isn. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



65 



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perfect her grain and her animals, if she has only- 

 half a chance : but woe be to that mechanic, or mas- 

 ter builder, who constructs a bad ship, that neither 

 sails well, nor carries well, nor behaves well in a 

 gale at sea. It is sudden death to a foundry, or a 

 machine shop, to turn out a bad steam engine, a bad 

 boiler, or other imperfect machinery. No matter 

 how much tlie master workman may console and 

 stultify himself with the belief that his employers 

 are no judges ; he is emphatically a laid overman. 

 On the other hand, the farmer may go on from year 

 to year, growing shorter and shorter crops, eschew- 

 ing all the late improvements as empiricism ; and in 

 the plethora of his stolid impracticable egotism, he 

 can lay all the blame of his short crops to the sea- 

 sons. Still, he gets some corn, rears pigs and cattle 

 to consume it, and the little surplus he sells is some 

 times unexceptionable in quality, thanks to natn j 

 and not to his art. But methinks the necessit of 

 the case is fast working out a better system of farm- 

 ing. Even in our favored land of alluvial deposits, 

 the farmer has long since found that the fatness of 

 his soil is not as indefeasible as his title to its super- 

 ficial surface ; hence the general movement among 

 our more enlightened farmers to pursue a more per- 

 fect system of manuring and culture ; an example 

 that cannot fail of having a salutary influence over 

 the most doltish one of his class. 



The Culture or Flax. — A correspondent of the 

 Ohio Cultivator says that twenty bushels of flax 

 seed may be grown on an acre as easily as ten bush- 

 els. He says, "as flax produces only one stem, it 

 is absolutely necessary to sow two bushels of seed 

 to the acre in order to get the largest yield, and to 

 shelter the ground from the sun during the time the 

 seeds are developed and matured ; the soil should be 

 deeply plowed, finely pulverized, and early sown, be- 

 fore the season of drouth arrives.*' To secure a 

 perfect crop, he advises that artificial manure as a 

 top dressing, composed of "ashes, gypsum and com- 

 mon salt, three bushels of the former to one each of 

 the latter, to be applied to each acre two week after 

 the plants appear."' " On the Maume valley, as well 

 as that of the Wabash, flax has been extensively 

 cultivated during the past ten years, but owing to 

 the improvident culture that has been very generally 

 practiced, the crop has grown more and more into 

 disrepute ; hence the great falling off in supply in 

 our markets, and the consequent veiy high price ob- 

 tained for seed during the past two seasons." " When 

 the top dressing is applied it would be well to seed 

 down the field with timothy and clover, by which a 

 luxuriant growth of clover will be obtained, even in 

 adverse seasons for that crop. If the flax crop be 

 pulled, no damage is done to the young clover plants, 

 but on the contrary the loosening of the soil will im- 

 part a vigorous growth to the latter, that no other 

 management could effect. Where it is intended at 

 the time of seeding to pull the flax, the sowing of 

 the timothy may be omitted until after the flax is 

 pulled." In his next number the writer promises to 

 give directions how to prepare the flax fiber for mar- 

 ket. As the flax crop is a greater consumer of nitric 

 acid, than any other crop, tobacco excepted, it is 

 all important that stable manure should be freely 

 applied to the soil; the top dressing above referred 

 to will then do much toward fixing that ammonia, 

 which alone by its transformation can supply the re- 

 quired nitric acid. 



Do YOU TAKE AN AGRICULTURAL PaPER ? Ten 



years ago there was not over thirty agricultural pa- 

 pers, all told, taken from this Post Office. At this 

 time there are over 150 copies of the Genesee Farmer 

 alone taken here. Still, there is a majority of men 

 among us rejoicing in the name of farmer, who take 

 no agricultural paper, and not a few who take no 

 paper at all, nor any other printed article, if we ex- 

 cept the Physic Almanack that they receive from the 

 apothecary gratis. Such men put about the same 

 value on a book as the Highlander did on the watch 

 after it had run down. — Waterloo, Feh'y, 1851 



HAV RAKES. 



M'-.ssRS. Editors : — Having noticed in perusing the 

 -olumns of your valuable paper, (Vol. 12, No. 1,) an 

 inquiry for the best plan for a Hay Rake, attended 

 with some remarks from yourselves relative tiiereto, 

 I take the liberty to write a few words in regard to 

 Hay Rakes used in Vermont, especially in Orange 

 county and the counties adjoining. There are two 

 kinds of horse rakes (wire tooth) used by the farmers 

 in this section quite extensively, and in very good 

 repute, commonly designated the double coil tooth 

 Rake, and Ladd's Rake — Mr. Ladd being the origi- 

 nal inventor and patentee of said rake. In perform- 

 ing the labor with these rakes, both are held and dis- 

 charged as described in the remarks alluded to. The 

 latter, when first introduced into the farming commu- 

 nity here, was a revolving rake, but not giving satis- 

 faction to the purchasers, the manufacturers of it left 

 off" the revolving part, and have succeded very well 

 in the sale of it, and it now gives general satisfaction,. 

 The operation of performing the labor in the common 

 way of holding and lifting up, is represented as being 

 very hard and fatiguing by the operators, especially 

 on large farms where there are ten or twelve acres 

 raked in an afternoon. But there is an improyemcnt 

 on horse raking by the use of wheels, recently inven- 

 ted in this State, which greatly facilitates the labor, 

 making it truly easy, and is highly approved of and 

 recommended l3y those who have used it. It is known 

 as Hovey's Improved Horse Rake. It is so construc- 

 ted that the person performing the labor is accommo- 

 dated with an easy seat, can manage the horse with- 

 out any difficulty, and, by a very simple process, can 

 charge and discharge the rake with ease and dexter- 

 ity. The labor is done as fast and as well by this 

 manner of raking, as by the common way of raking 

 with a horse, and thought to be easier for the horse. 

 Another advantage of this rake over others, is the 

 saving of labor, by having it done by those who can- 

 not do the raking in the ordinary way, or perform 

 much amount of any labor. I know a man in this 

 vicinity, upwards of seventy years old, who has raked 

 from a hundred to a hundred and fifty tons of hay the 

 past haying season with one of these rakes. He calls 

 it a resting spell to get on to this machine and rake 

 ten or twelve acres. of hay in an afternoon. The ex- 

 tra expense of this over the common rake is not great, 

 as it is not necessary to have extra wheels, the hind 

 wheels to a common buggy waggon being generally 

 used. 



I am decidedly of the opinion that this improve- 

 ment will very much benefit the farming interest and 

 laboring agriculturists, and will take the preference 

 over all other rakes, especially by those who are far- 

 ming to any great extent. A Subscriber. — Wash- 

 ington, Vt., Jan., 1851 



