68 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Feb. 
1826, and contains 2,150.4 cubic inches. The present 
standard in England, is the “ Imperial bushel,” which 
contains 2,218.192 cubic inches, being, within a frac¬ 
tion of, 68 cubic inches larger than that of the United 
States. The acre is the same in both countries. 
Wooden Blocks in Walls. —How will blocks of 
wood of any size laid in water lime cement, like square 
stone, answer for cellar walls or underpinning to any 
building ? Jas. H. Mattison. 
Blocks of wood built in on the inner side of the stone 
walls of buildings, whether with common or water lime, 
will last hundreds of years, provided they are excluded 
from dampness. In damp cellars, they would be mere 
apt. to decay, unless of very durable wood, but in most 
cases would be very durable. 
Mowing Machines. —Will you please to inform me 
which is the best and the cheapest Mowing Machines, 
and where they can be bought. D. 0. S. Middle- 
town, Ct. 
The best, undoubtedly, is Ketchum's; the price, 
$110. For further information, address H. 0. White 
& Co., of Buffalo. -— 
Osier Willow —X. TJdall , Wolcott, Vt.—You will 
find your questions answered on page 328, last vol. of 
Cgnntry Gentleman. See also pages 66, 114, 180 and 
242, of the first vol., for additional information on the 
subject, f - 
Spaying Cows-— A Subscriber. —Address William 
Carter, East-Bloomfield, N. Y. 
Foultry.^v-J”. T., Litchfield county, Conn., inquires 
for the best variety of hens for laying—their color, 
quality of flesh, general size and habits —how many 
eggs fifty or sixty would each lay per year—where 
they can be had, and at what prices. Will some or 
our poultry fanciers answer ? 
Fine Pigs. —A friend at Coxsackie, sends us the 
weight of a litter of pigs recently slaughtered by Ros¬ 
well Reed of that place. They were nine months 
old, and weighed 400, 382, 364, 324 and 312 lbs. re¬ 
spectively, making a total for the five, of 1,782 lbs. 
Ducks —J. Y., Memphis, Tenn.—We know of no 
such Ducks as you inquire for, in this vicinity. Per¬ 
haps you can procure them by addressing Mr. J. S. 
Clark, Throopsvilie, Cayuga Co., FT. Y. 
Training Steers. —We cannot understand “I. 
Forgots’ ” directions. How are the steers to be con¬ 
fined and where? Are they to be placed between the 
wheels and to go round in a circle ? 
Heavy Sheep. —A London correspondent of the Na¬ 
tional Intelligencer says he had heard much of the 
great weight to which sheep are sometimes fed in Eng¬ 
land, and his belief was really staggered by some of the 
reports; but he saw in one butcher’s shop, four sheep, 
• which had been raised and fed in Gloucestershire,whose 
weight when slaughtered and dressed for sale as mutton 
was 250, 245, 216, and 197 pounds respectively. A 
shoulder, cut fairly from the largest, weighed 42|, lbs. 
Two Lincolnshire sheep in the same shop weighed 216 
and 201 pounds respectively. 
The Genesee Farmer—a queer blunder. —The 
American Agriculturist copies from the Genesee* Far¬ 
mer the claim of the latter paper to the paternity of 
several of of our best rural periodicals, and among the 
rest to that of the Albany Cultivator itself. Those pa¬ 
pers appear to understand, and all their readers cer¬ 
tainly will, that the present Genesee Farmer, and the 
present Albany Cultivator are intended in all these re¬ 
marks. 
The Agriculturist thinks that Dr. Lee, the proprie¬ 
tor of the Farmer, may “be allowed a little self-com¬ 
placent boasting ”—to which we must add the remark 
of a well known writer, “ but if thou boast, thoubearest 
not the root, but the root thee for it so happens that 
the present proprietor of the Cultivator himself origina¬ 
ted and published the Genesee Farmer for nine years, 
and afterwards upon the death of Judge Buel, merged 
it in the Cultivator, started at a later day. The Gene¬ 
see Farmer was not sold out to any one; but after its 
union with the Cultivator, another and totally dis¬ 
tinct paper was commenced at Rochester, called the 
New Genesee Farmer , which openly diclaimed at its 
commencement all attempts to assume any benefit from 
the Genesee Farmer or its name, but commenced en¬ 
tirely new. After some years, the distinctivp epithet 
“ neza,” was dropped, which now our friends above- 
named seem entirely to have forgotten. We do not 
mean to say that the son claims the paternity of the 
parent, for the two papers,—the Genesee Farmer which 
is called the “ stepping stone to the Cultivator,” &c., 
and the present Genesee Farmer, have no relationship, 
except that the latter has “ borrowed” the name of the 
former. We mention these facts merely to correct an 
obvious error, with entirely friendly feelings to the Far¬ 
mer and Agriculturist, who will, we doubt not, now re¬ 
collect these facts. 
Guano at the South. —Our readers are no doubt 
aware that guano has been for some years very success¬ 
fully used in Maryland and Virginia, more particular¬ 
ly for the wheat crop. The American Farmer says 
that in some districts, it has so increased the fertility 
of the land, and its consequent products and profits, as 
to increase the value of land one hundred per cent. It 
appears to have produced the most striking results on 
the old worn-out lands of those states.' Lands produ¬ 
cing only six bushels of wheat to the acre, and which 
could not be sold for five, have, by means of an annual 
application of four hundred pounds of guano, yielded 
as heavy crops as lands selling at fifty to seventy-five 
dollars per acre. —- 
Premium for a Seedling Grape. — At a meet¬ 
ing of the New-York Ilort. Society, Mr. P. B. Mead 
placed at the disposal of the Society a goblet—value 
$25—as a premium for a new seedling grape, to be 
competed for at the September exhibition. His object 
in doing so is to encourage the growth of native fruits, 
and as an example, with the hope that some of the 
wealthy merchants of that vicinity might bo induced 
to patronize this branch of industry as did those of 
Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities. 
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