THE CULTIVATOR 
49 
treaiing it with sul. acid as 
directed above, may dilute 
it with water, and apply it 
to their crops in the liquid 
state, by a common water¬ 
ing pot; and treat the solid 
excrements with charcoal a- 
lone. 
Can you give some plain 
directions about the opera¬ 
tion of making capons? Ve¬ 
ry truly, yours. 
Geo. Woodein. 
Riclmond, Va-, Feb. 1843* 
Our correspondent must 
have overlooked the com- 
mimication of Mr. Keeler, 
in our Dec. No. of last year, 
in which ample directions 
were given for the perform¬ 
ance of the operation of mak¬ 
ing capons, and to which we 
refer him for the informa¬ 
tion he wants.— Eds. 
ASHES. 
Messrs. Editors —^Ihope 
our farmers will take your 
advice ‘ not to sell their ash¬ 
es,’ but use them on their 
own farms. Let them make 
it a rule to save all the ashes 
they make, and to buy all 
they can. There is no mis 
take in the benefit from their 
use on grass lands, and on 
meadows. I have seen the 
good effects of a load of 
leached ashes, spread and 
plowed in, for ten years in 
succcession, in the grass and 
otther crops. 
L. Durand. 
Derby, Ct., Feb. 1843. 
Smith 
The Charlbury Subsoil Plow. — (Fig. 23.) 
Warren's Root Cutter. — (Fig. 24.) 
IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY.—No. III. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —At the Fair of the New- 
York State Agricultural Society in Sept, last? I exhibited 
a subsoil plow, made by Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse & Ma¬ 
son, of Worcester, Mass., of which the above figure (21,) 
is a representation, which escaped the notice of the com¬ 
mittee, and was not mentioned in their report, which I 
must confess, surprised me not a little, as it was a new 
implement in this country, and destined, in my humble 
opinion, to be of very great service in cultivating old 
and nearly exhausted lands. 
The subsoil plow is not a new invention; but was in 
use in England, more than 50 years ago, and recently 
brought into prominent notice by Mr. Smith of Dean- 
■ston, Scotland. In Dickson’s Report of Lancashire, is 
the following notice of the “ Minor or deep-stirring 
plow; 
“There is another tool of the plow kind, somewhat 
similar in construction, which was introduced into the 
county, nearly at the same period as the trench plow. 
It simply consists of a plow-share, firmly fixed to a strong 
beam by means of a strong sheath and handle, without 
any mold-board. It is usually drawn by four or more 
horses, being made to follow in the furrow of the com¬ 
mon plow, so as to penetrate into, loosen, and stir up the 
under soil, without turning it up, to the depth of from 8 
to 14 inches below the track in which that plow had 
gone.” 
No. 22, is a figure of Smith’s subsoil plow, and the 
following description of it, is by Mr. Morton, in his 
prize Essay, published in the “ Farmers’Magazine,” 
Aondon,) July, 1842, who says; 
“Smith’s subsoil plow consists of the ordinary frame 
work of a plow, without the mold board, made strong 
enough to stand the shocks and the strain to which an 
implement requiring the force of four or six horses 
to work it, must be subjected. This frame work is about 
15 feet long. A sole plate on which a feather-shaped or 
pointed sock slips, is attached to it by means of two up¬ 
rights, or curved coulter. The height of the plow,when 
held in a working position from the sole plate to the 
beam, is about 22 inches. It is thus enabled to go to a 
depth of 20 inches. From the furrow side of the sock, 
a spur projects, over which the mass of subsoil cut by 
the coulter and share, is raised and broken, and falls down 
again.” 
Now, the Worcester subsoil plow, differs in several 
particulars from Smith’s. The handles and beam are re¬ 
duced in length, and made of wood, and the whole im¬ 
plement reduced in size, makes it much lighter, and be¬ 
ing shortened, can be turned round in much less space. 
In place of the spur, as on Smith’s, this has an inclined 
plane, which raises from the feather of the share, and 
extends back to the heel of the plow. It is about three 
inches wide, lies against the upright, and raises about 
six inches behind. By means of a stot in the points of 
attachment, it can be raised or lowered at pleasure. By 
this inclined plane, the soil is raised, pulverised, and 
partially mixed, leaving it in a loose, friable state, with¬ 
out bringing it to the surface. By this simple contri¬ 
vance, the draft has been so much reduced, that two com¬ 
mon sized horses are amply sufficient to work it from 8 to 
10 inches below the bottom of the furrow of the plow 
which precedes it, in a loamy soil, which is free from 
roots and stones. The greatest improvement, however, 
and especially at the present time, is the price at which 
they are offered, being less than one-fifth of the import¬ 
ed article. One of Smith’s was imported in 1840, by 
Messrs. Ellis & Bosson, of Boston, at an expense of 
about $80. D. D. Campbell of Schenectady, imported 
another about the same time, or soon after. 
The price of the Worcester subsoil plow, is $15, and 
can be had of the proprietors at Worcester, Mass., and 
of Messrs. Pruyn, Wilson & Vosburgh, Albany. 
I have tried one of these plows, and was much pleased 
with its performance, and the ease with which the horses 
performed their work. 
The expense of cultivation, by subsoil plowing, is 
much increased by the present mode, as it requires an 
extra hand and team to go over the same ground, and at 
the same time as the first plow; and to diminish the ex¬ 
pense of the operation of subsoil plowing, and to adapt 
them to the wants of the small farmers, several attempts 
have been made in England, to combine the two imple¬ 
ments in one. The first of them by Mr. Pusey, of which 
a figure is given above, and called the Charlbury sub¬ 
soil plow; 
“ It combines in one implement, both the plows used 
in the operation of subsoiling. It not only stirs the sub¬ 
soil, but opens the furrow in which the subsoil plow 
works. It consists in the attachment of a strong tine, si¬ 
milar to those used in Biddle’s scarifier, to the common 
ploi^, in a position in which it acts after the furrow 
slice has been turned.” 
“ This implement,” says Mr. Morton, “ doing all the 
work, requires according to an experiment recorded 
there, less force to work it than the subsoil plow, (!) 
doing only one portion of the operation. It cannot, 
however, be so efficient in thoroughly stirring the sub¬ 
soil, as the original implement. The other attempt, at 
diminishing the expense of subsoil plowing, is by Mr. 
Armstrong of Stirlingshire, from which he received pre¬ 
miums from the Stirlingshire Agricultural Society, and 
from the Highland Society.” 
The following is a description of it, as given by Mr. 
Smith, at an agricultural meeting. It appears the in¬ 
ventor has adapted the principle of Wilkie’s turn-wrest 
plow, to Smith’s subsoil plow; and if I understand the 
principle of it, it is just what the American farmer wants, 
as one hand with one team, can perform, both operations; 
“ The general frame work is that of a subsoil plow ra¬ 
ther under the medium size, and to it is attached a hinged 
mold board, similar to the mold board of Mr. Smith’s 
hill-side or turn-wrest plow. By means of this arrange¬ 
ment, the plow can be used for removing the furrow 
preceding the operation of the subsoil plow; and when 
the furrow has been removed, the mold board being mov¬ 
ed upon its hinges from its working position, rests over 
the beam of the plow, whilst the instrument is used for 
subsoiling in the bottom of the furrow just removed. 
Thus the operation of removing the furrow and subsoil¬ 
ing, can be alternately performed with the same imple¬ 
ment, by the same plowman, and the same team of hor¬ 
ses, by a simple movement 
of the mold board, which is 
done in an instant, by the 
hand of the plowman, at 
each turning. The addition¬ 
al weight of the mold board, 
serves to keep down the 
plow whilst subsoiling in 
different grounds. Thejudg- 
ges consider this implement 
well contrived, and as being 
an important boon to the 
small farmers, and ascertain 
to give great facility to the 
extension amongst them, of 
the admirable system of sub¬ 
soil plowing.” 
Every person that feeds 
roots to his stock, and more 
especially cattle,should have 
some kind of an implement 
for cutting them. I have 
used one of my own con¬ 
struction for the last seven 
years, and while it was at the 
smith’s for repair, early in 
the fall, my roots were cut 
with a spade, and the pieces 
being of all shapes and si¬ 
zes, one of my cows got 
choked with one of the pie¬ 
ces, which, however,was of 
but little consequence, as she 
was soon relieved with one 
of Caley’s Probangs, which 
I have by me; and here I 
would remark, that I would 
not be without one of them, 
for five times their cost. 
Having some business in 
Troy, in January last, I step¬ 
ped into the Agricultural 
store of H. Warren, where I 
found a root cutter of his 
own construction, just finish¬ 
ed. Some potatoes were pro¬ 
cured,and a trial made which 
proved very satisfactory. Mr. H. insisted on my taking 
it home and trying it with various kinds of roots, which I 
did, and can safely say, that it is the best implement I 
have ever seen in use for that purpose. It is light, por¬ 
table, and takes up but little space. The circular plate 
or disc, is of cast iron, mounted on a horizontal shaft, to 
which the crank handle is attached. On this plate, and 
parallel to the face, the knives are set, radiating from 
the center. There are four knives, and the thickness of 
the cut is regulated by the distance of the edge of the 
knives from the face of the plate, and they can be moved 
in and out, by means of stots through which the screws 
pass, which secures them in their places. The bottom 
of the hopper is also moveable, and can be adjusted to 
suit the thickness of the cut. The hopper is set very 
slanting to the wheel, by which means the roots press 
against the knife, by their own weight, which is found 
sufficient to hold them within the stroke of the knife. 
It requires but little power to work it, as a boj’" 14 
years old, can cut one bushel per minute; but it is capa¬ 
ble of cutting two bushels per minute, by having a man 
to turn and a boy to feed. The knives can be removed 
or replaced with the greatest ease, by turning two screws. 
The knives being fiat and straight, can be made by any 
ordinaj^y blacksmith, and replaced with very little ex¬ 
pense. 
To my Dutch friends, who are in the practice of mak¬ 
ing Sour Krnut, it affords great facilities, for it will cut 
cabbage to a shaving,” and a tub full, before they could 
say “ dunder un blixum.” 
They are now on sale at the store of Wm. Thorburn, 
Albany, and by the proprietor, H. Warren, River st., 
Troy, at $10 each. C. N. Bement. 
N. B. After No. II. was written, Mr. Langdon in¬ 
formed me that the price of the improved Horse-hoe, 
would be $10, and I promised to have it altered; but not 
seeing the proof, the price of the first, $8, was retained. 
Ten dollars is as low as they can be afforded. 
Three Hills Farm, Feb. 1843. 
CHOOSING CATTLE. 
Messrs. Editors —It may not be amiss to give Mago’s 
directions for choosing cattle for the plow. Our farm¬ 
ers will then see how much they have improved in their 
judgment on such cattle, within 2300 years; 
“ There are certain rules for the farmer to attend to, 
which Mago has thus laid down for his instruction. The 
steer should be young, strong, with large joints; long, 
blackish, and stiff horns; broad and curled forehead, 
rough ears, black eyes and lips, white and distended nos¬ 
trils, long and bowed neck, white dewlap, which should 
hang down to the knees, a broad chest, large haunches, 
a spacious belly, extended sides, broad loins, exact and 
even pace, round buttocks, straight legs, not far asunder, 
and rather short than long, stiff knees, long and hairy 
tail, a short and thick head, red or brown color, and soft 
to the touch.” Wm. Partridge. 
Neio-York, Jan., 1843. 
“For all practical purposes, conscience is the best casu¬ 
ist, and to do as we would be done by, the safest rule.” 
