160 
HSi^aygii 
THE CULTIVATOR 
©riginal ^pa^ers from Contributor©. 
WESTERN FARMING. 
To MT FBiEND “ RICHMOND” —Your communication 
in the August No. of the Cultivator, as well as your pri¬ 
vate letter to me, have both been read with pleasure. 
Your detailed statement of the advantage of manuring, 
must certainly be useful to all eastern farmers, and the 
time will come when the same system will have to be 
adopted in the west; but at present, it is a mooted point 
whether manuring our prairie soil will pay the expense. 
My own opinion is, that for corn and potatoes it will, 
and for small grain it will not. It is a fact that wheat, 
oats, rye, &e. grow without manure extremely luxuriant 
in favorable seasons. In this vicinity, our wheat is ex¬ 
tremely likely to winter kill—^generally by heaving out; 
but last winter it was to a very great extent killed in 
another way, which I will describe. The ground, pre¬ 
vious to the January thaw, was but little frozen, and the 
wheat remained green under the snow, which was melt¬ 
ed off, and by a sudden change to severe cold, was form¬ 
ed into a complete coat of ice over the level surface, so 
as to exclude the air from the wheat, killing entirely 
thousands of acres, while the roots remained firm in the 
ground. Where the snow remained on the ground, as 
it did in hollows and uneven land, or where wheat had 
been sown among corn and the stalks left standing, the 
wheat lived and produced one of the finest crops ever 
raised. Many persons, finding the crop dead in the spring, 
harrowed in spring wheat without plowing, and thus in 
all instances where it was sown early, obtained a good'' 
yield. It is a common and good practice, to sow wheat 
among corn in this country. It is also a good practice, 
and almost the only sure one, to plow the ground in the 
fall for spring wheat, and harrow it in early in the spring 
as can be done. The reason of this is, that our spring 
usually opens late, and the surface of the land is too wet 
to plow, but the seed can be harrowed in, although in 
the mud. 
The surface of the prairie is composed of the fibres of 
the grass roots, 6 or S inches deep, which when rotted by 
two or three years cultivation, is so soft and friable, that 
when wet, it much resembles in consistence, wet leached 
ashes; being as easily displaceil when you set your foot 
upon it, and of course when dry, unless baked together, 
as it sometimes is in dry weather, it is very easily plow¬ 
ed. When well cultivated it is exceedingly fertile; but 
how long it will remain so under the “skinning” sys¬ 
tem, is a problem yet to be solved. My own opinion is, 
that we might even now, take some useful lessons from 
some of the manure making farmers of the east. 
Although we can raise our crops with far less labor 
and expense than you have shown that you can do, there 
are but few articles that we can compete with you in 
your market. The expense of haulina: in wagons over a 
long road, or rather over a long distance void of roads, 
except such as nature has provitied ready made, and the 
long lake and canal ti-ansporfation, is a bar to almost all 
kinds of our produce except wheat. But there is one 
other product fast coming into fashion here, that we can 
compete with you, and that is wool: unless our wild and 
almost insane free trade advocates, shall finally succeed 
in making this country, as far as all manufactures are 
concerned, a dependant colony of Great Britain. The 
prairie region possesses such cheap facilities for wool 
growing, and the cost of transportation so comparatively 
small when compared with the value, that you cannot 
possibly afford to raise wool at the same price, where 
you manure your land at such an expense as you have 
stated, or even a tythe of that sum, taking into account 
an interest of $3 to $6 an acre upon the cost of your land. 
Here, summer pasturage will cost the attendance of the 
shepherd and salt used—nothing more—and the winter 
keeping I can hire done with all proper*attention and 
feed, for 25 cents a head. The great difficulty in the 
way of western farming, which wdl continue to increase 
with the increased productions of grain, will be the cost 
of transportation to an eastern market; and unless the 
raising of wool, flax, hemp, silk, and other light arti¬ 
cles of value, shall be added to our products, you will 
grow rich with your expensive manuring system, while 
we shall barely “ hold on,” without materially improv¬ 
ing our condition or happiness, and undoubtedly our land 
must deteriorate in feitility. If, ami that if is often in 
the way—if we could ship beef in the late fall or early 
winter months, we could win your gold for quantity, and 
golden opinions for quality, for we could well afford to 
sell the best article for two cents a pound. 
Pork can be made to advantage here, but it can be 
made to much greater advantage fartlier south, where In¬ 
dian corn is “ the great crop,” and grows with such luxu¬ 
riance as would astonish an eastern man. The Wabash 
and Erie canal which is now completed, will open an 
outlet for an immense amount of this article, or the pork 
grown from it. 
If I thought it would be interesting to our mutual read¬ 
ers, I would willingly increase the length of this letter, 
but my sheet is full, and as in the operations of Tylerism 
I have lately lost the franking privilege, I must close— 
for I cannot afford to pay double postage. I hope you 
will continue the correspondence, until our friend Tucker 
cries, hold, enough. With sentiments of respect and 
brotherly kindness to you, and numerous other of my 
friends and acquaintance made through the columns of 
the Cultivator, I remain the game 
Soi-oN Robinson. 
Lake C. H., la., Aug, I7, 3843, 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —In your excellent pa¬ 
per, I find directions, hints, instruction and information 
with regard to every subject connected with the scienti¬ 
fic practice of agriculture, with one exception, and that 
no small one for at least the newer portion of our coun¬ 
try; and that is the getting rid of stumps. A great part 
of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, the northern part 
of New-York, and various other sections of the country, 
are or have been pine plains, where pine stumps are so 
thick as to render it almost impossible to plow the land, 
at least with any kind of comfort. In some cases I have 
counted 200 to the acre. To dig these by hand, is a most 
laborious and difficult undertaking, and when they are 
dug, it is no easy task to haul them off, or to burn them, 
as is sometimes practiced. Besides many roots are ne¬ 
cessarily left in the ground to snag the plow, and the 
poor subsoil is turned up on the surface by the process of 
digging, leaving (unless afterwards highly manured,) a 
poor spot wherever there was a stump. Now the object 
of this communication is to show to your numerous sub¬ 
scribers, an easy, economical and complete way, not on¬ 
ly of removing stumps from the land “ in toto,” but of 
convei-ting them into excellent fire wood. The accom¬ 
panying drawing represents a stump machine invented 
15 years ago, by two brothers named Manchester, of this 
place. It is simply the wheel and axle, on a large scale. 
The uprights shoukl be 11 feet high, 10 by 12 inches 
square, of hard wood. The sills 7 by 9 inches square, 
14 feet long, and turned up at the ends, sled ruuner fa¬ 
shion, to enable it to slide easily on the ground. Let 
the posts be firmly morticed into the sills, and well 
braced. The axle or shaft, should be white oak, ash or 
maple; 18 inches in dfameter, with the gudgeons 8inch¬ 
es. It should be 20 feet long, and 2 pins should be dri¬ 
ven Into it, outeide the posts, to keep them together. 
The wheel should be about 18 feet in diamefer, with 8 
spokes; 4 of which should go through the axle, and the 
other 4 set as deep as possible into the shaft, without cut¬ 
ting away too much wood, for fear of weakening it. The 
spokes are to be white oak plank, 8 by 3 inches square. 
Let the felloes be sawed out of 4inch plank, and planked 
by two courses of inch boards on the two sides, in such a 
manner as to “ break joints,” (as the phrase is,) with the 
first set; thus, and at the same time, to form a groove to 
keep the rope from slipping off. Then get two strong 
chains made of 1| inch iron, and 12 feet longeach. Fast¬ 
en one end of each by a strong staple to the axle, and on 
the other end of one have a hook, on the other a large 
link or ring. Then fasten one end of a 1| inch rope on 
the wheel, give it two or three turns around-if, and your 
machine is complete. Now bring your two yoke of cat¬ 
tle, and one assistant; hitch them to the staples, (which 
should be in each end of each sill,) and drive where you 
like. Dig a bole under the main root of the stump, (on 
one side if possible.) and pass your chain under it. Hitch 
your cattle to the end of the rope, and they will draw any 
stump that ever grew in the ground. Then fake off the 
dirt from the stump w'ith a spade, and it will fall back 
exactly as it came up, leaving no hole to fill. There 
will also be no roots left in the ground for future bothe¬ 
ration, and the soil wdrich was about the stumps having 
never been tilled, will be distinguished as good spots in¬ 
stead of bad ones. 
Now have an augur made, such as pump borers use 
first, only about four feet long, having a screw like a 
cork screw at the jioint. Bore a hole down exactlj' in 
the heart of each stump, (for however rotten at the top, 
they will generally be sound at the junction or knotting 
together of the roots.) and put dow'n about 3 inches of 
coarse blasting powcler. This will blow the stump to 
atoms; and you may then convert them by means of your 
beetle, wedges and axe, into first rale wood for home 
consumption. Many farmers will not un<iersfand blast¬ 
ing, but it is, after a little practice, as safe and s’mple an 
operation as any other on the farm. You will wmnt a 
crowbar, a priming wire of the same length as the auger, 
a 4 lb. hammer with a handle 5 inches long, and some 
match paper made into strips 3 inches long and half an 
inch wide. After your hole is bored, (and be careful not 
to have it go clear through by a foot or so,) put down 
your powder. Then put in your wire, which should be 
made tapering, the small end about one-fourth of an inch 
in diameter, on one side of the hole. Now fill the hole | 
with pounded brick and damp clay alternately, pounding 
it down with the small end of the crowbar, and starting 
the wire every now and then, till it is full. Now draw 
the wire by putting the small end of the crow bar through 
the loop in the wire, and striking it up with the hammer, 
taking great care not to let the least particle of dust fall 
into the hole. Then fill the hole slowly with powder, 
apply your match paper, (common wrapping paper steep¬ 
ed in a solution of saltpetre,) touch fire to the end of the 
match, and take to your heels; and depend upon it, the 
stump's powers of locomotion will be vastly assisted by 
this operation. The machine for drawing them will be 
cumbrous and heavy, but it will be strong, simple and 
effective. The whole cost of this apparatus will be be¬ 
tween 50 and 100 dollars; but it is well worth while for 
every large farmer, or 3 or 4 small farmers in company, 
to possess one, wherever stumps occupy the ground. It 
is enough to say that the machine made and tended by 
the inventor, has been in constant requisition since that 
time, (15 years,) and never went at a stump which it did 
not take up. 
I hope this article will not prove too lengthy for your 
columns, as it is a subject of great importance to hun¬ 
dreds, nay thousands of farmers in New England; for a 
pine stump is noted for its ugliness, durability, and 
dogged resolution to throw every obstacle in the way of 
tilling the ground, and to maintain its position whether 
or no, till, nolens volens, it has to give up to some such 
power as this. H. T. C. 
Burlington, Vt., Aug. 14, 1843. 
PREPARATION OF SEED CORN. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I observe in the Au¬ 
gust No. of the Cultivator, a communication over the 
signature of ‘‘ H. W. S. C.” in which he states that he 
had been unfortunate in loosing the first planting of his 
corn, and imputes the failure to the tar used to protect it 
from birds, &c. Now, Messrs. Editors, I have been in 
the practice of preparing my seed corn in the same man¬ 
ner he describes, and never had any fail of veg etating un¬ 
til the present year. 
On the 19th of May last, 1 soaked my corn in warm 
water for twelve hours, with the intention of planting it 
the next day, but owing to unforeseen occurrences I did 
not plant it until the 22d. The usual quantity of tar was 
put into water sufficiently hot to dissolve the water or 
soften the tar, when the corn was put in and stirred until 
well covered with far. It was then rolled with slaked 
lime and immediately planted. 
After waiting sufficient time, I examined and found it 
had mostly a'l rotted; many of the kernels were pierced 
with from two to three wire worms, and only here and 
there one sprouted. As I was satisfied it would prove a 
failure, I caused the ground to be thoroughly harrowed 
and marked out again. Having used all my seed corn, I 
obtained a variety of eight rowed white corn, which had 
been cultivated on the Helderberg. It is said to be early 
and of quick growth, and having been grown at an eleva¬ 
tion of some hundred feet above my farm rendered it an 
object for an experiment. 
I eoaked it in warm water for twenty-four hours, then 
dissolved a sufficient quantity of tar in hot water, put in 
the corn, stirring it until well coated with tar; drained 
off the water, rolled it in lime and planted again on the 
first day of June. On the eighth day it made its ap¬ 
pearance, and I think I have never seen corn come up 
bettex-, which convinces me that it was not the tar that 
caused a failure of the first ixlanting, but was in conse¬ 
quence of the state of the soil, being deficient of heat and 
moisture. About the time the plants made their appear¬ 
ance, we had warm lowery weather and seasonable 
showei-s, which gave a start to vegetation, and I have no 
recollection of ever noticing so rapid a growth. In sixty 
da 3 ’s from the time it was planted, it was in flower and 
the ears set. It is now as forward as corn generally is 
at this season of the j^ear, when planted at the usual time, 
fi*om the I5th to the 20th of May, and should the weath¬ 
er be favorable in September, I anticipate a bountiful 
crop. C. N. Bement. 
Three Hills Farm, Aug. 1843. 
EXPERIMENT WITH COAL DUST. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— I have made three ex¬ 
periments with coal dust. I will give you the result of 
one of them. I had an acre of wheat, measured early in 
January last, on which I put at least 500 bushels of coal 
dust. In selecting the acre, I took apai-t of the field that 
has had no manure for many years. I also took coal dust 
that was made many years ago, and which, if it retained 
ammonia, he. must have been fully imixiegnated. My 
object in measuring the land, was to ascertain the in¬ 
creased product produced by the coal dust, and by that 
means discover whether it would pay the expense of 
transportation and spreading on the land. 
On Satuniay, I finished threshing the field containing 
about seventy acres. A part of the field had been ma¬ 
nured three j'ears ago, and another part was manured 
last winter b}^ top dressing, all of which was free of 
I rust; all the balance of the field w'as rusted, and I am 
sori'y to say that the acre which had the coal dust, as 
much so as any part of the fiekf. As to increased pi*o- 
duct, there was none. The field is now in clover, and 
I shall hereafter discover whether that acre produces 
better than the adjoining lands. 
I shall still proceed to try more experiments, and may 
probably write again on the subject. If coal dust should 
1 prove to be a valuable manure, to me it would be all- 
important; for my iron establishments produce it in large 
quantities, and I should be at no expense but cartage. 
Yours, Wm. Weaver. 
Buffalo Forge, Rockl>ri4ge co., Va., July24t, 1843. 
