244 
CULTIVATION OF ORCHARDS. 
CULTIVATION OF ORCHARDS. 
Having recently set out a small apple orchard 
of about 100 trees, and believing I have got on 
the right track, in the manner of planting out, 
I am willing your numerous readers should en¬ 
joy the benefit of it; and if any of your corres¬ 
pondents know of a better method, I shall be 
very happy to hear from them on the subject 
through the Agriculturist. 
In the first place, the land is what would be 
called clayey loam, resting on a subsoil, or hard- 
pan, some two or three feet below the surface, 
and is consequently wet in the spring and fall, 
and had been in grass for a few years previous 
to the summer and fall of 1848, when I plowed 
and harrowed it well. I then, before the com¬ 
mencement of winter, dug the holes for the 
trees, 33 feet apart, each way, making them four 
or five feet or more in diameter, and in all cases 
as deep as the subsoil. These, I let remain open 
through the winter, for the action of the frost, 
and until the ground became sufficiently dry to 
work in the spring. I then filled the holes to a 
suitable depth with the surface soil, using no 
manure. I then set out my trees in such a manner 
that they would stand about as low in the ground 
as when standing in the nursery. The ground 
was then thoroughly manured, and planted with 
corn and potatoes. While spreading the manure, 
I was careful to do well by the trees, and in 
hoeing, I gave them their share of attention. 
The consequence is, every tree has lived, and 
grows well, some having made three feet of wood 
on the upright branch, the first season. I should 
have remarked that my trees were small, only 
two years from the bud, not being able to pro¬ 
cure such varieties as I wished, of a larger size; 
but whether in the end, I shall be the loser in 
consequence of this, I am not certain. My in¬ 
tention now is, to cultivate hoed crops among 
them until they are well established, when I 
may seed it down again for a few years. 
Harwinton , Ct.,Feb., 1850. A Farmer. 
THE SOOVILLE HOE. 
As you require practical articles upon prac¬ 
tical subjects, allow me to call your attention 
to the Scoville hoe. I do not remember when. 
I first saw these hoes, but think it was in the 
spring of 1848, and that 1 have cultivated two 
crops with them. Though this matters not, my 
object being, first, to advise the hoe to be set a 
little more scraping. I should advise the set¬ 
ting to be in proportion to the size. No. 1 being 
for small hands, they require to be even more 
scraping than Nos. 2 or 3. I have the same 
hoes that I worked with in ’48 and ’49, and or¬ 
dered a new set for other hands. The first set 
are worn, to be sure, but I would not this day 
exchange them for other steel hoes. The largest 
size are set too digging for grown hands. The 
principal use for hoes, on a cotton plantation, 
is for scraping, as it is now getting quite com¬ 
mon to scrape cotton and corn, and throw up 
beds of earth to cotton and corn, with the plow. 
We have tried to set ours, but are fearful of 
breaking or bending in the blade. 
Secondly, the sharpening on the under side 
is wrong—I know the opinion of others, and 
have tried both plans, not only myself, but my 
negroes have tried them. In using hoes, they 
wear on the under edge, which assists in keep¬ 
ing a sharp edge. Hoes should always be 
sharpened on the upper surface, and thus the 
wear keeps them sharp longer, and besides, 
they will not bound. 
And thirdly, make more of them, so they will 
not cost so much. My hoes cost, this year, in 
N. a, No. 1, $10*, No. 2 $11, No. 3, $12 per 
dozen; freight and commissions, looking at 
them by some clerk, and entering on books, not 
less than 75 cts. more, so that my hoes average 
full $1 each, when handled and ground for use. 
This is too much, or I am in error. I think 
the same hoe in every respect, ought to be 
afforded in N. O., at $8 per dozen, assorted 
sizes, and at that price, I have no question but 
what they would be used by seven tenths of the 
planters. There are some who want hoes at 
50 cents each, and who do not believe there is 
any use in a better one. I ordered 4 dozen for 
self and three planters this season, but they were 
not to be had, and I am very sure that, with but 
little trouble, I could get orders myself for 40 or 
50 dozen, at a living, aye, money-making price. 
— M. W. Philips. 
We can always furnish the above hoes at the 
following rates, viz.:— 
No. 1, improved cast-steel cotton hoes, per 
dozen, $7.25 
No. 2 “ “ “ 7.75 
No. 3 “ “ “ 8.25 
No. 4 “ “ “ 8.75 
STARCH FROM INDIAN CORN. 
Many of our readers are not aware of the ex¬ 
tent of this new branch of manufacture, which 
we hope soon to see take the place of whiskey 
distilleries in the consumption of our great 
American staple, Indian corn. There is now in 
operation, at Oswego, New York, a manufactory 
that consumes 2,000 bushels of corn a-week, 
which makes 40.000 lbs of the whitest and most 
beautiful starch for all domestic purposes, 
whether for the laundry or pantry. The build¬ 
ing is 130 by 190 feet, five stories high, (to 
which an addition is about being erected,) and 
contains 200 cisterns for precipitating the starch, 
eleven furnaces with drying rooms, and employs 
about 70 men, and manufactures upwards of 
$120,000 worth of starch, annually. There are 
two other similar establishments in the United 
States, and yet the demand is constantly in¬ 
creasing. 
It is found that this kind of starch is superior 
to any other for culinary purposes, because it 
is always made from clean, sweet corn, the 
gluten of which is separated by a peculiar pro¬ 
cess of grinding and washing, the corn being 
first steeped in a chemical liquor, then reduced 
to pulp, sifted, and filtrated, and passed into 
huge cisterns, whence it flows through long, 
narrow troughs, draining off the water through 
coarse cotton cloths. In twelve hours, the starch 
becomes like wet clay, capable of being han¬ 
dled and dried, a process that requires much 
