THE CULTIVATOR. 
45 
the animals have been satisfied with food, whatever may- 
remain should be immediately removed; and the cribs 
and mangers, should be carefully swept out, and washed, 
if necessary; water should then be given without limi¬ 
tation.* * If their hides be then wisped, it visibly occa¬ 
sions a very pleasurable sensation: as they begin to fat¬ 
ten, the ancient coat falls off, and if this be accelerated 
by the curry-comb, the better appearance of the beast 
will well repay the trouble.” 
The atmosphere and the deivs abound in the food of 
plants, in a gaseous or liquid form—with the “ cooked 
food” of plants. The nutriment which they afford is 
principally available through the roots of plants, which 
are buried in the ground. In order that the food may 
reach these mouths, and contribute to the growth and 
perfection of the crop, the soil which covers them 
must be pervious to air and dew—it must be pulver¬ 
ized, the whole stratum or tilth—and the surface kept 
clean and mellow. If the latter is suffered to become 
baked and hardened, the air does not find admission, 
and the dews rest upon the surface, and are dissipa¬ 
ted by the rays of the early sun, and are lost. Hence 
many grounds long in grass, become too close and 
compact, and lose at least a portion of these fertilizing 
properties of the atmosphere; and hence the utility 
of good ploughing and thorough tillage, and of keep¬ 
ing the surface, where there are hoed crops, mellow 
and clean. Curwen, the distinguished British agri¬ 
culturist, grew field cabbages to the weight of 50 lbs. 
each, principally by keeping the horse and cultivator 
constantly at work among them, and thus feeding them 
with the cooked food of the atmosphere. 
The New- York Farmer, the publication of which 
was suspended last fall, has been revived, and the edi¬ 
tors give an assurance that it will continue to be 
published as formerly. 
Potato Sugar. 
We give the following as supplementary to the re¬ 
marks in our last, on the conversion of potato starch 
into sugar. The first extract is from Saussure, and 
the other from Silliman’s Journal of Jan. 1832. Ta¬ 
ken together they afford an answer to the inquiries of 
our correspondent. The quantity of sulphuric acid 
employed does not seem to be material, according to 
Saussure. 
“ As starch boiled in water with sulphuric acid and 
thereby changed into sugar, increases in weight, without 
uniting with any sulphuric acid, or gas, or forming any 
gas, we are under the necessity of ascribing the change 
wholly to the fixation or solidification of water. Hence 
we must conclude that starch sugar is nothing else than 
a combination of water with starch in a solid state.— 
The sulphuric acid is not decomposed nor united with 
the starch as a constituent 
“ A bushel of potatoes (see Silliman’s Journal,) 
weighs about 60 lbs,, and gives eight pounds of pure, 
fine dry starch. This amount of starch will make five 
pints of sugar, of the weight of nearly 12 lbs. to the 
gallon, equal to seven pounds and a half to the bushel 
of potatoes, or a little less than a pound of sugar to a 
pound of starch. The sugar is not so sweet as the Mus¬ 
covado sugar, nor is it actually so sweet as its taste 
would indicate. 
“This sugar may be used for all domestic purposes. 
It ferments with great liveliness and spirit, when made 
into beer, yielding a healthful and delicious beverage, 
and on distillation a fine cider-brandy flavored spirit.— 
It would, however, be most useful in making sweet¬ 
meats, and may be used upon the table instead of ho¬ 
ney, for which it is a good substitute. It has already 
become a favorite with most people who are acquainted 
with it. Its taste is that of a delicious sweet, and as an 
article of diet is unquestionably more healthful, and 
less oppressive to the stomach, than any other sweet 
ever used.” 
State policy. —Maine has paid to her farmers more 
than $76,000 as a bounty upon wheat raised by them 
last year. Thus Maine, with a population of less than 
400,000, gives 76,000 dollars, annually from her pub¬ 
lic treasury, directly in aid of agriculture. New-York, 
with a population five times as large as Maine, gives 
—nothing!! What WILL she give 1 
Correspondence Condensed, &c. 
CUTTING UP COP.N. 
11 Baltimore, March 1 , 1838. 
“While I have the pen in my hand, will you permit 
me to suggest, that you may confer an essential service 
on the southern portion of your subscribers, by some 
observations on the advantages of cutting up the corn 
instead of topping it, as now generally practised here. ’ 
__ “H. M. F.” 
* According to an experiment stated by Sir John Sinclair 
an old man was appointed to discover how often some cat¬ 
tle, consuming chaff and straw on a farm, went to the water¬ 
ing-trough in a short winter’s day, and that he might not be 
confused in the execution of his orders, one particular bullock 
was pointed out for his report; according to which, lie drank 
eight limes in the course of the day, and the man was convinc¬ 
ed that the rest of the cattle drank as olten as the one fixed 
on. Now, twice a day is the most in which they generally 
get water; and they are not able, at one or two opportunities, 
to drink a sufficient quantity. Husb. of Scotland, p. 100. 
Thirty years ago we read a communication of John 
Nicholas, then we believe of Virginia, on the advanta¬ 
ges of cutting up, instead of topping , Indian corn. These 
advantages appeared to us so palpable, that in the no¬ 
viciate of our farming operations, nineteen years ago, 
we reduced it to practice; and although we have since 
adopted occasionally the topping system, by way of 
comparison, we have made it our general practice to cut 
up the crop ever since. We are convinced, from our 
long experience, that it possesses over the old mode of 
topping, the following advantages: 
1. It saves labor. With proper implements, which 
every farm can furnish without expense, two smart men 
will cut up and stook two acres in a day. They can¬ 
not top more than one acre, and the tops are afterwards 
to be hound, stooked, and backed off the field, or left to 
be bleached till the corn is harvested, when they have 
lost half their value. A hill is gathered with a blow in 
cutting up; in topping, a cut mast be made upon every 
stock. 
2. It adds to the grain crop. We have satisfied our¬ 
selves, by careful experiments, that we gain six bushels 
of corn per acre, by cutting up, above what we obtain 
by topping our corn. And we account for it on the well 
known principles in vegetable physiology, that all the 
nutriment of plants must he elaborated, or prepared, in 
the leaves, and that this elaborated sap, or prepared 
food , descends —consequently, that when the leaves above 
the corn are taken off, by topping, the grain can gain 
no further nutriment, or accession of growth; and that 
when the crop is cut up, and stooked, the grain does 
continue to obtain nutriment, and accession of growth, 
for some days, from the descending, or elaborated sap, 
with which the succulent stems are abundantly charged. 
The leaves also continue their elaborating process for 
some days after the corn is cut. 
3. It augments the cattle fodder, and preserves its nu¬ 
trient piroperties. Cut and well stooked, neither the 
grain nor the forage are liable to be seriously injured 
by the weather, even if left in the field late. If topped, 
the tops must be exposed to the deteriorating influence 
of rains, wind and sun, till they are dry enough to bind, 
which diminishes their value. If cut up, the whole of 
the stocks are converted into forage. If topped, but a 
small part becomes useful. And if the butts are fed in 
the cattle yards, they imbibe additional fertilizing pro¬ 
perties from the urine and liquids which abound there, 
and which are lost if there is no litter to absorb them. 
Hence, 
In the fourth place, it gives more food to the crops, as 
well as to the cattle, by saving that which otherwise is 
often lost to the farm. And, 
Finally, cutting up has this important advantage, at 
least in the north—it secures the crop, both grain and 
forage, from damage from early autumnal frosts—for 
after the grain is cut and stooked, it is not liable to in¬ 
jury from their occurrence. We may add, that the 
ground may he cleared two or three weeks earlier, for 
a winter crop, where it is desirable to sow in autumn. 
From the general accounts we have of southern pro¬ 
ducts in corn, we apprehend, that if fewer acres were 
planted, and these better manured, the labor would be 
less, and the products, or at least the profits, greater 
than they are at present—always excepting our friend 
Reybold, of Delaware, whose example is worthy of all 
commendation. 
Spring Rye. —W. A. of Baltimore county, has our 
opinion, that spring rye is not worth his notice. We 
consider it the poorest crop a farmer can cultivate, and 
wherever it is seen growing, it betokens bad husband¬ 
ry. Seed maybe obtained from farmers at about a dol¬ 
lar a bushel. 
“ JL Young Farmer of Suffolk” is informed that we 
have had no experience in caponizing fowls, and that 
we have no authorities which enable us to answer his 
queries upon this subject. The wood to be preferred 
for smoking hams, &c. is green hickory, next green hard 
maple—corn cobs are good with these woods, or alone. 
The colour of the hams indicates when they are suffi¬ 
ciently smoked—they should be a deep russet brown. 
SUGAR UEET SEED. 
Sherman M’Lean, writes us from Royalton, N. Y. as 
follows: “ I raised last summer about 400 bushels su¬ 
gar beets, and not having the necessary apparatus to 
manufacture sugar, I have concluded to set out an acre 
or more for seed, if the prospect of selling the seed will 
warrant the undertaking. Will it be safe for me to do 
so?” Yes, if contracts are early made with seedsmen 
before supplies are ordered from Europe. Great quan¬ 
tities of seed, we doubt not, will be wanted. Prepare 
the ground well, leave intervals of three feet between 
the plants—let either all the sprouts grow, or reduce 
them to one or two, and support the seed stocks by 
stakes or poles. 
Swamp Muck. —J. Winch, jr. of East Roxbury, Vt. 
writes us that he has an exhausted farm, which he is in 
a hurry to improve; that he has a large quantity of 
barn-yard dung, and an inexhaustible supply of swamp- 
muck, and he asks how he can apply them both to the 
best advantage to the coming crop. If the muck re¬ 
sembles leaf mould, as we infer from his letter, that is, 
if it is reduced to a powder, and devoid of ligneous and 
woody matters, he may mix it with profit with liis barn¬ 
yard dung, in equal parts, as early as possible, and ap¬ 
ply both together; or he may apply the muck to his 
grounds for small grains, or as a top-dressing to his 
grass lands. The fermentation of the manure in the 
soil will induce a decomposition of the vegetable matter 
in the muck. We advise Mr. Winch to take time by 
the fore-top—and as soon as his cattle yards are clear¬ 
ed, as they ought to he, in the spring, to bed his yards 
from six to twelve inches with muck, as a source of fer¬ 
tility in 1839; and further, to grade his yards so that 
the liquids may not run off, hut maybe absorbed by the 
muck and litter to be deposited in them. 
Hedges, fyc.—G. G. Cotton, who writes ns from Ho¬ 
mer, 111. will find his queries in regard to hedges an¬ 
swered in our late numbers. The indigenous crab and 
wild plum are probably the best plants he can employ, 
and the sod fence he proposes to build around his 400 
acre prairie lot, will constitute an excellent protection 
for the young hedge. But if he begins, he must not 
look back—he must persevere, or his labor will be lost. 
A belt of forest wood, on the bleak side of his lot, would 
give beauty, shelter, and ultimately profit. We can say 
nothing, from personal knowledge, of the grain cutting 
machines, propelled by horse-power, not having seen 
such in operation. 
SPREADING LIME. 
Samuel Howard, of Perry, inquires if there is any 
mode of spreading lime, at the rate of twenty bushels 
an acre, other than that of doing it with the hands ? A 
machine for scattering lime or gypsum, has been invent¬ 
ed by Julius Hatch, of Great Bend, Pennsylvania, which 
our neighbor Bement has tried, and highly approves of. 
We think lime might be spread very well, at the rate 
of twenty bushels.an acre, with a shovel, the man stand¬ 
ing in, or at the tail of a cart containing it, and passing 
back and forward through the field. 
Abel Curtis, of Laurel, Vt. wishes to know the cheap¬ 
est means of raising water 100 to 150 feet. There is no 
cheap process of doing this. It can only be done by 
wind, water, steam, or animal power. Inquire at the 
Fair Mount Philadelphia Water Works. 
Eli Stephenson, of Cabotsville, Mass, would advertise 
the public, that he has a fine three year old Short Horn¬ 
ed Durham bull for sale. 
Poll-evil. —John D. Rodney, of Lewis, Del. asks for 
directions to cure the poll-evil. Willich directs, that to 
disperse the swelling, the part be bathed with hot vine¬ 
gar ; and that if the hair be fretted off, and a discharge 
ooze through the skin, a fomentation, prepared with 
two parts of vinegar and one of spirits of wine, will be 
more proper. Should great inflammation ensue, bleed, 
apply poultices of bread, milk and elder flowers, and 
give physic. To discuss tumors, Mr. Clark recommends, 
that as soon as matter is preceived to fluctuate in the 
part affected, to introduce a large seton-needle, armed 
with a cord, at the upper end of the swelling, and bring 
it out under the lower part of it; from which orifice the 
pus will speedily discharge itself; and in a few weeks 
the wound will be perfectly healed, without leaving any 
scar or blemish, or the least trace of the disorder. 
Foul in the foot. —L. B. of Wayne county asks how 
this should be treated? We give the answer from Law¬ 
rence on Cattle. 
“ In case of any fissures or cracks, attended with heat, 
wash them with strong lather, and apply oil of turpen¬ 
tine, or tar and brandy, and keep the feet dry until 
healed. When the claws appear distended and inflamed, 
and the cracks have an offensive discharge, scrape with 
a knife and cleanse the parts, dress with Egyptian honey 
and oil of turpentine, hot, butter of antimony, or any of 
the corrosive waters in common use. Should the foul 
he neglected until it becomes indurated or bony, extir¬ 
pation xvith the knife will become necessary. But no¬ 
thing is so necessary towards the cure, as keeping the 
parts perfectly clean and dry, for want of the resolution 
and care to do which effectually, many patients are ne¬ 
ver thoroughly cured. 
“ Water for foul in the foot. —Strong solution of blue 
vitriol and alum in water. If required very powerful, 
the acid of vitriol one ounce, corrosive sublimate four 
drams; or an ointment made from the above, mixed 
with honey and verdigris, applied on pledges of low.” 
We can give no directions for the cure of the hoof-ail, 
as its symptoms are described. It seems to be a dis¬ 
ease peculiar to our country. All we can do, is to sug¬ 
gest the preventives of keeping the animals dry, and 
well, and of giving them daily salt and roots. Can any 
of our correspondents cite a case of mortality among 
cattle which harm had a daily allowance of roots and 
salt, and been protected from storms? 
Rotation of Crops. —We have been desired, by a re¬ 
spectable correspondent, to give a list of a course of 
crops adapted to each of the leading divisions of our 
soils. The task of doing this, on a scale adapted to the 
circulation of the Cultivator, would be one of some dif¬ 
ficulty. We shall offer some general remarks upon this 
subject in our essay upon The New Husbandry, and 
may afterwards enlarge upon it, so far as our personal 
knowledge will justify. In the mean time we would 
accept it as a particular favor, and the public would no 
doubt be greatly benefitted, if some gentleman in the 
south, or south-west, would furnish us with the courses 
adapted to those sections of our country. 
“ A Young Farmer ” writes us .from Salisbury for ad¬ 
vice, whether he shall put his corn crop upon an old 
and very stiff-sodded meadow, not yet ploughed, or up¬ 
on a two year old clover ley? We answer the latter. 
Let the long manure be taken out, spread, and plough¬ 
ed under, and the ground well harrowed and planted, 
in as little time as practicable, from the 5th to the 15th 
of May. The old meadow may be turned over, and 
sown with oats, or oats or peas, this spring, and will 
be in good condition for long manure and corn next 
year. The fear is, that the vegetable matter of the 
