48 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ture and teaming, instead of horses, would result in 
very important advantages, both to the farmer and 
community at large. They should always be shod when 
worked on the road constantly, or in frosty weather. 
See figure 28. 
I have heard that there are modes of bringing the 
draft on the head instead of the shoulders, practised in 
the Spanish provinces, the particulars of which I 
should gladly become acquainted with. 
Your obt. sert. DAVID ALLINSON. 
Hints to those who Write for Instruction, 
That any information to be valuable, must be based 
upon experience, needs scarce an argument in its 
proof; nor is the assertion less in accordance with 
truth, that the value of any information must mainly 
depend upon the manner in which such information is 
conveyed. While facts are to be stated, it is essen¬ 
tial that all the facts be brought forward. In treating 
of subjects connected with agriculture more especial¬ 
ly is the above the case; the nature of the soil, the 
state of the climate, whether humid or dry, the ave¬ 
rage range of the thermometer, both perhaps in a great 
measure influenced by the remoteness from or proxi¬ 
mity to the ocean or our great inland lakes, should 
be particularly noted. Thus would each be enabled 
to cull from the mass of facts presented by “ The 
Cultivator,” such as are best adapted to his indivi¬ 
dual case. How often do we meet with accounts of 
great crops, the beauty of a particular mode of cul¬ 
ture, yet deficient in the essential points we have 
enumerated 1 To what possible advantage can they be 
applied, or rather of what evil may they not be pro¬ 
ductive, more especially among that class who, adopt¬ 
ing agriculture late in life, either for profit or amuse¬ 
ment, are deficient in that practical knowledge, which 
an early devotion to the subject can alone bestow.— 
On the other hand, had the writers been more parti¬ 
cular in their narration, he had been ignorant indeed 
who had failed, since such failure must suppose an 
ignorance of the nature of his own soil, and other at¬ 
tendant circumstances, the knowledge of which, 
though more easily acquired, are by no means less 
necessary. 
That the value of different articles for manure,depends 
upon the nature of the soil to which they may be ap¬ 
plied, is a fact which, though readily conceded, ap¬ 
pears to be but little attended to, at least if we may 
judge from practical essays on husbandry. As a 
proof of this, let us take the article of gypsum, or 
plaster as it is usually termed; no article can come 
more highly recommended, yet where can we find an 
account of the soils best adapted for its employment, 
the proper season for spreading the same, or the 
tests of its quality, (and no substance as a manure, 
differs more) whether it should be sown immediate¬ 
ly after it is ground, or whether it will take no harm 
from remaining sometime before it 
to the 
earth. As an article of manure for certain localities 
its value can scarcely be estimated to'o highly, while 
we can imagine others where its employment, if not 
directly prejudicial, would at least be productive of 
no benefit; truly he would confer no small benefit on 
his country who would treat of this subject more at 
large.* 
The article which appeared in a late number of 
“The Cultivator,” on “new method of tillage,” de¬ 
serves serious consideration; it were the height of 
folly truly, to hold on the old, with no better reason 
than because it is old, and equally so to adopt, mere¬ 
ly for its novelty, the new. There are some lands 
which require frequent ploughing, on these the rota¬ 
tion of crops is no doubt the proper system to be 
pursued, but are there not others which will pay 
better for being undisturbed 1 1 trust the article I 
have alluded to, may elicit discussion on the subject, 
and thus give a new value to the pages of “The 
Cultivator.” T. 
Horn-ail. 
Friend J. Buel, —Thinking the public might be 
benefitted by the following, I am induced to offer it 
for insertion in thy columns, viz : A cure for the hol¬ 
low horn, or hollow head, in cattle. In cases of this 
disease, I have always resorted to the common prac¬ 
tice of boring the horns, until one of my cows, with¬ 
out horns, was so diseased ; in which case I took one 
half pint of good vinegar, two table-spoonsfuls of com¬ 
mon salt, one tea-spoonful of pepper, and mixed them 
well together ; the solution so compounded I poured 
into her ear, holding her head to one side, in order to 
keep her ear turned up, for the space of one or two 
minutes; then, after applying the same to the other 
ear, in the same manner, I turned her loose, and she 
is my milch cow this winter, it being five or six years 
since she was so diseased. Others of my neighbors 
halve, in similar cases, resorted to the same method, 
always proving effectual. JOSEPH COPE. 
E, Fairfield , Ohio, 1838. 
Pennsylvania Bam, and Out-buildings. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—In No. 1, Yol. IY. of the Cul¬ 
tivator is an invitation for farming information, by the 
offer of premiums ; this I was glad to see, not that I 
expected to obtain any of them, but that they would 
elicit information that would be valuable generally, 
and to me particularly, in planning farm buildings. 
I possess a farm of two hundred and fifty acres, 
about half wood land, the other half cleared and tilla¬ 
ble, on which, if all goes well, will be required addi¬ 
tional buildings, nearly all that should be on a well 
improved farm. I have a central situation, with 
a very suitable slope to the south, such as is de¬ 
sirable and mostly sought by the farmers in this state. 
I have so far matured my plans as to make drawings, 
subject, nevertheless, to such improvements as I can 
make in them from what is yet to come in the Culti¬ 
vator, and my further observation. With the view of 
contributing to the Cultivator my mite, (if a mite it 
be,) I have made the inclosed drawings; they are 
rough, but perhaps they may be understood. 
Fig. 29, is ground plot of the whole concern, farm 
[Fig. No. 29.] 
*Chaptal’s remarks on this subject are not. without merit, 
yet 1 am inclined to the belief that his opinion as to its uni¬ 
versal applicability is carried too far, while the quantity re¬ 
commended by him to the acre, is by one half, at least, too 
great. 
is 
o 
a. 
buildings, cattle yard, stack yard, rail-road, &c. on an 
extended scale. I purpose beginning with the barn, 
(Dutchman like; I live among them, and admire their 
barn economy.) A, barn with shed at one end and 
in front; B, wagon shed; C, store house for farm 
tools not in use ; D, range of cattle sheds ; E, poul¬ 
try house ; F, G, sheep and hog house ; I, granary ; 
K, boiling and smoke house, with winter and rainy 
weather work shop over it; L, dwelling; M, M, addi¬ 
tional cattle sheds, or houses and yard in front; N, 
stack yard ; R, R, rail-road through the whole line of 
buildings, (except the dwelling,) and a branch through 
the stack yard, when wanted and if the ground suits, 
(it does with me ;) *.•.•.*.•.•. dotted lines wagon roads 
for access to the back of all the buildings, and to the 
threshing floor in the barn. 
Fig. 30, ground story of stabling, &c. A, stables ; 
[Fig. No. 30.]. 
Iri a tn 
r 
Li aa 
B 
B 
AA [ 
£1= 
g—u 
U 
c 
y'W 
A 
A 
?0 
A 
A 
A, A, other stables, or they may be dug out for cel¬ 
lars and bins for roots ; B, bins and cellars extending 
under part of the entry within the dotted lines, to re¬ 
present walls ; C, entry with one door large enough to 
drive a wagon into to unload, or to load a wagon in 
for the market without risk of freezing in winter ; D, 
doors ; W, windows on the back side, with double 
sash to keep out the frost, and for light in the entry, 
also to fill bins ; P, well with a pump ; H, P, horse¬ 
power for working of threshing or any other kind of 
machinery above. 
Fig. 31, represents the threshing floor and chaff 
[Fig. No. 31.] 
room under it; access to the latter from the road 
back of the barn and under the bridge leading to the 
threshing floor. 
Fig. 32, elevation. 
[Fig. No. 32.] 
1 have endeavored to improve on our German plan 
of the stable story, believing that the cost of the 
bridge, to the threshing floor, and the shed outside 
in front will be more than compensated by the room 
gained in the stable story for roots. The barn is all 
that I have undertaken to shew the inside of. All 
the buildings may be more or less convenient and ex¬ 
pensive according to the proprietor’s purse and in¬ 
clination, (perhaps I may hereafter say more about 
some of them.) 
As rail-roads are the order of the day, and as my 
ground is nearly level on a proper line for the front of 
the buildings, parallel with the public road, I have in¬ 
troduced one in my drawings through the centre of 
all the buildings, (except the dwelling,) to make 
transportation convenient from one to the other; 
the floor of the barn on which the car will run may 
be without rails, instead of which give the wheels of 
the car a face on the flang. I have contemplated 
constructing the car with a simple platform, so that 
we can place a steam box on it with the feed to be 
cooked in it, and take it on the rail-road to the boiling 
house, introduce a pipe from the boiler to cook by 
steam ; when cooked, take it on the rail-way to any 
or all the buildings wherever they are to be fed; or, 
place on the car a light crib-work, (shelvings they 
are called with us,) for hay or straw from one place 
to another. One man can conveniently move on the 
rail-road half a ton weight. (Of the car more here¬ 
after if desirable.) 
From the accounts published in the Cultivator and 
others that I have read, root culture is extending, 
seemingly very profitable. My drawing embraces a 
cellar and bins that would hold about four thousand 
bushels, without obstructing the light, so placed that 
access can be had to them in freezing weather with¬ 
out danger; our climate at times is very cold and 
changeable, and we must provide against frost. My 
farm is about five miles from a good cash market for 
all my surplus ; and if potatoes or other roots are to 
go to market in the winter, it would be very conveni¬ 
ent to back the wagon to the bins to load and secure 
them out of the frost, to be ready for an early morn¬ 
ing start. 
Under the stable floor is a space between the front 
wall and the cellar wall, which may be filled with 
sand to absorb the urine of the horses or cattle. Some 
years since I called to see a relation, a good farmer, 
found him at his barn throwing sand into his stable, 
to replace what he had taken away. If my recollec¬ 
tion is correct, (and I believe it is,) he said that the 
