18 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



cog wheel on it, gearing into another above, giv- 

 ing motion to the cylinder against which the 

 knife cuts the straw. The cutter is attached to a 

 flange by setting screws passing through slots to 

 make it adjustalile. The flange projection on the 

 upper cylinder, is provided with a piece of raw 

 hide, against Avhich the knife cuts, so as to pro- 

 tect the edge of the latter. Tho raw-hide (or 

 piece of leather) is secured to the flange by set 

 screws, and it can be adjusted, or forced down to- 

 wards the knife, by a screw passing down through 

 the cylinder ; a slot is therefore cut in the raw-hide 

 to allow the fastening screws to pass through, while 

 its upper end is pressed by the top screw. The 

 knife in this machine requires only to be adjusted 

 to cut against its opposing projection, or rotating 

 table. As tho knife and the projecting piece ro- 

 tate, they grasp the straw, draw it forward, and 

 cut it through by a pincing cut, when they come 

 opposite one another. 



For tke New England Farmer. 



A JOUIINEY, CANKER-WOEMS, &c. 



In the month of August, 1854, I made an ex- 

 cursion through some of our principal cities to 

 see some friends, as well as wishing to benefit my 

 health by a journey. I made some stay at New 

 York, enjoying the tine scenery in its suburbs more 

 than the din of the city, or the officiousness of its 

 greedy cab-drivers. Passing from N. Y., I went 

 into New Jersey, where many important events of 

 the Revolution took place. New Jersey is renowned 

 for her unparalleled suiFerings during the Revolu- 

 tion, as well as being the seat of battles where 

 Gen. Washington revived the desponding hopes 

 of his countrymen by capturing a part of the 

 British army at Trenton. Riding through New 

 Jersey and some of its principal cities, reminded 

 me of the by-gone days of Washington's army, 

 with their bleeding feet, capturing the Hessians. 

 This State had its share of the drought, it being 

 at its height at the time I passed through it, — veg- 

 etation seemed in a suffering condition, the corn 

 would probaljly fall short of a full crop. I have 

 an idea that, in this State and Pennsylvania, more 

 corn could be raised upon the acre by substituting 

 a variety which would ear neaier to the ground ; 

 the large butt end of the stock from the ground 

 to where the ear forms, some four or more feet, 

 exhausts the land to little profit. Were I a Penn- 

 sylvanian, I would select some large eared north- 

 ern corn that eared nigher the ground, tlie King 

 Philip variety, for instance, which has produced 

 100 bushels to the acre, and it would ripen in 

 season on tlieir rich land to give the farmer an 

 opportunity to raise a second crop, on the same 

 land, of turnips, or something else which would 

 grow quick. It strikes me that the stock and 

 the ear of tiie Virginia coi'n are entirely out of 

 proportion to be profitable. I have no doubt that 

 our northern corn looks diminutive to a Jersey 

 or Pennsylvania farmer, but stiU their corn stocks 

 which make such a gigantic appearance may 

 gratify the eye more than enrich the raiser ; a 

 kind of corn which would produce larger ears in 

 proportion to the stocks would be an object wor- 

 thy of consideration and trial. 



Passing the Delaware at Trenton into Pennsyl- 

 vania, all the way to Philadelphia, nature and 

 art seemed to have combined to display to the 

 traveller a view, as he went along, of one of the 

 landscape sceneries which would convert melan- 

 choly into enthusiasm. The little groves, gar- 

 dens, and shade trees, at that season, during the 

 hottest of our summer weather, appeared like 

 the elysian fields of the poets ; no aspect could 

 be better suited to the weather ; they appeared 

 as though they had been swept and garnished. 

 Copes' garden, with its five hundred varieties of 

 the cactus, attracted numerous visitors, many of 

 them going away in wonder at the ingenuity, ex- 

 pense of money and labor bestowed upon it, for 

 the gratification of fancy and to please the eye. 

 If New England farmers had set out shade trees 

 twenty years ago to ornament their door yards, 

 side-walks, and streets, their property at the 

 present day would be estimated at nearly double 

 its present value. It is surprising to see the in- 

 fluence such ornamental and refreshing shade 

 trees have upon the man of property and refined 

 taste, who wishes to purchase a farm, or country 

 residence. It is never too late to do good, and if 

 farmers would now go into the work of setting 

 out ornamental shade trees as in the suburbs of 

 Philadelphia, or in some parts of our own State, 

 in a short time they would realize ten dollars or 

 more for every day's work. 



In the neighborhood, and to what extent from 

 Philadelphia I was not informed, a worm, in its 

 ravages resembling the canker-worm, infested and 

 denuded the trees in the groves, and the ornamen- 

 tal trees in the streets much in the same manner 

 that the canker-worms did here in ^lay and June, 

 1853. They commenced their depredations in 

 August, and continued their ravages to the 7th 

 September, when I left, and how much longer I 

 have not been informed. But, after all, there is 

 no place without its disadvantages, though there 

 may be, without advantages. This Eden about 

 Philadelphia lacks the fruit trees and fruit, the 

 uncultivated hills covered with forests, the good 

 cold water, and perhaps the eshilerant air, which 

 we have about Boston. Their land is too rich 

 and valuable to appropriate to forests near the 

 city, and therefore they are destitute of that 

 rude, enchanting wildness, wliich is so pleasing 

 to a lover of natural scenery. Excess of the 

 beautiful is cloying after a while, and even shrub 

 oaks are pleasing for variety's sake. On my re- 

 turn to Boston, the contrast was striking ; it 

 seemed like a "city on a hill," the buildings and 

 streets, how airy and clean, and every man in 

 the streets apparently a gentleman. 



Silas Brown. 

 Wilmington, November, 1*854. 



To Prevent Smut in Wheat. — 0\xx neighbor of 

 the California Farmer says he received the recipe 

 below from a practical farmer who had used it for 

 several years, and always found it effectual. 



receipt FOr SAVING WUEAT FROM SMUT. 



Take one pound of blue stone, dissolve it in wa- 

 ter, and sprinkle it over four bushels of wheat 

 the day before you sow it. 



I never knew it to fail. 



Oscar P. V. Kallenbach. 



