7W 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2 



A Visit toBrockport aud Clarkson. 



I n ihc early pari of September, we took a ride to 

 Itr rkport, in company with L. B. LANowoiiTHr, Esq. 

 im 1 Mr. JojtPH Ai.LtY.x, wiili the imention i,f vitw- 

 iny. the farm and 6ilk cocoonery of Mr. George Allen, 

 Ml 1 visiting a number of the good farmers in Sivoden 

 un I Clork»'in. Owing to the ercessive warmth of the 

 wciither, and some indisposition on our part, we did 

 1101 accomplish a3 much aa we intended ; etill, we saw 

 much ihnt was highly interesting to 113, and gome ac- 

 »ount of which may gratify our readers. 



Mr. .\Ileu's Farm 

 [s aitnated on the south cast side, and within the cor- 

 poiaic limits of the village of Brockport. It consists 

 of s6 acree, embracing a great variety of surface and 

 kinds of soil, now under good cuUivniion, but origin- 

 ally quite rough and some ports so wet and boggy as 

 to bo utterly useless. The improvements which Mr. 

 Allen has cfleeted, are quite surprising, and reflect 

 great credit on his ckill and enterprise. His syatcp' 



■>f 



Under-Draining aud Stock Watering 



I? very perfect, and worthy of imitation. Me has made 

 oboul 80 rods of under-drain, by means of which he 

 Itns not only reclaimed several acres of valuable land 

 an 1 beautifiod his premises, but by placing reservoirs 

 in the drain', and putting down conducting logs, he 

 has obtained an abnni.int and never iailing supply of 

 pure water, at his yard and building?. In conslrnct- 

 ing drains, Mr. Allen has adop'.ed Eeveral mod-.s, ac- 

 Ci'rding to the nature of the soil or other circumstan- 

 c.-e. Where the soil \N"a3 firm, and the materials at 

 ominand, the drain was formed of I'lose stones, first 

 covered wiih liirf, then with cnnb, ,'V( other places 

 it was formed by nailing two narrow boards togetber, 

 like a trough, placing it with the angle downwards for 

 ilic bottom of the drain, then putting small sticks 

 Bi:ro83 and covering it with another board, so as to 

 li ave a crevice for the water to enter nnder the cover; 

 tlie whole surrounded with broken charcoal to focili- 

 tite filtration and preserve the boards from decay. — 

 Another method, and to us a novel one, was procticed 

 where the sub-soil was quicksand, and where aboard 

 or stone drain would soon fill up : ho went to the 

 woods aud cut beech brush, c )nsisiing of branches one 

 inch or less in diameter, with the spray on, which he 

 tied up in small bundles or fiiggoia, eight or ten inches 

 in diameter ; these he placed lapping each other in n 

 low in the bottom of the''drain, having first laid 

 ilown a bed of straw. The fag-gols are thon firmly 

 turrounded and covered with straw, and on this is 

 thrown the turf and rubbish, then earth or sand, the 

 whole firmly pressed down. IIow long such drains 

 will endure without decoying or filling up with qtiick- 

 snnJ. we cannot tell, but they seem to answer iho pur- 

 (Kise admirably, and certainly are not very expensive. 

 Mr. Allen is also largey engaged in 



Silk aad Mulberry oiieratioii!), 

 As onr readers arc already aware, by his communica- 

 lioti wl.ich we published last month, end to v.hi;h wu 

 now refer for an account of bis cocoonery, &c. , in or- 

 der to p event icpotition. Wo were somewhat dis- 

 appointed in the appearance of the cocoonery, having 

 cx.iccted to sec a better finished building and more 

 expensive fi.xt»re8 ; but as it is, it goes to prove one 

 important fact, namely, that large expenditure of mo- 

 rey is not necessary for a commencement. Owing 

 10 a want of experience, and some mismanagement, 

 Mr. Allen was not very successful with bis early crop 

 of worms; but the later hatchings, of v.'hich Uc baa an 

 , nnitnse number n.ow feeding, appear very promis- 

 in". Some were beginning to spin when wo were 

 iUn-c. The cocoonery is fiitod up with Morrib' Frame*, 

 w'ulc'i unuoubtcdly combine morj ndvontagrs than 

 any othw cmtrlvance for feeding silk worms. Mr. 

 ^ Ihn is 51 w.>;! c'lnvin-sd "f ilieTr n'.ilitr, thai he ha 



become joint proprietor with Mr. Morris for the right 

 of all the districts of Western New York lying west 

 of the Genesee River. 



The mulberry plantations and nurseries of Mr. Al- 

 len far exceeded our expectations. He had no estimate 

 of the exact number of trees, but thinks there is over 

 •200, OUI). They embrace the M. alba, M. multicaulis, 

 and several other varieties. Mr. Allen has collected 

 a vast fund of information on the subject of silk culture, \ 

 and appears to take pleasure in commnnicating it to ! 

 others. 



The Farm of Mr. S. D. HaJdwin 

 Was the next place we visited. Jt onsisis of I'JOacres 1 

 of very superior land, only half a mile from the vil- I 

 loge of Brockport, on the south west 8 de. Mr. Bald- 

 win is very successful in the culture of wheat, Indian 

 corn, and other ordinary crops ; but what most at- 

 tracted our attention was 17 acres of broom corn. — 

 This was of on unusually fine growth, very tall and 

 thick, and being just in full head, it presented a most 

 luxuriant spectacle. Mr. B. has long been in the 

 practice of raising broom corn, and making brooms. 

 it affords profitable employment for the winter months. 

 Wo found another somewhat unutual crop on this 

 farm, but we doubt whether the owner deserves much 

 credit for it, although it looked very promising, for it 

 was nothing but weeds — yes, and the vilest of all 

 weeds — Tobacco! Jlr. B. is quite confident that this 

 crop can be raised with advantage on his land ; but 

 we shall not be surprised nor sorry if he is disappoint 

 ed when he brings it to maikct. 



In horticulture, Mr. Baldwin is sadly deficient; but 

 we think he must be something of an amateur injllor- 

 iculturc, for wo observed many curious if not rare 

 plant? in bis flower garden in front of tbe hm.ise; §uch 

 for instance as Phijtulacca dccandra, (Poke weed,) 

 Rumcx sunguinca, (Dock,) Chmopodvuin rhumhifo- 

 Hum, (Pig weed,) &c. *fc-c. 



After we had partaken of the hospitalities of his to- I 

 ble, Mr. Baldsvin conveyed us to Clorkson, where we 

 took a stroll over ihe large and beautiful j 



Fami of Dr. Abel Haldwin. 



His land extends from the Ridge Road to more than 



a mile in extent on the plain below. The soil is gen- 



eroUy good, though much of it is rather heavy. Ii 



formerly produced large crops of wheat, but Doct. B. 



says it has lost much of its wheat growing properties, 



and he now intends to try the eliccts of lime and deep 



ploughing. II he can obtain a good sul/soil plough. 



he promises to give it a trial. He is doing consldcrfi- 



. ble at under-draining, and says he bos observed thai 



I ihe heaviest wheat is produced where tlie earth hat 



I been thrown out in making drains; tin orgumer: 



j which we have befjre adduced in favor of deep plough- 



j ing on such lands. Dr. B. keeps a large number oJ 



I cotile, and cuts much gross. On his largest nicadowt 



! he bos adopted a system of 



Irrigation 

 Which be finds of great odvantago particularly in dry 

 seasons like the post. A stream formed by a wootc- 

 wier in the canol, runs thiough his farm, and wbei 

 required a portion of the water is conducted on to thii 

 meadow in such a manner as to submerge nearly thi 

 whole surface ; from which it is again condueter 

 when necessary by opening several drains. We won 

 der that irrigation is not nnjre procticed in this coun 

 try, especially in places such as we often see, where i 

 coidd be done with trifling expense. In England, 

 notwithstanding the i.ioislure of the climate, irrigo 

 tion 's m.uch practiced and found to he of great ad 

 tage, 



l)r. Baldwin bos a fine collection of cattle eonsistin.' 

 both of improved and common breeds. A lot of steci.- 

 and grade heifers struck us as being very beawiifu' 

 His cows ore also very fine, both of impiovcJ and se- 

 lected comninn stock. 



Disease Among Calves—IuQuiiy. 



Dr. Baldwin informed us that in ii:c momh of Au- 

 gust he lost twelve very fine calves about three months 

 old, by a eironge kind of epidemic that attacked ihrm; 

 the coutc and cure of which neither be nor his neigh- 

 bors understood. The colvts wore very lorge ond 

 thrifty ; all sucked the cows, and gave no evidence 

 of illhcalth till they Buddrnly became dumpy, refused 

 to suck, and in «il hours died. On removing too 

 skin lorge block spots were seen on the body ; and on 

 examination ibe second stomach was fouud to be dry 

 and hard. We presume some of our renders con 

 throw light on this subject, and I ope they will do to. 

 A Large Grape Viue. 



In his fiuit garden Dr. Baldwin bos the largest and 

 most productive grope vine we have ever seen in this 

 country. It is an American variety called 'Winne, 

 resembling the Isabella. The branches run along n 

 trellis and over the tops of several fruit trees, covering 

 a space we should judge, ofot least forty feet square. 

 We tried to moke on estimate of the number of clus- 

 ters of fmit but time and our jiatience failed us. Wo 

 guessed there were about .3000 ; they arc not as lorge 

 as the foreign varieties. 



Lime as a Manure. 



Lime bos been considered the foundation of oil good 

 husbandry ; for where it is not tound naturolly in the 

 soil in sulHeient abundance, it has generally been the 

 task of the good husbandman to supply the deficiency. 

 It may be doubted however, whether lime is the 

 only mineral capable of rendering soils perpetually 

 fertile. The bloek sandy prairies of the \Vcstern 

 Slates seem to furnish on exception. We have form- 

 erly stated our views on this subject, and now repeat 

 them in the hope of inducing some able chemist to fur- 

 nish on accurate analysis. 



Much of the prairie on the east side of the Wabash 

 river, which includes the town of Vincennes, was a 

 common when we visited that place in ISIG; and bad 

 probably been in that condition for more than a centu- 

 ry. In many places, it was enLiiely bare — in others 

 covered by coarse gross or perennial weeds ; but 

 n-berever it wos cultivated, the vegetation was most 

 luxuriant. The soil oppeors nearly black, but glisten- 

 mg in the sun. This reflection is from the white sand 

 which constitutes a large proportion, while the dark 

 color is derived from the finely divided matter. On 

 treating it with diluted muriatic acid, we discovered 

 no effervescence', and concluded it contained no cotbo- 

 note of lime. When burnt, it wos scarcely eJimrnished 

 in quantity, showing it contained but little caibon or 

 vegetable matter. By this procets, however, it was 

 jhangcd from black to a reddish cast ; and wo infer- 

 .ed that the fertilizing principle was a mineral, and 

 ,;robably a sulphurct, but our ciamination extended no 

 urlher. 



These tracts hn-.vever, fiirm but a very small pro- 

 lortion of the country ; ond wo recur to lime as the 

 general fertolizer. We intend not indeed to discuss 

 he sultjcci at lorge, but simply to point to errors that 

 igriculturifts have sometimes adopted. 



Lime should ohvaysbe applied in the form of pow. 

 !er ; and it matteis not whether the icducticm of the 

 tore to this state, bo performed by grinding or Irurn- 

 II g ; but the latter method being the easier, has been 

 ;enerally adopted. It is true there is a great difference 

 •etween the comminuted stone and quick liine, just 

 lacked , but the latter when spread out on the ground 

 ■ecomes carbonated so speedily, that both have tho 

 lime eflect, 03 manures. A soinlion of quick lime ia 

 I'no porticular use in agriculturo ; an intimate inter- 

 li-vture with the soil is the principal thing ; end to 

 .event its becoming clotted, a most useful precau- 

 on. 

 T' grind mngnesion, litnfs'.one, if pia.-tirob'e.wnulil 



