3-22 



iXEV/ ENGLAND FARMER. 



addition to the mass of fertilizing matter. It isl tion of the gentlemen of the society to its per- 

 thc recipient of the elementary principles, but formance, and drop me a line of the impression 

 contriimtcs none of them itself; and as ftr, |it produces. The price of each machine is 

 therefore, as its agency is concerned, it is un-|^10U — that is, we furnish the machine and give 

 productive and unprofitable. A m:itted sward the right to use it for that price, the purchaser 



dragged 

 with 



thickly entangled with roots, or mud 

 from the bottom of ditches, and re| lete 

 aquatic plants, are clearly preferable on this 

 account, that, besides bringing earth to the com- 

 fposition, they supply a large proportion of veg- 

 <.lable matter. U'hcnever the soil must be 

 carted to the heap, it is better to lay out the 

 expense in transporting these enriching mate- 

 rials, because they will not only equally absorb 

 and retain the evaporating gases, but greatly 

 augment the ([uantum of manure.*"' 



Mr. Arthur Voung says, in sub.'^tance, that the 

 common way to make composts is to lay the 

 several materials in layers one over the other, 

 till a large heap is raised ; and it is advised by 

 some authors, and the practice of many farmers 

 is to make these layers from six inches to a foot 

 in thickness ; but this he has found by experi- 

 ence to be wrong ; for the fermentation raised 

 in the compost is not strong enough to penetrate 

 !-uch thick layers, especially those ot clay, or 

 strong earth ; for after the rest have sufficiently 

 fermented, and the compost is turned, these lay- 

 ers rise almost as whole as when first laid, and 

 must be broken by hand to mix them with the 

 rest of the compost; whence arise two inconve- 

 niences, one an extraordinary expense, and the 

 other twice or thrice turning is sometimes ne- 

 cessary to dissolve these large piecee ; and as 

 a new fermentation is excited every time the 

 compost is turned, the strength of the manure 

 is greatly wasted before it is laid upon the land, 

 where it is then incapable of raising any con- 

 siderable fermentation, which is, he thinks, one 

 of the principal uses of manure. 



paymg, of couase, the expenses attending the 

 erection of the same, together with such inci- 

 dental charges as may attend its transportation 

 from the place where it may be manufactured. 

 1 am, with great respect. 



Your obed't humble scrv"t, 



SAMUEL SWAKTWOUT. 



.Veiv York, m Feb. 1823. 



The Flax Machine may be driven either by 

 water or horse power. 



One horse is suflicient to turn one or more of 

 these cylinders. The cylinder for dressing or 

 threshing requires to be driven at the rate of 

 about IGO or 170 revolutions in a minute. Any 

 millwright will make the calculations for the 

 size of the large wheel, when intended for wa- 

 ter power. For horse power, our large hori- 

 zontal wheel attached to the horse shaft, is 12 

 feet diameter — around this we put a strap, 5 or 

 6 inches broad, of harness leather — this strap 

 runs round the shaft or axis of the second large 

 wheel, upon a whirl 18 inches diameter. There 

 is a wheel for a strap or band upon one end of 

 this axis 6 feet diameter, over which another 

 strap of the same breadth and thickness, as that 

 vvhich runs over the large wheel, descending 

 into the room below, and is attached to and 

 runs over a small whirl tixed upon the axis of j 

 the cylinder. This latter whirl is 8 inches di- j 

 ameter. The above calculations are made up-j 

 on the supposition that the horse walks three I 

 times round his path in a minute — the diameter ' 

 of his walk being 24 feet. ' 



drives the bees to the lower part of the hii 

 and gives him an opportunity of taking \\\' 

 quantity of honey he thinks they can spai, 

 leaving a sufficiency for winter provisii 

 Should it happen that the Bee-father takes t, 

 large a tribute, or that an early winter preven 

 the Bees from replenishing their stock as i. 

 pected — they then are regularly fed with, 

 composition consisting of sugar, honey, wine n 

 water, boiled together, which is put in a -, 

 cur under the hive. 



Your's, A GERMAX 



Curious method employed in France of proUii 

 Trees from injury by the Spring Frosts. 

 It is stated in the Memoirs of the Royal ;. 

 ciety of Agriculture at Paris, that, from rep. 

 ted experiments, frost, like the electric llu, 

 may be drawn off from the atmosphere. ?| 

 have its influence diverted so as to guard n 

 particular object from its most pernicious etici 

 An application of this principle is therein 

 reeled to preserve from injury the tender hi 

 soms of fruit trees which are so often cut I 

 by spring frosts. Intertwine a thick hemp 

 rope [probably straw or flax would do as m 

 among the branches of a fruit tree in blos-^ 

 and let the end of it be suspended so as to I 

 niinate in a pail of water at the bottom of 

 Iree ; should a slight frost take place dur 

 :he night, the tree will not be in the least 

 ^ree aliected, while the surface of the watci 

 which the rope is, will be covered with a c 

 of ice of more or less thickness, though wa 

 (daced in another pail by the side of it will 

 frequently, where the frost is slight, have ; 

 en it. I 



•Letters of A°rricola. 



From lAe American Farmer. 

 FLAX DRESSING MACHINE. 

 To Wm. M. Barton, Esq. 



Dear Si'i — 1 beg your jicceptance of a sample 

 of flax Or the inspection of the "Valley So- 

 ciety •>f Virginia." The bleached sample is 

 fror« flax that was water-rotted, the dew-rotting 

 b«ing found not to answer for that process. Of 

 (he dew rotted parcel, I must remark, that the 

 quality of the flax is not considered to be the 

 first — all of this year's crop being very inferior, 

 and all of that which is dew-rotted, at any time, 

 whatever the quality may have been previous- 

 ly, sustaining so much injury from the process 

 as not to entitleit to first rale, however well 

 cleaned it may hm^ I cannot, therefore, present 

 this as very tine in Quality, but beg your atten- 

 tion to the dressing of it. This was done by a 

 machine of small dimensions, simple construc- 

 tion, and exceeding durability, invented by Mr. 

 Rodman Goodsell, of Oneida county. New York. 

 With this machine, driven by one horse, a man 

 will break, hatchet, and dress, clean enough for 

 the distaff, 100 lbs. per day — and with the same 

 thresh 100 bushels of grain per day, the latter 

 without one cent extra expense. As your coun- 

 ty is celebrated for its wheat culture, Mr. 

 Goodsell and myself have determined to send 

 one of them to you in the course of a month. 

 Should it arrive in time for your March meet- 

 ing, please to do us the favor to call the atten- 



From the National Gazette. 

 Messrs. Editors, — A "paragraph in your Ga- 

 zette of Saturday, on the subject of Bees, indu- 

 ces me to mention, that an easier method of 

 gathering the honey than in India, and a more 

 merciful one than what is generally pursued in! 

 this country, is practised in Germany. There, ' 



this interesting little insect is cultivated to great long at these seasons in the same water, 

 extent, frequently as an amusement, and very ' water will grow slimy, and sometimes sot 

 commonly as a source of revenue. Many trja-i the malster should therefore watch the chat 

 tises have been written on their singular natui-e. I of the water, and when he tinds it smooth 

 domestic arrangements and the best mode of j oily to the touch, or inclining to smell or ta 

 rearing them. Perhaps I put some of your' sour, it must be changed immediately, 

 readers 



BREWING. 

 A'icelies in .Matting, the observance of ■which j 



iticrease the profits of the Malster near 



per cent. 



In malting barley, the water should be cha 

 ed oftenest in spring and autumn, when ■ 

 weather is warm : if barley is let't to steep 



in mind of the renowned Baron Rtiin- 

 chausen, when 1 slate that in some parts of Ger- 

 many they are regularly taken to pasture ! ;'et 

 such is the fact. I have seen on the great 

 heath of Luneburg in the Hanoverian domin- 

 ions, hundreds of Hives that were carried there 

 from distant places in the spring of the year, 

 for the bees to pasture on the heath flowers ; 

 herdsmen attended them ; and in the autumn 

 they are taken home again. 



The mode of securing the honey is this, ear- 

 ly in the (all the Bee-father (as the person who 

 cultivates Bees is called) protects himself with 

 gloves and a kind of cap long enough to hang 

 over his neck and shoulders, and which has a 

 wire mask — and in dark rainy weather, or ear- 

 ly in the morning or late in the evening, when 

 all the Bees are at home, he turns the hive up- 

 side down — a match made of dry herbs, such as 

 rue wrapped in tow and linen, which burns 

 without flame and makes a great smoke, is light- 

 ed and the smoke blown upon the hive, which 





The common method of changing it, is f. 

 to draw off that in which the barley was ste 

 ing, and then by pumping or pails full, till 

 cistern again : but this is a bad way, tor wl 

 the water is drawn off the barley lies clos 

 and is apt to heat, which causes great dama 

 It is therefore recommended to get a hogsh< 

 of water in readiness near the cistern, wh 

 should be thrown on the barley the instant i 

 tirst water is drawn off; and as a hogshead 

 water is sufficient to wet eight bushels of b 

 ley, as many hogsheads, save one, should be 

 terwards added, as the cistern will wet. 



River water is the best, and hard spring \ 

 ter is the worst: in general the water t 

 soonest lathers should be preferred. 



A thin-skinned fine-coated barley is the b 

 for making malt ; it need not be very full- 

 died, but should be quite ripe. 



Barley that has grown on land highly man" 

 ed is not so good as that produced on a hi 

 moderately rich without manure ; and if i 



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