTc Lane Ex- 

 press says : " We all know that heat and moisture 

 are the two elements of decomposition and rapid 

 growth, as shown in tropical countries. Deep and 

 loose cultivation tends to this result. Possibly the 

 action of light may also be iujportant. One cause 

 of the rapid growth of market-garden vegetation is 

 depth of cultivation, combined with the subter- 

 ranean heat of the decomposing manure; and' 

 wherever there is heat, moisture is attracted. The 

 necessity for a more perfect cultivation is obvious; 

 even on a fallow you may pick up small, hard 

 knobs or clods, which, on breaking into fragmenta, 

 exhibit a little treasure of unexplored and nnavaUed'- 

 of territory, confirming the great Jethro Tull's 

 principle of infinitessimability in cultivation. I 

 have great faith in the use of Croskill's c1o(J- 

 crusher in very dry weather, for the breaking, of 

 obstinate clods," 



T¥KNip Seed. — The London Agricultural Ga- 

 zette — most excellent authority — says: "After 

 extensive experiments, we can declare, as their re- 

 sult, that turnip seed of one year old wiE; only 

 germinate about 50 per cent, ; two years ©M, 30 

 per cent,; three years old, 15 percent..; four years 

 old, 5 per cent." 



Cooking Food for Hogs. — A correspendent of 

 the Country Gentleman says that, after repeated 

 trials in fattening hogs with raw and cooked rye 

 meal and cooked potatoes, he has coni« to. the con- 

 clusion that one bushel of rye i* equal to three 

 bushels of potatoes to make pork, aadi that it will 

 not pay to cook meal for hogs. 



Japan Peas. — A correspondent ef the Indiana 

 Farmer states that the Japan peas^ are now raised 

 in that section in sufficient quautSty to sell for ten 

 cents per quart, for cooking and imi seed. He says, 

 "there is not a man who is fond of a leguminous 

 dish that would not relish them, perhaps as well as 

 he would a dish of Lima beans.*'' They should be 

 steeped in water twenty-four hoars before cooking. 

 This is absolutely necessary. 



Mulching. — The experienced editor of the Oovn- 

 Pry Gentleman recommends applying to recently 

 planted trees a mulch "coBsisting of at least six 

 compact inches of old straw, or other litter, form- 

 ing a (»rc]e six feet in dimeter.** 



