No. 7. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



99 



Product. — The product will be according to the 

 soil, and will vnry from ten to lijirty bushels of seed, 

 and from one to three tons of fornge, on Che ncre. It 

 Bonistimes produces more than a thousand fold returns. 



Use — We have found it an excellent substitute for 

 corn, in fattening hogs, either ground or boiled; nnd 

 if ground would probably be useful for neat cattle and 

 horses. The straw is eaten freely by cattle, nnd both 

 the seed and straw abound with nutritious matter. — 

 Albanii Cultivator. 



The following opinions were advanced by Messrs. 

 Colman and Buckminster, at the Agricultural meet- 

 ings in Boston: 



"Millet was both grass nnd grain. Mr. C. had 

 himself raised it at the rate of three tons to the acre. 

 It is an annual plant, and is useful when other crops 

 fail. He had known millet sown in August, and a 

 good crop obtniiicd nter the crop of hay had been cut 

 off with drc Light. Cattle prefer it to almost r.ny other 

 kind of hay. When ripened it is a valuable grain, 

 weighing from thirty to forty pounds to the bushel." 



"Millet be (Mr. B.) believed a great exhauster 

 of the fioil: it probably would not exhaust so much 

 when cut for hay before it was ripe. It could hot be 

 profitably cultivatod in this country for any other 

 than a late crop." 



For the New Genesee Farmer, 

 Agricnltnral Societles"-The Act of 1841 

 "To Promote AgricuUnre." 



Messrs. Editors— There has been much differ- 

 snce of opinion amongst practical farmers, as to the 

 atility of Agricultural Societies. Some have said 

 hey are altogether too partial in their operations, ex- 

 ;Iuding from competition all, or mostly all, of those 

 vho have not ample pecuninry means of preparing 

 lubjects for exhibition and premium at the annual 

 air. It is urged that the principle on which premi- 

 ims have been awarded, instead of rewarding skill, 

 iconomy, and good husbandry, has encouraged n few 

 ndividuals to vie with each other in pampering a se- 

 3ct number of animals, while perhaps their average 

 tock moy in consequence be stinted below ordinary 

 Uowance, and be of the most common description, 

 jome hove bestowed all their manure on one or two 

 cres, and by great expense of time and pains extorted 



great crop of grain or roots, while the remainder of 

 he farm has met with corresponding neglect; and fi- 

 ally, be who has succeeded in cramming the moat 

 lidding into a pig, or has been able to drow the milk 

 rom the greatest number of cows with one calf, has, 

 B a matter of course, drn%vn the premium. Sir, how 

 lave you fed this fine animal of yours ? Oh, he has 

 ever had more than he could get, has been in some 

 l»|ase8 about the necessary amount of scrutiny nnd in- 

 esiigatiun as to method and means. 



Ths man who, regardless of expense, obtains the 



r» reatCbt crop from an acre or half an acre, will acom- 



"l lish the same result. The same may be said of the 



therwise frugal housewife, who neglects important 



omcstic duties, in order to produce a highly wrought 



air of silk stockings or a curious hearth rug. 



These objections I confess are not altogether ground- 

 ■98; yet, upon the whole, agricultural societies, with 

 II their errors of management, have stirred up a spirit 

 f emulation, showed farmers what can be done, and 

 een of great benefit to the inteiests of agriculture. 



think the friends of improvement may felicitate 

 lemselves on the final attention which this subject has 

 eceived from the legislature, and the passage of an 

 c», which if carried out according to its true spirit, 

 fill obviate these objections, nnd place every one with- 

 1 the sphere of fair competition. 



Although the allowance provided in this act is very 

 tnited; yet, as an incipient step, it is much better 

 lan no action; and it is to be Loped that the impor- 

 mce of the object will stimulate our farmers promptly 

 ) co-operate in making up the duplicate to this fund. 



I propose to make a few remarks on section 3d of 

 leact, which will be found entlie in ihe June num- 

 erof this paper. 



i;i 





Mention is made of "articles, productions and im- 

 provements, best calculated to promote the ogriculturol, 

 household, and manufacturing interests of this Stale." 

 All articles seem to be excluded from exhibition for 

 premiums, except those which fulfil the above inten- 

 tion. Thcolficers of the society are to have " special 

 reference to the nott profits which accrue or are likely 

 to Hccruc from the mode of raising the crop or stock, 

 or the fabrication of the article thus ofiered, with the 

 intention that the reward shall be given for the most 

 economical or profitable mode of competition." The 

 above clause seems to embrace the true principle on 

 which agricultural societies ought to operate and pre- 

 miums bo awarded. Farming in general is not car- 

 ried on as an arauseraent, but as a source of profit, as 

 an agreeable ond healthy employment. The data which 

 are to determine " nelt profit," seem to be perfectly 

 evident. He who succeeds in eliciting the most ani- 

 mal or vegetable nutriment from a given quontity of 

 material, with the same economy of time and labor, 

 shows the most skill; or, in other words, he who can 

 produce a fine crop or a fine animal at the least expend 

 ofmeane, will reap the most " nett profit." ItiswcU 

 known that two animals of the same age and weight 

 may be placed in separate pens, each may be fed the 

 same quantity of grain or roots — at the end of a given 

 time weigh and examine these animals and there will 

 be found a difference (sometimes very great) in their 

 weight and form. 



The only possible circuraetancea which can produce 

 this difference, are ns follows: — 



1. Method of preparing the food. 



2. Time and manner of feeding. 



3. Constitution of the animal, which embraces, 



1. Voracity of appetite, which makes them what are 

 termed "good feeders." 



2. Power of the digestive and assimilating organs, 

 by which n greater quantity of chyle is elaborated from 

 the same aliment in some animals than in others. 



In regard to field crops, it is likewise known that 

 thejiiost striking diflerencoin the appearance and pro- 

 duce is sometimes only separated by a division fence. 



This is caused, 



1. By the previous condition of the land, quantity 

 and quality of manure applied: 



2. Seoson of the year when manure is drawn and 

 method of application. 



3. Number of times nnd manner in which the land 

 is ploughed nnd harrowed. 



4. Preparation of seed and mode of planting or sow- 

 ing; — 



5. And lastly, time spent in tending the crop and 

 manner of doing it. 



A proper discrimination is required to hit right in 

 every particular, and so adjust the labor nnd expense 

 as to secure a profitable crop. The more skilful and 

 judicious consideration of the nbove circumstnnces, 

 can alone render one man more successful than anoth- 

 er. Here is ample scope for the exercise of thought 

 nnd experiment; nnd the man who by well directed 

 and careful experiment, establishes some principle in 

 the rearing of stock, or cultivation of the soil, and in 

 proof of this principle brings forward to the Fair a 

 specimen of production, which not only excels, but 

 has yielded a handsome "nett profit," will, by im- 

 parting his peculiar method, confer benefit on the 

 whole farming community. In pursuance of this lat- 

 ter consideration, the act goes on to provide that the 

 " person claiming the premium shall deliver in wri- 

 ting, to the president of the society, as accurate a des- 

 cription of the process of preparing the soil, including 

 the quantity and quality of manure applied, and in 

 raising the crop, or feeding the animal, as may be; 

 and also of the expense and product of the crop, or of 

 increaii! in vnUia of the anim»4, wiib lUe vi«w of 



showing accurately the profit of cultivating the crop or 

 feeding or fattening the nnimal. This latter clause 

 strikes at tho root of the whole matter. It excludes 

 all mere fancy farmers, who by dint of money can ex- 

 hibit some huge animal, or produce an enormous crop 

 from a few rods uf ground. 



It will be seen I think, that the spirit of the law is 

 to give the " race to the swift and the battle to the 

 strong," and as far as can he, reward and encourage 

 genuine merit. 



Farmers of 1841, why are you not still muzzling 

 over tho surface of your farms with the old bull plough 

 with wooden mould board, and putting in your grain 

 with the triangular harrow of nine teeth ? Who 

 amongst you now, who if your stock is not all tho- 

 rough bred, have not a sprinkling amongst your 

 flocks and herds of some of the best blood in Europe 1 

 To whom are you indebted for the amazing improve- 

 ment which has taken place in farming for the last 

 twenty years 1 To the ingenious, to the enterpri- 

 sing, to the men who were willing to hazard time and 

 means in doubtful experiments — many important hints 

 on which you are almost unconsciously practicing 

 with success, you can trace to these men— men of 

 thought, men of persevering exertion. 



I need not say that real excellence in any depart- 

 ment of business is not the result of accident, or blind 

 chance. It must be the fruit of cool reflection, of " pa 

 ttent thought." The brilliant emanations of geniug, 

 like those luminous appearances in the heavens which 

 sometimes occur, may dazzle and surprise and excite 

 our admiration; but most of the great practical im- 

 provements in tho ana which have raised men from 

 barbarism, have been the fruit of laborious exertion, 

 of protracted experiments. They have caused much 

 lacking of the brain and many sleepless nights.— 

 These remarks apply as well to fanning as to any oth- 

 er pursuit. The door of improvement is still open — 

 let the tide flow on. Every farmer, if ho studies hii 

 own interest, will become a member of the county so- 

 ciety; and if he has not the taste or tho time to devote 

 to agricultural experiments, let him cheerfully con- 

 tribute a little for the encouragement of those who, 

 for his benefit, are willing to search out tho most suc- 

 cessful and economical method of raising a crop, and 

 will be at the pains of introducing the most approved 

 breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and ewine. 



Ogden, June 10, 18il. J.B.SMITH. 



For the Sfeto Genrsee Farmer, 

 Sheep Poisoued by the common Red Cherrr. 



Messrs. Editors — Some six or eight years since, 

 while cariying on farming at Rock Stream, one of 

 my orchards, in which was a variet)' of fruit trees, in- 

 cluding a number of the common red sour cherry, be- 

 came covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, to de- 

 stroy which, I turned in, about the first of September, 

 fifty or sixty merino sheep. The animals seemed 

 unusually fond of eating the young cherry sprouts 

 which had sprung up very thick under and about the 

 cherry trees. In less than an hour a large proportion 

 of them were discovered to be diseased, and they were 

 immediately turned out. They staggered continually, 

 pitching forward upon their heads, and often turning 

 entiiely over upon their backs. In the course of two 

 or three hours several of them hod died; tho remain- 

 der gradually recovered. 



Post mortem examinations proved that their stom- 

 achs were compactly filled with the leaves of the 

 cherry sprouts, containing, I presume, prussio acid 

 suflicient to destroy animal life. 



E. BARNES. 



Note. — A neighbor of mine lost a cow from her 

 eating ths leaves of a cherry tree, which had been 

 blown down by a wind storm. E. B. 



Oensva, May 2f>, 1841. 



