A CONSOLIDATION OF BUEL’S CULTIVATOR AND THE GENESEE FARMER. 
Cult. Vol. IX.—No. 5. 
ALBANY, N. Y. MAY, 1842. 
Cult. & Far.. Vol. III.— No. 
5. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 
GAYLORD &, TUCKER, EDITORS. 
LUTHER TUCKER, PROPRIETOR. 
One Dollar per annum—Six Copies for $5. 
(PAYABLE ALWAYS IN ADVANCE.) 
20 per cent commission on 25 or more subscribers, and 
25 per cent commission on 100 or more. 
Subscriptions to commence with a volume ; and the money 
to be sent free of postage. 
THE BACK VOLUMES OF THE CULTIVATOR, 
Handsomely stitched in printed covers , 
Can be furnished to new subscribers—Vols. I. II. III. IV. at 50 
cents each, and Vols. V. VI. VII. VIII. at $1. each. 
They can also be procured of Dayton & Newman, booksellers, 
cor. of Fulton and Nassau-streets; Israel Post, bookseller, 88 
Bowery, and at G. C. Thorburn’s Seed store, 11 John-st., New- 
York —of I). Landreth & Co., Seedsmen, and Judah Dobson, 
bookseller, Philadelphia —of Hovey & Co., Seedsmen, Boston — 
of A. H. Stilweli., bookseller, Providence —of R. Hill, Jr., & Co., 
Richmond —of J. F. Callan, Seedsman, Washington City. 
These volumes, it is believed, form a better Farmer’s Libra¬ 
ry than be procured in any other form for double the cost. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
“TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND.” 
NEW-YORK STATE AG. SOCIETY. 
At the meeting' of the Executive Committee of the 
New-York State Agricultural Society on the second 
Wednesday of May, in the absence of the President, the 
ehair was taken by the Vice-President of the third Dis¬ 
trict, the Hon. Anthony Van Bergen. 
Mr. Tucker reported that 4,600 copies of the Transac¬ 
tions of the Society for the year 1841, had been publish¬ 
ed by order of the Legislature, of which five hundred 
copies were for the State Ag. Society, and twenty copies 
were to be distributed to each of the County Agricultu¬ 
ral Societies in the state. 
On motion, it was resolved that the Recording Secre¬ 
tary be requested to prepare an index and title page for 
the Transactions, and have the copies belonging to the 
Stale Society bound in muslin covers. 
On motion, it was resolved that a copy of the Socie¬ 
ty's Transactions for 1841, be presented to each of the 
contributors to the volume—to each of the officers of the 
Society for the last and present year, and to each person 
who contributed last year, or may this year, live dollars 
or more, to the funds of the society. Copies were also 
ordered to be presented to several Societies and Editors 
of Agricultural Journals. 
The Constitution of the Agricultural Society of the 
United States having been read, and the propriety of 
sending a delegation from this Society to its annual 
meeting been discussed, it was, on motion of Mr. Tuck¬ 
er, unanimously resolved that twenty delegates be ap¬ 
pointed to represent the New-York State Ag. Society at 
t'ne annual meeting of the Agricultural Society of the 
United States, to be held in Washington city on the first 
Wednesday of May, 1842. 
The following gentlemen were appointed delegates: 
James S. Wadsworth, Esq., President of the Society; 
Joel B. Nott, Esq., Hon. Anthony Van Bergen, Francis 
Rotcn, Esq., and Dr. J. P. Beekman, Ex-Presidents; 
Ezra P. Prentice, Rev. Henry Colman, Luther Tucker, 
Henry S. Randall, J. McD. McIntyre, Harvey Baldwin, 
Benj. P. Johnson, Lewis A. Morrell, John J. Viele, 
Micah Sterling, Lewis F. Allen, Henry D. Grove, L. 
Bronk, G. V. Sacket, and W. H. Morris. 
Messrs. Prentice, Tucker and McIntyre, were ap¬ 
pointed a committee to fill any vacancies which may 
occur in the delegation. 
The committee to select the place for the Cattle Show 
and Fair, having reported, it was unanimously resolved 
that the exhibition be held on the grounds attached to 
the New Bull’s Head Tavern, on the Albany and Troy 
turnpike, about half a mile north of Albany. 
“Young Wallace,” an improved Durham hull, 
bred by Wm. Pirnie, Esq., of Westchester county, N. 
Y., and which took the first premium at the fair of the 
American Institute in 1840, is now owned and in the 
possession of Geo. Hezlep, Esq., Gustavus, Ohio, and 
oids fair, we are assured, to rival the best of his kind in 
that state. 
WORK FOR THE MONTH. 
May is a very busy month with the teams of the farm¬ 
er, and they should therefore receive extra attention 
and care. In feeding animals, one fact should not be 
lost sight of; which is, that animals fed on vegetable 
fibre, such as hay and grass, receive the most carbon, 
and therefore take on fat and increase in bulk, as carbon 
is the base of all oils, fat, &c., while animals fed on 
grain receive the most nitrogen, which forms the base 
of the muscular part of animals, and gives them their 
power and endurance. The farmer who expects his 
horses or oxen to wear well in work must give them 
grain; otherwise, their flesh will be of a quality that 
will not endure; and however well they may look at the 
commencement of labor, their flesh, without muscular 
consistence and firmness, will go like a spring frost. 
If you wish to raise your calves, you may do it without 
keeping them on new milk. Diminish gradually the 
quantity of new milk sucked by them, or fed to them, 
and substitute skimmed milk with a little meal stirred in. 
Treated in this way, very good calves may be grown, 
and the new milk saved for butter. 
Farmers are too negligent as to the kind of cows they 
keep. There are many cows which do not pay to the 
owner the expense of keeping them, and occasion an 
annual loss. It costs no more to keep a cow that will 
average nine or ten quarts a day than one that will ave¬ 
rage only six or seven; and the difference in amount 
would in the course of the year be a handsome profit. 
If we estimate the cost of keeping a cow at twenty-five 
dollars, we shall find that if a cow gives six quarts per 
day the loss in keeping will be $4.75. If the yield is 
eight quarts per day, then the profit will be about $5. 
If the milk is ten quarts per day, the profit will be $11 . - 
75. Now is the time to ascertain whether your cows are 
worth keeping or not; and the farmer should look well 
to this part of his husbandry. 
May is the month in which Indian corn should be 
planted; and the importance of this crop to the farmer 
should induce the greatest care to secure a good growth. 
It is generally planted in hills; and as this allows of cul¬ 
ture both ways, it is commonly preferred; but a greater 
number of plants can be put on an acre if planted in 
drills; and most of the great crops which have been 
grown in the country have been produced in this way. 
Corn will bear heavy manuring; and to thi-s crop and 
roots the barnyard manure should be applied, rather 
than directly to grain crops. Dunging in the hill is a 
bad practice, though corn may sometimes succeed when 
so planted. Many pieces of corn so planted failed en¬ 
tirely last year, as it will feel drouth much sooner than 
when the manure is scattered and incorporated with the 
whole soil. If the soil is deep and friable, hilling is 
worse than useless; hut on hard soils, and those inclining 
to wet, hilling is advisable. These should never be 
made narrow, but broad and flat, for the benefit of the 
roots. Soaking in saltpetre, in vitriol, in copperas, tar¬ 
ring and plastering, and various other contrivances have 
been resorted to, to keep off worms, birds, &c.; some¬ 
times with success, but perhaps oftener without. There 
is an advantage, however, in some of these preparations, 
particularly the saltpetre and plaster, as a more rapid 
and vigorous growth is imparted, which places the plant 
sooner out of danger. A bushel of lime, a bushel of 
ashes, and a bushel of plaster, mixed together, and a 
handful dropped in the hill at the time of planting is an 
excellent application, and will frequently save the crop 
from the worm, as well as add materially to the amount 
of the crop. The plants must be kept free from weeds, 
the earth between the rows light and loose; and for this 
purpose, the cultivator is one of the best of implements. 
The rows of corn, and indeed of all other plants where 
practicable, should be planted north and south; as in this 
way, the plants receive the benefit of the sun in more di¬ 
rections than one. The distance of the hills must de¬ 
pend in a great measure on the kind of corn planted. 
Our common northern varieties require about three feet 
each way, three or four stalks in a hill; in drills, the 
rows three feet apart, the stalks in the rows one foot 
apart, or two together at eighteen inches. There is less 
attention paid to the manner of planting corn than almost 
anything else; and the consequence is, some of the seeds 
are six inches deep and others not more than two, the 
corn comes up unequally, and a good crop can scarcely 
be expected. Not more than three, nor less than two 
inches in depth is the best for corn; and the earth should 
be pressed upon the seed with the hoe, as it will facili¬ 
tate and equalize the germination. 
Perhaps more failures from bad seed occur with corn 
than any other crop; and proportionate care should be 
used in the selection. It is a good plan, where any 
doubt or uncertainty exists, to test the seed by sprouting 
a given number of kernels; and there should always be a 
liberal supply of seed used, since all but the number re¬ 
quired can, and should be pulled out at hoeing. The 
kinds of com used at the South and West are the white 
gourd seed varieties. At the North, the smaller and ear¬ 
lier yellow and white kinds. The Dutton, Brown, Red 
Blaze, the several varieties of Canada whites and yel¬ 
lows, are all highly esteemed, and very productive. 
The earliest corn with which we are acquainted is the 
Canada Dwarf. 
The sugar beet has of late received much attention 
and commendation as an object of field culture for feed¬ 
ing sheep and cows, and it promises to take the place of 
the turnep in our system of farming, the latter not being 
so well adapted to our hot, dry summers as the beet. 
The seed should be drilled in rows two and a half feet 
apart, the plants six inches apart in the rows—though 
this by some i-s considered close planting—.kept clean, 
thinned if required, and the crop may be estimated at 
from 600 to 1000 bushels per acre. The sugar beet is 
good for all store animals, and for milch cows is proba¬ 
bly unrivaled, increasing the quantity of the milk, and 
making butter of the best quality. 
The carrot should be sown this month, or as early as 
the ground is fit for the seed. We have found carrots 
one of the very best roots for horses, keeping them in 
fine health and condition, and every farmer knows their 
value for fattening animals. Their cultivation is like 
that of the beet; and that man greatly mistakes his true 
interest who neglects the culture of roots in his mode 
of farming. 
Everybody cultivates the potatoe; but there is avast 
difference in the product and quality of this root, partly , 
depending on the variety, partly on the soil, and partly 
on the culture. The best soil for the potatoe is one ra¬ 
ther moist, full of vegetable mold, and loose and friable 
in its texture. Dry, sandy soils do not yield as good 
potatoes as moister ones, as the roots are not as tho¬ 
roughly secluded from air and light a condition indis¬ 
pensable to their perfection. The nills for the potatoe 
should be broad and flat, the ground kept clean till the 
vines cover the surface, and the roots should not be ais- 
turbed in the culture, as it deranges the formation of the 
tubers. The Pinkeye and the Mercer are the best taole 
potatoes; the Rohans, Sardinias, and Long Reds for field 
culture or for animals. 
It is an excellent plan to remove the grass for a few 
feet from fruit trees, and with a spade to loosen the earth 
in the spring of the year. Trees will well repay care 
and attention, by the increase in the quantity and qualitv 
of the fruit. It is sometimes convenient to graft in this 
month; and if performed in the early part before the 
leaves are too much expanded, will usually succeed. If 
the stems of trees are washed with lye, or whitewash, a 
vast many insects or their eggs on the bark will be de¬ 
stroyed, and the tree proportionably benefited. Where 
the borer has made his appearance apple trees should be 
examined about the roots, and the grub hunted out and 
killed. The peach and nectarine should be looked to, 
to detect and destroy the grub so fatal to them, and which 
can now be found beneath the bark near the surface of 
the ground, or on the root. If your hens or geese have 
free access to your plum or cherry trees, they will mate¬ 
rially aid in destroying the cureulio, which will he now 
leaving its winter retreat in the earth to prey on the 
fruit. Don’t suffer a caterpillar’s nest to escape your no¬ 
tice, or destruction. It is easy to kill them while young; 
but when they leave their nests and scatter over the tree, 
they cannot be hurt, while the injury they do is immense. 
Give constant attention to your animals, and do not 
imagine that care ceases when the stock goes to the 
fields. Do not be in too much of a haste to turn them to 
pasture. Better keep them on hay and roots until there 
is a good bite of grass, than have them, to satisfy hunger, 
gnaw the young grass and clover to the very roots. 
Pastures so fed will scarcely recover from the effect dur¬ 
ing the whole season. 
May is a good month to sow plaster. Use it liberally; 
but for the sake of it, don’t neglect the use or prepara¬ 
tion of manures. Both should go together. On pastures, 
plaster may he used without. On meadows kept in grass, 
top dressings of manure should accompany its application. 
We hope some of our friends will try sowing some corn 
broadcast for soiling or for fodder. That the process 
would succeed we have scarce a doubt; and where food 
for animals is scarce, summer or winter, such a resource 
would be invaluable. May is a very good month for 
draining lands, planting trees, and making such improve¬ 
ments as the situation of the farm, or the season demands. 
