



Vol. XXI, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., AUGUST, 1860. 



No. 8 



FAEM VISITS. 



The Farm of Joseph Weight, Waterloo, N. 

 Y. — Ou the Sd of July, in company with onr 

 esteemed correspondent, Samuel Williams, we 

 spent some hours most agreeably in visiting the 

 farm of Joseph Wright, Esq., of Waterloo, Seneca 

 Co., K Y. 



Mr. Wright occupies about 300 acres. He raises 

 no wheat, and but little grain of any kind, except 

 what is needed for the use of his stock. He devotes 

 much attention to the breeding and raising of 

 blooded horses. He has now over ninety head of 

 horses and colts, many of them of great value. He 

 las been in the habit of using considerable quanti- 

 ies of still-slop-made manure ; and this, together 

 with the large quantity of manure made by his 

 )wn stock — coupled with the best of culture — 

 ias made his land exceedingly rich. Earely have 

 ive seen finer crops of grass, coi-n, potatoes, etc. 



Mr. Weight is a man of wealth, and having a 

 aste for agriculture and horticulture, has expended 

 t liberally, but judiciously, in the improvement of 

 is farm, horses, cattle, etc. He has tile-drained 

 ocsiderably, and reclaimed portions of his farm, 

 hich, from being unsightly swamp holes, that a 

 lan could not travel, he has converted into firm 

 ad highly productive land. 



There is a bed of swamp-muck on the farm, and 

 lis is carted into the barn-yards and made into 

 )mpost with the manure. This compost, when well 

 )tted, makes an admirable top-dressing for grass 

 or, indeed, for any other crop; but Mr. Weight 

 )eaks highly of it for the former purpose. We 

 ,w a 28-acre field of Timothy (four years from 

 seding), that was top-dressed with this compost 

 le early part of last winter. The crop is remark- 

 )ly even all over the field, and we have seldom 

 ien anytliing handsomer. Two and a half acres 

 ■ compost-dressed Timothy had been cut, and 

 elded seven large loads of hay that it was thought 

 ould weigh at least 25 cwt. each. This would be 



3^ tons per acre ! So much for top-dressing. Four 

 acres of top-dressed clover had been harvested, 

 which, judging from the stubble, we thought must 

 have been very heavy ; and on inquiry, found it 

 had produced eleven large loads of hay. On an- 

 other 8-acre field of Timothy, Mr. Wright had ap- 

 plied 40 loads per acre of raw muck. The crop, 

 though by no means so good as the former, was 

 much better than a field adjoining, where no muck 

 had been use(J. 



The crops of corn and potatoes were very fine, 

 and the ground exceedingly mellow and clean. 

 The horse-hoes are kept constantly going, and Mr, 

 W. finds hand-hoeing unnecessary. He has raised 

 for some years a kind of Southern corn, stalks of 

 which we saw at the State Fair in Syracuse two 

 years ago, and which, if we recollect right, were 

 about 20 feet high. It is rather late, but matures 

 liere in an ordinary season. He has raised 215 

 bushels of sound ears per acre. It is now (July 3,) 

 five feet high, We need hardly say tljat the land 

 on which it grows is exceedingly rich. 



Mr. W. grows every year several acres of corn 

 for fodder, sown broadcast, and esteems it highly. 

 This year he has ten acres. All his corn-stalks are 

 preserved with care, and when cut up and a little 

 mill-feed added, the cattle eat them with avidity. 

 But for these he could not winter his large herd ot 

 stock. He uses two of J. E. Dutton & Oo.'s stalk- 

 cutters — one driven by horse power, and one by 

 steam. He thinks the former preferable, on account 

 of the extra rates for insurance when the latter is 

 used. One of the advantages of this machine is 

 that it crushes as well as cuts tlie stalks. 



Mr. Weight devotes considerable attention to 

 fruit culture, and with much success. In his gar- 

 den we found nearly all tlie best varieties of straw- 

 berries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, etc. The 

 latter were mildewed this season for the first time. 

 The gooseberry saw-fly, which lias been sb trouble- 

 some for a year or two ])ast with us, ha;s not yet 



