108 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
opening this cell, however, it was found to con¬ 
tain instead of a queen, only a dead drone ! “ At 
the base of this cell was an unusual quantity of 
the peculiar jelly or paste which is fed to the 
young that are to be developed as queens. One 
might almost imagine that the poor bees in 
their desperation had dosed the unfortunate 
drone to death ; as though they expected by such 
liberal feeding, to produce some hopeful change in 
his sexual organization.” 
-^ - -- -- - 
Planting Corn with Machines. 
We have examined 
most of the Corn 
Planters that have 
been brought for¬ 
ward, but thus far 
we have commend¬ 
ed no one of them, 
for the reasons that 
there seemed to be 
radical imperfec¬ 
tions in their con¬ 
struction. The main 
defects have been in 
their not dropping 
the corn uniformly, 
and especially in 
not covering it even¬ 
ly. We still think 
that for so much 
ground as we could 
plant with our own 
hands we would pre¬ 
fer the old fashioned 
mode of “ marking 
out,” dropping by 
hand, and covering 
with a hoe. And we 
would say the same 
of planting even 
the largest surfaces, 
provided, always, 
that we could se¬ 
cure enough of just the right kind of help at just 
the time the ground was in the best condition for 
planting. This is, however, very often impracti¬ 
cable, so that on the whole we think there are 
several patent planters which will do the work 
better in unskillful hands than to trust it to the 
judgment or caprice of the ordinary run of hired 
men. The kernels should be dropped in the hill 
considerably separated, and all be covered at a 
uniform depth with finely pulverized soil. But 
very few hired laborers will do this, even though 
working side by side with their employer. In 
perhaps a majority of corn-fields, there is a loss of 
ten per cent , that is, one kernel in every ten comes 
up late from deep planting, or does not come at 
all from the same cause, or for want of covering. 
In regard to the best Planting Machine, we are 
inclined to consider that, for a hand implement, 
the one here shown, is the cheapest, and all things 
considered, the best we have seen. (The retail 
price is $3 50). Its chief superiority over those 
previously proposed is in the arrangement for cov¬ 
ering the seed. We tried this one in a mass of 
wet sand, so compact that it required considerable 
effort to thrust even a walking stick into it, and 
yet in each trial we found the corn well covered 
and always 4 or 5 kernels in a hill. An examina¬ 
tion of the accompanying figures will illustrate 
its mode of operation. 
Fig. 1 shows the opeiator at work. Fig. 2 is a 
section of the inside apparatus. In the upright 
piece B, there is a groove at E, which can be made 
larger or smaller at pleasure. As B, is pushed 
downward by the hand, the stiff brush C, scrapes 
off the surplus kernels and say 4 or 5 kernels 
drop into the space d c. At the same time the 
lower end of B, which is hollowed out, catches 
the charge of seed previously dropped, and push¬ 
ing aside the hinged shoe D, deposits the corn in 
the soil. As B, is drawn up, this shoe, D, is 
thrown back to its place by the spring F, and in 
returning it draws the soil over the corn. The 
operator, then simply sets down the implement 
where a hill is wanted, pushes down B, and with¬ 
draws it, and goes to the next hill. By taking two 
implements, one in each hand, two rows can be 
planted at the same time. When two are used it 
would be well to nail a lath or small strip of wood 
in front of them, to keep them always at the same 
distance apart, say 3 or 4£ feet, according to the 
width of rows desired. 
--- —*»■— --- 
Practical Hints on Raising Onions- 
[The following article is very acceptable and 
valuable, as it is from one who speaks from large 
experience.—E d.] 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I know of no crop which requires the cultivator 
to be more persevering and to attend to his duties 
more punctually than that of Onions. From the 
time the seed is in the ground until they are in the 
market, there is no period when they can be left 
without receiving his attention. If this be given, 
perhaps there is no crop which pays better for the 
labor than this. Many of your readers may not 
be aware of the quantities sent to our markets. 
As one item on this account, I will say that the 
towns of Southport and Westport, Fairfield Co. 
Conn., sold last year one hundred and fifty thous¬ 
and bushels or more. 
The soil best suited for the onion is a clay 
loam; if gravelly they will dry up before they 
mature, and if too wet they can not be sown early 
enough in the Spring. The longer the ground has 
been under cultivation the better, as they will not 
bottom on a new soil or where it is very light or 
sandy. Many put the manure on the ground in 
Autumn and plow it in, then harrow down in the 
Spring without re-plowing. The manure should 
be stacked and turned over once or twice and 
well heated in order to have it fine and free from 
weeds. Long manure, besides being in the way 
during cultivation, is apt to make the ground too 
light. 
Most people prefer Fall plowing, as the soil ia 
apt to be lumpy if plowed in the Spring, and will 
not be fit for sowing as early as if previously 
plowed. If Fall plowed, it should be well har¬ 
rowed with an iron tooth harrow in the Spring, 
followed by the bush harrow until made as level 
as possible. I have found the best mode of mak¬ 
ing a bush-harrow for this purpose is to take a 
plank eight .feet long, eight inches wide, and two 
thick, bore holes in it and put in fine brush. Then 
fasten the chain so it will draw from the top, and 
it will keep a ridge of dirt in front of it which will 
fill all holes and leave the ground nearly smooth. 
It should then be raked over by the hand rake— 
I think a wooden one is the best—and all small 
stones removed. 
A machine costing about three dollars, and 
drawn by hand, makes two drills at a time, one 
foot apart, and drops the seed at the rate of about 
four pounds to the acre. This is covered by 
shoving a hoe, or drawing a rake lengthwise the 
drills. The time for sowing is as soon as the 
ground is dry enough, which, with us, is from the 
first to the middle of April. 
As soon as they are up enough to see the rows 
in the morning—they can be seen at that time 
much sooner than at any other—they should be 
gone through carefully with a hoe about eight 
inches wide and only one and a half deep. A hoe 
like this lets the dirt slide over it, leaves the 
ground level, and is light to handle. As soon as 
the weeds which are cut up by the hoe are dead, 
the weeder should crawl over each row using a 
hoe about two inches wide and three-fourths of an 
inch deep with a handle about eight inches long, 
cutting up what he can draw with the hoe and 
pulling the remainder. For this part of the work 
trusty boys are better than men. About this time 
a coat of patience and perseverance is generally 
necessary to insure a good crop. From this time 
they should be kept perfectly clear from weeds, 
for if they once get over-run your crop is ruined. 
They generally require to be gone over four times. 
When the tops are nearly dead, which is general¬ 
ly in August, they are fit to pull. If they do well, 
the tops will fall down before they dry up. As 
the onions are pulled the weeds should be all hoed 
up and raked into piles, to prevent them from 
going to seed. Leave the onions spread on the 
ground a few days. Some people pile them up, 
putting three or four bushels in each heap and let 
them stand in this way for two or three weeks. 
This gives them time to sweat before housing 
them. They should never be put in when damp 
as they will grow more and more so, turn black 
and rot. The best place to keep them until cold 
weather, is under cover where they will have 
plenty of air and can be kept perfectly dry. They 
should never be more than three feet thick on the 
floor. If required to be kept through the Winter, 
they should be put in a tight place and well cov¬ 
ered to keep the air from them. Moderate freez¬ 
ing will not spoil them if allowed to remain cov¬ 
ered and unmoved until they thaw. A common 
cellar is generally too warm aird damp to keep 
them well. If the roots begin to start they should 
be moved and dried. From four to six hundred 
bushels per acre is a common crop. The besi 
time to sell is when they bring a high price. An 
average price for the last ten years has been 
about fifty cents a bushel. 
David H. Sherwood 
Southport, Ot., March. 1858. 
Boeklen & Bossert's Corn Planter. 
