178 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 1, 



Hints for the Montli. 



In iciniering all domestic animals, !ct there be nt 

 least a sujjidenaj ol food. It would be better to have 

 too much, than to run any risk of putting tbcin on short 

 allowance. Therefore if you have not a very full sup- 

 ply, sell off a part of your stock, though at a low 

 price, and the incrcnacd value of the remainder in 

 sj)ring, will more than repay nil loss. The great er- 

 ror of most farmers is deficient feeding in spring. 



But be careful not to waste your feed. Cattle are 

 often half starved, when the food ihey conc-ume, ii 

 properly managed, would keep them in the first con- 

 dition. Is this incredible 1 Then try the experi- 

 ment : — 



You doubtless know something of the quantity of 

 fodder to keep animals through winter, when they are 

 irregularly fed — exposed to all weathers — stinted in 

 clrinli — nnJ suli'cred to tread the hny l)y forkfuls under 

 foot in the mud, or to use it as litter in the night. 



Well, reverse the treatment: — Provide comfortable 

 sheds and stables for your cattle, sheep, and other ani- 

 mals. Remember that a icmit of lunifoit is always a 

 icaste of Jlcsh. Give them a sufliciency of food and 

 drink, with great regularity. A meal ten minutes la- 

 ter than the usual time, causes the animal to fret, and 

 fretting lessens flesh. Most animals will drink several 

 times a day, and should therefore have it as often as 

 they want it. They should eat their hay from good 

 racks, so that it may not be trodden under foot, lain 

 npon, nor blown away by the wind. And they should 

 have plenty of clean litter as often as needed. With 

 such management there will be an almost incredible 

 saving of fond. 



Tis:ht stables should always be ventilated. The 

 breath and manure from animals always cansee impure 

 air, and this should be suffered to pass upwards through 

 square or triangular tubes, made by nailing boards to- 

 gether. These may be placed in a corner, or beside 

 a post, and occupy but very Utile space, where the 

 hay loft is over the stable. 



Coarse hay and straw are readily eaten by cattle, 

 when brine is sprinkled upon thoni. 



Corn-stall; fodder should always be cut or chopped, 

 — otherwise the body of the stalk is wasted. This is 

 the best part. It is sweetest and most nutritious. 

 And it is the chief part in bulk. Chop it fine, and 

 cattle will eat it, if the fodder has been well cured. 

 A little meal or brine, sprinkled over, will be useful. 

 It is estimated that an acre of corn-stalks, cut and 

 well secured, and chopped when fed, is quite as good 

 as an acre of hay. 



Farmers who have not yet thrashed their grain, 

 should keep a look out for the rats — they are cunning 

 litile scoundrels, and will devour more than you are 

 Bwaro, if sullcred to remain undisturbed. 



Take good care that roots in heaps be properly ven- 

 tilated. Heaps of ruta baga9,mangcl wurtzels and su- 

 gar beets, potatoes and apples, whoa buried in the 

 open air, shonld all have holes made in their tops, for 

 the escape of impure and heated air. These holes 

 may be made about two inches in diameter, and filled 

 with a litile straight straw, not packed close, so that 

 the air may cscnpc freely. 



Apples hcpl in bins in the cellar, gradually decay, 

 during winter. Pick them over nt least once a month, 

 taking out the partly decayed ones for immediate use. 

 Many implements and tools will not be any more 

 needed till next spring, and should therefore be snugly 

 packed away. Ploughs, cultivatoro, harrows, wheel- 

 barrows, horse-rakes, carts, hoes, chains, scythes, and 

 every thingelse not ncedcd,should be put aside in good 

 shelter, 80 as not to occupy space rcfjuircd for other 

 things. There should be a place for everything, and 

 every thing in its place, and then you will not waste 

 precious hours, when in great haste, hunting for 



something you cannot lind. All this should be done 

 early in the month, if not done already. 



Hut, before the month is through, we hope you will 

 do one thing for yourselves and us, — that is, not to fail 

 sending in your subscriptions for the next volum.c of 

 the NEW GENESKE FARMER; and if you can 

 get a number of your neighbors to subscribe also, we 

 shall, we can most sincerely assure yon, like it all the 

 better. • 



such a system 

 successful. 



ulture Would 



economical and 

 t 



The Fruit Garden. 



We suspect that but few people are aware of the 

 great number of fruit trees that would grow well on 

 half an acre ; but it may be easily shown that a lot 

 containing that quantity of land, would accommodate 

 one hundred trees, ii sot fourteen feet and nine inches 

 apart. It is true that some of the kinds which we 

 shall name, would Spread in a few years so as to 

 crowd each other at this distance, and overshadow the 

 whole surface of the ground; but we do not think 

 these circumstances constitute any valid objections to 

 such arrangement. 



Most, if not all, of our fruit trees require frequent 

 pruning. By removing the stunted branches, and en- 

 couraging new and vigorous shoots, much larger 

 and better flavored fruit is produced; and it will gen- 

 erally be found that the most spreading limbs are the 

 most proper to be amputated, independent of their in- 

 terference with other trees. Not that we would re- 

 commend high training, for it is a great convenience 

 to have the fruii within reach, so that neither along 

 pole nor a long ladder shall bo necessary. 



The overshadowing of the ground is in some res- 

 pects beneficial. The grass will not be so injurious to 

 the trees; and if hogs run within the enclosure, there 

 would be little to complain of, while their manure 

 would keep the soil in good condition. 



To give our readers however, a clearer view of the 

 luxuries which may thus be brought within their 

 reach, and which would supply them through more 

 than half of the year, including summer and au- 

 tumn, — we will mention the kinds that maybe ac- 

 commodated on such a piece of land. 



] 5 Cherry trees, 



25 Pear do., 



12 Plum do., 

 8 Apricot do., 



90 Peach do., 



10 Early apple do., 



10 Quince do. 



100 



Now what farmer is there, who could not afford to 

 appropriate half an acre for this purpose ? But be- 

 sides this, he would have a safe yard for his hogs 

 when they are disposed to trespass. Their value in a 

 fruit garden, as destroyers of insects, is of great ac- 

 count. The proprietor of one, where hogs were not 

 permitted, once remarked to us that much of the fruit 

 was wormy ; and in a remote part of our fruit garden, 

 less freipiented by them, the plums and cherries in 

 some Boasons are very inferior, while those which 

 grow nearer to the trovgli, are generally free from 

 such dufecls. 



In some situations however, where the fruit garden 

 is to be of greater extent, perhaps it might be belter 

 to plant the trees in a dilii;rent manner. If placed in 

 rows lliirty feet apart, more or less, and set frc feet 

 apart in the rows, the ground between them might be 

 cidtivated with the plough, excepting a space of three 

 or four feet in width o)i each side of the rows. This 

 might remain as a pasture for the hogs, while peas 

 or any other vegelablcs that would furnish food for 

 them, might be sown on the cultivated part. Our ex- 

 perience in this lino would warrant us in saying that 



I'lowcrs. 



The frost and snows of autumn, as a prelude to 

 winter, have left us many a withered flower, bright^ 

 hut fading; and but few that are not withered. A- 

 niongst the latter kind however, the Christmas Rose 

 (Hdleborus niger) is the most conspicuous; and 

 seems scarcely to regard the inclemency of the season. 

 It is now a proper time to examine the borders, and 

 consider whnt plants would be benelitted by some pro- 

 tection. Many indeed will live without it, and yet 

 well reward the florist for such care, by a finer bloom 

 in the following season. This class chiefly consists of 

 such as have green leaves in winter, and especially if 

 recently transplanted, — as ihe pink, the English prim- . 

 rose, and the auricula; and no covering is better than 

 the branches of the pine, the spruce, or the cedar. 

 Straw is objectionable on account of its harboring 

 mice. 



At a time when the garden is so destitute of orna- 

 ment, and so little to be said on the subject, it may not 

 be amiss to oiler some extracts from the letter of an 

 eminent florist in the eastern part of the State, which 

 we lately received, apprising us that the following 

 rare plants were on their way for our garden. 



Fa;onia albiflora v. Reevesii, 



Pottsii, 



Double white peach-leaved Campanula, 



Double white Ayrshirs Rose, 



Double Michigan Rote. 



" The Pteouias were imported by Mr. W , of 



Boston, and he assures me they are true to their 

 names, though varying Irom ihedescriplions generally 

 given. The /■*. v. tuttsii is semi-double, of a deep 

 crimson, with a mass of yellow stamens in the centre. 

 The P. r. Rcercsii resembles the M'hitleii in the form ■ 

 of its flower, but its color is a line blush. 



"The double lehile peach-leaved Campanula is 

 worthy of your care, but you need not expect it to do 

 its best next year. You want a strong plant, and 

 then it is fine indeed. I have also the double blue 

 peach-leaved Campanula, but it is worthless. 



" You will be pleased vvilh the Ayrshire Rose 

 when it gets to be a strong plant; and if I am not 

 greatly mistaken, the double jlichigan Rose is desti- 

 ned to be a general favorite. Mine was trnnsplanlcd 

 last fall, and consequently its bloom this season was 

 inferior to what it would have been, had it not been 

 disiurbed ; still there were some very beautiful flowers, 

 and they appeared to possess the rare quality of re- 

 taining their freshness and beauty for some days under ' 

 an intense sun. W (our neighbor) was delight- 

 ed with it. — Of one thing I feel certain: the Michi- 

 gan Rose is yet to be the parent of a great many su- 

 pe-rb vaiielies. 



" 1 thought Breck's seedling Phlox would ple-ase 

 you. lie informed me, when in Boston this summer, 

 that he had another seedling still Jincr, and I have the 

 promise of a plant. With yourself, I have observed 

 that the PhIo.\ei, especially the tall ones, should be 

 frequently divided and leplanled. 



" I have been long under the impression that Glad- 

 iohts psitlaiinus and ti. ?iu(ftli:nsis, wcrconv nnd ihe 

 same thing; and Loudon contirms this opinion in his 

 Ilortus Biitannicus. 1 presume it varies greatly with 

 the culture to which it is subjected. 



" I agree with you in regard to this beautiful genus, 

 and hope, in a year or two, to jiossees a number of 

 them. They will then soon find their way to Aurora, 

 if they do well." 



The reference to our opinion in the last paragraph, 

 related to treating these fine species like the Tuberose; 

 that ill, to take them up in the fall, as soon as their fo- 

 liage is spoiled, wrap them up in a cloth or paper, and 

 hang them up in a cellar free from frost — or pack them _ 

 away in dry sand. The next season, about corn 

 planting time, they may be set out in the open border. 

 With this treatment Gladiolus nutaknsis has succeed- 

 ed finely. 



The following sketches of some of these plants aro 

 abridged from Buisi's Flower Garden Directory: 



