25 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
country, both very early, productive, prone to succoring 
and producing ears on them, besides other kinds; if you 
are desirous of obtaining seme of those kinds, I will 
forward them to you post paid. I cultivated last sum¬ 
mer, for the first time, some of your Buel corn, which I 
take to be the same as the Dutton—I am satisfied that 
it is two weeks earlier in this climate, than it is in yours, 
or in the same latitudes in your state. I prefer other 
larger kinds of maize which we cultivate in this climate, 
although not quite as early, ripens well here, and bears 
larger ears, long seeds and small cobs, and will shell 
out a struck bushel of grains to three half bushels in the 
ears, heaped. I forward you also enclosed, a few grains 
of a kind of white corn, which having a large cob and 
desirable seed, I transplanted upon the cob ot a yellow 
yj defy—iu this way the corn I got was the production 
01 the two kinds above mentioned, of course a mixture 
of white and yellow grains, mostly, however, upon the 
large cob. I however found a few ears that retained 
the desirable small cobs and a mixed seed ; from these I 
selected carefully all the perfectly white grains, planted 
them apart from other varieties, and raised the beauti¬ 
ful white grains now sent you, without a single yellow 
grain, and retaining the small cob. This variety, I am 
confident, will be found early enough for your climate, 
and preferred from the whiteness of its grain. I am 
very respectfully, &c. JAMES G. SOULARD. 
We believe yellow corn is generally more rich in nu¬ 
tritious matter, and the meal from it more grateful to 
northern palates, than the meal from white varieties.— 
Cond. 
Queries and Answers. 
Tuckasaga P. 0. Mecklenburgli co. N. C. Feb. 4,1839. 
J. Boel —Sir—Will you or some of your correspon¬ 
dents please to answer the following queries. 1st. 
What is the best mode of destroying broomsedge or 
broom grass in meadows ? 2nd. What is the best mode 
of destroying dock in meadows'? 3rd. At what time, 
and how, ought bees to be put into the bee house, to be 
raised and managed on the housing plan ? 4th. How is 
the horizontal hill side ditcli and graduated furrow laid 
off, at what part of the field or hill side, is the best to 
commence at, and how many inches descent in the raf¬ 
ter level of twelve feet span is necessary to prevent hill 
sides from washing? I would like very much to hear 
the whole process explained, as I understand it is prac¬ 
tised pretty extensively in so'“ ' ./'arts of Virginia. Re¬ 
spectfully yours. *- A. iVLTEARY, P. M. 
ANSWERS BY THE CONDUCTOR. 
We leave the first and last part of the fourth query to 
be answered by some Virginia correspondent, where we 
believe broomsedge grows, and where the business of 
preventing and healing gauls is pretty extensively prac¬ 
tised ; and proceed to answer the other queries. 
2. The only effectual mode of extirpating dock in 
meadows, is to destroy entirely the root and top ; and 
the best mode of doing this is to pull them up, before 
the grass is mown, which may generally be affected with 
ease, by seizing the seed stock near the surface, and 
drawing up the roots. The entire plants should be ga¬ 
thered in piles by boys, and when dry enough, burnt to 
ashes. The labor is not great. 
3. Bees should be put in the bee house the evening 
after the new swarm has come out—or any other time 
will answer. 
4. If we understand the fourth query, the first part 
relates to draining on a wet side hill. The ditch or 
under drain should be laid off just above where the ap¬ 
pearance of the surface indicates an excess of water, and 
dug through the porous or watery stratum, and so far 
into the subsoil or pan, or till, as to form a channel in 
the latter for the conveyance of the water ; and it should 
not have so great a descent as to cause the water to 
wear upon the bottom or sides of the drain. A second 
and a third drain are often necessary below the first, in 
consequence of spouts or springs bursting out there. 
Prevention of Smut—Lunar influence. 
Clinton, N. Ik January 26, 1839. 
- Mr. Buel —Sir—With your permission, I will briefly 
state the result of my efforts to prevent smut in wheat. 
I prepared the seed for one field by washing (not steep¬ 
ing) in a strong brine, following with lime in the usual 
way, and sowing immediately. The result was an al¬ 
most perfectly clean crop. For another field, the seed 
was merely washed in fresh water, and limed as before. 
As the sowing commenced, it began to rain, and conti¬ 
nued until the seed was all harrowed in. At harvest, I 
found, a very smutty crop. I am inclined to account for 
this by the substitution of fresh water for brine, or put¬ 
ting the seed in during a rain, or by both united. The 
latter I am now sure was a great error; suspected so in 
the time of it, and hope not to commit the like again. 
With respect to “lunar influence,” I wish to say a 
word. If it be as great as some suppose, the subject is 
a very important one. Without having any decided 
opinion as to its nature or extent, I entertain some 
doubts whether the facts stated by your Plymouth cor¬ 
respondent, in the Cultivator for December, are the re¬ 
sult of “lunar influence.” Some years since, hearing 
the remark that pork killed in the new of the moon 
would swell in cooking, and noticing that my pork that 
year did swell finely during that process, I at once re¬ 
ferred to the time of butchering, and found it to have 
been performed at precisely the opposite period. I 
think the result was similar in another instance. It 
would seem, at least, that if the common saying is 
sometimes verified, it is not always the case. Very re¬ 
spectfully yours, G. BUTLER. 
P. S. I will just mention that I made an experiment 
last spring, with the contents of an old vault or privy, 
notwithstanding the fears of some, that it would prove 
the death of vegetation. It was applied to corn ground, 
in the hill, at the rate of about twelve loads to the acre. 
Perhaps a less quantity would have done as well, and a 
compost form I now think the best way of applying it. 
The result, however, was astonishing, producing a most 
luxuriant growth, far exceeding that portion of the field 
prepared with manure from the hog-pen. A heavjr and 
destructive wind about earing time swept over the field, 
breaking a large number of stalks, of course greatly re¬ 
ducing the crop. H- B. 
New implement—New variety of Corn. 
Madison, la. January 1, 1839. 
J. Buel —Dear Sir—The drag or harrow, here descri¬ 
bed, is the best implement for the cornfield, market gar¬ 
den and “truckpatch,” I have ever seen. It is prefer- 
ed to and takes the place of the cultivator, where both 
are known, the superiority consisting mainly in the cir¬ 
cumstance of its getting deeper into the ground and leav¬ 
ing it in a situation much less likely to bake. I obtained 
a drawing and description from my brother in Maryland 
for the benefit of this state ; a copy is annexed for the 
benefit ofmankind. 
Do you eat roasting ears? so called because they are al¬ 
most always boiled—-If you do, plant Tuscarora and su¬ 
gar corn together in equal quantities, and you will obtain 
an article superior to anything you have ever tasted in 
the shape of corn. I raised a small quantity this year, 
which wasthe “ town talk.” Itappears Rom that which 
I have saved for seed, that the sugar-corn mixes with 
the Tuscarora, and not the Tuscarora with the sugar. 
I will send you a few ears of that mixt corn. Would not 
the sugar grains in these ears, as they are much larger, 
produce a sugar corn superior to the old? I mean to try 
it. Yours with much regal’d, 
G. FITZHUGH. 
[Fig. No. 3.] 
The frame is made of good oak timber, 3 inches broad 
on top, by 3t inches deep. The middle piece is 3 feet 
2 inches long—the clevis hole seen at 4 is 44 inches from 
the end ; the front tooth in the same piece is 10| inches 
from the end, and seen at 2 in a square long plate with a 
round hole for the neck of the tooth, to come through ; at 
2| inches from the hind end of same piece is a vertical 
mortise, 2£ inches long and 1 inch broad, for a post to sup¬ 
port the handles—the post is made of strong timber 2 h 
by 3 inches square, and is 19£ inches long—it has a 
tenon 31 long by 21 broad and 1 inch thick, to fit into 
the mortice at 1—at 11 inches from the shoulder of the 
post, commences another mortise (in a different direction 
of the tenon) 2| inches deep and 1 inch wide, into which 
is to be fitted a cross to support the handles, tapered 
and rounded to go into the handles which lit on both sides 
of the cross, withg hole about 2 feet 3 inches from their 
lower ends, and extend back about the same distance, 
having a round behind the cross to confine them toge¬ 
ther, at 1 foot 5 inches from the upper ends, and are 1 
foot 6 inches wide at the round. The side pieces are 2 
feet 6 inches long, and join the middle piece opposite the 
clevis hole, and are united to the centre piece by a slat 3) 
inches broad at one end, and 3 inches the other, 1 inch 
thick and 18 inches long, the mortice for it to commence 
71 inches from ends of side pieces. The teeth are placed 
in these at the distance of 5£ inches from the ends as in 
the number 2. The teeth are made of best bar iron ijj 
by J inches—the necks are 5 inches long, and are at the 
shoulder 11 inches by § square, and are tapered and 
rounded at the top for a strong screw—in the side pieces 
they must be placed obliquely that their tracks may be 
parallel with the middle. They must have strong plates 
for the bottom, say 1 inch thick, 21 broad, 4| long, and 
well nailed on; the top plates much lighter, and the holes 
for the teeth in the bottom plates must fit the necks well 
and of course must be cut into the sides obliquely to 
give the proper direction as before intimated—the should¬ 
ers of the teeth must fit well; with a cold punch, indent 
the numbers respectively behind the shoulder of each 
tooth, and on each plate and nut, to distinguish their 
places. 
VOL. VI.—NO. 1. 
N. Y. State Agricultural Convention. 
Tuesday, February 5, 1839. 
The Convention met in the Assembly Chamber at 4 
P. M. Judge VAN BERGEN, of Greene county, was 
called to the chair, and Messrs. Bird, of Erie, and Fry, 
of Montgomery, were appointed Secretaries. 
On motion of Mr. Buel, of Albany, a committee of 
eight was appointed to nominate officers of the conven¬ 
tion. The committee, after consultation, reported the 
following: 
DERICK SIBLEY, of Monroe, President. 
John Crary, of Washington, "| 
Corn’s Bergen, of Kings, ! Vice . President8i 
J. L. Voorhees, of Onondaga, f 
Nathan Clark, of Washington,) 
W. A. Bird, of Erie, ) 
Richard Keese, of Essex, > Secretaries. 
Z. Barton Stout, of Ontario, ) 
The counties were called alphabetically, and the gen¬ 
tlemen present from each were desired to hand in their 
names to the Secretaries. The number of gentlemen 
who thus identified themselves with the Convention, 
amounted to between one hundred and eighty and two 
hundred. 
Mr. Buel read a letter from C. L. Fleischmann, a gra¬ 
duate of the Agricultural School of Bavaria, transmit¬ 
ting copies of two memorials which he had presented 
to Congress, one for the establishment of a National 
Agricultural School, from a part of the Smithson legacy; 
and the other, giving the history of the sugar beet bu¬ 
siness down to the present time, and detailing the recent 
improvements in the manulacture. From the latter do¬ 
cument, which was read in Convention, it appears, that 
by a summary and cheap process of drying, the beet 
root may be preserved so as to be manufactured at any 
season; that the process of drying so lessens its volume 
and weight, that it may be transported at one-fourth of 
the former expense; that the beet is now made to yield 
ten per cent of sugar, and that the process of manufac¬ 
ture has been so simplified and cheapened, that refined 
sugar, equal to our loaf, can be sold for seven and a half 
cents per pound. 
The thanks of the Convention w r ere voted to Mr. 
Fleischmann for his communication. 
On motion of L. F. Allen, a committee, consisting of 
Messrs. Buel of Albany, Walsh of Rensselaer, Ogden 
of Chemung, Bergen of Kings, Sacket of Seneca, Pat¬ 
terson of Livingston, Tiffany of Montgomery, and Pot¬ 
ter of Dutchess, was appointed to report the business 
to be presented to the Convention for its consideration. 
Mr. L. F. Allen offered a resolution in favor of a me¬ 
morial to the legislature, requiring assessors in the se¬ 
veral towns and cities to ascertain the annual quantity 
of agricultural products, and the value of our domestic 
manufactures. 
The resolution was debated by Messrs. Allen, Petrie 
of Herkimer, Chandler of New-York, Clark of Wash¬ 
ington, Beardsley of Otsego, and Strong of Monroe; and 
before the question was taken, the Convention adjourned 
to 7 o’clock. 
7 o’clock, P. M. 
Mr. Allen offered the following, as a substitute for the 
resolution which he had before moved in the Conven¬ 
tion; and after some debate, it was adopted. 
Resolved, That this Convention respectfully request 
the Legislature of this State to pass an act making it 
the fluty of the assessors in each city and town in this 
State annually to ascertain the whole amount of the pro¬ 
duce of said city and town, including agricultural, me¬ 
chanical and manufactures of every description, desig¬ 
nating each separately, in proper tables, so thatt e spe¬ 
cific produce of said city or town may be seen by the 
items respectively ; and in order to obtain particularity 
and uniformity, the Secretary of State be required to 
make blank tables or forms, such as he may deem pro¬ 
per and necessary, to ascertain the entire produce of the 
State of every description: that such blanks may be 
furnished to the clerks of each city and town in order 
that they may be distributed to such officers whose duty 
it is to obtain such information; that said officer be re¬ 
quired to make due return thereof in such manner as 
shall be designated by the Legislature, and that the Se¬ 
cretary of State may make due report of all such infor¬ 
mation so acquired, to the Legislature annually, in the 
month of January. 
Air. Buel, from the committee appointed to prepare 
business for the Convention, reported, in part, the follow¬ 
ing resolutions:— 
1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention, 
the culture of silk is an object well worthy of legislative 
encouragement by the offering of bounties for a limited 
number of years for its production. 
2. Resolved, That this Convention regard the culture 
of the sugar beet, with q view to the production of su¬ 
gar, as a branch of agriculture, which may be prosecu¬ 
ted to the very great advancement of the prosperity of 
the State, and recommend it as well entitled to legisla¬ 
tive encouragement by the offer of liberal bounties. 
3. Resolved, That this Convention regard it of very 
great importance that a brief treatise, containing plain 
directions for the growing of the mulberry and the ma¬ 
nagement ol silk worms, should be prepared and distri¬ 
buted to each of the common schools in this State. 
4. Resolved, That the introduction into all the com¬ 
mon schools ol this State, of a short practical treatise 
containing plain, simple directions for growing the sugar 
beet, and extracting the sugar therefrom, according to the 
latest and best process, would in the opinion of this Cop- 
