278 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



be sufficient to proslrate the hopes of his neigh- 

 bors for the whole year. The disease called the 

 "yellows," [ am confident, arises from the cause 

 above mentioned. 



An Old Par bier. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 POULTRY. 



"She that won't stoop to pick a pin, 

 Sha'n't stoop to pick a bigger thing." 



For many years past, there has been a great 

 demand for poultry and eggs, at high prices, and 

 it seems likely to continue; for the causes which 

 produced it are still in operation and are likely to 

 continue and increase. The increase of steam- 

 boat and railroad travelling in our country has pro- 

 duced an increased demand for all the luxuries of 

 the table, beyond the current means of supply at 

 moderate prices; it therefore becomes the interest 

 of farmers to devote a little more attention to pro- 

 ducing those articles which always sell readily 

 and at a good price ; particularly as the labor con- 

 nected with the rearing of poultry, if labor it can 

 be called, is light, and can be performed by the 

 younger members of a ffimily, without infringing 

 on the time devoted to the more important labor 

 of the farm. It is an agreeable relaxation, if en- 

 gaged in in a right spirit, and has connected with 

 it many pleasant associations. 



It should be the care of those who engage in 

 the business of rearing poultry on a large scale, to 

 study sound economy in feeding them, otherwise 

 they may be disappointed in the expected profit. 

 With some there is great carelessness and waste 

 apparent, particularly in feeding with food of a 

 more expensive character than is necessary. 

 Having seen large quantities of poultry raised and 

 fattened for market principally on boiled potatoes, 

 1 take the liberty of directing the girls, who are 

 your readers, to it; hoping that daily, when they 

 boil potatoes for family use, they will put enough 

 in the pot, over and above what may be necessary 

 for the family, to feed the chickens till the next 

 day, and so continue it from day to day, occasion- 

 ally alternating it with other kinds of" food for a 

 relish, and depend upon it you will find, 



"That a penny saved, is two pence earned." 



Q. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 TURKIP DRILLS. 



The expense or difficulty of procuring good 

 drilling machines, induces many to sow their tur- 

 nips broadcast, and thus in some degree to dimi- 

 nish the crop, by the want of evenness or regu- 

 hirity which attends broadcast sowing. Others, 

 with considerable labor, drill all their turnips by 

 hand, without the assistance of a machine. In 

 this case, the most tedious part of the operation is 

 dropping the seeds evenly. Where hand drilling 

 becomes necessary, this part of the work may be 

 greatly facilitated by a method described in a for- 

 mer volume of the Genesee Farmer. A hole is 

 made in the bottom of a tin cup, of just such size 



as to allow the seeds to pass freely through when 

 it is shaken ; this cup is fastened to the lower end 

 of a wooden rod about two and a half feet long, 

 which serves as a handle, and the operator passes 

 along the drill with an even pace, shaking the 

 cup constantly and thus dropping the seeds even- 

 ly and expeditiously. The disadvantages are, 

 that it is requisite to draw a furrow previously, and 

 afierwards to cover with a hoe- If the land is 

 well prepared, several furrows may be drawn at 

 once by means of a horse attached to an instru- 

 ment for the purpose, somewhat resembling a 

 large heavy rake head, with short blunt teethe 

 The teeth of a cuhivator, inserted into such an in- 

 strument, are still better. In this way a man may 

 plant from one quarter to one half an acre a day, 

 the quantity varying with the distance of the drills 

 fi^om each. But with a good drilling machine, he 

 may sow and cover the seeds equally well with 

 one-tenth of the lime and labor. 



Many entirely neglect the cidture of turnips 

 from the difficulty of procuring suitable drills ; and 

 on the other hand, this difficulty is owing in a 

 great measure to the very limited extent to which 

 they have been cultivated. Attention has not 

 been sufficiently directed to their construction. 

 Nearly all the patent machines which have hither- 

 to been offered for sale, without possessing any 

 very decided and exclusive advantage, or any 

 thing truly valuable but what was known long 

 ago, have been offered at unreasonably high 

 prices. It is true there is always an advantage 

 in purchasing implements and machines ready 

 made, as when made by the quantity they can be 

 furnished much cheaper; but a turnip drill, suffi- 

 ciently good, need not in any case to cost more 

 than two or three dollars. A good mechanic car? 

 easily make one for this sum. To enable the 

 farmer if necessary to contrive and construct one 

 for himself, or under his own direction, the follow- 

 ing imperfect suggestions are furnished. 



Drills, for sowing turnips, are driven by the 

 hand, and sow one row at a time. They resem- 

 ble in form a light wheelbarrow, l)eing pushed be- 

 fore the operator. As but little strength is re- 

 quired, and as lightness is indispensable to ease in' 

 working, the circumltjrence of the wheel may be 

 of stiff hoop iron merely, and kept to its circular 

 shape by the usual number of spokes from the 

 centre. The contrivance for droppmg and cover- 

 ing formerly consisted of three parts, one for 

 ploughing the furrow, a second for dropping, and 

 a tiiird for covering the seed. These parts are 

 kept separate in some drills now constructed. 

 But the most simple contrivance is where these 

 three parts are united. This is effected by making 

 the dropper, or hollow wooden piece through 

 which the seed descends to the earth, similar in 

 shape to the coulter of a plough. Two or three 

 inches of the lower extremity runs in the earth, 

 and is cased with sheet iron, so as to be more ea- 

 sily pushed forward through the soil. This, be- 

 ing open at the bottom and behind for an inch or 

 two upwards, suffers the seed to pass freely out, 

 below the surface of the earth, and as soon as the 

 dropper passes the earth falls upon the seed and 

 covers it. The depth of planting is regulated by 

 the operator by means of the handles of the drill. 

 Most drills, both in England and in this country, 

 are now constructed with these three parts thus 

 combined. 



