86 



The Principle of Draught. — Culture of the Peach Tree. Vol. XII. 



and about three acres in various kinds of ve- 

 getables. 



His land, like much of that in western 

 New York, is much benefitted by deep til- 

 lage. He has this season broken up thirty 

 acres of sward to the depth of nine to ten 

 inches. His teams for doing' this have been 

 a pair of heavy oxen and a pair of heavy 

 horses to each plough. This land, after 

 having been thoroughly worked several 

 times with a steel-tooth cultivator, is to be 

 sown to wheat in autumn. — Cultivator. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Principle of Draught. 



It seems an almost universal opinion, 

 that the nearer the horse is attached to the 

 load, the lighter will be the draught; for 

 then, the horse by lifting, is enabled to over- 

 come a considerable portion of the "down- 

 ward weight of friction." And this is pret- 

 tily exemplified in the child who, when the 

 fore-wheels of his little wagon have dropped 

 into a hollow, steps back, and shortening his 

 hold on the tongue of the wagon, lifts the 

 wheels; and he is then enabled to drag it 

 out easily enough. Still, however, a medi- 

 um is to be observed, for the horse is often- 

 times placed so far back and tight in his 

 gearing, as not to be able to apply his whole 

 strength to the object ; as we daily witness. 



But this view of the case cannot be made 

 to apply to the operation of ploughing, for 

 there, all lifting is to be deprecated ; al- 

 though the shortening of the draught, by 

 means of the clevis and traces, as well as 

 the backhands, is strenuously defended and 

 universally practised; than which, there 

 cannot be a more egregious error. In the 

 first place, the plough must be set so as to 

 swim, without the smallest tendency either 

 to rise or sink; and then it is of no import- 

 ance what might be the length from the 

 clevis at the head of the plough to the 

 swingle tree; it may even be doubled, with- 

 out adding an ounce to the draught of the 

 plough, which has merely to be drawn for- 

 ward at the properly adjusted depth. 



The Scotch are supposed to be the best 

 ploughmen in the world, but although I may 

 not be ready to admit this to its full extent, 

 they have convinced themselves of the cor- 

 rectness of this theory, and always use a 

 considerable length of single chain on the 

 head of the plough; by which means they 

 are enabled to obtain a far more easily di- 

 rected leverage, and to guide the plough 

 with greater facility as well as accuracy, 

 without, let me repeat, increasing the draught 

 a single ounce. And I have observed, that 

 many of the Prouty & Mears ploughs have 



a swivel and link attached to the head, which 

 lengthens the draught about five or six inch- 

 es; but I have abundant reason to know, that 

 so far from the draught being increased there- 

 by, it is very much reduced, by the ease with 

 which the ploughmen are enabled to guide 

 them ; and at the same time, one-half the 

 inconvenience arising from the hugging or 

 bearing away of the land-horse, is obviated 

 by the additional length of leverage and the 

 steadiness obtained by tiie use of the swivel. 

 And I am convinced also, that if this link 

 and swivel were to be increased to the length 

 of a foot or even more, th^dynamometer 

 would not show that the draught had been 

 at all increased, provided .the plough has 

 been properly adjusted by means of the 

 clevis, or the vertical screw, as in their 

 ploughs of modern structure, so as to ex- 

 hibit no tendency either to rise or sink in 

 the ground. This is a subject of much im- 

 portance, but so far as I know, but little un- 

 derstood and less attended to. Would your 

 practical readers put it to the test of experi- 

 ment 1 R. 



Burlington, N. J. 



From Dowiiing's Horticulturist. 

 Culture of the Peach Tree. 



Mr. Downing, — As I deem the results of 

 experiments in horticulture of more general 

 interest than the promulgation of theories, I 

 venture to send you some brief notes of my 

 experience in the cultivation of the peach 

 tree. 



In your valuable standard work on fruits, 

 you have, I think, proved very plainly that 

 the disease of the peach tree, called the 

 yellows, is caused by bad cultivation in a 

 light or poor soil. I am very well convinced 

 that other rnaladies to which this fruit tree 

 is subject, are the result of the same causes. 

 It is the common and popular belief, that 

 the peach tree should always be planted in 

 a light sandy soil; nay, that a thin sandy 

 loam is the best for it. I suppose this opin- 

 ion has arisen from the circumstance of the 

 low price at which many tracts of land in 

 New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, can 

 be turned into peach orchards, and that too 

 profitably. 



But it is well known, that there peach or- 

 chards are short-lived. From three to five 

 years is their average duration, and most 

 planters do not expect to get more than one 

 or two crops of fruit from their trees. They 

 then give them up as diseased or worn out, 

 and plant new orchards. 



It is well known, also, that such is not 

 the natural duration of the peach tree; that 

 in the deep soil of the Ohio the trees bear 



