^ 



J¥EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Pvbhshed by John B. Russell, 0(^0. 52 JVorlk MctrkH Street, (over the Agricultoral Warehouse).— Tkouas G. Fessenden, Editor. 



VOL. VI. 



J08T0JS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17> 1827. 



No. 4. 



AGRICULTURE. 



MACHINE FOR SOWING TURNIP^" 



to drop the seed, calculating the distance at wliicli 

 they would bn dropped, would be i.letormined by 

 the diameter of the wheels — but experience shows 

 that the seeds do not (\rop preciseltj when the Iiolc 

 is down, but are dropped in coniinuity as the cyl- 

 inder proceeds, and equally while the holes are 

 dcsccnding^or ascending as thoy pass over the 

 aperture. 



Satisfied of your zeal to promote the interest 

 which yon patronize, and of your judgement of 

 the means you advocate, I place this at your dis- 

 posal without hesitation. 

 And am, sir, 



with high estimation, 



vour humble servant, 



W. JACKSON. 

 PhjmoiUh, August 8, 1827. ' 



a a Wheels attached to the a.\lc wliich turns 

 vith the wheels. 



h Band passing over two drums g g. 



c c c Rakes which cover the seed. 



d d d Cylinders which contain the seed. 



e e e Ploughs which furrow for the seed. 



/The draught. 

 The centre of the mnchine may be used as the 

 intire machine for one row, or the outside cylin- 

 ders may be added where much work is to be per- 

 formed. 



Thos. G. Fessenden, Esq. — Inclosed is a 

 draught of the Drill for sowing the various des- 

 cription of Turnip Seed, which are alluded to in 

 the New England Farmer, vol. i. page 67, and vol. 

 ti. page 285. 



I have foreborn any communication concerning 

 t until I had sufficient opportunity to test its util- 

 ity by actual experience. 



The quantity of ground 1 usually sow with tur- 

 nips is about quarter of an acre, which after the 

 ground is raked I can sow in forty minutes. — The 

 <]rill I use is calculated to sow but one row at a 

 time, which is farrowed, sowed, and covered, at 

 one 'operation, as fast as a man can walk back- 

 ward. For a farmer who has a large stock, or for 

 him who is in the practice of sowing for the mar- 

 ket, it must be a great saving of labour, and that 

 at the time whf n labour is most in demand. 



I am persuad 'd that with the drill which sows 

 but one row at a time, a man will in one hour, sow 

 as much ground as two men could sow in a day 

 without any drill ; or as is commonly practised, by 

 dropping the seed with the fingers. He will not 

 •ise more than half the qxwntity of seed ; and it will 

 be sowed so muth more even as will save half the 

 labour also in thinning them. 



In constructing the machine the wheels were 

 calculated at eight inches diameter, and being 

 firmly fixed on the axle, at every evolution of the 

 wheels, the cylinders containing the seed are mov- 

 ed by the revolving band to perform also one rev- 

 olution. On tJie thirds of each cylinder are holes 



WHEAT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



For about thirty years immediately preceding 

 the year 1813, few attempts were made to raise 

 wheat in parts adjacent to the sea coast in Massa- 

 chusetts ; and a belief generally prevailed, thst it 

 could not bo made to thrive there, owing to pecu- 

 liarity of climate or some other ine.vplicable cause. 

 Since that time, however, it has been considerably 

 cultivated. 



Mr. Dudley Ilardy sowed, on three quarters 

 and an half quarter of an acre of l.niid, in Brighton, 

 near Boston, twenty-eight quarts of spring wheat 

 originally from Londonderry. The land the pre- 



trtWing yc'.r had been planted v.ith Indian corn 



It was ploughed in the fall ; and in the month of 

 March, before the frost was all out of the ground, 

 was plouglied over again two or three times, and 

 then harrowed with an iron tooth Imrrow. The 

 groin was prepared by steeping it in ley made ^f 

 ashes twenty-four hours, and on the 7th. of April 

 sowed, and harrowed in with the harrow. "After 

 this," says Mr Hardy, " I bruiseii the ground 

 smooth with a brush harrow." The twenty-eight 

 quarts produced eighteen bushels, weighing sixty 

 pounds a bushel. One bushel, ground and boulted 

 gave forty-six pounds and an half of flour. Mr. 

 Hardy thinUs, that spring wheat should be sowed 

 in the month of March, if the frost will permit. 

 Mass. Agricultural Repository, vol. iii. p. 31. 



Mr J. Lowell gives the following account of a 

 trh-il of the same kind of wheat. 



" I had but one small piece of ground in a prop- 

 er state to receive wheat. It measured one third 

 of an acre. The soil was very thin over a bed of 

 gravel, extremely subject to drought, and incapa- 

 ble, as I thought, of bearing a large crop of any 

 sort. Potatoes had been cultivated on it for two 

 years preceding. It had been twice ploughed the 

 fall before, after the potatoes were dug. In the 

 spring, four horse cart loads of horse dung vveiv 

 spread u- on it and ploughed in. On the seventh 

 day of April, I sowed upon it three quarters of a 

 bushel of Mr Hardy's wheat. This wheat was of 

 small size, and rather shrivelled. It is said to be 

 the same known and cultivated as Londonderry 

 wheat. 



"The crop looked extremely well ; none of it 

 was blighted ; and on the second of August it was 

 reaped. It weighed from fifty-six to fifty-eight 

 pounds the bushel." — Massachusetts Agricultitral 

 Bepository, vol iii. p. 216. 



The same publication, pages 917, 218, contains 

 the cxpcrimejits of Hon. J. Quincy, and Hon. P 

 C. Brooks, which, though somewhat less success- 

 ful tiian the pteceding, (Mr Quiiicy having raised 

 fii'teen, and AJr Brooks fourteen bushels to the 

 acre) yet as the grain was of good quality, and 

 free from blast or smut, estal)lish the fact that the 

 climate of Massachusetts is not unfavourable to 

 the cultivatiou of wheat. 



Bezaleel Taft, Jr. Esq. of Uxbridge, likewise 

 states in substance, that his father, about fifteen 

 ycais since, procured a bushel of spring wheat 

 from Barry, on the Onion river, in the state ol 

 Vermont. The produce of this was fifteen bush- 

 els. He continued to procure his seed from that 

 quarter for several years, but at length sowed the 

 seed of his own growth prepared by washing it 

 clean, stirring it well in two or three changes ol 

 water. After washing it was soaked about twelve 

 hours in a weak ley ; and after turning offthe ley. 

 about two quarts of slaked lime was stirred into a 

 bushel of whoiit. 



The ground selected for the cultivation of wheat 

 was such as would be most sure to produce a good 

 crop of Indian corn, and the wheat was sown a.s 

 early in the spring as the soil could be stirred and 

 remain light. 



Five pecks of seed wore sowed to an acre, and 

 the crops have been from 12 to 22 bushels ; and 

 about sixtecri upon an average to an acre. 



This communication was dated the 19th Novem- 

 ber: 1814, iLMi' the writer says, " For the last threr 

 years, I believe this town has produced annually 

 about a thousand bushels, and the last season we 

 had at least four times as many bushels of wheal 

 as of rye from the same numbers of acres, in tht- 

 same state." 



The writer considers wheat as more favourable 

 to a future crop of grass than rye or oats, as i'. 

 shades the grass less ; and when the crop is re 

 moved, it is not so apt to be scorched, having been 

 more accustomed to the rays of the sun. In thai 

 quarter of the country, wheat is invariably washed 

 before it is sent to the mill, not to free it from 

 smut or mildew, but from dust which adheres to i' 

 in consequence of the sandy nature of the soil. — 

 He says, that " an active man will wash ten bush 

 els in two or three hours. Care ought to be taken 

 not to have it remain longer than necessary in the 

 water. We usually dry it on blankets or sheets 

 in the sun. Care should likewise be taken not to 

 have it get too dry, as the flour in that case is not 

 Fo nice. One day's sun is sufficient to dry it in 

 the summer, and two in the fall. If suSered to 

 become too dry, the hull or bran is brittle, and 

 cuts to pieces in grinding, so as to mix with the 

 flour. When only dried sufficient to prevent its 

 clogging in the mill, the flour separates much bet 

 ter from the bran, and is far preferable for use."- 

 Mass. Ag. Repository, vol. iii. pp. 218, 219, 220. 



Mr John 'enks gives a statement of his experi- 

 ment relating to the same subject. His ground 

 was two acres, and seed four bushels. A part of 

 this seed was soaked in weak ley, and part in sea 

 water, and the parcels kept separate. Both were 

 Boaked eight hours, the water drained off, the 

 wheat spread on a tight floor, lime sprinkled on it 

 and raked over, until it was all covered with th"^ 



