268 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
SepT. 
George Shotwell, comprising about 200 acres. He 
was not at home, and our stay was but short. He 
came from New Bedford, and took possession of the 
farm, as we are informed, four years ago. All the 
buildings on the plaee have been thoroughly repaired, 
and several of them erected since Mr. S. came here. 
They are of the best and most thoroughly finished 
kind—are planned and arranged in a convenient man¬ 
ner—and the premises, generally, presented indica¬ 
tions of system and neatness, and at the same time of 
a judicious economy, scarcely exceeded by any farm 
we have visited. 
At Mottville we called at the implement manufacto¬ 
ry of Mr. Howard Delano. Mr. D.’s plows are wide¬ 
ly known and highly approved. A pattern called the 
u Diamond plow,” has received several premiums from 
•the State Agricultural Society. He has lately got up 
two other plows, neither of whieh have we seen used. 
One of them is intended as a stubble plow, or for 
plowing land on which there is no sward. From its 
shape we should think it well calculated for this pur¬ 
pose—the curve of the mould-board being such as to 
thoroughly pulverize the ground, and leave it in fine 
condition for crops. The other plow is designed espe¬ 
cially for very deep plowing. It is a strong and well- 
made implement, and persons who have used it assure 
us that its operation is completely satisfactory. We 
hope Mr. D. will exhibit both these plows at Sara¬ 
toga. 
From Skaneateles Mr. Fuller conveyed us to Geo. 
Geodes’, Esq., Fairmount, about five miles from Syra¬ 
cuse. On our way we called at the residence of Mr. 
Squire M. Brown, Elbridge. Not finding Mr. B. at 
home, we did not see his farm, which is situated about 
two miles distant, and for which he received last year 
the first premium of the Onondaga County Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, as the best cultivated farm in the county. 
Mr. Caleb Brown, (brother of Mr. S. M. B.,) has 
a good farm near Elbridge. He, also, was absent, 
though we afterwards met him. The buildings are 
neat, snug, and in good order, and appearances indi¬ 
cated that he is a good farmer. 
Mr. Geddes’ farm received last year the first pre¬ 
mium of the State Agricultural Society, as the best cul¬ 
tivated farm in the state. The report in reference to 
it was published in the July number of the Cultivator 
for last year. The home farm consists of 300 acres, 
and he has a separate farm of 100 acres. The soil is 
a .deep friable loam, formed mostly by the disintegra¬ 
tion of the shales belonging to the Onondaga salt 
group. It is naturally very productive, and probably 
contains the elements of vegetable support in as great 
a degree arid to as great a depth as any soil in the 
.country. ‘It seems to require at present very little 
manure—deep tillage being about all that is needed 
for the production of any crop. 
Mr. G.’s crops for the present season are forty-two 
acres of Indian corn, twenty-two acres of wheat, 
twenty-five of barley, eighty of oats, three and a half 
of potatoes, twenty-eight in meadow. All these crops 
looked very promising, with the exception of the bar¬ 
ley., w r hich was sown very late, and had not sufficiently 
advanced to show what it might do. All had been 
well cared for, and were free from weeds. 
A great obstacle to the successful cultivation of 
wheat on Mr. Geddes’ farm, and in that vicinity, for 
a few years past, has been the wheat midge, ( Cecido - 
myia tritici ,) or weevil, as it is sometimes, (though 
improperly) called. This insect was so numerous 
and committed such ravages last season, that many 
fields in this neighborhood were not worth cutting. 
Many farmers did not obtain as much wheat from 
their land as they sowed. The Hessian fly, too, ( Ce - 
cidomyia destructor ,) was very abundant and destruc¬ 
tive. The Mediterranean wheat, which is in a great 
degree exempt from the attacks of the Hessian fly, 
and which, from being about ten days earlier than the 
common kinds of winter wheat, it was hoped might es¬ 
cape the attack of the wheat midge, has been intro¬ 
duced, and bids fair to succeed well. Mr. Geddes 
had several acres of this kind which looked well, and 
had'entirely escaped the insects. It is proper, how¬ 
ever, to remark, that the midge has only appeared 
through this region in small numbers this season, com¬ 
pared with the last. 
Mr. Geddes 5 ' fences are at present mostly of posts 
and boards^ but, fortunately, he has a quarry on one 
corner of his farm from which “ any quantity ” of lime¬ 
stone, suitable for making walls, can be had. He has 
already made over 500 rods of substantial fence of this 
kind, and he intends to increase it at the rate of fifty 
rods a year. It is about five feet high, and costs $1.50 
per rod. It is a perfect and perpetual fence. 
Among Mr. G/s stock, we noticed several good 
Short Horn cows, and also some good cows of mixed 
blood. He is going considerably into the business of 
breeding horses, and has some good mares. But of 
the horse kind, the most to our liking, was a handsome 
bay gelding, fifteen years old, whose limbs are as 
smooth and clean as those of a deer, and who can yet 
travel at a rate which the best of “ the young ones” 
are “ bothered” to equal. 
The general appearance of Mr. Geddes’ farm is 
highly creditable to his management. He has, to be 
sure, been favored with a soil of uncommon natural 
fertility; but the order and system with which the va¬ 
rious operatious have been conducted, indicate the 
skill and direction of a master. We would refer to 
the report before mentioned for a detailed account of 
the farm. 
Mr. Geddes conducted us to some of the farms in 
the vicinity. We first called at the farm of Enoch 
Marks, Esq. He was not at home, but his son 
showed us a portion of the farm. It consists of 177 
acres. The soil belongs mostly to the same formation 
as that of Mr. Geddes. Mr. Marks has the reputa¬ 
tion of being one of the best farmers in this section, 
and all that we saw would lead us to the conclusion 
that this reputation is not undeserved. The farm 
is well laid out—the crops were clean and flourishing, 
no pernicious plants being suffered to grow. Even in 
the pastures, lanes, and by the sides of the fences, we 
noticed that the docks, thistles, and weeds had been 
pulled up or dug out. Mr. M.’s crops this season, are 
forty-eight acres of barley, twenty-one of wheat, forty- 
five of Indian corn, and eleven of oats. 
Mr. Marks purchased in New Hampshire last fall, 
two mares of the Morgan stock, with their foals. The 
foals were by Mr. Wier’s horse Gifford Morgan, and 
one of the mares has a foal this season by the same 
hoi’se. They are good samples of the stock—showing 
the leading points of the Morgans very prominently. 
Mr. James M. Ellis, Onondaga Hill, has a farm of 
250 acres, situated on an eastern declivity, command¬ 
ing a fine view of the Onondaga valley and the sur¬ 
rounding highlands, to a great distance. Mr. Ellis 
is evidently a judicious farmer. His buildings are in 
good order and neat in appearance. His fences, his 
crops, implements, stock, and every department of the 
farm, betoken the watchfulness and oversight of a care¬ 
ful husbandman. He keeps 500 fine-wooled sheep. 
The flock was originally a mixture of Merino and 
Saxon blood, but the rams to which the flock have been 
bred for several years, have been Saxons. Their wool 
is fine and of very superior quality. We saw the 
fleeces of the present season. They were most tho¬ 
roughly cleaned, and were neatly put up—forming one 
of the best lots of wool we have ever seen. 
