THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



17 



Qter of the shallow trench. Such an implement, 

 course, requires a great amount of power to put 



in motion. Mr. M'Ewan, who first introduced it 

 Scotland, employed twelve horses to remove a 



it of from eighteen to twenty-two inches deep ; 



id with the assistance of eight men to finish the 



ittom of the drain and guide the plow and horses, 



ntinued to execute drains of the depth named 



r one cent for eight yards. 



SPIRIT OF THE AGRICULTUEAL PRESS. 



Rolling the Snow on Wheat-Fields. — A cor- 

 spondent of the Toronto Globe (C. W.) advances 

 le opinion that rolling the snow on the autumn 

 heat in winter would be an effective means of 

 •eventing winter-kill, by rendering the snow less 

 ible to melt on every sudden thaw that occurs, 

 e says the -practice is extensively followed in 

 weden. A good deal of discussion is taking place 

 irough the columns of that paper, on this subject, 

 om which we gather that it yet requires the test 

 \ actual experiment to decide whether any benefit 

 to be derived from the operation or not. 



"Watering Cows. — Tlie Boston Cultivator gives 

 a account of a recent visit to the farm of the Hon. 

 osiAH QuiNOT, Jr., near Boston, and says the sta- 

 les are so arranged that the cows have a trough 

 f water before them, covered with a lid hung on 

 ne side with butts, so that when the cow wants 

 drink she has only to raise the lid with her 

 ose to get at the water. Mr. Quinoy is perfectly 

 atisfied with a cow that gives 16 quarts of milk 



day, whether she has a pedigree or not. 



How CoKN Sheis:ks. — A correspondent of the 

 '^rairie Farmer weighed out 75 lbs. of corn on the 

 ar, dried it, shelled it ; and on submitting it to the 

 est of the scales again, found that the corn and 

 obs together only weighed 60 lbs., having lost 15 

 bs. He thinks it did not shrink more than most 

 torn will by keeping over winter. 



Increasing the weight of "Wool. — An exchange 

 lays some farmers have increased the average yield 

 i)f wool in their flocks, by weighing each fleece as 

 .t was sheared, and branding the weight on the 

 animal it came off, and always selecting those for 

 3ale or slaughter tliat had the lowest weight of 

 fleece marked upon them. 



Value of Cashmere Goats. — The Ifew YorTc 

 Observer states that its weight in silver was ten- 

 dered recently for a pure bred goat belonging to 

 the Cashmere Shawl Goat Co. of Tennessee. The 

 offer was refused. The company sell the wool of 

 their seven-eighth blood goats for %% ver lb. 



Fawkes' Steam Plow. — The Ohio Cultivator 

 thinks the recent trials of this implement have been 

 all a sham. The Prairie Farmer doubts whether 

 the machine can be economically used for plowing. 

 The North- Western Prairie Farmer in plain terms 

 intimates that the trial of this plow at Urbana, 111., 

 on the 22d November, was a failure ; they were a 

 series of break downs. 



Texan Sheep Farms. — An exchange, remarking 

 on the shipment of fourteen South Down rams, by 

 Geo. Haetshorne, of Rathway, N. J., tb Indianola, 

 Texas, says that a steady feeling is growing up in 

 favor of making Texas the greatest wool producing 

 State in the Union. Mexican ewes are purchased 

 at low prices, and by crossing them with males of 

 the improved breeds, they produce stock of in- 

 creased value and well adapted to the climate and 

 pastures of that State. "Would not the fine-wooled 

 sheep be more profitable ? 



Feeding Hens in "Winter. — A correspondent of 

 the American Agriculturist recommends giving 

 hens hot food in winter to make them lay. He 

 says the best way is to put a quart of small pota- 

 toes in an old pan, and set them in the oven. Mix 

 a quart of wheat or buckwheat bran in the swill 

 pail, with boiling water ; then add about one quart 

 of live coals from the stove, the potatoes hot from 

 the oven, and all the egg shells on hand, with a 

 little salt or fblphur occasionally. These are all 

 mashed together, and fed to the fowls in a trough 

 so made that the hens can not step into it, but only 

 put their bills in. This fee^ is given in the morn- 

 ing, at noon some corn, and at evening oats, or 

 wheat screenings. 



Scotch Butter. — The farmers of Aberdeenshire, 

 Scotland, make a very superior flavored butter. 

 They mix together two quarts of the best common 

 salt, one ounce of white sugar, and one ounce of 

 saltpetre. The mixture is to be rubbed up fine in 

 a mortar, or on a board with a roller, and worked 

 into the butter at the rate of one ounce to the 

 pound. 



Kansas "Wheat. — The editor of the Rochester 

 Express, who has spent some time in Kansas, says 

 they grow very fine wheat there. He saw a sam- 

 ple weighing 65 lbs. per bushel, and yielding 30 

 bushels per acre. 



Spaying Cows. — The New England Farmer 

 states that a gentleman at Newburyport had two 

 cows spayed last spring, and is well satisfied with 

 the beneficial effects produced by the operation. 

 The cows give as much milk in October as they 

 did just after calving in May. 



