AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
405 
or boy follow and drop every other furrow'until 
the piece of ground is completed; then run the 
roller over it and it needs no more attention. 
We put three and a half bushels of seed to the 
acre. I would prefer putting it on a piece of 
ground that was not to be seeded, in order to 
save labor in the curing. All that would be ne¬ 
cessary.is to cut and shock as other corn, and 
let it stand until dry, then bind it in sheaves 
and haul it to the barn or shed, and salt it. 
Cattle eat it with great avidity, and milk better 
than when fed on hay. We purpose putting 
down from ten to fifteen acres this spring, and 
calculate to save twofold by the operation. 
First, in curing- hay there is almost always diffi¬ 
culty in procuring men even at the highest 
wages. Second, instead of mowing fx-om forty 
to fifty aci - es we will have them for pasture, 
which does not impoverish the land like mow¬ 
ing. I think there is no crop which will pay 
better than sowed corn. Let our farmers try 
it .—Delaware Republican. 
-—• #•--— 
LOSS BY EXPORTING WHEAT. 
The editor of the Farmer's Companion , De- 
triot, has been making some calculations to show 
the loss to the farmer, by exporting wheat in¬ 
stead of flour. He calculates that of the 6,000,000 
bushels of wheat annually produced in' that 
State, 4,200,000 ai - e exported, which would 
yield 37,800 tons of bran and shorts, which if 
kept at home and fed to cattle would add far 
more wealth to the State then it receives from 
the price obtained, because the withdrawal of 
so much of the material constituents of wheat 
from the soil will soon render it unproductive. 
The analysis of bran shows that it contains: 
Per cent. 
Starch, dextrine and sugar,. 53 00 
Sugar of liquerice,. 1 00 
Gluten, (flesh-forming,). 4 90 
Fatty matter,.’. 3 60 
Woody matter,. 9 70 
Salts,. 0 50 
Water,.13 90 
Aromatic,.. 3 40 
In some wheats the ash is as high as 7 per 
cent. 
Now all these are as essentially valuable, as 
food, as the wheat itself; and for fattening much 
more so, the oil of wheat residing in the bran ; 
whole wheat giving only about 1 per cent, of 
fatty matter, or oil. But the ash of bran con¬ 
sists chiefly of phosphate of magnesia , a vei-y 
valuable salt both in food and as manure; 
while it is one of the rarest in the soil, one of 
the most expensive to l-estoi-e, and without 
which wheat cannot come to matui-ity. 
From these premises the editor argues the 
advantages that would accrue to the State by 
manufacturing the gi-ain into flour at home in¬ 
stead of sending it abroad in the grain. 
The argument is a good one, and might be 
profitably extended a little further. Besides 
continuing the production of wheat, the con¬ 
sumption of bran would add to the amount of 
dairy products, and beef and pork, which in 
turn would also increase other farm pi-oducts, 
till the amount to be exported would largely 
increase far beyond the value of the annual ex¬ 
ports of wheat. 
Now suppose all of these increased produc¬ 
tions were consumed at home by the same class 
of mechanics that now consume the flour sent 
abi’oad, and instead of exporting wheat, or flour, 
or beef, or pork, the State should export the 
article manufactured by the hordes thus fed, 
what would be the result? — Tribune. 
CLAIMS OF AGRICULTURAL PATENTS 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEB. 21, 1854. 
Threshers and Separators of Grain.— John 
Zink, of Greenville, Va.: I claim the arrange¬ 
ment of the straw-carrier and apron on the 
same shaking frame with the screen, so that 
the same motion which shakes out the grain 
from the sti-aw, and carries the latter forward 
and out of the machine, shall also carry forward 
on said apron the grain to the screens and blast, 
as described. 
Attaching Horse Bells to Straps. —Jason 
Barton, of Middle Haddam, Conn. : I claim at¬ 
taching spherical bells to straps by means of 
wires or rods, the bells being attached to the 
wires or i-ods as described, and the wix-es or rods 
secui-ed in any proper manner to the other side 
of the strap. 
Whiffletree Hooks. —Martin Newman, 2d, 
and N. C. Whitcomb, of Lanesboro, Pa., and G. 
C. Cole, of Hartford, Conn.: We claim the con¬ 
struction of a trace fastener on the ends of a 
whiffletree, consisting of a swing latch turning 
on a pin, detents, and spring, in combination 
with a hook and catch or detent thereon, opera¬ 
ting in the manner and for the purpose of pre¬ 
venting accidental displacement of the cock eye 
on the end of the trace. 
We do not confine our claim to the use of the 
socket in connection with the spring latch ar¬ 
rangement, as the spring latch and hook may be 
used either on a socket plate or shank, as occa¬ 
sion may require, or in any other manner, as 
set forth. 
Improved Corn-Planter. —Charles A. Wake¬ 
field, of Plainfield, Mass., has made application 
for a patent upon an improved corn-planter, of 
which the novelty consists in foi-cing the seed 
directly into the soil by a plunger or its equiva¬ 
lent, when it is constructed and arranged so as 
to be capable of operating the seed-slide simul¬ 
taneously. The handle is attached to the plun¬ 
ger, and the gauge or stop-plate to the lower 
end of the machine, so that the plunger will 
have a slight inclination from a vertical line. 
The plunger is cleaned from any dirt which may 
be attached to it by scrapers, and is capable of 
being adjusted so as to plant the seed at any 
required depth .—Scientific American. 
Asparagus Seed as a Substitute for Cof¬ 
fee.— Asparagus seeds are thus recommended 
by a gardener as a substitute for coffee : “As¬ 
paragus,” he remarks, “ contains, according to 
Liebig, in common with tea and coffee, a princi¬ 
ple which he calls ‘ taurin,’ and which he con¬ 
siders essential to the health of all who do not 
take exercise, this led me to think that aspara¬ 
gus might be made a good substitute for coffee. 
The young shoots which I first prepared, were 
not agreeable, having an alkaline flavor. I then 
tried the ripe seeds; these, roasted and ground, 
make a full-flavored coffee, not easily distin¬ 
guishable from fine Mocha. The seeds are 
easily freed from the berries by drying them in 
a cool oven, and then rubbing them on a sieve.” 
Try it, farmers .—Scientific American. 
ROOT CROPS. 
A striking feature in the present state of our 
agriculture, is neglect of the root crops as farm 
products. In some sections, it is true, a few fields 
of carrots, turnips, onions, or mangelwurzel, are 
to be found, but they are not often seen to any 
extent, and for the most part, farmers raise them 
only in sufficient quantities to supply the family 
wants. It seems impossible that this neglect 
can arise from ignorance of the value of root 
crops as food for cattle. It is well known that 
the fattening properties of some of the roots, are 
very considerable, as is also the effect which 
they have in increasing the quantity of milk 
given, while their oc<ftsional substitution for the 
fodder more commonly given to stock during 
the winter, is admitted to be conducive to the 
health of the animal. 
Perhaps it may be more properly ascribed to 
the labor required for their successful cultivation. 
In many instances, this is, undoubtedly, a seri¬ 
ous obstacle, and yet if these crops were fully 
appreciated, this objection woulcl not be allowed 
to outweigh their advantages. 
The amount of nourishment contained in the 
various articles used as food for cattle, is now 
tolerably well ascertained; though from the 
nature of things, as the difference in climate and 
temperature in which they come to maturity, 
and other causes, there must of course, still be 
some degree of uncertainty about it. From re¬ 
cent experiment, very carefully and skilfully 
made, it appears that two pounds of raw pota¬ 
toes afford as much nourishment as one pound 
of good English hay, So three and two-fifths 
pounds of beets, or three and one-half pounds 
of ruta-bagas with the leaves, or three pounds 
of carrots, arc of the same value as one pound of 
thfe same hay. Thus, if we suppose an animal 
to require twenty-four pounds of hay per day, 
the place of half that amount of hay, or twelve 
pounds, might be supplied by twenty-four 
pounds of raw potatoes, or thirty pounds of 
carrots, or forty-two pounds of ruta-bagas with 
the leaves, or by sixty pounds of turnips with 
the leaves; with either of these equivalents, the 
animal would be equally well fed. This calcu¬ 
lation, of course, supposes the articles used to 
be of ordinarily good quality. 
If these nutritive equivalents are correctly 
stated, it would be easy to show the economy 
of a more extended use of root crops. 
If we assume eighteen tons, or about seven 
hundred bushels of carrots as the product of an 
acre, which for a good season, and with good 
culture is a small yield, we have from this one 
acre, what is equivalent to six tons of hay. 
Somewhat similar results will be shown by an 
examination of the relative value of hay and 
other roots. Land devoted to carrots would un¬ 
doubtedly require more labor than the same 
extent of mowing land; and yet, with the aid of 
boys in weeding, or with the simple and cheap 
implement, called the onion weeder, so admira¬ 
bly contrived as to enable the operator to weed 
carefully and well, a large extent may be culti¬ 
vated at comparatively little cost.— Report of 
Sec. of Mass. Boa/rd of Agriculture. 
- ♦ - 
Wiiat Came out of the Bag. —A gentleman 
residing a few miles out of the city, who has a 
particular affection for fresh “johnny cake,” 
sent his son to mill, a week or two ago with sev¬ 
eral bags of corn—the incipient steps towards a 
future breakfast. On his way to the mill the 
lad had the misfortune to lose one of the bags— 
which fact was duly communicated to his pater¬ 
nal. The old gentleman, therefore, sent a dis¬ 
patch to the miller, informing him that part of 
the load was lost on its way to his domains, and 
that when any bag marked with his name should 
be brought in—as he had reason to suppose 
would be the case—it must be retained. 
Some days after, our friend proceeded to the 
mill, in order to ascertain if the truant had been 
discovered. On arriving there, he was met by 
the miller, who informed him that the bags had 
come in, been retained, and were now awaiting 
his orders. “Bags?” said the gentleman— 
“why how many have you found.” “,'Five,” 
was the reply. “ Five!” thundered the astonish¬ 
ed lover of corncake, “ why I only lost one.” 
“ Can’t help it,” says the other, “there are five 
here that are marked with your name.” Ocular 
proof satisfied the inquirer that the mathematics 
of “Rob the Grinder,” were correct, and bid¬ 
ding him to await the sequel, 
“ Home goes the parson 
Home goes he,” 
where he related the singular circumstance to his 
other self. With a burst of good old Connec¬ 
ticut laughter, she informed him that during his 
absence, some time before, she had loaned a 
number of his bags to different neighbors, 
whose grists had thus been summarily vetoed if 
not confiscated. It took the good old gentleman 
several days to make apologies and fix matters 
all right again. 
There are several ways of “ getting the sack.” 
This is another.— Sun. 
“Paws for reply” said the cat when she 
scratched the dog for barking at her. 
