240 



NEW ENGLAND FARxMER- 



May 



THE HORSE HOE. 



This out repiT.'>eiits an instrumont recently in- 

 vented l)j tlie manufixctnrers, Messrs. Ruggles, 

 NouKSE, Mason & Co., ■which they name the Horse 

 Hoe, and which we have used through one season 

 and have spoken of in terms of approbation. It 

 is designed for the hoeing or cultivation of corn, 

 the various root crops, cotton, hops, young nurs- 

 eries, and hoed crops generally ; is quite light, 

 easily managed, and of very easy draught for one 

 horse or mule ; a tliorougli pulverizer of the sur- 

 face-soil, and exterminator of weeds and grass. 

 The forward tooth is simply a coulter, to keep the] 



implement steady and in a straight-forward direc- 

 tion ; the two side or middle teeth are miniature 

 plows, which may be changed from one side to the 

 other, so as to turn the earth from the rows at 

 first weeding when the plants are small and ten- 

 der, or towards them in later cultivation — at the 

 option of the operator ; the broad rear tooth ef- 

 fectually disposes of grasses and weeds, cutting off 

 or rooting up all that come in its way, is a thor- 

 ough pulvwizer of the surface, sifting the earth 

 and weeds tlirongh its iron prongs or fingers in 

 the rear, leaving the weeds on the surface to wilt 

 and die, and the ground level and mellow. For 



hoeing carrots, turnips, &e., where the rows are 

 narrow, the side teeth are taken out, and the roar 

 tooth with the forward one as a director to guide 

 the instrument, hoes and mellows the ground be- 

 tween the rows very perfectly. The mortises i» 

 the frame or wood work of this instrument are 

 adapted to receive the kinds of teeth used in the 

 Expanding and Reversable Tooth Cultivator ,which 

 we shall give next week. 



For the New England Farmer. 



POTASH AS A FEKTILIZEE. 



Mr. Editor: — Seeing an inquiry in your paper 

 of 25th ult., whethtn- any one had ever made use 

 of the Carbonate of Potass as a fertilizer, I answer 

 that 1 liavc tried it on a limited scale with satis- 

 factory results. jNIy immediate object, in the first 

 place, Avas to kill out the sorrel in a garden bed. 

 Having liroken up a Riiiall piece in a favorable spot 

 in a pasture for the purpose of raising carrots, I 

 found in a few years that the sornd was creeping 

 in from tlie adjoining grass ground faster than I 

 coukl conveniently destroy it l)y tlie use of ashes, 

 lime or the hoe. I therefore sislected a particular 

 l>ed for the trial of tlie Potasli, reserving others for 

 other experiments, having for convenience divided 

 the piece into lieds 2 rods long and i rod wide. 

 As sorrel roots or rath(;r runners are near the sur- 

 face, I iirst lev('lh;d the bed, and then sowed on 

 the surface 2 ll>s. Saleratus, and raked it in with 

 a common garden rake, scarcely doubting but that 

 the ley would be so strong as to prevent my seeds 



year were the best I ever raised, but 1 am not cer- 

 tain but that tome other fertilizers that I had ap- 

 plied in previous years aided in bringing about 

 this result. The Potash seems to hav(! a three- 

 fold Ijeneficial effect. It not only siccetens, as it 

 were, the ground, but furnishes food for plants, 

 and servrs to keep the soil moist liy absolving 

 moisture from the atmosphere. 



As Ammonia is exceedingly volatile, I think the 

 method of applying diluted Aqua Ammonia, as 

 suggested by your correspondc^nt, somewhat objec- 

 tionable. I propose the following, instead, which 

 will, at least, have this recommendation, "if it do 

 no good it will do no harm." The Carbonate of 

 ximmonia is made by mixing Chlor. Ammonia with 

 Lime. Any one can satisfy himself of this hy pul- 

 verizing a little of the former (tlie common Sal. 

 Am. of the shops, which is not costly) witli rather 

 more tlian an e(pial (quantity of pulverized Lime ; 

 A doulile decomposition takes place and Carb. Am- 

 nion, and Clioride of Lime formed. Now if Lime 

 be ploughed in, and intimately mixed with the 

 soil at a considei-abio depth, and a small quantity 

 of Sal. Amnion, be scattered on tlie surface and 

 raked in, it will slowly and gradually dissolve, and 

 coming in contact with lime, will give out Ammo- 

 nia, which will be absorbed by tlie soil and be taken 

 up ))y the plants as required l>y them. A similar 

 mutual decomjiosition takes place, and Ammonia 

 is evolved if pearlash is used instead of Lime. Per- 

 haps charcoal would be a good addition as an ab- 

 sorbent. ■ But after all, Mr. Editor, a single line 

 of successful experiment is worth a whole page of 

 theory. I hope that some of your readers who have 

 leisure and means, will try the above and other 



from sprouting. JJut I was mistaken ; they came experiments, and let us know the results, wliether 

 up and grew finely. I have since tried it on other favarable or otherwise. I suppose that the par- 

 crops with decided good cfTect. My onions last ' ticular proportions of the ingredients I have men- 



