1303.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
77 
three or four will be better, asthe trees will pro- 
tect one another. By alternating the trees in 
the rows— that is, putting those in the second 
row opposite the intervals of the first row, a 
much more effective barrier is produced than 
when the trees of the different rows are placed 
opposite to each other. Our reasons for recom- 
mending planting the trees wide apart at once, 
in preference to thick planting to be afterwards 
thinned, aro : that the growth will be better, and 
that where a dense grove is thinned, the remain- 
ing trees will be badly shaped and weak. Be- 
sides, in cutting away a thick plantation, the 
roots left in the ground decay, and are liable 
to injure those of the living trees. Where rab- 
bits and mice are troublesome, the young trees 
must be protected from their attacks. Besides 
the methods we have already noticed at differ- 
ent times, it has been recommended to surround 
the trunk of the tree with pieces of corn stalk 
placed perpendicularly and bound closely 
around the trunk, as protection against mice. 
Improved Wagon " Jack " or Hoister- 
Mome-made, Convenient, and Cheap. 
I. T. Mapes, of Howells, Orange Co., N. Y., 
sends us a model of a wagon "Jack," orhoister 
as he terms it, which appears to be very valua- 
ble, from the fact that it is simple in its opera- 
tion, and can be readily and quickly made by 
any farmer having an axe, auger, saw, and chis- 
el. Mr. Mapes says he knows of only two 
having been made, and he claims to be the in- 
ventor, but he cheerfully gives the plan for the 
benefit of those who take the American Agricul- 
turist. "We take the liberty in their name to re- 
turn a vote of thanks — and a large vote it is. 
Description. — The engraving will nearly 
explain the construction. The base, a, is of 
2-inch plank, say 11 feet long and 8 or 10 inches 
wide. The upright, u, is of 2-inch plank, 4 inch- 
es wide at the bottom, and 21 to 3 feet high, 
having a mortise or slot, li inches wide, about 
halfway down its middle. The lever, I, is cut 
from 11 inch plank, and is say 3 feet long, 3 
inches wide at one end and tapering to a con- 
venient handle at the other end. This is fastened 
into the upright by a pin placed at the proper 
bight from the ground to suit the wagon — 
about 2 feet high for an ordinary farm wagon. 
On the short arm of the lever a notch is cut to 
hold the axle. The catch, c, is also of a short 
piece of plank 14 to 17 inches long, cut to a 
shoulder to fit into the slot at the top of the 
upright, where it is held by a pin. This swings 
loosely and falls into notches in the lever as 
shown in the engraving. By depressing the 
lever at I, the wagon axle is raised and the 
catch, c, holds it there. — To the above descrip- 
tion, which is substantially that given by Mr. 
Mapes, we will add a suggestion, viz.; that where 
there are several wagons of different bights, the 
Jack may be adapted to all of them, by having 
the pins put in loosely, and several holes in the 
upright, both for the lever and the catch, so 
that they can be adjusted to any desired bight. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A Pennsylvania Corn Marker. 
I believe the plan in vogue among the Penn- 
sylvania farmers in this locality, for marking 
corn land, is preferable to Iowa or New-Jersey 
corn markers ; the mark made by either of those 
is too narrow for planting corn in hills. A mark 
made by a two inch block or runner in mellow 
ground will " cave in," so as to leave a triangu- 
lar hollow, which would receive all the grains 
in a heap ; besides, a horse can not be made to 
"toe" a slight mark, or walk as straight as a 
human being. My experience in planting corn 
in hills is, that four or five grains dropped on a 
surface of 4 inches, do better than if thrown on 
an inch square. My plan is to furrow one way 
with a light plow ; a smart man and horse can 
mark from eight to 10 acres per day. For cross 
marking, I take a light stiff pole about 23 feet 
long; to this I attach G long trace chains, (oth- 
er light chains will answer) 3 ft. 5 inches apart, 
the first chain about 2 feet from the far end of 
the pole, which leaves about 4 feet of pole at the 
near end ; on this end I make a mark 3 ft. 5 inch- 
es from the last chain. Two persons, one at 
each end of the pole, walk over the field cross- 
wise of the furrows, drawing the chains behind. 
The one acting as leader in marking, will 
walk in the last mark, keeping the mark on 
the pole opposite the middle of his body: 
by this means the two can mark twelve acres 
in an hour. If the first mark is straight, and 
the leader " minds his eye," every mark will 
be as straight as a line, and as uniform in 
width as the chains on the pole. To use 
this marker to advantage, the field should be in 
good planting order, and not be very hilly, nor 
too full of trees ; stumps will not interfere. A 
common trace chain makes mark enough to be 
readily seen, and does not draw loose earth in 
the farrow to interfere with planting. The plant- 
ing is done across the furrow, or with the chain 
mark. This simple contrivance has saved us 
many a hard day's travel after the plow ; as we, 
like the Iowa farmer, were formerly in the 
habit of marking both ways with a plow. 
Stark Co., Ohio. JACOB HOLL. 
The White Willow Again. 
Western readers of the Agriculiurist continue 
to write to us for advice concerning the White 
Willow. AVe have no practical knowledge upon 
the subject, and can only speak of the present 
excitement from what we see in the western pa- 
pers and learn from our correspondents. That 
the tree will grow readily and rapidly we have 
no doubt. That it will, in every situation, do 
all that is claimed for it, is yet to be proved. 
We do not advise any one to invest largely in 
the stock, nor to expend time and money in 
fencing their farms with it. If the willow is 
valuable now, it will be as good a year or two 
hence. The present excitement seems to be 
wholly uncalled for ; thousands will inconsider- 
ately rush into it and finding that the plant does 
not come fnlly up to their expectations, the 
really good qualities it has, will be overlooked, 
and the whole affair denounced as a humbug. 
To those who are disposed to make the experi- 
ment wo say ; be sure that you get the white wil- 
low. Peddlers are traversing the Western States 
in all directions ; they may sell the true sort and 
they may not. It is much better to buy of re- 
sponsible nurserymen. Plant a few for experi- 
ment, and if these succeed, and grow half as rap- 
idly as it is claimed they do, they will give an 
abundant supply of cuttings for future plantings. 
In this, as all other new notions, approach cau- 
tiously, without prejudice against the truth there 
may be in it, and without blindly swallowing 
all that interested parties may say in favor of it. 
For ourselves, we really hope that there may be 
found in the White Willow just the qualities 
needed in a tree for the naked plains of the West, 
and when we are convinced that it is the thing 
we have been looking for, we shall gladly re- 
commend it. But with all the light we can 
gather so far, we are constrained to offer a word 
of caution to our readers. (P. S.— Since the 
above was put in type, we have had a conver- 
sation with a distinguished agriculturist from 
Illinois, who considers the whole willow excite- 
ment as approaching nearly to humbug. He 
says he has good reason to believe that an edi- 
tor of an agricultural paper, which has perhaps 
done more than any other to push forward the 
willow culture, by editorials and advertise- 
ments, is himself indirectly interested in the sale 
of cuttings, and is thus grinding his own axe.) 
A Cabbage Puller. 
"Sucker," in a communication full of sugges- 
tions, describes a very simple contrivance for 
pulling cabbages, which would doubtless greatly 
lighten the labor of taking up the crop. The en- 
graving will readily show the way in which the 
tool is made. The handle is 6 feet long, of 3x4 
scantling. Two boards 3 feet long are nailed on 
opposite sides and project 18 inches beyond the 
end ; these are rounded off like the runners of 
a sled. In the engraving only a part of the 
handle is shown, to save room. To use the 
implement the runners are pushed under the 
cabbage until the lower end of the handle 
comes against the stem, then by raising the 
other end the cabbage is easily lifted. 
Dairy Statistics 
Hon. Zadoc Pratt has given us the statistics 
of his dairy farm for 18G2. He keeps 64 cows, 
which for the season of abou* eight months 
produced 35,740 gallons of milk, or an av- 
erage of 2 14-100th gallons per day for each 
cow. The whole product of butter was 14,274 
lbs., equal to an average product for each cow 
of about 131 ounces per day. Each cow yielded 
butter to the value of $57.98. The following 
table shows the amount of milk required to make 
a pound of butter on the first of each of several 
months for three years; and also the weight 
per gallon of the milk at the time. 
I860. 1861. 1862. 
qtft. lbs. qtn. Ib/t. qt*. lb*. 
May 1st 12-90 7-91. .11-20 8.92.. 9-90 7-80 
June 1st 11-43 S-2S.. 12-40 7-74.. 10-77 7-84 
J„ly 1st 12-14 8-30. .10-74 8-03. .10-55 7-80 
Au"llst 1st H-35 8-66. .10-45 8-28. .10-13 7-88 
September 1st 11-83 8-09.. 9-94 8-12.. 9-13 7-80 
October 1st 9-28 8-S3..8-65 8-07.. 7 00 7-68 
November 1st 8-21 7-56.. 6-50 8-12.. 7-58 7-44 
Average of above 7 j n _ 03 8 . 19 I0 . 29 8 . 5..g.29 7-75 
days by themselves i 
Av. Hie whole season. 11-20 8-28.. 10-42 8-05.. 10-01 7-90 
