396 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
SEED-PLANTERS. 
Salem, N. Y.', January 11, 1854. 
Let those farmers who raise Indian corn, 
beans, turnips, beets, &c., and who wish to 
economise the expense of labor, by putting the 
seed into the ground for about one-third the 
usual expense, purchase seed-planters, which 
may be bought extremely low, when compared 
with the benefits derived from their use. They 
can do the work letter than is generally done 
with the hand and hoc; they also stand a 
better chance to get the seed in when the ground 
is in good condition to receive it; for be it 
known that with the help of one on proper 
land, a man, a horse, and boy to ride, will easily 
do the work of eight men, also the quantity of 
seed used may be regulated at discretion. They 
will also do good business on lands less favora¬ 
ble. I have worked them to good advantage on 
steep side hills, and stony fields. In the latter 
case a stone may occasionally fall back into the 
row; they should be thrown off; and if any 
seeds remain above ground, they should be 
covered. If some of the stones are tight, the 
whifHetree (which should be light) should be 
tied to the machine with a cord, which is less in 
strength than the machine, otherwise when com¬ 
ing in contact with a tight stone, the horse 
would be likely to break it, whereas if only the 
cord is broken, you may soon resume operations. 
Such was the plan 1 adopted last spring on 
rough soils, and yet in the worst cases, the 
time saved by using the machine, was fully 
equal to the services of three able-bodied men 
for each day, and the planter remains uninjured. 
The corn, beans, carrots, and turnips came up 
as well as though they had been planted the or¬ 
dinary way. S. It. Gray. 
In additition to what our correspondent says 
about seed-planters, we would inform our 
readers that a small hand seed-planter to sow 
onion and turnip seed, may be had for $3. It 
rvill save the labor of three or four persons. A 
seed-sower which can be trundled along by 
hand, much more easily than the lightest wheel¬ 
barrow, can be purchased for $7. It will sow 
beet, carrot, parsnep, and smaller seeds accu¬ 
rately, as fast as five or six persons. For corn, 
peas, and beans, a larger seed-sower is requisite, 
and costs $14 to $10. 
-«-+-•- 
Manure Gatherer.— A. R. Ilurst, of Harris- 
burgh, Pa., has invented an implement for gath¬ 
ering the manure of barn-yards and sheds in 
heaps for greater convenience of loading upon 
carts. This is done by arranging upon runners 
a tool similar in its construction to an ordinary 
manure fork, yet larger and stronger, in such 
a manner that it can be said to rake the ground 
gathering up the manure, or tilted so as to re¬ 
lease its load. It is intended when used in 
yards to be drawn by a horse. The inventor 
has applied for a patent.— Scientific American. 
CLAIMS OF AGRICULTURAL PATENTS 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEB. 14, 1854. 
Picking and Cleaning Flax.— A. II. Caryl, 
of Sandusky City Ohio: I claim the employ¬ 
ment of a picker having teeth hooked in the di¬ 
rection of the rotation and arranged on sepa¬ 
rate bars so connected with the shaft as to 
leave open spaces for the free passage of foreign 
substance as specified, when this is combined 
with hooked teeth in a series of bars above with 
open spaces between them substantially as spe¬ 
cified, with a current or currents of air to act 
on the pickers during the operation of comb¬ 
ing, and with the rotation brush acting on the 
picker teeth as specified. 
Planting Hoes. — W. G. Sterling, of Bridge¬ 
port, Conn.: I do not claim the blade with a 
tubular handle attached, nor the opening and 
closing orifice for the discharge of the grain. 
I claim the cylinder in connection with the 
tubular handle and the lever, with the sliding 
plate attached, as described. 
Machine for Cleaning Wool. —L. S. Chi¬ 
chester, of Brooklyn, N. Y.: although I have 
described and represented the form of the ribs, 
barbs and picker teeth, I do not wish to be un¬ 
derstood as limiting myself thereto. 
Nor do I wish to limit myself to the use of a 
rotating brush for presenting or feeding the 
fibres to the ribs and picker teeth, as this makes 
no part of my invention. 
Nor do I wish to limit myself to the form, 
number, or manner of making or operating the 
teeth. 
I claim making the edges of the ribs when 
combined with picker teeth for catching and 
drawing the fibres through as specified with 
lateral inclined or curved slats terminating in an 
enlargement or hole to receive the fibres and 
guide them away laterally from the picker 
teeth to prevent them from being chafed or cut 
between the teeth and ribs as specified. 
I also claim making the lateral slots in the 
edges of the ribs, as specified, and in combina¬ 
tion with the picker teeth at or near the por¬ 
tion of that length of the ribs, where the fibres 
begin to be drawn through, as specified, where¬ 
by 1 effectually avoid the cutting of the fibres. 
I also claim uniting the contiguous barbs of 
any two ribs, and extending them down below 
the points of the picker teeth, as specified, to 
prevent fibres from passing without being picked 
or drawn through. 
Finallv, I claim in combination with the ribs 
having lateral slots, as specified, the employ¬ 
ment of card teeth interposed between the 
picker teeth, as stated. 
Smut Machines. —Jacob Benner, of Liberty, 
Pa. Additional to original Letters Patent dated 
Sept. 11, 1847: I claim making the slotted 
openings in the concave horizontal instead of 
vertical, as they were in the original patent, as 
described. 
Second, the arrangement and combination of 
my machine in a close cover, together with the 
spouts in the manner, as set forth. 
Horse Bells.— Jason Barton, of Middle Ilad- 
dam, Ct.: I do not claim the employment or use 
of two clappers or balls in each bell, for they 
have been previously used. 
I claim hanging or suspending the tongues 
within the bells, as described, viz., having the 
tongues placed over curved holders, which are 
attached to the pad, said holders being within 
the bells, and so arranged that the tongues may 
be placed over them at different points, and 
thereby be suspended in the centers of the bells, 
irrespective of the positions which the pad and 
bells may have when attached to the body of 
the animal. 
Machines for Stuffing Horse Collars.— J. 
W. Howell, of New-Paris, Ohio: I claim the 
construction of the hopper with an adjustable 
grate or crib bottom, in combination with the 
piston, funnel, clamps, and lever, acting thereon, 
as set forth. 
Saddle-Trees. —G. B. Ambler, of Trumbull, 
Conn.:. I claim the combination of the crouper 
loop in one piece with the water hook, for the 
purpose of securing either in their respective 
positions without the aid of screws or other ap¬ 
pendages than those herein set forth, and to be 
used as described. 
Ball Valves for Pumps. —J. R. Basset, (as¬ 
signor to C. II. AYilliams,) of Cincinnati, Ohio: 
I claim the method of aiding and insuring the 
operation of the ball valve by means of an in¬ 
tervening or dividing ridge placed between the 
openings, and forming part of the semi-annular 
chamber, as described, by which the valve is 
made to seek and occupy its appropriate seat 
when acted on by the discharge water in one or 
the other direction. 
Guano from Sea-Weed. —A new patent sub¬ 
stitute for guano, consisting of decomposed and 
concentrated sea-weed, is about to be introduced 
in England, by a Mr. Longmaid, with the pur¬ 
pose of claiming the prize of $5000 offered by 
the Royal Agricultural Society. The material 
is reduced to powder so as to be applicable by 
the drill. A large number of experiments to 
test its fertilizing properties have been made 
during the last year. An analysis has been 
published by Professor Way. The process is 
stated to be very simple, and the price estimated 
at $25 per ton or under, and it is proposed 
starting manufactories at various points on the 
coast. — '-Scientific American. 
SLAUGHTER ON A LARGE SCALE. 
A Buenos Ayres correspondent of the New- 
Yorlt Evening Post describes the slaughter of 
cattle in that region, which constitute the great 
staple of the country. They furnish for export, 
hides, horns, jerked beef, tallow, bones, and 
animal guano. 
The animals are killed by stabbing in the top 
of the head, back of the horns, the knife pene¬ 
trating the brain and killing them instantly. 
The writer says: 
The meat, when cut from the bones, is passed 
to a table, where it is sliced up into thin slices, 
thrown down upon the floor, caught with a hook 
in the end of a pole, dragged through a vat of 
lime to cleanse it a little, when it is piled up and 
salted, and left to drain. After a few days it is 
taken from this pile and hung on poles to dry 
in the sun. When dried, it is stacked up in 
regular haystack form, where it remains until 
exported as jerked leef. Sometimes it is piled 
up in vast quantities under sheds. The cattle 
killed at these places are frequently very lean; 
this, in connection with the process of curing, 
renders jerked beef, in my estimation, not a very 
desirable article for food. It is shipped princi¬ 
pally to Brazil and Havana. 
Every part of the animal is devoted to some 
profitable purpose. Even the pith of the horns 
are useful; connected together by a part of the 
skull they are used for fencing; and when skil¬ 
fully put up, constitute a good and handsome 
fence. 
Marcs, by thousands, are also killed at these 
butchering establishments; they arc knocked 
on the head instead of being stabbed. The 
skins are preserved, and the carcase is steamed 
to produce oil. General Rosas, while in author¬ 
ity, prohibited the killing of -mares, in order 
not to decrease the number of horses, which, in 
that country, constitute the right arm of war. 
The Indians are very fond of them for food. 
Two years ago, fine mares could be purchased 
for from fifty cents to one dollar each. The 
wholesale slaughter of cattle has made them 
scarce ; a few years since, three millions of hides 
were exported annually; at present, the num¬ 
ber will not exceed half a million. The man¬ 
ner in which meat is sent to market for retail is 
thus described: 
All the principle bones are cut out of the 
carcase on the killing-ground. It is then cut up 
in strips, and thrown across the bare back of a 
horse, and a dirty boy or man put upon the top 
of it, and sent into town. Or, if not cut up, it 
is sent in a cart, and when it arrives at the mar¬ 
ket, or shop, it is stretched with cords between 
two posts, just as wide as it can be stretched 
without being torn asunder. This gives to the 
beef a very mean appearance ; it is, in general, 
tender and good eating. Heretofore, butcher’s 
meat has been very cheap, but at present a good 
roast will cost you from seventy-five cents to a 
dollar. 
•-• • <- 
The following is found in so very respectable 
a paper as the London Mark Lane Express , but 
we have no hesitancy in saying that there is 
either some mistake, or a large amount of hum¬ 
bug. The dry flour of the dearest bread costs 
more than half the retail price : 
A New Description of Bread.' —Considerable 
sensation has been created by the announcement 
of a discovery which, if real, is almost miracu- 
