1836] 



F A R M E R S' REGISTER. 



431 



what I saw, and leave time and experience to de- 

 cide on iis merits. 



Tlie itiachine consists of a carriao;e on two 

 wiieels, (Topelled by one or two horses, oxen or 

 other beaf^ts of burden, travellini!; in the rear and 

 puf^liinir ii llirward. In the front, at the bottom, is 

 a horizontal wheel upon an upriiiht shaft, whicii 

 shaft and wheel receive a rot-ary motion, commu- 

 nicated by gear Irom the main axle, which re- 

 volves with iis wheels, as the machine goes for- 

 ward. The diameter of this horizontal wheel, 

 with the addition of the knives projecting from its 

 edge, measures the width ol' the swath, wliich is 

 cat with the Unives as the wlieel goes f()rward, re- 

 volving rapidly and lying close to the ground. 

 The apparatus which sustains the cutting is so 

 constructed as to accommodate iis height to any 

 inequalities in the ground, and to give it any incli- 

 nation required. The knives are sharpened by 

 their own operation, without stopping the ma- 

 chine. There is also attached to the upper side 

 of the cutting wheel a rim which gathers the 

 grass as it is cut, and lays it in a swath more 

 regularly than it can be laid by the scythe. 



I saw it in operation, propelled by two horses, 

 and cutting a swath about six feet wide, as fast as 

 the horse could walk ; and though the ground 

 was very uneven, and the grass somewhat dry 

 and in bad order, it performed the work as well as 

 it could be done b}^ hand. 



I know not what objections experience may raise 

 against it, but I would venture to say, if this most 

 tedious and yet most important labor of the hus- 

 bandman, is ever to be successfully perlormed by 

 machinery, I think this machine more likely to ef- 

 fect it than any other plan I have seen. If would 

 be absurd to expect this or any other mowing ma- 

 chine, to operate on new and rouirh land, among 

 stones and stumps — but our countr^'aflords iiutne- 

 rous large trads ot meadow with fine smooth bot- 

 tom, and the proportion is rapidly increasing; and 

 in the great western prairies, such a machine cannot 

 fiiil to be one of the most useful improvements of 

 the age. I would therefore advise every agricul- 

 turist who has smooth meadows, or v.'hich can be 

 made smooth, particularly those at the far west, 

 to see this machine, and endeavor to promote its 

 introduction, so far at least as to give it a fair 

 trial. 



S. BLYDEXBURGII. 



Reference made to the patentee, Rhinebeck, 

 Dutchess Co., or to George Hanlord, No. 409 

 South Market-street, Albany. 



Extract from tlie Cultivator. 

 THE CUT WORM. 



The cut worms are evidently the numerous pro- 

 geny of some funiliar insect. The queotion arises, 

 to what species can they be attributed ? Some 

 are led to conjecture, that these are propagated 

 by the order Qjleoptera, or beetle : although 1 

 have examined, witli some care, the several species 

 of the beetle tribe common in this country, among 

 which the pellet beetle is most numerous, yet I 

 have invariably found their larvae of pale yellow- 

 ish,, or light brown color ; whereas the cut worm 

 is nearly black, and very different in its habits. 

 The conjecture that the cut worms are tlie larva? 



{ of the beetle, or any other perpetual insect, 

 should be humbled by the single circumstance, 

 that the cut worm is periodical in its devastatino" 

 visitations, tind consequently can be the pronreny 

 on/i/ of a periodical insect. I know none of that 

 character l)earing a semblance of" suspicion, ex- 

 cepting the cicada scptmidecem, of the oidcv hemlp- 

 tera, genus cicada, and species grilli or grillus of 

 Liiui. (here very improperly mis-lermed locust, 

 for those visiting Europe and Africa, whose his'o- 

 ly present a series of calamities, inspiring all 

 people vvith suporsiiiious horror.) The Anjerican 

 cicada is remaikable for its regular and simulta- 

 neous reappearance every seventeen years, in 

 countless millions. They appeared here in 1817 

 and 1834, several years succeeding each of those 

 dales, have been marked, by the destruction of 

 the cut worm. And as some of the cicada appear 

 every year, we also find some however few, of 

 the cut worm every year. It is ascertained, that 

 the cicada deposile each from 600 to 1,000 eggs, 

 fornn'ng of course a numerous progeny. 



This conjecture of mine, relative to the cut 

 worm, although strengthened by observation and 

 experience, yet should any of your observing and 

 enlightened correspondence offer an idea more 

 plausible, the above shall be freely jielded not- 

 withstanding. 



JM any practical f^irmers have prescribed reme- 

 dies to counteract the ravages of the cut worm, 

 staling the consummate success of their modus op- 

 erandi ; but it is matter of reget to know, that an 

 effectual remedyisslill wanting,to expel ordislodge 

 them when once in pos.session of the corn hill. 

 There are, however, preventives, well worthy the 

 farmer's attention. The most effectual preven- 

 tion consists in ploughing sward ground intended 

 lor corn in auamin, previous to j)laruing; but if 

 this be not convenient, a stubble field should be 

 chosen, if ploughed in the spring; the rationale 

 or philosophy of the mode is simply this, the sod 

 being turned up to the frost of winter, it becomes 

 so meliorated and consolidated by spring, (if well 

 ploughed) that there will be no iireen thing 

 scarcely of vegetable kind left for the larvae of the 

 insect to subsist upon, and consequently they 

 either desert the field or perish. The same parity 

 of reasoning holds good for stubble ground, it 

 beinir also destitute of food, and thus affording 

 the grub no harbor. Another method, by means 

 of which 1 have entirely succeeded the present 

 season, notwithstanding the adjacent field of a 

 niMghbor was wholly destroyed, it may not be 

 amiss to notice. The field was an old sod of tim- 

 othy and clover. Apprehending the danger of 

 the cut worm, 1 delayed ploughing until after the 

 1st of May, to give the grass a start, which grew 

 strong, anil was ploughed under, designing it as 

 food for the cut worms ; my expectations were 

 realized, the corn was scarcely touched by the 

 worms, and the green grass, consisting almost 

 wholly of soluble matter, from present appearances, 

 will be no detriment to the corn crop, but vice 

 versa. 



From tlie London Farmers' Magazine. 

 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF SPEED. 



From the Physical and Chemical Journal of 

 Science, and the Arts of Husbandry in France, 



