NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB.-THE REVOLVING HAY RAKE. 
203 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB. 
The meetings of this Club were respectively 
held on the first and third Tuesdays of June, and the 
principal subject discussed was Indian Corn, its 
uses, modes of cooking, planting, &c. 
Gurneyism. —Mr. Meigs read a paper from the 
Revue D’Horticulture de Paris, on the effects of 
light and shade upon vegetation, by M. Poiteau, 
from which we extract the following :— 
“ Shade is necessary for all plants in their in¬ 
fancy, or when they are diseased, or when they 
have suffered violence by removal. Seeds germi¬ 
nate best in obscurity, and are best when shaded 
for a few days after. The clouds furnish such 
shade often, but art uses means to give shade to 
them. Seeds that must be sown on the surface, or 
with little earth over them, grow best if shaded for 
a time. Shade is necessary for such flowering 
plants as are desired to prolong their flowering and, 
freshness. Shade is important to all plants in, 
slips, and is almost indispensable in order that they 
may root well. Plants in light purify the air by 
absorbing carbonic acid and disengaging the oxy¬ 
gen, and they corrupt the air at night by suffering 
•carbonic, acid to escape without being decomposed.”; 
It is upon this principle that the new and particular, 
kind of manuring called w Gurneyism,” depends, 
which is stated to have been employed with signal. 
■su<s®9#sby Mr. Gurney, a farmer in East Cornwall, 
England. The operation consists in covering grass 
land with long straw, coarse hay, or other fibrous 
matter, which is allowed to remain upon the ground 
until the grass springs through it to the desired 
‘height, and then raking it off and spreading it on 
another portion of the field; the operation being 
repeated so long as the straw or hay remains suffi¬ 
ciently entire to admit of convenient application. 
Indian Pudding , Hommony , frc. —A. Barclay, 
Esq., British Consul, sent two valuable directions 
for cooking the excellent hommony, which he pre¬ 
sented to the club a few weeks ago, which will 
soon be published in the Report of the Committee 
•on this subject. 
Mr. Samuel Allen presented to the club the 
Farmers’ Own Pudding,” made by a lady, the 
•directionsand cost of which wereas follows:—3 lbs., 
yellow corn meal, 6 cts.; 1 lb. of beef suet, 8 cts. 
Is pints of molasses, 8 cts. ; 1 lb: of dried currants, 
12 cts—Total, 34 cts. Time required to boil it, 
four hours. 
Mr. A. emphatically remarked that this pudding 
was made by a lady; “ because,” said he, “ a sus¬ 
picion has gone abroad that the bachelors of this 
club were monopolizing the rights of the ladies, in 
cooking the various delicious samples brought for¬ 
ward here. This is a libel / The ladies, and not 
the bachelors, have done all the cooking.” 
The pudding was then served out to thirty or 
forty members of the club, and all agreed that it 
was excellent; whereupon, a unanimous vote of 
thanks was passed both to the donor and to the lady 
who made it. 
Kiln-dried Corn. —Mr. John S. Skinner read ex¬ 
tracts from letters from Maryland and Delaware, 
relating to kiln-drying corn, with the view of show¬ 
ing the necessity of preparing corn for exportation 
by this process, without which, it is very liable to 
become heated and musty, so as to render it unfit 
either for man or beast. One of the writers, Dr. 
James W. Thompson, states that as “ corn is be¬ 
coming an article of export to other countries, in¬ 
quiry was naturally awakened to know the best 
modes of preparing it for transportation. Expe¬ 
rience teaches, so far as yet ascertained, that com 
intended for exportation must be kiln-dried, if not 
manufactured, in the country which produces it. 
This process was attempted in Connecticut at the 
close of the Revolution. The Connecticut miilers 
used the white corn, and produced an inferior 
article of meal, owing to want of skill in preparing 
it. The Brandywine millers perfected their kiln 
and adopted the yellow corn, by way of distinction. 
From greater proficiency in kiln-drying and manu¬ 
facturing meal, they soon engrossed the West In¬ 
dian markets for their yellow meal, and this induc¬ 
ed our farmers to grow so extensively here the 
yellow corn. At the several mills on the Brandy¬ 
wine, there are annually thus dried and ground, 
some half million bushels of corn. It keeps per¬ 
fectly good for a long period, and does not appear 
to be deprived of any of its nutritive qualities by 
being subject to heat.” 
The other writer, Mr. James Cauby, of Wilming¬ 
ton, Delaware, in speaking of corn and corn meal, 
as articles of export to England, remarks, that, 
“ after an experience of nearly fifty years, he is ol 
opinion that the kiln-dried Indian corn meal manu¬ 
factured here , will have to be exported in place of 
the corn itself. The latter he finds invariably be¬ 
comes so musty when packed for exportation, that 
it is unfit for all purposes of manufacture. The 
only method to get the article into England entirely 
sweet, is to send orders for the meal only, and allow 
manufacturers of good character to fill these orders.” 
Mr. Charles Henry Hall stated that it was a mis¬ 
taken notion to suppose that Indian corn would not 
thrive in Europe. It grows in Spain equal to that 
of any other country, even better than in ours—but 
it is solely used there for feeding swine, &c. If 
the Spaniards had the requisite industry, they could 
easily undersell us, and supply England. 
THE REVOLVING HAY RAKK—Fig. 54, 
This implement, with a horse, man, and a boy,' 
will rake from fifteen to twenty-five acres per day. 
It can be used to good advantage even on quite 
rough ground. Price $7.50 to $9.00. 
