11)6 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 3 



OATS. 



Will the Editor please slate in the next number cf 

 ibe FArmer, the iisunl quantity of oats sown on an 

 n.-ro by the common farmers in England and Ireland, 

 and P.Iso the most suituble quantity for New England 

 on ordinary or highly cultivated lan^. Any remarks 

 upon the enbji'ct which the Editor may have time to 

 make, would be read with interest by a subscriber. 



E. 



The us'iol quantity of oats sown to an acre in this 

 country is three bushrla. The quantity sown in 

 England is from foar to six bushels per acre. The 

 English lariners are in the habit of sowing more seed 

 to an acre than is done with us. Of the potato oat, 

 one of their heaviest oats, less seed is used than of 

 others, because it has no awns, and n half bushel 

 measure contains moie oata in number than of other 

 kinds. The cultivation of land in England is very 

 much more careful and thorough than with us ; this 

 may be a reason for sowing more seed. The quanti- 

 ty of seed to be suwn upon an acre of any grain de- 

 serves consideration, and especially experiment. One 

 of the best farmers in Massachusetts is accustomed to 

 sow three bushels of rye, nndsiyeho finds an rdvm- 

 lage in doing it, whereas few farmers sow more than 

 one bushel to the acre. Of spring wheat our fa'-mers 

 BOW usually two bushels ; of winter wheat one and a 

 half. In sowing wheat in autumn, a difference in the 

 quantity of seed is made by judicious farmers, as that 

 which is sowed early has more opportunity to spread, 

 or as it is termed, to tiller well, and consequently less 

 seed is required. Where the land is rich and the 

 cidiivatlon good, we ore strongly of nn opinion that 

 too little seed is generally sown. Where the grain is 

 thin, the crop is more apt to suffer from drought. 

 O.ita require a moist and rather cold climate. AVe 

 have known more than one hundred bushels upon an 

 acre ; and nn averag; crop of y3 bushels to the acre, 

 from a field of eight acres. Toe general average 

 ihroi-.gh the country is not over forty bushels. No 

 attention is paid to the selection of seed with us ; but 

 iihroad the largest oats arc sometimee picked out for 

 Bowing. Wo have no doubt that more care in this 

 respect would be amply compensated. A careful 

 Bi-leetion of the earliest, fullest, heaviest and brightest 

 plants in the field would presently give a farmer a 

 crop much above ordinary. Of the two kinds culti- 

 vated among us, the common branching oat and the 

 Tartarian or horse-mane oat, where the panicles hang 

 all on one side, the latter is thought to yield die heav- 

 iest crnp. An eminent furnier in New Hampshire, 

 m whose juilgment we have great reliance, prefers 

 this kind, and his crops lor years have averaged about 

 sixty bushels per acre. S.)mo persons allow the kinds 

 to become mixed, but they do not ripen at the same 

 time; and the common oat gets into a condition m 

 waite or shell out before the Tartarian becomes ready 

 for harvest. Oats should be cut early ; they are less 

 liable to waste, and the straw is deemed better for the 



stock. 



On Slaking Butter. 



Mr. Colman — I am no farmer, hut have, on look- 

 ing over your paper, noticed a communication from 

 Mr. Bemcnt in the April number, upon the subject of 

 making butter in winter, together with your rem.wks, 

 and was much pleased with the importance which he 

 and you attached to it. Butter is truly an important 

 article, and there is nothing that comes upon the talile 

 about which people are more squeamish ; hence the 

 best methods of making it at all seasons of the year arc 

 worthy of consideration. It is generally conceded that 

 there is very little difficulty inm.aking butter during the 

 ii.'^ason of gras.s — the quality depending upon the skill 

 a\l neatness of the maker ; but how to make good 

 swe«| butter in winter, that is the question. Much de- 



pends upon the cow, the manner of keeping and feed- 

 ing, but much more upon the management of the milk. 

 Th ' experiments of Mr. Bement are valuable, but I am 

 quite certain from my own c-^pcrience, or rather from 

 the experience of my wife, which is the same thing, 

 that equally good results may be attained at a much 

 cheaper rate; by dispensing with the expense and i i- 

 convenience of double pans, and the trouble of scald- 

 ing the milk, and substituting a more simple process. 

 After trying various ex| erimeiits, she has settled down 

 upon the following simple plan. 



In the first place, the greatest care is taken to have 

 the milk things clean and sweet ; the milk is strained 

 into common tin pans immediately after coming from 

 the cow, and set in a room warmed by a stove. It 

 stands usually 30 hours, when it is skimmed, and the 

 cream, with considerable of the milk, put into a stone 

 crock in the same room. In 3 or 4 days enough is 

 gathered for a churning; if it is not sour, the crock is 

 set into a tub of warm water until it is sour. It is then 

 put into the churn and converted into butter, usually in 

 Irom 15 to 25 minutes. Following this method, our 

 table has been supplied during all the past wint r with 

 butter so fine that it has been much admired, and 

 pronounced equal to June butter, excepting only the 

 color, which is not so deep a yellow : we have never 

 used carrots either for c loring ot f'fiiiTig. There is no 

 dangirofafaikirein churning; never, since this course 

 htsbeen pursued, has there been a single churning 

 put by because it would not come. There has been no 

 witch in the churn, and consequently no need of put- 

 ting in the heated horse shoe to drive her away, as I 

 have known down ra t. I have never ascertained the 

 exact quantity of butter made from a given quantity of 

 milk, but having but one cov/, have been very particu- 

 lar in weighing from wee.-i to week for three months. 

 From the middle of November, (a few days before 

 which time the cow calved,) we found an average of 

 ten pounds per week. The cow is a half Durham, 10 

 years old, from a bull which was broug. t into this vil- 

 lage some 12 years ago from the vicinity of Boston, said 

 to belong to the family of the stock presented to Mas- 

 sachusetts by Admiral Coffin. She has been fed du- 

 ring the winter with a mess of wet shorts night and 

 morning, with occasionally some potatoes; frequent 

 salting; good h.ay, and a warm stable. 



We find a de.'ided advantage in skimming, to t.ake up 

 considerable of the milk with the cream, and let it go 

 into the crock, and by frequently stirring il together. 

 1 think, Mr. Editor, that I can furnish a satisfactory 

 answer to the question put to you by your fair friend, 

 in relation to the trouble which so often hajipens in 

 churning. We have always had difUculty when the 

 cream was sweet ; but since adopting the above plan, 

 no such thing has occurred. 

 Respectfully yours, 



SAME. H. ANDREWS. 



Cajwn^ni'jva, 13'19. 



Slimmer Beer. 



To make the best flavored, cheapest, and most inno- 

 cent beverage used, (save water,) have a strong cask 

 painted, to make it impervious to air — commence by 

 putting in (say for 10 gallons water.) 1 quart yeast, 5 

 pints molasses, a few drofis oil of spruce — a cask for the 

 atbrementioned, shotild bo of the capacity of fifteen 

 gallons, to be without a bung, and to s'and on one 

 head ; in the other a hole to put in the ingredients — to 

 be tapped about two inches from the lower head; when 

 all is in, stop it tight, lay the cask down and violently 

 agitate the mixture for a minute, then open the cock 

 and a quantity of air will rush in, when it stops, shut 

 the coek, and rock another short spell, open and .air 

 will again go in, but not so much ; so operate as long 

 as air will enter, then stand it up, and in the course of 

 a few hours it will be fit for use. To accelerate action, 

 .t will be well the first time to put in a pail of hot wa- 



ter. It will keep good but a short time, and will soon 

 be tart ; then draw it off, if any is remaining, down to 

 the cock, and put it into a vessel, and in time it will 

 become vinegar. To make again, you have only to 

 put in the w.ater necessary, half a pint of molasses per 

 gallon, and a few drops oil of spruce, and shake as 

 before. Air must not be allowed to escape, for if it 

 should the beer will be good for notliing. 



Cornish, Mail, 1812. W. W. 



We give the above recipe, which h.ns been kindly 

 sent to us, with our plain advice tolet it alone. There 

 arc few things worse for laboring men than sm.all beer; 

 for we have never known a case, where it was furnish- 

 ed liberally, that men did not, as Cobbctt says in liia 

 cmphatical way, " make swill tubs of their bellies." It 

 is very much so with molasses and water, modified as 

 it often is by a profu.sion of ginger. Men, when they 

 get their mouths to the mug, never know when to take 

 them away, and it goes down their throats like water in 

 a shower down the spout. Coffee, chocolate, milk and 

 water, or nature's pure moonshine from the crystal 

 spring, is never swallowed with the same insatiate 

 greediness. We believe, likewise, that few things 

 sooner disorder the stomach and impair its tone than 

 this habit of excessive drinking of small beer, molasses 

 and water, ifcc, especially in hot weather. AVc know 

 that success in attempting to persuade men to govern 

 their appetites, is well nigh hopeless ; but long observa- 

 tion and experience under hnrd labor has satisfied us, 

 that if possible, it is best never to drink anything ex- 

 cepting at the regular meal times; but that especially 

 it is best never to drink any thing in the forenoon ; 

 That water, pure water, is the most safe, nutritious, and 

 invigorating of all liquiils which can be taken into the 

 stomach, and when drank in moderation may he uactl 

 with perfect confidence; and that more than three 

 meals a day is hurtful instead of beneficial. If one is 

 drv. a little piece of cracker chewed will produce a se- 

 cretion of the saliva and the thirst will be quenched ; 

 or if any thing more is needed, let it be a draft of clear 

 water. Wc advise for laboring people, and we do not 

 speak without some experience on the subject, break- 

 fast from six to seven, dinner at twelve, and tea between 

 five and six. If something more is needed, let it be a 

 howl of milk in the evening when all work is done. 

 But all ten o'clock's and four o'clock's are pernicious. 



Wc have known an excellent drink prepared on a 

 farm where a hundred acres were annually under the 

 scythe, and other things in proportion. It was thus; 

 from a pint to a quart of fine oat-mcpl was put in a two 

 gallon jug, filled with water, and well skaken and kept 

 in a cool place. It would very soon be fit for use, and 

 very soon become .agreeable, and always prove a goo<l 

 quencher of thirst as well as safe and nutritious. It is 

 quite unnecessary to say before trying it, that we 

 should not like it. All of us are the creatures ofhabit 

 and we have few tastes, even among the strongest, 

 which arc not acquired, and oftentimes in spite of ori- 

 ginal aversions and disgusts. 



On Rotting Hemp. 



My Dear Sib — In addition to my communication 

 to you on the cultivation of hemp, I feel that I may 

 render a service to the inexperienced cultivator in be- 

 ing more particular as to the proper season for retting. 

 The importance of this has been mentioned to me by 

 a gentleman in the business, on seeing my letter pub- 

 lished in the April number of the New Genesee Far. 

 mer. This suggestion, with a wish certainly not to 

 mislead the agricultural public, and to answer some in- 

 quiries made of me from abroad, has induced mc to 

 speak more particulariy on the process of retting. 



It is important that the retting should be finished in 

 cold weather ; if the hemp freezes as soon as drawn 

 from the pond, so much the better. I have .-een hemp 

 ponds frozen several inches thick : this ia broken up 

 bv rlrawing off tlie water. 



