17S 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
We have examined a comparatively new horse- 
rake, which is represented by the above engrav¬ 
ing. From what we can judge, without seeing 
it in actual work, and from the favorable reports 
we have from farmers who used it last season, 
we are inclined to consider it one of the best 
modifications of this most useful and convenient 
implement. An examination of the cut will give 
a pretty clear idea of its structure and peculiari¬ 
ties. The wheels, shafts, and seat, are arranged 
like an ordinary sulky, and may be used as such, 
independently of the rake, which is readily de¬ 
tached. The teeth are of wire, the upper ends 
being coiled to give them greater elasticity. 
When passing over rough or stony ground, any 
of the teeth meeting an obstruction will bend 
backwards, and pass over without stoppage or 
breaking. The special improvement claimed for 
this rake is not fully shown in the engraving. 
It is two half cog-wheels, one upon the rake 
cross-piece, and the other upon the lower end of 
the handle or lever which is seen standing in 
front of the seat. By means of this, the driver 
can at any instant, by pulling back the lever, roll 
the tooth-shaft back, and thus raise the teeth 
allowing them to pass over the windrow. The 
long lever renders this operation quite easy. In 
the samples we have seen, the wheels, shafts, 
etc., are well made. The present price is some 
$30 w r e believe. 
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For the American Agriculturist. 
Securing Good Seed, Wheat, Rye, etc. 
Although care is frequently exercised in select¬ 
ing good specimens of corn for seed ; yet for oats, 
ryeandwheat, the grain for the next year’s sow¬ 
ing is usually taken from the bin, without regard 
to the part of the field on which it may have 
grown, or to its having matured early or late. 
Too much dependence is also placed on the fan¬ 
ning mill and grain screen to separate cockle, 
chess, and other foul seeds ; hence year after 
year they show their unwelcome heads in the 
fields. I would advise first to note well at this 
season the spots in the growing field where the 
finest grain is ripening, and then let these be 
cared for particularly, with reference to saving the 
product for seed the coming year. From these 
places every weed should be carefully pulled, 
and at harvest time the ripened sheaves stored 
by themselves apart from the general crop. In¬ 
deed I think it would pay well to cultivate ex¬ 
pressly for seed, the best part of the field, where 
from more favorable exposure or better quality of 
soil, the grain will mature earlier and heavier. 
If this were generally done, the standard of ex¬ 
cellence in the cereals would in a few years be 
greatly improved. A. F. W. 
- -tea t J »—•-- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Enlarging a Farm without Buying Land- 
If a man does not know how much land he 
actually owns, and gets no benefit out of that 
part with which he is unacquainted, and then 
is informed that he has more, and is told how to 
use it, why is not this equivalent to the purchase 
of more acres'! Farmers are often heard to ex¬ 
claim : “ Oh that I were rich enough to buy a 
little more land, then I could fatten more cattle 
and sheep, and I could carry more grain to 
market!” Now, to such men, at least to some 
of them, we beg leave to say, your farms are al¬ 
ready larger than you suppose. You seem to 
think that your ownership extends only six inches 
deep into the earth ; but this is a misapprehen¬ 
sion. It is not very strange, however, since all the 
former owners of the soil had the same idea, and 
the Indians from whom your ancestors bought or 
stole the land, were content with only the surface, 
just enough to hunt upon and to grub a few roots 
out of. But this is all a mistake, as you will see 
on reflection. Examine the title deeds to your 
land and see if there is any limit to your 
rights in a downward direction. You will not 
find any ; we know you won’t. 
Now, therefore, do not fear to go at once and 
take possession of the rest of your farm. It is 
virgin soil, covered over with only a few inches 
of partly worn land; and it will return you fine 
crops if you will only lay it open to the sun and 
air, or mix it with the soil you have long culti¬ 
vated. Perhaps it will not be wise for you to try 
to use it all the first year: use a little moderation 
in entering upon your new property, for your own 
sake and for the farm’s sake. [In connection 
with the advice here given, it maybe well for the 
reader to turn back to page 71 (March No.,) and 
study what is said about plowing deep and plow¬ 
ing shallow.— Ed.] Here is what some writer 
has said on the subject—not strictly correct per¬ 
haps, but highly suggestive: “ At the present 
time, the average crop of wheat per acre in Great 
Britain, on a soil cultivated for centuries, is about 
double that produced on the comparatively new 
soil of Ohio. Why is this! Simply because the 
leading British farmers are educated men, and 
apply their work wisely. They pay back to the 
earth what they borrow from her ; they endeavor 
by every means in their pow-er to enrich their 
ground, and in return it enriches them. If Amer¬ 
ican farmers, instead of laboring to double the 
number of their acres, would endeavor to double 
their crops, they would find it a saving of time and 
toil, and an increase of profit.Many men 
never think of digging ten inches into the soil, 
unless they have dreamed about a crock of gold 
hid in the earth ; but if they would set about the 
work of digging in earnest, every man would find 
his crock of gold without the aft of dreams or 
divination.” i 
We once heard of some remarkable strawberries 
raised in a neighboring town, and called the 
“Washington Excelsior” strawberry. Rumor 
said that the leaves were large, vividly green all 
Summer, the fruit large and abundant for a long 
time, and not diminished by the severest drouths. 
The plants were sold at half a dollar apiece, and 
were considered cheap at that price. Attracted 
by these wonderful stories of the new fruit; we 
went to see it and learn all about it. The plants 
were indeed beautiful, and the fruit very fine. 
But our eyes were opened when Mr. Smith, the 
owner, told us frankly, that the plants were some 
common sort, the name of which he had forgot¬ 
ten, but that they were grown on a bed in the 
corner of his garden which was made ground, for 
at least six fed deep. Why did not this account for 
the persistent verdure of the foliage and the size 
and abundance of the fruit! Yet, the superior 
beauty of the plants and berries had attracted 
much attention in the neighborhood and seemed 
to call for a high-sounding name ; and so Mr. 
Smith dubbed them the Washington Excelsior. 
Plainly, this man’s strawberry bed was enlarged 
without fencing in more land. 
Are Agricultural and Horticultural 
Papers Useful? 
Some persons decline or hesitate to subscribe 
for agricultural or horticultural journals, because, 
as they say, they have a book or two on farming 
or gardening on their shelves, and suppose that 
nothing more is needed. And yet, perhaps these 
books are many years old, and when newly-made, 
they may have been nothing more than meagre 
compilations from books and papers older still. 
Useful, undoubtedly, such books are, but they are 
no proper substitute for w’ell-conducted journals 
of the present time. The latter glean from whole 
libraries whatever is true and useful, and adapted 
to the wants of the present day. There is also 
real progress made every year in husbandry and 
gardening, and those papers give full reports of 
such progress. If one wishes to keep posted up 
to the times, he must read these papers, for the 
books, like old maps, geographies and almanacs, 
soon become obsolete. 
---•»♦»—- +-m. -. 
Ill Luck in Growing Corn. 
Not seldom do we hear farmers complain that 
their corn crop is a failure, it having been injured 
by hot and dry weather. Injured by the very 
weather which a kind Providence designed for 
its benefit! On inquiry, it will generally be found 
that the corn-fields of such complainers are wet, 
undrained, and cold : they are so wet in Spring 
that they cannot be worked until quite late in the 
season, and then a long, dry spell sets in, which 
checks the growth of the corn and makes it fee¬ 
ble and puny all the rest of the Summer. Mean¬ 
while, wide-awake farmers, who had previously 
drained their lands and manured them thoroughly 
