2. 



A N D G A iv ^ E N E R ' S J O U R X A L . 



27 



by conliniiiij the cold cbicily lo the almoo- 

 }y the cnvering of enow. 



:uUivntcd fielda, snow is a more important pio- 

 I from the cold of winter tban to the forest, as 

 est is itsjlf a covering to the earth. While cul- 

 n thus removes the natural covering and pro- 

 1 of the earth, the exposure is counteracted liy 

 !ared fiehls becoming warmer from the more 

 action of the 6un upon them, and their lempe- 

 ie not reducod to freezing till about the period 

 the covering of snow is spread as a broad un;n- 

 ;r the earth. 



vision is thu; made too, for those animals and 

 ), which mu^t bury themselves for winter quar- 

 elow the reach of frost, that the depth Jiiay not 

 eater than their nature may require or their 

 th render practicable. 



re the depth of frozen earth far greater than the 

 ng of enow permits, it would be long and late 

 ing before the surface would be thawed and 

 d, and 6tted for renewing the beauty of spring, 

 ation makes the spring later than in the woods; 

 dd be still later without the protection of snow, 

 easy and pleasant travelling and performing 

 neceasary business of winter, the hcnrjicial con- 

 ■)ri oi snow is palpable. If the snow were no 

 lion to the earth, the transaction of business is 

 are happy on the snow than on the I'rozen i-ur- 

 The earth, iron-bound by frost, seems too, even 

 Ircary than when clad in the cold covering of 

 In the long wintcra of more northern climes, 

 ntrast is even more striking. Communicat: m 

 almost be suspended between the inhahitanta 

 It the aid which this mantle presents, 

 dl these respects, snow is a subject of interest 

 easure. Its constitution is wonderfitlj.its adnp- 

 to the condition of earth and its fnha&ilants, 

 the wonder-working benevolence of that mighty 

 which " givelh enow like wool," and whose 

 i are shown by "tire and hail, enow and vapor, 

 ' wind fulfilling his word." 

 h thoughts more than reconcile us to the etorms 

 0W5 of winter. The eaith is now covered to 

 nh of two feet. But it is resting and reviving 

 the protection, while the noitc of industry and 

 re fills the air, and happy faces enliven the 



C. D. 

 hcstcr, Jan. 20, 1840. 



jTt/r the yew Genesee Farmer. 



'READING liO^fG 3IA:vrRES. 



knowledge of some general principle is nccee- 

 enable the farmer to prosecute, with success, 

 jf the most important branches of his business. 

 Drrectness of this remark is demonstrated, in the 

 sful application of the diffevent kinds of ma- 

 It is well known they cannot conmiunicate 

 ihment to the plant, without going into a state of 

 >n, for which water is the agent. So far as the 

 f plants is supplied by the soil, it appears very 

 t that it is imbibed by the extremities of the roots 

 For it has been discovered that the portion of 

 )il which is soonest exhausted, is precisely that 

 1 which the groatcc-t number of the extremities of 

 otslie. If those extremities are cut ofl', the root 

 fiea no inore in length; but the sides send of^' ii- 

 hlch jierform the functions of roots, and imbibe 

 '7 their extremities. It appears, then, that the 

 ihment derived from manure, must first be dis- 

 1 by the moisture of the soil, and afterwards 

 in contact with these exlre:nities, to assist the 

 h of the plant. Hence, the application of unde- 

 vegetable manure, as straw, cornstalks, &c., 

 1 and mixed with the soil as efl'eciually as is prac- 



!e, with the plough or harrow, will contribute 

 . less to the value of a crop than many suppose. 

 '■ allowing account, by a dietingiiished author, de- 



velops fac;s relating to this subject, which may be oi' 

 much practical utility: — It appears, says be, Irom 

 the experimcnis of Mr. Hasscnfrats, that subitances 

 employed as manures, produce eflecls in limes propor- 

 tioned to their degree of putrefaction; those substances, 

 most putrid, producing the most speedy effect, and 

 of course, soonest losing their ellicacy. Having ma- 

 nured two pieces of the same kind of soil, the one with 

 a mixture of dung and straw, highly pntrified, the oth- 

 er with the same mixture, newly niade, and the straw 

 almost fresh, be observed, that during the first year, 

 the i)lante which grew on the land manured with the 

 putrefied dung, produced a much better crop than the 

 other; but the second year, (no new dung being add- 

 ed,) the ground which had been manured with the un- 

 putrefied dung, produced the best crop. The same 

 thing took place the third year, after which both seem- 

 ed equally exhausted. 



Some farmers in our country are so well aware of the 

 importance of preserving and properly depositing long 

 manure, as straw, cornstalks, &c., that they cause it 

 to be placed in the furrow by one who follows the 

 plough, so that it is entirely covered by the succeeding 

 furrow; and then harrowing it lightly and thoroughly 

 with the furrow, so as not to disturb the -manure. — 

 But too many arc in the practice of carrj'ing their ma- 

 nure into the field in an undecomposed state, and after 

 ploughing and harro\\dng iffinished, to leave a large 

 portion of it uncovered. After the process of seeding 

 is finished, the etrav ''other coarse fibrous substan- 

 ces, are often seen scattered on the suiface, having 

 been either pulled out by the harrow or never buried 

 by the plough. Not only is such manure often thus 

 carelessly and inefficiently applied, but great quanti- 

 ties of it are permitted to remain around the barn, or 

 put into large stacks, and left to evaporate by constant 

 exposure to heat and moisture, till it has lost its effica- 

 cy in vegetation. L. E. Latiirop. 

 Mociiestcr, January, 18-10. 



Ffir t/tc ycco Geltcscc I'artner. 



IXJJIAIV I8irCK"lVHEAT. 



A good deal was said, a year or two sin-.-e, about 

 this new variety of Buckwheat; but for some time 

 past we have heard but little respecting it. The fol- 

 lowing account v>-ill be interesting lo most of our rea- 

 ders: 



JNIessrs. Editors — I have cultivated the Indian 

 Buckwheat for two years past, and will give you the 

 rcsidts of my experience. In the summer of 1636, I 

 purchased two bushels of the seed from iMr. Charles 

 .Bullis, of Macedon, who brought it from Vermont, 

 where, he said, it produced from seventy to eighty 

 bushels to the acre. I sowed it about the 10th of 

 June, on a piece of poor, sandy, gravelly soil. It 

 grew freely and bid fair to produce well; but, it was 

 sown too late, and an early visit from Jack frost, near- 

 ly destroyed my crop. I harvested it, but the grain 

 was much injured, and the flour made from it was 

 bitter and unfit for use. 



In harvesting tlie grain some of the ripest of it was 

 shelled out and scatlercd on the ground, and the next 

 spring I observed that it was not injured by exposure 

 during the winter, but remained sound and fresh on 

 the ground. Some of it beginning to sprout, I took 

 the hint, and, accordingly, early in June, I ploughed 

 in about an acre, whet e the previous crop had ripened 

 the best; and-in a few days, there sprung up a fine 

 crop of young buckwheat, without any sowitig. It 

 grew much too thick, but ripened in good season, and 

 yielded fifty bushels of seed. 



I think this is u profitable crop to rai.'^e, but it re- 

 quires to be sown earlier than the common sort. It ie 

 not injured by the heat of summer, like the other kind, 

 and it requires longer time to come to maturity. It 

 is necessary to observe, also, that it should not be 

 sown where it is lo be followed immediately by wheat I 



or a apriug gram crop, as SDnie of it wdl she'l out in 



harvesting, and spring up with the following crop. 



The best way is, lo saw it where it will be succeeded 

 by a fallow, or by grass. 



I am now using, in my family, the flour made from 

 this grain, and consider it quite as good as the com- 

 mon kind. It is less liable to be gritty, as it is not eu 

 apt to pull up by the roots in harvesting. The grain 

 is much heavier than the common Buckwheat, and I 

 think it will be found more valuable for all purposes 

 to which it is applied. Ji,'. L. 



Maccilon, A". Y., Jan. 18-iO. 



For ike .Vcjc Gtnecc'c I'armtr. 

 CHINA TRl!E-COIlN~ONCE MORE. 



jMessrs. EoiTOKb — JIucb has been said, of late a- 

 gainst Thorburn's celebrated China Corn, and if you 

 will permit me, I wish to say a few words in its favor. 

 And, lest any of your readers should infer that I havo 

 been bribed to engage in its defence, I would state, 

 ihf.t I was nicely humbugged in the article, to the 

 tune of §1,50, wbich I paid for six ears of thia repu- 

 ted carlu corn. That it docs not possess the good 

 qualities attributed to it, appears quite evident, and the 

 fact of its being a late variety, must have been known 

 to him who gave it such a high recommendation. It 

 was, in fact, a splendid humbug, and most admirably 

 managed. Still, I fear, that in exposing the fiaud, 

 any good qualities which the corn may really poasesa, 

 will be entirely overlooked. With ine it has not pro 

 ved an entire failure. I planted on the 5th of Way, 

 and a considerable quantity of my crop ripened suffi- 

 ciently for seed. From information received from 

 several gentlemen who have grown it the past season 

 in Ohio, 1 am inclined to believe it will prove a valu- 

 able variety in a more southern latitude. H. Case, 

 Esq., Deputy Post Master at Buffalo, informed me 

 that he raised about an acre of it the past seas.n, on 

 his farm in Ohio, and considers it a veiy profitable va- 

 riety for that section of country. Erom thetc facts, I 

 infer that it may be well for our eouih-wcstcrn neigh- 

 bors to give it a trial. Not, however, at two shillings 



an ear, for the benefit of G T 's "widows and 



orphans," but "without money and without price." I 

 intend to enclose an ear in evciy bundle or box of 

 trees which I send south or west next spring; eo that 

 my customers, nulcnszvlcns, shall pcsictssome of this 

 noted '"China Tree Corn." 



I have an early variety of the white flint corn, which 

 very much resembles the China in appearance, only 

 that it is not more than half the size. I intend, next 

 season, to attempt to "cross" these two kinds togeth- 

 er. This I hope to do by planting the China caily 

 and the white flint several weeks later. I think a 

 "new variety" may be thus obtained, which will 

 prove valuable in this climate. 



Yours, &c., B. n. 



Buffalo Nurscrij, Jan., 18-10. 



For t/ie i\ew Genesee Farmer. 



EXPEKIxlIEKTS O'S POTATOES. 



Blcssrs. Tliomas ^ Batcham — Ever since I com- 

 menced farming, I have been engaged moie or less in 

 oxpcriments, sometimes with favorable results, and 

 s.inietimes oiherwicc. Last summer I tried an exper- 

 iment in raising potatoes, the details of which, if you 

 •hink will interest your readers, are at yout service. 



The ground upon which they were planted, was a 

 part of a field of nine acres, having been seeded to 

 clover some four or five years ago, now mostly run 

 lut. In the first place I drew upon the fie'd •2'25 cart 

 'oads of long yard manure, and also four loads of 

 Icachod ashes. The part planted to potatoes, was 

 ploughed with much care, of good depth, and smooth- 

 ly laid over. Then followed a heavy roller length, 

 wise of the furrow. The harrowing procees was con- 

 un'.il the surftco was completely pvilveriicd. — 



