112 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Self-Regulating Windmill. — Daniel Halliday, 

 says the Farm Journal, a mechanic in an obscure 

 country village, Bellington, Connecticut, has done 

 what the world of Mechanics have sought for in 

 vain for centuries. He has invented and put in 

 successful operation a Wind-mill, with self-furling 

 sails. The mill built by him has five-feet wings, 

 that is, the diameter of the wind-wheel is ten feet, 

 and it has been in operation for six months with- 

 out a hand being touched to it to regulate the sails. 

 It ran fifteen days at one time without stopping 

 day or night, and it has stood through hard gales : 

 the beauty of the improvement is, that it does 

 stand still when the wind rages hardest, with the 

 edcre of the wings to the wind, and as it lulls they 

 gradually resume their position for the gentle 

 breeze. It is so contrived that nothing but a squall 

 of great severity falling upon it without a moment's 

 warning can produce damage. 



The mill mentioned has drawn water from a well 

 twenty-eight feet deep, one hundred feet distant 

 and forced it into a small reservoir in the upper 

 part of the barn, sufficient for all farm purposes, 

 garden irrigation, " and lots to spare." 



The cost of such a mill will be $50, and the 

 pipes about $25. It is elevated on a single oak 

 post a foot square, the turn circle being supported 

 by iron braces. The wings are made of one longi- 

 tudinal iron bar, through which run small rods ; 

 upon these rods narrow boards half an inch thick 

 are fitted, holes being bored trough from edge to 

 edge, and screwed together, by nuts on the ends of 

 the rods. 



This makes strong light sails, but as will be seen 

 are light fixtures not to be furled or clewed up ; 

 but they are thrown up edge to the wind by a very 

 ingenious and simple arrangement of the machine- 

 ry, which obviates the great objection to windmills 

 for farm use : the necessity of constant supervision 

 of the sails to suit the strength of the wind. 



[We scarcely know of any one invention of so 

 wide importance as this, of a good, sure, safe wind- 

 mill ; one which could be put up and kept up at 

 a small expense, and which could be relied on to 

 do work a good part of the time. The uses to 

 which such a power could be 'put are almost innu- 

 merable. We have alread}^ mentioned pumping 

 as successfully done among us, by a mill built at 

 Jacksonville in this State. A young man in this 

 city has taken a patent for a mill which exposes 

 one set of sails to the wind while the others are 

 f urle d . — E d . ] — Prairie Farmer. 



Number of Seeds in given Weights. — Mr. 

 Melvin stated in a late discussion at an English 

 Farmer's Club, that after several trials he had 

 found that — 



1 lb. of red clover of good quality gives, per acre, 



to each superficial foot, 6| seeds. 



1 lb. yellow clover, (viedicago lupulina,) 6 " 



1 lb. white clover, 16 u 



1 lb. rye grass, 5 " 



But as a large number of the seeds sown do not 

 vegetate, and many of the plants which come up 

 die, it is necessary to sow much larger quantities 

 than are specified; and Mr. M. recommends for 

 an acre 8 lbs. red clover, 2 lbs. white do., 2 lbs. 

 yellow do., with one bushel of rye grass, which 

 by his computation affords 100 seeds rye grass, 50 

 red clover, 32 white, and 12 yellow clover, per su- 

 perficial foot. In this country, a good substitute 

 for the rye grass would be the same quantity of 

 red-top per acre. 



Cooking Food. — The Shakers, at Lebanon, New 

 York, in the Patent Office Report, speak thus : 



" The experience of more than thirty years leads 

 us to estimate giound corn, at one third higher 

 than unground, as food for cattle, and especially 

 for fattening pork ; hence, it has been the practice 

 of our society for more than a quarter of a centu- 

 ry to grind all our provender. The same experi- 

 ence induces us to put a higer value on cooked than 

 upon raw meal; and for the fattening of animals, 

 swine particularly, we consider three of cooked 

 equal to four bushels of raw meal. Until within 

 the last three or four years, our society fattened 

 annually, for thirty years, from 40,000 to 50,000 

 pounds of pork exclusive of lard and offal fat ; 

 and it is the constant practice to cook the meal, 

 for which purpose six or seven potash kettles are 

 used." 



Scientific men have said this for years ; here is 

 the testimony of practical men who make no pre- 

 tensions to science. In this way true science and 

 practice always agree. They are one and the same 

 thing in a different shape. The new moon is no 

 less a moon because we only see her horns. 



Far. Companion. 



A GOOD KIND OF CORN BREAD. 



Take one quart of corn meal, three eggs, one 

 table-spoonful of lard, a little yeast and salt; 

 make it up tolerably stiff; after it has risen put a 

 small tea-spoonful of soda and a t«a-spoonful of 

 brown sugar in a little milk, and stir it in ; the 

 quantify of milk depends on how you wish to bake 

 it: if in rolls very little. It maybe made thick 

 enough to drop in spoonfuls into ail oven and bake 

 with a lid ; or made thin enough to bake like bat- 

 ter-bread. If it is made at one or two o'clock it 

 will rise sufficiently for supper; if at breakfast 

 time it will do for dinner, when it should be baked 

 in pones. 



GINGER CAKES. 



Three pounds and a half of flour, 1\ lbs. of but- 

 ter, a tea-cup of ginger, (this quantity must be 

 less if the ginger is very strong,) lib. of sugar, a 

 tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in sour cream or in 

 vinegar, with a sufficient quantity of molasses to 

 moisten : work the ingredients well together, roll 

 thin, and bake brown. 



Mr. Editor. — Will you allow me through your 

 columns to make a recommendation which may 

 prove serviceable to the farmers of the county in 

 the coming season 1 



The corn crop of this county, we all know, was 

 more injured last summer by chinch bug than by 

 the drought which prevailed throughout the coun- 

 try. Upon examination, I find this insect in full 

 force now in the broom sedge Avhich abounds so 

 extensively in our uncultivated lands. They are 

 " alive" if not " kicking," and will be ready to 

 sally forth upon their work of destruction as the 

 warm weather approaches, unless some means be 

 resorted to for destroying them at once. In their 

 present partially torpid condition the application 

 of fire to the sedge fields will do this work. Let 

 every farmer at once apply the torch before the 

 warmth of spring imparts to this destroyer the ac- 

 tivity which enables it in warm weather to take 

 refuge under ground where neither fire nor water 



