176 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



work at the eaves may be sawn out of 1| inch 

 plank, at small expense. There must be a dormer 

 window at the back, opposite the head of stairs, to 

 ■give light to them and the landing above, as the 

 stairs are designed to be closed in at both sides — 

 and with a door at the bottom if considered advis- 

 able, ci^irresponding with the door from the hall into 

 the kitchen. 



The expense of such a building, erected of stone 

 or brick, would vary from $1200 to $1400, accord- 

 ing to the price of materials; and if of wood, it 

 would be much less where lumber was abundant — 

 say about $800. 



MafvKing Sheep. — Mr. N. Weight, of Hornells- 

 ville, N. Y., gives us his method of marking sheep: 

 Take four parts tar, one part tallow, and from one 

 to two parts by measure of lampblack ; warm, and 

 mix together thoroughly. Then take the marker, 

 (a letter or figure, made either of wood or iron, 

 with a handle to it,) dip it into the mixture and 

 put it on the sheep while warm. The mixture 

 should be warm enough to be thin, otherwise too 

 much will stick to the marker, and it will run and 

 smear the sheep. 



MARSH HAY -WILL IT PAY TO SECTJKE IT? 



Eds. Genesee Farmee: — There is a wide differ- 

 ence in the value of marsh hay. Hay from very 

 many ina.shcs is excellent food for stock, while 

 from others it is only valuable for bedding, and in- 

 creasing the worth of the compost lieap. Marsh 

 hay, like any other product grown upon wet, un- 

 drained land, has not a proportionate value with 

 upland hay, weight considered, as it grows rank, 

 close and woody, and is not so nutritious as hay 

 produced on dry land. 



We think it will pay to secure marsh hay under 

 favorable circumstanees : say it is grown upon the 

 farm, or in close proximity, as is the case frequently 

 here at the west. If marsh hay is not secured, it 

 is a total loss ; as it is not needed for manure where 

 it grows, and only adds to the miasma and disease- 

 propagating properties of the atmosphere. 



If the marsh can be easily mown — i. e., presents 

 no natural, serious obstacles to the performance of 

 the labor — we should consider it fully worth saving. 



La Salle Co., III. NOTT A. TUBES. 



Bugs and Cucumbers. — Mr. Bergen, of Long 

 Island, recently stated that some farmers in his 

 neigliliorhood plant as much as ten acres each of 

 cucumbers, and that the way they save them from 

 bugs, is to use plenty of seed at first, and then at 

 four or five successive periods they plant on a new 

 side of the hill, a lot more of seed. This supplies 

 an abuiulance of young plants for the bugs to feed 

 on, and they leave the stronger growing plants un- 

 touched. When well out of the way of bugs, the 

 surplus plants are dug up with the hoe, — Homestead. 



EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



Is IT BEST TO Hill Corn, oe not? — W. 0. Buell, 

 of Perth, 0. W., says : " The cultivator should ex- 

 amine into the character of his corn soil, and regu- 

 late his operations accordingly. He will observe 

 that less water or rain is requisite to feed his corn 

 crop than some others, and that a superabundance 

 of water will be detrimental. Once well drained, 

 deep tilled, and somewhat open and porous soil, 

 we believe it matters but little whether the corn 

 be hilled or not. Hilling it will stir the land, and 

 aid the stalks to stand firmer; but as to the food 

 and drink for the plant, it will readily find both in 

 such a soil as we describe, if it is to be had. But 

 the case will be very diflferent in undrained and 

 shallow plowed land, with a hard or clayey bottom. 

 If the seed lie near this hard bottom, the subsequent 

 roots will be encased during the wet season with a 

 weakened and watery source of nourishment, and 

 in the dry season with a dried up and comparatively 

 unproductive one. The plant will struggle on, but 

 more depends on "good luck" than on "good man- 

 agement." We should approve of lulling in such a 

 case for more than one reason. The stirring of 

 the soil above; the gathering of a supply of food 

 about the stalk, which would be washed down 

 from time to time; the retention of moisture, and 

 its increased amount taken from the atmosphere 

 by the heaped-up soil in dry seasons — in short, the 

 tillage done overhead which should be done lelow., 

 would all aid the crop, and go tar to recompense it 

 for the previous bad treatment, and mduce a growth 

 nearer the original surface of the laud, and farther 

 from the neglected region in the neighborhood ofl 

 the seed bed. The practice of hilling corn may 

 well be supposed to have originated out of a iiecessity 

 that arose to make up afterward for a bad prepara- 

 tion of the land for successfully raising a good crop. 

 It is therefore a useful and beneficial practice ir 

 such cases, as well as a necessary one ; and keeping 

 in view the character of our agriculture in a neT? 

 country, where land is plenty and labor dear, anc 

 the improbability of a liigh state of preparation of 

 the soil by most of our farmers for many years t« 

 come, it is a practice which must continue, ant 

 recommends itself in a great majority of cases. I 

 is not to be wondered at, tliat in some few mstan 

 ces good crops have been raised without hilling 

 but they do not, in our opinion, prove that it wil 

 do, as a general thing, to omit it. In a sandy o 

 very light soil, hilling will aid the plant ; mechan 

 ically speaking, it will support it, and will doubtles 

 retain and increase the moisture in dry seasom 



