40 



THE N EW G E N E S E E FARMER, 



Vol, I. 



NEW GENESEE FARMER. 



iVIARCH, 1840. 



Ilints for the Month. 



If ihe repairing of farming utensils baa hitherto 

 been neglected, it should now be attended to. Such 

 work may be done on etorniy dnya without interrup- 

 tion of other busincga. See that ploughe arc in good 

 condition for use, have good points, that no pins ore 

 lost out, the beam sound, and the handles firm. See 

 that your hoes and forks are well proviiled with handles, 

 your rakes and harrows with teuth, and that your har- 

 neas is well oiled and in good repair. In procuring 

 tools, be careful always to get the very best, though 

 they may cost a little more. A good tool, that is much 

 used, pays for its extra price a hundred times over by 

 the e.\tra work which is done with it. Provide a place 

 for every thing, and be sure that every thing is in its 

 place, by the time that the busy season of spring com- 

 mences, in order that no time may be lost in long and 

 fruitless searches. 



Procure a pot of paint and a brush, and paint all 

 your tools, your hoes, rakes, forks, ploughs, harrows, 

 cultivators, spades, and shovels. The coat of this is 

 very trifling, and it wjU, in most cases, make them 

 laat many years longer, especially if eflTcctually done 

 at the jointa and accidental cracks, where moisture is 

 apt to penetrate and cause decay. 



In open weather, repair fences, lay up the fallen 

 stones of walls, draw manure from barn-yards, and 

 clear away and draw off old chipa from obout your 

 wood houses,— if large, lay them aside for burning in 

 summer, and if small, put them on land for manure. 

 They are also excellent for putting round young fruit 

 trees, to prevent drouth and the growth of grass and 

 weeds. 



In wet or thawing weather, examine the %vatcr fur- 

 rows in wheat fields, and see that they are not ob- 

 structed bypnow-banka, nor by crumbling earth. A 

 want of this attention is often followed by large pools 

 of water standing on the fields, and many a bushel of 

 wheat has been lost which might have been saved by 

 the work of as many minutes. 



Every good farmer has doubtless drawn wood 

 enough for the loUowing summer — if it is not cut for 

 use, let it be done during stormy weather, and pile it 

 up neatly in the wood-house. 



Now is a good time for cutting grafts — be sure to 

 get good kinds — it would be better to travel ten times 

 as far for them than get poor ones. Make grafting 

 plasters — unsized paper is as good as cloth for spread- 

 ing the wax on, and much easier made. Grafting may 

 be done in cold weather, by having eomething always 

 at hand to warm and soften the wax just before apply- 

 ing. Where but little work is to be done, a hot brick 

 or block of wood, or a vessel of hot sand, will do; but 

 we prefer a candle or lomp placed in a lantern. The 

 most convenient is the common glass lantern, the 

 plosters being held over the chimney in the current of 

 hot air, whore they become softened immediately. 



Potatoes in heaps and in cellars shotdd be examined 

 ss e'&rly oa practical)le, to see if they have not suffered 

 from the frost. Whore they have been but slightly 

 touched they may be saved by sprinkling lime upon 

 them in sufficient quantity to absorb the water under 

 the skin'. Those more affected should be immediate- 

 ly cooked in a large boiler for feeding to cattle wvd hogs. 

 Every farmer should always reserve bis bo-st hay for 

 cattle to the latter part of winter, and see that their 

 feed is rather better than before. Let them enter the 

 summer season in good condition. "Cattle weU win- 

 tered ore half summered." 



Horses and working cattle especially should have 

 every attention, in order that they may be pre|)arcd to 

 endure the labor which is soon to come heavily upon 

 thpm. 



Cowe near calving, should be kept housed in fold 

 weather and at nights, and be well and regularly fed. 

 The iacreascd quantity of milk which they will give 

 in consequence, will be ample payment. It is of 

 greet consequence at this time that they be kept very 

 clean and well littered. The time of calving moy be 

 very nearly known by observing the time of gestation, 

 which is forty -one weeks with a buU-colf, and forty 

 weeka with a heifer cal^ 



Slieep should have eonbtant care ond good protec- 

 tion during the variable weather of thia month, ond it 

 possible^ well fed with roots. 



CATTLE AJVD HORSE BAKX8. 



We frequently bear the practice of keeping cattle 

 in stables, strongly discouraged; and the reason as- 

 signed is, that I he practice is less cleanly, and the con- 

 fined air unwholesome. This is indeed true, where 

 they arc neglected; but when they are properly at- 

 tended to, and their apartments sufficiently ventiUated, 

 we know this is not the case. A friend who has visit- 

 ed the dairy establiehmente of the Dutch in Ohio, in- 

 forma us, that the cow stables are thoroughly washed 

 every day, the animals cnrried every day, and more 

 pains taken to keep them clean and comfortable, than 

 any farmer here takes with his best horses; for which 

 they are amply repaid by the increased quantity and 

 quality of their products. 



_Slables for horses, we believe, are very much neg- 

 lected both as relates to construction and subsequent 

 condition; and ao a small contribution to an improve- 

 ment in this respect, we furnish our readers with the 

 following excellent plan of a horse barn, taken trom 

 Loudon's Suburban Gardener, believing at the same 

 time, that many, if not the most, of the principles of 

 the constructions, will apply advantageously to stables 

 for cattle. We would remark that, in relation to the 

 latter, we consider it of importance, both on the score 

 of cleanliness, and for the manufacture of manure, 

 that clean straw litter he copiously used. If frequently 

 removed, we think the objection which Loudon makes 

 to its use, would not opply with much force to cattle, 

 especially during the cold of winter. 



main drain under the gutter behind the horses! theae 

 drains having grated openings, each with a bell-trap,*^ 

 to prevent the ascent oi bad smells: Tis the cast iron 

 manger; U, the bull's eye cast iron rock, the hay of 

 which is let down from the loft above, through the 

 open space behind. The mode tpf keeping hay in lofte, 

 over the horses, and letting it down through a space 

 over the racks, which is continually open, is very 

 properly objected to, as contaminating the hay by the 

 breath of the horse; but when there is a raised ceiling 

 with a ventilator, as in the section before us, the 

 breath of the horse riecs to the ventilator, and does the 

 hay no injury whatever. At the bottom of the rock, 

 there is, in the space behirvd, o grated floor, which re- 

 tains tlje hay, while it allows the dust and seeds to 

 drop into the open space ( ', whence they can be token 

 out at convenience by an openipg under each stall. — 

 There is a cast iron ramped cap, W, to the boarded 

 partition between the stalls: and a cast iron sill, X ,- 

 both cap and sill having grooves for receiving the ends 

 of the boards which form the partition. The partition 

 pogFt, y, is also of cast iron. That part of the floor of 

 the stable on which the horse stands, should always be 

 made perfectly level, with a grating ond bell-trap un- 

 der it, in the centre, for drainage. In general, the 

 floor of the stable should never be covered with litter 

 in the day-time, or when the horse is not expected to 

 lie down; because the litter retains moisture, horbors 

 insects, and produces an uneqitol surface for the horse 

 to stand on. Stnbles, as they are cimimnnly kept, eon- 

 tain an atmosphere, charged with an aninionipcal gas 

 from the urine, and carLionic acid gas from the lungs 

 of the horse, which, with moisture from the floor, and 

 other a;riform matters, are extremely disagreeable to 

 man; but if the stable were properly constructed, ven- 

 tiUated and drained, kept free from litter during the 

 day, and amply lighted, in the manner we have re- 

 commended, they would be as wholesome for a hu- 

 man being to enter and to remain in, as the living- 

 rooms of dwelling-house." 



* A "bell-trap is made as fbllowa: — A vessel ia pla- 

 ced immediately under the grating; through its bot- 

 tom a tube passes, and e.ttends upwards in the vessel 

 about h^f woy to the top, ao that the vessel can be only 

 about half tiilcd with water, as the rest escapes 

 through this tube. Directly over the upper end of 

 this tube, is ixrertfd a bcii-shaped vessel, somewhat 

 smaller than tLw other, so that iie rim dips in the wat- 

 er of the tower vessel, and prevents the escape of bod 

 air upwards, while it freely admits water to ran down- 

 wards through the tube. — Eds. N. O. F. 



"The ground on which a stable is built ought to be 

 dry, either naturally, or by drainage; ond the walls 

 ought to be of siffl.-icnt thickeess to exclude tho ex- 

 treme of heat in e.^mer, and of cold in wmtcr.— 

 There ought to be abundance of light admitted, as well 

 for cheerfulness as for clconUness; and, independent y 

 of the doors and windows, there ought to be suital.le 

 openings for vtnilaiion. In the stable there ought to 

 be a wooden tube, at least six inches Bquorc, placed 

 over every stall, and reacbini; from the under surlace 

 of the ceiling to the ridge of the roof, with a capon the 

 outside to exclude rnin; and a slide in the ceiling, at 

 the lower end of the tube, to regulate the quantity ol 

 air admitted, so as to keep the atmosphere ol ihe.M- 

 ble at obout 50 ° in winter, ond from CO ° to (i;> in 

 summer. This flue will do for the stoblc of the horse, 

 what the chimney docs for the dwelling ol the human 

 beinc To give a palpable idea of this mode ol venti- 

 lating, we may refer to the figure in which the ventil- 

 hiung tube, with its protecting cover, isabownat HII: 

 2 is a corn bin, placed under one of the windovve, .' is 

 a drain under the floor of ench stall, which leads to a 



Gardener's Work for March. 



The severity of winter ia now mostly past, and this 

 month is called spring. The sun beg tie to make his 

 power felt, and will soon revive the vegetable world. 

 The gardener will now resume his lobors and direct 

 his attention to the production of on corly supply of 

 luxuries for the table. The first thing to be done by 

 those who wish to obtoin eorly vegetables, ia to con- 

 atruct a hot-bed. The time of doing thia may depend 

 on circumstances. If it is desired to produce articles 

 quite early, without much regard to the labor or atten- 

 tion required, the bed should be made early in March; 

 but for ordinary purposes the middle, or latter part of 

 the month will suftice. Every professed gardener 

 knows how to make a hot bed; but for the benefit of 

 the inexperienced ponion of our rendera, we will give 

 brief directions. 



For Making Hot -Beds. 

 Select a site for the bed, on dry ground, where it 

 will be fully exposed to the sun, but sheltered from the 

 north and west winds. jNIark out the size of the 

 bed, allowing six or eight inches on all sides larger 

 than tho size of the frame. Then drive down a good ■ 

 strong stake at each corner, as high as you intend to 

 build thebed. Then take the manure (which should 

 be fresh stable manure in a good stote of fermentation) 

 and commence building the bed by mixing the ma- 

 nure thoroughly, and putting on successive Ir.yers, 

 beating it down with the fork. Observe to place it 

 smoothly and fir vly around the outside, so that it will 

 not settle unevenly from the weight of the frame. — 

 The height of manure requisite, will depend on the 

 time at which thebed is formed, ond the purpose for 

 which ii is Intended. If mode early in March, and 



