AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
343 
the last day they were paraded for a march 
in the “grand cavalcade” but they were espec¬ 
ially ignored in any other display, the horse¬ 
races being the absorbing attraction. We have 
only to say, if such are the proceedings un¬ 
der that particular Quaker administration, 
let Ohio get back under the lead of the Gen¬ 
tiles as rapidly as possible. 
And the minor Societies—those of coun¬ 
ties and towns—are getting into this pesti¬ 
lent imitation of trotting matches, and women 
riding, as rapidly as possible ; and the secret 
of all is it pays ! that is, it draws money into 
the treasury. Farmer’s daughters—modest, 
well behaved girls at home, are here coaxed 
out to exhibit themselves as fast riders, and 
made subjects of the ribald jests and passing 
jeers of thoughtless men and boys, to at¬ 
tract a crowd, and gratify the vanity of a 
set of managers, not for the benefit of the 
real farmer, but to build up the immediate 
interests of the horse-jockeys. How long 
will it take, at this rate, to run our once 
truly excellent cattle shows literally, “ into 
the ground,” in the estimation of all right 
minded people 1 We may recur to this sub¬ 
ject again.— Ed. 
FARM NOTES 40—BY S. W. 
.Full Treattnent of Soils—Sorghum Saccharum 
—Oaring Corn fodder—Good varieties of 
Corn — Dairrpv&giojis. 
Fall treatment of Soils.— If the ground is 
a little frozen so much the better for garden 
trenching or deep fall plowing. If tHer-soil. 
is heavy and tenacious throw coarse refuse 
or long manure in the trench ; but if it has 
been well manured the fall or spring before, 
you may trust to the action of frost to make 
it pulverulent, provided always that it is well 
underdrained ; then the ridges in the spring 
will be friable and only need raking smooth, 
with perhaps a little fine or liquid manure to 
aid early vegetation. One spade deep will 
give you a trench ten inches deep with a 
ridge of the same hight. Deeper spading 
in a heavy soil will insure larger crops, but 
I get great yields from one thorough spad¬ 
ing, with only a forking over after peas, to 
get a second crop of transplanted beets, cab¬ 
bages, or corn sown for fodder. 
If a soil is hungry sand or gravel, neither 
plow nor spade it in the fall; but a top dres¬ 
sing of nitrogenous manure with a coating of 
tenacious clay, should by all means be ap¬ 
plied to it in the fall or early winter ; frost 
will pulverize the clay, which with the ma¬ 
nure is to be plowed under in the spring. 
Clay enables a loose soil to save the ammo¬ 
nia it is so continually losing from its lack of 
adhesiveness and chemical affinity for am¬ 
monia salts, which clay possess in an emi¬ 
nent degree. Hence, while clay needs the 
mechanical aid of frost to keep it friable and 
in a state to mix with coarse materials ; sand 
and gravel need clay to bring it into a con¬ 
dition to hold and economise the compounds 
of nitrogen. 
Antwerp Raspberries. —If not done before 
bend down the cane to the ground now, and 
put earth on the ends to keep them down, 
some lose straw or sea weed thrown over 
the bent vines will catch the light drifting 
snow as it did here last winter saving every 
plant in full vitality. 
Sorghum Saccharum—Or Sugar Millet. —A 
correspondent of an Ohio paper says, there 
is no humbug in this plant, that, it is precise¬ 
ly suited to the climate of Ohio, (If so it will 
succeed in the warm regions of New-York). 
He also avers that he can make sugar from 
it at an expense of five cents a pound, in 
proof of which he sends a lump of his own 
making to the Editor. It is also valuable as 
others have proved both for the summer 
feeding and winter fodder for stock. Stall 
fed cattle prefer it to any other food. It 
requires the same rich soil and early plant¬ 
ing, and precisely the same culture as In¬ 
dian corn, so as to perfect its saccharine in 
hot weather. 
Curing Corn grown for fodder. —I this day 
examined a load of young stalks cut early in 
September, on its way from the shocks in 
the field to the stable. It was the Ohio Dent 
variety, stalks seven feet long, $ths to f inch 
in diameter. The leaves were dry and so 
tough as not to crack when twisted. The 
stalk was dry on the outside, but full of 
sweet juice to within a foot of the tassel, 
which was dry and sweet. Had these 
stalks, instead of standing out in the field, 
been thrown into a heap even after drying 
in the sun, they would have heated and 
soured. Mr. Wright says he draws them in 
from the field no faster than his large stock, 
horses included, can eat them while their 
juices are sweet. Those he keeps over 
winter on his hay mow &c., will soon be so 
dry as to crystalise their sugar. He ob¬ 
tained more than twelve tons to the acre in 
the green state. It was sown in drills at 
different periods ; and much of it fed green 
to milch cows during the long drouth. That 
which was cured]for fodder was cut as soon 
as its juices were sweet, dried by spreading 
a day or more and Ahen|stacked. I think the 
stalks are hardly as sweet as those of the 
edible sweet corn, but of a taller growth con¬ 
sidering its close sowing in the drills. 
Good varieties of Corn. —The Ohio Dent 
Corn has been successfully cultivated by 
Mr. W., and 170 bushels of ears grown to 
the acre in the hot and very dry summer of 
1854, but as the stalks are too large and 
woody to be cut up, or even edible when 
cut, he prefers the Dutton or the long eight 
rowed varieties, for the benefit of the extra 
fodder. The brown King Philip variety has 
succeeded well this season, and owing to its 
very rapid growth and early maturity farm¬ 
ers like it for second planting to fill up gaps, 
&c. It perfects a much larger kernel than 
the seed from the Patent Office. If our cli¬ 
mate is not the paradise of an Indian corn 
climate, it needs only a little extra pains to 
compensate for the deficiency. I never yet 
failed of a perfect garden crop of corn when 
planted in season. 
The blessings of the Dairy regions. —A farm¬ 
er from this cereal paradise, after return¬ 
ing from a visit east, to the counties of 
Chenango, Madison, and Otsego, says 
he never before realised the fact that a 
kind Providence had equalized the good 
things rural; for although the tiny corn 
looked as if it would have to be taken in to 
the kitchen fire, yet such pastures of white 
clover, such butter and cheese, and such 
large milking smiling cows, are not to be 
seen in our calcareous dried up pastures in 
in August. S. W. 
Waterloo, Nov. 8,1856. 
STORIN G PAR SNIPS. 
These roots are usually left in the ground 
until spring. They have a long imprison¬ 
ment, in which it is impossible to get at 
them, either for table use or for market. It 
is very desirable to have a portion of the 
crop at least accessible at all times. They 
are more salable in the village markets dur¬ 
ing the winter months then in the spring, 
frequently bringing a dollar a bushel. We 
have found them to keep perfectly well piled 
up on the south side of a wall, and covered 
with sea weed or old hay. The covering 
should be eighteen inches or more thick. 
Stored in this way, they are always ready 
for market, and you can take advantage of 
high prices, while your neighbors, who do 
not take the papers, have their parsnips fro¬ 
zen into the earth.— [Ed. 
H OGS HAI R. 
Farmers, who slaughter their own hogs, 
generally allow this article to go to waste. 
In the large butcheries in the cities, it is 
carefully saved for use in the arts, and 
forms a considerable item in the profits of 
the business. It would not pay, perhaps, for 
those who have but a few pigs to kill, to 
send the hair to a distant market. But still 
it should not be left to waste. It is a very 
powerful fertilizer, and if saved and put into 
the vegetable forder nexl spring, it will give 
a good account of itself. It is particularly 
valuable for celery trenches, giving a large 
growth of tender juicy stalks. Save all the 
waste of the scalding tubs for the garden.— 
[Ed. _ 
Agricultural Lectures at Yale College. 
—We call particular attention to the an¬ 
nouncement of these lectures, in the adver¬ 
tising columns. Of the ability of Prof. 
Johnson we have spoken elsewhere. These 
lectures will be a rich treat, as well as a 
source of much practical information to all 
our young men, as well as those older, who 
can possibly leave home for a season in the 
winter. The course on Agricultural Chem¬ 
istry will discuss pretty fully the principles 
of Agricultural Science,—such as the com¬ 
position of plants, nature and sources of 
their food, soils, manures, crops, &c. That 
on Practical Agriculture, will form a practi¬ 
cal compliment to the scientific course, and 
cannot but be instructive to those actually 
engaged in agricultural occupations. Send 
to Prof. Johnson, and get full particulars.— 
Ed. 
Mowing Machines. —At the trial of Mowing 
Machines exhibited at the late Fair of the Ameri¬ 
can Institute, at the Crystal Palace,and tested near 
Newark, N. J., before the Committee appointed 
for the purpose, R. L. Allen, of New-York, re¬ 
ceived the premium for best Mower—a Silver 
Medal; and M. G. Hubbard, of Penn Yan, N. Y., 
the premium for second best machine—a Bronze 
Medal. 
