292 



THE yAR>rEKS' CABINET. 



VOL. I. 



NO. IV. 



DIRECTIONS RESPECTING THE ROLLER. 



This article is not, probably, appreciated 

 by every one as it deserves to be. 



All grass lands where the frost has, during 

 the preceding winter, raised part of the roots 

 out of the ground, require the roller to pass 

 over them in the spring, and many persons 

 whose testimony is entitled to great respect, 

 recommend its use upon all land in the spring, 

 where grain has previously been sown or 

 corn planted, for the purpose of breaking the 

 clods, preventing injury from extreme dry 

 weather, and causing the grain to be col- 

 lected in harvest with less difficulty. 



Rollers are sometimes made of one piece, 

 with a fixed gudgeon in the centre of each 

 end which turns in a frame, to which the 

 tongue or shafts are attached. At other 

 times it is formed in two pieces, with a hole 

 through the centre of each, to turn upon a 

 fixed axle or shaft ; this allows the ends of 

 each to rise and fall, independent of the other, 

 and press upon a greater surface of ground, 

 than where one is of the same length as these 

 two parts ; and when turning the team, one 

 of them turns one way, and the other in a 

 contrary direction on the axle or shaft, or one 

 is stationary while the other turns, by which 

 means the ground is not so liable to be forced 

 up in a ridge before the roller; this is con- 

 sidered an improvement, still there are objec- 

 tions made to it. In the first place, the wood 

 turning on the fixed axle or shaft, is apt to 

 wear rapidly, and to have them boxed with 

 iron, is attended with expense ; the ends in 

 contact must be made conical, otherwise the 

 other ends will not rise and fall with the 

 irregularity of the ground ; -and when they 

 rise, or indeed at all times when the centre 

 of the two are in the same line, there will be 

 a strip or gore of land between them which 

 is not acted on by either. The following 

 described plan would probably obviate both 

 these objections. Let the roller be composed 

 of three parts, each to have gudgeons confined 

 to the centre of the ends which turn in a 

 frame; the centre section in advance or in 

 the rear, so as to extend a short distance over 

 the ground, passed also by a small portion of 

 the other two; this would probably combine 

 the advantages of both the other plans with- 

 out the disadvantages. The frame should be 

 so constructed that the difl^erent portions of 

 the roller would change their relative posi- 

 tion, and by these means, act upon an irregu- 

 lar surface ; several joints or hinges in the 

 frame permitting a vertical motion in each 

 roller independent of the others, end also a 

 joint, allowing a vertical motion in the tongue 

 or shafts, so as to change its relative position 

 with the frame, will cause the whole to 



operate well upon an irregular surface, and 

 leave no part of the ground but what will be 

 acted on. 



As it is a matter of considerable importance 

 to have the grass roots, particularly clover, 

 forced back into the f;;round as near a con- 

 trary direction as possible from that which 

 the frost may have raised them out of it; a 

 roller of cont^iderable diameter is, therefore, 

 recommended, which must, however, be oi 

 considerable weight, otherwise it will not 

 make so great an impression on the ground 

 as one of smaller diameter, on account of its 

 pressure on the ground covering a greater 

 amount of surface at the same time. 



A roller made in this form, entirely of 

 wood, except the hinges and gudgeons, would 

 not be expensive, and if kept in a dry place 

 (as all implements should be,) when not in 

 use, would last a long time. 



Chester county. Pa., Jlprd 7, la37. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



The writer of this has seen an article taken 

 from the Cincinnati Gazette, stating that oil 

 is made from maize, (or Indian corn,) of 

 which a bushel yields one gallon, price fift) 

 cents, burns clear and without odor, and i; 

 not congealable at five degrees Fahrenheit 

 The extraction of the oil does not diminisi 

 the alcohol, which may afterwards be dis 

 tilled from the corn thus used. 



[Will some one who is acquainted will 

 the process, inform the public ]] 



From a Correspondent. 



I observe a caution in No. 17 of the Farn: 

 ers' Cabinet, signed "C," stating that th' 

 Chinese Mulberry, Morus MuUicaulis. car 

 not be produced from seed. I believe a theor 

 held by some, and entitled to great respec 

 is, that vegetables, like animals, are limits 

 in the duration of life, and thai a graft o 

 slif will not outlive the parent tree. If bot 

 of these opinions be correct, the person wh 

 purchases seed, or he who purchases cuttinc 

 from trees, near the close of their existenc 

 might find the i)reparation for producing sil. 

 a losing business. How is this J I am n( 

 fully acquainted on this subject, and ask fi 

 information. 



If you would add a lustre to all your sn 

 complishments, .study a modest behavior. T 

 excel in any thing valuable is great ; but 1 

 be above conceit on account of one's accon 

 plishments is greater. Consider, if you ha\ 

 rich natural gifts, you owe them to th 

 Divine bounty. If you have improved yoi 

 understanding and studied virtue, you Lav 

 only done your duty; and thus there eeen 

 little reason lor vanitj. 



