76 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
boasted that they could whip their weight of 
wild-cats. The robin not only whips his weight 
of savages every day, but destroys them and 
converts them into excellent guano. 
There can be no doubt that Providence in¬ 
tended birds as a police to keep the insects in 
check, and if we will keep the cats and boys 
under, and give the birds a fair chance, we may 
again have plenty of fruit and grain. 
• Celery as a Field Crop. 
A New-Jersey market gardener communi¬ 
cates to the Gardener’s Monthly the following 
method of growing celery, which he represents 
as being easy as raising a crop of cabbages: 
“ The ground necessary for the growth of cel¬ 
ery need not be damp, as is generally supposed. 
Any good, rich vegetable soil, if level, is suffici¬ 
ent. Although the plant luxuriates in moisture, 
if properly applied, yet it is as quickly impa¬ 
tient of stagnant water at the roots as almost 
any other vegetable. One of the best varieties 
for private culture is the Incomparable Dwarf, 
a solid, white variety, never 
attaining more than two feet 
in length, but of the most 
delicious flavor. This vari¬ 
ety is particularly well a- 
dapted to this simple mode 
of cultivation, which con¬ 
sists in planting the plants 
on the surface, one foot 
apart each way , 
a square bed. The object 
in having the plot thus 
square or oblong is, that 
when the celery is so plant¬ 
ed in a mass, the plants 
crowd each other when full-grown, so that in 
the struggle for light, the hearts are drawn up¬ 
wards—one of the most important objects to be 
attained; which, when the celery is planted in 
single or double rows, can not be attained, 
without the processes of what we call “ hand¬ 
ling” and “hoeing up.” The time of planting 
is usually the month of July; but if good strong 
plants can be had, fine celery may be grown by 
planting in August. Nothing further whatever 
is necessary in its cultivation but simply hoeing 
to encourage growth and keep down weeds, as 
is done in a cabbage or onion bed. This, then, 
is the whole process from the time of planting 
in July until November. Thus far, it is, of 
course, green, unblanched; the blanching pro¬ 
cess being done when stored in winter quarters. 
The time of digging up of course varies 
somewhat in diflerent localities. In this dis¬ 
trict we usually have all put away by the mid¬ 
dle of November; and after ten years’ experi¬ 
ence, we find no plan so simple or so safe as the 
trench system for blanching or preservation. 
The process consists in digging a trench or 
drain ten or twelve inches wide, and of the 
depth of the length of the celery. The celery 
is then packed perpendicularly in the trench, 
moderately tight, until the whole is filled up. 
It will be understood that there is no soil thrown 
in about the roots—none being necessary. The 
roots, being at the bottom of the trench, quick¬ 
ly absorb sufficient moisture to encourage new 
roots, which, as soon as formed, the blanching 
process is begun, and the celery will be fit for 
use in four or six weeks from the time of being 
put in the trench. It is indispensable to cover 
the trench with leaves or stable litter to the 
depth of six or eight inches; but this must be 
done gradually—two or three inches at a time— 
as the season advances. If put on at once, it 
stops the evaporation from the mass of celery 
packed in the trench, and the blanching being 
prematurely hastened, it will not keep so well. 
A great advantage we find in this way of pre¬ 
serving winter celery, is in the easy access we 
get to it in all weathers,—nothing more being 
necessary than to remove the litter and take out 
what is wanted, and cover in carefully again.” 
[A cheap easy way of raising celery is certainly 
a great desideratum, the above is worthy of a 
fair trial on a small scale. We fear the celery 
will not be tender.—E d. American Agriculturist.] 
Halsted’s Hand Seed-Drill—Not Patented. 
We present below' engravings and a des¬ 
cription of a new Seed-Drill, on exhibition at 
the Office of the American Agriculturist. It was 
designed and constructed by Mr. A. M. Halsted, 
a farmer of Rye, Westchester Co., N. Y., and 
the implement shows a good deal of ingenuity 
and mechanical skill in the maker, who, in ad¬ 
dition to the ordinary farm tools, has only a 
Fig. 1. 
common foot-turning lathe and the assistance of 
a neighboring blacksmith. He constructed one 
at first for his own use, but it operated so well 
that several of his neighbors have also had them 
made. Mr. Halsted, however, believes in every 
man “ sticking to his trade,” and as his busi¬ 
ness is farming, he offers the plans of his seed 
drill freely to any or every one who desires to 
make them for home use or for sale, and he of¬ 
fers his patterns to any respectable manufactur¬ 
er who will put the machines into market. 
Description-.— The size of the apparatus may 
be understood from the 
engraving—taking the 
wheels at nearly one 
foot in diameter. The 
letters in figs. 1 and 2 
refer to the same parts. 
The two wheels may be 
fastened further or near¬ 
er apart upon the axle, 
being held at any point 
by the screws, s. The 
seed distributors are 
similarly adjustable, so 
that the implement can 
be used for sowing rows 
at different distances 
apart. The implement 
of this size and form is 
designed for the smaller 
classes of seeds. The seeds are put in the 
boxes or hoppers, h. Fig. 2 shows an enlarged 
section of the hopper, raised up, and of the 
rest of the distributing apparatus, made by cut¬ 
ting down through from front to rear. The 
seed measurers, a, fig. 1 , {i fig 2,) are little solid 
cylinders, with cup-like holes in the surface. 
These cylinders differ in the number of holes, 
in their distance apart, and in the depth and 
size of the holes—different ones being used for 
different kinds of seeds. The slide, d , is also 
movable up and down, so as to be made to fit 
the measuring cylinder more or less closely, and 
this increases or diminishes the amount of seed. 
The seed box, c, opens on a hinge at g, and is 
fastened down by a hook at f to allow the 
change of cylinders. The seed drops from the 
measurer into the cavity c, and falls into the fur¬ 
row made by the small hollow plow, p. The 
roller, following the plow or drill, covers the 
seed. The frame of the roller is attached at k, 
and the bracing rod for steadying the appara¬ 
tus is fastened at l. All the parts are shown so 
plainly that further description is unnecessary. 
Drilling better than Broadcast. 
Drilling in field seeds is becoming quite com¬ 
mon, but not enough so. Too many still adhere 
to broadcast sowing greatly against their own 
interests. It certainly stands to reason, that 
twelve stalks of wheat, or oats, or other grain, 
will do better if each grows on a plot three 
inches square, than if one such plot contain three 
or four stalks crowded together, while another 
plot has none. But this happens very frequent¬ 
ly in a field sown broadcast. Again, if one seed 
be covered but half an inch, and the next one 
be worked down three or four inches by the har¬ 
row tooth, the two will come up unevenly, and 
grow unevenly. Air and sun-light are import¬ 
ant agents in promoting the growth of plants, 
and the full effect of these can only be secured 
where the stalks are growing at something like 
uniform distances apart. The expense of a drill 
is the main objection to its introduction every¬ 
where. But a single bushel more of grain per 
acre, on a ten or twenty acre field will go far to 
meet the cost of the drill, or at least pay a very 
high interest on the cost. And who doubts 
that much more than the extra bushel will al¬ 
ways be secured by judiciously using a seed drill. 
About Farm Implements. 
It is “penny wise and pound foolish,” to buy 
poor implements because they can be got low. 
Such will cost a vast deal of time and patience, 
and no little money to keep them in order, and 
even then not work satisfactorily. Moreover, 
there is a great deal of pleasure in using a ma¬ 
chine or simple tool of the best make, not be¬ 
cause they are expensive, but because they are 
handiest, and on the long run they are the best 
and cheapest. The interest at ten per cent is on¬ 
ly $1 a year on an implement costing $10, while 
it is 50 cents on one costing $5. Very often the 
$10 implement will save half a dollar a day over 
the $5 one, by its better work, and saving of man 
and team power. Nor is this all that is important 
about implements. When bought, they should 
be taken care of. Before attempting to use them, 
they should be put into perfect working order. 
The knives of a mowing-machine should be 
Avell ground, the wheels and joints oiled, and the 
whole gearing put into complete trim before 
starting it; otherwise it will get out of order, 
time and patience will be lost, and the whole 
work be done unsatisfactorily. The same is 
true in general of harrows, horse-rakes, rollers, 
plows, hoes, shovels, and the commonest tools of 
the farmer’s carpenter shop. Have a place for 
everything, and then keep everything in its 
place, and always in good working condition. 
But where do we often find the farmer’s im- 
