THE NEW GENESEE FARMER 



Vol. 



For the A'ct;- Ocnesee Farmer. 

 Sowing Com for Foddere 



Mr. Colman" — In the Fannor for Marchj your cor- 

 respondent Lcdyard asks information on the subject of 

 sowing corn: broad CRst, for winter fodder. I was, at 

 firstn»6urpriscd at the enquiry, but on reflection, con- 

 cluded he must have been a stranger to your paper, 

 probably just then commencing an acquaintance with 

 it. I ask leave, therefore, to refer him to your number 

 for July, 1841, page 109. He v/ill there find an article 

 on the subject, that will, I think, in a measure satisfy 

 his enquiries. I have been for twenty years accustom- 

 ed to this culture, and havo there given the result of 

 my experience. I do not feel as if I coijd say too 

 much in its favor. The product per acre, on a rich 

 soil, and in a favorable season, will be very great. I 

 iiave never had occasion to asc* riain with accuracy 

 the amount. But have considers!, or estimated the 

 B-nount on different fields and in difl'crent seasons, to 

 varv from five to seven tons, or more per acre. I have 

 carried well a very large stock, rising 1000 cheep, and 

 many cattle, farint* January, with very little hay. 



I would by no means sufler the corn to stand to let 

 the cars ripen before hiU"ve3ting. It should be cut 

 when rao?t juicy, when the juice is richest and sweet- 

 est. This will be, I suppose, at the time when the 

 kernel has become nearly or quite full of milk. When 

 sown 2 1-3 bushels of aecd per acre, the quantity 

 which I recommend, and from which I would not 

 vary, it mil stand so thick and the stalks be so slender, 

 that but few ears will set. Cut up at the time I pro- 

 pose, it will be so extremely succulent, that it will iTecd 

 to stand in small stouts to cure, during the dry and hot 

 weather; and should be put into stacks, as recommend- 

 ed in the aitido refered to nbore, just before the fall 

 rains comuicnce. 



The idea suggested in the Farmer for March, jiagc 

 31, '-that weeds will check it* growth, if the land is 

 rich, and fill the ground with seeds," I cannot tliink 

 correct. It is entirely at variance with my experience. 

 Tiro ground is so deeply and pcrfretly shaded, that I 

 have found nothing could live or grow among it, save 

 the Canada thistle ; and this would shoot up a slender, 

 pale, weak, and sickly stalk, unable to produce or sus- 

 tain a blossom. 



I have been pleased, after taking off the corn, with 

 the condition of the ground for cross-ploughing and 

 sowing with wheat. I recommend to sow corn early, 

 that it may bo harvested early, and thus have the full 

 benefit of the dry and hot weather, for the process of 

 curing the stalk. If cut late, it will be more difficult 

 so to cure it as to secure its safety. I once lost 

 a large quantity, supposed well cured, by stowing il 

 away in a large and solid mow. Of course, I prefer 

 stasking it, as recommended in the article refered to 

 above, around a [wle, the length of a sheaf only from 

 the pole, so that the butts shall all be exposed to the air. 



April, 1S13. A FARMER. 



us aharvest of IVuit as large and larger than robin's 

 eggs, as clear as o qiiill, and as delicious o§ a plam 

 or peach if you plecss. And the said bushes contin- 

 ue in good b^ing ever since without any change of 

 local habitation or name. My mcnagement with them 

 has been to keep ibo earth light and rich around the 

 roots. If moss collected on the stalk scrape it off, 

 and cut the old stalk down once in about three years. 

 The bushes must be kept well pruned, which is not 

 very difficult, if you have a choice fruit, and set them 

 where the air will circulate freely. A cold exposure 

 is suited to their tastei, hibits and constitution. 



A very dry soil irc think unfavorable to their growth, 

 as we have, in several instances, knoicn of their be- 

 ing attacked by mildew in eandy soils, also in those 

 where racks lay but little distance from the surlaco. 

 The bejt we ever saw, grow in a moist loam, which 

 was kept enriched by decayed chips. W. B. 



Moiint Osceola^ 1842. 



OIll«k;w on Gooseberries, 



For the Ntto Gencscc Farmer. 

 Mr. Colmak — One of your subscribers inquires 

 Iww he shall prevent gooseberries from moulding. 

 Some few years since, wlido passing through the 

 Shaker settlement in Hancock, Mass., we stopped 

 (its a gift of ours) to chat awhile with one of the 

 brethren. Among other topics our conversation fell 

 up:m gocsuberriea. lie said Ihcy had a very fine 

 variety, but in consequence of their mildewing, he 

 was going to pull them up and throw them into the 

 street ; they wero useless to them. We made a truce 

 with him for the said rejected bushes, brought them 

 home, and put them out as we had been want to put 

 out gooeoberry bushes in former time. It was ton 

 I'Uo in the season to expect any good from them thai 

 year, for their blighted fruit had just fallen premature- 

 ly to the earth. The next ecasoi, however, brought 



jisx 



For tlui \ci€ Gcncsce Farmer. 

 Siimmer Cookiug Appaiatu.'t. 



I furnish a description of such an apparatus ; which 

 I have found cheap in construction, saving of fuel, ond 

 very co.Tifortcble indeed for the woman who used it. 

 Though perhaps not adapted, in utmost strictncsa, to 

 an agricultural journal, cobblcra and carpenters being 

 sometimes compelled to do their ov/n cooking, still 1 

 Hatter myself it will not be e.tclndcd, while iho col- 

 umna of the Farmer are open to hng/unnyisms about 

 Contlccticiit River letters, old bachelors' griefsj and 

 young ladies names. 



Tile npporatus in question, consists of an iron ves- 

 sel A A (reprcaenleJ in section,) having a lorgc hole 

 at the bottom covered with a grote P, firmly set in sol- 

 id brick-work. This is for containing the fire. Di- 

 icctly beneath it is the ash-pit C, enclosed on cU sides, 

 except a small hole in front, 2 by 4 inches, for ex- 

 tracting the ashes, and for the admission of air to the 

 tire above. To ihis hole is accurately fitted by grind- 

 ing a piece of brick, so that the draught may be en- 

 tirely cut off, when the fire is not lo burn rCpiJly. 

 D is the boiler, made, as is perceived, in the shape of 

 a frustum "f a cone inverted ; and when set in, leaves 

 an overage space of one or two inches for the upward 

 passage of the smoke. On opposite sides of the iron 

 vessel A A containing the fire, and the thickness of 

 one brick from the top, are two square holes for the 

 horizontal passage of the smoke to the chimney. The 

 position of one of these holes, is represented by the 

 square dotted figure. A chimney about 5 inches 

 c-quare and four feet high, will afford draught enough, 

 and may then pass into a common brick chimney ; or 

 4 feet of rlove pipe will answer the same end. Sev- 

 eral boilers of this kind may be connected in one mass 

 of brick work, and then form what are termed in 

 some of our cities kitchen, ranges, where they are not 

 very uncommon. 



The fuel used may be small blocks of wood, chips, 

 or charcoal. If charcoal is used, lees space should be 

 allowed between the grate and the boiler, than when 

 chip? are burned. From three to six inches is suffi- 

 cient. The quantity consumed la cxceedinely small. 

 The stratum of hot air rijund the bottom and sides of 

 the boiler, is so thin, that little heat comparatively es- 

 capes, acting, 03 it docs, on a principle similar to that 

 of Moit's Agriculturol Furnace. A bushel and-haU 

 basketj filled with blocks of wood, were enough to 



cook all the food of a family of four adult persons fo 

 two days. By shutting the draught, combustion cor 

 tinuesfor along time. Three blocks of wood, th 

 size of common half bricks boiled the dinner pot wit 

 7 quarts of water, at 11 o'clock, after which th 

 draught was closedj and they continued to burn, kce[ 

 the water at boiling heat until & o'clock fo 

 lowing. A pint of charcoal was sufficient to boil 1 

 quarts of cold water. 



The fire communicates scarcely any pSrceptib! \ 

 heat 10 the room, hence it is particularly adapted fc 

 summer use. Every woman (I don't mean ever 

 lady, whose fingers never bent for household duties, 

 every woman knows that ironing clothes, and bakin 

 griddle-cakes, is desperately hot work in eummcr 

 bat not so with this apparatus. With it, she may iro 

 as comfortably as she rakes her flower bed ; and bak 

 cakes, sitting in her easy chair, as easily and coolly i 

 she writes a letter. I have seen il done. 



The vessel A A would be best if made of cast-iroi 

 Mine was made of thick sheet-iron, and though th 

 lower part burned through in a few months, yet th 

 bricks, having been made lo fit its outside, still kej 

 the proper shape. The upper rim of ihis vessel, an 

 the shoulder ol the boiltr, should fit accuratelj 

 Cooking-stove boilers may be used, but being shallo' 

 below the shoulder, are not so economical of fuel. 



The cast of n single boiler lipparatus was aa foi 

 lows : — 



Sheet iron vessel A A $0,83 



TiuboilerD 1,00 



Giatc 25 



Brick and mortar 1,75 



Mason work 87 



Iron strap round the top layer of brick 

 to keep ihem firmly together 25 



$5,00 

 When the boiler ia of moderate size, fuel is put i 

 at the top, by removing it ; but when very large, 

 small door is fitted in front to shut very closely, j 

 volve shutting the flue above the fire would bo u ver 

 good tffiiigTan'd'lhe'aiNb'eing thus excluded fromabov 

 as well as from below the fire would keep aa well ( 

 when covered with ashes. T. 



Western New York, l*-4?. 



Value of an Agrlcnltural Paper. 



Extract from a private letter from one, whone intel! 



gcnce and experience gives him a right to spec 



with authority, in Ontario county, and dated 4i 



March, l&i3. 



"I want the farmers to cast away their pTejudi' 

 against reading an agricultural paper. I think the 

 are alVaid of being caught in reading something, whii 

 perchance may have been written by some one, wl 

 does not belong to their calling, in whose vie%vs thf 

 miirht coincide. They are not comiwllcd to practi 

 any information communicated, which does not cor 

 mend itself to their common sense and judgment, 

 cannot bo that the chiu-ge of fifty cents prevents the 

 ticking an agricultural paper which usually contains) 

 a single number information respecting some subjct 

 worth mca-e than the entire cost of the paper for 

 whole year's publication. But light is gleaming throug 

 the mist of ignorance and prejudice. The farmers a 

 waking up, and that over- weening confidence in one 

 own experience, possessed by many, is giving wa 

 Many are wiUing to read an agricultural paper, ar 

 arc not ashamed to confess that they find it useful ar 

 instructive to them." 



We cannot help considering this advice as eensib 

 and sound; and therefore wo rocommcpd to thi 

 who need it, to tii^c it. As Q,aacks often say of the 

 medicine, " it won't hurt you if it docs you no good 

 Ignorance and prejudice arc extremely intractable di 

 cases to contend with. Advancing education and tl 



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