246 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
KICE HUELilNG MACHINES. 
A New York City exchange paper says; "A Patent 
Bice Huller, the invention of a Mr. Barnes, has recently 
been placed in the mills of Messrs. White and Bundle, at 
Brewster’s Station, Putnam county, in this State. A cor- 
respondent, v.friting to us from that place, speaks highly 
of this newly invented huller. He says : It can be adapt- 
ed to other grain than rice — as buckwheat, rye, wheat, 
oats, etc, The Huller is capable of turning out from 
Iwenty-five to thirty bushels of grain per hour. It can be 
driven with less than two horse-power, and makes at or- 
dinary speed over two hundred revolutions per minute, 
deoring it thoroughly of all smut or taint — the great de- 
gideratum having been gained in it of working from point 
to point, and from the largest diameter. The best proof 
ihat can be given of the sucftsss of this invention is, that 
the mill now running the machine monopolizes the busi- 
l^ess within a section of twenty miles of its locality, the 
adjoining mills being closed. 1 he manner of running the 
Huller is simple, and can be understood by a child. The 
hopper is replenished as in a coffee mill, and as it passes 
downward the grain is separated from chaff, bran, etc., 
apd utonca made ready for the stones, free from any for- 
eign substance whatever. The grain, when bolted, far 
surpasses in whiteness and purity any that is hulled by 
other processes. The flour is several shades whiter than 
any our correspondent has ever seen, the rye being as 
white as wheaten flour. Although this machine is work- 
ing without the modern improvements usually found in 
mills (the one in which it is being about one hundred 
years old,) it has proved itself superior to every other 
aow in use. Upon inquiry, the owners of the mill in- 
formed our correspondent that it saved above any other 
smutter from three to five pounds of flour per bushel. 
This is an important saving. We are given to understand 
^hat the attention of millers throughout the country is 
already attracted to this useful invention of Mr. Barnes, 
who has associated with him in their manufacture Col. 
Sraeltzer, of this city, and that rights to the value of one 
hundred thousand dollars have already been disposed of. 
The machine was patented in 1855, but has not been 
practically tested until within the past year. The cause 
<of agricultural invention will undoubtedly be much bene- 
Itted by the general adoption of this useful invention.” 
A CHEAP AND GOOD ROOFING. 
The editor of the Valley Parmer gwts us the following, 
which strikes us being well worthy of a trial: 
The cheapest roof that we are acquainted with, and one 
lhat we prefer to shingles, particularly as many shin- 
gles are now made, is covered with cloth. We know 
iVom an experience of more than fifteen years, that when 
properly made they are not only cheap but good. 
For the foundation for the cloth a substantial covering 
©f boards should be laid, giving the roof any desired 
pitch, sufficient to run off the water. Cloth known under 
the name of bwrla.ps, which is made of hemp, is the best 
for this purpose. It is woven from one to six yards wide, 
and is much used for oil floor cloths. That which is one 
yard and a quarter wide, is usually bought for about four- 
teen cents per yard, but the widest is the best for roofing. 
It^sjiould be spread lightly over the roof, and lapped at the 
seams, and welt tacked down with small pieces of cloth 
ander the heads of the tacks ; a few should also be put 
In the middle, to secure it from the wind, until painted and 
inished. It should now receive a thick coat of paint ; 
spruce yellow, or what is termed mineral or fire-proof 
paint, costing but afev/ cents per pound, with linseed oil, 
makes a cheap, substantial paint. After the first coat of 
paint is laid on, small wood strips, half an inch square, 
running up and down the roof, should be nailed on twelve 
or sixteen inches apart. Slim nails, with small neat heads, 
should be selected for the wood strips. Then one or more 
coats of paint should be applied. If the house is strong 
and the boards for the roof are well laid on, such a roof 
will out last the common shingle roof. 
We have for some time intended giving a plan for build- 
ing not only a cheap but good, substantial house, that 
will be warm in winter and cool in summer, with this 
kind of roof. We will take the subject up at a future 
time. 
DRAINING DOW EANDS. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— B eing a subscriber 
and an attentive reader of your valuable paper, during 
this year, I take the liberty of addressing you this, desir- 
ing information as to the reclaiming of low lands, 
I have a very extensive bottom on a large creek ; on 
one side there are pretty high banks, but on the other the 
bank is not more than three feet high — the consequence 
is, that whenever tke stream gets swollen above that 
height, the bottom is flooded, and thereby rendered value- 
less. If I could keep the water off it, it would be good 
for fifty bushels of corn per acre. Now I had thought 
that if I could build an embankment, or levee, some five 
or six feet high, I could keep the water off. On this sub- 
ject I want information. Will you be so good, or, per- 
haps, some one of your numerous correspondents who 
have had some experience in such things, could, enlighten 
me in regard to it ; or it may be you have published some- 
thing on this subject previous to this year; at any rate, I 
would like an article on this subject in your paper. 
I wish to know how to construct an embankment. In 
the first place : Would it answer the purpose ?— and if so, 
how should it be made 1— whether there should be any 
timbers used 1 — what distance from the natural bank of 
the stream should there be a ditch or ditches made to ob- 
tain the dirtl and where I— what should be the height 
and breadth of the embankment relatively I at what 
time of year made, and how to prevent it from being 
washed away during the constrnction '? — and, how to pre- 
vent this afterwards, etc,, etc. 
I would like the above queries answered, and anything 
which would be necessary in the way of instruction in 
relation to making the embankment, particularly as re- 
gards the cost — whether it would pay or not. 
Very respectfully, yours, J. M. Strong. 
White Hall, N. C., June, 1857. 
[Send to C. M. Saxton & Co., 140 Fulton street, New 
York, and get a little book called “ Munn’s Practica 
Land Drainer”— price 75 cents. It contains precisely the | 
information you desire, and much more of value. Let our 
subscribers, also, give Mr. Strong all the information in 
their power,. — Editors.] 
A Beautiful Extract. — There lies in the depths of 
every heart that dream of our youth, and the chastened 
wish of manhood, which neither cares nor honors can 
ever extinguish, the hope of one day resting from the pur- 
suits which absorb us, of interposing between our old age 
and the tomb, some tranquil interval of reflection, when 
with feelings not subdued but softened, with passion not 
exhausted but mellowed, we may look calmly on the past 
without regret, and on the future without apprehension. 
But in the tumult of the world, this vision forever recedes 
as we approach it; the passions which have agitated out- 
life disturb our latest hours; and we go down to the tomb 
like the sun in the ocean, with no gentle and gradual 
source which gave it, but sullen in its beamless descent, 
with all its fiery glow, long after it has lost its i,>ower anJ 
its splendor. 
