62 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 1 



Griudins; Corn in the Cob. 



We commend the following communication from 

 Dr. A. H. Ty60n, yjuUishcd in the American Farmer 

 of Jan. 8, to the attention of our readers, and would 

 recommend, in addition to crushing the corn in the 

 cob, to have it thoroughly ground into«ineol, aa we 

 have found, from our own ciperieiicc, a very decided 

 advantage from ihia mode of feeding it even to domes- 

 tic animals, and arc fully satisfied that it is not oversta- 

 ted. It is almost universal among our farmers to feed 

 com lo fuileiiing hogs in the ear; but experiment has 

 snti^fied Ui, that a given quantity of corn, ground in 

 the cob, will accomplish as much as twice the quanti- 

 ty fed in the ear, provided that the meal is fermented 

 by a mi.xture for a few days with water. A cast-iron 

 crusher is attached to a mill in the neighborhood, and 

 the expense of the operation very trifling. * 



The Virginia Com and Cob Crusher. 



Mr. Skinner — Your notice in the Farmer of the 

 If^th insl. of what we esteem one of the most valua- 

 ble agricultural machines within our knowledge, has 

 induced us to add our experience of two years ]n feed- 

 ing work horses. Previous to the purchase of the 

 Crusher, we averaged 214 ears of corn. Our stock 

 then and now average seven head. One hundred and 

 sixty ears of the ordinary size are now run through 

 the crusher — they make 9J heaping bushels of crush- 

 ed corn and cob. The different appearance of the 

 horses, and their better ability to work, prove beyond 

 a doubt, that the crusher affords a more nutritious and 

 heaUhy fi>id. It will be seen that it also places to our 

 daily credit, 54 cars of corn, upwards of 30 barrels 

 a year, worth, at the avcroge Baltimore price, nearly 

 doiible the cost of the crusher. You state that two 

 men can do tolerable work with it. Our experience 

 would say you are mistaken, unless you mean to se- 

 lect two of your stout-hearted and strong-handed Ken- 

 tu"ky friends; then, ofcourse, we knock under. With 

 four men to turn, and a boy to feed, from 4 to 5 bush- 

 els per hour can be crushed. To work the machine 

 eJectually an 1 economically, it must have velocity, 

 which cannot readily be effijcled by manual power. — 

 With a two horse power, a mon to feed, and o boy lo 

 drive, 1 3 bn A< Is of corn and cob Can be crushed in 

 one hour. The crusher in question came from the 

 manufactory of R.. Sinclair, Jr. & Co. During the 

 two years we have had it in use, and quite roughly, it 

 has not cost one cent for repair, and is now in as good 

 order as when pur-.-hased. The workmanship and 

 matorial fairly considered, the machine is certainly 

 n'lt dear at §1"). VVc have seen $VyO given for a 

 horse-power with about the same quantity of material 

 as the crusher, hut not half the workmanship. If ma- 

 chinists w lul 1, as they certainly can, afford their 

 work for less than their present prices, their increased 

 sihs w.>iiH mike them, eiually with the farmer, the 

 gainer by it. From the many evidences of the nutri- 

 ment contniUi'd in the corn cob, the experiment by 

 distillation, of Mr. Minor, of'Virginin, is decisive. — 

 fSoo Am^Tican Farmer, Vol 1, p. 3-24.) Mr. M. 

 found .5 bushels of cob yielded 4 gallons of spirit — 

 He also foimd other nutritive matter than the saccba 

 rinj which is converted into alcohol, aa mucilage and 

 Dili. Your Friend, A. II. T. 



Biltimore Co., D^. 'ii, 1839. 



Ditching; and Bnnliiug Machine. 



The fillowingis an e.vtructfrom an editorial article 

 in a late number of the American Farmer. The ma- 

 chine spokeo of would be of great value upon alluvial 

 landj not annually overflowed; and even on these, 

 l^iight, in many cases, bo highly advantageous. When 

 it ia rcollected that many thousand acres of low 

 g.-oundi, even in Western New York, arc now nearly 

 useless, and which might be rendered productive in an 

 exirao."diiiary degree by thorough draining, the im- 

 portance of such a machine will be evident. The in- 

 ventor states, in the same paper, that it "has been in 

 Biuccjsful operation more than one year, and that 

 i:i U'e than iiosiUy ^niUs ot ditch bus been cut with one 

 machine the hwtscasjn, by one man and one horse;" 

 and luut one for two or four horses will cost about 75 

 or :ji 1 UJ. » 



"Among others, we have various thi'eshing ma- 

 chinos, cjrn-shellers, corn-crnshera, reaping ma- 

 diines, Mnrr.'ty's tobacc<i press, and others, now get- 



ting into general use. The machine mentioned at 

 the head of th.s article, is not yet so generally known 

 —it is of more recent invention, and being costly, 

 must make its way slowly — at the same time it must 

 be admitted, that no object is of more importance, than 

 the one which itis designed to accomplish. How ma- 

 ny thousands of acres of lands have we, even in Ma- 

 ryland, too flat to be drained with the plough — yet ev- 

 ery one knows that thorough draining is indisjiensible 

 to good husbandry — Surplus nrotsturc is as destructive 

 to all sorts of crops, as a proper degree of it is neces- 

 sary to their growth — yet what agricultural process is 

 so expensive as thorough ditching by manual labor ? — 

 And then it should be borne in mind that the lands 

 which lie waste, and are lost, lor want of draining, 

 are by far the most fertile of the state — such as are nut 

 only the richest, but the most inexhaustible. And, 

 again — there is nothing in the wants of the farmer, so 

 conspicuous and of such universal prevalence, as the 

 want of huij ! The lands that require draining, being 

 once well cleaned and ditched, would yield perennial 

 crops of huy, without the expense of frequent cultiva- 

 tion — another consideration this to show, that ditch- 

 ing, if it can be dune, within any reasonable bounds, 

 is, in fact, economical, although costly in the begin- 

 ning. To make annual crops requires annual plough- 

 ing, over the whole surlace; whereas, a single ditch 

 may reclaim, without further cost or cultivation, ma- 

 ny crops, in successive years, from a great number of 

 acres, without any farther expense than that of cut- 

 ting and ewing. These considerations are suggested 

 to show the importance of ditching in it£elf, and of all 

 inventions to reduce the cost of it; and such is the in- 

 vention of Mr. Page for ditching by horsc-puwer. 



The work done by it is beautiful and mathematical 

 ly exact — The machine is calculated to be most valua. 

 ble in the Prairies of the West, as it is designed to 

 drain and inclose at the same time. The farmer may 

 open one ditch, depositing the earth close along the line 

 of it, or, if he please, he can make two ditches (not at 

 the same operation) embanking the earth between the 

 two. 



The machine is worked by one horse, and a man 

 and boy — To any one desiring to see a drawing of the 

 machine, and applying by a postpaid letter, we can 

 send one, though it is not of a kind to illustrate the 

 subject. In the conclusion of his description, the in- 

 ventor observes, '^Tlic ahovc vi-aclnnc, when in com- 

 pute operation, icill ait and finish in soft aUuviul soil, 

 twenty inches per minute, or bi hard clay soil, from 

 ten to ttoclcc per minute, a ditch of the following di- 

 mensions ; three to four f est icidr at top, eighteen inch 

 es at bottom, and three feet deep,*' 



We hope to be able soon to speak more positively, 

 and from a better and more practical knowledge of 

 the machine — For the picseiit, we submit the follow- 

 ing letter, trom a gentleman whose use of it has been 

 very extensive, and, as it seems, altogether satisfacto- 

 ry:— 



Baltimore, Jan. }Sth, 1840. 

 Mr. Gf.orge Pack — Sir — I take pleasure in sla- 

 ting thot I have extensively u>ed the Dilching and 

 Banking Machine purchased from you'some time since, 

 and find it to answer in every respect, the purposes 

 required; and will freely say thai it is far superior to 

 any thing now in use. I have had it in operation on 

 my planlotion, and have cut at least three miles of 

 dileli— I think there is no hazard in asserting that it 

 will save the labor of at least ten men. 



JoH.V B. Steenbkrgek. 



From the Uoeliesier :Sccd Store Catalogue. 

 Sowing Seeds, and Causes of Failure. 



Much of the complaint which ie made of the failure 

 of seeds, is owing to the want of proper care in sow- 

 ing them, or lo other circumstances than their bad 

 quality. Many kinds of seeds are very small, and if 

 these have more than a slight covering of earth, they 

 will not vcgclate. And, on the other hand, when 

 slightly covered, one or two days of hot sun will dry 

 the earth, so that il they have sprouted they will be in- 

 evitably destroyed. S.one kinds of small seeds will 

 not vcgctnte well unless the earth is rolled or pressed 

 firmly in contact with them. (Thus it will be seen 

 that small seeds shonld be sown in fine eorlh, coveixd 

 lightly, and rolled or pressed down; anil the bed 

 should then be shaded from hot sun and watered fre- 

 quently in dry weather. ) Some seeds have a hard 

 shell or pericarp, and requii'e sevei'al days soahing be- 

 fore sowing, in order lo cou.e them lo vcgclate fretly. 

 If these are sown wiihoiu any preparation, and dry 

 weather ensues, they will invariably lail. Other kinds, 

 natives of warm climates, will be sure lo rot if sown 

 when the weather is cool and moisl; and some even 

 require a good hot-bed to cause them lo vcgclate. On 

 the other hand so'iie kinds, require cool moist weather. 



and will not grow if sown late, when the weather is 

 hot and dry. Again, sometimes the seeds vegetate well, 

 but before the plants have become fairly visible, they 

 ore destroyed by the myriads of insects which often 

 infest the ground in summer. These are a few of the 

 many causes which every experienced gardener knows 

 frequently prevent the growth of seeds; but the failure 

 of which is often attributed lo their bad quality* 



The proprietor ot the Rochester Seed Store docs not 

 pretend that his seeds arc 7i«'cr at fault; on the con- 

 trary, he is fully aware, that notwithstanding all his 

 care to avoid il, there has, in some cases, been just 

 cause of complaint. And although he intends to use 

 greater precaution hereafter, he cannot hope or expect 

 but that mistakes will sometimes occur. All he can 

 say is, be will do the best he can to give satisfaction: 

 and he hopes that any person who may have any arti- 

 cles from his establishment, which do not prove good, 

 will inform him of the circumstances, in order that 

 restitution may be made. 



Soaking Seeds. 



Nearly all kinds of seeds will vegetate sooner and 

 more freely, if well soaked before sowing; particularly 

 if the seed be of a hard dry nature, or the weather at 

 all dry. The frequent complaints which are made of 

 the failure of Mangel Wuiizel and Sugar Beet 

 seeds, usually arise from a neglect of this prepara- 

 tion. The most extensive and successful cultivators 

 of these roots, always soak the seeds three or four days 

 before sowing. 



Rolling Seeds. 



The rolling or pressing down of seed beds tfter 

 sowing is too often neglected, although very neccfsa- 

 ry in some cases. Most seeds are very small things, 

 and when sown on a loose soil it frequently happens 

 that many of them are not in close enough coniao 

 with the earth, to be kept moist and excluded from 

 the light; consequently they will not vegetate freely, it 

 at all, and the young plants, if any, easily dry up and 

 perish. 



From the Xcw Engl.inJ Farmer. 

 Education of Farmers. 



Mr. Breck — In your notice in the New England 

 Farmer, of the highly cultivated and productive farm 

 of that very useful and distinguished gentleman, E. 

 Phinney, Esq., of Lexington, you remark that his at- 

 tention was first called to the subject ol" agriculture 

 by reading the New England Farmer, and that at his 

 establishment you realized all you had expected to see, 

 where the science of agricultirre, guided by the hands 

 of learning and practical skill, was brought to the aid 

 of practical farming. 



This recalled to my mind a subject of vost moment, 

 not only to the agricultural interests of the United 

 States, but to ever>' interest and crafi into which hu- 

 man society is subdivided: I mean a radical defect in 

 our whole system of education, front the common 

 school upward to the final graduation at our colleges, 

 during the whole of which important period of human 

 life, the attention, the tastes, the sympathies of the ed- 

 ucated class are systematically diverted and estranged 

 from the subject of agriculture and the pursuits of the 

 gieat mass of our people, as if an evil spirit rather 

 than a good and bountiful God, had first assigned to 

 man the cultivation of the earth os his highest and no- 

 blciri pursuit — as if lo keep up the humbug importance 

 of the learned profcL-sions, as if the statesman, .he 

 scholar, the lawyer, and divine, need know nothing 

 or care nothing about agriculture — the pursuit, per- 

 haps, of sixteen twentieths of our population, ond by 

 which oil classes "live ond move and have their be- 

 ing;" as if national wealth, independence, happiness, 

 and morality, had nothing to do with the increaseil 

 products of the earth. 



Now, sir, how comes it lo pass in this boasted re- 

 public, of almost boundless extent, of every variety of 

 climate, soil, and production, that the principle of 

 equality is entirely reversed — that which is showy 

 takes the precedence of that which is substantial.— iLra 

 he who lives by professional quackcrj', the houtsl 

 chcateries of trade or gambling speculation, is admit- 

 ted by common consent to a higher rank in the public 

 estimation than the farmer ? I answer, our system i 1 

 education lays permanently ot the foundation of thi 

 very stale of things. Admit the science and art > i 

 agriculture to an equal importance in our instiiulioiis 

 of learning with chcmitlry, architecture, lavv',and the- 

 ology: let it be considered one of the sister sciences, 

 and lot stated lectures be delivered lo our young men 

 during the jieriod of their collegiate education, on the 

 science of agriculture as on chemistiy, compnrativt 

 anatnmV; or oriental literature, ond o new day wouU. 

 dawn on the agriculture of the country and the coiuli 



