1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
193 
upon the ground, care being taken not to cut them too 
short. 
It would have given me pleasure, and would have 
been more satisfactory, to have been able to try the ex¬ 
periment on a larger scale; but a lot 100 feet by 30, 
with a house and grass plot occupying more than half 
of it, does not furnish very extensive facilities for farm¬ 
ing purposes. Robert D. Weeks. Newark , N.J., 
March 6th, 1849. 
Rust in Wheat. 
The Directors of the Saint John (N. B.) Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, in their report for the year 1848, make the 
following remarks as one of the causes of rust in wheat. 
They observe that the ideas are thrown out rather as a 
supposition than an opinion, and are designed to excite 
inquiry: 
“ The oat draws nutriment from the earth by side 
roots, which spread over the ground. The wheat plant 
has similar rootlets; but in addition thereto, when about 
to head, sends down a tap root into the earth, for the 
purpose', it may be presumed, of procuring that addi¬ 
tional nutriment which its large rich ear requires: and 
this tap root has been known to go down to the depth 
of four feet. We may observe, that up to the time of 
sending down the tap-root, the wheat is the hardiest 
and thriftiest of all the cereals, but afterwards the most 
liable to disease. This delicacy is readily accounted 
for, when we consider that land is generally undrained 
—that not more than a few inches of soil get the bene¬ 
fit of sun, air and manure, and that, therefore, the root 
must encounter in its downward travel, nothing but dis¬ 
appointment. It comes in contact with the cold clay, 
or a sour, wet subsoil, turns back in despair and dies. 
In accordance with the laws of nature, insects or rust, 
which is itself a fungus, or vegetable insect, comes to 
finish the work of devastation on the dying plant. 
The forlorn farmer rails at the climate, and cries out 
that his wheat is killed by rust, while in fact it has died 
from starvation—from the want of that food which, as 
a provident husbandman, it was his duty to have provi¬ 
ded for it.” 
Earn for Cows. 
Eds. Cultivator —Traveling in 1848, in the great 
dairy district of Ohio, the Western Reserve, I became ac¬ 
quainted with your paper, which I found among the 
dairymen there. I immediately ordered The Cultiva¬ 
tor for myself, and have since been in regular receipt 
of it. 
As I became convinced of the profits of dairying 
while among my friends in Ashtabula and Trumbull 
counties, Ohio, I determined to turn my attention mor? 
particularly to that branch of business. In January, 
1848, I bought twenty cows—having previously"kept 
sixteen. To my friends in Ohio, and to your paper, I 
am mostly indebted for my knowledge of dairy man¬ 
agement. In November last, I commenced building a 
barn for my cows, something on the plan given in The 
Cultivator, in the June number, 1847. There is an 
aisle through the centre of the barn, lengthwise, a 
manger and trough for each cow, a platform on which 
the cows stand, a gutter to receive the manure, and a 
walk next the wall, on which to set and carry milk. 
I had studied much for the best method of removing 
the manure from the barn, and how or where to secure 
it from wind and rain, and how to save the urine, when 
taking up The Cultivator one evening, I found a cellar 
mentioned for the purpose. This was a new idea to 
me, and I regretted that I had not received it before. 
However. I then got screws and raised my barn so as 
to admit of a cellar. This improvement I consider of 
great importance. I shall probably use a part of the 
cellar for storing carrots, which I shall raise for my 
cow's. G. A. Hanchet. Potsdam, N. Y 
Artificial Fish-Ponds. 
The Ohio Cultivator gives the mode of constructing 
fish ponds, as practiced by Jacob HoFfner, near Cin¬ 
cinnati. He says much care should be taken to pre¬ 
vent leakage, especially when craw-fish abound. These 
animals make holes through embankments, and let of!" 
the water. To guard against this, the sides should be 
lined with lime cement. The ponds should be made of 
irregular shape, having shallow bays and estuaries, 
where the smaller fishes can sport out of the reach of 
the larger ones, which seek to destroy them. It is ob¬ 
served that, unless the pond is quite large, so as to af¬ 
ford them sufficient range to gather insects and vegeta¬ 
ble substances, the larger kinds of fishes, must be fed 
two or three times a w r eek, with scraps of bread, meat, 
and other refuse matter from the table and kitchen; but 
the gold fish, and other small kinds, even though con¬ 
fined to limited space, seem to thrive best without any 
other food than that derived from the water, and the 
small animal and vegetable substances that may be 
found therein. 
Notices of 2Ccui publications. 
Fioneer History of the Holland Purchase of 
Western New-York: embracing some account of the 
Ancient Remains; a brief history of our immediate 
Predecessors, the Confederate Iroquois, their system of 
Government, Wars, &c., a synopsis of Colonial history: 
some notices of the Border Wars of the Revolution: 
and a history of Pioneer Settlement under the auspi¬ 
ces of the Holland Company; including reminiscences 
of the w r ar of 1812; the origin, progress and comple¬ 
tion of the Erie Canal. By O. Turner.. Bufia’o, 
Jewett, Thomas &. Co. 
The ‘‘Holland Purchase ” originally embraced that 
portion of the State of Nevv-York now comprehended 
by the counties of Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, Or¬ 
leans, Cattaraugus, Erie, Niagara and Chautauque—a 
tract containing nearly four millions of acres. The 
design of the author of this w T ork, as expressed in the 
title, has been to embody the principal events connected 
wdth the settlement of this region, from the first at¬ 
tempt of the French to colonise it, and its subsequent 
purchase by the Holland Company, down to its rapid 
improvement in population and w r ealth, after the con¬ 
struction of the Erie Canal. Events not regarded as 
belonging to the pioneer history of this section of coun¬ 
try, have been purposely omitted, as inconsistent wuth 
the plan of the work; but a mass of very interesting 
and valuable matter has been collected, which does 
great credit to the industry of the author, and cannot 
fail to be highly appreciated by the people of Western 
New'-York, many of whom have a direct and personal 
interest in the scenes so well portrayed in this volume. 
Several biographical sketches, with portraits, are given 
of prominent individuals, who w r ere in various relations 
connected with the settlement and early directions of 
public affairs in the district. The book is handsomely 
printed, and contains 666 pages, octavo it will be 
seen by the following certificate, that this w*ork is re¬ 
commended for School District Libraries; a recommen¬ 
dation in w'hich, especially so far as relates to Western 
New-York, we heartily concur*. 
Albany, April 28, 1849. 
From the examination wdiich we have been able to 
give to the “ History of the Holland Purchase,” by 
Orsamus Turner, Esq., w 7 e consider it a work of 
great interest and of much intrinsic value. It embo- 
