1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FAFwMER. 



387 



and got out, either by reaping, cradling, or with 

 such a machino as Waggoner's clover harvester, 

 simply taking off the heads. We wish to bespeak 

 lie a tioa of larinjrs generally to s^iving the 

 best Si 

 tar. 



EXiaACTS AND REPLIES. 



MACHINE FOR BRICK-MAKING. 



Mr. Brown : — A year or more since, I noticed 

 in SJLii ; n. wspaper an accoaat of" a newly itivont- 

 ed brick-muki)ig machine, I)y meaiia of wl:i. h the 

 process of hriek-makiiig was much facilita'trd. — 

 By thi,s maeinne the clay and sand, were ground 

 and laicigU'.l, and then subjected, after being passed 

 into tne moulds, to a mighty pressure, suflident 

 to rend -r the bricks capable of being handlec 

 and conv'yjd at once fiom t'lO macliino to the 

 kiln ; thus saving the process of sun-dryiriir, turn- 

 ing, &c. At that time, nut being particularly in- 

 terested, I did not preserve that paper. Can 

 you tell me a. ly tiling of such a machine, of its ef- 

 ticiency, cust, power necessary to drive it, and of 

 the quality of the '.ricks made by it? If you oi 

 any of year correspondents can and v/ill inform 

 aiuas ab')ve re'(ii: rted,and where such a machine 

 can be seen, I shall bo much obliged. 



Yours truly, E. Inguam. 



Lebanon, N. H., July 15, 1854. 



IlKMAUKi;. — We liave often seen bricks made by 

 machinery. The clay and sand are mixed an! 

 pass through a hopper as grain docs in the grist 

 mill, and tlience into the moulds; the followers 

 then enter the moulds, and the straightening of a 

 togij;le joint by steam power gives an immense 

 pressure — so great that the bri'^;k8 are placed up- 

 on a barrow and wheeled away to the kiln with 

 very few hreakages. The clay is used in a much 

 dryer stati than when used by hand, and conse- 

 quently there is a lialjility in machine-made bricks 

 to crumble, liut they are made with great rapid- 

 ity — nearly as fast as a man can take them from 

 the machine, and pltce them in a barrow. 



Wc belit vc a machine is now in operation at 

 West Cambridge, directly on the line of tht 

 Fitchburg Haihoad, three miles from Boston. 



THE SEASON IN MAINE. 



FRrENDB:owN: — AVe are suffering badly hen 

 for wai\t of rain. Tlic heavens are brass over 

 our heads, -Jirass lands are being terribly parciied 

 corn Iiegins t-j roll, and everything suffers. Th- 

 hay crop is ccaning rather liglit. 



Corn ha- looked well, but now bescins to roll ; 

 potato, s aie now suff ring, and will be liglit, un- 

 less thery is rain soon. Agriculture ih AiarfulU 

 ineglectod Iiere. This county is far behind .Massa 

 chusetts. Farmers don't plow nor till. 



A spinster made application to a neighb. r of 

 mine, to huy some h;iy of her. S!ie said ther- 

 would be about five tons. Hu asked how mucii 

 land. SixUen nnrex, was the reply. ii. u. n. 



Spring Dale, Me., July, 1351. 



TALL GRASSES. 



Mr. George Wright, of Acton, Mass., has 

 handed us a sample of Blue-joint and Iled-top 



grass, which show what these grasses will do un- 

 der f ivoralde circumstances. The blue-joint is CA 

 feet high, and the red-top 5 feet! They wen.' 

 grown on his farm in the soatii-oast part of the 

 town. The seeds of such specuuens should b;^ 

 caivfully preserved, f.nd nuihiplied by futur*' 

 sowings. 



A NEW KIND OF FENCE. 



In a recent number, wo gave an account of a 

 uew kind of fence in use at Windsor, Vt.; this ao- 

 •ount was taken from our columns without the 

 proper credit being given, and has been extensive- 

 ly copied into most of tlie ngricultural journals. 

 "Grafton," who has seen the same kind of fenc*/ 

 in use in Sullivan County, N. U., will see by the 

 .ibove, the reason why we do not publish hit. letter. 

 vVe hopoto hear from him on otiier topics. 



-lECLAIMING OLD FIELDS APPLICATION OF MANURF/S 



CALVES GNAWING WJOD 



What is the best and most expeditious way of 

 reclaiming old fields tUat were oiieegooJ, that are 

 of a medium texture (<{ soil ? also those of a cold, 

 sour, heavy soil ? {a ) 



Which is the bi'st way of ariplying manure, — i/^ 

 it best to put 100 loa Is on an acre, or j ut it on 2 

 acres? You would not call a man vciy wise to 

 starve one-half of his family for the sakt.; of stuff- 

 ing two or three. Why shoull farmers starve 

 me-halfof their farm for the sake of raisins; a 

 great crop of corn ? (6.) 



Is thjre anything that will prevent calves from 

 gnawing wood, when in the barn in the spring? 

 (c.) 



Although I am not a farmer now, I expect ro 

 be sometime, and by answering these questions you 

 will greatly oblige A Subscuiueu. 



Ludlow, Vt., 1854. 



Remarks. — (a.) First, drain well — this will vi.;. 

 he considered the beginning of good husbandry ; 

 then, on the lighter soils plow seven or eight im-li- 

 es deep, laying the furrow over flat, manure w.'ll. 

 and seed down in the last of August. On the 

 heavier soils take the same course, with theexcep- 

 cion of laying over the furrovvs — these should not 

 :e left flat on wet and heavy soils, i)ut standing 

 .p corner-wise, iike a brick laid up on one of its 

 longest sharp edges. Tiie uj^ier edge of tlie gra-^ 

 is barely covered in as the plow leaves it, and tit-' 

 =ield,well plowed.will present a series of ridges like 

 the apex of the roof of a barn. After the harrow 

 ;a8 gone over it the field has a smooth surfaov, 

 with no grass in sight, and gives a nudlow and 

 sulliciently deep eetid bed. Tliis we consider the 

 uiost cxptditioux mode, but do not mean to inti- 

 luatc that it is a better mode than the ordiinu'v 

 routine of the potato, corn and gr.iiii crops, uul 'n-j 

 it be on low and heavy lands. 



(b.) The same sound judgment is to be oxerciM-i 

 in the application of miuures, that wc use in 

 plowing, seeding, building, or any otlier work 

 done on the farm. It would ho folly to turn up 

 ten inches of the subsoil at once where we w^re 



