3<»8 



NEV/ ENGLAND FARMER. 



and returns it to llie r!c)e;elets.* If weeds ap- 

 pear ag-ain this operation should be repealed, 

 and it is better for the croj) if it be repeated 

 two or three time?; for stirriiiij tlic soil is the 

 life of drill husbandry and row culture. It de- 

 stroys successive crops of weeds, which other- 

 wise would have remained in the soil; disturbs 

 and destroys slugs and insects, and by producing- 

 more perfect tillage, permits new fibres to ex- 

 tend themselves in every direction, and opens 

 the soil in the best way to the influence of the 

 atmosphere.'' 



Dr. Deanc highly approved of the drill or 

 row culture for turnips, and observed, " For 

 two years past 1 have sown turnips in the drill 

 way, in the poorest part of my garden, where 

 a crop of pease had grown the same summer, 

 and never had better turnips. They were suf- 

 IJciently large for the table, though they grciv 

 so near together in the rows that the roots 

 crowded each other, and were not sown earlier 

 than abo\it the tenth of August. The earth 

 was hoed into ri<lges three feet apart, and a 

 single channel seeded on each of the ridges. 

 This is the more observable, as I have often 

 sown turnips in the broadcast way, on the same 

 spot, and at the usual time of sowing fall tur- 

 nips, and never before raised any that were fit 

 to eat. 1 have also for several years raised 

 turnips in the field in the drill way. The ridges 

 were raised »n May with the cultivator, about 

 three feet apart. They were kept clear from 

 weeds till about the last of July, by the culti- 

 vator and the hand hoe, and then sown in single 

 drills. Nothing more was necessary afterwards, 

 except thinning and once hoeing. The crops 

 were so much better than 1 have obtained from 

 broad cast sowing, that I am induced to persist 

 in and recommend the method." 



Destroy Thlstlfs.— A writer in our paper of 

 last week, page 390, with the signature " Mid- 

 dlesex," is solicitous for information relative to 

 •he most successful mode of exterminating the 

 Canada Thistle. The following we have known 

 put in practice with perfect success. Let the 

 thistles alone till they are in full bloom, and 

 then cut them with a scythe. If they are cut 

 when young, they produce fresh shoots, but if 

 mown just before the seed is formed, the stem 

 contains a hollow by which the dews and rain 

 water descend into the heart of the plant and 

 it soon dies. If, however, you cannot lind lei- 

 sure to mow them till the seed is formed, you 

 may even then cut them down, and as soon as 

 they have dried a little in the sun, rake them 

 into heaps and burn them. It is possible that a 

 few may spring up the next season, but two or 

 three cuttings will entirely destroy them. It is 

 said to be best to cut them in wet weather, as 

 the rain will then sooner fill the stalk and cause 

 the plant to rot immediately. 



*A com.nion horse plough would answer this pur- 

 pose, but with less conveniunce and expedition. 



NFAV AGRICULTU11.4.L LMPLl'MENTS. 

 The New York Statesman of the 7th inst. 

 conlains the following account of two agricul- 

 tural machine?, the one fur mowing and the 

 other for raking hay. 



" The instrument for cutting the grass con- 

 sists of a circular plate about live feet and a 

 half in diameter, the whole circumference of 

 wbi(;h is sharpened like a common scythe. This 



is suspended under a car resembling a common 

 cart, by a perpendicular shaft, the lower end of 

 which rests upon a runner or gauge, and on the 

 upper end of which is machinery leceiving it? 

 motion from the wheel of the carriage, which 

 is furnished with cogs for that purpose. The 

 wheels are so multi]>lied, that the ordinary 

 walk of the two horses by which the carriage 

 is drawn gives to the scythe a very rapid hor- 

 izontal motion. The machinery is placed so 

 far towards the right side of the carriage, that 

 the horses walk just at the edge of the grass. 

 On the car is a seat for the driver, and a chest 

 for the whet-stone and other implements needed 

 in the process. A sclf-.sharpcner is occasionally 

 used in putting the scythe in order. 



'■• The patent horse-rake of Messrs. Pennock 

 k. Pierce, if possible, is a more ingenious and 

 curious instrument than the scythe. It is very 

 simple in its construction, and every one on 

 seeing it is surprised that it was not sooner in- 

 vented. The head of this rake is about ten 

 feet long, and the teeth, which are about three 

 feet in length, are inserted in both sides hori- 

 zontally. To the head, at suitable distances, 

 the traces of the horse are fastened, and behind 

 is a handle by which the machinery is directed. 

 When the rake is filled with hay, it is made to 

 revolve by a slight effort of the person tending 

 it, and the alternate teeth are filled. So easy 

 and quick is the process of clearing and shil'ting 

 its sides, that the horse keeps upon a fiist walk 

 across the field without stopping. In this way, 

 the hay is rapidly raked into wind-rows, which 

 hy turning the rake are rolled into heaps. By 

 means of this improvement, a man and one 

 horse will rake twenty acres in a day. Mr. 

 Peirce assured us that he could collect it as 

 fast as several hands could cart it from an adja- 

 sent field to the barn. With some slight mod- 

 ifications it is capable of being applied to the 

 collection of grain into sheaves. It is partic- 

 ularly useful when a shower is seen rising, and 

 the farmer is in haste to secure his hay or grain. 

 The whole expense of this instrument, including 

 the patent and the right to use it forever, is 

 twelve dollars." 



These machines have been recommended by 

 the certificates of Dr. Mitchell, and several 

 other gentlemen of science and respectability. 



From the Esses Rtgister. 

 CF.LEDR.\TION AT SALEiM, FOURTH .UIl.Y. 

 What gave peculiar novelty to the pert'orm- 

 ances in the Meeting-llouse, on Friday last, was 

 the novel, interesting and candid remarks of the 

 venerable Col. Pkkering, preparatory to the 

 reading of the Declaration of Independence. 

 The Col. commenced by stating, that he had 

 acceded to the call of his fellow-citizens to read 

 the Declaration of Independence, in order that 

 he might lay before them some interesting in- 

 formation on the subject, in liis possession. He 

 first commented on the propriety of anniversary 

 celebrations, and their early origin with the 

 feast of the passover observed by the Jews, in 

 commemoration of the deliverance of their olT- 

 spring from that destruction which overwhelmed 

 the children of their oppressors. He then gave 

 a concise statement of the motives which led to 

 that declaration, and the measures that were 

 taken first to avert its necessity, and next to 

 prepare for its hearty adoption and support. — 

 That petitions and remonstrances were exhaus- 



ted, without producing any suspension of th^ujJ 

 determination of the arbitrary council of EnyL;)! 

 land, to " bind us in all cases whatsoever, with-Lb 

 out our consent." That these, though unavaiUijc 

 ingat St. James, had their effect at home. ThaXn 

 then the public mind was gradually prepared for' 

 this decisive measure, and foreign auxiliarit 

 sought. That no foreign state was willing ii 

 aid lis, unless with the view to lessen the powei, 

 of Great Britain, and that there.*bre every step 

 short of Independence, would have precluded i 

 foreign assistance. The Col. then proceeded tOi 

 give an account of the manner in which this sub. 

 ject was introduced into Congress : He stated 

 that there was no man living able to give .soh, 

 good an account of it as the venerable JoHKec 

 Adams ; that he had written to him in the last 

 August on the subject, and he now gave the 

 fads obtained from him. The motion which 

 produced the Declaration, was made on the 10th 

 of June, 1776, by Richard Henry Lee, from 

 Virginia, the largest of the Thirteen United 

 Colonies, who was authorised to make it by the 

 votes of his constituents, the Assembly of Vir- 

 ginia. Mr. Adams seconded the motion, Massa- 

 chusetts being at that time the second state. 



The Col. here alluded to the ability and zeal of 

 President Adams in carrying through this mea- 

 sure. He observed of him, that he possessed 

 that ' BOLD .4.\D DARtXG SPIRIT,' without which no 

 revolution could be successfully accomplished. 

 A committee of five was appointed on the sub- 

 ject, consisting of Mr. Jeffersox, Mr. Adams, 

 Dr. Frankli.n', IMr. Sherman, and Mr. Livingston. 

 .Mr. Jefferson, though the youngest on the com- 

 mittee, was chairman, he having one vote more 

 than Mr. Adams. That Mr. Jefferson had come 

 into Congress with great reputation as a writer 

 — and although he was a silent member of that 

 body, yet he was most useful on committees, 

 and felicitous in his writin'gs. That Mr. Adams 

 had made use of every exertion to procure votes 

 lor Mr. Jefferson, in order to place him at the 

 head of the committee. That the committee 

 met and appointed Mr. -Jefferson and Mr. Adams 

 a sub-committee. That Mr. Jefferson urged on 

 Mr. Adams to write the Declaration, and Mr. 

 Adams urged Mr. J. to do it. That Mr. Jeffer- 

 son at last consented, and the next day submit- 

 ted the original draft, as it was presented to 

 Congress. That Mr. Adams thought the only 

 objectionable part of it was that in which Geo. 

 111. was styled a tyrant — that he considered that 

 as too personal — that he only considered him 

 such ofhcially, and that he was deceived and 

 misled by his Cabinet. He did not, however, 

 state any objection to Mr. J. as it was after- 

 wards to be submitted to the whole committee, 

 and the feelings and temper of the people were 

 fully up to the tone of the declaration. That 

 he thought some of the most beautiful passages 

 were afterwards stricken out by Congress, par- 

 ticularly that in which it was enumerated as 

 one of the evils of our Colonial state, that the 

 Parliament had refused to allow the colonies to 

 prohibit the importation of slaves, and had thus 

 entailed upon them the evils of a slave popula- 

 tion. The sub-committee afterwards reported 

 to the committee, who did not suggest a single 

 alteration or amendment. The committee thea 

 reported tbe Declaration to Congress on the 1st 

 of July, 1776 ; it was discussed and amended oa 

 the 2d, 3d, and 4th of July, and adopted on the 

 latter day, about a quarter of the reported De- 



