322 



Pennock's Drilling Machine. — Fruit, Sj-c. 



Vol. VIII. 



by ants and wire worms, which I ascertained 

 by careful examination. I replanted the 

 hills with fresh seed, but with no better suc- 

 cess; for it shared the same fate as that first 

 planted. Being apprehensive that I should 

 lose the season for these articles, I resolved to 

 make the seed less palatable to the depreda- 

 tors; and made a pretty strong solution of 

 copperas, — say a table spoonful to a pint and 

 a half of water, in which I soaked pumpkin, 

 squash, melon and cucumber seed for twelve 

 hours; these I planted, and although the 

 weather continued dry, they came up early, 

 grew luxuriantly, and so far as I could judge, 

 not a single seed was touched by any de- 

 scription of vermin. Now here is an expe- 

 riment worth trying, as it may done at an 

 expense of about one cent, and will save 

 seed and the labour of replanting it. 



J. T. 



Hamilton township, Mercer Co., N. J., 

 28th March, 1844. 



Pennock's Drilling Machine* 



Wheatland, Del., April ]7th, 1844. 



Moses and Samuel Pennock; 



Esteemed friends: — According to promise, 

 I avail myself of this favourable opportunity 

 to advise you of the performance of the Seed 

 Drilling machine, which I purchased of you 

 last fiill. There were several fields of wheat 

 put in with it in this neighbourhood, besides 

 my own. Some of our most enterprising 

 farmers tried it; Dr. Noble, tor instance. Col. 

 Clayton, G. W. Carsner, W. Bowman &c. ; 

 altogether more than two hundred acres, and 

 it all looks well, having stood the winter ad- 

 mirably. Encouraged by the statement of 

 James Gowen, Esq., in the Cabinet for the 

 present month, I concluded this spring to 

 plant my entire crop of corn with it. I wit- 

 nessed tlie growth of Mr. Gowen's about the 

 last of June, his plan of planting in drills 

 leaving the stalks one foot apart, has been 

 eminently successful. 



We commenced planting corn with it on 

 Saturday the 13th inst., and on tlial day 

 planted 17 acres ; on Monday the 15th, we 

 put in 23 acres; on Tuesday the 16th, start- 

 ing somewhat earlier than usual, we planted 

 30 acres; and on the next day we finished 

 23 acres more, making in all 93 acres plant- 

 ed in four days by one hand with the help 

 of your machine and one horse. The rows 

 are four feet and a half apart, and the corn 

 dropped about six inches apart in the rows, 

 which I intend to thin out to one foot or 18 

 inches, leaving but one stalk in a hill. The 

 machine planted about one peck of seed to the 

 acre, and performed its work entirely to my 

 satisfaction, giving no trouble in its manage- 

 ment 



If the machine could be so modified — and 

 I think there would be no difficulty — as to 

 enable it to drop with the corn a portion of 

 some fertilizing agent, such as ashes, plas- 

 ter, poudrette, or guano, a great desideratum 

 would be attained, as the stimulus thus given 

 to the young plant would so fijrce its growth 

 as soon to place it beyond the reach of the 

 worm, and other enemies of the insect tribe, 

 which, after all, are the greatest with which 

 the farmer has to contend. 



My object in making this communication 

 thus early, is to give you time to test the ex- 

 periment the present season, if the sugges- 

 tion for using the manure, should meet your 

 approbation. 



Respectfully yours, &c., 



John Jones. 



The foregoing letter has heen kindly furnished us by 

 the writer, and it is only in corroboration of the opin- 

 ion we have repeatedly heard expressed in relation to 

 Pennock's machine. We would much like to liave a 

 cut of it for the Cabinet, accompanied with a descrip- 

 tion. — Ed. 



Fruit. 



It is matter of surprise to witness the in- 

 difference maniiiested by many farmers on the 

 subject of fruit, while in other respects their 

 farms were well managed; an acquaintance 

 somewhat advanced in life was asked, why 

 he did not plant more fruit trees? The an- 

 swer was, he had enough to answer his pur- 

 poses, and the young folks must do as he had 

 done, and look out for themselves. This is 

 a false principle — an immorality: it is a vio- 

 lation of the golden rule : it is not " doing 

 unto others as we would that they should do 

 unto us." If our predecessors had trans- 

 mitted enjoyments to us, we should do the 

 same to those who are to come after us. Not 

 only those who are engaged largely in farm- 

 ing, are neglectful in this respect, but what 

 is more surprising, those who possess small 

 lots of land are too prone to follow the ex- 

 ample of the farmer. Every one who has a 

 small plot, can plant a few trees, and in a 

 short time he may eat the fruit of his own 

 labour. 



In regard to the varieties of fruit most ad- 

 visable to cultivate, farmers must be govern- 

 ed by circumstances. The most important 

 is the apple, and those residing at a dis- 

 tance from market, should cultivate the 

 winter fruit; while those living near, might 

 find it more profitable to cultivate such fruit 

 as was from time to time maturing through 

 the season. — New England Farmer. 



William Penn said, that passion may not 

 unfitly be called the mob of the man, which 

 commits a riot upon his reason. 



