1825.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



315 



nil old friend lo fell llisstorv in liis oivn WHy. In Pratls mi»ht li;\vo htcn «mallor than that plaiitp.l hy 

 tlie COur«e onth mnnlli, 1 bp£r:in lo liavf er>me Liir corn spciulont, ami Iherefore might be planted 

 spciet mi??;ivin.2:=: of success, lor Ihe corn pl;ml- j thiokor with »m(I cffftt. But if the sort was ^mallei- 

 fd in the- old way l>eg-an lo jrivc evident nolo of; n,,,, usual wl- cannot account for the lar-rnrss of the 

 par?, while on Iho New York corn, (! sivc it 

 this tille to iH?;iinQ:i!is!i it.) very little imlicalion 

 o/' oar? conid be disroveivd. Aflpr wiiilinjr some 



time and oli^ervinp; that Ihe stalks wppo very 

 • hick, it occured to nie liiat it miphl he nsefiil 

 to ihin them ant a little. I nrdeied one of my 

 labourers to ^o to the (ield and cut all the stalks 

 on which there wore no shoots lor ears — but, 

 f.iend Editor, jndi^e if ihoti cansl, what was my 

 surprise and indignation, when going lo the lield, 

 I found (as far as the man had gone) at lea.st 

 seven eigbtiis of ni}' favorite New York corn 

 prostrate on the ground. In great wralh I or- 

 dered the man to quit the Held ; liut in jnslice 

 I must say, that upon a close examination, it 

 could not be perceived that my order had been 

 disobeyed in any resprcl, and in fact, the final 



product ; for, othrr things equal, we believe the larg- 

 er kinds of corn wilf yield the moat bulky, though, per- 

 haps not the most valuable crop. 



TO THE CDlTOn OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IRRIG.\TION. 



Andovcr, Jlpril 26, 1825. 

 Mr Fessknden. — In the New England Farmer 

 of August 21, 1824, your correspondent ' H.' re- 

 quests informalion on the subject of raising wa- 

 ter by windmills, "for irrigation and other eco- 

 nomical purposes;" and in the Farmer for Jan- 

 nary 28, 1825, Friend Kaich.v, of Philadelphia, 

 has requested furl her information. As this has 

 not yet been complied with. I now, with some 



lo[) of (he [lUmp, /'or wo rai«R water with le-" 

 fiower »\ hen il is above Ihe bucket, than when 

 beloiv. 



The expense of erecting Ihe above-mention- 

 ed mill, would probably be from 2 lo 300 dolls.- 

 Yours, res[iecl fully, 



PHIIVEA.S STEVENS. 



RURAI. £cdKC2iizir7 



result was this— there were stalks in great abun- 1 reluctance, oflfer something, which may serve lo 

 dance, but not a single ear of corn in perfection; '• elicit more. 



and this I undertake lo say will always be Ihe | As lo the ;)rnf(i"c«i!'% of applying wind lo the 

 result wheie corn is planted in this way in any purpose of raising water, it is too obvious to ad- 

 of the New England states, be it as it may in mil of doubt. If we apply wind for this purpose. 

 New York. we may expect some advantages, as well as some 



Friend Editor, I am not absolutely ruined by disadvantages. One advantage in using wind !«, 

 this experiment, and the reason is, that I did '''•'' ''''" s'^'^ent costs us nothing — and the ma- 

 not attempt it on a scale sutficicntly large l0| chinery is simple, and we should infer from this 

 ruin me. Nay, possibly it may be productive of ; 'hat the expense of building is proportionally 

 good ; I think it will at letvst prevent me (I wishj 'p°'- 



It might others) from placing much confidence in If we apply steam, the machinery is mullipli- 

 great stories. By this experiment. I have learn-^'' ^"'1 ''fpen^e is added, and steam cannot be 

 ed that an old fashioned article called common B''n''''-''«''1 without continual expense, 

 sense, is of very great value, and if there was' 1' ie apply animal po-jscr, the machinery is 

 more of this article made use of, there would be ""' diminished, and animals will not labor with- 

 a less niimiier ofdujies lo pretended modern im-'O"' 'ood. 



provements and discoveries. 



Thy friend truly. T. B. 



[remarks by the editor.] 

 The article alluded to by our correspondent was ex- 



The disadvantages are — the wind is not at all 

 times at our command — and the machinery is 

 liable to decay. 



The iolloiving is Ihe description of a wind- 

 mill which I think will answer the best purpose. 



traded Irom the American farmer, and published in Let there be six vanes fixed on the wind-shaft 

 our paper, vol. II. page 326. It was stated in the | or axis, who«e outer extremities sh-iU describe 

 American 1 armer to be a communication liom" alriend a circle, the radius of which shall be 24 feet, 

 on a visit to New York." According to the account These should be 4 feel broad, and the length 8 

 of this" friend" Messrs John and Mathew Pratt, ol Ta- 'f'*'*- They should he so placed on the wind- 

 ton, Madison County, New York, in the year l;;23, rais- '''^i*^'' "'^i' at 4 feel from the centre of the same 

 ed cr, I bushels of Indian corn from 4 acres of land, ' ""'-^ should make an anijle of CO'^ with Ihe wind- 



Ti'hich is at the before unheaid of rate of 170 bushels to 

 an acre. VVe thought the sloiy almost too large to be 

 entitled to credit, but as il came from a very respect- 

 able source, to wit the " American Farmer" vol. v. p. 

 26 1, and gave the names of the persons who raised the 

 great crops, together with the name of the place in 

 ■which Ihe wonderful feat was performed (circumstan- 

 ces which usually indicate veracity) we were induced 

 to republish it. It is staled that the corn was planted 

 in drills 2 feet 9 inches apart, and there were 3 rows 

 iu each drill, and in these triple rows the corn was set 

 " six inches apart each way." Perhaps a little more of 

 ivhat our correspondent denominates " an old fashioned 

 article called common-sense" would have led us to 

 suspect that land would be over-stocked with plants in 

 that mode of planting Indian corn. The width between 

 the drills was less than is commonly recommended or 

 in use ; and when in addition to this there were Ikrte 

 rows inserted in each drill, and the plants but six inch- 

 es apart in the ro-vs, it would seem very probable that 

 they would stand loo near together to produce large & 

 <iound ears. Tjie kind of corn planted by the Messrs 



shaft, and at the outer extremity they should 

 make an anq^le of 75^. Let there be lised on 

 Ihe windshaft a bevel-wheel, which shall work 

 into another bevel-wheel ofi greater diameter 

 than the one fixed on the windshaft. This last 

 named wheel must be placed on a vertical shaft 

 in the centre of the frame which supports the 

 vanes and windshaft. The wheel placed on the 

 verticiil shaft or axis must he fixed with the face 

 upwards. Attached to the underside of this 

 wheel must be two wipers made in a spiral form, 

 which shaij be so deep as to depress the end of 

 the lever 12 inches. The pump-rod must be 

 attached to the other end, which must be 5 feet 

 from the fulcrum to the end, and from the ful- 

 crum to ihe other end (on which the wipers must 

 work) must be 4 feet. On this end should be 

 placed a friction wheel, for by this we gain pow- 

 er by removing friction. The whole of this 

 machinery must rest upon a frame sufficiently 

 strong lo withstand the force of the vrind. 



The above is calculated to raise water 40 ft. 

 with a pump of 3^ ir.ches bore where the buck- 

 et works, and this should be 22 feet below the 



TO bender bottled beer ripe. 

 The following method i» employed in Paris 

 by some venders of bottled beer, to render it 

 what they term ripe. — It is merely by adding; to 

 each bottle 3 or 4 drops of yeast, and a lump of 

 sugar, of the size of a large nutmeg. In the 

 course of twenty-four hours, by this addition, 

 stale or Hat beer is rendered most agreeably 

 brisk. In consequence of the fermentative pro- 

 cess that lakes place in it, a small deposite fol- 

 lows, and on this account the bottles should be 

 kept in an erect position. By this means while 

 wine may likewise be rendered brisk. 



TO keep potatoes for sea PROVtSIOXS. 



Slice Ihem and hake them slowly and they 

 will keep and form good flour for years. 



TO KEEP OFF OR DRIVE AWAY BED Bl'GS. 



Make a strong decoction of red pepper, when 

 ripe, and apply it with a common paint brush to 

 ihe joints of the bedstead, wainscotling, &c. 

 where these odious insects usually report, and 

 it will speedily kill, or expel them. — Jhn. Far. 



TO EOTTLE TABLE BEER. 



As soon as a cask of table beer is received 

 into the house, it is drawn oS" into quart stone 

 bDtllpi, ivith a lump of white sugar in each, and 

 Securely corked. In three days it becomes bri.'k, 

 is equal in strength lo table ale, remarkably 

 pleasant, very wholesome, and will keep many 

 monlhs. 



CHINESE METHOD OF MENDING CHINA. 



Boil a piece of white flint glass in river wa- 

 ter for five or six minutes, beat it to a fine pow- 

 der, and grind it well with the while of an egg^- 

 and il joins the china without rivelling, so that 

 no art can break it again in the same place. — 

 Observe, the composition must be ground ex- 

 tremely fine on a painter's slab. — Mcch. Maga- 

 zi.ic. 



TO KEEP HOPS FOR FUTURE OSE. 



Hops lose all their fine flavour by exposure 

 to the air and damp. They should be kept in 

 a dry close place, and lightly packed. 



DR BOERH-\AVE S RULES. 



This great man left as a legacy to the world, 

 the following simple and unerring directions for 

 preserving health ; they contained the sum and 

 substance of his vast professional knowledge 

 during a long and uset"ul life : — " Keep the feet 

 Txarm ; the head cool ; and the body open!''' — If 

 these were generally attended to, the pbysician'a 

 aid would seldom be required. 



EYE STONE. 



It is said that a grain of flax seed possesses at} 

 (he valuable properties of the eye stone. 



