178 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
cast sowing-machine, so frequently used for sowing 
grass-seeds, as well as for its ligitimate purpose— 
the sowing of the different kinds of grain. Mr. Dud¬ 
geon seems to have devoted his attention to the con¬ 
struction of a machine, adapted to perform the pro¬ 
cesses of sowing, then rolling, and, lastly, harrowing 
at one operation ; and he has been the first to bring 
such a method before the Highland and Agricultural 
Society. The machine, at full size, has been certi¬ 
fied to perform these combined operations in a satis¬ 
factory manner. 
[Fig. No. 66.] 
In the annexed cut, this compound machine is ex¬ 
hibited in perspective, wherein the combination of the 
harrow and the roller are detailed along with the 
sowing apparatus, and may be shortly described as 
follows ;—a a are the fore and hind bars of the top 
frame set at the distance of 2 feet apart, their length 
being about 7 feet 4 inches. To these are bolted 
down the horse-shafts b of the ordinary length, but 
having in addition, the extension bars c c bolted to the 
end of the shafts. The seed-chest d, 6j feet in length, 
is appended to the lower side of the horse-shafts, im¬ 
mediately in front of the fore-bar, and may be fitted 
up in all respects similar to the common broadcast 
seed-chest, the spindle which carries the small dis¬ 
charging toothed wheels being put m motion by a 
belt or a chain passing over a pulley e, 12 inches in di¬ 
ameter, on the projecting end of the spindle ; the belt 
or chain receiving its motion from another pulley of 9 
inches diameter, placed on the axle of the roller, now 
to be described. The roller//which is also 6| feet 
in length, is about 18 inches in diameter, though this 
is not imperative, nor is the material of which it is 
made of any essential importance. The roller is sup¬ 
ported by its journals in two simicircular bars of mal¬ 
leable iron, or they may be cast of iron, bolted to the 
extremities of the fore and hind bars a a. From the 
simicircular bars proceed also two stays for the fur¬ 
ther support of the seed-chest. The harrow g'g'is 
suspended immediately behind the roller ; it consists 
of two frames, each 3| feet in length, and 1 foot in 
width. These are jointed end to end, forming a har¬ 
row 7 feet in length, having only two rows of tines. 
The tines are set at 2| inches distant, and, as the 
tines of the one row alternate with those of the other, 
they will make a rut at every 1| inch. The direct 
suspension of the harrow is effected by means of 
chains from the movable bar h; this being jointed at 
the one end is capable of being raised from the hori¬ 
zontal position to the position h, or to any intermedi¬ 
ate point, and retained there by a pin passed through 
a quadrant over which the bar moves ; by this means 
the harrow is regulated as to depth, while by means 
of a link from the simicircular bars, and by the chain 
from the extremity of the extension bars c c, it is du¬ 
ly stayed in a proper position, while it has sufficient 
freedom of swing to insure its useful effect. The joint 
at the middle of the harrow allows it to accommodate 
itself to the rounding of the ridges when required. 
The lever seen in the middle of the top frame is, 
through its connection with another lever on the back 
of the seed-chest, used for opening and shutting the 
orifices, and for regulating the discharge of the seed, 
by moving a long slide plate in the usual manner. 
It may be remarked of this machine, that the par¬ 
ticular succession here shown, that is to say sowing, 
rolling, harrowing, is not considered essential to its 
success ; and that any other, as rolling, sowing, har¬ 
rowing, may, under different circumstances of soil and 
management, be found equally successful. 
Prevention of Mildew or Rust. 
The following account of a successful experiment, in 
destroying mildew in wheat, is from the Rev. Mr. 
Cartwright, and is copied from the Edinburgh Quar¬ 
terly, and from a paper on the diseases of cultivated 
plants, by G. W. Johnson, Esq. Although the applica¬ 
tion demands some labor, that laboi is not to be put in 
competition with the value of the wheat crop. We 
have confidence in the authority and in the efficacy of 
the antidote; and recommend the prescription to our 
farmers for trial. 
“ I and a neighbor of mine have applied it as a 
remedy for the mildew in wheat, with the most une¬ 
quivocal success. I first made the discovery about 
two years ago. My experiments at that time were 
upon a very limited scale. They have this year only 
extended over an acre and a half, but under circum¬ 
stances that leave not a shadow of a doubt of salt be¬ 
ing an absolute specific for mildew, in the most ag¬ 
gravated stages of the disorder. Of this I will state 
to you a convincing proof. In the year 1818, I found 
a few ears of wheat, which I conceived to be a new 
and improved variety. From these ears I raised as 
much wheat as last year planted a piece of land 4 
feet wide, and 100 yards in length. The produce I 
had promised Mr. Coke, and to augment that produce, 
I had the ground, previously to planting, highly ma¬ 
nured ; and as soon as the wheat came up, I gave it 
a good dressing with soot, and this dressing was re¬ 
peated once or twice. In consequence of this su¬ 
perabundant dressing, the wheat, as might indeed 
have been expected, was as rank as the wheat you 
may observe growing accidentally upon a dunghill, 
which never fails to rot upon the ground, without bring¬ 
ing a single grain to maturity. 
“The mildew made its appearance on this particu¬ 
lar part of my field, while the straw was quite green, 
and the grain in a milky state. Notwithstanding the 
danger that might be apprehended to the wheat itself, 
from its being thus succulent, I ventured to give it a 
dressing with salt and water. As a heavy shower of 
rain fell a few hours afterwards, the dressing was re¬ 
peated the next morning. 
“The proportion of salt to the water, one pound in 
a gallon, laid on with a plasterer’s brush, the operator 
bearing a pail of the mixture in one hand, and the 
brush in the other, making his casts as when sowing 
corn ; or else with a common watering-pot, which, 
being swung with great force, throws the water very 
rapidly. Two men will get over about four acres a- 
day, the one to spread, the other to supply the mix¬ 
ture. 
“ The result was, that the mildew was completely 
subdued, and the wheat went forward to maturity, and 
although the sample was not so bold as it might have 
been, it was sound and marketable. In other parts 
of the field, where the mildew shewed itself, not un¬ 
der the aggravated circumstances described above, 
but as it usually appears, the wheat was not in the 
least injured by it, after the salt and water were ap¬ 
plied ; it was indeed as fine a sample as could be grown. 
Both mine and my neighbor’s wheat were examined 
by many practical farmers, who are so decidedly con¬ 
vinced of the efficacy of my remedy, that they intend 
never to be without a reserve of salt, ready to meet 
the enemy the moment he appears. 
“ The effect of the salt upon the mildew, to those 
who do not consider the manner of its operation, is 
truly astonishing ; I believe it to be instant death to 
the fungus; this, however, is certain, in less than 
forty-eight hours the straw nearly recovers its origi¬ 
nal colour and brightness. The certainty and celerity 
of its operation, I account for thus: The mildew, it 
is now well ascertained, is a parasitical plant, of the 
fungus tribe, the principal constituent of which is wa¬ 
ter ; when salt, therefore, is applied to them, the aque¬ 
ous particles are immediately absorbed, and their vi¬ 
tality destroyed. The action of salt upon mushrooms, 
as in making mushroom catsup, confirms this theory.” 
Mr. Johnson adds—“I can afford decided testimony 
to the efficacy of the cure recommended by Mr. Cart¬ 
wright ; but I would add these precautions. The 
safest quantity of salt per gallon is eight ounces, and 
then the application may be rendered more effectual 
by frequent repetition, without any danger of injury 
to the plants. If the application is not made during 
a clouded day, it is best to defer it until the evening. 
“ Some have recommended a rope, held at its ex¬ 
tremities by two men, to be drawn up and down each 
ridge of the infected crop, to remove the fungus ; and 
there is no doubt that this treatment is partially ef¬ 
fectual, for the parasite is removed wherever it comes 
in contact with the rope, but the points of contact 
necessarily are limited. ’ 
Nothing is Annihilated. 
The researches of chemists have shown, that what 
the vulgar call corruption, destruction, &c. is nothing 
but a change of arrangement of the same ingredient 
elements, the disposition of the same materials into 
other forms, without the loss or destruction of a sin¬ 
gle atom; and thus any doubts of the permanence 
of natural laws are discountenanced, and the whole 
weight of appearances thrown into the opposite scale. 
One of the most obvious cases of apparent destruc¬ 
tion is, when any thing is ground to dust and scatter¬ 
ed to the winds. But it is one thing to grind a fa¬ 
bric to powder, and another to annihilate its materi¬ 
als : scattered as they may be, they must fall some¬ 
where, and continue, if only ingredients of the soil, 
to perform their humble though useful part in the eco¬ 
nomy of nature. The destruction produced by fire is 
more striking ; in many cases, as in the burning of a 
piece of charcoal, or a taper, there is no smoke, no¬ 
thing visibly dissipated and carried away; the burn¬ 
ing body wastes and disappears, while nothing seems 
to be produced but warmth and light, which we are 
not in the habit of considering as substances; and 
when all has disappeared, except perhaps some tri¬ 
fling ashes, we naturally enough suppose it is gone, 
lost, destroyed. But when the question is examined 
more exactly, we detect, in the stream of invisible air 
which ascends from the glowing coal, or flaming wax, 
the whole ponderable matter, only united in a new 
combination with the air, and dissolved in it. Yet, 
so far from being thereby destroyed, it is only become 
again what it was before it existed in the form of 
charcoal or wax, an active agent in the business of 
the world, and a main support of vegetable and animal 
life, and is still susceptible of running again and 
again the same round, as circumstances may deter¬ 
mine; so that, for aught we see to the contrary, the 
same identical atom may be concealed for thousands 
of centuries in a lime stone rock; may at length be 
quarried, set free in the lime-kiln, mix with the air, 
be absorbed by it from plants, and, in succession, be¬ 
come a part of the frame of mryiads of living beings, 
till some concurrence of events consigns it once more 
to a long repose, which, however, no way unfits it 
from again resuming its former activity.— Herschel 
on the Study of Natural Philosophy. 
. . **'" .... 1 1 ' 
Young Men’s Department. 
t( What is Education?” 
We commend to every young reader, who aspires to the 
good things of life—as wealth, reputation and happi¬ 
ness—the following extract, which we make from an 
article on education, in the North American Review. 
It is worthy a careful perusal,—of a re-perusal—and 
of being treasured up in the memory. It exhibits the 
true foundation, if not the only one, upon which any 
young man can expect to rear a superstructure of 
substantial usefulness. 
“ What is education, such education as deserves 
the name 1 Not the getting by rote set forms of 
words which may be altogether barren of profitable 
fruit; no, nor barely storing the memory with the in¬ 
formation of facts, however extensive and useful.— 
An abundant stock of these, judiciously laid in, may 
doubtless prove of wonderful advantage in the after 
occasions of life. But education truly and faithfully 
accomplished, is the full and well-proportioned deve¬ 
lopment of all a man’s physical, intellectual, and moral 
capacities ; such as sends him into the conflict of his 
earthly probation, a sound mind in a sound body, to 
fulfil the dictates of a sound heart. Training, aptly 
administered to this end, fosters and confirms°all vir¬ 
tuous dispositions, checks and finally eradicates all 
unworthy propensities. The scholar learns to scorn 
ignoble objects of pursuit, and wisely bends his undi¬ 
vided energies, with an ingenuous ardor, to effect the 
liberal purposes of a comprehensive benevolence. He 
places his supreme happiness in the solid satisfaction 
of duty well performed. He knows how to choose 
the right; and, having made his election, his under¬ 
standing and all his corporeal faculties, operate in 
their several functions in due subordination to realize 
his will. He is nerved for the fight, he can breast 
himself manfully against every assault, he will triumph 
victoriously over all opposition, for he feels himself 
strengthened to every good word and work, both in 
the inner and outer man. ‘ I call, therefore, a com¬ 
plete and generous education,’ says Milton, ‘that 
which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and mag¬ 
nanimously, all the offices both private and public, of 
peace and war.’ 
“ Under such instruction he will grow up to under¬ 
stand and realize his position in the universe, and his 
relations to his fellow creatures, and what it is incum¬ 
bent on him to be and to do, by virtue of their mutual 
dependencies. Society has done much for him. It 
has raised him above the level of the brutes, and be 
owes to society a return,—a large return,—vastly more 
than he can ever pay, though he were a Bacon or a 
Newton, a Lafayette or a Washington ; but his ina¬ 
bility to repay all does not release and cancel the 
debt of gratitude. 
“ There is an indefeasible obligation upon every 
man to do something for the world he lives in. He 
should ever bear it on his conscience to discharge this 
duty. With the blessing of God, he should say to him¬ 
self, ‘ The world shall be somewhat better that I have 
lived in it.’ He who does not say this, in sincerity 
and truth, is no nobler than the beasts that perish. 
Morally he is beneath them ; for they act up to their 
light, and feel no responsibility for which they are not 
ready to give an account, while he lives in the daily 
sense that his part in the world’s work is unperformed. 
While he yields no fruit, he only cumbers God’s vine¬ 
yard ; and, when he is cut down, but few will mourn 
over him. 
“ Far otherwise is it with him in whose daily medi¬ 
tations philanthropy is ever present as a governing 
principle. Who are the truly useful 1 To whom is 
the world indebted for those magnificent benefactions, 
which have blessed millions and generations,—im¬ 
provements in government, advancement in religion, 
and in civilization 1 To whom are mankind indebted 
for the noiseless but resistless progress of good princi¬ 
ples, whereby greater changes are effected in the 
