136 



THE NEW 



FARMER, 



Vol. 3 



ROCHESTER, SEPTEMBER, 1842. 



Agricultaral Excarsion in the Genesee \'9Uey 

 Cuntinned, 



{Account of Crops continued,) 

 Buckwheat is raised to some extent, but not large- 

 ly. I could not learn that in any case it had been used 

 «6 a green-dressing to be ploughed in, a process not un- 

 known in some parts of the country, and from which 

 I believe much benefit may be derived. The cost 

 of the seed is a small affair; and the preference of such 

 management over a naked fallow can hardly admit of 

 a doubt. A few oareftil experiment* in this case would 

 decide an important question. 



Grasses. — The Grasses cultivated are the red-clo- 

 ver and Timothy or Herda Grass. The meadows or 

 alluvions on the Genesee river abound in "ch natural 

 grasses, and are peculiarly Civorable to tho grpwth of 

 grass. 



In one or two oases, on a small scale, I found the 

 orchard grass cultivated; but merely as an experiment; 

 and I met with two small fields or rather patches of 

 millet, sown probably for the same reason. Tho stalk 

 was extremely large, which indicated, in ray opinion, 

 too tliin sowing ; certainly, if it were intended that it 

 should be cut for hay. This is a common error. The 

 allowance, with most farmers, of seed for a crop of mil- 

 let is one peck per acre. If the land is rich, the stalk 

 in such case becomes as large as brush ; but where a 

 bushel is sown to an acre, the stalk is small and fine, 

 and the hay, when well cured, of the very best descrip- 

 tion. I have myself obtained three tons to an acre, 

 weighed, after being well cured, at the public scale. 



Of grasses, clover is extensively cultivated. It is 

 sown on the wheat in the spring at the rate of 7 or 8 

 pounds to the acre, It is commonly depastured in the 

 fall, and the field is allowed to continue in clover the 

 ensuing year, and the succeeding spring is ploughed 

 and fallowed for wheat. In other cases it is depas- 

 tured in the fall of the year in which it is sowed ; and 

 in the ensiling spring the land is ploughed and fallow- 

 ed for wheat. 



There may be said to be three distinct kinds of clo- 

 ver customarily sowed by the farmers; the first is the 

 June or Southern clover ; this is comparatively small 

 and ripens early ; the next is the Northern or Ver- 

 mont clover, which ripens late and grows with great 

 luxuriance ; the third is the Ohio clover, which holds a 

 medium character between the two. I found that 

 both for hay or for ploughing in with the stubble, far- 

 mers differed in tlieir choice, prefering either the South- 

 ern or the Ohio clover. The Southern clover makes 

 the best hay and is more easily cured than either of 

 the others. The Northern clover mates a very coarse 

 hay. 



The crop in general averages from two to three tons. 

 The opinion of many of the best practical farmers, 

 whom I consulted, is decidedly in favor of curing it 

 mainly by sweltering in the cock. In this case it is 

 cut but not spread, and after lying in swarth until it 

 becomes entirely dry from extraneous wet and slight- 

 ly wilted, it is put into small cocks and suffered so to 

 remain until it becomes made, which can only be de- 

 termined by good judgment and experience. The 

 cocks are then turned directly upside down, until the 

 dampness gathered at the bottom of the cock is wholly 

 dried off, and are then carried into the barn. I have 

 tnown this same method practised by sojne of the best 



farmers in MasMachusptts, and in other parts of New 

 York ; and the hay under such circumstances retains 

 its sweetness and color, the flowers and leaves are not 

 ihaken ofl' and lost, as when the grass is much tossed 

 about and spread ; and the hay proves pf ap excellent 

 quality. 



Timothy or Hprds Grass cannot be said to be Bulti- 

 vated ejftensivcly, though I think some of the finest 

 fields of Herds grass which I have ever seen, I found 

 on Mr. Le Roy's place ne;ir Avon, on the opposite 

 side of the river. I hardly know what could be more 

 luxuriant, even and beautiful. On the Genesee Flats 

 above in the great valley, the hay was most abundant, 

 but as I have remarked of a more mixed character. Mr. 

 Wadsworth is accustomed to feed or depasture some of 

 his Colds so late in the spring that the crop of grass is 

 not fit to be cu[ pntil the season is far advanced. This 

 divides and extends his time of haying, as the differ- 

 ent fields ripen in succession, and his haying season 

 reaches into September. This late-grown hay is, 1 

 presume, not gp substantial and nutritious as an earlier 

 crop would be, partaking very much of the character 

 of rowen, but this is compensated by the advantages 

 of tho feed in the spring. The practice of taking two 

 crops does not, that I could learn, prevail here: and 

 this I believe from an oppressive fepling of abundance 

 rather than that it might not in many cases be done to 

 advantage, for with respect to many of the farmers of 

 this rich section of country, the case must be as with a 

 farmer mentioned in another place, who needed to pull 

 down his barns and build greater, that ho might have 

 where to bestow all his goods. 



It is diflicult to estimate with any great exactness 

 the ordinary yield of these best lands in grass, but it 

 may be safely put down as averaging over two tons 

 per acre. I do not know where finer crops are to be 

 found, and this would be an under estimate of some 

 fields, which I went into. 



Hay is, in many cases, stacked, sometimes near the 

 barns and at other times in the fields. I saw but few 

 instances in which these stacks were thatched ; but in 

 many the stacks were put up with extraordinary skill 

 and care, and so were pretty thoroughly protected 

 against the weather- Mr. Wadsworth has, scattered 

 over his fields and meadows, a great many small barns 

 in which the hay is stored; and at which places his 

 cattle and sheep are fed in the winter, but not housed. 

 The proper stacking of hay is quite an art, which 

 an Englishman or Scotchman understands well; and 

 if allowed to take his own way will perfonn with so 

 much skill, I may add, taste, that I have often admired 

 these stacks for their effectual protection of the hay, 

 when well thatched ; suid for their beauty as pictur- 

 esque objects in a rural landscape. But it is an art of 

 which in general a Yankee knows nothing, and in 

 which he is commonly a sad bungler; and this not 

 from any want of capacity, but from a deficiency of 

 patience owing to the driving haste with which most 

 things are carried on among us ; and from a habit, but 

 too conmion, of only half doing most things which we 

 undertake. 



Of Stock in the Genesee Valley and its vicinity, I 

 can judge but very imperfectly. It is hardly to be con- 

 sidered at present as a stock raising district, the land 

 being chiefly devoted to the growing of wheat and 

 grass. Mr. Wadsworth feeds large numbers of cattle 

 upon his meadows, but many of these arc purchased 

 and not bred by him. He has bred, however, some 

 improved stock and has several animals of full and 

 mixed blood. Mr. Le Roy and Mr. Newbold, in York, 

 have a considerable ^erd of improved animals of a high 

 character. I saw thfm merely in passing, and regret- 

 ed that I could not go among them ; but they are held 

 in high estimation in the opinion of competent judges. 

 I scarcely found a farm where any considerable num- 

 ber of cows were kept for dairy purposes beyond the 



use of the family, The cows met with in general were 

 of no particular breed ; and were, as far as I observed, 

 in good condition. Perhaps I should except from this 

 eulogium the cpws which go in the highway, a race 

 which, in Ireland, are so much valued for their skill in 

 leaping hedges and ditches ; and at sales are always 

 commended for their capacity of " getting their own 

 living." I cpuld get no exact account of any dairy 

 product. The average yield of a good cow in new 

 milk cheese was stated at about 300 lbs,, and where her 

 milk was devoted exclusively to butter, at 110 to 150 

 lbs. pfr annum. These statements, however, were 

 rather conjeetural than ascertained ; but to all inquiries 

 respecting the yield of their cows in milk, the stereo- 

 typed answer was always made, that they gave a pail- 

 ful at a milking ; an answer which I have always ad- 

 mired for its precision, especially as pails are all of one 

 size! 



The general impression among the farmers in this 

 part of the country seemed to be, that while the Im- 

 proved Durham Stock was decidedly to be preferred for 

 its beauty, size, and thrift, yet for milk they were con- 

 sidered inferior to the best selected cows of our native 

 stock. The first crosses have almost always proved 

 well. How far this impression or opinion is to be val- 

 ued,.«nu!t depend on many circumstances. It may be 

 mere prejudice or an opinion taken up at hap-hazard ; 

 and but very few persons, if any, in this part of the 

 country have had that long and careful experience 

 with the race, that would justify them in coming to so 

 great a conclusion. The truth is, with a few excep- 

 tions, we in fact know little pf this stpck at present ; 

 and the haste with which some men approve or con- 

 demn, is well illustrated within my own experience, 

 here, for example, an individual farmer of no mean 

 judgment undertook to give their character with per- 

 fect decision, whose whole knowledge of them extend- 

 ed to the owning of a half-blood two years old bull for 

 a few months. 



If any man, however, chooses to see this stock in 

 perfection, let hiin go to the farm of E. P. Prentice pf 

 Albany; and if he has any prejudices of any kind 

 against the stock, and is not then prepared to yield 

 every one of them, I can only say he is differently con- 

 stituted fioin what I am. Mr. Prentice has about forty 

 animals of the Improved Durham Short Horn, of pure 

 blood and of the Ji'ghest pedigree. He has one cow 

 with seven heifers of her own progeny along side of 

 her, six of which were in milk. A stock of larger 

 size, of more symmetrical form, of equal beauty, of finer 

 feel, of more thrift, of greater productiveness, I never 

 have seen and never expect to see ; nor do I expect tp 

 see a herd better kept, nor better arrangements for their 

 keeping. To an amateur, to an inquisitive farmer, whp 

 desires to see what skill, intelligence and care can ef- 

 fect in moulding and improving the animal frame, it is 

 worth a journey from Rochester to Albany on foot to 

 see this stock. It is worth almost as much to see Mr. 

 Prentice's stable arrangements and the tidy manner in 

 which every thing is kept. Some few farpiers ampng 

 my acquaintance, in going there, would hardly know 

 that they were not in their own best parlors. This, 

 however, seems to convey a slight reflection upon some 

 farmers' wives ; but that is not my intention ; and as I 

 wpuld not upon any account be disrespectful towards 

 the ladies, I beg my readers to draw black fines around 

 this paragraph and consider it as " expunged." 



I have only to desire that Mr. Prentice would by a 

 lactometer ascertain the qualities of his milk; and then 

 that he would ascertain the actual yield in butter of 

 several of his animals for a week or so; and when thig 

 is done, that he would show his benevolent counte- 

 nance in the New Genesee Farmer and let our readers 

 know all about it. Our friend Tucker of the Cultiva^ 

 tor, has too much generosity to complain of this ; or to 

 think we have jumped over the fence into his pasture 



