THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2, 



or in the elii;Uiest degree tinged with milk colcr, it in- 

 diciitcs im iinpurluct working ol tlie butler; while nn 

 enlirely dry, tallowy oppcnrance, is cqiinlly disappro- 

 veil; ;!J, n fresh frngrnni perfume, and a sweet kcr- 

 nt-lly taste; 4th; good butter will, above all, be die 

 tingniehed by keeping for a eonsiderablc lime, with- 

 out acquiring an old or rancid tlavor." 



Tho Good Farmers,— 



Not too good fanners- for those that are merely good. 

 are almost as rare as white blackbirds. When we say 

 '^ good," we do.iiot mean what is commonly under- 

 stood, — industrious, money-making men, — but who 

 perhaps apply a large portion of their labor to very bad 

 advantage; but those whose whole course, in all its de- 

 partments, is such as accurate and repented e.tperi- 

 merits have proved best adapted to the soil and climate; 

 uhich not only affords the greatest profit each year, 

 but is constantly improving inotcad of exhausting the 

 land. 



These two specimens ore given in the late report of 

 the Farm Committee of the Hartford County Agri- 

 cultural Society, published in the New England Far- 

 mer. The first is that of John B. Davis, of Derby, 

 whose farm consists of seventy-five acres, and IVom 

 which the following very respectable average annual 

 receipts are derived. 



Apples ond Cider $500 



Hay, 200 



Potatoes 100 



Pork, feO 



Sheep, 75 



Grain, 75 



Wool, 25 



Two men labor on the farm the year through, with 

 occnsional additional help, but no precise account of 

 the am junt p.\])cnded, was rendered. 



It will be seen thot the orchard is the most profita- 

 ble, the trees being kept in the finest condition, to 

 which frequent tillage doubtless contributes. Fice 

 hundred dollars were received last year (1839) for 

 winlcT apples of the choicest varieties, and forty dol- 

 lars for cider sold, besides thirty barrels kept [for what 

 purpose ?] and apples fed to hogs, cattle, and horse. 

 All the farm, except the woodland, has been subjected 

 to the plough, although hny is the chief object aim- 

 ed at in cultivation- Only small portions of the land 

 are tilled, on which thecullivated grasses have become 

 less luxuriant. The routine of crops adopted is, Ist, 

 corn on s'vard with manure; 2d, potatoes with ma- 

 nure (sometimes followed by turnips;) 3d, rye or oats 

 or grass seed. For the corn, (which is Dutton and 

 White Flint,) twenty double loads of manure are 

 spread on the grass before ploughing, and afterwards 

 holes dug at each hill in which a small handful of 

 plaster and ashes is dropped and mixed with the soil at 

 planting. The average crop is seventy bushels an 

 acre. The potatoes are planted with equal manuring, 

 and yield two hundred bushels. The r>e yields twen- 

 ty-five, and the oats seventy bushels, two and a holl 

 bushels of the latter being sown to the acre, which is 

 plougiicd in, harrowed, and the grass seed covered 

 with a bush. 



About twenty acres are kept in meadow, which con- 

 atno in grass from six to eight years, and the averoge 

 crop is estimated at two and a half tons to the acre. 



Of manure, seventy-five loads are made yearly, and 

 fifty purchaicd; one ton of plaster, half a ton of 

 shell lime, (which is added, asiudispciitable, to the 

 compost,) and fifty bushels of ashes are also used. 



The stock consists of two yoke of oxen, two milch 

 cows, seven hogs, thirty-five Bakcwell shcci), and one 

 horse. 



The other farm, is that of Wm. K Townsend, of 

 East Haven, on New Haven harbor,and coueists of 43 

 acres of salt grass, and 113 acres of upland. The 

 tepoit <ii Uiis iaim, by tho committee, wc have read 



with great satisfaction, and, did our limits admit, we 

 should be glad to give it entires Such a report, mere 

 matters of fact statement as it is, is more calculated to 

 inspire a taste for farming, than all the fine declama- 

 tion and eloquent reasoning we ever heard or read- 

 As it is, wc must content ourselves with a statement 

 of some of the most interesting facts. 



The buildings are arranged with a strict regard to 

 convenience, being erected " after approved models, 

 and they show conclusively that much lobor may be 

 saved by judicious arrangements, wiih but trifling ad- 

 ditional expense. For each implement of husbandry, 

 a special and convenient place of deposit is also pro- 

 vided." The fences throughout are good. The soil 

 is sondy and gravelly loam, naturally light and thin, 

 and left in wretched conditicn by its former occupant. 

 Successive portions have been reclaimed from this con- 

 dition, by careful and thorough tillage, collecting the 

 stones into strong and durable fences, and applying a 

 heavy coating of manure. With the exception of two 

 fields, which have not thus been reached in the regu- 

 lar order, the farm has been greatly improved. " Af- 

 ter such improvement, however," say the committee, 

 "these lands are not, as is too often the case, again 

 reduced to their former condition, or rendered still 

 less productive, by injudicious and excessive croppings, 

 without any return to the soil; butby such subsequent 

 careful treatment, as every good farmer ought to give 

 his land, they are kept constantly improving." 



The corn crop, by measurement, has averaged 

 seventy bushels the acre; potatoes, two hundred and 

 fifty bushels; rye, twenty-five bushels; oats, (rarely 

 raised,) forty-five bushels; and barley, thirty-two 

 bushels. Great crops of pumpkins are also obtained, 

 by planting in large manured hills ten feet apart each 

 way, six or eight seeds, the two most vigourous shoots 

 being allowed to remain. 



Three hundred double loads of manure are annually 

 made on the farm, of which more than fifty are from the 

 hoc'-pen. It is always applied unfermented, except to 

 meadows and root crops, where compost is used. 

 Three-fourths of o ton of plaster are yearly spread up- 

 on the meadows and pastures, and fifty bushels ofshelj 

 lime applied to the compost heap. 



Great profit has been derived from the breeding of 

 improved stock, consisting of Durham cattle, " Thin 

 Rind" hogs, and Bakewell sheep. The use of the 

 revolving horse-rake in securing hay, of the cutting 

 box for feeding stock, and of stables for cattle in win- 

 ter, has eflfected a great saving. 



Accurate and regular accounts of all operations are 

 constantly kept, from which the following statement is 

 token of cash received the past year, over and above 

 the consumption of a large family : — 



Fruit, $ 200 



Vegetables, 50 



Neat stock 1,310 



Hogs and pigs, 585 



Wool, 50 



Milk, butter, and calves 2,113 



Rent of stock, 50 



Gross income in 1839, 4,338 



Deduct cash paid for labor and feed 

 of cows, 1,452 



Nctt income in 1839 $2,936 



The great profit thus secured, appears to have re- 

 sulted from the establishment of a well digested sys- 

 stem of farming, faithfully and energetically carried 

 out, and from the guidmg of oil the operatious by 

 constant and accurate accounts. * 



Improving 8andy I>nnd. 



Messrs. Erurons — 1 find that your paper ofTords a 

 valuable medium, through which we, who are young 



or inexperienced, can obtain int'ormotion. I there- 

 fore wish to ask one or two questions. 



Jly form is situated on the oak openings of Monroe 

 county. The soil is what may be called a light, sandy 

 loam — some parts nearly pure sand. One side bor- 

 ders on a flat marsh, part of which, to a considerable 

 depth, consists of very black earth, which I suppose 

 to be vegetable mould, formed probably by the decay 

 ol leaves and wild gross, which latter grows very 

 abundant all over the marsh. 



Now, I wish to inquire whether this block earth 

 will make a dressing for the upland, of sufficient 

 value to defray the expense of carting it on; and if so, 

 how and when is it best to apply it ? 



I also want to ask what kind of a fence can best be 

 mode across the above mentioned marsh, where lence 

 timber is very ecorce, ond money ditto. 



A YOUNG FARMER. 



December, 1840. 



Hovcn Cattle. 



Messrs. Editors — The cure for this complaint 

 which you copied from the Formers' Cabinet, will, 

 in slight coses, prove effectuol; but in severe coses, 

 resort must be hod to other methods. 



The contrivonce of Dr. Morris, of England, first 

 published in 1793, is the most effectual, and may not 

 be known to all of your readers. It consists of a flex- 

 ible tube, made of wire, covered with soft leather.^ 

 Dr. M. found that the distance from the fore teeth to 

 the first stomach of a large ox is six feet; therefore 

 the tube shoidd be a litde more thon that length. On 

 thi? being thrust down the animal's throat, so as to en- 

 ter the first stomach, a large quantity of fealed air, or 

 gas, will be discharged, ond instont relief afforded. 



If this instrument is not at hand, recourse must bo 

 had to tapping. Take a sharp pen-knife and intro- 

 duce it into the paunch, between the hock bone and 

 the last rib on the left side. To ossist the escape of 

 the gas, a quill, or small tube, may be introduced into 

 the orifice. As soon as it ceases to escape, a pitch 

 plaster should be opplied upon the place; and, if all is 

 done with care, but little injury will result fiom the 

 operation. 



The following cordial may afterwards be given with 

 odvantage: — Take 2 ounces of Anise seed, Diopente, 

 ond Elecompane, in powder; 2 ounces tincture of 

 Rhubarb, and one ounce of spirits of nitre. Mix and 

 give in a quart of worm gruel. 



Respectfully yours, 



AN ENGLISH EMIGRANT. 



A'car Allrion, Orleans eo. 



For Iht New Getieea Farmer. 

 Cnring Hams. 



What ! another method ? Yes, we answer, and 

 request the incredulous to trj' it before they condemn. 

 On the day, or day before, killing your hogs, scold 

 your tub, {a pine tub isprelerable,) and turn it over a 

 smothered fire of corn cobs or mople chips. If this 

 process is skilfully done, it will thoroughly infuse the 

 smoke into the wood. Let the tub be wet or moist 

 when smoking. 



When your horns are perfectly cold, sprinkle the 

 bottom of the tub with salt, and pock in the usual 

 manner, with little or no salt. Four upon tho hams 

 a pickle (perfectly cold) suflicicnt to cover them. To 

 six gallons of water odd six pounds salt and one fourth 

 pound salt petre. This completes the whole process 

 of curing; and your hams for winter and spring use, 

 arc much belter than when cured and smoked in the 

 old way. The process of keeping hams in a tight 

 and over heated smoke house, is the great cause of 

 their premature decoy. 



If the hams are to be kept during the next sunt ner, 

 the brine must be changed and more salt added. H. 



