1826.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



253 



MACHLNES FOR GATHERING CLOVER HEADS, 



1 



DIMENSIONS. 



^, C— Tlieshnfls, 4 I'eet 4 inches long, and 

 tlireo feet asunder. 



3. 1,— The handles, 3 feci long', and 20 inches 

 ajiiii 1. 



5,- The lingers, or teeth, thirteen inches 

 long. 



The wheels are sixteen inches in diameter. 



This machine is drawn by one horse, and 

 guided li}' a man or boy ; it simply consists of 

 an ojien box, about 4 feet square at the bottom, 

 iiiid about three in height, on lhr€e sides ; t» tiie 

 fore part, which is open, (infers are fixed, simi- 

 lar lo those of a cradle, abont 3 feet in length, 

 and so near as lo break ofl'ihe beads from the 

 clover-slocks between the'i), which are thrown 

 back into the box as the horse advances. The 

 box is (ised on an axle-tree, supported by two 

 small wheels, two I'eet in diameter; two han- 

 dles are fixed to the hinder part, by means of 

 which the driver, while he manages the horse, 

 raises or lowers the lingers of the machine, so 

 as to take oH all the heads of the grass; and, 

 as nt"len as the box is tilled with them, Ihey are 

 tbrnivn out, and the horse goes on as before. 



The second instrument is called a cradle, and is 

 mule of an oak board, iS inches in length and 

 10 in breadth. The fore-part of it, to the length 

 of 9 inches, is sawed into lingers; a handle is 

 inserted behind, inclined towards them, and a 

 cloth put rotmd the back part ofthe board, which 

 is cut somewhat circular, and raised on the han- 

 dle ; this collects the heads or tops ofthe grass, 

 and prevents ihem from scattering, as Ihey are 

 struck oil' by the cradle, which may he made of 

 dillerent sizes; being smaller in proportion for 

 women and children, who, by means of it, may 

 likewise collect large quantities. Mr.LTloM- 

 MKtiii.u says, as soon as the clover is mown, it 

 should be immediately raked into small heaps, 

 and exposed about three weeks in the field, to 

 promote the decay of the husk, as otherwise it 

 will be difficult to obtain the seed. These heaps 

 should be occasionally turned, especially during 

 wet weather. It may, however, be easily as- 

 certained, whether the husks are sufficiently 

 rotten, or dry, by rubbing the heads or tops 

 between the hands: when that is effected, they 

 should be housed, and the seed threshed out 

 when convenient, and ckared with a wire rid- 

 dle. 



Upon the subject of collecting clover seed, 

 Mr L'HoKMEDiEu observes further ; by sowing 

 three or four pounds of seed to the acre, on 

 light loamy soils, which yield eight or ten bush, 

 els of wheat or rye per acre, the clover will 

 «ol be profitable to mow, but standing thin on 



the ground, the heads will be well filled vvilii 

 <eed. The fields are to be kept up ne-it 3'car, 

 till the seed is collected, by the machine repre- 

 sented above. On rich lands, no =eed comes with 

 the first crop, but the second crop being shorler 

 and thinner, is commonly well seeded Some- 

 times, indeed, considerable quantities of seed 

 are gaihered fiom the first crop, nn land where 

 wheat h IS been cut the same year : the stubble 

 preventing the clover from growing too thick 

 to produce seed. II the land be rich, and it is 

 intended lo sow ihe first crop, and collect seed 

 frnm Ihe second, eight lbs. are not (co much 

 for one acre. 



The above implements and remarks are taken 

 from Transactions ofthe New York Agricultu- 

 ral Society. The machines were invented by 

 Mr L'HoMMEDif.u o< Bronkhaven, Suffolk County, 

 New York. 



From the Essex Registtr. 



GRAFTED FRUIT. 



We are sorry to see an erroneous opinion 

 prevailing among our horticulturists, that the 

 best varieties of our grafted fruit are on the de- 

 cay. It is believed that the health and duration 

 ofthe grafts, depend upon the age and health of 

 Ihe parent stock. This theory originated in 

 England a few years since, and was first an- 

 nounced by Thomas Andros Knight, Esq. For 

 some years past, says Mr Henry Phillips, it has 

 been staled by several ingenious writers, that 

 many of our best varieties of ajiples could no 

 longer be cultivated with success; that by length 

 of lime Ihey have become degenerated and worn 

 out. Mr Knight, Ihe President of the Horticul- 

 tural Society, seems to have been the tirst who 

 gave birth to this idea. He says, in his Pomona 

 HereJ'onlknsis, that those apples which have 

 been long cultivated are on the decay. The 

 Red-streak and the Golden Pippin can no longer 

 be propagated with advantage. The fruit, like 

 the parent tree, is affected by the debilitated old 

 age of the variety." Again he says, in his 

 Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and Pear, 

 p. 6, " The Moil, and its successful rival the 

 Red Streak, with the Must and Golden Pippin, 

 are in the last stage of decay ; and the Slireand 

 Fos-whelp are hastening rapidly after them." 

 " It is much to be regretted," says Speechly 

 " that this apparently visionary notion of the ex 

 tinction of certain binds of apples should have 

 been promulgated by authors of respectability, 

 since the mistake will, for a time at least, be 

 productive of certain ill consequences." 



The author of the work we are quoting from, 

 says, "■ Having observed among the apples in Co- 



vent Garden market, in 1819, a great quantity 

 ofthe real golden ()ippins in a perfect state, the 

 author was induced to make particular inquiries 

 respecting this fruit ; and has received satisfac- 

 tory accounts from all quarters, that these trees 

 are fast recovering from a disease, or canker, 

 which appears to have been brought on by a 

 succession of unpropitious seasons, but that the 

 summer of 1818 and the following year have 

 greatly improved Ibera." The author continu- 

 ed his inquiries still further, and waited on some 

 gentlemen who are well known in all parts of 

 the world, for their practical knowledge in tlifi 

 cnltivalion of apples, and they were unifoj-mly 

 of opinion, that the " ajiparent decay of some 

 trees was owmg to the unfavourable springs we 

 have had for several years." 



This decay ofthe apple in England, was sim- 

 ilar to the decay of onr peach trees in Massa- 

 chusetts a few years ago. It will be recollect- 

 ed that about 1814 we had a succession of wet 

 and cold seasons, which seemed to complete the 

 destruction of many o( our peach trees. The 

 succession of warm seasons, and particularly the 

 last, restored that valuable tree lo us in all its 

 strength and vigour. 



The theory of Mr Knight, announced as it 

 was from such high authority, created an alarm 

 among horticulturists, and this opinion has got 

 hold among us. We know that some of our 

 most enlightened farmers labour under tiiis er- 

 roneous notion, which is actually influencing 

 ibeir practice to the neglect ofthe good old va- 

 rieties of apples, and a laborious search alter 

 new varieties equally gooj, to supply the place 

 of the old fruit. 



P'rom our own observation, we are persuaded 

 that the theory of Mr Knight is entirely un- 

 lounded. We can show some very thriving 

 trees, ofthe nhl fushionid Pvaririain, in a bear- 

 ing slalc. The name of this fruit has been 

 known in Salem above a hundred years. It was 

 an old and well known fruit a century ago, and 

 the modern trees have not decayed with the 

 parent tree, but are as flourishing as we coulu 

 desire, and promise to live an hundred years 

 longer. 



We can show also a number of trees of the 

 Ribslon pippin, in a most flourishing condition, 

 and bearing every year; and yet, according to 

 Ihe theory, these trees ought to have been oq 

 the decay, by sympathy with the parent tree. — 

 " The Ribslon pippin is a native of Ribston Parit, 

 Yorkshire. Hargrave, io his history of Knares- 

 borough, p. 21G, says ' This place is remarkable 

 for the produce of a delicious apple, called the 

 Ribston pippin. The original tree was raised 

 from a pippin brought t'rom France, from which 

 tree such numbers have been propagated, that 

 they are now to be met with in almost every 

 orchard in this and many other countries.' The 

 old tree is yet standing, and in the year 1787 

 produced six bushels of apples." Mr Knight 

 would have us believe, and if his theory be true, 

 we must believe, that when this old tree decay?., 

 every other tree throughout other countiies 

 will decay also. 



We are ijot confined in our observations to 

 the apple alone. In noticing the history ofthe 

 China or Sweet Orange tree, and its introductioB 

 into Europe, Mr Phillips remarks, "The China, 

 or Sweet Orange, with which this country [Eng- 

 land] is so amply supplied, and at such mode^ 

 rate prices, that all classes of society enjoj tiiem 



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