THE FAR 



US' REGISTEll. 



Vol. IX. 



MARCH 31, 1841. 



No. 3. 



EDMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIfciTOU. 



hussey's reaper. 



For the Fanners' Register, 



I see, by your last number, you decline recoir.- 

 meniling Hussey's reaper, for the good and sulli- 

 cient reasons, that you had not seen it work, and 

 those who have tried it diH'er in opinion. Letters 

 recommendatory in our country, hoih of men and 

 ihin<rs, are ol'ten too easily oUlained, and I approve 

 your caution. 



A lew ol' Mr. Hussey's first invention have 

 been in use in this, and the adjoinin<x county ol 

 'I'albot, (or two years, and I understand those wlio 

 used, approve ihem. When I went into his sho[) 

 last year to get one, I was ofiiired his first and 

 second invention; I preferred the latter, on ac- 

 count of the machinery beini^ less complicaiftii, 

 and I was in some degree inHuenced by learninij 

 that a gentleman ofyour stale, whose intelligence 

 I estimated by lii; writings in the Register, had 

 preferred ii. 



1 have not, as j'et, from my own experience, 

 been able to decide on the value of the reaper, 

 though 1 must confess my expectations are mui;h 

 in favor. It broke early in harvest, and t did not yet 

 3t well rcpaireii till towards ihe close, i then, lor 

 parts of two days, cut some strong wheat, alier- 

 vvards my oat crop, and also my clover for seed, 

 much to my satisfaction. Mr. Hussey's reaper 

 may still be considered in experiment. Anefficient 

 wheat cutter is a great c'isideratum in agri- 

 culture; and, perhaps, the best means of improve- 

 ment will be found in exposing its iinperfections. 

 The delects which I ascertained wore, the part 

 on which the lever plays (which I call the perch) 

 could not sustain the impulse of the lever, being 

 made of cast iron, and the knives could not be 

 set to cut higher than nine inches, which cut 

 more straw than was useful, and also grass 

 among the wheat; this imposed uimecessary la- 

 bor on the horses, and a heavy strain on the 

 machine. The first defect I corrected, by substi- 

 tuting a perch of wrought iron. Mr. Hussey was 

 here towards the close of harvest, and I pointed 

 out to him the second defect; at his request, 1 

 sent the reaper to Baltimore last fill ; he has re- 

 turned it within a few days, and it may now be 

 set to cut high or low. 



An implement, which promises an important 

 improven)ent in agriculture, is a matter of as much 

 interest to farmers, as a measure of national policy 

 to politicians, and ought to be freely discussed, and 

 will generally be sooner decided. I observe, from 

 some late movements in congress, that a na- 

 tional bank and a protective tariff, are still consi- 

 dered open questions, though they have been under 

 discussion lor forty years. RusTicrs. 



Queen jinn's Co., Md., ISih Feb., 1841. 



POUnr.KTTE AS A MANURE. 



From the New F.nglaiid Fanner 

 The following practical farmer's analysis, or 

 the results of experiments made with poudreite, 

 as compared with other manures, and by itself. 

 Vol. IX.-9 ' ^ 



may be of interest to some of your readers ; and 



will tend to show the high value of the article — 

 and especially of that prepared by Anthony Dey, 

 esq., of' New York, which he has represented as 

 being a much belter article than that relerred to 

 below ; of the correctness of those representations) 

 however, I imagine other proof than his assertions 

 or ana!} sis will be required by those who know ua 

 both, at home. Oi their correctness or incorrect- 

 ness, however, 1 am willing to let those judge who 

 use the articles. 

 A gentleman in Westchester County, New York, 

 planted a piece of corn last season, on which he 

 put only half a gill to the hill ; of which he gives 

 me the following account. I use his own lan- 

 guage, which is as follows : 



" For corn, I think no other mannre can come 

 in compeiition with it. I planted, last season, on 

 sward land turned over (being first manured with 

 common yard dung,) ilie ground rolled very flat, 

 and harrowed, no plough used afterwards, the 

 rows lieing marked by an ox chain drawn on ih-e 

 ground, the corn dropped, an<l half a gill of pou- 

 drette immediately put on the corn, and lightly 

 covered with the hoe. This was done from 25lh 

 to 28lh of May, as the weather aHowed. More, 

 than a fortnight afier my neighbors had planted, 1 

 was lold by many wlio saw ihe manner and time 

 of plantinif, that I sliou'd have no crop, but in 

 three week;;, my corn was fitriher advanced than 

 any near me ; and it continued of the finest color, 

 and was the best field of any I saw througli the 

 season. It was cut up and removed from the 

 field on the first of September, and when husked, 

 turned out ihe lea^t soft corn that I ever had, in 

 proportion to the good corn. I can attribute tills 

 (juick and good growth to nothing hut the pou- 

 dreite; as the laud was not well idled, the corn 

 only having had one good hoeing after it came 

 up; the cultivator was run through it twice." 



Thus it will be seen that it may be used in very 

 small quantities, and yd produce very saticfaolory 

 results. 



Another gentleman, on Long Lslnnd, says that 

 he used a gill to the hill of corn, r.nd he had as 

 20od corn from it as where he used a shovelful of 

 good yard manure in ihe hill; and that the worms 

 were much less troublesome where the former, 

 than where the latter was used ; and oihers have 

 made the same remark in relation to insects. 



On wheat it has been applied experimentally in 

 different quantities. Twenty, thirty, Ibrly, and 

 even seventy bushe'e have been applied to the 

 acre. A frentlemau on Long island says : 



" I used it also on wheat, In the rate of 40, 60, 

 and 70 bushels to ti^e acre, 'i'lial on which I put 

 lorty bushels to the acre, produced as good wheat 

 as where I put iorty wagon loads of stable and 

 barn yard manure — and equally as good as where 

 sixhj or seventy bushels of poudrette were used. 

 1 also used it on all kinds o/" garden vegetables, 

 and never had belter success. I congi ler it better 

 for corn in the hill than bone.''^ 



Another genileman who liasuee(J it three years, 

 says, under date of " Smithtown, L. I., Aug. 9th, 

 1840;" ; ) c J 



