fo. 1 



AiND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



Ifjo 



i; it id eoinetiniod led off by sheep, conliniiig ibeni 



it by meana of teinpornry tciicin^ or hurdietj; CBI- 



i|.., grare not linlilc to boconie boveu wbi'o i'eedmg it in 



■7 eiNgo of in growtb; on good land it baa been 



»>vn ti> reacb the beight ol three feet and even 



re, producing 03 miicu as I'-J tnna of green food 



I acre, winch, when will dried, wUl yield 3 tons 



(be mt^dt valnotde hay on the farm. The first suw- 



r nkes place ne soon after harvest as possible in 



.ilnnil. npon land designed lor tbo wheat crop the 



, <_{ auuinin, with the winter variety of seed, which 



n easily be disiingujehed from the summer tore, as 



1 i smaller, rounder, and blacker; these will bear 



1' severity of the winter; rye is olten mixed, to en- 



I e the crop to stand up, when it attains a consider- 



t e height, buta sprinkling ol' wheat has been found 



ttst for this purpose, as it remains longer succulent 



Ohe ouminer, The crop (Vom this sowing will be 



t for cutting for soiling in May, and the stalks if 



it in tiie ground, will a(f ird « second growth lor 



IL'cp-feed; but as the tare is a fallow crop, it is the 



St management to cut all off ond plough the land 



I ep as soon aa the crop is removed, well working 



d cleaning it during the summer, preparatory to 



ical-sowing, early in the autumn, after n dressing 



well prepared compost, if this has not been given to 



e iares — a far better arrangement for both crops. 



je ne.\t sowing is with Ihe summer variety of the 



e. as early in March as the season will admit, on 



id that had been ploughed prepaiatory in the an- 



mn or wm:er; again in April another crop is sown, 



d, if necessary, two other sowings might take 



icj, the last so late as the end of June, that so a 



cccssion oi this must valuable crop might be se- 



rtd for the whole of the summer, and until the end 



S.-ptombjr Such crops produce immense quanti- 



isofmiuure, which is carried from the sheds and 



mposted fir dresaing others: lurneps, for instance, 



jieii may be sown on the land from which the liret 



>p of tares has been carried, and fed off in time lor 



je It-sowing in the autumn. It must not be forgot- 



11, that the richer the land, the greater will be the 



op ol tales, and none will piy so amply for monure: 



It when the crop is very heavy, there is less chance 



obtaining good scod, and if that be the object, it is 



c I'nmended to ni iw the 'irst crop early for soiling, 



d permit the secomd griiwlh to stand for seed, which 



somnimes a'precarous business, nothing being 



ire uncertain: I have purchased seed at a guinea 



if a half a bushel, and so'd the ne.xt year's produce 



itained from it at aix shill ngs a bushei! When the 



ice of seed is m iderate, the quaniiiy sown is two 



Hhels or two and a holf per acre, but whatever the 



ice may be, it will be repaid in the crop, if the land 



1 m good heart. As inucli as 3i) bujhels of seed per 



:re has been obtained, but 15 bushels, and often half 



.at, IS more common. Undei a heavy crop ol tares, 



.e land will be found perfectly clean and mellow. 



id will turn up like an ash heap: ami there is no 



iiestion with me, that the crop may be raised with 



iceess in this country, if well cultivated on good 



iiid, rather stiff in its nature and lying cool. 



With regard to the value of the tare for Boiling, it 

 13 been calculated that ten times tlie stock might b 

 ept on them than on any other com:nonly cultivated 

 rop: ho'Ses require no corn or any other food, and 

 )W3 give more butter while feeding m them than on 

 t\y other f)od whatever. Is it not strange that no 

 ;.;olar exjenment on an e.itensive scale has yet been 

 iade on such an invaluable crop in this country." 



Ilu-vsey's Reaping Machine. 



In our July number we mentioned that one of these 

 nachines had arrived in this city, and that t form- 

 Ms in this vicinity would have an opportunity of wit- 

 lessmg its operation. But, unfortunately, the pro- 

 jrieior did not arrive till after the let of August, 

 .vjcn nearly all the wheat was cut, ond a good field 

 'or the purpose could not be found. A trial was, 

 aowever, made on the farm ol Mr. Whitney near this 

 ;ity, and witnessed by a number of farmers and ciii- 

 jons. The ground was very unfit for the purpose, 

 being quite rflugh, and containing numerous stumps, 

 SI that tlic machine was exhibited under great disad- 

 vantages. Still it did good e-xocution, and convinced 

 all who were present that on ordinarily smooth land 

 it would prove a great saving of time and labor in 

 harvesting grain. It cuts remarkably clean — in fact 

 not a straw that stands in its way can escape; and, 

 fcoiu what was eliown of it here, there was no reaaon 



to doubt that under favorable circumstancea it would 

 cut Hftecn acres in day. 



Wc regret that a more pi.blic and extensive trial 

 could not be made here the present season; but hope 

 that many of our readers will have on opportunity 

 of witnessing its performance next year. Jn the 

 meantime we copy from the Parmers' Register some 

 account of its operations in Virginia. After speaking 

 of an experiment made on very unfavorable ground, 

 William B. Harrison, of Brandon, says: 



" The third day, however, we removed them to a 

 more fovorable site, where the bids were wide, th« 

 lurrows shallow, ond the wheat heavy, and 1 very 

 soon became convinced that Mr. llussey's reaper did 

 not deserve to be classed with the humbugs of the 

 day. By this time the horses ond hands employed 

 hod become better troined, and the work wos beouti- 

 lully done — better indeed than 1 ever saw done by the 

 moat expert cradler and binder, " with every appli- 

 ance and means to boot," to enable them to do the 

 work well. Less wheat wos left on the ground trav- 

 ersed by the muehinee, either standing or cut, than 1 

 ever observed in any wheat field belore. 



" I wish I could speak as strongly in favour of the 

 reaper as a time saving machine, but the truth obliges 

 me to soy that 1 cannot. Still 1 think that it mil 

 save time; but the question is, how inuchf A very 

 difficult question it is, too, and by no means so easily 

 solved OS might at the hrst glance be imagined. In- 

 deed, 80 much depends on the locality, the length of 

 the rows and the heaviness of the crop, (the reaper 

 operoting to most advantage in heavy wheat,) that 

 the time saved is constantly varying; and to approxi- 

 mate the truth, therelbre, is as much as can be expect- 

 ed. Something, indeed, a good ucjI, depends upon 

 the fact, whether good cradlers have to be stopped in 

 order to run the machine; good policy, however, 

 would always suggest the propriety of slopping the 

 worst. 



'■ It is not enough to ascertain the number of bind- 

 ers required to run the machine, in order to deter- 

 mine the time saved. Say eight hands ore required 

 for this purpoae in heavy wheat, ond where the rows 

 are pretty long, and such situations are the most fav- 

 orable to the reaper, ond six where the wheat is 

 lightest and the rows short, and a good deal ol time 

 consequently lost in turning. Are six cradlers saved 

 in the former case, and four in the latter, estimating 

 the driver and raker, who ought to be good and elli- 

 cieni hands, as of equal value with cradlers? Cer 

 tainly not; and for this reason. The reaper cannot 

 be started os long as there is any dew on the wheat in 

 the morning, nor can it operate alter much has fallen 

 in the evening. At such times the hands that attend 

 the machine have to be employed in soma other way; 

 and moving from one kind o> work to another is al- 

 ways attended with more or less loss of time. Nor 

 is this all. In shocking wheat after the machine, 

 some loss of time le also incurred. Where we use 

 the cradles, the binders follow immediately behind 

 them, and then come the pickers up as well os the 

 shockers, and the whole work goes on together. The 

 reaper, however, when operating in long rows, aa it 

 must do to work to advantoge, scatters the work so 

 much, leaving it in long narrow stringa.'that shock- 

 era cannot find constant employment in following it. 

 We have found it necessary, theiefore, to stop a part 

 of our cradles, once a doy, in order to bring up the 

 shocking after the machines, which certainly occa- 

 sions some loss of time. Snll 1 think on the whole 

 that the tecuring of our crop has been soniewhot ex- 

 pedited by the use ol these machines; ond if binders 

 could have been hired to operate them without stop- 

 ping the cradles forthe purpose, our harvest would 

 have been very 'materially shortened; and the loss of 

 wheat would unquestionably hove been mu':h lees. 



" It would add greaily to the value of these ma- 

 chines, if the ingenious inventor, Mr. lluesey, could 

 devise some way to make them cut damp straw; so 

 that they might be kept at work all day. Whatever 

 Mr. Hussey has not accomplished, however, is, 1 am 

 sure, owing to the intrinsic difficulty of making the 

 improvement desired; for the wonder with me is not 

 that he bos achieved no more, but thot he has done so 

 much. 



'•The reaper compares most advantageously with 

 iradli e in cutting heavy wheat that stands well, cutting 

 it quite as rapidly as it would a lighter crop, which 

 the cradles would not do; or in cutting fallow wheat 

 ibai inclined altogether one way. The fallow wheat 

 However, must be cut the way it inclines, the knife 

 going under it, and it is laid beautifully as it falls from 

 (bo tnacbine, for the binders; but tbe mtcbine must 



go back without cutting. I am not of opinion that 

 the reaper will answer 111 all eitiiations, or will even 

 supersede the u^e ol the cradle all<>;^ciher; but I in- 

 cline to think that it may be used to great advantage 

 in securing parts of almost every large crop; at least 

 on level land. 



After timeing these machines repeatedly,! have not 

 been as yet able to g«t either of them to cut more 

 than an acre per hour, and, by the way, that is quite 

 expeditious work in heavy wheat. Before itying 

 the reaper, I hod supposed that good ecytheinen 

 vvoiild overage more than *J acres o day in good wheat, 

 but I am now convinced that this is quite aa much no 

 can be done. My overseer, Mr. Adama, who super- 

 intended tue macUines, and is quite a judicious man, 

 entertains the belief that IJ ocres might be accom- 

 plished by the reaper in on hour, with fast horses and 

 superior driving. It is probable too, that the experi- 

 ence of another season might enable us to effect more 

 than we have yet done. But still I doubt if an acre 

 and a half an hour can eier be counted on for many 

 consecutive hours. 



An observant gentleman of Charles City, and a 

 practical f'armer too, who has one of these machinea 

 which ho worked last year, informed me recently 

 that it would cut down sixteen acres ot wheat a 

 day, or would do the work of eight cradles. Tho 

 testimony of this gentleman is every way eniitled to 

 credit, and justice to Mr. Hussey seema to require 

 that it should be mentioned. 1 presume of course 

 that some allowance was made for the time lost in 

 the morning and evening, when the straw was 

 damp." 



Another trial was made by R. B. BoLLi.ia, of 

 Sandy Point, who remark*: — 



" 1 feel satisfied thot the principle is a good one, 

 and may be successfully applied to the object intend- 

 ed, and that the machine is destined when the invent- 

 or shall have better perfected its mechanical nriange- 

 mcnts, which he can, with bio greater experience, 

 easily do, to be an invaluable a.-qnisition to the fann- 

 ers of the wheat-growing region of country. With 

 three mules, a man to drive ond one on the machin* 

 to roke the wheat from the platform on which, as it 

 is cut, it falls, we estimated that rather more than one 

 acre per hour wos reaped. Sy Mr. Hufcsey'a calcu- 

 lation tbe machine must cut one acre in every two 

 miles that it travels through the wheat; 15 acres 

 therefore by this calc.ilation, may be reaped in a day 

 With one machine, pulled by three mules with two 

 men only to drive and rake, by travelling thirty miles, 

 a distance not too great on level land, through large 

 fields, where there would be but few turns. The cut- 

 ting of the machine where the wheat was rankest 

 was the beat, leaving not a straw scarcely standing 

 alter it, and rendering gleaning entirely unnecessary. 

 The wheat lor the " pickers up," or Binders, was de- 

 posited more evenly ond in much larger quantities t»- 

 gcther. than after the cradle, and wilh these advanta- 

 ges to the pickers up, eight were not always a'lle, 

 when the wheat was rank and abundant, to gather, 

 tie, and remove the sheaves Ironi the track of the ma- 

 chine, as it passed around the Fquare, The machine 

 does not cut well early in the morning, when the 

 wheat is moist; it cuts best when and where a crndler 

 would do least — in rank wheot and in the hottest per- 

 iod of the day. I hove concluded to procure two for 

 the next harvest, satisiied that much manual labor 

 thereby may be saved, at a critical and important 

 season to the farmer, when labor is always scorce, 

 and especiolly on the lower James River at that time. 



The Editor of the Register remarks — " Both t*>eso 

 trials were undertaken at our request, ond we are 

 confident that both the individuals used every core to 

 have full and loir trial made, and the facts and results 

 accurately noted. It is unnecessary to odd that no- 

 where could such confidence be better ilnced." 



'Vucca Gloriosa* 



There is, ot the present time, in the garden of Mr. 

 Baynton, ol Honest, near Bury St. Edmonds, lorge 

 specimen of the above plant with two flowir stems, 

 on one ol which are upivarda of 400 blossoms. Some 

 one lately recommended the application of miriite of 

 soda to Dihliae. A friend of ours tried it in a very 

 weak solution (about I ez to a gallon of wate ) and 

 applied it once to each root in th» dry weother of 

 June. The efi'ect has been a rich and powe.ful foli- 

 age. It is not too late to try it with g.-eal caution, 

 guarding against the chance of excess. — Leamington 

 ( Eng.) Hpn. fkroit. 



