50 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2, 



Fire-Wood. 



Every individual in the Innd, ehnres the benefits of 



fuel for domestic pui poses; nnd no subject can be pro- 

 posed for our examination in which a greater number 

 of our readers ore interested. 



Although fossil coal may now be obtained both 

 from tlie east and from the wesl—vpicnrd from Alba- 

 ny or downward through ihe Chemung canal; and 

 though j>eat, apparently of on excellent quality, has 

 been found in some of the adjoining counties; yet 

 farmers will probably for a long time to come, draw 

 their supplies of fuel from their own woods. We 

 shall therefore confine our remarks for the present to 

 this branch of domestic economy. 



The difference in value between some kinds of 

 wood is very great. In this district, sugar maple and 

 upland hickory, are considered the best; and willow, 

 buuen wood, and Lombardy poplar, perhaps the 

 worst. 



But why is not a cord of Lombardy poplar equal to 

 a cord of maple 7 Chiefly because it does not con- 

 tain as much carbon. We do not sny it would not 

 make as many bushels of charcoal— it would probably 

 yield more. The deficiency is not in the bidk but in 

 the weight. Its texture is more porous — there is re- 

 ally less of it. A cord of maple has been estimated 

 in the Genesee Farmer * to produce 2,5 bushels of 

 charcoal, while a cord of basswood or white pine 

 yields 32 bushels; but then the former will weigh 25 

 pounds a bushel, while the latter only weighs 15 

 pounds. 



The relative values of fire-wood, have been stated 

 by the same writer in a table, which we shall expand 

 and render plain to the comprehension of all of our 

 readers, I's it may be useful in assisting purchasers. 



Where n cord of liard maple is worth 100 cents, 

 lohiU beech and ijellow birch are worth 80 cents — white 

 ash and wlitle oak, 75 cents — soft maple, white dm , 

 and swamp ash, C5 cenls— chestnut and butternut, 52 

 cents — basswood, wiiitewood, and whitepine, 45 cents. 

 It should be understood however, that in comparing 

 the different kinds of wood, it ought in all cases to be 

 dry. Some sorts contain much more sap than others; 

 and if we undertake to burn them green, a larger part 

 of the heat'wiU be occupied in carrying off the mois- 

 ture in some than in others; for all the heat that is re- 

 quired to turn the sap into steam, is lost to us. As 

 an illustration — we should prefer tohite ash to either 

 sugar maple or white beech, if we must burn them 

 without drying; and the simmering fires of white oak, 

 white elm, and swamp ash, we should rather not ap- 

 proath. 



But another view may be taken of the comparative 

 values of fire- wood. It will not be far from the truth, 

 if we estimate one cord that is will seasoned, equal to 

 two cords of green. Here then by laying in a stock 

 one year before hand, we gain about one hundred per 

 cent.— a speculation certainly worth the attention of 

 every housekeeper. 



To leave wood corded up in the woods, however, is 

 apoor plan. Afewoutsideslicks whensplitfinelolet 

 out moisture, may dry enough to be much improved; 

 butthe interior ofthe pile, especially if itbe inashndy 

 place, will retain so much of the sap as to become 

 tcur — a most unfavorable state for fuel. We prefer 

 green wood fresh from the stump. 



But though wood which stands corded in the open 

 ground, receiving the benefit of the sun and wind, 

 may dry enough not to turn sour, it may still be in 

 poor condition to burn at the eommencement of win- 

 ter. Every heavy rain has soaked it, often for days 

 together; and its state will be very different from 

 wood that stands free from the ground under a 



• VjI. a. pajc a. 



dry ehcd. More than 25 per cent, of moisture will be 

 retained, which is a heavy drawback from its value. 



The difference in the quantities of heat received from 

 the same kind of jvood'in different conditions, is so 

 palpable where a stove is used, that a person of good 

 observation might satisfy himself without a thermom- 

 etor; and we believe the following scale, beginning 

 with that in the worst condition, will be found nearly 

 correct: — 



1. Wet and partly decayed, or water-soaked. 



2. Soured by a fermentation of the sap. 



3. Remaining corded up in shady places. 



4. Corded up in the open ground. 



5. Partially decayed in seasoning. 

 G. Sheltered for 9 months or a year by a good roof. 



7. Seasoned several years in a dry building. 



8. Kiln-dried. 



Whoever will carefully make e.\periment8 on fire- 

 wood in all these conditions, must become satisfied 

 that great improvements may be introduced into this 

 branch of domestic economy. 



t 



For the New Genesee Farmer. 

 " Bots and Horse Bees." 



Messrs. Editors — Some other facts on this sub- 

 ject may be added to those mentioned by " Spectator" 

 in your last paper. It is not easy to decide in what 

 manner the nits, deposited by the botfy on the hair of 

 the horse, pass into the stomach of that noble animal. 

 The fact is certain. By the shaggy coat of the stom- 

 ach the nits are detained by some unknown contri- 

 vance till they hatch into bots. By the same contri- 

 vance probably the bots are detained till they are full 

 grown, deriving their nourishment from the coats of 

 the stomach. In the course of the following winter 

 and spring, many of them are raided by the horse, 

 and may be seen in the manure of the horse stable, 

 half an inch long, sharper at one end which is their 

 mouth, showing many rings, and giving signs of life 

 on being touched, probably to be changed by the heat 

 of summer into botflies. But many ot the bots are 

 often retained for a longer period in the horse's stom- 

 ach, before they are voided by the animal. It is in this 

 case that the bots are so dangerous, and often destroy 

 the horse, as they pass their tapering mouth or probos- 

 cis through the shaggy and into the other coals of the 

 Btomnch, and even through all the coats. I once saw 

 in the stomach of a fine horse that had died from their 

 action, multitudes of hots sticking into Hie coals, and 

 many of them had pierced through that organ, so that 

 on scraping them off with a knife the liquid matter of 

 the stomach jiassed through its coats. Those bots 

 were large and strong and of a deep flesh color. 

 They might have been detached perhaps by the action 

 of spirits of turpentine, for this substance has great 

 power over all such animals, but the death of the 

 horse must have ensued from the numerous lacera- 

 tions of the stomach. The only way to prevent the 

 fatal termination, is the application of remedies before 

 the bots have got so deep a hold, and of course before 

 there is any indication, or any alarming symptoms of 

 the disease. In other words, the remedy must be ap- 

 plied while the horse is in good health. This will 

 not commonly or very often be done; and if it should 

 be done, it might not prove effectual. We can know 

 the danger only by the symptoms of the disease, the 

 indications of the danger. 



The name given to the bot-fly by naturaliets has 

 been Oestrus, from the Greek to excite or to sting. 

 Hence they called ihegad-fy or goad-fy, which lays 

 its eggs in the backs of cattle, Oestrus potis, or ox- 

 fly; the insect that lays its eggs in the nose of shewJJ,, 

 Oestrus ovis, or eheep-Btinger; the bot-fly, Oeslrui^ 

 eyui, or liorjje stinger. The last, bectwuie it inhabits 



.the stomach of tUelWKSf-isjnQW eallfid GasUrophilus 



equi, the lorer of tlie stomach of the horse. The eco- 

 nomy discoverable in the works oi nature, leads to ihi 

 belief that the bot performs some important serticej 

 tlie stomach of the horse, while its own being is devel 

 oped and it is preparing to become a flying insect 

 Probably it is only in a diseased state of the bots ihl 

 they cease to be useful and become injurious to th 

 stomach. It may be that some disease of the hon 

 first brings on the diseased state of the bots. It| 

 very certain that the larvae of the sheep-stinger U 

 come diseased in the nose of the sheep, and work thii 

 way upwards towards the brain, and bring on blin( 

 ness, and dullnees, and loss of appetite, and the st«| 

 gere, and finally the death of the sheep. The exan 

 nation of the head shows them to be large, strong, 

 tive maggots. 

 It is well known that the transformations of insectei 

 different and take place under different circumstanct 

 The silk-worm winds up itself in a cocoon to becoi 

 a chrysalis, and thence a fine moth. The commoni 

 pletree-worm winds up itself by its web and a le 

 and thus undergoes like changes; thus also many or 

 ere. The worm on the milk-weed attaches itself 

 its tail to the underside of a rail or limb of a tr 

 drops off its head, and becomes a beautifid bluei 

 spangled with spots of gold, from which in a lew di 

 a splendid butterfly comes forth. The large yell 

 worm on the common cabbage descends to the groi 

 after its period of eating, drops off" its head, and 

 continued working forces its way into the earth f< 

 winter residence, and the next spring works up to f l» 

 surface, and comes forth in July or August one oi i it 

 moths that trouble our candles in the evening to b | » 

 an extent. The earth too, becomes the habitaiio | ii 



bots, till the natural changes take place, and the | m 

 ilies spiing into life to take their common roun t H] 

 annoyance to horses and enjoyment to tbemse' ^ ^ 

 This annoyance is greatly increased by the fact I ») 

 the fertilization of the nits takes place after their d 1 iw 

 eition on the hair of the horse. is 



How wonderful are these contrivances and adi j k 

 tions for the diffusion of life. What a multitut 1 pre 

 those wonders present^ themselves to the eye of | kii 

 careful and patient observer. C. 1 : »i( 



March Wn. « 



' w\ 



For the Hew Gexeset Fan- > l»i 

 " km 



Rast on Wheat. 



(Concluded from page 38. J 

 There is a great diversity of opinion upon this j 

 ject, and it seems almost impossible to reconcili i 

 discordant views of those who have written upo 

 In an article, on rust, over the signature of J 

 List, copied into the New Genesee Farmer, vi 

 page 100; from the Farmers' Cabinet, are the fo 

 in" passages: — " It is stated that the fungus is a 

 sitical plant like the misletoe, but this is not the fac 

 the fungus has no power to attach itself, or pern 

 lUe healthy stalks of the wheat." The foundatit 

 cause of tlie rust of the fungus, is the putrefying 

 ter discharged from the ruptured sap vessels fl 

 phint" 



Before settling upon any definite conclusion, ; 

 the state of the stalks at the time the seeds of thi 

 gus are deposited, it may be well to notice a few 

 relative to this subject. The past season I had a 

 of Italian Spring wheat, containing two acres, ? 

 joined a piece of winter wheal a distance of 60i 

 rods. The winter wheat was badly injured 1 

 rust the whole distance, and at the time of ham 

 it, the spring wheat adjacent, was found to becoi 

 rably rusted. Some 10 er 15 days after, the f 

 wheat was cut, and was affected M follows: 

 'awarth, badly rusted,, perhaps 7-8ths shrunl 

 *waitb> » li»)9 lesBi snd eo «b to the Stb, wh 



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