Newspaper Page Text
158
AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, IV. D., Editor.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1859.
WHEAT CULTURE.
There seems to be little attention paid to the
cultiration of wlieat in Franklin, Rabun, or any
counties in the northwest part of Georgia, where
this editorial is written. We learn that the
rust is often ruinous to this crop, and, for two
years, has been hardly less destructive to oats.
Clean culture, that is, keeping the crop free of
weeds and grass, appears to be strangely neg
lected, if one may judge from the stubble fields
where wheat, oats, and rye have grown. Weeds,
weeds, and nothing but weeds, with a sprinkling
of crab-grass, cover the ground. The land could
not have been properly tilled for small grain, of
whatever kind, or it never would become so
foul. Indeed, it is quite out of the question to
raise good wheat in connection with a crop of
weeds, or one of grass. Better try to obtain a
bale of cotton from an acre of weeds and grass,
than a fair crop of wheat from foul land. It
ought to be summer fallowed on many farms to
sprout by repeated plowings, every seed in the
soil, and kill the young plants. In place of
cleaning fields for wheat, we see many thickly
seeded by ripe weeds and other pestiferous
plants, which will be sure seriously to damage
the crop of next year. Clean cultivation cannot
be too strongly urged on the attention of all
wheat-growers. Plow the ground repeatedly,
that all bad seeds may germinate before tho
wheat is committed to tho earth, if you would
raise clean and plump wheat, instead of that
which is shrunken and worthless. The foulness
of meadows and grain fields, not excepting corn,
is the most prominent feature in the agriculture
we have seen for the last ten days. The true
remedy for this state of things, is to practice a
more thorough system of tillage, in conjunction
with renovating crops, like peas, clover, or tur
nips, that will not leave the ground foul with
weeds, briars, sassafras, persimmons, and other
annoyances. Rich, clean land is needed for tho
production of superior wheat, at a good profit.
But, in place of this, most farmers sow wheat
on land naturally thin, or impoverished by crop
ping, and still farther damaged by a large growth
of unsubdued and injurious weeds. What these
do not extract from the soil, the feeble and
choked wheat plants are allowed to imbibe from
the bard earth, if they can.
This policy of starving young wheat, when it
ought to spread, tiller, and cover the ground, is
as unwise as it is discreditable. By all means,
prepare tho land well before seeding, if you do
not sow the seed before January. With no rival
grasses nor weeds to contend with, and a plenty
of aliment, in a mellow soil, wheat grows rapid
ly, and iu great perfection; but it is impatient
of injustice, whether in the shape of defective
tillage, or unsubdued weeds and grass. Fence
corners should be kept free of all plants that
will yield bad seeds, to bo scattered by winds
and birds over the whole field. Wet places,
that need only a little ditching, are frequently
given up to the production, not of good hay, but
alders and other bushes, brambles, or aquatic
plants.
The only reason why wheat culture does not
abound and prosper, that we can discover, is tho
lack of thoroughness of agricultural industry.
This important staple demands first-rato farm
ing, to enrich the producer. A slip-shod, care
less cultivator, may as well not attempt to grow
wheat for a living, or hardly for his bread.
There is much land too poor for this crop, but as
deep cultivation greatly improves a poor soil for
the growth of grasses and fruit trcc3; so deep
tillage is known to increase the quantity of
wheat that may bo grown on an acre. If tho
ground is not fertile, be careful not to seed too
thickly, lest each plant starves its neighbor.
Thick planting on poor land, is a common error.
Be careful to leave the surface so that the
light mould and soil will not wash off during
the winter and spring rains; and roll the ground
after tho seed is sown, if practicable. After the
ground has been repeatedly plowed and har
rowed, then sow the seed, and cover it by a
one-horse plow, unloss you have the excellent
gang-plows, used by Northern wheat-growers.
A good wheat drill is better for putting in seed.
Wash it well in brine or bluestone, dissolved in
water, and dry in lime or ashes. Look after the
water-furrows, the fenees, and be careful to
keep all animals from treading on the soft earth
and young plants. Pull up by hand, or dig up
with the hoe, all cheat, cockle, rye and other
plants, but wheat. Neither sow nor reap any
thing but clean wheat.
In the beat stock-growing and dairy counties
of New York when the land was fresh, as it is
now in Rabun county, farmers rarely put a plow'
near a field until after it was from three to five
years seeded in grass for pasture or meadow, so
that the roots of nearly all stumps and dead
trees might be rotten. The ground w r as thor
oughly harrowed with a good iron harrow',
drawn by a brisk pair of oxen, before the grass
seed was soon. The latter w r as not even rolled
on new land; and the seed rarely failed to pro
duce a fine stand.
Both the hogs and horses which I have seen in
the mountains of Rabun, within a few days, are
now spring poor. The range will about half keep
young cattle as they ought to be kept—nothing
more. There is little mast this year for hogp,
and I am told they are uncommonly poor. They
greatly need extensive fields of rich clover, and
the sow's with pigs require three or four gallons
of good buttermilk each, every day. Where one
milks one hundred choice dairy cows, as some
farmers do in New York, he can then give his
pigs and slioats a fair start.
If a beginner wishes to raise fine neat cattle,
he had better purchase one or tw r o hundred good
heifers, say one, tw'o, and three years old, and
80VSK8SU9 DW AND VXRBBXDS.
two or three pure blood Devon bulls, and let the j
calves have all the milk, and run with their
mothers. If the herd has a plenty of fresh clo
ver and English grass the year round, (in hay
when too cold for grazing) and a plenty of salt,
it will rapidly improve from year to year. The
cattle of the mountains here are superior to
those in the counties about Athens and below,
yet they are quite inferior to the improved breeds
of New York and New England. It is a wild
and savage system of stockhusbandry to de
pend on the poor and spontaneous herbage of
forests for the support of cattle, horses, sheep
and hogs.
Half the inhabitants of this county, who de
pend mostly on live stock, kept in the mountains
for the comforts of life, have no other roads to
their dwellings than bridle paths, or narrow foot
paths. To many a half-grown child a wagon
track would be a curiosity ; and yet it is by no
means a very formidable task to construct a fair
wagon road over any of these mountains by se
lecting the ground and pursuing a zig-zag course
up and down them. A few hardy and enterpris
ing northern mountaineers, to settle in Rabun,
and bring their herds and flocks with them, as
well as grass seeds, would do much to open car
riage roads, build school-houses and churches,
and introduce that system of husbandry which
is best adapted to the soil and climate. In nor
thern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire,
the people would starve, if half as improvident
as the people here appear to be, where fair gra
zing lands may be had in fee simple for a few
cents an acre. Industry and enterprise are as
liberally rewarded in upper Georgia as in any
country in the world. Good examples, rather
than good precepts, are needed to elevate the
general standard of comfort and intelligence.—
In one family where I passed a night, the father
complained that they could obtain no school
teacher that would pass the examination requir
ed by law; and therefore his district would be
without any school this winter, which he re
gretted.
I am now writing at the summer residence of
Mrs. S. A. Few, near the turnpike, some three
miles north of Clayton, which is near the divid
ing line where a part of the water flows into the
Tennesse river, and part into the Savannah.—
The place is elevated, cool, healthy and delight
ful. I have just put a tliermometer into the wa
ter of a largo spring near the house, and find the
temperature fifty-four degrees. At another
spring on the same farm, but on the north side
of a spur of the mountain, I find the water only
fifty-two degrees. One could hardly wish for a
better dairy farm, or summer residence, with
proper improvements. Apples, peaches and
grapes are grown in great profusfon. Most
fruits subject to be destroyed by frost when the
trees arc in blossom, should be cultivated or the
north side of high hills and mountains, if prac
ticable. In such situations the trees bloom late,
and the frosts are past without injuring tho
fruit. Apples keep hero the year round, and
are raised as easily as in any northern State.
Mrs. Few has made wine, and speaks very favo
rably of her native grapes. There is no luxury
produced at the North, which may not bo had
here, from a cake of ice and an irish potato up
to a venison ham, or a mineral fountain.
L.
-»•«.
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
Tunnel Hill, Pickens Dist., S. C., )
Sept. 26th, 1859. j
Tunnel Hill, in Pickens District, S. C., is a
place of considerable interest, as well on ac
count of its agricultural as its railroad peculiari
ties. The Tunnel is a mile and a quarter in
length, and now three-fourths excavated. Tho
rock removed at the central shaft, is stratified
granite, and very compact. It is elevated 280
feet by steam power; and there are four of
these shafts, tho shortest of which is IGO feet-
There arc several other Tunnels on the same
Road, which is designed to extend from Pendle
ton to Knoxville in Tennessee.
The country is mountainous, and tho grading
expensive, while the population is quite sparse.
This whole region is better adapted to stock
raising, wool-growing, and dairy-husbandry,
than to any other industrial pursuit. Vermont
farmers would know how to coin money here,
by rearing Morgan horses, Merino wool and
sheep, and fine cattle. New York dairymen
would supply the South with the choicest butter
and cheese, in great abundance; while the fruit
growers of the North, if located here, would
soon rejoice in their extensive apple, pear, plum
and peach orchards. Having a cool climate, it
is iu fact, a purely farming, and in no respect a
planting country. But, as yet, very little is
done to develop its great agricultural capabili
ties. The enterprise and capital of the South
are so much absorbed in planting, that little is
left for the improvement of other equally impor
tant branches of agriculture. Hence, millions
of acres, admirably adapted to grazing purposes,
in the upper part of this State and Georgia, re
main, to this day, in a state of nature. Let the
Railroad be completed to this place, and it will
greatly facilitate the settlement of Pickens Dis
trict, Rabun, and other counties in Georgia and
North Carolina.
In descending on the north-west side of Tun
nel Hill, the soil is found to be better than it is
on the south side; particularly as one approach
es the river. Tho rocks are different, the forest
trees larger and more thrifty, and the crops
better, so far as any are cultivated. The Abies
Canadensis, (Northern hemlock,) and the soft,
white pine, are first seen within six or seven
miles of Tunnel Hill, in a deep gorge.
Rabun’s Gap, Sept. 29th, 1859.
Since writing the above, I have spent three
days exploring the mountains and valleys of
Rabun county, with my friend William Car,
Esq., of Athens, who owns many lots of land in
the county.
Nature could not put more mountains on the
same territory, unless she made them smaller.
They all join each other at the base, and rise,
sometimes in parallel spires, and sometimes in
sharp cones. Occasionally' the granite is naked,
but generally it is covered, either by its own
debris, sufficiently disintegrated to bear a few .
small, stunted chestnuts, oaks and locusts, or
gneiss, and the old red sandstone overlie the
granite, and furnish material for a much more
productive soil. Rabun county contains the
largest poplars, oaks and hickories, that I have
yet seen in the State of Georgia; and, judging
from all vegetable appearances, as well as geo
logical indications, most of its numerous valleys
and hill-sides will yield abundantly, with proper
cultivation. The hills and mountains are gene
rally too steep for plowing, and ought to be con
stantly set in the best English grasses.
The great abundance of everflowing springs
of clear, cold water, and of living streams, suf
ficiently indicates the facility with which green
pastures may be maintained. So long as bread,
Irish potatoes, and other vegetables, meat, but
ter, cheese and wool, have any value, and so
long as horses and mules find a market, these
gushing perennial fountains will yield gold and
silver much easier and cheaper than they can be
acquired by raising cotton. This opinion is nei
ther hastily forced, nor thoughtlessly expressed.
It is true that Mature has not sown all needful
grass-seeds over this extensive mountainous re
gion ; neither Iks she fenced in large fields,
plowed the groind, and planted cotton-seed in
any of our best otton-growing districts. Before
a large crop of tie great staple of the South can
be sent to market every i telligent reader knows
that much labor las to be performed; and the
sume is true, btr to a less extent, in producing
horses, mules, f t cattle, sheep and wool. The
land must be fenced, the timber deadened, and
the ground secd-d to the best perennial grasses;
which can be done in this county without plow
ing, in most places. L.
- —. -Mm-
Kidney Worm in Swine. —The Germantown
Telegraph says this disease may generally be
known by the animal appearing weak across
the loins, and sometimes by a weakness in one
or both hind legs As soon as these symptoms
appear, give the r.nimal corn that is soaked in
lye of wood ashes or strong soap-suds, and at
the same time rub the loins with turpentine.—
An Ohio farmer fares this disease by giving one
opnee of copperas daily, for six or eight days
dissolved in warm water, and mixed with
two quarts of com meal and dishwater.
-
Alpacas in Australia. —By the Sydney
Morning Herald, of June 13, 1859, we learn that
the alpacas imported into Sydney, at’so much
expense, by Mr. Ledger, have finally been pur
chased by the New South Wales government
for §15,000, and tho sum of $5,000 per annum
allowed for the expense of keeping them at the
public domain till it is decided that they can be
successfully acclimated and disseminated among
the flock masters of that country with profita
ble returns. We believe there were 280 in tho
flock, and it is said that Mr. Ledger has lost
$35,000 by the operation.
— mm*- . Ml -
Burning tiie Prairies.—A correspondent of
the Indiana Farmer says that in very dry sea
sons the wet mucky spots on the prairies have
in many instances been burned out to the depth
of two feet ; and that, instead of the result
being a crop, next season, of waving pasture
grasses, these spots have become overgrown
with swamp willows, from three to ten feet high;
and he strongly condemns the practice of burn
ing such land, as mistaken economy'.
Management of Milk. —The Homestead says:
The milk-room and dairy management have
something to do with the production of butter,
and thinks an improved style of milk-room
would be quite as likely to increase the yield of
butter as an improved breed of cows. There is
much truth in this ; though there is no reason
why we should not have improved breeds of
cattle as well as improved dairy-houses and
more skillful management. In fact they' often
go together.
—
Charcoal for Fatting Animals. —The Val
ley Farmer advocates the use of finely pow
dered charcoal mixed with the food of fatting
animals, especially hogs, once or twice a week.
It says that it serves as a medicine, and is also
extremely fattening, either in itself or by render
ing the food more available by strengthening
and stimulating the digestive powers. We can
not believe that it is, in itself, nutritious.
mm •» —-
Linseed Cake for Heifers before Calving.
— C. S. Flint, in his new and valuable work,
Milch Cows and Dairy Farming , says that heif
ers fed with a little linseed cake, in addition to
their other fodder, for three months before
calving, acquire a larger development of the
milk vessels, and yield more milk afterward,
than others fed as usual. He thinks cotton
seedcake would answer equally as well.
Keeping Milk Sweet. —A correspondent of
the Homestead found that, in sending milk to
market, though it lett the dairy perfectly sweet,
it was often curdled on delivery to customers.
To remedy this, tho cans were covered with cot
ton cloth soaked in salt water. By this method
the curdling of the milk was entirely prevented.
■***- —-
Old Radish Seed. —A correspondent of the
Prairie Farmer says that radish seed that has
been kept six years or more, will produce rad
ishes of a better quality than new seed.
hi
Heaves in Horses. —It is said, in a recent
number of an agricultural paper, that a quart of
a decoction of smart-weed, given every day to
a heavy horse, will cure the heaves. Wo doubt
it; but there is no harm in trying.
Hogs fed on Acorns. —A correspondent of
the Country Gentleman asks why hogs fed on
acorns for weeks will not gain anything for the
same length of time if afterwards fed on corn.
Is such the case ? He has killed hogs from the
woods, and found that their insides were com
.pletely black. He attributes this to the astrin
gency of the acorns.
—
English Beans. —Col. B. B. Johnson men
tions in the Journal of the Ktw York State Ag
ricultural Society, that Mr. Waixwright, of
Dutchess county, has been raising English
beans for feeding stock. His crop last year suc
ceeded well, and this year it promises an abund
ant yield.
■■ i *•*
THE ROLLER.
The roller, though seen but comparatively sel
dom in use, is one of the most serviceable im
plements for farms and gardens. On soft, loamy
soils, abounding in stones too small for gather
ing up by hand, it is very convenient to be able
to sink them below the surface with a roller.
They will then be out of the way of the scythe
and the reaper, when they sweep over the fields
gathering in the precious harvest How much
time this will save in scythe-grinding, and how
much ill-temper, the tiller of the soil need not
be informed. Every farmer knows that the
roots of his clover and grass are often thrown
out of the ground by frost and if not killed, are
much weakened in growth. Passing a good
roller over such fields in the Spring would settle
those roots back into the soil, and cause them
to start vigorously. The roller is also useful in
leveling down all the little hummocks made
every year by frost and other causes, and so
keeping the surface smooth and handsome. On
soils that are very wet and adhesive, it should
be used with moderation, but on all others it
may bo used with great benefit. Fields, on be
ing sown with grass seed or grain, are much
improved by the roller. It breaks down the
lumps left by the harrow, presses the soil finely
about tho newly-sown seed, and ensures its
rapid germination. It sinks the loose stones be
low the surface, and leaves the ground in a bet
ter state every way for harvesting.
Eor the gardener, the roller is scarcely less
useful than for the. farmer. It is hardly possible
to make a good lawn and keep it in proper
order without this implement. It levels ine
qualities of surface; it keeps the roots of grasses
in their place, and gives the turf a smooth, vel
vety look, which it can get in no other way. It
is very useful, too, in making gravel walks, and
in keeping them smooth and hard throughout
the season.
Farm rollers can be made of logs. These
should be cut in two sections, each about four
feet long, with iron bands around the ends to
prevent splitting, and strong shafts running
through them, to which the frame-work, etc.,
for drawing it are to be attached. They are
sometimes made of narrow planks, two inches
thick and four inches wide, forming a sort of
drum. They are also made of cast iron. Those
made of planks are larger than the log-rollers,
and can be drawn easier. They generally need
some extra weight in the box above them.
Those who have tried each sort, prefer tho cast
iron. They are made in several sections, for
ease in turning about, and ease in draft. They
almost never wear out, and a re-always in work
ing order.
Garden rollers can bo made by any one skill
ful with tools. A round log with a handle to it,
will answer; but a plank drum is better; a
granite roller is still better; and a cast-iron rol
ler is best of all. These last can bo bought at
any agricultural store. Our own experience in
the use of the latter has confirmed our views of
its great value.— [American Agriculturist.
—
HINTS TO FARMERS.
Be Systematic. —Here we have one of the
first principles of successful agriculture. Let
all transactions be conducted in a business-like
manner. Take note of every operation, wheth
er you buy or sell, receive or disburse, sow or
reap, make a promise or a bargain. To do this,
it will be necessary to keep a diary, and we
would say, do so, if for no other object than ns
a ready means of comparison.
Be Thorough. —Never half-do anything your
self, nor permit your men to glide over their la
bors* “If it is worth doing at all, it is worth
doing well,” would prove a golden maxim to
thousands of farmers if they would not only
adopt it as a portion of their creed, but exem
plify its teachings in their daily life. Away
with these scratrhers —men that go beneath the
surface are the kind wanted.
Leave your Land in good heart. —lt should be
the object of every tiller of the soil to leave
his land in good condition after the removal of
a crop, and, at the same time, obtain as remu
nerating returns as possible. This can be done
only by husbanding all the sources of fertility
upon the farm, and adding thereto in every
available manner. This is the Alpha and Ome
ga of progressive agriculture. Never boast of
a “ bank account,” if it is obtained at tho ex
pense of your farm.
Study your Profession. —It is not alone the
energy that wields the spade or holds the plow,
that insures success. The culture of the mind
must go hand in hand with the culture of the
soil. The relations of science to the farmer’s
calling are intimate. Good books are aids in
the attainment of knowledge, but never pin
your faith on the ipse dixit of any individual—
think, experiment and judge for yourself.
Stick to the Farm. —Amid your plans for the
future, never, for one moment, harbor the idea
of bettering your condition by entering the
arena of commercial life. Do not exchange a
home of quiet, real enjoyment, for the turmoil
and illusion of a city residence. Barter not
sweet repose for visions of empty wallets, nor
let notes due on the morrow assume tho prerog
atives of the nightmare. Very poor comforters
for care and anxiety are these little realities in
the commercial world. Stick to the farm. What
though hard labor be the every day command, it
is noble, healthful, and conducive to the full de
velopment of the whole man.—[Ohio Valley
Farmer.
V in'e Makixq. —After all that has been ac
complished, there is an absurd idea prevalent,
that wine cannot be profitably raised in this
country; that labor is too dear, and European
competition too great. On the contary, wine
raising is at this instant the most profitable
branch of agriculture in America. It will pay
from one to three hundred dollars an aero, yield
ing a higher profit on capital, skill and labor in
vested, than any other planting. The wines,
which can be most easily raised, are like those
of Germany, light and very innocuous.— [Rural
Register.
—
Grasshoppers are degenerating in Virginia.—
They liavo begun to chaw tho tobacco.
Fowl Manure. — No manure obtained by the
farmers is as valuable as the manure from the
poultry-house. Os this there is no question,
and yet we can hardly answer the question “in
what way is it best to use it ?” The manure is
made only in small quantities, and it may be
that, as a general thing, much of it is wasted.
It may be thrown with other manure, muck and
refuse on the compost heap, but our plan is to
save it for special purposes, and we generally
use it in the vegetable garden, where it is not
only valuable, but exceedingly convenient.
When dry, it may be sown with onion or other
seeds in the drills, at planting time, and four or
five quarts put into a barrel of rain water makes
a most superb liquid manure for any beds of
young plants that need stimulating. In this
form we use it for our melons and cucumbers, as
soon as they appear above ground, to put them
out of the way of the “ bugs,” and on the beds
of cabbage, cauliflower plants, Ac., for the same
purpose. Celery plants, after being set out in
the trenches, may be hurried up amazingly by
being watered two or three times a week with
this liquid food. If magnificent sweet com is
wanted, half a pint of the dry hen dung, finely
scattered in each hill will give it, and no mis
take. If you have been able to grow only
hard, hot, wormy radishes, next spring sow the
seed in very shallow drills, (not too early,) in a
warm, sheltered place, then cover the bed with
a thin dressing of coal ashes and water, with
the liquid hen manure each alternate night, and
if the season is favorable as ordinary, you will
have no cause to repent the trial. A little char
coal dust is better than coal ashes.— [Rural New
Yorker.
—♦♦♦-
THE BAROMETER FOE FARMERS.
A correspondent requests some remarks on
the use of the barometer to farmers. We have
employed ono for many years, and have often
found it of groat advantage. Farmers generally,
it is true, may predict the character of the weath
er for some hours ahead, by their own observa-.
tion of the sky and wind, but the barometer is
an important auxiliary in this guessing. The
rule is a very simple one: If the mercury #is
rising, fair or settled weather is sure to follow—
this we have never known to fail. If, on the
other hand, the barometer continues to sink,
wind or rain will follow—rain if in spring or
summer, and wind in autumn or winter. It
sometimes happens that a moderate sinking of
the mercurial column will not be followed by
rain; and at other times the rain has been
known to commence simultaneously with its fall,
and both go on together. But these occurrences
are rather exceptions. Sometimes the shrewd
est guessing by observation has failed, while
the indications by the barometer have been ve
rified. In one instance, for example, there was
every appearance of a fair day after a rain—the
clouds broke away, and the wind was “from the
fair quarter of the sky.” No farmer would have
hesitated to begin cutting his hay, with a certain
prospect of good hay-weather. But the barom
eter, singularly enough, began to sink, and short
ly after rain came up, and a succession of show
ers continued through the day. In many other '
cases the appearance of the clouds and the
course of the wind indicated rain, but the ba
rometer remained unmoved, and no rain came.
During the continuance of a long rain, it some
times begins to rise, and as certainly shows the
actual approach of fair weather, some hours be
fore the rain ceases. During “ unsettled ” weath
er, its rapid sinking always correctly forebodes
a storm. Wo are told that in some localitiesits
indications are more uncertain; but we have,
as a general thing, found its use of much value.
No doubt there are many instruments that are
imperfectly constructed, and* are consequently
unreliable. Theso furnished with a dial plate
are rarely as correct or sensible to changes ns
the simple mercurial column. We greatly pre
fer the latter, and would not on any account pro
cure the former. A good barometer may be
bought for twelve dollars, sufficiently accurate
for all ordinary purposes.— [Exchange,
—
JOHN JOHNSTON’S WHEAT CROP.
The following extract from a private letter
from John Johnston, of Genova, N. Y., will be
read with interest, and we hope Mr. J. will ex
cuse us for publishing it:
“My crop ot Soule's yielded over forty-one
bushels per acre. It is all weighed, except the
rakings, which got wet and sprouted, and are
kept separate from the other. The field was
summer-fallowed for wheat, and very highly
manured, the fall previous, with rotted cattle
and sheep manure. My red wheat—say twen
ty acres of it—l expect will go nearly as much,
if the threshers are correct. This shows what
dung does, as I have twelve acres of red at the
extreme east of my farm that has not been ma
nured in twenty-four years that only gave a little
over thirty-one bushels per acre. Dung is the
staff of life, and that’s the fact. The red wheat
that is so good was on that twenty acre field
that grew the large com you saw. I always
thought it the worst field I had for wheat; in
fact, it never had a good crop of wheat until I
drained it in 1843 and ’44. The Soule's was on
the twenty-eight acre field, the second field east
of my house, where you a few years ago saw
large clover, very highly manured the fall of
1857, intended for corn, but summer-fallowed
last year and sown with wheat, commencing the
18th of September last. I have always the best
Soule's wheat, when sown about that time.”—
[Genesee Farmer.
—
Night Son. —Its Value.— The best of all
manures is the one which in our country is the
most universally wasted. In Belgium, where
agriculture is carried to great productiveness,
they “ order things differently.” There, the es
timate is, by nice calculation, that it is worth $lO
for every individual, man, woman, and child. t
We traverse sea and land, send to Africa and
South America to bring elements of fertility,
which, at homo, wo throw away on every farm
in the country. What an immense amount is
wasted in our cities. It must be the most val
uable, containing the elements of all kinds of
food consnmed by man, and in returning these .
to the soil, we return the identical constituents
which former crops and animals had taken from
the land. Night soil contains the phosphate of
lime, which is indispensable to the growth of
animal’s bones and to the nutriment of all
plants, and which not supplied from the at
mosphere like carbonic acid and ammonia. All
fluid and solid excretions should be preserved by
mixing with burnt clay, sawdust, ashes, peat or
wood charcoal, etc.
We have a great deal to learn, and, alas, much
more to practice, that we have learned.—[Plant
ers’ Banner.
Indian Toast. —Place two quarts of milk over
the fire. When it boils, add a tea-spoonful of
flour to thicken, a tea-spoonful of salt, a small
lump of butter, two table-spoonfuls of sugar.—
Have ready in a deep dish six or eight slices of
light Indian bread toasted. Pour the mixture
over them. Serve hot.
How to make a clean sweep. Wash him.