196 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
and a crop of Winter rye may be sowed immedi¬ 
ately on its stubble to good advantage. 
We believe in buckwheat, as one of the staples 
of an annual farm crop. 
-- r-m - 
Weeding Implements for the Field and 
Garden. 
Wn present illustrations and descriptions of 
several implements specially useful for eradicat¬ 
ing weeds which are now struggling for suprem¬ 
acy, not in the garden only, but among the carrots, 
turnips, &e., in the field. The Weeding, or Bayonet 
Hoe, (tig. L) we introduced to general notice fifteen 
months since ; and, as we said then, we still think 
it. one of the most convenient little implements 
we know of. The blade, which is about 6 inches 
long, is sharp-pointed and sharp-edged. It can be 
used almost like a common hoe, by laying it down 
upon the side. The point can be turned to the 
right or left, to work among plants. We have 
this implement in hand two-thirds of the time we 
Fig. 1. 
WEEDING OR BAYONET IIOK. 
spend in the garden, at this season. The larger 
figure shows the metal portion ; the smaller one 
includes thehandle, which is, say 4 feet long. The 
retail price of these hoes is usually about 50 cents. 
We would not be without one if it cost five times 
as much. 
The Scuffle or Push Hoe (fig. 2) has been in use 
for some years, but is not so generally known as 
it should be. The steel blade is 2 to 3 inches 
wide, and 5 to 10 inches in length. The front 
edge is beveled sharp, and sometimes the back 
edge also, so as to cut both ways. The handle, 
being 5 to six feet long, allows one to stand erect 
in working, and at the same time reach in to the 
middle of a pretty wide bed of vegetables. It is 
Fig. 2. 
SCUFFLE OR PUSH HOE. 
useful for working between rows, also for gravel 
walks, and is every way a very convenient imple¬ 
ment. Cost at retail, 37J- to 75 cents, according 
to length of blade. 
The Carrot, or Coultered Scuffle Hoe (fig. 3) is a 
new and very useful implement. We have heard 
no name for it yet. On page 166 of June number, 
we published a note from Dr. Gill, of Dutchess 
Co , N. Y.. describing this hoe. We believe Dr. 
G. is entitled to the credit of originating it. On 
casting about to get one made for our own use, 
we found that they were already being made for 
a few persons around Poughkeepsie, N.Y., by 
Messrs. C. H. & W. Sedgwick of that city. It 
is the common Scuffle Hoe, with a coulter or up¬ 
turned lip upon one end of the blade. The coul¬ 
ter or lip projects forward of the main blade some 
2 inches, and is sharp in front. This can be run 
close along side of a row of plants, cutting the 
earth without disturbing the roots. The blade be¬ 
ing thin, it moves through the earth without 
throwing it away from the plants. We have 
tried it thoroughly the past month, and can com¬ 
mend it very highly. Retail price, 62 to 75 cents, 
according to the length of main blade. 
The Double Coulter Scuffle Hoe (fig. 4) is similar 
to the single implement or rather, consists of two 
of them put together, as shown in the engraving. 
We made the sketch from the only one we have 
Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 
COULTERED SCUFFLE HOE. DOUBLE COULTER SCUF¬ 
FLE HOE. 
seen of this kind, which was made for us by 
Messrs. Sedgwick. We find it defective in that the 
coulters, being only one inch apart, are too near to¬ 
gether. We shall immediately have another 
made with the coulters 2 to 2£ inches apart, and 
we are confident it will then be a capital thing to 
run along rows of onions, carrots and other 
plants. 
Lothrop's Patent Hoes (figs. 5 and 6) we obtain¬ 
ed just in time to prepare the engravings for this 
article, and have not tried them thoroughly. They 
are highly recommended, however, by those who 
have used them. They are made with three or 
two blades, as shown in the wood cut. The steel 
blades are rivetted together where the upper cor¬ 
ners are joined. They may be used for straddling 
rows of young plants to stir the earth on both 
sides at once. They are also adapted to general 
hoeing and stirring the earth. Retail price, 62 
cents for the two blades, and 75 cents for the 
three blades. The card of the manufacturers, 
and a strong recommendation from the Hon. 
Marshall P. Wilder, will be found in our advertis¬ 
ing columns. 
All the above implements may be obtained at 
the agricultural stores, except those shown by 
figs 3 and 4, and these will doubtless soon be put 
into the market. We believe fig. 3 is already be¬ 
ing made in quantity. 
A Home-made Double-coulter Push Hoe. —E. 
Ryder, Putnam Co., N. Y., writes that the hint 
from Dr. Gill, last month, is worth to him ten 
times the cost. He has practised upon it, by re¬ 
moving the blade from the back of an old scythe, 
cutting off about 5 inches in length, heating it a 
little to prevent breaking, and then bending up 
each end about an inch. To the blade thus 
prepared, a piece of the scythe back was then 
rivetted to the middle, and a soft wood handle 
driven on, elevating it so that the hoe will push 
flat. He adds: “ Then keeping it sharp 
with a file, and aiding with the left-hand fingers, 
the gloom it casts over the budding hopes of 
weeds and clover, is comforting to the onions, 
carrots and—their owner.”—It will be noticed 
that having both ends of the blade turned up, it 
can be worked to either side of the rows— a 
hint, this, to manufacturers.—E d ] 
The Common Flat Turnip. 
According to the adage “ on the twenty-fifth 
day of July, sow turnips, wet or dry.” Yet, we 
would sow them sooner—early in July, if possible. 
But we have sown them in August, and had a good 
crop. An old pasture, well top-dressed with ashes 
and sheep dung, is their best soil, if light and dry 
—when a newly cleared piece of ground, which 
few people have on an old farm, is not to be had. 
A quarter to a half pound of seed to the acre 
isenough,if well distributed ; and with occasional 
showers, they will grow vigorously, and yield sev¬ 
eral hundred bushels to the acre. Although not 
equal to the Swede, or the Ruta-baga in sub 
stance, they make a good green food for all kinds 
of stock in mild weather, either in the late Fall 
or early Spring, as a change from hay and other 
dry forage. As a table dish, during Autumn and 
early Winter before they become pithy, few vege¬ 
tables are better, or more wholesome. The tops 
are excellent for Milch cows, and the roots also, 
if salted, and not fed in such quantities as to give 
their flavor to the milk. 
Like all late, or Summer sown seeds, the flat 
turnip is a contingent crop, and not always reli¬ 
able, depending on the wet or dry season for its 
growth and ripening; consequently it is not re¬ 
commended to be cultivated in large quantities, 
unless under particularly favorable conditions, and 
where the land can be well spared. They may 
follow peas, or early potatoes in the garden to 
much advantage as a market gardener’s crop, 
where they are frequently raised in great and 
profitable abundance. Wherever they will suc¬ 
ceed, they should always be sown to more or less 
extent. 
-— -i» —►<*-—--- 
The Long White French Turnip. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
Allow me to add my testimony to what has al¬ 
ready been said in favor of the ‘‘Long White French 
Turnip,” as it is called. Last season I received 
half an ounce of the seed in a letter from a friend 
in Rhode Island, and planted it July 27th, on about 
ten square rods of ground. I gathered about 18 
bushels of turnips, which we have continued to 
use on the table up to this time, with the highest 
satisfaction. They are, in my opinion, and that 
of my neighbors who have had from a peck to a 
bushel, the very best turnip we ever saw, They 
are so sweet and free from woody matter, and keep 
so well. They appear to be as good now as dur 
ing the Winter. This year I obtained i lb. 
of seed by mail, which I shall plant—a part 
about July 1st, a part July 20th, and the rest in 
the forepart of August. I am glad you have 
hunted up and brought this turnip into public no¬ 
tice, and that you promise to put it upon your gen¬ 
eral distribution list next year. If you have any 
seed left, I hope it will all be called for this year, 
even though you give it out only as premiums. 
My half ounce last year was worth more to me 
than the whole cost of three or four subscriptions 
for a year. It is to get this seed as premiums. 
