119 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2. 



for two or three persons to hold on behind, after 

 the removal of the hinder frame, while the "'flat" 

 moves on in an opposite direction. This kind of 

 carriage is also far preferable to a cart or wagon 

 for hauling in wheat from the harvest field. 



The wheels are made either by sawing off rol- 

 lers eight inches thick from the body of a tree, if 

 you can find one large enough, or by fastening to- 

 gether either with large pins, or cross-pieces of 

 iron bolted through, three pieces of timber three, 

 feet long, and twelve by eight inches square. To 

 these, when thus fastened, the circular form is af- 

 terwards given, and boxes of a suitable size fixed in 

 the centre of the middle piece. A single box to 

 go entirely through each wheel would probably be 

 better. If it can be deemed worth while to lighten 

 the wheels, this may easily be done by striking 

 two circles — one lour or five inches from the cen- 

 tre, the other, thirteen or fourteen inches from 

 it, and hollowing out the middle space to a thick- 

 ness of four or five inches. 



To guard wheat against smut, it has been as- 

 certained by very numerous and well attested ex- 

 periments, that nothing more is necessary than to 

 steep the seed in strong brine, and after taking it 

 out, to mix with it as much quicklime as will ad- 

 here to the wet grains. A lew hours after this it 

 is fit to sow: but. the seedsman must, use the pre- 

 caution to grease his hands occasionally, or the 

 lime will soon make them very sore. 



Pray, Mr. Editor, tell me what your correspon- 

 dent means by "gripped" land? Excuse me, for 

 asking, and pardon my ignorance; for although 

 somewhat curious in regard to provincialisms, and 

 a great hunter up of such odd things, I have ne- 

 ver seen nor heard of the above term before, and 

 can neither guess nor imagine from its usual ac- 

 ceptation, what its figurative meaning can be. 

 This puzzle has prompted me to make another re- 

 quest, which is, that you will exercise your "veto 

 power" against all future provincialisms unac- 

 companied by proper explanations.* 



* A "Grip" is a small ditch cut across the beds af- 

 ter the wheat is sown, and every other operation has 

 been completed. The grips pass through all the low 

 places in the water-furrows, (or trenches between the 

 beds — as "water-furrow" is a provincialism — ) and 

 serve to draw off all the rain-water that would other- 

 wise stand in puddles, and injure the crop. 



It would be gaining an important object if our agri- 

 cultural nomenclature could be made so general and 

 uniform, that there should be no necessity for either 

 using or explaining provincial terms. But under pre- 

 sent circumstances, it is difficult to know what would 

 be considered as provincialisms requiring explana- 

 tions, and what terms are of such extended use that the 

 explanations would be quite unnecessary. 



"Grips" are described by another writer at page 106, 

 vol. I. We have before proposed what we think would 

 be the best means of avoiding the difficulties of usin°- 

 provincial terms in agriculture — which is, to collect 

 and publish as full a list as possible of all the provin- 

 cial agricultural terms used in the United States, with 

 the definitions and the localities stated. If this was 

 done, we suspect that our friend "Commentator" 

 would be surprised to find that several of his own 



Mr. D. Chandler's mode of cultivating as- 

 paragus is, without doubt, a very good one; but 

 the dislance one way, at which he plants, is greater 

 than usual, and therefore more, probably, than 

 enough. It may however, be judicious, where 

 land is scarce, as he makes it produce also a crop 

 of beels the first year. ''The proper distance for 

 this vegetable" he says, is to have "the rows two 

 feet apart." Is there not a very needless loss of 

 land in this? I have often seen the roots four or 

 five inches in diameter when grown not more 

 than twelve or fifteen inches each way. Mr. 

 Chandler's article furnishes another proof in favor 

 of using "fresh uniermented manure" in prefer- 

 ence to any other. 



The report in favor of a geological survey of 

 our state, and the act which resulted from it, has 

 brought to my mind a subject which has often ex- 

 cited in it, the most melancholy reflections. No 

 state of the same age, is more in want than ours, 

 of internal improvements of every kind; nor any 

 which is susceptible of a greater number that 

 would pay large profits upon the money invested 

 in them. Yet few, comparatively speaking, have 

 been undertaken, and of these it would not be 

 easy to point out a solitary one which has been 

 managed in the best practical manner. The cause, 

 the most deplorable cause of this failure can rea- 

 dily be found by any Virginian who can summon 

 courage enough to examine impartially, facts that 

 must mortify his state-pride. Such examinations 

 will inevitably lead him to the discovery, that par- 

 ty-spirit and favoritism have constantly been 

 permitted to manage nearly the whole affair, in 

 every case. Instead of invariably employing men 

 to superintend and execute the work, solely on ac- 

 count of their talents, knowledge, skill, and ex- 

 perience, all these have been either made secon- 

 dary considerations, or have been disregarded en- 

 tirely; and some miserable party ism or other, has 

 ?',; reality, although never avowedly, been made 

 the test of qualifications. This has resulted in 

 part, from the circumstance of all our works hav- 

 ing been made too much a matter of state con- 

 cern, from which every body knows it is impossi- 

 ble, in (hese times, to exclude party-politics, ra- 

 ther than to leave their management, entirely 1o 

 the judgement of the private stock-holders. Ask 

 any member of our legislature for fifteen or twen- 

 ty years back, I care not who it may be, whether 

 he has, in every case, voted for the best qualified 

 individuals in the whole circle of his acquaintance, 

 to fill the various public appointments in the gift 

 of the legislature; and if he does not reply in the 

 negative I will suffer myself to be called a slan- 

 derer of my own state. If it would not be too in- 

 vidious I could state hundreds of cases to prove, 

 the truth of my assertion. But I will forbear, and 

 will add nothing more than a solemn warning to 

 all who are immediately interested in the great 

 James River improvement about to be com- 

 menced, not to suffer this destructive curse of par- 

 ty-spirit and favoritism to mar the chances of 

 success, by governing the appointment of the en- 

 gineers and other agents who must be employed 



terms were considered by other persons as provincial- 

 isms. We should be glad to have his aid (and no one 

 could furnish better,) in preparing materials for such 

 a glossary. Ed. 



