66 Selection of Seed Corn. — Horse-fork for Unloading Hay, Vol. Xl.i 



hours of beginning or finishing a lot of 

 twelve and a half measured acres of heavy 

 wheat, viz : from five o'clock to a quarter to 

 four, that is, ten and three-quarter hours; 

 breakfast and dinner time included, say 

 about two hours, will leave eight and three- 

 quarters working hours for the cutting of 

 twelve and a half acres, or the rate of| 

 eighteen acres per day of thirteen vv'orking 

 hours, which is nearly the time in the mid- 

 dle of June, when the work was done. 



I used with the machine, one pair of mules 

 the whole of my harvest, about eight days, 

 and without any apparent distress to them — 

 this was done from the difficulty of breaking 

 in any of them, they being all young, to 

 bear the rattle of the machine in motion, 

 and then too, though driven by two men, 

 ran away with it, and luckily or surprisingly 

 without injury to any person or thing — I had 

 for a time, eight binders, but was compelled 

 to add two others. It will be seen that I 

 had a saving, by means of the machine, of 

 twelve or fifteen dollars per day, for scythes- 

 men's wages, besides their board, and the 

 work was better done — the cost of binders, 

 stookers, &c., the same necessarily, in either 

 case, in the proportion of wheat cut. 



I verily believe the amount of the seed 

 wheat was saved by the superior perform- 

 ance of the machine. 



I loaned the machine to a neighbour, who 

 appreciates it as highly as I do. 



Joseph E. Muse. 



August, 1846. 



Selection of Seed Corn. 



To the Editor of the American Farmer : 



Dear Sir, — As the time approaches when 

 the corn crops should be gathered, I wish to 

 suggest to each farmer who reads your paper, 

 and through them to every neighbour of 

 their's who may not read it, the necessity 

 and advantage of selecting seed corn in the 

 fall, as they gather their crops of that great 

 staple of our country. I wrote to our friend, 

 Mr. Skinner, a long letter on this subject 

 some twenty odd years ago, which was pub- 

 lished in his American Farmer, and soon 

 thereafter distributed to many, some of my 

 seed corn, the increased product of which 

 all acknowledged, and some of them pro- 

 fited considerably, no doubt, by the sugges- 

 tions; and selling their seed corn at high 

 prices — Mr. Baden, tor instance: and some 

 five or six years ago, I again wrote a short 

 note, also published in the same paper. To 

 the many who never saw those letters, who 

 now read your paper, I would advise, that 

 in cutting the tops off their corn this fall, to 



leave the top on those stalks having two ori 

 three fine ears, and which are very forward,, 

 and the shuck or husk dry and white, there-' 

 by showing their forwardness. By tlie top,, 

 they can easily distinguish at gathering tirael 

 the seed corn, and gather and house it toi 

 itself, and not take the shuck off until plant-* 

 ing time in spring, keeping it until then se-i 

 cure from rats and vermin. And by contin-i 

 uing this process a few years, they will raa-i 

 terially increase their corn crops, with soi 

 little trouble that no practical farmer shouldl 

 fail to try it. 



I have never known one to try it, who did| 

 not acknowledge its benefits and increased! 

 yield of corn. Several have lately rodei 

 through my corn crop, and every one ex-' 

 pressed his great surprise at seeing vastly* 

 more stalks with four and five fine large* 

 ears on each, than they ever saw before;; 

 and not one in many dozens without two or* 

 three fine ears on them. I ask all to try itl 

 a few years, and if not pleased with the re-<i 

 suit, to discontinue it. By this process theyl 

 materially increase the product and increase* 

 its forwardness. I am fully satisfied frotni 

 long experience, of the great advantage off 

 reserving the best of many of our productai 

 for seed, and letting them grow fully ripe* 

 before harvesting; and earnestly recommendl 

 the same to all cultivators of the soil. 



In haste, your ob't servant, &c., < 



Wm. Cook. ( 



i 



Horse-fork for Unloading Hay. 



We yesterday witnessed, says the Trentonl 

 Daily News, the operation of the labour-sav- 

 ing contrivance described in the following[ 

 communication. About one ton of hay was* 

 unloaded from the rack and stowed away inl 

 a high mow, in the short space of six min-i 

 utes — employing two men, a boy, and at 

 horse. Mr. Abbott, in whose barn we wit-« 

 nessed the operation, informs us that it! 

 would employ twice the number of men onei 

 whole hour, to perform the same work by' 

 the old method. The fork is the invention li 

 of Mr. Garrett Brown, of Newtown, Bucks! 

 county, Penn. 



Morrisville, June 26th, 1846. , 



Gentlemen, — Supposing you ever ready ( 

 to give publicity through your valuable! 

 paper, to any thing that will contribute toi 

 the benefit of the farming part of the com- * 

 munity, and supposing they are not gene-' 

 rally aware of the utility, or even the exist- ^ 

 ence, of a machine, — shall I call it? — thatj 

 is capable of pitching or discharging a large,! 

 load of hay in the short space of five min- > 

 utes, I will inform you of a case. It con- 



