92 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
case of others, because it has been proved, or it is 
believed, not to pay. I confess that we have found 
it at Ogden Farm too much bother , using half the 
team force at a time when it was all demanded to 
prepare land for crops as rapidly as possible. I 
have been too ardent an advocate of sub-soiling in 
my earlier days, to give it an entirely cold shoulder 
now, and if I were buying a farm, I should give 
a preference, and a higher price, for one that has 
been thoroughly sub-soiled year after year, sup¬ 
posing such a one to exist. But I should not pay 
enough more to cover an important part of the cost 
of the work, and it is by no means clear that the 
cost would have been returned in the extra crops 
for the hope of which the work was done. 
This much may be stated with confidence, that 
where the sub-soil is a heavy, compact clay, many 
of the advantages that result from sub-soiling, will 
be produced by under-draining, and they will in¬ 
crease, year after year, by reason of the deeper 
penetration of roots, that the withdrawal of sub¬ 
soil water allows—clover roots especially. The 
deepening of the feeding area may be secured in 
this way more rapidly, more certainly, and more 
economically, than in any other. 
I am asked by frequent letters to describe the 
Bullard Churn. The answer must be similar to that 
concerning the butter box. It was described and 
illustrated several years ago in these pages, and my 
recent references to it have been only in comfirma- 
tion of the good opinion then expressed. It 
would not be fair to the mass of old readers, to re¬ 
peat what they are already familiar with, and to 
which they can at any time refer in their files of 
back numbers. I will say, briefly, that this chum is 
a long box, with no dasher or paddle of any kind. 
It is arranged to oscillate endwise, causing the 
cream to be thrown, with a swash and a swirl, from 
end to end ; it is easy to work, and easy to be kept 
clean, and is generally a sensible and useful imple¬ 
ment of the dairy. Its great recommendation in 
my mind is, that its sides are kept washed down, 
leaving no accumulation of half-churned cream to 
get mixed with the butter, and render it streaked 
and rancid. [See American Agriculturist for August, 
1873, p. 296. . See previous foot note.*—E d.] 
The revival of interest in dairy matters is indi¬ 
cated by requests for information, which I receive 
with almost every mail. As my correspondence is 
already a great tax on my time, I trust I shall be 
excused for .he suggestion that all I have to 6ay, 
has been said in the Ogden Farm Papers in the 
American Agriculturist , since the beginning of 1868, 
and that, if it is of any practical worth to my ques¬ 
tioners, it is worth what it would cost to buy a set 
of back numbers. I say this in no ungracious spirit, 
but I have not time to explain to individuals, what 
I have already written for publication. 
I have just received a letter on the subject of 
“black switches” in Jersey cattle, which the 
writer thinks constitutes an important objection to 
them at the South. A cow having this ornament in 
great perfection was recently driven home minus the 
lower half of her tail. The temptation for a black 
switch for her chignon had been too much for 
some colored belle, and my informant has resolved 
to eschew henceforth any color of cow-tail, which 
can so lead the dusky maidens of his neighborhood 
to disregard the recognized law’s of property. 
W. H. H., of Niagara Co., N. Y., has a grain and 
fruit farm, but keeps three cows. For some years 
he has sold his butter to a dealer in Lockport, who 
pays for it a cent or two above the highest market 
quotation. Warm weather makes trouble. Last 
summer several churnings were quite lost, and some 
others were deficient, although the cream was hung 
in the well, and the churning was done in the early 
morning. The milk would be thick, and the curd 
would begin to separate in 24 hours. He has no 
spring, and can not afford a windmill pump, but 
has a well of cold water under the floor of an en¬ 
closed 6toop, at the side of the house. This floor is 
somewhat raised from the ground, and rests on a 
stone wall all around. He proposes to make a tank 
under this floor at the side of the wall, to be reach¬ 
ed by a trap-door from above, and filled from the 
pump, letting the water run back into the well, and 
re-filling the tank two or three times a day. 
I think this plan would work very well, save that 
if the water is used for domestic purposes, it would 
be better when the tank is emptied, to let its water 
’—MADE BY RANDOLPH BROS. 
run to waste. The tank must not be much larger 
than needed to hold the cans, because of the 
amount of pumping this would require, nor must 
there be so little water that the animal heat of the 
milk would raise its temperature above about 55°. 
Some means would have to be taken to prevent the 
dust from the floor from falling on to the milk. If 
ice is to be had in moderate quantity, this seems 
decidedly a case for Hardin’s Refrigerator. The 
best cans are those make by the Iron-clad Can Co., 
of New York, 20 inches high, and 8 inches in di¬ 
ameter, costing $1.75 each. The form of butter- 
mold used by us, was illustrated in the American 
Agriculturist, for June, 1870. These molds may be 
made by any wood-carver, those made here in New¬ 
port are quite costly. Makers should advertise them. 
Randolph’s Ditcher and Excavator. 
The brief note in November last, referring to the 
Ditcher invented by Ex-Governor, now Senator, 
Theodore Randolph, of N. J., brought so many in¬ 
quiries, that we here present an engraving of the 
machine. The Senator, being largely engaged in 
ditching and draining on his own farm, became 
convinced that the work could be done both better 
and more cheaply by a machine. This was an un¬ 
fortunate idea for him, perhaps, as it involved him 
in the trials and disappointments that seem to be 
the lot of all inventors. In looking at the machine 
as now made, and of which we give an engraving, 
the first thing that strikes one is its great simplicity, 
there being nothing complicated about it, and 
nothing that is not understood at a glance. Yet 
this simplicity of structure was only reached after 
many trials, at least 15 or 20 machines having been 
built before anything like a fair success was at¬ 
tained an unforeseen obstacle would require 
some modification, always in the direction of sim¬ 
plifying the parts, until several years, and a sum 
that many would regard as an ample fortune, have 
been consumed in bringing the ditcher to its pres¬ 
ent condition. For example : the machine that a 
few years ago weighed 4,000 lbs., now weighs but 
1,600 Ids., and is not only lighter, but more effective 
and stronger than before. The principal and most 
important part of the machine is the ditching- 
wheel, A, made very strong, and furnished with 
tovo steel cutting flanges ; the dotted line indicates 
the depth of these flanges, which are from 3 to 12 
or more inches apart, according to the 6ize of the 
machine. The width of the wheel, and the dis¬ 
tance between the flanges, determine the width of 
the cut, while the depth of the cut is governed by 
that of the flanges. This cutting-wheel is mounted 
on a frame-work, supported by four low wheels, 
which allow the machine to be transported from 
place to place. The ditching-wheel is so supported, 
that it may be raised or lowered by turning the 
wheel at B. At G is a plow, a broad, strong plate 
of steel with a sharp edge below ; this may be set 
with its point more or less within the flanges of the 
ditching-wheel, or placed in any desired position in 
reference to them, by means of the screws D, E. 
An endless belt of vulcanized rubber, passes over 
the wheel at V, and over a smaller one shown below 
in dotted lines, and may be made tight or loose by 
the screw seen above V. The working of the ma¬ 
chine, after the plow C is adjusted, is governed by 
one man, who stands on a platform between the 
hind wheels, but is not shown in the side eleva¬ 
tion. By turning the wheel B, the ditching wheel 
is lowered, by the action of the large screws seen 
at each end; the flanges cut into the soil, and as the 
machine passes forward, the 6lice is lifted by the 
action of the plow V, and carried upward ; when it 
passes by the upper end of the plow, the earth is 
held in place by means of the rubber belt, and 
when it reaches the slide or shoot, Z, a saddle- 
shaped piece of boiler-plate, it leaves the channel 
between the flanges of the ditching-wheel, and is 
discharged at each side of the ditch. The discharge 
may be made all at one side, if desired, or if neces¬ 
sary, the machine may be so modified as to dis¬ 
charge into a wagon. Of course the machine goes 
over the ground several times in succession, until 
the desired depth is reached. After the first cut is 
made, the machine is lowered until its whole 
weight rests on the ditching-wheel, the only use of 
the four wheels being to steady it; it is claimed 
that the work i6 done faster, and is more satisfac¬ 
tory, as it goes towards the bottom of the ditch. 
The machines are made to work with two, four, or 
six or eight horses, or by steam power, and cut 
from 3 to 24 inches wide, and 26 to 40 inches deep. 
The four-horse machines are regarded as the mo6t 
suitable for ordinary work, one of which would do 
all the ditching required in a neighborhood, though 
the two-horse machine will answer for tile-draining. 
It is claimed that with four horses and two men, a 
machine will cut a drain 3 feet deep and 4,000 feet 
long in a day, an amount of work which, if done by 
hand, would require 50 men. Of course large roots 
or stones, which would prove an obstacle to ditch¬ 
ing by hand, will prevent digging by the machine; 
when an obstruction is met with, a turn of the 
screw will relieve the machine, and when this is 
passed, another turn sets it at work again. We 
went to the field where this machine was to be test¬ 
ed in presence of the Centennial Jurors, but the 
loss of a nut in the running gear in transporting it 
from Agricultural Hall to the trial grounds, caused 
a delay, and we were unable to wait until the de¬ 
fect could be remedied. We the same evening met 
one of the Jurors, who informed us that the ma¬ 
chine performed in a most satisfactory manner, and 
we have similar testimony from others. The Com¬ 
pany offer most satisfactory guarantees as to the 
working capacity of their different machines. 
THE “FARMER’S DITCHER.’ 
