152 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



Mat 



Nutting's Fanning and Assorting Ma- 

 chine. 



Eds. Co. Gent. — ^I notice in the Country Gentle- 

 man of April 23d, an editorial answer to an inqui- 

 ry, which I fear may do unintentional harm by 

 leading to false conclusions. You say you believe 

 Nutting's Separator is not now manufactured or 

 sold anywhere. In consequence of a notice in the 

 Kegiater, and some notice in the Country Gentle- 

 man two or three year ago, many farmers were led 

 to think that an implement had at last been made 

 by the use of which they would be enabled to have 

 pure seed, and the largest and earliest ripened ker- 

 nels of that seed, and thus secure a constant im- 

 provement in the quality and quantity of their 

 crops ; but if the thing is not now manufactured, 

 they will naturally infer that it has proved a fail- 

 ure, as some of our foreign friends say in regard 

 to our free institutions ; but as the rebellion and 

 present unsettled state of our country is the cause 

 of the latter, so it is of the former. The machine 

 has not proved a failure, but on the contrary, nev- 

 er was esteemed so highly, where it is known, as 

 to-day, as is proved by the fact that the first two 

 years it was rather difficult to get my neighbor far- 

 mers to bring their seed grain and run it through 

 the machine for nothing, i. e. free. The third year 

 they willingly paid me 15 cents per day, or three 

 cents per bushel for small lots, for the use of it. 

 The same man have paid me $1.50 per day, or one 

 quart per bushel the last and present year. One 

 man who has sent some six miles by team, four 

 times in the last three years for it, made over $15 

 by its use in running through 300 bushels of win- 

 ter wheat in eight hours. 



"While the condition of the country has seemed 

 not to justify effort for the introduction of the 

 thing, it has constantly been manufactured on a 

 small scale in several places in New England if not 

 elsewhere, and has also been constantly improving 

 in construction. There has been a local demand 

 for all made I think, so that it has never been ad- 

 vertised for sale except the one advertisement in 

 the Country Gentleman. 



There is a perceptible improvement in grain 

 wherever it has been used the most, especially in 

 the diminution of foul seeds. I believe I have not 

 one sample even, of the great pest of spring wheat 

 called cockle or pink, this season, and all weed 

 seeds are diminishing, as not a kernel is ever sown 

 with grain that is run through this machine. 



If farmers will be sufficiently careful to ferment 

 their manure so as to destroy foul seeds therein, 

 feed their teams with meal when preparing their 

 grain land, kill all the weeds in hoed crops and by 

 the road side, and sow only pure seed, the curse 



upon Adam's posterity will be materially diminish- 

 ed. There never was so great occasion for the ef- 

 fort as now when labor is so scarce. But let not 

 farmers despair of ever getting the thing to do it 

 with, as, the rebellion down, capital invested, and 

 abundant supply apparent. 



KxjFrs Nutting. 

 Randolph, Vt. April 2*7, 1863. 



Mr. Nutting's machine is a very valuable one, 

 and he should make arrangements with some good 

 manufacturer to supply the demand for it — Coun- 

 try Gentieman. 



— We have used one of Sandford Adaa's grain 

 sorters, made in Boston, and are much pleased 

 with it. "We do not have any of these implements 

 for sale at the "West. 



"Will not our friend Hovey, of 194 Lake street, 

 look after this New England Yankee fixing. — Ed. 



A Simple Method of Growing Celery. 



BY A NEW JERSEY MARKET GARDENER. 



The gronnd necessary for the growth of celery 

 need not be damp, as is generally supposed. Any 

 good, rich vegetable soil, if level, is all sufficient. 

 Although the plant luxuriates in moisture, if prop- 

 erly applied, yet it is as quickly impatient of stag- 

 nant water at the roots as almost any other veget- 

 able. 



One of the best varieties for private culture is 

 the Incomparable Dwarf, a solid, stocky, white va- 

 riety, never attaining more than two feet in length, 

 but of the most delicious flavor. This variety is 

 particularly well adapted to this simple mode of 

 cultivation ; which consists in planting the plants 

 on the surface, one foot apart each way, so as to 

 form a square bed. The object in having the plot 

 thus square or oblong is, that when the celery is 

 so planted, the plants crowd each other when 

 grown so that in the struggle for light, the hearts 

 are drawn upwards — one of the most important 

 objects to be obtained; which, when the celery is 

 planted in single or double rows, cannot be attain- 

 ed, without the process of what w£ call handling 

 and hoeing up. The time of planting is usually 

 the month of July ; but if good, strong plants can 

 be had, fine celery may .be grown by planting in 

 August. Nothing further whatever is necessary in 

 its cultivation but simply hoeing to encourage 

 growth and keep down the weeds, as is done in a 

 cabbage or onion bed. This, then, is the whole 

 process from the time of planting in July until in 

 November. Thus far, it is, of course, greea — ^un- 

 blanched ; the blanching process being done when 

 ' stored in winter quarters. 



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