1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



17 



I 



I 



lnquirif0 anb ^uBtDcrs. 



HOESE KAKE3. 



Messrs. Editors ; — Permit a subscriber to ask you, or some 

 one else, through your paper, for tlie best plan for a Hay 

 Rnke. We have some two kinds of Horse Rakes in this 

 country ; one is a revolving rake, a patent concern, that will 

 not work at all ; the other is a straight piece of timber wiih 

 teeth in one side, and has handles, and is operated by fasten- 

 ing a rope or chain to each end and hitching the horse to the 

 chain in the centre, then go ahead till it gets full, then stop 

 the horse, pull the ralie from under the hay, lilt over and go 

 on again. Now this species of rake is intolerable, though 

 there is a number of them used here. The revolving rake, 

 cither owing to the construction of it, or some other cause, 

 will not operate at all. The Right was sold to a wagon 

 maker in this county, and he manufactured one onlj'^, and 

 that will not operate. You will confer a favor on one of 

 your subscribers, at least, by giving some directions about 

 constructing a good haj' rake. There are numbers of your 

 subscribers here that will be grateful to you for such infor- 

 mation. Agriculture on any systematic plan is scarcely 

 known in this township, you may judge from the foct that 

 there is but one agricultural paper taken here. A Western 

 Clodhopper. — Washington Co., la., 1850. 



The horse-rake, so well and so favorably known 

 in many parts of the country, " holds nearly the 

 same relation to the common hand-rake, in saving 

 labor, as the plow and cultivator bear to the spade 

 and hoe." The amount of work it will perform with 

 a single horse and driver, may be easily estimated 

 by any one, when it is stated that a strip of hay on 

 the ground, ten feet wide, may be raked up into win- 

 rows as fast as the horse can walk ; that is, if the 

 horse travels three miles an hour, more than three 

 acres will be raked up in that time, or at the rate of 

 twenty-four acres per day. The only labor in un- 

 loading each rakeful of hay, is a slight lifting of the 

 handles, which causes the teeth and handles to make 

 a semi-revolution, and drop the hay without the least 

 stopping or delay. The rapidity with which a large 

 field of hay may be secured from a threatning storm 

 is one of its greatest advantages. 



The engraving is a representation of Wilcox's 

 Premium Revolving Horse-Bake. There are several 

 others in use, but all constructed somewhat upon the 

 same principle. Price, from $7,50 to $8,50. 



A good horse-rake is also now in use, called the 

 Spring-Toolh Horse-Rake. It is light, and may be 

 carried by one man all about the farm. The elas- 

 ticity of the teeth prevents their breaking or fasten- 

 ing to any obstruction with which they may chance 

 to come in contact. They operate very well on rough 

 or stony ground, and are first rate for raking wheat 

 stubble, and thus gleaning what would otherwise be 

 wasted. From one to two bushels to the acre is 

 often secured in this way, and one man with this 

 rake can glean twenty acres a day. The construc- 

 tion of this rake may be seen by the next engraving. 



The rake, as usually made, has a head about nine 

 feet long, and from twenty to twenty-four elastic 

 wire teeth. It does not revolve, but is raised over 

 the winrow with ease and facility, without stopping 

 the horse ; the whole rake weighing only about sixty 

 pounds, and the thills being uplield by the horse, the 

 holder has only to lift one end of the rake by the 

 handles, and the advance motion of the horse will 

 have carried it over the winrow while the holder can 

 lift it up and down properly. The holder bears down 

 on the handles more or less, according to the size of 

 the winrow he wishes to collect, and leaves the win- 

 row when and where he pleases, by quickly raising 

 the handles, as before stated. Price, $8. 



CULTIVATION OF THE CRANBEEEY. 



Messrs. Editors : — Some of the members of my family have 

 recently become interested in the cultivation of the Cran- 

 berry, and, as a consequence, are looking lor light on the 

 subject. Can you give any information as to the modus 

 operandi ? E. GuYER. 



We know but little about the cultivation of the 

 cranberry. Massachusetts is the only State that we 

 know of where the cranberry is cultivated, and the 

 statements we have seen of the manner and success, 

 are very contradictory. The best we can find on the 

 subject is in Cole's FrUit Book, from which we make 

 the following extracts : 



"Culture on Wet Lands. — Nearly all the cran- 

 berries of spontaneous production are found on low, 

 wet lands, that are flooded a part of the season. 

 Many and various experiments have been made to 

 improve the natural cranberry meadows. The most 

 successful management is by applying sand as a 

 dressing, and that from the sea-shore is best. And 

 it may be inferred that salt is useful, from the cran- 

 berry growing on salt marshes, which we have noticed 

 in several instances in Maine. One writer on this 

 subject says that the cranberry grows well in sand 

 and water. Prepare a bog meadow for cranberries 

 by plowing, if convenient, and applying about two 

 inches of sand to the surface, and set the vines in 

 small sods, in rows two feet apart, and twelve or fif- 

 teen inches in the rows, and they will soon spread 

 over the land, and yield a full crop. 



" Cranberries on wet lands are greatly improved 

 by flooding ; and sometimes the flooding is continued 

 till late in spring, say the first of May or later, in 

 order to retard blossoming, lest the blossoms should 

 be killed by frost. As frosts are very destructive, 

 some have meadows so planned that they can be 

 flooded when a cold nif. ht is at hand. 



