300 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Woodfin was almost entirely destroyed, not yield- 

 ing, he thinks, one peck to the bushel seeded. 

 I have cultivated both the White 

 and Red May, and I think the 

 Connor preferable, being more 

 productive than either," 



We are indebted to Levi Bakt- 

 LETT, of Warner, N. H., for sam- 

 ples of three varieties of early 

 wheat, together with descriptions 

 of them, which will be read with 

 interest. We deem this subject 

 of such importance that we have 

 procured engravings of the ears 

 so obligingly sent us by Mr. B. 



"The Early Japan (fig. 2).— 

 Brought from Japan by the late 

 Commodore Perry. It seems to 

 prove a very hardy and early va- 

 riety, coming into blossom about 

 ten days earlier than any other 

 variety I have 

 experimented 

 with. It is a red 

 wheat, and prob- 

 ably wiU not 

 yield the whitest 

 grade of flour ; 

 but its earliness 

 and hardiness 

 will offset for 

 this defect. The 

 four years I have 

 been experi- 

 menting with it, 

 it has not been 

 injured by the 

 midge, rust, or 

 smut. The heads are short, yet I 

 have shelled from 55 to 60 grains 

 from a single head. 



"The Early Noh (fig. 3).— 

 Obtained from France a few years 

 since, by the Patent Oflace. Yuu 

 will see that it is an open-headed, 

 tliiok-chaffed variety, the head 

 differing much from most other 

 varieties. It has the thickest, 

 hardest, and heaviest straw of 

 any wheat that I have ever ex- 

 amined. From this I infer it will 

 boar high manuring without lia- 

 bility to lodge. 



" Tuscan Wheat (fig. 4).— Re- 

 ceived at and distributed by the 

 Patent Office. With the seed 

 o&mo a certificate signed by a 

 number of Michigan farmers, cer- 

 tifying that this variety had been 

 oultivated there nineteen years, 

 without ever being injured by 

 r»»L" 



Mr. Bartlett adds : 



"There never haa been, within ray recollection, 



tof winter wheat grown here till seven years ago. 



Fio. 2. 



Since then it has been considerably 

 grown by many of our farmers ; 

 and when properly cultivated, it 

 has generally done well. I have 

 grown it for the five or six years 

 past, and successfully too. Some 

 four weeks ago, I took a short 

 excursion about the town, and 

 saw from seventeen to twenty 

 fields of winter wheat. Most of 

 them were extremely good. 



"You write that you are 

 'deeply interested in this subject.' 

 So am I. I have no hesitation in 

 saying that, with the same popu- 

 lation, in this and other of our 

 towns, there is more wheaten 

 bread eaten in one month than 

 there was in the whole twelve 

 forty or fifty years ago ; and most 

 of the flour from which this bread 

 is made, is brought from the 

 South and West. To pay for this 

 heavy im2)ort of flour, causes an 

 immense draft upon the purses of 

 our people; while, with a little 

 more skill, energy, and knowledge 

 in wheat-culture, by our farmers, 

 this evil might be greatly abated. 



"Judging from my knowledge 

 of the wheat-midge, which ex- 

 tends back some thirty years, 

 your farmers who tliink the midge 

 has passed over will yet find them- 

 selves sadly disappointed. If five 

 years' experience gives me any 

 right to speak in this matter, I 

 will Just say, with good culture, 

 suitable soil, early sowing, (that 

 is, in this section, from the 20th no. 4. 



of August to the 10th of Septem- 

 ber,) farmers may pretty safely calculate npon fair 

 crops of wheat — even crops of your best white 



wheats." 



■ I ■ 



BEFUSE OF TANNERIES. 



w 



Fio. 3. 



# 



? 



At a late meeting of the Farmers' Club of Little 

 Falls, New York, the subject of using tlie refuse 

 of tanneries (hair, fleshings, lime, &c. ) for agricul- 

 tural purposes, was discussed, and one member 

 stated that he had used hair on grain and grass 

 with the most perfect eifect. He had spread it 

 thinly and harrowed it in with the spring wheat, 

 and produced tlie best crop he had ever raised or 

 seen in the neighborliood. Upon grass its efiect has 

 been very distinct and lasting. Applied upon the top 

 of an unproductive dry piece of land, it had produced 

 a very luxui-iant gru\vth, and without any other ap- 

 plication, the dark green complexion of the sward 

 jiad scarcely abated in ten years. — Scientific Amer. 



We have repeatedly called attention to the great 

 fertilizing value of the refuse hair, scraps of hide, 

 &c., from the tanneries. Wlien free from impuri- 

 ties, hair and dry skin contain as much nitrogen as 

 the best Peruvian guano. They are not so readily 

 decomposed, and do not act so rapidly, but they 

 are more lasting. 



