351 
IMPROVED STOCK AT THE WEST.—STAFFORD^ PATENT DRYER. 
Then the small fork for spreading and turning the 
hay, is the principal point in this article that I wish 
to remark upon. Not the fork, but the practice of 
spreading and turning the hay at all. Timothy hay, 
in particular, never should be cut till the seed be¬ 
gins to ripen. That which is mowed in the morn¬ 
ing in good weather, will do to put in cock in the 
afternoon, directly from the swath. Or that which 
is mowed to-day, will do to cock to-morrow, and it 
will cure well, and all the labor of spreading and 
turning may be dispensed with, and still have a 
better quality of hay. [That depends something 
upon the quantity grown per acre. If it be from 
two to three tons it is usually necessary to spread 
it.] Use a good three tine fork to pitch the hay 
from the swath to the cock, or else use the horse- 
rake, and very little hand-raking will suffice. The 
recommendation about the grindstone is good for 
this latitude, and a portable one should always.be 
carried to the field, where stones are as plenty as 
upon our native hills. But I have seen mowers in 
Ohio, who would not find a stone big enough to 
dull a scythe in a week. There the grindstone is 
but seldom needed. I believe the recommendation 
to use water-proof cloths to cover cocks of hay and 
shocks of grain, is too much neglected. Upon many 
a small farm they would pay cost every year. Pray, 
Mr. A., have you got them among your agricultural 
implements ? I spent four hours in your city not long 
since, hunting for a few yards of cheap oil-cloth 
with which I wanted to make a cover that I could 
use in case of a sudden shower, to save a load, or 
unfinished stack of hay or grain. I found the 
article at last, and twice this season already have 
I saved the cost of it. A small cord at each corner 
is needed to fasten it on a load or stack, which can 
be done in five minutes; and then let it blow and 
rain—all is safe. One will last for years. If grain 
is well stacked it is better than in any barn. 
Soil of the Red Sand-Stone Formation. —Will 
your admirable new correspondent, Rufus, inform 
your readers of the principal localities of the kind 
of soil he describes? It will enable many readers, 
old as well as young, to become familiar with what 
he describes. For instance, if he had said, while 
speaking of the soil described in this article, such 
is the soil at Hartford, Conn., &c., then those of us 
who are familiar with that, could judge of others 
by comparison. I hope he will continue his arti¬ 
cles. 
Capons. —About one half of your readers do not 
even alter their pigs and lambs and calves; and 
how can you expect them to alter their chickens ? 
Besides, all the array of implements, paraded, by 
some operators, is enough to frighten common folks 
from the attempt. If Mr. Phares can tell us how 
to dispense with those, then we may try. 
Production and Preparation of Corn for the Eu¬ 
ropean Market, is one of the most important subjects 
that can be discussed at this time in your columns. 
The capability of American soil to produce Indian 
corn is so great, and extends over such a vast sur¬ 
face. that it is not probable that a year of universal 
blight will ever occur. And there are millions of 
acres of unoccupied soil, capable of producing 40 
or 50 bushels to the acre without artificial manures, 
and with but moderate cultivation. There are vast 
regions of the W est, where this grain does not 
1 commonly sell for more than 10 to 15 cents per 
bushel; and I suppose the cultivators find it profita¬ 
ble at these prices, or they would not continue to grow 
it year after year. Such being the case, it certainly can 
be delivered in any Atlantic port, well kiln dried, and 
in suitable packages, in the meal, for one and a half 
cents per pound. And when all the growing facili¬ 
ties of transportation are fully made, it will be de¬ 
livered for one cent per pound, for the best of 
sweet corn meal from kiln, or rather, steam-dried 
Indian corn. As I look upon it as decidedly the 
most important and most certain crop of the United 
States, too much cannot be said or written on the 
subject. Reviewer 
IMPROVED STOCK AT THE WEST. 
We are happy to announce to the lovers of fine 
stock, that Mr. Wm. H. Sotham, who has for many 
years, in connexion with Mr. Corning, of Albany, 
bred choice stock of various kinds on their farm 
nea^that city, has recently leased and moved on to' 
the fine grazing farms formerly occupied by R. L 
Allen and ourselves, on the Niagara River, in the 
town of Black Rock, Erie county, N. Y. He has 
taken with him the choice of his splendid herd of 
Herefords, and his flock of imported Cotswold 
sheep, where he will continue to breed them for 
sale, as he has heretofore done in Albany. 
In the same neighborhood, are the fine herds of 
Short-Horns and Devons; the long.-woolled and 
South-Down sheep, of L. F. Allen. 
Besides these, there are numerous choice animals 
of different breeds, in various hands, throughout 
and adjoining this county, among which we may 
mention as particularly deserving of notice, the De¬ 
von stock of Mr. Beck, and the Short-Horns and 
sheep of Mr. Hadfield, of Wyoming. But as Mr 
Sotham has promised us a particular description of 
his stock for publication soon, we defer any fur¬ 
ther notice of it for the present. 
It is a great gratification to us that the place 
where we have spent so many pleasant, and we 
trust not altogether unprofitable days, is still to be 
adorned with an improved stock ; and we look for¬ 
ward with agreeable anticipations to the time when 
we shall be able to leave this paper farming and 
dealing in agricultural implements, and again come 
in contact with good old mother earth. 
STAFFORD’S PATENT DRYER. 
For preventing flour and meal from souring, and 
grain from heating. One of the machines is a cylin¬ 
der w T ith horizontal flange, which revolves in a 
trough, slightly inclined ; the article operated upon 
is spouted upon the upper end, whence it works 
its way gradually to the other, passing many times 
over the cylinder. It is then discharged by a spout. 
The cylinder is heated by steam, and the condensed 
water is returned to the boiler; and the weight attach¬ 
ed to the safety valve regulates the pressure and con¬ 
sequent amount of heat. The efficiency of the ope¬ 
ration consists in the great amount of heated sur¬ 
face of cylinder and flanges which the substance 
passes-over, and the perfect ventilation afforded. 
The other machine is a stationary dryer, which is 
composed of a series of heating tubes within a cas¬ 
ing, combined with a series of ingeniously devised 
perforated tubes which affords perfect ventilation to 
