1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



31 



now have to include the buckwheat, wh'ch is 

 nearly or quite ruined by the long continued wet 

 weather. Corn is very good, but most of it is 

 still in the field. Broom corn is also good, and 

 well secured ; but there is very little of it raised 

 in this region. The Chinese sugar cane has sur- 

 {jassed all expectation. It was only planted by 

 a few, as an experiment; but proves so satisfac- 

 tory that thousands of acres will be put in anoth- 

 er year. We are daily using the sirup, which is 

 sufficiently good, considering the imperfect means 

 of manufacture, to warrant the confident expec- 

 tation of its taking the place speedily of our best 

 sirups, at a much lower figure than they can be 

 obtained. 



One good result of the extensive failure of 

 the wheat, will no doubt be, to lead the people 

 to try other crops as a staple. And there can be 

 little doubt that some other articles can be made 

 much more productive than wheat has been for 

 a number of years past. 



Notwithstanding the hard times, of which we 

 have had rather more than 'an even share, v/e 

 have had great health, as a State ; and have abun- 

 dant cause for Thanksgiving, which Vv'e propose 

 to celebrate on the same day as in Massachusetts. 

 Among other things to be grateful for, our wor- 

 thy Governor Lowe mentions the remarkable 

 outpouring of the Spirit, "by which the faces of 

 multitudes have been turned Heavenward." 



Tipton, Iowa, Nov. 12. M. K. c. 



Ji'or the New England Farmer. 



UNITED STATES AGBICULTUKAL EAIB 

 AT KIGHMOND. 



One of the most attractive implements on the 

 fair ground, to the farmer, was A. P. Routt's 

 patent Drain Plow. This implement makes a 

 furrow a foot deep, two feet and a half wide at 

 the top and four inches wide at the bottom, the 

 sides sloping at such an angle as to insure the 

 drain from falling in by the frost, the whole be- 

 ing perfectly completed at one operation by this 

 plow, or tool. Those who have tried it say it is 

 the very thing for surface draining, which, on 

 wet lands, is certainly very beneficial where un- 

 derdraining has not been done. The manufac- 

 turer resides in Somerset, Orange County, Va. 

 The plow is so made that it opens a deep furrow, 

 turning both to the right and left, and is followed 

 by a heavy iron roller that hardens the earth 

 both on the sides and the bottom of the surface 

 drain, thus doing very handsome work. The 

 price, as heretofore stated, is $25, and with it, a 

 man can, with a good pair of team horses, sur- 

 face-drain 60 acres of land a day. 



A patent subsoil turn plow, combining four 

 distinct features, is a consideration for farmers. 

 First, the combination of the subsoil and turn 

 plow ; second, the movableness of the mould- 

 boards, which can be adapted to deep or shallow 

 plowing, as desirable ; third, a second bar to 

 which the regulator is attached, which steadies 

 the plow ; fourth, a regulator for the depth of 

 the furrow. It may be used to break up the clay 

 without turning it up. It is highly recommended 

 by those who have tried it. The proprietors, 

 Messrs. Utley, Smith and Macfee, reside in 

 Richmond, Va. 



The "Triumph Corn Sheller," patented last 

 April, by A. B. Davis, of Philadelphia, and oper- 

 ating on an entirely novel principle, ha'uvj: so 

 constructed and arranged that the power required 

 in driving, is expended in separating the corn 

 from the cob, v.ithout any grinding or tearing of 

 the latter. Tlie machine may be fed with a shov- 

 el, the cobs passing out at the rear, while the 

 corn falls into a receptacle prepared for it, thus 

 avoiding the work of sifting in order to separate 

 the corn from cobs, 8cc. 



Pennock's patent Seed and Grain Planter is 

 a machine that is highly approved. It is a Del- 

 aware product. It has received about 40 silver 

 medals, and took the highest award at the World's 

 Fair, at the New York Crystal Palace. It is a 

 capital thing for planting or drilling wheat, rye, 

 or other grain, which is undoubtedly the true 

 method of grain planting. It is made so as to 

 distribute fertilizers at the time of sowing, if de- 

 sired. He also exhibited Pennock's Iron Har- 

 vester, or new combined Reaper and Mower, — a 

 corn-sheller that will shell 300 bushels a day, — 

 plantation mill, and threshing machine. 



The Eagle Mower and Reaper, that took the 

 $1000 premium of the Massachusetts Society, in 

 1856, the first ])rize awarded by the Indiana State 

 Agricultural Society, the same year; also the 

 first awarded by the Royal Society of England, 

 Ireland and Scotland, in 1857, was exhibited by 

 A. G. MOTT, agent. 



R. C. Mauck's Corn Harvester will enable 

 three men and a boy, with one or two horses, to cut 

 and stook 10 acres of corn a day. By this ma- 

 chine the hardest part of the labor is performed 

 by horses. It is a desideratum to growers of 

 Indian corn. Mr. Mauck is a Virginian, residing 

 at Conrad's Store, Rockingham Co. 



Another "Old Dominion" invention on exhi- 

 bition was a Tobacco Press by Musser & Col- 

 man. This machine is of great importance to 

 tobacco manufacturers. 



Sanfokd's Reciprocating Portable and Planta- 

 tion Mill, patented the present year, price $15, 

 for grinding feed for stock and grain for family 

 use ; also, plaster, bones, cement, drugs, paints, 

 printer's ink, emery, &c., seemed like a valuable 

 discovery. 



Douglas & Brothers exhibited a Sugar 

 Cane Mill for making sugar of the Chinese sugar 

 jcane. 



I Thus have I noticed some of the important ma- 

 ; chines shown at the fair, serving to confirm the 

 I intimation before given, that the South is pro- 

 1 grossing in inventing and manufacturing agricul- 

 tural machines. I might add other things, but 

 let these suffice. Farm implements and machines 

 are greatly multiplying on every hand. Some of 

 these are very useful, others moderately so, and 

 others still, of little or no economical value to 

 farmers. Such results are incident to the lives 

 and fortunes of inventors and manufacturers. 

 They serve to show, on the whole, that great 

 progress and improvement are making in the 

 furnishing of farm tools and machinery. 



The subjcL't for discussion, one evening dur- 

 ing the fair, at the "African Church," was, "Farm 

 Implements." Leandeu Wetherell, of Bos- 

 ton, was invited to open the discussion, which he 

 did, and was followed by Messrs. Watt, of Rich- 

 mond, Spangley, of Philadelphia, Rogers, oi 



