180 
THE CULTIVATOR 
GENESEE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The fourth anniversary was held on the 4th and 5th 
of October, and was better attended than any previous. 
The show of cattle was large and very good; the show 
of hogs superior in every respect to that of the State at 
Rochester. In sheep and horses we also had a very 
good show. In the domestic, we were largely in ad¬ 
vance of any previous year, and had an exhibition that 
was really creditable even to old Genesee. The number 
of voluntary members was larger also than any year be¬ 
fore. There is still room for improvement, and I 
think another year will demonstrate that the people are 
wide awake. 
The plowing match excited, as usual, great interest, 
and went off very well indeed. An address was deli¬ 
vered by the president, the ability of which you can 
judge when you read it. It would not be proper for me 
to speak of it, as I might not do it justice, seeing that I 
am its author. The Society very kindly tendered me 
the office of president again, but having been so for four 
years, I thought the rule of “ rotation in office” should 
be applied. Edgar C. Dibble of Batavia was elected 
president, J. A. Verplank of Batavia secretary, and F. 
P. Pendell of the same place treasurer. Eight vice 
presidents and four managers in each town were also 
elected. 
The society is in a highly prosperous condition, con¬ 
sidering the disadvantages under which it has had to 
labor. 
The competition on grain and root crops does not 
take place until 1st November, at which time the pre¬ 
miums are paid off. 
The great good growing out of these agricultural so¬ 
cieties begins now to be very manifest, in the increased 
attention paid by farmers to all bi-anches of their busi¬ 
ness, and the competition among them apparent at the 
annual exhibitions. Every farmer feels that he is ma¬ 
terially benefitted by the opportunity thus afforded for 
comparing the various breeds and crosses of animals, and 
judging from actual observation of their value to him. 
Hundreds of dollars are therefore saved, that otherwise 
would have been lost in experiments. The same also 
holds good in relation to farm implements, as none will 
be brought forward that have not been fully tested by 
actual use. 
Holding the State Fair at Rochester this 3^ear has been 
of great service to the cause throughout the west part 
of the state. Although the Rochester people did very 
well, still I must be permitted to say that if it had been 
at Buffalo, there would have been a much more liberal 
spirit manifested among all concerned than I saw at 
Rochester. I only hope that one Fair may be held 
there, to show the different spirit prevailing in the two 
cities. Hei-eafter, wherever it is held, the city or vil¬ 
lage should be at the entire expense of the yard and 
fixtures. They can well afford it, and that would be but 
a small return for the amount of money left with them 
on such occasions. Sincerely j'^ours, T. C. Peters. 
Darien, Oct. 16, 1843. 
RAISING TURKIES. 
‘'A Subscriber” inquires if turkies ‘'can be made 
to lay when they show a disposition to set, by being 
confined as hens sometimes are.” The editors of the 
Cultivator ask that some correspondent “acquainted 
with the habits of this fine domestic bird, will reply to 
this query.” It is assuming much to claim an acquaint¬ 
ance with the habits of the turkey, and yet perhaps I can 
give your correspondent some light; and as I shall 
charge nothing for it, it may be accepted if nothing 
more satisfactory should come to hand. I must remark, 
however, in the first place, that your correspondent’s 
turkies are certainly very different from the generality 
of turkies in this vicinity, if they ‘‘ never lay eggs 
enough to set them with.” Mine seldom lay less than 
twenty eggs before they show a disposition to set, and 
they not unfrequently lay twenty-five or thirty; but as I 
set the first eggs under hens, I sometimes fall short be¬ 
fore I have set all my turkies. In Connecticut, after a 
turkey has completed her first laying, by confining her 
a few days, she will usually lose her propensity to set, 
and in the course of two weeks commence laying again. 
There is occasionally an exception to this rule. I have 
had one case this season, whei-e every effort to destroy 
a disposition to set was unsuccessful; but it was after 
the hen had hatched out her brood, and I had taken them 
from her. She refused to leave her nest, and when shut 
from it, would set wherever she could find an egg, and 
for aught I know, she is setting now; for after being 
driven from “pillar to post” for some 8 or 10 weeks, she 
took to the fields, and for some weeks past I have lost 
sight of her. But I intend, another year, to turn this 
untiring and stubborn “ habit” to some account, rather 
than attempt to destroy it. 
A few words to those who wish to succeed in raising 
turkies. See that the young ones you intend to keep 
over are thoroughly domesticated. Learn them to eat 
out of your hand, to fly upon j^our shoulders, and feel 
no alarm when you handle them. You will then have 
turkies that will lay in your barn or near your house, in¬ 
stead of wandering oflf into the fields or woods. But I 
contemplate some more extended remarks upon this sub¬ 
ject at a future time, if I can persuade myself that by 
doing so I can contribute to the better success of your 
readers in raising turkies. I will only say now, to those 
who desire success in this business, beware of lireeding 
in-and-in.” It will ruin any flock of turkies in the 
course of three or four years. It is possible your Vir¬ 
ginia subscriber may trace some of his difficulties to 
this source. k. l. 
BUCKWHEAT—BERKSHIRE HOGS, &c. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —The object of this 
communication is to obtain from yourselves or some of 
your numerous correspondents, some information in re¬ 
lation to the cultivation of buckwheat. This is a new 
article of culture in our state, and so far as I can learn, 
is not planted by a dozen farmers among us. On the 4th 
day of July, the present year, I sowed upon one acre of 
land, (from which a poor crop of wheat had just been re¬ 
moved,) a bushel of buckwheat. The soil was very 
light, and did not produce much more than five bushels 
of wheat to the acre. Notwithstanding, the buckwheat 
came up well, and while in blossom looked very pro¬ 
mising. I observed, however, that it commenced ripen¬ 
ing its seed very early and very irregularly; all the low¬ 
er seeds maturing while the top continued in flower. 
Whether this is characteristic of the plant or not I do not 
know, as I have never before planted it. Being fearful 
of its shelling out and getting lost, I felt disposed to cut 
it some time since, but one of my negroes who is from 
Virginia, said he was acquainted with the article, and 
that it would not shell out, as it held the seed very tena¬ 
ciously, and was even difficult to thresh out. 
In consequence I suffered it to remain, and two days 
ago, cut, threshed and fanned it, when it yielded only two 
bushels and a half, although I was careful to have it cra¬ 
dled while the dew was on it in the morning, and did not 
remove it until sunset. Upon examination I found that 
it had been lost in the harvesting, the seed being thickly 
scattered over the ground from which it was taken. 
Please give an article upon the subject in the Cultivator.* 
That my wheat was sown upon such poor land, I would 
be ashamed to acknowledge, but it was done by the form¬ 
er occupant of the farm, which has just come into my 
possession. Should my life be spared, I hope by the in¬ 
structions contained in your own, and our useful agri¬ 
cultural journals, that this state of things will not con¬ 
tinue long. 
The dawn of a better system of agriculture has made 
its appearance in our state, and the imperious necessity of 
collecting more manure than heretofore, is impressing 
itself upon most of our planters and farmers. But while 
the culture of cotton continues to occupy so undue a pro¬ 
portion of time and labor, very little improvement can 
be expected. More attention, however, is now being 
paid to the rearing of stock, which is the first step to¬ 
wards a better system. We have the Durham, Devon and 
Ayrshire cattle; the Bakewell, Leicester and South Down 
sheep, and the Berkshire hog, with other varieties, and I 
hope they will prove highly useful in improving our na¬ 
tive stock. At any rate, being expensive animals, more 
care will be taken of them, and thus better management 
of stock in general, will gradually take place. 
The Berkshire hog is most assuredly the best formed, 
and probably in all respects the most profitable animal of 
his kind; but they have in every instance that I have 
known of, failed to attain the weights anticipated. We 
want a hog which at a year old, will weigh on reasonable 
keeping, 180 to 200 lbs. nett, and in no case have I known 
one here reach those weights. Now this is very much 
below what many of your correspondents mention in the 
Cultivator. The animals that I have seen, were mostly 
obtained from Messrs. Bement and Lossing, of j'our city, 
and I now have some of the stock of the former, but they 
are small, although they have been kept fat from their 
birth. We cannot afford to keep our hogs on milk, and 
therefore do not expect them to attain the enormous 
weights spoken of in the Cultivator, but we could wish 
a heavier animal than we find the Berkshire, when kept 
upon the ordinary food that we can spare them. Hoping 
I may be able to serve you by extending your subscrijf- 
tion list, I remain yours, J. \\r. G. 
Greenville District, S. C., Sept. 28, 1843. 
* Buckwheat at the north, is grown on dry soils, and usually 
on those that are so reduced as to be unfit for other crops. On 
very rich soils, the growth is too luxuriant and does not fill 
well. It may be sown from the 20th of June to the middle of 
July ; and some years the earliest sown will be the best, in other 
years the latest sown will be the most productive. No crop 
appears to fluctuate more with the season, or be more depend¬ 
ing on the weather. Hot and very dry weather, about the time 
of fioweringj we have found most injurious. In ordinary sea¬ 
sons it continues to blossom until frost comes, and ripe seeds, 
green ones, and flowers, may generally be found on the same 
stem. No crop requires more care in gathering, to prevent loss 
from the shaking off of the seeds. The time of cutting should 
be, when the stalk exhibits a good proportion of ripe seeds. To 
wait for all, would be the certain loss of the earliest seeds, 
which are the most valuable. Buckwheat .-should be cut when 
damp with dew or rain. It may then be set up in small bunch¬ 
es, such as would make an ordinary sheaf of wheat, and the top 
slightly pressed and bound together. These are allowed to 
stand singly, until thoroughly cured and dried)'when they shotild 
be carefully carted, and threshed at once. There is no crop 
threshed so easily as buckwheat, when in good condition ; and 
the grain has one advantage over most others, in rarely suffer¬ 
ing any damage, no matter how much exposed to storms. The 
product varies much per acre. The average may be from 15 to 
36, but the yield sometimes reaches 36 or 40 bushels per acre. 
One word as to the Berkshires alluded to by our correspon¬ 
dent. While we have no difficulty in making them reach the 
weiglff required by him at the age mentioned, many of our farm¬ 
ers who prefer heavier porkers, have crossed the Berkshires with 
some of the larger breeds, the Leicester or Hampshire, for in¬ 
stance, and think that so far as size is coneerned, they have made 
a decided improvement. Another thing : if our correspondent 
will look at the analysis of corn as made by Dr. Dana, he will 
find that while its fattening properties are unrivaled, its power 
for forming muscle, or in other words, for promoting growth, 
are not equal to many other articles of food. At the north, we 
find it best to give the growth by these cheaper materials, while 
the corn is reserved for the fattening. 
THE FARMER’S ENCYqLOPEDIA. 
Messrs. Editors —^We regret to find that an article 
upon the Influence of Climate on the Productiveness of 
Plants, introduced into the Farmer’s Encyclopedia, has 
caused us to be denounced as entertaining feelings un¬ 
friendly to the interests of the Southern states. 'Very er¬ 
roneous impressions have been propagated in regard to 
us by means of extracts and garbled statements made by 
those who have never seen our work, in which it is ex¬ 
plicitly stated from whence the article was taken. Where 
we are personally known, we entertain no fear of being 
in the least suspected by Southern men of any desire to 
do the South the least injustice. To show, however, 
what little foundation really exists for accusations against 
us, we think it proper to state that the article which has 
been complained of was written several years since, and 
originally published in the American Journal of Geolo¬ 
gy, by a Southern man, born and educated in South Caro¬ 
lina, and largely interested in Alabama and Mississippi 
property, in both which states he has spent much of his 
life. 
The position sought to be maintained by this able and 
unprejudiced inquirer, is, that “ the cultivated plants 
yield the greatest products near the northernmost limit 
in which they will grow.” He has certainly argued the 
point with great ingenuity and plausibility, but whether 
his data are all invariably correct, we will not take upon 
ourselves to assert, not wishing, at present, to argue the 
subject. The author is abundantly capable of taking cai-e 
of himself, should he feel called upon to do so. But we do 
not think it likely that he will condescend to notice all 
the communications which have been, or may be made 
upon the subject through different journals, some of which 
are from persons possessed of marvelous faculties for 
discovering treason where this or any other offence was 
never dreamed of. The question affords an interesting 
topic for discussion in journals devoted to Agriculture 
and natural science. 
Editor of the Farmer’s Encyclopedia. 
Philadelphia, Oct. 16, 1843. 
BOMMER’S MANURE METHOD put in PRACTICE. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Being a subscriber 
and constant reader of your valuable agricultural publi¬ 
cation, I frequently find there, articles on “ Bommer’s 
Method of making Manure.” As these articles are chiefly 
from the pens of agriculturists who have followed this 
method with entire success, it affords me unfeigned plea¬ 
sure to be able, on my own behalf, also to bear testimony 
to the value of this method, and through the medium of 
your paper, to make the results of my experiments and 
operations known to my fellow citizens. This I do, both 
for the sake of bringing before the public the great ad¬ 
vantages derived from using the method spoken of, and 
the benefits insured me by its application, and at the 
same time in order to render a deserved tribute to the 
truth. 
On purchasing Bommer’s method last spring, I imme¬ 
diately prepared a heap in the pi’esence of a few neigh¬ 
bors. I followed strictly the directions laid down in 
Bommer’s book. After the lapse of a fortnight, the heap 
was opened in the presence of a number of farmers, and 
our astonishment cannot be conceived on seeing the me¬ 
tamorphosis which had taken place, as we found all those 
weedy and stramineous materials of which the heap had 
been constructed, reduced to rich black manure, having 
an ammoniac smell, much more pungent than the best 
stable manure. Beholding so surprising a- result, the 
farmers present formed themselves into a public meeting, 
and in that capacity nominated a committee from their 
midst, who were charged with the preparation of a Re¬ 
port of what we had seen, to be sent to the agricultural 
press. 
I plowed in this manure into one-half of a field in¬ 
tended for potatoes, and in order to institute a compari¬ 
son of effects, I put the same quantity of my best stable 
manure into the other half of the field. The effect on 
the soil was very nearly the same with both these kinds 
of manure; but the vegetation on that part of the field 
which had been furnished with Bommer’s manure, was 
more luxurious and the foliage of a deeper verdure, 
which I attribute to the richness of the saline matter 
which it contains, and which alone preserved the humi¬ 
dity of the soil during the severe drouth of this last sea¬ 
son. It is proper to remark also, that in the composi¬ 
tion of the “Bommer Manure,” I employed simply such 
doses of the ingredients as were absolutely necessary to 
insure success in the operation of making it, and if I h.td 
increased these quantities, there is not the least doubt 
that the result of the Bommer manure would have been 
very far superior to that of any horse manure. 
Perfectly satisfied with my experiment and its results, 
I have put up fixtures near my barnyard for the purpose 
of preparing large quantities of this manure; and within 
the last two months I have made three heaps, which have 
yielded me between 200 and 300 loads of excellent ma¬ 
nure. The last heap was composed entirely of 100 loads 
of sedge grass, nearly dry, with which I intermixed 40 
loads of swampy matter, such as exists on my farm. All 
my outlay in purchasing ingredients to form the lye for 
this last heap, amounted to between $20 and $30, and 
in disbursing this trifling sum, I have made a heap of 
manure, which I would not dispose of for $260. 
I shall prepare other heaps of manure before the win¬ 
ter sets in, and those who may be desirous to see me at 
woi’k and to assure themselves of the truth of what I 
have said, need only call at my farm, and judge for them¬ 
selves. 
