1838.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



413 



2. After many ineffectual trials made by a very 

 experienced firmer, in Herefordshire, to produce 

 a crop ol" wiieat olf a lieid which had been seve- 

 ral years in culiivalion, he sowed winter lares as 

 a fallow crop preparatory for wheat. The first 

 growth of tares was mown for soiling::, and the se- 

 cond ploui^heil in lor manure ; yet, even under 

 this manajrement — of soilin<r, instead of feedinnr 

 on the land, and of [)Ioujiliiiig in the second, in- 

 stead of the first, crop of tares* — the wheat af 

 terwards produced was suf)erior to any corn-crop 

 he had ever obtained olf the same field. 



3. On part of a ley-field, in the country of Kil- 

 kenny, the tops of a crop of turnips on an adjoin- 

 ing close were cut off and spread upon the sward 

 before it was ploughed up, after which the entire 

 field was sown with oats ; but the crop on that 

 part of the field where the turnip-tops had been 

 ploutrhed in was so materially better, that it pro- 

 duced one-third more in proportion than the rest 

 of the jjround.f 



Mr. Burroughs also says, in a communication 

 to Sir Jolin Sinclair, "that he has often laid down 

 land with vetches and grass-seeds, and has not 

 only observed that they retain their fertility much 

 longer than when sown with oats or barley lor 

 that purpose, but that he has known grass-seeds 

 which have failed when sown with oats, to have 

 succeeded when sown with vetches :" from which, 

 and other experiments, he expresses himself sat- 

 isfied that "the ploughing-in of appropriate green 

 crops is a cheap, effectual, and profitable mode of 

 improving exhausted or light soils. "f 



On this we so far agree with him, that upon 

 arable land which, fi'om any circumstance, is de- 

 prived of the benefit of a due ap|)lication of liirm- 

 yard dung, or other putrescent manure, there can 

 be little doul)t that green crops of quick growth, 

 abundant foliage, and easy decomposition, may be 

 turned into the land with considerable advantage ; 

 but we cannot accord in his opinion that they will 

 be found an effectual mode of improving exhaust- 

 ed soils, for on such land they grow too feebly to 

 produce much effect. The ground, to be benefit- 

 ed by (heir application, should be capable of 

 bringing them Ibrth, if not luxuriantly, at least with 

 such abundance as to furnish complete shade dur- 

 ing their growth, and sufficient vegetative matter 

 to occasion a rapid fermentation when buried : we 

 therefore conceive that this species of manure is 

 niore appropriate lor the preservation of good soils 

 in a state fertility, than to the improvoment of 

 those which are impoverished. This probably 

 will in a great measure account fijr the compara- 

 tive rarity of the practice on extensive farms con- 

 taining tracts of poor land, the cultivation ol 

 which is chiefly dependent upon the fold ; while, 

 on those of a richer description, it may be fairly 

 questioned whether the dung made from a large 

 green crop, when tijd off, or soiled, mny not be 

 equally beneficial in its effects upon the soil as if 

 ploughed down, besides the superior profits thus 

 gamed by its support of the stock. 



* It is well known that unless tares are cut at a very 

 early stage of their growth, there is no second crop. 



t Essay, No. II. On Manures, and their Applica- 

 tion, pp. 35 and 36. 



t Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, 3d ed. App. p. 66. 



Communicated for Publication in the Fanners' Register. 



hussey's grain cutter. 



Report of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland 

 ^/gricultiiral, S<icie(y for the Eastern Shore (f 

 Maryland, on the marhine for harvestins; small 

 grain invented by Mr. Obed Hussey of Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio. 



The favorable accounts of the operation of this 

 im|demcnt in several of the western states in- 

 duced the Board to invite iMr. Hussey to bring 

 it to Maryland and submit it to their inspection. 

 It was accordingly exhibited in Oxford, Talbot Co. 

 on the first of July in presence of the Board and a 

 considerable number of oilier gentlemen. Its per- 

 formance may justly be denominated perfect as it 

 cuts every spear of grain, collects it m bunches of 

 the proper size for sheaves, and lays it straight 

 and even for the binders. On the 12th ol July a 

 public exhibition was made at Easton, under the 

 direction of the Board — several hundred persons 

 principally 'ariners, assembled to witness it, and 

 expressed themselves highly satisfied with the re- 

 sult. At the Trappe where it was shown by the 

 inventor on the lollowing Saturday, an equal de- 

 gree of approbation was evinced. It was after- 

 wards used on the farm of Mr. Tench Tilghman 

 where 180 acres of wheat, oats and barley were 

 cut with it. Three nmles of medium size worked 

 in it constantly with as much ease as in a drag 

 harrow. They moved with equal lacihty, in a 

 widk or a trot. A concise description of this sim- 

 ple implement will show that it is admirably 

 adapted to the important purpose for which it 

 was invented. Resting on two wheels which are 

 permanently attached to the machine and impart 

 the motion to the whole, the main body of the 

 machine is drawn bj' the horses along the outer 

 edge of the standing grain. As the horses travel 

 outside ol the grain it is neither knocked down or 

 tangled in the slightest degree. Behind the wheels 

 is a platform (supported by a roller or wheel) 

 which projects beyond the side of the machine, 5 

 leet into the grain. On the front of the edge pro- 

 jecting part ol the platform is the cutter. 'I'liis is 

 composed of 21 teeth resembling large lancet 

 blades, which are placed side by side and firmly 

 rivetted to a rod ol iron. A lateral motion is im- 

 parted to it by a crank, causing it to vibrate be- 

 tween two rows of iron spikes which point Ibr- 

 ward. As the machine advances the grain is cut 

 and fails backwards on the platform, where it col- 

 lects in a pile. A man is placed on the part of the 

 platlbrm directly behind the machine, and with a 

 rake of peculiar construction pushes off the grain, 

 in separate bunches, each bunch makinir a sheaf. 

 It may appear to some that the grain will accu- 

 mulate too rapidly for this man to perform his du- 

 ty. But upon considering the difference between 

 the space occupied by the <.'rain when standing 

 and when lying in a pile after it is cut, it will be 

 evident that the raker has ample time to push ofi' 

 the bunches even in the thickest grain, in thin 

 grain he has to wait until sufficient has collected 

 to form a sheaf^ 



The machine [is] driven around the grain, which 

 may be sown either on a smooth surfiice or on corn 

 ridges. For the first round, a way may be cleared 

 with a cradle ; but this is deemed unnecessary ; 

 for the grain, when driven over, is left in an in 



