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THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2. 



Machinery applied to Agriculture. 



Messrs. Editohs — I herewiili eendyoii a nutice in 

 the New York Tribune, of n work which proposca ae 

 great a saving in the ninnual labor pertaining to i ural 

 economy, aa the powcn oom has eiibcted in the jiro- 

 duclion of cotton cloth. 



I have often thought that if a portion of the great 

 Inbor-eaving improvements, which have in late years 

 been applied to inanHfuCiurea and river navigation, 

 could be so applied to agriculture as lo enable the 

 North to accomplish more, with less bodily exertion 

 and expense of muscle, and tho South to dispense 

 with Ware labor; that a greater aocinl revolution 

 would be produced by it, than our eyes have yet 

 seen, oronr hearts have yet felt. It may be said that 

 man, inUvewell, must " live by the sweat of his 

 brow;" liguratively speaking, that man docs so live, 

 who lives by orti/icial production; the liigh civiliza- 

 tion which labor-saving machinery induces, only 

 creates those renewed wants, which vary, improve, 

 and stimulate production. The simple comforts which 

 in past ages could only bo indulged in by the rich, 

 are new attainable by all; and if the time which 

 Henry the Fourth wished for, when "every poor man 

 could have his lovvl in tuo pot," has not arrived, it is 

 alone the poor man's fault. 



It may be said that the cultivation of the potato in 

 Ireland, by the iniroiluciion of a more cheaply raised 

 necessary of life, has produced the same effect as la- 

 bor-saving in agriculture, and that the result has tre- 

 bled the population of Irelind %vilhout adding any 

 thing to their social comforts. But may not the 

 wretchedness of the Irish be attributed to other causes 

 that to an increased population? Is it not rather to a 

 lack of a well directed manufacturing industry; to the 

 want of that home trade which the aisentccism of the 

 aristocracy produces, by leaving the workers of the 

 soil to the grindings of tho middle man and the tithe 

 proctor; "Thou sualt not muzzle the ox that tread- 

 eth out ths corn," i;= one of those scriptural injunc- 

 tions which is never read nnderetandingly by the 

 land holders of Ireland. If her aristocracy would 

 slay at home and e.vpend their incomes tlierc, in pro- 

 perly encouraging and directing the induatry of the 

 people, there is no doubt but that the condition of 

 Ireland would at least compare with either of the oth- 

 er United Kingdoms. 



When reading Humboldt's clcscription of the scanty 

 and widely scattered cultivation in some of the most 

 fertile sections of equinoetip.l America, I have felt 

 that nothing short of the discovery of labor-saving 

 machinery to be applied to agriculture, could ever 

 bring all the arable land of those hot and debilitating 

 regions into cultivation. What a stupendous revolu- 

 tion in the production of the edible things of the 

 earth, may not be produced by the application of ma- 

 chinery to a soil where organic Nature is enlarged to 

 Buch B gigantic scale, that not only theet.rth produces 

 its sempiternal vegetation, tuo trees their parasitic 

 families, but even the nir itself is filled to darkness by 

 the pendant drapery of the lianas, which hang in fes- 

 toons from tree to tree at the height of moro than a 

 hunOrcd feet. S. \V. 



Waterloo, Jjly 26tk. 1341. 



(Vtm tkeJ^tK York TrilniM. 

 Thk Nkw World, or MECBANrc.^L System, i!o per- 

 form tlic Labor v ' Man and beast by inuiiiinate 

 Powers thta cost ■nothing, for producing and pre- 

 paring the substances of life, by J. A. FJzler. Pub- 

 lished by C. r. Stollmeyer. Philadtlphia, 7^, 

 pages. 



Tho object of this little work is, aa the nnthor in- 

 forms us, to show how lo cultivate in a superior man- 

 ner 10,000 acres of land by one machine and three or 

 four men, with a capital less than one Dollar per acre, 

 — bow to clear land from trees and stumiis, roots and 

 stones, — fill and drain sv.nmps, — nudce danio. can- 



als, ditches, roads and perform any kind of work on 

 the ground, — build bouses, and famish as much inan- 

 imate power for ony place or stationary machine as is 

 wanted, — all by the same system. 



TUc author of this work is certainly a bold, an ori- 

 ginal thinker, — is a man of a high order of talent, 

 ftlen hcreiofore have only applied machinery to cer- 

 tain general purposes, — to manufactures, mechanics, 

 nnvigiition, &c., but Ktzler has conceived the gigantic 

 plan of opplying it to the daily works of society, — to 

 cultivating our lands, buildt.icr our houses, roads, 

 canals. &c. To do nil this hu does not make use of 

 costly powers, like beasts of burthen and steam, but 

 of powers that cost nothing, such us the heat of the 

 sun, the wind, tides, &c. He has invented machin- 

 ery adapted to those powers, and so contrived it as to 

 niske use of them iitall times. Wcofcoursecongive 

 no idea of his machinery or invention; theb^iok itself 

 mu£i be studied; it contains plates and fuU explana- 

 tions. 



Etzlerhas forseen and explained the immense ulte 

 rior results which would follow, if machinery could 

 be applied to agriculture and to the various daily La- 

 bors of Man: he sees that it would do awny with po- 

 verty, elevate tho condition of tho human race, fertilize 

 and cultivate the tropicr.l climates, which ere now ne- 

 glected and which are the fairest portion of the earth, 

 and load to a great and fundamental Rclorm in 

 society. 



We particularly recommend his work to attention, 

 ond we trust that he may find the means of making a 

 practical experiment of his plan. The views of the 

 most celebrated machinists have been very limited; 

 they have not conceived the poseibi'ity of applying 

 machinery farther than to a few specialities. Is it 

 not pitiful to see our large canals dug out by single 

 spadefuls, blocks of granite hewed by human hands; 

 hricii? carried to the tops of houses on human should- 

 ers ! It seems so to us, and no one has felt it more 

 keenly than Etzler, and no one has undertaken befor* 

 liim to invent a general system of mochinery lor ob- 

 viating it. 



For the Ifetc Genesee Farmer. 



ITEMS. 



Corn-cob Feed. — The best way to dispose of cobs 

 is of course to grind them with the corn. Bat we 

 observe two substitutes which huvo been successfully 

 made use of. One is to soak the cobs in a half hogs- 

 head of brine, when tho cottle eogerly thrust in their 

 noses and devour them. Tho other, or better way, 

 is to boil them. Ono farmer says he would as soon 

 throw away his fodder as bis coba. 



P^escning Cheese. — Sjlon Rubinson says a neigh- 

 bor has practised for several years the method of pre- 

 serving his cheeses by placing them within a hay 

 stack, where they are kept from freezing through win- 

 ter. 



Foot rot in Sheep. 



An intelligent and eucoe5sful wool grower informs 

 us of the method by which ho entirely pretcfnts the 

 inroads of this disease. 



It is known that the sheep, when removed from its 

 native mountains and rocks, to the soft and luxuriant 

 pastures, no longer has its hoois worn away as in a 

 state of nature, by which as they grow they aro pre- 

 served fresh and sound, — but the outer part, which is 

 natiirolly intended to support the weight of the ani- 

 mal, grows cut of all bounds, until it laps more or lees 

 over tho sole, and retains tho accumulated earth and 

 filth which collecis within. Trora this the disease 

 originates. 



According to our informant, by repeatedly and 

 carefully paring off this crest of tho hoof, os often as 

 necessary, tho disease is eiToctually prevented. Where 

 it has already made progress, something more is ne- 

 cessary, as the application of turpentine, or tar vi'ith 

 cautorization, the disease being very similar in nature 

 to the " foul in the foot" in cattle, which is success- 

 fully treated by rubbing a hot iron rod with tar, be- 

 tween the hoofs Although it bad made such pro- 

 gress In the flocks of our informant, as to cause indi- 

 rectly the loss of several hundrod sheep, yet he has 



succeeded after a year or two of careful attention, i 

 removing it entirely. 



He thinkB it rarely reaches that degree cf malig 

 nancy described by European writers, by whom it is 

 represented to become contagious, and occasion di- 

 rectly the destruction of the animal; or at least 'hat D 

 several years would be required to produce suth a ic- 1* 

 suit; death appearing here to be caused by the severi- 

 ty of winter operating on weakened and emaciniid 

 animals nffected by the disease. * 



$3 



^4 



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Kesonr'ces of the West— Agricultural Riches. 



How can we belter promote the objects for which 

 the Genesee Farmer was established, than by publish- 

 ing some articles calculated to expand the thoughts of S 

 our i'armers by reicrence to the growing greatness^ 

 and glorious destinies efthe Mighty West? The digni- 

 ty end importance of Agriculture can only be properly 

 estimated by contemplating such views as are here ; ro- 

 sented in tho annexed st«:einenta from Mr. Pentield^ 

 formerly resident in Ri"hcster — a man whose talents -, 

 and observation enable him to speak confidently on the 

 vast topics which he discusses. Were Mr. Penfield 

 unltnown to us personally, wo hare an endorser in 

 his behalf, whose testimony would alone secure an in- 

 sertion for bis statements. That endorser is JtiSB 

 Hawlet — well known as one of the earliest and 

 steadiest friends of Intekkai. Imphovemest in tho 

 Stole of New York. Mr. Peniield was formerly un- 

 der the instruction of Mr. Howley; and doubtless pro- 

 fited considerably by the tta:it;.cal knowledge and 

 enlarged views of his IrieRdly instructor. The article 

 has not suffered in value by the delay in publication — 

 though wc must apologize for omitting it till this iira8 

 — having had it in possession for some months. Let 

 it be read carefully — let its staieinenie be maturely 

 considered — and let other et»tements beating on the 

 great questions, be attentively examined with a view 

 to more thorough knowledge of the vast regions wa- 

 tered by our Inland Seas. 



From t/te Cleveland Herald. 



Wheat and Floar Trade of the West. 



NEW TOBK AND OHIO COMPARED. 



Mr. Editor — In making up some occountson this 

 subject for a private communicatinu, 1 have since 

 thought the figures would not be uniniercetinj; to 

 some of your readeis; and hope I shall nut be con- 

 sidered too tedious for your columns or their pa- 

 tience, in the closing remarks. 



There arrived at Cleveland by the Canol in 18-10, 

 504, iWO barrels of Fioar, and i;,1.5l,450 bushels o( 

 Wheat. We compute tbc flour as in wheat, allow- 

 ing OS in other instances that follow, 5 bushels to each 

 barrel of flour, making the aggregate 4,67;'j,950 bu;b. 

 There was bought from wagons besides 80,000 busb. 

 of wheat luid considerable Hour; the exact quantity 

 not to be ascenained, sulacient, however, for the con- 

 sumption of the city. The exportation from thin 

 jilace then was equal to 4,75."i,!i-'iU bushels. Several 

 other puinia on the Lake witbiii this stale also ship W 

 Inrge quantities; at Huron for instance, equivaient to 

 47'.2,676 bushels during th« past season. The export 

 of Ohio on Lake Erie we estimnie from .''•J to 6,000,- 

 000 of bushels. That on the Ohio river we hove not 

 the means of slating wiiU so much accuracy. Soraei 

 portion of the 130,637 barrels of flour shipped i^eost- 

 from Pittsburgh; the past seoson, was doubtless from 

 Ohio wheat. There are several points on the river 

 that send cil'uiore or le^s, besides those of Portsmouth, 

 whirotha receipis by conol were 34,134 borrela of ei 

 Hour, and Cincinnati, by the Bliumi canal 105,762 

 barrels of flour, ond 97,200 bushels of wheat. Wei 

 put the river export equal to 2,000,000 of bushels, I 

 making that of the State, not less than 7,500,000 I 

 bushels.' 



Governor Sewnrd states in his mesaoge at the open- ' 

 ingoftho Now York Legislature, in January last, 

 ihot there was delivered in 1840, at the eastern termi- 

 nation of tho Erie Conal, l,80r>, lo.") barrels of flour, 

 ond 1,395,195 bushels of wheat, equal to 10,420,870 < 

 bushels. Deducting . from this quantity, that 

 which went from the Western States, os will here 



* A rct'eiil stalcuicnt, purporting to hp t'riMu IJie Cincin- *? 

 natl t'hroniclp, mules tfic export of tlir .Stall" from Clcvc- i| 

 Ifinrt, Huron, Portjinovii;) i.ui Cincinnuii, 8,CGO,000 buafiefs 11 



.,870 

 part f 

 ■reaf. f 



I 



