106 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
standing” on the subject, among the officers or members 
of the Society. 
State Fair at Poughkeepsie. —Great preparations 
are making in Dutchess and the river counties for this 
Fair, which it is thought will far exceed any previous 
one of the Society. A meeting was recently held at 
Poughkeepsie on the subject, at which the right spirit 
was manifested, and a committee of fifteen appointed to 
co-operate with the officers of the State Society, in ma¬ 
king the necessary arrangements, raising funds, &c. 
Varieties of Wheat. —We would call attention to 
some samples of wheat at the Agricultural Society’s room, 
(old State Hall,) from Gen. Harmon, of Wheatland, 
Monroe co., N. Y. The samples embrace twelve or 
fourteen varieties, which Gen. H. has tested on his own 
farm. His opinion of their relative value, may be seen 
by an article from him on the cultivation of wheat, which 
will appear in the third volume of the Transactions of 
the N. Y. State Ag. Society, which is now in the course 
of publication. 
S. M. —The 4th part of Johnston’s Lectures, has not, 
we believe, been published. 
Bermuda Gras \—Will our friend Mr. Affleck, have 
the goodness to answer the following inquiries. Would 
either Bermuda or Musqueto grass suit the climate of Al¬ 
bany? Where could the seed of either of these grasses 
be had, and at what prices? 
Pigeon Weed. —Mr. J. Johnston, says he is much 
troubled with this weed, or red root, as sometimes called, 
and requests information as to the best mode of extirpa¬ 
ting it. Who can tell the best way to do it ? 
Wire Worm.— “ A Subscriber” at Norwich, Mass., 
inquires for a remedy against the ravages of the wire 
warm. We do not know that any specific has been dis¬ 
covered; their mode of attack is such that it is difficult ef¬ 
fectually to guard against them. They destroy the germ 
of seed grain, and sometimes much injure potatoes by 
working into them. Soaking grain in a solution of cop¬ 
peras, before sowing or planting, is the best preventive 
that has yet been used; but it is doubtful whether this is 
in all cases sufficient. 
Transferring Bees. —The Boston Cultivator wishes 
to learn the mode of transferring bees, which is referred 
to by Mr. J. Wells, of Ulster, N. Y., in his communi¬ 
cation published in the Cultivator, vol. 10, page 178. 
Mr. W. calls it “ Kelsey’s mode.” He will oblige us by 
sending a description of it. 
Fat Cattle. —Three oxen raised by Jeremiah Brown, 
Ridgeway, Orleans co. N. Y., one of which took the first 
premium of the New-York State Ag. Soc. at Rochester, 
last fall, w r ere lately sold in Boston market. Tim' r dress¬ 
ed weight was 1,950 lbs., 2,500 lbs., 2,630 lbs. v roast¬ 
ing piece of one of them was sent to this city as a sam¬ 
ple, and was admitted to exceed any thing of the kind 
before seen. 
Selection of Stock —Jo Sykes,” a correspondent 
of the N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, says that while on 
a visit to Mr. Webster’s farm at Marshfield, in Dec. last, 
Mr. W. made the following remarks: “In the selection 
of stock, farmers in this country should regard their own 
climate and their own circumstances, and note wherein 
they differ from those of the farmers in England. Here 
we raise oxen for work as well as beef; but there they 
seldom raise cattle for working.” 
Soaking corn in muriate of ammonia. —Dr. Samuel 
Webber gives an account in the N. E. Farmer, of several 
experiments which he made last season with muriate of 
ammonia. He dissolved a small piece of the common 
sal ammoniac of the druggists, estimated at 4 or 5 grains, 
in about half a coffee-cup of water, and threw into the 
solution a handful of corn, which, after having remained 
4 to 5 hours, was planted. He planted this soaked corn 
in hills, side by side with that which was not soaked. He 
made four different experiments, which are reported in 
considerable detail. In all cases, the soaked seed produ¬ 
ced considerably the best yield-^-generally at least one- 
third more. The land was light and dry, and for several 
of the experiments, he purposely took the poorer spots. 
The corn suffered with drouth; but in all cases, that from 
the soaked seed manifested a decided superiority ; so much 
indeed, that it was noticed by strangers, who knew of no 
difference in the seed. 
Merino Sheep. —We would invite particular attention 
to the very interesting letter in this paper, from the Hon. 
Wm. Jarvis of Vermont, giving a history of the intro¬ 
duction of'the Merino into this country, and a description 
of the several varieties. Of the large number brought 
into the country in 1809-, 10 and 11, it is doubtful wheth¬ 
er a single flock, save that of Mr. Jarvis, has been pre¬ 
served pure to the present time. In a tour through Ver¬ 
mont the last season, we saw many superior flocks of 
Merinoes, and in every instance we found the ; r superi¬ 
ority was derived from bucks either obtained or descend¬ 
ed from Mr. Jarvis’ flock. We believe also that it will 
be found that the sheep so frequently alluded to in the 
Cultivator, as Paulars, derive their excellence from the 
same source. It will be seen from Mr. J.'s statement, 
that in the year 1816 or 1817, he permitted his five vari¬ 
eties of Merinoes to run together, and consequently that 
he has bred no pure Paulars for the last 25 years. If, as 
we suppose, the flocks of Messrs. Jewett, Avery, Bing¬ 
ham and others, owe their excellence to bucks obtained' 
jfrom Mr. Jarvis, within the last 20 years, there would 
iseem to be a manifest impropriety in denominating them 
pure Paulars, however superior they may be, as they 
•must have originated in a mixture of different varieties of 
| Merinoes. It is possible however,that there may have been 
'other importations of Paulars than those alluded to by 
(Mr. Jarvis; and if so, we shall be glad to learn the facts 
in the case. There was, we believe, an importation of 
Merinoes into Massachusetts, not alluded to by Mr. Jar¬ 
vis, made by Mr. Seth Adams, now a resident of Zanes¬ 
ville, Ohio; and as it is desirable that the history of their 
introduction should be as perfect as possible, we shall 
take measures to procure from Mr. A. an account of his 
importation. 
Note.— In publishing Mr. Jarvis’ letter, we omitted 
the paragraph alluding to the “ Albany Agricultural pa¬ 
per,” inasmuch as he had informed us that he had ascer¬ 
tained that the article was not from the Cultivator. Since 
the pages containing it were stereotyped, we have recei¬ 
ved a letter from Mr. Jarvis, in which he informs us 
that he has ascertained that the article alluded to was from: 
the American Agriculturist, and originally appeared in 
the number of that paper for Sept. last. 
Burying Corn to avoid frost. —Mr. S. Ellis states 
in the Massachusetts Plowman, an experiment made in 
1842, of protecting corn from frost by covering it up with 
dirt. Being convinced from the state of the air, that 
there would be frost, he W'ent into the field with his 
hands and covered about an acre, by hauling dirt on to 
it with hoes. As the next day was cold, he did not un¬ 
cover the co* n till the second day. On removing the 
j dirt, the cor was found much crippled down, and looked, 
he says, “a. jf it had lain in bed with its clothes on fox* 
two nights;” but straightened up in the course of the day* 
and made as good a crop as he ever raised. The rest of 
the field was all killed. 
The Plymouth Co. (Mass.) Agricultural Society offers 
premiums for the best conducted experiments on differ¬ 
ent subjects. For instance, such as will determine the 
relative value of the various substances used as manure— 
as lime, salt, &c. Particular directions are given, which 
the claimant for a premium must strictly observe. For 
the experiment with salt, it is directed to take one-fourth 
part of an acre of dry land. Prepare two compost heaps 
—an equal quantity of manure in each—in one heap mix 
one bushel of salt, and in the other, the same kind of ma¬ 
nure and no salt. Put one heap on one-half the lot, the 
other heap on the other half. Plant one-half of each 
part to com, the other half of each part to potatoes.. 
The next year sow grain and grass seed, and on the part 
on which salt was used the year before, sow half a 
bushel of salt, and sow the same quantity of salt the 
third year in the spring. Keep the crops separate, and 
weigh and keep an exact account of the product of each 
part. 
Now something of this kind is what we want to see 
adopted by the New-York State Ag. Society, and we veri 
ly believe that a given sum thus expended, would effect 
more good than ten times the expense in any other way». 
