THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2. 



My Summer Crops. 

 Messrs. Editors — According to my promise, I 

 now send you nn account of some of my crops of the 

 past season. JMy object in thus exhibiting my farm- 

 ing operations to the public, is not that I think them 

 extraordinary, but that I consider it the duty of each 

 member of society lo do thot, as an example, which 

 he would have oihers also do. Knowledge, by com- 

 munication, becomes common property. The plan of 

 comparing thoughts ond notes, leads to correction of 

 errors and adoption of truth; and also enables us, by 

 taking advantage of the experience of oihers, to avoid 

 many things which it would otherwise require our own 

 experience to convince us as bein'" fallacious; by 

 which we also avoid not only loss fron, failure, but al- 

 so that vexation of mind, which is the attendant of 

 loss. And for this reason, we shoiUd tell " llie truth, 

 theicholc tmtfty and nothing but the trutli.^* All im- 

 portant truths, tchcthcr of failure or of success, in the 

 operations of the farm, should be given to the public, 

 that they may become known to all. 



ROHAS POTATOES. 



These T planted on the 2d of May, on a clover sod, 

 without monure. The amount. of seed was about 

 three quarts short of three bushels of whole potatoes, 

 cut into pieces of one or two eyes, and spread over 

 three-fnirths of an acre of lond. The rows were four 

 feet apart, and the cuttings were placed sixteen inelies 

 distance in the rows. The manner of planting, was to 

 make the holes from two to three inches deep with the 

 corner of a hoe, which con be done about as fast as a 

 man can walk, with one stroke of the hoe; a child to 

 follow and drop the cuttings, one in a place; and a boy 

 to cover up, level, with loose earth. I planted thus 

 ehallow, in consequence of having about lost a crop of 

 potatoes last year, on rich land, by having planted 

 deep, as I hod been advised by a brother farmer. When 

 the potatoes were abont six inches high, they were 

 wed with cultivator and hoe; then plastered, and on 

 the 18th of June they were capaciously hilled, as the 

 distance between the rows allowed. No more labor 

 was bestowed upon them till they were dug in the last 

 of October, when they yielded me two hundred and 

 twenty-eight bushels; equal to an increase of seventy- 

 eight fold. 



I have used these potatoes in my family, and pro- 

 nounce them equal to the best for the toble: they are 

 dry, mealy, and well flavored. 



With regord to the value of these potatoes, they are 

 superior to other varieties, inasmuch as far less seed is 

 required; there are fewer small potatoes; they can be 

 planted with about half the labor; owing to their size 

 and to their growing in a cluster close to the foot of 

 the stalk, they can be dug with much less labor; ond 

 in no respect do they yield to any others in point of in- 

 trinsic excellence. 



INDIAN CORN. 



I had two pieces of corn: — ihe first, two acres ond 

 seven-eighths, was clover sod, on which I drew eighty 

 loads of long manure, and ploughed under. The 

 seed, the red blaze variety, after soaking twenty- 

 four hours m soap suds, and being rolled in plaster, 

 was put into the ground on the 20th of May. The 

 rows were three and a half feet apart each way. Du- 

 ring the season, plastered once, and went through 

 with the cultivator twice each way, followed each 

 time with the hoe. About the middle of September, 

 cut up (he corn at the roots, carted it off the field, and 

 stookcd it for ripening, ond at the husking got four 

 hundred ond sixteen bushels of ears, which yielded 

 on shelling, thirty-five quarts of corn from two bush- 

 sis of ears; making two hundreii and twenty-seven 

 and a half biiBJiela of corn; equal to seventy-nine 

 bushels and six quarts per acre. The other |iiece, two 

 and a quarter acres, was of the same character, equal- 



ly good, clover sod, as the other, but was not manured. 

 It was ploughed and planted six days later; the seed 

 was of the same kind, prepared in the same way; but 

 owing to the ground having become quite dry, at least 

 one-third of the seed tailed, which would not have 

 been the case had it not been soaked. The after cul- 

 ture was the same as that of the first field, and the 

 yield was forty-seven bushels per acre. 



FIKLD PEAS. 



The latter part of April, 1 put in two and a half 

 acres of Gold \'ine Peas, i^baving obtained the seed 

 at Mr. Bateham's Seed S'ore,) from which I harvest- 

 ed sixty-three bushels; equal to twenty-five bushels 

 per acre. The land was neither good nor bad, but 

 indifferent. Adjoining, in the same field, and at the 

 same time, 1 sowed two acres to Marrowfat Peas, 

 from which I harvested thirty-two bushels, or sixteen 

 to the acre. Many of the vines of the Marrowfats 

 became mildewed, and were consequently barren; 

 whereas the Gold Vines remained perfectly bright 

 through the summer, and every vine was prolific; 

 many bearing from eight lo sixteen pods. 



Owing to the superior excellence of the Gold Vine 

 Peas, and their scarcity, I have reserved the crop for 

 seed; which 1 tmhesitatingly recommend, and offer 

 lo my bretheren of the plough for six shillings per 

 bushel. 



SrniSG WHEAT. 



The Italian and Siberian varieties were very badly 

 shrunk. 



HAtF BLOOD DURHAM CALF, OSIRIS, 



Was dropped April 2Cth. At three ond a holf months 

 old he weighed 380 lbs; at five months old he weighed 

 470 lbs. ; and to-day, Nov. 2Clh, at seven months old, 

 he weighs 650 lbs. And this is a " skim milk calf;" 

 taken from the cow at a week old; fed on new milk 

 two weeks more; from that lime till the first of Nov. 

 fed on sour skim milk and hasty-pudding, and from 

 that time to the present, on boiled potatoes and hay. 



Now, Gentlemen, I have done my duty to myself 

 and to my brother farmers; I have told them what I 

 have done, and now I wish they would reciprocate 

 the favor: and if Ihey con tell a greater story than I 

 have, I will attempt another year to be even with 

 them. Very respectfully yours, 



EDWARD WILBUR. 



Pitisford, Nov. 26, 1840. 



Remarks. — In behalf of our numerous readers, wc 

 tender Mr. Wilbur many thanks for the foregoing 

 communication. One page of such statements, con- 

 taining the residls of actual experience, is worth more, 

 in our estimation, than a whole volume of theorizing 

 speculations. We unite with Mr. W. in the desire 

 that many of our reoders will reciprocate the fovor, 

 ond send us accounts of their forming operations, 

 whether successful or otherwise, during the past sea- 

 son. — Eds. 



After congratulating the society on their exhibition, 

 and what they had accomplished — the old received 

 from Government, and the bright prospects before 

 them; and alluding to the numerous odvoninges pos- 

 sessed by the farmers of Pennsylvania, the eloquent 

 speaker proceeds thus: — 



" Having thus spoken of the advontogee which we 

 enjoy, 1 proceed to the less agiceable but more profita- 

 ble inquiry, why our forms are not so productive as 

 they ought to be — and 1 make the comparison be- 

 tween Peimsylvonio ond England, becauce I think 

 England, on the whole, the bust farming country in 

 Europe; and our English friends must understand, 

 that while we amuse ourselves occasionally with some 

 of their peculiarities, we pay them the highest com- 

 plinient we con, by proposing them as ibe constant 

 models of our faiming. Now why is it, that with all 

 the naturol advantoges in our favor, the English farm- 

 ers beat us ? I will tell you what I think of it. 



" In ihe first place, we do not do justice to our 

 own profession. Farming is not liked, either omong 

 the young people, because it is considered a lonely 

 exercise from gaiety— tir among the calculating, be- 

 cause it is thought unproductive. This lost is, I think, 

 a tolol misapjirehension; ond as I regord its correction 

 eesentiol to our success, I venture to say that forming 

 ought to be more profitable in Pennsylvonio iban in 

 Englon 1. The common notion is, thot the high price 

 of labor in Pennsylvonio, make farming unproductive, 

 and the opinion is repeated without exomination, till at 

 last it is generally believed. Now the productiveness 

 of farming, like the productiveness of every other oc- 

 cupation, depends on the expense of roising an article 

 and the price you can gel for it when it is raised. — 

 These cxjienses are the rent for the land, the taxes, 

 the manure, the jjrices of luliuring cattle, of laboring 

 implcmeitts, and of laboring men. 



" The land which con be rented in America for two 

 or three dollars, could not be rented in England under 

 ten or twelve dollars an acre — so that olready the land 

 itself costs three or four times as much. When you 

 have got possession of the land, the lox-gatbcrer and the 

 tithe- man soon make their appearance, and loke from 

 the former fifty three per cent, on his rent. Here 

 there are no tithes, and the tox, out of the immediate 

 vicinity of the city improvements, would scorcely be 

 one-tenth of the English ta.\ — so thot while on on 

 English farm of two hundred acres, the rem and char- 

 ges would be about $3,UU0 

 The some rent and charges would here be 7,00 



ISiddle's Address. 



Editors of New Genesee Farmer : 



Gentlemen — I have read with much edification, 

 the address delivered before the Pb iladelpbia Agricultu- 

 ral Society, by Nicholas Bidhle, Esq.; ond I sin- 

 cerely believe you would confer a favor on many of 

 your readers by giving it a place in your columns. 

 Yours sincerely, 



A LOCKPORT FRIEND. 



licmarks. — The address alluded to, is indeed a most 

 excellent one; and we should be glad to publish it en- 

 tire, would our spoce permit, and were it not for the 

 circumstance that many of our readers dislike long ar- 

 ticles. Ae it is, we select the most interesting and 

 important portions, and omit those of a more local 

 character. We have no doubt that most who read the 

 followingj will wish we had published the whole. 



Moking at once a difference of $2,300 



Next, all manures are cheaper in Pennsylvanio — 

 cheaper in themselves, and rendered more cheap by 

 the facilities of transportation. 



Laboring horses are about one-fourth cheaper in 

 Pennsylvonio; ond, moreover, the work which two 

 horses do in England, is generally done here by one. 

 Cows, too, are much cheaper here. 



"Lahoring implements are cheaper and better, the 

 wood being so much lower-priced and durable. Of 

 all these elements of work, there remains only labor- 

 ing TOC71 who ore cheaper in Englond; they ore cheop- 

 er by about 30 to 35 per cent.; but even soy that wa- 

 ges ore 50 percent, higher in Pennsylvania than in 

 England. But then, although the nominal rate of 

 wages is higher, yet you actually get more work done 

 for the money. The eliinoie gives you more long 

 working days than con be relied upon in the climate of 

 Englond, where out door work is necessarily much 

 suspended, and the American laborer works better, 

 for the very reason that he is paid better. And the 

 proof, which seems decisive, is thot although money 

 wages are higher here, piece-work, contract-work— 

 whether to dig a conal or to reap a field, is done chcop- 

 est in Americo. And, occnrdingly, one of our most 

 intelligent Philodelpbio county farmers, Mr. WnlKer, 

 always declared that bis form-work was done twenty 

 percent, cheaper in Pennsylvonia than in England. — 

 But supposing it to be higher — lobor is only one of the 

 elements — for we hove seen that the rents are thieeor 

 four times as high — toxes ten times os high — monnres, 

 implements, cottle, oil deorcr — ond far overbalancing 

 any diffeience of wages were it even real. 



" Let us now see what ore the prices obtained for 

 whot is raised. Wheat is higher in England — flesU 

 markets are higher. But wheat forms imly one-lburlh 

 of the cro|).— and, on the other hand, the great staple, 

 wool, is dearer here — pototocs ore twice or tbrice os 

 high here — and, therefore, the English compete with 

 us in "ur own market — turnips, cabbages, oil vegeta- 

 bles, generally dearer; bo that, after all, taking the 

 average, farm produce is not his'isi'i or very little 



