1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



181 



calls a cut and description of an English mowing' 

 machine for lawns, furnished by Messrs. Shanks 

 & Son, Arbroath, N. B., but little idea of its | 

 construction, operation or utility can bo gath- 

 ered from either, further than — that it is made 

 to cut different breadths from 20 to 42 inches, 

 performing three different operations at the same 

 time, viz. : rolling, mowing and collecting the 

 grass, and works with perfect ease, producing a 

 beautiful smooth surface,and attended with a great 

 saving in abridging labor. "We will all agree, I 

 presume, that if there was an article for mowing 

 lawns which could be- obtained at a moderate 

 price, that would do its work well, and expedi- 

 tiously, it would not only be of great utility to 

 many who are endeavoring to keep extensive 

 grounds in order with the scythe ; but would 

 probably induce hundreds of our friends to have 

 their grounds in good keeping who are deterred 

 by the time, expense and trouble now required 

 for that purpose. And now, Mr. Editor, will 

 you or your correspondents be so good as to put 

 us on the right track for obtaining the most desi- 

 rable article of the kind for the above purpose 

 now in use, and oblige many as well as 



A Hartford Subscriber. 

 Hartford, Conn., 1855. 



Remarks. — Mr. Nourse, the proprietor of this 

 paper, when in England, sent home an English 

 lawn grass-cutter, or mowing machine, which 

 we had the pleasure of examining, and thought 

 it among the most highly-finished and beautiful 

 machines of that character that we have ever 

 seen. It not only cut the grass, but collected it 

 as fast as it went along. We believe it was the 

 intention of the house of Ruggles and Company 

 to manufacture them, but the demand, as yet, 

 does not seem to justify it. It is thought that 

 a one-horse mowing machine, taking a swarth 

 about three feet wide, would be admirably adapt- 

 ed to lawn mowing, as well as to the common 

 fields. We hope something will be found to 

 mow lawns rapidly, because there is no one thing 

 more oi'namental to the farm than a handsome, 

 well-kept lawn, and if it could be cut rapidly 

 and conveniently, no other part of the farm would 

 be more prof tabic. 



USE OF PLASTER. 



I wish to inquire through your paper the best 

 time to use plaster? Whether to put it in to the 

 hill when planting potatoes, or at hoeing time? 

 Also, when to use it on grain at sowing time as 

 when the grain is up, and what ground it will do 

 best on. Stubble ground or grass land, plow this 

 spring, or liow will it do mixed with ashes? My 

 farm is somewhat of a gravelly soil. 



Salmon Gerrv. 



Cabot, Vt., March Z, 1855. 



Remarks — After plowing a field, sow the plas- 

 ter broadcast and harrow under, two or three 

 hundred pounds to the acre. Use yonr ashes at 

 some other time. Plaster operates beneficially 

 on light, dry, and sandy or open soils, as they 

 soonest admit the rain water which dissolves and 



conveys it to the roots of the plants. Plaster 

 may be applied to pasture or mowing lands in 

 March or early in April, often with fine effect. 

 When applied to these lands it ought to be sowed 

 when there is a heavy dew, or when it is cloudy 

 weather. 



PLrM TREES. 



Mr. Editor .—Please tell "J. T. W." of Marl- 

 boro', N. H., to graft his plum tree, if it has 

 not been done. If it has been grafted, tell him 

 to prune the roots, if the tree is thrifty, and, my 

 word for it, he will have a good crop of plums, 

 if the curculio don't find its location, j. b. c. 



North Beading, 1855. 



MUSCLE-BED FOR MANURES. 



Friend Brown : — Will you please inform me 

 through your excellent paper, what month of the 

 year you consider as best for applying muscle-bed 

 manure ; also, in what quantity to the acre. My 

 land is rich, though a little dry in summer, as it 

 lies on a substratum of sand at the depth of 2 feet. 



Boston, Feb. 15, 1855. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — We have never used "muscle-bed" 

 as a manure, and cannot speak of it with confi- 

 dence. We should think, however, that it must 

 be a valuable fertilizer ; it contains common salt, 

 which is an important ingredient in the best of ma- 

 nures, and most with putrid animal substances. 

 Some of our coast correspondents will be able to 

 answer the interrogatories. 



MAKING DRAINS. 



Mr. Editor : — If I lay on the bottom of the 

 ditch a board, and slate on the board, (such 

 as is used for houses) lengthwise, and then com- 

 mon bricks on each side of the slate, edgewise, 

 half-an-inch apart, and slate on the top to cover 

 the same, and then fill the drain, will it not an- 

 swer equally as well as drain brick? 



Having a lame cow last fall while going in a 

 clese pasture, I thought she might have strained 

 herself in some way, but did not take much no- 

 tice of it. She went as though sore in her fore 

 feet, and finally grew worse, until the first of Jan- 

 uary, when I examined her, thinking she might 

 be sore between the dew-claws, but could find no 

 symptoms of disease there ; I thought it must l>e 

 the bone disease, which I had read of in some 

 previous number of the Farmer. I got a bone as 

 big as a man's fist, and burnt it to a white pow- 

 der, and gave her in four of her regular doses of 

 meal at night, which soon effected a perfect cure. 



Newburyport , Feb. 17, 1855. Q. z. 



Remarks. — We suppose the inquirer means to 

 ask whether the plan he describes will answer as 

 well for draining as to use what are called drain- 

 ing tile? Where stones arc plenty, no bricks or 

 slates are required. A good stone drain, with a 

 gullet of three to six inches in diameter, covered 

 with stone first, and then with straw, grass or 

 sods reversed, will make a drain which will stand 

 for a great many years. 



