NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



147 



THE IMPROVED SEED SOWER AND PLANTER. 



A good seed sower is a labor-saving machine, of 

 groat utility to the farmer or gardener, who sows or 

 plants many small seeds. With the ground well 

 prepared, and a suitable machine, one hand will sow 

 seed as fast as four or five men without a machine, 

 and the sowing will be more uniform than that done 

 by hand. 



This machine is light, and it is pushed forward by 

 the operator ; the ground is opened, the seed dropped, 

 covered, and rolled, in one operation or passing. 

 This useful implement is adapted to seeds of varioiis 

 sizes ; to sowing seed thinly, or plentifully, as desira- 

 ble ; and the rows or drills may be of any distance 

 apart. 



By change of cj'Iinders, this apparatus may readily 

 be adapted to large or small seeds. The gearing, for 

 the purpose of producing a rapid or slow motion, in 

 order to adapt the machine to different kinds of seed, 

 is very simple, yet excellent, as it will sow con- 

 tinuously in drills, or drop in hills. This gearing is 

 made of iron, with graduated rows of cogs, and it 

 works with great precision ; it is very durable, and 

 not liable to get out of order. 



BLACK POLAND TOP-KNOT FOWL. 



These, like the brave people from which thej' de- 

 rive their name, are every way commendable, and 

 are recommended to the "chicken fancier." 



The Poland fowls, as they are generally called, 

 were, according to English authors, said to be imported 

 from Holland. Their color is a shining black, with 

 a white top-knot of feathers, on the heads of both 

 cock and hen. 



The head is flat, and surmounted by a fleshy pro- 

 tuberance out of which springs the crown of feathers, 

 or top-knot, white or black, with the fleshy King 

 David's crown, consisting of four or live spikes. The 

 true breed is rather above the middling size ; their 

 form is plump and deep, and the legs of the best sorts 

 are not too long, and mo?;t have five claws. The 

 contrast of the perfectly white crest with the black 

 plumage is truly beautiful ; but the top-knot of the 

 cock differs from his hen, hers being broad and erect 

 feathers, while his are narrower and hanging down 

 in every direction. 



Mowbray says, " The Polanders are not only kept 

 as ornamental, biit they arc of the most useful varie- 



ties, particularly on account of the abundance of the 

 eggs they lay, being least inclined to sit of any other 

 breed, whence they are sometimes called everlasting 

 layers, and it is usual to set their eggs under other 

 hens. They fatten as quickly as any other breed, 

 and in quality similar to the Dorking ; their flesh 

 perhaps more juicy, and of a richer flavor." They 

 are a quiet, domestic fowl, neither quarrelsome nor 

 mischievous, and their eggs of good size, fine flavored, 

 and thin shells. — Bement's Poulterer' s Companion. 



Howard B. Cofiin, Newton Corner, has a lot of the 

 above named fowls, and can furnish eggs to any one 

 who wishes them for hatching, if their orders are 

 left at No. 5 Congress Square, Boston. — Com. 



THE APRICOT. 



** Does the apricot produce fruit without bud- 

 ding ? " We supposed that it was generally known 

 that apricots would produce fruit Avithoiit budding, 

 in the same manner as other fruit trees. In this 

 vicinity are a number of apricot trees, of sviperior 

 quality, that have not been budded. The opinion 

 that the apricot does not yield fruit without budding 

 may have arisen from the numerous failures in this 

 species. The buds are very liable to be killed in 

 the cold season. It flowers very early, more so than 

 other fruit trees ; hence the blossoms are liable to be 

 killed. If the buds and blossoms escape injiiry, the 

 curculio is liable to sting and destroy the fruit at an 

 early stage. 



SECKEL PEAR. 



It may be a matter of interest to nursery-men and 

 fruit-growers to know that the original Seckel pear- 

 tree, the parent of all the Seckel pears in the United 

 States and in Europe, is still standing — a venerable 

 inhabitant of a meadow belonging to the city of 

 Philadelphia, in Passayunk, on the Delaware River, 

 near the mouth of the Schuylkill, three and a half 

 miles below the city. It is a large tree, about thirty 

 feet high, and measuring six feet in circumference a 

 foot from the ground. The trunk, however, is much 

 decayed, and it is thought that it cannot long with- 

 stand the wintry winds that annually sweep over 

 the peninsula between the Delaware and Schuylkill 

 Rivers. — Valley Farmer. 



