130 



®I)C jTanncr's iHontl)hj lliriitor. 



tetl to examine the Centre Draught Ploiif;li and 

 witness its performance, at the liirin of T. Hill- 

 house, Esq. The performance of this thily was 

 ftr from being conned by any of us. But having 

 been selected for that purpose, it would have 

 been uncoin-tcous to have declined ; and having 

 performed the duty, it is inenmhent upon us to 

 report the result of our examination. We have 

 no desire, we must state in the outset, unduly to 

 magnify the Centre Draught Plough, nor to praise 

 unduly its performance. Neither can we he pre- 

 vailed upon (even if desired so to do) to under- 

 value all or any of the various new and improv- 

 ed ploughs now before the agricultural commu- 

 nity, which are brought in competition with it. 

 But we nevertheless willingly report truly and 

 fairly tlie jac'.s in the case. 



Tiie committee are almost strangers to each 

 other — inhahitantsof different parts of the State 

 — chiefly, if not entirely, practical men, and ac- 

 customed to use (and perhaps prejudiced in favor 

 of) other ploughs. Yet, with entire unaiiitniiy, 

 we concur in the opinion that the Centre Draught 

 Plough is not surpassed hy any plough with 

 which any of us are acquainted. Tlje work per- 

 formed hy it is equal in excellence to any thing 

 we have ever seen, and performed with as little 

 labor and fatigue hy both ploughmen and team, 

 as it could, in our opinion, possibly he done. 



Perhaps nothing more than the above need be 

 said, as it comprises in general terms, all that 

 we can say, or that it can be desirable to say. — 

 However wc will add : 



The [)lough can be adjusted with the greatest 

 nicety, both as respects the depth of thefnrrow 

 and the width of the furrow slice, with perfect 

 facility and ease. 



We are quite sure that it runs very light and is 

 of course easy to the team. But we did not 

 make any trial with the dynamometer, and there- 

 fore are unable to make any comparative state- 

 ment, between the draught of this plough and 

 others. All we pretend to offer upon this point, 

 is the result of our observations upon the appa- 

 rent effort and fatigue of the team ; a conclusion 

 which can be relied on to some extent, although 

 we admit, fiir from being conclusive. We how- 

 ever would remark, by way of fortifying our 

 opinion, that at the celebrated trial of ploughs, 

 made at Worcester', a year or two since, this 

 plough bore off the premkim of one hundred 

 dollars, alter a severe competition with some of 

 the must celebrated ploughs. So far as the 

 ploughman is concerned, vie can with cerlaiuty 

 assert, that severe labor and strenuous "ffon on 

 his part, is entirely done away. Even skill is 

 comparatively useless in working with this 

 plough. 



This may seem a strong position to. take ; but 

 in confirmation of it we nnist state, that we saw 

 furrow after furrow plouglied with great nic:ety, 

 the hand of the ploughman having been laid to 

 the plough only to enter it at the commencement 

 of the furrow. As to the style of the work per- 

 formed, wo can say, that some of the ploughs 

 lap the furrow slice, (and they are those which 

 we prefer) and to vvliicli our report mainly re- 

 fers, vviiile another (the one to which tlio one 

 hundred dollar premium was awarded at Wor- 

 cester,) turns the fiuTow flat. 



The workmanship of the plough is excellent, 

 and wn beg specially to coiimiend the casting of 

 the share from a composition v\'hich is much 

 harder than ordinary cast iron, thus insuring a 

 greater degree of dmabilily to the ploughshaje. 

 If to this ha added that the share is also con- 

 structed upon tlie .self-sharpening |)rinciple, it 

 can easily be conceived that the purchasers arc 

 ensured against tlie too (icquent rccin-rence of 

 the vexation that reeidls fi-om the raiiid and often 

 antxpecleU wear of the share. 



In conrliision, we woidd remark that this 

 plough has obtained celebrity, and has received 

 and is daily receiving the cordial approlialion of 

 men whose opinions have far gruaicr wuiL'ht than 

 ours. We believe that it has lost none of its ce- 

 lebrity by the trial which we wiinessed, (or out 

 of the numeroua conq>any present there was not 

 one who did not seem to he both surprised and 

 delighted with the performance of the plough, 



it may be asked how it comes that this plough 

 and the Worcester county ploughs, IMi-ssrs. Kug- 

 ples, Nourse &. Mason's were coudenuicd at the 

 fair of the English Agricidtural Society last 

 year. iVor in it easy to answer the question. — 



Prejudice, national prejudice may have had some- 

 thing to do with it. All we can say is, thai some 

 of the committee at least were practical men ; 

 we have reported only that which we saw. — 

 Moreover, there was present on the grounil an 

 English |iloughman, recently arrived, wlio.se 

 judgujent was pi.'rfectly unbiassed, who pronoun- 

 ced this equal to any EuL'lish plough he had ever 

 handled, ami fully concurred with the connniltee 

 in the opinion expressed by thcTu. 



J. B. NoTT, Albany County. 



T. IllI.I.HOUSF., " 



JoHK McvEA.N, Momoe County. 

 C. Hannan, Genesee County. 



.Salt sown to kill Worms. — Mr. Wm. Tri- 

 bou of Nortli Bridgewater, tells us he h;is been 

 sowing salt auioug his oats for the piu'pose of 

 killing the worms that infested the soil. He 

 veniurcd to sow six bushels of cheap salt to the 

 acre, with his seed oats, and he says he has nev- 

 er raised so fine a harvest at atiy lime. 



lie fiowcd grass-seed at the same time, and hf 

 says his grass has been as much hcnefiilcd as his 

 oats — lie can see a plain diffcrenc'e between that 

 part of the field where he sowed salt two years 

 ago and that where none was sown. 



Our readers may remendier that we have ad- 

 vised to sow as many as five busliels per acre in 

 the sprinc, and gave an opinion that such a quan- 

 tity would do no injury — that in the fiill, on fil- 

 low grotmd, tliree times as mucli maybe sown 

 with safety. We want more trials to determine 

 how much may be sown in the spring with En- 

 glish grain. 



Mr. Trihou is satisfied that salt will destroy 

 the common worms that inlijst our gardens and 

 fields^it may be that enough may he applied to 

 kill evejy worm in a ganlen, if it is sown in Sep- 

 tember, when it will not be likely to injure veg- 

 etal ion. — Mms. Ploushman. 



From the Farmers* Cabinet. 

 Thaer's Principles of Agriculture. 



Mr. Editor: — 1 design, with your permission, 

 to give to your readers some knowledge of a 

 work published in Germany in 1844, cMtille<l, 

 " Principles of Agricnltm'e," by All)ert D. Tliaer. 

 They need he imder no alarm that! shall impose 

 upon them any tiling not altogether practical. I 

 know very well the caution with which farmers 

 receive theories, or indeed any informaiiou u liicii 

 they cannot readily and immediately apply to 

 their business. It is a limit and a mislbiiime, but 

 as it is a feeling which exists too generally, and 

 is far too stiong to be resisted, ;um1 liir too sensi- 

 tive to bo rebuked, I shall not venture to ipiairel 

 with it. But this work contains nothing not 

 strictly practical; it is the result of ihe ex|ieri- 

 ence of a very inielligent man, whoge life was 

 devoted to the study tuid practice of iigricultiuc, 

 and although he was of a country towards which 

 Americans, from the difference of laiignagi', cns- 

 loms, &c., very seldoui turn lor information, yet 

 it is probable that such a man as he a|>pears to 

 have been, with a strong mind, earueslly en- 

 gaged for years in a single pursuit, may, and 

 ought to have struck out something of inlcrest 

 10 his liroiher cultivalors. Of this we sliall he 

 made aware, as we pjoceed in the ex.-unination 

 of the work. It may be as well, pcihap.s, to cn- 

 comajie an esteem (or the writer's ot iniuns, and 

 to give ihein all the authority possilili', to say 

 who and what he was. Thaer was a llaiiuverian, 

 horn in the town of Celle, in 17.V2; he wiis the 

 sou of a physician, and educated liir the medical 

 profession; alter practicing for some yeius, hi^ 

 retired and devoted the rest of his life to agri- 

 cultme. lie appears to have been an enthusiast, 

 fi)r though living at a time when Europe was 

 cfuivulsed by Bonaparte's nujbition, ami he him- 

 sellj in his peaceful occupation, was surrounded 

 by the ring of arms, and was al length obliged to 

 desert his country, yet he does not seem even lor 

 a moment to have ihonght of giving u\) his pm'- 

 siiil — having once put his hands to the plough, 

 he looked iu)t back. Ibnioi-s were showerecl 

 upon him from all parts of Europe ; noblemen 

 and princes sought his acqiiainlance ; all men 

 honored him because he was usefid. Af"ter n ca- 

 reer of high merit, he died at an advanced uge, 



in le-^a 



I now propose to myself the pleasirre of in- 

 troducing lo the readers of the Farmers' Cabinet, 

 Bonio of the ideas and modes of proceeding of 



this estimable person. As one of the most in- 

 teresting topics to all agriculturists, I will begin 

 with the chapter 



On Manuring the Suil. — Manures are of t«o 

 sorts, those which nourish the plant hy bccnm- 

 iug, as it were, its food, and those which stimu- 

 late it.s growth by chenjical deconqiositiojis and 

 combiualious. It is not easy to iletine the way 

 m which each n ai/Ure produces its eft'ect : but it 

 is very important that we should make the en- 

 deavor to discover it, as it is mily by attaining or 

 sipproximaling towards the real effect, that we 

 can appreciate its value or feel antliorized lo dis- 

 canl any particular maimre, or to cmitinue its 

 use. I5ut in making this attempt, we strike upon 

 one of the greatest difticidlies in the mauage- 

 meiit of land — the power of deciding as to tho 

 soils and manures that are fitted for each other. 

 In a practical point of view there is no subject 

 more iliflieiilt, and no knowledge more iliflicult 

 to attain; Cora longtime, and time of great value 

 to the IJiriner, may be wasted before he is enabled 

 to say whether lie i.s treating his soil in the right 

 muiiner. It is true that all scjils uj.iy coniain the 

 aliments necessary for every kind of plant, but 

 they are not in equal proportions; for this reason 

 one kind of land favors the vegetation of one 

 kind of plant, and another some other kind of 

 totally a different iialiue. And in this way it is 

 a nice point in the management of land, to know 

 what our land is tilted lo produce, and w hat kind 

 of manure is calculated for this particular pro- 

 duct. Our author makes an important disiiiic- 

 tion li-itueen vcgetabh; anil animal manure. The 

 first, he says, appears to act on plants solely as 

 an aliment, while the last acts on the soil as well 

 as on the plants which vegetate there. Mineral 

 manures, lime, plaster, &c., which contain no 

 organic bodies, and, of course, nothing to be de- 

 competed, act almost euiirely by rendering those 

 pans of the suil soluble, which were before in- 

 soluble, and by lavoiing and accelerating decom- 

 position. The manures in coumion use, are 

 composed partly of vegetable and partly of ani- 

 mal biilislances; the vegetalile mailer, from not 

 being Ko easily soluble as the animal, p'reventsor 

 reslraiiis the too rapid decomposition of these 

 last, and makes their effect more lasting. The 

 vegetalilc matter would indeed liave but little 

 effect, unless animalized, by first passing through 

 the bodies of animals; while on the other hand, 

 the vegelalile are made to decompose more rap- 

 idly liy the addition of animal subslances. The 

 value ol' these manures does not depetnl on the 

 quatilily so much as their quality. This is a 

 poiiil very little attended lo. They should be 

 from the liest animal.-:, fed in the best manner, for 

 that «hich comes from an animal will be of lit- 

 tle value unless that which tfocs into him is of 

 the best sort. Let an animal be fed on bad hay, 

 or bad grain or straw, or any coarse material, 

 with liiili; or no nutriment in it, how can it be 

 expected that the manure it makes can enrich 

 llie earth, when the creature itself is ill-led and 

 lialf-surved. To produce the best manure the 

 food must be of the best sort; or to say the same 

 thing in other words, the animal should be in the 

 bi'st health. Our author goes wiih some miiinie- 

 uess into tlie nature of stalilo nmnure, but it is 

 iiol necessary lo alarm our sensitive agrieiilural 

 readers with any scientific details, however cor- 

 rect <ir iiileresling; it is enough lo say, that in his 

 iipiuion and friuii his experience, this is admira- 

 bly suited ti'oiu its rapid decomposition, and the 

 heat it Ihrous out dining this process, lo cold, 

 sicrile, moist, and clajey soil.s, while to t'le 

 chalky, ilry, snmly, and caicareoii.-*, it is extreme- 

 ly injinimis; it forces forward vegetation rapidly 

 at firsi, but when its influence has somewhal di- 

 minished ami vegetation is left to the nalural 

 sircnglli of the .soil, it droo|)S and becomes lan- 

 guid. It may he inferred from llie.se ideas, that 

 this kind of "niaume is consiilered only transient 

 in its clli.ct, and as of very little ii.se, except on 

 moist and tenacious soils; ihough it is extreme- 

 ly lieiieficial on soils containing a large amount 

 of humus or vegetable mould, from its promot- 

 ing, by ihe passing oft'of its ainmooia, the decom- 

 position of this slibstniice. When used by itself^ 

 the author directs that it should be carried lo 

 moist anil clayey soils as soon as its first stage of 

 fermeniation ha.s commeiui d, and then buried ; 

 fermenlalion and the heal it produces render the 

 soil looser and lighter, and the repealed plough- 

 iiii's incorporate it with the Boil and lend to ter- 





