! 



36 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



)L. O. 



teing housed. Tbo best peat we have ever seen has 

 been cured in this way. After being dug, lot it lie 

 Jong enough upon the ground to become drained, ond 

 then let it be carried home and piled up in a shed, 

 where, while it is protected from the rain, there is a 

 thorough circulation of air round and among every 

 part of the heap. This is much the least troublesome 

 way of curing it ; and the peat is heavier and will give 

 more heat than when dried in the usual way in stacks 

 on the field. 



Our friends, however, may, we think, if we under- 

 stand its condition, appropriate their peat meadow to 

 a much better purpose, than that of either manure or 

 fuel. Let them ditch and drain it thoroughly, or at 

 least so as to reduce the water eighteen inches below 

 the surface ; then let them pare and burn the 6(.ds, at 

 such a time that the meadow itself will not take fire ; 

 spread the ashes ; put an a good dressing of compost, 

 half loam and half manure, well mixed, and sow lib- 

 erally of herd-grass, red- top, and clover. Or if they 

 prefers less expensive process, let them ditch and 

 drain their meadow as above ; clean away the i ubbish 

 with a stiff harrow or drag ; and carry on, at a season 

 when they can get on to the meadow with a team, 

 good loam and sand, and spread to the thickness of 

 two or three inches, and then sow grass seed as above. 

 Or otherwise before the frost is entirely out, and when 

 they can turn over the surface to the depth of four or 

 five inches, let this be done carefully, inverting every 

 eod, and then let a dressing of mixed manure be ap- 

 plied, the land sowed with grass seed as above advis- 

 ed, and rolled. The most thorough way oi doing 

 the business is undoubtedly the best. By this man- 

 agement, this land may be brought into most produc- 

 tive grass land.yielding, as we have repeatedly known, 

 three and four tons to the acre. After three or four 

 years a compact sward is formed, when it may be 

 ploughed and cultivated with common crops. With- 

 in our own experience it has produced the beat of rye, 

 corn and oats. In Ireland, great improvements have 

 been made in this way, and near Liverpool portions of 

 Chat Moss have been redeemed in a similar mode un- 

 der the direction of Mr. Reid. We regret that we 

 have not at hand the means of stating the process of 

 Mr. Reid and the results, but this we shall be able to 

 do hereafter. The crops of wheat obtained on land 

 redeemed in this way, were most remarkable. Much 

 of this description of land has been recovered and im- 

 proved in Massachusetts, of which we propose shortly 

 to give a full account. 



Cut off all these black bunches or excrescences, 

 which probably ol this season, however, contain no 

 insects, lor their removal is necessary to enable us to 

 detect the new bunches which will form late in spring 

 or early in summer. The latter, containing the 

 worms or larva;, should be corefully hunii as soon as 

 they are discovered ; but to prune the tree thoroughly, 

 removing all surplus wood, and leaving the branches 

 so open that any new excrescences may be detected at 

 a glance, would save much time and trouble. 



"Black Gnm"~Bowlders»-MediterraueBn 

 Wheat~Peach Buds. 



[f;i a letter front Capiga Counly.'i 

 Bi-ACK Guisi.— On a late journey to Auburn, I ob- 

 served plum trees in great numbers along the road, 

 tricked out in all the finery of " black gum;" and I 

 was rather gratified to see the progress it had made. 



Rejoicing at the misfortunes ol others ? No — for 

 from it ; but the trees must soon die in the hands of 

 their present owners, who t»ke no care of them ; and 

 the sooner they die, the belter. 



Is that so ? Yes, and I can prove it. Every one of 

 these trees is a nursery of insects, to annoy the trees 

 of their industrious neighbors ; and so long as such 

 nuisances exist, so long must every pomologist within 

 a mile or two of them be in a state of continued 

 watchfulness or warfare. When all these worthless 

 trees perish, however, the insect, having no place to 

 breed in, and nothing to live on, must perish too ; and 

 then— the dark cloud having passed over--pIum trees 

 may grow and flourish as they did ten years ago. 



Although we have given line upon line, and precept 

 upon precept, yet it may be proper to mention the 

 remedy for this " evil" once more. Possibly some 

 landed proprietor may be wakened up, and induced to 

 exert himself as it were at the eleventh hour. 



BowLDEUs.— Every traveller in this part of the 

 State, whose perceptive faculties are well developed, 

 must have observed that fragments of rocks, varying 

 greatly in size, are scattered over the land ; and that 

 most of them difler entirely from the rocks which oc- 

 cur in regular strata. 1 

 Now how did those bowlders gel there 1 This 

 question would be answered very differently by differ- 

 ent persona. 



Some believe that stones groio ; and that the pebble 

 of to-day may become a large rock in future years. 

 in other words, that they grow as naturally as pump- 

 kins. Nobody, however, has discovered the stem 

 that rocks grow on ; nor the veins or pores through 

 which their nutriment circulates. Animal life and 

 vegetable life are familiar terms ; but mineral life 

 would bo something new in the language of naiu 

 ralists. 



Other people who (like the former) have not studi- 

 ed causes and effects, quietly conclude that those frag- 

 ments have ahcays been there ; and see no reason to 

 wonder at their appearance. It has been observed, 

 however, that nearly all the rocky strata in Western 

 New York abound with the remains of animals that 

 once existed; and which could live buried deep in 

 the earth no more than a horse or a cow could live 

 there. When alive they were at the surface of the 

 ground, though that surface was probably at the bot- 

 tom of the sea ; but certainly they never lived with 

 those rocks on their heads ; and if we may judge from 

 the plainest analogy, every one of those bowlders, 

 lies directly over the remains of some animal. 



It will be safe to conclude, therefore, that there was 

 a time when these rocks were not in their present 

 positions ; and the question may properly recur, how 

 did they 'get there? In a late lecture on Geology, 

 delivered by Professer SiUimnn in the city of New 

 I York (as reported in the Tribune), I find the follow- 

 ing remarks on the transportation of botcldcrs by 

 means of floating ice : 



" It is not at all necessary to draw upon the imagi- 

 nation to understand this fact; for it is a matter of 

 observation that ice-islands of vast magnitude are fre- 

 quently torn away from their beds and floated through 

 Hudson's and Cnftins' Bay to more southern regions. 

 I hove seen myself ice-islands floating through the 

 ocean, towering from one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred feet above the surface of the sea ; and as we 

 know that floating ice never shows above the surface 

 more than one eighth of its bulk, we may reasonably 

 conclude that islands of sixteen hundred feet in thick- 

 ness frequently float from the Arctic regions to more 

 southern climes. It is easy to see then, that these 

 islands are capable of transporting immense loads ol 

 rock, far more heavy than the largest ships of war ; 

 and it is obvious that when these islands float into 

 warmer regions, they must melt end drop their load. 

 Thus the rocks which come from the most northern 

 regions are deposited in the bottom of the southern 

 seas. These masses, transported thus, may be seen 

 off the West Coast of South America, and at the 

 island of Chiloe. The process has long been going 

 on, ai\d will be in progress forever." 



These remarks present a very interesting view of 

 ihe subject, and tbete can be no doubt of their cor- 



rectness ; but they foil to cover the whole ground. 

 The bowlders in this part of the country, generally 

 show the effects of attrition ; and where they are do- 

 rived from rocky strata on this side of Lake Ontnno, 

 some estimate moy be made of the distance that they 

 traveled, Ironi theii change of form— the nearer to 

 I their native bode, the more angular— the further, the 

 I more rounded and worn. Fifty miles of rolling and 

 grinding have effected great changes;; but fifty niilesof 

 navigation would produce no such results. I must, 

 therefore, conclude that our bowlders generally irnv- 

 eled by laud. 



Mediterranean Wheat.— A letter recently re- 

 cently received from a (fourth) correspondent near 

 Philadelphia, contains the kind and liberal ofler of Q 

 borrel of the Mediterranean WJieat for sowing next 

 fall, with the following odditional information : 



" Its character here is rising, improving as il be- 

 comes acclimated. We have not yet tried it fo. bread, 

 but [A. & B.] who are remarkable for having very 

 nice bread, say that it is excellent ; and that the flour 

 is mors like what they used to have in old times." 



Ithiay be remembered by some of your readers that 

 this wheat is exempt from rust, and from ihc attacks 

 of the Hessian fly. 



Peach Buds.— In my letter contained in the first 

 number of the current volume, I mentioned that the 

 peach buds had swelled ; and that unless the winter 

 should prove unusually mild, ihey would be likely to 

 perish. Well, the winter has been unusually mild— 

 they remain uninjured ; and the lateness of the season 

 (2 mo. 20.) encourages the hope that the danger from 

 intense cold is nearly over. 



The Principal of the Cayuga Academy at Aurora, 

 haspolitely furnished me with observations made at 

 that place, on the temperature. The greatest cold: 

 was on the morning of the 14lh of the first month, 

 when the mercury stood at 6° above zero ; but further' 

 from the lake and at a greater elevation, it was doubt- 

 less colder. Between Aurora and this place, howev- 

 er, I think tho diftercnce would not be more than twO' 

 or three degrees, so that with us there must be more 

 than thirty degrees of frost to destroy the blossom 

 buds of the peach when they are swelled. The leai 



buds are much hardier. 



Ontario Agricultural Society. 

 This Society held their usual meeting at Conau- 

 daigua on the 8th ult. So inclement a day has hardlj 

 been experienced this winter ; and tho roads were ex 

 tremely bad. The attendance of Farmers was good 

 but the show of agricultural products and stock wn. 

 very small. It could not have been expected that thi 

 animals, unless they had a good deal more publi, 

 spirit than their owners, would consent to be tied to i 

 stake ond shown upon the common on such a day ni 

 that, for the gratification ol public curiosity or thoi 

 own vanity. We found very few of the farmers wil 

 ling to " take airs" upon themselves on the occasion 

 and who did not prefer looking at a good maple fire t< 

 looking at a fat ox, though they seemed to have n. 

 objection to the latter after he had been at the fire like 

 wise. This season of the year in our climate, is ver; 

 unsuitable for a cattle show. 



The premiums were awarded as follows : 



To Pitt May, of Hopewell, for the best two acres c 



Wheat, ilO. The yield was 37^ bushels per acre 



To Jesse H. Bunnell, of Canandaigua, second bee 



ditto, $7. 28 bushels. r , , . r i 



To Eph. W. Cleveland, of Naples, for tte best ficl- 



of Corn, not lees than one acre, $7. 82J bushel 



To Roytl A. Andrews, Bristol, for second best dc 



*5. 70.21 bushels per acre. 

 To Ban! Bradley, of E. Bloomficld, third do. $S.- 



4.=i.61 bushels per acre. .. , , r u 



To John Raines, Canandaigua, for the best beW e 



Barley, no less than one acre, $5, 41 J bushels. 



