1847. 
179 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
make large purchases of wheat for eastern manufacturers, 
and there is no reason why it should bear a higher price 
here than there, except the freight through the lakes. 
The above are some of the reasons why the popula- 
tion of western New-York has changed within a few 
years, and why land has been depreciating in value. 
That this depreciation must become general seems al¬ 
most certain. Western competition is too strong for 
us; we shall be compelled to submit to harder work 
and poorer returns, or to gather up our effects and 
launch out in search of a western home. H. A. P. 
Buffalo , Jan . 1, 1847. 
[Note. —We hope the farmers of the “ Empire state ” 
will not be frightened by our friend’s opinions and pre¬ 
dictions. If our lands are properly managed, there is 
no danger to be apprehended from western competition. 
We think our correspondent over-estimates the yield of 
wheat on the prairies, as compared with that of the 
wheat lands of western New-York—we do not agree to 
the statement that the former will produce “ on an ave¬ 
rage about twice the number of bushels 55 of the latter. 
Instead of the yield of wheat on the prairies being so 
great as is estimated, “the first year they are taken 
possession of,” we had supposed it was generally less 
than the average of our good wheat lands. And as to 
distance of transportation, we think it is more against 
the farmers of the western states than is allowed. If it 
had been said that they were frequently obliged to 
transport their wheat from 60 to 100 miles, a more cor¬ 
rect idea of the facts would have been conveyed. These 
remarks are not made to disparage the west, but to 
correct what we believe to be an error, viz, that the far¬ 
mers of the east should remove to the west to avoid an 
injurious competition. It is admitted, however, that 
there are circumstances which may render it expedient 
for an eastern farmer to emigrate.—Eos.] 
Preparation of Seed Wheat. —I have of late 
been reading in the Cultivator and several other papers, 
accounts respecting the preparation of seed wheat. 
Some use salt and lime, but in different ways. I prac¬ 
ticed using salt and lime for that purpose for about 
thirty years, but in a different, and I think a better way 
than I have seen described. My method was this: Take, 
say, a bushel of wheat, put it into a tub, and take from 
two to four quarts of well slaked lime, and one-half 
pint of salt; put them into a kettle with water sufficient 
to wet the wheat. Boil it until the salt is dissolved. 
Then turn it on the wheat, while boiling—the hotter the 
better, stirring the wheat continually until all is be¬ 
smeared. Do not pour in so much as to have it stand 
in the bottom of the tub. Let it stand from 24 to 48 
hours, without stirring; then sow it. It is an infallible 
remedy for smut, and will increase the product enough 
to pay .all the expense. 
Carrots. —I will say a few words about carrots. 
My story beats all the stories I have heard; but old 
men are apt to tell large stories, and I am betwixt 80 
and 90 years of age. But I am able to prove what I 
state. Some twenty years since, I undertook to raise 
carrots, and finding it profitable, determined to pursue 
it; but about that time I lost my health, and my son 
took the farm. There was nothing more done about it 
until 1845, when he sowed a piece, some with white 
and some with orange carrots, and when we dug them 
we measured the ground and the carrots, and the yield 
was at the rate of 1,800 bushels to the acre, and the 
weight over 42 tons. Jona. Whitney. Tunbridge, 
Vi., April 24, 1847. 
Yield of Butter. —I noticed in the Cultivator for 
1846, p. 157, an account of the yield of butter from a 
dairy of ten cows, being an average of 21 If lbs. to each 
cow. I kept, in 1845, four native cows, which constitu¬ 
ted my whole dairy. Three of them were of middling 
quality as milkers, and the fourth one was below mid¬ 
dling. From these four cows I fattened two calves 
killed at four weeks old, and reared two other calves 
on the milk of the cows. We made during the season 
1056 lbs. of butter, besides furnishing milk for a family 
of eight persons. This would be an average of 264 
lbs. to each cow. The cows were kept as follows: In 
winter they were fed upon hay, generally three times 
a day, in some of the coldest weather five times a day. 
The hay, in the coldest weather was not always of the 
best quality. They ran when they pleased to a large 
stack of wheat straw in the yjard. They were not sta 
bled, but had an open shed for shelter, and no extra 
feed was given them except a slop once a day after 
calving, till turned to grass, of mill-shorts. My pasture 
was good. It consisted of about five acres; the feed a 
beautiful mixture of early clover, timothy, and some of 
the finer grasses. It had a light top-dressing of plaster 
early in spring. The cows were kept in this pasture, 
with the exception of a few days, till late in the fall, 
though the drouth was such that our mowing fields pro¬ 
duced but little after-feed. The pasture had a good 
running brook crossing one corner. Other stock was 
turned in and withdrawn as occasion 7 required, to 
keep the feed about right. I would not pretend that 
this dairy product cannot be beat, but I think it is a 
good yield considering the feed, and that the cows were 
small, and not high bred. J. Wilson. Salina. N. Y. 
Soils which Run and Bake. —Reading in the Cul¬ 
tivator of 1846, I met with an inquiry on page 110, 
about soils that “run and bake;” and not having found 
an answer to that question till now, I will try to an¬ 
swer it, as far as I am able by my experience in Ger¬ 
many. . 
It seems to me there are three points for considera¬ 
tion: The nature of the soil, the crops fit for its cultiva¬ 
tion, and the manner of this cultivation. Soil that runs 
and bakes, is in Germany, and probably here also, a 
heavy clay, with an impenetrable subsoil; color gene¬ 
rally black when moist, and light grey when dry. 
The crops raised on such soil ought to be wheat, oats , 
and red clover. Only mixing this soil with lighter soils, 
with sand or muck, can make it suitable for the cultiva¬ 
tion of roots and barley. I have no experience how In¬ 
dian corn will do on it. 
Wheat may follow after a thorough fallow and 
four or five times plowing, and after a half fallow on 
clover stubble. Oats can follow wheat and the clover 
be sown with the oats. A division of the field in 
three parts, and a rotation of fallow, clover, wheat, 
and oats, will prove expedient, it not being prudent 
to raise red clover every third year. Breaking up 
the stubble of oats in the fall, with a common plow, not 
very deep, then cross-plowing very deep before winter 
with the subsoil plow, repeating the last named opera¬ 
tion during the next season, as often weeds are running 
up, plowing only wheh the soil is in middle condition, 
not too wet, and not too dry, using harrow and roller 
befere each plowing, will render the soil mellow and 
fine, and insure a good crop of wheat. 
The right time to plow this soil, is when, after some 
dry weather, there follows a good rain during 7 night. 
Then the farmer ought to bring all his forces to the 
field, and harrow the whole, if possible, before noon, 
with a strong harrow, and after the noon sun has dried 
the ground, roll it. If it does not rain again, and the 
Weeds spring up in good number in a short time, it 
may be plowed any fine day. If the field is to be manured 
with stable manure, this may be plowed under at the 
second plowing, before winter, but not with the subsoil 
plow. 
If the wheat follows the clover, then plow the clover 
stubble under in August, after the second clover crop 
